He IS Present -- Even in the Mess

     It was the first Sunday of Advent. I was ahead of schedule with Christmas preparations this year, so why was I feeling so burdened?

     I prayed for guidance.

No, No, Nervous Nellie!

     I’m not what you would call a “nervous Nelly.” In fact, most of the time, I am peace filled. I think it’s partly because of the disposition with which God blessed me, as well as my strong relationship with God and my dependence upon Him.

     That being said, there is an area in my life with which I struggle to hand over to God and find difficult not to want to FIX IT MYSELF!

Powers of Distortion

     “To see another human being as he really is means to lay ourselves open to his influence. Thus when fear or dislike moves us to avoid him, this reaction is already evident in our gaze; the eye characterizes him, stifling the good, heightening the bad. We discern his intentions, make swift comparisons, and leap to conclusions. All this proceeds involuntarily, if not unconsciously (in which case our powers of distortion, uncurbed by reason, so their worst). Seeing is a protective service to the will to live. The deeper our fear or distaste of a person, the more tightly we close our eyes to him, until finally, we are incapable of perception, or the profound German word for it, Wahrnehmen: reception of truth. Then we have become blind to that particular person. This mysterious process lies behind every enmity. Discussion, preaching, explanations are utterly useless. The eye simply ceases to register what is plainly to be seen. Before there can be any change, a fundamental shift must take place in the general attitude. The mind must turn to justice, the heart expand; then only can the eye really begin to discern. Little by little the sheen of the object on which it rests strengthen its visual power, and slowing it recovers the health of the truth."                
                                                                                                      The Lord, Romano Guardini


     Unfortunately, we all experience this blindness! We are either the perpetrator or the victim. We have felt stunned, as we described in lurid detail, the actions of those with whom we struggle, as our listeners are blinded to what we see as truth! While at other times, we are the ones taken aback, by the lens with which a friend perceives someone, whom we see in an entirely different light.

Hiding from God

     “And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin. The Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth.”                                                                
                                                                                                        Jn 15: 8, 13



     I was struggling! I was trying to justify an action I had committed. I had justified it in the past, but this time, something within me kept picking at my conscience.

Become Broken Hearted

     “This Heart is a pierced Heart. Jesus stands before us with a pierced Heart. We have seen how knowledge of God has always cost; the human heart has to be broken open before it can receive God, and thus it was with Jesus. And the deepest mystery of all is that we learn that the Father’s own Heart is pierced.
     How can we enter into this pierced Heart? Only by becoming like it, living in love at whatever cost, paying the high price of loving. Too easily we assume that loving is a pleasurable experience. Most surely it is the only sweetness in life, but this must be understood correctly. True love is always bleeding in our mortal life. You cannot have love in this life without pain.
     Just think of our own way of carrying on. We get hurt, offended. . .what do we do? Shrink into ourselves, erect all sorts of barriers. Our heart has withdrawn from the one who hurts us in any way. We mustn’t be hurt, “I matter,” our poor ego cries. But that is not how Jesus loves. If we would be like Him, we must struggle to the death with all this, refuse to curl up, refuse to withdraw in the slightest. We must go on exposing ourselves, giving ourselves, pouring ourselves out.
     We say we want to love, we want to serve, we want to give ourselves, and at bottom we are saying we want selfish satisfaction. We want to feel we matter, are important, we want to feel fulfilled; in other words, we are using others, and the beautiful concept of love is being abused. Love is selfless. The way into the Heart of Jesus is not through intellectual insight, not through glowing emotion, but through learning to pay the cost of pure love. There is sacrifice involved in letting others be themselves.”                                                                                      Sr. Ruth Borrows, O.C.D.



     As I read Sr. Ruth’s words, a memory stirred in my heart.

     “Your mission is to be the Wounded Heart.”

      I sat there many years ago, trying my best to absorb Father’s words and internalize their meaning.

A Contrite Heart

     “Avoid the little faults. Ask Me to help you to see them more clearly, in their true light, like a window in sunshine. You will not dare repeat them; you will be on the watch not to repeat them; you will be on the watch not to hurt Me. And when you notice you have done wrong, you will ask Me to forgive you. My heart has seen everything and is ready to forget, because it listens to your words of distress and humility. Oh, the power of repentance! The sacrifice that pleases Me is a contrite heart.”                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                  Jesus to Gabrielle Bossis

     For months, I have been struggling with overcoming the imperfections, which God has been pointing out to me.

