Doing Something Life-Giving for the Community

Dear Friends,

Let’s begin today by remembering two generous, energetic, insightful women who died 25 years apart in Rochester, NY. 

Hattie Harris, “the mayor of Strathallan Place,” has been honored for her tireless efforts to improve life for all. Michael Wenzel, writing in her obituary, told how “she influenced elections, legislation, and community projects. She also worked hard for those who were not politically well connected.” Hattie Harris once remarked: “Be ashamed to die until you have done something life-giving for the community.” Hattie died in 1998 at the age of 101. 

The remarkable Rosa Wims died just last month, in September 2023. After 28 years as a licensed practical nurse, Rosa began a new phase of her life. She started the Faith Community Wellness Center on Genessee Street, but hers became a name well-known in the larger for her pre-Thanksgiving dinners for the needy. More and more people came to eat, and more and more people came to help. Eventually, she passed off the organization of this feast to Foodlink, while she became the honorary host. Rosa was 100 years old when she died. Much loved and respected by the community. 

A Jewish woman and a Black woman – both continued their service to the community long after they could well have retired and taken their leisure. They are models for us today. They are our Sisters. 

I could find no insight into their motivations – religious or not, but if you and I are believers in the Risen Christ, then we look to Him to create in us the capacity to heal, to touch in love, to welcome the outcast, to render justice and mercy. We might not do the same things as Hattie Harris and Rosa Wims, but as we live on through the years we have been given, let’s develop in ourselves a willingness, an openness to serve deep into our so-called golden years.

We bring Christ’s values to meeting the contemporary questions and needs of our time. Each age of Christianity has had to do that. Our ancestors in faith and we depend on the Holy Spirit working with us to interpret the signs of the times, to live faithfully through times that would draw us down into despair or mean-spiritedness.

In our efforts to know and express in our day the best that Jesus has to offer, we tend to bump into each other in creative or disruptive ways. But we go on, finding resources and companions to do what is needed, using Christ’s very self as the measure of what we strive to become, overcome, improve and create a community of people who love one another. 

~ Sister Joan Sobala

*Pictures courtesy of the Democrat and Chronicle

Are Our Vineyards Fruitful?

Dear Friends,

One straightforward way of reading today’s Gospel is as an indictment of the chief priests and scribes of Jesus’ time. We can identify them with the tenant farmers who rejected the messengers and killed the king’s son.

The story is a variation on an equally depressing passage in Isaiah, where God’s careful preparation of the vineyard comes to naught.

If we read these passages concentrating exclusively on the outcome, we would only experience failure. Dreams shattered, great loves destroyed, inedible wild grapes with long runners that wrap around every living thing they touch and choke the life out of the plants where they cling.

Reading the texts this way gives us nothing helpful to turn over in our minds and weave into our life patterns this week. Let’s concentrate instead on the vineyard owner. In both passages, the vineyard owner did his very best, gave fully to produce the best possible vineyard.

In Isaiah, the vineyard owner used the finest materials to build up his vineyard, but it did not yield good fruit. In Jesus’ parable, the vineyard produced a true and abundant harvest, which only brought out the greed in the tenants. With a call for justice and an end to hostility, the owner sent increasingly important messengers to talk with the tenants and finally, the most important, His own son.

You and I can remember when we have given something the full measure of our devotion and it failed. We can point to failed relationships, the song that ended without applause, our work rejected, our adult children devoid of the values we treasure. When our best efforts fail, we are sorely tempted to stop sending messengers and never the one closest to us.

And yet, we are most like God when we do just that - give our best over and over again.

During times when failure threatens to crush us, we would do well to remember Paul’s words in today’s second reading: “Let God’s own peace through Christ His Son stand guard over our hearts and minds.”

Let me tell you one woman’s story as a profound witness to today’s lessons. I’ll call this woman Nora. Nora had been a member of my Congregation. We lived together for seven companionable years before she left the Congregation. Shortly afterwards, Nora married. Within a year, two tragedies struck. Her beloved older brother committed suicide and she was found to have uterine cancer. Fortunately, surgery removed the cancer completely. Then, one day, Nora’s husband came home and told her that he didn’t love her anymore. Could she be gone by Friday? Next, her father died. Not long after that, I got a phone call from Nora, whom I hadn’t seen since she left our community. She was at Strong Hospital. “I want you to come over and help me die.”

Nora had acute leukemia.

I would sometimes come into her hospital room and find the efforts at living left her too weak to talk. At other times she would be teaching a group of interns and seasoned doctors about what happens in the human heart, mind and body as illness ravages it.

Over these last months, Nora worked through a lot. One day, shortly before she died, Nora told me she had come to feel better about herself than she had at any time in her life. She planned her funeral liturgy to reflect all she had come to understand about herself before God. Nora died at 42.

Was hers a wasted life? A failed life? Was her vineyard fruitful or was it choked by invasive vines? Had she heeded the messengers God sent or not?

At the end of her funeral, a cantor sang a song from “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” which ends with this verse:

            In the evening of my life, I shall look to the sunset,
            At a moment in my life when the night is due.
            And the questions I shall ask only you can answer.
            Was I brave and strong and true?
            Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?

Like Nora, we cannot lose hope in the face of suffering, or when our vineyard is attacked. Through the darkest of times, personally or in world crises, we can confidently pray today’s Psalm:

            Lord of Hosts, take care of your vine!
            Protect what your right hand has planted!
            Let your face shine on us and we shall be safe!

~ Sister Joan Sobala

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