Last week, as I was emailing members of our Circle with the date and time we would be meeting, I said, “The good news was that our Circle membership was staying the same. We will all be returning to our same Circle this year.” As soon as I sent it out, I realized that Pius (Sr. Pius Fagan, RIP) would be missing from our Circle this time.
Many Circles would have missing members, rooms now have new residents, seats in the chapel and the dining room have different faces, and many family gatherings this year are missing loved ones.
But because we walk in faith, we know, and possibly have experienced, them still present with us. Edward Hays, in his book of prayers, writes,
"Those we have greatly loved do not say good-bye - instead, they leave us with a solemn promise - that they will continue to be present to us whenever they are called upon...for in the Tree of Life their roots and ours are forever intertwined."
Wherever they are, today's first reading from Deuteronomy describes this place as a "land flowing with milk and honey."
Irish Saint Bridget describes it as a lake of beer. Each of these Sisters and Associates may describe their lake as flowing with Pepsi, Merlot, Chardonnay, or Dr Pepper. Because each one is individual, created as a unique image of God.
Some of you probably read Timothy Radcliffe's meditations preached recently at the synod. He speaks about 3 seekers in the garden on the morning of Jesus' resurrection. Mary Magdalene, John the Beloved Disciple, and Simon Peter. He says that each one searches for the Lord in his or her own way; each has their own way of loving and each their own emptiness. Each of these seekers has their own role in the dawning of hope.
But I believe that all of these women, even in their uniqueness, shared something in common. It must have been that deep love described in the first reading and the gospel of today's Mass. They all shared that deep love of God that filled their hearts, souls, minds, and strength.
Don't you think that each of these women expressed their love of God in their own unique way, in how they prayed and worshipped? Their relationship with God differed for each of them. But their love for God was so strong that it kept them shining as Sparkills for years.
Most importantly, it filled their hearts, minds, and souls so much that it overflowed into their love of their neighbor. Again, each in such beautiful and varied ways—teaching, pastoral care, ministries of healing, administration, and prayer.
I didn't really know all of these women well, but each of them has one of you thinking about them today. For example, I want to speak about Associate Dorothy Tetrault because I found out that not many people here in New York knew or knew much about her. Dorothy was a member of our community for 25 years.
At St Mark's grade school, I taught across the hall from Dorothy, or Alphonse as she was then known. She was the most gifted first-grade teacher I have ever seen. It was a delight to observe her with those little first graders. After she left, she married, and she and her husband adopted and raised a special needs child.
I know that all of you could multiply a story like Dorothy's many times over about the other women we remember in this Mass.
The Celts would say this chapel is a thin place today, where those living in eternity are very close to those of us still living in our bodies. The veil separating us today is very thin, so I'd like to close with some lines from the poet David Whyte. It is a blessing that we ask from those who have gone before us. Just as we have blessed them on their way into the arms of God, now we can ask them to bless us.
A priest who was here last week for Mass had a title for his homily: "God wants to be bothered." The last line of today's Gospel says, "No one dared to ask Jesus any more questions." But maybe these women are like Jesus, and they want to be bothered. They may be waiting to help us, to bless us. So, in the words of David Whyte, “Let's ask them.”
"May your palm be as good for blessing now as when you lived and breathed ...
May there be a way to bless from the place you inhabit, may you extend your hands... and may you remember us and bless us here, in this place, and in this time... And as you have traveled the way before us...
And because we have still to cross the threshold that you have passed and make the journey that you have completed ...
We need those words of yours, and that voice of yours... and your hands turned toward us, as strong and as good as they ever were."
So let us continue now, grateful that we have been blessed by the lives of those we remember today.
– Sister Mary Jo Heman, OP
Sister Mary Jo is deeply committed to dismantling racism, advocating for peace,
and criminal justice reform.