June 12 - The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Year A

June 12 - The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Year A

(Dt.7:6-11; Ps.103:1-4,8,10,17; 1Jn.4:7-16; Mt.11:25-30) "He has loved us and has sent His Son as an offering for our sins." Who better to hear from on this blessed feast than John, the Lord's beloved disciple, whose words indeed continually breathe the fact that "God is love" and who eternally exhorts us to "love one another." John cannot but speak of the love God has for His children and the love we must offer in return; and all of our Scripture today echoes his understanding and calls us to be washed in the blood of Christ. In our gospel Jesus calls unto the hearts of all: "Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you." He invites His little ones: "Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart." O so gentle and humble of heart is the Lord our God… so loving, so kind! David sings of Him so well in his psalm of praise and thanksgiving: "Merciful is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness." Why does God's king "bless the Lord" with "all [his] being" today? Because "not according to our sins does He deal with us." Because of His forgiving grace – this greatest sign of His love, embodied in His only Son. And so, as Moses says to all the people in our hearing on this holy feast, we should "love Him and keep His commandments," for He is "the faithful God who keeps His merciful covenant down to the thousandth generation." Yes, this covenant of love has been fulfilled in Jesus' blood, in Jesus' heart from which His blood does come, and "when anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God"; then we "come to know and believe in the love God has for us." And to whom does the love of God come so readily? Who finds such faith in the Lamb of God and knows that "He pardons all [our] iniquities" and "crowns [us] with kindness and compassion"? Jesus in His prayer to the Father states, "What you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children," and this is confirmed by Moses, who tells the Israelites, "It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set His heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations." It is not the strong and the wise of the world the Lord showers His love upon, but the humble and the lowly. These know the love the mighty and humble, gentle Lord holds in His Sacred Heart. Alleluia! Brothers and sisters, "it was because the Lord loved you… that He brought you out with a strong hand from the place of slavery." Let your soul "find rest" in that merciful love this day, and let it share that love with all others. Written, read & chanted by James Kurt; produced by Roger Fortney. Music by Roger Fortney; used by permission. ******* O LORD, how you love us! sending your only Son to die for our salvation – let us come to Him this day and know your love. YHWH, so loving you are that you share your very self with us in the Person of the Son of God, in Jesus the Christ. How is it love come to us so truly? How is it you, who are love, make yourself known to us in such a real way? It is because you are love and desire therefore to share love with us, your poor creatures. O LORD, you forgive all our sins, you heal all our ills… all that is evil you take from us that we might be one with you who are love. O that we might have a heart so humble and lowly as your own! that we might truly come to know your love, that we might truly come to be your own children. Let us share your love with one another and we shall find ourselves living in your love. In you let us take our rest, O LORD, in your Sacred Heart. Jesus is your very heart and His blood you would have course through our veins. O let His Heart beat in our own, that overwhelmed with His love we might become one with you in Heaven. Give us your Spirit of love this day to make us your own people, your own flesh and blood.

June 11 - Prayer to St. Barnabas

O son of encouragement and of consolation in the Holy Spirit, you who were filled with faith and lived that faith for the Lord, giving up all things to bring His Name forth to the ends of the earth, calling all souls and confirming them in the truth by the authority of the risen Son – whose footsteps go forth today as did yours upon the birth of the Church; what souls are so blessed to be set apart by the Spirit to perform His works in this dying world, to bring His light to those who sit in darkness? Pray the Lord shall indeed send out laborers into His vineyard and they shall with the same faith be an encouragement to all, a consolation to Christian souls.

