Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

lectio

Pentecost Sunday

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A few minutes ago, we concluded this year’s Novena to the Holy Spirit, the Church’s first novena.  For Mary and the eleven Apostles it was nine days of waiting (they did not know how long).  For us, it is nine days of anticipation leading to the feast of Pentecost.  At various times Jesus has greeted his disciples with the gift of peace and commissioned them to continue the work that he has begun: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  Heads up! Listen intently because the “you” Jesus speaks of includes each one of us.  Where does Jesus send us?  And to do what?  Where is anywhere we can be an agent of peace and harmony.  And what is to be a reconciling presence in the world amidst situations of conflict in our own homes or our workplaces.

If we believe Jesus’ words when He said “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I” then we know that people have only to come to us, to our community, to find the power and peace of the Spirit.   What a truly breathtaking gift that is!  We can make God present!   Wherever, whenever we pray, whenever “two or three gather” Jesus is there.   What an awesome responsibility rests with us!  And consider this: what form of the gift of the Spirit has God imparted to you?  Look back through the years.  What have family, coworkers, community members, friends reflected back to you?  Has it been your gift of discernment, your kindness, your optimistic, joyful outlook?  Or was it maybe your serenity, calmness and peace, your simplicity, or your awareness of God’s presence everywhere?

If we are to be true to our commission, we need to nourish our ability to call upon this Spirit and to stay close to Jesus because others are depending on us.  We need to proclaim the Good News to them with our words and our lives. We may be the only image of God they’ve come to know. Peace must be for us more than just a wish; more than a handshake or a hug. It is a GIFT – a deep confidence that can withstand even the most tragic experiences.

When we live in a positive and loving way, we are fulfilling the mission of Jesus in our world. We may seem to be warming and redeeming only the small, chilly space that we happen to occupy in life. Our kindness radiates, in fact, in wonderful ways like the ripples in a pond ruffling the surface of the water far beyond where we stand. What may begin with a simple, unpretentious act in our dining room, chapel or community room vibrates the air full-circle and comes back to us in a new, life-giving form. Like the game of GOSSIP you whisper a message that gets repeated and distorted many times over.  By the time it comes back to you, there is little left of the sentence that you spoke.

There are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit from which spring twelve fruits of the Spirit.  The fullness of the Spirit can comfort and challenge us doing lectio with the titles of the Spirit found in our Novena: Comforter, Peacemaker, Root of Virtues, Bestower of Gifts, Bond of Unity, Fountain of Faith, Cause of Holiness, Soul of Ministry, Source of Love.  We can BE these gifts to each other only through the Power of the One who commissions us to affirm the mysteries of the universe, to see the lasting value of justice and mercy, to fill our lives with wonder and awe in God’s creative omnipotent presence.

Light years ago, in the first catechism class I taught as a postulant in Dade City, there was a child who, in those days, was labeled “retarded.”  The pastor, Father Benedict, Sister Rosaria and I deliberated and prayed for insight to determine whether the child was able to understand the mystery to be received.  At the First Communion Mass all doubts were erased.  At the elevation of the sacred host, his childish, high-pitched pronouncement could be heard throughout the church: “Here He comes!”

Jesus prayed: “I wish that where I am they also may be with me.”  And, so we pray: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with your presence.  May our lives be rooted in your love and wisdom.”  The words of that excited child are worth inwardly proclaiming whenever any person or situation approaches us: “Here He comes!”

~S. Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading: Acts 2:1-1              Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13
Gospel Reading:  John 20:19-23
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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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Active Contemplation

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On this third Sunday of Easter, we continue to hear accounts of Jesus’ appearances following his Resurrection.  The first lines of this Gospel refer to the Emmaus story.  Two disciples were taking a Sunday stroll – well, a seven-mile walk – chatting about the events of the last several days.  Suddenly a stranger unceremoniously slipped into their company.  In today’s account, the two disciples hurry back to Jerusalem to report the glad news of how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread.  To their surprise, they discovered that the apostles, still hiding in the Upper Room, were already convinced of the resurrection of Jesus.  Mary of Magdala had told them and Simon also had seen Him.

Consistent with all the reports of Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances, He greets the assembled disciples with the words, “Peace be with you.”  They have witnessed the death of someone they loved, and they fear for their own lives.  Peace is what they need more than anything else.  But, at Jesus’ sudden appearance they are startled and terrified.  They are uncertain about what to make of the figure before them.  Quite understandably, they mistake Jesus for a ghost.  Yet the figure before them is not a ghost; Jesus invites them to experience his resurrected body with their senses, to look and to touch.  They can’t forget his sufferings but peace begins to take root in their hearts, as their fears turn to joy and amazement.

This is Jesus: real and alive as he had been over the past three years.  He asks for something to eat – a sign they recognize and cannot deny.  It convinces them that they are not dreaming or having a mere vision or hallucination.  He goes on to explain to them how the prophecies are being fulfilled in him.  The evangelist says Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”  A lectio experience – one we ask for as we enter into a period of lectio or centering prayer or active contemplation.  Sounds like a contradiction: active contemplation?  But often it takes concerted effort to “quiet down” to let the Spirit come into our presence.  We actively say NO to all the distractions that may tempt us to do almost anything: read, do an act of charity, visit the sick, talk to the lonely, do a puzzle, clean a room, catch up on the news, – the devil calls us to do anything rather than center ourselves to give Jesus prime space and allow the Spirit to “open our minds, our ears, our hearts.”  As one author puts it: “contemplation is the gift given simply because we showed up.”  Like the disciples, we gather in mutual support.  We pray, we eat and Jesus steps into our midst saying: “Peace! See, it is I.”

This gospel, and all the appearances of the resurrected Jesus, show us not only how Jesus convinced his disciples of his resurrection, but this same Jesus prepares us to come together to listen to God’s words and offer ourselves along with our gifts of bread and wine.  And don’t minimize the parting message at Mass: “Go forth to share the message you have received.”  We can’t share what we do not have – so listen up, attune your mind and your heart, read the Scriptures ahead of time, let the message begin to steep like tea in the warmness of your heart.

The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once told a story about a circus that caught fire.  The flames spread to the fields surrounding the circus grounds and began to burn toward the village below.  The circus master, convinced that the village would be destroyed and the people killed unless they were warned, asked if there was anybody who could go to the village and warn the people.  The clown, dressed in full costume, jumped on a bicycle and sped down the hill to the village below.  “Run for your lives!  Run for your lives!  “A fire is coming and the village is going to burn!” he shouted as he rode up and down the streets.  Curious, the villagers came out of their houses and shops and stood along the sidewalks.  They shouted back to the clown, laughing and applauding his performance.  The more desperately the clown shouted, the more the villagers cheered.  The village burned to the ground and the loss of life was great because no one took the clown seriously.  After all, he was just a clown.

When Jesus comes in our door, do we recognize Him?  Maybe he’s not dressed as a clown or shouting and waving.  How will we recognize Him?  Have we met Him often enough in our everyday lives that we immediately recognize Him?  Have we met Him in the wounds of the poor?  Or in the broken hearts of the bereaved?  In the victims of violence?  In people who live in dire poverty – maybe with ragged, smelly clothing because they have no place to wash up?  Maybe there are times when it is easier to see Jesus in the face of the stranger or the guest than it is in the face of the Sister (spouse, person) across from us at the dinner table or the chapel aisle or walking the hallways.  Jesus says: “Look at my hands and my feet (we can add: look at my face); see that it is I, your Lord.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

First Reading:   Acts 3:13-15,17-19   Second Reading:  1 John 2:1-5a
Gospel:  Luke 24:35-48
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