Gifts from the Beloved

     “My Child, please understand that the trials I send you are made to measure, exactly fitted to your power to bear them. They are favors that draw you nearer to your Beloved. Thank Me for a little trial as though it were a flower placed with tenderness on your heart by your Fiancé. Always humble yourself as if you had deserved to suffer. I am all innocence, yet I suffered everything imaginable. I will use everything for your sanctification. Do not be afraid of trials. They only help you go higher. They make you love Me more.”                                              
                                                                                               Our Lord to Gabrielle Bossis


     When I read these words of Jesus to Gabrielle, I realize how far I am from reaching holiness!

     I do not see trials as flowers placed upon my heart by my Beloved. They do not feel like they are measured to fit perfectly, but often, more than I think I can bear. They do not increase my love of God, but make me question His love. When trials strike, my heart is filled with fear. I don’t believe I deserve this particular suffering. It is not causing me to move higher, but is pulling me down instead!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

     I don’t often pray for fair weather, but in this situation, I felt as though I should.

     We had planned an “end of summer BBQ” and had chosen the day which would work best for us to host.

     Several days before the event, while heading into the chapel, I received a text from one of the guests: Would you consider changing the date because the weather was not going to be nice on Sunday? Monday was going to be sunny and hot. The children would enjoy themselves much more if they could go swimming in the nicer weather.

Come to His Well

     “Action relies upon contemplation for its fruitfulness; and contemplation, in its turn, as soon as it has reaches a certain degree of intensity, pours out upon our active works some of its overflow. And it is by contemplation that the soul goes to draw directly upon the Heart of God for the graces which it is the duty of the active life to distribute. As so, in the soul of a saint, action and contemplation merge together in perfect harmony to give  perfect unity to his life,"                                                                                  Dom Jean-Baptist Chautard   


     I was not quite forty, but as a stay at home mother of five, I was feeling somewhat weary and tired! The giving and doing seemed endless! I wondered at times how I could continue at this pace.
I was serious about my relationship with God and longed to become the woman that God was calling me to be. I just wasn’t sure how to go about doing it. It was at this time in my life when I was blessed with a spiritual director.

Listen to Him

     “Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, ‘Lord, it is good we are here. If You wish, I will make three tents here, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the clouds came a voice that said, ‘This is My Beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell prostate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’ And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down the mountain Jesus charged them, ‘Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’”                                                                                                      Mt 17: 1-9                                                                                                                                                                       


     As I went about cleaning my upstairs, my thoughts were riveted on this scripture reading.
    
     It had been quite some time, since I have had a “Tabor” experience. I was most definitely down from the mountaintop, as I forced myself to perform the duty that lay before me.

An Awakening

     “We can trust our Lady’s love for us and her knowledge of God. The woman who says, Do whatever He tells you, is the girl who sang the Magnificat, rejoicing that her Son had come for our joy, and this first miracle, symbol as it is of Christ’s life in us, was not a miracle related to suffering, but one designed to give an increase of joy to the people already rejoicing. That good wine is a symbol of Christ’s life in our soul, changing our tepid, colorless human nature to the strong life-giving humanity of Christ, and giving it the power to invigorate others, to warm their hearts and minds, to kindle the life in them with Christ’s love, just as wine given to a cold weary person tones up the blood in their veins.”    
                                                                                                             Caryll Houselander


     Late last January, after meditating on the reading of the Wedding Feast of Cana, I prayed and asked Our Lady, to BEG Jesus to turn the water of my marriage into a deep rich wine. Having been inspired to make this prayer, I FELT CERTATIN that God would answer it. I just wasn’t sure how.

Total Abandonment

     “To us, weak creatures, the idea of a complete, final surrender often is frightening, but that is because we do not know God well enough. The fact is that God’s will for us is always for our happiness and when we do surrender to it, it is to our own happiness that we are abandoning ourselves.”       
                                                                                  Caryll Houselander


     Complete and final surrender: we run from it! Since our fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, humanity has always wanted to pick and choose for themselves: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Abraham and Sarah, and on and on and on. We think we know what is best for us, and at times, become our own little god, by manipulating events in the direction we see fit. We refuse to accept the reality of our lives and instead, sabotage the outcome. 

