Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Widow

We are called to BE the Good News

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Last weekend we observed Jesus as he sat in the temple quietly taking in what was going on around him.  We heard His remark about the contributions being made to the temple treasury.  We saw what he saw.  A widow, as unobtrusive as she could be, slipped (almost unnoticed) among the other donors to deposit her “two cents” that settled softly with the rich folks’ paper money. And if you’ve read Mark’s gospel continuously from that incident to today’s Gospel you also know Jesus’ prediction about the destruction of the Temple, his teaching about the cost of discipleship, the woes that will accompany the end times and Jesus’ instruction to his disciples about the need for watchfulness so that they will not be caught unprepared for the final judgment.

Jesus says: “Learn a lesson from the fig tree.”  Jesus could have said citrus tree or olive tree.  They grew nearby, too.  But, he says “fig tree” and happily for us we have fig trees to observe.   When the branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, we know that another season of fruit is near.

After Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, He gives several brief parables. We know that Jesus’ words are not spoken to frighten his disciples, nor should they frighten us.   The prophetic Word of God is as sure and secure as the rest of His message.  It is offered to prepare us for the changes we will experience during our lifetime and at the end time. Our consolation and hope are found in the lasting nature of Jesus’ words and God’s never-ending love for us.

When you see the things happening that Jesus talks about, know that he is near, at the gates.   “But,” says Jesus, “of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”    Then He assures us: “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

So, how, as followers of the Jesus, do we prepare in the face of struggles not unlike our times as community and as a nation?  How well do you read signs?  Can you train yourself to be more observant of the signs?  Do you naturally notice signs in nature?  Road signs?  How well do you read nonverbal body language?   Do you work to sensitize yourself to recognize everyday signs?  How do you heighten your sensitivity to spirit signs?  Do you use Scripture, the Rule, the example of a favorite saint? What helps you to listen more keenly to your heart in the quiet of the night when sleep eludes you?  Maybe your quiet time is walking, working or driving along a familiar road; passing through the hall at a leisurely pace; setting the table, readying yourself for communal prayer in the chapel – do you hear God’s whisper in your heart?

Cultivation of the inner spirit helps prepare us to see the direction of the cultural winds we face, whether agreeable or frightening.    God does not usually shout to us in fury or in a tumultuous hurricane.  Much of the time God speaks softly.  So stay tuned.  In the face of cultural garbage and shifting government structures or a changing church, we steady ourselves not to be tempted to hoard food and possessions.  We guard against the temptation to build a hermitage and hide out.  We pray to be strengthened to stay in the fray.  Many things will just happen in our lives – things not scheduled by the calendar, or watch, or clock or a computer “ding”.  With all the scheduled things we have to do, we are called by today’s Gospel to keep our hearts attuned to the significant things that just happen.

How can we do this day in and day out and year after year?  Can we do it by heeding Jesus’ directive to the disciples who accompanied Him in the garden the night before his death:  Stay here, watch and pray.   Watch: ask for God’s Wisdom to let us see God’s perspective so we discover our moment within our cultural context.  And, pray!  Remember, “to pray” is not simply to read books about God, spirituality or prayer, or to think about those topics.  To pray is simply – to pray!  We don’t even have to start the conversation.  Simply let God in.  Let us strive to keep in mind that we are called not so much to do the Good News.  We are called to be the Good News.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

 

First Reading:   Daniel 12:1-3         Second Reading:  Hebrews 10:11-14,18
Gospel:   Mark 13:24-32
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Each day is our moment to resist any act of violence against creation.

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This weekend’s first reading, the story of the widow in Elijah’s time, and the Gospel of the widow in Jesus’ time, prompt us to take a hard look at our individual and communal giving practices.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we see clearly that God is the giver of all.  That raises the question: What portion of our blessings do we give back to honor God and build up God’s Kingdom on earth?

In this reflection, instead of emphasizing the spirit of giving often connected with the story of the widow’s mite, I’d like to share some ideas that convey the perspective that it is not all about GIVING.  This summer’s siege of storm devastation and raging fires in the western U.S. is often blamed on changing weather patterns.  But is not much of it due to poor land management, human carelessness and a growing history of trying to control the forces of nature?  The Benedictine value of STEWARDSHIP (preserving the earth and respecting people) calls us to responsible care rather than oppressive authoritative dominance.  Our current readings from the Rule of Benedict remind us: “Treat all things as INSTRUMENTS of the ALTAR.”  “A good word is better than the best gift.”  Living out the Benedictine value of prudent stewardship can require a radical shift in our thinking lest we too easily become accustomed to regarding earth’s resources as if they had no intrinsic worth.  For example, the demand for fast, prepackaged food contributes to the stripping of rain forests in order to provide pastureland.  In the process, many Indigenous peoples have been rendered homeless, and the habitat of endangered species has been lost forever.  Advances have been made in the production of biodegradable substances but so far, it’s only resulted in a reduction in the time it takes plastics and Styrofoam to disintegrate – they still constitute a hazard to the environment.

