Learning and Loving

This is the last paragraph of an interesting article in the Tablet on a topic that is getting to be of interest to many today.

"The issue of gender identity raises profound
questions about human nature. What was
thought obvious stands in need of investiga-
tion. However, perhaps the first step in stilling
this storm is not to think of gender identity
as something unspeakable. It is perhaps help-
ful to separate out practical issues, using
medical reasoning and legal reasoning and
pastoral reasoning as we would with other
issues. Perfect love casts out fear and when
irrational fear is cast aside what remain are
challenges common to other human situa-
tions. Perhaps then we will discover that being
trans is one more way to be human and one
more way to be Catholic."
Professor David Albert Jones of the
Anscombe Bioethics Centre is developing a
project at St Mary’s University, Twickenham
with Dr Claire Jenkins to engage with trans
people who are Catholic to help develop a
Catholic understanding of gender identity.
The views he expresses here are his own...



 It is amazing the number of people now who are wanting to change their gender for they have never been happy as male or maybe female, although I have read that fewer women seem to want to be men. I think this is a topic we need to know more about and definitely need to love each transgender person and accept them as I am sure God does. Actually, I have not worded this well; some feel that they are women in a man's body and vice versa. They just do not feel at home in their sex and this is important for their identity. I guess I am struggling to understand but I feel for those who are changing gender. 

Here is a quote that I like:
"When we work from a place of knowing who we are and how much we're loved, that we have a purpose and all will be well no matter the result, then we're doing work that heals". - @holleygerth

Jesus took bread and said, "This is my body...

When we are present to this great gift, we realize that Jesus chose that which so common and ordinary that we often take bread for granted. Jesus wanted to use what was accessible and He was able to find a way to remain with us in a physical way even after his death. Every Eucharist brings Jesus to us and we have the grace also of keeping His Eucharistic presence in the Blessed Sacrament reserved in all Catholic churches, not just for Communion for the sick, but for us to be able to adore Christ present and talk to Him as one friend talks to another.

St. Madeleine Sophie was very devoted to adoration of the Eucharist. We had, from the first day we entered, a half hour of adoration in the afternoon; this was sacred time and could not be broken up - no one interrupted "adoration" time as one was, or so I was led to believe, obliged to start again - something impossible with our busy schedules as Aspirants. I often think that this prayer in the afternoon was what kept me peaceful and joyful with the rest of my day and night spent with the youngest children as we had even first graders boarding. Now, I relish the opportunity to spend a quiet hour daily in front of the Blessed Sacrament!

Staying with Our Lady

During these last days of Lent, I am trying to think of how Our Lady felt as the time drew near for all that Jesus has said about how he was to suffer and die on a cross. This is her Son and she has raised him, taught him his first prayers, washed his face and fed him. As any growing boy, Jesus would have scrapped his knees, lost his baby teeth, learned whatever games the children played; he grew up being a normal boy. Paul tells us that Jesus was like us in all things except sin. 
Mary now knows the end is near. She waits and prays and loves.
I guess that is what we should also be doing during these last days of Lent. Let us love one another with the love that Jesus loves us. Mary will help us do this each day.

The Election of Pope Francis

If you have seen the cover of America for the April issue, you may also have read the first part of a new book that comes highly recommended by the editor, Matt Malone, S.J. I have asked that we buy the book here and will use this blog to tell you why I did. First, I read in this issue of America an exclusive excerpt from this new book by Gerard O'Connell, America's Vatican correspondent, The election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave That Changed History. It is the first definitive account of that event.
Now, I quote Matt Malone, S.J.: "The book is a tour de force, expertly reported and crafted in a style that reads at times like a thriller. I hope you will pick up a copy at your local bookstore or Amazon shopping cart, for this will be required reading for students and scholars for decades to come."
We had the Sacrament of Healing yesterday during Mass. That is always a grace for all of us.

Our Lenten Journey

We are all on a journey. My spirituality group meets this morning at 8:00 and I am going to continue the theme of the retreat with them by using a few thoughts from our community prayer the first week of Lent. We are reminded that we are on a journey to Eastere, to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, "our Lenten journey begins with an invitation to bring our hearts and lives before the Lord...what might we do to prepare for this spiritual journey in order to reach our desired destination?"

 We have less than two weeks now to prepare to enter into the joy of Easter Sunday with Jesus after we have journeyed with Him through His last days on earth and, especially the days of Holy Week when He suffered and died for us to show us His Love.

Our community reflection ended with the idea that we needed to choose life as "this is what we need as we prepare for our journey from today to the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Fifth Sunday of Lent

The Mass for this Sunday strikes me as a joyful one in the sense that the first reading from Isaiah says: "Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"

Then the responsorial psalm has "The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy." Psalm 126 tells us that the Lord has done great things for us and we are glad indeed.

Then the second reading is from Paul's Letter to the Phillipians where he says that he has accepted the loss of all things and considers them rubbish that "I may gain Christ and be found in him...I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus."

Then we come to the Gospel where Jesus is left alone with the woman who had committed adultery (where was the man?) and, after writing on the ground with his finger, finally said, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." When all had left, Jesus said to the woman, "Has no one condemned you?" then Jesus tells her that neither does he condemn her and she is to "go and from now on do not sin any more."

I guess this Mass is showing us that God is merciful and we have reason to rejoice. What is the new thing that God might be doing in our lives right now?        

First Saturday

We honor Our Lady in a special way on the first Saturday of each month. It is good to know that the Society of the Sacred Heart all over the world has special devotion to both the first Friday and the first Saturday of each month. Here, we say together at the end of Mass the Consecration to the Sacred Heart on first Friday and then the special Consecration to Our Lady on the first Saturday of each month. I am copying it here for those who would like to have it as our Associates often ask for copies.

Act of Consecration of the Society to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Holy Mary, Queen of Virgins, we come today with confidence and love to consecrate ourselves to your Immaculate Heart.
You are the Mother of Fair Love. In you is all hope of life and of virtue. Grant us this day the desire of our hearts by giving us 
-a love strong as death, which will separate us from all that is not God;
-a love so generous in its conformity to the good pleasure of God, that it may transform us and give us new life;
-a love so ardent that it may enkindle the souls of those confided to our care;
-a love so insatiable that all work and suffering may be as fuel to feed its flame until our last breath.
Mother of Holy Hope set your Divine Son as a seal upon our hearts and upon our arms, that we may, after your example, live and act by Him and for Him alone.
Intercede for our Holy Mother the Church in all her needs.
Save all who put their trust in you.
Bless our Society so devoted to you and to your Son.
Be the stay and support of our Central Team, and grant that we who are united with you in love on earth, may bless you and rejoice in you for all eternity. Amen.

The retreat day at Villa Maria del Mar with my group of Mothers was very good and I am grateful for all the prayer; it did not rain there. We did have rain on the way down but the drivers are very experienced and going through the mountains is beautiful even in the rain. All is so green this year because of all the rain!

Spring is here

Spring is here when the tulips bloom. It is difficult to believe that we are already almost at the end of the fourth week of Lent. How are we doing? Lent is a time to take time to reflect on our life with Jesus. Am I pleasing Him? Am I choosing what pleases Jesus or what pleased me? Something I need to stop and reflect on daily and often it takes real discernment to know if I am choosing what pleases Jesus.

Today is also the First Friday of April and I want to share this prayer with you. I have used it before as it is a famous one.

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me
and in all your creatures—
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father. 

The Blessed Charles de Foucauld, the author of this prayer, prayed this with his life.  After some time as a gardener in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, he heard the call to establish a new way of religious life, the Little Brothers and Sisters of Jesus, who embody in their life and work the spirit of this powerful prayer of faith and surrender to the will of God.

Thankful Beyond Understanding

As I am taking my spirituality group of mothers to Villa Maria del Mar for a mini retreat today, I think I will give them this page before we do our sharing after lunch. I am convinced that when we are thankful, we are joyful. This is from a retreat prayer service that someone gave me.

O God, source of this whole shebang,
we thank you that in your bewildering wisdom, 
and for your oft puzzling purposes,
You launched us on this wondrous exodus of life
toward the promised time of freedom and fulfillment,
and that in your staggering compassion
You girded up to be our traveling companion
until we find our way to each other and You.
Response: We say thank you, thank you, thank you.

