3/29/24

Pause for Prayer: GOOD FRIDAY



                        Meditation on the Crucifixion
by Mimi Ess
                         (Click on the image for a larger version)


While Meditating Upon the Passion

I long to be the teardrop
Rolling ever so slowly down your cheek
Searching the curves and creases of your most holy face
Lightly kissing moisture upon your dry lips.

I long to be the air that becomes your breath
Bought with your agony as you push up to draw me in,
Absorbed into your body offered to the Father,
Flowing mercy from your wounds,
Exhaling love upon the world.

I long to be the cry
Welling up from the depths of your soul
Blinded by the night that envelops it.
Rushing to meet you as the all-consuming pain
draws you deeper into the darkness,
Finally bursting forth a helpless scream,
The cry of God - to God -
For mercy.

I long to be the last beat of your heart,
Suspended there in time
Until the Father grants you life anew
And then -
Captured there in eternity,
A prisoner of Divine Love.

- Brenda Stinson

 

  

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

3/28/24

NIGHT PRAYER: Holy Thursday


Having shared his last supper with his friends, Jesus took them out to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray by the light of the Passover moon...
 
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray."  And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful, even to death; remain here and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
 
And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” 
- Matthew 26:36-56
 
 
                                            Photo by Vedad Colic

Do not go into the garden, oh Jesus,
do not go into the garden before dawn!

But if I do not go into the garden in the dead of night,
who will lead you to the sunrise of Paradise?
I will go into the garden in the dead of night. 
 
Do not let them bind your hands, oh Jesus,
do not let them bind your hands without a word!

If I do not let them bind my hands like a thief,
who will break open the prisons
in which you languish?

I will let them bind my hands like a thief.
 
Do not hang on the cross, oh Jesus,
do not hang on the cross 'til you die!

If I do not hang on the cross like a bird,
who will protect you from the flames of hell?

I will hang on the cross like a bird.
 
Do not let your heart be pierced, oh Jesus,
do not let your heart be pierced by executioners!

If I do not let my heart be pierced like a ripe fruit,
from whom will you drink the blood and water
that will heal you?

I will let my heart be pierced
like a ripe fruit.
 
Do not go to into the tomb, oh Jesus,
do not go into the tomb that they have dug!

If I do not go into the tomb
like a grain of wheat,
who will lift from your coffins your lifeless bodies?
I will go into the tomb to sleep there.
- The Days of the Lord
 
    Photo by Ruth Hamilton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protect us, Lord, while we're awake
and when we nod asleep,
that wake, we might keep watch with you
and asleep, find mercy in your peace...
 
Amen. 

Tonight's music is instrumental, indeed, it's titled "No Words."
I've chosen it with the hope that we'll  listen to it, 
imagining ourselves in the garden, with Jesus, 
praying with him...

No Words by The Vigil Project

If a widget doesn't appear below, click here!

    Agony in the Garden by Peter Howsonn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


  

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

Good Friday is a day of Fast and Abstinence




GOOD FRIDAY  
(March 29)
is a day of FAST and ABSTINENCE

What does that mean?
 
On Good Friday:

- Catholics over 14 years of age are expected to abstain from eating meat on this day.

- Catholics 18 years of age and up to the beginning of their 60th year are expected to fast on these days: taking only one full meal and two other light meals, eating nothing between meals (although liquids between meals, are allowed).

(As always, illness, medical conditions and doctor's orders take precedence over fast and abstinence.)


  

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

3/27/24

Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 3/28

The whole season of Lent is a time to seek the Lord's mercy and forgiveness for the ways we've failed to love God and one another.  Lent is a prime season to go to confession.  In my parish last night we had a Penance Service.  Not many folks came but I know that a great many more were at home, at work, at school and in a thousand other places, struggling with their own failings and the desire to live more faithful lives. 

 Whether you've been to confession this Lent or plan to do so before Easter - or not - here's a litany from my homily at the Penance Service, designed to help us acknowledge our sins and to ask for God's mercy and pardon...

