Category: Eternal Life

Truth

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Discipleship, dying, Eternal Life, Faith, spirituality, suffering, TruthLeave a comment

Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs
October 19, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101924.cfm

Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and of your love for all the holy ones,
I do not cease giving thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe’
Ephesians 1:15-19

Paul’s grateful acknowledgement of the Ephesians could very well be bestowed on the North American martyrs whose lives we commemorate today. Their love of Jesus and the Gospel was unquencable even unto death. To read their stories, click this link:

Who are the North American Martyrs?

Poetry: Today’s Responsorial Psalm

The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord,
and you also will testify.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Music: Iroquois Dream Song

Wisdom

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

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 13, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101324.cfm

 I prayed, and prudence was given me;
        I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
    I preferred her to scepter and throne,
    and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
        nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
    because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
        and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
    Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
    and I chose to have her rather than the light,
        because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
    Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
        and countless riches at her hands.
Wisdom 7:7-11

This lyrical passage personifies Wisdom, carrier of the Presence of God. While often attributed to King Solomon, the book was written by an unknown but gifted poet.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We, too, pray for the gift of Wisdom, and reflect on the many times in our lives that she has accompanied us with the spirit of God.

Poetry: The Beginning of Wisdom – Denise Levertov

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

You have brought me so far.

I know so much. Names, verbs, images. My mind
overflows, a drawer that can’t close

Unscathed among the tortured. Ignorant parchment
uninscribed, light strokes only, where a scribe
tried out a pen.

I am so small, a speck of dust
moving across the huge world. The world
a speck of dust in the universe.

Are you holding
the universe? You hold
only my smallness. How do you grasp it,
how does it not
slip away?

I know so little.

You have brought me so far.

Music: Wisdom Song = Laura Woodley Osman

Friendship

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

Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
October 10, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101024.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 11:5-11

In our Gospel today, Jesus describes the meaning of friendship and invites his disciples to receive that gift from God.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We ask God to show us the profound beauty of Divine Friendship. We are grateful and humbled to be offered such a gift.

William Barry, SJ – one of my top ten spiritual writers – has written an inspiring book about friendship with God. Barry believes, as I do, that the concept of friendship best describes one’s deepening relationship with God.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=William+Barry&i=stripbooks&crid=3N6T8EPSQT76V&sprefix=william+barry%2Cstripbooks%2C93&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

Excerpt from William Barry, SJ:

What does God want in creating us? My stand is that what God wants is friendship.
To forestall immediate objections, let me say that I do not mean that God is lonely and therefore needs our friendship. This is a romantic and quite unorthodox notion that makes God ultimately unbelievable. No, I maintain that God—out of the abundance of divine relational life, not any need for us—desires humans into existence for the sake of friendship.

Music: I’ve Found a Friend – J. G. Small (1866)

Although this hymn echoes some revival tones of the 19th century, I think is still a beautiful and unexpectedtribute to Divine Friendship.

Hallowed

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Eternal Life, Faith, holiness, Jesus, Prayer, spiritualityLeave a comment

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
October 9, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100924.cfm

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
Luke 11:1-4

Today’s Gospel shows us the centrality of prayer in the life of Jesus and his disciples. The prayer Jesus leaves us in this passage is a prayer of presence, an intimate conversation with the God who supplies our needs.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Like the disciples, we ask Jesus to teach us how to pray – to move from recitation to presence; to move from timed practice to timeless oneness.

Thoughts – from Thomas Merton

First of all, prayer is a spiritual activity. This activity engages the highest faculties of our soul, our mind and our will. To be valid, prayer must be intelligent and it must be an act of sincere love. Already we can see that prayer is one of the most perfect actions a man can perform. When we pray properly we are exercising our intelligence and we are working with our will. This cannot be done without interior discipline. The more we practice prayer the stronger do these higher faculties become, and so they regain their lost control over the passions which are the root of all prejudice and of all error. Thus, in the natural order alone, the true practice of prayer would be sufficient to elevate and purify the soul to some extent. But this presupposes that prayer is really prayer and not pious automatism, or mere exterior formalism, or, worse still, an act of blind superstition. These dangers mustall be obviated by the constant striving for intelligent attention and for a sincere, earnest and fervent intention of the will.

