Transfiguration Lent Week II

Listen to the Beloved 

The Transfiguration of Jesus
Mark 9:2-20

And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power.” 

And six days later Jesus *took with Him Peter, James, and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Peter responded and *said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here; let’s make three tabernacles, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For he did not know how to reply; for they became terrified. 

Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud: “This is My beloved Son; listen to Him!” And suddenly they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

 

As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. 

Go up the Mountain, Listen, Be Touched, Rise Up, Become Disciples

We follow Jesus with Peter, James and John up the mountain of transfiguration.  It is good for us too to experience mystical moments with Jesus.  To recognize and listen to the ‘Beloved’ sent by the Father and revealed today in the people, events and circumstances of our lives.  We are called this week to  ‘listen to him’,  be “touched” by him, let go of our fears in his presence, be “transfigured” with him and “rise up”!

This Week we ask ourselves, is this the moment when we rise from the dead?  As community we rise? … family, neighborhood, workplace, nation? If not NOW, then when?  Is this a time to rise up? A time of liberation and transformation? A time that make all things New?

Listening to the Beloved, sends us beyond ourselves to pray, fast, and do good.  As Disciples of Jesus, we go beyond the mountain mystical experience to the ‘cries of the poor’ and touch our world with the non-violent peace-filled presence of God, revealed in Jesus. Together we Rise Up!

Litany of Transfiguration

R: Let me see only Jesus 

When I’m tempted to look at only my faults.  R
When troubled by the specter of doubt and defeat.  R
When I can’t see beyond the frustrations of the moment.  R
When the horizon seems distant and dark.  R
When I can’t see the point of pursuing what’s good. R
When complaining and cynicism invade my peace.  R
When I can’t face my problems.  R
When the world looks bleak.  R
When others measure and judge me.  R
When beset by depression. R
When friendship is far from me. R
When overshadowed by sorrow. R
When it’s hard to forgive. R
When things don’t make sense. R
When I think I can’t change. R
When confronted by suffering. R
When stress gets me down. R
When it’s hard to go on. R
When blinded by sin. R
When the hardness of life overwhelms me. R
When hope begins to fade. R
 

Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P.

Download the complete Lenten Calendar

https://www.usccb.org/resources/Lent-2024-calendar_English.pdf

February Stop Trafficking

 Social Media Grooming, Exploiting 

and Trafficking Children

The Anti-Human Trafficking Newsletter for February further explores the use of social media to groom, exploit, and traffic children and focuses on the role of legislation and social media platforms.

Awareness  In October 2023, attorneys general from 41 states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits alleging Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, built addictive product features geared toward children despite knowing their negative impact on mental health.  The filing calls out the platforms’ recommendation algorithms, use of social comparison, and collecting of young users’ data without consent.

Advocacy   The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was enacted in April 2000 out of concern for the online collection of personal information from children under 13.  This law applies only if the website or service is based in the United States.

COPPA requires parental permission before a marketer can collect personal information from a child.  This provision encourages parents to actively participate in their children’s online lives. COPPA applies only to children younger than 13 years old, leaving teenagers without privacy protections in an essentially unregulated, commercial, digital media environment.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for enforcing COPPA.

FOSTA - SESTA

FOSTA (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act) and SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act) are legislation that became law in April 2018.  These laws clarify the sex trafficking law in the United States to make it illegal to knowingly assist, facilitate, or support sex trafficking and amend the Section 230 safe harbors of the Communications Decency Act to allow lawsuits against social media platforms over sex trafficking victims

Action To  Take

For more information regarding use of social media 

to groom, exploit, and traffic children

Read the February Anti-Human Trafficking Newsletter

https://alliancetoendhumantrafficking.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024_2-Stop-Trafficking-EN.pdf

Vocation Camp

Come  Follow  Me

"'Cast your nets on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’

So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in,

because of the quantity of fish.” 

Gospel of John 21:6

 

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles invited various congregations to promote vocations at Mary Star High School. The Norbertine Fathers organized everything quite beautifully. Each congregation sent one or two representatives.  In total, twelve congregations participated, eight female and four male congregations, including the diocesan priests. Sisters Mavis and Agnes Maire, Pomona, CA, represented The Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.

The program began with a Eucharistic Celebration, and each religious community was assigned a booth to display images and banners about their congregation. Students arrived in separate groups at 8 a.m., and the activity lasted until 2:30 p.m. The program was meant for the young people to feel the presence of these religious men and women in their midst. Keeping alive religious life and priesthood in their minds was one of the driving forces for the program. It was an excellent occasion to discuss our Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey's charism, spirituality, and the ministry of our missionary congregation. 

We prompted the students to ponder by asking a few questions.

Is religious life relevant today?  

Should Blessed Anne Marie's good work be continued? 

The program was very interactive and the students responded well. We are glad we were able to plant the seed of vocation in their hearts. 

The Lord said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch”, (Luke 5:4). With faith and hope, we have cast our nets into the deep seas. May the Lord of the harvest bring more laborers into His vineyard. 

A Vocation Prayer

 

Loving God, you call all who believe in you

to grow perfect in love by following in the 

footsteps of Jesus Christ your Son.

Call from among us more men and women

who will serve you as religious.

By their way of life, may they provide a convincing sign

of your Kingdom for the Church and the whole world.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Action

Join with us in praying for the gift to the Church and the World of 

Religious Vocations.

Encourage the young people in your lives to consider ‘coming and seeing’

what life as a Sister and Brother religious is and how their charism calls them to serve wherever there is a little good to do.

             

 https://clunyusandcanada.org

Sisters Mavis and Agnes want to thank God for such a great opportunity and also to thank Sister Marita, the Director of Vocations, and her team for their effort to promote vocations in the Archdiocese. Thanks to the Norbertine Fathers, and the administrators and staff of Mary Star of the Sea High School for the organization of the program. 

May the Lord bless the work of our hands. 

Sisters Mavis and Agnes (Pomona SJC)

Thirsting

‘Lent’ in its root word, means ‘Spring’.

Lent is a time for us, like other living things in spring, to grow.

This first Sunday we begin a six-week period leading up to the major feast of the Christian calendar - the feast of the Resurrection.  Lent is a time of deep soul-searching, both deep soul-searching, both individually and collectively. 

How have I, personally, lived up to my covenantal relationship with  God?  How have we, collectively, responded  to the Creator God who has placed us in this world to “till the ground,” to care for the garden?

The Hebrew root underlying the English “to till,” has a wide range of meaning and can also be rendered “to serve".

If one thinks  of tilling the ground as a form  of service, one is led to envision a relationship to the Earth involving service or caring for, as opposed  to ruling over it. Then Lent becomes a time to evaluate our service of God’s Earth in the individual practices of our life and in our collective efforts in the realm of public policy.

In the  past  several  decades  we  have  become increasingly and painfully aware of how we have failed as a human race to serve and care for God’s earth. If we were not yet aware a decade ago, we have been forced to awareness in the last few years in the face of disasters of enormous proportions due to climate change.

We  have  witnessed extreme weather events including devastating floods, prolonged  droughts, raging wildfires, violent storms, deadly heat waves.
We observe species extinction due to the effects of climate change and human activity on habitats.
We are painfully aware of our inadequate response to the urgent need to replace fossil  fuels with renewable energy sources.

Conscious of our serious failure to serve the Earth– God’s Earth–we hold hope in the covenant of today’s readings,  “I will recall  the covenant  I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.”

As we turn to the gospel selection, we find Jesus in the wilderness, the same wilderness where the tribe of Israel entered into covenant with God, and where, like the Israelites, Jesus’ commitment was tested. “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.”

Unlike the Israelites in days past, Jesus passed the tests. From there, “Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’”     -By Sr. Helen Graham, MM
Questions for Reflection
What’s one way perhaps you have failed to care for the earth, and are in need of reconciliation?
What’s one way you can serve the earth during Lent?

Pledge of Commitment

To Protect and Heal God’s Creation

We have come to renew our covenant with God and with one another 
in Christ  Jesus, our Lord.
We have come to help protect God’s creation.
We have come as followers of Jesus to commit ourselves anew 
to one another and to heal injustice and poverty.
We have come to stand together against all threats to life.
We have come to discover some new beauty every day in God’s creation: 
the sunrise and sunset, birds, flowers and trees, rainbows in the sky, 
the stars, the many forms of life in the forest.
We have come to listen to the “music of the universe”- water flowing over rocks, the wind, trees bending in the wind, raindrops pattering the roof.

We will remember always that God speaks to us through the beauty of his creation, and we will try our best to answer God’s call to reverence all that he has created.

- United States Conference of Bishops

Fast
Consider ways to phase out fossil fuels from your life. Natural gas, oil, and coal are fossil fuels used daily  to provide  energy.  They  are non-renewable energy sources and produce greenhouse gas emissions. Consider cleaner forms of transportation: Walk, ride
your bike, use public transportation.

Action
As our  communities face growing threats from climate change through rising temperatures, wildfires, smoke hazards, rising sea levels, and environmental
injustice,  the U.S.  Congress  is struggling  to pass a budget  and  fund  the  government. Urge  your Members of Congress to fund the government, AND protect  critical  climate  and  environment funding.

https://mogc.info/IPL-climatefunding

To The Desert Follow Me

Sarah Hart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bKKB86eVgA

 

‘Rend Your Hearts and not Your 

Garments’

Book of the Prophet Joel  2:12-18

Ash Wednesday calls us home once again. Sealed again in ashes with the Cross of Jesus Christ we remember that we are human and not divine.We are weak and tempted; chosen and sent forth. Throughout the 40 Days of Lent we will practice Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. 

Signed with the sign of the cross from the burnt palms of last year’s   Palm Sunday, the minister of the ashes reminds us to ‘repent and believe in the Gospel’.  

The challenge throughout Lent is that of fasting, prayer and

almsgiving, the three traditional Lenten practices.

Fasting Our thirst and hunger for God 

Prayer A contemplative gaze of Jesus’ Way

Alms-Giving Sharing our abundance with others

May God fill our hearts with the love that bears all things,

believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things,

Through Christ our companion on the journey.  AMEN.

I will take your heart of stone and place a heart 

within you of compassion and love.

Litany for Ash Wednesday

Oh God, 

We are reminded this day of the fragility of our lives here on the earth.

We are dust and to dust we will return.

It is by your Spirit and your power that we are given life.

You are the source of all hope and life.

We enter now a season of repentance.

That we may turn from selfishness.

We set aside some comforts

That we may turn our attention to Your holiness.

Cast now our transgressions far from us

As far is the east is from the west.

We mourn the profound disconnection from You 

that happened at the dawn of humankind.

Bring us back into Your presence.

We rejoice in the perfect work of Christ on earth.

Christ reconciles us to You.

Prepare our hearts, Oh God, for Resurrection life.

You bring beauty from ashes.

Prepare our hearts for the joy of Your coming.

You bring gladness from mourning.

Prepare our hearts for the fullness of Your presence.

You bring forth praise from despair. Amen

‘Take These Ashes’ by Sarah Hart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1F9nx0mhyA

Season of Non Violence #2

 Pace e Bene  Challenge

The Season For Nonviolence Challenge 2024

The Season For Nonviolence is a special time of action and reflection between January 30 to April 4, solemnly marking the assassinations of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During these 64 days of the Season For Nonviolence, we are invited to intentionally redouble our efforts toward nonviolence in our lives and our world. Learn more about the history and vision of the Season For Nonviolence here.

This year Pace e Bene invites you to take the Season For Nonviolence Challenge! Once a week between now and April 4, Pace e Bene will ask you to take up a doable “nonviolence challenge.”

Week 1 (Jan 30-Feb 5): Share a nonviolence hero on your social media, or in your newsletter, or with friends. What nonviolence hero will you uplift?

Week 2 (Feb 6-12): Watch a nonviolence movie. Tell us what you watched and you could win a prize.

Week 3 (Feb 13-19): Invite a friend to take a course to learn more about nonviolence. You can recommend one of our courses or one from another organization. What course did you recommend?

Week 4 (Feb 20-26): Ask a school to raise a peace or nonviolence flag every day that no violence or bullying occurs. What school will you reach out to? (This action is also recommended as part of the national campaign for the Season For Nonviolence.)

Week 5 (Feb 27-March 6): Like our Facebook/Twitter/Instagram page and share a post. We know social media is a powerful tool for sharing knowledge and information. Let’s use it to spread nonviolence! 

Send us the link to the post that you shared.

Week 6 (March 7-12): Post a Nonviolence Zone sticker on the door of your office or room (find it here, at bottom of page). Where will you post your sticker? (Bonus points for sending us a photo of it!)

Week 7 (March 13-19): Celebrate local nonviolent history. Tell us about a strike, boycott, or noteworthy protest that happened in your town. Bonus points for sharing about it on social media, in newsletters, or at an in-person meeting or event near you.

Week 8 (March 20-27): Subscribe (it’s free) to our Youtube Channel. Tell us what # subscriber you are and you could win this week’s prize. While you’re there, check out a video and share it with a friend. 

Week 9 (March 28-April 3): Recommend nonviolence and peace toys to parents. What toy or game will you tell parents and families about?

Week 10 (April 4-onward): Download, print and put up a Nonviolence Means . . . Poster.  What poster do you want to post? (You could win a high quality print of it!)

Tell us about your Season For Nonviolence Challenge here.

"Education is the most powerful weapon

we have to change society."

-- Nelson Mandela

February 8th St. Josephine Bakhita

 St. Josephine Bakhita

Patroness of Trafficking Victims

 

Human trafficking continues to be a supremely important issue during Pope Francis’ pontificate, with an estimated 20 million victims worldwide. St. Josephine Bakhita, enslaved during her own childhood, undergoing immense suffering throughout her adolescence before discovering the faith in her early 20s has been named, Patroness of Human Trafficking Victims.  February 8th, St. Josephine’s feast day, marks the fourth international day of prayer and reflection against human trafficking.

Biography

Born in 1869 in a small village in the Darfur region of Sudan, Bakhita was kidnapped by slave traders at the age of seven. So terrified that she could not even remember her own name, her kidnappers gave her the name, “Bakhita,” which means “fortunate” in Arabic.  This was the last time she saw her natural family, being sold and resold into slavery five different times.

Eventually, she was purchased by the Italian consul Calisto Legnani, who later gave her to a friend of the family, Augusto Michieli, who brought her to Italy as a nanny for his daughter. This time was the first time she was not mistreated.

After being freed, and remaining with the Canossian Sisters in Italy, she dedicated her life to assisting her community and teaching others to love God. She died on February 8, 1947. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized in 2000 by St. Pope John Paul II.

“Realizing that this evil is but another manifestation of slavery and bondage, we choose to combat it in whatever ways possible as Anne-Marie Javouhey worked for the abolition of slavery in the society of her day.

To this end we will endeavor to direct our spiritual, financial, and human resources to educating ourselves and others about this evil and will do whatever is in our power to work for an end to this moral depravity.”

Prayer to St. Josephine Bakihta

O St. Bakihta, assist all those 

who are trapped in a state of slavery.

Intercede with God on their behalf

So that they will be released from their

Chains of captivity.

Those who we enslave

Let God set free.

2024 Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Taking Action to End Human Trafficking

Catholic  Social  Teaching 

“One of the most troubling of those open wounds (in the world) is the trade in human beings, a modern form of slavery. It violates the God-given dignity of so many of our brothers and sisters and constitutes a true crime against humanity.”  

— Pope Francis, November 7, 2016

“It is a sin against the dignity of persons and their fundamental rights to reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit.”  

— Catechism, pp 2414

Whatever insults human dignity, such as… slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed… they are supreme dishonor to the Creator.”  

— Gaudium et Spes, 1965

Human trafficking is a horrific crime against the basic dignity and rights of the human person. All efforts must be expended to end it. In the end, we must work together—Church, state, and community—to eliminate the root causes and markets that permit traffickers to flourish; to make whole the survivors of this crime; and to ensure that, one day soon, trafficking in human persons vanishes from the face of the earth.”

— USCCB, On Human Trafficking, 2007

A Living Testimony

 A Living Testimony

"Uncle" Juan

In arriving in Pomona, September 5, 2023, we were welcomed by the pastor and all the parishioners. We were soon introduced to the staff in the compound. Among them was Juan, who is a caretaker of the compound. We were asked to call upon him for any challenges we may face in fixing the household equipment, appliances or minor plumbing or carpentry problems. 

In the next few days, we got used to “Uncle” Juan and called him to teach us how to use most of the electrical appliances including how to light the gas stove, use of microwave, etc.,  since most of the equipment is new to us and different from what we are used in our various countries. In a nutshell, we called on “Uncle” Juan for everything we couldn’t figure out. Thanks be to God that he was also among the few who could speak English  because the majority of the people speak only Spanish. 

He is always the first to say “Hola sisters! How are you doing today?” He is kind and gentle, works diligently through the hours of his job. Nothing seems to distract him from his work. He is very committed. 

One day, after Mass, one of the Sisters enquired about how his family was doing. He admittedly said they were doing well but requested us to pray for his wife who has been sick for more than six years. We assured him of our continuous prayers for his family, especially his wife. 

On October 27th, we decided to pay him a visit and pray for his wife Isabel in their home. When we entered, we were greeted with a big smile from “Auntie” Isabel and Daniel, his son. Although Isabel could not speak well as a result of her sickness her lovely smiles said it all. She was indeed happy to see these three nuns from the moon. She has not seen priests for years and she might wonder where these three nuns are coming from. We spent some time talking, singing all the familiar Marian hymns in Spanish we had learned, a hymn to St. Joseph and our Mother Foundress. “Uncle” Juan and his son Daniel, who were at home also, entertained us with the guitar and the violin singing some Mexican Marian hymns. In fact, it was a joy for us and the family, especially Isabel who had not until then seen different faces aside from her family and perhaps her doctors. We finally prayed together and returned to the Convent. Since that day, Isabel’s name is mentioned every day during our prayers. 

A month after our visit, “Uncle” Juan came to our house to say thank you. He was in tears and was speaking to Sr. Vicenta, who speaks only Spanish. Sisters Agnes and Mavis thought something bad had happened because Sr. Vicenta was also in tears. Little did we know that they were all tears of joy. Anxious to know the good news, “Uncle” Juan said, “I came to say thank you Sisters for your prayers. My wife Isabel started walking yesterday when I was in the kitchen cooking. She called my name and started walking towards me in the kitchen and she asked to help clean the dishes. I came to say thank you Sisters because I believe you are praying so much for my wife Isabel.” Wow! We all exclaimed, thanks be to God! What a joy we felt that day. We renewed our vigor to continue to pray for her. A nine day novena to Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey was said for her complete healing. 

Thanksgiving to God

"Auntie" Isabel and Sister Vicenta

On Friday, January 19th, Isabel expressed her desire to come to our chapel to say thanks to God and thanks to the nuns who have been praying for her healing process. As usual, her caring husband consented and brought her to our chapel to thank the Lord, who has given her the strength to walk little by little after years of confinement to her sick bed and wheelchair.  Her joy was seen in her charming and contagious smile and laughter. Once again in our chapel we sang the hymns to our Lady of Guadalupe, Christ the King, St. Joseph and Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey with “Uncle” Juan playing the guitar. 

We continue to thank God for such blessings given to “Uncle” Juan and his family, especially “Auntie” Isabel. 

We now ask all our Sisters, Cluny friends and family, Associates and Affiliate members and all people of goodwill to join us in Pomona, Anne Marie Javouhey community to pray for our friend “Auntie” Isabel for her complete healing. 

May God be praised in all His deeds. May His Holy will be done.

February 2nd Celebrating Consecrated Life

 

The Catholic Church holds its annual celebration of the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life on February 2nd This day is a special time for individual parishes and the greater Church to celebrate the gift of consecrated life and pray for men and women discerning a consecrated vocation.

Credible Witnesses, Rejoice In The Lord

The first witness we give of God’s kingdom is living authentically

 our consecrated life and the call to be credible witnesses of the Gospel

 and a joyful presence in our world today.  

By our vowed and communal life we reveal 

a prophetic and counter-cultural way of acting and living

 that shows respect for all peoples and our common home.  

The richness of our unity and diversity makes us signs of a universal solidarity in a society marked by brokenness, violence and divisions.

Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny

Missionary Priorities

Looking to the past with gratitude, living the present with passion and embracing the future with hope, as Pope Francis has asked us to do, we are:

• 
   sisters with a missionary call
•  rooted in prayer
•  gathered together in community
•  attentive to the cries of today’s world
•  with total availability for the mission
•  inserted into the local context
•  while remaining open to the world

Sisters Mavis, Agnes and Vicenta visiting the Cathedral in LA

They have established a new Cluny Community in

Sacred Heart Parish, Pomona, CA

Today we celebrate the feast of the encounter: may the Virgin Mary obtain for us the grace that our life as consecrated persons always be a feast of the encounter with Christ; and in this way, like her, we will be able to bring the light of his love to everyone: his light, not ours! Bring him, not ourselves!

- Pope Francis