Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Gospel

Caution. Construction Ahead!

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Luke’s Gospel quotes the prophet Isaiah, describing the road we must travel throughout Advent (and in our lives) in order to see the signs of the times and reach the One foretold – our Emmanuel.

Like Mary and Joseph, we must travel through valleys, between hills and over mountains to reach the place where the census is being taken.  We have to weather life’s troubles, storms of despair and disappointment.  And, look out at the horizon from the joyful mountain peaks of our lives to view the beauty God has laid out for us.

And, then there’s the Magi.  They traveled to see the new-born child bringing with them a sack-full of Christmas presents.  With our families spread across the nation and world, and now with the pandemic, the ritual of travel toward togetherness is threatened by fear of contagion rather than anticipation of pleasure.  But, we journey onward each Advent season.  We journey toward Bethlehem to witness the miracle of Jesus’ birth.  We journey toward the end of all time, when Christ Jesus will come again.

If you took long road trips as a kid, you may have played travel games to help pass the time (and reduce the number of back-seat squabbles).  When you saw the sign “Exit Ahead” did you wish and wonder, “Are we there yet?”  Like those trips, we continue down the road to Bethlehem where we see some signs along our way.  Last week, Jesus warned us to be alert, watching for God’s unexpected activity in our lives and in our world.  Today, the sign we see is one that most of us dread seeing while along our highways – “Road Construction Ahead.”

Why is it that we tend to get upset when we see a sign for road construction?  That’s a sign that in the not too distant future (though probably more distant than we’d like) the road work will be complete.  But still, when we see that sign ROAD CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN NEXT WEEK, or see orange barrels or the concrete barricades we begin to get uptight and look for an alternate route.  Road construction signs signal: “inconvenience, hassles, delays.”  Is that what we feel when we see today’s signs in the Scriptures?  Road Construction.  Two more weeks until we get to sing Christmas carols outside of choir practice.  How long until we can hang the decorations on the tree?

Are you facing a sign of work in progress – Proceed with Caution!  Can you hear John the Baptist shouting out with the powerful words of the prophet Isaiah?  Does he bellow like a highway foreman, “Prepare the way of the Lord!  Make that path straight!  Fill that valley!  Get that mountain outta here!  Hey, what happened over there?  It’s all crooked!  Make it straight!  Smooth out that rough place!  We gotta show everyone the salvation of God.  Get busy!”

If you’ve observed road construction you know it is labor-intensive.  It’s not like a Lego project.  How’s God’s construction company doing with you?  Are you making new inroads to acknowledgement of the need for improvement?  This Advent, have you been working to smooth rocky relationships?  What about making repairs on your approach to people?  Are you consciously striving to be direct – saying what you mean and meaning what you say?  Are you bolstering up the pillars of your prayer life?  Are you repairing older sections of your highway to God?  Are you blasting out the bad habits and fortifying your daily schedule so there is a new, wider, safe path to settling into the spirit of Lectio?

Maybe God is opening up for you a new area of possibility – a new awakening to how you can expand your life of service and hospitality.  What new road is God building in your life?  No matter how we might like to think that we’ve got it all together, sooner or later we all need to make a little heavenly highway repair.  Our God promises to help us fix what’s broken in our lives; to come to our rescue and strengthen those areas of weakness that plague us so.  Jesus can remove those piles of junk, fill in the potholes, and strengthen the sagging places if we but stop trying to “do it my way” and allow God to be the one to put up the sign – “Caution.  Construction Ahead!”  And, then allow God to be the boss, the foreman, the project manager.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

First Reading: Baruch 5:1-9                   Second Reading: Philippians 1:4-6,8-11
Gospel Reading: Luke 3:1-6
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Give and God Provides

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We can only give from our need if we trust that God will provide.

Sunday’s first reading, the widow in Elijah’s time, and the Gospel of the widow in Jesus’ time, prompt us to take a hard look at our individual and communal giving practices.  If, as followers of Jesus Christ, we see clearly that God is the giver of all, how do we offer thanks?  What portion of our blessings do we give back to honor God and build up God’s Kingdom on earth?  We can apply the lesson in this story of the widow’s mite to our current collection of donations to Daystar Hope.  With the kind support of the Knights of St. Mark’s parish, and individual donors, we are enabled to distribute gift cards and bus passes to Daystar clients to help brighten their Thanksgiving.  Truly, we can all give something, the amount is between the individual and God.

