October 2007

The Family Foundation School Catholic Community Bulletin

Pauca Verba (Latin for: “A Few Words)

Want to start really praying? Want to turn up the flame of your life with God? Soak yourself in the psalms.  They are 150 sung poem-prayers found in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament.) Jesus would have known the psalms by heart. Most of them were composed and used by an entire community.  Some of them were composed for temple worship. Some of them were composed for individual use.  No matter. They are so filled with the human condition – we can use them too.

Note: Often the psalmist (the one praying the psalm) speaks against enemies. But Jesus has told us to love our enemies; to do good to those who harm us – not “knock out their teeth.” So we must see the enemies as the inner enemies – or the forces that are set against love in us. The forces that don’t want us pure, worshipful, good, sober, obedient to God’s will. This isn’t about the people who are irksome or tiresome or who I swear are “out to get me.” That’s not it at all.

Here is psalm13. Its lines might get your attention. You’ll find your own favorite psalms. A whiney, “I don’t understand the psalms,” comes from a baby place. People who say things like that are simply too lazy to reflect on their lives with God. All psalms end with a burst of confidence and joy!

How long, O Lord, will you forget me?

How long will you hide your face?

How long must I bear grief in my soul,

this sorrow in my heart day and night?

How long shall my enemy prevail?

Look at me, answer me, Lord my God!

Give light to my eyes lest I fall asleep in death,

lest my enemy say: “I have overcome him,”

lest my foes rejoice to see my fall.

As for me, I trust in your merciful love.

Let my heart rejoice in your saving help:

Let me sing to the Lord for his goodness to me,

singing psalms to the name of the Lord,

the Most High.  Psalm 13

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Here are thoughts for “prayer and meditation.”

“The seduction of possessions blinds us to the needs of the poor.”

“Jesus embraced simplicity, poverty and humility. What do I embrace?”

“Our wealth lies in God’s love for us; our poverty lies in our lack of love for God.”

“The world demands more and more from us. God asks only for empty hands.”

“We must become the poor Christ…offered up and given away.”

“We find it more comfortable to put limits on God, and in doing so we create a spiritual poverty within us.”

“Breaking the bondage of egoism is the toughest task in life. Liberation is difficult and painful.”

“Only when I am vulnerable is it possible for me to be broken and restored to the image of God.”

“In the state of emptiness, you are better able to encounter the fullness of God.”

“Love is the only antidote to selfishness.”

“Acts of love give flesh to faith and hope.”

“Simplicity immunizes you against the plague of consumerism.”

“If you want to show gratitude to God, be generous with others.”

Quotes from, “When Did I See You Hungry,” by Gerard Thomas Straub