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Holy Name Monastery
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Caution. Construction Ahead!

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Luke’s Gospel quotes the prophet Isaiah, describing the road we must travel throughout Advent (and in our lives) in order to see the signs of the times and reach the One foretold – our Emmanuel.

Like Mary and Joseph, we must travel through valleys, between hills and over mountains to reach the place where the census is being taken.  We have to weather life’s troubles, storms of despair and disappointment.  And, look out at the horizon from the joyful mountain peaks of our lives to view the beauty God has laid out for us.

And, then there’s the Magi.  They traveled to see the new-born child bringing with them a sack-full of Christmas presents.  With our families spread across the nation and world, and now with the pandemic, the ritual of travel toward togetherness is threatened by fear of contagion rather than anticipation of pleasure.  But, we journey onward each Advent season.  We journey toward Bethlehem to witness the miracle of Jesus’ birth.  We journey toward the end of all time, when Christ Jesus will come again.

If you took long road trips as a kid, you may have played travel games to help pass the time (and reduce the number of back-seat squabbles).  When you saw the sign “Exit Ahead” did you wish and wonder, “Are we there yet?”  Like those trips, we continue down the road to Bethlehem where we see some signs along our way.  Last week, Jesus warned us to be alert, watching for God’s unexpected activity in our lives and in our world.  Today, the sign we see is one that most of us dread seeing while along our highways – “Road Construction Ahead.”

Why is it that we tend to get upset when we see a sign for road construction?  That’s a sign that in the not too distant future (though probably more distant than we’d like) the road work will be complete.  But still, when we see that sign ROAD CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN NEXT WEEK, or see orange barrels or the concrete barricades we begin to get uptight and look for an alternate route.  Road construction signs signal: “inconvenience, hassles, delays.”  Is that what we feel when we see today’s signs in the Scriptures?  Road Construction.  Two more weeks until we get to sing Christmas carols outside of choir practice.  How long until we can hang the decorations on the tree?

Are you facing a sign of work in progress – Proceed with Caution!  Can you hear John the Baptist shouting out with the powerful words of the prophet Isaiah?  Does he bellow like a highway foreman, “Prepare the way of the Lord!  Make that path straight!  Fill that valley!  Get that mountain outta here!  Hey, what happened over there?  It’s all crooked!  Make it straight!  Smooth out that rough place!  We gotta show everyone the salvation of God.  Get busy!”

If you’ve observed road construction you know it is labor-intensive.  It’s not like a Lego project.  How’s God’s construction company doing with you?  Are you making new inroads to acknowledgement of the need for improvement?  This Advent, have you been working to smooth rocky relationships?  What about making repairs on your approach to people?  Are you consciously striving to be direct – saying what you mean and meaning what you say?  Are you bolstering up the pillars of your prayer life?  Are you repairing older sections of your highway to God?  Are you blasting out the bad habits and fortifying your daily schedule so there is a new, wider, safe path to settling into the spirit of Lectio?

Maybe God is opening up for you a new area of possibility – a new awakening to how you can expand your life of service and hospitality.  What new road is God building in your life?  No matter how we might like to think that we’ve got it all together, sooner or later we all need to make a little heavenly highway repair.  Our God promises to help us fix what’s broken in our lives; to come to our rescue and strengthen those areas of weakness that plague us so.  Jesus can remove those piles of junk, fill in the potholes, and strengthen the sagging places if we but stop trying to “do it my way” and allow God to be the one to put up the sign – “Caution.  Construction Ahead!”  And, then allow God to be the boss, the foreman, the project manager.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

First Reading: Baruch 5:1-9                   Second Reading: Philippians 1:4-6,8-11
Gospel Reading: Luke 3:1-6
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Waiting

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Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

Advent is all about waiting.  But not sit on your-hands and see what happens kind of waiting.  Nor waiting for someone else who is talking to God to hang up.  It’s more like a glorious party line.  You can pick up (or click on at any time).  Whenever you’re ready.  It is wonderful that we do not have to take turns – we don’t have to wait to be in touch!  At the heart of Advent is ACTIVE waiting.  Even when we don’t know that we are waiting, or what we are waiting for, we’re waiting.  Even when we can’t find words for what we are waiting for, we’re waiting.

