Category: Discipleship

Buddies

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Church, Community, Discipleship, Faith, spirituality6 Comments

Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter
May 11, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051124.cfm

A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria,
an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus.
He was an authority on the Scriptures.
He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,
with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,
although he knew only the baptism of John.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;
but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they took him aside
and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.
And when he wanted to cross to Achaia,
the brothers encouraged him
and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.
After his arrival he gave great assistance
to those who had come to believe through grace.
Acts 18:24-27

In this passage, we meet early Christians who loved and supported one another as they spread the faith. Priscilla and Aquila were a power couple for the early Church. Eloquent Apollos arrives on the scene not perfectly synched with the evolving Gospel. Priscilla and Aquila tenderly redirect him, welcoming him to teach the community.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We get a great picture of the importance of having good buddies for the mission. As we look at our own lives in service, how precious are our faith companions as we deepen our life in Christ! How grateful we can be for the gentle corrections, encouragement and support we have received in community! Let us pray for our whole Church that we will understand what it means to truly “buddy” one another in Christ.

Poetry: Alone – Maya Angelou

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don’t believe I’m wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Music: Companions on the Journey – Carey Landry

We are companions on the journey,
Breaking bread and sharing life;
And in the love we bear is the hope we share
for we believe in the love of our God,
We believe in the love of our God.

No longer strangers to each other,
No longer strangers in God’s House;
We are fed and we are nourished
by the strength of those who care,
By the strength of those who care.

We have been gifted each other,
And we are called by the Word of the Lord:
To act with justice, to love tenderly
And to walk humbly with our God,
To walk humbly with our God.

We will seek and we shall find;
We will knock and the door will be opened;
We will ask and it shall be given
For we believe in the love of our God,
We believe in the love of our God.

We are made for the glory of our God,
For service in the name of Jesus,
To walk side by side with hope in our Hearts,
For we believe in the love of our God,
We believe in the love of our God.

Joy

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Discipleship, Faith, Jesus, joy, spirituality1 Comment

Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter
May 10, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051024.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples: 
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy…

… So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.
On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”
John 16:20

Jesus understands that life can be hard, and the Christian life even harder. His followers will face the grief of losing his physical presence, the scorn of their persecutors, and the sorrows inextricably woven into every human life. Their equanimity may break like a fragile eggshell under the press of these burdens.

But Jesus leaves them with a glorious promise. In him, their grief will be transformed to joy. They “will see him again”, not just in some distant parousia, They will see him in life itself as they learn to live it in the Father as Jesus has lived it.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We ask for the grace to believe Jesus’s promise, and to see God in our lives as they have been given to us. We pray for the courage to use that blessed assurance in a ministry of love and mercy to the world.

Poetry: Joy and Peace in Believing – John Newton (1725 – 1807), author of Amazing Grace

Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord who rises
With healing in his wings:
When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after rain.
In holy contemplation,
We sweetly then pursue
The theme of God's salvation,
And find it ever new:
Set free from present sorrow,
We cheerfully can say,
E'en let th' unknown to-morrow
Bring with it what it may.
It can bring with it nothing
But he will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing,
Will clothe his people too:
Beneath the spreading heavens,
No creature but is fed;
And he who feeds the ravens,
Will give his children bread.
Though vine nor fig-tree neither
Their wonted fruit shall bear,
Though all the field should wither,
Nor flocks nor herds be there:
Yet God the same abiding,
His praise shall tune my voice;
For while in him confiding,
I cannot but rejoice.

Music: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Johann Sebastian Bach

Quake

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Discipleship, Eastertide, Faith, spirituality2 Comments

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
May 7, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050724.cfm

About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,
there was suddenly such a severe earthquake
that the foundations of the jail shook;
all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. 
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,
thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,
“Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.”
Acts 16: 25-28

As their persecutors try to imprison Paul and Silas, Divine Intervention shakes up their intentions! Not only are the disciples freed by the earthquake, but they courageously hang around the prison environs to salvage the guard for Christ.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We might prayerfully consider the interventions God has made in our lives – those unexpected turns in the road that eventually led us to grace. How have we responded?

