December 2007

Stories Seldom Heard

100th Edition

Welcome to Stories Seldom Heard.  I would like to specially welcome those from St. Clare’s in Santa Clara.  Every year I look forward to hearing who has received the Nobel Peace Award.  This year the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to have two recipients of the award: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr.  They were recognized for their efforts towards building up and disseminating greater knowledge concerning human-made climate change.  The work of the recipients was also important because it not only exposed the many changes in climate, but also laid out before us the necessary changes that have to take place in order to counteract the negative effects our actions are having on the environment.

Al Gore is a well known person in the United States.  His name might even be known by some people abroad.  But what strikes me about those who receive the Peace Award is that often they are not well known people.  Most of them are not generally known until they receive the award.   Their life long work for which they receive international recognition is usually only known by a small circle of colleagues with whom they work.  Some might be known because they hold government positions or are associated with a large organization, but even then many of them are not known outside of their geographic area. 

If you were to ask many of those who have received the award if they expected the honor or had any idea that they were seriously being considered, their response might surprise you.  In fact, there are many funny stories about how the recipients received the information of the award.  More than one of the recipients when they received the phone call thought it was a prank call initiated by one of their friends.  So in response to the voice on the other end of the phone line which had a very strong Norwegian accent, the recipient, in disbelief, mimicked the accent of the caller.  Well, you can imagine the embarrassment of the recipient when she/he realized the call was for real!  It was not a colleague calling to tantalize the recipient, but the official voice of one of the Nobel Peace Committee.

Many great people don’t consider themselves or their work outstanding.  Instead they see themselves as following their passion.  They’re using their talents well and doing what needs to be done.  They also see themselves contributing in every way possible to the common good of all.

When the Nobel Peace Award is first announced there is a lot of publicity.  But as the months go by the news seldom follows the work and progress of the recipients.  Recently, however, I read an article about the women who have received the Nobel Peace Award.  There have been twelve women who have been recognized since the beginning in 1900.  Seven of the women are still living and in December 2004 some of the women recipients got together for tea.  Tea parties sound so innocent, but over a cup of tea a new idea was born: the Nobel Women’s Initiative.

Their goal is to work for peace, to promote dialogue, tolerance and reconciliation.  They organize meetings to discuss issues of safety and human rights.  They have begun initiatives that ban cluster bombs and other unacceptable weapons.  Their plans, however, are not to do these important things alone, but rather to invite ordinary people like us to work with them. 

They want to use their talents and prestige to help other people like us claim our power, address the issues of poverty, violence and unequal access to public services in our local areas.  Many of them are women of faith and so they encourage us to draw strength from our religious traditions so we will not tire or get discouraged as we work for the common good of all.  They encourage us to ask three questions.  First, are we aware of our surroundings?  Do we see what is needed in our local areas?  Who is left out or left behind?  Who is in need of help?  Second, what are our gifts and talents?  We might not be poet laureates or versed in economics or science, but we all have eyes to see and we all know what injustice looks like.  All of us too, have human hearts that are touched by the pain and misery of others.  Third, they ask us to imagine how we can best use our talents and gifts to help others.  They encourage us to pray for the wisdom to know what to do and to act on our insights.

Sometimes when we hear of great people who have received prestigious awards or when we read about the saints, we feel that our lives are too small, our talents too limited to make major differences in people’s lives.  But according to Jesus in the gospel today recognition and awards are not what life is about, at least for the followers of Jesus.  It’s not how big our actions are or how much recognition we receive, but how big our hearts are.  It’s about how willing we are to do what is needed in our daily lives to help God’s power break into our lives and the lives of others.  Living out our faith is not acting out of a sense of obligation, but rather from the realization of how much we have been given.  It is acting out of that space of gratitude that draws us to share whatever we have- our talents, good counsel, insights, companionship - with others.  Like the servants in the gospel who do what they have been asked to do, we too, are asked to use our gifts to do what is needed.  And whenever we share ourselves with others, Jesus says it is enough.  Our reward is to know, like the servants in the gospel, that what we are doing is the right thing and it is enough.  God knows our limitations.

At first the gospel might sound harsh, but in truth it is quite encouraging.  Jesus is reminding us that we have inner resources from which to draw.  When confronted with new situations and we need to respond, Jesus reminds us to look within ourselves.  God has given us intelligence and intuition.  God has gifted us with good instincts and creative imaginations and our faith as well. 

This is not the only time in Luke’s gospel we hear Jesus reminding his disciples of their inner strengths.  In Luke 9:12 before Jesus feeds the hungry multitude who have traveled with him all day and are hungry, Jesus tells his disciples to “Give them something to eat yourselves.”  Prayer is important, but it goes hand in hand with good works.  And it is this that Jesus reiterates in the gospel today.  Use your talents well.  Be good servants.  Do what you have been asked to do and trust that God will supply the rest.  When Jesus was alive, he never moved mountains.  He didn’t give in to proving himself or his words by doing something ostentatious or flashy.  He didn’t move mountains, but he did something more important and perhaps more difficult.  He moved hearts.  And that is what we are called to do in our own way by using our talents.  God’s power in our lives is not often shown in spectacular ways, but through our daily choices.

Every act of forgiveness, every act of mercy changes those around us and reshapes us.  Every healing word, every time we try to bring people of opposite points of view together in order to better understand each other, we know we are becoming more like the One who has called us to serve.  Every time we console another or encourage the faint of heart, we know we are growing in the image of the One who created us.  Doing what we have been commanded to do might sound rather mundane, but according to Jesus it is more important than moving mountains.  The gospel also reminds that if God calls us, God has also gifted us.  As members of God’s household, the Head of the household has not left us on our own, but has left us God’s Spirit to guide and strengthen us. 

It might be helpful to reread the scripture passage.  Then ask ourselves the three questions that the Noble women ask the groups with whom they work.

Special thanks to Sharon Grant, Mary Ellen Green and Jeanne Keating  who have helped in editing this article.

"Stories Seldom Heard" is a monthly article written by Sister Patricia Bruno, O.P.  Sister is a Dominican Sister of San Rafael, California.  This service is offered to the Christian community to enrich one's personal and spiritual life.  The articles can be used for individual or group reflection.  If you would like "Stories Seldom Heard" sent to a friend, please send a note to "purple115@juno.com".  If you would like to support this ministry, please send tax deductible contributions to Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, c/o Sister Patricia Bruno, O.P., 1520 Grand Avenue, San Rafael, CA,   94901

Thank you.