In this Sunday’s reading from Mark’s Gospel Jesus calls some fishermen on the Sea of Galilee to follow him and announce the coming of God’s kingdom. When we hear Jesus calling them, we should hear him calling us. In our first reading God calls Jonah to set out to convert the great city of Nineveh. We should hear God calling us to change the world we live in.  

Last week at the Inauguration in Washington, DC, President Biden and Vice-President Harris were called to serve the people of this country. It was more than a political event, a transfer of power. It was more than a call to two people, or some people, or a political party. It was a call to all the people of the nation to come together to work for its good. A call to us.

That was the message of the speeches, the prayers, the poems, the songs, the symbols of last Wednesday. 

It was the message that Amanda Gorman, the 23year old black woman, spoke that day in her inspired poem  “The Hill We Climb.”

“We are striving to forge a union with purpose,

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gaze not to what stands between us,

But what stands before us.

We close the divide, because we know to put our future first,

We must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms

So we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew,

That even as we hurt, we hoped,

That even as we tired, we tried,

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious—

Not because we will never again know defeat

But because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision

That everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree,

And no one shall make them afraid.

If we’re to live up to our own time,

then victory won’t lie in the blade but in all the bridges we’ve made.

That is the promised glade,

The hill we climb if only we dare it.

Because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.”

That message captured the day, I think. Amanda got it right. We need a president and vice-president, governments, political parties, but “we” climb the hill. All of us. We lift up our eyes, we close the divide, we put our differences aside, we reach out our arms, we grieve and grow, get tired and keep trying, we climb the hill and dare it.

That’s also the message of our scriptures. Jesus called the fishermen along the Sea of Galiee and they followed him. He also calls us to dare to go with him. God called Jonah to go into the great city of Nineveh and change it, and he did, reluctantly. He calls us too.

It’s a steep hill God calls us to climb. We face a pandemic, climate change, racism, a broken economy, fear of the stranger. With God’s grace, we will climb it. 

“For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it,

If only we’re brave enough to be it.”  

For this week’s homily, please play the video below:

As I’ve contributed over the years to this blog, “The Victor’s Place”, I’ve thought about its aim and its readers. The aim of this blog is to provide others with a taste of our Christian prayer tradition found in our liturgy, its readings from scripture, its feasts and seasons and its celebration of saints. It’s “daily bread” for daily life.

This blog is followed by adults from all over. But what about children? They need the “daily bread” that comes from prayer and reflection too.

Here’s “OurChildrenPray”, a website for helping children to pray. Its aim is “offer support for those helping children to pray and thus to begin their relationship with God. It provides short explanations from the Catholic tradition for the ordinary prayers we say and introduces children to the seasons of the year we celebrate.”

If you are a parent, grandparent, godfather, godmother, or someone guiding children take a look at this site. Children thirst for God from birth. Teaching them to pray is one of the greatest things we can do for them.

We’re beginning to read from the Gospel of Mark in the liturgy these days. Yesterday, Jesus called disciples, some fishermen, to be “fishers of men”  and to announce his Kingdom. (Mark 1, 14-20) They were the people he chose.

The gospels never enhance or exaggerate their profile. They’re fishermen. Hardly the people you would pick to begin a worldwide movement. But their power is not the power that brings about the Kingdom. It’s Jesus, who shared his mission with them and, surprisingly, with us.

A famous 5th century mosaic in the  Church of San Pudentiana in Rome pictures the apostles dressed as Roman senators solemnly seated at a messianic banquet. Wouldn’t they  squirm in a role like that? Imagine Peter going about the city dressed like a Roman senator.

I don’t think so.

I think they always remembered who they were and where they came from. They knew their limitations and their failings. They were fishermen from Galilee, who had been invited to be part of a great enterprise through no merit of their own.

