Fast, Pray, Act

One of the organizations I belong to is Bread for the World; it's an organization whose purpose is to raise public consciousness about hunger issues, and urge people of faith to speak out to help reduce and eliminate hunger, both domestic and international. I've been aware of the organization since my Jesuit Volunteer Corps days -- that's over 35 years. One of their efforts is to encourage churches to organize an "Offering of Letters," to their elected officials, about the importance of hunger/food issues.

The current president of BFW is David Beckman, a Lutheran pastor, and this past Monday he, along with four other leaders, announced that he would begin a water-only fast, for one week. They did this "to make a public stand, as Congress has proposed massive budget cuts that disproportionately affect the poor among us." You can see his picture and read the story on his "BreadBlog."

He is not the only religious leader calling for fasting in response to our times. Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine is encouraging Christians everywhere to join in a movement, called Fast, Pray, Take Action: For a Moral Budget. This effort doesn't have to be a water-only fast! It encourages people of faith everywhere to join together in fasting, praying, and contacting their government officials -- to speak up for those without money or power or influence, those who will be hurt the most by current budget-busting proposals.

You don't have to join either of these organizations in order to join in their effort. Sojourners will send you a weekly inspirational message, and a suggestion for action. In his own recent blog, the Discipline of Fasting, Reverend Wallis offers a number of quotes for reflection. Here are a couple I liked:

**"More than any other Discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us."
**"Fasting reminds us that we are sustained ‘by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ (Matt. 4.4). Food does not sustain us, God sustains us."
**"Fasting helps us keep our balance in life. How easily we begin to allow nonessentials to take precedence in our lives. How quickly we crave things we do not need until we are enslaved by them."

I signed up. I wrote a couple of letters already this week. My representative (Jim McDermott) and senators (Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell) already are inclined to agree with me on these issues, but reminding them that this is important is still something they need to hear.

The fast? Well actually, it's hard; but it's really good for me, too. I DO feel closer to God. I DO feel closer to those who don't have the option to eat the way I can. I DO feel more free, too, to speak out for them.

Try it. Let me know what goes on inside of you, when you do.

Sentencing, on a Seattle Morning

This morning some friends of mine were sentenced in federal court in Tacoma, Washington. One of them is Fr. Bill Bichsel, SJ, of the Oregon Province of the Jesuits.

I’ve known Bix for over 30 years. Last year, Bix was part of a small group of nuclear weapons resisters who cut their way through the fence, onto the Trident nuclear missile base at Bangor, to post signs protesting the missiles.

Bix is the one with the microphone and black hat. I had planned to be present for this morning's sentencing, but needed to return to the doctor because of my ear. My wife Joan went, along with a large number of other people – the courtroom was filled, and even the overflow room was filled. Two members of the group received a sentence of 15 months in prison. Bix received 3 months, in consideration of his health, with several months more to wear a monitor ankle bracelet…which he promptly stated that he would not wear! The judge ignored him…I guess they’ll face that question in 3 months.

This morning both Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General, spoke to the court in favor of their actions. Bishop Gumbleton reminded the court of the folly of nuclear weapons… that current headlines about the radiation escaping accidentally from the reactors in Japan should be a reminder of the horror of what we deliberately threaten to do to our enemies, and also to future generations. Clark was particularly impressive, citing various legal precedents for their action, and reminding the court that actions such as theirs will one day, to our children or grandchildren, seem as prophetic and courageous as do those of Susan B. Anthony, who was once arrested for trying to vote (in 1872), and Rosa Parks, who was arrested for sitting down on a bus (in 1955).

These things probably won’t make tomorrow morning’s Seattle headlines, and certainly won't make headlines at any other major newspaper. It will surely take a lot more people risking their own freedom, to bring enough pressure to the nations of the world to disavow and destroy these weapons.

