If you would like to receive these daily reflections (written by various parishioners) in your email box each day, contact darcy.wharton@rocklincatholic.org
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Reflections for June 17-23, 2019
Monday, June 17, 2019-Summer water
Summer is my least favorite of all the seasons—I hate the heat. Oh, how I enjoyed our extended spring with cool, rainy days! But the summer arrived overnight, announcing herself with blazing sunshine and unrelenting temperatures. And while I don’t love the feeling of sweat and stickiness, every time I jump into a cold pool or a refreshing lake, I am reminded of the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation.
After a summer day of hard work, long play or lazy sunbathing, the body feels a little dirty and a bit uncomfortable. But that moment when we our head goes under the water and rises up feels like new breath and new life. That is how we experience Baptism; it is a cleansing of the sin that we carried. And the ongoing gift of Reconciliation gives us the chance to be washed clean again and again, every time our souls are unclean.
So let us run to the water this summer, knowing that we will be washed clean by God’s holy water!
Erin Gallawa
Tuesday, June 18, 2019-Summer break
While I do not love the heat of summer, the school calendar of my children means that “summer” is a very real season in our house. To be honest, despite my dislike of summer I was still yearning for it in some ways. Summer marks a change in routine, a relaxation of rules about bedtime and the freedom to be outside longer. It is a season for vacations, barbecue parties and swimming. Summer also measures a passage of time, as I see how the activities of my children change each year as they grow older. This summer each of my girls will go away to camp on their own for a week. Their summer activities are more specific to their own interests like art and tennis. And somehow over the summer they grow up just enough so that when they return to school, they are ready to make the transition to the next grade. This pause from the regularity of work and school life is a gift, an opportunity to reflect on the seasonality of life and the sanctity of rest. I give thanks to God for the chance to experience summer through the eyes of a child filled with joy and delight.
Erin Gallawa
Wednesday, June 19, 2019-Summer Garden
“Brothers and sisters, consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Cor 9:6)
I have a black thumb. It is no exaggeration to say that I have killed more plants than have ever lived in my home. Some plants meet their end quickly on my windowsill while others die slowly under my watch--like the beautiful succulent planter box given to me by my sister. After its first death she repotted it with new succulents and I killed it a second time!
Two summers ago, we moved into our home and it had 3 garden boxes already built. The kids and I enthusiastically went to Green Acres and filled our cart with dirt, vegetable starters and fruits to plant. We had beautiful garden beds and then—nothing. Those plants never grew! They didn’t die exactly, but they never bore fruit or thrived. In our second summer I didn’t have the heart to do all that work to be disappointed. This year I decided to try again. I scaled back my plans and limited myself to only a few plants. I carried bags and bags of nutritious dirt and I gave them the space they needed. Every morning since I planted I have gone to my garden to inspect my plants individually and to water them. They grow! They doubled in size and then doubled again and now my little garden bed looks like a garden forest! For experienced gardeners I am sure there is nothing exciting about my two zucchini plants and 3 varieties of tomatoes. But what I see is bountiful growth which has sparked bountiful joy and I am grateful that when we sow our hope and our joy bountifully, the fruit which it bears is full of joy.
Erin Gallawa
Thursday, June 20, 2019-Our Father
A couple of years ago I bought myself flowers for the first time. It felt lavish and unnecessary, but it also brought joy into my house and my heart. Years later, I continue to buy myself flowers. They are never expensive or showy; they are simple and small. These flowers are a gift to myself, part of how I add beauty to my home and reminder to show myself love. This gesture reminds me of how prayer life should be too. Our prayer need not be loud, grand or showy. It is not done for the recognition of others. We should honor prayer as part of how we care for ourselves and our relationship with God.
In the Gospel today, Jesus teaches us how to pray by giving us The Lord’s Prayer. For those of us raised in the church, this prayer is as old as our baptism, having heard it and learned it from the time of our youth. It is a short prayer, but it connects us to all the Christians around the world, past and future, who speak these simple words in prayer to God. Let us remember that our prayer need not be complicated, it need not be long. Let us remember to pray in whatever way we need.
Take a moment and gift yourself with time to pray.
Erin Gallawa
Friday, June 21, 2019-Unique
When we are born into this world we are equipped with nothing we need to survive. Our entire life is reliant upon other people. As we grow, the various people in our lives give us the physical and spiritual gifts that we need to grow and thrive. Just as each person has been created differently by God, so too does that make each of them ideal to give us a unique gift that could come from no other. It is for this reason that we need to surround ourselves with different people. A variety of age, gender, race, physical abilities, talents and personal history makes them each unique and able to influence our lives in a ways that we need to be influenced. I feel so lucky that here in this community at SS. Peter and Paul we have been given a diverse and loving group of people who welcome, embrace and challenge us.
In this recognition of the ways others have shaped us, we are also called to recognize our own gifts so that we may give others what they need throughout their lives.
Lord, may we recognize our uniqueness so that we can be a gift to others.
Erin Gallawa
Saturday, June 22, 2019-Tomorrow
“Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” (Mt 6:34)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus reminds us that we should not worry about the physical things of life, for God provides. He reminds us that the birds do not worry about how they will eat, yet they are fed! And the very earth does not worry about how it should be clothed, and the earth itself is more beautiful than anything that man can create. Why then, do we spend so much time in worry over earthly things?
Perhaps it is not so practical that we should put aside thinking of how we will pay for food or clothing, but surely Jesus’ message is still relevant today. God did not create us so that we would spend all our time in worry over simple things. We were created to love and care for one another. Our concern and worry should be for people. When we care for our neighbor, our neighbor will have what he needs. Why? Because love is an action and if we truly love someone, we will care for them. We are called to love one another and for those who live in God’s love, tomorrow will take care of itself.
Erin Gallawa
Sunday, June 23, 2019-Bread
There is something so special about a crusty loaf of bread. I love the smell and the way it feels in my hands. I love how it feels when you tear off a piece to discover the soft, flaky inside. I love how bread gets passed around a table in a basket and everyone takes what they need before offering it to his neighbor. Bread feels like a staple of life when you have a small child and feed them so many things in the form of a sandwich, and it becomes like a luxury in adulthood when it is served on the side of a meal.
In today’s story of the loaves and fishes, Jesus feeds us His bread. In this foreshadowing of the Eucharist, Jesus gathers bread in the basket to feed the crowd. We learn that Jesus provides what we need in abundance and does not discriminate about who is invited to share in his feast. His sharing of the bread meets our need for survival and feeds our spirit too.
Let us remember today that when we break bread with one another we are nourished in both body and soul and are called to share it in community.
Erin Gallawa
Reflections for June 10-16, 2019
Monday, June 10, 2019-The New Church
Yesterday was the birthday of the church. On Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles giving them the strength, knowledge and wisdom to begin the Christian church. In 381 AD at the First Council of Constantinople the four marks of the church were defined and we still say these words today, “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” Just as God is one in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so also is the Church one. The founder of the Church is Jesus Christ, who brought us back to God and made us into the family of God. The Church is one in the Holy Spirit, who dwells in those who believe. The Church is holy because the Church lives in union with Jesus Christ, the source of holiness. Through the Holy Spirit the Church leads others to holiness. The holiness of the Church is seen in the love that the members of the Church have toward one another and the sacrifices they make for the sake of the world. Catholic means “universal.” The Church is universal in two ways. First, the Church is catholic because all baptized people are part of the Church and the Church possesses the means of salvation. Second, the mission of the Church is universal because the Church has been sent to proclaim Christ to the entire human race. The Church traces its tradition directly from the apostles; therefore, the Church is considered apostolic. With the Holy Spirit the Church preserves and continues the teaching of the apostles. So Happy Birthday Church and enjoy a slice of cake.
Kurt Peterson
Tuesday, June 11, 2019-They don’t get to choose
There was a line in the final episode of Game of Thrones when the new Dary, Queen of the Seven Realms, tells Jon Snow that together they will issue a new world that is good because they know what good is. He asks “What about those that believe they know what is good?” She says “They don’t get to choose”. She will decide how people live and anyone that disagrees will be destroyed. That line shot right through me because of what God has done for us. God gave us free will. God knows what is good and he does tell us how to live in the Ten Commandments, Beatitudes and Natural Law but he allows us to decide how we as individuals live with those laws. We decide what we do, knowing that it is either good or bad. God loves us so much that He allows us to decide..
I think we as humans don’t spend enough time thinking about what an incredible gift and responsibility freewill is. Every day we make decisions about what to wear, what to eat, how to act; even walking is a decision. Humans have free will but within the confines of laws. We can use the laws God created to guide the universe and/or the ones He created to guide our choices but we run into trouble when we go outside of those laws. For example, we can fly because we created vehicles that use the laws that govern birds. Using those concepts we can soar over land, but try jumping off a building and see how far you get flapping your arms. To fully live a life of free will we must understand the laws that govern us.
