16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - July 21, 2024

 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time – B 

July 21, 2024            8:30 and 11am 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

The Musical Rest

 

Most of us probably know that in music, we have what is called a rest.

 

The rest is simply a slight pause, a space, a silence between the sounds at certain points. I have asked Kevin to illustrate this for us by playing a few notes from our gathering song today– and play them first with the rest, and then without the rest.

 

I think we can hear the difference. In itself, the rest is nothing, but in the context of a piece of music, it is important.

 

The rest provides a quick moment to get your breath, to reflect or to highlight something. It makes the music a beautiful composition instead of just a series of notes.

 

The Prayerful Rest

 

In today’s gospel, Jesus invites the apostles to “come to a deserted place and rest.”

 

So, Jesus invites them to a pause, a space, a silence from their busyness. He does this because he knows that a rest, first, helps us to appreciate what we have been doing.

 

And second, it prepares us to do what comes next. In other words, life and prayer can be just a series of words and actions without this rest.

 

The rest brings wholeness and a certain appreciation to our life and our prayer. It does much the same as the musical rest does for a piece of music. 

 

The Rest in Mass

 

There are times for this prayerful rest right within our celebration of Mass.

 

For example, at the beginning of Mass, the priest asks us to recall God’s love and our human need for healing, our sinfulness. As soon as the priest invites us to do this, there is a rest.

 

A moment, a few seconds, of silence! This brief space puts us in touch with our humanity, and the words asking for God’s forgiveness or mercy make sense after this rest.

 

Then, after we sing the Glory to God, the priest says “Let us pray.” And again, there can be a slight pause. 

 

In this rest, we are silently to express our intention to have God come to us here in the Mass. This prepares us for the prayer that the priest will then lead, and this prayer is called the Collect – the same spelling as the verb collect – meaning that the priest intends to collect together the silent intentions that we have all just offered.

 

Then, after the homily, there is another rest. By this time, we have listened to three passages from Scripture and to the reflections on them.  

 

So here we have a moment of silence to let the words sink into our hearts and minds a bit. And only after this do we recite the Profession of Faith which the rest has prepared us to do. 

 

Next, during the Eucharistic Prayer, there are two rests. After the priest says the words of consecration first of the bread and then of the wine, there is a pause, a silence.

 

Here the rest awakens us to what is happening. It helps us to realize that we are actually repeating what Jesus did at the Last Supper. 

 

And finally, there is a rest after we receive Communion. This silence makes us aware that we have received the Lord Jesus, that we have actually consumed his body and blood under the forms of bread and wine.  

 

This pause makes us very conscious of God’s presence within us. And it also leads us to live with that awareness as we leave church and go about our lives.

 

Conclusion

 

So, much like a musical rest, the rest in our prayer makes this more than just a series of words, either our speaking to God or God speaking to us.

 

The rest helps us to appreciate what has been said and what will be said. It provides the opportunity for our prayer to be a more beautiful communication between God and us.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - July 14, 2024

 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time – B 

July 14, 2024            5pm 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

Zits: A Maturity Moment

 

Some of us are probably familiar with the comic strip called Zits. I think it has been around since 1997. 

 

Zits is basically about the upsets of teenagers and the challenges of a parent trying to guide a teenager. In one of the earlier episodes, some years ago, 15-year-old Sarah is having a bad hair day.

 

Sarah screams, “I hate my hair. I should just cut it off and start all over.”

 

Sarah’s mother calmly suggests, “That’s a good idea, Sarah. I know some people who would love to have it.”

 

Sarah responds, “Are you kidding? Who would want to be stuck with a whole head of this stuff?”

 

Mom then hands Sarah a brochure about an organization called Locks of Love. Locks of Love makes wigs for children who have lost their hair from chemotherapy.

 

Sarah reads the brochure and asks, “So this Locks of Love organization would use my hair to make wigs for kids with cancer?” Her mom explains, “Yes, and that way your problem becomes somebody else’s solution.”

 

Sarah just sits there in silence until finally her mom asks, “Are you okay, Sarah?” And Sarah says quietly, “I think I’m having a maturity moment.”  

 

Faith and Maturity

 

I see today’s Scripture readings as calling us to embrace these maturity moments.

 

They call us to personal and spiritual maturity. In the gospel, Jesus sends the apostles on a mission. 

 

He instructs them to take very few personal belongings. In other words, they are not to be preoccupied with themselves.

 

Instead, they are to guide others to what is good and bring healing and wholeness wherever possible. In our first reading, the prophet Amos is also focused beyond himself.

