AS104 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on March 1, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: self denial as a spiritual act, Jesus and the widow’s mite, why God answers some prayers but not others, and does God hear our prayers

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• Self-denial as a spiritual act–is there meaning in making a sacrifice?
• What to do when asked to give to a good cause? Revisiting the Gospel story of the widow’s mite (Mk 12:38-44).
• Why does God answer some prayers…but not others?
• Does God really listen to our prayers?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/ and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Yesterday I attended a funeral service in a Christian church in a small town. The parking lot was packed. People of all ages squeezed into pews, sitting elbow-to-elbow to make room for all. The love and respect in the worship space were tangible.

When the pastor spoke, he articulated the spirit that I felt in the church. He talked about hospitality, and how it creates a space for mourning.

He urged the assembly to embrace their feelings about the death of their loved one – to grieve, to celebrate a life well lived, to be angry, peaceful, joyful, sad. The pastor didn’t suggest that they should just be happy that their loved one was now with God, or that they should simply be stoic.

It’s hard to let go of the people we love. In times of grief, it’s hard to believe the psalmist’s words–that our despair can be turned into a dance. But the small-town church was a space where people were free to bring all their emotions to God, trusting that the Spirit would be with them, offering consolation and healing and hope.

The church service reminded me of the unselfish nature of hospitality. Hospitality has no hidden agenda. It has no answers or quick fixes. It is open to mystery. It lets people take their time.

* * *

Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

AS103 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on February 22, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: Sr. Marie Gabriel and Sr. Dorothy guest nuns, living the life of Jesus, too much bling in church, ways to pray in everyday life, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• Sister Dorothy and Sister Marie Gabriel share their stories about the journey to religious life.
• What does it mean to “live the life of Jesus”? How the gospel stories influence our lives.
• Opulence in the church. What about fancy vestments, expensive church buildings, etc., in the face of poverty and need in the world? WWJD?
• Churches as praise to God and as a reflection of the image of God.
• Walking outdoors, poetry, music, meditation, and other ways to pray in everyday life.

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

“Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.”
- James 1:19-20

In today’s world, it seems like everyone has something to say. There’s nothing wrong with that (I say as I type these words). But James’ letter reminds us to listen before we speak or react to what others say or do.

Listening is easy to do – when I agree with what I hear. But when I hear something that’s totally not what I agree with, it’s much more challenging. Yet James’ letter doesn’t say I have to agree with everything I hear! But it urges me to respond in Christ-like way.

What James does ask of me is to respect differences of opinion – to stand in my own truth while allowing others to stand in their own truth. My prayer for today is to listen carefully to other people, especially those whose political, religious, or social viewpoints are very different from my own.

While it might be tempting today to avoid conversations on controversial topics, I will remind myself instead to listen without judging others or myself and in doing so to cultivate a spirit of patience and acceptance in the world.

* * *

Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

AS098 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on January 12, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: the difference between penance and sacrifice, speechless God, is grief a rejection of faith, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What is the difference between penance and sacrifice?
• Austerities and asceticism
• I don’t feel like God is telling me much. Am I going to hear a voice one day before graduation telling me to go to a convent? Or is saying “I want to go to college and study anthropology” sufficient?
• Measuring up to the holiness of friends and other people.
• My mother died recently and I’m very sad. But some of my bible study friends say, “She’s in heaven with God now and you should be happy about that.” Is my sadness somehow a rejection of my faith?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 2 :: Eve And Adam written by Sister Maxine

I clearly recall the first essay that I wrote that pleased me. It was preceded by tons of writing that did not. But what made the essay pleasing to me wasn’t that it was perfect (it was far from perfect….). It was that I managed, at long last, to adequately express what I was thinking and feeling. Through it all, I learned that the act of creation has beauty and power and pain and joy.

