Category: Conversion

Judgment

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, spiritualityLeave a comment

Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
November 30, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/113024.cfm

The judgments of the Lord are true,
and all of them are just.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
    refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
    giving wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
    enlightening the eye.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
    enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
    all of them just.
They are more precious than gold,
    than a heap of purest gold;
Sweeter also than syrup
    or honey from the comb.
~from Psalm 19

Our Gospel tells the almost unbelievable story of hardy fishermen dropping their nets, family, and livelihood to follow an itinerant preacher. What could possibly make them do that?

There was a magnetism in Jesus that completely captured the first followers. His words, his judgments, his entire being reflected the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His call unleashed a force in theirs that they hadn’t known was there.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
On this eve of Advent, we ask ourselves, “Why do I follow (or fail to follow) Jesus? Are my judgments aligned with the Truth who Jesus is? What great attraction is drawing my heart to the next depth of holiness?

Poem: The Call – George Herbert (1593-1633)

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a Way, as gives us breath:
Such a Truth, as ends all strife:
Such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a Light as shows a feast:
Such a Feast, as mends in length:
Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a Joy, as none can move:
Such a Love, as none can part:
Such a Heart, as joyes in love.

Music: After 300 yers, George Herbert’s poem was put to music by Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Awake

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, spirituality2 Comments

Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
November 25, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112524.cfm

Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
Matthew 24:42,44

Our Gospel today is a repeat of one we had about two weeks ago, so I have focused our prayer on the Responsorial Psalm.

Stay Awake!

When I hear that phrase, I think of the cowboy movies that were popular when I was a kid. (and still are!) A couple of guys would be out in the desolate prairie, pitch dark all around. They would each take their turn on the watch after the boss’s exhortation to “Stay awake”!

Are you kidding me! We just rode all day on horseback, there is not a sound but crickets and hoot owls, there is a warm night breeze, and YOU EXPECT ME TO STAY AWAKE?

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We ask for the spiritual stamina to stay awake for God. The watch may be long, dark at times, and a little scary at others. But, as we will discover in prayer, God is already beside us in the vigil.

Poetry: Don’t Sleep – Rumi

For those of you who have troubled sleeping, this poem might be confusing. But the poem refers to the sleep of the soul, not the body.

Music: Stay Awake

Blossom

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, holiness, spiritualityLeave a comment

Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
November 20, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112024.cfm

While people were listening to Jesus speak,
he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem
and they thought that the Kingdom of God
would appear there immediately.
So he said,
“A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’
Luke 19:11-13

This is a tough parable to get real devotional about. It’s the story of a nasty guy who wants to be king. When his campaign is repulsed, he takes it out on his servant whom he deems unproductive.

But think about where Jesus told the story. He is at the threshold of Jerusalem where, through his Passion and Death, he will reign over the universe. But Jesus will do this by the inverse of what we would expect. He will be rejected by this world to open us to the deeper essence of its heart.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Jesus wants his followers to be productive in spreading the Gospel. He wants us to blossom in faith and service to God’s Name. We pray for the courage to exercise those gifts in faith, hope, and charity.

Prose: Prayer of Walter Brueggemann

You are the giver of all good things. 
All good things are sent from heaven above, 
rain and sun, day and night, 
justice and righteousness, 
bread to the eater and seed to the sower, 
peace to the old, energy to the young, 
joy to the babes. 

We are takers, who take from you, day by day, 
daily bread, taking all we need as you supply, 
taking in gratitude and wonder and joy. 

And then taking more, 
taking more than we need, 
taking more than you give us, 
taking from our sisters and brothers, 
taking from the poor and the weak, 
taking because we are frightened, and so greedy, 
taking because we are anxious, and so fearful, 
taking because we are driven, and so uncaring. 

Give us peace beyond our fear, and so end our greed. 
Turn our taking into giving, since we are in your giving image: 
Make us giving like you, 
giving in joy, not taking, 
giving as he gave himself up for us all, 
giving, never taking. 
Amen.

Music: God Turn Me Into a Flower

What would it take to truly “blossom” for God, to be the Love that Jesus hopes for us, to take the coin of grace and enrich it by our service of the Gospel?

As you listen to this rather mysterious song, you might consider those questions.

Short

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Conversion, Discipleship, Faith, Gospel, Hope, Jesus, spiritualityLeave a comment

Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
November 19, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111924.cfm

Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, 
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature. 
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, 
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.” 
And he came down quickly and received him with joy. 
Luke 19:2-6

Every scripture passage has a lesson for us. And even though I’m tall, not short, there is a lesson here for me. For you too!

We want to grow in our ability to find God in every circumstance of our lives. But, at times, we may be short on the faith, hope, or charity to do so. We may be short on living the works of mercy. Not to sound hip-hop, but we may be short on “Gratitude for the Beatitude”!

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We ask Jesus to discover us in whatever metaphorical tree we might be hiding, to come under our roof, and to live at the center of our lives.

