TEAM means....

eam






= The Cross and ME

Cross is from Jumonville
Retreat Center in PA

God's "Occupied"

“Just as the sun shines simultaneously on the tall cedars and on the little flower as tho it were alone on the earth, so Our Lord is occupied with each soul as tho there were no others like it.” St. Therese

I do not want my whole life on this earth to go by and not have fully lived out Jesus’ request to follow Him. If God is “occupied with my soul” then maybe we can do it t o g e t h e r. I can fulfill God’s mission for me on this earth knowing he lives in my soul. He occupies it. He has taken residence there.

marketseqbyFlickr

Jesus calmly and gently explains to me that it is not about what gifts I give him or what I do or don’t do, it’s about US time. I should listen, listen and then listen some more. I need to be honest with him and spend time with him. That’s what doing it t o g e t h e r will mean for us.
How will you and Jesus be occupied with each other?

What Makes Me Think I'm Spoiled

* Jesus’ birth, death and Resurrection
* I don’t have to be able to do or be anyone great.
* I’m surrounded by supportive friends.
* Jesus gifts me with change of seasons, of moods, of desires, of jobs, of needs.
* Jesus forgives me personally and sacramentally.
* Jesus gives himself to me in Eucharist and His Word.
* We communicate thru prayer daily, anytime and anywhere we want.
* He’s never left my side.
­* I’ve seen evidence of Jesus’ saving presence when I reflect back on life circumstances which give me trust in the future.
* In addition to himself Jesus give me the opportunity to have a relationship with his mother, his father and the saints.
* I have an eternal home. I am not lost. My life has a purpose.
* Jesus and I have been thru a lot together during these years on earth. All those years, months, days and minutes together have created a spiritual intimacy.
* He gets me! It’s really nice to be fully understood, appreciated, encouraged, challenged, forgiven = loved.
* I have an indisputable role model for every situation in life.
* Jesus allowed me to be part of a church, i.e. a group which formalizes our relationship and provides spiritual experiences, rituals, sacraments and fellowship
* I was blessed with 5 senses thru which the physical world becomes alive to me. I smell a fireplace. I hear children singing their ABCs. I see sun rays. I taste chocolate. I touch when I hug. All these bring joy and the lack of any single sense would be surely missed.
* It’s a real blessing to be able to go to someone who always has time to listen and who really listens and understands.
* It is also a real blessing to know someone who loves you enough to correct you and challenge you honestly to reach your potential.
Have you got anything to add?

A Spoiled Child of God looks like this

I can look back over my life and see You were always there, Lord God. When I thought you were absent or busy taking care of someone or something else, You were really preparing something for me that was bigger and better than I could have imagined. And to this day it never stops. How loved can one soul be?

How attentive you’ve been to my needs.
How sensitive you’ve been to my feelings.
How tender you’ve been with your love.
How gracious you’ve been with your mercy.
How patient you’ve been with my response to your love.
Your faithfulness ASTOUNDS me.
Your generosity has been limitless.

I mean to make it my mission that people know of your goodness.
I will sing about you, write about you, and speak about your forgiving and loving heart.

I am indeed your spoiled, unworthy child. The most important word in that description is Your child. Because of that I’ve been blessed undeservedly – not because of anything I did, can or will do. All because of You, my Lord and my God. Thank you.

Have a Great 2 0 0 8

Prayer for a Blessing on the Gift of a New Year~ who knows what it may hold...

Let us Pray
O sacred and adorable Trinity, hear our prayers on behalf of our holy Father the Pope, our Bishops, our clergy, and for all that are in authority over us. Bless, we beseech You, during the coming year, the whole Catholic Church; convert heretics and unbelievers; soften the hearts of sinners so that they may return to your friendship; give prosperity to our country and peace among the nations of the world; pour down your blessings upon our friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and upon our enemies, if we have any; assist the poor and the sick; have pity on the souls of those whom this year has taken from us; and be merciful to those who during the coming year will be summoned before your judgment seat. May all our actions be preceded by your inspirations and carried on by your assistance, so that all our prayers and works, having been begun in you, may likewise be ended in You. Amen. catholicprayers.com

Christmas Prayer

Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel's song, for infant's cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold his glory, and are bathed in its radiance. Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wisemen. Help us to rise bigger than we are. Amen

On Being the Manger

A manger must be ready and willing to receive and to accept. It gets no choice as to what is being placed in it. I need to let go of self will, plans and opinions if I want to be empty. A filled manger is not helpful and gets by-passed. True, it’s hard to wait in emptiness for Jesus to come. The paradox is that a filled manger may be useless but when I’m empty I feel useless. I have to be comfortable or at least peaceful being empty of myself. If I fill my manger with things or people that don’t belong there I’ll still be empty…wanting. So I can’t get past it. In emptiness is my fulfillment.

