You have work to do!

 Today is the feast of the Angels, but we also have October 2 so I will be back writing my blog by Friday.

Sorry, but I just have not had time to think about writing my blog this week. I will catch up.

"People say what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. Each of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that. No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do." Dorothy Day

On the other hand, one must organize the day and it is amazing how much can be done when we take the time to plan the day with the Holy Spirit. 

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 This Sunday has some interesting readings. The first reading is from the Book of Numbers 11:25-29

"The Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to Moses. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, the Lord bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied."

Now, two were not there in the tent, but wereprophesising in the camp. One wanted Moses to stop them. Moses said, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all."

The Responsorial Psalm: The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

The second reading is again from the Letter of James who is telling the rich that their wealth has rotted away, It is a call for the rich to give their workers just wages. I guess it is important to realize that riches are not helpful unless we are using them to make life better for everyone.

The Gospel is from Mark 9: 38-43,45, 47-48

Jesus tells us that "there is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely no lose his reward."

There is more, but the Sunday Gospel is always worth reflection. I love to think that Catholics all over the world are reading the same Gospel.

The Salve Regina

 Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to you so we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus: O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

This is a prayer sung at the end of Compline or Night Prayer. It is also the prayer that ends the recitation of the rosary. I think it used to be said at the end of Mass when I was a child. Today I want to share two thoughts that I am taking from Lawrence Cunningham's reflection on this prayer. He points out how it is a prayer centered on hope. Then, he says that since life is described as an exile, "one could call the Salve Regina a prayer of pilgrimage--life having a destination for which we long, a journey for which we need assistance, care, and direction."

Then we could remember that Mary's life recorded in the Gospels is one of travel: to Elizabeth; to Bethlehem, to Egypt, to Jerusalem, to, I think, wherever she could be with Jesus, and then to Calvary. So this prayer is asking Mary to accompany us on our own journey toward our final end. 

I hope this helps you to renew your love for this prayer; it helped me.

 I am using my autumn pictures as I love the seasson and miss it since California continues to have either summer or spring weather almost all year long. Looking at a waterfall can give me joy. When I was a child it was still quite safe to go to the park. Forest Park in St. Louis was in walking distance of my home and near the west entrance there was a waterfall. If you climbed to the top, there was a flat rock in the middle of the pool and you could actually reach it and eat your picnic lunch on it. That is one of my childhood memories that still gives me joy.

Now think of some of your really good memories and let yourself recover the joy of that moment perhaps waking up to snow on Christmas and finding just what you wanted under the Christmas tree or remembering how your family prepared a birthday party for you, etc.

Practicing gratitude invites joy into our lives

 I think we all need joy in our lives and so I am going to suggest that we begin by really taking time to note all the things in our daily life that make us feel grateful. At least they would if we took note of all we have. I feel grateful in the morning that I can get out of bed, have a hot shower, dress myself, and have a whole day ahead of me to pray, eat, and love. I think that book was "Eat, Pray, and Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert, but I read that years ago. 

I am grateful for a wonderful breakfast every morning; for Mass and time in our lovely Chapel. I am also grateful for the sisters and staff that surround me. Then, of course, being in California, I am so grateful for the climate. I can walk outside in our beautiful patio which is full of roses and other flowers.

I am sure if you start to think of all the things you are grateful for in your own life, you will feel joy. God wants us to live in joy. Try it today!

Make a joyful noise to the Lord...

 

We had Psalm 100 in the Liturgy this week. It is one of my favorite psalms. It tells us:

"Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful song.

Know the the Lord is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock that he tends.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; give thanks to him, bless his name.

For he is good: the Lord, whose kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."

So, let us today serve the Lord with gladness and come before him joyful and grateful.

Courageous Joy

 

I bought a book that has the title Courageous Joy: Delight in God Throgh Every Season. It is 'An (in) Courage Bible Study volume written by Mary Carver and the (in) courage Community, 2021. I think I am going to want to share a few thoughts from this book in my blog, but I am just now reading the Introduction. The first words are "Choose joy!" Those who know me, know that is what I try to do each day and that is what draws me to share a bit from this book.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Phi 4:4)

It is a command and an invitation and really a gift from God. There are, of course, different kinds of joy. Here, the author wants us to know that the joy of the Lord in much deeper and more life-giving than any joy of this world. And, it lasts longer!

Remember that gratitude and joy go together!

