Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Peter

Believing Can Bring Sight

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Each day since Easter we’ve heard post-Resurrection stories of personal encounters. The resurrected Christ has visited the disciples and his mother Mary in the Upper Room to breathe peace upon them.  We’ve heard the story of how Jesus slips in and out of the company of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.   In John’s narrative Peter’s head is whirling at all that was going on.  It appears his message to the others is: “This is too much for me; I’m going to clear my head. I’ll be back later. I’m going fishing!” A few of the others jumped aboard.  At daybreak a very human Jesus appears to these disciples who’ve spent a night of non-productive fishing.  We know that Jesus must have known this but still he calls to them: “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”  Then he suggests to them that they toss the nets on the other side of the boat.  Lo and behold, the nets encircle 153 large fish!”  No one dares ask him: “Who are you?”  To their astonishment, Jesus invites: “Come, have breakfast.”

Last Sunday the church made sure that we heard the message that Jesus came a second time to the group in the Upper Room.  Again, He came right through “locked doors.” He greeted the fearful group: “Peace!”  And He turned to address Thomas to quiet his fear that the one the disciples claimed they had seen a week ago might be an imposter.   Nothing could keep Jesus away from those who had been his companions for three years.

At that 2nd visit in the Upper Room Jesus praises those who do not seek proof.  On the other hand, neither does He condemn those who seek a sign.  He meets us where we are on our faith journey. He does not condemn Thomas for wanting to see proof in the nail marks.  Instead, he offers living proof to help his unbelief.  “See my hands; put your finger here.”  And then He nurtures maturity in faith when he says: “Blessed are they who have not seen but have believed.”

In Monday’s gospel there is an exchange with Nicodemus about the wind. From whence does it come, and where does it go?  Jesus gently tries to explain, “If I tell you of earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”  If only if we understood that seeing may not be believing but believing can bring sight.

 The lessons remembered by John continue.  “God does not ration the gifts of the Spirit; the Father gives everything to the Son.”  As the evening grows long, the disciples go down to the sea.  It grows dark as they rest and row and drift in the boat.  When they are several miles from shore, one by one the Apostles perk up and point to a silhouette of a man who appears to be walking on the water toward them A calming voice is heard: “It is I.  Do not be afraid.”  Those who are familiar with the voice of God will immediately recognize when Jesus speaks.

Today we hear a curious detail. John relates that before Peter jumps from the boat into the sea, he grabs his clothing “for he was lightly clad.”  He puts on more clothes to jump into the water?  Is that typical of what we tend to do?  If you think about it, it probably is.   We don’t want to leave anything behind even when it only adds weight to our journey.  What does Jesus tell us to do?  Not, grab all your belongings, we’re going on a journey of a lifetime.  Rather he says: Feed my sheep; feed my lambs.   Follow me!

What is your excess baggage?  What needs to be left behind?  We have to clear out old expectations if we are to have room to welcome new experiences.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

 

 

First Reading:   Acts 5:27-32; 40-41         Second Reading:  Revelation 5:11-14
Gospel:   John 21:1-19
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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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What Luke shares with us in this Gospel is a good example of how Jesus models the saying: actions speak louder than words.

If you will picture this with me –  Put yourself in the scene.

It’s midmorning.  Jesus is meditatively strolling at the water’s edge.   I suspect He may have been virtually unaware that people were beginning to trail him.  The crowd is swelling.  This causes Jesus to edge closer to the advancing waves of the changing tide.  The eagerness of the crowd is palpable in the air – just to hear a word from Jesus.   He turns to face the crowd, putting his back to the water.  The scene causes him to draw a breath and take a step backward.  Now the waters are lapping above his ankles.  He spies a couple fishing boats; one belonging to his friend Simon.  He presumes permission to step in.   And what does He do?   Remember last week’s lesson?  HE SITS TO TEACH.   As the crowd is settling down, He looks around at the empty boats and thinks “What a pity!  The fish are right there.  But they didn’t take a nibble.  Let’s fix that.”

Now, these boatmen have spent all night fishing without success.  They are tired, discouraged, disheartened.  And so far their morning has been spent prudently cleaning their nets lest the debris they did manage to trawl would rot and get too smelly to attract any fish tomorrow.

