Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Peace

Advent is Upon Us

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Advent is Upon Us!

Today, this year, Advent has already dawned, the sun is up in the east.  It arrived in a world in the midst of a pandemic in a way that reminds me of Carl Sandburg’s poem “Fog.”

Here, in our country, it seems, more so than usual, that Advent is being eclipsed to begin celebrating Christmas…. TV ads, house and yard light displays, Christmas music (What happened to the plaintive Advent songs?).  Others are experiencing anticipatory dread of a holiday separated from loved ones.  Thousands of heavy hearts daily grieve the loss of family members, neighbors and friends.  Circumstances have left many without work, no dependable source of income or the means of providing food and life’s necessities.  A pale of depression and loneliness hangs over people aching for a human touch, a phone call …  any sign that someone is aware of their pain.

Every Advent we have to delve into the Scriptures in order to feel the sense of the messages of hope, peace, love, and joy.  Our nighttime darkness will continue to lengthen until December 21 and the winter solstice moving us ever closer towards the celebration of Jesus’ birth.  The advent hymns we’ll sing – and the antiphons used at Morning and Evening Praise – keep impressing upon us the need to pray for “comfort for those who sit in darkness” and those whose “hearts yearn for the light of Christ.”  We must announce to a “world that waits in silence” that “our souls in stillness wait.”  We believe the words of the prophet Habakkuk:  The message I give you waits for the time I have appointed. It speaks about what is going to happen.  And all of it will come true.  It might take a while.  But wait for it.  You can be sure it will come.  It will happen when I want it to.

While Advent is certainly a time of waiting it is also a time of anticipation and celebration in its own rite.  It is the between-time that Karl Barth speaks of: “Unfulfilled and fulfilled promises are related to each other, as are dawn and sunrise.  Both are promise and in fact the same promise.  If anywhere at all, then it is precisely in the light of the coming of Christ that faith has become Advent faith, the expectation of future revelation.  But faith knows for whom and for what it is waiting.  It is fulfilled faith because it lays hold on the fulfilled promise.  This is the essence of Advent.”

We’ve all had experiences of waiting … that’s part of all our lives.  The season of Advent reminds us that waiting is often the cost of love.  In waiting for someone, our own everyday business becomes almost meaningless as we anticipate, worry, and prepare for a loved one’s return, or an estranged family member or the unknown visitor who becomes the friend we had just never before met and now recognize as Christ personified.  In waiting, we realize our own powerlessness; we realize our deepest hopes, and needs and yearnings.  People and events we didn’t know we missed until we encounter them.

More than ever, this year, in the midst of the pandemic, I suspect the spirit of Advent will pale in the face of the hurry to put up decorations and play some Christmas music.  People can’t wait for Christmas to come with the promised vaccine.

May our waiting for the coming of the Holy One this Christmas help us understand and carry on the mystery of compassionate and generous waiting.  Don’t expect a dramatic vision but do try to become more conscious of the Christ coming through our doors, in one another as each   enters our community room or are seated to “break bread” at mealtime.  In our corporate commitment we pledge to be the embodiment of the compassion of Christ.  And it is obvious from our visitors’ comments that this is one of our signature ministries.  Our guests, and we who live here, know that our companions care for us …  the question at times may be: “do we care about each other?”  One litmus test: “Until you know what hurts me, you cannot truly love me.”

In his 2020 Advent letter, Pope Francis reminds us: “Advent, a time of grace, tells us that it is not enough to believe in God: it is necessary to purify our faith every day.”  We pray: “O Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with Advent hope so that we may learn to cope with the delays and disappointments we encounter with patience and wisdom.  May a spirit of gratitude and humility guide us on our journey to your dwelling place, enabling us to endure, with joy, the costs of waiting for love, reconciliation, and peace.”

Ask yourself as you turn off the light each night…

+ To whom did I offer a word of hope, affirmation or comfort today?
+ How was I a ray of light to someone who felt the darkness of loneliness?
+ Tomorrow, how will I prepare for Christ to be born anew in my heart?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

First Reading  Isaiah 63:16b-17,19b;64:2-7                Second Reading 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Gospel Mark 13:33-37

 

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Because of Beauty

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Confucius may have said it best: “Everything has beauty,” he taught, “but not everyone sees it.” Seeing it, the spiritual person knows, is the task of a lifetime. It is also the reward of a lifetime well-lived, lived in balance, lived from the inside out as well as from the outside in.

Unfortunately, this culture does not teach beauty in its schools nor require it in its programs. Most of all, it does not prescribe it for its healing value. The value of beauty in shaping the soul, let alone in curing the ills that a lack of beauty brings on, we ignore.

In a plastic world, frenzied by its pursuit of money or dried to the bone by the lack of it, the whole of life is cheapened, devalued. Then the collectibles of life take precedence over its joys. Striving trumps achievement. Nothing is ever enough. Only consumption brings a sense of success in life.

And so life goes by, a merry-go-round of toys gotten or yet to get. Just for the sake of having them. Whether they bring anything of internal value in return is seldom factored into the equation.

Without obeisance to the God of More, materialism says, how can we ever say that life has been worth it? How else will we come to know that life has value in itself? How will we ever learn that life lived in pursuit of beauty has been lived beautifully?

Too often, we miss the obvious: beauty is meant to enable us to transcend the mundane, to escape the frivolous, to save us from the toxicity of the cheap and tawdry. Because of beauty, we may begin to see that the purpose of life is to make beauty possible. Beauty brings peace to the soul and satisfaction to the heart. It saves us from the stress that cacophony brings.

To be enriched by beauty is to have within us the sight of life that will never go away, that will never leave us empty. It is the sight of one single sunset that brings layers of life to every sunset thereafter. When we begin to recognize beauty, to see it all around us, it has done its work on us. Steeped in beauty, we have become beautiful ourselves. We are calm now, uplifted, enriched by the world around us, deepened in our sensitivities, our vision of the world more finely honed. We become the beauty we have come to see everywhere.

—from Two Dogs and A Parrot (BlueBridge), by Joan Chittister  

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A Reflection from Easter Season 2018

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On this third Sunday of Easter, we continue to hear Gospel accounts of Jesus’ appearances following his Resurrection.  In each account Jesus greets his disciples with the words, “Peace be with you.”  Peace is their most obvious and pressing need.  They have witnessed the death of someone they dearly loved.

Here is this account, two of the disciples recount a touching story of PEACE invading their lives.  They were taking a Sunday stroll – well, a seven-mile walk – chatting about the events of the last several days.  Suddenly a stranger slips into their midst.  Now, the Jewish custom of the day required that they invite the stranger to join them for a meal.  In this case, the invitation included an overnight’s rest.  Later they realized Who had broken bread in their company.  Can’t you see Jesus’ smiling to himself in delight in picturing his friends’ sudden realization who they had been talking with!?  Now this friends realized that their hearts had been afire as they listened to him break open the Scriptures with him.  What a Lectio experience!

We believe God is all around us: God is in nature, God is here with you and me now.  But do we really believe that God – in the person of Jesus – will drop into our company and chat with us?  That every person manifests a virtue of Jesus that I need in my life.  One may be the patience of Christ, another the spirit of helpfulness, or a positive attitude, the ability to turn strangers into friends, a secret friend that does your daily chore, a soothing voice, a listening ear.  Look around the room: where do you see Jesus looking back at you.  How interesting that we all see the faces but each one sees the very virtue she needs to make her life whole.  And, how puzzling it can be when two people share an experience, know the same person, were there when “it” happened but have two distinct, often opposite, memories.

You know what it’s like, many years after childhood, at family gatherings,… your siblings’ memory of particular event can be worlds apart.  And, what about community memories!  I once heard Sister Helen talk about something that happened to her …   I feel certain that was MY experience.

Let me tell you about an event that happened on a Sunday afternoon many Springs ago.  Kevin was walking home through the park after having attended Sunday Mass and CCD class.  He stopped to pluck a flower for his mom and watched a butterfly flit from plant to plant….  He stood quietly watching a woodpecker drill a hole in a tree.  All the while, he couldn’t stop thinking about the Bible lesson for that day. What impressed him the most was when the teacher said, “You will find the risen Jesus in every one you meet.”

As he continued through the park, he noticed an old woman sitting on a bench. She looked lonely and hungry. So he sat down next to her, took out the coveted chocolate bar he had been saving.  He offered some to the lady who accepted it with a beautiful smile.  They sat together in silence, for a long time, just smiling at each other.  As Kevin was leaving, he had gone but a short distance when he ran back to the bench, and gave the woman a big hug.

When he arrived home, his mother asked, “What’s making you smile so happily today?”  (He said,) “I shared my chocolate bar with Jesus. You know, he has the most beautiful smile in the world.”

Meanwhile, the old woman returned to the little apartment where she lived with her sister.  Her sister remarked, “You seem really happy today.  “I am, I’ve been in the park.  Jesus shared his chocolate bar with me. And, you know, he looks a lot younger than I expected.”

That’s the lesson in today’s gospel –  we will meet and experience the risen Jesus in unexpected places and persons.  Our only expectation can be “He will show up!”

Pooh and Piglet were taking their evening walk. For a long time they walked in the kind of silence good friends share.  Finally, Piglet asks, “When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?  And what do you say, Piglet?”  “I say, I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen to me today?”

