Stewardship of prayer

Toni Medaglia

 

Thank you Father. My name is Toni Medaglia, and I have been here at St Pius as a parishioner for nearly 10 years. I will be witnessing to you today about the stewardship of prayer in my own life.

 

We moved here in 2012 with my husband Tim Fuerst and our 4 wonderful children:  Megan, Nathan, Katelyn, and Ben.  We moved here for my husband’s dream job at the University of Notre Dame, so he could be a tenured faculty member in the Economics department.

I did not adjust well to the move and spent many months crying out to God in distress, often praying in anguish about living in Indiana. I took comfort in the  words:

 

 “ The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot sustain you.” 

 

It was God’s grace that sustained me during that time of transition and uncertainty . 

I have also been a pediatrician for over 30 years and eventually was able to find a job that I love as a doctor at the Notre Dame Wellness Center.

Like so many of you, I constantly struggle with balancing my family life, work and my faith. 

My prayers were often very  short at that time in my life, usually desperate Hail Mary’s between patients or a few decades of the rosary on the ride home from work.

 

As I learned more at St. Pius about the stewardship of prayer and giving God the first fruits of  our time,  I became more active in the different opportunities available here at  parish life.  Prayer became a priority in my life.

 

When I think about  the stewardship of prayer that we are called to,  I turn to the true definition of prayer captured so beautifully by St. Therese of Lisieux:

 

          “ Prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look toward heaven,

            it is a cry of recognition and of love , embracing both trial and joy.”

 

Like so many of you, life has a way of blindsiding us with unexpected pain and grief. Early in 2016, my perfectly healthy wonderful faithful husband, Tim, was diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer, and he died just 10 months later.

 

Being a widow has been the hardest ,most painful thing I have ever been called to do.  It is my prayer life and relationship with God that has sustained me. So many people prayed and helped us at that horrible time, and we were so  blessed by their Christian kindness and outreach.  And honestly, so many of them were St Pius parishioners. I truly felt carried by the hand of God. Since this time, I have prayed more deeply and often, and even felt called by God to start a Catholic grief support group here at St Pius, called Seasons of Hope which meets monthly to help those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.

 

  “ Rejoice always,

    Pray without ceasing,

    In all circumstances, give thanks for this is 

    the will of God for you in Christ Jesus,’

    1 Thess 5 16-18

 

God is with us every second of every day, and he wants us to remember that the Lord is near, and we are all only one last breath away from meeting the face of God.

 

St Pius offers so many opportunities for us to grow as a person of faith who places prayer as a priority in our lives.  The stewardship of prayer should become a way of life where our relationship with God is an investment in our future of eternity with him.

 

We simply spend more time with the people we love.

As my husband lay dying in my arms, some of the very last words I said to him were

I adore you, 

Please forgive me

I am so grateful for you,

I need you to pray for me.

 

We can use these exact same words to start a conversation with our Lord, who suffered and died to save us for all eternity. Prayer is simply saying to God every day in our own way;

 

I adore you, 

Please forgive me,

I am so grateful to you,

I need you ……

 

Now, my Italian grandmother used to say “people don't remember what you say they remember how you make them feel,”

So today at the end of my witness,

may you feel loved by God,

May you feel inspired by the Holy Spirit 

And may you feel motivated to pray.

 

May Christ lead us all to a life in prayer as we place our trust in Him. Amen

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

28 NOVEMBER 2021

 

            The Season of Advent is designed to be a time of preparation.  This Season enables us to prepare to celebrate the first coming of the Lord at Christmas.  We need this time to make spiritual preparations to celebrate this Mystery of the Incarnation, because our culture defines Christmas as a time to buy lots of stuff to boost our economy.

            But the Season of Advent is also designed to be a time to prepare for the second coming of the Lord.  This preparation is more difficult.  Instead of focusing on the new life of a baby in a manger, we are invited to focus on the end of our individual lives, or at the end of time.  Jesus speaks of this ending in today’s Gospel, when he points to the destruction of the Temple.  By the time the Gospel of Luke had been written, the Romans had demolished this beautiful structure and center of worship in Jerusalem.  In much the same way, our lives and our world will sooner or later be destroyed in ways that we cannot predict.           

