To Bless - A Heartfelt, Cosmological Invitation to Holiness

R. Give glory and eternal praise to God.

"Sun and moon, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."

R. Give glory and eternal praise to God.

"Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."

R. Give glory and eternal praise to God.

"Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."

R. Give glory and eternal praise to God.

"All you winds, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."

R. Give glory and eternal praise to God.

"Fire and heat, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."

R. Give glory and eternal praise to God.

"Cold and chill, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."

R. Give glory and eternal praise to God.

I’ve been taught since my childhood that God forgives me and heals me and blesses me. I have little trouble understanding - or at least appreciating the enormity and value of the grace that God bestows upon me…..but just what is it that I’m called to give back? To praise and exalt God above all forever? To give glory and eternal praise? These ideas – as difficult and impossible as they may seem at times – are at least understandable concepts that I can embrace as goals and ideals. But I’ve always been uncomfortable with the idea of me “blessing” God. What does my “blessing” of God really mean or do? Can the sun and the moon and the winds really bless the Lord? The mountains and the hills? I want to ask one of my Mexican brothers if he believes that cold and chill can really bless the Lord --- or even if they should? Is an icicle worthy to bless the Lord? Is a rock worthy to bless the Lord? Am I worthy to bless the Lord?

The meaning of the Hebrew word brk or Bahruuk (Blessing) seems to be a point of argument among many scholars. BUT whether the definition is understood in terms of benefits conveyed from one party to another or alternately as a form of praise and worship it is agreed that it always implies a favorable relationship… being in relationship!

I’m not sure that I’ll do this thought justice – but I heard that a certain theologian believes that any random planet may very well do a better job of praising God than we can do – that the planet is in fact fulfilling its purpose – it is doing just as God intended or is at least doing all it can do within the atmospheric variables it exists within at any given moment.

God’s creation blesses and praises and exalts God simply by being --- by being the very thing that God has created. Perhaps we have much to learn from the stars or even from the storm cloud that sometimes makes us unhappy. The storm cloud is what it is meant to be – a catalyst in creation – and as it does its part it’s not always as pleasant as the sun and the moon. Come to think of it - even the sun can be tough to live with on some days. We love the warmth...but sometimes it’s too hot in relation to our part of the earth. All of creation and its processes have what we would judge as its “good and bad days.” And we’re left uncomfortable.

Like a rock or a storm or a snow bank…. all I’m left with some days…...is just the ability to be. To do my work, complete my tasks and to remain in relationship – to live up to my vows in the best way that I can - when it’s difficult. --- to be content to just put one foot in front of the other for awhile. To act as one who believes the words that he prays each day and really trust that God will not abandon me if I honestly try to function at my highest level --- however little that may be for today! ---to give glory and eternal praise, to exalt------to be in relationship….to bless!

As Azariah prayed: “With contrite heart and humbled spirit let us be received…”

---

Reflection Given by Joe Murray, OSA, on November 23rd, at St. Augustine Friary in Chicago.

Posted by Carlos J. Medina, OSA

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

Albrecht Altdorfer, The Resurrection



Byzantine icon



He Qi, The Risen Christ

O let your stillness speak today

(To be sung to an LM meter tune)

O Let your stillness speak today
With silent mouth speak to us:
For whoso hears your silence is,
awaiting for renewal with you

You suffered much until the end
You loved us all to the extreme
That beauty and splendor hath adorned
Creation's height and depth and width

You mingled our humanity
you clothed it with divinity
You lifted it upon the cross
to share with us of your glory

It is through this mystr’y of truth
that Leviathan is trodden down
In dying you destroyed our death
In hope we await to rise with you

Allow us Lord to die with you
To break our hearts by loving you
And in this way may we partake
Of blessed dance of Trinity

-Carlos J. Medina, OSA
(I took much of the imagery from the poems of St. Ephrem and St. Gregory of Nazianzen)

A Very Brief Timeline of the Church with a focus on the organization of the Roman Catholic Church

Up to the 11th Century

New Testament Times

Ministry of Jesus was preaching (kerygma), serving (diakonia), witnessing (koinonia) and praying (leitourgia).

