Just A Taste

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compassion, humility, judging others, kindness, love, patience, Scripture, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There are some days when I find little to comment on from the lectionary readings as I open the US Catholic Bishops’ website. Sometimes, however, there is too much because all the readings are candidates for “Scripture of the Year.” Today is one of those days. The readings are self explanatory but the content calls for reflection with every new line so I choose this morning to offer a smorgasbord of loving advice that just gives a taste of what can be found in the storehouse of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another…as the Lord has forgiven you. And over all these virtues put on love…(COL 3)

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! (PS 150)

If we love one another, God remains in us and God’s love is brought to perfection in us. Alleluia! (1 JN 4)

To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…Stop judging and you will not be judged…Forgive and you will be forgiven…For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. (LK 6)

Deeper Meanings

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be not afraid, burdens, experience, healing, Isaiah, Luke, participate, psalm 85, Scripture, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, yoke

One could say I’m rather stuck on a theme carried over from last week’s messages as I see and hear short but powerful texts from Scripture. It’s the power of words that makes me stop and say to no one in particular in the ethers of my bedroom, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before!” At other times it’s the tenor of the entire cluster of readings that wakes me up to the obvious, reminding me of something I have most likely known for decades. Both experiences speak this morning.

1. Throughout today’s texts (IS 35: 1-10, PS 85: 10-14 and LK 5:17-26) there is a consistent feeling of promise. God is working on physical wholeness and psycho-spiritual healing for all creation – not just humanity, and the urging not to be afraid is palpable. Assurances abound that God will do this!
2. In the “never heard it before” category is the gospel acclamation that says, “Behold the king will come, the Lord of the earth, and he himself will lift the yoke of our capacity.” I learned long ago that when Jesus told the people to take his yoke upon them, he was speaking metaphorically of the burdens that they carried, those he shared with us being lighter than those demanded by the laws of the religious leadership. Not so long ago I heard capacity defined not just as “the maximum amount that something can contain” like water in a bottle or pain the body. Rather another nuance was added, i.e., “the ability or power to do, experience or understand something.” For me, that moved the definition from one of passivity to active participation. This morning I am aware, therefore, that not only are my burdens light because I do not carry them alone but, in addition, I have the offer of laying them down totally if I am willing to work on expanding my capacity for living fully.

A New Look

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, Good Shepherd, guidance, inner pilgrimage, journey, Lynn Bauman, Psalm 23, Scripture, Stephen Mitchell, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When we are very familiar with something, be it a place we inhabit or a text from Scripture, we can slide over the experience with only half a mind and miss the significance. Take Psalm 23, the great Shepherd Psalm, for example. Many of us fall back on that text when asked to recite something from Scripture because it is the one that jumps most easily to our lips, so occasionally it helps when praying to adapt the translation in order to  wake us up to new depth.

I am not a fan of changing words just to be trendy and sometimes updating takes the reverence out of a traditional text for me. Not so with Stephen Mitchell’s interpretation of the Psalms or Lynn Bauman’s translation and commentary (which I use frequently in the morning). Two suggestions in Bauman’s notes gave me pause this morning. You might use them as you reflect on your favorite translation.

1. Imagine that this psalm does not refer to the world outside you, but speaks to an interior space or place within your own being. As you do, mark the shifts in relationship between yourself as a “sheep” needing guidance, and God as shepherd guiding you. Note also the changing landscapes of the soul as you are led through this inner pilgrimage.
2. Which part of this journey holds the most significance and poignancy for you at this moment in time? Meditate on those words throughout the day. Ask yourself…”How do I need the care and guidance of the Shepherd at this time in my life?” (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p.55)

Lectio Divina

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lectio divina, psalm, psalm 119, read, Scripture, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Once a month now at the Sophia Center we have a noon gathering to ponder the lectionary psalm of the day. A few months ago it happened that a section of the longest psalm in the Bible (PS 119) showed up on our meeting day. As I thought about how to present this snippet of a greater whole, I found my answer in a section of commentary that said, “Experiences are often repeated again and again. As we go over the same territory learning in new ways, truth becomes grounded…” The six chosen verses for that day were in the same section but not tightly sequential. Our normal practice is to read what appears just once through, either by one person, antiphonally (alternately by two groups), or all together. I decided to experiment by having each participant read one verse that we then commented upon before going on to the next one. The result was quite profound. There were six of us present that day. Six different voices describing the same sentiment deepened the meaning and solidified it in our hearts. And then the next verse built upon that deepening.

Today we gather again and today we have a similar situation as verses 41,43,44,45,47,48 of Psalm 119 compose the text of our reflection. The sentiments in my favorite translation (Ancient Songs Sung Anew) offer us, I am certain, the potential for as meaningful experience as before if we take the time to listen deeply to each other. Won’t you join us by reading each line aloud several times and hearing it reverberate throughout your being? I guarantee that it will be a worthwhile endeavor.

