Happy New Year!

It is fitting that we begin a New Year with a feast of Mary; in 1969 he feast of Mary, Mother of God, formerly celebrated on October 11, was transferred to January 1, replacing the feast of the Circumcision.
I am using a book of icons on the Mother of God by William Hart  McNichols with beautiful reflections on each icon by Mirabai Starr. Here is one of my favorites: (the icon has the title of Mother of God of Akita, Our Lady of the Snows). Here is the reflection:
Universal Mother,
teach m to love the Holy One
as you love the Holy One,
with utter abandon.
Teach me to pray as you pray,
without words or concepts to hinder
my connection with my Beloved.
Teach me to serve the world as you do,
serenely smiling through tears of blood.
Let the peace you proclaim come at last,
blanketing the earth like snow,
permeating the thirsty land
and penetrating the roots of all nations,
so that a new season of goodness
may burst into bloom everywhere.
Everywhere.

A doorway

Here is Mary Oliver's poem"Praying"  which I copied yesterday but lost it. It shows how we can go from awareness to wonder, from awe to prayer, and from prayer to adoration.

It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones, just
pay attention, then patch

A few words together and don!t try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

(from "Thirst")

From Wonder to Adoration

What wakens a sense of wonder in you? Is it awe before a magnificent sunset, or wonder as you hold a new-born baby? Philip Newell, in his book "The Rebirthing of God", quotes Mary Oliver, "My work is loving the world which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished."

Feast of the Holy Family

We all have a family history. Today we celebrate the Holy Family, but it is also a  day to celebrate our own family. We remember the love that is shared, the traditions that each family cherishes, the shared meals, birthday parties, joys and sorrows that bind family members. We recall those memories and find that we are united with bonds of love. Family is important and Jesus chose to live at home for thirty years.
Today is a good day to thank for all the good memories and to pray that families will stay together and grow in holiness

Open your heart...

Today I am sharing from Symeon the new Theologian from one of his Hymns of Divine Love:
We awaken in Christ's body,
As Christ awakens our bodies
There I look down and my poor hand is Christ,
He enters my foot and is infinitely me.
I move my hand and wonderfully
My hand becomes Christ
Becomes all of him.
I move my foot and at once
He appears in a flash of lightning.
Do my words seem blasphemous to you?

--Then open your hearts to Him.
And let yourselves receive the one
Who is opening to you so deeply,
For if we genuinely love Him,
We wake up inside Christ's body
Where all our body all over,
Every most hidden part of it,
Is realized in joy as Him,
And He makes us utterly real,
And everything that is hurt, everything
That seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged
Is in Him transformed.
And in Him, recognized as whole, as lovely.
And radiant in His light,
We awaken as the beloved
In every last part of our body.

Symeon lived from 949-1022 so this needs to be read more than once to be realized and become a source of joy!

Unto us a child is born . . .

What a wonderful season to be filled with joy because God is with us. The Word was made flesh! He came into the world as a helpless infant. Here is a quote from St. Bernard of Clairvaux that I am praying with today:
"How marvelous a condescension in God to come down from heaven in quest of us! And how great an honor to us so to be sought by God!"

Christmas Day

Christmas is such a beautiful feast. I could not go to the community gathering at nine and ate Christmas dinner ( no turkey) in my room, but I did go to Mass at 11:00 and came away with a strong desire to trust the Lord's unconditional love for me. I guess I am beginning to love solitude but am tired of disposable cardboard trays, plates, cups, forks, etc. Anyway, the Mass was lovely and I will try to return to the Chapel when all are somewhere else. Maybe I can also go out and walk a bit as the sun is out today.  
I hope you are reading the Homilies of Pope Francis. He urges us to really care for others! Christmas is full of wonder but one of the greatest concerns the mystery of God becoming human. God with us!
Let us ponder this mystery!

Five Wishes

Here are my five wishes for Christmas as I huddle bundled in a pink blanket in the electronic armchair in my room. They probably are different from the ones that I wrote yesterday morning after prayer, but I am relying on the Holy Spirit for help. First, I should explain why I am posting five wishes for Christmas. On Dec. 22nd, one of my sisters came gowned and gloved into my isolation to tell me that the director of Oakwood (our elder care home) wanted my five wishes and this was urgent. I thought, "how nice, she wants my five wishes for Christmas!" Having just returned from the hospital with fever Sunday night, I had not been thinking about wishes for Christmas. If this was urgent, I was willing. However it seems the Five Wishes was the many paged document that all RSCJs filled out as living wills so we spent the time on questions of life support, cremation or burial,etc. And not on five wishes for Christmas! When I went to bed that night, I finally had time to ask Jesus about what I thought He might like these wishes to be. After all, it is His birthday and so I am going to try to summarize a really inspiring dialogue we had into five short statements of wishes that are huge and cannot be prioritized as each is immensely important to Jesus as well as to me. I risk sharing these today in case they help you decide on what to give the Infant Jesus this Christmas.

1 To live United to the Heart of Jesus so that I descend into the depths of His Heart to love, console and give joy by always choosing what is pleasing to Him.

2. To have peace in all the world. I keep praying for this but believe I further peace in many ways: in my own heart, with those around me,  with those who come for spiritual guidance, etc.

3. To be a joy-bearer and foster joy and gratitude

4. To reveal God's love to all

5. To further the reign of God in all that I do

Christmas preparations

Sometimos we aré so busy with all the material preparaciones for Christmas that we forget the real reason why we aré decorating the house, trimming the tree, wrapping presents, and planning a great feast. Jesas sees the love and care we put into our preparation but what pese y aré we preparing for Jesus! It is His birthday,
Sorry, but I just realized my e-mail was set for Spanish. Blame it on fever and two days at Stanford Hospital still trying to get rid of this infection!

What a joy to see young children!

Yesterday, as soon as mass was over, the Montessori children paraded into the Chapel to entertain us with all the Christmas songs thy had learned. They were darling and so serious about the body movements that enlivened their performance. I am so glad that I was able to be there,

Now that I am feeling better I find myself using he Advent prayer: "Come, Lord Jesus, and do not delay!" I also had a light about today'Gospel. Zechariah was speechless for nine months and imagine how silent the house must have been before Mary arrived.
Now for a Christmas Blessing I received yesterday and want to pass on to you.

