May 2022 Continued

A few weeks ago I was struck by a quote from Sr.Joan Chittister’s blog (Five Minutes with Joan Chittister–When we try to Pray):
https://www.monasteriesoftheheart.org/five-minutes-joan-chittister/when-we-try-pray.  
The quote said: “The presence of absence is NOT the absence of presence”.
 
She went on to explain that when we pray we don’t always feel God’s presence.  I know that’s very true for me.  There have been times during prayer that I’ve been comforted and filled with the sense that God is near and that I’m being heard and understood, causing me to feel a real peace in the moment.  After that experience I long for that same type of feeling over and over again–but it just doesn’t happen.  I am often left with an emptiness that tempts me to believe that God is somewhere else but not here with me.  Fr. Jim Martin discussed this “dry period” in his “Learning to Pray” book, and I know that others (notably John of the Cross and Mother Theresa) have written about it as well. 
 
In today’s gospel Jesus said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.  You heard me tell you ‘I am going away and I will come back to you’.” In this Easter season we recall that after the “absence” we felt on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, Christ’s presence was manifested in the Resurrection at Easter and continues on in the lives and ministries of his followers. We were gifted with the Holy Spirit to always be with us even when we aren’t always aware of the Spirit’s presence.
 
And so I began to think about where else Sr.Joan’s saying might hold true:
  
All during winter the trees are bare, the flowers are gone, the turtles are no longer visible on the branch in the pond, and I rarely see a bird.  But then suddenly spring arrives and the flowers emerge from the earth and  the dead-looking branches of the trees are sprouting leaves and blossoms.  I look to see the turtles once again emerge to sun themselves, and I hear and see the birds all around.  They were never really absent after all. 
 
When friends and family are away in distant places, I feel their absence, but know that they are really still present in my life, and I can look forward to the times when I can once again be in their physical  presence.  An unexpected call or text or email reminds me that they aren’t actually absent..
 
Even those loved ones who have died have sometimes managed to make their presence felt (often at the very times when I am so painfully aware of their absence) with little “signs” like a flowering plant, or “pennies from heaven”, or the appearance of a cardinal. Or perhaps it’s just an overwhelming sense that they are there watching over me and that they hear my prayers and want to intercede for me.
 
There is a popular saying that “absence makes the heart grow fonder”.  Is it by design that God permits us to experience absences in order to grow closer to God?  I think we’ve all known that feeling especially during the height of Covid when we missed the things we’d always taken for granted.  How wonderful it was when we could finally see and hug family and friends,receive the Eucharist, and return to some of our cherished activities!
 
What absences have you experienced in your life?  Are you able to see the presence hidden within the absence?  Can you be the presence in someone else’s life when they are faced with absences?
 
In peace,

Kathi Camporini

The break of our lives, like a dawn

We cannot begin to sew- we do not have the needle and fabric- until something is broken and imperfect. Then, we sew the imperfection into love. Brokenness is the beginning of our partnering with God.
 
I have come to see, that repair, renewal, and healing allow God to share Truths of Hope. I believe, each life resides in an imperfect space, in order to welcome God into that space; to welcome God's transforming, healing touch.

In my life, one of my greatest afflictions is that I live with mental illness. On more than one occasion, in fact, fairly frequently, I reflect that healing has been Creation for me. I hear a Call in renewal.

There is so much creation in 'again': the again of spring, the again of day, the light visit that is an again, a renewal, a hope. I have friends as a result of re-newal and re-covery from mental illness. It is truth to me that second, and third, and fourth, and so on, chances, are blessed and sacred.

I have been almost "forced" to ask for help- because things feel so crazy and tumultuous at times. I believe this asking for help is good! I am stronger for I know how to ask for the truest help.  I turn to the greater wonder and serenity- I turn to God. I turn to nature and God- for God is the greater peace. Ultimately, I live in a world of peace, even when I feel confused and overwhelmed. Like a child having a nightmare as the sun comes up, I know the nightmare, the pain, is in the midst of a cradling light; a morning with loving arms reaching through the sky.  I see God as smiling through nature. God created the resiliency: of nature, of spirit, and of souls. It is God's love that makes. Re-new-al, Re-creation, We are moved to sing!

So, asking for help is one gift. In addition, my suffering leads me to be humble. Being humble is another gift. I need to be humble in order to truly breathe in this air of life. I need to be in awe of the wonder, in order to live the true energy.

I further meditate that without loss, there would not be birth. I believe I have to allow, and even to embrace, some breaking down, some dissolving and decomposing, for this is the material of seeds of tomorrow.  Each fall of us, provides a springing light of opportunity. 

So I, and we, are on roads to Renewal.

For me, and I hope for you, the healing is greater than the pain. As rough as the pain can be, somehow the healing is more powerful Oh, the friends, the lighted places, that are only possible with some degree of loss, pain, and brokenness.

