Something to Ponder

Got this today from the always wise and thought-provoking Michael D. O'Brien:

"When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth"

“In the course of the ages two great revolutions have shaken the earth; we call them the two Covenants. The first one caused people to pass from idol worship to the Law, and the second, from the Law to the Gospel. A third upheaval is predicted: that which will transport us from below to above, whereupon there will be no more movement or disturbance. Now these two Covenants both share one same characteristic..: neither of them suddenly caused an instantaneous transformation... They were not to force but to persuade us. For what is imposed by force does not last...

“The Old Testament manifested the Father clearly and the Son obscurely. The New Testament has revealed the Son and hinted at the divinity of the Spirit. Today the Spirit is alive in our midst and is making himself know more clearly. It would have been hazardous, so long as the Father's divinity was not recognized, to preach the Son openly, and so long as the Son's divinity was not acknowledged, to impose... the Holy Spirit. One might have feared that, like people who are surfeited or like those who stare at the sun with weak eyes, believers would have run the risk of losing what they had strength to bear. So the glory of the Trinity had to shine out in successive steps or, as David says, ‘from strength to strength’ (Ps 84[83],8) and progressively, from one degree of glory to another...

“I would like to add one further consideration: our Savior knew certain things that he considered his disciples would be unable to bear in spite of all the teaching they had already received. For the same reasons as I said above, he kept these things hidden. And he emphasized that when the Spirit came, he would teach them all things.”

~ Saint Gregory Nazianzen (330-390), 5th Theological Discourse.

"This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" ~~~ The Apostles

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. Thanks be to God for his most precious gift of the Eucharist!

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;
he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.
This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."
~ John 6:51-58

Happy Mother's Day!

"When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." ~ John 19:26-27

In this passage from John's Gospel, Jesus Christ dying on the Cross tells "the disciple" to behold his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus is referring to John, but his actual words are "the disciple," representing all the disciples of Jesus. And so, in that moment, Mary becomes Mother of all disciples of Jesus, including those in our own time who follow Jesus.

To quote Pope John Paul II in his 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater, "This is true not only of John, who at that hour stood at the foot of the Cross together with the Mother (of Jesus), but it is also true of every disciple of Christ, of every Christian (45.3)."

The Englishwoman Caryll Houselander (1901-1954), in The Reed of God, has captured the beauty of Mary in a simple yet profound way: "The one thing she did is the one thing that we all have to do, namely, to bear Christ into the world."

In St. Luke's gospel (Luke 1:28), the apostle emphasizes Mary's pure and immaculate state with his use of the unique Greek word κεχαριτωμένη, a word used only once in the entire New Testament of the Bible, a word describing Mary as full of grace.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the LORD is with thee, blessed are you among all women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death. Amen!

The Last Supper

On Thursday, KLD's 2nd/3rd grade class presented a sweet play about the Last Supper. It was adorable--and, of course, so was she!
How perfect that their play about the Last Supper was just a few hours before we celebrated the Holy Thursday liturgy, commemorating Jesus' institution of the Eucharist at his Passover dinner with his Apostles.

The Catholic Church claims that Christ is really present in the Eucharist, that the sacrifice of calvary is repeated at every Mass, and that he gives Himself to us in Holy Communion as food unto eternal life. ...

Let's turn to John 6 and see the context in which he says that. John 6, verse 4 tells us, "Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews was at hand." So everything that transpires within John 6 is within the context of the Passover. Jesus is talking to them now. At the time of the Passover, after multiplying these loaves, ending up filling twelve baskets with the fragments from the five barley loaves, He uses that as his point of departure for one of the most important sermons that He ever preaches and also one of the most disastrous from a human perspective.
...
He goes on talking about this bread and He goes on talking about Moses in context with that bread. For instance, in verse 32, "Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' They said to him, 'Lord, give us this bread always.'" Welfare state! "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall not thirst.'" And He goes on talking about this some more. The Jews would then murmur at him in verse 41 because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."
...
"He said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood,' which Leviticus condemns, the drinking of blood, 'unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.'"

~ From a talk by Scott Hahn / Full text here.

Thanks be to God for His most precious gift of the Holy Eucharist within the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! How beautifully the Easter Triduum begins!

Lenten Musings

I love this one:

"What is the point of a retreat? I should put it like this--that God means to do something in and to your soul. It may be something quite little; almost certainly it will seem quite little. But then, of course, that little may be the thin end of a wedge. He wants to do a sort of tidying up, a sort of spring cleaning in your life. Perhaps He will open your eyes to some fault; perhaps He will begin to wean you away from some bad habit; some dangerous friendship, perhaps He will give you a glimpse of some way (you hadn't thought about before) in which, later on, He means you to serve Him."

