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Monthly Archives: January 2017

The Whole Person

31 Tuesday Jan 2017

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Catholic school, education, Eucharist, job-training, saints, self-worth, St. John Bosco, teacher, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trade schools

aboscoWhen I was young, there were saints that held a special place in the hearts of Catholic school children, especially those holy people who were dedicated to education or who were young themselves when their “saintliness” was already evident. Most often, their influence was obvious at the end of the school year when final exam time rolled around. Today is the feast of St. John Bosco (1815-1888), one of the influential inspirations to whom we prayed for help with the answers on our tests!

St. John Bosco was dedicated to teaching children, first preparing them for receiving the sacrament of Eucharist and then gathering young apprentices and teaching them catechism lessons as well. Realizing the importance of a well-rounded education, he sought to connect the spiritual life of students with work, study and play. A novel idea was the addition to the curriculum of two workshops in shoemaking and tailoring; later he added a printing press for publication of religious and catechetical pamphlets. Fr. Don Miller, OFM reflects on John Bosco’s interest in vocational education saying, “Because John realized the importance of job-training and the self-worth and pride that come with talent and ability, he trained his students in the trade crafts too.”  (http://www.franciscanmedia.org)

As we consider the value of institutes of higher learning, we also ought to be thankful for those graduates of trade schools who influence our lives in so many positive and sometimes essential ways: plumbers and electricians, skilled carpenters and roofers – and, in this modern world especially, those technicians who can fix the computers that have become such an omnipresent component of our lives. May we honor the diversity of the streams of education and celebrate the talents that animate gifted crafts persons who bring excellence to their work for the benefit of us all.

Everyday Wisdom

30 Monday Jan 2017

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clarity, encounters, hear, Jan Phillips, learn, light in the darkness, listen, mindfulness, negativity, No Ordinary Time, Peace, school of life, see, Terce, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truthfulness

alistenAs the 9:00 hour approaches this morning, I look for something that makes sense to share. Jan Phillips never disappoints to urge me on – especially from her book, No Ordinary Time. I go to Monday at Terce, the monastic 9:00 hour, and find two paragraphs which, taken together, give me enough for today.
Every day we experience dozens of encounters. We hear people say things. We notice the behaviors of people. We see and hear ourselves talking and acting. We’re in the school of life all day long, but what do we make of it? What do we say at the dinner table when they ask, “What did you learn today?”   (p. 19)
Meet this day with clarity and be a light in the darkness. Unfold your arms and let others in. Listen and speak like your life depended on every utterance. Practice truthfulness. Say things about yourself and others in a kindly way. Direct conversations in an upward spiral. Do not collude in negativity. Finding calm in this storm is a matter of mindfulness. We can be at peace every moment if we meet it with awareness and remember our source. The moment we choose peace, it is ours. (p. 20)

Inner Healing

29 Sunday Jan 2017

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Alan Cohen, compassion, external actions, freedom, God, healing, ills, inner methods, justice, psalm 146, solemn promises, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unbroken faith, wounds

awidowThere is a subtle theme of healing in what I have read this morning, first in an alternate reading of Psalm 146 and then in a quote from Alan Cohen. There is so much to be healed in the world right now that seems impossible to correct that I continue to be drawn to working on inner methods rather than external actions. The psalm and its commentary seem to me to segue into Cohen’s thought and give me an impetus for the flow of my day.

PS 146:5-8 The infinite source of heaven and earth and brimming seas keeps unbroken faith and solemn promises. For the downtrodden God is justice; for the hungry God is food. For those in prison God is freedom; all our blindness God can cure. God’s compassion flows to the broken hearted and seeks out those whose ways are just, for God loves the stranger in our midst and holds the widows and the orphans close.

COMMENTARY: This Psalm speaks not merely of personal wounds, but of political and social wounds and ills as well. To sing a song of healing for the world is part of the redemptive work that human beings are called to. Do you see yourself as a healer?

COHEN: Do what is healing for your spirit and without effort you will offer the world healing in return. (prayer) Direct me to the work that will feed my soul that I may feed others as well.

Angelic Doctor

28 Saturday Jan 2017

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Doctor of the Church, faith, harmony, hymns, natural truth, prayers, reason, St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, theologian, unity

anaquinasToday is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), one of the most celebrated theologians of all times, held in the esteemed title of Doctor of the Church. Not only was he a theologian and philosopher but he was also a very devout man and priest who wrote beautiful prayers and hymns. Fr. Don Miller (Franciscan Media) captures the essence of his genius, I think, when he comments that “unity, harmony and continuity of faith and reason, of revealed and natural truth pervades his writing.”

The most striking insight of this brilliant man came, it seems, three months before his death. His last work, the Summa theologiae, a compendium of Catholic theology, was unfinished; he stopped writing after celebrating Mass on December 6, 1273. When asked why, he replied, “I cannot go on…All I have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.”

