Crazy For My Mommas

Yes I am.  I am a Momma’s boy and I wear that title proudly.

I’m not just saying that as a warm sentiment.  My Momma Laura died with that terrible forgetting disease, dementia.  Loving someone through that dark valley is no small thing and it took our whole family to do it well. 

We called her GG (Great Grandma) towards the end because granddaughter number one lived with us at the time and she especially loved her.  In fact when that same granddaughter comes to visit Papa we sometimes walk the few blocks up the street to visit GG’s grave together and we sing to her and blow her kisses and if the weather is right, leave her some snow angels.

Momma Laura adopted me as an infant and raised me as her own.  She was like that, taking in people in need like my biological mom and myself and helping them.  

Speaking of my biological Momma, last December 14th I was finally able to visit her grave.  It meant a lot to me to stand there in the brisk Idaho afternoon air and sing to her and blow her kisses.  My sweet sister Rondi came out and put her coat over my shoulders when she saw I was going to be a while.  Closure is good, and I am thankful my sister helped me find it.

Though I never met my Momma Jeanie, I love her in some crazy way and very much look forward to meeting her some day.  I swear I sense her looking down on me when I’m at Church sometimes.  I'm told that she loved Jesus too.  I was even given a picture of her at her confirmation because as a Sicilian Catholic girl that is just what one did I suppose.  Maybe she had to learn the Rosary in Latin too, just like I'm learning it now in a song that Pastor Jim has led us in at the end of daily Mass this whole season of Advent. 

Anyway, I like to think she smiles to see me worshipping with my mostly Mexican Catholic brothers and sisters at Our Lady of Sorrows, just around the corner from my house.  It comforts my soul to think someone loves me and prays for me up there.

Our Lady of Sorrows is just up the street from the Our Lady of Guadeloupe Parish.  Every December 12 we march from one Mexican Parish to another on a chilly evening with a police escort and lots of loud drumming, singing and praying.  Neighbors poke their heads out and wish us well, I mean almost everyone loves a parade, don’t they!?!

Why do we do this?  

Because we are crazy for our Momma.

Most folks go through life dimly aware that Mexicans love the Mother of God to some strange extremes.  Just go to a Mexican store or flea market, and you’ll find all kinds of candles, trinkets and apparel with Her image on it.  You’ll see the image of Our Lady of Guadeloupe plastered on trucks, tattooed on men’s bodies, flying on flags, and most people just shrug it off as some kind of crazy idol worship.  Well, any devout Catholic would clear that notion up right away, but nobody usually asks one of those.

Since I’ve chosen to worship with my Mexican brothers and sisters these past couple years, I decided to try to understand why they are so crazy for their Momma and this image of her in particular.  It turns out there is a very good reason.

In 1531, the popular religion of the indigenous people near Mexico City was certainly not Roman Catholic. No, it was a death cult that sacrificed humans by tearing their hearts out of their chests to appease their cruel god.  By the year 1551,  nine million of those people had converted to the Christian Way and it all had to do with this miraculous image that appeared on a peasant’s overcoat.  I’m not making this up.

My professor, Dr. Christopher West, explains how this happened in a short video which was shot this month when he took some of his students on pilgrimage to visit the place where it happened and view the original miraculous image.

I couldn’t go on that pilgrimage, but I am blessed to be leaving in two days to attend a class taught by Dr. West in person at a retreat center near Philadelphia.  The name of the class is “Theology of the Body and the Marian Mystery” and in it we will take a week long deep dive into the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus, the God-man, born of this woman whom I believe is the most powerful woman in the universe.

Why do I believe she is so powerful?

Because her Son is crazy about His Momma and loves her so much he’d do just about anything she asks.  And since he is God Almighty, I mean… just sayin’…

As Christians (literally “little Christs”) we are adopted into that supernatural family circle.  Jesus is my brother and that makes His Momma my Momma too.

And I am just as crazy about THIS adopted Momma whom I’ve not yet met as I am about my other two Mommas.

