An Easter Welcome to Parking Lot and Pew

Posted on March 11, 2016 by the Bouchers

P1010105 copyAny special plans for Easter: maybe a meal with family or friends, or an Easter egg hunt, or a trip to church in a new spring outfit? Lots of people like to check in with God for this holy celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus, because it underlines the hope of resurrection for earth and soul as well. Whether you consider yourself to be an occasional visitor to your local church or regular churchgoer, here are some easy ways to participate in an Easter welcome.

First of all, keep in mind that God has invited each of us to this year’s celebration. Jesus might call some from the midst of whatever spiritual climate change we are experiencing. The Holy Spirit might beckon through a small, steady voice behind too many drastic spiritual highs and lows. God might speak with a comforting voice, during the inner torrential rains that follows a death, a serious illness or a grave personal loss. God’s stillness might punctuate someone’s search for meaning when there no apparent answers. God speaks and invites. “O, Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit and when I rise up.” Psalm 139

Secondly, we are all meant to provide a spiritual home for one another, especially when we gather together as the Body of Christ. We are meant to be like the apostles in the same boat together with Jesus. So we ask you, “What will you do to make others feel at home?” Here are some suggestions.

  1. Think about inviting someone to come with you this year and offer a ride.
  2. Arrive early so you can greet others in the parking lot or on the steps of the church.
  3. Move over in the pew before others enter the church. Smile when someone sits beside you.
  4. If you know lots of the songs, sit near the back so that you can encourage others to sing by worshipping with full voice yourself.
  5. Compliment someone or how nice they look or how beautiful their children are.
  6. Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know. Ask what brought him or her here today.
  7. Thank someone for coming. You might add, “I will look for you the next time I come.”
  8. Pray that God will touch someone who has come after a long absence. You don’t have to know who, since God can pour out blessings in many, many ways.

Consider reading our book, Sharing the Faith That You Love, so you can learn more ways to welcome people every week.

 

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Jesus –the Valentine and the Cardiologist

Posted on January 19, 2016 by the Bouchers

Are Valentine hearts just for kids and lovers?valentine

We don’t think so for several reasons. First, we live in Worcester, MA where Esther Howland created the first mass-produced valentines made of embossed paper lace shortly after 1847.

Second, in the Bible, the heart is known as a source of thought, emotion, character and actions.  Through the pages of Scripture we are often invited to receive the gift of a new heart, a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone. And at least two Saints in our history remind us of this offer from God; St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 1600s, who promoted prayer to the Sacred Heat of Jesus;  and Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska who, in the early 1900s, gave us the image of light and mercy emanating from the heart of Jesus. So, yes, we want a Valentine Heart from God.

Third, what if we are suffering from a broken heart**, ruined relationships, or the taxing reality of a difficult daily life? Then it is time for Jesus, the cardiologist, who offers us the miracle of a health heart and soul, filled with love and thanksgiving. St. Frances Cabrini writes in her travel diary: “Let us warm our hearts with holy gratitude, which in turn will inebriate us little by little with divine love.”

But true love does not stop there. Jesus, along with the gift of a new heart, wants to gives us the ability to be instrument of God’s healing for those around us who need a spiritual cardiologist. Here is how we can both imitate Jesus and bring his healing love.

  1. Jesus listened with his heart, and so can we. Imagine the respectful attention that Jesus gave Nicodemus during their conversation in John 3:1-21.
  2. Jesus spoke from his heart. He took the stance of a friend who refrained from judgment during his encounter with two disciples on the way to Emmaus in Luke 24. Who do you walk beside?
  3. Jesus focused on dialogue. Remember the man with a partial healing of his eyes in Mark 8:22-26. “Can you see anything?” Jesus then asked (8:23), before he continued his prayers.
  4. Jesus was open about his relationship with his Father, the source of all life –when he taught the “Our Father” (Luke 11:1-8), when he approached the tomb of Lazarus (John 11) and even when he was dying on the cross (Matthew 27:46).

Will you bring Jesus, the cardiologist into someone’s life this St. Valentine’s Day? And in which of these four ways will you imitate Jesus our greatest valentine message made flesh?

**For More about Broken Relationships

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What Christmas, Easter and Ash Wednesday Have in Common: Rediscover Your Spiritual Roots

Posted on December 11, 2015 by the Bouchers

sp roots copyIt doesn’t matter if you are a regular church-goer or not. There is an almost primal call to return to the crèche on Christmas morning, or the somber reflections of Ash Wednesday, or the glory of Christ’s empty tomb on Easter. What can explain such an urge? Some would say that we long for new beginnings in the dead of winter or in early spring. Some would say like the Psalmist (139:13) that we have a desire to check in with our spiritual origins, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” We think all of these urges are about rediscovering your spiritual roots.

What do you think? Which of these spiritual realities calls out to you, especially when you need a time and place to be refreshed? We learned a lot about these inner calls by watching a plant cutting on our living room window sill. At first it was a reminder of the isolation each of us feels when something goes terribly haywire in life. “I am cut off. Life is just not possible any more. Sure, I could last a few days in this tiny bit of water. But then I will be forgotten forever.”

Then it happens. The sun calls. Our inmost being begins to move and small roots appear. Then more roots and more life follow.  So take the time to turn toward the Sun and REDISCOVER YOUR SPIRITUAL ROOTS at Christmas, on Ash Wednesday and on Easter. Try visiting the nearest church, or standing before an outdoor shrine. And visit more than once, like the cutting that soaks up lots of water… Or think about the parish where you were baptized and the devotions of your grandparents. All of these efforts can stir up new life in you.

rediscover rootsAnd behind all your efforts, God is urging you and waiting for you.  So join us at the messy but glorious place we call church, “that out of his glorious riches God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith… that being rooted and established in love, you may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.  (Eph. 3 16-18)

PS. The graphic is based on a prayer card invitation that will be used in the Diocese of Springfield, MA to welcome people during Lent 2016. 

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