Just a simple blog of a Secular Franciscan trying to live with a Franciscan focus. (And one of these days I'll fix the template and add a Search feature. :-P)
I finished this a couple days ago, and I highly recommend it! Well-written, even-handed, tons of endnotes -- which add greatly to the book! -- and a substantial bibliography. It's a fascinating, sobering, compelling, and hope-inspiring read, all jammed into a short 157 pages (that includes the endnotes and bibliography).
The biggest takeaways for me -- none of which are new, simply restated in a thunks-ya-deep-in-the-heart way -- are:
1) Clear reminder of how God's mercy is limitless, and how Our Lady and Joseph are always there for us. Stories were mentioned of dying folks being saved in their last moments through "insight and repentance", even after leading deplorable lives.
I especially loved this account of a man's particular judgment, which he told to his daughter when he was permitted to appear to her to beg for her prayers:
"He then disclosed that on leaving this world he had seen the infinite majesty of God, the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ, and the Blessed Virgin Mary and that this vision had left him in a continually increasing and most ardent yearning to see them again. He also told [his daughter] that St. Joseph was present at his judgment, and that he had since repeatedly visited purgatory in company of the Blessed Virgin to console him, and that he often saw his guardian angel, who came to comfort him." (p. 132)
3) Do not assume that everyone who dies zips straight to heaven. Sure, you can hope that they do, but pray like heck for them, anyway, because chances are really good that they're in Purgatory and they desperately need and want your prayers. Frankly, we've done a piss-poor job of remembering to pray and sacrifice for the Holy Souls (myself included), who depend on us for relief and assistance.
There's an account (pages 128-134) of a father appearing to one of his daughters to ask for her prayers because of his purgatorial sufferings. His other children didn't bother praying for him because they all assumed he was in heaven, and she alone was his only source of help. And it's not like this was a "bad" man. He'd been devoted to Our Lady, in whose honor he received the sacraments on all her feasts, and was exceedingly charitable -- not sparing any expense to help those in need. He'd even gone begging door to door to help the Little Sisters of the Poor establish a home. Yet, he was in Purgatory: "I suffer for my continual impatience, and for faults which I cannot mention." (p. 128)
If you've been wondering about whether or not it's worth the time to read this, it is. Check it out from your library or get a copy!
Note: I didn't receive any kind of compensation for this review, nor was I asked to review it by anyone. I simply read this book and wanted to share it. :-)
For ages, I've been trying -- and failing -- to remember to regularly pray the Morning Offering, and such failure has annoyed the heck outta me. Along with that, there are a bunch of other splendid prayers that I like, but they're scattered throughout the various prayer books/booklets and holy cards we've got. (There's a great Act of Confidence in Booklet A, don't forget that short-and-sweet intercession for the Holy Souls in Book C, and wasn't there a lovely Memorare on Holy Card #2,342 ...?)
Finally, I got fed up with the forgetting and bouncing around, and figured There Had To Be A Better Way. After a bit of pondering, I decided to plow through all those sources (!) and compile the ones I wanna pray each morning and evening (after Lauds/Vespers) on one sheet of paper, with morning prayers on one side and evening on the other.
It took a whole day of flipping, side-by-side scrutinizing, analyzing, tweaking a few phrases here 'n' there so stuff was more to my liking (this is for personal prayer, after all), and forcing Husband Mike to proofread everything, but I finally mashed together my collection of daily prayers, and I'm pleased with the results. Here's what I chose:
Morning Prayers
Morning Offering Tweaked to include praying for the Franciscan Order.
Guardian Angel
St. Michael
Act of Consecration to the Holy Family
To Mary for the Prevention of One Mortal Sin
For Priests
To Joseph for the Church and Pope
To Joseph for the Dying
Through Mary for the Holy Souls
Trisagion I used the one from the Divine Mercy Chaplet: "Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us, and on the whole world."
Hail Mary and Joseph I wrote this years ago: "Hail Mary, full of grace. Hail Joseph, son of David. Blessed art thou among all people, and blessed is thy Divine Son, Jesus. Holy Spouses, beloved of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
Bitty Litany of Fave Saints Mine is: "Saints Francis and Clare, pray for us. Saints Anthony, Faustina, Francis de Sales, Ignatius of Loyola, Josemaría Escrivá, Max Kolbe, Padre Pio, and Thérèse of Lisieux, pray for us. Amen."
Evening Prayers
Evening Prayer
Examination of Conscience
Act of Contrition
Act of Confidence in the Holy Family
To Joseph for Personal Intentions
Memorare to the Holy Family
To Mary for the Prevention of One Mortal Sin
Protection During the Night
To Joseph for the Dying
Through Mary for the Holy Souls
Trisagion
To the Holy Family for a Happy Death
Hail Mary and Joseph
Bitty Litany of Fave Saints
I printed them on one half of an 8.5 x 11-inch sheet of paper, then laminated it at the local office supply store. Since I only needed half a sheet, I duplicated (with minor modifications, such as fave saints) the prayers for Husband Mike on the other half. We've got them within easy reach on our respective nightstands.
Here's The Bloop modeling the finished result:
And here's a closeup of the morning prayers:
I'm happy to report that the sheet is working splendidly. It's easy and convenient to grab the sucker and simply focus on the prayers themselves, rather than wonder what I'm forgetting, and where everything is located. And because I plopped a reminder in the evening prayers to do an Examination of Conscience, I'm doing a much better job of keeping on top of that, rather than letting it slide until just before Confession.
So, what about you? Outside of the Liturgy of the Hours, what prayers do you pray daily? What method do you use to remember to pray them?
Tired of seeing folks sharing articles/blog posts/tweets/whatevs in which the authors oh-so-smugly climb atop mountains and sneeringly look down at those people.
Tired of hearing self-styled Group X'ers belittling Group Y'ers, chortling among themselves about how stupid/intolerant/petty/slothful/subpar those Group X/Y'ers are, and if they had any smackerel of sense, they'd do us all a favor and stop breathing. Or reproducing. Or at the very least, talking.
Tired of dealing with folks who scream "TOLERANCE!!!" ... but only for those whose worldviews/morals/nail polish sync up with what they deem tolerable. (See also, "Any color, as long as it's black".)
Tired of people claiming they're just being "straightforward" and "direct", when in reality, they're rude, insulting, and bristling with animosity.
Here's a thought.
Instead of indulging ourselves in those moments when we're tempted to feel ...
... morally superior ...
("I'm sooo much more compassionate and open-minded than those people. If they'd just STFU, we'd have a utopia.")
... spiritually superior ...
("I talk to God nonstop every day and can recite the entire Bible from memory and I know for sure that Jesus was a democrat/republican/cattle rancher/vegan, because how could he possibly be anything but one?")
... physically superior ...
("I bench pressed 75 lbs. today, ran 10 miles, and have an optimal BMI, whereas you're a gigumbous bowl of flab who can barely lift a forkful of slop without wheezing. And you're ugly.")
... intellectually superior ...
