Category: Holy Spirit

Caiaphas

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Faith, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, justice, spiritualityLeave a comment

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
March 23, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032324.cfm

So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish.”

John 11: 47-50

From the moment described in this Gospel, down through the ages, the name “Caiaphas” shouts infamy. At a moment when he could have made all the difference in history, Caiaphas folded to political expediency, planting the seed for Jesus’s crucifixion.

Moral courage is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It strengthens us to tell the truth when doing so may cost us life, limb, or desired status in the world.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

With the gift of free will, God has given us tremendous power, just as God gave Caiaphas. Our words, or our silences, can make or break the flow of grace in the world. By the practice of prayerfully considering our allegiances and testimonies, we can fortify our spirits with a sacred honesty – the kind which Caiaphas lacked on that momentous day.

  • Why am I making this choice?
  • Why am I voicing this opinion?
  • Why am I standing on this side of justice or mercy?
  • Who benefits, or who suffers, because of my stance?

And, ultimately, will my testimony make the way for God’s grace?

Poetry: All Is Truth – Walt Whitman

O me, man of slack faith so long!
Standing aloof—denying portions so long;
Only aware to-day of compact, all-diffused truth;
Discovering to-day there is no lie, or form of lie, and can be none,
but grows as inevitably upon itself as the truth does upon
itself,
Or as any law of the earth, or any natural production of the earth
does.

(This is curious, and may not be realized immediately—But it must be
realized;
I feel in myself that I represent falsehoods equally with the rest,
And that the universe does.)

Where has fail'd a perfect return, indifferent of lies or the truth?
Is it upon the ground, or in water or fire? or in the spirit of man?
or in the meat and blood?

Meditating among liars, and retreating sternly into myself, I see
 that there are really no liars or lies after all,
And that nothing fails its perfect return—And that what are called
lies are perfect returns,
And that each thing exactly represents itself, 
and what has preceded it,
And that the truth includes all, and is compact, just as much as
space is compact,
And that there is no flaw or vacuum in the amount of the truth—but
 that all is truth without exception;
And henceforth I will go celebrate anything I see or am,
And sing and laugh, and deny nothing.

Music: If We’re Honest – Francesca Battistelli

Presence

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Faith, Gospel, holiness, Holy Spirit, spirituality4 Comments

Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
Monday of the Fifth week in Ordinary Time
February 5, 2024

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, both our readings lead us to pray with the mystery of God’s Presence.

In the passage from Kings, Solomon has completed his most memorable task – the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Today’s verses describe the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant from its holding place to its permanent home in the Temple.

Upon the completion of that festive transfer, the Divine Presence is manifested by a cloud which fills the Holy of Holies.

When the priests left the holy place,
the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud,
since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD.
Then Solomon said, “The LORD intends to dwell in the dark cloud;
I have truly built you a princely house,
a dwelling where you may abide forever.”

1 Kings 8:10-11

In Mark’s Gospel today, the townspeople of Gennesaret become aware that Jesus is present in their vicinity. They have heard about his miracles. As Mark puts it, they scurry to gather all their needy friends and relatives into Christ’s healing Presence.

After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

Mark 6:53-56

As we pray these passages, we might long for the tactile presence of God in the cloudiness of our own lives. Sometimes God seems far away, hidden somewhere beyond the stars – disconnected from the flesh-and-bone challenges of our existence.

But as we pray today we might remind ourselves that we are a Temple. God dwells in us as truly as God dwelt in the Holy of Holies. Any felt distance is not on God’s part, it is on ours and our restrained and anxious faith.

May these readings inspire us to be as sincere in our prayer as were the Gennesarenes – to scurry to the hem of Christ’s garment, to grasp its tassel in the fullness of faith, hope, and love.

Thought:

‘The mystery of God hugs you
in its all-encompassing arms.”-

Hildegard von Bingin

Music: Invocation: Hildegard von Bingen ~ Written by Emma Bergen, sung by Anonymous 4

Traditionally the Hebrew term Shekinah שכינה means ‘dwelling’, as a way of describing the Presence of the Divine. As the term is feminine, it also has come to be used to describe the feminine aspect of the divinity: the Divine Feminine.

Emma Bergen writes: “I came to learn about the Shekinah while I was writing about the Gnostic Sophia, and was inspired to write my ‘Invocation’ as a way, both of expressing what such a contact means to me personally, and to reach out in the spirit (and within myself) to what has been described as ‘the feminine face of God’. Oppression has many faces, some serious, and others so subtle that they might remain unnoticed by others. I invite you to join me in this invocation, written for all women everywhere, in whatever circumstances they might find themselves.”

(To see the words more clearly in the video, click on the little white square in the lower right-hand corner of the YouTube screen.)

Righteous Root

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Advent, Eternal Life, Faith, Holy Spirit, spirituality1 Comment

Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
December 19, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121923.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we summon the Redeemer with the title, “O Root of Jesse”. Our readings, rich with biblical tradition, sculpt an image of Christ as an omnipotent radical Presence who alters the course of time.

To clarify that image for us, our readings first offer Samson, a prototype of Jesus in these ways:

  • surprising birth
  • announced by an angel
  • a Nazarite and righteous man
  • core figure in Israel’s deliverance
  • God-rooted strength

Samson by Norman Rockwell,
commissioned by Cecil B. Moore
for the film Samson and Delilah (1947)

The woman went and told her husband,
“A man of God came to me;
he had the appearance of an angel of God, terrible indeed.
I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.
But he said to me,
‘You will be with child and will bear a son.
So take neither wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean.
For the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb,
until the day of his death.'”

The woman bore a son and named him Samson.
The boy grew up and the LORD blessed him;
the Spirit of the LORD stirred him.

Judges 13: 6-9

The Church gives us this reading about Samson today so that we can focus on these characteristics of the Messiah whom Samson foreshadows.

Praying with those images, I remember an amazing tree I once saw in South Carolina. My friend Mike, a proud South Carolinian with a mellow drawl and a matching hospitality, suggested that we take a short ride from Charleston to visit a remarkable treasure (and to enjoy a Gullah dinner on the way home!).

The Angel Oak Park is located on Johns Island where you can find what is known as “A Lowcountry Treasure”. The Southern Live Oak tree is a historical site and focal point of one of the City of Charleston’s public parks. It is considered to be the largest Live Oak Tree east of the Mississippi estimated to be 300 to 400 years old. The Angel Oak receives approximately 400,000 visitors each year. The tree is 65 feet high with a circumference of 25.5 feet, shading an area of 17,000 square feet.

https://www.charleston-sc.gov/153/Angel-Oak

The tree is breathtaking. Being in its presence at once propels us back centuries while convincing us that life endures forever into the future. Standing in its expansive shade, we sense the immeasurable rootedness underfoot, and implacable steadfastness proven in storm.

The tree suggests, although it does not possess, the eternal steadfastness of God. With that suggestion, we are inspired to pray under its silent branches.

Such is the power of Samson in today’s reading. We are reminded and foretold, before Christmas Day, of the omnipotence of our longed-for Redeemer so that we may be more open to the surprising graces he will bring.

The Angel’s Visit to Zechariah – Luis Paret y Alcazar

Fittingly, our Gospel gives us another kind of angel, a real one – not a tree. This angel comes and nearly shocks the tonsils out of Zechariah, another good and righteous man. In his imposed silence, Zechariah hears a description of his son and of the coming Christ. The description is rich with images no doubt familiar from Zechariah’s long life of scripture study. Maybe, as he listens, he thinks of Samson and all the long lineage now tied into his own bloodline!

With the angel’s word Zechariah is given the gift of his own kind of nine-month spiritual pregnancy – one in which to let those images mature in him like the burgeoning of a faith-filled tree.

As we pray with these scriptures today, what angels and images visit us to prepare us for the rebirth of Christ in our hearts?

Poetry: Song of Zechariah (Luke 1:59-79) – Irene Zimmerman, OSF

At the circumcision of his son,
relatives and neighbors came
to speak for Zechariah of the tied 
tongue. The child, they concurred,
would bear his worthy father's name.
But during her husband's silence,
old Elizabeth had found her voice.
"His name will be John," she said.