When I read the creation accounts in Genesis, I can only imagine how God must have felt. In the first creation story (Gn 1:2-3), God brings forth order from chaos and shapes the universe. Each day, God creates something new. Creation nears its high point on the sixth day, with land animals and humanity, and reaches its apex on the seventh day, with the sabbath. On the last day, I imagine that God breathes a sigh of relief and satisfaction and thinks about creating pizza as a way to celebrate.

When I read the second creation account (Gn 2:4ff) which introduces us to Adam and Eve, I see God at work once again. But the story line is different—and foreboding. The story begins with God making a man out of earth and reaches its high point with God’s last act of creation, a woman. There is only one thing that God forbids the humans to do – to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Everything else in the garden is theirs to enjoy.

At this point, the writer in me is like, “Things are NOT going to go well for the humans.” Maybe I’m projecting my own human weakness, but I can almost taste the apples from that tree.

What am I to do with these two stories – one that speaks of the intrinsic goodness of creation and the other, of the potential for tough challenges and temptations along the way. For me, there is comfort in knowing that God hasn’t yet written the final word on the story of creation. I am part of that story. By living with the compassion, love, and integrity that Jesus models, I seek to shape a story of hope for all of creation.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

* * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

AS093 Ask Sister podcast published on November 24, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. This is a Special Edition on Saints, holiness, and joy. The nuns are joined by Catholic superstars Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, and Father James Martin, SJ.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

Sister Sandra Schneiders

• What is the Scriptural basis for the saints?
• In iconography and in various visual renderings, the saints are often pictured with some kind of symbol that speaks to something about their life — Teresa of Avila is pictured with a dove and quill, Saint Joseph with carpentry tools. Centuries from now, what symbol would you hope would be associated with you?
• What does holiness mean in general as well as in the ups and downs of our daily life?
• What was it like first getting to  know the author of the Fourth Gospel?
• Check out Sister Sandra’s new book Prophets in Their Own Country: Women Religious Bearing Witness to the Gospel in a Troubled Church

Father James Martin

• What role do saints play in our prayers?
• Is it considered a miracle that some saints do not decompose after dying?
• Isn’t holiness a pretty serious thing? What role do joy, humor, and laughter play in the spiritual life?
• What’s the deal with relics?
• What advice would you give to people who want to live a saintly life?
• Check out Father Jim’s new book Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Over breakfast this morning, I thought about today’s reading from the liturgy. It’s Luke 11:1-4, where Jesus teaches the disciples a short, simple prayer:

Abba God, hallowed by your Name!
May your reign come.
Give us today, tomorrow’s bread.
Forgive us our sins, for we too forgive everyone who sins against us;
and don’t let us be subjected to the Test.

I was having toast for breakfast (whole wheat), so the words “Give us today, tomorrow’s bread” seemed especially relevant.

To me, the words aren’t just a request for God to sustain me, but a statement of trust that God will sustain me. Do I believe that I already have today what’s needed for tomorrow? How can I believe this when I don’t know what tomorrow will bring?

This way of thinking can lead me to doubt. Ironically, it can also lead me to freedom! The reality is, I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. No one does. But I trust that when tomorrow gets here, I’ll do the best I can with what I have. And I trust that God can provide the rest.

What thoughts does this prayer raise for you?

P.S. On the Ask Sister podcast a couple of weeks ago, the A Nun’s Life community talked about other aspects of Jesus’ prayer, in the “God, a tempter?!” segment. Check out the conversation at Ask Sister episode 83.

Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

AS079 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on July 21, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: bible books aplenty, dropping “sisters” from liturgical language, control freaks and God, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!
Here are some of the questions we address in this Ask Sister podcast:

• I came across an older bible recently. It has more books than one I recently bought, e.g. the book of Enoch. Why are these bibles different?
• Do you find yourself allowing God to direct your ministry and life or do you need complete control over such matters?
• Why do some churches omit “and sisters” from parts of the Mass such as the penitential rite which says, “and you, my brothers and sisters”?