I've heard Bix speak several times about this -- and you can hear this short excerpt from his 80th birthday party:

God Is God -- Lenten Music

I surely do love listening to Joan Baez, and this song, written by Steve Earle and sung at the Amnesty International gathering in San Francisco, strikes a simple and reflective note, appropriate for Lent.



God Is God (Steve Earle)

I believe in prophecy.
Some folks see things not everybody can see.
And,once in a while,they pass the secret along to you and me.

And I believe in miracles.
Something sacred burning in every bush and tree.
We can all learn to sing the songs the angels sing.

Yeah, I believe in God, and God ain't me.

I've traveled around the world,
Stood on mighty mountains and gazed across the wilderness.
Never seen a line in the sand or a diamond in the dust.

And as our fate unfurls,
Every day that passes I'm sure about a little bit less.
Even my money keeps telling me it's God I need to trust.

And I believe in God, but God ain't us.

God, in my little understanding, don't care what name I call.
Whether or not I believe doesn't matter at all.

I receive the blessings.
That every day on Earth's another chance to get it right.
Let this little light of mine shine and rage against the night.

Just another lesson
Maybe someone's watching and wondering what I got.
Maybe this is why I'm here on Earth, and maybe not.

Chorus:
But I believe in God, and God is God.

You'd Never Guess It, But I Like Poetry

It's funny, how life's choices sometimes take you away from some of the very things where you find LIFE.

Like being too busy doing things...important things like your job, your home, or paying the bills...or even very important things, like standing with the poor and powerless, in the infinite ways open to us. Too busy.

A short while back, a friend of mine gave me a book of poetry called "Love Poems From God," by Daniel Ladinsky. Nice book, given by someone whom I respect. I thought I'd never find time to open it, though, given that I already have countless magazines and books lying around, that I tell myself I'll get to "when things slow down a bit."

So, don't you know, it's LENT, and it's a time for slowing down. "Things" don't slow down, they never do -- you have to decide to slow yourself down. To breathe... to listen... to pray... Those are things which are not "things," which are not URGENT "things" (which somehow command our attention), but which are IMPORTANT things, which should command our attention.

So, poetry. I opened the book yesterday, and remembered. I started with a few poems by Rabia of Basra (c 717-801), of whom I had never heard before. She is "without doubt the most popular and influential of female Islamic saints and a central figure in the Sufi tradition." The book's short history said "it is believed she lived and was forced to work as one might in a brothel for many years. She wrote 'What a place for trials and transformation did my Lover put me, but never once did He look upon me as if I were impure.'" The next page, leading to her poetry, has only: "One day He did not leave after kissing me." After I read these, I was hooked, and had to read her poetry. I've only read a few pages so far -- poetry should be lingered over -- but would like to share these two.

I HOPE GOD THINKS LIKE THAT

There is a dog I sometimes take for a walk
and turn loose in a
field.

when I can't give her that freedom
I feel in debt.

I hope God thinks like that and

is keeping track of all
the bliss He
owes
me.


IT ACTS LIKE LOVE

It acts like love -- music,
it reaches toward the face, touches it, and tries to let you know
His promise: that all will be okay.

It acts like love -- music, and
tells the feet, "You do not have to be so burdened."

My body is covered with wounds
this world made,

but I still longed to kiss Him, even when God said,

"Could you also kiss the hand that caused
each scar,

for you will not find me until
you do."

It does that -- music -- helps us
to forgive.

The Woman at the Well: "You Take My Breath Away"

The weekend before last, I participated in our annual Deacon's Retreat, at the Palisades Retreat Center. I always find at least a couple of good things at the retreat that make it worth going, and this year's retreat was not only "worth going," it was outstanding. The retreat was given by Deacon Bill Echert and his wife Barbara, and it focused on the "scrutiny gospels" from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent. Each session was excellent in its own way, but the very first reflection on the Woman at the Well was particularly memorable. Barbara Echert used a combination of imagination, music, and video presentations to really engage us.

