News & Notes: February 14, 2012

February 14, 2012

 

Dear Parents,
God’s peace!

 

I would imagine after almost five years that the reflections written might repeat themselves from time to time… but then I remember a line from the Old Testament that reminds me that “there is nothing new under the sun!”  Same lessons learned… same truths known…but different experiences portray what we have learned and known as life carries on.

Last evening I met with one of our sisters to discuss a meeting we need to prepare for during the summer months.  (It sound pretty important, but the reality is we’re the “entertainment committee”… so not very serious!)  We decided to meet somewhere for dinner, and the place was determined by a gift certificate I was blessed to receive.

As we began to enjoy our dinner and talked of our summer plans for the meeting, the hostess visited our table to let us know that some generous soul had picked up our bill…not only that…but someone else wanted to pick it up and was disappointed that it had already been paid! (Imagine!)   As a result he paid for gift certificates for our next visit to the restaurant.  We thanked both kind people for their kindness to us… and in speaking to the gentleman who gave us the gift certificates (Joe), he shared with us his pride in being a part of a project that he helped to create.  The project was building a small school in the poorest section of Jamaica.  Joe began to speak of friends who boasted of more visible feats of valor… being a part of large building projects… donating large sums of money and receiving recognition… endowing multimillion dollar projects… but as Joe began to share his experiences his eyes lit up when the conversation turned to Raymond, a three year old boy he met in Jamaica.  Raymond didn’t speak.  Although surrounded by plenty of active children, Raymond kept to himself and didn’t respond verbally to any question or in response to any need.  Joe found this curious, so he made arrangements to have Raymond’s hearing checked.  The results were just as Joe suspected… Raymond was deaf.  Joe didn’t stop with this diagnosis.  He made arrangements to have Raymond checked out by the best.  Because of Joe’s persistence and his generosity, Raymond went through surgery to correct some of his hearing loss. This surgery coupled with hearing aids allowed Raymond to hear…and eventually to speak for the first time.

Joe glowed as he spoke of Raymond.  “He’s nine now… and he can speak!  This is the greatest of all accomplishments… to know that I could help to make a deaf boy hear.” This delight must have been what Christ experienced when he healed the deaf…and last night I glimpsed Christ’s face mirrored in Joe’s… I am certain of this.

Some may be called to fashion large buildings… make sizeable donations… influence thousands of people… but Joe simply found a way to share his abundance by influencing others through education and through following a hunch when it came to opening a whole new world to a little deaf boy.

What are we called to do?  If we’ve been given great wealth perhaps we are called to find ways to share it with those who have little…  If we’ve been given talents perhaps we are called to share them with others so as to enrich their lives … If we have been given the gift to listen… to make others laugh… to share wisdom…then we are called to share these with others as well.  Each of us has been given so very much…  what if we were more like Joe and thought of others first and ourselves well after that?

Although Joe provided us with a meal last night… he provided us with so very much more… he shared with us nourishment for the soul…and stirred in our hearts the need to do more…

When I shared this story with others… most were amazed at having the tab picked up… for me…however, I was most in awe of one man’s dedication to making the lives of others richer… one education… one small boy… at a time.

May we all seek ways to enrich the lives of others… one small gesture at a time.

Know all of us at St. Rita School remain grateful for the many kindnesses we have received from each of you.  May the sacred heart of Christ bless you with abundance today and every day!

 

In prayer,
Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: February 7, 2012

February 7, 2012

Dear Parents,
God’s peace!

As I was considering this week’s topic, I found myself reflecting on a photograph I took a time ago.  It was a picture of an old barn door with a lock on one side and a handle to open and close the door on the other.  I wondered about the message this simple snap shot might hold.  For me, (at least on this particular day) it spoke of hearts… certainly mine…and perhaps yours.  We tend to lock our hearts up now and then… we choose who we will respond to and who will be left out.  We close ourselves in at times in fear of being “found out” (whatever that means)… and there are moments when I wish even God would not enter into my heart of hearts.  In spending time with this photo I noticed that the handle was worn… apparently the result of being open often.  Isn’t this true of our hearts?  We open them wide and then when hurt…we retreat into ourselves and lock our heart-doors… in an attempt to never be hurt or disappointed again…but then… something near miraculous happens.  Something coaxes us out of the fortresses we’ve built.  It might be a kind word… a gesture that encourages…an expression of gratitude… a smile…something genuine.  We then become courageous enough to unlock the fetters and risk again.

