Jesus Multiplies Our Giving

Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away;
 give them some food yourselves.” - Matthew 14:16

I read a reflection on the gospel for this Sunday and the last sentence really hit me: Even if we can’t give all, we can give something. And we can pray that Jesus transforms our little, so that all can be satisfied. – Clifford Yeary, A Year of Sundays, Little Rock Scripture Study

We always think we have to do it all. That it is all on our shoulders to feed the hungry, heal the sick, rid the world of child abuse.

But it is not all up to us and it never was. We cannot humanly solve the world’s problems. We cannot humanly solve all of our own family's problems.

But we can give what we have, and then maybe a little more, and then we can trust that Jesus will be there to multiply our giving.

I do not think I give enough. I see what others give and I feel like I fall short. But there are so many people out there who want or need spiritual direction. So I do what I can. I give my little. I give my time and my writing and my listening ear.

And then I trust that Jesus takes that and makes it into something. Something to satisfy. Something to feed my directees. I trust and I pray.

Dear Lord, I do not feel like I always give my all. Sometimes I am afraid. Or I think I am not worthy. But I trust that you will take what I have to give and multiply it. I trust that you will feed your lambs with what little I have to give. And I know you will help me to let go and give more. For Lord, I am hungry. I am poor in spirit. Feed me, Lord and help me to feed others. Amen.

Sunday Snippets - July 31

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:
1. The Treasure Within
2. The Forever Kind of Love
3. For Those Who Never Sing

Sabbath Moments - God is Near

Sabbath moments are a way of taking time to rest in God, to enjoy God in silence or in nature. The word sabbath comes from a Hebrew word meaning "cease." And that is what we need to do sometimes, cease our activity and live in the moment and breathe in God.

I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below.

Here are some of my sabbath moments this week:
1. Taking time to stop throughout my busy days at work, to contemplate God in the moment, to read short little reflections or just to say "thank you for my day." These "little moments" keep me in touch with the Lord so I stay close and do not lose sight of Him in my long busy days. 
2. One day I stopped by the small lake in my park on my way home. Watched the breeze cause ripples in the water and the tall reeds by the water's edge swaying slightly. There were swings there and they looked so inviting. I felt such peace in this place.

3. Listening to some beautiful music this week. Music is soothing and prayerful and healing and I have felt the need for more of it this week. And I decided to share it with you and maybe give you a sabbath moment! This song is called I Am A God Nearby sung by David Kaufmann. I hope you enjoy!



 

For Those Who Never Sing

Alas for those who never sing, but die with their music within them. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

I read this quote the other day and my heart broke. Tears came to my eyes as I thought about the music that many of us carry within us and never sing.

I thought of myself and other survivors of child sexual abuse. So many of us never sing. Never.

Child sexual abuse causes a kind of soul death, a slow dying deep inside. I know survivors who have never sung their song. I know their pain and I see it in their faces. I fear that my sister may be one of these people. She suffers too much.

Victims of child sexual abuse have no power. They have a song to sing and no one to listen to them.

Will anyone stand up for the children?

This post inspired by yet another story of yet another bishop who failed to protect his lambs. Check out this US Catholic story.

Thankful for Blessings - Faith, Family & Fun

Wednesdays is the day I join my blogging friend, Judy, in this meme at her inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings. While you are there, be sure to check out her website and other blog. We give thanks for the five things we are most thankful for this past week and then link to Judy's blog. Thanks, Judy, for helping me keep an "attitude of gratitude!" :)
Some of my blessings this week:
1. Thank you, Lord, for rainbows. I saw a beautiful rainbow on my way to work yesterday morning. It was a nice surprise because, in Florida, rainbows tend to come with the summer afternoon showers. However, yesterday, I woke up to a rain shower - highly unusual - and voila! a gorgeous rainbow to keep me company on my drive to work.

2. Thank you, Lord, for sunsets. Hubby and I went out to dinner on the beach last week and saw a gorgeous sunset, even in the midst of clouds.

3. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of writing. I have been very busy writing lately with several projects going on at the same time. Why do I do that to myself? I do enjoy it however and I am grateful to have this way of sharing my faith and venting as well!
4. Thank you, Lord, for ice coffee - my favorite cold drink these days. I have finally figured out how to make myself a decent cup of iced coffee which saves me money.
5. Thank you, Lord, for my family. My older son and his wife surprised us last weekend. They were in our area and we were fortunately free for the day (thank you, Lord, for your perfect timing) and we met for lunch and got some playing time in with our grandson. Below is a picture of my grandson at the beach! We also got the great news that my younger son officially got his Masters degree this week. Could I be any prouder?