I have to admit it took years to come to this point because I had a lot of anti-Mary baggage to work through.  My upbringing as a Baptist boy was instrumental there, but I don’t begrudge them.

If this writing reveals anything, it is that so often I don’t even know WHAT I don’t know.  I stumble through life ignorant and only vaguely aware of the most profound things.  I judge others without even knowing the reasons why they are the way they are.  At least I judged Catholic and Orthodox Christians for their seemingly insane obsession with Mary the Mother of God.

Well, people can change.  I did.

I’m crazy for all three of my Mommas today.  Fifteen years ago I couldn’t say that.

I love my Momma Mary so much I made this gift for her.  It is a famous Byzantine Hymn to Our Lady.  I put it over a slide show of some favorite images I have of her.

In a way, this is for all the Mommas I love, including the Mother of my children and the Mommas of my grand children.  They remind me of Momma Mary's goodness almost every single day.  For that I am truly grateful.

Totus Tuus.

Here are the lyrics in English:

"O Pure Virgin"

O pure and virgin Lady,

O spotless Theotokos: 

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O Virgin Queen and Mother

O dewy fleece most sacred:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O height transcending heaven above

O beam of light most radiant:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O joy of chaste and virgin maids

surpassing all the angels:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O brilliant light of heaven above

most clear and most radiant:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Commanding chief of heaven above

O holiest of holies

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O ever-virgin Mary

O Mistress of creation:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O Bride all-pure and spotless

O Lady all-holy:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O holy Mary, Bride and Queen

O cause of our rejoicing

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O Maiden Queen most hon'rable

O Mother most holy

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

More precious than the cherubim

more glorious than the seraphim:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Surpassing principalities

dominions, thrones and powers:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

 

Rejoice, song of the cherubim

Rejoice, hymn of the angels:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, ode of the seraphim

and joy of the archangels:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, o peace; Rejoice, o joy

and haven of salvation: 

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O bridal chamber of the Word

unfading, fragrant blossom:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, delight of paradise

Rejoice, life everlasting: 

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, o holy tree of life

and fount of immortality:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

I supplicate thee, Lady,

I humbly call upon thee:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O queen of all, I beg thee

To grant me Thy favor:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O spotless and most honored Maid,

O Lady all holy:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

I call upon thee fervently, 

Thou temple most holy:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O thou my help, deliver me

From harm and all adversity:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

And by thy prayers show me to be

An heir of immortality:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

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Quintessential Heirloom of the Heart

I woke up this morning and listened to this entire short (8 song) album.  It became my morning prayer.  It is the quintessential heirloom of my heart and I give it to you thinking it may become one of yours.

As a musician, I have over twenty thousand songs on my iPhone.  These eight breath the grandeur, mystery, beauty and wonder of God in ultra-condensed fashion, distilled into the finest liquor.  Here EVERYTHING is sacrament and “The world is charged with the grandeur of God!"

And the MUSIC!!  O the music!  You are in good hands… I swear God himself plays through all the musicians on this recording, but especially Bruce whose guitar work finds few comparisons.

I hope you get inebriated just like I did.  Again and again.

Link to this music on Amazon

All Lyrics printed below.

Blessings!

Creation Dream

Centered on silence
Counting on nothing
I saw you standing on the sea
And everything was
Dark except for
Sparks the wind struck from your hair
Sparks that turned to
Wings around you
Angel voices mixed with seabird cries
Fields of motion
Surging outward
Questions that contain their own replies

You were dancing
I saw you dancing
Throwing your arms toward the sky
Fingers opening
Like flares
Stars were shooting everywhere
Lines of power
Bursting outward
Along the channels of your song
Mercury waves flashed
Under your feet
Shots of silver in the shell-pink dawn

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
Creation Dream lyrics © Carlin America Inc

Hills of Morning

Underneath the mask of the sulphur sky
A bunch of us were busy waiting,
Watching the people looking ill-at-ease,
Watching the fraying rope get closer to breaking

Women and men moved back and forth
In between effect and cause
And just beyond the range of normal sight
This glittering joker was dancing in the dragon's jaws

