Category: spirituality

Yield

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Faith, Gospel, Love, Mary, spirituality3 Comments

Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
July 26, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072624.cfm

But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Matthew 13:23

How appropriate, on this feast of Anne and Joachim, that the Gospel describes the abundant yield of love and fidelity. Those virtues in Anne and Joachim shaped the heart of Mary as the Vessel of God.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We gratefully remember those in our own lives who helped shape us by their faith, guardianship, and generosity – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, trusted mentors, generous friends.

Poetry: The Splendor Falls – Alfred Lord Tennyson

The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O, hark, O, hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O, sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying,
Blow, bugles; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river;
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow forever and forever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

I found a reference to this poem in a lovely reflection by Franciscan Sister Kathleen Murphy which you may read here:

Reflection on Saints Anne & Joachim

Music: Ancestors – by Sarah Pirtle

Chorus:
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us.
They are giving us their courage, and they say we are glad you’re in this world.

  1. May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.
    May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.
    And may this strength stay with you your whole life through.
    May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.

We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us.
They are giving us their courage, and they say we are glad you’re in this world.

Refrain:
May you have all your choices. May you have all your voices.
May your wisdom now be heard.
They say we are glad you’re in this world.

  1. May the trust of the ancestors be healing you. (2x)
    And may this trust stay with you your whole life through.
    May the trust of the ancestors be healing you.

We are lifting up our vision to the ones who will come after.
We are sending them our courage, as they wait to come into this world.

Refrain:
May you have all your choices. May you have all your voices.
May your wisdom now be heard.
They say we are glad you’re in this world.

Earthen

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Creation, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, holiness, spirituality4 Comments

Feast of Saint James, Apostle
July 25, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072524.cfm

We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
for the sake of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
2 Corinthians 4:7-11

Today’s passage from Corinthians reminds us that any beauty and goodness in us is a gracious gift from God. That gift strengthens us beyond any human or personal capacity so that our lives may give God glory.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We prayerfully relax in the Potter’s hands Who shapes our lives according to Mercy. We realize with Paul that, even in affliction, we give glory to God by our fidelity and trust.

Poetry: Within this earthen vessel – Kabir, (1398–1518) a well-known Indian mystic poet and saint.

Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves,
and within it is the Creator:
Within this vessel are the seven oceans
and the unnumbered stars.
The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;
And within this vessel the Eternal soundeth,
and the spring wells up.
Kabir says: “Listen to me, my Friend!
My beloved Lord is within.”

Music: Earthen Vessels – John Foley, SJ

Before …

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Discipleship, Faith, Scripture, spirituality1 Comment

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 24, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072424.cfm

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
“Ah, Lord GOD!” I said,
“I know not how to speak; I am too young.”
But the LORD answered me,
Say not, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Have no fear before them,
because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 1: 5-8

This passage recounting the call of Jeremiah is full of tenderness and encouragement. God assures Jeremiah that the world is bigger than his present hesitations, fears, and inadequacies.

God has known him and been with him even before he was born.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We give thanks that God has been with us always, even before we were born. God accompanies us through whatever fears and hesitations we have in living a good and holy life. Trust is the key that opens our hearts to this blessed truth.

Poetry: Before the World Was Made – W.B. Yeats

In this intriguing poem, Yeats writes from the perspective of a woman whose efforts at physical beauty leave her unfulfilled. She longs for the spiritual beauty she possessed “before the world was made”.

If I make the lashes dark
And the eyes more bright
And the lips more scarlet,
Or ask if all be right
From mirror after mirror,
No vanity’s displayed:
I’m looking for the face I had
Before the world was made.

What if I look upon a man
As though on my beloved,
And my blood be cold the while
And my heart unmoved?
Why should he think me cruel
Or that he is betrayed?
I’d have him love the thing that was
Before the world was made.

Music: I Have Loved You – Michael Joncas

Remnant

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, Mercy, spirituality4 Comments

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 23, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072324.cfm

Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
That dwells apart in a woodland,
in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old;
As in the days when you came from the land of Egypt,
show us wonderful signs…
Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but delights rather in mercy…
Micah 7:14-15; 18

Micah prophesied about 700 years before Christ. His world was under siege by Sennacherib the Assyrian king. In the midst of this devastation, many abandoned the one true faith. But there was a small faithful portion of believers – the remnant – whom Micah sought to both warn and encourage by his prophecies.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We, too, live in a time of siege. Our faith is constantly challenged by our culture, our politics, religious institutionalization, and our self-serving economy.

But Micah reminds us that still God shepherds us tenderly. God awaits our recognition of God’s graces and call to be among the remnant who do not lose faith.

Poetry: Friday – Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001)
Jennings ranks among the finest British poets of the second half of the twentieth century. She is also England’s best Catholic poet since Gerard Manley Hopkins.

