Sr Kym Harris – Page 15 – Benedictine Monastery

July 16, 2020

Mary MacKillop’s Courage

I often wonder how courage works. Because I so often feel like a coward, I marvel at people who can take physical risks or travel through dangerous countries alone. Too many “what if” scenarios would paralyse me. Yet when I look at the life of Mary MacKillop, I see a different courage in which all of us can share. In fact, many people we know live that type of courage on a daily basis.

All of us have dreams and ideals but life has a way of knocking off not only the shine off our dreams but even of dragging them through the dirt. Then we are tempted to give up. Courage is not just keeping our dreams but also adapting them to the new circumstances. Mary had that courage. Through rejection by her Church, problems within her own community, tragedy in her family, illness in her life, she carried on with her belief that simple, good education into the love of God and basic skills could transform the life of the poor. By the time she died, she and her sisters had become a force for transformation across two countries.

Most peoples’ dreams revolve around love and making life better for the people they love. Yet the circumstances of daily life seem to work against our ability to love. Illness, unemployment or too much work, the stresses of caring for different people or troublesome neighbours can undermine the buoyancy of our hearts. It is then we need the courage of a Mary MacKillop which faces these cares squarely and continues the dream of love.

Ever-loving God, your Holy Spirit inspires the dreams deep in my heart, especially the ones to love deeply my family. May Mary MacKillop’s example inspire me us into the ways of faithful love, especially when life gets tough. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 16, 2020

Christmas Presence

For most people, Christmas present buying is underway, so this is good time to reflect on what giving presents means, as most of us are not getting things we really need. I was told recently about a family that has a wonderful ritual for opening their Christmas presents. When all are present, each present is opened, one by one. First, the card with its message of love is read, then each gift is unwrapped and admired by all. It takes hours to get through all the presents, but each one knows what everyone got, from whom, and especially the message of love that came with each gift.

We are now in the middle of the Church’s season of Advent and this is our religious way of taking time to enjoy the presence of Jesus in our midst. Over four weeks, we pray over the different longings and needs that Jesus will fulfil. Then we have Christmastide when we slowly unwrap what Jesus’ presence means. Our hearts are made for deep love: what we all really need is loving presence. This has been and is given to us in the person of Jesus…and we give it to and from each other. May your presents this year convey this presence!

Loving Father, you have given us the present of your love in the person of Jesus. Send us your Spirit to awaken our hearts to his love deep within our being and may we show his love to all. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that your will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris, osb

July 16, 2020July 16, 2020

Why Bother with Christmas

Why bother with Christmas?

In the coming weeks we will be inundated with many stories and images of families celebrating a glorious, joyful Christmas with amazing food and beautiful houses. I feel uneasy. No, it isn’t the exquisite decorations or the wonderful menus that made me uneasy. It was the image of happy families coming together with peace, harmony and joy. I wish all people well for whom this reflects their experience of Christmas. But for many families Christmas it is not like that. Christmas is a minefield where they try to make peace and harmony through many and various challenges. Estrangements, addictions, mental illness, grief from deaths through the past year are just some of the major hurdles that have to be faced. Then add the ‘lesser challenges’ of over-excited children, too much food, too much alcohol (leading to free and frank discussion) and one sometimes wonders why we bother?

We bother because that is the meaning of Christmas. When Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph did not provide the ideal conditions, – life was beyond their control – but they did the best they could. Those who worshipped, shepherds and foreigners, were despised outsiders, and the threat of violence was in the air. That is the world God chose to be born in – a world like ours with its mess, muddle and pain. God is comfortable there; God knows how to handle it. So when we feel overwhelmed, let us turn to God and pray: ‘Be born in us this day.’ Be born in our mess muddle and pain. Be born in our challenging relationships. And if everything isn’t ‘happy families’ we can still know that God is with us – Immanuel. Come Lord Jesus, be born in us this day.

Loving God, you sent your son Jesus into our midst, experiencing the pain and challenges that we have to face. Knowing him to be our brother may we turn to him this Christmas when our cares overwhelm us. We ask this in his name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 16, 2020

A Time to Give…

A time to give…a time to receive.

In Japan, the custom when receiving another person’s business card is to take it in both hands and bow to the person giving. It is almost a religious act. There is a lesson here for us in how to receive the gifts we shall receive in the coming weeks. We put plenty of thought, energy, expense and even time in getting and sending our gifts. How much effort do we put into receiving them? Gifts are symbols of our relationship. Gifts received graciously are gifts given more than twice over. And sometimes it takes some effort and ingenuity to receive well. It is possible the gift we receive is not something we want. It is possible that we have doubts about the person’s motive. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have the opportunity to make something rich and precious out of the situation. This takes thoughtfulness, sensitivity and a buoyancy of spirit on our part.

And so it is with God. God is giving to us all the time. If we feel God is remote from our lives, perhaps it is because we haven’t been truly receiving the gifts we are being given. Oh, we get them alright but we have to receive them into our lives into our hearts. If we just turn to God when we are in ‘need’, our relationship with God will be pretty unsatisfactory, as are all relationships just based on need. Actively receiving and being grateful for what we receive both from God and from family and friends can enrich and deepen our relationships and our lives. May this Christmas be glorious for you in giving and receiving and may the presents you give and receive be signs of deep and bonding love.

Loving God, may we find joy giving and receiving gifts this Christmas. As we celebrate the gift of your Son, Jesus, may we become present to each other as we give and receive. We ask this in his name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 16, 2020

Compassion for Christmas

Compassion for Christmas.

Christmas is coming and the pressure is on…for us to come up with the perfect gift, meal, gesture and yes indeed, the perfect family. That’s what the ads are telling us…in your dreams, or rather your delusions. Let’s be honest, Christmas is a minefield that challenges us in so many different ways: money (or lack of), cooking skills (ditto) and let’s not get started on the difficult family members. Maybe we are even that person! So let’s step away from the false ideals and delusions and consider what Jesus came to offer us and what we and others really need: compassion. Jesus came to give us the compassion of God and as we receive it, so we are to share.

The St Vincent de Paul Society has launched their Christmas appeal, which you will hear about from your child/ren and from the school. Here we are called to help those who are obviously less well of than ourselves. This is a good place to begin, and what we give will make a difference in ways we may never know.

But we don’t stop there. Give compassion to your family and friends. Nobody ‘needs’ fancy gifts or expensive food, but we all hunger for a thoughtful gesture and to be served with love. If we start our Christmas preparations with compassion, with feeling for others, we begin a revolution in how we celebrate. Out go the unreal expectations that make us feel inadequate and depressed. In comes tenderness. If God loved the world, in all its weakness and failure, so much that he gave us Jesus, maybe this Christmas we can cut ourselves a little slack and be compassionate to all…ourselves included.

Loving Father, you sent Jesus to show your compassion to all. May I know his love with me, and as I begin my Christmas preparations, may compassion be the guiding light in all that I do for my family and friends. I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 16, 2020

Authority Issues

Authority Issues.

Authority issues! We all have them and a lot of them come to the fore when we begin to parent. Even before the first ‘No!’ of the first child, we are confronted with the enormous challenge of how to be an authority to our precious children. This coming Sunday we celebrate the feast of Christ the King, which is a celebration of Christ’s authority. The way Jesus exercised authority is a good lesson in parenting.

Firstly, he is God-with-us. He came down very close to us. He was not a distant authority but one who has lived in our flesh and known our experience. ‘Being there’ is the first skill of parenting. Time is the most important gift we can give and it should be given generously. But sometimes it can’t. Work, illness, separation are not excuses for not being there but challenges to find other creative ways. Letters, cards, phone calls can make us present when physical presence is not possible.

Secondly, Jesus sets clear principles on behaviour. We all know the ‘Golden Rule’, that we should be compassionate, forgiving etc. Jesus does not love us and let us do what we like. We need to love like Jesus, setting clear principles that will allow our children to grow into their best selves with behaviour that makes them fully human, fully alive.

Thirdly, he sets the example. What behaviour Jesus wants us to do, he himself did first. You example is your strongest parenting.

Finally, Jesus loves us no matter what we do. He may not like or approve of our actions but still he loves. So it is with our children. We love not for what they can give us or do back for us, we love because we are created in God’s image…as they are, too.

Loving God, you author us into life. Send us your Spirit that, in following Jesus’ example, we may give loving authority to our children. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 16, 2020

And what happens when someone dies?

“And what happens when someone dies?”

Coming from a child, that is a question parents and teachers dread. Death is a mystery that we all struggle with and when a child asks it, we struggle even more. How can we answer honestly something for which there are no easy answers or pat evasions? Added to that, we are often ambushed by this question when we are dealing with the death of someone that we love.

For a Christian, the mystery of death is closely entwined with that other great mystery of life: God. Death and God! No wonder we get tongue-tied when a child blurts out the above question. And to make it even tougher, ultimately the answer to this question can only be answered in very personal terms…so I’ll share my answer with you.

Created in God’s own image, we are made for the fullness of love but while we are alive, here in this world, we experience limitations in our loving: time, space, our physical bodies, weakness in personality, our sinfulness. When we die we are released from these and given the opportunity to choose God, love and life in its fullness. Those we leave behind on earth suffer the loss of us…for a time. But the ones who have died are actually free to love us more than they could while on earth. Because of that, I often turn and pray to the people who loved me on earth: my parents, grandparents, and friends. Whatever might have limited their love on earth is now cut away and they love me with God’s own love.

In the Catholic Church, November is a time when we remember the dead. We remember them in prayer, knowing that they continue to love and care for us, with us all waiting for the day when we will be reunited in God’s glory.

Loving God, we grieve over those we love who have died. Hold us all together in your love that we may look forward to the day we will be reunited in the fullness of life. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 16, 2020

Held in Love

November is a time when Catholics traditionally pray for their dead. This is not an invitation into doom, gloom and ghoulishness but rather a celebration of love that truly is stronger than death. With death we are separated from our loved ones for a time. We know little of what happens to them except that they enter more deeply into the love of God. We believe that they continue to grow into the fullness of God’s love and that by our love and prayer we can help their transformation. We also know that they continue to care for us. While their loving here on earth was hampered by limitations, now that they are freed from the difficulties of this earth, they can love us more passionately than ever. I believe that the love of my parents and grandparents is now more true and stronger that ever and that they have a real influence in my life. Our loved ones pray for us and hold us before the face of God.

This dance of love that we have with our loved ones is part of what it means to be Church. As we hold each other in love, those we know on earth and those who have died, and as we are held in love by them, we enter into our destiny. Made in the image of God, we are made to be Love.

Loving God, your Spirit calls us to the fullness of life which is love. May our departed loved ones know Jesus as the one leading them to life and may we know the assurance of their deepening love for us. We ask this in his name, confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 16, 2020

What Type of Saint would you make?

What type of Saint would you make?

Before you laugh, no wait till you finish laughing and then think. If the person you imagined yourself to be seems staid or boring, stop and wonder why. We tend to think that being good closes us down and makes us dull. But what happens to you when someone loves you deeply and passionately? Looks out for your best interests? Encourages you to be the best person you can be? You certainly don’t become boring. You become your best, brightest and most loving self.

‘Think of the love that God has lavished on us.’ That is the essence of our Christian faith. Saints are people who live their lives believing that to be true. They live lives lavished in love. Basing their lives on God’s love for them, they can be loving to the unlovable and do things others deem difficult or impossible. In other words, they live their lives dancing to the music of God’s love.

This week the Church celebrates the Feast of All Saints, all the wonderful people who have lived their lives by love. Let us celebrate these great ‘lovers’ we have known and try to live by them. As we face challenging situations, we can think, ‘I am lavished by God’s love’ and let that love inspire us to do things differently. When we feel fear, we can say to ourselves, ‘I am wrapt in God’s love,’ and step out across our fears. When we feel dull and boring, we can imagine how God wants us to be lavished in divine love.

Loving God, you lavish me with your love. Let me rest in that love, be inspired by that love and then show that love to those around me, especially my family. Let me become the saint you want me to be.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 16, 2020

You… a Saint in the Making

You….a saint in the making.

This Friday, we celebrate one of the most important feasts in the Church’s year – the Feast of All Saints. We remember all the holy people who have existed – especially those whose holiness was never recognised publicly. Think of the good, generous people whom you have known who have died. This is the day to celebrate their holiness. There have been all sorts of saints – gentle and calm people, outgoing and vivacious people, quiet followers and outstanding leaders. There have also been cranky people who mellowed and outrageous sinners who repented. They followed all sorts of careers – mothers, fathers, sailors, nurses and possibly some careers we wouldn’t recommend to our children! Each had a unique personality, a distinctive story.

As you celebrate the saints you have known, you can be inspired to own the type of saint you could be. With your unique personality, you too can reflect the glory of God’s love to those around you. What is it that you do well that you can offer in love? Some show love by listening, others by cracking a joke, some show love by being there, others by working hard. We can’t do everything but we can embrace the person God has made us to be and offer that in love. No matter how small we may think our gifts are, when we use them with love, they become great in the eyes of God. When each of us, does his or her part, we become a loving community glorifying God with joy.

Loving Father, your Spirit draws us together into a family of love. With the help of Jesus our brother may we truly embrace the gifts you have given us and show your love to the world in the way we use them. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb