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Prayer for the Sick

This is one of my favorite prayers for healing.  I write it today for a dear friend and former classmate.

O my God,

behold your sick child before you.

Heed her special request,

that which she feels is most important for her.

May you, my Lord, entrust to her heart these words: "The health of the soul, too, is vital."

Lord, may your will be done in her;

if you choose her healing, may she be cured;

if you choose another blessing,

may she bear her cross with love.

I also pray to you

for all who intercede for her.

Purify our hearts

that we may worthily convey

your holy mercy.

Protect your child, relieve her pain,

that your will may be done in her,

and that your presence and love

may be revealed through her.

Grant her the grace

to bear her cross with courage.  Amen.

~ Medjugorje Day by Day

Gospel Reflection for August 31, 2008

A reflection on the Scripture Readings for August 31, 2008.  We live in such a paradox.   Many of us spend so much time worrying about our future and acting in self-preserving ways.  Working to make more money (and it's never enough), buying bigger houses, seeking experiences that would give us pleasure, comfort, and instant joy.  We are acting from such a powerful instinct.  Yet, facts tell us that those most secured financially, those that have acquired the most fame or pleasures, are not necessaily any happier than the rest.  Actually, they are at times misserable.

Studies by researchers (without a faith-based inclination) have found that after considering many variables, the happiest people are those that are moved to serve others inspired by a purpose greater than themselves.  Their research proved what Jesus told us many years ago: 

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Intellectually, I get it.  But it's so difficult as we struggle with the selfless acts that bring us true happiness and the near term acts that gives us "safety" and short-term happiness.

I think the answer is in the phrase "to lose his life."  I can read this as to no longer have my life, but I can also read this as to no longer try to control my life.  To give God full reign over me and guide me.  To surrender. In the first reading the prophet Jeremiah was strugling to control his life and not speak God's words because of the rejection and burden they were causing him.  At the end, he couldn't.  "But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it."

I think this is the key.  To find life, we need to lose ours and all our selfish ambitions.  That is too difficult, unless we surrender and allow the Holy Spirit to transform our heart so it burns with love for God and others.  We won't be able to hold that love in.  Like Jeremy, we won't be able to endure not speaking God's words, and not taking our cross.

God bless everyone!   

Gospel Reflection for Sunday, August 17, 2008

A reflection on the Scripture readings for Sunday, August 17, 2008 (my sister's birthday!). I struggled a bit with today's Gospel reading. A Canaanite woman goes to Jesus and begs that He heal her daughter. Most of the times I visualize Jesus as the perfect divine being He was, the Son of God. A being in a constant state of peace and wisdom, incapable of showing anything but the most amazing acceptance and compassion to all people. Thankfully, he was also Jesus the man. The man who wept when he learned a close friend died. The man who expressed anger with the vendors at the temple. The man who showed doubt and apprehension at the garden of Gethsemane.

Here we have a woman and a foreigner wanting something from Jesus. Jesus brushes her off twice with what seem like prejudicial statements "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” He reflected the strong feelings Israel had at the time of any foreigner, often comparing them to dogs. Was he testing her faith? Perhaps from a salvation plan there was a sense of priority and order. Perhaps it was more important to begin the conversion from within, to first extend the House of Prayer from within the walls of the temple and throughout all the people in Israel and then the world. "To the Jews first and then to the Greeks" Rom 1:16. I don't have an answer. I suppose the important thing is that He did show compassion, He did recognize her persistency and her faith, and healed her daughter.

For my personal growth I wonder, how many times I may express or think prejudicial statements towards other people that are different than me in some way? I also pray that moved by faith I would be as persistent as she was in seeking closeness with God and fighting for what is fair and just.

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Gospel Reflection for Sunday, August 10, 2008

What a lovely first reading for this Sunday.

"Reading 1
1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a

At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter.
Then the LORD said to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave."

How do we recognize the presence of God in our lives? How many times are we surprised that a smile from a stranger, a hug at the sign of peace during mass, and witnessing a small act of kindness stir in our hearts the loving presence of God? The God who created strong winds, earthquakes, and fire, is also the God who created butterfly wings, the smell of a rose, and the warm feeling of a caress. God's presence is manifested in so many ways, few as powerful as the power of a word and the power of The Word.

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