The Assumption of Mary

Dear Friends,

This blog interrupts our season of summer thoughts. It’s fitting to do so, because this Wednesday, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. Her life was so attuned to God that her whole being was taken up into heaven. The Church has held this belief from ancient times until today.

In one poetic piece by Paul Stader SJ (d. 1942),

                Thomas saw white roses
                Within the tomb where she had lain.

The British biblical scholar, Reginald Fuller (d.2011), applauds Mary’s Assumption as part of the poetry of the Christian tradition. Here are his thoughts for us to relish:

                Life lived under the impulse of God is eternal.

                Mary’s life was lived under the impulse of God:

                                            God’s light,
                                            God’s breath,
                                            God’s shadow,
                                            God’s energy.

                Mary is without end.

                If we do the same, that is, if we live under the impulse of God,

                                            God’s light,
                                            God’s breath,
                                            God’s shadow,
                                            God’s energy,

                We have a kinship with Mary and a destiny.

                This feast bids us take heart.
                Our lives are not destined for termination.

This week, let us together anticipate the richness of forever.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Hospitality and Visiting

Dear Friends,

John Gramkee was back at the pool at the Bayview YMCA this week. He recently turned 90. John had had knee replacement last year, but the reason we hadn’t seen him sooner this year is that he took 26 of his family members to Spain for a month and they just got home last week. John wanted his grands and great-grands to live together for at least a short time, acquiring a taste for the potential friendships that could arise among them. He hoped so.

During the course of summer, we visit relatives and friends. We welcome visitors to our home or we go to see others. Family visits reveal common history, especially when stories are told and retold.

Sometimes we really don’t want particular visitors to come our way. How do we deal with that?

When travelling, we visit in other ways for other reasons.

If we are courageous, we visit with strangers travelling along our vacation route.    

We visit museums and historic sites not just to see but to be changed, influenced, moved by what we see and hear.

We linger in open fields, in botanical gardens to soak in the Spirit.

Standing before the statue of St. Peter in the Basilica at Rome, we notice that his forward foot has been worn smooth and bright by visitors rubbing it.  

Getting into the elevator at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, we catch a whiff of smoke.

Visiting cemeteries evokes awareness of the circumstances which brought people to bury their dead here.

Abraham's hospitality was a way of life. Strangers travelling by could not pitch their tent in Abraham's compound. But strangers were always welcome to stay within. That's the backstory of Isaac's birth. Abraham's hospitality laid the groundwork for the hospitality that all Jewish people, Jesus, included treasure.

In the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke, we hear of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary, Mary visiting Elizabeth, the shepherds and Magi visiting Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Jesus presumed on the hospitality of Peter's mother-in-law and Zacchaeus, when in their towns. Jesus rested well at the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. At his birth, Jesus had to depend on the hospitality of the innkeeper and at his death, he was laid in a stranger's tomb.

Hospitality and visiting go hand in hand.

Today is the feast of the Transfiguration. There on Mt. Tabor, Peter attempted to imitate the hospitality of Abraham, wanting to build tents for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses. (Matt.17.1-8) Do we want Jesus to stay with us?

Are we hospitable to the Lord when He visits us with a thought, a desire, a question?

~ Sister Joan Sobala

The Food and Fellowship of Summer Gatherings

Dear Friends,

Meals are often different in the summer. More vegetables and fruits, less stews and soups. Put away the frozen and prepared food, and head to a farm market if you can. Summer fruits and vegetables are so much fresher if we can shop farm to table.

With a little extra effort, summer meals can be eaten outside, in a more leisurely manner. Whether we eat alone or with others, the point is to relax more, enjoy the taste of sweet and savory, inhale the fragrance of sun-ripened vegetables, garlic, rosemary and basil straight from the garden.

Not all meals are banquets, but they don’t need to be. My friend Viktor was hitchhiking down the Italian peninsula, when he was picked up by a smelly, sweaty farmer in an old pick-up truck, heading to Rome. With adequate signs and a few words, they agreed that Viktor would ride the distance with him. Lunch time came and went. Finally, the driver pulled over under a tree. They got out to stretch. The driver brought out of the truck some bread, cheese, and a bottle of wine. They sat on the ground and shared. Viktor had nothing to offer. Sometimes it’s like that. But it didn’t matter to the driver. Later that night, thinking over his experience of the day, Viktor realized that he and the driver had shared Eucharist.

In many of our mealtimes, Christ comes to us. He was a great one for sharing meals anytime he could – in houses or while traveling. Festive meals like the wedding feast at Cana and the Last Supper. Revelatory meals where something new was experienced or learned, like the times he ate with Matthew’s friends or Zacchaeus. How about the multitude that was fed because the young boy trusted Jesus enough to share his loaves and fishes with Jesus and all?

When Jesus and others shared a meal for the well-being of their bodies, they also fed their minds and hearts. We do that too with tender conversation over a meal or learning something from the strangers at the next table.

And then there are the summer parties with lots of food and light banter. Tempted to overeat, we hold back, trying with great effort to be moderate. The true joy in summer gatherings comes from being together and not only from the food.

The Irish St. Brigit teaches us about inclusive table fellowship in heaven. She loved the idea of a heavenly table with an abundance of food and drink. Let’s plan to join her!

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Making Summer Vacation a Sacred Time

Dear Friends,

There are no vacations mentioned in the bible. Travel, yes. Journeys are part of the stuff of Scripture. If vacations are not mentioned in the Scriptures, “rest” certainly is.

On the 7th day, God rested. (Gen.2.2-3) That call to rest became a much-appreciated part of Israelite life. Six days of intense labor. One day of rest. From Genesis to Jesus, rest was an expected part of the week’s end. Jesus also encouraged His disciples to rest. After they had been on the road, preaching and healing, He encouraged them to go off to a quiet place to rest. (Mark 6.31) And again: Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and find rest for your souls. (Mt. 11. 28-30)

Not all vacations are restful. Some are downright frenetic: stressful departure, long rides, detours, getting lost, traffic holdups, stops for scenic views and overlooks, interactions with other people, short travel breaks at rest stops, things lost, long lines to get into a venue. How about yours?

Maybe you have never thought of summer vacation as sacred time. But it is. It is time dedicated to the restoration of life, energy, vision, amazement, awareness of the truths of the lives of people you meet along the way.

Places where we visit for the scenic beauty may also be holy places to the people who have been there before us. God is there. Has always been there. One day, people realized it and set up markers to remind others who came along later that God is there.

In the Book of Joshua, the Israelites put up 12 pitched stones when they reached the Jordan River to tell future generations “This is where we crossed over.” Centuries later, those who marched across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, AL on Bloody Sunday, 1965, echoed the Israelites. They too put up 12 pitched stones near the far side of the bridge where they had been brutally attacked with the exact same caption: “This is where we crossed over.” (Jos.4.22)

When on vacation, don’t leave God home. While traveling, say brief but heartfelt praise for the majesty you see, the breadth and width and depth of what you experience. When possible on a weekend, find a church and take an hour of time to rest in the Lord, breathing in the atmosphere of another House of God, worshipping with brothers and sisters you just met. You might find it a refreshing part of your vacation.

One of our modern temptations is to take bundles of photographs and miles of videos on vacation. We miss much of the experience that way. Photographs and videos are worthy souvenirs, but so are postcards.

Among our recently coined words is “staycation” for when we can’t get away. Daytrips help make it a true vacation. Ask yourself what would truly refresh you as you stay at home. Jaime Kurtz, psychology professor at James Madison University, is quoted in the New York Times, advising that, with regard to a staycation, we ask ourselves, “If I were moving away soon, what would I most want to do before I go and who would I most want to see?”

And finally, here’s a brief prayer from the ancient Carmina Gadelica of the Celts of Scotland to keep in mind as you travel:

            God over me, God under me,
            God before me, God behind me,
            I on Thy path, O God,

                    Thou, O God, in my steps.

~Sister Joan Sobala

Summertime Conversations about Faith

Dear Friends,

Continuing our summer series, we turn in this week’s blog to conversations about religion at picnics, parties, while driving together long distances in the car, or when reuniting with friends who are back in town for a visit. On these occasions, we either talk about religion or we assiduously avoid it.

Last week I was with a study group that focused on the legacy of Jesus – discipleship and a community of believers. One of the people there was Greek Orthodox and a weekly communicant in her church. As she talked about her frustrations with her church experience, I thought, “she could be talking about the Roman Catholic Church as I experience it: declining numbers, very few young adults, children absent because their parents are absent, questions over what is expected of believers, the priority some express for spirituality over religion.”

“It's nobody’s business but mine whether I go to church or synagogue or not.” True, but conversations about religion, gently engaged in, can be non-threatening, enlarging, revelatory. Someone else’s life with God could well reveal something about our own life with God. Nuggets from history sometimes tell us why a particular practice developed as it did.

For all of us Christians, our welcome into the faith tradition began with baptism. Baptism, most properly celebrated at the Easter Vigil, unites us to the dying and rising of Christ. As part of the baptismal ritual itself, the newly baptized is clothed in a white garment. The baptized person, still him/herself, becomes new, capable of embracing Christ, taking a place in the community, with all that this means. The baptized person now lives as a member of the Body of Christ. Baptism in its richness takes a lifetime to unfold.

Hard to understand? Yes. But in the 11^th century, St. Anselm put the task before us succinctly: “I believe in order to understand.” What he meant is that it is only in living faith that one comes to grasp its meaning better. Staying off at a distance doesn’t help. Belief comes before understanding.

Another important aspect of faith is to acknowledge the mystery of God, the mystery of life, the mystery of human beings exploring God’s life. All of these unfold when we keep company with God, when we listen to God speaking to us in prayer.

