Author: Renee Yann, RSM

Sister Renee Yann, RSM, D.Min, is a writer and speaker on topics of spirituality, mission, and ethical business practice. After twenty years in teaching and social justice ministry, she served for over thirty years in various mission-related roles in Mercy Health System of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Languages

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, friendship, inclusivity, Love, spirituality, Truth2 Comments

March 26, 2025

A Sister of Mercy, visiting from Honduras, was scheduled to dine out with my friend. One spoke only Spanish; the other only English. Thus, the dinner party was widened to include another American friend who had spent many years in Peru and spoke both languages. 

Language can both bind and divide us. So often, people speak to each other in the same language but share no true level of understanding. I think of the venomous rhetoric that has poisoned our political culture and am saddened to see the beautiful gift of language used in such hateful ways.

But at other times, even without a shared spoken language, we can communicate with clarity and respect.

I remember a chance meeting a friend and I – two unilingual North Americans– had with one of our Peruvian sisters. We connected at an airport, each preparing to return to our widely-distant homes. She spoke very little English, and I– only the stilted, useless phrases of a high school curriculum. Still, with a few gaps and miscommunications, we enjoyed lunch in one other’s company. By combining signs, gestures, guesses, and silence, we grew comfortable in each other’s hospitality and care. 

There are so many languages beyond the spoken word. The language of kindness, respect, compassion, mutuality– these are the elements of the multilingual world we all should yearn to master. No one is so distant from us that they do not understand a smile, an extended hand, or the offer to share a meal.  And in that offer, we may just learn that we are “multi-lingual” after all. 

Poetry: Silent Language – Thomas Burbidge (1860-1892)

Speak it no more—no more with words profane
What only for the language of the eye
Is fit—what only can be told thereby!
The heart has tones which words cannot contain,
And feelings which to speak is to restrain.
Like scent with scent commixed invisibly,
Or rays of neighbour planets in the sky
Inter-confused; or, as in some deep strain
Of music, heavenly passion is combined
With thought, and tone with tone in harmony,
Thus be the meeting of our hearts, dear love!
The pure communion of mind with mind,
Above poor symbols of this earth,—above
All that can baulk or cramp,—can change or die.

Music: Love in Any Language – Sandy Patty

For Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-7

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Crocuses

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Eternal Life, Faith, Holy Spirit, Hope, Seasons, spirituality, TruthLeave a comment

March 20, 2025

Lanterns in the Sky – Michele McLaughlin

In the block behind my home, there is a small lawn filled with crocuses. A few weeks ago, when snow still had a tight grip on the landscape, those little green nibs began to peek their heads out through the white blanket.

Every year, late in winter, I see this miracle happening in the most unexpected places. And every year, I still doubt that those fragile dots of life will survive and grow through winter’s apparent death. Every year, my doubts prove unfounded. Every year, those delicate purple fields remind me of what it means to live.

Today is the first day of Spring — a great time to remind ourselves that what we are about in this world is always LIFE, never DEATH! Some things we face in life may seem like snowy, frozen fields. But, underneath, where the Spirit never tires, green new life inspires our attitude and choices.

To find that renewed vitality, I must do two brave things:
• Always choose LIFE for myself and others
• Trust that God will sustain me in my choices

Sometimes, we make mistakes about what renews our lives. Still, in our deep hearts, we know that real life cannot be lived in isolation and self-seeking. Choices for real life are always rooted in mutual peace, truth, integrity, generosity, and compassion.

As spring wakes before us, let’s listen carefully to that deep heart’s message.

Once we’ve made the choice for life, we must trust that despite “winter”, the green tender shoots will prevail. They always do! History should confirm our faith! Winter always ends, and it is always worth the choice to live beyond it!

When I see the first spring flowers, I think of a friend’s favorite advice for a happy life:
• Wake up!
• Show Up!
• Be there!
I think the crocuses got the message!

Poetry: The Crocuses – Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)

They heard the South wind sighing
A murmur of the rain;
And they knew that Earth was longing
To see them all again.

While the snow-drops still were sleeping
Beneath the silent sod;
They felt their new life pulsing
Within the dark, cold clod.

Not a daffodil nor daisy
Had dared to raise its head;
Not a fairhaired dandelion
Peeped timid from its bed;

Though a tremor of the winter
Did shivering through them run;
Yet they lifted up their foreheads
To greet the vernal sun.