In particular, I'd like to recommend this song, which I had never heard before. It's sung by a woman in love, about the one she loves ... and it helped us really appreciate the effect that Jesus had on the Samaritan woman at the well. As perhaps he should on us as well? You decide.

The lyrics are below, with the music.



Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away

You watch my love grow like a child
Sometimes gentle and sometimes wild
Sometimes you just take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away

Your beauty is there in all I see
And when I feel your eyes on me
Oh don't you know you just take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

Surgery During Lent

I've known for a couple of months now that I needed surgery. At my last visit with my regular doctor -- for a lingering cold -- I asked him to look at various little spots on my body to tell me if there was anything to be concerned about. It was "no...no...that's just a freckle...no..." when almost as an afterthought, I asked him to look inside my left ear. There was a funny bump there, but since I could only feel it but not see it, I hadn't really thought much about it. He only said..."Hmmm. That's something." It turns out that it was a basal cell carcinoma, and I went in yesterday for the surgery to remove it. I should say right away that since this was in my left ear, I was not particularly worried -- I am completely deaf in my left ear, and have been since an infection when I was 4 yrs. old, so I wasn't at all concerned about any effect on my hearing.

They used a procedure called a Mohs surgery, which I guess is usually simple enough. They remove a couple of slices of skin, until they think they have the tumor, and then they look under the microscope to be sure. They often have to go back for a second even a third removal, to make sure they have everything. In my case, the location of the tumor was inside my left year, at the begining of the ear canal but not past the ear drum -- an area where the skin itself isn't very deep, as it runs into cartilage very quickly. It was difficult to get at, and the tumor was a little larger (deeper) than originally thought.

The upshot of the whole thing is that since they removed a somewhat large area (about a quarter's size in area) they decided it was best to graft skin, from behind the ear, onto the area of the surgery, to protect the area and the ear canal itself. Well...

Two hours and about 80 stiches later, I emerged from the office with a huge bandage on my ear and left side of my head. Even with my ear numbed, I ached, I was really tired, and I knew the numbness in my ear was going to wear off soon. I got home, took a pain pill (Vicodin), and began cancelling things -- my role in the evening JustFaith meeting, my morning appointment, my scheduled on-call at Children's Tuesday night, even my bowling date on Thursday (that's the one I really regret; but "nothing even moderately strenuous for a week"). So now I'm at home, ON MY DAY OFF, looking like a dork with this bandage, and feeling the pain welling up again.

When you're lying there and they're stitching you up (for two hours), with the numbness you thankfully can't really feel sharp pain, but you do feel the needle going in, and the pulling of your skin when they're pulling things tight. It's not comfortable, and not for the squeamish, and I know I moaned a couple of times near the end. So anyway, somewhere along the line I started quietly saying the rosary.

I did about 12-13 decades, maybe more. I know I lost count several times, but I'm sure that was OK. I wasn't in pain, but there was a strong aching, that increased over time...somebody can only poke and pull at the same spot only so long before you really get worn out. It certainly wasn't the most devout or prayerful rosary I've ever prayed, but it did help connect me with those who were no doubt suffering far worse than I was (or ever will, I'm pretty sure).

So, it was a good Lent experience -- a completely unexpected one. I'm sure that plenty of people in Japan and Lybia have it far worse, that folks we tortured after the invasion of Iraq had it far worse, and that even children & families that I visit at Children's Hospital, close to home, have it far worse. But maybe I'm a little closer to them today. I hope so.

Focusing on "Holy Desire"

Lent has to be my favorite season of the Church year. The reason for that is that I'm sort of weak. I get distracted, I get busy, and I get tired; I lose my focus. LENT is the best antidote that I've ever found for helping me get back on track.

Some years are better than others. With Lent starting later this year, I wasn't "caught" by surprise... there was enough of a "break" for me that I started to really look forward to Lent, and so I do have some real hopes this time, this year.

