Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

parable

Everything is Ready, Come to the Feast!

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The posters have gone up.  The invitations were mailed; the Facebook word spread, it’s all over social media, the parish bulletin insert was published and the homemade summons posted on the town bulletin board.  The word has spread, maybe further and wider than you really wanted.  The “www” prefix in our website address was true to its meaning: “world wide web.”  Almost literally EVERYBODY has heard about it.  “Everything is ready, come to the feast!”  What feast?  Well, in the Gospel story it’s a wedding feast.

A word of caution!  Don’t be too quick to conclude that the only kind of “feast” this parable is referring to is the Eucharistic banquet.  In our everyday lives, it may well be a Eucharistic celebration.  Or it could be the daily Divine Office or a Communal Prayer service or maybe a Community party or meal or – please NO, a meeting!  Or perhaps, (for many of us) it’s a T4 (DVDs) viewing and discussion.  Or maybe a ZOOM invitation to a spiritual topic conversation, or an invitation to engage in an enrichment or professional development topic dialogue.  Could also be a call for help with a volunteer project, a driver needed, help in the kitchen or garden, or someone to do laundry or clean a bathroom.  Perhaps a listening ear, or little tech assistance, or a walking companion.

Paul in his letter to the Hebrews presents the word of God as a “consuming fire.”  (Hebrews 12:29).  We’ve all witnessed – at least on TV – the all-consuming nature of fire.  It ravages and devours everything in its path including animal and human life who cannot outrun its unpredictable path.  The wind shifts and one house is saved while a nearby structure goes up in flames.

But you’ve also heard of “controlled burns” – fires that are deliberately lit, protected and coaxed along – for a number of reasons.  By ridding forest areas of dead leaves, tree limbs, and other debris, a prescribed burn can help prevent destructive wildfires, reduce insect populations, destroy invasive plants and rejuvenate the forest floor or a huge farm field.

When to extinguish?  When to coax the flame?  Does it have to remain static?  Listen intently!  Because in the case of God’s word, YOU – can’t –  control – it!  The “burn” is in God’s control.  And, it’s “burning” to be heard.

Listen intently – with the ear of your heart.  God’s word; your special word, probably won’t be broadcast with stereo amps or scrolled along the bottom of the TV screen.  Most likely it’s being whispered in your dreams, as you waken, and everywhere you turn.  Hear it?  “Everything is ready, come to the feast!” 

As today’s parable ends, we are reminded we’d best do our homework – come prepared.  Jesus says, “Remember to bring your party garment.”  So, you better check out the party theme: is it a costume event or a black tie affair or a “come as you are” gathering?  And, I dare say, in the case of this party – God’s party – you better come on time.  When the door is closed, it will be locked from the inside – you can’t use your key or whisper a password.  There is no back door to seek in.  You can’t ride on the Blessed Mother’s cape tails.  When the door closes, “outside there will be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

All the while, be comforted, and assured, by the words of Paul in the Second Reading: “My God will fully supply whatever I need, in accord with God’s glorious riches.”  “Everything is ready, come to the feast!” 

~Reflection by S. Roberta Bailey, O.S.B., Prioress

 

Maternity of Mary Readings: Isaiah 25:6-10     Second: Philippians 4:13-20       Gospel Matthew 22:1-14

 

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Are You Angry Because I Am Generous?

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Growing up I recall my mother speaking from fond memory of her love for all her Benedictine Sister-teachers she knew from Ridgely, MD.  She had been double-promoted from seventh grade into high school.  But, there was no Catholic high school and she didn’t particularly like the public school setting.  At fourteen (14) she did what a lot of young people did.  She dropped out, got a work permit and joined her sister in Atlantic Beach to wait tables.  Later she became a nanny and housekeeper for a family that were loyal to her long after she married at age 33.  At some point I asked her why she hadn’t become a Sister since she obviously loved them – she could name them all from Sister Philomena in first grade to Sister Florentine (for whom she took her Confirmation name) in her last grade at St. Elizabeth’s.  Her answer to my query echoes that of the 5 o’clock men in this Gospel parable: “No one asked me.”  Adding – “I figured I wasn’t good enough.”  (“But, then, I wouldn’t have had you.”)