Let me be a little of your breath
Moving over the face of the deep --
I want to be a particle of your light
Flowing over the hills of morning

The only sign you gave of who you were
When you first came walking down the road,
Was the way the dust motes danced around
Your feet in a cloud of gold

But everything you see's not the way it seems --
Tears can sing and joy shed tears.
You can take the wisdom of this world
And give it to the ones who think it all ends here

Let me be a little of your breath
Moving over the face of the deep --
I want to be a particle of your light
Flowing over the hills of morning

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
Hills of Morning lyrics © Rotten Kiddies Music Llc, Bro N Sis Music Inc., Bro N Sis Music, Inc.

Badlands Flashback

Mon corps se pence
Ma main s'entends
Prends du gravier
Un morcean blanc de coquille

Pour un instant
Un mugissement
L'antique mer
Rempli cet espace qui a ete le mien

Lozanges mobiles
Des herbes flottantes
Un cri soudain
D'oiseau flamboie au firmament

Une troupe d'antilopes
Traverse l'horizon
Sabots scintillants comme du verre

Un rire sonne comme le cristal
Dans le ciel vide
Quelqu'un danse comme une flamme

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
Badlands Flashback lyrics © Carlin America Inc

(English Translation)

The body stoops
The hand goes out
Picks up from the gravel
A fragment of white seashell

For a moment
A roaring
The ancient sea
Fills the space that just now was mine

Moving diamond-shapes
Grasses flowing
The sudden cry of a bird
Blazes all along the sky

A herd of antelope
Crosses the horizon
Hooves scintillating like glass

A laugh rings like crystal
In the empty sky --
Someone is dancing like a flame!

Northern Lights

Sunday night and it's half past nine
Sunday night and it's half past nine
Sunday night and it's half past nine
I'm leaving one more town behind

Mirrors are showing the day's last glow
Mirrors are showing the day's last glow
Mirrors are showing the day's last glow
As we're spit out into the jigsaw flow

Ahead where there should be the thickness of night
Stars are pinned on a shimmering curtain of light
Sky full of rippling cliffs and chasms
That shine like signs on the road to heaven…

I've been cut by the beauty of jagged mountains
And cut by the love that flows like a fountain from God.
So I carry these scars, precious and rare,
And tonight I feel like I'm made of air…

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
Northern Lights lyrics © Rotten Kiddies Music Llc, Bro N Sis Music Inc., Bro N Sis Music, Inc.

After the Rain

After the rain in the streets, light flows like blood
I can just taste salt on the humid wind

Here comes that gasoline
Spreading hungry rainbow over shiny black tar

I'm blown like smoke and blind as wind
Except for when your love breaks in

Maybe to those who love is given sight
To pierce the wall of seeming night
And know it pure beyond all imagining

Engine throb, street cruise light, bullet car flash
Hollow beauty, night gleam, oily river, tension glass

Ultraflame, glittering dust falling in slow motion
Clouds tumbling one over another into apparent emptiness

It's like a big fist breaking down my door
I never felt such a love before

Maybe to those who love it's given to hear
Music too high for the human ear
And clear as hydrogen to go singing

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
After the Rain lyrics © Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs, Carlin America Inc

Wondering Where the Lions Are

Sun's up, uuh huh, looks okay
The world survives into another day
And i'm thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.

I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren't half as frightening as they were before
But i'm thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.

Walls windows trees, waves coming through
You be in me and i'll be in you
Together in eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

Up among the firs where it smells so sweet
Or down in the valley where the river used to be
I got my mind on eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

And i'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are…

Huge orange flying boat rises off a lake,
Thousand-year-old petroglyphs doing a double take,
Pointing a finger at eternity
I'm sitting in the middle of this ecstasy

Young men marching, helmets shining in the sun,
Polished as precise like the brain behind the gun
(Should be!) they got me thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

And i'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are…

Freighters on the nod on the surface of the bay
One of these days we're going to sail away,
Going to sail into eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me

And i'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are…

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
Wondering Where the Lions Are lyrics © Rotten Kiddies Music Llc, Bro N Sis Music Inc., Bro N Sis Music, Inc.