Poetry: The Stature of Zacchaeus – Amos Russel Wells (1862-1933)

Zacchaeus struggled with the crowd;
A little man was he.
"Vermin!" he muttered half aloud,
"I'll make them honor me.
Ah, when the taxes next are due,
I'll tower as is meet;
This beggarly, ill-mannered crew
Shall cower at my feet."
Zacchaeus climbed the sycomore
(He was a little man),
And as he looked the rabble o'er
He chuckled at the plan.
"I get the thing I want," he said,
"And that is to be tall.
They think me short but by a head
I rise above them all."
"Zacchaeus, come! I dine with you,"
The famous Rabbi cried.
Zacchaeus tumbled into view
A giant in his pride.
He strutted mightily before
That silly, gaping throng;
You'd think him six feet high or more,
To see him stride along.
Zacchaeus listened to the Lord,
And as he listened, feared;
How was his life a thing abhorred
When that pure Life appeared!
Down to a dwarf he shrank away
In sorrow and in shame.
He owned his sins that very day,
And bore the heavy blame.
But as he rose before the crowd,
(A little man, alack!)
Confessed his guilt and cried aloud
And gave his plunder back,
I think he stood a giant then
As angels truly scan,
And no one ever thought again
He was a little man.

Music: Zacchaeus – Miriam Therese Winter, Medical Mission Sisters

See

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, healing, spiritualityLeave a comment

Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
November 18, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111824.cfm

Jesus stopped and ordered that the blind man be brought to him;
and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”
Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.”
He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
Luke 18:40-42

This Gospel story is filled with images and interactions that might speak to our souls.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We consider this:
What if Jesus asked you that question right now? “What do you want me to do for you?”

What would your request be? Would you be tempted to respond as if Jesus were a genie who deals in wishes not hopes?

Or would your answer grow from your deep faith as it does with this blind man? Upon his healing, heaven’s window was opened to him. The Gospel tellsus that “he followed” Jesus. His newfound vision was put fully at the service of God.

Poetry: Blind Trust – Irene Zimmerman

Bartimeus sat outside
the town of Jericho.
The more they told him where to go,
the louder he cried.

He had no pride --
when Jesus asked he simply stared:
"Lord, I want to see!" and waited
to be eyed.

Music: Heaven’s Window – Peter Kater

Tribulation

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, dying, Eternal Life, Faith, spiritualityLeave a comment

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 17, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111724.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

“And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.
Mark 13:24-27

We’re coming to that time of year that I don’t really like too much. The eschatological readings used to close out the liturgical year are filled with astounding, awesome, and sometimes frightening images.

But I guess that’s the whole point. If you haven’t gotten the message throughout the entire year, this is a last-ditch effort to scare it into you!

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We offer the prayer of today’s Responsorial Psalm, confident that when the end time comes, we will be among those who rejoice.

Poetry: You are my inheritance, O Lord! - Psalm 16

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.

You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

Music: In Paradisum – interpreted by Michael Hoppé

In paradisum deducant te angeli; 
in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, 
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. 
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, 
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere 
æternam habeas requiem.
May the angels lead you into paradise; 
may the martyrs receive you at your arrival 
and lead you to the holy city Jerusalem. 
May choirs of angels receive you 
and with Lazarus, once was poor, 
may you have eternal rest.

Love

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Conversion, Courage, Cross, Faith, Love, spirituality1 Comment

Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
November 15, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111524.cfm

But now, Lady, I ask you,
not as though I were writing a new commandment
but the one we have had from the beginning:
let us love one another.
For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;
this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,
in which you should walk.
2 John 4:5-6

The Motherhouse chapel is impressive, more like a cathedral than a chapel. I remember being led into it for the first time when, at 18 years old, I came for my initial interview. It took my breath away. You can imagine the intensity of my prayer as I knelt for the first time at the altar rail, realizing that my young, inscrutable choices were about to change my life irrevocably.

I looked up to the Gospel command emblazoned above the apse thinking, “That’s what this is all about. Let me begin.”

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Perhaps, remembering a long-ago choice in your life, you will see how it has unfolded in love over the years. This is a good day to pray those memories and blessings with God.

Poetry: Slowly – Macrina Wiederkehr

Life unfolds
a petal at a time
slowly

The beauty of the process is crippled
when I try to hurry growth.
Life has its inner rhythm
which must be respected.
It cannot be rushed or hurried.

Like daylight stepping out of darkness,
like morning creeping out of night,
life unfolds slowly a petal at a time
like a flower opening to the sun,
slowly.

God’s call unfolds
a Word at a time
slowly.

A disciple is not made in a hurry.
Slowly I become like the One
to whom I am listening.

Life unfolds
a petal at a time
like you and I
becoming followers of Jesus,
discipled into a new way of living
deeply and slowly.

Be patient with life’s unfolding petals.
If you hurry the bud it withers.
If you hurry life it limps.
Each unfolding is a teaching
a movement of grace filled with silent pauses
breathtaking beauty
tears and heartaches.

