Category: Mercy

Rain

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Discipleship, Faith, Forgiveness, healing, inclusivity, justice, Mercy, spirituality4 Comments

Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
June 18, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061824.cfm

Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of our Creator God,
Who makes the sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
Matthew 5:44-45

It must have been so hard to hear and accept Jesus’s words in his Sermon on the Mount. These listening disciples had been raised on the Deuteronomic principle “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. What could ever make them turn that principle inside out to do just the opposite of what they had always thought? What would make us turn from this kind of “justice”? After all, it’s even-steven, isn’t it?

In Jesus Christ, there is no even-steven. The Mercy of God is given to all of us without limits. It rains from the heart of God over all Creation. Jesus showed us that there is no place in Mercy for quid pro quo justice. If a disciple wants to love like Jesus, this precept is foundational.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Perhaps we are someplace where we can watch the rain today. If not we can remember how rain falls without distinction over everything within its embrace. So too does God’s Mercy fall on us moving us to be its agents in our world.

Enjoy the Peaceful Rain

Poetry: from The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare

The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.

Music: Norwegian Rain – David Lanz

Reverence

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Discipleship, Faith, Forgiveness, Gospel, holiness, Jesus, Mercy, spirituality1 Comment

Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
June 17, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061724.cfm

Jesus said to them:
“Offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to them as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand them your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with theme for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”

Although the word “reverence” is not specifically mentioned in our readings, it summarizes their core message.

Jezebel has no reverence for human life. She is a conspirator, thief, and murderer. Jezebel has no moral code and only one interest in life – herself.

Jesus calls his followers to be the antithesis of Jezebel. We are to so reverence life and truth that we become like Jesus. We are to be peaceful, non-violent, forgiving, and generous – even toward the “jezebels” of this world.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Wow! No easy challenge, but nonetheless essential for discipleship! We ask Jesus to give us insight into any selfishness in our hearts, and the courage to live according to his mandate.

Prose: from Dorothy Day

“The greatest challenge of the day is:
how to bring about a revolution of the heart,
a revolution which has to start with each one of us?

When we begin to take the lowest place,
to wash the feet of others,
to love our brothers and sisters with that burning love,
that passion, which led to the Cross,
then we can truly say, ‘Now I have begun.'”

Music: Reverence by David Tolk

Devoted

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Faith, healing, Mary, Mercy, spirituality6 Comments

Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
May 20, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052024.cfm

After Jesus had been taken up to heaven,
the Apostles returned to Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,
a sabbath day’s journey away…
… All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Acts 1: 12;14

Even though there are only scriptural snippets to support it, we can clearly discern Mary’s faithful devotion to the Gospel mission and the nascent Church. We can imagine Mary, whose whole life was filled with and inspired by the Holy Spirit, mentoring the younger disciples with her faith and wisdom.

We call on Mary today to be with us as we too labor to be faithful to our call to spread the Gospel with energy and fidelity.

My local readers may recognize the above photo as that of the Marian statue which stood for a century over our beloved Misericordia Hospital. With the recent transfer of the hospital to the University of Pennsylvania, the beautiful statue needed a new home where her vigilant oversight could be honored and extended to the future.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Seeing the statue can remind us of Mary’s role as Mother of the Church – a Church that greatly needs her guidance and inspiration as we work to carry the Gospel through the 21st century.

On May 29, 2024, this statue will be rededicated in its new home on the Sisters of Mercy motherhouse grounds. All are welcome for this event, especially all of you who have been a treasured part of the mission of Misercordia Hospital. It will be a joy to gather with you all.

Dedication of the statue of
Our Mother of Mercy
from Misericordia Hospital
at
Sisters of Mercy
515 Montgomery Avenue
Merion Station, PA 19066
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
at 1:00 PM
(Refreshments to follow)

RSVP by Friday May 24, 2024
cmaher@sistersofmercy.org

Video:

Spring Equinox

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Forgiveness, Love, Mercy, Seasons, spirituality4 Comments

The Great Forgiveness

Ah, Equinox!  Today our Earth will put away her winter jewels – her cold snow pearls and glistening ice diamonds stored until distant December.  With them, she lays aside her cool reserve, the stark elegance of silhouetted trees against a white landscape.  She says, “I have finished my silent retreat”.

Instead, Lady Earth unveils her costume jewelry – that improbable mix of pinks, purples, greens and yellows. Even though this morning in Philadelphia, she wraps them in a shimmering chill, we know it hides a riotous, tumbling April.

Every year we wonder if those bare trees and barren hillsides will ever green again. But they do!  Spring is the act of “Great Forgiveness”.  It is the time when Nature mirrors the Infinite Mercy of her Creator and says, “Fear not, Sweet Earth.  I am deeper than your cold.  My resilience has redeemed us both for another chance at life”.

We human beings, too, are capable of such resilience.  I remember my mother’s infinite patience with an annoying neighbor whose seemingly innocent conversation harbored veiled references to her economic superiority.  Little wintry comments like, “It’s a shame you didn’t choose a Hoover.  It would make your life so much easier!”  Even as a child, I was nettled almost beyond tolerance by her chilly comparisons.

But my mother, who was no push-over and who did not suffer fools gladly, was patient and faithful.  She would tell me that Mary never had the love of family and friends that we enjoyed.  She helped me understand that sometimes people can’t help showing the December within their hearts if they have never been kindled by another’s kindness.  My mother wanted me to live from the “Great Forgiveness” that can warm any cold, indifference, or careless judgment.

At one point when I was still very young, my mother became quite ill and after a long hospitalization, returned home for an extended recuperation.  During that time, Mary came every day to cook for our large, working family.  Weekly, she cleaned our house with the same decrepit vacuum she had earlier criticized.  Without a word, Mary challenged me to learn another lesson about the nature of fidelity and true friendship and the opportunity to give it voice without words.

Years later, I read a quote that captured these lessons: “Always be kind.  We never know the battles someone else may be fighting.”  These are lessons I remember with gratitude today in this equinox of another “Great Forgiveness”. It is a largesse we can imitate if we simply remember the mercies we have received from the hand of our forgiving God.

Blessings to you all and a joyous Spring!

Cloak

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Cross, Faith, Forgiveness, Jesus, joy, Mercy, spirituality, suffering1 Comment

Friday of the Second Week of Lent
March 1, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030124.cfm

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons,
for he was the child of his old age;
and he had made him a beautiful long cloak.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.

Genesis 37: 3-4

Joseph, beloved of his father Jacob, wore a multi-colored expression of his father’s love. Because others were jealous of this love, Joseph, the innocent one, was persecuted. Nevertheless, he endured and eventually forgave his brothers, giving them the means for a new life.

Joseph is a prototype of Jesus, the Beloved Son who displayed his Father’s love by his life of mercy. Jesus, Supreme Innocence, was persecuted too, endured death, forgave his persecutors, and gave us new life.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

In my prayer, I ask myself what patterns of Joseph and Jesus do I see in my world? Where do I see Innocence suffering? Where do I see mercy offered rather than persecution? Where do I see the need for acknowledgement and forgiveness?

Where do I see these things in my wider world and in myself? My awareness and response is the way I walk with Christ this Lent.

Poetry: Joseph’s Coat – George Herbert (1593-1633), English poet, orator, priest, and venerated Saint of the Church of England.

Herbert’s poem suggests that through the “joyes” and “griefs” of life, one finds sanctification only through God’s love and mercy. His imagery references Joseph’s downfall at the hands of his brothers and restoration through God’s design

Wounded I sing, tormented I indite,
Thrown down I fall into a bed, and rest:
Sorrow hath chang’d its note: such is his will,
Who changeth all things, as him pleaseth best.
For well he knows, if but one grief and smart
Among my many had his full career,
Sure it would carrie with it ev’n my heart,
And both would runne untill they found a biere
To fetch the bodie; both being due to grief.
But he hath spoil’d the race; and giv’n to anguish
One of Joyes coats, ticing it with relief
To linger in me, and together languish.
I live to shew his power, who once did bring
My joyes to weep, and now my griefs to sing.

Music: Coat of Many Colors – Brandon Lake

Cup

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Forgiveness, Jesus, Lent, Mercy, peace, spirituality, suffering2 Comments

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent
February 28, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022824.cfm

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and asked …
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
He replied,
“My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left,
this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Mark 10:20-23

In our Gospel, Jesus makes it clear that the path to heavenly glory is bound by a spiritual discipline that, in this contrary world, will cause us suffering. The cup is that chasm in life where we must choose peace over violence, generosity over selfishness, mercy over judgment, truth over deception, love over indifference. There will be resistance, both within us and around us, when we make such choices.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Let’s be honest with ourselves as we answer Jesus’s question:
“Can you drink the cup that I will drink?”
Let’s pray for the grace to drink that cup as it comes to us in the particularities of our own lives.
Let’s ask for the spiritual confidence and understanding that the cup – our cup – leads to eternal life.

