Personal Reflections: March 2004 Archives

There is a neat little prayer to the Precious Blood over at Ever-New. It seems to be loosely based on the Precious Blood Chaplet.

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Amen

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Annunciation

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Greetings on the Feast!

This really is the central mystery of our faith:

Two things:

1. Flesh and Blood

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God is near, available, personal. We can have a relationship with the creator of the universe in the flesh, and whatever we do to flesh and blood we to to God.

2. The will of God

This is the most we can say of her. She heard the Word of God and put it into practice. Here am I, I come to do your will. When Jesus said " Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice," he was not diminishing Mary, but he was describing her. She is the first disciple. She is the one who responded first. This is what it means to have a devotion to Mary, we listen for God's Word, we fall in love with God's will, and we put it into practice, and then the Word of God becomes again, flesh and blood.

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Hmmm...I think he goes a little further than the rubrics do.

He says:

This is made clear by the rubrics which, in one form of the rite, describe how this cross may be progressively unveiled, showing first the top of the cross but not the face, then the right arm, and finally the entire body

I immediately consulted a sacramentary. The rubrics are not at all clear, they never use the word crucifix, they always use the word cross, they never refer to arm, face or body.

Is he looking at a different book?

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This prayer was written by Ed Gleason, a Retrouvaille husband from San Francisco, California. Ed Gleason was also responsible for having Retrouvaille International name St. Joseph as the patron saint of Retrouvaille.

PRAYER TO ST JOSEPH
Based on Matthew 1:18-25

We ask your prayers, St. Joseph, an upright man, a spouse who planned to divorce Mary in secret and who by God's grace was able to see his role in God's plan. We ask you in our behalf to pray to God that our marriage be healed.

We are enveloped in pain and despair as you must have been when you learned of Mary's pregnancy. Be for and with us, Joseph, in our hour of doubt. Let us listen to and heed the voice of God as you did.

Be our intercessor to your Jesus, to give us the blessings to change, to listen, to forgive and most of all to hope that our marriage will heal and our family remain whole and holy.

We give you honor, quiet St. Joseph, for you are a spouse like us, who while knowing pain, did not divorce. By God's grace you nourished the Holy Family and the Savior of all families throughout the ages.

Amen.


Thanks to Dave & Maria Elena Byron, Oakland team couple and Interim San Francisco coordinators, and the couple who first introduced me to Retrouvaille, for forwarding this prayer.

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It is not even Spring yet. We have Spring and Summer and a good chunk of Autumn before this is over. The Presidential Candidates are taking personal pot-shots at each other, and it is the issues that will suffer.

I think it is reasonable to change one's mind when new information or experience is available. This business of attacking someone for flip-flops is bogus on the face of it. It allows us not to discuss the issue.

All we will have then is a conflict between Bush's Flip Flops and Kerry's Flip Flops.

Also, I would encourage Catholic Bloggers out there not to become too closely defined by your identification with either candidate. Instead we should be identified with the respectful discussion of the issues and the search for truth. This election may turn into a schoolyard brawl. People who identify with Christ should try to do it differently.

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What are people thinking and feeling about Liturgical Dance these days? One recent correspondent indicated she thought dance would eventually be approved for the liturgy.

Having been to the Vatican and participated in the opening liturgy for the Synod on Asia, I have witnessed movement that is integral to the liturgy. One moment that was exquisite was the offering of incense and flowers after the Eucharistic Prayer.

This is quite different from what I have seen in the US where Dance is a little performance somewhat separate and added on to the movement of the liturgy. Sometimes I have seen it done well, and sometimes it has been poorly performed and a distraction from the liturgy.

Our sense of reverence in movement, procession, gesture seems to be missing from our culture and I am wondering how it might be restored.

Movement should not call attention to itself. Movement that is focused on an offering of gifts to the altar or a presentation of flowers and incense, or a solemn procession for entrance and communion, should be done with care, reverence and beauty.

I would be interested in your thoughts and experience.

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  one of Fr. Keyes' photos
 
 

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About this Archive

This page is a archive of entries in the Personal Reflections category from March 2004.

Personal Reflections: April 2004 is the next archive.

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