Thankful for Blessings - March 30

I love Wednesdays because it is the day I join my special friend, Judy, in this thankful meme at her inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings. In this meme we give thanks for the five things we are most thankful for this past week and then link to Judy's blog. Be sure to also check out her website when you visit! Thank you, Judy, for helping me keep an attitude of gratitude!
Some of my blessings this week -
1. Lent - thank you, Jesus, for this time of Lent, this time of renewal and repentance and lives filled with prayer and thoughts of You.
2. Faith - thank you, Jesus, for the gift of faith. It is a beautiful gift, one that has helped keep me going through some tough times.
3. Blogging buddies - thank you, Jesus, for my blogging buddies and for their support in all I do and for their prayers. They are all in my prayers as well.
4. Love of writing - thank you, Jesus, for giving me the love of writing and for leading me to write for you and about you and to encourage others on their spiritual journey.
5. My family - thank you, Jesus, for my whole family and for helping my grandson to start crawling this week! And of course, since visitors to my blog have not seen him nearly enough lately, here is a great picture!

Some News To Report

I want to pass on some good news.

My first online retreat is available now on my website Catholic Prayer Life. Check it out and read my first testimonial from an online friend, Deacon John! This retreat is great for Lent or any time of the year!

Also, my monthly column at CatholicMom.com is up! Gifts for Jesus!

Come to the Water

"If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." - John 4:10

All we have to do is ask. That is it. And according to the parable of the Prodigal Son, we don't really even have to ask. We just need to make the move in the right direction.

If we knew the gift of God ... ahhh, that is the rub. IF we knew the gift of God, we would ask and we would make the move to repentance. We really would. But we think God would never forgive us. 
We think God would never forgive others either.
He would never forgive Hitler, or those who carried out Hitler's orders.
He would never forgive child molesters, or those who covered up the crime.
He would never forgive abortionists, or those who decide to have an abortion.
And He would never forgive me.
We think we know better than God and that our sin is bigger than God Himself. And others' sins are even worse!
But then we get this thirst we cannot explain. We get this pull to go to the well. We go even though we are so scared.
We go even though we are so needy. 
We go because we are so thirsty.
And when we drink of this living water, we run to tell others. We run to tell others about this Jesus who has a bottomless well of love and mercy.
This living water that quenches all thirst.

Jesus, we ask you now. We ask you for this living water.

So, like the Samaritan woman, we can go tell others. We can tell everyone.

We can tell others to come to the well. 
Come to the water.
And drink of God's mercy. Amen.

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Sunday Snippets - March 27

This is the weekly Catholic Carnival! Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?

Here are my contributions for this week:
Change Me, Lord
A Prayer
Thoughts on Repentance

Sabbath Moments - God-Incidence

Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are also those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, please share about it in a comment!
I have had a week that has been TOO busy. Too busy because I hardly found time for silent prayer and I have missed it. I had one of those weeks where I prayed "HELP" a lot.
So Thursday evening, after dinner, I went into my bedroom to spend some time in prayer. As I sat there in the silence, I started thinking of a friend I have not spoken to or seen for a long time.
We were roommates at Pecos Monastery in NM where we both got certified as spiritual directors and also became Benedictine Oblates. It was an intense shared experience that brought us together as friends for life.
I was not sure why her face came to mind so I said a little prayer for her. Then after my prayer time, I checked my email and wouldn't you know? There was an email from my roomie. She was asking for my prayers.
Guess I need to tell her that the Spirit beat her to it. I was already praying for her.
One moment of silence is all God needs to speak to our hearts.

A Prayer

Philadelphia.

More accusations of child sexual abuse by priests. More cover up.

Reminds me of another Lent. 2002. Boston. Such a nightmare.

Please, Lord. Not again.

When will it be over?

I feel sick. Then I feel scared. Then I feel angry.

I want to write about it but I can hardly get the words out. So all I can seem to do is to get my thoughts out. One word. Two words.

A prayer.

Jesus, we need your Light. We need your Love. Hold the children in your loving embrace. Hold us all. Heal us. Love us. Give us the strength to do what is right and what is needed. Give us the courage to speak out for survivors of child sexual abuse. Send us shepherds who will care for the lambs and protect them. Bring us all out of the darkness into your Light of truth and love. Lord, bring us hope.

Amen.

Thoughts on Repentance

Sometimes it is the little everyday things we need to repent.