Do you have a question for us? Visit our new portress Sister Mary Evoca http://anunslife.org/contact/and leave a message for us. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

This week’s liturgical readings from Matthew are some of my favorites. The writers of the Gospel admonish us to not be harsh with others, because no one, including ourselves, is perfect. They remind us to treat others the way we’d like to be treated. And in today’s reading, they caution us to beware of “false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep, but underneath are ravenous wolves” (Mt 7:15).

My first inclination is to think of “false prophets” as those who misuse scripture to promote intolerance, narrow-mindedness, exclusivity and other qualities that aren’t life-giving. But when I think more expansively, I realize false prophets take a variety of forms.

A couple of my false prophets are an inclination to sacrifice sleep for work, even though I know of the importance of sleep, and a propensity to skip meals instead of making time for healthy eating.

When I think of even larger contexts, the false prophets that come to mind are ideas like: having a strong consumer-based economy is what’s best for us and the world, and there’s a pill or surgery for almost any human condition we consider undesirable. For today, in the spirit of Matthew, I’m going to try to be more conscious of the false prophets around me and the questions they raise for my life.

What are some of the false prophets that you encounter in life? What questions do they bring to mind for you?

IGF010 In Good Faith with Sister Barbara Reid, OP, PhD, recorded live on June 2, 2011. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. The nuns talk with Sister Barbara about finding God in everyday life, Sacred Scripture, prayer, biblical spirituality, and more!
Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Guest: Sister Barbara Reid, OP

Sister Barbara Reid, OP, is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She holds a PhD in Biblical Studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and is professor of New Testament and vice president and academic dean at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Her most recent books are Taking Up the Cross: New Testament Interpretations Through Latina and Feminist Eyes , The Gospel According to Matthew: New Collegeville Bible Commentary Series , the three-volume work Parables for Preachers, and Choosing the Better Part? Women in the Gospel of Luke.

Topic: The sisters talk with Sister Barbara about her experience of living faith in everyday life, drawing on her work as a scripture scholar and as VP/academic dean of CTU, the first woman to hold that role.

Show Notes:

• The Bible as a way to understand our present experience of God in light of the experience of our ancestors in the faith
• New to the Bible? Suggestions for how to get started
• Conflicting images of God in the scriptures – who is the “real” God?
• Jesus, the incarnation of the loving God
• Biblical spirituality
• Ways to pray with the Bible
• Saint Dominic’s Nine Ways of Prayer
• Women in the scriptures and their messages for us today
• ”Feminism” – a commitment to dignity and equality for all people
• How the feminist perspective challenges interpretations of scripture that justify violence and abuse
• How to keep the scriptures “fresh”

In Good Faith is a conversation exploring God’s call in everyday life hosted by A Nun’s Life Sisters Maxine and Julie. Our monthly program features guests who are nationally known for their ministry in spirituality, religious life, and discernment. We’ll look at how our guests understand their own life as a calling and discuss a variety of perspectives on living faith and call in everyday life. The program is broadcast live from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Central Time. Tune in at www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE.

How times change! Today, while reading about the space shuttle Endeavour, whose final mission ended this morning, I came across this photo (at right). It shows the first call ever made by a pope to outer space. During the call, on May 21, Pope Benedict spoke to the crew of the Endeavour, which included two Italians. The pope applauded their dedication and courage.

Elsewhere in the heavens, I imagine Galileo smiling.

Sure, the 17th century was a long time ago, and Galileo has probably let bygones be bygones. Besides, the idea that the earth revolves around the sun has long ceased to be controversial. And our understanding of how to interpret the bible has changed a lot, so we look at verses like Psalm 104: 5, “You fixed the earth on its foundation, never to be moved” very differently than did people hundreds of years ago.

I’m encouraged by the photo! It reminds me that our Catholic Christian tradition is a living tradition, in conversation with the world around us, however delayed or timely that conversation might be.

