Imagine being in the middle of an engrossing project, one that needs to be finished within the hour/day/week. And along comes a person/phone call/incident that interrupts this all-important (truly) task. It’s not hard for me to imagine myself grumbling and complaining at that point about the interruption, whether it’s a thing or a person. Probably that’s never happened to you.

A friend of mine (Kathleen Bryant, RSC) sent me this quote today. I think I’ll post it everywhere I can see it, so that the next time the interruptions come along I can receive them with grace. They probably wear the face of God.

If you haven’t already adopted a Lenten practice by now (we’re in the 3rd week of Lent), this would be a good one. I think I’ll add it for the remaining 3 weeks.

Interruptions

Even though you have a lot of work to do
If you think of it as wonderful
And if you feel it as wonderful
It will transform into energy of 
Joy and fire
Instead of becoming a burden.

- Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

Chrissy Field pier at dusk

Sister Colleen McDermott, OP

from Mark 9:2-10 is about Jesus’ Transfiguration. Jesus’ disciples saw him on the high mountain, suddenly, as he truly was . . . even though they didn’t understand. All of us are also on a journey to becoming more of who we truly are . . . even though we may not be able to see it clearly or understand the process.

Sister Colleen’s profession will be one more step on her journey of becoming. A transfiguration of a sort. And we, the Dominican Sisters, are delighted that she wants to continue with us on our journey becoming more of who we are called to be.

World War II bomb

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laboreres, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

The words above are of one who truly knew war and the effect of it. Last week we were challenged by Isaiah that our fast should be to feed the hungry and give warmth to those who are cold. Do Eisenhower’s words challenge us to fast from making war? If so, what does that mean to us personally and as Church? Where are my priorities?

Knock and the door shall be opened

Thursday’s Gospel reading from Matthew 7 reads:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

It is good to hear this in Lent.

Perhaps the door we hope will be opened is the ability
to be steadfast in our Lenten practice.
Perhaps the door we need
opened is that of our own heart . . .
that we might be less judgmental.
Or maybe we need a door opened of our understanding of the Scriptures.

And just as God was faithful to Queen Esther (from the today’s first reading from the Book of Esther), we know that God will be faithful to us. And we will say, as our Psalm’s antiphon:

Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to your God. For gracious and merciful is God, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.
- Joel 2:13

Several years ago I was invited to make some clay hearts for a friend who was giving a Lenten Parish Retreat. Since she requested 500 hearts, I began the project right away. As I rolled, molded, shaped and held the clay in my hands a new image of Lent began to emerge. “Rend your hearts, not your garments and return to God.”

Yes, Lent is about giving up, letting go, prayer and alms-giving. Yet, for me, it is a time of invitation: an invitation to be open and receive what God has in store. In other words, Lent is a time of surrender and letting go so that Jesus can mold our hearts anew. The journey of Lent is an inner journey of prayer which enables us to offer our whole being to God: our joys and fears, accomplishments and struggles, successes and conflicts. This recognition of our gifts and limitations is difficult and scary, because when we cooperate with God’s desire for us, our hearts, like the clay I rolled, shaped, and molded will be transformed.

Jesus asks each of us for a change of heart this Lent. Will we let Jesus create in us new hearts that acknowledge our gifts so that we can use them to do God’s work? Will we let Jesus break any conflict, fear, or hardness within our hearts? Will we let Jesus change our hearts with his healing, forgiveness, and grace?

If we can make these changes and surrender to his invitation, the true freedom of Easter will emerge. Perhaps our Lenten mantra might be:Yes, mold our hearts today.

Hearts by Sally Lowell, OP

“When We cooperate with God’s desire for us, our hearts, like the clay I rolled, shaped, and molded, will be transformed.”

This reflection, and others throughout the season of Lent, can be found on the website of the Dominican Preachers for the Western Region – http://www.opwest.us/. You are invited to visit. May these reflections assist you in your prayer during Lent.

- Joan Chittister  from Alive Now! July/August 1994

To whom do I listen?

This statue of Mary is in the basillica at Lourdes.

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

In 1858 the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, near Lourdes in France, in the cavern called “de Massabielle.” Through this poor, fourteen-year-old girl, Mary calls on us to turn to God and change our lives. She has inspired in the Church a great love of prayer and good words, especially in the service of the poor and the sick.

Lourdes is a place of pilgrimage, healing, and faith. There have been 60 “recognized” miraculous cures as a result of a visit to the waters at Lourdes, although there are likely many, many more.  The Church sees this as a continuation of Jesus’ healing miracles—now performed at the intercession of his mother. Some who visit Lourdes return home and experience in their bodies, many return with renewed faith.

While many believe the stories of the apparitions and miracles at Lourdes, there are many who do not. In the words that introduce the film Song of Bernadette: “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.

If we are truly followers of Jesus, how can we not do the same?

The Golden Gate Bridge early on a deserted morning