"Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He said in reply, 'I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!'" (Luke 19:39-40)
by Kathleen Beckman
She, who at the start of the Redemption gave us her Son, now by her most powerful intercession obtained for the newborn Church the prodigious Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit of the Divine Redeemer who had already been given on the Cross. Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, 29 June 1943
“When they entered the city, they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers” (Acts 1:13 – 14).
It’s probably safe to say that many Americans have been experiencing trouble sleeping in recent weeks, given the unprecedented circumstances we’ve been facing for quite some time. For anyone waking suddenly out of a deep sleep, a sensation of fear – that powerful emotion so very prominent in our national consciousness of late – would not be at all unusual.
By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust shall be your strength. (Is. 30:15)God is never heard as a clanging gong nor a clanging cymbal. God speaks the language of silence, almost in a whisper. He can be heard in our prayer time in the quiet of our hearts. To those whose ear is attuned to His wisdom, He can be heard amid the noise of this world, loud and clear even when there is dead silence.
Reflections and meditations written around the May 1st Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker generally tend to focus on the many sterling qualities of the carpenter of Nazareth. His closeness to God, upright character, and masculine strength as husband to Mary and foster father to Jesus often provide the lead-in to the main point of the writing as appropriate to the feast: Joseph’s role as breadwinner. As the sole support of the Holy Family, surely he worked diligently at his craft, passing it on to Jesus, father to son.
We’re living through dire times. The coronavirus has gone viral, we’re laid off from our jobs, forced to wear masks in public and – worst of all – we can’t go to Mass! As the weeks drag on, many have begun to ask that age-old question, “If God is unchanging, is our prayer doing any good?”
St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), a religious sister known as the “Apostle of Divine Mercy,” wrote this story about a priest in her spiritual diary:
During this time of international crisis, it’s very tempting to employ Eastern meditation techniques such as mindfulness meditation in order to escape our anxiety. But if we want the kind of peace that will carry us through this pandemic and beyond, we need to build it upon the right foundation.
By Kathleen BeckmanThe renowned Pope John Paul II biographer George Weigel gave a moving keynote presentation on suffering in the life of St. John Paul II at the 2005 national conference of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious. The conference theme was Healing and the Mystery of Suffering. I was there to give my testimony of suffering and healing in the family but the greatest witness we heard was Weigel on the life of Karol Wojtyla. In the latter days of his life that played out on the theater of the world, the Polish Pope became an image of the Suffering Servant of whom the prophet Isaiah wrote so eloquently.
