Memories in Memorium

Memories are beautiful threads that connect who we were with who we are and what we can become. The trick is not to let those threads tie us down, but rather to use them to weave a tapestry that both comforts and supports us. The following quote from Joan Chittister seems appropriate as we close out this Memorial Day weekend. I think Joan's words speak to this holding on and letting go.

"But the truth remains: Nothing lasts. No single thing can consume our entire life's meaning. No single thing can give us total satisfaction. Nothing is worth everything: neither past, nor present nor future. It isn't true that the loss of any single thing will destroy us. Everything in life has some value and life is full of valuable things, things worth living for, things worth doing, things worth becoming, things worth loving again. It is only a matter of being detached enough from one thing to be open to everything else.

The essence of life is not to find the one thing that satisfies us but to realize that nothing can ever completely satisfy us. And that's all right."

Are you holding on to something too tightly? What else are you letting go as a result?

[Source: Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope by Joan D. Chittister. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company ©2003.]

Friday Beat

Thought I'd send you into the weekend thinking about how life moves us in many directions. From one angle it may all appear random, but from a different perspective it's really a perfectly timed dance.



The places we find ourselves might even lead to unexpected surprises.



And the realization that beautiful music can come from the most unlikely of instruments.



Look for the dances and listen for the rhythms in your weekend!

To Love

Jesus said to his disciples:
"As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments
and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that
my joy might be in you and
your joy might be complete."
~Jn 15:9–11

A good friend once said that the one thing people desire most is to love and be loved. Regardless of race, creed, or socioeconomic background, in our quiet moments, it's love for which we long. Maybe that's why reading today's Gospel sounds so much like hearing the sweetest piece of music ever played. Like a beautifully composed love letter, Jesus tells us exactly what we want and need to hear. We are loved.

We are loved, but true love is never a one-way street. Remain in my love must naturally follow. Every relationship has two sides. The give and take are both crucial. Think about it. Have you ever found yourself angrily muttering about what you're not getting from a friend, a family member, a spouse, or a co-worker? You easily list all the ways they have offended you or not lived up to your expectations. Fix one of these moments in your mind. Then turn the mirror on yourself. Did you make it easy for them to help you, to know you, or to love you? How might your reactions have influenced their behavior? Every relationship has two sides.

The same is true for the one you have with God. I've certainly reached moments in my life when it seemed like God was far away. Things were not going well and I felt no sense of grace or divine assistance. That poem about the footprints in the sand is a beautiful piece of literary work, but let's face it, even the guy in the story didn't know he was being carried at the time it was happening. It was only later when he took the time to listen to God's story, to have a conversation with God, that the truth of their relationship came to light.

Remain in my love. Keep your end of this relationship alive. Do what is right, what is just, and what is good, and you will remain in my love. Jesus makes it pretty clear. He'll always love us, but in order for us to feel the joy of this relationship, we're going to need to give a little, too. The next time you find yourself feeling lost and alone, muttering about how God has left you in the mess of life, turn the mirror on yourself. When was the last time you sought God? What part have you played in your relationship with him?

Look for the next blog update on Thursday, May 26.

Friday

I'm off on a field trip today so I thought I'd bring you along to share in some natural beauty.

A few years ago, my family had the great fortune to travel to Poland. Part of our trip was a visit to Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains. This is the place where Pope John Paul II often walked and prayed the Rosary. It was truly the most beautiful place I've ever been. Many of my nature photographs that are used on this blog come from that trip, including the one from yesterday's post. I thought I'd share a couple of videos of this amazing place.

In the Searching

Lord, you have searched me out and known me;

you know my sitting down and my rising up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You trace my journeys and my resting places

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Indeed, there is not a word on my lips,

but you, O Lord, know it altogether.

You press upon me behind and before

and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go then from your Spirit?

where can I flee from your presence?

If I climb up to heaven, you are there;

if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.

If I take the wings of morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there your hand will lead me

and your right hand hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me,

and the light around me turn to night,"

Darkness is not dark to you;

the night is as bright as the day;

darkness and light to you are both alike.

~Psalm 139 1–11

We all feel lonely sometimes. Caught up in our own kinds of darkness, it seems that no one can possibly understand. There are some things we must face alone, but not really alone. The psalmist understood this and tries to convey it to us through this love letter. No matter what we wrestle with, no matter how alone we might feel in the struggle, God is always there. Our unsettling loneliness is a reminder to continue searching for God in the big and little things around us. In the happy and the sad, the dark and the light, he waits to be noticed.

Where do you see God today?

