Inbox Inspiration: May 27, 2020: Living Through This - 10

 Living Through This – 10   

Dear Friends,
Closed churches and masks – my focus for today!
The governors of Maryland and of many states have significantly limited the number of people allowed at worship services during this pandemic.
I think some governors ordered that churches be closed.
Our own Archbishop responded positively to the Governor’s order.
In fact, after careful examination of all factors, he completely closed our churches during most of the past two months.
Some other bishops did the same.
We need to look at both the Governor’s and the Archbishop’s decisions – difficult decisions for them – as caring for the common good.
And that is a core part of our Catholic – and Christian – social teaching.
In other words, care for the common good is part of our moral code.
In this very extraordinary and dangerous moment, allowing the care for the common good of all in society to impose restrictions on our freedom to worship and maybe some other freedoms seems morally justified, if not required.
The same moral principle applies to the wearing of masks or some kind of facial covering.
We do not know when and if we are infected with the coronavirus unless we have been tested.
Wearing a mask shows respect for others.
It helps to assure that an as yet asymptomatic virus germ in me will not be communicated to others.
It is an act of caring for the common good of society.
Living that principle is a way of honoring God at this moment.
It doesn’t take the place of prayer – and I hope we have all been praying personally on our own through this time.  
But wearing the mask does express our care for others, maybe especially the least among us about whom Jesus says: “Whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, that you do for me.”

May the peace and hope of the risen Christ be with us! Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner
 

Inbox Inspiration: May 24, 2020: Special - 20 The Ascension of the Lord

Special – 20
The Ascension of the Lord 
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

Today, we continue the Easter Season and celebrate the Ascension of the Lord.
One of our Catholic theologians draws an exciting conclusion to what we celebrate today.
He says that Christ’s ascension into heaven reveals that we, in our humanity, have also entered the inner life of God.
The idea is that Christ is eternally in and one with God because he is the Son of God.
He is also God’s complete and lasting oneness with all human beings.
It is in Christ that there is this oneness of humanity and divinity.
And so, the Lord’s Ascension must also mean some eternal oneness of us with God.
This is what we call the life of heaven.
Maybe we can also say it this way.
Jesus himself is what we call heaven.
Heaven is not so much a place as it is a person, and the person is God or Christ.
Jesus, Christ is the person in whom God and humanity are inseparable and one.
And so, we enter into heaven to the extent that we are one with Jesus, Christ, the Son.
In this sense, our ascension into heaven is something that starts to happen right now.
So, at first the disciples interpreted Jesus’ ascension as being an absence, at least a temporary absence of Christ from the world.
But instead of that, the ascension really reminds us of a new and lasting presence – God’s presence to us and our presence to God in Jesus, Christ who is the union of humanity and divinity.
This presence or relationship is both the beginning of heaven right now and the promise of its fullness in the future.

Father Michael Schleupner

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition, I began these Special Inbox Inspirations on Fridays and Sundays when the Coronavirus Crisis began. On Fridays, there is a prayer related to the crisis and on Sundays, a reflection on the Sunday gospel. I hope these are helpful. 

Inbox Inspiration: May 22, 2020: Special - 19 Prayer to the Trinity

Special – 19
 Prayer to the Trinity 

God, our Father,
we look to you in this time of illness, uncertainty, and distancing.
We place our anxiety and fear in your hands.
Free us from the fear of scarcity, which can lead to hoarding.
Transform our anxiety into energy for caring for one another.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, our Brother,
bring your healing touch to those who are sick.
Be with those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
Raise up those who have died from this coronavirus.
Remind us throughout each day that you are here with us.

Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son,
send forth your light to those in the medical and scientific community.
Guide them to find drugs of treatment and a vaccine to prevent infection.
Grant your wisdom to our leaders to seek the common good of all.
Move them to care especially for those most vulnerable among us.

We lift up our minds and hearts to you, Dear God, and we pray:
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Father Michael Schleupner

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition, I began these Special Inbox Inspirations on Fridays and Sundays when the Covid-19 Crisis began. On Fridays, there is a prayer related to the crisis and on Sundays, a reflection on the Sunday gospel. I hope these are helpful. 

