If you would like to receive these daily reflections (written by various parishioners) in your email box each day, contact darcy.wharton@rocklincatholic.org
Reflections for Mar. 8-14, 2021
Monday March 8, 2021- Prayer
Today, I will not author a reflection. I wish to offer a prayer. In an unpublished reflection I wrote: “Both (my)degrees are marked by long hours, late or sleepless nights, where caffeine and calories keep you awake. You do this by literally setting your jaw. You do this by willing away the fatigue so severe it makes you nauseated. You push yourself by will alone because there is always something more to be learned or be done.” After many years, I finally realized that if I could bring myself to trust in the constant presence of the Trinity in my life, I would find some relief.
I recognize that many physicians and nurses who I know and who are still practicing have experienced these feelings. The reason for my prayer is the realization that although I continued to have these experiences after completing my training, those I left behind in retirement now experience these daily, day-in and day-out, without rest or relief.
My prayer is this: “Lord Jesus, I ask that you reveal yourself to those health care workers who daily risk their lives in the service of others. They feed and give drink to those who hunger and thirst for health. They shelter the fearful in their final earthly moments. They visit those imprisoned in their bodies and welcome strangers who seek their care and counsel. May these caring people receive the strength of faith in you and the power of the Holy Spirit to deliver us. Amen.
Ray Frink
Tuesday March 9, 2021 - Challenges
Osler, Kelly, Halsted, and Welch are names a reader with a medical background might recognize. They founded The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. They embodied the rigorous, evidence-based study and practice of medicine. They are to medicine what Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, Ambrose, and Pope Gregory I, all who lived in the 4th thru 6th century, are to Christianity. They are considered the great church fathers among many.
Before these men of medicine or the fathers of our faith, doctrine was open to wide interpretation, teaching was sporadic, incomplete, and on occasion, wrong. For medicine, this led to dangerous differences in care. For our faith, these great church fathers dealt with heresies and important variations in our foundational teachings. They clarified what we believe at a most critical time.
Since Osler, physicians have made advances in medical care. Even today, misinterpretation or misunderstanding based in ignorance, misinformation for profit, and human weakness harm the practice of medicine. After Augustine and the early church fathers, church leaders, both men and women heard the voice of the Holy Spirit and brought renewing strength to the Catholic Church. They did this over the centuries in the face of misinterpretation or misunderstanding, persecution, and even misinformation.
Today, medicine is practiced in a manner superior to any time before. The practice of our Catholic faith can be more compassionate, more enlightening, and done with greater clarity than ever before. There are still challenges for both. I pray for both, that physical and spiritual wellbeing is brought to all.
Ray Frink
Wednesday March10, 2021 - Gratitude
Sometimes gratitude makes itself present as humor. After months of pandemic, I began doing a crossword puzzle each day. I limit myself to 30 minutes while eating breakfast or lunch. I look up a hint only if I’m desperate and time is running short. I like them because they are a mix of Scrabble and Trivia.
An answer recently was ‘crab rangoon’, an appetizer. I have never heard of this. It got me thinking and laughing about my upbringing. My family was working class. We had a roof over our heads and could pay for the utilities. I got one exciting present for Christmas and my parents wrapped pairs of socks or underwear for other things to open. I wore hand me downs except the uniform for Catholic grammar school. Food was simple and interesting. I laugh out loud when I think about Friday dinners during Lent: Tuna-loaf. This was tuna plus the left-over oatmeal from breakfast and other icebox items my mom didn’t want to waste. Of course, Jello for dessert.
It struck me how fortunate I was. I smile and laugh at those times because they are so different from and yet so similar to how I have lived my life since leaving home and having a professional career. I have retained the desire to reduce and reuse. My wife and I use creativity to combine pantry and refrigerator items to avoid waste. My family has to admonish me not to ‘pickle’ a new shirt until a special occasion. Ah, such is life. I am grateful.
Ray Frink
Thursday March 11, 2021- Sticks
An expression of unity stirred my thoughts this morning. It comes from an Aesop fable. One version of this wisdom is: “sticks in a bundle cannot be broken”. In 1054 the Christian church suffered the Great Schism separating the Roman Catholic from the Greek Orthodox Catholic Church. There is another ancient branch, The Coptic Christian Church with its own pope. In 1517 Martin Luther began the break-off of the Protestant churches.
I see even now how my Roman Catholic faith is splintering, how we are unwrapping the bundle and becoming more easily broken. We speak of American Catholics, European Catholics, Latin American Catholics and the church in Rome as if they are different faiths. We have allowed ourselves to be divided by politics, region, and place of birth. In the Protestant faith the number of faith variations grows, where churches seem to arise based on the personality of the local spiritual leader.
