Category: Eternal Life

Golden Advice

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

Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
February 12, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021224.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Lent is just a few days away. We will spend the intervening time in good company with insights from James, Peter and Mark. Today we begin the Epistle of James.

The Epistle of James- Chapter 1: Illustration provided to Wikimedia Commons by Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing as part of a cooperation project. Sweet Publishing released these images, which are taken from now-out-of-print Read’n Grow Picture Bible Illustrations (Biblical illustrations by Jim Padgett, courtesy of Sweet Publishing, Ft. Worth, TX, and Gospel Light, Ventura, CA. Copyright 1984.), under new license, CC-BY-SA 3.0

This letter is one of the very earliest of the New Testament. Scholars are mixed about exactly which “James” wrote it, but agree that it was one of several who were very close to Jesus – perhaps one of “the brothers of Jesus” mentioned in several New Testament passages:

  • Matthew 12:46-50
  • Mark 3:31
  • Luke 8:19
  • John 2:12
  • Acts 1:14
  • 1 Corinthians 9:5
  • and specifically “the Lord’s brother James” in Galatians 1:19

James writes in the style of Wisdom Literature, those Old Testament books that give advice, proverbs, and insights for living a holy life. His immediate audience was a community of dispersed Christian Jews whose world was filled with increasing upheaval and persecution.

When I read the following description I thought how germane James’s letter could be for our world today. His themes echo the teachings of Pope Francis for our chaotic time:

The epistle is renowned for exhortions on fighting poverty and caring for the poor in practical ways (1:26–27; 2:1-4; 2:14-19; 5:1-6), standing up for the oppressed (2:1-4; 5:1-6) and not being “like the world” in the way one responds to evil in the world (1:26-27; 2:11; 3:13-18; 4:1-10). Worldly wisdom is rejected and people are exhorted to embrace heavenly wisdom, which includes peacemaking and pursuing righteousness and justice (3:13-18).

JIM REIHER, “VIOLENT LANGUAGE – A CLUE TO THE HISTORICAL OCCASION OF JAMES.”EVANGELICAL QUARTERLY. VOL. LXXXV NO. 3. JULY 2013

Here is the golden advice James gives us today:

  • Be joyful in trials.
  • Let trials increase your perseverance not discourage you.
  • Doing this is a sign of wisdom.
  • When your wisdom is depleted, ask God for more with an open and trusting heart.
  • Honor all people, high or low in circumstances
  • Don’t be fooled by riches. They fade away.

In our Gospel, Jesus is frustrated with the Pharisees who insincerely demand a magical sign from him. They demonstrate none of the spiritual wisdom and openness to grace that James describes.

When we think about our own faith, where does it fall on the scale of sincerity, on the spectrum joy, justice, and faithful perseverance?

Poetry: On Joy and Sorrow – Kahlil Gibran

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises 
was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, 
the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine 
the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, 
the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart 
and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow 
that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, 
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for 
that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” 
and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, 
and when one sits alone with you at your board, 
remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales 
between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty 
are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you 
to weigh his gold and his silver, 
needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

Music: Count It All Joy

The Queen of Sheba

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

Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
February 7, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020724.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, the Queen of Sheba visits Solomon. It’s another Solomon story worthy of the big screen where, in fact, it has been loosely fictionalized and adulterated many times.

sheba

Many trusted scripture scholars question the historicity of the story. Several agree that Solomon never rose to the kind of material glory described in the passage. The two books of Kings were written 500 years after Solomon lived. In many aspects, the writings offer a reflection on the meaning of his reign in Israel’s covenanted life rather than a strict account of his life.

So what might we glean from today’s passage on the mysterious queen. The story demonstrates that Solomon is so accomplished that a revered leader will come to learn from him. Once she arrives, she is overwhelmed by his material successes and strength. Solomon has constructed a dominant, rich and subservient culture.

