Elusive Peace

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Scripture, spirituality2 Comments

Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
January 18, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011824.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings are about the growing popularity and power of David and Jesus. Accompanying that growth is the fearful jealousy of their peers, requiring both Jesus and David to take precautions.

David Calming Saul’s Fury with the Harp by Silvestro Lega

In our first reading, Saul is plagued by a lethal insecurity. As David’s star rises among the people, a plot to kill him festers in Saul’s heart. Right in the middle of this developing drama, Jonathan attempts to conciliate the relationship between his father and his friend.

Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought:
“They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me.
All that remains for him is the kingship.”
And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.

Saul discussed his intention of killing David
with his son Jonathan and with all his servants.
But Saul’s son Jonathan, who was very fond of David, told him:
“My father Saul is trying to kill you.

1 Samuel 18:8; 19:1

Over the course of our lives, haven’t we found ourselves in one, or maybe all, of these roles? Jealous, insecure, envious, like Saul? Unexpectedly successful, perhaps to another’s disadvantage, like David? Trying to make peace between two beloveds who can’t see past themselves, like Jonathan?

Praying with this passage leads us to ask ourselves, “How is God with me when I find myself in such situations?” What would have been God’s hope for Saul at this point in his life? For David? For Jonathan?

When I think of Saul, I wonder what could have happened if he had been big-hearted, if he had been brave enough to offer David mentorship and encouragement. It can be very hard to step back from a role where we have been in control and prominence. Generously advancing a successor is the sign of a graceful heart. Sadly, Saul did not meet the challenge.

When I think of David, I wonder how he might have better included Saul in his success. None of us achieves success alone. Sometimes the people and circumstances that have supported us are invisible — even to us. Especially in the vigor of youth, we may be tempted to think that we are solely responsible for our achievements. Developing an aware and grateful heart can help us realize life’s profound interdependence.

When I think of Jonathan, I just want to be like him. He was such a good person who loved without self-interest. Jonathan is a figure of Christ who sought reconciliation and loved generously to the point of death. Praying with Jonathan is an invitation to holiness.

In our Gospel, we meet Jesus as he seeks the same peace, reconciliation, and love. Still, even as Jesus heals and does good among the people, he is aware of the sinful weakness in some people’s hearts. He therefore calls for care in making his name known:

He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, “You are the Son of God.”
He warned them sternly not to make him known.

Mark 3: 10-12

So many ways to pray with today’s Scripture! Given your place with God today, what are these passages suggesting for you?

Poetry: Not Like a Cypress by Yehuda Amichai, (1924 – 2000) was an Israeli poet and author, one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew in modern times. Much of his work tries “to make sense of the world that created the Holocaust”.

Amichai was invited in 1994 by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to read his poems at the ceremony in Oslo when Rabin, Yasser Arafat, and Shimon Peres were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to establish peace in the Middle East. Perhaps we might send a prayer to these honored men for a blessing of sanity and peace over today’s Middle East leaders.

I chose this poem because it mentions Saul, “the single man” whom the “multitudes” made great. But not like Saul does one find meaning and peace. The poet suggests that “becoming like the rain” and giving one’s life is the way to meaning, so reflective of Jesus’s advice, “Unless the grain of wheat …”

Not like a cypress,
not at once, not all of me,
but like the grass, in thousands of cautious green exits,
to be hiding like many children
while one of them seeks.

And not like the single man,
like Saul, whom the multitude found
and made king.
But like the rain in many places
from many clouds, to be absorbed, to be drunk
by many mouths, to be breathed in
like the air all year long
and scattered like blossoming in springtime.

Not the sharp ring that wakes up
the doctor on call,
but with tapping, on many small windows
at side entrances, with many heartbeats.

And afterward the quiet exit, like smoke
without shofar-blasts, a statesman resigning,
children tired from play,
a stone as it almost stops rolling
down the steep hill, in the place
where the plain of great renunciation begins,
from which, like prayers that are answered,
dust rises in many myriads of grains.

Music: Paintbox – Ofra Haza and Kobi Oshrat

Ofra Haza accompanied by pianist and composer Kobi Oshrat at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony on December 10, 1994 at the Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway, honoring Nobel Laureates Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres (1923-2016) and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East. She performed here at the request of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. (Lyrics below)

I had a paintbox
Each color glowing with delight
I had a paintbox with colors
Warm and cool and bright

I had a paintbox
Each color glowing with delight
I had a paintbox with colors
Warm and cool and bright

I had no red
I had no red for wounds and blood
I had no black for an orphaned child

I had no white
I had no white for the face of the dead
I had no yellow for burning sands

I had a paintbox
Each color glowing with delight
I had a paintbox with colors
Warm and cool and bright

I had orange
I had orange for joy and life
I had green
Green for buds and blooms

I had blue
I had blue for a clear, bright skies
I had pink
Pink for dreams and rest

I had a paintbox
Each color glowing with delight
I had a paintbox with colors
Warm and cool and bright

I had a paintbox
Each color glowing with delight
I sat down
I sat down and painted peace
Peace, peace

Can God Do It?

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, Discipleship, Faith, Jesus, ordinary time, spiritualityLeave a comment

Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot
Wednesday of the Second week in Ordinary Time
January 17, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011724.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, both our readings are electric with emotion.

In our first reading, Israel is mortally threatened by the Philistines. We see Saul, their King, fearful and drained of courage. And we see David, their hope, filled with confidence in God’s presence and power.

David spoke to Saul:
“Let your majesty not lose courage.
I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.”
But Saul answered David,
“You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him,
for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.”

David continued:
“The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear,
will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”
Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.”

1 Samuel 17: 32-33;37

Young David engages God’s power with the confidence generated by innocence and goodness. This is the same confidence that Jesus has as he lives out his call. He knows what the Divine desire for us – our healing and wholeness. He is one with that desire.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sees a man suffering from a withered hand. He knows he has the power to heal this man and that the Father desires such healing. But the Pharisees, who are afraid of Jesus’s power, invoke the Law in an attempt to control him.

The Pharisees watched Jesus closely
to see if Jesus would cure the man on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”

Mark 3:2-4

But the Pharisees didn’t even have the guts to answer Jesus. This angered him. He was disgusted with their small-hearted selfishness. Rather than be filled with wonder at this man restored to wholeness, “… they went out and plotted against Jesus.”

We often encounter this kind of fearful smallness in our lives … sometimes even in ourselves. What can we learn from David and Jesus about confidently living a larger life, held within the power of God?

Prose Poem: West Wind 2 – Mary Oliver

You are young. So you know everything. You leap
into the boat and begin rowing. But, listen to me.
Without fanfare, without embarrassment, without
any doubt, I talk directly to your soul. Listen to me.

Lift the oars from the water, let your arms rest, and
your heart, and your heart’s little intelligence, and listen to 
me.

There is life without love. It is not worth a bent
penny, or a scuffed shoe. It is not worth the body of a 
dead dog nine days unburied.

When you hear, a mile
away and still out of sight, the churn of the water
as it begins to swirl and roil, fretting around the
sharp rocks — when you feel the mist on your mouth
and sense ahead the embattlement, the long falls
plunging and steaming—then row, row for your life
toward it.

Music: Confidence – by Sanctus Real

David’s Vocation

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Faith, ordinary time, Scripture, spirituality3 Comments

Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
January 16, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011624.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our first reading introduces us to David, whose thrilling and passionate story unfolds and echoes throughout the rest of biblical history.

In today’s passage, David is called in from the fields to receive, quite unexpectedly, Samuel’s anointing:

David
Michelangelo’s David

“The LORD has not chosen any one of these.”
Then Samuel asked Jesse,
“Are these all the sons you have?”
Jesse replied,
“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse,
“Send for him;
we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”
Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.
He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance.
The LORD said,
“There–anoint him, for this is he!”  

1 Samuel 16: 10-12

Now, the passage doesn’t indicate which field David was in. But maybe he was out in proverbial “left field”, the place from which many human beings are called to do important things, to respond in courageous ways.

Most of us, like David, are just living our ordinary daily lives –relatively oblivious to grace – when the life-changing moments come. Those moments may not be as momentous as David’s, but they are big deals for us. 

  • We get a college acceptance (or rejection) letter.
  • We get a job offer (or we get laid off).
  • We get elected to a position (or we don’t)

Someone asks us:

  • Want to go steady?
  • Will you marry me?
  • Have you ever considered religious life?

Young people, like young David, seem to meet a lot of these obvious directional points in their unfolding lives. But, in reality, we continue to meet them as we move to full maturity. Until the day we die, God is always calling to become deeper, more honest, more loving, more gracefully beautiful, more fully in God’s image.

Where have the pivotal calls and turning points come in your life? What are the junctures at which everything would have been different had you made another choice? What made young, innocent David ready when his first, and ensuing, calls came? 

Here’s why:
David had an exquisite love and constant relationship with God.
And God loved him back, just like God loves us.

Every critical point in our life’s journey is charged with the power of God’s love. That power comes disguised in routine circumstances, like a parent calling his shepherd son home for dinner. But if our hearts are tuned to God, we hear the call deep within those ordinary appearances and we receive the moment’s anointing.

May it be so, until we meet the Beloved Face to face.

Poetry: Vocation – William Stafford

This dream the world is having about itself 
includes a trace on the plains of the Oregon trail, 
a groove in the grass my father showed us all 
one day while meadowlarks were trying to tell
something better about to happen. 

I dreamed the trace to the mountains, over the hills, 
and there a girl who belonged wherever she was; 
but then my mother called us back to the car: 
she was afraid; she always blamed the place,
the time, anything my father planned. 

Now both of my parents, the long line through the plain, 
the meadowlarks, the sky, the world's whole dream remain, 
and I hear him say while I stand between the two,
helpless, both of them part of me:
"Your job is to find what the world is trying to be."

Music: Anoint Me, Lord – written by Vickie Yohe, sung by Jonathan Matthews

Prophetic Lights

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Faith, inclusivity, spirituality3 Comments

Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
January 15, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011524.cfm

MLKJPG

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, as we memorialize the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., our readings speak about leadership and its continuing call to renew the world in the image of its Creator.

But Samuel said:
“Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”

1 Samuel 15:22-23

In our first reading, Samuel relays God’s displeasure to Saul who, though a conquering hero, has failed in humility and obedience before the Lord. 

In the story, God has given a clear direction to Saul to obliterate Israel’s centuries-old enemy, the Amalekites. Instead Saul, after executing the masses, keeps the enemy king alive as a war trophy. He appropriates the cattle as personal spoil. He also sets up a shrine to commemorate the victory as his own.

God is not happy. When we profess to lead in God’s name we must act as God directs us. In order to understand God’s direction, we must cultivate an honest, just and merciful heart.

Martin Luther King was such a leader. By his faithful obedience to God’s inspiration, Martin, at the ultimate cost, turned the tides of history toward justice and freedom.

But the tides still need turning, because there will always be those who seek “war trophies”, and personal spoil, and domination for themselves. Our times are tortured by such selfish and failed leadership, just as all of history has been from ancient Israel until 1968 and until now.

Today, as we pray with Martin Luther King, great prophet and leader, we ask that selfless, merciful, and faith-impelled souls continue to hear the call to justice in our day. May Dr. King’s witness strengthen and inspire us.

Poetry: Devouring the Light – Cheryl Boyce-Taylor

The day they killed Martin
we could not return to New York City
our visiting senior class stuck in Huntsville
streets blazed with suffering in that small
Alabama town
in the dull shroud of morning
the whole world went crazy
devouring whatever light
that lit our half-cracked windows.

Music: Precious Lord, Take My Hand – Mahalia Jackson (Lyrics below)

Per Dr. King’s request, his good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”, though not as part of the morning funeral service but later that day at a second open-air service at Morehouse College.

Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m lone
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near
When my light is almost gone
Hear my cry, hear my call
Hold my hand lest I fall
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When the darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand
Guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m lone
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Listen to the Whispers

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, Prayer, Psalms, spiritualityLeave a comment

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 14, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011424.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 40, the prayer of one at home with God:

I delight to do your will, my God;
your law is in my inner being!

Psalm 40:9

We are reminded that we find this kind of peace by believing and listening to our experience:

Throughout our readings today, God leans over heaven’s edge to whisper into human experience.

Samuel’s Call by Joshua Reynolds

In our first reading, that whisper comes in a sacred call to a listening Samuel:

When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening”.

1 Samuel 3: 9-10

In our second reading, Paul reminds us that the 
Whispering Spirit is already resident within us:

Do you not know that your body
is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God, 
and that you are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:19

In our Gospel, Jesus – the Word, the Divine Whisper – invites us to come to him, to see his power with us in our ordinary lives.

The two disciples said to Jesus, 
“Rabbi, where do you live?”
He said to them, “Come, and you will see”.

John 1: 39

Praying with Psalm 40 can turn our hearts 
to listening for God’s voice 
under and within our experiences. 

  • It can wake us up, as Samuel was awakened.
  • It can attune us to the melody deep within our hearts.
  • It can reiterate God’s invitation to live our lives so fully in the Beloved’s Presence that, even without a sound, we know each other’s thoughts.

Poetry: from Whispers of the Beloved by Rumi

Do you know what the music is saying?
“Come follow me and you will find the way.
Your mistakes can also lead you to the Truth.
When you ask, the answer will be given.”

Music: All Praise to Him – Sovereign Grace Music

Anointing

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, Gospel, healing, ordinary time, Scripture, spirituality4 Comments

Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
January 13, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011324.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Samuel anoints Saul King of Israel.

Then, from a flask he had with him, Samuel poured oil on Saul’s head;
he also kissed him, saying:
“The LORD anoints you commander over his heritage.
You are to govern the LORD’s people Israel,
and to save them from the grasp of their enemies.

1 Samuel 10:1
1Sam10_1

Throughout Scripture, the act of anointing signifies being blessed, commissioned by grace. The sacred oil heals and strengthens the anointed to do the work of God.

We share in the grace of anointing through the sacraments – Baptism, Confirmation and Anointing of the Sick. We may not think about the power these rituals give us to live our lives in the pattern of Christ. But it is an amazing power which creates saints out of ordinary human beings like you and me!

Caritas_Bruegel
Caritas, The Seven Acts of Mercy, pen and ink drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559. Counter-clockwise from lower right: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, ransom the captive, bury the dead, shelter the stranger, comfort the sick, and clothe the naked

As many of you know, 2023 was a year of unexpected and intense health challenges for me. On three critical occasions, compassionate priests carried the Sacrament of the Sick to me. Both Fr. Lynn and Fr. Gleason gently asked me, “Would you like to be anointed?”. The question reminded me of Jesus when he asks the paralytic, “Do you want to be cured?”.

Clearly, healing isn’t a one-sided enterprise from God. We must be willing to open our hearts to the movement of the Spirit in our lives. The Sacrament of Anointing is a sacred gift to help us to that openness. For me, anointing from these ministers opened my heart to understand that, by grace, suffering had the potential to make me someone new. Sacramental grace invited me to find that newness in the pattern of Jesus Christ.

In a less formal way, we can anoint one another by our acts of generosity, honesty, justice and love. Think of the woman who anointed Jesus with nard from her alabaster jar. How that act strengthened him for the suffering he had to face!

There are so many chaffed and sore places in our world longing for the oil of mercy!

works of Mercy

We can also “anoint” our own life by gratefully remembering God’s abiding presence with us:  the blessings we have received, the challenges we have gracefully met, the love we have both given and received – all that strengthened us to do the work of God over our lifetime.

Poetry: Her Hands, Her Hair by Steve Garnass-Holmes

Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard,
anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.
—John 12.3

God does not promise to save you from suffering,
or to remove you from this life and its jagged edges.
God shares your space in it, offers blessing in it,
anointing your nights as well as days.
The cross is no scheme to get you off a hook somewhere;
it’s the Beloved, with you in your pain.
Let the Beloved pour herself out on your troubles,
let her pour out a jar of tears for you,
wipe your aching feet with her hair.
Let the whole house of you be filled
with the fragrance of God’s blessing.
Others don’t feel your pain but she does,
they will flee but she will be with you.
Lay before her your sorrows and your rage.
Feel her hands upon you, her hair, her heart.
You are in the holy of holies.
The world’s derision fades away outside the gate.
She looks at you with love
that will stay with you forever

Music:  Holy, Anointed One – Vineyard Worship

City of God

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, Gospel, healing, Jesus, spirituality1 Comment

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
January 12, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011224.cfm

www-St-Takla-org--b3h-50-israel-demands-a-king
1 Samuel 8:19 – Israel demands a king.- J. Winter
– from “The Bible and its Story” book,
authored by Charles Horne, 1909

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our first reading startles us with how foolish the Israelites are about their leaders.

All the elders of Israel came in a body to Samuel at Ramah
and said to him, “Now that you are old,
and your sons do not follow your example,
appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.”

Samuel was displeased when they asked for a king to judge them.
He prayed to the LORD, however, who said in answer:
“Grant the people’s every request.
It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.”

1 Samuel 8: 4-7

Israel is desperate for a “strong man” who will mimic the tyrants leading their enemies. They say a king will “rule us and to lead us in warfare and fight our battles.” They begin to envision a nation of their own design, not God’s.

They believe that having an absolute leader will make them politically strong. They are indifferent to Samuel’s warnings that such a choice will usurp their freedom, and lead to their devastation and enslavement.

lossy-page1-441px-Olivetan_Master_-_Leaf_from_an_Antiphonary-_Historiated_Initial_P_with_the_Prophet_Samuel;_Ar_-_1999.131_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif
This leaf is distinguished by a large initial P depicting Samuel, the last and one of the greatest of Israel’s judges. It introduces the text
Preparte corda vestra domino et servite
(“Prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve”).

God tells Samuel that, in rejecting the choice for responsible, spiritually-grounded, and mutually sustained leadership, the people are rejecting God and God’s plan for them.

The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel’s warning and said,
“Not so! There must be a king over us.
We too must be like other nations,
with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare
and fight our battles.”

1 Samuel 8:9-20

In a nutshell, Israel’s problem is this: they have forgotten who and whose they are. For the sake of expected political dominance, they are willing to sacrifice their identity as a people formed and led by God.

Centuries later, in today’s Gospel, Jesus comes among these dispirited people. Their choice hasn’t worked. They are still a politically dominated nation. Their religious practice has lost its vigor, denigrating into lifeless rules and practices. A corrupt religious class manipulates every aspect of their lives by a self-serving manipulation of the Law.

Jesus Cures the Palsied Man – James Tissot

Jesus, ignoring their religiously manufactured limitations, cures a paralyzed man. The scribes are scandalized. But Jesus confronts their equivocation:

Jesus said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”
–he said to the paralytic,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”
He rose, picked up his mat at once,
and went away in the sight of everyone.
They were all astounded
and glorified God …

Mark 2: 8-12

What would the world be like if we remained open to God’s grace, mercy, and infinite possibility? Can we even imagine such freedom and trust? Can we even imagine the marriage of our faith and politics to the point that we all live for the common good?

Ps89 name_justice

Thought for today: from “The City of God” by St. Augustine. This book was written in response to allegations that Christianity brought about the decline of Rome. It is considered one of Augustine’s most important works, standing alongside The Confessions, The Enchiridion, On Christian Doctrine, and On the Trinity.

“Indeed, the only cause of their [Rome] perishing was
that they chose for their protectors gods condemned to perish.”

from City of God by Augustine of Hippo

Music: Come, Holy Spirit – Bright City

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

Bridges

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, Gospel, ordinary time, spiritualityLeave a comment

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
January 10, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011024.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we read about God’s call of Samuel, Hannah’s son.

New things are about to happen in Israel. The People have lived under the questionable leadership of a series of Judges. But now, threats from inside and outside loom. So God chooses to move in a new way among the community.

1Sam speak Lord

Samuel is going to be God’s bridge to that new way. In today’s reading and subsequent verses, he hears God’s call, listens, receives a vision, and prophesies to Eli.

In our reading from Mark, Jesus is the Divine Bridge to a new reality. Early now in his ministry, his call is blossoming in his heart, as he realizes that he must go all over Israel preaching and healing.

When Simon told Jesus the local villagers were looking for him, Jesus told them,

“Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues,
preaching and driving out demons
throughout the whole of Galilee.”

Mark 1:38-39

Jesus continues his healing and enlightening mission through all who call themselves Christian. He calls each of us in different ways to be a “Bridge” with him to the Reign of God.

How are we hearing and listening to our particular call every day? Maybe, like Samuel, by the time God calls us three times, we may understand!😉

Music: Two songs today and no poem.

Since I mentioned “bridge”, I can’t help including one of my favorite songs, Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. It’s not really a religious song, but their popular song actually was inspired by a great Gospel song,  Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep and its one freely interpreted verse very near the end: “I’ll be your bridge over deep water/If you trust in my name.’ 

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Oh, Mary Don’t You Weep (Lyrics below. They are VERY liberally interpreted by these wonderful Gospel singers.)

Lord, I’m singing . . . (solo)
Oh, Mary, don’t you weep. (group)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (solo)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (group)
Listen, Mary, (solo)
Oh, Mary, don’t you weep. (group)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (solo)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (group)
Pharaoh’s army, (solo)
Oh, Mary, don’t you weep. (group)
They got drownded in the sea, (solo)
Drowned in the Red Sea. (group)
Jesus said, Mary, (solo)
Oh, Mary, don’t you weep. (group)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (solo)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (group)
Can’t you hear me singing, Mary? (solo)
Oh, Mary don’t you weep. (group)
I want you to know, Martha don’t have to mourn. (solo)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (group)
Oh, listen, Mary, (solo)
Oh, Mary don’t you weep. (group)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (solo)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (group)
Pharaoh’s army, (solo)
Oh, Mary, don’t you weep, (group)
They got drownded in the sea, (solo)
Drowned in the Red Sea. (group)
Jesus said, Mary, (solo)
Oh, Mary don’t you weep, (group)
Tell Martha not to mourn, (solo)
Tell Martha not to mourn, (group)
Lord, and if I could tonight, (solo)
If I could, (group)
I want to tell you I surely would right now. (solo)
Surely would, (group)
I would stand on the rock. (solo)
Stand on the rock, (group)
Right on the rock where Moses stood. (solo)
Moses stood, (group)
Pharaoh’s army, (solo)
Oh, Mary don’t you weep (group)
They got drownded in the sea, (solo)
Drowned in the Red Sea. (group)
Jesus say, Mary, (solo)
Oh, Mary don’t you weep. group)
He said Mary . . . (solo)
Oh, Mary don’t you weep .(group)
Oh, Mary . . . (solo)
Oh, Mary, don’t you weep. group)
Tell Martha not to mourn. (solo)
Tell Martha not to mourn. group)

Petitioning God

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Books, Conversion, Faith, Scripture, spirituality2 Comments

Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
January 9, 2023

Today’s Reading:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010924.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we resume our journey through “Ordinary Time”. Advent and Christmastide of 2023 seem to have passed very swiftly! Just a week or so beyond the New Year, life resumes the “everyday-ness” that can be either comforting or humdrum.