This was also the first time in my memory that I was asked to give the homily for Lent, and so it was the first time that I was able to really put my own thoughts and feelings down on paper about it. A friend's notes gave me the impetus to talk about the three traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving ... so here it is.

Ash Wednesday, 2011

Good evening, and welcome to Lent. In a few minutes, we will mark the beginning of this holy season by receiving ashes on our foreheads in the sign of a cross. The season of Lent lasts forty days in imitation of the time Jesus spent in the desert before starting his public ministry. Of course, Lent leads up to and prepares us for the great celebration of Holy Week beginning with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where he celebrated his Last Supper before his Passion, Death and Resurrection. But what are we to do during these forty days? What is the purpose of imitating Jesus' time in the desert? St. Augustine summarized it powerfully: "The entire life of a good Christian," he said, "is in fact an exercise of holy desire. We do not see the Holy One we long for, but the very act of desiring God prepares us, so that when God comes we may see and be utterly filled."

In other words, what St. Augustine is telling us is not that we have to annihilate our desires; sometimes we think that about Lent, or about anything that’s penitential. On the contrary our desires are often all too small-minded. We look for fulfillment in what this world offers. God, however, wants us to have so much more – God’s very own Self. During Lent we undertake practices that intensify our desire, that increase our longing, for God. Jesus spoke about them in today's Gospel: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. They are sometimes called the penitential practices.

Of these three practices, prayer has first place. Prayer, really, is the beginning, the middle, and the end. Our hearts were made for an eternal relationship with God, and that relationship begins in this life, or it does not begin at all. If we desire friendship - that is, a relationship with another human being - we have to do things with that person, be in the other's presence; talk, and listen. Friendship will not happen automatically. The same applies in order to have a relationship with God. The most important prayer for Christians is what we are doing right now, participating in the Mass: making ourselves fully present, around the table; remembering Jesus together, breaking and sharing, together, the very person of Jesus, the one who is the perfect revelation of God. Of course there are other ways of praying too: Eucharistic adoration, meditation, reading and praying over the Bible, or spiritual reading of various kinds - or even turning off the car radio and thanking God for God’s many gifts to us. Prayer is the foundation for the Christian life - it opens the way to an eternal relationship with God.

After prayer comes fasting. This is tricky for us today, because many people obsess about food. I know it is tricky for me, because I really would like to lose a few pounds! But the goal of fasting is not to have a sleek body one can be proud of. And people should enjoy food and the conviviality that often accompanies a good meal. However, if we look to the example of the saints – large or small, they all had this in common: they practiced voluntary self-denial, which is what fasting is. Fasting should also find a place in our lives, whether it’s fasting from food or some other form of self-denial.

At a very minimum all of us are asked to follow the rules of no meat today and on the seven Fridays of Lent, and most of us are asked to fast today and on Good Friday. But until about 1960, generations of Christians fasted – not just on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but every weekday during Lent. Tonight I’d really encourage you to go much further than the minimum. You might do a full Lenten fast. Or you might give up for all of Lent some food you particularly enjoy. Or cut out eating between meals or – I am speaking to my own weakness now – give up that snack before bedtime. I know when I make a conscious decision to skip that bedtime snack, a voice inside of me whispers, “Well, you don’t want go to bed hungry!” But I also know that when I do it, I survive just fine.

If you’re a young person, talk to your parents about fasting; because you need to eat well enough to be healthy -- and if you’re a senior adult, you might want to check with your doctor. But fasting in some form is good for us; and if for some reason it should not be fasting from food, it should be another appropriate form of self-denial. Fasting reminds us that if we are serious about our spiritual life we must be able to deny ourselves, to deny our immediate impulses; because if we can’t do that we will find it impossible to take up our cross and follow Jesus… because our own desires will be stronger than our desire for God.

