Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Benedict

Companions Like Porcupines on a Cold Winter’s Night

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In this Sunday’s Gospel reading Peter asks Jesus how many times one ought to extend forgiveness to another. Peter proposes a reasonable number of times, perhaps seven. Jesus replies by extending Peter’s proposal by an enormous amount; not just seven times but 77 times. There is a temptation to quantify forgiveness as Peter tried to do, but Jesus’ point is that forgiveness is not about quantity.  The lesson is clear: If we hoard God’s mercy for ourselves while showing no mercy to others, we will risk forfeiting the effects of God’s mercy in our own lives.

Picture this: a cluster of porcupines on a cold winter’s night. The cold drives them to huddle together to keep warm, but as soon as they get close to one another they start jabbing each other with their spines and forcing them to move apart; thus they are forever coming together and moving apart in a kind of slow dance.  There may be a great deal of truth to that. Remember the saying about Benedictine life: we fall down and we get up.

For Jesus’ and Benedict there is no excuse for violating the first step in their instruction.  It’s not just a suggestion – these are words from the lips of Jesus.  If you’ve been offended, it is your responsibility to GO.  You don’t wait for the one who has offended to come to you.  You are accountable for your own actions!

So, you’ve approached the person who you feel has offended you – had a little “come to Jesus” chat with her– all seemingly to no avail.  What’s the next step? No, it is not turning a blind eye to the behavior IF you truly feel it is disrupting your peace and peace in the community.  The challenge is finding a person who can remain neutral.  Benedict describes this person as “wise and mature who secretly goes to the person to urge her to be humble and to offer her consolation so she is not overcome with excessive sorrow.”

Now it is time again to question yourself. Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?  Am I acting out of my OCD tendencies?  Can I really let go and let God?  Or is God urging me to kick it up a notch and take a witness with me to listen in objectively, offering no opinions, just listen, and only speak if it seems needed to repeat what seems to be being said?

I want to affirm that I am not acting with rash judgement.  Do I have all the facts? We are human and God gave us a mind and the ability to reason but sometimes we don’t have all the pieces. Was I just being overly sensitive?

So, now you and a witness-friend have had that calm, rational talk with the person you are convinced intended to offend you.  Hopefully, your love and genuine concern are evident and she will not feel: “She’s just out to get me” or “They’re ganging up on me!”  If the truth be told, she would never have approached you in the first place if she did not trust you and care for you.  The hope is that the intervention will bring about reconciliation and peace.

What’s next?  Benedict advises separation from the community provided that she understands the nature of the measure.  For Benedict, non-participation in chapel and separation from the community table was a grave measure.  Benedict doesn’t say to starve the offender … just let her take her meals alone and at a different time.  Some today do that by choice.  But, I suppose, if it were announced that she is not allowed to have meals with the rest of the community, it would have a different feel and effect.

When all else fails, Jesus and Benedict agree there is no other choice than to apply the “cauterizing iron of excommunication … lest one diseased sheep infect the whole flock.”  But even then Benedict looks favorably on the return, the re-entry of a dismissed or dissociated member if she promises to make full amends, not simply say “I’m sorry”, but to make a sincere effort to change her ways and fit into community.

Just remember to always start with Step One: GO, don’t wait for the other to make an approach – Go alone (take a walk; share a cup of tea, sit on a swing, whatever but keep it private between the two of you).

Jesus and Benedict assure us if we follow their directives we’ll come to be like the little child who was saying her bedtime prayers. As she went down the list of family members, asking God to bless them one by one, she omitted her sister’s name. Her mother injected:  “Why didn’t you pray for Susie?” She looked up puzzled and said, “I’m not going to ask God to bless Susie because she broke my doll’s arm.”  “But,” her mother said, “Don’t you remember Jesus said to forgive your enemies?” “That’s just the trouble”, the child said: “Susie isn’t my enemy; she’s my sister.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading:   Sirach 27:30 – 28:9         Second Reading:  Romans 14:7-9
Gospel:   Matthew 18:21-35
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Benedict Mirror Jesus’ Message of Hope

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St. Benedict bases his belief on that of Jesus: that any correction should always be commensurate with the debt owed and promotes a choice for a change in behavior.  The dignity of the offending member is to be guarded first by insisting that the superior decides the gravity of the fault and that the matter be first handled in private. After living with his Rule for some time, Benedict revisited the practicality of various sections.  One example may be found in Chapter 69.

Benedict uses the image of Jesus – that of a wise physician.  He reminds the community that it’s not the healthy who need the soothing ointment of encouragement, but the sick is the one who needs urging to be humble and to make satisfaction for faults.  Our aim is to keep the community “one flock.”    TOGETHER we shall go to God. It’s an “one for all and all for one” deal.  So, let’s take a look at how this works – Jesus and Benedict lay out the same steps.

In Jesus’ instruction it is about SIN; in Benedict’s precepts it concerns matters within community.    But both concern personal offenses … person to person.  And whether sin or a less serious matter, the first approach is to be in private … one on one.  You must seek out the one who has offended you directly, with love and in humility … face-to-face … as a shepherd looking for the lost sheep … out in the rain, through the brambles, across the brook …  it doesn’t make any difference how difficult the terrain is, you must seek out person you feel offended you.    And this is to be done in a calm, rational manner.  You most certainly won’t win over the other person if you lose your temper, insult or mock them and generally act like a jerk.  Keep in mind: this is your Sister for whom Christ died.  No matter what she has done, place her above yourself so you don’t jeopardize your mission.  Even “if a life is a land full of thorns and weeds there is always a space in which the good seed can grow.”

Also remind yourself that no matter how convinced you are of the justice of your cause, you are only human.  You could be misguided in your judgement – have jumped to a false conclusion.  You must listen carefully to and weigh the other’s argument … unless, of course, she immediately agrees with you and, as Benedict says, makes due satisfaction.  Otherwise, you must give the person a thorough opportunity to respond. In any case, it is simply not enough to say, “I’m sorry” or “I apologize.”  An apology is an inadequate human substitute for the real thing.  Nowhere does the Scripture require, nor does Benedict ever use language to even encourage, apologizing.  To say “I’m sorry” is a human dodge to avoid reconciliation and to save myself from having to say: “I was wrong, will you forgive me?”

The most important thing, Jesus and Benedict remind us, is to go alone, keep the matter private.   You want to protect her reputation, and your own. If the information you may have spread is proven to be false and damaging, you’re the one who will have dirt on your face.

Approaching the person directly and in person helps preserve peace in the community.  Benedict condemns gossip in no uncertain terms referring to it at least a dozen times – variously translated as gossip, murmuring or grumbling.  In conclusion Benedict says: “There must be no word or sign of the evil of murmuring, no manifestation of it for any reason at all.”

If you feel compelled to confront a member about a behavior, remember it is just that – THE BEHAVIOR, not the person.  And, recall Jesus’ and Benedict’s first principles: face-to-face and in private.  This goes along with the rule of thumb: Praise in public, correct in private.

In the end, the Gospel message is one of hope.  Jesus is present with our community and will guide us in our relationships. If decisions are made in prayer, then the community can be assured of God’s assistance.  As Paul says: “The body is one and has many members, but all the members, many though they are, are one body.”  You may recall the Boys’ Town picture of a slightly older boy carrying a younger boy piggyback and saying, “He ain’t heavy, Father; he’s my brother.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading:   Ezekiel 33:7-9         Second Reading:  Romans 13:8-10
Gospel:   Matthew 18:15-20
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17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Our ancestors went out with joy to serve the people of God.

And, when the time was right…our time…… we are on the move again.

The opening lines of this Gospel selection seem to me to be a good description of what we did.  Many years ago our predecessors recognized a treasure across the street – a piece of land with a stunning view and a perpetual breeze; awesome sunrises and sunsets.  They buried it with a citrus grove – went out with joy to serve the people of God in many places.  And, when the time was right, our time (2014), we sold what we had and set out with joy to reclaim our treasured “pearl.”

Twelve years later we are on the move again, this time to an assisted living facility: American House on Pretty Pond Road in Zephyrhills, Florida.  This will be a gradual move as spaces become available.  For the time being four of us have made the move.  The transition has been a smooth welcome.  The residents have received “the Sisters” with helpful hints and are thrilled that Fr. John McEvoy will be offering Mass there on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursdays.

Let’s move on to our Gospel reflection. Jesus asks us: “Do you understand all these things?”  Like the disciples we without hesitation answer, “Yes.”  But, maybe our voices quiver and there’s a question mark in our expression. T is however a conviction in our hearts that we will extend God’s kingdom wherever we live, whatever the restrictions we encounter, and with whatever the resources we have at hand.

 The Gospel reading concludes with a curious statement about the scribe who understands the kingdom of heaven.   How do we identify and describe God’s Kingdom here on earth? One way that immediately comes to mind is the outpouring of love and concern evident in the “Christmas in July” celebration provided by the Columbiettes from St. Mark’s Parish in Tampa.  God bless them!

The words of a Quaker hymn come to mind: “We bend and we bow and shan’t be ashamed”.  Our mission remains the same – it just takes on a new shape.  Why did our Sisters come from Pennsylvania to settle in this area?  Was it not to feed the educational hunger of the local children?  Long before we wrote formalized philosophy statements and directional goals, our Sisters “fed hungers” in a variety of roles at all levels in the education field.  They worked in internal ministries and as nurses and home healthcare workers, seamstresses, coif makers, packing house workers, and gardeners.  You name it, as long as it was legal and moral, someone probably tried it.  Our aim is, and has always been, to foster life in community –  to BE community for each other: to pray and work; to interact with the care and respect St. Benedict describes in his Rule, particularly in RB chapter 72. It reads “be the first to show respect to the other”. In our community’s Core Commitment we express Benedict’s mandate by writing we are to be the first “to respond with the compassion of Christ to the hungers of our world.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 Sorry this is a little late coming…

The four of us who have moved have had a smooth transition into life at American House.  The staff and residence alike have welcomed us and are happy that Fr John McEvoy will be offering 10 a.m. Mass (all welcome) on Tuesday, Thursday and Sundays.

 

 

First Reading:   1 Kings 3:5, 7-12         Second Reading:  Romans 8:28-30, 13:44-52
Gospel:   Matthew 13:44-46
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12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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In this Gospel passage, Jesus uses a simple, mind-opening analogy to illustrate his point.  His listeners knew that the cheapest life in the market was a small bird of the field, perhaps a sparrow.  Yet, God’s providential care knows even when this smallest of birds dies.  Jesus is using here a rabbinic argument technique which compares a light matter to a heavy one. His idea here is to overcome fear and encourage the disciples, and us, to trust God.

Jesus recognizes that fear may cause failure on our part.  We see in the Gospel how on the one hand, the disciples are granted remarkable powers to heal the sick, exorcise demons, cleanse lepers, even to raise the dead. But at the same time, Jesus denies the disciples money, extra clothes, or a walking stick to aid in climbing the ups and downs of life or to protect themselves from wolves.  He even denies them a pair of sandals to shield their feet from rocks and stones, or, if they travel the fields in Florida, sandspurs.

They are to undertake their mission in complete vulnerability and dependence on God with an awareness that they go as “sheep in the midst of wolves.”  We know their stories. They faced arrests and beatings, hatred and persecution and opposition, even from family members.

With great care and compassion Jesus names aloud the suffering to be endured and its causes.  This is the first step in freeing them from the tenacious grip of fear.  Benedict knew this, didn’t he?  Remember what he says about receiving newcomers (Chapter 58).  “Do not grant newcomers an easy entry … test the spirits, let them keep persistently knocking at the door four or five days … they should be clearly told the things of everyday living in community; all the hardships and difficulties that will lead to God.  She, the newcomer, must be aware of what the Rule requires so that she may know what she is entering.”

Just as Jesus modeled the way for his disciples, we make a commitment to the each other to model Benedictine living.   An example: A young boy, out for a walk with his father on a cold winter day, was scared to cross a frozen pond … afraid of falling through the ice. But then his Father offered to lead the way.  Now the boy didn’t hesitate to go across the ice. The ice hadn’t become less frightening, but he was able to follow his father, trusting his father wouldn’t lead him to harm. He followed his father without fear across the ice.   Jesus leads us; we lead each other.

As we sing in the Suscipe: “Uphold me, O Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live, and do not disappoint me in my hope.”

