The Pirate Prayer

 I had the opportunity yesterday to practice and experience what is laughingly called "The Pirate Prayer" because the initials of the four steps are AARRR.  We were given a passage of Scripture to ponder/ pray about, then the instructions, and then we went into the chapel to try it out.  The speaker was trying to show us that God does speak to us if we know how to listen and receive His words.  

I welcome you to try it out for yourself.  The passage we used was the Parable of the Sower, but you can try any passage of Scripture.  Read the passage slowly enough to absorb it.  Then try the following steps:

1.  ACKNOWLEDGE GOD.  Who is the God Who is listening to your prayer?  Who is He to you?  Who/ where has He been in your life.  In her desperation in the desert, Hagar, the Egyptian slave girl, called God:  You are the God of seeing (or "You are the God who sees me!")  At another time, she called Him "The God of hearing" (or "You are the ONe who hears me.")  

    As I started this exercise yesterday, I acknowledged God as "The ever-present God, The One Who is always present to me, the One who always listens to me."  That acknowledgement took me to a place of worship and lasted longer than I had anticipated.  I actually felt that I was in His presence for a few moments and had no desire to move on to the next step.  I just wanted to remain there.

2.  ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART AS YOU READ THE SCRIPTURE. Become aware of your reactions and ask, "Why am I feeling this way?"  "What is behind my reaction?"  

    As I started reading the parable yesterday, I got just a little way into it before I found myself reacting to the line that said, Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

At that point, I began to realize the depth of soil God had given me from the beginning:  a love of good books of all kinds, a Catholic school education, believing parents, nightly rosary with the family, etc.  And I began to grieve over those whose rearing had provided little or no "soil"/ soul for the seed -- the word of God.  I know God's word can penetrate behind closed doors, but I still mourn those whose childhood has been barren of any spiritual preparation.

3.  Relate what you are feeling back to God.  In my case, it was both gratitude and grief that I began to relate back to God about what I was feeling.  

4.   Receive what God says back to you, and Respond.  Here, what God "says" may not be in words at all, but in your thoughts and feelings.  What do you desire to do now?  Your desires are probably the action of the Holy Spirit in you and maybe should be obeyed.  And so, for the first time, I began to pray for those who have no spiritual background in their lives, praying that the Lord would send "laborers into the vineyard....to seek and save what is lost."

This is but one way of many to approach the Word of God in our lives.  But it is one way to ensure that the seed -- the Word of God -- will take root in our lives and bear fruit!

Why the Transfiguration?

 Today, the Gospel reading that of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  One of the things that strikes me about the Transfiguration is that Jesus wants us to know Him -- to really know Who He is.  Previously, he had asked the disciples, "Who do men say that I am?"  So we get the general view, from the outside, so to speak, of how people saw Jesus.  I think not much has changed since then.  People that I know see Jesus as a kind of exceptional man: a prophet, a great teacher, a super-spiritual human being.  

"But you," said Jesus, "who do you say that I am?"  And Peter suddenly knew who Jesus really was -- the Son of God.  Jesus was pleased at the revelation given to Peter, but it still wasn't enough.  Every one of us wants to be known, for one person, at least, to know who we really are.  We are made to be inhabited by at least one other person.  Genesis tells us that the man and his wife were "naked and unashamed."  It feels wonderful to be truly ourselves, without shame, with one other person.  No need for fig leaves, masks, or pretense in any area of our lives.

Peter knew that Jesus was the Son of God, but he had still not seen Jesus in His Glory, the radiance of a human being totally united with the Divine Presence.  Jesus revealed the totality of His Being to His friends.  They needed this vision to offset the one to come -- that of the Son of God nailed to a cross.  

In so much of our lives, the vision of God's Presence is veiled to us.  We cannot see; it is hard to believe that God is truly present to us.  But if we are willing to go up the mountain of prayer on a regular basis, we may catch a glimpse of the Presence.  God wants us to know Who He Is.  He revealed Himself in Scripture and in the Face of Jesus Christ.  But there is more:  sometimes in prayer, He will show Himself to His friends, and our reaction will be like Peter's:  "Lord, it is good for us to be here!"

The Joy of Being Found

 It was one of those beautiful spring days in New Orleans, with the earth coming alive after a long winter. Friday afternoon, and I wanted to be outside, specifically in Audubon Park, just down the street, enjoying the newborn baby ducks and geese, the lure of greenery, and the soft breezes of the day.  I could hear birds chirping and a fountain gurgling outside of the floor-to-ceiling windows opened to the beautiful grounds of St. Mary's Dominican College on St. Charles Avenue.

Instead, I was trapped in a second-floor biology laboratory, dissecting a frog.  There was no one else around, the rest of the academic world apparantly having yielded to the allure of spring and the end of the week.    I knew that if I pushed aside the assignment until the following week, I would regret it later, so I reluctantly began tracing and sketching the execretory system of the frog.