Changes are Coming

For many of us, the parts of the Mass are so familiar that we can recite the prayers and responses by heart. But come the first Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011, you may need to pick up a missalette. The reason is the coming changes with the implementation of the New Roman Missal.

The Third Edition of the Roman Missal is being introduced in all Catholic churches in the United States. The missal is the ritual text containing prayers and instructions for the celebration of the Mass. It has been in the works for quite some time. In fact, Pope John Paul II announced the revised version during the Jubilee Year 2000. Since that time it has been written and revised with the final version now ready to be implemented this Advent.

What kinds of changes can you expect? Among other things the revised missal contains prayers for the observance of recently canonized saints, additional prefaces for the Eucharistic Prayers, additional Votive Masses and Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, and some updated and revised rubrics (instructions) for the celebration of the Mass. It will also include updated translations of existing prayers, including some changes to well-known responses and acclamations of the people.

We'll talk more about some these specific changes in the weeks to come. If you'd like to read more, here are a couple helpful articles to get you started.

http://www.revisedromanmissal.org/

http://www.loyolapress.com/roman-missal-changes.htm

The Path

Today I'm borrowing a meditation from Mahatma Gandhi.

I know the path: it is strait and narrow.

It is like the edge of a sword.

I rejoice to walk on it.

I weep when I slip.

God's word is:

"He who strives never perishes."

I have implicit faith in that promise.

Though, therefore, from my weakness

I fail a thousand times,

I shall not lose faith.

Are You Listening God?

The past week I've been witness to the amazing power of prayer. Against all odds, a friend survived a major surgery and is recovering beyond the expectations of all doctors involved. Many people prayed for this individual. I believe it mattered. But it leads me to the obvious question, what about the people for whom prayers were not answered. What about those who despite their most sincere pleas to God didn't make it through or heard news that devastated them and their families. Is God really listening, or is it all just a random act of universal chance.

This brings me to a wonderful reflection from the book Inner Compass by Margaret Silf. She writes,

There was a time when I thought of my prayers as some kind of lottery. I might get lucky on a few of my scratchboard prayers and clock up a few ticks, as if I were checking God off against a shopping list. Big wins were a lot less likely--really only dreams. Some people even keep diaries of the answers they feel they have, or have not, received to their specific prayers.

Today, though, I really question this way of thinking of prayer and the ways in which God responds to it.

Margaret goes on to compare our "deepest desires" to a powerful underground stream. The stream is so deep that we ourselves are not even fully aware of it. This desire comes from God and directed toward him. The problem we face is that we are often distracted from this inner connection. The distractions come from outside ourselves. They are the things that pull us away from God. They are our own selfish wants and desires that may make us feel good in the moment but ultimately will leave us lost and empty.

These are the prayers that often begin, "Please God, if you'll only do this . . . then I will never . . . again." They are the prayers said in desperation and fear. Sometimes we may feel they are answered, and other times not. Ultimately, what becomes our burden is believing that God is like a vending machine receiving our prayers as tokens and feeding back answers like treats. Or we see God as a genie who randomly decides to grant us our wishes.

Margaret goes on,

I discover, when I let my prayer become this deep flow that I can't even name or ever fully know, the amazing truth that God is continuously responding to it, much as the parent of a much loved, much wanted child is continuously aware of the child's fundamental needs. The parent is continuously attending to those needs even though the child is unaware of them, and even when the child expresses "wants" that will not further his or her real interests and may even be damaging.

A strange reversal follows from this discovery. If I believe that God is continuously responding to my deepest desire, then it follows that by observing God's actions in my life and his movement in my heart, I will be able to see more and more clearly what my deepest desires really are. Paradoxical though it may appear, I will become able to hear my prayers by listening to the answers, not the other way around.

Take a look at your life. What are your answered prayers telling you about what you really need?

[Source: Inner Compass by Margaret Silf. Loyola Press. ©1999]

Gently, Lord

May is a beautiful time with so much of creation coming back to life. Colors are brighter, spring rains fill the air, and all the birds and insects once again join in chorus. Amid all this excitement in nature, life seems to begin a faster pace, too.

School is wrapping up and along with it come projects, First Communions, Confirmations, final concerts, showcases, Graduations, and a million other little things crammed into the span of a few weeks. It's hard not to lose yourself in all this.

I found this little prayer. It spoke to the crazy, busy person inside me. I hope it will speak to you, as well.

Dear God,

Speak gently in my silence.

When the loud outer noises of my surroundings

and the loud inner noises of my fears

keep pulling me away from you,

help me to trust that you are still there

even when I am unable to hear you.

Give me ears to listen to your small, soft voice saying:

"Come to me, you who are overburdened,

and I will give you rest . . .

for I am gentle and humble of heart."

