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Holy Name Monastery
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Jesus

Give to everyone that asks.

February 24, 2025 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

We live in a society that seems to have forgotten much of this Gospel message.  Children come to believe there is a trophy for every event in life.   They have forgotten – if they ever knew – the thrill of running for the sheer joy of feeling the wind on their faces, a hug from a parent – a loving squeeze without words that conveys, “I am so proud of you!”

All-too-quickly many lose (and sadly never rediscover) the warm, fuzzy feelings of self-satisfaction that was once a natural reaction to success  – that gleeful, almost smug smile the first time they stood alone, took their first step… when for the first time, to the consternation of the adults, they opened a child-proof container, hammered the first nail into mom’s precious table or exhibited their wonderful drawing with indelible pen on the living room wall…no one could be prouder of an achievement!

School children vie with each other to make donations to a collective cause.   Why?  Because they are learning the virtue of mercy?   Or because they get a “free dress” day at school?

Jesus tells us: Give to everyone who asks; treat others as you’d like to be treated; don’t take back what you gave as gift; give God the credit due for the generous urges you feel toward others and the charitable thoughts that squelch the unkind words that try to spring thoughtlessly past our lips.

Jesus advises us: Give your cloak AND your tunic – not just your warm coat (since you have another at home) but also the shirt off your back.  Today Jesus might challenge us – Why is your closet stuffed with blouses you haven’t worn since before you lost weight – or gained it?  It is quite unlikely you’ll never wear them again.  But what about that DAYSTAR customer, or that lady from the Sunrise women’s shelter who is going for a job interview?  Your blouse would fit her perfectly and add an ounce of confidence to her self-esteem.

Jesus reminds us, when we invite company for a meal not to wait for a return dinner date.  Don’t ask: whose turn is it to pick up the tab this time? He says to lend freely without expectation of repayment.  And when you respond generously to the impulse to do good – what caused that desire to arise?   Be slow to assume it is due to anything you have done.  Remember Jesus says “even sinners lend to their own kind.”  Give, and gifts will be given to you – in good measure, tamped down, packed tight, so your vessel can hold every tiny possible grain of blessing – full to overflowing – spilling over into your life and influencing all around you.

But there is a condition – if you are stingy, stinginess will be yours.  But, If you give without measure, generosity will be yours.  So how will you measure your kindness – by the teaspoon, tablespoon or a cupful?  By the minute, by the hour it might take you?  You know that you have 24 hours in a day.  That’s a 168 hours each week, (true not all are waking hours). That’s time in excess of 8,000 hours a year!  How flexible will you be with these God-given hours?  Will you respond to an imposition on your time – Now?  Tomorrow?  Next week?  Or with a prayer that the request will be forgotten?  Or will you give with open hands and heart – freely, without measure?  Jesus promises us: “the measure with which you measure, it will in turn be measured out to you.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23         Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Gospel:   Luke 6:27-38
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Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Homily Tagged With: Give to everyone that asks, Gospel, Jesus, Jesus advises us, jesus tells us, Luke

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 10, 2025 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

What Luke shares with us in this Gospel is a good example of how Jesus models the saying: actions speak louder than words.

If you will picture this with me –  Put yourself in the scene.

It’s midmorning.  Jesus is meditatively strolling at the water’s edge.   I suspect He may have been virtually unaware that people were beginning to trail him.  The crowd is swelling.  This causes Jesus to edge closer to the advancing waves of the changing tide.  The eagerness of the crowd is palpable in the air – just to hear a word from Jesus.   He turns to face the crowd, putting his back to the water.  The scene causes him to draw a breath and take a step backward.  Now the waters are lapping above his ankles.  He spies a couple fishing boats; one belonging to his friend Simon.  He presumes permission to step in.   And what does He do?   Remember last week’s lesson?  HE SITS TO TEACH.   As the crowd is settling down, He looks around at the empty boats and thinks “What a pity!  The fish are right there.  But they didn’t take a nibble.  Let’s fix that.”

Now, these boatmen have spent all night fishing without success.  They are tired, discouraged, disheartened.  And so far their morning has been spent prudently cleaning their nets lest the debris they did manage to trawl would rot and get too smelly to attract any fish tomorrow.

