Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of Your grace in our lives and for the many ways (often imperceptible) in which Your grace works.

Msgr. Pope on Patience and Trusting the Slow Work of God

"Today’s reading from the Office of Readings strikes deeply within me as I see my beloved Bride, the Church so struck with confusion, doubt, division and ambiguity. Even those who ought to be the source of our unity are divided and ambiguous, and speak in riddles. The reading from today cries out this understandable lament :

How long, O Lord? I cry for help
but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, 'Violence!'
but you do not intervene.

Why do you let me see ruin;
why must I look at misery?
Because the wicked circumvent the just;
this is why judgment comes forth perverted.

For a work is being done in your days
that you would not have believed, were it told.

"However…The reading from Habakkuk also reminds us that impatience is a human problem, but we moderns must surely suffer from it more acutely. . . ."

In a recent commentary Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on our impatience over many things vis-à-vis the slow growth of our spiritual life

To access Msgr. Pope's complete post, please visit:

Community in Mission: Patience… a reflection on the need to trust the slow work of God.(12 SEP 23)

Reflection Starter from Pope Francis

"Without forgiveness there is no hope; without forgiveness there is no peace. Forgiveness is the oxygen that purifies the air of hatred; it is the antidote to the poisons of resentment; it is the way to defuse anger and heal so many maladies of the heart." - Pope Francis

William Warfield: "Ol' Man River"

As this blessed week draws to a close, I offer this version of William Warfield singing "Ol’ Man River":

 

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the many ways in which You work through the Communion of Saints.

Luke Russert Finds Healing in Communion of Saints

Eight years after his father Tim Russert's death in 2008, broadcast journalist Luke Russert still had not processed his own grief at this tremendous loss. So, he took to traveling around the world on a quest to discover who he was apart from his father. As he shared during a Christopher Closeup interview about his memoir Look for Me There, Luke experienced numerous spiritual epiphanies along the way. For instance, he became more aware of how God was working in his life because he started to pay closer attention to the people and signs around him.

During his journeys, Luke also came to a new appreciation of his Catholic faith, experiencing elements of it like never before, especially pertaining to the communion of saints. A friend suggested to Luke that he could still talk to his father, even though he wasn't physically here anymore. That sounded odd to Luke at first. Eventually, he said, "I got to a place of a deep, meditative peace through prayer and understanding that you can communicate with your lost loved ones. You can have these deeply spiritual, impactful meditative sessions where you can imagine conversations. . . . There's a real component of that in the communion of saints, and there's a reason why it's so prevalent in our faith."

Luke's travels did not just bring spiritual epiphanies, but ones about humanity and the world in general. While it might seem Pollyanna-ish to say we are more alike than we are different, his experiences confirmed that belief. Luke said, "I traveled to over 67 places, and I didn't have any bad experiences. . . . And I went to places where America, at least in their government stance, is not an ally. It's not liked. . . . You're always going to run into mean people. . . . But I would say the vast majority, all they're looking for is a semblance of respect. If you give off respect and kindness, it'll come back to you. I've lived it and I've seen it."

In light of his travel experiences, Luke has discovered the peace he was looking for by finally coming to terms with the loss of his father. He knows that Tim's message to him would be akin to, "Don't be angry. Do good. Live life to the best of your abilities. Be happy. Don't be sad. And go forward living."

"It took me a long time to get there," Luke noted, "because [I] felt like I had to ask permission to be my own person and not directly fall into his footsteps. But what I realized after a lot of prayer and meditation and an epiphany in the Holy Land was [that] our lost loved ones would not want us mourning them all the time, especially now, 15 years after my father passed."

Luke hopes that people who read Look for Me There find similar hope in processing their own grief or struggles. He concluded, "Your grief journey is your own. There's no perfect way to go about it. . . . You may never move on, but you can move forward. . . . We reach crossroads in our lives where we're trying to figure out, 'What's the best path for me? Maybe I need a minute to sit back and try to understand things.' It's okay to do that. Make that time for yourself, and make that time for prayer, for meditative prayer and thinking. So, my goal through all of it is that if folks can read the two parallel themes of self-discovery and processing grief, they come out of it feeling a little less lost."

This essay is a recent "Light One Candle" column by Tony Rossi, Director of Communications, The Christophers; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.

Background information:

The Christophers

Reflection Starter from St. Cyprian

"Persevere in labors that lead to salvation. Always be busy in spiritual actions. In this way, no matter how often the enemy of our souls approaches, no matter how many times he may try to come near us, he'll find our hearts closed and armed against him." - Saint Cyprian, whose memory the church celebrates today (16 September)

Joseph Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1

It's time for some classical music. This is a presentation of Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1 as presented by Mstislav Rostropovich with Orquesta Sinfónica de Radiotelevisión Española (Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra):

 YouTube:  Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto No. 1 (Mstislav Rostropovich)

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the graces that come with our daily crosses.

Tom Hoopes on Christianity's Saving Paradox

"At Benedictine College in Kansas I have contact with religious and lay people, married and single. Twice recently I had to share a lesson I had to learn the hard way: If life is going wrong, you can't necessarily expect it to get better; but if you stop and look, you will realize that life is beautiful even when it's at its worst."

In a recent commentary, Tom Hoopes (writer in residence at Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas) reflected on the importance of expecting the cross each day and, at the same time, noticing the graces as much as we notice the needs.

To access his complete essay, please visit:

Aleteia: Tom Hoopes: Life is good; life is hard: Christianity's saving paradox (11 SEP 23)

Reflection Starter from Sherlock Holmes

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes." - Sherlock Holmes (in The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Lift High The Cross"

As we continue our celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, I offer this version of "Lift High The Cross":