Holy Thursday
The Gift of the Eucharist and of Servanthood Friar Mario Serrano, OFM Conv. Board of Directors, Spiritual Advisor At the Last Supper, when Jesus held up the bread and spoke the words “This is my Body,” He was speaking not just about the bread right in front of him, but about the whole universe, about everything that is physical, material, and yet also spirit filled. What other Thursday could bring comfort to us than Holy Thursday? We are reminded of presence of the Body of Christ in our own lives. How daring and shocking it was for Jesus to turn the whole tradition of His time upside down and make that which we at times dismiss as holy, as truly holy, an otherness that can bring about the reality of God. You, me, and all the ones we find ourselves with, in celebrating this special day, we are privileged in this unique experience to celebrate the ordinary as extraordinary. The Eucharist is a startling ritual. It is bloody, embodied, sensual, and shocking as it takes us into a realization of oneness with God. Jesus gave us another physical practice to teach us grace and forgiveness. Foot Washing (John 13:1-8, 12-17, NIV) Along with the gift of the Eucharist, we are also given on this day the model for living out our relationship with God: The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit - by bending low and being present in this humble action. I invite you to do the ritual of “foot washing” at home. Foot washing is a contemplative practice that can happen at any time and with anyone. Invite someone to share this ritual with you, if you both are comfortable having your feet touched by each other. No script or special space is needed, just a basin, warm water, towels, and your authentic presence. You might choose to wash in silence, focusing on the physical sensations, or you may wish to talk about what you mean to each other, express gratitude and/or ask for forgiveness. However you choose to practice foot washing, I hope it helps you experience your own and your companion’s bodies as God’s body! Palm Sunday Reflection
Carolina Perez Assistant Executive Director for Mission and Ministry Blessed Palm Sunday. Today’s Gospel is one of the longest that will be proclaimed in the liturgical year and one of the three days of the year where we use the color red in the liturgy, this is because of the passion of Jesus. As we reflect on the Gospel of Mark that is proclaimed today, we can easily connect with at least one portion of it, and what resonates with me is suffering. I was taught that the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, or the Paschal Triduum, is a paradigm of human experience. As time goes by, this makes more sense to me because every single one of us has had a journey of pain, a moment where we feel like we have “hit rock bottom,” and a moment of hope. As I reflected on the passion and death of Jesus, I couldn’t help but feel enraged with the religious leaders, the Sanhedrin. Leadership in society consistently makes decisions that impact the lives of their community members, most especially the marginalized. I think about how much suffering in this world could have been prevented if we had leadership that more accurately reflects the community they serve. I think about our own religious institution, the Roman Catholic Church, and the lack of female clergy. It pains me to reflect on this Gospel during Women’s History Month because I feel celebrated but not represented. I share only the smallest bit of Jesus’s suffering because I continue to grapple with the struggle of not being able to discern a way of life, a sacrament that is not accessible to me. Through the Synod process and the organization “Discerning Deacons,” I have found that I am not alone. There are others who have also opened up their hearts and shared their longing for a Church that encompasses God’s hesed. At the end of today’s Gospel we see that Jesus was only recognized after the passion, and through that find a glimpse of hope, one of our beautiful Christian Virtues. I, along with my brothers and sisters, hold and lift up the suffering of the world in intercessory prayer because of hope in the Son of God, the Risen Christ. However, hope is only possible after we have processed suffering in our lives. A few questions left to ponder on are, where have you experienced the Paschal Triduum in your life and how could you offer it up to Jesus during Holy Week? Frankfort Franciscan Sisters and United Catholic Youth Ministries Announce PartnershipThe Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart (FSSH) and United Catholic Youth Ministries (UCYM) announced their partnership on March 22, 2024, and are exploring ways of collaborating that will benefit local communities. FSSH is a congregation of women religious based in Frankfort, Illinois, and UCYM is a Catholic ministry based in Chicago that serves youth, young adults, and families within the context of their communities through faith formation, service work, worship opportunities, discipleship, and accompaniment.
