MLK Jr Prayer Service: I Have Decided To Stick With Love

An excerpt from Dr King’s speech titled “I Have Decided To Stick With Love."

I’m concerned about a better world. I’m concerned about justice; I’m concerned about brotherhood and sisterhood; I’m concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.

And I say to you, I have also decided to stick with love, for I know that love is ultimately the only answer to humankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. And I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love; I’m talking about a strong, demanding love. For I have seen too much hate. [...] and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we aren’t moving wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who loves has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.

And so I say to you today, my friends, that you may be able to speak with the tongues of men and angels; you may have the eloquence of articulate speech; but if you have not love, it means nothing. Yes, you may have the gift of prophecy; you may have the gift of scientific prediction and understand the behavior of molecules; you may break into the storehouse of nature and bring forth many new insights; yes, you may ascend to the heights of academic achievement so that you have all knowledge; and you may boast of your great institutions of learning and the boundless extent of your degrees; but if you have not love, all of these mean absolutely nothing. You may even give your goods to feed the poor; you may bestow great gifts to charity; and you may tower high in philanthropy; but if you have not love, your charity means nothing. You may even give your body to be burned and die the death of a martyr, and your spilt blood may be a symbol of honor for generations yet unborn, and thousands may praise you as one of history’s greatest heroes; but if you have not love, your blood was spilt in vain. What I’m trying to get you to see this morning is that a man may be self-centered in his self-denial and self-righteous in his self-sacrifice. His generosity may feed his ego, and his piety may feed his pride. So without love, benevolence becomes egotism, and martyrdom becomes spiritual pride.

MLK Jr Prayer Service: We Shall Overcome

An excerpt from Dr King’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech in December 10, 1964 titled, “We Shall Overcome.”

I refuse to accept the idea that the "is-ness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "ought-ness" that forever confronts him.

I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of nuclear annihilation.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.

I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.

I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up.

I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed and nonviolent redemptive goodwill proclaimed the rule of the land. And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid.

I still believe that we shall overcome.

In Praise of Dance

In Praise of Dancing by Saint Augustine

I praise the dance, for it frees people
From the heaviness of matter
And binds the isolated to community.

I praise the dance, which demands everything:
Health and a clear spirit and a buoyant soul.

Dance is the transformation of space, of time, of people,
Who are in constant danger of becoming all brain, will or feeling.

Dancing demands the whole person,
One who is firmly anchored in the center of his life,
Who is not obsessed by lust for people and things
And the demon of isolation in his own ego.

Dancing demands a freed person,
One who vibrates
With the balance of all his powers.

I praise the dance.

O People, learn to dance,
or else the angels in heaven
Will not know what to do with you.

A Future Not Our Own

A Future Not Our Own
in memory of Oscar Romero (1917 - 1980)

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. 

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent
enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of
saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church's mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an
opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master
builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own. 

This prayer was first presented by Cardinal Dearden in 1979 and quoted by Pope Francis in 2015. This reflection is an excerpt from a homily written for Cardinal Dearden by then-Fr Ken Untener on the occasion of the Mass for Deceased Priests, October 25, 1979. Pope Francis quoted Cardinal Dearden in his remarks to the Roman Curia on December 21, 2015. Fr Untener was named bishop of Saginaw, Michigan, in 1980.

Stillpoint | 09.07.18

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the stillpoint, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

from The Four Quartets, TS Eliot

How good it is to center down!
To sit quietly and see one's self pass by!

The streets of our minds seethe with endless trafic;
Our spirits resound with clashings, with noisy silences,

While something deep within hungers and thirsts 
for the still moment and the resting lull.

With full intensity we seek, ere the quiet passes,
A fresh sense of order in our living;
A direction, a strong sure purpose that will
structure our confusion and bring meaning to our chaos.

We look at ourselves in this waiting moment - the kinds of people we are.

The questions persist:
what are we doing with our lives?
what are the motives that order our days?
What is the end of our doings?
Where are we trying to go?
Where do we put the emphasis and where are our values focused?
For what end do we make sacrifices?
Where is my treasure and what do I love most in life?
What do I hate most in life and to what am I true?