We don’t know what Jesus taught from the boat that morning; Luke did not have any first-hand experience to share. What we do know is what Luke heard from those who were there.  He tells us that Jesus surprised Simon and his buddies telling them to “put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”  Can’t you just hear Simon draw a vexed breath?  He’s professional fisherman; learned the trade from his father and grandfather. “Come on, Jesus.  We’ve worked all night but have caught nothing.”  You know the feeling.  How often have you said (or at least thought) we’ve tried that before?  But Peter pauses.  Maybe makes eye contact with Jesus.  Mmmm.  “Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”

That’s the operative sentiment.  “If you say so, I will let down the nets.”   The boats was suddenly, miraculously full of fish so that they begin to sink.  And this after a long night of frustration – not a single fish to show for their efforts.  Amazement struck them.  Peter, (and maybe the others, we don’t know,) fell to his knees and begged Jesus, “Get away from me – I am a sinful man!”

Ah, sweet Jesus!  We know what Jesus said.  He’s said it to us more than once.  “Do not be afraid.”  As he counsels Peter He uses a word that in Greek means: “to catch alive.”  He’s caught Peter alive with yearning.  Ripe for his new vocation, a new mission that He’s about to offer. “From now on you will be catching people.”  We turn now to the words from Isaiah in the First Reading: “God touched my mouth [in Peter’s case in today’s Gospel – “touched your nets, your labor.”  God, the Lord, continues: “See, now that this has touched you, your wickedness is removed.”  Then God asks – invites, challenges – “Whom shall I send?  Who will go?”

With Peter – and so many, many others who’ve followed through the years, we answer: “Here I am, send me!”  We add the words of Psalm 138: “When I called, you answered.  You built up strength with in me.  Your right hand saved me.  You will complete what You have done for me.  Your kindness endures forever.”

“When the fisherman brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.”  Your life, the life of each of us, tells the rest of the story.  But it leaves us with a question.  “How can we catch people?  What waters do we have to wade out into?  What are the nets we can lower?”  One thing we know for certain.  We know we want to keep Jesus on our side of the boat.  Seems to me this is pretty much the question Pope Francis and our Bishop Parkes is dangling as a challenge to us.  What bait will we put on the hook?  Or what kind of net will we lower?  How will we live out our Benedictine charism of prayer, hospitality and stability in community?

An answer lies in today’s Gospel: live it – be it – do it … that’s the bait.  Now, invite others to “lower their nets” and let’s break bread together.”

 ~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

Happy Feast Day to us – and Benedictines world-wide! 

On February 10th we celebrate the feast of St. Scholastica, twin sister to St. Benedict.

 

First Reading:   Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8         Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 11
Gospel:   Luke 5:1-11
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Such a simple message

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When Jesus and His disciples got to Capernaum, they entered into (some scholars say) the house of Peter and Andrew. Jesus asks them what they were disputing about as they approached the house and waits for them to ‘fess up.  No luck! They are like children who don’t want to tell their parents what they’ve been arguing about. The disciples had started out disputing over the meaning of Jesus’ prediction of his death and resurrection and ended up arguing over who would be the greatest when Jesus was no longer in their number. They were certain it would be one of them, not someone outside their circle.  They got caught up in the idea of being a follower without having a sense of what it takes to be a true disciple.  But Jesus knew these fellows had the capacity to refocus their energy on what was really important instead of promoting themselves as the “greatest” above everyone.  They (and we) might do well to heed the advice of Joe Kennedy to his son Ted: “Don’t look for credit.  If you succeed, there’ll be plenty of credit.  If you fail, you won’t want the credit”.

The greatness Jesus is talking about lies in welcoming one who is viewed as powerless.  This requires sensitive awareness to those around us.  Who is being left out of the conversation, who enters a room and seems unsure where she might be welcome to sit?  Who is listening to a conversation about a plan to go off-campus hoping to be invited?  Are we alert to welcome the visitor into the chapel, to lift a bundle for a struggling elder, to smile at a child in the shopping cart?   We can list hundreds of moments of random acts of kindness similar to those that Jesus is talking about.

