Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Saint Scholastica, twin sister of Saint Benedict (c. 480-547)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 8 The Divine Office at Night

Mass: For the memorial of St Scholastica: Songs 8:6-7; Resp Ps 148; 2 Cor 10:12-11:2; Lk 10:38-42

For the feria: Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17; Resp Ps 104; Mk 7:14-23

Your glory fills all heaven and earth.

DEVOTE YOURSELF OFTEN TO PRAYER.

(Rule of Saint Benedict 4:56)

Dear friends, happy feast of Saint Scholastica. It is a fitting day to devote yourself to prayer as Saint Scholastica's prayer was even mightier than her brother's. And that is no small matter. With the holy twins interceding for us, we are encouraged. 

What we know about Saint Scholastica comes from Pope Saint Gregory the Great and his Book II of the Dialogues, Life and Miracles of St. Benedict, Chapters 33 and 34. You can read some of the story in today's Office of Readings. I share with you an embellished version, something I wrote in 2012. Kyrie eleison.

As holy as Saint Benedict was, there was one occasion when he was unable to attain what he desired. In later chapters of the Dialogue, St. Gregory writes of Benedict's sister Scholastica, herself a holy woman, who consecrated herself to God in early childhood and who used to visit with her brother once a year. It was in a meeting detailed by St. Gregory that Scholastica's prayer was even mightier than her brother's. After the siblings had already "spent the whole day singing God's praises and conversing about the spiritual life", Scholastica asked her brother to stay the night so they could continue their holy conversation. Adamant about returning to his own monastery, Benedict refused. Even though the sky was clear, Scholastica "folded her hands on the table and rested her head upon them in earnest prayer". Just then a torrential downpour began and Benedict was unable to leave. Asking his sister what on earth she had done, Scholastica replied, "When I appealed to you, you would not listen to me. So I turned to my God and He heard my prayer". God answering Scholastica's prayer makes sense to St. Gregory who writes, "Do we not read in St. John that God is Love? Surely it is not more than right that [Scholastica's] influence was greater than [Benedict's], since hers was the greater love." Because of the love that Scholastica had for God and her brother, she and Benedict profited greatly from continuing their spiritual discussion all through the night. 

Furthermore, 

Ch. 34 [of the Dialogues] continues with three days after their visit when Benedict who "stood in his room looking up toward the sky ... beheld his sister's soul leaving her body and entering the heavenly court in the form of a dove". Benedict subsequently had his sister's body brought to his abbey and placed in the tomb which had already been prepared for him. St. Gregory adds, "their minds had always been united in God; their bodies were to share a common grave."

LET THEM PREFER NOTHING WHATEVER TO CHRIST, AND MAY HE BRING US ALL TOGETHER TO EVERLASTING LIFE.

(RB 72:11-12)

Today's photo: This magnificent work of art was done by Sister Protasia Schindler, OSB (late 19th century, early 20th), a Benedictine Sister of Mt. Angel, Oregon. It hangs in the Queen of Angels Monastery Dining Room. Other works by Sister Protasia adorn the Monastery. Image used with permission of the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Tuesday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time

 Fra Angelico,  St Romuald

Saint Romuald (d. 1027)

Readings of the day: RB 15 When the Alleluia Should Be Said

Mass: 1 K 21:17-29; Resp Ps 51; Mt 5:43-48

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Jesus’ words to each and every one of us are difficult. I think of St Benedict’s words as well: ‘You are not to act in anger or nurse a grudge’ (RB 4:22-23). These commands, so contrary to our first inclination, so necessary for followers of Jesus who gives us a new commandment, ‘love one another as I have loved you.’ Jesus loves and forgives without exception, for ‘our heavenly Father makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.’ 

It would do us well, today, to think of our enemy—I think all of us have one—someone who has hurt us or wants to hurt us. The Mafia’s prayer is: ‘You’ll pay me back.’ The Christian prayer is: ‘Lord, give them your blessing, and teach me to love them.’ Let us think of one enemy, and pray for them. May the Lord to give us the grace to love them.

(Pope Francis, Homily, June 19, 2018)

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Readings of the day: RB 7:59

Mass: Ho 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9; Resp Ps (Is 12); Ep 3:8-12, 14-19; Jn 19:31-37
Sa

NB. This reflection was presented at a Communion Service today. The reader will recognize echoes from other blog posts, most noticeably that of May 25, 2018.

May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith.

The theology of the today’s Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is wrapped up nicely in the Preface for Mass, with the fitting title, ‘The Boundless Charity of Christ’: ‘For raised up high on the Cross, Jesus gave himself up for us with a wonderful love and poured out blood and water from his pierced side, the wellspring of the Church’s Sacraments, so that, won over to the open heart of the Savior, all might draw joyfully from the springs of salvation.’

My reflections come from pondering two aspects of the Preface: first, the wonderful love of Jesus; second, the implications of this wonderful love received in the Eucharist, the wellspring of the Church’s Sacraments. 

What about the wonderful love of God described in the first reading by the Prophet Hosea: wonderful love that is tender, drawing us up into the arms of God, that raises us like infants, that feeds us and heals us? It is the love contained in Psalm 102 sung at Morning Prayer:

It is God who forgives all your guilt,

who heals every one of your ills,

who redeems your life from the grave,

who crowns you with love and compassion,

who fills your life with good things,

renewing your youth like an eagle’s.

This is wonderful love given to each and every one of us, without exception. We are to be won over by this wonderful love and do something with it. We turn to the Eucharist we are about to receive. 

Every time we receive the Eucharist, every time the wonderful love of Jesus enters our hearts, we are transformed. We are drawn into the intimate and wonderful love of the Father and the Son. We cannot be onlookers or bystanders. We are to participate in this wonderful love. In a recent Catechesis on the Mass, Pope Francis told those gathered in St Peter’s Square: “‘Through the Eucharist’, the Lord Jesus enters in us, in our heart and in our flesh, so that we can ‘express in life the Sacrament received in faith’.” In faith then, we receive the Sacrament of Love. We are called to open our hearts so that our hearts can be pierced by Jesus, by wonderful Love. We are not to lock Jesus into our hearts though, keeping him for ourselves, not letting him out. Rather, we give Christian witness and express in word, gesture, and deed the unconditional love of Jesus Christ, the wonderful love of which Hosea speaks, and the psalmist sings. In other words, we receive so that we give.

There are myriad ways we may express the Sacrament of Love received in faith. A few ideas from St Benedict come to mind: ‘honour everyone; bear with one another in weaknesses of body and behaviour, and never do to another what we do not want done to ourselves’. Other ways to express Love received include sitting quietly with someone who is hurting, anxious, or in pain; listening to someone tell you her story or experience, even though you’ve heard it before, or simply smiling at someone. Most importantly, we can pray, for all those who ask for our prayers, for those who don’t have anyone to pray for them, and also for those with whom we are at odds, as Pope Francis says: ‘We all have our likes and dislikes, and perhaps at this very moment we are angry with someone. At least let us say to the Lord: ‘Lord, I am angry with this person, with that person. I pray to you for him or her’. To pray for a person with whom I am irritated is a beautiful step forward in love, and an act of evangelization.’ Pope Francis encourages us: ‘Let us do it today! Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the ideal of fraternal love!’ (Evangelii Gaudium, 101).

May our hearts, then, be won over to the open heart of the Savior. May the wonderful love of Christ dwell in our hearts through faith so that all may draw joyfully from the springs of salvation.

First Saturday of the Month: Saint Katherine Drexel (1858-1955):

Saint Katherine Drexel (1858-1955): American; heiress; philanthropist; foundress Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Xavier University of Louisiana; canonized 2000.

