If God Had Texted Moses (3)

Moses: Check your phone!

No. 3: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.... On it you shall not do any work. (NIV Dt 5:12, 14)

Courtesy of Sr. Carol Cimino, PhD and Religious Education Consultant for Sadlier Publishers.

With Thanksgiving to God...

...and profound joy for the beauty and truth manifest in the lives of the graduates of the Class of 2011, the Catholic Biblical School announces graduation festivities at St. Thomas Seminary Chapel on Sunday afternoon, June 12.

The following graduates will be honored:

Ann Bodurtha

Kathi Bonner

Maureen Brouillard

Elizabeth Carr

Barbara Evans

Donna Girard

Mary Head

Carl Heineman

Jane Holler

Cheryl Kasek

Laurie Janecko

Jean Kononowiz

Susan Lewis

Daniel Marecki

Inka Peczerski

Mary Renker

Albert Saxer

Nancy Stimac

Janet Turco

Congratulations on your achievement!

Words Made Flesh—The Presence and the Absence of God

Reflecting on the gospel for the Feast of Jesus' Ascension this week, Fr. Thomas Rosica tells us that "the words ... 'I am with you always, even unto the end of the world' (Matthew 28:20) have a special ring to them. They send us back to the beginning of Matthew's account when Jesus is given the name 'Emmanuel.'

"In that name we find the answer to humanity's deepest longings for God throughout the ages. Emmanuel is both a prayer and plea (on our behalf) and a promise and declaration on God's part. When we pronounce the word, we are really praying and pleading: 'God, be with us!' And when God speaks it, the Almighty, Eternal, Omnipresent Creator of the world is telling us: 'I am with you' in Jesus.

"At the conclusion of [Matthew’s] Gospel, the name Emmanuel is alluded to when the Risen Jesus assures his disciples of his continued presence: 'I am with you always, until the end of the age' (28:20). God did indeed keep his promise in Jesus."

We might add that at other times when we pray "Emmanuel," we could be confiding our trust in Jesus’ promise. Or we might be expressing a hope that our lives be lived out in closer harmony with God. The wonder of the name Emmanuel is that it is so wide, encompassing a breadth of meaning that is at heart an expression of the most intimate of prayers, the deep desire of our hearts to dwell with Jesus.

But the reason we need to pray "Be with us" is at the center of our understanding of the Feast of the Ascension

If God Had Texted Moses (2)

Moses: Check your phone!

No 2 You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God. (NIV Dt 5:11)

Courtesy of Sr. Carol Cimino, PhD and Religious Education Consultant for Sadlier Publishers.