Finally, we come to almsgiving. I admit that I do not donate to every person or cause that I become aware of. That’s not being stingy – it’s the desire to be a good steward, to use resources in the best possible way to help others. For me during Lent this means supporting our parish Lenten charities (see sheet) -- it’s something that all of us here can do together. But for me personally, I also focus more intently on other people in need too, or the groups serving them, those whom I personally support because I know them... I’ve personally gotten involved with them. And bluntly, if you don’t have people or charities like that in your life, you’re not trying very hard. Almsgiving is especially about solidarity with others. It’s about desire for God expressing itself in a love for those God holds especially dear.

St. John Chrysostom, one of the doctors of the early Church, once said that after we have satisfied our own basic needs and the needs of those we are directly responsible for, all the rest really belongs to the poor. He said this to the people of his time: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The excess goods we hold on to are not ours, but theirs.” Lent is a good time to look at the things we spend our money on. Let’s look at our checkbook – or maybe better, look at our credit card statement. Does it reflect a commitment to God and to our neighbors in need?

We don’t do this so that people will think us generous. Someone who gives one dollar might really be more generous than any of us. And on the other hand, Bill Gates gives away more in a week than any of us will give away in a lifetime, but that does not necessarily mean he is more generous than you or I are. We are not called to give by human standards, but according to God's generosity. If Christians everywhere did this, our world would not have God’s other children living in dire need when we are not.

Tonight when you go home, I would like you to take with you something very practical to remind you of these three basics. It is a flat piece of cardboard that you can form into a small box called a “Rice Bowl.” Place it on your dining table as a constant reminder all through Lent. You could even say the prayer on the side - and as you do some voluntary fasting, you might place in the box what you save, something extra to turn in at the end of Lent.

So … welcome to Lent, my friends. As we receive the ashes on our foreheads, let's remember the purpose of Lent: a focused exercise of holy desire … through the penitential practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Deacon Denny Duffell, St. Bridget Parish

Consider the Lilies of the Field...

This homily was hard to write, and not just because of the distraction and tiredness that I mention in the first paragraph. It was hard because I know that this gospel message is one that our parish needs to hear, and I was afraid I couldn't do it justice. As I mention, it DOES feel a bit unreal.

What I hoped is that by bringing in the "freedom of my love" that Jesus talks about to Mack in that quote from "The Shack," people will understand this as an overwhelmingly positive message of how to really LIVE FULLY, and not really worry about all the stuff we fret about so much. It DOES seem unreal...but that's only because the world we live in has conditioned us to live this way.


8th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A), February 27, 2011

Good morning! It's a delight to be here with you again, and to share a few reflections with you about our scriptures this morning. I must say right up front that I've been distracted all day, and our beautiful first reading gives a poignant image of why, since it talks about how God could never forget us, that God's love for us is even more tender than the love a mother has for the child in her womb. Well, since about 1 a.m. this morning my oldest daughter Elizabeth has been in labor with her first child. Still! Little Charlie, they're going to name him... anyway, this Grampa has been short of sleep and in a bit of a fog! I will do my best here this morning.

As Fr. Tim and I have both pointed out before, in the last month our gospel selections have been from the Sermon on the Mount, beginning with the Beatitudes and continuing through chapters five, six, and seven of Matthew's gospel. It is here that Jesus sets the tone for his whole public ministry. And not only does Jesus speak with authority, he goes beyond the law itself, urging us to forgo even the anger or retaliation allowed by the law, to forgive as we would be forgiven, even to the point of loving our enemies and praying for those who would persecute us. He is really encouraging us to live as children of God.

And today's gospel fits seamlessly with that message. If we can really live as God's children, there won't be any conflict between serving God and mammon; and there won't be any need for worry about tomorrow's troubles. However, at times this gospel might feel a little unreal to us...

Because on a really nice day, this is a really nice Gospel. When Jupiter aligns with Mars and your biorhythms are up, you can really enjoy the birds and lilies and you can laugh with joy about tomorrow. But I might hesitate before quoting this gospel to a worried family at Childrens' Hospital. And if you were to hear this Gospel after losing your job, or hearing that your wife loves someone else, or after finding out that you child is on drugs, then you might wonder if Jesus lived in some parallel universe. Didn't Jesus know that the body will not survive if it doesn't eat and wear something? And obviously, growing up in a much warmer part of the world, Jesus never saw any carefree birds frozen in the snow, did he?

