Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Joseph

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.  WE must also 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 traveling 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 roadwork 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?

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 acknowledge 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, safer path to settle 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 we must allow God to be the boss, the foreman, the project manager.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading:   Baruch 5:1-9Jeremiah 33:14-16         Second Reading:  Philippians 1:4-6,8-11
Gospel:   Luke 3:1-6
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SOLEMNITY of the TRINITY

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May 27, 2018

You may have heard the expression, when referring to age: 70 is the new 50.  Well, in Scripture seven is considered to be a sacred, perfect number.  But today’s feast, the solemnity of the Trinity, tempts me to say “3 is the new 7.”

Some say that “Two’s company; three’s a crowd” but today’s feast would have it otherwise.  In this instance, the figure three symbolizes completeness and perfect symmetry.  The Holy Trinity is a mystery beyond the grasp of human reasoning.  It reminds us of some key moments of the Christ story.  For example, when Jesus stood before John in the River Jordan, the Spirit hovered and the Father’s voice was heard: “This is my beloved Son.”

Recall the Christmas nativity scene.  There were three figures: the Holy Family – Mary, the mother, Joseph, the guardian, the stand-in father, and the infant Jesus.  And, according to tradition, who tracked them down through the desert and into Egypt – the three wise men.  33 or so years later, when Jesus was preparing for his public life he went back to a desert.  And, there he was tempted three times by the devil.

All of us like a good story.  And, Jesus was a story-teller par excellence.   He learned early on at his mother’s knee, or watching her bake bread for the day, or from his favorite bedtime stories that every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end.

We see this in Jesus parables.  The story of the Prodigal Son is about a father and his two sons.  How many passersby were in the story of the Good Samaritan?  A priest, a Levite and the Samaritan.  And, what about the farmer who went out to sow his seed?  Jesus talks about three different types of terrain yielding three different levels of harvest.

At the end of Jesus’ life, like at the beginning, we see the three motif.  During his Passion, Peter denied him thrice.  On the road to Calvary, he fell three times.  In the Crucifixion scene, you’ll recall we see three figures, Christ between two thieves.  At the foot of the cross stood Mary, his mother, and two other Mary’s.  Before his resurrection, he spent three days in the tomb.

Scripture does not explicitly teach the doctrine of the Holy Trinity; it is rather assumed especially through the story of Jesus’ baptism.  The early Christians struggled to explain their understanding that Jesus was God on earth as a human being.  “Trinity” or ‘tri-unity’ was the term that developed in an attempt to explain the relationship between God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  The Apostles Creed predates the Nicene Creed which was decreed in AD 325, to formalize the teaching about the Trinity.  Either Creed is approved by the Church to be recited during the Eucharistic liturgy.  “We believe in one God.  We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.  We believe in the Holy Spirit, the given of life.”

This inner relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is such that each of them is fully and equally God, yet there are not three Gods but one God.  This is incomprehensible to the human mind.  It is a mystery.  Together the three Persons in the Trinity, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit represent the fullness of love.  The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father.  The Holy Spirit is their love for each other.

But love is only a word until someone gives it meaning.  We are made in the image of a triune God – God the Father, who created us, his Son who saved us, and the Holy Spirit who continues to guide us.  To be true to our calling we must be the ones who give meaning to Love in our world.  As Paul says in the second reading to the Romans: We did not receive the spirit of slavery, but of adoption …  we are heirs of God with Christ and destined to be glorified with him.”

A “Trinitarian- like movement” in our prayer life echoes the rhythm of our whole lives.  In Lectio we go up the mountain with Jesus, we have conversation with Him there, and we return to life among his people.  In our community prayer, (again a three-fold movement) we bow, we sit, we stand.  In our chants, we don’t always have to harmonize but we do strive to keep our voices in harmony with each other – one heart, one voice.

In tomorrow’s Responsorial Psalm we will sing: “Blessed the people (that’s us) the people the Lord has chosen to be His own!”  Our lives, individually and as a community, reflect the Trinity.  We are called to be creative like the Father, compassionate like God the Son, and, like the Holy Spirit to use our gifts and talents in service to others.

