Category: Creation

Mothers’ Day

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Faith, Gospel, Love, Mary, spiritualityLeave a comment

Mothers’ Day
May 10, 2026

Today, we pray in thanksgiving for all women who have chosen the vocation of motherhood. In a world fraught with confusion about the meaning of life, the choice is both selfless and daunting.

There is no greater human intimacy than to give one’s own flesh, blood, and bone to the incarnation of another. They are gifts a mother has received from the one who bore her. They are gifts that may be carried to generations beyond one’s imagination.
Most importantly, they are Divine gifts whose source is the very Being of God – God, Who first begot life in a cosmic flash of grace never to be extinguished! Every mother is awash in that unquenchable cascade.

We pray today in thanksgiving for our own mothers, honoring all that is blessing in our relationship. And if there be any hurt unredeemed, we pray for understanding, forgiveness, acceptance, and healing.

We pray for all mothers, especially those bearing the harshness of injustice, poverty, discrimination, or isolation. May a community of compassion find and support them. May each of us do what we can to be such a community.

Finally, on this day, we give all mothers to Mary, our Blessed Mother. She will know what each of them most needs. We ask her to be generous in her hearing and response.
Throughout the ages, Mary has been petitioned under many classical titles and images. Today, let’s pray with those particularly relevant to Mary as Mother.

Mother of Tenderness/Mercy – The Eleusa Icon
(Greek: Ἐλεούσα – tenderness or showing mercy)
is a depiction of the Virgin Mary in which the Christ Child
is nestled against her cheek.

Contemplating her, let us pray for all young mothers who are learning both the joys and challenges of motherhood. Let us pray for mothers with mentally or physically burdened children. May Our Mother of Mercy strengthen their tenderness and fortitude.

Theotokaos (God-bearer)
Panagia is the term for a particular type of icon of the Theotokos,
wherein Mary faces the viewer directly, usually depicted full-length
with her hands in a praying position,
and with a medallion in front of her
showing the image of the Christ child.
This medallion symbolically represents Jesus
within the womb of the Virgin Mary
at the moment of the Incarnation.


Contemplating her, let us pray for all pregnant women, that their pregnancy will bless them too with the new life they are offering their child.

Hodegetria (She Who Shows the Way)

In these images, Mary holds Christ in her left hand,
and with her right hand “shows the way” by pointing to Him.

Contemplating her, let us pray for all refugee mothers traversing the difficult path to safety for themselves and their children.

Madonna Lactans (Nursing Mother)
The Virgin is depicted breastfeeding the Holy Infant.
Our Lady Nursing,
as painted in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome, c. 250 AD,
is thought to be the earliest depiction of Mary.

Contemplating her, let us pray for all mothers who find it difficult to feed their children because of poverty, war, or any form of oppression.

Mater Dolorosa (Mother of Sorrows)
Mary is in mourning, often near the cross,
with tears, and sometimes a sword through her heart.
(The image above is called
Our Lady who softens evil hearts,
Russian icon, 19th century)

Contemplating her, let us pray for all mothers who have lost their children through miscarriage, abortion, emotional alienation, or unexpected death. May the wounds of grief, sorrow, fear, or isolation be healed in their broken hearts.

Mater Amabilis (Loving Mother)
Mary turns her gaze away from the Christ Child
as she contemplates his future ministry.

Contemplating her, let us pray for all mothers of grown children who, no matter the distance, still prayerfully watch over their offspring. Let us be mindful of mothers who bear a deeper worry for their children’s safety because of their skin color, language, gender, or accent.

Music: Alma Redemptoris Mater

Alma Redemptoris Mater
Loving Mother of our Redeemer,
quae pervia caeli Porta manes, et stella maris
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
succurre cadenti, Surgere qui curat, populo
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
tu quae genuisti, Natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
Virgo prius ac posterius:
yet remained a virgin after as before.
Gabrielis ab ore Sumens illud Ave,
You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,
peccatorum miserere

have pity on us poor sinners.

Suggested Reading: Luke 2

Click for Scripture

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?

International Workers’ Day

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Courage, Creation, holiness, justice, Love, spiritualityLeave a comment

May 1, 2026

The virtue of diligence opposes the deadly sin of
sloth, which is a deep spiritual sorrow or disinclination
to embrace the divine good and God’s Will.

On a late April day several years ago, I sat in my office, gathering thoughts for a reflection on the value of work. A sense of early summer teased me from the other side of my window. In my imagination, it reawakened thoughts that I had often tried to stifle — things like, “Be a beachcomber. Retire early. Live in the woods like Thoreau.” (Remember him? He wrote Walden Pond.) In other words, is it just me, or does everybody have a hard time working as summer approaches?!

Which brings me to my more serious message, as you might have guessed. How do we stay in touch with the dignity of our work despite whatever distractions tempt us? Throughout our lives, how do we grow in diligence, and in the understanding that all work is an invitation to holiness?

Our work, in its essence, is a share in the creative act of God. It is our opportunity to add our unique touch to the masterpiece of Creation. How do we maintain that focus while navigating the often-frustrating demands of our daily responsibilities?

I was fortunate to learn a hard lesson early in my worklife. I loved the actual work that I did, but I had a boss who seemed neither to like me nor appreciate my efforts (maybe for good reason, who knows!)

She stifled my creativity, compromised my efforts, and underestimated my contributions. For many months, I left the office drained, angry, and dispirited.

Surprisingly, she turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me in my young professional life. Because of her, I had to ask myself some challenging questions, and discern answers so deep that they really had nothing to do with her.

Where does the dignity of my work reside? Like the work of the Creator, the dignity of work lies in the love and care with which it is performed. It rests in my own truth, and not how anyone else defines me — neither positive nor negative. It lies in my ability to produce results inspirited with care for the community I serve.

Productive and satisfying work is dependent on only one thing — the love with which it is performed.

  • I must always work for love — not for the love of work itself but for love of those whom my work affects.
  • I must work because of love — not because of a boss, pay, or recognition. When there is no love in my work, I simply have a job.
  • I must work with love — because what I create reflects the value I place on myself and on those affected by my work. You can tell when something is done with love, whether it is an apple pie or a telephone response. You can also clearly tell when a product is the end result of a bitter, resentful, or careless effort.
  • I must work toward love — to work in any other way is self-destructive. My work must create positive opportunities for myself and others to be our best selves. If my work is grudging, resentful, selfish, or irresponsible, it will surely harm others, but I will be the one most seriously diminished.

Now, in my “retirement”, I understand more fully that we always have “work” – something we wish to create, offer, build, or encourage so that we may contribute to the well-being of our various communities. To be able to work is a gift and a responsibility. It is the composition by which our lives will be defined and remembered.

Just as we pursue meaningful work for ourselves, we are called to help others have access to purposeful work and just wages. Work alienated from the common good is self-destructive conceit.

Work, of course, is not always physical. Nor does it always produce visible results. Sometimes in the quiet of the chapel, as I watch a well-worn rosary slip along our sisters’ fingers, I am confident that there is no greater work than that of selfless prayer for the sake of others.

Hopefully, by God’s grace, we can discern “what is ours to do” at each phase of our lives. Today, we pray for that grace for ourselves and all our human family.

Music: The Prayer – Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli

Suggested Scripture: Colossians 3: 23-24

Click for Scripture

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?

Love Afire

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Creation, Discipleship, Faith, holiness, Love, Prayer, spirituality1 Comment

Feast of St. Catherine of Siena
April 29, 2026

Today, we celebrate the feast of the great St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church. Her title means that, by her life and writings, her spiritual wisdom has substantially influenced Catholic theology and doctrine.

Billions of people have been baptized as Catholics, but only thirty-eight of them have been given this title. Of those thirty-eight, only four are women. Catherine’s sisters with this status are Teresa of Ávila, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Hildegard of Bingen. Many of us know their stories and have read some of their writing. Of them, the one least familiar to me is Catherine. So, I set out to learn more about her.

Like her three companions, Catherine was a woman of extremes – extreme intelligence, behaviors, choices, and declarations. She had twenty-five siblings, which should have made her mother a saint, in my opinion! When she was just twelve years old, Catherine dedicated her virginity to God, and at sixteen, became a Dominican lay sister. She spent three teenage years in seclusion in her own home, followed stringent dietary customs, and experienced spiritual ecstasy.

These extremes, and historical distance, might make her seem quite different from us, maybe even a little eccentric. But to learn from her, we must meet her on her own terms and in her own time, not within the frame of our modern perspectives.

Like any young person, as Catherine grew into the faith, she absorbed the customs of her culture. The Church was the dominant force in medieval daily life, serving as the spiritual, political, and communal master. Early in Catherine’s development, she was influenced by 14th century Church practices such as protracted solitude, strict fasting, and intense meditation.

Catherine of Siena
by Francesco Vanni – 1566

But as Catherine matured, she emerged from these extremes with a profound relationship with God and God’s Creation. She had developed an exquisite sensitivity to the needs of her society’s poor and outcast, in whom she saw Christ. Her confident relationship with God and deep love of the Church allowed her to speak truth to power, shaping both the theological enlightenment of her times and the historical evolution of the papacy.

Catherine of Siena, negotiating with Pope Gregory XI on behalf of the Florentines
by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale

So, I ask myself what Catherine can say to me from the distance of six hundred years and some outdated spiritual practices! Here’s what I came up with:
• To grow close to God, we must give sincere attention to our spiritual life, using the best guides available to us, and prioritizing it beyond all other considerations.
• Deep spiritual growth aligns us with Truth, and calls us to action on behalf of God’s People, especially the poor and marginalized.
• Prayer is a divine gift and should be the constant conversation of our lives. For that to happen, we must deepen our understanding of prayer and commit ourselves to its practice.

After my reflections, I feel I know Catherine a little bit better. I hope I have encouraged you to get to know her too.

Music: Set the World on Fire – Britt Nicole

This song gives a modern interpretation of Catherine of Siena’s famous quote: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire“. 

Suggested Scripture: Romans 12:1-2

Click for Scripture

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?

Thanksgiving for Life and Friendship

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Creation, Faith, friendship, Hope, spirituality1 Comment

April 19, 2026

As in the prayer of petition, every event and need can become an offering of thanksgiving. The letters of St. Paul often begin and end with thanksgiving, and the Lord Jesus is always present in it: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”; “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”
~ from The Catechism of the Catholic church

In the 1980s, when we worked together at Misericordia Hospital, my friend Jude and I had an annual custom that we practiced for a few years. On each of our birthdays, we accompanied the other to the Free Library of Philadelphia, a magnificent Beaux-Arts building on Logan Circle, reminiscent of Place de Concorde in Paris. Both our birthdays occur in the early spring, so the trip was particularly lovely on the beautifully landscaped Ben Franklin Parkway.

Inside the vast building, we climbed the impressive marble staircase to the newspapers and microfiche center that used to be tucked in a balcony upstairs. Our objective was to find the newspaper of the celebrant’s actual birth day, and to marvel at the world in which our lives began.

I have often reflected on that delightful ritual and the multidimensional meaning it held for me.

  • It allowed me to see myself as a particular part of history – to recognize a past beginning, a present reality, and a future hope for my existence.
  • It gave me an awareness of the world my mother carried with her to the maternity ward, and into which she hopefully and protectively welcomed me.
  • It allowed me to honor time as an energy that offers not only unsolicited change, but the opportunity for chosen growth and depth.
  • It reinforced the mutuality Jude and I shared in being grateful for one another’s birth and friendship.

Of course, a birthday requires a bit more frivolity in celebration, so there was a second essential part to our annual outing.  We finished up the day by going “all-Philly” at the renowned Reading Terminal Market with a stop at some of our favorite vendors: Pearl’s Oyster Bar, Bassett’s Ice Cream, Termini’s Bakery, or a Pennsylvania Dutch pretzel and a Yuengling beer.

One’s birthday is a sacred juncture in the long unfolding of time. It is the moment when God imagined us and the power of our lives into being – the moment when God’s hope was given our face, our soul. It is a miracle that summons humble awe and reflective gratitude.

Psalm 139 offers an apt thanksgiving on any morning, but especially on one’s birthday. These verses capture the essence of that prayer. (BTW, I turned 81 today. A birthday prayer would be greatly appreciated.)

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

Music: For the Beauty of the Earth – John Rutter, performed by Gracias Choir

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?

Fall in Love Again

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Discipleship, Eastertide, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, spiritualityLeave a comment

Easter Sunday
April 5, 2026

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In God’s great mercy, we have been given new birth into a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

1 Peter 1:3-4

They woke up one morning beside each other as they had for fifteen years. The scent of last night’s acrid argument lingered in the corners of the room. After a few moments, he turned to her and said, “We need to learn how to love each other again. Can we try?”

Over the course of long-term relationships, the parties change. Phil and Judy wanted to remain committed to their marriage, but they found themselves strangled by years of unpruned misunderstandings. All heart commitments meet similar challenges. All dreams fray a little on their way to fulfillment.

We have followed Jesus through Holy Week on such a road. Passover Sunday filled his spirit with the fresh scent of palms and possibilities. But as the week waned, the Father led Jesus in a daunting direction. He asked his Son to give the ultimate price for love.

Our lives too will teach us this: every ride on a palm-strewn road meets a fork toward Gethsemane. There is no true love without sacrifice. But the road does not end at the foot of the cross. Loving sacrifice lifts us to see this morning’s Easter sunrise. The life that had lain hidden in darkness now rises triumphant in our hearts. Today, we are offered the grace to live this mystery on our own journeys. Amazingly, Easter invites us to fall in love again with God and to begin our lives anew

Music: Love Is Come Again (Now the Green Blade Riseth)

Suggested Reading: John 20:1-9

Click for Scripture

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?

The Great Forgiveness

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Faith, Forgiveness, spirituality2 Comments

March 20, 2026
Spring Equinox

Forgiveness is the conscious choice
to release resentment and a desire for vengeance,
while still acknowledging the wrong done,
and is rooted in God’s mercy and grace.

Ah, Equinox – respite from the cold!

Today our Earth will put away her winter jewels, her cold snow pearls and glistening ice diamonds stored until distant December. With them, she lays aside her cool reserve, the stark elegance of silhouetted trees against a white landscape. She says, “I have finished my silent retreat.”

Instead, Lady Earth unveils her costume jewelry – that improbable mix of pinks, purples, greens, and yellows. Even if this morning, she wraps them in a silver cashmere fog, we know it hides a riotous, tumbling April.

Every year, we wonder if those bare trees and barren hillsides will ever green again. But they do! Spring is the act of “Great Forgiveness”. It is the time when Nature mirrors the Infinite Mercy of her Creator and says, “Fear not, Winter. I am deeper than your cold. My resilience has redeemed us both for another chance at life.”

We, too, as human beings, are capable of such resilience. I remember my mother’s infinite patience with a sometimes-annoying neighbor. Edna’s seemingly innocent conversation harbored veiled references to her economic superiority. Little wintry comments like, “It’s a shame you can’t get a Hoover. It would make your life so much easier”. Even as a child, (who had no idea what a Hover was) I was nettled beyond tolerance by the insensitivity of the statement.

But my mother, who was no pushover and who did not suffer fools gladly, was patient and faithful. She knew Edna, though careless in her opinions, didn’t mean to hurt or shame her.

Such thoughtless remarks could have hung like icicles in mid-air, but my Mom clipped them with her wonderful capacity for humorous honesty. “Eddie,” she said, “you can bring your Hoover over and do my rugs every Friday.” Edna laughed at herself, rescinding the tactless comment with an “I’m sorry, El. You know I didn’t mean anything by it.”

My mother taught me to live from the “Great Forgiveness” which can warm any cold. She left a great space for people before ever closing in with judgement.

At one point when I was still very young, my mother became quite ill and after a long hospitalization, returned home for an extended recuperation. During that time, Edna came every day to cook for our large working family. Weekly, she cleaned our house with the same decrepit vacuum she had earlier criticized.

Without a word, Edna challenged me to learn another lesson about the nature of fidelity and true friendship and the commitment to give it voice without words.

Years later, I read a quote that captured these lessons: “Always be kind. We never know the battles someone else is fighting.” These are lessons I remember with gratitude today in this equinox of another “Great Forgiveness”. Forgiveness is a largesse we can imitate if we simply remember the mercies we ourselves have received.

Blessings to you all and a joyous Spring!

Music: Forgiveness – Matthew West

Suggested Reading: Psalm 19

Click for Scripture

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?

The Gentle Face of God

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Discipleship, Faith, Gospel, Lent, spiritualityLeave a comment

Feast of St. Joseph
March 19, 2026

Filial Piety is the virtue of deep respect and tenderness
for one’s parents, elders, mentors, and ancestors

How Jesus must have loved Joseph – this man so holy that he gave his whole life over to the nurturing of God!

But Joseph’s choice was not easy.

The choice was confusing.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Matthew 1:18-19

The choice took courage.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Matthew 2:13

The choice took patience.

After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days, they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

Luke 2:43-48

The choice took humility.

After the above incident in the Temple, we do not hear of Joseph again. We can assume that for the remaining decade before Jesus’s public ministry, he worked side by side with Joseph to sustain their little family. In the Divine Plan, it appears that Joseph’s role is humbly and silently concluded by a quiet death in Nazareth before Jesus turns thirty.

Most of all, the choice took immense and sustained faith.

Joseph’s faith sustained his life, protected and companioned Mary, taught and nurtured the Son of God. That was one extraordinary faith! Yet, in many ways, it is a faith we ordinary believers are also all called to:

  • to hear God’s call
  • to step into salvation history with trust and courage
  • to do what needs to be done without braggadocio
  • to end in quiet grace, acknowledging that it all belonged to God

Music: Hymn to St. Joseph

Christum Dei Filium qui putari
dignatus est filius Joseph:
Venite adoremus.
O come, let us adore Christ the Son of God,
Who deigned to be
thought to be the son of Joseph!
Blessed be the eyes that have seen what thou hast seen,
Blessed be the ears that have heard what thou hast heard.
Blessed be the arms that have held thy Creator.
Blessed be the hands that have labored for the Word.
Blessed is thy Heart all aflame with ardent love,
Chosen and Beloved by the Holy Trinity.
Blessed be thy Virgin spouse entrusted unto thee.
Bless all, dear Joseph, who love and honor thee.

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?

Love’s Balance

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Community, Conversion, Courage, Creation, Faith, justice, Love, spirituality1 Comment

March 1, 2026
Second Sunday of Lent

What does it mean to hunger and thirst for justice? The Greek word translated here as “justice” is dikaiosune, a term that refers to personal righteousness as well as to social justice. Those who hunger and thirst for dikaiosune have a deep yearning for things to be right in their individual lives and in society. This will happen when God’s kingdom comes completely and creation is restored to God’s original intention.
~ from the website theologyofwork.org

In our readings during this second week of Lent, we are encouraged to let go of guilt, to “remember not the things of the past”. We hear the story of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers, only to “redeem” them by his forgiveness. We are challenged to change the “season” of our hearts and embrace the full life of the Paschal Mystery. Our hunger for justice is truly the deep desire, not for any kind of reprisal, but for right balance in our lives with God and with all Creation, as seen in this story.

“Can you let this not be about you?” the chaplain asked, as Jane tried to explain her resistance and guilt. Evening darkened the small office just outside the tumultuous ER. There had been a building collapse, and Jane’s mother had been nearly crushed. Jane was the only relative, a long-alienated daughter. “But I’ve wanted to be reconciled”, she wept. “I just never had the courage to face her. Now it may be too late.”

Over several hours, the chaplain patiently encouraged Jane along a path of self-awareness, helping her realize that it was herself she needed to face. Her mother’s situation, while tragic, offered Jane a catalyst to confront the years of excuses and denials that had paralyzed her. Slowly, the hope of reconciliation washed over her.

When her mother finally stabilized, Jane leaned close to her battered face. Her mother summoned the strength to whisper, “I have never stopped loving you.” That forgiving whisper breathed a vital courage into both women. Each would survive a particular kind of death that day.

Despite our best hopes and intentions, life can collapse around us. Broken promises, unfulfilled dreams and soured relationships can litter our landscapes. We may even lose God in the rubble. This week, Isaiah offers us God’s forgiving invitation, “Come now, let us set things right”, says the Lord. “Though your sins be like scarlet, they will become white as snow.”

God will never stop loving us. God longs to embrace our repentant hearts. Let us listen to and believe God’s whisper.

Music: Remember Not the Things of the Past – Bob Hurd

Suggested Reading: Psalm 33:4-22

Click for Scripture

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?

Candlemas: A Seasonal Anchor

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Christmastide, Courage, Creation, Eternal Life, Faith, Forgiveness, Jesus, Mary, Seasons, spiritualityLeave a comment

Feast of the Presentation
February 2, 2026

Candlemas,
also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ,
the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
or the Feast of the Holy Encounter,
is a Christian feast day commemorating
the presentation of Jesus
at the Temple by Joseph and Mary.
It is based upon the account in
Luke 2:22–40.

How do the great trees die and come to life again? It’s a question we might ponder every winter as the bare, black branches fill with ice. Their stark emptiness seems a place from which there is no return. But we know otherwise. In the relentless cold of every February, our experience whispers the hope for April. Our liturgical year is filled with lynchpins to stabilize and orient us in this hope.

The Feast of Candlemas (February 2), an ancient celebration of hope, is one of the seasonal anchors Medieval people used to ground their faith through its various seasons. The Feast commemorates Mary’s Purification and the Presentation of Christ to the world – thus the candles!

Other ancient and seasonal feasts were:

May 3: Roodmas – celebrating the discovery and veneration of the True Cross (called “Rood” in Middle English)
Aug 1: Lammas – Originating from the Old English hlafmaesse (“loaf-mass”), it involved blessing loaves made from the new crop, signifying gratitude for the summer’s bounty and preparation for the coming winter.
Sept 29 Michealmas – Festival of St. Michael the Archangel, known as the protector against evil and leader of heaven’s armies
Nov 11 Martinmas – a festival celebrated on November 11th, marking the end of the harvest and the start of winter, honoring St. Martin of Tours, a soldier famous for sharing his cloak with a beggar, symbolizing light and charity as days grow shorter
Dec 25 Christmas – the ultimate celebration of hope in the Light of Jesus Christ

Like nature, each one of us has our seasons. Our lives contain the cycles of our youth and aging, birth and death. Our daily experiences turn in both the warm and the chilly intervals of our lives.

  • We have blossomed with the expectant life of spring: a new job, relationship, adventure.
  • We have cultivated love over warm summers of dedication and growth – our faith, families, friends, and ministries.
  • We have reaped the autumnal returns of our efforts, walking away from a red and golden field carrying a well-earned harvest – graduations, anniversaries, promotions, retirements.
  • Certainly, each of us has known our own winters, when cold has threatened and dark has isolated – and yet, like the trees – we have survived.

As we experience the depths of “Winter 2026”, Candlemas seems an opportune time to review the lessons of the season – especially the chapters on deep roots, inner quiet, and a hidden spiritual warmth that defies freezing.

In the winters of our lives, we learn what truly sustains us. We are called to delve into the power of endurance, resilience, forgiveness, honesty, loyalty, and faithfulness. These are the winter virtues that preserve life deep under the surface of any paralyzing storm. These are the salts that keep life’s highways passable, allowing us to stay connected to all that keeps us vibrant.

On any given day of the year, we can experience “winter”. Think of the times you have received (or given) the “cold shoulder”. Remember when your explanations have been given an icy reception? Haven’t there been conversations where you were frozen out? Can’t you still see the frosty stare you got from someone who thought you were beneath them? We have all known some sub-zero responses when we were really looking for a warm word. We have all received some chilly greetings when we needed not to feel like an isolated stranger.

Hospitality is not listed as a Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, it is the melding of many of them. Hospitality is a radical welcome rooted in God’s love. It is the perfect antidote to all our methods of freezing one another out. It is the human anti-freeze that reminds us that we need one another’s warmth to survive the treacheries of life. It is a virtue to be deeply pondered in this societal age of frigid inhumanity to those we judge to be “alien”.

If there is someone in your life that you have exiled to the Arctic, consider reaching out in hospitality, care, forgiveness, or honesty. This winter, let go of the glacial grudges, silences, and harbored hurts that sometimes freeze our souls and kill our hope of returning life. Listen to the voice of the dark February nights. It is telling us how to move toward spring.

Music: We Are Called to Welcome Strangers – Jubilate

Suggested Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7-11

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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?

Healing

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, dying, Faith, friendship, Mercy, Psalms, Seasons, spirituality6 Comments

October 2, 2025

Artwork by Judy Ward, RSM

Today, for your reflection, a poem I wrote decades go. I offer it today in memory of Judy Ward, RSM who passed away on September 27, 2025. Her life will be celebrated on October 2nd in a Mass of Christian Burial in the chapel at Mt. St. Mary, where Judy attended school, became a Sister of Mercy, and taught for many years.

Judy, a gifted artist, did so much to encourage me and to illustrate and promulgate my work. I will miss her generous kindness and her friendship.

October is a time when nature changes clothes.
Leaves, like miniature volcanoes, flare up and die, ashes at the foot of a silent, seemingly immortal tree.
Geese, having dawdled all summer in veiled expectation, suddenly leap into the clouds and disappear.
These solemn miracles may incline us to consider our own impermanence and the gossamer phenomenon we call life.

Healing

Music: A Playlist of Autumn Music

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: Psalm 104

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