            Jesus does not tell us to make these preparations to make us any more fearful than we already are.  In preparing for the end, we need to live in the present, confident of the Lord’s risen presence.  In the present, we can more readily give witness to Christ, especially in these dark days of division and conflict.  We can be vigilant in waiting for his coming by persevering.  The best way to persevere is to renew our commitment to be a faithful disciple.  Being a faithful disciple does not mean that we engage in periodic volunteer work on our own terms and at our own convenience.  Being a faithful disciple means a consistent and faithful gift of ourselves on God’s terms, even when it might be inconvenient to do so.

            We can give of ourselves only if we regard all that we are and have as gifts from God.  That is why prayer is the most important component of the three legs of stewardship.  The Season of Advent encourages us to use the time we have been given between the first coming of the Lord and his second coming to enter more deeply into a commitment to deepen our lives of prayer.  We do that not only when we gather at Mass as a community, but also when we gather in our homes with our families and friends.  Please listen to Toni Medaglia, as she speaks of her own prayer life and how it has affected her life as a disciple.

 

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

21 NOVEMBER 2021

 

          Pontius Pilate asks Jesus if he is the King of the Jews.  The religious authorities had accused Jesus of making that claim.  They know that this accusation gives Pilate an open and shut case.  Any subversive action against Caesar is punishable by death.  If Jesus has been working against Caesar by proclaiming himself king of the Jews, Pilate can easily condemn him to a horrible death on the cross.

            However, the religious authorities are fully aware that Jesus has not been making this claim.  They have not given Pilate their real reasons for wanting to get rid of Jesus.  First, the teachings of Jesus have been undermining theirs all along.  Second, people have been drawn to him because of his integrity.  He has been completely transparent in everything he has done.  That has not been true with them.  They have imposed heavy burdens in their laws and enriched themselves.  Third, he has claimed to be God’s Son.  They regard this claim as blasphemy.  Their real reasons would not have been grounds for a Roman governor to give the death sentence.

            Pilate thinks that he has the ultimate authority over Jesus Christ.  His kingdom involves dominion, privilege, power, and prestige.  His kingdom is imposed by force and violence.  He has no understanding whatsoever of the Kingdom which Jesus describes.  His kingdom does not belong to this world.  His kingdom involves love, justice, and service.  Pilate cannot understand this Kingdom.  As a result, he has no idea that the one standing before him had been part of creation from the very beginning.  In truth, Pilate is on trial. Not Jesus.   

            Jesus stands in a truth that contradicts all the allegations of the religious authorities.  His kingdom is very different from the kingdom protected by Pilate and the other Roman governors.   Jesus comes to testify to the truth.  The Semitic word for truth is ‘met.  It can be translated into English as reliable, faithful, constant, permanent, and honest.  We use a variation of that word when we respond amen at the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer.  We use the same word when the Body and Blood of Christ are given to us in Communion.

            The passage from the Book of Revelation in our second reading is like a Eucharistic Prayer.  It reveals the truth about the kingdom of God already in our midst.  It reminds us that Jesus loves everyone in an unconditional way.  It tells us that Jesus has freed us from those sins which have separated us from the Father’s love.  It states that Jesus reigns from the throne of a cross and is crowned with a crown of thorns.  As a result of his redemption, we are part of a community that continues the priestly and kingly functions of Jesus Christ.  Through Baptism, we are priests, prophets, and kings.

            As members of this community, the Lord calls us as his Mystical Body to bear witness to the truth for which Jesus died.  He died to demonstrate that God loves all peoples.  He seeks our common good.  He was raised from the dead to live with us forever.