But wait. Is there a bit of ironic judgement and, perhaps, prophetic reminder woven into the Queen’s accolades? Shifting the focus from an increasingly arrogant Solomon back to Israel’s God, she says:

Blessed be the LORD, your God,
whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel.
In his enduring love for Israel,
the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice

1 Kings 10:9

In fact, the great wealth and power of Solomon’s kingdom was built, not on justice and judgement, but on the backs of the poor and excluded. For example, Walter Brueggemann says this:

(Solomon’s kingdom) … was an economy of extraction that regularly transferred wealth from subsistence farmers to the elite in Jerusalem, who lived off the surplus and the device and the strategy for that extraction was an exploitative tax system.

When the Biblical scribe puts the words judgment and justice into the Queen’s remarks, it may be intended to forecast the miserable end Solomon will meet because he has abandoned his responsibilities to care for all the people according the the Lord’s covenant.

This glorious, shining realm which so impressed the Queen is a kingdom built on corruption, greed, militarism, and manipulation of the poor.

The lessons for our world are obvious.

As Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, it doesn’t matter whether we’re gilded in gold on the outside and spin our words in glorious promises. What matters are the true intentions of our hearts and the compassionate actions they inspire:

But what comes out of the person, that is what defiles him.
From within, from the heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.

Mark 7:20-23

Ultimately, the great Solomon misses the boat on this. May his story help us not to do the same.

Poetry: The Queen of Sheba by Hadewijch
English version by Mother Columba (Elizabeth) Hart, OSB
Original Language Dutch

The Queen of Sheba
Came to Solomon;
That was in order to gain wisdom.
When she had found him, indeed,
His wonders streamed upon her so suddenly
That she melted in contemplation.
She gave him all,
And the gift robbed her
Of everything she had within --
In both heart and mind,
Nothing remained:
Everything was engulfed in love.

Music: La Reine de Saba – Raymond LeFevre

Listen Tenderly

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Psalms, spirituality2 Comments

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 28, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012824.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 95, once again a call to a holy tenderheartedness – that mix of love, discernment, and generosity that magnetizes us into dynamic relationship with God.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
    “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
    as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
    they tested me though they had seen my works.

Psalm 95: 7-9

Our other Sunday readings, which Psalm 95 anchors, clarify the reason we seek this tenderheartedness. It is so that we might not only hear, but really listen and respond to the Truth of God in our lives.

Those who will not listen to my words 
which a prophet speaks in my name,
I myself will make them answer for it.

Deuteronomy 18:18

In our first reading from Deuteronomy, the people were confused. They were passing into a new land with lots of rivaling religions and spiritualities. Moses was nearing the end of his life and leadership over them. They wanted to know who to listen to and how to behave in order to stay in God’s favor.

God promises that God’s voice will come through a prophet like Moses:

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin,
and will put my words into his mouth;
he shall tell them all that I command him.

Deuteronomy 18:19

In our Gospel, we see Jesus – the fulfillment of the Deuteronomic Promise. The people witnessing his power are amazed. They struggle with whether they can believe in him when he seems just one of them, a Nazarene, Joseph’s son.

But some could believe – readily. Some, like the disciples, discerned quickly the Truth Jesus was. They heard, listened, believed and obeyed the Word.

Our psalm suggests that such readiness, such tenderheartedness comes from the consistent practice of relationship with God through praise, witness, thanksgiving, prayer, worship, humility, and obedience.

To me, it boils down to this:

  • let your life unfold in God’s Presence
  • be silent under God’s loving gaze
  • thank God for all you have been given
  • realize you are nothing without God
  • listen to your life as God speaks it to you
  • act on what you hear
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
    let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving;
    let us joyfully sing psalms to the Lord.
R. If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
    let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For the Lord is our God,
    and we are the people God shepherds, the flock God guides.

Poetry: Rumi

I keep telling my heart,
“Go easy now. 
I am submerged in golden treasure.”
It replies, 
“Why should I be afraid of love?”

Music: Soften My Heart – by Music Meets Heaven

Do You Not Yet Have Faith?

