Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Faith

National Day of Prayer

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Today is National Day of Prayer.  It is so easy to forget to pray.  Jesus knows about being human, a soul housed in a human body, a body which needs air, needs water, needs food.  But He admonishes us that we must also nourish our spiritual self not only through the sacraments, but also through private prayer.

Today we have the opportunity to join with all people of faith in prayer for ourselves, our communities, and our world.  We can go into our personal desert to pray alone as Jesus did while on earth.  But prayer is an anywhere, anytime, activity.  We can pray in the car, in the shower, while we walk, during the commercial breaks while watching television (the mute button is useful here).  Jesus is always ready to hear us.

Today, let us join all who pray.  Let us raise our souls to God, if only for moment, if only to say “Here I am.  Thank you for life.  Thank you for now”.

~by Sister Eileen Dunbar

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The story of blind Bartimaeus

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The story of Bartimaeus has a familiar ring in the lives of many people today as it follows in the wake of storms, fires and other disasters of unheard proportions.   Imagine what might have been his story.   He once had a family, a job, a house, kids, the whole works. He was active at the local synagogue. He would tell his children stories of their ancestors.  Then things started to change and his vision would become blurry. At first, he did not allow this to bother him but kept on working and living, but eventually the blurred vision got worse and worse so that he could barely see his wife and children.   Then things went black and that’s the way they stayed.

He would lay his cloak on the ground so people could throw their loose change on the ground next to him. Most people avoided him altogether because in those days many people felt that blindness was caused by sinfulness either by the person or by their parents.

Despite all the hardships that he faced he still loved God. He recalled how God always came through in the end. Now Bartimaeus sat daily next to the road listening to the people passing by. The conversation lately had been about this guy named Jesus who had healed people, even blind people. Some had even said that he was the Messiah that had come to redeem Israel. Bartimaeus thought, “Wow, if only Jesus would come around here.”

Then one day there was a commotion. There were more people on the road than usual and then Bertimaeus heard the name, Jesus. Should he say something? Would Jesus come to him? Could he restore his vision? Something deep inside said “Yes, call out his name.”  But the crowd around him tried to silence him. Yet Bartimaeus persisted, calling out more loudly and with greater urgency.   Notice how quickly the crowd’s reaction changed when Jesus called for Bartimaeus. Those who sought to quiet him now encouraged him.

Bartimaeus recognized power and authority when he sensed it. We do the same thing. If we had a broken leg we wouldn’t go to AutoZone to have it fixed.  If the doctor comes into the examination room in overalls, we might have a few questions, but if he wears a white coat, with a stethoscope and a pocket protector, we generally don’t immediately ask for credentials or references.  Bartimaeus recognized Jesus’ authority.  Jesus didn’t wear a uniform, and even if he did, Bartimaeus was blind and he couldn’t see him anyway. He’d heard stories, and he’d heard false rumors, fake news.  This recognition of Jesus as a man of authority came from a place deep within him.   We experience that same recognition of Jesus. We have never seen Him.  We’ve seen artistic renditions of Jesus but our recognition originates from a different sense than sight.  It comes from a spiritual sense. It comes before anything. It is grace that allowed us to have that first moment with God, when God was not just a figure in CCD or Faith Formation classes or in the Bible. God became personal, a friend.

When Bartimaeus recognized Jesus, he still had a choice to make; act on that recognition or let it pass by.  Bartimaeus cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He addressed Jesus by name and by title, Son of David, the messianic title reserved for the redeemer of Israel.   We cry out as well when we get to the last point, the straw that breaks the camel’s back.  We cry, “Help me, Jesus.” “Have mercy, Jesus” Or simply, “Jesus” “Gott im Himmel.”  “Mi Dios!”  We realize that only God can help us in whatever situation we are in. God’s grace not only gives us the ability to perceive God’s power and love. It also gives us the strength to respond to it. Unlike Bartimaeus however, we are not limited to a once in a lifetime response. We must continually respond to the gift of grace and power in our lives.

What is Jesus’ response to Bartimaeus? “Go; your faith has made you well.” It is interesting to see that Jesus says that it is Bartimaeus’ faith that produced his healing not Jesus’ faith that made him well.   Bartimaeus’ faith, and ours too, is not born out of nothing, nor does it come out of thin air.  It is a response to the love and grace of God.  It was Bartimaeus’ response to God’s initial contact through grace that made him well – restored his sight. Our response to the power or grace is also a restoration and a reconnection.  We might not be physically blind but spiritually we may be walking around aimlessly. Our spiritual vision may be black as night, but God still initiates the reconnection through grace and gives us the freedom to respond or reject His gift.

That’s the end of the story, right? Not quite. What does Bartimaeus do once his sight has been restored?  Immediately he follows Jesus on the way.  It is not the end, but the beginning of a journey.  We don’t receive the fire of the Holy Spirit, the connection with God, only to sit it in the corner or in the closet, or even the chapel.  We can’t isolate ourselves in a cozy niche.  We are impelled to take up the invitation and follow Jesus on the way.  The question facing us is: Am I going to do for God today or for myself?  Am I going to spend today in connection and in conversation with God and God’s people or am I going to satisfy my own selfish wants and desires?  Our blind eyes opened, we have a unique opportunity to spread God’s love in the world.  Lord, we pray: open our eyes and strengthen us to following your prompting to be an expression of your compassion and mercy in our world today.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

Reminder: next weekend the time changes “fall back one hour”.

Have a good week and pray fervently for an optimal election outcome.

 

 

First Reading:   Jeremiah 31:7-9         Second Reading:  Hebrews 5:1-6
Gospel:   Mark 10:46-57
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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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Take 5 minutes with Bishop Parkes

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Bishop Parkes will be hosting a new video segment called Take Five: Conversations on Faith and Life, premiering on Tuesday, November 29th. The segments are about five minutes in length and are designed to easily fit into people’s busy schedules.

New video segments can be seen each Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. online (starting 11/29):

Bishop’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/bishopparkes)

Bishop’s Instagram (www.instagram.com/bishoparkes)

DOSP YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/dioceseofstpete)

DOSP website (//www.dosp.org/bishop/five)

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Your Faith Has Saved You

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At the outset of this story ten men are stuck – stuck in “limbo” land having to distance themselves – socially, religiously, and physically – from all but other lepers.  By the end of the story, all ten were made well. But one has something more. He has seen Jesus, recognized his blessing and rejoiced.  He saw – REALLY saw, what had happened. He was not only healed, but was made whole, restored, drawn back into relationship with God and his family, friends and neighbors. In all these ways he won salvation.

The story tells us that ten men encountered Jesus and called out (the scripture say “loudly” or yelled.)  “We want to be well!”  You may know that leprosy also attacks the vocal chords so that these men probably could only make a raspy sound. But that didn’t stop them from raising their voices and crying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

Jesus appears to do nothing, but quietly directs the men: “Go, show yourselves to the priest.”  Now, you have to understand that the local priest, besides leading worship services, was also something of a health official. It wash his responsibility to test and certify a complete removal of the dread disease and then to announce that the person was healed.

As these men took heed of Jesus’ words and set out in search of the priest, one of the ten looked at the other and that one looked at the rest and the screaming began!  Smiles broke into cheering! It was sweet madness!  They raced off in all directions, hardly believing that the nightmare was finally over.

But notice the men had to start a journey in faith before their circumstances began to change even one tiny bit. We are not told whether the ten lepers had a debate about whether or not to go to the priest. I can imagine them arguing, “We’re going to look like fools if we show up before the priest in our present condition!” Another countered, “Yes, but we’ve got nothing to lose; this is our only hope.” “But it hurts to walk on these leprous feet!” “But maybe if we do what He says, we’ll be healed.” “This isn’t the way He healed the other lepers. Why doesn’t He heal us in the same way?” “I don’t know, but we must obey.”  Now, maybe they didn’t have any such debate since the text doesn’t record any.  But at any rate, it says, “As they were going, they were cleansed.” It must have been a marvelous experience!