When I give up my things and opinions my wants and plans I have to stay soft. Can’t get crusty! I’ll need to smile, to welcome, and to forgive others. My eyes still need to tear and my heart needs to melt at the sight of others’ pain. Forgetting myself cannot make me cold. I have to practice tenderness in dealing with others – seeing each one as God’s special child and welcoming them into my day. I need to figuratively stop looking in mirrors. It’s all about meekness, 1Cor 13-ness and simplicity.

How much do I want Jesus to stay in my manger?

Be the Manger

A manger must be available, receptive, empty, waiting, and patient. Most of all a manger fulfills its tasks in humility, going unnoticed.

To become the manger I need to transform. I need to change what I look and act like, giving up part of myself to receive Jesus. It may hurt to let go or lose what I’m holding on to. I’ll need some extra help and grace.

The important part about being the manger that receives Jesus is that it be empty. A filled manger is useless.

A manger for a newborn should be clean, free of any kind of sinfulness.

It’s important too that the manger be soft and warm so Jesus can rest comfortably there. No hardness of heart or mind can offer that.

A manger needs to be stable and balanced so as to contain the Lord safely. It must be steadfast and never allow harm to come to Jesus or to anyone who represents Him.

Lastly it needs to be filled with softness and warmth, which are our acts of self-denial and good deeds. Fill your manger every day if you can with an act of selflessness or generosity to others.

When Christmas Eve comes make of yourself an invitation to God: “Come, dwell here!” Then wait. He will surely come.

Dear St. Therese,

~ Little Flower~

Please teach me how to be completely dependent on God so that I recognize my nothingness. I cannot correct my faults but I insist on trying – as tho I had the ability to do that or anything else on my own. I understand that my good deeds are only done with the graces and talents God has given me. Why do I think my faults/sins could be corrected on my own? What ability do I falsely think I have?

I am neither good nor bad as I am nothing. You’ve described your body as an envelope. You’ve described yourself as a grain of sand. Those are things that are completely ignored. An envelope is empty and useless once it has fulfilled its purpose. What envelope or grain of sand is appreciated, remembered or even noticed?

It is only God; His talents thru me and His mercy to me. I should spend my time praising and thanking Him rather than on self focused activities.

I understand your way but I get too tangled up to be able to live it. Will you help me please? I humbly thank you.

I thirst

Grace is free flowing like water. It must be. Water will find a way thru any barrier. It can smooth out a stone. Such is grace. No matter how high my self imposed wall is (self will) God’s grace eventually permeates my soul and drenches me with forgiveness. His grace fills in the cracks of the dried up clay I become and allows me to be malleable in God’s hands. When I feel empty and when I thirst God’s grace blesses me with sustenance. This world is not satisfying; rather it actually creates a hunger and a thirst for something of greater substance. It’s a chronic soul ache that can only be sated by God’s grace. Nothing or no one else has the capacity to fill that void. “God alone suffices” St. Teresa of Avila aptly said, because the Artist knows His design.
See: www.bibletruths.net

I beg for your grace, Lord.
What is grace to me? It’s the help you give me Jesus. It’s a warm touch that thaws a cold heart. It’s what rounds off the sharp edges of my personality. It’s the hand on my shoulder that calms me when my insides are shaking. Your grace is the bit of energy I get to carry me thru when I’m exhausted and I still have a To Do list. Your grace is what keeps my tongue still and my mouth shut when I’m feeling the urge to verbally strike out or to talk about another person. It’s the connection you make with me during a busy day that reminds me of who I really am and who You are.

I beg for your grace, Lord.

I'm hungry...

That I want Thee. Only Thee – let my heart repeat without end. All desires that distract me, day and night, are false and empty to the core. As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for light, even thus in the depths of my unconsciousness rings the cry – “I want Thee. Only Thee.”

As the storm still seeks its end in peace when it strikes against peace with all its might even thus my rebellion strikes against thy love and still its cry is “I want Thee. Only Thee.”
-by Tagore Gitanjali

said another way......
Text: Luke 19:28-40
...Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

and another way.

Everything else is just something on the journey toward Him.

About drinking the cup...

When arrested in the garden and Peter the apostle cut off a soldier’s ear Jesus said, “Put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Jn 18:11

We pray lots of prayers and go to church every Sunday. But when it’s offered to me thru some relationship issue, health problem or life situation ~

Shall I not drink the cup?

It all leads up to that. I’m not 20 yrs old anymore nor new to the Catholic life. If I can’t actually drink the cup then it’s all talk.
Jesus knew what was going to happen but being fully human it must have hurt him terribly to have his friend apostle Judas betray him. Jesus’ response was the return of an embrace to Judas and the question,

“Shall I not drink the cup?”

* When my to do list is longer than the hours in a day
* When ‘a friend’ turns on me or gossips about me
* When my health or that of a loved one moves beyond regular aches and pains into something more serious
* When expenses go up but my paycheck doesn’t

Each answer should be “Shall I not drink the cup?”

Jesus left His Word in the Bible so we’d know what to do and how to act. He did that so we could follow His example. Knowing we can’t even do that without His help and grace~ let’s each go on our way today abandoning our independence and self will armed with his grace to drink the cup we are offered today.

A Special, Secret Place

“Close behind and close in front you fence me around,

shielding me with your hand.”

Ps 139

I’m in a protective bubble – the bubble is your grace Lord. Bad things, words, events might try to penetrate and they may actually get to my body…but they won’t reach my soul. It is yours, my Lord. It is your life within me, my Jesus. I won’t deny you and you won’t deny me so we’re kind of stuck together in the protective bubble of my soul. It’s an intimate place where we can enjoy each other’s company. No one in the world knows where it is so they can’t know the way there. That’s between you and me. It’s our place and our time together.
So special. So sacred. So holy. So ours. Amen

YOU ARE

You are my strength, O God, the source of grace. You are my purpose and goal. You are my model. You challenge me and call me to grow. You do not let me stay where I am comfortable but lovingly call me forth. You are the Extreme example of how to love others. You are 1Cor13. You have unbelievable patience and gentleness and accept what I offer you. You are parent and brother, Beloved and friend, spouse and companion, teacher and Lord. You are faithful and loving and available to me day after day, mood after mood, need after need. You are my comfort and peace. You are my hope during struggles and what I look forward to at the end of my days. Ours is a relationship I treasure and work at because I hunger for you. You wisely feed me when I’m hungry but not when I’m full. You pursue me but do not bind me. I am ordinary but special to you. I am overwhelmed by your goodness.

Praise and thanks to you, Lord!

This Is What I Yearn For

“Like thirsty ground I yearn for you.”
Psalm 143:6

I yearn for wisdom in decision making.
I yearn for peace of mind during troubling times.
I yearn to finally recognize you in others.
I yearn to see you one day face to face and be dazzled by your glory.
I yearn to be the person you always wanted me to be.
I yearn to live 1Cor13 so my life will bring others to you.
I yearn to be a comfort for you.
I yearn for the day when the world will see you and believe you. When all humans ask for your forgiveness and offer you praise and thanks. When you will be worshipped as you so deserve.

My simple prayer… Amen.

Distrust Yourself

…and trust in God. I’m learning how useless I am without God’s grace. I cannot even keep the promises I make to God without His grace. And when I fail I cannot right things without His forgiveness. On my own I am helpless. I don’t mind admitting that, in fact, I need to confess it more than I do. I’m so dependent that I don’t care about my own weaknesses. What should I expect? In God alone I should have confidence. And with His grace alone can I improve.

“The more upset I get about my own failures the more self dependent I am.”
Fr. Lorenzo Scupoli
“We are too apt to overestimate our own abilities.” Fr. J.P. de Caussade
http://www.aquinasandmore.com/index.cfm/author/Lorenzo-Scupoli/FuseAction/store.AuthorSearch/Author/482/inde

What Is Love

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Lauren - age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."

The rest of the answers..

Since I'm going on vacation for a week beginning Sun September 30th, I'll have to share the rest of the answers to the quiz about the Saints posted on 9/17/07...

1=g See post on this blog dated May 09, 2007 for info about St. Bridget of Sweden or this link:

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintb07.htm

2=e

3=b

4=c

5=f St. Joan of Arc- God’s Gracious Warrior.
She began hearing voices at age 13 which continued until her death at age 19. The voices became visions. She escaped being captured by jumping from the roof of a 60 foot tower which she miraculously survived. At the stake the executioner gathered up her ashes to throw into the Seine but could not get her heart to burn.

6=a

7=d


Hope you did well, but even more than that I hope
"The difference between our lives and the Gospel is the same as the difference between written and sung music" .

And # 2 is.....

E ! How're you doing? Will you get 100?

(see quiz on 9/17 post)

St. Therese- the Little Way to God
The way of trust and absolute surrender – a way that anyone at anytime could follow.
At age 9 she suffered from hallucinations and bodily tremors – a complete breakdown. Therese’s uncle told her she was a little flower that God wanted to gather. Her way of spiritual childhood meant “to recognize one’s nothingness, to expect everything from God as a child expects everything from his father, to feel incapable of earning one’s life or the eternal life of heaven.”
She found opportunities to show her love for Jesus by “not allowing one little sacrifice to escape, not one look, one work, profiting by all the smallest things and doing them through love.”
Her mission was to make others love God as much as she loved him.

The answer to #7 is

[see the quiz on Sept 17th post]

St. Anthony Mary Claret

Had the gifts of prophecy and miracles. Reported to have preached 10,000 sermons, published 200 works. Spread devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
When people got sick and came to him he simple made the sign of the cross over them and prayed. They recovered by the scores. He shook up the status quo and that won him enemies. Caused several attempts on his life. One mae slashed Claret’s throat disfiguring him from chin to cheek bone. “I had so long desired to shed my blood for the love of Jesus and Mary.” In imitation of Jesus, Claret refused to defend himself. He possessed and undying passion to bring
souls to the Lord.