Incandescent Blue

I sneaked across the border, it was threatening rain
So I could stand in this tunnel, waiting for the roaring train
And watch those black kids working out kung fu moves
If you don't want to be the horses' hoof prints you got to be the hooves

Hear that lonesome violin play
See the notes float up into the overcast
And change to white birds as they sail on through
And soar away free into incandescent blue

People getting ready behind all those rectangles of light
"Put on your grin mask, babe, you know we're steppin' out tonight"
You hear that sound, like hammers only small?
It's what the people's heads say when they beat them against the wall

Hear that lonesome violin play
See the notes float up into the overcast
And change to white birds as they sail on through
And soar away free into incandescent blue

Concrete vortex sucks down the wind
It's howling like a blinded violin.
Oh, tongues of fire, come and kiss my brow
If I ever needed you, well I need you now

Hear that lonesome violin play
See the notes float up into the overcast
And change to white birds as they sail on through
And soar away free into incandescent blue

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
Incandescent Blue lyrics © Carlin America Inc

No Footprints

Mist hangs above hills
Above mist hangs stone face of mountain
Above mountain face hangs a net of sky --
Crack! there are wings and they rip the net!

And the dance flows on
Everything flows toward the rim of that
Shining cup

Crossed sticks lie on earth
Between crossed sticks -- pile of ash
Something rises on the wisp of smoke
Dog's feet move by fast

And the dance flows on
Everything flows toward the rim of that
Shining cup

Through these channels/words
I want to touch you
Touch you deep down
Where you live
Not for power but
Because I love you
So
Love the Lord
And in Him love me too
And in Him go your way
And I'll be right there with you
Leaving
No footprints when we go
No footprints when we go
Only where we've been, a faint and fading glow…

Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
No Footprints lyrics © Rotten Kiddies Music Llc, Bro N Sis Music Inc., Bro N Sis Music, Inc.

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward. 

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

Grandville, MI 49468-0036

***Phone Browsers***

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

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Light Quotes

Below are the quotes from the top banner animation in order.

1 - Darkness is just a speck in the light
King’s X - 1990

2 - Light unshared is darkness.
George MacDonald - 1892

3 - The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
St. John the Apostle - circa 100 AD

4 - Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
William L. Watkinson - 1907

5 - Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr. - 1957

6 - So shines a good deed in a weary world.
William Shakespeare - 1600

7 - His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
St. Matthew the Apostle - circa 70 AD

8 - The same sun which melts wax hardens clay.
Charles Spurgeon - 1881

9 - Light of the world shine on me, love is the answer.
Todd Rundgren - 1977

10 - I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.
Jesus of Nazareth - circa 30 AD

11 - Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.
Desiderius Erasmus - circa 1500

12 - To love beauty is to see light.
Victor Hugo - Circa 1860

13 - This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
Harry Dixon Loes - circa 1920

14 - Luminous beings are we.
Yoda - Long, long ago

15 - Light is to darkness what love is to fear; in the presence of one the other disappears.
Marianne Williamson - 2008

16 - The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
King David - circa 1000 BC

17 - Darn floor - big bite, You are love, fire and light!
Daniel Amos - 1987

18 - God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
St. John the Apostle - circa 90 AD

19 - Never fear shadows. They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby.
Author Unknown (attributed to Ruth E. Renkel for whom information is quite elusive)

20 - In this place no candle burns for the Lamb shall be our light.
Terry Scott Taylor - Circa 1990 

21 - See the light in others, and treat them as if that is all you see. 
Wayne Dyer - 2005

22 - Aziz!  Light!  Much better.  Thank you, Aziz.
Professor Pacoli - 1914

23 - What is to give light must endure burning. 
Viktor Frankl - 1946

24 - Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
St. Paul the Apostle - Circa 58 AD

25 - We are all broken, that's how the light gets in.
Ernest Hemingway / Leonard Cohen - 1929 / 1992

26 - Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. 
Maori Proverb

27 - Light is good from whatever lamp it shines. 
Author Unknown

28 - The light in me honors the light in you.
Farmer's favorite take on Sanskrit: Namaste

29 - A child afraid of the dark?  Expected.  An adult afraid of the light?  Troubling.
Home grown from web seeds.

