Joyce Rupp, RRP $22.95, paperback, 135 pages
Living Faith is a quarterly Catholic devotional publication that provides a brief meditation on one of the liturgical scripture readings for each day of the year. It has a wide range of contributors: lay, religious, clerical, female and male.
Among the best known of the writers is Joyce Rupp, a Servite (Servants of Mary) sister and spiritual guide who has been a retreat leader and speaker in various parts of the world, including Australia and New Zealand.
Her previous books include Open the Door: A Journey to the True Self, The Cup of Our Life: A Guide for Spiritual Growth, and May I Have This Dance?
Sr Rupp’s new book, God’s Enduring Presence, collects around 120 of her meditations contributed to Living Faith over the last seven years. An earlier collection of her Living Faith writings was published in 2001 as Inviting God In. Sometimes such collections don’t work well when the texts are taken out of the context of the original publication, but that is not the case here.
Joyce Rupp writes with great clarity and with a spiritual authority grounded in a firm conviction in God’s presence, as reflected in the volume’s title.
This aspect of the book is discussed by the author in her introduction:
“As I have aged, much has changed in both my external and internal world. One thing that has not been altered is my consistent experience of the enduring quality of God’s presence. Through the joys and sorrows of my years, this abiding love remains strong and lasting.”
My initial reaction to this focus on experiencing God’s presence was, Had she not experienced the so-called “dark night of the soul”?, Is she always as chipper as a television evangelist?
But reading the meditations itself, a more nuanced understanding of “God’s enduring presence” emerges from Sr Rupp’s reflections on her own experiences and those of the people she encounters (she is also a hospice volunteer).
A good example is her reflection on Phil 2:7 (“He emptied himself…”), entitled “Everything Has Been Taken from Me”.
And it is not uncommon for Rupp to challenge us with the demands of the gospel, such as in her reflections “Face Guilt, Don’t Cover It Up” and “Make Amends, Not Excuses”:
“How blind we can be to the harm we do by our behaviour and treatment of others. When we hear ourselves making a lot of excuses for what we’ve done, it’s probably time to turn to Psalm 51 and admit our offenses: ‘I was wrong, I judged you poorly. I failed to be responsible and thoughtful. I betrayed you by my silence… Please forgive me’.”
The meditations are grouped in seasonal sections: Advent, Lent, Easter to Pentecost, Festivals, and Ordinary Time, and include the brief biblical text that inspired the meditation, but apart from the Festivals the specific liturgical day is not indicated. I would imagine that there is much material here that could be the starting point for a homily. An index of the biblical texts would have been of benefit in that regard.
Given the general nature and accessibility of the meditations, the book would also be excellent for gift giving.
