Happy Easter!

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

Have a blessed and happy Easter!

He is Risen!

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

Good Friday

Father, into your hands, I commend my Spirit.

My God,
We feel the pain of Christ's last moments. We stand beneath the Cross with His mother and loved ones at our side. We are struck empty by the loss. In this moment, we imagine that nothing can ever fill us again. Death is an ending. But because of this Cross, death is also a beginning. We stand ready to be filled by the living waters made possible through Your selfless sacrifice. By conquering death. You offer eternal life.
Amen.
~from Stations of the Cross 

Father, into your hands, I commend my Spirit.

To Lead, To Serve

Our blessing cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.

Today is about service and servant leadership. It's about a willingness to care for those around you. It's
about being humble enough to take the lowliest of positions in a group or organization, even (and especially) when you are in charge. It's about not calculating every cost in return for your reward. It's about leading by example. It's about living your vocation in all facets of your life.

What message are you sending others about your beliefs? How do people know you? What do they say of you when you are not around?

The answers to these questions can be eye-opening. They speak volumes about the way you live your life. Remember in the midst of reaching your goals, paying your bills, making a name for yourself, you are also making a life. This is the only chance you have to live it.

Every precious moment is an opportunity. What will you make of yours today?

It is difficult for us to comprehend that we are liberated by someone who became powerless, that we are being strengthened by someone who became weak, that we find new hope in someone who divested himself of all distinctions, and that we find a leader in someone who became a servant. It is beyond our intellectual and emotional grasp. We expect freedom from someone who is not as imprisoned as we are, health from someone who is not as sick as we are, and new directions from someone who is not as lost and confused as we are.  

... But it is not said of Jesus that he reached down from on high to pull us up from slavery, but that he became a slave with us. God's compassion is a compassion that reveals itself in servanthood. Jesus became subject to the same powers and influences that dominate us, and suffered our fears, uncertainties, and anxieties with us. Jesus emptied himself. He gave up a privileged position, a position of majesty and power, and assumed fully and without reservation a condition of total dependency. Paul's hymn of Christ does not ask us to look upward, away from our condition, but to look in our midst and discover God there.
~ by Henri Nouwen from Compassion

Our blessing cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.

Hello God, It's Me

Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Prayer is not always easy. Sometimes it flows freely like an internal monologue running stream of consciousness through our minds. Other times we sit in silence without words to express our deepest feelings and greatest needs. In both cases, we desire to be heard.

At times, we all hear only the echo of our prayers. But that doesn't mean God isn't listening. Sometimes our greatest challenge is having a mature faith, one that doesn't merely expect wishes to come true or lists checked off. God always answers, though not always in the ways we expect. Answers are more often subtle leadings toward a certain path.

Imagine prayer like a conversation with God meant to deepen our relationship. As in any relationship, there are times when we will communicate well and times when it will be a frustrating task. The important lesson is to never stop trying.

Pray often. Pray openly. Pray honestly. Pray God's will be done. Pray without exception and without expectation.

What are you praying for today?

The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God's realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love. 

Just imagine a little child crying because an old doll has broken. She takes it to her father. Would her daddy say, "My dear child, throw it away; that old doll isn't worth a penny." No, on the contrary, he will say, "Come here, my child. Daddy will try to repair the doll."
Why on earth would such a big man take such a silly old doll seriously? Because he sees it through the eyes of the little one. And because he loves his little one. And in the same way God sees your problems through your eyes because He loves you. And nothing, nothing is too small for His love. Just tell Him anything. 

~by Corrie Ten Boom from Stand at the Door and Knock

Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Spring is Coming

I will sing of your salvation.

It seems that spring is coming late for many of us this year. Bitter cold and record snowfalls ushered in the season here in the Midwest. Still, we know warmer weather is around the corner. The buds of tulips and crocuses are breaking through in spite of it all. New life and new growth won't be held back, even by the most inclement of weathers.

The same can be said of our Lenten journey. The past few weeks have been a time to face our fears, our faults, and our deepest needs. We have dealt with pain and sorrow while encountering Christ in new ways, not as a distant figure to be feared, rather as a companion upon whom we can depend. This is heavy, sometimes uncomfortable work, but we are nearing our spring. In only a few short days, we will celebrate new beginnings, new life, and new hope.

Easter is a time for joy. Today, think for a moment about how close we are to those buds of new life hiding just under the snow.

I'll leave you with some thoughts on joy as we near Easter.

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us. 

It might sound strange to say that joy is a result of our choices. We often imagine that some people are luckier than others and that their joy or sorrow depends on the circumstances of their life--over which they have no control. 

