Rejection calls to everyone, but only some, choose to answer.

Dear Friends,

Rejection, itself, is well-known  to human beings. Everyone experiences it in some measure.

Some of the rejections of our everyday lives are  insignificant, a bit a humorous but nonetheless annoying.

I remember once trying to give blood. I fainted in the process. The Red Cross worker told me I was nice to offer but need not bother again. Rejection is, at least, deflating.

Some rejections are harder to take:

·         Rejection  in love because there’s no mutuality

·         Rejection by potential schools or employers that dash our career hopes

·         Rejection from receiving communion during the sessions of  Vatican II, as experienced by the women observers present.

We could multiply examples endlessly from various perspectives.

Here’s the point to hang on to when we experience rejection: it is not an absolute.

Rather, it can become the beginning of a transformation.

Jesus was rejected by that portion of his people who had an addiction for the way things were. They placed Law over Love, questioned the mercy and love Jesus showed others, chose Barabbas over Jesus when both stood before Pilate. Yet the rejection of Jesus by the naysayers among His people was not the last word. Jesus was raised up. Rejection and death gave way to transformation and life.

The followers of Jesus – including you and me – are gifted with these same possibility:

Rejection -> Transformation - > New life.

Pope Francis  calls for “a more incisive female presence in the church,” and in The Joy of the Gospel, says  this about himself: “How I long to find the right words to stir up enthusiasm  for a new chapter of evangelization full of fervor, joy, generosity, courage, boundless love and attraction!  (n.261) ” I’m with him.  So are the women of the Church, given the chance. So much to do, and we are willing. Yet, some Catholic women in our times experience the Church as a home where we are not quite at home. Our gifts and very call to serve the faith community with a fullness of ministry are rejected and denied. Shall we stay or shall we go? My own hope is that we stay and continue to defy the unequivocal no from various parts of the Church as if it comes from Jesus. No is yesterday’s word, grounded in yesterday’s  culture. expectations  and lifestyle. “Come and see” is of Jesus. I invite our whole Church to  reject any claims that limit the potential given by God  to women as well as men  and, instead,  be  transformed into a new people of God, where, finally,” there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,  male nor female but all are one in Christ. (Galatians 3.27-28)”

Shake The Dust From Your Sandals

Dear Friends,

As you schlep around in your sandals this summer, consider Moses. He was upwardly mobile in the court of the Pharaoh, when his sense of justice and the connections of his Hebrew heart were challenged. Moses came upon an Egyptian striking a Hebrew. Moses slew the Egyptian and then, realizing his deed had dire consequences, fled into the desert.

Before long, Moses found himself in another fight, this time on behalf of seven young women set upon by thugs as the women drew water from a well. In gratitude, the father of the seven gave his daughter, Zipporah, to Moses as wife.

Finally, all seemed peaceful and normal, as Moses, wearing his sturdy sandals, tended

His father-in-law’s flocks in the fields. There, Moses came upon a burning bush which was

not consumed as it burned. Vastly curious, Moses came closer. Then a voice spoke to him from

the bush:

           

             “Moses! Moses!” God called out.

            “Here I am,” Moses replied.

            “Take off your sandals,” God said, “for the place you are standing is holy ground.”

We – you and I- are like Moses, moved to justice, unaware that God walks with us in the flow of our lives,  sometimes  powerfully confronted by God’s presence, yet unaware the bush is burning with meaning for us. God says to us as God said to Moses “Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy ground.”

Sandals – or shoes if you will- insulate us. They remove our feet from touching the ground. Surely, they protect our feet from cold, heat and dangerous objects – but sometimes, as in this story, they keep us separated from ground which can only be experienced as holy when our feet touches it .

Each of us is Moses. Make no mistake about it. The burning bush appears in our daily lives. Sometimes the holy ground is being in the presence of the dying or recognizing the holy in a stranger or friend. The Scriptures are Holy Ground, the Eucharistic meal is too. And more. You name the places and ways.

At other times in Scripture, we are encouraged to keep our sandals on. When the disciples  were sent out for the first time to preach and teach, Jesus knew they would not be accepted everywhere. He cautioned them “If any place does not welcome you, walk away and shake the dust from your sandals.” (Mk.6.12)

What is the dust that clings to our sandals? Certain ideas about God that render God unloving, distant, uncaring? The criticisms people level against us that make us stumble? The sheer weight of the stuff we carry with us because it’s ours and we don’t know when we’ll need it again?

As summer continues, our sandals become well-worn from daily use. Look at them. Hold them in your hands. Think about where you have worn them. Have they taken you to the burning bush? Have you had to leave some mental, emotional or physical places without being welcomed? Did you try to be God’s word there? Did you shake the dust from your sandals?

Are you ready to go on?

