Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

John

Contemplating the Assumption of Mary

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Contemplating the Assumption of Mary

From Fr. Ed Lamp – August 15, 2021

Original Author Andy Alexander, S.J. – January 1, 2000

Mary looked over at John writing at his table and smiled.  He had always looked so young and the years had not aged him very much.  She could understand why Jesus had such a special place in his heart for John, with his gentle ways and his easy love for people.

She gathered her cloak around her against the cold and closed her eyes as she thought about the many years of her life.  So much of it was beyond understanding and yet she believed it and accepted it.  She had been given a courage, faith and humility that could only be a gift from God.  How else could she have overcome her fears and said “Yes” when Gabriel asked her to be the mother of the Savior?  Her son, Jesus, had been a wonder in her life.  She had not always understood all of what he did but she knew he had a special role on earth.  Their hearts had been bound together in faith and an unbreakable love.  She had watched him leave home, teach, heal and challenge the authorities.  Her heart had been pierced with such sorrow when he was arrested and tortured and finally put to death.  Her faith in the Father had carried her through those days, and the incredible joy-filled days that came after.

“Imma?” John, said using the most intimate Hebrew form of “mother.”  He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.  “You are so quiet these days.”  She smiled at him with affection.  “Dearest John, my life has been long and I have so much to be grateful for.  These years together have been so full.”

It was true.  In the weeks after he had risen, Jesus had spoken to them of a new order, a new way of life.  She had resisted the urge to cling to him and not let him go again.  She had to trust.  “I will be with you always,” he had said.  In her heart, she knew it was true and once again opened her life fully to God’s will.  She had watched with joy as Jesus was taken up into the clouds.  In the years that had followed, his message and life had given hope and meaning to a growing number of followers.  She had spoken to so many of the disciples and followers in those times.

Jesus was in her life, too, in a vivid and very real way.  She felt his presence with her as she grew tired.  She spoke to him from her heart constantly, just as she did when he was on earth.  She felt a strong connection that was as unexplainable as it was real.  She closed her eyes again in thought.

“Imma,” came the familiar loving voice.  “Blessed are you among women.”   She knew it was different.  She was not in John’s house but with Jesus, standing in a place that filled her with a different kind of joy.  “My son,” she said softly as they embraced.  She felt his cheek firmly against hers.

She did not know how or why.  There were no questions and no answers for this.  He had promised her she would be with him and the Father.  She touched her body in wonder and knew she had been drawn to a different place by power not her own.  It was her same body and yet different, more vibrant.

“You said ‘Yes’ to the Father’s request, Imma,” Jesus said to her.  “Your life was prepared in a special way and you followed it with such faith.  You made my work possible.”

Mary knew that somehow she was experiencing the resurrection in a way others would have to wait for.  As she had so many times before, she paused and opened her heart in prayer.  “The Almighty has done great things for me.  Holy is his Name.”

 

In your prayers please remember the people of Haiti.  Early reports say that the earthquake there (7.2 magnitude) caused catastrophic damage with many people still trapped in the rubble.  We pray for the health and safety of everyone impacted and for the emergency responders and medical teams as they work during this devastating time to help people in the aftermath.

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“Walk While You Have the Light”

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Let’s step back a moment to recall the setting for this Gospel; maybe settle yourself into it.  It is six days before Passover.  We’re in Bethany, at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus.  The three siblings are sharing hospitality with Jesus, his disciples and some other guests.  We are reclining at the dinner table with them.  Martha is busy in the kitchen with the many hostess’ pre-dinner tasks.  Lazarus is keeping the conversation flowing among the guests hoping to keep they unaware of how late it is getting.  Mary hesitantly approaches Jesus to sit at his feet.  This is the occasion when Mary poured aromatic oil on the feet of Jesus and dried them with her long-flowing hair.  (I wonder how long that sweet smell will linger in her hair.)  Judas, the one who would later betray Jesus, muttered a snide remark (probably under his breath) about the wastefulness of such extravagance.  (Remember, he was the one who had charge of the groups’ money bag.)  Jesus was exasperated, he had had it with Judas.  “Leave her alone.  The poor you have always with you.  Tonight you have me.  Let her do this in anticipation of my burial.”

In his narrative, John moves to his abbreviated account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem riding a colt – the Palm Sunday narrative – that we will celebrate next weekend. 

