Author: tkneier

Catholic

WWJD

WWJD AUDIO

My new take on WWJD:  What Would Joseph Do?  I haven’t created a new wristband or anything.  It’s just that I’m identifying with him in ways previously unexplored.  It started with Pope Francis announcing a Year for St. Joseph on Dec. 8, 2020, and creating an accompanying prayer.  If the Vatican website isn’t in your list of Favorites, here’s a shortcut to it:

Hail Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust; with you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life. 

Obtain for us grace, mercy, and courage, and defend us from every evil.  Amen.

Three words spoke to me.  First was trust.  God entrusted His only Son to Joseph’s care.  When God the Father trusts someone with His most precious beloved Son, from his most vulnerable moments as an infant to his growth and development as a young boy to his maturity into manhood – that gets my attention.

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Did Jesus Have a To Do List?

Did Jesus Have A To Do List? AUDIO

Every morning when I pray The Lord’s Prayer, I ask that God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done in my life for that day.  On a recent occasion, I felt the Holy Spirit gently asking me to pause and add “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” and “Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will.”  Maybe Samuel and Isaiah were pulling for me that morning.  And so I waited. 

In the silence that followed, I finally sensed the Lord saying, “Listen for my voice, and watch for what I am doing.”  With those words came the image of the Good Shepherd.  As part of His flock, He was asking me to stay close enough to hear Him when he speaks.  The words of Psalm 123 also came to mind: “as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters…so are our eyes on the Lord, our God.”

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We’re Losing It

We’re Losing It AUDIO

Memory loss is a tragic condition.  My 94 year old mother’s amnesia is a product of her Alzheimer’s Disease.  She has just enough awareness to mourn the loss of virtually a lifetime of memories.  “I’m sorry honey, I just can’t remember.  It seems that’s all I say anymore.”  It’s painful to see her so disconnected from such a full life lived, trapped within the confines of the day at hand – or sometimes just the present moment. Yet her daily life in the dementia unit could be compared to a growing trend in American society. 

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The Lord’s Prayer – Part Three

The Lord’s Prayer – Part Three AUDIO

“And forgive us the wrong we have done, as we forgive those who have wronged us (New American Bible).”  “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (New Revised Standard Version).”  “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us (Original Revised Standard Version).”

Each translation seems to give us a view from a slightly different angle.  The first one focuses on the sins we’ve committed against God, and the sins others have committed against us.  Violations of God’s commandments. The second one emphasizes the repentance we owe to God, and the repentance owed to us by others.  A kind of spiritual accounting. The third one highlights the boundaries we have crossed in our offenses against God, and the boundaries others have crossed in offending us. Entering places where we don’t belong.

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The Lord’s Prayer – Part Two

The Lord’s Prayer – Part Two AUDIO

Nonetheless Jesus did say more, knowing that we are children with such limited understanding, and that few have the depth of faith of a Teresa.

We begin by addressing God as “Our Father”; not My Father.  From the origin of humanity, God intended that we be a people – not a collection of individual persons (Genesis 2:18).  God is the Father of the entire human race.  “When we cry, Abba, Father, it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:15).”  He means us to know him intimately.  What could be more intimate than calling him Father, or more accurately, Daddy, for that is what the Hebrew word Abba means. “And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father’ (Gal. 4:6).”  And so we dare to cry out to him as a little child, Daddy!

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Reflections

The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer AUDIO

According to the Didache (the oldest patristic document, circa 80-90 AD), the earliest Christian Communities prayed The Lord’s Prayer three times a day, replacing the recitation of the Eighteen Benedictions practiced by the Jews of the time.

Writing at the dawn of the third century, Tertullian stated that the Lord’s Prayer “is truly the summary of the whole gospel.”

And Augustine, Bishop of Hippo from 396-430 AD, wrote: “Run through all the words of the holy prayers (in Scripture), and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained and included in the Lord’s Prayer.” 

In Luke’s account, it is one of the disciples that makes the request of Jesus to be taught how to pray.  God bless that disciple!

Could we have any better teacher on prayer than the Lord Jesus himself?

Are you willing to join me in a closer look at these precious words that came from the lips of the Son of God?

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Are You Vaccinated?

Are You Vaccinated? AUDIO

It’s been the topic of daily conversation in every state of the union since the new year began.  Did you get your shot yet?  Which vaccine did you get?  Did you have any side effects?  Where did you get yours? 

We have become the nation of inoculation.  A vacci-nation. The United Shots of America.  The vaccination preoccupation nation. 

Our collective attention on COVID-19 mirrors the Kennedy assassination and the first moon landing.  And the reason for this single-minded focus?  Fear.  Fear of death.

The daily tally warns us there is no place to hide.  The coronavirus spares no age group, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, or political persuasion.  The instinct to survive is now fully engaged.

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Sin Isn’t That Original

Sin Isn’t That Original AUDIO

My mother is now 94 years old. She moved into the memory care unit of an assisted living facility four months ago, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.  Visits and phone calls require careful concentration to avoid questions as simple as what she had for breakfast that morning. It’s like poking a fresh wound.  “I just don’t remember, honey.  It seems like that’s all I say anymore.” 

That pretty much sums up our collective consciousness in regard to something called sin.  Spiritual dementia.  A global pandemic of spiritual dementia.

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Mother of Sweet Sorrow

Mother of Sweet Sorrow – Words and Music by Tom Kneier and Ray Niccolai; Arrangement by Ray Niccolai. Tom Kneier – lead vocal; Ray Niccolai – acoustic guitar; Bill Zych – keyboards; Sarah Wildenhaim – flute; Jan Macleod – vocal harmony. Text and Music © 2020 by Tom Kneier and Ray Niccolai.

Mother of Sweet Sorrow – Lyrics

You held him in your arms in Bethlehem wrapped in swaddling clothes. Laid him in a manger and heard the angels sing, “Glory to God on high”. And you pondered all these things and held them in your heart.

You held him in your arms in Jerusalem clothed in white in the Temple. Laid him on the altar and heard the prophet say, “A sword shall pierce your soul”. And you pondered all these things and held them in your heart.

You held him in your arms on Calvary stripped of all his clothes. Laid him in the tomb and heard the soldier say, “This was truly the Son of God.” And you pondered all these things and held them in your heart.

In your womb, in your arms, in your life you carried Jesus; carry him now into our hearts, Mother of Sweet Sorrow, Mother of Sweet Sorrow.

Catholic

At Your Father’s Side

At Your Father’s Side – Words and Music by Tom Kneier and Ray Niccolai; Arrangement by Ray Niccolai. Tom Kneier – lead vocal; Ray Niccolai – guitar and mandolin; Sarah Wildenhain – flute; Jan Macleod – vocal harmony. Text and Music (c) 2020 by Tom Kneier and Ray Niccolai.

At Your Father’s Side – Lyrics

Refrain: Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Our lives are fleeting, so return to the Lord with all your heart.

One day is like a thousand years in your sight; a thousand years like a watch in the night.

We know not the day nor the hour that will be our last. It will come like a thief in the night when we least expect.

Run to Him, confess your sin, His arms are open wide. Receive the gift of tender mercy at your Father’s side.

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