This photo also held another image… two shafts of wood separated the lock and the handle.  The wood formed a simple cross.  The horizontal beam joined both lock and handle.  Perhaps there is some wisdom here.  We can’t often open the door of our hearts without the grace that Christ so longs to give us.  The true victory of the cross is not that all is alleluia… but rather that pain and hardship are not the end… the story is not over… the “going through” or “opening up” results in resurrection… in alleluia (and how glorious that is)!  This is not a one time life occurrence, however.  Time and time again we put on the heart-lock and then…with God’s grace… we are brave enough to swing open the door to risk again.

As we anticipate Valentine’s Day, perhaps we can go beyond the glittery cards and the tufted candy boxes and truly reflect on what lies deepest in our hearts.   St. Valentine helped to encourage those soon to be martyred.  He gave hope to those who faced the most tragic of ends…an end that he would soon see himself.  He was imprisoned by his captors, but refused to imprison his own heart.

What causes us to close our hearts?  What must we break free of to live heart-free?  How can we ask God to free us from all that closes us in?

A blessed day of hearts…

 

In prayer,
Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: January 31, 2012

January 31, 2012

 

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

Did you ever have the experience of having heard or seen something over and over again… and yet you didn’t really hear or see it?  I have driven by certain spots every day…and suddenly…I notice a sign… a landmark…something that has been there (at least as long as I have driven past it) and yet today… I notice it for the first time.  Why now?  Why on this particular day?  I have also had the occasion to watch a film only to get in the middle of it… and realize…that I had seen the film before (and ironically I don’t remember the ending!)  Is this simply a side effect of growing older?  Perhaps aging has something to do with this phenomenon, but I think it’s more than that.  For me, I know it’s as simple as not consciously living in the present moment.

If I am not living in the present moment, then where am I living?  I only have the grace to live here…now.  I don’t have the grace to re-enter yesterday’s experiences and relive them… I don’t have the grace to make decisions about tomorrow because God is not in tomorrow yet and neither am I.  The Scriptures were wise in telling us not to worry about tomorrow because today has worries of its own.  I heard it said that worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.

Last week I was listening to a CD that I have listened to often.  Suddenly I really heard what was being said.  At the end of a particular part of the CD I pushed repeat so I could listen to it again… and each morning this week I have played it on the way to school.  The CD held a simple prayer… a prayer that might begin each day… for all of us.  Perhaps you might have the occasion to pray this prayer too…right here…right now…with the grace of this moment…

“Mend my heart, O God, from the wounds of many yesterdays.  Heal my body so that I might serve you in grace and holiness.  Lift up my soul where I have been worn down by discouragement and anxiety.  Give me hope to have a fresh beginning today.  Fill me with a greater awareness of your presence so that I may stand and walk with a little more confidence, courage, love and serenity.  Help me to be a person of compassion and understanding so that something of my life may soothe the wounds of those whose paths I cross today.  I thank you God for this day in which to know you through your love incarnate, Jesus Christ.”

If you prayed this prayer and have let the words ruminate within you… what is left to do is the most difficult of challenges… to live what you have prayed.  We do, however, have the grace to do this… not yesterday…not tomorrow… but today in this particular moment…now.

May we live each day of our lives, and may we truly see and hear what is before us in this moment…

 

In prayer,
Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: January 24, 2012

January 24, 2012

 

Dear Parents,
God’s peace!

