June 20 - Saturday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II

June 21 - Sunday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Year A

(Jer.20:10-13; Ps.69:8-10,14,17,33-35; Rom.5:12-15; Mt.10:26-33) "For your sake I bear insult, and shame covers my face." Jeremiah "hear[s] the whisperings of many" who seek to "denounce him"; those who "watch for any misstep" plot his destruction: "Perhaps he will be trapped, then we can prevail, and take our revenge on him." Like David he has "become an outcast to [his] brothers, a stranger to [his] mother's children." And for what does he suffer such persecution but for speaking the truth of God's word to his fellow Israelites? As David declares to the Lord, "The insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me"; both the prophet and the king endure persecution for righteousness' sake. But both prophet and king declare victory in their struggle: "The Lord is with me, like a mighty champion; my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph." Through the power of God it is they who "will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion." The Lord hears their pleas for help, their prayers come before Him, "for the Lord hears the poor, and His own who are in bonds He spurns not." And so both king and prophet end in joy, in utter hope, as David proclaims, "Let the heavens and the earth praise Him, the seas and whatever moves in them"; and Jeremiah likewise calls all to honor our unfailing God: "Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for He has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked." And, brothers and sisters, in what greater way is this salvation from the grasp of evil better known, more fully realized, than in our Lord Jesus Christ? Paul tells us, "Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and this death came to all men." What greater persecutor have we than death itself? But now "the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many" – now all are saved by Him who has died, and has risen. Its clutches no longer hold dominion. So Jesus exhorts the Twelve, and all who would conquer death and all sin, to "fear no one": "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." What power has the prince of this world over our immortal souls now that Jesus has come? He can't touch us by his persecutions; and so now we are called to "proclaim on the housetops" what we "hear whispered" by the Lord in our hearts. Now with Jeremiah and David we must fearlessly "speak in the light," for the Lord has made us a promise, and His Word is true – "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father." But if we deny Him, He will deny us. Therefore, let us be heedless of the shame and the pain we share with our Savior and never fear to declare His truth in love to all. Nothing is greater than the power of His Word. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let us declare your glory, you who set us free from the bonds of sin and death – you who are our Savior! YHWH, you have raised us from the power of sin and death, from the strength of our persecutors which we could not match. In the bonds of Satan we have been, and under his threat we dwelt in fear. But your Son has come to set us free that we might walk in liberty with Him and proclaim your holy Name to all the earth. Praise you, LORD! Thank you for your goodness to us. Let us live in your light. O LORD, how hopeless we were, trapped in the bonds of death and sin. How could we hope when so oppressed that everywhere we looked we saw but emptiness and fear. But when we called out to you, you heard our plea… and your Son you sent into our midst to save us from all evil. Let us now with great zeal declare your glory, LORD, though it mean we must die for you. For in this death, this dying in your Name, indeed life comes to us once again. To you we entrust our cause, dear LORD, and you are ever faithful. Save all men from the evil one!