Kenneth Cope, a Christian recording artist, wrote a song, called "Broken". Some of his lyrics are:
"Broken storms yield light, The break of day heals night, Broken pride turns blindness into sight. / Broken chains set free, Broken swords bring peace, Broken walls make friends of you and me. / Broken souls that need His mending, Broken hearts for offering, I believe that God loves broken thing. / This broken soul that cries for mending, This broken heart for offering, I'm convinced that God loves broken me. / So, broken cloud—Give rain, And broken soil—Grow grain, And broken bread—Feed man for one more day".
You can listen to the song at:
kenneth cope broken - Yahoo Video Search Results

Song

Part of my appreciation of life, is for the broken and imperfect. I feel it is so much part of the space of our lives; a space that can be filled with God, and love.

I have composed the following prayer to God:

"God, I know, that there is a calm miracle behind each fall of pain. Falls and pain really hold mercy- for behind this is a spring of life, and freshness, and renewal. May I see my pain like that: a bumpy pain with a fresh of spring in it, coming out of it. This birth that emerges from pain, stillness, and idleness, we can especially see in spring.   Even whole, and vibrant life is present in the 'death' and 'bareness' of winter.  I believe, in this world of life and death, life is the ultimate truth. God, may you help me to see the life within everything I experience: the life in every rise in me, and in every fall. The life even in pain. The life in every feeling of wholeness in me, and in every sense of emptiness. May I see the springs You have placed in my life. May I love fresh air. As I am, after all, a being in life, may I have the grace to always see and recognize life, and love the life I see, in this, Your creation".

May we all possess the gift of seeing and observing Life, as we live.

May we all be broken into what God desires, and what we, as people, need: spirit and hope, for the good.

In this appreciated miracle,

Michael Loberfeld
michaelswritingNJ@aol.com

“Whoever loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” John 14: 23

Today the sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated in my parish. As I reflect on today’s readings I do so with the candidates in mind, sincere in their desire and inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

We see the struggles of the early church in Acts of the Apostles, as they preach the message of salvation through Jesus Christ in an effort to unite the Jewish and Gentile communities in Jerusalem. When debate erupts over adherence to the mosaic law of circumcision, under the guidance of the Spirit, Peter formulates the fundamental meaning of the Gospel, Jesus has fulfilled the mosaic law, “All are invited to be saved through faith in the power of Christ.” (Acts 15:11) The Christian community led by the apostles and elders, guided by the Holy Spirit,are the bearers of the word of salvation! Like this early Christian community, the Confirmation candidates “have heard the word of Christ in the assembly of the Church and have attempted to shape their conduct accordingly. They have shared in the fellowship and prayer of their brothers and sisters. Those who know them, judge them to be sincere in their desire.” (Taken from the Rite of Confirmation) 
 
The psalm “O God, let all the nations praise you!” echo’s the preaching and teaching of the early church and their hopes of a bountiful harvest! The second reading from Revelation describes God's eternal kingdom in heaven, the new Jerusalem; and the Church Apostolic, founded on the 12 apostles of the Lamb! Today by apostolic succession the bishop prays for the confirmands, “the sacrament which you are about to receive will strengthen your faith and assist the growth of God’s kingdom among us.” (Taken from the Rite of Confirmation) 
In John’s Gospel, Jesus is preparing the apostles for his departure back to the Father and instructs them, “Whoever loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (Jn 14:23). This is good news, we are not alone, Jesus desires to dwell with us! God has given us his Spirit to guide us and remind us of all Jesus taught. The Holy Spirit sends the peace of Jesus, not peace as the world gives peace. Those who believe in Jesus live in peace, not fear! Our newly Confirmed, sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit, will be dismissed to go out into the world as witness to the Gospel. 

Today we see the Church in action in its very earliest days, guided by the Holy Spirit. The Celebration of the sacrament of Confirmation today is evidence of the continued action of the Holy Spirit alive in the church today! Let us pray that the hearts of the newly Confirmed remain open to the action of the Holy Spirit, guiding them courageously on their journey of faith! 

Joyfully,

Joanne Fezza

Mary Did You Know?

There is a Christmas song called Mary Did You Know and it has been running through my mind this month. May is the month of Mary. As I examine the world around me and try to put in context the good, the bad and the ugly – my thoughts have turned to some of the lyrics. In condensing the words, it all comes down to miracles and God. 
Mary, did you know that your baby boy…

Would one day walk on water?
Will give sight to a blind man?
Will calm the storm with his hand? 
Has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little baby
You kiss the face of God

The song spends a lot of time repeating the line, Mary Did You Know. I think deep down Mary knew when she responded to the Angel. She was saying yes to God and wonderful, amazing things were to about to happen with her baby boy.  

The blind will see, 
the deaf will hear,
The dead will live again

On the other hand, did she really know how her life would unfold? Living in this strange time filled turmoil and discord, I find myself asking the question…Jennifer did you know? Did I know that I would witness people helping each other, miracles of recovery, many storms calmed and I would see Jesus in faces of the people around me?  

Mary, did you know? That sleeping child you're holding is the great, I Am


In peace and compassion, 

Jennifer Sparrow

Today is Ascension Thursday. We believe that for 40 days after Jesus’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday, he traveled and preached with his apostles, preparing them for his departure from Earth. Ascension Day marks the moment Jesus ascended into heaven before his disciples, at the village of Bethany, near Jerusalem. Ascension Thursday can lose its importance because it falls at the end of the Easter Season. Reflecting on the significance of Ascension Thursday, we can deepen our faith more fully.

In Acts 1:6-11, Jesus is “lifted up and a cloud took them from their sight.” Pope Benedict XVI in his book, Jesus of Nazareth-Holy Week,describes how the cloud represents “not a journey to the stars, but his entry into the mystery of God.” This portrays the enormity of a different order of dimension of being. In the Catechism of the Catholic Faith, Jesus’s ascension into heaven  is “the irreversible entry of humanity into the divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from this time forward at God’s right hand.” 

Saint Thomas Aquinas accounts that although Jesus ascended by his own power of His person into heaven, “he was raised up  and taken into heaven by the Father, since the Father’s power is the same as the Son’s ” as stated in Summa Theologica. This demonstrates not only Jesus's obedience to His Father but to the divine intimacy between Jesus as God the Son with God the Father.

As Catholics, the Ascension reminds us that our lives do not end here on earth. Our purpose is in the divine union with God who is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is possible through the entirety of the paschal mystery. The Catechism states in paragraph 661, “Left to its own natural powers humanity does not have access to the Father’s house, to God’s life and happiness. Only Christ can open to man such access that we, his members, might have confidence that we too shall go where he, Our Head and Our Source has preceded us.” 

This Ascension Thursday let us keep our eyes on Jesus in our earthly journey so we may soar in the life that heaven imparts to us. 

In Christ’s love,

Anne Mendez

This Sunday we in New Jersey as in many other places in our country celebrate the feast of the Ascension of our Lord. It feels a little awkward to celebrate this feast on a Sunday, it was always Ascension Thursday, a holyday of obligation. When I was a child, it meant a day off from school. I believe the reason for the change is to emphasize the significance of this great feast. Many people cannot take off on a Thursday to honor the feast, so the leaders of our communities have wisely changed it to a Sunday when we all do gather for the liturgy.

What about this feast? What are we celebrating?  I believe we are celebrating the exaltation of the risen Lord. We as Christians believe that Jesus lived, died, rose from the dead, and now reigns forever as Our Lord. It is not so much a feast of Jesus’ physical departure from us as it is a way of expressing his new relationship with us which is no longer confined by time and space. He is here in a new reality, in the Scriptures, in the Eucharist, in us, in his Church – the new body of Christ that lives now and continues his mission of making us one in God.

How might you and I respond to the mystery of this feast? For me, I sense it is a day to ponder and relish God’s risen presence in my life. I might ask myself whether the Lord Jesus is truly alive in me, especially in my actions. Am I finding his presence in the myriad ways that he comes to me?

I invite you to join me and spend a few minutes reflecting on the Lord Jesus’ presence in your life today. Is he alive and risen in you?

In Mercy,

Eileen P. Smith, RSM

The Feast of the Visitation 
 
Today’s feast marks the day Mary travelled through the hill country to her cousin Elizabeth. We know through the gospel that Mary did this soon after she learned that she was to be the God bearer, Theotokos, the Mother of Our Lord. The Angel exclaimed to her ‘behold, even Elizabeth in her old age and considered barren is with child’ the child who was to lay the way for Jesus’ arrival. 
Two women who held within them the next chapter in the history of the salvation of the  world. And here they were in that perfect moment in time on the threshold of Elizabeth’s doorstep holding onto each other.
A divine embrace. 
Imagine for yourself not wanting to let go of the other, the other who echoed your secret. The impulse to cling…
Yet, isn’t it true that Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to hold on, for there is still more….
 
Still more. 
 
If we cling, we run the danger of suffocation, of interference, of impeding action. If we hold on to tightly we can block the flow of abundance that is being offered to us. 
 
Mary did not cling to the Angel .
Elizabeth did not cling to Mary, nor did Mary to Elizabeth. And we know the Magdalene did not cling to her rabbi at the empty tomb. 
Rather, each stood free in the moment. This moment of unparalleled mystery and stepped into the divine embrace. 
 
-Amen
 
In peace, mercy and love.

And in Service to Our Lady,

Joanne Carey