Wake up!
I can hear the voice and volume of my parents reminding me to get up for school daily.
Advent is like that. It is about the "coming" of Jesus at his Nativity, December 25th. And, like preparing for school - waking up - I want to be ready. Do I!
The hour is urgent each day as one wakes up to news that is far from good these days. The hope that Jesus offers each of us merit waking up for this moment. The alternative is to walk about numb as over 40 million U.S. residents do daily in addiction, studies show.
Advent is about John the Baptist calling us to repent and turn our hearts fully around.
Repenting reminds me of the story of the painter who waters down the paint that fails to stick for long.
A voice reminds him to "repaint" and to "thin" no more!
Like each of us this trek through Advent.
Awakening to the like of evergreen hope, or...?
Monday, November 23, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Prayer and the Power of Oneness for Marriages, Family
A family that prays together stays together. There is power in praying. Prayer heals. I believe that.
That adage of a family praying together was learned well at home. It haunts me as it reminds me to "pray always," as the apostle of the Gentiles, Paul of Tarsus, is quick to note to readers in the greatest story ever told about Jesus in the Bible.
My family of nine on Detroit's east side walked miles in procession along this City's auto capital of the world's Van Dyke Avenue to our home church of Saint Thomas the Apostle where my six siblings and I went to the parish school where we worshiped in the Romanesque edifice built in 1926.
The power of prayer is always present, thank God. Early on in my childhood, in fact, it was common practice for my mother and father to teach us how to pray while we all knelt at the bedside before being tucked in for the night's sleep.
It seems that mothers are really the center of the family in preparing supper, and, calling us to prayer, cleaning my room, and doing my homework. My dad had multiple jobs also, like my homemaker mom, who reported for his midnight shift to work as a crane operator at the Budd Company. Often, he would report to the nearby junk yard for a daylong job to help make ends meet in our large family.
Learning to pray in communion, ("at-one-ment" - atonement) with the Maker came early in my life. Conventional prayers like the "Our Father," "Hail Mary," and, a Sunday after noon radio rosary recitation of five decades had us all repeating these well-learned verses.
Couple the prayer with our mandatory meals together, and, I experienced the making of an enduring and God-fearing family that was far from perfect. We seemed to accept the happy and sad realities of life's trek like a fast-moving train we boarded. Like praying, a quick-paced walk was a common practice dad taught for our family, the "first school," that taught us the value of hard work, commitment to purpose in serving God and society, and, the "I do" and the duration of their five-decades old marriage that dad and mom promised on their wedding day, and each moment after, "in sickness, and, in health, and, in good times and in bad, 'til death do us part."
Arcola Street was a village of neighbors who looked out for each other in the 1950s. The nurse across the street from our two-story aluminum-sided home, for example, could be called at any hour when one of my brothers or sisters fell on the stairway to our bedrooms upstairs, or, when we descended them. Midway was a radiator that seemed to wait for our feet that tripped up. In turn, bleeding bruises needed special mending.
We seemed to pray more also, then. When death took a neighbor, or a relative, prayer was part of the package in the process. Being poor helped to keep my family dependent on God. I remember praying that the old Dodge vehicle we rode would arrive to our destination since dad did not have a driver's license. His Port Austin, MI., education was limited, while my mother from graduated from the eight grade in Cheboygan, MI., and moved to Detroit as a teen to secure a job to send money back home for her merged family of twelve.
Urban areas across this Nation note a low-rate of children having both parents these days, a mother and a father. Family is fledgling, for sure. "God help us," is a sure prayer that clergy, among other advocates reiterate relying on the Bible's author of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Scriptures charging Adam and Eve "to increase and multiply, and have dominion over the Earth." The "first institution" of our society has given way to massive numbers of fracturing marriages, in turn, the trauma that children experience with divorce.
To this end, an inter-religious coalition of clergy, and, other faithful in Macomb County, Michigan, forged a
Community Marriage Covenant Policy in 2009, in collaboration with Defending Our Father's House founded by physician Michael Ross, M.D., calling for sexual abstinence for teens, protection of children from abuse, faithfulness of married couples for the duration of their married living, counseling with mentor couples for young, troubled, and, couples in crisis, retreats, and, regular couple prayer times for perspective, with, sharing of marital resources. Additionally, leadership by the Michigan Family Church, in Warren, MI., namely with the Rev. David Kasbow of the American Clergy Leadership Council, has steered "Marriage Motown 2020" with Prepare/Enrich sessions, Annual Summer Tent Revivals in Dowtown Detroit, Occupying the Corner Chene/Lafayette, and, countless other initiatives to strengthen marriage and family, including Jewish, Christian, Muslim faithful, and more.
In fact, on December 9th at 9 am, Detroit area clergy with Michael McManus, among others will testify at a Michigan legislative committee hearing for longer "waiting periods" for divorcing couples. Clergy aim to use that "waiting" time for pastoral interventions for the couple related to conflict resolving and communication skills. Ever since "No-Fault Divorce," was decreed in the United States of America, marriage and family has been slipping away as the foundation of civilization. France and Great Britain have few divorces compared to the U.S., for example. Clergy hope to launch more marriage covenants across this land, and, to prevent so-called family lawyers from pressing for the onslaught of divorces.
Prayer will heal and mend families with clergy stepping up to the plate to form marital mentor couples, to challenge parents to respect and endure their "I Do," and, to strengthen marriage and family. In turn, the American economy will also benefit. The power of pray and fasting will enable this initiative. God help us!
That adage of a family praying together was learned well at home. It haunts me as it reminds me to "pray always," as the apostle of the Gentiles, Paul of Tarsus, is quick to note to readers in the greatest story ever told about Jesus in the Bible.
My family of nine on Detroit's east side walked miles in procession along this City's auto capital of the world's Van Dyke Avenue to our home church of Saint Thomas the Apostle where my six siblings and I went to the parish school where we worshiped in the Romanesque edifice built in 1926.
The power of prayer is always present, thank God. Early on in my childhood, in fact, it was common practice for my mother and father to teach us how to pray while we all knelt at the bedside before being tucked in for the night's sleep.
It seems that mothers are really the center of the family in preparing supper, and, calling us to prayer, cleaning my room, and doing my homework. My dad had multiple jobs also, like my homemaker mom, who reported for his midnight shift to work as a crane operator at the Budd Company. Often, he would report to the nearby junk yard for a daylong job to help make ends meet in our large family.
Learning to pray in communion, ("at-one-ment" - atonement) with the Maker came early in my life. Conventional prayers like the "Our Father," "Hail Mary," and, a Sunday after noon radio rosary recitation of five decades had us all repeating these well-learned verses.
Couple the prayer with our mandatory meals together, and, I experienced the making of an enduring and God-fearing family that was far from perfect. We seemed to accept the happy and sad realities of life's trek like a fast-moving train we boarded. Like praying, a quick-paced walk was a common practice dad taught for our family, the "first school," that taught us the value of hard work, commitment to purpose in serving God and society, and, the "I do" and the duration of their five-decades old marriage that dad and mom promised on their wedding day, and each moment after, "in sickness, and, in health, and, in good times and in bad, 'til death do us part."
Arcola Street was a village of neighbors who looked out for each other in the 1950s. The nurse across the street from our two-story aluminum-sided home, for example, could be called at any hour when one of my brothers or sisters fell on the stairway to our bedrooms upstairs, or, when we descended them. Midway was a radiator that seemed to wait for our feet that tripped up. In turn, bleeding bruises needed special mending.