So, back to our dinner.  The evening grows long, the dessert’s been served and the after dinner libation; chatter’s winding down.  We become aware that a crowd is gathering out in the yard.  Folks have heard Jesus is inside.  They’re hoping, too, to see Lazarus.  Word had spread that Jesus had recently raised him from the dead.  Some guests approach Philip.  (And, my goodness, talk about an unspoken chain of command!)  The Greeks spoke to Philip: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”  Phillip spoke to Andrew, then Andrew with Phillip in tow, went and told Jesus.  Jesus’ reaction did not disappoint.  He must have raised their hopes.  Sounds like he could have said: “Your timing is good.”  Yes.  “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

The guests may have experienced a bit of puzzlement or some trepidation, when Jesus continued speaking: “Amen, I say to you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat.”  But, hope must have risen up in them as Jesus continued: “But, if it dies, it produces much fruit.”  Then hope bounces around on the seesaw of mystery as Jesus continues: “Whoever loves his life loses it; whoever hates life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.”

What IS this man talking about???  He closes the gap when He tells them: “Whoever serves me must follow me.”  Now, that made sense.  Of course, if you want to serve, you’ll be a follower.  You’ll listen to every podcast, follow every eblast and purchase all their books.  It only makes good sense if you want to absorb the flavor of your hero’s life.

John, the beloved disciple, changes gears at this point in his Gospel.  In the retelling of his memories, John, in his tenderness for his intimate friend –  recalls Jesus saying: “I am troubled now.”  I wonder did Jesus pause at this point in time to ponder the source of his uneasiness?  “I am troubled now.”  He questions, “Yet what should I say?  Father, save me from this hour?”  Then, it is like he straightens himself up, thinking aloud: “Why should I ask the Father to save me from this?  It was for this very purpose that I came to this hour.”

You could hear a pin drop.  Is that thunder we hear in the distance; now it’s closer.  Some say it’s the voice of an angel.  Jesus speaks: “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. … When I am lifted up, I will draw everyone to myself.”  Over 2000 years later, from our side of the story, we know Jesus was indicating the kind of death he would die; and his resurrection.  Our Easter!  Our understanding of Jesus’ remark, and the events commemorated during Holy Week, will always be colored with an assurance of a good ending, of Easter and resurrection.

A few lines later in his Gospel John will remind us of Jesus’ promise, (similar of the words he had said to Judas).  “The light will be among you only a little while.  Walk while you have the light, so that darkness may not overcome you.  Whoever walks in the dark does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light.”

At this point in my preparation, I took a break and turned to my Lenten booklet.  This was the lesson God had planted there:  A young girl was watching her father, a pastor, preparing his Sunday sermon.  She knew she should keep quiet but curiosity won out.  She asked: “Daddy, how do you know what to say?”  “Why, God tells me,” her father replied.  “Ohhhh, then why do you keep crossing things out??”  Now, I love the techie computer function of “block, copy, cut, paste or save.”  But it was time to stop trying to refine what I had on paper.  So I looked to the Responsorial Psalm for a closing line: “Give me back the joy of your salvation, a willing spirit sustain in me.”  The church says:  AMEN.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

Today I wish  you a happy Saint Benedict’s day.  Benedict is the patron of a peaceful death – let us remember in particular all those who have died, or will die, during this time of pandemic.  May they, and all the departed, rest in peace.

Prayer to St. Benedict:  O, holy father Benedict, blessed by God both in grace and in name.  Who, while standing in prayer, with your hands raised to heaven, most happily yielded your angelic spirit  into the hands of your Creator, and promised zealously to defend against all the snares of the enemy, in the last struggle of death those who shall daily remind you of your glorious Father, this day and every day by your blessing that we may never be separated from our blessed Lord, from the society of yourself and all the blessed.  Amen. 

For information on the life of St. Benedict you may wish to refer to the Dialogues of St. Gregory, volume 2  https://www.osb.org/gen/greg/  For details about the circumstances that surrounded his death, refer especially to the final chapter on the aforementioned website. 

Have a good week and we prepare to slide into Holy Week next Sunday. 

 

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I Am Here – Waiting – Day or Night – Let’s Talk

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In John’s Gospel, the evangelist has (already before Lent) walked us through the story of the Wedding at Cana.  Jesus, at a nudge from his mother Mary, interacted with the servers who followed his directions to fill the empty stone jar with water.  Only to be mystified when the water turns into the best wine in the house.  Now, John is the only evangelist who relates this story.  And, he is exact in some details: there were six jars, each 2-3 feet tall, each holding 9-10 gallons.  That’s approximately 55 gallons of wine – making for quite a wedding!

