Mark 13: 33-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"
The Gospel of the Lord.
Sunday Gospel Reflection
Sunday, November 29, 2020
by Marna Rogers, SNDdeN
The Nobel Poet for 2020 is an American writer, Louise Gluck, of whom the Nobel Committee notes in the award statement…"a poet of radical change and rebirth, where the leap forward is made from a deep sense of loss…" She lives here in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Excerpt of "The Night Migrations"
"This is the moment when you
see again
the red berries of the mountain ash and
and in the dark sky the birds'night migrations.
It grieves me to think
the dead won't see them —
these things we depend on,
they disappear.
What will the soul do for solace then? …"
These many months we have sought solace in such ordinary things…all over the Notre Dame world. As we prepare for an Advent like no other (but maybe those who have lived through similar things in other times, would identify with these feelings).
What makes you long for God to make what is bitter sweet again? (Isaiah)
In the midst of the pandemic, we had the seventeenth grandniece born in June in quarantine in a Boston hospital. Her birth brought the sweetest of joys…We had Sisters and family members heal from the COVID-19, and yet in a communal sense of comfort we laid to rest many of our Sisters and residents here at Notre Dame Long Term Care. All of them were so precious to us.
In Mark's Gospel it feels like God left home, and left us all in charge in such a unique year…
At the Nativity this year, and in these four weeks of preparing for the remembrance of the birth of Jesus into a world he knew not what would be asked of him, we may find moments to consider how we are in the world, how we cared for one another, how we complied with what was asked, and how the smallest of joys were enough, because we discovered how precious life is, and though this pandemic had no regard for anyone particularly unique, we held precious each person on this planet. We were all fair game for its challenges…and so many fought so hard for the lives so challenged by it.
I want to notice the red berries of the mountain ash, to marvel at the dark sky and the birds' night migration, and to keep watch for the dead who can no longer do so.
Meet Marna Rogers, SNDdeN
Sister Marna Rogers has taught in SNDdeN educational settings in Boston, Worcester, Peabody and Hawaii. After studies for specialized schools, she worked on the staffs of Landmark School in Beverly and KaKawis, British Columbia. She also served in leadership for the Boston Province and at the Congregational Level in Rome. Following her time overseas, Sister Marna transitioned to health care ministry in Worcester area and Wakefield, Massachusetts. Currently, Sister Marna is a member of the Assisted Living Community of Notre Dame du Lac in Worcester.