Biblical Poem for February 8, 2022: Jesus Christ Stresses Purity of Heart by Patrick McCaskey

 

Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O. P., Benediction in
 Blackfriars priory church; https://flic.kr/p/87eU4H

Jesus Christ Stresses Purity of Heart

 

          Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

 

From the “Workbook for Lectors” we know that

“Jesus prefers to associate with

An amiable, if somewhat unti-

dy, group rather than…critics with clean hands.”

 

Jesus declared that all food is clean.

Sin begins in the interior life.

Jesus healed with just one look of true love.

Bing Crosby sang “True Love” to Grace Kelly.

 

God restores our heart with a tender gaze.

We can do the same the rest of our days.

Husbands can give their wives the look of love.

Parents can look at their children with love.

 

Jesus Christ looks at us with compassion,

Even if we do not like poetry.

 

Patrick McCaskey

 

Patrick McCaskey is a Vice President and Director of the Chicago Bears, Chair of Sports Faith International, and Chair of WSFI Catholic Radio 88.5, as well as poet and the author of our Sports and Faith Series. He is also a grandson of George "Papa Bear" Halas. Surprising, inspiring, and all very human, Patrick McCaskey's Poems About the Gospel and Poems About the Gospel II are books for all seasons where readers can find a few words of encouragement in every poem. Poems About the Gospel is available from Sporting Chance Press, Amazon and select bookstores like the Little Way in Crystal Lake. Poems About the Gospel II is exclusively available from Amazon.

Copyright 2020, Sporting Chance Press

Image: Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O. P., Benediction in Blackfriars priory church; https://flic.kr/p/87eU4H

Ride the Brown and White with me; I've saved you a seat...

The Brown and White is a literary work. But just as no prophet is accepted in his hometown, no writer thinks his writing is very good until he hears it from others. That may seem like a general statement that may not be correct in our very critical time, but I think the substance of it is true. We all need people to encourage us. Writers are no different. There are no books that suit everyone's taste. But if you can write one that hits the write spot for the audience you seek, it is a winner. 

Encouragement comes in many different forms. 

Since The Brown and White was a fictional memoir that features (anonymously) my famous high school and my classmates from the late 1960s, it was important to get some feedback from classmates. Oddly enough, I heard from some of the guys a couple classes ahead of mine first. The loved the book and had me come out to regularly scheduled get-together at a Chicago Tavern to talk about the book. It was a little scary, but definitely fun. 

I saw my classmates later at a school banquet. Several came up and told me they loved the book and had no idea that I could capture the times so well. As a student, I was often more of a good witness than one of the more active players in high school. I was not on the football team; I was on the track team. I was in second honors, not first. But I did ride the legendary Brown and White bus to school and had many memories from those experiences that I worked on over and over again for 30 some years. I certainly put in the time on this book. 

There were many special families in those days with fathers and mothers who sacrificed most everything for their kids. Siblings fought each other at home and supported each other in public. I included those memories. In that sense it is a book about family.

There were comic characters and tremendous teachers at school. I put a spotlight on some of them. In that way it is about interesting people in authority. 

Many of my classmates were disappointed that I have used a fictitious name for the school and created a fictional memoir rather than a biography of sorts. The answer to that is simple: I wanted to capture the times for everyone who lived through them and many others so the memories could be theirs as well. A book about a named high school might be more interesting to alum, but a book about a kind of prototype high school has a chance of reaching many more people. Take "Gease" for example. I am still hoping for Hollywood! 

The Brown and White is a short book and is easy to read. When you read it, you can add a lot of our experiences between the lines as I take you along on the Brown and White. Go through all the emotions with me as ride the bus together. I've saved you a seat. 

In the last couple months, I have seen a little uptick in sales. Maybe it's the traction I've been waiting for....