An inspired moment

We've had a couple newer members of our prayer group who have been seeking prayer after the meeting fairly consistently. In both cases, they have been dealing with a struggle that it would be inappropriate for me to divulge, in the unlikely case that someone from the group should ever read these pages. But I think it's okay for me to share here something of what I felt led to share with them after praying last night, as it relates more broadly.

We often lament the lack of piety that we seem to observe in others who approach the Eucharistic table distractedly. I notice the same thing in myself as I cast a judgment at someone I know well who reads the bulletin during the homily: we are quick to assume an attitude of superiority over others, and it is good for us to be reminded that we have earned neither our place at the table nor the gifts that make us the unique person God has created us to be. We do ourselves a disservice when we disdain others, when we fail to recognize and treasure God's spark within them. But that isn't the point of this observation.

Rather: God's grace is at work through the Sacraments even when we who participate in them are not fully aware and appropriately appreciative - as if we could really be either of these things, since we will not know the full import of the gifts we are given until we have passed through the veil. This is true of every Sacrament, beginning with the baptism of an unaware infant. The grace poured out always transcends the awareness of the participant.

This is true of our marriages, as well, whether they are mostly solid or feel as if they are on shaky ground. As we continue to participate in the Sacrament in which God has called us to our primary vocation, His grace continues to be at work, including when we struggle to perceive it - or even to believe in it without perceiving. As with every other Sacrament in which we partake, our increased awareness of this truth increases its efficacy in our lives. It strengthens us and helps us grow more as we more fully give ourselves to Christ within it.

I'm pretty sure God honors the intent

 . . . When you give your confessor a wrong piece of information and so he gives you a penance that you can't complete.      :(

I got as close as I could . . .

Conforming (phase 2), Baptism and Temptation of Jesus - Three Degrees of the Love of God (step15), session 6

Okay, time for the repeat session on Jesus' temptation. (Mt. 4, 1-11)

I'm borrowing this initial idea from someone else here, and I don't remember who. But just as Jesus answers his temptations through his knowledge of truth based on Scripture, we also are strongest against our own temptations when we know who we are. Perhaps this was the reason why the Father spoke his pleasure from the cloud to Jesus. Of course he did so because it was true; God speaks only truth, and he speaks truth into existence. So when God likewise tells us that we are his beloved sons and daughters, it is a truth that he is speaking into being, one that strengthens us against the buffeting of Satan's temptation by reminding us of who we really are and long to be. The enemy brings his strongest temptations and accusations to bear against that, because our truly believing this truth about ourselves defeats him utterly. We have no desire for the illusions he offers us, of fulfillment through gluttony or power or even of escaping responsibility for our choices by offering them as a test of God, when we are at all certain of God's love for us and how fully it alone completes us and fills all our need.

I suppose this is why I am not obsessing over seeing someone receive Reconciliation last night who may be living in a way that will undermine the sacrament's efficacy in her life. It would be easy for me to say, "Yes, but . . . " and list my objections to that person's choices, but then I would take on the role of the Accuser, and I want no part of that. It is also tempting to believe my role is to make her see her errors, but that would be succumbing to the first tempation: to take on the role of God. Through the vivid dream of a friend in prison I have received a comforting command from God which I instead choose to apply: "Pray. Watch me work." His longing for his loved ones is always greater than our own, as is the pain he feels on our behalf which we are often unable to feel for ourselves when we make choices that separate us from God. I could judge that someone is living a lie by approaching one sacrament when they are violating another one, but that judgment has no place in the heart of one who has himself received unfathomable mercy. Rather, I long for others to know it, too, and I know there is a grace at work in each sacrament that exceeds the will of the human participant. We are incapable of knowing the full extent to which God is at work healing and transforming us each time we receive him in Eucharist, in Reconciliation and all the sacraments, as well as in prayer and in all the other ways he comes to us.

So my eyes filled with tears of hope and longing, which I am convinced were not fully my own, and I pray that those who were Reconciled last night would fully receive the grace available to them and be strengthened against the temptations in their own deserts.

