Month: May 2018

Our First Glimpse of God

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Gospel, Jesus, Love3 Comments

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051318-seventh-sunday-easter.cfm

Today, in Mercy, our readings from John’s epistle and Gospel are replete with love – the Holy Love of God for us, and God’s hope for that love to be reflected in us. How fitting these readings are for Mother’s Day, when we honor the one who was a first source of love for us. A loving mother is our first glimpse into the face of God. Throughout our lives, she protects and prays for us, just as Jesus does for his disciples in today’s Gospel. Through her sacrificial love, she is our first teacher of what it means to live like Christ.

Let us pray today for all mothers, especially our own. Each one, no doubt, did the best she could to offer us life. For some, that was harder than for others – and some of us struggle with that reality throughout our lives. For others, our mother’s love has always been the unequivocal source of our strength and joy.

Today is a day to recognize that every mother has held the hope of loving us into the fullness of life. Let us bless our mother for that hope and for every bit of love she has given us.

1 John 4_Mothers Day

Song: A Mother’s Prayer – Celine Dion

A Thimbleful of Metaphors

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, GospelLeave a comment

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051218.cfm

Today, in Mercy, our readings offer us two thoughts about communication. In the passage from Acts, Paul’s senior disciples Priscilla and Aquila need to work with a new young preacher Apollos to make sure he communicates the Word perfectly.

In the Gospel, John indicates that he has been communicating by metaphor, but that the post-Resurrection experience of the Holy Spirit will be clearer than metaphors.

Indeed, John’s writing is full of metaphor to the point that it can seem overwhelming – trying to press an infinite message into the thimble of our human minds. We need to read his Gospel not as we would read a newspaper, but as we would read a poem. This will open our minds to the suggested layers of meaning too big for human words. For example, Jesus was not really a shepherd. But the metaphor of “Good Shepherd” allows us to experience, in just two words, all Christ’s tender and protective love for His followers.

When reading John’s Gospel, it is good to savor it in thimblefuls, like a rich dessert.  Let its metaphorical sweetness sink in.

John16_25

Song: Word of God Speak – Mercy Me

Can Suffering and Sacrifice Lead to Glory?

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, dying, Faith, Jesus1 Comment

Friday, May 11, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051118.cfm

Today, in Mercy, Acts continues to describe the development of the early Church. Paul spends 18 months in Corinth, working with the new Christians through the many twists of a growing community. Luke’s Gospel reminds us of a key teaching for this, and our, community: If we really live like Christ, we will suffer, and die to ourselves before any hope of glory.

A true Christian life is not without sacrifice (which comes by choice) nor suffering (which comes by imposition). 

We sacrifice because we love. Consider all that parents sacrifice for their children’s sake.

When we suffer, we must also love, but add the hope for healing in ourselves and in anyone who causes our suffering.

This is to live like Christ.

Luke 24

The Last Footprint

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Holy Spirit, Jesus1 Comment

Ascension Thursday, May 10, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051018-ascension.cfm

Today, in Mercy, we stand with the disciples, straining for a last look at Jesus as He ascends into heaven. Their hearts are stretched with both joy and pain at all that is happening to them. They long for the Holy Spirit to come to them even as they mourn the physical departure of Christ.

Many years ago, I was blessed to stand in the Chapel of the Ascension, a small shrine on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Tradition holds this to be the site of Jesus’ Ascension. Inside is a well-worn rock with a slight indentation. Many venerate this as the last footprint of Christ on earth.

ascension rock

Whether or not this devotion is valid is unimportant. In the hush of my early morning visit to this shrine, the Holy Spirit embraced me, overwhelming me with an awareness of how the disciples felt that day in the absence of Jesus.

Many reading this may feel a similar absence, a need, or a longing for God. Perhaps by touching that sense of absence, that indentation in the rock of our hearts, we may invite and welcome the Holy Spirit to fill our need.

Song: Abide with Me – Matt Redman

Courage to Dance?

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Faith, Hope, Jesus, Uncategorized2 Comments

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050918.cfm

Today, in Mercy, we follow Paul to Athens where he preaches a beautiful and reasonable sermon to the thoughtful Greeks. These were people proud of their intellects and dedicated to philosophy. They desired a reasonable god, a god that they could control and explain.

