Category: Mary

Dance!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, joy, Love, Mary, Mercy, spirituality14 Comments

Saturday, September 8, 2018

       Readings:  Click here for readings.

Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the Birthday of Mary, Mother of Jesus.

Ps13_6 bountifully

It is a special day for me and many of my Sisters, as September 8th was one of the traditional entrance dates for young women joining the community.  Fifty-five years ago, the sun rose bright as gold at my bedroom window. Its rays fell along the hem of my long, black postulant’s dress hanging in expectation on the door. 

On that day, I would step into an unwritten future, every possibility already joyfully given to God. Like Mary, I and my companions were being born into a God-destined life. It was a thrilling moment for me.

fam
Taken about nine months after Entrance Day.                                          ( Notice the guy still crying in the back!)

What I really didn’t think about that day was my mother. Yes, there was joy, but there was some pain watching me be born into a second life beyond her.

On this Feastday, I think about St. Anne and wonder what blessings and hopes she whispered over young Mary. I think about how Anne felt as she watched Mary choose her own path to God; how she felt as Mary’s awesome life unfolded. And I pray in thanksgiving for my own mother.

This morning, I stand in amazed and humble gratitude to see time’s long cast over the years. Decades seem folded into moments, a thousand stories bound in a single, grateful prayer. God, indeed, has dealt bountifully with me. But somehow I believe that God was encouraged to do so by my mother. 🤗🙏

The music today may seem an unusual choice, but I think it captures a hope every loving mother has for her child. Anne may have hummed the hope over Mary in Aramaic tones; my mother over me in a 1940’s ballad. May we sing a melody of grace over all our children, freeing and blessing them to dance with God.

Blessings and love to my “Band of Sisters”, shown here as we marked our Golden Jubilee five years ago. (Missing our dear Arizona contingent who was unable to join us that day.)

May you continue to be bountifully blessed, beloved companions in Mercy!

Band_Golden

Music: I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack

Mary, Mother of Jesus

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Faith, Mary, spirituality4 Comments

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082218.cfm

Queen of Heaven

Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the Feast of the Queenship of Mary.

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, plays a key role in the faith of Catholics and many other Christian believers. But a clear theology of Mary has, over the centuries, become entangled with some unhelpful and pietistic devotions. These have limited the power of the reality of Mary to speak to our faith heritage with full meaning.

Theologian Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ has done much to relieve that entanglement in her books Truly Our Sister. For your thoughtful prayer this morning, here are two key summaries in the author’s own words:

We began by asking what would be a theologically sound, spiritually empowering and ethically challenging view of Mary, mother of Jesus the Christ, for the 21st century. Our answer leads along the path of remembrance in the communion of saints. To relate to Miriam of Nazareth as a partner in hope in the company of all the graced women and men who have gone before us; to be encouraged by her mothering of God to bring God to birth in our own world; to reclaim the power of her dangerous memory for the flourishing of suffering people; and to draw on the energy of her memory for a deeper relationship with the living God and stronger care for the worldthis theological approach fits at least one pattern of contemporary spirituality. When the Christian community remembers like this, Mary the friend of God and prophet inspires the lives of women and men alike.
—- Mary of Nazareth: Friend of God and Prophet, America magazine, June 17, 2000

“Remembering Mary as a friend of God and prophet in the communion of saints, a woman who is truly sister to our strivings, allows the power of her life to play in the religious consciousness of the church, encouraging ever-deeper relationship with the living God in whom our spirits rejoice, and allying us with God’s redemptive designs for the hungry, the lowly, and all those who suffer, including in an unforgettable way women with their children in situations of poverty, prejudice, and violence.”
— Truly Our Sister

Music: Magnificat ~ sung by the Daughters of Mary

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SyXafdQogEo

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, holiness, Mary, Prayer, spirituality2 Comments

Monday, July 16, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071618.cfm

Today, in Mercy, on this Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we consider our devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Devotion is the honor we we offer Mary and the saints, hoping to imitate their holiness in our own lives. Devotion differs from adoration, which is the prayer we offer to God alone.

Some question the role or efficacy of devotion in our spiritual lives, feeling that the spiritual life is a relationship specifically to God. But for those of us who believe in the Communion of Saints, the power “mentorship” from the saints is unquestionable.

Devotions also play a key role in the early development of our faith. My own faith received abundant nourishment from my mother’s devotion to the Miraculous Medal, and my father’s unending novena to St. Joseph. Even now, in my mature years, I still return to these two devotions when faced with a critical concern.

mt Carmel

Like so many of you, my own young mastering of the Rosary gave me a loving awareness of the evolving life of Christ. And a host of beloved prayers deepened my love of God, including the Prayer before the Crucifix and St. Patrick’s Breastplate. You may want to remember your own favorite devotions – some which you may still use in times of difficulty or uncertainty.

Sacred objects can also support our developing faith – a precious medal, a special statue, a scapular, or a relic. Contemporary religious practice is less focused on these supports, but their value as simple devotional tools is abundantly proven.

What is important to remember is that the value of these devotions and sacramentals lies in their ability to lead us to relationship with God, not in any  “magic” they themselves possess.

For those of us with a special devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, (the Sisters of Mercy included), this is a day to ask Mary’s maternal favor on our lives and world. Picture yourself wrapped in her loving mantle, your deepest needs receive by her maternal heart.

Departure from the Music today – a short reflection on Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the Carmelite Order.

Immaculate Heart of Mary

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, Mary, Mercy2 Comments

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060918.cfm

Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  

Concepts of Mary, and her role in Salvation History, abound in theology and culture.  

madonna-della-seggiola-artwork-photo-1Madonna della Seggiola ~ Raphael

 

While many of these images introduce us to a particular understanding of Mary, some can also limit her to deficient descriptions as sweet, passive, limited in her role as young mother and wife.

immaculate heart

The hope is that Christians today will look beyond any limited definition to find the Mary who voices a strong, faithful witness to Christ and to his Gospel for the poor and disenfranchised – a Mary whose life offers inspiration for the challenges we face in our own lives.

The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1896

The Annunciation ~ Henry Ossawa Tanner

 

Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, a Sister of St. Joseph, is distinguished Professor Emerita at Fordham University. In her ground-breaking book on Mary, Truly Our Sister, she says:

“Remembering Mary as a friend of God and prophet in the communion of saints, a woman who is truly sister to our strivings, allows the power of her life to play in the religious consciousness of the church, encouraging ever-deeper relationship with the living God in whom our spirits rejoice, and allying us with God’s redemptive designs for the hungry, the lowly, and all those who suffer, including in an unforgettable way women with their children in situations of poverty, prejudice, and violence.”

Today, in our prayer, let’s invite ourselves to an ever deeper understanding and relationship with Mary who, with her Immaculate Heart, is nevertheless truly our sister.

windsock visitation

Windsock Visitation ~ Michael O’Neil McGrath, OSFS

Music:  Behold ( A modern Magnificat) ~ David Kauffmann ( Lyrics Below)

Behold, Behold
The mighty one has done great things for me
Behold, Behold
The mighty one has done great things for me
And Holy is your name
And Holy is your name

My soul exalts you
Behold my Lord whose mercy lies on me
My soul magnifies the Lord
My spirit rejoices in my savior
He looks at me with kindness
As with holy eyes of blindness
and all will call me blessed
Refrain

My soul exalts you
Behold my Lord whose mercy lies on me
Compassion inhabits those who fear him
He has done great deeds with is arms
Scattered the proud. Rulers are brought down,
and he has lifted the humble
Refrain

My soul exalts you
Behold my Lord whose mercy lies on me
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent away the selfish empty handed
He has sent his servant, in remembrance of his mercy
and he has kept his promise
Refrain

My soul exalts you
Behold my Lord whose mercy lies on me
Whose mercy lies on me.

Magnificat

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Mary, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/053118.cfm

Visitation

Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that sacred act of hospitality to Elizabeth and to all of us who long for the coming of Christ in our lives. In this Gospel, Mary offers the most lyrical masterpiece of theology ever delivered – the Magnificat. For our prayer today, we might simply savor these words, replete with meaning and challenge. 

The Magnificat, a song of hope and encouragement for those who are poor and disenfranchised, is considered a sacramental prayer among Nicaraguans. Let’s pray for them today as their country once again experiences tremendous political turmoil.

Music: Latin Magnificat sung by the Daughters of Mary

 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

 

Mary, Mother of the Church

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Mary, Mercy, Prayer2 Comments

Monday, May 21, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052118.cfm

Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. It is a day to honor Mary for giving life to Jesus for the sake of all humanity. It is day to beg her intercession for a world so desperately in need of Christ’s continued revelation.

Mary is the door through which Heaven visited earth to heal it from sinful fragmentation. May she continue to carry her beautiful grace to broken hearts and even to the twisted souls who broke them. Through her, may we all find healing.

Mary, Mother of Mercy, intercede for all Creation that we may embrace the love your Son taught us.

( Friends, I began my annual retreat on Pentecost evening. All of you, dear followers, will be very much in my prayers. Please pray for me too. ❤️)

Music: Ave Maria ~ Michael Hoppè

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SLoaDz1af0M