Poetry: Can You Drink the Cup? – by Scott Surrency, O.F.M. Cap. (2015)

I found this poem on the website https://thejesuitpost.org/2015/10/can-you-drink-the-cup/

Can you drink the cup?
Drink, not survey or analyze,
ponder or scrutinize –
from a distance.
But drink – imbibe, ingest,
take into you so that it becomes a piece of your inmost self.
And not with cautious sips
that barely moisten your lips,
but with audacious drafts
that spill down your chin and onto your chest.
(Forget decorum – reserve would give offense.)
Can you drink the cup?
The cup of rejection and opposition,
betrayal and regret.
Like vinegar and gall,
pungent and tart,
making you wince and recoil.
But not only that – for the cup is deceptively deep –
there are hopes and joys in there, too,
like thrilling champagne with bubbles
that tickle your nose on New Year’s Eve,
and fleeting moments of almost – almost – sheer ecstasy
that last as long as an eye-blink, or a champagne bubble,
but mysteriously satisfy and sustain.
Can you drink the cup?
Yes, you — with your insecurities,
visible and invisible.
You with the doubts that nibble around the edges
and the ones that devour in one great big gulp.
You with your impetuous starts and youth-like bursts of love and devotion.
You with your giving up too soon – or too late – and being tyrannically hard on yourself.
You with your Yes, but’s and I’m sorry’s – again.
Yes, you – but with my grace.
Can you drink the cup?
Can I drink the cup?
Yes.

Music: We Will Drink the Cup

We will drink the cup.
We will win the fight.
We will stand against the darkness of the night.
We will run the race
And see God’s face,
And build the Kingdom of love.

Do not fear for I am with you.
Be still and know that I am God.

You will run and not grow weary,
For I your God will be your strength.
Refrain

We are the Church, we are the Body.
We are God’s great work of art.

And build the Kingdom of love.

Be!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Lent, Love, Mercy, spirituality4 Comments

Saturday of the First Week of Lent
February 24, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022424.cfm

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
“This day the LORD, your God,
commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then,
to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 26:16

… you are to be a people peculiarly God’s own, as promised you;
and provided you keep all his commandments,

Deuteronomy 26:18

… and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God,
as he promised.”

Deuteronomy 26:19

Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48

In our readings today, God calls us to BE in the fullness of grace. For the people of the Old Testament, that path was found in the Law and Commandments. For Christians, that fullness is found in patterning our lives on Jesus. He showed us that God’s perfection is beyond Law. It is absolute Love and Mercy.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

In our prayer, we might ask for a deeper understanding of the “perfection” God asks of us – not a measurable, demonstrable alignment with subjective guidelines, but an unlimited openness to grace. God’s perfection is a Love without boundaries. Jesus is that Love made Flesh. In God, we are called to live in their example.

Poetry: Easy to Love a Perfect God – Shams-i of Tabrizi

Shams-i Tabrīzī (1185–1248) was a Persian poet who is credited as the spiritual instructor of Rumi and is referenced with great reverence in Rumi’s poetic collection. The tomb of Shams-i Tabrīzī was recently nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It’s easy to love a perfect God, 
unblemished and infallible that God is. 
What is far more difficult 
is to love fellow human beings 
with all their imperfections and defects. 
Remember, only you can know 
what you are capable of loving. 
There is no wisdom without love. 
Unless we learn to love God’s creation, 
we can neither truly love 
nor truly know God.

Music: Perfectly Loved – Rachael Lampa

Tend

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Faith, Gospel, Mercy, spirituality1 Comment

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle
February 22, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022224.cfm

Tend the flock of God in your midst,
overseeing not by constraint but willingly,
as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly.
Do not lord it over those assigned to you,
but be examples to the flock.

1 Peter 5:2-3

The image of Jesus the Good Shepherd has blessed believers throughout the ages. As our weakness is lifted in the tender Divine Embrace, we find peace, hope, release of sorrow, and strength to go on.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Our reading from Peter calls us to be like the Good Shepherd. Christ called Peter to this ministry, and he calls us as well. As we accompany and support one another on faith’s journey, let us do so with tender mercy in imitation of Christ.

Poetry: The Good Shepherd – William Denser Littlewood (1831-1886)

Into a desolate land
White with the drifted snow,
Into a weary land
Our truant footsteps go:
Yet doth Thy care, O Father,
Ever Thy wanderers keep;
Still doth Thy love, O Shepherd,
Follow Thy sheep.
Over the pathless wild
Do I not see Him come?
Him who shall bear me back,
Him who shall lead me home?
Listen! between the storm-gusts
Unto the straining ear,
Comes not the cheering whisper,—
"Jesus is near."
Over me He is bending!
Now I can safely rest,
Found at the last, and clinging
Close to the Shepherd's breast:
So let me lie till the fold-bells
Sound on the homeward track,
And the rejoicing angels
Welcome us back!