Sharing Our Declaration of Independence

Dear Friends,

Last weekend, at several Fourth of July gatherings, I invited the guests to tell us all what country their ancestors came from and approximately when. They happened to be largely from Europe. Only one had native American roots, but we were almost all of immigrant stock. At one of those gatherings, an Italian-born man with a lilting accent stood up .He had become a US citizen in 2004.  Each year, since then, on July 4, he has read aloud the Declaration of Independence. At our celebration, he recounted the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of in 1776. The silence was profound as we listened to him   read excerpts from the document. 

Someone had to make room for our ancestors, welcome them, give them clothes and shoes, if only hand-me-downs.  Sometimes breadwinners came, who then earned enough to send for the rest of the family. Cousins and folks who had come from the same towns back home helped, too. A leg up. Whole families came.

For the last few weeks, our newscasts and newspapers have been full of stories about immigrant children who fled, largely alone from Central America. A few adults came with them. Some children told how they had been marked for death by gangs. Survival meant to flee to the north, across Mexico, which also had its share of dangerous gangs.

The scenes are stunning. Bravery, trust in God and the clothes in their backs  was all some of them had.

Hear Jesus and take his words to heart.

                “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples               rebuked them, but Jesus said, “ Let the children come to me and do not prevent them, for the    kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”     (Matthew 19.13-14)

Courage will be required of us if we are to speak publicly about welcoming today’s immigrants, most especially the children.  Carry the word to your neighbors, families and friends, as well as to the officials whom we have elected to serve the common good. Our God and our church encourage us: Do not be afraid. 

June 30, 2014

Dear  Friends,

Summer offers us leisure hours to talk with one another, be it over a campfire, a glass of wine, on the porch , in the coach travelling to a distant destination. These are the perfect times to tell stories.

You and I are storytellers. Before we are thinkers, analysts, philosophers, we are storytellers.

Often, we underestimate the value of the stories we tell, because we think the are uninteresting, colorless, ordinary. But our stories are full of daydreams, fears and hopes,   memories and experiences. The themes of our stories, whether we know it or not,  are big themes: the dimensions of love, the pursuit of life to the full, the search for meaning, how evil is conquered. We tell stories that are sad, or full of humor. Sometimes we tell the same story over and over again until we are satisfied that we got the nuance and timing   right.

My mother’s father, Casimir, was short. Maybe  4’11’. He was mild, a man of prayer, old when I was little, with a thousand wrinkles on his face and neck. Grandma told me how he got to America. As a youth in Poland, he was involuntarily conscripted into the Russian army. He deserted, fled across multiple borders and came here. My  little Grandpa.  He grew to be a giant in my mind because of what he did.

This cherished story is more than a memory.  It is a source of invaluable lessons about gentleness and courage, about a sense of what life is for, about what it means to stand up to tyranny.

As we listen to one another’s stories, we clarify our convictions and reexamine the shape and texture of our lives.

We need to give one another permission to tell our stories, otherwise, they will dry up within us. We need to give one another permission to tell our stories without editorializing or asking distracting questions.

Slowly, we might come to realize that we are redeemed by discovering God in our human story… not that God is captured in our stories, but that God is revealed in our stories.

A look at Scripture shows us that God is revealed more in stories than in discourses.

In the Hebrew Bible, we read about how God spoke, wrestled,  loved, challenged. The parables of Jesus – the stories of Jesus- grip us, disarm us, uplift us, puzzle us. We find ourselves in these parables.

Then there is Jesus’ story. It’s told in the New Testament in a way that occasionally frustrates people who have no taste for stories, but who demand chronology and explanations. A lifetime isn’t long enough to probe the stories about Jesus.

Stories can be idle chatter. They can be used to manipulate people These stories do not enhance life. So we need to be discerning about the stories we value.

Our best models for life-giving stories are the disciples on the way to Emmaus. They walked with Jesus and only recognized him in the walk and talk and meal they shared.

On to the stories the summer will offer us.

The Game of Life

Dear Friends,

I entitle this piece “The Game of Life.”

To begin, playing games is not just for children. As adults, how utterly refreshing it is to abdicate adult ways to play as children. We do this best when we play with people who do not scorn, devalue such play. The characteristics of children’s play are total absorption, sheer enjoyment and exuberance.  No cell phones to interrupt.

In the game of life, we can choose some players but not all. How do we treat people who play the game of life with us: as members of the team, spectators, negotiators, cooperators, competitors that lead to winners and losers?  Do we ask what’s winnable for all?  

For all who know the world’s history, it’s clear that some games people play are positive. Others are not. The negative ones include dirty tricks, manipulation, brinksmanship, addiction to playing games of chance, destruction by mind games or war games, and sex games that are predicated on body use, inequality and no loving commitment. If this represents how we play, there will be no dreaming, no seeing connections, no risk-taking for the common good, no delight in common victories .For people who play negative games, whoever has the most toys wins.

·         

      What are the games that Jesus would not play?

