Pastor’s Notes

Driving past a local church, Fr. Paige Shortal noticed a red banner with a large white comma.  When he asked the pastor, “What’s with the comma?”  She explained that it was part of the “God Is Still Speaking” campaign of the United Church of Christ.  Inspired by a quote attributed to Gracie Allen found among her papers by her husband George Burns after her death, it says something about God’s ways.   “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.”

We sometimes act as if we got God figured out. Our traditions and the groups that we adhere to define us; especially the issues that seems unbendable.   We want to be clear and sure about faith and morals before we take the leap and commit ourselves to them.  And that is a beautiful longing!  But when it comes to the prophet’s voice in the first reading, we have to do our work.  “Active listening” amidst all the voices that compete for our attention these days, is best not done alone.  The responsorial psalm sings, “If today your hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”  We so need functioning hearts, compassionate silent centers where God dwells with us.  It is the place of our conscience, but so much more.  Fr. Luis sponsors a “centering prayer” group every Monday evening in the friary chapel.  The participants learn to sit together in silence with the rhythm of their breathing.  One of the most ancient Christian prayer forms is a silent resting in one’s center to listen to the voice of the Holy One there.  The Medieval classic work, Cloud of Unknowing tried to codify that style of prayer.  It is a beautiful and sometimes painful work to live from one’s center. It ends always in praise.

God is still speaking.  It is often a comma, not a period that emerges as God and his people walk together.  Open minded and open hearted, we trust that God still speaks to us.  The Scriptures and traditions of the Church show us how to listen.   It usually means we have to see ourselves truthfully, as we are before God.   Even with all our foibles, opinions and hypocrisies, God’s voice still finds its way to us.  It guides us to the truth, slowly and painfully sometimes.  But when we arrive it is peaceful and serene there.  And we long to return.  St Paul says to the Corinthian Christians in the second reading, “I should like you to be free of anxieties… adherence to the Lord without distractions.”  I think this is what he means.   It takes a little practice.

The coming weeks gear up for the sacred season of Lent. Valentines Day will be a tough sell for fast and abstinence. But starting with the heart is a good place to begin the Baptismal journey of Lent.  We dust off our Baptismal promises for another Easter sunrise.

Volunteers make St. Mary’s sing their Baptisms throughout the year. Thanks to all those who worked on the alumnae gathering last weekend and the Martin Luther King Vespers Service the week before.   Our gratitude to Ms. Andy Hardin for speaking.    Both were wonderful gatherings that we will schedule again for next year.  We’re slowly gathering enough volunteers to cover the front door and phone of the parish offices during business hours.  We will call them “Porters,” one of the most ancient ministries of the Christian church.  Our “Ministers of Care” are at the hospital and with shut-ins weekly with communion.  St. Vincent de Paul attends to the underserved and “lower-incomed” households of central Phoenix on Saturday mornings. Check your schedules and hearts to see if you might have some hours to give.

A gentle week,
Fr. Michael Weldon, OFM