7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 143) Love is Fully Present, Always Miraculous

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Grace is… sharing a meal with another person of faith who serves as such a tremendous inspiration just by being who he/she is that you leave feeling more joyful and hopeful than when you arrived, a full-house for the Charismatic Mass held at a nearby parish, people who never cease to amaze or amuse you, unexpected answers to prayer, the Holy Spirit working in and through people in ways they don’t even begin to realize the significance of at the time…

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All We Have There have been a number of things that have happened over the course of this week during which the Lord has reminded Kevin and I in no uncertain terms that He is ALL we have and that He gives us ALL we need.  For now, suffice it to say that we are blessed to serve an amazing God who has placed some really awesome people in our lives from which we can learn and grow!

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Being Fully Present I had to give my Cursillo talk during team formation last Sunday, and after doing several versions and really stressing over it, I just did it.  I received some really positive feedback and some helpful constructive criticism.  I now know some of what the Lord inspired me to write in one of the versions in my talk that I didn't present to the team is meant to be shared elsewhere, perhaps on my blog, maybe in our memoir, definitely in our daily lives.  

Here’s a taste: Being fully present to others is one of the most important aspects of Apostolic Action.  Check back for a more in-depth look at this concept, as I’ve experienced it in my own life and seen it played out in the lives of others. 

                                                   

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Stuff my husband says: “Sometimes I’m so far beyond irresistible it’s mindboggling, isn’t it?”

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A Lenten Journey I enjoyed reading A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. Thomas Aquinas with its single serving size insights from St. Thomas Aquinas to go with the Gospel readings for each day of Lent and Holy Week.  Dominican author Fr. Paul Jerome Keller has done a magnificent job of incorporating brief passages from one of the most well-known and widely read members of the Order of Preachers, Thomas Aquinas, into daily meditations that are perfect for the season of Lent.  Fr. Keller has selected poignant passages from Aquinas’s vast works as the precursor to his own short reflections and original prayers written on the Gospel for each day. ..Read more here.

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Preparing for Lent Lord Jesus Christ through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  These practices are intended to bring us closer to Jesus not only as we prepare for the upcoming Easter season, but also as we move beyond it and live out our call to apostolic action.  Here is one of my favorite Lenten practices that was definitely the Holy Spirit inspiring my husband.

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40 Days for Life The Lord has repeatedly asked His servants to devote time to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for a huge mission He intends to give them. Would you like to know what part of your mission is over the next 40 days?  Watch this video.  It’s under 5 minutes long and is about miracles.  

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

A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. Thomas Aquinas

“Prayer transforms us, for it is impossible to come into contact with God without being changed.  The change is proportional to our openness, our disposition, to being transformed by God.” (p. 24).    

     
A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. Thomas Aquinas is a wonderful resource to help Christians understand the importance of prayer, the necessity of ongoing transformation, and the value of the Sacraments.  This book is one that could easily be used for a group study as well as for journaling, personal prayer, and contemplation. 

   
I enjoyed reading this book with its single serving size insights from St. Thomas Aquinas to go with the Gospel readings for each day of Lent and Holy Week.  Dominican author Fr. Paul Jerome Keller has done a magnificent job of incorporating brief passages from one of the most well-known and widely read members of the Order of Preachers, Thomas Aquinas, into daily meditations that are perfect for the season of Lent.  Fr. Keller has selected poignant passages from Aquinas’s vast works as the precursor to his own short reflections and original prayers written on the Gospel for each day.

   
During the season of Lent, we are all encouraged to enter into a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  These practices are intended to bring us closer to Jesus not only as we prepare for the upcoming Easter season, but also as we move beyond it and live out our call to apostolic action. 

   
If we are truly changed from the inside out by our encounters with the Lord, then we will not be content to return to our former ways.  We will be inspired and called to keep moving forward into a more intimate relationship with the Source of All Love and Mercy.       

   
“The real benefit of prayer is that we are lifted to God; in our conversing with Him, which often should involve more listening than our own talking, we are deepened in our love of God.” (p. 23). 

 For more information or to order your copy of A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. Thomas Aquinas, click here.  I received a free copy of this book from Tuscany Press in exchange for an honest review.

The First Station of the Cross

The First Station of the Cross: Jesus is condemned to death.

He was completely innocent, pure, and free of sin, but was sentenced to death for speaking the Truth the people found upsetting because it went against their way of seeing the world and God. 

   
No one likes to have their way of life challenged or judged.  We don’t like being criticized or forced to change.  However, when we get swept up in the ever-changing public opinions rather than seeking Truth at all costs, then we are very likely to become one of those in the crowd yelling: “Crucify him!”

