Hope-filled Holiday

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anxious, Elizabeth, endure, Mary, Memorial Day, pandemic, persevere, re-connect, rejoice, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Zephaniah

Zephaniah, the ninth of the twelve minor prophets, is a rarely quoted text in the daily lectionary. Thus, it is a memorable moment when we read a message like the joyful one that is the first reading for today. Listen:

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem…Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The Lord, your God, is in your midst. He will rejoice with you with gladness and renew you in his love. He will sing joyfully because of you…

It was significant today for me to read such an account of emotional experiences as I had just spent a heartfelt half-hour reading about families and other groups that have been spending this weekend re-connecting with loved ones. All across our country people are gathering in celebration of the incipient end of the pandemic. One after another, families and friends tell of the joy they have experienced upon spending time with one another. The stories are full of hugs, kisses, laughter and new stories from over the past year when such behaviors were not allowed. Love was the over-arching theme and the possibility of actually touching one another seemed almost miraculous. All of it gave credence to the second reading for this day from Paul’s letter to the Romans. We would do well to take his words to heart:

Brothers and sisters: Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality…

Above and beyond all that, there was the consummate example of love and hospitality—my favorite in the entire gospel (at least today…) where Mary “went in haste” to her cousin Elizabeth. Mary was a pregnant teenager seriously needing solace and she found it in Elizabeth (undoubtedly held tightly in her arms). How similar are some of today’s stories to Mary’s, how needy are we all of comfort after the past sixteen months!

May we find joy in the Lord as Zephaniah did, camaraderie as Paul and the early followers of Jesus did, and comfort at the possible end to the pandemic as Mary did in the person of her relative. And may we all remember on this Memorial Day to thank God for all the good that has been done for us.

Living In Love

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believe, Corinthians, endure, hope, kind, love, patient, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth

After arriving home about mid-day on Thursday, I was off again the next evening to conduct a 24-hour retreat. Some would call that very poor scheduling but, as it turned out, it was a lovely way to re-enter from the “time-out-of-time” that was Peru. The topic, Living In Love, could have been easily predicted; it is February after all when all the Valentine candy and flowers can hardly be avoided.

We covered a lot of ground and pondered weighty questions in our time together. We watched the roaring fire that kept the frigid air from overtaking our reflections. We talked about food on our breaks (everyone but me an aficionado of organic prep!) and had done the bedroom laundry by mid-afternoon, re-making the beds with as easy a rhythm as on a Saturday at home. Our day was punctuated with readings from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapters 12 & 13, and I smiled just now to find his words echoing again in today’s lectionary.

It occurs to me that our little band of seekers yesterday was a model of what Paul saw as a way to practice love and grow in love in simple yet essential ways. Here is the crux of the lesson that we took home. You will, of course, recognize it. But read it slowly, perhaps aloud, letting it seep into you and, maybe for the umpteenth time, find a home.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude. It does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered. It does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrong-doing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1COR 13)

A Wrinkle in Place

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determination, endure, envision, future, light, love, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I smiled when I just looked at the title for my last blog entry (“What Time Is It?”), in part because I am in a different time zone than usual. Although Minnesota is only one hour behind the Northeast, and because all my electronic devices correct themselves without help from me, I might not notice the inner disturbance that occurs when visiting a location like California (3 hours difference) or a European country (6 or 7 hours difference). There is a subtle adjustment to be made, however. I have been up and thinking for over an hour and here it’s only 6:10am.

The shift happens inside too as I am sitting in a bedroom on a hall that used to house a large number of young women aspiring to become members of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and now is filled with older women who come to consider what it has been like and how we might envision a future for those of us who have lived this religious life for decades. The halls are long (especially for those of us situated far from the morning coffee) but hold a familiar comfort of the lively exchanges that take place during gatherings in our own Province Center – our Motherhouse – in New York State.

Next weekend I will be there to gather with the Sisters I have known over 52 years to celebrate and converse together about changes and what does not change about our life together. In both places the task is/will be, as we often say, “a long, loving look at the real.” This weekend I see familiar faces from interactions of many years ago on committees. Sometimes I remember the names that go with the faces, depending on the extent of what we shared. Most are still vibrant women who witness to hope. Some are less able but more dear, perhaps, as their willingness is still alive although their bodies, and sometimes their minds, fail them a bit. Next weekend it will be the same scene but with more recognition on my part.

What is evident to me is that light shines out from all of us. Love is deep and determination to endure is strong among us. And that is certainly enough to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Found In Translation

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endure, God is love, happiness, hope, hospitality, love one another, New American Bible, persevere, Romans, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I was always envious of people who could quote Scripture with chapter and verse. I had my favorite passages – most of them short, like “God is Love” – but was usually only vaguely aware of where to find them in the Bible. The exception was Romans 12:12 (most likely because of the double 12) that reminded me to “base your happiness on your hope in Christ.”

