Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

serenity prayer

Compassion of Christ

by Leave a Comment

This is one of several of Jesus’ clear “end of time” reminders.  “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is, or there it is.’  Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  In this Gospel we have a warning and a promise. “This is your chance to tell the Good News. Do not worry about what to say for I will give you wise words.  None of your enemies will be able to prove that you are wrong. They will not be able to say that your words are false.”  These words of Jesus, quoted by Luke, remind me that when I am in a situation I can depend on Jesus’ promise: “I myself will give you wisdom, wise words, in speaking.”

Occasionally I find amusement by reading horoscope predictions at the end of the day.  It’s amusing to see if yours played out during the day that’s ending.  A few months back, my Scorpio sign read like a fortune cookie: “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere.”  Some days that “rocking chair” could work ruts in the carpet!

What kinds of things do we stew about?  Here’s the top-of-the-list items that researchers tell describes the typical worry patterns.

+  40% of our worries are things that will never happen

That’s a huge chunk that we can let go of that otherwise might keep us awake at night. 

+  30% of our worries are about the past

…which can’t be changed anyway so why not dump the gunny sack!   

+  12% are about criticism by others, mostly untrue – and many imaginary

So why do we so often assume that other people are going to spend their precious time thinking about “me”?

+ 10% are about health, which only gets worse with stress

Wouldn’t it be more helpful to use some relaxation techniques?  Find ways to loosen up and let our bodies work their own magic on the knots?

+  Only 8% are about real problems that CAN be solved

This is where we need to spend our energy and focus our prayer.  At the same time, be carefully aware to play “hands off” with trying to offer God the only right solution.  Our limited eyesight most likely will only see a rather self-serving solution.  “God-sight” knows the key to the best fix for all concerned. 

It’s a good time to draw on the sentiments of the Serenity Prayer:  God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, (here’s the key sentence) and the wisdom to know the difference.

Keep in mind that worry and fretting leave wiggle room to come between me and God.  Lying just below the surface may be the view that God has somehow lost control of the situation and we’ve lost trust in God’s omnipotent care for us.  A legitimate concern should draw us closer to God and cause us to rely on divine providential love for us.

By our Corporate Commitment we profess “to respond to the needs of the people of God with the compassion of Christ.”  But how can we do that if we have not learned to depend on the compassion of Christ?  Saying the words is one thing; living with a firm conviction that compassion begets compassion is altogether another matter.  Let us live by the motto:  Words move; example motivates.”   It is our lives, not our words, that make us credible. We pray, O God, may our lives, individually and collectively, be an example that motives all who meet us to be people of compassion.

 

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

Pray for our bishops who will be meeting in Washington D.C. November 14-17.  May they each be open, and responsive to, the voice of the Spirit.  May they travel in safety and peace.

 

 

First Reading  Malachi 8:19-20a               
Second Reading 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12  
Gospel Reading  Luke 21: 5-19

 

Continue Reading

P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Something Happens

by Leave a Comment

Have you ever seen in action the dynamic described in the Gospel?   Recently I witnessed it in play in the Dade City Dollar Tree.  A 4-year was touching every bag of candy that was within his reach from his seat in the grocery cart.  His mom retraced her steps a couple of times trying to decide what the kids might accept for supper. The child’s voice was a continuous undertone of hinting.  “Oh, Mom, this looks so good!  Mom, this is a good one, too.  Mom, the other kids would really like this kind.”  Mom repeated her mantra: “But we are not here for candy.  We are not getting candy today.”  As they were coming to the end of the aisle, her automatic reply changed: “Oh, just stop and put it in the basket.”  Can’t you hear that child silently cheering?  “Yea, it worked again.”

Remember, in Jesus’ time a widow not only had the hurdle of being a woman, but she also faced a terrible judge who had no fear of God.  The widow in our story today didn’t sit at home wringing her hands about her problem. She got up and she took action!  She figured: “God helps those who help themselves.”  So, she approached the only person that could help her.  She didn’t let worry fill her mind with bad thoughts of the worst that could happen. She is an example of one who sees the glass, not half empty, but half full.  She didn’t let worrisome thoughts stew until her worry became like water spilling over rocks.  First a mere trickle of doubt creeps into your mind. If it isn’t stopped, it soon becomes a stream of fear which creates a pond of paranoia which overflows into a river of distress which develops into a raging torrent of tension. And before you know it, the flood of worry has carved a Grand Canyon of anxiety in your mind!  Attention to detail is one thing but worry, one writer says is “faith in the negative”.  “Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.”  (Author unknown)  Charles Schulz of “Peanuts” fame, once said: “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”

The Apostle Paul is a typical example of someone who could set worry aside as he attacked his problems.  Stuck in a Roman dungeon facing the possibility of being beheaded, he did not worry about dying.  He prayed.  And in addition to praying, he wrote letters to encourage Christians to pray instead of worry. For instance, he wrote to the Philippians from his damp, dark, depressing dungeon: “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worry into prayers. Before you know it, you’ll feel a sense of God’s wholeness.  Everything will come together for good and settle you down.”

When we face a challenging circumstance, we have two choices. We can lose heart and let worrisome thoughts control our minds; or we can pray the sentiment in the prayer commonly referred to as the Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

The child at the Dollar Tree and the widow in the Gospel both seem to innately know an acronym that was new to me: “P.U.S.H.”  Pray Until Something Happens!  Every time you come to a door that says PUSH – let God remind you: “Pray Until Something Happens!”

 

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading  Exodus 17            
Second Reading  2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Gospel Reading  Luke 18:1-8
Continue Reading