June 20 - Saturday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II

(2Chr.24:17-25; Ps.89:4-5,29-34; Mt.6:24-34) "Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has abandoned you." How quickly Joash the king of Judah, who so recently had restored true worship in the temple at Jerusalem, "transgress[es] the Lord's commands." After Jehoiada the priest died, the people "forsook the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and began to serve the sacred poles and the idols." And so, "wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem." So great is their apostasy that not only would they "not listen to [the prophets'] warnings" when they were sent "to convert them to the Lord," but when Zechariah the son of Jehoiada stood up in their midst to call them back to the Lord, "they stoned him to death in the Lord's temple." And so the central place of worship becomes a place of murder. How truly Jesus speaks in today's gospel: "No man can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be attentive to one and despise the other." How clearly we see the hatred of God at work in Judah as she embraces false and empty gods. And so Judah becomes like her profligate sister in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. She who is set aside to preserve the temple and the holy city of Jerusalem, who is given yet a share in the inheritance promised David, turns boldly from her call and blessing to despise that which is most her own. And now does her hatred grow. And though she may escape the chastising hand of God a longer time than her sister, God's promise: "If [David's] sons forsake my law and walk not according to my ordinances, if they violate my statutes and keep not my commands, I will punish their crime with a rod and their guilt with stripes," will not be set aside forever, and they shall follow their sister into exile. Brothers and sisters, we must choose the master we shall serve: if the world and its spirit, then you court God's condemnation; if the Lord, then remain faithful with your whole heart and follow His Son unto heaven. It is to heaven He desires your soul to come, but you must trust in Him and remain faithful to His call. For if you leave Him, He cannot but leave you; but if you hold fast to His love, He can do nothing but bless you. Today Jesus, the Son of the Father in heaven, stands up to warn you against the traps of this world and call you into full, living worship of the One God. Will you enter into His love? ******* O LORD, in your House alone let us make our home, and so find your kingship over us, and so find your blessing forever. YHWH, how kind your words to us are; how reassuring you would be. But do we listen to you; indeed, can we hear you at all? O heavenly Father, you know all that we need, and so would provide for us all things if we but followed in your way – but who among us has any faith? O LORD, do we not rather fret over the passing things of this earth? Do our hearts not turn quickly to false gods, abandoning you and true worship to feed our bellies, to save the flesh? And what can we be but destroyed like the grass of the field if we have no more sense, no more faith, no more love for you than a lifeless statue? Woe to us as we turn from you, for you are our very life, and without your Spirit quickly we die… quickly we die. Let us seek holiness, LORD, let this be our goal, our call, our only desire. Let us hope for you alone and for your heavenly kingdom, and we shall be blessed, and we shall remain in your House forever.

June 19 - Prayer to St. Romuald

O sign of perfect solitude who heeded so well the Lord's command to enter into your closet in order to pray, whose great measure of self-denial led you to the peak of contemplation in God's holy presence, whose only desire was that souls might draw close to Him – pray all who seek the Lord may approach Him with a whole heart, a heart set on Him alone, that in such perfect devotion all might find Him present in their souls, in their spirits, and be elevated in their lowliness to His indescribable divine love, to His peace which passes all our understanding but draws us ever closer to His wounded side.

June 19 - Friday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II

(2Kgs.11:1-4,9-18,20; Ps.132:11-14,17-18; Mt.6:19-23) "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your body will be filled with light; if your eye is bad, your body will be in darkness." And "how deep the darkness" is upon Athaliah. For her eye is evil, her "light is darkness," as so desperately she seeks to "lay up for [herself] an earthly treasure" by unjust and murderous means. Seeing that her son, the king of Judah, has died, she attempts to hold on to his crown by killing all the rightful heirs to his throne, caring more for the things which "moth and rust corrode" than for the righteousness of God. And she succeeds, though only briefly, as, true to the words of our gospel today, "thieves break in and steal" the kingship she has herself stolen away. And how great is her woe upon seeing all she has so anxiously and vainly sought removed from under her sight. How deep indeed is her darkness, deeper than the death she is about to endure. In our psalm today we are reminded of the promise the Lord has made with David, king of all Israel: "If your sons keep my covenant and the decrees which I teach them, their sons, too, forever shall sit upon your throne." For in Zion the Lord vows to "place a lamp for [His] anointed," and declares that upon His chosen one His "crown shall shine." This crown, this lamp, is for all the Lord's children to receive, to shine forth in His holy presence. All who keep to His ways shall know such blessing. But, clearly, those who turn away lose the light the Lord deems to give to us as followers of His One Light, Jesus Christ. And however boldly or by whatever anxious means we attempt to hold on to it, it shall be removed from us like the passing day. Only remaining in Him are we saved. In our first reading the people, led by Jehoiada the priest of God, renew the covenant "by which they would be the Lord's people." Terribly they have fallen from it and its grace and seek to regain what has now, and so often, been lost. Continually, in fact, the Israelites fell away from the Lord's command and so were abandoned to their sins – thus necessitating the coming of Christ – but continually the Lord returns them to the light when they return to Him, until finally Jesus does come. Let us not be as the Israelites have been, brothers and sisters, so easily led into darkness and error, so easily seeking to look upon the evil of this earth. The Lord has come now to lead us away from just such things and give us a light that never fades. It is for us to remain with Him. Let your eye be sound, and so let His wisdom shine through you, O blessed one. ******* O LORD, let us shine like your Son in your heavenly kingdom. YHWH, upon what are our hearts set? Are they set on you and the doing of your will? Do we seek indeed your kingdom? Or do we look to gain whatever we can of earthly treasure, and so set ourselves in opposition to your law of love? You alone are King; your Son alone is the rightful heir to all. Let us place Him upon the throne of our hearts and rejoice at your presence there. How evil man can be, O LORD, how blind and desperate in his selfishness. Into such grave darkness can we fall when we set our hearts on the things of this world. But how vain power and riches are; how quickly they come to an end, for these are not ours but yours alone, and they return to you at the end of the day. And so, if we would hold to them, we would find ourselves fighting you… and that is a battle we cannot win. O LORD, have mercy on your people! Take not your light from our midst – make us your very dwelling place. Let your light shine forth from all your children as they set their hearts on Heaven.

June 18 - Thursday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II

(Sir.48:1-14; Ps.97:1-7,12; Mt.6:7-15) "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Our psalm sings of the greatness of our God; in our first reading we hear of how this greatness was revealed in the prophets Elijah and Elisha; and in the Lord's Prayer we call for this greatness to be present in our midst. "Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes round about," our psalmist declares in praise of God. "His lightnings illumine the world." How great indeed is He: "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth." Nothing stands before His glance, for "justice and judgment are the foundation of His throne," and this world is held in His all-powerful Hand. And how well this greatness is brought to bear by His holy prophets. We are told, "Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace." The consuming power of the Lord is indeed revealed in him, for "by God's word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire." He "brought a dead man back to life from the nether world, by the will of the Lord… sent kings down to destruction," and finally was "taken aloft in a whirlwind, in a chariot with fiery horses." How the Lord blesses His holy ones! How He reveals His greatness in them! And of Elisha it is said, "Nothing was beyond his power… In life he performed wonders, and after death, marvelous deeds." There is no end to the power the Lord provides to His children, for there is no end to His power, and this power He would share with all. Thus does the Lord encourage us to call upon the majesty of God our Father to be with us, to feed us each day, that His Name might indeed be praised, that His holiness might be revealed in His chosen ones. And to avoid His wrath, and to share in His power, what must we do? What is the central call of this all-powerful, all-holy Lord? Forgiveness. His grace is power, and grace and mercy we must share with all to share that power which has no end. Trust in Him who holds you in His Hand, brothers and sisters. And His mighty Hand you shall see at work in the course of your day, and the fire of His grace shall pour upon your soul. ******* O LORD, let your power be upon us, the power of your merciful love. YHWH, you are all-good and all-powerful, and those who share your goodness share in your power. Let your kingdom come upon us; there let us dwell with you. We pray to be forgiven all our sins that your Spirit might be with us. But we know, O LORD, for your Son has taught us, that if we are to come into your presence and share in your power and wonder, first we must forgive our neighbor – even our enemy we must love. Those who sin against us indeed become as our enemies, but your mercy we must share with them if we are to know your grace at work in our souls. Separated from you, all die, but in your light all are brought to life: let all souls come into your kingdom. Let thy holy will be done, O LORD, in all your prophets, in all your disciples. Your power, your love, make known in all who bear your NAME. What should we fear if you are with us? Let your Word be spoken through us and His blood course through our veins. Let all peoples see your glory.