The Church calls this “everyday-ness” Ordinary Time. It is a time during which we are invited to recognize the extraordinary gift of each day by praying with the ordinary lives of ancient Israel and early Christianity. Key to their lives, and to ours, is this: God abides with us. Praying with the Scriptures helps us to recognize and deepen within that Presence.

Now and for several weeks, we will read from the Books of Samuel. These Books present a point of profound change in the character of ancient Israel. Before 1 Samuel, Israel is a disorganized group of tribes with an amorphous societal infrastructure. After II Samuel, Israel is characterized by a power and theology centralized around a king and kingly political power.

We could read these books simply as history, or as a fictionalized narrative, but that would be unfortunate. Praying with the Books of Samuel, and all scripture, allows us to witness God’s intervention in the human heart. We can learn from and compare our challenges to those of these ancient believers. Samuel – and his mother Hannah – is an engaging place to begin.

As 1 Samuel opens in our reading today, Israel is a mess. Externally, they are mortally threatened by the Philistines. Internally, they have devolved into a brutal, amoral, rudderless gaggle. They ache for the Leader who will restore their safety and prosperity.

The Prayer of Hannah – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

Samuel’s mother, Hannah, is the first inkling of that restoration. Frustrated with her barrenness, she turns in desperation to God. She makes the ultimate promise of returning the child God might give her. Her desolation is met with mercy. With the conception of Samuel, Hannah sets in motion the dynamic line that will lead through David to Jesus, the Messiah.

Hannah rose after a meal at Shiloh,
and presented herself before the LORD;
at the time, Eli the priest was sitting on a chair
near the doorpost of the LORD’s temple.
In her bitterness she prayed to the LORD, weeping copiously,
and she made a vow, promising: “O LORD of hosts,
if you look with pity on the misery of your handmaid,
if you remember me and do not forget me,
if you give your handmaid a male child,
I will give him to the LORD for as long as he lives;

This passage is a pre-figuring of Mary and the Son she will give back to God. It offers us so many ways to pray as we live to gratefully return our lives to the Creator.

  • As we consider Hannah as an expression of Israel’s journey, where do we stand on our journey into God’s grace?
  • How do we respond to frustration in our lives, especially when our prayers seem unanswered?
  • How do we place our frustrations before God? How do we wait for an answer?
  • How do we live out and fulfill our promises, vows, and covenants with God and neighbor?
  • Are we aware, and reverent of, the influence of our salvation journey on the journeys of those around us?

It matters how we live our ordinary time. We are not just place markers in history. Like Hannah, how we live, pray, and love affects the whole flow of Creation. Like Hannah, by our faithful relationship with God, we influence a future we do not yet see.

Poetry and Music: MARBLE FLOOR – (A song in Hannah’s voice) by Alicia Jo Rabins

The composer writes that this is a song about Hannah – and what it means to ask for what you need. The story of Hannah appears in I Samuel 1-2. Hannah (Chana in Hebrew) prayed so hard her lips moved, but no sound came out; the priest threw her out of the temple, thinking she was drunk. But not only was Hannah’s prayer answered, she also became the model for the Amidah, one of the most important moments in the Jewish prayer service.
The chorus is inspired by the Chassidic story of the holiest prayer being that of the illiterate man who only knew the alphabet but recited it with perfect intention.

I opened my mouth but no words came
I lay down to sleep but I did not dream
I looked up at the stars but the sky was dark
like a mirror held up to my heart
A B C, D E F

Take away this alphabet
it’s heavy on my tongue

You can want a thing so bad it seems
That you lose yourself and everybody else
So I got down on my knees on the marble floor
And I cried until my throat was sore
A B C D, E F G

Tell me what you want from me
I’ll do it all I swear
I was not drunk, I was awake
I could not open so I had to break
to let the light come in
A B C D, E F G
Take away this alphabet from me
it’s heavy on my tongue