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    LET IT aLL sTART hERE                                                        
 For Catholics who care...

All my trials will amount to nothing if  I but seek the Mercy of God...

5/23/2015

20 Comments

 

Thomas Merton wrote in his journal on December 7, 1965:

       “What is primary?  God’s revelation of Himself to me
        in Christ and my response in faith.”

I was two years old when Merton composed his powerful prayer, yet his words still resonate with me.  With “ears of Faith", I hear the dialogue he had with himself as he scratched 16 words on paper, words that would come to summarize how he was “wagering everything on God’s mercy to him”1.  With my “ears of Faith", I can hear Merton even now, as he responded to his first abbot, Dom Frederic Dunne, who asked the newly received novice, Merton:  “What is it you seek?”  Merton replied:  “The Mercy of God….”  

Once a person realizes that the Mercy of God is all that is needed, God begins to frequently reveal Himself.  His Mercy becomes apparent in all things. I have only just recently learned to recognize this truth.  I have only recently begun to pray these words daily:  I seek the Mercy of God!  

“Seek and ye shall find”…and I did in the following true story, this modern day parable of The Good Samaritan.  This is a lesson I know Christ, in His Mercy, is administering to me so that I might respond in faith and share it.

         A man had fallen victim to clinical depression as he grew older.          The disease stripped him of all joy, of all his interest in
         living fully in this world… it robbed him of all his dignity.
         He was stripped, beaten by this unseen force, deeply wounded
         and left half- dead. This man was a non-practicing,
         baptized Catholic.  Circumstances, coincidentally, put
         him in front of a priest… but the priest was of no help.
         The depressed man reached out to his family (and
         many of his friends), but they eventually stopped
         answering his calls.  They would only avoid him. 
         Even his dog ignored him and passed by him on
         the opposite side of the room.

         But a “none”2 who came upon him was
         moved with compassion at the sight of him.
         He answered the depressed man’s call for help
         spending hours of his own time listening to the man
         speak of his unbearable pain.  This same “none”,
         in an attempt to administer a healing balm to care for the
        depressed man, tried to recall what he had read about a
        Catholic’s privilege in attending Mass and receiving the
        Eucharist.  He reminded the depressed man of God’s
        Baptismal promise to him and urged the depressed man
        to “trust in Him” and return to the Church so that he might
        receive the Body of Christ.  “From my understanding…” the
        “none” offered:  “For a Catholic, it’s all about the
        Eucharist.  If you believe in God,” the “none” added,
.      “Surely, there is help for you there.”   
        But in his despair the depressed man could only answer:
        “I’m not ready for that.  I don’t even remember the prayers.
        Once again, the “none” assured him that someone was
        there at the 
church who could help him.  “Just go.”  he said.

Now I ask you this:  “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robber’s victim?“   (Luke 10: 36-38)   


 

1  From The Intimate Merton Edited by Patrick Hart and Jonathan
   Montaldo
 

2 “None” is a tag for a person who does not identify with any religion.  And yet it is clear that God’s Mercy was most at work in the actions of a man that one would least expect God to work through.   It is also clear that God is at work in the life all people, whether they recognize Him or not.

1  From The Intimate Merton Edited by Patrick Hart and Jonathan
   Montaldo
            

 

 

 

 

  


20 Comments
Elizabeth Bishop
5/24/2015 03:50:42 am

it becomes increasingly apparent to me everyday that God uses more and more so-called non believers to reach out to the bodyof Christ as we call the church it seems that sometimes they are even more effective than those we recognize as believers

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Evelyn Augusto link
5/24/2015 04:39:35 am

So true my sister in Christ! Glad you found yourself here today. Now share this witness with everyone you know.
Thanks

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Mary Harrison
5/24/2015 10:28:23 pm

I Love Thomas Merton. Thanks for the reminder of who we are!

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John Thorburn
5/25/2015 08:02:28 am

Spent his life searching for a meaning, eh?

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evelyn link
5/25/2015 08:21:20 am

Haven't we all? Thanks for being here John.

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Frances Wellington and jackie White
5/25/2015 11:22:49 pm

John,
Yes, and here is Thomas Merton's prayer to prove it.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me, I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

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Evelyn Augusto link
5/25/2015 11:39:44 pm

Terrific! You both are wonderful. Thank you for sharing this prayer with us.

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Charlene Caramore
5/26/2015 01:03:46 pm

I'm using that prayer of Thomas Merton's about not knowing where he is going in our prayer service for the discernment of our new members of pastoral council but frankly, I could use that prayer daily, sometimes moment by moment. God is good and His mercies endure forever. I will confess that it's been a long time since I've been on the blog or even mentioned it to anyone. I felt at times as though some of the essays and comments that followed looked to the past, to the good old days of the church, and how it should be that way again. Even in the last meeting of our newly formed evangelization team that sentiment was vocalized and I've spent a great deal of time thinking about it. We can't look back. Remember what happened to Lot's wife when she looked back. Christ wants us to look forward--to the church that is here and now with all of its problems and foibles. We have to keep our eyes focused on Him and keep walking forward. There was a lot wrong with the church in the past. We need to learn from our mistakes and move on, building new paths, healing old wounds and fixing the chinks in our spiritual armor. I needed time to work through all of that as well as continue on with the work that Christ has called me to do so I, we, shouldn't be feeling guilty because we were not here. When we stray from the Lord, He greets us with open arms. That's mercy. We need to have mercy for each other as well. This blog does make me think but it also stirs me to action.

