A thought for the day
Wednesday, the 15th week of Ordinary Time
Mass at noon: Tuesday - Friday - Saturday at 5:00 - Sunday at 9:00 and 11:15am
When the people gather for prayer, all are welcome.
Readings for today's Mass
Saint of the day - Mary MacKillop
Wednesday, the 15th week of Ordinary Time
Mass at noon: Tuesday - Friday - Saturday at 5:00 - Sunday at 9:00 and 11:15am
When the people gather for prayer, all are welcome.
Readings for today's Mass
Saint of the day - Mary MacKillop
Today’s first reading recounts the story of Moses encountering God in a burning bush at Mt. Horeb. This story always takes me back to the reservation in Montana and an evening when Larson Medicine Horse joined spring break students for supper. Larson is a Sundance Priest of the Crow Nation; the keeper of the traditional native experience of deity. I had asked him to join us for supper and tell us about Crow spirituality and their experience of the one God of the world.
Larson’s first words to us was to tell us that he did not believe the way we did, he is not Christian. He practiced the ancient ways of the grandfathers. But he knew our story. He said he’d read our book and found a lot of good stuff in it. In particular, he mentioned the story of Moses and the burning bush. That was a very familiar story to Larson because he said the Crow still go to the mountain to pray and fast. And while they are there, like Moses, God comes to speak to them in powerful ways. Larson immediately offered us something we could connect with.
While religious experience and expression can be so varied, there is a good chance we can also find common ground when we engage one another in dialogue. This is especially good to remember today when there is so much conflict between religious ideologies.
The first line of the Christian creed states, “We believe in one God…,” One consequence of this belief is that the God that Larson finds on the mountain is the same God that Moses found in the burning bush, the God of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebecca, of Jacob and Rachel and is the same God we pray to and worship in our Christian ways. Larson taught us to think outside the religious box; to think beyond what we believe others believe. Larson found common ground on which to start a conversation. The one God is the God of us all.
How do you encounter the one God of the world?
Larson’s first words to us was to tell us that he did not believe the way we did, he is not Christian. He practiced the ancient ways of the grandfathers. But he knew our story. He said he’d read our book and found a lot of good stuff in it. In particular, he mentioned the story of Moses and the burning bush. That was a very familiar story to Larson because he said the Crow still go to the mountain to pray and fast. And while they are there, like Moses, God comes to speak to them in powerful ways. Larson immediately offered us something we could connect with.
While religious experience and expression can be so varied, there is a good chance we can also find common ground when we engage one another in dialogue. This is especially good to remember today when there is so much conflict between religious ideologies.
The first line of the Christian creed states, “We believe in one God…,” One consequence of this belief is that the God that Larson finds on the mountain is the same God that Moses found in the burning bush, the God of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebecca, of Jacob and Rachel and is the same God we pray to and worship in our Christian ways. Larson taught us to think outside the religious box; to think beyond what we believe others believe. Larson found common ground on which to start a conversation. The one God is the God of us all.
How do you encounter the one God of the world?
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