Archive for August, 2010

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

August 22, 2010

Luke 13:22-30

Today’s gospel reading focuses on the Kingdom of God and how to access it through the narrow door. We need to know, however, that the narrow door version is only one of several parables used to speak about the Kingdom. Here are a few more.

- Your riches are in heaven and your heart is where your riches are.
- Be watchful and always be ready because the Son of Man will come when you least expect him.
- A man gives a great feast but the invited guests are finding excuses not to come. So the host of this feast invites everyone available and the feast is a success.
- If you notice that you have a sheep missing from your flock, you go and look for it until you finally find it. Then you rejoice at having found it.
- A woman has lost some coins and will sweep the entire house until she finds the coins. Only then will there be rejoicing.
- Finally, there is the parable of the Prodigal Son . . . who leaves home to party and have a good time. When his money is all gone he realizes that he was much better off with his dad. So, he swallows his pride and comes back  
   home . . . limping. When his Abba sees him limping it’s the Abba who runs to great him. “It is you! I thought you were dead! But you’re alive and limping. Limping can be fixed but you’re alive and here!” The dad is so happy to
   see him that he throws a 3-day welcome home party. Notice the details here. It’s the father who does the running to greet his son and he never asks questions about where he’s been or what he’s done!

All these parables on the Kingdom show that the Kingdom happens when the son who was lost is found…and the Abba’s joy is high.

Somewhere, sometime in the past, we were taught that when we sin God turns His back on us until we repent. It’s as if we’re not good enough for God’s love. God’s love does not depend on us; it depends on God. God loves us, warts and sins and all! God’s sorrow lies in our refusal to approach Him when we have sinned or failed. Henri Nouwen said: “The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or too much money. But the greatest trap is self-rejection. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us “Beloved!” Did you ever think of yourself as Abba’s delight? When will we ever believe that when we are forgiven we are well forgiven and all is forgotten?

Think of our own children. Do we love them less when they get in trouble? Or do we get upset that they didn’t come to us in the first place for help? Where do you think we got this model of parenting? Straight from God, our Abba!

God not only forgives and forgets our sins but turns their darkness into light. In love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve. We tend to deny the reality of our sins; in a futile attempt to erase our past, we cling to our bad feelings and beat ourselves with the past when what we should do is to “let go!” Guilt is an “idol” that we seem to cherish. But when we dare to live as forgiven men and women, we join the wounded healers and draw close to our Abba!

The whole life of Jesus is focused on His Abba and doing the will of His Abba. It was not always easy but He did it! Jesus’ strength was that He never doubted that He was beloved of His Abba. Man! What a formula! It is now our turn to dare to be loved and to claim to be Abba’s beloved, not because we are pure and perfect, but because we are frail and weak and we need to be someone’s beloved! We need to believe in God but let’s not forget that God believes in us! He claims us as His beloved!

So whether we are healthy or sick or when we are in the hospital, it is important that we think of ourselves as “Beloved.” Even beloveds get sick and go to the hospital and die. But being beloved of God makes me feel alive in God’s heart, and if I die feeling this way I will be dying alive instead of dying dead. Given the choice, I want to die alive!

Kenn Rancourt
Pastoral Care

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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Hebrews 11: 1-2 Luke 12: 32-48

Sisters and brothers: faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.* Heb.11:1

The letter to the Hebrews actually comes after the Gospel of Luke in the Bible. It is amazing how it can bring a smile to our faces, when we hear Jesus as he makes the connection between the two passages and says to his followers, “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”

This is Jesus’ assurance that if we go the path he has laid out, if we give of ourselves and our goods in order to give to the marginalized, the lonely, the heart broken, we will be storing up for ourselves treasures that do not wear out, do not deplete. We will experience inexhaustible blessings in this life and in the next. Jesus reminds us that where we place our values, that is where our hearts are.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps.” To contemporary listeners that may sound odd. In the time of Jesus, girding one’s loins meant tucking up the long loose robes worn by men and tying them in a knot between the legs in order to prepare for hard work, running, or fighting. Jesus, the teacher, was warning for then and for now that following in his path would not be easy.

Lighting a lamp was always wise as of course there was no electricity and we know from other parables like that of the of the wise virgins and the widow who swept her house looking for the lost coin, how necessary it was to keep the lamps filled with oil. Jesus wants us to be spiritually, physically, and mentally alert in order to ward off the forces of evil, but also to be ready to welcome the God who called us to service when we are called home.

