For this week’s homily, please play the video below.
The only offering is spending time. Not work. Not words. Not posts or pages. Stop it all. Time alone. Time being. Existence. Come what may. Could that be the only offering I am to make? Only contribution. Life spent in interest. In what’s good. With goodness. No preconceived notions what it looks like. A hiking stick. Evergreen. Nothing but interest. Not service. Not preaching. Not helping. Not writing. Not making. Not producing. Not part of a team. Only interest. Only footprints of varying weight. Or perhaps none at all.
Howard Hain
December, 2017
On time for which Id rather not
The heavy-footed thug storms thru the sage
Crushing the flower that adored his table
Now petal’s pigment stains the stone
“She loves me not” rattles the walls
His victim defeated before he began
His rants begin to strike his rage
But burdened by the weight of the shouldered beast
He scrapes to the floor
While what remains of the rose soaked in sorrow shivers away
—Howard Hain
(ca. 2000)
The Feast of the Assumption, August 15th in the Roman Church, and the Feast of the Dormition in the Eastern Church celebrate the belief that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was taken body and soul into heaven by her welcoming Son.
The Eastern Church year begins with the Great Feast of the Birth of Mary, September 8 and ends with Great Feast of the Dormition. The mysteries of Jesus take place within these two feasts.
The two churches express the mystery differently in art. In the Western Church Mary, radiantly dressed, often surrounded by angels, turns her face to heaven,
The Eastern Church invariably has Jesus standing over his mother’s body, carrying her soul in his arms as a little child. How else would she be at death? Didn’t Jesus say we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless we become a little child. She became one.
Her Son brings her body and soul to heaven. She bore him in her womb through grace, now she enters heaven through grace. The apostles, surrounding her body, have been summoned from the ends of the earth to be witnesses to her death and resurrection. She is the “first fruits” of her Son’s redemption. Angels cry out for heaven’s gates to be opened.
“Open your gates and welcome the One who gave birth to the Creator of Heaven and earth; let us celebrate with hymns of glory her holy and venerable body which housed the Lord who is unseen by us. We also cry out: O worthy of all praise, lift up our heads and save our souls”. (Troparion, Feast of the Dormition)
“Today, the Virgin Mother of God
was assumed into heaven
as the beginning and image
of your church’s coming to perfection
and a sign of sure hope and comfort
to your pilgrim people.” (Preface of the Assumption)
God took Mary, the lowly one, and “raised her up to this grace, that your Only-Begotten Son was born to her according to the flesh and that she was crowned this day with surpassing glory. Grant through her prayers that, saved by the mysteries of your redemption, we may merit to be exalted by you on high.” (Collect, Feast of the Assumption)
Because Mary shares in her Son’s resurrection, she also shares his desire that “all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” She joins her voice to his and intercedes for us.
“In falling asleep, you did not forsake the world, O Mother of God,
You were translated to life, O Mother of Life.
And by your prayers you deliver our souls from death.” (Troparion)
By Orlando Hernandez
In this Tuesday’s Gospel (Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14), Jesus places a child in the midst of His disciples and tells them:
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my Heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, Amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your Heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
This passage always reminds me that our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us as if we were children and He is our totally devoted parent. I feel that we need to remember this if we are to “enter” into His Kingdom.
When my granddaughter was only three years old I would take her to the playground. It was, as always, a joyous time. But on a special day my Lord gave me the blessing of a powerful insight into His Love.
As soon as we got to the playground my granddaughter let go of my hand, took off, and headed for those dangerous-looking climbing contraptions that would always make me a little nervous. She totally forgets about me, but I don’t forget about her.I stand around beneath her with my hands out while she struggles up a ladder that seems too much for her. I offer to help her and she says, “No grandpa. I’m okay! Leave me alone!”. I feel this strange hurt in my heart.
On that particular day I was suddenly struck by the realization that this is the way we are with God. We run from Him and try to go about our business, sure that we can handle it. We forget Him, but He never forgets about us. He is like a faithful bodyguard, always there.