Or imagine getting a letter from your son in college: "Dear Mom and Dad: Today's Gospel reading was all about not worrying over things like food and clothing because God is going to give them to us anyway, and it takes our minds away from what really matters. That gave me a whole new perspective. From now on, I'm not going to worry about getting good grades, finding a job, etc. God knows that I need them and God will come through. Your loving son! P.S., In case God is slow getting back to me, I need $850."

Well. Jesus often uses a well-placed exaggeration to help us stop and think. And the reason I played around with this a bit is because I know we DO play OUR internal games with scripture sometimes, because there's often a sharp point in the gospel that we want to avoid.

Take that opening paragraph: "No one can serve two masters...You cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon means money, or wealth, but it means more than that. The word comes from a Hebrew root that means "to entrust." Mammon came to mean "that in which one places ones trust." It became a substitute for God, an idol, a false god. We might tell ourselves, “Well, I don't trust in wealth more than God"... but if that's so, how come it's so hard for us to give any substantial pieces of our wealth away?

Another sharp point in today's Gospel comes as Jesus identifies one of the signs of clinging to a false god: worry. A person devoted to an idol worries about it. "What will happen if I lose the thing that gives my life meaning?" For instance, many of us have been close to people who know that alcohol is ruining their lives -- but they cannot stand the thought of living without alcohol; it's become a false god.

Or consider something good, that we all do, even if we’re retired: work! Work is a good thing. I know people, some right here at St. Bridget, who work 60 or 70 hours a week or more. For some, I have nothing but respect... our work can be a real calling from God. I know doctors and nurses who work that hard, and it's because they've heard a call to be healers, and I admire them for that. Fr. Tim -- you may not know this, but he's the hardest working priest I've ever been associated with, in my 42 years of working for the Church. Sometimes we work so hard because we’ve experienced a call. But sometimes our work is not that kind of calling in life, and goes way beyond meeting our basic needs… but we become driven... to pursue other false or illusive idols of success, or wealth, or security -- and with it then come the fears and worries that our gospel warns us about.

Last week Fr. Tim mentioned a really good book, "The Shack," and I want to echo his endorsement. The staff read this book and discussed it together; there are a couple of copies in our parish library. A little over halfway through the book, the main character, whose name is Mack, is having a heart-to-heart, face-to-face conversation with Jesus, about Mack's worrying and fretting about the future, and Mack asks Jesus why he does that. And Jesus tells him:

"It is your desperate attempt to get some control over something you can't control. It is impossible for you to take power over the future because the future isn't even real, nor will it ever be real, it will always be the future. You try to play God, imagining the evil that you fear becoming reality, and then you try to make plans and contingencies to avoid what you fear."

Mack thought a bit, and then asked, "So why do I have so much fear in my life?"

And so Jesus goes on, "Because you don't believe. You don't really know that God loves you. The person who lives by his fears will not find freedom in my love. I am not talking about rational fears regarding legitimate dangers, but imagined fears, and especially the projection of those fears into the future. To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You might pray about my love, or talk about it; you might sing about it at church, but you don't know it."

Might Jesus be saying something like that to some of us today?

Today’s gospel may feel a little unreal…but there’s something here for all of us. As we meet the Lord today in our prayer and our Eucharist, let’s ask for the help to look at our worry and fears. Let’s ask Jesus to speak directly to our heart, to show us how deeply & personally God loves us.

Deacon Denny Duffell

New Arrival!!

This post rivals my "Best Blog Ever" post back in December. It's a picture of newborn Charlie, and his mom Beth -- my eldest daughter! He's her first child...Charles Forest -- the middle name comes from Joan's side of the family. It's marvelous.