Will You Follow the Prophet?

Following the old tradition about preaching on the religious life on the Sunday after Ascension, Mother Miriam was asked to preach at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Likoma Island on the Sunday after the Ascension.

St. Peter’s Cathedral, Likomo Island, Malawi

My Lord Bishop, Reverend Dean Michael and clergy, Sisters, good people of Likoma, thank you for this honor in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with you. Greetings from the Sisters of St. Mary in Greenwich, New York, USA!

The lesson from Second Kings speaks of Elijah’s ascension. We, the people of God, are being challenged in this story to follow the footsteps of Elisha. Will you follow the prophet at all costs? Are your eyes open enough to see the chariot of fire and Elijah ascending to heaven in a whirlwind? Jesus gives us the key to understanding these things in today’s Gospel, the end of St. Luke’s Gospel. He said that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Jesus’ disciples were witnesses to this as was Elisha to Elijah’s ascension. The disciples watched Jesus’ ascension into heaven and returned to Jerusalem with great joy to wait his coming gifts of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

We celebrate with St. Paul in reading Ephesians, chapter four, that there is one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all. We rejoice that Jesus led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. One of the gifts he gave to his people is our different callings to the service of God and all people.

Today I will speak of the calling I know best—the religious life. I have been a Sister since 1981 and Mother eight years. Sr. Martha has been a Junior Sister almost three years, Sister Monica and Sister Maria Nema have been Junior Sisters for almost two years, and Sisters Georgina and Patricia Taonga for almost two months. Together we have learned there is one faith, one Lord, one God and Father of all. Then my Sisters learned how old the religious life is. There have been Sisters in the Church since the days of the Desert Fathers and Mothers in 400 A.D.

Our Sisters follow a Rule of Life that is based upon the Rule of St. Benedict. St. Benedict is known as the Father of Western monasticism. Benedict called his monasteries schools in the Lord’s service. They were meant to be places where Sisters and Brothers learned over a lifetime the way of the kingdom of God. Our vows are Poverty, Chastity and Obedience within a specific monastic community.

Poverty does not mean a lack of material things. It is a way of life based on a healthy balance of simplicity and sharing. Nothing we have belongs to us alone, but to the whole Community as gifts of God for our use.

Chastity means a purity of heart and a total dedication of our bodies, our whole being, to God. Therefore we do not marry.

Obedience is the gift of our wills to God. It is an act of faith that he will provide all that we need. We exercise our obedience to God, first of all, by obeying the Scriptures, then the authority of the Church through its traditions and leaders, then in obedience to the rules and customs of our Community of Sisters, then in obedience to the Mother we elected, and lastly through our own sense of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. Our own inspiration must be tested through the Community’s prayer and discussion because it is so easy to deceive ourselves.

Community life is a total commitment to live the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” How do we do that? We live as a family. We balance work and prayer so that we do not become a burden on the Church for our support. The Sisters have started an extensive farm at Luwinga. They are beginning to pray about other work they can do that would both benefit the parishes and earn them a living.

And most important of all, we follow St. Benedict’s Rule that nothing be preferred to the work of God which is prayer. Our Sisters unite their prayer with all monks and nuns around the world,

• By singing the praises of God five times a day,
• By daily meditation on the Word of God,
• By daily slow reading of Scriptures and the Church Fathers,
• By intercession for the Church, its bishops and clergy, all God’s people, the world and special needs when prayers are asked for.

All this is centered on the daily Eucharistic sacrifice. We aspire to become one with Jesus Christ. Nothing less will satisfy the soul whom God calls to himself in the monastic life.

So our Mother Foundress gave us this motto from Scripture in 1865, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” and she gave us three virtues to sum up our life—cheerfulness, simplicity and selflessness.

Discerning a vocation is a mystery and takes a long time of testing. I wanted to be a Sister at age 15, but waited to enter the convent until I was 21. Some came from Malawi to our American convent and then returned to lay life. These five Sisters and I believe God continues to call us to Himself in the life of a Sister.

Others living in the world, married, single, clergy and lay, feel an attraction to our life and work. They ask to become Associates. They become extended members of our family. Mrs. Bruce and Mrs. Boyd are both Associates of the Sisters of St. Mary in America. They have a Rule of Life that supports us in prayer and alms. In return we pray and encourage them in their life of prayer. We pray that soon we will have Malawian Associates. I pray that many young women will hear the call of God to union with himself in the religious life for the sanctification of the Church. It is a hard life, a desert experience, but we are on the road to the Kingdom of God that he made for us. Only on this road do we find joy. I pray that in every vocation, every calling, the people of God will hear his voice and wait and receive his gifts and peace with passes human understanding.

Interior of St. Peter’s Cathedral