Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Since September 11 is remembered for the tragic events that have made most of us remember exactly where we were and what a terrible day it was for all of us, I am sure the Liturgy of today will move us, beginning with the Collect: "Look upon us, O God, Creator and ruler of all things, and, that we may feel the working of your mercy, grant that we may serve you with all our heart."

The first reading is from the Book of Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Go down at once to or people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved....'"

Responsorial Psalm: I will rise and go to my father.

Second reading is from Paul's Letter to Timothy 1:12-17. 

"Beloved: I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry.....

The Gospel is from Luke 15:1-32, but the shorter form is 15: 1-10 

Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and scribes and tells them this parable, "What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me becase I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance." The longer form has the parable of the woman who has ten coins and loses one of them  and then the Prodigal Son parable.

There is a choice of two Communion Antiphons, both worth my copying here- I think. The first is from Psalm 36: "How precious is your mercy, O God! The children of men seek shelter in the shadow of your wings."

Or from 1 Corinthians 10:16 -"The chalice of blessing that we bless is a comunion in the Blood of Chrsit; and the bread that we break is a sharing in the Body of the Lord.

Let us remember September 11 and pray for peace!

Our heat wave is helped by a snow image

 Now, I have been thinking of my list of joys. I picked up Matthew Kelly's book, I Heard God Laugh, and, while it has not helped me with my own list of joys so far, I do have something worth sharing from this book. Kelly says that there are six significant moments along the way even if every journey is unique. But these six are important for all of us. Here they are and they are all helps for prayer:

"First: Begin the Conversation

Second: Ask God What He Wants

Third: Give Yourself to Prayer

Fourth: Transform Everthing into Prayer

Fifth: Make Yourself Available

Sixth: Just Keep Showing Up!"

I think the last is what is most important. Just show up and let God act in us.

I will continue to think about my own list of joys - I keep thinking of past joys and want to make a list of present joys. I guess one is having a delicious breakfast served to me each morning. I love breakfast, but never fixed a big one for myself. Now, we have a variety of offerings and it is a joy to go and be with some of my sisters and just enjoy breakfast. Not a very spiritual joy perhaps, but a real one for me! It also means that I am up, dressed, and in the dining room by 7:30 or, usually, closer to 7:40. There are always some who go very early and so are served first so it is better to wait the ten minutes, 

Not a very spiritual joy, but I think I often wake up so grateful for another day to love and serve the Lord and let Him love me.

Joy

 Mother Stuart says that "joy is the most heavenly atmosphere found on earth - we ought to cultivate it as a duty always." Now, what are we doing to cultivate joy?

I think joy is rather spontaneous, but I am the one who keeps asking for a comedy on Saturday afternoon. Usually, I only go to the movies on Saturday, but we have them almost everyday!

Anything that makes us relax, laugh, and see the good gives us joy. However, there is a spiritual joy that comes as a gift. I think we can prepare for it by seeing how God is constantly giving us gifts, taking care of us in extraordinary ways, wanting us to experience His joy. I think gratitude for everything also gives us joy. Maybe you have your own list of joys; I used to keep a list and maybe it would be good to make a new one full of present joys. It will help these days when it is really hot for California.

The value of silence

 

Mother Stuart has this to say about silence and I am sharing this quote today as I think we all need to build silence into our busy lives.

"Without silence, no real purity of heart, no real devotion to the Holy Spirit, no real teaching from God who cannot make His still small voice heard in the talkative soul." 

When I was a novice, I was told to go pray to St. Madeleine Sophie during the morning free time to ask her to teach me the value of silence. I went every single day, although I think the rule of silence was something I guess I did not understand. I often thought during my first year in Chile when I could not speak the language, that God had a good sense of humor and also knew what I needed as I really had to keep silence, even at recreation as the community spoke Spanish and I had arrived without knowing the language. It seems they wanted the children to learn English and thought it would be better not to give me any lessons in Spanish. I learned the third person singular from the children!

We all need to build times of silence into our daily lives so as to hear the voice of God.

Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady

 I love the idea of celebrating Mary, my heavenly Mother's birthday. We could ask her what she wants from us and let her choose the gift we give her. I suspect it will be something that is pleasing to her Son. Let us take time to celebrate Mary, Mother of all of us, who is always watching over us. She tells Jesus what we need just as she noticed when the wine was running out at Cana. Let us thank her for all she does for us and give her whatever she asks on her birthday!

Slow down and enjoy life

Our heat wave continues. Of course, since we do not usually get hot weather in this part of California, we are finding it really hot. My room is 81 degrees and I have the fan on, the window and blinds closed, the door open, and it is quite warm! Hence, the snow scene, which helps one cool off just to look at it.