Inbox Inspiration: May 20, 2020: Living Through This - 9

Living Through This – 9   

Dear Friends,
In this coronavirus pandemic, it is natural to take care of ourselves.
It is natural to protect myself and my family and my other loved ones.
In a larger circle, it is natural to think of my school and my workplace.
And in an even larger circle, it is natural to focus on my community and my country.
I think all of the above is human and understandable at this moment.
However, what keeps nagging at me these days is that we cannot in the long run limit our care and concern.
We cannot in the long run erect barriers and boundaries that exclude others, any others from our span of empathy and care.
I often think of the word “catholic” in our Profession of Faith.
We believe in “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.”
Notice: the word “catholic” is spelled with a small “c.”
It is not a capital “C” which would mean the Catholic Church as distinct from other Christian denominations or faith communities.
It is a small “c” which means universal or global.
So, our faith is to have a universal scope – a span of concern for all of humanity.
We believe in a global mindset.
My point is that one of the take-away lessons from this pandemic is that we are a global community.
This virus, in a way we would never want, is reminding us of this lesson.
We as Christians and as Catholic Christians are to embrace and promote this global understanding and concern.
All peoples are brothers and sisters to us, daughters and sons of God. 
May we emerge from the deaths and sickness and financial losses of this pandemic rededicated to this global vision in a way that will foster oneness and goodwill and peace among all.

May the peace and hope of the risen Christ be with us! Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: May 17, 2020: Special - 18 Sixth Sunday of Easter

Special – 18
Sixth Sunday of Easter 
Gospel: John 14:15-21

Some years ago, the University of Chicago released the results of a study on loneliness. The study finds that about 25% of people frequently feel lonely.
Among the factors causing this are our longer life spans, more years spent in widowhood, and the rising number of single-person households. The study says that loneliness has more to do with the quality than the quantity of relationships.
For example, incoming first-year college students are often lonely during the first quarter of school. This is true even though they have roommates and are surrounded by many peers. 
In today’s gospel, Jesus addresses this very human issue. He senses the apostles’ anxiety about being left alone, without him.
And so, Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphans. You will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”
Jesus promises to be with us through his Spirit. And then Jesus makes his presence through the Spirit concrete in a very special way: the sacraments.
Our sacraments are visible, earthly, physical ways for Jesus to be with us through the Spirit. The supreme experience of this is the Eucharist.
In the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest prays over the bread and wine. “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, by sending down your Spirit upon them… so that they may become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
These gifts, the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ, become the means for Jesus through his Spirit to be with us. As Jesus says, “you live in me and I live in you.”  
So, Jesus addresses a troublesome human feeling today – loneliness – and he gives us at least one way to deal with it.

Father Michael Schleupner

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition, I began these Special Inbox Inspirations on Fridays and Sundays when the Coronavirus Crisis began. On Fridays, there is a prayer related to the crisis and on Sundays, a reflection on the Sunday gospel. I hope these are helpful. 

Inbox Inspiration: May 15, 2020: Special - 17 Prayer for Pandemic

 Special – 17
 Prayer for Pandemic 

“Most merciful and Triune God,
We come to you in our weakness.
We come to you in our fear.
We come to you with trust.
For you alone are our hope.
We place before you the disease present in our world.
We turn to you in our time of need.
Bring wisdom to the doctors.
Give understanding to the scientists.
Endow caregivers with compassion and generosity.
Bring healing to those who are ill.
Protect those who are most at risk.
Give comfort to those who have lost a loved one.
Welcome those who have died into your eternal home.
Stabilize our communities.
Unite us in your compassion.
Remove all fear from our hearts.
Fill us with confidence in your care.
We pray in the name of Jesus who is
Lord forever and ever.
Amen.”   

Prayer for Pandemic – from Mepkin Abbey, South Carolina. 

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition, I began these Special Inbox Inspirations on Fridays and Sundays when the Covid-19 Crisis began. On Fridays, there is a prayer related to the crisis and on Sundays, a reflection on the Sunday gospel. I hope these are helpful.
Father Michael Schleupner 

Inbox Inspiration: May 13, 2020: Living Through This - 8

Living Through This – 8   

Dear Friends,
Recently I heard a priest say in a homily that there are three degrees of hope.
I like this way of looking at hope and want to share it with you.
First, there is casual hope.
For example, I hope that we will have a delicious dinner this evening or that the baseball season will get started soon.
These are good things to hope for.
Here my hope is directed more to things that will make my life enjoyable.
Then there is precious hope.
For example, we hope that we and our loved ones will not get the coronavirus or that our job will stay secure.
Here our hope is directed to major, important elements of our lives.
This precious hope is deeper than casual hope, and if it is unfulfilled, we can be very anxious, upset and even heartbroken.
And then finally, there is ultimate hope.
This is hope regarding the ultimate realities of life.
For example, I hope that my relationship with Christ will help me in times of suffering and loss.
I hope that by the time my life on this earth ends, I will have become the kind of person that God calls me to be.
I hope that my faith in the paschal mystery will enable me to see new life coming from and even through death, including my own death.
I hope that my belief in heaven, in a fullness of life with the One who is life and light and love itself will give me inner peace, no matter what.
All of the above types or degrees of hope are good.
We just have to make sure that our ultimate hopes are in place, and that, in some way, they are forming or enriching all the other hopes in our lives.
This wonderful, joyous Easter Season and this challenging, dangerous pandemic – both of these lead me to think about hope today.    

