Glory Bee to God!

A cute little Carmelite postulant named Michele Morris sent Kevin and me a care package with instructions on the outside  that we were to open it together. 

When she’d written at Eastertime, our dear friend/sister in Christ, mentioned she had a surprise for us.  We never in a million years could have guessed what it would be.   

    
Ever since the spring a few years ago when I gave Michele a Pieta prayer book, we’ve been talking about “glory bees.”  In the prayer book is a Novena to St. Thérѐse of Lisieux which includes twenty-four “Glory Be to the Father” prayers each day.  Upon seeing this, she turned to me and exclaimed: “That’s a lot of Glory Be’s!”  At which point we both started laughing imagining bees with halos buzzing around glorifying God.  Thus began our affection for “glory bees.”

    
That Easter, I presented Michele with a stuffed animal bumblebee with candy in the zippered pocket and a makeshift halo out of silver pipe cleaner.  It was one of the few personal possessions she brought with her when she entered the Carmelite Monastery of Our Lady and St. Thérѐse.  Subsequent gifts to one another after that Easter often carried a theme of bumblebees.  I have a bumblebee pillow pet, a tall mug featuring a cartoon drawing of our adopted mascot, and a pair of yellow and black striped knee socks with bees on them all from Michele.

    
When learning to make rosaries, Michele thought it would be fun to make “Glory Bee Rosaries” for Kevin and me.  She was given permission to do so.  We are now the humbled owners of the first two “Glory Bee Rosaries.”  The community liked the idea, so she made a whole batch of them to go to the mission in Uganda.  With some bee research under her wings, she came up with a brochure using for graphics the picture of the bee I gave her with the halo and some of the bee graphics I used in making a memory book for her before she left. 

    
Inside the package was one self-portrait drawn with brown marker, one “Glory Bee Rosaries” brochure, two black and yellow beaded rosaries, and a five page handwritten letter from Michele.  I was laughing as I read the letter out loud about how she went from learning to make rosaries, to being inspired to make “Glory Bee Rosaries” for Kevin and me, to the project being blessed by the community. 

     Here’s an excerpt of her letter:

    For Trisha the gift is special in other ways as well.  It is also for you:

1.      A bridesmaids gift.  In thinking about and cherishing our “Girls Day Out” it occurred to me that as the bride-to-be I never did give you a bridesmaids gift-as is custom.  So I made one for you as well as Carrie and Betty J

2.      Something tangible to hold onto as reassurance that I am with you and praying for you.

3.      Tangible evidence that God does indeed work through you—inspiring others—good inspirations. 

Since July 16 is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as well as the two-year anniversary of the first performance of “Teresita” the original play Michele wrote, directed, and performed, and also the day when Michele received the letter accepting her as a postulant to the Carmelite Sisters by the Sea, I thought I’d share this story and the joy it has brought us. 

Self-Portrait of a Cute Carmelite Postulant

 
     Michele Morris actually drew the self-portrait on the right with brown marker and sent it to Kevin and me in a package with some fun surprises I'll share about in another post.
     The note on the top left of the drawing is how she and I would say goodbye to each other in person, letters, phone calls, e-mails or text messages: Love, hugs, and glory bees (a variation of the love, hugs, and prayers I often sign in letters to loved ones).  "Juice" is printed on the top right because one of the many times when Michele appeared at our door it was the first word out of her mouth.  Normally, I'd offer her something to drink upon her arrival, and she often asked for juice and a little snack to go with it.
     One fine day after chatting with Kevin outside for a bit while he was working on his motorcycle, she became particularly parched.  When Michele finally made it upstairs, she knocked, I opened the door, and without so much as a "hi" she said: "Juice!" with the innocence and insistence characteristic of a toddler.  I was completely amused and acquiesced immediately.  
     Michele really cracks me up. Even though she's in a cloistered monastery across the country and I haven't heard her voice or seen her in close to a year now, I can still picture her laughing and smiling, being silly and bringing great joy to The Carmelite Sisters by the Sea in Carmel, California.
     Lord, help us to be open to Your will in all areas of our lives.  Make us mindful of the promptings of the Holy Spirit, so that we are sensitive to how, with whom, when, and where You want us to serve.  Amen.
      

Religious Freedom, Nevermore

Trisha Niermeyer Potter © November 2012

O beautiful the spacious skies

Of amber waves profaned.

The purple mountains,

Your Majesty,

In the upended plains.

I pledge no allegiance

To this plague

In the United States

Under Obamacare

Nor to this immoral public

For which it stands

An administration without God

Visible with religious liberty for none

But contraception and abortion for all.

Moral relativity from sea to sea

Depravity is keyed

Into the side of these rights withheld. 

The religious leaders and faithful few

Try their best to catechize,

But our elected leaders scandalize,

Slaughter our freedom of religion,

Bring genocide stateside.

Thank you very little.

Turn over a new leaf,

Not abandon all Truth and belief

In a matter of convenience

Devoid of obedience

To anything other than pride.

Granny, get your gun

Before the death panels

Are at your side

To choose

How many days you have left

Before your family is bereft. 

It’s bad enough our patriots

Get treated with such disdain.

Apparently it’s better if we ease

This sort of pain

By tearing babies

limb from limb

Based on the slim chance

that God didn’t really mean:

Thou shalt not kill.

For 40 days

They showed up at your door

Reminding you what

God stands for: LIFE.

Far above any pay-grade,

This verdict was clearly laid

and will never be overturned.

I’m afraid  

Though many remain unaware,

Obama doesn’t care

About the youth in Asia

Killed because they have

Two X chromosomes.

I don’t see Y

The home of the free

Has been turned into the prison

Of a slave

To the Devil’s only weapon:
lies.

There are some who refuse.

They are silent no more

After the tears they’ve cried

Over children that died

At their parents’ hands

Not in foreign lands

But on American soil

caked with blood.

Rachel’s project expanded

Since evil sisters

banned parenthood,

demanded the president

Continue this precedent

Of scarring the young and the old

The rich and the bold

The greatest and the least

with the mark of the Beast.

Angels and Saints: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God's Holy Ones

In his recently published book, Angels and Saints: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God’s Holy Ones, best-selling author Dr. Scott Hahn gives an overview of how the heavenly hosts and the faithful who have gone before us can inspire, influence, and guide our lives and the Church now.  He shows the Biblical support and proof of the importance of angels and saints in time and eternity. 

    
In part one, he establishes the context through which people have seen and interacted with angels and saints throughout the years.  He offers a number of Scriptural examples of these types of encounters and their significance in the lives of devout Catholics.  He also explains the Church’s in-depth process for canonizing saints. 

    
In part two, Dr. Hahn, founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, does an overview of the biographies and wisdom offered by twelve popular saints.  Sometimes the separation between those on earth and those in heaven makes it seem impossible for the two to interact at will, on a regular basis, and in the midst of daily tasks and undertakings.  What a relief to know that we have the encouragement, wisdom, and strength of the holy ones in heaven even while we’re here on earth! 

    
This would be a good book to give someone who is interested in learning about the Biblical support for the Church’s teachings that angels and saints are an essential part of the Body of Christ.  It’s easy-to-read, well-researched, and cited.  Hahn has hit the highlights when it comes to the saints included, using just a smattering of those near and dear to him who were also scholars and teachers.  We’re heartened by the Communion of Saints and encouraged to ask for their help and intercession. 

    
I received a free copy of Angels and Saints from Blogging for Books for this review.  For more info or to order your own copy of Angels and Saints, click here.