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We long for something more in troubling times when Nationalism, Individualism, and war have left us wanting...
We search for something or someone greater than ourselves. My strength, guidance, comfort, hope, and contentmen come from my greater power: God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Join me as we journey together...
Spiritual Adoption of Ukrainian children (mothers)
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, concluded her prayer time with this line, “How can I help?” These days, I close my daily prayer in the same way, how can I help?
I gave my homily for the 1st Sunday in Lent two weeks ago. I spoke of fasting and its true meaning, going beyond giving up meat on Fridays, candy, etc. I was impressed with Pope Francis’s saying, “Give up your cell phone for one hour a day.” Now that was real and could be very meaningful for many of us.
Toward the end of my homily, I had an inspiration never planned. God answers prayers and will use us to do his work if we give ourselves over to him completely. I heard the call to begin a massive project to spiritually adopt children and babies displaced by the war in Ukraine. It felt like it came from Our Lady of Lourdes.
Will you commit with me to Spiritually Adopt 1,000 Ukrainian children? What do I mean by this: watch the news and see the children every night on TV. Ask God to point out a child for you to adopt, with a commitment to pray for that child at least until the war is over; more extended if you wish.
Once you pick your child, burn that child’s face onto your heart and pray for your child daily for safety, for shelter, for food, and clean water, and for someone who will take care of their bodily needs. I’m asking us to care for their spiritual needs.
That Sunday night, they showed people fleeing to the western part of the country for safety. The camera zoomed in on a boy, maybe ten years old; he was walking by himself wrapped in a jacket and a ski hat on his head but no gloves. As he came closer to the camera, I could see he was crying, looking frightened, scared, and alone. I began to cry…I wondered if he was lost, was he somehow separated from his parents, what was his situation? How would he find his way?
It didn’t matter; I knew God was giving me this child to care for. I just wanted to jump through the TV, wrap him tightly in my arms, and help him feel safe, because I care.
I dare to say that perhaps none of us have experienced war like we are these days, in our faces night after night. What is happening in Ukraine is now part of our reality. I think of Matthew 25: 35, “when I was hungry, you gave me to eat; when I was thirsty, you gave me to drink; when I was homeless, you gave me shelter…”
Please join me, spiritually adopt a child, pray for that child daily. In doing so, God will work 1,000 miracles of a new life for those who feel they have lost everything. Please pass this note on to as many people as possible, especially far away.
I would enjoy hearing about who you adopted and why that particular child or child and mother. You can contact me by email: rauschd937@gmail.com
or my web page: fatherdennisreflections.com.
If you would let me know I would appreciate your doing so. You can leave a message on my webpage or email. I want to keep track of the number of children we are helping.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who will answer our prayers.
TOGETHER, we will make a difference.
Father Dennis Rausch
WE WALK TOGETHER AS ONE PEOPLE
GOOD FRIDAY
We stand at the foot of the cross with Mary and John. We hear Jesus’ groaning; he is feeling the pain of the thorns crushed into his head. Blood dripping down his face; blood dripping from the nails in his hands, blood dripping from his feet nailed to the wood. Blood freely flowing down into the earth bringing new life into that which has been wounded by our actions, blood pouring down over us, washing us clean of our selfishness, self-centeredness, our lack of care for the poor and downtrodden. We fail to see the street corner person experiencing homelessness, hoping we would see him and his cause without judgement.
The day draws on, Jesus says, “I THIRST.” But do we even hear his plea. He does not taste the sour wine they offered him. He is not thirsting for wine; he thirsts for our love. Our lack of caring and not responding to the needs of others has caused his parched mouth. His spirit is not dying, only now when he is giving all does his Spirit of life continue to flow out of his side that has been pierced by the sword, the sword of our turning away from those who are crying out for help. So much he has given that his blood separates into water and red cells. He is dying.
We stand there not believing this unspeakable act of cruelty could happen; questioning ourselves: how could I have done this? And yet here we are, never thought that we have done such a cruel and despicable act. We know how we have done this, looking at Jesus hanging, sucking in air as his lungs are collapsing. Do you feel it? No not me, I didn’t do this. I would never commit such a heinous act. AND yet, we do; not just once, that would have been too easy; one thrust of the sword into his heart and it’s all over. We just don’t get it, maybe we’re in good company because the disciples didn’t either, not at first.