We nailed the hands long ago,
Wove the thorns, took up the scourge and shouted
For excitement's sake, we stood at the dusty edge
Of the pebbled path and watched the extreme of pain.

But one or two prayed, one or two
Were silent, shocked, stood back
And remembered remnants of words, a new vision,
The cross is up with its crying victim, the clouds
Cover the sun, we learn a new way to lose
What we did not know we had
Until this bleak and sacrificial day,
Until we turned from our bad
Past and knelt and cried out our dismay,
The dice still clicking, the voices dying away.

Music: Arise and Shine – New Wine

Not a pleasing piece of music, but perhaps what Micah would sound like were he preaching today?

Sought

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

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
July 22, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072224.cfm

The Bride says:
On my bed at night I sought him
whom my heart loves–
I sought him but I did not find him.
I will rise then and go about the city;
in the streets and crossings I will seek
Him whom my heart loves.
I sought him but I did not find him.
The watchmen came upon me,
as they made their rounds of the city:
Have you seen him whom my heart loves?
I had hardly left them
when I found him whom my heart loves.
Song of Songs 3:1-48

This exquisite poem from the Song of Songs captures the spirit of Mary Magdalen who, throughout her life, sought a deep and transformative relationship with God.

When she anointed his feet, when she relentlessly sought him at the tomb, Mary longed for the Presence of Jesus. When she found Him whom she had sought, this premier Apostle of the Resurrection preached the first Easter news to her companions.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We honor Mary Magdalen, so long mischaracterized in Church history. We ask to be inspired by her deep love of Jesus and resolute desire to be united with him.

Poetry: The Magdalen, a Garden, and This – Kathleen O’Toole

She who is known by myth and association
as sinful, penitent, voluptuous perhaps…
but faithful to the last and then beyond.

A disciple for sure, confused often with Mary,
sister of Lazarus, or the woman caught
in adultery, or she who angered the men

by anointing Jesus with expensive oils.
She was the one from whom he cast out seven
demons-she’s named in that account.

Strip all else away and we know only
that she was grateful, that she found her way
to the cross, and that she returned

to the tomb, to the garden nearby, and there,
weeping at her loss, was recognized,
became known in the tender invocation

of her name. Mary: breathed by one
whom she mistook for the gardener, he
who in an instant brought her back to herself-

gave her in two syllables a life beloved,
gave me the only sure thing I’ll believe
of heaven, that if it be, it will consist

in this: the one unmistakable
rendering of your name.

Music: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth – G. F. Handel

Shepherd

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

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 21, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072124.cfm

Today’s Alleluia Verse encapsulates the theme of all the readings:

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We LISTEN – one of the hardest things to do in life. Really listen – to what we hear with our ears, but more importantly, what we hear with our hearts. God is always speaking to us. May we listen.

Poetry: You, Neighbor God – Ranier Maria Rilkë

You, neighbor god, if sometimes in the night
I rouse you with loud knocking, I do so
only because I seldom hear you breathe
and know: you are alone.
And should you need a drink, no one is there
to reach it to you, groping in the dark.
Always I hearken. Give but a small sign.
I am quite near.

Between us there is but a narrow wall,
and by sheer chance; for it would take
merely a call from your lips or from mine
to break it down,
and that without a sound.

The wall is builded of your images.

They stand before you hiding you like names.
And when the light within me blazes high
that in my inmost soul I know you by,
the radiance is squandered on their frames.

And then my senses, which too soon grow lame,
exiled from you, must go their homeless ways.

Music: The Lonely Shepherd – Gheorghe Zamfir

Reed

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Courage, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Mercy, spirituality2 Comments

Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 20, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072024.cfm

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not contend or cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.
Matthew 12:18-21 (cited from Isaiah 42:1-4

This beautiful passage, that focuses on the gentleness of the Messiah, comforts our spirits. But it also calls us to imitate that gentleness with those most in need of it.

The example Jesus offers us is not popular in our often violent world. It is hard to live in its courageous imitation. But it matters that we do.

“The modern world’s feverish struggle
for unbridled, often unlicensed, freedom
is answered by the bound, enclosed
helplessness and dependence of Christ—
Christ in the womb,
Christ in the Host,
Christ in the tomb.”

― Caryll Houselander, The Reed of God

Poetry: A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break – Christina Rossetti

I will accept thy will to do and be,
Thy hatred and intolerance of sin,
Thy will at least to love, that burns within
And thirsteth after Me:
So will I render fruitful, blessing still,
The germs and small beginnings in thy heart,
Because thy will cleaves to the better part.—
Alas, I cannot will.
Dost not thou will, poor soul? Yet I receive
The inner unseen longings of the soul,
I guide them turning towards Me; I control
And charm hearts till they grieve:
If thou desire, it yet shall come to pass,
Though thou but wish indeed to choose My love;
For I have power in earth and heaven above.—
I cannot wish, alas!
What, neither choose nor wish to choose? and yet
I still must strive to win thee and constrain:
For thee I hung upon the cross in pain,
How then can I forget?
If thou as yet dost neither love, nor hate,
Nor choose, nor wish,—resign thyself, be still
Till I infuse love, hatred, longing, will.—
I do not deprecate.

