Maine Catholic Women’s Conference – April 29, 2017, Easter 2nd Week
Portland (Holiday Inn by the Bay) Acts 5: 27-33; John 3:31-36
It is wonderful in the Easter season to have this joyful gathering.
As usual, you have a dynamic speaker in Leah Darrow. I visited her website in preparing for today. I think you will have a day full of thoughtful material for your reflection. It will be a great grace. Leah, thank you for the way in which you bring the good news of the Gospel to life. The topics you have chosen for today resonate with a program we are currently following here in the diocese. Together, we are studying the Apostolic Exhortation on the Family, Amoris Laetitia, and seeking ways in which we can apply its teaching to our own families. We are calling it the Joy of the Family. I know that, as you spend the day thinking about relationship and what makes us beautiful, you will ground us in an appreciation of the fact that we are called into being by a God who loves us. As we mark this Easter season we know even more the love of God as we live in the joy of the Resurrection and we know that marks for us a life of eternal joy.
In my estimation you put life on the words which form the motto of your day:
St. Catherine of Siena - “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”
St. Catherine is an extraordinary woman in the history of the Church. We were privileged on our diocesan pilgrimage for the Year of Mercy to visit Siena and celebrate Mass in the church where Catherine’s head and thumb are buried. The rest of her remains are in Rome where she died.
I think it is very appropriate for this gathering to be held on the memorial of St. Catherine of Siena. She reminds us of the many good and holy people down through the centuries who have lived the Gospel in the world. In that regard I turn our attention to the first reading today. It is from the Acts of the Apostles. It speaks of the apostles and the organization of the early Church. They are striving to deal with a difficulty which has been raised by the growing community. They agree on a solution and appoint some of the disciples to take care of the needs of a group who require special care. In this instance, it is the widows, but it could have been any group.
Of course, what they do is appoint the first ministers in the Church, and though they do not call them deacons, it is clear that it is service to which they are sent. Message and mission are always joined in the Church. The message is love. The mission is the same. Give what you have received.
Behind the problem resolved, however, I hope you noticed the words which introduced the discussion “The Hellenists complained against the Hebrews….”.It reminds us that the community of the Church, from its origins to today, is made up of human beings who are always working within their own limitations and interests, and yet, God can take the gifts of all of us, human as we might be, and build the Church in each generation so that the message is preached, and his love is made known. The Church is always seeking ways in which can put flesh on the message in bringing it to others. We call that doing the mission.
St. Catherine of Siena was certainly one of the important people in that chain of believers and doers who make up the history of the Church. She was doing the mission! She lived in a particularly dark period in the life of the Church. Her life was lived out in the middle of the 1300s in Italy. Because of the foul political and social atmosphere in Rome, the pope had abandoned the city and was living in France at Avignon. Catherine did not think that a good situation. She wrote to Pope Gregory XI and asked him to move back to Rome. In fact, she kept up a long series of correspondence with Pope Gregory bringing to his attention problems she saw in the life of the Church, asking him to reform the clergy and the terrible state of administration of affairs in the Papal States. She saw Rome as the center of the Church and, therefore, as the place the pope should be living. She was very involved in the world and its politics, but her perspective was always rooted in her theology. She grounded herself in a practical application of the truths she had discovered in her own mystical prayer. She saw it as her mission. Thus, she is able to write this advice in one of her letters:
"Those who see themselves not selfishly, but for God, and who see God for God (the One who is supreme eternal Goodness and is deserving of our love); when they contemplate God in blazing, consumed love they discover the image of the human person in God. And they discover themselves, God's image, in God." Letter T226
And the truth of that is applied to life in another letter:
"Reflect that God requires nothing else of us except that we show our neighbors the love we have for God." Letter T89.
Hers was an unquenchable thirst to know God in Jesus and to bring his love in to the world. She knew Jesus’ love, and she was confident in his guidance in her life. His was the Way she sought to follow. His was the peace she strove to live in.
The story of Jesus that we find in the Gospel today could, in fact, be a story that Catherine drew strength from. It could be the story in which she found her peace. It is a story of the Apostles as they came to know Jesus. It is early in their life together, long before the final trip to Jerusalem and his death and resurrection. It was an event, however, that prepared them for those events and gives assurance to us, his followers, of the effect of his presence in our lives.
The story is full of imagery. The Apostles are on the water. It is the day after Jesus has multiplied the loaves and the fishes. Presumably, while Jesus is on the mountain praying, they have decided to fish. The sea, however, is turbulent and stormy. John tells us that the disciples have rowed out some distance, “about three or four miles.” While the water tossed about them and they were bounced on its roughness, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, approaching them. It is at that moment that we are told they become afraid. Their fear is a response to the sight of Jesus approaching them. They still did not know him very well. That is why this moment can be seen as preparing them for his death and resurrection. They begin to appreciate that God is with Jesus – thus the holy fear.
Jesus pronounces those words which resonate down through the centuries and continue to bring peace to agitated hearts, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” The disciples try to bring Jesus into the boat. But what happens? They discover they are already at the land. The distance from the shore has disappeared. They are safe.
As we reflect with the Church this morning, we might see in this story our own story. The strong wind and the rough sea become a symbol of the storms that can surround the Church and any Christian community. The boat with the group of disciples just gathered together by Jesus inside it represents the Christian community surrounded by a hostile sea which can be very threatening at times. We often wonder where our world will go next as we struggle with the many assaults we find on our values, our beliefs, our way of life. It is easy to feel that we are in the midst of a swirling sea.
For the disciples, in their situation, the shore seemed a good distance away. They were full of fear at his presence. But, all of a sudden, they find themselves at the shore. The storm is over. They are not in a storm tossed sea. What did they learn from this? With Jesus close by, they find themselves at the shore. It is his presence that brings peace. That is something that St. Catherine knew as well. When we live with Jesus the mystery of his death and resurrection, confident in his presence in our lives, then we too will find ourselves at the shore. We will find ourselves in the same place as the disciples, living in the light and peace that Jesus brings. In his death and resurrection, he shows us that death, darkness, and storms are defeated. His peace is with us.
That is the message of the Gospel. That is the message the disciples pass on to us in the story in the Gospel today. It is what Catherine of Siena knew in her life. She trusted completely that the Lord Jesus was with her. It is the message I hope you take with you today as you go forth from here, filled with the peace of Christ. “It is I. Do not be afraid.”
It is wonderful in the Easter season to have this joyful gathering.
As usual, you have a dynamic speaker in Leah Darrow. I visited her website in preparing for today. I think you will have a day full of thoughtful material for your reflection. It will be a great grace. Leah, thank you for the way in which you bring the good news of the Gospel to life. The topics you have chosen for today resonate with a program we are currently following here in the diocese. Together, we are studying the Apostolic Exhortation on the Family, Amoris Laetitia, and seeking ways in which we can apply its teaching to our own families. We are calling it the Joy of the Family. I know that, as you spend the day thinking about relationship and what makes us beautiful, you will ground us in an appreciation of the fact that we are called into being by a God who loves us. As we mark this Easter season we know even more the love of God as we live in the joy of the Resurrection and we know that marks for us a life of eternal joy.
In my estimation you put life on the words which form the motto of your day:
St. Catherine of Siena - “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”
St. Catherine is an extraordinary woman in the history of the Church. We were privileged on our diocesan pilgrimage for the Year of Mercy to visit Siena and celebrate Mass in the church where Catherine’s head and thumb are buried. The rest of her remains are in Rome where she died.
I think it is very appropriate for this gathering to be held on the memorial of St. Catherine of Siena. She reminds us of the many good and holy people down through the centuries who have lived the Gospel in the world. In that regard I turn our attention to the first reading today. It is from the Acts of the Apostles. It speaks of the apostles and the organization of the early Church. They are striving to deal with a difficulty which has been raised by the growing community. They agree on a solution and appoint some of the disciples to take care of the needs of a group who require special care. In this instance, it is the widows, but it could have been any group.
Of course, what they do is appoint the first ministers in the Church, and though they do not call them deacons, it is clear that it is service to which they are sent. Message and mission are always joined in the Church. The message is love. The mission is the same. Give what you have received.
Behind the problem resolved, however, I hope you noticed the words which introduced the discussion “The Hellenists complained against the Hebrews….”.It reminds us that the community of the Church, from its origins to today, is made up of human beings who are always working within their own limitations and interests, and yet, God can take the gifts of all of us, human as we might be, and build the Church in each generation so that the message is preached, and his love is made known. The Church is always seeking ways in which can put flesh on the message in bringing it to others. We call that doing the mission.
St. Catherine of Siena was certainly one of the important people in that chain of believers and doers who make up the history of the Church. She was doing the mission! She lived in a particularly dark period in the life of the Church. Her life was lived out in the middle of the 1300s in Italy. Because of the foul political and social atmosphere in Rome, the pope had abandoned the city and was living in France at Avignon. Catherine did not think that a good situation. She wrote to Pope Gregory XI and asked him to move back to Rome. In fact, she kept up a long series of correspondence with Pope Gregory bringing to his attention problems she saw in the life of the Church, asking him to reform the clergy and the terrible state of administration of affairs in the Papal States. She saw Rome as the center of the Church and, therefore, as the place the pope should be living. She was very involved in the world and its politics, but her perspective was always rooted in her theology. She grounded herself in a practical application of the truths she had discovered in her own mystical prayer. She saw it as her mission. Thus, she is able to write this advice in one of her letters:
"Those who see themselves not selfishly, but for God, and who see God for God (the One who is supreme eternal Goodness and is deserving of our love); when they contemplate God in blazing, consumed love they discover the image of the human person in God. And they discover themselves, God's image, in God." Letter T226
And the truth of that is applied to life in another letter:
"Reflect that God requires nothing else of us except that we show our neighbors the love we have for God." Letter T89.
Hers was an unquenchable thirst to know God in Jesus and to bring his love in to the world. She knew Jesus’ love, and she was confident in his guidance in her life. His was the Way she sought to follow. His was the peace she strove to live in.
The story of Jesus that we find in the Gospel today could, in fact, be a story that Catherine drew strength from. It could be the story in which she found her peace. It is a story of the Apostles as they came to know Jesus. It is early in their life together, long before the final trip to Jerusalem and his death and resurrection. It was an event, however, that prepared them for those events and gives assurance to us, his followers, of the effect of his presence in our lives.
The story is full of imagery. The Apostles are on the water. It is the day after Jesus has multiplied the loaves and the fishes. Presumably, while Jesus is on the mountain praying, they have decided to fish. The sea, however, is turbulent and stormy. John tells us that the disciples have rowed out some distance, “about three or four miles.” While the water tossed about them and they were bounced on its roughness, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, approaching them. It is at that moment that we are told they become afraid. Their fear is a response to the sight of Jesus approaching them. They still did not know him very well. That is why this moment can be seen as preparing them for his death and resurrection. They begin to appreciate that God is with Jesus – thus the holy fear.
Jesus pronounces those words which resonate down through the centuries and continue to bring peace to agitated hearts, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” The disciples try to bring Jesus into the boat. But what happens? They discover they are already at the land. The distance from the shore has disappeared. They are safe.
As we reflect with the Church this morning, we might see in this story our own story. The strong wind and the rough sea become a symbol of the storms that can surround the Church and any Christian community. The boat with the group of disciples just gathered together by Jesus inside it represents the Christian community surrounded by a hostile sea which can be very threatening at times. We often wonder where our world will go next as we struggle with the many assaults we find on our values, our beliefs, our way of life. It is easy to feel that we are in the midst of a swirling sea.
For the disciples, in their situation, the shore seemed a good distance away. They were full of fear at his presence. But, all of a sudden, they find themselves at the shore. The storm is over. They are not in a storm tossed sea. What did they learn from this? With Jesus close by, they find themselves at the shore. It is his presence that brings peace. That is something that St. Catherine knew as well. When we live with Jesus the mystery of his death and resurrection, confident in his presence in our lives, then we too will find ourselves at the shore. We will find ourselves in the same place as the disciples, living in the light and peace that Jesus brings. In his death and resurrection, he shows us that death, darkness, and storms are defeated. His peace is with us.
That is the message of the Gospel. That is the message the disciples pass on to us in the story in the Gospel today. It is what Catherine of Siena knew in her life. She trusted completely that the Lord Jesus was with her. It is the message I hope you take with you today as you go forth from here, filled with the peace of Christ. “It is I. Do not be afraid.”