It strikes me that this Gospel must be a source of reassurance to those that some may describe as “late or delayed vocations.”  When the 5 o’clock whistle blew the men in the parable figured they’d been overlooked again.  “Don’t I look strong enough?  What will I say to my wife and children?”  The parable described these hopefuls as “standing around” but if you have seen day laborers gathered, hopefully waiting for a grove owner’s bus, you’ve seen some of them – already weary before the day has begun – sitting on a bench or crouched on their haunches.  Their experience warning them once again there’d be no room for them on the bus.

So, they’re there – well, into the day – 5 o’clock the parable says – discouraged – AGAIN – picturing their children with hunger in their eyes.  But, (wait) maybe (just maybe) they could pick up a few hours work but dark.  Either way, their ears pricked up when they heard the voice of the landowner, the Master: “Why are you still here?  You, too, go into my vineyard.”

What a surprise a short while later, when they looked into their pay envelopes to discover a full day’s wages!  (Now, unlike the parable of the 10 lepers made clean, Matthew does not tell us how many said “thank you.”)

Is it possible, they discretely peeked in their envelopes, thinking, “He’s usually generous – wonder how much I got – will it put supper on the table?  Mmmm, I better not act too surprised or delighted lest the early birds notice what’s occurred.   I would venture a guess that these “Johnny come lately” guys might decide they better not push their luck tomorrow …  lolly-gag or deliberately arrive late to join the guys on the bench.

(Enough of my imagining.)  The whole Gospel story harkens back to a line from the First Reading from Isaiah: (God speaks) –  “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” … (God, the Lord or to use the term in the Gospel – the Master, continues emphasizing how far apart God’s thoughts are from ours).  “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.”  With that consideration in mind, (that God’s thoughts are a far cry from our earth-bound thoughts) jump to the last line in the Gospel parable: … “Am I not free to do as I wish with my own riches?  Are you envious because I am generous?”  [Has God ever had to ask that question of you?]

Isn’t this exactly Benedict’s point when he reminds his followers (well, he directs much to the abbot or prioress … but even the “grace of office” can’t work a transformation if the one elected isn’t already steeped in these traits.)  As one of the speakers said in Thursday’s evening’s ZOOM presentation on Racism: “A change in attitude doesn’t guarantee in a change in behavior.”

While we are “sitting on the bench we call life” we should not be “standing around idle” waiting to be hired – there is much to be done.  The Rule offers us a good material for a personal check list:

(From RB 2) “Honor all persons.  Show no favoritism, but have respect for all.  (RB 27 and 34) Any favoritism should be shown for the weak.  (RB 2 and 27)   Accommodate a variety of lifestyles; don’t exercise any form of tyranny.  (RB 62)   Follow what you consider better for others.  No favoritism will be given due to rank or status.  (RB 3) Even the youngest should be heard with respect in community deliberations.  (RB 59) No distinction between rich and poor; respect all equally.”

In regard to respect for individual pathways to holiness, Benedict says in RB 73: there is always more you can do.  Those who can do more, should do so.  “As observant and obedient monk, we blush for shame at being so slothful, so unobservant, so negligent.  Are you hastening toward your heavenly home?  Then, with Christ’s help, keep this little rule …  After that, you can set out for the loftier summits of teaching and the virtues, and under God’s protection you will reach them.”

Can you hear the landowner asking: “Why are you standing here idle all day?  Go into my vineyard and I will give you what is just.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading Isaiah 55:6-9                 Second Reading   Philippians 1:20-24, 27a
Gospel   Matthew 20:1-16a
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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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Have You Admitted It?

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The feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925, during a time when respect for Christ and the Church was waning.  Today, the same distrust of authority exists.  The magnitude and the manifestations of the problem have evolved over the years to the point that Individualism has been embraced to such an extreme, that for many, the only authority is the SELF.  In such a system, the idea of Christ as King is rejected.  In our own liturgies we sometimes avoid the use of the title King and Lord.

The one and only time Jesus allowed himself to be treated like a king is recalled in the Holy Week liturgies.  Those Passion Gospels pointedly remind us that Jesus’ kingship is one of love and sacrifice, not power and domination.  In retrospect, the mocking, derisive jabs that Jesus endured served to proclaim his true identity: the messiah, the chosen one, the king of the Jews and our savior and the savior of all people.

Today’s particular Gospel (from Matthew), doesn’t use the word KING, but it does refer to Jesus in glory, seated on a glorious throne, with all the nations assembled before Him.  It makes it obvious, we won’t experience Christ’s reign all on our own.  We’re really part of something bigger than our own little selves, when we live “under” the reign of Christ.  We’re gathered with many people of varied kinds and you heard how Jesus described us – sheep and goats.

The full title of this celebration is “The Solemnity of Christ, the King of the Universe.” During the Jubilee year of Mercy, Pope Francis added another part to the title: “…the living face of the Father’s mercy.”  This title seems to be somewhat of a paradox.  When we think of the king of the world, let alone the king of the universe, we might tend to imagine a powerful, distant leader, disconnected from ordinary people.  But on the other hand, Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy, the one who binds up our wounds, heals us, blesses us, and saves us.  It may seem peculiar that He can be both the King of the universe, and the face of mercy.  However, the combined readings for the solemnity give us a glimpse of how Christ is both king and the face of the Father’s mercy, all at the same time.

The wonderful thing about Jesus’ use of parables is that we can identify ourselves with one or more of the characters in the story.  When we read or hear a parable it’s sort of like looking in a cloudy mirror.  There’s not much precision, but the general image is there.  You begin to squirm with the feeling: “This one’s about me.  He’s talking to me.” It’s that way with this parable of the sheep and the goats, the saved and the damned.  Both groups question:  When did we treat you, or not treat you, in the ways you describe?  And Jesus tells them straight forward: “Whenever you did (or did not do) for one of these least ones” – that’s how you treated me.

So, where do you see yourself in the story?  Do you belong to those that care, (the ones on the right), or those who simply didn’t have enough time to be bothered (those on the left)?  Or, like me, does it depend.  One day you see yourself on one side and wish you could honestly say you were on the other?  We’ve given of our time, our treasure, and our talent – and sometimes we’ve withheld them – depending upon a number of factors, some of which we’d be ashamed to identify.

But there’s another group in the parable that may be overlooked.  The message is so simple that we fail to see the BIG point.  There were those who helped, those who couldn’t be bothered, and then there were those who needed help!

So, here’s the BIG question for today.  Your salvation many hang on your answer.   When have you seen yourself as one who needed help?  The answer is awfully important because Jesus seems to identify Himself as those who are hungry or thirsty.   But, notice, He didn’t only identify Himself as one among many – NO, He identified Himself as living in those very people.  He was born poor and helpless, born in need and died in need.  He lived and moved and had His being in need.  Not among the poor ones – within each of those poor ones – no matter what features you see, Christ’s face speaks to us in the voice of each person.

Our connection is in this Gospel.  Christ will come and judge us by how merciful we have been to others.  The King of the universe wants us to be the face of his mercy to one another.  You heard how we will be judged.  Did we feed the hungry, clothed the naked, and visit the sick?  By giving mercy to others in the same way that Christ has given mercy to us we proclaim God’s mercy and Christ’s kingship to the world.  How will you proclaim his reign and his kingdom today?  Have you admitted that you are in need, that you’re not self-sufficient, that you`re on spiritual food stamps, and that you and Jesus find each other in need?  Jesus speaks in this parable in the first person: “when did YOU see ME in need?”

