Pentecost Weekend Festivities

Pentecost Weekend was very enjoyable.  We spent it with loved ones, many faith-filled people who are passionate about serving the Lord and others.  Saturday I had some good prayer, reading, study, and writing time.  In the evening, Kevin and I had dinner with my mom at a delicious Italian place on the Southside called Angelo’s.  Their stromboli is scrumptious!

From there we headed over to Church of the Epiphany, where Kevin and I were married on September 4, 2004.  Two of our friends from Cursillo were doing a concert as part of their Give Me Jesus tour.  The band S2K they’re in plays for Kairos retreat weekends.  I knew it would be a blast, because our two friends are characters on their own, but are even more hilarious together.  The concert was awesome, and the banter among the guys entertaining, as always! We got to sing along to the praise and worship music they performed, and heard their take a on a few classics that fit in with the theme of Kairos. 

   
In between sets, one of the men in the band would talk about how, when, and why they became involved in prison ministry.  Each of them has gone to one or more Virginia prisons to put on Kairos retreats for the inmates.  It was really awesome to hear the stories of how these men from a variety of faith denominations and backgrounds came together to serve men, women, and juveniles who are incarcerated. 

     
One of the most moving testimonies was from a gentleman who had been an inmate on the very first Kairos retreat that ever took place in our area back in 2002.  When released from prison, he began studying to become a minister.  Now he’s one of the chaplains who serves Kairos.  Talk about transformation and metanoia! There you have it!

   
Sunday morning Kevin and I went to 11:15 Mass at our church because our friend was doing the second reading in Hindi as part of the celebration for Pentecost.  It was neat to hear the reading in an unfamiliar language, and the music was beautiful.  Afterwards, we headed up the hill for the church picnic that the Knights of Columbus had organized and were preparing for.  I ended up sitting with a few friends from Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP), a couple of whom are now also Cursillistas, and we had a good time.  Good friends, good food, and good fun!

     
Then I got to catch up with a dear friend I met through CRHP who has been at pharmacy school in Chicago for the past couple years.  We were assigned to be roommates for the overnight portion of the CRHP retreat, and we stayed up half the night talking and have been good friends ever since.  We weren’t sitting at the same table when we made our retreat, so we wouldn’t have gotten to know each other as well had we not been assigned to the same room.  Another God incident indeed! 

   
Lord, thank you for surrounding us with so many people of faith to inspire us and pray for and with us.  We are grateful to have friends who are family steeped in the love of Christ and the dedication to serve His people.  Amen.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 56)

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Inconceivable!” On Tuesday this week when I went to noon Mass at the Pastoral Center, Fr. Wayne Ball gave a great homily beginning with a quote from his favorite movie, The Princess Bride: “I do not think that means what you think it means.” 

     Fr. Wayne Ball spoke about how the Scripture readings for that day weren’t interpreted or meant the way people thought they were at that time.  The Lord wasn’t saying that the earthly cities and kingdom mentioned would remain untouched, always protected, and out of the enemy’s reach forever; He was saying that the Kingdom of Heaven would never be destroyed.

     Fr. Ball was quite amused when I came up to him after Mass and exclaimed: “Inconceivable!”

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Religious Freedom Again, the quote: “I do not think that means what you think it means” from The Princess Bride fits perfectly.  For centuries, religious freedom has been one of the most important liberties protected by our constitution.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has provided a number of clear reasons why and explanations of how Obamacare policies and provisions infringe upon one of our most important liberties.  I invite any who are serious about protecting religious freedom for all to check out these articles and this information. 

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Health and Human Services are best governed by God and those who intend to protect the health and respect the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death. 

Judie Brown, president of American Life League, issued the following statement:

    “This is indeed a sad day for the people of this once great nation where liberty has always been equated with freedom of religion, freedom from oppression, and freedom of speech. The government's draconian healthcare law denies so many rights that the true result is yet unknown, but surely liberty has been trounced in unbelievable fashion.

    Let us pray for our nation. We must remember in these dark days that, while we are proud to be Americans, our primary loyalty is to God, not man and surely not the government. Civil disobedience appears to be one of the few options we have, and we say bring it.”

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Local Spiritual Enrichment Opportunities Kevin and I have been praying extra for the teams in formation and the candidates who will attend the following upcoming weekends put on by members of our parish for members of our parish: Christ Renews His Parish retreat for Men July 21-22, 2012 and Christ Renews His Parish retreat for Women August 4-5, 2012.  For more information and to register, click here.

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Calling Catholic Men! Another opportunity for Christ-like transformation is fast approaching.  The next Cursillo Men’s Weekend in our area will be held, July 26-29, 2012, at Church of the Sacred Heart in Petersburg, Virginia.  The team members who have been in formation for several months are making their overnight retreat tonight (June 29, 2012), and would appreciate your added prayer cover.  For more information or to register for this very moving “short course in Christianity,” check out the national websitehere.  To register for the July Men’s weekend in Petersburg, Virignia, contact Pre-Cursillo coordinators: Mike and Jane Walsh at Precursillo09@yahoo.com

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Why I’m back to reading YA novels As I’ve mentioned previously, I have a YA manuscript I’ve been working on for a number of years, and I’ve gotten the nudge to get back to it recently.  Because in order to write well you need to read well-written books in that genre, I’ve found myself back in the teen section of the library.  This means I’m reading YA novels in addition to a number of nonfiction works that I will be writing book reviews on for my blog.  Delving back into the teen scene via YA novels has already given me some exceptional ideas for how to take my manuscript to the next level while at the same time reminding me how morally depraved many popular works of fiction are these days.

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Vocation Discernment Yes, I realize I’ve mentioned this often lately, but that’s because it’s been on my mind and heart frequently: please pray for Kevin and me and all who are discerning what major steps to take in their lives.  Lord, please help us to be open to Your Will, to set time aside to listen for Your still small voice guiding us to the Truth.  Keep us focused on You, above everyone and everything else, so that we may say, do, and become better vessels for Your love, healing, Truth, joy, hope, peace, compassion, and gentleness.  Amen.

 

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