4th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday

I love the image of the Good Shepherd and know that Jesus cares for each of us, calls us by name, and seeks us out when we need His love and care. 
Jesus tells us in today's Gospel (John 10:27-30) "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Mo one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

That is a most consoling Gospel. We belong to Jesus and He is the Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep. If I a late today, it is because I am one of the six or more here who has been in isolation with coughs and colds. I mostly have been coughing, but it has taken all my energy and I have done nothing for three days. Today, I hope to at least work in my room and stay out of my too comfortable recliner. I need to get my strength back as I leave on Friday for St. Louis to see my brother. It will be a busy week ahead, too. One of my good friends here went to God this week; she was 100 years old, but Cassie was still full of life last week and always greeted each of us at our breakfast table by name. She was so gentle and courteous and I miss her. We have had three go to God since Easter.

How do you love this world of ours?

I have been praying over Carol Bialock's poems and will share another with you today:

I Embrace the World this Morning

I embrace the world this morning,

Hold her in my arms a long moment

And decide never to let her go, 

Never to return to safety,

Never to say, "It's none of my business."

It is.

Maybe there should be a ritual

When we come of age,

When we're old enough to respond

"I do",

To the most crucial question:

"Do you love this world?"

Perhaps that will be the final question:

"Have you truly, deeply, faithfully

Loved this world?

At the End

Here is another poem of Carol Bialock that merits reflection:

At the End

"The same labor pains
That erupted you into life set in.
The moment to push hasn't come yet;
Only the pain and the trust
And the imploding of unknown worlds."

We were often told that it was good to meditate on death, but I was not fond of doing it. Now, some poems have made it easy.

After All This Comfort

Many months ago I quoted, with permission, some of Carol Bialock's poems. Since she is a good RSCJ friend, I believe I still have her permission and I know I did not copy the ones she had about death and dying. Now I am ready to do so as we have just had two deaths here and another is perhaps close to death plus our Sisters in Albany have had two deaths - all this shows that God wants to take some of His friends home during this Easter season.
This is the poem: After All This Comfort:

So, after all this comfort,
you think you will die uncomforted?
Ludicrous!
Blasphemy!

You will die hugged to the breast,
nursed into light.
It will be the deepest comfort, and you
will celebrate wedding.
You will stand at the altar in that final
caressing and say "Amen!" to the great questioning.
You who said "Yes" will keep repeating
"Yes, indeed yes!"

And there will be a comfortable,
an infinitely comforting
Beginning Kiss.

God made the world to give us joy

I firmly believe that God wants us all to be joyful and He has surrounded us with beauty. Creation is full of joy, but we are so uncaring about much of the life around us. Each part of creation is important. In "Growing in Joy" Robert Morneau gives 31 short meditations for a life in abundance. Since joy is my vocation within my vocation, I often go back to them. Today I am quoting from one entitled, "A Reward of Creation".

Saint Paul lists joy as one of the signs of the Holy Spirit in our life. To be alive spiritually implies the presence of joy. People who are deeply alive radiate joy. "To perform work well and for it to have a lasting effect, joy is a major ingredient....Joylessness diminishes the possibility of full health of soul, mind, and heart."

Christian joy is, according to Morneau, a gift from God that we call grace.

Walking with Jesus

Today I am sharing a quote from Cynthia Bourgeault:

"Jesus in his ascended state is not farther removed from human beings but more intimately connected with them. He is the integral ground, the ambient wholeness within which our contingent human lives are always rooted and from which we are always receiving the help we need to keep moving ahead on the difficult walk we have to walk here. When the eye of our own heart is open and aligned within this field of perception, we recognize whom we’re walking with.

As our grounds are so beautiful, I like to invite Jesus to go for a walk with me. I feel the closeness of Jesus and sometimes we have a conversation about the state of the world (or the state of my soul), but sometimes we just enjoy each other's company in silence. I have been talking to Jesus about a line from Bishop Morneau that is certainly trying to influence me. He says: "service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served." I am not sure I always set the tables after supper with joy, but most things I do for others really do give me joy so I am able to render them with joy for which I am grateful. 