There’s nothing wrong with humility, which is recognizing the truth about yourself and where  power and wisdom come from.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

 

    Paolo ends his retreat in a state of delightful unity with God : “Through the infinite love of our dear God I was raised up in spirit to great recollection and many tears especially after holy Communion during which I felt keenly the sweetness of Holy Love. It seemed to me that I was melting away in God….. I also had knowledge of the soul united in a bond of love to the sacred Humanity and at the same time dissolved and raised to the deep and conscious, felt knowledge of the Divinity. For since Jesus is both God and Man the soul cannot be united in love to the Sacred Humanity without being at the same time dissolved and brought to a deep and conscious, felt knowledge of the Divinity. 
    This wondrous and exulted marvel cannot possibly be set down or explained, even by one who has experienced it. It is impossible because the soul understands that God wills these gentle experiences and exceedingly high marvels because He who is infinite helps the soul to understand these things— but to describe them afterwards is utterly impossible. These are things which are experienced and comprehended in an instant, at least so it seems to the soul; for even if they should last for a full thousand years, it would in my opinion, seem less than an instant because the soul is in its infinite good. It desires nothing else but His glory and His love and that He be feared and loved by all. I have had other very special graces especially in contemplating the holy mystery of the Circumcision. Likewise, when serving Mass I had such a deep light on the great love which God displays towards me, and on my misery, my ingratitude,  my whole life, that I did not venture even to raise my eyes to look upon the picture of Mary— and always with abundance of tears mingled with great sweetness especially on seeing my Spouse, Jesus, present in the Blessed Sacrament.” 

Berta’s entry: Dear Jesus, today was our last day with Paul Daneo. For him and for us it is a day of luminous blessings, joy, and a knowledge of how much we are loved. I’d like to thank Paul Daneo for the guidance we have received through his entries. I grew to understand the founder of the Passionist order in a more personal way. But, Lord Jesus, the one that deserves the “thank you” is You, my God. You set this up and You guided us through these 40 days. There are no words to express the amount of love and gratitude that I feel for You, my Lord! You made it possible for me to find You thanks to a Passionist missionary, 9 years ago, and You haven’t let go since.  Keep helping me to reach You. I want to be rejoicing in Your Peace for all my life and beyond! May the Passion of Jesus Christ Be Always in Our Hearts.

Orlando’s entry: Paul Daneo would spend the rest of his life convincing everyone he met, preached to, or wrote to, that the spiritual marvels that he experienced were possible for every human being, because God loves us so much. For 300 years his Passionist followers have done the same. This is something worth celebrating. The 300th Year of Jubilee is a joyful affirmation of the Love that God is and feels for us. How can we experience it? Well, like Our Lord says, “Come and see”. I invite you to read more about St Paul of the Cross and read his writings during this year of “Gratitude, Prophecy, and Hope”. Let us renew ourselves in this Fountain of Love. May the Passion of Christ Be Always in Our Hearts!   

Let’s not forget we are living through a pandemic– Covid 19 is affecting the whole world, Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka of Mthatha and President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference reminds us in an article from today’s Vatican News. 

“God is our life, God is our fulfilment, in Christ God comes to give us life and life to the full. Yet as we look forward to Christmas of 2020 we are not that hopeful because the coronavirus dragon is waiting to make use of our Christmas celebration to swallow-up that joy.

Covid-19 has wreaked havoc in the whole world leaving a trail of pain and suffering, completely disrupting our way of life, bringing about isolation and loneliness, making the situation of the poor and the destitute worse, and prematurely ending hundreds of thousands of lives. As it has made our lives miserable in the last nine months, it is waiting to make our joyful feast of Christmas an occasion of sorrow.

This coronavirus is symbolised by Herod who tried to change the joyful mood of the birth of Christ, expressed in the song of Angels and shepherds, by seeking to kill the child Jesus. Similarly, the coronavirus is bent on making this season of joy a sorrowful season by destroying lives and making it hard for people to earn a living.

Yet, as the God of life did not allow Herod to destroy Jesus, He will not allow covid-19 to snatch away our joy of Christmas. As he directed the wise men to elude Herod in his plan of killing Jesus, and in a dream instructed Joseph and Mary to escape to Egypt to save the child Jesus, God is guiding us and making provision for us to celebrate this Christmas in a life-giving manner.”

     On New Year’s Eve Paul Daneo wrote: “ Feast of St. Sylvester. I was dry and distracted, but with interior peace. I was molested by the thoughts referred to above. At holy Communion I was at peace, yes, but almost without feeling and unmoved in affection. Towards evening I was particularly recollected.”          

