communitas et caritas

I think LOVE might be my theme for this year.....  Today's first reading from Isaiah 54 really touched me, especially the parts about God being the ONE God, and the ending: Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, My love shall never leave you, nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD, who has mercy on you. God has love bigger and more permanent than mountains and hills.  All I can do to respond is love in my little way, like a pebble by comparison.   God's love embraces me so completely, my little love is no longer small.

"When Jesus talks about faith, he means first of all to trust unreservedly that you are loved by God." --Henri Nouwen I am loved by God. God wants for me to be most fully who God created me to be, and God will help me to find and fulfill that longing - that's love. Ah.  Humbling - joyful - immensely incomprehensible.  May each of us, like Mary, offer a faithful "YES" response to the love that God offers. Happy Feast!

Advent is probably my favorite time of year.  In part, I love the Christmas carols and anticipation of the coming of Christ.   Along with that, I love the readings from Isaiah, with their apocalyptic and hopeful expression of what Christians desire:  not just the coming of Christ, but the transformation of the whole world into the Kingdom God desires, of peace and plenty, of joy and fullness. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid..... There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea. (Isaiah 11:6,9) So, Advent is the time of waiting, but not just waiting.  We wait for the Kingdom of God, but we wait with great longing and hope.  Waiting implies that we sit passively by; longing gets to the heart of our patient waiting, the anticipation, hope, and desire that accompanies our awaiting the coming of Christ. I...

God's mercy and faithfulness shine forth in a world wounded by sin. (Constitutions 2) Our vocation arises from our wounds.   Do you ever have one of those weeks where one idea keeps coming to your attention, from a variety of sources? This week, the idea of woundedness -- my woundedness, Jesus' woundedness, the wounds of our world -- finds its way into my daily life.  I thought I could share some thoughts and quotes. Part One: On Monday, I had a class, taught by a psychologist, that discussed how our family of origin and our experiences in childhood influence our reactions and behaviors throughout our lives.  This is in the context of religious life--how does what we learned as a child affect our interactions with our community members?  He talked about how all families are imperfect, and the "wounds" are not necessarily huge things.  But our experiences do shape our beings in very specific ways--they become part of our identity.  We look to our p...

Today's first reading is from Proverbs 30:5-9: Every word of God is tested; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Add nothing to his words, lest he reprove you, and you will be exposed as a deceiver. Two things I ask of you, deny them not to me before I die: Put falsehood and lying far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need; Lest, being full, I deny you, saying, "Who is the LORD?" Or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God. I take this to be a reading about simple living, though other things come into it too.  The wisdom here seems to say that if we live simply and have just what we need without extra, it will be easier to recognize the presence of God in our lives.  Having just moved, I know my world is not as simple as I would like it to be--I have more things, more books, more food, more than I need.  Americans in general live less simply than others, and I am undoubtedly American....

This phrase -- the faithfulness of God -- has been in my heart and head.  We celebrated the 40th anniversary of final profession for three sisters yesterday afternoon, and this idea was part of the prayer and reflections.   My life has been filled lately with leavetaking.  I'm preparing to move in a week, leaving behind a city that has been my home for most of the last 10 years, and a group of women, my religious sisters, whom I love deeply.  My heart has been heavy, even though I know that what awaits me on the other end is good and beautiful -- another group of amazing women who are my sisters, and entrance into the novitiate. The prayer reminded me yesterday that no matter how heavy this leavetaking feels, I am supported by and grounded in God's faithfulness.  God will not abandon me, and remembering that brings me peace.  My fears, doubts, sadness are so small when compared to the profound faithfulness of God.  When I look over the last year...

Taken in June, Albany, NY While the Transfiguration was a few days ago now, it's still in my thoughts...  I think my favorite reading is the second one of the day, 2 Peter 1:16-19: Beloved: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  That second part is my favorite:  the reliability of the message and the apostles' attentiveness to it. "You will do well to ...

My friend Sister Susan has some great thoughts on lumps of clay over at her blog ! My reaction to the morning's reading was a little different from Susan's.  I've never taken a pottery class, though I think it would be fun--even if it is hard to make anything less earthy than a lump of clay! Jeremiah says: I went down to the potter's house and there he was, working at the wheel. Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased. "He tried again."  My life over the past few years has been so full of changes, both external and internal.  I'm not a big fan of change, but I am very aware that the only way we become better people is by changing.  That God tries again calls me to patience with myself and with the changing world that is within and around me. God has a particular purpose for each of us, but we sometimes live without attending to t...

From today's Gospel (John 17:11b-19):  "Consecrate them in the truth." Jesus is speaking to the Father about his followers.  I've been thinking about that phrase this morning, and I don't really know what it means to be consecrated in the truth.  Yet, "truth" has been on my mind a lot lately--finding my truth, my true self, and really speaking my truth.   The last year or so, at least since entering the Society of the Sacred Heart, has been a time for me to discover who I am and what I value.  I don't think my values have really changed, though my eyes have been opened to new things in new ways--things like human trafficking and the concerns about the environment.  At the same time, I've been trying to really speak up for what I think, feel, believe.  That's not so easy for me, but the encouragement and respect of my sisters has helped me with that. And I still have questions about truth, too.  There are some truths that are better kept in...

I've been asked to reflect a bit about commitment, and so I share some of my thoughts here. The following quotation from Pedro Arrupe, S.J. has been finding me lately: "Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way . What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything . It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart,  and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. " How does that relate to commitment?  Well, I've fallen in love, and my world changed.  I get out of bed in the morning to pray and go to mass before work.  I spend my evenings and weekends with community (though I also spend time with friends).  My Sister introduced me to my new favorite novelist (P.D. James!).  I kn...

Ford Madox Brown. Jesus Washing Peter's Feet. 1852-56. "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later." Poor Peter--always lacking in understanding.  Who can blame him?  His teacher has just said he wants to wash his feet, which is not such a pleasant task in a world of dust and sandals. The sentence above is what sticks with me today.  I feel surrounded by mystery lately--the mystery of living in community, the mystery of Jesus' great love for me, and the mystery of God's calling me to a new way of living.  I don't know how to find the words to express the depth to which I feel that mystery in my life on a daily basis.  (That's part of the reason for silence on this blog.) What I do know is that it's okay that I don't understand.  Theology is like that--studying God because you can always know more.  You can never fully understand God because God is so much bigger / greater / more than our human minds can compr...

From today's first reading, 1 John 4:18: There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. My mind was already on the relationship between fear and love this morning, when the priest began to ask about it. He posed some questions, most of which I've forgotten.  One was, Do you think that you can be in love and still be fearful?  Do you think that fear and love are mutually exclusive? He answered that he didn't think so, and I think he's right.  But on the other hand, both fear and love affect each other.  Fear is diminished when we love and when we know that we are loved.  How much easier is it to deal with challenging circumstances when we know that our loved ones are with us? And also, it takes courage to love freely, to offer yourself to another without knowing what you will receive in return.  It's so easy to get to know another person only ...

Merry Christmas, All! I heard a wise woman speak last week about the Incarnation and the idea of vulnerability.  On Christmas, we celebrate the fact that God became a tiny baby.  God, out of love for all of us, became human.  Think of how vulnerable an infant is -- totally dependent on parents for food, shelter, safety, love...  and yet our God chose to become that incredibly vulnerable, just for us. The speaker went on to talk of our divinization.  God became human that we might become godly.  And we become more like God by opening our hearts and being vulnerable.  Love makes us vulnerable, because when we love another, we suffer with and for them, feel what they feel, and risk the pain of loss ourselves.  Our love, our vulnerability, is necessary if we are to follow Christ. I've been thinking a lot about that idea, and also about the connection to the cross.  Really, the vulnerability of the God-human is shown in its extreme in the...

PEACE LIGHT JUSTICE SAFETY TRUTH SALVATION Once again, the readings today are full of hopefulness and beauty.  Isaiah reminds us of creation, of God's role in setting the world aright, designing it with beauty and for our benefit. I am the LORD, there is no other. John asks the question: "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look to another?" and Jesus answers by curing illnesses, making the blind see, and healing all sorts of sufferings.  (Isaiah answers, too, with "I am the LORD, and there is no other!") Let us seek healing from God, for all that ails ourselves and the world we live in--injustice, lack of peace, depression, poverty, illness, grief, any of those things that wound us.   Our needs will be met by the Creator God who sets the world back on track for us. Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other!

Do you ever have those days when you think God is trying to send you a message?  When ideas keep returning to you, from all different sources?  My "message" this week is something that I mentioned in the last post--being open to receive the love that is offered to us .  I've been pondering this, and then it returned in the meditation I read yesterday, with a slight twist.  The meditation says this: "Scripture is very clear that God knows everything about you.  Do you believe it? That can be a scary thought, because we all have 'stuff' lurking in the shadowy corners of our hearts.  But God loves you unconditionally , regardless of what you have done or failed to do.  God loves you in spite of your judgments and biases.  God loves you through your weaknesses and infirmities ." So the variation is that the love spoken of here is God's love, not human love, but the idea is the same--being open to receiving the love offered, having an open heart ...

image from:  http://www.clynnponderings.com It's been a busy weekend, full of Advent celebrations.  My community met yesterday for a morning of reflection, prayer, and calendar coordinating, and then in the afternoon we put up and decorated our Christmas tree!  Baby Jesus made a brief debut in the creche (oops!) before being put back in the incubator (i.e. drawer) until Christmas.  The house is lovely and festive. Today is Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent.  I love this feast -- the sense of anticipation and joy at the coming of the Christ Child.  Many of my Sisters went to mass together this morning (we often go our own ways), and we had nearly two pews full!  I truly love that communal experience of liturgy and prayer together. I was privileged to hear a talk this morning by Paul Coutinho, S.J., about Advent and darkness.  His spirituality is such an interesting blend of Catholic Christianity and Eastern traditions.  Th...

I suppose being a teacher (and also always a learner), my ears perk up when I hear readings about teaching.  Today's first reading, from Isaiah, speaks of Yahweh as a teacher: Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. God wants our happiness, our good, and so God leads us in that direction.  And if we listen (learn!), God will give us great things. If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea; Your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, Their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence. I'm enjoying the readings lately speak about the end of time, about the final coming of Christ.  But they speak to us today too, that we must listen to the goodness God teaches us, and then we've got to follow it!  My at...

I had a little talk with one of my classes last week about spirituality, and about the importance of silence in the growth of relationship with God. It's fascinating to me to hear some of the responses.  Some of my students are simply afraid of silence.  I'm not entirely sure where that comes from, but I think it's partly that noise allows them to avoid thinking about difficult things.  And they have plenty of noise--television, ipods, phones, etc etc etc.  Plus most of them live in dorms--I'm sure it's hard to find quiet at all in the dorms. Advent seems like a good time to spend silence with Jesus.  To just be .  Not to think about what's happening today, or who needs prayers, or anything at all.  Just to be with Jesus.  We might even hear something we like.  At the very least, I think silence gives me a better sense of who I am, a reminder of what's deepest in my heart.  It's hard to be silent--my mind wanders into words, and I ...

I grew up in a household that was not particularly devoted to Mary.  In fact, I don't remember ever saying the rosary, except one week at Catholic summer camp, and then I really learned how to say it in college.  It's still not a big part of my prayer life. So, Marian beliefs were a mystery to me for a long time.  The Immaculate Conception is perhaps still a mystery to a lot of people (particularly those who mistakenly think it refers to the conception of Jesus... no, it's about the conception of Mary herself, in her mother Anne's womb).  There are two lines from today's readings that stick with me: "Nothing will be impossible for God." and "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” I know, that second one is just not so favored lately.  But it speaks to me:  that I am striving to be attentive to the will of God, and that I hope to be pliable so that God's will might be done through me.  It se...

Today's gospel reading is one of my favorites -- the paralytic's friends can't get him in to see Jesus, so they climb up on the roof and lower him down.  Can you imagine how important it was for them to see Jesus, that they would do such a thing? The thought brings up community as well--the paralytic couldn't do this by himself, but he depended on his friends to help out.  And they did, probably to their own discomfort and trouble. Today was our last day of classes, and on we move to exams and the Christmas break.  I'm looking forward to the time off school, time to do other things!