Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

John

“Have the People Recline”

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All four of the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, tell the story of this day when Jesus fed five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish.  Each embellishes his version with his own details and emphases. Mark and Matthew tell us Jesus commanded the people out there in the wilderness to sit down on the green grass. I‘ll not probe the question, but why, I wonder, is there this reference to the color of the grass?  John’s version of the event reminds me of words in Psalm 23: “He beckons me to lie down in green pastures.”

We can relate to the generosity of the young boy who shared his five barley loaves and two fish.  We’re not told how it happened that the boy had the fish and the loaves.  Perhaps most people at that time would not dream of going out into the wilderness without at least a little something to eat and drink.

So, the story, it seems to me, (in today’s lingo) was a “pay forward” moment; you know, similar to the Dairy Queen drive-thru customer who paid the tab for the car coming up behind her. That started a chain reaction that lasted for 3 days and 200 thankful Dairy Queen customers!  The generosity of the young boy on the green grass at Jesus’ feet started a “pay-forward” reaction that enabled Jesus to feed the hungry crowd.  Some evangelists say it was 5000 people.  Others recalled “5000 not counting the women and children”.  I find it interesting that in John’s version Jesus tells the apostles to have the people recline and John says the men reclined.  What were the women doing?  I would venture a guess they were doing “women’s work” i.e. rounding up the kids, wondering if there’d be enough bread and what they were going to give the men to drink.

What trust!  What faith in Jesus the apostles showed in telling the people to relax! Be patient.  Sit down!  Surely, they could not fathom how all these people could be fed. Even when pooling all their supplies, they certainly did not have the resources to feed this crowd.  What were they to do now that they had people seated and waiting to see what would happen next?   That’s what you call FAITH! That’s obedience – trusting the wisdom of God to do the impossible!  We just need to take the first step: Listen and obey the prompting of the Spirit: “Tell the people to be seated”.

No doubt Jesus could have multiplied the available supplies if he wanted to.  But, as John asks, to what end?   The very next day the people would be hungry.  They’d likely not be clamoring “Speech! Speech! Share a good word! Let’s hear it!”  They’d be waiting for the apostles to open Jesus’ food distribution center.

On this day, out in the wilderness, John tells us that the people ate and were satisfied. Which would be more satisfying to you, a full belly for a single afternoon, or a glimpse, a vision of what life looks like when lived in the company of generous people under the reign of God?  What would our world be like if people acknowledged that they are called to be transformed?   What would happen if we were truly as open-handed with our possessions as the young boy on the hillside was with his? What would have been the status of the pandemic if everyone followed CDC advice: got vaccinated, wore a mask, washed their hands?  What would the stats be today if people continued to practice those sanitation protocols?  Hospital visits are on the rise while at the same time admissions remain relatively low.

And, what would happen if we really believed that Jesus still has the power to take the gifts we offer and to create from our generosity widespread outbreaks of sharing? As I watched the Olympics opening ceremony I was thinking “This is lovely – a testament to the ingenuity of computer whizzes!  Soon I wondered:  With the millions donated by sponsors and spent on the production to awe the crowds, much good could have been done. With the millions rolling in to support political campaigns, I daresay that the world could be transformed.  Over 3.1 million children a year (one child every 10 seconds) would not die of hunger.   Let us strive to reflect the attitude and directive of the apostles that long-ago day on that lush green hillside: “Tell the people to be seated.”

 

 ~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

Let us pray together for safety and enjoyment for the crowds in France for the Olympics, and protection for thousands enduring the effects of inclement weather: Floods and too much rain, drought, low water table, loss of profitable crops, and high irrigating costs, and terror as fires approach homes, businesses and forests …  and pray for peace amid unsettling times over political issues and factions …… 

   God bless us all!

 

First Reading:   2 Kings 4:42-44         Second Reading:  Ephesians 4:1-6
Gospel:   John 6:1-15

 

 

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Come and You Will See

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This weekend we have two familiar stories in our Scripture selections: the dream-like vision of Samuel and the calling of Andrew and his brother Peter.  One of the risks we have with familiar stories is that we can be overconfident that we recall all the details.  But were all the details that surround the story included in the version we learned?   For instance, consider the line in Scripture that immediately precedes the opening of the story of Samuel: “When the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under the direction of Eli, there were few messages from the Lord, and visions were quite rare.”  This phrase “visions were rare” (some translations say “precious”) does not appear anywhere else in the entire Old Testament.  It’s no wonder it did not dawn on Samuel his summons might be from God.

