The Mystery of Friendship

     Do you have a friend, a really good friend? Have you ever thought about what holds the two of you together? Sometimes there is no ready answer to this question? Why this person and not another? Personally I have never really tried to dissect any of these relationships, but I appreciate them as rare gifts.

     Recently I’ve begun to see these gifts as part of a much bigger treasure. Each relationship is somehow a part of the mystery of God and a glimpse into the living reality of God’s incarnation into our world.

     The other day Fr. Bill Cleves gave a presentation here at St.Walburg on Pope Francis’ Exsultate et Gaudete; the letter is about our call to holiness. Fr. Cleves'  talk was rich with insight into Francis’ reflections. One of the threads I found weaving through his remarks was the theme of God as community and how, as a people of faith, we are part of this divine relationship. He points out that for Francis, the call to holiness is a journey with others, not alone. This is where I see the God-connection with friendship.

     A major element in friendship is in the self--giving that occurs in moments or over years. As each person gives part of self, bonds get stronger. These are Godly acts! We find in the Hebrew bible and other sacred texts across many cultures that creation is God’s self-giving, God’s outpouring. God as Father, Son, and Spirit, is a Trinity of Self-giving, which is another way of saying God is Love and the Source of all bonding within creation. God is Community. The Dalai Lama has said, “…our need for love lies at the very foundation of our existence,” and Fr. Cleves reflected the other day: “We are most divine when we are in communion.” These things are true because God is communion.

     One doesn’t have to be a theologian, however, to recognize the reality and significance of the bonds between human beings.

•  “If we were good at everything we would have no need for each other.” Simon Sinek, British-American author and organizational consultant.
• “Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence…” Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst.
• “When we seek for connection we restore the world to wholeness.” Margaret J. Wheatley, American writer and management consultant

     Then too, a casual stroll through almost any drug, grocery, or discount store will reveal hundreds of greeting cards for almost any occasion. Each card is a reminder of how often people want to connect with another person. A friend lets us know that we matter!

           Looking at all this in another way, God gives us other people to remind us that the Divine Presence is always near. During his presentation Fr. Cleves suggested another name for God: “I’m Right Here!”  When we open our eyes and our heart to appreciate a friendly gesture or a jaw-dropping event, that's God saying to us, "I'm Right Here." If we reach out to someone with a consoling or forgiving word, that's God saying to the hurting person, "I'm Right Here."  There is the mystery; there is a re-enactment of the Incarnation. The mystery of God and the mystery of humanity are once again visibly intertwined, God reaching into human life to make us more divine. Through friendship we are truly  immersed in mystery.

       What a gift!

       Sr. Colleen Winston, OSB

Right in the Middle

       We are in the week between two great Solemnities.

       We just celebrated the great feast of Pentecost on May 20. Next Sunday, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. I think both of these feasts tell us a great deal about the love God has for all of us.

       In Pentecost, we find the love of God, (the Holy Spirit) being sent to us to energize us to proclaim Jesus and what He means in our lives. We are called to share this love with others.

       In the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, we are asked to discover our identity in the three persons  of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We know that God the Father is our Creator.  We are also called to be co-creators.To bring new life into our world whether this is as parents or as religious or single people.We are to nurture and to care for other people. It also calls us to care for the earth so that other people will benefit from its resources in years to come.

       We know that the Holy Trinity is a community of love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  This calls us to a relationship with God and a relationship to each other.  It calls us to build this relationship and to grow in this relationship in our communities and wherever we find ourselves.

                         Sr. Barbara Woeste, OSB

Avoiding the Thud

Just having completed the 50 days of Easter with the beautiful Pentecost liturgy, I was anticipating my usual “let down” that comes with the sudden appearance of Ordinary Time. The feeling is like falling from something or somewhere with one big thud. This year as I pondered the Church liturgies in the month of June, I was happily reminded that the month is very rich with liturgies that can either avoid or have a happy lift from my anticipated thud.

Since my early childhood, I have loved the devotion to the Sacred Heart to whom the month of June is dedicated. My great-grandmother, who died before I was born, had a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart. She left behind a two-foot statue of the Sacred Heart that was “stored” in my bedroom. I was also told that Grandma distributed Sacred Heart League leaflets throughout the neighborhood each month of the year. How often I felt close to the Jesus represented by that statue and poured out my heart to him. How grateful I am for the gift of devotion to the Sacred Heart and likely even the seeds of my vocation handed down by a deceased grandmother!

On the first Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate Trinity Sunday, and the following Sunday we celebrate Corpus Christi. We celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart on Friday, June 23. This month we also celebrate the feasts of John the Baptist and the feasts of the apostles Peter and Paul. Thirteen saints, five of whom were martyrs are also commemorated. So like the lush green growth around us, the first month of Ordinary Time presents us with a plethora of feasts to bathe us in hope, the presence of our Triune God, and examples of others who followed in the footsteps of our Lord.

  Sr. Victoria Eisenman, OSB

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

     The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian Faith and of the Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [# 261 Catechism of the Catholic Church. ©1994]

     For many years the teachings on the Trinity have been many and varied and never fully understood. St Augustine went so far as to say that anyone who claimed to know everything about the Trinity was a heretic! In more recent history the Trinity has been explained as relational unity with a living dynamic communion of the "love life" of God in the three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

     In turn as Christians we are invited to be within this communion of love. #260 in the Catechism states: “The ultimate end of the divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity...We are called [in turn] to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity.”

Thus we are also called to be vehicles to share this love among all with whom we come in contact. The Sign of the Cross can call us to an awareness of this loving relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Prayer to the Trinity by Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity [1880-1906]

O my God,

Trinity whom I adore,

help me forget myself entirely

and to rest in you,

unmovable and peace

as if my soul were already in eternity.

May nothing be able to trouble my peace

or make me leave you.

O my unchanging God,

but may each minute bring me more deeply

into your mystery!

Grant my soul your peace.

Make it your heaven,

your beloved dwelling and place of your rest.

May I never abandon you there,

but may I be there  whole and entire completely vigilant in my faith,

entirely adoring, and wholly given over

to your creative action.

Sr. Joan Gripshover, OSB