Looking Beyond..

God, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit

The BEYOND 

John 15:19

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: 

but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

These are troublesome times, to say the very least.  People are confused, anxious, scared and angry.  It is harder and harder to find the much needed middle way, the via media.  Much is being thrown at society to distract our focus.

At Nazareth House Apostolate, we deal with such things through prayer and Pilgrimage.  Pilgrimage is a journey dedicated to ongoing prayer.  Walking the path we pray and praying the path we walk, experiencing source and destination that in coming home we can know it again for the first time. 

See previous blog post on Pilgrimage: Click Here for Pilgrimage Blog

And so, we at NHA have been spending this time of uncertainty in pilgrimage.  Our certainty is in the journey of our relationship in God.

St. Joseph was the protector and provider for the Holy Family as they lived their life in Nazareth.

Our Pilgrimage, naturally led us to the Shrine of St. Joseph, St. Meinrad, Indiana.  As the world laments in much sorrow, it is there we prayed the  first three Sorrowful Mysteries of the 7 Sorrows of Mary because St. Joseph was with Mary for these mysteries. 

As we prayed these mysteries, I couldn't help but notice the faces of the 70 year old hand carved wood statue.  Both St. Joseph and the young Christ Child are looking beyond - standing upright and firm, looking to the Beyond --not at the things of this world.  

Colossians 3:2

Set your affection on things above, 

not on things on the earth.

As we journeyed from one Sorrowful Mystery to the next, I discerned St Joseph's continual focus away from the world and towards The Beyond.  I noticed the bird droppings running down his shoulder, 

 

on his head, and the insects clinging to his forehead and likened them to the dregs of sorrows we have had pelted down on us in this world.  

and yet, the statue of St. Joseph steadfastly looks out from the world to the Beyond, The Kingdom, our real home.  And so should we.  

Philippians 3:20

For our conversation is in heaven; 

from whence also we look for the Saviour, 

the Lord Jesus Christ

The Christ Child also has bird droppings but an added sting of a hornet making a nest under his right arm.

And yet the Christ Child looks on, forward, out from the world, to The Father.  

John 17:16

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. - James 1:26

More than ever, we must keep our focus on God and not allow the world to distract us. And it's not easy, because everything is increasingly designed to divert us. I wonder if the artist that carved this statue meant for it to be a symbol away from distraction, and a visual of how our focus should be - beyond this world and on the Next --especially when we've had so much to the contrary dumped on us.   

...I think maybe he did. 

Romans 12:2 - 

And be not conformed to this world: 

but be ye transformed by the renewing 

of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, 

and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.- John 16:32

This is My Body...

...from these wounds flowed out … blood and water, his very life poured out for us. Compassion, forgiveness, mercy, tenderness...

His wounds are overflowing with compassion for us: “This is my Body, for you; this is my blood, for you.”

Feast of St. Francis

Pray, Pray always.  

"St. Francis Day has always deserved my special attention since I need a lot of guidance to find the answer to the question "What place does poverty really have in my life?" I've felt that without a certain attempt to live a life of poverty I would be distracted. There are three aspects of Poverty that attract me: 1. Living simple, sober and silent, 2. a kind of forlorn fostered freedom, and 3. alleviating all poverty unlike Christ."  G.K. Chesterton/ Bk. St. Francis says that 'St. Francis' argument for poverty was 'that the dedicated man might go anywhere among any kind of men, even the worst kind of men, so long as there was nothing by which they could hold him.  If he had any ties or needs like ordinary men, (something that he may be 'hanging' onto) he would become like ordinary men." - (Gal. 2:20).  

(Acts 17:6) "...they dragged certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying these that have turned the world upside down come hither"

Therefore each year on St. Francis day I "stand on my head" because by seeing the world upside down I have discovered its dependent nature.  By seeing the world upside down, you can see the same city, people, church, home and job ... but in a different way! 

Dependence by definition means relying on for support... "Hanging".  When I saw in my upside world all that was just hanging there, I realized a greater truth. Maybe its not so much that we are being held - maybe the greater truth is that we're not being dropped! When a student drops a course, their reasons are usually that the course is too hard, not interesting enough or doesn't fit into their present plans.  But let me tell you something, God will never drop you no matter how hard you become, or how uninteresting you are or how unfit.  How do I know?  I've turned upside down." -Seraphim+

World Prayer Corps Prayer Cycle

30 Day World Prayer Cycle

Prayer Broadcasting around the World in 30 days

For each day of the month (30 day cycle), we’ve listed (from left to right) 6-7 Countries in which to pray. By the end of the 30 Days, we will have Prayer Broadcasted over the world.

If you are just starting and let’s say today is the 19th of the Month,  follow down the yellow column until you see the day – 19 and pray for South Africa, Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Denmark, Togo and Kosovo.   The next day, the 20th begin with Nicaragua…

Month of May Rosary Pilgrimage

As May draws to an end, today those of us at Nazareth House Apostolate, St. Simeon Skete embarked on our annual Last Saturday of May Rosary Pilgrimage to celebrate The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Pilgrimage is a necessary regular event for us. 

