Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

children

Receive the kingdom of God like a little child

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Isn’t it a shame that pastors have the option of omitting the last portion of this Gospel  – the part about the children.  I hope they don’t exercise that option especially after Pope Francis’ many displays of affection and regard for children.

In this Gospel the people were bringing their children to Jesus, much like they do today to Pope Francis.  It is the children (urged on by their parents) who can manage to break through security the lines, past the preoccupied patrols and approach Pope Francis.  But the disciples just don’t get it.  Jesus has summed up the lesson pointing out the value and importance of these “little ones” in the Kingdom of God. Jesus offers the children as an example of the kind of complete trust and dependence upon God that ought to be the attitude of all believers.

There is a subtle pressure in church and society to remain a dependent child.   Who is it (in life) that truly challenges you to liberate yourselves from immature dependencies to acceptance of the burdens of a responsible adults?

How can we heed Jesus’ injunction to accept the kingdom of God like a child?  Or risk never entering it?  What does it mean to be childlike, and not childish?  What qualities is Jesus asking us to hang on to in order to enter the kingdom not only beyond the “pearly gates” but right here on earth, in our community, where God’s kingdom exists?

A few qualities I think he might encourage would be:

  • Live Spontaneously – taking in every moment and the opportunities in unplanned instants.
  • How about never letting a lack of qualifications deter you –If you’ve never done something before, be fearless like a child who pulls out a kitchen drawer to scramble up to the cabinet to get the peanut butter.  Isn’t this how Olympic gymnasts start?
  • Kids Know Exercise Can Be Fun –It’s just a matter of finding an active, healthy activity we actually enjoy doing.
  • Keep an Open Mind –  Keep a childlike wide open mind and you’ll learn something new every day – maybe more than one thing.  Don’t let force of habit slow you down.   Ask questions: you’ll never get an answer if you never ask.  So, she might say NO – but did you give her a chance to say YES?
  • Express your feelings – nurture and value relationships – Open, honest, direct face-to-face expression of feelings makes communication easier, maintains sincerity and integrity in your life.  Children like nothing better than to “hang out” with their friends.  Do you look forward to unstructured time with community members – your “sisters?”
  • Use Your Imagination –  Robert Kennedy got credit, but Walt Disney said it first::  If you can dream it, you can do it!  If you have a creative idea, share it.  If it’s faster, smarter or better and see what happens.  You’ll never know unless you try.
  • Learn by Imitation – have you ever seen a little boy walking behind this father, trying determinately to imitate his father’ stride?  Or the little girl “clack-clacking” in her Mom’s high heel shoes.  St. Benedict was a firm believer in the axiom: “fake it til you make it.”  Live monastic traits until they become part of you.
  • Play  – Sometimes it’s healthy to fool around and engage in recreation for the sole purpose of having fun.

Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says: When I was a child I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became an adult, I put away with childish things.  Jesus will applaud you saying: Yes, put away child-ish ways but hang on to the delightful child-like traits that are the keys to the kingdom.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Genesis 2:18-24         Second Reading:  Hebrews 2:9-11
Gospel:   Mark 10:2-16
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Such a simple message

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When Jesus and His disciples got to Capernaum, they entered into (some scholars say) the house of Peter and Andrew. Jesus asks them what they were disputing about as they approached the house and waits for them to ‘fess up.  No luck! They are like children who don’t want to tell their parents what they’ve been arguing about. The disciples had started out disputing over the meaning of Jesus’ prediction of his death and resurrection and ended up arguing over who would be the greatest when Jesus was no longer in their number. They were certain it would be one of them, not someone outside their circle.  They got caught up in the idea of being a follower without having a sense of what it takes to be a true disciple.  But Jesus knew these fellows had the capacity to refocus their energy on what was really important instead of promoting themselves as the “greatest” above everyone.  They (and we) might do well to heed the advice of Joe Kennedy to his son Ted: “Don’t look for credit.  If you succeed, there’ll be plenty of credit.  If you fail, you won’t want the credit”.

The greatness Jesus is talking about lies in welcoming one who is viewed as powerless.  This requires sensitive awareness to those around us.  Who is being left out of the conversation, who enters a room and seems unsure where she might be welcome to sit?  Who is listening to a conversation about a plan to go off-campus hoping to be invited?  Are we alert to welcome the visitor into the chapel, to lift a bundle for a struggling elder, to smile at a child in the shopping cart?   We can list hundreds of moments of random acts of kindness similar to those that Jesus is talking about.

Could it be that Jesus can so easily welcome children because he has personal memories of his own childhood experiences? Children in our 21st century America are in precarious, fragile, and dangerous places.  More than ever, children are abused, snatched, neglected or the opposite: over-protected by ‘helicopter’ parents.  There are latchkey kids; underfed, lonely, ignored children and many are victims of inadequate health care.  Now, more than ever, children need to be embraced by the church.  If the church leaves out children, it is leaving out God. If policy makers leave out children, they are leaving out God and they are placing the future of our world in jeopardy, forgetting who it is that is going to be caring for them (or not) in their sunset years.

Notice that Jesus did not say “receive this child.”  Rather he said, “Receive one such as this child.”  With a child in his arms, Jesus says that to welcome persons such as this little one is to welcome Him.    Our accomplishments and accolades, the certificates, the awards, as impressive as they might be, do not exemplify discipleship.  It’s our ability to be of service to others, to attend to the most vulnerable in our society, that makes us good disciples.  It is such a simple message that it is at the same time so difficult to put into practice!

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

This weekend we welcome our Oblates! Thirteen Oblates will join at the monastery for their quarterly meeting and for Mass and noon meal.  Wondering what’s an Oblate?  Contact S. Mary David at 352-588-7176 or mary.david.hydro@saintleo.edu.

 

 

First Reading:   Wisdom 2:12, 17-20         Second Reading:  James 3:16-4:3
Gospel:   Mark 9:30-37
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What Were You Arguing About on the Way?

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Jesus and his disciples have entered a private home where they’re welcomed by their hostess.  They’re settled comfortably on cushions on the floor.  All is quiet until Jesus asks: “What were you talking about out there on the road?”  He knew exactly what they were discussing: who’s next in the line of succession?  They are like children who don’t want to tell their parents what they’ve been talking about.  Jesus doesn’t push for an answer.  He won’t humiliate or embarrass them.  Instead, He beckons forward a child.  Why a child?  Well, a child can’t make you more important in the eyes of the world.  However, a child can teach you much about ministry!

The disciples probably recalled the incident when they started to shoo the children away.  Jesus had chided them saying: “Let the children come to me.”  I suspect Jesus is so comfortable with children because of their innocence, uncluttered faith, and their often startling way of exposing the bold truth; saying it just like it is.  Jesus sees the inherent worth and value in everyone and, therefore, welcomes children just as they are.  It is not a detached encounter that Jesus has with the child.  He makes the child an active participant in his lesson.  He took the child, he placed the child among them, and he put his arms around the child.  In fact, this child, whom society deemed as lacking in worth, was of so much value to Jesus that he moved the child from the margins to the center.  Living on the margins, children can be forgotten, ignored and left to figure out the mysteries of life on their own.  You’ve heard the quote “it takes a village to raise a child.”  It’s true – it is in the center of life that children can receive the love, support, and encouragement they need to thrive and grow to become productive, good-hearted, trustworthy, faithful citizens.

Children growing up today in our country are in precarious, fragile, and dangerous places.  They have music, popular culture, technology, violence and sexuality sown into the fabric of their lives in ways that to date are unparalleled.  There is perpetual, uncontrolled text messaging and exposure to other social media, Nintendo, Wiis, X-boxes, CDs and peer pressure to participate in dangerous activity.  Today, maybe more than ever, children are abused, snatched, neglected (or the opposite over-protected by “helicopter” parents) or labeled with an alphabet of disorders (ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia) and hastily placed on medication without proper diagnosis.

There are latch-key kids, under-fed, lonely, ignored children and many are victims of inadequate health care.  Now, more than ever, vulnerable children need to be embraced by the church just as Jesus embraced children.  If the church leaves out children, it is leaving out a face of God.  If policy-makers leave out children, they place their own future in jeopardy – forgetting who it is that is going to be caring (or not) for them in their sunset years.

Jesus is talking about welcoming the one who is beyond the circle, one who needs a welcome.  So, here’s the question Jesus is asking us: Who are the people without power or status in our society?  Do we serve them willingly?  At the deepest level, Jesus’ idea of service reminds us that none of this is about us!  It’s not about our ego.  It’s not about how much we give, how much we work, how many hours we minister, whose ministry is more important.  Service is about absorbing the sufferings of our world by sharing our life – our time, our resources and our gifts.  It’s building-up the other so that she or he in turn is enabled to be Christ to others.

Jesus asked his disciples: “What were you arguing about on the road?”  Every time we travel with Jesus we are “on the road.”  Because Jesus himself is the Road: he is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  We are being asked what we are doing while on the Way.  The disciples refused to answer and kept silent.  Will you be a silent one?  Or will you speak out on behalf of the needy ones?  The ones Benedict is referring to in RB 72, when he advises: “Anticipate one another in honor, not following what you consider useful for yourself, but rather what benefits the other.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading:   Wisdom 2:12,17-20            Second Reading:  James 3:16—4:3
Gospel:   Mark 9:30-37
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Labor Day

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Next weekend our nation will be celebrating Labor Day.  Strangely we honor it by the opposite of its name.  In many respects it is a Workers Holiday.  Labor Day was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894.  Since then each year on the first Monday in September we pay tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers.  You may also know about the celebrations to honor employees on May 1st, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.  Here in our monastery we host our employees at a special THANK YOU luncheon in gratitude for the services and presence of our employees.  The day is topped off with early release time.  They disappear after lunch – it’s a paid half-day.  That includes the cook for the evening meal.  (Oh, dear!)  Thankfully we have a long-time association with some loyal volunteers who take over the kitchen to provide a home-prepared FISH FRY with our favorite Southern trimmings: grits with butter or cheese, hush puppies, coleslaw and ice cream novelty bars for dessert; beer or soft drinks.  God bless them EveryONE!

So in honor of all workers, even the tiniest among us, let’s talk a bit about workers and work styles.  We often hear the expression “a little child shall lead.”  With the opening of a new school year and Labor Day weekend fast upon us, it seems to me fitting that we let little children lead us to a rightful understanding of “work.”

For many years I enjoyed ministry as a Montessori directress in programs for children ages 6-months to 6-years.  One of the observable differences between children and adults is the contrast between their attitudes toward work.

Have you ever watched a toddler painstakingly build a tower of blocks and then gleefully knock it down, over and over?  That’s “work.”  Or have you been victim to the infant self-feeder who looks at her spoon held over space beyond the highchair tray, then flexes her little fingers so the spoon disappears as she peeks over the arm of the chair to gaze at the spoon on the floor.  The adult carefully picks up the spoon – or if it is the third or fourth time snatches it up – wipes it off (or grabs a clean one from the drying rack) and places it within the child’s grasp.  Now watch out of the corner of your eye while the child waits until you make eye contact, an impish grin appears as the spoon drops, once again, into outer space.  Now, that’s “work.”

The child’s desire to work represents a profound instinct.  A child’s objective is the work itself and they eagerly repeat a task over and over.  Mastery is what matters to them; they are their own taskmasters.

Unlike many adults, children do not follow the law of minimum effort.  Their work consumes their every energy and at the same time it energizes them.  Nor do children look for assistance but defend themselves from interference with great determination.  Watch the two-year-old after mom buttons him up.  He’ll undo every button and with full concentration re-button the shirt – it may hang lopsided but “I did it myself!”

Children, unlike most adults, are in no hurry to complete a task – they are not clock watchers.  They seem to instinctively know that practice makes perfect and growth cannot be hurried.  The ultimate end for which children are working is not consciously known to them but the happiness they radiate gives evidence of an inner contentment.

