St. John Bosco

 John Bosco was born in 1815.He had a vocation to take care of homeless boys and founded the Salsians. He died on January 31, 1888. He was canonized in 1934. He is one of the first Saints I remember praying to as a Seventh grader; I went to camp Don Bosco for two weeks that summer, the first time I was away from home for so long. It was a fun camp and I guess I got my love for John Bosco there. I think I wanted to have a home for boys as "Little Men" was my favorite book from 4th grade and I almost knew it by heart. 

Tomorrow I will be sharing my 3rd Guided Imagery.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

I am looking at the Collect for today's Mass. It begins, "Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with all our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart." 

I wonder who wrote these Collects, Sometimes I am not sure what they really are saying. 

The first reading is from the Prophet Jeremiah: "The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you....."

The second reading is from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, 12:31-13:13

This is such a well-known passage about love - no matter what other gifts I may have, if I do not have love, I am nothing.

Then we have the Gospel from Luke 4: 21-30 

Jesus is speaking in the synagogue and, at first, the people speak highly of Him. But then they begin to ask "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" Jesus tells them that no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 

Jesus gives examples and the crowd is filled with fury. They drove Jesus out of town and would have tried to kill Him," but Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away."

Take time today to contemplate the picture

 "May the angels of light glisten for us this day.

May the sparks of God's beauty dance in the eyes of those we love.

May the universe be on fire with Presence for us this day.

May the new sun's rising grace us with gratitude.

Let the earth's greenness shine and its waters breathe with the Spirit.

Let the heaven's winds stir the soil of our soul and fresh awakenings rise within us.

May the mighty angels of light glisten in all things this day. 

May they summon us to reverence, may they call us to life."

John Phillip Newell

Take time to contemplate

 My Spirituality Group has been reading "The Impact of God" and so I am also rereading it. I did copy a quote from it to share with you today.

"Contemplation is nothing but a hidden, peaceful, loving inflow of God. If it is given room, it will inflame the spirit with love."

I think it is really important to take time just to sit in silence with God. He is always with us, but we are so distracted sometimes or so busy that we are just not present to be inflamed with love. Think what a difference we make in the world when we are inflamed with God's love!

How do we find peace within ourselves?

 Here is A quote I like from Sister Joan Chittister:

There are some things in life that need to be nourished simply for their own sake. Art is one, music is another, good reading is a third, but the power of the contemplative vision is the greatest of them all.  Only those who come to see the world as God sees the world, only those who see through the eyes of God, ever really see the glory of the world, ever really approach the peaceable kingdom, ever find peace in themselves.

Compassion for Creation

 

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don’t wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

THICH NHAT HANH Waking Up Waking up THEi morning, I smile.  tWENTY-FOUR BRAND NEW HOURS ARE BEFORE ME. i VOW TO LIVE FULLY IN EACH MOMENT aNE TO LOOK AT ALL BEING/ALL CREATION WITH THE EYES OF COMPASSION. tHICH nHAT hANH

Wisdom Figures

 Before I continued with my second Guided Imagery from the retreat, I want to say that I have had real, living Wisdom Figures in my life and some of the saints are also Wisdom Figures for me, but I never had one appear to me. I do think we are all given people of wisdom to help us and I am grateful that one appeared in my Guided Imagery.

I am skipping a bit where I found myself in a snow scene watching some ice-skaters on a pond. Then I found myself in a cabin with a fire in the fireplace and I went to sit on the couch in front of the fire.   This is what I wrote: "I sit on the couch in front of the fire and feel God's love - the Heart of Jesus is on fire with love and now some of that love is burning in me. As I sit contemplating the fire and feeling God's love, a Wisdom figure appears and comes and sits next to me on the couch. She is dressed in a robe and hood. We sit quietly; I am feeling God's love and do not want the music. I try to ignore the music as I do not want to leave the cabin. I want to stay here, and the music says I can't. But my Wisdom figure says, "Just sit here and enjoy the fire.".... The Wisdom figure puts her arm around me and says, "Let God love you!"

I sort of condensed a bit, but it was a real experience of God loving me! I still have a third Guided Imagery to share with you next wee,.

 Today I will begin to share my 2nd Guided Imagery from the retreat, but first, a thought for the day"

The Earth is everywhere. You may be used to thinking of the Earth as only the ground beneath your feet. But the water, the sea, the sky, and everything around us comes from the Earth. Everything outside us and everything inside us comes from the Earth.
—Thich Nhat Hanh

Second Guided Imagery on January 6, 2122:

I am climbing a hill, feeling joy (the scenery is very much like the opening of "The Sound of Music")

as it is a beautiful day with gorgeous scenery, the sun is shining, blue sky - all peaceful and joyful. I do not feel tired. Now I am in the sky, floating on a cloud.

Then I find myself in my Chapel chair in the front of Oakwood's Chapel. The statue of the Infant Jesus is sitting up with arms outstreached. I go and ask if I can hold Him. The Infant nods and becomes a real baby and I am sitting in my chair and holding Him and feeling His Love pouring into me. Every particle of my being is filled with love. His Love fills me and wants to pour out to others, 

Now Jesus is sleeping, and Mary comes and takes the baby and sits next to me. I am still feeling His love pouring into me and want to give it to others. 

That is enough for today. Tomorrow I will write about the cabin and the Wisdom Figure, both still significant images for me.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

 I cannot believe that this is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. I am still in quarantine for at least another ten days, I think. I hope it is not longer. It seems that a couple of my sisters also have the virus and so the whole house is confined to rooms. Since I cannot be in my room in Westwood because we do not have private bathrooms, I was moved to our large guest room in Rosewood. Now I can have my laptop and write this blog. I also will be on the Sunday 90- minute Province zoom I am happy about that and will also be able to set up zooms for next week.

Now, to look at today's liturgy. We ask in the Collect that we may abound in good works.

The first reading is from the Book of Nehemiah where Ezra read the law to all the people from daybreak till midday. It seems that they listened attentively. At the end, Ezra said to all the people: "Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep". He also told them to "Go eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength."

I love that line about rejoicing in the Lord must be our strength. 

The Responsorial Psalm: "Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life."

The second reading is from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, 12:12-30 

Paul talks about the body having many parts but are one body.

The Gospel is Luke 1: 1-4, 4:14-21

Here we have Jesus going to the synagogue in Nazareth and reading the passage: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor...

Vacation is necessary as I am in isolation

 I need to take a few days off from the blog as I am in isolation in a tiny guest room and I am just wiped out. I will be back as soon as possible. 

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others.

PEMA CHODRON

Have you read "The Impact of God" by Iain Matthews lately?

 

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.The Impact

Because I lent a copy of The Impact of God: Soundings from St. John of the Cross by Iain Matthew to one of my spirituality group, all of these wonderful women now have bought the book and are reading it. It is a powerful book and I am happy to be discussing it again with them. We are also talking about how we can participate in the synod through our parishes and how to get others involved.

Martin Luther King Day

Since I am quarantined with COVID, I may not be able to write this week. I hope I can, but may not be able to return to my room and there is no way I can use electronics and charge them in my tiny guest room. I will be on the blog when I can. Enjoy the day.