We might also wish to pray for some little quakes of grace in our own lives and in the world where we need to be shaken up, released from unholy chains, and re-ordered in faith.

Poetry: Unless the Grain of Wheat Falls – Irene Zimmerman, OSF

Easter!
But I’m still torn with grief,
disbelief.
I’m not ready yet!
I clutch the old familiar pain—
I’ve gotten used to the dark,
grown calluses against the rub of walls.
I feel secure confined within the grain. 

Easter!
This unseen Presence signed in Bread,
this utter homey-ness of meal
still leaves a loneliness that gnaws.
It almost would be easier
had you stayed dead.
I would not have to try to learn
to know you in this strange new way 

and when my time came, I could say
good-bye behind a finished smile,
without a thought or care
for those I had not fed.
But now to have to live from day to day
on Bread and promise of Bread—
to eat and pass the loaves along
and not to store! 

This call to grow to Easter ripeness
shakes my familiar ground,
quakes the very kernel of myself.
I thought I had secured my walls so well.
But you roll away, like a child’s toy,
the rock I had sealed against you
and make me an empty shell of wheat
to witness that you are alive in me.

Music: Earthquake – by 2nd Life

Lydia

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Discipleship, spirituality2 Comments

Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter
May 6, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050624.cfm

We spent some time in Philippi.
On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate along the river
where we thought there would be a place of prayer.
We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.
One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth,
from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened,
and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention
to what Paul was saying.
After she and her household had been baptized,
she offered us an invitation,
“If you consider me a believer in the Lord,
come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us.
Acts 16: 12-15

From the patriarchal revisionism of early Church history, the names of so few women trickle down to us! How I would love to have known Lydia, acknowledged Philippian leader who helped form the initial Church in this foundational Christian community.

When Lydia met Paul, she was already a “worshiper of God”. Her spiritually-ready heart received the revelation of Jesus and responded completely. Was it to her, likely Church leader, that the beautiful letter to the Philippians was later delivered? Was it she who further preached the Word and fostered this faith community? Was it she who led the Eucharistic gatherings and whose essential role, like those of many early women, is lost in the shadows of history?

How tremendously influential she must have been for her name to have made it even to this singular mention!

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We may want to pray with Lydia to better understand her vibrant faith and participation in the miraculous spread of our early faith. We may want to ask her guidance for our contemporary Church as we seek relevance and truth for our own time.

Poetry: Lydia – Graham Kings

Who is this woman,
Slender in purple,
Approaching the river,
Head demure,
Hands across
Heart secure?

Who are these women,
Accompanying her,
Tumbling, cascading,
Following her gaze,
Slightly perplexed,
Subtly amazed?

Who is this man,
Bearded, intriguing,
Joining the women,
Gorgeous in vesture,
Gently announcing
Greeting in gesture?

By the river of Philippi,
They sat down and met
And sang the songs of Zion,
Outside the gate of the
Greek city, Roman colony.

Lydia, with friends and household,
Dealer in purple, in business astute,
From Thyatira in Asia Minor,
Gentile worshipping God of the Jews.

Paul, with friends, Silas and Luke,
Following a vision of Asia Minor,
Meets a woman of Macedonia,
The Good News comes to Europa.

With hearts open to the cross of Christ,
They pass through the river of baptism,
To enter the joy of the Kingdom.
Like trees planted by the waterside,
They bring forth their fruit in due season.

Music: Water’s Edge – Michael Jones

Listen to this lovely music and join Paul and Lydia at the water’s edge in Philippi.

… Then

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Cross, Discipleship, Gospel, Jesus, spirituality1 Comment

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
May 4, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050424.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
‘No slave is greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.”
John 15: 18-21

I have written about the word “if” several times in past reflections. There are a lot more “ifs” in today’s Gospel – and each of them has a very important “then”.