Let that loving voice be my guide.

Amen.

~Henry Nouwen, from With Open Hands

[Source: With Open Hands by Henry Nouwen. Ave Maria Press; 34th Anniversary edition ©2006]

Readings During the Easter Season

On Wednesdays we like to share Church facts and teachings.

Did you know that during Mass, the Liturgy of the Word doesn't include an Old Testament reading in the time between Easter and Pentecost? Instead, the first reading comes from a book of the Bible called the Acts of the Apostles. This book tells the story of how the Apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit, begin to build the Church. We learn more about Jesus' Ascension and the coming of the Spirit. We also see the Apostles reaching out to both Jews and non-Jews, known as Gentiles. The Acts describes many miracles performed by the Holy Spirit through the Apostles.

The second reading is from one of the many epistles, or letters, written by the Apostles to churches in many areas. Most of the epistles were written by Saint Paul and address the concerns of a certain group of people or individuals. The others, often called the "catholic letters," were written to the universal Church and deal with matters important for all Christians.

The third reading is still chosen from one of the four Gospels.

Happy Easter Season!

What Can He Do?

Today we hear again the people asking Christ,

"What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?

How often do we find ourselves looking around us and asking the very same questions of God. "What have you done for me lately?"

Jesus says,

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

Maybe today you needed to hear that He is everything you need.

Getting Full

Today's Gospel finds a crowd of people looking for Jesus. It's the crowd that he fed with only five loaves and two fish just the day before on a mountainside in Galilee. They ate, and now they are hungry again.

Isn't that how life goes? At times it feels like a vicious cycle of doing and redoing the same old things. We eat only to get hungry again. We do laundry only to see dirty clothes pile up again. We diet, only to lose the same five pounds again a few months later. With our eyes and hearts focused firmly on the tasks at hand, there never seems to be enough hours in the day. Worse yet, once the to-do list is complete it only needs to be rewritten tomorrow.

This is exactly where the crowd finds themselves as they stand waiting for Jesus to come back, hopefully bringing lunch.

"Jesus answered them and said,
'Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.'"

Stop thinking with your stomachs and understand that you have a deeper hunger that needs to be satisfied.

This is the message Jesus gives the crowd. He's trying to explain that there are two kinds of hunger-- a physical one and a spiritual one. The problem with we humans is that we are always confusing the two. Food will never satisfy our spiritual hunger. Instead it only makes us more aware of the emptiness. It's possible to have everything you ever dreamed of in life, fancy cars, a great home, wealth, the best job, the greatest family, and still look in the mirror and see a starving face looking back at you.

'So they said to him,
'What can we do to accomplish the works of God?'
Jesus answered them,
'This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.''

How can we get full, the kind of full that will never go away? We start looking in the right place. Things that come with price tags are not the answer. God is.

[Scripture verse: John 6:22–29]

Happy Mother's Day Happy Hour

Happy Mother's Day!

Replace the "Mom, It's Your Birthday" at the beginning of this video with "Mom, It's Mother's Day." These guys are really popular around my house!

Get your tissue for this one. Very sweet song!



This last one is not for the faint-of-heart. However, it was far too funny not to share. Those with teenagers will appreciate the humor and all those moms who are forcing your little ones into their Sunday best for Christmas card photos . . . this is your future.



Forgive me!
Enjoy your weekend moms!

All Grown Up

In the first reading today, the apostles have begun preaching about Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they are stepping out on their own. Unfortunately, the guys in charge (the high priests and court officers of the Sanhedrin) are less than thrilled. They must have hoped to end all this with the very public crucifixion and death of this band of outcasts' leader. Yet here we go again!

So they call the apostles to the court. Now remember, the priests and officials are probably not expecting much from this motley crew. So far, the apostles have allowed their leader to be arrested, they've run away as he was brutally tortured and killed, they denied him publicly, and then they locked themselves away in a room somewhere. They certainly don't send out a threatening or even worrisome vibe. That brings us to today's exchange,

Acts 5:27-33

When the court officers had brought the Apostles in
and made them stand before the Sanhedrin,
the high priest questioned them,
“We gave you strict orders did we not,
to stop teaching in that name.
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
But Peter and the Apostles said in reply,
“We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

When they heard this,
they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death.

Imagine the surprise! The apostles have clearly come into their own. The Holy Spirit is working through them, and they are ready to act.

It seems to me that the apostle's journey mirrors the growing of a child into adulthood. They began their walk with Christ as men with a kind of spiritual innocence. They were wild and careless often needing to be redirected . They missed the point on more than one occasion, were distracted by thoughts of power and fame, wanted to act and react violently when challenged, lied, ran, and eventually hid when things got tough. They behaved like willful children, rebellious teens, and carefree young adults. Now we see them standing tall--grown into a new spiritual maturity.