Kurt Peterson
Wednesday, June 12, 2019-Traditions
In the Musical “Fiddler on the Roof” the main character, Tevye, is the father of three girls. The Bolsheviks have taken over Russia, his three daughters are grown and each take a different path from how his generation and those before him had done. With each new change he talks to God about the struggle with the old ways he holds dear and the new paths his daughters chose to go. With each struggle God helps him to see that things change but the true core remains, so he accepts the change. I really identify with him. As a father I brought my children up in the Lord and taught them our family traditions but once they became adults they began their own path. When they were little Sarah and I controlled their directions. We made sure they would be safe and taught them how to behave in the family and in the world. Now they make their own decision and sometimes it is not what I would like them to do. And like Tevye I talk to God, just not in a song, and He helps me see that though some things have changed the true core we instilled in them remains. They know God and they try to make the world they live in a little better. And I think that is what we as parents were called to do
Kurt Peterson
Thursday, June 13, 2019-One good thing
Bill Nye the science guy recently spoke to a group of graduates at Groucher University. He told them to take this one thought wherever you go, “Everyone you meet knows something you don’t, everyone…..respect that knowledge and it will bring out the best in them and bring out the best in you.” When we look at people through that lens they will become someone worth talking to. In today’s climate too often we decide that a person is a certain way, assuming what they may think on a certain subject. But if we take the time to listen we may find out something we do not know. It reminds me of what Sarah used to do with our children. When the kids were younger and they had a problem with someone Sarah would ask them to find at least one good quality about them and to concentrate on that. Doing that one thing would change the way they thought about that person. It did not mean they would become close friends but at least they weren’t foes. Jesus teaches us this. He sought out those that the culture deemed unworthy: Jesus called out to Matthew- a tax collector- to have dinner with him, to Zacchaeus to come down from the tree and take Jesus to his home, he talked to the woman at the well, healed the blind man and the leper, he asked the adulteress who was there to judge her. He saw in them that one thing and for them everything changed. He sees that one thing in each of us too. We are not called to change people but we are called to love them. Finding that one thing will help change how we view others and that is all God wants us to do.
Kurt Peterson
Friday, June 14, 2019-It is right and just
At every Mass, during the Preface, a dialogue happens between the congregation and the priest. The priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” to which the congregation replies, “It is right and just.” The priest then continues: “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks.”
We are called to give thanks to God continually. We read in Psalm 92: “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High, to proclaim your love at daybreak, your faithfulness in the night.” (Psalm 92:2-3) St Paul exhorts in Thessalonians: “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) St. Paul’s epistles regularly begin and end with an expression of thanksgiving to God. One of the things I do every work day morning is to be thankful for something. When we focus on the things we are grateful for we put ourselves in a frame of mind that does not let setbacks devastate us. When I focus on gratitude to God and all the blessings He brings I begin my day in a positive manner. The sun, the moon, my health, my family, my career, my friends are all blessings from God. But the greatest blessing is my Lord Christ Jesus and praising Him is right and just.
Kurt Peterson
Saturday, June 15, 2019-Why
Why? I cannot begin to count the number of times that word has been said by someone and there are so many ways of using it. When our children were young why was used as a sign of wonder. It seemed like the smallest thing would produce a repetition of whys. Their minds were sponges soaking up every answer to that word while I was trying to keep up giving good answers until I would finally say “I don’t know”. Then as they got older the use of that word changed, it was not so much about answers for their inquiring minds but about challenging authority. They would ask,” Why can’t I do that” and I would explain why. They would then ask “But why?” and I would explain and again they ask “But why?” and I would try to answer the question in a different way. After about the third or fourth why I would realize they know the reason why they just didn’t want to accept the answer. At that point I became my father and said, “Because I said so”. Isn’t that what we do with God at times? We all have times of struggle, some small and some great and we will repeatily ask why. Even Jesus asked why but in the end trusted in God’s will for Him. As humans we will never fully understand why many things happen. It may seem unfair or unjust but in God’s infinite wisdom there is a reason. Because we live on earth for just a short time we live in the micro but God sees in the macro. I need to trust and believe “For nothing is impossible with God” Luke 1:37
Kurt Peterson
Sunday, June 16, 2019-What is your worth?
As a Realtor I spend my days looking at people homes and determining their worth. For sellers I try to get the most net profit for them. I give suggestion on what things they can do to increase the value of their home. For buyers, I negotiate to get them the best house for the money they can spend. Sometimes we look at homes that most people would pass by but I try to point out the potential the house has. In a lot of ways that is how the world looks at us. Are we smart? Are we pretty or handsome, thin or muscular? What kind of house do we have or car do we drive, what clothes do we wear or career do we have? The world determines our worth by what it sees on the outside not what is inside and too often we start to believe what the world thinks about us. Psalm 139:14 tells me I am wonderfully and fearfully made. Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you”. God knows everyone of us before we were born and knows us…the real us. God knows my worth not by what I do or what I have but by who I am. We are all worthy in His eyes because He sees the one whom He formed in the womb. Jesus tells us to love one another as we love ourselves and I can only truly do that when I see myself as God sees me, wonderfully and fearfully made.
Kurt Peterson