One of the men came back to Jesus.  The gospel does not make it clear whether he had seen the priest and been declared clean.  The evangelist tells us he praised God. He was thankful. He was public about it. He was loud – he wasn’t shy at all.

Why was he so loud? This guy had been forced to yell for as long as he’d had leprosy. It might have been years. He’d probably yelled so long, he didn’t know how to come to the Lord quietly, or even speak in a normal voice. When he came back and fell at the feet of Jesus, he was louder than the normal person, and he was praising God.  He had reversed his steps, put his family on hold, put the priest on hold, and came back to the one who was the Cause of his celebration. His response, his thankfulness led to action.

Jesus asked: “Where are the other nine?”  They had got what they wanted from God in terms of healed bodies.  But, according to the story, they never returned to Jesus to receive salvation. They received the temporal benefit of healed bodies, but it is only to the one thankful leper who returned, to whom Jesus proclaimed, “Your faith has saved you.”

It’s the same for us.  It is possible to receive special blessings from God in answer to prayer, and yet to fall short of the best blessing of all.  When we realize that God has blessed us with some temporal blessing, we must not become satisfied with that alone.  We must give thanks to the source of all blessings.

A story is told of a man who was lost in the woods. Later, he shared with his friend how frightened he had been.  He said he was so scared he fell to his knees and prayed: “Please God, I know I’ve strayed sometimes but right now I pray you show me the path straight out of this jungle of trees.” His friend remarked: “Well, obviously God answered your prayer, didn’t He?” “Oh, no,” the man replied.  “Before God had a chance, a guide came along and showed me the way.”

 

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading  2 Kings 5:14-17     
Second Reading  2 Timothy 2:8-13
Gospel Reading  Luke 17:11-19

 

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Stay Awake and Be Ready

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It strikes me that the three readings for this weekend give us a powerful image of not only early Christian living but one that we can depend on to this day.

The first passage that jumped out is found in the aptly titled “The Book of Wisdom.”  We are let in on a secret: “the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice.”  In religious houses, in parishes, not just Catholics, but all over the world, God’s faithful are quietly, unpretentiously, without fanfare offering prayer and good deeds on behalf of all God’s people.  The author of the Book of Wisdom promises us thus: they are putting into effect with one accord the divine institution.

Paul reminds the Hebrews (and us) in tomorrow’s 2nd reading: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for, and evidence of things not seen. Here again we are reminded of quiet, unseen, out-of-the-limelight evidence of the “divine institution.”   Paul was referring to the folks traipsing through the desert ages before.  They must have had waves of hopelessness bolstered by waves of hope.  We are reassured by the hopeful words of Paul when he says to us: “They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar.”  …  Margaret Wheatley in her book TURNING TO ONE ANOTHER describes hope this way: “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.”

How fitting it is that our community intention this week is that “all peoples of the world will be people of peace.”   May they, and all of us, live in hope confident that however things turn out, it makes sense in God’s plan.   Our daily stance must be words of the Gospel Acclamation: “Stay awake and be ready.”

The church offers the choice of dividing the Gospel passage into two sections.  It is the part that may be omitted that tells us: “Much will be required of persons entrusted with much.”  Luke couched that grim reminder with Jesus’ comforting words to his disciples: “Do not be afraid.”  We have been entrusted with so much, individually and collectively, that the words about the reciprocal demand could frighten us into inaction.  Our fears could make us feel that our feeble attempts to bring about peace and compassion and reconciliation are futile.  But we have the assurance of Jesus: Do not be afraid, for your Father is PLEASED to give you the kingdom.  God is more than willing – God is PLEASED to give us the kingdom.   Thus, we must take delight in receiving all that the kingdom has to offer.  Do not be afraid but do be prepared.  Stay awake!  Be prepared to see and greet the kingdom from afar.  Do not be afraid.

 

I will close with an excerpt of Nelson Mandela’s 1994 Inaugural Speech.

(Mandela’s words could be a homily in itself.)

 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,

successful, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us,

It’s not just in some of us;

It’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

Our presence automatically liberates others.

 

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading  Wisdom 18:6-9      Second Reading  Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Gospel Reading  Luke 12:32-48

 

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