("I know soooo much more about Topic X than you do, you stupid rube. You don't have any clue what you're talking about. Let me enumerate the ways in which you're a living FAIL.")
...and emotionally superior ...
("I'm way more in tune with the emotions of everyone and everything around me, including plants, and I have more empathy in my left nostril than all of you Group Y'ers combined!")
... we stop, grab hold of those feelings of superiority, and bash 'em against the rocks until they're good 'n' pulverized.
And then we pray, "Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Well, here we are. After lotsa fun giving thanks, we've reached the end of my week full of Thankful Thursdays! Yes, it's ...
Thankful (Thurs)DAY #7:
Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are:
1) The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order. God knew that, left to my own devices, I'd quickly devolve into a big amoebic blob of spiritual schlepitude, so He gave me my Franciscan vocation. Which quite helpfully comes with a Rule of life, keeping me from getting lost on the journey. (And boxing me about the ears as needed. Which is, to say, a lot.)
What the Rule means to me is best described this way: In the Little House on the Prairie book series, there's a scene in Little House in the Big Woods where Laura talks about a horrifically nasty blizzard and how, to ensure they don't get lost in the snow when going from the house and barn, they string a lifeline between the two buildings. As long as they hang onto the line, they'll make it safely to their destination. Let go, and it's highly likely they'll lose their way in the blinding snow and wander off to their deaths. The Rule is my lifeline, and as long as I hold on, I have hope that I'll safely make it to our "ultimate encounter with the Father". (Art. 19)
2) All 10 toes in working order. They're not much to look at, and in fact, I don't like looking at ANYone's toes, no matter how prettified. ::shudder:: But, you can't deny their usefulness. Thanks to those tiny packages of tendons, bones, joints, nerves, and muscles, I can stand, walk, run, jump, skip, tiptoe, and even pirouette. (Yeah, so that last one ain't that likely.) They've helped me stay steady on rocking boats, test the temperature in pools, reeeeaaaach up to that annoyingly high top shelf in the linen closet (though I can never quite make it), and proactively smack a smooch on Husband Mike. They're also handy for when you wanna pick up a pencil on the floor without stooping down. Go, toes!
3) The revised English translation of the Roman Missal. Now with MORE AWESOME! (Literally.) After all this waiting, we can finally revel in saying stuff like, "And with your spirit", "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault" (my fave), and "consubstantial with the Father". Sure, we bumbled along at today's Mass, and a sizable chunk of folks never even bothered to look at the reference cards, resulting in a jarring cacophony of the old text and revised text. But, still. Change takes time, and we'll get there eventually. It's worth the effort, because these updates are like a turbocharged set of toes, helping us to reeeeaaaach up higher than before.
Your turn! What 3 things are you thankful for today? :-D
Aaaand we're in the home stretch of a week's worth of Thankful Thursdays!
Thankful (Thurs)DAY #6:
Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are:
1) Indoor plumbing, with hot water. OK, so mebbe that technically counts as two, but whatever. :-P I love how, no matter the time of day, I can step into the shower and summon a steady stream of (clean!) warm water. And it all tidily disappears down the drain! No lugging stuff from a stream, no building a fire over which to boil the water ... just turn a knob, and bam! Toasty warm watery goodness. Bonus: No icky parasites.
If you're also glad to have access to clean, safe water and want to ensure others do, too, check out DigDeep.
2) The vast profusion of fonts available online. Tons of which are free! Pretty fonts, scary fonts, heart-riddled fonts, Star Wars fonts, fonts that look like leaves ... and that's not even counting dingbats! I tell ya, fontophiles never had it so good. And no, I will not say how many I currently have installed. That's a rude question. :-P
1) Eggnog. Also known as nectar of the gods and ambrosia. Husband Mike brought home a whole bottle of the good stuff. Woohoo!
2) A nice, long holiday weekend. Sleeping in, snuggling with the cats, watching the glut of Christmas specials that the networks have already started airing while sipping eggnog ... :-)
3) Having a home. Yep, having a nice, warm, comfy place in which to sip eggnog is pretty sweet.
Your turn! What 3 things are you thankful for today? :-D
Turkey from Google's 2011 turkey doodle generator. :-)
Woohoo! Thanksgiving Day is here, and that brings us to ...
Thankful (Thurs)DAY #4: Thanksgiving Edition!
Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are:
1) My dad-in-law's Frickin' Fantastic Gravy™. My sis-in-law and I most look forward to this singular aspect of Thanksgiving dinner. We joke (though only partially) that all the other food -- the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing -- is simply there to provide a Gravy Delivery Mechanism. Mmmm, turkey gravy ... ::drooling::
2) My folks-in-law. My mom- and dad-in-law are splendid folks, and they produced some pretty fine kids, too. ;-) Way back when Husband Mike was Boyfriend Mike, I spent my first holiday (Christmas) with his family, and that's when I learned that family gatherings can actually be an enjoyable experience. Coming from a crapulent home life and childhood, that was quite a revelation.
3) All 5 senses in (pretty much*) working order. It sure would be lousy if I couldn't taste that turkey gravy, and those other 4 senses are pretty handy, too.
Your turn! What 3 things are you thankful for today? :-D
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* Thanks to the perpetually-inflamed? -clogged? -whatever? sinuses in my nose's left side, smell is somewhat diminished.
Oyez, oyez, oyez! It's time to get yer gratitude on with ...
Thankful (Thurs)DAY #3
Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are:
1) Life with cats. Even when they're walking all over us in the morning because "ZOMG I'm wasting away from hunger and if I'm not fed right now I'll expire so get up and get out the noms and WHY ARE YOU STILL LYING THERE?!", life with kittehs is sweet. And good for you. I mean, really, how can you look at a scene like this and not have your blood pressure go down?
2) Quotes from the saints. No matter the situation or topic, there are, oh, a bajillion* o' these babies that we can turn to for humor, meditation, inspiration, prayer, instruction, illumination, and just a plain ol' arse-kickin' (see the top graphic for a great example o' that). And thanks to calendars, daily planners, holy cards, anthologies, smart phone apps, Facebook pages, you name it, those quotes are easily available and save-able. For example, in my cube at work, I'm surrounded by the following:
Weekly quote for 20-26 November in my planner:
"Give praise to the Creator for all that you find beautiful: the earth, the sea, the sky, the springs and the rivers. See with your bodily eyes the light that shines on earth, but embrace with your whole soul and all your affections the true light, Our Lord Jesus Christ." Pope St. Leo the Great.
Randomly-picked quote from my Franciscan quote-a-day flip calendar:
"God, and only God, is infinite, most wise, most holy, a most loving Lord, our father and creator, our beginning and end, our wisdom, power and love -- God is our all." St. Maximilian Kolbe
On a slip of paper taped to my primary computer monitor:
"Let us begin again, for until now we have done nothing." St. Francis
On a slightly bigger piece of paper stuck to an overhead storage shelf:
"There is nothing which edifies others so much as charity and kindness, by which, as by the oil in our lamp, the flame of good example is kept alive." St. Francis de Sales
3) That typing class I took in high school. No question, that was the most useful class I took, enabling me to crank out short stories, college papers, articles, press releases, annual reports, letters, design specs, user documentation, this blog post ... I prolly spend more time each day clickin' away on a keyboard** than anything else. And that one class made it all possible.