We seemed to pray more also, then. When death took a neighbor, or a relative, prayer was part of the package in the process. Being poor helped to keep my family dependent on God. I remember praying that the old Dodge vehicle we rode would arrive to our destination since dad did not have a driver's license. His Port Austin, MI., education was limited, while my mother from graduated from the eight grade in Cheboygan, MI., and moved to Detroit as a teen to secure a job to send money back home for her merged family of twelve.
Urban areas across this Nation note a low-rate of children having both parents these days, a mother and a father. Family is fledgling, for sure. "God help us," is a sure prayer that clergy, among other advocates reiterate relying on the Bible's author of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Scriptures charging Adam and Eve "to increase and multiply, and have dominion over the Earth." The "first institution" of our society has given way to massive numbers of fracturing marriages, in turn, the trauma that children experience with divorce.
To this end, an inter-religious coalition of clergy, and, other faithful in Macomb County, Michigan, forged a
Community Marriage Covenant Policy in 2009, in collaboration with Defending Our Father's House founded by physician Michael Ross, M.D., calling for sexual abstinence for teens, protection of children from abuse, faithfulness of married couples for the duration of their married living, counseling with mentor couples for young, troubled, and, couples in crisis, retreats, and, regular couple prayer times for perspective, with, sharing of marital resources. Additionally, leadership by the Michigan Family Church, in Warren, MI., namely with the Rev. David Kasbow of the American Clergy Leadership Council, has steered "Marriage Motown 2020" with Prepare/Enrich sessions, Annual Summer Tent Revivals in Dowtown Detroit, Occupying the Corner Chene/Lafayette, and, countless other initiatives to strengthen marriage and family, including Jewish, Christian, Muslim faithful, and more.
In fact, on December 9th at 9 am, Detroit area clergy with Michael McManus, among others will testify at a Michigan legislative committee hearing for longer "waiting periods" for divorcing couples. Clergy aim to use that "waiting" time for pastoral interventions for the couple related to conflict resolving and communication skills. Ever since "No-Fault Divorce," was decreed in the United States of America, marriage and family has been slipping away as the foundation of civilization. France and Great Britain have few divorces compared to the U.S., for example. Clergy hope to launch more marriage covenants across this land, and, to prevent so-called family lawyers from pressing for the onslaught of divorces.
Prayer will heal and mend families with clergy stepping up to the plate to form marital mentor couples, to challenge parents to respect and endure their "I Do," and, to strengthen marriage and family. In turn, the American economy will also benefit. The power of pray and fasting will enable this initiative. God help us!
Friday, October 30, 2015
ALL SAINTS SERMON: a homily on the Beatitudes of the Gospels by Lawrence M. Ventline, D.Min, Ph.D.
Attitudes of being.
Matthew 5:1-12 tells of qualities of saintliness of women and men down through the ages.
The most recent saints - a family - includes the parents of Teresa of Lisoux. Pope Francis canonized the parents of this honorary doctor of the church who died at 24.
Yet, from her bed she sent an aroma of Jesus the Christ, and, is spending her Heaven on earth doing good!
Blessed the peacemaker in the family.
Blessed the pure and clean of heart, the single-minded who has as her or his focus the will of God.
Blessed the persecuted for Christ's sake.
How blessed are those who work for justice.
Such efforts begin with the courtliness and courtesy of Francis of Italy. One able to say:
"I'm sorry!"
"Thank you!"
"Please?"
"Excuse me."
"Numb," people are numb to that a librarian concluded yesterday when we talked about courtesy today.
Being numb.
Not a good think.
Like being addicted to toxins, or, substance or chemical addictions that make one numb enough to lose awareness of what one does, or, is doing. When under the "influence," for example, one is prone to behave in ways that he or she would not when NOT under the influence of alcohol or heroine, for example.
We celebrate saints today. Wonderful human beings who we look up to today as models of living the 'full life" and lives well spent on earth all the way to Heaven.
"When the saints go marching in.... I want to be among that number!
"When the saints go marching in....!
Matthew 5:1-12 tells of qualities of saintliness of women and men down through the ages.
The most recent saints - a family - includes the parents of Teresa of Lisoux. Pope Francis canonized the parents of this honorary doctor of the church who died at 24.
Yet, from her bed she sent an aroma of Jesus the Christ, and, is spending her Heaven on earth doing good!
Blessed the peacemaker in the family.
Blessed the pure and clean of heart, the single-minded who has as her or his focus the will of God.
Blessed the persecuted for Christ's sake.
How blessed are those who work for justice.
Such efforts begin with the courtliness and courtesy of Francis of Italy. One able to say:
"I'm sorry!"
"Thank you!"
"Please?"
"Excuse me."
"Numb," people are numb to that a librarian concluded yesterday when we talked about courtesy today.
Being numb.
Not a good think.
Like being addicted to toxins, or, substance or chemical addictions that make one numb enough to lose awareness of what one does, or, is doing. When under the "influence," for example, one is prone to behave in ways that he or she would not when NOT under the influence of alcohol or heroine, for example.
We celebrate saints today. Wonderful human beings who we look up to today as models of living the 'full life" and lives well spent on earth all the way to Heaven.
"When the saints go marching in.... I want to be among that number!
"When the saints go marching in....!
Saturday, October 10, 2015
IGNORING PROTESTERS IN DEARBORN, MICHIGAN
Engage not with those who protest today in Dearborn, Michigan.
Tensions could mount if one enters the fray at the City Hall, or, nearby, where protesters gather once more in their 'making the rounds' routine of stirring up trouble across this "home of the brave and land of the free!"
Life. liberty and the pursuit of happiness needs to be kept in the context in which it was meant in our cherished U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is taking on varying meanings by ill-intended interpreters of the Law. Shame on them. And, Supreme Court Justices ruling for the law of the land is threatening our savored Democracy that was once firm and foundational for all peoples in what was a very representative government.
The naysayers apparently are troubled by the rising births and influx of Muslim believers here in the United States of America.
City officials have managed to keep the City calm in the past, and, the Mayor, among others will likely succeed again today amid this week's Fox program that satirized some with Bill O'Reilly leading the pack. Can't help but wonder how Hamtramck, Michigan, a 2.2 square-mile town surrounded by Detroit and Highland Park, would fare. Hamtramck represents over forty nations, some claim.
Words are important. Actions more so. All lives matter. Diversity is in the DNA of my America, and, my Motown, and, its regions. For sure!
Ignore troublemakers who want to dominate the news today...or, the land, or Dearborn, forever, for that matter.
Stay home.
Tensions could mount if one enters the fray at the City Hall, or, nearby, where protesters gather once more in their 'making the rounds' routine of stirring up trouble across this "home of the brave and land of the free!"
Life. liberty and the pursuit of happiness needs to be kept in the context in which it was meant in our cherished U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is taking on varying meanings by ill-intended interpreters of the Law. Shame on them. And, Supreme Court Justices ruling for the law of the land is threatening our savored Democracy that was once firm and foundational for all peoples in what was a very representative government.
The naysayers apparently are troubled by the rising births and influx of Muslim believers here in the United States of America.
City officials have managed to keep the City calm in the past, and, the Mayor, among others will likely succeed again today amid this week's Fox program that satirized some with Bill O'Reilly leading the pack. Can't help but wonder how Hamtramck, Michigan, a 2.2 square-mile town surrounded by Detroit and Highland Park, would fare. Hamtramck represents over forty nations, some claim.
