Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Holy Name Monastery

Divine Mercy Sunday

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This weekend end is an unusual, wonderful, seasonal combination of themes, ceremonials, rituals.  Early today, (the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday) millions were glued to the TV as in Rome a good and holy man was laid to rest.  Our Gospel reading from John rings out a message of PEACE.  Jesus comes through locked doors to greet His mother and friends proclaiming: “Peace be with you!”  An unbeliever has his faith boosted when Jesus says:  “I’m here, see me!  I’m real!  Yes, you can touch me.”  In my mind’s eye I see Peter trying to keep up with the younger guys, I spy Mary Magdalene trying to “up the tempo” of Mother Mary and some other ladies who are walking sedately and chatting quietly.  All are mystified and inspired and ever so grateful!

Here at home, as in the Gospel reading, it is the evening of the first day of the week.  The faith community is gathered behind locked doors, for fear of the unknown.  Suddenly, this evening,  Lynn and Judith will appear in our midst bringing greetings of PEACE.  The community rejoices and we pray them a blessing: PEACE BE WITH LYNN AND JUDITH!

We are grateful for their presence and grateful that we live in this time and space – in this Jubilee Year of HOPE.  This weekend’s liturgical readings for Divine Mercy Sunday combine MERCY with HOPE – and HOPE with KINDNESS.

KINDNESS (it seems to me) is the virtue par excellence of a person who is truly patient, a person like Pope Francis.  In an early interview, Pope Francis said he hoped that his legacy would be expressed in this way: “He was a good guy doing good things.”  Kindness rubs off.  Isn’t this the shining image we have in Francis!?  Kindness is fueled by MERCY.  MERCY, one author offers, is not one aspect of the Gospel of Jesus; MERCY is the very center of the Gospel.

Divine Mercy is offered to us in the Eucharist, in each celebration of the sacraments, (all seven of them), and in every sacramental exchange of hope and kindness and mercy.

To paraphrase Abbot John in the Dove and the Hawk series by Penelope Wilcock: we re – member Christ in communion – Christ will re – member us in the coming of his kingdom.  We are healed, we are made one with each other, we regain our integrity as Christ’s kingdom comes on earth.  Where (he asks) does Christ come into his kingdom?  It happens wherever, and whenever, we allow it.” We allow it in every act of HOPE, every act of KINDNESS, and certainly in every act of MERCY.   We allow it every time the Eucharist is presented to us, the “BODY of CHRIST” (That’s the moment of invitation).  It happens when we allow it to happen – when we affirm it with our AMEN.

Yes, Jesus stands at the door and knocks.  We just have to turn the key and open the door. Even an auto-button won’t open a locked door.  That’s your part, our part.  Turn the key to let the door swing open.    It’s true that the turning of the key is a life-long process. [But, praise GOD!] It’s the gift of a moment. A lifetime made up of a sequence of moments giving us the chance to say “I hear you …  I’m coming! I was waiting for your knock.”    “Please, do come in.  May I offer you some refreshment?”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Acts 3:42-47         Second Reading:  1 Peter 1:3-9
Gospel:   John 20:19-31
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Good Friday

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Reflection on a Good Friday Afternoon

The hour of Jesus’ death draws near.

WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?

The sky grows dark, thunder rumbles and the air turns chill.

WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?

The bickering among the soldiers stops, the murmuring crowd grows quiet.

WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?

All attention focuses on Jesus.

In the silence His voice in utter anguish cries:

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?”

WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?

Refusing the sponge of wine which might numb his senses and dull his awareness,

He cries aloud as His spirit at last departs from His earthly body.

WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?

Yes, were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?  WERE YOU?

WHERE WERE YOU?

Were you part of the jeering crowd; caught up in the mob emotion?

Were you a silent on-looker, trembling lest you be recognized (like Peter had been) for one of Jesus’ followers?   Or were you one of the soldiers doing a task – not so tasteful but all in day’s work, required to collect that almighty silver coin?

WHERE WERE YOU?

Were you among the women quietly lending mutual support to each other; heart-broken and helpless to do naught but weep and hope for a miracle of deliverance for your Lord?

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?  Look into your heart . . .

The hour of His death has come.  And, gone.  Will you gather up your picnic cloth and go home to wait for another day’s excitement?  Or, will you silently mourn His passing, confused but confident that He will rise again?  He told you “this temple shall be rebuilt.”

WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY LAID HIM IN THE TOMB?

When the sky was dark and the earth quaked; when spirits walked the earth and on-lookers beat their breasts in fear and withdrew from the scene.

WERE YOU THERE?

