“Eucharistic Celebration of CDPs’ Anniversary of Profession of Vows”

The following reflection was written by Sister Suzanne Dancer, CDP and was presented at the Congregation of Divine Providence Jubilee Mass on Sunday, June 21, 2021.

Our readings today seem handpicked for this moment in time. Though we have
heard these readings many times before, our experiences over the last year
undoubtedly have changed us, perhaps giving us new eyes and new ears. Because
each of us has been touched by recent events, perhaps today’s familiar readings
offer us new graces and a deeper understanding of our God at this moment in
human history.

The first reading begins at the point where Yahweh has heard enough of Job’s
complaints. So, let’s take a step back and get some perspective. Early in the Book
of Job, Yahweh describes Job thus: “There is no one like him on earth: a sound
and honest man who fears God and shuns evil.” We also learn that Job was “the
most prosperous of all the Sons of the East”—having 7 thousand sheep, 3
thousand camels, 500 oxen and 500 donkeys, 7 sons and 3 daughters. Then, one
day—one very bad day—Job losses his sheep and camels, his oxen and donkeys,
his house and children. And finally, he loses his health.

At first, Job tries to take these losses in stride saying, “If we take happiness from
God’s hand, must we not also take sorrow?” Soon, however, as reality sets in,
Job’s words turn to anger and he falls into an abyss of grief and begins to question
the ways of Yahweh. After listening to Job rant and rave and carry on, Yahweh
addresses Job asking, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning or sent the dawn to its
post? …From where does Wisdom come?” The lesson given to us from the Book of
Job is this: Yahweh, the designer and giver of all life, has a perspective—an
overview of life—that is grander than any we humans can fathom, and we are
called to trust in Yahweh’s light and guidance, even when we lack understanding.

In today’s reading from Mark’s Gospel, we are offered this lesson again, as we
read of the fear—the palpable fear—experienced by Jesus’s disciples as mighty
winds and violent waves whipped their boat about on the waters. In fear, the
disciples wake Jesus from his slumber asking, “Master, do you not care that we
are perishing?” In response, Jesus asks the disciples “Why are you terrified? Do
you not yet have faith?” Again, the lesson offered to us is this: God, the designer
and giver of all life, has a perspective—an overview of life—that is grander than
any we humans can fathom, and we are called to trust in God’s light and
guidance, even when we experience palpable fear.

In the 18 months since our world first began to realize that we citizens of Earth—
all of us together—were headed into a global pandemic, have we not at times
been like Job, trying to absorb profound losses and penetrating grief? Like Job,
have we not asked “Will no one bring back to me the months that have gone, the
days when God was my guardian, when God’s lamp shone over my head, and
God’s light was my guide in the darkness?”

Have we not been like the disciples, filled with palpable fear as our collective and
personal boats have been whipped about by forces beyond our control? Have we
not experienced universal disequilibrium—been thrown off-balance—on a scale
unimaginable until now? Have we not been forced to our knees, begging for
God’s comfort and mercy, if not for ourselves then for those who lack vaccines,
those who suffer injustice, those cast to the margins of society?

The lesson…the lesson that Yahweh, our God, has a perspective—an overview of
life—that is grander than any we humans can fathom is, admittedly, a really,
really tough lesson to absorb, especially in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst
of social and political upheaval previously unknown in our land. The lesson that
God is faithful and trustworthy perhaps takes a lifetime to absorb. Trusting in
Providence is not a one-time lesson. Rather, it is the fruit of a relationship—a
relationship that requires nurturing, during times of clear skies and in storms that
engender palpable fear.

In a few minutes, we Sisters of Divine Providence—those here in this Chapel; in
MHNC; in CO and LA, in Querétaro, Morelia and Mexico City; wherever we are—
we Sisters of Divine Providence will renew our vows. And Sister Norberta Honza
will do this for the 80th time, having first professed vows in this chapel on June 22,
1941! In renewing our vows, we Sisters of Divine Providence promise to work at
our relationship with our faithful and trustworthy God for yet another year.

We do this individually, but also as a community. As noted in our Constitution,
“By our profession of vows, we are bound to one another…. We profess our
intention to live with all people in God’s way of justice, peace, freedom, and love.
We hope to say by our lives that such a way is possible for all humanity.”

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