Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Easter

Pentecost

by Leave a Comment

Have we really come 50 days since Easter?  In the Gospel narratives, Jesus has told his disciples that he’s going to prepare a mansion for them in his Father’s house. He’s promised them that where he is going, they will be able to follow.  You’ll remember that Thomas told Jesus they did not know where Jesus is going – so, how can they get there?  Jesus explains that he himself is the way, the truth, and the life.

It was Philip who made a request that challenged Jesus’ words. Philip wanted Jesus to show the Father to the disciples.  Remember what Jesus has just told his disciples? “If you know me, then you also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”   Like the good teacher that he was, Jesus responded to Philip by elaborating on what he has just told the disciples: they have seen and known Jesus, so they have seen and known the Father. Then Jesus offers another reassurance about his departure: because of faith in God and in Jesus, the disciples will do the work that Jesus has done and more.

Jesus promises that the Spirit of truth will reveal all that He, and the Father, know and all that is to come.  This connection between Jesus and his Father, between Jesus’ work and the work of the Father, is made clear in today’s Gospel. Jesus is in the Father, and God the Father is in Jesus. As God spoke his name to Moses, “I am,” so too Jesus speaks his name to his disciples: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

Do you recall the theme music and opening words from “Mission Impossible!”  “Good morning, Mr. Phelps!  Your mission, should you choose to accept it…”  Just before Jesus returned to heaven, He charged us to do something which seems impossible…one of the most amazing verses in the Bible.  In one translation: “Verily, verily, I say to you: You that believe the works I do, you also shall do – and even greater works than these shall you do.” Sounds like mission impossible! And yet, our God, who cannot lie, has said it… …so, how can we make it a reality?

We can’t share the Good News if we have not heard the Good News.  We must have a mission that is a vision of what Jesus meant by “greater things.”  Our coming retreat time might be a good time to re-read and spend some time in private self-evaluation with our Vision and Core Values statement.

Jesus fed 5,000 people with a lad’s lunch.  He walked on water.  He raised the dead?  How can we do “greater?” Jesus raised the dead?  How can we top that?  Well, let me ask you: “Did Jesus say we would be able to top his works?”  No, He did not say we’d work greater miracles than He, but that we’d do greater works!  What are the greater works?

Jesus raised Lazarus and the widow’s son – a physical miracle.  Greater than raising someone physically is to raise them spiritually.  And, our corporate commitment empowers us to do just that …  to respond to the hungers of the people of God …. With the same compassion that Jesus showed the hungry crowd and a grieving family.   The greater work is salvation…seeing people pass from spiritual death to spiritual life.

Jesus’ primary work was not walking on water, healing people physically, raising them from dead…though He did all of those things.  His primary work was to seek and save that which was lost.  The miracle of Pentecost convinces us of the greater work the Spirit accomplished through the disciples.

Jesus says His miracles were nothing compared to what is coming.  The greater things we can accomplish will not happen by merely focusing on our community. It’s “mission impossible” to reach the world unless we have a plan of how to reach outside of our geographic limits!  The price will be in going the extra mile: attentiveness, physical expenditure, emotional drain, consideration for the details of hospitality and self- and interpersonal care.  This is what we’re all about…bringing glory to God by seeing people saved!  That’s a purpose worth committing ourselves to. It’s bigger, greater than just ourselves and our problems. In so doing we bring great glory to God!  Jesus BEGAN a work that we are to bring to completion. He BEGAN it in His earthly body, and He will CONTINUE it through us.  The ultimate purpose is to bring glory to God.  That goal is impressed on us every time we enter the chapel: that in all things God may be glorified!  I’ll close with a little story that reminds us we can do greater things.  Three friends were spending the day fishing in Lake Jovita.  After they were out in the boat, one realized she had left the bait on the dock.   So, she stepped out of the boat and walked on water to the shore and back to boat!

The others marveled at such faith!   With that another girl, discovered she had forgotten her lunch box back in the car.   She nimbly trotted across the water and back.  The third fisher exclaimed: “That’s incredible!  I am in the presence of greatness!  But I believe – I have faith, too!  She needed to use the restroom, so she stepped out of boat and promptly sank to bottom of the lake!  Her two fishing companions looked at each other: “Should we tell her where the rocks are?”!   We can depend on Jesus to be there when we need a stepping stone – He IS our rock.

~S. Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading: Acts 2:1-11              Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 17:3b-7, 12-13
Gospel Reading:  John 20:19-23
Continue Reading

On the Road to Emmaus

by 1 Comment

Two of the disciples of Jesus were on the road that leads to Emmaus. They were low because their Master had been crucified like a common thief. But now they’d heard reports that their Master was not dead at all. Reliable sources have told them that he had appeared to some of their most trusted friends. Was he really alive? Should they believe the good news or the bad? And that’s our dilemma, isn’t it? DO WE BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS OR THE BAD? The good news is that Christ is alive. The bad news is how little impact that event is having in our world.