Were you there to help linen-wrap His broken body, to place it in the newly hewn tomb and set the stone at the entrance?

WHERE WERE YOU?

Were you among the women who went home to prepare spices and perfumes to anoint the body of Your Lord?  Valiant women, strong in respectful silence for each other’s grief.  Strong in the promise of Passover.  Strong in the love of the Man of Nazareth, their Lord, and now their Redeemer.

WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?  WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY NAILED HIM TO THE TREE?  WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY LAID HIM IN THE TOMB?      Where were you?

~by Sister Roberta Bailey

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Palm Sunday

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Palm Sunday

 

Note: Inspired and expanded from an unidentified note in my journal.

This Palm Sunday we are the two friends, sitting on angel wings, waiting for the unfolding of 2000-year old story. Iit unfolds each year during what earthlings call LENT.  We are  watchful, attentive, waiting.

We, you and I are aware that the ministry of Jesus has not been a secret ministry, but a public one.   People constantly surround him. Today the crowd is particularly exuberant.

All morning, the people kept coming in droves to laud his praises: to sing and wave branches, to spread their cloaks on the street.  They shouted with joy at his arrival.  But only days later, we know the story, and their shouts change.  No longer do they sing, “Hosanna in the highest.”  Their shouts that day are cruel: “Crucify Him!”  Then, just like that, there is no crowd.  There is only the tomb and Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who “remain[ed] sitting there, facing the tomb.”  In the end, there is only the Lord, placed in the tomb, and his two friends, still there, with Him.

This Palm Sunday we are two friends, sitting watchful and attentive. Mystified.  How heavy our hearts, and yet we would not be separated from our Jesus.  We recall that He had promised, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  So, we stay here together, watching and waiting.

Reminiscing about the wonders we have seen (even still see around us) binds us all the more to Him. Now is not the time to abandon Him. Now is not the time to turn from faith. Now is the time to cling to Him!

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary arrive at the tomb on the morning of the third day. They bring with them spices to anoint the Lord’s body in an attempt to preserve, to keep death at bay.  And yet, the Lord has so much more in store for them. The Lord will not be beholden to death!

And so we will stay, two friends, seated beside the tomb, at a loss and shaken by what the Lord is doing. We could not yet see all that would come to pass.

This Holy Week, 2025, may we not leave Him. Let us revel in this time alone, which can be time alone with Him.  May our thoughts and prayers always turn to Him. May our hearts reach out to Him – and to each other. Let us give each other time, quiet and space to ponder the mystery about to unfold.  If we remain with Him, watchful and waiting, we will not miss the glory He intends to reveal.

   ~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

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Fifth Sunday of Lent

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Last Sunday we heard the parable of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke.  Our selection here from the Gospel of John offers another lesson about God’s mercy and forgiveness – not a parable but a report of a personal encounter between Jesus, some scribes and Pharisees, and a woman.  In this case, Jesus’ response to those who accuse the woman of adultery is a lesson in profound mercy and forgiveness.  It is a forceful reminder that we too have been saved by Jesus’ compassion.

The Gospel account says these people brought this woman to Jesus to trap him.  You see, Jesus had forgiven some people of their sins, like the man born blind and the crippled man. But the sins that those people had been accused of were not considered crimes. Here was a woman accused of a major crime.  Had a trial already taken place and a verdict of GUILTY already upon her head? Would Jesus fulfill the law? Or would he do what he’d done before: forgive her?   She is counting on the compassion of this man of God.

Thinking about that crowd.  It may be pretty easy to spot a Pharisee, and we might not like to admit it, but we can all behave like a Pharisee.  How will you know if you’re a Pharisee?

  • If your official title is longer than your given name.
  • If you’re willing to be merciful – once. You’re getting you final chance
  • If God’s still small voice… sounds exactly like your own.
  • If you know the Word of God, but not the God of the Word.

What does Jesus do?  He stoops down and writes in the dirt.  What’s he writing?  Was he just doodling or was he writing something meaningful? The Gospel does not say.   What John tells us is Jesus’ last words to the woman, “Go away and don’t sin anymore.”    He does not say to her, or to us, “Leave your life of sin, then I will no longer condemn you.”  He does say this: “I do not condemn you; now leave behind your life of sin.”  He did not simply ignore sin or overlook it.  Jesus chose not to condemn the woman, but He did not tell her that her sin was unimportant.

Maybe this little story, a true one I’m told, reminds you of someone you know most intimately.   Like, you know, yourself?  I’m told that a 4-year-old said to his mother, “Mom, I decided I’m not going to sin any more.  I’m not going to be like those bad guys Jesus was talking to.  I’m going to be a good child of God.” “Mmm, that’s very nice,” Mom answered.  “What made you decide that?”  “ ‘Cause Jesus said if you don’t sin, you can throw the first stone. I want to throw the first stone at the bad person.”

