Whitney and the mid 1990's...Indulge me ;)

Normally I'm a reluctant R&B/Gospel Music fan but this weekend I was reminded of the treasure in these songs as I was rifling though my old CD collection looking at how artists do their liner notes. 

It's amazing how God can use imperfect people, like us, to bless others and to bring about His Kingdom. Isn't there a saying about how God can draw straight with our crooked lines?  

 

Step by step reminds me of the philosophy I've taken on with my vocation journey since the summer: BABY STEPS

Small steps are all I can handle, I am like a little child that needs her daddy to hold her hands while she precariously steps forward...

When have you felt like taking things in "baby steps" was a good idea?  Learning a new job?  Choosing a career path? Moving to a new city?  Moving on after a relationships' purpose has ended? Kicking a bad habit?  Dealing with an illness? 

Forgiving someone who's hurt you deeply?

Lord Jesus as we walk with you, as we learn to trust and rely on you again as little children - open our hearts to your voice, to your love and guidance as we continue to step forward each day hoping to draw ever closer to you, ever closer to the eternal union our souls long for.

13 Children?? You Never Know...

A story in a homily on EWTN this week caught my attention...

 There was a young woman who felt called to Religious Life.  She joined the convent and on the day of her vows, she was in the procession to receive the Eucharist when she heard the voice of God tell her “Don’t do it”.  Out of obedience she listened and she prayed for guidance about what God wanted her to do.  The next day a letter arrived for her from a young man hailing from her home town.  As the story goes, they began dating when she arrived home, were married and eventually had 13 children!  The remarkable part of this story is that SIX of her children became Religious (priests AND nuns).  She was called to Religious Life, but not in a way she expected.


This really affected me…why?  Because it reminds me that I am right in following my heart by entering the Franciscan Sisters of Charity as a Postulant…but the rest still remains to be written and is not necessarily black and white.  Isn’t that exciting?  You never know with our wonderful, creative God.  I am confident that no matter what, this is going to be GOOD.

Lord Jesus, open our hearts to your guidance.  Please help us take the baby steps needed to come closer and closer to you. May we do your work and your will for the building of your Kingdom.  We love you and desire nothing less than what is best for your plan for us

(as individual children and as the Body of Christ).

Unexpected beautiful pair - Lilies and a Evergreen Tree
(I stumbled upon this in Fish Creek Park)

I Fall Into You

I Fall Into You
C. Marshall 2010

In the Spring you plant my seed and tell me where to grow

You ordain the sun to shine and will the rain and snow

Without my help I begin to form, my stem peeks through the earth

Leaves then follow, then a bud; A flower is at birth

In the Spring you planted my seed

And I Spring into you

In the Summer my petals are out, My color as brilliant as the sun

I wave in the wind and stretch out my arms, To receive the heat that’s come

In your glory I exist, With my fellow flower friends

Together our beauty is magnified, And we hope this never ends.

In the Summer my petals are out

And I’m Summer to you

In the Fall the air turns cold, And my lustre begins to fade

The grass around me begins to die, And leaves float to their grave

Yet as we wilt our beauty remains, For our palette of color has changed

Impressing your wonder on all who see, As they survey the outstretched range

In the Fall the airs turns cold

And I Fall into you

In the Winter all is dead, At least the annual kind

Under a cover of leaves, dirt and snow, I know I’m not left behind

I’m certain you see that You will come, And think of me again

When my time of rest is complete, I will rise again

In the Winter all is dead, And I die to you

But Spring is coming and there is hope that my life in you’s renewed

And even though this cycle of life brings us both joy and pain

The knowledge of You as the author of it all -

Makes me hope for it once again.

Divine Mercy

Easter Greetings!!!!!!! Alleluia! It's always so exciting to celebrate the Rising of our Lord and that fact that HE is ALIVE! Right now! I love Fr. Andrew's message: Jesus is Alive - Pass it on!

Next Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday and the Lord asked St. Faustina to start a Novena on Good Friday before the feast. There is much to this message that you can find information about here:

http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm


What I love is the idea of God's infinite ocean of mercy, compassion and LOVE available to us all. We are invited to immerse ourselves in this ocean of mercy often - daily, hourly, by the moment! It is inexhaustible.

Trust in God is the essential message of the Divine Mercy devotion - and like any fountain, we need a vessel to to gather water to take with us. In many revelations to St.Faustina the Lord revealed that the Fountain is His Heart, the Water is His Mercy and the Vessel is Trust.


"I am love itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls (1074)"

It's not too late to join in the Divine Mercy Novena before the Feast Day...

Jesus, I trust in you!

Source: "The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion" Revised Edition with Fr.Michalenko,MIC, Vianny Flynn and Robert Stackpole



Jesus, you didn't have to do it...

As I await the Easter Vigil this evening I thought I'd share an awesome video with you.