Thinking about the “if – then” syllogism, I remember one of my favorite professors. Florence Fay taught us Logic when we were young enough not to have practiced it much. She was a wonderful teacher, and building on this basic conditional argument, she led us through the labyrinths of logic.

Jesus seems to be doing the same thing for his disciples. He invites them to recognize that the “thens” of their lives are directly dependent on the “ifs”. He asks them to receive that interdependence without fear because in doing so, they imitate him.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We ask for the courage to live a life balanced on faith so that the “if-then”s of our lives lead us to holiness, not away from it.

Poetry: I See His Blood – Joseph Plunkett

I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice—and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words.
All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.

Music – Adora Te Devote – Juliano Ravanello

Gospel

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, spirituality1 Comment

Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles
May 3, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050324.cfm

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:1-2

In today’s passage, Paul describes the Gospel as a gift, given through his preaching, and received by his listeners.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Think of the most precious gift that has ever been placed in your hands – how carefully and tenderly you received it, handled it, cared for it. I think of the times the newborns of our family have been handed to me, and how I cherished them and vigilantly held them.

Paul, and our early leaders such as Philip and James, have handed on to us the precious Gospel as they received from Christ himself. It is the key to our eternal life. How we should treasure it, learn from it, stand in it, and hold fast to it, as Paul encourages us to do!

Prose: from John Calvin, Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life

“The Gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue, but of life. 
It cannot be grasped by reason and memory only, 
but it is fully understood when it possesses the whole soul 
and penetrates to the inner recesses of the heart.”

Music: Verbum Dei (Word of God) – by Voices Thules

Vocal ensemble Voces Thules was founded in 1992 and has established itself as a leading ensemble for performance and research on Icelandic medieval and traditional music in Iceland. Voces Thules perform both sacred and secular music either a-cappella or with Medieval period instruments.

Remain

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spirituality3 Comments

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
May 1, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050124.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
John 15: 1-4

What a tender and comforting passage! When we are invited to “remain” somewhere ( as in, “Please stay for dinner.”), it indicates that we have already arrived into that inviting presence.

Jesus tells us that we are already living in God’s Presence and that he wants us to always remain there in God’s Love. He tells us that we are established in that Presence – that we are already “pruned” for God.

We don’t realize how holy we are. I live with almost 100 spiritually noble women. I have the joy of knowing Mercy Associates, dear family, and personal friends who enrich my life by their desire to live in God’s Light! They would probably never describe themselves as “holy”.

But they are. They have spent their lives steeping themselves in the things of God, and God has delighted in them – invited them to “remain” in Love.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Let’s take time to think about our holiness, not in pride but in humble thanks for the gift God has given us. Each of our lives has “pruned” us in a particular way to reflect God’s glory. Let’s remain – let’s linger – in that blessing as we pray today.

Poetry: To Live with the Spirit of God – Jessica Powers

To live with the Spirit of God is to be a listener.
It is to keep the vigil of mystery,
earthless and still.
One leans to catch the stirring of the Spirit,
strange as the wind’s will. 

The soul that walks where the wind of the Spirit blows
turns like a wandering weather vane toward love.
It may lament like Job or Jeremiah,
echo the wounded hart, the mateless dove.
It may rejoice in spaciousness of meadow
that emulates the freedom of the sky.
Always it walks in waylessness, unknowing;
it has cast down forever from its hand
the compass of the whither and the why. 

To live with the Spirit of God is to be a lover.
It is becoming love, and like to Him
toward Whom we strain with metaphors of creatures:
fire-sweep and water-rush and the wind’s whim.
The soul is all activity, all silence;
and though it surges Godward to its goal,
it holds, as moving earth holds sleeping noonday,
the peace that is the listening of the soul.

Music: Return to the Heart – David Lanz

Peace

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

Tuesday of Fifth Week of Easter
April 30, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/043024.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
~ John 14:27

Jesus did a lot to prepare his disciples for his suffering and death – sort of an “anticipatory grief” workshop! And the essential coping gift he gives them is peace. Not a peace that means free from trouble or conflict, but rather a peace like his own – one of being resolutely grounded in God.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We pray to be so deeply rooted in God that we see all experience through the lens of God’s peaceful abiding in our hearts.