Your turn! What 3 things are you thankful for today? :-D
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* Actual technical term. :-P
** For my job as a paragraph farmer. Gotta keep the kittehs in kibble.
1) Comfy jammies. Being able to putter around in soft, comfy pajama bottoms paired with cute tops like these are instant mood-bosters. Especially on the days I'm telecommuting. Which brings me to ...
2) The ability to telecommute. An exceedingly nice perk! Plus, on work-from-home days, The B =^..^= "helps" by being my editor. (He objects to the use of quotes around "helps".)
3) Being able to listen online to Classical Minnesota Public Radio. It's one of the better classical music stations, and being able to tune in while I'm working is a gigumbous source of comfort, joy, consolation, fun, and productivity-boostin', as well as a way to learn about composers and pieces I hadn't known about. It's thanks to them that I discovered Conni Ellisor's magificient Blackberry Winter, and their Top Score program -- in which they interview composers about their experiences writing for video games (!!) -- is dang spiffy.
Your turn! What 3 things are you thankful for today? :-D
One of the things I enjoy doing every week is playing Thankful Thursday*, in which every Thursday, folks share three specific things for which they're thankful. Since in the U.S. we're celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday, I thought it'd be fun to stretch it out to a week full of Thankful Thursdays! Hope you'll play along!
Thankful (Thurs)DAY #1
Today, the 3 things I'm thankful for are:
1) Our bishops.All of them. Whether they're good or bad or piddling, the fact remains: They were consecrated specifically for our benefit. So, instead of grumbling or complaining about them, let's instead give thanks for our shepherds and keep them in our daily prayers.
2) The goodness in every person.** Yes, there are folks suffering from psychopathy and misanthropy. That's not my point. I'm talking here about your average, not-severely-mentally-ill person. I love how people generally want to do the right thing and help others and the world around them. We may disagree about the best ways in which to do that and may even be at loggerheads, but still -- the motivations are to do good. And those motivations take such an amazing array of forms! Folks have organized to foster access to clean, safe water worldwide, promote humane coexistence with critters, and help traumatized children through the power of play. And of course, the myriad of pro-life groups that work to protect the dignity of all human life, from fertilization to natural death.
3) Farmers. Without them, we'd have severely, way-the-heck limited eats. This is not to ignore the problems of agribusiness, GMOs, and pesticides. This is simply being grateful that folks are out there growing food for us to eat.
Your turn! What 3 things are you thankful for today? Feel free to be as concise or as verbose as you like!
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* I do this in Google+, and send out tweets that point folks to those G+ posts.
** "Mindful that they are bearers of peace which must be built up unceasingly, [Secular Franciscans] should seek out ways of unity and fraternal harmony through dialogue, trusting in the presence of the divine seed in everyone and in the transforming power of love and pardon." (Article 19, Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order)
"As the Father sees in every person the features of his Son, the firstborn of many brothers and sisters, so the Secular Franciscans with a gentle and courteous spirit accept all people as a gift of the Lord and an image of Christ." (Article 13, SFO Rule)
"Messengers of perfect joy in every circumstance,* [Secular Franciscans] should strive to bring joy and hope to others." (Article 19, SFO Rule)
Have you noticed how downright argumentative, cranky, pissy, sanctimonious, and snarky folks can be -- this includes Catholics -- online (and off)? And over the dumbest, slightest things as well as the big stuff? Doesn't seem to me that behaving that way will foster "a more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively." (Art. 14) Before you start wavin' and hollerin', I'm totally including myself in in this indictment -- as an Über-Emotional Mushball,** I am way too easily prone to that kind of crapulence. So, I've got to work extra-hard to overcome it.
Enter Articles 13 & 19.
I figure if I can consistently treat others gently and courteously, and bring folks joy and hope, I can 1) however smallishly, offset the above snarky milieu, and 2) fight it in myself, which -- bonus! -- leads to 3) more effectively living out the other 24 articles of the Rule.***
I figure that's a win all 'round.
So, what about you? How do you bring joy and hope to others?
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* Every circumstance? Every? O_o No wiggle room there. But then, there's no wiggle room in the Gospel, so I really shouldn't expect any in our Rule.
** Just ask Husband Mike. Poor, poor Husband Mike. (He does have the presence of mind to offer it up, so at least the Holy Souls in Purgatory get a win out of my Emotional Mushballitude.)
When I started playing around with social networking sites/services in 2007, I asked myself: 1) what exactly I hoped to accomplish, and 2) what my rules of conduct were. I never really formalized those beyond the nebulous "share and grow in the faith" and "be yourself".
But, after reading post after discussion after tweet from others about How To Behave Online, Things You Must And Mustn't Do Online, and Why Did I Put That Snarky Person In My G+ Circle, Anyway?, I thought it might be a good exercise to spell out my answers ... and it might be helpful to others who come across me in the social networking playground to better figure out if a) I'm someone they'd like to chat with, or b) these aren't the droids they're looking for; move along.
So, here's my Social Networking Mission Statement and my Personal Code o' Conduct. (Keep to the code!)
My Social Networking Mission Statement*
My purpose in playing around with my blog and on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, et cetera is to share with and support other joyful, faithful Catholics** on our pilgrimage. This means:
I WILL also share whatever else tickles my funny bone, deserves attention, catches my eye, demands action, or makes me all a-swoonified. So, expect to see LOLcats, music clips, pro-life and -family action alerts, and coffee paeans in the mix. (We're Catholic after all, and that covers everything.)
I WILL NOT engage in pissing contests with non-Catholics or atheists/agnostics/whatever. I'm a Franciscan -- that's what Dominicans are for. ;-P (Just kidding!)
I WILL NOT do the same with Catholics who have issues with or dissent from the Church's Magisterium/hierarchy/liturgical practices/hairstyles/whatever. ("I'm Catholic, but ...") Think the Chair of Peter has been empty since Vatican II and that Real Catholic Women™ Wear Veils And Skirts, Even While Swimming, But Real Real Catholic Women™ Wouldn't Even Contemplate Swimming? Or think Vatican II "brought a new church into being!!" and we should reconsider the sacraments (and hey, let's add a few more while we're at it)? Not my jam.
My Personal Code of Conduct
I AM the same Lisa online that I am offline, and vice versa. What you see is what you get. (And yes, I do talk the same way in person as I do online.) While I know some folks use the Internet as an escape from reality and pretend to be someone else, that ain't me. (It's also a sin.)
I USE my online interactions as a way to grow in charity, kindness, optimism, and patience, and seek out those who do likewise. Of course, I occasionally dork things up and get cranky or toss out a snark or speak curtly. My goal is to be mindful so that I can keep that crapulence to a minimum.
