Month: March 2020

A New Heaven and Earth

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Conversion, Eternal Life, Faith, Hope3 Comments

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

March 23, 2020

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Today, in Mercy, all I can think is, “This passage from Isaiah could not have come at a more perfect time!”

Is65_new heavens

Walter Brueggemann calls Isaiah 65 “a glorious artistic achievement”. Indeed, these images confirm his statement:

  • a new heavens and a new earth;
  • constant rejoicing and happiness
  • people will be a delight
  • no weeping or crying;
  • long life for all
  • everyone with a home
  • enough for all to eat

As we pray with this passage today, we may experience a longing for a return to our beautiful, safe world. During this pandemic, we all pray from a place of anxiety, loss, constrainment, or some degree of suffering. 

Isaiah’s community prayed from the same place. All the beautiful images were a promise not yet realized. The prophetic poetry of Isaiah is a call to courageous hope, not a description of current circumstances.

upside

Faith invites us, even as we experience a bittersweet longing, to trust that God is with us, teaching us and leading us deeper into the Divine Understanding. Even as circumstances turn our world upside down, God will guide the falling pieces to a blessed place if we commit to find God in the tumbling.

I don’t think many of us would deny that the world before Corona needed fixing. The systems we have built have left many in deficit long before 2020, and we have failed to address the wound.

Corona has laid that failure bare.

Now that some of that deficit is universally shared, may we be opened to an irrevocable awareness of our common humanity and responsibility for one another.

Only by such an outcome will we move closer to Isaiah’s peaceful Kingdom. Only by our courage to embrace it, can God fulfill the Promise in us.

Music:  O Day of Peace – Carl P. Daw

Dad

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, Love, Poetry19 Comments

March 22nd is the 39th anniversary of my Dad’s death.

I wanted to share this poem with you all because I believe even the darkest times come back to the Light.  It’s a good time to remember that.

The Call

The deepest groan
sound ever tore from me
was on the day
my father died.

My brother’s voice
ran through the telephone
in liquid sorrow,
like a strong willow weeping,
holding roots down deep,
but spilling over tenderly
at fragile edges.

With his brave and wounded summons,
a primal broken cry
escaped from me
without my willing it.
It welled up, ebony and viscous,
from the center of my being,
molten, from a fissure
in the rock where I am rooted.
At that moment,
I am certain of it,
my father’s spirit separated
from the earth, or went
down invisible to join it.

When I finally came to him,
through a long journey,
a failing warmth from his blue skin
was all that met me,
and the blue memories waving
in a somnolent field
over his lifeless body,
that I picked, one by one,
like flowers in the silence.

blue flowers

That bouquet is preserved
in my soul as in a white
glass vase.  I bring it out
for blessing rites upon
things my father would have blessed
had he not died.

The benediction of these flowers
has fallen now for years
on all the lovely, growing
things in family, in self,
and slowly, over years, they’ve
turned from blue to all the colors
they once were in his heart,
like rainbows
or glass the deeper stained
by setting sun.

Some beautiful music: Mi Mancherai

Always thanking God for you, Dad.

 

Be “Laetare!” for Someone

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Courage, Faith, Hope, Seasons1 Comment

Fourth Sunday of Lent

 

March 22, 2020
Laetare Sunday

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Light

Laetare! Rejoice! Lent has run half its distance to Easter.

I know it may be a bit difficult to rejoice in this Corona time, but think of this.

Spring has stepped over the horizon!  The long winter watch is over. But before we shake off its black velvet wraps for good, it might be well to think about what winter has taught us. It may strengthen us for this unusually challenging spring!

The stretch of time between November and April is all about waiting. Bulbs wait under the frozen earth.  Bears hibernate in the cold mountains.  Birds migrate, their old nests empty until the spring. All creation seems to enter a time of patience and unrealized expectation.  But it is not a time of desolation.  It is a time of hope for things yet unseen. Perhaps we can make our Corona time that kind of hopeful time.

We human beings also experience “winter” – not simply the seasonal one – but “winters of the spirit”.  We all go through times when our nests have been emptied; times when all the beautiful flowering aspects of our lives seem dormant; times when our vigor and strength seem to hide in the cave of depression or sadness.  These “winters” take many forms.  We may find ourselves sick of a job we had always loved. We may find a long, committed relationship wavering.  We may find the burdens of age or economics overwhelming us.  We may be the unwilling bearers of responsibilities we had not bargained for.

kite

But if we listen, under the deep silence of waning winter, the wind rustles.  It carries the hint of a new season.  It carries the hope of the renewing cycle of our lives.  In that silence, we may be able to hear our own heartbeat more clearly.  We may come to a clearer understanding of what is most important in our lives.  In the stillness, we may be forced to know and understand ourselves in a deeper way.