What does mainstream society advocate today that condemn people to death? 

Abortion, embryonic stem cell research, the selling body parts of human fetuses for scientific experimentation, euthanasia, the death penalty, ethnic cleansing, in vitro fertilization, harvesting organs, the one-child policy in China, contraception most of which are actuallyabortificients, sterilization, test tube babies…

How do we wash our hands of the responsibility for protecting innocent life?

By not researching and learning about what the Bible says about it or what the Catholic Church teaches and why, by promoting lies about the physical, moral, emotional, and spiritual effects of abortion, ignoring clear Church teachings and advising others to do the same, donating money and/or time to organizations whose moneymaking centers on abortion, euthanasia, genocide, gendercide, taking advantage of the poor, slandering the innocent, and otherwise contributing to the culture of death.

Silence is acceptance.

We are just as guilty as those who carry out the crimes against life if we know something to be not only morally wrong, but intrinsically evil, if we do not speak out against it and take what action we can to inform others of the implications and ramifications the Lord has made clear to us. 

           

Out of sight, Out of Mind 

The decisions we make and actions we take that purposely jeopardize, damage, or destroy lives of others aren’t stains washed away from our hearts or souls by the passage of time, by the so-called justification of hateful practices, the fervor of public approval, or the legalization of such practices.  Once we have innocent blood on our hands, those stains remain on our hearts and souls until we acknowledge our sinfulness, ask for and are willing to receive God’s mercy.

Music Meditation: This song by music missionary Danielle Rose addresses a number of the evils that our society condones rather than condemns. The song's lyrics are here: "Crucify Him."  

Making it a Matter of Prayer

     
Lord, please help us use the courage and conviction You give us to teach others and show them by our lives how sacred human life is in all of its stages.  Keep us focused on You, Lord God Creator of Life, Love, and Truth, so that we may not be dissuaded or discouraged by the culture of death, but rather draw closer to You in prayer and an ever-growing hope in that which is holy, compassionate, merciful, and eternal.  Amen.

The Transfiguration Lost in Translation

     I’ll never hear the Gospel account of the Transfiguration Mark 9:2-10 without thinking of two really funny stories shared with us many years ago when Kevin and I went to Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Rochester, New York, the parish where my parents were married.  

     The Readings that day were those we have today about the Transfiguration.  A religious sister in the community gave the homily, and included in it a great anecdote about a couple who came to her to receive ministry and informed her that they used to belong to “The Church of the Disfiguration.”  She found that to be very interesting, and all of us thought it was a hilarious misnomer. 

     It got me thinking, though.  That would be kind of a fitting name for a parish since we, the people, who make up the body of Christ on Earth, are indeed all disfigured to some extent, due to our own sinfulness and turning away from God.  Fortunately our Church isn’t focused on the darkness of sin and suffering (which I tend to be sometimes), but rather is built upon and springing forth from God’s gifts of forgiveness, mercy, and salvation.   

    Later on, the priest celebrating Mass that Sunday shared an even funnier memory before we began the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  When he was growing up, one Lent his Italian grandfather recounted to the gathered family members in broken English what Jesus said to his disciples when they were descending the mountain, “No tell o’ vision ‘til the Son of God come!”  This rather rough summary of Mark 9: “As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead,” led to a new Lenten sacrifice unintentionally imposed on everyone in the priest’s family.   And with that, the priest added, “None of us could watch TV for the rest of Lent.”  The Gospel reference was lost, but Grandpa made quite an impression by declaring that there would be no television until Easter.

     What aspects of your life is God asking you to sacrifice on the altar in order to grow closer to Him?

Signs You’ve Had a Seriously Strange, Markedly Messed-Up Month

·         You get a completely unexpected job offer and are asked to make a decision about it in a matter of hours, and you do.

·         You drive the farthest out of town you have any evening in a while on the one day you get a blizzard and have to creep home on back country roads at night.

·         During said drive home, you see a huge snowplow stuck in a ditch on the side of the highway.

·         You feel too crummy and worn-out to stop by the local kick-off event for the international outreach organization you’ve been involved with for years even when it’s being held less than ten minutes away and your very own mother is the local coordinator for the campaign.

·         After faithfully attending daily Mass since last Ash Wednesday, even while on vacation, your spouse is so sick that he not only misses Ash Wednesday Mass, but also all of the other daily masses the week beginning Lent this year.

·         Lots of people flip out over the thought of making it mandatory to get an ultrasound before an abortion, something numerous studies have shown lead women to the realization that the fetus in their womb is a person not a blob of tissue, at which point a very high percentage around 90% choose life for their child.  I’m very confused!  You’re about to pay someone to use a high-powered vacuum to suck a living human being out of your womb (which causes you physical, emotional, and spiritual damage as well as killing a child), and you’re saying it’s unreasonable to make it mandatory for them to do what is part of a routine examination women before that?!  This seems to make about as much sense as going in for a mastectomy, but refusing the uncomfortable procedure of having a mammogram first.  Clearly lopping off a breast with a malignant tumor in it and ending an innocent child’s life are vastly different and nowhere even close on the spectrum of morality and ethics.

·         After a night when you and your spouse were only able to get a couple hours of sleep due to various illness issues, your spouse gets the following message in his fortune cookie: “You will sleep well at night.”  The next morning, after not sleeping all that well, you suggest perhaps it was because your spouse didn’t bring the fortune to bed and put it under his pillow.

·         You and your spouse both get called for jury duty.  He gets out of it for medical reasons, and you get to call in every Friday to for the next month to see if you’ll be appearing in court the following Monday. 

·         Your spouse disassembles various parts of the fairing of his motorcycle to bring them inside and give them a bath.

·         The most directionally challenged/adept at finding the ghetto in any city person in your household (in ours, I’m that person), finds a very dusty Easyfinder Map of Richmond that has been missing for months while looking for a neon yellow highlighter (which you just had in hand, but can’t for the life of you find a few minutes later).

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 39)

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Lent and sacrifice.  In thinking about past Lenten fasts, I believe the most in-tune I was throughout the 40 days was the year that I didn’t give up one particular food, but instead would think about each of the choices I made and remove some things I really wanted.  I’d leave out the sugar, leave off the salt, not have a soda or dessert or candy…you get the idea.  I was much more aware of prayer throughout the day, because I was always looking for something to offer up in addition to increased prayer.     

 

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Wacky weather!  I’m a little confused about what season we’re in.  On Sunday when driving back from Ashland in a blizzard, I knew it was still winter.  Today it was 78 degrees out and we have a tornado watch.  Warmer temps are definitely my preference over snow, though it was pretty to look at from inside once we’d driven past about a dozen cars that had slid off the road and made it home safely. 

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Just use your imagination and the kids will love it!  This week I had the privilege of watching a 2 and a half year old.  After we went back and forth playing Simon says, I was getting a bit worn out, so Simon said, “Lie on your back.”  We did, then I suggested we pretend to ride bikes.  For the next twenty minutes or so, I would ask the little miss where we were going.  She’d tell me, then start “pedaling” faster, so I’d have to speed up.  At each destination, she told me where the things were located.  We went to the zoo, the park, Sweet Frog for frozen yogurt, and back to the house.  We saw six lions, three monkeys, each had our own yummy yogurt, and got to practice air cycling. 

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So last week, I praised God for inspiring my husband to attend weekly Mass with me since last Lent.  What happens this week?  He comes down with a bad case of bronchitis and misses daily Mass five days in a row.  The cool thing is, it wasn’t because he had no interest in going, just because he’s been sick and most people don’t take kindly to someone coughing up a lung in their row. 

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A Connection Is Made! It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since I made my Christ Renews His Parish weekend.  What a great group of women and friends I’ve gotten to know through the two day retreat!  Please pray for all the participants of the CRHP Women’s Weekend taking place this Saturday and Sunday at our parish.    

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Watch This!  Are you ready for a priest with facts about the HHS mandate, sound theology, actual quotes, creativity, morality, completely Catholic, and a sense of humor?  This is fantastic! http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2012/02/fr-leo-patalinghug.html

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“I have a really good feeling about this Spring campaign. No one reason, but just a lot of blessings that are coming early and close together. First hour, first day, four college age men showed up to pray who weren't on the schedule. People calling on day two to say they want to join us - a doctor whose daughter is due to deliver any day, a teacher, a pastor....you get the idea. Weather that we only dream of having. Dozens of prayer partners supporting us around the city. And this...just day two. Good feeling.
     So we ask you to join us and together we will see what amazing results God has in store for us and for our city, for our country and for all of this Spring's 40 Days for Life effort.”  

- Day 2 e-mail message from the leader of Richmond 40 Days for Life. 

Click here to find the closest vigil to you. 

Head over to Conversion Diary, to read Jen Fulwiler's wonderful tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday.

From Ashes to Ashes

My personal favorite blessing from last Lent was that my husband Kevin, prompted by the Holy Spirit, was inspired to start attending daily Mass with me.  As many Christian traditions observe the practice of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as part of Lent, a number of people take stock of their spiritual lives and their outreach to others, ask God for guidance, and come up with a plan that will help them grow closer to the Lord between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.      

