“I’m going fishing” (Jn 21:3) - 3rd Sunday of Easter

 

Sometimes ‘doing Lectio’ can be very engaging from an imaginative perspective … which can lead to great depth, and very honest conversation with the Lord.

The beginning of the Gospel caught my imagination in this Sunday's Gospel.  It is interesting that St John named five of the seven who were with Peter by the lake of Tiberias, when he got up and said he was going fishing.  Who were the (unnamed) ‘two others’?  And what if I put myself in amongst them as one of the two?  What might the conversation have been?  If I had had the chance to ask a question or to direct the conversation, what would I have said?

You see, a little flight of the imagination, but what it led to was quite absorbing, and instructive … and challenging, as almost all Lectio is.

Here were seven men, who had gone about with Jesus, listened to His teaching and been attracted by the truth He taught; captivated by the hope He was holding out to them of what it meant really to be human and even the fact that they were sons of the Father and destined for an eternity of communion with God in heaven.

And yet, at that moment in time when Jesus most needed the support of their faith in Him, Peter had denied Him three times … but he was not the only one to do so … Jesus had foretold that they would all fall away (Mt 26:31), and indeed they did – spectacularly, if we are to follow Mark’s account (Mk 14:52). 

Maybe, then, they were gathered together, all of them understanding Peter’s sense of having let Jesus down, because they were all equally guilty of having deserted Him to save themselves. 

Jesus hade already manifested Himself to them on two previous occasions, according to St John, yet here they now were, seemingly aimless and waiting; maybe confused?  not quite understanding what all the recent events meant for them?  what were they supposed to do next?  How were they to proclaim and to preach the Gospel and ask people to repent and believe in Jesus, when they had so badly failed Him?  How could their preaching be authentic and true, when they had for a moment turned from it?

A question I thought I might ask, would be something along this train of thought:

“How do you know if you love Jesus, if it is so easy to betray Him?”

What form might the conversation have taken? 

Peter must certainly have felt it: he had been so vehement in asserting the strength of his commitment to Jesus that he said he would go even to death with Him (Lk 22:33).  “And so said all the disciples” (Mt 26:35).

This is the year of mercy, and it seemed that on asking such a question, the response would be one of mutual upbuilding on one level – seeking to encourage one another that their joy at His resurrection now, and their sorrow for having failed Him, must mean something.  Though they had shown themselves that their love had been rather fickle, still it wasn’t lacking; and their desire to be faithful now must count for something too.  The fact that He had shown Himself to them must restore their hope, and give them reason to believe that He would not forsake them, though they had forsaken Him.

In their being together, I think, while they may not have been able to answer the question with conviction, at least they were together.  They could talk about Jesus; remember Him; and together try to work out what it all meant: His breathing the Holy Spirit upon them, giving them the power to forgive sin.  Their whole lives had been turned upside-down by Jesus, and they understood somehow that life could never be the same again; but how must they now live?  How could they recover from their betrayal?  What were they to do and how were they to live?

And in the ordinary simplicity of ‘going fishing,’ Jesus came to them again.  He was after all the only one who could reassure them that He did indeed believe in their love for Him and that they in turn must not doubt it.  Through His forgiveness, He set them free to love Him more faithfully, more deeply, more truly.  And through their acceptance of His mercy, their confidence and hope was restored, and they were enabled after all to lay down their lives for Him (cf Jn 13:37).

There may be a powerful message here for us; for we are not so perfect as to be certain of our unfailing fidelity to God.  Our very tendency to sin is a fair witness to this fact; and it is possible in a world where faith is not held to be a virtue, to lose hope and to allow our failures to dictate the strength (or lack thereof) of our commitment.  It’s easier to fall away and to give up; to stay lying in the dust (Ps 119:25) than to get back on your feet and risk falling again and again and again … …. and again.

But today’s Gospel seems to be one which tells of hope and seeks to strengthen us when we fall: as Jesus so often said, ‘Do not be afraid!’  So let us not be afraid, but embrace the mercy He offers to us at every moment; and let His mercy help us to deepen our faith in Him and in our love for Him, and let it increase in us, so that His light – the light of Christ may never be extinguished.

