Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Pope Francis

World Day of Prayer for Vocations

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World Day of Prayer for Vocations

“Dream of Joseph” from Pope Francis

This evening I’d like to share with you excerpts from Pope Francis’ message for the 2021 World Day Prayer for Vocations.  Back in December 2020, His Holiness Pope Francis declared Saint Joseph “Patron of the Universal Church” as he opened the Year of Joseph.  His letter to us for today’s International day of prayer for Church Vocations is entitled “Saint Joseph: The Dream of Vocation.”  Pope Francis writes:

God looks on the heart and in Saint Joseph he recognized the heart of a father, able to give and generate life in the midst of daily routines.  Vocations have this same goal: to beget and renew lives every day.  The Lord desires to shape the hearts of fathers and mothers: hearts that are open, capable of great initiatives, generous in self-giving, compassionate in comforting anxieties and steadfast in strengthening hopes.  The priesthood and the consecrated life greatly need these qualities nowadays, in times marked by fragility but also by the sufferings due to the pandemic, which has spawned uncertainties and fears about the future and the very meaning of life.  Saint Joseph comes to meet us in his gentle way, as one of “the saints next door.”  At the same time, his strong witness can guide us on the journey.

Saint Joseph suggests to us key words for each individual’s vocation.  The first is dream.  If we were to ask people to express in one word their life’s dream, it would not be difficult to imagine the answer: “to be loved.”  It is love that gives meaning to life, because it reveals life’s mystery.  Indeed, we only have life if we give it; we truly possess it only if we generously give it away.  God’s call always urges us to take a first step, to give ourselves, to press forward.  There can be no faith without risk.  Every “yes” bears fruit because it becomes part of a larger design, of which we glimpse only details, but which the divine Artist knows and carries out, making of every life a masterpiece.  Every true vocation is born of the gift of oneself, which is the fruit of mature sacrifice.  Our gift of self will not come to fulfilment if it stops at sacrifice.  Were that the case, instead of becoming a sign of the beauty and joy of love, the gift of self would risk being an expression of unhappiness, sadness and frustration.

Pope Francis continues: “I like to think of Saint Joseph, as the protector of vocations.”  In fact, from his willingness to serve comes his concern to protect.  The Gospel tells us that Joseph wasted no time fretting over things he could not control, in order to give full attention to those entrusted to his care.  Such thoughtful concern is the sign of a true vocation, the testimony of a life touched by the love of God.  What a beautiful example of Christian life we give when we refuse to pursue our ambitions or indulge in our illusions, but instead care for what the Lord has entrusted to us through the Church!  God then pours out his Spirit and creativity upon us – he works wonders in us, as he did in Joseph.

Together with God’s call which makes our greatest dreams come true, and our response which is made up of generous service and attentive care, there is (another) characteristic of Saint Joseph’s daily life and our Christian vocation, namely fidelity.  Joseph is the “righteous man who daily perseveres in quietly serving God and God’s plans.”  At a particularly difficult moment in his life, he thoughtfully considered what to do.  He did not yield to the temptation to act rashly, simply following his instincts or living for the moment.  Instead, he pondered things patiently.  He knew that success in life is built on constant fidelity to important decisions.  This was reflected in his perseverance in plying the trade of a humble carpenter, a quiet perseverance that made no news in his own time, yet has inspired the daily lives of countless Christians ever since.  For a vocation – like life itself – matures only through daily fidelity.

How is such fidelity nurtured?  In the light of God’s own faithfulness.  The first words that Saint Joseph heard in a dream were an invitation not to be afraid, because God remains ever faithful to his promises.  Do not be afraid: these words the Lord also addresses to you whenever you feel that, even amid uncertainty and hesitation, you can no longer delay your desire to give your life to him.  He repeats these words when, perhaps amid trials and misunderstandings, you seek to follow his will every day, wherever you find yourself.  They are words you will hear anew, at every step of your vocation, as you return to your first love.  They are a refrain accompanying all those who – like Saint Joseph – say yes to God with their lives through their fidelity each day.

This fidelity is the secret of joy.  A hymn in the liturgy speaks of the “transparent joy” present in the home of Nazareth.  It is the joy of simplicity, the joy experienced daily by those who care for what truly matters: faithful closeness to God and to our neighbor.  How good it would be if the same atmosphere, simple and radiant, sober and hopeful, were to pervade our seminaries, religious houses and presbyteries!  Pope Francis continues…”I pray that you will experience this same joy, (my) dear brothers and sisters who have generously made God the dream of your lives, serving God through a fidelity that is a powerful testimony in an age of fleeting choices and emotions that bring no lasting joy.  May Saint Joseph, protector of vocations, accompany you with his fatherly heart!”

Please pray for perseverance for our postulants: Marietta and Kathleen.

If it be God’s will, we pray: send vocations to our community.

God bless  you!  Stay safe – keep healthy and happy and never lose hope – believe that God has a plan that is unfolded for us day-by-day … which is all we need one-day-at-a-time.

~Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

For the full text of Pope Francis letter (cited in the attached reflection) click on the link below.

Pope Francis’ full message

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Holy Thursday

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After the meal, Jesus took off his outer garments, tied a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and dry them.     [John 13:4-5]

 “That’s all it takes: Serve others.  Yet we resist.  We are lazy, too busy or too caught up in our own world and interests.  Jesus shows us the example.  Wash the feet of others.  You don’t have to take it literally, but you do have to serve others.  Better yet, serve someone who can’t repay you.  Hold the door, let someone go first, clean up after someone.  Just find a way to serve.”    (Fr. Thomas J. Connery)

 

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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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