I AVOID others who more often than not snark, snipe, crab, rain on parades, mock or belittle others, or conduct themselves with arrogance. (It's especially sad when fellow Catholics do that.) As the cowboys say, "If you sit in a pile of manure long enough, you're gonna start smellin' like it." I've trouble enough shoveling out my self-made manure pile, thanks -- I don't need more piled on from others.
So, that's my mission statement and code o' conduct. What are yours?
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* I know, "mission statement" is an overused catchphrase that's a millimeter above "synergy" on the Bleargh-O-Meter, but, well ... it worked.
** While my primary goal is to hang out with other Catholics, if you're a kind, respectful non-Catholic, I'll happily chat with you, too! :-D
With All Saints Day coming up in a few weeks on 1 Nov. (and All Saints of the Franciscan Order on the 5th), I thought it'd be fun to share my absolute fave saints -- my Saintly Circle, in Google+ parlance, if you will -- and a little bit as to why I like them.
There are loads more saints that I love, like St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominic, and St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort to name a few. But if I included all of them, you'd nod off and start drooling on your keyboard, and drool + keyboard = possible electrocution. So, in the interest of public safety, I present My Top 10 Saints.
1 & 2. Joseph and Mary
These two pretty much go without sayin', but ... I'm saying 'em anyway. :-) For Joseph, how can you not admire someone who answers to "Terror of Demons"? And Mary's the Mother of God. 'Nuff said.
3. St. Francis of Assisi
Bein' that I'm a Franciscan, this should also go without saying. One of the things I love best about Francis Bernardone was his wholehearted embrace of living the Gospel sine glossa, "without gloss". Sadly, in our time, he's become sissified into a Birkenstock-clad, Tree-huggin' Birdman. But in reality, Francis was as tough as nails and took a no-holds-barred approach to sin.
"See, you who are blind, deceived by your enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil, for it is pleasant to the body to commit sin and it is bitter to make it serve God because all vices and sins come out and 'proceed from the heart of man' as the Lord says in the Gospel. And you have nothing in this world and in the next, and you thought you would possess the vanities of this world for a long time."[1]
That sound like a nambly-pambly "anything goes" guy? Didn't think so.
The other half of the Franciscan Wonder Twins. (Franciscan powers, activate! Form of ... a Tau!)
No, she's not a biological twin of Francis, but Clare Offreduccio is Francis' arse-kicking spiritual twin. Born of nobility, she was inspired by Francis' example of uncompromising Gospel living and left it all behind to do the same. She eventually came to found the Poor Clares, the Second Order in the overall Franciscan Order.
Even though she was of frail health, Clare twice saved San Damiano and her sisters from invaders: In 1240, she repelled hordes of Saracen mercenaries by holding aloft the Eucharist while praying for her sisters and the city of Assisi. She did it again in 1241 against the troops of Vitalis d'Aversa. Don't mess with Mama Clare.
Named the "Apostle of Divine Mercy", Sister Mary Faustina Kowalska was graced with numerous visions of Christ Himself, in which He instructed her to make widely known the depths of His mercy to an aching and broken world. She heroically lived her life with childlike simplicity and trust in God, and faithfully obeyed God, her spiritual director, and superiors in all things.
Because of her obedience, we have the magnificent Divine Mercy devotions, such as the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Divine Mercy image, and more. Faustina said nothing new -- the Lord has always been a Lord of mercy -- she simply reminded us of God's unfathomable mercy and communicated deeper ways of contemplating it.
Plain-spoken, direct, and full of compassion for the average schmoe striving for sanctity, St. Francis wrote -- among others -- An Introduction to the Devout Life, which I find enormously helpful and inspiring in its practical advice. With a complete collection of his writing/sayings spread in front of you, ya could close your eyes, randomly plop your finger down, and find a gem. Ev'ry time. For example:
"A spirit of mockery is one of the worst imperfections of the mind, and displeases God greatly, so that He has often punished it most severely. Nothing is more hurtful to charity, and still more to devotion, than contempt and derision of our neighbor, and such is inevitably found in mockery."[2]
Bam! (And ouch -- it's so easy to fall into mockery, isn't it?)
I absolutely adore Ignatius' vivid imagination, and his advice on how to use our own imaginations while praying, as well as in everyday situations, like eating:
"While one is eating, let him imagine he sees Christ our Lord and His disciples at table, and consider how He eats and drinks, how He looks, how He speaks, and then strive to imitate Him. In this way, his mind will be occupied principally with our Lord, and less with the provision for the body. Thus he will come to greater harmony and order in the way he ought to conduct himself."[3]
Every time I read anything of his, it's like being doinked upside the head by Moe of the Three Stooges. Not that I'm sayin' Josemaría is a stooge, just that he has a way of walloping ya back in line. Such as:
"Don't succumb to that disease of character whose symptoms are inconstancy in everything, thoughtlessness in action and speech scatter-brained ideas: superficiality, in short.
"Mark this well: unless you react in time -- not tomorrow: now! -- that superficiality which each day leads you to form those empty plans (plans 'so full of emptiness') will make of your life a dead and useless puppet."[4]
Not only am I inspired by his firm devotion to Our Lady, but his heroic self-sacrifice never ceases to humble and amaze me:
"In 1941, the Nazis imprisoned Father Maximilian in the Auschwitz death camp. There he offered his life for another prisoner and was condemned to slow death in a starvation bunker. On August 14, 1941, his impatient captors ended his life with a fatal injection."[5]
Because of this, I think of him as "Iron Max" -- it truly takes a will of iron to offer up your own life for another ... just like Our Lord.
There's so much to love about Padre Pio Forgione of Pietrelcina! His cheerful good humor! All the miracles attributed to his intercession! And oh, those zingers! My two faves are:
"Bring me my weapon!" (When asking for his Rosary.)
"Pray, hope, and don't worry." (I say this to myself on a regular basis.)
And when folks talk about being humble even in the face of false accusations, he's always invoked as a prime example of patient endurance.
"Concerning Those Who Do Not Do Penance", from "Prologue: Exhortation of St. Francis to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance" in the SFO Rule. The "Brothers and Sisters of Penance" is what the Secular Franciscan Order was originally named. So, this is an exhortation from St. Francis directly to all Secular Franciscans, in all ages. Booyah!
Part Third, Chapter 27: "Modesty in Conversation, and Becoming Reverence", from An Introduction to the Devout Life.
Pooped doesn't even come close to describe how I feel after today. My Secular Franciscan fraternity held a Day of Recollection for the first time since 2004, and it was the first time I took part in coordinating such an event. I'm told it was a great day. But even though the thing ended hours ago, I'm still a limp rag from the can o' whupass that Murphy's Law opened on me.
THE PLAN.
9:15 a.m.: Mass
9:45 a.m.: Coffee, doughnuts, and socializin' (Hey, we're Franciscans. What did you expect?)
10:15 a.m.: Start of the presentation in three sessions, broken up by breaks and lunch (noon), and ending with Vespers at 2:15 p.m.
THE REALITY.
Hiccup The First: One of our sisters -- let's call her Sister Sacristan -- is a parishioner and sacristan at the parish where we held the event. We don't normally hold our gatherings there, but were able to reserve the chapel and social hall thanks to her. In her role as sacristan, she was in charge of preparing the chapel for Mass. But, she was initially locked out of the sacristy.
Hiccup The Second: Yesterday, I remembered that hey, it'd be helpful if we had our nametags at the event, especially since we'd opened it up to other Secular Franciscans outside our fraternity. I called our fraternity's secretary and left a voicemail asking if he could bring 'em. When he arrived, I asked about the nametags. Oh, yeah, he'd seen that he had voicemail yesterday, but ... didn't listen to the messages. So, no nametags.
Hiccup The Third: In the promotional flyer that I designed 'n' distributed for this shindig, I goofed and mistyped the parish's street address. (!!) Nobody caught the typo, even after repeated rounds of proofreading. Thankfully, everyone managed to get there just fine, and even early, but still. Our spiritual assistant had a bit of a freak-out worrying over whether or not our speaker would find his way there. (He did. And he didn't even notice the typo.)
Hiccup The Fourth: While our speaker, an OFM Conv. friar priest, brought his own laptop and projector, he only brought one extension cord. He needed two. Oh, Sister Sacristan! Can you help us find another power cord? Thank God, she did.
Hiccup The Fifth: As we were setting up Father's A/V equipment and encountering technical problems (more on that in a sec) the following conversation ensued:
Father: "Well, hey, we might as well tell folks they can start eating breakfast while we're wrestling with this stuff." Me: "Um, we can't eat now because we're having Mass in a few minutes." Father: "Oh, we're having Mass? Who's saying Mass?" Me:::panicked:: "You are, Father." Father:::blank stare:: "Me?" ::lightbulb:: "Oh! Right! I forgot all about that! I didn't bring any vestments. Do they have vestments that I can use?" (Oh, Sister Sacristan!! Yes, they had tons of vestments and he looked smashing.)
We decided to leave off fiddling with the pokey equipment and prepare for Mass. At this point, my sense of time curled up into the fetal position and began sucking its thumb. So, I don't remember if we started Mass on time or not. I think we did. Don't quote me on that.
Hiccup The Sixth: After Mass, we resumed wrestling with Father's hellspawn A/V equipment while everyone else happily nommed doughnuts. No matter what we tried, we couldn't get the projector to display Father's presentation. We checked, rechecked, called another friar priest in Las Vegas who Father thought could help, and checked again the connections, the laptop display settings ... everything.
Finally, I and the only other tech-savvy person in the room (it wasn't Father) could only conclude that the projector, which dated back to the Pleistocene era, was just too old to work with Father's laptop. (He'd never tried to use the two together before.) This meant Father either had to: a) give his talk sans projected slides behind him (he did NOT like that option), or b) we had to magically conjure up another projector.
Oh, Sister Sacristan!! We know when we asked you before Mass if there was a projector here that we could use, you said the only one was locked up in the school. Is there ANYone here who could let us into the school?
Well, normally nobody associated with the school was there on Saturday, but she went to look in the parking lot on the off chance that ... Hey! There's the principal's car! Out she went.
After a few minutes, Sister Sacristan returned with the school principal, who was carrying ... a projector!!
We hurriedly connected it to the laptop, held our collective breath, and ... it worked! A cheer arose from our coffee-swilling brothers and sisters, and I bear-hugged the principal. (I'm praying tonight's Rosary for her -- and Sister Sacristan's -- intentions, I'll have ya know.)
At last, around 10:45 (30 minutes late), we Finally Began The $%^@! Presentation. Thanks to Father's condensing and fast-talking in spots -- and us ditching all breaks save lunch -- we managed to end at 2:15 as originally planned. Woohoo! So, all we had left was to pray Vespers ...
Hiccup De Grâce: Remember the flyer I mentioned earlier? In there, it clearly said, "Bring your copy of the Liturgy of the Hours". Our spiritual assistant got up to lead Vespers and asked, "So, did you all remember to bring your breviaries?"
Everyone: ::blink, blink:: "No, we didn't know we were supposed to bring our breviaries." Me: (Thinking) Son of a ... ! We frickin' SPELLED THAT OUT IN THE DAMN FLYERS!! Spiritual Assistant: "Well, we did say to bring your breviaries in the flyers, but no matter, we'll just pray something else."
So we prayed an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, after which Father blessed and dismissed us.
Amen.
- - - - - Postscript: At The Very End, I thanked folks for bringing stuff for the potluck lunch, and reminded everyone to take home whatever they'd brought ... yeah, I think you can fill in the rest at this point. Anyone need a half-used case of bottled water?
During my Secular Franciscan fraternity gathering [the other] night, our spiritual assistant was discussing Article 19 of our Holy Rule, which ends: "Since they are immersed in the resurrection of Christ, which gives true meaning to Sister Death, let them serenely tend toward the ultimate encounter with the Father." However, I misheard him and did a double-take when I thought he said, "... let them screamingly tend ..." :-P
That mishearing has, of course, permanently lodged itself in my noggin', and now whenever I think of Article 19, I'm unable to shake this image (click for larger):
For any Secular Franciscans who may've stumbled across this: You're welcome. :-P
My beloved old Winnie the Pooh travel mug (don't judge me) -- which had faithfully conducted Tasty Caffeinated Beverages to my innards for years -- went on the lam last month. Which wasn't as tragic as it sounds, considering it was making Ominous Mystery Swishing Sounds when empty, suggesting some sort of hole in the insulation and therefore tossage was imminent, anyway.
But still. No Tasty Caffinated Beverage Delivery Mechanism (especially during meetings!) = Sad Lisa. And lots of urgent Starbucks trips. Enter a fruitless search for a replacement. No good Pooh mugs to be found ... unless I wanted a sippy cup, which would've at least livened up said meetings.
Perhaps something Catholicy? Offerings were either painfully schlocky (written by Jack Handey and designed by Clippy using Microsoft WordArt mashups) or good designs only available on standard mugs.
After continually comin' up goose eggs (hah!), I finally gave up and crafted my own goosey design and produced it via CafePress. The sucker arrived today, and I'm pleased. Nice, solid feel, with bright, crisp colors. And hopefully, there'll be no Ominous Swish Of Death with this'un down the road.
For your viewing enjoyment, here's our Resident Starlet, The Bloop (The B's =^..^= kid sister), modeling the mug (click for larger image):
I hadn't played around in Blogger since they switched to their fancy new interface/settings until today, when I attempted to update an older post*. Once I did that, my whole custom blog template went blooey! It's displaying something I never selected, and it's not letting me revert to my original template! So, please bear with me while I attempt to get things back in order. This could take awhile ...
UPDATE: I was able to revert back to my custom template (w00t!) after much poking around. The only thing I can't figure out is why my favicon isn't showing up (in Chrome, at least). Will have to keep looking into that'un.
Also, while I was poking around, Blogger kept crabbing at me that I wasn't using properly-formed code in my old template, which has got me stumped. I've always made an effort to do so, and my HTML editor didn't catch anything.
So, this whole ordeal has made me consider chuckin' it all and switching to a new look/template in the future ... Hmmm.
One of my Secular Franciscan sisters has a devotion to St. Anthony, and so I decided to make chaplet for her. I actually didn't know if such a chaplet existed beforehand, but figured I'd do a search and lo! It does indeed! Thank you, Interwebs! So I figured I'd share back with the Interwebs. Here's a picture of the chaplet I recently knotted up, along with information on how to pray it.
Make It!
I made this with solid brown twine, and finished it with a spiffy St. Anthony medal. As for the amount of twine used, it was about 3/4ths needed for a standard 5-decade Rosary (19-1/2 to 20 feet), which works out to about 15 feet.
Pray It!
At the start of each set of beads, announce and meditate on the following petitions. Then, on each bead recite the following:
1st Bead: One "Our Father"
2nd Bead: One "Hail Mary"
3rd Bead: One "Glory Be"
Petitions:
St. Anthony, who raised the dead, pray for those Christians now in their agony, and for our dear departed.
St. Anthony, zealous preacher of the Gospel, fortify us against the errors of the enemies of God, and pray for the Holy Father and the Church.
St. Anthony, powerful with the Heart of Jesus, preserve us from the calamities which threaten us on account of our sins.
St. Anthony, who drivest away devils, make us triumph over their snares.
St. Anthony, lily of heavenly purity, purify us from the stains of the soul and preserve our bodies from all dangers.
St. Anthony, healer of the sick, cure our diseases and preserve us in health.
St. Anthony, guide of travelers, bring to safe harbor those who are in danger of perishing and calm the troubled waves of passion which agitate our souls.
St. Anthony, liberator of captives, deliver us from the captivity of evil.
St. Anthony, who restorest to young and old the use of their limbs, obtain for us the perfect use of the senses of our body and the faculties of our soul.
St. Anthony, finder of lost things, help us to find all that we have lost in the spiritual and temporal order.
St. Anthony, protected by Mary, avert the dangers which threaten our body and our soul.
St. Anthony, helper of the poor, help us in our needs and give bread and work to those who ask.
St. Anthony, we thankfully proclaim thy miraculous power, and we beseech thee to protect us all the days of our life.
At the end of the 13 sets of 3 beads, recite the Miraculous Responsory:
If miracles thou fain would see,
lo, error, death, calamity.
The leprous stain, the demon flies,
from beds of pain the sick arise.
The hungry seas forego their prey,
the prisoner’s cruel chains give way;
while palsied limbs and chattels lost,
both young and old recovered boast.
And perils perish, plenty’s hoard,
is heaped on hunger’s famished board;
let those relate who know it well,
let Padua on her patron tell.
The hungry seas forego their prey,
the prisoner’s cruel chains give way;
while palsied limbs and chattels lost,
both young and old recovered boast.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The hungry seas forego their prey,
the prisoner’s cruel chains give way;
while palsied limbs and chattels lost,
both young and old recovered boast.
V. Pray for us, blessed Anthony,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
O God,
let the votive commendation of Blessed Anthony,
Thy Confessor,
be a source of joy to Thy Church,
that she may always be fortified
with spiritual assistance,
and may deserve to possess eternal joy.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Learn More About It!
For further reading, check out the following resources:
Serendipity alert! Some nifty lil' bits led to my finding this delightful post, It's 5:00 Somewhere:
Bit the First:
While browsing around a spiffy Catholic bookstore with a pal this Saturday, I came across The New Revised Jesus, Mary, Joseph Novena Manual. Which I (of course) bought, being the prayer book junkie that I am. (And let's not even talk about holy cards, m'kay?)
Bit the Second:
Thanks to the booklet, not only did I learn about the Confraternity of the Precious Blood (publishers of said booklet), I also discovered the existence of the World Mass Clock, of which there's a bitty picture on page 17. While it's one thing to know, in a nebulous kinda' way, that Mass is being celebrated somehwere around the world, this image (and accompanying prayer) is a helpful heads-up. No, it doesn't provide a precise, "This-Is-EXACTLY-The-Time-When-Mass-Is-Celebrated!!" thingy, but it's a good visual aid, giving folks a basic timeframe for where Mass is being offered at any given time.
Bit the Third:
After wanting to use a larger image for daily reference, today I tweeted a question about where to find a good, World Mass Clock graphic. (Bonus points if the graphic was more current. For example, the one in the booklet lists Persia and Siam instead of Iran and Thailand.)
I got antsy, though, and shortly thereafter searched on "world mass clock" ... which brought me right to the It's 5:00 Somewhere post. Which linked to a nice, big World Mass Clock image. And the post itself just so happened to have been written today.
She had a host of chronic medical and psychological issues that culminated in her being admitted to the hospital at the end of January for breathing problems. A week later, she was transferred to a rehabilitation facility to work on her mobility and respiratory issues.
She was supposed to go home tomorrow.
Twice during her stay in rehab, she was transferred back to the hospital for pneumonia, then intestinal pain. As we were visiting her during the first transfer back, suddenly, the first few bars of Brahms' Lullaby chimed over the PA system. Mom said they played that whenever a baby was born. At first it irritated her, she said, since it was an unexpected sound blast (though gentle) that disturbed her rest. But then she came to appreciate its whimsical heralding of new life and actually got a kick out of it.
When they called us this morning just after 5 a.m. to say she was going back to the hospital yet again, we didn't panic -- been there, done that. This time, she was having shortness of breath, and so the ambulance was on its way to pick her up and take her to the hospital a few blocks away.
An hour later, another call. While in the ambulance, Mom went into cardiac arrest. They started CPR and continued resuscitation attempts at the ER. They were unsuccessful.
...
As we stood over her small, frail body, waiting for the priest to arrive, Brahms' Lullaby gently sounded over the PA system.
"Lullaby, and good night,
in the skies stars are bright.
May the moon's silvery beams,
bring you sweet dreams.
Close your eyes now and rest,
may these hours be blessed.
Till the sky's bright with dawn,
when you wake with a yawn."
(Lyrics based on Brahms' Lullaby, Jewel)
In answer to Marco's question, What are [you] reading??, I thought I'd share my current reads. I have a pernicious habit of consuming books buffet-style in that I rarely plow through just one tome at a time.
So, here's what's on the menu, in alphabetical order by title.
Note: Titles with an asterisk (*) indicate ones we own. We usually just check out stuff from the library -- much cheaper that way! Less clutter, too.
Memorize the Faith! (and Most Anything Else): Using the Methods of the Great Catholic Medieval Memory Masters*
Kevin Vost
Full of awesome. I always struggled to remember bits like the 7 capital sins, the 7 cardinal and theological virtues, the 6 sins against the Holy Spirit, etc. Thanks to this book, even I -- with my mind like a steel colander -- can indeed memorize all this good stuff, and more. Every kid preparing for First Communion or adult for RCIA should have this sucker. My ultimate goal: Memorize all the popes. (Not in the book.)