Words are important. Actions more so. All lives matter. Diversity is in the DNA of my America, and, my Motown, and, its regions. For sure!
Ignore troublemakers who want to dominate the news today...or, the land, or Dearborn, forever, for that matter.
Stay home.
SUNDAY'S SERMON: A HOMILY BASED ON HEBREWS 4:12-13, MARK 10:17-30
Unlike the reasoning Job (Job 23:1-17), in Mark's Gospel today, Jesus shows the way to respond to God.
A rich man offers his personal credentials for finding favor with the Maker. You know, self-made man, and more!
From his youth, he kept all the commandments, apparently, and, told the Master Jesus as much.
The young man lacked one thing, however: Fully following Jesus.
Jesus told him to sell everything he owned, and, to give to the poor, and, then, to follow the Master of loving kindness. Shocked as Job, or, perhaps any of us here today would have been, who aim to impress God on our own terms, with our own earthly credentials, and then some!
Jesus replies to his surprised disciples venturing into humor, which if the 12 disciples got, the Church has missed almost completely. Unwilling to see a love of money excluding a love for God, may be the issue here, no? Two loves? Divided hearts, perhaps. We're left to figure it out.
What God demands such a choice?
Hebrews, feeds us with a God whose Word is awesome and fearsome, "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow...Before Him no creature is hidden...to this One we all must render an account."
Growing well into that image of God helps to appreciate the vision of the great High Priest of Hebrews in God's Word today.
Our God is One who is able to sympathize with our weakness.
The ancient Gospel hymn expresses the feeling:
"Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer."
Like here, now, or, at home, at work, at the lunch table at school, and here at the Table of the Word, and, at the Altar of Sacrament, Eucharist, a Greek word that means, "thanksgiving."
Monday, October 5, 2015
'Talk or Walk' Evangelizing with Good News
Three Ways to Bring the Gospel Where You Are
By Lawrence M. Ventline, D.Min.
To walk, or, to talk?
That is the question. At the corner of Chene and Lafayette Avenues in Detroit, Michigan, that is the initial concern I have as noticing becomes key to engaging passersby further.
Does the passerby I see in this busy downtown business and residential area, across from the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Apartments, want to engage with me? If his or her body language negatively indicates more than my smile and greeting, I pass, after saying, "Good Day!" And, if she or he seems to be a willing conversant with me, I say, "Hi., how may I pray for you today?"
In furthering my conversation, here's proposing three ways to bring the "Good News" of Jesus the Christ on the street, in particular, but, generally, these ways work at the office, in the domestic church at home, and, in the neighborhood also.
(1) Greet and Meet
Hospitality is crucial for anyone who may perceive me as a stranger who is perceived as unfamiliar. "Stranger danger" in my Motown where I grew up near the Detroit City Airport, enfolds many residents. Fear is paramount in our culture today, even though Jesus suggests in the Bible that fear is useless, and, what is needed is trust. Since 9/11/2001, people seem on edge, let alone in some instances angry. Gentle assertion is in order, therefore, in every step of evangelizing.
(2) Content of My Approach in Street Ministry
After assessing that the passerby is welcoming, I am able to attract my fellow pilgrim near downtown Detroit, the auto capital of the world, and, home to more than fifty nations in the Detroit, Dearborn and Hamtamck, Michigan region. After all, immigrant fled their homelands of Poland and more in the 20s and 30's for the Dodge Plant in Hamtramck. They sought employment and a salary for their own maintenance, and, for their family back in the mother land. After all, my own parents emerged from farming towns of Bad Axe and Cheboygan, Michigan, northern areas where agriculture dominated both of my parents merged families of twelve siblings in each home. My dad came to Detroit and worked for the Budd Company while a teen, while my mother left Cheboygan to work at Pilgrim Laundry, or, to clean huge homes occupied by Jewish families in northwest Detroit, for example.
"How may I pray for you?" I ask. Inevitably, most name their own issue as the need for employment, or, for recovery from addiction, or, some illness. Armed with contact information for the iconic Focus:HOPE, a civil and human rights service, employment training, and a women's, children's and senior's feeding center, for example, I hand her or him a card or a sheet with the address and phone number to resources for passersby to benefit from in their need.
They gratefully acknowledge the information I hand each of them in my few hours of 'making the rounds of pastoral care. What a street evangelizer says will make or break the well-intentioned encounter. Content is crucial. At times, a lit bar-b-q grille with hot dogs or hamburgers become the way to a man or woman's soul as each passes on Chene, for example. The aroma fills passersby nostrils. They stop and ask, especially if they are hungry, or seeking God.
(3) Prayer is Vital Before and After Each Encounter
Well before I arrive by 10 am at least three days a week at what I like to dub as, Occupying the Corner with Good News, Psalms, Liturgy of the Hours, Mass, the rosary, or, centering prayer, comprises my conversations and prayer with God.
I cannot give what I do not have. Without sustenance in prayer, I am without the "fuel," let alone the fire for renewal, recovery, and Good News to share, for sure.
Furthermore, keeping the focus of this entire encounter demands a prayerful heart. Like Solomon of the Hebrew Scriptures, I pray for an "understanding heart."
Concluding Summary
Most days fill me with satisfaction as I arrive home after a few hours of intense evangelization on the corner near downtown Detroit, called, Elmwood Park Community. I would be less than honest if I failed to report that frustration may also fill my time spreading the Good News. After prayer, for example, one may say, "I don't need a job; I get what I need from Uncle Sam." Jobs give people meaning and purposeful living with satisfaction in helping grow the economy and the community, more importantly. Entitlements may work against my moments with each passerby.
I entrust each session, and, encounter with a passerby to the Creator. After all, it is God's world. I am an agent for the Maker. And, an important one, but, only that.
(A Catholic pastor, and, a board certified professional counselor in the Archdiocese of Detroit, MI., Father Lawrence M. Ventline, earned a doctor of ministry at Saint mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, MD. His doctoral thesis is, "The Witness Value of the Visit of Pope John Paul II to Detroit in 1988: Its Meaning and Message." He directs the VENT-Line Center for Inter-Religious Dialog in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Harrison Township, MI., where he currently resides.)
L. Ventline
25559 Waterway
Harrison Twp., MI. 48045
(313) 530 2777
By Lawrence M. Ventline, D.Min.
To walk, or, to talk?
That is the question. At the corner of Chene and Lafayette Avenues in Detroit, Michigan, that is the initial concern I have as noticing becomes key to engaging passersby further.
Does the passerby I see in this busy downtown business and residential area, across from the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Apartments, want to engage with me? If his or her body language negatively indicates more than my smile and greeting, I pass, after saying, "Good Day!" And, if she or he seems to be a willing conversant with me, I say, "Hi., how may I pray for you today?"
In furthering my conversation, here's proposing three ways to bring the "Good News" of Jesus the Christ on the street, in particular, but, generally, these ways work at the office, in the domestic church at home, and, in the neighborhood also.
(1) Greet and Meet
Hospitality is crucial for anyone who may perceive me as a stranger who is perceived as unfamiliar. "Stranger danger" in my Motown where I grew up near the Detroit City Airport, enfolds many residents. Fear is paramount in our culture today, even though Jesus suggests in the Bible that fear is useless, and, what is needed is trust. Since 9/11/2001, people seem on edge, let alone in some instances angry. Gentle assertion is in order, therefore, in every step of evangelizing.
