Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Community

If God came to you in a dream…

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If tonight God came in your dream and told you to ask for one thing and one thing only, what would it be? 

 

Once upon a time there was a farmer who owned a small parcel of land. The land was stony, but the farmer worked hard, and for a while he was blessed with a certain happiness and contentment. But then he began to feel that there was something missing in his life, and he felt empty as a result. One evening a stranger passed that way and asked for a night’s lodgings. The farmer was grateful for the distraction.

Around the fire that night the stranger began to talk about diamonds. He told the farmer that if he could find a diamond, even one no bigger than the nail of his little finger, he would never have to do another type of work. The farmer was very impressed. He didn’t get a wink of sleep all that night thinking about diamonds.

Next day the stranger departed leaving the farmer more than a little unhappy. As the days went by he got more and more restless. He began to neglect his farm. Finally, he sold it cheaply, and went off roaming the world in search of diamonds. He travelled far and wide but never found any.  Meanwhile, the man who bought his farm was out ploughing. One day the plough turned up a stone which shone in the sunlight. It turned out to be a very valuable diamond. When he went back to the spot, he found lots more. It turned out to be one of the richest diamond mines ever found.

Come to think about it, our story is much like that. Many years ago, perhaps over a hundred or so, our predecessors recognized a treasure across the street from their home.  There was this piece of land with a stunning view and a perpetual breeze, awesome sunrises and sunsets.  They buried it with a citrus grove and went out with joy to serve the people of God in many places.  And, when the time was right, our time, we sold what we had and came back with joy to reclaim our treasured “pearl.”

When Jesus told his story He asked the disciples: “Do you understand all these things?”  Like the disciples we answer without hesitation, “Yes.”  But, maybe our voices quiver and there’s a question mark in our expression.  But, there is also the conviction in our hearts that we will extend God’s kingdom wherever we live, whatever the restrictions we struggle with, whatever the types of resources we have at hand or are missing.

 The Kingdom of God was always clear to Jesus but to us it will always be somewhat mysterious.  As we are formed in the mind of Jesus – and identify with His mindset, His vision becomes ever more clear to us.  In everyday terms, we who live here in east Pasco County Florida, have not changed our mission or our vision and likely will not change.  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 education hungers of the local children?  Long before we wrote formalized philosophy statements and directional goals, our Sisters “fed hungers” in a variety of roles in Texas and Louisiana and from the top to the bottom of Florida. They worked in internal ministries and as nurses and home caretakers, seamstresses, coif makers, packing house workers, gardeners, … you name it, 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. “Be the first to show respect to the other”.  Or in our own words: to be the first “to respond with the compassion of Christ to the hungers of the other.”

Jesus presents to us a variety of examples to help us conceptualize His Kingdom: a hidden treasure, a box filled with gold coins buried somewhere in a field; the Kingdom as a precious pearl, a jewel found by a businessman who astutely sold everything he owned in order to buy it; a fishing net filled with fish both good and bad, wheat and weeds growing together.  The illustrations abound: leaven in dough, light, salt, a seed, a ripe harvest, a pearl, a royal feast and a wedding banquet. These parables all have to do with a person finding something of such tremendous value that they are willing to give up everything they have to possess it.  The Gospel reading concludes with a curious statement about the scribe who understands the kingdom of heaven.   How do we identify God’s Kingdom here on earth?

 

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading:  1 Kings 3:5,7-12         Second Reading:  Romans 8:28-30
Gospel:   Matthew 13:44-52

 

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Friendship

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Throughout the Easter season abiding love has been the dominant and obvious theme in our Gospel readings.  We’ve been told: “I will not leave you orphans.”  Why?  “So that my joy might be in you and your joy may be complete.” The intimate, reassuring message is, “I call you friends.”  This is quite a concept to grapple with.  “Friends” describes a relationship between two equals.

On the night He was betrayed Jesus made a big deal about calling the disciples “friends.”  That’s perhaps something we don’t often think a great deal about: Jesus making friends.  We think of Jesus as kind, compassionate, and tender.  We think of Him holding and hugging children, touching the person with leprosy and blind eyes, teaching and preaching.  But do we consider that this truly human being also had friendships?  We might have a hard time visualizing Jesus walking, talking, and laughing, sharing a joke, recalling with his friends a funny incident they’d shared.  Can we see Jesus and His disciples sitting up late into the night around a dying fire, chatting quietly in the darkness counting the stars, then one-by-one falling asleep as the fire turns to embers?

