Father and Son

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Abraham, Father, Isaac, test, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My father had a mighty love for God but he was mostly quiet about it. Only once did he tell me how he felt at the moment of preparation for receiving the Eucharist. He said he was overwhelmed, his breathing rushed. And sometimes…at special times, he felt tears coming—tears of joy, of humility…bursting with love. I can’t imagine him ever refusing or even resisting a directive from God…

I was thinking of that as I read the story of Abraham and Isaac today. I can’t imagine my father ever being in the situation of Abraham, needing to choose between God and his son. I will have to have a serious conversation with God about the reason for the test with Abraham. Was the test really necessary? Maybe…the people (not just Abraham) might have needed a reminder of their covenant with God…. How would you characterize this story? Put yourself in the place of each of the characters and see how it feels. continue until you have a deep sense of what is happening and maybe you will have new insight into the relationship between Abraham and Isaac. What can you learn?

Joseph Was Silent

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Father, Holy Family, humility, obedient, silence, Sisters of St. Joseph, spouse, St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worker

Today Catholics around the world celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church and the “silent partner” of Mary, in what we know as the Holy Family. I say that Joseph was silent because although he appears in several places in the gospels, there are no words attributed to him. It is up to us to imagine his part in the conversations that took place in family life, their travels and other significant events. That can be difficult for people who desire to know more about Joseph but much easier for those with active imaginations.

As I think of it, that is true for us with much of Scripture. We need to take the descriptions of events and fill-in the blanks where conversation is lacking. Those of us who live under the patronage of Joseph, e.g. Sisters of St. Joseph, carry him with us – most likely as a reflection of how we try to live our commitment to the religious life. What we can say about Joseph is that he heard God speaking to him in dreams, trusted what he heard and was obedient to God’s messages throughout his life.

I envision Joseph as a loving, gentle and kind spouse and father, humble about his work and his role in God’s plan. Although we do not hear him speak for himself, his humility and willingness to carry out God’s plan is evident in his actions. I have come to love the portrayal of his silent acceptance and way of moving through life as gift. Often words fail when God intervenes in our days in special ways or surprising moments. I believe Joseph treasured these events in his life and that they anchored him when the difficult moments came. Silence was his home, I think, and it served him well.

May Joseph’s gift of silence be a prayer to bless each of us today and may his love for God and his family be an example to all. Happy Feast!

The Just Man

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Father, feast day, fidelity, interiority, Jesus, just man, Luke, Matthew, obedience, silence, Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I was in my car and on the road at 6:17 this morning, traveling to participate in the 6:45 liturgical celebration of St. Joseph’s feast day with my friends, Florence and Anne. Rarely would I be up and out that early but it is Florence’s 60th anniversary in the Sisters of St. Joseph and she has been friend, sister and mentor to me for 47 years now, so the early call was certainly worth the trip. (The raspberry scones and coffee that followed were an added treat as well!)

When there is conversation about St. Joseph, the introductory sentence most often goes something like this: “We don’t know much about Joseph, except that he was a just man, the husband of Mary and (foster) father of Jesus.” I was thinking about this during the liturgy this morning as Father Charles elaborated a bit about Joseph’s character as a devoted husband and father.

The deep feeling of love and respect for Joseph, not only of Sisters of St. Joseph but people the world over, speaks to me of the power and value of communal reflection. Stories of Joseph, prayers said to him, and reports of “favors” granted because of faith in his intercession with God have been a part of Christian tradition since the beginning. What I have learned and loved most about this man from it all is the clear sense of his silence. Joseph spoke no word that is related in Scripture but the stories told about him – his fidelity to Mary and Jesus, his obedience to the messages that allowed him to keep them safe, and his trust in God permeate the early chapters of Matthew and Luke, convincing me of his deep listening and contemplation.

In this world of noise and hurry we would do well to pause and be grateful for such a model of interiority, respect and care. May today include that moment and a blessing for Sisters of St. Joseph everywhere!

 

 

 

 

 

Between the Times

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Acts of the Apostles, Ascension, crucifixion, Father, fear, John, Lectionary, Pentecost, pray, resurrection, Son, Spirit of God, The Great Commission, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The lectionary readings for this seventh Sunday of Easter find us between an ending and a new beginning and we, in the same manner as the disciples, need to be willing to sit in this empty space, reflecting on what has been and waiting for the movement of the Spirit to call us once again to a courageous future.