(2) Content of My Approach in Street Ministry
After assessing that the passerby is welcoming, I am able to attract my fellow pilgrim near downtown Detroit, the auto capital of the world, and, home to more than fifty nations in the Detroit, Dearborn and Hamtamck, Michigan region. After all, immigrant fled their homelands of Poland and more in the 20s and 30's for the Dodge Plant in Hamtramck. They sought employment and a salary for their own maintenance, and, for their family back in the mother land. After all, my own parents emerged from farming towns of Bad Axe and Cheboygan, Michigan, northern areas where agriculture dominated both of my parents merged families of twelve siblings in each home. My dad came to Detroit and worked for the Budd Company while a teen, while my mother left Cheboygan to work at Pilgrim Laundry, or, to clean huge homes occupied by Jewish families in northwest Detroit, for example.
"How may I pray for you?" I ask. Inevitably, most name their own issue as the need for employment, or, for recovery from addiction, or, some illness. Armed with contact information for the iconic Focus:HOPE, a civil and human rights service, employment training, and a women's, children's and senior's feeding center, for example, I hand her or him a card or a sheet with the address and phone number to resources for passersby to benefit from in their need.
They gratefully acknowledge the information I hand each of them in my few hours of 'making the rounds of pastoral care. What a street evangelizer says will make or break the well-intentioned encounter. Content is crucial. At times, a lit bar-b-q grille with hot dogs or hamburgers become the way to a man or woman's soul as each passes on Chene, for example. The aroma fills passersby nostrils. They stop and ask, especially if they are hungry, or seeking God.
(3) Prayer is Vital Before and After Each Encounter
Well before I arrive by 10 am at least three days a week at what I like to dub as, Occupying the Corner with Good News, Psalms, Liturgy of the Hours, Mass, the rosary, or, centering prayer, comprises my conversations and prayer with God.
I cannot give what I do not have. Without sustenance in prayer, I am without the "fuel," let alone the fire for renewal, recovery, and Good News to share, for sure.
Furthermore, keeping the focus of this entire encounter demands a prayerful heart. Like Solomon of the Hebrew Scriptures, I pray for an "understanding heart."
Concluding Summary
Most days fill me with satisfaction as I arrive home after a few hours of intense evangelization on the corner near downtown Detroit, called, Elmwood Park Community. I would be less than honest if I failed to report that frustration may also fill my time spreading the Good News. After prayer, for example, one may say, "I don't need a job; I get what I need from Uncle Sam." Jobs give people meaning and purposeful living with satisfaction in helping grow the economy and the community, more importantly. Entitlements may work against my moments with each passerby.
I entrust each session, and, encounter with a passerby to the Creator. After all, it is God's world. I am an agent for the Maker. And, an important one, but, only that.
(A Catholic pastor, and, a board certified professional counselor in the Archdiocese of Detroit, MI., Father Lawrence M. Ventline, earned a doctor of ministry at Saint mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, MD. His doctoral thesis is, "The Witness Value of the Visit of Pope John Paul II to Detroit in 1988: Its Meaning and Message." He directs the VENT-Line Center for Inter-Religious Dialog in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Harrison Township, MI., where he currently resides.)
L. Ventline
25559 Waterway
Harrison Twp., MI. 48045
(313) 530 2777
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Rockin' Revival, October 16, 12 Noon at Chene/Lafayette, Downtown Detroit, Michigan USA
Love is the Answer.
That's the name of an inter-religious revival with multiple preachers and rocking music Friday, Oct. 16, 2016 in the Elmwood Park Community Plaza, Occupying the Corner at Chene and Lafayette, Detroit 48207.
Join Bishop Arthur Barnes of International Beginning Ministries on Grayling, Hamtramck, MI., and Father Lawrence Ventline, of the All-Faiths Festival Cura Animarum/Care of the Soul Center for Inter-Religious Dialog/Counseling, among others, preaching on LOVE IS THE ANSWER. All are welcome!
Freewill offering for the entertaining hymns, jazz, and more melodies of LOVE!
Share a vegetable tray or protein dish and non-toxic beverages after, please.
We will rock across the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Apartments at Chene/Lafayette, Friday, Oct. 16th. Bring a chair if you need to sit, otherwise we will be on the way, ON PILGRIMAGE, as it were.
Under the dome.
That's the name of an inter-religious revival with multiple preachers and rocking music Friday, Oct. 16, 2016 in the Elmwood Park Community Plaza, Occupying the Corner at Chene and Lafayette, Detroit 48207.
Join Bishop Arthur Barnes of International Beginning Ministries on Grayling, Hamtramck, MI., and Father Lawrence Ventline, of the All-Faiths Festival Cura Animarum/Care of the Soul Center for Inter-Religious Dialog/Counseling, among others, preaching on LOVE IS THE ANSWER. All are welcome!
Freewill offering for the entertaining hymns, jazz, and more melodies of LOVE!
Share a vegetable tray or protein dish and non-toxic beverages after, please.
We will rock across the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Apartments at Chene/Lafayette, Friday, Oct. 16th. Bring a chair if you need to sit, otherwise we will be on the way, ON PILGRIMAGE, as it were.
Under the dome.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Advanced Manufacturing at Macomb Community College, Warren, MI.
Hope.
Healing. Help. A job.
Occupying the Corner for Christ at Chene/Lafayette in downtown Detroit an advance manufacturing job training program is tauted for Wednesday, Oct. 14, 6-8 pm at www.macomb.edu/infosession, or, 586.445.7108. Detroit Focus:HOPE is also available for manufacturing training, and help for women, infants, children, and more.
Robotic welding, machining, and production operator are among the job one may land once trained.
LAND A JOB FOR MEANING AND PURPOSE PROMISING A FUTURE OF FUN, WELLNESS, SECURITY, AND MORE!
=========================================================
FAMILY FIRST SUNDAY!
BELLE ISLE PICNIC FOR ALL IN SHELTER 19 ALONG THE DETROIT RIVER NORTH AND NEXT TO THE YACHT CLUB WITH FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY. INTERFACING FAITHS WITH FACES OF FLEDGLING FAMILY TODAY.
BRING YOUR OWN UMBRELLA FOR SHADE, AND, FOOD FOR 7 WITH PROTEINS AND VEGETABLES. THERE WILL BE AN OPTIONAL MASS BY REQUEST WITH FATHER LAWRENCE VENTLINE AT 7 PM FOR ALL. FAMILY FIRST!
an all-faiths festival care of the soul/cura animarum VENT-Line Center for inter-religious dialog/counseling. Call 989.738.6022 for an appointment. You are worth it!
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Mosques and Merging of Minds and Hearts to Understand, More Fully Integrate Into American Culture, Way of Living, Loving
Imams with Bishop Francis of Chaldean Community, Other Clergy Need to Talk "Turkey"
By Lawrence M. Ventline, D.Min.