In this reflection instead of emphasizing the spirit of giving often connected with the story of the Widow’s mite, I’d like to share some ideas that convey the perspective that it is not all about GIVING.  The Benedictine value of STEWARDSHIP (preserving the earth and respecting people) calls us to responsibility and care rather than oppressive domination.  To live out this value can require a radical shift in our thinking.  We can too easily become accustomed to regarding earth’s resources as if they had no intrinsic worth beyond their value to us.  For example, the demand for fast, prepackaged food contributes to a stripping of rain forests in order to provide pasture land.  In the process, many indigenous peoples have been rendered homeless, and the habitat of endangered species has been lost forever.  Advances have been made in the production of biodegradable substances but so far it’s only resulted in a reduction in the time it takes plastics and styrofoam to disintegrate – they still constitute a hazard to the environment.

One of the biggest offenders of violence to our environment is plastic bottles.  We hear frequently of the health value of drinking more water and those 12-16 oz. bottles are so handy.  Some plastics are recyclable or reusable.  But others, each time you refill it can leach toxins into the water you will consume.  And, in landfills or trash heaps toxic gases are leached into the environment causing a variety of health issues.  Landfills in the U.S. have over 2 million discarded plastic bottles that each take up to 1,000 years to decompose.  How many thousand years did we toss into the landfill in this week?  In the last month?  Trying to conserve by switching from plastic to glass containers here in our county is foiled because glass is not recycled.

Our primary motivation is that all (now and in the future) may have a share in God’s gifts.  We have to think bigger than the cash register.  Each day is our moment to resist any act of violence against creation.  It’s a special challenge now when COVID and CDC regs seem to thwart some of our progress.  For instance: it’s OUT with a cloth hand towel for everyone’s use; IN with paper towels to avoid the risk of virus transmission.

We wrestle prayerfully with questions about how we can adopt and adapt to a simpler lifestyle – letting go of some things, being patient when our preferences are denied by unavailability of pantry supplies.  We have to start where we are, doing what we can, with the insight and energy we have to make a difference.  Maybe we begin with one thing, one purchase, one habit a month that we change.  For example, spend a few pennies more to make a purchase from a local vendor that you usually make at a big box store.  Or make a gallon purchase instead of several smaller bottles.  Or take a shorter shower or don’t let the water run as you brush your teeth.  Run 2-sided copies and use scrap paper for note pads.  After a month, don’t forsake the new habit, keep it up and add a new pattern.  By the end of the year you’ll be 12x more conservative.  You may ask: how does doing any of this help the people in the 3rd world?  The truth is it doesn’t directly.  It changes YOU.  At the heart of our actions must rest the conviction that our world belongs to God and any misuse dishonors the Creator.

This widow in the Gospel was made destitute by life’s circumstances.  We, by no means live a life of destitution – but we know people who do.  We are invited to ask ourselves, what can I, what can we, do to reverse the destructive patterns of life that are making a negative impact on our earth and in the lives of those we profess to serve?  Each day we are challenged to figure out what to do with our “too much.”  The answer is NOT to find an empty shelf or an empty room to store it.  If we are not using it, do we REALLY need it?  If we haven’t worn it since we moved to this building, who could use it?  If we have forgotten we ever had it, did we ever really need it?  Are we saving it because, deep down, we don’t trust God to come through for us on a “rainy day?”  We can only give from our need if we trust (really and truly) that God will provide.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

This week we pray for veterans of all nations: for their families who support them and suffer with them … for spouses who raise children in their absence … and families who agonize when they are injured, missing or imprisoned … for support services personnel – we pray in gratitude for all their sacrifices.

 

First Reading:   Kings 17:10-16            Second Reading:  Hebrews 9:24-28
Gospel:   Mark 12:38-44
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Two Lines

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Two Lines

 

Two lines jump out at me in this reading:

  1. What Jesus said to the young man – “You are lacking one thing.”
  2. The question the disciples ask Jesus – “Who can be saved?”

Jesus has already told them in this reading, four things they should NOT do: don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness, don’t defraud.  I smile when I read how He sums up His list, it’s what my dad would say: “Do what your mother tells you.”  The only time I remember him raising his voice to me was one day when my mother asked, “Do you want to do some ironing now?”  I had said, “No, not now.”  Wrong answer!  Jesus offered the same directive to the wine servers at the wedding where he and his mother were guests – “Do whatever she tells you.”  And when dying on the Cross, what did he say to John (and all of us) – “Behold your mother.”

