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Medjugorje
Message: September 25, 2013 Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. May your
relationship with prayer be a daily one. Prayer works
miracles in you and through you; therefore, little children, may prayer be a
joy for you. Then your relationship with life will be deeper and more open
and you will comprehend that life is a gift for each of you. Thank you for
having responded to my call. |
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Published
by the Marian Center of San Antonio / A Catholic Evangelization Ministry Once again, in this month’s message from Our Lady, we find a call to prayer. At Medjugorje—Mary’s School of Prayer—variations on this theme of prayer have formed the substance of her
teaching in these past 32 years of apparitions. In each new message, we might
ask what is the specific nuance or emphasis that is being offered?
Especially noteworthy this month is Our Lady’s use of the word “relationship.”
Twice Our Lady mentions “relationship” in rather unusual ways— “your
relationship with prayer” and “your
relationship with life.” We are accustomed to
thinking of “relationship” as interpersonal—between oneself and another human or
creature, or with God. But here Our Lady emphasizes that we also have a
relationship with “prayer” (which is, itself, a relationship) and with “life” (which is, in fact, a vast web of interconnected relationships, as Pope Francis describes in the interview below). Our Lady says, “May your relationship with prayer be
a daily one.” Indeed, it is only through consistent
daily contact that any relationship grows into significance and intimacy,
including the relationship with God—our Source, our Creator. If we speak to
someone only once a week (or less) and then only in a rote, circumscribed way
with no originality or initiative of our own, with no personal investment or
“skin in the game,” that relationship will be hollow and superficial—no more
than an acquaintance. Sadly, for many who attend weekly church service (never
giving prayer a thought otherwise), this is the extent of their
“relationship.” In contrast, we can have a fruitful and dynamic “relationship with
prayer” if, like Pope Francis, we engage it “daily” and in a variety of ways: through the scriptures
(chanting/singing psalmody, Lectio Divina, daily Mass readings); participating in the Eucharistic liturgy;
receiving Holy Communion; celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation;
praying the Rosary; spending time in silent adoration before the Blessed
Sacrament; sitting in morning and/or evening meditation; making a daily
examination of conscience; and engaging in various forms of mental prayer
during ordinary activity. Just as an interpersonal relationship blossoms when
two people spend time together in diverse ways—talking, sharing meals,
watching films, working on projects, playing games, walking in nature,
silently sitting, etc.—so also our spiritual life with God blossoms through a
diverse daily practice of various prayer forms. As this relationship unfolds, we will experience the truth of
Our Lady’s words: “Prayer works miracles in you and
through you,” becoming “a
joy for you.” Our interpersonal human
relationships are the primary medium through which we grow and change as
individuals, and through which we reach out and make a difference in the
world around us by service to those in need. Similarly, our growing
“relationship with prayer” is the medium in which deep
interior conversion of heart takes
place, virtues are built and vices abandoned, and both inspiration and
strength are given and received that empower us to act
boldly for the common good. Thus “miracles”
are worked “in us and through us.” As we awaken to this, prayer fills
us with joy. With a genuine “relationship with prayer,” Our Lady says, our “relationship
with life will be deeper and more open” and we will realize that “life is a gift for
each” of us. This evokes an image
of expanding circles within circles, or an onion being peeled to reveal
greater depths, as the very fabric of life comes into clearer view, with
keener understanding and perception of this great
interrelated web that we share with all life
forms in the universe. Awe and wonder at the intricacy and grandeur of
nature and the cosmos begin to invade our awareness with a profound gratitude for “life as a gift.” May we all begin anew to build daily our relationships to
prayer and to life! October Musings: Words
of Pope Francis … from the acclaimed interview in America Magazine by
Antonio Spadaro, SJ: “A Big Heart Open to God” (For complete interview, go to www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview) Q: Who is Jorge
Mario Bergoglio? A:
“I do not know what might be the most fitting description….I am a sinner.
This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a
literary genre. I am a sinner.” (The pope continues to reflect…) “I am a sinner whom the Lord has
looked upon.” Q: What element
of Ignatian spirituality helps you live your
ministry? A:
“Discernment. Discernment is one of the things that worked
inside St. Ignatius. For him it is an instrument of struggle in order to know
the Lord and follow him more closely….This virtue of large and small is
magnanimity. Thanks to magnanimity, we can always look at the horizon from
the position where we are. That means being able to do the little things
of every day with a big heart open to God and to others. That means being
able to appreciate the small things inside large horizons, those of the
kingdom of God…. In his own way, John XXIII adopted this
attitude with regard to the government of the church, when he repeated the
motto, ‘See everything; turn a blind
eye to much; correct a little.’ John XXIII saw all things, the
maximum dimension, but he chose to correct a few, the minimum dimension. You
can have large projects and implement them by means of a few of the smallest
things. Or you can use weak means that are more effective than strong ones…. This discernment takes time. For example,
many think that changes and reforms can take place in a short time. I believe
that we always need time to lay the foundations for real, effective change.