Music: A Bruised Reed by Charlie and Jill LeBlanc

Beautiful images despite a somewhat monotonous melody.

Shadow

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

Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 19, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071924.cfm

Isaiah answered King Hezekiah:
“This will be the sign for you from the LORD
that he will do what he has promised:
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun
on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz
go back the ten steps it has advanced.”
So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.
Isaiah 38:7-8

Walter Brueggemann, writing about this passage from Isaiah, entitles the chapter “Faithful King, Faithful God“. Hezekiah was a good king, observant of the David Covenant and of God’s commands. When Hezekiah lay in the shadow of death, that faithful relationship remained true.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We realize that life is a series of lights and shadows. And God is faithful in each circumstance. Catherine McAuley put it this way:

Let’s listen for God’s faithful presence in our lives, whether at this moment we are in light or shadow.

Poetry: Shadows by D.H. Lawrence

And if to-night my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then I have been dipped again in God, and new created.

And if, as weeks go round, in the dark of the moon
my spirit darkens and goes out, and soft strange gloom
pervades my movements and my thoughts and words
then shall I know that I am walking still
with God, we are close together now the moon’s in shadow.

And if, as autumn deepens and darkens
I feel the pain of falling leaves, and stems that break in storms
and trouble and dissolution and distress
and then the softness of deep shadows folding, folding
around my soul and spirit, around my lips
so sweet, like a swoon, or more like the drowse of a low, sad song
singing darker than the nightingale, on, on to the solstice
and the silence of short days, the silence of the year, the shadow,
then I shall know that my life is moving still
with the dark earth, and drenched
with the deep oblivion of earth’s lapse and renewal.

And if, in the changing phases of man’s life
I fall in sickness and in misery
my wrists seem broken and my heart seems dead
and strength is gone, and my life
is only the leavings of a life:

and still, among it all, snatches of lovely oblivion, and snatches of renewal
odd, wintry flowers upon the withered stem, yet new, strange flowers
such as my life has not brought forth before, new blossoms of me,
then I must know that still
I am in the hands of the unknown God,
he is breaking me down to his own oblivion
to send me forth on a new morning, a new man.

Music: Only a Shadow – Carey Landry, sung by Sean DeBurca at the beautiful Galway Cathedral

I love the way Sean plays the piano in this video.

Yoke

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, spirituality1 Comment

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

July 18, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071824.cfm

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

It is not that Jesus’s listeners are unfamiliar with being “yoked” – irrevocably tied to burdens and labor. But the yoke Jesus offers is different. Choosing it, they will be tied to him in learning his way of peace and love. When these gifts fill one’s heart, life’s weight is lightened. When we abide in such proximity to Jesus, the journey is easy.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We listen to Jesus’s invitation, “Come …”. What is it that we are trying to carry without the help of his grace? Let’s tie those burdens to Christ’s love and open our hearts to learn from him.

Poetry: spring song by Lucille Clifton

the green of Jesus
is breaking the ground
and the sweet
smell of delicious Jesus
is opening the house and
the dance of Jesus music
has hold of the air and
the world is turning
in the body of Jesus and
the future is possible

Music: My Yoke is Easy – John Michael Talbot

All who are weary come unto Me
All who find life a burden
I will refresh you
Your soul will find rest
For My yoke is easy
And My burden is light

Take my yoke on your shoulders and learn
For I am gentle and humble
I will refresh you
Your soul will find rest
I am gentle and humble of heart

My yoke is easy
My burden is light
Your soul will find rest
Take My yoke on your shoulders and learn
I am gentle and humble of heart

Come unto Me
Your soul will find rest
My yoke is easy
My burden is light
I am gentle and humble of heart

All who are weary come unto Me 

Praise

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn spirituality2 Comments

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 17, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071724.cfm

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Matthew 11:25

What really is praise? Is it song and dance and lifting up the reputation of the other in glory?

Or is it when Love moves fully from the heart into the heart of the one esteemed? And does its light come not from within us but from the One to Whom it is given?

There is a total selflessness in praise. The Other is the full focus of our awe and gratitude.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

For many of us, our prayer may be full of petitions with little room for much else. Today, we think about how Jesus loved and praised the Father. We ask for deeper praise and gratitude in our own prayer.

Poetry: Gitanjali 11 – Rabindranath Tagore

Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!

He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path-maker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!

Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever.

Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.

Music: Love Divine – Jan Mulder with the London Symphony Orchestra