current reflections...
Christmas 2008
The Holy Night of Christmas
Soon, the Holy Night of Christmas will be upon us. It will bring a night, bearing light and warmth. Truly, this Holy Night wants to find a home within us.
Karl Rahner, S.J., tells us that there exists in our heart an inner land where, often enough, we go alone and where only God can find a way. Although Christmas is certainly a time for going out to others, it is also a time for entering that sacred sanctuary deep within us. Rahner even encourages us to sing our own song to God, and to believe that God hears us.
In the depth of that Holy Night, we will hear a gentle word of love telling us not to be worried about the future, but to trust the God who is making a path before us.
Inspired by K. Rahner, Everyday Faith , Holy Night
Sister Mary Jo Loebig, O.C.D
Christmas 2008
A Silent Night
There is a rather unusual event that comes to re-visit me with each new Christmas. The happening goes something like this. Some years before entering Carmel , I was a teacher at an all-girls academy. During the last day before the Christmas vacation began, it was the custom to allow the students to sing Christmas Carols during class instead of doing the usual class work.
On this particular day, typical songs like Jolly Old St. Nicholas , Jingle Bells and Rudolph, the Red-Nose Reindeer began to sound out in the midst of this particular group of students, who were just waiting for the school day to end and have their Christmas vacation begin. Then, there was a pause, and the group began singing Silent Night . This carol had hardly begun when one of the students told everyone they had to stop singing. Her name was Mary. She told her classmates that if they were to sing Silent Night , they had to sing it with reverence. She went on to say that her great, great grandfather wrote the music to Silent Night. (I'm not quite sure if I recall exactly how many "greats" there were.) All of us were quite stunned. Later, when I came into the Quad City area, I met the relatives of Fr. Joseph Mohr, the priest who had written the words to Silent Night .
The setting of Silent Night was a beautiful village in the Austrian Alps, the home of equally beautiful people. What most of us remember about the story is the fact that the organ in their church was broken. Because of this, Franz Gruber, the composer and their school teacher, accompanied Silent Night with his guitar, at their Midnight Mass, December 24, 1818.
Having done a bit of research on this story, I found that there are different versions. In one of the versions, the writer describes an incident that prompted the creation of the words of Silent Night. On Christmas Eve, Fr. Joseph Mohr sat in his study praying over his homily for Christmas Day. There came a knock at the door. Opening the door, Fr. Mohr greeted a peasant woman who related to him that there was an infant boy who had just been born to a poor charcoal-maker family. Would Fr. Mohr be willing to come and bless the baby that this child might live and prosper?
Together, Fr. Mohr and the peasant woman went to the home of the child. Having arrived at a ramshackle hut, Fr. Mohr found there a young mother. In her arms, she held her baby now peacefully sleeping. He gave both of them a blessing. As he left, Fr. Mohr felt that the Christmas miracle had just happened. It was this event that gave birth to the poem, Silent Night .
There seems to be something moving about the music and words of Silent Night. For me, the carol has a way of drawing me back to that first Christmas, and making it present in the now. As alluded to in a previous article, we are encouraged to actually see ourselves there at the stable. What is the image that speaks most to our heart?
Recently, a friend shared with me an exercise that means a lot to her. Actually, the principle of the exercise can be used any time for any event throughout the year. In visiting the crib, we are to find one thing that strikes us, personally. Is it the Holy Family and the light that encircles the Child? Is it an angel, the star, or the shepherds? Maybe, it is just the sacredness and silence of the night? After leaving this setting, we are to recall that special image two or three times a day. This exercise is especially helpful when life is difficult. It seems like it is a way of touching God, and of allowing God to move in and touch us.
Sister Mary Jo Loebig, O.C.D
September 2008
A Hidden Closeness
Some years ago, it was suggested that possibly the call to Carmel, at that time, was to bring to the world a new experience of God. Since that time, such a challenge has continued to find an echo in the hearts of those who walk the way of Carmel, in all its different forms.
Karl Rahner asserts that God is involved in all that happens to us as human beings, especially in those depth dimensions of our lives, even in those events that, at first glance, do not seem to be connected with anything religious in nature. He goes on to remind us that God is in our loneliness, our disappointments, our losses, our panic and our worries about the future, to mention only a few events. Strangely, these events are meant to be graced moments.
Coming immediately to the point, if Rahner were alive, today, he probably would be writing about our current financial crisis, and encouraging us to enter the depths of our souls in order to experience the nearness of God. Somehow, in some way, God is there in what is upon us. We are dealing with a very special hidden closeness. It is in moments like these that we are also very much in touch, not only with God, but also with the deepest aspects of our own hearts.
As faith-filled people, we may find ourselves asking what we can do at a time like this. If nothing else, we are probably called to refrain from giving way to panic, and putting in its place a deep belief in the resilience of the human spirit. Resilience is something we are given as human beings. It becomes especially powerful where people join together under the aegis of the Spirit. In this, we can pray that God will raise up and inspire those who have special gifts in solving issues like this.
Lastly, we can ask God to deepen our own trust in the promises of God, and to give us a tranquility of heart and spirit. As the familiar song goes, we are to hold our heads up high and not be afraid of the storm.
Sister Mary Jo Loebig, O.C.D
July 2008
One Step At A Time
I have always been impressed with St. Teresa of Avila's ability to find hidden messages in so many of our daily happenings. Margaret Dorgan, in St. Teresa of Avila: A Guide for Travel Inward , points out that Teresa is a guide for the heights, the lowlands, and the plateaus, and those days when we have grown weary of the task before us. Sometimes, when life is difficult, I like to think that something new and good is about to happen. More and more, I sense that life is set up to be like this. Possibly, this is the way God takes us from one place to the other.
In addition to the dark moments being the entrance to something new, they also tell us, with unusual discovery, who we are. One of my favorite stories is that told by author, Elizabeth Johnson, as part of a series of tapes. She tells the story of a certain primary-grade teacher. Although this person was a good teacher, and very gifted and skilled in dealing with young children, she was also quite shy and noticeably reserved.
This teacher's classroom happened to be right across from the principal's office. One day, when the principal knew she would be away from her office for some time, she asked this teacher to answer any phone calls that might come in.
No sooner had the principal left the building when a fire broke out in the school. Quickly, the teacher called the fire department and got on the P.A. system, telling the
teachers and students where they should go, and how long they should remain there. The whole incident took place without any type of major upset. All of this was a surprise to the other teachers, and probably a surprise to the teacher herself .
St. Teresa goes on to share her thoughts on what one should do when one feels that he or she barely has energy to take another step. We should put fear aside and take that step. Paradoxically, this one step carries with it much power. At this point, God steps in. Many times, we are called to act so that God can act.
Sister Mary Jo Loebig, O.C.D