Why this strange, unprecedented choice,
the relatives and neighbors wondered.
Armed with writing instrument,
back they went to poor, dumb Zechariah.
But during the long confinement,
as young Mary and Elizabeth
spoke about the missions of their sons,
he had listened and grown wise.
Straightaway, he wrote, "His name is John."
he caught Elizabeth's smiling eyes,
felt his old tongue loosen, found his voice,
    sang of God's tender mercy,
    sang of the breaking dawn,
    sang of the prophet, their son,
    who would make straight the way
    for the long-awaited One.

Music: Sacred Silence – Lyrics by Tom Booth, Jenny Pixler, and Anthony Kuner

You are a Temple

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Eternal Life, Faith, Holy Spirit, spirituality2 Comments

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs
Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
November 24, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112423.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, both readings are set in the Temple. After the victory of Judas Maccabeus, the Jewish people restore their Temple with exuberant celebration, recognizing it as a symbol of God’s Presence among them. This is the origin of the celebration of Hanukkah, a word that means “dedication”.

For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar
and joyfully offered burnt offerings and sacrifices
of deliverance and praise.
They ornamented the facade of the temple with gold crowns and shields;
they repaired the gates and the priests’ chambers
and furnished them with doors.
There was great joy among the people
now that the disgrace of the Gentiles was removed.
Then Judas and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel
decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar
should be observed with joy and gladness
on the anniversary every year for eight days,
from the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev.

1 Maccabees 4: 56-59

In today’s Gospel. Jesus also “restores” the Temple by driving out the merchants who have diverted the Temple’s purpose as representative of God’s Presence.

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
“It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves.”

Luke 19:45-46

Our bodies too are temples of the Holy Spirit.
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians tells us:

Do you not know
that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you, whom you have received from God?
You are not your own; you were bought at a price.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Through our Baptism into the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. We are called to be transformed by this Indwelling. As in any relationship, this transformation is accomplished through transparency, communication, listening and acting on behalf of the Beloved.

Poetry: Heart Cave by Geoffrey Brown – a deeply spiritual poet, Brown offers us this imaginative image of waiting for, and welcoming, the transformative Presence of God in our lives:

I must remember to go down to the heart cave
And sweep it clean, make it warm, with fire on the hearth
And candles in their niches
The pictures on the walls glowing with quiet lights
I must remember to go down to the heart cave
And make the bed with the quilt from home
Strew rushes on the floor
And hang lavender and sage from the corners
I must remember to go down to the heart cave
And be there when you come.

Music:  J. S. Bach – Arioso from Cantata 156 – Susanne Beer on cello

If you have a little extra leisure on this Friday after Thanksgiving, you may enjoy the entire Cantata performed beautifully here by the Choir and Orchestra of the J. S. Bach Foundation

In Wisdom …

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Eternal Life, Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spirituality5 Comments

Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
November 16, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111623.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we have two beautiful readings. Like rich fruit from a fructuous tree, each word and phrase can be savored long and separately.

Our first reading offers the consummate description of Wisdom, the Spirit Who is of and with God. If you can, take time to mentally finger the words in the first reading, the way you would your rosary beads. Let the power of each syllable sink into your heart as you imagine the Unimaginable Beauty who is God:

In Wisdom is a spirit:

And then listen to Jesus as he speaks to the Pharisees (and to us) in our Gospel.

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,
Jesus said in reply,
“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

Luke 17:20-21

Jesus tells us that this Incomprehensible Divinity, this Reign of Wisdom, is already among us in the Person of Jesus Christ made flesh among us. We are to look clearly and deeply into our lives to find the Face of God.

Prose: from Evolutionary Faith by Diarmuid O’Murchu

“It is time to outgrow . . .

our rational anthropocentric need to impose order, structure, and closure on every sphere of experience. Our fear of wild eroticism, of creative chaos, and of the radically new possibilities often condemns us to the imprisonment of our fretful imaginations, which then drive us to impulsive action and an irrational desire to dominate and control.

“It is time to embrace . . .

horizons that stretch our minds and hearts to their very limits, trusting that the creative Spirit, who breaks down all rigid boundaries and barriers, will spearhead a new relationality in which we and every other organism will rediscover its true cosmic and planetary identity.”