Today, falling on the Saturday after the vote in Ireland to repeal the 8th amendment, (in other words Ireland voted yesterday to prevent at will, their unborn  children in the womb from ever seeing the light of day - as a matter of convenience, a form of birth control), this tragedy which is an ongoing tragedy here in America already,  especially made today's pilgrimage even more necessary.  The result of this vote and the many implications go way beyond abortion.

Today's pilgrimage as with every exit from our property began with a Hail Mary at the Statue of Our Lady of Grace, for which our parish is named.

Our first stop was at the Valley Hill Shrine. 

There we said the opening Prayers of the Remnant Rosary inside the beautiful Chapel in construction. 

Periodically as a sacrificial act of love for God, David Stillwell travels from Cleveland to Springfield with his trunk filled with bricks that he made in his basement.  He places a row or two on the chapel and returns back home to Cleveland only to make more bricks, travel here again and add another row.  He says, "it doesn't matter if it gets finished,  it is my acting out of my love for God".  Because of its ongoing construction, we felt it fitting to begin the Rosary Pilgrimage within the chapel as the Remnant Rosary which is the Life of Christ is always constructing Christ within us.  Jesus your life is living in me.

At the Nativity Scene at Valley Hill, we said the Joyful Mysteries.

From there we traveled to The Dominican Priory, The Parish of St Rose.  Wandering through the grounds, I was struck by the millstones about the property.  I'd noticed them before but in light of the strong push in the world these days,  for the massacre of the innocents in the womb -- the millstones were more distinct.

But whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. -Mt. 18:6

We began our stop at St. Rose by saying the Reparation Rosary at the Shrine of Rachel - in reparation for abortions and disrespect for life in general.

As we entered the Narthex it was comforting to see a collection of diapers which will be distributed to babies in need.  Praise God for Life. 

Inside the Sanctuary of St. Rose we prayed the Luminous Mysteries:

St. Rose has beautiful stained glass windows.  We prayed the Baptism Mystery at this window.

The changing water into wine mystery at this window

Finishing with The Supper Mystery we began our journey to the Abbey of Gethsemani. 

There we prayed the sorrowful mysteries.

upon leaving Gethsemani, I had to make sure to see one of my favorite Icons...

I always like it when Mary wears red.

From here we concluded our Pilgrimage by saying the Glorious Mysteries at the Holy Rosary Dominican Cemetery.

Mary, Messenger of Peace

Today, Tuesday, September 6th, Nazareth House Apostolate, St. Simeon Skete celebrates its 20th Annual Feast of Our Lady of Nazareth, Mary, Messenger of Peace. 

Painting of the Statue of Mary, Messenger of Peace created after the appearance:

The following is written by Fr. Gabriel Harty, OP from his book "Heaven Sent":

Be content – you have all you need (Heaven Sent, Fr. Gabriel Harty, Pg. 124)

Only when pressed did Fr Seraphim reveal the secret that kept him in this sacred orbit. Once when alone in his hermitage, he saw a woman standing before him. She was dressed in Eastern garb and looked most graciously at him, with her right hand raised high and in an attitude of blessing. 

The left hand was stretched out to him and he strained to see what it was offering. It was empty, which he took to mean that there was really nothing that he lacked 

...He understood that he had all he needed and that the secret of spiritual living was to be content and to live in the present moment with the resources at hand. By way of bringing this truth home, Seraphim said that he would be content and at peace even if faced with capture and death, for he knew in his heart that with the divine grace he would have the resources at the time to accept whatever God had in store for him. When pressed about the woman who appeared so briefly in his cell, his words were: ‘I can’t call it a vision or apparition, it was all too real. She stood there a real woman of flesh and blood.’ Wishing to have an image made of what he has witnessed, Fr Seraphim realised that he could not afford to engage a fully-fledged artist. He had heard, however, of a young sculpture student, and when he met her, the first thing she blurted out was: ‘I had a dream last night that I was making a statue of Our Lady with the right hand raised and the left hand outstretched.’ I told him that he should try to contact this young lady again and have her give a written testimony relating her experience. -Harty, Gabriel (2012-05-23). Heaven Sent (p. 124 -125). Veritas. Kindle Edition. 

Rest for my soul 

I came away from St Simeon Skete with renewed devotion to the Rosary as an instrument of evangelisation and as a grace-filled means of contemplative prayer. From an ecumenical point of view, I am glad of having had the experience, though it was not easy coping with the Divine Office of Morning and Evening Prayer plus Compline each day – much longer than ours and chanted chorally with the King James version of the Psalms and Readings. Saint Simeon Skete has given me my own ‘old Kentucky home’, for everything there confirmed my long-established appreciation of the Gospel-value that underlies our traditional Marian Rosary. Father Seraphim and his beloved wife brought me back to the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, 6: 16: ‘Halt at the cross-roads, look well and ask yourselves which path it was that stood you in good stead long ago. That path follow, and you shall find rest for your souls.’   -Harty, Gabriel (2012-05-23). Heaven Sent (p. 124 -125). Veritas. Kindle Edition. 

"Lord Jesus, we thank you for giving us Mary, Messenger of Peace, to be our Mother.  Great warmth fills our hearts as we take refuge in the tenderness of your Mother's gaze; Grant that we might receive her message of peace by realizing what we have and who we are is enough, as we pray and live Your Way, Name and Life in union with Mary, Messenger of Peace." Amen 

Seraphim explains that the hand of Mary, Messenger of Peace is empty because we already have all we need to love and be God’s people. How many more churches do we need; how many more denominations do we need? Most of “religion” is the result of: not finding God; not finding Him to be enough; and not wanting Him to be enough. Much of religion is not about God, its about control and to a large degree political parties are not about good government, they’re after control.  

Not finding God to be enough, not realizing we have what we need to live out the Shema (Mark 12:29-31) breeds greed and violence. Some years ago a reporter interviewing Seraphim asked “What happens if you’re captured by the rebels and shot?” Without a blink of hesitation he responded: “I have absolutely everything I need in order to be shot and killed and conversely I absolutely have everything I need to continue on living in this body.”

The essence of Mary's Message can be summed up in these words "You already have everything you need to be a follower of my Son by doing whatever He says." (St. Mercy Hermitage 6 Sept. 1996/ John 2:5) 

Puddles, Border Collies, Denominations

Republished from 2012:

Yesterday, many areas of the Eastern United States experienced severe and dangerous storms.  

There were those who lost their homes and things ...and those who lost their lives. 

At St. Simeon Skete in Taylorsville, Kentucky a *wall cloud approached from the South.  The Warning Sirens began to sound.  

 

As the bellowing cloud crossed Taylorsville Lake it gently swirled into the form of a funnel cloud that stayed in the sky and crossed directly over the Holy Trinity Kellia.   

Large hail pelted the roof, sounding like artillery fire as it hit.  Within minutes the threat had passed.

Our border collie is terribly afraid of storms and had been shaking in the basement most of the morning as the storms came through, one bout after another.  

The Warning Sirens ceased and I ran the dog outside to do his business as the sun began to peek out of the clouds and brighten the sky.  

Looking to the East, I noticed a rainbow.  

As my dog ran around finding and gobbling up the remaining unthawed hail left on the ground, 

 

I noticed the rain puddles and I remembered Seraphim’s thoughts on seeing rain puddles, some years ago.   

I asked him to share those thoughts again.  --

“One day after a large thunderstorm in Louisville, I walked out towards the pond and noticed there were rain puddles all over the ground.  It seemed as if most of the ground was one small lake.  

As I walked around I noticed each puddle reflected a different part of the sky.  One revealed a sky with two clouds, one with only one cloud and yet another contained a glimpse of the sun passing through the clouds - but they were all reflecting the same sky.  

I thought of our different denominations, each saying that this is the sky (this is God), but forgetting that they are reflecting part of the sky, not the whole sky.  

As the ground began to dry up, the more separation there was between the rain puddles.   The distance between the puddles and the dry land was great.  Like the land between the puddles, denominations become territorial, the more there are - the further the distance between us.  Finally, there was just a few tiny pools of water, here and there.  

God will send a “rain” on earth and blend all the “rain puddles” and we’ll be one body of “water”.  But for now God unites us in our hearts.”  - Seraphim+ -recalling thoughts after a rainstorm  

+++++++++++++++++++++++

“Throughout his life he (Lev Gillet) continued to display a fixed aversion for all forms of ecclesiastical aggression and polemics.  He did not believe that reunion could be achieved through theological confrontation through controversy and formal discussion.”  -“The Jesus Prayer” by A Monk of The Eastern Church. pg. 8.

“The Monk of the Eastern church concluded that the “Communion of Saints” transcended confessional and institutional barriers and that a genuine and intense spiritual life is the shortest and safest way towards reunion.” - pg 277 of "The Biography of Lev Gillet”, by Behr-Sigel 

“If I can unite  in myself  the thought and the devotion of Eastern and Western Christendom, the Greek and the Latin Fathers, The Russians with the Spanish mystics, I can prepare in myself the reunion of divided Christians.  From that secret and unspoken unity in myself can eventually come a visible and manifest unity of all Christians.  If we want to bring together what is divided, we can not do so by imposing one division upon the other or absorbing one division into the other.  But if we do this, the union is not Christian.  It is political, and doomed to further conflict.   We must contain all divided worlds in ourselves and transcend them in Christ.  - Thomas Merton: Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, pg 21.

*A wall cloud (or pedestal cloud) is a large, lowering, and rotating base of a cumulonimbus cloud that potentially forms tornadoes. It is typically beneath the rain-free base (RFB) portion of a deep cumulus cloud (normally cumulonimbus but on rare occasion cumulus congestus), and indicates the area of primary and strongest updraft which condenses into cloud at altitudes lower than that of the ambient cloud base. Most strong tornadoes form from wall clouds.