May the peace and hope of the risen Christ be with us! Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: May 10, 2020: Special - 16 Fifth Sunday of Easter

 Special – 16
Fifth Sunday of Easter 
Gospel: John 14:1-12   

I imagine that most of us have had the experience of seeing a newly-born baby.  Almost always we look at the baby’s physical features and try to see who the baby looks like or takes after.
We hear things like: “He has his father’s forehead and hair.” “She has her mother’s eyes.”
What’s underneath this is that we like to see characteristics that identify a baby as a member of the family. Or to put it another way, we like to see family members in the physical features of a baby.
Maybe we have not thought about it this way, but Jesus gets us caught up in something like this in today’s gospel. Philip asks the big question.
“Show us the Father” – “Show us God” – “Show us what God is like.”
And here is Jesus’ great response: “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”  “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.”
In other words: “I take after my Father. You can see the Father in me.”
Of course, Jesus is not talking about physical traits, as we would with a newborn baby. But he is saying that in his concerns, in his thoughts, and in his actions, we can see the mind and heart of God. 
We can see God in him.
So, for example, when we hear Jesus saying, “Let those among you who are without sin cast the first stone,” we know that God is patient and accepting of our humanity.  When we see Jesus mingling with tax collectors and other so-called sinners, we know that God is inclusive and outreaching.
These images of God are important because they have real consequences. They tell us not only what God is like, but also what we as persons are to be like.

Father Michael Schleupner

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition, I began these Special Inbox Inspirations on Fridays and Sundays when the Coronavirus Crisis began. On Fridays, there is a prayer related to the crisis and on Sundays, a reflection on the Sunday gospel. I hope these are helpful. 

Inbox Inspiration: May 8, 2020: Special - 15 Prayer for Mother's Day

Special – 15
 Prayer for Mother’s Day 

God, our Father, our heavenly Parent,
this weekend we lift up our mothers to you.
You are the God of holy Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist,
and the God of holy Mary, the most special of all, the mother of Jesus.
And so, we ask you to bless our mothers.
They have given life to us, their children.
May they be filled with the joy that Mary experienced as a mother.
Our mothers have caringly nurtured us in our development as persons.
May they have all that they need to live in fullness as your daughters.
Our mothers have given us much love.
May they experience both your love and our affection for them.
God, our Father, our heavenly Parent,
bless also those women whose desire to become a mother has been unfulfilled.
Help them to experience how they can give life and nurture and love in other ways.
And also bless those mothers who have lost a child.
With Mary as their companion, sustain and comfort them in their loss.
And finally, bless our mothers who have passed on from this earth.
Grant them the embrace and peace of eternal life with you.
With these prayers on our lips and
with thankfulness in our hearts,
we ask this blessing upon our mothers on this Mother’s Day,
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Father Michael Schleupner

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition, I began these Special Inbox Inspirations on Fridays and Sundays when the Covid-19 Crisis began. On Fridays, there is a prayer related to the crisis and on Sundays, a reflection on the Sunday gospel. I hope these are helpful. 

Inbox Inspiration: May 6, 2020: Living Through This - 7

Living Through This – 7   

Dear Friends,
We are now beginning, if my count is correct, the 8^th week of shut-down, stay-at-home here in Maryland.
The coronavirus has had a major impact on our lives. 
It threatens us physically, emotionally, relationally, financially, and spiritually.
The immediate and at least short-term future are uncertain.
In the midst of this, what is popping up in my inner self is the need for hope – the Christian virtue of hope.
Faith is directed more toward the present: that there is a God, that God is life itself, that God is all good, and that God loves us.
Hope is directed more toward the future: that God will always be with us and take care of us, and that God will in some way make us whole and bring us happiness.
It is this hope that strikes me as an important virtue or quality right now.
Pope Francis speaks of hope in his Easter Sunday message.
He says:
“‘Christ, my hope, has risen.’ This is no magic formula that makes problems vanish. No, the resurrection of Christ is not that. Instead, it is the victory of love over the root of evil, a victory that does not ‘by-pass’ suffering and death, but passes through them, opening a path in the abyss, transforming evil into good: this is the unique hallmark of the power of God.”
What I see in Francis’ insight is that love is central to hope:
above all else, trusting in God’s love for us;
then, in return, loving God through our prayer and lifestyle;
and, out of that love, loving those in our lives as God loves us.
This love can transform evil into good.
It is an expression of the Paschal Mystery and can transform suffering into new life.
It can bring us hope.
More on hope in this column next week!  

