Blessed Joseph

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Blessed Mother, Mary, mother, Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Joseph, St. Joseph the Worker, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There are so many reasons to celebrate St. Joseph today on this feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Most obvious for me is that I live as a Sister of St. Joseph whose heritage is dedicated to and modeled on the person of Joseph, husband of Mary. We believe him to be a quiet man who worked as a carpenter – simple yet noble work – in service to God and his family and as a teacher to his son. Somehow that image remains although he is also named as Patron of the Universal Church for Catholics and has come to the attention of workers the world over since the Papacy of Pope Leo XIII as the champion of the social teachings of the Church. The promulgation in 1891 of his encyclical, Rerum Novarum, which addressed the condition of the working classes, gave a platform for workers that still directs the actions of justice workers throughout the world.

Closer to home and heart, however, is the devotion of my mother, Mary, whose birthday is today and who celebrated each year by placing flowers in church at the feet of St. Joseph’s statue. I continued this tradition in her honor after her passing from this world. This year it would be impossible because our church participation is necessarily virtual, but I plan to go outside later and walk to the border of our land where my siblings and I had forsythia bushes (30 of them!) planted in memory of our lovely mother after her death. She loved those “golden bells” and it does not surprise me that this year they are so prolific and beautiful that they always make me smile.

So I welcome this beautiful month and give thanks to God for the models of steadfast love so present in Joseph and Mary, and my own holy mother.

Mother’s Day

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child, gratitude, mother, Mother's Day, openess, Peace, pure love, relationships, solace, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is what many Americans call, somewhat cynically, a “Hallmark holiday.” In addition to cards – often purchased from Hallmark – we spend a great deal of money on flowers and other purchases to tell our mothers that we love them. Sometimes those material things are a substitute for the words “I love you,” words that would be enough for most mothers.

I know that for many people this is a difficult day because mother-daughter or mother-son relationships can be difficult or even tragic and I pray for the healing of those relationships as there are no closer ties than those between mother and child. The time of nourishing a child from within one’s own body cannot be measured or replicated but the longing and waiting of a prospective adoptive mother certainly qualifies as a different kind of pregnancy.

My siblings and I were some of the “lucky ones,” having hit the jackpot in the “good mother” department. A bright, loving partner for our father, our mother, Mary Frances, aka “May,” was born on the first day of this beautiful month and flowered in different ways throughout her 87 years of life. Even in the throes of her last years with Alzheimer’s disease, she never lost the ability to convince us of the truth of her love. All we needed was her smile and the look in her eyes.

Today I pray for all mothers and their children. For those who share a great love and for those who wish they did, I ask a blessing of gratitude and peace. For those who never knew their mothers or those abandoned, I pray for solace. For each of us, I pray a prayer of openness and pure love, that we will love as unselfishly and kindly as the Divine Lover of the universe loves each of us and all of us.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Truly Our Sister

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Christian, divine mystery, favored one of God, Mary, Mary of Nazareth, mother, Scripture, Sister Elizabeth Johnson CSJ, spirit, The Assumption, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Theotokos

Today Christians throughout the world celebrate one of the major feasts of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Known as “The Assumption” it is one of those tenets of Christianity which is not proven by Scripture but is rather “taken on faith.” That Mary was “taken into heaven, body and soul” seemed a logical conclusion to the life of the one that the Council of Ephesus in the year 431 had called Theotokos (God-bearer), the mother of Christ who was believed to have been “conceived without sin.”

Women throughout Christian history, especially mothers, have prayed to Mary as their “go to person” in needs of every kind and is held in high esteem as well by people of other faith traditions around the world. She is claimed as a mother by faithful men, perhaps especially in wartime or postwar peace, who carry their rosaries in their pockets, praying in foxholes or on the bus to work, asking her intercession and her care.

