Promoter of Preaching for December

How we Do it...

The word contemplation can mean different things to different people. How do Dominicans understand it? As we continue to more intentionally reclaim this core of our spirituality in all our deliberations, it is good to revisit the distinctive take we Dominicans have on contemplation. Clarifying this would be an important step as we complete the celebration of our 800^th Anniversary.

The recently deceased Paul Philibert, OP, in his research has uncovered something rather interesting. The way Dominicans understand contemplation is revealed in Dominic’s Nine Ways of Prayer. For the perceptive eye, there is a flow in these ways of prayer. First, there is reverencing, shown in our customs of bows and prostrations. Then there is pleading, in the raised and outstretched arms, and finally there is the silent and absorbed meditative reading and study which ends up witnessing. The movement is a bit like breathing… reverencing, pleading, witnessing. The Dominican’s contemplation pushes the pray-er out onto the road, where we preach from the pulpit of our lives. We are transformed into a living, walking, talking, acting, word. This is a unique and very integrative approach to contemplation. It is a seamless garment. It never stops at any one stage, but is driven back, again and again, into the wholeness of the flow: active contemplation, contemplative action.

As we complete the joyful celebration of this anniversary year, we each take up once again the challenge it presents to us: to offer to the Church the gift of a formal vowed witness to active contemplation in the cause of justice. “Whom shall I send?” Send me.

Pray, Ponder, and Preach for December 2016

A Sign will be given you…a baby…

Carla Mae Streeter, OP, Promoter of Preaching

What?! A baby??? A baby is the long-awaited sign of God’s answer to millions of prayers for a redeemer…for thousands of years? Yes. And come to think of it, how ingenious. Not lightning from Mt. Saini, not a warrior on a white stallion, not even a powerful prophet thundering words of warning. A baby…a baby as a sign of God.

What newness might grasp us as we gaze at the crib? What might we see that we haven’t noticed before? If this baby is the visible sign of the invisible God, we need to take a long, loving look.

This child is the bridge, the restored link between the Divine and our humanness. This baby, wanting to play patty-cake on my cheeks until I scoop it up and cover it with kisses…is this the peek-a-boo God who knows just how to get a rise out of me? A rise out of its mother? An anonymous writer put it this way…

    
“The soul’s prayer of union is something like a baby in its mother’s arms. Eagerly it lets itself be gathered up into her outstretched arms, curling itself up to be cuddled at her breast. The mother clasps it, glues it, so to speak, to herself…kisses it. Her darling, won by caresses, concurs in this union. It clings to her, presses as hard as it can against her, against her face, as though it meant to bury, to hide itself in its mother, creating a union, a state to which mother and child each contribute. The little one does what it can, tries hard to join itself to its mother by its tiny efforts. The Lord does to the soul what the mother does to the child. The soul, captivated by the delights of these favors, not only assents, not only yields to the union God affords. With all its might, it acts in concert, striving to join itself and cling ever closer to the divine goodness.”

Yes, a baby. A sign has been given to us…

You knew.

You knew exactly how to get to me.

Pudgy hands playing patty-cake on my cheeks.

Your toothless giggle rising up as I peek from behind your smiling mother.

Yes. I get your message. Yes. I read your sign.

Healing, forgiveness, restoration, mercy…all in the love-bundle that is a baby.

Thanks to associate Jean Gfall for these reflections

December 4, 2016 – Second Sunday of Advent – IS 11:1-10 – ROM 15:4-9 – MT 3:1-12
MORE THAN WE CAN ASK OR IMAGINE

John’s message, as hell fire and brimstone as it was (even as he announced this new thing God was doing) set up a contrast to what would come beyond him. It set people to thinking. The election has set many of us to thinking, wondering what in the world is going on. But we trust that in God’s big picture, something is, even if it’s only to set more of us to thinking. That’s how God works, of course, in ways we wouldn’t think to ask or imagine. So it is. So it has always been….and, thank God, so it will always be. Don’t you think?

         

December 11 – Third Sunday of Advent – IS 35:1-6A, 10 – JAS 5:7-10 – MT 11:2-11
IT’S HARD TO BE “LEAST”

One of the hardest things for me to be – and to admit to being – is “least.” How about you? I really like to be listened to as though I have some authority because of my vast knowledge and expertise. I don’t know about you but I LOVE it when someone searches me out because they believe (and often then, so do I) that I know more about some topic than many others. Anyone that wants to compliment me is certainly welcome to do so because it makes me feel really good!