No Place for God: The Denial of Transcendence in Modern Church Architecture
Moyra Doorly
After reading an interview with Doorly, I decided to give this a look-see. As described in the interview's lead-in, her book provides "a critique and examination of the banality and ugliness that is evident in so many modern Catholic parishes and cathedrals". A bit of a depressing read, especially the wreckovation pics, but it's still well-written and -researched.
We were on vacation last week, and while it wasn't anything grandiose, it was a big ball o' fun. Sipped margaritas while poolside (well, that was just me; Husband Mike doesn't like 'em), nibbled on snacky noms, ate at a place that has The Best Rotisserie Chicken Ev-ar, unwound in a hot tub, slept in, meandered leisurely about ... in other words, we had a faboo time.
"Vacation is meant to provide necessary rest from and rejuvenation for the normal, meaningful, but draining activities of daily life; it is not meant to separate us from God or be [a] pause on our journey towards deeper communion with him. Vacation must never be an excuse to pray less ..."
Oh, sure, we had a wonderful week, but ...
Did I remember to pray daily, during the abundant free time I had?
No.
How about quick check-ins with God through the day?
Um ...
Noon Angelus, at least?
Completely slipped my mind.
So, no Lauds or Vespers, then?
Hey, you try packing the one volume Roman-Franciscan LOTH in an overnight bag! I needed that room for my swimsuit and flip-flops! (Note: I'm terrible about regularly praying the LOTH when not on vacation, so this was a further FAIL on my part.)
On the plus side: On the way to our destination, I did remember to heartily thank God for our being able to afford a vacation, and again remembered to say thanks to Him while floating about in the water. When we passed by a parish during our leisurely meandering, we popped in and prayed a bit before the tabernacle. I also knotted up some Rosaries and a prayer rope. And of course, we didn't miss Mass! (We were back in town by then anyway, but even if we hadn't been, that's what MassTimes.org is for!)
Still, my overall attitude was that of a kid barreling outta the building on the last day of school. Woohoo! See ya when I get back, God! I'll bring ya a snowglobe!
It's frustrating to admit that I'm still treating, to some degree, my relationship with Him as an obligation. And not only that, but one I'm willing to let slip a bit. Doubleplus wrong. ::sigh::
Looking forward to the second part of Father John's article. I've got some summer-school studyin' to do.
I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who needs to use her imagination in prayer and meditation. For me, it's a great focusing aid and helps me ride herd on my strayin' thoughts. As St. Ignatius of Loyola describes it in his Spiritual Exercises:
"Here it is to be noted that, in a visible contemplation or meditation -- as, for instance, when one contemplates Christ our Lord, Who is visible -- the composition will be to see with the sight of the imagination the corporeal place where the thing is found which I want to contemplate. I say the corporeal place, as for instance, a Temple or Mountain where Jesus Christ or Our Lady is found, according to what I want to contemplate." ("First Exercise")
In other words, use your imagination to create as real and vivid an image as possible while contemplating stuff like Jesus teaching in the temple, or Elizabeth greeting Mary. I'm always looking for ways to do this, and I thought I'd share one that I came up with the other day. It was triggered by the following passage in The Blessed Eucharist: Our Greatest Treasure:
"A holy nun who had suffered very much in this life appeared after her death to one of her sisters in religion. She told her that she would willingly return to the world and undergo once more all the pains she had suffered here on earth, provided she could say but one Hail Mary, because by that one prayer, her glory and joy would be increased by one degree for all eternity. (P. Michael a St. Catherine, Lib. III, Tract. 16)" (pp. 95-96)
The author used the anecdote to illustrate his point that, if the blessed in Heaven are willing to do so much for one Hail Mary, what more would they do for one Communion? And I got that, but what really stuck with me was the "one Hail Mary". One Hail Mary ... why don't I pray it more often? There's no reason to limit it to the confines of the Rosary or Angelus. It's such a short, simple prayer, and it's certainly a better thing to have in my head than the usual banal chatter careening about in there. And it's a beautiful way to tell our Blessed Mother how much I love her, which I really should do more often.
So, as I settled into bed that night, I imagined ...
... an endless garden in which there grew all the species and hybrids of roses in existence, whose perfume filled the air. The grass was bright green, the sky was deep blue, and trees of every kind dotted the landscape, as did pools and lakes and flowing rivers of varying sizes. The sun shone brightly, but didn't scorch or blind. Birds called from the trees and water and sky, fish flashed through the streams, and animals played peaceably among the roses.
In the garden's center was a trellis whose size dwarfed the baldacchino in St. Peter's Basilica, with roses climbing, cascading, and sticking out all over. The trellis towered over a large, white marble dais, veined in gold, silver, and bronze. On the dais sat a polished, high-backed cedar bench whose entire surface was carved with roses, animals, birds, and fish. A plush, amethyst cushion covered the seat. The armrests on each side of the bench curved gently inward, giving it a crescent-shaped appearance.
Sitting on the bench were Mary and Joseph -- he, with his right arm around her; she, resting her head on his shoulder. The young couple were dressed in royal splendor -- flowing, gold-embroidered robes and mantles. Mary's dress was ruby, her veil and mantle sapphire. Joseph's robe was emerald and his mantle jasper. The matching embroidery on their clothes was of the Sacred Heart, which was depicted in varying sizes. Both wore gold crowns with the Sacred Heart as points.
Vases and bowls and containers of all shapes, colors, materials, and sizes covered the dais and surrounded the bench, and roses were arranged in all of them. Those roses represented all the Hail Marys I'd prayed throughout my life, but the containers were not full by any means.
I imagined myself as I was as at age 9. I wore a simple, pink dress, and I stood barefoot before the Holy Spouses, holding a long-stemmed red rose. As I prayed a Hail Mary, I presented to Our Lady the rose, which she delightedly accepted. Joseph laughed with joy at her happiness. I prayed another Hail Mary and gave her another rose, which had appeared in my hands. With each Hail Mary, a new rose appeared for me to give, and the rose that Mary had been holding re-appeared in one of the vases and bowls and containers.
As I now pray the Hail Mary, not only do I pray it for the usual reasons, but I seek also to fill the dais to overflowing with roses before I die. Not so much to increase my degree of glory or joy in heaven, but simply to make Mary and Joseph as happy as I can, while I can.
"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying."
(Robert Herrick, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time")
For a version of the Regina Caeli that'll knock yer socks off, look no further. HAPPY EASTER!
Regina Caeli by Marco Frisina
Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia:
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.
Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.
R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.
- - - - -
Queen of heaven rejoice, alleluia:
For He whom thou didst merit to bear, alleluia,
Hath arisen as He said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. Because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.
In Fr. Jay Toborowsky's post, Spy Wednesday, he mentions artistic depictions of Judas at the Last Supper, and that reminded me of something I've done for as long as I can remember when looking at Last Supper images.
