New Thoughts from Long Ago

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change, good, Isaiah, John, simple, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust

From the prophet Isaiah (Is 65:17-21) to the Gospel of John (Jn 4: 43-54) the Scripture readings for today are clear about what is happening here on this earth. Isaiah is simple and definitive in giving the message from God: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth…There shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create. It seems that things will not be proceeding as before. There is an element of faith necessary in the new order. (“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe…”) It seems to me that the key for today is the verse before the gospel which says simply: Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you. (Am 5:14)

Clearly, if we look back over the past year, we might see a pattern that fits what is being done here. Great things—good things for good people are happening—worldly things: like new vaccines and monetary relief for “the least among us.” It seems that all of our people are not ready to accept the good that is happening. Even governors of some states refuse to adhere to some of the simple things that will save us. (“Wear a mask,” for example.) Although that is true, we may be looking for solutions that are more arduous, more complicated—or simply more to our liking. What we are being called to might necessitate faith in ourselves and, in addition, trust in others, even those we have never listened to, liked or believed in before. We might have to give up our cherished ways of seeing things. Maybe it’s just that simple—although not easy.

Read the Scripture texts for today again (aloud, if possible). See if you can find anything that calls to you about our situation today. It may be as simple as letting go into a new way of being. (I said simple—not easy!) You might just be surprised at the result.

Light in the Darkness…If

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afflicted, guide, hungry, Isaiah, light, plenty, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I have been delighting in a website called Tinybeans which keeps me up to date with the growth and progress of a friend’s baby. Today was the saga of his introduction to carrots and it didn’t go well. John made it perfectly clear that he was not going to eat those orange things, regardless of the efforts of both his parents to encourage it. It is fascinating to see how babies react to tastes. (I, for one, found carrots in the top three vegetables and still do!) At this point, John does not have language to refuse – only facial clues – no matter how his parents coax him. Later on, perhaps, they will cajole or demand compliance when encouraging acceptable behavior, or will make “deals” with him in the traditional “if/then” process: “If you eat your vegetables, then you can have dessert…” but for now, he wins.

It may be stretch, but John made me think of this morning’s reading from the prophet Isaiah. (58: 9b ->). The stakes are much higher in what Isaiah is proposing, however, and the promises are quite tempting. Listen to yourself reading it aloud:

Thus says the Lord: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech, if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted, then light shall rise for you in the darkness and the gloom shall become for you like midday. Then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.

Can you feel the light rising in you? If not, try turning off all the lights in the room you’re in and stand in the dark for a moment or two. Then turn all the lights on at once and see what you can see. And thank God for all the promises you have been given.

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Isaiah’s Punch

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abstinence, fasting, homeless, hunger, Isaiah, Lent, oppressed, poor, response, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In a contest of people who “tell it like it is,” the Prophet Isaiah would always (it seems to me) win hands down! The words “fast and abstinence” had great meaning when I was a child who always knew that there were rules about eating during Lent. We understood that our two smaller meals – usually breakfast and lunch – could not equal, or at least not be larger when put together, than our main meal and we worked hard at making sure of that. And there was also the question of dessert…when to have it and when to pass it up. This was serious business and whether we knew Isaiah or not, we knew that God meant business.

I doubt we ever heard the scathing criticism in Chapter 58 of Isaiah’s prophecy that we read today. He speaks for God in his estimation of the people’s fasting, saying: Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. …Is this the manner of fasting I wish? Had we been truly awake when we heard the next part, we might have wondered if God was speaking to us or if it was some mean taskmaster! But listen and see if you can find yourself in this kind of attitude and action. Did we ever wonder whether the practice of controlling our eating had anything to do with our consciousness during the rest the rest of our day?

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless, clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own…

Things seem much more dire now when there are so many hungry and poor people in our midst, more homeless and oppressed people…What do we do for them? Do we notice? How do we help? How is it that our light can shine in response to such great need? All God asks is our best. What is that for you?