We don’t know what Jesus taught from the boat that morning; Luke did not have any first-hand experience to share. What we do know is what Luke heard from those who were there.  He tells us that Jesus surprised Simon and his buddies telling them to “put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”  Can’t you just hear Simon draw a vexed breath?  He’s professional fisherman; learned the trade from his father and grandfather. “Come on, Jesus.  We’ve worked all night but have caught nothing.”  You know the feeling.  How often have you said (or at least thought) we’ve tried that before?  But Peter pauses.  Maybe makes eye contact with Jesus.  Mmmm.  “Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”

That’s the operative sentiment.  “If you say so, I will let down the nets.”   The boats was suddenly, miraculously full of fish so that they begin to sink.  And this after a long night of frustration – not a single fish to show for their efforts.  Amazement struck them.  Peter, (and maybe the others, we don’t know,) fell to his knees and begged Jesus, “Get away from me – I am a sinful man!”

Ah, sweet Jesus!  We know what Jesus said.  He’s said it to us more than once.  “Do not be afraid.”  As he counsels Peter He uses a word that in Greek means: “to catch alive.”  He’s caught Peter alive with yearning.  Ripe for his new vocation, a new mission that He’s about to offer. “From now on you will be catching people.”  We turn now to the words from Isaiah in the First Reading: “God touched my mouth [in Peter’s case in today’s Gospel – “touched your nets, your labor.”  God, the Lord, continues: “See, now that this has touched you, your wickedness is removed.”  Then God asks – invites, challenges – “Whom shall I send?  Who will go?”

With Peter – and so many, many others who’ve followed through the years, we answer: “Here I am, send me!”  We add the words of Psalm 138: “When I called, you answered.  You built up strength with in me.  Your right hand saved me.  You will complete what You have done for me.  Your kindness endures forever.”

“When the fisherman brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.”  Your life, the life of each of us, tells the rest of the story.  But it leaves us with a question.  “How can we catch people?  What waters do we have to wade out into?  What are the nets we can lower?”  One thing we know for certain.  We know we want to keep Jesus on our side of the boat.  Seems to me this is pretty much the question Pope Francis and our Bishop Parkes is dangling as a challenge to us.  What bait will we put on the hook?  Or what kind of net will we lower?  How will we live out our Benedictine charism of prayer, hospitality and stability in community?

An answer lies in today’s Gospel: live it – be it – do it … that’s the bait.  Now, invite others to “lower their nets” and let’s break bread together.”

 ~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

Happy Feast Day to us – and Benedictines world-wide! 

On February 10th we celebrate the feast of St. Scholastica, twin sister to St. Benedict.

 

First Reading:   Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8         Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 11
Gospel:   Luke 5:1-11
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Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Homily Tagged With: fish, fishermen, Jesus, Luke, nets, Peter, Water

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 27, 2025 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

When the Liturgy Committee chose the prayer intention for this particular week, we opted to highlight in a particular way our Oblates, especially tomorrow on our quarterly Oblate Sunday.   However, given our community’s historical contribution to Catholic education, it seems important that we not overlook the fact that it is also national Catholic Schools Week with its theme: “United in Faith and Community.”  And, what a happy coincidence it is that it blends with the Gospel story of Jesus’ first teaching assignment.  As Jesus stands in the synagogue to read from the scroll handed to him  the words of the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.  I have been anointed to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed and to proclaim a year of acceptable to the Lord.” Then, “Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down.”

But Jesus did not simply sit down, fold his hands and meditate. That morning in the synagogue He follow the protocol: one stands to read the scriptures and sits to teach.   In many places in Scripture you will read that Jesus did just that: He sat to teach the people.  Remember in the boat they pulled out from the shoreline? On the hillside where he delivered the Beatitudes?  And at table with his disciples for their last meal together?  This practice of “stand to read”, “sit to teach” is a great model for teachers. It exemplifies the saying; a teacher should be a guide at the side not a sage on the stage.  Jesus sat, gazed at the people and in all humility made an astonishing statement, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”  

What did this message mean to the people in the synagogue? What does it mean to us today? It meant that day what it means today: that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the anointed one sent by God to redeem his people. He came then, and He continues to come every day to set us free. Why do we continue to try to solve our problems by ourselves instead of turning to God?