·          

• He never backed off from what he said, and he meant what he said.
• In John 6, Jesus would not back down from saying He would give His Body and Blood as food.
• He would not deny who he was.  Remember Jesus and Pilate: Are you a king?
• He was not impressed with the wealth and class that people used to gain prominence.
• He refused to play word games with the Pharisees who tried to trap him, as they did before the adulterous woman in John 8. He put no one down not the rich young man who went away or the thief crucified with him.

Christianity has its own way of knowing who has won the game of life. By the fruits of what we are and do, we know we have won, not when others are in shambles.

The important ingredient in the enriching game of life is that we try to be the consistent person of integrity: life-giving in action and attitude, faithful to the Lord and to who we are, becoming all that we can be.

Saint John XXIII told this about himself: “I believe that when I stand before God, God will simply ask of me “How did you use the gift of life I gave you?’ “

Did John XXIII play well? Do we?

~Joan Sobala, SSJ

A Menu for Life

Dear Friends,

We don’t have to be foodies to appreciate the meaning of food in our lives. Sure, there’s food for our bodies, but also food for our spirits, our minds, our hearts.

I played in a foursome with a Dutch man on a golf course in Florida one winter. If he hit a particularly good shot, he would say: “I am satisfied.” Occasionally, after an outstanding shot, the Dutchman was more expansive: “I am very satisfied.” Food for this man’s spirit of play!

Next weekend, the liturgical calendar marks The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ,

what was, years ago called Corpus Christi. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening brings us together for the giving of the Eucharist by Jesus on the night before He died. That liturgy was the first part of the Triduum, three days when we were absorbed in the whole meaning of Jesus’ self-giving and His being raised up. Next weekend, we thank God once more and with renewed focus for this gift beyond all gifts. With Christ’s Body and Blood, we are daily nourished for our life’s journey, with its ups and downs, its victories and defeats, its delights and challenges, Recognizing the strength and confidence that comes though sharing in this sacred meal, we can say: “I am satisfied. I am very satisfied.”

But satisfaction is not all. For being one with Christ in this singularly remarkable way stirs up hungers in our hearts for the same sort of world reconciled to God that Jesus desired.

So here are some questions that invite you to make up a menu for your life going forward. Think beyond bodily food, and ask yourself:

            What do I have an appetite for?

            What do I want to taste again and again, or for the first time?

            What do I not want to stomach any longer?

            What can I contribute to for the health of the world?

            For what am I hungry to see? To hear? To witness?

On the mountain, before Jesus fed the multitudes, the disciples cam to Jesus with the fear that there was not enough  food among those gathered. Jesus said to them: "Feed them yourselves.”(Mark 6.37)

In what ways, with what resources are we called upon to feed the multitudes?

~Joan Sobala, SSJ

Generosity - A Way of Life

Dear friends,

            25 years ago June 4, one lone man stood down the tanks that had rolled into Tieneman Square. This man could have lost his life because of his unwillingness to move. Many men did lose their lives on June 6, 1944. D-Day. It is written that, after he gave the signal to commence the operation, General Eisenhower turned away and wept.  Volumes have been written about this bloody, courageous day when evil was confronted – a day that was judged to be the turning point of history. Many words have been used to describe the remarkable gifts of those marines, airmen, sailors and soldiers. Today, I choose one word.  Generous. They were generous.

            The generous sharing of who we are and what we have is no simple matter. It is a complex thing to know how much to share, how, when and why share life’s treasures at all. Our own generosity affects and sometimes changes drastically the lives of others, including our loved ones.

            Take the lone man in Tieneman Square. We don’t remember what happened to him. We do know what happened to a significant number of those who stormed the beaches of Normandy. They stayed, tucked away under white crosses, forever to be a sign to visitors of their remarkable generosity that others might live.

            Watching the sundrenched ceremonies from Normandy last  Friday, I wondered what these D-Day heroes thought as they went off to confront tanks or howitzers. Did they wonder whether what they shared would be wasted, misused to build religious or political empires rather than the lives of people?

            Similar questions tug at our lives when we creatively try to hold seriously the relationship between achievement and responsibility, between pleasure and loyalty, between having and sharing. For those who try to hear the word of God and keep it, Jesus gives examples of generosity – his own as well as the generosity of  others, like the poor woman who put in the temple coffers all she possibly could, without  knowing how her gift would be used. Her attitude mirrored his.

            For followers of the Risen Lord, generosity is a way of life. Some of us are called to give up our very lives for others. Many more of us are called to live our lives so that others may live graciously. Sometimes, generosity calls us “to live in the world, to sanctify the world, to not be afraid of living in the world by our presence in it.” (Pope Francis)

            In the face of life, in the face of death, I invite us all to reconsider and re-appropriate the generosity of Jesus and His followers of all time as a way of life.

~Joan Sobala, SSJ