Music: yen of the Universe – Tim Janis

O My `Three’, My All

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spirituality2 Comments

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
June 4, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060423.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we are wrapped in the loving mystery of the Holy Trinity. This mystery encompasses the Generative, Salvific, and Indwelling nature of the one true God.

The Trinity is a mystery we approach with our hearts and souls, not with our minds. It is a Reality we fall in love with, and Which falls in love with us. John O’Donohue describes it like this:

The Christian concept of God as Trinity is the most sublime articulation of otherness and intimacy, an eternal interflow of friendship. This perspective discloses the beautiful fulfillment of our immortal longing in the words of Jesus, who said, Behold, I call you friends. Jesus, as the son of God, is the first Other in the universe. . . . In friendship with him, we enter the tender beauty and affection of the Trinity. In the embrace of this eternal friendship, we dare to be free.

from Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

In our first reading, Moses encounters the Creator, first Person of the Blessed Trinity and invites God into his company.

Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there
and proclaimed his name, “LORD.”
Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out,
“The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.”
Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.
Then he said, “If I find favor with you, O Lord,
do come along in our company.

In our second reading, Paul tells us how to invite God into our company:

Brothers and sisters, rejoice.
Mend your ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with you.

And in our Gospel, Jesus utters the iconic verse which is the foundation of our faith:

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.

Each of our readings allows us to reflect on the wonder that we touch God in many different ways, just as God touches us.

  • Sometimes we invoke the Source of our life to guide and protect us.
  • At other times, we look to the Incarnate Word to teach us how to live.
  • Still there are other times when we reach deep into our hearts and pray without words in the Holy Spirit about things too deep to describe.

Prose: Prayer of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – (excerpt from Drink of the Stream: Prayers of Carmelites compiled by Penny Hickey)

“O my God, Trinity whom I adore, let me entirely forget myself that I may abide in you, still and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity; let nothing disturb my peace nor separate me from you, O my unchanging God, but that each moment may take me further into the depths of your mystery ! Pacify my soul! Make it your heaven, your beloved home and place of your repose; let me never leave you there alone, but may I be ever attentive, ever alert in my faith, ever adoring and all given up to your creative action.
O my beloved Christ, crucified for love, would that I might be for you a spouse of your heart! I would anoint you with glory, I would love you - even unto death! Yet I sense my frailty and ask you to adorn me with yourself; identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, submerge me, overwhelm me, substitute yourself in me that my life may become but a reflection of your life. Come into me as Adorer, Redeemer and Savior.
O Eternal Word, Word of my God, would that I might spend my life listening to you, would that I might be fully receptive to learn all from you; in all darkness, all loneliness, all weakness, may I ever keep my eyes fixed on you and abide under your great light; O my Beloved Star, fascinate me so that I may never be able to leave your radiance.
O Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, descend into my soul and make all in me as an incarnation of the Word, that I may be to him a super-added humanity wherein he renews his mystery; and you O Father, bestow yourself and bend down to your little creature, seeing in her only your beloved Son in whom you are well pleased.
O my `Three', my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in whom I lose myself, I give myself to you as a prey to be consumed; enclose yourself in me that I may be absorbed in you so as to contemplate in your light the abyss of your Splendor!”

Music: Oh, Late Have I Loved You – Prayer of St. Augustine interpreted by Roc O’Conner, SJ

To Live in the Holy Spirit

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Eternal Life, Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spirituality2 Comments

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter
May 22, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052223.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we begin a week of final and powerful readings which close both the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of John. These readings proclaim the inherent centrality of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and of every Chrisitan believer.

In Acts, Paul has traveled deeper into the heart of Asia Minor, where he meets “disciples” who have never even heard of the Holy Spirit. They have much to learn about the faith and how it will live in them now, after the conclusion of Christ’s life on earth.

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
They answered him,
“We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
He said, “How were you baptized?”
They replied, “With the baptism of John.”

Acts 19:2-3

The baptism of John was a sacred ritual of the Old Testament which prepared its recipients to open their hearts to a new understanding of God. That new understanding is manifested in the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus. It is then in Jesus’ Name, and in our communion with him, that we are able to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, just as the disciples did on Pentecost.