 

 

6th. Sunday of Easter

A line from the Alleluia verse of last Sunday's Mass held my attention all week. "LET ME LIVE IN YOU says the Lord" and then while still pondering on these words, to-day’s first Reading had an answering cry, stark and clear   "COULD ANYONE REFUSE"  Jesus the Divine Beggar pleading with you and with me -"let me live in you." 

Can we refuse Him?  In Mary we have a perfect example of one who when the Angel Gabriel came to her with a wondrous message from God, which at first greatly troubled her, asked: "How can this be done?" and on receiving an explanation simply said "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your Word."   (Lk.1)   In the Old testament we hear  Abraham,  Moses  and the prophet Isaiah replying in similar fashion when God seems to be making impossible demands "here I am Lord  send me."   Jesus  also, frequently  asked his followers in various ways "let me live in you."  Remember his talk with the Samaritan woman  "give me a drink" (Jn.4.7) and later in the Apocalypse makes a similar request: "behold I stand at  the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens to me I will come to him and eat with him and he with me."  And again in Mt11 Jesus pleads with us to shoulder his yoke and learn from him of the wonder and joy and peace of total surrender to his will for each of us.  There are many other moments when Jesus pleads with us, and never more eloquently than when he is hanging on the Cross arms outstretched, struggling to find a breath to whisper "I THIRST" - Can anyone refuse ---even the hardened Roman centurion  does not hesitate to hold a drink to Jesus’ parched  lips.  We know the reply Dan Shutte made in his song Here I am Lord,  is it I Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night - I will go Lord if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart"

And so to-day we can make the prayer of an English Dominican Bede Jarrett our own:

May He that is our Teacher, our Friend, our Lover, do His work with us in His own blessed way. May He teach us obedience through what He suffered - He that is our Friend may He help us to go the way He would have us go because we are His friends! May He that is our Lover burn us and cleanse us with the flames of His love, for we are poor and small in our souls, yet we wish to be more than that, He will help us but don't cry out at the way He deals with you. If you love, you must trust, and if you trust all is well. Lifting us, teaching us, helping us, loving us, may He still for all our failure look for beauty in the heart of pain. His final request "WAIT HERE AND KEEP AWAKE WITH ME"

Father if it is possible let this cup pass. Nevertheless let it be as you, not I would have it.

Behold the handmaid of the lord be it done to me according to your Word.

WAIT!

Solemnity of Christ the King

A Letter to His Majesty the King of Heaven and earth

"I shall keep my sheep in view"   Ezekiel

My Lord God, this week as I pondered over your Word from this week's Mass readings, I often wondered why you care for us as you do.

In fact I used to wonder why my father - a very sensible man - ever bothered to rear sheep at all,  troublesome creatures that they are - headstrong and so stupid they would break your heart.

And yet My Lord, YOU keep us in view and we indeed  did break your heart, piercing it through with a lance until blood and water poured out, and I know You would do it again for even one of your children in trouble.

You are truly our Shepherd King; deeper than all else is your Fatherly care for each one individually. I can't even imagine how you do keep each one of us, your so wayward children, within the beam of those gentle and merciful eyes of yours, and yet ‘twas yourself who told us that the very hairs of our head are numbered---not by angels but by yourself - and that we matter more to you than many sparrows.

Long ago, you spoke to us through your prophet telling us "I myself will show my sheep where to rest, I shall bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong” and allow me to remind you that there are many  many of your children suffering for the sake of your Name these times.

And Your Majesty, if I may make so bold as to ask You one more question, why, oh why, why do you really love and care for us so much ?

Perhaps the poet Francis Thompson caught a glimpse of this mystery when he wrote his beautiful poem "The Hound of Heaven.” I quote,

"Alack, thou knowest not how little worthy of any love thou art!

Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee save Me, save only Me.

All which I took from thee I did but take, not for thy harms, but just that thou might'st seek it in my arms.

all which thy child's mistake fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home,

Rise clasp my hand and come.

Halts by me that footfall, Is my gloom, after all, shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?

Ah fondest, blindest, weakest, I am He whom thou seekest!   

Oh my Lord you are truly our 'beautiful beautiful beautiful God breathing your love - in the hearts of us all.   cf Patrick Kavanagh.                  

   WE THANK YOU.

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 

In the first creation story in the Book of Genesis, we read the words:

            “Then God said,

            ‘Let us make man in our image and after our likeness …’

and      “So God created man in his own image,

            in the image of God he created him;

            male and female he created them.”

 

This day, we have been celebrating the feast of the Most Holy Trinity – we, who are all images of God, are specifically images of the Most Holy Trinity.  It is a mysterious truth, yet true it is: so much so, that it is in fact our very salvation.  Can we know what it means?

For many saints of the past, they understood that to gaze on God – to contemplate Him – gave them insights into who they were themselves.  And when we in our own lives take time to think about God, today’s feast reminds us that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit – pure relation – so perfectly Love, so wholly and completely giving Himself in love, that He abides in and with Himself in joy and delight and love … constantly.  The Father in the Son; the Son in the Father; the Father and Son in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit in the Father and the Son.

Who are we?  Where can we find God?

The wonder of the Blessed Trinity for us, is that we are invited in Love to share in this inner life of God.  We have received grace to know that for us God is personal and profoundly intimate, utterly and foolishly in love with us, with the love He pours out in Himself – Father to Son; Son to Father; in the Holy Spirit.

In today’s Gospel we heard Jesus say to Nicodemus;

            “God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son.

            … For God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world,

            but so that through Him the world might be saved.”

The Most Holy Trinity, in Whom is our faith, is – as far as can be grasped in this life – intimate, infinite love, deeply personal – and He is also for us … for you.

            God sent His Son into you

            He loved you so much

            that He gave His only Son.

            For God sent His Son into you

            not to condemn you

            but so that through Him

            you might be saved.

Today’s feast reminds us that our search for God should not cause us to wander far or blindly – for Jesus is in you – and where He is, there also is the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Let us not refuse to believe in the name of God’s only Son, for He alone can complete us and make us whole – and being in the image of the Blessed Trinity, we need to turn to Him for help to be the love that He is – and with His grace .. we can be love, as He is Love.

What a far more amazing world this would be if we could keep it in mind!

 

Dare to Believe?

Inspiration ...

Next Sunday's Gospel from Matthew speaks about 'your virtue' going 'deeper than that of the Scribes and Pharisees.'  This is prompted a very interesting reflection just a while ago, as Sisters in our Community shared a little, the words of this Gospel with which they have been praying during this week.

You will remember that in Luke's Gospel, when the sisters Martha and Mary welcomed the Lord to their home, Mary sat at his feet and listened to Him (cf Lk 10:38-42).

Well, the connection in my head and in my reflection was that Jesus is our virtue - God is our virtue.  We believe and we know that the source of all goodness is in God ... in fact is God working in us, with our free desire to be and to do good.  We are not by any means puppets or marionettes!  But the thought that came to me was simply that Goodness, and consequently virtue and wisdom, along with all that we associate with God ... is a Person: is personified in God Himself.

How amazing!  Jesus, then, is telling us that He is our virtue and more .. He who is God wants us to possess this virtue - to possess Him.  Almost as though He would like to be a marionette for us, 'our puppet.'  He wants to dwell very deeply within us, within YOU ... you are as essential as that to Him.  

Why?
LOVE.  The love of the Lord is utterly mind-boggling, that He would make Himself small enough to fit inside us. 
It is a very amazing gift to have been called like Mary, to sit at His feet and listen to Him.  And when we listen, sometimes what we hear is overwhelming.

Maybe it would be worth giving Him a little extra thought ... who knows?  He might whisper that He loves you; and from where we are here, in the monastery, it seems as though there are not enough of us giving Him the chance to do just that:  and very very very many of us need to hear it. 

Who doesn't like hearing how precious they are?

Year of Faith: World Day Celebrating Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)

 

Pope Francis' homily at the Mass this morning is excellent - we have taken it from the Vatican web site and share with our readers here: 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

            This celebration has a very beautiful name: “Evangelium Vitae”, the Gospel of Life. In this Eucharist, in the Year of Faith, let us thank the Lord for the gift of life in all its forms, and at the same time let us proclaim the Gospel of Life.

            On the basis of the word of God which we have heard, I would like to offer you three simple points of meditation for our faith: first, the Bible reveals to us the Living God, the God who is life and the source of life; second, Jesus Christ bestows life and the Holy Spirit maintains us in life; and third, following God’s way leads to life, whereas following idols leads to death.

1. The first reading, taken from the Second Book of Samuel, speaks to us of life and death. King David wants to hide the act of adultery which he committed with the wife of Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in his army. To do so, he gives the order that Uriah be placed on the front lines and so be killed in battle. The Bible shows us the human drama in all its reality: good and evil, passion, sin and its consequences. Whenever we want to assert ourselves, when we become wrapped up in our own selfishness and put ourselves in the place of God, we end up spawning death. King David’s adultery is one example of this. Selfishness leads to lies, as we attempt to deceive ourselves and those around us. But God cannot be deceived. We heard how the prophet says to David: “Why have you done evil in the Lord’s sight? (cf. 2 Sam 12:9). The King is forced to face his deadly deeds; he recognizes them and he begs forgiveness: “I have sinned against the Lord!” (v. 13). The God of mercy, who desires life, then forgives David, restores him to life. The prophet tells him: “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die”.

What is the image we have of God? Perhaps he appears to us as a severe judge, as someone who curtails our freedom and the way we live our lives. But the Scriptures everywhere tell us that God is the Living One, the one who bestows life and points the way to fullness of life. I think of the beginning of the Book of Genesis: God fashions man out of the dust of the earth; he breathes in his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living being (cf. 2:7).  God is the source of life; thanks to his breath, man has life. God’s breath sustains the entire journey of our life on earth. I also think of the calling of Moses, where the Lord says that he is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of the living. When he sends Moses to Pharaoh to set his people free, he reveals his name: “I am who I am”, the God who enters into our history, sets us free from slavery and death, and brings life to his people because he is the Living One. I also think of the gift of the Ten Commandments: a path God points out to us towards a life which is truly free and fulfilling. The commandments are not a litany of prohibitions, but a great “Yes!”: a yes to God, to Love, to life. Dear friends, our lives are fulfilled in God alone. He is the Living One!

2. Today’s Gospel brings us another step forward. Jesus allows a woman who was a sinner to approach him during a meal in the house of a Pharisee, scandalizing those present. Not only does he let the woman approach but he even forgives her sins, saying: “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Lk 7:47). Jesus is the incarnation of the Living God, the one who brings life amid deeds of death, sin, selfishness and self-absorption. Jesus accepts, loves, uplifts, encourages, forgives, restores the ability to walk, gives back life. Throughout the Gospels we see how Jesus by his words and actions brings the transforming life of God. This was the experience of the woman who anointed the feet of the Lord with ointment: she felt understood, loved, and she responded by a gesture of love: she let herself be touched by God’s mercy, she obtained forgiveness and she started a new life.

            This was also the experience of the Apostle Paul, as we heard in the second reading: “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). What is this life? It is God’s own life. And who brings us this life? It is the Holy Spirit, the gift of the risen Christ. The Spirit leads us into the divine life as true children of God, as sons and daughters in the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Are we open to the Holy Spirit? Do we let ourselves be guided by him? Christians are “spiritual”. This does not mean that we are people who live “in the clouds”, far removed from real life, as if it were some kind of mirage. No! The Christian is someone who thinks and acts in everyday life according to God’s will, someone who allows his or her life to be guided and nourished by the Holy Spirit, to be a full life, a life worthy of true sons and daughters. And this entails realism and fruitfulness. Those who let themselves be led by the Holy Spirit are realists, they know how to survey and assess reality. They are also fruitful; their lives bring new life to birth all around them.