     
Last year, I had the jaw-dropping experience of my husband Kevin informing me that he was going to begin attending daily Mass with me as part of his Lenten observance.  By then, Kevin was participating fully each Sunday and on holy days when we attended Mass.  He’d even been open to going on a couple different retreats and later served as part of two different teams for other groups of men seeking spiritual renewal.  He was living out the Catholic faith, something that I had begged, pleaded, and hoped for over a period of years when we first began dating.

     
Hearing about Kevin’s plan to join me for daily Mass made me excited, then it made me wonder how long it would last.  Praise God Almighty, since it came directly from the Holy Spirit, he started and hasn’t stopped!  For the past year, even when we’ve been on vacation, he’s accompanied me to daily Mass. 

     
This is one of the major reminders for me that not only is God still in the business of miracles, but He’s also continuing to grant prayers He inspired me to start praying years ago.  When Kevin and I first met, he’d been away from the Church for a number of years.  He’d never lost his faith in God the Father or Jesus Christ, but he fell away, sometimes ran away, from the Catholic faith. 

    
Only the Lord God could change that man’s heart and mind.  I tried many times, and I failed completely or had minimal success at best.  I prayed for Kevin’s conversion, but I had a hard time picturing the day when he wouldn’t think it was “a bit much” to go to Mass on Sundays in addition to going a few times during the week. 

     
If I think about spending 40 days focused on how sinful and selfish I am, then I’m likely to get depressed.  If I focus on how amazing the Lord is— how incredibly loving, merciful, and compassionate our God is—that He would give us His only Son as expiation for our sins, then I’m likely to be hopeful.  I’m likely to submit more fully to the Lord’s Will in all areas of my life.  I’m likely to invite God in my heart and mind to remove the lies and replace them with His infinite Truth.

     
What or whom are you going to focus on this Lent?

     
Is spending quiet time in prayer something you schedule into each day?

     
What’s the most important thing you can give up this Lent?

Whose Requests Are Pending?

     Is it a more a sign of the times or willful defiance that makes me not feel too disturbed by the fact that I have seven pending requests God wants me to know?  Maybe both, or perhaps it’s because the messenger in this case is merely an application on Facebook telling me there are seven things God has been trying to tell me between January 31 and today. 

     Quite honestly, I’m sure there have been a whole lot more than just seven things He’s been trying to get through to me in the past nineteen days.  Fortunately, I do unplug from the computer, TV, my phone, etc. to tune in to God’s will during the day, so He’s reached me through a number of other methods.    
     Lent is just around the corner.  I’ve begun asking the Lord in my quiet prayer time how He would like me to observe this holy time of preparation and transformation leading up to Holy Week and Easter.  I’m still listening and waiting for specifics.  
     Recently I’ve been inspired to do Morning and Evening prayer in addition to attending daily Mass.  All three have been very powerful ways and times during which the Lord has spoken to me and/or helped me understand an aspect of Scripture in a new way.  My husband and I have also been praying the Rosary, especially as we are lifting up the participants of the Men’s Cursillo weekend going on right now. 
     I can't even tell you how many times the Lord speaks through my husband.  Sometimes, I'm more open to that messenger than others. :) I’m clearly feeling a nudge to spend more time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  This evening Kevin assured me that he's not giving daily Mass up for Lent, which is indeed some great news!

Questions for reflection:

     When was the last time you spent some unplugged quiet time alone with God? 

     What methods has the Lord used to speak to you or through you in the past month?

Rediscover Lent

Rediscover Lent is a wonderful companion for Catholics young and old who desire to make this Lent a time of true transformation in their lives.  This book by Matthew Kelly contains a list of daily readings, a Scripture passage, a reflection, meditation questions, and a prayer for each day of Lent and Holy Week.  With his customary finesse, Kelly invites the reader into a deeper relationship with the Lord through simple practices and disciplines that have been the habits of many popes, saints, priests, religious, and devout laypeople over the centuries.

     
The themes of growing closer to the God, particularly through participation in the sacraments, reading Sacred Scripture, praying the Rosary, and embracing the fullness of the Mass are those Kelly has covered in many of his other books, talks, and DVDs.  He describes how the ancient practices and beliefs of the Catholic faith along with adopting some quite manageable practices for daily prayer and faith formation can completely change your life and all of your relationships. 
     
These basic principles and tenets of the faith are set out in thought-provoking, easy to absorb (though they’re harder to live out consistently) points, facts, suggestions, and encouragement for the spiritual journey. 
     