Music: Lord, Teach Us to Pray – Joe Wise

Better

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

Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
October 8, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100824.cfm

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:38-42

What is the sacred balance between prayer and action? How do we acieve the sweet point where prayer and action infuse each other in mutual inspiration? In this Gospel, Jesus indicates that one element has precedence over the other — there is a “better part”.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We seek to deepen our prayer life while employing it to inspire our merciful service to Creation.

Poetry: Martha and Mary by John Newton (1725-1807)

Martha her love and joy expressed
By care to entertain her guest;
While Mary sat to hear her Lord,
And could not bear to lose a word.

The principle in both the same,
Produced in each a different aim;
The one to feast the Lord was led,
The other waited to be fed.

But Mary chose the better part,
Her Saviour’s words refreshed her heart;
While busy Martha angry grew,
And lost her time and temper too.

With warmth she to her sister spoke,
But brought upon herself rebuke;
One thing is needful, and but one,
Why do thy thoughts on many run?

How oft are we like Martha vexed,
Encumbered, hurried, and perplexed!
While trifles so engross our thought,
The one thing needful is forgot.

Lord teach us this one thing to choose,
Which they who gain can never lose;
Sufficient in itself alone,
And needful, were the world our own.

Let groveling hearts the world admire,
Thy love is all that I require!
Gladly I may the rest resign,
If the one needful thing be mine!

Music: Come Mary, Come Martha – Anna Purdum

Revealed

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

Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
October 5, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100524.cfm

Blessed are you, Creator,
Lord of heaven and earth,
you have revealed to little ones
the mysteries of the Kingdom.

Responsorial Psalm 119

Not everyone sees the world through the eyes of faith. We are blessed if we do. Our readings tell us that we come to such clarity of vision only through humility. Job suffered much before he rested in the revealed mystery of God. So did the disciples in today’s Gospel.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We ask to grow in humility and patience, always trusting that the mystery of God surrounds us in Love.

Thought:

The greatest honor
we can give Almighty God
is to live gladly
because of the knowledge
of God’s love.
__________
~ Julian of Norwich ~

Music: Revelations – Fausto Papetti

Creation

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Eternal Life, Faith, holiness, Mercy, spirituality, suffering1 Comment

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi
October 4, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100424.cfm

The LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said:

Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning
and shown the dawn its place
For taking hold of the ends of the earth,
till the wicked are shaken from its surface?
The earth is changed as is clay by the seal,
and dyed as though it were a garment;
But from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm of pride is shattered.
Job 38:1, 12-15

The character of this passage from Job fits so perfectly the spirituality of Francis of Assisi whom we honor today. Francis had a deep veneration for all Creation where he saw God’s beauty and vitality. Francis’s heart anguished for those unable to share in that beauty because of the burden of poverty.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
May we be inspired by Francis’s example, and Job’s honesty to develop a generous and reverent sharing of Creation’s gifts.

Poetry: Saint Francis and the Sow – Galway Kinnel

The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;
as Saint Francis
put his hand on the creased forehead
of the sow, and told her in words and in touch
blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow
began remembering all down her thick length,
from the earthen snout all the way
through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of the tail,
from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine
down through the great broken heart
to the sheer blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering
from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking and blowing beneath them:
the long, perfect loveliness of sow.