What makes a friend a “friend”?  Think about your friends.  Friends have common interests and goals.  Friends work together, socialize together.  Friends share time, space and stories.  Friends listen, often share personal and private information about themselves.  Friends are there to celebrate with you.  They are there to cry with you.  Friends think about you when others don’t. Friends take care of you.  Friends don’t laugh at your dreams and they tell you theirs.  Friends bail you out of awkward situations, cover for your mistakes when for example you intone the wrong antiphon or psalm.  When you play the wrong hymn, they recognize the mistake and quickly change gears to match your melody.   They set the buffet table for you when you forget that you are the server.  Friends sit at the table for a few extra minutes and are quietly thankful that Divine Providence has chosen these people, at this time and place to befriend you.  Friends are alert to anticipate your needs and they aren’t disappointed when you overlook theirs.  It comes down to this: you like the person you are when you are with your friends.

Jesus calls each of us “friend.”  But do we treat Jesus as a friend?  When have I abused or betrayed this special friendship?  When have I ignored our friendship?  In what ways do I demand that my friend Jesus do more for me than I would do for Him?  Jesus’ humbly served others.  Is that my attitude or do I try to get others to do things for me?  Do I play tit-for-tat and make bargains with God?  I promise if You do this, I’ll do that.

Jesus looks for ways to get together with me in my daily life.  He offers me opportunities in Word and Sacrament.  Do I take advantage of these opportunities?  Or do I figure out ways to avoid time with Jesus?  I know Jesus hears my prayers.  How often do I talk to Him in prayer?  Jesus goes in search of people to talk to.  Would I rather not leave my comfort zone?  Jesus tells me the secrets of salvation.  Do I trust Him with my secrets, even my secret sins?

Jesus gifts us with His constant companionship.  Consider this: If I am faithful solely to community prayer times, that’s approximately 14 hours a week.  How much of the remaining 154 hours a week do I spend with my divine companion?  Jesus truly is at our beck and call.  Let us pray to remain in this friendship and strive daily to be a true friend to our God.

 

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading:  Acts 8:5-8, 14-17         Second Reading:  1 Peter 3:15-19
Gospel:   John 14:15-21
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Trinity Sunday

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This past week we returned to Ordinary Time.  However, the mood reverted quickly this weekend with the solemnity of the Holy Trinity and reappears next Sunday with the celebration of Corpus Christi – the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Gospel just proclaimed comes near the end of Jesus’ discourse at the Last Supper and is an example of the implicit teaching on the Trinity.  Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will declare what the Spirit hears from Jesus.  Elsewhere Jesus says, “The Father and I are one.”  If Jesus and the Father are one and the Spirit speaks what Jesus says, it follows that the three must be one.  Further evidence found in Scripture regarding the doctrine of the Trinity is found in the other readings for the feast.  But, if one expects today’s readings to give a clear presentation of the doctrine of the Trinity – they will be disappointed.

Remember the old saying “Two is company, three’s a crowd?” The Trinity shows us that three is community, three is love at its best; three is not a crowd.  When Love becomes complete is  Trinity.  Each one of us becomes fully human only when we are in relationship with God and in relationship with others.  I am truly Christian insofar as I live in a relationship of love with God and other people.

The important question for us today is: What does this doctrine of the Trinity tell us about the kind of God we worship and what does this say about the kind of people we should be?   With our three-fold vows, we are reminded of our commitment to a balance of prayer, labor and leisure.  We pray many times a day, in various ways, the familiar words of one of the first prayers many of us learned: the “Glory Be” in honor of, and thanksgiving for, the revelation of the Trinity:  Glory be to the Father…..

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

1st Reading: Proverbs 8:22-31          2nd Reading: Romans 5:1-5
Gospel : John 16:12-15
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Come After Jesus

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“Jesus called and they immediately left their boats and parents and followed him.”

Matt. 4:22 adapted

The late Speaker of the House “Tip” O’Neill loved to relate a valuable lesson he’d learned early in his career. During his first political campaign, one of O’Neill’s neighbors told him: I am going to vote for you tomorrow, even though you didn’t ask me to! O’Neill was surprised and said: Why, Mrs. O’Brien, I have lived across from you for eighteen years, I cut your grass in the summer, I shoveled your walk in the winter; I didn’t think I had to ask for your vote! Mrs. O’Brien replied: Oh, Tommy, let me tell you something … people like to be asked!