“I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.” (William Allen White).  Also see Sirach 30:21-15: “Gladness of is the very life of a person, and cheerfulness prolongs our days.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Jeremiah 20:10-13         Second Reading:  Romans 5:12-15
Gospel:   Matthew 10:26-33
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Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord

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Do you remember hearing years ago the question: how far is heaven from earth?  It must be 5 days’ journey – because when on the ascension Jesus rose to heaven it took it was 10 days later when the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost.  Five days up; five down.   That’s how far, some say, heaven is from earth.  (not seriously, of course.)    But that silly story prompts my reflection’s journey motif …

In this our 137th community anniversary of the journey from Pennsylvania to Florida, I invite you to join me in taking a long overview look at the history of our community “journey history”.  It is evident that we and our Florida-Benedictine ancestors have made many journeys.  We start with Benedict and Scholastica who skipped happily along the hilltop path from their home in Norcia, Italy.  Perhaps they stopped in to visit with the hermits who live in caves hillside on their trip to their grandparents’ summer house on the outskirts of town.

When still a young boy, Benedict journeyed to Rome for classical studies.  Before long, he journeyed into the hills for a little sanity.   A few years later, Benedict’s followers – and Scholastica’s nuns – traveled from Italy to Germany, England, France, Switzerland, and Austria – and in 1852 from Bavaria to the United States.  We probably know the story of the monk running to tell Abbot Wimmer that his “wagon load of trouble” had been spotted on the horizon when the first Benedictine nuns came to the U.S.  Like spotty fires that can’t be contained, Benedictine women’s houses sprang up across the continent. Our own immediate history brings a “wagon load” of 5 Sisters from PA to San Antonio, FL.  Before long they’d started schools in their own home and 3 miles down the road in St. Joe.

Over the years, our Sisters would journey each school year to places as far away as TX and LA and they made a mark for our community in Miami, Miami Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ocala, Sarasota, Venice, Lakeland, Apopka, Dade City, Zephyrhills and San Antonio, New Port Richey and St. Joe and right here in St. Leo. For many years the Sisters packed up each June and brought all their worldly possessions back to Holy Name Convent because we never knew for sure where you’d be “missioned” the next school year.  This was a built-in system of “spring cleaning” and downsizing.

During the summers the Sisters continued on their journeys to complete, or extend, their education.  To name a few places I know about, they traveled to Cullman, AL, Notre Dame, St. John’s in Minnesota, Belmont College, New York, Louisville, Yankton, SD; Barry in Miami, the Mount in Atchison, KS; Wisconsin and St. Louis.  Or they packed up a few necessities along with two habits and headed up the road to Good Counsel Camp where they squeezed in 2-week sessions of religious education for children that did not have the advantage of parochial schools.

In addition to staffing parish school, Sisters packed into cars – sometimes with volunteer drivers – to teach weekend catechism classes in Floral City, Brooksville, New Port Richey, Eustis, Arlington, Ponte Vedra, Masaryktown, Belleview, Reddick, West Ocala, Fruitland Park, Gainesville, Clermont, Dade City, Zephyrhills and the Girls’ Reformatory in Ocala.   I’ve never check out the veracity of this story but I’ve heard that there is one Sister who used to travel to “the outback” to teach catechism with her typewriter on her lap finishing up her college class assignments.

All this journeying from home to classrooms to college to camp to parish halls were mini-versions of the grand moves, the memorable journeys, that travel in our Florida Benedictine genes: the move from PA, the move from the park to the top of this hill; from the wood-frame convent to this structure of concrete and steel.  And, then there were the years of discernment that concluded in our decision to move body and soul across the highway to this 2014 structure we now call home.

And, you’ll recall we’ve moved not only our persons – we’ve moved buildings to our property – the barracks buildings that were delivered for a boys’ school and a canteen for the academy girls.  Camp Jovita cabins and the day care buildings rested south of the Villa.  We can point to where buildings used to be: the kindergarten and coif room, the laundry at the lake, Scholastica hall, barns, the home ec houses, the bus shelter, a hitching post on Hwy 52 and basketball courts where we hosted chicken dinners and danced around the May Pole.