The Jewish custom required that the two disciples invite Jesus to a meal. Hence, they invited Him for a night’s rest in their house–and Jesus accepted the invitation. During the meal, when Jesus broke the bread, the disciples realized that this stranger was not a stranger after all – this was Jesus, the Risen Christ. Later they said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us when he opened up the Scriptures to us?”  Hidden for a time, Jesus took delight in revealing himself in the breaking of the bread.  Mangiare! Eat up! It’s good for you!

You will recall on Easter morning, Jesus told the disciples to “go home” – this time they “go back” -walking 7 miles to Jerusalem to share their story.   They were probably pondering all along the way how they, like Mary Magdalene, did not recognize Jesus.  For Mary the revelation (Jesus’ delight) came when she heard Jesus’ voice.  For the Emmaus disciples it was the breaking of the bread.    That continues to this day, Jesus meets us on our way to Emmaus, in the ordinary experiences of our lives, and in the places to which we retreat when life is too much for us. The story warns us, however, that the risen Lord will take delight in coming to us when we least expect him.

In the story of Winnie-the-Pooh, Pooh and Piglet are taking their evening walk. For a long time they walk in the kind of silence good friends can share.  Finally, Piglet asks, “When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?” answers Pooh and then asks. “And what do you say, Piglet?” Piglet says, “I say, I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?”   You and I can’t really plan to meet the Risen Christ because we never really know when or where He’s going to show up. But you can be sure of this: He will show up.  Take delight in his revelation!

Have you heard about the little boy who told his mother, “I’m going out to play ball with God.”  When his mother asked him just how he could do this, the little boy answered: “Oh, I throw the ball up to His sky, and He throws it back to me.”  Jesus will not disappoint you – You can depend on Him – throw the ball up – He will toss it back – be careful it does not land on your head because you failed to recognize him in the unexpected moment.  Consider when an idea comes to you “from out of the blue”.  Might it be God throwing it back to you with the prayer you tossed in his lap?  Might it be God’s way of saying: “Catch!  You can handle this one?”

How about the tale of the young boy walking home through the park after attending a Sunday school class? Somehow, he couldn’t stop thinking about the Bible lesson for that day. What impressed him most was when the teacher said, “You will find the risen Jesus in everyone you meet.” As he continued through the park, he noticed an old woman sitting on a bench. She looked lonely and hungry. So he sat down next to her, took out the chocolate bar he had saved and offered some to her. She accepted it with a beautiful smile.  They sat together in silence, just smiling at each other.  When the boy was leaving, he had gone short distance when he ran back to the bench, and gave the woman a big hug. When he arrived home, his mother asked, “What’s making you so happy today?” He said, “I shared my chocolate bar with Jesus.” Before his mother could ask more questions, he added, “You know, she has the most beautiful smile in the world.”  Meanwhile, the old woman returned to her little apartment where she lived with her sister who remarked, “You seem really happy today.  “I am,” she replied, “I was sitting in the park, eating a chocolate bar with Jesus. And, you know, he looks a lot younger than I expected.”   Isn’t that the lesson in today’s gospel?  We will meet and experience the risen Jesus in unexpected places and persons.  Make someone smile and take care to notice God’s delight in the smiles returned to you.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

Next issue of TIDE is in the mail …  if you are not on our mailing list you can find it on line at www.benedictinesistersoffl.org

  God bless you and your family.

 

 

 

First Reading:   Acts 2:14         Second Reading:  1 Peter 1:17-21
Gospel:   Luke 24:13-35
Continue Reading

Second Sunday of Easter

by Leave a Comment

The Frailty of Easter  Based in part on a reflection by John Slattery  (adapted)

Easter is all about smallness.  That’s why we are drawn to reading and re-reading the Easter accounts in the Gospels each year.  Despite the ocean of books, songs, sermons, and lectures written about Easter or on Easter-themes, our Scripture includes just four small stories about this Jesus who rose from the dead.  The combined resurrection stories encompass about 3500 words–the equivalent of about 15 pages, the length of an average term paper.

Jesus’ resurrection was such a humble thing.  There were no angel trumpeteers or singers in the skies. It was more like the story in Psalm 119. “Without a word, without a sound, without a voice being heard, the message fills all the earth, resounding to the ends of the universe.”  First, Jesus surprised Mary in the garden.  She told a few other women, then they told a few men and soon Jesus appeared to them.  He spoke about peace, about the Spirit of God, about hope.  He showed his wounds.  He ate some food and then he drifted up into the clouds.  He didn’t march on Rome or lead a rebellion against those who brought him to Pilate.  After his resurrection He didn’t heal anyone else or preach to vast crowds as He had done previously.  He didn’t cast out any more demons, trade barbs with rabbis, or visit the Temple.  The resurrection, in many ways, was a quiet event.

