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Tag Archives: Gospel

Good Pope John

11 Friday Oct 2019

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Gospel, Pope John XXIII, Saint John XXIII, Second Vatican Council, serve, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understand

Today we honor the life of the one remembered as “Good” Pope John, now called “Saint John XXIII.” Pope Francis made official in April of 2014 what Christians (and others) around the world knew for decades. Most vivid in my memory were the videos of the day in October of 1963 when the Second Vatican Council was inaugurated. Carried in procession in the midst of throngs of Catholics and others from the worldwide gathering, Pope John oozed humility and love. His head slightly bowed as he waved to those gathered, tears were in his eyes at the momentous beginning of what was to be a Council that rocked the world and changed the trajectory of the Roman Catholic Church for good.

Less than a year from that day, John XXIII died, leaving a final message of hope, not only for his beloved Church, but for the entire world. We would do well to reflect on it today and re-energize our efforts toward his vision.

Now more than ever, he said, certainly more than in past centuries, our intention is to serve people as such and not only Catholics.; to defend above all and everywhere the rights of the human person…It is not the Gospel that changes; it is we who begin to understand it better...The moment has arrived when we must recognize the signs of the times, seize the opportunity and look abroad. (June 3, 1963)

A Saint’s Life

25 Thursday Jul 2019

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apostles, Gospel, Jesus, Kingdom, St. James, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of St. James, one of the original twelve companions called by Jesus. The “Saint of the Day” of franciscanmedia.com tells us that James was known to be less than a perfect image of what we might imagine a saint to be. One of the two brothers that wished to claim the seats on either side of Jesus in the kingdom of heaven, James and his brother, John, were often called “Sons of Thunder” by those who knew them. But personality is not what gets one a high place in the afterlife, it seems. What’s really important lies elsewhere.

The way the Gospels treat the apostles is a good reminder of what holiness is about. There is very little about their virtues as static possessions, entitling them to heavenly reward. Rather, the great emphasis is on the Kingdom, on God’s giving them the power to proclaim the Good News. As far as their personal lives are concerned, there is much about Jesus’ purifying them of narrowness, pettiness, fickleness.

Short Stories

08 Saturday Jun 2019

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feed my lambs, feed my sheep, Gospel, Jesus, John, legacy, life, love one another, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

One of the phrases I remember hearing rather often from my father when one or another family member would be explaining something in a long or roundabout way is “Short stories” (Which sounded like “Shot stories” in his Boston accent). It was a familiar way to tell us to get to the point and was generally rather effective.

One would wish the opposite of that directive after reading the conclusion of today’s gospel. It says: “There are also many things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think that the whole world would contain the book that would be written.” (JN 21:25) How I wish that the gospel writers had given us more of Jesus! I say that and then think of how much more I could do with what is written in those very pages. And I could, if I wished, fill a whole building with the commentaries that have been written over the centuries.

What really is the point? My short answer today is my desire to understand more deeply what Jesus was talking about and witnessing to his legacy to us. Next I think that in trying so hard to “get to the bottom” of his meanings I could easily be buried in the mountains of commentary that exists. Then I realize that I could spend a lifetime ruminating on a very few sentences. Take these for example:

  1. Love one another as I have loved you.
  2. Feed my lambs; feed my sheep.
  3. I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.

Short stories, indeed…

What’s Fair?

24 Sunday Sep 2017

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fair, fairness, generosity, generous, God's way, Gospel, Jesus, justice, Philippians, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vineyard, worker

apayThe parables of Jesus often find us scratching our heads or grumbling about the outcome of the stories. This weekend’s gospel is one of the more familiar distressing examples. It’s that perplexing story of the workers in the vineyard who were paid what had been agreed upon at the beginning of the day. Fine, right? No, not really, since those who had been hired just an hour before the end of the workday, because no one had offered them work until then, got the same pay as those who had worked all day.

How are we able to make this a story of justice? It’s impossible really, but here’s where the reading from Isaiah comes in: “My thoughts are not your thoughts”, God says, “nor are my ways your ways.” We think everything should be fair. The person who cuts the pie must do so judiciously so that no one gets a bigger piece than anyone else. But sometimes some of the people don’t even get a bite, never mind a smaller piece! The workers who had been hired for the last hour were also probably standing out in the hot sun, hoping for someone to come and hire them so they could feed their family that day. And so God’s way prevailed.

So what is fair? Does it always mean everyone gets the exact same treatment or remuneration for the same circumstance? Or could it be that each person, being a unique reflection of the divine, should be considered individually according to need? We have been amazingly generous as a country over the past several weeks, reaching out to those affected by hurricanes or fires. People have given their time, their talent and their treasure to assure that anyone in need can receive as much help as can be given.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, all the time, we might be willing to fling open our hearts to those in need without stinting – as if everyone had a right to as much as everyone else? Isn’t that how we would always want God to treat us? Paul’s last line to the Philippians today calls them to “conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel.” Perhaps we ought to try to remember that challenge ourselves as we listen to Jesus in the gospel today asking us, “Are you envious because I am generous?”

Good Seed

23 Saturday Sep 2017

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bear fruit, disciples, embrace, generosity of heart, Gospel, grateful, harvest, Jesus, Luke, perseverance, sowing seeds, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

aseedsowingAlthough we are moving through the season of harvest here in our country now, the gospel for today reminds us of the necessity of sowing seeds on good ground. (LK 8:4-15) The disciples of Jesus didn’t understand the parable in which his message was “hidden” so he did something that rarely appears in these gospel texts. He explained the meaning! As he spoke of the different kinds of “soil” in which the word of God might be sown, they heard the pitfalls of life in how the yield of what was sown might be more or less. In the end, we find that as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance. (vs.15)

So today it may be time to look at what we have seen growing around and within us because of our generosity of heart and perseverance, being grateful for what has blossomed as well as for what needed to be weeded out. For all of it, may we give thanks to the Lord of the harvest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Dominic

08 Tuesday Aug 2017

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ascetism, charism, charismatic, Dominicans, Gospel, missionary, Order of Preachers, poverty, preach, simplicity, st. dominic, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

aSt._DominicToday is the feast of St. Dominic, another of the great founders of religious communities. Dominic’s religious order is called the Dominicans but the formal title is “Order of Preachers,” thus the sometimes puzzling designation “O.P.” after their names. Dominic was a contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi and much like Francis in his asceticism and his desire to spread the Gospel. Reminiscent of the love Francis had for the poor, Dominic sold all of his books to help his neighbors who had survived a great famine. Like Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of religious organization, one whose members did not stay behind the cloistered walls of the monastery but rather traveled among the people, in the way of the first apostles, to spread the good news.

I am always in awe, living in the 21st century, to think of these men and others whose mission was to travel far and wide in their day to preach and to battle the great heresies of their times. Dominic was born in 1170 and died in 1221, five years before Francis. Travel was primitive and slow but their vision was vast and both of their communities garnered large numbers of members in the first century of existence.

Thinking of these two charismatic men, my thoughts float back to the sense of charism. Each had a different gift and focus – Francis, “the little poor man of Assisi,” preaching poverty and simplicity in his personal life, shining always with the love of God, and Dominic, powerful preacher of the Word of God in Scripture. Such great complementarity! What gifts to the world that still have an effect today!

In our daily activities and in all our words spoken today, let us mirror God’s action in the world for the good of all!

 

 

 

 

 

This Is the Day

22 Saturday Apr 2017

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depth, Gospel, Lectionary, message, paying attention, psalm 118, purpose, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

ascripturereader

As I scrolled through today’s lectionary readings, I realized that I was skipping over the gospel acclamation (often called “the alleluia verse”) without much thought. It says: This is the day the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it. (PS 118:24) “Why,” I asked myself, “am I not paying attention?” “Most likely,” I answered, “because it is so familiar.” “And why,” I pursued the thought, “is that the case?” The answer was quick in coming as I looked back over the daily texts for the past week. On all but one day, the verse was the same, so of course it would sound familiar.

When I begin my search for a message for the day, I always begin with the Scriptures. Sometimes I do not end up there, but it is always my first stop. One of the dangers of having listened to the same Scripture passages over one’s whole life – albeit in a 3-year cycle, is that familiarity often causes distraction, i.e. skimming over a passage that one can almost quote verbatim without really paying attention for some new nuance. I often now make myself go back to re-read when I recognize that happening because, although the Scripture reading may be the same as the last time it appeared, I may be different, having learned something new in the interim.

This morning I feel like a very young child for whom God has an important message. On this fifth day of reading it, I think I finally hear God saying, Do you understand the depth of those words? Do you know that it entails a recognition that I have created every day with just what you need to live a full and meaningful life, whether or not it seems so to you? Even though it’s gloomy outside and the outlook for the coming week at work may be dismal, or your plan for tomorrow may be changing, can you not allow that whatever happens may have a purpose for your good? And when things are going well, can you celebrate the blessing in that?

