Scripture Reflection: July 21, 2024 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary time

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 23:1-6
Ephesians 2:13-18
Mark 6:30-34

Jesus invites His disciples to “come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.” Jesus knows we need quiet and rest, physically and spiritually, to better hear and see God’s movements in our lives. The invitation extends to us. Retreats are excellent for this. My closest encounters with Christ have been when I was on a retreat. But we may do well to have incorporated in our daily lives times of quiet and rest in order to be with God and become aware of His Presence.
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In this invitation Jesus is being the “Good Shepherd.” Shepherds, as we hear in Psalm 23, take great care of the sheep. Their sheep “want for nothing.” A good shepherd provides protection and sees to all the needs of the sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He cares for His sheep and thinks only of them. Even when He needed rest with His disciples “He is moved with pity on the crowd” and shepherds them.

Jesus is our Good Shepherd and will provide for us in our needs. So, let us take some time to rest in the Lord each day and allow Him to shepherd us. 

Loretta Ortego
Flowers of the Prairie Community,
Eunice, LA

Scripture Reflection: July 14, 2024 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark 6:7-13
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Imagine you being one of Jesus’ disciples during biblical times. Then hearing Jesus give you clear instructions to go out on your first mission trip, with no food, no sack, no money?! Oh, but its okay to bring a walking stick and wear your sandals.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t leave home without snacks and water in my vehicle. You never know when you might be stuck in a lengthy traffic jam. And I may not have money with me, but I can always rely on that credit card which is approved so fast it makes my head spin.

I have always considered this passage as the “Go Forth” request. Jesus asks us to go forth, spread the good news, testify, evangelize. When we leave mass every Sunday, aren’t we supposed to go forth, live our lives as a good Christian, show others our love for Jesus, and let our actions demonstrate our beliefs?

As we go forth, just like the disciples did, we may face a lack of welcome or reach out to others who will not listen. But this should not discourage our efforts. Discouragement will certainly not lead to success. Jesus stated to “leave and shake off the dust”. Go forth with determination; witness to the kingdom with your actions, your faith, and your message of the love that Jesus has for all those who follow him and truly believe. GO FORTH!

Eileen Eskew
Petals of Faith Community
Jennings, LA

By Tammy Townsend Denny, TI Executive Director

By now, you probably have heard that I will be leaving my position as executive director of TI on July 31 (if you haven’t received the news yet, please check your email for a letter that went out from our TI board of directors on June 28). I have accepted a new position as associate director of The Leadership Collaborative, an organization which fosters transformational leadership for Catholic sisters and their associates.

This decision involved a lot of discernment, a word we hear frequently in Catholic circles. But what does it mean to discern?

Discernment was not even in my vocabulary until I started working with Catholic sisters. Their influence taught me that to discern is to pause, pray, and listen for God’s guidance. My spiritual director helped me understand that to discern is to spend time with questions that may not have obvious answers. It is an invitation to delve more deeply into the divine mystery. And she recommended the book Decision Making & Spiritual Discernment: The Sacred Art of Finding Your Way, by Nancy L. Bieber.

At Mass, the new pastor at our church talked about discernment by sharing his vocation story. His path to the priesthood began in earnest when he went to Adoration to discern his vocation and pray for God’s guidance. As he left Adoration, a woman stopped him and said, “I usually don’t do this, but I had a vision of you as a priest.”

As I discerned my next steps, I also went to Adoration, praying for God’s guidance and listening in the silence. I was hoping a stranger would approach and share visions of my future, but the chapel was quiet, and the parking lot empty.

Too often, I am guilty of praying as if God were a prayer-answering vending machine. Insert a Hail Mary here; get an answer there. It doesn’t work like that most of the time, at least for me. Yes, there are stories of immediate answers, like the priest’s vocation story. But many more times, there is silence. What do we do with the silence?

I am reminded of a conversation Jan Richardson writes about in her book In the Sanctuary of Women. During a walk with her friend Brother David, a Franciscan friar, she asked him, “What’s discernment like for you?” 

Brother David shared with her a story of Saint Francis and Brother Masseo, who had come to a crossroads on their journey: “Not knowing which path to take, Saint Francis tells Brother Masseo to stand at the center of the crossroads and spin himself around. When Masseo finally falls down, Francis and his dizzy brother set off in the direction in which Masseo had landed.” 

Richardson goes on to explain that while the story “may strike us as silly,” it is a reminder “that on those occasions when there’s no one path that’s obviously the right one to take, it’s often better to set off in some direction if the alternative means staying stuck at the crossroads. God knows how to make use of any path.”

As I discerned my path, I prayed. I journaled. I read. I talked with trusted advisers, both spiritual and professional. And I considered spinning around in circles like Brother Masseo. Ultimately, I trusted the call and path that led to a soul-warming calm.

Change is disconcerting even with Spirit-led discernment. Please know that I am working with the TI Board of Directors to make this transition as smooth as possible. I am available even after July 31 to assist with questions. And be assured that the TI office is fully operational. We are here to support you!

Scripture Reflection: July 7, 2024 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Ezekiel 2:2-5
Ps 123:1-4
Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6
 
My daily morning prayer time is spent reflecting on the readings of the day, especially the Gospel. I try to walk away from my contemplative time with a word or phrase that will carry me through the day. As I reflected on these readings, the word that came to me was conviction.

Ezekiel was strong in his conviction of hearing the word of God and having the strength and courage to stand up and walk into a “hard of face and obstinate of heart” people. Jesus walked into his hometown, with folks who wrestled with the mystery of who this home grounded boy became! Jesus too, was met with resistance and disbelief. His teachings and healing were not received well. Jesus’ call was to preach everywhere he went. Maybe he was convinced that a few people were open to hearing with their hearts and listened attentively. Maybe a few people encountered Mary’s Son who shared a touching message that transformed how they lived their daily lives.

The question is how do I, you come to listen to the words of Scripture?

How do the words transform you/me?

Sister Ginny Heldorfer OSF
Women at the Well
Dubuque, IA 

By Lisa Nicks, Night Luminaries, Lake Jackson, Texas

On Sunday, June 2nd, my dad and I decided to drive over to Galveston, Texas to witness the pilgrimage procession. My dad is elderly and participating in the actual walking wasn't an option. We arrived and parked on the street a couple of blocks down from St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica. There was a police presence as Mass was being said by Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, at the time we arrived.
 
Slowly the crowd gathered in the street as Mass ended. We decided to stand behind the car and waited for the procession to pass us by. Cardinal DiNardo was carrying the monstrance with a variety of clergy and uniformed protectors. I am not exactly sure who all the various gentlemen were surrounding the Cardinal and monstrance.
 
Behind was a gathering of people walking quietly and at times gently singing songs. They sounded angelic to us. It is very hard to explain the delicateness of the sights and sounds of the procession.
 
As we were taking it all in and I was photographing it all, a young Franciscan Brother who was part of the team traveling the whole distance with the Pilgrimage stepped out of the procession to speak to us. He noticed my dad's baseball cap with my dad's college alma mater on it that he had holding over his heart. It turned out the brother's grandfather also graduated from there, so we had a great discussion about that area and memories.
 
As the brother was about to depart to rejoin the group, he reached into his garment and pulled out a commemorative Pilgrimage rosary and gave it to my dad and asked if he could pray with us. I said it was perfect timing because my dad would be spending the next day at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for extensive testing because a new type of cancer had recently been diagnosed after being cured from Stage 4 cancer ten years ago.
 
The brother said a beautiful prayer and asked that Blessed Fr. Solanus Casey, who has been beatified and has healing powers, would be with my dad. When the prayer was finished, I said "You're not going to believe this, but my dad has carried a relic card in his wallet from Fr. Solanus Casey since he was first diagnosed in 2013." As I was saying this, my dad opened his wallet and displayed the relic card.
 
The brother was stunned, and he immediately pulled out his Fr. Solanus Casey’s relic card he carries. The three of us were speechless.
 
The brother suggested that they switch cards and carry each other's card going forward which they did.
 
The brother wrote down our names to pray for us and said he was so moved by the stories he was coming across on the Pilgrimage route.
 
We continue to keep the brother in our prayers and honestly, I don't believe we will ever forget this special encounter. As my dad said, there are no coincidences. I could see the peace it brought over my dad as we made the trip to Houston the next day. It was an amazingly beautiful experience. 

Scripture Reflection: June 30, 2024 – Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
 
Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24
Mk 5:21-43
 
In this Sunday’s readings Jesus said to Jairus, the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, just have faith”. Really? Just have faith? I want to Just have faith, but I don’t always know how. I am not always able to JUST DO IT, as they say.
 
Many, many nights I lay awake in the dark of night worried for my children. My only solace is prayer. I pray for God to help my children through their pain. I ask God to give me rest, to quiet my mind. I pray the Our Father, I pray the Hail Mary, I recite the Serenity Prayer. I say these prayers to myself over and over again. And you know? I surrender, I relax, I sleep (most of the time).
 
And on some mornings, when I haven’t slept, I am still able to enjoy my day. I walk in the garden, barefoot. I see the light of the morning. I see how the plants have changed since the day before.
 
I am filled with gratitude. Grateful for the willingness to pray, to surrender.
 
“At night fall, weeping enters in but with the dawn, rejoicing. I will praise you Lord, for you have rescued me. You changed my mourning into dancing. O Lord, my God, forever I will give you thanks.”
 
Bernadette Patten
Anam Cara Community
Houston, TX

by Genie Packard, Night Luminaries, Lake Jackson, Texas

Our Eucharistic Procession on June 2, the Feast of Corpus Christi, was a joint effort with between neighboring parishes: St. Jerome, in Clute, Texas and St. Michael parish in Lake Jackson, Texas. Theresians Maria Macaraeg, Helen Anderson, and I were so impressed by the fervor of the Clute planners! On the day of the procession, we arrived at St. Jerome to a wonderfully festive scene of automobiles decorated with fresh flower wreaths, tulle bows on the car doors, and window flags that read "Jesus, I adore you!" The participants even wore t-shirts bearing the iconic symbol of the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance! The prayerful one-mile walking procession was followed by a police-escorted motorcade to our church, where about 300+ persons from both parishes assembled for another mile-long procession. Our Eucharistic Lord stopped to bless residents and staffers at three senior living facilities in addition to our local hospital. No one suffered from heat exhaustion, and all were exhilarated to gather in the church for Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The event was followed by refreshments in the hall where the joy was quite palpable. It was obvious that those who participated were deeply in love with the Lord. Jesus shared His abundant graces and blessings with us that day because we believe that He is truly present among us...truly present in the Holy Eucharist! Many thanks to Night Luminaries Donna, Morgan, Lisa, Jet, and Edna who prayed for a successful event, and to Mary, Janet, Yvonne and Traci, who helped keep participants safe in the heat of the day. I felt the intensity of His love that day, and pray that I am never separated from that love. 

Scripture Reflection: June 23, 2024 – Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary time

Jb 38:1, 8-11
Ps 107:23-31
2 Cor 5:14-17
Mk 4:35-41
 
Today we are reminded that God creates all and has power and control over all of creation. God questions Job and asks, “who was there when I set limits and who shut within doors the sea?” (Jb. 38:8) God addresses Job to remind him of God’s  power over creation. In the Gospel Jesus also speaks of this power. While the disciples were in a boat a storm came up and tossed them about. All the while Jesus was asleep in the boat. They woke Him and He said to the sea, “Quiet! Be Still!” and the wind ceased (Mk. 4:39). Only Jesus can calm the storms in our lives. So, when we are tempted to think we can control the storms in our lives we must remember that God has all of this in His hands. We must be “Quiet! Be Still!” and trust that God will calm the storms in our lives.
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Loretta Ortego
Flowers of the Prairie Community
Eunice, LA 

by Jet Booth, Night Luminaries, Lake Jackson, Texas

JESUS IS TAKING TO THE STREETS! These are the headlines that should be hitting the national news nightly. It somehow is not but we know what is happening. The National Eucharistic Revival is happening across the USA and we have been part of this epic, historic moment in so many ways. We jumped in when our Night Luminaries community planned our theme for 2023-2024. We chose the book Beautiful Eucharist by Matthew Kelly. We shared at every gathering our insights, our readiness to get closer to Christ in the Eucharist, and to participate in the St. Juan Diego route of the Pilgrimage when it came through our area of Houston, Texas. I joined members of the Wildflowers Community in Sugarland, Texas, on May 31 for Mass and Adoration. I experienced the worst rainstorm ever that morning as I drove to the Mass. Torrential rain had me crying out loud in the car "I'm coming, Jesus!" I knew I had to make it to process with the perpetual pilgrims making their way to Indianapolis. The rain and lightning kept coming. Our hopes to witness to Jesus and see Him in the streets of Houston had to change. Our outside procession in the streets was moved inside because of the continued stormy weather. We were sad but relieved and I was still glad to participate in Adoration with a packed church of believers. On our knees we still joined all those across the USA to carry Jesus across this nation.

The revival and Pilgrimage is still going on! Theresians share your experience! Members of Night Luminaries spearheaded a procession in Lake Jackson and will comment on that experience in the next two weeks in Sacred Touchstones.

How has this revival affected me? I started out feeling tired of going through the motions at the time of communion. By praying, reading and striving with my sisters I fell in love with Adoration time before Jesus. I still struggle to really believe and surrender to Christ in His humble, hidden presence in the host and ask for more faith every time I receive Him. Instead of thinking about my grocery list or other distractions, I have become more alert, standing on tiptoe receiving HIM and trying not to receive in an empty, bored, glum way.

Scripture Reflection: June 16, 2024 – Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
 
Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
Psalm 92:2
 
I love the beautiful imagery captured in this Sunday’s readings.
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•  A majestic cedar
• Every winged thing in the shade of its boughs
• And the smallest mustard seed that, when fully grown, “puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

But it’s the responsorial psalm that stirred my heart.

I recently listened to an interview with Julie Andrews where she shared that, when she recorded, “My Favorite Things,” she sang it as a meditation on the goodness of life and those things for which she is most grateful.

• Raindrops on roses
• Whiskers on kittens
• Bright copper kettles
• Warm woolen mittens

It reminded me of who I strive to be. A person who notices how God is Good and showers me/us with a multitude of gifts that I want to see and acknowledge throughout my days. My husband and family, of course, but all the other things, too.

• The monarch caterpillars feasting on my milkweed
• Refrigerator magnets that commemorate wonderful getaways
• My washer and dryer
• Sanitation workers who come twice a week to carry away our discards
• The enticing aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans
• Wordle

I could go on and on, and I bet you can, too. What’s on your list?
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For such a time as this, Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
 
Heidi Clark
​Wildflowers Community
League City, TX