Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to Sundays with Bishop Ken, a weekly podcast brought to you by the publishers of Little Books of the Diocese of Saginaw.
Each Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Gospel and Bishop Ken's homily are proclaimed by members of our faith community during the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. Our Sunday prayer time will be taken from the Little Book's reflections for that season.
We are pleased to spend this quiet time with you today.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Good day.
[00:01:04] Speaker C: It is March 30, the fourth Sunday in Lent.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: This weekend is the annual Catholic Relief Services collection.
We begin Today's reading with St. Rita and the Passion of Christ.
Born in 1381 in Rocco, Perina, Italy, Margarita Rita Lodi desired to become a bride of Christ.
Her parents did not approve.
[00:01:43] Speaker C: Sacrificing her own will, she agreed to an arranged marriage.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: It was not easy. Rita was treated harshly by a hot tempered husband.
[00:01:55] Speaker C: His heart eventually softened on account of.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: Her patience and love.
[00:02:00] Speaker C: The couple had two sons.
Although her husband was a changed man.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: His past caught up with him and.
[00:02:09] Speaker C: He was murdered in the street.
Rita's sons wanted to avenge their father's.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: Death, so she appealed to God that.
[00:02:17] Speaker C: He would either change their hearts or call them home.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Her sons contracted a deadly disease and died, but not before she could help them forgive.
[00:02:31] Speaker C: Widowed and without children, Rita asked to.
[00:02:34] Speaker B: Join the Augustinian convent in Kasha with members of a rival family.
[00:02:39] Speaker C: In the convent, there was concern about.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Division within the community, so she was refused.
A gifted peacemaker, Rita convinced her husband's family and the other family to end.
[00:02:54] Speaker C: Their blood feud forever.
Free to enter the convent, Rita spent long hours meditating on the Passion of Christ.
She prayed to relieve even a bit of suffering and received a wound on her forehead.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: It was as if a thorn from his crown had pierced her.
The wound remained open and visible until she died.
Toward the end of her life, Rita.
[00:03:24] Speaker C: Asked a visiting relative to bring her a rose from the family's garden.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: It was the middle of winter, but.
[00:03:32] Speaker C: The relative found a single rose.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Rita believed it was a sign that.
[00:03:37] Speaker C: Her prayers for her husband and sons had been heard and she would see them soon.
St. Rita is a patron saint of.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Impossible causes, difficult marriages and parenthood.
As today is Sunday, we will continue our reflection on prayer.
So far, we have discussed lectio divina and liturgical prayer. Today we will reflect on meditation.
In meditation, the emphasis is on thinking.
I take one of the truths of our faith and think about it.
[00:04:43] Speaker C: But I don't just think about it on my own.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: I talk it over with God.
I try to see God's point of view.
And I ask God to help me.
[00:04:54] Speaker C: Understand the meaning of this truth.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: And I don't just think about it in the abstract.
I think about how this truth comes.
[00:05:04] Speaker C: Into play in my own life.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: For example, the cross.
I talk to God about the cross.
[00:05:13] Speaker C: Why do such things happen?
[00:05:16] Speaker B: I talk to Jesus about the cross and how he dealt with it.
I talk about the crosses in my life and how I should handle them.
This form of prayer is a natural for many of us because we like to think things through.
All we have to do is think things through with God.
Pick anything you like.
For example, in our daily reading of John's account of the Passion, we're in the middle of the trial of Jesus before Pilate.
Why did Pilate act the way he did?
He could see that Jesus was innocent and he had the power to do whatever he wanted.
What is it that holds people back from doing what they know is right?
What holds me back from doing what I know is right?
Is there something I can do about that?
Think about it with God.
[00:06:25] Speaker C: Spend some quiet time with the Lord.
