14 Tuesday Jan 2020
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It seems my alarm was on “mute” this morning, so I’m enough behind schedule to necessitate brevity here and to turn to Joyce Rupp for assistance. She writes:
“Gracious Peace-Maker, thank you for the life you have given me. I desire to be filled with your serenity. Clothe me in your calm presence. Be the stronghold of my heart. Help me to accept the irreversible and to change what is possible. May your peace grow ever stronger in me.” (Prayer Seeds, p.60)
May it be so for all of us today!
18 Thursday Jan 2018
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A Prayer for Strength, belief, change, courage, fortify, insurmountable, Joyce Rupp, love, Prayer Seeds, provider, purpose, serenity, strength, suffer, support, sustain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, worries
I went to sleep last night in my safe and warm bedroom with images from the internet news of cars and trucks smashing into utility poles and one another on icy roads in South Carolina and Georgia. Weather gone wild has stranded thousands in airports and shelters and the only happy people are the children who are playing in the snow that has closed their schools. It is a trying time in our country – for this and many other reasons.
Having no words of my own today, I turn to Joyce Rupp, a wonderful spiritual guide who always seems to have something helpful to say. I am never disappointed by whatever book of hers that comes into my hands. She has a way of comforting and challenging me at the same time. Here is part of “A Prayer for Strength” from her book Prayer Seeds.
Provider of Purpose, Firm Foundation, Enduring Love, support my determination to give the best of myself to others. Fortify the forgiveness you have placed and nurtured in my heart. Sustain a solid belief that I can get through what appears insurmountable. Bolster my efforts to be a person who reaches out to those who suffer. Foster greater trust in you when worries and anxieties attempt to prevail. Impart the courage I need to change what appears to be unchangeable. In you I find sufficient strength, abounding love, and secure serenity. (p.56)
23 Thursday Jun 2016
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compassion, giving back, joy, Jubilee Year of Mercy, Leviticus, mercy, Peace, Pope Francis, Sabbath, serenity, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Trinity, wellspring
Within the next 48 hours, I will spend time reflecting with about 100 people on the topic of mercy. In his short time as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has electrified the world with his bold statements and writings on many topics and has manifested in his person and actions the love that runs as a theme through all that he proclaims. On December 8th of last year, Francis proclaimed a Jubilee Year of Mercy. The biblical understanding of sabbath stated that every seven years the land should lie fallow (resting the soil from the depletion caused by the crops) and after seven such cycles, the 50th year – jubilee – when people would also rest, “giving back” during which land was to be returned to original owner and captives were to be set free, the underlying intent being to restore right relationships and ensure that everyone had the means to live a productive life.
Although a complicated concept from the Book of Leviticus that bears some study to comprehend, the remains of the practice of jubilee in most cases – far beyond Jewish law – is the sense of restoring right relationships: with God, among people and with the earth. It is in this sense that Pope Francis speaks of Mercy, a concept that has lost a sense of fullness in our time and culture and needs to be restored. Here is a portion of his proclamation:
We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity and peace. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and humans, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.
We are at the halfway point in this jubilee year, past time to begin interiorizing the words – the deeds – contained in the above paragraph. One small act of compassion would be a good start (or conscious continuation) for our “mission of mercy” – something we would do or say to someone in need, even perhaps if that someone were ourselves.