Facilitator/Founder of the All-Faiths Festival/Cura Animarum/Care of the Soul and Companions
VENT-Line Center for Inter-Religious Dialog/Counseling
Hamtramck, MI., 48212
Next Tuesday, September 15th at 12 Noon, civic leaders, business owners along Caniff and Jos. Campau Avenues, coupled with clergy, and Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Father Norman Thomas, Chaldean Bishop Francis, and, Imams Hushum Al-Husainy of the Dearborn, MI., Karbala, Ali Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom, among others, are invited to join minds and merge with a spiritual plan to address the issues of the de-Christianization of Iraq, the birthplace of Christianity, and, the American Islamic Community Center of Madison Heights, MI.-led initiative to build a mosque near 15 Mile Road/Mound, in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Like the simple and smart politician-Pope Francis, Chaldean Catholic Bishop Francis called me months ago and identified himself as "Francis." I hesitated and wondered which Francis - the Pope,?or, Chaldean leader?
"Bishop Francis," said the upbeat and engaging Oakland County-based head of the huge and troubled Chaldean community here in Michigan and abroad, of course.
Besides crafting a plan to address both concerns of God's people, participants will mingle to hear each other's pain as fracture further divides Madison Heights, Dearborn, Detroit, Hamtramck, in fact, much of Michigan, and the Middle East, and, more. We will sit as brothers and sisters to seriously start a conversation on radicalized jihadism, God-willing, when it emerges from the "working" lunch meeting that will end by 1:15 pm unless the group decides otherwise by consensus.
Reservations are required, please, to effectively plan for the meeting, by noting your name, number and affiliation, at lawencematthewventline@gmail.com, or, 313.5302777, by 5 pm Monday, 9/14.
Pray please that God continues to bless our endeavors to be the Gospel peacemakers that Jesus speaks of, and, the Psalms of the Hebrew Scriptures sing, and, the serenity the Koran notes.
My gratitudeto you for listening and attending to this effort.
By Lawrence M. Ventline, D.Min.
Facilitator/Founder of the All-Faiths Festival/Cura Animarum/Care of the Soul and Companions
VENT-Line Center for Inter-Religious Dialog/Counseling
Hamtramck, MI., 48212
Next Tuesday, September 15th at 12 Noon, civic leaders, business owners along Caniff and Jos. Campau Avenues, coupled with clergy, and Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Father Norman Thomas, Chaldean Bishop Francis, and, Imams Hushum Al-Husainy of the Dearborn, MI., Karbala, Ali Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom, among others, are invited to join minds and merge with a spiritual plan to address the issues of the de-Christianization of Iraq, the birthplace of Christianity, and, the American Islamic Community Center of Madison Heights, MI.-led initiative to build a mosque near 15 Mile Road/Mound, in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Like the simple and smart politician-Pope Francis, Chaldean Catholic Bishop Francis called me months ago and identified himself as "Francis." I hesitated and wondered which Francis - the Pope,?or, Chaldean leader?
"Bishop Francis," said the upbeat and engaging Oakland County-based head of the huge and troubled Chaldean community here in Michigan and abroad, of course.
Besides crafting a plan to address both concerns of God's people, participants will mingle to hear each other's pain as fracture further divides Madison Heights, Dearborn, Detroit, Hamtramck, in fact, much of Michigan, and the Middle East, and, more. We will sit as brothers and sisters to seriously start a conversation on radicalized jihadism, God-willing, when it emerges from the "working" lunch meeting that will end by 1:15 pm unless the group decides otherwise by consensus.
Reservations are required, please, to effectively plan for the meeting, by noting your name, number and affiliation, at lawencematthewventline@gmail.com, or, 313.5302777, by 5 pm Monday, 9/14.
Pray please that God continues to bless our endeavors to be the Gospel peacemakers that Jesus speaks of, and, the Psalms of the Hebrew Scriptures sing, and, the serenity the Koran notes.
My gratitudeto you for listening and attending to this effort.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
eye see you/intensive care unit/i.c.u.
Neighborliness.
It was good enough in Bible times.
And, it has to be good for us also, no?
'Love your neighbor as yourself,' or, 'Treat others as you want others to treat you,' notes the Golden Rule implied in the Good Book.
Consequently, Thursday, October 8th, 6 pm, the Harrison Cove Condominium Association Neighborhood Watch that began in 2009 meets for its annual 'check up' on the health and security of the 'hood of Harrison Township, MI., 48045. We're awaiting the Jeff Podolasky Managing Company to be the neighbor we need now, also, to secure our Cove Community Center meeting.
E-mail: lawrencematthewventline@gmail.com for more information, please.
And, be a good neighbor...before the Police show up for some unbiblical behavior, OK?
Or, talk to me at the above address, please?
It was good enough in Bible times.
And, it has to be good for us also, no?
'Love your neighbor as yourself,' or, 'Treat others as you want others to treat you,' notes the Golden Rule implied in the Good Book.
Consequently, Thursday, October 8th, 6 pm, the Harrison Cove Condominium Association Neighborhood Watch that began in 2009 meets for its annual 'check up' on the health and security of the 'hood of Harrison Township, MI., 48045. We're awaiting the Jeff Podolasky Managing Company to be the neighbor we need now, also, to secure our Cove Community Center meeting.
E-mail: lawrencematthewventline@gmail.com for more information, please.
And, be a good neighbor...before the Police show up for some unbiblical behavior, OK?
Or, talk to me at the above address, please?
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Motown Michigan Marriage Revivals
"My house will be a house of prayer for all peoples," notes the Good Book.
How beautiful that sisters and brothers believe in the Maker and work together for the common good as Children of Abraham - Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and more.
That's what Bishop Arthur Barnes will be about -- hosting a revival --Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 6:30 pm: A Revival 4 All International Beginning Ministries. The humble edifice is located at 2335 Grayling, west of Jos. Campau in Hamtramck, MI., 48212.
All are welcome. All faiths. Imams, pastors, rabbis, and more. Be right at home, will you? Contact the good bishop at
internationalbeginningministries@yahoo.com.
Following that revival will be another one --ecumenical also--Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 6:30 pm at Chene/Lafayette, Detroit, 48207, in the Value Land Parking lot across the street from the Rev. Dr. Martin Lutheran King, Jr., Apartments. Archbishop George Stallings, Jr., of the Imani African-American Catholic Congregation in the greater Washington, D.C. area in Suitland, Maryland, will be the revival preacher with Detroit pastor, the Reverend Horace Sheffield, and, Pilgrim Baptist Church co-pastor, Rev. Dr. Yvette Griffin giving testimonies. Refreshments will be served. The theme is strengthening marriage and family. All are welcome here also!
The All-Faiths Festival (A-FF) of the Center for Inter-Religious Dialog and Coaching/Counseling is host with a collection of other music ministers, and more.
Contact Rev. Dr. Lawrence M. Ventline at (313) 530 2777, or write him at lawrencematthewventline@gmail.com for more information, or, to assist in defraying the costs,
make checks payable for either, or both revivals, American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC), 2335 Grayling, Hamtramck, MI., 48212, with "Revivals" in subject line, please. And, thanks.
Pray nightly at 10 pm for revival of marriage and family by contacting Bishop Barnes or Father Ventline for the praying conference call number and code, or, mutzim@aol.com.
How beautiful that sisters and brothers believe in the Maker and work together for the common good as Children of Abraham - Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and more.
That's what Bishop Arthur Barnes will be about -- hosting a revival --Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 6:30 pm: A Revival 4 All International Beginning Ministries. The humble edifice is located at 2335 Grayling, west of Jos. Campau in Hamtramck, MI., 48212.
All are welcome. All faiths. Imams, pastors, rabbis, and more. Be right at home, will you? Contact the good bishop at
internationalbeginningministries@yahoo.com.
