“Prayer, done well, always opens us to the will of God.”
Ask, Seek, Knock
October 8, 2020
I have a love-hate relationship with the season of autumn. I love the colors, the temperature, the return to school and all of the general feelings that come with it. I just hate where it’s headed. I’m not a big fan of winter. Such is life. It refuses to pause where I like it and continues to its ever present march toward the future.
We hear today that we are called to rethink our prayer life as an avenue to open us to the heart and mind of God, rather than to bend God’s will toward our own. It sounds so simple and so obvious, but it is wickedly difficult to actually do!
Try to go a week without “requesting some favor” of God. Try to simply ask what God would like of you. Let me know how it goes…
As we start re-imagining how our weekend masses will look (we are now filming our online mass from the worship space in the context of an in-person celebration), I think back to our first “Zoom mass.” It was, shall we say: “rough.” I’ve no doubt this will look equally so for awhile until we get new skills firmly under our belts. Who knows: maybe by the time we have this all smoothed out we will see the end in sight and can look forward with some clarity to the time we can gather together as we are accustomed.
This time in our lives (country, family, church and schools) needs us to open ourselves more and more to the peaceful, loving will of God. I wanted to include, as a music offering this week, a wonderful recording of Amazing Grace performed by one of the young artists in our parish, Elissa Volling. This solo is performed on the viola. For those of you who may not be aware, the viola is just slightly larger than the violin and not nearly as large as the cello. This lands both its pitch and timbre somewhere between the two as well.
Elissa is currently a freshmen at Rice University in Houston, majoring in viola performance. I thought that this wonderful performance by her would be perfect for this week as Grace is exactly what we all seem to need so much these days. I hope we can all both find and offer to one another grace in these beautiful days while they last.
Fr. Pat
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In this same vein, as an accompanying song I went scavenging through my own archives to find a favorite piece that I used to sing fairly often. Not really a church composition, per se, it is a song by Stephen Schwartz about being open and prepared enough to recognize when something amazing comes along and being ready take a chance, make the change necessary and embrace the unimagined possibilities of a greater, joy-filled life.
I hope you are all continuing to be well and to actively and intentionally hunt the good moments and savor them when you can.
God Bless,
Fr. Pat
Thursday of the Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel | Luke 11:5-13
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
“Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?”
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?”
Amazing Grace - played by Elissa Volling
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