Whenever I truly am stumped by any of the teachings of Jesus, I look further into the gospels to see if the lesson is brought up again for the purpose of further clarification. I usually find it referenced by Peter. I relate to Peter; we both find it difficult to just accept the order of things without understanding. However, once we “get it,” we are on board.

Peter takes the girding concept even further in his first letter to new Christians in parts of Asia Minor. “Therefore,” he says to them, “gird up your minds, be sober [as in serious]. Set your hope fully upon the grace that is coming to you from Jesus Christ. Do not be conformed to the habits of your former ignorance. He who called you is holy. Be holy as well in all your conduct.” Peter 1:13-15

As we take these admonitions to, “gird our loins” and “gird our minds” to heart, we can bring them into our own everyday lives, especially into the life of our work.

There is some physical girding going on as support partners and therapists don their Gait belts to assist residents or patients to stand or walk. We are so easily made aware of our own mortality when serving the sick and elderly.

“Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” John 21:18.

According to the writers, Jesus used this metaphor to show by what death Peter would die; for us it may serve to remind us of our own journeys forward and provide us with the graces of patience, compassion, and friendship toward our fellow travelers.

In closing, I refer back to Peter 1:15. Each and every person who ministers at St. Mary’s Health Care System was called by a holy God, (a wholly good, wholly trustworthy, wholly loving, and kind God). Be wholly as well in all things.

Go gently, go well, and whole.

Elizabeth Lowe, Chaplain
St. Mary’s D’Youville Pavilion and Rehab Center

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Feast of the Assumption

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

August 15, 2010

This weekend the Church honored Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the feast of the Assumption. The Gospel passage in Luke is from when the angel Gabriel has announced to Mary that she will give birth to a Son. Mary goes to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth and sings this song of praise to God (the Magnificat):

My soul proclaims the greatness of our God, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;

who has looked with favor on this lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

You O God have done great things for me, and holy is your Name.

You have mercy on those who fear you in every generation.

You have shown the strength of your arm, and have scattered the proud in their conceit.

You have cast down the mighty from their thrones, and have lifted up the lowly.

You have filled the hungry with good things, and the rich you have sent away empty.

You have come to the help of your servant Israel, for you have remembered your promise of mercy, the promise you made to our ancestors, to Abraham and Sarah and their children for ever.

Luke 1:46-55

The Magnificat begins with words of consolation but then offers words that challenge us — the proud are scattered, the rich are sent away empty, the mighty are cast down as God remembers the promise of mercy. This passage though is not about retribution or vengeance. It is a recognition of how God comes to us, enters into our lives, and offers us hope: in vulnerable love. God comes to us through a single, young, poor, pregnant woman, turning expectations about the awaited Savior upside down. That is good news for us; we don’t have to be perfect for God to work through us. In fact, as songwriter Leonard Cohen writes, “There is a crack in everything–that’s how the light gets in.” It is in these vulnerable places of our lives that God can enter. Nadia Bolz-Weber notes, “We’ve got plenty of daily bread and seem to be able to handle most stuff that comes our way. But the truly hungry carry none of these illusions of self-sufficiency. It is our hunger which God feeds, not our fullness.” Patients and residents and those who seek healing from us are forced into knowing this–they are dependent on us for compassion, care, respect, and love.

Mary bore the light of God to the whole world in giving birth to Jesus. She said “yes” to God’s call to allow God to work through her, though she wasn’t the most powerful, famous, or wealthy person. We don’t know much more about her life. Besides the song of praise in the Magnificat, the only other words Scripture records her as saying are, “Do whatever he tells you,” when Jesus is at the wedding reception in Cana (actually good advice for us today as well). We too can bear light to the world through the cracks of our own pain, loneliness, sorrow, and vulnerability.

Would you be willing to tell us about one of your colleagues whose work here allows the light of Christ into the lives and hearts of our patients and residents? Nominate someone for the St. Marguerite d’Youville Awards for employees who best represent one of our four core values of respect, excellence, compassion, or stewardship. Forms are available on e-bits and nominations are due August 27.

Elizabeth Keene
Mission Effectiveness

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Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Ecclesiastes 1:2 2:21-23 Col. 3:1-5 9-11 Luke 13:13-21

The theme of these readings seems to be asking us to consider what is lasting and really important in life. The first reading warns us about putting too much stock in appearances, status, and property. “Vanity of vanities… All things are vanity.” When we consider these seriously, we have to admit that they are fleeting. We lose our looks and often our status, appearances are only skin deep, and property does not follow us into the next world.

