Holy Thursday

This is a day to give thanks. Jesus gives us Himself in the Eucharist. He begins by washing the feet of his apostles; he is humble and teaches us the way to love by serving others. Then, although Jesus knows that Judas is going to betray Him, He still thinks of a way to stay with us by giving us the Eucharist and telling His apostles to continue to do this in memory of Him. He then tells them "Do not let your hearts be troubled" and goes on to tell them that He goes to prepare a place for them. This is such a special moment in the life of Jesus and in the lives of every one of us. Let us spend it with Jesus in thanksgiving, love, and asking for the grace to bear fruit that will remain.

Spy Wednesday

Tonight we remember how Judas came with soldiers to betray Jesus with a kiss. And we remember how all the chosen disciples left Jesus and fled.
Let us try to be with Jesus today and console Him by our love.

Tuesday of Holy Week

 

 

         

 

 

I read this quote from the priest-theologian Michael J. Himes and like it enough to copy it here. Actually, I am quoting him from an article in America (March 21, 2016) by Emily Dagostino called "A Restless Heart".

Father Himes says that restlessness is the path to joy. It keeps us hungry. A gift of the Holy Spirit, it drives us to always want more, to give more, to seek God by committing ourselves more completely to loving service. Then he says that "the more restless we are, the more we seek to give and serve, the more likely we are to achieve joy. Joy is impervious to what I'm not and can't be. It consents to a life strung with beads of disappointment. It cedes control. It expects nothing and accepts everything as it is. Joy lets me be flawed, finite and unfulfilled. In the face of failures, it holds and retunes one steady, prolonged middle C."

Monday of Holy Week

 

 

 

Holy Week

      

 

Jesus asks us to stay with Him, to let Him reveal His Love for each of us and He invites us to follow Him throughout this Holy Week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palm Sunday

Holy week begins with Passion Sunday, or what has come to be called "Palm" Sunday. The palms are blessed and there is a procession that recalls the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem where the people honor Him - perhaps some of these same people will be in the crowd on Friday that call out "Crucify him!"

The readings are powerful and the Gospel has Luke's entire account of the Passion. We only here the entire Passion read in the liturgy twice a year.

The Concord Pastor's blog suggests:

Spend some time with all of the readings, especially the gospel. You might find it helpful as your read it to imagine yourself as one or several of the characters and ponder: 
     what if I had been one of the apostles? 
     what if I had been one of the priests, the elders or the scribes? 
     what if I had been Pilate? or Judas? or Peter? 
          or one of the bystanders?
     what if I had stood at the foot of the Cross? 

     what if I had been Jesus? 

At one time or another in our lives, we are all of these... 
     who am I, who are you 
        in this Week we call Holy?  

Feast of St. Joseph

What does St. Joseph want to say to me today? I suspect he will not use words but show me something in other ways. In fact, I am realizing how often the Holy Spirit and the saints nudge me in ways that I used to be unaware - sometimes it is something someone says to me in passing, or an e-mail, or a line I read, or a picture I open to in a book, etc.

St. Joseph recognized God in the dreams he had and he acted on them immediately. I marvel at the trust he had to believe in a dream. Still, that is one way God speaks to us. I think, since my retreat last January, that God speaks to me through my imagination. Maybe I just did not trust enough before to act on what comes through my imagination. Let us all pray for more trust in the Lord who does such wonders for each of us!

Eve of St. Joseph's Feast Day

St. Joseph is a silent saint but one who is very influential and should not be forgotten. He gave us wonderful examples of trust and obedience but has kept a low profile through the ages. Still, I love to think of how much he taught Jesus and the joy he both gave and received from Jesus. It makes March 19 special for me. I guess we should be praying to him to sell our house quickly.

I find that the older I get, the more I need to trust the Lord and He does such wonderful things. May He do something to bring peace to this world of ours.
Here is St. Patrick's prayer that I wanted to publish yesterday:

Christ be with me, Christ within me
Christ behind me, Christ before me
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 

Let us thank God for our faith!

Spring is breaking out all over in Miami

We have a butterfly garden in our yard and the buds on the bushes are beginning to open. The pool is heated and so almost comfortable for swimming. We are looking forward to Easter!

In the meantime, we are caught up in this wonderful year of Mercy.
It makes praying with the Passion take on a different emphasis as Jesus is still forgiving, wanted to reach out to all of us with His love and mercy, even as He faces the suffering and death that will leave Him with an open Heart, a pierced Heart, one that asks for our love in return.
"Could you not watch one hour with me?" is His question to His three closest friends, Peter, James, and John. He has just given Himself to them in Communion and ordained them, yet they are too sleepy now in the garden to stay awake while Jesus prays.

Election Day

I will go vote this morning with much prayer for our country. As a registered Democrat, I will vote for a woman to be president for the first time and hope and pray that she will be able to lead us into four years where Congress will work together for the common good of all. I do believe in miracles!

I sometimes think a quote from the desk of our Pastor is worth copying here. Monsignor Carruthers has been reflecting on three words that can help us as disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ: Stillness, Beauty, and Trust. He has been telling us the "Our God desires an intimate relationship with us."  Here is what struck me this week:
"To be open to an emotionally and spiritually intimate relationship with someone requires vulnerability and the capacity to open one's heart. While entering into an intimate relationship with God requires the act of the intellect to assent to God's will in faith, it too is a relationship of vulnerability that is augmented by the more psychological assent of trust."
Then he says that to grow in our capacity for trust requires a growth in self-knowledge.
Later he speaks of "Christ-centered friendship is also an important step in the process of learning to trust God."
How am I increasing my trust in God? I feel the need to entrust our country to God!

Waiting for God

Often I sit here and wait to see what the Holy Spirit inspires me to write. When nothing comes, I turn to Mother Stuart and this, too, seems to be the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Today, I opened to this quote: "One of the hardest and most precious lessons is to wait for God."

We wait for God, but God is always present to us. He is waiting for us. He waits for me to remember His Presence in me; He waits for me to thank Him for the beautiful day, the quiet time of prayer, the cup of tea and toast for breakfast, etc. I think I am waiting for God, but really He is waiting for me!

I have added a link for Janet Stuart on the right side of my blog. I do remember asking readers to look at the new website of the English Province; it also has the link to Janet Stuart. I love to go all over the world by checking on our International website, too.

Fifth Sunday of Lent

In the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent we find the Scribes and Pharisees again trying to trap Jesus. They have caught a woman committing adultery and brought her to Jesus. They do not bring the man. Now, they will trap Jesus into either upholding the Law of Moses which would have the woman stoned, or breaking the Roman Law which does not give the right to the Jews to put anyone to death.
Jesus tells them that "he who is without sin should cast the stone" and then Jesus scribbles on the ground and the men leave, one by one. Then Jesus asks: "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She says, "No one, sir." Then Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more."

Jesus forgives the sinner without denying the sin. He shows only compassion and His mercy leads to conversion.

I stand before Jesus and hear Him say to me, "Go, and from now on do not sin any more."