Mariological Society of America Photo Album

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Harp and Piano Concert

Sharing an Audio Link to harp and piano concert by Maria and Markus Stange.  You may need to create an account and click on the red S to enable java script for the page a few times to get it to load properly.  I'm looking for a better way to share audio for free, but for now this is the best way I've found.

Marian Devotion of Dominican Foundresses

View YouTube video of my presentation on Marian Devotion of the Dominican Foundresses at the annual meeting of the Mariological Society of America to be published in the 2012 edition of Marian Studies.

Care of Creation 10: Birth of Christ

"There is no birth of Christ, however, without the Spirit.  It is the Creator Spirit who continues to breathe new life in evolutionary creation, who weaves together the cosmic body of Christ.  The Spirit is the “holon maker”, the One who breathes new life, generates new love, searches for new future by uniting what is separate or apart, by healing and making whole.  Where there is the Spirit, there is the divine Word expressed in the rich variety of creation, and where there is the Spirit and Word there is the fountain fullness of love.  Christ symbolizes this unity of love; hence, the fullness of Christ is the creative diversity of all that exists held together by the Spirit of luminous love God." -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 70-71

 

The place where I need healing or to be made whole by the Spirit in my life is in relationships that are broken or strained by misunderstanding, misuse, disrespect or disinterest.  Although I have an openness to all people, I also find that I am less willing to be open when past encounters leave me feeling wounded.  The Spirit heals this on a deep level so that in my heart of hearts there is forgiveness and I can move beyond the hurt to place of peace.  But the human encounter sometimes lags behind the Spirit in these matters and new hurting happens.  We are such fragile creatures, we human beings.  Hurting each other with or without intention on a daily basis.  In this we are united.  We are all wounded and all need the Spirit to become whole so that we can be bearers of the Word for others in need.  The Spirit works in the human encounter to make us whole.  This is the birth of Christ and the breaking of the bread in our daily lives.  A pause for thanksgiving.

Care of Creation 9: Universal Diversity

“A Eucharistic community should be a new energy field, a new pattern of relatedness; the joy of being a Eucharistic people is the renewal of energy for the sake of transforming relationships in the cosmos.  To be Christian is to be in relationships that promote the flourishing of life.  We might think of these new relationships as morphogenetic fields.  Jesus establishes new energy fields of compassion, inclusivity, healing, forgiveness, peacemaking, mercy and justice.  As the Christ, human energy is now integrated with divine energy throughout the cosmos.  The yes of the Christian to the body of Christ is a yes to life in the cosmos, to the earth, the planets and stars, to the diversity of creation and all peoples, to the many religions that seek the ultimate ground of being.  The Christian says yes to all of these because all are brought together in the unity of Christ.” -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 100-101

I am empowered by the Eucharist because of the transformative power of Jesus Christ who heals me and frees me to be his presence alive and active in the world.  This daily miraculous event is everlasting.  It takes me out of my own small world situation and inserts me in the greater truth that has been unfolding since the beginning of time throughout the universe. 

Care of Creation 8: An Array of Miracles

“God’s gracious love sustains the evolutionary movement toward ever-deepening life. Jesus burst forth on the evolutionary scene not because of sin but because of love. God’s love becomes explicit awareness in the person of Jesus. The cosmos has a goal. It is oriented toward a new future. Now God is present in history in the everyday world of life.”-- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ P 58
 

I can live from that deep center of love today by tapping into the spiritual resources God has planted within me from the beginning and sharing out of that deep center with others.  I know that this the signs of God's love accompany me and bring hope to others, and the signs of God's love that accompany others gives hope to me.  It is a communal blessing we share whether we are in close proximity to one another or not.  It is a mystical reality that reaches across metaphysical, material, spiritual and emotional boundaries to bring about new life in an array of daily miracles.  

The Flowers of Mary

At our Motherhouse we are journeying together with young women discerning a call to religious life.  I introduced them to the traditional May devotion that honors the Blessed Virgin Mary by meditating on her virtues represented in flowers traditionally associated with her. You can view it on The Teknosista Channel.

Care of Creation 7: Cloud Control

“Meditation helps loosen the grip of the sense of self that experiences separation and disconnection and facilitates a shift to the place of witness where the subjective self is observed. This observation lessens the identification with that sense of self, enabling the person’s perspective to expand.  It is a practice that allows us to place ourselves in the hands of the uncontrollable.  In that place of non-duality, in that place of unity in which we cease to know ourselves as separate from all that is holy, we are transformed.”  Judy Cannato, Field of Compassion p 129

When I observe and witness my meditation practices (without judgment) I see that my desire for control is unconscious.  The word control comes from Middle English controllen and  Anglo-Norman contreroller.  The word originates from Latin contrarotulare which meant to check against the roll.  Those of us with English ancestry have a high value for keeping things under control.  The English refer to it as "keeping a stiff upper lip."  We Anglo Americans call it being  easy-going.  I know it is futile for me to try to avoid controlling anything when I am meditating because then I start trying to control my tendency to control. I make lists of things not to control and check myself against lists to see how I'm doing.  You can see how this would be counterproductive!  The best I can do is to notice this tendency in myself and let it go.  I say to myself, "Aha!  A list is emerging...good-bye list, be gone!" and I let the clouds take it away.  

After much practice, the lists have gotten used to being sent into the clouds and have given up coming to me when I'm meditating.  BUT I'm not giving the list making over to God either because I don't want to think that God is about control.  In my view there is no gigantic heavenly list by which God is keeping track of us all and checking up on us for some reckoning day.  To me God is always and everywhere about loving and creating the good that will surpass all human understanding and amaze us to the roots of our being.  That's something I can meditate on endlessly ... that is, when I'm not busy making lists.