MY CHOICE | A Missionary’s Poem

This poem was written by “Smiling Bill” McChesney. He was a missionary from the US that ministered in the Congo in the early sixties. At that time, the Congo was a volatile and dangerous place for foreign missionaries. He was killed by an angry mob in 1964. 

 “I want my breakfast served at eight, with ham and eggs upon the plate; A well-broiled steak I’ll eat at one, and dine again when day is done. I want an ultramodern home and in each room a telephone; Soft carpets, too, upon the floors, and pretty drapes to grace the doors. A cozy place of lovely things, like easy chairs with inner springs, And then I’ll get a small TV- of course, “I’m careful what I see.” I want my wardrobe, too, to be of neatest, finest quality, With latest style in suit and vest: Why should not Christians have the best? But then the Master I can hear in no uncertain voice, so clear: “I bid you come and follow Me, the lowly Man of Galilee.” “Birds of the air have made their nest, and foxes in their holes find rest, But I can offer you no bed; no place have I to lay My head.” In shame I hung my head and cried. How could I spurn the Crucified? Could I forget the way He went, the sleepless nights in prayer He spent? For forty days without a bite, alone He fasted day and night; Despised, rejected- on He went, and did not stop till veil He rent. A man of sorrows and of grief, no earthly friend to bring relief; “Smitten of God,” the prophet said- Mocked, beaten, bruised, His blood ran red. If He be God, and died for me, no sacrifice too great can be For me, a mortal man, to make; I’ll do it all for Jesus’ sake. Yes, I will tread the path He trod, no other way will please my God; So, henceforth, this my choice shall be, my choice for all eternity.”

December 31st | The feast of St. Sylvester

 

Today is Decemebr 31st. New year’s Eve. the beginning of a new year, and a chance to celebrate for many. Around the world, to many who acknowledge various liturgical calendars, today is the feast day of someone a little less popular than Father Time..

Sylvester was ordained bishop over the church in Rome in the year 314.  This Christian brother served the church at a time when the Arian heresy and the Donatist schism had provoked great discord. After the peace of Constantine, he contributed greatly to the expansion of the faith throughout the Roman world.. Below is a reading I borrowed from a Catholic Missal:

Collect:
Lord,
help and sustain Your people
as in the days of Bishop Sylvester.
Guide us always in this present life
and bring us to the joy that never ends.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I Myself will search for My sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out My sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the fountains, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and upon the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I Myself will be the shepherd of My sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 16:13-19
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

T.S. Eliot: Murder in the Catherdral

I’ve just finished reading this short 1935 play by T.S. Eliot based on the murder and of Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury. I just realized that today, December 29th, is the actual day that the murder happened in 1170.

This was a short , but good read that so elloquently displays Eliot’s genious for symbolism and sentiment. Here is a portion of script from the First and Third Priests after the murder of thier beloved archbishop takes place..

First Priest:

O father, father
Gone from us, lost to us,
The church lies bereft,
Alone,
Desecrated, desolated.
And the heathen shall build
On the ruins
Their world without God.
I see it.
I see it.

Third Priest:

No. For the Church is stronger for this action,
Triumphant in adversity. It is fortified
By persecution: supreme, so long as men will die for it.
Go, weak sad men, lost erring souls, homeless in earth or heaven.
Go where the sunset reddens the last grey rock
Of Brittany, or the Gates of Hercules.
Go venture shipwreck on sullen coasts
Where blackamoors make captive Christian men;
Go to the northern seas confined with ice
Where the dead breath makes numb the hand, makes dull the brain;
Find an oasis in the desert sun,
Go seek alliance with the heathen Saracen,
To share his filthy rites, and try to snatch
Forgetfulness in his libidinous courts,
Oblivion in the fountain by the date-tree;
Or sit and bite your nails in Aquitaine.
In the small circle of pain within the skull
You still shall tramp and tread one endless round
Of thought, to justify your action to yourselves,
Weaving a fiction which unravels as you weave,
Pacing forever in the hell of make believe
Which never is belief: this is your fate on earth
And we must think no further of you.

Words from St.Augustine

 Okay, that’s not a picture of Augustine..it’s actually me at St.Patrick’s Basillica preparing my sermon in my head..Hey, is that a halo? Or a dart board?

Anyway, I’ve been reading Confessions lately, and I thought I’d dip my foot back into the blogosphere and share this blurb with ya’ll..

 

CHAPTER IV

4. What, therefore, is my God? What, I ask, but the Lord God? “For who is Lord but the Lord himself, or who is God besides our God?”[13] Most high, most excellent, most potent, most omnipotent; most merciful and most just; most secret and most truly present; most beautiful and most strong; stable, yet not supported; unchangeable, yet changing all things; never new, never old; making all things new, yet bringing old age upon the proud, and they know it not; always working, ever at rest; gathering, yet needing nothing; sustaining, pervading, and protecting; creating, nourishing, and developing; seeking, and yet possessing all things. Thou dost love, but without passion; art jealous, yet free from care; dost repent without remorse; art angry, yet remainest serene. Thou changest thy ways, leaving thy plans unchanged; thou recoverest what thou hast never really lost. Thou art never in need but still thou dost rejoice at thy gains; art never greedy, yet demandest dividends. Men pay more than is required so that thou dost become a debtor; yet who can possess anything at all which is not already thine? Thou owest men nothing, yet payest out to them as if in debt to thy creature, and when thou dost cancel debts thou losest nothing thereby. Yet, O my God, my life, my holy Joy, what is this that I have said? What can any man say when he speaks of thee? But woe to them that keep silence — since even those who say most are dumb.

Let me know if the words of this Bishop provoke any thoughts.

Peace|Out

about pain..

“Pain won’t kill you. It will only put lines on your face.”  

                                                 D.D. Lahay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Words from Irenaeus

Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons in the ancient Roman province of Gaul, is one of the early church fathers from the second century who’s writings still survive and hold relevance..

Here are some of his thoughts on “a life well spent”:

 ”The God, therefore, who does benevolently cause His sun to rise upon all, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust, shall judge those who, enjoying his equally distributed kindness, have led lives not corresponding to the dignity of His bounty, but who have spent their days in wantonness and luxury.”

A quote about using Spiritual Gifts

“You may have a ton of spiritual gifts—prophecy, wisdom, evangelism, miracles—and you may be able to inspire the masses, or influnece many people with your gifts, but if you do not posess the love of God in your heart, you may as well be a warlock!”

D.D. Lahay