~ Msgr. Ronald Knox

Quick Takes Friday: Out Like A Lion

Joining Jen at Conversion Diary for Quick Takes Friday!

~ 1 ~
Big big BIG news here at Chez D...MPD's potty training has been, so far, short and sweet! He turned 3, he donned the Bob-the-Builder big-boy underpants, and he hasn't looked back since. As of tonight, both #1 and #2 are strictly in the potty. Woo-hoo MPD!



But you know what this means, of course. I'm within spittin' distance of having a diaper-free household. I don't even know what to think about that. Maybe I should close this laptop right now and go try to get pregnant. On second thought...nah. I'll finish this post first, anyway. :)


~ 2 ~
MPD does sleep in my arms for most of every night still. He's abandoned his crib and happily gets tucked into his bottom bunk bed each evening, then after a couple of hours of alternately playing with JPD, fighting with JPD, sneaking into his sisters' room and making them fuss, and scurrying up and down the stairs and getting re-sent up to bed, he falls asleep with me if he can. Otherwise he always finds his way to my bed before morning. I love it. I know that in the blink of an eye, he'll stop doing this, so I just enjoy having a little snuggler in the crook of my elbow while it lasts. (Bill is more skeptical, however.)

~ 3 ~
This week has been Spring Break for the middle 3 kids around here. I have loved having them home, and especially loved not driving them up to school every morning. I do miss homeschooling, and I would so love to do it again. Who knows, maybe we will again someday. But in any case, this week has been relaxed and fun, despite some very cold and rainy weather! Stay tuned for photos of some of our adventures! :)

~ 4 ~
I'm so proud of MRD! One day this week she went to school with WWD for a middle school "shadow" day, and now she's more excited than ever about her new school for next year. Also, she took the placement tests for her 6th grade classes. Apparently she aced the math test and tested out of 6th and 7th grade math, so she'll be in pre-algebra next year. Go MRD!

~ 5 ~
Lent so far...awesome as ever. It feels quiet this year--no big dramatic giving up of Diet Coke, nothing too newsworthy--just peace. Some things have surprised me--I didn't deliberately give up Facebook or blogging or computer time, but I haven't been too interested in it lately. Same with waking up early--I've been a bit sick and other things (see #2 above--haha!) that have prompted me to just naturally go to bed early and get up early, in spite of myself, which is another thing I really wanted to do this Lent. It really does feel like God is driving and I'm just along for the ride, which is perfect.

~ 6 ~
Bill's job search is going fine; thanks for asking! Nothing much to report on that front. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next. :) In the meantime, Bill has replaced most of the ceiling light fixtures in our house this week and they look so awesome and updated! I don't have before-and-after pictures (darn!) but you can use your imagination...before=80's brass / after=aged bronze with frosted glass. Very nice.

~ 7 ~
Happy Feast Day of the Annunciation!
I love the Annunciation. It is so sweet and joyful to think about blessed Mary saying her "yes" to the Angel Gabriel, without understanding, without knowing what would happen next, without reservations. Just "yes" to God's will. What an inspiration! And now...Christmas in 9 months! :)
I like this artist's non-traditional take on the Annunciation, don't you?

Happy Spring! Now go back over to Jen's for more great Quick Takes!

Welcoming Lent

"And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting."

~ Matthew 17:17-20

At spin class yesterday, the spin teacher had us start with our bikes set to a flat road. After a few hills, and resistance re-sets, she said to go back to the flat road--but to add two gears, and that would be our new flat road for the rest of the class.

Lent is like that, I think. Each year, Lent turns out to be such a powerful experience that by Easter I find that my faith is forever raised to a whole new level.

Two years ago, I went to Confession once a week during Lent, which was hard to schedule, but awesome and so worth it. Last year, I think I gave up Diet Coke (right?), and now I don't even need it at all (usually). This year, in addition to fasting from desserts, I'm not going to sleep later than 6a.m. on weekdays. This is something I've been struggling with for--well, forever, and it's quite apparent that I cannot do it on my own. No wonder St. Josemaria calls that moment of rising "the heroic moment;" it's certainly the hardest thing I try to do on most days! So this Lent I'm praying for God's help in a big way for this one.

Wishing you all a holy and blessed Lent!

Speaking the Truth in Love

To My Dear Friend,

I'm so impressed by your persistence and determination as you're enduring this extended spiritual dry spell. It reminds me of the woman in Matthew's gospel (15:22-28) whose perseverance was so richly rewarded. And what a blessing to know that Our Lord shared every single one of our trials during His time of sorrow in that long-ago garden; it seems almost incredible, doesn't it, that His Father truly let Him go it alone?

Of course, I hardly think I have all the answers, and I couldn't presume to have walked in your shoes through a lifetime of ups and downs within our Church. But as I reflected on our discussion, a couple of additional thoughts occurred to me. I wanted to share them in case they might be helpful in your search to "have what she's having," as we discussed.

One thought is this: Might there be a connection between your frustration with the God of your childhood and your own rejection of so many things that His Church teaches? Unequivocal, absolute sanctity of life, with no exceptions, along with a traditional definition of Holy Matrimony that dates all the way back to the days of the Garden of Eden are hardly trivial doctrines within Catholicism. If these don't make sense to you, that seems like a pretty fundamental difference, don't you think? You say that your heart is open to God; is your intellect? Could it be that you are the one turning away from God, and not the other way around?

Of course, it has always been fashionable to diss the Catholic Church, and our own Bishop takes a lot of heat for his adherence to Church Tradition in matters of faith and morals. It's a popular argument that the Church should "get with the times." Indeed, at first glance it can seem like the Church is absurdly backwards, patriarchal, and repressive. Who are these old celibate men, after all, to tell us how to plan and structure our families?

As it turns out, they're the spiritual descendants of Jesus' twelve apostles. Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, of course, promising that "you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" and assuring the apostles "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19) He also promised (Luke 24:49) and sent (Acts 2) the Holy Spirit to guard the deposit of faith, which has ensured the infallibility of the Church's core doctrine for the subsequent 2000 years.

As I've studied Church history, I've found it startling that despite the all-too-human failings of the human beings to whom Christ entrusted the Church, the Holy Spirit truly has guarded the deposit of faith through all these centuries. "The Church should change with the times," people say. But which times? 21st century secular-progressive USA? 10th Century Norway? 16th Century Germany? 19th Century Spain?

"On this rock I will build my church." The Church is a rock; it doesn't change, and it's one of the very few things that doesn't. To me, that seems valuable, like a compass showing us the true north.

Who am I--a speck, compared with 2000 years of scholarship and holiness, carried out by men, but supervised and guarded by the Holy Spirit--to determine that the Church of Jesus Christ should change to suit my own ideas about how life should be? Isn't it more likely that I (the speck!) should change? Might it be that through His Son, Holy Scripture, the Apostles, and the Church, God has given us an owner's manual for how to achieve real happiness, both in this life and eternally?

And so, with plenty of prayer, study, tears, feeble attempts at humility, and even feebler attempts at obedience, I have changed. The more I learn about our beautiful Church and her teachings, the more amazed I am at their truth and beauty. I hope I keep changing, because holiness is, of course, the pursuit of a lifetime!

As in Chesterton's awesome quote: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." I think too many people write off the Church's teachings because they seem so absurdly difficult when compared to our society's portrayal of the path to happiness. Of course they do. God's kingdom involves a "narrow gate" (Matthew 7:13), after all, and even some of Jesus' disciples turned away from Him, saying "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" (John 6:60) Pride and disobedience were also, of course, at the very core of Judas' final betrayal of Our Lord.

My friend, I promised to pray for you. To tell you the truth, I have been all along, and of course I promise to keep doing so. Please keep praying for me too, so that we may both respond as Peter did when Jesus asked if he too would follow the departing disciples:

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

+JMJ+ Thy Will Be Done! +JMJ+

Saint for the Third Millenium

One of the things that I love best about Catholicism is its incredible depth; no doubt, one lifetime isn't even close to enough to learn every facet of our beautiful faith. Reading Faustina, Saint for Our Times reminded me about this aspect of the Church. I'm repeatedly amazed at how much God continues to be intimately involved in the details of this world that He created. Clearly, His plan of salvation continues to unfold, and He is at work in our world in the 21st century just as much as in the times of Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses.

The story of St. Faustina makes this especially clear, as her message of Divine Mercy is so powerful and relevant to us in modern times. I found her connection with John Paul II to be especially intriguing. At the 2002 consecration of the International Shrine of Divine Mercy in Lagievniki, Poland, he said:

"I will solemnly entrust the world to Divine Mercy. I do so with the burning desire that the message of God's merciful love, proclaimed here through Saint Faustina, may be made known to all the peoples of the earth and fill their hearts with hope. May this message radiate from this place to our beloved homeland and throughout the world."

and

"Where, if not in the Divine Mercy, can the world find refuge and the light of hope?"

