Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Pope Francis

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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“Who Am I to Judge”

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“Who Am I to Judge”

Last week’s Gospel and this Sunday’s are a contrast to the image of Jesus the Gentle Shepherd.  It’s a “sit up and take notice” alert.  It seems Jesus is saying: look I’ve coddled you – cured you’re sick, healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, cast out demons.  But, there is another side to the story.  Yes, God is the Good Shepherd putting the strayed lamb over His shoulder.  (I don’t mean any irreverence when I say this) Now, before I put you down, I am giving you a “slap on the rump.”  Now, I am giving you a “slap on the bottom.”  You are accountable for your own actions!

(Paraphrased by SRB) I trust you have learned the lessons of “Giving Second Chances.”  Now, let me remind you of our personal responsibility to use your free will to exert the presence of GOODNESS and FORGIVENESS in our world.  The kind of seeds that put down roots of PEACE and CONCORD between peoples and nations …  starting in your own community.

Jesus’ parables have been presenting mounting evidence of the strength of the bonds – positive and negative – that we hold over each other.  Follow the strands through Matthew’s Gospels over the past few Sundays.  “Forgive and it will be forgiven you.  Whatever you bind – or whoever you bind – shall be bound in heaven.  I had pity on you – should you not have pity on your brother, your sister, your spouse, your children, your comrades?  Whoever you loose, shall be loosed in heaven.  Whoever shall lose her life, her reputation for my sake will be saved.  Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.  Stop thinking as human beings do; think as God does.”  Recall the line (last week) from Ezekiel: “If you not speak out against evil, I will hold you responsible.”  Jesus means real evil here – not nit-picking.  Not making people accountable for the preferences I hold dear.  Not asking curiosity questions that imply guilt or cause another to question “What’d I do wrong?”  Making poor choices is different from doing wrong.  A poor choice may cause you personal trouble, extra steps or time.  But it can be a lesson learned.  WRONG is a violation of God’s law, not one I wrote.

Asking “what critters or plants did you see on your walk today?” sits much more gently than “So, did you get any exercise today?”  “I like that shirt” may satisfy your curiosity about: “Did you take a shower when you came home today?”  The former conveys a compliment; the latter is an invasion of privacy and out of place.

What does Jesus say?  And, we heard it in Benedict’s Rule last evening …  “Beware the plank in your own eye.”  Resolve to make TRUST your byword, your covenantal promise to each other.  Promise yourself – and promise each other – that you will not be the one who initiates a cycle of rumors, gossip or suspicion; cattiness, negativity or any flavor of mistrust.

In the words of St. Paul in his Letter to the Galatians (part of which was read at today’s Noon Prayer): The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law. …  Let us never be boastful or challenging or jealous toward one another.  Help carry one another’s burdens; in that way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:25-26)

In the words of Pope Francis: “God is in every person’s life.  Even if the life of a person has been a disaster – God is in this person’s life.  You can, you must try to seek God in every human life.  Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow.  You have to trust God.”  (World Youth Day 2014)  Remember Pope Francis’ often quoted words to reporters who were with him on a return flight to Rome from South America.  He had was being asked his opinion about clergy sex scandals.  He said simply: “Who am I to judge.”

Have a pleasant week …  prayerfully remember those who are suffering on the West U.S. coast from the fires and poor air quality; places getting an over-abundance of rain causing flooding, recovering from tropical winds and stormy conditions …  and so many other hardships …   When all else fails, prayer fervently!  

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading Sirach 27:30-28:7              Second Reading Romans 14:7-9
Gospel Matthew 18:21-35
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Time is of the Essence

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In an address to ministers throughout the world reiterating and strengthening the importance of climate considerations of Laudato Si, Pope Francis challenged them (and us) to commit to several climate-specific goals:

  • To value what is important, not what is superfluous;

 

  • To correct our national and business accounts, so as to stop engaging in activities that are destroying our planet;

 

  • To put an end to global dependency on fossil fuels;

 

  • To open a new chapter of clean and safe energy, that utilizes, for example, renewables such as wind, sun and water;

 

  • Above all, to act prudently and responsibly in our economies to actually meet human needs, promote human dignity, help the poor and be set free of the idolatry of money and creates so much suffering.