Jesus told the young man, “You are lacking one thing.”  That’s his challenge to us this week, figure out what’s the one thing we are lacking.  Benedict’s Tools of Good Works (RB 4) is a good examination of conscience or you might use Joan Chittister’s listing of Benedict’s counsels:

            • Don’t pamper yourself
            • Be transparent
            • Be gentle with each other
            • Don’t expect too much or consume too much
            • Live in the moment of God’s grace
            • Be willing to be formed
            • Have a holy attitude toward persons and all of creation, and
            • Remember the tools of the spiritual life are the work of a lifetime. …

Jesus said, “Do what your parents tell you.”  Benedict says the same thing in several places in the Rule, do what the superior tells you.  He gives a little wiggle room when he speaks of impossible tasks but in the end, he says obedience will save us.  I’ve saved my mother’s message to me when I wrote to tell her that we now had the option of using our baptismal names and were shortening our skirts.  In her own way she said, “I’ve tried to teach you the value of obedience.  Do what your superiors are telling you.”   RB 7 places tremendous responsibility on each of us to give good example when our founder says, “The eighth degree in humility is that a monk do nothing but what the common rule of the monastery and the example of the seniors suggest.”

Like many people, the young man in the Gospel knew something was missing in his life. There’s some of the young man in all of us … we know something is lacking. We are surrounded with media that tries to convince us what that the one thing is that will bring us joy and well-being.  Although we know full well that wealth is not a guarantee for happiness in this life, that spirit can slip through the walls, even through convent walls.  We can sense it when we doubt that the common goods available are not sufficient for us.  We can act like children who don’t want the crayons put into a pile in the middle of the table.  We each want our own box of crayons because we don’t like the broken ones or the ones that have the paper peeled off or the ones you can tell have touched another color or are just not the brand we prefer.  Like the young man we want our own possessions and we want them NOW, today.  And, we find it hard to part with any of them graciously even when we hear Benedict say (in RB 54) that the members should not presume to accept gifts sent by parents or friends without previously telling the superior who has the power to give the gift to whomever and the one for whom it was originally given will not be distressed.

Maybe instead of asking “What am I lacking?” we need to ask ourselves, “What do I have too much of?”  Jesus says, “Amen, I say to you, no one who has given up house, brother, sisters or mother and father or children or lands for the sake of the Gospel will not receive 100 times more in the age to come.”  We may tick off all the items on that list one by one but the challenge keeps coming back to haunt us, “One thing is lacking.”

Jesus counsels us: “How hard it is, it’s easier to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to pass through the needle gate.”  It’s hard, he says but not impossible, “For with God, all things are possible.”

Just don’t get caught in Peter’s trap – quickly retorting, “I’ve given up EVERYTHING, Lord!”  You’ll hear the echo, “One thing is lacking.  Go, give what you have to the poor, and THEN come follow Me.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading:   Wisdom 7:7-11            Second Reading:  Hebrews 4:12-13
Gospel:   Mark 10:17-30 (shorter form Mark 10:17-27)
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Who Do You Say That I Am?

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This is the same Gospel story we will hear again in two weeks: today it’s Mark’s version; later this month we will hear the evangelist Luke’s memory of this same event.

We read:  Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”  They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”  Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.”  He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.  (But, what follows He agreed I could share with you.  It’s part fact; a good bit fantasy – or is you might say, prayer.)

The early morning sky held promise of a beautiful sunrise.  I was sitting by the lake when Jesus quietly joined me.  I sensed He was inviting me into an in-depth conversation.  Let’s walk a bit for our heart-to-heart exchange.  Notice all the lovely things God places in our path: the trees and plants, the squirrel scurrying along clutching an acorn so big the weight is making balance a challenge.  Do you hear the gleeful voices from nearby – the happy sounds of children at recess?  Listen closely to the clear shrill song from above of birds welcoming the new day.

