Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

The Rule

Lent – God’s Call

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In the liturgical cycle of readings, this Gospel from Mark was originally only two verses – later the church added two more – but it is still one of the shortest Sunday readings.  It tells us only that, immediately after His baptism, Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, for 40 days.  You’ll notice that Mark, unlike Luke and Matthew, does not outline for us the three temptations of Jesus.  He simply lets us know that the conflict between Jesus and Satan only begins in the desert.  The ultimate test will be in Jesus’ final hours on the cross.

We are now four days into our Lenten journey of 40 days.  We are reminded of Elijah who journeyed in a desert 40 days and nights, making his way to Mount Horeb as well as the Israelites who wandered in a desert for 40 years.  Benedict knew that deserts are an unavoidable part of life.  We have to pass through them – not get stuck in them. In the desert, we soon find out we are too weak to go it alone.  According to St. John Chrysostom: “The Spirit drags Jesus into the desert, since he wanted to draw the devil there – and Jesus gave occasion to him not only on account of his hunger but also on account of the place: for then most especially does the devil attack when he sees people isolated and by themselves.”  No wonder Benedict urges us not to be isolated in our Lenten journey: “the entire community during these days of Lent (together strives) to keep the manner of life most pure.”

We’ve heard the expression “practice makes perfect” so often that the meaning may have lost its impact on us.  Each year at the beginning of Lent we may feel like that skater or a musician who’s been laid up for a year without practice.  As Benedict says in Chapter 49 of the Rule, during Lent we are called to be the kind of person we should be every day.  Lent gives us a jump-start of courage to pick up the practices that will support the values we profess and hold dear.  The biggest temptation most of us have to face it to “give up” because we stumble.  What would you think if you dialed a wrong number and got this recording: I’m not available right now, but I do thank you for caring enough to call me.”  (How sweet!)  But, it continues: “I am making some changes in my life.  Please leave a message after the beep.  If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.”

Thomas à Kempis, in the IMITATION OF CHRIST, says, “Often we do not know what we can stand, but temptation shows us what we are.  Above all, we must be especially alert against the beginnings of temptation, for the enemy is more easily conquered if refused admittance to the mind and is met beyond the threshold when it knocks…. A person, indeed, is not worthy of the sublime contemplation of God who has not been tried by some tribulation for the sake of God.  For temptation is usually the sign preceding the consolation that is to follow.”

Lent is God’s call to us to make God and Godly values the center of our life.  It is a time for honesty and stability.  A time for us to be close to God.  The desert of life, of Lent – like any desert – can be a vast expanse of sand and rock, punctuated by ragged hills, blistered by a relentless sun, a barren land in which little grows.  But, depending on our outlook, the space can be filled with mysterious unexpected experiences.  It can be a place not only of testing but of beauty where faith can grow.  Mirages give us false hope.  A welcome pool of water or a dripping cactus can reveal to us, in the blink of an eye, a reflection of what we really look like.  During Lent we are simply being asked to dare to be convinced that this is a wonderful opportunity to rediscover our true self-worth and the wonder of being the child of a loving God.  We are challenged not to focus on the storm clouds of COVID restrictions, chronic health conditions, what we DON’T have.  We do well to focus on all that we DO have: our faithful supporters, the friends who DO make contact, the companions who DO treat us gently, our God who, even with all the concerns and pleas that are raised for attention, remembers ME and loves ME with unfailing love.

Personal deserts are unavoidable, they’re part of life.  We need Christ and we need the ministry of others.  If for nothing else than to teach lessons of dependence.  We’ll never be as strong or wise as we’d like.  We need the grace of God in Christ.  We need the ministry of each other and all of God’s people to strengthen us by their prayerful support and good example that we, too, might take up our crosses and follow Jesus.  We pray that like that voice message said (I mentioned earlier), we do take the opportunity of Lent to make changes on our lives.  But unlike that voice message, may we never hear God’s voice and choose not to return the call.

Next Sunday we will be commemorating the 132nd anniversary of the founding of Holy Name Convent from Pittsburgh, PA.  You can look for a snippet of our history as the reflection.  God bless our founding Sisters!  Their first home was “on loan”  space in a family home in San Antonio which is the township adjacent to Saint Leo, home of the current monastery.  The weather bureau archives reveal that it was 80 degrees in San Antonio, FL on the day of their arrive, February 28, 1889.  Stay tuned for the “rest of the story” next week.  

~Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

Genesis 9:8-15   1 Peter 3:18-22   Mark 1:12-15

 

 

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Holy Family Sunday 2020

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This coming year Pope Francis has designated the “Year of St. Joseph” marking the 150th anniversary of Pius IX’s declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church.  Francis describes Joseph as “a beloved father, tender and loving, obedient and accepting; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.”

This weekend the Church turns our focus to Jesus’ earthly family with the feast of the Holy Family.  It’s natural when we celebrate the birth of the child Jesus that we would reflect on His family.  Do you realize that for every one year of his public life, Jesus spent ten years in family life?  That helps us understand the importance and priority He gave to family life.

What might that mean to (and for) us as monastics who we live in an intentional family we call community.  As Benedictines our lives are guided by the simple, yet profound, guidelines designed over 1500 years ago by the man Benedict.  His Rule gives us a picture of a man of great wisdom, compassion and much common sense. (I believe, we can agree, his guidelines were influenced to a great degree by his twin sister Scholastica.)

It is the spirit of the Rule that has survived.  Benedict had a knack for tempering discipline with compassion that makes the Rule come alive for so many.  His prudence shines through when, in so many words, he says: this is what works for us now – if the arrangement of the psalmody, the daily schedule and other daily living details don’t fit your need, change it.

If we only know the first word of the Rule “LISTEN” what an impact it could make on our own happiness and harmony between peoples.  To truly listen requires an attentive spirit … not a scramble to respond with advice, a witty remark or a “I’ve got a better one” or “I know exactly how you feel.”  When we truly listen to another we can identify their feeling, let it resonant within and know that very often all the person wants is a signal that we care.

Benedict’s Rule is not intended to be a great and lofty treatise on prayer or spirituality.  It’s just plain “down to earth” advice.  He says let this rule be read 3 times, cover to cover, to the potential member so she understands exactly what she is getting herself into.  The Rule is filled with practical guidance for ordinary people to live together peacefully. Benedict expected his followers to work hard, study hard and pray hard.  He recognized much of the study and work is an interior process – a true “self-study” steeped in a quiet atmosphere that is broken only by the sounds of nature, farm machinery, a printing press or sewing machine or the scratch of a calligraphy pen.  This kind of soul work begins in private prayer enriched in communal prayer.

I think Benedict must have valued the idea of cross-training.  Given the rotation of duties and positions in community, all members do well to take to heart the advice and warnings given to the various community officials: the prioress, the guest mistress and the porter; the cellarer, the artisans and the sub-prioress.  We all need to be aware of the final judgment – be strong, and at the same time, never be ashamed to have a tender heart.

From that first word in his Rule: LISTEN… to his advice to begin every good work with prayer … to keeping a lamp burning at night … and don’t loiter outside chapel if you are late … it is evident that Benedict saw God at work within the ordinary events of everyday life with all its joys and sorrows, struggles and high points, funerals and jubilees, comings and goings.  In Psalm 27, and often as an antiphon, we pray: “One thing I seek: to dwell in your presence, O God, all the days of my life.”  And, that presence does not refer only to our final day on earth or future eternal life in heaven.  It is not found only in the Eucharistic presence in the chapel – it is EVERYWHERE – in the Voice of the Spirit working in our personal lives and in the voices of each other and the sounds of daily living.

So, LISTEN – to the Voice of your God within – and listen with your heart to your comrades’ hungers and longings.  Just LISTEN – with your ears certainly but also with your eyes and heart and feelings.  The quality of our life in community, is shaped by each of us.

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
First Reading  Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3    Second Reading  Colossians 3:12-21)
Gospel  Luke 2:22-40
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Because you were faithful in small matters … come, share your Master’s joy.

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Have you noticed that, as you seek to probe a parable it can be as exciting and intriguing as the challenge of a Father Brown, James Patterson or Jessica Fletcher fictionalized mystery story.  Ah, there’s one big difference – a mystery may seem pretty far-fetched while Jesus’ parables deal with real-life issues.  They are alike in this: both are filled with clues – though some may be quite subtle.  Lectio helps us probe Jesus’ parables – like in a game of Clue – bit by bit gaining us information that will enrich our lives.

These past few weeks, we move ever closer to the end of the church year, the liturgy has been offering us clues about the meaning of the “last days.”  In this parable, Jesus uses the “root of all evil” metaphor.  It’s about more than our monthly pocket money.  This is about life and our allotment of gifts, talents, and responsibilities.  We can’t be reminded too often that our gifts, our talents, our donors’ contributions are given to us primarily for service to others.  And, there is a promise coming:  If we make the intended use of these gifts, we will be rewarded and entrusted with even more responsibilities.  Sadly, some people deliberately fail at a job or chore they don’t like so they won’t get asked to do it again.  What about us and our talents?  Do we let dislike of a job, or a personality conflict with a co-worker or the threat of failure, or someone else’s critical eye hold us back from using a God-given talent?  Or how about a more mundane question: We get an allowance each month – do we bury it, hoard it, save it for vacation or a rainy day?  On the other hand, do we tithe a portion for the good of others so it keeps moving forward, good upon good?