Thoughts on a Marian Prayer

I was going through a folder yesterday and found something that Lawrence Cunningham wrote in "Give Us This Day" probably last year. It is on the Salve Regina and I think some thoughts are worth sharing as this in one of the four Marian hymns sung at the end of the monastic office known as Compline or Night Prayer. I am copying it here for any who do not know it and then will give some of ideas to reflect on from Cunningham.

Hail, holy Queen, Morthe of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus: O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

This prayer is usually said at the end of the recitation of the rosary. It is a prayer of hope. In it we cry out to Mary and invite Mary to turn her eyes of mercy toward us and asking her to show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb.

Lawrence Cunningham suggests that we can also look at this prayer as a prayer of pilgrimage - a journey for which we need assistance, care, and direction. "It is within this theme of exile that hope resonates so explicitly. To reflect on this is to be reminded that Mary's life recorded in the Gospels is one of travel: to her cousin Elizabeth, to shelter in Bethlehem, to safety in Egypt, to the Temple in Jerusalem, to the hill of Calvary."

Let us, then, recite this prayer asking Mary to accompany us on our own life's journey.

 

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Again this Sunday we ask that we may merit to attain eternal life. How? By keeping the precepts founded on love of God and our neighbor.

The Gospel for this Sunday is Mark 9:30-37

First Mark tells us that Jesus was on a journey through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them that "the Son of Ma is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise." They did not understand, but were afraid to question Jesus. Then, when they arrive in Capernaum and are in the house, Jesus begins to ask them what they were arguing about on the way. They remained silent as they had been discussing who was the greatest. Then Jesus sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servent of all." Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."

I am just giving the Gospel this week as I really think we all need to think what receiving, welcoming children, but also we welcome the elderly, the immigrants, the lonely, the ill, etc. Jesus would welcome all and wants us to learn from him.

Prayer to Our Lady

 

I am planning to share a prayer to Our Lady every Saturday. The prayers are found in Janice Connell's new book Christ Through Mary:Powwerful Prayers in a Time of Crisis. 

Prayer for Help (From the Liturgy of the Maronite Rite)

Let your intercession be with us, O Mother Most Pure, and come to us in our needs, as is our wont. We are exiles on this earth, without end ever before our eyes and even now many of us perish. Help us by your prayers, O Merciful Mother. Be always our advocate lest we are lost through our own ill will. Blessed and most holy one, plead for us before God that He may be gracious to us through your asking. Amen.

Be Still and Listen

 Someone is coming to visit me to talk about spiritual books I think she may want to read. This had me reaching for a few books on my shelves and one is titled, Be Still and Listen: Experience the Presence of God in Your Life by Amos Smith. It was published in 2018. I have a bookmark about two-thirds of the way into the book and I suspect that I put it back on my shelf because of other books needing to be read and forgot about this one. I do not think I reveiwed it, so will give you a short description taken from the back cover. 

"Part One, "Entering the Desert", introduces principles of awareness, deep listening and contemplation as essential for hearing what Scripture has to say. Part Two details the importance of mystery and struggle in the process of healing from past or present wounds. Part Three explores the 'undivided heart' that's possible when we come to know God in silence and stillness."

I am hoping to read Part Three soon, but at present I am reading three other spiritual books, all three are interesting but I seem to have less time for reading. This is no doubt my own fault and I am trying to make more time. Good spiritual reading also prepares us to find God at a deeper level.

We all need a place of rest

 Richard Rohr often speaks of having a place of refuge, a place to go when we are feeling swamped by problems, sad news, overload that suddenly seems overwhelming, and all the things that threaten our interior peace. Sometimes we find that our refuge is a spot we can picture; maybe it is a memory; or maybe it is even a Gospel scene that restores our innter calm. I probably have several places of rest and one that seems strange as it is in the midst of the storm. I can feel the waves tossing the boat and then Jesus comes and says, "Fear not; it is I." And just to hear His words calms me. "Don't be aftaid; it is I."

Someone asked me when I began to keep a journal. I really do not remember, but I know I was keeping a daily journal in Chile before I was made head of the school. Then, I did not have time to write, but I do know I took time on Sundah to write something about the week. I know I have been keeping some sort of a journal for at least fifty-five years. I sometimes miss a day or even a week, but then I am back to jotting something - my journals are just for me so I mix up what I do with thoughts from prayer. I also think that because I alwayhs begin  with "Dearest Lord Jesus'....it is sort of a letter pouring out my thought and feelings. Sometimes I only write what I am grateful for that day; other times I will have a dialogue with the Lord. I just know that it is helpful for me to keep a journal and when I am not finding time to write, I need to examine what is going on in my interior life.

