Prayer of the Faithful for America's Birthday--July 4th and 5th, 2015

Prayer of the Faithful for July 5, 2015. Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant: As we celebrate our coming together for the Eucharist, let us, dear sisters and brothers, approach the one God to voice all our needs.

• When we feel weak and discouraged, let us remember the Lord’s words to St. Paul,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” We pray to the Lord.

• Help us to keep in mind how Jesus’ own prophetic words were disdained by his kin and his neighbors; help us, like Jesus, to live a prophetic witness in spite of this treatment. We pray to the Lord.
  
• On this weekend when we celebrate our country, help us keep in mind these words from “America the Beautiful”: “America! America! God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!” We pray to the Lord.
  
• And in this time of hatred and violence, help us remember these lines from that same song: “America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!” We pray to the Lord.

• That our churches and neighborhoods be havens of safety and peace from the violence and hatred we have seen lately.

• That all may share in the promise and prosperity of America. We pray to the Lord.
  

and for those for whom this mass is offered [name them]. We pray to the Lord.

Let us pause now and silently offer to the Father our own particular intentions [...allow for silence...]. We pray to the Lord.

Celebrant: Father, we believe that you will hear and respond to our sincere prayers, asked in the name of your Son, and in the power of your Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Petitions/Prayer of the Faithful for June 28, 2015

Here are the petitions I worked up for next Sunday, June 28th. Three of the petitions relate to the readings for the week (I always try to connect to the readings). A couple of the petitions relate to an urgent issue, the murder of nine people in Charleston's Emanuel AME Church. And I always try to pray for the neglected and marginalized.

Prayer of the Faithful for June 28, 2015. Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant: As we celebrate our coming together for the Eucharist, let us, dear sisters and brothers, approach the one God to voice all our needs.

• That we might understand and share the Lord’s compassion for the sick and dying. We pray to the Lord.

• That we might listen to the words of St. Paul, who instructs those with abundance to share their good fortune with the needy. We pray to the Lord.
  
• We rejoice with the psalmist, who sings, “Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me; O LORD, be my helper. You changed my mourning into dancing; O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.” We pray to the Lord.
  
• For racial and ethnic justice and peace in our country and our world. We pray to the Lord.

• That our churches be havens of safety and peace from the violence and hatred we have seen lately.

• For the neglected and marginalized, that they experience human kindness and divine grace in our community and parish. We pray to the Lord.
  
• and for those for whom this mass is offered [name them]. We pray to the Lord.
  
  Let us pause now and silently offer to the Father our own particular intentions [...allow for silence...]. We pray to the Lord.
  
  Celebrant: Father, we believe that you will hear and respond to our sincere prayers, asked in the name of your Son, and in the power of your Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

A Poem About Nothing/Something (The Strange Irish Language)

Nothing Is Something--In Irish-Gaelic

Irish has many words for different kinds of nothingness:

Ladhar, the empty spaces between your fingers and toes;

Ioscaid, the hollow space behind the knee.

Do they have a Gaelic word for the emptiness of my brain on a Thursday night in February?

Or the hollowness of my heart after my mother died?

Or how my soul would feel if you ever left me?

Yes, the Irish,

And really all of us humans,

Understand a lot about nothing.

[Bob Coughlin / June 20, 2014]

It's Never a Mistake to Say Goodbye. My Daughter Encounters a Momma Bear with Cubs in the Wilderness

In one of his books, Kurt Vonnegut says something all adults know (and fear): "It's never a mistake to say goodbye." Anything can happen to our family and friends at any time. One thing I fear most is a car coming right at me at 60 miles per hour, the driver distracted by texting, the curse of our age. This is a real and present danger in America today, and I have a constant nagging fear for my safety and for those that I love. But what about encountering an angry momma bear in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, a bear protecting its two cubs? Most of us don't have to worry about that! But my daughter Carolan has to give it some thought!

Carolan works for the Montana Conservation Corps. In the past weeks, she has put in long hours organizing the summer program, interviewing candidates for crew leaders and crew members, setting up the training regime, attending to every little detail of the summer youth program. This past Friday she worked until 8 PM and came home, totally worn out, to her place just below Big Mountain outside of Whitefish, Montana. What gave her some sense of hope, energy, and renewal was the possibility of hiking the next day from the Spotted Bear Ranger Station, just south of the Hungry Horse Reservoir, to the Pentagon Cabin in "The Bob" (The Bob Marshall Wilderness, one of the great wilderness areas in the Lower 48). And that is what Carolan did. Early Saturday, she loaded up her backpack, got into the old Toyota, and headed down the East Side Road along Hungry Horse Reservoir to Spotted Bear. Near Columbia Falls, still in reach of cell phone towers, she called home to tell us of her plan. I talked to her briefly and noticed how happy she was. As I said goodbye, I said, "Watch out for the bears. And mountain lions!" We both laughed.

All Saturday we thought about her hike to Pentagon Cabin, where she would see two of her Forest Service friends, including Jeremy Rust. I pictured the lonely hike down an old trail, a couple of creek crossings--mostly a long hard slog. I didn't picture an encounter with bears.