So the process looks like this:

In Scripture: In our lives:
Baptism of Johnwe desire to believe and deepen our life in God
Incarnation of God in Christwe learn what God is like and how to love God through the life and teachings of Jesus
Manifestation of God on Pentecostwe are immersed in the Holy Spirit, God’s life living eternally within us

In our Gospel today, Jesus continues to lead his disciples to the awareness that he is returning to God and that the Spirit will come. They express their reliance on him, but he tells them that that is not enough. In his physical absence, that reliance will be sorely tested and they will retreat into their own fragile securities.

However, Jesus assures them that his transcendent relationship with the Creator in the Holy Spirit will sustain him. His disciples should find peace in that knowledge and the strength to overcome whatever has weakened and “scattered” them.

(the disciples said)
“Now we realize that you know everything
and that you do not need to have anyone question you.
Because of this we believe that you came from God.”
Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?
Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived
when each of you will be scattered to his own home
and you will leave me alone.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.

John 16:30-33

As we read these profound and pivotal passages, we must remember that every word in Scripture also speaks to us. We too are approaching the great epiphany of Pentecost when our hearts are renewed in God’s incandescent Eternal Love. Filled with the peace Jesus offers in our Gospel, let us respond in synchonicity with our Alleluia Verse today:

Alleluia! Alleluia!
If then you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:1

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: Veni Sancte Spiritus – Mozart

Sacred Decade of Days

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Poetry, Prayer, spirituality1 Comment

Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter
May 19, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051923.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings suggest a slight tone of “the after-Ascension” blues.

It’s a bit like how we might feel on the day after Christmas. The big celebration has come and gone. The company has all gone home. Maybe we’re exhausted from the preparations and clean-ups. Maybe we had been so busy that we didn’t take enough time to think about the meaning of the Feast. Maybe we feel like we’ve been spun around in time’s tumbler and can’t believe it’s now the end of the year. It’s a “what do we do next?” time when we come out of a flurry and need to get our bearings.

Click the arrow to get the spun-around feeling!

And for the disciples, it’s a morning they wake up and realize that Jesus has really gone home. In an otherwise chilly room, they might linger in their cozy cots reflecting on his parting words:

Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
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.

These very special days between the Ascension and Pentecost offer the perfect time to quiet our spirits and get our spiritual bearings. Unlike the video of the deer above, it is a time to stop the spin, to clear the inner space, to ready ourselves for the promised and longed-for Spirit.

It’s a time not to be afraid of the silence or the echoing space deep in our hearts which longs for the presence of God.

Even if we are still in the midst of our busy lives, we can make a choice to be on “inner retreat” – to limit useless noise, directionless activity, and mumifying distractions.

If we have forgotten how to sit quietly enough to hear the wind and the distant meadowlark, let’s try to remember. Let’s try to make an inner chamber for the whisper of God Who hums through these ten days until bursting forth in Pentecost.

This decade of hours is a very special time to pray.

Poetry: excerpt from Sara Teasdale’s poem “Silence” (I love her archaic British term “anhungered“)

We are anhungered after solitude,
Deep stillness pure of any speech or sound,
Soft quiet hovering over pools profound,
The silences that on the desert brood,
Above a windless hush of empty seas,
The broad unfurling banners of the dawn,
A faery forest where there sleeps a Faun;
Our souls are fain of solitudes like these.

and a second brief but powerful verse from Emily Dickinson:

Silence is all we dread.
There’s Ransom in a Voice –
But Silence is Infinity.
Himself have not a face.

Music: Achtsamkeit (German for “Mindfulness”) this is an hour’s worth of beautiful music. You can tap into various parts of the video to hear different pieces.

Faith and Truth

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spirituality1 Comment

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
May 17, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051723.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Paul is the headliner at the famed Areopagus in Athens.

The Areopagus is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The name Areopagus also referred, in classical times, to the Athenian governing council, because they convened in this location. It was the ancient version of a stadium, but one provided by nature rather than human hands.

Paul’s address, from Acts today, has been perfectly crafted for his audience who are Gentile intellectuals and philosophers. We are familiar, up until now, with Paul’s speeches to Jews whom he wishes to convert. In those circumstances, he drew on the Hebrew scriptures with which they are familiar. But for the Athenians, Paul uses their art, poetry and philosophy to lead them to the topic of Jesus as the one true God.

And things go well for Paul in his long and finely detailed oration. The thoughtful Athenians are listening, that is until they hit a snag:

(Paul proclaimed) God demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world
with justice’ through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
“We should like to hear you on this some other time.”
And so Paul left them.

Acts 17:30-33

Jesus Christ, Risen from the dead is the touchstone of our Christian faith. It is the Sacred Reality that surpasses and changes every other reality we encounter.

Resurrection faith is not something we can study, analyze, or comprehand with simply the powers of our minds. That’s what the Athenians tried to do, but their analytical inclinations blocked them.

Resurrection faith is a Divine gift, given through the Spirit, to a heart opened in trust and readiness to God. It defies logic and philosophy because it is greater than they are. For one who has this kind of faith, explanations are not only unnecessary, they are restrictive and superfluous.

Jesus understood that to live with such faith is challenging. He suggests that the disciples cannot bear the weight of it without the indwelling companionship of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when the Spirit comes, the Spirit of truth,
you will be guided to all truth.

John 16:12-13

As people desiring to grow in faith, we can learn from the Athenians who walked away from the Grecian hillside. Is my capacity to believe limited by what my small human intellect can define? Or are my heart and mind given in trust to the infinite God Who loves me into the fullness of Truth.

Poetry: Tell All the Truth, but Tell It Slant – Emily Dickenson

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant –
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind –

Music: The Faith – Leonard Cohen

The sea so deep and blind
The sun, the wild regret
The club, the wheel, the mind,
O love, aren’t you tired yet?
The club, the wheel, the mind
O love, aren’t you tired yet?

The blood, the soil, the faith
These words you can’t forget
Your vow, your holy place
O love, aren’t you tired yet?
The blood, the soil, the faith
O love, aren’t you tired yet?

A cross on every hill
A star, a minaret
So many graves to fill
O love, aren’t you tired yet?
So many graves to fill
O love, aren’t you tired yet?

The sea so deep and blind
Where still the sun must set
And time itself unwind
O love, aren’t you tired yet?
And time itself unwind
O love, aren’t you tired yet?

Born Again

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Eastertide, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spiritualityLeave a comment

Monday of the Second Week of Easter
April 17, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041723.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings open with the disciples praying for courage in the midst of surrounding threats – and the Holy Spirit hears them!

Peter and John had been imprisoned by the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees. And the memory of Jesus horrendous trials is still fresh in the community’s mind. Fear nips at their spirits and so they prayed.

After their release Peter and John went back to their own people
and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them.
And when they heard it,
they raised their voices to God with one accord …
And now, Lord, take note of their threats,
and enable your servants to speak your word
with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal,
and signs and wonders are done
through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

Acts 4:23-23;29-30

The disciples were asking people to change. And many people don’t like change, especially change that asks them to shake off old, comfortable ways. Even life-giving change is often rejected for the sake of unexamined custom and unwarranted fear.

Just look at Nicodemus in our Gospel. Here is a good man whose heart aches to open to Jesus’s call. But he just can’t imagine himself beyond the old definitions he has allowed to define him for decades.

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God,
for no one can do these signs that you are doing
unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 
Nicodemus said to him,
“How can a man once grown old be born again?’

John 3:2-4

Our Easter-life in Christ calls us to be reborn too. It calls us to be our best selves in light of the Gospel. Often this means breaking through a worldly interpretation of love, justice or wealth to witness the Gospel definition of these things our lives:

Jesus answered,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and Spirit
he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
What is born of flesh is flesh
and what is born of spirit is spirit.
Do not be amazed that I told you,
‘You must be born from above.’

John 3: -7

What Jesus says to Nicodemus may be hard for us to understand too, but Christ made it very clear and simple in the Sermon on the Mount. Maybe Nicodemus had been there on that earlier day, beginning to wonder about this amazing man. Maybe he will remember and find the courage to respond now that he has actually sought Jesus out for advice.

We will let those crystal clear Beatitudes be our poetry for today, maybe inspiring us to have a Nicodemus style sit-down with Jesus ourselves.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:1-12

Music: Born of God – Steven Kapp Perry