Evidence

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clear the way, hope, Isaiah, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My brother in California let me know yesterday that our smallish city of Binghamton, NY made the national news because 41 to 44 inches of snow had accumulated on our properties – depending on our location – airport, valley or downtown. The only “moving parts” that I knew about around here all day and into the night were a few courageous birds, the highway crews and our own Sister Susan who plowed, blew (with the snowblower, I mean) and shoveled a path from our garage to the road, just in case we needed a way to exit the property because of an emergency. For the rest, all was still and unmoving.

Susan’s efforts reminded me of the call of the prophet Isaiah (40:3) to “clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth a highway for our God!” Perhaps you think my comparison a stretch but if you have ever tackled that amount of snow, especially with a stiff wind, a temperature of 18 degrees (F) and the dark of night, you might agree that it is fair. It certainly gives me pause and fuels my desire to regroup each morning my energy for finding the Christ life that exists inside me regardless of the darkness around me.

We’re almost there. A new day is certainly coming. We have not one but two vaccines to fight the virus that plagues us. We have a new governmental administration that will be place in less than a month and – most importantly – we have our hope in the One who longs for us and whom we trust. Our Scriptures call out today with vigor saying, “Come and with outstretched arms redeem us!” What is your response?

Make Some Noise!

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Isaiah, psalm 85, shout to God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There is a retreat going on this weekend by zoom which ends today in an unusual ritual for some of us. We’ve been directed to bring a horn or drum or actually anything that makes noise. I’m presuming it’s because of the lectionary reading from Isaiah 40 which calls us to “Go up on to a high mountain; cry out at the top of your voice. Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God!” The psalm (85) follows with a message that we should be waiting to hear — a message of truth and justice, kindness and peace. How the world is longing for those qualities, that feeling of safety and calm!

How loudly are you willing to shout for God—to God—to wake up the world with the message? Do you believe that God is with us/in us and that we are the ones who need to wake up? Don’t be shy about shouting or “blowing a horn” in Church. Now is the time for extraordinary measures! If you are absolutely unable to shout to God in the presence of anyone else, GO OUTSIDE AND CALL TO GOD IN YOUR LOUDEST VOICE!!!

I guarantee it will be a cleansing experience!

Seek!

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Acts of the Apostles, Isaiah, presence of God, seek the Lord, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The first line of the first reading in today’s lectionary texts (IS 55:6) begins with a very active imperative: “Seek the Lord while he may be found!” It’s as if the train is coming and we might miss it if we don’t hurry. Perhaps for you it may be reminiscent of the childhood game “Hide and Seek.” Looking everywhere to find our hidden playmates could sometimes take eons of time – but we rarely gave up and always celebrated the find! Are we willing to spend that kind of time and effort to recognize the presence of God today?.

Roc O’Connor of the Saint Louis Jesuits created a song with the perfect sense of urgency for this Scripture reading. Both the music and the vocals stir us and motivate us to “Seek the Lord while he may be found! Call to him while he is still near!” When I listen to that song I always feel compelled to sing, or drum with my hands on my knees for effect or get up and run out of the room searching…(Sorry…It’s a really good song!)

The ironic thing is that we don’t need to do any of those things once we realize as St. Paul did that “God is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.” (ACTS 17:28) All we need to do is quiet down and listen, or look around and see. God is waiting, wanting to be found.

A Day To Remember

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blessings, covenant, Isaiah, love of God, Matthew, Psalm 145, Romans, Sisters of St. Joseph, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is a significant one for us – the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Albany Province. It is the day on which we are filled with gratitude for the Sisters who have served us in the ministry of leadership over the past seven years and when we look forward in hope to those who pledge themselves now to lead us for the next five years. This is a monumental time of transition and challenge, not only for us but for religious communities of all kinds. I need not enumerate the challenges but we know that wisdom has been and will be the essential element in their ministry. We are confident that we have been well-served and trust that we will not be disappointed as we go forward. In other words, we are very blessed.

In that spirit we would do well to pay attention to the messages of today’s Scripture passages. It’s one of those days when each of the readings has a “stand-out” line or two, in my opinion (of course!). Please join me in a reflection that will be a blessing prayer for our community for today.

1. “Come to me heedfully, listen that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David.” (IS 55: 3)
2. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs. (PS 145)
3. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (ROM 8: 37-39)
4. Jesus said to them, ” There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”…They all ate and were satisfied , and they picked up the fragments left over — twelve baskets full. (MT 14: 13 ->)

Won’t you pray, rejoicing with us, in thanksgiving for all our blessings?

Christ Is Coming Soon!

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Christmas, Emmanuel, Isaiah, Jesus, Malachi, radiant dawn, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When I read the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ offering of the lectionary readings for the day, I am occasionally stopped by a line or two that rankles or makes me squirm a little. We’re very close now to Christmas, the “feel-good” holiday. It’s surprising, I guess, that I would be experiencing the opposite feeling two days before Christmas. I’m singing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and loving the titles given to Christ by Isaiah’s writings (e.g. O Radiant Dawn or O Key of David…) not expecting Malachi’s insertions of counterintuitive questions such as the following:

Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire…he will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi…

Does that include us? Must we leave our “heaven and nature” singing of “joy to the world” because “the Lord is come?” I think not, but there is a caution in this message from the prophet Malachi. Jesus was born into this world – this great and wonderful world – to show us the way to navigate all the joys and sorrows, the gifts and tests that help us grow into our true selves, to become more conscious with each turning of the earth that we are beings of light, made in the image of God, here to mirror that image to the world each day. The celebration of Christmas reminds us of the privilege and the responsibility of that birthing that is ours in imitation of the Christ who is coming to walk the path with us with new vigor each time we experience this commemorative moment.

The sun is strong this morning. Let us now prepare for Christmas, as the “Radiant Dawn” appears in the sky of our lives, offering to us the Word of Life!

Pay Attention!

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attention, discernment, Isaiah, law of the Lord, meditate, psalm 1, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, wisdom

Today it seems that we are once more being called to attend to messages that offer us clear directives for good living in a succinct and understandable way. I use the plural “messages” but in the end I see all three readings as constitutive of an overarching theme.

Isaiah (48: 17-19) proclaims God’s willingness to teach us what is for our good if we would hearken to God’s commandments. (The rewards are all nature images – beautiful and worth your time to read.) Next, Psalm 1 tells us that if we meditate on and delight in the law of the Lord, we will prosper (again – interestingly – with nature images).

What this says to me is that we’re called to a consistent and steadfast attention to discernment of what is for our good and what is not, if we are to learn wisdom. It doesn’t help to observe the practices of others and thereby judge them. Truth is the measure of what we learn in the silence of our hearts. After the advice of Isaiah and the psalmist, we hear Jesus speak in rather stark language about this. Listen to what he says.

“To what shall I compare this generation? It’s like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played for you but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

What do you make of all this?

Strength for the Journey

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David Haas, Eagle, Isaiah, Jesus, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, We Will Rise Again

During the last half century there has been a great shift in and addition to religious music, especially (I think) in Christianity. We have many fine musicians who have based much of their music on Scripture. Because of the work of David Haas, Marty Haugen, Michael Joncas and the St. Louis Jesuits among others, our familiarity with many scriptural texts has deepened and given us hope in difficult moments in life. Whether from the prophet Isaiah or the mouth of Jesus himself, we remember the message because of the melody that accompanies the words.

Today is such an example for me. The first lectionary reading from Isaiah 40: 25-31 assured me that God will renew the strength of the young (and their elders, I believe!) with these words: “They will soar as with eagles’ wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint…” David Haas wrote a stirring song based on that reading where God promises total care for us in every verse and we, in hearing of such care, respond with an equally stirring chorus, singing: We will run and not grow weary for our God will be our strength! And we will fly like the eagle; we will rise again!

I recommend a trip to YouTube for a listen to WE WILL RISE AGAIN!