Lessons from Sr. Mary Katrina in Cultivating Joy

I will always remember Sr. Mary Kratina, who died on February 1, as being a joyful person. Whenever I came upon her in the hallway, she beamed at me and said, “I’m so glad you’re here!” That’s an expression of joy and affirmation you don’t forget.

Christians should be joyful to the core, yet few of us seem to be infused with that spirit. How did Sr. Mary Kratina achieve it? Based on the stories that others have shared about her, it appears that the following characteristics were key to her joyfulness:

• Sr. Mary was generous in giving of herself to her students, to her staff when she was director of laundry services, to her sisters in community, and to her family and friends. Generosity in giving of ourselves to others directs our attention away from our own worries and gives us the joy of being God’s instrument of care and compassion.

• Sr. Mary had a long memory of the kindness of others. She would remind you of her gratitude for something you gave her or did for her for months to come. Gratitude reminds us of our blessings and helps us develop a joyful spirit.

• Sr. Mary was very faithful in coming to chapel to pray with the community, even when she struggled to get around. Listening to God’s word reminds us of God’s love and mercy, which is the greatest source of our joy.

As St. Paul said of Philemon, I can say of Sr. Mary Kratina: “Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, [sister], have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.”

Chords of God's Kindness

Recently I attended a presentation about St. Hildegard of Bingen, one of the four female Doctors of the Church, at Sophia Spirituality Center. As Sr. Judith Sutera noted, it was not unusual for an abbess in a German Benedictine monastery in the 1100s to compose music, study herbs, write theological and scientific books, have mystical visions, go on preaching tours, and be the administrator and spiritual leader of a monastery. What is unique about St. Hildegard is the quality and quantity of the work she produced, which still instructs and inspires us today.

This quotation by St. Hildegard caught my eye: “The marvels of God are not brought forth from one’s self. Rather, it is more like a chord, a sound that is played. The tone does not come out of the chord itself, but rather through the touch of the Musician. I am, of course, the lyre and harp of God’s kindness.”

It is humbling to think that whenever we feel the impulse to be kind—for example, by offering an encouraging word, helping someone finish a task, donating supplies to a homeless shelter, or taking food to a grieving family—it is God’s kindness that we are transmitting. Since that is the case, we should never hesitate to be kind, in keeping with God’s abundant outpouring of love. We must keep ourselves in tune so the chord of God’s kindness can sound throughout the world.

Delight as a Doorway to Contemplation

I haven’t intentionally practiced visio divina (praying with images) lately, but I was led into it naturally when I was at Sophia Center recently for a journaling retreat. I found a comfortable corner to do some writing and found myself drawn into delight by three ceramic birds perched next to a lamp. One bird looked exceptionally alert, one looked curious, and one looked contented. It occurred to me that these are three characteristics we need to foster in our spiritual life.

Jesus and St. Benedict both caution us to stay awake—otherwise, we might miss God’s coming into our lives and join Jacob in saying “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it” (Gen 28:16). Curiosity is a way of maintaining both alertness and humility, for curious people know they don’t know everything and are prepared to be surprised and enlightened by God’s creation. An attitude of contentment helps us be grateful for what is and be fully present wherever we are.

We should not overlook the capacity of delight to lead us into contemplation. It was my delight in these three bright and whimsical little birds that led me to meditate on alertness, curiosity, and contentment. The next time you experience delight, let it lead you into contemplation and see what you discover!

Me and My Shadow

Humans distrust shadows; we have a natural tendency to wonder what might be concealed in the darkness. In movies, shadows are often an ominous sign and are used by film makers to build tension. At first glance, then, when the psalmist in Psalm 88 asks, “Can shadows rise and sing praise?” the answer would seem to be, “Of course not.” However, I think the answer to this question might actually be yes!

We all have a shadow side, which is simply those things about ourselves of which we are unaware. For example, I might be “blind” (in the dark) about the fact that I am overly competitive. (It’s perfectly natural to yell at the TV during Jayhawk basketball games, right?) However, our shadow self ironically provides a mirror of who we truly are, enabling us to ask if we need to make changes in our attitudes or behavior. As Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg say in The Promise of a New Day, “[Shadows] provide an additional opportunity to move closer to the person we are called to become.” In that sense, shadows can indeed rise (become known to us) and sing praise to a God who leads us to greater understanding and wisdom.

I recently attended a retreat at Sophia Center, “A Journal for the Journey,” by Sr. Thomasita Homan. One journalling technique she introduced was having a dialogue with someone or some aspect of our life, and it occurs to me that having a dialogue with my shadow might be helpful. I can talk to the competitive part of me as if is a person and ask why it’s part of me, what I gain from it, and how my life would change if I didn’t believe I always have to win. Instead of trying to banish my shadow, I can allow it to rise and eventually, I hope, sing praise.

Abandoning Our Nets

When Sr. Esther Fangman welcomed us at the beginning of mass on Sunday, she noted that it is not surprising that Jesus called fishermen to be his disciples, because people who fish typically have lots of time to meditate. Meditation provides time to listen to what God may be saying to us—and indeed, when Simon and Andrew heard Jesus say, “Come follow me,” they abandoned their nets and followed him.

I was struck by that term “abandoned their nets” in Mark’s gospel. Fishing was what Andrew and Simon had always known; it was their livelihood, and they were good at it. Yet they were able to abandon that safety net, so to speak, when God asked them to do something different.

We all have safety nets—they may be skills, bank accounts, relationships, beliefs, or typical ways of dealing with life. Safety nets can be helpful in navigating our world, but when we grow to depend on them instead of God, they can keep us from hearing and responding to the new life to which God calls us. If we, too, are to answer God’s call to be fishers of people, it appears we must take time for prayer/meditation and be willing to abandon our old ways of being, represented by our safety nets.

Walking With God

In my new class on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), we have learned that four different peoples contributed to the creation of the book of Genesis. It is interesting that the earliest peoples, the Yahwists, portrayed God as being intimate with humans—for example, walking with Adam and Eve in the garden—whereas the Elohim, who wrote after the fall of Israel to the Babylonians, saw God as being more distant and communicating through messengers, dreams, and prophets.

Meanwhile, in my Monastic History class, Sr. Judith Sutera has pointed out that humans theologize about what they experience. It makes sense that a people like the Elohim who have been defeated in war and exiled from their land would feel that God is far away from them and needs to be appeased through sacrifices.

In current times, we are blessed with the revelation that God chose to become human through the person of Jesus, as well as new insights from quantum physics about how everything in the universe is designed to be in relationship. As we theologize about that understanding, it seems that we have a God who wants to be intimate with us after all. It is we who cause alienation by trying to be like God without being willing to be human—we want knowledge and control now instead of having the humility to learn from experience, suffer weakness, and endure mistakes in order to gain wisdom, as noted by St. Irenaeus. Jesus, who was willing to be human, had a very intimate relationship with God, who he knew as Father. This connection between being human and closeness to God isn’t a coincidence. Thus we need to follow Jesus’ example and accept our humanness, with all its joys and sorrows, satisfaction and emptiness, and pain and contentment, knowing that God walks with us through it all.

Winter Blessings

Although recent frigid temperatures have many of us longing for the coming of spring, we actually have many good reasons to be thankful for the season of winter:

• Most people sleep better in rooms with cooler temperatures

• The air is cleaner because of lower ozone levels

• Cold temperatures kill disease-carrying insects, such as mosquitos and ticks, and tree-killing bugs, such as the emerald ash borer

• The cells in our body that fight infection increase when we are exposed to cold weather

• Cold temperatures reduce inflammation in our bodies

• More time indoors leads to increased connec-tion with far-away family and friends by phone

• Winter fosters our gratitude for warmth and light

The fortitude that we build in winter can cross over to our spiritual lives. Are we willing to stick out the days that lack sunshine and roses—when prayer seems stale, our energy is at a low ebb, or illness/death shakes our faith—trusting that these times also hold a blessing for us? Do we believe that God is present in trying times as well as in times of smooth sailing?

We can all learn from the faith-filled reaction of one of our monastic elders, Sr. Cyprian, when she was faced with surgery to have an eye removed. “Everything else in my life has always turned out okay, and this will too,” she said. All life holds blessing, whether the temperature outside is cold or hot, whether we have all our original body parts or not. As with so much of life, trust and gratitude are keys to finding the goodness that is our lifelong companion.