Posts belonging to Category Spiritual Life

Do you ever get so caught up in getting it all done that you forget why you are doing it? I do. All the time. Which is why I loved this from This Tremendous Lover by Dom Eugene Boylan:

No matter what we do, unless we do it in the love of God, it profits us nothing. God wants our love, He will be satisfied with nothing else. That is what He principally looks for in our works. The things we do or achieve are not of primary value to God, for He can create them by a mere thought or with just as much ease He can raise up other free agents to do what we do. But the love of our hearts is something unique, something no one else can give Him…He wants our love, but because He desires to make us happy with Him for ever, and He can only do that if we are in love with Him.

As I’m sure was the case for many of our readers, this was our family’s weekend to take down Christmas decorations and restore the house to some semblance of order and cleanliness. In addition to taking down the tree (sniff, sniff) and packing away the decorations, we also urged our children to find a home for their new toys, tidy up their rooms, and decide if there was anything that needed to be given away or thrown away. In the midst of all of the rearranging, my husband made the comment that he was ready to get rid of the rug that has been sitting in our living room for the past 3+ years. It has never really matched the furniture or the style of the room, but we had nowhere else to put it and as so often happens in life, inertia has taken over and we have grudgingly let it occupy a huge part of our home for way too long. Until today. We moved the coffee table, rolled up the carpet, and decided to sell or give it away as soon as possible. Wow, that was easy! The living room already feels much more open, and we can imagine the possibilities for designing a more functional space in a way that we couldn’t do when the rug was there. What took us so long?

I think that our spiritual lives can often be much like the above scenario. There is something glaringly obvious standing in the way of spiritual progress, but we are hesitant to change because of fear, a lack of creativity, or just plain laziness. Or at least this is true in my case – I shouldn’t speak for anyone other than myself. The amazing thing is that the big obstacles are often quite easy to avoid or remove. The flesh might be weak, but when it comes down to it, removing obstacles does not always involve Herculean efforts. Is the computer getting in the way of that prayer time I committed to mid-afternoon? Why don’t I just turn off the computer for 30 minutes every afternoon? Do I keep forgetting to go to Confession on Saturday afternoons because I don’t have it written down in my planner? Why don’t I just go ahead and schedule it in red pen right now, removing the obstacle of forgetfulness? These resolutions are not terribly complicated, yet they could yield tremendous fruit.

I acknowledge that there are many parts of our lives that are complicated, and in these areas change can be more difficult. Long-time habits and patterns of behavior can be very challenging to break, and we may struggle against them for our entire lives. But not all obstacles fall into this category, and like the rug that is now rolled up in my front hallway, we should do our best to get rid of them so that we can move forward with our lives.

God bless all of you on this Monday morning! Mary, Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us!

My husband and I recently began watching the Catholicism series that we DVRed some time ago when it was on EWTN.

It. Is. Awesome. You can view the trailer here: Catholicism

There are about 20 episodes that present the Church in her fullness. Fr. Robert Barron travels to 50 places around the globe while articulately expounding on Jesus, the Bible and Catholic doctrine and how all this applies to us as people created for joy. Just watching the first episode brought be back to my time living and working in Rome, where one truly feels the universality and fullness of the Church. The series is part of an answer to John Paul II’s call to a new evangelization using modern media to teach, evangelize and energize the Church.

The website describes it as, “groundbreaking program as a thematic presentation of what Catholics believe and why, so all adults can come to a deeper understanding of the Catholic Faith. Not a video lecture, Church history or scripture study, this engaging and interesting formational program uses the art, architecture, literature, music and all the treasures of the Catholic tradition to illuminate the timeless teachings of the Church.”

Our parish is basing several adult education classes around this beautiful series and I am so encouraged. I think this program has the power to transform the Church, especially in America, for the better. See if your parish would consider establishing an adult class, or get together a group of friends to watch and discuss. Or if you need something to watch with a late evening cup of tea while you fold laundry, make this it!