The Forever Kind of Love

Sometimes words are just not enough to express our feelings. We struggle to find the right ones and they are just not there.

That is true even in our prayer life. Often “we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” (Romans 8:26)

Sometimes we fumble around trying to say the perfect words. Some of us pray in silence without words. Or sometimes we rely on those rote prayers we have used for years and years.

In the long run, what really matters is what is in our hearts.

Read more of my article at CatholicMom.mom ...

The Treasure Within

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. - Matthew 13:44

Meister Eckhart said that each person has a vintage wine cellar but they seldom drink from it.

The kingdom of God is here. Now. We are not always aware of it. We often walk around clueless, unaware of God’s presence in our everyday lives.

Then grace happens. Something wakes us up. And we are suddenly aware of the treasure hidden within. The pearl of great price.

When I went to Mass this morning, I was upset that I had not yet written the gospel reflection for today. I was tired and grouchy and not feeling very inspired.

After communion, our youth choir sang Our God Is An Awesome God. They built up to a loud chorus and then started singing a cappella. Slowly the song grew quieter and became more of a prayer of praise.

I started singing with them, praising God for all His goodness. And the next thing I knew, tears were running down my cheeks.

Sigh. Our God is an awesome God and He is here with me now. I need to go and sell what I have, let go of my wants and my to-do lists and my “should-haves” and focus on what God is calling me to do at the moment.

I need to let go of all that is not God so I can focus on the treasure within.

I need to get out of God's way.

Grace. Free gift. We don’t earn it and we don’t deserve it. And when we least expect it, we find it. That pearl of great price. That treasure buried in the field. 

That vintage wine.

Dear Lord, thank you for the graces you rain down on me everyday. Help me to live in the moment and let go of all that is not from you and to be more aware of the treasure within me. Amen.

Sunday Snippets - July 24

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:
1. Sabbath Moments - Pelicans and Podcasts
2. Attitude of Gratitude
3. Shining Like the Sun

Sabbath Moments - Pelicans and Podcasts

Sabbath moments are a way of taking time to rest in God, to enjoy God in silence or in nature. The word sabbath comes from a Hebrew word meaning "cease." And that is what we need to do sometimes, cease our activity and live in the moment and breathe in God.

I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below.

Here are some of my sabbath moments this week:
1. We celebrated our wedding anniversary this week by going out to dinner on the beach. Our table was right in front of the picture window and we were able to watch seagulls and pelicans and even a dolphin. We even timed it perfectly to watch the sunset. A beautiful peaceful place to feel close to God and to celebrate with the love of my life.
2. I have a 35-40 minute drive to work so I like listening to audiobooks or podcasts in my car to pass the time. This week I have been listening to an audio retreat that I downloaded from Creighton University's Online Ministries. An inspiring prayerful way to start my days.
3. I have been under the weather this week. Came home early from work on Thursday. That evening I sat in my favorite chair, wanting to pray, and the next thing I knew it was morning! Guess I fell asleep in God's arms.
What were your sabbath moments this week?

Thankful for Blessings - Attitude of Gratitude

Wednesdays is the day I join my blogging friend, Judy, in this meme at her inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings. We give thanks for the five things we are most thankful for this past week and then link to Judy's blog. Thanks, Judy, for helping me keep an "attitude of gratitude!" :)
Some of my blessings this week:
1. Many people have been signing up for my free online retreats on my website and I am so grateful. I love doing these kinds of retreats myself but there are not many out there. So I am working on more!
2. I had a four day weekend last week and it did me lots of good! Rest, reading and recreation. Thank you, Jesus!
3. My husband and I celebrate our 32nd anniversary this week and I am so grateful for these years together and for our beautiful marriage. Words are never enough to describe my feelings. Coming from an abusive childhood, to have met this man who loves me and cares for me the way he does well, ... all I can say is God is good.
4. My children and my stepchildren and all my grandchildren. Blessings from the Lord that fill my heart.
5. I love nature. Go figure!  :) So of course, when I was driving home from adoration last week, seeing this moon was just such a blessing after already being blessed with the Lord's presence in the Blessed Sacrament! (photo didn't come out that great, but you get the idea!) Thank you Lord!

Shining Like the Sun

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear. - Matthew 13:43

This reminds me of a conversion kind of experience Thomas Merton wrote about in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. He was standing at an intersection in Louisville, Kentucky and suddenly felt like he loved all the people walking around him. He no longer felt separate from them. He felt such joy being part of the human race, and suddenly knew that all people had a place within them that was like a diamond, the place where God dwells. He wrote that 

"... There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun ..."

We are all walking around shining like the sun, but we are not aware of it. Instead we see the weak places, the wounds, the things we do wrong, the mistakes we make. 

While we need to check our hearts out and repent of our sins, we also need to remember that we are human. God made us this way. He knows who we are.

We forget that we are created by the Lord in His image. And it is that image we need to keep in our minds and our hearts. We are children of God. We need to remind ourselves and each other.

And if we take the time to listen ... listen to His Word, in scripture, in our hearts, in the lives of the saints, in our Eucharistic liturgy, then we can hear that we are loved and cherished by God.

And then maybe someday, we will see and come to know what Merton knew that day in Louisville.

We are all walking around shining like the sun.

Lord, I long to be one of those righteous that shines like the sun in your kingdom. Help me to listen. Help me to hear your words of love and encouragement. Help me to remember that you know me and made me and love me. Amen.

Sunday Snippets - July 17

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:
1. Sabbath Moments - Rest & Rain
2. God Changes Hearts
3.Thankful for Blessings - Homecomings

Sabbath Moments - Sabbath Days

Sabbath moments are a way of taking time to rest in God, to enjoy God in silence or in nature. The word sabbath comes from a Hebrew word meaning "cease." And that is what we need to do sometimes, cease our activity and live in the moment and breathe in God.

I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below.

Here are some of my sabbath moments this week:
1. Monday was St. Benedict's feast day. I spent some time reading commentaries on his Rule each day this week which always adds to my prayer for the day.
2. I took an extra day off from work and had some time to myself. I caught up on some reading. Listened to music. Did some praying and writing and reflecting. A beautiful sabbath "day."
3. Eucharistic Adoration - this beautiful hour of silence with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is hard to describe. Such a gift. Thank you, Lord.
4. Silence. I need silence. We all do. And it is often hard to find. I need to listen to God and to think and reflect. So I grab each moment I can find. Maybe it is late at night or in the chapel at my church or a walk on the beach.

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Thankful for Blessings - Homecomings

Wednesdays is the day I join my blogging friend, Judy, in this meme at her inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings. We give thanks for the five things we are most thankful for this past week and then link to Judy's blog. Thanks, Judy, for helping me keep an "attitude of gratitude!" :)
Some of my blessings this week:
1. I am thankful Judy is back to our blogging world! I missed you, Judy, and you and your family are in my prayers everyday.
2. I am thankful that my husband is doing better. He has been sick with a bad cold and I hovered over him. Just a little bit. Although he would probably say a lot. Oh well. lol
3. I love summer. I do NOT love the heat and humidity we have been having. But I love how things slow down. Vacations and beach days.
Summertime... and the living is easy...
4. I thank God for my best friend of over 50 years. Truly an awesome gift. We live many many miles apart but keep in touch with email. So thank you, Lord, for email too, because I used to be a terrible letter writer!
5. My youngest son is "home." Well, technically he is not home with his dad and me, he lives about 2 hours away, but still ... He is closer by about 13 hours! And he came for dinner on Sunday. And I could not stop smiling.

St. Benedict's Feast Day

"Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ,  and may Christ bring us all together to everlasting life." - St Benedict, Rule 72

God Changes Hearts

"...some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear." - Matthew 13:8-9

God’s love is infinite and abundant. He does not hold back his gifts and his love.

But we do.

The soil of my heart had some pretty rocky ground when I first started attending a Catholic church with my husband. I really did not want to be there but yet I did. I thought it would be good if we all went as a family. I wanted to be there for my husband and my sons.

But I did not enjoy it nor did I intend to enjoy it. I just went. I sat. Like a rock.

Still ...  I did it out of love for my family. And maybe that love in my heart started to grow some roots and rich soil as I attended Mass there week after week, listening to the Word. And watching the consecration that had caught my attention.

One day, everything changed. I had been listening to the Word of God for months. The seeds must have taken root. In the middle of Mass, the thought came to me. It was time to make a commitment.

One year later, I became a Catholic.

God is generous. God is patient. God is love.

And God changed the soil of my heart from rocky to rich.