John Paul II not only established Divine Mercy Sunday, he even completed his days on earth on the vigil of Divine Mercy, 2005.

Rev. George W. Kosicki, CSB, the author of Faustina, Saint for Our Times is uniquely qualified to introduce us to this beautiful saint. His extensive study of her life and surroundings and, of course, her Diary helps make this book a perfect introduction to Saint Faustina and the message of Divine Mercy. Fr. Kosicki includes chapters on St. Faustina's life, her mission, her spiritual life, her connection to both eastern and western facets of the Catholic faith, her relevance to the third millennium, and a discussion of our response, as well as a section with Divine Mercy prayers and finally a Divine Mercy timeline.

Overall, I would very much recommend this book. It's a perfect introduction to the Divine Mercy devotion, especially good for anyone who's considering tackling reading St. Faustina's Diary. It truly gave me a good understanding of Divine Mercy, which is quite exciting as well as comforting in our turbulent modern times!

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Faustina, Saint for Our Times and check out their great selection of serenity prayer and baptism gifts.

Disclaimer: The Catholic Company provides books for review free of charge to its reviewers. Come join the fun!

He's Coming!

"Behold God incarnate! How beautiful it has been to reflect on the very profound mystery of our Savior's incarnation! ...

"Finally, someday in heaven above, we will grasp it fully. There we will celebrate with an incomparable delight this great feast of Christmas."

~ St. Francis de Sales

Early Christmas Present

Tonight was my turn to drive WWD's basketball carpool. It's just far enough away--about 30 minutes--that it's not worth making the round trip twice, so I planned to just hang out at the gym during practice.

Which would give me, I realized, just over an hour to myself. As in--alone. Far from my chore-filled, to-do laden house.

What would I do? Bring a book? Bring my laptop? Catch up on phone calls? Squeeze in a few errands? I was so excited about the sudden empty block on my calendar that I was overwhelmed--stumped as to how to fill this one free hour, on the dark night after the snowy winter solstice, three days before Christmas.

I dropped off the boys, went to fill up my van with gas and wiper fluid (the latter being something I never once did in my entire life before moving to the midwest), and started back to watch practice.

For no particular reason, I decided to take a quick detour through the parking lot of the Catholic church a block away from WWD's practice gym. Just to check it out--peek at their school, that sort of thing.

The church lights were on.

"Cool," I thought, peering through the church's glass doors from inside my warm van. I'll just say a little "hello" prayer while I'm so near to the Lord.

I even thought I could see the red tabernacle candle, but it turned out to be my brake lights reflecting in the church window.

Then I saw it. The monstrance on the altar. Could it be? Yes. Right there, in the small-town church, on this dark solstice night, miles away from the retail frenzy that has filled the rest of my week...Eucharistic Adoration.


An hour of Adoration, all alone. Quiet. Peace. A whole, uninterrupted Rosary, all by myself, without the phone ringing and without me falling asleep after about the first decade. And then...more peace.

My dear sweet infant Lord Jesus, how can my family's Christmas celebration ever be a worthy birthday party for You, the most holy and amazing gift the world has ever known? How can we ever, ever comprehend God's glorious plan for mankind or His eternal and infinite love for each of His precious creatures?

As St. Paul explained to those long-ago Corinthians, "For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know as I am known."

And as St. Matthew wrote, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." Tonight, He sure knew what I needed...more of Himself!!

Could there be a better Christmas present than a sweet, silent hour with my Lord? I felt like I got a little peek at the Nativity itself!

O Come Let Us Adore Him
Christ the Lord!

Celebrating Our Lady

Check out my son, the Bishop!!

Bishop Zumarraga, that is, in a re-enactment of the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego, that WWD's school produced Friday night for our parish. The play was part of a big fiesta celebrating Our Lady's appearance to Juan Diego on December 12, 1531.

Since JPD chose St. Juan Diego as his costume for the All Saints' Day party this year, we've been studying the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe in depth around here. What a beautiful, hopeful story!

When I became Catholic, I just had no idea about Marian Apparitions. Honestly, for a long time I thought they seemed a bit strange. But now that I've been blessed to learn more about them, they are absolutely amazing! God is really, truly, still so much at work in our world in every way, big and small.