3. God is the Living One; Jesus brings us the life of God; the Holy Spirit gives and keeps us in our new life as true sons and daughters of God. But all too often, people do not choose life, they do not accept the “Gospel of Life” but let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others. It is the eternal dream of wanting to build the city of man without God, without God’s life and love – a new Tower of Babel. It is the idea that rejecting God, the message of Christ, the Gospel of Life, will somehow lead to freedom, to complete human fulfilment. As a result, the Living God is replaced by fleeting human idols which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death. The wisdom of the Psalmist says: “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Ps 19:8).

            Dear brothers and sisters, let us look to God as the God of Life, let us look to his law, to the Gospel message, as the way to freedom and life. The Living God sets us free! Let us say “Yes” to love and not selfishness. Let us say “Yes” to life and not death. Let us say “Yes” to freedom and not enslavement to the many idols of our time. In a word, let us say “Yes” to the God who is love, life and freedom, and who never disappoints (cf. 1 Jn 4:8; Jn 11:2; Jn 8:32). Only faith in the Living God saves us: in the God who in Jesus Christ has given us his own life, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit has enabled us to live as true sons and daughters of God. This faith brings us freedom and happiness. Let us ask Mary, Mother of Life, to help us receive and bear constant witness to the “Gospel of Life”.

4th Sunday of Lent - Year C

I think if I had to choose just one Gospel passage to reflect on for the rest of my life I would choose the parable of the Prodigal son. Already I have probably spent more time with it than any other piece of Scripture mainly because it raised issues for me and I knew that if I could stay with it until it revealed God’s word to me, it would change me. For a long time I couldn’t get my head around the idea that the Father could love these two sons so much, that they could be in the presence of such love, and not experience it. How could it be? I can understand it happening with a human parent. Many of us I’m sure only under stood how much our parents loved us, when we got to the stage in our own lives, where we were able to see how much we loved others in spite of our woundedness and oft times the damage our unresolved issues may have caused. But this is God. His love is untarnished by human sin or weakness. There are no projections, no hidden agendas, no demands. Then how is it that one son takes off and the other stays but seems to resent being deprived the very thing he stays for, his Father’s love and approval? He was physically present but was as oblivious to the depth of his father’s love for him as his brother was. And I, when I let the unsettled feelings I had around all this surface, found myself resenting God, blaming God for not getting through to them, or not making it clearer. In my head I knew the fault couldn’t lie with Him but time after time I had to grapple with it. I was identifying, with these sons. I was n’t experiencing God’s love either, not with the certainty I wished to have, not as a felt experience, even though I professed to believe that ‘He loved me with an everlasting love and was constant in his affection for me’. But God doesn’t give up, on them or on us. No matter where life brings us to, God is always present, always active in the situation, always wanting to bring us home. In truth the sole purpose of all our journeying is to bring us to a place where we are confronted with the Father’s unquestioning love , a moment of truth that still contains a choice, Do I enter the Feast or do I remain outside?

God’s love is unconditional and perhaps the reason we don’t experience it is because we are unable to conceive of or receive an utterly gratuitous love. When we are ready to receive freely then we will experience what is freely given. Our motives don’t even have to be pure we just have to know our need. We just have to accept the invite to enter the banqueting hall. There we will discover that his banner over us is love.

These two young men, one a long distance away, the other close at hand, have in fact one and the same journey to make. We are put on this earth to discover God’s love for us, to share that love with others, to be participants in the heavenly banquet. If we are outside whether we are a foot away or miles away God’s eyes will be ever watching, yearning for a glimpse of us, ready to usher us in so that his joy and ours may be complete.

We are left hanging at the end of this story.  Does the elder son hear what the father says? Even as he expresses his anger, jealousy and resentment, are the Father’s coaxing words, that most beautiful affirmation, the words he had so longed to hear, ‘You are with me always’ do they get through? In the very moment when he brings his bitterness into the light is he set free? Can he now hear his Father who is aware of all the negativity in him, telling him that he sees something more. He knows that his son is with him always. We don’t know for certain how the son responded but surely this text is given to us in Lent to provide us with the opportunity to place ourselves in the story and finish the tale.

