So, temples, mosques, churches, synagogues, and more, have been around for centuries.
But, what difference are they making?
Couple that with households with parents as the moral compass for their children, and, can we say that society is more civil, more humane, more accepting and tolerant of dwellers?
Why have some given up, or given into corruption, selfish gains, sin and living out a smaller plan and vision far from that of God's rule?
Area Detroit clergy are stepping up to the plate to press for change, morphing and mending the metropolitan Detroit area these days.
In fact, in the spirit of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., plans are set for a march, a walk, a parade, if you will, from Detroit, MI., into Warren, August 22nd, at 11:45 am from Van Dyke and Eight Mile to Toepher Street in Warren, MI.
All are welcome.
These past Wednesdays of the Summer the same clergy, among other faith leaders, have been meeting to bond and respect and recognize each other's religion.
They are growing into a force to reckon with one and all as they join in solidarity like the "I Have a Dream" speech lived out with millions in the march on Washington, D.C., fifty years ago this August.
We can do better.
I can.
You can.
Together we can lead Detroit into the City it once was proud to be as "my town," and, your own.
Will you join us August 22nd as we join hand in hand for the Golden Rule in regional cooperation?
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Liturgy Is To Help People Pray
The changes.
Participants at Mass claimed it was the changes that they didn't like.
It is legitimate.
Less reverence is what people can't accept.
A sense of the holy has to be present before, during, and after Mass. At home, work, school, in the parking lot leaving Mass, and more.
Reverence includes respect, a Latin word, for "hope."
Awe and affection is also part of reverence and respect at Mass.
Those who lead liturgy need to have appreciation for this expressed need of the worshipers.
After all, this is the people's prayer at work.
Silence is also prayer. It speaks volumes quietly!
Space for silence is key at Mass.
Silence prepares people for the proclamation of the Word of God, and Eucharist.
It does.
Next Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 7 pm in Big Jack's Bar-B-Q Grille, in Roseville, MI., Dan McAfee of the Worship Office of the Archdiocese of Detroit, MI., will address, "Serving Supper Well: The General Instructions of the Roman Missal."
About twenty people have indicated their interest in attending.
The revised instructions after months of implementation now will be discussed.
I bet reverence will emerge. It's key to communicating, isn't it?
Prayer is like that, no?
Respect, awe, and affection.
They're all part of reverence at Mass.
Participants at Mass claimed it was the changes that they didn't like.
It is legitimate.
Less reverence is what people can't accept.
A sense of the holy has to be present before, during, and after Mass. At home, work, school, in the parking lot leaving Mass, and more.
Reverence includes respect, a Latin word, for "hope."
Awe and affection is also part of reverence and respect at Mass.
Those who lead liturgy need to have appreciation for this expressed need of the worshipers.
After all, this is the people's prayer at work.
Silence is also prayer. It speaks volumes quietly!
Space for silence is key at Mass.
Silence prepares people for the proclamation of the Word of God, and Eucharist.
It does.
Next Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 7 pm in Big Jack's Bar-B-Q Grille, in Roseville, MI., Dan McAfee of the Worship Office of the Archdiocese of Detroit, MI., will address, "Serving Supper Well: The General Instructions of the Roman Missal."
About twenty people have indicated their interest in attending.
The revised instructions after months of implementation now will be discussed.
I bet reverence will emerge. It's key to communicating, isn't it?
Prayer is like that, no?
Respect, awe, and affection.
They're all part of reverence at Mass.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
First person narratives of those who aborted now needed
When depth is lacking, people may choose anything anywhere, anyhow, no?
First-hand narratives of women who have had abortions could prevent many others from choosing what they really are unaware of in the aftermath of such a procedure, for example, it seems to me, among others.
Experience in telling of their own abortions, among other situations of significance in one's life can make all the differences in the world when one decides one way or another.
Complacency is easy. In depth consideration merits time, energy, prayer and reflection about this vital moral concern.