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evelyn link
5/27/2015 12:01:11 am

Nice anology to Lot's wife, poetic and there is some truth to it but...but Christ often referred back to scripture and (historically) what the prophets said when he was being tested, he often challenged those who came to for him for answers... to think. AND we were never warned not to look back as Lot's wife was. Hers was a test of faith. I am not suggesting that we focus on foibles or mistakes individuals who were apart of The Church made. To me, what is done is done. We must repent and seek redemption. But what I am suggesting is that we hold tightly to our Catholic traditions, not forget who we are and how we got here. We must not be afraid to be a Catholic presence in the world and with our actions witness that we are disciples of Christ. Everything we do, throughout the day should send that message out in world. It's nice to see your back.

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Charlene Caramore
5/27/2015 10:44:01 pm

I do agree that our faith is seen through our actions. I think that I was referring to the desire for some to go back to the days of the Latin Mass, male altar servers, the pre-Vatican II days when people could sit in the pews, recite their rosary during the Mass because they couldn't understand the rest of it, and let Father and the nuns do all the work of evangelization. Those days are over. I agree that we have to be knowledgeable about the past, know our Scriptures and Traditions, and have a healthy respect for where we have come from but there's also a new day to face. I love the church as all of us do on this blog but we can't allow it to become a dinosaur. I'm also not advocating that we become ultra-liberals either. If the church is going to be vibrant and viable, it has to be able to look at the people and see what they need. That's why we're doing the survey of rural parishes in the diocese. Some of us are also working on a survey for those who no longer attend church. Where is the problem? Are they in pain or in conflict over some issue and how can we help to address that? Are they just bored with the church? How can we change that? Why are our young people leaving the pews right after Confirmation? Some don't wait that long. We need to pray about that and communicate--vertically and horizontally--with God and with His people. Lots to think about.

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Fr. Michael
5/27/2015 11:24:10 pm

It's not always easy for us to recognize how the gospel is lived out in our contemporary lives. Thanks for the insight, Evelyn.

Today's gospel likewise speaks of the mercy of God as manifested by Christ in the healing / conversion of the blind man, Bartimaeus. God's mercy is always there for us ... but we, like Bartimaeus, must always recognize our need for it and never fail to ask for it, regardless the distractions, the disappointments, the discouraging voices that attempt to dissuade us, that attempt to prevent us from crying out, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"

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Dennis
5/28/2015 09:35:40 pm

"Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"

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Evelyn Augusto link
5/28/2015 10:30:34 pm

You took the words right out of my mouth this morning... thank you Dennis.

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jackie
5/31/2015 09:12:09 pm

From Morning Whispers

"..so that by Gods will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed." (Romans 15:32)

Our wounds we have caused one another can be healed with Gods mercy and grace. Pride will give way to humility and we can more clearly see our role in discord. When you stand at odds with another, meet God is the middle.

Reply
jackie white
6/1/2015 08:10:13 pm

From Finding God daily meditation..

When I turn away from YOU,
Lord, have mercy.
When I turn away from others,
Christ, have mercy.
When I am afraid to face my sin,
Lord, have mercy.

Evelyn Augusto link
6/2/2015 07:09:49 am

Its great to share prayer. Thanks

dan
6/2/2015 05:44:16 am

It is encouraging to hear stories of people reaching out to help those who need to grow in their faith. Thanks for the post! Sorry it took me so long before I could read it.

I had not heard of Thomas Merton or his prayer. I noticed someone had posted some words from it above and I pulled this quote out: "But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you"

I have a hard time with that phrase. There are many examples in scriptures where people desired to be godly and good, but were behaving incorrectly and needed to change. Saul (Paul) persecuted the church because he desired to please God, but he needed to repent and obey. The story of the rich young ruler is another example. He desired to please God, but didn't want to sell all he had.

Isaiah chapter 1 tells of how God hated the Israelite's sacrifices because they had so much sin and rebellion in our lives.

God's mercy is so desperately needed. Lets be sure that we trust in God's word and obey his word, too.

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Evelyn Augusto link
6/2/2015 07:12:18 am

There is a difference between knowin and desiring. Check Thomas Merton out Dan. I love his writing. Thanks

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Dennis link
6/3/2015 07:59:24 am

Dan I feel you speak directly to me! I talk about forgiving and loving one another. I like people to think I am faithful and God fearing. I want to feel that way about myself. The problem is I fall far short of living that life. I stay involved and hope in Christ^s promise that if I seek, I will find.

Reply
Evelyn Augusto link
6/3/2015 08:56:23 am

Your humility is inspiring Dennis...

Reply



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