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

 The Collect for today's feast is important for what we ask:

"O God, who willed that, when your Son was lifted high on the Cross, his Mother should stand close by and share his suffering, grant the your Church, participating with the Virgin Mary in the Passion of Christ, may merit a share in his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever."

John's Gospel (19-27) tells us: "Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home."

Mary is our mother and is very close to each of us. She watches over us and is the one who tells her Divine Son what we have need of and then tells us to do whatever Jesus tells us.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 This is a feast celebrating the fact that God's Only Begotten Son saved us and the Entrance Antiphon tells us: "We should golry in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered."

I like the reading for today's liturgy and hope you have time to read them. I will just copy here the second paragraph of the Gospel from John 3: 13-17

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved by him."

The Sun Always Rises

 Sometimes the news is so bad that we need to remember that God is in charge of the world and the entire universe and the sun rises each morning, even when we cannot see it. Autumn is coming but, out here in California we do not see many trees turning color; there is one in our patio whose leaves are red with the first cool day. Our apple tree just had a great crop of green apples and our numerous squirrels and our rabbits have feasted on many. Some of the bunnies escaped from the school's animal compound and three have been seen in our patio. One is a small black one; the others are white with black ears, and one has a black mouth and the other has a black eye. It is fun to watch them and they seem happy to be free.

I want to share a quote from Teilhard de Chardin's Divine Milieu that I prayed over today:

"God does not offer Himself to our finite beings as a thing all complete and ready to be embraced. For us, He is eternal discovery and eternal growth. The more we think we understand Him, the more he reveals himself as otherwise. The more we think we hold him, the further He withdraws, drawing us into the depths of himself." (I found and copied this quote from Richard Rohr's "Universal Christ", page 78 - sometimes the quote has a capital H and sometimes a small h).

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

The Entrance Antiphon for this Sunday: "Give peace, O Lord, to those who wait for you, that your prophets be found true. Hear the prayers of your servant, and of your people Israel." Cf. Sirach 36:18

Collect: Look upon us, O God, Creator and ruler of all things, and, that we may feel the workings of your mercy, grant that we may serve you with all our heart.

First Reading is Isaiah 50: 5-9a

"The Lord God opens mh ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back....."

Responsorial Psalm: "I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living." 

Second Reading is from the Letter of Saint James 2:14-18

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?...."

Gospel is Mark 8: 27-35 "Jesus and his disciples set out for the village of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?' ....and then Jesus asks them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ."

There is much more to today's Gospel, but I am always stopped by the question that I believe Jesus keeps asking each of us today - "But you, who do you say that I am?"Today!

Powerful Prayers in Time of Crisis

 

Does it help to try to be peaceful on this anniversary that brings each of us such terrible memories? I am going to just look for a prayer from Jan Connell's book, Christ Through Mary: Powerful Prayers in a Time of Crisis. I have told you about the book and the thought of using some of the prayers on Saturdays and now I have Jan's permission to do so.

This is a prayer of St. Augustine found on p. 11"

O Blessed Mary, who can return to you sufficient thanks, or adequately celebrate your praises, for having by your consent succored a ruined world? 

What praise can human weakness offer to you, which by your means has found the port of salvation?

Holy Mary! succor the miserable, help the fainthearted, comfort the mournful, pray for the peo-ple, intercede for consecrated souls, pray for devoted souls and let everyone experience your intercession who celebrates you. Amen.

Refection needs clear, calm water

 We all need to take time to reflect on our lives, our decisions, our choices; we cannot do this well unless we are calm and our minds and hearts clear and prepared to listen to God. Discernment is a way of learning to listen to God. 

God gives us different calls

 I love this picture, but we need water so badly in California that I fear this little stream has dried up since I took the photo. The West needs water and the East has had too much and will get more, I think, as it is hurricane season still.

I thought that my reflection group in Miami would be meeting in person this year, but they will still meet on zoom and that is a joy for me as I enjoy being with them and find zoom a good way for me to communicate.

I am thinking of the grace of a vocation - any calling is a grace; it does not need to be to religious life. Some calls are clear: a person who has always desired to be a doctor or a nurse; the one who knows that she or he will find a way to paint or sculpture because the artistic temperamnent is strong from youth; then there are those who want only to get married and have a family - that is a vocation, too. I just do not know why we insist on talking about vocation only as a calling to religious life. I feel that whatever we are called to do is important and is our way of pleasing God who is the one who calls us.

