Mary van Balen

"Three snows after the forsythia blooms"


How long will it last, O Lord?
Will you be angry for ever?
Will your anger blaze up like a fire?
Mid-Morning (Terce) Ps 79,5



My grandma, Becky, used to share this folk wisdom about forsythia and snow each spring as we waited for warm weather to arrive and stay. While on a walk this morning, I saw these forsythia blooms capped with snow that fell the day before: "One," I counted.

I relish lingering cold weather, not one to bask in summer heat, but I know I do not share that sentiment with many in this mid-western state. Becky's adage can also serve as a metaphor for spiritual life and vitality.

As we journey through Lent, we hope for the triumph of Easter Resurrection to fill us with joy and to strengthen our faith. Is Easter what does that? Or is it the waiting, the faithful perseverance of our journey that works this miracle in our souls? Read More 

So they grumbled against Moses. ‘Give us water to drink’ they said. Moses answered them. ‘Why do you grumble against me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?’ But tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses. ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt?’ they said. ‘Was it so that I should die of thirst, my children too, and my cattle?’ Moses appealed to the Lord.
‘How am I to deal with this people?” he said. ‘A little more and they will stone me!’
Ex 17, 2-4


After camping in a place without water, the Israelites complained, wondering why Moses had led them out of Egypt in the first place. From the hardships of the desert, slavery wasn't looking so bad. At least slavery as they were remembering it at the moment.

Sometimes, having made choices that lead us to a particular place or situation in life, we can become discouraged with where we are and question why we chose as we did. Uncomfortableness of change makes the old and familiar appealing once again, no matter how bad they really were.  Read More 

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ ...The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?’ – Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus replied:
‘If you only knew what God is offering
and who it is that is saying to you:
Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask,
and he would have given you living water.’
‘You have no bucket, sir,’ she answered ‘and the well is deep: how could you get this living water? Are you a greater man than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?’
Gospel Jn 4

Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman was extraordinary. Not only was she a woman and a Samaritan, her history could suggest that she was of questionable character, having had five husbands and presently living with a man who was not. That she came to the well alone might be interpreted as her lack of acceptance by other women of her town since drawing water was a social as well as a practical task.

Reading their conversation, one gets the sense of friendly banter. As the priest at Mass this morning commented: "He said, then she said. He said, then she said." Jesus was not put off by her past or present for that matter. He seemed to enjoy the conversation and offered to her the truth that his disciples did not yet know: He was the Christ. Read More 

The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained.
Gospel reading Lk 15,1

Today's reading is so familiar that I started skimming it rather than reading. Realizing what I was doing, I slowed down and began again. What struck me was the first line. What "type" of people gathered to hear Jesus? Outcasts, fringe types not the usual "temple" types it seems, at least from the reaction of the Pharisees and scribes.

What was Jesus saying that attracted such a crowd? He must have been speaking about things that mattered to them. Perhaps words of hope, compassion, understanding. Probably not words that piled more burdens on hearts already weary and tired. I wonder if those that gathered were surprised and pleased to find a rabbi who went out of his way to talk to them. Someone who didn't mind their appearance or their lack of social status.

Who would be pressing to hear Jesus if he walked our streets today? What would he be saying?

The taxpayers and sinners sought his company. Jesus was someone they felt comfortable being with. Would they be comfortable with me? Would I be comfortable with them?

What draws us to Jesus? What does he say that speaks to our hearts? What do we have in common with those in today's reading?

Lots of questions from pondering one line of today's gospel. Read More 

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus... Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow... ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
Luke 1:26-38

A friend of mine, poet Kilian McDonnell OSB, wrote a poem titled "In the Kitchen." Here are a few lines:

Bellini has it wrong.
I was not kneeling
on my satin cushion
quietly at prayer,
head slightly bent.

Painters always
skew the scene,
as though my life
were wrapped in silks,
in temple smells.

Actually I had just
come back from the well,
placing the pitcher on the table
I bumped against the edge,
spilling water on the floor.

As I bent to wipe
it up, there was a light
against the kitchen wall
as though someone had opened
the door to the sun...


Hearing the story in Luke, or reflecting on some of the many paintings made of the Annunciation, we might be tempted, like the painters, to forget that Mary was a young girl, busy with ordinary chores of life in Nazareth. Was she frightened when she saw the light and realized what was being asked of her? Was she tempted to say "no" to the invitation to become a pregnant, unmarried, betrothed maiden? Did images of implications flash through her mind? Read More 

‘The rich man replied, “Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father’s house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too.” “They have Moses and the prophets,” said Abraham “let them listen to them..” “Ah no, father Abraham,” said the rich man “but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Then Abraham said to him, “If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.”’
Gospel: Luke 16:19-31


Sometimes I think if only God would speak more clearly, I would be able to find the path to follow, the job to take, the place to move. Luke's gospel tells me otherwise. God is speaking. The difficulty is more on the listener's end.