And the sunbeams gave them welcome,
As did the morning air—
And scattered o’er their simple robes
Rich tints of beauty rare.

Soon a host of lovely flowers
From vales and woodland burst;
But in all that fair procession
The crocuses were first.

First to weave for Earth a chaplet
To crown her dear old head;
And to beautify the pathway
Where winter still did tread.

And their loved and white-haired mother
Smiled sweetly ’neath the touch,
When she knew her faithful children
Were loving her so much

Music: The First of the Crocuses

For Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34

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Horizons

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Community, Courage, Creation, Faith, healing, Seasons, spirituality2 Comments

March 17, 2025

Forest Dreams – Tim Janis

Spring is on the horizon! The long winter watch is almost over. But before we shake off its dark velvet wraps for good, it might be well to think about what winter teaches us.

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.

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.

But if we listen, under the deep silence of any 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 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 more deeply.

Others may reach out to us in their “winters”. They may be ill, experiencing confusion, or overwhelmed by the demands of their lives. They are asking for reassurance that some form of spring is coming. They yearn to feel the warmth and hope of renewed life. Our compassion for their needs will grow if we can remember our own winters. Surely, there has been a time when someone lifted the ice and blew warm breath over our fears, grief, or isolation. Someone held hope out to us to grab hold.

I think of a powerful image from the works of St. Teresa of Avila. She 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.
God kneels over this earth
like a divine medic,
and God’s love
thaws the holy in us.

Teresa of Avila

When we are compassionate and offer one another hope and light, we free what is sacred and do a holy work. Every time you touch another person’s life, you have the chance to change winter into spring. You have a chance to be like God.

Music: I Will Carry You – Sean Clive

For Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture: Song of Solomon 2:11-13

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Fickle March

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Creation, Faith, Hope, joy, Mercy, Seasons, spirituality5 Comments

March 11, 2025

Nature’s Calm – Tim Janis

Fickle March hesitates on the edge of Spring.  It can’t quite decide: “Shall I wear my chilly or my warm personality today?”  We too are still wearing our “March personalities”.  Every morning, we say hopeful things to one another.  “Getting warmer.“  “Hint of spring today.” But hidden in those cheery remarks is the memory of past March blizzards that buried us in a foot of crushed expectations.

Still, the fact is that, as you read this article, we have almost made it through another winter.  Abundant, colorful life is ready to break through the cold brown barrenness.  In the annual championship bout, April always KOs March!

This analogy should give us great hope for our lives.  Our lives are “seasonal” too – full of chills and heat waves, fallow and fruitful cycles.  Sometimes we find ourselves in a harsh, interminable winter.  The hope of Spring – a sprig of new life – seems impossible.  We feel frozen in a powerless situation.

But haven’t we all known people who, no matter what, live in their heart’s Spring?  They understand the difference between healing and cure, between pleasure and joy, between possession and fulfillment.  Even amid chilling burdens, a deep hope and a joyous freedom guide them through their winters.

It is so important for us to be aware of the power we have over another person’s life.  The one encouraging word we offer may be that ray of hope that breaks through someone’s isolation.  That one small, patient moment we muster in the face of frustration may be the only glimmer of color in a person’s otherwise bleak landscape.  

When you were little and Aunt Polly asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, wouldn’t she have been surprised if you had answered, “I think I’m gonna’ be a bearer of spring, a shower of hope, a sweet light after the winter.”  But that is what you are!  

This is Spring – this is your season! For your own sake and the sake of your dear ones, may everything in your lives warm and blossom.

Poetry: from Emily Dickinson

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

Music: Serenade to Spring – Secret Garden

For Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture: Song of Songs 2:11-13

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Standing Up

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Courage, Faith, Gospel, justice, Mercy, spirituality4 Comments

March 6, 2024

On March 6, 1984, a man named Martin Niemoeller died. He had been a German U-boat commander in WWI. After that war, he became a Lutheran pastor and initially supported Hitler.  But as the years moved toward WWII, Niemoeller became more and more critical of Hitler. Arrested several times, he finally spent seven years in various concentration camps beginning in 1938.  He was liberated from Dachau in 1945.