When or where will we meet the Risen Christ today.    What we know is that He will show up.  Take delight in his revelation!   In the words of our Responsorial Psalm: “Know that the Lord does wonders for his faithful ones.  God puts gladness into my heart.”

 

What virtue of Jesus do you see reflected back to you in person of the persons you meet?

Have a good week.   We long for the day we can share a hug …  here’s a virtual hug for you ….   Stay safe …

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 3:13-15,17-19        Second Reading 1 John 2:1-5a
Gospel Luke 24:35-48 
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PEACE

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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)

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“I should have known” experiences

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On this third Sunday of Easter, we continue to hear Gospel accounts of Jesus’ appearances to his disciples following his Resurrection.  In each account Jesus greets his disciples with the words, “Peace be with you.”  Peace is their most obvious and pressing need.  They have witnessed the death of someone they loved dearly.

Two of the disciples recounted this touching story of PEACE invading their lives.  They had been pondering, exchanging views when suddenly a stranger slipped into their midst.  Now the Jewish custom of the day required that they invite the stranger, whom we know is Jesus, to join them for a meal.  In this case, the invitation included an overnight’s rest.  Later they realized Who had broken bread in their company.  Can’t you see Jesus’ delight in revealing himself.  He’d kept His identity hidden for a time.  Now the friends realized that their hearts had been afire as they listened to him break open the Scriptures with him.  What a Lectio experience!

We believe God is all around us: God is in nature, God is here with me now.  But do we really believe that God – in the person of Jesus – will drop into our company and chat with us…  in the person who is walking toward us?  How interesting that two people can be in the same circumstances but have two distinct “I should have known” experiences.

Once upon a time a child delivered something to me from her kindergarten teacher.  As I thanked her, she stepped back and politely said: “May I ask what you are going to use that wrapping paper for?”  From there the conversation went like this:  “Well, I am planning a prayer service for the Sisters at our chapel and I want to make a pretend well.”  “For the Sisters?”  “Yes.”  “Are you a Sister?”  (Now this was Lent and she had known me since August.)  When I answered, “Yes, that’s why you call me SISTER Roberta.” She slapped herself aside her head … “I should have known!”  Like the disciples’ AH-HA moment – they knew later if they had listened to their heart that they would have known Jesus in the breaking of the bread!

I am reminded of another story that the author calls:  The Best Sermon I Never Heard (By Frederick Hermann)  [Adapted here to fit our time constraints.]  Perhaps you will identify with one or the other of the players in the story.  I’ll relate it as if it happened to me …

“As soon as he started, I knew it was going to be bad.  The old priest began his sermon with a faltering voice, and proceeded to tell an obscure story that made no sense to me at all. I was quickly lost and bored.  This was not the church I usually attended but I was traveling, and went to a local church for evening Mass. The priest seemed unprepared, vague, and detached.  So I tuned him out, and started fuming inside my head – why hadn’t I pushed it to drive home tonight to the monastery?”

“Why didn’t he prepare better?  Didn’t he take a homiletics course (like Father Mike) in the seminary”   I felt like I had endured an eternity when finally the priest ended his sermon.

After Mass, I walked to the car in the parking lot. No longer able to contain my irritation, I complained out loud to a stranger walking beside me – and you know that’s like me to speak to a perfect stranger.   “So, what did you think of that sermon?”  She walked in silence beside me, lost in thought.  Actually I thought maybe she was deaf or that I hadn’t really spoken aloud.  Then she softly and gently spoke; “That was the most beautiful sermon I have ever heard.”

I was stunned, and looked up at her, expecting to see her grinning sarcastically. To my astonishment, I saw that tears were streaming down her cheeks …  her eyes glistened in the evening sunlight.  Finally she spoke: “I’ve spent most of my life estranged from God, going my own way, and doing my own thing. Last year I found God, or rather he found me.  Now I find him speaking to me in the most unusual ways. Like that sermon we just heard. It was all about waking up, and listening, and hearing God in new ways. That describes my life, and the love I have found.”  I was speechless!

As I drove away, I marveled at how God could use such a dull and ordinary priest to speak in such an extraordinary way to one of his beloved.  What is meaningless for me to hear, and a cross for me to bear, may be the fruitful words of life to a person sitting nearby – who may be hearing the voice of God speaking directly into their heart.

In the words of Job:  “God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend.” (Job 37:5).  And, in the words of our Responsorial Psalm: “Know that the Lord does wonders for his faithful ones; and puts gladness into my heart.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
First Reading  Acts of the Apostles 3:13-15,17-19  Second Reading 1 John 2:1-5a
Gospel Luke 24:35-48    Intention Mentally Ill
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