Thank you Lord, for your generous and loving heart. Thank you for bringing me closer to you. Please work through me to bring others closer to you. Change our rocky hearts into hearts that bear fruit. – Amen.

image source

Sunday Snippets - July 10

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:
1. Come to Me
2. Our God of Second Chances

Sabbath Moments - Rest and Rain

Sabbath moments are a way of taking time to rest in God, to enjoy God in silence or in nature. The word sabbath comes from a Hebrew word meaning "cease." And that is what we need to do sometimes, cease our activity and live in the moment and breathe in God.

I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below.

Here are some of my sabbath moments this week:
1. Had rain most of the week. We needed it and I am grateful. It was a slow rain, not the thunderstorms we usually get. And I enjoyed just taking moments to watch the rain.
2. Had a lazy quiet holiday weekend last weekend. Really a good rest which went along well with the gospel reading ...Come to me ... and I will give you rest.
3. This picture of a father and son (my son and grandson) makes me think of the love Our Father has for us. I can picture Him hugging us like that, happy to have us home.

Our God of Second Chances

Our God is the God of second chances.

When I look back over my life, I can often see that there were turning points, moments of conversion, when a decision I made was to change my life forever.

Read more ...

Please Pray

Wednesday is the day I usually join my blogging friend, Judy, in this meme at her inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings. Please pray for Judy and her family as her father just passed away last week. She is taking a break from the blogging world to spend time with her family.

Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award!

Carol at Simple Catholic Living gave me this Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award. Thank you Carol!

The rules for this award are to list seven pieces of information not commonly known about oneself, and then list fifteen other blogs for the award. As usual, I break the rules and offer this award to all my blog visitors! Feel free to accept this award and list some new information about yourself!

Little known information about me:

1. I was once an RN. I worked as a nurse in a hospital and also home health care. I quit when my husband needed to hire someone to help him in his business and I never looked back. Now I am a church secretary. And perfectly happy. My favorite part of nursing was always patient care. My patients taught me compassion and how to listen.

2. I have always loved elephants! I used to have so many elephant knick-knacks in my house that I had to get rid of a lot of them! But I still am fascinated by elephants and their personalities and their intelligence.

3. I am an introvert in every sense of the word. I crave time alone and need time alone like extroverts need to be with people. I like people but I am not comfortable with large parties and small talk. I am often misunderstood. If you want to know me better, read this article on introverts. It pretty much describes me.

4. I taught myself to play the guitar when I was a teen. Over the years, playing the guitar has been one way of expressing myself. Like writing.

5. I was always trying to be the perfect little girl when I was young. Now I like to rebel in small ways. Like breaking the rules for this award. So I am stopping at number 5!! :)

God bless!

Come to Me

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” - Matthew 11:28

I love this verse. I quote it frequently.

I use it in spiritual direction. I use it when someone comes to me, feeling overwhelmed or exhausted. I use it for everyone … except myself. Why?

Because I think I can do it all by myself. Because I think I am in control. Because I don’t like to admit I need anyone. Even God.

But I do. I do need God.

I cannot do it all by myself. I cannot carry my burdens alone.
I cannot.

“Come to me … and I will give you rest.”

Come to me.

I need to let go and rest in Jesus. Not only because I need to, but because He wants me to.

For Jesus is “meek and humble of heart.” (v. 29).

Come to me.
Jesus, help me to let go of my need to be in control all the time. Help me to remember that You are always there for me. Help me to remember that I need you. You alone.

image source

Sunday Snippets - July 3

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:
Feast of Corpus Christi
Thankful for Blessings - Homecoming
Kisses from My Grandson

Sabbath Moments - Prayer & Adoration

Sabbath moments are a way of taking time to rest in God, to enjoy God in silence or in nature. The word sabbath comes from a Hebrew word meaning "cease." And that is what we need to do sometimes, cease our activity and live in the moment and breathe in God.

I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below.

Here are some of my sabbath moments this week:
1. I saw another rainbow this week on my way home from work. But the sky was blue and the rainbow looked like it was connecting 2 white clouds together. Weird but beautiful, if that makes sense.
2. Have read about the Examen prayer on Jesuit websites and books and started praying it everyday this week and have enjoyed the few minutes of doing this. It is a great way of "ceasing" and reviewing my day and praying about it. You can download it or listen to it on Pray As You Go website.
3. Got some much needed rain on Friday and I sat in my comfy chair, watching it fall, feeling peaceful and cozy.
4. Eucharistic Adoration. I sat in silence adoring Jesus and I also silently prayed the prayer for the Holy Father's anniversary of ordination.

What were your sabbath moments like this week?