It challenges us to read that Jesus showed his followers his wounds.  “See,” he seems to say, “a broken body is not made whole by erasing the imperfections.  Feel this hole in my side,” he says to Thomas and to each of us.  “See, I have sanctified what the world calls spoiled.  A broken body is made whole not by removing the scars but by embracing the permanence of the wounds.”

We like this small and quiet resurrection where Jesus is not the definition of a contemporary superhero.  He doesn’t return triumphant and knock Pilate off his throne, bringing God’s wrath on the vicious Roman Empire.  He appears to his friends, simply showing his wounds and talking about love and peace.

Today’s story of Thomas illustrates our Christian experience. We are called to believe without seeing.  In fact, all Christians (after the first witnesses) have been called to believe without seeing. Thus, we sing “Without seeing you, we love you; without seeing you, we believe.”  Thomas’ doubt is hardly surprising; the news of Jesus’ appearance was incredible to the disciples who had seen him crucified and buried. Thomas’ human nature compelled him to want hard evidence that the Jesus, who appeared to the disciples after his death was indeed the same Jesus who had been crucified. Thomas is given the opportunity to act on that desire. He is our witness that Jesus is truly raised from the dead.  With him we proclaim: “We have been told, we’ve seen his face, and heard his voice alive in our hearts.”

Jesus wants us to be perfect, but not the kind of perfect that ninjas or Superman display.  Jesus wants us to be perfect “as our heavenly Father is perfect.”  God’s perfection and the message of Jesus’ Resurrection call us to an unconditional embrace of frailty, pain, and brokenness.

It is an embrace that calls us to resist all forms of violence, power, and hatred.  There is growing acknowledgement of that fact that TV and video game violence, like second-hand smoke affects one’s lungs, permanently affects our brains.  Many persons, families, and faith communities refuse to allow TV violence, fictionalized or news reports, to invade their living spaces.  Jesus did not arm his apostles with weapons for revenge — he armed them with prayer and baptized them in a spirit of hope and forgiveness.

We are surrounded today with so much sadness and fear and anger.  We who live in a peaceful community rejoice in the security and sanctity that empowers us to extend open arms in hospitality to those in the world who yearn for that same privilege.

At the end of our Gospel selection we read, “Jesus did many other signs that are not written in this book.  But these ARE written that you may come to believe …and through this belief you may have life in Jesus’ name.

We join the psalmist in singing: “By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.  This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47         Second Reading:  1 Peter 1:3-9
Gospel:   John 20:19-31
Continue Reading

Believing Can Bring Sight

by Leave a Comment

Each day since Easter we’ve heard post-Resurrection stories of personal encounters. The resurrected Christ has visited the disciples and his mother Mary in the Upper Room to breathe peace upon them.  We’ve heard the story of how Jesus slips in and out of the company of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.   In John’s narrative Peter’s head is whirling at all that was going on.  It appears his message to the others is: “This is too much for me; I’m going to clear my head. I’ll be back later. I’m going fishing!” A few of the others jumped aboard.  At daybreak a very human Jesus appears to these disciples who’ve spent a night of non-productive fishing.  We know that Jesus must have known this but still he calls to them: “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”  Then he suggests to them that they toss the nets on the other side of the boat.  Lo and behold, the nets encircle 153 large fish!”  No one dares ask him: “Who are you?”  To their astonishment, Jesus invites: “Come, have breakfast.”

Last Sunday the church made sure that we heard the message that Jesus came a second time to the group in the Upper Room.  Again, He came right through “locked doors.” He greeted the fearful group: “Peace!”  And He turned to address Thomas to quiet his fear that the one the disciples claimed they had seen a week ago might be an imposter.   Nothing could keep Jesus away from those who had been his companions for three years.

At that 2nd visit in the Upper Room Jesus praises those who do not seek proof.  On the other hand, neither does He condemn those who seek a sign.  He meets us where we are on our faith journey. He does not condemn Thomas for wanting to see proof in the nail marks.  Instead, he offers living proof to help his unbelief.  “See my hands; put your finger here.”  And then He nurtures maturity in faith when he says: “Blessed are they who have not seen but have believed.”

In Monday’s gospel there is an exchange with Nicodemus about the wind. From whence does it come, and where does it go?  Jesus gently tries to explain, “If I tell you of earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”  If only if we understood that seeing may not be believing but believing can bring sight.

 The lessons remembered by John continue.  “God does not ration the gifts of the Spirit; the Father gives everything to the Son.”  As the evening grows long, the disciples go down to the sea.  It grows dark as they rest and row and drift in the boat.  When they are several miles from shore, one by one the Apostles perk up and point to a silhouette of a man who appears to be walking on the water toward them A calming voice is heard: “It is I.  Do not be afraid.”  Those who are familiar with the voice of God will immediately recognize when Jesus speaks.