God is faithful and continues to call us and we must continue to discern His calls. I think that being in a retirement community is a call for me to become more contemplative. I have more time for prayer and the silence and solitude, so helpful to contemplation, is possible just by staying in my room. I am aware that the many activities here are an aid for many, but I am limiting myself to a weekly book club meeting, the community reunion every Monday, and sometimes the Saturday afternoon movie. However, I do spend time reading and playing Words with Friends on my I-pad. I think writing this blog has been a grace for me and has made me more reflective. I need to wait for the Holy Spirit to inspire me. Today, I am just jotting down what has come into my head. It is not very inspiring!

The Nativity of Our Lady

 

Today we celebrate Our Lady's birthday. I chose the picture of Mater as I love Our Lady and like to think of her enjoying the fact that we have chosen a date for the entire Church to celebrate her birthday. I am thinking what gift would she like to have me offer her today?

We continue to be tested weekly. One of my friends who lives in a retirement home in Dallas has COVID and is on an ventilator so please pray for her. Her son wrote and requested prayers; she not only read my blog each day, but often sent me good feedback. I also pray for her husband who counts on her.

We had a beutiful sharing for one of our nuns this morning; her funeral will be on Thursday. We always share our memories of the person who has died and it is amazing to see how each has had a real influence on our community. Some will have stories from having lived with the person years ago. 

Creative Writing

 What do you see? Sometimes a stange picture is enough to awaken our imaginations. Our new Life Enrichment Director has begun a small writing group. Threre were only six of us present yesterday and only two of us had been present for the first session that spoke of writing our memoirs. Yesterday we heard of different ways to be creative in writing when we felt we could not write or were stuck. Then we were given ten minutes to write about a room - any room. Afterwards, we read what we had each written and I found that the best part of the exercise. Each one had chosen a different kind of room and it was fascinating to hear the different ways they approached describing their "room" - one had chosen the beach! I chose the living room in the large home we lived in from sixth grade to when I entered the Society of the Sacred Heart just after my 19th birthday. I loved that room and all the family gatherings. In ten minutes I did not finish my description but have been remembering how we were allowed to toast marshmellows in the fireplace, how the Christmas tree was always placed in front of the French doors, how the firplace was flanked by two built in bookcases; the one on the left was mine and the one on the right was my father's. 

Today I thought of how God was present in that living room with all of us. I think I am going to enjoy this creative writing. I suggest that you try it, too. I actually have an autobiography that I wrote because of the interest of my community but that was in 2003 so I guess I should be adding the important things I remember from these last years.

 Work is a blessing! It is also a gift to be able to take a holiday and rest from work. When I say work is a blessing, I am thinking of the ability to work, to earn a living; I cannot understand why we are refusing to insist that workers receive a living wage. We are supposed to be a wealthy country, but we cannot provide jobs with fair salaries for all those who seek work. Let us pray today for just wages for all. 

Labor Day is really a day of rest for so many and even the school children enjoy having a holiday so close to the start of classes. I remember when schools actually only began after Labor Day!

Many will be spending this holiday cleaning up after the hurricane and the storms. Let us pray for them also and for those who have lost their lives and for those who morn them.

Let us also think of Jesus working as a carpenter in Nazareth, having learned from Joseph. I had a great uncle who gave up his job to come back to St. Louis to be near me when I was still too little to remember. He kept his tools locked up and away from children, but he could do anything that was needed around the house or yard, fix bikes, wagons, and other toys. He came three times a week to help my mother by first caring for me, then for my sister, and finally for my brothers; he would arrive around three and stay until after dinner, helping with the dishes, listening to the radio with my father, and he was just a wonderful part of our family. He lived in a hotel but managed on his Spanish-American War pension. He was a holy man and utterly selfless. 

I am sure we all know many who do all kinds of work and work with joy. Let us pray for them, too, today!

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Today's Liturgy is very consoling. We begin in the Collect: O God,by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance."

The first reading is from the Book of Isaiah, 35: 4-7a and is worth praying over so I am going to copy it.

"Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water."

The responsorial psalm is "Praise the Lord, my soul!

The first reading is from the Letter of James, 2: 1-5 and tells us to show no partiality and then asks: Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?"

The Gospel is Mark 7:31-37 where Jesus cures the deaf man.

Tomorrow is Labor Day, a holiday where we celebrate the gift of being able to work. Let us pray for all those who are still looking for work, for those who are discouraged because they have not been able to find work or to earn enough to care for their families. 

So much to pray for

 I am sure we are all finding that our list of people, places, and events to pray for is growing daily. I am following the fire that has advanced nearer to Lake Tahoe. I read that it may be years before the lake regains its lovely deep blue color because of the age and debris from the fire which is still only about 23% controlled. All the homes around south Tahoe have been evacuated.