            We live in a divided culture in which people argue about what is true.  Through social media and the news networks, we are offered “truths” that compete with one another.  We tend to support our version of truth by viewing YouTube and 24-hour news channels that reinforce what we think should be true.  But through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can recognize what is truth.  It endures through all time, regardless of differing viewpoints.  It is faithful and true.  The truth offered by Jesus Christ provides a lens through which we view all our petty differences.  Jesus Christ, the King, the First and Last, the Alpha and Omega, invites us to turn to him as the Truth.  He is the one who was, who is, and who is to come.  The risen Lord is in our midst.

 

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

14 NOVEMBER 2021

 

          We are coming to the end of this current Liturgical Year.  Next Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, last Sunday of Cycle B.  Then we will begin a new liturgical year as we enter the Season of Advent on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  These days, the farmers remind us that this growing season has come to an end as they harvest what they had sown last spring.  In a similar way, our Scripture readings remind us that life as we know it will also come to an end.  These readings remind us that there is a final stage to the development of humankind.  These readings can be frightening.  However, we need to hear the readings from the perspective of those to whom they were originally intended.

            The Book of Daniel describes the signs that mark the end of time as we know it.  To be honest, those signs are hopeful to his Jewish contemporaries.  They are being persecuted and sidelined in every way possible.  They are living through incredibly dark times.  Daniel promises that the wise will shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament.  He assures those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.  He is giving hope and a vision of promise to the downtrodden.  In a time unsurpassed in distress, they will be vindicated for their faith in God.

            Jesus addresses a similar hope to those who have become his disciples.  As they stand on the Mount of Olives, his disciples marvel at the beauty and majesty of the Temple across the Kidron Valley on Mount Zion.  However, he warns that this magnificent structure will be destroyed.  He says that this generation (usually defined as forty years) will not pass away until they see this happen.  By the time Saint Mark wrote his Gospel, the Romans had completely destroyed this most important symbol of their faith.  Led by Titus forty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Romans tore down the Temple, with its images of the sun and the moon and the stars embellished on its stately walls.  They undermined its foundations and left everything in chaos.  What had been the center of their faith was completely gone, and those few who survived the dreadful assault were scattered to the four winds.

            The author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes to Jewish Christians after the Temple had been destroyed.  The author recalls the sacrifices offered by the Levitical priests in the Temple.  They did not offer animal sacrifices like the pagans, who had hoped that their sacrifices would appease their fickle gods.  The Levitical priests offered animal sacrifices in thanksgiving to a God who loved them and to express their confidence that God would continue to provide for them.  However, now the Temple was destroyed and the service of the Levitical priests was ended.  So, the author assures believers that Jesus Christ has offered the ultimate sacrifice, once and for all, giving himself totally out of love and reconciling us to the Father who loves us.

            It is from this perspective that we need to hear these readings about the end of time for our individual lives and the life of our world.  We have been living in the end times since Jesus Christ died on the cross, was raised from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with us.  Over the past centuries, our ancestors have seen violent and cosmic upheavals.  In truth, we are experiencing some of those upheavals in the anger and divisions that are tearing us apart and making honest and loving communication difficult.  We cannot know when our lives and the life of our world will end.  Jesus tells us not speculate about the timing of these events.  Instead, he tells us to turn ourselves more completely toward him and embrace his kingdom.  We need not live in fear.  We need to live in a spirit of conversion.  We need to live day to day, aware that an end will come, and confident that the Lord will not abandon those who turn toward him.

 

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

7 NOVEMBER 2021

 

            In the ancient world, widows and orphans were at the fringes of society.  Without a male to protect and provide for them, they were destitute.  That is particularly true of the widow of Zarephath, a village near the center of the cult of the pagan gods.  Like all vulnerable people, this widow has been most affected by the years-long drought that had been blamed on God by King Ahab and his pagan Queen Jezebel.  God sends the prophet Elijah into this center of pagan religion.  Elijah goes, trusting that God will be with him.  Even though he is considered an enemy, the widow welcomes him with a cupful of water.  Then she trusts his word that God will protect her and her son by giving him a first portion of what both of them need.