May the peace and hope of the risen Christ be with us! Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: May 3, 2020: Special - 14 Fourth Sunday of Easter

Special – 14
Fourth Sunday of Easter 
Gospel: John 10:1-10   

Pope Francis once spoke to bishops and priests about our role as shepherds.
Among other things, he said that sometimes we need to walk ahead of the sheep, sometimes with the sheep, and sometimes behind the sheep.
I find this image very memorable and right on target.
Sometimes we priests need to walk ahead of our people.
This might be when we need to lead in seeing injustice in our society or in our Church and showing a way to address it.
Sometimes (and, I think, most of the time) we priests are to walk with our people.
We work together to discern what God wants us to do and to collaborate in ministries of service and formation and leadership.
And sometimes we priests are to walk behind our people.
We respect their wonderful talents as they very ably initiate and undertake many creative things for the kingdom of God.
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, I warmly remember Pope Francis’ words.
His words also help us to see how Jesus is the Good Shepherd for all of us:
sometimes leading us forward out of our comfort zone with his vision,
always walking with us every step of life’s journey,
and sometimes walking behind us and just watching with a smile as we try to do our best to bring his presence and Good News alive in our world today.
That’s my take on the Gospel for this Fourth Sunday of Easter.

Father Michael Schleupner

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition, I began these Special Inbox Inspirations on Fridays and Sundays when the Coronavirus Crisis began. On Fridays, there is a prayer related to the crisis and on Sundays, a reflection on the Sunday gospel. I hope these are helpful. 

Inbox Inspiration: May 1, 2020: Special - 13 Prayer for a Pandemic

 Special – 13
 Prayer for a Pandemic   

“May we who are merely inconvenienced 
Remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors
Remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close
Remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips
Remember those who have no place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those who have no margin at all. 
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home
Remember those who have no home.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
Let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.
Amen.”

Author unknown. March 2020. 

O Risen Christ, steady and strengthen us in this trying time. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

In addition to the usual Wednesday edition, I began these Special Inbox Inspirations on Fridays and Sundays when the Covid-19 Crisis began. On Fridays, there is a prayer related to the crisis and on Sundays, a reflection on the Sunday gospel. I hope these are helpful. 

Inbox Inspiration: April 29, 2020: Living Through This - 6

 Living Through This – 6      

Dear Friends,
On the last two Wednesdays – on April 15 and 22 – my Inbox Inspirations shared some thoughts from Pope Francis.
These were from an address which the Holy Father directed to the entire world on March 27 about the coronavirus crisis.
The context of the Pope’s reflections is the Gospel of Mark 4:35-41 – Jesus in a boat with the disciples when the water becomes very rough and frightening.
Here are some more of Francis’ reflections.

“We can look to so many exemplary companions for the journey, who, even though fearful, have reacted by giving their lives. This is the force of the Spirit poured out and fashioned in courageous and generous self-denial. It is the life in the Spirit that can redeem, value and demonstrate how our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people – often forgotten people…How many people every day are exercising patience and offering hope, taking care to sow not panic but a shared responsibility…How many are praying, offering and interceding for the good of all. Prayer and quiet service: these are our victorious weapons.”

Each of us could cite many “ordinary…often forgotten people” who are “exemplary companions for the journey” that we are now on.
Today I am thinking of:
Parents who are at home, maybe doing their jobs out of the house, maybe still going out to work at an essential business, maybe out of work and a paycheck, and now providing additional care for their children who are out of school;
And
Food service workers, like farmers and farm workers, workers in meat-packing and canning and frozen food plants, truckers delivering food sometimes over long distances to where it is needed, those in supermarkets who manage the store and stock the shelves and check out customers’ orders, those preparing and serving and delivering carry-out food.
Let’s remember in our prayer these and all persons like them –
let’s thank God for them and ask God to keep them well and protect them.

May the peace and healing action of Christ be with us! Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner