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Tag Archives: ritual

This Is the Day

05 Sunday Apr 2020

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coronavirus, Holy Week, Palm Sunday, rejoice, ritual, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, This is the day the Lord has made.

“This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it.”

This line is for me like the “ticker tape” message on the New York Times Building in Times Square, NYC, this morning. It keeps running through my consciousness, calling me to attention. What’s the message?

It is Sunday. It is a Sunday of high ritual; we call it Palm Sunday. (Lots of people are sitting at home weaving crosses of palm fronds right now.) This Palm Sunday will be a challenge for religious people everywhere who are devoted to the rituals that we Christians call “Holy Week” because we have been told to stay home from Church to protect ourselves and one another from the pandemic (COVID-19) that is now ravaging the entire world.

Obedience is more difficult when you cannot see with your eyes the reason for the directive, i.e. in this case: “STAY HOME.” Spring is here. We have a proliferation of daffodils in our yard. The weeping willow trees have that light yellow-green haze that precedes the leafing out of other trees. Today promises to be warm enough for a light coat, and by next Sunday what we used to call “Easter finery.” We can’t see the reason for letting go of everything that we are told is necessary to our well-being, but we know now that it is a matter of life or death.

Reflection on this situation that we cannot see or touch but only know by its effects is perhaps a way to move from outside to inside, from action to intention, and then from head to heart. Take the case of the practicing Catholic who waits for this week to prepare each year for the rituals that end in the glorious feast of Easter. The moments of distress and horror as s/he walks with Jesus through trial, suffering (physical and mental) and ultimately death will be swallowed up in the glory of resurrection. How is all that possible this year?

Can we be satisfied — if we are lucky enough to have live-streamed services — to watch it all on television? If that is not available, can we read the relevant chapters in the Scriptures and put ourselves energetically into the scenes of the week? Can we move through the days in a silence of the heart, a spiritual communion, connecting ourselves to all of our brothers and sisters who are suffering across the world.

This is the day — as is every day — that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice that we are called to deeper understanding of the God who calls us. And may we rejoice in that knowledge that we belong to this God and to one another in a deeper way than ever before — a deeper way of the heart.

Equinox

20 Wednesday Mar 2019

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emotions, equinox, funeral, ritual, Spiritual Center, St. Joseph's Day, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is a day when more people than usual pay attention to the earth’s position vis-a-vis the sun. Twice a year there are moments when the sun is exactly above the equator, signaling “equal night” (equinox) everywhere on earth. For us in the Northern Hemisphere it means movement into spring (vernal equinox), more light and warmer temperatures. For the Southern Hemisphere, it is just the opposite (autumnal equinox). Most people in my corner of the world are quite happy and expectant and/or relieved that we have come to this day. We should soon see early flowers peeking out of the earth; actually some tiny sprigs of green closely protected by buildings are already visible to the trained eye.

As I look back on yesterday, I feel as if my emotions experienced an equinox of sorts: equal parts of joy and sorrow coming together. Like the spring equinox, however, the day left a deeper knowing of the lasting effect of the two becoming one.

Yesterday morning we joined hundreds of mourners at a heartfelt funeral service for a wonderful man and good, humble priest, Father Alfred Bebel. Al had been our landlord and pastor at St. Ann’s Church years ago and through the years had often come to spend time with God in retreat at the Spiritual Center in Windsor where we live. Al loved his Polish heritage, his country upbringing, his congregants and the patients he served over many years as a hospital chaplain. There was not a dry eye or an empty seat in the very large church as we sadly said goodbye to him yesterday.

Last evening I participated in another ritual, this one a celebration of St. Joseph’s Day (see yesterday’s blog post). Similarly beautiful with heartfelt music and preaching, the eucharistic liturgy included renewal of commitment by sisters and lay associates. Deep joy was shared by all at the ceremony and the reception that followed.

As I reflected later on the day with its tears of joy and of sorrow, I was reminded of John Denver’s song that the music group sang before the evening celebration. All this joy, all this sorrow, all this promise, all this pain. Such is life, such is being, such is spirit, such is love. Somehow, all was folded into one in the emotions of the day. We are confident that Al Bebel is now in the bliss of eternity and we could not wish him back with us. We still struggle sometimes to fulfill the commitments we have made to God and to life but are confident that God loves us unconditionally and that we are greatly blessed. Gratitude for our life blends with our yearning and joy is the result.

Today is an ordinary day and yet I know that the sun and the earth are tilting just a bit to bring us a welcome change.

Homecoming

26 Sunday Aug 2018

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bless the Lord, friend, God, guide, James Quinn SJ, Lectionary, might, Morning Has Broken, psalm 34, ritual, strength, sustain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

amorninghasbrokenHaving arrived home last night, I could not wait another day to take up this morning ritual. Rising from sleep in my very own room, I recall my sister-in-law asking my brother – in a ritual of their own –  what song has awakened him. Today I have a lovely answer for this lovely day. It is the words of Jesuit James Quinn set to the tune of Morning Has Broken. As I throw open my window to welcome the sun and a sweet breeze, I hear within these lyrics:

This day God gives me strength of high heaven, sun and moon shining, flame in my hearth, flashing of lightning, wind in it’s swiftness, deeps of the ocean, firmness of earth. This day God sends me strength to sustain me, might to uphold me, wisdom as guide. Your eyes are watchful, Your ears are listening, Your lips are speaking, Friend at my side.

Then I turn to the lectionary and find Psalm 34 that calls me to taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” How can I not respond as did the psalmist? “I will bless the Lord at all times! God’s praise shall be ever in my mouth!”

Happy Sunday, indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say What You Mean…If Possible

29 Monday Jan 2018

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Gerard Manley Hopkins, grandeur of God, hearts, holy, miraculous, Peace, ritual, sides, spiritual growth, spirituality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unity of being

apinkskyThis afternoon I am scheduled to be guest speaker to a Women’s Group of about 15 to 20 people. In discussing a topic, the contact person said the members are always interested in information about resources in the community and that perhaps I ought to talk about our spirituality center. In writing up a “blurb” about the proposed topic, I titled it The Spiritual Side of Life. I’ve been thinking about it off and on for the past month and have had some difficulty settling on how to frame the topic. I realized yesterday that my thesis sentence would have to be something about the fact that there are no sides! Spiritual is who and what we are, spiritual beings in physical form, “made in the image and likeness of God.”

Certainly there are rituals that we call holy – and people as well. (We name them saints.) But as Gerard Manley Hopkins so famously said in the second half of the 19th century: The world is charged with the grandeur of God! We can find that reality looking at a flower or a sunset – as I did yesterday while driving to an evening service of prayer. I felt as “spiritual” in my car observing the glorious pink and golden sky with the soft blue background as I did chanting softly the words of a plea for God to come and fill our hearts with your peace…

If each of us would stop occasionally throughout the day, listening and/or looking for the grandeur of God in our surroundings or in the words being shared by the person in front of us, we would know that there is no separation between the physical world and the spiritual. And, actually, the place to start is with ourselves. How often do you marvel about the miraculous workings of all systems of the human body! How does one separate breathing from the beating of the heart? Body and spirit are truly one and nothing is profane except as the mind denigrates it.

Although I am not able to sufficiently explain my thesis about “no sides” – rather a unity of being – I am convinced now that the women I meet today will be able to share lots of experiences that prove the truth of it. In that certainty, I can go forward into this day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I Go Again!

24 Saturday Sep 2016

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courage, deep conversation, discern, discussions, foundation, heart, life's purpose, meal sharing, Meg Wheatley, ritual, St. Joseph's Provincial House, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, travel, Turning To One Another, wisdom work

aconversationI’m awake early today, making lists already for what I need to remember. I’m leaving later today for a week of travel that will place me at three different locations for three important conversations. It begins tomorrow at a reunion celebration with the women who arrived at St. Joseph’s Provincial House fifty years ago seeking to test a vocation to religious life. Some of us found that by God’s miraculous grace we stayed; others left us over the years to find their life’s purpose elsewhere. We will be happy to hear their stories tomorrow as we gather for ritual and sharing of a meal. By tomorrow evening I will be on a plane traveling half-way across the country to meet with other women. Eight of us have been privileged to be together several times over the past two years in prayer and purpose, designing processes for all of our Sisters (nearly 1,000 still) to discern a future that will see us as a smaller number but still strong to serve. Our efforts have been blessed by the participation of hearts and minds willing to jump in and speak to each other about vision, fears and fearlessness as we look ahead to a future that only God can know in the present. The end of my journey will bring me back East to New Hampshire by next weekend for different but just as worthy discussions. We six are the advisors to the trustee of our dear departed friend, Helen, whose gift of her fortune has facilitated the spread of “Wisdom Work” in the past four years to a degree that we could never have imagined. We have eight proposals to consider for the next calendar year, which may be the last. It was Helen’s desire that her money be dispersed within five years and it seems that she judged it correctly! Perhaps we may need to continue (and Helen’s wish was not a command). We won’t know until we sit together – again in prayer and deep conversation – to come to clarity on what projects are in keeping with her intent and vision.

