Inbox Inspiration: December 25, 2019: Christmas

Christmas

Dear Friends, 
The creche or nativity scene has a certain magnetism to it.
It is human, warm and comforting.
It has a way of drawing us close to Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
At the same time, the creche is also godly and divine.
It lifts us up to God and who God is and what God is like.
The nativity scene speaks to the core of who we are.
It touches our soul, our deepest self in a way that maybe nothing else does.
And it does this because it speaks of love, the love for which we all yearn.
The creche communicates the unlimited love of God for us.
It expresses, in a way that words fail to do, that “God is love” (I John 4:8).
Without words, it speaks that great verse of the gospel:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16).
In doing this, the creche touches our soul and invites us to love –
to become persons of love.
A plaque near the entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem has these words:
“We are hoping that: If you enter here as a tourist,
you would exit as a pilgrim.
If you enter here as a pilgrim,
you would exit as a holier one.”
So, this Christmas, be aware of the creche, the Nativity scene.
Let it touch you so much that you will become a pilgrim or a holier pilgrim –
confident and assured of God’s love for you,
inspired and moved to become the loving person that God has made us to be.

“Unto to us a child is born.” Alleluia.
Father Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: December 4, 2019 - December 18, 2019: Are We Worthy

Are We Worthy - 1

Dear Friends,
Are we worthy to receive Communion?
Just think about some of our prayers.
As part of the Communion Rite at Mass, immediately before the distribution of Communion, we pray together: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…”
I think I am correct in saying that unlike all other responses invited by the priest at Mass, this is the only one that the priest is also to recite with the rest of the assembly.
So, we are all to declare that we are “not worthy,” including the priest.
I have quickly looked at the ordinary prayers of the Mass (those which are the same in all Masses) and I see the word “sin” at least nine times.
This does not include the word “trespasses” in the Lord’s Prayer or the times the word “sin” is used in the prayers that are special or proper for each Mass.
So, with this awareness of sin and the declaration of unworthiness, we might conclude that we are all unworthy.
And, in a sense, we are.
We are all human, imperfect, still in need of spiritual growth.
In that sense, we humbly admit that we are unworthy in relation to God, unworthy of receiving Communion.
But…but…but, there is another side to this story and I will look at that next week.

“With Gospel brilliance and insight, A.A. says that the starting point and, in fact, the continuing point, is not any kind of worthiness at all but in fact unworthiness! (‘I am an alcoholic!’) ...This is what Jesus affirmed in prostitutes, drunkards, and tax collectors, and what Paul praised when he said, ‘It is when I am weak that I am strong’” (2 Corinthians 12:10.)
From Breathing Under Water by Father Richard Rohr, OFM (1943 –. Ordained a priest in 1970, Franciscan friar, author, Director of Center for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico).
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May God awaken us to the presence of Christ with and among us. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

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Are We Worthy - 2

Dear Friends,
Jesus never expected his apostles or anyone else to be perfect.
Just recall the humanity of some of the apostles – the impetuousness and denial of Peter, the searching or doubting of Thomas, the self-focused jockeying for position of James and John, and on it goes.
Also, Jesus dined with so-called sinners – those looked down upon by others as bad people.
In fact, besides the other eleven imperfect apostles, he even included Judas in the Last Supper.
My point is that I don’t see Jesus expecting perfection.
What he did expect is that we admit our imperfection, our humanity, our faults, our sinfulness.
This leads me to think that we are all basically worthy to receive Communion – worthy because we admit and are aware of unworthiness.
It’s an interesting dynamic, isn’t it?
We become worthy if we recognize our unworthiness.
Maybe that’s why the full declaration that we recite before Communion is this: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
Jesus has said “the word” by his words and actions –
a “word” of love, forgiveness, acceptance, healing and including.
The “word” has been spoken and that has made us worthy in our unworthiness of receiving Communion.
I will finish these thoughts in next week’s column.
  
 “For John [Saint John of the Cross], there is only one goal. His word for it is not so much ‘perfection’ – as if it were only about me becoming myself; he prefers to call it union – ‘union with God’, the ‘union of love’…Whether or not she realizes it, the human person aches for such a union…”
From The Impact of God by Father Iain Matthew (1940 –. British, Carmelite priest, Doctoral Degree from Oxford, author, chaplain, retreat director).

May God awaken us to the presence of Christ with and among us. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

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Are We Worthy - 3

Dear Friends, 
When I celebrate Mass and look at those present, I see good persons.
I see sincere men and women, teens and children trying to do their best.
I see persons sometimes under significant stress and pressure,
trying to live life well and follow the way of Christ,
and doing this amidst the complexities and messiness of life.
I don’t look for perfection and I don’t dwell on imperfection –
ways that I might think or even experience others falling short of the gospel or Church teaching on this or that point.
In other words, I don’t look at others through the lens of sin or mortal sin.
So, given my vision, my outlook, my perspective,
I see people desiring God in their lives.
I see persons hungering for the heavenly food of the Eucharist.
I see myself as like them, as one of them.
In fact, I don’t see a “them” at all.
I just see a “we” who gather to worship God and be nourished by the Eucharist.
Therefore, never, never have I refused Communion to anyone who comes forward desiring to receive.
To me, that would be judgmental, inappropriate, insensitive, and counter to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And, by the way, I say all of this mindful and not in disregard of the Church’s teaching about who can receive Communion. 
After a recent public incident in which a Catholic was refused Communion, I decided to share where I am on this important matter.
  
“The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”
From The Joy of the Gospel, an Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis, 2013.

May God awaken us to the presence of Christ with and among us. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: November 27, 2019: Thankfulness

Thankfulness

Dear Friends, 
Being thankful is foundational for holy and healthy living.
Remembering the simple and special blessings in our lives is essential
for our being spiritual and mature persons.
Without this, we may just see the negatives and become negative.
Without this, we will lack a humble closeness with God.
So, I make two recommendations.
First, start each day with a prayer of thankfulness.
Be grateful to God for something, perhaps for just one thing –
maybe something we can easily take for granted like a friend or our eyesight,
or maybe the special blessing of an affirming word from someone.
At the beginning of each day, thank God for something or someone.
And second, identify for ourselves some graced memories.
Recall our parents who gave the best that they could to us.
Remember the teacher or coach who gave us that extra chance to do well.
Think back to the joy that a child brought to your life.
Store up some graced memories and keep them alive for yourself.
These two practices will help us to be grateful persons –
and that will enrich our relationships with God and with others.

“One of the scourges of modern society are problems with dementia – especially Alzheimer’s disease…. But perhaps a modern scourge of equal devastation today is ‘spiritual dementia’ – a sickness of the soul where we forget God’s innumerable blessings, and live in numbed insensitivity to the Spirit. It seems to be an ageless problem.” 
From Falling into Faith by Robert J. Miller.

May God bless us with grateful and joyful hearts. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner