Shadow - Mothers of Mysticism Series

 

As the month of March winds down and wraps up, we rewind and review some of the fiercely faithful women we have met in the Gospels.

 

The Canaanite woman who compassionately confronts the log in Jesus’ eye reminding him to practice what he preached when he said, ‘it is not what goes into your mouth (like unkosher bacon) that defiles but what comes out of your mouth (like words calling a beloved daughter of God a ‘dog’)’.  In this story Jesus’ humanity is showing and showing us that change is holy.

 

The woman who hemorrhaged for 12 long years that caused our hearts to break and souls to ache at the face of such suffering.  We held lightly that often we are quick with the cliches in the face of suffering (everything happens for a reason) because such pain is difficult and demanding to process.  We named that often we want to throw our human explanations at suffering like it was deserved or destiny or devil or deny that it is really that bad.  We compare suffering to others like it is some competition none of us want to win.

 

The woman bent over calling us to stand up tall and in solidarity with the suffering of the world right now.

 

The woman at the well who was the first disciple to become an apostle, to share the good news of God’s love that changes everything and everyone…how she converted an entire village with such expansive and inclusive love.

 

Next Sunday we will meet the woman who persists and insists justice from an unjust judge ~ reminding us that we are not the first to experience systemic oppression by callus and calculating people who care nothing about fellow featherless bipeds.

 

Because we have only scratched and skimmed the surface of the richness our sisters in faith have shown us, in April we will sit at table with Jesus and watch as a woman anoints his feet, dries them with her hair, and kisses embodying vulnerability at the heart of faith.

 

One thread and theme of the above is that all the women are unnamed which reminds us that too often in our objectification of our sisters we do the same today.  This week, I want to honor the mothers of mysticism whose wisdom stands on the shoulders of the women in the gospels we have met in March.  The first woman is Saint Catherine of Siena who was one of 25 children (which is a lot of siblings!!).  She was born in Italy, wed herself to Jesus as a teenager, and was a powerful voice of peace convincing Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy to Rome during a tumultuous and violent time (reminding us again of how history repeats itself).  Catherine once said, 

“Start being brave about everything.  Drive out darkness and spread light.  Don’t look at your weakness. Realize instead that in Christ crucified you can do everything”.  

“You are rewarded not according to your work or your time but according to the measure of your love.”  

“Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices.  It is silence that kills the world.”  

And, “It is only through shadows that one comes to know the light.” 

Today, take these four brilliant quotes of St. Catherine, stand in the sun light, absorb the warmth of God that is like love, look at the shadow you cast reminding you that we are all human-sized, and let God sing to your heart with the wisdom of the mothers of mysticism calling us to be God’s people today.  Amen.