Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

God

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Come to me – and I will give you rest

My yoke is easy and my burden is light

 

Have you ever owned a woolen turtle-neck sweater?  And you’re wearing it for the first time? You discover that when you turn your head it scratches your neck?  Wear it too long and you may develop itchy red welts.  There’s nothing you can do. The day is just beginning, you have an important meeting, and you don’t have a change of clothes with you.  You soon realize if you sit perfectly still you get some relief.  For you see, it’s only when we wrestle with a “yoke” that it chaffs your necks.

Or, have you ever tried to run a three-legged race strapped to someone whose pace and rhythm just does not match yours?  Until you do match strides you wind up rolling on the ground and struggling more than once to get up.

And, what about that Angelus bell.  Until you give up total control and let the bell help you establish the rhythm …  well, you know what happens.  At least, over here the chain does not come tumbling down in a heap at your feet.  In our former monastery the pull-chain was encased in a pipe that ran from the bell two stories above the person ringing the bell.  If she pulled too hard, to her chagrin the nasty chair landed in a pile at her feet.

Too often our first impulse is to complain about all I don’t have.  The burden of ungratefulness, like that snarled Angelus bell, will only weigh heavy on my heart. Wonder of wonders how quickly it lifts when I consider all that I DO have at hand that will serve my purpose.

When I focus on what irks me about situations or people and forget all the gifts the flow into my life – the chaffing of the rope to the gunny sack I’ve loaded on my back will choke me.

Sometimes we struggle with the devil and temptation.  Maybe more times it a struggle with God that’s taking place within.  When we ease up and take God’s view, the tussle eases.

When you’re new in a group, office staff or in a community and you discover they’re not as perfect as you had imagined, they crumble from their pedestals.  When we give up the battle to make them into my image and look for the pleasantries and similarities to be found, the burden of integration becomes lighter.

Remember during in COVID time, what were the dilemma’s – the “yokes” that we tied around on our own necks?  You could slip into magical thinking in La-La Land.   Convince ourselves it was all a hoax. Act like it was everyone else’s responsibility to keep me safe from harm.   Tell ourselves the rules are for those “others,” not me.  Listen to every source of information I can muster and be scared to breathe? Or, strike a balance of precautions and trust that I can live with – that to the best of my ability keeps me safe and protects others especially those closest to me.  Remember, the yoke “chaffs” until we give up the control we don’t really have anyway.

Jesus saw examples of this everywhere he went.  We marvel at Jesus’ powers of observation!  How many times must he have gazed out on a field watching pair of yoked oxen dragging along a heavy cart or trudging to keep pace with a farmer sowing the next crop.  He saw the tussle and the back and forth between the pair, only hurting themselves with the push and pull of the yoke until a smooth rhythm was set.

Remember: Jesus said: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Learn from me – “I am meek and humble of heart.”  As my love for God and my acceptance of the realities of life deepen, we join Jesus in giving “thanks and praise to God the Father” for being so free with the graces given to us; for revealing the divine presence to us.

It behooves us to listen attentively to His words.  To hear His invitation, ‘Come to me’ is always an open invitation, especially at times like now, when we and our country, the church and the world really need the peace, rest, protection of God’s love.  We ask Jesus to come into our hearts and fill our lives with gifts that only God can give us.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Zachariah 9:9-10         Second Reading:  Romans 8:9, 11-13
Gospel:   Matthew 11:25-30
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Who Do You Say I Am?

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Two unconnected but related phrases jump out here in this Gospel: “You – who do you say that I am?” And “Jesus strictly ordered them to tell no one he was the Christ.”  If we finally figure out who Jesus is but we can’t tell anyone, what’re we supposed to do with that long sought-after revelation?

I think the operative word here is “tell.”  We’re not meant to tell others what or who to believe so much as to be a model that reveals more than words can say.  To let our lives be a “show and tell” of mutual love and respect, of deference to each other – a “flesh and blood” model of our aim to build community, and to maintain a balance in our communal and personal lives of prayer and work, art and music and poetry.  A living example of how “give and take” is part of life-long learning and nurtures our love for each other in spite of – no, because it causes us to see our own shadow side.  Our modulated and friendly laughter, our expressions of gratitude with a simple phrase like “thank you” – our hospitality and sharing.  In other words: our gentle determination to be Christ-like AND to BE Christ to others.  Our tenor of voice in our exchanges, our harmony in prayer and song, our attentive awareness to join the pace of our liturgy, our acknowledgement of Christ in the other when we pass in the hallways – all this “tells” who our Beloved model is.

And, you know what it takes to DO and BE this.  That’s the answer to the question Jesus asks: “Who do YOU say that I am?”  It takes close familiarity with WHO Jesus is.  You’ve probably heard the expression “familiarity breeds contempt.”  But the opposite is what’d true for those who seek to know Jesus – really to know anyone.  Time spent in Jesus’ company – in the company of our companions – fosters intimacy, closeness and an ease in each other’s company.   It’s true, too, for all who seek to build a relationship with another person or persons in community.  It’s a powerful realization when we stop to think: each one of us is responsible for the community we create.

One of the many stories Msgr Cummings (1918-2020) shared with me in his later years.  I’d first met “Father George” in 1949 as a youngster at Good Counsel Camp.  This story was also quoted at his funeral.  It serves to remind all of us of what it takes to be a loyal follower, an imitator of Christ – a true servant.

When Msgr was around 50 years a priest, (this true story goes) a young intern at Good Counsel Camp asked Fr. George: “When did you decide to become a priest?”  Without skipping a beat, Cummings answered: “This morning.”  He added as aside, “Every day I wake up and I recommit myself, to serving as a priest.”

That’s a true vocation story!  Each and every day, we hear Jesus ask: “Who do you say that I am.”  Whatever our response, He cautions: “Tell no one I am the Christ.”   “Rather, my friend, recommit yourself to be my instrument of peace in your community who, in turn, together will be a living example of a “peaceable kingdom” to all who witness your way of life, and your living.  “For where God has placed you, that is your pulpit.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Isaiah 22:19-23         Second Reading:  Romans 17:33-36
Gospel:   Matthew 16:13-20
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12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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In this Gospel passage, Jesus uses a simple, mind-opening analogy to illustrate his point.  His listeners knew that the cheapest life in the market was a small bird of the field, perhaps a sparrow.  Yet, God’s providential care knows even when this smallest of birds dies.  Jesus is using here a rabbinic argument technique which compares a light matter to a heavy one. His idea here is to overcome fear and encourage the disciples, and us, to trust God.

Jesus recognizes that fear may cause failure on our part.  We see in the Gospel how on the one hand, the disciples are granted remarkable powers to heal the sick, exorcise demons, cleanse lepers, even to raise the dead. But at the same time, Jesus denies the disciples money, extra clothes, or a walking stick to aid in climbing the ups and downs of life or to protect themselves from wolves.  He even denies them a pair of sandals to shield their feet from rocks and stones, or, if they travel the fields in Florida, sandspurs.

They are to undertake their mission in complete vulnerability and dependence on God with an awareness that they go as “sheep in the midst of wolves.”  We know their stories. They faced arrests and beatings, hatred and persecution and opposition, even from family members.

With great care and compassion Jesus names aloud the suffering to be endured and its causes.  This is the first step in freeing them from the tenacious grip of fear.  Benedict knew this, didn’t he?  Remember what he says about receiving newcomers (Chapter 58).  “Do not grant newcomers an easy entry … test the spirits, let them keep persistently knocking at the door four or five days … they should be clearly told the things of everyday living in community; all the hardships and difficulties that will lead to God.  She, the newcomer, must be aware of what the Rule requires so that she may know what she is entering.”

Just as Jesus modeled the way for his disciples, we make a commitment to the each other to model Benedictine living.   An example: A young boy, out for a walk with his father on a cold winter day, was scared to cross a frozen pond … afraid of falling through the ice. But then his Father offered to lead the way.  Now the boy didn’t hesitate to go across the ice. The ice hadn’t become less frightening, but he was able to follow his father, trusting his father wouldn’t lead him to harm. He followed his father without fear across the ice.   Jesus leads us; we lead each other.

As we sing in the Suscipe: “Uphold me, O Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live, and do not disappoint me in my hope.”

“I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.” (William Allen White).  Also see Sirach 30:21-15: “Gladness of is the very life of a person, and cheerfulness prolongs our days.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Jeremiah 20:10-13         Second Reading:  Romans 5:12-15
Gospel:   Matthew 10:26-33
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Trinity Sunday

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We know from other Gospel readings that Nicodemus went to speak with Jesus first under cover of darkness. It was his role to “break the ice” because he was the leading Pharisee in the group. He wouldn’t risk open association with Jesus, this strange but compelling teacher, until he had verified and tested his credentials. (You know: He verified Jesus had safe environment training and a clean driving record.)  We can be forever grateful to Nicodemus that he approached Jesus. For his courage, we thank, God, for taking this risk. His encounter with Jesus has left us with words that have been quoted lovingly among Christians ever since. The passage from John 3:16 is a thumbnail sketch of God’s initiative on our behalf.  “God so loved the world that He gave his only son.” Our entire life in return is a grateful response to God.

The response to “I love you” is ordinarily not “What do you want me to do about that?” It is “I love you, too,” followed spontaneously by evidence that we mean what we say.  Believing this way takes a lifetime for some, an instant for others. Time is irrelevant. From the moment we begin to want to believe in this way, we become truly Christian. It really is that simple.

Today we celebrate the reality of the Holy Trinity.  Our triune God is, of course, a mystery – an incomprehensible concept.  How is it that three Persons exist together in one trinity of being?  Thankfully, mysteries can be talked about. They can be described. They have clues that our minds can grasp. But a mystery remains a mystery unless and until we grasp it in its totality.  When it comes to God, we simply cannot grasp the total reality of God.

Mysteries, after all, are made up of clues that can be talked about.  In a mystery story the author gives hints, clues to piece together in order to see the whole picture. In God’s mystery story, the Holy Trinity, we have lots of clues. When we pursue them and piece them together, we get a good glimpse into what kind of a being our God is.  Our God is all about love. When we live in love we live in God, and God lives in us. Living in love, however, does not mean we all must be the same.  That’s not written anywhere.  The Father is a distinct Person, the Son is a distinct Person, and the Holy Spirit is a distinct Person. Distinct though they are, they exist in one being of infinite love; they exist in one unbreakable bond, in one infinite union of being together.

While that all remains a mystery to us, it is not so mysterious that we cannot live with each other in a reality of life that reflects and shares in the reality of God’s life. To live a God-like life we must build-up and affirm one another and see the best in each other.  We must be self-sacrificing and not self-centered. We must be giving rather than grasping, offering hope rather than mutual misery. We must seek to heal rather than rub salt on the wound.  It is in shared living that we not only belong but also where we discover, nurture, and affirm our own unique and individual personalities. It is in living the reality of being truly a family in Christ that we have a glimpse into the life of the Trinity: Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

There is story about one of the great theologians of the 20th Century, Karl Barth. When he was in New York for a conference, at the end of his talk he asked if anyone had any questions. He got a few questions about what he had been talking about, some theological questions that, quite frankly, were rather boring. Then someone asked Barth what in all his years of Biblical study was, for him, the greatest theological discovery he had made.  He was quiet for a moment, pondering and he then responded that there was one truth that really had become real to him as he spent more and more time studying scripture and trying to know God better. And that truth was, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

This one simple truth can be argued for children and yet has so much meaning and power. It is also the truth that one of the great theologians of this last century claimed as central to his whole understanding of theology.   This simple truth comes to us as a children’s song, “Jesus Loves Me This I Know”.

We all have different views about who God is and what God is like. Early on I fell in love with God the Spirit … always with me … touching me lightly on my head, holding my hand as I drift asleep.

 

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading: Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9             Second Reading: 2 Corintians 13:11-13
Gospel:  John 3:16-18
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Pentecost

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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
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It’s just not going to be the same.

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Today’s Gospel is an expression of an impending separation cushioned with a promise of an abiding presence. Jesus is speaking to his disciples at their last supper together.  And it must have been a LONG, many-course supper given the length of Jesus’ discourse. He lovingly reassures those gathered with him that even though he must leave them, he is not abandoning them.  In his stead, he promises, he will send the Holy Spirit.  And, on that day they will realize that He and the Father God are one.

When a lifetime friend moves far away we can reassure one another that we’ll stay in touch but we also probably agree [even if we do have FaceTime and Instagram]: “It’s just not going to be the same.” This may have been the feeling of the disciples.  Jesus is saying “goodbye”.   This is not just a farewell before going on a short trip, when they will see one another again in a few weeks or months.  It’s a more permanent farewell. He is preparing them for the shock of his violent death and the collapse of their plans for the future. Everything is about to change for them “It’s just not going to be the same.”

Jesus is sensitive to the feeling of loss they are about to endure. He’s telling them quite clearly, “It’s just not going to be the same.”  He knows they won’t make it on their own.   Their human courage, like ours, just won’t  be enough – they’ll need continued support to spread Jesus’ message after He is gone.

So, Jesus makes a FANTASTIC, and unbelievable promise:  He is going to the Father and he will send the Holy Spirit to guide them as they face new challenges.  There are going to be new issues and suffering for what they believe. But they will become aware of Jesus’ abiding presence.

We may be 2000+ years away from those disciples around the table with Jesus that night; but we too have experienced loss and need. We have said many goodbyes to family and community members.  We’ve experienced big changes in our lives.   There have been times when we’ve needed to be strong ourselves and for others: times of grave illness, worry over a troubled or addicted loved one, sorrow over a broken relationship or an uncertain future.

Those are the times when we’ve known: “It’s just not going to be the same.” And it wasn’t.  God sends us curve balls when we least expect it.  But, like a skilled ball player we can still hit a home run.  God gives us the strength to stay faithful and the wisdom to maneuver life’s many twists and turns.

Who could have foreseen, or even imagined, this day when we would be lesser in number?  These are times when we know well the feeling: It’s just not going to be the same.

Our duty, our challenge, then, is to believe, to trust that we DO have the Spirit with us – in Word, the Eucharist, in each other.  We believe Jesus has kept his promise to give us the gift of the Spirit – an abiding, permanent dwelling with each and every one of us.  We believe Jesus when he says: I will send the “Advocate” – a counselor, a consoler, a mediator – divine energy that will bind you together with one another, and all you in God.

A Thomas Merton prayer speaks to me when all I do know is: “it’s just not going to be the same.”

 “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And, I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.  Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.  I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

                                    [Thomas Merton, Thoughts on Solitude, 1956}

 

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8, 14-17         Second Reading:  1 Peter 3:15-18
Gospel:   John 14:15-21
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