Praying from the heart

Job answered his friends:
“Indeed I know that this is so;
but how can a mortal be just before God?
If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand.
He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength
—who has resisted him, and succeeded?—
he who removes mountains, and they do not know it,
when he overturns them in his anger;
who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;
who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
who alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the Sea;
who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
who does great things beyond understanding,
and marvelous things without number.
Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
He snatches away; who can stop him?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
 

How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
If I summoned him and he answered me,
I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.

Luke 9:57-62

As Jesus and his disciples were going along the road, someone said to his, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

About Mr. Norm Laurendeau, O.P.

Norm Laurendeau was a lay Dominican and a semi-retired professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University who died in May 2012. He published and conducted research in the areas of energy and environment, with a focus of the use of lasers to monitor pollutants. He was a fully professed lay Dominican since May, 2006. While moderating the St. Mary Magdalene pro-chapter in West Lafayette, IN, he was instrumental in developing a lay preaching mission within chapter meetings and at communion services. He was also heavily involved in the science-theology dialogue, and explored the relationship between science and mysticism. In 2010, he chaired a conference on Energy and Religion for the Institute for Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS). Most importantly, he was married to Marlene Carlos Laurendeau, who is a social worker and spiritual director. They lived in Brunswick, ME, near where Norm grew up. They wintered in Berkeley, CA, near where Marlene grew up.

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