In this time of global angst and uncertainty, I think of a powerful image from the works of St. Teresa of Avila.  St. Teresa imagines God as a warm healer leaning over our frozen world, setting free the beauty of our spirits. This is what she says:

And God is always there, if you feel wounded.
He kneels over this earth like a divine medic,
and His love thaws the holy in us.

When we are compassionate and offer one another hope and light, we free what is sacred in us and we do a holy work.  Every time you touch another person’s life,  — in these times, from at least six feet away — you have the chance to change winter into spring.  You have a chance to be like God.

Call someone who may feel very alone.  Be “Laetare” for them! Pray for someone suffering illness or loss. Send healing hopes to those you may not even know in distant places of our shared earth. Light, Easter rising and renewed life will come. Let us trust God and hold one another up as we wait.

 

 

A Prayer of Praise

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Faith, Gospel, Lent, Poetry, Prayer9 Comments

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

March 21, 2020

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Today, in Mercy, we are encouraged to pray. Hosea tells us:

“Come, let us return to the LORD,
it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
… the LORD will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth.”

Let the image of that truth sink into your parched spirit.

rain

Our Gospel leads us to pray humbly:

But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

As we pray humbly today, let us ask for God’s refreshment for all our sisters and brothers across the earth. In good times and in trials, let us always praise God.

I would like to share one of my own poems with you today, as we kneel before God with all struggling Creation begging God for the rain of Mercy.

        All Creation    

 All Creation kneels,
a Single Being,
to praise God.

 From its immense heart,
it sings myriad songs at once,
Morning and Evensong,
Praise and Dirge,
Alas and Alleluia,
intermingled

 It sings even over its own scars,
where the chasms cry out for balm.
It sings both the remembrance
and the hope of blessing.
It sings the endurance of faith
and the confidence of love.

 In roar and silence,
darkness and light,
Creation kneels,
a Single Being,
to praise God.

Music: Total Praise sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.  Just watching these faith-filled people lifts my heart and gives me hope.  I trust it will do the same for you, dear friends as we pray for one another. (Lyrics below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZME9t4nsCrc

Lord, I will lift mine eyes to the hills
Knowing my health is coming from You
Your peace You give me in times of the storm
You are the source of my strength,
You are the strength of my life,
I lift my hands in total praise to You
Lord, I will lift mine eyes to the hills
Knowing my health is coming from You
Your peace, You give me in times of the storm
You are the source of my strength
You are the strength of my life
I lift my hands in total praise to You
You are the source of my strength
You are the strength of my life
I lift my hands in total praise to
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen
You are the source of my strength
You are the strength of my life

That Little White Book

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Conversion, Discipleship, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Love, Mercy, spirituality3 Comments

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

March 20, 2020

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Wednesday-20-March-1963-tf79df128030699e87a485b4eb093700302fe62c25f3a5cfc651f117a49786663k-lq

Today, in Mercy, I’m going to tell you a story. But first …

In our first reading, the passionate prophet Hosea offers us this quintessential Lenten advice:

Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD

In our Gospel, Jesus is giving advice too. A sincere scribe seeks out Jesus’ wisdom:

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the greatest of all the commandments?”

Jesus instructs the scribe:

The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.

Then Jesus goes on to tell him the second greatest commandment:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Assessing the scribe’s sincerity, Jesus promises him:

“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Praying with these passages on this particular date took me back to March 20, 1963, Wednesday of the 3rd week of Lent that year. I was almost 18 years old and, while not wise as a scribe, I too sought answers to guide my faith.

One place I found that  wisdom was at the desk of a wonderful Sister of Mercy, Sister Mary Giovanni. Like many high school girls back then, I hung around Sister’s homeroom after school. Her good humor, gentle interest, and kind encouragement nourished all of us still slightly silly but ever-so-earnest young women.

On that particular afternoon, an unusual white book sat on Sister’s desk. Its gold letters attracted me and I asked what it was. Sister said it was her community’s centenary book and that, if I wanted, I could borrow it to read.

That little book changed my life. Well, I guess what it actually did was to capture many loose threads running through my mind and heart, and to tie them into a conviction.

I had been toying with a religious vocation ever since third grade. I did love God with my whole heart, just like the young scribe in today’s Gospel. And I loved the nuns and I always wanted to be like them. But actually becoming like them was another story. 

That little white book gave me the courage and will to make that commitment. Here’s what it said:

The Sisters of Mercy,
in addition to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience,
take a fourth vow of service of the poor, sick, and ignorant.

That was it! That short sentence opened my understanding to see that loving God had to be demonstrated in love of neighbor. The two great commandments are always interdependent.

