Sister Madeline Contorno, OSB, is a Benedictine Sister of Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman, AL. A Golden Jubilarian this year, she has ministered as religious educator, grief counselor, hospice chaplain, and diocesan Renew coordinator. For the last 20 years she has been a pastoral associate in parishes in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. She has served her community in several capacities as vocation director, community secretary, member of monastic council, chapter delegate. Sister Madeline’s reflections provide some “mystagogy” to reflect upon the Scriptures of the Easter Season leading to Pentecost Sunday.
June 5, 2022, Pentecost
Madeline Contorno, OSB, Sacred Heart Monastery, Cullman, AL.
Many years ago when I was in San Francisco for a conference, I had the opportunity to visit the Cathedral of St. Mary’s of the Assumption. The exterior of the cathedral showed a strikingly modern design, and the interior contained seven prominent Marian panels depicting the Blessed Mother as the model of discipleship. The panels included events such as the Visitation, the Wedding Feast of Cana, the Crucifixion. But it was the panel depicting Mary at Pentecost that captivated me.
The artist displayed Mary, surrounded by the disciples, at the epicenter of the Pentecost event, and to my surprise, Mary looked pregnant! After some reflection, a window of understanding opened for me. Just as Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, at Pentecost she was again filled with the Holy Spirit, but this time giving birth to the Church itself, “those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). Mary, our Blessed Mother, was pregnant at Pentecost with all humanity! I loved this reimagining of the “birthday event of the Church” and have never forgotten it.
As a child growing up in the years when space exploration was new, I would excitedly watch every space launch on TV, always catching my breath as the “blast off” from earth shook the spacecraft loose from its moorings through fiery clouds of smoke. My eyes were fixed skyward, gradually letting go of any tension I felt as the spacecraft disappeared safely out of sight. Mine was the decade when President John F. Kennedy set “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth” as the national goal. And quite amazingly on July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong took that “one giant leap for mankind” as he stepped onto the moon. It was a time of great awe inspired by the ingenuity of humans and the triumph of science. 
If you live in a diocese that celebrates Ascension on Sunday, you will miss one of the gospel selections for either the Sixth or the Seventh Sunday of Easter. But taken together, these two gospels from John 14:23-29 and John 17: 20-26 offer insights into the mind of Jesus on the night before he died. His last will and testament are the gift of peace and a prayer for unity. How sorely we need both today.
The Sunday Gospels of Easter provide “mystagogy” for us as disciples of the Risen Lord. Just as the newly baptized are called to unpack and explore the rich sacramental life they have received at Easter, we too are invited to explore our faith more deeply as the Easter season unfolds from week to week.
A casual visitor to our monastery chapel may not notice the stained-glass window of the “Good Shepherd” located among the lower tier of chapel windows. But this “Good Shepherd” window has always comforted me, depicting Jesus as deeply compassionate, willing to take the lost sheep upon his shoulders, ready to lay down his life for his flock.
A couple of weeks ago the play Fiddler on the Roof, the 1964 Broadway classic, came to the city where I live. The play, one of my all-time favorites, is the tale of Tevye the dairyman, his wife Golde, and his family’s struggles in a changing Russia. The three oldest of his five daughters are dealing with unusual marriages. He wrestles to recognize their feelings yet uphold revered Jewish traditions. The play is remembered for such heartwarming songs as “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.”
April 24, 2022, Second Sunday of Easter