Today we hear a curious detail. John relates that before Peter jumps from the boat into the sea, he grabs his clothing “for he was lightly clad.”  He puts on more clothes to jump into the water?  Is that typical of what we tend to do?  If you think about it, it probably is.   We don’t want to leave anything behind even when it only adds weight to our journey.  What does Jesus tell us to do?  Not, grab all your belongings, we’re going on a journey of a lifetime.  Rather he says: Feed my sheep; feed my lambs.   Follow me!

What is your excess baggage?  What needs to be left behind?  We have to clear out old expectations if we are to have room to welcome new experiences.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Acts 5:27-32; 40-41         Second Reading:  Revelation 5:11-14
Gospel:   John 21:1-19
Continue Reading

Pilgrimage Year of Hope

by Leave a Comment

Pilgrimage Year of Hope 2025

a short refection by Father John McEvoy

 

The way we live our lives gives witness to our faith by proclaiming God’s truth, goodness, beauty, love and hope. Easter Season helps us enter into the Pilgrimage Year of Hope as pilgrims of hope.

Saint John entered the tomb that first Easter morning proclaiming ” I saw and I believed.”  This comes after the dark day of Good Friday with Judas betraying Jesus then despairing, the opposite of hope, leading to ending his life.

Peter also betraying but trusting in Jesus’ loving mercy, not losing hope, had the will to say “I have sinned”, proclaiming “Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.”

In this Pilgrimage Year of Hope, we can proclaim the prayer of the children of Fatima:

I believe. I adore. I love. I hope.

I pray for those

who not believe, do not adore

do not love , do not hope

 

Father John McEvoy

Continue Reading

Third Sunday of Easter

by Leave a Comment

Two of the disciples of Jesus were on the road that leads to Emmaus. They were low because their Master had been crucified like a common thief. But now they’ve heard reports that their Master was not dead at all. Reliable sources have told them that he has appeared to some of their most trusted friends. Was he really alive? Should they believe the good news or the bad? And that’s our dilemma, isn’t it? DO WE BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS OR THE BAD? The good news is that Christ is alive. The sad news is how little impact that event is having in our world.

The Jewish custom required that the two disciples invite Jesus to a meal. Hence, they invited Him for a night’s rest in their house–and Jesus accepted the invitation. During the meal, when Jesus broke the bread, the disciples realized that this stranger was not after all a stranger – this was Jesus, the Risen Christ. Later they said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us when he opened up the Scriptures to us?”  Hidden for a time, Jesus took delight in revealing himself in the breaking of the bread.  I don’t know how He’d said it in Yiddish or Hebrew the translation is: “Eat up! It’s good for you!”

You will recall on Easter morning that Jesus told the disciples to “go home.”  This time they “go back” a long path – walking 7 miles to Jerusalem to share their story.   They were probably pondering all along the way how they, like Mary Magdalene, did not recognize Jesus.  For Mary the revelation (Jesus’ delight) came when she heard Jesus’ voice.  For the Emmaus disciples it was the breaking of the bread.  That continues to this day.  Jesus meets us on our way to Emmaus, in the ordinary experiences of our lives, and in the places to which we retreat when life is too much for us. The story warns us, however, that the risen Lord will take delight in coming to us when we least expect him.

A young boy was walking home through the park after attending a Sunday school class. Somehow, he couldn’t stop thinking about the Bible lesson for that day. What impressed him most was when the teacher said, “You will find the risen Jesus in everyone you meet.” As he continued through the park, he noticed an old woman sitting on a bench. She looked lonely and hungry. So he sat down next to her, took out the chocolate bar he had saved and offered some to her. She accepted it with a beautiful smile.  They sat together in silence, just smiling at each other.  When the boy was leaving, he had gone a short distance when he ran back to the bench, and gave the woman a big hug. When he arrived home, his mother asked, “What’s making you so happy today?” He said, “I shared my chocolate bar with Jesus.” Before his mother could ask more questions, he added, “You know, she has the most beautiful smile in the world.”  Meanwhile, the old woman returned to her little apartment where she lived with her sister who remarked, “You seem really happy today.”  “I am,” she replied, “I was sitting in the park, eating a chocolate bar with Jesus. And, you know, he looks a lot younger than I expected.”   Isn’t that the lesson in today’s gospel?  We will meet and experience the risen Jesus in unexpected places and persons.  Make someone smile and notice God’s delight in the smile returned to you.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading:  Acts 3:13-15,17-19         Second Reading:  1 John 2:1-5a
Gospel:   Luke 24:35-48
Continue Reading