ONLY READ THIS if u r over 40!

I'm so excited about this!  It all makes so much sense that I had to share it.  It's a great book about the spirituality of the "second half of life".    

 Falling Upward by R. Rohr  

In the second half of life we become (hopefully) a person of wisdom.  Wisdom happily lives with mystery, doubt and unknowing.  In such living, the mystery resolves itself.  In the second half of life

·        We return to simplicity
·        Even painful parts and people belong
·        If we’ve forgiven ourselves for falling we can now forgive others
·        We can hold sadness with less anxiety (St. John of the Cross’ “luminous darkness”)
·        Our superiority complex is seen as ego based and we learn to ignore it
·        Most attacks on evil, we learn, just produce another kind of evil and inflate our self-image
·        In the second half of life we influence events, work for change, quietly persuade, change ourselves, pray and forgive
·        This half of life is more about the 8 Beatitudes than about the 10 Commandments
·        Fewer words are needed
·        Life is more participatory than assertive because God has taken care of things
·        We no longer need to collect goods because it’s time to give back
·        We are now more than ever before in a position to change people but we don’t need to.

As St. Augustine put it in his Confessions,

“You were within, but I was without.  You were with me, but I was not with you.   So you called, you shouted, you broke through my deafness, you flared, blazed and banished my blindness, you lavished your fragrance and I gasped.”

This shining person is the goal of humanity and the delight of God.

Falling Upward by R. Rohr (Ch 10)

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Even your name is holy.  It's not Emily or Robert.  Your name isn't Lisa or Michael.  They're just names.  You don't have JUST a name.  Your name is God, Jesus Christ, Savior of the World.  You are the very Spirit of unconditional love and mercy for others.  "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow whether on the earth or under the earth and every tongue proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. "  No one says my name and genuflects.  No one bows their head as they say the name of anyone I know.  But you, my Lord and God, are SO full of goodness that even the sound of your name is awesome and deserving of respect.
,,,,oh my gosh!

Exposition of Blessed Sacrament: Is that YOU, God?

As Catholics I think we seem to have lost the sense of awesomeness of Jesus’ presence in the monstrance and perhaps in Eucharist.  Weekly we watch the priest and the Eucharistic Minister evenly distribute the consecrated hosts among all the chalices.  It appears to be a rather mundane task. A host may fall to the altar and the priest puts it into one of the waiting chalices.  The wine is poured, hopefully not too much so that it has to be consumed in a large gulp by one of the attendants later, but enough to be distributed to anyone who wishes to partake of the Precious Blood.   Along with the repetition of a weekly (or more) activity, these ordinary tasks relegate the extra- ordinary to a mundane level as the church body observes.   So during the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament altho what we see in the encasement surrounded by a solid gold design may not be fully appreciated, it IS the Body of Christ.

Centuries ago when saints and heroes died the relics were divided, including body parts.  We may find this practice distasteful in 2012 but it was done.  At the Last Supper Jesus made the bread and wine become his Precious Body and Blood.  But imagine for a moment that he hadn’t used those simple forms.  We’ve seen and heard of 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd class relics.  They are pieces of the saints’ skin, their clothing or maybe something that was touched to the saints’ clothing that is considered a valued object.  I was recently given (and treasure) earth from Saint Thérèse of Lisieux’s 1^st burial exhumation on 9-6-1910.

 So how might we react if the next time we attend Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament there was a lock of Jesus’ actual hair or a piece of bone or skin in the monstrance?  What if the golden monstrance contained a splinter of wood from Jesus’ own cross that had been covered with Our Lord’s blood?   It is the Body of Christ.  Smooth white round wafer or not.

We're square pegs in round holes

That's why we don't fit in this world! 

Jesus, you are right!  We don't fit here.  Like square pegs in round holes we never will fit.  I always thought I wanted to fit so I tried hard to do that.  I wanted to feel comfortable on this earth.  I don't and I won't so I give up the struggle.  I surrender.  Empty is a much more peaceful place to be.       Jn 17:6-19

Be Still

In a world filled with weapons of mass destrAction, silence is a radical response. 

Fullness of joy does not equal fullness of schedule. 

The mute language of prayer is listening to God.

