I've decided to stop posting on this blog for now. I might return sometime in the future, but for now I need to focus on prayer and discernment. Please keep me in your prayers!
Pax Christi!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saints
“For me not only a few great saints whom I love and whom I know well are “signposts”, but precisely also the simple saints, that is, the good people I see in my life who will never be canonized. They are ordinary people, so to speak, without visible heroism but in their everyday goodness I see the truth of faith. This goodness, which they have developed in the faith of the Church, is for me the most reliable apology of Christianity and the sign of where the truth lies.”
— Pope Benedict XVI on the goodness of ordinary people
My mother has always pointed out the connections between saints who lived in the same area, at the same time. Such as St. Turibus who confirmed St. Rose of Lima in the faith. St Rose was also influenced by St. Martin of Porres saintly acts. Or Don Bosco and Dominic Savio. Clare and Francis of Assisi. And I've often wondered if those holy men and women knew that their friends, family members, or acquaintances were saints. Were they aware of how greatly that person was connected to God?
Sometimes I really think some of my friends are well on their way to becoming saints. Their love of God shines so brightly through them, that I fall in love with Him again. Their conversations center on Christ. I'm blessed to know these people, blessed to have them in my life. I try to be like them, I want to closeness to God that they have and I glimpse when talking to them.
And I met these people through one place: the apostolate for family consecration. This place is so wonderful, truly like a meeting of heaven and earth. I'm thank God for the blessing this organization has been in my faith life, especially in allowing me to meet these friends.
Pax Christi!
— Pope Benedict XVI on the goodness of ordinary people
My mother has always pointed out the connections between saints who lived in the same area, at the same time. Such as St. Turibus who confirmed St. Rose of Lima in the faith. St Rose was also influenced by St. Martin of Porres saintly acts. Or Don Bosco and Dominic Savio. Clare and Francis of Assisi. And I've often wondered if those holy men and women knew that their friends, family members, or acquaintances were saints. Were they aware of how greatly that person was connected to God?
Sometimes I really think some of my friends are well on their way to becoming saints. Their love of God shines so brightly through them, that I fall in love with Him again. Their conversations center on Christ. I'm blessed to know these people, blessed to have them in my life. I try to be like them, I want to closeness to God that they have and I glimpse when talking to them.
And I met these people through one place: the apostolate for family consecration. This place is so wonderful, truly like a meeting of heaven and earth. I'm thank God for the blessing this organization has been in my faith life, especially in allowing me to meet these friends.
Pax Christi!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Desiring to Please
This prayer speaks the words that are really on my heart during this time of waiting.
Prayer of Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following Your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please You
Does in fact please You.
And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust You always though,
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. * I will not fear, for You are ever with me,
And You will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
Prayer of Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following Your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please You
Does in fact please You.
And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust You always though,
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. * I will not fear, for You are ever with me,
And You will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Blessings
I'm thankful for the sun. I'm thankful that I don't have a need to be out working in the heat. I'm thankful that God has a plan for me that is better than what I can think up. I'm thankful for my mother who just listened to me as I thought out loud about what will happen in my future. I'm thankful for friends who understand. I'm thankful for emails filled with exclamation points. I'm thankful for prayers from friends in convents. I'm thankful for the Eucharist. I'm thankful that I have food to eat. I'm thankful that nothing on earth is permanent but God's love. I'm thankful for water. I'm thankful for advanced science that made benadryl possible. I'm thankful for caffeine. I'm thankful for the anticipation of a long phone call with a dear friend.
I'm thankful of everywhere I've been and everything that has happened that has brought me to this place. I'm thankful for the hope for a future lived with God.
Today, I think I'm learning what it means to be still and know that He is God.
Pax Christi!
I'm thankful of everywhere I've been and everything that has happened that has brought me to this place. I'm thankful for the hope for a future lived with God.
Today, I think I'm learning what it means to be still and know that He is God.
Pax Christi!
Home
Alone, again. Sometimes, she felt like she lived in the mirror. There were people around, but she was unable to reach out to them, unable to connect. The others were talking amongst themselves, but she couldn't hear a word. A few who looked to be her age were giggling and whispering. Clearly enjoying themselves. She was present, but so removed from whatever was going on. What was going on? She really didn't know why she was there...
Silently and unnoticed by anyone she slipped out the door. Quickly she walked down the main street, not thinking about where she was going. It was instinctive. She opened the one door of the church that was left unlocked and stepped into the sanctuary. Immediately she breathed a sigh of relief.
He was here. Everything was alright. This was the one place she felt loved. This was the one place she was convinced she wasn't crazy. How could the rest of the world live without this, without Him?
Here she was home.
Silently and unnoticed by anyone she slipped out the door. Quickly she walked down the main street, not thinking about where she was going. It was instinctive. She opened the one door of the church that was left unlocked and stepped into the sanctuary. Immediately she breathed a sigh of relief.
He was here. Everything was alright. This was the one place she felt loved. This was the one place she was convinced she wasn't crazy. How could the rest of the world live without this, without Him?
Here she was home.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Forgiveness
So I'm realizing something. Forgiveness does not just consist in saying "I forgive you." Forgiveness does not mean being able to talk to the person again. Forgiveness does not mean forgetting that you were hurt. Forgiveness does not mean not hurting any more.
Forgiveness means caring about the person despite what they did. Forgiveness means being hurt but not blaming them anymore. Forgiveness means loving the person again. Sometimes that love is not enough to heal the relationship. But it is enough by itself.
Pax Christi!
Forgiveness means caring about the person despite what they did. Forgiveness means being hurt but not blaming them anymore. Forgiveness means loving the person again. Sometimes that love is not enough to heal the relationship. But it is enough by itself.
Pax Christi!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Relics of Love
I just went to a relic exhibition. I've never been a huge fan of relics. I LOVE the saints. Pretty much I grew up reading their stories and fell in love. Because of the books my parents had in the house, I never thought of the saints as anything but ordinary people I could connect with. But relics are often parts of dead people and that I find disturbing. I shivered with disgust when Father mentioned disintegrating flesh. I just don't like that image.
But the miracles. The stories. The people who lived such extraordinary lives. The love. That is what relics are about. Relics are about how God uses what is dead to bring life into people again. God chooses to point back to the people who spent their lives pointing to Him. He changes people.
It was overwhelming. I wish I could go again so everything would sink in further. So I could read every single plaque with the story of each of those saints.
These are love stories. These are ordinary people transformed by God's grace and love. It is so overwhelming.
But the miracles. The stories. The people who lived such extraordinary lives. The love. That is what relics are about. Relics are about how God uses what is dead to bring life into people again. God chooses to point back to the people who spent their lives pointing to Him. He changes people.
It was overwhelming. I wish I could go again so everything would sink in further. So I could read every single plaque with the story of each of those saints.
These are love stories. These are ordinary people transformed by God's grace and love. It is so overwhelming.
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