Genesis 1-2

Selected Lectio Reading:
Gen 2:18-23


Meditatio/Reflection:

Thinking of this reading, at first I expected to consider very heavily my own marriage.  Not that what came of my time reflecting does not apply, but my focus is tending toward some of the word combinations:  "God formed...and brought..." and "call...called...gave names..." and "God...made into a woman and brought..."

My wife likes to remind me, because I often forget when reading Scripture, that Hebrew literature doesn't rhyme with sounds necessarily (although if you look closely, there are puns aplenty) but rather with ideas.  So the repetition of these phrases really struck me today.  First the intentionality of God in creating not only Man but the animals and Woman as well and second the companionship which God invites Man into in naming the animals help me to see God's intimacy with creation.

The ideas of partnership and complementarity in this cooperation in God's creation are incredibly profound.  In thinking that in my marriage I have someone who can journey with me towards God, I am renewed in my gratitude for my wife and our life together.  While there are surely bound to be bumps along the way, I am confident that, by the grace of God, we'll be able to enjoy each other's company long into eternity.  So I guess, in the end, I did consider my own marriage, but I see it anew in light of God's invitation to love and participate in his creation.

Oratio/Thanksgiving:

Thank you, Lord, for my marriage and the joys and graces I enjoy because of the Sacrament.  Thank you for the ability to participate in your creation in our children.


Oratio/Prayer intentions:

Lord, bless my wife and children, and may none of my faults or failures impede their ability to seek and see you.

Mr. Crane's Song of the Day:

Jim Brickman: Love of My Life

Saint Quote of the Day:

[On what husbands should say to their wives] "I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself.  For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not being separated in the life reserved for us...I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you."
      - St. John Chrysostom

Psalm 23

Selected Lectio Reading:
Ps 23


Meditatio/Reflection:

In my reading of this, I was really quite struck by the images of the "right paths" (v. 3), "darkest valley" (v. 4), and the "house of the LORD" (v. 6).  I imagined two paths, one leading into a dark forest, which seems by all accounts utterly terrifying.  I am reading The Hobbit to my older boys as a bedtime story and can't get the image of the spiders in Mirkwood out of my head when I think of that path.  Then there's the other path which is into a bright and open field, flowing with the wind.  This latter image has often been what my mother- and father-in-law would call my "tree house," a place where I find peace and joy.  Yet, I'm disquieted by the thought that the "darkest valley" or the Mirkwood-like forest might be the "right paths," might be what would lead me to "the house of the LORD."  Yet, I'm comforted by the ready hope that the "goodness and mercy" (v. 6) of God will truly follow me "all the days of my life" (v. 6).  What then should I fear if I have to endure some difficulty to truly find peace and joy?

Oratio/Thanksgiving:

Thank you, Lord, for the tree houses in my life.  Thank you also for showing me the true peace and joy that you offer in yourself and your goodness and mercy.

Oratio/Prayer Intentions:

Lord, may I allow myself to be led by you down right paths to dwell in your house.  Make me aware of your goodness and mercy in my life and how I can be open to receiving them.

Mr. Crane's Song of the Day:

Gladiator Soundtrack: Now We Are Free

Saint Quote of the Day:

"O Soul steeped in darkness, do not despair.  All is not yet lost.  Come and confide in your God, who is love and mercy."
      - St. Faustina

Aug. 21, 2016 Sunday OT Reading: Isaiah 66:18-21

Selected Lectio Reading:
Is 66:18-21

Thus says the LORD:
I know their works and their thoughts,
and I come to gather nations of every language;
they shall come and see my glory. 
I will set a sign among them;
from them I will send fugitives to the nations:
to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan,
to the distant coastlands
that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory;
and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. 
They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations
as an offering to the LORD,
on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries,
to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD,
just as the Israelites bring their offering
to the house of the LORD in clean vessels. 
Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.


Meditatio/Reflection:

"I come to gather nations of every language...They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations." How easy it is to fall into the trap of self-righteousness, of pride of faith, over and above that of others, to the point that we start to fail to remember that all others, from the other nations (for the Jews, those others being the Gentiles) are truly our brothers and sisters.  We read elsewhere the ease at which even individual families, let alone the human family, falls apart: Cain and Abel probably being the primary example.  But troubled families abound in Scripture as they do in history and today.  But as St. Paul says, "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom 5:20).  This is to say that God always offers more grace in any given temptation or trial so we may succeed in overcoming them with His help.

This reminds me distinctly of another of St. Paul's sayings: "No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it" (1 Cor 10:13).  How easy it is to forget that so many of our struggles are common struggles, and yet we feel alone.  I think that is a particular temptation of Satan, who is both tempter and accuser.  Who tempts me and then accuses me of being weak and worthless when I fall to his temptation.  In that moment of feeling weak and worthless, it is so easy to despair of God's presence, of his love.  How could God ever love me?

Our God is a God who comes to seek the lost.  From everywhere imaginable.  From every dark place, every despairing attitude.  From every trial and temptation.  And God will send us to help him seek the lost.  And it should be a great consolation that he wants us to join him in this journey.  What better way to affirm our worth than by including us in this great mission.