 

3rd Sunday of Lent - Year C

 

“Strong is His love for us” –

we could say that this phrase from the responsorial psalm sums up the message of today’s Mass readings.

Our God is a ‘consuming fire’ who “forgives all our guilt” and “heals our ills” (Ps 102).  He is “compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.”

In the Gospel Jesus explains in the parable of the fig tree which did not bear fruit that he is always prepared to give us a second chance, to give us more time, in the hope that we will repent of our sins and failures.  “Give it (ie the fig tree) one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it – it may bear fruit next year!” (Gospel - Lk 13:1-9).

It is the same God who appeared to Moses while he went about his daily work of tending the flock and spoke to him from the burning bush.  Moses was standing on “holy ground” without knowing it!  God reveals His name as I AM.  When we live in the present we live in the PRESENCE of our God who knows all about the plight of His people and their desires for freedom. 

As God sent Moses to the people of Israel to be His mouth-piece and His instrument in freeing them from their bondage, so today He needs each of us to tell others of the love, compassion and forgiveness of our God.  We need not be afraid to open to Him for He will surpass all our expectations and dreams with the abundance of His love - “Strong is His love for us!”

“Only where God is seen does life truly begin.  Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is.  We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution.  Each of us is the result of a thought of God.  Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.  There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ.  There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him.”  (Pope Benedict XVI).

Something about JESUS

We’ve come out of Retreat (well, a week ago now) and I’ve noticed again how it happens that the sense that I haven’t even begun to know the Lord, is so strong. How do you meet Jesus, at that level or in that place where we most need to know Him, and to meet and be reached by Him?

The Sermon on the Mount (cf Mt 5) – I decided to start again at the ‘beginning’ and try and meet Him again. … ‘his fame spread throughout all Syria …’ (Mt 4:24); … ‘And great crowds followed him …’ (Mt 4:25) What would it have been like to have been one of the crowd? How did it happen that a person became one of the crowd: if they followed him not because they were sick or in need of any kind of healing? What was it about Him that drew so many people to Him?

It can be a lonely business, choosing God even when at the same time, on the other hand, it is a most wondrous and joy-filled experience – that moment when you say ‘yes’ to Jesus, because you just know that what He wants is not anything you can do or be, but purely and simply you. And He understands the loneliness: He’s in it too.

There’s something about Jesus.

There – on the ‘Mount’ – surrounded by the crowds of people, telling them who they are: building them up and encouraging them to keep reaching out for what it was they sought, that something that compelled them to go after Him. And He said:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit …; those who mourn …; the meek …

those who hunger and thirst for righteousness …; the merciful …

the pure in heart …; the peacemakers …; the persecuted …

Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account …’

Someone in the crowd was there, because you had heard Jesus, or maybe only heard about Him – and it wasn’t easy to come. You came alone because when leaving home, you hadn’t been able to put words on this force within you, drawing you powerfully on. It was hard to leave, but not possible not to. If they could only see what you saw – down there where you now know how everything at last fits, everything matters immensely – Jesus seems to have all the answers: more than that …
He is the answer to everything.

You were expecting them, maybe, to be full of joy for you, or at least to be happy for you; and at times, instead, the reverse seems to be the reality. And then the questions and even doubt begin to chip away at the certainty. Maybe they’re right. You know what you’re walking away from, you belong there; there you are acceptable, loved, happy.
… But there’s something about Jesus. …

He has changed the colour of everything and now the only way to live is by going after Him, though only He knows the way, and you don’t even really know what lies ahead. … But you do … He it is. And He is there on the mount, looking at you: speaking to you – ‘Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you … rejoice and be glad …’

He can see into your soul, He knows exactly how you long to follow Him, and yet want to stay – He knows how agonising the choice can sometimes be (though there really isn’t a choice). But maybe, … just maybe, He wants to be the One you lean on; the One whom you turn to for support; the One who understands.
His loneliness is greater than yours, because it’s not really you who is misunderstood, sure it isn’t?

… It’s Him.