Like the Master in this Gospel, St. Benedict teaches us “journey lessons.”  He speaks most directly to and about those who are sent on the journey… He doesn’t say that the Prioress, upon her return, will ask for an accounting – She knows “when the Prioress is away, the mice will play.”  And in all likelihood she will not (like the Master in this parable) distribute money to the members who well-tended the vineyard in her absence.  [But Benedict’s instruction does not preclude the Prioress from bringing home trinkets / mementos for everyone.]

We can sense the journey motif from the opening words of Benedict’s Rule when he bids us: “Listen!  The labor of obedience will bring you back (“coming back” requires a journey, doesn’t it?).  “Let us get up then, at long last,” for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: “It is high time for us to arise from sleep…” (come from the land of your dreams) “while you have the light… go out to seek workers in the multitude of the people ….”  Listen to Benedict: “Moving on in your journey of faith,” (and life in the monastery) “you will say, Here I am Lord.”  And, then he tells us how to prepare for our journey: “Clothed with faith and the performance of good works, let us set out on this way, with the Gospel for our guide….  Be just in all your dealings, speak the truth from the heart and do not practice deceit or listen to slander.”

By the time Benedict wrote chapter 67 one can tell he’s had some experience with monks who journeyed afar from the home monastery.  We know that Benedict, in his youth, had escaped “big city life.”  So he wanted to protect his monks from the evils and temptations of the prevailing society.  Those at home are to remember the absent ones in prayer … which means the gathered community may have “counted” noses,” not for the sake of taking roll call, but to pray for their confreres safety and protection from temptation.

I have to smile when I read what Benedict cautions next.  He certainly knew human nature: “no one should presume to relate what was seen or heard outside the monastery.”  Sounds to me like he’s familiar with the saying from Ecclesiastes: “Everything is wearisome beyond description.”  In plain English this can be interpreted: “No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied.  No matter how much we hear, we are not content.”  We need to be on guard to not be hungry/eager for a morsel of gossip to savor.  Benedict didn’t want stories of the world to creep in and cause dissension or dissatisfaction to rankle or upset his community.  Times haven’t changed much over the passing years – we still need to be on guard that we balance chartable interest in each other versus the drive to know every intimate detail about what was seen or heard by the other.

In line with his admonition to pray always, Benedict reminds his monks that on a journey to keep an eye on the sun … listen for the bells from neighboring abbeys announcing prayer times.  … so, (Benedict reminds them) though at a distance too far to join the community, they should “observe the prescribed hours” as best they can.  Thus, probably began the custom of the Angelus … the dialogue between Angel Gabriel and Mother Mary, a modified version of Sext (or Noon Prayer) that could be memorized so as not to neglect their “measure of service.”

The Rule closes with this journey-question: “Are you hastening toward your heavenly home?  Then keep this little rule … as you set out for loftier summits of the teaching and virtues we’ve mentioned.”  Benedict, in his own unique way, shares Paul’s message to the Philippians that we heard in Wednesday’s evening reading: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.”  Benedict adds this promise: “under God’s protection” (together) “we will reach our heavenly home.”  That’s the same promise Jesus makes to his trustworthy followers: Because “You were faithful in small matters … come, share your Master’s joy.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

This Year’s Thanksgiving Outreach

This year, obviously, we will not be hosting our traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  We plan to collaborate with Pastor Cheryl Duke and the people at Dade City Presbyterian Church to provide food baskets for the needy.  We will be contributing any monetary donations, along with supermarket gift cards, to extend our mission to “feed the hungers of the people of God.”  The Knights from nearby St. Mark’s Parish have donated $1520 in gifts cards and $1305 was contributed by the Benedictine Sisters’ from their monthly personal allowances. 

We are grateful for all the years that Saint Anthony Women’s Club and parish staff have allowed – and assisted us – in providing a free meal to the local community on Thanksgiving Day.    

Twenty-six years ago the Sisters began small, in their monastery dining room, to provide a holiday meal for a handful of Saint Leo College International Students.  Within three years, the Sisters moved the event to Marmion Cafeteria and extended an invitation to the public to join them for dinner.  They gathered a crew of volunteers that grew over the years.  In 1998, the Sisters sold Marmion Cafeteria to Saint Leo and the Saint Anthony Women’s club jumped on the bandwagon and have continued for the intervening years to provide all the desserts for the dinner.  Saint Anthony School children got involved in making table centerpieces and place mats.  We will greatly miss the gathering this year and look forward to a future when we can once again welcome our guests to bow their heads over a holiday meal to give thanks to God for all the gifts He provides.  

 

First Reading  Selected verses Proverbs31       Second Reading  1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
Gospel Reading  Matthew 25:14-30
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To Listen is to Understand

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I offer you two brief stories.  The first – a familiar story (one of many versions that can be found on the Internet) –

There once was a man that prayed, “God, speak to me.”  And a meadowlark sang.  But the man did not hear.

So the man spoke aloud: “God, speak to me!”  And thunder rolled across the sky.  But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, “God, let me see you.”  And a star shone brightly.  But he noticed it not.

The man then shouted, “God, show me a miracle.”  And a babe was born.  But the man was unaware.

So, the man cried out in despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know that you are here!”  Whereupon God reached down and touched the man.  But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked away.

The situation in the second story may also have a familiar ring –

A woman was having difficulty communicating with her husband … (or I could say two Benedictines Sisters were having difficulty with that same problem).  Each had concluded that the other must be hard of hearing.  So, (in the original scenario) the wife decided to conduct a test without her husband knowing about it.

One evening she sat in a chair on the far side of the room.  Her husband’s back was turned to her so he could not see her.  The room was very quiet; no TV was playing.  She whispered, “Can you hear me?”  There was no response.

Scooting a little closer, she asked again, “Can you hear me now?”  Still no reply.  Quietly she edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer.

Finally, she moved right in behind his chair and said, “Can you hear me now?”  To her surprise and chagrin, he responded with irritation in his voice, “For the fourth time, yes!”

And Jesus said: Whoever has ears ought to hear.

So, pondering both of these stories, we might ask:

  1. When God speaks, do we make sure we don’t miss some part of the message because the blessing is not packaged the way we expected?
  2. Is the problem that God is not speaking? Or, that we are not listening?
  3. Or, is the third step where we fail – Are we listening and hearing but, then, failing to act on what we hear?

We are all well aware of Benedict’s opening word to us in his Rule – it’s the same that Jesus speaks in this Gospel: Listen.  According to a footnote in my Bible, the phrase “Let they who have ears, let them hear” (or a similar expression) appears approximately 14 times in Scripture.  I find this interesting because the number 14 is considered to be a symbol of salvation and deliverance.  The 14th day of the first Hebrew month is Passover – the celebration of the deliverance from death of the firstborn of the Children of Israel.  The angel passed by all the homes where the doorposts had been painted with blood.  The word “Hear” (h e a r) in Greek means to understand, to perceive the sense of what is.

Benedict’s first word (in the Rule) – LISTEN is the key to what he says in the last two chapters of the Rule.  If only that one instruction were heeded, what an impact it could make on our own happiness and it would foster concord between peoples.  Isn’t attentive listening the master key that opens our hearts for good zeal?  Deep, sensitive listening is the undergirding to mutual obedience, anticipating one another’s needs, picking up on feelings, being aware when we’ve pushed another’s “buttons” and recognizing we need to change the course of this interaction.  To truly listen requires an attentive spirit.  Recall some of the points in Celeste Headlee’s TED talk that we viewed the other evening  [Celeste Headlee  10 ways to have a better conversation] Simple things but ones that take attention and self-discipline to put into practice.  Celeste reminded us: if your mouth is open, you’re not listening; if you want to pontificate, write a blog; listen to people and be prepared to be amazed; everyone is an expert at something!”

Jesus and Benedict each offer us a challenging but attainable ideal.  When the monastic breaches the ideal, we are expected to humbly ask forgiveness both from God and from our Sisters-in-Christ to whom we freely pledge to “form bonds of mutual love and respect and to call forth the best in one another.” (community Philosophy statement 2018)

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
First Reading Isaiah 55: 10-11       Second Reading Romans 8:18-23
Gospel Matthew 13: 1-9

 

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What Is Your Journey Question?

