Sun Chat Epiphany

Sister Susan Marie: How can we do Jesus homage? How can we publicly give him special honor and respect? What kind of gifts can we give to Christ –– and by extension, to one another –– day in and day out? Are such displays of respect limited to cross-continental treks or exotic, once-in-a-lifetime treasures? –

This special Feast today is one we can celebrate on many levels. I understand it is Christmas today in the Eastern rites too

Jan 5 2014, 7:31 PM

Sister Susan Marie: Our homily today focused on the richness of the manifestation of Christ from the Kings, to the Baptism and BEYOND. GROWING UP I ONLY CELEBRATED THIS DAY AS THE MAGI’S VISIT

l: I read that too in the Liturgy of the Hours!

Sister Susan Marie: did it surprise you

l: It did; I have not thought of it in that way before but it is so true!

Sister Susan Marie: I find a deep parallel- Jesus manifests Himself and the Glory of God- and in return we pay Him homage and in many cases with great courage today in parts of the world

Guest294 (guest): My family celebrated Epiphany so it was a pretty important day for me as a child.

Sister Susan Marie: That’s interesting- how did you celebrate it?

Guest294 (guest): We exchanged our gifts. We also blessed our home.

l: How interesting!

Jan 5 2014, 7:35 PM

Sister Susan Marie: Oh! We had our homes blessed by the parish priest during that week- it was called Kolenda I think in Polish

l: Oh yes I have heard of that

Sister Susan Marie: The priest put the initials of the 3 Kings on our door and then blessed the apartment, every room

l: Do the priests still do that?

Jan 5 2014, 7:36 PM

Guest294 (guest): We did the same, but not with a priest. It was done as a family blessing.

Sister Susan Marie: I think in the Polish parishes they do.

Guest294 (guest): We still do that.

Jan 5 2014, 7:36 PM

Sister Susan Marie: We did it today in our Monastery- by ourselves. K witnessed it too

l: I didn’t grow up in a practicing Catholic household so this is new to me

Sister Susan Marie: We have a short prayer service and then the youngest member- in our case Sr Mary, stood on a stool and changed the date next to the Kings initials

Guest294 (guest): We actually use a sign now, not chalk. It is a beautiful reminder through the year of wishing peace on all who enter the house.

Sister Susan Marie: It might be a Franciscan-based custom- or maybe Eastern, I don’t know for sure

l: That would be a wonderful thing to do. Could I ask Christ to bless my home myself?

Sister Susan Marie: Beautiful! Do you make the sign?

Sister Susan Marie: Sure you could! I can scan the prayer service for you

Guest294 (guest): Yes, we do make the sign.

l: Oh yes please!

Sister Susan Marie: Better than chalk I would think!

Jan 5 2014, 7:38 PM

Guest294 (guest): Yeah, the chalk never lasted too long!

Sister Susan Marie: That was one way of giving Jesus homage in the home. I wonder how we can extend such outside the home

l: How about quietly blessing my work station>

Sister Susan Marie: Good idea!!

Guest294 (guest): I thought the sentence about not trying to prove how worthy we are but rather be accepting of the actions of God’s grace in our lives was very meaningful.

Jan 5 2014, 7:41 PM

Sister Susan Marie: I guess the problem today is in that word “quiet”. Witnessing is becoming somewhat more difficult

Sister Susan Marie: Yes that is a good point!

l: Yes I have to be a little careful at work

Sister Susan Marie: “Let us not be at all eager in our work, for, in order to do it well, we must apply ourselves to it carefully indeed, but calmly and peacefully, without trusting in our labor, but rather, relying on God and God’s grace.

Sister Susan Marie: That’s St Francis de Sales

l: On my corkboard though I have St. Francis De Sales prayer about not worrying

Jan 5 2014, 7:42 PM

Guest294 (guest): Also, treating each person with respect, one person and one experience at a time. Really trying to see Christ and be Christ to all we meet.

Sister Susan Marie: I like this idea too from the saint, ” One single good work, done with tranquil spirit, is worth far more than many done with anxious eagerness.”

l: Oh I like that!

Sister Susan Marie: Respecting each one CONTEMPLATIVELY, so to speak, one person at a time

Sister Susan Marie: It is a challenge at times to see Christ in a difficult person, say, so all the more we should stop, search our hearts and look deeply into the other’s

At: that is certainly a good lesson and hard sometimes too! ,

Guest294 (guest): I often find the person I find difficult is very much like me. It makes me uncomfortable!

Sister Susan Marie: That’s another good insight and true. Often we feel troubled by someone whose traits are like ours4,

Guest294 (guest): Maybe that’s why I have met that person, to learn from them?

l: That is so true to me too and I have heard that sometimes the thing that bothers you about the other person is in you also

Jan 5 2014, 7:46 PM

Sister Susan Marie: Hmm, yes and maybe to grow to love oneself more too

Sister Susan Marie: We need to remember Christ is in us too!

Sister Susan Marie: In fact the Epiphany gift we can give is exactly that- Christ within us seeing the Christ within another

l: That is truly a holy gift!

Sister Susan Marie: and if this is so “Paying homage to Jesus –– showing special respect and honor in public –– is measured less by grandiose feats and more by simple, ordinary actions performed with great attention and intention.” per Fr Murray

Sister Susan Marie: Then we need to pay respectful attention to one another!

l: I so agree with that

Sister Susan Marie: What prevents us tho, sometimes?

A: I think when I dont truly listen

Jan 5 2014, 7:51 PM

A: when i think of what i want to say while someone is talking

Guest294 (guest): I agree with A. Also speeding through life on my own agenda too often.

Sister Susan Marie: True, and paying half- attention, which amounts to the same thing?

l: Yes, I do that sometimes

Sister Susan Marie: Probably we are not respecting the other, or ourselves at those moments

A: I want to be there for someone but i also want to be heard

Sister Susan Marie: We are not being true to our own selves in not being attentive to another

l: Yes, I need to be more attentive to that in myself

A: and I think the people speaking will notice if we are really listening

Guest294 (guest): I also think we have, as a society, lost some of our ability to talk with someone who has an opinion different from our own. Too often, we are not even civil with each other as in our politics, even, sadly, with members of the church.

Sister Susan Marie: So a little mental symbol could be effective at those times, like thinking of the Magi and their gifts, or their paying homage to Jesus? Something to fasten our hearts and minds around

A: that is a good idea!

l: Try to imagine that who you are listening to is Christ. Would I interrupt Him?

Sister Susan Marie: Yes good!

Sister Susan Marie: Actually in prayer we probably do interrupt Him sometimes

l: Oh dear, you are so right!

A: wow L! That is pretty awesome

l I certainly need to work on it

A: haha who doesn’t

Sister Susan Marie: I think its easier to be respectful and attentive to another on their big day, such as a birthday or anniversary- that’s equivalent to the “big trek” of the Magi, but it is the day to day routine that catches us off guard

l: Yes, Sister, I find that in the chaos of work

Sister Susan Marie: We think everything depends on us alone when its all of us together that makes “work” work

l: Im not as attentive to my coworkers at times like I should be

A: L work is a difficult spot

Sister Susan Marie: Even the apostles had struggles with one another

l: It can sure be A so I should make an extra effort! :

Am: That’s the whole bit of community, voices in prayer together, forgetting the little vices and imperfections of each other

Jan 5 2014, 8:02 PM

l: I can imagine that at the monastery when you live with others 24/7; that could be difficult at times

Jan 5 2014, 8:03 PM

Sister Susan Marie: But what Am just said is true. The praying together heals the differences

Am I think that even St. Faustina had personal issues with another sister, I don’t remember the specifics

Jan 5 2014, 8:03 PM

Sister Susan Marie: When you gather five times a day in prayer with others your disposition has to shift

l: What do you do when you are personality issues with another Sister?

Sister Susan Marie: If it does not you need to address it with the person you have trouble with

A: i am interested in the prayer part…what if i prayed at work to help the situation? to myself of course

Guest294 (guest): I think it can be helpful to remember that we do have a choice in how we react to any situation, even though we often can’t control the situation itself.

l: Oh that’s a good idea, A

Sister Susan Marie: If addressing a specific issue does not work you have to accept the discomfit and then always try to find something positive to celebrate in that person. It is a challenge

Sister Susan Marie: Yes A, you can do that. And Guest 294 is right- one can only change one’s own response

l: Especially when you live in such close quarters with others

Sister Susan Marie: respond, not react, if you can

Jan 5 2014, 8:07 PM

Guest294 (guest): So is family life, Sister.

l: It’s only afterwards that I realize what I’ve done

Sister Susan Marie: Yes that’s so!!

