Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. Today we also celebrate the feast day of Edith Stein, a nun martyred in Auschwitz. One could think that these commemorations have nothing to do with how today I sat and talked with a recent college graduate. Yet in all of these opportunities rests the duty of the present moment. In every moment we are called by God.
As we remember how a plutonium bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki exactly 72 years ago on August 9, 1945, killing tens of thousands of people, some of us might wonder what we can do to avert war. I am convinced that in seeking world peace, the most effective step we can take is to pray. I also strongly believe that we can take efficacious measures for world peace by praying the rosary. One hundred years ago, at Fatima in Portugal, our Blessed Mother Mary instructed us to pray the rosary for world peace. Had more people ardently implored our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede with her Son Jesus, the second world war would not have happened. We fulfill the duty of the present moment when we pray.
We also carry out the duty of the present moment, as was described in the eighteenth century by the Jesuit priest Jean-Pierre de Caussade, when we seek to do God's will. Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, previously known as Edith Stein, was raised Jewish. However, after voraciously reading the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila late into the night, she not only became Catholic, but eventually also became a Carmelite nun. Due to her Jewish heritage, the Nazis arrested her and sent her to Auschwitz, where she died in a gas chamber, probably exactly 75 years ago, on August 9, 1942. She said that we surely may pray to be spared, but that certainly we should add the additional prayer to God, "Not my will be done, but Thy will be done."* We find God's will in the present moment, so when we submit to the present moment and what it demands of us, we obey God's will. Wherever we are in the present, there may God's will be done. Where we find ourselves, there we pray.
Today I found myself sitting at the kitchen table here in the Catholic Worker House with a young woman who I heard speak at Mass this past weekend. At the end of Mass she got up and spoke briefly about how she is devoting her efforts to helping other young people who have fallen away from their faith. She indicated she would be happy to speak with anyone who would like to hear more about her work. After Mass, I asked her to contact me. We arranged for her to come here to the Catholic Worker House.
In relating to me how she aims to get to know the persons she seeks to help, I felt indirectly guided in what she said. It seemed to me that the Holy Spirit was speaking through her. It occurred to me that perhaps Jesus was telling me that I must get to know the homeless people and other impoverished persons I aspire to serve as a Catholic Worker. I believe that in hearing her story, I was being told how I am to live my life, how I am to love my neighbor as myself.** I would want someone to care enough about me to get to know me, so as to understand me; thus I should get to know others so I can better understand them. In better understanding others, I can more easily be compassionate towards them, and thus love them as I love myself. When I find myself in the present moment, I am to listen as best I can to my neighbor. In giving my neighbor my full attention, and learning about her, I love my neighbor, and thus I fulfill my duty to the present moment.
We embrace the present moment when we love our neighbor. We carry out the duty of the present when we pray. We open our hearts to the present when we do the will of God. No matter how disparate the circumstances, no matter what is happening, we are called to pray and to love our neighbor, and thus do our duty right now, and thus do the will of God. Let us open our hearts, and love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength,*** and our neighbor as ourselves, and thus do God's will. Amen.
* Matthew 26:39,42
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
*** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
As we remember how a plutonium bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki exactly 72 years ago on August 9, 1945, killing tens of thousands of people, some of us might wonder what we can do to avert war. I am convinced that in seeking world peace, the most effective step we can take is to pray. I also strongly believe that we can take efficacious measures for world peace by praying the rosary. One hundred years ago, at Fatima in Portugal, our Blessed Mother Mary instructed us to pray the rosary for world peace. Had more people ardently implored our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede with her Son Jesus, the second world war would not have happened. We fulfill the duty of the present moment when we pray.
We also carry out the duty of the present moment, as was described in the eighteenth century by the Jesuit priest Jean-Pierre de Caussade, when we seek to do God's will. Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, previously known as Edith Stein, was raised Jewish. However, after voraciously reading the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila late into the night, she not only became Catholic, but eventually also became a Carmelite nun. Due to her Jewish heritage, the Nazis arrested her and sent her to Auschwitz, where she died in a gas chamber, probably exactly 75 years ago, on August 9, 1942. She said that we surely may pray to be spared, but that certainly we should add the additional prayer to God, "Not my will be done, but Thy will be done."* We find God's will in the present moment, so when we submit to the present moment and what it demands of us, we obey God's will. Wherever we are in the present, there may God's will be done. Where we find ourselves, there we pray.
Today I found myself sitting at the kitchen table here in the Catholic Worker House with a young woman who I heard speak at Mass this past weekend. At the end of Mass she got up and spoke briefly about how she is devoting her efforts to helping other young people who have fallen away from their faith. She indicated she would be happy to speak with anyone who would like to hear more about her work. After Mass, I asked her to contact me. We arranged for her to come here to the Catholic Worker House.
In relating to me how she aims to get to know the persons she seeks to help, I felt indirectly guided in what she said. It seemed to me that the Holy Spirit was speaking through her. It occurred to me that perhaps Jesus was telling me that I must get to know the homeless people and other impoverished persons I aspire to serve as a Catholic Worker. I believe that in hearing her story, I was being told how I am to live my life, how I am to love my neighbor as myself.** I would want someone to care enough about me to get to know me, so as to understand me; thus I should get to know others so I can better understand them. In better understanding others, I can more easily be compassionate towards them, and thus love them as I love myself. When I find myself in the present moment, I am to listen as best I can to my neighbor. In giving my neighbor my full attention, and learning about her, I love my neighbor, and thus I fulfill my duty to the present moment.
We embrace the present moment when we love our neighbor. We carry out the duty of the present when we pray. We open our hearts to the present when we do the will of God. No matter how disparate the circumstances, no matter what is happening, we are called to pray and to love our neighbor, and thus do our duty right now, and thus do the will of God. Let us open our hearts, and love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength,*** and our neighbor as ourselves, and thus do God's will. Amen.
* Matthew 26:39,42
** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
*** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
No comments:
Post a Comment