I find myself feeling deeply compassionate for this brilliant, holy man who had worked all his life to understand the workings of God and the universe only to find at the end of his life that holy mystery cannot be captured by the mind but only lived in wonder and awe in one’s whole being. My compassion moves to joy for the fullness of what he had seen that was, paradoxically, the completion of his life’s work.

Trust the Process

27 Friday Jan 2017

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engagement, Hebrews, internal shift, Mark, realization, Reign of God, response, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worry

afruitSome time ago, I came somehow to a deep conviction that worry is a waste of time. I say “somehow” because the realization came without effort from me. It was as if I had awakened from dreaming about someone and the person was standing in front of me. I hadn’t called or texted the person with an invitation. I hadn’t sent a plane ticket or a check for travel. The person had just appeared in the flesh, totally touchable and present. I have often tried not to worry about things: getting good grades, arriving to events on time, being well enough prepared for presentations, and the self-talk usually assuaged the nervousness somewhat at least. In the big issues: personal relationships and world poverty – not so much.

The moment of realization was like one of those lamps that lights up without a switch; it just has to be touched for the light to illumine the darkness. It’s not that I am not aware of things to be concerned about. I might say that I am even more engaged than before but my engagement is different now. I recognize what is before me (or happening in the larger world), I assess what my response needs to be and then I act accordingly. Don’t get me wrong; I am not inured to violence or terrible tragedy. I simply have a better grasp on what I can do about things and go about doing that, leaving the rest to God. It has truly been a gift in my life – the foundation of which is probably my practice of centering prayer.

I am grateful for this internal shift which is verified in the lectionary readings for today. The Letter to the Hebrews (10: 32-39) is reminding readers of times of suffering when they had endured and urges them not to “throw away your confidence” but rather to continue on and ultimately to receive what God has promised. In the gospel (MK 4), Jesus makes the comparison of the Reign of God to a farmer who scatters seed, sleeps and rises night and day, watching the seed sprout “he knows not how.” Of its own accord the land yields fruit. As is often the case for me, the psalm speaks the loudest message of how we are to work without forcing a result.

Put all your trust in God, on earth accomplish good; it will provide for you its richest food. Make God, as Lord and master, your delight and the desires of your whole heart God will fulfill. Give up your life to God and for the good of all, commit it to the One who acts for you, for God can take and make it shine with light, and bring you back to right-relationship in full. Grow still, be quiet, and wait patiently within, and in that silence put your trust in God…(PS 37: 3-7) Ancient Songs Sung Anew

The Early Days

26 Thursday Jan 2017

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communion of saints, conversion, diversity, fellowship, friends, gifts, spreading the gospel, St. Paul, St. Timothy, St. Titus, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, zeal

atimtitusI don’t ever recall the Church celebrating a feast in honor of St. Paul’s companions Timothy and Titus even though they have been known to me as recipients of Paul’s letters. Today I hear them accorded the title of “Saint” which clearly they deserve because of their zeal in spreading the gospel for which they eventually lost their lives. A few things stand out for me after reading commentary and thinking about Paul’s letters to each of them.

  1. Commentaries put their death date around the year 95 so although they were early followers of Christ, they were not among the first apostles. Evidence points up the diversity in the early Christian community because Titus was a Greek Gentile whereas Timothy had a Greek father and Jewish mother. An interesting note (for me, at least) was the influence of Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, mentioned in one of Paul’s letters. She was a very early Christian who, I’m guessing, may have had some influence on her grandson’s conversion.
  2. Both of these men were close friends of Paul and lent him support personally and as an intermediary in the communities to which Paul sent them. Clearly, Paul’s ministry was bolstered by their support in more ways than one.
  3. Not simply missionaries, both of these men became administrators of the communities in which they served. Timothy, known to be very young for his role, was compared in the Franciscan commentary to a modern “harried bishop” and Titus was charged by Paul with “organizing, correcting abuses and appointing presbyter-bishops” on the island of Crete. They certainly knew the meaning of “multi-tasking.”

What all of this points up for me is not only that different gifts are essential for the work to be done, but also that “faith is caught, not taught” by people who exhibit the depth of their own faith to others, and that friends are very important; we cannot persevere without them, even if the relationships are carried on from a distance. (Note the warmth in Paul’s letters for both of these men.)

After all this pondering, I find myself conjuring images of these two admirable men as they go about their ministry. I see them arriving by boat, smiling with enthusiasm toward their greeters and exuding love with their every step, writing messages back to Paul of all the happenings of the day or the month and eagerly receiving his response…How grateful I am for their fellowship in the communion of saints to which we all belong!

The Good News

25 Wednesday Jan 2017

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Acts of the Apostles, blind obedience, blinded by the light, christians, conversion, Good News, humility, light, love, Risen Christ, Saul, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, theophany, turning

astpaulToday is the feast of the conversion of St. Paul, an event that in today’s world would be characterized as “doing a 180.” Paul, one of the most diligent persecutors of Christians was “blinded by the light” in a miraculous theophany. He could suddenly see nothing with his physical eyes so that he would turn inward and see with spiritual eyes the pain he was inflicting on people. His conversion, the total turning of his life to the opposite direction, was startling.

I find the inner exchange that he had at that moment with the Risen Christ quite interesting. Others saw the light but the voice that was only for him did not give him a command but rather asked him a question: Why are you persecuting me? In Paul’s account, (ACTS 22) he responds in the manner of a schooled debater with his own question: Who are you, sir? When the answer came that the voice belonged to Jesus, whom Saul was persecuting in the Christians, it seems that the ego that was Saul was smashed instantly as he answers with another question: What shall I do, sir? Humility entered with that question and the great apostle Paul was born from the enemy Saul. He needed to take the hand of his companions and walk in blind obedience for the next three days.

Paul was used to giving orders. I wonder how he would have responded if the voice he heard was one of commanding power rather than one that engaged him in a conversation. For the rest of his life, Paul was asking and answering questions in conversation with God as he went about spreading “the Good News” of Christ. That good news was the message of love and not condemnation that I believe Paul was blessed to understand in the way Christ treated him. Perhaps my interpretation of things is a bit far-fetched; being thrown to the ground by a flash of lightning certainly isn’t an amiable way to get someone’s attention, after all. I would argue, however, that it does point up the possibility that God treats each of us as loved in a way that we, as individuals, can understand. And that is, to me, very good news!

A Gentleman Saint

24 Tuesday Jan 2017

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devotion, devout, gentleness, saints, St. Francis de Sales, The Introduction to the Devout Life, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

astfrancisdesales.jpgSt Francis de Sales, whose feast is celebrated today, was born into an educated and political family in France in 1567. After studying law in Padua and receiving a doctorate, he returned to France and in time convinced his father that he was called to priesthood rather than government service. It was his gentleness in interactions with all people that was the hallmark of his life. This morning’s short commentary at http://www.franciscanmedia.org says that “he practiced his own axiom: A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelful of vinegar.” While I know that to be true, a later section from the commentary holds my attention still and is, I think, a good model for our contemplation today.

His writings, filled with his characteristic gentle spirit, are addressed to lay people. He wants to make them understand that they too are called to be saints. As he wrote in The Introduction to the Devout Life: “It is an error, or rather a heresy, to say devotion is incompatible with the life of a soldier, a tradesman, a prince, or a married woman…It has happened that many have lost perfection in the desert who had preserved it in the world.”

Personal Prayer

23 Monday Jan 2017

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centering prayer, daily practice, intentions, new year's resolutions, Peace, personal betterment, prayer, shortcomings, spiritual practice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

aprayerI was just looking at some intercessory prayers for liturgies and was reminded of a common practices in our local Catholic Church (and many others, I’m sure). After the formally written intentions are spoken at Sunday liturgy the reader always asks, For what else shall we pray? and individuals in the congregation shout out their needs.

It occurred to me recently that while I daily ask God to be present to me and me to be present to God in my practice of centering prayer, I don’t intentionally pray otherwise for myself with any regularity. It was an interesting realization as I certainly think there are ways in which I benefit from the prayer of others. Moreover, I could quickly make a list of shortcomings in my life that I would happily live without and virtues that I would dearly love to cultivate. It strikes me that this could be a good spiritual practice – to consciously ask for specifics of my personal betterment along with my pleas for peace in the world, for those devastated by weather events and health for those who have asked our prayers.

A little late to the game of New Year’s resolutions, I think this practice of humility might be just the ticket to get me on the bus toward renewal and transformation! We shall see…

Gatherings Large and Small

22 Sunday Jan 2017

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courage, fear, psalm 27, salvation, stouthearted, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unifying light, wait for the Lord, womens march

amarch.jpgIn the past 48 hours we have seen in person, on television, the internet or in newspapers a number of very large gatherings of committed people. Some participants simply support the democratic process of the transfer of political power in the United States but the majority were present on Friday and yesterday to raise their voices for or against our new president. We remain a deeply divided country in this way.

Yesterday I was privileged to spend my time with eleven women committed to their spiritual growth, regardless of their political leanings. They chose to come to our event at Genesis Retreat and Conference Center in Westfield, Massachusetts where our exploration centered around “The Wisdom Way of Knowing.” Our goal was consciousness and how we can move toward unity of heart and practice.

I was reminded of this experience by today’s the first reading and the gospel where Jesus repeated Isaiah’s words that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. And between those two voices Paul chimed in with words to the Corinthians with his usual vigor: I urge you that there be no divisions among you! But it is in Psalm 27 that I clearly saw a method of movement toward this unifying light. The psalmist declares:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom should I be afraid? One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Wait for the Lord with courage. Be stouthearted and wait for the Lord.

With these thoughts I begin this new season of our collective life in these United States in the hope that we will move forward with respect and determination to be of good will and openness to all that we encounter. May God bless us all!

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