Sr Kym Harris – Page 8 – Benedictine Monastery

July 23, 2020

Held in God’s 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 father and grandparents is now more true and strong 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

July 23, 2020

What type of saint could you be?

Next week 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. They have followed all sorts careers – mothers, fathers, sailors, nurses. Each had their own unique personality, each their own way of life.

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 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 becomes 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

July 23, 2020

How to make a fool of yourself…and do it right.

If you are like me, and most of the human race, you dread making a fool of yourself. But we never learn anything and we never grow till we are prepared to look stupid…at least for a short time. The Gospel story of next Sunday has a fine story about this. Zacchaeus was a leading tax collector who had become rich oppressing his fellow Jews while collaborating with the Roman enemy. You can be sure he was hated by those around him. When Jesus came to visit his town Zacchaeus was too short to see but he really wanted to see Jesus. So he went out on a limb literally, he climbed a tree. He was prepared to look like a dork to get what he wanted. No doubt the people around saw this as the chance to ridicule him. But Jesus didn’t – he looked into Zacchaeus’ heart and saw the opportunity for growth and change. Zacchaeus was so moved by Jesus’ kindness that he became a changed man. He even offered to pay back everyone he had cheated four times over and give half his possessions to the poor!

We all have times when we are fearful of stepping out and doing something different. Maybe it is going back to church, or going for the first time. Maybe it is the first AA meeting. Maybe it is going to TAFE or Uni or taking anger management classes. To get over our fear, we need to keep our eyes on our goal, and know that God is with us in such situations Talk to God and ask for God’s love and grace to strengthen you as you step out into the unknown.

Loving God, your Spirit moves within us calling us to grow but our fears can often overwhelm us. May the presence of Jesus give us the courage to take new steps to grow in life and love. We ask this in his name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris

July 23, 2020

Joy in Goodness

Joy in Goodness.

In the past week, two very different events have given much joy: the canonization of Mary MacKillop and the rescue of the Chilean miners. While they are unrelated, both show us how much joy goodness can bring, even goodness that may not directly involve us. Across Australia, the story of Mary MacKillop has been repeatedly told. While the media has mentioned the work she did for the poor, it often focused on the unjust treatment Mary experienced and acknowledged how she treated well those who treated her badly. When given lemons, she made lemonade and then shared it around. By treating all well, she began a chain of goodness that continues to this day.

With the Chilean miners, we saw a marvellous rescue effort that had people of different nations, giving their expertise to the local rescue workers. Working together, they did something that hardly seemed possible. And what a rush of joy went around the world!

Goodness brings joy. We may not be saints and we may not be able to do dramatic rescues but we can be a source of joy to our family and to our communities. The kind word, the generous act set off a chain of happiness. Try each day to praise someone outside of your usual circle, try to do an act of kindness to one who cannot pay you back. When we do such things we are like God, delighting in doing good.

Loving God, you delight in your creation and you want us to be good like you. Send us your Spirit of Joy that we may give to the world the love you showed in your Son, Jesus. We ask this in his name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris

July 23, 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 not only knocking 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, it is the dream of your Holy Spirit that you have placed deep in our hearts. You call us to show to each other the love of Jesus. May Mary MacKillop’s example inspire us into the ways of love. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris

July 23, 2020

Mary MacKillop’s Kindness

It is easy to be kind to people who treat us well. When we are given respect, respect flows naturally out of us. The real challenge for a Christian is to love like God loves, freely, respectfully, kindly. It was this divine love flowing out of Mary MacKillop that showed her to be a saint. Along with the kindness she showed in her service of the poor she was remarkably kind to those who treated her badly. When lied about, abused, treated with contempt, she always replied kindly trying to find excuses for people who acted badly.

This did not mean she was a pushover. Often when we are treated badly, we react badly in return, or we just swallow it down, feeling powerless to stand up to the injustice. Mary acted differently. When treated badly by a person, she tried to put the best motives on their actions, and then she acted creatively to counter the wrong being done. Note not the wrong being done to herself but rather to her sisters and their work for the poor. She was able to love the sinner but hate the sin. This takes wisdom – the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. It is a wisdom each of us needs and one for which we should often pray. Take some time this week to think of unjust situations in your life and, praying to Mary MacKillop, ask for guidance in how you can be kind and strong and creative in your response.

Sr Kym Harris

July 23, 2020

All for one and one for all.

A priest once told the boys of a large country college Jesus’ parable of the Good Shepherd. Many of the boys came off sheep stations. They were to imagine a little sheep lost out in the scrub, and then were asked, what would your father do? From the back of the room came the answer. Let it die. Of course he would. Why would he risk himself and his horse and waste his time on a stupid sheep. That is the scenario that Jesus set up in his story: what shepherd among you would not leave 99 sheep on the mountain and go after the missing one? None. A sane farmer sacrifices the individual to the group.

But that is not how God works, how Jesus works, how many parents work. The Gospel teaches us that each of us is precious and no matter what challenges a person presents each of us is worth the trouble. For parents, especially those who have aging or ill parents, trying to met the needs of everyone in the family is a difficult juggling act. Feeling overwhelmed, tired, inadequate is such situations is normal. Being misunderstood is normal. But we cannot do it alone. We need support and care ourselves. The best care of an individual comes from a group of caring persons. As parents and as a school we need to look out for each other and even join or form community groups that support those in need

Loving God, you give us the image of the Good Shepherd searching the windswept mountain for the lost one. Send us your loving Sprit that we may follow Jesus in his care for each one. Give us wisdom that we may support each other in their caring roles. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.

July 23, 2020

Generosity

In the movie “Play it Forward”, a young boy, Trevor, reverses the usual order on giving. When he gives to people he doesn’t want them to pay him back but rather to give his generosity ‘forward’ to three other people, who, in turn, are to give forward generously. The idea challenges our assumptions on generosity. Too often we have some type of account system going on in our heads when we give: “I did that for him last week, so now he should…”, “I gave her that for her birthday and she didn’t thank me properly…” and then “Do they deserve it?” Well, if they deserved it, it wouldn’t be generosity on our part but justice.

It can be a tough old world and Trevor’s idea hits a few bumps but ultimately it transforms people’s lives. Even though he is ‘only a kid’, and one from a difficult, poor situation, he leads a rich life. Each of us know people in our community who, giving freely of themselves, have open hearts and full lives. Even if they have no things to give, they share a kind word and a smile. They are often very cluey to what games other people may be playing but they don’t let that stop their generosity. And they are good to be with – of course they are, they are like God.

In this coming week, think about a few of these generous hearted people that you know and point them out to your children. Let them know how such people are esteemed and loved. They are amongst the best role models you can give them.

Loving God, your generosity surrounds us all our days. May your Spirit transform our hearts that we may give as Jesus did – from a full and generous heart. We ask this in his name, confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris

July 23, 2020

Salvation anyone?

Catholics, as well as a number of other Christian groups, rabbit on about salvation. We want to be saved! But what do I need to be saved from? I, like most people reading this, am not an axe murderer. I have committed no serious crimes. On the whole, I think I am a reasonably polite person, who does various acts of kindness and even occasionally takes the shopping trolley back to the right place. Underneath this sense of well-being I recognise that if sufficiently provoked, if sufficiently stressed, I may do something heinous. But I doubt that this is going to happen anytime soon.

And it is from this attitude that I need to be saved. There are people who need to be saved from serious sins and disorders that only the help of a higher power, to use the term of AA, can give. But people, like me, need to be saved from complacent goodness. The problem with complacent goodness is that it really isn’t good. It is like living on a diet of jelly beans and ice-cream, forever sitting in front of the TV. If we think goodness is niceness with cleanliness added, we don’t know what goodness is.

Goodness means being like God and that is open and loving to all people. Being good takes discipline and work. It is like eating a healthy diet and exercising hard. It takes us beyond ourselves into another realm of being. Here’s an exercise for bringing goodness into your life. Think of someone you seriously don’t like. Now list 10 good points about them, well, alright 5. Now imagine having a conversation with them, where you can affirm their good points and raise the areas where you disagree with them. For me, to be able to do that would take the grace of God. When I can do it, I will have been saved. Till then, I’ll keep praying for grace of God’s salvation.

Loving God, you offer to all people the gift of salvation.. Send us the wisdom of your Spirit that we may follow Jesus’ call to the fullness of life – love of you and each other. We ask this in his name, confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris

July 23, 2020

Mary, mother of Jesus and our mother.

Mary, the mother of Jesus holds a special place in our Catholic faith. We have a number of holydays and special prayers in her honour. The Rosary has been and is a precious way of prayer for many. So what is so special about Mary?

A quick glance at her life shows us that she gave birth to her son in poverty – many have done that. She fled as a refugee – many have done that. She lived in a village with petty gossip – many have done that. She wondered what her son was doing with his life – many have done that. She watched him die a horrible death – many have done that. Through all the events of her life, both good and bad, she believed that God’s love was at work. She lived by faith, as we do. Whatever challenges and sufferings came her way, even if she didn’t understand, she believed that God’s love could bring goodness and holiness out of the situation.

Because she was faithful to God in all these situations, we feel that she understands the difficulties of our lives and that she cares for us as she cared for her son, Jesus. In her all-embracing motherly love, we can see the love of God for us. Not only is she a model of faith, she comes close to us and shepherds us with the love of God.

Loving God, we praise and thank you for giving us such a model of faith in Mary, the mother of Jesus. As Mary was guided by your Spirit may she in turn give us your wisdom and love, especially in the dark days of suffering and confusion. We ask this in Jesus name, confident that you will hear us.