(I suggest to Jesus) “This looks like a good spot, let’s sit a spell.”  Jesus is in a pensive mood.  He sits quietly, pondering, staring at the water.  Turning to me (and to you) with a quizzical look on His face, He asks: “What are people saying about me?  Who do people say that I am?”  Quiet surrounds us as I ponder my tumbling thoughts.  I’m always curious to know what others say about Jesus.  But, this time His question invites a personal response.  At first I echo what Peter said: “You are the Messiah of God.”  Probing deeper, I realize that for me, Jesus is everything.  He knows me intimately.  But with this question he’s asking how well I know Him.  The thoughts of my heart tumble around.  I turn to Him and take a hesitant chance: “Let me ask you this: Who do YOU say that I am?  Why do you love me so much?”  Without a second’s hesitation, Jesus smiles, shakes his head and touches my heart with his response.  I needed that warm fuzzy.  His message is what I will carry, treasure, nurture in all the days that follow.

May I suggest to you: Today be brave; in your private time with Jesus turn his question back to Him: “You, who do you say that I am?  Why do you love me so much?”  Sing your own tune for the words of our Responsorial Psalm: “I love the Lord because He heard me; because He inclined His ear to me the day I called … and freed my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling.  Alleluia!”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

Have a pleasant, stress-free week

Stay safe – be healthy – know peace!

 

First Reading:   Isaiah 50:5-9         Second Reading:  James 2:14-18
Gospel:   Mark 8:27-35
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History Tells the Rest of the Story: WE’RE STILL HERE.

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This incident found in John’s Gospel reminds us that not everyone took to Jesus positively, even those who seemed to be quite close to him.  Some of the people, not unlike today, were murmurers and grumblers – folks not too keen on what they were hearing.  Following Jesus was going to be no picnic (despite the way he’d fed the five thousand people).  The idea of total commitment was a disturbing concept.

We hear it in that sad and haunting verse: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”  Obviously hurt by this defection, Jesus turns to Peter and the others who are closest to him and asks them if they’ll be taking off too – “Will you too go away?”  Peter, as was his style so often, seems to speak on behalf of all Jesus’ loyal followers – “Master, to whom would we go?  You alone have the words of eternal life.”  For Peter, at this time, it’s unquestionable – “If Jesus said it, it must be true.”  If you’ve looked ahead to the First Reading, you’re aware the Church reminds us that Jesus’ experience of rejection was not unique.  1500 years earlier, Joshua, disciple of Moses, gives voice to a similar tribulation.  He addresses all the people – “If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve.”  The people answer in the same vein as Peter – “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord.”

One of my brother, Bill’s favorite books was This Tremendous Lover by the Irish Trappist monk-priest Eugene Boylan and first published in 1946.  In 2002, I sent him a replacement copy for the one he’d given away.  On his death four years later, it was returned to me.  I had inscribed on the fly page – “Bill, I hope this is as inspirational as you remember.  The bookstore that special ordered for me said it was the last one in the United States.  Imagine that!”  Boylan writes in his book: “Our Lord was not looking for an enthusiastic public reception… his miracles were not a ploy to grasp temporal power.  The wonder of his public life is not the marvelous works He actually did, but the many and more wonderful works which He could have done and did not.  All He did and said and allowed to happen to him was part of the plan.”

What Jesus has to say is so important that he does not consider changing his message to please the people.  In fact, we can accurately say that a “Jesus” who doesn’t offend isn’t the real Jesus.

Our hearts go out to Jesus, and those who stuck with him.  If you have ever had anyone walk out on you, you can empathize with Jesus.  I recall the mixed feelings I had when in the late 60s and early 70s, we had five deaths in one year.  It was not customary for those of us who were away for studies to come home for funerals, so there was a void for farewell until we got to visit the cemetery.  Then what some writers refer as the “Exodus” began to happen when several of our peers felt the calling to leave community.  Some gave us a chance to say good-bye; others quite literally disappeared in the night.  These were good people – some were rising leaders in community.  What did they know that I did not?  My feelings were not of betrayal like Jesus suffered – but confusion and loneliness, yes.  Were the shrinking numbers the handwriting on the wall and I was too blind to read it?  History tells the rest of the story: WE’RE STILL HERE.

What does Jesus do when his ranks shrink?  Does he cajole the people, “Oh, I’m sorry that what I said was so hard to take.  Maybe we can compromise.”  Not at all!  Jesus does not let human opinion sway his proclamation of divine truth.  “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”

When God asked Aaron why he built the golden calf, his only defense was, “The people made me do it.”  What was Peter’s knee-jerk response a couple years later.  Remember when Jesus was on trial?  The inquisitive young girl asked him if he was one of Jesus’ followers?  Peter’s leadership in the upper room was easy, he was with friends.  But outside the rank and file of unfamiliar faces he fell apart.  Which life-style will you lead – people’s opinion driven, or God-focused?

