Letters from Scotland -2

Dear Helen,
Do you remember that first task you set us? It turned out to be one of the saddest but yet one of the gladdest of my life. Eager to make a start, I scanned the question. Looked easy enough – one word answer required, simple task: read straight through the Gospel of Mark and share with the group one word which sums up the person of Jesus portrayed there. I start out. Mark’s story unfolds. I feel inexplicably sad and tired; I realize Jesus is a stranger to me. The tiredness I feel is sharply contrasted with the energy of Jesus. I notice the organizational skills of Jesus, the manager of the apostles and shake my head at myself, realizing how firmly entrenched in my commercial world I am. I choose "tireless" as my word to describe him. I turn to the sharing of the rest of the class and feel challenged by the words offered by others and wonder if these are the ones I could truthfully have chosen. Their words imply relationship and I sadly realize my word is that of an observer, an outsider, not of someone in relationship with Jesus. The words hang there on the screen – loving, compassionate, kind, humble, they have written. Then one catches my eye – happy. The tears well in my eyes.
One of the prayers that I used to make over a long period in the years easily twenty to thirty years before I began the course was “Say but the word and I shall be healed.” Underlying the prayer was the desperate feeling that I was isolated from God, that I would never find him. Sometimes the prayer would take on an almost taunting tone – you could heal me if you really wanted to. One word is all it would take. One word was in fact all it did take!
In that instant when I saw that word – happy – inscribed there in front of me and, just as I was beginning to think that was the last word I would ever choose because my experience of religion did not seem exactly happy, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks and that spine tingling moment of realization was there – an epiphany if you like – I was back hearing myself saying that prayer....say but one word....and there it was right in front of me – one word – happy. God had found someone to speak it for him and I heard in it love, care, peace, joy, an invitation – and happiness. A deeply humbling moment; a heartfelt prayer was answered. I was learning to listen. You were teaching me.
For some reason a prayer of Janet Erskine Stuart’s began to sound in me. Mother Stuart writes her all-affirming prayer at the end of a long poem inspired by words of Julian of Norwich: His appearing shall be sweet.
I know that when the stress has grown too strong
Thou wilt be there
I know that when the waiting is too long
Thou hearest prayer
I know that through the crash of falling worlds
Thou holdest me
I know that life and death and all are Thine
Eternally.
Sweet is His appearing indeed. Like Julian, Mother Stuart captures the homeliness and courtesy of His presence to us – holding, hearing, being there - in life, in death, in all, forever.
From your student, Jane, in Scotland

Letters from Scotland -1

Dear Helen,
Your invitation to be a guest in your blog offers me an opportunity I might not otherwise have had to reflect on the time spent as a student in your International Online Certificate Course in Spirituality Studies. Five years have gone by since I first noticed your web-advertisement class at St Thomas University and since I decided to apply for a place. How well I remember my apprehension over that application. Miami was a long way from Scotland; studying had not featured in my life for over thirty years; my spiritual experience was limited; I worked in a decidedly secular retail environment. On the other hand, deep within myself I was experiencing a longing and huge lack that felt like emptiness; from that feeling of isolation and separation came the uncertain courage to have a try at your course.
At the time of making application, all those years ago, the only feelings I could identify were negative ones – a disappointed feeling of being stuck in a rut, there was not much growth to report in my life, God felt a long way off; my prayer seemed to be: Why have you hidden Your face from me? Only now, looking back with some of the insight your course would bring me, I see I couldn’t have been more wrong about my situation: God was, in fact, as near and as close as He ever is; longing was a real prayer; the Spirit was stirring my soul, my hopes and my desires; the first tentative signs of growth were there and as for that rut – I was about to be shaken out of it big time.
How well I remember the warmth of your welcome and the reassurance that I was going to cope! Soon there were things to look forward to. Fellow students, fellow seekers, were introducing themselves. Books were arriving in the post. The programme was unveiled: how others sought and found God, the theme of the next two years, was a satisfying prospect. Mystics, monks and mendicants would be on the menu; early fathers, the wisdom of desert, and the beginnings of Christianity would bring to life the earliest days of Christianity; Ignatius, Teresa and John, de Sales and Jane Francis would meet us as great teachers; contemporary writers would complete the course. And all this would be experienced through collaborative learning, an exciting new experience for me, where there was no competition, no comparing with others, but only a pooling of learning and discovery. A happy and respectful atmosphere would prove the course a comfortable place to be.
So there I was – conscious of a distance between me and God but excited to be on the road, to have made a beginning, to have joined that vast number of those who had sought and found God through the centuries. The feelings I experienced at that outset make me wonder if they were like those of that other prodigal who had distanced himself from where he belonged. Did he feel isolated, ashamed to have lost contact, to have squandered his inheritance, to have done little to nurture himself, to have cut himself off seemingly irreparably? But did he not also feel that stirring of the Spirit sensed in trust, hope and expectancy, that would let him start afresh on the road, thus becoming one who would leave us with an incomparably poignant picture of a prodigal who sought and found God, a Father of love, forgiveness, fatted calves, new robes, fresh sandals and welcome home parties. As that oh-so- familiar story tells us, But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him....he rushed forward to greet him, embracing him and showering him with love. As the course unfolded that was my experience too; God would be waiting to give Himself – but for the moment I was still a long way off.
Your student in Scotland, Jane

