Lessons for Living

I was reading passages recently from a wonderful book called Find Your Way Home: Words from the Street, Wisdom from the Heart. It was written by the women of Magdalene. "Magdalene is a residential community in Nashville for women who have survived lives of prostitution, violence, and abuse. The women live together and support each other through the work of Thistle Farms, a nonprofit bath and body-care business run by the women." The book chronicles the lessons for communal living that the women have developed over the years as they grow, heal, and love each other back to health. Similar to the Benedictine rule established by monks centuries ago, these lessons are simple, non-restraining, and in fact, liberating. I believe they apply to us all, in one way or another.

Here are a few that struck me as especially powerful:

• Proclaim Original Grace

We are made in the image of God. We look at each person's journey beginning not with original sin but with original grace.

Our journeys all start and end with God, and everything we do is a step toward our return to wholeness. Because grace is our beginning, we are worthy of all good things.

We are God's children in flesh and spirit. We never have to live in shame for all the things that have been done to us or that we have done to others.

• Make a Small Change and See the Big Difference

Sometimes the miracle of healing happens so slowly that we fail to notice the great difference in our lives.

Most of the changes in our lives occur in subtle ways. These subtle changes can lead to a difference that is big and profound.

The difference can set us free so we never have to buy or sell pieces of ourselves again to find meaning.

• Stand on New Ground and Believe You are Not Lost

What we are feeling and experiencing is not a sense of being lost but the wonder of discovering something new.

This is sacred ground. We walk it alone, following the advice of others who have walked before us.

The prayer is to walk this ground in faith and trust that the Spirit leads us toward God.

• Lose Gracefully

If you are wrong, act with grace and carry on with the work of healing. It is the easiest way to move forward in peace.

Say you are sorry for whatever you have done, ask for forgiveness, and let it go. It is not yours to worry about anymore.

• Consider the Thistle

The thistle blooms in streets and alleys where women walk and sleep.

We spend a lot of time considering the thistle--its rough exterior, its soft and regal center, and its capacity to break through concrete to blossom.

In a world that names them weeds, we taste the riches of thistles and savor their beauty.

We are thistle farmers. The world is our farm, and we harvest where other people do not want to travel.

For more information about Thistle Farms or Magdalene House,

http://www.thistlefarms.org/

[Source: Find Your Way Home: Words from the Street, Wisdom from the Heart by the Women of Magdalene with Becca Stevens. Abingdon Press, Nashville. ©2008.]

ROMBOC Part 4

Last week we addressed changes in the Nicene Creed, which is prayed as a profession of our beliefs. The next few changes occur at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

The first change of just one small word spoken by the priest. Can you find it?

May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands

for the praise and glory of his name,

for our good

and the good of all his holy Church.

(If you said it aloud, I bet you recognized that the word holy has been added to the last line.)

Then comes the Preface Dialogue. Here you will remember a change we discussed at the beginning of the Mass.

Priest: The Lord by with you.

People And with your spirit.

Priest: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right and just.

Note that last response has been modified, as well.

Finally today, I wanted to share the changes that you will notice in the Sanctus, or "Holy, Holy, Holy." This one will certainly be of concern for all the music ministers out there as it is often sung during the Mass.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Hope your finding this training process helpful. Again, change is never easy. However it does become remarkably more bearable when we open ourselves to accepting it.

Sand, anyone?

Today's Gospel relates the parable of the wise man who built his house on a foundation of rock and the fool who chose instead to build on sand. If you're like me, you've heard this story told and retold for many years. It begins and I sort of tune out. I know this one. Lesson learned! In fact, I go ahead and imagine myself perched high upon the rocky mountain next to the wise man. Together we stand looking down with pity at the poor slob shoring up the walls of his fancy new beach house. We (the wise man and myself) shake our heads in disgust, cluck our tongues, and share a knowing look of "he'll just never learn."

I know the story, and I also know the moral--Dude, don't build on sand! I automatically place myself on the winning side. I am a rock builder from way back, says I with smug assurance. But am I really? What does it mean to build on sand?

Maybe building on sand involves those hasty, impulsive decisions I make sometimes. The ones that seem so important that I couldn't possible take time to check out the details or consequences. Those same decisions that I find myself regretting later and hoping to fix quickly so no one else notices. Maybe I'm really just dusting sand off my shoes.

What about those relationships that I choose not to tend? I'm too busy to call her. I'm too tired to talk to him. I don't want to deal with those issues right now. Relationships built on sand are susceptible to strong, unexpected currents, but even gentle waves can cause drift.

The more I think about all the things I build in life, the more I find shades of myself in that poor fool on the beach. Perhaps I'm really standing not too far down the shore from him. It makes me realize that just because I've heard the story a hundred times before, I'm not necessarily on the right side of the moral.

Think about it. Notice any sand on your shoes today?

ROMBOC Part 3

Today's ROMBOC (ROman Missal BOot Camp) training exercise highlights what will undoubtedly be one of the most noticeable revisions to the prayers of the Mass. A few significant changes have been made to the Nicene Creed, the prayer in which we profess our faith. Again the purpose of these changes is to make the translation more accurate and in this case to more concisely express what we believe as Catholics. Notice the fun new word we all get to learn. Try slipping it into casual conversation to impress your friends!

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the Only Begotten Son of God,

born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

consubstantial with the Father;

through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation

he came down from heaven,

and by the Holy Spirit

was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

and became man.

For our sake

he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,

he suffered death and was buried,

and rose again on the third day

in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated

at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead

and his kingdom will have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,

the giver of life, who proceeds

from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Sone

is adored and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

And one, holy, catholic

and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism

for the forgiveness of sins

and I look forward to the

resurrection

of the dead

and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

**For those of you keeping track, the fun new word in the text is consubstantial. It means "of the same substance, nature, or essence" and replaces "one in being with the Father." The new word is more closely related to the Latin word consubstantialis.