We’ve been waiting for so long, actually for most of our lives, that the darkness may feel like home.  We’ve become comfortable in our incompleteness.  Now to leave home is downright scary!  Change my ways of interacting with God and God’s people?  Whew!  Allow my rough edges to be smoothed – mmmm, sounds irritating (no pun intended).  We are gifted with Advent-time to do personal “Isaiah work” of filling in every valley; leveling every mountain so the hills will become a plain, and the rough ways made smooth.  As the familiar banner asks: If not now, when?

There is a TV reality show on restaurant revival that is introduced with a premise that sounds like a good Advent theme.  “Turning around a failing restaurant or diner is a daunting challenge under the best of circumstances.  Attempting to do so …  may be impossible.  But we’re ready to take on the challenge.  Can it be done?”

From outdated décor to trendy interior, from canned food to fresh ingredients, from surly employees to service-oriented staff, they attempt to overhaul the whole shebang with straight talk, great cooking skills, creative interior decorators and an excited team of mostly volunteers.  The most important ingredient to the success of the project depends on the employees.  When the TV crew arrives, the expectation is that the local staff will be ready with their litany of what is going well and what they’d like to see changed.  They are looking for help to determine, and then implement the next best steps to be taken.

There is no pretense each week to portray the chef as a Christ figure, but one may see an analogy between our Advent Scriptures and the theme of this human example of this dramatic overhaul driven by someone who knows what they’re doing.  The overhaul of the run-down and failing restaurant, and our personal overhaul, is only possible if we’ll allow our goals and projects to be placed under wise management.  For us that’s Jesus, the One who’s coming to town in our Advent scriptures.

The Gospels that we’ll hear throughout the Advent season make frequent two-fold references to the already and the not yet.  This Sunday, Jesus berates the crowd for knowing how to interpret the signs in nature, but not the present time, the already.  This is where we, too, may fall short.  Often, even before one’s feet hit the floor, we tune in (or ask Alexia) for the day’s weather conditions, adjust the AC or heater and dress accordingly.  At the threat of a hurricane, we gather in supplies and hunker down.  We see the waxing moon and wait patiently for the night of the full moon.  This kind of waiting requires a common sense alertness to natural signs.  But the kind of waiting Jesus is talking about requires a deeper discernment and alertness to the signs of His appearance – the signs of the times, our times.

Advent offers us a new opportunity to awaken to the signs of the times.  In the words of John the Baptist, we hear the voice of Isaiah warning us to be alert for “the voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord.”  The last Gospel we heard as the liturgical year ended (this morning) and the first Gospel for the new liturgical year impress upon us the same warning: Be vigilant! Pray always! Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy!

One of the ancient Advent prayers offers us sentiments that Benedict echoes in the Rule: “Give us grace that we may cast off the works of darkness and put upon us the armor of light.”  Many Advent hymns express this same theme.  For example (the hymn we sang on Friday) – “Wise and foolish, still we wait.  Is the bridegroom at the gate?  Clear the shadows from our sight, fill our eyes with radiant light.  Come, Lord Jesus, come!” 

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

First Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16                   Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:12—4:2
Gospel Reading: Luke 21:25-28,34-36
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EVERY ENDING HOLDS THE SEED of a NEW BEGINNING

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The readings this weekend, and for the past few weeks are about endings.  But we know that every ending signals a new beginning.  Every “good night” holds the promise of a “good morning!”  The sunset kisses the earth good-bye for a brief moment in time and surprises us with its rising on what seems to be the other side of the earth.  Every death is s hand-off to new life.  St. Augustine echoes this concept when he calls to God: “O Beauty, so ancient, so new.”  Every “good-bye” uncovers a “hello,” every ending a step to a new adventure.  When does the “NEW” become “NOW”?  When does “tomorrow” turn to “today”?  And do we let go of yesterday?  Where does it go?  The character Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof sings about this phenomena, “Sunrise, sunset, Swiftly flow the days.  Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, blossoming even as we gaze.  Sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years, one season following another.”

Have your experiences proven this concept to be true?  When we watch the “news” do we know what is accurate reporting and what is fake news, or what some refer to as “an alternate truth”?  In the gospel it is refreshing to hear Jesus testify to the truth.  In the verbal exchange between Jesus and Pilate, Jesus reveals, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

In John’s Gospel, Pilate asks – “What is truth?”  Jesus answers – “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  A few evenings ago I was half-watching TV when out of my distraction I heard “So, what is truth?”  I’d started this reflection earlier in the day so the question seemed like part of another reality.  A World War II veteran was sharing that upon retirement from active service, he’s been “down in the dumps” experiencing a lack of appreciation for his years in service for our country in defense of freedom and truth.  Then he’d recalled Jesus words, “The truth shall make you free.”  He had turned his bitterness into working with youth when he came to the realization that “The truth that makes you free, is the truth that stirs you to action.”

Isn’t this exactly what Jesus’ life and teachings call us to?  This weekend we observe the feast of Christ, the King.  The feast was instituted in 1925 and was raised to a solemnity 2015.  At that time Pope Francis added to the title of the day – “the living face of the Father’s mercy.”  We are celebrating a ruler who, in mercy, was willing to die for us, for all humanity, to give us true freedom.  Jesus radically redefined the concept of kingship in contrast to the oppression so prevalent in His day.  He’d exchanged the trappings of a king for a place among the poorest of the poor.  In place of a red carpet he’d had a rude stable floor strewn with hay.  Later in his life, it was palm branches that lined the way beneath a donkey’s feet.  His crown, not one of gems, but a crown of thorns.  His mode of transportation usually on foot.  Of his home, Jesus said “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

But why read a scene from the passion today?  How does that help us understand what Jesus’ kingship means?  We always feel some vagueness in calling Jesus “king” partly due to the changing attitudes toward kings throughout history.  We ponder – how can He be, at the same time, both Suffering Servant and king?  It’s a strange question that Jesus turns on Pilate.  “Do you ask this (are you a king) on your own or have others told you about me?”  It pushes us to question ourselves – Is Jesus my King?  Do I know Him on my own?  Does it spring from my own experiences?  Or is my relationship with Jesus based on borrowed thoughts from books I’ve read?  The sermons I’ve heard?  Do I sing with conviction the sentiments of the kingly hymns that spring to mind: “Come, Christians, Join to Sing; Rejoice, the Lord Is King, When Morning Gilds the Skies, All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.  Hail, Redeemer, King Divine, The King of Glory.  At the Lord’s Feast we sing, praise to our victorious King.”  And, we must not overlook the triumphant echoing of a favorite Christmas carol – “Joy to the World!”

On this last Sunday in the church year, we hear from the Book of Revelation (Sunday’s second reading) – “Behold, he is coming and everyone will see him; the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come.”  By the end of this week we will be jump-started into the Season of Advent …  another experience of an “ending” that is a “beginning” – a time of waiting for the One who will come.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

Have a good week and a splendid Thanksgiving

  Stay safe – be healthy – know peace

 

First Reading:  Daniel 7:13-14        Second Reading:  Revelation 1:5-8
Gospel:  John 18:33-37
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Listen to His voice

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We are called to BE the Good News

In this Gospel, Jesus offers us signs to look for that will indicate the coming of the Son of Man.  Mindfulness to his words prepares us for the changes we will experience during our lifetime and at the end time.  (And, just in case we miss the point, the experience of the pandemic couldn’t make it clearer that the future is unpredictable.)  When you see the things happening that Jesus talks about, we know that He is near, at the gates.  “But,” says Jesus, “of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”  Then, He assures us: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

So, as followers of the Jesus, how do we prepare?  How good are you at reading signs?  Can we train ourselves to be more observant of the signs?  By personality do you notice signs in nature?  Do you read road signs or only notice the sign on the building where you turned left?  (The sign and the building may be gone the next time you pass by.)  How well do you read non-verbal language?  Do you work to sensitize yourself to recognize everyday signs?  If not, how do you reckon you can heighten your sensitivity to spirit signs?  Do you use Scripture, the Rule, the example of a favorite saint, a confessor or a friend-guide?  What helps you to listen more keenly to your own heart?  In the quiet of the night – when sleep eludes you – or when out walking or clocking steps on the tread mill, do you hear God’s voice?  When you are traveling along a familiar road, riding alone in an elevator, passing through the hall at a leisurely pace, setting the table or sanitizing doorknobs, do you see and hear God?  As communal meetings and prayer times approach what controls your schedule – the TV, the computer, the phone, an alarm, or time-honored habits?  In the quiet of the chapel as we gather for communal prayer, do you head-count or leave time-space for God’s voice to invade your awareness?

God does not usually shout to us in fury or in the high winds of a Florida thunderstorm.  Most of the time God speaks softly.  So we are honor-bound to stay tuned at all times to that still, small voice.  This takes a keen “reading of the signs.”  It takes courage to “stay in the fray” and not seek to protect ourselves by ignoring the signs.  Many things will happen – are happening – in our lives that are not in our goals or strategic plan.  Things not scheduled by the calendar or our clock or our watches or the “ding” of a ZOOM alert.  We are called by today’s Gospel to keep our hearts attuned to “read the significance of the signs of our time.”

Jesus asks us, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”  The value of our response is lived out in our faithfulness to prayer, each other and participation in our corporate commitment.  For example, our Thanksgiving partnership with St. Mark’s Parish and our personal contributions to meet the needs of the left-out, locked-out and dropped-out.

We know we are called not so much to DO the Good News – though faith-in-action is important.  We are called to BE the Good News – a model of all that is implied when we call ourselves Christian, Catholic, monastic, Benedictine, a Benedictine Sister (or Oblate) of Florida.

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

Have a good week.  Jesus tells us in the Scriptures as we near the close of the liturgical year: “Read the signs of the time!” 

Stay safe – be healthy – know peace!

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Give and God Provides

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We can only give from our need if we trust that God will provide.

Sunday’s first reading, the widow in Elijah’s time, and the Gospel of the widow in Jesus’ time, prompt us to take a hard look at our individual and communal giving practices.  If, as followers of Jesus Christ, we see clearly that God is the giver of all, how do we offer thanks?  What portion of our blessings do we give back to honor God and build up God’s Kingdom on earth?  We can apply the lesson in this story of the widow’s mite to our current collection of donations to Daystar Hope.  With the kind support of the Knights of St. Mark’s parish, and individual donors, we are enabled to distribute gift cards and bus passes to Daystar clients to help brighten their Thanksgiving.  Truly, we can all give something, the amount is between the individual and God.

In this reflection instead of emphasizing the spirit of giving often connected with the story of the Widow’s mite, I’d like to share some ideas that convey the perspective that it is not all about GIVING.  The Benedictine value of STEWARDSHIP (preserving the earth and respecting people) calls us to responsibility and care rather than oppressive domination.  To live out this value can require a radical shift in our thinking.  We can too easily become accustomed to regarding earth’s resources as if they had no intrinsic worth beyond their value to us.  For example, the demand for fast, prepackaged food contributes to a stripping of rain forests in order to provide pasture land.  In the process, many indigenous peoples have been rendered homeless, and the habitat of endangered species has been lost forever.  Advances have been made in the production of biodegradable substances but so far it’s only resulted in a reduction in the time it takes plastics and styrofoam to disintegrate – they still constitute a hazard to the environment.

One of the biggest offenders of violence to our environment is plastic bottles.  We hear frequently of the health value of drinking more water and those 12-16 oz. bottles are so handy.  Some plastics are recyclable or reusable.  But others, each time you refill it can leach toxins into the water you will consume.  And, in landfills or trash heaps toxic gases are leached into the environment causing a variety of health issues.  Landfills in the U.S. have over 2 million discarded plastic bottles that each take up to 1,000 years to decompose.  How many thousand years did we toss into the landfill in this week?  In the last month?  Trying to conserve by switching from plastic to glass containers here in our county is foiled because glass is not recycled.

Our primary motivation is that all (now and in the future) may have a share in God’s gifts.  We have to think bigger than the cash register.  Each day is our moment to resist any act of violence against creation.  It’s a special challenge now when COVID and CDC regs seem to thwart some of our progress.  For instance: it’s OUT with a cloth hand towel for everyone’s use; IN with paper towels to avoid the risk of virus transmission.

We wrestle prayerfully with questions about how we can adopt and adapt to a simpler lifestyle – letting go of some things, being patient when our preferences are denied by unavailability of pantry supplies.  We have to start where we are, doing what we can, with the insight and energy we have to make a difference.  Maybe we begin with one thing, one purchase, one habit a month that we change.  For example, spend a few pennies more to make a purchase from a local vendor that you usually make at a big box store.  Or make a gallon purchase instead of several smaller bottles.  Or take a shorter shower or don’t let the water run as you brush your teeth.  Run 2-sided copies and use scrap paper for note pads.  After a month, don’t forsake the new habit, keep it up and add a new pattern.  By the end of the year you’ll be 12x more conservative.  You may ask: how does doing any of this help the people in the 3rd world?  The truth is it doesn’t directly.  It changes YOU.  At the heart of our actions must rest the conviction that our world belongs to God and any misuse dishonors the Creator.