Apropos reading

How odd that this should be the first reading at the mass being offered for my friend's grandmother, when I was also praying for another friend who is struggling with the passing of a loved one at a young age:

On this mountain the LORD of hosts
will provide for all peoples
A feast of rich food and choice wines,
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
The web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away
the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.

On that day it will be said:
“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. - Is 25, 6-10a

More Thanksgiving 2013

What a great weekend, with very little thought of the dark past.

First, the relatively inconsequential stuff.  Even though the bird was more done than I was going for as a result of losing track of time when my cousin-in-law and his wife got here, it didn't get dried out because of it. I almost decided against using my frozen mincemeat from last year because I thought it looked too mushy, but changed my mind after test-tasting it. What a great decision. And I remembered from last year that even though the pie crust recipe says to roll it out to a quarter-inch thickness, that's really too thick. I rolled them that thick, then took the guide wheels off the rolling pin to roll it just a bit thinner. Turned out perfect, for both my mince pie and the two pumpkin. The decision to get an extra turkey breast also turned out great. I don't think we'd have run out of meat, but wouldn't have had much left over for soup and sandwiches. I also remembered to add a bunch of broth to the fabulous stuffing that I reprised from last year, since I don't cook it inside the bird. It was much moister as a result, and I also remembered to add an extra cup of diced apple; between the two corrections it was even more delicious this year than last!  I did forget about the strawberry applesauce I'd planned, but it isn't as if anyone lacked enough to eat.

It was fabulous having our oldest and her children with us, and our oldest grandson's girlfriend, too. I don't think that our daughter realizes that she was the main reason why dinner was so late getting to the table - we couldn't really proceed without the mashed potatoes, and she didn't get here in time to have them done at the time we specified for dinner, but that wasn't the end of the world, either, and the only complaints about dinner being late were from her kids.

After dessert and a minor panic when our oldest daughter mistook some splatters on the side of her truck for scratches in the dark - and let's spare her the speculation over where I think the roots of that might lie - we headed south to Tim and Kathie's place to hang out with them for another day. Our dog did great on the drive, and once he got used to being around the other dogs he had a nice visit, too. We got there too late to watch the entire DVR'ed Ravens' game, but I had listened to it in the car and knew the outcome. We speed watched the first half, then saved the second for Friday morning while Kathie was replacing the ingredients I'd left behind in our efforts to get out the door. The soup was better than ever, thanks to some fresh sage and Kathie's recommendation to use frozen noodles rather than dried. Oh, my, what a difference the latter made!  We finally got my wife caught up on An Unexpected Journey while I worked on the soup. Then started in on The Hunger Games while waiting for it to be time to head out to Thor, The Dark World. It was a nice piece of entertainment; they're making some nice comic-book movies lately, but let's face it: they're comic book movies. Still, we all enjoyed it, so that's more of an observation than a complaint. Then we headed home, where we finished watching The Hunger Games with a piece of pie and, for those of us so inclined, a glass of port.

Kathie was scheduled to work on Saturday, and Tim was slated to be at the model race car track, so we headed toward home by around ten. It was a gorgeous, sunny day for a drive, and we listened to the Big Game along the way, which I watched the rest of when we got home. In our 27 years here I've successfully avoided being infected by Buckeyes' fanhood - which will pay off as Maryland joins the "B1G Ten," but it seemed unfair to me that a team could not lose a game in two years and still get shut out from a shot at the national title (even if last year was their own fault because of sanctions). The game was thrilling. I then got in a short bike ride, and after getting home watched the Iron Bowl, which turned out to have an even more exciting finish than the OSU-UM game. Wow. The Buckeyes still have business to take care of next week, and I won't be heartbroken if they should lose, but they belong in the title game if they win, and now they should be there. I can't imagine a one-loss Auburn team would beat them even with their victory over the Tide.

Now, to shower and get to mass for the first Sunday of Advent.

Encouragement

Just finished a letter of encouragement for a young confirmand, a niece of our parishioner and friend Diane. I'm not sure that Aunt Diane knew what she was in for when she asked me to do this!  I hope it encourages her niece, though.