This week I had the privilege of speaking with our 8^th grade students about vocation.  What is our call…and how do we know what it is?  We began to speak generally about “call” and then we spoke specifically about a call to religious life.  In preparing for this class I came across a piece from Rumi, the Sufi mystic, which I shared with the class… and now I share it with you…

“The Master said, ‘There is one thing in this world that must never be forgotten.  If you were to forget everything else, but did not forget that, then there would be no cause to worry; whereas if you performed and remembered and did not for get every single thing, but forgot that one thing, then you would have done nothing whatsoever.  It is just as if a king had sent you into a country to carry out a specified task.  You go and perform a hundred other tasks; but if you have not performed that particular task on account of which you had gone to the country, it is as though you have performed nothing at all.  So [each human being] has come into this world for a particular task, and that is [each one’s] purpose; if [one] does not perform it, then [that one] will have done nothing.”  (Discourses of Rum, trans. A.J.Arberry [London: J. Murray, 1061] 26).

The question becomes…for each of us… “What is the one thing I have been sent to do?” “What is my vocation as a human being…at this time…in this place?”  Perhaps for each of us, the “one thing” is to simply recognize the great love God has for us and to find some way…with my talents, flaws, gifts, experiences and quirks…to share that love with those with whom I “live and move and have my being.”  A simple insight… a challenging reality to live.  I need to be so convinced of God’s love…that I can’t but help to exude that love to others…

I am reminded of what love can do when I am in the presence of someone I love and have the opportunity to share a cup of coffee… a meal… an experience… After reveling in this experience I am certain the next person I meet will be blessed, indeed, for they can’t help but be touched by the gift of my prior experience (even though they weren’t directly a part of it!)  This example is a mere glimpse of what can happen when we open ourselves to God’s love.

In listening to today’s first reading at Mass I found myself delighting in David’s delight!  He was truly caught up in God’s presence as the Israelites moved the tabernacle of God surrounded by God’s people.  David literally danced with abandon for he was in the very presence of the living God, and therefore, was filled with an incredible exchange of love.  How blessed were the Israelites to be in David’s presence after this experience for he exuded the love that God had poured on Him!

Perhaps we aren’t dancers… but maybe we sing…or work…or coach…or parent…or draw…or garden…or write…or…  Whatever we do is not as important as who we are… When we know who we are…one loved deeply by God… then we have found the “one thing” we must do… Share what we have come to know with others…

May today find your feet dancing with the delight that God loves you beyond measure!

 

In prayer,
Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: January 17, 2012

January 17, 2012

Dear Parents,

 

God’s peace!

These past weeks have presented to us some very interesting weather… and the weather is one thing we all tend to discuss in one way or another.  In contemplating the incredible sunrises and sunsets we have had lately… the gentle snowfall last night… the crisp mornings… I have been reflecting on “thin places.”  I didn’t suddenly make this connection… I needed a little story to spark this revelry… and the story is, indeed, simple…

“A woman returned from a trip to the isle of Iona.  When her gardener heard where she was, he quietly said, ‘Iona is a thin place.’

‘A thin place?’ she asked.

‘Yes, a thin place.  There is very little between it and God,’ the gardener explained.”

Thin places… these are the places…the moments when the sacred and the profane meet… This is where we nearly glimpse the face of God… where only a gossamer membrane separates heaven and earth.  I found myself in this “in between” one morning as the pink and orange sunrise took my breath away.  I had to pull over and revel in the beauty of it all…  The snowfall last night also caught me by surprise…not at its coming, but rather the way it fell and accented each tree limb (even though it was quite treacherous as I drove home on the Parkway!)  These thin moments/places can greet us in the most ordinary of moments…I have the grace to receive an incredible smile from a particular student each morning and I am taken to a thin place where I find God smiling at me as well.

These thin places appear in moments when we least expect.  I remember a time when I stood in St. John Lateran basilica in Rome.  In that holy place enormous sculptures of the apostles ring the walls of the church.  Each apostle has his own niche.  I stood there naming each apostle one by one… and as I finished naming the apostles to my right preparing to name those to my left…I realized I was included in this circle of saints… and God was naming me.  This was a “thin place” for me… I was called as an apostle as Peter…and John…and James… and yes, Judas.

I believe each of us has the opportunity to experience “thin places.”  We get caught in a moment of beauty… or truth…or goodness… and God is there in our midst.

It is my prayer that you might recognize the “thin places” that visit you… savor these moments… pause and breathe deeply…take them in… and allow them to assure you of God’s presence…

May you know the deep peace of Christ in moments like these…

In prayer,
Sr.Maureen

News & Notes: January 10, 2012

January 10, 2012

 

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

It always seems that we anticipate the Feast of Christmas with such hurry that we often lose ourselves in the rush.  Now that we are into the new year, we can slow ourselves down a bit… re-collect ourselves… As I challenged you to do last week… take 5… take five minutes each day to find yourself and God in your midst.  We can do this as easily as we can anything else… what it takes, however, is a commitment to do it.  This five minutes may well be the key to finding calm in the midst of chaos… to limiting hurry…to recognizing what is truly before us… to responding instead of reacting to situations… If you need to post a sign in the car…in your kitchen…in your office… in some place that will remind you that it’s time to pause…do just that!

As I “paused” one day, I found this prayer… It seemed to awaken me to simple things… things that so often slip by us.  Last week I was overwhelmed by the morning sky… I stood in the grocery store parking lot and took in what was gift…pure gift…  So often I miss those moments.  I’m too busy thinking about picking up something to make for dinner… or what needs to be accomplished for a meeting.  I need to be more present to this moment… here and now… five minutes of stopping to “be” can help us to do this.

Find us, Jesus, as we rise and pray our morning offering, as we care for children and parents, as we strap on our sneakers and go to the gym, as we give everything we have to our jobs and our families, as we make our examination of conscience before falling asleep.  Find us, Jesus, as we hear the baby cry and leave our warm beds, as we stand firm against the strong wills of our unformed teenagers, as we look at the same photo album a thousand times with our parents who suffer from Alzheimer’s.

Find us, Jesus, as we navigate the path back to peace after an argument, insight after a humbling experience, faith after a time of doubt.  Find us, Jesus, as we process together to receive you in the Eucharist, then to see you at every table throughout the week.

Find us today, Jesus.  See us in that sycamore.  Call us by our name.  Invite yourself to our house for dinner tonight.  Please, Jesus.  Amen.    (Kathy McGovern)

And so we join this prayer… to ask Jesus to find us… in the midst of our busy days… find us… quiet us… give us peace and perspective… grant us five minutes to be in your presence…

I pray that we all might find Christ in the midst of flux and challenge…

May your day… your week… your year be blessed.

 

In prayer,
Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: January 3, 2012

January 3, 2012

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

I pray that your Christmas Season was blessed and grace-filled!!!

As we begin this new year…as always… we are confronted with reminders to create resolutions that so often are short lived.  If this be the case… why do we feel compelled to create them?  Is there something innate in us that seeks to be better…to do better… to change?

This may well be the case…and if it is…the beginning of the new year is the perfect opportunity to begin again… So what might we resolve to do?  Lose a few pounds?  Exercise more?  Be more patient?  Stop smoking?  Although all of these are good resolutions, might I offer another that might well support any resolve to be better?

What if each day we resolved to spend five minutes reviewing our day and all that transpired?  Perhaps before we fell asleep… over a good cup of tea… after we turned the TV off… before we turned a few pages in a good book… What if we simply took a look at how we responded to all that faced us in the day?  If you are not a night person, then perhaps to take a few minutes before the day begins to look back on the day before?  Or…if you are neither a night person, nor an early morning person… what about in the car on the way to or from work or on the way to doing an errand?  The point is not when we do it… but that we do it.

Five minutes can make all the difference in the world.  In those five minutes we can simply take a look at how we are doing… and if we come up short, we can resolve to work a bit harder the next day… We can also thank God if we have faced some task with courage or patience and then we can use that experience to confront other challenges in the same way.

Five minutes a day… that’s all… At the end of that five minutes we can simply thank God for all that he has given us in that day… all that he has revealed to us… knowing that in all, He walks with us.  This simple use of five minutes will create in us a heart open to wonder, gratitude and grace.