If God is the one chasing, then I want him to catch me.  After all, to whom else should we go?

At Jesus' baptism by John and at the top of the mount of Transfiguration God the Father gave us only one instruction, " Listen to him." 

from a great video called Be Still and Know That I Am God Ps 46:10 by www.foxfaith.com

Choose YOUR saint for 2012

go to  acatholiclife.blogspot.com

Mine is St. Gertrude Cemensoli, an Italian.  She had tremendous devotion to the Eucharist.  Her favorite saying is 'Jesus, loving you and making others love you."  not TOO tough of an act to follow, right?

                                               Geltrude Comensoli (1847-1903)

The Annual Question on the Manger Scene

The annual manger scene question is  who or what would you be in the scene this year? I’ve been the hay and the donkey and this year I should be the star. It’s a very uncomfortable position and very humbling. But a star needs only do what it is meant to do, what it was designed for and nothing more. In so doing the shining star draws attention so that others observe  and want to follow the path it displays.  It doesn’t matter to the star if some reject its importance.  It shines anyway.  The sparkle is not dependent on acceptance from others because it shines for everyone.  This star’s only need is to stay near to Jesus.  Otherwise it would be like every other star leading others only to itself.  People walk toward this star but the closer they get to the end of the path the less they see the actual star and the smaller the star appears.  No one arrives at the manger scene in Bethlehem and says, “What a magnificent star!”  It is ignored save for those still far away, still searching, still following.  The star has served its purpose in pointing others to Jesus.    Have I?

Why do i yell at the storm?

Calming of the Storm  Mark 4:35-41

The waves started breaking against the boat so that it was almost swamped.  But Jesus’ head was on the cushion asleep.  They woke him and said, “Don’t you care?”  He said to the wind and sea,” Quiet.  Be calm.”  Then he said to them, “Why are you so frightened?  Don’t you have faith?”

God is not in the frenzy.  In Matthew’s version (8:23)  the storm came without warning.  It became an actual and real, not imagined, problem.  In Luke’s version (8:22) the boat started taking in water and they found themselves in danger.

Several guys in a boat crossing the lake to the other side.  Quickly and suddenly a storm comes an begins to fill their boat with water.  Panic sets in as they fear for their own safety.

The apostles felt that Jesus didn’t care about them.  In the midst of the storm they were scared.  They had reason to be- the storm had come without warning.  The boat was taking in water so that they were actually in danger.

                Been there.  Done that.

Living life according to the usual routine when all of a sudden I get a phone call that someone I love is in serious trouble.  I try to fix the problem and/or support the person.  But the problem doesn’t go away.  OR the person doesn’t like the way I tried to help.  OR I doubt I can help at all and freeze in the tracks.  Pick one.  It doesn’t really matter which one.  I begin to panic and worry.  That certainly doesn’t help person’s situation or me.  Nothing is improving.  Things actually seem worse.  Coming up empty I ask friends for their ideas and support.  Some produce temporary solutions.  After that my quieted panic and fea resurface.  Then I may turn into a Job opposite.  Instead of trusting God thru every ordeal I become frustrated, frenzied, depressed or angry.  But being angry at the raging sea that is filling up the little boat of mty life isn’t a very successful manewver.  Even the apostles didn’t try that one.  They just woke Jesus up and complained to him

                Duh.

The moral of the story is trust God even tho you may be in real danger.  Yelling at the storm isn’t very productive.

Who wants to party with Jesus?

In the previous post I talked about Luke 14: 15-24 and said I was too busy to hang out with Jesus.  This is a continuation of that story. 
  
But the decorations are still hanging and the food is all prepared.  The table is set with his personalized touch.  So Jesus searches the area to find someone who doesn't feel the need to punish themselves with negative self images or to protect their own positive self image.  He finds someone who is comfortable with being poor and ordinary.  It's a simple human being who kind of resembles Jesus actually.  This person is hungry but also ready to listen and rest.  And that's exactly when the celebration gets started. 

After my very busy day I return home a little disappointed.  I expected to feel comfort in the fact that I was as productive as I could possibly have been.  I worked hard and gave my all, never wasting a moment.  Instead, while returning home I wondered if I made the right choices and implemented the decisions well.  I didn't feel comfort with giving my all.  I felt anxious.  I began to judge my behaviours and worried if they were as selflessly motivated as I thought they were. 

