Tag: Jesus

Forgiveness

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Conversion, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Forgiveness, spirituality1 Comment

Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
November 14, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111424.cfm

Beloved:
I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love,
because the hearts of the holy ones
have been refreshed by you, brother.
Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ
to order you to do what is proper,
I rather urge you out of love,
being as I am, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.
I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment,
who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me.
Philemon 1:7-11

Did you ever have to intercede for a friend? Or if you were the friend, did anyone ever have to intercede for you? That’s what is happening in this passage.

Onesimus, the escaped slave of Philemon, had also been accused of petty theft. During his escape, he comes into Paul’s company, is converted, and befriends and assists Paul.

Paul pleads with Philemon to forgive and reconcile with Onesimus as a brother in Christ.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We give thanks for those who have stood by us in times of testing, who knew our hearts better than others did, and who represented us in Christ.

Poetry: “Onesimus” by Tania Runyan

Since I stole your money, Philemon, and even more, myself, the body
that broke earth and stacked stones at daybreak while you slept,

you have every right to lash me till the whites of my intestines show,
brand FUG on my forehead, or throw me to the lions, who love especially

the taste of escaped slaves, our blood sweet with freedom’s fleeting breath.
But Paul, wild-eyed with Christ, has washed down his prison walls

with prayer. He knows you will take me back, not a slave, but a brother
delivering koinonia to your congregation in this present evil age, teaching

how to pray paralytics into motion and how to sleep in peace
when soldiers sharpen swords outside your windows. Paul calls me his son, no—

his very heart. I am no longer your body but will reside in yours,
pump forgiveness and prayer through your veins. I will make you

see Christ in every jangling harlot and rotting, leprous face.
I will make you a slave to God’s bidding.

Music: Return to the Heart – David Lanz

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 

Truth

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Eternal Life, Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spirituality, Truth1 Comment

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
May 8, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050824.cfm

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
John 16:12-13

In this passage, Jesus indicates that the “Truth” can be overwhelming. He tells the disciples that they cannot bear it all just now. But the Holy Spirit will guide them to receive the Truth.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Isn’t that a fact for all of us? Don’t we need to grow into the Truth rather than comprehend it all at once?

At best, we live in a world of appearances and, at worst, a world of fabrication. We may be tempted to judge reality based on these thin and misleading surfaces.

To respond to the deep truths of life, we need to prayerfully follow the Spirit – to be gradually strengthened in our capacity to see the world as God sees it, to respond to the world as God would respond. – in Truth.

Poetry: Witness – Denise Levertov 

Sometimes the mountain
is hidden from me in veils
of cloud, sometimes
I am hidden from the mountain
in veils of inattention, apathy, fatique,
when I forget or refuse to go
down to the shore or a few yards
up the road, on a clear day,
to reconfirm
that witnessing presence.

Music: Holy Spirit, Truth Divine – David Eck

As we begin Holy Week…

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Cross, Eastertide, Faith, Jesus, Seasons, spirituality, suffering1 Comment

Holy Week and Eastertide

Holy Week and Eastertide are times of sacred journey for Christians. We walk with Christ into the true and deepest dimensions of our lives.

All life is about journey and passage. At some time in each of our lives, we are passing:

  • from emptiness to abundance
  • from loneliness to love
  • from exhaustion to renewal
  • from anxiety to peace
  • from burden to freedom
  • from confusion to understanding
  • from bitterness to forgiveness
  • from pain to healing
  • from mourning to remembrance

The great Feasts of Holy Week and Easter, and the reflective weeks that follow, assure us that God accompanies us in all our journeys from darkness to light. The sacredness of these days invites us to quietly name whatever darkness surrounds us and our global family, and to reach through it to the hand of God. Like a parent leading a child in from the storm, the God of Easter longs to bring our hearts home to fullness and joy.

During these coming weeks, I will continue offering reflections centered on a single word, since many of you have expressed to me an appreciation for this approach. In the archives listed on the right of the blog, you can access more extensive reflections for each day of the liturgical cycle, accumulated over the past six years.

As we begin these sacred days, let’s pray for one another. And let us pray particularly for those whose current lives are closely patterned on the sufferings of Christ that, with Him, they may be strengthened with Easter hope and courage.

Extra Pre-Lent #1

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn spirituality2 Comments

Sunday before Lent
February 11, 2024

Today we stand at the threshold of a sacred time. In a few days, we will begin our Lenten journey for the Year of our Lord, 2024. I reflected this morning on the purpose of Lent and on how I want to prepare in these three days leading up to Ash Wednesday.

Often Lent is interpreted only in the light of sacrifice and renunciation. We think about what we will give up, or what difficult practice we will assume. We might even introduce mixed purposes to our renunciations – thinking that fasting is a good way to lose weight, or that purging our excessive possessions is a path to feng shui in our environment. I know I have been guilty of these hidden agendas. Realizing this, I want to make the effort to live a more sincere Lent. I want to focus my spiritual awareness on Lent’s true purpose which is to align my life with the life of Christ.

To help me more truly engage this Lenten time, I have considered some proven elements from our long Christian tradition. I know that many of my readers already live a spiritual life deeply enriched by their own chosen practices. Still, I thought some of you might like to think about these few simple elements as well. These three elements are:
• Practice
• Time
• Reflection

Today, let’s think about “Lenten Practice”. Tomorrow, “ Lenten Time”. On Tuesday, “Lenten Reflection”

Lenten Practice
What practice might I introduce or deepen in my life that would turn my attention to God?
The choice of a Lenten practice can be very simple:
• to take a daily morning or evening walk in a spirit of prayer
• to read a spiritual rather than secular book throughout Lent
• to write a note or make a phone call to someone who would be blessed by your voice
• to not choose a new practice, but to choose a new attitude about some circumstance in my life, an attitude of hope or generosity

What is essential is to focus our attention on God as we engage this simple practice, to make our actions a prayer.
More tomorrow.

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn spiritualityLeave a comment

June 2, 2022

Today’s Readings

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, as we continue to read Jesus’s loving dialogue with his Father, we become the silent listener to an intimate conversation.

Jn17_21 all one

As I prayed with this passage, the memory of my own conversations with my mother came back to me. Many of these exchanges took place in person, but what I remembered today was our daily evening phone calls late in her life.

The calls were brief, but unflinchingly regular – 7PM every night. The exchanges were  very simple and almost formulaic: were we both OK, slept well, had a good day, had what for dinner, endured whatever weather….did we need anything?

But the real conversation was deep under any formula. It was the silent language of love, comfort, hope, trust, fidelity, and presence.  It was the unspoken assurance that we were, and would always be, FOR each other.

In John 17, we find the same kind of conversation between Jesus and his Father.

  • You and I are one
  • You have gifted me with your essence
  • You have empowered me in your Name
  • You have always loved me
  • I know your heart 
  • and I am grateful

What a privilege to listen to God’s conversation! In our prayer today, we may just want to witness silently the infinite love between Jesus and the Father. As Jesus prays for us to be incorporated into that love, may our hearts overflow in gratitude.

Poetry: Presence – by Rumi

Your grief for what you’ve lost holds a mirror up
To where you’ve been bravely working.
Expecting the worst, you look and instead,
Here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see.
Your hand opens and closes
And opens and closes.
If it were always a fist
Or always stretched open,
You would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence is in every small
Contracting and expanding—
The two as beautifully balanced and coordinated
As bird wings.

Music: I Just Called fo Say I Love You – Stevie Wonder

Mom and I loved this song because it so clearly described our relationship. I still sing it to her sometimes… loooong distance for sure now! I think it’s a song we could easily share with God in our prayer.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bqfSXkVH9ac%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

The Beloved One

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

January 9, 2022
The Baptism of the Lord

Today’s Readings

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, that moment in time when Christ entered into his ministry, announced by the thundering voice of Divine Infinity.

Maybe you’re not like me in this, but I must confess to sometimes letting the scriptures become very ordinary and pedantic. These passages have been read at me in church, sometimes well, often poorly, for seven decades. They have been plastered on billboards, bumper stickers and Church marquees for just as long. All that mundane exposure has demystified some of the most amazing words ever written.

But just think about what today’s Gospel describes.

Think about the greatest prophet of both the Old and New Testament standing waist-deep in the Jordan, eyes locked on Christ.

Think about Jesus, perfectly communed with the Father, walking slowly past the bird-filled trees and bushes to a moment that had been waiting for Him since all eternity. Did not those works of the Creator’s hands sing in worship as he passed?

Think about the pulsing sky already filled with the Creator’s waiting breath, ready to burst with the proclamation of the Son – this Son who said “Yes” to the greatest act of love in history!

For a few moments this morning, let yourself be there. Be filled with nature’s orchestra. Be filled with the pulsing colors of God’s astonishing revelation. Be filled with the Baptist’s profound reverence. Be filled with Christ’s omnipotent freedom and joy.

Let us enter with gratitude and celebration into the Baptism of Jesus!

The Baptism Of Jesus is a painting by Jeff Haynie For purchase, see:https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-baptism-of-jesus-jeff-haynie.html

Poetry: Jesus’ Baptism – Malcolm Guite

Beginning here we glimpse the Three-in-one;
The river runs, the clouds are torn apart,
The Father speaks, the Spirit and the Son
Reveal to us the single loving heart
That beats behind the being of all things
And calls and keeps and kindles us to light.
The dove descends, the spirit soars and sings
‘You are belovèd, you are my delight!’

In that quick light and life, as water spills
And streams around the Man like quickening rain,
The voice that made the universe reveals
The God in Man who makes it new again.
He calls us too, to step into that river
To die and rise and live and love forever.

Music: Jesus the Lord – Roc O’Connor

Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus
Let all creation bend the knee to the Lord.

  1. In Him we live, we move and have our being;
    In Him the Christ, In Him the King!
    Jesus the Lord.
  2. Though Son, He did not cling to Godliness,
    But emptied Himself, became a slave!
    Jesus the Lord.
  3. He lived obediently His Father’s will
    Accepting His death, death on a cross!
    Jesus the Lord!