May all the days of all the years
That God has still in store,
Be filled with every joy and grace
To bless you more and more;
May hope of heart and peace of mind
Beside you ever stay,
And that's the golden wish I have
For you this Christmas Day!

Live this year as a grace

The laity share with consecrated persons the "same ideals, spirit and mission. The third part of the Letter gives Pope Francis' Horizons for this year of consecrated life. First, he wishes to speak to the laity a larger family, a charismatic family. The Year for Consecrated Life concerns the entire Church.
We are invited to experience this Year as a moment of thanksgiving to the Lord and grateful remembrance for all the gifts we continue to receive . .  .
The Pope also addresses the Churches of other traditions . . .he encourages dialogue and asks thePastors "to show special concern for promoting the different charisms" and he entrusts this Year to Mary, "the Virgin of listening and contemplation, the first disciple of her beloved Son."
Lastly, the Pope joins us in gratitude for "the gifts of grace and light with which the Lord graciously wills to enrich us, and I accompany you with my Apostolic Blessing."

Having finished my summary of the Apostolic Letter for the Year of  Consecrated Life, I am also happy to announce that after 40 days, the infection seems to have left me and I am no longer in isolation! Thank you for all the prayer!

Am I an "expert in communion"?

The third expectation for this year of consecrated life is the call to be an expert in communion. That is really a call for everyone as Jesus told us to love one another "as I have loved you." Communion entails mutual acceptance and concern...it banishes all envy, jealousy, criticism, gossip, and pettiness.
One of the strongest statements of the Pope is that no one during this year of consecrated life "can feel excused from seriously examining his or her presence in the Church 's life and from responding to the new demands constantly being made on us, to the cry of the poor."
"Only by such concerns for the needs of the world, and by docility to the promptings of the Spirit, will this Year of Consecrated Life become an authentic Kairos, a time rich in God's grace, a time of transformation."
I think this requires serious reflection.
So often we think of the Church as the hierarchy, or maybe even the buildins where we receive the Sacraments and forget that we are the Church!

We are called to be Prophets

Prophets are people who know God and know his people. Pope Francis says that because they are free, "they are beholden to no one but God, and they have no interest other than God. Prophets tend to be on the side of the poor and the powerless, for they know that God himself is on their side."
It takes courage to be a prophet. We are to denounce evil and we are to announce the reign of God. I am convinced that whatever I do or do not do influences the evolution of the world!

62 Years of Consecrated Life

I made my vows sixty-two years ago today and remember the joy I felt as if it were yesterday! I had prayed to really understand what I was committing myself to for the rest of my life. I think I was so in love with Jesus that nothing else mattered. As I was the athletic coach for the school as a second year novice, I remember going to the locker room to talk to the girls for the last time on my vow day.
Now, having returned in memory to my first day of consecrated life, let me go back to Pope Francis' Letter. His expectations for this year of consecrated life are: Joy, ability to wake up the world in a prophetic way, living a spirituality of communion, a going forth to proclaim the Gospel, and, finally, that we question what it is that God and people today are asking. More about these expectations tomorrow!

Third Sunday of Advent

John came to prepare the way of the Lord! He came to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. Because Jesus came into our world e are never in darkness. The second reading from Paul's Lettr to the Thessalonians tells us to rejoice always. We are to pray without ceasing and in all circumstances give thanks! Quite a program for all of us as we enter the third week of Advent!

"When I am weak, then I am strong"(2 Cor 12:10

"We are called to know and show that God is able to fill our hearts to the brim with happiness; that we need not seek happiness elsewhere; that the authentic fraternity found in our communities increases our joy;and that our total self-giving in service to the Church, to families, to the elderly and the poor, brings us life-long personal fulfillment." That is a long quote from Pope Francis who expects us to live in joy!
No matter what difficulties we face, we can radiate joy as Christ is with us and we find our joy in Him!
Now, the Pope is counting on us "to wake up the world"! As religious, we follow the Lord in a special way, in a prophetic way. We are to be "prophets who witness to how Jesus lived on earth."

"Prophets receive from God the ability to scrutinize the times in which they live and to interpret events: they are like sentinels who keep watch in the night and sense the coming of the dawn."

How am I waking up the world?

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the birthday of St. Madeleine Sophie. I took the habit 64 years ago today. At that time we were dressed in wedding gowns as brides of Christ and walked down the center of the Chapel; then our habits were blessed and given to us; we then left the Chapel, had our hair cut and were dressed in the habit with the white veil of a novice. My parents came for the ceremony. Afterwards they went to Macy's in New York and sent me a whole box of toys so I played with the the novices on Christmas Day. I was 19 years old but still enjoyed playing jacks and pick-up sticks, yo-yos and spinning tops.
Did you know that the appearance of Our Lady to Jun Diego in Mexico in 1531 is one of nine Marian appearances approved by the Catholic Church? The next four were in France: to St. Catherine Laboure in Paris n 1830; to two children in LaSalette in 1846; to St. Bernadette in Lourdes in the 1850s; then at Pontmain in 1871. Then Our Lady appeared at Knock, Ireland in 1879, Fatima in Portugal in 1917, and the last two inBelgium in 1932-33.

Be not afraid . . .for I am with you!

Pope Francis wants the third aim of this year to be hope. Amid all the problems and woes that surround us, we are called to practice the virtue of hope. Our hope is based on Jesus, the One who loves us and who is all-powerful!
The expectations for this year are worth reflection. The firt is joy. The Pope tells us that the old saying will always be true: "Where there are religious, there is joy." It is God who fills our hearts with happiness!
The second expectation is "to wake up the world"! More on that tomorrow.

Living the present with passion

We are called to live with passion. It is the passionate love of Jesus that leads us to live the Good News! Pope Francis tells us that "living the present with passion means becoming 'experts in communion'..." The Spirit inspires us with a passion for unity. We are called to be women and men of communion - as Pope Francis says, let us "Live the mysticism of encounter."

Aims of the Year of Consecrated Life

As we begin this new liturgical year, I am aware that many of us are thrilled to also have this year dedicated to the consecrated life. The beautiful letter of Pope Francis has much to ponder. He begins by stating the aims of this year: To look to the past with gratitude; to live the present with passion; to a the future with hope. If you reflect on these aims, they are calls to all of us.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Any feast day of Our Lady is cause for rejoicing. I have been praying with Psalm 100 and today was thinking of Our Lady praying it. All her being rejoiced in the Lord! She always chose what was pleasing to God, without thought of self! She also notices when we lack something and intercedes for us with her Son. May we honor her today as our Mother and Advocate!

Advent Reflection

Today is the Second Sunday of Advent which I seem to be spending in isolation - silence and solitude - what more could one ask for in this Blessed season of Advent! Here is a great quote from the Superior General of the Jesuits on silence: "we all need a place inside ourselves where there is no noise, where the voice of the Holy Spirit can speak to us softly and gently and direct our discernment. In a very true sense, we need the ability to become ourselves silence, emptiness, an open space that the Word of God can fill, and the Spirit of God can set on fire for the good of others . . .our hearts are our monasteries and at the bottom of every activity, every reflection, every decision, there is silence, that kind of silence that one shares only with God."

Day after Thanksgiving

We are beginning Advent this Sunday and so should begin preparing for this wonderful season of preparation to welcome the Infant Jesus as He comes into our world, into our hearts. Advent is a season of hope, a joyful season. How am I going to prepare my heart to welcome Christ again this Christmas? Keeping a gratitude journal has helped me. It really makes you aware of all you have to be thankful for each day. It helps me to focus on the positive! It makes every day a Thanksgiving!

Here are two quotes from St. Philippine Duchesne:

"When one loves God, ne never says 'enough'."

"Do not look back to the past, not forward to te future. Claim nay the present for it holds God's will."

Thanksgiving

I was remembering one Thanksgiving when I had been in Chile for several years and my Dad was concerned that I never had turkey. He sent a generous check, the superior gave it to the treasurer who went all the way to Valparaiso to procure turkey for the community. She told me that she had bought two turkeys and I should bring them in as they were still in our van. I found two live turkeys and did not know what I was to do with them. We had to kill them, then hang them up to drain them, then pluck them, and finally had them ready to cook. I planned to make the dressing and stuff them on Thursday morning, but the Sister in the kitchen assured me she had stuffed both and had them in the oven. They cooked beautifully, tasted wonderful, but the "stuffing"  turned out to be an apple and a pear in each. Still, it was a great Thanksgiving and I went swimming in a really rough Pacific Ocean and loved it!
To share something more spiritual, here is a quote from St. Madeleine Sophie:
"Your will is set on corresponding to Christ's love and not refusing anything. That is all the divine Heart asks of us. He does not ask that we become perfect all at once, but that we work towards this each day, in the measure that grace operates in us and the radiance of the Holy Spirit enlightens us."

Thanksgiving preparation

Turn on the TV this week and you will find directions for buying a turkey, stuffing a turkey, cooking a turkey, carving a turkey, etc. Thanksgiving is so much moe than the turkey dinner. We need to make some spiritual preparations, too. What am I most grateful for? I guess I would say "for the gift of life"! And for family and friends. Today is my brother's birthday; I was twelve when he was born on Thanksgiving night. I was old enough to take care of him and he was really a beautiful baby.

I am reading a book sent to me by a dear friend. It is Philip Newell's llatest:"The Rebirthing of God"
He quotes Julian of Norwich as saying that we are made of God, not just made by God. Then Newell says that the wisdom of God is deep within us. The creativity of God is within us and the love longings of God are at the heart of our being "Deep within us are holy, natural longings for oneness, primal sacred drives for Union." That should give us something to reflect upon. We have so much to thank for!

Birthday of the Society

Today is the birthday of the society of the Sacred Heart.in 1800. We began with a very small group who made their vows in Paris. Another small group would come to America in 1818. Now we are in 43 countries revealing God's love wherever we are!
One of the greatest graces of my life was being able to go to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles where Saint. Philippine Duchesne founded the first Sacred Heart school in America in 1818!
I received my vocation there.
After  a year in Rome that included six months at the Trinita dei Monti, I was sent to Chile where I spent twenty wonderful years. Having just had a near death experience has made me so grateful for the many graces given to me.
I invite all my readers to reflect back over their life and thank God for all the graces given to each. What better way to prepare for Thanksgiving!

Gratitude Overflowing

I am now recuperating in California at our retirement home but can walk again by myself. I seem to have another infection so at present I am in isolation for a few days and the aides must wear gowns to enter my room. I guess I will try to think of these days in solitude as a mini retreat to thank for all the graces received and I know so many have been praying for me. I am grateful!
I can walk now so will just walk around my room as I was just getting some strength back. When the Holy Spirit inspires me, I shall continue the blog, but I think it will not be this week. We are in the novena for the Feast of St. Philippine Duchesne and I am reading her letters again.

Monday

One week out of hospital and in rehab

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND DO CONTINUE. I AM GETTING BETTER BUT IT IS A LONG PROCESS! Patience!

Love to all my readers!

Here and now

This morning I was pondering the truth of this quote from Mother Janet Erskine Stuart:

"It is always here and now, there is always the present moment to do the very best we can with, and the future depends on the way these moments are spent."

It is not easy to live in the present moment; try doing it just for a day! Yet, God's grace is given in the present moment!

I am trying to get more pages written before I fly to St. Louis on October 2 for a Prayer and Dialogue week end. I will stay on for three days to work in the archives so need to know more about what I have for Lucile Mathevon's life and what I information I still hope to find. Someone suggested that I write a shorter blog - thus you may be receiving a few of the quotes that I love from Mother Stuart to reflect upon instead of my musings.

I am looking forward to talking to high school students about my vocation today.

A Gentle Call

This Thursday I am going to talk about my vocation to the students at Pace High School and I am thrilled to be able to do this. I am sure God is still calling young people to follow him in many ways, and religious life is one way to know that you are consecrated to God and to his service in a special way. It means responding to His love and putting God first and at the center of your life.