I write all of the above this morning because of the unusual conjunction of events which are all bound together by a foundation of deep and meaningful conversation. I have been struck often lately by the power of that form of communication, seeing that no matter the type of gathering – be it business or pleasure – “success” of any encounter depends on deep listening to and response from all the parties involved. Meg Wheatley has lots to say about that; specifically today I heard the following:

Where can we find the courage to start a good conversation? The answer is found in the word itself. Courage comes from the Old French word for heart (cuer). We develop courage for those things that speak to our heart. Our courage grows for things that affect us deeply, things that open our hearts. Once our heart is engaged, it is easy to be brave. (Turning to One Another, p. 25)

I am eager for the coming week as I know hearts from around this country will be engaged in each of the three events to come. Mine is already anticipating the joy of our presence to one another. I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Passages

08 Friday Apr 2016

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bounty of the Lord, courage, Easter, Easter Triduum, light, music, prayer, psalm 27, psalms, reflection, refuge, ritual, salvation, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time out of time, wait

awaitthelordTen days ago I was on my way to California for a few days of family visiting and then a three-day meeting. Because of the three-hour time difference and uncertainty about my activities, I announced a brief “hiatus” for my blog. I had no idea it would last this long! Three days ago I was looking out on beautiful sunshine lighting up bougainvillea and rose bushes with temperatures of 75 degrees (F) and just now it has started to snow again here in New York! The days away seemed endless as I was stricken with what turned out to be quite a virulent virus that curtailed all but totally necessary activities. Even today I struggle with a lethargy that makes me wonder if I’ll ever be back to “normal” – whatever that means.

As I write that, I remember my thoughts as I drove home from the Easter Vigil – the conclusion of a very meaningful Triduum of services moving me to a deeper desire for continued transformation in my life. I had been so moved by those three ritual days: the prayer, the music, the silence and reflection on the events that constitute the most solemn days of our faith. I was ready, I thought, to keep that flame burning brightly, reminding myself each day of what I had experienced and living into life more consciously. Today I feel as if that experience was eons ago and I marvel at how quickly and easily circumstances can swallow up momentum and make it hard even to get out of bed in the morning.

I always have a sense of “time out of time” when I travel across the country. The view from 35,000 feet up in the sky is so amazing and sobering all at once and flying through time zones gives a sense of the relative nature of our constructs. These ten days of goings and comings, of observing and working at participation, of sensing my body as in need of more care than usual…have been eye-opening, to say the least.

What conclusion can I make from all this? I am grateful for the years of reciting the psalms in prayer as I always find something to hold onto in them. This morning it is Psalm 27 that serves that purpose:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple. I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted and wait for the Lord.

 

 

 

 

Exult!

27 Sunday Mar 2016

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blessed, Exsultet, from darkness into light, from death to life, Great Vigil of Easter, joy, paschal mystery, possibility, ritual, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transformation

aeasterThe liturgical service on the evening of the Great Vigil of Easter is a masterpiece of ritual wherein we celebrate not only the historical event of Christ’s resurrection but, for those joined to Christ in faith, the possibility of our own transformation as well. The most obvious theme of the liturgy is from darkness into light (death to life) symbolized by a dark church transformed by the passing of the light to all participants from the new fire and celebrated in the chanting of the magnificent hymn called the Exsultet by the presider. I was struck last night by two phrases from that wonderful text that could in its entirety provide a lifetime of reflection. Both lines spoke of essential connection, the first being: Let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples! Although the response to that imperative was clearly present in the gusto of the congregation last night, the plural of the word “peoples” was not a misprint. The text was calling us to recognize our unity with all nations of the world who were singing Christ from death to life with unbridled joy! And in the joy of that recognition was also the call for us to perceive that on this truly blessed night…things of heaven were joined with those of earth and divine to the human!

Although the Paschal Mystery is still a mystery, inscrutable to the human mind, there are moments in life when we know that something has changed for us, in us. I can only hope that on this beautiful, fragile planet of ours, people of faith will come to perceive possibility in this union of spirit and cause, in time and with attention, the transformation that will truly light up the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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