Jesus appointed ministers. The were three categories of people who sometimes are distinct from each other, and sometimes they are not: The 12, The Apostles, The disciples, the 72.

After resurrection, Paul mentions three lists of ministries: Romans 12, 4-8; 1 Corinthians 12: 4-12; and Ephesians 4, 11-14. The most prominent ministries are being an apostle, a prophet, and Teacher. Prophets, apostles, and deacons included women.

No individual Christian was called “priest” in the New Testament, and it is not certain who presided over the Eucharist in the early communities with such varied structures.

2nd Century

Deacons, Presbyters, and Episcopi start to become the prominent ministers.

Presbyters become more prominent as advisors of bishops.

Monepiscopacy develops, namely one bishop for every Christian community.

Presiding at Eucharist begins to be linked with the bishop

3^rd Century

Cyrpian notes in 250 for the first time that the Bishop is a priest, and that presides in place of Christ.

The bishop of Rome started to claim authority over the entire Church.

4^th Century

In 330 Emperor Justinian moves to Constantinople changing the political landscape, especially the importance of Rome.

Meletian Schism (361-415) – It affected Syriac Christianity and the patriarchate of Antioch. It had to do with different views not agreeing on the relation between Christ’s human and divine nature.

Donatist Troubles: In North Africa, some people considered those who had given in during persecutions as “traditores” or traitors. They claimed that sacraments administered by traditores were invalid.

5^th Century

With the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, populations moved to the countryside and many parishes were established in the country. In the cities, bishops began to occupy civil positions of leadership.

Pelagian controversy: In Europe and North Africa there was a dispute regarding the necessity of Grace for becoming a good person. Great theologians such as Augustine of Hippo, and John Cassian were involved.

Nestorian Schism – Syriac Churches did not accept the title Theotokos (God-bearer) given to Mary because they emphasized the distinctness of Christ’s human and divine nature.

St Benedict (480-540) – started a monastic way of life with his rule which became very popular in the West.

St Patrick evangelizes Ireland. Saint Brigit of Kildaire also has a role in evangelization by founding several monasteries. Columbanus continues their mission after their death.

6^th Century

With the fall of the Roman Empire, bishops struggle to be controlled by local princes, or are themselves princes. Over time, they become part of the political hierarchy. It is the beginning of the “investiture struggle” or the struggle for the highest authority between church and civil authority. This struggle would continue for the rest of the Middle Ages.

Eastern bishops saw the rejection of canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon by Pope Leo I as an improper act.

7^th Century

Syriac monks and missionaries spread Eastward along the trade routes. Alopen reaches China in 635.

The growth in papal supremacy led to the beginnings of estrangement with bishops in the East.

There were double monasteries in Ireland and Northern England, where men and women lived in a common property, with separate buildings.

Boniface (675-754) goes to Germany and evangelizes and reforms churches.

8^th Century

Monasteries by this century were very pervasive, and were seen as islands of the ideal life in the midst of a chaotic age.

Under the time of Charlemagne (742-814), parish life experienced upsurge in quality as Charlemagne worked to get parishes under more direct control of bishops.

9^th Century

A tithing system was put in place so that a community would support a priest and also send money to the bishop. In 840 with the death of Louis the Pious (Charlemagne’s son) the plan fell apart.

Cyril (d. 869) and Methodius (d. 885) evangelized the Slavs.

Photian schism (863-867) – The East and West split briefly due to the appointment of Photius I of Constantinople, a lay scholar to the patriarchate of Constantinople. The Pope Nicholas III was opposed to such an appointment. Below the surface, the filioque along with differing practices between the churches fueled the separation.