Following that revival will be another one --ecumenical also--Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 6:30 pm at Chene/Lafayette, Detroit, 48207, in the Value Land Parking lot across the street from the Rev. Dr. Martin Lutheran King, Jr., Apartments. Archbishop George Stallings, Jr., of the Imani African-American Catholic Congregation in the greater Washington, D.C. area in Suitland, Maryland, will be the revival preacher with Detroit pastor, the Reverend Horace Sheffield, and, Pilgrim Baptist Church co-pastor, Rev. Dr. Yvette Griffin giving testimonies. Refreshments will be served. The theme is strengthening marriage and family. All are welcome here also!
The All-Faiths Festival (A-FF) of the Center for Inter-Religious Dialog and Coaching/Counseling is host with a collection of other music ministers, and more.
Contact Rev. Dr. Lawrence M. Ventline at (313) 530 2777, or write him at lawrencematthewventline@gmail.com for more information, or, to assist in defraying the costs,
make checks payable for either, or both revivals, American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC), 2335 Grayling, Hamtramck, MI., 48212, with "Revivals" in subject line, please. And, thanks.
Pray nightly at 10 pm for revival of marriage and family by contacting Bishop Barnes or Father Ventline for the praying conference call number and code, or, mutzim@aol.com.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Mercy More Than Misery
Mercy.
That seems to be the way of openness.
The way to one's heart, and, beyond, deeper even into one's soul.
For sure.
Divine mercy.
It engages and locks in as it attracts humans on the trek of life's troubled tracks.
In a world and culture where mercy needs to overcome misery, compassion is called for today.
That seems to be the way of openness.
The way to one's heart, and, beyond, deeper even into one's soul.
For sure.
Divine mercy.
It engages and locks in as it attracts humans on the trek of life's troubled tracks.
In a world and culture where mercy needs to overcome misery, compassion is called for today.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
McCarthur Bridge March for Marriage August 2, 2015 at Historic Detroit Belle Isle Jewal of a Michigan State Park
11 am.
A March for Marriage moves across the McCarthur Bridge of Belle Isle State Park.
Balloons and bikes will be followed by breaking bread at the Fifth Annual Urban/Suburban Unity Pot Luck Picnic with Praise at the Playscape Area of the iconic park in the middle of the Detroit River.
At 10 am, youth will gather with their family at the Rev. S. Y. Moon Peace Pole near the picnic site to praise God and re-dedicate themselves to chastity before marriage, and more.
All are welcome.
The Anniversary Cake follows the pot luck lunch that will be served while participant arrive from the March for Marriage, the Rev. Moon Peace Pole Praise, and, common praise of God as the pastoral park.
Hundreds are expected of all-faith traditions, cultures and generations for games, dancing, drumming, and more.
For more information, contact Rabbi Dorit Edut at mutzim@aol.com, or, (313) 530 2777.
A March for Marriage moves across the McCarthur Bridge of Belle Isle State Park.
Balloons and bikes will be followed by breaking bread at the Fifth Annual Urban/Suburban Unity Pot Luck Picnic with Praise at the Playscape Area of the iconic park in the middle of the Detroit River.
At 10 am, youth will gather with their family at the Rev. S. Y. Moon Peace Pole near the picnic site to praise God and re-dedicate themselves to chastity before marriage, and more.
All are welcome.
The Anniversary Cake follows the pot luck lunch that will be served while participant arrive from the March for Marriage, the Rev. Moon Peace Pole Praise, and, common praise of God as the pastoral park.
Hundreds are expected of all-faith traditions, cultures and generations for games, dancing, drumming, and more.
For more information, contact Rabbi Dorit Edut at mutzim@aol.com, or, (313) 530 2777.
George Orwell 1984
A nightmarish and imaginary vision.
An admonition for the world of an impending compassion-less society.
Unengaging inhabitants, seemingly cold-heart creatures, and more.
Hope is disappearing, the author claims.
Sadly, resident of the good Earth seem unaware of this plight.
The hurry addiction, coupled with the "too busy" syndrome, diagnoses the predicament about the passing of 1984, and, the passing of compassion also.
Only awakening, waking up will move the march away from this prophetic and timely procession into the realm of promise and hope, praise God.
An admonition for the world of an impending compassion-less society.
Unengaging inhabitants, seemingly cold-heart creatures, and more.
Hope is disappearing, the author claims.
Sadly, resident of the good Earth seem unaware of this plight.
The hurry addiction, coupled with the "too busy" syndrome, diagnoses the predicament about the passing of 1984, and, the passing of compassion also.
Only awakening, waking up will move the march away from this prophetic and timely procession into the realm of promise and hope, praise God.
Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Sisters of the Holy Eucharist
In single file a half-dozen, or so, of Catholic Sisters dedicated to the Holy Eucharist, marched into St. Roch Catholic Church in Caseville, MI., yesterday, heading directly to two parishioners who were preparing a space in the parish hall for a sock hop Friday night.
Initially, as I drove past the Thumb Michigan edifice, the black and white veil encompassing the smiling faces of the Eucharistic nuns grabbed my attention on M-25, just west of Port Austin, MI., where my older brother, Bob, resides.
At first, I wondered where the marker was, but at second glance, I noticed that the Saginaw Dicoese church name was changed to Mother of Perpetual Help Church.
The good sisters announced their plight: No Mass at St. Michael (also a different name now) Church in Port Austin, and, is there Mass here at St. Rochs, they inquired of the curious women working in the church hall as more people flocked to see the array of black and white veils and long robes - not a usual sight anywhere these days.
Got to hand it to the Sisters, nevertheless.
They were determined to find a church with Mass. And, they were making a statement, for sure.
Supplying the Sacraments, including Mass, is an endangered species, so to speak.
"I will have Mass for you," I spoke up, "if we can use the church."
Smiles of pure innocence and joy turned toward me, and, we all marched in single file to the altar of God annexed to the hall.
What a delightful experience of prayer, I thought, with wonderful women of God who engaged in "full, active and conscious participation," just as the historic ecumenical Vatican Council II urged the global Catholic Church (1962-65), and, then some.
Surprised as they were, so was I as I reflected on the statement they were quietly and humbly making about supplying the holy sacraments to the faithful.
Hierarchs, listen up, please! The faithful need the Eucharist.
Initially, as I drove past the Thumb Michigan edifice, the black and white veil encompassing the smiling faces of the Eucharistic nuns grabbed my attention on M-25, just west of Port Austin, MI., where my older brother, Bob, resides.
At first, I wondered where the marker was, but at second glance, I noticed that the Saginaw Dicoese church name was changed to Mother of Perpetual Help Church.
The good sisters announced their plight: No Mass at St. Michael (also a different name now) Church in Port Austin, and, is there Mass here at St. Rochs, they inquired of the curious women working in the church hall as more people flocked to see the array of black and white veils and long robes - not a usual sight anywhere these days.
Got to hand it to the Sisters, nevertheless.
They were determined to find a church with Mass. And, they were making a statement, for sure.
Supplying the Sacraments, including Mass, is an endangered species, so to speak.
"I will have Mass for you," I spoke up, "if we can use the church."
Smiles of pure innocence and joy turned toward me, and, we all marched in single file to the altar of God annexed to the hall.
What a delightful experience of prayer, I thought, with wonderful women of God who engaged in "full, active and conscious participation," just as the historic ecumenical Vatican Council II urged the global Catholic Church (1962-65), and, then some.
