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