Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Rich in love

Reading I: Wisdom 1:13–15; 2:23–24 (God’s justice and its rejection by the wicked)
Reading II: 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9:13–15 (liberal giving)
Gospel: Mark 5:21–43 (the daughter of Jairus; the woman with a hemorrhage)

Key Passage: For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Adult: When have you felt enriched by a sacrifice you made for another?
Child: Whom could you help by your acts of kindness this week?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)

The Universal Call to Prayer

This title is actually the subheading of Chapter 1 in Section 1 of Part Four of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) on Prayer. Did I lose you with that sentence? I wouldn’t be surprised if I did since I almost got lost myself in writing it.

The CCC (2567) explains that we should not “forget” our God or even “hide far” from Him. He calls us always to pray each and every day, whenever we have the opportunity so we stay connected to Him. This invitation to prayer has been there from the beginning of time and is still unfolding with us and will continue with our children and our children’s children until the end of time.

God has called us to prayer particularly “beginning with our father Abraham”, (CCC 2569) using covenant as the word to describe this relational prayer. Abraham could have said, “You are crazy, why would I do what you are telling me to do?” when God called him, but he didn’t. Abraham knew in his heart that the Word of God was the true way and he obeyed. Paying attention to what your heart is saying when praying is essential in a life of prayer. Our present day minds tell us not to listen to our “heart”, that what the media, advertising and other people tell us is what we need to believe. How can we overcome those outside “voice” to listen to the one voice we need to hear when we pray? Practice, practice, practice… Really, you say? Yes, really. No matter how often or how long we pray the majority of us need to refocus more often than not. Some times are better than others depending on our state of mind, but for the most part we need to become disciplined in being quiet and listening. “Prayer restores man to God’s likeness and enables him to share in the power of God’s love that saves the multitude.” (CCC 2572)

Are you willing and able to let prayer lead your life? That is a question we all wonder if it is possible. When we do let this happen things may not go as we think they should, but in the final analysis the outcome is very similar to what we had hoped for with our original prayer. If we ignore the fact that we can pray and instead try to take matters into our own hands the bumps in the road are huge and we wonder where we went wrong.

Who else in the Old Testament turned themselves over to God in prayer to be led to His Kingdom? Check back and see.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church: October 2010, USCCB, Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time , Year B

Gift of peace
Reading I: Job 38:1, 8–11 (the Lord’s speech to Job)
Reading II: 2 Corinthians 5:14–17 (the ministry of reconciliation)
Gospel: Mark 4:35–41 (the storm on the sea)

Key Passage: Jesus said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:39–40)

Adult: When has the Lord calmed the stormy seas of your life?
Child: What fear would you like the Lord to help you overcome?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)

Solstice

Solstice, in December and June we hear this word quite often, in particular from meteorologists. Why is this so important? The term “solstice” means “sun stands still.” And this can be seen when for several days before and after the solstice the length of daylight stays about the same. Of course in December for the winter solstice daylight hours are short and in June for the summer solstice daylight hour are much longer. Although, keep in mind that in the northern hemisphere this is the norm, but in the southern hemisphere it is opposite, so June is their short daylight time and December they have longer hours of daylight. All due to the earth’s rotation around the sun. God planned things so well when he created the earth and all living things that inhabit our planet.

Another interesting bit of information that surrounds the solstices is that there are days around each that we celebrate special occasions. Can you think of what those might be? The winter solstice has to be obvious, it is Christmas on December 25 and then the New Year on January 1st. What about summer solstice? June 21st, hmmm…. Well the obvious is July 4th but is there anything closer? July 1st is Canada’s birthday. But, what about any church related celebrations…since December 25 is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus and January 1st is when Mary Mother of God is celebrated…what about in June? We have 2 celebrations that fall near the summer solstice, June 24th we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, who is Jesus’ cousin. Remember Mary visited his mother Elizabeth after she found out she was to be the mother of Jesus? And when she arrived the baby in Elizabeth leapt for joy! Then on June 29th we honor Saints Peter and Paul who were both instrumental in getting our Catholic Church off to a healthy start. Isn’t it funny that we always think of those well-known celebrations that are more secular before we think of religious celebrations? Of course the argument can be made for Christmas and the New Year celebrations are both secular and religious celebrations, but for the summer ones we definitely have 2 that are not secular in any way.

