Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

compassion

Compassion of Christ

by Leave a Comment

This is one of several of Jesus’ clear “end of time” reminders.  “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is, or there it is.’  Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  In this Gospel we have a warning and a promise. “This is your chance to tell the Good News. Do not worry about what to say for I will give you wise words.  None of your enemies will be able to prove that you are wrong. They will not be able to say that your words are false.”  These words of Jesus, quoted by Luke, remind me that when I am in a situation I can depend on Jesus’ promise: “I myself will give you wisdom, wise words, in speaking.”

Occasionally I find amusement by reading horoscope predictions at the end of the day.  It’s amusing to see if yours played out during the day that’s ending.  A few months back, my Scorpio sign read like a fortune cookie: “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere.”  Some days that “rocking chair” could work ruts in the carpet!

What kinds of things do we stew about?  Here’s the top-of-the-list items that researchers tell describes the typical worry patterns.

+  40% of our worries are things that will never happen

That’s a huge chunk that we can let go of that otherwise might keep us awake at night. 

+  30% of our worries are about the past

…which can’t be changed anyway so why not dump the gunny sack!   

+  12% are about criticism by others, mostly untrue – and many imaginary

So why do we so often assume that other people are going to spend their precious time thinking about “me”?

+ 10% are about health, which only gets worse with stress

Wouldn’t it be more helpful to use some relaxation techniques?  Find ways to loosen up and let our bodies work their own magic on the knots?

+  Only 8% are about real problems that CAN be solved

This is where we need to spend our energy and focus our prayer.  At the same time, be carefully aware to play “hands off” with trying to offer God the only right solution.  Our limited eyesight most likely will only see a rather self-serving solution.  “God-sight” knows the key to the best fix for all concerned. 

It’s a good time to draw on the sentiments of the Serenity Prayer:  God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, (here’s the key sentence) and the wisdom to know the difference.

Keep in mind that worry and fretting leave wiggle room to come between me and God.  Lying just below the surface may be the view that God has somehow lost control of the situation and we’ve lost trust in God’s omnipotent care for us.  A legitimate concern should draw us closer to God and cause us to rely on divine providential love for us.

By our Corporate Commitment we profess “to respond to the needs of the people of God with the compassion of Christ.”  But how can we do that if we have not learned to depend on the compassion of Christ?  Saying the words is one thing; living with a firm conviction that compassion begets compassion is altogether another matter.  Let us live by the motto:  Words move; example motivates.”   It is our lives, not our words, that make us credible. We pray, O God, may our lives, individually and collectively, be an example that motives all who meet us to be people of compassion.

 

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

Pray for our bishops who will be meeting in Washington D.C. November 14-17.  May they each be open, and responsive to, the voice of the Spirit.  May they travel in safety and peace.

 

 

First Reading  Malachi 8:19-20a               
Second Reading 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12  
Gospel Reading  Luke 21: 5-19

 

Continue Reading

Are You Living in a Desert?

by Leave a Comment

“In the desert (where this crowd was gathered) people of faith are needed who, by the example of their own lives keep hope alive.”

(Pope Francis)

 

These last few Sundays we’ve heard a variety of Jesus’ parables that were significant enough to Matthew to include them in his Gospel.  But, do you realize that this is the only story that is mentioned by all four gospel writers?  And, it is not really a story-parable that Jesus taught.  It’s a real-live incident; a parable in action; a how-to model or a hillside “Show and Tell.”  You’ll notice that Matthew doesn’t start today with “Jesus sat down and began to teach” or “Jesus proclaimed to the crowds.”  Matthew says that Jesus withdrew by boat to try and find a quiet place.  We can sympathize with him; he had just learned of the death of his cousin John.  But, when he went ashore, movement attracted his attention.  Looking around he saw the crowds had followed him.  Many of them probably knew John too.  And, apparently many in the crowd knew the whereabouts of this “quiet place” and were there to greet Jesus.  Foregoing His quiet time, moved with pity, Jesus walked among them, curing the sick and listening to their pleas as they reached to touch him (the hem of his garment); maybe get a quick “high five” from their beloved Teacher.

When the day was getting long, His disciples told him the obvious.  “They’re hungry.”  Jesus responds “Well, do something about it – Feed them.”  Which is the same thing He is telling us.  We are likely to reply, as did His disciples, “All we’ve got are five measly hoagie buns and two fish.  What good is that in the face of all that’re to be fed?”