We are thankful to you
for gifts of taken-for-granted commonness:
the song of a bird, the strum of wind, a hundred shades of green,
a parent's praying patience, a friend's voice, a changed way.
Work worth doing, children's questions, a new thought;
Our bodies, enough food, wine slowly shared, a quiet walk,
the touch of hands, catch of eyes, hark of dreams,
the wash of rain, snuggle of darkness, stardust on the roof,
the goad to repentance, the nudge to gratitude
in the utterly everywhere of small miracles.

Response: We say thank you, thank you, thank you.

Most of all we are thankful beyond understanding it -

that even in adversity, pain, and suffering,

even the face of defeat and death, as in all else,

Your Spirit labors for our healing, resilience and deliverance,

leaving on us your eternal fingerprints of grace and glory.

Response: We say thank you, thank you, thank you.

Amen.

One Moment of Praise

Paul was always thanking and praising God with joy. I was trying to praise God more and found this prayer service that someone gave me. The last page has "One Moment of Praise" and, as I found it helpful, I am copying it here for you.

"O God of every now, and then,
we pause for one moment to praise you
for all the moments of our lives.
Response: O God, we praise you for every moment.

We praise you for the glorious moments:
bread, the intimacy of love, lilacs, morning coffee,
a rooted word, a rapturous song, a circle of stories
the scrunch of oldsters at play, children at prayer.
Response: O God, we praise you for every moment.

We praise you for the shared moments:
honest exchange, deepening trust, earned friendship,
smudgy work, a ballet of ideas, a lullaby of quietness,
trouble met, the release of tears, the easing of fears,
the renewing of wonder, the embracing of mystery.
Response: O God, we praise you for every moment.

We praise you for the surprising moments:
the wink of a stranger, the flutter of hope in the stillness,
the enchantment of a rainbow and claim of a promise kept,
the goodness beneath the flurry of things,
beauty our of the muck
the clarified direction in a prayer,
a light in the soul's night.

Response: O God, we praise you for every moment.

We praise you for the holy moments:
All the bearers of love, of truth, of mercy,
of meaning, of demand, of amazement,
all that nudges us to readiness for the risks of faith,
the mysterious all that attaches us to your grace
from which nothing can separate us.

Response: O God, we praise you for every moment.

O God, we praise you for every moment,
for you, source of each moment,
and present in all moments, always, in all ways.

Response: O God, we praise you for every moment.

Say to everyone, "love me, I love you"

Sometimes I choose a picture from my files just because it grabs me and I am not sure what it is saying to me. This is one of those pictures. I love the sky with its clouds, the rocky cliffs and, of course, the water, but I really do not know what this picture wants to tell me. There seems to be a path for me to follow.

Today I want to share a poem taken from Love Poems from God: Sacred Voices from East and West, ed. Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Compass, 2002,) It is "With That Moon Language" by Hafiz:

"Admit something:

Everyone you see, you say to them, "love me."

Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise

someone would call the cops.

Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.

Why not become the one who lives with a full moon

in each eye that is always saying,

with that sweet moon language,

what every other eye in this world

is dying to hear?

April Fools Day

Today is April Fool's Day but it is also now the fourth week of Lent and I seem to be filled with joy and wonder what this season this year is doing with me. I did remind our new community director that it is a good time for us to have the Sacrament of Healing again. When I was studying at St. Louis University I would go to the monthly Mass at the College Church where anyone who wanted to receive the Sacrament of Healing just came and the priest would go down the middle aisle at the noon Mass and anoint all who stood with their hands out. Here we have had beautiful ceremonies during Mass. The Sacrament is for anyone who wants to be healed even if it is not a physical healing. And, as the Dominican who used to give it to us here always stressed, the Sacrament forgives all your sins.

I am preparing a mini retreat for the mothers in my spirituality group. We will go to Villa Maria del Mar on Thursday after Mass and return by 3:00. It is such a short time that I think I will just give them some suggestions to pray over during the morning and then we have lunch together and time for sharing after that. I am hoping for good weather so we can pray by the ocean.

One suggestion might be just to get in touch with where we are on our inner journey. What do I desire? Am I feeling comfortable with God? What might God be telling me at this moment in my life?

I throw these questions out for all of us to use for reflection this week.