As we resolve to take five minutes out of our busy days to spend with Christ … I share with you a New Year’s blessing…

 

“May you be aware of all the places your feet carry you in the new year and conscious that “the feet of the one who brings good news is a welcome sound.

 

May you have compassion so deep that you can taste the tears of all your brothers and sisters who know pain and hurt in the far corners of the world.

 

May you be the one with “welcome” written on your smile and “hello” etched upon your outstretched hand, the hand you extend to every human who blesses you with presence.

 

May you awake each morning with “thank you” on your lips and in your heart, recognizing that all is gift, all is blessing.”    Joyce Rupp osm

May every blessing be yours as the new year reveals God’s presence to each of us!

 

In prayer,

Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: Christmas 2011

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

This past weekend amidst the wrapping paper, Christmas decorations and lists of things to do before Christmas, I found some time to write my annual Christmas letter to family and friends.  Although some people disdain the sending of “generic letters” it always provides me with some time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas as well as an opportunity to reflect on my past year of life. I believe I shared this story with you before…but I recently came across it again…and for me… that always means that I need to look anew at the lesson it holds… perhaps it will hold something for you as well…

In the woods that surrounded the monastery a rabbi lived in a small hut.  Occasionally, the monks would see the rabbi walking in the woods and, almost hypnotically they would say to one another, “The rabbi walks in the woods.” 

The abbot was greatly distraught at the decline of the monastery.  He had prayed and pondered over the situation and admonished the mood and behavior of the monks.  All to no avail.  One day he saw the rabbi walking in the woods and decided to ask his advice.  He walked up behind the rabbi.  The rabbi turned, and when the abbot and the rabbi faced one another, both began to weep.  The sorrow of the situation affected them deeply.  The abbot knew he did not have to explain the decline of the monastery.  He merely asked, “Can you give me some direction so the monastery will thrive again?”

The rabbi said, “One of you is the Messiah.”  Then he turned and continued to walk in the woods.

The abbot returned to the monastery.  The monks had seen him talking to the rabbi who walks in the woods.  They asked, “What did the rabbi say?”

“One of us is the Messiah,” the abbot said the words slowly, almost incredulously.

The monks began talking to one another.  “One of us?  Which one?  Is it Brother John?  Or perhaps it is Brother Andrew?  Could it even be the abbot?”

Slowly, things began to change at the monastery.  The monks began to look for the Messiah in each other and listen to each other’s words for the Messiah’s voice.

Soon new, younger monks joined, and people returned to the monastery for spiritual solace and direction.

This story was retold by John Shea, a theologian and spiritual writer… but Shea goes onto say…

“I realized the truth of the story was not in the objective fact of whether one of the monks was the Messiah or not.  It was in what it had done to my consciousness, at the new level of attention it had created in me. “

This is the story of Christmas… a story that finds us seeking God’s face… a story that calls us to look at life from a different perspective… by recognizing in challenge—opportunity; by seeing in grief and loss–the blessing of loving; by understanding that my ways are not always God’s ways—but believing He will find a way through it all.

God became one of us… God lives in each of us…God longs to welcome all of us…

In the name of all of us at St. Rita School, priests, faculty and staff… may your Christmas be filled with grace and light, and may you revel in the true joy of God’s coming among us…

 

A very blessed Christmas and peace filled New Year!

 

In prayer,
Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: December 13, 2011

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

 

Yesterday was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a special feast for the Americas.  There are many fascinating and faith-filled aspects that can be shared regarding the image that was left on the cape of Juan Diego; however, I thought I’d reflect a bit on the gift of Our Lady of Guadalupe that I was blessed to receive.

 

Three years ago I was given the grace to be introduced to a young couple who lived in Reynosa, Mexico.  Volunteers arrived in Reynosa to build them a home that would replace the makeshift home that was theirs…mud floors, walls made of scrap wood, and a roof made of cardboard and old tin.  As we built the house the young woman and I found opportunities to share simple conversations (since neither of us spoke each other’s language we engaged in rather primitive sign language).