On my way to work one day last week, I drove to a drive up window at a fast food restaurant to get an ice coffee. I was behind a van and the driver seemed to be taking a long time placing their order.

I fussed and fidgeted, wishing they would hurry up. I became quite impatient as it seemed they took a long time to pay for their order as well.

I was becoming quite grumpy over the whole thing.

Finally, it was my turn and I drove up to the window to pay. The woman at the window told me that the people in the car in front of me had paid for me. You could have knocked me over with a feather!

It seems that a local Christian radio station was encouraging people to make a difference in people's lives by participating in the "Drive Through Difference." You pay for the car behind you and give them a letter that explained it. Part of the letter said - "You don't know me, but I've just paid for your order. No gimmicks. It's just something I felt like doing... It's a way of encouraging people..."

Well, didn't I feel lousy. All that grumbling and this person was doing something so nice for me.

I had to repent. And I did. I prayed and said I was sorry.

I repent, Lord.

Did it make a difference in my day? You betcha!

Thank you Lord, for reminding me that I am not the only person in this universe, The planets do not all revolve around me. A little kindness and patience was needed today and I fell a little short. I feel a bit humbled by it, but it was a good lesson for me. Thank you for your patience and mercy and love. Amen.

Change Me, Lord

And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. - Matthew 17:2

Several years ago I attended the Spiritual Direction School at the Pecos Monastery high up in the mountains in New Mexico. The first session was for 4 weeks and was an intense spiritual experience.

The day I left, my classmates and I wandered around the airport in a daze, feeling like we were in a foreign country. There was too much noise and too many people.

When I got home, it took a good week or so to readjust to a "normal" life. I remember thinking that I understood how Peter felt up on that mountain. I too had wanted to build a tent and stay there. 

But I had to come home. I missed my husband and my children. I also had to come home to share the Jesus I had come to know. And to share the new me - the me that Jesus had transformed.

"Mountaintop experiences" are not given to us to be kept to ourselves. They are mean to be shared. They are meant to be given to others.

Like Peter, I had to come down off the mountain to learn that.

Jesus, I am grateful for the gifts you have given me. Help me to share them with others. Change me, Lord. Help me to become more like you. Amen.

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Sunday Snippets - March 20

This is the weekly Catholic Carnival! Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?

Here are my contributions for this week:
Jesus Saves
Roses and Spring

Sabbath Moments - Roses and Spring

Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are also those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, please share about it in a comment!
Some of my sabbath moments this week:
1. Eucharistic Adoration - 1 full hour in a silent chapel in the middle of the night. It felt like heaven to me.
2. Signs of spring - Cool sunny days. Lent. Ducks in the lake. Some birds flying north. Have you ever watched spring arrive?
3. I am taking time every day to sit in silence and listen.
4. Came home from work the other day to find a big red rose blooming in the small garden patch near our home. Another sign of spring and a reminder of St. Therese of Lisieux. Such a gift  - brought joy to my heart.

Thankful for Blessings - March 16

I love Wednesdays because it is the day I join my special friend, Judy, in this thankful meme at her inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings. In this meme we give thanks for the five things we are most thankful for this past week and then link to Judy's blog. Be sure to also check out her website when you visit! Thank you, Judy, for helping me keep an attitude of gratitude!
Some of my blessings this week -
1. I was so blessed this week to be able to hear Wayne Weible speak about Medjugorje and his conversion experience. Truly a beautiful gift this first week of Lent.
2. I am so thankful for my job and for the opportunity to work at a church office. This week has been tough so far - internet having fits. Agh! So I worked at home Tuesday so I could get the weekly bulletin done. That was a different experience!
3. I am so thankful for my husband and for his sense of humor, his love for God and his love for me. His love and God's love changed my life.
4. I am thankful for my family, for all my children and grandchildren  and stepchildren. My youngest grandson is turning 9 months old this week! Time goes by so fast. I told my son, next thing you know he will be graduating from high school! I don't think my comment was appreciated (lol).
5. I have been enjoying audiobooks these days. I play them in the car and it makes my 40 minute commute go by a lot faster!
What are some of your blessings?

Jesus Saves

At this, Jesus said to him, "Get away, Satan! It is written: 'The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.'" (Matthew 4:10)

A priest once told me that the one prayer Jesus always answers with a YES is this one: - Jesus, save me!