And this is the time of discernment. Sometimes discernment instead urges us
to do precisely what you had at first thought you would do later. And that is
what has happened to me in recent months. Discernment is always done in the
presence of the Lord, looking at the signs, listening to the things that
happen, the feeling of the people, especially the poor…. reading the signs of
the times. ….The mystical dimension of
discernment never defines its edges and does not complete a thought. The
Jesuit must be a person whose thought is incomplete, in the sense of
open-ended thinking….the Jesuit always thinks, again and again, looking
toward the horizon toward which he must go, with Christ at the center….So
now, more than ever, the Society of Jesus must be contemplative in
action....This requires much humility, sacrifice and courage, especially
when…you are the subject of misunderstandings and slanders, but that is
the most fruitful attitude.…Ignatius is a mystic, not an
ascetic….” Q: What
experience in church government formed you for governing the universal
church? A:
“My style of government as a Jesuit at the beginning had many faults.…I was only 36 years old. That was crazy. I had to
deal with difficult situations, and I made my decisions abruptly and by myself.
…My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have
serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative.… Over time
I learned many things. The Lord has allowed this growth in knowledge of
government through my faults and sins….Now I hear some people tell me: ‘Do not consult too much, and decide by yourself.’ Instead, I believe that consultation is
very important….I do not want token consultations, but real
consultations.” Q: What does it
mean for one to “think with the Church”
(as St. Ignatius counsels in the Spiritual Exercises)? A:
“The image of the church I like is that of the holy, faithful people
of God. This is the definition I often use, and then there is that image from
the Second Vatican Council’s ‘Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church.’ Belonging to a people has a strong
theological value….No one is saved alone, as an isolated individual, but
God attracts us looking at the complex web of relationships that take place
in the human community. God enters into this dynamic, this participation
in the web of human relationships….Thinking with the church, therefore, is my
way of being a part of this people. And all the faithful, considered as a
whole, are infallible in matters of belief, and the people display this infallibilitas in credendo,
this infallibility in believing, through a supernatural sense of the faith of
all the people walking together. This is what I understand today as the
‘thinking with the church’ of which St. Ignatius speaks. When the dialogue
among the people and the bishops and the pope goes down this road and is
genuine, then it is assisted by the Holy Spirit. So this thinking with the
church does not concern theologians only. This is how it is with Mary: If
you want to know who she is, you ask theologians; if you want to know how to
love her, you have to ask the people. In turn, Mary loved Jesus with the
heart of the people, as we read in the Magnificat. We
should not even think, therefore, that ‘thinking
with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy of the
church….The church is the totality of God’s people. …I see the sanctity of God’s people, this
daily sanctity. There is a ‘holy middle class,’ which we can all be part of….I
see the holiness in the patience of the people of God: a woman who is raising
children, a man who works to bring home the bread, the sick, the elderly
priests who have so many wounds but have a smile on their faces…the sisters
who work hard and live a hidden sanctity. This is for me the common
sanctity…a constancy in going forward, day by day…. This church with which we
should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only
a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the
universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity. And the church is Mother; the church is
fruitful. It must be. You see, when I perceive negative behavior in ministers
of the church or in consecrated men and women, the first thing that comes to
mind is: ‘Here’s an unfruitful bachelor’
or ‘Here’s a spinster.’ They are
neither fathers nor mothers, in the sense that they have not been able to
give spiritual life.” Q: In the
aftermath of Pope Benedict’s resignation, what does the church need at this
historic moment? Reforms? A:
“Pope Benedict has done an act of holiness, greatness, humility. He
is a man of God. I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is
the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs
nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle.
It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol
and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we
can talk about everything else…. The church has sometimes
locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important
thing is the first proclamation: Jesus
Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers
of mercy above all….In
pastoral ministry we must accompany people, and we must heal their wounds. How
are we treating the people of God? I dream of a church that is a mother and
shepherdess. The church’s ministers must be merciful…. This is pure
Gospel. God is greater than sin. The structural and organizational
reforms are secondary—that is, they come afterward. The first reform must
be the attitude….The people of God
want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials.