And now, as of this week, the first-ever Marian apparition in the U.S. has been officially approved--in Wisconsin! I think I see a road trip in our near future!

Why was it easier for my Protestant self to believe that God appeared to Moses on Mt. Sinai, or in the burning bush, or to Noah, or an Angel to St. Joseph in his dreams, than to believe that Our Lady would bring a message to someone in contemporary times? I think the contemporary times part is the difficulty. The Old Testament seems so long ago, so fuzzy, so pre-literate, that it seems easier to accept, even in a sort of non-literal, allegorical way. After all, we're taught those Old Testament stories from birth--my babies' nursery was even decorated with a sweet little Noah's Ark motif. But I haven't seen Our Lady of Fatima bedding at Babies 'R Us lately, have you? And besides, thinking about things from a sola scriptura viewpoint does make it a bit difficult to think about anything God might do after New Testament times, I suppose.

Another stumbling block, of course, is that quite often since the time of Jesus, God speaks to us using the Blessed Virgin as a messenger, and naturally this is the part I didn't understand as a Protestant. I'm still in amazed wonder, learning about Catholic Marian theology. With her freely given consent, God used Mary to bring Christ into our world, and He's still using her to bring us to him today.

Now that I'm Catholic, I've learned about so many post-New Testament direct interventions by God in our world through the centuries. Fatima, Lepanto, St. Dominic, Lourdes, Guadalupe, St. Faustina...and on and on. What I love is that they are so relevant, so hope-filled, so instructive, so far beyond what I could ever imagine. Clearly, God's plan of salvation for us--begun the split second that Adam and Eve tasted the apple so long ago--is still unfolding. Miracles are happening everywhere--even in Wisconsin (yippee!)!!

Unanswered Prayers

I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong;
I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to solve;
I asked for prosperity and God gave me a brain and brawn to work;
I asked for courage and God gave me dangers to overcome;
I asked for love and God gave me people to help;
I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities;
I received nothing I wanted;
I received everything I needed.

Vigil for Nascent Life

Tonight we attended our Bishop's beautiful prayer vigil for the unborn:

The Holy Father called for Catholics around the world to participate in the vigil for unborn babies, which coincides with first vespers on the eve of the first Sunday of Advent.

Pope Benedict called for the vigil to pray for the unborn and their parents, for an end to abortion and embryo-destroying research, and for recognition of the dignity of all human life. The Vigil for Nascent Human Life will include prayers for overturning laws that permit the destruction of innocent lives and for the healing of those who have acted against innocent human life.

The vigil for the unborn comes at the beginning of Advent, a time of preparation for the birth of Christ.

“The season of preparation for Christmas is an appropriate time for invoking divine protection over every human being called into existence and for thanking God for the gift of life we received from our parents,” the pope said at the end of his Angelus November 14.

An evening prayer vigil will be held November 27 in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and Pope Benedict asked that parishes and religious communities, associations, and movements around the world host vigils of their own.

The service was special and powerful. I think it's remarkable that Pope Benedict requested Bishops in all the dioceses worldwide to hold this prayer vigil, this weekend at the beginning of our Church year. I'm expecting great things to result, for sure.

Then I came home and read this article about a dad whose disabled son has radically changed his view of the value of human life. Coincidence? Of course not.

I've spent a lot of energy over the years trying to make sense of my mom's disability from a massive stroke at such an early age, and how such a random tragedy could possibly be part of a bigger plan. I don't imagine for a minute that I could figure out God's plans, of course--but that doesn't stop me from at least trying to piece together some sort of explanation. And with my apologies to St. Thomas Aquinas for such a simplistic take on his teaching, here's what helps me understand how sad things fit into a bigger, glorious, supremely good plan...

God doesn't cause or will sadness, sickness, or disability. When He created the world, those things did not exist; even human death was not in His plan. He made us--then and now--to love Him and to be happy with Him forever. But He also created us to have free will, of course--without it, we'd be more like puppets than the fully alive, fully human, loving beings He wanted us to be.
And we all know what Adam and Eve chose to do with their free will. We've been paying for it ever since--all death, pain, and suffering (even work!) resulted from that tasty apple (pomegranate?). In the instant that Evil entered God's world, He began working to set things back on track. And all of salvation history is the amazing, incredible story of how His plan has unfolded.

