Sabbath Moments

July 21, 2012

Awareness of God

Thanks to Colleen at Thoughts on Grace for hosting this Saturday meme.

All week long I’ve been thinking about and living in the worst drought Missouri has had in something like 30 years.  Parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and other states are in no better shape.  Having the time to reflect on and talk with God about it has brought many Sabbath Moments to me.

Here’s what I’ve been seeing and hearing:

• The ground is so dry the earth is pulling away from foundations and retaining walls.  Contractors in the foundation business are busier than they’ve been in years.

• Deep cracks are appearing in yards, only the worst grass is surviving, and garden veggies – no matter how much water they’re given – are drying up and turning brown.  Hardly anything is able to set bud if the flowers appear at all.

• Local farmers who sell at the farmer’s markets are getting ready for a second planting of vegetables but aren’t sure they’ll get a crop.
  

• The ponds for cattle and dairy cows are down by over half or are drying up completely leaving cracked mud.

• Farmers are selling off cattle because they can’t feed them.
  

• Grocery prices are skyrocketing.

• Local food pantries are begging for food to help feed record numbers of people.  They can’t keep enough food on their shelves. A bad economy and drought hurts a lot of people.
  

• The cashier at Walmart told me the other day that people are complaining that their wells are running dry.  Wells in this area are 450-600 ft. deep.  Not a good sign.

• The governor of Missouri has applied to the federal government to have the entire state declared a disaster area.

• Fireworks were forbidden in our county on July 4.

• Over 1000 acres burned last week in the nearby Mark Twain Forest.  We were lucky it wasn’t worse.

• This is the third year of drought and the worst by far.  The temperatures are scorching – up to 110° in the shade daily and I get to feeling really sick if I’m out in it for fifteen minutes just picking the few veggies that are left.
  

At the risk of being considered a nutcase, I believe God is trying to get our attention and telling us that He is in charge, not we ourselves.  Today, in spite of the drought, we can go to our local grocery stores and find food either trucked or flown in from all over the country, South America, Asia, and elsewhere.

It seems to me that we have a massive disconnect now between God as Father and provider for our daily needs (“Give us this day our daily bread…”)  and ourselves.  When I was growing up in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s, many small farmers were able to make a living and support a large family.  While some produce was trucked across country, a lot of the fresh fruits and veggies came from local farmers who knew that they were in partnership with God to provide for themselves and others.  It was not uncommon in local parishes to pray for rain in dry weather, and the Rogation Days processions were part of our lives even when we lived in larger cities.  We didn’t forget the farmers who were providing our food.

As big business has taken over farming and many small farmers have lost their land, and since man has the capability to transport food from one place to another far away by his own technology, I think we’ve forgotten God in the whole equation.  When was the last time we ever heard of a large corporation praying to God for rain?  It’s not politically correct, is it?  And we can just get government money (our taxes) to fix just about anything, can’t we?

The Catholic Church has Votive Masses and Votive Collects for every necessity – both in the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms of the liturgy.  Wouldn’t now be a good time for the bishops of all the states affected by drought to encourage praying these Masses and adding the Collects to the prayers of the day’s liturgy?  How about a nine week novena after Sunday Masses to pray for rain?

(Sigh…)  I swore after years of battling for the Extraordinary Form in our diocese that I was through with writing letters to bishops.  Now I think I should ask all three bishops of Missouri to have their parishes pray for an end to the drought.  After all, part of being pro-life means being pro-life and health for our own bodies and that of our neighbors.

Prayers in time of drought

From the Litany of the Saints: That thou wouldst give and preserve from harm the fruits of the earth, we beseech Thee, hear us.

Votive Collects for rain:

Collect: O God, in Whom we live, move, and have our being, grant us seasonable rain, that, our temporal needs being sufficiently supplied, we may with greater confidence seek after things eternal.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.  Amen.

Secret: O Lord, we beseech Thee, be appeased by the gifts which we offer, and grant us in season the blessing of sufficient rain.  Through our Lord, etc.

Postcommunion: O Lord, we beseech Thee, give us healthful rain and graciously pour forth showers from heaven on the parched face of the earth.  Through our Lord, etc.

Then we have the Mass for Any Necessity:

Collect: Show us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, in Thy clemency, Thine ineffable mercy, that Thou mayest both cleanse us from our sins, and deliver us from the punishments which they have deserved.  Through our Lord, etc.

If you live in a drought stricken area, consider giving a Mass stipend for a Votive Mass for an end to the drought.  And ignore what the weather forecasters say.  God can do anything He wants if we only have faith in Him.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.)