Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Homily

Comfort Zone

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comfort zoneFirst Reading  Sirach 3:17-18,20,28-29     Second Reading   Hebrews 12:18-19,22-24
Gospel Reading   Luke 14:1,7-14      Intention End to terrorism

There is a term popular today that seems to me to fit with this message of Jesus. The term is “comfort zone” which refers to those situations in which the person feels comfortable, safe, and free from threat or even challenge. The comfort zone is, for the person involved, a thoroughly comfortable place. Life there is marked by ease and familiarity.

It’s natural to like one’s comfort zone, but most of us would admit that we should not remain there indefinitely. People do not become better or more mature or holier lingering in their comfort zone. That just doesn’t happen.

This, I think, appears to be a modern term for what concerns Jesus in today’s Gospel. The passage divides easily into two parts.

In the first part, Jesus cautions against sitting in the place of honor at a wedding banquet and advises taking the lowest place instead.

In the second part, he urges us to invite the crippled, lame, and blind when we give a luncheon or dinner, rather than friends, relatives, and rich people.

So there’s advice here for us when we’re the guest as well as when we are the ones hosting an event.  But it is about more than proper banquet etiquette.  Choosing the seat of honor for ourselves sounds a lot like craving our comfort zone. The best seat is the one where we feel comfortable: accepted, safe, free from threat, challenge or embarrassment or any sense of awkwardness.

Sharing a community meal, sitting at table should be less about power and all about sharing the joy of being together.   Even our legends acknowledge the power of a choice seat like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Sitting at a round table came to symbolize equality… because there was no head of the table. All had an equal seat and an equal say. Where you choose to sit matters. It matters in the way people perceive you and in the way you act in different environments.

Jesus challenges us against staying in our comfort zone. Rather than limiting our guest list to people who are clones of ourselves, people with whom we’re comfortable, who don’t threaten or challenge us, invite instead those who are different, people who make us uncomfortable, but whose difference from us may bring with it a blessing.  This is what I think is so significant about our Thanksgiving Day dinner.  We open our door, our hearts and our table expecting nothing in return.  The blessing of being in a position to share is its own reward.

Jesus not only teaches us this the lesson of stretching our comfort zone, he demonstrates it. His entire life, his public ministry, the passion and resurrection, is full of one episode after another of not remaining in a comfort zone.  Repeatedly Jesus takes the low seat and invites unlikely types to be his guests.

Finally he takes the worst seat of all––on the cross––and those who come to his banquet make it through the door (recall last Sunday’s Gospel)  because they claim no merit of their own. Finally he leaves the comfort zone of earth and expands his comfort zone forever, everywhere and with everyone – there are no strangers – all are welcome!

~Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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The Narrow Gate

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gate21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday, August 21, 2016

First Reading  Isaiah 66:18-21                Second Reading  Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13
Gospel Reading  Luke 13:22-30

This Gospel may well be a loose collection of sayings of Jesus recalled by the author, uttered in several different contexts but brought together here under the general heading of “who will be saved?”

As this parable opens, Luke reminds us that Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem, teaching as he goes. When from out of the crowd he hears a question called out giving him a chance to make a prophetic statement. A few weeks ago, the question was “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Today it’s “will only a few be saved?”

Jesus answers with two parables – referred to as the “narrow gate” and the “door” although the same Greek word is used for both gate and door.  It’s the translation that may be misleading.    It’s interesting to me that Jesus says many won’t be strong enough to get through the gate.  He doesn’t say slim enough.  It sounds as if the walls can be pressed aside if you just have enough strength.  To digress a moment … I thought of this image at the construction meeting earlier this week.  The discussion was about the well that has to be sunk to provide water for the fire sprinkler system.  The pipe will have a protective casing on it so it will not be subject to water erosion or enjoyed by underground rodents that visit our garden.  When drilling the well they ensure that the opening is wide enough to accommodate whatever diameter of pipe it takes to get the needed  water pressure ( 4’, 6’ 8’ pipe) before inserting the casing … in Jesus language, that it is strong enough to let the required flow of water get through.

Jesus says: “Many will seek to enter and will not be able” … so, maybe the overwhelming crowd will be too many all at the same time pushing and shoving to get through the opening?

