What’s in a Name? God’s and Yours?
My niece and her husband are in the process of thinking of the right name for their next baby boy. It’s a crucial decision, for the lad will carry that name throughout life. Mary and Joseph were exempt from this duty because the Angel Gabriel gave them orders from heaven that Mary’s son should be called Jesus. Now that’s an appropriate name: it means “God saves.” One day my mother informed me that she and my sister had learned the meaning of my name. “Kathleen means pure,” she said. “No wonder you entered the convent.” Do you know the meaning of your name? (more…)
On Fire with the Spirit
As we celebrate Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Church, it’s good to reflect on just who this Person is and who he is for us. Remember when we called the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost? That spooky term did not do much to encourage a relationship with the third person of the Trinity. As it is, except for at Confirmations, we rarely give the Holy Spirit a thought or prayer. That’s why the Holy Spirit has been dubbed the Cinderella of the Trinity. This is unfortunate. It is also totally contrary to the major role the Spirit plays in our lives as Jesus described it at the Last Supper. The Spirit is actually more like the Venus of the Trinity, for the Spirit is love personified. (more…)
Evangelizing: Mary, Me, and My Family
Before Mary’s month of May ends, I thought I’d better put up at least one post devoted to her. Let’s focus on Mary as an evangelizer, someone who proclaimed the Gospel, the good news of the Savior. Mary was actually the first one evangelized. She was the first to hear the news and from the lips of an angel no less. Then Mary became the first evangelizer. She hurried to her cousin Elizabeth and sang the Magnificat about God’s fulfilling his promise. After Pentecost undoubtedly Mary shared stories about her son with the early Christians. She was instrumental in bringing the faith to the Americas. Columbus prayed before an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe before beginning his voyage and took a replica of the image with him. Then Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego in Mexico City, resulting in eight million Aztecs coming to know Jesus. For good reason Mary’s latest title is Star of Evangelization, an appropriate title in this time when popes are calling for a new evangelization.
A star is someone who is great, who shines at something, like Beyonce and George Clooney. Mary is a star because she was great at bringing Jesus to others. In fact, she brought the Word into the world. A star in the sky shines brightly in the darkness. Mary, the morning star, brings Jesus, the light of the world, into the darkness of sin, sadness, and lack of faith and hope. Stars are also nature’s GPS. They guide travelers, especially sailors. One famous star guided the wise men to Jesus. Mary too leads us to Jesus. She is our model for evangelizing.
We can pray to the Star of Evangelization for help as we undertake our responsibility of sharing the good news with others. Before we can evangelize, we must be evangelized, must deepen our relationship with Jesus. Here are ten ways to evangelize ourselves and our families:
- Talk about God: what was learned in religion class, the Sunday homily.
- Make prayer a usual part of your life. Set up a prayer corner. Bless your children. Hold a weekly family prayer time.
- Send religious Christmas cards. Display a nativity set.
- Celebrate baptismal days and feast days of the saints especially those of patron saints.
- Read the lives of the saints and other religious books. Watch religious movies and listen to Catholic radio stations.
- Play and sing Christian songs.
- Display Christian symbols in your house: crucifixes, statues of Mary and other saints, and the Bible.
- Involve the whole family in the liturgy and parish activities.
- Participate in devotions: the rosary, Benediction, ethnic religious practices.
- Engage in Jesus-like activities as a family: serve in a soup kitchen.
The icon here is the artwork of Brother Claude Lane, OSB, in honor of Mary, Star of Evangelization. In it Mary wears the star-spangled, turquoise-green mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In iconography this is the color of the Holy Spirit, the principle agent of evangelization. Rose is the color of the God the Father. Jesus is present in her womb. The almond shape is a symbol of hope and represents the opening of the visible world to the heart of the invisible. The hill has threefold symbolism. It represents the visitation because Mary “rose and went into the hill country.” It also stands for the Hill of Tepayac, site of the Guadalupe appearances, and Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.
What is your parish doing to evangelize? What are you doing?
Lectio Divina Prayer on Personal Experiences
On the way to my Florida vacation, I arrived early at the Hopkins airport, so I went into its nondenominational chapel. Only a young man from India was there. As I prayed, he came over, sat down next to me, and asked, “How do you meditate?” A half hour later, this Hindu had had a course in Christian prayer. You never know when or how God will use you! Speaking of meditation, there is a unique way to adapt lectio divina. You might be familiar with this “sacred reading” prayer, but you might not know that you can also use it to “read” the events of your life. (Lectio divina has four steps: 1. Read a Scripture passage until a word or phrase captures your attention. 2. Stop and ponder why that word means something special to you. What is God trying to tell you? 3. When you realize the word’s significance, the “aha moment,” respond to God with thanks, praise, contrition, joy, love, or petition. 4. Simply rest in God’s presence.)
These four steps can easily be applied to a memory. 1. Think of something that happened to you and replay it in your mind. What particular aspect “speaks” to you? 2. Reflect on what that aspect might mean for you. 3. When the light dawns, speak to God as prompted. 4. Be quiet and be aware of God looking at you with love.
Now for an example. On my first morning in Florida, as I entered the peaceful park along the river for my daily walk, I heard a thud. A lone workman had fallen backwards on the lawn and was having a seizure. When I called to another workman, he ran to get help. I stayed with the fallen man and tried to calm him, praying, rubbing his shoulder and stroking his curly blond hair while his limbs were flailing and blood trickled from his mouth. Soon he was surrounded by other workmen. One of them knelt next to him and turned him on his side so he could breathe. This man kept saying, “Daddy’s here” and finally, “I love you.” As he bent over his son, I saw a spider walking over the father’s curly chestnut hair. I grabbed it and threw it off. A girl passing by called 911. In time the young man quieted, sat up, and looked around with dazed blue eyes. The rescue squad arrived.
1. As I recall that event, I can vividly picture it. I experience it again as though I were watching a movie. What stands out for me is the father saying, “Daddy’s here.” 2. When I reflect on that and why it touched my heart, a number of thoughts occur. I think of the powerful love the father has for his son, the care he must have given him through the years, and his anguish. I realize that this is a modern day repetition of the Gospel story of the man who begs Jesus to help him because his son has seizures and falls into the fire. 3. I respond by asking Jesus to cure the young man I encountered and so remove the pain from the father’s heart. 4. I’m silent.
As with lectio divina in reading scripture, the steps can be repeated. The next time I pray over my experience in the park, I might be attracted to the fact that I lifted off the spider with my bare hands. (My sister sprays them with hairspray and waits until her husband comes home to dispose of them . . . and I share her horror of spiders.) On the other hand, I might draw other meanings for me from the words “Daddy’s here.”
You might try “reading” an experience of yours. If you do, how did you find this prayer method? Would you do it again?
An Attitude of Gratitude
This week I am on vacation. But here is a thought-provoking and beautiful 5-minute video to view. It comes on after the ad and begins with a little girl’s comments.