          *          *          *

Late yesterday, Father's Day, Carolan called me to wish me a happy Father's Day and to tell about her quick trip into The Bob. Again she was near Columbia Falls, where she had called from the morning before. When I asked her about her trip, the story caused the hair on my neck to stand up.

Carolan had been in a serious encounter with a bear about 9 miles (some three hours) into her hike to Pentagon Cabin. At this stage of her hike, she was getting tired and her attention waned. Suddenly, she heard some rustling in the bushes ahead. She was thirty feet from a female bear and her two cubs--the most dangerous situation you can have when hiking alone in the wilderness. Carolan stopped, and then slowly started backtracking. At the same time, her finger took off the safety on her bear spray--something she has never had to do in all of her years of hiking in this wilderness. The Bob is one of the last places in American you can encounter all the large primeval predators: grizzly bears, mountain lions, grey wolves, and black bears. They are all to be feared and respected. All will attack and prey on humans if they are hungry, provoked, or protecting young. The worst situation she had ever encountered in The Bob happened a few years ago when a local chef, camping alone and not following good procedure, was attacked and nearly killed by a black bear. The man was mauled and would have died if Carolan and her crew had not come upon him and rescued him, calling in over their radio phone for helicopter rescue. So Carolan was aware that black bears, considerably smaller than grizzlies, could wreck havoc--they could kill you!

Carolan's slow retreat gave the bear a chance to retreat also. And after a while, Carolan felt it was safe to proceed up the trail, this time singing her bear song ("Oh Bear, Hey Bear!") and making lots of noise. All the while, her finger was on the trigger of the bear spray, and her heart was beating a hundred miles per hour.

In less than an hour Carolan arrived at the Pentagon Cabin, but Jeremy and his buddy were not back from their trail-clearing work yet. After about an hour, a young man came running up to the cabin carrying a bouquet of wildflowers for Carolan. Jeremy was happy to see her. And Carolan was relieved and so happy to see him. And boy did she have a story to tell!

Here's an image of Pentagon Cabin found doing a Google image search:

Source: http://www.summitpost.org/pentagon-cabin/596948

A Little Poem Remembering the Slaughter at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church

O America! Land of the Gun

(in memory of the slaughtered at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, June 17, 2015)

O America! Land of the Gun

I weep for thee

and all thy murdered children,

mothers, grandmothers,

fathers, sons, and daughters.

Your flaw is a knife wound

deep into this heart.

Your sin could be healed,

If you only had the will.

Bob Coughlin / June 18, 2015



[I know this poem is a bit odd. I begin using the older words "thee" and "thy" because this part of the poem reminds me of prayers and hymns written in that old voice. I was also thinking of Walt Whitman's use of those words--and Allen Ginsburg. Then I switch gears and use the more modern words "you" and "your(s)." I'm speaking more directly, in a more modern voice here. Another switch I made was from the language of guns to the image of a knife. That was certainly on purpose. I thought how guns are not the only instruments of murder; you can kill with knives and fists too! But guns are the main weapons of mass murder in America. And guns are easily available to anyone--from psychopaths to murderous haters. The end of the poem uses religious terms ("sin" and "healing") and implies that things can be done to change this situation, but the will doesn't seem to be there.]

Petitions/Prayer of the Faithful for June 14, 2015

Below are the petitions (Prayer of the Faithful) that I worked up for Sunday, June 14, 2015 (11th Sunday in Ordinary Time):

Prayer of the Faithful for June 14, 2015. Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant: As we celebrate our coming together for the Eucharist, let us, dear sisters and brothers, approach the one God to voice all our needs.

• That we listen to the American bishops’ call to be the “salt and light of the earth.”  We pray to the Lord.
  
• That we might flourish and grow like the tiny mustard seed, bearing fruit for the needy. We pray to the Lord.
  
• That Catholic institutions keep the spirit of the Gospel and “bear witness in love to the full truth about the human person by providing social, charitable, and educational services in a manner that fully reflects the God-given dignity of the human person." We pray to the Lord.
  
• For all who do not experience the comfort and joy of Holy Communion. Help us, as a Pilgrim Church, to reach out to them. We pray to the Lord.

• For the neglected and marginalized, that they experience human kindness and divine grace. We pray to the Lord.
  
• and for those for whom this mass is offered [name them]. We pray to the Lord.
  
  Let us pause now and silently offer to the Father our own particular intentions [...allow for silence...]. We pray to the Lord.
  
  Celebrant: Father, we believe that you will hear and respond to our sincere prayers, asked in the name of the Body and Blood of your Son, and in the power of your Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

"Just Thoughts"--Bringing Ireland to a Very Sick Woman

Just Thoughts: Bringing Ireland to a Very Sick Woman

[Names and some facts have been changed to protect privacy]

Our lives should be guided by the corporal and spiritual Works of Mercy, which many of us learned in grade school. One of the Works is "Visit the Sick." A great example of this took place last week within shouting distance of our Church. A member of our community had wanted to visit Ireland before she died. But her family and friends realized that wasn't going to happen, she was so sick and weak. One person close to her said, "Sweetie, maybe we can bring Ireland to you!" And so they did!

