Sorry for the long delay between postings. I’ve had so much going on that life just got in the way.
With so much going on, including the death of my mom last month, I realized I needed to take a pause, to catch my breath, and to refocus. So, in the spirit of St. Ignatius, I made a retreat.
Over the course of the last few weeks, I mentioned to my siblings that they shouldn’t be surprised if they have a sense of our mother’s presence.
Since she passed away a few weeks ago, at least one brother mentioned such an experience, felt in his yard as he was cutting some flowers.
I was on the hunt yesterday for a climbing rose named New Dawn. It does very well in my area, and it’s mentioned often on a weekly gardening radio show I listen to. Sadly, it’s a bit early to plant roses here in Maryland, so there were none to be had at the nursery. I’ll have to wait till the beginning of May, right around Mother’s Day. Of course. I was thinking about my mom when I decided to go out at get this rose.
Wishing you and your family a very Blessed Easter!
“Let us resolve to make this week holy by claiming Christ’s redemptive grace and by living holy lives.
The Word became flesh and redeemed us by his holy life and holy death. This week especially, let us accept redemption by living grateful, faithful, prayerful, generous, just and holy lives.
Let us resolve to make this week holy by reading and meditating Holy Scripture.
So often, we get caught up in the hurry of daily living. As individuals and as families, reserve prime time to be with Jesus, to hear the cries of the children waving palm branches, to see the Son of Man riding on an ass’ colt, to feel the press of the crowd, to be caught up in the “Hosannas” and to realize how the cries of acclamation will yield to the garden of suffering, to be there and watch as Jesus is sentenced by Pilate to Calvary, to see him rejected, mocked, spat upon, beaten and forced to carry a heavy cross, to hear the echo of the hammer, to feel the agony of the torn flesh and strained muscles, to know Mary’s anguish as he hung three hours before he died.
We recoil before the atrocities of war, gang crime, domestic violence and catastrophic illness. Unless we personally and immediately are touched by suffering, it is easy to read Scripture and to walk away without contacting the redemptive suffering that makes us holy. The reality of the Word falls on deaf ears.
Let us take time this week to be present to someone who suffers. Sharing the pain of a fellow human will enliven Scripture and help us enter into the holy mystery of the redemptive suffering of Christ.
Let us resolve to make this week holy by participating in the Holy Week services of the church, not just by attending, but also by preparing, by studying the readings, entering into the spirit, offering our services as ministers of the Word or Eucharist, decorating the church or preparing the environment for worship.
Let us sing, “Lord, have mercy,” and “Hosanna.” Let us praise the Lord with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength, uniting with the suffering church throughout the world — in Rome and Ireland, in Syria and Lebanon, in South Africa and Angola, India and China, Nicaragua and El Salvador, in Washington, D.C., and Jackson, Mississippi.
Let us break bread together; let us relive the holy and redemptive mystery. Let us do it in memory of him, acknowledging in faith his real presence upon our altars.
Let us resolve to make this week holy by sharing holy peace and joy within our families, sharing family prayer on a regular basis, making every meal a holy meal where loving conversations bond family members in unity, sharing family work without grumbling, making love not war, asking forgiveness for past hurts and forgiving one another from the heart, seeking to go all the way for love as Jesus went all the way for love.
Let us resolve to make this week holy by sharing holy peace and joy with the needy, the alienated, the lonely, the sick and afflicted, the untouchable.
Let us unite our sufferings, inconveniences and annoyances with the suffering of Jesus. Let us stretch ourselves, going beyond our comfort zones to unite ourselves with Christ’s redemptive work.
We unite ourselves with Christ’s redemptive work when we reconcile, when we make peace, when we share the good news that God is in our lives, when we reflect to our brothers and sisters God’s healing, God’s forgiveness, God’s unconditional love.
Let us be practical, reaching out across the boundaries of race and class and status to help somebody, to encourage and affirm somebody, offering to the young an incentive to learn and grow, offering to the downtrodden resources to help themselves.
May our fasting be the kind that saves and shares with the poor, that actually contacts the needy, that gives heart to heart, that touches and nourishes and heals.
During this Holy Week when Jesus gave his life for love, let us truly love one another.” Sister Thea Bowman
With so much activity this past week, I didn’t have the chance to post anything about the new Pope, Francis I.
I have to admit that I’ve been really impressed with this man, an unlikely candidate going into the conclave. The old saying, “the cardinal who goes into the conclave a pope always comes out a cardinal” was proven true once again. As I sat taking it all in, I remembered something my men’s group was talking about last Sunday. “Our God is a God of surprises.” How true.
The Catholic Church has been on a bit of a roller coaster recently. When Pope Benedict XVI resigned a few weeks ago, it was the first time in centuries that something like this had happened.
With the help of modern media, people like you and me are more in tune to what’s happening over in Rome than ever before.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but as I watched the television this morning and saw all the ancient rituals played out live, I was struck by my belief that somehow the Holy Spirit is behind it all, and there’s something exciting about watching it unfold.
Last week, I was praising the joy of the impending spring. The season was being heralded by some wonderful little dwarf iris that were blooming by my driveway gate.
This week, starting tomorrow and ending late Wednesday, snow, snow and more snow for the Baltimore area.
Early one morning this week, I had to go outside to take the trash out. As soon as I was out the door, I was hit with a pungent odor. The smell of spring.
We’ve been having some warm days lately, and winter’s grip on the soil is loosening up. Growing up in Southern California, I never encountered the powerful smells that come with the spring thaw. Earthy is probably the best way to describe it. I’m hoping you’ll know what I mean. 🙂
I hope you had a great weekend. I know I did.
Actually, the whole week was pretty good for me. I got a lot accomplished, including some much-needed exercise. I also had the chance to catch up on some reading, met with several folks, and lastly I got some good prayer time in. The weekend ended on Sunday night with probably the best session my men’s group has had since we started almost two years ago.