My own vocation was a gentle call. I first really thought about entering a convent when I was in my first year of high school and making my first retreat; since we were a boarding school, we began our retreat on Monday night and kept silence until Friday morning.
The desks in our study hall all faced the windows or the wall and we had a Jesuit who gave us talks during the three days. One talk was on vocations and I began to think that maybe I would like to be a nun and teach others about God. It was just a thought but I began to be conscious of a desire to be with God for all those who never thought of Him or thanked Him. I began to make short visits to the Chapel to talk to God and this is the way God led me to really consider giving up the life I thought I wanted to go see if the Society of the Sacred Heart would accept me. I entered for the Feast of the Sacred Heart in June after two years of college; I just had my nineteenth birthday and thought that maybe I would be sent home by September and so would be able to rejoin my classmates.
I knew the Religious of the Sacred Heart but had no idea of what religious life was all about and only a vague idea that nuns took three vows. I just had liked what I saw and thought the nuns that taught me were united to Jesus when not actually teaching - that was a big disappointment to discover that union with God was not something that happened automatically because one entered the convent! However, I have never regretted entering and count my vocation as a great gift from God.

Transforming my ways...

I am still praying over yesterday's Liturgy and want to share this bit from the Concord Pastor's blog:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts

and my ways are not your ways, says the Lord…

Sounds to me like some pretty solid grounds for disagreement here,

disagreement with God unless you’ve cleared all that up

and now your thoughts are God’s thoughts and

your ways are God’s ways – just about all the time.

But we know that’s not the case.

Very often, in fact, God’s take on things substantially differs from ours:

we don’t always think the way God thinks,

our ways don’t always parallel God’s ways.

 

He gives examples: how about forgiving my enemies? Or how is my generosity? God is so good and wants us to be good and merciful as He is; He is concerned about each of us. I need to spend time with Jesus today and just be with Him as He tries to teach me about the Father. Jesus centered his entire life around his Father, God, and his reign. He wants us to trust God and let Him transform us so that our thoughts are more like God's thoughts and our ways are God's ways.

Be generous, not envious

Jesus told the parable of the owner who hired laborers every time he went out and found some who had not been hired. He paid each a daily wage, even if they had been hired at a late hour. He was generous. The ones who had worked all day and were paid last were resentful. They did not think that was fair. But the owner said that they had received what was agreed on and they had no right to find fault with his generosity. Now, I think that I would have been resentful, too, and wonder how this parable now applies to my own life.
Jesus knew that God is all loving, merciful, generous and would not want anyone to be left out. He is like that owner who kept going out to see who had not been hired. He looks for ways to show His love. Jesus went out and looked for those who were poor, those who were treated as outcasts, those in need of love. May I do the same today.

Another week end...

Where has the week gone? The days pass so quickly and I must confess that I seem to find time for all except the book I want to write about one of our great pioneer religious. I suppose I am not giving it priority and so it is still waiting for me.
The week end is rather free but I find it hard to work on week ends. I used to write papers on week ends; then I often spent hours correcting papers on week ends. What has happened to my work ethic? I need to sit down and not get up until I have written at least three pages. I will try it today and see what happens, but I need the support of others to make myself do this so please, lots of prayer for this miserable creature who wants to write and does not do it!!

Now for something spiritual. God is not envious. When Jesus tells the parable of the workers who are told to go into the fields at nine in the morning, at noon, at three, and finally at five o'clock, he is showing us how God keeps looking for us and wants to give us all that we need - that was the daily wage that the owner gave each, beginning with those who had only worked the last bit of the day since they were only hired at five o'clock. God gives each of us all that we need and we need to be free from envy and resentment. I guess we can apply this to our own lives and rejoice in such a generous God!

Being Blessed

This morning I woke up thinking of all the blessings I had received in my twenty years in Chile. This is a picture of Chile, one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It was a grace for me to have lived and worked there and met so many wonderful, holy people who blessed me in so many ways.

Thinking of the actual act of blessing brought back memories of a summer in Mexico when I was just sixteen. I still remember being so impressed with three grown sons asking their father's blessing, not only before bed, but when they left the house. I think many Hispanic families still have the custom of a blessing before bedtime.

I am thinking of how I am to use the three components of a blessing in my relationships today. It is easy to show delight in those I will be meeting and to want the best for them, but what of the third component? I guess I need to repeat what Rolheiser said:

"To bless someone is to see and admire that person, speak well of him or her, and give away some of your life so that he or she might have more life."
 I am going to try to have all of these components today in order to bless all I meet both at home and at the University!

Blessings

There are three components to a blessing. To bless someone is to see and admire that person, speak well of him or her, and give away some of your life so that he or she might have more life. Richard Rolheiser develops each of these components in his latest book, Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity.
Just reading the three components made me start reflecting on the many blessings I have received during my life. When I entered the Society of the Sacred Heart, I discovered that it was the custom for the superior to give a blessing by making a small cross on one's forehead. This was an old monastic custom and one reads about the monks filing past the Abbot after night office to receive a blessing. Anyway, I do remember that the only phrase I managed to learn in Spanish before arriving in Chile straight from profession in Rome was how to ask for my superior's blessing. I think I thought that would solve all problems!
But I digress - it is really good to think of how these components are active in my own life. Who will I bless today?

Ask Us to Dance

                      


This morning I read the reflection in "Give Us This Day" by Madeleine Delbret (1904-1964). I liked it so want to share it with you:

"Lord, come ask us to dance.
We're ready to dance this errand for you,
These accounts to do, this dinner to prepare, this vigil to keep
When we would prefer to sleep.
We're ready to dance for you the dance of work,
The dance of heat, and later the dance of cold.
If certain melodies are often played in the minor key, we won't tell you
That they're sad;
If others leave us a little breathless, we won't tell you
That they knock the wind out of us.
And if other people bump into us, we'll take it with a good laugh,
Knowing well that that's the sort of thing that happens when your dancing...
Make us live our life
Not like a game of chess, where every move is calculated
Nor like a contest where everything is difficult,
Not like a math problem, which makes our head hurt,
But like an endless celebration, where our meeting with you is constantly new,
Like a ball,
Like a dance,
In the arms of your grace,
In the universal music of love,
Lord, ask us to dance."

I think this is my prayer for all of us today!

 

Do we worship the Lord?

"Do we turn to God only to ask him for things, to thank him, or do we also turn to him to worship him?

