Memorial Day
Trinity Sunday
Pray over this Memorial Day weekend for prudence and safety for all those celebrating the holiday in the company of large crowds.
Remember and pray for the our deceased military service personnel and military families coping with their loss and often with lingering mental health and other conditions that plague retirees and their loved ones.
God bless you each with good health, much happiness and abundant peace.
Start Where You Are
I ask you the same question Moses asked the people in Sunday’s first reading: “I ask now, did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking as you did?” “This” Moses says: “is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other. I enjoin this upon you today that you and your children after you may prosper, and you may have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you forever.”
Is there any greater reason, and motivation, found in Scripture than these words to prompt us to take stock of what we have and where we are going? If you need another nudge, just read the Gospel passage for this weekend. “The disciples gathered with Jesus and worshiped him, BUT they doubted!” Jesus stepped closer to them and reminded them: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Then, in so many words, Jesus told them to put their own hands on the plow and get on with the job. “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded YOU.” Then, he reassures them and he guarantees us …“Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the ages.”
That’s a tall directive! But Jesus is serious! “Therefore, GO!” Or as Father Henry said earlier today: “Jesus is saying: No excuses!” So, where do we begin? This much I know: we have to start where we are. Awaken our hearts to recognize and embrace the truth of who we were and who’ve we become; who we are. In the message of a song performed by EMBRACE, an English band: “I’ve been running for oh so long; there’s a light that guides us, I don’t see. Catch the light, reflect it down on me; show me where I went wrong. The lies are bad; the truth is worse. One day there’ll come a time when our questions have all dried up and chance can come back into your life. Til then you’ll know that it’s all a waste. Invite the chance back into your life; it’s time to invite all the chance back into your life.”
You’ve probably heard the principle that if a person doesn’t treat inanimate objects with respect, we can predict she/he will have no respect for living things. Benedict knew this, didn’t he? In RB 31 he cautions the members, not solely the person given charge of the inventory, “To take care of everything; to regard all utensils and goods of the monastery (that includes the persons) as sacred vessels of the altar, aware that nothing is to be neglected.” It could not be clearer that as Benedictines we are charged to care of ALL creation. To practice good stewardship, sound environmental practices, reverence for all persons. To operate machinery and tech tools; close a door, set a table and push in chairs with the same gentleness we cradle a chalice. This attitude of devotion and sensitivity starts with our own person and extends to all persons. It is reflected in our demeanor and decorum; our respect for an atmosphere of monastic quiet. We move with a touch of gentleness for the environment in which we find ourselves. It shows in our manner of walking, speaking, acting and interacting.
You’ve heard of the “butterfly effect” – EVERY thing we do or say sends seemingly unending ripples into the environment – affecting and effecting and infecting a circle of influence beyond our imagination. When we acknowledge this our response must be one prayer for forgiveness any negativity we’ve spewed into the world. May I suggest we offer a prayer inspired by Servite Sister Joyce Rupp and adapted for this community:
A PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE TOO MUCH
To our brothers and sisters in developing areas of our country and around the world:
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While I was deciding which of seven cereals to eat this morning, you were searching in dumpsters for leftover scraps.
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While I was working out in the exercise room or walking the paved track, you were working in the wealthy landowner’s fields under a scorching sun or in teeming rain.
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When I choose between soda or juice, your parched lips are yearning for the touch of water. When I choose between brands of bottled water, you search in the landfill for something you could exchange for pennies to buy food for your children.
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While I complain about the poor service in the local restaurant or turn up my nose at the food on our buffet table, I think of you who gratefully accept a bag or box of government commodities from Daystar.
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When a sudden noise startles me, a shout for a winning team or the ice machine motor interrupts conversation, I think of you who live in fearful threat of unpredictable noise and violence and the frequent eruption of gunfire day and night.
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When I complain about a lack of connecting speed on my shining laptop, I remember 1000s of children who are losing a year of education because they have no WiFi connection, no Internet service or probably not a computer to use.
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While I poured my “all-in-one” detergent into the washing machine, you stand in the river with your small bundle of clothes.
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While I watch the evening news on our wide-screen TV, you are among those I witnessed being terrorized by the dictatorship government.
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While I scanned the ads for a bargain price on a new shirt, you woke up and put on the same shirt and pants that you have worn for many months, thankful for others’ cast-offs.
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While I grumbled over the need for more storage space, your family of l0 found shelter in a one-room packing-box hut you call home.
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When I went to chapel and felt slightly bothered at the length of the prayer service or the silence or a boring homily, you looked out upon the earth and those around you and felt gratitude to God just for being alive for one more day.