Maybe you never thought that way.  But you may have noticed that when you point your finger at “her,” there are three fingers on your hand pointing right back at you.  Self-examination opens us to self-revelation.  And, Jesus reminds us: “Judge not, lest you be judged.”

Notice in today’s second reading Paul says: “it is not that I have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it.”    Let us pray that same gift for each other.  May I be mindful of Jesus’ way of not looking at the past.  Instead, he says: “Neither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”  Today, I promise you, Jesus, with Your help, I will not hold anyone’s past against them.  May God strength me/us in my/our resolve.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Isaiah 43:16-21       Second Reading:  Philippians 3:8-14
Gospel:   John 8:1-11
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Pilgrimage Year of Hope

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Pilgrimage Year of Hope 2025

a short refection by Father John McEvoy

 

The way we live our lives gives witness to our faith by proclaiming God’s truth, goodness, beauty, love and hope. Easter Season helps us enter into the Pilgrimage Year of Hope as pilgrims of hope.

Saint John entered the tomb that first Easter morning proclaiming ” I saw and I believed.”  This comes after the dark day of Good Friday with Judas betraying Jesus then despairing, the opposite of hope, leading to ending his life.

Peter also betraying but trusting in Jesus’ loving mercy, not losing hope, had the will to say “I have sinned”, proclaiming “Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.”

In this Pilgrimage Year of Hope, we can proclaim the prayer of the children of Fatima:

I believe. I adore. I love. I hope.

I pray for those

who not believe, do not adore

do not love , do not hope

 

Father John McEvoy

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Fourth Sunday of Lent

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Recall last Sunday’s parable about a barren fig tree that was given a year’s reprieve to prove its worth or be cut down.  This week, for one day the church gives each of us a reprieve from the rigors of Lent with the gentling of the liturgical color in the priest’s vestments from intense purple to a cheery rose pink.  Flowers that had been forbidden until Easter can come forward for Mass and Vespers.  Then, back they will go, hidden in the cooler until Holy Thursday.

Some of us will remember when this 4th Sunday in Lent was referred to as Laetare Sunday.   It was a common name for this Fourth Sunday in Lent because the entrance antiphon begins “Laetare, Jerusalem” (“Rejoice, O Jerusalem”).   A little known synonym for Laetare Sunday is Mothering Sunday.  But it is not a celebration of mothers (although many countries fix their Mother’s Day celebration on this day).   In the 16th Century it was common practice on the 4th Sunday of Lent for people to go “a-mothering” – to pay a visit to their “mother church” – the church of their baptism.  Lenten fasting was relaxed and cakes were distributed to family members, giving rise to the name Refreshment Sunday.

The invisibility of women, their low level of access to, and participation in leadership, decision making, availability of resources, education and information, all mean that the adverse impact of globalized economic systems affects women and children disproportionately and often leads to greater violence against women and children.

Raising the veil of invisibility surrounding partner and child abuse, revealing a growing reality, is an on-going challenge.  But, every success in this endeavor is one more step toward understanding and with understanding comes empathy, justice and support for the cause of women as partners in spreading the Kingdom of their Creator.

I kept this editorial but lost track of the author.  It reads: “Now, I know this hope of mine is the longest of long shots. I have great faith in the Holy Spirit to move papal conclaves, but I would concede that I may be running ahead of the Spirit on this one.   Handing leadership of the Catholic Church to a woman, a nun would (to my mind) vastly strengthen Catholicism, help the church solve some of its immediate problems and inspire many who have left the church to look at it with new eyes.  There are certainly bishops and cardinals who have done godly work and many more who have supported it.   Imagine the message the cardinals would send about the church’s priorities if they elected a woman pope.”

I find “Lost and Found” boxes interesting.  At the very same time the things inside of it are both lost and found.  Suppose someone spots a cell phone in a parking lot, in the crack of a shopping cart.  The friendly shopper retrieves it and turns it in at the courtesy desk.  In one and the same moment it was completely lost, but it was found…  It is strangely both lost and found.

If there were an eternal “Lost and Found” box, we sure would be in it.  Our lives are filled with wayward actions that take us far from each other and our God. But, rejoice because we’ve been found!  Jesus made payment for our waywardness.  Thanks to His generous self-giving – and the unfathomable love of the Trinity, God is ready, with wild abandonment to welcome us back again and again.

 

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading:   Joshua 5:9a, 10-12      Second Reading:  2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Gospel:   Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
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