A Dream Fulfilled: Lourdes

      As I finished praying the rosary, our plane safely touched down. Filled with gratitude, I offered a prayer in thanksgiving, to Our Lord and Our Lady, for a wonderful pilgrimage to France!

     It was a nine-hour flight, which gave me time to process all that had transpired. This pilgrimage had been a long time coming. It was my third attempt to make it happen, and it finally did!

ALL WILL BE WELL

   “But there are some things that you cannot be sure of. You must take a chance. If you wait for perfect weather, you will never plant your seeds. If you are afraid that every cloud will bring rain, you will never harvest your crops. You don’t know where the wind blows.” Ecclesiates 11:4

     It’s been three years since my husband, and I went on our pilgrimage to France. 

     My dream was to go to Lisieux to visit the sites of St. Therese, my love, while Jonathan’s was to encounter Normandy Beach. Neither happened. Quite unexpectedly, only twenty-four hours after we landed, my husband experienced a very serious medical issue, which landed him in the hospital for the remaining time of our pilgrimage, minus one day. Although we were both very disappointed, we were just happy to get home alive. I remember kissing the ground when we landed.

Come Out from Behind the Chair

      “God’s love calls us to move beyond fear. We ask God for the courage to abandon ourselves unreservedly, so that we may be molded by God’s grace, even as we cannot see where the path may lead us.”                                                                                                                      St. Ignatius of Loyola                            

      “During my quiet prayer time, an image began to play out in my mind’s eye. I came to full attention because it was rare for something like this to happen to me.

God, You Know the Whole of It

      “God’s love calls us to move beyond fear. We ask God for the courage to abandon ourselves unreservedly, so that we might be molded by God’s grace, even as we cannot see where the path may lead us.”                       St. Ignatius Loyola

     God’s love was calling me, no, urging me, to move beyond fear this past month since my husband’s “heart event.” And praise to God, as well as thanks to all those praying for us, I am at peace. 

Relying on the Rock

     “Only in God be at rest my soul, for from Him comes my hope. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed.”                                         Psalm 62: 7

     I wanted so to pray that psalm in truth but could not. I was far from feeling peace…in fact, I was downright full of fear! I had experienced something traumatic, and the image was emblazed in my mind. It was haunting me! The scenario kept playing itself over and over in my memory, filling me with fear.

Don't Lose Hope...Dreams Do Come True!

         "God would not inspire me with desires which cannot be realized."                                                                                                                                                                  St. Therese                                                                                                                                                            

     For some time in early January, I felt a nudge, again and again from St. Therese and St. Denis to come to France. I felt puzzled by the inspiration and kept wondering if it truly was coming from them or from my vivid imagination.

Thorns Among the Roses-Part 6

      Today was one of those days we had to remind ourselves that we were in fact, on a pilgrimage and not a luxury trip: offer it up and don’t complain. It’s not always easy, but oh, so rewarding. This can really help you to grow in holiness, if you choose to do so.

Thorns Among the Roses--Part 3

     A pilgrimage is both exhilarating and exhausting! You want to make sure you get to see all the holy sites but at times, it is difficult to process it all. Therefore, after leaving Loyola, I was pleased to have a long bus ride to ponder our visit to Fatima before we arrived in Lourdes later that day.  

Thorns Among the Roses -- Part 1

     Although my heart was filled with gratitude for our wonderful anniversary celebration, my mind was focused on my sister Sarah and her deteriorating condition. 

     We were able to spend quality time with her the day after our party, thanks to my sister Rachel, who opened her home to us. Sarah seemed fragile and weak. She was still experiencing severe side effects from the chemo and was trying her best to be present to us. I again thanked Sarah and her husband for coming and expressed my great concern for her.

     It was difficult saying goodbye, not knowing when I’d see her again.

Walk His Walk

     “Once you go, you will never be the same!”

     How could any trip have such an impact on one’s life? But this was not an ordinary vacation. I was going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

No Delays

     I couldn’t believe it! In less than two hours our plane would be back in the United States. My pilgrimage to the Holy Land was now a wonderful memory!

     My mind and heart overflowed with gratitude to both God and my husband Johnathan. It was a dream of a lifetime and it far outweighed my expectations!

He Who Makes Us Desire, Grants Our Desire

     “More than ever, I understand that the smallest events of our life are conducted by God; He is the One who makes us desire and who grants our desires.             
                                                                                                 St. Therese of Lisieux

     We all have dreams and desires of our hearts; some we’ve had for a long time, whiles other fairly new: our vocation, children, goals in life, places to visit, a home, spiritual hopes and the such.

     As our lives unfold, our desires are fulfilled or not. Like the seasons, they change and sometimes even fade away, while others come to fruition, grow and blossom.

Running With Complete Trust

     “Our present life is given only to gain the eternal one and if we don’t think about it, we build our affections on what belongs to this world, where our life is transitory. When we have to leave it we are afraid and become agitated. Believe me, to live happily in this pilgrimage, we have to aim at the hope of arriving at our Homeland, where we will stay eternally. Meanwhile we have to believe firmly that God calls us to Himself and follows us along the path towards Him. He will never permit anything to happen to us that is not for our greater good. He knows who we are and He will hold out his paternal hand to us during difficulties, so that nothing prevents us from running to Him swiftly. But to enjoy this grace we must have complete trust in Him.”                                                St. Padre Pio


     Keeping our eyes on our eternal destiny seems to be the theme that God is holding before us these days. We must look into our hearts to become aware of our attachments, so we can let go of them, and gently place them in the hands of our “Papa.” There He will take care of them for us. It is a difficult thing for us to do; because we are often tempted to possess who and what we love.