Twilight Twitches

Dear Family,
Some of you receive, “Give Us This Day.” In the entry for last May 25th, this reflection from the Dialogues of Saint Catherine of Siena appeared.

Found By Love
I have chosen you out of the world...
Thank you so much, eternal Father, for not abandoning me, Your handiwork. Thank you for not turning your face away from me. Thank you for not making light of my desires. You are Light, and You’ve seen and forgiven my dark weaknesses. You are Life, and You’ve never believed me dead.
You, Doctor, have listened to my grave illnesses of soul.

Dear Family,
Father Larry Gillick, SJ, has been a writer for the Daily Online Reflections from Creighton University. I once had the good fortune of making a retreat under his direction. He lost his sight as a child but that never got in the way as he quoted scripture to us from his brail copy of the gospels. He wrote this a few years ago.

“The Jesuit poet, G. M. Hopkins wrote a poem about patience as a hard thing to pray for. Waiting, longing, wondering what’s taking so long, are experiences we’d rather avoid. Things for which we do not have to wait, things and persons who are automatically present, tend to become, well, just there - the usual.

There is a comfort in the usual, but there is something in the human soul which urges the new, different or surprising.

Dear Family,
Welcome to our visitors, most especially the invited neighbors and friends of our parishioners. This weekend, throughout the Archdiocese, parishes are celebrating Welcome Weekend. The idea is to try and let people know something about the Church.

In one sense, I’m wondering why we are doing this because I hope we would always be welcoming. Maybe it’s because I just opened a note I received.

Dear Family,
Happy New Year!

No, I’m not early. Today is the first day of the Church’s Liturgical year. Today we begin to celebrate anew the events that shape our path to heaven. Matthew will be our gospel writer for the year, the “A” cycle. (Mark is “B,” and Luke is “C.” John pops up during special times including Advent, Lent and Eastertime in all three years.)

I’m sure you were laying awake last night wondering about the liturgical cycles, weren’t you? Personally, I’m grateful because there is a certain genius in the organized flow. Despite occasional evidence to the contrary, the Church is nothing if not organized.