            There are many commandments in the Law of Moses which require special care for vulnerable people, especially widows and orphans.  The scribes in today’s Gospel know these commandments.  They are the learned theologians well versed in the Law of Moses.  Instead of investing in the care of widows and orphans, they spend their resources on lavish wardrobes and places of honor.  They are too busy taking care of themselves.

            Jesus and his disciples are finally in the Temple after their long journey to Jerusalem.  He sits in front of one of the thirteen trumpet shaped containers and invites his disciples to observe what is happening.  Those with more resources throw in their large coins, making loud noises as the coins roll down the trumpet shaped containers.  But he draws the attention of his disciples to a poor widow, whose small coins bring no attention from anyone else.  Instead of keeping one small coin for herself, she places both small coins, trusting that God will provide for her. 

            Jesus does not condemn those who have greater resources and who have donated large amounts of money.  He knows that the Temple would not have been restored without their generosity.  The same is true of our parish.  During the last twenty years, faithful members of our parish have donated 32 million dollars to build the facilities which we now enjoy.  We could not have accomplished these projects without the sacrifices of those who have been blessed with more resources.  But Jesus reminds us, his disciples today, that God rewards the sacrifice of everyone.  That is why we have spoken of equal sacrifice, not equal gifts, when running our capital campaigns.  That is why we list the names of people who have donated by alphabetical order, and not by the size of their gifts.  God recognizes the sacrifice, not the amount.

            In the end, today’s readings from the Word of God are not about money at all.  They are about trust.  Elijah trusts that God will care for him, even when God sends him into hostile territory, where he would be blamed for the terrible drought.  The widow of Zarephath trusts God’s Word, even if it comes to her through an enemy of her people.  The widow in the Gospel trusts that God will provide for her, even when the scholars of the Law ignore her and spend their energies taking care of themselves.  In giving from her substance, she points to Jesus, who will give completely from his substance a few days later on the cross. 

We are the disciples of Jesus today.  He invites us to give a first portion of our substance in prayer, service, and sacrificial giving.  He promises that our generosity will come back to us in more ways than we can ever imagine.  He trusted his Father and conformed himself to his will.  In return, the Father raised him from the dead.  We can be assured that he will keep his promise to us every time we choose to die to ourselves and our own selfish interests.

 

 

 

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

31 OCTOBER 2021

 

          This scribe knows that the Pharisees have listed 613 commandments drawn from the Law of Moses.  Instead of being hostile and trying to trap Jesus, he is asking an honest question.  He wants to know:  of all of these many commandments, which is the first? Jesus cuts through all the complications and quotes Deuteronomy 6:6.  It is the Shema Israel prayed by every faithful Jew several times a day:  “Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is Lord alone!  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”  Without hesitating, he quotes Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  He joins two existing commandments in such a radical way that they can never be separated.  If we love God, then we must love our neighbor.  If we love our neighbor, then we must love God.

            In the Gospel of Luke, a scribe asks the same question.  But he is trying to trap Jesus and wants to know who his neighbor is.  In response, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. He makes it clear that anyone whom we encounter and needs our help is our neighbor.  At one level, we define “encountering” in terms of physical contact.  In this era of mass communication, we can encounter neighbors in need from around the world.  Those in developing nations know that we are blessed with more material goods and live more comfortably in our first world country.  We can be inundated with requests for aid from around the world. 

            That is why we have a Diocesan Office of the Propagation of the Faith.  Individual parishes cannot possibly respond to those who seek their help.  They are invited to apply to the Propagation of the Faith to assign them to one parish in our Diocese.  That parish invites the mission speaker to make an appeal at Mass and take up a collection to respond as a neighbor.

            The Office has assigned Father Larry Kanyike’s parish in Uganda as our “neighbor” this year.  We pray for his parish every Sunday.  Father Larry himself had planned to be with us to make his appeal in person.  However, the COVID situation in Uganda has presented him from coming.  Since we have been friends since our ordination in 1974, I can speak confidently about his needs.  In the past, we have helped him to build a new church, a new school, a new convent, and provide upgrades to Saint Monica Health Clinic (the only source of health care in the area).  We have also helped him to pave the road in front of his school, protecting the children from breathing in dust every day.