I pray for the firefighters who are toiling day and night to control fires in different parts and states.

I pray for all those who have lost their homes in the earthquake in Hati, for all those who have died in the earthquake, hurricanes, and from Covid-19.

I pray for all the sick and suffering and for the caregivers, nurses and doctors.

I pray for those who have been left without power in and around New Orleans; having lived through many hurricanes in Miami, I know what it means to lose power for days in tropical weather. I have also lived through earthquakes in Chile without water and electricity. My own memories make my prayer deeper, I think. I also pray especially for my sister-in-law, Anita, who has been fighting leukemia and for my brother, John who has been  spending his days visiting Anita in the hospital.

I am sure each of you have many other intentions - other countries we need to pray for, in fact our own country and the entire world need our prayer. We must continue to pray for governments to work for climate change, ways to feed the hungry, to shelter the homeless, to help those places who do not have water, to welcome the thousands of refugees and aid them as it must be devastating to lose not only your home but also your country. I guess the list of what we need to pray for is much longer as I have not even mentioned the Church and I do pray daily for the Holy Father, the Bishops who need to act together and really begin synods in all the parishes. Some countries have begun to work for synodality but I have not heard what the Bishops in the United States are doing and it is September!

Well, I did not intend to write all this but I guess I am rather overwhelmed and glad that I can say to God, "Here is your world and it needs Your help" and then just keep asking knowing that God hears every prayer.

First Friday

 Time seems to disappear and we need to remind ourselves that we have all the time there is! We are expecting one of our Sisters to arrive today and complete the Westwood Community as we will be eight now, but we still have a guest room (very small room) here and there is space in Rosewood for guests. The problem is that we are not allowed yet to invite guests to stay. I think we may be having a visit from an  RSCJ in September and then we have another funeral on September 9th so we may be more open for that. It is better to be safe than sorry. 

Now, this morning I heard another bit of wisdom from the Dominican, Father Xavier. He said that recollection is about "having a sense of God's loving life and light" - the sunlight is always there but we do not always realize it. No matter what, dawn will come and God is in all. I cannot quote him exactly but the idea is that God is always with us and we can turn to Him.

I love First Friday and find that I often go back in memory to even childhood - I do not remember what we did to make First Friday special at the Academy of the Visitation, but my two years in 7th and 8th grade at our parrochial school are remembered because the day started with the entire school at Mass in the Church and then we had hot cocoa and doughnuts in the basement of the Church before going to class. When I was at the Academy of the Sacred Heart for my four years of high school, we had Mass in the morning and then a special Benediction in the afternoon. When I was in Chile, I taught the high school to sing in English, "When the battle rages fiercest..." and we had an honor guard and banner and processed into the Chapel. I think we did that when I was in high school but I made it a bit more in Chile. The students had to work to win the honor of wearing the red sashes and walking behind the banner of the Sacred Heart. (It is years since I have thought of this!)

Courageous Joy

 

I thought I was getting another picture but this laughing face turned up so maybe the Holy Spirit wanted me to add another book that I bought and have on my bookshelf but have not begun to read it. The title is Courageous Joy: Delight in God Through Every Season by Mary Carver and is "An (in)courage Bible Study published in 2021 by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It seems that there are other titles in this series: Courageous Simplicity; Couraageous Kindness, etc.

The contents have been arranged into six weeks and each has questions and room to answer them. Here are the titles for the six weeks: What is Joy?; Joy in the Lord; Joy in Who God Made You to Be; Joy in the Good Times; Joy in the Bad Times; Joy in Community.

I am saving this as I have much to read now, but I think I will enjoy working through this book later.

I think that we find joy when we are living in gratitude for all that we have been given. I do spend time thanking God for His many gifts each day; I hope you do the same. 

A thought to remember

 The Dominican priest, Father Xavier, celebrates Mass with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yesterday he said that "the only place God cannot be without our permission is in our hearts." I have been thinking about that as I certainly want to be sure that God always has permission to enter my heart. As a Religious of the Society of the Sacred Heart, I often find myself in God's Heart. 

Today we begin a new month. Let us take time just to sit on the bench in this picture and contemplate the ocean. Sometimes we are so busy that we forget that we need time to just be. 

All of our nuns have left New Orleans. I feel sorry for those who have lost homes again and some have even lost their lives in the hurricane. Having lived through several big ones in Miami, I feel united to those who cannot leave and are living without power. I also am concerned that the children are going to miss several weeks of school. Let us pray for our world that has such need.