Ultrasound imaging, for example, is assisting mother's with baby(ies) in the womb and tabernacle of their own physical being, to choose LIFE!
Experience is the best teacher.
It will make all the difference in the world to CHOOSE LIFE!
Read Brian Dickerson's point of view and opinion, for example in Sunday, July 7th's Detroit Free Press for statistics and more. Hearing their own story, from women, however, will chart a win for a baby's life amid so many who have told me that abortion rights have brought unsafe procedures out of the alley!
Write me your story at alphaomega2049@yahoo.com please, or call me at (313) 530 2777.
First-hand narratives of women who have had abortions could prevent many others from choosing what they really are unaware of in the aftermath of such a procedure, for example, it seems to me, among others.
Experience in telling of their own abortions, among other situations of significance in one's life can make all the differences in the world when one decides one way or another.
Complacency is easy. In depth consideration merits time, energy, prayer and reflection about this vital moral concern.
Ultrasound imaging, for example, is assisting mother's with baby(ies) in the womb and tabernacle of their own physical being, to choose LIFE!
Experience is the best teacher.
It will make all the difference in the world to CHOOSE LIFE!
Read Brian Dickerson's point of view and opinion, for example in Sunday, July 7th's Detroit Free Press for statistics and more. Hearing their own story, from women, however, will chart a win for a baby's life amid so many who have told me that abortion rights have brought unsafe procedures out of the alley!
Write me your story at alphaomega2049@yahoo.com please, or call me at (313) 530 2777.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Next Sunday's Sermon: God, the True Neighbor Dwelling in My Heart
One's neighbor.
Who is she, or he?
The one next door? Down the street?
In today's Good News?
Who is my neighbor?
"Near" is rooted in the word, from the Old English, "neighbor" and "neah" a dweller ("gebur").
A neighbor dwells near.
People who live next door to me on Arcola Street on Detroit's East were my neighbors.
Mr. Kowalski, Mrs. Suminski, Mr. and Mrs. White, Mrs. Sacmar and her sons. . .
To be a neighbor one penetrates boundaries and obstacles and helps.
Mercy and meekness abound in neighborliness.
Humility to help also.
God is the true neighbor to me as Moses notes.
God lives in my heart.
I need to remember that always, all ways!
Who is she, or he?
The one next door? Down the street?
In today's Good News?
Who is my neighbor?
"Near" is rooted in the word, from the Old English, "neighbor" and "neah" a dweller ("gebur").
A neighbor dwells near.
People who live next door to me on Arcola Street on Detroit's East were my neighbors.
Mr. Kowalski, Mrs. Suminski, Mr. and Mrs. White, Mrs. Sacmar and her sons. . .
To be a neighbor one penetrates boundaries and obstacles and helps.
Mercy and meekness abound in neighborliness.
Humility to help also.
God is the true neighbor to me as Moses notes.
God lives in my heart.
I need to remember that always, all ways!
Friday, July 5, 2013
When a Parish Church Folds
Multiple parish churches are closing these days as they consolidate buildings, among other resources and human personnel.
The hearts of the faithful break, for sure.
Grieving is the normal and natural process by which a person makes a healthy adjustment to any significant loss in his or her life.
This process takes as long as one year to move through the ebb and flow of the tides. It is more than the smooth passage of a straight line.
It involves ten stages, including normal and acute grief. Mourning shows itself outwardly, while grief stirs within.
Shock involves numbness, disbelief, even denial as the bottom falls out of one's world, so to speak.
Tears, cursing and expression of mutliple feelings follow as emotional releases.
Sleep and normal patterns of life are altered by way of physical body manifestations.
A long blacck tunnel ensues with suicidal ideations and questioning of whether one will ever recover in this depression/panic and detaching stage.
Guilt follows with wonderment about how one was involved in the loss. Reality is questioned as well as whether one can forgive self or others.