            I traveled to Uganda for the dedication of his new church and can assure you that 100% of our donations go directly to the good of his people.  There are no administrative costs.  He keeps nothing for himself.  In fact, he made the front page of the local paper on the Sunday of the dedication.  He was contrasted with so many “prominent” people in the area who buy themselves fancy cars, new shoes, and expensive suits from the donations they have received.

            Father Larry tells me that his parishioners have been devastated by the pandemic, which is still raging beyond control in Uganda.  Many of his parishioners have become sick, and too many have died.  People have lost their jobs and cannot support their families.  The pandemic is wreaking much more havoc in his parish than what we have experienced here.  He cannot serve his parish without our help.

            In his name, I thank you for being a good neighbor in this particular situation.  There are envelopes in all the pews for your contribution.  You can take one home and bring it back next week.  I witnessed the intense gratitude of his parishioners myself a few years ago.  As our assigned neighbors, they continue to be grateful today.

 

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

24 OCTOBER 2021

 

          On most Sundays in this liturgical year, we have been hearing from the Gospel of Saint Mark.  He begins his Gospel with these simple words:  “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  Having revealed this truth, he chronicles how Jesus slowly reveals the truth about himself to his contemporaries.  After being baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist and tempted in the desert by Satan, Jesus begins his Galilean ministry by calling people to follow him.  Those first disciples saw people drawn to Jesus in large numbers, because he proclaimed that the kingdom of God was in their midst.  As they walked with him on his way to Jerusalem, the saw him revealing his identity as the Son of God by working many miracles:  curing the sick, healing lepers, driving out demons, feeding thousands of people with five loaves and two fish, and calming a dangerous storm on the Sea of Galilee.  They even witnessed Simon Peter identify him as the Christ, the long awaited Messiah.

            But they were so focused on seeing Jesus as a conquering hero that they could not see their beloved teacher as a suffering servant who would be crucified at the end of their way to Jerusalem.  Even though Jesus has clearly told them this truth three times, their eyes were blinded.  Last week, James and John revealed their blindness by asking Jesus for positions of power, authority, and fame.  They were unable to “see” that true disciples are humble servants.

            Today, Jesus begins his final ascent to Jerusalem.  He and his disciples are part of a large group of pilgrims on their way to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem.  They are in Jericho, the oldest and lowest city on the earth at 850 feet below sea level.  A blind man begging for scraps of bread “sees” the truth about Jesus that had eluded the disciples with good physical eyesight.  He cries out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”  Even though other people in the crowd try to silence him, he calls even louder, “Son of David, have pity on me.”  Jesus calls him to come to him.  Unlike the rich young man who could not give away his many possessions to follow Jesus, Bartimaeus leaves behind his only possession – the cloak that would keep him from freezing at night.  Jesus asks him the same question he had asked James and John, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Bartimaeus states, “Master, I want to see.”  Jesus is impressed with his deep faith.  He grants his request and tells him to go his way.

            Grateful for the gift of physical eyesight, Bartimaeus does not go his own way.  Having “seen” the truth about Jesus instead of imitating the blind ambition of the disciples, he follows him along the way.  He will enter Jerusalem to see crowds welcoming Jesus with shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David.”  Later in the week, he will see him betrayed, tortured, and crucified.  He would see him raised from the dead three days later.  Some have suggested that the name of this blind man is remembered, because he became one of the earliest disciples who embraced the message of sharing in the Lord’s cross and his call to humble service.

            We too are disciples walking on the way to the new and eternal Jerusalem.  We can be blinded by our desires for honor and power and fame.  The Lord can open our eyes to see him in the poor and those who reach out to us in need.  He can open our eyes to see his presence in this Body of Christ in the midst of anger and political divisions.  He helps us to see that we share in his redemptive work when we bear our crosses and endure those sufferings that are thrust upon us.  We too can see the truth as Bartimaeus saw it and follow him on the way.