 

One afternoon we stood at the back of her old home where several rusted cages hung from a beam that was once a part of an old pallet.  The cages held a few brightly colored birds and in a generous gesture she motioned to me to take one of the birds in gratitude for helping to give her a new home.  I awkwardly motioned that I couldn’t take a bird across the Mexican border, but she wouldn’t be deterred from some expression of gratitude.   We moved from the back of her old home to the dirt covered lawn where her new home was being built.  She motioned to have me stay there until she returned.   When she returned to where I stood she had in her hand a prayer book written in Spanish.  She motioned for me to take it. I smiled at her and motioned as best I could that if I were to take it she couldn’t pray for me (and I would also be hard pressed to pray in Spanish!)  She smiled and nodded confirming her understanding and returned to her home only to retrieve yet another gift… Our Lady of Guadalupe torn from an old calendar.  I smiled, hugged her and thanked her for this incredible gift.  I had noticed this image on the wall of her old home.  This picture had a place of honor in her home and she wanted me to have it…Although I wanted her to keep this treasure, I understood that she wanted so very much to give something of value… I had just learned a very deep truth from this woman who spoke great wisdom in a language we can all understand… gratitude from the heart.

 

As we enter more deeply into Advent I have found myself reflecting on the importance of true gifts.  Those gifts given from the heart…given from some place deep inside.  They aren’t measured by how big they are…or how expensive…but rather by the sacrifice…the thoughtfulness…the attentiveness to the other’s need or desire…or as an expression of love from the giver.

 

This woman had seemingly nothing of value…at least in terms of how we might measure value…and yet…she shared with me something that held great value…something of great worth.

 

God the Father is like that… He shares with us all that is good…He gave us His Son whom he valued and treasured and loved… to bring us light and love and true freedom.  So very often I remain as ignorant of these gifts-given as I was of the gifts the young woman offered to me.

 

As we run from place to place preparing for the Feast of Christmas, perhaps we might ask ourselves what kinds of gifts we are giving.  What value do they hold?  What are we sharing as we give our gifts?
Each time I look at the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe that now graces my office wall I am reminded of this simple woman who knew the value of giving.  I know as much as I have learned from her… I have much more to learn.

 

As Advent continues may we be ready to welcome the greatest of gifts… given from the heart… Jesus, the Christ.

 

In prayer,

Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: December 6, 2011

December 6, 2011

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

This second Sunday in Advent the gospel begins… “ The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man.”  After hearing the gospel proclaimed I found myself wondering… “Does this good news ever end?”  I went to the end of Mark’s gospel and found nothing that indicated that the gospel…the good news had ended.  If this be the case, then this good news is still with us… here…now.   And what is this good news?  It is certainly that God became one of us… that he suffered, died and resurrected for our sake… but Mark seems to hint at something more…

John was sent to prepare God’s way…and God’s way is to always reach out to us… to always seek us…to clear the path from Him to us… to forgive us of our failings and sin… to set us free from all that binds us.

When John baptized there were many who stood on the banks of the river…and watched… some believed what they heard…that someone greater than John would come…and He would set all free.  Some continued to doubt…others left shaking their heads about the whole experience.  Why didn’t they all believe?  Why didn’t they all follow Christ?  Perhaps for the same reason so many fail to recognize Christ today… they are just not ready…

John Shea says it this way…

“This question of readiness may be a partial answer to why the teachings of Jesus fell on many deaf ears.  People had not let go of sin, so they could not embrace grace.  They had not undergone John’s baptism, so they were not open to Jesus’ banquet.  It is not just a matter of exposure to Christ.  It is a matter of what we are able to let in, of what we can truly hear and integrate.  Some theologians call this the question of pre-evangelization.  What has to happen to the person so they are ready for the revelation, so they absorb what they hear?  Encountering Jesus the Word may be a beginning, but, after all, it begins before it begins.”

John the Baptist scratched the surface… he enticed…he was the opening act…he readied…he provided the preview…he cajoled…but ultimately, it was the Christ who would call…and seek us… and clear the way to us…

Perhaps this week we can simply “be found”… and as we allow ourselves to be found…we might also find the courage and grace to let go of sin that we might be truly free.

Be assured of prayer,

Sr. Maureen

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