WE ARE ALL DESERTERS

And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all become deserters; for it is written,

“I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even though all become deserters, I will not.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ But he said vehemently, ‘Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And all of them said the same.

From Mark 14: 27-31

There it is. Jesus said it. Were his words just for the disciples at the time? I don't think so. The passage is for all of us. At one time or another, we turn away from God, even if only briefly. Peter denied Christ, as we all do in one way or another.

In Chapter 16 of Matthew's Gospel, after Peter confesses to Jesus, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’, Jesus says:

‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’

Did Jesus take back the keys to the kingdom from Peter after his denial? The rest of the story tells us Jesus did not. And the keys of the kingdom are not just for Peter, but for us, too, and despite our desertions, Jesus does not take back the keys when we desert him.

From Psalms 16, which is also in the readings for today, one of my favorite passages in the Scriptures:

You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

...in the kingdom of God, which is right now, but not yet.

My meandering reflections on today's readings from the Lectionary, which may have meaning only to me.

PRIEST'S MURDERER FOUND GUILTY

From the Daily Comet:

A 33-year-old man is guilty of bludgeoning a priest to death in August 1992, a verdict that brings closure to a murder mystery that stumped police for 15 years.

A 12-member jury unanimously found Derrick Odomes guilty of second degree murder Thursday afternoon following a two-day trial.

Prosecutors argued that Odomes bludgeoned the Rev. Hunter Horgan to death Aug. 13, 1992, inside the priest's office in St. John's Episcopal Church in Thibodaux. Odomes, who was 14 years old in 1992, was arrested in September 2007.
....

District Judge John E. LeBlanc, who presided over the trial, ruled last year that Odomes can't be sentenced if convicted of the slaying because he was a juvenile at the time of Horgan's death.

But Odomes received a life sentence last week as a result of six felony convictions he has racked up in the 19 years since the alleged murder, ensuring he will face significant jail time regardless of the outcome of the murder trial.

The article reveals details which I never knew before and which I'd rather not know now, but there it is.

Pray for Fr Hunter Horgan's family and all who loved him, including the parishioners at St John's, that God will give them comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to keep their minds and hearts.

Pray for Derrick Odomes. Some won't like that I ask for prayers for Derrick, but Jesus said pray for your enemies. That is enough for me.

I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE!

Yesterday, I went to New Orleans for a routine follow-up visit to the ophthalmologist after my cataract surgery. The good news is my eyes are fine approaching two years after.

The boring news is that I got lost going to the doctor's office. I took the wrong exit off I-10 and ended up hopelessly lost. I had to call the office to get directions. It was one of those situations where you can see the building, but you can't find the service road to get you there.

When I reached the parking lot, there were no parking places. I drove round and round, and nothing. By that time, I had to make an emergency visit to the ladies facilities, so I parked in a spot with red lines, ran into the building which (TBTG!) has a ladies on the ground floor, and raced back to my car. (TMI, I know!) Finally, finally after more circling, I found a spot. Of course, I was late, but no one seemed to mind.

On the way home, I did something I've never done before. I ran a railroad crossing gate. Wait! There was no train! I waited and waited, and cars were going around me weaving their way through the gates, so I inched up and looked and saw no train, so I ran the gates. Far down the road, I could see back to the tracks, and no train ever passed.

I do not recommend that anyone follow my example, but I didn't know what to do. Now I know. Call 911, and someone will (One hopes!) contact whatever authority to fix the problem. Sometimes I act in ways that scare me, that seem reckless, and that was one of those times. What came before, getting lost, no parking place, needing to use the loo badly, badly, all of the frustrations of the day, probably made me irritable and contributed to my poor judgement.

A DOCTOR AND A LAWYER

A doctor and a lawyer were talking at a party. Their conversation was constantly interrupted by people describing their ailments and asking the doctor for free medical advice.

After an hour of this, the exasperated doctor asked the lawyer, "What do you do to stop people from asking you for legal advice when you're out of the office?"

"I give it to them," replied the lawyer, "and then I send them a bill."

The doctor was shocked, but agreed to give it a try. The next day, still feeling slightly guilty, the doctor prepared the bills. When he went to place them in his mailbox, he found a bill from the lawyer.

Don't blame me. Blame Paul (A.). He is a lawyer, so don't ask him anything, or you will receive a bill for services rendered.

VATICAN TO SOCIETY OF ST PIUS X: LET'S BE FRIENDS

From Religion News Services via The Huffington Post:

RNS) The Vatican has summoned the head of a traditionalist group to Rome to assess the results of a two-year doctrinal dialogue between the schismatic group and the Holy See.

Monsignor Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), will meet on Sept. 14 with top officials who are trying to normalize relations, including American Cardinal William Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In June, Fellay said the church is "full of heresies," and the group ordained its own set of bishops in the United States, Switzerland and Germany without Vatican approval.

It appears that the powers in Rome are eager for reconciliation with SSPX, despite the fact that its superior general labels them as heretics.

Talks between the two sides began in 2009 after Pope Benedict XVI lifted the 1988 excommunications of four SSPX bishops, including Bishop Richard Williamson, who has denied that the Holocaust killed 6 million Jews.
....

According to Vatican Insider, a religion website of the Italian newspaper La Stampa, the Vatican intends to offer SSPX an special structure similar to the "ordinariate" created for Anglicans who want to join the Catholic Church. The deal would require SSPX to give "full recognition" to Vatican II reforms.

Like the structure created for the Anglicans, a special SSPX ordinariate would allow the group to keep some of its own traditions.

Inquiring minds want to know if the group would be able to continue to practice its anti-Semitic tradition in its own particular enclave.

In light of Monsignor Fellay's statement in June, I doubt that the time is ripe for SSPX to give "full recognition" to Vatican II reforms. In his view, Vatican II gave birth to the various "heresies" which he finds objectionable. However, since the Vatican seems to be stepping back from certain of the reforms of Vatican II, the two groups may eventually find a way to come together.

My prediction for the look of the new "ordinariate" or whatever it will be called, if it ever comes to be: An abundance of lace.

Thanks to Ann V. for the link.

JESUS AND MO - FENCE

From Jesus and Mo.

Well, it made me smile.

OH DEAR!

From Reuters:

The Washington National Cathedral, the highest point in the capital, suffered damage in Tuesday's earthquake, with three spires in the central tower breaking off of the gothic-style building, a spokesman said.

Richard Weinberg, director of communications at the Episcopal cathedral, said the three pinnacles on the 30-story-high central tower had broken off and were lying in the grass.

"A fourth is leaning," said Weinberg. "There was other minor structural damage to buttresses and smaller pinnacles."

No one was injured from the damage, but the cathedral -- host to state funerals, and memorial services for many U.S. presidents and the site of several presidential inaugural prayer services -- was closed to the public so the building could be inspected.

Thanks be to God that no one was injured. Prayers for all who have been affected by the earthquake.

Picture from Wikipedia.

UPDATE: A picture of the damaged spires many be seen at Huffington Post.

UPDATE 2: From The Lead, by Nicholas Knisely, St Stephen's Episcopal Church in Culpepper, Virginia, was so badly damaged by the quake that the building is condemned.

STORY OF THE DAY - SIDE BY SIDE

We sat side by side in the morning light
& looked out at the future together.

The story reminds me of sitting with Grandpère 50 years ago next month. Knowing what I know today, the good times and the difficult times, I would do it all over again.

From StoryPeople.

FEDERAL DEBT BY PRESIDENTIAL TERM

From Wikipedia:

This table lists the gross U.S. federal debt as a percentage of GDP by Presidential term since World War II.

Click on the chart for the larger view.

(Source: CBO Historical Budget Page and Whitehouse FY 2012 Budget - Table 7.1 Federal Debt at the End of Year PDF, Excel, Senate.gov)

Thanks to Paul the BB for his post on Facebook which reminded me to have a look at the figures which show the percentages of federal debt accrued in each presidential term. Compare and contrast Democratic presidents with Republican presidents.

'THAT'S HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN' - FOR MOTHERAMELIA

With virtual hugs for our good friend motheramelia.