Oh, God…

I confess my pride in thinking that others are sinners
     - but that I am not...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess my imperfections,
     my faults, my failings,
         my bad habits and my wrongdoing...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess being a jerk while driving
     - and lots of other times, too...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess to eating too much
    drinking too much,
        spending too much,
           saving too much,
                  and wasting too much...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess my giving too little, too late,
     when I have so much more than I need...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess not being faithful
    to daily prayer and weekly worship…
Lord, have mercy!

I confess putting so many things in my life
     - ahead of you...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess the time I’ve wasted:
    hours, days, seasons and years…
        Lord, have mercy!

I confess losing my temper with children,
     with other adults - with myself – and with you, my God…
Lord, have mercy!

I confess my selfish need
     to be noticed, accepted, admired and thanked...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess being smug and self-righteous...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess taking what isn’t mine,
    using what isn’t mine,
        and taking credit for what I haven’t done…
Lord, have mercy!  

I confess my failure
    to be an active, generous, supportive member of my parish...
Lord, have mercy!
 
I confess being brusque, rude, ungracious,
    and dismissive of others... 
Lord, have mercy!
 
I confess not using the gifts and talents
    I’ve been given to share …
Lord, have mercy!

I confess to being careless
    and failing to be responsible...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess the ways and the times I haven’t trusted
    in your love for me,
        in your forgiveness of my sins
            and in your Holy Spirit’s guidance of my life…
Lord, have mercy!

I confess not forgiving others
     as I'd want them to forgive me...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess enjoying comfort, ease and plenty
     - as if I'm entitled to them...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess to being unfaithful
    to my word as I gave it and to promises I’ve made…
Lord, have mercy!
 
I confess my lustful glances,
    unclean thoughts and impure deeds...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess the grudges and resentments
     I hold and carry against my neighbor...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess my envy, my pride and my jealousy...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess to language and humor
     that are rude and vulgar...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess my impatience and insensitivity,
 especially with those who are most in need of my care…
Lord, have mercy!
 
I confess all the ways I’ve not been
    a responsible, contributing citizen
        in my community, my nation and in the world…
Lord, have mercy…
 
I confess my dishonesty, my unfairness,
    my cheating, my duplicity, my half-truths
        and my failures to act justly...
Lord, have mercy! 
 
I confess my bias, prejudice
    and unjustified snap judgments...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess my insincerity and hypocrisy...
Lord, have mercy!

I confess my sins, both large and small,
     for each transgresses your great love for me...
Lord, have mercy!

And I confess whatever I’ve done or failed to do
    that I didn’t find on this list
        but I know is in my heart....
Lord, have mercy!

I confess that I'm a sinner, Lord,
    in need of your mercy,
        in need of the grace of your suffering on the Cross...

I confess my need for you and your mercy, Lord,
    -always - and especially
        in these last holy days before Easter.

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy!

  

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 3/27

Lent ends at sundown tomorrow, Holy Thursday, with the celebration of the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, the first liturgy of the three days of the Paschal Triduum. This text from Philippians and the prayer following are apt for this last evening in the season of Lent...

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.

Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

  (Philippians 2:6-11)  

Christ of St. John of the Cross by Dali
 
What Christ did, we are called to do, too: empty ourselves in service of others that we might be filled, not with ourselves, but with the One whose name is above every other name -- Jesus Christ the Lord!

I come to you, Lord,
with a heart I need to empty of my self, my selfishness,
a heart I want to fill with you and with your love...

You showed me the way, Lord,
humbling yourself to the Father's will
and inviting me to humble myself
in the same way...

I don't find it easy, Lord, to empty my self
of all I want to keep and collect,
to hoard, hold back and hold on to...

Sometimes I don't even find it easy
to let go my burdens:
when my burdens have become my friends
it's sometimes hard to let them go...

Lord, teach my heart to know:
what to keep and what to lose,
to hold or to surrender,
to grasp or throw away..

Fill my heart with thirst and hunger
for what nourishes my soul
and strengthens me to live
as you created me to be...

Give me joy in letting go,
even when it's hard to do...

Give me freedom in the emptiness
that waits for you to fill it...

Give me peace in being filled
with your Word, your grace, your love...

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
    and watch over me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.
 
Tonight's song is a lush choral setting of the Philippians text...
 
Jesus Christ Is Lord
by Phillip J. Stopford
 
If a widget doesn't appear below, click here!


Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death —
even death on the cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
 

  

  

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

  

Pause for Prayer: Spy Wednesday

 This morning's Pause for Prayer has more content than usual:
    - some backgound on "Spy Wednesday"
    - some thoughts on betrayal
    - a wrenching musical setting of the Lamb of God chant
    - the usual Pause for Prayer entry
    - and another setting of the Lamb of God

Just about everyone, believer and non-believer alike, identifies Judas with betrayal. Wednesday of Holy Week is called Spy Wednesday because on this day at mass we hear the story of Judas' traitorous scheming:

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over...  On the evening of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.”        

Betrayal is an ugly word...
 
Here are two hard questions:
    have I ever been betrayed?  
    have I ever betrayed another? 
 
What wounds, what scars
    has betrayal left in my life?
        and in the lives of those whom I've betrayed?
 
Fr. Aidan Kavanagh spoke of Holy Thursday as
    the night in which Jesus was betrayed 
    - by the worst in us all...
 
That's a discomforting perspective on Judas' betrayal:
    it's easy to point an accusing finger at Judas
    - not so easy to accuse ourselves...
 
On the night Jesus was betrayed,
    Judas stood in for all of us,
for all of us who have betrayed 
    our God and our neighbor.
 
And the next day, Jesus, innocent and without sin, 
    stood in for us,
carrying on his shoulders and suffering in his wounds
    the burden of all our infidelities, our sins
        - and our betrayals... 
 
On the Cross, 
    Jesus, the Lamb of God
        takes away the sins of the world...

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: 
   have mercy on us!  
 
Below, you'll find Rufus Wainwright's contemporary setting of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).  The opening sounds  here drill into our hearts, our souls, to precisely the place where the Lord's mercy meets us: in our sins and betrayals of God's love for us our betrayal of others -- precisely where we most need his healing love and peace.  Wainwright's music  might help us image Judas plotting against Jesus and help us look more honestly at our own betrayals - but the wrenching sounds don't abandon us to Judas' despair or our own remorse. Rather, it moves us beyond to the consolation of the One who takes our sins away, finally resolving  in great peace: dona nobis pacem...
 
If a widget doesn't appear below, click here



Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
    have mercy on us.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
   have mercy on us.  
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
    grant us peace.

PAUSE for PRAYER...

With the light of your truth, Lord, open my heart
and help me be honest in seeing how I've betrayed you:
    how I've betrayed your love...
    how I've taken you and your mercy for granted...
    how I've presumed upon your forgiveness...
    how, out of loyalty to the crowd, the latest fad, or myself
    I've betrayed you in thought, word and deed...

With the light of your truth, Lord, open my heart
and help me be honest in seeing:
    how I've betrayed my family, my friends, my colleagues...
    how I've betrayed those around me
      at work, at school, in my parish, in my community...
    how I've betrayed my neighbor with gossip and half-truths...
    how I've betrayed the poor and hungry 
      with my greedy and wasteful ways...
    how I've betrayed the truth with my lies and cheating...  
  
With the light of your truth, Lord, open my heart
and help me be honest in seeing how I've betrayed myself:
    how I've been dishonest with and about
      the person you made me to be...
    how I've betrayed my given word, the promises I've made...
    how I've betrayed the best in me 
       by choosing the cheap and tawdry...
    how I've betrayed your image within me,
      the divine image in which you created me... 

With the light of your truth, Lord, open my heart
   and help me be honest in seeing how, with Judas,
 I betray and hand you over
   for money, for prestige, 
   in fear, out of pride,
   in selfishness and presumption,
    and in my vain, self-serving efforts 
      to win the praise of others...

Forgive me my betrayals, Lord, 
   and help me forgive those who have betrayed me...

Help me stand in the light of your truth, Lord,
   and show me my need for your mercy and pardon...

Amen. 
 
And finally... here are some healing sounds 
    from Samuel Barber's much gentler setting of Agnus Dei
        performed by King's College Choir 
 

  

SUBSCRIBE HERE!