Poetry: Making Peace – Denise Levertov

A voice from the dark called out,
             ‘The poets must give us
imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar
imagination of disaster. Peace, not only
the absence of war.’
                                   But peace, like a poem,
is not there ahead of itself,
can’t be imagined before it is made,
can’t be known except
in the words of its making,
grammar of justice,
syntax of mutual aid.
                                       A feeling towards it,
dimly sensing a rhythm, is all we have
until we begin to utter its metaphors,
learning them as we speak.
                                              A line of peace might appear
if we restructured the sentence our lives are making,
revoked its reaffirmation of profit and power,
questioned our needs, allowed
long pauses . . .
                        A cadence of peace might balance its weight
on that different fulcrum; peace, a presence,
an energy field more intense than war,
might pulse then,
stanza by stanza into the world,
each act of living
one of its words, each word
a vibration of light—facets
of the forming crystal.

Music: Inner Peace – Hennie Bekker

Show

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Faith, holiness, Jesus, spirituality1 Comment

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter
April 27, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042724.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to Jesus,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

Philip is like a lot of us. He is more comfortable with knowledge than with faith. He wants to be shown the Father, the way we might ask to be shown the facts, the details, the plan for something. But faith can’t be boiled down to facts and blueprints. Faith can’t be described or detailed in a presentation or an image.

Jesus challenges Philip to give himself fully to relationship with Jesus. In that shared love, wisdom, trust, and acceptance, Philip already knows the Father. Jesus is the human revelation of the Infinite Love, Wisdom, and Goodness of the Trinity.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We pray for the spiritual freedom to release our hearts from any doubt or reservation in our faith. We ask for the grace to trust the Presence of God in our lives and to respond in love to that ineffable Loving Presence.

Prayer: from Julian of Norwich

God, of thy goodness, give me Thyself;
for Thou art enough for me,
and I can ask for nothing less
that can be full honor to Thee.
And if I ask anything that is less,
ever Shall I be in want,
for only in Thee have I all.

Music: Expecting Miracles – Velma Frye and Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB

Midnight moon, let your soft light fall gently,
Gently upon all that has grown dim in our lives.
Midnight moon, pour yourself into places
Where we are weary,
Midnight moon, refresh our bodies
And our hearts.
Let us watch throughout the long night as ones,
As ones expecting miracles.

Morning sun, let your soft light fall gently,
Gently upon all that has grown dim in our lives.
Morning sun, pour yourself into places
Where we are weary,
Morning sun, refresh our bodies and our hearts.
Let us step into this new day as ones,
As ones expecting miracles.

May we live this day
With the presence of disciples of joy!

Companions

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Discipleship, Faith, friendship, Gospel, Jesus, spirituality1 Comment

Saturday in the Octave of Easter
April 6, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040624.cfm

Observing the boldness of Peter and John
and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men,
the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed,
and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.

Acts 4:11

When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had driven seven demons.
She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that he was alive
and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

Mark 16:9-11

Think of it! Jesus had companions – people he depended on and who depended on him. Like all companions, they had a common bond – their faith and mission.

It was this shared faith and mission that made them recognizable even when they were not standing side by side.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

How wonderful to be so invested in the faith and mission of the Gospel that we are recognizable as companions of Jesus!

Poetry: The Companion – John N. Morris

I shall begin
To appear too often.
You will not recall
When first you saw me.
I shall arrive
At the light beside you.
Catching a plane
You will observe me.
I will never speak.
I will never ignore you.
I shall open a door.
You will pass before me.
I will stand
In a line behind you. Whatever you do
I will be the same.
Nobody else
Will ever believe you.
Soon you will find
You are looking for me. 
The day will come, 
It is getting closer, 
When I shall stand
At every corner. 
Then you will know 
That you deserve me
And there will be
No more excuses.

Music: Companion – Tom Motterhead