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Creation, Eternal Life, Faith, Jesus, spiritualityLeave a comment

Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
January 27, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012724.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings say something about Divine Order, about Sacred Balance – and our ability to let go and trust.

Nathan Rebukes David – by James Tissot

In our first reading, the prophet Nathan confronts David regarding his relationship with Bathsheba. The beautiful Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, an elite soldier in David’s army. From far away one day, David spies her bathing in a pool. Full of covetousness and lust, he engineers a heartless plot to have her as his own.

The story is complex, intriguing, and extremely dramatic. You can read it for yourself in 2 Samuel. But the point I would like to draw out for today is about covetousness. What is that, really, and does it play any part in my life?

“Covet” is an intransitive verb that we learned when we were taught the Ten Commandments. Like all the other sins, my six-year-old self decided I would try hard not to commit it … but I had no idea what it even meant! I was pretty sure I didn’t have to be worried about coveting my neighbor’s wife, but I did like Jimmy Clark’s bike enough to covet it. (But, I didn’t steal it.)

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever used the verb “covet” in a sentence before today. So I turned to Meriam-Webster who defines covetousness like this: to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably

Do we “covet” when we wish we had some of the great things others have? Material things like money, mansions, and limousines? Or immaterial things like talent, beauty, and popularity?

I don’t think so. We may have to deal with the concupiscence of jealousy or envy, but it’s not quite the same as coveting. As Merriam-Webster indicates, coveting implies an inordinance or culpability. In other words, we act on our jealousy or envy in some way, creating an imbalance in our moral life. 

  • We resent, judge, or ostracize the person who has what we want.
  • We plot to take away the other’s prized possession or status.
  • We create a deficit in our own responsibilities by directing essential resources to our plot.
  • And what may be the worst and most likely situation, we use our power to indifferently usurp what belongs to others.

When I examine my conscience I remind myself that the world belongs to me, but it also belongs to others — all others. Peace, a decent level of sustenance, the goods of Creation, the right to life — these belong to me but also to others. I may not be aware of “coveting” these things to the detriment of others, but how do my choices and actions in any way limit that right for others?

It could be as simple as this:

  • Do I vote for leaders who continually foster negotiation over militaristic responses?
  • Do I support trade agreements that establish sustainable practices for producers as well as consumers?
  • Do I recognize that climate deterioration and refugee intensification are inextricably connected to abusive environmental practices and that I have a role in promoting change?
  • Do I have a single-issue or a holistic approach to life concerns for the unborn, impoverished, incarcerated, unhoused, immigrant, and medically needy populations?

When we find ourselves entangled in greed or covetousness, it’s not necessarily that we are bad people. We might be more like the disciples described in today’s Gospel – fearful people, so insecure that we amass material protections around us.

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, 
and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”

Mark 4: 37-40

Jesus calls us to live a life grounded in faith not material protections. Only faith is invulnerable to life’s storms. Within its eternal securities, we become more deeply aware of our sacred relationship to all creatures and to Creation Itself.

If David had exercised such faith, the taking of Bathsheba and murder of Uriah would have been incomprehensible to him. As we deepen in our faith, what awarenesses will awaken in us?

Quote: Wisdom from Ramana Maharshi (1879 – 1950) who is considered an Indian Hindu sage and “jivanmukta” (liberated being). He is regarded by many as an outstanding enlightened being and, as a charismatic person, attracted many devotees. I particularly value this quote which leads me to consider my oneness with all beings:

Questioner: How are we to treat others?
Ramana Maharshi: There are no others.

Music: Imagine – John Lennon

Time Passes

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, dying, Eternal Life, Faith, spirituality7 Comments

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 21, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012124.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, each of our readings speaks to us of time.

The concept of time has always fascinated me. I remember being aware of the fascination as a very little girl walking beside my mother and aunt along the Wildwood boardwalk arcade.