“Therefore, let our heart speak thus to Him; ‘I have sought thy countenance; thy face, O Lord, will I still seek. Turn not away thy face from me.’[Ps. 26: 8-10] And let Him reply to the plea of our hearts: ‘He who loves me keeps my commandments; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’[John 14: 21] Indeed, those to whom He addressed these words did see Him with their eyes; they heard the sound of His voice with their ears; they regarded Him as a man in their human heart. But, what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, and what has not entered into the heart of man He promised to show to those who love Him.[1 Cor 2: 9] Until this favor is granted to us, until He shows us what will completely satisfy us, until we drink to satiety of that fountain of life, while we wander about, apart from Him but strong in faith, while we hunger and thirst for justice, longing with an unspeakable desire for the beautiful vision of God, let us celebrate with fervent devotion His birthday in the form of a servant…Since we are not yet ready for the banquet of our Father, let us grow familiar with the manger of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Sermon on the Nativity, St. Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.)

I’m asking tonight that you join me in prayer for a young man who needs a miracle.

He is a son, a father, a friend to many and has been told he has days to live.  I know his family would love your prayers for a miraculous turnaround in events.

You can follow his story here.  Thank you and God bless.

When I was a child in a Catholic elementary school, I had a teacher who told our class a funny story. She began her story, saying, “Now class, I am going to tell you a story about something that happened a few years ago. I was teaching my students about the crucifixion and told them that above Jesus’ cross hung a plaque, and that on the plaque were the initials INRI. When I asked if anyone knew what INRI stood for, one of the students replied, ‘I’m Nailed Right In!’”

Of course, the entire class began giggling, thinking that this was the funniest response ever. My teacher, on the other hand, was mortified, and let us know that she thought our behavior was disrespectful and unacceptable. How could we laugh at such a story, she wondered aloud? I can remember thinking to myself, “How does she expect us to hear something so clever and to keep a straight face? What did she expect us to say?” In short, my teacher was setting us up for failure – yes, perhaps our response was a bit disrespectful, but what did she expect of 6th graders? If she didn’t want us to laugh, she should not have told us this story, or at least she should have prefaced her story by letting us know her expectations for our response.

In what areas of life am I setting my children up for success, and in what areas am I setting them up for failure? Do I have certain unfair expectations of them given the circumstances of our family life? Are there certain areas where I could have higher expectations? These are questions that I will be bringing to my prayer time, but a few examples come to mind right away. For example, I am setting my son up for failure when I expect him to make his bed and brush his teeth in the morning before school, but at the same time ask him to stay in the kitchen so that he does not wake up his little sisters. I am setting my daughter up for failure when I ask her to sit still at dinner, but am up and out of my seat for most of the meal getting drinks for this child and more rice for that child. I am setting my children up for success when I tell them about the importance of friendship with Jesus, and then pray with them every night. I am setting them up for success when I limit their screen time, and also limit my own screen time by choosing to read a book or newspaper instead of turning on the computer or TV.

St. Lucy, patron saint of eyesight and patroness of light, pray for us! Through the grace of God, give us eyes to see the inconsistencies in our own lives, and shed light where there is darkness.

“Just as two friends, frequently in each other’s company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection.” ~Blessed Bartolo Longo, as quoted in Rosarium Virginis Mariae (The Rosary of the Virgin Mary), of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, To the Bishops, Clergy nad Faithful of the Most Holy Rosary, October 16, 2002

Happy Feast of All Saints, dear readers! I thought that I would share an excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI’s All Saints Day message from this year – enjoy!

Dear brothers and sisters! 

With great joy, we celebrate today the feast of All Saints. Visiting a nursery garden, one remains taken aback at the variety of plants and flowers, and spontaneously begins to think of the Creator’s fantasy that made the earth a marvelous garden. These same sentiments come to us when we consider the spectacle of holiness: the world appears to us as a “garden,” where the Spirit of God has sustained with remarkable wonder a multitude of saints, male and female, from every age and social condition, of every tongue, people and culture. 

Each is different from the others, with the uniqueness of their own personality and their own spiritual charism. All, however, were marked by the “seal” of Jesus, the imprint of his love, witnessed upon the Cross. All now are at joy, in a feast without end as, like Jesus, they reached this goal across toil and trial, each one encountering their share of sacrifice to participate in the glory of the resurrection…

…On this day let us revive in ourselves an attraction toward Heaven that calls us to carry on in our earthly pilgrimage. Let us lift in our hearts the desire to always unite ourselves to the family of the saints, of which we already have the grace to be a part. As a celebrated “spiritual” song says: “When the saints go marching in, oh how I’d want, Lord, to be in their number!” 

May this beautiful aspiration burn in all Christians and help them to surpass every difficulty, every fear, every tribulation! Let us place, dear friends, our hand in the maternal one of Mary, Queen of All Saints, and let ourselves be led by her toward our heavenly homeland, in the company of the blessed spirits “of every nation, people and language.” And let us unite ourselves in prayer already recalling our dear departed ones who we’ll commemorate tomorrow. 

(emphasis added by me)

Food for your heart this morning…

When I see someone sad, I always think, she is refusing something to Jesus…Cheerfulness is a sign of a generous and mortified person who forgetting all things, even herself, tries to please God in all she does for souls.  Cheerfulness is often a cloak which hides a life of sacrifice, continual union with God, fervor and generosity.  A person who has this gift of cheerfulness very often reaches a great height of perfection.  For God loves a cheerful giver.”  ~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

What are you holding back from God this morning?  It may be something small, like not enough sleep, or a kitchen full of dirty dishes, or something big, like caring for a very sick child or worrying about a husband who has lost his job, but if you are like me and struggling with cheerfulness, it is definitely something.  Praying for all our readers today, that you may all offer your burdens to Jesus and have a cheerful spirit!

As I was boarding the airplane on my way home from a trip a couple of weeks ago, there was a slight seat mix-up. The elderly woman who was supposed to sit in the middle seat was sitting in the window seat, taking a nap, and I was sitting in the aisle. Along came the man who I presumed had the middle seat. He stopped and checked his ticket, and I stood to let him in. Rather than moving into the middle seat, however, the man proceeded to wake the sleeping woman by explaining to her that she would need to move, and that the window seat belonged to him. The elderly woman slowly began to make her way up out of her seat, but it became quite clear that she would not be able to move on her own. Changing his mind, the man told the woman not to move, that he would sit in the middle and she could stay at the window. She smiled and fell back asleep. Ashamed that I had not thought of this sooner, I told the man that I would also be happy to take the middle seat, but he told me not to worry about it and sat down. He told me, with a smile on his face, that if she needed to use the bathroom, I would be on duty. He also made a couple of other comments, but he stayed put for the rest of the flight and did not complain about his seat in the middle.

This man, my friends, was like the second son in Jesus’ parable of the two sons and the vineyard. Do you remember it, the one in Matthew 21: 28-32? There was a father who asked his two sons to go and work in his vineyard. The first son said that he would go, but did not. The second son said that he would not go, but later changed his mind and went. Jesus tells us that the second son did what his father wanted. The man who sat in the middle seat did his Father’s will. He initially acted uncharitably – he wanted to sit in the window seat, the one that was assigned to him, and was going to make the woman move. But he changed his mind. He did the Father’s will and acted charitably. I, on the other hand, initially reacted with disgust at the man’s actions – how could he make this sweet napping woman move into the middle seat? I would never do such a thing! But did I act? No, I waited until it was too late.

A priest recently reminded me that while it is important to make aspirations, or promises to Our Lord of things that we will do, we must also act on these aspirations. We must not only think of the beautiful things that God is calling us to, but also do our best to follow through with them! And then today, in Bible study, came the verses, “Blessed are they who hear the word of God and obey it,” and “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (Luke 11:28; James 1:22). The first step is to listen to God’s word in our lives, but we must be careful not to get stuck there. We must also do what Our Lord is calling us to, and ask Him to help us when we have trouble. The example that comes immediately to mind is going to Confession: All week, I make many aspirations to go to Confession Saturday afternoon. Saturday comes, and because I haven’t made concrete plans to make a trip to the Church, the time passes and I have to wait yet another week to make my Confession. I sometimes hear God’s calling, but fail to do. Or I assure a friend of my prayers, but fail to make a note of her intention so that I will not forget. I have made a promise to do something good, but have not followed through.

To be sure, God’s grace covers all of these offenses, and I am given a second, and a one-hundred and second, and a one-thousand and second chance each day. But I think that maybe my Father is trying to ever-so-gently communicate something to me today, and I would be wise to listen, and to act.