Then I read these words and find that it’s the PARCHED land that will bloom. It’s being patient and waiting to see what God will do that brings life rather than the instant gratification of knowing and being known. I guess I don’t have to like being least but clearly I’m going to have to get used to it because it’s at the bottom of the heap where we see God face to face. I don’t want to miss it!

December 18 – Fourth Sunday of Advent – IS 7:10-14 – ROM 1:1-7– MT 1:18-24
CALLED TO BE HOLY

We’ve heard Mary’s story of her willingness to bear a child that could have left her in shame. We’re told that Joseph said “it came to him in a dream” that he should still marry her and he did. Not an easy place for either of them. But, like you and me, they were called to be HOLY and they did their best. We talk about being holy or at least what it means to be holy, but what does that really mean? Most of the time we just say it, assuming we know what “holy” is. I wasn’t sure I did so I looked it up. It means morally and spiritually excellent. Hmmmm….. Mary and Joseph had their own challenges. We have a whole different set of challenges in this time and place. How will we find our way into being holy today, I wonder.

December 25 – The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) – IS 62:11-12 – TI 3:4-7 – LK 2:15-20
WHAT MIRACLE NEXT?

So this day we celebrate the birth of a child, Jesus of Nazareth, that would change the world forever. I sincerely doubt that my birthday will ever be celebrated much beyond my family and friends, although some people’s are. Yet, I believe that on December 7, 1948, my parents believed they witnessed a miracle as I came to them safe and secure, unharmed by my journey into this world. We see miracles so often that we miss them, be it the birth of a child or the last breath of one who has brought us into this world and now leaves it for another. But the kindness and generous love of God is forever giving us one miracle after another. This day, in particular, reminds us to keep our eyes and our hearts wide open lest we miss even one small one.

Blessings on this day when we celebrate
the God of Endless Miracles.

Carla Mae Streeter

The Elections...

                                                                        A Prudent Vote…

Amid the noise and insults, the lies and accusations, what’s a responsible Dominican to do as this election draws near? It is tempting indeed to simply say, “I’m just not going to vote.” Yet we all know this is an abdication of one of our most treasured rights and responsibilities as citizens. Dominicans preach first from the pulpit of their lives, so our lives must speak from the voting booth too.

The updated 2016 Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship from the American bishops can be of help to us. (USCCB website) The bishops call us to use prudence as we go to the poles. Simply speaking, prudence is Love’s fairness. It asks that we consider all that is at stake in an issue, leaving nothing out, or looking at only one part of an issue. Then we recall our Catholic values. Finally, we choose the person or policy that gets closest to realizing those values best, or more of them.

Even more helpful and practical, the bishops put before us four Social Justice principles that guide us in doing this prudent evaluation. With these principles in view, prudence has its work cut out for it. Using our intelligent laser beam, we examines the candidates and issues in light of all of these principles, and then makes our choices. The candidate or the issue may not be perfect on all the values we as Catholics, as Dominicans, hold dear, but the principles offer criteria to evaluate who best might get us close to them.

What are the four principles we can use as we make our choices? First, the bishops remind us of the dignity of human life at all its stages. How inclusive about this is the candidate? Second, we seek the common good of all, not just some of us by class, wealth, or position. Who does the candidate leave out in this “common good?” Who is invisible in his or her point of view? Third, subsidiarity. Simply put, whose voice is not being heard from the bottom of the ladder? Are we hearing only from those who speak from power? Finally, solidarity. We need to stand with each other, the very poorest with the richest. Who is being left out in the vision of the candidate? Who is being drawn in? Who is this candidate for? Which candidate wants to unite us?

In the final assessment, no candidate will shine on all these principles. But we will know, with a little thought and prayer, who comes the closest on all of them, not just settling for one of them. Using our prudence, and the study that is part of our Dominican charism, then we vote.

Thanksgiving...

More Than a Day….

Carla Mae Streeter, OP

‘Tis the month of Thanksgiving. It’s also the time of harvest, not only from the fields but in the community we call church. We gather the harvest of the fields, and we are approaching the end of Ordinary Time. This long series of weeks in the church’s celebration of time is the time of greening, the time of growth from the Paschal Mystery. The Easter glow is like Sonshine, cultivating the fruits of the Spirit in our souls.

But thanksgiving for all the richness of field and human flourishing is not just for a day. It can be a way…of life. Scripture says it best: “In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1Thess. 5:18) Now I don’t know about you, but a typical response to this is, “You’ve got to be kidding! Give thanks for a cancer diagnosis, for someone rear-ending me?” Yes. Scripture doesn’t mince words: “In all circumstances…”

So for the past three years I’ve been trying this “in all circumstances…” thing. The results amaze me. I keep a little notebook at my bedside, and the last thing I do before falling off to sleep is enter the date, and jot down little phrases for all I’m thankful for from that day. I go off to sleep full of gratitude. I also catch myself better during the day, and in tough spots I find myself surprisingly calm. You can’t get too fussed up if you are trying to say “Thank you.” Most of all, I find myself growing in a sense of proportion. I can be very good at making mountains out of mole hills. So, if this is the will of God for me, then I can at least take it seriously. I think it’s producing good fruit. So for me, this year I won’t just be celebrating Thanksgiving Day, but a Thanksgiving way…while I enjoy my pumpkin pie.

Most generous God,

You surround me with gifts from your overflowing heart.

I often take them for granted.

I’m given a special day this month to thank you in a special way.

But maybe I can do better than that.

You call me to come to that banquet

Where you give me your very self to grow my own risen life.

Thank you for taking me so seriously.

Help me to take you seriously in every event that happens in my life.

You have counted every hair on my head.

Fill my heart with trustful gratitude.

This year transform my Thanksgiving Day into a

Thanksgiving Way.

Amen.

...back to Basics...

…back to Basics…

We have just come from an intense weekend of reflection on contemplation. We have always known it is the rich ground of our ministries. It is a fact that many of us never have had real training in its meaning or practice in our Dominican formation. So why is contemplation so significant in present-day religious life, especially among active religious?

Let’s get very concrete. Rational analytic consciousness, the way our minds work in day-to-day thinking, is grounded in a more basic type of consciousness. This basic awareness is just plain wonder. It’s awe. It’s surprise, like the child on Christmas morn. As we grow, we get scolded if we “wonder” too much. We need to be responsible, you know. We need to get things done, and not be lazy. We need to accomplish something. This is the measure of our worth, right?

Really? The gospel has another suggestion: “…unless you turn and become as a little child…” Wonder reclaimed has the ability to clarify our thinking.  We see more clearly when we wonder at beauty, at kindness, at being loved. So as Dominicans, we begin all meaningful activity by a pause…on tiptoe…to be kissed. Then we run off to help heal the world. Our uniqueness? To be honest, others can do our ministries. But as long as we Dominicans have breath, we will remind those in the structure of the Church and outside it, that the authentic study of anything…of science, of medicine, of economics, of politics, of theology…all of it is grounded in wonder. All of the nitty-gritty is grounded in wonder…and our uniqueness is to call the world back to this wholeness so it can heal…back to basics.

                                   

Mercy me! But what about Justice?

Mercy me! But what about Justice?

We will soon be completing the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Dominicans will seal this special 800^th Anniversary year with final celebrations. The liturgical year is nearing end. The harvest time is upon us. Where is the fruit? What growth can we find in the rich loam of our humanness, in our very earthy human struggle? Lord, have mercy!

Yes, indeed. When we learn that real mercy means compassion for one who does not deserve it, the shoe fits. This is not about somebody else. This is about me. I try, I really do. But inevitably I come up short. Always. So scripture these days seems to understand. We really want to “…do something beautiful for God…” as Mother Theresa would say, but we don’t quite make it.

So I don’t know about you, but I come before God, holding the thimble of my puny efforts. I stand helpless, so much lacking. Then a voice next to me speaks up…”I will supply what is lacking, Father…” Then it clicks. I know how it works. The justice is tucked into the mercy. And the One who has bent so low to lift us up supplies both. For in the One who loves us justice and mercy are one. They are not opposed. They kiss.

So ordinary time plays out. The fields become rich with grain. The corn is a bumper crop. The grapes hang on the vines, and the pumpkins await the knife to be emptied out to show a toothy grin. And me? I do my little thing. Somehow God makes it enough. More often than not I need the mercy of my falling short. Then Big Brother supplies, and I remember that without Him I can do nothing. Mercy me!

* * * *

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Indeed.

Mercy me when I come with so little.

Mercy me when I forget, and point the finger of my judgment toward another.

Mercy me when I need your compassion.

Mercy me when I do not measure up to your justice.

Mercy me.