Lenten Reflection
EASTER SUNDAY
March 31, 2024
It’s Easter! It’s the high feast! We should all come out in new Easter outfits, so the congregation will be alive with color and Alleluias. Jesus has fooled them; they thought they were rid of him. But, he is risen…and he isn’t finished…Alleluia!!
Yet, as we look around our world, it doesn’t feel like alleluia. It takes some strong faith to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection as the media blares violence and division and evil-making in every part of the globe. I notice, today’s gospel opens something like our world is right now. On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark,… Note…early in the morning, while it was still dark… it was dark EVERYWHERE for Mary. Light hadn’t come yet, even though it WAS morning! Mary and all who knew Jesus were in deep grief and fear! They had seen Jesus defeated; Jesus, in whom they had hope for deliverance from the Romans, from oppression; new hopes for their people! They had witnessed the worst violence and evil-making, as Jesus was tortured and then crucified. Hope was probably struggling for life! For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
Mary and the women went to the tomb…to anoint the dead, and saw the mammoth stone removed from the entrance to the tomb. Jesus was not in there! And she raced back to town to get the men! She knew they’d never believe her. Holy Mystery began to unfold for Mary and these women. Peter and John raced to the tomb and saw the burial cloths there. And now Holy Mystery had also begun to unfold for them. Somehow death has been conquered. They saw and believed!
We, like them, need to run to the tomb and see the symbols of Holy Mystery…He is risen!! There is hope, the hope with faith underneath. Jesus has not abandoned us! His Spirit lives on and within us! “Go,” he later told the disciples, “Go, I will be with you in Galilea, up north”, and in South Dakota and Minnesota, and Iowa and Nebraska and Minnesota and everywhere! Go, and walk My Spirit of love and mercy all over the place!
As Jesus said so often to the broken who sought him out, Your faith has saved you! Do we believe? On this Easter Sunday we hear from St Paul, Clear out the old yeast [which loses its verve] so that you may become a fresh batch of dough [out of which the Spirit will make new bread rise!] Christ has been sacrificed, so let us celebrate the feast…,with the unleavened bread, risen;.. the bread of sincerity and truth! Light is coming into our dark world.
Note this by Charles Jordan:
“The good news of the resurrection of Jesus is NOT that we shall die and go home to be with him, but that he has risen and comes home with us, bringing all his hungry, naked, thirsty, sick prisoner brothers [and sisters] with him.”
Let us pray today with the Church:
Grant we pray that we who keep the solemnity of the Lord’s Resurrection, may rise up in the light of life, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Sister Lynn Marie Welbig, PBVM
Board member, Avera St. Anthony and St. Mary’s
Lenten Reflection
Good Friday, March 29, 2024
I COMMEND MY SPIRIT INTO YOUR HANDS – Luke 23:46
The Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Aberdeen, South Dakota, recently lost a dear, beloved sister to cancer – Sister Janice Klein. Of her many Christlike qualities, her witness to hospitality stands out for me. What is hospitality? Simply stated, it is giving of oneself as “host” and receiving another as “guest” into one’s heart and presence. In the giving of oneself, there is a putting forward, a commending of our spirit in the service of the other. Sister Janice’s death was the ultimate act of hospitality, the giving of her life to God, the great Host into the guesthouse of heaven.
At first glance, we might be perplexed to call the day of Jesus’ death “good,” any more we would call the day our loved one died, a “good” day. Maybe we are invited to consider the goodness of this day, the goodness of Jesus’ life. Jesus’ death on the cross, reflected his ultimate act of hospitality, giving over of his spirit to each and every one of us – to heal, to love, to forgive. Jesus lived his whole life with unconditional hospitality – giving of himself, putting himself forward as “host” and receiving everyone as “guest.” Every day, every loving act, every encounter, Jesus’ hospitality restored sickness to health, doubt to trust, death to life, sin to grace! Jesus commended his spirit for the other everywhere, every time. Jesus continues to be “host” to us every time we, as “guest” receive the “host” – body, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. O Good God! O Good Jesus!
Jesus’ ultimate act of hospitality today offers a lot to ponder. When we visit a patient in the hospital, do we offer the hospitality of Christ with them? When we receive a call from an angry person, do we commend our spirit to Christ and open the door of our heart to receive them with love and understanding?
O God of Hospitality,
In the infinite outpouring of your hospitality
You commend your Son, Jesus, to host your presence
With a humanity starving for divine love.
O Jesus of Hospitality,
You reflect your Father’s hospitality,
You commend your healing and loving presence
With all who are called your guests.
O Divine Hospitality,
Made in the image and likeness of God,
Baptized into the Spirit of Jesus,
May I commend my humanity
In the service of divine hospitality.
Love, without exception!
Sister Pegge Boehm, PBVM
Lenten Reflection
Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024
The contradiction of the Donkey and the Palm Leaf
John 12: 12-18
“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord the King Of Israel!”
Every season of Lent we recall Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We reenact the event with palm leaves. Some places even have donkeys as part of the procession and celebration.
The palm leaves are used in times of celebration when royalty or VIP persons… a king, enter a city or go for a stroll. When people heard that Jesus was in town, they came running out with palm leaves, waving and shouting Hosanna! They treated his entry into Jerusalem like royalty. They saw Jesus as the King of Israel. But then comes the twist in the story. Most Royalty or kings of the time would have been in a chariot pulled by decorated champion horses and servants waving palm leaves. This scene is different, in so many ways counter-culture to the expectations of the people and the elite.
Donkeys are normally used by commoners and shepherds, as pack animals, not used to carry royalty. Zechariah 9:9 prophesizes, “See, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” This alone carries enormous significance for us today.
We are children of the risen Lord, and our task as children of the risen Lord is to “walk humbly with our Lord”. To serve the Holy Trinity with our whole being. We are to joyfully serve others and be hospitable. As you celebrate Palm Sunday and recall Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, remember how he entered and for what reason. Christ entered as a servant king, ready and knowing he would die on the cross for you and me.
With a servant’s heart,
Matthew Tschetter
Executive Director, Caminando Juntos
Lenten Reflection
Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 17, 2024
Amen, Amen I say to you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain. If it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24
What a wonderous gospel image Jesus offers us today! The image of a seed sown, dying, and bearing much fruit has the potential to appeal to our imaginations. The Spirit of God can inspire our prayer with this scripture verse in many ways.
One way of prayer for me is to gratefully remember, our Lord Jesus being our redeemer, being our Saving Seed who continues to be sown, suffers and dies with us in our all-human experiences. Jesus, Love Incarnate, desires always to continue healing broken hearts, bodies, minds by becoming one of us with all our suffering sisters, brothers, and creation.
I am a farmer’s daughter who had the privilege to be surrounded with fields of wheat and other grains. While praying with John’s gospel today, I have treasured memories of watching my father walk through our wheat fields. He would grab and rub some wheat heads together to remove the chaff. Dad would then gently blow the chaff away to see how ready the wheat kernels were for harvesting. Gently blowing the chaff away from the wheat kernels is for me a reminder of the Lord’s gentle, amazing love for us. Jesus, who calls us friends, so desires to gently blow the chaff away that sometimes distracts us seeing as the Lord’s sees us and each other as Beloved, LOVED sinners.
So, could we ponder this short reading and prayer?
“Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thought, no measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breadth of kindness, blow the rest away.” Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, Novelist, 1826-87
O Breadth of Kindness, Jesus, our friend, we praise and thank you for being our Breadth of Kindness. Lord, assist us to receive your Breadth of kindness and be instruments of your healing kindness and gentleness with ourselves, each other, and all creation. Amen.
Sister Janet Schumacher, PBVM
Aberdeen, SD
Lenten Reflection
Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 10, 2024
This Fourth Sunday of Lent is referred to as Laetare (rejoice). In the second reading we are told that God lifted us to the highest place, a seat of honor alongside the Chosen One. This honor is not because of any good we have done but because it is God’s gift to us. We are clay in God’s hands, molded in God’s likeness. What cause for rejoicing!
Psalm 137 speaks of the people living in exile after being captured in a war with another nation. The psalmist is asking how this people can be joyful and sing, living in a foreign land. So he hangs his harp on a tree and stops singing! Maybe we are sometimes unable to be joyful and hang up our harps forgetting that God is right there beside us.
In the Gospel for today, John speaks of God’s love, a love that is so deep that God gave us God’s only Son. It is our choice to take the path of walking in the light or to follow the ways of the world. It seems that at this time of our history the paths are clearly laid out for us – the path of light or the path of darkness. How can we really comprehend that God loved us so much that God brought heaven to Earth by sending Jesus to live with us? It seems that the distance between us was so great that by sending Jesus, God could breach this distance. We can have no doubt about the love God has for us by bringing heaven to Earth.
In Chronicles it tells the story of how the people gravely offended God. They were defeated by their enemies. But God took pity on them and restored them to their former status. Over and over, God takes the initiative to reconcile us. Perhaps we sometimes don’t have the courage or the humility to come back to the Holy One. Then God takes the initiative to breach the gap that has come between us and restores our relationship. And what rejoicing that brings!
Sister Gabriella Crowley
Presentation Sister
Lenten Reflection
Third Sunday in Lent, March 3, 2024
John 2:13-25
There are five instances in the bible where God became physically angry with mankind. One of those times is reflected in today’s reading, when God found a marketplace set up inside His house of worship. He responded by flipping tables, strewing goods onto the ground and showing his extreme displeasure with what he found happening there. Wow! I’ll bet people were running for cover! No serenity, peace or love that day!
Thankfully, our God (again) gave mankind another chance at living the way he wanted his children to live. He ALWAYS gives us another chance; that’s called ‘forgiveness’.
In today’s world, that kind of forgiveness is rare; we hold grudges, we gossip maliciously on social media about someone who hurt us and we refuse to let our hearts forgive. It’s hard. I’ve been guilty of those responses, too. We all have.
I mentally scratch my head when someone bad mouths another person to me, when I just saw them in church the previous Sunday. They don’t realize (and sometimes I don’t either) that we are expected to live a Sunday-life during the other six days of the week, too.
So don’t be afraid to defend someone who’s being denigrated. Don’t be afraid to befriend the person that others don’t like. Don’t be afraid to help the poor or the sick or the homeless or the ‘different’ people that others avoid. Those actions will bring us serenity, peace and love. And it’s what God expects of us.
Mo Cantwell
Presentation Sisters Cojourner
Lenten Reflection
Second Sunday in Lent, February 25, 2024
Mark 9:2-10—Transfiguration and Simplicity
As my years of life are accumulating, I realize that my concept of what constitutes simplicity has come full circle. I don’t remember much of the first five years of my life, other than realizing a baby boy arrived when I was two and a half. That must have caused some consternation!
Our brains develop with amazing speed and yet the present moment is what one concentrates on in the early developmental stages of those first years. To a four year old, special times like birthdays, Christmas, and visits from grandparents should be happening right now! However, even as I progress in the stage of development now known as “Elderhood”, I find that simplicity is connected to those early years of childhood. Just as to my five year old self, the present moment is all I have for certainty, that same reality is very present in the last developmental stages of life as well. The difference for me is that now, my focus on time and living with simplicity, includes a realization that God is in the here and now.
This present moment is all I have that is certain, and I want to live this moment with the simplicity of faith in the promise we hear about in the Transfiguration. When Peter, James and John heard the Voice saying, “This is my beloved Son, Listen to him”, they knew God was in that moment. I think the source and goal of our lives and our prayer come together in that same way. Simplicity is our life-long movement toward seeing Jesus transfigured and knowing that reality as the culmination of the faith of the first apostles and of our own. The question they held on to was their search for the meaning of “Rising from the dead.” In all simplicity, it is our question as well.
Sister Kathleen Bierne
Lenten Reflection
February 20, 2024
A story in my newspaper today: a message written in a bottle years ago finds its way to the shore. It’s a thank-you note to a favorite teacher who is no longer living, but the words and memories are treasured by the teacher’s family.
A story in my missalette today: a message written on parchment thousands of years ago:
Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful… so shall my word … not return to me empty, but it shall succeed in achieving the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55: 10-11)
I picture a rural area, warm rain, gently and steadily falling on our farmland, seeds below being nourished to become life-sustaining food in days to come. All is beautiful, peaceful, reassuring.
Then I sit in silence with the Holy One, The Presence, ask, and trust, that these words of God now in my head and heart will truly achieve the purpose for which (it was) sent.
Sister Francene Evans
Lenten Reflection
First Sunday in Lent, February 18, 2024
As we begin these forty days of Lenten reflection, prayer and fasting, we are guided by familiar messages from Sacred Scripture. When have we not been reminded of the Covenant we have with our God … signed by the “bow” in the sky? And again, this first Sunday God speaks to us again.
Like many of you, I was raised a Dakota farmer, gardener, and lover of nature. To us, we were one with the land. We hunted, trapped, fished, planted and reaped, but probably more from a matter of existence and economy, than spirituality. As I have grown older, and especially as I have taken seriously Pope Francis’ words in his Encyclical Laudato Si’, have I become more aware of the words from Genesis … “I establish a covenant with you, your descendants after you, and with all living beings …” It is with this growing awareness, and with the knowledge that a Covenant is indeed, two-sided, that I have begun with anticipation, another season of Lenten planting … Lenten growth in my spiritual life, with God and with all Living Beings. I pray with you as St. Peter reminds us, that we are furthered in that Covenant by Baptism, and will be with Jesus these forty days!
Guide my in Your Truth and Teach me during this venerable Season. And when we soon see the sign in the sky, let us remember God’s Words … and also remember, Rainbows are not a dime a dozen!!
Sister Patrick Leonard Murphy
We are Loved
You see, at just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5: 6-8
Throughout scripture, Jesus exemplifies love, compassion and forgiveness. He listened to those around him, healing and comforting through his actions. From the tomb of Lazarus to restoring the sight of the blind man, Jesus offered his love to all without regard to societal status. His compassion continued, ultimately giving his life for the forgiveness of our sins.
As we begin this season of Lent, let us pause and examine our own lives. Through reflection, repentance and renewal:
- May we allow ourselves to slow down.
- May we be more aware of our own needs.
- May we become intentionally more present with those around us.
- May our eyes see those who are hurting and reach out with compassion.
- May we see the goodness of each person.
- May we love each other with the heart of Jesus and open ourselves up to forgive those who have hurt us, just as Jesus has forgiven us.
We welcome you to join us as we work for justice, believing in the sacredness of life and rights of all people. We continue our partnerships with mission-centered businesses and individuals, listening and responding to where there are unmet needs in our communities.
Uniting together, let us listen to ourselves and one another, praying for justice, peace and hope throughout our world as we walk with Jesus through his life, death and resurrection.