Whenever I notice I am being tempted, whenever I feel like there is an evil presence around me, I say - Jesus, save me. Almost always I feel some peace.

We are all tempted in one way or another. We are all sinners. We are all in need of being saved. In today's gospel, Jesus gives us the answer we need.

Keep God first in our lives. Keep our eyes on the Lord.

Then we will be more aware of the temptations, more aware of our sins, more aware of our need to turn back to God.

Many years ago at a bible study, we were talking about that well-known verse of John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.")

And the priest teaching the bible study told us something that I have never forgotten. It was very simple and yet profound. 

He said that God's job is to love the world and send His Son. And that Jesus' job is to love the world and save the world. And our job is to believe.

And then he asked us a kind of rhetorical question - "How well do you think Jesus does his job?"

And I thought to myself, how well do we do ours?

Jesus, help me when temptation comes and I find it difficult to resist. Help me to always turn to you. Help me to always believe.

Sunday Snippets - March 13

This is the weekly Catholic Carnival! Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?

Here are my contributions for this week:
My Rock and My Salvation
Thoughts on Fasting
A Thankful Woman's Blessings - Renewal

Sabbath Moments/Sabbath Time

Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are also those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, please share about it in a comment!
Some of my sabbath moments this week:
1. Received a wonderful email from one of my sons telling me about some childhood memories he had that day and he just wanted to share with me. As an incest survivor, one of my greatest hopes for my children and for myself as their mother was that they would have a great childhood. I hoped they would be filled with great memories of fun and play and knowing they were loved. When my now adult children share a happy memory with me, my heart just sings! The fact that this came at a time when my own memories were threatening to depress me (as they do off and on), made his message even more of a blessing. It was as if the Lord was saying - See? I can bring good come out of bad. Your children have had a happy life and they know they are loved.
2. Took a day off. No reason, other than I was tired and knew I needed some time off. I got some rest; some extra prayer time and reading time. Sabbath time.
3. The book I chose to read for Lent is really feeding my soul: Pilgrim Road, A Benedictine Journey Through Lent. Written like a daily journal, the author, Fr. Albert Holtz, OSB, writes each day about his travels, then a reflection, scripture and a quote from the Rule of Benedict. It is perfect for me right now.
What are some of your Sabbath moments this week?

Thoughts on Fasting

I love planning my goals and practices for Lent. Do you? And this year, Lent was later than usual so I seemed to have more time to think about it. Still, even though I had no problem figuring out my prayer and almsgiving practices for this Lent, fasting was something else again. 

For the past few years I have decided not to fast from some kind of food item (except Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, of course). The problem with fasting from food for me (usually I chose chocolate) was that I really did not change anything. I made a sacrifice, yes, but there was no real conversion. No lasting change. I went right back to eating chocolate. 

I just wasn't getting it. Maybe because I am a convert and had not grown up that way? I am not sure. I understood it in my head, but it was not transferring to my heart in any way.

Then one day I heard a priest preach about other ways of fasting. His ideas and suggestions really spoke to me. So now I try to choose things that I hope will change me and bring me closer to Jesus in some way. 

One year, I had noticed that so many people went up to receive communion with such a sour look on their faces. I think they were trying to be solemn, but being solemn or reverent does not mean looking grumpy. I do not think they even realized it, but it really woke me up. 

So, I made an effort all through Lent to put a smile on my face and to receive Our Lord with joy. (I guess you would call this fasting from looking like a sourpuss?)

Sometimes it was an effort because I was upset about something, or not feeling good, etc. But it is amazing how, when we smile on the outside, our whole attitude can change on the inside. 

AND I also noticed that those who were giving me communion also broke into a smile when I smiled at them. Hmmmm. Contagious, this smiling thing.

That was several years ago and I still make sure I break into a big smile when I go up to receive Holy Communion. What a gift the Eucharist is!

After that, feeling good about experiencing a kind of conversion through my lenten practice, I decided to choose other kinds of fasting. For example, for the past 2 years I have fasted from complaining. What I discovered was, I complained a lot more than I thought I did. About lots of different things. I was amazed and humbled by that discovery. 

Do I still complain? Yup. But I hope it is less than it was. I do know I am a lot more aware of it when I do.

The best part of all this is that I cannot possible change without the help of God. I turn to Him over and over again to help me stop complaining, to help me receive Him with joy.

This year I am fasting from criticizing.

I am a bit of a perfectionist so I tend to expect others to be perfect. I am ashamed of that really. In fact, I criticize myself for that a lot!

Sigh. I guess I better fast from that too.

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A Thankful Woman's Blessings - Renewal

I love Wednesdays because it is the day I join my special friend, Judy, in this thankful meme at her inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings. In this meme we give thanks for the five things we are most thankful for this past week and then link to Judy's blog. Be sure to also check out her website when you visit! Thank you, Judy, for helping me keep an attitude of gratitude!
Some of my blessings this week -
1. It is Ash Wednesday! Finally! I am so excited about it! I am thankful for Lent - for this time of renewal. It is an opportunity to grow spiritually, to grow closer to God.
2. My Catholic Faith - the Catholic Church has helped to bring me closer to God - to know God in a way I never understood so many years ago.
3. The Gift of Your Son - For the Eucharist, the Mass, the Gospel - thank you, Lord!
4. Books & Devotionals - that also help me in my spiritual journey and will help to guide me through Lent.
5. My Blogging Friends - who also help me to grow by informing and inspiring and sharing resources. Thank you, Jesus!

My Rock and My Salvation

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock." - Matthew 7:24-25

Reading the gospel this week reminded me of one of my favorite psalms: God alone is my rock and my salvation, my secure height; I shall not fall. (Psalm 62:3). 

Before I knew God very well, before converting to Catholicism, my life was missing something. I had no sense of safety. I had no feeling of belonging to more than myself.

I do not think it is a coincidence that only after becoming Catholic, only after starting to live a life of prayer, did I face my past and the sexual abuse I had suffered. Until then, I was unable to deal with it. So I didn't.

It was only after I began to feel safe in my life. Safe at home. Safe with my family. Safe with God. Loved by God. Only then did I deal with my pain.

Only then did I see that my God is my rock. My refuge.

Dear Lord, you are my rock, my salvation. Thank you for being my safe place all my life, even when I wasn't aware. May I always listen to your words. May I always build my life on you.

You are my rock, the rock of my salvation. You are my beginning and my end. Praise and glory to you, O Lord. Amen.

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Sunday Snippets - March 6

This is the weekly Catholic Carnival! Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?

Here are my contributions for this week:
This Day Will Never Come Again
Sabbath Moments - Slow Down

Sabbath Moments - Slow Down

Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are also those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, please share about it in a comment!
Some of my sabbath moments this week:
1. Last weekend I spent time playing with my grandson. We all sat on the floor, rolling a ball back and forth. There is nothing so joyful as hearing a baby's belly laugh. I enjoyed watching him play, stretching for the ball, excited and happy. He never got frustrated. He was focused on that ball and who had it.
I could learn a lot from my 8 month old grandson. I could learn to live in the moment. Focus on the task at hand. Play, have fun, laugh easily.
I need to pay attention.
2. Had a crazy week. Too too busy. Exhausted and stressed. Yesterday - my day off - looked to be more of the same! I just knew I needed to rest. I needed a nap, for heaven's sake!
The message I kept getting was SLOW DOWN! So I decided NOT to attend a parish activity. And I took that nap ... and felt no guilt. And I was able to go to Adoration later. Thank you, Jesus.

Thankful for Blessings - Joy, Joy, Joy

I love Wednesdays because it is the day I join my special friend, Judy, in this thankful meme at her inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings. In this meme we give thanks for the five things we are most thankful for this past week and then link to Judy's blog. Be sure to also check out her website when you visit! Thank you, Judy, for helping me keep an attitude of gratitude!
Some of my blessings this week -
1. I am so thankful for this past weekend. We went to visit my son and daughter in law and grandbaby. He is 8 months old now! Wow! He is about 1 week away from crawling! What fun we had with him. Joy, joy, joy.
2. I am so thankful for my new monthly column at CatholicMom.com and for my blogs and my website. I am busy, but happy busy.
3. I am so thankful that Lent is coming! It is starting late this year and I found myself wishing it would hurry up and get here! (Huh?) I think I am just looking forward to renewal!
4. I am so thankful for my youngest son who turned 25 this past week! My "baby" is all grown up! How did that happen?
5. I am so thankful for a cellphone that can take pictures like this one! Joy, joy, joy.

Pop-pop, thank you for my new ball!