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(So, we pray) My brothers and sisters, forgive me for my arrogance and my indifference. Forgive me for my greed of always wanting newer, bigger and better things. Forgive me for not doing my part to change the unjust systems that keep you suffering and impoverished. I offer you my promise to become more aware of your situation and to change my lifestyles as I work for transformation of our world.
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
Deuteronomy 4:32-34; 39-40 Romans 8:14-17 Matthew 28:16-20
Continue ReadingMemorial Day
Memorial Day 2021
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. It’s difficult to prove the origins of this day as over two dozen towns and cities lay claim to be the birthplace. In May 1966, President Lyndon Johnson stepped in and officially declared Waterloo N.Y. the birthplace of Memorial Day.
Memorial Day history couldn’t be complete without the birth of the “National Moment of Remembrance,” which was a resolution passed on December of 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps’.”
The following are opportunities you might want to consider:
May 28 – Gold Star Family Candlelight Vigil – The National Veterans Memorial and Museum is holding a Gold Star Family Candlelight Vigil at 8pm ET to honor families who have lost a loved one in service to our country.
Join here – https://nationalvmm.org/event/gold-star-candlelight-vigil/
May 30 – The National Veterans Memorial and Museum Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony – 10am ET
Join here – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCixPiGqTSLPAjjY4PKRMndg
May 31 – For Those Who Serve Statue Moment of Contemplation – In 2008, Saint Leo University commissioned a bronze sculpture for our campus called “For Those Who Serve” to commemorate 35 years of educating the men and women of our Nation’s armed forces. All day, spend a moment of quiet contemplation at the Memorial Day wreath laid to honor our fallen heroes.
May 31 – #GoSilent with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) – At 3 pm ET, gather your friends and family across the country and pause with us for a national moment of silence to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
PEACE
Reflection By Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
Memorial Day is an American holiday honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. It was originally called Decoration Day – a day to honor deceased soldiers by decorating their graves with flowers, flags and wreaths. Although Memorial Day became its official title in the 1880s, the holiday wouldn’t legally be called Memorial Day until 1967 and its designation as a federal holiday came in 1971.
Enough history trivia! The holiday prompts us to take some time to ponder the toll that war and violence have taken, and continues to take, on our society. And lest that image overwhelm us we are moved to “raise our eyes to heaven; bow our heads in prayer” – hard to do at the same time.
In the Gospel we heard Jesus’ promise: “Peace I leave you, my peace I give you. … Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid …You heard me tell you…”. I suspect that one of Benedict’s favorite words must have been PAX, PEACE – The kind of peace Jesus gives, not as the world gives. But, Benedict doesn’t promote an attitude of “peace at any cost.” This is simply a false peace – smooth the surface of the waters and there’s churning beneath. Agreeing with another simply to avoid conflict too often comes back to haunt us in the form of inner turmoil, headaches and stomach ailments and a long history of unrestful emotions.
The guidelines Benedict offers to his followers may involve great personal cost. He seems to have an attitude of “nip it in the bud.” Confronting isn’t easy for most folks. Being the first to apologize can go against the grain. And, gracefully accepting another’s expression of regret is a humbling exchange. Benedict encourages us at the outset of our Benedictine journey: “Let peace be your quest and aim.” [RB Prologue 17] It’s difficult, some days more so than others. We are a flawed people. We have weaknesses, limitations, distractions that burden us and can cause us to be defensive, resentful and irritable. (Remind you of the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal?”)
We know Benedict is right when he says that seeking peace is the way to heaven – heaven in the after-life and a little bit of heaven here on earth. “If you wish to have true and eternal life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit; turn from evil and do good; seek PEACE and pursue it.” Another translation says, “Seek peace and go after it.” And yet another says: “Chase peace and pursue it.” Doesn’t that conjure up quite an image… one that I imagine is depicted here in this drawing from What Do you Do With a Problem? Can’t you see us – peace leading the way … dashing out of the chapel, into the dining room, down the halls, out the door, into the neighborhoods, climbing God’s holy mountain pursuing PEACE – never abandoning charity nor giving a false peace, peacefully performing whatever duties are entrusted to us and ensuring we have made peace before sundown.
Today, let us renew our commitment to make, to pursue PEACE so it is more than a concept that only we talk about. Make a daily pledge to be people of peace, to be a peaceful people. Make each day an echo of what Paul tells us in the Letter to the Corinthians “the old things have passed away; behold new things have come…. We have been reconciled through Christ and more than that, WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A MINISTRY OF RECONCILATION.” Peace is up to you and me. Do you mean it when you sing: “Let there be peace on earth; and, let it begin with me?”
Another way to think about peace is expressed in this Chinese proverb. It shows us the progression of light within to peace in the world…
If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
(Chinese proverb)