10^th Century

Metropolitan bishops began to be called Archbishops. Their homes started to become centers of juridical and theological importance. Archbishops presided at the consecration of suffragan bishops, settled disputes in both canon and civil law, and presided at local synods or councils.

Cluny – reform of Benedictine monks which had become lax.

11^th century

The word papacy (“papatus”) appears for the first time.

The great schism of 1054 – the rupture that had begun two centuries earlier finally becomes visible and formal. Some of the issues were the universal jurisdiction of the Pope, the filioque, disagreement on how to evangelize Bulgaria, and liturgical practices proper to each branch.

Carlos J. Medina, OSA

Prayer of Repentance

Merciful Father help me see myself in your truth. Clothed in your son, may your Spirit dwell in my mind, and fill my heart. Yet help me be patient with myself in this process. Help me stay away from false images of perfection, but rejoice in hearing the music of your Spirit instead. Hold me fast, and grant me the strength to hold on to you while you take time to enlarge my heart with your love. May I never despair, but always drink of your saving hope, always trust in your promises. May repentance be a great understanding and realization where I see myself, in the Light of your Christ. In His light may I see Light so that all darkness of fear and shame may vanish. Merciful Lord, accept me in repentance, and help me accept myself as I am. Help me accept myself in my weakness, in the times when I am weary. O Holy Spirit, Give me new eyes to see that fundamentally at my deepest core I am beautiful because I am created in your image. Help me affirm myself in You my God, my friend. Lord Jesus, help me see not where I have failed, but how I can live in your love each day. May I be grateful that you are by me at every moment, instead of self-hating because of what I am not. Give me faith to see that under the ugliness that I see is the beauty you created. Take me as I am, and remind me each day that you made me beautiful. May I never forget how much I am loved, how precious I am in your eyes. Merciful Lord, accept me in repentance, and help me accept myself as I am. You who write straight on crooked lines, help me accept myself as I am, where I am at today, and give me hope that tomorrow I will have the faith to do the same. O Holy Trinity, Holy God - Beauty, Life, Love. Help me affirm myself in You my God, my friend.

Carlos J. Medina, OSA

The Gift of Loneliness

I would like to voice loudly and clearly what might seem unpopular and maybe even disturbing: The Christian way of life does not take away our loneliness; it protects and cherishes it as a precious gift. Sometimes it seems as if we do everything possible to avoid the painful confrontation with our basic human loneliness, and allow ourselves to be trapped by false gods promising immediate satisfaction and quick relief. But perhaps the painful awareness of loneliness is an invitation to transcend our limitations and look beyond the boundaries of our existence. The awareness of loneliness might be a gift we must protect and guard, because our loneliness reveals to us an inner emptiness that can be destructive when misunderstood, but filled with promise for him who can tolerate its sweet pain.

When we are impatient, when we want to give up our loneliness and try to overcome the separation and incompleteness we feel, too soon, we easily relate to our human world with devastating expectations. We ignore what we already know with a deep-seated, intuitive knowledge - that no love or friendship, no intimate embrace or tender kiss, no community, commune or collective, no man or woman, will ever be able to satisfy our desire to be released from our lonely condition. This truth is so disconcerting and painful that we are more prone to play games with our fantasies than to face the truth of our existence. Thus we keep hoping that one day we will find the man who really understands our experiences, the woman who will bring peace to our restless life, the job where we can fulfill our potentials, the book which will explain everything, and the place where we can feel at home. Such false hope leads us to make exhausting demands and prepares us for bitterness and dangerous hostility when we start discovering that nobody, and nothing, can live up to our absolutistic expectations.

Many marriages are ruined because neither partner was able to fulfill the often hidden hope that the other would take his or her loneliness away. And many celibates live with the naive dream that in the intimacy of marriage their loneliness will be taken away.

When the minister lives with these false expectations and illusions he prevents himself from claiming his own loneliness as a source of human understanding, and is unable to offer any real service to the many who do not understand their own suffering.

