Good Friday at the Euclid Lourdes Shrine

One of the most beautiful and holiest places in Euclid is the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, off Chardon Road (U.S. Route 6), on a hill above Euclid Avenue. From the Shrine you can see all the way to Lake Erie, about 3-4 miles north. We attend mass at the Shrine in the summer and visit it periodically throughout the year, and always on Good Friday. The Grotto is made from Euclid Bluestone, quarried 2 miles away along Euclid Creek (my Great Grandfather Fenton Fitzpatrick worked there when he arrived from Ireland).

The replica Grotto of Lourdes in Euclid.

Statue of Mary at the Grotto, above the spring.

Entrance to the Stations of the Cross. Many people were there today, Good Friday.

Petitions/Prayer of the Faithful for Easter 2016

Ellen McHugh wrote these beautiful petitions for Easter:

Prayer of the Faithful for March 26th and 27th, 2016

Easter Vigil / Easter Day

Celebrant:   The light of the risen Christ shines forth from the Easter Candle. May that flame of faith in our hearts inspire us as we offer prayers for the needs of all our brothers and sisters here and throughout the world.

For the Church as it joyfully celebrates the Resurrection of the Lord; for Francis our pope, for our bishops, priests and deacons; for all God’s holy people who live the gospel with courage, constancy and love. We pray to the Lord.

For peace and reconciliation among all peoples and nations; for those who have lost their lives to violence and for all who mourn their loss; may the risen Christ lead them from despair into hope. We pray to the Lord.

For this parish and for all Christian communities who embody the triumph of life over death; help us to truly live as Easter people—to promote peace, to practice compassion, to live in the example set by Jesus.  We pray to the Lord  

For those who work to protect life – human life and all life on the Earth on which human life depends – may the Lord bless, support, and empower them in their work.  We pray to the Lord.

For those who have received the sacraments of Christian initiation—that they may grow in true faith as we welcome them; may their hearts and minds be open to proclaiming the joy of the Resurrection and the wonders of God’s infinite love and mercy.  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:  God of life, today we celebrate the fullness of life shown to us by your Son, Jesus, in the Resurrection. Help us to live as Easter people, confident that life will prevail over death and eager to share our joy with others. We pray in the name of your risen Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns forever and ever.  Amen.

Fr. Richard Rohr's Take on Jesus--Incarnation, Passion, and Death

Fr. Richard Rohr writes a very good column on the subversive Jesus, one that we sometimes shun--a Jesus who sometimes embarrasses us. Here is the first paragraph of Richard Rohr's piece, which he calls "God's Bias from the Bottom--God's Most Distressing Disguise":

"In Jesus we have an almost extreme example of God taking sides. It starts with one who empties himself of all divinity (see Philippians 2:6-7), comes as a homeless baby in a poor family, then a refugee in a foreign country, then an invisible carpenter in his own country which is colonized and occupied by an imperial power, ending as a "criminal," accused and tortured by heads of both systems of power, temple and empire, abandoned by most of his inner circle, subjected to the death penalty by a most humiliating and bizarre public ritual, and finally buried quickly in an unmarked grave. If God in any way planned this story line, God surely intended the message to be subversive, clear, and unavoidable. Yet we largely made Jesus into a churchy icon that any priestly or policing establishment could gather around without even blushing."

You can locate Fr. Richard's Daily Meditation at the website for The Center for Action and Contemplation: https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/

What Lent and Holy Week Meant to me as a Kid

Parce Domine! Parce Populo Tuo! Ne in aeternum irascaris nobis! This was the Latin antiphon we would sing at St. William’s Church in Euclid during Holy Week when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. The tune was ancient Gregorian chant; the antiphon was sung over and over, a response to a psalm reading. The effect was powerful and hypnotic—and unforgettable.

Somehow Christmas, especially the invention of a fantasy, commercialized Christmas, is bigger in the popular imagination; but for me as a child and adolescent, Lent, with the passion and suffering of Jesus and our own little personal sacrifices, was much more significant. It seems that it’s harder to commercialize sacrifice, suffering, agonizing death, and even Easter—the Resurrection.