I continue to watch out for my little one, and smile to see how she can handle these physical challenges. She is so lovely! I feel such happiness. I am suddenly overwhelmed by how much I love this child, so much that I am even ready to die for her! And this is exactly what my God did for me. He loves me like this, like His own flesh and blood, like His child or grandchild. Nothing I can possibly do will take His love away from me! It is a wild, crazy love that suddenly possesses me in the middle of this park. My eyes fill with tears. My heart is about to burst. I feel loved in such a powerful, immense way, by a Person who knows me from the very beginning of my life. He listens carefully to every silly thing I tell Him. He puts up with all my childish nonsense and looks after me when I get lost…..
Oh, oh, where’s my little girl? I don’t see her in the crowded playground. She is one among maybe 100 children just like her. I look for my lost, little “sheep” among so many. And then, relief, I spot her, and she looks at me with those eyes. She beckons for me to come. She calls me, “Grandpa!” And gives such a smile! The joy I feel is beyond words.
This must be the way my Lord feels every time I reach out to Him in prayer. I thank Him right then and there, for His love, for my granddaughter, for the love He has taught me to feel. Then I realize further that of course, He loves those other ninety-nine just as strongly. He will not let any one of them become lost either. He loves each one of them intimately. This mystery is too much for me. Why am I not in a state of joy all the time?
There is a humble little child in each human being on earth. Jesus tells me to not “despise one of these little ones”.
Please Lord, help me approach You with the helplessness of a child, totally dependent on You. Please help me somehow to see my little granddaughter in each person I meet. Let me respect and cherish the vulnerable, humble little child inside of each one of them. Let me care for them, even if they reject me. Enable me to pray for them. Help me to always have a smile ready for everyone I meet. Give me the courage to look them in the eye. Let me be forgiving, patient, understanding, concerned, but most of all, humble, like Jesus’ child in the Gospel, when I meet His people.
So who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God? I guess, in God’s loving eyes, each and every one of His children!
Orlando Hernandez
AUGUST 12 SUNDAY NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
1 Kgs 19:4-8/Eph 4:30—5:2/Jn 6:41-51 (116)
13 Monday
[Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs]
Ez 1:2-5, 24-28c/Mt 17:22-27 (413)
14 Tuesday Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
Memorial
Ez 2:8—3:4/Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 (414)
15 Wednesday THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Solemnity
Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab/1 Cor 15:20-27/Lk 1:39-56 (622)
16 Thursday
[Saint Stephen of Hungary]
Ez 12:1-12/Mt 18:21—19:1 (416)
17 Friday
Ez 16:1-15, 60, 63 or 16:59-63/Mt 19:3-12 (417)
18 Saturday
[BVM]
Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32/Mt 19:13-15 (418)
For this week’s homily, please play the video file below.
There is no past. There is no future. There is no now. There is faith.
God is therefore I am.
hd hain
August, 2018
God is a thigh. God is an arm. God is a neck. God is a slender nose. God is a bun of long brown hair bound-up for domestic affairs. God is a human. A human is God. The flesh, the muscle tone, the backhand to wipe away sweat. God is a woman scrubbing the floor. God is her husband sanding new hardwood. God is the thought of each other’s body. A stop, a wipe of the brow, a leaning back toward the heels, taking a little weight off the knees. God is the small smile on two sets of parted lips. God is the encounter between servants upon reaching home.
hd hain
August, 2018
Punishment
Instability, a disturbed apple cart
Cowards
The official in charge has not the capacity to lead
The chosen leader worries he hasn’t been chosen
“Christ walked freely among the dead. He reigned over those in hell.” ∼Saint Bernard
A resume builder. Good for business. Looking for a home?
The house is on fire, she continues with the dishes
Can’t count the ones being paid or the ones with positions to hold
Speak!
The women in faith are strong. Thanks be to God.
The quiet Joseph powerful in prayer in union with the vocal Mary
The fat guy in red is another fake
A box full of munchkins
Hide it? Burn it? Make a paper airplane and toss it toward a brave new world?
Maybe we’re all wrong
3 or 4 bedbugs chomp away
Fruit of the Spirit. They’re never isolation, secrecy, and a fear to leave.
Several little fiefdoms
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