A Prayerful Home

~~~ Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~~~
~~~ Revelation 10:8-11 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Luke 19:45-48

My house shall be a house of prayer,

Mary was taken to temple and presented to God
by her faithful loving parents, Joachim and Anne.
They dedicated her to God without fully
 realizing what that would mean for their daughter.
Joachim and Anne were the proud parents of a beautiful little girl
little did they know how much God loved her.
Little did they know that their daughter
was chosen to be the mother of Jesus.
God chose them to be her parents because
they already had a deep faith.
God knew they would pass on their love of the Scriptures.
Mary grew up in a loving family, a house filled with prayer.

As many parents experience, sometimes things
 happen to your children that you cannot prevent.
Sometimes the joy you had when they
were young turns sour as they make mistakes.
Happiness turns to sorrow as they experience set backs
 in their lives...their careers, their relationships, etc.

Imagine how Mary's parents must have felt when
 she shared with them her visit with the angel of God.
They were indeed going to be grandparents,
but this was no ordinary child.
Their daughter was going to be the mother
 of the Son of God...the Messiah.

“Take and swallow it.

It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”

Mary experienced both the sweetness of giving
 birth to the child Jesus.
Mary also experienced the great sorrow of having
 to witness her child be crucified.

Throughout her life Mary would
 taste the sweetness of loving her son, Jesus.
Along with the sweetness she also had many occasions
when she felt her stomach turn sour. 

How was she able to endure all this agony?

Her parents prepared her for whatever life would bring to her.
Her parents knew if they could teach their daughter to love God...
to learn from his holy words...
she would be equipped to accept the life
God would lay before her.

The Presentation of Mary in the temple
 set the tone for the rest of her life.
Her parents presented her to God to make her
into the person he wanted her to become.

Mary's parents made it possible for her
to say 'yes' when the angel
Gabriel came to her side.

As parents, making our home a house of prayer
 might just be the most important thing
 we can give to our children.

Sometimes I wish that I would have understood
just how important praying with my
children was when they were young.

If you want your family to be more Blessed

take the steps to set aside the time
to make prayer a priority

in your home.

~Peace~

Share the Joy

Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

 

~~1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59~~ 1 Chronicles 29:10bcd, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd ~~Luke 19:45-48 ~~ 

 

My house shall be a house of prayer...

Saint Cecilia is the patroness saint of musicians.

In our churches music aids in raising our hearts and minds to God.

The great composers have the ability to almost harness

 the magnitude of God with music.

Even if only for a couple measures it is glorious

to hear musicians and the congregation lifting

their voices up in praise to God.

 

Those who plotted to arrest Jesus were discouraged

by how the people responded to his teachings.

 

...all the people were hanging on his words...

 

It was if the people were being taken to another place

beyond the immediate space. 

Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation?

I have been so enthralled by a speaker that I did not want their talk to end.

I am sure you have been so engaged in a movie that two hours

 later you were surprised it was ending.

If you are listening so intently that time is insignificant you are fully attentive.

You are consumed with the present...

nothing else matters at that moment in time.

 

 

There was great joy among the people... 

 

 When people are sharing a common experience

their emotions are magnified and can even be enhanced.

People in crowds laugh together, cry together,

 cheer together, and experience joy together. 

 

Singing together draws people closer to each other...

music creates an internal bond.

 Blessings come from hanging on his every word...

if we are able to hang on his every word we will find great joy.

He has the words of everlasting life.

It is good to cling to each and every one of them.

Saint Cecilia, teach us how to hang on to his joy,

and pray for us.

Hang on His Words

~~~ Revelation 10:8-11 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Luke 19:45-48 ~~~

 

"My house shall be a house of prayer..."

 

Coming from the Jewish background Jesus would have placed

great emphasis on prayer in the synagogue.

 He did not approve of the buying and selling of goods on the front steps.

When you come to church it should be treated as a holy place

set aside for prayer.

It is through prayer that we develop

our relationship with God.

When Jesus entered the temple it was in fulfillment

of his position within the church,

but it was more about his doing the will of the Father.

 

When Jesus was in the temple teaching the people listened...

Even the elders listened at times with their ulterior motives tucked inside.

 

"...The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words."

 

The people hung on every word Jesus spoke for one of two reasons;

they either wanted to catch him saying something

they could use against him later

or they were hoping he had come to give them the words of freedom.

 

"Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey."

 

Making our way through life with the hope of obtaining

the promised eternal reward may seem sweet at first.

As time progresses the reality sets in as we come to understand

it will be difficult,

this journey to holiness.

 

Putting into practice the great commandment of love

can become sour, not just in our stomach but in our heart.

Taking the promises and laws deep inside also implies being convicted

to put them into action.

 

How sweet to my taste is your promise!

 

 

Promises are nothing but empty words if we do not change because of them.

We routinely experience our elected officials making promises

with hollow empty words. The results can be disappointing.

Words do have power.

Whether you tell yourself words of truth or false words

you will be affected by them.

 

God's words of love, compassion, forgiveness,

and mercy creates a sweetness on my palate.

I must pass on through my words that same sweetness...

the sweetness that comes as a result of believing in the promises.

 

Keeping the words of the Lord central in our lives

safeguards us from constant sourness of heart.

Faith and Figs

~~~ 1 Peter 4:7-13 ~~~ Psalm 96 ~~~ Mark 11: 11-26 ~~~

Today the Gospel of Mark references the 'fig tree'.

The Fig Tree is easy to grow, but susceptible to extreme weather conditions.

Jesus curses the fig tree because it is not bearing fruit.

The tree symbolizes a certain barrenness in this passage.

The fig tree does however have beautiful large green foliage.

If a fruit tree does not put forth blossoms it will not bear fruit.

If a there is no fruit then there is no propagation.

Without propagation the tree eventually dies off.

The large leaves are not sufficient for a fruit bearing tree.

The fruit is why you plant the fig tree in the first place.

Jesus comes into Jerusalem and quickly notices that things are not as he intended.

They in fact are using the temple for money changing and selling of the birds and such to be slain as sacrifice.

All of this commotion on the steps was a huge distraction and deterrent for those who came to worship in the temple. Jesus had higher expetations; his house would be a house of prayer. In spite of what Jesus was preaching Jerusalem was barren; it was not producing fruit just as the fig tree had none.

I think Jesus was looking for results and growth.

You cannot remain indifferent and be fruitful at the same time;

they are incongruent.

The fig tree must blossom in order to bear fruit.

We must do more with our faith than simply sit in a pew on Sunday's for Mass.

To live our faith and be fruitful we must bear fruit in our daily life.

The Lord's house of prayer is where you come to be watered and fertilized so that you are able to go forth to give witness and bear much fruit.

No matter how small the fruit in time it becomes mature...ripe, sweet and juicy.

In order to bud into bloom and bear fruit you must have a deep living faith;

not simply the faith of living green leaves.

The appearance of small figs

 confirms that larger ones will soon come as well.

The question is are you willing to settle for just being a beautiful green fig leaf or do you want to blossom and bear fruit?

We are all capable of bearing fruit...for we have been told....

'all things are possible with God'