The Genes of God

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | January 25, 2016 | Comments Off on The Genes of God

Although my eyes are nondescript, my driver’s license claims they’re “blue.”  Actually the color could be a blob of green, brown, and blue paint. The license is just a guess. Other parts of me are quite descriptive. My fingers are short aneyesd stolid—nothing to look at but great for playing forte on the final chord. My hardy feet can wear out anybody’s 7 ½ hand-me-down shoes. Thick head of hair, rather long nose, attached ear lobes, and wide teeth attest to my parents’ genes and chromosomes.

Recently I read a poem about God’s genes in us. We can’t look like God who is Spirit, but Matthew Kelly’s book Rediscover Jesus begins with a story in which a blind woman asks someone who helps her, “Are you Jesus?”

Be grateful for God’s genes, and let the wonders of divine heredity work in you. We can be sons and daughters in whom God is well pleased and sees the Godself. Imagine God saying, “You’re a spittin’ image of Me.”

Love Following Upon Love

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | January 18, 2016 | Comments Off on Love Following Upon Love

Some words or phrases are just plain fun to say. They delight the mouth and please the ear. At times the consonants and vowels shape the facial muscles into a friendly mien. For a pleasant countenance, try these words: loveleafdelightful, supreme, ebony, alleluia. Here are some fun words to say aloud: circuitous, slithering, diplomatic, soothing, recalcitrant, surreptitious.

Simply because of their sound Scripture phrases may stick in my head. The phrase that reverberates most often is “love following upon love” (Jn. 1:16). Wouldn’t it be wonderful if my whole day were love following upon love? I know that God’s love toward me is love following upon love. After all, God can’t stop loving me! But what about my day? My response to God? My attitudes and actions toward others and myself? Well, sometimes it’s stumbling following upon stumbling or fumbling following upon fumbling. Or it might ineptness to ineptness instead of  another of my loved phrases “glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). I trust that God transforms my limitations to humility following upon humility. And when my heart is attuned to God, love follows upon love.

Happiness Will Reign

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | December 21, 2015 |

Christ is the union of all created reality in the love of God. christEverything in the universe streams toward Christ to find completion. One day all creation will become the Body of Christ, God’s Body. I imagine that on that day the sounds of laughter will reverberate throughout the universe. Happiness will reign when all creation finds its goal in Christ.

What Happened to the Penance?  

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | December 17, 2015 | Comments Off on What Happened to the Penance?  

joyIn the sixth century Irish missionaries used Advent as a time to emphasize the last judgment. Thus Advent became a penitential season with fasting, prayer, and purple vestments—in other words, another Lent.  In Rome in that same century, under Pope Gregory the Great, Advent focused on the Incarnation during the four weeks before Christmas. By the time the Roman liturgy took its present shape we were into the eleventh century. The Church borrowed elements from its three main types of “Advents” in previous centuries. While retaining purple vestments, Advent became primarily a season of joyful expectation.

Advent Long Ago   

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | December 14, 2015 | Comments Off on Advent Long Ago   

The Church Year developed over several centuries, and the Church calendar continues to change as new saints are added. In the first century advent2the Church calendar consisted almost exclusively of Sundays and one whopping Sunday called Easter. Eventually Lent was added to prepare for Easter. It was then logical to add Advent as a preparation for Christmas, and traces of Advent occurred in France at the end of the fourth century. Originally Advent involved three days of fasting per week. Advent began on the Feast of St. Martin (November 11) and continued through Christmas and Epiphany in modified form. This two-month period of time was known as St. Martin’s Lent, for it included 40 fast days. This fast was primarily a time of baptismal preparation, for Epiphany was one of the main days for Baptism of adults.

Is Advent the Beginning or the End of the Church Year? 

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | December 11, 2015 | Comments Off on Is Advent the Beginning or the End of the Church Year? 

Advent is often referred to as the beginning of the Church Year. The reason stems from the fact that the Advent readings are placed first in the lectionary. However, putting the Advent readings on page one was simply an arbitrary decision made centuries ago.

AoGAdvent could also be called the end of the Church Year, for its emphasis is preparation for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time. Actually every day of the Church Year celebrates the whole life of Christ, the paschal mystery. Only the focus changes from the birth of Jesus to his public life to his death and resurrection. So every day is everything. Every day is Christmas. Every day is Good Friday. Every day is Lent, and every day is Advent. And every day is the beginning and the end. And the One whom we celebrate is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Memory, Mystery, Majesty  

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | December 7, 2015 |

During Advent the Church celebrates three comings of Christ: the historical coming of Jesus Christ born 2000 years ago (Memory), the Second Coming (Majesty), and his coming into our lives now (Mystery). Manger scenes, Christmas trees, pageants, and Advent calendars remind us of His first coming. The Second Coming stays pretty goodnessmuch under our radar. Did you get up this morning thinking “Today might be the Second Coming”? What should hit us between the eyes is the Mystery of Christ. God can mysteriously sneak up on us in thousands of ways: lyrics of a song, advice of a friend, opportunity for service, collections for the needy, a hug, an idea, a gorgeous sky, a new snowfall, Scripture, prayer, and more.  Memory, Majesty, Mystery. Three M’s—the sound of good things to eat. May your Advent be filled with good things because of your goodness!

 

“All Ate”

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | December 2, 2015 |

Today’s readings speak of a feast of rich food and choice wines (Isaiah 25) and people eating their fill (Mt. 15). I love the images of food—the choice foods in Isaiah, but even loaves and fish can taste mighty good. The readings suggest that the chexmaterial world has a spiritual potency for God. From the Big Bang, evolution has an inner pressure for spiritual transcendence. A row of cereal in the grocery store advertises the energy to get your day going and keep going strong. We are just scratching the surface in discovering God’s energy built into the corn, rice, and wheat.

“A Shoot Shall Sprout”   

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | December 1, 2015 | Comments Off on “A Shoot Shall Sprout”   

prepareSprouting, blooming, blossoming: words of hope and growth, words of new beginnings from old realities. The universe is 14.8 billion years old, but it’s still not finished. Advent is a time to realize the universe is still coming into being. The purpose of creation has yet to be fulfilled.

The Mountain of the Lord  

By Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider | November 30, 2015 | Comments Off on The Mountain of the Lord  

mtn“The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain. . . . All nations shall stream toward it.” (Isaiah 2) Once I had a dream about the Second Coming. Everyone was coming from all directions to climb a large grassy hill. Smiling and chuckling, people of all ages climbed. Soon after starting up the hill, the people came upon a mounded ridge that had to be crossed. I stood by the mound to be a support for every passer-by. The elderly needed to be steadied; the legs of the children were too short, and I helped the little ones over. After a while I looked to the mountain top. I saw what looked like the sun, but I knew it was the Son of God. The glowing orb had huge eyes radiating infinite delight. The mouth was open in a wide “O” of laughter. Then the eyes of the Sun/Son caught mine and winked. My decision to help others climb into the Kingdom had been approved by a Divine Wink.