Pope’s call to space: AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Nathan Lindstrom
Endeavour space shuttle: photo by NASA/Bill Ingalls

AS073 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on May 26, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: does the bible prohibit women from teaching the faith, God and suffering, romance-mystery novelist returns, lessons from the rapture.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!
Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What is your take on why God allows suffering?
• Our romance-mystery-suspense novelist returns with more questions about her nun character (and assures us that the nun won’t get bumped off … yet)
• Does the bible say that women shouldn’t teach the faith? Which verses do that, and how should we interpret them?
• Rapture update: what have we learned?

Do you have a question for us? Visit our new portress Sister Mary Evoca http://anunslife.org/contact/and leave a message for us. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Yesterday, Sister Julie and I attended the Associate Covenant ceremony of our friend Holly. The ceremony was held in the Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan. The warm light of the setting sun glowed in the Chapel windows as Holly stepped forward and made her formal commitment to the IHM way of prayer, community, and ministry. It was a beautiful and deeply touching ceremony.

Holly dedicated the ceremony to Bede Griffiths, a Benedictine priest who has done much writing and speaking about the mystical roots of Christianity. The desire to grow in awareness of oneself and of the Divine certainly isn’t unique to Christianity – it is shared by many of the great religions of the world, such as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism.

I loved how the ceremony reflected the universal human desire for the Divine. There was a lotus flower, a religious symbol common in Hinduism and Buddhism, on the cover of the ceremony booklet. There were readings from the Book of Wisdom and the Gospel of Luke, as well as from the writings of Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn, among others. The music included pieces such as “How Can I Keep from Singing” and “Nocturne.”

As the ceremony ended and we went forth from the chapel, I thought about the many different ways the Divine is at work in humanity and all of creation. And about the power of symbols to remind us of our interconnectedness in the Spirit. This morning, as I was just waking up, I realized that I was dreaming about a lotus flower placed over an open Bible.

Are there particular symbols that have come to light recently for you? If you’d like to share them, please write about them in the comment box below. If it’s an image, you might want to include a link where the image can be viewed.

* * *

Join the sisters and A Nun’s Life community at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE for Praying with the Sisters live podcast and chat.

A closeup of the illuminated letter P in the 1407 Latin Bible.

This week is National Bible Week. It is has been celebrated the week of Thanksgiving every year since 1941 by the National Bible Association, an organization that works to raise awareness of the Bible’s importance and relevance to the U.S. as a nation and in the lives of individuals.

What can we do to raise our own awareness about the Bible?

Here are some suggestions:

Mary Elizabeth Sperry, associate director for Utilization of the New American Bible, points out that the Bible—actually a library of 73 “books”—includes royal history, prophecy, poetry, love songs, letters, and of course believers’ accounts of the preaching and passion of Jesus. Yet, Sperry notes, the “Bible is not a history text, a science book, or a political manifesto.” The Bible is the record of the faith of people who walked with God—and sometimes did not. We read it to deepen faith, we pray with it to express faith—but we can also study the Bible. Taking an adult-level scripture course or reading a book by someone like Father Raymond Brown will help you to discover scripture’s depths. (From Take 5 for Faith, available in bulk for parishes and by email for individuals from our friends at TrueQuest)

Studying Scripture with renown Catholic Scripture scholar Raymond Brown, SS, is a great idea. You’ll find tons of listings at the Raymond Edward Brown author page on Amazon.The New Jerome Biblical Commentary is a favorite here at the convent, and I’m also fond of An Introduction to New Testament Christology.

CatholicMom.org’s Lisa Hendey (whom we interviewed in September on our Digital Ministry program) has some great suggestions on her website for how to pray with, study, and do activities around the Sunday Scripture readings.

Join a Bible study group at your parish or online! It’s always good to pray and reflect and study with others. Good for the mind and spirit. We’ve been thinking about hosting one here at A Nun’s Life Ministry on our community forum. If interested in helping out or participating, let us know.

Praying with Scripture is essential to our life of prayer. There are a variety of ways to pray with Scripture, starting with reading it! The Canadian Jesuits have some great tips on how to pray with Scripture. This approach is one that I learned when I lived in Toronto and was part of a Jesuit prayer group.

What other thoughts do you have on how to immerse yourself in Scripture and how Scripture can be lived in every day life?

* * *

Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

The seven verses of Al-Fatiha, the first sura of the Qur'an.

I admit, I am a lover of books. I do not wish them to be burned or otherwise destroyed. I am particularly fond of books about the Sacred. I reverence the Hebrew and Christian scriptures of the Bible in a particular way because I am a Catholic Christian. But I also respect the sacred books of other traditions, inluding the Qur’an of our Muslim sisters and brothers.

While not a scholar of biblioclasm, I have a general sense that whenever books are burnt, things do not go well. Wikipedia (which is probably backed up so many times that it can’t be burned) has a long list of book-burning events that make me simultaneously sad and horrified. Undoubtedly, the Florida pastor whose Qur’an burning event was just canceled (praise God) will be listed here among other book burning events that sadly were successful. And lest we think the pastor is just one person, we can easily assume that others have this attitude.

As we approach the memorial of 9/11, I suggest a humble alternative to burning books. Educate yourself. Read books. Expand your mind and your heart. Cherish diversity. Allow love and respect for people to dominate all conversations, arguments, and disagreements. It’s not easy. But it’s totally possible.

Here’s a stunning example of how an open heart can be transformative not only for oneself but for our world.

The Healers of 9/11
By Nicholas D. Kristof, Op-Ed Columnist for the New York Times

This weekend, a Jewish woman who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks is planning to speak at a mosque in Boston. She will be trying to recruit members of the mosque to join her battle against poverty and illiteracy in Afghanistan.

Read the rest of the article, The Healers of 9/11.

AS018 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on March 19, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: a discerner’s IHM experience, why Catholic sisters support health care reform, Bible translations, common misperceptions about nuns, and more.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the questions we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What was Sue’s experience visiting the IHM Motherhouse? What was it like to pray and working with the sisters?
• What Bible version do you use for your prayer podcasts?
• What are some common misconceptions that you encounter about nuns and sisters?
• Why are U.S. Catholic sisters supporting the Senate bill on health care?

Do you have a question for us? Call our toll-free Voicemail Hotline at 888-703-4732 and leave a voicemail for us with your question. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also send us an email or comment below.

Today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 15:29-37) is a powerful story of Jesus healing people one after the other. Scripture tells us that Jesus simply went up a mountain and sat down. That’s all he did. No indication that he set out to change the lives of the community and individuals forever. He just went up a mountain and sat down. No doubt word of Jesus’ presence and deeds had been spreading. He had just healed a young girl because of her mother’s faith. Whether for curiosity or suspicion or desire for healing, the people of the area through which Jesus was traveling (the Sea of Galilee) went to find Jesus.

Maybe Jesus was taking a break up on that mountain. Maybe he wanted some quiet time for prayer or a chance to be with his disciples alone. Maybe he sensed the needs and desires of the people and hoped they’d come out of their familiar setting into the mountain wildness, a place known for encounters with God.

Regardless of what Jesus may have had in mind, there he sat, and the people came to him.

The more Jesus heals, the more the crowd comes. First a person who was blind, then someone who could not speak, and another who could not walk. I imagine it was an exhilarating though exhausting day for Jesus and the disciples. And not just one day — Jesus tells us that this went on for three days.

So why did Jesus do this? Why did he take three days out of his traveling, out of his retreat time, out of whatever schedule he had in order to tend to the people?

Compassion.

Jesus said, “I have compassion for the crowd.” He said this as he gathered his disciples together to figure out how to feed the crowd who was rather hungry after three days with no food.