But the Christian God is not reasonable. God is infinite mystery plumbed only by abandoning ourselves to faith, trust, hope and love. Our God will not be controlled by theses, explanations or definitions. Our God will not be “ordered”, but rather invites us to the abundant chaos of Divine Life. Only a few Athenians had the courage to meet this God.

In our highly intellectualized, scientifically ordered society, there are fewer brave believers today. It takes a large mind and soul to embrace the dance of both reason and faith. Are you one of the dancers?

Acts 17_28 Dance

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cwiE54S1h5s

Break the Chains, Lord!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Eternal Life, Faith1 Comment

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050818.cfm

Today, in Mercy, the reading from Acts gives us high drama drawn from real-life events. Paul and Silas, singing hymns and praying after their torture, are sprung from prison chains by God’s power in the form of an earthquake. It’s movie material!

But how does it apply to our lives? Are there chains holding us back from the fullness of our spiritual life? Unredeemed sorrows, cherished vengeances, life-sapping addictions, self-absorbed agendas – so many poor choices can block us from freedom and amazement in God! Let’s pray today for our own little earthquakes. Let’s acknowledge the chains and pray for them to break even if it shakes our world up a bit!

Acts 16_26 Chains

Some Amazing Developments

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, Faith, inclusivity1 Comment

Monday, May 7, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050718.cfm

Today, in Mercy, some amazing things occur in our reading from Acts. First of all, Paul ventures into Europe preaching the Word. He and his team have come to the Roman colony of Philippi. While there, he speaks with and befriends – not the leading men – but Lydia, a holy woman of significant influence. These occurrences indicate how different this new religion will be, where Gentiles and women are welcomed into the community of faith. Let’s pray for a similar inclusivity in our churches today, even as society attempts to label, stratify and isolate people based on race, sex, nationality, economics, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic.

Acts16_Lydia

To Love Like God

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Jesus, Love, spirituality, Uncategorized3 Comments

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050618.cfm

Today, in Mercy, in our readings from John’s letter and from his Gospel, we again see the reiteration of Jesus’ most important message: Love one another.  It sounds so easy and sweet, but it is so difficult to love as Jesus loves – without judgment or the expectation of recompense; without reserve and without preference. It is so hard to continue to love when love is met with indifference, arrogance or even hate. Still Jesus asks us to love as He does – to will the eternal good of every person and to foster it by our actions. May we have the grace to keep on trying.

as I have loved you

Not A Piece of Cake

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Faith, Mercy, Uncategorized1 Comment

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050518.cfm

Today, in Mercy, we listen first to the great Apostle Paul’s experience of trying to do the work of God as He sails through the Mediterranean world. He is frustrated in trying to take the Word into Asia. Even the Holy Spirit holds him back. In the Gospel, Jesus tells it straight: You will be persecuted just like I was. This living the Gospel thing is not a piece of cake! That is why it is so important that we help, rather than block one another. Most people are trying to do the best they can. If they make a mistake, let’s give them a helping hand rather than a condemning tongue. It’s easy to bury somebody, but it takes a real Christian to give them new life. (PS: Got a pick for the Kentucky Derby? I’m going for “My Boy Jack”.)

John15_16

As I Have Loved You

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Jesus, Love, Mercy, Uncategorized1 Comment

Friday, May 4, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050418.cfm

Today, in Mercy, Jesus speaks his most loving words to his disciples. We can see them gathered around Jesus in the candlelit room. They are both dreading and longing for these precious words, both a confirmation of love and declaration of departure. But the words give them courage and they feel resolve rising in their hearts to be all that Jesus hopes them to be.

These same words follow us down through the ages, comforting and strengthening us to be all that Jesus dreams for us.

(Photo of Motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy in Merion, PA, USA.  Note highlighted motto at top of photo. It has comforted and impelled many a Mercy heart. The magnificent song from Bob Dufford, SJ captures all of Jesus’ Last Discourse in John’s Gospel. PS: For those of you who know Sister Kate, she is one of the Sisters kneeling in adoration.)

Merion chapel shaded