Reflection for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wangari Maathai's visit to the Mount
January 28, 2007
by Prioress Sister Anne Shepard, OSB

Last year a young mother told me that her 2 ½ years old daughter, Flannery, came to her one morning barefooted, hand on one hip and asked, “Mom, so tell me, if God made everyone, who made God?” An inquisitive daughter who clearly is in a home where questions are welcomed. This young woman, like many gathered in this room, is in for a lifetime of learning the answers to mysteries pondered from her barefooted beginning.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.”

Jeremiah heard these words and tried to convince himself that God knows what God is doing. Jeremiah is seeking clarity within his doubtful being. He asks, “What am I meant to do? Why me?” How often in our lives have we heard God’s word and run from the implications? (Repeat Before...)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.”

“From my mother’s womb, you are my strength...”
The psalmist clings to the maternal image of God’s strength. The psalmist is repeating the call to holiness and dependence on God. We boldly perform the works we are meant to do only with the strength of God. Jeremiah accepted God’s call to be a prophetic leader because, although initially fearful, he chose to rely on the strength of the God who called him.

Frustrated with our national and international thrust to live in, cultivate and finance a culture of fear, Benedictine prioresses recently published a book, Wisdom From the Tradition, wherein we outline areas of monastic wisdom that may give hope in these troubled times. We read in the conclusion from the chapter Respectful Listening Overcomes Fear :

“When we ourselves live in the spirit of the Gospel, listening humbly and discerning wisely, we invite others around us to consider Benedict’s wisdom in seeking God above all else. Confronted unexpectedly with change, we learn to embrace courage and compassion. Faced with persons formed in cultures different from our own, we learn to seek understanding first and to delay judgment. When our sensibilities are assaulted by difference, we can discover freedom that will come with detachment from our own preferred ways of being and acting. Placing God at the center of our vision places all life in perspective...” (P.29)

“If I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and knowledge; if I have faith that will move a mountain, but do not have love, I am nothing.”
St. Paul admits that one can be intelligent and insightful, but that alone doesn't matter. Being a loving person does.

“No prophet is accepted in her native place....”
Jesus gradually realized that he was called to be a prophet, and in the eyes of the world, he would not be accepted. He is rejected because of the narrow interpretation of the passage. The people who surrounded him wanted his words to be for them, not everyone. His arms were wide and his message clear. Jesus stayed true to his calling to proclaim that the reign of God involves reaching to the disenfranchised. He risked being a failure and it cost him his life.

The gospel of Luke reminds us this morning that the grace of God has no limits. It’s not limited to any group or denomination or church or monastery. Our job, as professed Benedictines, as Christians, as Africans and Americans is to transcend the boundaries and limits of community and love that we have erected and to reach out to all.

Reflecting on today’s readings, Jesuit Dan Harrington says “Prophets tell hard truths and make people confront unpleasant realities. Prophets do not hire pollsters or commission focus groups. Their power comes from God, not from popular opinion. It is generally true that real prophets seldom find acceptance among their own. Teaching and living the gospel of inclusion will cost us.”

I suggest that we who gather today are people of hope and excitement because we are in the presence of a Catholic African woman who has acted on her instincts of how to live the gospel of Christ without any thought of exclusivity or xenophobia. The readings could not have been more apropos for this occasion. Wangari left the Mount and the University of Pittsburgh with the inner drive to make a difference in her country. She, like Jesus, believes and lives the divine mandate to liberate everyone - all the poor and oppressed inclusive of the gender, race and national differences. She can identify with the psalmist who clings to the image of maternal love and strength. Her mother and she were closely bonded. She was formed in the womb to be great, but not before she walked the road of rejection and pain, not before she experienced the paschal mystery of near death and resurrection herself. Her efforts to plant trees she judged as one solution to a deplorable problem of deforestation. She invited others to assist her in her efforts in the unpleasant reality of low water supply and the plight of poor, especially women. Thirty million trees later, Nobel Peace prize awarded, among the sisters, classmates and women saints etched in the windows, sits an alumna of whom we are most proud.

Wangari, we look forward to hearing from you today. Your Benedictine sisters are grateful to you for the lifelong search to do God’s will. As you continue, you know you go with our love, gratitude and prayers.

Flannery lives on a river road near water and trees and close to the earth. Your example and work will cause her to keep questioning. Right now she’s probably questioning God among her tadpoles.