Now I love this and reflect on it often:

“Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way
to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress, that it is made by passing through some stages of instability, and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you

Your ideas mature gradually. Let them grow. (From Teilard de Chardin)

Now, slow down, trust in the slow work of God, and all will be well.

The present moment

 We cannot control the past; we do not know what the future will hold; we have only the present.

The present moment is what counts and yet how often we are not living in the present but still thinking about something in the past or wondering, if not worrying, about the future. Try today to really focus on the present moment. I think you will see how often we are not in the present, yet this is where God's grace is for each of us. 

Here is a good quote again from Mother 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."

Let us try to live each moment in the present; it might even be my last moment as we never can be sure of what might happen. We are given the here and now to live fully as God calls us to live. It is not easy, but it is important to cultivate the present moment. 

Labor Day Holiday

This is a holiday and we rejoice in it. It marks the end of summer and celebrates all labor and all of us who labor. Some workers toil long hours and deserve this holiday and our thanks for all that they do for us. I am thinking of the many migrant workers who help grow our crops in hot fields with little pay and poor living conditions; I am also thinking of the hidden workers who empty our trash, clean the streets, fight fires, patrol our streets, etc. And then, think of all the mothers who labor to care for family, keep house, cook and clean-up and take care of their families in so many hidden ways! 

One thing I think about Labor Day is that it is a day of gratitude. Let us pray for and thank all who are laboring for us. And, why cannot our government realize that workers should have another free day when it is time to vote? We need to make it easy for the workers to have time off to vote.

We will be having our traditional Labor Day picnic, but it will be very hot this year so some may stay inside. 

Let us take time to consider all the people who are laboring for us and let us be grateful!
 

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

I copied this from the British Jesuit website as it is a good summary bt does not mention the Collect which asks for true freedom and an everlasting inheritance.

The First Reading states bluntly that we have enough difficulty grasping the world around us, so how can we understand the mind of God? Only through the gift of Wisdom might we begin to do so.

The Psalm expresses confidence in the Lord. Despite the transience of life, may God give us ‘wisdom of heart’.

Paul, in his letter to Philemon, appeals to him to welcome back a runaway slave. May he do this in a real spirit of Christian brotherhood. (Second Reading)

The Gospel gives us Jesus’s teaching on true discipleship. This requires total commitment and will affect our nearest and dearest.

If you are one who wants to look at the readings, the first is from the Book of Wisdom 9: 13-18b;

The second reading is from the Letter to Philemon 9-10, 12-17; and the Gospel is from Luke: 14:25-33.

First Saturday of September

 California is having some hot weather. Usually, the climate here is so perfect, a real Mediterranean climate and one of the five best climates in our whole world! South Africa, Australia, Central Chile, and the Mediterranean countries are the others and I was in Central Chile for about 15 of the twenty years I spent in Chile and now I live in California so cannot mind a bit of hot weather. It cools off as soon as the sun goes down. Anyway, our hot weather is why you see a snow scene today - it is cooling to look at!

Here is a good quote for today from Mother Stuart:

"To go into the presence of God is like going out into the freshness of the morning air."

First Friday

 I seem to have published two blogs on August 31 so I hope you will go back and read the one titled a New Venture. 

On the other hand, I am happy to be writing for the First Friday of September. I think that every First Friday makes me think of the processions into the Chapel with banner and red sashes and, in Chile, I even taught the school to sing "When the battle rages fiercest..." - a hymn I only discovered when I entered at Kenwood. Now, First Friday is a call to me to review the month. I am delighted to know that some of the students I have had still are keeping a journal. It helps me to review my month when I have been faithful to write something each day in my journal.

I love the quote from St. Philippine Duchesne that I keep in fron of me:

"I am where God wills me to be, and so I have found rest and security. God's wisdom governs me, God's power defends me, God's joy sustains me, and all will go well with me."

A New Month

I am not sure why I cannot move the cursor where I want it today, but I will try writing anyway. 

Now I have that fixed and I am thinking of how it feels to begin another September. The students have been back for two weeks, so it is not the thrill of seeing them again as they walk around our beautiful campus. The leaves have not turned on most of our gorgeous trees, the weather is hot and a really hot spell is predicted, yet September has arrived and there is a sense of new beginnings.

However, today I only have time to share another quote from Mother Stuart:

"Please establish firmly in your mind, that to abandon yourself to the providence of God and the love of the Sacred Heart is no myth or illusion, but the humblest, truest, most worshipful stand that your soul can make against any temptation, difficulty, or danger."

That is a consoling quote!