Skywalkers

This island off the coast of Ireland may be familiar to those who watch Star Wars. I just was thinking of what it would be like to be a skywalker. You could just roam around the world up among the clouds and have a real bird's eye view. You can tell the Holy Spirit has not yet started to inspire this blog today. Perhaps I should just take a vacation.
Instead I will tell you that I had a very busy week and I am happy that I was able to do all that I did, but I also have made the firm resolution to say "no" to all extras during this week. I am not sure but think I have less. Last week, besides seeing my Senior student, the third graders for reading, four groups of 6th graders who were to interview me but it was sort of a mutual conversation with each group and utterly delightful, I also went to visit one of our nuns who is recovering from a hip operation and waiting for a knee operation, went to a funeral, had a funeral here for Sister Bebe, spent two nights in vigil with another of our Sisters who did die this week (getting up from 2:00 to 4:00 AM was something I loved when allowed night adoration as a novice; now, two nights in a row is enough to make me feel tired for the rest of the week. Well, those are only a few things that I did last week besides the regular schedule. We all wore decorated hats to our Kentucky Derby party and bet on the horses. I thought I had a winner and then they disqualified the horse. 
Retirement at Oakwood can be a busy time. Fortunately, the first Sunday of the month arrived and that is a silent day! I love it!

Third Sunday of Easter

This Sunday's entrance antiphon is worth using as a prayer:

"Cry out with joy to God, all the earth; O sing to the glory of his name; O render him glorious praise, alleluia.

The Collect is very positive and asks that "we may look forward in confident hope to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection"

The Gospel is that of my favorite apparition (John 21: 1-14). When Peter said he was going fishing, six others of the chosen disciples said they would go with him. They went out and toiled all night and caught nothing. By dawn they must have felt tired, cold, hungry,  and discouraged. Jesus knows this and has made a fire on the shore and brought bread, caught fish, and has breakfast cooking for his friends. That is such a thoughtful scene that I love to imagine Jesus making his preparations to surprise his friends. Finally, as they come closer to the shore, Jesus calls to them to ask if they have any fish. When they say they have not caught any, he tells them to let the net down on the right side of the boat. They cast the net and immediately it is so full they cannot pull it in. Then one says, "It is the Lord" and Peter jumps into the water to get to Jesus.

After they have breakfast with Jesus serving them, Jesus will ask Peter three times, "Do you love me?" I think Jesus is often asking us the same question and my answer is the same as Peter: "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."

First Saturday

This is a different picture of Our Lady of the Rosary. I enjoy saying my rosary as I walk around our beautiful grounds, but must confess that my mind is often not on the mysteries or even the words that I am reciting. I just think I am saying "I love you" to Mary and that is all she asks of me.

Now, here is a quote from James Finlay taken from Richard Rohr's daily meditations:

In fidelity to silent prayer there is unveiled the possibility of infinite growth in union with God. We can be so transformed through this unveiling that we existentially realize within us that “for me to live is Christ” [Philippians 1:21]. We realize obscurely in our being, that our simple, concrete acts are open to a transformation through which they are “not only Godlike, but they become God’s own acts.” [1]

There is nowhere to go. There is nothing to do. God is upon and within us. In the midst of our humble duties, our poor, weak selves, our simple being who we are, we can say with Jacob with overwhelming gratitude: “Truly this is the house of God and the gate of heaven and I knew it not” [see Genesis 28:16-17]. [2]

I find this quote very consoling!

First Friday

I am so impressed by the humility of Jesus and love to see that this Pope is so like Jesus. Jesus was feared by those in power who were quick to criticize him for the good he was doing. I think the Pope is also facing many problems, but I am sure Jesus is giving him the light and strength to deal with them.

We also find people who are critical, perhaps we feel misjudged at times, but we need to draw courage from Jesus and not let others keep us from trying to do good. St. Paul was full of joy in the midst of all kinds of difficulties. The world needs joy! And lots of prayer!

The path of Joy

The daughter of one of Thomas Merton's friends, Grace Sisson, sent him a drawing called The Road To Joy. He answered her and said, among other things, "I hope you and I together still secretly travel our own road to joy, which is mysteriously revealed to us without our exactly realizing."

I think each of us has a path to joy; I would say it is a path of joy, once we have found it. Bishop Morneau said that joy comes from the presence of companions on the road with us, but full joy comes when God travels with us.

Joy is a net of love...

Our patio is so lovely. I think the flowers blooming all over add to our Easter joy. When I lived in St. Louis and Miami, I loved to go to the botanical gardens; here I am surrounded by beauty and do not need to go out to find it.

Here us a quote from Mother Teresa of Calcutta that I love:
"Joy is prayer--joy is strength--joy is love--joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. God loves a cheerful giver. She gives most who gives with joy. The best way to show our gratitude to God and the people is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love. Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen."

I finished reading "The Election of Pope Francis" by Gerard O'Connell and really loved it. I hope many of you will have the chance to read it. I am giving mine to our spiritual library but several are in line to read it here.