Immense Dignity

     “There is a space formed by the particular shape of our life. It is meant for God Himself to indwell. This must be felt as a lack . . . and it comes about through daily circumstances. It may be caused by a cavern of a lonely heart, the ache of a lost one, the yearning that comes from ‘not yet being home.’ In truth, we are to glory in this emptiness – for it is the price we pay for such an immense dignity. To wait in courage for God to fill our particular emptiness is one of the most profound of love’s acts.”     
                                                                                                                       Ed Colin 


     Life, with all its’ bells and whistles, hopes and desires, people and possessions cannot truly satisfy us. There is an emptiness, a lack, or void, which only God can fill.  It presents itself to us as a powerful yearning. This emptiness occurs even when everything seems right and good; when all is well; when we are filled with the love of our newborn child, husband or wife, children, relatives and friends. This feeling is a mystery to us and when it makes itself known, we can be thrown into total confusion and unrest.

Ocean of Love

     “The Divine Heart is an ocean full of all good things, wherein poor souls can cast all their needs; it is an ocean full of joy to drown all our sadness, an ocean of humility to drown our folly, and ocean of mercy to those in distress, and ocean of love in which to submerge our poverty.”                                                                                                             Saint Margaret Mary


     Jesus Christ, true God and true man -- the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, has a human heart! He loves each and every one of us, as no human person ever has or will. He loves us so much that He became man, lived on this earth, suffered a cruel death, and allowed His heart to be pierced.

Power, Wisdom and Love

    “By our belief in the Holy Trinity we acknowledge in one single God, Power, Wisdom and Love, and these three are one. Now surely, I do see what an immense effect such a doctrine must have upon life.  It is no mere question for theologians, but one that concerns every living soul. Whatever is allowed by God’s power must be guided by His wisdom and urged on by His love. All that happens to me in life, the little worries and the great anxieties, the crisis and the daily annoyances, the sorrow and the joys, the harms that reach me through the sins of others, the great cries of history, the huge and devastating wars, the partings and loves and the whole cycle of human experiences are permitted by Power which is itself wise and loving. These three Persons determine my life, and since I walk by faith, I must surely grow very patient in my attitude through life. For how can I complain or criticize God’s Providence, since it comes under the triple influence of Power, Wisdom and Love? Under the guidance, then, of this mystery, I can walk through the valley of death or the more perilous borders of sin without loss of courage or hopelessness. Nothing can make me afraid. How these are separate, but one, I do not know, nor can I reconcile in my concrete experience the claims of each. It is always a mystery, but a mystery in which I believe. Whatever Power allows on earth is designed in Wisdom and attuned by Love.”           
                                                                                Father Bede Jarrett



     As I read and pondered the words of Father Jarrett, I shook my head in awe, wonder and gratitude for the wisdom he has bequeathed to us!

Mounted on Hope

  “No one had a more concrete, practical knowledge of her nothingness than Mary; she understood well that her whole being, natural as well as supernatural, would be annihilated if God did not sustain her every moment. She knew that whatever she had, in no way belonged to her, but came from God, and was the pure gift of His liberality. Her great mission and the marvelous privileges which she had received from the Most High did not prevent her from seeing and feeling her ‘lowliness.’ But far from disconcerting or discouraging her in any way – as the realization of our nothingness and weakness often does to us – her humility served as a starting point from which she darted to God with stronger hope. The greater the higher her soul became, the higher her soul mounted in hope. That is why, being really poor in spirit, she did not trust her own resources, ability, or merits, but put all her confidence in God alone.”                                                                                                                             Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen


     As I read this passage from Fr. Gabriel, it became apparent to me that I am not poor in spirit. I felt a deep sting as this realization struck my heart!

      On some level, I believe that I was growing toward this virtue. I have been making a conscious effort to depend upon God – on His help and assistance. But as I looked at my life, my hopes and desires, it was clear that I do not put my hope and trust in God, but in myself and my abilities.

Follow the Peaceful Spirit

     “A peaceful spirit with oneself and others is one of the greatest gifts of God. Follow that spirit and all His inspirations: He will work wonders in your neighbor and yourself. When one has learned how to remain in peace in one’s soul, God holds His divine school in the soul where He teaches everything without noise of words to attentive, peaceful and docile souls in such a way that directors have nothing to say but: Listen to the voice of God’s Spirit, or better still – follow faithfully the interior impulse of His grace.”          
                                                                                Father Jean-Pierre de Cassade, S.J.