[Pope Francis  Radio address on climate change (May 28, 2019]

Reference Encyclical Letter Laudato si‘ of the Holy Father Francis On Care for Our Common Home (24 May 2015)

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A New Balance

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When Jesus’ disciples cry out for an increase in faith Jesus offers them two related teachings.  The first is the familiar reminder that faith, even just a little, will enable the followers of Jesus to do wondrous things.  But this uplifting and inspiring teaching is quickly followed by the second teaching, a caution about knowing one’s place in God’s plans.  Even when God works wonders through us, with our mustard seed-sized faith, we must not seek praise.  Our participation in God’s plans is God’s grace to us—nothing more, nothing less.

Yesterday we celebrated St. Francis day so I want to tell you a St. Francis story – maybe only part truth.  This is not the story of how his father disowned him and he stripped naked in court and walked away.  It’s not the story of how he received the stigmata.  Nor is it the story of the Wolf of Gubbio.  This is a story you may not have heard; this is the story of St. Francis and the Sultan Al-Kamil.  It takes place during the Fifth Crusade – when Francis’ pilgrimage took him across the battle lines in ancient Egypt.  He was immediately captured and brought before Sultan.  According to some versions of the story, he challenged the Muslim clerics to a trial by fire: both he and they would preach from the heart of a bonfire and whoever was not burned alive would be the one preaching the true God.  The Muslim clerics declined the challenge.  Francis then offered to go into the fire by himself, with the proviso that if he was not burned up the Sultan and all his followers would have to convert to Christianity.  The Sultan did not take Francis up on this offer.

Whether or not that’s true, it is known that Francis preached to the Sultan and his household, who were so impressed by Francis that the Sultan offered him numerous gifts — which Francis refused — and gave him safe conduct back to the Crusader camp.  When in time the Crusader Kingdoms fell, the Muslim rulers granted permission for Christians to tend the Christian holy sites in the Holy Land, but that permission was not given to the Church as a whole, it was given specifically to the Franciscans.  In fact this arrangement persists to this day — there is a Catholic office called “Custodian of the Holy Land,” and it is always held by a Franciscan; and in places where custody is shared by different Christian denominations — like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher — it is Franciscans who represent the Roman Catholic church.  All because of that one visit between St. Francis and the Sultan.

Jesus says, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”  St. Francis acted out of this spirit of courage and faith when he crossed the battle lines in Egypt.  He had no idea what would happen to him; he had every reason to expect to be taken prisoner at the very least.  Afterward, he doubtless thought his mission had failed.  But — he had made a connection — a moment of authentic human connection, two people meeting each other face to face — that has had consequences to this very day – over 800 years!

The world is full of people who are divided from us, even opposed to us — because of religion, or nationality, or ethnicity, or political views, or any of a thousand things.  God calls us to reach out to these people in a spirit of courage and love, unashamed of our testimony about our Lord and our mission, our way of life.  We may not convince them — we may not bring them around to our point of view.  We may not even make peace.  The world being what it is, the odds are against it.

The big problems in the world — hunger, war, religious conflict, and so on — often seem too big for us.  Maybe they are. But we have to have faith that if we can move the pebble — then God will move the mountain.

In an interview shortly after his election, Pope Francis advises us: “Instead of being just a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that finds new roads, that is able to step outside itself…”  Sounding like his patron Francis, he says: “We need to proclaim the Gospel on every street corner, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing…   focusing on the essentials… We have to find a new balance; otherwise we will lose the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

First Reading   Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4        Second Reading 2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14
Gospel Reading  Luke 17:5-10                   Intention  The Jewish people
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Do I Believe This?

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(Homily – adapted – from Pope Francis – delivered in April 2016 – and reflection on Veronica – the 6th Station of the Cross – indicated by italics)

We know the parable of the Good Samaritan is a lesson to teach us that we must love our neighbor, and that there’s no one in the category of non-neighbor, but beyond that, have we also learned the parable’s lesson that God treats us with the compassion of the Samaritan?

In the gestures and the actions of the Good Samaritan we recognize God’s merciful action in the whole history of salvation.  It is the same compassion with which the Lord comes to meet each one of us: He does not ignore us, He knows our sorrows; He knows how much we need help and consolation.  He comes close to us and never abandons us.  Each one of us should ask himself the question and answer in his heart: “Do I believe this?  Do I believe that the Lord has compassion for me, just as I am, a sinner, with so many problems and so many things?’  Think of this and the answer is: ‘Yes!’  But each one must look into his heart to see if he has faith in this compassion of God, of the good God who comes close, who heals us, who caresses us.  And if we refuse Him, He waits: He is patient and is always at our side.”