In 2004 theologian Sister Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, added a marvelous resource for our consideration of this “favored one of God” with the publication of her exquisite text, Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints. Doctor Johnson studies Mary from the contexts of Scripture, archeology, history of the Church and the Tradition of Christianity. What emerges is a fresh face, a real woman of her times who calls us by her fidelity to do the work of God in the world as she did in her lifetime and continues to do by inspiring and leading us on. The opening paragraph of the final chapter holds a hint of what can be found and celebrated in this book and on this day dedicated to Mother Mary.

Mary, Friend of God and Prophet

Assembled together, the individual biblical portraits of Mary of Nazareth form a mosaic image of a woman of Spirit. Honed by the historical background of Galilean Judaism and interpreted by women’s sensibilities, the mosaic delivers a glimpse of an actual woman, a first-century member of an oppressed peasant society, whose walk with the Spirit at a pivotal moment in salvation history made a unique contribution to the good of the world. Within the overarching picture of God’s redeeming action in Christ, each tessera adds a different aspect to the church’s memory of her life. Our final task is to weave this living memory into that of the great company of friends of God and prophets which is the communion of saints. In the process, we need to keep doing our God work, understanding that female imagery rightly belongs in our discourse about the divine mystery: the living God herself is our mother of infinite mercy. And we need to keep doing our anthropology work, shucking off gender definitions of the feminine that confine women to subordinate roles. With our flanks thus continually safeguarded, we step back from a close focus on the Marian mosaic to espy the sweeping vista of which it is a part. (p.305)

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara Bush

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Barbara Bush, dignity, full life, grace, grit, literacy, matriarch, mother, spouse, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Barbara Bush died yesterday. I spent some time last night reading the internet accounts of her life but what drew me more than the words were the photos chronicling her life for the past 92 years. I watched her grow from a sweet-faced youngster through her child-bearing years into old age. It was in her last years that I found the most beauty shining in her face. I may be prejudiced but – as was noted in the accounts of her life – it was her brilliant white hair that was her most striking feature. It gave her the dignity and softness of a woman who had lived a full, rich life, knowing great joy and sorrow in her children and the love of a spouse for 73 years. When her second son was poised to enter the race for the presidency of the United States she remarked that perhaps the country had had enough Bushes in the White House but then was willing to campaign tirelessly for Jeb until he withdrew his candidacy. I loved the lesson in that.

I grieve for the family of this great woman today. Regardless of our politics, I believe we owe a debit of gratitude to this one who embraced the role of spouse, mother and matriarch of a very large family, of First Lady with grace and grit, and of champion of literacy as necessary for a full life in this world.

May she rest in peace!

 

 

 

 

 

84

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Anna, elderly, generosity, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, mother, perseverance, steadfast women, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, widow, women

In today’s gospel, Luke chronicles the day on which Jesus was taken to the temple by his parents “to present him to the Lord” as was prescribed by the religious law. For each of the characters the story holds great importance. As young parents, Joseph and Mary must have felt pride in addition to their love of their child, Jesus – especially when Simeon and Anna – two long-lived “residents” of the temple – recognized Jesus as “the long-awaited one.” For Mary, the elation must have been short-lived, however, when Anna spoke of the sword of sorrow that would pierce Mary’s motherly heart because of who Jesus was to become. I often see this as a great narrative to be expanded and staged, but today I was immediately focused on Anna.

The Scriptures describe Anna as having lived seven years with her husband and then as a widow to the age of 84. I am statistically one of the “younger” Sisters in my religious community and have the privilege of sharing life with many women in their 80s and 90s. (Next month Sister Frances, very special to our local community, will celebrate her 100th birthday!). I often comment on the fact that I have had six significant people in my life who are all the same age and are 15 years older than I am. At this moment, I realize today, the four that remain on earth are 84 years old. All six have been dedicated to God in one way or another: 3 religious Sisters, 2 married women and one who has lived “the single life.” While quite diverse, they have all taught me lessons of perseverance and generosity of life for which I will always be grateful.