The story tells us that Samuel is confused, not just your average sleepy-head befuddled, but really confounded.  Three times, Samuel responds to a calling – or is it really four times?  Three times he responds to what he thinks is Eli calling him: “Here I am.”  It’s not until Eli becomes more fully awake and realizes what is going on.  Then, he instructs the boy if he hears the voice again to respond: “Speak, for your servant is listening.”  Although Samuel’s obedience and quickness of response are to be admired, he mistakes the aging, ailing Eli for God’s actual voice.  Remember, that although Samuel had been anointed, Scripture says he was still very young in faith.

So were Peter and Andrew in the Gospel.  They were disciples of John the Baptist whom Jesus once called the greatest prophet who ever lived.   John had a few disciples, people who were devoted to him as their spiritual leader.  This day Jesus shows up. John realizes that he is now in the presence of One whose sandals he is not even worthy to untie.  John may be a prophet, but this man is the Lamb of God, the Son of the Most High, the very Savior of the world.

But, how’d we get here from Eli and Samuel, to John, Jesus, Peter and Andrew?  One of life’s challenges is recognizing and accepting your role at each stage of life.  You may have heard the term: “the grace of office”.  A smooth transition into or out of various roles in life is reliant on the kind of grace that Eli and John the Baptist showed in directing their disciples to turn their focus to Someone else, Someone greater. Eli and John were forerunners who knew, and fully accepted, that very role.

In her presentation on “Servant Leadership” S. Lynn McKenzie writes of this dynamic.  We know (She says) “One does not begin monastic life as a prioress but begins as a member of the community.  And one usually does not end monastic life as a prioress but as a member of that same community.”

This applies across the board despite what the person identified in the Rule of Benedict’s Chapter headings might lead one to believe.  The directives are addressed to the “rank and file.”  It’s not just the cellarer (buyer) who needs to give a gentle response even when the answer is NO.   Nor is it just the deans (assistants/councilors) who are reminded to keep confidential information sacred.  It’s not only the members sent on a short journey who should not broadcast every sight they’ve seen.  Nor are hospitality ministers the only ones who should be prompt to answer the door or phone.  Benedict is writing for all members when he cautions artisans not to be become “puffed up by their skillfulness”.  It’s not just the sub-prioress who should carry out her assignments with respect.  Kitchen servers aren’t the only ones that should be gracious in accepting help so they can serve without distress.  And it’s not only the sick who should not make excessive demands.  Nor is the prioress the only one who should practice what she preaches and keep in mind to Whom she will give an account.

Remember what Jesus asked the disciples who were trailing him: “What are you looking for?” His response was the same answer we’ve heard: “Come and you will see!”   Who has helped you along the way?  Who today gives you a hand to grasp, a “pointing finger” to follow, a prayerful nudge when life throws you a curve ball?  Who is there to keep track when Jesus seems to disappear just around the bend in the road ahead? Who reminds you, “Come and you will see?”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading:   1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19         Second Reading:  Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20
Gospel:   John 1:35-42
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Second Sunday of Advent

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Our God of the Promise

 

In Advent, like the child we once were, we eagerly await the coming of Christ as an infant in Bethlehem.  At the same time, we invite him into our hearts in the present, the “now” of our lives. And we look forward to his future coming as king of glory. Dwelling in the past or wishing for a perfect future can keep us from hearing the will of God NOW, in our today.  Many recognize in Pope Francis a voice that is, like that of John the Baptist, crying in the wilderness … urging us forward in the present to mend the past as we confront the life as it greets us today, in the NOW of our lives.

The opening lines in Mark’s gospel greet us with the words: “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.  But, the first character we meet is not Jesus, but John the Baptist, the fiery preacher who came out of the desert where he lived on honey and locusts.   And, he is no fashion plate, with his camel’s hair clothes, leather sandals, and leather girdle around his waist. His diet was very simple: locusts (grasshoppers) and wild honey. This is important, or it would not be here.  It is symbolic. But what does it symbolize? Well, you cannot wear anything more fundamental in the way of clothing, or eat a more basic diet, than John did. It is representative of his ministry — one of simple beginnings. It is not the end; it is the beginning.

John is very honest. He says, “Don’t look to me for answers beyond what I have already told you.  That must come from another, who is coming right after me. He is so much greater than I.  I am not even worthy to untie his shoes.”  Remember, this was Jesus’ cousin, his elder by six months, that he was talking about!  You’ll recall John jumped for joy, (maybe he was dancing) in his mother’s womb when he was introduced to Mary and Jesus.  John could bring people to God, but he could not take them beyond that.   Something drew these people into the desert to listen to this strange and rugged young preacher proclaim good news.  That’s all he did! He never told how it worked, or why; he just announced it.  And, this was in a desert in the wilderness.  But it worked, in part because In John’s day, as now in ours, people needed to know they can begin again.

