The Company of St. Ursula In the United States

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Tending the vine – Covenant love

           Some people seem to have a deep-down peace. Life may take them up or down. Obstacles may block their path. Personal limitations and failings may hamper them. Success may draw a spotlight on them. Yet they remain at peace.
           Everything around them seems to change, but something inside stays the same. How does that work?
           No matter how we change, no matter how our circumstances change, one thing is constant: God’s covenant love. The fact that we exist demonstrates God’s commitment to our very being, and God does not change. God loved us before we accomplished anything. God loved us before we failed at anything. God’s love will be with us through all that lies ahead.

A WISDOM-TEACHER

           Why did it take Angela Merici so long–several decades–to undertake her life’s work?
           In her late teens she had a visionary experience that would lead to the Company of St. Ursula–but not till she was sixty. Was the vision hazy? Maybe. Was she afraid to take such a bold new step? Perhaps. Were her own gifts ripening slowly? Probably. Was she still learning to trust God’s loving fidelity at her deepest center? For sure!
           By the time she founded the Company, she had realized that she could rely completely on God’s covenant love: “With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you” (Jeremiah 31:3). In this knowledge, she encouraged her followers. To those who were entrusted with responsibilities, she said, “Without doubt, as God has given you this charge, so he will give you also the strength to be able to carry it out, provided you do not fail for your part.”
           She recognized that, like God’s covenant with Israel, this relationship is mutual: “Strive….” Yet it ultimately rests on God’s fidelity: “…with the help of God.” Angela’s trust in God’s faithful love resonates through all her writings. She shared with her daughters the assurance that “God will never fail to provide for their needs.” Her expectation that together they would all enjoy eternal life rested on her confidence that “the Lover of us all wants this too.”

REFLECTING and DOING

1) Think of three times when you could recognize God’s loving faithfulness to you, for example:
• when you went astray and God led you back.
• when you accomplished something that you knew you could not have done alone.
• when you went through a confusing time but realized later that the Holy Spirit had been with you.

Give thanks. Do something to celebrate.

2) Select a past experience that was difficult for you. God’s love did not spare you the suffering of this human experience. Was there any glimmer of God’s presence with you during that time? After that time?

3) Are you being held back from pursuing a particular goal by a sense of your inadequacy? Ask yourself whether your reservations come from
• an honest sense of your limitations: consider what gift you do have that you can use in a fresh, positive way.
• a lack of trust that God can use your efforts to accomplish God’s purpose in this matter: ask for the courage to rely more on God.

4) Sing, hum, or listen to the song “Be Not Afraid” by Bob Dufford, S.J., partially based on Isaiah 43. Or, as sung by John Michael Talbot.

5) Sing, speak, hum, or listen to the song “You Are Mine” by David Haas.

SCRIPTURE PATHS

Many Psalms pray through the experience of fear, loss, insecurity, and suffering. The Psalmist mourns and laments and even accuses God of being distant and harsh. By the end of the prayer, however, the Psalmist discovers that God is still present after all. God helps us pick up the pieces and start afresh.

1) My heart is withered, dried up like grass, too wasted to eat my food. From my loud groaning I become just skin and bones…. The LORD has rebuilt Zion and appeared in glory, heeding the plea of the lowly, not scorning their prayer… (Psalm 102:5-6, 17-18).

2) God’s mercy is from age to age, toward those who fear him. His salvation is for the children’s children of those who keep his covenant, and remember to carry out his precepts (Psalm 103:17-18).

3) Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine. When you pass through waters, I will be with you; through rivers, you shall not be swept away. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, nor will flames consume you. For I, the LORD, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. I give Egypt as ransom for you, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you (Isaiah 43:1-4).

4) With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you (Jeremiah 31:3).

5) You saw how the LORD, your God, carried you, as one carries his own child, all along your journey until you arrived at this place (Deuteronomy 1:31).

6) But when the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-5).

PRAYER

1) Are you there, God? Oh! You’re not there, not watching me. You’re here, inside me!.

2) Someone has quipped, “When God seems distant, who moved away?” Think about it. Talk to God about it.

3) O Christ Jesus,
when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love, and Your strength.
Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to You, we shall see Your hand,
Your purpose, Your will through all things.
- St. Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556

4) Affirm your trust in God, in the words of Angela Merici:
“Do not be anxious about any temporal needs, since God—he alone—knows, can, and wants to provide them. He wants only what is for your good and joy.”

5) You have loved me from the moment I came into being in my mother’s womb.
I know it. I believe it. I believe in your love.
Help me to be true to your vision of who I can be.