     We are all searching and longing for peace . . .. peace in our hearts, within our families, in our lives and the world. But often, peace seems elusive or unattainable. When experienced, it seems to slip through our hands like grains of sand and fade like dust blown into the wind. Peace just doesn’t seem to be something we can readily hold onto!

Follow His Footprints

     How often in our lives we experience unjust treatment?

     We enter into dialogue with a friend, family member or stranger, and suddenly and quite unexpectedly, we are berated, criticized, and put down!

     We are taken aback, quite frankly, by their words and behavior, and want to lash out in retaliation. We want to unleash upon them the verbal whipping we have just received. It seems right. It seems just. It appears to be the appropriate thing to do. After all, who do they think they are?  We deserve better treatment than that. What were they thinking to have treated us in this way?

     This was the scenario that played within my mind recently during an event in my life. I did not snap back, but became quiet instead. Although I believed my treatment to be unjust, I was trying my best to get passed my feelings, because I wasn’t really sure what had precipitated the negative behavior. I asked God for insight, as I went about my day.

     As I prayed the scriptures that evening, a reading from the first letter of St. Peter, penetrated deeply within my mind and soul. “If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His footsteps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth” (1Peter 2:20b-22).

    “Sweet Jesus, when situations like this happen, are You telling me to just accept it? Unlike You who are sinless, I am a sinner, and so I am not always blameless. What are You telling me to do?” Being uncertain, I continued to ask for guidance.

     “When He was insulted, He returned no insult; when He suffered, He did not threaten; instead, He handed Himself over to the one who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).

     “Wow! I thought. It’s becoming clearer to me. You don’t want me to return insult or injury. Don’t fight evil with evil, but hand myself and the situation over to God, the only One who judges justly. I don’t know what is going on with the other person. I don’t know where this is coming from, but You do.”

     “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

    “Lord Jesus, are You asking me to bear this sin of ‘the other,’ to help free them from this sin? Are You asking me to offer it up to You so that both of us will be healed?”

     As these revelations sunk into my head and heart, I felt challenged! I had read these scriptures many time before and had never seen them in this light. I couldn’t wrap my mind around what exactly God was expecting of me. I realized that I would not only need time, to help me understand, but an abundance of God’s grace, wrapped in a huge container of humility.

     For the next several days, thoughts about God’s message to me, ruminated in my mind. I wanted to fully grasp the meaning so I could move toward making it a practice in my life.

     I knew that God did not want me to be a doormat, or allow any type of abuse in my life. This wasn’t what I had experienced. It appeared to be more of a reaction that had been directed toward me – like displaced anger. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I recalled times when I myself had been short or curt with people when I felt burdened, tired or weary. These were the instances that I believed God was talking about.

     “Okay. That makes sense,” I thought. I then recalled moments in the past when I had experienced this type of criticism or harsh words and played out instances when I “reacted” with words of retaliation, and times when I “responded” with either silence or compassion. The times when I reacted seemed to fuel the fire that was being thrust upon me. But when I responded instead, it seemed to either diffuse the situation or at least not make it any worse. Also, when I responded, if I happened to lose my peace, I regained it sooner. My thoughts stayed clearer, and I was able to see if I was at fault in this situation, or if someone else was just having a bad day. It allowed me to reframe from taking it personally, so it didn’t sting quite as much.

     As I pondered these situations, I remembered that there were also times, when a verbal response was necessary. Sometimes it was spoken as the situation was unfolding, while other times, after the fire had cooled. But the words were always prayed about, thought about and spoken with love and courage.

     “Lord, this is a hard lesson! When situations like this happen, it is fierce and quick! It is so easy just to react! But you are calling me to be like Your Son – to die to what I feel like doing and love as You do.” I felt burdened. I knew God would not ask me to do something without giving me the help I needed to accomplish it! I needed to have an easy plan to be able to change my behavior. “Spell it out clearly Lord,” I prayed.

     As I pondered the scripture, once again, three things stood out: “this is a grace before God,” “to this you have been called that you should follow in Christ’s footsteps,” and “He handed Himself over to the One who judges justly.” These passages were key. I needed to call upon God and depend upon His grace, imitate Christ’s example and then hand the situation over to God, expecting Him to lead me and guide me.

