January 29th, 2011

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Don’t Lose Your Potency

January 29, 2011

Salt Mountain U.S.A.

Mary Hollen told me that salt loses its potency when it sits too long. 

I did not know that.

That little tid-bit of information helped me understand today’s Gospel.
 
President Obama, in his state of the union address, told us that as a culture, we need to recommit ourselves to education, act on our dream of making this a better world, help each other and get back to being a beacon of human justice to the world.
 
 These two people inspired me this week.
 
Thank you, both.
 
You did it!
 
Jesus tells us to get moving.
“Use it or loose it.”
Light and salt are the visual metaphors.
 
When was the last time I inspired someone?
OR
For that matter,
When was the last time I made a stranger smile?
 
Have a good week.

January 23rd, 2011

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An Ordinary Man

 January 23, 2011

An ordinary man
With the eye of an artist and the heart of a poet.

 
 
Pope John-Paul II is responsible for the first World Youth Day. Did you know he was a thespian (actor) before he became a priest? The cross in the narthex last week was made by the Saint Lawrence faith community and is moving around the diocese of Detroit to commemorate that event and acknowledge how valuable our young people are. Our team photographer, Don Fouchey, took these photos and sent me this e-mail;
 
We don’t often think of Jesus as a

true artist

“Tony… There is not a doubt in my mind that what these 4 special needs kids did with their dust rags was far more pleasing to God than any thing any artist could do with a paintbrush. You spoke of inspiration, I acted on it. I was meant to be there, with a camera, to notice the unnoticed and shine a light on them.” 

Don’s sensitivity captured Veronica, Brandon and Joel, and in spirit many more young people that come from Stevenson High School’s special needs program. They minister to us by cleaning our worship space regularly and help Mark prepare the Lords house for us to share at the Table of our Eucharist celebration every week.

After He heard the news of John’s imprisonment, Jesus began his short life of public ministry. In his humanity and divinity Gods son choose ordinary people (fisherman) to be his helpers. They willingly came, not exactly knowing what they were supposed to do. In our church the other day Jesus called a retired government worker with a camera and a handful of young adults and their teachers to minister to us by taking a picture of  “ the kids” wiping a church pew so your clothes would not be soiled.

 
In the little and ordinary things we do for each other,
Jesus is there
 
Enjoy the warmth of this thought on a winter’s night and let it help you prepare your hearts environment for a new ordinary day tomorrow.

January 22nd, 2011

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Internet Evangelization

 January 22, 2011

Jesus sat down on a mountainside.

 With the Holy Sprit as His megaphone, Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes.
 
I suspect word of mouth became the media of that time to spread Jesus’ message over the lands of the Middle East.
 
As an artist, I use many mediums to create the personal expression of my art.
 
As a Liturgical artist, I will use any and as many media there are, to spread the message of Love The Creator, Love Yourself and Love Each Other.
 
Paul of Tarsus, after being knocked off (or was it on his ass?), born again by the Holy Spirit, would have realized the Internet chatter as a tool to spread the word to the young and not-so-old, in proclaiming Jesus Christ and the New Jerusalem in 2011.
 
The Internet is a spiritual gift.
There, I said it!
 
I am launching a web site entitled,
ArtoftheWay.com”.
 
From this site, our humble prayers and the environments of Good News and Love we create in our daily lives, will shine as a beacon to the world through this media.
 
The Beatitudes will be our focus.
 
Matthew 5:3-12
The Beatitudes
 
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
 
The Paul’s letter to the
 Corinthians I, 10:1-30
will be our rule.
 

1 2 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,

that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge,

as the testimony 3 to Christ was confirmed among you,

so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus (Christ).

God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

4 I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.

For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you.

I mean that each of you is saying, "I belong to 5 Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."

6 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

I give thanks (to God) that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

(I baptized the household of Stephanas also; beyond that I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)

 

7 8 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the learning of the learned I will set aside."

Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?

9 For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

10 Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,

and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something,

so that no human being might boast 11 before God.

It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,

so that, as it is written, "Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord."

 
  
And Mark 9: 38-41
As our hope in joining with all of the world.
 

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”

January 9th, 2011

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I Love Eye Candy

January 9, 2011

I Love Eye Candy

 
The official color for ordinary times in the Roman Catholic Church is green.
 
What does green mean?
 
The global warming conversations have certainly brought that word / color into the forefront of our lives this new year.

Besides the color, what other visual symbols are mentioned in this season’s readings that help us understand the meaning in the Gospel message?

God has given us so many visual concrete tools to tell us how much we are loved. The child, the man, the cross, the bread and wine are some of the direct and powerful visual metaphors we pray with every day, but what does water, salt, light, fishing nets, money, the splendor of the flowers of the field, and solid rock foundations have to do with our own personal salvation story?

Let’s read the readings for the next 9 weeks and see what eye candies were chosen and what are they telling us?

As we quietly live this winter night, let’s find the warmth, truth, hope and love in the more subtle symbols we are blessed with.

 

What meaning has this color green taken on in my life today?

And it’s ok to be ordinary.

Jesus was a carpenter’s son at first.