-Henri Nouwen

Posted by Carlos J. Medina, OSA

Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

Anointing of the Sick and Symbols from Today's Readings (Fourth Sunday of Lent)

First reading: OIL

“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.” ... The LORD said, “There—anoint him, for this is the one!” (1 Samuel 16: 11-12)

The youngest were considered the most unworthy, and God chooses the youngest as the King.

Second Reading: LIGHT

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Ephesians 5, 8

During illness we can make experience shame, self-centeredness, guilt, anger, and even so, we are not in darkness.

Gospel: SALIVA

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes,
and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” —which means Sent—.
So he went and washed, and came back able to see. (John 9: 5-7)

Body fluids, when outside of the body were considered shameful and impure. The sick were considered shameful because people thought they were the result of sin. Jesus uses what is shameful to heal from shame. Since he is Light, anything he touches is not in darkness.

Other Passages about Anointing of the Sick

“Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? 6 He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint (him) with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” (James 5: 14-16).

"If one member suffers in the Body of Christ, which is the Church, all members suffer with that member" (1 Cor 12: 16).

What is the sacrament of anointing about?

Remember that sacraments speak to us through their symbols. With Water of baptism tells us we enter into the new life of Christ by becoming members of His body by dying to sin and rising to new life in His Spirit. In eating the Body of Christ we express and deepen our unity with Christ, and His Church as the Body. In the anointing of the sick, the anointing with oil expresses that not even severe illness separates you from the Church as community, as Body of Christ. Whereas illness can be a source of shame, in anointing the sick we express that you are still loved by God and the church, especially during this time. You are anointed just like kings and prophets were. If illness can be a source of shame, in the sacrament of anointing sickness becomes an opportunity for reconnection with the community, for remembering that you are made holy by Jesus Christ. The priest, as a representative of the community, embraces the sick sister or brother, and in this way protects the person from separation from the Church because of illness. In the letter of James, the apostle says that the presbyters (today we call them priests) are to pray over the sick, not just for the sick (James 5,14). In praying over the sick, the sick person is commended to the prayer of the whole Church. As the catechism says, "By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. (Catechism Para 1499).

When can someone receive the sacrament of anointing of the sick?

Each time a Christian falls seriously ill, he may receive the Anointing of the Sick, and also when, after he has received it, the illness worsens. (Catechism, Para. 1529)

What are the spiritual benefits (special graces) that can be received through the sacrament of anointing?

• the uniting of the sick person to Christ is a special way;
• the knowledge that Jesus also suffered, and is with the person.
• the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
• the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
• the possibility of healing,
• the preparation for passing over to eternal life. (Para. 1532)

Why receive the sacrament? Why not just pray for my health, or ask anybody to pray for me?

It is not either, or. It is always good to pray for others and ourselves, so the sacrament of anointing does not mean that we do not pray for each other or for ourselves. As written above, the sacrament is more than the priest praying for you – he’s representing your Church, and expressing that you are still a beloved member of the community, and anoints you as a sign of who you are in Christ.

Carlos Medina, OSA

3 points about our vocation

You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our Hearts are restless until they rest in you. Saint Augustine begins his Confessions with this prayer. In this short, beautiful line he expresses how God loves us into being with a divine destiny in mind. As creatures of God we are called to develop to our full potential, but as daughters and sons in christ, we are called to share in divine life - to love as God loves. This is the first point I came to share with you: Almighty God, the Holy Trinity wants to share divine life with you. This is a vocation we are all invited to share.