My mother spoke with great admiration about the Benedictine Sisters who were her teachers in elementary school. I asked her once why she didn’t become a Sister – she replied “None of them asked me – so I figured I was not worthy.” Of course, I would not be here telling you this story if she’d been asked and said YES.

A vital faith community, one that “courageously lives the Gospel message” will always be inviting followers to come share our joy as followers of Jesus. Visitors are welcome in our churches. We are happy when a newcomer “pops in” but we need to take the first step in also inviting people to “come and see.” Or, how about inviting prayer partners to connect with us in the heart of Christ. A direct “ask” may encourage a vocation to church ministry as a priest or Sister. Or a person may be coaxed out of their loneliness to join a parish committee.

Promise God and yourself that the next time God presents you with the opportunity you will courageously invite someone to join you in a church service or a volunteer ministry or an activity that extends Jesus’ compassion for the poor and needy of our human family. Start simple. Start where you have energy and interest. Make a phone call, text, or write a letter to an overlooked relative or friend. Donate to that organization you’ve had on your “to do” list. “Smile when you’re feeling lonely” at someone who is carrying the weight of the world on their drooping shoulders.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. With his brother Peter, the two at once left their nets and followed Jesus. May we be the beckoning voice that calls others to “Come after Jesus.”

This reflection was written by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

on November 30, 2021 – Giving Tuesday.

 

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“I AM the BREAD of LIFE”

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Kindly remember our community in your prayers this week as we engage in prayer and participation in our annual community planning days.

Our 2021-2027 directional goals (here summarized) will guide us:

We will:

  • be an authentic contemporary Benedictine community attentive to relationships within community and beyond.
  • will work to increase awareness of our community and invite others to share in our vision and mission.
  • will use the Restructuring Process we designed to discern how viable our future is as a community.
  • we will intentionally work to insure our economic and environmental sustainability.

 

“I AM the BREAD of LIFE”

 

I think we probably could all agree that the Gospel of John can be difficult to understand.  So we can’t blame Jesus’ critics who are confused and ask for a sign when he says, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

This incident happened the day after the feeding of the 5000.  The crowd followed Jesus to a new location and were joined by many more curiosity seekers.  Remember, when John speaks of “the Jews” he is referring to a class of people: the religious authorities, the religious insiders of the day.  It is to this mixed group of people Jesus begins to explain the loaves and fish.

He gets pretty direct with them: “I am the bread of life.”  This makes the Jews – the religious insiders – angry.  Now, Benedict would tell them, “Don’t murmur.”  Their mothers might say “Stop your whining!”  Jesus lays it on the line, “Do not complain among yourselves.”  But, do they go directly to Jesus with their questions?  (Do you go directly to the source with your questions?)  No, they do what is fairly common (even in our house).  They go to one another and begin complaining, grumbling, and murmuring.  “Can you believe what he said?  Who does she think she is?  Where does she come up with that stuff?  Who gave her the right to change the schedule?”  And, the assignment of motivation for the person’s actions – well, all you can do is chuckle when you overhear another’s explanation about why you did something.  “You know why she did or said that?”  Like the Jews who were sure Jesus was the son of Joseph, so how could he be the Son of God?

The people were partially right – they did know Jesus.  But they only knew him through historical facts.  Now, we need to know the facts but too often the facts, the other’s history – and we are so sure we know all the pieces – about Jesus, about other persons, even ourselves.  But what little we know can be used to limit possibilities.  You can almost hear the Jews saying, (sometimes it’s our refrain, too) “We’ve never done it like this before.”  It is both amazing and sad that it is the Jews, the religious insiders, who do this.  They go to the synagogue, say their prayers, keep the fasts and dietary laws and try to live faithfully.  And yet they have a habit of accepting only historical knowledge.  Doing this limits not just our understanding – it also narrows our world, closing us to wonderful possibilities, great opportunities and enriching relationships.

The Spirit calls to us “A feast of life has been prepared for you.  The table is full, ready and waiting.  God is drawing, pulling, wooing, and loving you to the table.”  This sentiment is expressed in many of our Communion hymns such as: “We Come to Your Feast,” “Remember Me,” “Table of Plenty,” “One Communion of Love.”

Sometimes the history of our fears, regrets, pain, and losses become so established we are deceived into believing that we are not even hungry for new relationships, for the Bread of Life.  Maybe it’s a history of things done or left undone – or words said or affirmations left unsaid.  Perhaps we have a history of a particular way of thinking, believing, seeing the world, each other or ourselves.  You know the saying: Insanity is when you keep doing the same thing, the same way and expect a different result.