Unlike our physical bodies, spiritual growth is not necessarily related to age. Do you see yourself in the apostles? Where are you on your spiritual journey?

May Crowning

In the Catholic Church, the month of May is dedicated to recalling the role of Mary in salvation. We believe that Mary is the Mother of the Church. We look to her, as we do our earthly mothers, for love, guidance, inspiration, and support. As mother of Jesus, we also seek her intercession with her son. We ask Mary to be our advocate.

While we do honor Mary as a saint, we do not believe that she is divine. It is important to note the distinction between honor and worship. Catholics do not worship the Blessed Mother. We worship God by remembering Mary's role in salvation.

There are a number of feast days in May dedicated to remembering Mary. In addition, the May crowning is a popular devotion in honor of the Blessed Mother that is repeated every year. As the name indicates a crown of flowers is usually placed upon a statue of Mary to symbolically represent that she is Queen of Heaven and Earth. Many parishes involve children in this sweet and beautiful tradition.

If you are interested in reading more, the following is a reflection about memories of May Crowning.

May Crowning Reflection on a Marian Celebration - Loyola Press

A Spiritual Life

Reading today's Gospel, I was struck by Jesus' words to his apostles.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. ~Jn 14:12

The thought occurred to me, how do my life and works measure up? What does it mean to live this kind of spiritual life? Should I be praying and reading the Bible more? Should I be at church more often or devote more time to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament? Should I be looking for ways to bring faith up in every conversation? Did I provide enough faith experiences for my kids? Am I supposed to give all my free time to works of charity? Do I do enough? Do I do the right things?

In Thoughts on Solitude, Thomas Merton shares some wisdom on this idea.

The spiritual life is first of all a life.

It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived. Like all life, it grows sick and dies when it is uprooted from its proper element. Grace is engrafted on our nature and the whole man is sanctified by the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual life is not, therefore, a life entirely uprooted from man's human condition and transplanted into the realm of the angels. We live as spiritual men [and women] when we live as men seeking God. And if there were not evidence of this everywhere in theology, the Mystery of the Incarnation itself would be ample proof of it.

Jesus lived the ordinary life of the men of His time, in order to sanctify the ordinary lives of men of all time. If we want to be spiritual, then, let us first of all live our lives. Let us not fear the responsibilities of the work appointed for us by the will of God. Let us embrace the reality and thus find ourselves immersed in the life-giving will and wisdom of God which surrounds us everywhere.

We don't need to plan great and glorious acts to be spiritual. Living in the moment, embracing the people and experiences we encounter, and being grateful to God for all of it is indeed living a spiritual life.

My lesson: spend less time analyzing and questioning the worthiness of my actions in life and spend more time being engaged in living the life with which I've been blessed.

[Source: Thoughts of Solitude, by Thomas Merton. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. ©1956, 1958]

The Acts of the Apostles

During the Easter season, we read many stories from the Acts of the Apostles. Through this powerful account of early Christians, we find the seeds from which Christianity has spread into almost every corner of our Earth.

For the apostles, the lessons learned during their time with Christ suddenly makes sense. As if a veil were lifted from their eyes, they see. They are compelled to throw open the doors and proclaim this new way of life to all who will listen. The early Church is born, and those who nurture it have a strong sense that Jesus is the hub of all history. Because of this understanding, the apostles knew that for them, life after Christ could never be the same.

Early Christians had a great feeling of responsibility for each other. Banded together by the Spirit, they shared more than just a common humanity. Community developed with a shared sense of responsibility. They did not overlook someone who did not have enough and professed that everyone must be helped. This awoke in them the desire to share all they had, not as a result of order or legal authority, but rather as a result of their love for Jesus and for each other. They were connected by something bigger than their individual goals or aspirations. Together they found joy, peace, and purpose.

Perhaps this lesson in particular comes through so strongly today because it seems we are still struggling to learn it. Removed by thousands of years from that first band of young Christians, we often find ourselves locked in our own upper rooms, fearful and alone. We ponder the meaning of the Gospels, but have we forgotten the lessons in the Acts of the Apostles? The Church was born in community. Through the hearts of the believers the hand was motioned to give generously. The Spirit moved in those who emerged from their solitude to band together in the name of Christ. It is that same Spirit who lives and breathes and moves in us today. That is what makes us, and our society truly Christian.

[adapted from Fr. Joachim Tyrtania's Reflections, www.BoundByGracePress.com]