In the meantime, we're stuck the pain and suffering of this life on earth. Fortunately, our life is not all that long--just a speck, after all, compared to eternity. And in the midst of our pain and suffering, God is with us as much as we allow Him to be, constantly bringing beauty, love, and blessings from each of our little trials. He loves and blesses us in startling, amazing ways that we would never imagine. It even turns out, as I'm only just barely starting to understand, that our earthly suffering helps play a part in God's plan for the redemption of the world.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." ~ Ephesians 3:20-21

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" ~ Philippians 4:4

The Holy Father's Vigil for Life addresses such a critical need in our time, and throughout human history. Most of us have far too little esteem for our own worth as human beings. We may be too small or too weak or too disabled to "contribute to society" in a way that can be measured or seen. But that doesn't take anything away from our sacredness as eternal children of our Creator. We are not random products of evolution and natural selection; we are each miraculous...unique...beloved...precious...eternal. What we do--what happens to each of us--matters. Life is short; we must love one another seriously, deeply, with everything we've got.

Thy Will Be Done! ♥

Guest Post

Welcoming C.S. Lewis to the blog today...

"Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thought to God when everything is going well with us. We 'have all we want' is a terrible saying when 'all' does not include God. We find God an interruption. As St. Augustine says somewhere, 'God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full--there's nowhere for Him to put it.' Or as a friend of mine said, 'We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.' Now God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as He leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call 'our own life' remains agreeable, we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interest but make 'our own life' less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible sources of false happiness?

"We are perplexed to see misfortune falling upon decent, inoffensive, worthy people--on capable, hardworking mothers of families or diligent, thrifty little tradespeople, on those who have worked so hard, and so honestly, for their modest stock of happiness and new seem to be entering on the enjoyment of it with the fullest right...

"Let me implore the reader to try to believe, if only for the moment, that God, who made these deserving people, may really be right when He thinks that their modest prosperity and the happiness of their children are not enough to make them blessed; that all this must fall from them in the end, and that if they have not learned to know Him, they will be wretched. And therefore He troubles them, warning them in advance of an insufficiency that one day they will have to discover."

Ten Reasons Why I Love My Catholic Faith

You may know that I'm a convert to the Catholic Church. I joined the Church in Chicago at Easter 1996, after almost 30 years of happy Presbyterianism. The more I learn and understand about the beautiful Catholic faith, the more I love it. Here are some of my faves:

10) The Liturgical Calendar. The beautiful Church year, with a full-fledged observation of Advent and Lent as well as such events as Jesus' conception at the Annunciation, Epiphany, Mary's birthday, Pentecost, Jesus' Ascension, and so many more beautiful feast days and solemnities. The party never ends!

9) Holy Week and Easter. Next April, come and see for yourself, if you've never attended all the Holy Week liturgies. It is SO COOL. Palm Sunday, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist/Last Supper on Thursday, the solemn observation of Jesus' crucifixion on Friday afternoon, the quiet, dark church in the meantime, and then the glory of the Easter Vigil, which celebrates our entire salvation history in an amazing liturgy that fills all the senses. Did I mention that it is SO cool?

8) I can more fully appreciate Renaissance Art and Architecture. Can I ever--practically all of the significant art and architecture for the first 1500 years of Christianity, and lots more from the following 500 years, was created and/or inspired by or for the Church. I can't wait to go back to Europe, now that I'm Catholic! (Maybe someday?)

7) Marian Theology. Really. Believe me, all those statues and pictures of Mary used to make me a little nervous, I promise. But once I began to understand the Church's teachings about Mary's significance within God's plan of salvation history (hint: Catholics don't worship her), I was blown away. Amazing! Here's a summary, much better than I could ever write up.

6) Sacramental Confession. Yes, you read that right. Before I was Catholic, the idea of Confession just seemed ridiculous to me. Why would I want to tell my sins to another person? I could just as easily, you know, pray, and confess 'em directly to God. But you know what? I didn't. Because doing that would obviously involve admitting that I really had sins, which would require figuring out what my sins actually were. And moi, a sinner? Surely not--really--right?

But going to the actual Sacrament of Confession requires me to really think it out. I have a structured Examination of Conscience to use as a sort of checklist. When I talk to the priest, it's not so much like actually telling another person my sins as it is like telling them to God--out loud. Then when he tells me my sins are forgiven, I can feel that they really are. It's pretty awesome--addictive, even. :)

5) Keeping the "Logic" in my Theology. So far, I haven't come across a theological question that Catholic teaching hasn't satisfied for me. Saint Peter as the keeper of the kingdom on earth? Check. How to reconcile Creation and Evolution? Check. The Church's teaching on love and marriage? Check.