Novena to St Catherine - Day 5

St Catherine on Obedience

As we, as a community, have been and continue to reflect on the theme of obedience, I would like to read extracts from one of Catherine’s Prayers, number eleven, which teaches us many things about obedience, but especially the profound and inseparable link between obedience and love. In this prayer Catherine makes reference to a statement made by the Father in the Dialogue with particular reference to love and obedience. I quote: “So you see that in whatever bond of love they finish their lives, that bond is theirs forever and lasts eternally. They are so conformed to my will that they can will only what I will. When time came to an end for them, and they died in grace, their freedom was so bound with the chains of charity that they are no longer capable of sin.” (No 41)




Catherine prays:

Eternal Godhead!
Your Truth shows us
that the soul must strip herself of her selfish will
if she wants to be clothed perfectly in yours.
Dispossessed of her own will,
she is so well clothed in yours
that she neither seeks nor desires anything
but what you seek and will for her.

You are in love with such a soul,
and she with you.
But you love her gratuitously,
since you loved her before she came to be,
while she loves you because it is her duty.
She has come to know that
she cannot love you gratuitously,
since it is she who is obligated to you,
not you to her,
and she has seen that this free love
which she cannot give to you
she must give to her neighbours,
loving them gratuitously
nor does she serve them for any profit she might get from them
but only for love;
and she loves them
because you command it
and it is her duty to obey you.

You who are fire
share the fire with her,
and in the fire
you fuse your will with hers
and hers with yours.
You who are strength
give her strength,
and she becomes so strong
that neither demon nor any other creature
can deprive her of your strength
unless she herself wills it-
nor will she ever will it
so long as she wears the garment of your will,
for it is only her own will
by itself
that makes her weaken.
You who are infinite,
make her infinite
by reason of the conformity you have brought about
between yourself and her-
by grace while she is a pilgrim in this life,
and in everlasting life by her seeing you eternally.
There she becomes so perfectly conformed with you
that her free choice is enchained
so that she can no longer be separated from you.
Thanks,
thanks to you high eternal Trinity,
for in your light you have refreshed my soul
by letting me see how we,
your creatures, are conformed with you,
and by teaching me how surpassing wonderful is your will.
High eternal Godhead, grant us your gentle benediction. Amen.

1st Sunday of Lent - Desert Experience

In this morning’s Gospel St Mark tells us that “the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert and he remained there and was put to the test by Satan” (Mk 2:12f)– a very stark picture at first glance!

Immediately before this passage we read about Jesus’ Baptism when He, the sinless One, took on the burden of our sins and was baptised by John. The heavens were opened and the Spirit descended on him and the voice from heaven declared: “You are my Son, the Beloved, my favour rests on you.” Strengthened in the conviction of being the Beloved of the Father, at once the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert…..

In the Old Testament the desert symbolised both the place of testing and the place of intimacy with God. We read in the Book of Deuteronomy:

“Remember the long road by which the Lord led you for forty years, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not …learn that the Lord was training you as a man trains his child.”

For the Old Testament prophets the desert symbolised the place of intimacy with the Lord as we read in the Prophet Hosea:

“I am going to seduce her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart …there she will respond to me”.

Hosea continues:

“when that day comes I shall make a treaty for them with the wild animals …and I will let them sleep secure.” (2:21)

and there follows these beautiful lines:

“I shall betroth you to myself forever
I shall betroth you in faithfulness and love
And you will come to know the Lord.”

For me these lines throw light on Mark’s description of Jesus being with the wild animals but the angels looked after him – the Father’s care for those who trust in Him.

The monastic way of life had its origin in the desert and in monastic spirituality the desert symbolises both the place of testing and the place of intimacy:-
The place of testing whereby we experience our own sinfulness and poverty and thus come to share and carry in our hearts the pain, the suffering and anxiety of all our fellow men and women as we journey through the desert of this life to our Father’s house.
The place of intimacy with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit – a silent witness which is a reminder to all of the truth of God’s existence and is worthy of the gift of our whole lives and at the same time is an invitation to everyone to enter “that space in the heart where every person is called to union with God.” (Verbi Sponsa).