     God is such a good and patient teacher. He teaches us lessons and then allows lots of situations in our lives to occur to help us to practice. Sometimes we pass with flying colors, while other times we fail miserably. Either way, God will not give up on us. The challenge for us is not to give up on ourselves! We must trust in the Lord and His strength.

     We know that it is God and not us, when an awkward situation is resolved pleasantly and we can walk away with a smile on our face. This is a gift of God’s grace and what He can do through us when we cooperate and follow His lead.

     Look for the footprints of Christ. He will never lead you astray!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
      
    
    
    
    

It is the Lord

     “There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action. It is really and truly there present, but invisibly present, that we are always surprised and do not recognize His operation until it has ceased. If we could lift the veil, and if we were attentive and watchful God would continually reveal Himself to us, and we should see His divine action in everything that happened to us, and rejoice in it. At each successive occurrence, we should exclaim: ‘It is the Lord,’ and we should accept every fresh circumstance as a gift from God. We should look upon creatures as feeble tools in the hands of an able workman, and should discover easily that nothing was wanting to us, and that the constant providence of God disposed Him to bestow upon us every moment whatever we        required.”                                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                Jean-Pierre de Caussade

     Recognizing God and His actions, always present in our lives, is very difficult for us. We expect or imagine just how He will show His face and often miss Him, because He comes in ways much different than we desired.

     Our plans, ideas and expectations of life, are etched so deeply in stone by our own hand, that when something appears other than we planned, we fail to see God’s hand in it.

My Blog and I

     “There is much emphasis on notoriety and fame in our society. Our newspapers and television keep giving us the message: What counts is to be known, praised, and admired, whether you are a writer, an actor, a musician, or a politician.    
     “Still, real greatness if often hidden, humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. We must have strong self-confidence combined with deep humility. Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance and love.”  
                                                                                                        Henri Nouwen


     Today, April 21, 2017, Avia Joy is three years old! But before a word was written, or a story told, she was in the mind of God. She was His gift to me!

Saint Peter and I

     “Peter is the supreme example of the Gospel warning: …whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall “(1Cor 10:12).   
                                                          Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen  

              
     I feel discouraged and disheartened right now, as I think about the high hopes I had for my spiritual growth this Lenten season. It’s already Holy Week, and I am still struggling with the same issues that plagued me on Ash Wednesday!

Mea Culpa!

     “God, give me the Lent I need, not necessarily the Lent I want,” was my prayer on Ash Wednesday. God IS faithful; He answered my prayer. He is using this time to show me how to conquer the flaws with which I struggle. Weeks before Lent God began to teach me lessons in faith and trust. As I entered the desert of Lent, He has allowed circumstances in my life to unfold to give me practice in these areas.

     “Oh, that today you would hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Psalm 95:7b).

"AH HA"

    “God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way. Every vision will be made real if we have patience.”                 
                                                                                               Oswald Chambers


    “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

     There have been many times in my life when God has given me the vision: the ability to see the solution to a struggle I could not overcome. Along with this revelation, comes a great confidence in God and His willingness to help me overcome myself and my struggle. It is what we call an “ah ha” moment, when life’s problems seem to be surmountable. “Nothing will be impossible with God”   (Lk 1:37).

The Lent I Need

     “Come Holy Spirit! Consume in me anything that keeps me from being consumed in You.”


     I thought I had begun Lent on the right foot. For several weeks prior to its start, I had prayed and asked God to direct my path and let me know just how He was calling me to change.

     The answer I received seemed somewhat vague, so I tried to contrive which areas within myself, needed work. Several ideas came to me. My plan was to work on my quiet prayer time. For some time now, I was giving in to distractions, instead of ignoring them. I wanted to nip that in the bud. The other thing I wanted to work on was not snacking after 8 o’clock. Most of the time when I snacked, I was not really hungry. I was trying to comfort a restlessness or disappointment in my life, instead of going to God with my feelings. That’s what I’ll do, I thought!

You Are Mine

     It was late in the afternoon, my last day of retreat, when I decided to continue the tradition my sister Rachel and I had begun years ago. Our routine included a change of clothing – dressing up in something special -- which was symbolic of the change that had occurred spiritually within.

     Our tradition was also, our way of making the last evening special; a way to thank God for all the graces and insights with which we had been showered; a time to breathe in God’s love and bask in the still and quiet of the retreat house, one last evening.