Am: Community life is like a family

l: Yes, Am that is true!

Sister Susan Marie: The difference is that not all in a family may be spiritually attuned in a similar way while in religious community you have that base of commonality; but of course, not the familiarity of blood relations

Guest294 (guest): Relationships are hard work, in any life situation, I think.

l: I would imagine so

Am: When you are in your own cell or quarters, is that considered “private”?

Sister Susan Marie: Yes no one interferes with you there

Sister Susan Marie: We do not go into each other’s rooms

l: Why is that?

Jan 5 2014, 8:10 PM

Sister Susan Marie: It’s a true solitude in that regard

Jan 5 2014, 8:10 PM

Sister Susan Marie: That’s the rule!

A: And Sister you can go there for times other than sleep?

Sister Susan Marie: Oh yes- when you are not working or in chapel

Guest294 (guest): A question re: the 3 kings. I read recently that there was probably not actually 3, but rather they represent all who seek Christ. Does anyone have thoughts or insights on this?

Am: I heard also that the kings represent the acceptance of the Gentiles into the Church

l: I had not heard that either but it is an interesting thought

l: So no actual Magi?

Jan 5 2014, 8:13 PM

Sister Susan Marie: The Kings were not of the Chosen people

Sister Susan Marie: so they must be representing everyone else

Sister Susan Marie: According to different visionaries there were kings or perhaps magicians or magi but who knows for sure

Sister Susan Marie: I take the Bible the way its written

l: I do too

Sister Susan Marie: But I know Fr Ray Brown might have had a different scholarly understanding

Am: Me too

15 PM

A: i do too but some of it symbolic like Genesis when God made the world

l: I’m certainly not a scholar so it certainly could be

Sister Susan Marie: But to follow up that point- how do the Magi represent us?

A: we try to give the Lord our best. our gifts.

Jan 5 2014, 8:17 PM

Am: I think like the Magi, we have seen the star of Christ and we are searching for Him

l: We, too, must bring the best we have to Christ

Jan 5 2014, 8:17 PM

Sister Susan Marie: That’s the point. Too bad the guest left!

l: I like that Am

J: Like the magi, we are on a pilgrimage to the Lord, only with us the pilgrimage is life long

Sister Susan Marie: Yes that’s a good point!

l: Great J!

Am: Until we finally see His face

J: And instead of Bethlehem our destination is Heaven

Sister Susan Marie: Is the star the Church or Our Lord Himself, following your train of thought?

J: great sister…the Church for sure I would say..our guide

Jan 5 2014, 8:21 PM

Am: The Church is the beacon so we don’t stray

Sister Susan Marie: And Herod- all the opposition we encounter- persecutions too

J: crossing all the hills and valleys

Jan 5 2014, 8:24 PM

l: Interesting!

Sister Susan Marie: A communal meditation- this is!

lYes!

Sister Susan Marie: Listening to that inner voice in the journey- the warnings the Kings had not to return to Jerusalem

A: i’m not so sure! i think its Jesus

Jan 5 2014, 8:26 PM

J: Yes staying on the narrow path

l: It’s easy to second quess what you are feeling

Sister Susan Marie: What is the gold, frankincense and myrhh of our lives?

l: A lot for me to think about this next week. I must go now but, Sister, I would like to talk to you sometime this week if possible. Email is fine. Is that ok?

Sister Susan Marie: Sure- it’s fine. Look forward to hearing from you. And I will send the prayer

Sister Susan Marie: Blessed Octave of Epiphany

Sister Susan Marie: Hmn, J, that’s possible- let’s see, faith as gold?

A: the gold is our best. Frankincense prayer rising and ?

Jan 5 2014, 8:30 PM

Am: myrhh, all of our sadness and disappointments

A: Myrhh- used at death, putting to death our sins

Jan 5 2014, 8:30 PM

Sister Susan Marie: We offer all this back to the Lord

J: not sure there is a direct correlation, just gifts we can offer

Am: Yes, it’s back to surrender

Jan 5 2014, 8:31 PM

Sister Susan Marie: The mystery remains in our lives as we pilgrimage as we don’t know really what happened to those Kings after they took a different route home

Sister Susan Marie: OK Good night! and stay in touch!

A: i really learned a lot tonight! Thank you!

Jan 5 2014, 8:32 PM

Sister Susan Marie: Yes it was great. Thanks all!  Good meditation!