Living in God

Tags

Acts of the Apostles, interfaith, offspring of the Divine, oneness, radical empathy, religious, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, world cultures, worship

St. Paul often shows himself as a gifted preacher. Nowhere, in my opinion, is this as apparent as in chapter 17 of the Acts of the Apostles when he is speaking in Athens. I can almost hear him this morning proclaiming – quite loudly, I suspect, since the only “sound system” came from the walls of the Areopagus:

You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for God and find him, though indeed God is not far from any one of us. For ‘in him we live and move and have our being,’ even as some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’

As I try to live every day out of the realization that I live and move and have my being in God, occasionally I am struck in a deeper way by that reality, as last evening when I joined over 600 people to celebrate a group of extraordinary men and women who personify the theme of “Radical Empathy” in their lives and ministry. Coming from all walks of life and faith traditions, these five individuals and two married couples have given themselves to service to “the neighbor” wherever and in whatever ways they experienced the inner movement toward the love that is the foundation of the world. I am grateful to have been in the company, not only of those individuals, but also in a room that was a microcosm of world cultures where radical empathy is seen each day in those who give and receive under the umbrella of Interfaith Works, the sponsoring organization of last evening’s event. Moments like that remind me that God “made from one the whole human race” and that it is our responsibility and privilege to recognize our oneness, living as “offspring” of the Divine. And what could be better than that!

The Common Life

Tags

Acts of the Apostles, Barbara Kane, Beguines, body of Christ, Christ, community, Jesus, Mechthild of Magdeburg, religious, resurrection, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

One of the more familiar and inspirational texts from the Acts of the Apostles, the book that tells of the growth of Christianity after the Resurrection of Christ, is today’s first reading. We hear that the community of believers was of one heart and one mind and no one claimed any of his possessions as his own, but they held everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them…(Acts 2:32-37)

Last evening my colleague, Barbara Kane, gave our “Mystic of the Month” presentation at the Sophia Center. I learned that Mechthild of Magdeburg, a visionary of the 13th century, was part of a movement called the Beguines in Europe, women who lived in community with the purpose of caring for the poor. They did not take religious vows and were not bound together by anything but their love of God and their passion for the works of charity. I was quite surprised when Barbara stated that the last of the Beguines was reported to have died in 2014. I always thought that this movement was only active in medieval times.

In our day there are persons the world over who, driven by their desire to follow the example and teachings of Christ, pour themselves out in love every day. Whether in structured religious communities, loose associations of disciples or groups of friends, motivation seems the same as it was in the first century when the message of Christ was fresh in minds and hearts. Whether our contribution to the “building up of the body of Christ” is physical or spiritual, the call is clear to greater unity until the goal of communion is reached so that there is again no needy person among us.

Let’s Get to Work!

Tags

family, harvest, laborers, Luke, refugees, religious, spiritual, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, world

This morning I’m in Albany, NY at the province center of our religious community for our annual “homecoming” event, a gathering of as many Sisters as are able to come together to reconnect and to listen to speakers on issues of importance for us – in the world and in our Church. As the world gets “smaller” and we become more socially conscious as a Church, the concerns seem closer in essence than in the “olden days” when most of us were younger and more removed from what was going on in the wider world. It is significant to me that as we listen today to Janet Mock, the immediate past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and Howard Hubbard, the Bishop Emeritus of Albany, speaking about being Church in a new way, Pope Francis is listening in Rome to a worldwide gathering of bishops and lay people at a synod centered on Church policy around issues of family in the world today.

Just before I came here I had a conversation with a 50-something woman about “church.” She said she is not much of a church-goer these days but learned much from her mother (whose funeral is later this morning) who was active in settling refugees after the Vietnam war. Recently, her own daughter who is now a teacher came to her to discuss the need to help Burmese refugees who are coming to our area. “So,” she said, “I guess I’m doing a bit in the spiritual realm at least.” This is a common theme these days which many of us tend to smile and yet shrug our shoulders at (“spiritual but not religious”)…but as I read the gospel of Luke this morning (LK 10:1-9) – thinking of all of the above – I am called to consider in a new way the service of those who are not working directly in a church but are serving God nevertheless. Luke charges us to do our part when he says that the harvest is abundant but laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out more laborers for the harvest.

Whether our contribution is in social action, church service or prayer for the world, we are called to recognize the contributions of all who choose to participate in the rich harvest that is before us now and holds the seeds of our common future.

Generation after Generation

Tags

ancestry, faith, family, genealogy, heritage, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Matthew, religious, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Yesterday I was in a conversation about skin (sunburn vs. tanning propensity) and hair color – which easily morphed into talk of genetics and family ancestry. When I read this morning’s gospel (MT 1:1-23) I was amazed as usual at the excellent record-keeping of those who recorded the ancestry of Jesus from Abraham through all the generations down to “Joseph, husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.”

So many of us – myself included – can only trace our ancestry back two or three generations. Since the United States is so young and is a nation of immigrants, the search for “great, great…” ancestors is complicated. The best we can do is trace our heritage to a continent or a country. Having visited Ireland, I understand the strength of connection (at the cellular level?) to place and culture. The same can be said, it seems, about faith and religion, as places of pilgrimage hold special reverence for visitors.

Today I will spend time reflecting on my familial and religious heritage and be grateful for the good influences that have been passed down from those ancestors that I know and those who remain in God’s heart but who have influenced my being in this time and place.