The Spirit hovers over the chaos...and Tim Horton's

Actual photo of Holy Spirit on the streets of
Rome checking on a very tired and hot
pilgrim walking to the Holy Door in the 
Jubilee Year of mercy. 
 

"This morning, a few of the monks had their chapel service at St. Timothy of Horton's, a coffee shop down the road. After sharing prayers and singing in four-part harmony, "The Lone Wild Bird" to a shocked crowd of retirees and truckers, they prayed for the tired and weary souls going through the Drive-Thru. The Spirit doesn't just hover over altars; She hovers over coffee tables, Tim Bits, and parking lots, too." — from a post by The Unvirtuous Abbey

In the midst of the end of the semester chaos, I wouldn't mind finding a group of monks (or anyone for that matter) at Lancaster and Pennswood praying for the tired and weary souls trying to find a parking space at Acme and grab the half gallon of milk they forgot and get home in time to make dinner before the kid's concert tonight. What would happen if the Augustinians moved Morning Prayer outside occasionally, setting up the choir on either side of the street instead of on either side of the chapel, pitching the psalms back and forth over the traffic?

I am also certain that the Holy Spirit hovers over chaos by preference, breathing on it and trying to coax it into shape. This post reminds me of a line in Wendell Berry's How to be a poet: "There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places." Or maybe of the story of the desert father Abba Bessarion walking by the sea with his thirsty young companion: "God is here, God is everywhere."

I sometimes think we pull too many punches when we pray. I confess I am guilty of writing glossy but vague prayers. I pray for "the leaders of nations, that they might govern with justice and mercy" when I really mean, "Dear God, please send an angelic horde down to remind the leaders of my government that making children go hungry is a grievous sin; that mercy is due to immigrants as much as to citizens, for we are all children of God, images of the Divine; and that we should be distributing plowshares, not weapons of mass destruction. Amen?" I realize God knows far better than I just what is going on, so in that sense it doesn't matter, but the point of these intercessory prayers isn't to get onto God's to-do list. The point is, as Tomáš Halík notes in his book, Touch the Wounds, to open a dialog with God to discover just what we can (and cannot) do to address the problem.

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The Unvirtuous Abbey has been manifesting hope and humor on social media for many years. As a sometimes writing of intercessions for my parish, I appreciate their incisive and slightly sarcastic prayers —"For those who claim to know “what God intends” when most of us can’t figure out what our cat wants, we pray. " (Unvirtuous Abbey (@UnvirtuousAbbey) October 24, 2012).

Want to know more about the Unvirtuous Abbey? Here are a couple of interviews from years past. If you are still on social media (and I completely understand if you are not), you can catch them on Bluesky and Facebook.

Jesuit Post interview

Practical Catholic interview

Lodging in Wisdom's branches

Happy those who meditate on Wisdom,
and fix their gaze on knowledge;
Who ponder her ways in their heart,
and understand her paths;

Who pursue her like a scout,
and watch at her entry way;
Who peep through her windows,
and listen at her doors;

Who encamp near her house
and fasten their tent pegs next to her walls;
Who pitch their tent beside her,
and dwell in a good place;

Who build their nest in her leaves,
and lodge in her branches;
Who take refuge from the heat in her shade
and dwell in her home. - Sirach 14:21-27

Yesterday was the feast of Our Mother of Good Counsel, the titular feast of my parish and the patroness of the Vatican Observatory. And by some miracle, perhaps the intervention of our Lady, my early morning meeting was canceled and so I found myself at the 8 AM mass, where the scent of the pastor's homemade sticky buns was creeping in the door.  There was breakfast for all comers afterwards!

The readings were taken from the Augustinian lectionary for the feast, rather than the Easter season, for we are an Augustinian parish. The first reading was this pericope from Sirach. Though I have heard it before, I was struck yesterday by this description of those who seek Wisdom, the Holy Spirit. So like the scientist that I am and the scientists who are my colleagues at the Observatory. We pursue the mysteries of the universe like scouts, we peep through the windows and listen at the doors. We encamp, settle in, willing to take our time dwelling with God's created world.

As I write this, I'm sitting in my study. The green leaves of the oak trees that surround the house have come out and I truly feel as if I have a nest in Wisdom's leaves and am firmly lodged in her branches.

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Photo is of a painting of Our Mother of Good Counsel (the original is a fresco at Genazzano, Italy) in the entryway of the Vatican Observatory outside Rome.

Midwives for the Holy Spirit

...for each of us is the midwife of God...

I find this line from Daniel Ladinsky’s poem If You Wish, which riffs on lines from St. John of the Cross, regularly surfaces in my prayer. It reminds me we are entrusted not only with bearing God within, but with bringing God to birth in each other, bound to supporting each other's prayer.

For Lent I am following Mary Forman OSB’s Praying with the Desert Mothers. Even the cover draws me deep into the stillness. Each chapter begins with a scripture passage and a prayer, then follows on with a reflection that draws on the writings of the desert mothers and their contemporaries. My academic heart delights in the copious footnotes that accompany each chapter. They are like deep wells, ready for me to draw from if I thirst for more. For now, what is here is enough.

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Now with you is Wisdom, who knows your works
and was present when you made the world;
Who understands what is pleasing in your eyes
and what is conformable with your commands.
Send her forth from your holy heavens
and from your glorious throne dispatch her
That she may be with me and work with me,
that I may know what is pleasing to you.
— Wisdom 9:9-10

A strong driving wind

What might the Holy Spirit be stirring within you? from Society of the Holy Child Jesus on Vimeo.

“…suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind…
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:2a,4a

Listen to the air around you. Hear the strong wind that heralds a storm. Strain your ears until you catch a faint rustling in the leaves, the beginning of a summer breeze. Feel the rushing air that announces the subway’s arrival. Pay close attention to the bubbles that rock the lid of a pot on the stove, making it sing.

Listen to the whole reflection...and breathe!