Some of you who live locally may remember the spot, an extension of the seaside boardwalk at Oak Avenue. Its main attractions were bumper cars and a booth where little piglets ran along a path, picking a random door that, for a nickel, might earn you a stuffed animal.

On that particular summer day, about 1950, there was a new booth – Miranda, the Fortune Teller. Miranda read Tarot cards, an exercise Mom and Aunt Peg were unfamiliar with. Nevertheless, they decided to try it, and each went separately into the tiny veiled room to learn her future as I stood completely entranced by the piglet race.

Later, as the three of us sauntered side-by-side in the salted air, I heard Aunt Peg ask Mom, “Did she tell you how old you will be when you die?”. My ears leaped to attention! What? My mom could die???? And that lady knew when????

I heard my thirty-three year old mother answer, “She said when I am seventy-two.”

“Oh, God! How soon is that?”, I wondered. My little five-year-old mind tried to calculate the expanse of time but failed. However, the prediction planted itself inextricably in my heart.

Decades later, when Mom did pass away (just before her 72nd year) the memory returned to me. And the nearly forty years in between seemed compressed into an incomprehensible moment that had passed as quickly as that sweet seaside breeze.

How many times do we ask the Universe this unanswerable question, “Where did the time go?” It is a question that has a thousand answers and no answer, much like the question, “Who is God?”.

In our readings today, Jonah, Paul, and John the Baptist want us to think about time in relationship to God.

  • For Jonah, time is captured in the forty days of grace to seek repentance.
  • For Paul, time – in the worldly sense – is running out, requiring us to turn our attention to eternity.
  • For Jesus, it is the time of fulfillment – a fulfillment that can be achieved by living the Gospel.

Praying with today’s readings, we might ask ourselves, “What time is it for me?

  • Are there places in my life requiring “repentance“, a turning of my heart away from selfishness and toward the mercy of God?
  • Do I need to widen my perspective with a deeper awareness of eternal rather than worldly values?
  • Am I making a choice every day to live a life patterned on the Gospel?

Poetry: Endless Time – Rabindranath Tagore

Time is endless in thy hands, my lord.
There is none to count thy minutes.
Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers.
Thou knowest how to wait.
Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower.
We have no time to lose,
and having no time we must scramble for a chance.
We are too poor to be late.
And thus it is that time goes by
while I give it to every querulous person who claims it,
and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.

At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut;
but I find that yet, with you, there is always time.

Music: What’s It All About, Alfie? – written by Burt Bacharach, sung by Dionne Warwick this modern song seems to deal with the timeless questions.

What’s it all about Alfie
Is it just for the moment we live

What’s it all about
When you sort it out, Alfie
Are we meant to take more than we give
Or are we meant to be kind?

And if, if only fools are kind, Alfie
Then I guess it is wise to be cruel
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie
What will you lend on an old golden rule?

As sure as I believe there’s a heaven above
Alfie, I know there’s something much more
Something even non-believers can believe in

I believe in love, Alfie
Without true love we just exist, Alfie
Until you find the love you’ve missed
You’re nothing, Alfie

When you walk let your heart lead the way
And you’ll find love any day Alfie, Alfie

Family Trees

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

Christmas Weekday
January 6, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010624.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings are laced together with a genealogy theme.

In our first reading, John describes our most fundamental and powerful lineage: we are children of God with the gift of eternal life.

And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God.

1 John 5: 11-13

The Church offers alternative Gospels for reading today. One describes the Baptism of Jesus and one delineates his patriarchal lifeline.

Mark’s Gospel, which will most likely be read at Mass today, presents Jesus as the Son of God:

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens,
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Mark 1: 9-11

Today’s alternative Gospel of Luke presents Jesus as the descendant of a long patriarchal line including Adam, David, and “as was thought” Joseph. It emphasizes Jesus’s place in the human family (In contrast to Matthew’s genealogy which emphasizes Jesus’s place in the Hebrew history.)

