This morning was filled with a steady, persistent rain that kept us confined to the inside of the retreat house.  I sought out a room with no a/c, opened the windows, and just listened.  Amidst the pitter patter of the rainfall, other sounds came through clearly:  birdsong!  I’m not blessed with the gift or the knowledge to identify birds by the sounds they emit.  Perhaps that “lack” came in handy on this quiet retreat morning.  I just listened.  “Consider the lilies of the field … they neither spin nor toil.”  Consider the birds of the air … the tweets in the trees … the beauty amidst a dark, dreary, rainy Monday morning.  I just listened.  As a child, I lived in a family that raised birds on our two-acre homestead:  Canada geese, mallards, wood ducks, snow geese, Australian ring-necked doves, bantam chickens whose chicks hatched in the palms of our hands, peacocks, the pet parakeet that got loose and met a sad end — you name it, we had it, the rarer the better.  Imagine such a menagerie on two acres in the city in today’s world!  I enjoyed all our birds but never really cherished the songs they uttered.  Since my journey through cancer, birdsong has become important to me.  The beauty of such free praise of God reminds me of new life.  Today my senses are sharpened to the songs

Bosque de Apache NWR, NM

of birds and insects.  It’s like listening to God’s orchestra.  On this retreat day I give thanks for the birds of the air, most especially for their songs which delight my ears and my heart.  Tomorrow morning take time to just listen.  Let the birds bless you with their song!

Each Sister of Notre Dame has the opportunity to make a week’s retreat on an annual basis.  These days become a wonderful time to rekindle the flame of our love for God and to allow God to delight in us.  This evening before retreat began I took my camera and went for a walk at Lial.  As I sat on the ground at the edge of the lake, camera poised and ready for “something” to “happen”, this Scripture came to my mind: “Consider the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin….”  No lilies before my eyes, but rather the graceful dancing of dozens of dragonflies.  “Consider the dragonflies on the pond, they neither toil nor spin….”  Yet our good and provident God takes care — of the lilies … the dragonflies … the clover in the grass … the sun shining on the water.  Retreat is kind of like that too:  our good God delights in providing for all our needs and blessing us in abundance as we ask for the graces we most want and need.  Most folks don’t have the luxury of a week set apart for prayer and solitude; some people choose to make St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises throughout the year rather than in the thirty day fashion, truly making “a retreat in daily life” across many months.  Today we might be invited to slow down a bit to find God in our daily life … in the lilies and dragonflies and clover and sunshine.  Today we might be invited to ask for a special grace.  Our good and provident God will surprise us with an abundance we can’t even begin to imagine.  

As I was walking along the sand dune trail in Oak Openings, I noticed the great variety of foot prints in the sand.  I walked more slowly to consciously look at my own tennis shoe prints. I reflected on the footprint that I was leaving on earth. How was my carbon footprint trampling the face of Mother Earth? How have I left footprints across people’s hearts? In all the schools where I have taught and in all the churches where I have prepared liturgies or played organ, what still remains for good or ill? There’s a song that claims “I may never pass this way again.”  But my footprints remain.

I got up, unlocked LialRenewal Center, prayed Morning Prayer and meditation, helped prepare three meals for 27 retreatants, prepared liturgies for St. Richard Church, played a card game with the sisters with whom I live after praying Evening Prayer with them, phoned and wrote e-mails, and went to bed.

Although the particulars change, this sounds like everyone else’s day. Work, play, pray, rest. Rather prosaic, I’d say, until I remember that God has been with me through it all in what Elizabeth Johnson calls “unspeakable nearness.” God’s energy flowed through me as I sat at the computer. The beauty of creation smacked me in the face when I brushed entrances free of webs. The relatedness between the living God and me took form when I peeled the carrots. O most holy and prosaic life!

Recently I attended a lecture by Wendy Wright who spoke on qualities of the heart. Wendy said the Christian life is a transformation of heart. We exchange our heart for the heart of Jesus. We must beat in the rhythm of God, aiming to be like Jesus whose heart beat in perfect rhythm with the Father.

Afterwards I reflected upon Christ’s willingness to exchange hearts with us. Wouldn’t that be the kenosis, the self-emptying of Jesus’ suffering and death, who though God did not cling to God but emptied himself and gave everything?

What would I do differently today if I had the heart of Jesus Christ in me?

In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Some argue that this is THE question of the gospel. We all need to answer the question again and again along our spiritual journey.  For me, Jesus Christ is my Life, my Enough. Probably every sister claimed the same once upon a time and vowed her life to the Only One.

Vows deepen in meaning in religious life just as they do in married life. The surface level of poverty is that I claim no money for myself; it all goes for the common good. On a deeper level poverty’s detachment allows attachment to God. Obedience means more than

going to the place of ministry assigned to me by my provincial. It means listening to God’s call daily. Chastity means much more than not marrying. It means giving my whole life to God and letting God be my Enough, my Everything. That’s who I say Jesus is.

Young persons are being called to religious life, but they need your encouragement. This week please take the time to encourage someone you know. It can be as simple as “Have you ever thought of being a Sister? Let that be THE question of the week!

Brian McLaren said, “The Gospel is not an evacuation plan for the next world.”  How true!  The Gospel tells us how to live here and now.  Love your enemies.  Pray for those who persecute you.  Cross the road to help someone lying in the ditch.  Feed the hungry.  Help the sick and dying.  Be patient and humble. The Gospel is a how-to book.  Its subtitle could be “How to Make This World aBetter Place.”

Can you think of other sub-titles for the Gospel?

As we celebrate the feast of St. Aloysius today, I am reminded that he belongs to the 24 and Under Club — those Saints who died at the age of 24 or younger. There are actually quite a few in this amazing group, including Dominic Savio, Elizabeth of Hungary, Kateri Tekakwitha, Therese of Lisieux, Aloysius and Maria Goretti.

What makes them so special?  I marvel at what God was able to do in and through them in a few short years.  It’s utterly amazing to me the number of lives they’ve touched and the influence they’ve had as a result of their openness to God’s action in their lives. It gives me reason to reflect on what I’ve allowed God to do in my 56 years of life.

These Saints are representative of the tremendous gift which young people are for us.  Let no one underestimate the power and influence of our young Church!

Like so many others, I have always known St. Anthony as Patron of lost articles and I have sought his intercession on more than one occasion!  I never thought of him as a great theologian or scholar.  However, in today’s Office of Readings, the excerpt on his life indicates that he was recognized by St. Francis and the other members of his community as extremely gifted in the areas of teaching and preaching.

One of his sermons contains the line, “Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak.” This simple, but powerful, message was a hallmark of Anthony’s life. It’s a good reminder to me to check the consistency of my words and actions.

Perhaps the most precious thing St. Anthony can help me find is a life of authenticity and truth where my actions give credence to the words I speak.  Saint Anthony, pray for us!

I love the fact that the readings for this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart highlight the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  When I was on pilgrimage in Rome and Germany in 2002, I was touched by how often I “met” the Shepherd.  This image is everywhere!

One of the things I have come to appreciate about the Good Shepherd image is that when the shepherd carries a sheep over his shoulders, the ear of the shepherd is very near the heart of the sheep.  For me, it’s one more tender way that Jesus reminds me of His gentle and personal love for me. I know He hears not only what I say but also what I carry in my heart — the joys and sorrows, frustrations and victories.

Today is a good day to pause, reflect and thank God that His heart connects with  mine in a love that is beyond my wildest imagining! Sacred Heart of Jesus, change my heart to be like yours.