When I was Protestant, I always struggled with this idea that once I "accepted Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Savior," my salvation was a done deal. How could that be? It didn't make sense. That's not, it turns out, something I have to believe as a Catholic. As St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, we must "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." Of course, to do this, we have to love Christ, but that's not the end of it.

4) Sacred Scripture is precious. And Catholic Mass is full, full, full of it. Catholics totally believe that the Bible is God's holy and divinely inspired word. But again--that's not the end of it. You see, when I subscribed to a sola scriptura viewpoint, the Bible seemed to me to be almost a magical book. Got a problem or question? Just pray, open the book, and surely something suitable would come to me from within. I was forever trying to figure out which verses to take literally (Obey my husband? Really?), and which had been replaced by newer Scripture (Levitican dietary laws, anyone?).

As a Catholic, I don't have to try to wring all the meaning from Scripture, all by myself. I don't have the gift of infallibility, after all (whew!). I get to draw upon two millenia of Christian scholarship to help me understand how it all fits together. Sure, it's God's word; it's just not up to me to interpret it--solo. I think that makes a lot of sense.

3) Other religions are not all wrong. And non-Catholics are not necessarily going to hell. I like getting to believe that a spark of God's truth can be found in various other faith traditions, so that there truly can be a point of commonality from which to start discussions about faith. I must be clear that I do not believe that other faiths are equally true--now that would be a distortion of the word "truth," would it not--and I'm (obviously) convinced that the fullness of the faith is in Catholicism. But I don't have to go around judging other people's souls, based on their demographics. That, of course, is certainly above my pay grade.

2) I get to be a part of the Church that Jesus started. So many beautiful things in Catholic theology and liturgy date from the earliest years of the Church. Learning about history with the kids has given me such an appreciation of the Church's role in the advancement of western civilization. It's so amazing that the succession of the papacy can be traced from Benedict XVI all the way back to St. Peter. And once some people started breaking away from the Church and still called themselves Christian (which, of course, they are), who's to say that one group (say, Lutherans) happened to hit upon the truth more than another (e.g., Mormons)? Does it make sense for people to just up and start their own church whenever they feel like it? As I mentioned in #4, the divine gift of infallibility was given only to the apostles, and even for them only in certain circumstances. I'll stay off that slippery slope, thanks.

1) Most of all, of course, the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist within the beautiful, amazing Sacrifice of Holy Mass. Because, you know, no matter how much you analyze and apologize and intellectualize Christianity, what it's really about is Love. It's a relationship--in which we respond to our Creator's infinite and unimaginable love for us. It is literally beyond the ability of human intellect to truly understand how the Creator of the Universe could and would actually step into time to become one of His own creatures. Not only did he do this, but, subsequent to the days His human feet walked on Earth, He left us with a means of communing with Him on a continual basis for all time. "Do this in memory of Me," He said. And they did, and we still can. Who could have ever imagined that the real, live, Creator of the universe would love us enough to connect us to Himself in such an intimate way? All I can say about that is, well...Alleluia!

All Saints' Day

My heavenly brothers and sisters, from those most renowned to those of greatest obscurity, I come before you now in all humility and commend myself, and all who are dear to me, to your intercession.

Pray for us always, that we may awake each day with a burning desire for the Lord whose Face you behold, that we will maintain an intimate personal relationship with Jesus, our Savior and Head, and that we will not hesitate to proclaim God’s greatness to others, and love them as the Lord loves us.

As you offer your continual praise before the throne of God, I raise my heart to you now to implore your powerful intercession for these special needs: (………).

I am confident that your prayers on our behalf will be graciously heard by our loving and merciful Lord. By his grace, may we someday join you in the glory of the Father’s house.

The Seven Deadly Sins

I recently came across Amy Welborn's simple explanation of the Seven Deadly Sins. Pretty powerful--helped me realize that, of course, I commit almost every one of these almost every day!

Pride: I don't need anyone, even God. (Gen 3:1-5)
Greed: I want stuff, no matter what the price. (Ex 20:17)
Envy: I'm not happy with who I am. (Gen 4:3-7)
Anger: I wish ill for you. (Matt. 5:22)
Lust: I'll use you for my own pleasure. (Matt. 5:27-28)
Gluttony: I want, and I don't care if others don't have.
(Prov. 28:7)
Sloth: I don't care. Let life pass me by. (Matt. 26:41)

Excuse me while I get this huge plank out of my eye...

"You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
~ Matthew 7:5

(Thanks to CD for her "Judge Not" post, which gave me strength to share this very embarrassing story!)

