Welcome to the Second Sunday of Lent. In
today’s Gospel Jesus, after his transfiguration, reaches out and touches his
disciples and says, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’ Jesus tells them not to say anything about
this vision until he is raised from the dead. The disciples did a great job in
spreading the Good News because 2000 years later we, the believers in the
resurrected Christ, proclaim by our words and actions just that; a better way
to live: Christ’s way, a more loving way to live that entails self-sacrifice so
that all the world will know God’s plan of love, mercy and redemption.
Do you remember the game ‘Simon Says’
where you follow the movements of the leader? That is what I am going to
invite you to do periodically throughout this talk as we sing the refrain from
the hymn We Remember.
Sing:
Remembering is a big part of Bl. Maria Celeste Crostarosa’s charism. Celeste called this special remembering viva memoria: to be a living memory. She
says it is our call to be active participants in the life of Jesus who lived
dying so that the world may be redeemed and rise to new life.
Let me give you a quick reminder of who our foundress is. Bl. Maria Celeste Crostarosa was born the tenth of twelve children
in 1696 in Naples, Italy. From her earliest years she enjoyed an unusual sense
of intimacy with Jesus who spoke quietly to her heart. When she entered religious life, and was
still a novice, Celeste had a revelation that she would be the instrument by
which a new order of nuns would be established. After many trials, and with the support of St
Alphonsus, the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer was founded on Pentecost in
1731. But tribulation continued to follow
Celeste and she was expelled from the original monastery in Scala for being not
afraid to be faithful to her conscience.
A few years later, she began a second monastery of the Redemptoristine Nuns
in Foggia. Since her death in 1755, Sister Celeste’s
message of love, joy and liberty of conscience has spread throughout the world.
Following her lead to this day, her
daughters the Redemptoristines, and by extension, you, have carried on her
mission of being a viva memoria. This
year marks the 60 year anniversary of Redemptoristines in the Hudson Valley.
Remembering Celeste let us Sing:
Bl. Celeste was a mystic and a prolific writer who
regularly shared her experiences with her community. Here are a few golden nuggets from her
treasure chest of writings. She had
something to say about every aspect of life.
Bl. Celeste says: ‘As
soon as you rise from sleep, thank the Creator for all the blessings of this
day and offer to God all your words, actions and sufferings, abandoning
yourself into God’s blessed hands.’
Jesus, in turn, said to Celeste as he held his divine
heart in his hands, and says to us now: ‘Receive my heart to love me with my own love forever. Embrace in my heart all my creatures and give to those souls all the love of my heart.’
During
Lent we strive to have the heart of Jesus by loving as Jesus did. Celeste says,
‘Make your life an echo of Jesus’ love.’ Every day we are not afraid to make our lives
are an echo of Jesus’ love. From the moment we wake up in the morning until we
lay your head on the pillow at night. In
our busy schedules we are called to abandon ourselves into the hands of our
Creator as we offer a sacrifice of love, praise and intercession that reaches
out to all our families, friends, co-workers and beyond; to embrace in our
hearts all of God’s creatures. Our mission as Redemptoristines and Associates is
to be transformed into pure love.
Celeste often quoted Jesus in saying, ‘If someone asks you who I am,
tell them I am Pure Love.’
Raising
our hands in praise for another day let us sing:
Celeste says, ‘Leave everything in God’s hands and all
things will fall into place for you for the best purpose! Believe in God with faith and hope.’ See
the picture inside your handout of the ring.
This is the Redemptoristine profession ring: two hands clasped. In Celeste’s lifetime in the eighteenth
century this ring was commonly given as wedding rings. It is a mani
in fede ring. In Italian it means ‘hands
in faith.’ All our rings are engraved on
the inside with ‘I will espouse you.’ As
Associates, all of you have made a commitment and have offered your hand to the
Lord, and to one another; by faith your hands are united in love and hope.
Jesus says to Celeste, ‘In loving me, be espoused to all
those who are mine.’
How can we be espoused to all who are Christ’s? We are
called to go unafraid beyond our selves, be transformed, and be Christ for one
another. During your life you have reached
out to the poor and needy by lending a helping hand. Many of you were educators
who imparted your firsthand knowledge by giving youngsters hands-on-experiences
to expand their minds. In your work,
some of you have mentored others with a guiding hand. Many of you, in caring for your families have
laid healing hands on the sick. Literally
and figuratively, you weren’t afraid to get your hands dirty. Sometimes, when life throws you a curve ball,
its all-hands-on-deck! Throughout your life,
consciously or unconsciously, by your words and actions have handed down the
faith to all those around you.
Jesus said to Celeste and says to us, ‘If you wish to
give me pleasure, imitate that prayer which I offered in the Garden of Olives
before my Passion, placing my whole spirit in my Father's hands!’
Some of you are retired from work-life and have more
graced time, time for prayer where you give God pleasure by just placing your
lives in the hands of God. Even without
retiring, in your commitment as Associates, you have placed your whole spirit
in the hands of the Father. Here, you
are gradually transformed and can say with the
apostle Paul, ‘I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who
lives in me.’
With faith, hope and love let us sing:
Celeste says, ‘The just soul who loves takes delight in death at the hands of its
Beloved. Jesus lived dying and it is the
living memory of Jesus dying that will be your life.’
How do we
remember Jesus’ dying in our daily lives? Remember what Jesus says at the Last Supper
before he died, ‘Do this in memory of me.’
Every day at the holy sacrifice
of the Mass we lift our hands as an offering to receive the Body of
Christ. This reminds me of a time when I was the
Eucharistic minister; a woman, instead
of saying ‘Amen’ to the ‘The Body of Christ,’ responded saying, ‘I am.’ What a profound statement. To me, her reply
was a confident, yet humble remembering of our pledge of love, our commitment
to be nourished by Christ who lives and dies and rises in us for the life of the world. In
presenting our hands we give our whole self so that
Jesus may live and work and pray in us.
To unite earth with heaven, Jesus
stretched out his hands on the cross to embrace everyone and everything with
his redeeming love. As Associates you
stretch out your hands to embrace and support your family, friends, co-workers,
parish and all creation by your life.
In regularly
taking time to pray you give yourself the gift of, as the psalmist says, ‘Be
still and know that I am God.’ Ps
46:11 This gift pleases God,
soothes the soul and enables you to share in the viva memoria as participants
in the life of Jesus who lived dying so that the world may be redeemed and rise
to new life.
United with Jesus, you are offering into
God’s hands your entire life for God’s divine plan of mercy and love.
With grateful hearts we can say with Celeste, ‘Thank you, Jesus, for my
very beginning and my very end.’
With confidence in God’s mercy we remember Jesus
sacrifice of love as we raise our hands and sing:
What can I do this Lent to be open to
transformations and place my life into the hands of God?
I invite you to trace your hand and
write a word or two of what you pray for at this Lent.