St. Paul says it clearly in his letter, “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above.” The word above may be ambiguous or too narrow. Let us seek what really matters in life. Sometimes we find that deep in our heart, for instance, truth, kindness, generosity, love, gentleness, patience. Sometimes we look around us and find that what is important and “of God” is service to others, loving relationships, and compassion for the poor, the sick, the disabled, and the lonely. We might try to think on these things and live accordingly, as this reading suggests.

The Gospel passage is one in which Jesus tells a parable about what some would call “The Rich Fool.” This man has an abundance of land and crops. He builds bigger barns to store all his crops and then says to himself: “Take your rest, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.” Jesus considers him a fool because, that very night, his life will be demanded of him and of what use will all his stored goods be to him?

There are two points to notice about this “Rich Fool.” He never saw beyond himself and he never saw beyond this world. He seems to live in his own world, bounded on the north, south, east and west by his own ego. He is self-centered. He has a superfluity of goods and yet the one thing that never enters his mind is to share and to give some away. His whole attitude is the reverse of Jesus’ message, of what we believe to be Christianity. Instead of finding his happiness in giving, he tries to conserve it by keeping and hoarding. The second point is that this man never looks beyond this world. He makes all his plans on the basis of this life. We are all going to die. As Christians we believe in an afterlife and the only things we will take with us are our love and our good works.

As healthcare workers of every capacity here at St. Mary’s Health System, we try to share our compassion, our skills, and our time with those who need our services. In our private lives, may we also aim at living simply, being aware of the less fortunate around us and sharing whatever we can with those in need. When we meet our Creator face to face, we will be judged on our love and our good works; those things are what really matter and those are what follow us into eternity.

Sr. Suzanne Beaudoin, SSCh
Director of Pastoral Care

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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Luke 11:1-13

For years, Israel was taught to view God as the “All Holy,” “The Omnipotent,” “The One and Only” whose name was so sacred that out of respect and reverence, God’s name was never completely written. YAHWEH was written as YAH… as in Allelu-jah. Even when our own Rabbi in Lewiston/Auburn writes in our newspapers, he refers to God as G— out of respect and reverence for His name.

Now try to imagine the shock value of Jesus’ words when He was asked: “Teach us how to pray!” He answered: “When you pray say: Father (Abba), hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us when we need it.” Calling God “Abba” was so radical and close to outrageous. How can Jesus be so familiar and so intimate with God? How can He refer to the Almighty as Abba? Who is this guy?

God as Abba was completely opposite of what Israel had been taught for centuries. And to make sure that those who heard him got it straight, Jesus adds: “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?” (Luke 11:1-13) Jesus goes on to explain what human fathers do and how they relate to their children.

I am a father myself and when my son and daughter were little, there was no joy more intense than to go for a ride and go for custard. The kids got excited and anticipated their treat. They were even happier to know that the dog would get a custard too. As a father, seeing my kids happy made me happy too.

We might be religious and faithful churchgoers, but do we ever think of God as being excited and happy about us? We muster serious energy to face difficult challenges…to remain virtuous and good. But when God is presented as our Abba, then this changes all our inner relationships. Abba is clearly on our side. He roots for us! He rejoices in having us as his children. If we belong to our Abba, then He belongs to us. We are not called to be shy with our Abba. Jesus goes on to say: “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. If then, you, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Abba in heaven give you the gifts you ask for?” The referral to God as Abba was so radical, it is no wonder that many of Jesus’ contemporaries could not swallow his beliefs.

Children who are loved and cared for by their moms and dads have no problem believing that God is our Abba. It is the most natural feeling in the world. The Kingdom of God always belongs to little children.

When will we get it?

We must love God the way children do, with total abandon and total trust…complete playfulness and spontaneity. When kids love someone a lot, they stretch out their arms as wide as they can and say: “I love you this much — as much as the whole world!”

Wait until you’re alone and make sure that no one sees you, then extend your arms as wide as you can and say to God – Abba “I love you as much as the whole world!” You’ll never want to say it differently…ever!

P.S. I’ve been working in this hospital for 33 years as a chaplain. When patients face difficult times, I like to remind them that Jesus taught us just one prayer. He stuck to that one prayer because He couldn’t improve on “Our Abba”. I think of it often…when it is my turn to face God as I die, what a comfort to anticipate God as Abba! My Abba will receive me with open arms, forgive what needs to be forgiven and lead me to His Kingdom where I will be received as Abba’s child or probably as Abba’s spoiled child. We’re all going to giggle and laugh for eternity.

Kenn Rancourt
Pastoral Care

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