In the first reading (Acts 1: 12-14) we find the apostles trudging back to Jerusalem after having received “the Great Commission” from Jesus. He had finished his mission and passed on to them what was now theirs to do: to go out to the world and teach what he had first taught them. So today they are together again as they were after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. Was it the same “upper room” where they had huddled in fear for their lives? What were they feeling now? Fearful still, perhaps, without the certainty now that they would be safe going forward. Bereft, most likely, because they were again without the presence of Jesus for their strength. But at least they were together in the company of those who had experienced Jesus in what we would certainly call a privileged way. And together they were praying for the Spirit of God to come and reveal to them the manner in which they were to fulfill their mission.

In the gospel for today we have a glimpse of this ending from the perspective of Jesus. John’s Gospel (17: 1-11) could seem like a son reporting to his father his completion of a project – for school, maybe – by recounting all the steps he had taken and how successful the whole enterprise had been. This scene, however, was much more. Jesus was just on the cusp of leaving those he loved, that small band of followers who had listened to him, learned from him, supported him and sometimes disappointed him, but loved him enough to stay with him through death to new life. His care for and pride in these beloved ones is clear in his recounting to God. Consider your feelings if you had overheard Jesus saying to God: They belonged to you and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word…I pray for them. What a validation of their discipleship! Moreover, these lines seem to express a deep tenderness in which Jesus holds those he called his friends.

Let us take some time in these days between the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost to sit in this space of emptiness, preparing for a renewed outpouring of the Spirit in our lives and remembering that Jesus promises to us as he did his disciples: I am with you always, until the end of the age.

Father’s Day

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caring, Father, father's day, Galatians, gratitude, holy, humble, Jesus, love of God, Luke, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is one of those days when I find it difficult to determine a topic for reflection, not because there is nothing in the Scripture or from another source that draws me. Rather, the dilemma is choosing from a number of possibilities. The gospel text has Jesus asking, “Who do you say I am?” (LK 9:18-24), St. Paul speaks eloquently about our unity with his famous declaration that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free person, male or female…” (GAL 3:26-29) and Psalm 69 fairly drips with longing, crying out to God, “For you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts like the earth parched, lifeless and without water…” I guess each of those citations speaks for itself, providing enough of a prompt for reflection without any need for commentary.

In that case, I will take the opportunity to say a word about Father’s Day. Now that I have cleared the way, however, I find it difficult to articulate anything of value because there is such diversity of relationship with fathers. So I decide to speak of my own experience and again words do not come easily. As with the Scriptures, there is too much to say about my father. I was incredibly blessed and proud to have been so loved in my life by such a bright, caring, humble, responsible, joyful, sincere, holy man. Oh yes, and there was that stubborn streak…One of the best gifts my father shared was his love of God. By example mostly, it was clear that everything in his life flowed from his faith and devotion. Actually, I could simply point to the day’s Scripture readings for a description of how God was in his life.

So here I am, back to the beginning with too much to say, so enough said! With a smile of remembrance as my companion I will spend the day in gratitude for my father and send a hope that the experience of fatherly love might touch each life sometime in some way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trinity Sunday

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Christian, Father, Holy Spirit, light, spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Trinity Sunday, trust

Today the Christian Church celebrates Trinity Sunday, contemplating our belief in the fullness of a Trinitarian God and the continued presence of the Spirit in our midst. I received a gift – my favorite kind – of a book yesterday in which the giver noted a prayer that is perfect for this morning. I offer it (in part) in praise of the Trinity.

Come, Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son. Come, Spirit, Spirit of love, Spirit of peace, of confidence, of strength and holy joy…Come, father of the poor, bulwark of the distressed. Come, light of eternal truth, love poured into our hearts…Come then, each new day, more each day. Move us, change us. We put our trust in you…We thank you, life-giver, Holy Spirit that dwells in us, for willing to be the seal of the living God, that seal that marks us your own. Abide with us, Holy Spirit. And change us. Come!

Perichoresis

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divine name, Father, God is love, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, John, Perichoresis, Son, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, theology

It’s really difficult to talk about God, isn’t it? I’m not saying that for people whose relationship is so intimate that it’s like an invasion of privacy. The name is so sacred to the Jews, for example, that out of reverence they do not even pronounce the divine name. I’m referring to the fact that we know we aren’t talking about a person like any other, but in this day and age we really like definitions. We Christians have a triple difficulty because we celebrate “one God in three persons.” Of course there’s always the issue of political correctness as well, especially it seems, for North Americans so over the last half century we have tried out many alternatives to the trinitarian Father, Son and Holy Spirit, including determination by role, as in Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier. In progressive or feminist circles, we’ve heard Mother/Father God, and the list goes on with nothing definitive that satisfies everyone – and those for whom Father, Son and Holy Spirit is just fine breathing a sigh of relief.