Victim No More

     It was the morning of the second day of my retreat. Upon waking, questions that I needed to pose to God became apparent.

     As a secular Carmelite, I will choose a name at the time of my profession. Although it is more than a year away, it is something about which I have already been thinking and praying. The name that God placed upon my heart is “Therese Joy of the Wounded Hearts.”

God's Gift of Peace

     While on retreat, after soaking in the realization of God’s love for me, I remembered the scripture my director had suggested I bring to prayer: “For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call Me, when you go to pray to Me, I will listen to you. When you look for Me, you will find Me. Yes, when you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me with you, says the Lord and I will change your lot”
(Jer 29:11-13).

     I wanted so much to hold onto the truth of God’s constant, never changing love for me. I did not want to allow life’s disappointments or my unmet expectations, to be the measuring stick with which I determined God’s love.

Renewed in Love

     “Come away by yourself to a deserted place and rest a while.”
                                                                                                             Mark 6: 31


     It had been a couple of years since I’d been away on an extended retreat. Out of the blue, during my prayer time, I felt the call. It was a surprise, and not something about which I was thinking.

     After some discussion, my husband agreed to give it to me as an early birthday gift. I was delighted, to say the least!

     As the time for the retreat approached, I wondered how God would work in my heart. I pondered which area would be labeled “under construction.”

The Fixer

     “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”  
                                                                                                                Hebrews 11: 1


     I have been struggling lately with issues of control.

     From the time I was a little girl, because of situations which I could not control, I became “The Fixer.” Now, I’m not sure if anyone else saw me as such, but it was my way of coping or dealing with difficult situations. It was an identity that I saw as useful and helpful and clung to it tightly, believing it to be a “good thing.”

Both Hands on the Wheel

     “Prayer is not a ‘spare wheel’ that you pull out when in trouble, but it is your ‘steering wheel’ that directs your path throughout life.”             
                                                                               Author Unknown

     Think about it. Who would plan a trip, get into the car, discover the steering wheel is missing and try to make the trip anyway? None of us would want to drive our cars without a steering wheel, since we would be unable to navigate to our desired destination. So why, when prayer is the steering wheel that directs our path throughout life, do we try to navigate without it, or think we don’t need it at all?

The Garden of Your Soul

     “Our first duty, therefore, precisely in order to heal this world, is to be holy, configured to God; in this way, we emanate a healing and transforming power that also acts in others, on history . . . In this regard, it is useful to reflect that the Twelve Apostles were not perfect men, chosen for their moral and religious irreproachability. They were indeed believers, full of enthusiasm and zeal but at the same time marked by their human limitations, which were sometimes even serious. Therefore, Jesus did not call them because they were already holy, complete, perfect, but so that they might become so, so that they might thereby also transform history, as it is for us, as it is for all Christians.”                                                                                                      Pope Benedict XVI


     As we look at the morals, values and shape of our world, we are tempted to entertain a feeling of hopelessness; to believe it has fallen too far and can never turn around for the good! Just when we think things can’t get any worse, they do!

     Where is God in all of this? What does He think of man, His beloved creation? Is His heart broken? Will God lose His patience with us and just let the end come? Is there anything we can do to help? Can we make a difference?

Stop! Read! Listen!

     “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”     
                                                                                        Hebrews 4:12

     God never ceases to amaze me, at the ways in which His Word in Holy Scripture, touches my heart, mind and life.

     As I journeyed through Advent, the richness of the liturgical readings was chock full of treasures, overwhelming me at times, with the generosity of our God!

Not Alone

     “What worthy return can we make for so great a condescension? The Only-begotten God, ineffably born of God, entered the Virgin’s womb and grew and took the frame of poor humanity. He who upholds the universe, with Whom and through Whom are all things, was brought forth from common childbirth. He as Whose voice the archangels and angels tremble, and heaven and earth and all the elements of this world are melted, was heard in childish wailing. The Invisible and Incomprehensible, Whom sight and feeling and touch cannot measure, was wrapped in a cradle.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         St. Hilary of Poitiers


     The rush of preparing for our Christmas celebrations, along with the hustle and bustle of our holiday visits, can make it both challenging and difficult for the true meaning of the celebration to penetrate.

     “And the Word became flesh, and made His dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14).