“Through outreach to youth groups, we would like to see St. Francis Woods (the campus where the Franciscan Sisters’ motherhouse is located, 9201 W. St. Francis Road) become a unique and prominent resource for young people—a place where they can gather, join with our sisters in answering society’s needs, and share their talents and perspective, all while growing their faith. Youth like those in UCYM are the hope and promise of good things to come in our Church and in our world. They are the future,” said Sr. Kathleen Hook, Chair of the FSSH Franciscan Fire Committee, which seeks to further a Franciscan way of life. “As a Benedictine and raised around Benedictine sisters, I learned from a young age how critical community is for all people, but especially for the development of young people. UCYM has always embodied the Church’s way of being a ‘community of communities’ in its foundation as a regional ministry that started in the four (now legacy) parishes in Evanston, IL,” said Oblate James Holzhauer-Chuckas, ObSB, a Third Order Member of the Benedictine Order with St. Scholastica Monastery in Rogers Park, Chicago and Executive Director of UCYM. “Youth are not tied down to parish boundaries and have shown us over the now six years that UCYM has existed how important it is for us to know and act as church; where all belong and can find a place to serve, worship, learn, and grow.” With this partnership, young adults will be given opportunities to plan, promote, and assist at events and programs as well as take part in planning and holding public prayer services. Their faith reflections will be featured on the FSSH young adults’ blog, Authentically You, at https://fssh.net/authentically-you/ and the spiritual companionship of the sisters will be available to anyone seeking it. “We are grateful to the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart and religious communities like them for their accompaniment of young people and living the charism of what we call ‘youth and young adult ministry,’ which we see as the wholistic approach to integration of young people into faith communities. It’s not just about young people gathering on their own, as important as that is, but them being empowered, welcomed, and encouraged to be co-leaders in parishes, schools, and beyond. We are excited for this new path forward for the young people in the Chicagoland area, Frankfort, and beyond,” said James. “Franciscan values can be lived out by anyone—not just by Catholics, not just by religious sisters but lay people of all backgrounds, too,” Sr. Kathleen added. “We will continually explore what we have to offer each other as our collaboration develops and grows. We hope that our partnership will animate people of all faiths and ages when they see the good that young people have to offer the larger community." Today is the feast day of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary; a man so special he has 2 feast days in the Catholic Church (May 1st is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker). Today, as we celebrate Joseph as Mary’s husband and the foster-father of Jesus, we look to him as an example of patience, humility, and service to God. Joseph took his role as father seriously, keeping his wife and son safe from Herod, working to feed and shelter them, and teaching Jesus carpentry.
Even before Jesus was born, Joseph showed his righteousness and love for his family. After hearing rumors about Mary's pregnancy, Joseph was hurt and confused, yet he loved Mary enough to spare her further shame and rumors, planning to divorce her quietly… (until, as we see in Matthew’s Gospel, an angel appeared to him and asked him to protect and guide this Holy Family). While none of us will experience exactly the same thing, we all have, at one point or another, been hurt by a close friend or family member. During this Lenten season (and beyond), I challenge you to respond as Joseph did, by loving and caring about that person. Instead of complaining about your little sister to all your friends or posting that embarrassing video of your friend on YouTube/Vine, love them enough to spare them further embarrassment and shame. Love them enough to teach them, to guide them, and to protect them. As a family member and friend, your role is to, as Joseph did, love, protect, guide, support, teach, and nourish your family-no matter how difficult it may be.