The road of faith is hard, and we can’t do it alone. That’s why we need the beloved community, as John Lewis and Martin Luther King called it. We can’t walk away from the beloved community without losing something essential to our lives.

To repeat the point: these summer conversations about faith seeking understanding need to be gentle. We are not called to swap horror stories about negative church experiences, or to mull over answers over unanswerable questions. The difference in us will come when we encourage one another to seek a new moment with God who is always ready to go forward with us, meet us where we do not expect to go.

~ Sister Joan Sobala 

The Transitions of Life

Dear Friends,

In this summer series of blogs, we turn to a topic that happens all year long, but which seems to have special relevance in the summer, namely transition.

Last week, I celebrated two members of a family who were transitioning, one from high school to college, a second one from college to a work experience.

Transitions may be, as in the case of these two young people, passage to a new educational place. Transition could involve marriage or religious commitment, the death of a parent, sibling or friend, a new way of thinking, new values just discovered and put into action, a change of patterns. People who work in ministry often transition in the summer to a new place, a new community.

Multiple transitions take place in life. Some are sequential, others simultaneous. We can be in transition when the people around us are not, and vice versa.

“Every transition begins with an ending. We have to let go of an old thing before we pick up the new – not just outwardly, but inwardly, where we keep our connections to the people and places that act as definitions of who we are.” (William Bridges, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes)

Click! Click is a transition word. It means “I get it!” or “I have it!”

In Jesus, life was a series of transitions – the growth in awareness of who He was and what He was called to. When Jesus was confronted by the Syrophoenician woman who wanted healing for her daughter, click! Jesus moved to a new way of thinking and doing about who He was called to save. On the hillside, when so many people were hungry, click! “Feed them yourselves!” Jesus knew others would have to participate in His own mission in order for life to be enriched. On the cross and in the grave, Jesus had to let go. Click! Before the resurrection, He had to let go of all He hoped for.

Here are some thoughts about what I need to build into my life so that I can make it through transition times.

Be aware that, wanted or not, transition will happen. Change happens. Or as the cabin steward aboard our flight told us referring to the overhead bins, “Shift happens.”

Watch other people to see how they have transitioned or not.

Keep a memory of transition times past. What worked. What didn’t? What were the best practices about transition I need to remember?

Study Jesus and stay the course with the essentials that arise from walking with Him:

            Love God.
            Know that I am loved by God.
            I am called to speak the truth in love.
            I am called to be faithful yet open to change.
            Jesus accepted moments of change, 

            but not without resistance. Father, Let this cup…Luke 22.42

Add your own thoughts here about Jesus and you and others. For all of us, transition is more than a summer’s experience. It is the work of a lifetime.

~Sister Joan Sobala

Fulfilling Our Promise of Liberty and Justice for All

Dear Friends,

The rain was in full force, so an outdoor gathering was impossible, but a few weeks ago, on June 14th, preschool children gathered in the foyer of the Bayview YMCA to raise and salute the flag. On this Flag Day, these enthusiastic, cherubic voices were heard more loudly and clearly than they could have been outside. With hands over their hearts, with great spirit, they proclaimed words we all knew:

                I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
                and to the republic for which it stands,
                one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

In 1892, the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovering America, this pledge first appeared in a periodical called The Youth’s Companion. Children across the country were urged to memorize it, say it daily and live by it. Since then, citizens ranging in age from school children through adults, have uttered this promise, holding their hands over their hearts. The pledge was officially recognized in 1942, and the words “under God” were added in 1954. Each day, Congress begins its work with the pledge. You might want to add it to the rituals of your Fourth of July celebration this week.

You might guess that two phrases are especially important in this series of summer blogs: “under God” and “with liberty and justice for all.”

When we say “under God” we, of course, mean that we are indebted to God for all we are and have and do. God is our umbrella, our protector, the One from whom we derive our being. As a nation, we acknowledge God’s place in all the good things we have become.

When we say, “liberty and justice for all,” we mean all, not just our white neighbors, or the Daughters of the Revolution, who can trace their lineage back to our founders. We mean all. Newbies of all colors and sizes. The ones who don’t yet understand slang and may be homesick for the old places and old ways.

We have no right to kill anyone, yet our nation has experienced over 200 mass murders already this year alone.

Justice for all means encouraging fairness, and freedom of movement as long as we don’t step on one another’s toes. Liberty means making space for one another to grow, use our talents and become important contributors to the health and well-being of our land. We lose nothing when we are generous. We gain everything when we are undivided.

In his last official address as president of the United States in 1783, George Washington told Congress: “I now make it my earnest prayer that God would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice and to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion.”

President Washington was in the same spiritual arena as Paul writing to the Romans: “Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay evil with evil; be concerned with what is noble in the eyes of all. If possible, live in peace with all…Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.” (Romans 12, 16 - 18, 21)

Seeing the flag flying over public buildings, businesses and on residential streets, let the sight of it be a reminder to us that our country expects us to fulfill our promise. It’s a sound expectation – one that deserves our year-long attention.

~ Sister Joan Sobala