When Jesus began his ministry he was about thirty years of age.
He was the son, as was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli,
the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi,
the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias,……

Luke 3:23-38

What are we supposed to learn today from this impressive array of scriptures? This is where my prayer took me:

Jesus Christ, human and divine, took flesh to share eternal life with me through Baptism. Through him, I gain the sacred pedigree that reaches through time to God’s eternal womb.

Poetry: Jesus’s Baptism – Malcolm Guite

Beginning here we glimpse the Three-in-one;
The river runs, the clouds are torn apart,
The Father speaks, the Sprit and the Son
Reveal to us the single loving heart
That beats behind the being of all things
And calls and keeps and kindles us to light.
The dove descends, the spirit soars and sings
‘You are belovèd, you are my delight!’
In that quick light and life, as water spills
And streams around the Man like quickening rain,
The voice that made the universe reveals
The God in Man who makes it new again.
He calls us too, to step into that river
To die and rise and live and love forever.

Music: Epiphany on the Jordan – Steve Bell and Malcolm Guite

Steve Bell worked with Malcolm Guite converting the poem above into this inspiring song. As we approach the Season of Light, revealed in Epiphany and Baptism, this meditative song is a great companion to our prayer.

The heavens split and the water spilled
And streamed around the man like a quickening rain
A quickening rain
The Word behind all worlds revealed
That God in man makes everything new again
New again
This word of God to his beloved
Has settled on me like a dove…
He calls us too, to step into that river
To die and rise to life and love forever
And so graciously extends to me, a sinner
To tread the sacred waters of
The mystery of love
What can be said about a mystery
Except to say that the last word can never be said
Never said
Best leave that to poetry
Kindling words for quickening the dead
The living dead
Pure, single heart behind all things
Each to the other, by the spirit sing
He calls us too, to step into that river…

Let Me Go Now

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Christmastide, dying, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, spiritualityLeave a comment

The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
December 29, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122923.cfm

Lk2_29 Nunc

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy,  our first reading offers us John’s perfect honesty and simplicity:

Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:
whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked.

1 John 1:3-6

Yes, it’s that simple and that hard!

Then, in our Gospel, we meet Simeon who speaks with the holy confidence of a long and well-lived life. His lifelong dream was that he might not die before seeing the Messiah. That dream now fulfilled, Simeon intones one of the most beautiful prayers in Scripture, the Nunc Dimittis:

Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Luke 2:29-32

If we live in the Light, we too will see the Messiah within our life’s experiences. We too will come to our final days confident and blessed by that enduring recognition.

For as John also assures us:

Whoever says he is in the light,
yet hates his brother or sister is still in the darkness.
But whoever loves his brother and sister remains in the light …

1 John 1:9-10

Let’s pray today for those who are dying, that they may know this kind of peace.

Let us pray for ourselves, that when our time comes, we too may experience this confidence.

Poetry: Song Silence By Madeleva Wolff, CSC
 
Yes, I shall take this quiet house and keep it
With kindled hearth and candle-lighted board,
In singing silence garnish it and sweep it
                For Christ, my Lord.
 
My heart is filled with little songs to sing Him—
I dream them into words with careful art—
But this I think a better gift to bring Him,
                Nearer his heart.
 
The foxes have their holes, the wise, the clever;
The birds have each a safe and secret nest;
But He, my lover, walks the world with never
A place to rest.
 
I found Him once upon a straw bed lying;
(Once on His mother’s heart He laid His head)
He had a bramble pillow for His dying,
A stone when dead.
 
I think to leave off singing for this reason,
Taking instead my Lord God’s house to keep,
Where He may find a home in every season
                To wake, to sleep.
 
Do you not think that in this holy sweetness
Of silence shared with God a whole lifelong
Both he and I shall find divine completeness
                Of perfect song?