As we look ahead to 2025 we might consider how we can make the focus of Jesus’ ministry which included bringing glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, healing to the sick, freedom to the oppressed, and proclaiming a year that is worthy, acceptable to the Lord, a reality.

This gospel challenges us to stretch out our hands in practical solidarity to those who are visibly disadvantaged – to be concerned not only with saving people’s souls but also with saving their bodies, their health, their housing and their jobs.   So, we ask ourselves: Who are the blind, the poor, the captive, the oppressed?   Look close to home, then to our neighborhood and to those who depend on us in unsuspecting ways?

We can’t cure every problem, but we can do something. Each one of us, individually and as a community, can question: How can we think globally and act locally?  We can decide how to nourish our minds and feed our spirits by choosing what to read and to watch, what to reflect on.  And, we can protect our minds and spirits by not reading or watching what does not uplift us and make a positive impact on our lives and on those we engage in conversation.  Like Scholastica and Benedict on that memorable night, we want to spend time in “holy conversation.”  What can we do for each other, one on one?  How can our lives, our presence, our way of life, bring relief and aid to the local community?  How can we ensure that the year ahead will, in truth and fact, be a “year acceptable to the Lord?”

Sometimes we forget how precious and powerful the Word of God is.  A powerful example is in this true story.  In 1964 the Romanian government released religious and political prisoners. Among them was one who had spent nearly three of his fourteen years in prison in solitary confinement. After his release, he wrote a book entitled In God’s Underground in which he describes how one day a new prisoner was brought in. The upper part of his body was in a plaster cast. When the guards withdrew, he slipped out a small, tattered book that was secretly hidden between his skin and the plaster cast. None of the other prisoners had seen a book for years. They asked him what the book was. It was the Gospel of John.  The author of the story writes that he took the book in his hand and no life-saving drug could have been more precious to him. From that day the tattered little book went from hand to hand, many learned it by heart and each day they would discuss it among themselves. That reminds us that all too easily we can forget (or dilute) the importance of the Word of God in our lives.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Nehemiah 8:2-4a,5-6,8-10         Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 12:12-30
Gospel:   Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
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Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Homily Tagged With: Isaiah, Jesus, Lord, Oblate Sunday, Oblates, scroll, teach, year acceptable to the Lord

Baptism of Jesus

January 13, 2025 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

“Yes, Now’s the Time!”

 

Today, Saturday, January 11th, is designated Human Trafficking Day aka #WearBlueDay.  It is important that we remain vigilant and pray and do what we can to raise awareness of the proportions of this very real problem.  Why “Wear Blue?” It’s the international color of human trafficking awareness.

This year marks the 162nd anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was on January 1, 1863, that our nation pledged that all persons held as slaves within any state would henceforth be forever free.    Yet we know that people are still enslaved within our borders.  Human trafficking is illegal but rampant. And, they just continue to cry out!  God is close to the broken-hearted and rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Jesus came, and still comes, to set all people free.  It is our turn to do whatever is in our power to rescue the victims of human trafficking.  God has no hands on earth but ours.

It seems no coincidence that on this weekend, with tomorrow (Sunday evening) liturgically closing the Christmas season, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus who came to set all peoples free.  Sometimes we aren’t sure if “now” is the right time for things. At the Jordan River, about 30 years after Jesus was born, NOW was the time. If you could go back and stand on the shoreline of that river in the wilderness, you’d probably be nodding your head in agreement, “Yes, now is the time!”  John knew that Jesus was much greater than he was, and that he wasn’t even fit to tie Jesus’ sandals. John must have been thinking, “This is backwards! This shouldn’t be happening this way!”

“Not so,” says Jesus.  “Now IS the time.  It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”  Jesus was saying, “At another time, John, you would be right in what you’re thinking. But NOW is the time for this baptism. This is what my Father in heaven is asking of us NOW!”    You will recall that in last week’s reading Jesus submitted to his parents’ wishes and went back to the family home.  But NOW was the right time for Jesus to begin his public mission, the course that would take him to the cross. Now we hear the Father’s affirming commendation: “Outstanding, Son!”