But at Jesus’ word, swallowing any doubts, the disciples and their helpers trusted that they would not be embarrassed by scarcity and that the people’s hunger would be satisfied.  Would we have done the same or would we have figured “there’s not enough for everyone, so let’s not start a frenzy!”

Pope Francis reminds us: “In the desert (where this crowd was gathered) people of faith are needed who, by the example of their own lives keep hope alive.”  Hope rose on that day as what was in those picnic baskets fed family after family.  Wasn’t the miracle that faith and good example prompted everyone who had even the smallest picnic in their basket to share it with their neighbors?  Is that not why 5 loaves and 2 fish became a banquet – with 12 baskets of left-overs for another day?  [Remember this when we have an “ice box review” meal.]

Today we are blessed with material progress, and the generosity of our donors, beyond anything that our deceased Sisters and our parents could ever have imagined.  Face it: emotionally and spiritually, people are still hungry and thirsty.  This COVID situation prompts us, (thankfully, like many others), to make phone calls, share what we have, send e-blasts and web posts, write letters and listen patiently to the same stories of families’ sorrow and grief over illness and death.  It takes the “pity of Jesus” to listen attentively to others repeat the news we’ve already heard – maybe more than once or twice.

But, we’ve pledge to do just that – with the compassion of Christ.  That’s a tall order.  If we are to have something to share, we must also take seriously Jesus’ invitation to be fed by Him, especially in the Eucharistic feast.  Likewise, to seek a quiet place to converse with Him.  We can only fill the hungry crowd if we seek the Lord in Lectio, communal prayer and quiet times of reflection and conversation with the One we pledge to imitate.

We are moved to ask ourselves: “What really sustains me?  What is my true sustenance?  For, if I am living in a desert – a state of spiritual starvation – I will come up clueless when Jesus tells me, “Feed the people yourself.”  As the saying goes: you can’t give what you ain’t got!  Imagine yourself seated on the grass that day, and being part of this miracle where 5,000 or so people were fed from food barely enough for one family.  If you received physical sustenance from that bread and fish miraculously multiplied by Jesus, and the example of trust of the disciples, and the generosity of the crowd, would you ever be the same again?  Could you ever eat any meal in the same way?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
Continue Reading

Meaningful Advent

by Leave a Comment

So, it’s Advent again.  Among the general populace, Advent remains an opportunity that is too often little appreciated, little understood and commonly ignored.  Advent is about learning to wait.  It is about not having to know exactly what is coming tomorrow.  Advent teaches us the difference between expectation, anticipation and waiting; suspense, eagerness and “twiddling your thumbs to pass the time.”

Advent is about the power of emptiness and the spiritual meaning of smallness.  We strive to live with the basics rather than hoard what, in God’s eyes anyway, after all is not ours.  When we have little to begin with, we have even less to lose.  When we have fewer possessions, fewer clothes in our closets and fewer books (even the holy ones) and papers that we MIGHT need someday, we spend fewer minutes caring for them.  It means that we have less to protect or to fight over and even less to boast about.  We can be more open to possibility.

Our conversations can turn to stories and concerns focused outward, on the other rather than the self.  There is a rare sprinkling of “I” and “my” and “mine.”  Attention is directed away from the self to shine our light on others.  We radiate the blessings of life, not the gloom of sadness, sickness, tiredness and woe.  We become more fully human, full of compassion and full of consciousness.  Our community Advent practices help hone the attitude of prayerfulness, almsgiving and compassion.

Take a stroll down memory lane and feel again the anticipation and impatience you felt for the night Santa Claus would come.  That’s the feeling we still need to be filled with as we await the coming of Christmas – the commemoration of the night Jesus opened His eyes and beheld the tender love of his earthly mother and his foster father Joseph; heard the voices of the angels singing praises and felt the warmth of the breath of curious animals.

I invite you to live again, the moment you discovered the reality of the Santa myth.  You’d probably had plenty of hints for a long time from older siblings or classmates.  In fact you might have known from the beginning that there was no one who was “Santa.”  But, you were slow to relinquish the fantasy of the jolly fellow enjoying the cookies you’d left for him and emptying his sack of toys to find the gift with your name on it.  Even children who are aware that their families are “dirt poor” cling to the dream of a Santa figure.

