Encouragement always needed

Mountain climbers encourage one another. I think the martyrs also drew strength from one another. Today we celebrate St. Andrew Dung-Lac, St.Peter Thi, and the Vietnamese martyrs. The students in my International On-line Certificate Program in Spirituality Studies have been impressed by the martyrs in the early church. In Vietnam, between the 17th and 19th centuries, there were over 130,000 Christians martyred. Among them were the two priests we celebrate today; they were beheaded on December 21, 1839.

When visiting in England last month I looked at a book "Patterns of Prayer" by Eugene McCaffrey,O.C.D.(Paulist Press, 2003). I found that this book says exactly what I believe and teach about prayer. Here are a few notes I took - they also may be mixed with my own thoughts! His first chapter, "Getting Started" has this bit of wisdom: The only way to begin to pray is to begin."
Encouragement is what we all need most in prayer.
Prayer is simple, but not easy! Simple because God loves each one of us personally and uniquely and prayer is basically6 a response to that love. We complicate it.
Real prayer is as real as the life we live and one cannot be separated from the other. The one condition essential to prayer is the desire to want to pray.

I will end today with a quote from St. Madeleine Sophie that I am mulling over:
"Be simple. Only at this price will you acquire peace, and if to this peace you join silence, you will soon be holy."
So let us encourage one another in prayer and let us be simple and silent as we go about our daily tasks.

Feast of Christ the King

The Feast of Christ the King was moved to the Sunday before Advent as it is fitting to close the Liturgical year contemplating the Kingship of Christ.
We have been looking at the end time and today's Gospel reminds us that when Christ will come in glory we shall also be judged. Our judgment is not on what we have accomplished but on love - how we have kept the corporal works of mercy. Jesus tells us that what we have done for the least of these - the lonely, the sick, the prisoner, the needy one, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, - we have done for him. Will I be the sheep that he invites into his Kingdom or the goat who is thrown out?
Sometimes an opportunity to help someone passes and we have not done what was needed; it makes us feel sad. Instead, we must be on the lookout for where we can help anyone in need. It is often the person next to us so we do not have far to go to find the needy.
I love the first reading from Ezechiel: Thus says the Lord God: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord God. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly.

Feast of St. Cecila

Today is the feast of St. Cecilia, a Roman martyr from the second or third century. She is patron of musicians. Her name is mentioned in the first Eucharistic prayer as the early Church had a special veneration for her. I read in "Living with Christ" that her association with music stems from the story that at her wedding feast "she sang to God in her heart." I hope we all are singing to God in our hearts as we prepare for Thanksgiving. I sometimes try to sing out loud what my heart wants to say to God, but only when alone in my car!
I must add that what gave me devotion to her was a special treat for the choir on her feast day when I was at boarding school.!

I want to share with you this prayer of St. Philippine Duchesne:
Lord, you alone are the center in which I find rest.
Give me your arm to support me,
Your shoulder to carry me,
Your heart to lean upon,
Your cross to uphold me,
Your body to nourish me.
In you, Lord, I sleep and rest in peace.

I probably will shorten it today to "Lord, give me your heart to lean upon."

Feast of the Presentation of Mary

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple as a child and it is also the birthday of the Society of the Sacred Heart as we celebrate November 21, 1800 as the birth of our congregation. It has been a wonderful 208 years for us and Mary has played an important part in all of our lives and the lives of our students. We are consecrated to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. I guess each of us honor her in very different ways; I have found that she has been so present in my life at difficult moments. She always seems to have one message and it is what she told the servants at the Wedding feast after pointing out the lack of wine to her son, Jesus. She said only "Do whatsoever he tells you." That has helped me to hear her say that to me so often and she gives the strength we need so we also can say, "Let it be done to me according to your word" - a simple phrase that changed the world!
Mary, Queen of Peace, be with us in our troubled world!

Strong souls: Philippine Duchesne and Dorothy Day

I felt the need to quote again from The Duty of Delight as I am still reading Dorothy Day's Diaries. This is found on p. 298 for June 7, 1960:
"The other day when writing my article and appeal I threw away my article telling of all our troubles and thought 'this is not what our readers want--to be tortured with tales of broken families, men beating their wives and children, etc.'
I will write happily of June and its beauties. Of course, if you do this you get a double share of complaints from all around you who try to make you see how bad everything is. Still you cannot help but help others by our own repose and joy if you try to maintain it."
So let us remain calm and joyful no matter what the news tells us; we can be moved to compassion and love, but in a deep peace and joy as we know we are loved by God and God loves us and our world and God can do anything! Let us trust and show forth his love and joy in our lives today!
One last bit about St. Philippine Duchesne - Carrollton, the Sacred Heart school in Miami, had a lovely Liturgy in her honor on the Feast and sang one of my favorite hymns to Philippine that I even taught the children in Chile. The words are worth reflecting on so I am copying them here:
Strong was her heart that heard God's voice
When far it called across the sea,
And swiftly came the answer of her love
That gave its all triumphantly.
For thou were ready, Philippine, to let God's zeal take fire in thee!

Hard was the road beneath her fee,
And long it stretched through shadowed years,
But stronger was the love that led her on
And brave the faith that conquered fears;
For God was with thee, Philippine, and drew His harvest from thy tears.

Both St. Philippine and Dorothy Day were strong women who lived for others; women who embraced poverty and who sought to live humble lives full of love for God and others.

St. Philippine's tomb

The first picture is of the little shrine where Philippine was entombed after her canonization. She had been buried before in the cemetery on the grounds. When I was at school, some of us went out every night to pray to Philippine at the shrine and then blow out the green and amber vigil lights that outlined her tomb stone. She was like a mother for us and we confided all our hopes, fears, joys, and sorrows to her. Later, in view of the many pilgrimages that come to St. Charles to pray to Philippine, the new shrine was built. It is a real place of prayer and welcomes many who leave their written petitions there.
I wanted to share this quote about her from Father Gavin Duffy, SJ:
What have we learned from her?
The value of steadfast purpose,
the success of failure and the
unimportance of our standards of success;
the power of grace released by deep, divine desires
and simple duty daily done.

May we always learn this from our St. Philippine Duchesne.

Feast of St. Philippine Duchesne

Today we celebrate a great Religious of the Sacred Heart who came to America in 1818 from France when she was 49 years old. She wanted to serve the Indians but spent years opening boarding schools and free schools and struggling to make ends meet before Father De Smet (who she had first helped when he was only a Jesuit novice) took her to make the foundation at Sugar Creek; she was 72 and the Potawatomi Indians named her the "woman who prays always"(Quah-kah-ka-numa).
Philippine passed entire nights in prayer. She also always reserved the hardest tasks and the most worn things for herself. She always thought she was a failure, but from the founding of the convents of the Society of the Sacred Heart in America many missionaries would go forth to other countries.
Born August 29,1769; died on November 18,1952; she was venerated in 1900; beatified in 1940; canonized in 1988. She said
“We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.... The truest crosses are those we do not choose ourselves.... He who has Jesus has everything.”

Eve of St. Philippine Duchesne's Feast

Sometimes a calm, beautiful scene helps us to slow down and relax. As my readers must know by now, I am fond of looking at water - waterfalls, ocean, lakes, and streams - all appeal to me. This is a day to relax and enjoy.
It is also the day to use this:
As the internet becomes more prevalent in our lives, help me adapt to the changes it brings. Standing in awe of pictures and maps received on my screen from around the world let me not forget to actually go outside. Guide me to discern which e-mail is important, which to delete, and which furthers peace and harmony on the planet. Oh Angel of Patience, Help me clean up my typos and slow my fingers as I fire off a potentially hurtful message. When I stare at a full inbox, remind me what Rabbi Tarfon said in tractate Avot of the Talmud: "It is not incumbent upon you to complete the task but neither are you free to desist from it." Grant me the wisdom to know a computer cannot replace a real hug and of course, bless all those who read this.

I need to say a word about Philippine Duchesne on the eve of her feast. Until she was canonized, we celebrated her feast on November 17, the eve of her death. It has always been a special day for me since I went to school at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles, Missouri where Philippine started the very first convent of the Sacred Heart in 1818. It was a boarding school and a free school and the grounds are still marked by her pioneer spirit. More about her tomorrow. She is one of my favorite saints! I think her gifts to me are love of my vocation and fortitude!

Using our gifts for the Kingdom of God

Again, Jesus tells us a parable. A man left after entrusting his three servants with talents "according to their ability". Two of the servants doubled the amount given to them. To each of them the Master said, "Well done my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy."
God wants us to use the talents he gives us. We are all called to be faithful in small matters. How am I using the gifts God has given me to further God's Kingdom?
And, how often do I remember to thank for those same talents?

St. Albert the Great

St. Albert was born in Germany around 1200. He studied at the University of Padua and joined the Dominican Order in 1229. He taught theology at the University of Paris and Thomas Aquinas was his student there. Then Albert went to Cologne to teach Dominicans. The Pope appointed him a bishop in 1260 but he resigned after four years and returned to teaching which was his great love. Because of his outstanding intellectual gifts, he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931 and is the patron saint of scientists.

In today's Gospel Jesus tells us a parable about the necessity for us to "pray always without becoming weary". The parable is that of the unjust judge who was unwilling to help the widow but finally gives her a just decision just to stop her from bothering him. Jesus tells us: "Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
I must remember that we are the chosen ones and that God expects us to call out to him day and night for justice in this world. I cannot be indifferent. Lord, help me to fight the injustice I see by prayer that does not grow weary. I know that God hears our prayers; God is a great listener and always there for us!

Faith gives us the promise of peace and makes known the demands of love

Today, I want to share again from "The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day" and that is the reason for her picture above. However, I also am going to share my reflection on the alternate opening prayer for today's liturgy:Father in heaven, God of power and Lord of mercy, from whose fullness we have all received, direct our steps in our everyday efforts. May the changing moods of the human heart and the limits which our failings impose on hope never blind us to you, source of every good. Faith gives us the promise of peace and makes known the demands of love. Remove the selfishness that blurs the vision of faith. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Yesterday, physically by laser, a veil was removed from my right eye: may I have the grace to remove the "selfishness that blurs the vision of faith."
It is "faith that gives us the promise of peace and makes known the demands of love."
Dorothy Day gives us the example of both faith and love. She believed that only love can change our world and give us lasting peace. The following quote if from her time in jail. She has been talking about how she had felt the first time she was in jail and how she identified so completely with the others that she felt their despair. Then she wrote:"The memory of that black hopelessness was still so present to me that this year I made the stations as Abbot Marmion advised us to do to increase my fortitude, and to my petitions I added that Christian joy would also strengthen me. If you want to help others, you cannot convey to others what you do not possess and who can help wanting to bring a little light into so dark a place as a city prison. I would be guilty of a lack of gratitude if I did not show in my whole behavior the peace and happiness and joy which is in the foretaste of the well-being of heaven."
Christian joy does strengthen us and we should be grateful and joyful even in the midst of a world that is full of suffering so that we may give joy to others! I firmly believe this and am trying to live it.

St. Frances Cabrini

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was born in Italy, the youngest of thirteen children. When she was twenty-four she began teaching in an orphanage and soon founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. In 1889 she came with six of her sisters to the United States at the request of Pope Leo XIII to work with Italian immigrants. In 1946 she became the first American citizen to be canonized!

"For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you," is what Jesus replied to the Pharisees when they asked when the Kingdom would come. He told us that it is here, in our midst. God is with us. Where God is, there is his Kingdom. God likes to surprise me. He wants to be discovered! He longs to reveal his love to us in so many different ways. May we have eyes to see!
We need to ask for the grace to find God in all. Today, I am having surgery on my right eye and ask for your prayers.