30 - In Thy light shall we see light.
King David - Circa 1000 BC

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward. 

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

Grandville, MI 49468-0036

***Phone Browsers***

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.

Hope and Light

This website is here as a witness to hope and light so it seemed fitting to speak of both in one entry.

Studies at the Theology of the Body Institute have led me to explore the life of the man who delivered that understanding to the Church in the last part of the 20th century. I just finished listening to an abridged version of a biography by George Weigel about him and my review of it follows.

My premonition is that 200 years from today, looking back, most of the world will agree that Karol Wojtyla was the greatest anthropologist and philosopher that ever walked the earth. It will take that long perhaps because the current prejudices against the other facts of his life, for example that he was also a brilliant theologian, a compassionate and pastoral Pope of the Catholic Church and declared a Saint, will take that long to fizzle out and give way to objectivity.

His brilliant work on human anthropology and sexual expression known now as the “Theology of the Body” is enough by itself for such a bold claim. His life accomplishments in other areas only augment the assertion. 

Time will tell.

In the mean time I am grateful for this excellent abridged Audible edition of George Weigel's work, giving the world a chance to become better acquainted with the much celebrated Saint John Paul II in less than ten hours of listening. I doubt that I'd have made it through the over 1000 pages of unabridged hard copy, so I for one am happily in debt to both Mr. Weigel and the editors who made this "quick" edition available. As a student at the Theology of the Body Institute, it has greatly enriched my perspectives on this great friend and servant of God, whose work I shall continue to study and propagate as long as I'm able.

St. John Paul II was and is a beautiful witness to hope in a world that needs it so desperately.

To complete the dynamic duo implied in the title, my friend Beth posted a brilliant piece this past Friday about light that I'll repost here with her permission.  Thank you Beth!

It is dark as I leave home for 7:15am Mass. The sun will be setting as I leave work to go back home this evening.  Without the aid of my headlights it is hard for me to really see what is right in front of me let alone farther down the road. The darkness envelops everything. I need light to navigate my way on the physical road as well as in my emotional and spiritual life journey.

The readings today highlight this need of illumination. The First Reading tells us that God teaches us what is for (our) good. The Psalm tells us, “Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.” Jesus tells us in the Gospel that, we called to you but you didn’t come. “We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance… [we] came eating and drinking” and you called us names and scoffed at us.

“Every time we sin, we become less human,” said Fr. Dan Crosby, OFM Cap in a recent homily. When we elevate ourselves, make fun or take advantage of others, we are placing a veil or, when there are many veils, a curtain between us and God. That sin blocks and takes us away from the Light of Life.

#1691 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God.” When you stay in the light you will be able to see the kingdom and find peace or Shalom.

I pray you will experience a deep peace of the Kingdom of God during this Advent season while you wait and prepare for our Lord’s coming.

A Celtic Blessing:

Deep peace of the running wave to you

Deep peace of the flowing air to you

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

Deep peace of the shining stars to you

Deep peace of the gentle night to you

Moon and stars pour their healing light on you

Deep peace of Christ the light of the world to you

Deep peace of Christ to you.

Amen.

Beth Price is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She brings a unique depth of experience to the group due to her time spent in education, parish ministries, sales and the service industry over the last 25 yrs. She is a practicing spiritual director as well as a Secular Franciscan (OFS). Beth is quick to offer a laugh, a prayer or smile to all she comes in contact with.

Feature Image Credit: Dave Hoefler

[Click here for Beth's article in its original format]

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward. 

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

Grandville, MI 49468-0036

***Phone Browsers***

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.