But, keep in mind what the prophet Isaiah said about John’s message. This business of reconciliation will resemble a great bulldozer, building a highway in the middle of nowhere.  (I wonder if they put in roundabouts?)  John was God’s bulldozer to build that highway.  We know how roads are built; we see the process in almost any direction we go on the highway.  Isaiah says: “Every mountain shall be brought low, and every valley shall be lifted up; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places plain.”  And, that is what repentance does. It bulldozes down all the high peaks of pride that we stand on and refuse to admit we’re wrong. It takes the depressed areas of our life and lifts them up. It takes the crooked places and straightens them out. And it makes the rough places plain. Then, there is God!  God comes to us so that we can come to God.

Our hope is in the promise of God; in our God of the Promise.  It is a promise that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  It is a hope that will not be disappointed because God, although He may delay or tarry, He will not forget His promise.  Be assured: God will never let us down!

 

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading  Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11                        
Second Reading 2 Peter 3:8-14  
Gospel Reading  Mark 1:1-8
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Palm Sunday

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Vigil of Palm Sunday

The contemporary (former monk) author Thomas Moore says, “The whole point of a good story is to give birth to other stories and to deep reflection.”  The Palm Sunday stories certainly call us to reflection.  There are stories within stories that bring to mind more stories.   A temptation may be to try to reflect on too much.  In Lectio, as in any of the arts, we allow the music, the art, the Word to take over.  We become absorbed in the complex harmonies, tempos and textures, and become servant to the materials at hand.

Palm Sunday liturgy, it seems to me, is a potpourri of themes and a roller-coaster of emotions: high hosannas, a supper with friends, examples of loving humility, washing of feet and later washing of hands.  There are incidents of betrayal and mockery; bravery of Simon and Veronica; compassion of John and Mary.  All are acts of caring, courage and compassion.  The soldier’s declaration: “Surely this was an innocent man,” and, the donation of a burial place, the preparation of the body of a loved-one, the watching and waiting … and waiting … and waiting.

Palm Sunday services begin with such glorious solemnity: waving palms, processions, joyful singing of hosanna!  Within about an hour’s time we travel from cries of “Blessed is He who comes in the name of God!” to shouts of “Away with this man!  Crucify him!”  Then, we move on to the Eucharistic acclamation: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!”  We pray for forgiveness and daily bread.  We exchange God’s own peace with each other.  We recall Jesus’ supreme sacrifice and take into ourselves His body and blood.  The communion antiphon calls us back to the beginning of the story and the thread that winds through the whole story: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me.  Still, not my will but yours be done.”  A few hours later Jesus will utter: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

This same sentiment is echoed in the prayer often used at the Stations of the Cross: “Oh, my God, I love you.  I love you more than myself.  Grant that I may love you always, then do with me what you will.”  I hand myself over to God, as Jesus did, in an act of self-surrender, “Suscipe me.”  I am asking God to accept me just as I am now, open, vulnerable, powerless.  I am also saying that I am willing to receive whatever God has in store for me in the future: the journey onward, the Palm Sundays, the Good Fridays, the Easters in my life.  “Accept us O God, as you have promised; we shall live, and we shall not be disappointed in our hope.”  A good choice for the Palm Sunday may be to simply “sit with” the story.  I repeat: “The whole point of a good story is to give birth to other stories and to deep reflection.”  (Thomas Moore Original Self p. 66)

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

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Fifth Sunday of Lent

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This story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is so familiar I’m curious what I may need to hear this Lenten season.  I feel the anguish of the sisters and friends of the deceased as they watched their loved one struggle with a terminal illness, and then watch life drain out of him.  I can feel their frustration when Jesus did not come at their call.  They were hoping against all hope that he would get there in time to keep Lazarus from dying.

We wander into a scene of much confusion.  The two sisters of the dead man had sent word to Jesus that his friend, their brother, was ill.  Jesus is said to have loved the three siblings: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but he delays responding with the haste we and they might have expected.  To the puzzlement of all who were aware of the situation, it is two days later that Jesus finally declares that he will make the journey to Bethany.  Thomas says to his companions: “Let us go with him.”  And he warns that they must be prepared to die with Jesus.

This is the 7th and final sign in John’s gospel.  It appears that the crowd had overheard the exchange between Jesus and Lazarus’ siblings.  It seems obvious Jesus was a frequent “drop in” at their house.  They seem very comfortable with chiding Jesus, weeping in his presence and engaging in a verbal back and forth with him.

Jesus’ delay heightens the drama.  We know the end of the story, so we can recognize that the delay was deliberate.  Jesus had to wait until Lazarus had succumbed to his illness for Jesus to glorify His father through Lazarus’ resurrection.

Can’t you see Jesus?  He elicits from Martha a profession of faith, probably amid many nodding heads of the bystanders, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  (Do you hear the “but” coming?)  Then she runs for Mary – why?  Perhaps thinking that Mary’s special friendship with Jesus will win his favorable response to their request to “do something!”  Touched by Mary’s tears, Jesus wept!  Then a fore sign of what will happen in a short while: Jesus asked that they roll aside the stone – sign of resurrection.

Don’t you love what happens next?  Raising his eyes Jesus said “Thanks, Father, for hearing me.  I’ve tried with this crowd.  I need a little help here – that they may believe that you sent me.”  Then he said in a loud voice: “Lazarus! Come out!”  When Lazarus appeared at the mouth of the cave, his burial place, Jesus orders: “Untie him and let him go.”

All through Lent this is what Jesus has been doing for us and calling to us:  He says in a loud voice “Come out!  Be your true self!  Let me untie you, and let you go.  I know you, I love you!  And, I know what you are capable of doing and who you can be.  I have a special niche carved out for you.  You are in the palm of my hand.  You have a unique role I have carve out for you to play in the work of creation.  If you stay in the cave of your selfishness and self-interests, hidden behind your mistaken concept of humility, reluctant to respond to the call of my poor ones,  the job will not get done.  I need YOU to be my hands on this one.  You say you believe my words.  Now it is time for you to COME OUT.  Let me untie the binding cloths (this is something you can’t do yourself), uncover your face – and let the world see the person that has existed in the mind of God for all eternity.  Don’t worry about the stench from the “four days” you’ve lain in the tomb of resistance to my call.  I invite you again, COME OUT!”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading:   Ezekiel 37: 37: 12-14      Second Reading:  Romans 8: 8-11
Gospel:   John 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

 

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Second Sunday of Lent

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“Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John off by themselves and led them up a high mountain.”  This transfiguration account appears just after Jesus has reminded the disciples, “Whoever loses your life for My sake, and the gospel –  will save your life.  Then Jesus lets these remarks soak in and take root for six days before he sets off up the mountain with Peter, James and John in tow.

The story (I believe) calls each one of us to examine what mountains we must climb to see God’s glory.  We could apply the story to death or a near-death experience, but if we do that, we miss the everyday mountains that we must scale.  Call those mountains what you will, we must climb them to witness God’s glory: hurdles, challenges, enticing temptations, near occasions of sin, quirks of personality, Lenten resolutions, pet peeves…. Some days they are like a little pebble on our path.  Or, they can be like a grain of sand inside your shoe.  Other days, they are like boulders for which we need a backhoe to lever them inch by inch.  Everyone’s mountain is different. But, to witness God’s glory, we must each climb our own “mountains”.

As we become aware that we are nearing a mountaintop, we must relax and rest, and keep our eyes open to see God’s glory.  We must stay alert, careful not to misread the signs; have the insight to know that we are at the top.  We gaze on the God of the Revelation.  In awe we may wonder: Why did God choose me?  Why does God love me so much?

What causes you to miss the “small miracles”, the “everyday transfigurations”, the “Emmaus” moments along the path to Life? Gently remind yourself, that Jesus and the disciples also went back down the mountain.  Thank God when you get to top and do not be distracted with worry over “what’s going to happen next?”

Jesus did not become “more God” that day on the mountain.  I don’t think the change was so much in Jesus, as it was in the disciples.  They were ready.  They had climbed the mountain.   And their eyes were open to witness the miracle of the moment.   What are the miracles of the moments of your life?

When you have had a “mountaintop experience” you don’t forget it!  When the veil was removed from your eyes and you beheld Jesus as He really is, you can recall every detail of the moment.  Maybe it was while you were on retreat, or a day of recollection, during adoration or Stations of the Cross, or out of the blue.  Maybe it was in the privacy of your own room or in a crowd.  Maybe it happens at the Consecration of the Mass or when you look across the dining table or at a confrere across the aisle in chapel.

God is already there; is right here NOW.   Jesus invites us up the mountain and leads the way.  We must open our awareness to witness the transfiguration. God reveals the Son little by little to those who take the time and interest to stay with Him.  When we follow His lead, stay with the experience, do what it takes to build our relationship, foster life with the Other; in essence we live out our vow of stability.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 Have a good week.

 

 

First Reading:   Genesis 12:1-4a        Second Reading:  Timothy 1:8b-10
Gospel:   Matthew 17:109
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