Journeys are not a new phenomenon for Florida Benedictines. For some of us a journey is an adventure; for some a dreadful thought.  For all of us it can be a great risk, a scary thought, a step into a future that unfolds as we walk the path God holds out to us.  When we took our first journey from womb to the light of day, we were completely naked, vulnerable, squalling and fighting the loss of the comfort of 24-hour warmth, unending nourishment, periods of activity and times of quiet floating.  Journeys are nothing new for any of us!

In conclusion, for today, I suggest you think about some of the journeys you’ve taken – moves when you were a child, the move to join our community and the journey that our sisters of happy memory have traveled to their eternal home.   May they rest in peace!  God of the journey, show us the path to life.  Angels of God, lead us along our path.  Amen.  Alleluia!

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading:   Acts 1:1-11         Second Reading:  Ephesians 1:17-23
Gospel:   Matthew 28:1-16
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Fourth Sunday of Lent

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Today in our country, there has been a glut of news and information that can wash us away if we are not careful.  Unfortunately, much of it is commentary disguised as factual news which can mislead well-intentioned people.  It is easy to become overly skeptical of anything we hear or simply become deaf to it – tune it out and live in a news-free bubble.  We become over-saturated, de-sensitized, numb to the sounds of guns that we invited into our family rooms.  We may close our ears to the sounds of violence and personally offensive language.  Or we might shut our eyes to distasteful ads while at the same time are not bothered by liturgical graphics of weapons of cruelty.  We may leave the room during the 7-minute commercial phase that brings previews depicting guns, cyber-crimes, fictionalized murders polluting our relaxation space.

It’s past time we created our own litany of care.  Call to mind caretakers, emergency workers, medical personnel… those who keep a death-watch for a loved one.  Pray for enlightenment for those who are frustrated because in their mental state they cannot recognize the seriousness of the world situation. Pray also for those who are burdened with an already existing anxiety disorder which is only compounded by the 24/7 cycle of dire news.  Pray for those who are isolated and lonely, secluded in small spaces.  Remember in gratitude those who check-in by phone with persons who live alone. Pray for those who are called to make decisions, often unpopular, for those under their care and persons who make poor decisions seemingly oblivious to the ripple effect of their choices.  Pray for those whose theme song is “I am special”.  Pray you never portray the attitude: “I don’t have to follow the rules of the RULE.”  Remember those who attitude projects “I don’t have to do what ‘they’ tell me.”  I am the exception.  I have God’s special protection.  Unusual circumstances call for unusual (some would say heroic) responses.

Pray for all of us, pray for yourself – that we may be patient and forbearing with those who bear the cross of cognitive decline.  Slow your pace to match someone using a walker, hold the door open an extra minute, find the seatmate’s page in the prayer book.  In all ways treat each other, as Benedict says: as a vessel of the altar.  Anticipate the other’s need before she recognizes she can use an extra hand.  May we be graciously cooperative team players with an intact sense of humor.

Strive to live up to the ideals Benedict proposes:

  • Pursue what you consider better for the other.
  • Be the first to show respect to the other.
  • Be patient with each other.
  • Earnestly compete in obedience (even when it goes against the grain).

In all circumstances, may we prefer nothing whatever to the love of Christ.  May we together know Benedict’s promise of life in abundance. (RB 72).  But, as Sister Julia Marie Roy OSB, Benedictine Sister from Tulsa, says: “There is no precedent for us to follow.  For Benedictines, so mindful of tradition, that is a lot to try to process!”

The Gospel readings for these middle three weeks of Lent. Last week the Samaritan woman, today the curing of the blind man, and next week the raising of Lazarus, are proclaimed every year at the liturgies that feature Scrutinies for those in OCIA, (the Catholic Church’s process for welcoming new members).  They tell of a Jesus who offers us new life in him.  These are stories of a Savior who offers us living water, dispels the darkness of our blindness, and conquers the power of death.  They are not simply the plot and climax of good stories.  They tell the real truth.  This isn’t simply factual news.  It is the good news.  Jesus was and is real and the fact that he can heal us should not be disputed.  Too often too many people live lives of anxiety, desperation and despair, seemingly unaware that Jesus wants to help all of us bear our burdens.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   1  Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a      Second Reading:  Ephesians 5:8-14
Gospel:   John 9:1-41
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