For “There are three things that last: faith, hope and love.  And the greatest of these is Love!”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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Fourth Sunday of Advent 2015

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May the last few days building up to Christmas not become too hectic doing for others …  save time for you and the Babe whose birth we will celebrate on Friday! 

In thbethlehem2is Gospel reading Mary, the girl-mother goes to visit Elizabeth, her cousin, who, in advanced age, is also with child.  She traveled approximately 103 miles over not the kindest terrain.  It sounds like perhaps Elizabeth learned of Mary’s approaching arrival.  Whether or not, Elizabeth greets Mary with full recognition of the roles that they, and their unborn children, will play in God’s plan for salvation

Thus, it is appropriate in this season of Advent that we consider the role of Mary. Mary is the one who believed that God’s word to her would be fulfilled.    Mary shows us “blind” faith, deep trust and an abiding peace.   She ask only, how can this be – listens to the angel’s reply …. nods her head and sets off across the hill country to be midwife to her cousin.  Her faith enabled her to recognize the work of God in her people’s history and in her own life. Her openness to God allowed God to work through her so that salvation might come to everyone: those who had gone before her and all of us who come after.

Martin Luther King, Jr once described faith as: ”taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole stair case.”   This is Mary … the angel sent by God said it can happen, so who am I to question God?   At this stage, she has no idea what is in store but she has said her Yes and she will be faithful to it.  May we always be like Mary, open and cooperative in God’s plan for salvation.

A few years ago there was a TV ad that ended with the question: Have you said ‘Yes’ yet?”   It is a question that tomorrow’s Mass are asking each one of us.  Have we made the most important preparation of all? Yes to the Father, Yes to Jesus, Yes to all that we will experience in the coming year, Yes to every call that God makes and will make of us?  We learn from Mary, and her son Jesus, how to say an unqualified, unconditional and unreserved YES!  That’s where the real joy and happiness of Christmas lies. All the rest is (so to speak) tinsel on the tree of our lives!

As Advent time winds down it is almost impossible not to be sucked into celebrating the feast before it occurs.  We struggle to remain grounded in the spirit of Advent.  Like children we just can’t wait for the big birthday party.  It’s as though even the most beautiful liturgies and symbols fail to communicate, because God is so much greater than all our frail efforts.  But, God doesn’t need our feeble attempts in order to communicate with astonishing clarity.    If we look and listen closely – like we look forward to the rising sun each morning from the breakfast table – we remember God is greater than any Advent wreath.  When the rich melodies of the O Antiphons course through us we are reminded we do indeed stand on holy ground.

On Monday we will mark the shortest day of the year.  Isn’t it strange that we refer to it as “shortest day” not the longest night?   The light of day gradually increases and we witness the sunrise earlier and earlier each day.

And, the Advent wreath’s purple candles increase until all four give light to our darkness and hinting at the more brilliant light that God promised: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”  God hasn’t forgotten or given up on us.  How fitting to have had the Penitential Service this past week … Any debt or guilt we may have felt or imagined is erased: the jail door sprung. The prison gate opens as wide as a proverbial smiley face!   The light within us is even more dazzling than you can imagine!

In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer we hear a message of hope and reassurance:

“Just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God.  Our eyes are at fault, that is all.  God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment.  No evil can befall us; whatever others may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.”

Let’s not be counted among the people who miss out on the gift that God sent to them. You see, God’s Gift didn’t come in a beautifully wrapped package. God sent Jesus, His only Son, as His gift to us. Jesus’ mother was young virgin…his earthly father was a poor carpenter…he was not born in a beautiful palace…he was born in a manger. Not a very pretty package, is it? But do you know what? It was the greatest gift the world has ever known. It was the gift of salvation and it had your name on it.

Our prayer bubbles forth in the words of Psalm 40 (which we prayed in Noon Prayer yesterday) “O God, your wonders and designs are beyond imagining; you have no equal.  Should I proclaim your blessings, they are more that I can tell!”

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