They didn’t have the hindsight of 2,000 years of Jesus SPIRIT who gave his life freely for us. Jesus died free, he willingly chose to die to give us the opportunity to break the bonds of self-righteousness, the will to power. Jesus did not use his power as God, creator of the universe; rather he chooses the harder way, the human way; giving his body over to be tortured and put to death.
He walked the road before us, the road of suffering, pain, no control over what others were doing to him. The other I am speaking about is US. We kill and maim, torture people all the time. It has become so second nature that we don’t realize what we do. Jesus dying, screams to his Father… “forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
He wasn’t just speaking about the soldiers and the leaders of the temple; he was speaking about us, right here, right now. We can’t escape it. This world we live in we created, its messed up, unforgiving, unjust, and not very forgiving of other's faults because we can’t find enough courage in ourselves to forgive ourselves even when Jesus already has.
I was teaching, and one day a young boy came up to me and asked, “how much does God love me?” I became weak in the knees, how do I answer the boy's most profound question of all time. Gathering my wits and thoughts I said, Jesus is an extraordinary loving man who give up all that he had for you, your family, and for me too.
It’s like this when we are out running around, playing with friends and others we don’t know; we fall and skin our knees. It starts bleeding, flowing down your leg; you feel scared, not knowing what is going to happen to you. Word gets to Mom, she comes running and takes you in her arms, hugs you tight, “you’re going to be fine. I’m here to protect and heal you because you are flesh of my flesh, you are my child, and I could never stop loving you.
How much does God love me? This much, stretching out his arms, his body taking on all our wrongs, our hate, our sorrow, our fears, our pain of rejection. His love is so great that his arms stretch out encircling the entire world that he created.
Let us stand, we are not passive bystanders, we are active partakers in this act of total self-sacrifice, Jesus gave himself for us, to return us to the state of wellness and wholeness as he had created us.
We are here, standing at the foot of the cross on which our Savior hung and died. As you gaze upon his body dying on the cross, what do you see? What do you Feel? What is the word in our mouths? Denial….
We can reject his sacrifice, or we can see how in our daily lives we take part in his death, the judgment, scourging, the headpiece of sharp thorns that bite into his skull, the nails in his hands and feet, the sword thrust into his side. Now we recall, the scene, blood and water flow from his side purifying and washing clean all that we have done to make life so hard for others.
As we stand here with Mary, the Mother of God, and John, Jesus’ best friend. We hear some last words of Jesus, “Mother, behold your son; son behold your mother. Jesus gave us his mother to care for us, to help be our guide along the road back to her son. We are alone now at the foot of the cross. We are left to wonder, to ponder, what part did I have in the murder of this innocent man?
Jesus never gives up on us. As Pope Francis said several years ago, “it is not God who tiers in forgiving us; it is we who tire of asking God for forgiveness.
EASTER VIGIL....WE WAIT UPON THE LORD!
EASTER SUNDAY 4.17.2022
We have waited 40 days and nights for this glorious night to be upon us, Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Jesus Christ is Risen! Yes, indeed is he has risen! He has risen from the dead he is Lord! Jesus has broken the bonds of death and set us free! What a glorious day this is…Praise The Lord! Let me hear the church say… Praise The Lord! He is risen! He has set us free! WE are God’s people…Yes, indeed we are!
We are not blind nor deaf to the cry of the poor, those experiencing homelessness, and those suffering from war, displaced, and running for their lives. Not all the world is at peace and can shout Hallelujah! Easter is not magic; life experiences are not changed in an instant; good and evil still exist side by side. We see and experience this reality daily.
The true joy of Easter is Jesus’ Resurrection, His light dispels the darkness, and darkness will not last. Jesus Risen is The Christ of the universe. On this Holy Saturday night Vigil, we experience the dark, waiting for the fire of creation to light the way. The Old Testament foretold the coming of the Savior for a thousand years, who would change everything.
However, then and no,w the thoughts that war would be no more, hunger would disappear, and dreed and gloom would be put aside. All the negativity that we experience daily in our lives would be gone. Jesus told us, he came to start a fire, and oh how he wished it was already burning deep in our hearts.
