Not Worthy

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Hain's avatarHowie Hain

by Howard Hain

albrecht-durer-saint-peterDurer, “The Four Apostles” (1526), detail of St. Peter

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

—Luke 5:8,10,11

———

It is our job, perhaps our only job, to continually put ourselves into a perspective—in a relation to Christ—that causes us to truly believe with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds that we are not worthy of His sacrifice, His gift, His love for us as embodied in the Crucifixion and His glorious wounds—and then to share that “divine unworthiness” with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds with every brother and sister of Christ…

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4th Sunday b: Deliver Us From Evil

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For this weeks homily please play the video below:

Love Your Proud Papa

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Hain's avatarHowie Hain

Today, This Moment, The Year of Your Lord

My Child,

I thought I should write you this morning. To put down a few words. To speak into creation my ongoing love for you.

There are times when I watch you, somewhat at a distance. I leave that space so that my watching doesn’t impede your playing. But there is really no space at all. Because by not being “right with you” I get to see you as you truly are. My “distance” allows me to see you within the full scope of your existence. And never forget, my child, not for a second, I create your existence. It is not an event of the past. I am active. Always. I am always creating you, and I am always enjoying my creation. That is why I watch.

I watch you unfold. I watch frowns and frustrations unfold into smirks and full-blown smiles. I watch you…

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Ecumenism

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I attended a beautiful Methodist funeral this week at a funeral home in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. I prayed and sang with the members of the family and their friends. Some years ago, before the Second Vatican Council, I would have been told “In no way is it permitted for the faithful to take part in any way in non-Catholic services.” (Canon 1258)

We have come a long way in our relations with other Christian churches and other religions. In the days of St. Francis de Sales in the 16th century, Christian churches were fighting each other over religion. Francis de Sales as the bishop of Geneva, Switzerland, chose to approach religious differences through dialogue and not arms. His approach anticipated the Vatican Council decrees on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratia) and Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate) which told Catholics to respect the religious beliefs of others and dialogue with them.

Dialogue means listening to the other and offering what you know in return. It’s an on-going process that ultimately, I think, has its roots in the created world we live in, which we know little by little. The word “respect”is a beautiful word, meaning “looking again,” Francis de Sales based his spirituality on respect for the variety of creation. We’re “living plants” in the garden of the world. We need to keep “looking again.”

And while we respect others, we need to “look again” at our own tradition to appreciate it and see it “ever ancient, ever new.”

We’re ending the Church Unity Octave on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the Apostle, January 25th. St Francis de Sales, St. Paul the Apostle, St. Paul of the Cross, pray for us.

He Spread His Wings To Receive them

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“He found them in a wilderness
a wasteland in a howling desert.
He shielded them and cared for them
guarding them as the apple of his eye.

As an eagle incites its nestlings forth
by hovering over its brood,
so he spread his wings to receive them
and bore them up on his pinions.
The Lord alone was their leader,
no strange god was with him. “ (Deuteronomy 32)

We had a particularly intense meeting last week of my community, the Passionists, discussing what to do in these critical times, as we age and decline in members and our church and our world becomes more fragile.

Home again, on Saturday morning we were reading the words above at morning prayer and I looked up at the great Crucifix in our chapel. “A wilderness..a wasteland in a howling desert.”

The Great Eagle still incites us forth, old yet still nestlings. Pushes us from our nests and lets us free fall, but then spreads her wings to receive us and hold us up, till we get our wings.

The Lord alone leads us.

I have to keep my eye on those great wings, spread out in the howling wilderness.

The Bad Thief

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Hain's avatarHowie Hain

by Howard Hain

rembrandt-self-portrait-c-1668Rembrandt, “Self Portrait”, c. 1668 (detail)

The Bad Thief

good thief
bad thief
Savior in between
how is it
that you and i
can be all three?

we know of Jesus
as perfect
as perfect can be
speaking faith
breathing forgiveness
the Word
bound up
still
completely free

we know too
of the good thief
turning
turning toward Goodness
our Goodness
so gracious
hanging there
tortured
beside him
beside the good thief
Jesus nailed
one with the tree

we know too
what happened
what happened then
to the prodigal thief
humility
contriteness
a humble heart
spurned not
yes
true repentance
sorrow for sin
painful sorrow
paid forth
by a sinless man
and God
God the father
accepting the fee
the precious blood
of Jesus Christ
setting him
the good thief free

but what
what of the other one
what of the thief
named bad
what of him

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3rd Sunday of the Year: A New Day

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

Walled Garden (2)

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Hain's avatarHowie Hain

by Howard Hain

[Note: This is part 2 of a work entitled “Walled Garden”. To read part 1, please click here:  Walled Garden (1)]

pissarro orchards at louveciennes 1872Camille Pissarro, “Orchards at Louveciennes”, 1872

And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

—John 19:27

On leaving the convent I came upon the friar whom I had noticed on my way in. The little dog was no longer around. We approached each other as if we had met before. He was kind. He was middle-aged. He was simple. And then the strangest thing occurred. He took me by the arm, the way men stroll in Italy, arm-in-arm, during the evening passeggiata—the evening stroll.

But I had never met this man before.

Yes, it is certainly strange to have an unknown man approach you and link his arm in yours.

He led me toward a dirt path. We strolled. We…

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The Promises of Christ

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In the Last Supper Discourse of St. John”s Gospel  Jesus promises his disciples over and over that he will stay with them. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” he says.

Though he speaks to his disciples in the supper room the night before he dies, he speaks as the Risen Lord, which means his presence extends, not just to the moment, but to time and space far beyond this. Those who believe in him will follow him into another realm where he prepares a place for them. “You have faith in God, have faith also in me. In my father’s house there are many dwelling places.”

He speaks of his father’s house and promises to return from there: “I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”

The Christ of the supper room is with us at Mass— the Risen Christ. He cares for us now, and prepares a place for us then. He will come to take us to himself, to his Father’s house, where we will dwell forever.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.”