Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Timothy

PEACE

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For today’s reflection I have chosen the theme PEACE because of the significance of tomorrow’s date: September 11 – Patriot’s Day.  I, probably like you, can remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of the attacks of 2001.

We find the theme of PEACE in our first reading from Exodus when Moses implores God to cool his wrath … and so, says the writer: “The Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on the people.”  We might add: “And, so Moses and the people slept in peace for the first night in a long time.”

In the second reading, Paul tells Timothy that Jesus came to save sinners and “for that reason I was mercifully treated.”  We may add: “And, that night Paul slept peacefully, secure in God’s love for him.”

But what are we called to do when peace is fractured?  The burden of reconciliation falls on the shoulders of each and all involved.  Before healing can begin each person on both sides of the splintering – even if it is only a hairline fracture –  must assume ownership for the breakdown in the relationship.  This acknowledgement must be done without an attempt at justification for the blunder.  The REASON for a disruption may explain what or how it happened.  But rarely is a reason an EXCUSE for the gap in peace.  Nor will it prevent the breach from growing wider unless each one picks up her piece to fit back into the puzzle of PEACE.

Several years ago, the American Benedictine Prioresses adopted a statement that, with slight adaptation, speaks to all of us.  “All parties must assume responsibility for calling one another to ethical, moral and spiritual awakening that will end violence in all its forms so that peace will again be part of home, country and world.”

In our former monastery each time we entered or exited the chapel we were blessed with a mosaic of Benedict’s by-word: PEACE.  It was a reminder that we want to be a peaceful community.  But PEACE must be more that a decision, it must be a commitment.  We must do all that it takes to offer each other an environment where PEACE can flourish individually and as a group.

It takes many small tiles placed “just so”, and the cracks filled with an adherent, to make a beautiful mosaic – a symbol reminding us that we are a flawed people.  We have weaknesses, limitations, distractions that burden us and can rise up to put us on the defensive making us resentful, irritable, feeling picked on and sitting on the “pity pot”.   We have to hold strong to the belief in the words of Benedict when he says that seeking peace is the way to heaven.  And, he doesn’t mean just in the heaven of afterlife.  We strive, too, to have a little bit of heaven here on earth.

In the Prologue to The Rule, we find Benedict’s tip for maintaining PEACE in community (family and society).   “If you wish to have true and eternal life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit; turn from evil and do good; seek PEACE and pursue it.”  Another translation says, “Seek peace and go after it.”  That conjures up quite an image:  dashing out of the chapel, down the hallway, into the dining room hoping to catch the coattails of PEACE.  We go climbing God’s holy mountain pursuing PEACE – never abandoning charity nor giving a false peace.  We peacefully perform whatever duties are entrusted to us and ensure that we have made peace before sundown.

Call to mind those beautifully colored tiles in the mosaic above the splashing holy water.  Ponder what a powerful impact PEACE can have on our lives.  Let us renew our commitment to make PEACE more than a concept we talk about; more than a gesture we exchange at Mass, more than a sign on a banner at a rally.  Let us make a daily pledge to nurture peace, be people of peace; to be a peaceful people.

 

~by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

First Reading  Exodus 32:7-11; 13-14      
Second Reading  1 Timothy 1:12-17
Gospel Reading  Luke 15 :1-32 or 1-10
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Will You Give with Open Hands and Heart

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The measure with which you measure,

will in turn be measured out to you.

 

It seems to me, that sadly, we live in a society that seems, in many ways, to have forgotten much of this Gospel message.  Children participate in what is termed “competitive sports”, but they come to believe there is a trophy or a tiara for everyone for every event.  They miss an opportunity to know the thrill of running for the sheer joy of feeling the wind on their faces, a hug from a parent – a loving squeeze without words that conveys, “I am so proud of you!”  The pleasure St. Paul writes about to Timothy: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”  I wonder, did he watch or participate in the competitive games in the coliseum he writes about to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?”

All-too-quickly today’s young people can lose (and sadly never rediscover) the warm, fuzzy feelings of self-satisfaction that was once a natural reaction to success.  You know that gleeful, almost smug smile the first time they stood alone, took their first step… when, for the first time, to the consternation of the adults, they opened a child-proof container, hammered that first nail into mom’s precious table or exhibited their wonderful drawing with indelible pen on the living room wall and exclaimed: “Look what I did!”  No one could be prouder of an achievement!

Jesus advises us: Give your cloak AND your tunic – not just your warm coat (that you haven’t worn in eons) but also the shirt off your back.  Today Jesus might challenge us – Why is your closet stuffed with clothing you haven’t worn since your weight changed or we moved across the street?  It is quite unlikely you’ll ever wear them again.  But that Daystar customer, or that lady from the Sunrise shelter, or the Saint Leo University student who is looking for a business outfit for her first job interview?  Your blouse would fit her perfectly and give her a boost of confidence.

Jesus reminds us, when we invite company for a meal not to wait for a return dinner date.  Don’t ask: whose turn is it to pick up the tab this time?  He says to lend freely without expectation of repayment.  And when you respond generously to the impulse to do good – what caused that desire arise?  Be slow to assume it is due to anything you have done.  Remember Jesus says, “Even sinners lend to their own kind.”  Give, and gifts will be given to you – in good measure, tamped down, packed tight, so your vessel can hold every tiny possible grain of blessing – full to overflowing – spilling over into your life and influencing those around you.

So how will you measure out your kindness – by the teaspoon, tablespoon or a cupful?  By the minute, by the hour it might take you?  We have 24 hours in a day; that’s 168 hours a week.  It’s true they’re not all waking hours.  All toll we have time in excess of 8000 hours a year!  How flexible will you be with these God-given hours?  Will you respond to an imposition on your time?  Now?  Tomorrow?  Next week?  Or with a prayer that the request will be forgotten or someone else will be enlisted to make a donation of her time?  Or will you give with open hands and heart – freely, without measure?

Jesus promises us: “The measure with which you measure, it will in turn be measured out to you.”  And, in turn we will reap the kind of joy recognized by the child who is quoted in the current issue of Reader’s Digest.  She received birthday money from her grandmother to “buy something nice for yourself.”  “I did,” she said when questioned about why she put her gift money in the church collection basket.  “I did” she said, what Grandma said: “I brought happiness!”

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

First Reading:  1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23     Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Gospel:  Luke 6:27-38
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