Now, If there is a destination, then there's a way to get there. Psychologist Adrian Van Kaam says that we make our life our own by the commitments we make. If we are all called to be like God, and yet not all of us make the same commitments, then I think that there are different paths to reach our destination. The way that I find my rest in God is different from the way you may find your rest in God. And yet, I think we can group together some of the different paths by the commitments of love they share in common. For Most people, the significant commitment of love they make is marriage. In marriage, a man and a woman commit themesleves to help each other walk toward God. In that process their mutual love reveal to the rest of us an aspect of God's love: His fidelity. Other people commit themselves personally to God, and live a consecrated single life. They are consecrated lay people, or hermits, or consecrated virgins. Among the men, some become diocesan priests. Lastly, there is a third category of people: These are people who commit themselves to God in the context of a community of brothers or sisters. These are religious sisters and religious brothers. Among the religious brothers, some are called to ordained ministry.

As you can see, there is a great variety of commitments. And even within a particular commitment you find differences: not all marriages are alike, and not all religious people live the same type of religious life. Yet we are all called to the same destination of sharing life with God, and as we walk towards this destination together we are a pilgrim people, we are Church.

I'm speaking as one from the third group: I'm a religious. More specifically, I'm an Augustinian friar. I find inspiring the path of seeking God that St Augustine started 1600 hundred years ago. In order to imitate Christ more freely and more closely, and rooted in the spirit of the early Christian community from the Acts of the apostles, St. Augustine established a community with his friends. The main purpose of such community was to live together in harmony, so as with a single mind and a single heart seek the Lord.

What initially attracted me to religious life and priesthood was not this beautiful vision of community life for the sake of journeying together toward the Lord. Rather, it was the opportunity to serve others in a very meaningful way. After some involvement with church ministries before entering to the Order, I find out when I entered the Novitiate that during the novitiate we were not allowed to be involved in any ministry for that year. I had been used to helping at Church, volunteering every now and then, and all of a sudden I could not do it anymore. What first was surprising news, became upsetting to me. Thanks to my novice director, I learned that I was used to doing a lot of things, to having a busy schedule. Now I had a rigorous schedule, but it was aimed at prayer and solitude.

I heard that among some traditional aboriginal tribes, people who have been journeying for a while sit down so that their spirits can catch up to their bodies. After doing a lot to get into college, and then doing a lot in college to get into grad school, entering the novitiate was like sitting down, and allowing my spirit to catch up to me. Slowly, but painfully, after getting used to being, rather than doing, I started to realize that in my previous running to seeking to serve others, I was trying to fill a void of acceptance in me. At an unconscious level I thought that if I helped others, that I would be accepted by others and by God. After all we all have a deep need to be accepted. On of the blessings of the novitiate was that in the silence of God's presence, I learned to allow myself to be loved by God first. While I was trying to earn drops of the water of acceptance, in the silence of my heart I found God was willing to give me a whole ocean of it. I was loved as I was, without needing to do anything. And after experiencing such acceptance, I can now tell you that you are already loved. We are not on this journey toward God so we can be loved, but we are called to God because we are already loved. We hear that God loves us all the time, but I invite you to truly accept it.

St. Paul tells us today in our second reading:

"For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."

Think of the consequences: If I am enough for God, then there is nothing I need to hide from God, and if God accepts me as I am, then I can accept myself; and if I can accept myself, then I can accept other people. You can change "accept" for forgive. If God forgives me, then I can forgive myself; and if I can forgive myself because God has forgiven me, then I can forgive other people. I think We hear much of what we should be or should do, and not enough of who we are in Christ - in Christ we are beloved sons and daughters. I do not deny that we are works in progress, that we are in journey, but we are loved at every step of the way. This is the second point I came to share: You are already loved at every step of the journey.

With this great lesson in hand, Last summer I professed my first vows, and I started studies in theology last Fall in Chicago. In the course of my first semester I managed to get so focused on my theological studies, that I started to forget about the vision, the destiny we have in Christ, and the path I had started to walk to get there. The lesson has been the realization that I am quite vulnerable in living out vocation I am called to if I try to do it on my own. I need God's assistance along the way.


