Category: Speaking to the Soul

“With every sunrise and sunset

may my body be a prayer

my life given in love

for the sake of my neighbor

for the sake of the world”

“Today’s Eucharistic Gospel (Lk 1:39-49) tells of two women, one young and one old, both pregnant for the first time. Danger to both their lives in a world where losing a baby was as common as the death of a mother after a successful live birth. And social shame overhanging both women. Mary, hardly married, although they had found a nice solid devout local craftsman for her. Who didn’t know what he was getting himself into, but had faith in his dreams. Because sometimes dealing with God is like that. And Elizabeth, her shameful barrenness finally overcome, but with a priestly husband struck dumb at the altar of the Holy One of Israel. “And what was that all about?” her neighbors whispered amongst themselves.”

“Jesus breathed on them and said, “receive Holy Spirit.”  Breath quickens blood, quickens soul, moves our spirits in exaltation and our bodies in dance.  Wind moves the clouds in patterns across the sky:  Ruach, Creator’s companion — breath of God, Word of God.”

“The thing that speaks to me about Aguayo’s poem is that it speaks from a perspective of a deeply empathetic person, one who sees life differently through the lenses of his own mental illness and who has a sincere faith. I especially love the last two lines, “Joan wants no beauty in her,/but in the people for whom for whom she fought.” For Joan, it was not about fame or glory, but for her country and country’s folk. Her voices told her what needed to be done and trusted her to pass on the message. She believed them in turn as genuine messengers from God, and, as such, she obeyed them.”

“Perhaps I am not capable of reading to learn new things right now. My mind is mush, as previously established. I am, however, capable of remembering old stories that are somehow central or foundational to me. And maybe that is what I need, and what the world needs of me: to remember what makes me tick, gives me delight, and to be moved to hang onto those things in the face of great change.”

“I have heard people claim that they don’t believe in miracles. And yet, they are all around us: the blaze of a rainbow against a dark prairie sky after a thunderstorm of percussive force. The firing of synapses, electric impulses timed just right, as a baby stands upright and toddles her first few steps. The frilled beauty of wildflowers, so easily discounted, but greater in loveliness than Solomon in all his glory.”

When God asked Solomon what he desired, the famous answer Solomon gave is for a discerning heart, to judge God’s people justly (1Kings3:11-13). Because Solomon asked not for riches, but inclined his heart toward God’s purpose, God said, “see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.” 

“This prayer is for you – if you find it, know it’s been offered in love
By the God who has claimed you before you were born and marked you as beloved.”

“Peter’s mother-in-law understands. She gets up to fulfill her role as one who cares for those under her roof, be it with soup or a clean bed for these friends of her family. A role which gives her pride and satisfaction. Or perhaps she sees in Jesus much more, and the call to serve him leaps beyond a social role. She wants to serve him, as Jesus himself is called to serve her as the doctor of her body and her soul. As he himself serves his Father, for his Father’s glory.”

“We are all beloved servants of God, heirs to the kin-dom of divine love. But we are in a world that does not see this. We ourselves are apt to put belief in societal constructs, family affiliations, and clan-like organizations ahead of neighbor to neighbor caring. Unlearning all that can be dangerous and intimidating.”