Cursillo Weekend: Great Mercy Living Hope

     After months of prayers and preparations, the 465th Cursillo Women's Weekend is finally upon us.  I'm so very excited to be a part of this amazing team brought together to do God's work!  What a blessing this experience has been, and the best is yet to come!

Please keep the team and candidates in your prayers this Thursday through Sunday (April 24-27, 2014) as we gather to bask in God's love and His Great Mercy, so that we may return to the world as renewed sources of Living Hope!

Don't forget that this Sunday April 27, 2014 is extra special.  It's Divine Mercy Sunday as well as the canonization of two popes.

DE COLORES!!

What Is Divine Mercy Sunday?

Did you know Divine Mercy Sunday is April 27, 2014?  It's always observed the Sunday after Easter, though many of the faithful don't know about this powerful prayer and important message from the Lord.      Click here to see a 15-minute video explanation of how to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday here.
     
There are a number of beautiful ways to celebrate the Lord’s Divine Mercy and the messages of mercy given to the world, especially through Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. I encourage you to read up on this feast day and find a church in your area that actually celebrates it. I love The Chaplet of Divine Mercy prayers.   This sung version is one of my absolute favorites! It's a very powerful prayer to sing with others. 
     
We've used it on Cursillo and Christ Renews His Parish retreats with great success!  Some have said it was the most powerful part of the weekend for them. 
     
Click here to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy on your computer.
     "
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and the Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly Beloved Son in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world...For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."  "Jesus I trust in You!" - excerpts from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
     
Please keep the team and candidates of the 465th Cursillo weekend taking place from April 24-27, 2014.  We are celebrating our theme which is based on the message of Divine Mercy and we will be sharing the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as part of the weekend.

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday! One aspect of the Lord's love that I may always struggle with in this life is His mercy.  I don't understand it, can do nothing to merit it, certainly don't deserve it, and, yet, He gives it freely, and accepting it is my only hope of salvation.  Mercy is one of the mysteries of the faith in my mind.
   
There are many Blessings of Divine Mercy which I have previously written about along with my experience of praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

How can a God who knows us more intimately than we know ourselves, who is aware of our every thought, word, and deed, love us so much that He’s willing to forgive us for our countless transgressions against Him and His children?

Contemplating the Lord’s Passion, as we have been invited to do during Lent and Holy Week, has made me even more aware of how weak I am when it comes to accepting suffering from the Lord willingly and lovingly as a way of purifying my soul and taking part in the redemptive suffering of Christ that will save souls in time and eternity. 

Reading what’s happening in our world, in our country, with our government, in our town, it is easy for me to feel very overwhelmed and depressed.  There are so many clear instances where the culture of death is running rampant and even those who were once faithful to the teachings of Christ have begun to believe the lies. 

I felt quite humbled, sometimes even a bit useless when thinking about the profound suffering our Lord Jesus Christ accepted as expiation for our sins when I know how often I try to get out of the pain given to me in mind, body, and/or spirit which is quite mild in comparison.

Truly, periods of acute awareness of how sinful I am, how desperately I need the Lord’s mercy are gifts without which I probably wouldn’t develop an even deeper yearning for His Mercy.  Unless I’m made uncomfortable and more aware of what I lack, then I don’t seek out and appreciate the forgiveness and reconciliation the Lord offers us through the sacrifice of His Son. 

    
St. Faustina Kowalska is one of my favorite saints.  Her closeness to the Lord and willingness to be shown her sinfulness and profound need for His Mercy gives me hope.  No matter how far away we wander from the Lord, He always welcomes us back with open arms and invites us to be washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb, the only one perfect sacrifice ever offered in time and eternity. 

   
Lord, please help me and each one of Your Children to accept the suffering in mind, body, and/or spirit that You give us, so that we are better vessels of love and mercy for others.  Open our hearts to accept Your Divine Mercy on a deeper level than we ever have before, so that there is a greater capacity for Your love to grow in and through us.  Amen.
     

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 96)

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Divine Mercy Clearly Christ's Passion, death, and Resurrection which we contemplate during Lent and Easter are the greatest sources of evidence that the Lord is merciful to us.  The first Sunday after Easter has been named and celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday.  To read more about what that means, how it is observed, and to learn one of the most powerful prayers around, The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, check out this website and/or this personal reflection on the devotion and associated prayers.

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Quality Time I had a nice treat around lunchtime on Tuesday when I went over to drop off a burrito bowl from Chipotle for my sister, I got to catch up with her a bit while holding my twelve lbs. one month old nephew, Ezra, who snuggled up in my arms and slept soundly for most of the time. Thanks for reminders of the many miracles in our lives, Lord!

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All Fired Up A dear friend of mine I’ve known since I was 11 has recently gotten a part-time job at a cool paint your own pottery place.  Though I painted all three of these pieces at the Carytown location with the same name, I’m looking forward to seeing the Short Pump one where she works and adding another bowl to our set of original water-themed dishware. They are all having to do with water and the lake since that's where Kevin and I first met, at his family's cottage on Lake Ontario when I was only sixteen.

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Young Sponges Soak Up Everything I’m reminded about a million times a day how infants and toddlers are such sponges.  Vivi will start singing part of a song or say a line from a book then ask me to read it, or she’ll suggest we do something that we used to do before her sisters were born (last May), or I’ll see one of the twins mimic their big sister.  Kids are listening to the songs you play, the words you say, the things you sing, everything they watch on TV, DVD, computer, XBOX, and it does affect them and stick with them much longer than you think.      

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Back to the Throne Room Knowing that young children are listening, watching, and imitating what I do makes me feel a huge sense of responsibility, especially since I can remember and am still affected by what people close to me said and did even before I was 5 years old.  I am that much more certain that I need to be grounded in prayer and fully relying on God when such precious, impressionable people are in my care.  I feel that way about everyone, but I have always been especially sensitive to how powerfully we can influence children’s self-esteem, interior monologue (which at a young age still is an external monologue), and the habits they form…

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The Theology of Marriage It’s been interesting to read what different people have to say about: what the definition of marriage is, what it has meant, and should mean in the future.  This is a reflection I wrote on marriage and the one book in addition to the Bible that explained most beautifully God’s love for us and His intentions for us.  This is the best recent article I’ve read (thus far) explaining the Roman Catholic teaching on marriage from the beginning.          

     

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The Chronicles of Narnia I have a confession to make.  Not only was it only within the past 6 months that I finally read all of The Lord of the Rings for the first time in my life, but also I am only now reading The Chronicles of Narnia.  I feel a much greater appreciation for classic Catholic literature now that I've taken greater steps to round out my very secular studies as an English (with a concentration in creative writing) and French major at a liberal arts university.  I’m also very excited to be working on something within the genre of Catholic fiction that will hopefully entertain and inspire many.

Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.