Let us all praise those steadfast women in our lives and give thanks to God for their good example!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truly Our Sister

Tags

Blessed Mother, communion of saints, Elizabeth Johnson CSJ, Mary, Mary of Nazareth, mother, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

5:40AM: No time to dawdle this morning. I’m off to spend the day two hours distant from my home with 40 women who have registered to reflect with me on the topic, Will the Real Mary of Nazareth Please Stand Up? Our sharing will be based on our own experiences of the one I have known since my earliest memories as my Blessed Mother, as well as the information in a marvelous book by theologian Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ entitled “Truly Our Sister: Mary in the Communion of Saints.” I look forward to hearing the stories of the women who will gather as I rejoice in the memories of my own earthly mother, Mary Frances, who shared with me her own devotion and love for this other Mary, the one who was her guide and steadfast presence throughout her life. I feel young again as I prepare for this day and look forward to the energy that I trust will be the Holy Spirit with us in this endeavor.

Blessings on this Saturday will surely abound!

 

 

 

 

The Sorrowful Mother

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Blessed Mother, faith, grace, Hurricane Harvey, Mary, mother, mourning, Our Lady of Sorrows, pain, Syrian refugees, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust

Today our Church remembers Mary under the title of “Our Lady of Sorrows.” There are many feasts in our Church calendar honoring Mary but, this year especially, I find this one particularly poignant as images arise of present-day mothers. I see Syrian refugee mothers cradling their hungry and frightened toddlers, then a mother reaching out of a helicopter to fetch her child from the basket that has saved her little one as it saved her from the swirling waters of Hurricane Harvey, then a young mother at the side of her ten-year old child’s hospital bed, then a would-be mother mourning her miscarriage…

It is no wonder that mothers the world over (like my own) are known to have deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, herself unwed and a frightened teenager at the start, but one who trusted God’s grace to sustain her. In her faith she became strong enough to weather all the storms of motherhood, even to seeing her son executed in a horrible death. So many women can look to Mary to understand the pain of the various circumstances of their motherly lives.

Today I will pray for mothers young and old, happy and sad, fulfilled and unfulfilled, struggling or joyous (or both!) and ask God’s blessing on all who take on this role that they may find solace in the company of women and encouragement in the timeless witness of Mary, mother to all.

The Lord’s Prayer

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Aramaic, cosmos, Earth, heaven, language, love, Matthew, mother, Neil Douglas Klotz, Our Father, prayer, The Lord's Prayer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

Today’s gospel contains what is probably the most familiar text in Christianity. We know it as The Lord’s Prayer. (MT 6:7-15) Recently I listened to a series of lectures about the prayer by Neil Douglas-Klotz, a scholar of Aramaic, the language that Jesus likely spoke in his everyday life. I went looking this morning for his translation because I found it beautiful and expansive of what I have known since early childhood. I found first a comment about Aramaic, then a translation in first century Aramaic and finally, Klotz’s translation using more modern terms. I share them all here for those of us whose love of words affects the feeling level of our prayer and as one more way to connect to others on our planet who speak different languages but whose hearts are united.

Comment: The Aramaic language has (like the Hebrew and Arabic) different levels of meaning. The words are organized and defined by a poetical system where different meanings of every word are possible. So every line of the Lord’s Prayer could be translated into English in many different versions.

First Century Aramaic: O Thou, from whom the breath of life comes, who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration. May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest. Your Heavenly Domain approaches. Let your will come true in the universe (all that vibrates), just as on earth (that is material and dense). Give us wisdom for our daily need, detach the fetters of faults that bind us, like we let go the guilt of others. Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations), but let us be freed from that which keeps us off from our true purpose. From you comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act, the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age. Sealed in trust, faith and truth (I confirm with my entire being).

Neil-Douglas-Klotz: O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos, focus your light within us – make it useful. Create your reign of unity now – through our fiery hearts and willing hands help us love beyond our ideals and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures. Animate the earth within us: we then feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all. Untangle the knots within so that we can mend our hearts’ simple ties to each other. Don’t let surface things delude us, but free us from what holds us back from our true purpose. Out of you, the astonishing fire, returning light and sound to the cosmos. Amen.  (from Prayers of the Cosmos)

Amen, indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Prophet, the Poet and the Pope

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baby, care, compassion, forgiveness, Isaiah, Jesus, love, mercy, mother, motherly tenderness, Pope Francis, Psalm 145, tenderness, The Lord is kind and merciful, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As I sit in my rocking chair this morning before dawn, I hear inside me the refrain from Psalm 145, often sung in our Liturgy of the Word: The Lord is kind and merciful; the Lord is kind and merciful. Isaiah has already prepared me for the sense of peace that washes over me as I rock to the tune. He asks, Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? (IS 49:15) I picture my mother rocking my brother to sleep while crooning such tender words, just as Isaiah has conjectured the care of God for each of us. The Lord is kind and merciful… One translation of verses 17-18 of the psalm praises God saying: You open your arms of love to us and the longing of each soul is deeply satisfied. Your paths run straight to every creature ever made. Your compassion fills up everything you do. I marvel at the sheer poetry of the psalmist’s message and again I hear: The Lord is kind and merciful…

Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus images perfectly these qualities of God’s mercy and kindness and calls us often to do the same. In a general audience on March 27, 2013 he said it this way: What does being a Christian mean? What does following Jesus on his journey to Calvary on his way to the cross and the resurrection mean?…He spoke to all without distinction: the great and the lowly, the rich young man and the poor widow, the powerful and the weak; he brought God’s mercy and forgiveness; he healed, he comforted, he understood; he gave hope; he brought all to the presence of God who cares for every man and every woman, just as a good father and a good mother care for each of their children. God does not wait for us to go to him but it is God who moves toward us, without calculation, without quantification. That is what God is like.

Today I am thankful for Isaiah, the psalmist and Pope Francis for bringing me to a place of peace, a remembrance of motherly tenderness and an assurance of God’s all-giving and forgiving mercy. What more can I ask of this day but to spread the word that, indeed, the Lord is kind and merciful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Universality

Tags

brothers, electric shock, Jesus, love of enemies, love of neighbors, Mary, Matthew, mother, sister, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today’s gospel is one of those that provides a bit of an “electric shock” to the reader. It’s hard to get a visual sense of where Jesus might be as it says he is speaking to “the crowds” but is obviously inside a house or some sort of structure because someone comes to him and says that his mother and brothers are outside asking for him. Perhaps he and the disciples have stopped at a relative’s house for a rest and, as often happens, people follow him and as many as possible crowd in (or on the roof) with the rest scrambling for space outside so that they can still hear what he’s saying. The shocking moment comes when his mother and brothers arrive – too late to get even close to the door – so someone brings a message to him that they are there. His response is a challenge to everyone there. He says, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? (and pointing to his disciples) Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, sister and mother.” (MT 12: 46-50)

Is Jesus showing disrespect to his mother and family? I can imagine that some in the crowd would think so and be horrified. Anyone who had been really listening to Jesus all along (like us, hopefully) might understand it differently. Jesus came preaching love of neighbor and even enemies in a revolutionary way. There was (and still is) no one outside the circle of his care. He even said we should love others as ourselves – as if they are not separate from us in any way. It’s like my mother who in her last days told everyone who approached her not just that she loved them but that she loved them best! I suspect that Mary got that point because she already knew Jesus and his message intimately. I can’t imagine her turning away in a huff or holding back tears because she felt dismissed by him. I have a sense that she waited until the crowds dispersed (listening proudly to his every word) and then had some time – maybe a meal with him and the family and the disciples – as the day ended.

In these days of cultural mobility when family members live far from each other and do not see each other often, it is important to recognize that distance does not imply lack of care. Even when responsibilities keep us apart it’s good to have the confidence of connection and to celebrate the freedom it offers us to be present to all who cross our path – loving them best of all in that moment of encounter.