Martin Niemoeller wrote the following words:

“They came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist
so I did not speak out.  
They came for the Socialists and trade unionists,
but I was neither, so I did not speak out.  
They came for the Jews but I was not a Jew,
so I did not speak out.  
Then they came for me,
and there was no one to speak for me.”

As the world deals with interminable war, terrorism, racism, and cloaked fascism, we should remember that true justice and peace always include BOTH understanding and standing up.

Music: Show Me How to Stand for Justice – Martin Leckebusch

Ash Wednesday

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Cross, Discipleship, Faith, Lent, repentance, spirituality2 Comments

March 5, 2025

Make Me a Channel of Your Peace

Penance and self-denial are not generally popular concepts. Yet all major religions include them as means of spiritual enrichment. Why do you think that is? Here’s my take on it.

Most of us live within the illusion of many boundaries. We are bound by space, time, circumstances, choices, and perceived abilities or inabilities, to name a few. Sometimes we get terribly caught in our boundaries. We are afraid to try something new; to shed a dangerous but comfortable habit; to break a debilitating, co-dependent relationship; to choose a life-giving but challenging road. Too often, we say “no” to our graced potential.

But God is beyond boundaries. God is limitless, everlasting, infinite possibility and hope. Fasting and self-denial are human attempts to prove to ourselves that we can break through what binds us to live in God’s infinite “YES!”.

Giving up candy, smoking, or mindless TV is a small way of doing that. But attending to our tendencies for gossip, meanness, negativity, and self-centeredness is a great alternative way. Whatever our religious tradition, Ash Wednesday can remind us that God made us for freedom, unconditional love, and unending life. May our choices reflect that.

Music: Take These Ashes – Sarah Hart

For Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture: Proverbs 6: 16-19

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Nearly March

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Seasons, spirituality2 Comments

February 23, 2024

March Winds – Zen Melodies

With it being nearly March, and with the weather being as it has lately, perhaps this phrase has crossed your mind: “In like a lion; out like a lamb”. I’ve had a few teachers, bosses, and colleagues who could have been described by that phrase. Maybe it could even describe some of us at times!

Beside its meteorological purposes, the phrase captures a life lesson. Life and the passage of time will probably tame us if we allow it. Reflection and patience will probably make us gentler and wiser. And there are so many situations where it might be more prudent to begin with a well-planned bleat than with a roar.

Think about it.

Music: LION/LAMB – Joshua Leventhal

Ready your heart child, ready your heart child
The Lionlamb is coming, the Lionlamb is coming yeah
Soften your heart bride, soften your heart bride
The Wedding Day is coming, the Wedding Day is coming
And when we see Him we shall be made like Him
And when we see Him we shall be made like Him
And when we see Him we shall be made like Him oh-oh-oh
Lift up your eyes child, Lift up your eyes child
The Lionlamb is coming, the Lionlamb is coming yeah
He’s gonna make it right child, He’s gonna make it right child
His justice, oh it’s coming, His justice, oh it’s coming
And when we see Him we shall be made like Him
As we see the end of death and dying
And when we see Him we shall be made like Him
As we see the end of death and dying oh-oh-oh
He’s gonna make it right, child
He’s gonna make it right, child
He’s gonna make it right, child
He’s gonna make it right, child
(He’ll make it right)
He’s gonna make it right, child
(The Lionlamb is coming)
He’s gonna make it right, child
(Oh-oh-oh-oh)
The LionLamb is coming

For Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-9

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Loving a Whole God

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Community, Creation, Faith, Love, Prayer, spiritualityLeave a comment

February 14, 2025

As we may think about love this Valentine’s Day, I offer one of my poems on a different aspect of love.

Rusalka, Op. 114: “Song to the Moon” · Antonín Dvořák
One bitter day in February
I sat inside a sunlit room,
made warm love to You in prayer,
and she passed outside my window,
the unhoused woman, dressed 
uncarefully against the wind,
steadied on a cane, 
though she was young.

She seemed searching for
a comfort, unavailable and undefined.
The wound of that impossibility
fell over her the way it falls
on every tender thing that cries
but is not gathered to a caring breast.
Suddenly she was a single
anguished seed of You,
fallen into all created things.

Re-entering prayer,
I wear the thought of her
like old earth wears fresh rain.
I’ve misconstrued You,
Holy One, to whom
I open my heart
like a yearning field,
Holy One, already ripe within
her barest, leanest yearning.