Could it be that Jesus can so easily welcome children because he has personal memories of his own childhood experiences? Children in our 21st century America are in precarious, fragile, and dangerous places.  More than ever, children are abused, snatched, neglected or the opposite: over-protected by ‘helicopter’ parents.  There are latchkey kids; underfed, lonely, ignored children and many are victims of inadequate health care.  Now, more than ever, children need to be embraced by the church.  If the church leaves out children, it is leaving out God. If policy makers leave out children, they are leaving out God and they are placing the future of our world in jeopardy, forgetting who it is that is going to be caring for them (or not) in their sunset years.

Notice that Jesus did not say “receive this child.”  Rather he said, “Receive one such as this child.”  With a child in his arms, Jesus says that to welcome persons such as this little one is to welcome Him.    Our accomplishments and accolades, the certificates, the awards, as impressive as they might be, do not exemplify discipleship.  It’s our ability to be of service to others, to attend to the most vulnerable in our society, that makes us good disciples.  It is such a simple message that it is at the same time so difficult to put into practice!

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

This weekend we welcome our Oblates! Thirteen Oblates will join at the monastery for their quarterly meeting and for Mass and noon meal.  Wondering what’s an Oblate?  Contact S. Mary David at 352-588-7176 or mary.david.hydro@saintleo.edu.

 

 

First Reading:   Wisdom 2:12, 17-20         Second Reading:  James 3:16-4:3
Gospel:   Mark 9:30-37
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Who Do You Say I Am?

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This is an interesting reading, and even a bit odd, giving us another insight into Jesus’ teaching methods.  First with those who are closest to him – who have been traipsing around the country for almost three years.  This is the group who believe in him so he is quick to correct their human thinking that gets in the way of their perception of just who he is.

I can see him (can you?) walking casually along with the twelve … the mix of who is nearest him changing every few minutes – as the group shifts, they compare notes about what he said to their group with what the others heard.   He stops and turns to the group and queries: Who do people say that I am?  Was He really in the dark?  Was he simply opening an opportunity for the disciples to express their loyalty to him?

At first, the disciples do not offer their personal feelings.  They repeat what they’ve been hearing: some say John, the Baptist; others say Elijah, or one of the prophets.   When Jesus continues: “But, you, who do you say that I am?”   A pregnant pause follows.  They’re waiting for a brave one to speak up.  Heads turn to Peter who seems to be never afraid to offer an opinion.    He doesn’t fail them.  “You are the Christ, son of the living God.”

Jesus seems quick to caution the disciples: “Don’t tell anyone.”  (Doesn’t he know by now that this is a sure-fire way to get the rumors flying?)   Does Jesus want us to hold miracles we experience or witness close to our hearts?  To be like Mary after the shepherds’ visit – pondering all these happenings in her heart?”  Or are we to be like the disciples?  Responsive, but as Jesus said, “Don’t tell until after the Son of Man has risen?

Our scene in today’s reading, turns from Jesus’ conversation with the disciples and his followers to what is to come.   Peter quakes in his boots conjuring up what Jesus is describing.  This is his friend!  So, he takes Jesus aside and in shock rebukes him, criticizes the one he has just acknowledged is the Son of God.  “You’ve got it all wrong!  What you say cannot happen to you.”

Have you ever done that?  Told Jesus he’s got it all wrong? Jesus cautions Peter, and us: “Wait a minute.  You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do.”  With that, Jesus summons the crowd.  Did you ever notice the settings that Scripture describes when Jesus speaks to the crowds on a hillside or from a boat?  Scripture usually says there were thousands of them!   No mic, no PA system, no big screen TV.   How did he do it?  I wonder, did the people really hear his voice or did they hear him in their hearts?  Or was it like the game of Gossip and his words spread rapidly from person to person???

Now Jesus next lets us know what it will take to continue to be a disciple of His.  Three qualities: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.   Easy as one, two three?  Not quite!

First: deny your worldly ways, drop your egotistical thinking and self-seeking and cease the ifs, ands and buts that are on the tip of your tongue in opposition to Jesus’ message.