Most of the time, in order to get through to me, it is necessary for God to hit me over the head with a 2x4. So this weekend at Mass, that is what He did.

See, there's this friend of mine who's a real sinner, for sure. Without going into too much sordid detail, let me just say that this guy is undoubtedly living in a situation that is not in accord with Church teaching. And the thing is, I see him at Mass all the time--even on weekdays--marching right up to receive Communion like he was all perfectly in a state of grace and everything. This puzzles me, and makes me mad, and gets me all judgmental. Could this guy possibly be going to Confession, like, every morning before Mass? I can't figure it out.

Well, my friend was at Mass this Sunday, sitting right up front. And much to my dismay, when the Eucharistic Ministers lined up to get the Blessed Sacrament to take out for distribution, my friend marched right up there.

"B? A Eucharistic Minister? Impossible!" I thought. Since I wasn't wearing my glasses, I literally did not believe my nearsighted eyes. I asked Bill if he was sure it was B. And it was him. So I proceeded to completely and totally freak out.

"This sinful guy? A Eucharistic Minister? Nooooooooooo! So wrong! Should I say something--you know, like after Mass? To whom? Father? Our liturgical director? B himself? Okay, so doing that might be a bit self-righteous...but he's such a sinner! This just can't be happening!"

"Please, God, send Him to the other side of the Church, away from me. Okay, well, he's walking this way, so at least send him to the other side of the aisle. Perhaps he'll have the Precious Blood which I'm skipping today because of my sore throat? Nope...he's got the Body of Christ...and he's coming to my row...and yep, I have no choice but to receive Communion from this guy."

So there I was--trapped, with no way to avoid receiving Communion from a total sinner. I'm very embarrassed to admit that I was so upset that I actually considered forgoing Communion. I gave Bill a big-eyed shocked-and-dismayed look over WWD's head, and Bill whispered "Humility."

Humility indeed. The next thought that popped into my Pharasaical little head was what I told you before: "Receiving Communion from a sinner. From a sinner from a sinner from a SINNER." I suppose that phrase was the aforementioned divine 2x4, because then it became clear to me how ridiculous I was being. Because, of course, all the Eucharistic Ministers are sinners. So is everyone else. So is Father. So am I.

SO. AM. I.

So I bowed my head, closed my eyes, and thanked God for the indescribable, unimaginable miracle that is his mercy. And I joined with Our Lord's beloved tax collectors, adulterors, thieves, and murderers, and received the Blessed Sacrament from a fellow sinner.

O Divine Lord,
how shall I dare to approach You,
I who have so often offended You?
No, Lord, I am not worthy
that You should enter under my roof;
but speak only the word
and my soul shall be healed.

Amen.

There Is Need of Only One Thing

"Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
~ Luke 10:38-42

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Jan Vermeer c. 1654-1656

For the longest time, this gospel story puzzled me. How could Jesus rebuke Martha for preparing and serving dinner, when her sister lounged around adoring Our Lord? "Mary has chosen the better part?" Really? Was Our Lord planning to provide some loaves and fishes, perhaps, if Martha skipped out on kitchen duty?

I'm learning, of course, that this story is about balance. Work and prayer. Work as prayer. Contemplation in the midst of work or, even, prayer in the midst of chaos--a concept every busy mom grapples with daily.

The thing is to offer all my work and all the chaos to Him. To wholeheartedly love the Lord like Mary while working like Martha. And even to pursue holiness, not in spite of my work, but through my work. As St. Josemaria says, "Your work must become a personal prayer, must become a real conversation with Our Father in heaven" and "He waits for us every day, in the laboratory, in the operating theater, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home, and in all the immense panorama of work."

In John 11:24-27 we see Martha again after the death of her brother Lazarus. She says, "I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you…. Yes, Lord…I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.” Obviously, Martha's love for Jesus is complete, and she is a great disciple of Our Lord.

"Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things." Perhaps Jesus' words to Martha are not so much a rebuke as a consolation. He's not suggesting that she not work; he's suggesting that she not worry. When we're busy on the outside, we can still be at peace on the inside, and always in love with our Lord, who fulfills all the deepest desires of our hearts.

For another beautiful piece of art related to the story of Mary and Martha, and a phenomenal reflection for St. Martha's feast day, check out Fr. Z's commentary from today.

Updated: Here is an AWESOME take on this post, which contradicts my above referral to "balance." Indeed, prayer comes first, and work follows from that. We must have both, but not confuse our priorities. See...I'll never stop contemplating and learning about this amazing story of our Lord!