Hostility and anger, even rage is directed toward others. Unhealed wounds are projected on to others. That's is why counseling is critical to be healed by the grace of God. What one refused to feel or talk through is left festering as wounds will.
Idealization emerges about the past that seemed perfect. The future offers little hope, grievers admit.
One begins to realize that the past had its faults, and the future is welcomed.
Images of the past loom away now as fresh patterns develop.
One begins to live with the loss.
Healthy adjustment recognizes the loss. It is no longer disturbed by it.
Grief work gives way to a stronger individual given the experience.
Parishioners walk through this process alone and with others who can navigate the ache, thank God!
The hearts of the faithful break, for sure.
Grieving is the normal and natural process by which a person makes a healthy adjustment to any significant loss in his or her life.
This process takes as long as one year to move through the ebb and flow of the tides. It is more than the smooth passage of a straight line.
It involves ten stages, including normal and acute grief. Mourning shows itself outwardly, while grief stirs within.
Shock involves numbness, disbelief, even denial as the bottom falls out of one's world, so to speak.
Tears, cursing and expression of mutliple feelings follow as emotional releases.
Sleep and normal patterns of life are altered by way of physical body manifestations.
A long blacck tunnel ensues with suicidal ideations and questioning of whether one will ever recover in this depression/panic and detaching stage.
Guilt follows with wonderment about how one was involved in the loss. Reality is questioned as well as whether one can forgive self or others.
Hostility and anger, even rage is directed toward others. Unhealed wounds are projected on to others. That's is why counseling is critical to be healed by the grace of God. What one refused to feel or talk through is left festering as wounds will.
Idealization emerges about the past that seemed perfect. The future offers little hope, grievers admit.
One begins to realize that the past had its faults, and the future is welcomed.
Images of the past loom away now as fresh patterns develop.
One begins to live with the loss.
Healthy adjustment recognizes the loss. It is no longer disturbed by it.
Grief work gives way to a stronger individual given the experience.
Parishioners walk through this process alone and with others who can navigate the ache, thank God!
Vigil with President Mandela
As he lay dying, Nelson Mandela's perilous state keeps my mind and prayers centered on his impending death and passing over.
Like others, I rest on his shoulders.
Those that carried South Africa to nonracial democracy and more in a land of apartheid.
Even after his release from decades in prison, Mandela responded positively to those who asked him if he forgave his unjust accusers who incarcerated him.
If he didn't forgive them, he reportedly said, Mandela would still be in jail.
Keeping vigil is a tradition I cherish.
The pause to ponder gives me moments to reflect on life's travails, aches and joys.
Candle lights come to mind.
After all, Mandela was an illumined light and more.
A courageous prophet to many, Mandela mentored many, and me.
Like the "dean of psychiatry' of the 60s, Karl Menninger was a conscience to America, and more, when he asked in his book, "Whatever Became of Sin?"
In my Motown, Clement Kern, pastor of Holy Trinity in Detroit, MI., was another voice of conscience.
They all speak truth to power.
Unafraid.
Assertive.
Compassionate for those left out, abandoned, excluded and lost.
They all are that, and more.
Thank God for these consciences of America, and the world.
Where are our clarion voices today?
Who stands up anymore in selfless style with such courageous certainty and peaceful resistance?
Who?
Like others, I rest on his shoulders.
Those that carried South Africa to nonracial democracy and more in a land of apartheid.
Even after his release from decades in prison, Mandela responded positively to those who asked him if he forgave his unjust accusers who incarcerated him.
If he didn't forgive them, he reportedly said, Mandela would still be in jail.
Keeping vigil is a tradition I cherish.
The pause to ponder gives me moments to reflect on life's travails, aches and joys.
Candle lights come to mind.
After all, Mandela was an illumined light and more.
A courageous prophet to many, Mandela mentored many, and me.
Like the "dean of psychiatry' of the 60s, Karl Menninger was a conscience to America, and more, when he asked in his book, "Whatever Became of Sin?"
In my Motown, Clement Kern, pastor of Holy Trinity in Detroit, MI., was another voice of conscience.
They all speak truth to power.
Unafraid.
Assertive.
Compassionate for those left out, abandoned, excluded and lost.
They all are that, and more.
Thank God for these consciences of America, and the world.
Where are our clarion voices today?
Who stands up anymore in selfless style with such courageous certainty and peaceful resistance?
Who?
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Stages of Grieving
A parishioner well into her eighties was in deep grief Sunday when her parish, Saint Peter's in Harper Woods, MI., was shuttered.
She ached no end.
Deep roots consist of her husband being buried for Saint Peter's Church, along with her children all celebrating the sacraments there, and more.
Grief is a normal and natural process by which a person makes a healthy adjustment to a significant loss of life, love, limb, and more in life.
You know.
You've been there also, I bet.
The bottom falls out for her in the shock she feels, and, the disbelief about her relationship with the parish community dying.
Of course, some things, systems, charisms even have to die for something new and vibrant to emerge.
Yet, the process takes time.
Numbness accompanies the shock also in a first stage of grief that Granger Westberg describes in his, Good Grief.
Tears follow the shock. Other feelings follow, including cursing and expression of mad, sad, even scared feelings or variations of dominant feelings.
The long black tunnel like the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel persists in grieving. Depression sets in. One asks will I recover from this loss?
Even suicide is a possibility.
How was I involved in the loss? Can I forgive those who closed my church?
Anger ensues.
It is irrational often.
One feels as though the past was perfect while the future offers little hope.
Eventually, this parishioner will realize that the past had its faults also.
This takes time.
A year approximately in some situations.
New patterns emerge. Different ways of doing things happen.
She will eventually decide to live with the loss of her parish.
She may move on. She may quit altogether. I doubt that for her, however.
This is called healthy adjustment.
She will no longer be disturbed by this loss.
And, she emerges stronger for the grief work that takes time.
One cannot make this process happen. It cannot be forced.
When a church shuts down someone better be around to pick up the pieces of loss, abandonment and more.
Praying out loud will help.
Eternal rest grant unto Saint Peter's Church, O Lord, and give my parish community eternal rest.
She ached no end.
Deep roots consist of her husband being buried for Saint Peter's Church, along with her children all celebrating the sacraments there, and more.
Grief is a normal and natural process by which a person makes a healthy adjustment to a significant loss of life, love, limb, and more in life.
You know.
You've been there also, I bet.
The bottom falls out for her in the shock she feels, and, the disbelief about her relationship with the parish community dying.
Of course, some things, systems, charisms even have to die for something new and vibrant to emerge.
Yet, the process takes time.
Numbness accompanies the shock also in a first stage of grief that Granger Westberg describes in his, Good Grief.
Tears follow the shock. Other feelings follow, including cursing and expression of mad, sad, even scared feelings or variations of dominant feelings.
The long black tunnel like the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel persists in grieving. Depression sets in. One asks will I recover from this loss?
Even suicide is a possibility.
How was I involved in the loss? Can I forgive those who closed my church?
Anger ensues.
It is irrational often.
One feels as though the past was perfect while the future offers little hope.
Eventually, this parishioner will realize that the past had its faults also.
This takes time.
A year approximately in some situations.
New patterns emerge. Different ways of doing things happen.
She will eventually decide to live with the loss of her parish.
She may move on. She may quit altogether. I doubt that for her, however.
This is called healthy adjustment.
She will no longer be disturbed by this loss.
And, she emerges stronger for the grief work that takes time.
One cannot make this process happen. It cannot be forced.
When a church shuts down someone better be around to pick up the pieces of loss, abandonment and more.
Praying out loud will help.
Eternal rest grant unto Saint Peter's Church, O Lord, and give my parish community eternal rest.
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