Readings of the day: RB 26 Unlawful Association with the Excommunicated

Mass: Mi 7:14-15, 18-20; Resp Ps 103; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

The Prodigal Son, Rembrandt

Now we must celebrate and rejoice; because your brother was dead and

has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.

We all make mistakes; we do things we later regret; we say something harsh or critical to a loved one; we waste money or material goods; think we can make it on our own. In other words, we are all prodigal. Even so, there comes a time when we want to make amends; we hope for a second chance. T. Dajczer (d. 2009) writes this in his commentary on today’s Gospel: ‘I cannot return to the loving Father unless I am convinced I am a needy prodigal. However, to start the way back I need a trial of faith so that I realize in some small or big way that I am helpless. The situation will remind us of that critical moment when that famous prodigal son becomes a pig farmer. 

Every one of us is prodigal. Human life is a continual departure from God. It needs to be a continual return to him…conversion needs to be a regular event in my Christian life.’

THE LORD IS KIND AND MERCIFUL.

He pardons all your iniquities,

he heals all your ills.

He redeems your life from destruction,

he crowns you with kindness and compassion.

He will not always chide,

nor does he keep his wrath forever.

Not according to our sins does he deal with us,

nor does he requite us according to our sins.

(Resp. Ps 103)

Second Sunday of Lent

Readings of the day: RB 19 Our Approach to Prayer

Mass: Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Resp Ps 116; Rm 8:31b-34; Mk 9:2-10

This is my beloved Son.

Listen to him.

Today’s Gospel prompted me to pull out picture postcards from a 2000 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. One of my favorite excursions was the trek to the top of Mount Tabor and the Basilica of the Transfiguration. I have three cards: one a view of the landscape with Tabor rising in the distance; the other two from the basilica—the stained-glass window of the crypt with peacocks and the Transfiguration mosaic. To reach the basilica the pilgrim could either walk up the Mount or take a wild car ride. One memory that lingers is the sight of people hang gliding off the mountain—oh how I wished I could join in. I also remember the sun and heat of the day—the enriching time had by all. I could have stayed on the mountain all day; it was one of those experiences I didn’t want to end. 

The passage from Mark’s Gospel recounts Jesus leading Peter, James, and John up a high mountain apart, by themselves. There, Jesus was transfigured before them—his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. Now Elijah and Moses appear talking with Jesus. This was an experience Peter didn’t want to end. He exclaims: ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’

We’ve all had moments we wish could last forever: time alone with a loved one; a really good party; the vacation of a lifetime; enjoying a favorite meal with your best friends; receiving accolades; watching your favorite team win the Super Bowl. We know life isn’t like that though. Life is full of joys, delights, thrills. At the same time, we experience times of sadness, grief, illness, diminishment, loneliness, times when we are not recognized or appreciated for our contribution to the family, community, work team. Jesus calls us to come down from the peaks and walk with him on the daily pilgrimage to death and resurrection. Jesus asks us to pick up our cross and follow him. We are on our way to everlasting life; now, we live the ups and downs of daily life; we struggle, we suffer, we die to self. Jesus accompanies us to the mountain tops, to the valleys, into the pits. Jesus is with us; He is with you. Jesus loves us; He loves you. May we walk more closely with Him during this Lenten journey and ‘look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come’ (Profession of Faith, The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed).

I consider that the sufferings of the present time

are not to be compared with the future glory that is to be revealed in us.

(Rm 8:18)

If God is with us, who can be against us?

(Rm 8:31b)

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time: MARDI GRAS

Readings of the day: RB 11 Vigils or Night Office on Sunday

Mass: Jm 1:12-18; Resp. Ps 94; Mk 8:14-21

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights.