41: For the sake of the covenant we keep between us, Lord, let your love descend and hold me fast. 43. Allow my mouth to utter words of truth, this Torah of the heart. 44. Which I shall trust and keep forever. 45. And then in freedom I will walk upon your path and know these precepts are yours alone. 47. I’ll bind them to my heart with deepest joy, 48. For I love and worship all you love, my Lord. I meditate upon this inner bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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)

 

 

 

 

 

The Real Mary of Nazareth

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Assumption, Blessed Mother, catholic, courage, cross, Elizabeth Johnson CSJ, faith, joy, Mary, morals, Pope Pius XII, Scripture, suffering, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, theology, truly our sister, wonderful mother

In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared a feast celebrating Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as a dogma of the Catholic faith. There are many feasts of Mary and this one was not a new thought; it’s reality had been celebrated by Christians with rituals from as early as the sixth century. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven is, ironically, something “assumed” since there is no concrete evidence of the fact that Mary, like Jesus, was taken body and soul into heaven at the time of her death, because of her esteemed role in the birth and life of Jesus in this earthly realm. It is one of those instances that the Church follows the sensus fidelium, a time when “from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals.” The Pope was, in a sense, just certifying what people had believed and practiced for centuries.

More recently than this proclamation has been the publication of an extraordinary book by Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ entitled: Truly our Sister: Mary in the Communion of Saints. I say it is extraordinary because of Sister Elizabeth’s exhaustive study of both the theology and the Scriptural evidence of Mary’s life. The added section on life in Nazareth in the first century of Christianity grounds our knowledge and appreciation of Mary as “one like us” who was a true human being, a mother who raised her child with all the worries of every mother, and then some. Mary’s joy was extreme as was her suffering and her service to us a blessing that calls for the gratitude of all. The wonderful conclusion of Sister Elizabeth’s work, therefore, is that Mary is totally approachable, not at all out of the reach of any of us. She is a model for us, but not in the manner of “Superwoman” – rather more like a wonderful mother, or “truly our sister.”

Let us honor her as such and think of her, as today’s gospel tells it, as running to share the news of her pregnancy with her kinswoman, Elizabeth, with all the awe and fear it held for her. Let us see her in the home of Elizabeth, a refuge from her confusion about how her life will unfurl, listening to stories and gathering her courage to return home to face what awaits her. And let us follow that life to the cross and beyond, wondering about her last days and the mix of emotions that must have been hers in those days until she was taken to her true home in peace. May we hold her in our hearts today and celebrate her willingness to be God’s presence in this world.

 

 

 

 

 

Testimony

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Acts of the Apostles, energetic current, honest sharing, Jan Phillips, John, life experiences, Scripture, talking story, testifying, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, truth-telling

Yesterday I was speaking with someone who had participated in last weekend’s workshop at The Sophia Center for Spirituality about how simple, and yet how effective, the activities were. We concluded that it was a combination of the engaging manner of Jan Phillips, the presenter, that engendered trust by her honest sharing and the resultant willingness of the group members to act in like manner that carried the day. The focus of the sharing, a consistent energetic current that undergirded such success, was the life experiences of the participants and how those experiences had been transformative in some way. The genius of the process was that the transformation came from the simple exercise of speaking our truths aloud. Happy or sad, difficult or easy, long past or recent, we recounted our life events as we saw them and recognized ourselves in the eyes and hearts of the willing hearers in our midst. We found our creativity in the extraordinary poems that we wrote in 10 minutes, prompted by a series of necessarily included words like a color, a location, a body of water, a person…We moved our bodies in a  simple circle dance and found it easier to do in the singing and connecting of hands and smiling eyes. In short, we realized our common humanity and celebrated our desire to reach out from that place to a world in need of our blessing and gifts.

Today’s Scripture readings are all about “talking story,” as our brothers and sisters in Hawaii call it. Philip engaged with the Ethiopian court official on the road to Gaza, explaining the words of the prophet Isaiah that led to the immediate baptism of the foreigner. (ACTS 8:26-40) The psalm response was a perfect follow-on to that experience, proclaiming: Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what the Lord has done for me. When I appealed to God in words, praise was on the tip of my tongue! (PS 66) In the gospel, Jesus took a risk testifying to his mission when he said, “I am the living bread that has come down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever…” (JN 6:44-51) Can you imagine accepting that revelation in openness? It must have been his manner of speaking and his outpouring of self that allowed the listeners’ positive response, even if understanding had to come later.

Whether “truth-telling” comes naturally to us or not, whether our life stories are peppered with ups and downs (whose are not?), my recommendation is that we take our cue from the Scriptures and risk on occasion, finding a space and a companion or two whom we trust and place ourselves into their hands. I would hope – and would wager – that the benefits will outweigh the risks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fathers

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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

Over 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.

If Only…

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Christ, encouragement, God, heart, humble, love, others, Peace, Philippians, psalm 131, quiet, Scripture, selfishness, solace, spirit, St. Paul, stillness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vainglory

Reading today’s assigned Scripture texts for liturgy made me wish everyone – from the famous to the infamous – would pay attention to the messages. First we have Paul pleading with the Philippians to be united and then in what we actually call the psalm response the psalmist takes a humble tone that might actually turn things around if all were to act out of it. I imagine it as a conversation between God and us today. See if that makes sense and what might be the result if everyone took it to heart.

GOD: Brothers and sisters, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for your own interests but also everyone for those of others. (PHIL 2: 1-4)

US: O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I busy not myself with great things, nor with things too sublime for me. Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap, so is my soul within me. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace. (Ps 131: 1-2)

Possibility

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dreams, Emily Dickinson, possibility, Scripture, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, work

Not awakened by any word of Scripture this morning, I will pass on only a brief sentence said once (or probably many times) by Emily Dickinson – a perfect beginning to another round of work or study or dreaming new dreams:

I dwell in possibility.