Celebrating the Mother of God

Dear Friends,

Each year in October, our Church celebrates Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother.

Since earliest Christian times, it has been the little people who have honored, loved and depended on the support of Mary. That makes sense. Little people, that is the poor, the ordinary, those who have no decision-making power or authority, depend on their mothers for sustenance, safety, learning, the daily needs of life. Mothers have been known to surround their children in a mantle of security. They are often the one who lead their children to God.

Mary has been claimed as mother by people worldwide over the centuries. She is a model of trust, courage, patience, risk. Widowed mothers and unwed mothers have turned to her. So have the oppressed, the marginalized, the afflicted. The veneration of Mary has been a mainstay, an inspiration across the globe.

During the Council of Ephesus, in 431, the bishops gathered to consider whether Mary was to be more appropriately called Christotokos (Christ-Bearer) or Theotokos (God-Brearer). They were leaning toward Christotokos. Meanwhile, on the streets of Ephesus, when the people heard this, they roared out “No! Theotokos!” The people had spoken. Thus, it has been for all these centuries. Mary is acknowledged by believers as the Mother of God.

In distant and obscure parts of the world, sites of strong Marian devotion have developed. Sometimes, these were sites of apparitions, where typically, Mary appeared to the little people. We certainly know of Guadalupe (1531), Lourdes (1858) and Fatima (1917). Among the less well-known sites of Marian devotion are Montserrat, Spain (880), Walsingham, England (1061), Bistrica, Croatia (1545), LaVang, Vietnam (1778), Akita, Japan (1973) and Kibeho, Rwanda (1980). Pope Francis recently went to visit the tiny Catholic population of Mongolia, which dates back to 1992. Venerated there, in the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul in Ulaambaator, is a statue of Our Lady of Heaven, found in a dump not many years ago. Little people, not the wealthy or powerful, go to search for life-giving things in dumps. Mary is with her Son’s People in Mongolia.

This month, include reverence for Mary in your daily prayer. Say a Rosary. To find a list of all mysteries of the Rosary, go to https://www.marquette.edu/faith/prayers-mysteries.php. Or say one decade. If neither of those work on any given day, say a Hail Mary.

The Hail Mary was not composed all at once. It came together over many centuries. It was the work of the little people. Beginning with the greeting to Mary from the archangel Gabriel, the prayer goes on to include Elizabeth’s words to Mary. The faithful of the medieval period added bits and pieces until the Council of Trent, in the 16th century, accepted the prayer as we know it.

Hail Mary. Holy Mother of God. A surprise to her parents. A surprise to Joseph. Her remembered words are few but she points to us to Jesus as she pointed the wine stewards at the Marriage Feast in Cana to Him. “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2) The stewards knew what to do. So do we, if only we are willing. The wine our lives will produce will be abundant and exceptionally fine, if we do what He tells us. Little people know how to make good wine.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

The Generosity of God’s Love

Dear Friends,

Every three years, this rather puzzling Gospel of the workers in the vineyard is read on the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Some workers put in longer hours than others. All got paid equally. The good guys lose again! Right? Unfair!?

Our interpretation depends on what we know about the reasons this parable was included in the Gospel of Matthew and its possible value in our lives.

The audience for this parable is, in the first place, the Pharisees pressing Jesus with their narrow attitudes. They complained that he treated sinners too well. Jesus welcomed them, dined with them, helped them. The generosity of God’s love infuriated the Pharisees.

Forty years later, Matthew’s community was dealing with the influx of Gentiles into their community. Matthew’s community is composed mainly of Jewish people who had embraced Christ in faith and could not fathom how these Gentiles – foreigners, pagans, unbelievers, outsiders – could be on equal footing with themselves – God’s chosen people. Thus, Matthew is using this story of God’s graciousness to address the smallness of the community’s thinking.

This parable is not about labor relations or hourly wages, though it might seem so. It is rather about God’s generosity, which, in our own lives, we emulate by being generous as well.

All generosity is unfair. It is God’s choice when, where and how to be generous. That’s so hard to accept, yet don’t we do the same?

How about parents who treat their children as individuals? At times, one child may have a singular need. When attention is given to the one, other children in the family may grumble and probably do, but the parents make their choice according to their own vision.

A modern-day version of this story can be found in the actions of Pope Francis, whose constant theme song is God’s merciful love and care. Some years ago, Pope Francis presided at the marriage of 20 couples. Later, it became known that some of the couples had been living together and one of the couples had a child. You can imagine the response. Some rejoiced, others – the modern-day Pharisees – were furious. Pope Francis and these couples had not followed the rules.

Today’s first reading from Isaiah gives us an important clue for understanding Jesus’ thinking. It was a passage Jesus knew well and had depended on in His words and actions: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth. So high are my ways above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.”

So, when we take the opportunity to include others in our communities and neighborhoods, we are on fertile ground to do so. The word “exclusion” is not part of God’s vocabulary.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

The Value of the Synod on Synodality

Dear Friends,

On a day-to-day basis, we think locally. Our everyday lives are intertwined with state and national events as well. Occasionally, we are absorbed by international events, like the Olympics or disasters, but if I suggest you pay attention to the Synod on Synodality, your face may grow blank as you utter that well-worn phrase, “What’s that?”

Or maybe you do have some vague recollection of hearing that term before, but it does sound dense.

Dense, maybe, but valuable for us, as Catholic Christians to unpack.

In church language, a synod is a bishops’ meeting preceded by a consultative process with the larger church. Since the Council of Jerusalem as described in the Acts of the Apostles, the Catholic Church had had periodic synods to create the future of the church by being faithful to the person and message of Jesus Christ in the truly essential past, while at the same time, incorporating the most valuable questions and insights of the contemporary world. The task is to keep the Church fresh, faithful to God, without being sealed in every aspect of the past.

Since 1965, the Vatican Synod Office has produced a number of such meetings, dealing with important topics in church life. Hence, the Synod on the Family, Youth, The Amazon, to mention a few. Currently, the Vatican Synod Office is co-chaired by French Sister Nathalie Becquart and Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech. They have been responsible for coordinating the preparatory work for the Synod. Both will be voting members of the Synod.

The fact that Sister Nathalie Becquart is included among the voting members of the Synod points to the desire of Pope Francis has to “enlarge the tent” of the Church. The worldwide consultative process in 2021 and 2022 is a part of that effort to hear the whole church. There will be 70 non-bishops who will participate and vote in this Synod. Unheard of in previous synods. The voices and concerns of laity, deacons, priests, men and women religious as well as bishops will be essential to this synod and to the lives of believers throughout the world. In what ways is the Holy Spirt challenging us as the listening, journeying People of God? After all, we walk the same road together in faith. Should we not hear one another more profoundly?

According to Pope Francis, the goal of this Synod is not to produce documents, but to open the church to new horizons as it works to fulfill its mission of unity and solidarity of all people with Christ.

As a member of the community of believers, I invite you to pray with, watch, look, listen and talk about the Synod, October 4 to October 29, 2023. A second session will be held in October 2024.

You’ll be able to watch proceedings on the Vatican News website, at Cruxnow.com and in the National Catholic Reporter. There are, of course, naysayers, who hold that this synodal process is a failed path. Jose Antonio Ureta of Chile and Julio Loredo De Izcue of Peru, supported by retired US Cardinal Raymond Burke in “The Synodal Process is a Pandora’s Box,” deny the value and continuity of the process for the good of the church.

To this moment, the jury is out, so to speak. But we can do our best to cooperate with Pope Francis and the wealth of participants in the Synod on Synodality and of course, the Holy Spirit to produce a vibrant, inclusive Church of the future.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

The Meaning of Hope

Dear Friends,

Today marks the beginning of the 11^th year I have been writing this blog…through holidays and holidays, through the pandemic and winter storms, through changes in my own thinking and yours. Often, when the times were ordinary and I wondered what topic I might write about, I listened hard to the conversations of people, the local, national and international news, and the Holy Spirit. When I was most dependent on these other sources, I found the words flowed most freely.

I have hoped that at least a few people reading these thoughts found resonance in them. And I plan to go on as long as my mind is fertile, and I get some feedback that these thoughts are worthwhile. Thank you for being among my occasional or regular readers.

Given this new decade of writing and the unsettled character of the times, let’s begin this new decade by mulling over some thoughts on hope, that least easily grasped quality needed to live a faithful life. 

In the most casual, colloquial terms, hope means that there is more to life than meets the eye. Hope is just beyond the horizon. We hope for things we cannot see. Helen Keller was/is a living testament to hope. The Holy Spirit sent her Annie and the impossible blossomed. Hope in the form of Annie, gave Helen Keller a remarkable life. 

Embodied hope. We have undoubtedly experienced it but not always recognized it. Hope tends to be masked over by surprise or someone else’s genius in achieving the next step. But hope is unique. It means to live in readiness for the goodness that is to come. A number of years ago, I came across the title of a conference about hope. It was entitled, “Being Respectfully Persistent for Love of God.” Persistence. Our part matters. As we hope for change in society, our Church, our neighborhood, our attitudes, we must do the work. The profound truth about Baptism is that it launches us into tasks that are bigger than our lifetime. Hope says: we may not see the result, but we are part of the movement. 

When the women in Jesus’ public ministry encountered Jesus, hope stirred in them. Sometimes that hope was initially dashed. Jesus seemed to reject the plea of the Syrophoenician woman who came to Jesus expecting a cure for her daughter. But she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Cleverly, she worked around Jesus’ cultural limitations. He did what her daughter needed. Hope turned into a new reality for all concerned. 

A decade of hope lies before us. Shall we welcome it as a gift of our generous God?

~ Sister Joan Sobala

There's Room for Everyone

Dear Friends,

It’s the last official holiday weekend of an all too short summer. I hope you enjoy its special qualities. Earlier this summer, Pope Francis attended World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal along with 400,000 youth. One-point-five million people were at the last Mass of the week to hear Pope Francis tell all who came to pray in solidarity with one another:

"There is room for everyone in the Church, and when there is not, we must make room – including room for those who make mistakes, who fall or struggle. The Lord does not point a finger but opens wide his arms. Jesus shows us this on the cross.

