Eye of the Needle

            Jesus is uncompromising when it comes to the topic of money: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Wealth, Jesus reminds us, is like a heavy burden that can weigh us down, preventing us from entering the fullness of life that God intends for us. Consequently, Jesus instructs one young man to “sell all that you have and give to the poor,” and advises the rest of his followers to “give to everyone who asks from you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” Faced with the everyday realities of life, Jesus’ ethical directives seem not simply heroic, but almost absurd and irresponsible. If I give to everyone who asks of me, how am I going to pay my rent (or, student loans!)? Riddled with anxiety, we begin to look for an “out.”

            Maybe as college students you do get a pass in this area. During my college years, I often did not have enough money to go out on a Friday night, let alone to horde away in an offshore bank account. It’s difficult to be greedy when you barely have enough to get by, right? We should be careful, however, about dismissing Jesus’ words too easily. No matter where we are at in life, we always have the opportunity to deepen our faith and to grow in generosity. The path to sainthood, I would argue, necessarily begins with little, concrete steps. The challenge is to respond to God’s call from where we are here and now, rather than putting off this demand for another day, when we will supposedly be in a better place to answer the challenge. 

            So, at the start of this school year, I would like to set before all of us Jesus’ teachings on this matter. What would it look like at SLU if you and I lived out the radical generosity to which Jesus calls us? For some of us, this might mean fasting from a meal or two each week, so that we have a bit more money to give to those in need. For others, it will involve letting go of the prejudices that we have based on how our colleagues dress or what car they drive. For all of us, it will mean clinging less tightly to those material things with which God has already blessed us. In turn, this newfound freedom will revolutionize the way that we relate to each other on campus, and (by God’s grace) the surrounding community will know we are disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35).

Bud Marr

Campus Ministry Graduate Intern

  

Prayer as Conscious Relationship

As I have been thinking about prayer, I recently read an article by Fr. William Barry, S.J. titled “Prayer as Conscious Relationship”. Here are several thoughts he brought to surface for me concerning prayer.

  Fr. Barry “spells out a few implications of a working definition. First, when I become conscious of God’s actions, no matter how dimly, then I am praying, even if I do not say a word. If you think of prayer as conscious relationship, any time of the day or night can be prayer time. I can be walking along with someone, both of us admiring the fall foliage, and it is a conscious relationship even if no words are spoken, as long as I am aware of the other’s presence. So too with God.  Second, we can make prayers of petition more understandable. Why ask God for something if he is all-knowing and loving? He does not need information, e.g., that my best friend is sick and I want him to get well. But if prayer is relationship, the issue is not information, but whether I believe he cares how I feel and whether I am willing to let him know what I feel and desire, that is, to reveal myself. Third, distractions in prayer are as normal and ordinary as they are in any relationship. You can be with someone you deeply love and be in a deep conversation and suddenly wonder if you put out the lights in the car. So too in prayer. Also distractions during a conversation with a friend sometimes come because you do not want to hear what the friend is saying or because you are bored with the friend. The same thing can happen during prayer. Finally, if prayer is just conscious relationship, it is not something esoteric, for saints and mystics. It is open to anyone, including the likes of us."

From GOD AND YOU: PRAYER AS A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP, 1987

Br. Don Lee, S.J.

Fusz Hall Campus Minister

Welcome!

Welcome to our Department of Campus Ministry blog!  Each week, one of our campus ministry team will offer up a reflection for you to ponder.  All are welcome to reflect in your own way, to join us in response, and to experience the fruits of your reflection with the Divine.

Over the past month, my own life has been a tumble and jumble, maybe some of what you are experiencing as you are returning to Saint Louis University, returning to teach or work, gearing up for the busyness of the first semester.  Having resigned from my previous position in Milwaukee in June, I found myself packing, cleaning, saying goodbye to friends and family, and finding myself within the midst of a great deal of stress.  On July 7,  I packed up the car and the cats (Charlie and Bernard) and drove to St. Louis with my brother David as my companion for that leg of the journey.  Once the movers arrived on the 8^th, I tried to put some semblance of order into my life, knowing that I was beginning work at SLU on the 10^th. 

As I reflect on that time and on my last month in Campus Ministry at SLU, I find that what has sustained me and helped give me some order is going back to a quiet place of prayer.  With all of the stress in our lives sometimes we forget to pray; we forget to open our ears to listen to God’s presence.  But God is always listening for us and God is always there to love us.

One of my favorite places to spend time is the Jesuit Retreat House in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  There, in the silence, I can find time to just listen to what God is calling me to do and to be.  Let me share one of my favorite pictures of that retreat house.

What I love about this picture is that it reminds me of the experiences I have had of prayer there and it helps to ground me.  I’ve gone back to this picture many times over the last month.  It helps me to remind myself to take that time to listen and to embrace God’s love for me. 

Do you have a memory or an experience which can help ground you in your prayer?  How do you listen to God?  How do you remind yourself of God’s love for you?

I encourage you to take some time in the busyness of these first weeks of the semester to sit in humility and silence so that you can hear God’s voice and not yourself.  Perhaps this prayer can help guide you. Blessings on your semester!

Sue Chawszczewski

Director of Campus Ministry

Teach me to listen, O God, to those nearest me, my family, my friends, my co-workers.

Help me to be aware that no matter what words I hear, the message is, “Accept the person I am. Listen to me.”

Teach me to listen, my caring God, to those far from me– the whisper of the hopeless, the plea of the forgotten, the cry of the anguished.

Teach me to listen, O God my Mother, to myself. Help me to be less afraid to trust the voice inside — in the deepest part of me.

Teach me to listen, Holy Spirit, for your voice — in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and doubt, in noise and in silence.

Teach me, Lord, to listen.  Amen.

John Veltri, S.J.