Life unfolds
a petal at a time
deeply and slowly.

May it come to pass!

Music: The Faith – Leonard Cohen

Forgiveness

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Conversion, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Forgiveness, spirituality1 Comment

Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
November 14, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111424.cfm

Beloved:
I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love,
because the hearts of the holy ones
have been refreshed by you, brother.
Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ
to order you to do what is proper,
I rather urge you out of love,
being as I am, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.
I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment,
who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me.
Philemon 1:7-11

Did you ever have to intercede for a friend? Or if you were the friend, did anyone ever have to intercede for you? That’s what is happening in this passage.

Onesimus, the escaped slave of Philemon, had also been accused of petty theft. During his escape, he comes into Paul’s company, is converted, and befriends and assists Paul.

Paul pleads with Philemon to forgive and reconcile with Onesimus as a brother in Christ.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We give thanks for those who have stood by us in times of testing, who knew our hearts better than others did, and who represented us in Christ.

Poetry: “Onesimus” by Tania Runyan

Since I stole your money, Philemon, and even more, myself, the body
that broke earth and stacked stones at daybreak while you slept,

you have every right to lash me till the whites of my intestines show,
brand FUG on my forehead, or throw me to the lions, who love especially

the taste of escaped slaves, our blood sweet with freedom’s fleeting breath.
But Paul, wild-eyed with Christ, has washed down his prison walls

with prayer. He knows you will take me back, not a slave, but a brother
delivering koinonia to your congregation in this present evil age, teaching

how to pray paralytics into motion and how to sleep in peace
when soldiers sharpen swords outside your windows. Paul calls me his son, no—

his very heart. I am no longer your body but will reside in yours,
pump forgiveness and prayer through your veins. I will make you

see Christ in every jangling harlot and rotting, leprous face.
I will make you a slave to God’s bidding.

Music: Return to the Heart – David Lanz

All

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, spirituality2 Comments

Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
November 12, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111224.cfm

When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.
Luke 17:10

Today’s Gospel tells us that we have to give God our “All” because God is the Source of that “All”.

Often, we hear about “giving our all” in relationship to the sports world – give it everything you’ve got, leave it all on the field, all or nothing, win or go home.

What if we had the same attitude toward our spiritual lives? Toward performing the Works of Mercy, living the Beatitudes, keeping the Greatest Commandment. What if we really gave God all!

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We need plenty of practice to achieve the kind of dedication that gives “All”. Let’s begin or renew our will and effort right now through prayer, reflection, and living Mercy in our world.

Prayer: Thomas Merton

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. 
I do not see the road ahead of me. 
I cannot know for certain where it will end. 
Nor do I really know myself, 
and the fact that I think that I am following your will 
does not mean that I am actually doing so. 
But I believe that the desire to please you 
does in fact please you. 
And I hope I have that desire 
in all that I am doing. 
I hope that I will never do anything 
apart from that desire. 
And I know that if I do this 
you will lead me by the right road, 
though I may know nothing about it. 
Therefore will I trust you always, 
though I may seem to be lost 
and in the shadow of death. 
I will not fear, 
for you are ever with me, 
and you will never leave me 
to face my perils alone.”

Music: I Surrender All – Judson W. Van DeVenter (1896)

A gentle interpretation of an traditional favorite.

Wiley

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, justice, repentance, spiritualityLeave a comment

Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
November 8, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110824.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.’
Luke 16:1-4

When I was a kid, this parable was referred to as the Parable of the Wiley Steward. We’ve gotten sophisticated now and call it the “Unjust Steward” or the “Penitent Steward”. But I still like “wiley”, maybe because I love the cartoon character “Wile E. Coyote” (pictured above.) Like the Gospel steward, Wile E. continually tried to advance himself by devious plots against the Roadrunner or Bugs Bunny. These deceptions always backfired and Wile E ended up in worst shape than before.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We pray not to try to fool God or ourselves by false excuses or self-serving plots. We ask for the courage to be good stewards of God’s gifts, using them generously and truthfully for God’s purposes.

Prose: St. Augustine on The Wiley Steward – (Sermon 359 A.10)

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ present us with this parable? He didn’t approve, surely, of that cheat of a servant; he cheated his master, he stole from him, and didn’t make it up from his own pocket. On top of that he also did some extra pilfering; he caused his master further loss, in order to prepare a little nest of quiet and security for himself after he lost his job. Why did the Lord set this before us? Not because that servant cheated, but because he exercised foresight for the future, to make Christians blush, who make no such provision, when even a cheat is praised for his ingenuity. I mean, this is what he added: Behold, the children of this age are more prudent than the children of light. They perpetrate frauds in order to secure their future. In what life, after all, did that steward insure himself like that? What one was he going to quit when he bowed to his master’s decision? He was insuring himself for a life that was going to end; won’t you insure yourself for one that is eternal?

Music: Stewards of the Earth – Omar Westendorf

A little addition for those who never heard of Wile E. Coyote: