Reflection for Friday, December 22, 2017

Friday of the Third Week of Advent
1 SM 1:24-28
1 SAMUEL 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8ABCD
LK 1:46-56

     This time of year fills my heart and mind with so many emotions and memories.  Some of these stir feelings which create an inner struggle.  Seeing the heightened commercialism everywhere you turn, beginning with “Black Friday” and all the way through the post Christmas sales can be draining.  How has this season become so lost and how do we personally navigate these days to recognize the spirit of the season? 

     I try to begin each day with thoughts of appreciation for everything I have in my life.  I recall a friend sharing her personal thoughts of finding gratitude, even during difficult times.  She said, “I thank God for everything He has given me, everything He has taken away, and everything He has left me with.”  These compelling words are great reminders this time of year and are consistent with today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke where Mary proclaimed, “the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.”  I too can declare the same statement with my life.

     When Mary conveys, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior,” I am reminded of when I feel the most connected spiritually; when I am praying for God’s will for me and listening for the direction to carry out that will.  My spirit rejoices inevitably when I am reaching out to those in marginalized communities.  I do not do this not only to offer hope and express love for them but also in an effort to learn.  It is in others I see God as Pope Francis has shared, “Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God.” 

     I am reminded of a time when my daughter was nine and she helped me with our Angel Tree program at work.  Every year, a local community center of children who are in various levels of need are welcomed to our campus.  There are many fun-filled activities and the little children receive a visit from Santa and receive a few gifts as well.  My daughter helped serve food, help the little kids write thank you letters to their “Angels” and even cleaned up after the event.  As we got in our car to leave, she asked me in such a sweet voice, “Daddy, why does my heart feel funny?”  I asked her to explain further and she said “It feels warm and fuzzy” and continued to share how she believed it was because of the event.  I simply told her, with my eyes filling with tears, “You get that feeling when helping others and not expecting anything in return.” 

     I hope we all create some time to “rejoice” this season by extending our time and hearts to others. 

Pete Garvin is an officer in the Department of Public Safety.

Reflection for Thursday, December 21, 2017

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
SG 2:8-14
ZEP 3:14-18A
PS 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21
LK 1:39-45

Reflection for Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
IS 7:10-14
PS 24:1-2, 3-4AB, 5-6
LK 1:26-38

As I reflected on the readings, I found myself overwhelmed as I can imagine Mary feeling overwhelmed with the words from the angel Gabriel that was sent by God in the Gospel LK 1:26-1:38, the announcement of the Birth of Jesus.  To imagine this moment in Mary’s life where she learns that she will be the Mother of the Son of God – this is an awesome gift and an awesome responsibility.  She was selected to receive this gift from God – a pure and simple gift from God.  Mary humbly accepts this gift (1:38) before the angel departs from her.  How can we learn from Mary’s willingness to serve God humbly and without fear?

To imagine times where you may be overwhelmed with a great responsibility that someone else gives you, even if they have faith in you for this responsibility.  Are there times where we feel unworthy of a “gift”?  Unworthy of someone’s belief in us?  The readings had me reflect on faith – faith in one’s self and faith in God.  I think the season is a time for us to cherish these opportunities to find faith in yourself and finding God in others.  Many times, we get lost in our feelings of not being good enough or worthy enough for what God presents to us – or we don’t recognize God’s presence in our life and the opportunities presented to us.  By strengthening our faith in ourselves, we strengthen our faith in God.  And by strengthening our faith in God, we strengthen our faith in ourselves.

I also think the announcement of the coming of Jesus, the Son of God, is a time for awareness and celebration – this is a time for joy and to be awed by the power of God through the gift he bestows upon Mary and all of us.  How can we find time to reflect on this “gift” during a busy Christmas season that sometimes is full of the material gifts?  My challenge for myself this year is to reflect on the presence of God in my life and how I will find opportunities to strengthen my faith even when I may feel overwhelmed or unworthy throughout the year.  I find my strength in Mary’s grace.

Susan M. Fanale

Director of Orientation

Saint Louis University

Reflection for Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
JGS 13:2-7, 24-25A
PS 71:3-4A, 5-6AB, 16-17
LK 1:5-25

The Danger of Asking Why?

The LCME remediation process for the medical school has been a complex, time-consuming process that has pushed many students, staff, and faculty to address the most basic elements of what we must do to more effectively deliver, document, evaluate, and continuously improve undergraduate medical education at SLU. While I firmly believe we will come out of this stronger as a school and a university, the remediation process has not always run smoothly. One of the early roadblocks to progress was our community’s obsession with the why: Why did this happen? Why was the report so severe? Why were programmatic problems at SLU not addressed? Why did our leaders respond the way they did? The why’s were paralyzing. Although we needed to understand why the areas of concern were cited by the LCME in order to address them, we needed to move beyond wondering why did this happen to us. We needed to accept that what is, is. We must address these issues. There are no alternatives.

Our biblical characters—and our biblical authors—had an opportunity to asked lots of why’s in our readings today. Two couples who were stigmatized for their infertility were visited by angels who told them they were to have sons who were already special in the eyes of the Lord. This was not a back-and-forth discussion; this was not a bargain or a debate. Samson’s mother, Manoah, accepted the news without asking very basic questions and then passed the announcement on to her husband. Even if some whys crept into the encounters, the authors of the texts didn’t include them in the stories. In fact, I find it interesting that these announcements are recorded at all, since they don’t add much to the storylines of the sons. But what they do add is the demonstration of the acceptance, the blessing, and the joy of the parents who were able to not only shed stigma, but gain sons who would change the course of their nation. They were startled with a responsibility they didn’t see coming, but they got on to the business of pregnancy and parenting.

I’m not suggesting we blunt our intellectual curiosity or we stop seeking root causes for areas of improvement in ourselves and our communities. But whys can be dangerous if our questions become barriers to doing. We should ask ourselves how many whys are truly helpful if and when they delay us from work that must be done. Questioning should lead to action, not hand-wringing. There are times for questions and times for work. Gustavo Gutierrez may have been commenting on this when he ordered his day--What Hegel said about philosophy can be said of theology: It rises only at sundown.

Fred Rottnek is Professor and Director of Community Medicine in the School of Medicine.

Reflection for Monday, December 18, 2017

Monday of the Third Week of Advent
JER 23:5-8
PS 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19
MT 1:18-25

Reflection for Sunday, December 17, 2017

Third Sunday of Advent
IS 61:1-2A, 10-11
LK 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
1 THES 5:16-24
JN 1:6-8, 19-28

On Thursday of this past week, in Matthew's gospel Jesus tells the crowd that John the Baptist is Elijah, "the one who is to come," but in today's reading from John's gospel, John the Baptist says that he is not Elijah but he does reiterate the text from Isaiah that we read last Sunday, but with a twist - Isaiah says, "A voice cries out, 'In the desert make straight the way of the Lord,'" but John modifies it slightly: "A voice cries out in the desert 'Make straight the way of the Lord.'" Do you see the difference? In Isaiah, the way of the Lord is being made straight in the desert, whereas in John, the one doing the crying out is in the desert - i.e., John the Baptist.

Similarly, the first reading from Isaiah 61 shows back up in the Alleluia verse - "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed [mashiach, christos] me to bring glad tidings [good news, euangelion, gospel] to the poor." If this verse looks familiar, it is because this is how Jesus introduces his "mission statement," if you will, when he goes to the synagogue in Nazareth after his baptism and testing in the desert. What does it mean to be Son of God, as the tempter asked him for 40 days? To proclaim good news and to heal people of what is tearing their lives down.

What is the point of making these connections? First, that the early Christians understood themselves as inheritors of an incredibly rich tradition in the Old Testament which we as contemporary Christians rarely appreciate. Teaching introductory theology classes, I know I see all too often that Christian students have next to no familiarity with the Biblical tradition, particularly the Old Testament. But beyond simply lamenting the lack of appreciation of the connections that the lectionary makes for us, the readings point out to us that our expectation then as now is for good news - not just fewer negative headlines every day (although, yes please) but THE good news - the hope of a world made new through God in Jesus.

Reflection for Saturday, December 16, 2017

Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
SIR 48:1-4, 9-11
PS 80:2AC AND 3B, 15-16, 18-19
MT 17:9A, 10-13

Reflection for Friday, December 15, 2017

Friday of the Second Week of Advent
IS 48:17-19
PS 1:1-2, 3, 4, AND 6
MT 11:16-19

Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;

[Isaiah 48:17-18]

                As a mother to two young boys, I often find myself banging my head against a wall (figuratively and sometimes literally) when it comes to the number of times I say no: “Ben, no, don’t grab your brother’s neck like that…. Jason, no, toilets are not toys.” Of course, I try to direct their behavior because they are two and four years old – they do not yet have the capacity to fully understand their actions and both the immediate and long term consequences of them. So for their safety and ultimate happiness, I find myself laying out a list of commands quite frequently when I would much rather be cuddling or playing with them.

                Every once in a while, I stop and reflect – this must be how God is with me sometimes (ok, much of the time). I imagine God, my eternal parent, banging head and hands against the stars or the big pearly gates, saying like Isaiah in today’s first reading, “If she only listened to me, her prosperity would be like a river.” Often I think we forget that God would want nothing more than to envelope us in love, peace, and joy, an eternal cuddle so to speak. God’s commands are for our ultimate safety and happiness, rather than an annoying list of rules for judgement and punishment.

                During this season of Advent, whether or not you have children, I encourage you to take some time to imagine yourself as God’s child and reflect on how God wants nothing more than to love you and give you the best. However, this requires our cooperation and openness to God’s grace in the world and those around us. We may falter and fail, but God’s abundant love is still there in the meekness of a child on Christmas morning. Then end your reflection imagining yourself running to the open arms of God...stay there for a while and savor this unending, overwhelming love, allowing it to inspire you to be the best, most authentic version of yourself.

Erin Schmidt is the Liturgy Coordinator in Campus Ministry.

Reflection for Thursday, December 14, 2017

Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
IS 41:13-20
PS 145:1 AND 9, 10-11, 12-13AB
MT 11:11-15


The readings for the day are challenging ones that demand a little context to make sense of them. The first reading has a lot of big, even violent imagery of God reshaping the earth to provide for the needy and to reshape the desert into a habitable place. The picture on the left is a threshing sledge; made of a couple of boards studded with sharp rocks, it was dragged across harvested grain like wheat or barley to separate the grain from the inedible chaff and to cut the stalks so they could be given to animals to eat. The image of God doing that to the mountains is a pretty ferocious one - imagine God promising to bulldoze or steamroll the Rocky Mountains!

I remember driving through southern Arizona and California a few years back and seeing big water barrels set along the highway at regular intervals - they were there for people to keep their cars from overheating in the desert, because if your car died out there, you very well might die too. Imagine that, but minus the car. For people leaving exile in Babylon imagining the arduous journey of crossing the desert to go to Israel, a land most of them had never seen (the exile lasted 50-something years), smoothing out mountains into flat land and setting up water stations along the way in the desert must have sounded like a pretty great idea.

The reference to John the Baptist as Elijah is strange to us - do they think John was a reincarnation of Elijah or something like that? Well, sort of. The final book of the Bible, the book of the prophet Malachi, ends with this line:

"Now I am sending to you
Elijah the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day." (Mal 3:23)

To reference Elijah when speaking about John is to say that the day of the Lord is coming - a day of judgment and setting right the accounts with all God's friends and enemies. A violent image in most accounts - punishing the bad guys and rewarding the good guys. This brings us to this strange and highly disputed verse at MT 11:12 - "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force."

What does that even mean? An incredible amount of ink has been spilled trying to explain it into something that makes some sense - "Be forceful in opposing the devil!" "Strip yourself of anything that keeps you from doing right!" "Violent outside forces like the Pharisees and the Sadducees are coming to get us!" "Sinners and tax collectors are taking possession of the kingdom of heaven from under the Pharisees' noses!"

Up until now, including with John the Baptist, the coming of the day of the Lord has been a violent image - killing the bad guys - as has been the image of Messiah. Jesus occasionally uses judgment imagery (like in MT 25), but in plenty of other places he seems to dismantle the ongoing power games of the strong overpowering the weak - a game which is simply continued by making God into the strongest of the strong, imposing the divine will on others in the same way that the powerful on earth do over the weak. But while John preaches impending doom - the axe is at the root of the tree - clearly Jesus is not planning to kill a bunch of Romans. As much as Jesus imagines an end to the current state of affairs in his time, he also presents a version of Messiah which is not simply the biggest, baddest guy in the room. He is, in fact, one who transforms not through doing violence but through receiving, absorbing, and transforming it. Not only does the cross undo all those power fantasies, but so does the manger - the coming of the kingdom of heaven is not in bravado and majesty but in simplicity and poverty.

Reflection for Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
IS 40:25-31
PS 103:1-2, 3-4, 8 AND 10
MT 11:28-30

He gives strength to the fainting;
for the weak he makes vigor abound. (IS 40:29)

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. (MT 11:28)

I would love to believe that it is more than just serendipity that these readings fell on the first day of final exams. I have talked to a lot of people this week who could use some extra strength and even more people who are short on rest. Beyond just having a little extra push to make it through finals, these readings feel counterintuitive to me -- trying to challenge a culture that is so mired in violence and devaluation of human life invites getting a few bruises along the way.

Last week SLU lost a giant of our campus and our city. Dr. Norm White, a professor of criminal justice, passed away suddenly last Wednesday night. Not only was Norm much beloved by his colleagues and students, he was both deeply engaged in racial justice work in the city and internationally known as an expert on interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. Norm worked with a number of students to found the Overground Railroad to Literacy, which challenged SLU students to get out of the campus bubble and engage with students in public schools across the north half of the city. What began as tutoring for younger students has become both a real-world education for our students and an avenue for elbow-to-elbow work for justice with people whose circumstances have been saturated by poverty and racism. Norm was tireless in promoting better practices in classrooms for students who have grown up in deeply traumatic circumstances, hoping to reduce the school suspensions that leave students even more disadvantaged. Norm loved working at SLU because of the kind of students who are attracted to our Mission: students who are passionate about social problems and self-aware enough to know that one-off service days don't cut it. He loved that working at SLU gave him the resources and flexibility to be the kind of deeply engaged scholar that he felt called to be.

All of that looks to me like more work on our part, not less - but the readings don't suggest an end to the work, just the chance for rest. As we prepare to leave campus for the winter break, may we enjoy the rest that can enable us to continue doing the work of building the kingdom of God.