Lord, Teach Us to Pray

By Fred Vilbig

In the Gospels we read that Jesus often went off alone to pray. Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16. When the Apostles asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them the Our Father. If you look at this prayer, it is really a very short, simple prayer. It consists of seven petitions, but it is good to take some time to think about each one of them:

Blessings of Freedom

This Memorial Day weekend marks the “unofficial beginning of summer,” highlighted by the last day of school, backyard barbeques, pool parties, family vacations, and an exciting Cards/Royals series on TV. After enduring a cold, miserable winter, I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say we’re about due for a long weekend and some summer fun.

While I fully intend to kick back and relax a little bit in the next few days, my thoughts will mostly be on the blessings of freedom, and the men and women who have given so much to provide for and defend our liberty. Too often in our busy lives, we forget the sacrifices made on behalf of our nation, and we take our freedom for granted. I am certainly guilty of that.

I recently ran across this video about Father Kapaun, a chaplain who served in the Army during the Korean War. His is a story of incredible courage and devotion, both to God, and to the men with whom he served. Against all odds, and enduring what can only be described as Hell on Earth, he kept the Hope of Christ alive in the hearts of his men, until the very end. It is a truly inspirational story and I hope you’ll take 5 minutes to watch it.

Finally, please remember to say a prayer this weekend for:

 - The souls of the fallen, that they may enter into God’s eternal peace…

 - The families of the fallen, who are still coping with the empty chair at the dinner table…

 - The comrades of the fallen, who still remember that day like it was yesterday…

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” - General George S. Patton


Chris Garrett
Proud Cousin of Lt. Daniel P. Riordan

The Shepherd

I heard a story yesterday that I thought deserved repeating…..

Once upon a time there was a very successful businessman. He was born into the worst kind of poverty imaginable, but grew up to be extremely prosperous and well connected throughout the world. He owned a castle about an hour outside of London. He never went to the castle because he was always too busy. One summer he decided to have a party at the castle. He invited 600 guests. The list was a who’s who of the whole world including every celebrity and famous person you could imagine. Sprinkled amount the guest list was about a dozen very average people who were the childhood friends of the host.

On the evening of the party, the castle looked amazing. Every detail was attended to and the guests were ushered into a great banquet hall. There they were served an exquisite meal with the finest wines. Toward the end of the meal, the host explained that rather than music or dancing as the evening’s entertainment, he had invited England’s premier Shakespearean actor to present a series of the most famous writings. With that the actor stood up, and was welcomed by thunderous applause and began to perfectly recite one after another some of the most beautiful theatrical poems and screenplays of our time. After each excerpt, the audience would cheer and applause and the sound echoed through the great hall up the spires and into the courtyard. After about 20 minutes, the actor said he was finished, but if anyone would like to request any of their favorite works, he would perform them. A man raised his hand and requested the soliloquy from MacBeth. The actor delivered it flawlessly. The crowd went crazy. A woman requested the 14th sonnet. He delivered that just as powerfully. Another requested the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. He performed it brilliantly. Each time the hall erupted in applause.

Then an older man in toward the back raised his hand. It turns out the old man was a priest. A friend from the old neighborhood. The old priest said to the actor, “Sir, I realize it’s not Shakespeare, but I was wondering if you would be able to recite the 23rd Psalm.” The actor smiled and said, “Father, when I was in fourth grade, Sister Mary Margaret made each of us memorize that very passage. It has stayed with me my entire life. I’ve never presented it to a crowd, but I would be happy to do it on one condition.” The old man was surprised by the request. The actor continued, “My condition is that when I finish, that you do us the favor of reciting the Psalm as well.” The old man reluctantly agreed and the actor took center stage once more. With all of his genius and art of his craft he delivered the Psalm perfectly. As he finished, the crowd lept to their feet and cheered and whistled. Things finally quieted down as the actor now looked to the old priest. As the room shifted their gaze the old man nervously fidgeted with the table cloth in front of him and then he began in a firm but deeply reflective voice…

The Lord is my Shepard. There is nothing I shall want.
He lets me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides peaceful waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid. For the Lord, He is at my side.
His rod and His staff, they comfort and protect me.
He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies. He anoints my head with oil. My cup overflows.
Surely good and mercy will follow me, all the days of my life.
And I will live in the house of the Lord, forever.

When the priest finished, nobody clapped. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. It was as if the old priest had just mesmerized all of them. The host stood up and addressed the crowd. He said, “Do you all realize what you have just witnessed here tonight?” The people stared back blankly. “I’ll tell you. Sir David has known that Psalm his whole life. Ever since he was a child, he had memorized the verse, and delivered it in a way that very few actors could execute. So why then were the same words, that came from my old friend so much more powerful?

Sir David might know the Psalm, but Father Patrick, he knows the Shepard.”

If there is nothing else we do in this life, get to know that Shepard. Ask him to restore your soul.

My Rose

This past Saturday my son served 5:30 mass.  We were blessed to hear the story of a mother during the homily.  The young priest crafted a beautiful picture of love, deep and sacrificial in nature, first between husband and wife and then mother and child.  The message fit perfectly with the theme of the Gospel in which Jesus commands us to "love one another as I have loved you."  The next line of that passage talks of the greatest love - of laying down ones life for one's friend.  Our storyteller wove this thread into his tale as well.

His voice quivered with emotion at this point, since it was his own story being told.

Due to an ongoing illness, his mother - with full knowledge of the possibilities - decided to bear her child at the risk of her own health.   Complications followed the birth, and she was called home 6 months later. 

As the trembling continued in his voice, my own emotion boiled within, as I also know this pain.  Our stories are different in many ways, but the love between a mother and her child is not.

He has a hole in his heart because he never got to know his mother...my hole exists because I did. 

Some 16 Mothers Day's have passed since I lost my own mother, Rosemary,.  Slowly God has filled that gap within my heart, and today there grows a beautiful Rose with its nurturing petals and fragrant aroma.  Unlike my mothers withering body, her soul blooms forever there.

Happy Mothers Day to My Rose...

 

We are light ... and unto light we'll always be ...

“Whatever came to be in him, found life, life for the light of men.  The light shines on in darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it.” John 1:4-5.

                I've always struggled with John’s gospel.  Was he inhaling too much incense to be so bold, so “out there,” so different from others in his proclamation?  As I've matured, I've wrestled with John’s writing and come to appreciate it more.  As a physicist, I’ve discovered many of my colleagues and friends do not believe that science has any position in faith and vice-versa.  However, I find many discoveries in science support the mysteries in faith, in particular, John’s reference to Jesus being “the light.”  

                Einstein introduced an elegant equation; Energy = mass x the speed of light ^² or E = mc².  When small particles approach the speed of light, their masses essentially increase in the form of energy. Mass and energy become interchangeable.  Large particle accelerators such as those at Fermilab in Chicago and CERN in Switzerland have shown this to be true. 

                Consider pulling two attracting magnets apart separating them by a short distance.  Energy is required to pull them apart.  Where is the energy stored?  Somewhere in the magnetic field between them, for if I let them go, they’ll naturally fly back together.  Though the two-magnet system temporarily gained mass in the field between them, it is too small, infinitesimally so as to be significant to the overall mass.  Yet, on the atomic level, this energy is extremely significant. Bear with me, the incense hasn't got to me yet.

                You, the reader, are composed of atoms.  Atoms are composed of electrons whizzing around the nucleus containing protons and neutrons.  Even smaller particles, quarks, compose neutrons and protons.  Consider a hydrogen atom by far the most plentiful atom in the body.  Scale this hydrogen atom up to the size of a football field.  The relative size of the nucleus would be a sphere having the diameter of a dime.  Place the nucleus (sphere) on the 50-yard line.  Hydrogen’s single electron, a tiny speck, would then be found on the back line of the end zone, sweeping out a large diameter orbit from end zone to end zone leaving vast open empty space between it and the nuclear sphere at mid-field. 

                The nucleus, the sphere on the 50-yard line contains one proton comprised of three quarks vibrating, traveling incredibly fast … so fast that their mass in motion is 938 MeV/c² compared to the static 12 MeV/c² collective mass of the three quarks as one knows them classically (without Einstein’s contribution.  Other than perspective, the units are not important to the reader’s understanding.)  In other words, the 3-quark individual mass-like points flying to and fro in the nucleus (sphere) can only account for 1.3% of the recorded or experimental mass (12/938 x 100%).  Thus, the nucleus is also empty space with its mass in the form of energy!  Well over 98% of the atom is empty space, energy, electromagnetic energy … light.  You, my guest, composed of atoms, is composed of light.

                All life is derived from light.  When I hear the expression about children being “bundles of energy,” I smile because we got it right J.  And what do we know about energy?  Though many ways to calculate it exist, energy remains a mystery.  As Richard Feynman, a distinguished Nobel laureate stated, “We have no knowledge of what energy is ….  Energy is an abstract thing that does not tell us the mechanism or the reasons for the various formulas.”
               Amazing?  Fantastic?  More than that.  Created in His/Her own image, we're elegant, sophisticated, beautiful ... and mysterious.  
               The Light shines on in the darkness and darkness shall never overcome it!