God's in His heaven. That's not only where He is. He knows us stem to stern. How about taking advantage of that? Plus helping Cardinal Cupich out. And fixing the gay blessing.

. . . some tips on enlivening your spiritual life maybe, promising nothing . . .

Think of it. Who knows you better than He who made you and keeps on making you second by second? Confessor the other day suggested I pray to The Father, picturing Him as smiling on me, at me, in effect telling me He’s in heaven, all’s right with the world — thank you, Browning and his Pippa passing by.

That said, consider Father X, who preaches betimes as your friend dropping by to offer a few tips on life in whatever lane you occupy. But sermon-wise what if you don’t want a buddy, forget sweetheart, rather an exposer of Scriptural gems?

After all, there is the argument made by the Heresy of Formlessness author, that sermons of any kind interrupt the reverential flow essential to the Mass of Experience (my term, to be revisited). Yes, he wrote that, promptly classifying it as an obversation not a recommendation, though he does note that some Episcopal masses leave the sermon to after the mass, something I saw in my reportorial visitations in newspaper days of old.

Reverential flow? I align that with my talking to The Father, as above. Accused of that by Oak Park IL critics who threw it at me as one-time religion reporter, expert in that mysterious, suspect topic and knowing naught else. To which I said sure I talk to God, but the trick is to listen.

As to the mass, for some time now, it’s been important for me sometimes to turn off what’s happening up front at the table altar separating us from Good Father Mass-sayer, celebrant, presider. And I do appreciate his being there and doing that. Hang down your head, Jim Bowman, hang down your head in shame or if not that, then reverential awareness. Create your own flow, sometimes it’s better that way.

Listen to the sermon, yes, taking from it what you can, even jotting it down in your reporter’s notebook, quelling your bothersome ever flowing criticism counter-flow.

In most of the mass, however, spend time reminding yourself of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God in whom you live and move and have your being — thanks for the deathless phrase to Paul, the prince of converts, via Luke, reporter extraordinaire.

This is the Godhead as we say of Him, “Glory be . . . as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.” The beginning? Of creation, we mean. We think of that constantly repeated prayer and speak of the beginning of time, do we not?

Now and forever. To the end of time. More of the same, you know, except better for believers, trusters, lovers of God and neighbor. Supremely better, what man hath never dreamed of. Nor hath it ever entered into their hearts. More of the same, counting-wise.

But what about before time? We can accept that but imagine it? Thing is, there never was a no-God situation. God always was. He had no beginning. He was and is and will be the only independent being. In spite of which, he is as intimate to each of us as . . . what? Compare him to what? He’s incomparable.

It can be a dizzying realization. Back off then, stay with the intimacy part. No one knows us as he does. No one is with us all the time. We have something we are happy about? We are ashamed? He knows all about it either way. He’s on our case.

Why else do people call on him for help or curse him in despair? God save us, we say. God help us. He’s the ultimate.

He’s absolute, we’re relative. We might be, might not be. Nothing like that with Him. And we have His attention, always have had it, always will.

Let’s hear it for God-awareness then, especially at Mass.

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Flash, you’re hearing it here! Sabotage at the chancery! Cardinal Cupich hails Arab Catholics as “ancestors” of “the first church,” according to the Chicago Catholic newspaper — when he had obviously hailed them as their “descendants”!

Unless . . . unless His Eminence gets them mixed up on his own — which I refuse to believe.

Or . . . the entire chancery and newspaper staff does not know the difference between ancestor and descendant.

Or . . . they truly do know the difference but are afraid to tell him!

If I say perish the thought one more time . . . This item is inundated with perished thoughts . . . What to do what to do what to do . . . think . . .

Now deep breath, pause. For what? To address the substance of what His Eminence told these people, briefly:

These Arab Catholics he was addressing are descendants of the early converts, the result of Jewish proselytizing. And Paul, the most Jewish of the Jews, had to stop Peter the Jew from requiring these converts to embrace a kosher diet. So these Arab Catholics of our day may thank Paul the Jew for welcoming non-Jews, as should we all.

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Finally, in the matter of the move by our Argentinian pope to welcome deviants by way of informal blessing-by-priest — let no man call this approval, rather a pat on the back, buck up old chum, your day will come — the Argentinian can underline the non-approval codicil by calling for Courage chapters in every diocese. (Chicago has two, by the way, one of them for Spanish-speaking.)

Now that would make the non-approval point, Courage being a sort of AA for same-sex-attracted. Coming up in this space, something already published here about Courage, for which please wait . . .

Meanwhile, would “Go and sin no more” be a good addendum to the blessing? It’s the elephant in this living room, yes it is.