Reflection for the Golden & Silver Jubilee
July 9, 2006
Anne Shepard, OSB

“Our eyes are fixed on the Lord.”

The day that I received a draft of the worship aid for this morning’s liturgy, I had a routine eye examination. As most of us know, one of the first things the doctor does is shine a small light and ask us to have our eyes follow that light. In doing so he or she checks to see the scope of our peripheral vision and the strength of our eyes. Throughout the exam, in testing for the exact prescription one needs for glasses, we are given a succession of choices. We are asked over and over again: better one, better two? By selecting the psalm verse as the theme for today, you jubilarians are recognizing that you are fixing your eyes on our loving God, regularly strengthening your monastic lenses and constantly choosing to sharpen your sight.

In the first reading we heard that Ezekiel was sent to people who were not too eager to accept him as he preached and gave witness to the spirit of a god who sent him forth. You four can relate to that. In your work, you have met opposition at times with students, with patients, with parishioners, with residents of nursing homes, maybe even at times with the clergy and maybe even at times with your sisters in community . But we are reminded in the Hebrew passage that it is God who will work through us. In today’s environment, the call to be fixed on God, the call for clear monastic vision, the call to beg for mercy for the sins committed and the injustices done is louder than ever. We cannot waver in our choices to do what is right at the expense of rejection because we are convinced that God promises to stay with us.

Better one- to opt out when the going gets tough and water down the message of Christ or better two- to remain steadfast and risk rejection.
We know- better two.

Saint Paul speaks of the power of God that is found in suffering. None of us likes pain. It’s the nature of pain to be abhorrent. Paul is telling us that no matter what the extent of the suffering, the grace of God will permeate our lives. Suffering will not be taken away. As a matter of fact, the weaker we are the stronger the grace of God. Paul is saying that Christ will not alleviate weakness; Christ resides in us when we are weak. What comfort that should give to the sisters in Dooley and those with chronic illnesses. We who are members of a Benedictine monastery are asked to be ambassadors of healing to those who have physical and psychological aches by approaching them through the lenses of our listening and compassionate hearts.

Better one- to trust God’s action in our lives or better two- to avoid pain at any cost.
Better one.

Jesus cannot win in this passage of the gospel. He just came off a successful road trip and dynamic speaking tour, only to be challenged and rejected at home. Some commentators have said that for Jesus to be addressed as Son of Mary was a put down. In his day, indeed in ours in the United States also, it is more the custom to identify a person as the child of the father. Jesus is also identified as the son of a carpenter. This is the only reference in the New Testament where Jesus is identified as a tradesman. In Jesus’ time, it was unheard of for a manual laborer to rise to the level of a teacher in the temple. Our Benedictine motto is ora et labora. Manual labor is not reserved to a few. Saint Benedict tells us in the forty eighth chapter of The Rule we all ought to have periods of manual work and reading every day.

Better one to be a manual laborer or better two to be an avid reader or scholar? In our monastery they both are equally important.

Today is an occasion for joy in our community, in the families of the jubilarians, among the friends who are here and those who could not attend, and for the Church. Jubilees remind us of the strength of our monastic commitment, of our convictions as Benedictines, as women in the Church. You jubilarians remind us of our need to stay dependent on God and to continue to serve others. Jubilees are also times when we can, with the grace of God, let go of past hurts and grudges. It is a time to rid ourselves of all that blocks our freedom to live fully.

On this jubilee day, your eyes are fixed on God as you renew your monastic profession made twenty five years ago, Mary Theresa, or fifty years ago, Rita Claire, Mary Beth and Trinitas. We who are gathered know that your life time commitment is indicative of you staying close to God’s sight, not just on special occasions such as this, but day by day. Thank you for the witness you give to God’s fidelity. Thank you for the service you render at home here and in your ministries. Believe in your hearts that every moment of every day, the grace of God is sufficient for you.

Read the article about the jubilarians.