The Seasons: A Poem

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Sunrise over Amazing Grasses Family Farm The mad Artist wields His brush, Painted colors rush, To life and give flush, Before the quiet autumn hush. The life seems to pour, As colors fall to the floor, To be seen no more, Outside the dark, grey door. Brightness from below, Sun upon the snow, High, cold clouds blow, Flakes and ice appear to grow. The man melts with little seen, Underneath, pale, grey green, Hides life in dark unseen, Waits for warmth and to careen. Buds on branches show, Patience starts to grow, Trickles, streams and veins flow, Bringing fruits of melted snow. Sprung to life it springs, Bees, birds, sound rings, Lush green flings, Its gift bounty brings. Green growth gives one last rush, Underneath the Painter's brush. The mad Artist wields His brush, before the quiet autumn hush. More poetry is available from James M. Hahn in  The Last Dragon and Other Poems  available now. My new book of cryptogram puzzles " Secret Messages from the Saints " is avai
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Giving all to God

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Memorial of Saint Pius X, pope
A good book on Pius X for children.

Matthew 19:23-30

This past Lent I had the wonderful opportunity of spending some time with Fr. Sharbel of the Franciscan Friars of Mary Immaculate. He is a young (I hope mid-thirties is still young) priest, newly ordained, and full of life and holiness (and he will be embarrassed to read this). Anyway, on one occasion we visited the eighth-grade students in the school. Fr. Sharbel told them briefly about his conversion, his daily life as a Franciscan, etc. He told the students about his 3 vows (really four for his order - vow of consecration to Mary) and the one that amazed them the most was....guess.....no not chastity, not obedience, but poverty. He told them, to their astonishment, that he has nothing of his own, literally. They drilled him on this subject for quite some time. To every question of ownership from his watch to his habit and from his rosary to his toothbrush he simply answered, "it's not mine." Everything he had on his person belonged to the community and nothing did he claim as his own. This was a shock for eighth-graders living in an affluent society in 2007 and I think it gave them food for thought especially when they felt the joy that radiated from this priest.

In today's Gospel the disciples too are astonished at the words of Christ concerning riches. They had most likely grown up with the understanding that those who are sick, poor, and on the margins of society are there because of sin and the wrath of God. We see this in the question posed to Jesus concerning a blind man - "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"(John 9:2) We can reason that the opposite belief was true as well; that those who are rich, well-to-do, and full of health are especially blessed by God. It was a first century "Health and Wealth" gospel.

Jesus tells us and them that riches can keep us from the Kingdom. This is not to say that riches are evil but more on how we view what we have. Are we detached from things or attached to things? If the "gate is narrow" how can we expect to pass through with all of our baggage?

In the story Where the Red Fern Grows we are told how folks would catch raccoons to use for training their coon hounds. Men would drill a hole in a tree and then drive nails into the hole at angle from just outside the circumference. They would then place a piece of meat or something shiny in the hole and wait for the raccoon to come. When the raccoon saw the object it would reach in to the hole, grab the object and in doing so make a fist. This grasp and fist would not be able to slide back out past the point of the nails and the raccoon would not loosen its grip in order to be free. We too have a choice to make. We can either keep a tight grip on our possessions and be forever possessed by them or let them go and find freedom.

If you are like me and like the disciples we can all cry out together, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus gives us the answer. We cannot do it on our own nor do we need to. God is there to help us just as He was to help Gideon in the first reading. He told Gideon and us, "I will be with you."

What then is our reward for letting go, for loosening our grip? "[E]veryone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,and will inherit eternal life."

FROM THE SAINTS - ... faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him: My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you. Catechism of the Catholic Church #226

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