The truth is that even as a kid I understood the suffering part, but couldn’t exactly imagine the victory of the Resurrection. That I could only grasp intellectually, not “in the deep heart’s core” (to use Yeats’ great phrase from “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”).

During Lent we would always try to give up something—and for most people, including me for many years, it was candy. But one year I promised to make the Stations of the Cross (i.e., say a prayer and meditate at each of the 14 stations of the cross) every day. It went well for about two weeks and then I missed a day. In my scrupulous mind, this was a great mistake, and I promised Jesus that I would say ten Stations of the Cross for every one I missed. And then I missed again, and multiplied my promise to Jesus—and now I was in debt for 100 Stations for every one missed. Pretty soon, my debt began to multiply geometrically, and I finally gave up—owing the Lord thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Stations. I tell you I am hopelessly in debt to the Lord, and there’s no paying it back! It was a lesson in my own fallibility, my own flawed will—and maybe, the mercy of God. It took a long time to grow out of my over-religiosity, my scrupulousness.

For some reason, my inner spirit is still deeply religious, but no longer in an orthodox or conventional way. Lent, and Holy Week, still speaks to my soul, my Spirit. With the aching earth and its Creation, I can still sing that ancient Latin antiphon, “Parce, Domine!” Save, O Lord! Parce Populo Tuo! Save your people! Ne in aeternum, irascaris nobis. Don’t be angry at us forever.

New Poem: Cell Phones in Heaven . . . and Hell

The following poem is based pretty much on my observation of college students, who sometimes sit together at a cafeteria table without talking to one another--they're all on their smart phones. I certainly know Facebook, but have only heard about Tinder and Snapchat. Those apps scare me!

In heaven there will be no cell phones

In heaven there will be no cell phones

(I have this on the highest authority)--

all communication will be eye to eye

face to face, chest to chest..

No more texting, selfies,

Facebook, Instagram--

No Match.com, no Tinder.

In hell, that's another story--

there will only be cell phones,

forever and ever. Amen.

[Bob Coughlin March 8, 2016]

Petitions/Prayer of the Faithful for March 13, 2016

Ellen McHugh has written these petitions for our Church.

Prayer of the Faithful for March 13th, 2016

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Celebrant:   Trusting in the mercy and love of our God who walked among the poor, the vulnerable and the outcast, we voice our own petitions, saying, Lord, help us to be instruments of your mercy and peace.

For the Church, for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, for our bishops and priests, for all who minister with love and mercy in the name of Jesus. We pray to the Lord.

That our loving God, who always hears the cries of the refugee and the immigrant, may enable men and women of good will to hear those cries and be moved to conversion and transformation. We pray to the Lord.

For a spirit of concern for the future of our Earth; help us to live as responsible stewards protecting this gift of creation God has placed in our hands.  We pray to the Lord.

For our catechists and for those preparing to receive the sacraments at Easter; that they may share with others the joy they have found in their friendship with Jesus. We pray to the Lord.

Inspired by today’s Gospel, give us the gift of compassion and the courage to acknowledge our own sinfulness, protecting us from sin that wounds ourselves and others.  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: Merciful God, as you answer our prayers, give us the faith and hope we need in this life; help us to be faithful stewards of your mercy; help us to grow in your love which lasts forever.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

A New Poem for Early Spring

Wake to Warmth, Light, and Song

Three days ago, snow covered the ground,

But today I hike in 70-degree sunshine—

What is it? Late late winter?

Early early spring?

The woods seem dormant still,

But fringing the wetlands I see pussy willow bloom,

And in the mud flats flags rise up six inches, cattails really,

And skunk cabbage in its strange purple swirl—

This swamp is a furnace of heat and life,

Even in the winter.

I notice swollen red maple buds in the wet woods

And hear more bird song than I’ve heard in months—

Cardinals, redwing blackbirds, mourning doves,

And all the invisible, to me, birds

Who, on treetops, sing like coloratura sopranos.

And then, near the marsh, I hear

For the first time in ten months

The joyful chorus of spring peepers.

We have survived the silence, the darkness,

The barrenness: we wake to warmth,

To light,

To song!

                        [Bob Coughlin / March 10, 2016]