“I have compassion,” said Jesus.

Compassion is the ability to feel deeply for another person, a consciousness of how another is feeling and a desire to reach out. For Jesus, this was not some whimsical understanding of compassion or a “touchy-feeling” kind of thing. Jesus practiced this way of being in the world, this compassion, both with people it was “easy” to give compassion to, and people who weren’t so easy, like those who persecuted him.

As the dawn of Advent continues to break upon us, may the spirit of Jesus enliven all that we do and all that we are, that we might be a people of compassion and find ways each day to live this compassion of Jesus.

* * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer at 6 p.m. Central Time
(your time zone).

Question from Nathalie that raises an interesting topic …

… is it okay to pray for Jesus? I mean, I know we pray TO Jesus, but… I really would like to pray for him… because he and his message are often misunderstood, misused and abused – to serve self-centered ends. I guess he probably doesn’t NEED us to pray for him, but… I don’t know. I just want to pray for him.

Hi Nathalie, Good question! My first response is that yes, it’s okay to pray for Jesus. Prayer, after all, is talking and listening to God. When we pray for someone, we are in relationship with God and bringing the person and her/his needs before God. At their heart, “praying for” and “praying to” are actually more like “praying with” than anything. So with Jesus, we are deepening our relationship with him, consciously bringing the cares and concerns of Jesus to the forefront while we are with him. While Jesus is God and so does not “need” anything per se, prayers for Jesus are like what you wrote — that he and his message be understood and lived from the heart.

Another way to understand “praying for Jesus”, is more along the lines of how the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures spoke of “blessing God”. You’ll find this kind of language in many places, especially in psalms and canticles. One of my most favorite ones is the canticle of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel 3 (in a Catholic Bible). The three were tossed into a white-hot furnace as punishment for going against King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree to worship his gods, not the God of Israel. Instead of certain death, the three walked around singing and blessing God. Here’s part of their canticle:

Bless the Lord, all people on earth; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, O Israel; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you priests of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you servants of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you who are holy and humble in heart; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. (NRSV translation)

How else might we understand “praying for Jesus”? What is your own experience of this?

Today’s gospel reading is John 13:16-20. I was struck by the following verse because I don’t think I’d ever read or heard it in the Jerusalem Bible translation:

After he had washed the feet of his disciples, Jesus said to them:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
no servant is greater than his master,
no messenger is greater than the man who sent him.
‘Now that you know this, happiness will be yours if you behave accordingly.

What struck me is the word “happiness”. In other translations the word is “blessed.” We will be blessed if we follow Jesus’ example and that means we must imitate the spirit of Jesus’ lifework (Jerome Biblical Commentary).

Now blessed I get — we follow Jesus, we will be blessed. But being “happy” is something different altogether. I wrote about happiness a while back but this verse from John casts the meaning in a new light.

Happiness doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is going as planned or that there is not struggle or tragedy or discomfort. Sometimes (many times) our happiness seems totally dependent on our circumstances and on our relationships. But here Jesus is telling us that our happiness resides in following Jesus, in imitating the spirit with which he went about his own life — humility, simplicity, zeal, kindness, love (even fierce love), faithfulness. The washing of feet is a beautiful example of the spirit of Jesus’ lifework. And to know that Jesus didn’t just do it as an educational moment, but that he genuinely felt happy about what he was doing. That’s something that I think we all want to cultivate in ourselves, a sense of happiness about not only what we are doing but who we are.

What strikes you about this passage on happiness?

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, a Catholic feast day that originated with Saint Faustina Kowalska. Saint Faustina was a Catholic nun belonging to the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She experienced visions Jesus Christ including a message about spreading the word about God’s mercy to the whole world. When Pope John Paul II canonized Sister Faustina, he made Divine Mercy Sunday part of the church’s liturgical calendar.