Human Fraternity

My friend Beth wrote the blog below.  I received her permission this morning to repost it for those that visit here and might not think to visit it in it's original form that you can see by clicking here.  It is introducing Papa Francesco's latest treatise on Human Fraternity.  I am looking forward to digging into that tome in the coming weeks.  Thank's Beth for your enthusiastic response to it which is contagious.  

Blessings everyone!

__________________

Human Fraternity
Friday, October 9


The themes in today’s readings, beginning with the prophet Abraham saying, ‘through you shall all the nations be blessed’ and the Alleluia, ‘I will draw all to myself, says the Lord’, have been pulling me to Pope Francis’ new encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.

Why? The subtitle of the document, Fraternity and Social Friendship, ring true in my heart, just as it did during my first reading of the Gospel. ‘Whoever is not with me is against me, whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Lk 11:23

The Grand Imam, Ahmed el-Tayeb and Pope Francis signed a document in February of 2019 on human fraternity and world peace. The Grand Imam described this joint document as: “… a document that invites all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work together so that it may serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters.”

Fratelli Tutti is a document that needs to be read slowly to allow yourself to go deeper into the familiar story of the Good Samaritan, which is the framework of Pope Francis’ writing. John Carr, Director of Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at GU wrote a summary of the Twelve Themes on Sunday and Georgetown University held a forum on the encyclical on Monday.

The Alleluia acclamation today states: ‘I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.’ I believe this is what Pope Francis calls us to throughout Fratelli Tutti. The relationships we have with all of humanity and creation are sacred and entrusted to us through the Divine.

This recurring theme delights my Franciscan heart and soul. Click on the links above, read the documents, and find what is yours to do. Pray with me the words of Pope Francis as we begin this journey and necessary work.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

Help us to recognize the evil latent in a communication that does not build communion.

Help us to remove the venom from our judgements.

Help us to speak about others as our brothers and sisters.

You are faithful and trustworthy; may our words be seeds of goodness for the world:

where there is shouting, let us practice listening;

where there is confusion, let us inspire harmony;

where there is ambiguity, let us bring clarity;

where there is exclusion, let us offer solidarity;

where there is sensationalism, let us use sobriety;

where there is superficiality, let us raise real questions;

where there is prejudice, let us awaken trust;

where there is hostility, let us bring respect;

where there is falsehood, let us bring truth. Amen.

Contact the author

Beth Price is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She brings a unique depth of experience to the group due to her time spent in education, parish ministries, sales and the service industry over the last 25 yrs. She is a practicing spiritual director as well as a Secular Franciscan (OFS). Beth is quick to offer a laugh, a prayer or smile to all she comes in contact with. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.

©2020 Diocesan

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward.

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

Grandville, MI 49468-0036

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.

(This note is for phone browsers.)

People of the Book? Yes and No...

Fr. John administering the Oil of Chrism
to my Mother in 2014.

This Labor Day I’d like to honor the work of my late Pastor John Winfrey by reposting a blog he wrote years ago.  I can no longer find it on the Internet and this writing has had a profound impact on my life so I share it in hopes that it will bless you as well.

____________

PEOPLE OF THE BOOK

(By Fr. John Winfrey circa 2013)

I have heard many speak of Christianity as “people of the book”. The phrase, of course, comes from Islam’s reference to us in the earlier parts of the Qur’an. Over the centuries, there are many who have embraced that notion because everything was boiled down to the Bible alone in the 16th century. If it’s not in the Bible, then it can’t be true. We have all heard that sort of argumentation. But are the Muslims right about us? Are we really the people of the book?

Yes and no. Yes, the Scriptures are a very important part of who we are. It is one of the many ways through which Christ reveals himself to us. My patron Saint, John Chrysostom, encouraged everyone to read the Scriptures daily — this at a time when very few could possibly own their own copy because they were so expensive as they were all hand copied. The Scriptures do indeed form a part of our “daily bread.” But we, as Christians, are not created by the Bible. While the argument that Christianity is defined by the Bible, directed by it, and finds its reason for being in it, is something that is very attractive to some, it is not a complete understanding.