In the fire of creation, we light the Christ candle that leads us out of the darkness just as it did with our ancestors as they were led out of slavery. We light our palm branches from the great fire of creation as we did on Palm Sunday; we go in procession to our gathering place where the community rejoices in the Risen Lord as we sing, Hosanna to God in the Highest. And on earth, Peace to all of Good Will!
On this the holiest of nights, the fire that is Jesus burns inside us. The Father has raised Jesus who died for us and gives us new life; to die no more. In his rising, we too can rise to new life freer from the desires of this world that always somehow leave us wanting. We are Christians, believers, and followers of Jesus Christ. Our lives have been changed, we know this to be true because if the progress in your Lenten journey has changed our lives; because of the changes we have made in our behaviors, thoughts, and deeds, we have been made new. We are not the same as we were 40 days ago.
We still have our wrinkles, and our shortcomings; however, we are now more equipped to handle the hard stuff that life throws at us. We are not alone. God raised his son Jesus from the dead and he will raise us up too. Our hearts are once again filled with hope for a better tomorrow, with joy that we give expression to in our smiles and hugs to the ones we love and to those whom we do not know but are now counted among the living as we are.
Even nature herself springs to new life, fields are popping up with new grain to feel us, flowers are blooming that radiate warmth in our hearts, and dinner is on the table for all to partake in and rejoice. The bread that has become the body of Christ is life itself, the wine we drink tonight is the gladness of the blood of Christ no longer poured out on the earth; rather we drink with great delight His blood bringing new life, new hope, the newness of endless possibilities that only God in His infinite love for us can provide, giving satisfaction to the longing in our hearts….that once promised our ancestors is now made present, freely given to us, experiencing God’s unconditional mercy and love that not even nature nor the universe can hold back from us.
We are new! Let us go forth from this night of glory, giving praise and honor to our God, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Let our voices ring out with Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Prayer for Peace Pope Francis
Given at the weekly General Audience on March 16, 2021.
Lord Jesus, dead in the arms of a mother in Kharkiv, have mercy on us.
Forgive us for the war, Lord.
Lord Jesus, son of God, have mercy on us sinners. Lord Jesus, born under the bombs of Kyiv, have mercy on us. Lord Jesus, in the 20-year-olds sent to the front line, have mercy on us. Lord Jesus, who continues to see hands armed with weapons under the shadow of the cross, forgive us, Lord.
Forgive us if, not content with the nails with which pierced your hand, we continue to drink from the blood of the dead torn apart by weapons. Forgive us if, these hands that you had created to protect have been turned into instruments of death. Forgive us, Lord, if we continue to kill our brother Cain, to take the stones from our field to kill Abel. Forgive us if, we go out of our way to justify the cruelty of our actions.
Forgive us the war, Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, we implore you to stop the hand of Cain, enlighten our conscience, let not our will be done, do not abandon us to our own doing. Stop us, Lord, stop us, and when you have stopped the hand of Cain, take care of him also. He is our brother.
O Lord, stop the violence. Stop us, Lord. AMEN.
Dear Brother,
Nearly a month has passed since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine that is daily inflicting immense suffering upon its sorely tried people and threatening world peace. At this dark hour, the Church is urgently called to intercede before the Prince of Peace and to demonstrate her closeness to those directly affected by the conflict. I am grateful to the many people who have responded with great generosity to my appeals for prayer, fasting, and charity. Now, also in response to numerous requests by the People of God, I wish in a special way to entrust the nations at war to the Blessed Virgin Mary. As I announced yesterday at the conclusion of the Angelus prayer, on 25 March, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, I intend to carry out a solemn Act of Consecration of humanity, and Russia and Ukraine in particular, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Since it is fitting that we should invoke peace with hearts renewed by God’s forgiveness, the Act of Consecration will take place in the context of a Celebration of Penance to be held in Saint Peter’s Basilica at 5:00 pm, Rome time.
10:00 am here on the east coast
The Act of Consecration is meant to be a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment lifts up to God, through his Mother and ours, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to the violence, and to entrust the future of our human family to the Queen of Peace.
I ask you to join in this Act by inviting the priests, religious, and faithful to assemble in their churches and places of prayer on March 25, so that God’s Holy People may raise a heartfelt and choral plea to Mary our Mother. I am sending you.(.see new content at the top..).
Pope Francis