Last Sunday, we witnessed an interaction of a different sort.  Jesus calls a halt to the desecration of His father’s house, the temple in Jerusalem.  Today’s Gospel takes a leap that skips over an interaction that sets up today’s teaching.  In that gap, we hear about the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus who came to Jesus under the cover of darkness.  Nicodemus was struggling with some big questions.  As he said to Jesus: “I know you came from God.  Maybe you can share some light on my quandary.”  Seems like they must have talked well into the night.

Puzzled by what Jesus had said, Nicodemus questions how an old man can be born again???  Jesus cautions him: “Don’t be amazed that I told you, ‘you must be born from above.’”  Here comes a sentence that I love: “The wind blows where it wills, you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.”  [Like Benedict said, “Listen with the ear of your heart.”] Reminds me of a 70s folk song: “Blowin’ in the Wind” – “How many times must we look up before we can see the sky?  How many ears must we have before we can hear people cry?  The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.”

I digress from the Gospel.  Or do I?  John says in today’s reading: “In all truth I tell you, we speak only about what we know and witness, what we have seen and heard.  And yet people reject our evidence.  If you do not believe me when I speak to you about earthly things, how will you believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?”

Keep reading…  Jesus speaks through the mouth of John, reminding us of our history.  Remember the story in the Book of Numbers, when the people were in the desert and they complained against God and Moses.  God sent poisonous serpents as punishment.  But, when the people repented, God did not leave them without a sign.  The people slinked back to Moses, like “a dog with its tail between its legs.”  They begged: “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; (They pleaded) please intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.”  And Moses interceded for the people.  Sounds like Moses might have bargained with God.  The Lord said to Moses, Here’s the deal: “Make a fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.”

Jesus calls Nicodemus’ attention to that story.  “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent … so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  Then He reminds us: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.  God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

Today, I believe, God is telling us: “I did not send COVID-19 to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through my Son.”  It’s a wake-up call.  “Like I said to the prophet Isaiah yea these many years ago.  I am the designer and maker of the earth.  Remember in Genesis, at the creation of life on this earth, I looked on all that had been created, and I said: ‘It is good. …  For, I am God, there is no other.  I will not speak in secret nor from some dark place.  I did not say: Look for me in chaos.  I promise justice, ‘the public face of love’.  I speak the truth.  Turn to me and be safe.  Say: From God alone comes my strength and safety.’”

God continues speaking to us.  “You were correct, when a year ago this week, you posted that sign on the chapel door: we regret that we are TEMPORARILY closed to visitors.  All time is temporary in My eyes until you rest in ME eternally.  Today I tell you, just as I welcomed a midnight conversation with Nicodemus, I am here – day or night – for you.  What’s on your mind or weighing heavy on your heart?  Let’s talk.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

 

Next Sunday, March 21 we would normally celebrate the solemnity of St. Benedict, however, since this year, the date falls on and Sunday, we will celebrate St. Benedict on Monday, March 22.  Join with us as we honor our wise founder … and let us not overlook his twin sister, Scholastica.  Their wise words, and worthy example have influenced our world for over 1500 years!  “LISTEN WITH THE EAR OF YOUR HEART.  And may Christ lead us all together to everlasting life.”

 

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The Best is Yet to Come

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The Best is Yet to Come

To quote Notre Dame theology professor, Ralph Martin: “The page of a modern book that first catches our interest is the title page … Ancient books had no dust covers or words printed on the spine to arrest attention.  So the first page—or even, as here in (Mark’s) first sentence, (it) had to convey the writer’s main message.  This is exactly what Mark’s opening verse is trying to do: to alert the reader to what is to follow.  It is both his “table of contents” and title page brought together in a bold statement; “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” 

I suspect we’ve all had occasion to say, or hear, “You think this is great?  This is only the beginning.  The best is yet to come.”  Part of the surprise for us could be heard in this morning’s (Saturday) proclamation by the prophet Isaiah: “The harvest will come: rich and abundant; the towers will fall, the light of the moon will be like the sun and the light of the sun will be seven times greater like the light of seven days; the Lord will bind up the wounds of his people.”

While the opening line in Mark’s gospel points to Jesus, the first person he introduces is not Jesus, but the fiery preacher who came out of the desert resembling the Old Testament prophet Elijah.  Andrew Greeley observes that an important influence on Jesus was John the Baptist, whose ascetic lifestyle he continued to imitate.  John was no fashion plate, with camel hair clothing, leather sandals, and leather girdle around his waist.  His vegetarian diet was very simple: locusts (grasshoppers) and wild honey.  This information must have been important to the evangelist, or it would not have been noted.  So what might it symbolize?  Well, you cannot wear anything more fundamental in the way of clothing, or eat a more basic diet.  Could it be representative of John’s ministry of simple beginnings.  Like Mark says: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

And what a simple message John preached: “Don’t look to me for answers beyond what I have already told you.  Anything else will come from another, who is coming right after me.  He is so much greater than I that I am not even worthy to loosen his sandals straps.  (Remember, this was his younger cousin that he was talking about!)