Suddenly, it seemed as if a light had begun to illumine my mind, as I saw wisdom, beauty, and design in the execretory system, as food was digested, poisons secreted out, nourishment for the body extracted, and waste eliminated.  Further, in terms of the human system, all of these operations continued without awareness or control on our part, but at the end, we had control of the result.  Unlike the frog or a bird, we could wait until we found a suitable place for disposal.  

Overwhelmed with the beauty of design, I felt desire to profoundly worship God the Creator.  I wanted to kneel right there in the laboratory and thank God for His Wisdom in creation. But fear of being discovered (seemingly in worship of a frog) prevented me from kneeling down right then and there.

[Years later, I said to the Lord: "The execretory system ---  really?"  And His answer to me was, "Well, somone has to praise Me for this!"]

Now most anyone with a similar experience would claim to have "found God."  Thinking back on this event so many years later, however, I am more inclined to identify the experience as one where God found me!

In his wonderful book called Introduction to Christianity, Pope Benedict XVI writes that one of the basic roots from which man's encounter with God arises proceeds from the joy of security:

The very fulfillment of love, of finding one another, can cause man to experience the gift of what he could neither call up nor create and make him realize that in it he receives more than either of the two could contribute.  The brightness and joy of finding one another can point to the proximity of absolute joy and of the simple fact of being found that stands behind every human encounter.

All this is just intended to give some idea of how human existence can be the point of departure for the experience of the absolute, which from this angle is seen as "God the Son," as the Savior, or, more simply, as a God related to existence (p. 106-107).

Thinking back on the history of God's interaction with mankind, I can see the experience of Abraham, of Moses, of the Israelite people ---- even of Adam in the garden after he sinned --- as an experience of being found by God. God said to Adam:  Where are you?  and Adam's response was, "I was hiding because I had sinned."  But God found him anyway.  We are all hiding in paganism, in personal and in world affairs, in our own interests --- But sooner or later, in the midst of our lives, God finds us!

And just like the joy of being found by another being who loves us and delights in his find of us, we begin to experience the joy of security when we are found by God.  He knows me,  He knows where I am, and He came looking for me!  He found me! I am loved, and because I am loved, He opens to me the treasures of His own beauty and wisdom.

Once, when my youngest child "ran away from home" (she was about 4 or 5), she later told me, "I just wanted someone to come after me!"  I regret that I did not do that, but waited for her to come back on her own.  We all need to know that Someone wants to find us, to delight in us, to share His life with us! 

Being For One Another

CAUTION:  The following quotation is from Benedict XVI, a pope, yes, but also a great theologian.  Thus, I recommend a slow, thoughtful reading rather than a skimming.

Because Christian faith demands the individual but wants him for the whole and not for himself, the real basic law of Christian existence is expressed in the preposition "for."  ...That is why in the chief Christian sacrament, which forms the center of Christian worship, the existence of Jesus Christ is explained as existence "for many," "for you," as an open existence that makes possible and creates the communication of all with one another through communication in him...

Being a Christian means essentially changing over from being for oneself to being for one another.  This also explains what is really meant by the often rather odd-seeming concept of election ("being chosen").  It means, not a preference that leaves the individual undisturbed in himself and divides him from the others, but embarking on the common task....

Accordingly, the basic Christian decision signifies the assent to being a Christian, the abandonment of self-centeredness, and accession to Jesus Christ's existence with its concentration on the whole.

(Pope Benedict XVI: Introduction to Christianity)

As Catholic children, we were taught to say the Morning Offering: O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings this day in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular, for the intentions of our holy father, Pope Francis.  (Note: there are many variations of this prayer.)

We were also taught to offer ourselves to the Father in union with the sacrifice/offering of Jesus during every Mass.  The "missing link" in the explanation, in my opinion, was what we were offering ourselves FOR.  I was never quite sure what the Father would do with my "offering" of myself, or of my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings.

I think Benedict XVI hits the nail on the head when he says that the basic Christian decision means assenting to the abandonment of self-centeredness and agreeing to being FOR others, as Christ is FOR us.  

As a mother is FOR her child in every way, from lack of necessary sleep and rest to sacrifice of her own comfort for the welfare of her child;

As a husband and wife are FOR one another to the sacrifice of their own desires and even dreams, at times;

As parents are FOR their children;

As a pastor is FOR his flock,

we, too, are FOR those we love and serve in whatever capacity or assignment is given to us.  It is for us as members of the Body of Christ to forget our own interests and to serve the needs of others.  And the only way we can do this is to first know that God is FOR US!  We cannot forget ourselves and our own interests unless we know that someone (God) will take care of us.  Only then can we abandon ourselves into His care and extend our arms to the care of others.

Dive In

 I read a wonderful reflection yesterday in Give Us This Day, the daily prayer/meditation book that I use.  The reflection was written by Father Anthony J. Gittins in his book, The Way of Discipleship.  Father Gittins died in 2023, but I am sure he would be pleased that I pass along his profound thoughts.