So which group DO you belong to in the parable?  Just how DO you identify yourself in it?  Could it be true that you just might have to change how you identify yourself not only in the parable but in real life?  Perhaps this is a moment of grace for you; perhaps you’re being touched again by God?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

34th Sunday  Feast of Christ the King
First Reading           Ezekiel34:11-12; 15-17                            Second Reading      1 Cor. 15:20-28
Gospel   Matthew 25:31-46
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What are you Wearing to the Banquet?

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Have you ever watched a make-over program on TV?  I’ve watched a few on house make-overs.  While pondering this week’s Gospel I recalled a time when channel surfing that I was attracted by this girl’s plea to get her boyfriend to dress appropriately for a wedding they were going to attend. It was one of those makeover shows where a person gets their entire wardrobe revamped by some hip and fashionable person who does this sort of thing for a living.  Seems like it could be a good alternative for the man who got thrown out of the wedding in today’s Gospel.  Though some guys might think the odds were even: forced into a make-over or getting to escape the whole ordeal – bound hand and foot, yes, but at least he could get away.

The commentator on the TV show was relating the guy’s background.  Seems he had no fashion sense.  As these shows go, they took him – he seemed to go without protest – to an up-scale clothing store for a new wardrobe that would make him acceptable at the wedding – at least in the eyes of his girlfriend.  He watched helplessly as his favorite clothes were thrown in the trash and replaced with more “fashionable items.”  These people didn’t care what this person did for a living; how he treated his friends and neighbors.  They didn’t ask about his spiritual life or his financial situation.  Fashion was paramount!

The party in today’s Gospel would have been a highlight in many people’s lives.  FREE food, hobnobbing with people whose names they’d only heard in passing.  Why would they not jump at the chance to be a guest at such a fantastic occasion?  But, you just throw a party yourself and you will quickly figure out that some who say “yes” won’t show and a goodly number will figure you knew they’d come so they did not really need to RSVP.

The people Jesus was telling this parable to were not stupid. They understood the absurdity of the situation. They knew that Jesus was not simply telling them a strange story but that he was telling them something about their own lives.  He was in essence telling them that they were the invited guests and that they had refused the invitation. They understood that the servants who came to tell them about the banquet were the prophets.  They understood that Jesus was telling them that the kingdom of God is open to EVERYONE, to the outcasts and the sinners and to them.

But Jesus doesn’t stop his parable with that. He goes on to say that once the street-people had been invited in to the banquet the king spotted someone who wasn’t properly dressed.  When asked why, the man was speechless.  The king demanded that he be handcuffed and thrown into the outer darkness.  How are we to understand this part of the parable?  Why was lack of a certain type of garment such a big deal?

Some say the king invited everyone so people should come just as they happen to be when they decided to join the banquet.  Others argue it means we should be given a special robe at the door of the church to wear during the service.  Of course, these answers miss the point. This is a story that has a deeper meaning.  Yes, it is a story, but remember parables are earthly stories with heavenly ­ meanings.

I find it intriguing that the last group brought into the wedding came from the hedgerows and byways but the main character was still expected to be wearing a wedding garment.  This let us know, doesn’t it, that we better be ready at all times to come to the wedding.

The point, of course, is not what type of clothing covers our nakedness.  At some stage in life we’ve all learned that although not the most important thing in life, fashion is not something to be totally ignored either.  Just ask anyone who is getting married, or celebrating a jubilee or going to a funeral, if what people wear isn’t of some significance.  At one end of the spectrum, there are folks who believe brand name labels are the key to admittance into their coveted social circle.  But for others, fashion is just not a big deal at all.  It’s pretty obvious they probably don’t own a full-length mirror.

The wedding garment Jesus is talking about was probably just a nice set of clothes used for special occasions, much like today we’d call our “Sunday-go-go-meeting” clothes.  If this is the case, then the guest without a wedding garment is an underdressed attendee.  The gesture would be an offensive sign that the guest is oblivious to the significance of the occasion and the prestige of being included on the guest list.