John began his ministry in the wilderness, the worst possible place.  BUT IT WORKED!  Mark says: “all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem” came out to hear John.  What attracted them to trek 20-30 miles through the wilderness to listen to a man preach?!  That is all he did!  He never said how it would work, or why; he just announced it.  John’s preaching and charisma could bring people to God, but he could not take them beyond that.

How fitting, it strikes me, that we have John’s message of forgiveness and repentance as a prelude to our Penance Service this coming Wednesday evening.  God offers us, once again, an opportunity to sincerely repent.  To discern what it is that keeps “me” from being an effective channel of God’s compassion?  What are the “barnacles and burrs … the personality sandspurs” that keep others from seeing the God-image our Maker intended?  The reconciliation service will give us a chance, once again, to be our own critic and say, “You know what, God?  I’ve finally realized it’s not those others, it is just me.  This is just the way I’ve become — and I need help.”  In the quiet of your own heart, where God alone hears and listens, you can say, “I repent, send me your Spirit.”  The responsorial psalm (Psalm 85 adapted) promises us: “The Lord will give his benefits; kindness and truth shall meet; near indeed is God’s salvation.”

In the meanwhile, be mindful of Habakkuk’s prophecy (2:3).  “God may delay; He may tarry” … but God has a plan – God will not forget, but it will be done on God’s time.  Indeed, that is what the readings help us proclaim today, that the Holy Spirit has called each one of us to this place, at this time, for a divinely ordained purpose:  to embody the Benedictine charism and live out a specific mission – personally and communally.

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

Readings:  Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11     2 Peter 3:8-14     Mark 1:1-8

 

 

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Are You Living in a Desert?

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“In the desert (where this crowd was gathered) people of faith are needed who, by the example of their own lives keep hope alive.”

(Pope Francis)

 

These last few Sundays we’ve heard a variety of Jesus’ parables that were significant enough to Matthew to include them in his Gospel.  But, do you realize that this is the only story that is mentioned by all four gospel writers?  And, it is not really a story-parable that Jesus taught.  It’s a real-live incident; a parable in action; a how-to model or a hillside “Show and Tell.”  You’ll notice that Matthew doesn’t start today with “Jesus sat down and began to teach” or “Jesus proclaimed to the crowds.”  Matthew says that Jesus withdrew by boat to try and find a quiet place.  We can sympathize with him; he had just learned of the death of his cousin John.  But, when he went ashore, movement attracted his attention.  Looking around he saw the crowds had followed him.  Many of them probably knew John too.  And, apparently many in the crowd knew the whereabouts of this “quiet place” and were there to greet Jesus.  Foregoing His quiet time, moved with pity, Jesus walked among them, curing the sick and listening to their pleas as they reached to touch him (the hem of his garment); maybe get a quick “high five” from their beloved Teacher.

When the day was getting long, His disciples told him the obvious.  “They’re hungry.”  Jesus responds “Well, do something about it – Feed them.”  Which is the same thing He is telling us.  We are likely to reply, as did His disciples, “All we’ve got are five measly hoagie buns and two fish.  What good is that in the face of all that’re to be fed?”

But at Jesus’ word, swallowing any doubts, the disciples and their helpers trusted that they would not be embarrassed by scarcity and that the people’s hunger would be satisfied.  Would we have done the same or would we have figured “there’s not enough for everyone, so let’s not start a frenzy!”

Pope Francis reminds us: “In the desert (where this crowd was gathered) people of faith are needed who, by the example of their own lives keep hope alive.”  Hope rose on that day as what was in those picnic baskets fed family after family.  Wasn’t the miracle that faith and good example prompted everyone who had even the smallest picnic in their basket to share it with their neighbors?  Is that not why 5 loaves and 2 fish became a banquet – with 12 baskets of left-overs for another day?  [Remember this when we have an “ice box review” meal.]

Today we are blessed with material progress, and the generosity of our donors, beyond anything that our deceased Sisters and our parents could ever have imagined.  Face it: emotionally and spiritually, people are still hungry and thirsty.  This COVID situation prompts us, (thankfully, like many others), to make phone calls, share what we have, send e-blasts and web posts, write letters and listen patiently to the same stories of families’ sorrow and grief over illness and death.  It takes the “pity of Jesus” to listen attentively to others repeat the news we’ve already heard – maybe more than once or twice.

