Weightless: Making Peace with Your Body

I first learned about popular writer and journalist, wife and mom, Kate Wicker because of her renown in the blogging world.  I was really struck by one of her posts which included a letter from a woman whose daughter was struggling with an eating disorder asking for tips on what the mother could do to help her get better.  Kate wrote back some suggestions for this mother as to how she could help her daughter.  Where does Kate Wicker get her insight into the confusing world of eating disorders, diets, weight loss, exercise, binging, purging, and calorie counting? 

     
For a number of years, Kate suffered from anorexia and bulimia.  She knows firsthand how the pursuit for skinniness can wreak havoc inside your body, mind, and soul.  In Weightless: Making Peace with Your Body, Kate shares some of the intimate details of her own struggle with body image, calorie counting, excessive exercise, binge eating, as well as describes where the desire to keep her weight down originated and what happened when she got the help she needed. 

   
This book isn’t just for women or men who have struggled with an eating disorder.  It’s for every person who has ever been less than satisfied with his/her physical appearance.  It’s for anyone who has ever wished he/she was skinnier, taller, more muscular, had a better complexion, fewer freckles, no wrinkles, darker skin, lighter hair, a smaller nose, more voluptuous lips, longer eyelashes…

     
Kate read quite a bit about eating disorders when she was recovering and she quickly discovered that most of what she read dealt with the emotional and physical symptoms of the illness and how to become healthier in those two areas, but an important element was missing.      

     
What about the spiritual suffering that is involved?  How does someone heal that aspect of their lives?  These are two of the questions which inspired Kate to pray about (and then write about) the spiritual aspects of returning to health. 

     
There are countless resources, books, magazine articles, and websites devoted to beauty, fashion, exercise, as well as those that help people to identify, address, and treat eating disorders, but Kate found there was a definite lack of resources that included Scriptural support for every person to have a healthy body image.  Kate reminds us of many passages from Scripture in which each of God’s children are precious, loved, lovable, and even beautiful.  For example, she reminds us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” according to Psalm 139 (which happens to be one of my favorites to return to when feeling unlovable for any reason).    

     
Kate talks about how she came to have a better body image herself, and how she encourages her daughters to see themselves as beautiful in God’s eyes.  It is only through a deeper relationship with the Lord that lasting peace and true acceptance of yourself and others is possible.  Kate came to this realization a while ago and has been inspiring others by living it and passing a healthier legacy down to her daughters.    

     
I don’t know about you, but I have an ongoing need to be reminded that I am made in the Lord’s image and always beautiful in God’s sight, because I certainly have days, sometimes even weeks or months, when that feels anything but true.  This book is a great place to start to heal, love, and be loved in mind, body, and spirit.   

     
This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Weightless - Making peace with your body. They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.

Dion The Wanderer Talks Truth

Dion -- The Wanderer Talks Truth is a great read I heard about through a God-incident.  When we took our best friend/brother John to the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart a couple weeks ago, he got some books at the gift shop.  He picked up a copy of this one for his sister, who is really into music and loves Dion.  None of us had realized Dion is Catholic. 

     
I selected Dion -- The Wanderer Talks Truth to review so I could talk about it with John’s sister, who also loves to read, and because it’s sort of off-the-beaten-path from what I usually select.    

     
Dion’s amazing journey to stardom includes the blues, those in his own life and those that inspired his music.  He got caught up for a number of years in the pop music artists’ traditional mélange of: alcohol, drugs, and Rock and Roll.  Throughout his life, Dion had some very strong influences on his music, many people who stood up and out with him from his Bronx neighborhood and the international music scene, and the support of someone I can only assume from his description of her is a remarkable woman, his teenage sweetheart/wife, Susan.  It’s always encouraging to hear of a couple who’s remained together through some tough times and come out stronger on the other side.  It’s nothing short of inspiring to learn of a Rock and Roll legend who’s realized God needs to be at the center of his life, someone who is still very much in love with his wife and proud of his three daughters.   

Two interesting facts I learned from the book that I bet many would get wrong if playing Rock and Roll trivia are: 1. “The Wanderer” is not a song written about Dion himself, and 2. “Runaround Sue” wasn’t written about his lovely wife.  The musicians did have a female from their town in mind when they wrote the song, but they changed the name of the girl to protect the guilty and provide them with a name which was easy to fit into many rhymes.      

    
In a thoroughly fascinating, often humorous way, Dion describes his roundabout adventure back to the Catholic Church.  From the priest in his neighborhood who would shout out questions to him about virtue and morality from across the street to his discovery of the Bible and subsequent interest in St. Augustine, the Holy Spirit kept bringing him closer to the heart and soul of all creation, the God who is Love and Truth.  