So I decided to “take my words”, as Hosea encourages, and to ask God if He would have me as a Sister of Mercy.
follow

Less than a week after reading that book, I signed up to become a Sister of Mercy. And I have continued to become one every day for almost 60 years. Because just as Jesus said to the scribe, I believe I am “not far from the Kingdom of Heaven”. But I’m not there yet. Everyday is a chance to grow deeper into the glorious gift that was opened to me back in March 1963.

novices'_dining_room

As you pray with these passages today, take a long view of God’s continuing call in your life. You may have been called to marriage and parenthood, priesthood, a generous single life, a profession which allowed you to serve others. 

In each individual call, we are invited to love God with all our hearts and to love others as God loves them. Let’s pray for one another’s continuing deepening in our particular call.

Music: The Call – written by Vaughn Williams from the poetry of George Herbert
(Lyrics below)

 

the call

Pray with St. Joseph

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, PrayerLeave a comment

Devotional prayer, I think, has become less popular today.  We lean toward Scripture, meditation, contemplation…

rosary

But I have always found devotional prayer helpful and calming in times of stress and crisis. And what better time than now! (Good God, I found myself wiping down my potato chips bag with Lysol!!!  Time for devotional prayer!)

You might want to return to a favorite prayer of your youth —

  • Look Down Upon Me, Good and Gentle Jesus
  • Angel of God, My Guardian Dear
  • The Rosary, said slowly, letting the beads teach your fingers patience and trust
  • And, of course on his feast, the comforting Litany of St. Joseph. Don’t worry about saying the whole thing.  Pray slowly.  Let the depth of the phrase sink into your anxieties.  When you find a phrase that embraces you, rest in it. Talk to dear St. Jospeh about your “heart condition”.

Litany of St. Joseph

Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
God our Father in heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Noble son of the House of David
Light of patriarchs
Husband of the Mother of God
Guardian of the Virgin
Foster father of the Son of God
Faithful guardian of Christ
Head of the holy family
Joseph, chaste and just
Joseph, prudent and brave
Joseph, obedient and loyal
Pattern of patience
Lover of poverty
Model of workers
Example to parents
Guardian of virgins
Pillar of family life
Comfort of the troubled
Hope of the sick
Patron of the dying
Terror of evil spirits
Protector of the Church

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.

Let us pray. God, in your infinite wisdom and love you chose Joseph to be the husband of Mary, the mother of your Son. May we have the help of his prayers in heaven and enjoy his protection on earth. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Music:  Seeking Serenity – Nicholas Gunn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuq5LCphI0o

Hail, Holy Joseph, Hail!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Faith, Gospel, Jesus5 Comments

March 19, 2020

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Today, in Mercy, we celebrate our beloved Saint Joseph.

saint-joseph-with-the-christ-child-ca-1650-oil-on-canvas-sebastian-martinez
St. Joseph and the Christ Child by Sebastian Martinez

Our first reading describes the line of descent from David down through the ages to Joseph of the House of David.

God promises David:

I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name.
And I will make his royal throne firm forever.

Joseph is the realization of that House.  He was the one who ultimately gave shelter, both literally and physically, to the Promised One.

In these days when we have to “shelter in place”, Joseph, provider of safe and sacred shelter, opens his arms to our fearful and pleading prayers. Often in my life when I had a particularly difficult need, I have prayed the Litany of St. Joseph. Just a few of its beautiful phrases may bring you confidence and peace.

Praying with today’s Gospel, and as these long days of self-isolation and quarantine draw on, let’s imagine ourselves being invited by Joseph, Mary and Jesus to go down with them  to our own “Nazareth” — to find the voice of God in the sacred protection of our homes.

Jesus went down with Mary and Joseph
and came to Nazareth,
and he obediently listened to them.

Music:  I absolutely love this video of these dear Sisters of St. Joseph in Rochester singing “Hail Holy Joseph, Hail”. Looking at these Sisters, we can just imagine the long legacy of their generous ministries under the guidance of Joseph, their beloved patron. May God bless all our Sisters of St. Joseph on their Feastday!(Lyrics below as well as the Litany of St. Joseph in a second post)

Hail, holy Joseph, Hail
by Father Frederick Faber

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
⁠Chaste spouse of Mary, hall!
Pure as the lily flower
⁠In Eden’s peaceful vale.

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
⁠Prince of the house of God!
May His best graces be
⁠By thy sweet hands bestow’d.

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
⁠Belov’d of angels, hail!
Cheer thou the hearts that faint,
⁠And guide the steps that fail.

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
⁠God’s choice wert thou alone;
To thee the Word made flesh
⁠Was subject as a Son.
O Christ’s dear Mother, bless;
⁠And bless, ye Saints on high,
All meek and simple souls
⁠That to Saint Joseph cry.

 

A Legacy of Faith

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, Faith, Jesus, spirituality2 Comments

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

March 18, 2020

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faith

Today, in Mercy, on this day between the feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph, it seems a very good day to thank God for our heritage of faith. Our readings today remind us how precious that heritage is.

Moses, after reiterating the history of God’s goodness to Israel, enjoins the People:

Take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.

Jesus, too, acknowledges the importance of his religious heritage:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.

This day between St. Patrick’s and St. Joseph’s always takes me back to my grade school days – a time when my “faith family” gifted me with the seeds that now sustain my life.

Autosave-File vom d-lab2/3 der AgfaPhoto GmbH
Beautiful St. Michael’s Church, 2nd and Jefferson, Philadelphia – built in 1846, now much as it look in the mid-1950s

I can still see our straight-from-Ireland pastor, old as the hills, standing in the pulpit to bless us with water from the Shrine at Knock. We school kids had waited all year for a chance to belt out the hymn “Great and Glorious Saint Patrick” to the accompaniment of a thundering organ. We held our breath at the final blessing, anxiously awaiting the word to go home. It was inevitably a school holiday but we were always innocently surprised to receive it!

Organ_and_Choir_Loft
St. Michael’s magnificent organ

Then, we gathered for 8 o’clock Mass again on the 19th to celebrate St. Joseph, patron of our beloved Sisters who taught us. If we had the means to give them feastday gifts, we were asked to give canned goods. That request never struck me as a kid, but as I grew up, I realized how dependent these Sisters were on those donations – how close to poverty they lived for the sake of transmitting the faith to us.

So I count these days of mid-March as Foundation of Faith Days. Perhaps today’s reading might incline you to think about your own faith story and who planted the early seeds in your heart. Let’s give these beloveds our grateful prayers of remembrance.

Music:  Faith of Our Fathers – another oldie that we loved to sing voce piena 

The Luck of the Irish Faith

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Courage, Discipleship, Faith, Jesus1 Comment

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

March 17, 2020

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Today, in Mercy, Azariah of Fiery Furnace fame meets Patrick of Ireland!☘️☘️ 🔥 🔥 – —two great champions of faith ready to bolster ours in these uncertain times.

In today’s reading from the Book of Daniel, Azariah (later Abednego) prays a moving prayer of urgency, repentance, supplication, and trust:

And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we hold you in awe and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Deliver us by your wonders,
and bring glory to your name, O Lord.

This prayer rang very true for me today, as I prayed for God’s mercy and miracles all over our suffering earth.

The prayer also brought to mind St. Patrick’s own prayer:

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation.

Slainte

In solidarity with Irish people everywhere, who today celebrate their amazing faith, let’s pray to our dear Blessed Mother for one another and wish all people good health and joy.

And for St. Patrick’s sake, lift your spirit, lift a glass, lift your hearts for the love of God and one another! PS: Sláinte means “To your health“.

Music: Hymn to Our Lady of Knock – Frank Patterson – Oh, the Voice! (Lyrics below)
(This song always gives me the Irish chills … nothing like it.  A lot of Italian songs do the same thing to me. LOL!)

There were people of all ages
Gathered ’round the gable wall
Poor and humble men and women,
Little children that you called
We are gathered here before you
And our hearts are just the same
Filled with joy at such a vision
As we praise your name

Golden Rose, Queen of Ireland
All my cares and troubles cease
As I kneel with love before you
Lady of Knock, our Queen of Peace

Though your message was unspoken
Still the truth in silence lies
As we gaze upon your vision,
And the truth I try to find
Here I stand with John the teacher,
And with Joseph at your side
And I see the Lamb of God
On the Altar glorified

Golden Rose, Queen of Ireland
All my cares and troubles cease
As we kneel with love before you
Lady of Knock, our Queen of Peace

And the Lamb will conquer
And the woman clothed in the sun
Will shine Her light on everyone
Yes,
The Lamb will conquer
And the woman clothed in the sun
Will shine Her light on everyone

Golden Rose, Queen of Ireland
All my cares and troubles cease
As I kneel with love before you
Lady of Knock, my Queen of Peace
Lady of Knock, my queen of peace

 

Just the Miracle, Please.

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Discipleship, Faith, Gospel1 Comment

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

March 16, 2020

Click here for readings

Today, in Mercy, our readings are about prophets and miracles, brought to us by Elisha and Jesus.

The core of the readings is this: some of us want the prophets’ miracles, but we don’t want their challenge to live in God’s freedom. We want their cures, only to return to lifestyles that make us spiritually sick or imprisoned.

Wanting to write about these themes, I decided to check with my favorite Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann to see if he had any wisdom on the story of Naaman.

Naaman
Naaman brings his retinue and gifts… from The Pictorial History of Palestine and the Holy Land (1844) by John Kitto

Well, Walter certainly did…. something so good and wise that I won’t water it down with my own words. The link is below. It’s a little long, but so worth your reading and meditation. I hope you’ll take the time.

Click here for Walter Brueggemann’s article

Music: some instrumental music to listen to while you’re reading🙏😇