However, we do have a choice, not so much in regard to the circumstances of our life, but in regard to the way we respond to these circumstances. Two people can be the victims of the same accident. For the one, it becomes a source of resentment; for the other, the source of gratitude. The external circumstances are the same, but the choice of response is completely different. Some people become bitter as they grow old. Others grow old joyfully. That does not mean that the life of those who become bitter was harder than the life of those who become joyful. It means that different choices were made, inner choices, choices of the heart.
~Henri Nouwen from Here and Now

What are you choosing today? Do you choose joy?

I will sing of your salvation.

Whom Should I Fear?

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The first words of today's Psalm present powerful questions of faith.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life's refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
Psalm 27

Fear is a tough barrier to break. It seeps into all aspects of life. Fear can creep up on you when you least expect it, producing a kind of anxiety that will literally make you sick. Clearly this is not a new problem. Consider the number of Psalms we've reflected upon just over this Lenten season that had the topic of fear at their heart. We share in this walk with all those who have come before us, each generation trying to find peace and comfort in our anxieties.

During the Communion Rite of a Catholic Mass, after the Lord's Prayer, I am particularly drawn to the words spoken by the priest. He says:

Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

These last few days of Lent, consider what in your life is causing you distress. Where does fear creep in? How is anxiety affecting who you are and what you do each day? Then ask God to be with you in this moment and walk with you through the fear.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The Ninth Station

In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice. 

The Stations of the Cross are a popular meditation prayed during Lent. Here is an excerpt from a meditation on the ninth station:

Jesus Falls for the Third Time

Leader 2: For the third time, You fall. From where will You find the strength to stand? Who will help You now?

I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
From where will my help come.
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:1–2)

When all human strength is gone, when all hope is lost, it is only in the Lord that You will find your solace. Emptied of all You could accomplish on Your own, You rise. You walk these final steps toward the loving arms of Your Heavenly Father.

Leader 1: I feel you now, Father, as I fall for the third time. I feel the agony of Your children who fall again and again. I know they believe it is worthless and hopeless. You wanted me to show them the way. This path I walk is their path, too. So from this ground, I raise my eyes to You. I am empty. I am tired. But I am not alone. I give myself to You--for them. I rise. I walk.

All: We pray.
Father, our pride can make us believe that we are in control. We set goals, make demands, give orders, and dictate results. Yet despite our best human effort, we still fail. Defeated, we cry out to You. Sometimes we cry in anger, other times in desperation. From the hard ground, we raise our eyes to You and beg for help. Despite our weakness, You answer lovingly. You give us Your hand, You help us to rise, and with us--You walk.

Amen.

from Stations of the Cross by Denise Hemrich-Skomer and Fr. Joachim Tyrtania


In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice. 

Promises

The Lord remembers his covenant forever.

I promise. How often do you say those words? Better question, how often do you honor those words? They slip so easily from our lips, even as little children.

"Will you do as you are told?"
"I will. I promise."

"Will you be home on time?"
"I will. I promise."

"Will you be there for me?
"I will. I promise."

Promising is easy. Keeping our commitments can be hard. I think this is especially true in today's world. While technology connects us across oceans, it also has the ability to separate us emotionally. Have you noticed how much easier it is to break a date, change a plan, or even end a relationship through email or text message rather than face-to-face or over the phone?

Promise keeping is emotional business. Promises are the currency of the heart. Honoring them builds trust, breaking them chips it away. It's as simple as that.

Consider your commitments. How much importance do you place on the promises you make? How much effort do you invest in keeping them?

The Lord remembers his covenant forever.

Praise

Glory and Praise forever!

Music to guide your reflection . . .







Glory and Praise forever!

Acts of Kindness

The son of David will live forever. 


Psalm 89 speaks of loyalty and faithfulness, but it also speaks of kindness.

For you have said, "My kindness is established forever."
~Psalm 89

In some translations, the word kindness is translated as love. To me, this makes perfect sense. In so many ways, kindness is an outward sign of love. It is the way we express our compassion and connection with others. There are many opportunities in life to be frustrated with one another. We are individuals, each with our own unique gifts and challenges, each with our own blessings and struggles. We find our way in this world often by bumping along into the paths of others both like and unlike us.

Each day we face a choice. On one hand, we can react to others with aggression. We can express our opinions loudly and fight for proof of our righteousness. Or we can choose a path of kindness. We can see the heart of the other and have compassion.