The bishops…must also be able to accompany the flock that has a flair for
finding new paths. Instead of being just a church that
welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a
church that finds new roads, that is able to step outside itself and go to
those who do not attend Mass, to those who have quit or are indifferent.
The ones who quit sometimes do it for reasons that, if properly understood
and assessed, can lead to a return. But that takes audacity and courage.” Q: Regarding
difficult situations like the divorced and remarried or same-sex couples,
what kind of pastoral work can we do? A:
“We need to proclaim the Gospel on every street corner…healing every
kind of disease and wound….During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I
said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I
am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says.
Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people,
but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere
spiritually in the life of a person. A person once asked me, in a
provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another
question: ‘Tell me, when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the
existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We
must always consider the person.
Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them,
starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with
mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the
right thing. This is also the great benefit of confession
as a sacrament: evaluating case by case and discerning what
is the best thing to do for a person who seeks God and grace. The
confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s
mercy motivates us to do better.
Q: What is the
role of women in the church? A:
“What I hear about the role of women is often inspired by an ideology
of machismo. Women are asking
deep questions that must be addressed. The church cannot be herself
without the woman and her role. The woman is essential for the church.
Mary, a woman, is more important than the bishops. I say this because we
must not confuse the function with the dignity. We must therefore
investigate further the role of women in the church. We have to work harder
to develop a profound theology of the woman. Only by making this step
will it be possible to better reflect on their function within the church. The
feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions. The challenge
today is this: to think about the specific place of women also in those
places where the authority of the church is exercised for various areas
of the church.” Q: (At World
Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis repeatedly said, “God is everywhere,” echoing the Ignatian expression “to
seek and find God in all things.”)
How do you seek and find God in all things? A:
“God is certainly in the past….and God is also in the future….But the
‘concrete’ God, so to speak, is today.
For this reason, complaining never helps us find God. The complaints of
today about how ‘barbaric’ the world is—these complaints sometimes end up
giving birth within the church to desires to establish order in the sense of
pure conservation, as a defense. No; God is to be encountered in the world of
today….Ignatius asks us to open our spiritual sensitivity to encounter
God beyond a purely empirical approach. A contemplative attitude is
necessary: it is the feeling that you are moving along the good path of
understanding and affection toward things and situations. Profound peace,
spiritual consolation, love of God and love of all things in God—this is the
sign that you are on the right path. ….There is still an area of
uncertainty. There must be….If one has the answers to all the questions—that
is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet
using religion for himself.…The risk in seeking and finding God in all
things…is the willingness to explain too much, to say with human certainty
and arrogance: ‘God is here.’ We
will find only a god that fits our measure….Our life is not given to us like
an opera libretto, in which all is written down; but it means going, walking,
doing, searching, seeing….We must enter into the adventure of the quest
for meeting God; we must let God search and encounter us. Because God is
first; God always makes the first move…. If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear
and safe, then he will find nothing. Tradition and memory of the past must help us to have the
courage to open up new areas to God. Those who today always look for
disciplinarian solutions, those who long for an exaggerated doctrinal
‘security,’ those who stubbornly try to recover a past that no longer
exists—they have a static and inward-directed view of things. In this way,
faith becomes an ideology among other ideologies. I have a dogmatic certainty:
God is in every person’s life. God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of
a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or
anything else—God is in this person’s life. You can, you must try to seek God
in every human life.
Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds, there is
always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God.” Q: What do we
make of the enormous changes occurring in society and in the way humans
understand themselves? A:
(Referring
to his worn Latin breviary’s office of readings, a passage from St. Vincent
of Lerins) “‘Even the dogma of the Christian religion must follow
these laws, consolidating over the years, developing over time, deepening
with age.’ St. Vincent makes a comparison between the biological
development of man and the transmission from one era to another of the
deposit of faith, which grows and is strengthened with time. Here, human
self-understanding changes with time and so also human consciousness deepens.
Let us think of when slavery was accepted or the death penalty was allowed
without any problem. So we grow in the understanding of the truth.
Exegetes and theologians help the church to mature in her
own judgment. Even the other sciences and their development help the
church in its growth and understanding. There are ecclesiastical rules and
precepts that were once effective, but now they have lost value or meaning.
The view of the church’s teaching as a monolith to defend without nuance or
different understandings is wrong….Even the forms for expressing truth
can be multiform, and this is indeed necessary for the transmission of the
Gospel in its timeless meaning…. When does a formulation of
thought cease to be valid? When it loses sight of the human or even when it
is afraid of the human or deluded about itself….The thinking of the church
must recover genius and better understand how human beings understand
themselves today, in order to develop and deepen the church’s teaching. Q: How do you
prefer to pray? A:
“I pray the breviary every morning. I like to pray with the psalms.
