Category: Courage

What Is, Is.

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Discipleship, dying, Faith, joy, spirituality3 Comments

Thursday, September 27, 2018

          Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092718.cfm

Today, in Mercy, we meet the first of a few readings from Ecclesiastes, written by an author who calls himself Qoheleth – Teacher. The book contains many loved and oft-repeated phrases that we might recognize:

  • There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven
  • He has made everything beautiful in its time.

And today’s kick-off thought:

  • Vanity of vanities ….  All is vanity.

Reading Ecclesiastes places us in the presence of a writer who is a realist at best, and a cynic at worst. Parts of the book can be downright depressing; other parts, elegant in their spare beauty.

We can finish a passage like today’s and hear echoes around us of Star Trek’s Borg mantra: 

Resistance is futile. 

Qoheleth says as much:

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

The phrase carries at least a little tinge of hopelessness. But I think a lot depends on the way we read it.

Realizing that “things are the way they are” can give us a sense of stability and trust. It can release us from struggling needlessly against realities that will not be moved. It can encourage us to find within these “immovables” the hidden path to a new grace. It can remind us that others have endured; so can we.

What is is

One of our Wisdom Sisters taught us that by naming and accepting our reality, we can move from fighting it into growing from it. She always said, “What is, is” – implying “now deal with it”.

It sounds spartan, but it actually can be very freeing. We can’t change so many things – the weather, the tides, the hearts of others. The years will pass, friendships blossom and fade. We will get old, if we are blessed with that gift. We’ll lose our jump shot and probably some of our hair – maybe a few others things too.🤗

But God will always love us, abide with us and cherish us for eternity.

Music: In Every Age – Janét Sullivan Whitaker

Stick With It!

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

Saturday, September 22, 2018

       Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092218.cfm

Lk8_15 persevere

Today, in Mercy,  both Paul and Jesus teach their followers by using images they would be familiar with – seed, wheat, planting, and waiting for harvest.

Even those of us far removed from such images may have planted a few things at some time.  Picture a kindergartner pushing a seed into a paper cup filled with dirt.  She watches everyday for the green shoot, impatient for its appearance.

Paul’s community seems infected with the same kind of impatience regarding the end of time and their being raised to new life.

Paul makes me laugh with his own impatience at their constant questions. He responds to their nagging like this:

You fool!
What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.
And what you sow is not the body that is to be
but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.

Jesus is a lot gentler when he teaches about the Sower and the Seed. At the end of the parable, Jesus gives his followers the key to achieving the full harvest of grace. Perseverance! 

It is the same tool any farmer must employ in the fields. It is the same strategy we must use as we sow good works through our lives. The harvest is slow coming, but Jesus promises it is worth the investment and the waiting.

Music: When You Believe~ sung by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey

Never Forget

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Faith, Hope, Love3 Comments

Tuesday, September 11, 2018
A Day of Remembrance 

Jer20_11 Sept11

Today, in Mercy, almost anyone who has come of age remembers where we were this day seventeen years ago. We remember the horrifying scenes, the crushing sadness, the swelling anger, the hardening resolve.

Over these years, we have remembered again and again the innocent lives lost and hearts shattered. 

We have remembered, with a never-to-be-reclaimed nostalgia, a world of unguarded and comfortable safety.

Understandably, the memories have left many of us smaller, harder and meaner.

A question for our reflection today might be this. How do we remember inflicted pain in a way that makes us:

  • determined not vengeful
  • wise not judgmental
  • resilient not fearful
  • united not isolated 

We must do this because to do otherwise is to be consumed by the hatred that our enemy has heaped on us. And that would allow evil its victory.

So, on this solemn day, let us never forget. 

But let us remember with reverence, hope, faith, and love – and the unquenchable strength these engender. Let us remember with a grace that ennobles our loss, letting it empower rather than weaken us.

Music: In a Peaceful Valley (The Dance of Innocents)
~ Peter Kater & Nawang Khechog

Pray with this beautiful music and allow it to bless, heal, and release the sacred power of your memories.

Apples and Oranges

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Faith, Gospel, holiness, spirituality2 Comments

Monday, September 10, 2018

       Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091018.cfm

Today, in Mercy, our Gospel finds the Pharisees once again confronting Jesus with a dilemma.  It is the Sabbath, a day when any kind of “work” is prohibited. Yet, a man with a withered hand approaches Jesus needing to be cured. Should Jesus do this work?

Lk6_9 law or mercy

It is the classic, Pharisaical confrontation: appearing to weigh two equal responses which in reality are incomparable – like apples and oranges. They are similar only on the surface. Their essences are quite distinct.

Jesus’ continuing debate with the Pharisees always swirls around the balance between law and spirit. The Pharisees have idolized the Law, allowing it to swallow the Spirit. Under their intransigent interpretation, the poor crippled man in today’s Gospel would have lost the chance for healing.

We call quandaries like this being “between a rock and a hard place”. The ancient Greeks called  it “between Scylla and Charybdis” – an adjacent huge rock and whirlpool which threatened to swallow their ships passing through. The image powerfully captures the angst accompanying  these dilemmas.

We navigate such hazards throughout our lives, facing choices which are often unclear and confusing. Our alternatives sail the wide range between “law” and “spirit”, between what seems advantageous and what seems right, between what is comfortable and what is spiritually challenging, between what is “legal” and what is just and merciful.

How do we choose according to the pattern of Christ? How do we choose forgiveness, mercy, inclusive love, peace and charity in a world that screams “Choose selfishly. You deserve it!”

Through prayer, scriptural reflection, and merciful service, our spirits absorb that Sacred Pattern of Christ. It is in the shape of the Cross. It will guide us between our Scylla and Charybdis.

Today’s song is simple, almost childlike – but that simplicity is often just what we need in the face of a dilemma.
Music: I Choose You – Libby Allen Songs

Drop Everything for Christ

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, Discipleship, Jesus, spirituality6 Comments

Thursday, September 6, 2018

       Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090618.cfm

Today, in Mercy, our readings lead us to consider our call.

Lk5_11 leftJPG

The call to discipleship comes to us within the other calls of our life: the call to be a good parent, spouse, sibling, child. It comes in the call to be a moral, values-driven employer; an honest, hard-working employee; a supportive, engaged co-worker. Christ asks us to mirror him as neighbor, friend, colleague, and citizen.

In whatever skill or profession we practice, Christ asks us to exercise it as he would – to choose, judge and behave as he would.

In our Gospel, the first disciples are astonished at the miracle of the fishes. Like a lightening bolt, that astonishment transforms their world view. They now see Christ as the Center of their lives. They drop their nets on the seashore. They leave everything to follow him.

What is it that we must leave to make Christ the center of our lives? What nets are we caught in that keep us from freeing the call within us?

We are challenged by a world filled with the entanglements of greed, destructive power, aggression, bigotry, lies, and political & social pretense. How much have these infected the purity of our desire to follow Jesus?

Music: Lord, You Have Come to the Seashore- Caesareo Gabarain

Lord, You have come to the seashore
Neither searching for…the rich nor the wise,…
desiring only…that I should follow
Refrain:
O Lord, with your eyes set upon me,
gently smiling, you have spoken my name;
all I longed for I have found by the water.
At your side, I will seek other shores.

Lord, see my goods, my possessions;
in my boat you find…no power, no wealth…
Will you accept then…my nets and labor?

Lord,…take my hands and direct them
Help me spend myself in seeking the lost,…
returning love for…the love you gave me.

Lord,…as I drift on the waters…
be the resting place…of my restless heart,…
my life’s companion,…my friend and refuge.

Faithful Servant

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, Courage, Faith, Love, Mercy, Prayer4 Comments

Thursday, August 30, 2018

     Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/083018.cfm

Mt. 24_25 faithful servant

Today, in Mercy, Jesus describes the faithful and prudent servant – the one who has devotedly overseen the master’s holdings in his absence. This faithful servant will have administered according to the master’s own example, and not for a moment divert into his own pursuits and entertainments.

Paul, in our first reading, offers a sublime prayer of thanksgiving for such servants in Corinth:

I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus…
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful, and by him you were called.

I am moved this morning to pray this prayer for our beloved Pope Francis, who is sorely tested by the sins and rivalries of the Church he cherishes. 

May God give our brother Francis the strength to lead according to Christ’s own example, keeping him strong and confident in God’s faithfulness. May each of us, too, shoulder our part in building up the Body of Christ in mutual love, mercy and justice.

Music: Great is Thy Faithfulness – sung by Chris Rice

Fear or Faith?

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, Courage, Faith, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prayer, Truth2 Comments

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

       Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082818.cfm

Mt 23_24 camael gnat

Today, in Mercy, Paul talks seriously with the community at Thessalonika. Some early Christians expected the final coming of Christ to happen imminently. They had become upset, and somewhat obsessed, with concerns and rumors about “the end times”. Reactions range from fear to panic to denial.

Paul basically tells the community to settle down – “Hold fast to the traditions that you were taught.” In other words, focus on the core teachings of your faith – love, service, and grateful, joyful worship – not on the imagined fears of some unenlightened shouters.

We see such misdirection manifested in fundamentalism, scrupulosity, exaggerated devotional practices, cultic behaviors, even superstitions – the kinds of attitudes Jesus condemns in today’s Gospel.  These conditions cause us to become judgmental, elitist and superficial. They distract us from attention to the heart of our faith – mutual love, unselfish service, merciful justice, Christlike inclusivity.

Even as I write this reflection, we have a Church — like Thessolonia — fraught with turmoil.  Many call it unprecedented, although any student of Church History knows it is not. Still. it is a time when we who love the Catholic faith must pray for light, courage and fidelity. Let us pray too for Pope Francis that he may rely on the Holy Spirit to help him act courageously and definitively, as Paul did, to right the Beloved Community.