The story about a man stranded on the roof of a house during a flood comes to mind. He is sure God is going to save him, so when someone comes in a boat, a helicopter, and a raft, he declines their offer of help: "God will save me," he says. After he drowns and goes to heave he walks up to God and complains: "You said you would save me. What happened?"

"I sent you someone in a boat, a helicopter, and a raft. What else did you want?"

The man could not see God's hand in the offers of help missed his chances. Luke is saying the same to the rich man who begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers' house to warn them not to repeat the behavior that landed the rich man in hell. Read More 

It is you that the Lord our God has chosen to be his very own people out of all the peoples on the earth. It was for love of you and to keep the oath he swore to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with his mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know then that the Lord your God is God indeed, the faithful God who is true to his covenant and his graciousness for a thousand generations towards those who love him and keep his commandments.

Deuteronomy 7:6,8-9



Todays short reading from Liturgy of the Hours speaks to us of God's loving care and faithfulness. Perhaps because sleep evades me more often at night lately, Divine watchfulness and compassion is particularly important as I turn off the house lights and crawl into bed.

I am including a beautiful prayer from Jim Cotter's "Prayer at Night's Approaching." It's simplicity and confidence in God's presence has helped me let go of the day's unfinished business and the future's unknown to find rest and peace in God's embrace. Read More 

You visit the earth and water it,
make it abundantly fertile.
God's stream is filled with water...
...Thus do you prepare the earth; you drench plowed furrows,
and level their ridges.
With showers you keep the ground soft,
blessing its young sprouts...
your paths drip with fruitful rain.
The untilled meadows also drip...

Morning Prayer Ps65,10-13


Last night, I lay in bed listening to the storm. Thunder rumbled, lightening illumined pulled window shades, and rain pummeled the roof. Storms at night comfort me as I lay in darkness, trying to put the days events to rest. Rain. Water. Ancient symbols of God's blessings fell all round me. Springtime earth soaked it up. So did I.

A few nights ago, I visited my sky gazing friend, Melanie, to celebrate the super moon. I arrived while she was still at church, so looping a monocular around my neck and sliding a camera in my pocket, I took a slow walk around her property.

The first thing I noticed was the boggy path, covered with earth-hugging green and oozing water at every step. Read More 

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.' Gospel Luke 6:36-38








While in Thailand, I discovered a postage stamp that pictured the goddess with a thousand arms. Not knowing the story of the thousands arms and thousand eyes, I did a little research and discovered that this goddess, Guan Yin, is one who hears the sounds or cries of the world. She listens and with her thousand eyes finds those who suffer or need help. Her arms allow her to snatch them out of their suffering or to keep evil at bay. Guan Yin is a Buddhist Bodhisattva of compassion.

I was drawn to the image as an expression of Divine compassion, emphasizing the feminine face of God. Today's reading instructs us to be instruments of compassion in the world.  Read More 

The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.
‘I will bless those who bless you:
I will curse those who slight you.
All the tribes of the earth
shall bless themselves by you.’
So Abram went as the Lord told him.

Genesis 12:1-4

The first reading today tells the story of Abram's call from God to leave his home and follow God to some unnamed place. Abram does as he is instructed, even with scanty information.

As Jaques Guillet points out in his article on "Blessings" in "Dictionary of Biblical Theology," this blessing marked a turning point, it was a "new kind of blessing." After many chapters of curses after sin made its entrance into the world, God addresses Abram with a blessing not only for himself or his family, but for all peoples on the earth. This is the beginning of the unfolding of salvation history.

Why Abram? Scriptures do not tell us, but they do record his (and Sara's) response; obedience. What did it mean for he and Sara to leave family, friends, homeland for an unknown destination? Did the ones behind think the couple was crazy or odd? How did they explain their move to people who worshiped many gods?

While no history of Abram and his wife are given, we know they were people of faith. That alone is enough to answer "Why them?" People with faith strong enough to enable them to trust their lives and their future to an unknown God.

When unknowns fill our lives, we might remember Abram and Sara, their trust that led through difficult times, but eventually to great blessings. God did not abandon them, nor will we be left alone. God walks with us.
 Read More