Have you ever felt so deeply about something that you were afraid — perhaps like Saint Paul — to speak about it or reveal the deep feelings underneath the values, beliefs, or ideas you espoused? A fear of criticism, rolling eyes, tsk-ing, or some personal attack keeps you silent. Or that paralyzing comment from a friend or a family member, “Oh, you’re so sensitive!”
In the story from Acts today, Paul has a dream or a night vision of Jesus urging him to speak and feel the support of the risen Lord. Sometimes, we need that to say what’s in our heart: Jesus’ urging, his support. (Perhaps what we writers of these daily reflections experience as we ponder the scriptures of the day or what you feel called to say to a child or grandchild, a friend, or a family member.)
One of the things I care deeply about is planet Earth, Mother Nature.
Last year, Pope Francis published a brief (only 16 pages) “Apostolic Exhortation,” Laudate Deum, whereby he deeply worries about “our suffering planet” and shares “my heartfelt concern about the care for our common home.” He goes on to say, “The Judaeo-Christian vision of the cosmos defends the unique and central value of the human being amid the marvelous concert of all God’s creatures. . .For as part of the universe, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate, and humble respect.”
At each Mass, we hear that Jesus used two “gifts” of nature and the miraculous processes of wheat-flour-bread and grape-fermentation-wine to be transformed into his body and blood. To these reminders, we say in communal gratitude, blessed be God forever!
Let Us Pray:
Praise you, God, for all your creatures! You tell us that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of the lilies of the field, nor the smallest of sparrows are forgotten in your sight. Help us to admire the tenderness of Jesus for all the beings accompanying us along the way! (Based on the opening paragraph of Laudatum Deum)
“Praise God for all his creatures”. This was the message that Saint Francis of Assisi proclaimed through his life, his canticles, and all his actions. In this way, he accepted the invitation of the biblical Psalms and reflected the sensitivity of Jesus before the creatures of his Father: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these” (Matthew 6:28-29). “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight” (Luke 12:6). How can we not admire this tenderness of Jesus for all the beings that accompany us along the way!