Music: Jesus, Tender Shepherd – The Gettys

Constant Mercy

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, Forgiveness, Mercy, repentance, spirituality1 Comment

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
February 13, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021324.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, James continues his spiritual encouragements.

For one thing, he makes it clear that God doesn’t tempt us. Some of us make the mistake of thinking that, saying things like, “God is testing me.”

James, outlining a perfect way to examine one’s conscience, says this:

No one experiencing temptation should say,
“I am being tempted by God”;
for God is not subject to temptation to evil,
and God himself tempts no one.
Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his own desire.
Then desire conceives and brings forth sin,
and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.

James 1:13-15

Sin is an uncomfortable topic, and it’s an elusive one. Most of us aren’t outright blatant sinners. I think most of our sins are quiet indifferences, failures to love, unacknowledged greeds, self-imposed blindnesses to our responsibilities toward one another. These generate excuses that allow us to gossip, judge, blame, ignore, hurt and even use others both in our immediate world and in the larger global community.

In my experience, these desires are usually disguised, pretending to be beneficial for us at first sight. But underneath, they are rooted in selfishness and excess, diverting us from our center in God. 

So if we have some little labyrinths of temptation and sinful habits ensnaring us, we should listen to James. He encourages us to examine and check our own concupiscent desires as they are the seeds of our spiritual undoing.

In the second part of this passage, James takes the tone up a notch. He reminds us that, once centered on God, we realize that only good things come from God.

All good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow of turning.

James 1:17

I particularly love that last phrase, rendered in our hymn today like this:

It’s beautiful to see how James, as a real spiritual leader, is so aware of his flock’s human struggles. No doubt, he shares them. What a blessing that his wise and loving guidance has come down through the ages to us!

Prose: from Carl Jung

The worst sin is unconsciousness, 
but it is indulged in with the greatest piety 
even by those who should serve humankind 
as teachers and examples.

Music: Great Is Thy Faithfulness – sung by Chris Rice

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0k1WhFtVp0o%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

Of Course!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Faith, Gospel, healing, Jesus, Mercy, spirituality6 Comments

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
January 11, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011124.cfm

Mk1_41-of-course
This is the Greek word for “Of course!”

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Jesus shows us how to live a merciful life – through loving, generous, joyfully responsive service.

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him, 
“I do will it. Be made clean.”

Mark 1: 40-41

A pitiable leper interrupts Jesus on his journey to ask for help. People like this man were scorned, feared, and isolated. Their leprosy impoverished them, making them annoying beggars. Their cries usually met with indifference at best and banishment at worst.

But when this leper poses his proposal to Jesus – “If you want to, you can heal me.” — Jesus gives the spontaneous answer of a true, merciful heart: “Of course I want to!”

Jesus heals the Leper – Alexandre Bida

There is no annoyance, no suggestion that other concerns are more important. There is just the confirmation that – Yes- this is my life’s purpose: to heal, love, and show mercy toward whatever suffering is in my power to touch. There is simply the clear message that “You, too, poor broken leper, are Beloved of God.”

What an example and call Jesus gives us today! We are commissioned to continue this merciful touch of Christ along the path of our own lives. When circumstances offer us the opportunity to be Mercy for another, may we too respond with enthusiasm, “Of course I want to!” May we have the eyes to see through any “leprosy” to find the Beloved of God.

Poetry: from Naming the Leper – Christopher Lee Manes

Between 1919 and 1941, five relatives of Christopher Lee Manes were diagnosed with an illness then referred to as “leprosy” and now known as Hansen’s disease. After their diagnosis, the five Landry siblings were separated from their loved ones and sent to the National Leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana, where they remained in quarantine until their deaths. Drawing on historical documents and imaginative reconstructions, Naming the Leper tells through poetry this family’s haunting story of exile and human suffering.

Manes won the Summerlee Book Prize for his work. Here is an excerpt that conveys the aimless desolation felt by “the leper” — likely felt by Jesus’s leper too.

” the trouble with this place…”

Dear Claire,
The trouble with this place
is getting out of bed to live
through the corpse of another day; 
letting the world roll as God wants it, 
while we sit on the front porch
and wave flies
from our face.

Isn’t it a wonder
more of us do not go crazy,
forced to live brooding over these 
unfortunate conditions;
thrown into a contact so intimate and prolonged 
we let go our reflections in the river,
and our loved ones—but most importantly,
the very children we’ve begotten—
forget us.

Music: Compassion Hymn – Kristyn and Keith Getty

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-XLyibTpoB4%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent