Tag: Ezra

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

Nothing for the Journey

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, Gospel, repentance, spirituality3 Comments

Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
September 27, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092723.cfm

Today, in God’s Loving Mercy, Ezra carries on his shoulders the whole repentant nation of Israel. He is bent in “shame and humiliation” for them as he begins his prayer for God’s mercy.

The Prophet Ezra Prays – Gustave Doré

At the time of the evening sacrifice, I, Ezra, rose in my wretchedness,
and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees,
stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God.I said:

“My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you,
O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads
and our guilt reaches up to heaven.

Ezra 9: 6-7

It is a highly dramatic prayer, ripping out from Ezra’s soul. He not only wants to get God’s attention. Ezra wants to make an indelible impression on the community he prays for.

God doesn’t shout back an answer to Ezra’s expressive prayer. Instead, we get the sense of God’s still, eternal Presence waiting for Israel’s eyes to clear in recognition, like finally seeing the mountain peak through the mist:

Ez9_8mercy rock

And now, but a short time ago,
mercy came to us from the LORD, our God,
who left us a remnant
and gave us a stake in his holy place;
thus our God has brightened our eyes
and given us relief in our servitude.

“ …God has given us a stake in his holy place”….

That place is ever-present,
ever-available Lavish Mercy
– always awaiting us
if we can clear our hearts to see it.

Once we do see the faithfulness of God, we are ready to chance the journey Jesus invites us to in today’s Gospel:

Take nothing for the journey ….
set out and go from village to village
proclaiming the good news
and restoring wholeness everywhere.

Luke 9:3-4

Poetry: Take Nothing for the Journey – Joyce Rupp, OSM

Take Nothing for the Journey
Heal and Proclaim …
Were the twelve afraid?
Did they wonder if they could do those things?
Compared to the quality of your ministry,
Did they feel inadequate and unworthy?
What persuaded them to go? Your words?
Your friendship? Their enthusiasm?
Your deep belief that they could do it?
And you said:
“Take nothing for the journey”.
What did you mean?
Trust or more than trust?
Did you perhaps imply that we can’t wait
Until we have all the possible things we need?
That we can’t postpone “doing”
Until we are positive of our talents?
That we can’t hold off our commitment
Until we are absolutely sure
We won’t make a mistake?
I think of all the excuses and reasons
We can give for not serving and giving:
No time, no talent, no knowledge,
No energy, no assured results.
You say, “Take nothing.
Don’t worry about your inadequacies.
I will provide for you.
Go! Just Go! Go with my power.
Risk the road, risk the work.
Go! I will be with you.
What else do you need?”

Music: Great Is Thy Faithfulness – written by Thomas O. Chisholm
Sung here by Austin Stone Worship – Jaleesa McCreary (Note the sweet smile on her beautiful face just before she begins to sing. Grace!)

Unfold the Word

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Books, Faith, Gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spiritualityLeave a comment

January 23, 2022
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s Readings

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings focus on Sacred Scripture as the revealed Word of God.

Ezra, from our first passage, lived almost 500 years before Christ during the Babylonian captivity, a time when much of the population of Judea was deported to what is modern day Iraq. When the Persian King Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, the Jews were permitted to return to Judea.

Ezra Reads the Law to the People – Gustave Dore

During the sixty-year enslavement, many Jews lost touch with their culture, language and religion. Our reading describes Ezra’s efforts to restore the Jewish character of the community by reintroducing them to the Torah. He has to read to them, translating the Hebrew for those who no longer speak the language.

In a gesture foretelling the liberating ministry of Jesus, Ezra unrolls the scroll – symbolic of bringing to light that which has been hidden or buried.

Jesus in the Synagogue at Nazareth – Anonymous

In our Gospel, Jesus too unrolls the scroll. In doing so, Jesus reveals the heart of faith which had been buried within the Law. Jesus preaches in a new “language” – the language of God’s all-inclusive mercy, forgiveness, and love.

For us who believe, the holy scriptures are a Living Word which, through thoughtful prayer, will continually reveal God’s heart to us. It is worth our time and attention to become friends with these sacred messages.

Many of you, dear readers, will be familiar with the ancient prayer practice of “lectio divina”. In her book “Too Deep for Words”, Sister Thelma Hall describes the practice:

… a wholistic way of prayer which disposes, opens, and “in-forms” us for the gift of contemplation God waits to give, by leading us to a place with him at our deepest center … It begins this movement by introducing us to the power of the Word of God in scripture to speak to the most intimate depths of our hearts …

Sister Thelma Hall’s book, a classic, is available on Amazon for those who might enjoy exploring Lectio Divina. I highly recommend it. My copy, nearly 30 years old, is beginning to show its age, but then again, so am I!

Poetry: The Word Of God – George MacDonald

Where the bud has never blown
Who for scent is debtor?
Where the spirit rests unknown
Fatal is the letter.
In thee, Jesus, Godhead-stored,
All things we inherit,
For thou art the very Word
And the very Spirit!

Music: Word of God Speak ~ Mercy Me

The Word

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, GospelLeave a comment

Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

October 3, 2019

Click here for readings

Today, in Mercy, Ezra and Nehemiah gather all the People for a gargantuan spiritual renewal! It is the People themselves who request this renewal, realizing that they have drifted from the Law and desiring to ritualize their return to it.

It seems fitting that this reading comes just after the Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashana (from sundown on Sunday, September 29 until sundown on Tuesday, October 1, 2019.) This feast marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days.

For more on these biblically rich celebrations, click here.

One of the lessons Christians can take from today’s passage is awareness of the great power and gift of God’s Word. Ezra’s community was changed by listening to that Word with open, repentant hearts.

word of God

In our Gospel, Jesus sends his disciples out to preach that Word, now transformed by the power of his Incarnation. He tells them to preach that “the Kingdom of God is at hand!”

Just this week, Pope Francis has taken steps to rekindle our appreciation of the Word. By declaring the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time as the Sunday of the Word of God, our Pope wants to help us grow in love and devotion to Sacred Scripture.

(Personally, I welcome this focus. At the time of the Second Vatican Council, there was a new and deepened awareness of the gift of Sacred Scripture. As a young religious, that awareness was central to my spiritual formation. Since that time, there seems to have been an unfortunate shift away from that emphasis. I see the Pope’s declaration as a welcome corrective to that shift.)

Pope Francis has designated the day “to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God “ so as to help the Church “experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world’.

May we gratefully respond!

(See below the music : If you are interested, I have copied a very good excerpt from Pope Francis Apostolic Letter.)

Music: We Come to Hear Your Word – Chris Jubilee

Below is an excerpt from the Pope’s Apostolic Letter APERUIT ILLIS -INSTITUTING THE SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD. I found it to be helpful in understanding the Pope’s intent with this feast:

With this Letter, I wish to respond to the many requests I have received from the people of God that the entire Church celebrate, in unity of purpose, a Sunday of the Word of God. 

It is now common for the Christian community to set aside moments to reflect on the great importance of the word of God for everyday living. The various local Churches have undertaken a wealth of initiatives to make the sacred Scripture more accessible to believers, to increase their gratitude for so great a gift, and to help them to strive daily to embody and bear witness to its teachings.

The Second Vatican Council gave great impulse to the rediscovery of the word of God, thanks to its Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, a document that deserves to be read and appropriated ever anew. The Constitution clearly expounds the nature of sacred Scripture, its transmission from generation to generation (Chapter II), its divine inspiration (Chapter III) embracing the Old and New Testaments (Chapters IV and V), and the importance of Scripture for the life of the Church (Chapter VI). 

To advance this teaching, Pope Benedict XVI convoked an Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2008 on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church”, and then issued the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, whose teaching remains fundamental for our communities.[1] That document emphasizes in particular the performative character of the Word of God, especially in the context of the liturgy, in which its distinctively sacramental character comes to the fore.[2]

It is fitting, then that the life of our people be constantly marked by this decisive relationship with the living word that the Lord never tires of speaking to his Bride, that she may grow in love and faithful witness.

Consequently, I hereby declare that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God. This Sunday of the Word of God will thus be a fitting part of that time of the year when we are encouraged to strengthen our bonds with the Jewish people and to pray for Christian unity. This is more than a temporal coincidence: the celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God has ecumenical value, since the Scriptures point out, for those who listen, the path to authentic and firm unity.

God’s Immutable Mercy

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, Forgiveness, Gospel, Jesus, Mercy, repentanceLeave a comment

Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

September 25, 2019

Click here for readings

Today, in Mercy, Ezra carries on his shoulders the whole repentant nation of Israel. He is bent in “shame and humiliation” for them as he begins his prayer for God’s mercy.

It is a highly dramatic prayer, ripping out from Ezra’s soul. He not only wants to get God’s attention. Ezra wants to make an indelible impression on the community he prays for.

Picture the scene as you wish. What comes to my imagination, (although somewhat sacrilegious)  is something like a James Brown brand of intensity:

for your reference: James Brown performs “Please Please Please” (Wait for the cape at 60 secs!)

God doesn’t shout back an answer to Ezra’s expressive prayer. Instead, we get the sense of God’s still, eternal Presence waiting for Israel’s eyes to clear in recognition, like finally seeing the mountain peak through the mist:

Ez9_8mercy rock

And now, but a short time ago,
mercy came to us from the LORD, our God,
who left us a remnant
and gave us a stake in his holy place;
thus our God has brightened our eyes
and given us relief in our servitude.

“ …God has given us a stake in his holy place”….
That place is ever-present,
ever-available Mercy
– always awaiting us
if we can clear our hearts to see it.

Once we do see the faithfulness of God, we are ready to chance the journey Jesus invites us to in today’s Gospel:

Take nothing for the journey ….
set out and go from village to village
proclaiming the good news
and restoring wholeness everywhere.

Music: Great Is Thy Faithfulness – written by Thomas O. Chisholm.
Sung here by AustinStoneWorship – Jaleesa McCreary (Note the sweet smile on her beautiful face just before she begins to sing. Grace!)

Radicals for God

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Courage, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, GospelLeave a comment

Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest

September 23, 2019

Click here for readings

Luke8_17 hiddenJPG

Today, in Mercy,  we’re dealing with a few names we might not be familiar with.

Pius of Pietrelcina whose Feast we celebrate. Ever heard of him?

Oh, wait a minute, maybe you have. This holy man is more popularly known as “Padre Pio”. Still no clue? How about this?

Padre Pio was a Capuchin Franciscan friar who has become one of the most popular saints in the Church. While it was his receiving of the stigmata that distinguished him for many, his real saintliness lay in his love for sinners and his work for their redemption.

Pope Paul VI said this shortly after Padre Pio’s death: “Look what fame he had, what a worldwide following gathered around him! But why? Because he was a philosopher? Because he was wise? Because he had resources at his disposal? No – because he said Mass humbly, heard confessions from dawn to dusk and was–it is not easy to say it–one who bore the wounds of our Lord. He was a man of prayer and suffering.”

Ezra is our other maybe unfamiliar character. His book in the Old Testament doesn’t get a lot of play. It’s only ten chapters and lacks the exultant poetry of an Isaiah or a Jeremiah.

But Ezra’s, and his buddy Nehemiah’s, contribution to Judeo-Christian spirituality are critically important. These two Hebrew leaders accompanied the People back to their Promised Land after the Babylonian Captivity. But more than that, they fostered and admonished the People to return to their original relationship with God – a relationship rooted in the Promise given to Abraham.

Luke, who gives us today’s Gospel, we know well. Even today’s passage, we might know by heart. Let your lamp shine.  Let your life be truth. Do we live that message?

All the individuals mentioned in today’s celebrations and readings were radicals. The Word and Promise of God were everything to them. Through all the challenges of their lives, they kept coming back to their immutable relationship with the God of Love and Fidelity. They kept inviting others into the circle of that faith.

Praying with them today, may we have the same strong and resolute hearts.

Music: Hymn of Promise – Hope Publishing