If our ears are open to the voice of the Spirit, we hear daily Jesus’ quizzing us, “Who do people say I am?”  He asks us, like he does all his friends about our personal conviction – “Who do you say I am?”  The question also comes to us as a community.  Are we swayed by “public conviction” forming the community we think the public wants us to be?  Or are we formed by “personal and communally discerned convictions” – helping to lead the world where it needs to go?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading:   Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b          Second Reading:   Ephesians 5:21-32
Gospel:   John 6:60-69
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“There can be no preaching in the wrong atmosphere.”

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“There can be no preaching in the wrong atmosphere.”

                                                                                                                                                William Barclay (1907-1978)

 

This reading from Mark’s Gospel reminds us that God sends prophets into our midst for our benefit.  The question is: Are we open-minded enough to listen to new ideas and insights, to allow our attention to be re-directed to things we have ignored or taken for granted?  For instance: how have we listened to, implemented Pope Francis’ invitation to care for all of creation, human and non-human?  Normally, papal documents are addressed to the bishops of the Church to disseminate and promote through their diocese.  But, Pope Francis addresses his message directly to us, his friends, the people of God.

You’ve heard the expression: “You can’t tell a book by its cover.”  All too often we judge the “cover.”  We get so bogged down in appearances, in the humanity of the proclaimer that we refuse to listen to the proclamation.  Who does she/he think she/he is?

You may have seen episodes of “America’s Got Talent” when you knew by the judges’ interaction with the performers that they were writing off this act before the contestant got started.  Like the time when the three fellows looking like they’d just rolled out of bed came on stage.  When they opened their mouths, spell-binding tenor music poured forth into the auditorium where hundreds, along with the judges, sat in stunned silence, open-mouthed, on the edges of their seats realizing what a terrible presumptive judgment they’d made.

Perhaps what is even worse is when we view ourselves in such a negative way that we say: “Who am I to tell anyone what to do or not do, when I know that often I do things far worse?”  The reality is that every one of us, simply because of our baptism, has been called to be a prophet.  There are some things over which we cannot compromise.  There are times when silence is the best response we can muster; when words would not improve the silence.  But there are many times when we cannot keep silent.  We cannot be dissuaded by our own shortcomings.  God will stand by us and give us what we need when we need it.  Relax, draw a deep breath, and remind yourself: “I don’t have to act today with yesterday’s grace.”  But we do need to remember if we fail to share the prophetic message of the Gospel, other louder voices will be happy to impose their godless vision on all of us.  It never has been easy to be a prophet and it never will be.  The message of the Gospel is challenging and sometimes controversial, but it’s a message that people (we) need to hear whether or not we want to hear it.  And God promises a prophet’s reward for fidelity to our mission.  On the other hand, if we prefer not to rock the boat, as Aristotle said “To avoid criticism…say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing.”

This story of one day in the life of Jesus we learn that his trip to Nazareth was not a private family visit.  He came for public ministry.  Usually when the people heard Jesus speak, they were amazed.  But, a lot of what he said confused his enemies.  They couldn’t explain Him, so they rejected His message.  They thought they knew everything about Him.  They knew Him as a “just” common craftsman, just another boy from Nazareth.  They voiced their thoughts: “You are no better than we are!  Why should we listen to you?”

These people did what most people do when they cannot understand someone.  They resorted to rejection, ridicule and the last refuge of a small mind: a tie-breaking put down!  They did what was never done in that society!  They insulted his mother calling him “Son of Mary.”  A male was always referred to as the son of his father, even if his father was dead.  To call a boy the son of his mother was to imply that His mother had been a harlot.  Jesus was amazed that these people lacked faith.  They had heard the truth, seen the truth and they still turned a deaf ear and a blind eye.  As a result, He left Nazareth, and there is no record that He ever returned there.

We may sum up this lesson in the words of William Barclay: “There can be no preaching in the wrong atmosphere.  The listeners are responsible for at least half of every sermon.  In an atmosphere of expectancy, the least effort will catch fire.  In an atmosphere of coldness or indifference, the most spirit-filled of sermons will fall flat.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

Please pray for those in the path of the hurricane.

                                                                                    Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading  Ezekiel 2:2-5     Second Reading  2 Corinthians 12:7-10 
Gospel   Mark 6:1-6
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