Perhaps I should tape a copy that verse to the door leading from my bedroom to my every morning, just so I begin the day with the correct attitude, knowing that every day is the day God has made and every day is worthy, in some small or grand way, of joy and gladness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fathers

06 Friday Jan 2017

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ancestry, father figure, fatherhood, fathers, fullness of life, Gospel, Jesus, Joseph, love, Scripture, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

jm_200_NT1.pd-P7.tiffOver the past 48 hours I have had the opportunity to spend time with two women whose fathers died this past summer. Last night my own father appeared in a dream which I only remember for his passing presence and the appearance of his wedding ring – not on his hand but clearly his – a strong symbol in his life and the lives of our family.

Curiously two very different gospels appear in the lectionary today. The first is the beginning of Mark’s gospel that speaks of John the Baptist’s proclamation of Jesus and then the appearance of Jesus at his baptism – the beginning of his public life – where the voice of God was heard to say, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased. The second choice for the gospel reading begins by noting that Jesus began his ministry at about thirty years of age and then goes on to relate his ancestry, not in the manner of the more familiar text from Matthew but backward from Joseph all the way to Adam, son of God. I must have been somewhat inattentive to my reading because I started to reach for some other text for inspiration when something inside said, “Read them again.”

Being a Sister of St. Joseph, I am usually eager to comment when Joseph shows up in gospel stories. Today, it took two readings to make the connection of the importance of the role of fathers in the lives of their sons – and daughters. I am one of the “lucky ones” to have had a father who shone with the love of God and showered that kind of love on others throughout his life. We don’t have too much evidence from the words of Scripture of the man Joseph was but it’s easy to extrapolate his character from the few scenes in which he appears. His care for his family, his trust in God and his willingness to participate in the plan of God regardless of the cost are easily seen without a single word from him.

Today, then, I am grateful for the nudge to reflect on fatherhood and the three great fathers who have mirrored Joseph to me in the lives and gratitude of their daughters. In addition, I pray that all children will somehow have a father figure in their lives who will teach them and love them in the way God loves all of us – into the fullness of life.

Roses in December

12 Monday Dec 2016

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Blessed Mother, feast day, Gospel, Juan Diego, Mexico, Native Americans, Our Lady of Guadalupe, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

aguadalupeIt’s always fascinating to learn something new when I am reflecting on the named feasts of Christianity. Today, as I read the familiar story of the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I was surprised to learn that the main character was a convert to Christianity and was given the name Juan Diego at the time of his baptism. A poor native living in a small village near Mexico City, his Indian name was Cuauhtlatohuac (“Singing Eagle”). I suppose this isn’t an earth-shattering revelation and it certainly is easier to spell and pronounce a name that means “John James” rather than his Indian name, but for me it emphasizes what is written in the reflection for today from franciscanmedia.org. Fr. Don Miller says that Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary and the God who sent her accept all people. In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for Native Americans.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is not only the named patron of Mexico by the Roman Catholic Church, but also of the entirety of the Americas – both North and South. As I consider the treatment of Native Americans in my own country even to this day, I think it an appropriate moment for all of us to contemplate the conclusion of Fr. Miller’s reflection. In these days, when we hear so much about God’s preferential option for the poor, Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God’s love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the Gospel itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Imitates Gospel

22 Saturday Oct 2016

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advice, cultivate, Gospel, growth, hope, life, Luke, patience, spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom School

ahibiscusIt is often said that “life imitates art.” This morning’s gospel reminded me in a nearly perfect analogous situation that sometimes “life imitates gospel.” We had in our yard a beautiful hibiscus tree, a memorial to my father, that was moved early in the spring of this year out of necessity. As the year progressed I was concerned to see that it produced no flowers – even no leaves – so it seemed doomed. When our handyman asked if he should cut it down I used almost the exact words of the gospel, saying: Leave it for this year. I shall cultivate the ground around it; it may flower in the future. (LK 13:8-9) I must admit that my hope was not strong but, miraculously, just last month we saw a bit of green on a couple of branches and even a few buds. Two weeks ago, during a Wisdom School at our retreat center, I asked a participant from Maine who is an expert on all things natural and agrarian to look at it. She assured me energetically that the tree would survive and even thrive next year, telling me what nourishment would help if I’d just dig around the base and add what she wrote down for me. I don’t know what happened to the poor fig tree in the gospel but I do trust that I will see the beauty of hibiscus again next year.

A lesson from this story is, of course, the necessity of patience in addition to hope, but also sometimes a bit of advice doesn’t hurt. I have found this to be true in a number of situations recently. In the past week I was gifted more than once with conversations in which people were able to dig around in the ground of my spirit to loosen some of what they could see in me that I couldn’t. If I pay attention and winter well, I might see some growth in those areas by spring. I’ll be watching in me and my hibiscus for the flowering  I attend to the regular care and feeding of both of us.

 

 

 

 

 

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