June 11 - Thursday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II

(1Kgs.18:41-46; Ps.65:2,10-13; Mt.5:20-26) "You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it." "There is the sound of a heavy rain." The Lord is speaking. The Lord is teaching. Jesus is revealing the strait path of holiness that leads to the Father, and His words and His Person come like a fruitful rain upon a drought-stricken land. O Lord, "thus have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods, softening it with showers, blessing its yield." By your speaking, by your teaching… by your bleeding on the cross for us "you have crowned the year with your bounty, and your paths overflow with a rich harvest." But will we receive these rains? Will we accept His chastisements which lead to life, which are the only way to the kingdom of God? Here are the Lord's words, the commands of His mouth: "Everyone who grows angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; any man who uses abusive language toward his brother shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and if he holds him in contempt he risks the fires of Gehenna." To what extent has He increased the prescriptions of the law! For He calls us to a holiness that surpasses the holiness of the law. He calls us to the kingdom of God, and great rains are needed to foster its life. And so He demands that we "be reconciled with [our] brother"; and so He warns us to "settle with [our] opponent." For we are on our way to His holy court, and not even the smallest sin will stand there. The eyes of Elijah see but "a cloud as small as a man's hand rising from the sea." It is but the shadows the prophets knew as "the sky grew dark with clouds and wind." But it was enough to recognize the coming presence of the Lord that would relieve the drought upon the land, upon the nation of Israel. We, brothers and sisters, are those upon whom "a heavy rain fell," for now Christ has come; now He calls to us in Person from the cross and from His throne in heaven. If you wish to come to where He is, you must go where He has been: the cross is the heavy rain which brings the sweet smelling flower of heaven. "God's watercourses are filled" and "rejoicing clothes the hills." Listen to His words now. Be obedient to His command. It is the driving rain which breaks up the ground and prepares the soul for holiness. ******* O LORD, send your rain upon us to soften our hearts; let us be perfect as you by your chastising Word of love. YHWH, release us from judgment, we pray. Send upon us your driving rain, to cleanse our souls of all harsh words and anger. How shall we stand before your throne if here we cannot forgive, for how shall we ourselves be forgiven our grave sins if our hearts are hardened? O send your rain, LORD! Send your rain, and let our hearts be open to receive it well. Your Word is as a chastising rain to our souls, O LORD; it is the strong words from your mouth that serve to cleanse us from our sin and soften the ground of our hearts to receive your grace and blessings. If we have not your mercy within us, we are dead, for then there is no remedy for our sin. Speak to us; instruct us in your ways, and let us be obedient to your command, to your chastisement that brings new life from this poor land. O LORD, subject us not to the trial; lead us not before your tribunal. For we have nothing to pay our debt and so cannot stand before you. Only your mercy will save us on that day. Let us have your mercy within us now, and share it with others.

June 10 - Wednesday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II

(1Kgs.18:20-39; Ps.16:1-2,4-5,8,11; Mt.5:17-19) "If the Lord is God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him." Today "the only surviving prophet of the Lord" comes to reveal to the people that "the Lord is God!" Elijah seeks to open the Israelites' eyes to the presence of God, to bring them "back to their senses." And how evident it becomes that "they multiply their sorrows who court other gods," and that those "who set the Lord ever before" themselves are able to declare with David in faith: "With Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed." The great futility, the absolute emptiness of following false gods is shown in clear focus in the four hundred and fifty "prophets" who "hopped around the altar" and "called on Baal from morning to noon, saying, 'Answer us, Baal!'" How well our first reading summarizes the response of gods who are no gods: "But there was no sound, and no one answering." After "Elijah taunted them: 'Call louder, for he is a god and may be meditating, or may have retired, or may be on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened,'" they compounded their worship to utter absurdity as they "called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until blood gushed over them." From this exercise of futile worship Elijah calls the people, saying simply, "Come here to me." And they move from this macabre circus scene over to the altar of the Lord the prophet prepares. And here the power of the Lord is unveiled beyond doubt to open the wayward hearts of God's chosen ones. Water upon water is poured upon the evening sacrifice, but the Lord's fire comes at the word of Elijah and consumes all. "Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel." Let it be understood that your law must be followed and not the wicked contrivances of the human heart. Let be known the truth of your Son's words: "Whoever breaks the least significant of these commands and teaches others to do so shall be called least in the kingdom of God. Whoever fulfills and teaches these commands shall be great in the kingdom of God." For we shall only know the "fullness of joys in your presence" if we keep to your way, following Him who has come "to fulfill" "the law and the prophets." Let us never "court other gods" but with your humble king call out ever, "My Lord are you." ******* O LORD, all your Law is holy for you alone are holy and lead us only into your presence – praise you, O LORD our God! YHWH, you alone are God indeed; you alone should we worship – your NAME alone should we call upon to answer all our needs. And your Law we should keep with all our hearts if we hope to gain a hearing from you. We are so blind, O LORD, blind to your presence, blind to your power, blind to your love for us and the care you provide in your Word. We seek to make our own way, to worship a god of our own making, and so we fall away from you who hold our very lives in your hands. Send the fire of the Holy Spirit upon us to awaken us to your glory and your love here in our midst this day, that we might turn to true worship, worship of you who alone are worthy of our praise. O LORD, let your Word be fulfilled in us; let us keep your commands perfectly, following in the way of your only Son, who is the fulfillment of your Word. Yes, you alone are God and He alone is the way to you – let us live in your truth.

June 9 - Prayer to St. Ephrem

O harp of the Holy Spirit whose song rose up to Jesus and in honor of the Virgin Mary, whose heart was set on Heaven and the eternal light therein, and who served so well to defend the faith when from contemplation you came – pray we too shall have a song dedicated wholly to the Lord welling up in hearts set on His presence, on the kingdom that passes not away; and pray, too, the teaching of the Church shall always be true, shall always be rooted in the Spirit, expressive of the love of God. What is this world as it passes away, and who are we apart from God and His House? O how we long for Heaven! Pray, dear brother, with our Blessed Mother, that we shall come to dwell where you are.