Second: take up your cross.  It was personalized for just for you.  No two crosses are exactly the same.  You know the story of the person who rejected her God-given cross.  She asks God to exchange it for another.  So, God showed her his treasury of crosses.   You know which one she chose.  She spotted it immediately, the very one God knew all along would best fit her shoulders.

Third: (This is the good part.)  Follow Jesus.  You don’t have to invent the way.   Jesus has already cut the path for you.  Knock and the door will be opened.  Seek and you will find.  Listen and you will hear.

So, when at Mass, just after the homily, be ready to answer God in the words of the Creed: Who do YOU say that I am?  Ponder the titles of Jesus that have been your favorites through the years.  Who is Jesus for you at this stage in your life: Baby Jesus, Friend, Brother, Savior, Rock, Shepherd or on some days a shoulder to cry on, a friend to give you solace, or a pal to offer a gentle prod to do better, take the risk that looms before you.  Jesus asks each of us: “Who do YOU say that I am?”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading:   Isaiah 50:5-9a         Second Reading:  James 2:14-18
Gospel:   Mark 8:27-35

 

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Will You Come and Follow Me if I but Call Your Name?

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This Gospel reading from Mark is only a glimpse into a single day that the church wisely spreads over a few weeks of readings. It gives us the opportunity to study each event of the day more closely.  We get the impression that it would have been a challenge for the people following Jesus to keep up with Him.   You may have noticed one of Mark’s favorite words is “immediately.” He uses it twelve times in the first chapter alone.  So far in the story, Jesus has called four fishermen to leave their nets and their boats and follow him, which they did “immediately.  In last week’s portion from Mark, a demon-possessed man challenged Jesus who promptly told the unclean spirit to be silent and come out.  The demon obeyed “immediately”.

The next part of the story happens over the next few hours of the same day. The band of men went to Simon’s house, maybe because it was closest to the synagogue. Or maybe it was because Simon’s mother-in-law had the reputation for quickly putting a nice spread on the table.   But today she is down with a fever.  Simon doesn’t miss a beat.  He tells Jesus this “immediately”.   Perhaps he does this to apologize for the woman not greeting them at the door.

Jesus doesn’t say a word. He simply takes the woman by the hand and brings her to her feet. The fever is gone “immediately”. As Jesus brings her to her feet, the verb Mark uses is identical to the one he uses later in the Gospel to describe Jesus’ resurrection from the dead: He lifts her up.  The mother-in-law “immediately” responds by getting busy on dinner preparations.

Then, in the early hours before sunrise while it was still dark as night, it sounds like Jesus tiptoed out of the house.  Scripture tells us He went to a deserted place to pray (not a desert – there was not desert nearby).   This was the only place on this night, with many others to follow, where he could talk one-on-one with his Father, without interruption. But it didn’t last long.  Our English translation says Peter and the others PURSUED him.  Think of a mother having escaped to the bathroom for a few minutes of aloneness.  “Mom are you in there?”  Or a prioress who leaves her office for a few minutes. “You’re never in the office!”  Peter tells Jesus “EVERYONE is looking for you.”  Jesus’ response probably was not what they were expecting to hear.   “Let’s go to the neighboring towns so I can preach there, too. That’s my job.”  The disciples were at a crossroads, at one of those “bend in the road” moments.  Do we stick with this fellow who can never say NO to any request? Do we keep following?

That’s a choice we must make many times over in our lives.  It begins each and every day with “Shall I hit the snooze button and roll over, or turn off the alarm and get to chapel to join in communal prayer?”  It’s a choice we make in multiple ways, probably more times than we realize, throughout each day and into the evening.  What word of kindness can I share? Can I tear myself from what I’m doing to get to chapel with some breathing space before prayer begins?  At night, will I force myself to stay awake to finish this chapter or TV program, or do I go to bed so I’ll be rested for the morrow with all its new challenges and choices?