The scripture readings today are beautiful and offer a kind of “action plan” for our Christian journey. Visit the blog From the Pews in the Back to read my guest post A Divine Action Plan, a short reflections on the readings for Divine Mercy Sunday.

Since today is a day to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, I want to explore a bit more what “mercy” means. It’s one of those words that is fairly ordinary and unassuming, yet loaded with meaning. It is simple yet it is life-changing.

Mercy.

My first research destination: Merriam-Webster dictionary

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French merci, from Medieval Latin merced-, merces, from Latin, price paid, wages, from merc-, merx merchandise

1 a: compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power; also: lenient or compassionate treatment b: imprisonment rather than death imposed as penalty for first-degree murder

2 a: a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion b: a fortunate circumstance

3: compassionate treatment of those in distress

My next stop: Theological Dictionary (Rahner and Vorgrimler)

Mercy. Readiness to help those in need. The Old Testament expresses God’s mercy chiefly by the verbs meaning to “be motherly” and to “bend down”. Throughout the Old Testament, assurances of God’s mercy, graciousness, and fidelity to his covenant outbalance all references … to the wrath of God; these qualities dominate the New Testament conception of God….

Human mercy, according to Scripture, is not measured by any display of feeling but by concrete proofs.

Which brings me to my final research destination: The Works of Mercy

The Corporal Works of Mercy

• feed the hungry
• shelter the homeless
• clothe the naked
• visit the sick and imprisoned
• bury the dead
• give alms to the poor

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

• instruct
• advise
• console
• comfort
• forgive
• bear wrongs patiently

What does mercy mean to you? Which word or phrase above resonates with you, draws you, calls for some kind of response from you?

One of the readings of the day (1 Kings 17:7-16) is the story of how the great prophet Elijah was cared for by a woman who was a widow and a mom. Though the story is told from the perspective of Elijah, in so many ways it is the story of a woman’s faithfulness to and trust in God.

The story goes that God sent Elijah (who was hiding out in the wilderness) to the city of Zarephath where God said a widow would provide for Elijah who was hungry and thirsty. The woman, who is never named, is happy to give Elijah some water but says she has barely enough food left for herself and her son, let alone Elijah. In fact, she says, “Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” Elijah tells the woman not to fear and that God will not allow her flour nor her oil to run out.

Here’s where I would have loved to have known what the woman was thinking. Some guy appears out of nowhere and asks for her hospitality. She does what she can, but then he asks her for what she cannot give. Were she to give him the food he asked for, she and her son would go hungry and be that much closer to the death she was already anticipating. The stranger tells her not to worry, that God will provide. What must have been going on within this woman? What grace was working within her to give her the strength to believe in God’s word as proclaimed through the mouth of a stranger?

This story blows me away because the woman finds it within herself to believe in something, someone larger than herself and her immediate concerns. Maybe she figures the end is near anyway so why not give it a shot? Maybe she has prayed and prayed for God’s help and understand Elijah’s appearance to be a sign from God. Maybe she so values the gift of hospitality that she is willing to extend it to a stranger in need, even though she herself is in need. I really don’t know, but I can tell you that I am deeply moved by this woman’s courage and faith. It’s something that I will continue to pray with throughout the day.

What do you see in this story? In what ways are you called to give hospitality from out of your poverty?

Great article from Zenit. I love the image of lectio divina as “spiritual GPS” … what has been your experience with reading Scripture? How does Scripture help you pray and navigate life?

“Lectio Divina” Seen as a Compass and Spiritual GPS
Site on Meditation of Scripture Aims to Attract Youth

By Miriam Díez i Bosch

ROME, DEC. 18, 2007 (Zenit.org) – A “spiritual GPS” and a “compass for life” are two images that have been used to illustrate the importance of reading the Bible, says a Catholic consultor for the United Biblical Societies.

Ricardo Grozna said this to ZENIT when commenting on the Web site www.lectionautas.com, which offers guides for “lectio divina,” or the meditative reading of Scripture, and aims especially to attract youth. It already has 50,000 users.