This question to Jesus had people squirming: “Will only a few be saved?”  Will I be among them?  How can I be in that count?

The answer to the “will only a few be saved?” is no. In the end, many will be saved, but many who thought they would be saved will not be saved. The parable is a prophetic warning that it will take repentance, forgiveness, faith …   in order to be saved.  “Many are called but few are chosen.”

But, remember Jesus also said, “When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.”  Don’t delay your planning to be among the chosen … what’s the saying: don’t put off to tomorrow what can be done today?  Lectio and personal prayer; some form of fasting whether from food, or technology or juicy gossip is a daily opportunity.

Jesus answer to the crowd lets his hearers (and us) know that the “door of opportunity” will not remain open indefinitely.  When the door is closed, it is closed and will not be reopened for persons whose only claim is that Jesus once visited their temple / their church, their town and village or preached in their streets or that they once saw Jesus in a crowd.   Remember the 10 virgins … 5 missed the boat due to a lack of “NRRO future planning.”  And, recall the Gospel lessons we heard this past week: the first shall be last … and the last will get the same reward as those who signed on to Jesus work crew early in the day.

We’ve all probably seen the famous painting of Jesus knocking at a door with knob …  the door to our hearts must be opened from the inside.   That’s true but there are also doors with visible knobs that we must have the courage to open from our side….  To let in the immigrant, the wanders, the seekers, the faithless, the weary.  Could we say we are on the inside listening for outsiders to lift the knocker asking entrance.  Or, there doors waiting for you to twist the knob on, or push aside, to get a glimpse of what’s on the other side? It takes courage, doesn’t it, to be on either side of the door:  A big breath before stepping up to knock on the door of a stranger and a gasp of apprehension to open the door to an unexpected knock, especially if there is no peep hole to reveal at least a shadowy shape of the caller.

Some years ago I belonged to a parish group that studied various styles of meditation.  One was “wall” or “gate” meditation.  I invite you to try it …  and then I will share my experience.

Get in a relaxed position … lying down risks dozing off but sitting runs that same risk … just don’t try this particular type of meditation standing up or walking …   So, relax your body, close your eyes and in your mind start walking along the edge of a wall or fence … not on it, beside it –  until you see an opening or door … walk through – who’s there – do you see Jesus? – who is with him?  What are they saying to each other or to you …  Just let the reflection go where it will …

In my first experience… as I crossed through a low stone wall, I sensed Jesus seated with a circle of 10 – 12 others – he motioned for me to come sit beside him …  looking around I recognized and could name all but one person …  I have no memory of who they were BUT several years later I was introduced to a Sister from another community and I startled and instantly realized she was the one who had been in that circle.

Here are some doors you may want to visualize, open and peer beyond  …  Lord, Lord, open to me.

church_cross-door doors brick1 old_door_double colored doors barn doors stone dooroffice door1
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

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These Were Benedictine Women With A Dream!

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St. Leo Township 125th Anniversary

July 9, 2016

 

20160709_140120We preserve our stories because we want never to forget that the opportunities we have today were not simply lavished upon.  They were purchased at the great price of travel from home; cold, cracked work-worn knuckles; study by the light of midnight oil; stomachs that ached with hunger; raking, hoeing and watering groves and gardens – saving, scrimping and salvaging.

What firm faith and incredible courage our founding sisters must have had!  The records in the Pittsburg archives remind us of how adventurous and of the bravery of these young sisters who in 1889 set out for a long journey into the unknown.  There were clearly told if the venture did not work, they were not to return to Pennsylvania.  An examination of the papers shows us that of the five women who signed their severance papers on the evening of February 22, 1889, one never made it to Florida.  However, one of the Sisters who had served as a witness, must have decided overnight to join the mission band – she is named in the group of our five founders.

Imagine what daring it took to venture south into a faraway place.  These were Benedictine women with a dream!  In 1889 Rome considered the church in America “missionary territory.”  In relative terms, the slaves had only recently been freed.  Had our Sisters ever seen a person of color in their northern neighborhood?  Surely not an Indian and most assuredly not an alligator!

There is some evidence that the pioneer band traveled from Allegheny County (PA) to the Benedictine house in Covington, KY – then southward by train which would have deposited them in south GA or north FL.  It seems safe to me to guess that someone from San Antonio would have met the Sisters at the train to bring them in wagons or on horseback down along what is now Hwy 19 and 41 – parts of the Seminole trail.  Perhaps they met cattle drovers bringing their herds to Tampa or Punta Gorda.  By the time they reached San Antonio, traveling through the Florida wilderness – in February, probably not too many mosquitoes but surely they’d have heard or seen black bears and panthers, “Strange” birds, and had run across a snake or two…

On Thursday, February 28, I bet they breathed a sigh of relief to at last be among people they may not have personally known but whose northern cultural practices and manners, whose speech patterns were similar to their own.

Next day, March 1, being a Friday, and most probably a Lenten Friday, would have been a day was meat was NOT on the menu.  The sister would have partaken of very little, if any, breakfast.  They’d have prayer the Little Office of the blessed Virgin, an abbreviated for of the Divine Office they’d back home.  And as we know from our annals: “the great work was begun.”  Perhaps they had a main meal of fish fresh caught from Lake Jovita?  Evening came, and morning came, their second day in the mission land called “Land of the Flowers.”

The Sisters first home was a three-story wood-frame hotel which was located on the city park in San Antonio.   In 1911, the building was moved on logs to a location parallel to the shore of Lake Jovita in St. Leo.  In 1960, the “new” monastery building, which is now called Benedictine Hall and owned by Saint Leo University, replaced the original wood-frame building which the Sisters and academy boarders had called home for 71 years.

By March 11, less than two-week after their arrival, the Sisters had opened Holy Name Academy for girls and were teaching in St. Anthony School and St. Joseph School.  From 1929-59 they operated St. Benedict Preparatory for young boys.

In their history since 1889, the Sisters have served as town mayors and commissioners. At Saint Leo University, they have served as administrators, instructional staff, board members, campus ministers, directors of residential life and director of library services, archivist, clerical staff and food service managers.  From 1962 until 1997 they provided housing for university students.  Florida Benedictine women have staffed schools in Texas and Louisiana.  In Florida, they have been teachers and school principals, and worked in parish ministries, in San Antonio, St. Joseph, Lecanto, Jacksonville Beach, Miami, Quincy, Sarasota, Ocala, Lakeland, Venice, Beverly Hills, Apopka and Tampa.

The Benedictine Sisters have conducted summer religion programs at three diocesan camps.  They taught in summer Bible camps in DeLand, Plant City, Leesburg, Bartow and Naples, Florida.  Weekly religion (CCD) classes were taught by the Sisters in cities where they staffed schools and in Floral City, Brooksville, New Port Richey, Eustis, Arlington, Ponte Vedra, Masaryktown, Belleview, Reddick, West Ocala, Fruitland Park, Gainesville, Clermont, Dade City, Zephyrhills and at the Girls’ Detention Center in Ocala.

At the turn of the 20th century they attempted the founding of another motherhouse in Quincy, FL (which did not thrive) and within 10 years they had been invited to start a house in the Diocese of Birmingham, AL.  A year later 5 of “us” from FL joined with 5 Benedictine sisters from Kentucky to found the Benedictine convent in Cullman, Al.

At the present time, the Florida Benedictine Sisters continue to work on public, private and parochial school boards, and at Saint Leo University.  Individual Sisters are volunteers and serve on the boards of Catholic Charities, the Chamber of Commerce, Habitat for Humanity, Sunrise Spouse Abuse Shelter, Hospice, St. Vincent de Paul Society, soup kitchens and thrift stores.  Some of the Sisters minister within their community in administration, recruitment and formation of new members, business affairs, hospitality and retreat ministries, direct services to the poor, food service, horticulture.

And, now here we are at day 46,516 in the 127th year of our history – yes we were here before St. Leo was St. Leo Township!  And the Sisters have continued to happily be residents of St. Leo for all 125 years of the town’s incorporation.  And the GREAT WORK goes on.

As long as there are gaps between our ideals and our reality, there will always be great work to be done.  Our founding sisters, and the women who followed them into community, knew that they probably would not live to see all the changes they promoted.  Little did they know the hotel-turned-convent they so carefully hauled to the shores of Lake Jovita would be demolished in 1961, a new priory (as it was called then) erected and eventually sold to Saint Leo University.