An image from the Gospel Book of Kells

As important as the Scriptures are, and they are, they were written after the day of Pentecost when theChurch was established. What establishes the Church is the life of the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Godhead as unique and complete as the Father and the Son. God the Holy Spirit is the one who is the source of the Church’s life. In fact, it is he who inspired those who wrote the Scriptures as well as those who selected what books would be contained in the Christian Scriptures (which only occurs in the mid-4th century).

The fact is that when we bring someone forward to be baptized, we don’t give them a Bible quiz to see if they know the Faith. We ask them to recite the Nicene Creed. The Creed can be supported by the Scriptures without a doubt. But even before we ask the candidate to recite the Creed, the priest blows into the candidate’s face showing the creative work of the Holy Spirit. (The word for spirit and breath are the same in Greek and Arabic.) Thus, it is only through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that a person can profess the Creed. We ought not to be surprised by this for even the Scriptures say that no one can confess Christ as Lord without the Holy Spirit. In Baptism the Holy Spirit recreates us in the font and joins us to Christ, and then seals us in Chrismation. Yes, Scriptures are read in Baptism — a lot of it. But it is the Holy Spirit that makes us Christian. Even the name “Christian”, or “anointed one” refers to it; we are anointed by the Holy Spirit, changed into something entirely different.

Christianity is defined not by a book, or actually a collection of books in the Bible, but by the work of the person of the Holy Spirit. Christianity is essentially a relationship with the Living God, and even more, it is communion with the Holy Trinity being made a partaker in the life of Christ. To say we are “people of the book” denies this critical characteristic and it inclines us to think in terms of legalism.

If a book defines us, then we must learn the book in detail — like a case book of law — if we are to know who we are. We should be able to quote chapter and verse to counter everything around us. If a book defines us, then we are constrained to formalism and law. There is no joy in this because we are then merely subjects of a system of regulations.

But this is not the case, thank God! The Scriptures support us and they teach us, but not like a law. They become bread rather than legal prescript. Christians are “people of the Spirit,” if we really want to be exact.

Now, before I go too far, let me say that yes there are rules of precept in the Church. No, we don’t change the meaning of the Scripture, or say that the early Church understood things differently because they were trapped or not as enlightened or other such thing. We are faithful to what God has revealed in the Scriptures and do not alter one word of it. The rules we have are for our salvation, not as a matter of law. If someone disagrees with a rule, then the chances are he doesn’t understand its purpose and how it is applied. In these cases the only reasonable thing is to speak to one’s priest to resolve the question. One may also misunderstand the Faith and so misunderstand the rules of the Church. This is another reason why the priest should be consulted. It is silly and immature to not ask, especially if one decides to sulk and back off like a child whose feelings are hurt. Adults come forward and ask honestly, without anger or pugnacity, so they can actually clarify things. Priests also have to ask questions of those who are better informed on questions so there is no shame in doing this. It is part of being a human being, we don’t have all of the answers ourselves.

The Scriptures guide us into a deeper life in the Holy Spirit, since they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. They challenge us and comfort us. But they do so because of the Holy Spirit. You have all heard me commend the daily reading of Scriptures to you. I follow my patron Saint in this admonition and it is so easy for you to have your own copy to do this. You know that I find power in the Scriptures, but I must tell you that we are not people of the book. Never fall into that mindset. We are people of the Spirit, who is alive and a genuine person of the Trinity. We are filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit that we might live. He makes us something that we could never be. Saint Peter, the great apostle, wrote very clearly what we are, and it is not people of the book. He says:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the Scriptures. Look for the face of Christ in the Old Testament. But never confuse looking at letters on a page with our purpose. Always remember our lives are found in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

________________

This blog of Fr. John's was copied and edited by me years ago.  It may not be perfectly intact or exactly what he posted.  I know I made some spelling and syntax corrections for sure, but beyond that I cannot remember.  I do believe it represents quite accurately what he was trying to communicate.  Praying it blesses many souls even in its imperfect form.

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward.

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to: 

Photon Farms, Inc.

PO Box 36

Grandville, MI 49468-0036

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.

(This note is for phone browsers.)