Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Lazarus

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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If You Listen For My Bell, I Promise I Will Listen For Yours

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On Friday of this week the Church will celebrate the story of a special friendship: Jesus and Mary, Martha and Lazarus.   The two sections in today’s Gospel – the prayer of Jesus and the reminder that when we seek we shall find, and that our knock and will open the door –   each is a comforting promise of God’s personal gift of friendship. I’d like to share with you a story of friendship – imaginary but nonetheless one that I trust will touch your heart.

 

TALE of TWO HORSES

[Author unknown – adapted]

If you listen for my bell, I promise I will listen for yours

Picture if you will that just down the road from our monastery a field with two horses in it.  Standing at this distance, each looks like any other horse.  But, as you move closer to work in the outdoor garden or perhaps are walking nearby, you will notice something quite amazing.  Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind.  His owner has chosen not to have him put down. But, rather, has made a good home for him.  This in itself is amazing!

Now stand still.  Listen!  Really listen!  Do you hear the soft tinkle of a bell? When you spot the source of the sound, you see it comes from the smaller horse in the field.  Attached to her halter is a small bell and couple Christmas “jingle” bells.  The “Jingle, Jangle” sound lets her blind friend always know where she is.  Now he can follow her and avoid collisions with the fence and small trees and corrals her wandering too far afield.

As you stand in amazement watching these two friends, you’ll see how the blind friend is always checking on the other’s where-abouts.  He listens for her bell and then slowly walks forward trusting that his little friend will not lead him astray.  When the “faithful bell ringer”  returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, she stops occasionally and looks back, making sure her friend isn’t too far behind to hear the bell.

Like the owner of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges.  God watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.  Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little bell ringers –  those companions whom God places in our lives for as long as we need them.  At other times we are the guide horse, helping others see their way.

Good friends are like this …  You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

This week kindly include in your prayers our community, and our retreat director, Father Patrick Boland, O.S.B. from Subiaco Abbey Arkansas.  May God give him the grace to speak the words we need to hear.  And, in turn, may we each be open to receive the WORD.

As July comes to a close, following our retreat week, we will be engaged in four days of evaluation and planning for the next few years.  Our agenda will include 3rd year assessment of our direction statements – what have we done, what remains, is it still relevant, next steps for us?  Throw into the mix a movie, a TED Talk and a community game night along with a couple outside speakers, reports and culminating in proposal of, and commitment to, goals for 2022-23 and beyond

 Remember our out-reach project for June and July?  Support our friend S. Winny’s project to open a kindergarten and catechetical program in educational “desert” in Tanzania.  Refer to our website www.benedictinesistersoffl.org for how you can support this ministry.

God bless you and your families … be safe, stay hydrated, do what you can “climate control” Mother Earth … every effort does count!

 

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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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Fifth Sunday of Lent

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First Reading  Ezekiel 37:12-14           Second Reading  Romans 8:8-11
Gospel  John 11:1-45 (shorter version John 11:3-7,17,20-27,33b-45)

This story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is so familiar I’m curious what I 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 the life drain from him.  I can feel their frustration when Jesus did not come at their call… hoping against all hope that he would get there in time to keep Lazarus from dying.

We’ve wandered into a scene of much confusion.  Two sisters of a dead man had sent word to Jesus that his friend, their brother, was ill. Jesus is said to love the three siblings:  Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but he delays responding with the haste we and they might have expected.  To the puzzlement of his disciples it is two days later that Jesus finally declares that he will make the journey to Bethany.  His disciples fear for his life. Thomas even declares that he and the other disciples should be prepared to die with Jesus.

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

Many elements of the story of raising of Lazarus foreshadow the good news of Jesus’ own Resurrection.  In raising Lazarus, Jesus shows his power over death so that when He dies, those who believe in him might remember that and take heart. Just as Jesus calls for the stone to be rolled away from Lazarus’ tomb, so too will the disciples find the stone rolled away from Jesus’ tomb.

Today, we see Jesus being fully human in relation to his friends.  This relationship was vividly portrayed In the Stations of the Cross we prayed last evening.   He was able to love these people and be loved by them. They were very special to him and his relationship to them made him a more fully human being.

 

Maybe what is even more important for us though, as we think about this humanness of Jesus, is how he had such deep compassion. When He stood there at the tomb, He was fully aware, as we become aware when we are burying someone close to us, that they’re gone, they’re dead, Jesus wept. He sobbed because he had such intimate love with Lazarus and Martha and Mary.  He shared in their suffering.

That’s important to know about Jesus, because there are those times where we have had to face the loss of someone very close to us.  For some, it’s in cruel and unexpected ways.  Or when someone dies after a long, slow illness, we think we are prepared but it’s still hard to accept.  In all these times, we can always know that Jesus shares our suffering and our sorrow and he weeps with us.

The other sign in today’s reading that is important is what Martha says about Jesus, “Yes, I know you are the Christ, the son of the living God. You’re the messiah, the anointed one, the one who is filled with the divinity of God.“

So we have the mystery of Jesus, fully human, one like us in every way except sin and yet also fully God.  He tells Martha, “Lazarus will rise again.” And Martha says, “Well, I know that!’  But she misunderstands Jesus. She thinks He’s talking a time in the far distant future, at the end of time, that Lazarus will rise. That’s when Jesus says to us the most important thing for us to hear today:  “I am the resurrection and the life, not just at the end of time but right now. Anyone who believes in me will live. If you believe in me now, you will never die. You have the life of God in you. The spirit of Jesus lives within you now.”