 

Amos is trying to persuade the leaders of the country to embrace social justice and care of the needy. He does this even to the point of being disliked and rejected.

 

Then Saint Paul in our second reading is looking beyond himself to God and the blessings God has given us. He wants us to be looking beyond ourselves at the bigger picture of life – much as the mother was trying to get Sarah to do in the comic strip.

 

Our Maturity Moments 

 

So, the Word of God today calls us to maturity moments and through them to personal and spiritual maturity.

 

Maturity moments are those experiences when we manage to put aside our own personal needs and problems and desires for the sake of someone else. For example, parents may hold back on buying things for themselves so that they can provide well for their children and make it possible for them to do things that will be good for their development. 

 

Maturity moments are those breakthroughs when we realize that we are not the center but only a part of a much larger world. For example, we Americans may realize that we need to think about how we use our resources when 2 billion people in our world lack safe drinking water and 820 million people suffer from hunger and food insecurity. 

 

And maturity moments are those times when our disappointment at what life has handed us gets transformed into gratitude simply for the gift of life itself. For example, instead of going under when things at work aren’t as good as we want them to be, we can thank God for life and health and the ability to work in the first place.

 

Conclusion

 

So, our prayer today is: may the Lord open our minds and hearts to embrace these maturity moments.

 

And may these moments form us into a good personal and spiritual maturity.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - July 7, 2024

14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B  

July 7, 2024              8:30 and 11am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

Weakness and Strength 

 

“When I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

These are the last words in today’s passage from Saint Paul. “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

This idea seems contradictory. When we feel weak in some way, we don’t usually see ourselves as strong. 

 

This idea is also counter-cultural. We pride ourselves on strength.

 

We often see any weakness as a deficiency. We want to project at least an appearance of strength.

 

Paul’s Weakness

 

So, what is Saint Paul getting at here: “When I am weak, then I am strong”? To understand this, we have to look back to something that he says earlier in today’s passage. 

 

Paul says: “[A] thorn in the flesh was given to me.” He repeatedly asked God to remove this “thorn in the flesh,” but it was not removed. 

 

Paul never tells us what this was. Some speculate that the “thorn in the flesh” was a chronic physical ailment.

 

Or maybe it was an emotional problem or maybe a moral fault. We just don’t know what it was.

 

Our Weakness 

 

We do know, if we think about it, we do know that we all have some “thorn in the flesh.”

 

Many of us have some weakness that we wish God would remove from us. Maybe it is physical pain – like migraine headaches or arthritis.

 

Or maybe it is an emotional condition – like depression. Or maybe it is a moral fault – like treating someone we don’t like in a disrespectful way. 

 

My bet is that we all have some weakness. We all have some “thorn in the flesh,” to use Paul’s expression.     

 

Weakness and Power 

 

Now God gives Paul an insight into this “thorn,” this weakness, and this is the key to the entire passage.

 

God says: “Power is made perfect in weakness.” Think about that: “Power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

This is a great insight. The idea here is that each of us has a certain amount of “power.”

 

By “power” I mean that each of us has a certain amount of self-sufficiency and a certain amount of influence over others. The insight that God gives Paul is that our “thorn in the flesh,” our weakness, whatever it is, can lead us to use our power much better.

 

So, if my “thorn” or weakness is some physical issue, this can lead me to be more empathetic with a family member who is having significant back pain. If my “thorn” or weakness is an emotional issue, it can lead me to be more understanding of a child who has ADD.

 

Or if my “thorn” or weakness is a moral issue, it can lead me to be less judgmental of others. These are examples of what God means in those profound words: “Power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

So, my “thorn” or weakness can have a good side to it. It can lead me to grow and become a better person.

 

Weakness and Divine Power

 

Finally, God also says: “My grace is sufficient for you.”

 

God is speaking here of the divine power that helps us to deal with our “thorn” or weakness. This is a great irony of our human condition.

 

When we feel the most broken, divine power is potentially at its greatest. Why?  Because when we know our weakness, we can be most open to the presence and power of God. 

 

This happens because we realize that we cannot do it by ourselves. And then, the divine power helps us to deal with our weakness. 

 

So, when we are aware of that “thorn” or weakness, we can turn to the divine power of God, in Jesus Christ. This power can empower us. 

 

Conclusion

 

Okay, to wrap it up:  God says: “Power is made perfect in weakness.” And: “My grace is sufficient for you.” 

 

And that is why Paul asserts: “When I am weak, then I am strong.”