What does it mean, then, to worship God? It means learning to be with him; it means that we stop trying to dialogue with him; it means sensing that his presence is the truest, the most good, the most important thing of all. All of us, in our own lives, consciously and perhaps sometimes unconsciously, have a very clear order of priority concerning the things  we consider important. Worshipping the Lord means stating, believing--not only by our words--that he alone truly guides our lives. Worshipping the Lord means that we are convinced before him that he is the only God, the God of our lives, the God of our history." Pope Francis, April 14, 2013 Homily

Sorry that I am a bit late today but I am with the workmen and it seems that everything happens at once. The alarm man is also going to arrive as our alarm is not working properly. We did have the electricity cut a couple of times with a storm and that may have caused it. I also seem to have mixed up things on the blog as for as being able to publish as soon as I write it.

Autumn Thoughts

Are the trees turning into autumn colors where you live? It is still summer here, but I have been having autumn thoughts. When we let go and fall freely from a tree, we die but are soon raked into a pile with other leaves, some are close relatives from my own tree, others are neighbors that I might not have known until we were swept together and piled up to make a bonfire. Soon I shall be consumed and a new life awaits me. How do I feel about that?

Now these may seem to be fantasy thoughts, but there is always a truth behind what my imagination invents.

I just read this is the latest "Friends of Silence" bulletin that just came:

"The rooting (of trees, of ourselves) is as important and as necessary as the rising. We have the opportunity to sink roots into soul and rise up with branches in heaven...
Our spiritual growth is meant to go in both directions, toward the fertile darkness and the glorious light, each of us having the opportunity to bridge earth and heaven--the underworld and the upperworld--through the trunks of our middleworld lives...
There's no conflict between spirit-cantered being and soulful doing, between transcendence and inscendence. Each supports and enhances the other. Like Rilke, we discover we can have both:
You see, I want a lot
Maybe I want it all;
The darkness of each endless fall,
The shimmering light of each ascent."

Our Lady of Sorrows

Today is a Feast day dear to the Society of the Sacred Heart. I had my own experience that made me love this feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. I received a great disappointment when I still a young nun waiting to go to Rome for final Profession. I had this dream and saw Mary standing at the foot of the Cross with tears flowing but she was there and standing as near as possible to Jesus. The dream was a consoling one and the vivid image of Mary has never left me.
When I told my mother that I wanted to enter the convent, she left me to finish putting my little brothers to bed. I then went across to my parents' room and found my mother sitting on the side of the bed looking up at the cross with tears on her face but also I realized that she was lost in prayer.
Well, nothing I have written was planned but I need to get to the gym so will just send these two experiences today and I am sure all have their own moments when Our Mother of Sorrows has come to console us. Our Lady always came to console me when I was homesick: at boarding school, in the novitiate, and in Chile!

Thoughts on this Feast

"For God so loved the world..."

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. 

The Entrance Antiphon tells us that "we should glory in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered."

Catholic homes used to have a Crucifix on the wall in many rooms; many Catholic schools still have one in every classroom. Today we celebrate the reason why we venerate the Cross. In the Gospel we read that " just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

The Preface for today's feast, tells us that God " placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the cross"...

I have a small cross sent to me by Reverend Mother Benziger from Rome when I was in Chile with the message that I was never to give it up but always keep it with me.  It gives me great comfort; I am holding it in my hand as I write on my I-pad this morning. Here is a picture of my small cross that has brought me such consolation for over 53 years! (Guess I have not learned how to get this from I-pad to blog, sorry but maybe it will appear tomorrow.)

              

Week end Joys

This is a free week end and there is such a sense of leisure. I went back to sleep until almost eight o'clock; the house is quiet and two of my friends who came to lunch yesterday brought beautiful flowers; the deep pink roses are decorating our living room and the delicate and varied bouquet that I was told was for my room, is the centerpiece on the dining room table. I have really never had flowers in my room, but I am loving having them today in the two rooms where we can enjoy them. The third friend brought a delicious chocolate chip cake which I am also enjoying, but most of all I just rejoiced being able to entertain my friends.

I love waterfalls and they remind me that "living waters" flow from the side of Christ. I think Jesus is so present to each of us and wants to give Himself to us even more fully, if we would just be attentive to His Presence in our lives.

I am reading Julian's Gospel and finding new information about the fourteenth century; it makes me grateful to live in the 21st century!

Another Feast of Our Lady

Names are important. Today, we celebrate the naming of the Blessed Virgin Mary who is now not only the Mother of Jesus and therefore the Mother of God, but she is our mother, too.

I have been so busy all week but intend to have a slow week end; maybe I will be able to really get some work done. I do not know why this week seemed so busy. I did get both gas and a flu shot on my way to the University yesterday morning. I made a huge salad for the reflection group last night. It is always a joy to have them come and share their lives so simply.

Today I am having four for lunch and look forward to that.

Am I open to formation?

Our parish has asked for a day of prayer and fasting today for growth in holiness... the Pastor always writes a page in the bulletin and this time he is offering four concrete characteristics that can help us remain open to formation.
1. Humility. It is said that there are many who want to learn, but few who want to be taught....We must recognize our need to grow to learn, to be formed - and be open.

2. Docility. In its oldest form, "docility" means "teachableness; readiness or aptness to learn." Clay must be soft if it is to be formed by the hands of the artist...

3. Availability. I must make myself available to the opportunities to be formed; go, risk the experience.

4. Dedication. Once available, I must strive for growth in holiness. The most important person responsible for my formation is "me"!

I guess desire is what leads to all four of these characteristics - do I truly desire to be formed by God, by others, by circumstances? We are never too old to be formed and even transformed!

Let us look upon our continual formation as a great adventure and may we become more like Jesus who came to serve the lowly, to spread good news, to welcome all and told us over and over not to be afraid!
We have our first Reflection Group of the year tonight!

An Encounter with Christ

For me, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a real encounter with Christ. Just as I feel that Jesus waits for me in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, I also feel that He waits for me in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is a joyful encounter with Jesus as He loves to forgive me and embraces me with His love. He wants to help me and so has arranged the opportunity to confess my sins, failings, weaknesses and start over to try to live with and like Him - it is the grace of the Sacrament.

It makes me more sensitive to what pleases Jesus; it helps me to be accountable; it makes me reflect on how I am living my consecrated life; it is a tremendous help to see how I am to grow in union and conformity with the Heart of Jesus.

Since now the penitent may begin by using a Scripture passage, I will suggest a couple that are helpful for me. These first two are from the Book of Sirach:

"My child, if you have sinned, do so no more, and for your past sins pray to be forgiven." (Sirach 21:1)

"For the Lord is compassionate and merciful; forgives sins and saves in time of trouble. (Sirach 21:11)

"The Lord's acts of mercy are not exhausted, his compassion is not spent;
They are renewed each morning--great is your faithfulness!
                       (Lamentations: 3:22-23)

"Let us search and examine our ways and return to the Lord."
                                  (Lamentations 3:40)

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Today I want to share with you a quote from Walter Kasper's book on Mercy as I find it helpful:

"The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a true refuge for sinners, which all of us are. Here the burdens that we carry around with us, are taken from us. Nowhere else do we encounter the mercy of God so immediately, so directly, and so concretely as when we are told in the name of Jesus: "Your sins are forgiven!" Certainly no one finds it easy to humbly confess his or her sins and, often enough, to confess the same sins over and over again. But everyone who does that and then is told, "I absolve you", not generally and anonymously, but concretely and personally, knows of the inner freedom, inner peace, and joy that this sacrament bestows."

I am talking about this Sacrament today and tomorrow as so many have found it almost absent from their lives. I reflected on my own reception of the Sacrament and I usually try for once a month and end up with about six or seven times a year, but each time I feel a deep peace and joy after receiving the Sacrament. When sharing some of my retreat reflection, I was asked to put it in my blog so that is why I am writing again tomorrow about this Sacrament. Remember that a Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. Why not try to receive the grace of this Sacrament?

Celebrating Mary's birthday

I have always loved thinking of Mary as a small child and wondering how they celebrated birthdays then. Now, the Church gives us a special feast day to honor Mary who is such a wonderful Mother for all of us.

I am sure we all want to give her a birthday gift today. She likes it when I tell her that I want to do all that pleases Jesus. She also is glad when I turn to her for help. I need Mary in my life and she leads me to Jesus.
I just saw that this was published on the 6th instead of the 8th!

Our community day was very good and we even did most of our budget for the coming year in the afternoon.

Sunday Thoughts

Today we are having a community planning day; yesterday we said good-bye to one who has lived with us in Miami for many years; since one of our community is in Rome forming our young Religious preparing for final profession, there are going to be only three of us living in our community until February. It will be a new community and we are beginning with prayer, looking at what has been good and we want to continue and also looking at what we would like to change.
After the more contemplative part of the morning, we work out a plan for the year, coordinate calendars, and agree about the many household tasks, cooking schedules, celebrations of birthdays, feasts, and holidays.
We will do the budget another day as we all like to have time in the pool and will go out for dinner to celebrate our beginning of this new community.
I was struck in retreat when reading our formation booklet that says that God has called us to live in community as sisters... I stayed with that thought that I am called by God to live in community. I am looking forward to our new year together and hope and think that one of our goals will be hospitality.

Are the leaves changing color where you are?

Although I love Miami, I miss the change of seasons. I loved the first crisp, cool days when the trees suddenly are so beautiful with all the colors of Fall. I think that our interior life can also have seasons and we should be attentive to the changes that happen inside of us through the year. I said in an earlier blog that our interior life is much more interesting than our exterior and I have been reflecting on that and wonder if others feel the same. We are so often unaware of the changes that are taking place deep in our souls; the leaves are changing colors and we must marvel at the beauty before they begin to fall. Let us take a slow walk in our own soul today and see what God is doing and thank Him for His gentle ways of transforming us.

God's love just keeps flowing...

During my retreat I was fascinated by the waves. Sometimes they were huge to the delight of the surfers; at other times they broke gently and just lapped the shore, wetting the sand and sending the toddlers scurrying back to safety. What struck me was that, although the waves were different in intensity, height, and depth, they were relentless. They just kept coming.

For me, the sound of the waves had a prayerful tone: I heard Jesus saying to me over and over: "Remain in my love; I love you; you are mine; love me..." The sound of the surf became prayer and I find the ocean such a wonderful image of God and God's Love. The ocean is always ocean but never the same; it is calling us to see how infinite God's Love is and to listen to Him. God's love just keeps flowing into us!

Be guided by the Holy Spirit

In an audience given last May, the Holy Father asked? "So how does the Holy Spirit act in our lives and in the life of the Church in order to guide us to the Truth? First of all. he recalls and inspires in the hearts of believers the words Jesus spoke...." Then, the Holy Spirit guides us to encounter Jesus, the fullness of the Truth; he also guides us "into" the Truth--that is, he makes us enter into an ever deeper communion with Jesus, giving us knowledge of all the things of God. And we cannot achieve this by our own efforts."

If I keep quoting Pope Francis, it is because his spirituality is for all of us now and what he says needs some reflection. Do I pray to the Holy Spirit? We must pray every day, says the Pope: "Holy Spirit , make my heart open to the word of God, make my heart open to goodness, make my heart open to the beauty of God every day."

The bold is mine for emphasis.

"Julian's Gospel"

When I was in Berkeley last month, I met Veronica Rolf, the author of a tremendous book: Julian's Gospel: Illuminating the Life and Revelations of Julian of Norwich, Orbis, 2014. Veronica worked for six years to give us this book; she has researched so much of the background of the time of Julian as well as giving us new insights into the Revelations of Julian. I have just received the book, but feel that it is going to be my spiritual reading for months.

In the meantime, here is again something from Pope Francis taken from his General Audience , October 16, 2013:
"An apostle is a person who has been given a mandate, sent to do something, and the apostles were chosen, called and sent our by Jesus to continue his work, that is, to pray--which is the primary job of an apostle--and, second, to proclaim the Gospel."

So, the more important task of the apostle is to pray! And the Pope says that if we want to be apostles, "we must ask ourselves: Do I pray for the salvation of the world? Do I proclaim the Gospel?

Peace and Joy

What gives you peace? I think a right conscience gives peace, but sometimes we see or hear something that upsets our peace. Maybe we have even found ourselves in a confrontation and have felt anger...so, what gives you peace when you may have lost it, felt disturbed, worried, afraid? I was reflecting on this and think I recover peace by just sitting with Jesus. I feel a great calm and a stillness comes that brings peace. Other times, I can recall a peaceful scene that seems to inspire peace. When I have peace, I usually also feel joy. These are just thoughts that come while I sit here, but I think it has been my experience to live in peace and joy and, if something upsets me, turn to Jesus to see what happened to make me lose my peace. That seems to me to be the first step to recovering it! And, often I realize that it is my own fault.
Peace is a gift of the Holy Spirit and so is Joy; let us thank the Spirit for these two great gifts!

Go with Him...

 

 

To continue with what Pope Francis told the Catechists, the third element flows from the second for, as Paul told us: "the love of Christ impels us" - the Pope says that this can be translated as "the love of Christ possesses us. And so it is: love attracts us and sends us; it draws us in and gives us to others. This tension marks the beating of the heart of the Christian...The third element is along these lines, starting anew with Christ means not being afraid to go with him to the outskirts."

 

 

The Pope uses the story of Jonah to show how the Lord calls him to go and preach to Nineveh and Jonah does not want to do this and tries to run away. The Pope says that this short parable teaches us not to be afraid to pass beyond our comfort zone and to follow God, because God is always pushing, pressing forward...God is not afraid!...God is creative; he is not closed, and so he is never inflexible. God is not rigid1 He welcomes us, he meets us, he understands us."

 

We need to be able to change, to adapt to situations in which we need to proclaim the Gospel. But again, the Pope assures us that we go with Jesus who has said to us, 'Go, for I am with you!' He walks with us, he goes ahead of us, and he gets there first....God is always ahead of us! ..."Jesus is waiting for us in the hearts of our brothers and sister, in their wounded bodies, in their hardships, in their lack of faith."

 

"Let us remain with Christ-abiding in Christ - and let us always try to be one with him. Let us follow him; let us imitate him in his movement of love, in his going forth to meet humanity. Let us go forth and open doors. Let us have the audacity to mark out new paths for proclaiming the Gospel."

 

 

Have a happy Labor Day!

Do you allow yourself to be gazed upon by the Lord?

Today is Sunday and the last day of August. Everyone is back at school and, although Miami still has summer weather, one knows that vacation time has ended. I want to share three points made by Pope Francis is his address to Participants of an International Congress on Catechesis (p. 15 in The Church of Mercy):

First of all, to start anew with Christ means "being close to him, being close to Jesus. Abide in my love...Abide in Jesus! This means remaining attached to him, in him and with him, talking to him. Abide in Jesus."
Then the Pope asks: "How do you abide in the presence of the Lord? When you visit the Lord, when you look at the tabernacle, what do you do?...do you let yourself be looked at by the Lord?...He looks at us, and this is itself a way of praying. Do you allow yourselves to be gazed upon by the Lord?...This warms the heart, igniting the fire of friendship with the Lord, making you feel that he truly sees you, that he is close to you and loves you."

The second point in this starting anew with Christ means imitating him by leaving ourselves behind and going out to encounter others. ... when we put Christ at the center of our life, we ourselves don't become the center! The more that you unite yourself to Christ and he becomes the center of your life, the more he leads you out of yourself, leads you from making yourself the center and opens you to others. This is the true dynamism of love; this is the movement of God himself God is the center, but he is always self-gift, relationship, love that gives itself away...and this is what we will become if we remain united to Christ."

I will write about the third point tomorrow as this is getting too long. I think the Pope is speaking to me in the sense that these first two elements were definitely part of my retreat! I hope he is also speaking to you!

We are all on a Journey

As we try to follow the path, we do not always know where Christ is leading us. We need to trust His Heart and follow Him. Our life is a journey and we are sometimes tempted to stop on the way. Some stop because they are too tired to go on, but they need to learn how to draw strength from the Lord. Others drag their feet and keep looking back. Are they afraid of what lies ahead? All of us must keep on until the end. We know that Christ is with us, even when His presence is hidden. We want to feel joy and hate to leave our comfort to continue this journey, but we go on in faith and God waits for us and we know this and so have the courage to keep on no matter what. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes hard but we know we are made for God and our journey into God is the only thing that counts so we go on with courage and confidence.

God always waits for us...

I finally found my pictures again! They were in a folder under System Folder - live and learn!
Today I want to share with you a book that I received just before my trip so I have just begun to read it. It is "The Church of Mercy: A Vision for the Church" by Pope Francis.It was published by Loyola Press, 2014 and is a collection of papers, addresses, homilies, and prayers by Francis since he has been Pope. They are divided into ten sections. Here are a few excerpts from the first which was the homily for the Mass for the Possesion of the Chair of the Bishop of Rome, April 7, 2013.

"What a beautiful truth of faith this is for our lives: the mercy of God! God's love for us is so great, so deep, it is an unfailing love, one that always takes us by the hand and supports us, lifts us up, and leads us on."

When speaking of the two disciples of Emmaus, Pope Francis says the "Jesus does not abandon them: he walks beside them, and not only that! Patiently he explains the Scriptures, which spoke of him, and he stays to share a meal with them. This is God's way of doing things....God always waits for us, even when we have left him behind! He is never far from us, and if we return to him, he is ready to embrace us."

Bridges

Bridges fascinate me. In California I was driven several times over the bridge that connects Oakland to San Francisco; going one way, you are on top of the bridge, but go the other way and you are under the cars on top. I prefer the rustic bridges one finds in woods. Prayer is a bridge for us to go to God. Again, I go over saying "I love You" to God but He has been going under me all the time saying "I love you" and this mutual exchange makes my prayer joyful.
The world is such a mess that I need to keep confiding it to God.

Prayer, Our Deepest Longing

Some time ago I listed this book, "Prayer, Our Deepest Longing" by Ronald Rolheiser under recent spiritual books on the right side of my blog. I found myself reading it again on Sunday and was struck by his definition of all private and devotional prayer as "prayer that tries, in myriad ways, to open us up in such a way that we can hear God say to us, 'I love you.'"
He goes on to say that prayer is about love. It is meant to establish friendship. And, he says, good friendship implies boldness. To reach the trust we need to be bold with God, we must first let Him touch our heart.
I think God wants us to listen to Him in the depths of our hearts, but also to talk to Him as one friend talks to another. I just learned of the death yesterday of a dear friend who had been in the novitiate with me. I have been talking to God about her and about the community she has left behind as it is always hard to lose a loved one, even when you know they are with God now and happy for all eternity.