The Little Way

It's nearly impossible to turn on the television, listen to the radio, or surf the web and not be bombarded with the many ways in which you and your life need to be improved. What was once reserved for commercials and advertisements has now seeped into news stories and entertainment shows. You've seen the segments on what you should or shouldn't eat, how you can improve this or stop that. Scientific research is used to report how just about everything you have ever done might someday result in a fatal disease. Let's face it, most mainstream messages are designed to make you need something, want something, or just plain feel uneasy enough to search for comfort in things that are packaged and sold.

Is it any wonder that with this as our comfort zone so many of us feel unworthy or somehow less than what we should be? Should we be surprised that this attitude also translates to our faith life? Have you ever asked yourself how someone like you can presume to love God, or be loved by him in return?

Saint Therese of Lisieux died at a very young age. She never acted in any grand or forceful ways. She was not a martyr. In fact, she lived most of her short life within the shelter of her family and the solitude of a convent. However, God used her to work miracles and he allowed the Spirit to speak through her in ways that can offer us great comfort. Her writings and the message of her words are known as "the Little Way." This theology she shared can be best understood through her own words,

"The more one is weak, without desires and without virtues, the more one is suited for the operations of God's consuming and transforming love."

In other words, we are perfectly made by God and for God. There is no need for us to feel incomplete when we unite ourselves with him. Those frailties and weaknesses that the world tells us must be changed, fixed, or covered up are the very elements of ourselves that God loves most and uses to transform the world.

In a book about St. Therese, her Little Way is further explained,

The Little Way is a whole new way of life, a way of holiness that is open to all because it requires nothing from anyone but the ordinary, day-to-day experience of which every life is made. Steeped in her mission of love, Therese saw no reason to take upon herself great penances, which were common in her day. She soon gave them up, content to offer God the small sacrifices which came in the routine of community life, the little occasions to be kind to others, the apostolate of the smile when smiling at another was the last thing she felt like doing. Such opportunities to demonstrate love for God by showing it to others abound in everyone's daily life.

The Little Way finds joy in the present moment, in being pleased to be the person you are, whoever you are. It is a school of self-acceptance, which goes beyond accepting who you are to wanting to be who you are. It is a way of coming to terms with life not as it might be but as it is.

You don't need to change yourself to love and be loved. Are you ready to not just accept yourself, but to really love yourself and want to be the person you are today? How might your life change if you answer yes?

[Source: Maurice & Therese: The Story of Love by Patrick Ahern. Doubleday. © 1998.]

Detours

Do you ever find yourself looking in a mirror and wondering what it is you are meant to do next? I know I have . . . on more than one occasion. Funny how life ebbs and flows. One day I know exactly where I'm headed and move with full force only find myself the next day turning sharply, slowing to a crawl, or stopping altogether. Trust me, I don't tend to be a fan of these detours. I'm a mover and live with a strong sense that time is too short and too precious to waste. More often than not, I have viewed these questioning times, these detours and direction changes as wastes of time. But as I grow older, I'm starting to see these moments as anything but wastes of time. In fact, I'm slowly learning these are some of the most fruitful and precious times in my life. Why you ask? Because these are the times when I give up my sense of control and let God unfold his plan. These are times when I allow Him to guide my next step.

Blessed John Paul II said it well,

God calls us and sends us forth as laborers in His vineyard. He calls us and sends us forth to work for the coming of His Kingdom in history. In fact, from eternity God has thought of each of us and has loved us as unique individuals. Every one of us He has called by name. However, only in the unfolding of the personal history of our lives and its events is the eternal plan of God revealed to each of us. It is a gradual process; one that happens day by day.

What a beautiful reassurance that there is no such thing as wasted time when we are truly living in harmony with God. Those detours are just a new revelation. Like each petal of a rose, the next unfolding reveals a bit more of the beautiful, complete flower. We too are in a constant state of unfolding. What do the detours in your life reveal about God's eternal plan for you?

Thoughts on an Almost Summer Day

For today's blog, I'm borrowing thoughts from one of the most inspirational people I've met, Becca Stevens, Episcopal priest at St. Augustine's Chapel in Nashville.

"All woods in my life, all the woods in your life, teach us the truth about resurrections. They teach us that someday love will right all the wrongs of this earth. It will set the captives free, heal our blindness, make the trees clap their hands in joy and cause people to weep at the beauty of a field of lilies. Someday the lion will lie down with the lamb. Love, more powerful and older than stone, will roll away.

The Ecuadorian woods sang, 'Before there were stones, there was God. Before there was death, there was life. Before there was doubt, there was faith. Before there was war, there was peace. Before there was sin, there was grace.'

Benediction

The sun begins the procession in a deep orange chasuble

as the frogs and crickets begin the opening hymn.

The thistle genuflects reverently as the leaves

rustle to find their place.

The spring-fed lake reflects on the world,

and it is ready to accept the born-again dragonflies

that have heard the call.

The harmonies of the cardinals, sparrows,

and occasional crow offer the praise,

as creation begins its communion with the moon.

And just as the sun dips beneath the shroud of trees

that covers its

and turns the day to memory,

a barred owl calls out the benediction.

Let creation which passes all understanding,

keep your heart and mind in the knowledge and

love of God.

Let the dirt you are made from join in the last

chorus,

and let the water that flows through your veins

give thanks.

[Source: Sanctuary: Unexpected Places Where God Found Me by Becca Stevens. Dimensions for Living, Nashville. © 2005.]