He said that he had been standing on Promontory Point overlooking Lake Michigan, thinking how vast -- almost infinite -- the lake is, how hard it is to "take it in," so to speak in its beauty and wonder.  It somewhat overwhelmed him as he tried to drink it all in.  However, a few months later, he stood on the same point and watched people all around him jumping and diving into the lake -- and he realized that although none of them was completely able to "take in" Lake Michigan, that immense body was able to take in each one of them, so that they were immersed and submerged in it (but not swallowed up or drowned.)

Father Gittins reflected that God is like that lake and we are the swimmers.  None of us can completely "take in" or comprehend God, but each of us can become immersed in Him without drowning or being engulfed.  We can experience God by throwing ourselves into His unfathomable depths, trusting that He will give us bouyancy and life.

Jesus, like the Rosetta Stone, translated the infinite and incomprehensible love and mercy of God into concrete signs of love, of healing, of forgiveness, of table fellowship.  He didn't ask us to try to comprehend it, but only to "dive into" God's offer of covenant love and friendship.  He even poured out the Holy Spirit as the means to enter into and submerge ourselves in the love of God.

Someone once said to me, "No one has ever proved to me the existence of God."  I wish I had been clever enough at the time to say, "If our small minds could comprehend the mystery of God, He would not be God. But we can dive into Him without understanding, and in Him we can find bouyancy and life!"

One Bird Watching

 Many years ago, at an artists' retreat in New Harmony, Indiana, I came across the following poem engraved on a monument beside the lake.  As my sister and I stood there reading the poem, a magnificent blue heron with about a 12 foot wingspan slowly flew across the lake and softly landed about 10 feet from where we stood.  He (she?) quietly folded his/her wings and stood, as if alongside us, contemplating the scene.  For me, it was a breath-taking moment.  It was as if I had found my vocation -- or, rather, as if the scene embodied and described my life's purpose:  to quietly watch God at work in my own life and in the life of others.

Strangely enough, or maybe typically enough in the way God works, when I left Indiana (and Kentucky, where my sister lives), I decided to take an unplanned side trip on my way home to Mississippi.  A friend of mine had found a home in the hills of Tennesse after the total destruction of her house in Hurricane Katrina.  I was within driving distance of her new place and decided to stay overnight with her.  The next morning, I awoke to the sound and light of her working on a computer right outside my bedroom.  It seemed that she had just started writing a blog, something I had never heard about before then.  

Intrigued, I asked her to show me how to start a blog.  By the time I drove home later that day, the inspiration had settled in for this blog:  ONE BIRD WATCHING.  I think it took the combination of back-to-back experiences to launch me into blogging.  Without the first experience, I would have felt that I had nothing to say on a blog.  Without the second, my initial awe might have died for lack of expression.  Do you see what I mean about watching God work?

Here is my initial inspiration:

When no one listens
To the quiet trees,
When no one notices
the sun in the pool;

When no one feels

The first drop of rain,

Or sees the last star;

Or hails the first morning

Of a giant world

Where the peace begins

And rages end:

One bird sits still

Watching the work of God:

One turning leaf,

Two falling blossoms,

Ten circles upon the pond.

Grace, Grace, and More GraceI

 I have been re- reading a wonderful book by Harvey Eagan called Karl Rahner: Mystic of Everyday Life.  Karl Rahner, the greatest theologian of the 20th century (in my opinion), maintained that every person is the subject of "the always-offered grace of God's self-communication."  We call that self-communication of God The Holy Spirit.

Rahner also believed that "the devout Christian of the future will either be a mystic, one who has experienced 'something,' or he will cease to be anything at all."  

Jesus said, "I have come to case fire upon the earth, and what would I but that it be kindled" (Luke 12:49).  Those who maintain that Jesus is only a great teacher have not yet caught the fire He came to give.  The reason He came was to give us the Holy Spirit, who will "teach [us] all things and lead [us] into Truth."

There is much to be said and studied about the Role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  For those who want to understand and receive more, I will list some Scriptures at the end.  Reading/praying these Scriptures will bring us into communion with the Spirit Himself.  By opening the door to the "always-offered grace of God's self-communication," we can ready ourselves for the fire that Jesus came to give us.  Even better would be to study these Scriptures with a small group who can pray together for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and who can share together the result of grace, grace, and more grace!

According to Karl Rahner, here are the results of experiencing the 'something' he referred to (or the Role of the Holy Spirit in our lives):

--- a taste for prayer

--- a heart open to the mysteries of Scripture ("To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted" Matt. 13:11)

--- the experience of Christian community

--- a deep sense of ecumenism

--- a mysticism of everyday life: the finding of God in all things

--- consciousness of being under the special and personal guidance of the Holy Spirit  ["The mystic is absolutely sure that God and God alone is acting"]

--- an infused (or awakened) contemplation of Scripture and of life itself.

How do we get there?  God has already opened the door for us; we just have to walk through it (see John 10).  Here are some great starting places:

John 14-16

Matthew 7 and Luke 11

Zechariah 4:6

Acts 1

Luke 12:49 and Matt 3:11

Galatians 5:22;   Isaiah 11:1ff;  I Cor. 13

Isaiah 12:3 and John 4:10  (Read together)