May each of you know the inner contentment you first experienced in early childhood.  That deep sense of peace when you can say: “Ah, This is where I belong.  I am doing what God created me to do at this time in my life.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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I think it a shame that pastors have the option of omitting the last portion of the Gospel just proclaimed – the part about the children.  I hope they don’t exercise that option especially after Pope Francis’ display of affection and regard for children.

In this Gospel the people were bringing their children to Jesus, much like they did to Pope Francis.  It was the children (urged on by their parents) who could manage to break through security the lines and approach Pope Francis – the preoccupied attention of the disciples to get to Jesus.  Again the disciples just don’t get it.  This has been demonstrated in the readings for the last two Sundays. Jesus has summed up his lessons pointing out the value and importance of these “little ones” in the Kingdom of God.

But once again in today’s Gospel, the disciples try to prevent people from bringing their children to Jesus. Jesus reprimands them and welcomes these children.  Jesus offers the children as an example of the kind of complete trust and dependence upon God that ought to be the attitude of all believers.

The popular spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen, in his powerful meditations on Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son – says:

I saw a man in a great red cloak tenderly touching the shoulders of a disheveled boy kneeling before him.  I could not take my eyes away.  I felt drawn by the intimacy between the two figures, the warm red of the man’s cloak, the golden yellow of the boy’s tunic, and the mysterious light engulfing them both.  But, most of all, it was the hands – the old man’s hands – as they touched the boy’s shoulders, that reached me in a place where I had never been reached before.”

His attention moves to the elder brother and finally to the father’s role in the family dynamic.   Nouwen came to the realization that in life we all must mature from son (or child) to father (or parent and adult).   But, he says, there is a subtle pressure in church and society to remain a dependent child.   Who is it (in life) that truly challenges us to liberate ourselves from immature dependencies to accept the burden of responsible adults?

It would be comfortable, wouldn’t it, to remain in the warm embrace of childhood – on Jesus’ lap in the place of blessing.  But, we don’t really want to be a child all our lives using our role as child to keep us in a safe place distanced from others.  We grow in recognition that we have had blessings bestowed on us and now it is our turn to offer God’s immense love to others.

So how can we heed Jesus injunction to accept the kingdom of God like a child – or risk never entering it?  What does it mean to be childlike, and not childish?  What qualities is Jesus asking us to hang on to in order to enter the kingdom not only beyond the “pearly gates” but right here on earth, in our community, where God’s kingdom exists?

A few qualities I think he might encourage would be:

  • Live Spontaneously – taking in every moment and the opportunities in unplanned instants.
  • How about never letting a lack of qualifications deter you –If you’ve never done something before, be fearless like a child who pulls out a kitchen drawer to scramble up to the cabinet to get the peanut butter.  Isn’t this how Olympic gymnasts start?
  • Kids Know Exercise Can Be Fun –It’s just a matter of finding an active, healthy activity we actually enjoy doing.
  • Keep an Open Mind –  Keep a childlike wide open mind and you’ll learn something new every day – maybe more than one thing.  Don’t let force of habit slow you down.   Ask questions: you’ll never get an answer if you never ask.  So, she might say NO – but did you give her a chance to say YES?
  • Express your feelings – nurture and value relationships – Open, honest, direct face-to-face expression of feelings makes communication easier, maintains sincerity and integrity in your life.  Children like nothing better than to “hang out” with their friends.  Do you look forward to unstructured time with community members – your “sisters?”
  • Use Your Imagination –  Robert Kennedy get credit, but Walt Disney said it first::  If you can dream it, you can do it!  If you have a creative idea, share it.  If its aster, smarter or better and see what happens.  You’ll never know unless you try.
  • Learn by Imitation – have you ever seen a little boy walking behind this father, trying determinately to imitate his father’ stride?  Or a little girl who has practiced putting on make-up just like Mommy?  St. Benedict was a firm believer in the axiom: “fake it til you make it.”  Live monastic traits until they become part of you.
  • Play  – Sometimes it’s healthy to fool around and engage in recreation for the sole purpose of having fun.

Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says: When I was a child I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became an adult, I put away with childish things.  Jesus might respond: Yes, put away childish ways but hang on to the delightful child-like traits that are the keys to the kingdom.

Continue Reading