Jesus teaches us how to focus on the heart of the issue. He says, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me …”  Here Jesus reminds us that it is an act of God that in the first place brought us to the table and continues to gift us with the power to risk entering into the Christian life, into monastic life.  The God-image, PAPA, in THE SHACK movie – says to Mack: “Faith does not grow in the house of certainty – faith is a risk.  The good news is that God is willing to be present and teach us.”

So, let us be a people who dare the risk, and enjoy the daily privilege to respond to and consume the Bread of Life.  Remember, faith is a verb, not a noun … it is a way of life.  It’s not a once and forever thing – it needs to be nourished at the Table.  Let us share in the joys and challenges of being the Body of Christ for a hungry world, and drink for those who thirst for justice, peace, fullness of life, and even eternal life.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

First Reading:   1 Kings 19:4-8           Second Reading:   Ephesians 4:30—5:2
Gospel:   John 6:41-51
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Holy Family Sunday 2020

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This coming year Pope Francis has designated the “Year of St. Joseph” marking the 150th anniversary of Pius IX’s declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church.  Francis describes Joseph as “a beloved father, tender and loving, obedient and accepting; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.”

This weekend the Church turns our focus to Jesus’ earthly family with the feast of the Holy Family.  It’s natural when we celebrate the birth of the child Jesus that we would reflect on His family.  Do you realize that for every one year of his public life, Jesus spent ten years in family life?  That helps us understand the importance and priority He gave to family life.

What might that mean to (and for) us as monastics who we live in an intentional family we call community.  As Benedictines our lives are guided by the simple, yet profound, guidelines designed over 1500 years ago by the man Benedict.  His Rule gives us a picture of a man of great wisdom, compassion and much common sense. (I believe, we can agree, his guidelines were influenced to a great degree by his twin sister Scholastica.)

It is the spirit of the Rule that has survived.  Benedict had a knack for tempering discipline with compassion that makes the Rule come alive for so many.  His prudence shines through when, in so many words, he says: this is what works for us now – if the arrangement of the psalmody, the daily schedule and other daily living details don’t fit your need, change it.

If we only know the first word of the Rule “LISTEN” what an impact it could make on our own happiness and harmony between peoples.  To truly listen requires an attentive spirit … not a scramble to respond with advice, a witty remark or a “I’ve got a better one” or “I know exactly how you feel.”  When we truly listen to another we can identify their feeling, let it resonant within and know that very often all the person wants is a signal that we care.

Benedict’s Rule is not intended to be a great and lofty treatise on prayer or spirituality.  It’s just plain “down to earth” advice.  He says let this rule be read 3 times, cover to cover, to the potential member so she understands exactly what she is getting herself into.  The Rule is filled with practical guidance for ordinary people to live together peacefully. Benedict expected his followers to work hard, study hard and pray hard.  He recognized much of the study and work is an interior process – a true “self-study” steeped in a quiet atmosphere that is broken only by the sounds of nature, farm machinery, a printing press or sewing machine or the scratch of a calligraphy pen.  This kind of soul work begins in private prayer enriched in communal prayer.

I think Benedict must have valued the idea of cross-training.  Given the rotation of duties and positions in community, all members do well to take to heart the advice and warnings given to the various community officials: the prioress, the guest mistress and the porter; the cellarer, the artisans and the sub-prioress.  We all need to be aware of the final judgment – be strong, and at the same time, never be ashamed to have a tender heart.

From that first word in his Rule: LISTEN… to his advice to begin every good work with prayer … to keeping a lamp burning at night … and don’t loiter outside chapel if you are late … it is evident that Benedict saw God at work within the ordinary events of everyday life with all its joys and sorrows, struggles and high points, funerals and jubilees, comings and goings.  In Psalm 27, and often as an antiphon, we pray: “One thing I seek: to dwell in your presence, O God, all the days of my life.”  And, that presence does not refer only to our final day on earth or future eternal life in heaven.  It is not found only in the Eucharistic presence in the chapel – it is EVERYWHERE – in the Voice of the Spirit working in our personal lives and in the voices of each other and the sounds of daily living.

So, LISTEN – to the Voice of your God within – and listen with your heart to your comrades’ hungers and longings.  Just LISTEN – with your ears certainly but also with your eyes and heart and feelings.  The quality of our life in community, is shaped by each of us.

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
First Reading  Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3    Second Reading  Colossians 3:12-21)
Gospel  Luke 2:22-40
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