I cherish diversity and the beauty of that diversity in person, place, age, appearance, origin etc. I embrace and welcome the incorporation of local customs and languages in our Church rites and rituals, but I fear that we are dividing the bundle too much, that we are becoming breakable.
The origin of this unwinding draws a question: Am I living my life by viewing the world through the filter of my Christian faith or by viewing my Christian faith through the filter of my world? Jesus, I pray we recognize the need to rewrap the bundle and that your strength returns to the world.
Ray Frink
Friday March 12, 2021- Seeing is Believing
I consider myself to have fairly refined observational skills. This ability has served me well through the jobs, careers, and roles I have had. These skills bring me joy, sorrow, and hope.
As a young man one of my favorite activities during the Christmas holidays was to go to Union Square in San Francisco and walk through the stores to look at all the decorations. Part of the experience was also watching the people bustle about shopping or moving to and fro from their jobs in large office buildings, eating in old and storied restaurants, or acting like a tourist, even in their hometown.
There were others there also, the lepers of our time: people who were homeless, or lost with mental illness, or abandoned by society. The rest of us in those days called them derelicts, or bums, or panhandlers. Thinking back on these occasions now leaves me with a mix of joy and remorse. I recall a quote from John Steinbeck who said in his book, The Winter of Our Discontent: “I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen.”
I have the literal and figurative gift of sight. Do I allow all my observations to reach past fear and into my heart? Jesus in his interactions with those who were the outcasts of his day did more than just see. He allowed his eyes to reach into His heart. Jesus then extended a hand of forgiveness, healing, or insight. He brought hope to them and He brings hope to me.
Ray Frink
Saturday March 13, 2012 - Leprosy of Our Time
Leprosy is part of biblical history. You may have seen pictures of patients with leprosy, with disfigurement and loss of limbs. Leprosy attacks peripheral nerves in the hands and feet causing loss of sensation, especially loss of any sense of pain. This contributes to loss of limbs. In Jesus’ ministry He cures lepers both individually and in groups.
I see news reports of violence against God’s people. I wonder if I and we have become insensitive to the pain of others. Am I blind to these injustices? No, that’s not true. Have I lost my ability to empathize or sympathize? No, that’s not true. Am I afraid to act, to have righteous anger in the defense of others? Perhaps. Or perhaps I have become so overwhelmed with the pain of the world such that my ability to respond to the pain of others is overloaded and burned out. Is this my leprosy? Have my senses become so damaged that I cannot feel the pain of injury. Are my hands and feet, the hands and feet of Jesus in my time, so deformed and functionless?
Jesus felt the pain of all of our sins. He felt the pain of those He healed. He felt the loss of Lazarus, the regret of the Samaritan woman, the contrition of the good thief, the sorrow of the women on the way to Calvary. Lord, heal me of the leprosy of our time. Give me, us, the strength to see, feel, and act. For this I pray.
Ray Frink
Sunday March 14, 2021- From the Tomb
Due to the limitations of the pandemic, audio and video presentations of my faith are common. It then occurs that I may see or hear the same presentation twice. I experienced such a moment with the Annual Catholic Appeal and our Lenten preparation. I heard the audio portion of a man’s story of descent into the darkness of his tomb. The walls of his tomb were homelessness and alcoholism and the stone blocking his escape was the judgement many in society placed on him. Through the love of a few and beyond the rejection of many, he has experienced a resurrection to a new life. I then had the opportunity to hear again and SEE the video portion of his recollections. His words were powerful. When his words are put with a face, with all the nuances of expression, body carriage, and the window of the eyes, his message takes on a ten-fold amplification.
When Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, he weeps with the pain He and his beloved friends experience. Jesus then calls Lazarus forth, just as a caring few people did for this homeless man. Jesus’ second instruction is to untie him, to let loose the binding burial clothes and to let him go. We each have our own tombs. I pray that those who read my words recognize that every day Jesus calls us forth. Everyday there are parish staff and members willing to help us untie our bonds and be free to experience a resurrection in the love of God.
Ray Frink
Reflections for Mar. 1-7, 2021
Monday, March 1,2021 – An Anniversary of Sorts
This is an “anniversary” month for all of us living in the Sacramento area and, indeed, in
the nation and the world. We started limiting our social gatherings in March of 2020, but
none of us could have predicted the impact COVID-19 would have on our lives in the
ensuing year. If you’re a front-line hospital worker, you are a true hero! We can’t thank
you enough. If you’ve lost family or friends to COVID, I want to express my sorrow to
you and pledge my prayers on your behalf. Nobody can give us a time-line for this
disease; we can only go in and out of quarantine as the disease spikes and recedes. I’m
confident that you join me in praying for all measures that can be implemented to take
us back to normal. I know that you also join me in thanking God for the gifts He has
given us that we no long take for granted, especially for the new vaccines!