It is not automatic that one who frequents God’s house and knows His mercy is able to love his neighbor.  It is not automatic!  One can know the whole Bible, one can know all the liturgical rubrics, one can know all the theology, but from knowing, loving is not automatic: loving has another way, intelligence is needed but also something more … “The priest and the Levite saw, but ignored; looked but did not provide.  Yet true worship does not exist if it is not translated into service to one’s neighbor.”

Compassion is the center of the parable, centering on this word that means ‘to share with’.  The Samaritan had compassion that is, his heart, was moved; he was moved within!  See the difference.  The other two ‘saw,’ but their hearts remained closed, cold.  Instead, the Samaritan’s heart was attuned to God’s heart itself.  In fact, “‘compassion’ is an essential characteristic of God’s mercy.  God shares with us – He suffers with us; He feels our sufferings.”

(Francis reminds us 🙂  the Samaritan’s concrete, personal actions teach us that compassion is not a vague feeling – it means to take care of the other even to paying in person.)  It means to commit oneself, taking all the necessary steps to ‘come close’ to the other, to the point of identifying oneself with him: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The story of Veronica that we recall in the 6th Station of the Cross points to the power of witness in an act of compassion.  What does Veronica do?  Not much – she steps from the crowd, wipes a man’s face.  What does Veronica mean to our spirit?  Close to everything.

The image on the veil stands forever as reminder of the unmitigated horror of which injustice is capable.  The image of the veil stands forever as a mute witness to the crime of all times – and the destruction of goodness at the center of us, in us, around us forever.

As Pope Francis says: “The parable of the Good Samaritan is a gift to all of us, and also a commitment.  Jesus repeats to each one of us what He said to the Doctor of the Law: ‘Go and do likewise’. …  Jesus bent over us, made Himself our servant, and thus He saved us, so that we too are able to love as He loved us.”

Veronica’s act of compassion puts us to shame.  Her unblinking action puts us all, and each, on notice: for the sake of what life lesson would you step out from the crowd and draw attention to yourselves?  To what kind of care would you bend your life so that the world will never forget?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

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Pope Praises Evangelization Through Prayer, Care For Creation, Welcome

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Pope Francis speaks during a Sept. 8 meeting with a group of Benedictine sisters at the Vatican. Forming a community of women from different backgrounds and uniting them in prayer, in care for the earth and in hospitality to others is a powerful witness of Gospel values, Pope Francis said. (Credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media.)

ROME – Forming a community of women from different backgrounds and uniting them in prayer, in care for the earth and in hospitality to others is a powerful witness of Gospel values, Pope Francis told a group of Benedictine sisters.

“Today there are many people in the world who seek to reflect in their lives the tenderness, compassion, mercy and acceptance of Christ,” the pope said Sept. 8. “To them you offer the precious gift of your witness, as you are instruments of God’s tenderness to those who are in need.”

The pope met about 120 Benedictine nuns and sisters from a variety of independent monasteries and congregations participating in a symposium in Rome. The theme was the admonition from the Rule of St. Benedict, “Let all be welcomed as Christ.”

Making a monastery a place of “welcome, prayer and generous hospitality” is an “essential work of evangelization” that always must be expanded and strengthened, the pope told the women.

He also thanked them “for the special care you show toward the environment and for your efforts to protect the gifts of the earth, so that they can be shared by all.”

Many of the Benedictine monasteries are found “in places of great beauty where people go to pray, to find silence and to contemplate the marvels of creation. I encourage you to continue this style and service, so that God’s wonderful works can be admired and speak of him to many persons.”

The life the women live within the monastery walls, lives and relationships that visitors can observe and sense, also is a Gospel witness, the pope said.

“Your life in community bears witness to the importance of mutual love and respect,” he told them. “You come from different places and experiences, and each of you is different, and so the way you accept one another is the first sign you offer in a world that finds it hard to live out this value.

“We are all children of God,” Francis said, “and your prayer, your work, your hospitality, your generosity, all combine to reveal a communion in diversity that expresses God’s hope for our world: a unity made of peace, mutual welcome and fraternal love.”

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