Then, later, I celebrate Mass. I pray the Rosary. What I really
prefer is adoration in the evening, even when I get distracted and
think of other things, or even fall asleep praying. In the evening then,
between seven and eight o’clock, I stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament for
an hour in adoration. But I pray mentally even when I am waiting at
the dentist or at other times of the day. Prayer for me is always a prayer
full of memory, of recollection, even the memory of my own history or what
the Lord has done in his church….And I ask myself: ‘What have I done for Christ? What am I
doing for Christ? What should I do for Christ?’… But above all, I also
know that the Lord remembers me. I can forget about him, but I know that
he never, ever forgets me….” +
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Mark Your Calendar!
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October 1 |
St. Therese of Lisieux,
Doctor of the Church |
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1 |
International
Prayer for Peace: All faiths welcome to this gathering of dialogue,
speakers & music; 4 pm, St. Mary’s U. Bill Greehey
Arena, 1 Camino Santa Maria; free & open to the public; call (210)
436-3716 |
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1,
8, 15 |
3
Tuesdays Class: The Theology of
Creation—Reflection on Genesis with Prof. Glenn Ambrose; 7-9 pm, SoL Center, 300 Bushnell; $45; call (210) 732-9927 |
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2 |
The
Guardian Angels |
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3 (10 & 24) |
Three Thursdays Class: The Life & Witness of Henri Nouwen—A Spirituality of Imperfection with David Germer; 7-9 pm, SoL Center, 300
Bushnell; $45; call (210) 732-9927 |
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3 |
Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi (celebration of his death);
7 pm, Oblate School of Theology Guadalupe Chapel; reception following |
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4 |
St. Francis of Assisi |
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5 |
Portraits
of World Mysticism Class: Mysticism & Social Transformation with Prof. Philip Sheldrake; 9
am-12 pm, Oblate School of Theology Whitley Theological Center, 285 Oblate;
$40; call (210) 341-1366 x 212 |
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7 |
Our Lady of the Rosary |
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7 (& 14) |
Two Mondays Class: The Practice of Mindfulness Meditation
with Linda Mockeridge, LCSW; 7-9 pm; SoL Center, 300 Bushnell; $35; call (210) 732-9927 |
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8 (15, 27, 29) |
4-part Lecture Series: Encountering the Historical Jesus Today
with Greg Zuschlag, Ph.D.; 7-9 pm; Oblate School of
Theology Whitley Theological Center, 285 Oblate; $50; call (210) 341-1366 x
212 |
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11-12 |
“Fiesta
Franciscana” Gathering at the Granary: Francis of Assisi—13th Century
Prophet for a 21st Century Church with Sr. Margaret Carney,
OSF, President of St. Bonaventure U.; 6-8 pm (Fri); 9:30 am-4 pm (Sat);
Mission San Jose, 701 E. Pyron; $25; call (210)
454-2646 |
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12 |
Miracle of the Sun—96th
Anniversary of Fatima Blessing; 10 am, Crockett Park, 1300 N. Main |
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15 |
St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the
Church |
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18
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St. Luke, Evangelist |
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18-19 |
Reflection Days: Women, Prayer, and Dangerous Things—Desire in the Spiritual Life of
Women with Prof. Renata Furst
& Mary Wilder, RN; 6-9 pm (Fri); 9 am-4 pm (Sat); Oblate School of
Theology Whitley Theological Center, 285 Oblate; $75 incl. Sat. lunch; call
341-1366 x212 |
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22,
29, Nov. 1 |
3 Tuesdays Class: Elijah—Miracle Worker & Prophet Who
Never Died with Rabbi Sam Stahl & Rev. Kelly Allen; 7-8:30 pm, SoL Center, 300 Bushnell; $45; call (210) 732-9927 |
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26 |
PEACE
MASS: 12 pm, St. Mary’s Church, 202 N. St. Mary’s; Rosary at 11:30 am |
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27 |
Rosary-making:
2:00-5:30 pm, St. Mary’s Church, 202 N. St. Mary’s; free parking &
materials |
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28 |
St. Simon & St. Jude, Apostles |
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Francis & the Crucifix of San Damiano “Francis, go and
rebuild My house, for as you can see, it is falling into ruin.” -- Vision of Jesus to
St. Francis of Assisi (1206) Feast Day: October 4
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rights reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced without
permission. |