Music:  Nyne Otpushchayeshi ~Sergei Rachmaninoff (translated Nunc Dimittis, Now Let Your Servant Go). This was sung at Rachmaninoff’s funeral, at his prior request. (For musicians among you, point of interest: Nunc dimittis (Nyne otpushchayeshi), has gained notoriety for its ending in which the low basses must negotiate a descending scale that ends with a low B-flat (the third B-flat below middle C).

Church Slavonic text
Ныне отпущаеши раба Твоего,
Владыко, по глаголу Твоему, с миром;
яко видеста очи мои спасение Твое,
еже еси уготовал,
пред лицем всех людей,
свет во откровение языков
и славу людей Твоих Израиля

English translation
Now let Your servant depart in peace,
Lord, by Your word;
My eyes have seen Your salvation,
Which You have prepared,
In view of all the people,
A light revealed to all tongues
and to the glory of Your people, Israel

John, the Lover

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

Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist
December 27, 2023

Today’s readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122723.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we begin a three-week immersion in John’s magnificent first letter. At the same time, our Gospels will take us on a somewhat random journey with Jesus through his very early years.

Today’s Gospel, however, differs from the expected pattern and – yes, right here in the Christmas season – gives us an account of the Resurrection!

Early in the morning, on the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we do not know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.

John 20: 1-8

Did somebody get mixed up? Did someone think it was the Octave of Easter, not Christmas! No, of course not. I think the choice of this Gospel, at this point in the Liturgical Year, serves at least two purposes:

  • From the start of Christ’s life, it establishes how his days will end. Therefore, throughout the ensuing year, we are to read and interpret all of the Gospel in the glorious light of the Resurrection.
  • Placing this Gospel here, to accompany our first reading, clarifies exactly who John is — the one who indeed saw, heard, and touched the Word of God made visible in Jesus Christ and therefore is eminently qualified to testify to Christ.

Beloved:
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—

1 John 1:1-2

One very popular form of both fiction and non-fiction is the love letter. Some of the most wonderful books are in the genre. Three of my favorites fit the category:

  • 84, Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff
  • The Love Letters – Madeleine L’Engle
  • A Green Journey – John Hassler

Reading such literature evokes a reverence for the lives we touch in the gathered words. We read what is said and imagine what is unsaid. We witness the depth of another’s self-donation and we ponder our own capacity for such a gift.

In 1 John, we are granted the privilege of reading John’s love letters to his God and to his community. John’s love is profoundly deep yet simply expressed. We might tend to skip through his rich but clipped phrases. But to truly plumb them requires us to suspend time and rest with his words until they open in us like flowers in sunlight.

Poetry: The Living Word – Herman Hesse

The sun speaks to us through light.
Flowers give voice to fragrance and colour.
The air communes through clouds, snow, and rain.
From the sacred center of the world
streams forth an irrepressible desire
to overcome the silence between things.
Art, the ever flowing fountain, reveals
the secret of life through word and gesture, colour and sound.

The world wants to be known to spirit
and find expression for timeless wisdom.
All life longs for a language.
Deep intuitions wish to surface,
find words and numbers, lines and tones,
always evolving forms of understanding.

The red and blue of flowers
and the verses of the poet
point to the inner workings of creation,
always pregnant with beginning and never-ending.
When word and sound marry,
where songs soar and art unfolds
all life is brimmed again with spirit.
And every melody and book
and every painting is a revelation,
is another fresh attempt
to unfold the harmony of life.
Poetry and music invite you
to understand the splendors of creation.
A look into a mirror will confirm it.
What disturbs us often as disjointed
becomes clear and simple in a poem:
Flowers start laughing, the clouds release their rain,
the world regains its soul, and silence speaks.

Music: Love Letter – Anthony Nelson

The First to Die for Christ

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Christmastide, Cross, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, spirituality1 Comment

Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr
December 26, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122623.cfm

The Demidoff Altarpiece: Saint Stephen
Representation of St. Stephen
from The Demidoff Altarpiece
by Carlo Crivelli,
an Italian Renaissance painter
of the late fifteenth century.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, first martyr for the Christian faith. 