I read somewhere that people often mistake the "Passion" of Christ to be something of passionate love, with much ardour and emotion. The priest (please forgive me, I can't find the reference) mentioned that the actual meaning of passione is something that more resembles our meaning of the word resignation. This is huge...Jesus abandoned himself to His Father's will. He resigned out of love to allow such terrible things happen to him because in the end, he knew we would benefit. He wasn't proud as he went through it, he didn't brag or exsult his self-sacrifice. He didn't have to go through such torture and unspeakable pain...but what motivated him? Love.

"The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (1 Jn 3:16)

"No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us" (1 Jn 4:12)

Before we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord I think it's important to note that Jesus asked us to love one another, to even lay down our lives for each other. What does this look like?

The Beatitudes are a good start, but so is the advice from St.Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 13:1-7)

I love how the composer David Haas has captured the spirit of this scripture:

Peace and Blessings and may the love of our Lord grow ever stronger in you each day.

What to do with a Whirlwind-Week and a Hulahoop?

On Tuesday, one of my friends sent me a youtube link to a lady performing her hula hoop skills while trying to pour herself a glass of wine (and drink it). At one point she had 3 hoops going at different points on her body. Somehow I felt like this lady...and it had nothing to do with the wine! It was kind of like the juggling metaphor...trying to keep a number of things going all at once and making adjustments to accomodate more and more! Not only could she handle 3 more hoops than I could ever hope to, but her motivation (besides showing off a skill many of us probably stopped trying to master at the age of 8) was extrinsic and separate from the act of keeping those hoops going.

Do you ever feel like you're trying to keep many hula hoops going but still have your eye on something else while you're at it (can we say 'multi-tasker')? Like many of you, I have many 'hoops' swirling around me but especially during this season of Lent my "eye" or my focus has been on my relationship with Christ. Keeping my focus there has helped me keep those hoops going...without Him there's no way I could do it.  And knowing that our prayers for each other help  us keep our "eye on the prize" while doing the 'hula of life' has really been a great relief to me and I am so grateful to those who lift me up! Please know I lift you up in my prayers too! :)

Here are a few  scripture-influenced thoughts that have been my focus this week:

Your Grace Is Enough For Me (Matt Maher/Chris Tomlin do a great song together with this as the title)

http://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/songdetail.aspx?iid=563385 (they actually start singing at about 2min 50sec)

"For when I am powerless, then I am strong" (from a hymn we sang last weekend)

Thank you Jesus, even for...(fill in the blank)

The Lord is mystrength and my song...the cause of our JOY :)

What thoughts/quotes/scriptures do YOU use when things get stressful?  Please share :)

God Bless You!

Unless A Grain of Wheat, of Barley, of Corn...

Muenster, SK (during my stay at St.Peter's Abbey)

I have had the opportunity to hear 3 different reflections on the Gospel for today. Here’s an excerpt: “ The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John 12:23-24)

Two of the reflections I heard were in homilies – Fr. Andrew focused on the fact that we must not focus on the dying of the grain, but the rising to new life – specifically related to losing loved ones in death. Fr. Piotr focused on how the dying of the grain is specifically related to how we need to allow certain things in our lives die in order to allow God’s life to bloom in us. The third reflection though took a view that surprised me…and that is the view of time. This reflection I read in “Daily Reflections for LENT” by Bishop Robert Morneau from Green Bay, WI. Bishop Morneau talked about living in accord with God’s time and design.

Jesus was obedient to God’s timing. He knew the plan and that His hour had come. As I think about “time” I’m reminded of Ecclesiastes and it’s litany of times…to be born, to die, to plant to harvest, to weep, to laugh, to keep, to throw away etc. Like in our gospel, the hour comes when the grain of wheat must die in order for it to produce harvest. The hour comes when the beautiful grapes must be plucked off the vine and thrown into the vat to make wine. The hour comes when a friend or son/daughter has to move away or the hour comes when we are asked to sacrifice ourselves (in small/great ways) for the good of another. All of these times are appointed by God…in fact it says in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is “…a time for every affair under the heavens.”

So what does that mean for us? Do we focus too much on the past or future or do we focus on the appointed hour given to us at this moment? What is God saying to me right now? For me personally, I have some dying in my life coming up and even now I feel it’s a process that has already begun. And even though sometimes it feels like it’s going to be a long wait before I enter the Holy Family Convent, I know that all will happen at God’s appointed time. There are many moments including this one as I’m typing that I have to discover what God has appointed for me. (Sleep and getting rid of this cold is one thing I am appointed to do today! ) J

Today I really marvel at the Lord and His Word… and each reflection of it has value and meaning. It’s like a multifaceted gem that you can look at from many angles and still find new wonder and beauty. Thank you Jesus and please help us to see what it is in our lives that we need to let go of, help us remember that death is not the end only the beginning of new life and strengthen us each moment so that we can be open and at peace with your design, your time, your will. Amen!