Barbara Stricklin
Tuesday, March 2, 2021– Thank you and God Bless You!
I’m so very grateful to the imaginative and hard-working parishioners who have found
ways to communicate God’s loving care for us through this pandemic. Using Facebook
and our parish website, they keep us all informed of the good things being done in the
parish on our behalf. Through Zoom some classes meet at various levels to give us a
heart connection to the people we used to see in person. One of the most ingenious
gifts we’ve been given is the Sunday 11 a.m. outdoor “drive-in” Mass. The volunteers
usher us into well-organized parking slots; we can hear the readings, sermon, Mass,
and music through our car radios; we can receive Communion safely. As a member of
the high-risk over-65 cohort, I cannot express enough heartfelt gratitude to all of you
who make this possible!
Barbara Stricklin
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 – Anxiety 101
The incidence of depression, and anxiety disorders has risen during the past year due
to COVID. In the general population this is due to deaths, job loss, social isolation,
closing/reopening/closing of schools and businesses. Few people feel comfortable
talking about these disorders because they’re misunderstood; we can’t just “snap out of
it.” Besides medical intervention, there are helpful practices anyone can do to ease the
discomfort. I find that exercise such as walking outdoors lifts my mood, as does proper
nutrition. Keeping my living space tidy and not neglecting my appearance helps.
Keeping my “to-do” list short, and avoiding procrastination are important, as are daily
periods of mindfulness and prayer to center me. As always, my gratitude list opens my
eyes to the good gifts that are given to me daily. Although I can’t interact face-to-face
with my family or friends, I try to meet them on FaceTime or with just a simple phone
call. During Lent I’m especially mindful that any suffering makes me grow as it unites
me with Our Lord. Amen.
Barbara Stricklin
Thursday, March 4, 2021– Order- Disorder - Reorder
Franciscan Father Richard Rohr has written a book about this topic in which he explains
that the pattern has been recognized and named by religions and mythologies for
millennia. If you think about it, this pattern will sound very familiar. Order means that
ideas and practices are clearly in place. Disorder is a brand-new idea that upsets the
current order. Reorder is the resulting situation that has incorporated some of the new
into the old, creating a synthesis. For example, a couple lives in harmony (order); then a
child is born (disorder) and the household is greatly disrupted; the family learns to live
differently to accommodate the new life (reorder.) This sets the family up for another
piece of disorder in the future: another child, moving to a new area, changing jobs, and
the process begins again. We see this pattern in our nation today. We’re still learning
how to accommodate features of the disorder to create a peaceful new reorder. Faith in
God’s loving care allows me to patiently move toward a new Reorder.
Barbara Stricklin
Friday, March 5, 2021 – Open My Heart, Lord
In the Ignatian book Small Simple Ways, I read a passage about how my posture can
influence my openness to God. If I pray with my hands open and palms turned upward,
my physical posture of openness can help me to actually become more open to God. It
can increase the amount of trust I feel in God. Every moment in which I open more to
God’s presence is a moment of great progress in my relationship with God. He, of
course, is not affected by my posture; God is always open and willing to listen. I am the
one in our relationship who needs to move closer and closer to God, so I pray, “Open
my heart, Lord.” Amen.
Barbara Stricklin
Saturday, March 6, 2021– “Father, I Have Sinned Against Heaven and Against You”
It’s interesting that when the word “prodigal” is used in reference to spending it is
“wasteful and extravagant’; when used to describe acts of giving, it means “bountiful
and generous.” In the case of today’s gospel reading, we can see that the younger son
was prodigal in his spending of the inheritance he had demanded from his father, while
the father loved the returning son in a prodigal way: extravagantly and generously.
When Jesus told this parable to His listeners, they most assuredly did not expect the
surprise ending. They had been accustomed to the “eye for an eye” ethic of their time.
Jesus was forever upending their expectations! Knowing that, I can never earn the
blessings He gives, I’m so grateful for his prodigal generosity and forgiveness.
Barbara Stricklin
Sunday, March 7, 2021 – Time to Clean House
The recounting of Jesus’s angry ridding the Jerusalem temple area of merchants and
money changers is told in all four gospels, thus showing us its importance to the
disciples. In a very small way, I can take my cue from this story to “clean out” the
elements of my life that keep me from joining my life to Jesus. I fill my days with
busyness, and come to the end of the day realizing that I haven’t spent time alone with
my Lord. The only way I can amend that flaw is to consciously plan to set aside definite
times to devote only to scripture reading, prayer, and contemplation. Two or three
ten-minute periods each day will serve to awaken me to welcoming Jesus into my daily
life all day. This new “habit” will keep me connected to Him more and more. It isn’t
Jesus who is too busy for me; it is I who need to acknowledge His constant presence.
Please help me to seek you, Lord.
Barbara Stricklin