The people of Capernaum missed the point. They showed up for the miracles, but they failed to hear and absorb Jesus’ message.  It’s the same news Jesus wants to share with you, with us.  Repent, turn away from your old ways, and believe the Good News that God is with you in the NOW   Are you willing to be changed?  Will you be transformed? Will you keep following? Will you get up, as Simon’s mother-in-law did, and join the laborers to feed God’s people and further the Kingdom?”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

The Sisters remembered your intentions in our prayers on Sunday when we had our monthly Recollection Day … a quiet day of prayer, Holy Hour and Evening Prayer.  God bless you each and all with good health, much happiness and abundant peace!

 

First Reading:   Job 7:1-4, 6-7         Second Reading:  Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Gospel:   Mark 1:29-39
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Come and You Will See

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This weekend we have two familiar stories in our Scripture selections: the dream-like vision of Samuel and the calling of Andrew and his brother Peter.  One of the risks we have with familiar stories is that we can be overconfident that we recall all the details.  But were all the details that surround the story included in the version we learned?   For instance, consider the line in Scripture that immediately precedes the opening of the story of Samuel: “When the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under the direction of Eli, there were few messages from the Lord, and visions were quite rare.”  This phrase “visions were rare” (some translations say “precious”) does not appear anywhere else in the entire Old Testament.  It’s no wonder it did not dawn on Samuel his summons might be from God.

The story tells us that Samuel is confused, not just your average sleepy-head befuddled, but really confounded.  Three times, Samuel responds to a calling – or is it really four times?  Three times he responds to what he thinks is Eli calling him: “Here I am.”  It’s not until Eli becomes more fully awake and realizes what is going on.  Then, he instructs the boy if he hears the voice again to respond: “Speak, for your servant is listening.”  Although Samuel’s obedience and quickness of response are to be admired, he mistakes the aging, ailing Eli for God’s actual voice.  Remember, that although Samuel had been anointed, Scripture says he was still very young in faith.

So were Peter and Andrew in the Gospel.  They were disciples of John the Baptist whom Jesus once called the greatest prophet who ever lived.   John had a few disciples, people who were devoted to him as their spiritual leader.  This day Jesus shows up. John realizes that he is now in the presence of One whose sandals he is not even worthy to untie.  John may be a prophet, but this man is the Lamb of God, the Son of the Most High, the very Savior of the world.

But, how’d we get here from Eli and Samuel, to John, Jesus, Peter and Andrew?  One of life’s challenges is recognizing and accepting your role at each stage of life.  You may have heard the term: “the grace of office”.  A smooth transition into or out of various roles in life is reliant on the kind of grace that Eli and John the Baptist showed in directing their disciples to turn their focus to Someone else, Someone greater. Eli and John were forerunners who knew, and fully accepted, that very role.

In her presentation on “Servant Leadership” S. Lynn McKenzie writes of this dynamic.  We know (She says) “One does not begin monastic life as a prioress but begins as a member of the community.  And one usually does not end monastic life as a prioress but as a member of that same community.”

This applies across the board despite what the person identified in the Rule of Benedict’s Chapter headings might lead one to believe.  The directives are addressed to the “rank and file.”  It’s not just the cellarer (buyer) who needs to give a gentle response even when the answer is NO.   Nor is it just the deans (assistants/councilors) who are reminded to keep confidential information sacred.  It’s not only the members sent on a short journey who should not broadcast every sight they’ve seen.  Nor are hospitality ministers the only ones who should be prompt to answer the door or phone.  Benedict is writing for all members when he cautions artisans not to be become “puffed up by their skillfulness”.  It’s not just the sub-prioress who should carry out her assignments with respect.  Kitchen servers aren’t the only ones that should be gracious in accepting help so they can serve without distress.  And it’s not only the sick who should not make excessive demands.  Nor is the prioress the only one who should practice what she preaches and keep in mind to Whom she will give an account.

Remember what Jesus asked the disciples who were trailing him: “What are you looking for?” His response was the same answer we’ve heard: “Come and you will see!”   Who has helped you along the way?  Who today gives you a hand to grasp, a “pointing finger” to follow, a prayerful nudge when life throws you a curve ball?  Who is there to keep track when Jesus seems to disappear just around the bend in the road ahead? Who reminds you, “Come and you will see?”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading:   1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19         Second Reading:  Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20
Gospel:   John 1:35-42
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