We face challenges our foremothers could not have imagined.  And, our “daughters” will face challenges unimaginable to us.  This is part of our Florida Benedictine women’s experience – we still remember in the beginning our founders were told: if it doesn’t work, don’t come back.  We work to compassionate and caring, to preserve the earth and steward our resources, to keep faith with our founding ideals and to enflesh them into a reality worthy of those who will inherit what we build today.

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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When We Enter a House, Our Message Will Simply Be “Peace.”

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peace-to-this-householdJesus is warning us it is going to be difficult – that he is sending us out like lambs among wolves. Yet we are to bring nothing with us, not even a wallet or flip flops. We are to make no side trips along the way or greet bystanders on the way so as not to be distracted from our mission. When we enter a house, our message will be simply “peace.” The response we receive may be positive or negative. Either way, we are to know that the Kingdom of God is at hand. We are not to demand special treatment but eat and drink whatever is given to us. We are to stay in one house and are not look around for someone who can provide better accommodations. We are to ask a blessing for the sick as a sign that the Kingdom of God is at hand for them. If the locale will not receive us, we are to shake the dust from our feet and move on. Even in the case of such rejection we will know that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

In 2015, the world’s population was 7.2 billion.  Of that number there were reportedly 1.2 billion Catholics in the world with over 40% of those in Latin America and the fastest conversion rate in Africa.  Sounds like those early disciples clearly did not work in vain. Their “mustard seeds” grew from 12 into large branches, sprawling trees providing shelter for hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of souls living today – not counting all those who have gone before us.   That invisible yeast worked its influence dramatically on the seemingly inert dough.

Among those who call themselves Christians, how many could be deemed active labors in God’s vineyard?  The harvest is still great.  There is still a large population which profess to be agnostic or atheist – who have not met or who deny the existence of God.

But a common perception of “laborers” is priests, or religious brothers and sisters, those who have a “vocation”. One hears people expressing regret that today there are so few “vocations”. What will the Church do?    However, it is doubtful that Jesus was thinking of priests and religious when he spoke those words. In fact, in the world of the New Testament there were no priests or religious as we understand those terms today. In the mind of Jesus – and in the mind of the early evangelists – everyone who was known as a follower of Christ was expected to be a laborer in the harvest field.

How can one be a laborer?  Jesus told us our task is to be bringers of peace.  “Say first: Peace to this household.”  In early June of this year, Pope Francis, in his introduction to priests’ on a 2-day retreat, spoke about the first steps in understanding and practicing mercy.  He said: “If we start by feeling compassion for the poor and the outcast, surely we will come to realize that we ourselves stand in need of mercy.”  I would suggest that the same principle applies to peace-making.  If we start by providing a peaceful environment for our visitors and guests, surely they (and we) will come to realize how peace feels, how much we need it and how quickly it can spread among us.  And, what better way spread peace than by modeling peaceful living by our demeanor and interactions with others – a quiet, contemplative atmosphere in the hallways, conscientiously using an agreeable, non-threatening tone of voice, and performing simple random acts of kindness for each other.

What Jesus recommends is not to weigh ourselves down with all kinds of baggage. Our security is not to be in material possessions, in what we have. It is not in our status and standing in the eyes of others. It is not in the power and influence that we can wield. Our security comes from deep within, a peaceful security that no one or no circumstance can take away from us.

I read a funny story the other day about competing. It seems there was a barber in a small town who had been the only barber in town for years. Everyone went to this barber to get their hair cut. Then, one day a big, modern name-brand hair salon came to town and opened up shop. They advertised, “All Haircuts $3.00”   The old barber just couldn’t compete. In a last ditch effort to save his business, he hired a business consultant. The consultant spent a day pouring over the barber’s books and asking many questions. At the end of the day the barber asked the consultant, “So what do you think?  Should I close up shop?” The consultant said, “Not yet. I’ll be back tomorrow.” The next day the consultant showed up with a huge banner that he hung in front of the barber shop that said, “We Fix $3.00 Haircuts!” The competition doesn’t always win, do they?  We don’t need to compete – we just need to BE – be models of peace to each other, practice wise stewardship, believe in God’s goodness and mercy – and live it!