This is not the picture I thought I was posting!

We can always find Jesus waiting for us. Pope Francis says that we need to have the courage to return to Jesus. We can enter the wounds of Jesus. "It is there, in the wounds of Jesus, that we are truly secure; there we encounter the boundless love of his heart."

The Pope says: "This is important: the courage to trust in Jesus' mercy, to trust in his patience, to seek refuge always in the wounds of his love."

Home again and so grateful!

                 I am home again. But these scenes are still in my head and it is wonderful to recall the graces of my retreat. I also had some good reflection on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When I shared it with one of my RSCJ friends, she suggested I also share it on my blog so look for it soon.

 

   

                Good job. I am learning to write my blog on my I-pad, but cannot schedule it from there or even make it listed under August Reflections 2014 which is important for the archives; I guess I will wait until I can get to a computer.

 

Richard Rolheiser says that "experiencing the unconditional love of God is what prayer, in the end, is all about." I guess I often go to prayer just to be loved by God. Of course, He is always loving me, but I have the very real and deep experience of His Love when I enter into the Heart of Christ in prayer. Try it and see what a grace it is to remain in His Love.

The graces of retreat!

                This picture was taken during the retreat I kept listening to the surf and Jesus kept saying to me: I love you; remain in My Love! 

 

The third day of my ten-day retreat was the Feast of the Transfiguration. I really seemed to hear God, the Father, saying to me: "This is my Beloved Son; listen to Him." I really tried to listen to Jesus and just be with Him. It was a grace-filled time and I also prayer for our world which is in such a sorry state and needs our prayer.

The above picture was taken on my phone down at the beach where I went most afternoons just to sit and watch the surfers, or the sailboats. The sailboats come our on Wednesday nights - more than 70 of them and parade in front of the retreat house as they circle Monterey Bay. I had a reserved table in the corner of the dining room that looked directly out at the ocean. 

"Listen to Him."

Jesus was transfigured when he had taken Peter, James, and John up on the mountain to pray.
It was a very special moment for Jesus as well as His disciples. All heard His Father say to Him:
"This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him."
During my retreat I thought of many ways of listening to Jesus who speaks to us in events and circumstances as well as through people. He also speaks very softly within us, if we are listening for His voice. He does not need words but reaches us through our senses as well as speaking to us in silence. Thomas Keating says that silence is God's first language.
I am trying to listen to Jesus as He speaks to me today.

A view from retreat room on third floor

Well, I had the picture here but it has vanished; it is on my I-pad and I will learn how to transfer it , but for now I will just say the Sisters of the Holy Names gave me the same room I had asked for on the third floor east in the main building. The last time I made a thirty-day retreat I was in this room so it is special to me. I also love the little meditation chapel on the Second Floor in the Southwest corner. Much of my retreat was spent in just contemplating the ocean, listening to the surf, and really doing not much else. I did a great deal of reflecting on my life with our new formation booklet and will be sharing some of that as formation is for life.

Here is a picture taken from my window during the retreat. I just copied and pasted it but I know there is a better way to do this.

California is so beautiful!

It seems ages since I have written a blog, but now I am home to share with you the many graces of the entire trip. Just being on the ocean is so helpful for contemplation. I love to hear the surf and watch the surfers, too. The ocean always speaks to me of the immensity of  God's love for us. Then there are the sailboats that parade on Wednesday evenings all around Monteray Bay -all the boats docked in Santa Cruz are out sailing. And sometimes the dolphins are out there joyfully playing tag with each other!

I feel so spoiled by God and by all the RSCJs I met and stayed with and I have felt the prayer of everyone. Later I shall share some of the graces of my retreat.

Today we are having a "Sending Blessing" and dinner for our new candidate who will be living in St. Louis next year. Please pray for her. I remember only too well how hard the last days were before I entered the Society of the Sacred Heart but that was over 64 years ago and I have been so happy! I was just with a couple of young ones at our new house in Berkeley and enjoyed their continuous laughter! One is from Peru and on her way to Probation in Rome; the other is going to Korea to be with our Religious there and teach English!

Beginning retreat, Monday, August 4

Sorry that I published the room I pray in now that I am visiting in Redwood City. I am trying to publish from my I -pad. One of our Sisters, Rosalie Chen, died at Oakwood early today. I was with her yesterday as we knew she was dying.

I have talked with at least 30 of our Sisters in the past two days. Some I saw for good visits but others only to talk to at meals. 

On My Way but...

This is just a reminder that I will be making my retreat from August 4 to 13th and really do ask for your prayers for me especially during those days. It is the most important time of the year for me as one does nothing for eight days except concentrate of Jesus and what He is saying to me. Silence during those days deepens so that one is really attentive to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. It is such a grace to be able to take this time each year; some years I have been able to prolong it, but this year I will be visiting with my friends in our retirement home, although spending a few days in a community in Redwood City and then in our new community home in Berkeley. I will also have the opportunity of seeing my nephew and his wife the last week end I am in California.

I shall not be writing, but will keep all in my prayer. When you read this I shall be either in the air or arriving in San Francisco!
Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Ignatius!

Farewell until August 22...

I cannot resist giving a few more quotes from Janet Stuart. She said: "Say 'O' in silence; add nothing...what is less than an 'O'? But what is greater than this cry of the heart? All the eloquence of the world is in this O; I don't know what more to say- for I have lost myself!"

"God knows you and loves you, and He knows better than anyone what each person needs, and He will provide. God who looks after the robins will surely not forget us. God loves us poor little things who can only shiver and tremble and wait for the sun. Keep on looking to heaven and as little as possible to the troubles of earth."

Do not lose a particle of your spiritual joy for any failure that you find in yourself to come up to your aspirations and to all that God has done for you. He is not disappointed, for He knows exactly what we are like, how sensitive, how easily wounded, how too easily discouraged."