While in the midst of this analysis I arrive home where Jesus had been all day enjoying the party with several others.  The old Martha/Mary Bible story runs thru my mind and I think, "Well just look at them!  Resting and eating and laughing while I was out there working hard all day."  But of course I remember that I was invited to be here too.It's no wonder they are all enjoying themselves; Jesus is with them.  He is feeding them, filling up their minds and their bodies.  He is paying attention to each of them so each  one feels special to him.  Releasing my burdens with a deep, deep sigh I make my way to the table where Jesus sees me.  He smiles. 

too busy to hang out with Jesus

Luke 14:15-24
So I would have been one of the guests invited to a party Jesus was having.  I am an invited guest!  It's bound to be a great party!  When Jesus has everything prepared and asks me to come I say- " I have some things to do for my family and then I'll be right there." Jesus replies, "But the banquet is ready now.  And I'd really like you to come.  That's why I invited you.  Everything has been prepared for you." 
So I say, "I'm sorry but I'm distracted and very busy.  See, what I'm doing here for you? "  or
"See my imperfections?  I have to work on getting them corrected before I can go to your party.  Gotta run. "  So my Lord watches me walk away from him so that I can continue my journey~

• to one day feel worthy enough to be in his presence
• to use up all the talents God gave me so I can rest with a clear conscience one day in his presence
• to do something beautiful enough to make him proud of me 

He hears me say, "Talk to you later.  Maybe I'll text you" as I quicken my pace and run ahead. 

Alone, Jesus says aloud, "But I've been looking forward to this and preparing everything for a long time so it would be great."  Sadly he says good bye to his hope for this special celebration we were to have together and accepts my choices, my decision to go another way. 

in all things "Give Thanks! "

1st Thes: “Comfort the frightened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Don’t repay evil with evil but always do good. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.”

Corrie Ten Boom’s (author of The Hiding Place) whole family died during the World War including her sister who was her companion in the concentration camp. But Betsie never ceased to thank God “in all circumstances”. The fact that the barracks were filled with fleas and live meant no soldiers would enter into it. That allowed them to read the Gospels aloud and to pray. Betsie saw everything as a gift from God and prayed for their persecutors until she died there.

For what should I be thankful today?

I'm just a beautiful mess!

      (“Better Than An Hallelujah”   http://www.amygrant.com/)

I try really hard  but fail really big.

I want to please God  but I’m selfish.

Integrity and honesty are the values I hold most dear but  the person I am
is not the person I was meant to be.

I pray but some might call me hypocritical.

My greatest wish is never to give bad example as a follower of Christ
but I do the very things that I hate.

You might call me a mess, but to my God, I am a ‘beautiful mess’. He died for this beautiful mess that I am. Jesus looks at me like a mom who has just received a scribbled drawing from her child. A stranger might say, “what in the world is that?” But the mom believes it is beautiful and proudly puts the drawing on the fridge with a smile. Only God sees my heart. He knows my sins and , with a smile, loves me deeply despite them.

I love you God! I’ll try harder to make my life a better drawing for your fridge.

Profound Sadness and the Presence of God

Sometimes pain distracts us from being able to see God and talk with him. It depresses and angers us so that all we can do is endure it. But not Jesus. It’s like when a mom sits on the edge of her child’s bed if he has a very high fever or an unexplained illness. She’s there watching every breath, every movement. She’s attentive to the nuances and the slight attempt at a smile or a moan. She comforts the sick child in any way at all possible. She calls the doctor, tries to distract the child, feeds him, wipes his brow, and kisses his forehead. She’ll do anything to bring peace, comfort and reassurance to her son. The child doesn’t realize how tortured his mom feels at his pain. He may not realize it at all or until he becomes a father himself. All he knows is what he’s feeling. And all he wonders is “when will it be over?” Mom is far more in tune with her son during a time like this than when he is going about his life, playing with friends and laughing. THAT is the life she wants to be his normal. Illness and sadness is not.