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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“Pursue What We Judge is Better for the Other Rather than Self”

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who-do-you-say-i-amWhile there are a number of crucial spiritual questions, none is more important than this question asked:  “But you, who do you say that I am?  Peter might have answered “Son of Mary and Joseph” or “Son of the carpenter” or “A great teacher.”  Or he might have uttered one of descriptions he’d learned since childhood from the Torah – titles we heard in last night’s reading from Judith: “Creator of the rivers, king of all creation, protector of the people.”  But, in a graced moment Peter cut to the heart of Jesus’ identity:  “You are Messiah, the Christ, son of the Living God.”

It’s crucial for each individual person to answer correctly.   Peter got it right but he did not realize the full impact of his answer.   It is the first time a disciple refers to Jesus as Messiah.  But, he and the other disciples had the wrong notion of Messiah.  To them it connoted a reigning King. They did not understand it involves suffering and death.   Their idea of a Messiah was all glory; no guts.

Only one answer is objectively correct to Jesus query:  “Who do you say I am?”  Jesus didn’t say, “Great answer, Peter! Do any of the rest of you have anything to add?  You others, how do you feel?”  How you feel about Jesus doesn’t change who He is. There is a single correct answer to the question that is not based on feelings or personal opinions, but on objective revealed truth.

To stretch their understanding,  Jesus immediately mentions His impending death and resurrection and the cost of discipleship.  He’s hinted at it before but this is the first explicit mention of it. From here on, it will become a frequent theme as Jesus makes this intention known to go to Jerusalem.   The disciples still did not really comprehend this until after Jesus’ resurrection. Once they had a fuller understanding of what Jesus meant – they were enabled to go out as bold witnesses.

Think about how difficult it must have been for the disciples to commit themselves to Jesus as the Christ? For centuries, faithful Jews had been waiting and looking for the promised Messiah. Many lived and died without seeing that hope fulfilled. Sometimes prophets came on the scene, raising hopes that they might be the Messiah. But they died and the people kept waiting. Then, suddenly there came upon the scene this young upstart, a mere carpenter from Nazareth who began preaching and performing miracles. Could He be the one? He certainly didn’t fit popular image of what the Messiah would be like. But the disciples committed themselves to Jesus as that long-awaited Messiah.

Remember, they didn’t have the 2000 years of church history that we have to confirm their faith.   They were the first ones to say, “This is the One!” And they had to say it in the face of public opinion that didn’t agree with them. This fact is underscored by the contrast between Jesus’ first question, “Who do the multitudes say that I am?” and His second question, “But you, who do YOU say that I am?”

The disciples had to stand against strong currents to affirm their conviction that Jesus is the Christ. The Roman government didn’t care if Christians followed Jesus as long as they affirmed Caesar as Lord.

They also had to go against the opinions of the Jewish religious crowd, which had varying notions of who Jesus might be. The disciples had to stand apart from the Jewish religious crowd to affirm Jesus as Messiah.

Perhaps the most formidable ones that the disciples had to oppose were the Jewish religious leaders. The disciples were not formally educated as their leaders were in the Hebrew Scriptures.  They had no public influence; they were not the recognized interpreters of the Law of Moses nor were they guardians of the Jewish law. Who did this bunch of uneducated fishermen think they were to go against the opinion of that august body of scholars?

This question: “Who do you say I am?” still divides people. It takes a strong faith, firm conviction and undying loyalty to take your stand with Peter and the disciples.  And, it takes an unwavering friendship with Jesus to steadfastly affirm your conviction.

And, how do we do that AND follow Jesus directive: do not tell anyone?  He said the same thing on the mount of the Transfiguration: “Tell the vision to no one.”  I wonder, was it His way of saying: actions speak louder than words?

In the next few lines of the Gospel, Jesus cautions: If you are sincere in saying you want to follow Me, you must deny yourself to the point of losing your life.  That’s a tall order!  But, not much less that Benedict telling us to keep death daily before our eyes.  That doesn’t mean being preoccupied with death because Jesus adds “you will have life.” So, be preoccupied with life – the opportunities of the moment.