Music: St. Francis Preaching to the Birds – Franz Liszt (performed by Brandon Hawksley)

Wing

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Eternal Life, Faith, Praise, spirituality1 Comment

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Readings from Mass of the Angels)
October 2, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/1002-memorial-guardian-angels.cfm

I dwell in the shelter of the Most High.
and abide in the shadow of the Holy One.
I say, “You are my refuge and stronghold,
my God in whom I put my trust.
You will deliver me from the snare of the hunter
and from all manner of evils.
You will cover me with your pinions
and hide me in the shadow of your wings.
I need not be afraid of any terror of the night,
or danger of the day.
I will be strong in the face of difficulty
and face the trials of my life with calm assurance.
I need not fear illness or injury,
people who roar like lions or hiss like snakes,
You will tread on my fears.I hear you whisper,

“I am bound to you in love,
therefore I will help you in times of trouble.
I am with you when you call for me.
I will dwell in your heart through the years of your life.
Psalm 91 (interpreted by Christine Robinson)

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We pray with the angels. They are not chubby little cherubs on Christmas cards. Rather, they are magnificent beings with whom we share God’s breath. They worship God with all their vitality, and guide us so that we may someday share in their sacred ministry.

We honor our angels, asking to learn from the purity of their love for God.

Prose: from Thomas Merton

The angels are our brothers/sisters and fellow servants in a world of freedom and of grace. Like us, they are saved by Christ the Lord and King of Angels. With Christ their King and sent by his command, they come to us as invisible messengers of his divine will, as mysterious protectors and friends in the spiritual order. Their presence around us, unimaginable, tender, solicitous, and mighty, terrible as it is gentle, is more and more forgotten while the personal horizon of our spiritual vision shrinks and closes in upon ourselves.

Music: Adoro Te Devote – written by Thomas Aquinas, sung by Juliano Ravanello

Death

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Cross, dying, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, spiritualityLeave a comment

Saturday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
September 28, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092824.cfm

Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Christ Jesus destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.

Today’s readings may strike us as grim. The Book of Ecclesiastes acknowledges our discomfort with the darkness inherent in faith. We believe because we do not know. If we knew, there would be no need for faith. But at times our believing is challenged by our life circumstances. Thus is the story of Ecclesiastes – all in life that confronts our faith.

In our Gospel, Jesus introduces the hard reality of his impending death. He challenges the faith and commitment of the disciples as the time of testing approaches.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Acknowledging the truth of today’s readings, we choose to pray with them in the light of the Resurrection as it is so beautifully and simply stated in our Responsorial Psalm.

Poetry: from John Donne’s Holy Sonnets – Death Be Not Proud

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Music: Cantata, BWV 31 – “The Heavens Laugh” – J.S. Bach

The heavens laugh! The earth shouts with joy
and what she bears in her bosom.
The creator lives! God most high triumphs
and is free from the bonds of death.
He who has chosen the grave for rest,
the Holiest, cannot decay.

… time …

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Creation, dying, Eternal Life, Faith, Hope, Mercy, ordinary time, Poetry, spirituality2 Comments

Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
September 27, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092724.cfm

What advantage have workers from their toil?
I have considered the task that God has appointed
for us to be busied about.
The Infinite One has made everything appropriate to its time,
and has put the timeless into their hearts,
without our ever discovering,
from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-11

Three thousand years ago, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, a writer called Kohelet meditated on God’s Mercy experienced over a lifetime. Like the writer, we may have done the same thing at various significant times in our lives.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We place our lives against the timepiece pictured above. We may pray over a specific time of challenge and grace. Or we may consider the whole pattern of mercy passing slowly yet constantly through our lives, like the ticking of a steadfast clock.

Poetry: XC Domine, refugium – Malcolm Suite
In this poem, Guite refers to a poem by Philip Larkin which may be read here: https://allpoetry.com/Cut-Grass

XC Domine, refugium
Malcolm Guite

A cosy comforter, a lucky charm?
Not with this psalmist, for he praises God
From everlasting ages, in his psalm. 
A God of refuge –yes – and yet a God
Who knows the death that comes before each birth,
Who sees each generation die, a God

Before whom all the ages of the earth
Are like a passing day, like the cut grass
In Larkin’s limpid verse: ‘brief is the breath

Mown stalks exhale’. So we and all things pass,
And God endures beyond us. Yet he cares
For our brief lives, his loving tenderness

Extends to all his creatures, our swift years
Are precious in his sight. In Christ he shares
Our grief and he will wipe away our tears.

Music: There Is A Season – Tom Kendzia