Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Holy Name Monastery

Lent 2021 – Part 2

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This April 7th post just after Easter again features Abbot Gregory J. Polan’s Circular Letter. In case you missed the first part posted March 26th, his brief bio is repeated here.

Abbot Polan was elected in 2016 as the Abbot Primate of the 1500-year old Benedictine Order and resides at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome.  He serves the Benedictine community as its liaison to the Vatican and civil authorities to promote unity among the various autonomous Benedictine monasteries and congregations. Abbot Polan is the tenth Abbot Primate and the fourth American elected. 

The following is more from Abbot Polan’s recent Circular Letter:

There are a few spiritual thoughts that have come to mind in recent weeks to offer for your reflection. In the Farewell Discourse of Jesus in the Johannine Gospel, he says, “Peace I leave with you. My peace is my gift to you, and I do not give it to you as the world gives it. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid” (14:27). In the Greek text of these few words, there is a sense in which Jesus is bequeathing something significant to his followers, a gift of profound import, a bequest of divine consequence. Today we can think of peace as an absence of anxiety, conflict or worry.  As a Jew, Jesus knew that peace/shalom touched on the total well-being of a person – body, soul and spirit. These words of Jesus to his disciples came at that moment when he was about to enter into his paschal offering to the One he called Abba. It was to be a total offering of himself. We note in this Gospel text that it is not simply peace that Jesus gives his followers, but an emphasis on “my” peace. Jesus’ own peace would possess a character deeper and more profound because his disciples would also share in his mission. We might even call it a peace in the midst of paschal living, a peace that comes with the gift of self in a moment of personal self-offering, with a movement from challenge to blessing. And yet, this special peace is able to bring joy, inner comfort and strength in the midst of anguish and distress. But we see how deeply Jesus looked at his life and its meaning for others; he was able to see what others, especially his own disciples, were unable to see and understand fully. Only with time and spiritual wisdom would this make sense to them and to us.

In this passage, we find the ever so brief and powerful expression that appears on the lips of Jesus more than any other expression: “Do not be afraid.” As Jesus prepares to enter into his passing-over, he gives his disciples and us a gift of the spiritual life: Do not be afraid. In accepting the evolving plan of God, Jesus shows us the path to glory, to victory and to a peace that this world cannot give. This is something so important for us to hold on to in any variety of situations that come our way. Could Jesus have already seen this in the rich tradition of his ancestors in the Laments of the psalter? I believe so. Even when we read the painful words of the Laments in the Psalms, notice how there is a word of hope, a call to courage and a belief that Gods’ providential care will “win the day” amid life’s challenges. On my desk, I keep a card with the words my doctor from the United States sent to me: “Remain calm, stay strong, carry on.”  I think these words reflect in a contemporary way the words of Jesus to his disciples.

Be sure to watch for two more thoughtful posts from Abbot Polan in the coming weeks.

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Reflection on a Good Friday Afternoon

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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?

 

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

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Holy Thursday

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After the meal, Jesus took off his outer garments, tied a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and dry them.     [John 13:4-5]

 “That’s all it takes: Serve others.  Yet we resist.  We are lazy, too busy or too caught up in our own world and interests.  Jesus shows us the example.  Wash the feet of others.  You don’t have to take it literally, but you do have to serve others.  Better yet, serve someone who can’t repay you.  Hold the door, let someone go first, clean up after someone.  Just find a way to serve.”    (Fr. Thomas J. Connery)

 

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Cactus and Lent

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In the Catholic tradition, cacti rather than flowers are placed at the alter during Lent. This is the time that signifies Jesus’ journey in the desert to meditate and prayer. We had a rather large ugly cactus in chapel last year. I meditated on it throughout the season. There were dead spots, thorns and some new growth. After Lent I decided to ask anyone who could, to bring a cactus to the Monastery to be in the chapel this Lent.

People are so good to us. Many brought cacti and they are now displayed in front of the altar. And once again in meditating, they have given me several ways to examine myself. For instance, one of the cacti has very large thorns which reminds me that I can be prickly with others. I’m reminded that people need to be handled as gently as I handle that cactus. Three of the cacti bloomed, bringing to mind the beauty that there is all around us. One has dead spots showing where I neglected them. How often do I neglect people? Looking upon the differences of the cacti makes me ponder the variety in God’s creation and wonder if I am doing enough to care for Mother Earth.

Having repotted the cacti right before the season of Lent began, it was a delight to see new shoots spout. Cacti soil with fertilizer was part of the repotting. Some have very tiny new shoots and one shoot is taller than the plant it came from! Each is growing the way God meant for them to grow. The cacti help me to grow in ways I think God wants me to grow.

Thank you for all the variety of cacti that you brought. My promise is to do  my very best to keep them alive, nurtured and growing for Lent 2022!

Sister Dianne Wansley, OSB

 

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Lent 2021

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Abbot Gregory J. Polan, O.S.B. is the Abbot Primate since 2016 of the 1500-year old Benedictine Order residing at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome.  He serves the Benedictine community as its liaison to the Vatican and civil authorities to promote unity among the various autonomous Benedictine monasteries and congregations.  Abbot Polan is the tenth Abbot Primate and the fourth American elected.  We were pleased to have him with us directing our 2019 summer retreat week.

 

The following is from Abbot Polan’s recent Circular:

Greetings of Lenten peace, faith, hope and support in these uncertain times. Strong confidence in God’s inscrutable ways calls us to walk the path to Easter. In the midst of these times when we see a light beginning to shine with the roll-out of the vaccine to all parts of the world, we give thanks for what has been happening and we pray for a just and right distribution of these healing remedies. Let us remain strong in following the instructions given by the governments, the health professionals, and the Church leadership which calls for continued care, protection and proper protocols. It is clear, we will not be moving back to life as it was; there will be a new normal which will only develop with time, patience, practical wisdom, spiritual insight, sacrifice, generous service toward the needy and a deeper sense of care for one another. One of the graces that has come from this pandemic, has been the awareness of how this situation has touched the lives of all of us. The effects of the pandemic have marked our lives in uniquely different ways. Yet what has united us is that as brothers and sisters in the human family, children of God and as members of the Body of Christ, we are all striving to move forward. Our experiences are so vastly different, but we are unified in our endeavoring to find the way forward and to see how this will open for us in time, in grace and in hope. In the recent visit of Pope Francis to Iran, his words to continue working toward peace, mutual care for one another and a world that shows tolerance and mutual acceptance speak loudly to our hope of moving forward with confidence.

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