One of the biggest offenders is plastic bottles.  In landfills toxic gases are leached into the environment causing a variety of health issues.  Landfills in the U.S. have over 2- million discarded plastic bottles that each take up to 1,000 years to decompose.  How many thousand years did we toss into the landfill this week?  In the last month?  Trying to conserve by switching from plastic to glass containers is foiled here in our county because glass is not recycled.  Our primary motivation is that all (now and in the future) may have a share in God’s gifts. We have to think bigger than the cash register. Each day is our moment to resist any act of violence against creation.

We wrestle prayerfully with questions about how we can adopt, and adapt, to a simpler lifestyle: letting go of some things, being patient when our preferences are denied by unavailability of pantry supplies. We have to start where we are, doing what we can, with the insight and energy we have to make a difference.  Maybe we begin with one thing, one purchase, one habit a month that we change.  For example: spend a few pennies more to make a purchase from a local vendor that you usually make at a big box store.  Or make a pint or gallon purchase of hand soap instead of several smaller bottles.    Run 2-sided copies and use scrap paper for note pads. After a month, don’t forsake the new habit, keep it up and add a new pattern.  By the end of the year, you’ll be 12x more conservative.  You may ask: how does doing any of this help the people in the 3rd world?  The truth is, it doesn’t directly.  It changes YOU.   At the heart of our actions must rest the conviction that our world belongs to God and any misuse dishonors the Creator.

The widow in the Gospel was made destitute by life’s circumstances.  We by no means live a life of destitution – but we know people who do.  We are invited to ask ourselves: What can I, what can we, do to reverse the destructive patterns of life that are making a negative impact on our earth and in the lives of those we profess to serve?  In the mix, is the challenge THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL.  Each day we are challenged to figure out what to do with our “too much”?  The answer is NOT to find an empty shelf, an empty room, to store it.  If we are not using it, do we REALLY need it? If we haven’t worn it since we moved into this building, who could use it?  If we have forgotten we ever had it, did we ever really need it?  Are we saving it because, deep down, we don’t trust God to come through for us on a “rainy day?”  We can only give from our need if we trust (really and truly deep down) that God will provide.   We can sing God’s praises with Elijah’s widow in tomorrow’s first reading because, for nigh on 137 years, our community “jar of flour has not gone empty” and “our jug of oil has never run dry”.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

Thank God for the gift that Veterans have offered for our nation and for world peace ….   Remember, too, the families of veterans …  their lives too were, and are, affected by the impact on service women and me …  witnessing the effects of turmoil between peoples and nations.  Pray for strength for veterans and their families to be compassionate, supportive, faithful to relationships and seeking available medical and mental services.    

Have a good week!

 

First Reading:  Kings 17:10-16                 Second Reading:  Hebrews 9:24-28
Gospel:  Mark 12:38-44
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Availability

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availabilityThroughout his Gospel, Luke demonstrates that God’s promises to Israel are fulfilled in the person of Jesus.  In this part of Luke’s story, Jesus and his disciples are approaching the city of Naim when they come upon a large funeral procession. Luke does not tell us how Jesus knows that the deceased is an only son of a widow.  Did He know the family or was the scene and the ritual all too familiar to him and his disciples?   Whatever the reason, had Jesus not been present to the moment and available to its significance it may have gone without noticed or ignored by the evangelist as well as the passersby.

Before I continue: a disclaimer is called for: Much of what follows is borrowed or adapted from Robert Wicks’ little volume entitled AVAILABLILTY.

The virtue, the gift of availability is indeed a simple but a great gift.  The freedom to be present when needed is something special.  It is an opportunity to be spiritual – to be open to relationship in the deepest, most elegant sense of the term.  However, this wonderful state of living often seems hidden or distorted.  Today, availability is a premium because it is not only a gift but also sometimes a great challenge for many of us – one that we need to more fully understand and address if we are to be able to continue to be present in the full sense of the word.  Availability is not only a gift; it is also a problem.

Some of us are “too available.”  Thus, true availability becomes watered down. We become too busy to pray, too tired to reflect, and, ironically, too stimulated interpersonally present to others.

Others among us pull back in anxiety.  Being available to God seems to raise too many questions or doubts.  Spending time alone is no longer relaxing; instead we feel lonely or preoccupied with our faults and failures.  And being with others doesn’t seem to help either; in some cases, we feel used, left out, or misunderstood.  The end result is that our expectations for intimacy are not realized and we feel the need to pull back more than ever.

The situation is not merely a sad one; it is a dangerous.  Without a sense of availability to self, others, and God, life loses it spirituality.  Relationships suffer, break down, and we are left with a void or sense of confusion.