Even though everyone is invited into the banquet of the kingdom of heaven, there will be some who simply don’t send back their RSVP card.  There will be those who show up but do so without the proper spiritual clothing and are sent away.  The reading leaves us with that same probing question we first heard in our mother’s voice: “You’re wearing that?!”  We quickly recognized it was not really a question but an order.

Maybe a good place to start redoing our spiritual wardrobes would be to heed St. Paul’s admonition to the Colossians (3:13): “As God’s chosen people … clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  Just be sure you’re wearing the proper attire when Jesus makes His final call.  When He says: “Come in, Friend, there’s a seat with your name on it.“

~Reflection by S. Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
October 12, 2014  First Reading Isaiah 25:6-10a         Second Reading  Philippians 4:12-14,19-20
Gospel Matthew 22:1-14
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A Study of Contrasts

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righteousnessFirst Reading  Sirach 35:12-14,16-      Second Reading  2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18
Gospel  Luke 18:9-14

It is important to note at the outset of this particular reading to whom Jesus is speaking in this parable.  Luke says:  “Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.”

The whole parable is a study in contrasts between the prayer of the Pharisee and the prayer of the tax collector.  Jesus teaches us, his listeners, to pray in humility before God. He surprises his listeners, including us, by highlighting the tax collector as the example of faith – a model for prayer. He reminds us if we are too full of ourselves, there is too little room for God’s grace to work in us.

It’s interesting to notice that everything the Pharisee says is true. He has set himself apart from others by his faithful adherence to the law. He is, by the standards of his day what Luke and Jesus seem to term, righteous. So before we judge him too quickly, we might reframe his prayer slightly and wonder if we have uttered it ourselves. Maybe we haven’t said, “Lord, I thank you that I am not like other people…”, but what about, on seeing someone down on her luck, “There but for the grace of God go I”? It isn’t that the Pharisee is speaking falsely, but rather that the Pharisee misses the true nature of his blessing. As Luke says early on in this reading, he has trust in himself. His prayer of gratitude may be addressed to the God, but it is really about himself. He credits his righteousness entirely in his own actions.

The tax collector, on the other hand, does not even raise his eyes to heaven.  He knows that he possesses no means by which to claim righteousness. He declares he has done nothing of merit. So, he stands back, hardly daring to approach the Temple, and throws himself on the mercy of the Lord.  He seems not so much humble as desperate.  He is too overwhelmed by his plight to take time to divide people into categories.  He stakes is hope entirely on the mercy of God.

At the end of the day, the Pharisee will leave the Temple and return to his home righteous. This hasn’t changed; he was virtuous, honorable, and righteous when he came to the temple.  That hasn’t changed … he’s still righteous when he leaves the temple. His mistake, as Scott Peck says, is that he thinks that whenever he wants to he can pull “God out of his back pocket.”   On the other hand, the tax collector will leave the Temple and go back down to his home justified, that is, accounted righteous.  As Luke expresses it: he is exalted in God’s eyes because he humbled himself.

If you’re spiritually alive, and give credit where credit is due, you’re going to love this take on the parable.  If you’re spiritually dead, you won’t even want to hear / read it.
If you’re spiritually curious, there is still hope!

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of his hometown newspaper and
complained that it made no sense to him at all to go to church every Sunday………

He wrote: “I’ve gone for 30 years now, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons, but for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them.  So, I think I’m wasting my time, the preachers and priests are wasting their time by giving sermons at all”.

This started a real controversy in the “Letters to the Editor” column.  Much to the delight of the editor, it went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

“I’ve been married for 30 years now….. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals…… But, for the life of me—- I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.

[Or we might say: I’ve been in community x number of years… in that time I’ve been  nourished and supported by my Sisters thousands of times in hundreds of different ways …But, I can only recall a few instances in detail ….]

But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.   If my wife (my community) had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today.

Likewise, if I had not gone to church – been faithful to my time of private and communal prayer – for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”  AMEN!

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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