My Life is a Construction Site!

“Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest,
And in our hearts take up Thy rest;
Come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made”

http://www.ameshymn.org/ht0110_.htm

This weekend Fr. Andrew mentioned how the Holy Spirit transforms and renews.  This got me thinking back to a metaphor that’s been with me the past few weeks: my heart/life is a construction site right now.  And who knows, maybe it always will be until I am ready to face my maker, when my journey and all that I’ve been meant to build/accomplish has been complete.

Of course, this metaphor is not meant to be taken literally; I don’t have a bulldozer on my back or a crane hanging from my head. What’s really changing is more abstract….like changes in attachments, relationships, ideas, expectations, desires.  I feel like it’s been an excavation phase, lots of moving and adjusting things around, lots of replanting things I want to keep but in a different location or hoeing up weeds and tossing them out all together, lots of surveying and seeing where things really stand.  Although sometimes painful, this is a season of transformation, and I have faith that the Holy Spirit is very much involved.  And, even though things were pretty beautiful before, I have to have faith that I'm going though all of this for something that is renewed and even more wondrous (although in my human limitedness I don't understand 'how' or all the possibilities of 'what').

Someone pointed out to me that it’s important to remember that this construction and chaos has a beautiful end in sight, something new and wondrous.  I was relieved as it made me realize that the noise of swirling of emotions, the confusion, replanting and letting go etc will not last forever and that perhaps, there’s something very good to look forward to.  What, I don’t know exactly.  I do know that if it’s something God has cooked up, it will be good.  But I have to trust.  I have to allow Him to transform and renew me. 

Come Holy Spirit, transform our hearts and beings so that may we be a source of love, joy, faithfulness, peace, gentleness and kindness to those whom we meet.
Amen.



 Taken from: http://kezi.wordpress.com/poetries-potpourri-of-favorites/fruit-of-the-spirit/

Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit

O Holy Spirit,
Divine Spirit of light and love,
I consecrate to Thee my understanding,
heart, and will,
my whole being for time and eternity.
May my understanding be always submissive
to Thy heavenly inspirations,
and to the teaching of the Catholic Church,
of which Thou are the infallible guide;
may my heart be ever inflamed
with love of God and of my neighbor;
may my will
be ever conformed to the divine will;
and may my whole life
be a faithful imitation of the life
and virtues of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
to whom with the Father and Thee
be honour and glory forever. Amen.

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Sometimes you don't even realize you're expecting something until something happens and you're hit hard with painful disappointment.

This can be found in our life experiences of expecting certain treatment from certain people or even expectations of an experience or organization.  Or perhaps you had expectations for your life that didn't work out the way you wanted.

What do you do when you're unexpectedly disappointed??

Turning to Christ and keeping your hands open is what popped into my mind.  Sometimes when we're hurt, disappointed and angry we want to close ourselves off and yank our hands away so we can't recieve anymore. Or sometimes we think - well, if I have no expectations then I'll never get hurt!  Jesus is the one you can count on.  Even though our prayers may be answered differently than we wanted/expected, we can trust Him 100% that everything is working towards the good of those who love Him.  We can trust that He sees and knows the bigger picture intimately, and that He knows best.

On this Feast of the Ascension, I wonder if some of Jesus' followers were unexpectedly disappointed.  It took some of them a long time to believe that Christ had risen from the dead and once they did, they were so overjoyed to be with Him again!  I wonder if they were partly sad that He was going to the Father and leaving them in a physical way.  Even so, no matter how they felt, they took seriously the mission of spreading the Good News and went forth in joy. 

How can we do this in our own lives?  For me today I am reminded to stay open to what the Lord is offering, even if I'm angry, hurt and disappointed in a friend I love.  Even if part of me struggles with this new path my life is taking and with the process of letting go of things in order for it to happen.  I can look to our Ascended Christ and know that He is preparing a special place for us and that this is not the end.  And until then I will keep looking for ways to love and serve as He asks.  One of my favorite quotes is this:

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, in all manner of things, all shall be well"

~ Julian of Norwich

Lord Jesus, you remain with us until the end of time.  Please help us to feel your loving presense in a special way today.  Help us to trust you and be open to see and recieve your grace in our lives. May we have the strength to go forth and lovingly serve, even in our brokenness.  We love you.

Amen

A picture taken at Elbow Falls May 2012 on the occasion of Sisters Mary Ann and Julie Ann visiting me!  What a blessed visit we had with my family and friends.  Thank you Lord!

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and...mercy drops?

What touches me about this song is the idea that sometimes the things that we perceive as "not working" or challenges in our lives are exactly what seems to help us grow and experience God's blessings and presence in a more profound way.

I like the lyric about how God loves us too much to give us lesser things...something to think about. Sometimes we think we really want something...but we’re really wanting something that's of way lesser quality than we deserve. We can't see the bigger picture. Have you heard of that story of the guy who went on a cruise and only ate the cheese and crackers he brought along with him (to save money) only to find out at the end of the cruise that the buffets and all-day snack bars that were open 24-7....were free with his ticket??

The Lord has so much to give us, we just have to be open to receive it...and that means opening our mind and not thinking that we've got it all figured out (like the cheese and cracker guy) and worse, limiting God and His possibilities (ex: God already did this and this for me...surely He's done). Perhaps we need to allow Him to change us so that His grace can affect us even more and so we can live, move and have our being in closer union with Him.

I read a quote today from "Cistercian Monastic Life/Vows: A Vision" by Jean-Marie Howe.

"Our being, our substance, must be porous in order for the Mystery to enter, to penetrate. That is the crux of the matter. It is not enough simply to be immersed in life. We must let ourselves be plowed so that the furrows of our person become deeper and deeper, so that our earth becomes softer and softer. This is something that our being craves, but this plowing is kenosis (emptying, the death which must precede new life, rebirth) and kenosis is not easy. In the measure that our being becomes porous, open, grace can penetrate us. Depth is possible. Transformation is possible. Thus an ever deepening penetration by the Mystery can fill us with spiritual being" (p.367)

Death leads to New Life, definitely something we've been celebrating a lot during this Easter season.  When have you experienced or seen  kenosis in your life?  Perhaps this was a time when your "blessings were like raindrops, mercies in disguise".

Peace!

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