It’s the same with God, I believe. When I’ve been in severe pain it absorbed me. I couldn’t see the world clearly and didn’t really grasp all the things going on around me. I didn’t want to get too involved in anything else in life because I was too tired. Pain is exhausting. Like physical pain, emotional pain seemed to pound away at my heart until it felt heavy and swollen. Everything took too much energy and I just didn’t care anymore.

Have you been there?

In retrospect I know God was hovering like a worried mom. He had been there himself. No one was there for him during the agony, as he was scourged or when he was condemned to death. He even felt alone and cried out as he died on the cross. “My God, why have you forsaken me?” He’d never let that happen to someone he loves and calls his own. NEVER. “I have carved you into the palm of my hand.” We cannot be separated. So even tho I may be feeling a profound sadness and emptiness, I am not alone. Pain clouds my eyes so I can’t see, my brain so that it doesn’t think clearly, and my heart which no longer seems to be able to feel anything - at least not anything good.

     

 carved into the palms of my hands

But thru it all God is like the attentive mom. I may not have been able to see him next to me but God was there. “Nothing can separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus.” His heart ached when mine did. His tears joined mine. His eyes never left me. God noticed every nuance of movement. When I could be angry he absorbed it. When I felt abandoned in my own black world I’d get a phone call, a card or even an acquaintance with a special message meant for me. Maybe I got a referral to just the right doctor or medication. Or a sermon or a song that was able to penetrate thru the pain. It may have been the briefest of moments but it was undeniably there. At the moment I never realized what was happening because I couldn’t see the big picture. Each tiny puzzle piece of my life began to fit together again- albeit slowly, very, very, slowly. It felt like forever. The truth is I wasn’t even looking for the light at the end of the tunnel anymore. I’d become content in my dark world of emptiness. But God wanted another normal for me and wouldn’t let me slip away. He was gently persistent. He was a sponge soaking up my anger and resentment. None of my words could turn him away because he knew where they came from. God was the unseen mom on the edge of the bed, always watching and listening. I couldn’t acknowledge his presence thru my pain but that didn’t send him away. If I admitted his existence at all it was in desperate pleadings for help while constantly crying. I actually begged at times. Intellectually I believed God was faithful. The Bible says so. I was taught that as a child, but it was like shadow boxing. I kept begging and hearing nothing but silence. Empty air.

I went to my prayer corner every morning and sat. Sometimes I cried without words and sometimes I yelled. But if I wanted God to heal me I knew I had to present myself to him just as I was- just like going to the doctor to be cured. But I didn’t pressure myself to pray with words. I just sat there. That was my faithfulness; it was all I could do.

I read THE SHACK and it gave me a break thru; that is, the fact that I was blind to it doesn’t mean God wasn’t sitting beside me on the edge of my bed to speak, the whole time. Even if I didn’t believe God was there it doesn’t mean that’s true. God does lots of things without my seeing or knowing it to be happening. “Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you.”

I listened to music: inspirational music, Christian music. I wrote in my journal as a way to empty my heart of some of its pain. I finally wanted to be healed and slowly I was. Now, Jesus and I go thru “normal” days together and the darkness that once enveloped me is gone. It’s my own mini-resurrection really. But God and I look back on those days together and we talk about them Why? How? Will I go thru that again? Better than the answers is the intimacy between us. In my prayer times I had only sat there like a big silent lump of nothing, but I did go there every day. Empty handed and close mouthed I sat. (If you don’t go to the doctor’s office, how can he help you?) I couldn’t do or say much but I could sit there.

So as the months went by and we stared at each other something was happening.

I allowed myself to be angry at God. I presented him with my nothingness instead of avoiding him or ignoring him. I read a book and I listened to music and journalled.

God watched everything and was working behind the scenes. The right friend was at the right place at the right time. A specific song seemed to get a reaction from me so I kept playing it. God accepted my anger and gently wiped the tears away. He listened, not just to the words that began to come but to what I wasn’t even able to express deep in my heart.

And now that time of my life is over and I have a friend who endured it with me. It’s sad when God only gets to be involved in part of a life. He gave us his whole life while he was on earth. That sets the example for us. Give Him your all and He will give you his.

Standing in the Blood of Jesus

Jesus, I have an image of your crucifixion. Your warm blood drips from the cross but not to the ground. Some days I stand beneath with a bowl protecting the precious blood from dripping onto the thankless ground. Some other days, depending on the depths of my feelings I kneel beside the cross collecting each drip with my cupped hands. And on very intimate occasions I allow your Precious Blood to drip directly onto my head, shoulders and body so as to be washed by your holiness. That is the purest form of humility and sorrow for sin. Your goodness, your love cleanses me. It is not something I can do myself. Your forgiveness and mercy wash away my sorrow and shame. We become one as my selfishness falls away and I become more like you.

Give me a clean heart, O God. Wash away my sins. Pour over me the oil of gladness.

We have all sinned and are justified freely thru the Redemption that came by Jesus.

So now that I have been washed and purified I can say with Paul “I no longer live but Christ lives in me.”

Spiritual Sayings That Make You Go “Hmmmm”…(2)

1. Paul was a contemplative.  Prayer for him was reporting for orders on where to go, how long to stay there, what to do and what to say.                                   (2 Cor 2 and Contact With God by Anthony DeMello, S.J. ) sounds like a good idea to me.


2.  Integrity is being the person you are meant to be- not the person you'd like to be or the person you believe you are.  To be a person of integrity you must be true to being the
person God created you to be.  And you must be the same person if anyone or no one is watching.  If each of us lived that virtue always and in all ways we could change the world.                     (Jesus, CEO by Laura Beth Jones)  wow- tough one!


3.  I am always aware of my own poverty and my needs before God.  I have to ask for everything and God always answers prayer.  My life, therefore, should be one of gratitude.      (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)


4.  In the end we will all be left speechless.                              (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)




5..  I am accepted by God as I am and not as I should be.                   (Bread That Is Broken)  thank you Jesus!
 
 
 

Spiritual Sayings That Make You Go “Hmmmm”…

1. People who have come to know the joy of God do not deny the darkness but they choose not to live in it. –Nouwen


2. God never lets you down when your expectations of him are high. But he may keep you waiting.
 De Mello S.J.

3. (one of my favorites) Just keep rattling your begging bowl and sit like a begger when you go in God’s presence tomorrow or until he fills it. Refuse to take No or Later for an answer. De Mello

4. If we actually lived the radical Gospel driven life style we’d be in desperate need of prayer.
Bread That Is Broken

5. Peace of mind isn’t weakness. It can only stay in a strong person. But the strength does not come from self control but from allowing God control.                Bread That Is Broken

How Much Does God Love Me?

The Father and the Son only had two moments of contact; one at the baptism in the River Jordan and the other at the Transfiguration. “This is my Son who pleases me. Listen to him.” And the agony in the garden? Jesus did it for love of us, yes, but “for all the love he had for us he recoiled from the passion; Jesus did not want it. The only thing that made him go thru it was the Father.” (DeMello) But our Father offered no interventions that rescued Jesus. Jesus was abandoned, tortured, and cried in the garden and on the cross while the Father was silent. He shouted out his feelings of abandonment but the Father was silent. The Father did not interrupt or modify the Son’s mission in order to alleviate his pain - actually the pain they were both feeling.

                                                                     

The Father never rescued his Son from the physical pain the Son was going thru. He watched the soldiers scourge Jesus and crown him with thorns. The Father looked at the blood and the bruises. He saw the apostles disperse, leaving his Son alone. If that was my only child I couldn’t have done it. I know parents who rescue their kids from much less - being bullied by kids at school, an unfair grade on a paper, drugs. But God watched Jesus go thru all that alone. Sometimes it’s harder to helplessly watch as your loved one endures an emotional crises or disease or financial turmoil. If you can’t fix it or protect them from it you wonder about your role as a parent. We don’t know what God was feeling as he watched his Son die. It’s reported that the sky turned dark and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. God did not stop the blood from pouring from Jesus’ side even tho he could. We humans can’t always rescue because we don’t have the cash or the cure for the disease. God did have what was needed and he could have fixed it. He didn’t. Jesus’ blood drained from his wounds as he hung on the cross and his Father mourned every precious drop. When they took his Son down from the cross God our Father saw Mary hold his body. Crying over it Mary caressed her child, touched his face and smoothed his hair. God must have been glad to see someone else love his Son so tenderly. Then they placed Jesus body in the tomb.

                                                                                  
Throughout it all the Father never interrupted. He never implemented a plan B. He had sent his Son to be our servant and Jesus was killed. He did not stop it. WHY? The answer seems too crazy to be true. He loves us more. THEY love us more. More than the scourging, the crown of thorns and the nails. More than the Father’s emotional pain and the grief of his loss. Father and Son love us that much. They want us to be with them in heaven THAT much. I am worth that much to Someone. I am loved!

                                                                          

God Hugs

Don't Focus on the Good or the Bad i Do but on God's Mercy and Love.

I love little innocent kids who, unknowingly, do wrong. There's no question that I'll forgive a 3 year old that breaks something, for example. My first thought probably wouldn't even be about what was broken or done wrong but about comforting the child. I could look at the child's face and see no malice, no intent to destroy only a fear of punishment. I'd want to wipe away that fear immediately! The child should be comforted not corrected. It's in the nature of a 3 year old to flounder and make mistakes. It's guidance, not blame that they need and a comforting hug.

So~ I should not beat myself up about my own weaknesses and failures rather focus on God's generous mercy. God knows me very well by now after all and as soon as I've sinned He wants to forgive and comfort me. Sometimes I'm too preoccupied with what I've done wrong to appreciate His gentle kindness. I'm beating myself up while he's trying to approach. So myself focus gets in the way and I can't appreciate His extreme generosity and understanding of who i am. Why do I look at me when I could be and should be in awe of God's pardon and looking at a loving Face?

The spirituality (?) of making cards

I fancy myself as a competitor for Hallmark cards- that’s a joke! But I really do enjoy the adventure of finding paper with different textures, patterns and colors. I buy stickers (on sale of course), look thru the internet and magazines for ideas and have become proficient in applying the right kind of glue for the job at hand. I don’t want my cards to look professional. I do want the receiver to notice that tho the card in their hands is neat and clean, it is obviously hand made. Before it gets tucked into an envelope I review the card very carefully one last time. I appreciate the creativity it allowed me to cultivate and the excitement and joy it stirred up in my soul because of its uniqueness. I never reproduce the same card. For several years now I’ve made birthday, Christmas, anniversary and “thinking of you” cards for everyone I know and never repeat the pattern. The joy for me is in the design process and I get lost in it.

Perhaps that’s why I appreciate God, the Creator and Author of Life. God not only created each one of us but also transforms us and our life situations as every single day evolves. As a single prayer for help comes to his attention God intervenes and the moment is transformed. Graces are gifted, persons come into our life path, a message is emailed, a transformation occurs. God is a very, very busy artist! How many requests must be in His In Box daily?

It may take me several hours to make a single card, but God doesn’t have that luxury. We’re a very demanding bunch! Part of our need for constant help may be that we doubt the value of God’s original design- ourselves. But if I go to sooooo much trouble to find the best stickers for a birthday card, comparatively how much effort did God use to design me? I choose paper and texture. God chooses skin color and freckles. I decide on the message I want my card to give while God creates a personality. I know for certain there is no other card like the one I’ve just made. I also know there is no other ME like the one God made. I look at my hand made card with appreciation for the joy it gave me to create it. Could it e that God looked at me the same way on the day of my birth? Could I really be His work of art?

I put my little card into an envelope and send it on its way. By now my friends and family know that envelope contains a gift individually designed for them. God sent me here to NJ to bring a message of joy and love to others also. And where did He place YOU to bring the same message with your unique personality?

Of course from time to time we forget about our message/mission and we become overwhelmed or confused by life going on all around us. God doesn’t get to put away his paint box. His creations run back too Him for continuous help. “Dear Lord, I need a job! Oh God, help me with this test. Father God, give me wisdom to know what is your will.” So he looks at the Very Big Picture and creatively intervenes. Lives change. People change. Grace is at work.

All around me is beautiful evidence of God’s creative talent!

Why let Jesus come back??

Jesus had a hunger to be loved according to Mother Teresa. But “He came unto his own and his own received him not.”


If I had the power to raise my Son back from the dead after having been tortured and nailed to a cross it would never occur to me in a thousand years to return him to the kind of creature who had treated him this way. (John Claypool)

That is the miracle of Easter!