It may be hard to believe, but during Jesus’ childhood, Israel was not an idyllic place to grow up. It was confusing, even bloody. During Jesus’ childhood, 3,000 people were crucified, left to hang on the road not far from Nazareth. Closer to home: do you know that 27 MILLION women, men and children are currently held in slavery-like conditions?  More people are enslaved today than at any time in human history.   Are you aware that Tampa, FL ranks 3rd in the nation in human trafficking?  And did you know that the highest percentage of children who get caught into the trafficking trap come from the foster care system? It’s ugly: there’s crushing poverty, overwhelming hunger, human trafficking, kids sold into slavery to be used for sexual exploitation. Evil oppression is present across the globe.  Chances are that something each of us is wearing or using was made, at least in part, by someone trapped in a sweat shop. To live as well as we do here in North America takes a lot of cheap labor. And it’s not just us. There have always been people that will lord it over others and do even more atrocious, despicable things.  Each person forced into slavery has a unique story.  Each story is one of struggles, hopes and dreams.

May God inspire us to act for justice and to bring an end to of human trafficking.  Several years ago, LCWR and RCRI (both organizations of Catholic religious) led the way for religious to “practice what they preach.” These organizations will only contract for their national conventions to be held only in hotels that will agree to provide employee education to raise their awareness of “red flag” behaviors of suspected human trafficking violators. May we never be the cause for another experiencing the feeling of enslavement.  May we guard against acting or speaking in such a manner that we give the impression that we believe another is under our control.  Keep us conscious that Jesus is Lord, not we over one another.  Help us to do our part in building a world where all are free to live with dignity.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading:   Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11         Second Reading:  Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
Gospel:   Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

 

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Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Homily Tagged With: Baptism of Jesus, emancipation proclamation, human trafficking, Jesus, Now is the time, wear blue

Feast of the Holy Family

December 30, 2024 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

I’ll start today with a little story that may be familiar but please indulge me.  The is the story of the “Conversion of the Men of Roaring Camp” first published in 1868 by Bret Harte.   Roaring Camp was a group of gruff, hard drinking, fierce, gold diggers who sure did not practice Benedictine radical hospitality!  However it happened that one day a pregnant Native American lady stumbled into the camp.  She was obviously in late-stage labor.  Thankfully, two of the men were decent enough to try to help her.  Miraculously the child survived but the mother unfortunately died.  Now, deaths were quite common in Roaring Camp, but a birth was something completely new.  The men of the camp took responsibility for the baby and decided to build him a clean cabin.  They even put in windows with lace curtains.  He was their baby and they were determined to give him a proper home and bringing up.  The men took turns taking care of the baby.  Holding him and singing to him was considered a privilege.  They demanded from each other previously unheard-of things such as decent language, quiet, cleanliness and moral order.  The men began to shed their own roughness, their anger and their selfishness.  The little child transformed this outpost of rough, crude miners into a community of generosity, tenderness and compassion.  The baby called forth from these reckless characters dignity, their worth and sense of beauty, wonder and joy.

Children will do that to you and for you. Many young couples refine their lifestyles when a baby comes.  They want the baby to be brought up with the best they have, by being the best people they can be.  These men wanted their baby to grow up with a real loving relationship with God and as a part of a worshiping community.  Children often bring out the best in their parents and lead them to search for an open, hospitable faith community. Afterall this is what God has done for us through the birth of His son.  With Jesus’ birth, our humanity is made sacred.  He has called us from living self-centered lives to a style of living that speaks by their actions of compassion, peace and joy.  Jesus Christ has transformed humanity, making humanity sacred, just as He is sacred.

So what’s a story about these rough characters got to do with us?  Well, the presence of the baby transformed the rough men from being self-centered to being self-less. In a sense, the baby called forth those men to holiness and formed them into a family.  That’s what we pray for on the Feast of the Holy Family.  We pray that we, each and all, may hear the cries of the Infant Jesus, calling us to reverence His presence in each other.  We are being called to holiness that is the heart of the Catholic family.