Berta’s entry: Dear Jesus, in thinking about Paul Daneo facing his future I am aware of my limitations in my relationship with You. For the last 39 days I have met with You in this diary (my prayer diary) through the influence of Paolo Daneo’s words. My entries revolved around him and my reactions to his words. Tomorrow this 40-day retreat with Paolo will be over and I will continue my relationship with you, my God.      I am not saying that I haven’t gotten closer to fortifying our relationship, my Jesus. What I am realizing is that there won’t be an intermediary between us. It will be You, Your Word, Your Holy Spirit, and me looking to reach the Father in a more intense way. I am looking forward to that again. Something I had lost before our retreat. Thank You for Orlando, Lord, he was the inspiration for this retreat. I know You used him to get me back on track to You! My way to You is more wide open. Please guide me to the right path! I love You, my Triune God! I can’t live without You!

     Orlando’s entry: Paolo is so near the end of his retreat! Only one day left. His worries about the future continue but his “interior peace” in God never leaves him. A new year is almost upon him, a new, unknown life with so many challenges. But God lives within him as a guiding, solid force.      For Berta and I the end of our retreat is almost here; so is the end of 2020, in so many ways a dreadful year. Our time together, as wife and husband, partners in Christ, followers of St. Paul of the Cross, has been truly essential to our peace of mind during these isolating, trying days in the history of our country and the world. A dear friend asked me recently, “So what did you get out of this retreat?” Our weeks of fasting, prayer, isolation at home, spiritual reading, meditation, writing, faith sharing, and prayer….. brought Berta and I closer than we ever thought we could be, and yet they made our respect for each other’s space, our personal relationships more important and fine. We have developed a habit of praying together (especially with the  Advent candles), reading Scripture, sharing what God tells us. We want to continue this practice for the rest of our lives. Our solitary prayer with God is more important than ever, even with its “roller-coaster” struggles at times. It gives us a hunger, a need to serve Him by serving others in love and sacrifice. Lord, guide us in finding ways to help the crucified of today!

 
     Paul Daneo writes: “I was at first recollected, and then at holy Communion particularly recollected and also moved to tears. Afterwards for the rest of the day I was plagued with distractions especially by thoughts of things in the future. The enemy represented to me that great tribulations would befall me especially with regard to my family. I was also very downcast. “

     Berta’s entry: Paolo now is worried about the future. What happens now with his mission? Will the Rule be approved? Will he be able to attract other men to join him? What about his family and the fact that he is the oldest male child in his family?  Doubt and fear always show their ugly heads at the end of something and the beginning of something else. What we forget is that we have You, my God, cheering us on, especially when it’s Your will that we are embarking on. All I ask You, my Jesus, is to guide me in my next step to You like You did Paolo. I am not afraid because You are with me. Help me to persevere and not lose sight of You ever again!

     Orlando’s entry: After 38 days our retreat is almost over! What now? Paul is besieged by such thoughts. How will he be able to convince the Church to accept his dreamed-of Congregation ? How will his family do without him? I find myself worrying about my future too: What will happen to my prayer life? What can I do for You, God? How will we face the many dangers that await us in 2021?      Looking through my old diary, a small card fell into my hands. A fellow Cursillo retreatant had handed it to me years ago and I had never really read it. Today it drove me to tears as the Spirit looked deep into my soul:     “Oh, Lord, make me aware of the sacrament [Your Loving Gift!] of the present moment. Keep me from worrying about the past or fearing the future. Just for today, help me to be sane, go slow, be silent, seek You in gratitude and stillness. Give me the serenity that comes from simplicity and acceptance. Give me a deep gentleness with myself and others. Keep me in gratitude for the revelations of each moment. Bestow upon me the great gift of detachment….. Help me to have a genuine cheerfulness, and if bad times come, help me to balance them with humor and understanding. Teach me when to let go and turn over the situation to You in true poverty of spirit. When people ask my forgiveness, help me to give it to them from my heart. Defend my mind from self-inflicted negative thinking. Teach me not to manipulate myself or others. I place my life in Your keeping. May Your Will be done in me today. Amen.!