Why would there be celebrations around the solstices each year? For many generations there have been celebrations surrounding the solstices with the focus on fire and light. If you think about it this does make sense, we are a light oriented people for the most part, the longer hours of daylight as spring progressed into summer makes us feel happy and wanting to enjoy the bounty of Gods nature around us. In the summer we can see fireflies as dusk begins to descend, after a storm moves through these days we see photos of lightning against dark clouds, or coming to the ground on social media and our weather stations. Fireworks is part of the 4th of July celebrations in our country, and they are used around the world to welcome in the New Year. Light the source of so much happiness. Jesus came to us as the Light of the World so that we might see the way to heaven.

As June 21st (the summer solstice) approaches we should give thanks to God for his creation and bringing the order of days and nights to us. God alone created the world we live in, even the turning of the seasons is part of His plan.
(Take Me Home, Too; copyright 1997; LTP; June 20/21 was the inspiration for this post)

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary, Year B

Time Living in God’s kingdom

Reading I: Ezekiel 17:22–24 (prophecy of the restoration of Israel)
Reading II: 2 Corinthians 5:6–10 (walking by faith)
Gospel: Mark 4:26–34 (seed grows by itself and the mustard seed)

Key Passage: Yet when [the mustard seed] is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. (Mark 4:32)

Adult: What is the “good soil” that has allowed your faith to grow like the mustard seed and provide shelter for others?
Child: How do you help your faith grow like the mustard seed?
(from @Pastoral Planning.com)

Prayer in Today’s World

Did you know that part four of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is devoted entirely to prayer? If you didn’t you do now. Prayer is such an important part of a Catholic Christian’s life that it rates its own section of the Catechism. Yet, many of us take our prayer lives for granted thinking we only need to worry about praying when something catastrophic affects us or maybe those around us. The other time is when we want something that will benefit us. When things don’t turn out the way we want we figure prayer doesn’t work, forgetting that prayer is not a one way street to having God do things for us. He will see us through each and very thing He places in our path both the good things and the not so good things and He will answer in his own way and time. I know we are an impatient society so this does not sit so well with the majority of us but the truth is we do need to be patient and not always expect an immediate answer or the answer we want to hear from God.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2559 “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” Do we always raise our hearts and minds to God or do we just beg, think it’s not worth the effort or it only works for the really holy people? We all have our dry spells when it comes to prayer and it is at those times that the prayers of others lift us up. The power of prayer does work, not always the way we see fit but the way God wants us to see. As I have experienced the ups and downs of a prayer life I have come to realize that when someone asks for my prayers I tend to pray for those involved to have the strength to deal with whatever an outcome might be. We sometimes forget that we need to have the strength to deal with not only the bad but with the good as well. Good might mean a life is saved, but will need months of care and rehabilitation. Any one of us would need the strength to carry on no matter what the outcome. Stop and think about how your prayers are said and how they are answered. It isn’t always what we expect, but in the long run we will see the results are what was needed and should be seen as a gift from God.

Catechism of the Catholic Church also tells us, 2564, “Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man.” Wow, a covenant that establishes a personal relationship with God. Covenant is talked about in the Bible a lot. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a covenant is “a formal and serious agreement or promise.” Prayer puts us in a covenant relationship with God, where each side is respected equally. By denying the outcome of a prayer as God not wanting to help us we are denying a covenant relationship with God. God gave us the gift of free will to accept or reject what is right or wrong, our covenant relationship with God through prayer helps us to make those choices and accept what is best in the long run.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church: October 2010, USCCB, Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Body and Blood of Christ, Year B

Bread for others

Reading I: Exodus 24:3–8 (ratification of the covenant)
Reading II: Hebrews 9:11–15 (the sacrifice of Jesus)
Gospel: Mark 14:12–16, 22–26 (Passover preparation)

Key Passage: While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” (Mark 14:22)

Adult: In what ways have you practiced the words of Jesus and been bread for others?
Child: What can you do to prepare to celebrate Holy Communion with your parish family?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)