I highly recommend Rediscover Lent and others by Matthew Kelly for those who are interested in learning about the Catholic faith or who want to revitalize their faith and come to a renewed appreciation for the richness that lies within. 
     
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 Rediscover Lent. They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.

Spy Wednesday: What Will Jesus Do?

Those looking to trap Jesus were acting as spies, trying to spot the best time and place to arrest Him. As has been the case in many sting operations, there’s a snitch on the inside. Actually, if we really look at the Gospels, all of the apostles fled when Jesus was arrested. Not one of the men He called to follow Him and be “fishers of men” stuck around when their leader was turned in by one of their own, convicted, and brutally tortured. The miracle of it all is that Christ knew all along they’d betray Him, yet He loved them anyway.

No Leap Frogging Allowed

     Kevin, my mom, and I were quite amused during noon Mass at the Pastoral Center today. Monsignor Muench was the presider, and his intro into the penitential rite at the beginning of the liturgy was something to the affect off: “For all of the times when we have wanted to leap frog over Holy Thursday and the Passion of Good Friday and Saturday, so we can get right to the Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies on Sunday morning…Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.”
     I laughed at this offbeat introduction, but I know that I have often been guilty of wanting to leap frog over the tough times and get right to the triumph, victory, and celebration. I’ve found one of the greatest struggles I face when it comes to suffering is to go through it without complaining or begging God to take it away. Truth be told, I’m more likely to ask for the pain to be removed, at least for a while, than for the grace to accept the strength, courage, and hope I need to endure it.

From Ashes to Ashes

This Lent already feels different. For the first time in quite a while, I got to spend most of my Ash Wednesday in prayer. This morning I had my quiet prayer time, then at noon, I joined a few others at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Richmond.
    
When I arrived there were two people there from a Baptist church a ways outside of Richmond who come regularly to pray at the clinic and do sidewalk counseling. The woman told me of a mother they’d been able to speak with the day before who was five weeks pregnant and had been considering having an abortion. After they spoke with her and gave her some information about the development of her child at five weeks, she chose to keep her baby. They presented her with a baby blanket and some information about local pregnancy resources.
    
While there, we read the Gospel account of Christ’s Passion, did some intercessory prayer, then the four Catholics in the group joined in praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. By the time the clock turned to one, a student from VCU and a gentleman from St. Benedict’s, who has long been involved in the vigil, showed up to pray for the next hour.
    
After that I went to the Pastoral Center where my mom works to drop off the sign-up books, statements of peace, “I Pray 40 Days for Life” pins, and a number of T-shirts, bookmarks and a few of the magnetic car ribbons all with the 40 Days for Life: Pray to End Abortion message on them which a dear brother in Christ had purchased for the Kick-off dinner. My mom was excited to get one of the T-shirts and several more sign-ups for the Spring vigil which began today, March 9 and goes through April 17, Palm Sunday, from 7am-7pm each day of the week.
   
 After that, I went to St Michael’s to meet someone who has been involved in 40 Days for Life, Cursillo, and is also an amazing prayer warrior who leads the Rachel’s Vineyard post-healing abortion ministry in the Richmond area. I had asked this remarkable woman to come be the silent intercessor during the Theophostic Prayer Ministry session I had this afternoon. Last week, I’d really been struggling and had hoped to set up a time I could go out to Chesapeake to the New Creation Charismatic Community center for a Theophostic prayer session. As God would have it, a facilitator who’d prayed with me the last time she was here to answer questions during one of our day-long trainings on Theophostic Prayer Ministry, was coming through town and offered to pray with me in the afternoon. This was definitely a God-incident for which I was truly grateful!
    
As usual, the time we spent together went by very quickly. I again left the session feeling a deeper sense of peace and even some joy. I hopped in the car and headed over to St. Benedict’s where Kevin and I had decided we were going to go since it would be a Mass and an Ash Wednesday service. The church was packed! I slipped into the pew with Kevin and our favorite brother in Christ. Since it was a full Mass at St. Benedict’s, much of it was done in Latin, there was plenty of incense used, and a sufficient amount of kneeling. The service was very moving, traditional, and rich in historical and spiritual significance.
    
At its conclusion, Kevin, our brother, and I went to Panera for a soup supper. After which, Kevin and I came home and shared the Lenten reflections for today from various sources. Overall, it’s been a quiet, prayerful day.
    
I’ve felt grateful for such a blessed first day of Lent. Lord, please help all of us be more open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, so that You are free to work in and through us to draw us closer to You, Your Love, Your Son, Truth, Passion, and Redemptive Suffering. Amen.