And, notice the sequence of events: Jesus has conversation with the two sisters, elicits a state of belief,  asks the guys standing around to roll away the stone … but Lazarus does not magically appear – his friends don’t enter the tomb to walk him out – Jesus, cries out in a loud voice  “Lazarus, come out!”  When we’ve buried ourselves beneath our doubts, our short-comings, our shame or guilt, from our family, our friends, our community – they can try all sorts of interventions including prayer … dispatch Benedict’s Senpectae, a member of mature years and wisdom to secretly console and counsel the distressed or disturbed member – but until we hear, recognize and respond to the voice of Jesus calling: “Come out!” what binds us can’t be untied.  We can’t “go free at another’s bidding alone.”  We have to close the gap to the hand reaching out to us.

We are wise to make a special effort to be in touch with that spirit of Jesus who assures us:  “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will never die. And if you live and believe in me, you will have life forever” Jesus assures us.  What grave have I dug for myself?  Who will roll the stone for me?  In the recently released remake of the movie “Beauty and the Beast,” one of characters asks (actually sings):[ “How does a moment last a lifetime?” ??]  This is what happens when we dare to reach out to close the abyss we’ve created to be in touch with that spirit of Jesus who is within.

Like Thomas said to his companions: “Let us go with him.” Let’s go with Jesus and follow his way, the way of forgiveness, the way of love, the way of compassion, the way of goodness.  Don’t we promise that with our corporate commitment?  Let us then go with Jesus these last two weeks of Lent to discover the real love and life that can come to us through being joined to him by following his way – the way of nonviolence, peace, compassion and love.  We question ourselves: how can I live my life as a trusting witness to my faith and the embodiment of the sentiments expressed in our mission and corporate commitment?

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A Twist on a True-to-Life Story

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luke16richmanFirst Reading  Amos 6:1,4-7   Second Reading  1 Timothy 6:11-16
Gospel Luke 16:19-31

The question is often asked, is this account of the rich man and Lazarus a historical account or is it a parable? Is there a difference?  Is it the true story of two men who lived and died during the time of Christ’s earthly ministry or is it a made-up story used by the Lord to drive home a point?  If we believe what most Scripture scholars hold true, we can say it describes an actual history of two men.

For you see, by definition, a parable is a true-to-life story used to illuminate a truth. This is true even if all of the details never occurred exactly as presented in the story. They are special stories that may, or may not, reflect historical events. Nevertheless, they must be true-to-life. By true-to-life we mean that a parable must be based on a real-life situation that the hearers are familiar with. In other words, the story itself has to be based on events that could have happened, whether they ever actually did or not.

Thus, a parable is a paralleled comparison.  It must be a true-to-life story in order for it to have any meaning to those who hear it. To try to use a fanciful story containing elements that have no basis to the world in which men and women live would only serve to confuse people rather than providing them with spiritual light.

A simple survey of Jesus’ use of parables reveals that He always used things that were familiar and commonplace in His time and to daily life of his listeners.  Recall the comparisons He used such as building of houses on rock or sand, using old or wine new skins, a farmer who sows seed that grow side by side with weeds until the harvest, yeast that permeates the dough, hidden treasures, fishing, a father’s forgiveness, a son’s regret and a jealous sibling, monetary debts, family life, weddings, a barren fig tree, a lost coin, a persistent neighbor, an unjust judge. While His hearers may not have made the connection to the truths the Lord was pointing out, they needed no explanation as to what the stories were about because they involved common everyday things to which they could relate. When the hearers of the parables perceived that there was an analogy between the story and their own situation, they were prompted to think about it and hopefully to respond by faith to the truth illustrated. Parables can be extraordinary and even shocking, but never unrealistic or fanciful.

When we come to this account of the rich man and Lazarus, we find a situation different from what is found in any of the other parables. Jesus’ hearers – which may have included the rich man’s brothers – could understand the contrast between the life of a rich man and a poor beggar. It was common to see beggars sitting by the road hoping for a handout, and they could easily identify the folks who had more than enough wealth to live comfortably. Then, as now, there was a stark difference between the lives of those who have an overabundance and those with nothing.  We can still grasp an idea of the great difference between the lifestyles of these two men. The vastness of the “great gulf” between them is not unknown to us.  Especially in third world nations people are literally starving to death living in the shadows of mansions and great wealth.

The hearers of this story could follow the contrast between these two men right up to the moment of their deaths. At that point, however, the situation changes drastically. The outcome was something that they could not relate to any life situations that they had ever witnessed. The state and location of the departed soul was beyond their life experiences.  What takes place after death is hidden from us. In this Gospel Jesus was revealing the reality of what takes place so He could drive home an important truth.  Many of Jesus’ hearers would have been familiar with the psalms but may not have made the connection to the words we read earlier this week: “They satisfied themselves while they lived; they will join the company of those who preceded them where the darkness lasts forever.”

Our dedication to our corporate commitment is living proof that we are learning the lesson Jesus is teaching … We share in the ministry of the compassion of Jesus when we provide hope and comfort to God’s people.  The moral of the story, I believe, is captured in the prompting of Joan Chittister when she asks: “What do we want to be caught dead doing?”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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