International Online Program in Spirituality Studies

It is time to ask each to think about taking the International Online Certificate Program in Spirituality Studies. Please go to http://www.stu.edu/SpiritualStudiesOnline/tabid/1116/Default.aspx found on the St. Thomas University website under the School of Theology and Ministry for more information. I am going to be actively recruiting for the September course on the Spanish Mystics and Modern Spirituality. Maybe you know someone who is interested? If so, please contact them or e-mail me their e-mail address. Mine is hrosenth@stu.edu and I welcome questions.
This International On-line Certificate Program has four courses covering the History of Christian Spirituality. You will read the great spiritual classics, interact with others from all over, and really understand the different ways that others have sought and found God through the ages.

I know from my former students how much this Program has meant to them and how much they have enjoyed all four courses. I am only looking for six students to join us in September so please decide now to make sure there is a place for you! Contact me at hrosenth@stu.edu

I will begin publishing some "Letters" from Scotland from a former student and hope to have some contributions from present students, too, that I think you will enjoy. I will try to schedule ahead as I will be away from April 21 to May 9.

Reflect today on what you are doing to grow spiritually. The Program will help you immensely to grow in your own inner life.

Letters from Scotland

No, I am not in Scotland but will be leaving tomorrow for the Western part of the United States for a period of almost three weeks. While I am gone, I am going to schedule a few letters from a dear friend and former student in Scotland for your reflection; then, I have something from another student on Thomas Merton to share, and I want to start sharing with you some of the early days of the Society of the Sacred Heart when St. Madeleine Sophie kept a Journal while in Poitiers forming the novices as well as being superior of the house and Mother General. She was only 26 and it is the only Journal we have of hers and therefore very precious for all those connected with the Society of the Sacred Heart.
I want to share some excerpts for you from the fourth chapter of my dissertation which was on the Spirituality of St. Madeleine Sophie. Her Feast is May 25 and so it is fitting that we go back to her written word to prepare for her Feast. I may be putting in a few other things, too, but want you to know that some of these reflections will be a bit different, especially since I need to schedule ahead so you will have them to read while I am away. I think I have written over 700 reflections now and it is time experiment a bit with contributions of others.

Today you might like to reflect on these words of Christ to St. Faustina Kowalska:
"I am Love and Mercy itself. There is no misery that could be a match for my mercy; neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted, it increases. The soul that trusts in my mercy is most fortunate, because I myself take care of it."

Divine Mercy Sunday

Benedict XVI washttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif elected pope on this day in 2005. He wrote, "I prayed to God, 'Please don't do this to me'...Evidently, this time he didn't listen to me."

I am looking at the Little White Book which always tells me something of interest and has wonderful six minutes reflections adapted from the writings of the late Bishop Ken Untener. Today's reflection says that it is curious that Thomas wanted to see the wounds of Jesus. Why didn't he say that he wanted to hear his voice or look into his eyes? Why didn't he say he wanted to see Jesus walk on water?
"In the 11th Chapter of John's Gospel, when Jesus said he was going to Jerusalem and the disciples were afraid, Thomas was the one who stood up and said, "Let us go there and die with him."
Perhaps Thomas felt more than the others how much they had let Jesus down by abandoning him during his passion and death. When the disciples talked about having seen the Lord and having heard the Lord wish them peace and speak of forgiveness, Thomas simply said, "I'll never believe it unless I see those wounds and touch them and have him say those things to me."

Jesus comes back and tells Thomas to put his finger into his wounds and his hand into the wound in his side and believe. Thomas utters that magnificent statement of faith that many Catholics say at the elevation during the Mass, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus says for all of us, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

Jesus comes to us in every Eucharist and helps us to become like him. We need only to believe and receive him with love.

Easter Saturday

Mark's Gospel today (16:9-15) gives a short summary of Jesus' appearances to Mary Magdalene, then to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. Mark just says that Jesus appeared to "two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others, but they did not believe them either." But later, as the Eleven were at table, Jesus "appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, 'Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."

It was hard for the Apostles to accept that Jesus is really alive; he has been raised from the dead. Jesus understands and is patient with them. He will spend time appearing to them before his public ascension into heaven. I like to think that Jesus still spends time with us during these forty days after Easter and he hopes we will recognize him as he appears in our lives. He wants to share his joy!!

