It speaks for itself.
There is no doing justice to one of Fr. Jeff’s homilies, but not to try is to leave you without the tickling touch of heaven. He usually is very personal with bits and pieces from his life, this time as a national guard chaplain. Last week brought the realities of the motor pool to bear on his celebration of the Mass. He went head to head with the jet sounds of an air pump. He eventually had to scrap a “really wonderful sermon” (laughing at his humility) in the loosing battle for volume dominance.
The experience was not without its reward. Fr. Jeff came away thinking of the noisy society that clamors with sound bites and distraction for our conscious attention, while actually driving us to distraction and semi-consciousness.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. (Isaiah 50:4-5)
With the words from the scripture still echoing in our ears, Fr. Jeff reminded us of the still small voice that morning after morning speaks to us and the Lord who “opens my ear that I may hear.”
All this week, we will be hearing the salvation story retold once again. Will it be received as so much noise, something we’ve heard before with no special clarity of nuance or message. Will we “hear the subtleties of the orchestra for the life of our soul and hearts.”
Here again, Fr. Jeff got personal. This time it was the $40 ear buds he was coaxed to buy with promises of sounds he’d never heard before. “Sure”, he thought somewhat cynically, but took the bait, none-the-less. He sprang for the pricey thingies.
Once wired for sound, Fr. Jeff listened to his music and heard sonorous sounds he’d never heard before, nuances and subtleties, tone and clarity. He’d paid the price, and it was worth every penny ! For us in church this morning, it was a clarion call to listen again, to incline an an open ear. I think of the young apostle John with his ear to our Lord’s heart at the Last Supper.
Jesus’ story is the same year after year but there are subtleties and an ever newness for us this brand new day. Be conscious, by a prayer and an act of the will! “Morning after morning, he opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled, have not turned back”
Fr. Scott began his homily with the lyrics of a song by John Prine:
“There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin’ I suppose.”
The sorrowful words left you thinking, “What a waste!”
Then came the true story a dying soldier during the Viet Nam War, who, though not a Catholic, asked for the Church’s blessing from the priest by his side. When a man is close to death, and this is his desire, it is one the Church gladly honors. The soldier said to the priest, “Father, don’t let that oil go to waste.” The priest didn’t waste a drop as he anointed the man at death’s door.
Father Scott was saying that in life we make choices that bear on how we end. This particular morning, in the closing days of Lent, Father implored, “Don’t waste Lent! Let’s make it last our entire lives; until we breathe our last breath.”
As usual Obama sounded great speaking of how America and the world needed to respond to N.Korea. As usual his response to the launch didn’t match the rhetoric and reality, as real clear Krauthammer, Fox News contributor, posted by Town Hall blog, makes crystal. Here’s Charles on the N. Korean missile launch and the weak response from President Obama :
h/t Greg Hengler
Suzy B, the voice of Pro-Life women in politics & of the Susan B. Anthony List, has this video of Dr. Oz, a prestigious medical professional telling Michael J. Fox and Oprah that “the stem cell debate is dead.”
Dr. Oz is talking about Pluripotent Stem Cell research.
Why are we surprised by the changes? Back in 2001 in a Chicago Public Radion Interview President Obama said the U.S. Constitution “reflected fundamental flaw of this country that continues to this day.”
Be Holy! 