Through a series of phone calls and emails, some of the fine Irish musicians in Lake, Cuyahoga, and Geauga Counties responded to the call and came to “Bridget’s” house last weekend. There were fiddle players, pennywhistle players, guitarists, a man who played the bodhran (an Irish drum), a flute player, and a button-box accordion player. “Shel” kicked off the music with the tune “Rosin the Bow,” and then all played a series of reels, jigs, and hornpipes. In the middle of the music session, “Tina” sang “Sally Garden,” the sweet sad song written by William Butler Yeats.

Following this song, a big surprise: three Irish dancers came in and danced up a storm, beginning with the slip jig “The Butterfly.” The dancing was lively and joyful.

The session ended when “Martin” sang “Danny Boy,” leaving everyone in tears. Yes, they brought Ireland to Bridget, and it was as real as if she had flown Aer Lingus to Shannon Airport.

At the end, everyone hugged and kissed Bridget as they left, giving her and her family a memory that cannot be forgotten. The same can be said for the musicians and the dancers: no one will ever forget this music session, this act of kindness and humanity.

Sometimes justice demands dramatic action on a big stage. We have seen that in the lives of Jesus, Gandhi, and King. Other times it demands a simple, neighborly gesture--playing a tune, or simply visiting, a lonely, sick, or dying neighbor.

"Just Thoughts"--What Would Jesus Do?

Just Thoughts: What Would Jesus Do?

[Here is the "Just Thoughts" column for St. Mary's bulletin--June 14, 2015]

In 1896 Charles Sheldon wrote a book entitled “In His Steps.” The subtitle of the book was “What Would Jesus Do?” This book grew out of a series of sermons Sheldon gave in his Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas. The book, and the concept behind it, had a powerful impact on many people hoping to shape the world according to the words and actions of Jesus. Of course, it isn’t always so simple or straightforward to know what Jesus would do in a 21st Century context. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

It is very useful to try to ask what Jesus would do when justice is at stake. Sometimes the answer becomes stunningly clear:

What would Jesus do when so many people in Painesville go hungry. Well, he’d find a way to feed them! He’d work to change laws and social structures so that no one goes hungry.

What would Jesus do when 100 homeless people are out in the cold and snow on a January night  in Painesville? Why, he would find a way to give them a warm and respectable shelter! He’d find an approach to ending homelessness in the world’s richest country.

What would Jesus do when foreigners and immigrants are despised or discriminated against? Well, that one is easy. He gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). He commanded us to love our neighbors, love the foreigner, as we love ourselves. Both the Old and New Testaments call for generosity, kindness, and hospitality for the foreigner. So we know clearly what Jesus would do.

Thinking about “What Would Jesus Do” can help us build a fairer, more just society--the New Jerusalem. The Beloved Community. Many people at St. Mary’s keep “WWJD” in mind when they make and serve the Karpos meals for the homeless and hungry every Wednesday and Thursday evenings; when they open the St. Mary’s Warming Center on bitter cold winter nights; when they visit the sick, the lonely, the homebound; when they bring comfort and the Eucharist to those in the Lake County jail. These and other actions, not so public, that serve our fellow human beings the way Jesus did.

"Just Thoughts"-- A New Saint for the Americas? Beatification of Bishop Oscar Romero

Just Thoughts: A New Saint for the Americas?

On Saturday, May 23rd, a momentous event occurred that was hardly noticed by the mainstream press and media. An emissary of Pope Francis declared in the city of San Salvador the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Romero. This is the last step before the martyred bishop will be declared a saint. There are many people already calling him “San Romero,” Saint Oscar Romero. Pope Francis clearly chose the eve of Pentecost for this to be done, as if to announce to the world that the Universal Church henceforward would be the Church that Bishop Romero died for, it would be the Church, like Jesus 2000 years ago, with a “preferential option for the poor.”

Bishop Romero was in office only three years when El Salvador’s leader, Roberto D’Aubuisson, gave the command for the assassination. The murder was committed while Romero was saying mass: a sacrilege on top of the mortal sin of murder.

Just eight months after this, on December 2, 1980,  some of Cleveland Diocese’s  own were martyred in El Salvador: Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, lay missioner Jean Donovan, and Mayknoll Sisters Ita Forde and Maura Clarke. So our church, St. Mary’s of Painesville, and the Cleveland Diocese, with a deep commitment to the poor of Latin America, have close ties to these martyrs and saints of El Salvador.

These murders were committed because Bishop Romero and the Cleveland churchwomen were devoted to the poor and the downtrodden, and in opposition to the unjust oligarchs  and plutocrats that ran their society. Like Jesus, they paid the ultimate price. We won’t forget their sacrifice and we will continue their work.

In closing, here is a quote from Oscar Romero: “Many people would like the poor to always say that it is God’s will that they are poor. It is not God’s will for some people to have everything and others to have nothing, This cannot be of God."