I don’t mean to be facetious or disrespectful here to anyone’s belief. We live in a time where information abounds and culture is evolving at warp speed. There have been many theological treatises written on this very topic and still the reality cannot be contained in language. One of the best conversations about the nature of the Trinity, I think, is centered around the fact that, as it says in one of John’s letters, “God is love.” Sounds simple and is most profound. The premise of how this works in the Trinity is called perichoresis, a Greek word that implies a sort of dance. As the Father loves the Son and the love between them is so strong as to be seen as an entity (the Holy Spirit) they are not separate but flow into each other in the manner by which one author explains that “it can be defined as co-indwelling, co-inhering, and mutual interpenetration which allows the individuality of the persons to be maintained, while insisting that each person shares in the life of the other two.” (Alister Mc Grath)This relationship is seen as dynamic, not static, which is why the image is envisioned as circular, a dance of relationship and energy. I love this image because it speaks to the possibility of our ability to replicate this dance of love to some degree in our human life.

Why all this talk about Trinity? Today Christians the world over celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity – a great moment to ponder the reality and expand our consciousness of the nature of the God who will always remain a mystery while yet being the Love that is “closer to us than we are to ourselves.” (St. Augustine of Hippo)

Love Is The Answer

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Acts of the Apostles, appointed you, bear fruit, Christian, difference, discernment, disunity, Father, I who chose you, John, love, new era, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

(Acts 15:22-31)
After the Council of Jerusalem had come to a conclusion (see posts of 5/6&7), the leaders wrote a letter to “all the brothers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia of Gentile origin” to tell them that “it is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities” which consisted only of dietary rules and those concerning unlawful marriage. In order that the message would be clearly communicated to everyone in the same manner, they sent representatives to the communities to deliver the letter. Thus the discernment was completed and a new era began which opened up the possibility for anyone to become Christian regardless of their former affiliation or way of life.

Coincidentally (perhaps) the gospel reading for this morning (John 15:12-17) includes the following: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.” May our prayer for today be one of wideness of heart so that difference need not mean disunity and that we may come to embrace all others for the sake of love.

Agency

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agent of revelation, believe, Father, Jesus, Nicodemus, our role, Philip, put on the mind of Christ, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understand, unity

In this morning’s gospel Jesus is having one of those frustrating conversations with his disciple, Philip. He is talking about things that seem beyond rational comprehension however. “If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” I can see why that would be a hard concept to grasp but when Philip says to Jesus, “Show us the Father,” Jesus gets frustrated: “Have I been with you for so long a time and still you do not know me?…Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?…The Father who dwells in me is doing his works…” Poor Philip.

If even we, with 2,000 years of living in the light of Christ, still have trouble understanding the depth of the words and teachings of Jesus, how can we blame Philip for his confusion? The difficulty, of course, is like that of Nicodemus when he was trying to understand the concept of being born again on a literal, physical level. This morning Jesus is speaking about unity, about his role as an agent of revelation for the God in whom he “lived and moved and had his being” – so at one with God that God shone through his every word and deed. But the most amazing thing about this morning’s passage is that Jesus is trying to get Philip to understand that our role in life is also one of agency for God in the same way! “Whoever believes in me,” Jesus says later in the passage,” will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these…” And how will we do this? It seems to me that it will only be possible if we follow the dictum of Paul to put on the mind of Christ, in love, compassion and surrender to the best of who we are becoming. Now there’s a mighty challenge to try on for size!

A Diversity of Voices

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brothers, diversity of voices, Father, give voice, heart, laud, nature, praise, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

“Today, Father, this blue sky lauds you.
The delicate green and orange flowers of the tulip poplar tree praise you.
The distant blue hills praise you, together with the sweet-smelling air that is full of brilliant light.
The bickering flycatchers praise you with the lowing cattle and the quails that whistle over there.
I too, Father, praise you, with all these, my brothers, and they give voice to my own heart and to my own silence.
We are all one silence with a diversity of voices.”

~ Thomas Merton
(from Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours by Kathleen Deignan)