Surprised as they were, so was I as I reflected on the statement they were quietly and humbly making about supplying the holy sacraments to the faithful.
Hierarchs, listen up, please! The faithful need the Eucharist.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Bible Study Violence, and, A Polish Doctor in Nazi Camps
God,
We need help.
Once more, violence, out of control with a 21-year-old at Bible study.
The gunner massacres many around the table in that South Carolina church edifice.
And, to think that Thursday night in Warren, MI., at a 'Celebrating Family' event in the Warren Civic Center, we went right on with our program without a pause to pray, to ponder the tragedy and make our plea to God for divine help.
Yet, Monday in the same place at 6 pm, a Polish Doctor in Nazi Camps was the topic of a book by her daughter.
That account of her mother's life from the horror of her experiences during World War II as a prisoner-doctor in 3 Jewish slave labor camps in Germany, to the triumphant rebuilding of her life, first as a refugee doctor in Germany and later as an immigrant to the U.S., should have been enough to stop me in my tracks.
Numb.
Have I become numb to the violence erupting every minute in my U.S.A.?
Have I?
That is a scary thought.
We need help.
Once more, violence, out of control with a 21-year-old at Bible study.
The gunner massacres many around the table in that South Carolina church edifice.
And, to think that Thursday night in Warren, MI., at a 'Celebrating Family' event in the Warren Civic Center, we went right on with our program without a pause to pray, to ponder the tragedy and make our plea to God for divine help.
Yet, Monday in the same place at 6 pm, a Polish Doctor in Nazi Camps was the topic of a book by her daughter.
That account of her mother's life from the horror of her experiences during World War II as a prisoner-doctor in 3 Jewish slave labor camps in Germany, to the triumphant rebuilding of her life, first as a refugee doctor in Germany and later as an immigrant to the U.S., should have been enough to stop me in my tracks.
Numb.
Have I become numb to the violence erupting every minute in my U.S.A.?
Have I?
That is a scary thought.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Guardians of Family
This Thursday at 6 pm, the Warren, Michigan Civic Center will be celebrating family with clergy, families, and more.
Family has been the foundation of our Founders. Back in 1776, in fact, the vision of this Nation's founders were clear about this basic cell of our society.
James Madison, along with other founders created an independent judiciary o serve as "an impenetrable bulwark against every assumption of power in the legislative or executive," noted Madison.
Our founders were "guardians" of our rights who affirmed the family institution, among other prized possessions of this beloved land.
The balance of powers is key to moving family forward.
For sure.
Conscience and respect for the law and vision of our founders is central to the plan outlined hundreds of years ago.
Government power is insufficient when it comes to protecting our rights, and, that of family today.
After all, "without a vision, people perish," claims the Good Book.
By now, this culture of chaos with 40 million U.S. addicts is reason enough to be sure that we are "one Nation under God."
Family has been the foundation of our Founders. Back in 1776, in fact, the vision of this Nation's founders were clear about this basic cell of our society.
James Madison, along with other founders created an independent judiciary o serve as "an impenetrable bulwark against every assumption of power in the legislative or executive," noted Madison.
Our founders were "guardians" of our rights who affirmed the family institution, among other prized possessions of this beloved land.
The balance of powers is key to moving family forward.
For sure.
Conscience and respect for the law and vision of our founders is central to the plan outlined hundreds of years ago.
Government power is insufficient when it comes to protecting our rights, and, that of family today.
After all, "without a vision, people perish," claims the Good Book.
By now, this culture of chaos with 40 million U.S. addicts is reason enough to be sure that we are "one Nation under God."
Thursday, April 30, 2015
The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long....
...But bends toward justice," declared the iconic Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is.
But, how long, O God, how long?
Not long, said King again.
More than moral complicity at Auschwitz for deaths of some 300,000 Jews.
Mr. Oskar Groning, 93, claims now his oral responsibility in his role as Waffen-SS officer in the brutality against mostly Hungarian Jews.
His trial April 21st was telling.
Justice needs serving in this long ordeal.
The arc bends toward it as King concedes so well.
He is a frail man speaking in a criminal trial that teeters too for this money counter on a walker now.
And, Saigon's fall reverberates still today like that sorry saga above.
North Vietnam forces were invading as America was frenetically getting out.
In college at the time, I wondered what this all meant while my brother was killed in the TET offensive in 1968, a time of so much disorder, assignations as in Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kenned, so many more men and women fighters, including the demise of South Vietnamese pressing against colonialism as Communism was the U.S.'s take.
April 30th.
4 decades ago tis week.
Blood ran like a river. And, shrapnel seared and knifed my brother there, my parents were told by U.S. officials on their 25th wedding anniversary.
Armed international aggression for containment was our reason for that war and its woes.
Support for that war vanished as some claim the U.S. was gaining ground there.
We were divided then.
Perhaps, we still are. Fragmented, disordered we are for sure.
Warriors returned in body bags like PFC Lukas Ventline, and some 58,000 more American soldiers.
Traumatized are still others today. And, forgotten, in many cases.
How sad.
Clarity about Vietnam and our role needs claiming now.
It was all fuzzy for this college Freshmen at Saint Mary's, Orchard Lake, Michigan 40 years ago.
Coming clean on this and all war helps me mend an unhealed wound, let along a loop long overdue for closure and clarity in the arc of justice.
I still wonder.
It is.
But, how long, O God, how long?
Not long, said King again.
More than moral complicity at Auschwitz for deaths of some 300,000 Jews.
Mr. Oskar Groning, 93, claims now his oral responsibility in his role as Waffen-SS officer in the brutality against mostly Hungarian Jews.
His trial April 21st was telling.
Justice needs serving in this long ordeal.
The arc bends toward it as King concedes so well.
He is a frail man speaking in a criminal trial that teeters too for this money counter on a walker now.
And, Saigon's fall reverberates still today like that sorry saga above.
North Vietnam forces were invading as America was frenetically getting out.
In college at the time, I wondered what this all meant while my brother was killed in the TET offensive in 1968, a time of so much disorder, assignations as in Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kenned, so many more men and women fighters, including the demise of South Vietnamese pressing against colonialism as Communism was the U.S.'s take.
April 30th.
4 decades ago tis week.
Blood ran like a river. And, shrapnel seared and knifed my brother there, my parents were told by U.S. officials on their 25th wedding anniversary.
Armed international aggression for containment was our reason for that war and its woes.
Support for that war vanished as some claim the U.S. was gaining ground there.
We were divided then.
Perhaps, we still are. Fragmented, disordered we are for sure.
Warriors returned in body bags like PFC Lukas Ventline, and some 58,000 more American soldiers.
Traumatized are still others today. And, forgotten, in many cases.
How sad.
Clarity about Vietnam and our role needs claiming now.
It was all fuzzy for this college Freshmen at Saint Mary's, Orchard Lake, Michigan 40 years ago.
Coming clean on this and all war helps me mend an unhealed wound, let along a loop long overdue for closure and clarity in the arc of justice.
I still wonder.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Vacations for Catholics, and Others Also
A pilgrimage to Poland.
And, a special presentation Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 6 pm in the Hamtramck Public Library, 2360 Caniff Avenue, 48212.
Warsaw, Niepokalanow Monastery, Swinice Warckie, Jasna Gora Monastery, Black Madonna, Wadowice, Krakow, Wawel Castle, Auschwitz, Zakopane, and more.