Before I can take in the piece as a whole, I Must Find Judas. I can't enjoy it until I do. It's like I'm compelled to play a version of Where's Waldo? every time I see the Last Supper.
I quickly scan through all the apostles, holding my breath until I find him.
Who's missing a halo?
Or sporting a just-sucked-on-lemons countenance?
Or sitting apart from the others?
Or clutching a money-bag?
Then ... a-HA! There he is! OK, now I can take it easy and look at the rest of the piece.
I love Msgr. Charles Pope's post about Confession, which is chock full of responses to common dodges folks employ when it comes to Just Doing It. His reply to the "I don't have a lot of time and am not available to go at the usual time" one made me chuckle out loud:
"Most priests are quite willing to make time to hear confessions at other than usual times. This is one of the essential reasons we were ordained."
Speaking of Confession, that reminds me of an arse-kicking vignette from when I went this weekend (in preparation for Holy Week, which also happens to be what Msgr. Pope recommended):
After I left the confessional and was heading over to do my penance and pray a mite, I saw they'd set up an additional spot for confessions near the tabernacle (where I was going). Obviously, I kept my distance, and then got down to business penance-ing and praying. When done, I looked up in time to see the priest bless and pronounce the words of absolution over a penitent, and ... it was The Most Wonderful Sight To Behold. Right there, in living color, I saw a soul set free from sin. Watching the purple-stoled priest making the sign of the cross over the penitent filled me with joy that God gave us such a life-saving sacrament, and gratitude for that particular priest (and all priests) answering God's call to serve His people.
I wound up staying longer than planned just so I could watch the whole thing again ("Do it again!") with another penitent, feeling for all the world like a giddy toddler watching her father do a magic trick. Only, it wasn't slight-of-hand or shadow-puppetry, it was The Real Deal.
One of the extremely neat bits about this Lent for me is all the serendipitous reading that keeps happening. For example, earlier today, I was thinking about the upcoming Showtime mini-series, The Borgias, and how to respond should anyone bring up the subject and ask, "Look at that filth! How can you possibly be part of an institution that had them in it?!"
"The point is that, if the life, vigor, holiness, and efficacy of the Church depended only upon the virtue of priests and bishops, it would have been dead-on-arrival, not surviving that afternoon when the sun hid in shame and the earth shuddered in sadness.
"Our faith is not in popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, or even in monsignors. Nope: our faith is only in Jesus. He and He alone will never let us down; He will never sin; He and He alone will never break a promise; He and He alone deserves our absolute trust and confidence.
"That's why it's especially tragic when someone leaves Jesus and His Church because of a sin, scandal, or slight from a priest or bishop. If your faith depended on us, it was misplaced to begin with. We priests and bishops might represent Jesus and shepherd His Church, however awkwardly -- but we are not Jesus and His Church." Read the full article.
The rules: Those tagged will share 5 things they "love" about Jesus, or why they love Jesus. Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers. Those tagged will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them.
Interesting how I came across it mere minutes after pondering how I'll decorate the cover of my next spiritual journal: I'm on The Very Last Page (filled up pages faster'n usual due to my daily Lenten scribblings) and will have to start a new one tomorrow or Friday. On the cover (it's just a cheap, spiral-bound, quad-ruled dealio), I've taped a gigantor card with a prayer to St. Francis of Assisi, along with another card of Francis' prayer before the San Damiano crucifix.
For the next notebook, I was thinking I'd maybe slap on some Josephite ones, but didn't wanna sacrifice any of my current cards ... and then I found the Josephy site. Now I can print, cut out, and tape ones from there to my heart's content! Well, my heart's content as squooshed into an 8.5-by-11-inch area. This one of Joseph and Jesus, and this Holy Family one (on the main Holy Card Heaven blog), are Way Top Contenders.
In my previous post, I described how I'm trying to observe Lent this year, part of which includes using my imagination to spiritually and mentally act as though I'm on retreat; on a journey with Easter as the destination. I also said that I'd try to post a few updates here on how the journey's going.
So, I was thinking ... imaginary trek through the Lenten desert + occasional updates = Lent Trek 2011: Now With Doodles!! (Stress on the "doodles" part; I'm no artist.) Now, this particular post isn't gonna be a Big Serious Reflective Offering (maybe I'll give one of those a go later), but rather, I'm simply sketching out for ya how I'm imagining the journey. :-)
Which starts with a big ol' desert.
Of course, I have to place myself in it.
Hmmm. That's too lonely. Husband Mike's going through Lent, too, so I'll imagine him in here with me.
Well, heck, if he's coming along, who'll take care of the kittehs? Can't leave them behind while we go off trekking through the desert!
But, they shouldn't be too put out on this journey; after all, they don't need to do penance, just us. They need a nice, comfy space in which they won't be bothered by the heat. ... And they need toys and treats and noms! Also TV, so they can watch Tasty Songbirds of North America as we trudge along. Husband Mike: "Sure, make me pull that thing. Do you have any idea how heavy it'd be?!" Me: "You're the guy. Besides, can you imagine me pulling something like that? We'd never get anywhere!"
Anyway, now we're ready to roll!
Of course, along the way, we occasionally trip and fall ... Husband Mike: "Notice that I'm not falling." Me: "You've fallen, too, and you know it. I'm just showing me as an example."
... but that doesn't end the journey, it just means we have to pick ourselves up and keep going.
It helps that we have bitty periods of rest along the way on Sundays, those wonderful "little Easters".
After refreshing and recharging, off we go again, to continue the journey to Easter!
Hungry Souls: Supernatural Visits, Messages, and Warnings from Purgatory
Aaaand we're in the home stretch of a week's worth of Thankful Thursdays!
Continuing on with 7 days of thanks, it's ...
Continuing from 
When I started playing around with social networking sites/services in 2007, I asked myself: 1) what exactly I hoped to accomplish, and 2) what my rules of conduct were. I never really formalized those beyond the nebulous "share and grow in the faith" and "be yourself".
Pooped doesn't even come close to describe how I feel after today. My Secular Franciscan fraternity held a Day of Recollection for the first time since 2004, and it was the first time I took part in coordinating such an event. I'm told it was a great day. But even though the thing ended hours ago, I'm still a limp rag from the can o' whupass that Murphy's Law opened on me.
My mom died at 5:48 a.m. today of a heart attack.
In answer to Marco's question, 
We were on vacation last week, and while it wasn't anything grandiose, it was a big ball o' fun. Sipped margaritas while poolside (well, that was just me; Husband Mike doesn't like 'em), nibbled on snacky noms, ate at a place that has The Best Rotisserie Chicken Ev-ar, unwound in a hot tub, slept in, meandered leisurely about ... in other words, we had a faboo time.
I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who needs to use her imagination in prayer and meditation. For me, it's a great focusing aid and helps me ride herd on my strayin' thoughts. As St. Ignatius of Loyola describes it in his 