     
My husband’s more of the music historian of the two of us, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out what Kevin would probably have already known: a number of Dion’s songs have been extremely popular and are easily identifiable to people from many different generations, including mine. 

     
The only thing I could think of that would have made reading this book even more enjoyable would be if I’d had some of Dion’s greatest hits on-hand to play.  Of course, he mentions a number of his songs and even includes some of the lyrics in the book.  Okay, so maybe there’s one more thing that would enhance the experience: I’d love to meet his wife Susan.  She sounds like a very strong, faithful wife the caliber of which not many Rock and Roll stars have had by their side, ever and/or certainly not since their youth. 

     
I highly recommend this read for music buffs, those who have fallen away from the Church, and anyone who enjoys a good story told with humor and honesty.         

     
This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Dion -- The Wanderer Talks Truth. They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.

If Today You Hear His Voice...

The refrain of Psalm 95 and the Gospel reading from Mark 1:40-45 really got me thinking during and since Mass. The Responsorial Psalm was “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” The phrase made me think of some of the conditions I’ve sometimes put on my submitting completely to God’s will.

Our family moved many times when I was growing up, and I hated it, so sometimes I’ve been praying to be open to new opportunities God might have in store, but then I’ll tack on some proviso such as, but I don’t want to have to move, again.
    
In Mark 1: 40-42, Jesus reaches out to one of the untouchables in society in order to heal him. “A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, ‘If you wish, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, ‘I do will it. Be made clean.’The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.”
    
For a number of reasons, this Gospel really hit home for me. Many times I’ve examined the attitude and circumstances of those individuals Jesus heals in mind, body, and/or spirit. In this instance, the humility and courage the leper must have been graced with to come up to Jesus seem necessary in order for the miracle of healing to occur. It’s rather remarkable that a man who society forced to live away from everyone else because of his illness was willing to risk further rejection and humiliation by approaching Christ. What tremendous trust and faith this man had, through the grace of God!
    
Another aspect of this story that jumps out at me is that the leper doesn’t ask to be made clean, but he simply expresses the faith and Truth that if Jesus wills something, He can carry it out.
    
I know miracles happen. I’ve seen and experienced some quite remarkable ones. I still have found that one of the hardest for me to believe without any doubts is that the Lord will remove a serious illness someone’s struggled with for years. The truth is, if God wills it, then He can and does bring it about. Frequently things may not happen how we thought they might, and often events don’t transpire in the timing we imagined, but if it’s part of His plan, then it will happen eventually.
    
Last night at our Christ Renews His Parish meeting we reflected on a Scripture passage using the method of meditation called Lectio Divina. Two things came to me when we had time for silent reflection. The first was to pray that I would do whatever is necessary to submit completely to the Lord’s will. The second was simply a statement: “healing is coming.”
    
Lord, please help us to open our hearts to the healing You know we need most. Help us submit to Your will, no matter what it means we must endure, so that we are made into better tabernacles for You, more effective vessels of love and healing. Amen.

Now is the Time

     Now is the time for what? In Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, we are told that “there is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens.” If there is a set time for each action and emotion under the sun, then what are we called to now?
     Regardless of the seasons of our lives, the actions we’re currently called to, and or the emotions we are presently experiencing, now is the time to have faith and hope in the Lord. Now is the time to grow in our ability to trust and rely on Jesus Christ’s ability to heal, forgive, and make new. Now is the time to “be still and know I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Text Messages with Deeper Meaning

     I was having a rough weekend when John, who has become a dear brother to Kevin and me, reached out via text messages to remind me of God’s love, His view of me, and how both remain the same regardless of how I’m feeling.
     While in a cloud of doubt and negativity, John texted me the following messages:
     don't believe the accuser. you are a beloved child of God    
     He will give you the strength to keep going    
          Remember that every hair on your head is numbered. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Heavenly Father's knowledge. u are worth much more than sparrows

    As the Father has loved me so I have loved you. -Our Lord Jesus
     Remember that even Mary said she was the Lord's lowly servant.
     Read psalm 139. He loves you so much. don't worry about accepting it but give Him what little you can. That will be enough. I promise. Say Jesus I trust in you
     Don't worry about your feelings. God sees your depth and at your depth you truly love Him.
     I knew John was right; it was the devil who was trying to convince me that God couldn’t possibly love me. The Lord knows everything about whom He has created. He knows each one of us, inside and out. That wasn’t hard for me to understand and accept, but the next Truths were harder for me to hold in my heart that day: God loves each one of us more than we can imagine. He knows us most intimately, and He loves us anyway.
     Many times in recent weeks, I’ve heard sermons which include the reminder that we are made in God’s image. I love that thought, in part, because I can’t completely wrap my head around the idea. I can’t imagine or explain God in all His glory, so the notion of being made in His image isn’t something I can quantify or entirely comprehend.
     Reading Psalm 139 has helped me go into a deeper level of contemplation and meditation about being made in God’s image. Each one of these phrases from the Psalm captures how intimately the Lord knows us: “You understand my thoughts from afar…with all my ways you are familiar…Even before a word is on my tongue, Lord, you know it all. Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach…You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.”
     Reflecting on these led me to the verse which the Lord wants us to do and believe: “I praise You, God, for I am fearfully, wonderfully made.” Our loving Father wants for us to know that He has created us in His image, loves us, and wants us to embrace and give Him praise for it.
     Here is a beautiful song by music missionary Danielle Rose which is based on Psalm 139:

     Lord, help us today and every day to glorify You by embracing the Truth that we are made in Your image, known by You intimately, and loved by You unconditionally. Amen.

Sabbath Presence

I’ve been telling so many people about Sabbath Presence I've lost count. I would love to buy several copies to share them with my nearest and dearest. This is the perfect book for anyone who is busy trying to balance family, work, volunteering, personal prayer time…In short, it belongs on everyone’s must-read list. It expands upon the “Be Still and Know” theme of the June 2006 Women’s Cursillo, by inviting us to deeper personal reflection and quiet time to feel God’s presence.
    
“Being still” seems counter-cultural and all but un-American. Kathleen recognizes this, and through a close look at her own life experiences and desire for balance, examines how we can benefit if we “keep holy the Sabbath.”
    
I can't tell you what a profound impact this book has had on my life. I've read more spiritual books than I could keep track of over the years, but I rarely reread any books. I knew how deeply this book resonated with me when I read through it, stopping to do the meditations and journaling exercises at the end of each chapter, then I immediately started to reread it.
    
The second time around I’ve only read one chapter on any given day, so all of the wisdom can sink in and I can take as much time as I need to process through prayer and journaling how the principles apply to my own life.
    
Sabbath Presence is an intimate portrayal of Kathleen’s own struggle to let go of the tendency to fill every waking minute with activities. She shares her own experiences and then leads us to take a look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we can break away from a life of busy-ness in order to rest in God’s presence, Sabbath presence.
    
There are numerous thought-provoking questions in the book, but the main one that links all of the others together: how would it change your life, the Church, the world…if everyone observed the Sabbath by making it a day of rest to focus on God and family?

Magnificat

This wonderful guide includes morning, evening, and nighttime hymns and prayers as well as Mass, daily meditations, and information about the saints. There's even a section included with the Order of the Mass in addition to prayers for Eucharistic Adoration.
   
Magnificat is a monthly publication which comes in a light, truly pocket-sized booklet, making it very easy to keep with you wherever you go. At home, I have three different books I regularly consult for daily readings, information on the lives of the saints, and for Scripture reflections. It wouldn’t be practical to carry all of these with me to Mass, Adoration, to work, while running errands, or when I travel. Much of what is in the heavy books I refer to when at home is contained in the Magnificat in monthly increments.
     
This is the perfect prayer guide for the person on the go. I’ve gotten in the habit of keeping the current issue in my purse and reading or rereading parts of it throughout the day—during a break at work, while waiting at the doctor’s office, etc. A year's subscription includes 14 issues—one for each month as well as a special issue for Holy Week and one for Christmas.     

I found the Magnificat to be an indispensable worship aid when I was studying abroad in Paris, France during my junior year of college. I had memorized and come to a better understanding of the prayers prayed at Mass as a child, and knowing that Mass is the same all over the world helped somewhat when I attended my first Mass in French. However, the prayers, responses, and even Bible readings don’t translate exactly, so I was rather out of sorts without any written order of worship or Order of the Mass in the French language I’d studied for years but never in a religious setting.
    
I felt much more comfortable and confident participating in Mass when I had all of the prayers in French at my fingertips. I'm certain it improved my French to hear and read along with the Order of the Mass, the Scripture Readings, and prayers in the French edition of the Magnificat. Even eight years later, after saying the response to the Eucharistic prayer in English aloud at Mass, I still say it to myself silently in French.
    
I've found it helpful to see in print many of the prayers said aloud at Mass though I memorized them years ago. Sometimes we may tend to glaze over the richness of these words, because they have become so familiar. Seeing them there in black and white makes the Truths the Catholic Church upholds all the more real and present today.
    
Whether you’re a convert, revert, or a devout cradle Catholic, this is an amazing faith resource that will feed your spirit, give you a deeper appreciation for the liturgical aspects of our faith, and encourage you to pray throughout each day.
   
You can purchase a subscription here.  I wrote this review of Magnificat  for the Tiber River Blogger Review program.  Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases.  I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Palm Sunday for some is the day when they are handed long palms at church with which they can bop their siblings on the head and show their prowess at creating neat little green crosses. It’s a day when they can sit down and listen to the Gospel because the long account of Christ’s death includes significant suffering in mind, body, and spirit.
    
Some of the last words Jesus speaks as he suffocates and dies on the cross are not what they seem. For quite some time, I thought when Christ cried out ‘“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”’ (Matthew27:46) that He was feeling and experiencing a separation from God because He had willingly taken on all of our sins. My mom pointed out a Psalm that suggests this was not the case. It’s completely changed the way I see the moments before Christ’s death.
    
As any well-educated Jew at that time knew, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” is the beginning of Psalm 22.

Even as he gasped for his last breaths, Christ was speaking of fulfilling the prophecies of old and bringing new hope. Psalm 22 is called “The Prayer of an Innocent Person.” It includes many allusions to the specific types of suffering Christ endured during his Passion.
    
For example, it says “All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer; they shake their heads at me: ‘You relied on the Lord—let him deliver you; if he loves you, let him rescue you.’” (Ps 22: 8-9) This is precisely what happened when Christ was made fun of, called the King of the Jews, beaten, spit upon, and forced to wear a crown of thorns and a royal looking cloak as his tormentors insulted Him.
    
“As dry as a potsherd is my throat; my tongue sticks to my palate; you lay me in the dust of death” (Ps 22:16) describes his incredible thirst—one so strong for righteousness that He is willing to suffer the torture of humiliation and dehydration on the road to an even more painful death.
   
“They stare at me and gloat; they divide my garments among them; for my clothing they cast lots.” (Ps 22:18-19) and Matthew 27: 35.
    
In verses III and IV of Psalm 22 are words of hope, courage, conviction, faith, and praise. Why is this significant if Christ only uttered the first line? Well, let’s see. If you hear or read: “I pledge allegiance…” or “Our Father, who art in heaven…” does it call to mind the rest of the pledge or the prayer? It probably does.
    
In Christ’s final hour, He was calling to mind a Psalm the Jews would know in its entirety. With a single phrase, He got them thinking about 32 verses of Scripture that are so much more than a cry for help. For scholars of the holy book, this brought to mind a portion of the Torah that describes a person who is tortured in a number of ways, but who through it all trusts in God and knows that the suffering will ultimately result in God’s glory and inspire a long line of believers.
    
Think of this during Holy Week, and see how it changes your view of Christ’s Passion and Good Friday.

Note: All Scripture quotations are from the NAB translation.

Written and originally posted on my former blog: March 11, 2008

Be Still and Know

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139: 13-16
    
The Lord has known us and loved us unconditionally from before we were conceived until long after we have breathed our last breath and gone back into eternity. What a beautiful gift, to know that we are always loved. In Psalm 136, we are reminded every other line that: “His love endures forever.”
    
No sin we have committed, no decision we have made in the past or will make in the future, can separate us from the love of God. As it says in Romans 8:38-39: “…Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God…”
    
That having been said, there are many things that can bring us even closer to God. There are many ways in which we can become increasingly aware of His love in our lives. One of the main paths I have learned to expand perception of and reception to God’s love is prayer. Of course, prayer means many things to many people. It can mean reading sacred texts, reflecting on them, reading spiritual books, reciting prayers, making up prayers as we are inspired during the course of the day, meditation, singing, dancing, doing laundry, or the dishes. To some, it involves a period of silence, to others a period of praise and speaking in tongues. Regardless of the method, the result is that God is glorified, and we are drawn closer to Him. We are shown glimpses of His infinite love.
    
Something I have often struggled with in my prayer life is slowing down, being still, embracing silence, and really listening to God. I certainly believe God will come to me in the silence, but boy, it’s hard for me to get into a place that is silent and keep my mind from forming prayers, listing special intentions, worries, to-do lists…
    
It was no accident that the theme for my Cursillo weekend back in 2006 was “Be still and know” taken from Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God…” I am still learning how to just be and let God in. I’m so used to the ‘just doing’ that I have to practice the ‘just being’ or my actions will be devoid of the love, kindness, joy, gentleness, and peace which the Lord wants all of my words and actions to have.

“My home is within you.” Psalm 87:7

     For a while I’ve heard and known that God is in each of us, but it seems even richer to consider that His home is within us. The implications are so much deeper.
     If God’s home is within me, then He doesn’t just visit from time to time. He doesn’t need to call ahead to let me know He’s coming. He’s got the key and knows the code to turn off the alarm system.
     He created this home in me, but I get to make the rules for it. I choose what rooms He’s allowed to come into. I know that I’ve probably kept some rooms in my heart locked. Of course, God already knows what’s behind the closed doors, but if I’m completely honest with myself, I’d have to admit that there are some areas of my life that I’m not ready to examine closely with Him at this point in time.