Over and over the questions beat in upon the waiting moment.

As we listen,
floating up through all the jangling echoes of our turbulence,
there is a sound of another kind -
a deeper note which only the stillness of the heart makes clear.
It moves directly to the core of our being.

Our questions are answered.
Our spirits refreshed, and we move back into the traffic of our daily round
With the peace of the Eternal in our step.

How good it is to center down!

from Meditations On The Heart, Howard Thurman

Evening Sky

... poetry by Carmel Cronin '41 from the Elizabethan of 1940.

Bishop Barber's Blessing

One of the people who dreamed our school into reality is the shepherd of the Diocese of Oakland Bishop Michael Barber, SJ.  He took the time to celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (which also coincided with our first official academic day) in neighbouring Saint Elizabeth's Parish and walked over with the students for a ribbon cutting ceremony and blessing of the school.  Here's the text of his blessing:

God of all creation,

In your kindness hear our prayers.

We dedicate this building to the

human and Christian education of the young people

You have kindly entrusted to our care.

May it become a center where young women and men

become leaders of faith, purpose, and service

to build your Holy Kingdom here on Earth.

May the relationships developed here

Be a sign of Your Love and may it

Be a catalyst to transform lives.

We ask this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

May the all-knowing God, who is Lord,

Show us God’s ways;

May Christ, eternal Wisdom,

Teach us the words of truth;

May the Holy Spirit, the blessed light,

Always enlighten our minds,

So that we may learn what is right and good

And in our actions carry out what we have learned.

Amen.

And may the blessing of almighty God,

The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Come upon you and remain with you forever.

Amen.

The Merton Prayer

O Lord, my God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right path
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, I will trust you always
for you are ever with me and will never leave me.

-- Thomas Merton, OSCO

Stillpoint | 06.22.18

Stillpoint is the mini-retreat time that our president Mike Anderer has designated to take an intentional break from the business and the busyness of the day-to-day operations of the school.  During Stillpoint, we gather in council and sit in a circle.  The guidelines of the council are simply to speak from the heart, to be lean of expression (which is another way of speaking our own truth and story and not the truth or story of others), and to be present. 

After recalling that we're in God's holy presence, and dedicating our council, we begin with a reading. This was our reading for today:

Beginnings, Community, and Seeing Reality

"It is quite easy to found a community.  There are always plenty of courageous people who want to be heroes, are ready to sleep on the ground, to work hard hours each day, to live in dilapidated houses.  It's not hard to camp -- anyone can rough it for a time.  So the problem is not getting the community started -- there's always enough energy for take-off.  The problem comes when we are in orbit and going round and round the circuit.  The problem is in living with brothers and sisters whom we have not chosen but who have been given to us, and in working ever more truthfully towards the goals of the community. ... True community implies a way of living and seeing reality; it implies above all fidelity in the daily round.  And this is made up of simple things -- getting meals, using and washing dishes and using them again, going to meetings -- as well as gifts, joy, and celebration.

Community is only being created when its members accept that they are not going to achieve great things, that they are not going to be heroes, but simply live each day with hope like children, in wonderment as the sun rises and in thanksgiving as it sets.  Community is only being created when they have recognized that human greatness is to accept our insignificance, our human condition, and our earth, and to thank God for having put in a finite body the seeds of eternity which are visible in small daily gestures of love and forgiveness.  The beauty of humanity is in the fidelity to the wonder of each day." -- Jean Vanier from Community and Growth

We then sat in stillness for a few minutes and we began with a brief check-in consisting of three words describing our current state.  We then practiced gratitude by declaring what we are or have been grateful for.  Finally, we glanced again at the reading and picked several words or a phrase which had particular meaning for us at that moment in time.

For me, the words were "courageous people."  I shared with the circle that I see before me a group of courageous people.  And the word courage etymologically refers to the heart.  The references to heart like seeing with the eyes of heart, or listening with the heart, or hearing with the heart is a reminder to get us out of our heads and into a different space.  Our role as courageous people is to give heart, or to encourage, especially those students who will be entrusted to our care so that they can, in turn, become people of heart for the people in their own communities and for our world, which in such desperate needs of heart-filled people.