{"id":782,"date":"2018-01-27T18:16:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-27T18:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/?p=782"},"modified":"2018-01-27T18:16:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-27T18:16:00","slug":"homily-week-03-06-yr-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/27\/homily-week-03-06-yr-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"HOMILY WEEK 03 06 – Yr II"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Jesus in Our Boats \u2013 St Angela Merici<\/em><\/p>\n

(2 Sam 12:1-17; Ps 51; Mk 4:35-41)<\/p>\n

********************************************<\/p>\n

Have you ever prayed with your emotions?<\/p>\n

Have faith in Jesus and in the power of prayer.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s familiar account of Jesus calming the storm highlights the fear and lack of faith of the disciples, the serenity of Jesus during a storm on the sea, and the dead calm that results from his command to the wind and the sea.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I experienced this gospel during a retreat just before being ordained a bishop. I woke up the first morning of the retreat suddenly full of fear and anxiety. What was I getting myself into? I decided to pray with this passage because it fit my situation. That hour of prayer was like being in a spiritual boat tossed about by an emotional storm. When I thought of what lay ahead, waves of fear, anxiety and desolation would wash over me. Then I would read the passage and feel some peace, calm and confidence settling me down. Back and forth it went, waves of fear, anxiety and desolation battling with a rising tide of peace, calm and confidence. At the end of that hour, miraculously, there was only peace, calm and confidence \u2013 the fear, anxiety and desolation were all gone. Jesus was truly in my boat, had answered my prayers and calmed all my fears. That experience became one of the stories in my book, Drumming From Within<\/em>, entitled \u201cWith Jesus in our Boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are three ways that God always answers our prayers: \u201cYes\u201d, as he did for me above; \u201cNo\u201d, because that is not in our best interests, or \u201cYes, but not yet\u201d \u2013 later when things are right.<\/p>\n

Virginia called me one day to claim that she could no longer pray \u2013 she wasn\u2019t getting anything out of her attempts to pray. Knowing the powerful spiritual journey she had been on, I suspected that was not her problem. I thought she was ready for a more mature kind of prayer, so I introduced her to Lectio Divina<\/em> with its four stages: Lectio<\/em> \u2013 reading a passage of scripture prayerfully; Metitatio<\/em> \u2013 meditating and thinking about that passage and asking what God was saying to us through that word, and maybe reading a commentary on the passage; Oratio<\/em> \u2013 praying with that passage for our needs and the needs of the world, and finally, Contemplatio<\/em> \u2013 putting all thoughts and feelings aside and just being in the presence of the Word, soaking up God\u2019s love. That proved to be all she needed \u2013 she was off and running into a new depth of her relationship with God through prayer.<\/p>\n

The biblical model for this prayer of contemplation is Mary of Bethany who, according to Thomas Keating, was not so much sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to his words; she was just there aware that she was in the presence of The Word, soaking up his love, and that was enough for her. We need to become more like Mary of Bethany and learn to just \u201cbe\u201d in God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another important way of praying is the prayer of the Anawim<\/em>, a Hebrew word meaning the poor people of God who know they need God, who have no pretensions. This is the prayer Peter learned when he was walking on the water. His request to Jesus, \u201cLord, make me come to you on the water,\u201d is a heady, proud kind of prayer. Peter had faith and walked on water. However, I suspect that he got proud, took his eyes off Jesus, looked back to the boat to show off a bit, felt the wind, and started to sink. Now he was drowning, and his prayer changed to three words that came from his gut, \u201cLord, save me.\u201d That is the prayer of the Anawim, those who know they need God.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Peter walking on the water by Fr. Seiger K\u00f6der<\/p><\/div>\n

Suddenly Jesus was there, lifting him up and asking why he had so little faith. What do you think Peter did next? Let go of Jesus and try on his own again, or hang on to Jesus and together with him, walk back to the boat? I suspect the latter, and that is what we have to learn to do each morning as we get up \u2013 turn to the Lord and pray this prayer of the Anawim, admitting our need and asking him to walk with us throughout that day, one day at a time.<\/p>\n

\"\"

St Angela Merici<\/p><\/div>\n

Today the Church honors Angela Merici who is recognized as the founder of the Ursulines. Born in 1474 near Brescia, Italy, she and her sister were orphaned as teens. When Angela\u2019s sister, Giana Maria, died suddenly, Angela became a Franciscan tertiary, praying fervently for the repose of her sister\u2019s soul. When Angela became aware of the need for education for girls, she and several friends began to teach girls in their homes in the hope of improving social conditions. Angela inspired others in the work of education. Together they formed a religious association. Most of the consecrated women continued to live with their families, with no solemn vows, habit, enclosure or community life, although they did meet for instruction and worship. Angela died in 1540. In 1545, the Company of St. Ursula was officially recognized by Pope Paul III. She is a patron saint of orphans, the sick and the physically challenged.<\/p>\n

The Eucharist is our greatest prayer in which we admit our need, listen to God\u2019s Word, believe in the Real Presence and commune intimately with Jesus.<\/p>\n

May our celebration strengthen our faith in Jesus present in our boats and storms, and appreciate more deeply the power of prayer, as did Angela Merici.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Jesus in Our Boats \u2013 St Angela Merici (2 Sam 12:1-17; Ps 51; Mk 4:35-41) ******************************************** Have you ever prayed with your emotions? Have faith in Jesus and in the power of prayer. Today\u2019s familiar account of Jesus calming the storm highlights the fear and lack of faith of the disciples, the serenity of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ordinary-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":788,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782\/revisions\/788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}