We heard in the Gospel of John how Jesus answered to the Samaritan woman:

“If you knew the gift of God
and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”

If you knew the Gift of God, Jesus says. If we knew the gift of God! In acknoledging who we are as recipients of the gift of God, we may realize all the more that we do not need to strive to earn the gift. After all, a gift is free. We can become accustomed to thinking that all there is is the regular water that the samaritan woman went to get everyday, when in fact God is waiting for us to accept his living water. How easy it is to mistake one for the other. To confuse our dreams for plans. How easy it is to resignate ourselves, to focus on our thirst that we forget about the living water. Like the Israelites from the first reading, who "In those days, in their thirst for water, they grumbled against Moses,
saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?" (Ex 17, 3) - sometimes we may grumble as well, and wish we were back in our Egypts.

During this time of Lent we are called to repentance. In light of today's Gospel reading, I invite you to see repentance as the opportunity to look beyond the routine thirst of resignation, and helplessness into the living water that has been promised to us. This is my third point: let us nourish our hope. I agree with a theologian who says that When hope is frustrated, it produces sadness, resignation, resentment, and helplessness. I invite you to nourish hope by spending time with the Lord, and by encouraging, and reminding each other of who we are in Christ. Let us enter the silence of our hearts and drink from the Living water Jesus has for us.

So these have been my three points:

We are called to walk toward a sacred destiny
We are already loved every step of the way.
And thirdly, let us nourish the hope we have received.

Carlos J. Medina, OSA
[I gave this talk today at Our Mother of Good Counsel in Homer Glenn, IL)

Still, My Soul, Be Still

“There we shall rest and we shall see, we shall see and we shall love, we shall love and we shall praise.” St. Augustine

I came across a contemporary expression of this human desire to be still in God:

By Keith and Kristyn Getty

Still my soul be still
And do not fear
Though winds of change may rage tomorrow
God is at your side
No longer dread
The fires of unexpected sorrow

God You are my God
And I will trust in You and not be shaken
Lord of peace renew
A steadfast spirit within me
To rest in You alone

Still my soul be still
Do not be moved
By lesser lights and fleeting shadows
Hold onto His ways
With shield of faith
Against temptations flaming arrows

Still my soul be still
Do not forsake
The Truth you learned in the beginning
Wait upon the Lord
And hope will rise As stars appear when day is dimming

Posted by Carlos J. Medina, OSA

St Augustine recognized the presence not only of ‘hidden saints’ but also ‘prophets’ among the Gentiles

"...Balaam, a Mesopotamian diviner, was somewhat unfairly vilified in the NT. In the full story about him (Num. 22:1-24: 25), he clearly exemplifies how an ‘outsider’, who never joins the people of God, can pronounce genuine prophecies about the destiny of Israel, its royal leader, and Jesus himself. Could we imagine such prophetic activity continuing today among those who do not belong to the Church?

One might readily think here of ‘positive’ figures such as Martin Buber (1879 – 1965), Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948), and the Dalai Lama (b. 1936). But what of such notoriously ‘negative’ figures as Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939), Karl Marx (1818 – 83), and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 – 1900). Marold Westphal entertained the possibility in his Suspicion and Faith: The Religious Use of Modern Atheism. Westphal explored brilliantly the abiding challenges that Freud, Marx and Nietzsche pose to believers, who slide into various forms of self-deception. Without changing anything, he might have given his book another subtitle: The Prophetic Use of Modern Atheism. What would it be like to take the case of Balaam as an encouragement to look for prophetic figures, both positive and negative, in the modern world? St Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430) recognized the presence not only of ‘hidden saints’ but also ‘prophets’ among the Gentiles (Contra Faustum 19.2; De catechizandis rudibus 22.40). He declared roundly that ‘prophecy was extended to all nations (omnibus gentibus dispensabatur prophetia)’ (In Ioanem 9.9)."

by Gerald O’Collins, S.J. Salvation For All: God’s Other Peoples (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 203-4. Taken from here

-Carlos J. Medina, OSA