Friar Musings

Flying

As Christian we are Pentecost people gifted in the Spirit: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God – writes St Paul in the 1 Corinthians. But these gifts of service and work – all stemming from the same Grace – all gifted in order to build up the Body of Christ – these gifts are founded upon the deeper gifts of the Spirit given: wisdom, understanding, counsel, courage, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (cf. Isaiah 11). I have been thinking about the gift of courage.

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Memorial Day

Every year, on this Memorial Day weekend, someone will thank me for my service to my country.  They know that I am a graduate of the US Naval Academy (1974) and served on submarines from graduation until early 1982. While I am grateful for their thoughts, Memorial Day is not a day to congratulate veterans living or passed.  It is a day to honor those military men and women who died serving their country.

When and where did this tradition start? The NY Times has a nice piece regarding that question. But aside from the question, Memorial Day is a day when we are called to remember that women and men stepped forward to serve and accepted the possibilities that final and lasting sacrifice could be part of the service. A sacrifice that contains the idea that someone could give up everything for people they do not even know - and for some - to be laid to rest in a land not home, marking the place where they died.  Union soldiers in the fields of Tennessee. US soldiers in the cemeteries of Normandy, France.  Each one a brother or sister, a father or mother, each one loved.

As Christians we are well acquainted with this idea: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:11-13).

No one wants to wage war; no one wants to die in war - and yet our history is replete with accounts of both. Let us remember this day as one of “no greater love.”  Let us honor the day and honor the sacrifice others have made on our behalf.

Pentecost Sunday

The description of the first Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles tells us that when devout Jews from many different nations heard the Spirit-inspired proclamation of the gospel by the disciples, “each one heard them speaking in his own language.” The outpouring of the Spirit of God united this very diverse group of people in a powerful moment of God’s self-revelation.  Such is the power of Spirit.

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Recalcitrant

The “Word of the Day” from my friends at Marriam-Webster is “recalcitrant.”  I look forward to my daily email from MW because I get to learn the origin of the words. Today’s word is one whose origin is fascinating. It comes from the Latin “recalcitrare” meaning “to kick back”  Perhaps a picture is worth a thousand words.

Rubber duckies at sea…

Did you know that on January 10, 1992 - a cargo ship lost overboard 28,800 “rubber duckies?” In fact the bathtub objects came in all sorts of shapes and animal figures. The duckies were lost in the mid-Pacific ocean about where the 45th parallel crosses the International Dateline. Some are still out there, circulating in gyres - most likely in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch gyre - but some of the duckies have been recovered in Maine and Scotland, clearly escaping for distant gyres and other lands.  Will this information change your life?  

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…what is being taught

Chatting today with a parish staff member today, she was reminded of an older conversation when the diocesan faith formation director said that we always need to be conscious of what is being taught by our words and actions.  With that intro, I leave you to this NY Times article:  TBN Fight Offers Glimpse Inside Lavish TV Ministry - NYTimes.com.

As a Franciscan, one is reminded of the words often associated with St. Francis of Assisi:  preach the Gospel at all times, use words if necessary.  My religious formation must have been lacking, I am not familiar with the TBN gospel.