As we mature, so do our hopes and dreams.  The final line of the selection from Matthew’s Gospel reminds us first: we do not know what day the Lord will appear.  Then, “You must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  That does not refer only to the hour of our death.  Remember the story of the Abbot who visited his Rabbi friend who shared with him a valuable lesson: “the messiah is among the ranks of your community.”  We are challenged to be Messiah to each other.  To treat each other, those who walk through the door, with gentleness and courtesy – that one may be the Messiah among us.  Now, in place of eager children looking forward to Santa bringing us gifts, we conger ways to be “Santa” to others.

So, we pray: “May the God of Israel increase our longing for Jesus our Savior and give each and all of us the strength to grow in love, that the dawn of Jesus’ coming may find us rejoicing in his presence and welcoming the light of Truth.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, O.S.B., Prioress

 

Isaiah 2:1-5                   Romans 13:11-14    Matthew 24:37-44
Intention:  Meaningful Advent
Continue Reading

Do I Believe This?

by Leave a Comment

(Homily – adapted – from Pope Francis – delivered in April 2016 – and reflection on Veronica – the 6th Station of the Cross – indicated by italics)

We know the parable of the Good Samaritan is a lesson to teach us that we must love our neighbor, and that there’s no one in the category of non-neighbor, but beyond that, have we also learned the parable’s lesson that God treats us with the compassion of the Samaritan?

In the gestures and the actions of the Good Samaritan we recognize God’s merciful action in the whole history of salvation.  It is the same compassion with which the Lord comes to meet each one of us: He does not ignore us, He knows our sorrows; He knows how much we need help and consolation.  He comes close to us and never abandons us.  Each one of us should ask himself the question and answer in his heart: “Do I believe this?  Do I believe that the Lord has compassion for me, just as I am, a sinner, with so many problems and so many things?’  Think of this and the answer is: ‘Yes!’  But each one must look into his heart to see if he has faith in this compassion of God, of the good God who comes close, who heals us, who caresses us.  And if we refuse Him, He waits: He is patient and is always at our side.”

It is not automatic that one who frequents God’s house and knows His mercy is able to love his neighbor.  It is not automatic!  One can know the whole Bible, one can know all the liturgical rubrics, one can know all the theology, but from knowing, loving is not automatic: loving has another way, intelligence is needed but also something more … “The priest and the Levite saw, but ignored; looked but did not provide.  Yet true worship does not exist if it is not translated into service to one’s neighbor.”

Compassion is the center of the parable, centering on this word that means ‘to share with’.  The Samaritan had compassion that is, his heart, was moved; he was moved within!  See the difference.  The other two ‘saw,’ but their hearts remained closed, cold.  Instead, the Samaritan’s heart was attuned to God’s heart itself.  In fact, “‘compassion’ is an essential characteristic of God’s mercy.  God shares with us – He suffers with us; He feels our sufferings.”

(Francis reminds us 🙂  the Samaritan’s concrete, personal actions teach us that compassion is not a vague feeling – it means to take care of the other even to paying in person.)  It means to commit oneself, taking all the necessary steps to ‘come close’ to the other, to the point of identifying oneself with him: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The story of Veronica that we recall in the 6th Station of the Cross points to the power of witness in an act of compassion.  What does Veronica do?  Not much – she steps from the crowd, wipes a man’s face.  What does Veronica mean to our spirit?  Close to everything.

The image on the veil stands forever as reminder of the unmitigated horror of which injustice is capable.  The image of the veil stands forever as a mute witness to the crime of all times – and the destruction of goodness at the center of us, in us, around us forever.

As Pope Francis says: “The parable of the Good Samaritan is a gift to all of us, and also a commitment.  Jesus repeats to each one of us what He said to the Doctor of the Law: ‘Go and do likewise’. …  Jesus bent over us, made Himself our servant, and thus He saved us, so that we too are able to love as He loved us.”

Veronica’s act of compassion puts us to shame.  Her unblinking action puts us all, and each, on notice: for the sake of what life lesson would you step out from the crowd and draw attention to yourselves?  To what kind of care would you bend your life so that the world will never forget?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

Continue Reading

Fifth Sunday of Lent

by Leave a Comment

First Reading  Ezekiel 37:12-14           Second Reading  Romans 8:8-11
Gospel  John 11:1-45 (shorter version John 11:3-7,17,20-27,33b-45)

This story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is so familiar I’m curious what I need to hear this Lenten season.  I feel the anguish of the sisters and friends of the deceased as they watched their loved one struggle with a terminal illness, and then watch the life drain from him.  I can feel their frustration when Jesus did not come at their call… hoping against all hope that he would get there in time to keep Lazarus from dying.