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Lisa Boris Pastoral Associate and Associate Director of Leadership Academy When I was in high school, I attended a three day retreat similar to Kairos called TEC (Teens Encountering Christ or Together Encountering Christ) that focuses on the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. I was not required to go for school or Confirmation; I chose to go because I had heard good things about it but a few hours into day one, I HATED it and could not understand why everyone loved the retreat so much. Inspired by today’s Gospel, wheat is a key theme used on TEC to help understand the Paschal Mystery. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains but a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24). In order to grow, and bear fruit, we must first (metaphorically) die. Staying as we are, just a small grain of wheat, does not lead us to life-giving transformation. On the first day of TEC, Die Day, retreatants reflect on the example Jesus gives us through His life and death and encourages us to work for better relationships with ourselves, others, and God. In order to do this, we are challenged to give up all the things that are in the way of real, authentic relationships with God and others. We are asked to die to and surrender those things. We change our perspective/attitude, actions, unwillingness to forgive, anything else that is getting in the way of us creating the time, energy, and space for God. No wonder I hated the first day of TEC! Die Day was hard work and challenged the comfortable life I loved. It was a painful process to really reflect on the areas I needed to change and/or eliminate in order to grow and bear fruit for myself and others. The reflection was only the beginning; then I would actually have to take action to bring about this change. Saint Paul acknowledges the difficulty of this process in today’s second reading. “In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7). Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears because the process of bringing about new (and, in Jesus’ case, eternal) life is often painful. We hear Jesus himself acknowledge this in the Gospel. “I may be troubled now…but it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.” (John 12:27). Jesus knew his purpose and what He would need to get there. He knew it would not be an easy journey, but it was a necessary one. The last year of my life has been incredibly painful and wrought with change. But it has also led me to better physical, emotional, and financial health, and more authentic and meaningful relationships. The death of some friendships, the change to a less time-consuming job, and all the tears of the last year have definitely borne great fruit. Twenty years after my own Die Day experience, I am still living out the themes of TEC because it is only by dying to ourselves can we embrace the joy of the Resurrection. Fourth Sunday of Lent Reflection
Brother Alan Parham, FSC Spiritual Advisor Lent is all about walking in the Light. It is an opportunity to come into the Light again if we have strayed. Once we become more attentive to the Gospel, the challenge of Lent is to embrace what we know to be true once again, or, as today’s Gospel says: “Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God” (John 3:21). When King Cyrus wanted to restore the Temple (2 Chronicles 36), it must have been quite a surprise because he was the ruler of the Persians. For about seventy years, the Jews were captives in Babylon; the Persians conquered the Babylonians, and thus emerged the benign King Cyrus. We too need restoration at times. That is what coming back to the Light is all about. As Christians, we are actually temples of the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?” Lent gives us the chance of restoration, to reclaim our identity as followers of Christ. I was monk for few years. After I left the monastery, I had an identity crisis. Fortunately, the first job I found was to prepare a Geology Camp for its summer program. It was on a mountain overlooking Dayton, TN. I was alone for three weeks before the college students arrived. As I sorted and somewhat grieved, I also understood who I was. I was not an ex-monk. I was still a disciple of Christ, and I still had a call, though not to monastic life. After that, it took me many years to find the path I wanted to follow and to discern where and how I could live out my baptismal call. But the invitation was clear, that this temple of the Holy Spirit could be restored. Now, as I look back at those weeks on the mountain, I am simply grateful for the chance to clarify my call and the restoration which took place in my spirit.
Third Sunday of Lent Reflection
Sister Belinda Monahan, OSB Board of Directors and Spiritual Advisor Readings: Exodus: 20:1-17 Psalm 19:8, 9, 10-11 Second Reading: 1 Cor 1:22-25 Gospel: John 2:13-25 At first today’s gospel seems incongruous in this Lenten season. We might find Jesus’s actions—bordering on violence—almost unseemly and wonder how they relate to “repenting and believing the Gospel” as we were exhorted to do on Ash Wednesday. But Jesus’s actions are a reminder that what we are to focus on in Lent—indeed what we are to focus on always—is, as the psalmist reminds us “Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.” In removing the money changers and the sellers of animals from the temple, Jesus is doing more than venting righteous anger. He is reminding us that—at all times, but especially during worship—we need to be about God’s business, not the practice of holding up traditions for their own sake. The first reading enumerates the ten commandments, the original set of laws which form the core of the relationship between God and the Hebrew people. And subsequently us. Jesus, as an observant Jew, adhered to these practices and upheld many of those traditions. He was, after all, in Jerusalem for the Passover. And both his words and his actions call us to do the same. But his actions in the temple in today’s Gospel caution us against blind adherence to traditions that might get in the way of following God. Not all traditions should be upheld. Being able to distinguish between the traditions which lead us, all of God’s children, toward God and the traditions which do not, is not always easy, but Jesus’s words in the today’s gospel provide a path toward clarity. He refers to the temple as “my Father’s house,” and calls us to the same, familiar, intimate relationship with God. As we too, listen to and for God, we too will recognize when God is speaking the “words of everlasting life.” |
Archives
May 2024
Categories |