Christ, the Crucified King

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Jesus1 Comment

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

November 24, 2019

Click here for readings

Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. This feast was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI by his encyclical Quas Primas. The Pope was acutely aware of the secularization of society and culture. He wanted this feast and devotion to bring people a deep awareness that Christ is the center of all Creation.

The images, language and metaphors are ones that spoke to the people in the early 20th century. They may ring differently to us. Concepts of “king”, “empire”, “dominion”, “subjection” tend to engender negative connotations for many of us.
(Unless, of course, we’re referring to the “King of Rock and Roll” – Elvis, of course. Or  for some younger among us, the “King of Pop” – Michael Jackson. Then we seem OK with it!)

Our readings today can direct us to a deeper understanding of the characteristics Pius sought to highlight, ones that may speak more clearly to us in our time.

Our first reading from Samuel presents the anointing of David as King of Israel. Anointed by those who were “his own bone and flesh”, David prefigured the Incarnate Christ who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, took our flesh to redeem us.

Col1_15 image

The magnificent passage from Colossians offers exultant praise to the Creator for 

…delivering us from the power of darkness
and transferring us to the kingdom of the beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption …

And our Gospel gives us our precious Jesus on the Cross, teaching us the paradoxical truth of what his “Kingdom” really means – not oppressive dominion, but rather a sacrificial love that gives everything for the life of the beloved.

van eyck
Van Eyck’s painting of Christ King and his follower Petrus Christus’s Christ Suffering (15th C.)

Many cannot recognize such “kingship”. They cannot see the holy power within Christ’s sacrifice. They are, as Pius XI recognized for his time, blinded by a secularized culture and a dispirited life.

Let us pray today with the “justly condemned”, but spiritually enlightened, man in our Gospel who asked his Crucified King,

“Lord Jesus,
remember me
when you come into Kingdom!”

Music: Jesus Remember Me

Begin …

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, spiritualityLeave a comment

Monday, January 7, 2019

Click here for readings

Today, in Mercy, in this week after the Epiphany, we continue with John’s inspirational readings. They are intended to deepen us in love, truth and simplicity.

mt4_15

And we also have several Gospels this week that take us with Jesus as he begins his public ministry.

Today’s Gospel opens with a tinge of sadness. Jesus has just heard that John had been arrested. Reality dawns on them both that theirs will be no easy missionary journey. Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if these cousins could have teamed up, gone about preaching unhindered by the fears and bullying of the powerful?

But a free and easy story is not the one God chose to tell us, because our own stories are not always free and easy. Some, yes, more so than others. But all people suffer in some way and we all need a God who understands and shares that suffering.

So, “hearing that John had been arrested”, Jesus bravely begins. He goes to the Capernaum lakeshore where the common people gather to refresh themselves. He will find them hungry, confused, sinful, questioning, bereft, and battered. And he will begin by feeding and soothing them.

Where would Jesus begin with you? If you sat along that seashore in those first days, what would you lay before his tender mercy? Perhaps the need does not belong precisely to you, but to someone you love, someone who needs love in a harsh world.

Picture yourself there this morning. The sun begins to warm the salty edges of the sea. The crowd is large but quiet, as if they think themselves in church. Jesus looks out over all the gathered. But for one moment, his eyes meet yours, and that moment is enough to begin.

Music: Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore

Fired by Love

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, Conversion, Faith, Holy Spirit, inclusivity, Mercy1 Comment

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/061318.cfm

Ps 25 6_13_18

Today, in Mercy, when reading the passage about Elijah and the prophets of Baal, I was reminded of the Irving Berlin song, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better”. In the reading, Elijah tests and even taunts Baal’s 450 prophets in a contest to prove whose God is true. Of course, Elijah wins in a stunning blast of fire. It is a religious exercise of “eradicate and supplant”.

The Gospel reading carries a similar theme.  Jesus’ followers seem to conclude that, because he is teaching something new, he is nullifying the customary Hebrew teachings. But Jesus says that, to the contrary, He is here to fulfill the Law, not to abolish it.

Religion, like any entrenched practice, tends over time to suffer the ill effects of institutionalization. Our rituals and devotions may become lifeless; our scriptures become rote. The power of our sacraments may be carelessly invoked and distractedly attended. A chasm grows between what we profess and what we live. We may become frozen. Sometimes, it might seem best to set the whole thing aflame and start all over again, like Elijah.

But Jesus challenges to us to go deeper than “practice”. Mere practice can easily become empty. Jesus shows us in his life what a fulfilled faith looks like. It is a faith expressed in service, sacrifice and inclusive mercy. It is a faith that, when brought to the pulpit and altar, carries the lives of those we love and serve. It is a faith, like the Psalmist’s, that listens for God’s direction deep in the experiences of life. It is a faith, not in contradiction to Law, but beyond it. It is a faith fired – transformed – by Love.

Music: Living Spirit, Holy Fire ~ David Haas