Got Sin?

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

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
October 7, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100723.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Baruch continues to instruct his flock on the necessity and practice of repentance.

Baruch puts this wonderful image into the mouth of personified Jerusalem as she calls her people to repentance:

As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God,
turn now ten times the more to seek him…

Doesn’t that verse perfectly describe how we struggle to move beyond our sinful fascinations into freedom and wholeness? I’m sure that, at some time in our lives, we have twirled more than once around some of the deadly sins to the point of getting ourselves all wound up!

Baruch says, “Rewind — even ten times! Go back to the heart of God!”

But that repentance to the tenth power may not be so easy to achieve. The topic of sin isn’t so popular today, although its practice seems to be doing just fine. Dr. Rebecca DeYoung, graduate of Notre Dame, specializes in research about the seven deadly sins and spiritual formation. She says this about our density to the power of sin in our lives:

We deceive ourselves about how powerful sin actually is, and when we finally do face our flaws, we often find ourselves, as Augustine said in his Confessions, “chained by the power of habit.” What would it look like to take sin seriously—to acknowledge how susceptible we are to the dark power of our own disordered desires? And what difference does it make to think of sin as self-destructive habit that shapes our lives from the inside out?

Prose: You may enjoy reading Professor DeYoung’s article as much as I did. Here is the link;

How We Got the Seven Deadly Sins

Music: Where I Find God – Larry Fleet

That moment of repentance and redemption can come in the most unexpected ways as attested to in this great country song. Fleet wrote this song which was one of the 50 most listened to country songs of 2021.

The night I hit rock bottom, sittin’ on an old barstool
He paid my tab and put me in a cab, but he didn’t have to
But he could see I was hurtin’, oh, I wish I’d got his name
‘Cause I didn’t feel worth savin’, but he saved me just the same

That day out on the water, when the fish just wouldn’t bite
I put my pole down, I floated around, was just so quiet
And I could hear my old man sayin’ “Son, just be still
‘Cause you can’t find peace like this in a bottle or a pill”

From a bar stool to that Evinrude
Sunday mornin’ in a church pew
In a deer stand or a hay field
An interstate back to Nashville
A Chevrolet with the windows down
Me and him just ridin’ around
Sometimes, whether I’m lookin’ for Him or not
That’s where I find God

Sometimes late at night, I lie there and listen
To the sound of her heart beatin’
And the song the crickets are singin’
And I don’t know what they’re sayin’
But it sounds like a hymn to me
Naw, I ain’t too good at prayin’
But thanks for everything

From a bar stool, to that Evinrude
Sunday mornin’ in a church pew
In a deer stand or a hay field
An interstate back to Nashville
A Chevrolet with the windows down
Me and him just ridin’ around
Sometimes, whether I’m lookin’ for Him or not
That’s where I find God

From a bar stool, to that Evinrude
Sunday mornin’ in a church pew
In a deer stand or a hay field
An interstate back to Nashville
A Chevrolet with the windows down
Me and him just ridin’ around
Talkin’, well I do that a lot
Well, I do that a lot
That’s where I find God

Pray for One Another

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Prayer, repentance, spirituality1 Comment

Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
October 6, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100623.cfm

Baruch Writing Jeremiah’s Prophecies – Gustave Doré

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy (and tomorrow) we have a few words from Baruch – and he is not a happy camper. Baruch, the scribe for the prophet Jeremiah, did his own little bit of writing reflecting on the situation of the Jews exiled in Babylon.

The Book of Baruch takes the form of a letter from the captives to the high priest who remained in Jerusalem after the exile. The writer asks for prayers for the exiled community and sends money to support that request. He voices the people’s acknowledgment that their suffering is a result of their own sin. He even composes the prayers that he wishes to be said in Jerusalem:

Justice is with the Lord, our God;
and we today are flushed with shame,
we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem,
that we, with our kings and rulers
and priests and prophets, and with our ancestors,
have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed him.

Baruch 1:15-18

When I was growing up, we had a practice in my family very similar to that described in Baruch. When confusing troubles arose for the family, Mom would appeal to either of two sources for supportive prayer: The Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Canada or the “Pink Sisters” (The Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters) on Green Street in Philadelphia. I have written to the Pink Sisters myself on a few spiritually catastrophic occasions. A Sister always writes back with sustaining wisdom and the affirmation of prayer.

Remembering all this reminds me that it is so important to pray for one another! Doing so creates an invisible, almost magnetic connection that helps sustain us in times of doubt, suffering, loss, and sadness. It also helps the pray-er to affirm membership in a company of believers – all of us “just walking each other home.”(Ram Dass)

This is exactly what Baruch was doing for the Babylonian exiles:

  • reminding them of their true home in God
  • reconnecting them to a community from which they had been severed
  • voicing their suffering
  • showing them a path to repentance, hope, and restoration.

At those “exile times” in our lives, when we are somewhere on the fragile edge of faith and endurance, as our Psalm today reminds us, prayer refocuses us on God rather than ourselves. Trusting the glorious name of God, we slowly open to a Light we may not have seen because our own shadow was in the way.

Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name’s sake.

Psalm 79:9

Poetry: A Prayer – May Sarton

Help us to be the always hopeful
gardeners of the spirit
who know that without darkness
nothing comes to birth
as without light
nothing flowers.

Music: Anthem – Leonard Cohen

Keeping up with the Synod

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn spiritualityLeave a comment

October 5, 2023

I know many of you really enjoyed Fr. Timothy Radcliff. His retreat is over but you can follow daily updates on the Synod at the website below.

Pope Francis offered a selection of Patristic writings about the Holy Spirit for the assembly’s reflection.

They come from St. Basil the Great and are really very beautiful. I would take just one passage at a time though. Too much Basil can ruin a good meal!🧐

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/taglist.chiesa-e-religioni.Vaticano.sinodo.html

To Hear and Believe Anew

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

Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
October 5, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100523.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our first reading comes from the pragmatical prophet Nehemiah. Compared to the lyrical works of writers like Isaiah and Jeremiah, Nehemiah and his buddy Ezra can sound pretty pedantic. But today’s passage is powerful, rendered so by the tears of Ezra’s listeners:

Then Nehemiah and Ezra the priest-scribe
and the Levites who were instructing the people
said to all the people:
“Today is holy to the LORD your God.
Do not be sad, and do not weep”–
for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.
He said further: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks,
and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared;
for today is holy to our LORD.

Nehemiah 8: 9-10

Why were these people crying? (besides the fact that they had stood for six hours listening to Ezra’s filibuster!!!)

Ezra Reads the Law – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld’

The people cried because they had restored to them something they thought was lost. Israel had been smothered in Babylon for seven decades – more than a lifetime in ancient Israel. Perhaps they had tried to hold on to the faith of their ancestors, but seventy years of remembering can become wearisome. Now, by God’s mercy, Jerusalem had been restored to them where they could stand in freedom to hear the Word that held them together. Notice that ALL the people were gathered, even the women and children, to be touched by the Word.

The whole people gathered as one in the open space before the Water Gate,
and they called upon Ezra the scribe
to bring forth the book of the law of Moses
which the LORD prescribed for Israel.

Nehemiah 8:1

Picturing the size and circumstances of Ezra’s large assembly, I was reminded of the first baseball game after 9/11/2001. Two weeks after that abominable day, Atlanta played the New York Mets at Citi Field, just a little over ten miles from the World Trade Center. The whole nation was brokenhearted, and certainly, all of us mourned deeply for the people of New York City. The video below recalls that game. There is a well of tears in every face — loss, hope, courage, gratitude, determination, and love for country. And I think even the Braves wanted the Mets to win!

This passage from Nehemiah comes at an opportune time for the Church as we gather in Rome to open the Synod on Synodality. Yesterday, Pope Francis convened representatives of the whole Church to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Many in the Church feel disoriented and disaffected by issues corroding the Church’s integrity. The continuing waves of the clerical abuse scandal have poisoned the waters of trust and devotion. The failure to recognize women as full human beings paralyzes half the Holy Spirit’s energy. Fractious, self-interested criticisms of papal authority, even by some bishops, have distracted the simple believer from a life of faith. The weaponizing of Catholic social media by the powerful against the marginalized dishonors and vitiates the Gospel in the public sector. Inadequacies in liturgical understanding, preaching, and pastoral leadership have alienated many cradle Catholics from pursuing Church membership.

Not unlike Ezra and Nehemiah, Pope Francis challenges the Church to hear the Word of God rekindled among us. For those who believe the Church is only the hierarchy, or the magisterium, this gathering may be a threat to a status quo which serves their interests. To those who see the Church as the whole people of God, the Synod may be a sacred tonic to a languishing Church.

We should all pray for the success of the Synod. When received with an open and honest heart, the Holy Spirit does astounding things within us. This synod can move the whole Church closer to its sacred perfection, but more specifically, it can do the same for you and me if we desire it. Let’s take Nehemiah’s words to heart, rejoicing and believing that God will delight in the Church’s invitation to speak to us anew:

Do not be saddened this day,
for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!”
And the Levites quieted all the people, saying,
“Hush, for today is holy, and you must not be saddened.”
Then all the people went to eat and drink,
to distribute portions, and to celebrate with great joy,
for they understood the words that had been expounded to them.

Nehemiah 8: 10-12

Music: Holy Spirit Living Breath of God – Keith and Kristyn Getty

Living Gratitude

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, Creation, Discipleship, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, spirituality2 Comments

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi
October 4, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/1004-memorial-francis-assisi.cfm

(I chose to offer a reflection on the readings for the Memorial of St. Francis rather than for Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week)

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) , one of the most revered figures in Christianity, an Italian mystic and Catholic friar who founded the Franciscans.

The simple holiness of St. Francis has had an immeasurable effect not only on Christianity but even on secular culture. No matter their religious interest, most people would recognize this humble, medieval itinerant preacher and understand the witness of his life.

from phillyvoice.com

Our current Holy Father, in a surprise move, chose St. Francis as his patron and model:

When the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went over the 77 votes needed to become pope, he said that his friend Cardinal Hummes “hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Don’t forget the poor.’”
At the time of his election, Pope Francis told thousands of journalists that he took to heart the words of his friend and chose to be called after St. Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.”

In our readings today, both the Responsorial Psalm and the Gospel echo a spirituality deeply compatible with the Franciscan spirit.

Francis, who renounced his wealthy lifestyle and inheritance for the riches of Christ, surely found inspiration when he prayed Psalm 16:

You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.

I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

Most of us reading this reflection have so much in life. We are blessed beyond description with everything we need and even want. Praying in the spirit of St. Francis can help us discern how to honor and use what we have in a way that pleases God.

Keep a clear eye toward life’s end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature. What you are in God’s sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received…but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.

Francis of Assisi

Poetry: ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI – A SERMON TO THE BIRDS
Francis made his deep spirituality and radical teaching easily accessible with unpretentious parables like this one. He imitated Jesus himself who taught us how to live by telling simple stories in which we could find ourselves. So let’s learn from this one, my little “birds”. 

My little sisters the birds,
Ye owe much to God, your Creator,
And ye ought to sing his praise at all times and in all places, 
Because he has given you liberty to fly about into all places; 
And though ye neither spin nor sew,
He has given you a twofold and a threefold clothing
For yourselves and for your offspring.
Two of all your species He sent into the Ark with Noah
That you might not be lost to the world;
Besides which, He feeds you, though ye neither sow nor reap.
He has given you fountains and rivers to quench your thirst, 
Mountains and valleys in which to take refuge,
And trees in which to build your nests;
So that your Creator loves you much,
Having thus favored you with such bounties.
Beware, my little sisters, of the sin of ingratitude, 
And study always to give praise to God.” Amen

Music: St. Francis of Assisi by Mendoza Musicals

Synod Retreat

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Faith, spirituality2 Comments

Sessions 5 and 6

October 3, 2023

Thanks to all of you who let me know you were pleased to receive the links to the Synod Retreat. Below, you will see the official Synod Prayer, and Sessions 5 and 6 of the Retreat.

I have also included, at the end, Pope Francis’s response to a questioning letter sent to him by five retired conservative Cardinals, Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Leo Burke supported by three other Cardinals, Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Robert Sarah, and Joseph Zen Ze-kiun. On the threshold of this momentous gathering, the men’s questions express their fears rather than their hopes for the Church, and attempt to limit the dynamism of the Synod solely to specific moral and doctrinal concerns. Their letter and questions may confuse and distract people from the real power and purpose of a synod. I found Pope Francis’s thoughtful, pastoral, and eloquent response most inspiring.

Session 5: Authority

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-authority.html

Session 6: The Spirit of Truth

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-the-spirit-of-truth-radcliffe.html

Response to the Dubia (Doubts)

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-10/pope-francis-responds-to-dubia-of-five-cardinals.html

Toward Jerusalem

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Faith, Jesus, spirituality1 Comment

Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
October 3, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100323.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 87, a Song of Zion which imagines the future Jerusalem as the world’s center of worship.

The foundation upon the holy mountains
    the LORD loves:
The gates of Zion,
    more than any dwelling of Jacob.
Glorious things are said of you,
    O city of God!

Psalm 87: 1-3

For centuries, the Jews had been scattered through many alien countries. Some had lost their ties to their inherited faith. The psalm calls all people “home” to the worship of the one, true God.

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives by Frederic Edwin Church

Jerusalem is a profoundly unifying symbol for Jews. That is why it is so important for Jesus to “go up to Jerusalem” in order to accomplish our redemption. As today’s Gospel tells us:

When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled,
he steadfastly turned his face to Jerusalem.

Luke 9:51

Praying with these passages may seem difficult for Christians if we have no emotional ties to the city of Jerusalem. But for us too, the concept of “Jerusalem” serves as a symbol of that stable and committed faith that allows us to live our lives in the pattern of Jesus.

We journey too, as Jesus did toward the fullness of life in God. Our journey takes singular steadfastness, just as his did, a commitment rooted in faith and grace.

Together in faith, we form a New Jerusalem, glorious in each one of us through our Baptism into Christ.

Poetry: A Sonnet – Malcolm Guite

Now to the gate of my Jerusalem,
The seething holy city of my heart,
The saviour comes. But will I welcome him?
Oh crowds of easy feelings make a start;
They raise their hands, get caught up in the singing,
And think the battle won. Too soon they’ll find
The challenge, the reversal he is bringing
Changes their tune. I know what lies behind
The surface flourish that so quickly fades;
Self-interest, and fearful guardedness,
The hardness of the heart, its barricades,
And at the core, the dreadful emptiness
Of a perverted temple. Jesus  come
Break my resistance and make me your home.

Music: Jerusalem, My Destiny – Rory Cooney

Extra: Pearls from the Synod

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn spirituality11 Comments

Monday, October 2, 2023

Last night, I fell asleep reading a passably written book with a yet undisclosed mystery. I wanted to solve that mystery before sleeping, but Sandman prevailed. This morning, which I consider the most precious time of my day, I was tempted to pick up that book and satisfy my curiosity.

Then I said to myself, “What are you doing! This time belongs to the Holy Spirit.” So I picked up instead one of the beautiful reflections from the Synod Retreat.

As many of you know, the Synod on Synodality has begun in Rome. Currently, the invited participants are on a short retreat to prepare their hearts, minds, and spirits for the sessions which open on October 4 – the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

The retreat is being offered by Dominican Friar and former Master of the Order of Preachers, Father Timothy Radcliffe, and is available on the internet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Radcliffe

In my own prayer, I have been following the sessions and have found them deeply enriching. The session I prayed with today (meditation 3) particularly touched me.

I thought some of you might like to benefit from these sessions.  They are rich, direct, and profoundly simple with the deep simplicity of holiness. Certainly, they bear directly on the Synod itself, but they are universal in their wisdom and inspiration.

If you are not already familiar with the Vatican News website, I have included links to the sessions below. Even if you don’t have time now, the message they convey is timeless. You might like to access them some time at your leisure. But maybe, like me this morning, you might choose to use your current leisure for one of these transformative sessions instead of a middling book or a game of Candy Crush.

Meditation 1:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/retreat-day-1-radcliffe-first-meditation.html

Meditation 2:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-conversation-on-the-way-to-emmaus.html

Meditation 3:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-friendship.html

Meditation 4:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-conversation-on-the-way-to-emmaus.html

In our leisure
we reveal
what kind of people we are.

Ovid
(Ovid a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus.
He  is most famous for the Metamorphoses, 
one of the most important sources of classical mythology today.)

Ovid

Angels

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

Memorial of the Guardian Angels
October 2, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/1002-memorial-guardian-angels.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, pray with Psalm 91 from the readings for the Mass of the Guardian Angels – those magnificent beings who carry God’s Presence to us in every situation of our lives.

The Lord shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter
and from the deadly pestilence. 
The wings of the Lord shall cover you,
and you shall find refuge under them;
the faithfulness of God shall be a shield and buckler.

Psalm 91: 3-4

Maybe the only angels we ever think about are chubby little cherubs on Christmas cards. The cultural tendency to represent angels in that way diminishes the real power of these mighty and loving beings to inspire and guide us. Today might be a day to rethink our relationship with our Guardian Angels – to talk with them and to listen to the good things they tell us even without words.

Praying with the angels requires the unembarrassed simplicity of deep faith. Our culture has painted the angels with a patina of childishness, but that is far from their biblical representation. Angels are supernaturally powerful beings throughout both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. If you meet a personal block in praying with your own guardian angels, pick one of the only three named in the Bible and consider that angel’s dynamic presence.

Gabriel: The angel Gabriel is an angel of God who is mentioned by name three times in the Bible when he brought messages from God to Daniel, Zechariah, and Mary.

Michael: the only one called “archangel” in the Bible. In the books of Daniel, Jude, and Revelation, Michael is described as a warrior angel who engages in spiritual combat.

Raphael: mentioned only in the Catholic canon of the Bible, Raphael has a key role in the Book of Tobit

Poem: Touched by an Angel by Maya Angelou 

We, unaccustomed to courage,
exiles from delight,
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free

Music: Angel’s Serenade – Gaetano Braga

Welcome, October!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Seasons, spirituality3 Comments

For my friends in the Northern Hemisphere:

Music:

For my friends in the midst of Australian Spring:

Spring in Australia: S.D. Tiwari

In the months of September and October,
glimpse freshness and exquisiteness allover.
Their winter ends, God of the nature sends,
the queen of seasons to the Australian land.

Cuckoo and magpie sing, songs of spring.
Butterflies bring amazing colours on wings.
Purple carpets spread on the road side,
Under showering petals, walkers feel pride.

Temperature of land is pleasant and mild.
Bloomed in jungles, millions of flowers wild.
Trail of purple Jakaranda under the blue sky.
In the gardens stunning, vivid colours sigh.

When Europe is heading to the autumn fall.
Aussies prepare them to welcome the rainfall.
At winter’s door, Europe celebrates Halloween,
Aussies taste in spring, their pie of pumpkin.

The days are spectacular, bright and pleasant.
Queen of seasons makes jovial the peasants.
Kangaroos hop happy, birds and bees are proud.
During the spring, vineyards are full of crowd.