Pilgrimage starts Monday, Nov. 9th with an overnight flight from Detroit to Warsaw, Poland at Novotel Centrum. End Nov. 17 back in Warsaw.
Discounts now to resigerat jimadair@thecatholictour.com, 888 878 8187.
Or, contact me at lawrencematthewventline@gmail.com, or, call me at 313 530 2777, a chaplain who may join you if seven sign up.
And, a special presentation Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 6 pm in the Hamtramck Public Library, 2360 Caniff Avenue, 48212.
Warsaw, Niepokalanow Monastery, Swinice Warckie, Jasna Gora Monastery, Black Madonna, Wadowice, Krakow, Wawel Castle, Auschwitz, Zakopane, and more.
Pilgrimage starts Monday, Nov. 9th with an overnight flight from Detroit to Warsaw, Poland at Novotel Centrum. End Nov. 17 back in Warsaw.
Discounts now to resigerat jimadair@thecatholictour.com, 888 878 8187.
Or, contact me at lawrencematthewventline@gmail.com, or, call me at 313 530 2777, a chaplain who may join you if seven sign up.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Sunday's Sermon
Shepherds.
I'm told to smell like them there leaders of smelly lambs, sheep! Pope Francis says his priests should smell like the sheep.
Go figure.
How true.
Like the Good Shepherd, Jesus the Lord.
Jesus went after the lost lamb.
One.
A single sheep gone astray.
Hired hands are paid shepherds like me, a clergyman.
True shepherds lay down their lives. Not counting the cost.
While in line at the Department of Public Works in Warren, Michigan, lines of people with pets waiting for immunizations for those four-legged creatures of God.
I wondered if we wait with the same love for our young children, the lost persons we meet daily, the addicted, the lonely elderly next store?
Would I?
Then, a founding father of this great nation who helped fashion the mission of these United States in its infancy when settlers arrived and natives faced them, Benjamin Franklin penned a newspaper piece, notes the Founders' Bible: The Origin of the Dream of Freedom (Signature historian David Barton), explaining:
"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty but leading or driving them out of it. ....There is no country in the world where so many provisions are established for them.
Franklin gave a litany of "bad fruits that resulted when the Biblical method of care for the poor was not followed:
An increase of poverty, ungratefulness, laziness, higher taxes with no resulting benefits, etc."
Yep. True leaders, in retrospect are those who don't seek their own well-being and flourishing but the well-being and flourishing of those who are entrusted to their care.
This is the path Jesus lays out for the fullness of life and its abundance.
It is.
How to do this, however, is complicated if love goes unpracticed.
God's love.
And, that of the Good Shepherd.
And, you.
And, me.
Shepherds.
I'm told to smell like them there leaders of smelly lambs, sheep! Pope Francis says his priests should smell like the sheep.
Go figure.
How true.
Like the Good Shepherd, Jesus the Lord.
Jesus went after the lost lamb.
One.
A single sheep gone astray.
Hired hands are paid shepherds like me, a clergyman.
True shepherds lay down their lives. Not counting the cost.
While in line at the Department of Public Works in Warren, Michigan, lines of people with pets waiting for immunizations for those four-legged creatures of God.
I wondered if we wait with the same love for our young children, the lost persons we meet daily, the addicted, the lonely elderly next store?
Would I?
Then, a founding father of this great nation who helped fashion the mission of these United States in its infancy when settlers arrived and natives faced them, Benjamin Franklin penned a newspaper piece, notes the Founders' Bible: The Origin of the Dream of Freedom (Signature historian David Barton), explaining:
"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty but leading or driving them out of it. ....There is no country in the world where so many provisions are established for them.
Franklin gave a litany of "bad fruits that resulted when the Biblical method of care for the poor was not followed:
An increase of poverty, ungratefulness, laziness, higher taxes with no resulting benefits, etc."
Yep. True leaders, in retrospect are those who don't seek their own well-being and flourishing but the well-being and flourishing of those who are entrusted to their care.
This is the path Jesus lays out for the fullness of life and its abundance.
It is.
How to do this, however, is complicated if love goes unpracticed.
God's love.
And, that of the Good Shepherd.
And, you.
And, me.
Stranger than Strange, Yet, Merit Checking Into
Rothchild.
Twice in the same day I was told to check that name out on google.
As I engage in the streets and at the office in counseling, I hear the strangest things.
Yet, this name merits my time and energy.
After all, one guy said that this name is richer than Saudi Arabia. He said Trump is "chump change."
Go figure.
Another said that Rothchild creates all the wars with people at one another's throats all the time.
Got to get to the research.
Sooner better than later, I bet.
Twice in the same day I was told to check that name out on google.
As I engage in the streets and at the office in counseling, I hear the strangest things.
Yet, this name merits my time and energy.
After all, one guy said that this name is richer than Saudi Arabia. He said Trump is "chump change."
Go figure.
Another said that Rothchild creates all the wars with people at one another's throats all the time.
Got to get to the research.
Sooner better than later, I bet.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Hamtramck, Michigan Historical Museum
Our American story is important.
We need to preserve it, and, tell this nation's history. Her story also.
For sure.
We're in the midst of an religious revival.
Religion seems to be everywhere in the public square.
We seem to be at ease with various expressions and faith traditions that the All-Faiths Festival has embraced for decades now in the metropolitan Detroit area.
Thousands of nondenominational churches are born each year, and, Buddhism has been accepted by native Americans in the past decades.
Still, there seems to be a void.
A big void.
A hole.
Even a vacuum.
Individuals and couples, even the married are looking again to seek God, fight fai, have fun, stay pure and endure without giving up in a culture of high technology and low touch and connecting with others.
Last Thursday evening, a handful of people took to the Hamtramck Historical Museum on Jos. Campau in that 2.2 square mile diverse town of more than 42 nations.
West Bloomfield Communications Director and historian, Greg Kowalski, and I spoke on family as the glue of society.
We recognize that transportation and technology, and, our worship of, and addiction to high-tech toys is bungling family life.
It is.
Quick fix.
Fear.
Blur of the real and false self.
Violence as normal.
And, living distanced and distracted lives.
Conditions of our time.
Pulling us apart.
How will we connect and commit again?
How?
We need to preserve it, and, tell this nation's history. Her story also.
For sure.
We're in the midst of an religious revival.
Religion seems to be everywhere in the public square.
We seem to be at ease with various expressions and faith traditions that the All-Faiths Festival has embraced for decades now in the metropolitan Detroit area.
Thousands of nondenominational churches are born each year, and, Buddhism has been accepted by native Americans in the past decades.
Still, there seems to be a void.
A big void.
A hole.
Even a vacuum.
Individuals and couples, even the married are looking again to seek God, fight fai, have fun, stay pure and endure without giving up in a culture of high technology and low touch and connecting with others.
Last Thursday evening, a handful of people took to the Hamtramck Historical Museum on Jos. Campau in that 2.2 square mile diverse town of more than 42 nations.
West Bloomfield Communications Director and historian, Greg Kowalski, and I spoke on family as the glue of society.
We recognize that transportation and technology, and, our worship of, and addiction to high-tech toys is bungling family life.
It is.
Quick fix.
Fear.
Blur of the real and false self.
Violence as normal.
And, living distanced and distracted lives.
Conditions of our time.
Pulling us apart.
How will we connect and commit again?
How?
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