But, we’ve pledge to do just that – with the compassion of Christ.  That’s a tall order.  If we are to have something to share, we must also take seriously Jesus’ invitation to be fed by Him, especially in the Eucharistic feast.  Likewise, to seek a quiet place to converse with Him.  We can only fill the hungry crowd if we seek the Lord in Lectio, communal prayer and quiet times of reflection and conversation with the One we pledge to imitate.

We are moved to ask ourselves: “What really sustains me?  What is my true sustenance?  For, if I am living in a desert – a state of spiritual starvation – I will come up clueless when Jesus tells me, “Feed the people yourself.”  As the saying goes: you can’t give what you ain’t got!  Imagine yourself seated on the grass that day, and being part of this miracle where 5,000 or so people were fed from food barely enough for one family.  If you received physical sustenance from that bread and fish miraculously multiplied by Jesus, and the example of trust of the disciples, and the generosity of the crowd, would you ever be the same again?  Could you ever eat any meal in the same way?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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What New Road?

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This Gospel introduces us to the man John; John the Baptist, the voice of prophecy in a world where such a voice had been silent for 400 years.  Now John is: “The voice (that Isaiah described), the voice crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight His paths’.”

The highlight of John’s ministry was the fantastic success he enjoyed way out in the wilderness.  This guy doesn’t care what people think.  And, his style worked!

We still hear about it, don’t we?  When the people of Jerusalem and Judea left their cities to hear John preach, they probably had to walk twenty or thirty miles.  They did so in such increasing numbers that Scripture tells us (with only slight exaggeration) that “all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem” came out to hear this young preacher proclaim: “The Kingdom of heaven is near!  Repent and be baptized.”  That is all he did – he announced!  He never told them how it worked, or why.

And, he certainly was no fashion plate, with his camel hair clothing, leather sandals and the girdle around his waist.  His diet was very simple: locusts (grasshoppers) and wild honey.  This note is important, or it wouldn’t be here.  It is symbolic.  You can’t wear anything more simple in the way of clothing, or eat a more basic diet.  In other words, it is representative of his ministry — one of very simple beginnings – the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is all this saying to us?  What new road is God building in our lives?  When our life’s valley is filled in and the road made straight, will we be ready to “see the Son of Man coming in a cloud.”  As we approach the off-ramp of life – will we be so attuned to the divine whisper that we hear clearly the voice of the One crying out – Look!  The “salvation of our God” is at hand!

So what kind of forklift will it take to raise our weariness to a conscientious attention to those with whom we live?  What kind of backhoe does it take to crack the ridged set in our ways?  How many hosing-downs does it take to quiet a hot temper or a sharp tongue?  How tall a crane do we need for us to see the bigger picture?  What kind of work goggles do we need to protect our eyes from worldliness?  What kind of binoculars will it take to pinpoint and zero in on the evils we want to eradicate?  Are we keeping the traffic strips on the edges of our souls bright enough to protect us from running off the road to goodness?  How tough are the rumble strips that we put down to remind us of “danger ahead”?  Is our prayer life regular enough, strong enough and sincere enough to be the barricades we need to protect us from on-coming temptations?

And, then we have the task of repairing old roads.  In our lives, no matter how we might like to think that we’ve got it all together, sooner or later we all need to have a little “heavenly highway repair.”  Our God promises to fix what’s broken in our lives.  When a hurtful word breaks away a slab of our self-confidence, or when an extended period of neglecting our prayer life creates a pothole of emptiness and isolation, God is there to put out the orange cones.  When we are battered by life’s challenges and we feel that our bridge supports are beginning to fail, God promises to strengthen those areas of weakness that plague us so.

We are called to be prophets in today’s world.  Each of us has a mission to communicate Christ’s message of hope, love, freedom and peace.  We can help people fill in their valleys and make their rough paths smoother.

As we go along, day by day … driving through the work site we call “life,” imagine you see John the Baptist shouting with the powerful words of the prophet Isaiah, almost like a highway foreman, “Prepare the way of the Lord!  Make that path straight!  Fill in that valley!  Get that mountain outta here!  Hey, what happened over there?  It’s all crooked!  Make it straight!  Smooth out that rough place!  Get busy – do your part.  We gotta show everyone the salvation of God is coming.”

 

 

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
Second Sunday in Advent 2019
First Reading Isaiah 11:1-10                      Second Reading   Romans 13:4-9
Gospel  Matthew 3:1-17
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