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In last week’s Gospel, Jesus emphasized that there is no way to predict His final coming to each individual.  He reminded us that we must remain vigilant and ready to receive our God and Savior at any time.  Now, in the weekend’s Gospel Jesus talks about the same concept this time using economic metaphors.  As he describes it, before the master leaves on a journey, he entrusts to his servants with various “allowances.”  He discerns the amount of the gift according to each servant’s ability.  But, you know the story.  Upon his return, he finds that the first and second servants have doubled their money, and, thus, both recipients are rewarded.  The third servant, however, afraid that he would lose his allowance, only conserved what he received.  He risked nothing; he did not even deposit the money in a bank to earn interest.  This servant is chastised, his money taken back and instead given to the servant who brought the greatest return.

We can’t be reminded too often that our gifts, or talents, are given to us for the service of others.  If we fail to use these gifts, God’s judgment on us will be severe.  On the other hand, if we make use of these gifts in service to others we will be rewarded and entrusted with even more responsibilities.  Sadly, some people deliberately fail at a job or chore they don’t like so they won’t get asked to do it again.

What about us and our talents?  Do we let dislike of a job, or the threat of failure, or someone else’s critical eye hold us back from exercising a God-given talent?  Or a more mundane question: We get an earthly allowance each month – do we bury it or use it for the good of others so it keeps moving forward, good upon good…

Benedict teaches us several lessons about “journeys.”  He speaks most directly to, and about, those who go on the journey … He doesn’t pass out money to those left to tend the vineyard, but he certainly leaves them a legacy.

Beginning with the opening words of his Rule one can sense a journey motif.  Benedict bids us: “Listen! The labor of obedience will bring you back (“coming back” requires a journey, doesn’t it?)  You’ll come to him from whom you have drifted…”  “Let us get up then (he says) at long last, (journey from the land of our dreams) for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: “It is high time for us to arise from sleep… run (speed along on your journey) while you have the light… go out (leave the familiar territory you call home) to seek workers in the multitude of the people ….”  Listen to Benedict: “moving on in your journey of faith, (and life in the monastery) “You will say, Here I am Lord.”  And, then he tells us how to prepare for our journey: “Clothed with faith and the performance of good works, let us set out on this way, with the Gospel for our guide…. Be just in all your dealings, speak the truth from the heart and do not practice deceit or listen to slander.”

Beyond the Prologue of the Rule, Benedict offers guidance for our conduct on the voyage of life.  After giving us an overview of what we will need in our toolkit, Benedict hastens us on our journey when he tells us: RUN on the path of God’s commandments, never swerving.”

By the time Benedict wrote chapter 67 one can tell he’s had some experience with monks who journeyed afar from the home monastery.  We know that Benedict, in his youth, has escaped “big city life.”  So he wanted to protect his monks from the evils and temptations of the prevailing society.  Notice he does not say … those who go on a journey.  Rather, those who are sent on a journey.  Those at home are to remember the absent ones in prayer … which means the gathered community may have “counted” noses” but not for the sake of taking roll but to pray for their confreres safety and protection from temptation.

I have to smile when I read what Benedict cautions next.  He certainly knew human nature: “no one should presume to relate what was seen or heard outside the monastery.”  Sounds to me like he’s witnessed some cases where “curiosity killed the cat.”  Benedict didn’t want stories of the world to creep in and cause dissension or dissatisfaction with the home experience to rankle or upset his community.  Times haven’t changed much over the passing years, we still need to on guard that we balance chartable interest in each other versus the drive to know every intimate detail about what was seen or heard by the other.

Benedict is solicitous of his monks on a journey that they not appear embarrassingly shabby.  He makes provision that they be LOANED underwear (that’s right with their long tunics their everyday wear might not have included underwear).

In line with the admonition to pray always, Benedict reminds his monks on a journey to keep an eye on the sun … listen for the bells from neighboring abbeys announcing prayer times.  … so, (Benedict reminds them) though at a distance too far to join the community they might “observe the prescribed hours” as best they can.  Thus, probably began the custom of the Angelus … the dialogue between Angel Gabriel and Mother Mary, a modified version of Sext (or Noon Prayer) that could be memorized so as not to neglect their “measure of service.”

The Rule closes with this journey-question: “Are you hastening toward your heavenly home?  Then keep this little rule … as you set out for loftier summits of the teaching and virtues we’ve mentioned.” Then Benedict echoes his message first heard in the Prologue with this promise: “under God’s protection” (together) we “will reach” our heavenly home … this is the self-same promise Jesus extends to us in the Gospel: Because “You were faithful in small matters … come, share your Master’s joy.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time   Sunday, November 19, 2017
First Reading  Selected verses Proverbs31   Second Reading  1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
Gospel Reading  Matthew 25:14-30
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