We must address availability with the imperative that openness to the personal and interpersonal is essential if the Spirit is to be heard and felt. Any blocks to relationship must be removed if we are to prepare ourselves always for the continual coming of what is Good.  The very vitality of living out the Gospel depends on our being involved –  in an ongoing way – in the process.

When we spend time, especially unplanned time, with others it is not so much that we TAKE TIME OUT OUR DAY to be with them as that we had make the other part of our life.  For instance, today’s funeral for Kurt … because we generously welcomed them into our home God, through us, was enabled to share compassion, comfort and hospitality to a large group of mourners.

Jesus absorbed the widow’s sorry, made it his own and offered deep compassion and consolation to her even before he raised her boy from the funeral bier.  Did Mary witness this incident or did others relate to her?  Later when her son died do you think  she recalled he’d brought this Only son back, and Lazarus, too, back to life?  Did she live in hope that such a miracle would be granted her son?  Someday we may know.

Picking up cues, recognizing a silent need – reaching into self and out to others: this kind of attitude is at the heart of a life that reflects an appreciation of the gift of availability.  This attitude merits being kept in mind as we look at some of the basic problems we encounter in trying to be available to ourselves, others, and God.  Though the concept is simple, living a life of true availability isn’t easy for most of us.  It takes a conscious desire and effort to be present to all the nuances of the present moment.  Some people see only the dark clouds gathering; others see the rainbow emerging.  Let us be present to the moments when rainbows quietly and slowly are revealed in our lives.  Jesus would have missed the funeral scene if he had been too intent on getting to the farmer’s market in town.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

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Two Cents

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two centsI would venture to say that most hearers or readers think that this Gospel passage is only about the widow or about how honorable the poor are for being generous.  If we do, we’re missing the point.   Of course we cannot simply look at the story of the widow: (having lost her spouse – possibly at a young age given men’s’ life expectancy then – she might have had no children; now she’s considered a burden to both her parents and her in-laws.

Jesus commended her giving, in contrast to that of the scribes, because she gave everything she had! She could have kept one of those coins for herself, but she willingly gave everything she had to Jesus.  That widow could never have known what her gift would accomplish. She walked into the Temple, ignored by the rich, the religious and those caught up in the celebrity worship of the day. She walked in with her little gift and she gave it without fanfare – no trumpet blare, no applause. Everything that poor woman had earned for her own needs was given willingly to the Lord. She is an example of extravagant giving!

The rich gave, too.  Some came in with great fanfare, standing back and tossing in their gift for the greatest effect. Others gave with a frown on their face, holding onto their coins as tightly as they could to the very last second. Others probably stopped to make sure that everyone was watching them as they gave their offerings. They wanted to be recognized, honored and in control – they wanted a say in everything.  People like that are dangerous, divisive people! They are religious fools.

They received their applause and they walked proudly away. This poor widow gave her “two cents” and walked away, but her gift is still giving today. How many people have been challenged to go ahead and give their little because of this woman’s example?

Why would she bother to give such an insignificant gift? Her two cents among the thousands of dollars given by the wealthy seems so small. Why bother? This little lady is everything the religious scribes and the rich hypocrites were not. Why would she bother to give such an insignificant gift?

It’s her attitude that speaks volumes: humble, unassuming, unpretentious.   One’s attitude makes all the difference.  How we give is far more important than what we give!  Reminds me of a definition I heard many moon ago of the difference between cooperation and collaboration.  Cooperation is when all the stakeholders put their money on the table; collaboration happens when they put their hands in their laps.

In her quiet giving she was preaching a powerful sermon. Hear her as she humbly explains:

  • I give because God loves me and I love in return
  • I give because I trust God
  • I give because God has given to me

Three other lessons we might glean:

  • God will do great things with our small offerings –We do not know what any others giver put in the basket that week in the temple. But, after over 2,000 years the tiny gift of that widow has been multiplied into untold billions as people have been motivated to give out of their own poverty.
  • The Lord will settle His accounts one day – The scribes and the wealthy men there that day had their reward then and there – they blew their own trumpets – they got public attention and admiration. This widow will receive hers later! Do what you do for God – just keep it simple and silent.  Be honest: have you ever taken credit for a gift NOT given … failed to contribute to a collection (like we do for Daystar, the Heritage Christmas or AIM) but smiled as if you had contributed when the community is praised for its generosity?
  • God does not want our money; He wants us – He wants our love and our devotion and when He has that, He has everything else that we possess. When God has us, He has our pocketbooks.

So, in summary, the important lesson we might take from this story is: that real giving is sacrificial and reckless.  How much of your personal monthly allowance do you dedicate to doing good for someone else?  Do you contribute at the end of the month if you have something left over?  Or do you automatically designate 10% of your allowance to a cause each month?

If you remember nothing else, remember this: the attitude of your heart in giving makes all the difference.  How we give is far more important than what we give!

                                                                                                                Reflection by S. Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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