(During her retreat before profession) September 4, 1890. The heavenly music falls but faintly on the ear of your child, and it has been a dreary journey towards her Bridal Day. It is true her Betrothed has led her through fertile lands and gorgeous scenery, but the dark night has prevented her admiring, much less revelling in, the beauty all around. Perhaps you think this grieved her. Oh, no! she is happy to follow her Betrothed for His own sake, and not for the sake of His gifts. He is so ravishingly beautiful, even when silent--even when concealed. Weary of earthly consolation, your little child wishes for her Beloved alone. I believe that the work of Jesus during this retreat has been to detach me from everything but Himself. My only comfort is the exceeding strength and peace that is mine. Besides, I hope to be just what He wills I should be, and in this lies all my happiness. Did you but know how great is my joy at giving pleasure to Jesus through being utterly deprived of all joy! . . . . Truly this is the very refinement of all joy--joy we do not feel.
Tag Archives: Religion
Lenten Reading Plan – Apr 3
Day33 Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan 4/3/09
St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures: Lecture XXII
Day 33 Lite Version
St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures: Lecture XX
Compilation of Lenten readings
Printer-Friendly Version of Outline: Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan PDF
Something Bigger Than Ourselves
I’m thinking about Fr. Jeff’s homily. He was serious today, though he always is,so much so, it makes me laugh hearing his mental gymnastics. Today he got straight to the point, however. The point being: haven’t we all felt a part of something bigger than ourselves?
Some times changes in direction happen quickly, even with just one impulsive decision. I guess all the other choices in our lives leads us to make that decision, so impulsive or not, it’s more than happenstance, it’s who we are at the moment. With that said, Fr. Jeff spoke of God breaking into the world He had created and wanting, at this moment in Time, to renew it. He offers a Covenant, which if lived out in the lives of this people, peculiar to the Lord, His Chosen People, would cause all peoples to look on them and desire their God.
Fr.Jeff said, “God’s modus operandi has not changed. Human history is repeating this scenario day after day.” We are called to live exemplary lives. What a dreamer God must be! That’s the vision, though. When Jesus faced the pharisees and said “I Am” they had a choice to make. They could recognize Him as God, the new Moses, and follow Him…….. or stone him. You know how it goes from here, from bad to worse. “Stone him!” they say.” Later it becomes, “Crucify him!”
Jesus confronts us,when we least expect it, and confounds us, as he did the pharisees. We are unprepared at many junctures in our lives and being unprepared, caught of guard, or rebellious, with the pharisees and mob, we holler, “Stone him!” Thankfully, moments of reflection follow in our lives, changes in course, second chances. The Jews got it wrong, but St. Paul promises a day when their blindness will end. The Church is the New Israel, a second chance at Covenant. We, too, have a hard time getting it right, but we have the promise made to the Church, “The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”Matthew 16:18
The Reading from Genesis 17:3-9 was:
When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:
“My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God.”must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”
God also said to Abraham:
“On your part, you and your descendants after you
The Gospel was:
Jesus said to the Jews:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
So the Jews said to him,
“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.”
So the Jews said to him,
“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area. John 8: 51-59
Speaking of Dreams
I’ll get to the dream, but here’s how I got to it. I’m on a religious bent this morning. Always happens after mass. Something got me thinking of what “Lioness” means to me,during the sermon. You know how sermons go, you hear the sermon and the Holy Spirit at the same time. Sometimes the Spirit goes beyond the sermon and so today I ended up recalling a dream. When I got home and read the Anchoress’ dream appeal from Nice Deb, I thought more about that dream I had years ago. Nothing, by the way, like Nice Deb’s flash-tastic graphic.
By profession, I’m a registered nurse. Working the wards as a student at night was always a cause for anxiety. Later on, working sprawling hospital wards as charge nurse also made me feel a bit insecure, too many patients, too many rooms. IV’s could be running out or someone in trouble. We didn’t have all the fancy monitors they do nowadays. At night my anxieties would speak up in dreams.
The dream I remembered today went like this: I was on a hospital ward, and the ward was immense (though in my dream the ward looked more like a castle) and the halls seemed endless. Suddenly, I was aware of a great lion roaming the passage ways. Now, in my dream, the ward/castle became even bigger, extending to several floors above and below.The lion prowled like a monitor. His appearance seemed threatening, but instead of fear, I was flooded with a profound sense of security. End of dream!
In those days my life was in a bit of flux, with husband in school, me , with two children to care for, living with my in-laws, and working nights in a newborn intensive care unit. Waking from the dream I wanted to know who the lion was. I prayed and them opened the bible to a page with the phrase, “Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of my husband the lion” Esther C: 24. I was ecstatic! That day, I took it to mean my husband Jim would take care of us with God’s help. In other words, “Not to worry.”
Since the Lord speaks on many levels, and with multiple meanings, in this day I think the Lord is saying, “I am your Husband the Lion who guards and protects the passages of your life. You are my bride, my castle.”
Count the Blessings? of Abortion: 50,000,000
When you think you’ve heard it all, Amy Welborn tells you that the unanimously elected a new dean, Dr. Katherine Ragsdale of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge is preaching Abortion is a Blessing!
As quoted by Chris Johnson of Midwest Conservative Journal:
And when a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion – there is not a tragedy in sight — only blessing. The ability to enjoy God’s good gift of sexuality without compromising one’s education, life’s work, or ability to put to use God’s gifts and call is simply blessing.
These are the two things I want you, please, to remember – abortion is a blessing
and our work is not done. Let me hear you say it: abortion is a blessing and our work is not done. Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done. Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done.
I want to thank all of you who protect this blessing – who do this work every day: the health care providers, doctors, nurses, technicians, receptionists, who put your lives on the line to care for others (you are heroes — in my eyes, you are saints); the escorts and the activists; the lobbyists and the clinic defenders; all of you. You’re engaged in holy work.
Can there be anything sadder ? Convenience over conscience, money over morals, sex over sacredness, what are those Doctors of Divinity thinking. Dr. Katherine Ragsdale is their unanimous choice. I can better understand why questions of the true Presence of Christ in the Eucharist are at issue when these people cannot recognize the true presence of a child in the womb.
Pursuing Holiness has this: [UPDATE: Ms. Ragsdale deleted the sermon, but on the intarweb things have a zombie-like way of coming back to get you. Cached copy is here. And for posterity, here’s a PDF of the cached page with Our Work Is Not Done. Why do you think she deleted it?
Anti-Abortion Online Success
As the liberal media and liberal government close ranks, and embed abortion and anti-life laws and philosophies into American Culture, hope springs eternal. On-line you can find the alternative to the Culture of Death, as Pope John Paul II dubbed it.
For pro-life bloggers, and the likes of Priests for Life, Catholic Vote.org, Jill Stanek, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. The demons press on, indoctrinating our children in the classroom, and all strata of our citizenry in higher education, from Hollywood to the doctors office and health department, through glossy magazines, pop-culture etc. Light, however, finds a way! It’s the candle in the darkness thing at work. I’m new to blogging but those who’ve been doing this for a while like the Anchoress writing about miracles and little Faith and Brutally Honest declaring God alive, delight me with the persistent signs of hope I need to see.
Today is a good day for that kind of hope. The Wall Street Journal had good news for pro-life advocates and all those asking questions about life and wanting the truth.
Stephanie Simon reports:
“Mr. Obama supports legal abortion. Yet this video by CatholicVote.org — viewed nearly 1.8 million times on YouTube since it was posted in January — has turned his life story into an advertisement for the antiabortion movement.”
“The White House declined to comment. The producers describe their 40-second video as a strategic triumph that can help chart a new course for their movement as abortion opponents face a hostile climate in Washington, with Democrats controlling Congress and the White House.”
“So CatholicVote.org plans a series of biographical videos along the lines of the Obama video. The goal is to get people thinking about what the world would be missing if musicians, athletes and other luminaries with hard-luck life stories had been aborted.”
“Ms. Doan said ultrasound images circulating online have been especially helpful to abortion opponents, because they humanize the fetus. “I’ve seen a marked change in how people talk about abortion,” especially young adults, Ms. Doan said. “It’s much more favorable to the pro-life movement.”
“We’re able to reach people directly,” said Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. He stars in a series of matter-of-fact videos that explain how abortions are performed, with a plastic model of a fetus as a prop. The clip describing a first-trimester abortion has been viewed more than 680,000 times on YouTube. “TV networks would never show this type of video,” Father Pavone said, “but now that doesn’t matter.”
Be Holy! 