Easter Friday

I had a great picture of Jesus on the shore and Peter in the water swimming to him with the other six in the boat with the full net over the side - I saved it but cannot find it again and I have spent too much time looking so no picture today!

The Gospel today is one of my favorites; it is John 21:1-14. Peter decides to go fishing. Six others decide to go with him. They are named by John so we know which of the Apostles are in the boat with Peter as they set out to catch some fish. They toil all night and catch nothing. "When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore, but the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus."
Imagine how these men must feel. They are tired, hungry, maybe also cold and irritable or at least a bit disgruntled. But they do cast the net to the right side of the boat when the one on the shore tells them to do so; they cannot pull in the net because of the great number of fish. John says, "It is the Lord." When Peter hears that, it jumps into the sea to be the first to reach Jesus. The others come in the boat and find that Jesus has prepared breakfast for them!

I love the thought of Jesus taking the time to make the fire, procure bread and fish, and then invite his friends to breakfast. Sometimes, when I finish my more formal time of prayer in the morning, I seem to hear Jesus saying to me, too, "Come, have breakfast." Actually, Jesus served the seven. John tells us that "this was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead."

I seldom go to a movie but was asked to tell my readers about this one. You can read about it at: http://www.sinnerthemovie.com/ and decide if you want to look for a Catholic review of it. It is about a liberal pastor, his conservative priest assistant, and a prostitute and the theme seems to be forgiveness. I think, if I went to movies, it might be one that would be interesting to see, but I know no more than what I have said.

Easter Thursday

The Gospel today is from Luke 24:35-48. While the two disciples are still talking about their Easter experience on the road to Emmaus and how they finally recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, Jesus came and stood in their midst. He said to them, "Peace be with you." But "they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost."
I guess that they had not yet taken in the fact that Jesus was really alive. They also knew that they had abandoned him and fled when he was arrested. But now, Jesus offers peace. He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." Jesus showed them his hands and his feet. Then their fear changed to joy and they are "incredulous for joy and were amazed."

In my own life, there are times when I and you have had a deep experience of the living Jesus. Let us recall those times and relive the joy we felt when Jesus touched us in some way. I think the joy we have felt helps us to enter now into his Easter joy.

Easter Wednesday

Today's Gospel is one of my favorite and I love this picture of Jesus walking with his two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Are they a man and his wife? We do not know but they are sad and discouraged when Jesus joins them. I reflected on this Gospel on Easter Sunday so will concentrate on the feelings of all three. Jesus comes full of joy to console these two who left Jerusalem thinking their hope of having Jesus redeem Israel had been destroyed when they crucified Jesus. They knew that it was the third day and that some women said that the tomb was empty and angels had announced to them that Jesus was alive. However, they did not really believe this and so had started out for Emmaus. Jesus said to them, Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"

Does Jesus say something like this to us? I know he comes to walk with us when we are sad and discouraged. He wants to be recognized, but we need to ask him to stay with us as these disciples did. When they finally recognized him in the breaking of the bread at their simple supper, Jesus vanishes but they have new energy and share the fact that their hearts are burning within them.

They rush back to give the good news and found the Eleven and those with them saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!"

Easter Tuesday

The Gospel today is John 20:11-18. Mary Magdalene stays near the tomb weeping. When Jesus comes to her, she does not recognize him. He asks her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him." Then Jesus said, "Mary." He called her by her name and she recognized him. He then sends her to tell the disciples.

How often Jesus calls us by our names; I hear him calling, but do I really recognize him and respond as Mary did? Jesus is very near; have I the faith to hear and to see? He is in me, but he is also calling me through others and through events and circumstances in my daily life. Lord, help me to be attentive today!

Easter Monday

We are still contemplating the empty tomb, but Jesus had a busy day that first Easter. He appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden; he went walking along with the two disciples of Emmaus and explained the Scriptures to them on Easter Sunday afternoon and then went in to have supper with them. He appeared to Peter at some point and, of course, I firmly believe that he appeared to his mother first of all. Then, in the evening he comes to his apostles who are locked in the upper room. Jesus just appears and they are terrified. They had all abandoned him; he does not say a word of reproach. Instead, he gives them the power to forgive sins!

We are beginning the most joyous season in the liturgical year; it lasts 50 days. Jesus will spend 40 days on earth appearing to his disciples and consoling them; then he will ascend to his Father but will send the Holy Spirit to enlighten and strengthen them on Pentecost, fifty days after his resurrection.
"Let us rejoice and be glad for this is the day the Lord has made!" In a sense, every day is the day the Lord has made so let us rejoice and be glad!! And let us bring His joy to others!