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.

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."