As for each of us, the fullness of God needs a large soul – not one shrunken by its own pettiness, fears, and self-righteousness. As St. Augustine prayed:

Narrow is the mansion of my soul;
enlarge Thou it,
that Thou mayest enter in.

Music: A Heart Like Yours ~ CeCe Winans

Fish, or Cut Bait!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, Discipleship, Faith, Jesus2 Comments

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082618.cfm

Today, in Mercy, our Sunday readings present us with spiritual ultimatums.

Jn6_67 Chhose

In our first reading, sensing his impending death, Joshua gathers the tribes on the Great Plains of Shechem – the land of their father Abraham. Joshua requires a commitment from the people:

“If it does not please you to serve the LORD,
decide today whom you will serve …
As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

In other words, “fish or cut bait” – you’re either with God, or you’re not. And your lives should reflect the choice.

In our Gospel, Jesus too feels death’s approach. His teachings have become more intense and direct, particularly regarding the Eucharist. This intensity has caused some of his listeners to waver. They’re not sure they can accept his words. Some drift away.

Jesus challenges the Twelve, those on whom he depends to carry his message after his death.

“Do you also want to leave?

( As for the unfortunate and contested second reading from Ephesians, this long but superb article from Elizabeth Johnson is worth your time.

Click here for Johnson article. )

Music:  I Will Choose Christ – Tom Booth

Only One Place to Begin

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, Conversion, Courage, Discipleship, Jesus, repentance2 Comments

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082518.cfm

Today, in Mercy, as the Catholic Church continues to struggle with the reality of institutional corruption, our Gospel reminds us of the solution Christ gave us as the Church was born.

Mt3_9one father

As Jesus instructed his disciples somewhere near Jerusalem, the Pharisees and Scribes edged along the crowd, seeking reasons to attack him. They saw Jesus as the evil that would destroy their religion. They were unable to see the evil within themselves eating away the substance of their faith.

Jesus says the signs of that corrosion are evident: empty preaching, contradictory lifestyles, doctrinal oppression, the failure to serve with compassion. He condemns the pharisaical  pretense at leadership which cloaks an avarice for singularity and entitlement. He denounces the hierarchies which faithlessness builds to protect its selfish interests.

Scripture scholars believe that the writer of Matthew emphasizes this strongly cautionary passage because he sees the same sins emerging in the early Church. Less than a century after the Resurrection, institutional decay already plagues the Christian community.

Is it, indeed, impossible to form a human community without these imperfections eventually fracturing it? Jesus says no, it is not impossible. But the way is incontrovertible:

“As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher,
and you are all brothers and sisters.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Removing centuries of accretions from our Church, deconstructing embedded hierarchies, and returning to the humble model of Christ are the daunting tasks before us. Where can we possibly begin?

It is at the only place we can ever begin — ourselves. 

What allegiance and investments do I have in the elements that have crippled our Church? Is my “membership” simply a cosmetic on my otherwise uncommitted life, or am I willing to share real responsibility for reforming and enlivening the community of faith? Let’s pray these questions together as a faith community desiring healing.

Music: Philippians Canticle ~ John Michael Talbot

Keeping the Night Watch

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Faith, Hope, Jesus, spirituality2 Comments

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080718.cfm

Do you ever have trouble sleeping at night? Or do you wake too early and fight to go back to sleep? 

The disciples in today’s Gospel understand your plight. They had worked hard all day and were exhausted. Nestled in various of the boat’s nooks, each one settled to his own slumber. At first, the Sea of Galilee was gently rolling, almost like a lullaby of waves.
But …

“Set in the hills of northern Israel, the Sea of Galilee is nearly 700 feet below sea level. … The sea’s location makes it subject to sudden and violent storms as the wind comes over the eastern mountains and drops suddenly onto the sea.” (Ray Vander Laan)

storm at sea

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee~ Rembrandt 

We’re not unlike these men. The storms of life come suddenly to disturb our sleep too. Sorrows, worries, frustrations, deadlines, aches and pains — all kinds of winds howl into our sleep during “the fourth watch of the night.”

What if, rather than resisting these little twisters, we looked deeply into them for the face of God. As we struggle with whatever it is disturbing us, God is always approaching us with a message of hope, courage and spiritual growth. Often, it is our resistance to that message which creates the storm.

That night, on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples sensed the rising winds of resentment against Jesus. The knew in their depths that the storm clouds were gathering in the dark hearts of Christ’s enemies. But they probably resisted their growing fears. 

Most of them had not witnessed the Transfiguration. But they too, like Peter, James and John, needed some bolstering! Walking across the water, Jesus brings each of them a blessed assurance that He has the storms in hand.

In our own night watches, God is waiting to calm and assure us. Let us be still in the darkness and trust God.

 

Music:  Holy Darkness sung by John Michael Talbot