This widow in the Gospel was made destitute by life’s circumstances.  We, by no means live a life of destitution – but we know people who do.  We are invited to ask ourselves, what can I, what can we, do to reverse the destructive patterns of life that are making a negative impact on our earth and in the lives of those we profess to serve?  Each day we are challenged to figure out what to do with our “too much.”  The answer is NOT to find an empty shelf or an empty room to store it.  If we are not using it, do we REALLY need it?  If we haven’t worn it since we moved to this building, who could use it?  If we have forgotten we ever had it, did we ever really need it?  Are we saving it because, deep down, we don’t trust God to come through for us on a “rainy day?”  We can only give from our need if we trust (really and truly) that God will provide.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

This week we pray for veterans of all nations: for their families who support them and suffer with them … for spouses who raise children in their absence … and families who agonize when they are injured, missing or imprisoned … for support services personnel – we pray in gratitude for all their sacrifices.

 

First Reading:   Kings 17:10-16            Second Reading:  Hebrews 9:24-28
Gospel:   Mark 12:38-44
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Do All The Good You Can, For As Long As You Can

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In the short story, The Man Who Wanted a Key, the author describes the frustration of listening to a person who embellishes stories with irrelevant details.  He points out that there is much wisdom to be able to get to the heart of the matter.  St. Benedict reminds the monastic of this when in Chapter 7, Steps of Humility, he paraphrases Ecclesiastes (10:12) “The wise person is known by the fewness of her words.” 

The scribe who came to Jesus with the question, “Which commandment is the first of all?” was such a person–one who wanted to get to the main point.  Despite the opinion of many, there is no indication in Scripture that the scribe who raised the question was out to trap Jesus.  Mark is considered by some biblical scholars as being the best storyteller.  If it was a trap, he would have included that the scribe was aiming to get Jesus to condemn himself by saying something considered to be against the Law.  The man just wanted Jesus to get to the point: which is the first of the commandments?  Jesus gives him a much fuller answer than he bargained for.

Maybe you’re like that scribe.  Do you ever mumble under your breath: “What a better place this world would be if only everyone followed the teaching of Jesus the way I do.”  Our own shortcomings loom large before us, it’s true.  And, sadly, we can be overly aware of the failures of others.  If only they’d listen, we could fix them.  Jesus said: “Love your neighbor.”  And we each think we know exactly what he meant and how to do it.

In this Gospel reading, Jesus teaches us a special trick: how to make two become one.  There are two rules he says.  If you obey and live out of this teaching you will fulfil the law.  The first step is to love God.  The second is to love your neighbor the same way that you love yourself.  It’s not two laws, it’s one law with two facets.  This rule is so important we call it the Golden Rule.  Love and treat others in the same way that you would like them to love and treat you.  Bottom line: this means we love the other in the way she or he would appreciate.  We learn to read each other’s cues.  That takes time and is one of the blessings of the vow of stability; the promise of stick-to-itiveness.

Isn’t this what our Father-God did?  The WORD became FLESH in Jesus our Christ.  And that LOVE cost God the Father and the Son the life of the Son.  Love is a decision we make that we want to respond to others like Jesus would.  We ask the same question as the scribe, “Which, of all I see before me to do, is first in God’s eyes?  What should be first on my list of priorities, what is my most important date with God for today?”  Jesus’ reply is so simple it is no wonder we don’t dare ask him any further questions.  We need only to let his reply echo in our hearts, asking for the grace to understand what it means to put love as our highest priority.  St. Benedict puts it this way (in chapter 72): “Foster fervent love: be the first to show respect to the other … pursue what you judge better for someone else …  show reverent love to God; prefer nothing whatever to Christ.”

St. Paul tells us: “We are God’s work of art.”  When the other rankles your nerves and tries your patience, remind yourself: “This person before me is God’s work of art.”  That can be especially hard to do UNLESS I first acknowledge “I am God’s work of art.”

John Wesley provided a thought-provoking description of how one might obey the great commandment: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

Hope you had a Happy All Hollows Eve

and enjoy a pleasant All Saints’ Day – a prayfull All Souls’ Day

 

 

First Reading:   Deuteronomy 6:2-6             Second Reading:  Hebrews 7:23-28
Gospel:   Mark 12:28-34

 

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