Boston Suffering

During my prayer time yesterday, I was reading from this beautiful book,  2013 A Book of Grace-Filled Days. The meditation of the day was on Acts 7:60, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." It ironically speaks directly to the Boston tragedy and how, perhaps, God is asking us to make some sense of it.

"This prayer was found was found in the Ravensbruck concentration camp near the body of a dead child. 'O Lord, remember not only men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we have born thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of this; and when they come to judgement let all the fruits that we have born be their forgiveness.'"

May His Presence be always with us.

Gratitude

This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it!

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE!!

This is a beautiful song and I appreciate the Catholic teaching woven throughout the song. It is time to go to adoration; If you are viewing this, Jesus must be calling you to spend some time with Him so He can love you.

OUR NEW HOLY FATHER, POPE FRANCIS!!

What a beautiful video by CatholicVote.org of this historic moment in our Catholic faith! I love to watch it over and over.

Humility vs Humiliations

My one word for the year 2013 is RENEW because every area of my life needs exactly that. While raising and maintaining a large family is truly a blessing and joy for me, the daily logistics of it all has blocked the conduit of God's grace where it should be freely flowing. Yes, God has been baking me a big humble pie but I have been ignoring the aroma that has been creeping into my conscience. However, the timer has rung and I can no longer dismiss the fact that God is trying to get my attention.

So, I am praying the Litany of Humility everyday asking God to show me the areas that need renewing. It is truly a litany that will either bring you to your knees or your pride will not allow you to finish it. I am also meditating on one of the Stations of the Cross each day, as Fr. Cameron of the Magnificat magazine has so wisely suggested. Today is the Second Station, Jesus Bears His Cross. 

I can only speak for myself, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I am not the only one who prays and asks God for humbleness. However, I do not want to be humiliated! One cannot be achieved without the other but pride always gets in the way. Meditating on the Second Station today clearly reminded me of Jesus' example of accepting the humiliations God has prepared for me from all eternity. I get easily irritated, hurt, indignant, or even angry at someone that God has placed in my path to humble me. To become humble, I need to recognize and accept the humiliations that God sends my way every day and submit to them patiently; it is this act of the will that leads to true humbleness and not a false sense of humbleness. St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi puts it so beautifully in her prayer to our Lord, "No one can acquire humility if he does not fix his gaze on You, O Word, on the Cross."

My ejaculatory prayer for the rest of Lent will be "O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine." Jesus is speaking about humility of the heart, because every virtue, every reform of life, if it is to be sincere, must come from the heart, out of which comes our thoughts and actions. I tell my children this quite often but I'm not sure they see me modelling it to well. RENEW. RENEW. RENEW.

Morning Prayer

I have been teaching our eight year old son the Morning Offering, a prayer that instantaneously enters my mind and heart before my feet hit the floor for the new day. It is a prayer I pledged to say when I was enrolled in the Brown Scapular. There are mornings when my prayer is rushed and then there are mornings when I wake up, for reasons unknown this side of heaven, at 4:00 A.M.and my prayer is recited slowly and intentionally to our Lord.

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee all my

prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the 

intentions of Thy Most Sacred Heart and for the Holy

Sacrifice of the Mass offered throughout the world today. 

In reparation for my sins, for the conversion of sinners, 

for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for all the intentions

of our associates, and for the intentions of the 

Holy Father recommended this month.

I just happen to come across some beautiful quotes by St. John Vianney on the Morning Offering. Don't you love it when that happens in such a Holy Spirit manner!

"In your work, offer your difficulties and troubles quite simply to God ... and you will find that his blessing will rest upon you and all you do." On the Sanctification of Daily Life.

"Receive, O my God, all my thoughts and all I am going to do today, in union with all you bore out of love for me during your life on earth." On the Sanctification of Daily Life.

"Never forget that it is at the beginning of each day that God has the necessary grace for the day ready for us. He knows exactly what opportunities we shall have to sin ... and will give us everything we need if we ask him then. That is why the Devil does all he can to prevent us from saying our Morning Prayers or to make us say them badly." On Morning Prayers.

It is the sweetest sound to hear your children offering their prayers to God in their child like ways, not able pronounce the r's and w's quite right yet. Jesus loves the little children, may we offer our day to Him with the same trusting, child like faith.

Day 3 Temptations

The desert journey has begun...

8:00 A.M. - the kids wake up and are going through withdrawals because Friday's during Lent, there are no electronics (computers, iPods, video games, except for school work.) Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you, save souls.

8:10 A.M. - youngest little angel demanding that I get his hot chocolate now! Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you save souls.

8:15 A.M. - two children speaking extremely rude to one another. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you, save souls.

8:20 A.M. - one child highly indignant that someone ate the last of the chocolate cereal. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you, save souls.

8:30 A.M. - motherly Lent talk, again, about how Jesus is calling us to work on turning our hearts toward Him. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you, save souls.

9:00 A.M. - two children wrestling on the floor with each other and one ends up seriously mad because the other one sat on his head. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you, save souls.

And so most of the morning went on in just about the same fashion. Whenever we start out on a holy journey, rest assured Satan will be right there tempting us in all the areas he knows we struggle in. That was very apparent in our family dynamics this morning. Thank goodness my phone alarm providentially rang at noon, demanding me to go and pray the Angelus. Naturally I was quickly obedient. All was well after that quiet time with Jesus, Mary & Joseph, my rescue heroes. Remember, Jesus also knows the areas we struggle in and is always there to strengthen us, if we ask.

May God strengthen you and your families during your 40 days in the desert.

Eternal Love

Lo! there He hangs
Ashened figure pinioned against the wood.

God grant that I might love Him
Even as I should.

I draw a little closer
To share this Love Divine
And hear Him softly murmur:

“Ah, foolish child of mine.
If now I would embrace you
My hands would stain thee red
And if I leaned to whisper
The thorns would pierce your head.”

‘Twas then I learned in meekness
That love demands a price.

‘Twas then I knew that sorrow
Is but the kiss of Christ.

--Anonymous

 

Dust Thou Art...

 

We are at the beginning of Lent, a time of penance and interior renewal to enable us to prepare for Easter. The Church's liturgy invites us to purify our souls and to begin again. I am, as I'm sure everyone is, struck by those hauntingly beautiful words that were first spoken by God to Adam after he committed sin. "...dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return" (Gn 3:19).  They are repeated today to those that come forth for the distribution of ashes, to remind us of our nothingness and the reality of death. God wants us, he longs for us to return to Him with our whole heart, mind, body and soul. Our hearts, however, are in need of conversion through penance and mortification. Our fasting today and throughout all of Lent, should not only be a bodily one, but also a deep interior fast, as one cannot be fruitful without the other. Ask for the grace today of humility to see what needs changed in your heart. Pray the Litany of Humility on your knees in total surrender.

St. Teresa of Avila is my patron saint, whom I adore. Let us close with her fervent prayer to our Sweet Savior:

"O Lord, I would rather live and die in hope, and in the effort to gain eternal life, than to possess all creatures and their perishable goods. Do not abandon me, O Lord! I hope in You, and my hope will not be confounded. Give me the grace to serve You always and dispose of me as You wish."