Oratio/Thanksgiving:

Thank you, Lord, for your constant provision and protection, especially in dark times and in dark places.  Thank you for your gift of hope.

Oratio/Prayer Intentions:

Lord, help me to never to allow myself to fall into a place where I don't seek your graces.

Mr. Crane's Song of the Day:

Danny Gokey: Hope in Front of Me

Saint Quote of the Day:

"Whenever we think of Christ, we should recall the love that led Him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed us in giving us in Christ a pledge of His love; for love calls for love in return.  Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love Him."
     - St. Teresa of Avila

Aug. 14, 2016 Sunday OT Reading: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10

Selected Lectio Reading:
Jer 38:4-6, 8-10

In those days, the princes said to the king:
“Jeremiah ought to be put to death;
he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,
and all the people, by speaking such things to them;
he is not interested in the welfare of our people,
but in their ruin.” 
King Zedekiah answered: “He is in your power”;
for the king could do nothing with them. 
And so they took Jeremiah
and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,
which was in the quarters of the guard,
letting him down with ropes. 
There was no water in the cistern, only mud,
and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

Ebed-melech, a court official,
went there from the palace and said to him:
“My lord king,
these men have been at fault
in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,
casting him into the cistern. 
He will die of famine on the spot,
for there is no more food in the city.” 
Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite
to take three men along with him,
and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before
he should die.


Meditatio/Reflection:

The princes sought to kill Jeremiah, the king could do nothing to prevent them, and yet a Cushite ended up defending Jeremiah.  What a horror to be so demonized by one's own!  I have a hard time when I have to endure even the slightest offense.  But to bare the claim that I am no interested in the welfare of others, only their ruin; to have my motives questioned to the point that I am rejected outright; that I would have a hard time dealing with.  And then to have those who should defend me cower in fear?  Well, now...that's Christ-like.  What did Christ endure in the Garden of Gesthemene?  What else than this complete rejection, this complete and utter lack of understanding, and this desire for his death that Jeremiah faces here?

Jeremiah sought to remind the people of their covenant with God and that yes, it binds them to certain modes of thought, word, and deed.  When he warned that not following these laws would lead to their downfall, he is accused of wanting the people's ruin.  How quick we are to jump to the conclusion that if someone is trying to correct us in one way or another that they must hate us?  Especially in our modern society, we have completely lost the ability to be disciplined, to be corrected.  Granted, the Israelites of Jeremiah's time didn't do much better, but how much more would I long to be in the place of Jeremiah and Jesus, even in the case of them being rejected and sent to their deaths, than to be caught among those who were so hard-hearted as to be closed to correction.

Oratio/Thanksgiving:

Lord, thank you for the opportunities I have each day to see your law, to see your will, and to recognize where I have fallen short of both.  Thank you for the example of your fatherhood in gently guiding me as I seek to be a better father to my own children in gently guiding them.

Oratio/Prayer Intentions:

Lord, help me to be open to correction, from you and from those who have my good as their goal.

Mr. Crane's Song of the Day:

Matt Maher: You Were on the Cross

Saint Quote of the Day:

"To be pleased at correction and reproofs shows that one loves the virtues which are contrary to those faults which he is corrected and reproved. And, therefore, it is a great sign of advancement in perfection."
      - St. Francis de Sales

Aug. 7, 2016 Sunday OT Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9

Selected Lectio Reading:
Wisdom 18:6-9

The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers,
that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith,
they might have courage.
Your people awaited the salvation of the just
and the destruction of their foes.
For when you punished our adversaries,
in this you glorified us whom you had summoned.
For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice
and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution.


Meditatio/Reflection:

I keep coming back to the first sentence and to the ideas of the oaths, faith, and courage.  The Passover in Egypt must have been a frightening time.  The Egyptians, by the Pharaoh's lead, had stubbornly fought through the previous nine plagues and were about to face yet another.  God forewarned the Israelites to complete the Passover sacrifice and meal in order to be spared from the death of the their firstborn sons.  This foreknowledge, in conjunction with the oaths, remind me of the promises to Abraham to make his descendants as numerous as the stars, to make him into a great nation.  What faithfulness our God has!  What confidence we should have in him!  What courage should this inspire us to embody!

Yet I often find myself timidly living out my end of the covenant.  I fear the loss of the things I'm attached to: my leisure, my security, my comfort, etc.  And yet what do I have to fear in light of the glory that awaits me if I but surrender those things which, in the end, can never fulfill me or provide for my happiness?  How can I enter more deeply into the mystery of God and allow him to bring rest to my restless heart?  Have faith in the oaths of God and have courage.  In the words of St. John Paul II: "Be not afraid!"

Oratio/Thanksgiving:

Thank you, Lord, for your enduring faithfulness and your constant compassion, especially in light of my weakness and timidity.

Oratio/Prayer Intentions:

Help me to see your provision and companionship in times when I find myself afraid.  Help me to model to my children a trust in your love and goodness which will not betray or prove unworthy.


Mr. Crane's Song of the Day:

Mumford and Sons: Sigh No More

Saint Quote of the Day:
"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
       - St. Augustine