Stephen said,
“Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,
and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

The commemoration and readings are a drastic turn from singing angels and worshiping shepherds. The Liturgy moves quickly from welcoming a cooing baby to weeping at the death of innocence. Why?

One thought might be to keep us practical and focused on what life in Christ truly means.

Stephen, like Jesus, “was filled with grace and power, … working great wonders and signs among the people.” He, as Jesus would, met vicious resistance to his message of love and reconciliation. He, as Jesus would, died a martyr’s death while forgiving his enemies.

The Church turns us to the stark truth for anyone who lets Christ truly be born in their hearts. We will suffer as Jesus did – as Stephen did. The grace and power of Christ in our life will be met with resistance, or at least indifference.

Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.

We may not shed blood but, in Christ, we will die to self. When we act for justice for the poor and mercy for the suffering, we will be politically frustrated and persecuted. When we forgive rather than hate, we will be mocked. Powerful people, like the yet unconverted Saul in today’s second reading, may catalyze our suffering by their determined hard-heartedness.

Our Gospel confirms the painful truth:

“You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Tomorrow, the liturgy picks up the poetic readings from John’s letters. These are delights to the soul. 

But for today, it is a hard look, with Stephen, at what Christmas ultimately invites us to.

Poetry: St. Stephen by Malcolm Guite

Witness for Jesus, man of fruitful blood,
Your martyrdom begins and stands for all.
They saw the stones, you saw the face of God,
And sowed a seed that blossomed in St. Paul.
When Saul departed breathing threats and slaughter
He had to pass through that Damascus gate
Where he had held the coats and heard the laughter
As Christ, alive in you, forgave his hate,
And showed him the same light you saw from heaven
And taught him, through his blindness, how to see;
Christ did not ask ‘Why were you stoning Stephen?’
But ‘Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
Each martyr after you adds to his story,
As clouds of witness shine through clouds of glory.

Music: Gabriel’s Oboe from the movie “The Mission”, played by Henrik Chaim Goldschmidt,  principal oboist of The Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Key Hidden in Plain Sight

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

Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
December 20, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122023.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Isaiah foretells the conception and birth of the Messiah.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah offered the prophecy to one of the bad guys of the Hebrew Scriptures – King Ahaz (who was, nevertheless, the 16th great-grandfather of Jesus in the long David line). But Ahaz refused to believe, subsequently pursuing his own agenda rather than God’s. Ahaz’s choice ended up in disaster for both the religious and social framework of Israel.

Isaiah had handed Ahaz the Key to believe
and to act in union with God’s Will,
but Ahaz remained closed to the grace.

About 700 years later, when an angel offers her the Key, a young girl opens her heart to the miracle Isaiah once prophesied.

In the sixth month,
the angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

Luke 1:26-33

The stark contrast between Ahaz’s and Mary’s responses encourages us to consider our own openness to God’s interventions in our lives. We live a series of experiences, learnings, mistakes, reminiscences, hopes, disappointments, and a thousand other turnings of circumstance and relationship. Each holds the potential to draw us closer to God if, by prayer and reverence, we can find the key hidden under human appearances.

We can hear Mary searching for that key in her question to the angel:

But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”

Luke 1: 34

The angel assures Mary that there is a world transcending our perceptions where God’s power holds sway beyond all human calculation.

And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Luke 1: 35

Expressing her profound faith and trust in God, Mary was able to suspend the limits of expectation and definition. Ahaz didn’t even try.

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”

Luke 1: 38

Poetry: Annunciation – Marie Howe

Even if I don't see it again—nor ever feel it
I know it is—and that if once it hailed me
it ever does—
And so it is myself I want to turn in that direction
not as towards a place, but it was a tilting
within myself,
as one turns a mirror to flash the light to where
it isn't—I was blinded like that—and swam
in what shone at me
only able to endure it by being no one and so
specifically myself I thought I'd die
from being loved like that.

Music: The Annunciation from Rosary Sonata – Heinrich Biber