What are celebrating that the God who created the institution of “family”, despite any shortcomings, chose to transform it through the Incarnation and make it one of the ways by which he saved us. We can learn from the example of the Holy Family that, despite all our failures and difficulties, that we too are called to become ‘holy’ through living out God’s word in the midst of our families.

Let us then today, celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family asking God’s blessings on our own families and our community.  Let us go into the New Year, the Jubilee Year of Hope, strengthened by Pope Francis’ message of hope for a better world: Let our lives say to the world “Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

Happy New Year!  Peace to all!

 

 

First Reading:   Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14         Second Reading:  Colossians 3:12-21
Gospel:   Matthew 2:13-15
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Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Homily Tagged With: Feast of the Holy Family, God, Holy Family, Jesus, Jesus' birth, men, roaring

Look for Joy!

December 16, 2024 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

Traditionally the third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday – the Latin word for “Rejoice” – the first word of the Entrance antiphon.  We mark this Sunday on the Advent wreath by lighting a pink candle instead of a purple one.

There is an African proverb that reads: “If the beat of the drum changes, so changes the dance of the feet.”  This is what we are called to do during Advent: listen to the beat of “Jesus’ drum” and set our pace to the rhythm of the Master drummer.  “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! … The Lord is near.”

Yes, the Lord IS near and we should make haste to prepare for Him, leveling the hills in our lives that create barriers, making straight the roads in our lives rather than maneuvering others around for our advantage,  Filling in the valleys, so that it will be easier for others to cross over to us and thereby to a spirit of joy in the Child who brightens all of our days.  Instead of asking what others can do for me, we should make haste to prepare for Our Lord and ask Him, “Jesus, Master, tell me what I should do?”   How do we become the joyful people called for in our Scriptural readings?  Re-joice: have joy again – be joyful … full of joy!  Not simply “happy” but “joyful.”

Is there a difference between happiness and joy?  What’s the difference?  By definition they are both emotions but the one (joy) is an interior contentment, an inner peace; the other is initiated from external events (happenings, happenstance).  The former is long-lasting, the latter can be momentary.   If circumstances are favorable, you are happy; if not, you’re unhappy.  Christian joy, however, is directly related to God and is the firm confidence that all is well, regardless of your circumstances.  Joy may show less in outward expression while happiness can unexpectedly bubble up from within and bring a smile to your lips.  Joy is related to happiness but joy, because it does not depend on external stimuli, gets us out of ourselves and in contact with others.  Some find when they give up the self-centered search for happiness, they actually find joy.  It may even be intermingled with suffering and pain but there is an overwhelming sense of peace and joy.

So, how can we bring joy into our lives if we’re not in the mood for it?  Can you have joy on demand?”  Too often we may take for granted the issue of joy.  We find people who are just naturally joyous, who have a kind of laid-back attitude – it’s just good to be in their presence.  Then there are others who always bring us down.  Could they develop joy?

I ask you: is joy genetic or acquired?  If joy can be acquired, then a very strong argument can be made that once you’ve lost a reason to be happy, or you’ve suffered grief, there’s no way of reconnecting.  However, if joy is a natural state of feeling, a certain sense of belonging, a feeling within that you are important and you have a value, then it’s just a question of reclaiming that right, not creating something new.  You can re-joice – being joyful AGAIN is possible.

Joy is God’s gift to every believer. It is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  Meditation, lectio with the Word of God increases joy.  It is a gift – it must be handled with care or it becomes torn around the edges.  Like any treasured gift it cannot be put in cold storage, stashed on a back shelf, put under the hankies in a drawer or stuffed beneath old mail in your mailbox.  Like a snow globe that is never turned over, joy that has lain inert can be shaken to life with the tiniest twist of a wrist … or crinkled smile.

Rejoice, again I say: rejoice!

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 Rejoice! The Lord is coming, bounding over the hills to come to Earth this Christmas. Again, I say, Rejoice!

 

First Reading:  Zephaniah 3:14-18a                 Second Reading: Philippians 4:4-6  
Gospel Reading:  Luke 3:10-18

                     

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Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Homily Tagged With: 3rd Advent Sunday, 3rd Sunday of Advent, Advent, God, Happiness, Jesus, Joy, Joyful

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