We’ve wandered into a scene of much confusion.  Two sisters of a dead man had sent word to Jesus that his friend, their brother, was ill. Jesus is said to love the three siblings:  Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but he delays responding with the haste we and they might have expected.  To the puzzlement of his disciples it is two days later that Jesus finally declares that he will make the journey to Bethany.  His disciples fear for his life. Thomas even declares that he and the other disciples should be prepared to die with Jesus.

Jesus’ delay heightens the drama today.  Because we know the end of the story, we can recognize that the delay was deliberate.  Jesus had to wait until Lazarus had succumbed to his illness in order for Jesus to glorify His father through Lazarus’ resurrection.

Many elements of the story of raising of Lazarus foreshadow the good news of Jesus’ own Resurrection.  In raising Lazarus, Jesus shows his power over death so that when He dies, those who believe in him might remember that and take heart. Just as Jesus calls for the stone to be rolled away from Lazarus’ tomb, so too will the disciples find the stone rolled away from Jesus’ tomb.

Today, we see Jesus being fully human in relation to his friends.  This relationship was vividly portrayed In the Stations of the Cross we prayed last evening.   He was able to love these people and be loved by them. They were very special to him and his relationship to them made him a more fully human being.

 

Maybe what is even more important for us though, as we think about this humanness of Jesus, is how he had such deep compassion. When He stood there at the tomb, He was fully aware, as we become aware when we are burying someone close to us, that they’re gone, they’re dead, Jesus wept. He sobbed because he had such intimate love with Lazarus and Martha and Mary.  He shared in their suffering.

That’s important to know about Jesus, because there are those times where we have had to face the loss of someone very close to us.  For some, it’s in cruel and unexpected ways.  Or when someone dies after a long, slow illness, we think we are prepared but it’s still hard to accept.  In all these times, we can always know that Jesus shares our suffering and our sorrow and he weeps with us.

The other sign in today’s reading that is important is what Martha says about Jesus, “Yes, I know you are the Christ, the son of the living God. You’re the messiah, the anointed one, the one who is filled with the divinity of God.“

So we have the mystery of Jesus, fully human, one like us in every way except sin and yet also fully God.  He tells Martha, “Lazarus will rise again.” And Martha says, “Well, I know that!’  But she misunderstands Jesus. She thinks He’s talking a time in the far distant future, at the end of time, that Lazarus will rise. That’s when Jesus says to us the most important thing for us to hear today:  “I am the resurrection and the life, not just at the end of time but right now. Anyone who believes in me will live. If you believe in me now, you will never die. You have the life of God in you. The spirit of Jesus lives within you now.”

And, notice the sequence of events: Jesus has conversation with the two sisters, elicits a state of belief,  asks the guys standing around to roll away the stone … but Lazarus does not magically appear – his friends don’t enter the tomb to walk him out – Jesus, cries out in a loud voice  “Lazarus, come out!”  When we’ve buried ourselves beneath our doubts, our short-comings, our shame or guilt, from our family, our friends, our community – they can try all sorts of interventions including prayer … dispatch Benedict’s Senpectae, a member of mature years and wisdom to secretly console and counsel the distressed or disturbed member – but until we hear, recognize and respond to the voice of Jesus calling: “Come out!” what binds us can’t be untied.  We can’t “go free at another’s bidding alone.”  We have to close the gap to the hand reaching out to us.

We are wise to make a special effort to be in touch with that spirit of Jesus who assures us:  “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will never die. And if you live and believe in me, you will have life forever” Jesus assures us.  What grave have I dug for myself?  Who will roll the stone for me?  In the recently released remake of the movie “Beauty and the Beast,” one of characters asks (actually sings):[ “How does a moment last a lifetime?” ??]  This is what happens when we dare to reach out to close the abyss we’ve created to be in touch with that spirit of Jesus who is within.

Like Thomas said to his companions: “Let us go with him.” Let’s go with Jesus and follow his way, the way of forgiveness, the way of love, the way of compassion, the way of goodness.  Don’t we promise that with our corporate commitment?  Let us then go with Jesus these last two weeks of Lent to discover the real love and life that can come to us through being joined to him by following his way – the way of nonviolence, peace, compassion and love.  We question ourselves: how can I live my life as a trusting witness to my faith and the embodiment of the sentiments expressed in our mission and corporate commitment?

Continue Reading