I read the first lectionary text for today (ROM 12:9-16) at least three times looking for my favorite line, disappointed at not seeing it there. I concluded finally that perhaps the translation had been updated from my 1970 edition of the New American Bible. It finally occurred to me during my third attentive walk through each line that the whole text is an amazing pattern for life! Here’s a smattering of it. See if you don’t agree.

Brothers and sisters: let love be sincere…hold onto what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor…Rejoice in hope (new vs. 12!), endure in affliction, persevere in prayer…exercise hospitality…

Which line calls to you today?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Sky In the Morning

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affliction, bless, cheerfulness, diligence, endure, evil, generosity, good, hate, honor, love, persevere, prayer, rejoice, rejoice in hope, Romans, see, sincere, spirit, spiritual growth, St. Paul, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, weep, zeal

Sometimes opportunity is so fleeting that we easily miss it if we aren’t paying attention. Take, for example, the coming of light to the sky. That’s something that happens every morning so it’s often taken for granted. Today, because of the shift to Daylight Saving Time, I was happy to see that it was in process as I started the trek downstairs for my coffee. Had I not been paying attention when I sat to write on my return I would have missed a breathtaking red sky whose glory dissipated within two minutes. I was almost too busy reading Paul’s staccato-like advice to the Romans in chapter 12 to look out the window. Both “feasts for the eyes” were worthy of a pause.

I could have just glided over that reading (ROM 12:5-26) because of what seemed self-explanatory as well as familiar. I mean, why would I need to think about how to exercise our differing gifts as I read: “let us exercise them: if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation…” since it follows automatically in that way. I got stopped, however, by the last three elements on the list: “if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does works of mercy, with cheerfulness.” Generosity, diligence and cheerfulness are certainly qualities to be pondered.

Had I not been slowed down by those three important words, I could have missed the brilliance of what came next. I find it impossible not to share the totality of this message because every bit of Paul’s exhortation is so vital to our spiritual growth. If we took each one of the following clauses for a day’s reflection we would be much richer when Thanksgiving rolls around. And then it would be a good practice to start again for the season of Advent! But I’m getting ahead of myself. I plan just to bask in the sunshine of this morning and read the text – the entire remainder – aloud, to hear Paul’s words again as if for the first time.

Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise  hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.

Blessings on us all!

 

O Lord, Hear My Prayer

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anguish, answer, broken-hearted, common humanity, compassion, cries, destiny, endure, faith, hear, hear my prayer, human, Jesus, Lord, mercies, psalm 102, remain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The psalm refrain for today from Psalm 102 is so direct and familiar. The psalmist begs: O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you! This morning I heard it as a call from Jesus as he moved toward Jerusalem. He must have had days when he wondered about God’s purpose for his life – those days when everything he had done seemed futile because the crowds were so slow to recognize the deep meaning of what he was teaching. Psalm 102 rocks back and forth between deep anguish and steadfast faith, not just about his own destiny but that of all God’s people. Thinking this way does not make Jesus less strong in my eyes, but more human and accessible on the days when today’s world seems on the brink of disaster. There is a beautiful translation of the middle verses of the psalm – one might say “the heart” of it all – where I believe Jesus called up the strength to stand steadfast in all that was to come. May we join him in the prayer.

But you, O you remain, my God; your name endures from age to age. For from eternity and into time your mercies rise, each moment your compassion appears in full. And even in these ruins of the heart it moves, and we your servants, Lord, are stirred to love and care for even dust. The peoples of the world shall come at last to speak your name with awe. The rulers of the heart shall see your beauty and finally comprehend. For you, O Lord, will take the ruined places of our world and lovingly will raise them back again, for you have heard the cries of all the broken-hearted ones, and answering, you give them each a place to be and stand. Let this be written now so in generations yet to come, our children will hear and learn to praise. For from a vantage point beyond this world you view us all and understand. (vs. 13-20)

Speaking of Love

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blessing, Corinthians, depth of love, endure, hope, kind, love, Love never fails, patient, Paul, rejoice, spiritual journey, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I’ve been waiting for the lectionary reading of 1COR 13 – St. Paul’s famous and familiar “hymn to love” because no matter how many times I hear it – especially at weddings – it always makes an impact. The long form of the reading this morning is 1 COR 12:31 – 13:13 and every line is worth a look. I went to the part about the qualities of love and noticed for the first time that Paul defines love more by what it is not than what it is. He begins and ends with strong statements about what love is but in between it’s as if he sees a stripping away of behaviors in order to get to the depth of love. This section merits a hearing, (i.e. reading it aloud) with time to savor each line and reflect on what we are growing out of and into on our spiritual journey. It is St. Paul at his most eloquent and I offer it to you as a blessing for today.

Love is patient; love is kind. It is not jealous or pompous. It is not inflated or rude. Love does not seek its own interests; it is not quick tempered. Love does not brood over injuries; it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.