This does not mean that we become morally weak. There is a difference between being strong and being unkind. Christ is the perfect model.

Think today about how you interact with others. Look to those casual connections like the clerk at the grocery store, the teller at the bank, the person driving ahead of you. Then dig deeper to those relationships with coworkers, neighbors, family, and friends. How often do you show kindness? Are you able to see Christ in the other? Do they see Christ in you?

The son of David will live forever.

In the Valley

Even though I walk in the valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

Think of all the references you know related to the thrill and success of climbing mountains. (Climb every mountain; ain't no mountain high enough) This natural landform serves as a symbol for success, perseverance, achievement, and a goal-driven life. Mountains are glorious and glorified.

While we may frame our future and plan our journey with the mountain in mind, we spend most of our lives walking in the valley. Surrounded by such heights, it's easy to lose perspective. Maybe that's why the valley leaves us feeling lost sometimes, having a sense of being alone in the world. In the valley, the full weight of our burden is upon us. There is no exhilarating height to distract our minds, no elevation to heighten our senses. But there is beauty in the valley, if we are present enough to see it. Lush green life is bursting and shadows are reminders that the sun is overhead.

Where are you today on your journey? Are you standing on the mountain top? Or are you planted squarely in the center of the valley? If so, open yourself to the beauty around you. It's a reminder that you never walk alone.

"I discovered that faith was simply the strength to keep walking, even when taking the next step seems impossible. That path also helped me see that a desire for faith was a sign of faith itself. I didn't have to understand the meaning of the suffering we went through; I could just get through it all and trust that the meaning of suffering would come in hindsight. On the path I was walking, my faith was not going to be tested by suffering. My faith was going to ground me as I walked through suffering in the world. On the path, I could rest assured that even though I trembled in the valley of the shadow of death, I was still walking with God."
~ Becca Stevens from Snake Oil: The Art of Healing and Truth-Telling

Even though I walk in the valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

The Brokenhearted

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

Have you ever had a broken heart? Chances are the answer is yes. Loving something or someone is risky business. To love is to be vulnerable, to give away a part of yourself that is tender and fragile, no matter your age. Love can be a terrifying and perilous venture. Yet it is one that makes life infinitely more sweet and rich and meaningful.

Imperfect love is a part of life. But God is the perfect consoler. How has he healed your heart?

Dear God,
I am full of wishes,
full of desires,
full of expectations.
Some of them may be realized, many may not,
but in the midst
of all my satisfactions and disappointments,
I hope in you.
I know that you will never leave me alone
and will fulfill your divine promises.
Even when it seems that things are not going my way,
I know that they are going your way
and that in the end your way is the best way for me.
O Lord, strengthen my hope,
especially when my many wishes are not fulfilled.
Let me never forget that your name is Love.
Amen.
~Henri Nouwen from With Open Hands

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

Habemus Papam

Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

Today we begin a new chapter in Church history. Pope Francis I is the new leader of the world's Catholics. Many are speculating about what kind of pope he will be and how his leadership will impact the future of the faithful. Only time will tell. We pray that God will guide him, making him a good and holy leader. We continue to believe that God looks favorably upon us.

The saint after whom the pope has chosen his name, St. Francis of Assisi, was told by God to rebuild the Church. We anxiously await the direction the Holy Father will take to emulate his namesake.

In the meantime, here are some words for reflection from former Pope John Paul II and St. Francis.

The Church wishes to serve this single end: that each person may be able to find Christ, in order that Christ may walk with each person.
~ John Paul II from Redemptor Hominis 

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.
~ St. Francis of Assisi from The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi

Other words from St. Francis

The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today. 

Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference. 

We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way. 

He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. 

The Prayer of St. Francis 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness; light;
and where there is sadness, joy. 

O Divine master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

Prayer for Strength

The Lord is gracious and merciful.

The Lord is gracious and merciful
slow to anger and of great kindness.

Have you ever heard the metaphor "He has a short fuse?" Do you know anyone who fits this description? You probably don't have to look too far. There are a lot of angry people in the world. They pop up in traffic, long lines, kid's sporting events, and (from personal experience) Disney.

A great deal of anger comes from the hectic pace of life. Short tempers are directly related to feelings of being overwhelmed. Those feelings tie us up in knots. Anger can also come from loneliness. A sense of being invisible to the world often results in grand gestures for making oneself seen. Sometimes anger is a habit. One no longer realizes that his or her behaviors are aggressive or hurtful towards others.

Ultimately, the question is not about how to control those around you. The question today is, how do you respond to another person's anger, especially when it is directed at you? Do you react with more anger? Do you ignore the person and walk away? Do you show kindness? What if your response changed the course of someone's day, week, or even their life?

A prayer for our own strength in difficult times . . .

It is your world, O Lord, that is in pain. You are a compassionate God. You came to share your pains. Please give your people hope, courage, strength, and faith. Let us not be destroyed by the powers of evil which surround us, pervade us and often inhabit us. Drive from us these evil powers, and show us the way to you, who are Light, Life, Truth, Goodness, and, above all, Love. Amen.
~ Henri Nouwen from A Cry for Mercy

The Lord is gracious and merciful.

Don't Be Afraid

The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.

The beginning of today's Psalm is particularly beautiful.

God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken
and mountains quake to the depths of the sea

I am no stranger to fear. At times, it has all but consumed me. Anxiety runs in my family. In many ways I believe it is passed on, both through genetics and by example. So I find myself on a constant quest for words of relief. Scripture, like this Psalm, certainly provide both direction and comfort. I like to write these passages on sticky notes and post them all around my workspace.

The insight of other's who have struggled is also particularly helpful. That's one reason you will find so many references to Henri Nouwen throughout this blog. In his life, he openly professed his own battles with mind and heart. There's peace in knowing you are not alone.

We're all headed in the same direction, but sometimes it feels like we walk alone. Experience has shown me that in times of deepest struggle, the best thing one can do is turn your head and look for the fellow traveller who is walking nearby. Together there comes a clarity. In that clarity is God, who was with us all along.

Why do we need to be told "Don't be afraid" so often? I believe that God realizes how many things there are that frighten us, but He does not want us to live lives dominated by fear. Fearful people cannot be happy. Fearful people cannot be generous, charitable, or forgiving. Fear constricts the soul and keeps us from being as fully human as God would like us to be. In the Bible, virtually the first words spoken by a human being to God are an expression of fear. Responding to God's question, "Where are you?" Adam says, "I heard Your voice in the garden and I was afraid." (Genesis 3:10) 

God spoke to the generation of Moses, the generation that left Egypt, and gave them the Ten Commandments, forbidding murder, theft, and adultery, enjoining them to respect the truth and honor their parents. But God also spoke to the generations before them and after them and gave them, and us, an Eleventh Commandment: Don't be afraid.
~ Conquering Fear by Rabbi Harold Kushner

The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.

Rescue Me

I will praise you Lord, for you have rescued me.

Today is one of those days when I would most certainly like to be rescued. Deadlines loom, house is a mess, after school schedule is full, dinner is not planned . . . and so it goes. The story is familiar to us all. Jammed packed days, restless nights.

In the hectic pace of daily life, it's so easy to lose touch with who I am. I start defining myself by what I do and how much. For me, being rescued today means remembering that I'm more than what I need to accomplish. I'm blessed beyond measure. I am grateful.

Life's hectic. But you are blessed with God's grace. Remember, you have already been rescued.

In the whirlwind of life, in the hurly-burly of things and people and work, we risk the loss of life itself. We risk the loss of focus. Suddenly, we one day realize, we don't know what our lives actually are anymore, except that they are about too much. We risk the loss of relationships. We get too busy, too scattered, to attend to the truly human intimacies we need if we are to say in touch with what it means to be human. We risk the loss of balance. We risk the loss of direction.  

It's not the busyness that destroys us. It is simply being perpetually busy with things that only scatter rather than deepen us.
~ Joan Chittister from Welcome to the Wisdom of the World

Take some time today to think deeply, love deeply, and pray deeply. It may make all the difference.

I will praise you Lord, for you have rescued me.

Small Voices

I am the Lord your God; hear my voice.


Wouldn't it be great if things were that easy, if God just texted or messaged you on Facebook? "Here I am!" It would certainly take away a lot of doubt and confusion.

One of my favorite Old Testament stories is from Kings. Elijah goes to the mount and is waiting for God. First comes the great wind, but God is not in the wind. Then comes the earthquake, still no God. A fire rages, but God is not in the fire. Then finally Elijah hears a still small voice. You guessed it, that's God.

I think in all of us there remains an expectation that God will speak in grand and forceful ways. Somehow it makes the whole spiritual quest seem more romantic. Witness stories are less dramatic when our direction comes in the form of a whisper. But all signs point us in that direction.

Think for a minute, are you in tune enough to hear a still small voice? Or are you walking through life with headphones anticipating the next great wind, earthquake, or fire?

Why is it so difficult to be still and quiet and let God speak to me about the meaning of my life? Is it because I don't trust God? Is it because I don't know God? Is it because I wonder if God is really there for me? Is it because I am afraid of God? Is it because everything else is more real for me than God? Is it because, deep down, I do not believe that God cares what happens at [my] corner? 

Still there is a voice [. . .] 

Can I trust that voice and follow it? It is not a very loud voice, and often it is drowned out by the clamor of the inner city. Still, when I listen attentively, I will hear that voice again and again and come to recognize it as the voice speaking to the deepest places of my heart.
~ Henri Nouwen from Here and Now

I am the Lord your God; hear my voice.

I Hear You

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

Stubborn. I admit it. I tend to be a bit . . . maybe more than a bit . . . stubborn. I like to do things on my own. In my quest for self-sufficiency, I don't ask for help or receive it well. As I've gotten older, I see more and more the fault in this. I've missed out on many lessons in life because I was convinced I could "figure things out." Sometimes I did. Often times it took far longer than necessary and required much more pain and anguish than needed. If I had simply heard the voices around me offering assistance, or heaven forbid sought them out, I might have moved much more quickly and become far more proficient in many things.

Today's Psalm reminds me of the stubborn soul. Sometimes God speaks, and I am too stubborn to listen.  Surely my way will work out just fine. Often, by God's grace, it does. But man, what a hike! I'm working on releasing some of my stubborn tendencies. When I feel them tighten around me, I consciously try to breathe in openness and melt them away. I want to hear God's voice and listen.

What about you? Are you open to hearing and receiving?

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

A Music Moment

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem

Some praise and worship music for your day.






More of the beautiful music of Fernando Ortega can be found at his website
http://www.fernandoortega.com/

  Praise the Lord, Jerusalem

Wonder as I Wander

Remember your mercies, O Lord.

I love the words in today's Psalm,

Make known to me your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
~Psalm 25: 4–5

Such beautiful poetry, the words and rhythm are soothing to the soul. I also love the imagery. I see a compassionate and wise Father who knows what's best . He sees the bigger picture, but doesn't impose the route on me. Instead, he waits patiently as I wander about, often taking the long way. Still, it's good to know he's there for the times when I stop being stubborn and willingly ask for directions.

When was the last time you checked in and asked God to show you the way? What path are you on? Is it leading you where you want and need to go?

A Prayer for the Journey 

God, set me on the path again.
Turn me to the rising sun
     when I need to be inspired.
Turn me to wilderness
     when I need to be lost.
Turn me toward the business of the world
     when I need to work.
Turn me toward the mountain
     when I need to be refreshed.
Then turn me toward the sunset
     when I need rest.
Amen.
~poem by Becca Stevens from Hither and Yon

Remember your mercies, O Lord.

A Time to Wait

Athirst is my soul for the living God. 
When shall I go and behold the face of God?

I spend a lot of time waiting. Usually it involves waiting in a carpool lane, for a lesson to be over, or for everyone to finally make it home. I think waiting gets a bad rap. In fact, over the years I've found it can be a very productive time. In times of waiting I have read hundreds of pages, scribbled notes for work, finished craft projects, and caught up on the news. The lesson is that waiting is what you make of it.

Let's face it, a great deal of life is spent waiting. We wait with anticipation for the celebrations and with dread for the inevitable sorrows. We wait for the mundane and the magnificent. We anxiously await the beginnings and impatiently wait for the ends. We wait, and we wait, and we wait.

Lent is sometimes called a time of waiting. We look toward Easter and are reminded once again of our wait for eternal life. But it most certainly is not a wasted time.

We are now halfway through our Lenten journey. If we use the metaphor of going out into the desert, we find ourselves squarely in the middle of it. It's time to turn around and start the long walk back. We haven't been sitting in one place, we have spent these days walking, searching, thinking, and praying.

Take a moment to reflect on your waiting time. In these last weeks, how you have changed? What have you experienced? What have you discovered? What still lies ahead?

Psalm 42
As the deer longs for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My being thirsts for God, the living God.
When can I go and see the face of God? 

A waiting person is a patient person. The word "patience" implies the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Impatient people expect the real thing to happen somewhere else, and therefore they want to get away from the present situation and go elsewhere. For them the moment is emptly. But patient people dare to stay where they are. Waiting, then is not passive. It involves nurturing and the growth of something growing within. 

~Finding My Way Home by Henri Nouwen

Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?

Marvelous Creation

Remember the marvels the Lord has done.





A peaceful view of His
marvelous creation.





Remember the marvels the Lord has done.