Music: Teach Me to Love- Steve Green (Good song, but sorry for the non-inclusive language)

For Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture: Luke 8:43-48

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Longing for Spring?

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Faith, Forgiveness, healing, Seasons, spirituality4 Comments

February 9, 2025

Comfort Zone – Stephen Halpern

Is it damp, drippy February where you are? Are you longing for spring? It just does something for you, doesn’t it? On that first really warm afternoon, all the long, cold hours of winter suddenly coalesce into a small memory and disappear like an ice cube at the equator.

That same moment of new life can occur after any “cold season” — even a cold season of the heart. It can occur after a season of anger, loss, doubt, fear, or distrust . It can occur with something so small as a word, a glance, a smile offered in encouragement, love or forgiveness.

Think of a time in your life, perhaps, when a relationship felt “frozen” in anger or doubt. Think of that moment when one of you said to the other, “ I’m sorry”, “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”, “I love you no matter what.” In a small phrase, winter turned to spring and life was possible again!

Catherine McAuley understood the profound power of a small word, a glance, or a smile. In the 1800’s, she told the first Sisters of Mercy: “There are things the poor prize more highly than gold, tho’ they cost the donor nothing; among these are the kind word, the gentle, compassionate look, and the patient hearing of their sorrows.”

Each one of us finds ourselves poor in something at sometime in our lives. We may be poor in confidence, strength, courage, or determination. We may be at a point in our lives where we feel we cannot sustain one more worry or responsibility. We look to one another for the small “season-changing” word, glance, or smile.

To consistently be the kind of person who offers that season-changing gift takes concentration, inner clarity, and courage. It is not about being a “pollyanna”, sowing smiles without thought or substance. It means, instead, staying in touch with our interior life, keeping ourselves awake and responsive to our blessings, and sincerely connecting with those around us in reverence and hope for their lives. As we long for spring, may each of us see ourselves more clearly as the “life-giver” we can be. May we radiate that power for our own good and the good of all those whose lives we affect.

Music: The Moment Is Yours – Nicholas Gunn

For Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Scripture: 1 Peter 4:8-11

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February Stars

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Creation, Eternal Life, Faith, Hope, Seasons, spirituality2 Comments

February 2, 2024

Starry, Starry Night – Don McLean

Click the white arrowhead to the left above for some relaxing music while you read. 
You may repeat click if you wish.

The frosty blue nights of February fill our evening and morning windows.  We look through that deep sapphire richness to discover the diamond stars.  We imagine worlds, possibilities, and miracles presently beyond us.

Since Thanksgiving, we have been celebrating a season of hope:

  • the hope of Hannukah, when we remember the lamp burning miraculously and the courage to renew faith
  • the hope of Christmas, when we remember a small, vulnerable life that changed the world with the phrase, “Love one another.”
  • The hope of a New Year, when we remember past gifts that nourish us for future trust

But what about those times when hope flickers?

As we gaze through our windows at the crystal winter skies, our TV may be broadcasting the news behind us, challenging our hopes with the contradictions of war, violence, and disaster.  We may wonder where the great saviors and prophets are in our time.  Our numbed spirits may perceive only darkness and no starlight.

If so, stay still in the darkness.  Be quiet and wait.  Let one face, one smile, one kindness, one hand outstretched to you rise in your memory like steady Polaris. The world’s transformation to grace always begins within a single, shining human heart.  May your heart be that star for others.  May others like you fill your own skies with unquenchable light.

Poetry: Hope – Lisel Mueller

It hovers in dark corners
before the lights are turned on,
it shakes sleep from its eyes
and drops from mushroom gills,
it explodes in the starry heads
of dandelions turned sages,
it sticks to the wings of green angels
that sail from the tops of maples.

It sprouts in each occluded eye
of the many-eyed potato,
it lives in each earthworm segment
surviving cruelty,
it is the motion that runs
from the eyes to the tail of a dog,
it is the mouth that inflates the lungs
of the child that has just been born.

It is the singular gift
we cannot destroy in ourselves,
the argument that refutes death,
the genius that invents the future,
all we know of God.

It is the serum which makes us swear
not to betray one another;
it is in this poem, trying to speak.

For  Your Reflection

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?

Suggested Reading:

Click for Scripture