Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

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Wait and Watch!

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You’ve probably guessed it: You’re going to hear that theme again.  It’s all about waiting!  But first: welcome to Year C, the year of Luke.   We’ve been waiting for so long (actually for most of our lives) that the darkness may feel like home.  Maybe we’ve become comfortable in our incompleteness.  Now to leave home is downright scary! Change my ways of interacting with God and God’s people?  Whew!  Allow my rough edges to be smoothed – mmmm, sounds irritating.  We are gifted with this Advent-time to do personal “Isaiah work” of filling in every valley; leveling every mountain so the hills will become a plain, and the rough ways made smooth.  As the familiar banner asks:  If not now, when?

And if there is an answer, are we really waiting?  No!  You see, Advent is not a sit-on-your-hands-to-see-what-will-happen kind of waiting.  Nor is it waiting for someone else who is talking to God to hang up.  Saying that brings to my mind a memory of a home visit of my 3-year-old niece who was patiently waiting through what her mom had told her was my private time with God.  She had lasted through her first lectio experience with her books for 40 minutes.  She moved from the mat on her bedroom floor to sit just outside my doorway.  Laurie heaved a heavy sigh and said: “OK, what do I do now God; she’s still talking to You!”

The wonderful part of waiting and talking with God is that it’s more like a glorious party line.  You can pick up (or click ON the chat box) at any time, whenever you’re ready. It is wonderful!  We do not have to take turns – we don’t have to wait to be in touch!  At the heart of Advent is ACTIVE waiting.  Even when we don’t know that we are waiting, or what we are waiting for, we’re waiting. Even when we can’t find words for what we are waiting for, we’re waiting.

If the liturgical readings these last couple of weeks did not shake you up enough, the Advent gospels will make you perk up your ears and pay attention: “It is high time for us to arise from sleep.”  Take heed! Be on guard! Watch! Be alert, stay awake, and don’t grow careless.  Don’t give up!  And St. Benedict admonishes us: “Never swerve from God’s instruction but faithfully observe God’s teaching in the monastery until death.”

Advent offers us a new opportunity to awaken to the signs of the times.   In the words of John the Baptist, we hear the voice of Isaiah warning us to be alert for “the voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord.”  The last Gospel we heard as the liturgical year ended (this morning) and the first Gospel for the new liturgical year impress upon us the same warning: Be vigilant! Pray always! Beware that your heart does not become drowsy!

Remember Jesus berated the crowd for knowing how to interpret the signs in nature, but not the present time, the already.  This is where we too may fall short.  This kind of waiting requires a common-sense alertness to natural signs.  But the kind of waiting Jesus is talking about requires a deeper discernment and alertness to the signs of His appearance – the signs of the times, our times.  It’s that kind of waiting that Paul is talking about in the second reading: May the Lord make you increase and abound in  love for one another … to strengthen your heart.  I earnestly exhort you in the Name of Jesus to conduct yourselves to please God and be blameless in holiness before our God.  Amen!

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

Happy St. Nicholas Day on December 6th.

 

First Reading:   Jeremiah 33:14-16         Second Reading:  1 Thesssalonians 3:12-4:2
Gospel:   Luke 21:2528,34-36
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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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A Call for Peace

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A Call for Peace in the Holy Land

In response to the continued tensions and violence that erupted into warfare between Gaza and Israel on October 7, Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, calls for prayers for peace in the Holy Land:

On October 7, the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary, the world watched the operation launched from Gaza and the rapid call to arms from Israel that ensued. Almost 50 years to the day of the launch of the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, once again war is spilling out in the Holy Land. With it brings the mounting casualties and hostilities unfolding on all sides, and increased threats to the Status Quo of the Holy Places among Jews, Muslims, and Christians further dimming any hope for peace.

The world is once again shocked and horrified by the outbreak of ferocious violence in the Holy Land. Reports have surfaced indicating large numbers of wounded and dead, including many civilians. 

I join with Pope Francis in his call for peace and his condemnation of this widespread outbreak of violence. As he stated in his Sunday audience, “May the attacks and weaponry cease. Please! And let it be understood that terrorism and war do not lead to any resolutions, but only to the death and suffering of so many innocent people.”

May all who love the Holy Land seek to bring about among all the parties engaged in the fighting a cessation of violence, respect for civilian populations and the release of hostages.

As we pray urgently for peace, we recall especially all the families and individuals suffering from these events.  We call on the faithful, and all people of good will to not grow weary and to continue to pray for peace in the land Our Lord, the Prince of Peace, called home.

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Stay Awake and Be Ready

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This week in the U.S. the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) will be convening in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Let us pray for the leaders of women’s communities – and not solely for them – but for all levels of leadership in communities of women religious.  May they be women of faith, alive in hope.  They and all of us must live in hope with the assurance that however things turn out it makes sense in God’s plan.  Our daily stance must be the words of the psalmist: Stay awake and be ready.

Several years ago, Mother Teresa appeared on the Hour of Power television program.  The host, Pastor Robert Schuller, reminded her that the show was being broadcast all over America and in 22 foreign countries, including her native Yugoslavia.  He asked her if there was one message she would like to convey to all those viewers.  Her response was, “Yes, tell them to pray.  And tell them to teach their children to pray.”

Sadly, we live in a generation where there seems to be little hope in our world.  Jesus keeps reminding us to trust God.  He encourages us to let go of our resentments, our doubts and our fears.  He urges us to remember that there is never a storm so tumultuous that He cannot bring us to safety.  There is no night so dark that His light cannot penetrate it.  Nothing is going to happen to us that, with God’s grace, we can’t handle.  When hurricane winds howl, and tornado winds whip around us or flood waters are rising we have to remind ourselves that prayer is our most powerful and most reliable force.

Sometimes it may seem that no one is listening.  Do you recall how four-year-old impish Anna addressed God in Sydney Hopkins book: Mister God, This Is Anna?  She had great conversations with her Mister God.  So introduce yourself to God.  God is listening.  He will answer your prayers in His own time and in His own way.  God said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  Be on the lookout for God’s touches in your life.  One day Jesus may ask us: “Who touched me? ….  I know someone touched me, power went out of me.”  Be sure that your touches in people’s lives are God-like.  How we get along with each other says a great deal about how we love God and the kind of people we want to be.

You know of many instances when Jesus healed with a touch.  And how often do you say, or hear people say, “That really touched my heart.”  Our words do touch people – our compliments and affirmations but also the barbs, rudeness or hurtful teasing.  Our words leave their mark – will they be angry red scar marks or soft reminders of happy times?  Remember the little girl who was saying her nightly prayers.  (She said,) “Dear God, if you’re there and you hear my prayer, could you please just touch me?”  Just then she felt a touch and got so excited!  She said, “Thank you, God, for touching me.”  Then she looked up, saw her older sister and got a little suspicious.  “Did you just touch me?”  The sister answered, “Yes, I did.”  “What did you do that for?” she asked.  “God told me to” was the reply.

Our big question is: Do we know how to pray as we ought?  Do we merely ask for things, or do we dare ask to be transformed?  When we do so, do we promise to follow the promptings of the Spirit?  We can’t ask God to guide our footsteps if we are not willing to move our feet.

I will close with a portion of Nelson Mandela’s 1994 Inaugural Speech:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, successful, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.  There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.  We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us, it’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

 

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Is Your Badge a Badge of Busyness?

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It seems to me we would be hard put to find a more appropriate Gospel to lead into our annual retreat at Holy Name.  Jesus invites us: “Come away by yourself to a deserted place and rest awhile.”

We would think it bizarre for a traveler not to be prepared for a journey.  We would feel pity for the poor traveler who never read his/her itinerary.  Which of these hundreds of aircraft is my flight?  Usually we have a destination in mind when we set out.  It is rare that the journey is the destination.  But it is a great feeling to just relax and enjoy the drive without wondering “are we there yet?”

This week Jesus invites us, “come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”  There are four different parts to that statement – each one means something on its own:  Come away.  To a deserted place.  All by yourselves.  And rest a while.

Some people (surely not any of us) wear a badge of busyness as if it were a badge of honor.  “How are things going?”  “Well, it’s been pretty crazy, I’ve been busy all day.  Not enough time for everything.”  The implicit message being: “I’m worthwhile because I’m busy.”  But, you and I know it’s not a badge of honor – it a sign of an imbalanced life … Remember the little saying: “all work and no play makes Jill a dull person.”  There’s a better one: “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

Let’s pick apart Jesus’ invitation.  Come away, he says. It’s not just “going away,” but it’s “coming away” with Jesus, the one whose yoke is easy, whose burden is light; the embodiment of refreshment.  Come away from the daily grind whatever that may be.

To a deserted place.  Our retreat director, Abbot Primate Gregory Polan has written: “It is my conviction that monasteries are among the most important places to our world today …  what we offer is a warm welcome, whoever you are and whatever your story in life tells; we say, ‘come and be with us and find healing in the Word of God that we offer you’.”  During our days of retreat we have the opportunity to recharge our spiritual batteries – to get out of the busyness trenches – to keep company with God.

From the street our grounds are an oasis for world-weary guests.  But the seeds we plant must be sown more deeply than the grass.  How good would a farm be if the owners only painted the silos and mended the fences?  If the farmer never sowed seeds: no veggies, no fruit, no dinner.  Retreat is a time to steep ourselves in Scripture and the words of the retreat director, to have a head-conversation with an author you’ve been anxious to meet or take time to get better acquainted with a confrere.

In case you missed it, the invitation Jesus extends to us for this time of retreat is to be “All by yourselves.”  Jesus really means it.  Thus especially during retreat we foster an environment of quietness and prayer, alone and together in chapel, so that each of us can delve into spiritual practices that “tightened the bonds that bind us ever closer to God and each other.”

And finally, Jesus says: Rest a while.  This isn’t laziness.  It’s not a perpetual state.  It’s temporary.  It’s for a while.  But, for that while, it’s about rest.  We cannot just minister to others day by day, month by month.  We won’t be able to take care of others if we don’t make time to cater to ourselves and our own needs.  We need to embrace the spiritual practice of rest.  And, while some may think you’re a little crazy…you’ll be crazy in all the right ways.

So, how will you prepare for your journey into our annual retreat?

First, forget technology exists – except maybe for some soft, calming music.  Use the down-time in the retreat schedule to explore your feelings and get to the core of changes you need to make.  Seize the opportunity to enjoy nature, try new exercises physical and spiritual, time to just BE.

The retreat time gives you the excuse to try something different, to step out of your comfort zone and experience something new – to read about, pray about new things, new ways of living, and give yourself options for how you may want to make changes when you get back to “the real world” of everyday.  In other words, a retreat can lift you out of a rut and be restorative for body and soul.

During these graced days of retreat let us pray for each other – and for all who will benefit from our “time apart by ourselves.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
First Reading  Jeremiah 23:1-6           Second Reading  Ephesians 2:13-18
Gospel Mark 6:30-34
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