(Jm 1:17)

Like the disciples in today’s Gospel account, we forget the gifts God has bestowed upon us. The disciples had forgotten about Jesus feeding five thousand people on five loaves and four thousand people on seven—with leftovers! We see the disciples behaving like the Pharisees: wanting signs, making demands upon Jesus, being rebellious and skeptical. Jesus questions them: have your hearts hardened; have your eyes not seen; your ears not heard? What is our attitude to the presence of Jesus in our midst? Do we recognize His enduring love and mercy showered upon us day in and day out, in gifts great, namely, the Eucharist, and small alike—in a smile, a gesture of thanks, an act of courtesy, a helping hand, a word of encouragement, a warm embrace. Let us remember. Let us be thankful.

The ate and had their fill, and what they craved the Lord gave them;

they were not disappointed in what they craved.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 7:51-54

Mass: Job 7:1-4, 6-7; Resp. Psalm 147; 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39

Sr Godelieve on her daily walk

From an early age I developed an affinity for ‘older’ people. This may be due to being the youngest in a large family; one constantly exposed to ‘older than I’ people—the environment in which I grew up; an experience for which I am grateful. Our neighborhood, too, was abuzz with small people and big people in the mix. ‘Older’ people were constantly coming and going in our house, including friends of my parents (most of whom would be in their 90s by now). I was always in their midst and learned how to respect my parents’ friends; how to ‘behave’ (not sure I was so successful at this) in their presence and address them appropriately. When I think of these women and men, I still call them Mr and Mrs so and so. I still recall by name all the women in my mom’s Bridge Club! As a result, I have never really thought of these people as ‘old’ per se. They are simply men and women whom I came to love. In fact, to this day, when I return to my hometown to visit my sibs, I stay with the parents of a sister-in-law. I’ve known them forever it seems—they are always happy to see me. I like to hang out with them so to speak, and they humor me by letting me mow the lawn, or go out to “Pete’s” with their friends on Friday night. They are dear—I love them. 

When I entered the monastery 18 years ago, I was immediately drawn to the older sisters. As I look back, my best friends in community have always been the elders. Adding to my affinity for the elders was a special reverence for the infirmed. Immediately after I made my First Monastic Profession, the Prioress told to go the Infirmary to receive a blessing from the sisters there. It became customary for me, then, upon returning from a trip to make the Infirmary my first stop. What a gift for me to be welcomed by ‘my people’ as I like to call them. Hanging out in the infirmary became a favorite pastime. This was even extended to the Nursing Center next to the monastery. Being with the folks on ‘Memory Lane’ is something I sorely miss.

Now I am gifted with the opportunity to wake the eldest in our community from her nightly slumber. She happens to be 94 years old—sharp in mind, a lifelong learner, a delight. She goes with and eggs on my playfulness upon first waking. More often than not, we are giggling sooner rather than later. It may be her speaking in French, or telling me about her dream, or my customary, ‘How did you sleep?’.

This brings me to today’s Gospel account of Jesus loving the infirmed. Jesus was a young man with an obvious affinity for the infirmed, many of whom were likely older than he. He touched them, laughed with them, loved them unconditionally. The infirmed are His people. Jesus sees these people not as untouchables, or those to ‘put up with’, or scream at because they ‘can’t remember’ or ‘can’t hear’. Jesus sees them as sheep without a shepherd; sheep who crave love and affection. Come to think of it, we are those sheep who crave love. All of us. I am reminded of words from Pope Benedict XVI, already included in the post of December 9, 2017: ‘Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave’ (Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est, 18). The people gathered at the door of Jesus; they pursued Him wherever He went; His people found Him! We may or may not find ourselves with physical infirmities such as fevers, aches and pains, lameness, terminal illness, leprosy, or the like. What all of us find ourselves with are spiritual and emotional infirmities such as depression, isolation, neglect, loneliness—all wounds of one kind or the other. What is important to remember, no matter our condition, is: We are ‘Jesus’ kind of people—young and old alike. He waits to embrace us; grasp our hand; help us up; give us the look of love we crave; heal our wounds, Indeed, ‘Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.’ ALLELUIA.

Jesus wants us to be found by those who look for Him.

But to look for Him we have to get up and go out.

(Pope Francis, Tweet, February 4, 2018)