"He does not close the door but invites us to enter; He does not keep us at a distance but welcomes us. Let these be days when we fully realize in our hearts that we are loved just as we are. Don’t be afraid of failing.

"Everyone needs to know that God is near and all God needs is a small response on our part in order to fill our lives with wonder."

There is room for everyone in the Church. Believe it.

Not long ago, I visited a couple to take them communion. Their housekeeper was there. When it came time to pray, I asked the housekeeper if she would like to join us. She, who was Catholic from her childhood but not part of the family I was visiting, was at first surprised, but then she happily agreed. Why would we leave her out?

What will that moment mean for her? I don’t know. Maybe she doesn’t even know. But God knows her, loves her, wants her to be close. There is room in the Church for everyone.

As September and the fall season unfold, let’s remind ourselves and each other that we are all loved by God. Wanted. Held close. Let’s beckon and invite others to come or come back. In the spirit of Jesus and Francis, we need to enlarge the table and enlarge the tent.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Keeping Our Eyes Fixed on Jesus

Dear Friends,

As August ends, this summer series concludes. To send us off refreshed into September and beyond, I invite you to “keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.” (Hebrews 12.2) I hope to do so as well.

To help do this, I have found several authors particularly encouraging. They ask us to look at the Gospel as a whole. We are used to being limited to the Sunday Gospel portions, which give us insight into Jesus piecemeal, one incident, one parable at a time. What does the whole Gospel tell us about Jesus?

Scripture scholar Gerhard Lohfink says that “Jesus possessed an unheard of freedom. He is not a model of one who is tormented, grim, dissatisfied, or who has fallen short of his goal. He is no fanatic, utterly convinced that he must force others to adopt his own position…He remains to the end a free person…full of generosity and humanity.”

Michelle Francl-Donnay, adjunct professor at the Vatican Observatory, writes in a new way about the Transfiguration event: “Hovering behind Peter’s wild desire to hold on to the moment, I see Jesus in a garden gently telling Mary Magdalene not to cling to him. Listen to my Son, says a voice from the cloud, and I see spit and mud and a deaf man who can suddenly see and be heard. Ephphata! Be opened! Rise, says Jesus, and Peter comes to him across the water, a paralyzed man rolls up his mat, and a young girl gets up from her death bed.

“And always, do not be afraid. Resounding over and over. On a storm-wracked sea. To a worried father. His disciples gathered for one last meal. To the multitudes. To all of us.”

The last author I want to quote whose insight into Jesus is particularly remarkable since her field is mystery novels – the British writer Dorothy L. Sayers.

“Perhaps it’s no wonder that women were the first at the Cradle and last at the Cross.

“There had never been a man like this man…A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made arch jokes about them…who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension, who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them, and was completely unselfconscious.

“There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity.

“Nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything ‘funny’ about women’s nature.”

And finally, from my own wonderings, think with me for a moment about the woman in Luke (18. 10-18) who had been bent over for 18 years. Jesus lovingly refers to her as Daughter of Abraham, and he cures her. This is what I wonder: Did Jesus see her for the first time when he was a youth, who stayed behind to experience the teachings in the temple? Was he so touched that he remembered?

So many delicious new ways of taking Jesus with us into the fall season! May the eyes of your heart be enlightened! (Ephesians 1.18)

~Sister Joan Sobala

The Possibilities and Glory of Summertime

Dear Friends,

Time. Timeless. Timebound. Timely. I don’t have time. I wish I had time. I have all the time in the world.

When I was a child, time stood still in the summer. There was soooo much of it. It seemed endless. Now, the days speed by.

How about you? Where are you on the time spectrum?

Do you perceive that the timeless God of summer bounty is with you? Do Jesus’ stories about the pearl of great price, the treasure in the field, heard a few weeks ago, make you grateful for all the treasures summer has held so far?

Or have you been timebound by expectations, workload, overwhelming commitments?

The summer season still has weeks to go. Some people extend their summer practices until Indigenous People’s Day, a.k.a. Columbus Day.

What do you still realistically wish for this summer? What can you do to achieve it?

Will you reach out by letter or phone call to someone from your past?

Will you take a walk in a public garden to enjoy the sight and fragrance of the flower beds?

Will you spend an hour with a shut-in?

Will you play with a child?

Will you walk on a beach?

The composer of the Anthem When Long Before Time invites us to sing with God as the summer continues to entice us with its possibilities and glory. The song begins before creation, when there was only silence. Then...

The silence was broken when God sang the Song…

The Singer was pleased as the earth sang the Song…

Then down through the ages, the Song disappeared…

But

The Singer comes to us to sing it again…

Let us all sing with one heart and one voice

The Song of the Singer in whom we rejoice.

To you, God, the Singer, our voices we raise,

To you, Son Incarnate, we give all our praise,

To you, Holy Spirit, our life and our breath,

Be glory forever, through life and through death.

As summer continues to be our daily fare, let’s sing our praise and thanks to God, our premier summer-friend, who sings of the wonders of the world and sings in our hearts as well.

~Sister Joan Sobala