“To define ‘lectio divina’ as a GPS [Global Positioning System] is to see in it a satellite that tells us where we are, like a compass, which indicates to us the path to follow,” Grozna said. He commented that Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, “has referred to ‘lectio divina’ as a GPS, and the Pope has defined the Bible as a ‘compass for life.’”

Sacred Scripture “is a book that interprets my life; the Bible ends up being like a mirror that helps me, and teaches me to seek a path,” Grozna added. “For years, Pope John Paul II and then Benedict XVI insisted a great deal that ‘lectio divina,’ which was a method of monastic prayer of the monks, could reach all Christians.”

Novel evangelization

The program of “lectio divina” on the Internet consists in offering users texts and MP3 files. Users are chiefly youth who download the audio files on their mobile phones. Grozna explained that the aim of the program is to train young people who can lead other youth in reading the Bible.

“The Church is taking all the programs promoting biblical reading as a priority,” explained Grozna, pointing especially to his experience in Latin America. “Catholics have delayed a little in rediscovering the Bible, but the Bible has always been present in the Church. [...] I don’t read the Bible, it is the Bible that reads me.”

Grozna said the site’s success is shown by hundreds of e-mail messages from youth telling “how they are changing their lives by following the prayerful reading.”

The method is also ecumenical, he added: “‘Lectio divina’ has been a point for moving forward in dialogue with other Christian brothers.” And it also serves as a social apostolate, “In some countries, the parish youth are using the method of ‘lectio divina’ to reach ostracized youth; those who are in very poor neighborhoods, those who have been victims of drugs, violence, gangs.”

Hugo Flores, manager of the site, was in Rome to present the program. He told ZENIT the program has been well received by theologians and biblical scholars. “They have taken ‘lectio divina’ as a point to help them evangelize and carry the word of the Lord to more groups. Cardinals, bishops, priests … they are fascinated with this novelty, this new form of evangelizing through the Internet.”

(click for article at Zenit.org)

(a continuation of A Catalogue of My Favorites: Part I)

[M is for Mary, the Mother of God - your favorite term of endearment for her]: Ark of the Covenant

[N is for New Testament - your favorite passage]: “If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

[O is for Old Testament - your favorite book here]: Isaiah and the prophets

[P is for Psalms - your favorite]: Psalm 63.

[Q is for Quote - saint quote]: “It is better to illuminate than merely to shine.” Saint Thomas Aquinas

[R is for Rosary - your favorite mysteries]: The Luminous Mysteries

[S is for Saint - the one you turn to in time of need - not including the Blessed Virgin Mary]: Saint Teresa of Avila, Mother Theresa McGivney, IHM, Saint Ignatius of Loyola

[T is for Tradition - your favorite Catholic tradition]: The Liturgy of the Hours and anything with incense

[U is for University - Which Catholic university have you attended or are currently attending?]: I’ve got my bachelor’s degree from University of Saint Michael’s College (Basilian) at University of Toronto, my masters from Regis College (Jesuit), and some miscellaneous course work at Sacred Heart Major Seminary (diocesan) and Washington Theological Union (mix of religious communities). I also taught a few semesters at the University of Detroit Mercy.

[V is for Virtue - the one you wish you had]: Prudence … as in “Be not conformed to this world, but he reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

[W is for Way of the Cross - Which station can you most relate to?]: The fourth: Jesus Meets His Mother. In the movie The Passion, when Jesus meets his mother on the road to Calgary, he says “Behold I make all things new.” (from Revelations 21:5) I was so struck by that when I saw the movie that the image continues to stay with me.

[X is for Xaverian Brothers - Do you know who they are?]: Their patron is Saint Francis Xavier.

[Y is for your favorite Catholic musician]: Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) — writer, composer, musician

[Z is for Zeal for the faith]: Absolutely!