This Lent may we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit into the desert of our own hearts – we need not be afraid of the wild beast or whatever obstacles we meet on the way for we are never alone – Jesus has already travelled through the desert for us and has conquered Satan and accompanies us every step of the way.

Is Religious Life just ‘Hard Work’?

Please accept our apologies for our silence during the past few weeks!
In the meantime we have had a week's community's 'holidays' - during which work is reduced a minimum and there is time and space for each sister to relax and take some extra rest, engage in favourite hobbies, watch a video etc.

Last week was given over to a course of lectures on St Thomas and his theology of grace.

On Monday next we begin our annual retreat of 8 days - at the end of which we look forward to welcoming an aspirant for a month's 'live-in' experience. We ask your prayers for the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit for her and for the other young women who are discernimg their vocation to contemplative monastic life in our Dominican Order.

We offer you the following reflection:

Is Religious Life just ‘Hard Work’?

Recently I came across a mention on a blog I follow to the effect that some people felt that his presentation of the spiritual life seemed to be one of working our way toward God, almost an endurance test. That got me thinking, since it seems to be a difficulty many people have with the Religious Life – the idea that it is something hard. I remember when I decided to enter I received a number of comments suggesting that I was doing something very demanding, especially since so few are entering nowadays. This impression of Religious Life as a hard thing fails to take into account the fundamental factor involved in a religious vocation – love.

In the first place, from a purely natural point of view, anyone who is passionate about something, regards as nothing what others would see as difficult. To give an example, I would consider 3 hours music practise a day as ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ if I had to do it, but for a gifted pianist it is as vital as breathing, because she loves it and, on good days, she is most fully alive while playing. In the same way, my religious life is where I am most fully alive and, more importantly, most fully open to God and in tune with His plan for me – “the glory of God is man fully alive” (St Irenaeus) In fact, that is what Vocation Discernment is all about, discovering that God is asking me to be here, in this place, for Him.

But it can appear to others as just ‘doing things for God’ or attempting to ‘earn salvation’. This is where love comes in. Everyone needs to give, do things for those they love. Think about it - if you were married to someone could you come home from work everyday and watch TV, totally ignoring your husband/wife and never doing anything with or for him/her, except periodically saying (while engrossed in the TV show) ‘Yes, of course I love you, how can you doubt it’. You couldn’t do it. We need to do things to show our love. And the beauty and wonder of God is that He lets us, even encourages us to, do things for Him. We don’t think we’re earning anything, anymore than a 3 or 4 year old who ‘helps’ with the housework thinks that he’s earning anything.

God doesn’t need us to do things for Him but He knows that, for our own sake, we need to do things for Him. First, because we have no other way to express our love, and also because our outward acts form our inward selves i.e. the surest way to become loving is to act lovingly. So my monastic observance (i.e. Daily Mass, Divine Office, Lectio Divina, Adoration, regular prayer times, spiritual reading, charitable acts etc.) helps me become more and more conformed to God and grow in love of Him. Now, God sees our need to show our love by concrete acts, but he also knows that we’re not much good at this loving action and so He gives us His grace, which enables us to “act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with our God” (Mic 6:8). And this is the most important factor in any Religious Vocation – God’s grace/love. Each person’s vocation is God’s work, He calls us and He gives us the grace to be able to respond to His call - “He who called you is faithful and He will carry it out” (1Thess 5:24) It is in this grace that I live my monastic life and when I make my vows for life I will do so knowing that I can make this vow because God is faithful and in Him my vow rests secure. I do not rely on my own ability but on the strength of God’s grace upholding my efforts. But, and this is important, I must make the effort. To take an example from my own vocation discernment – initially I just prayed that I would discover my vocation and expected God to do everything else. I was waiting for the right Order to ‘appear’. But it was only by contacting Orders, visiting them and praying about my impressions that I discovered where God wanted me to be.

So Religious Life (or any Christian Life) does involve work and effort but it is work with God rather than work for God and so it is in no way hard work.