Think about all the little deaths Jesus endured along the way: spending hours with the crowds when he might have preferred a quiet get-away for prayer – taking time to feed the crowd when it might have been simpler to take the disciples to mom’s for a home cooked meal; taking the energy to clear the temple of the sellers of unnecessary and costly sacraficial offerings when He might have slipped in through the side door to avoid the commotion at the main entrance.

We have abundant, daily opportunities to “die” these kinds of deaths. All that is required according to Benedict (in RB 72) is that we “pursue what we judge is better for the other rather than self.”  Or as we challenge and promise each other (in one of our Benedictine Sisters’ Community statements):  “We seek to form bonds of mutual love and respect and to call forth the best in one another.”    When it is exhausting or especially trying, remember what Jesus promised: whoever takes up her daily crosses, gives up herself for my sake, will save herself – you will have life!

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

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Availability

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availabilityThroughout his Gospel, Luke demonstrates that God’s promises to Israel are fulfilled in the person of Jesus.  In this part of Luke’s story, Jesus and his disciples are approaching the city of Naim when they come upon a large funeral procession. Luke does not tell us how Jesus knows that the deceased is an only son of a widow.  Did He know the family or was the scene and the ritual all too familiar to him and his disciples?   Whatever the reason, had Jesus not been present to the moment and available to its significance it may have gone without noticed or ignored by the evangelist as well as the passersby.

Before I continue: a disclaimer is called for: Much of what follows is borrowed or adapted from Robert Wicks’ little volume entitled AVAILABLILTY.

The virtue, the gift of availability is indeed a simple but a great gift.  The freedom to be present when needed is something special.  It is an opportunity to be spiritual – to be open to relationship in the deepest, most elegant sense of the term.  However, this wonderful state of living often seems hidden or distorted.  Today, availability is a premium because it is not only a gift but also sometimes a great challenge for many of us – one that we need to more fully understand and address if we are to be able to continue to be present in the full sense of the word.  Availability is not only a gift; it is also a problem.

Some of us are “too available.”  Thus, true availability becomes watered down. We become too busy to pray, too tired to reflect, and, ironically, too stimulated interpersonally present to others.

Others among us pull back in anxiety.  Being available to God seems to raise too many questions or doubts.  Spending time alone is no longer relaxing; instead we feel lonely or preoccupied with our faults and failures.  And being with others doesn’t seem to help either; in some cases, we feel used, left out, or misunderstood.  The end result is that our expectations for intimacy are not realized and we feel the need to pull back more than ever.

The situation is not merely a sad one; it is a dangerous.  Without a sense of availability to self, others, and God, life loses it spirituality.  Relationships suffer, break down, and we are left with a void or sense of confusion.

We must address availability with the imperative that openness to the personal and interpersonal is essential if the Spirit is to be heard and felt. Any blocks to relationship must be removed if we are to prepare ourselves always for the continual coming of what is Good.  The very vitality of living out the Gospel depends on our being involved –  in an ongoing way – in the process.

When we spend time, especially unplanned time, with others it is not so much that we TAKE TIME OUT OUR DAY to be with them as that we had make the other part of our life.  For instance, today’s funeral for Kurt … because we generously welcomed them into our home God, through us, was enabled to share compassion, comfort and hospitality to a large group of mourners.

Jesus absorbed the widow’s sorry, made it his own and offered deep compassion and consolation to her even before he raised her boy from the funeral bier.  Did Mary witness this incident or did others relate to her?  Later when her son died do you think  she recalled he’d brought this Only son back, and Lazarus, too, back to life?  Did she live in hope that such a miracle would be granted her son?  Someday we may know.

Picking up cues, recognizing a silent need – reaching into self and out to others: this kind of attitude is at the heart of a life that reflects an appreciation of the gift of availability.  This attitude merits being kept in mind as we look at some of the basic problems we encounter in trying to be available to ourselves, others, and God.  Though the concept is simple, living a life of true availability isn’t easy for most of us.  It takes a conscious desire and effort to be present to all the nuances of the present moment.  Some people see only the dark clouds gathering; others see the rainbow emerging.  Let us be present to the moments when rainbows quietly and slowly are revealed in our lives.  Jesus would have missed the funeral scene if he had been too intent on getting to the farmer’s market in town.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

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