Sunday of Celebrations!

Pope John Paul II, a photo by Loci Lenar on Flickr.

In light of Mary, the Church sees in the face of women the reflection of a beauty which mirrors the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable; the self-offering totality of love; the strength that is capable of bearing the great sorrows; limitless fidelity and tireless devotion to work; the ability to combine penetrating intuition with words of support and encouragement.

Pope John Paul II

Redemptoris Mater, 1987

Celebration of many celebrations.  May begins with the month dedicated to the Mother of God.  It's Divine Mercy Sunday.   And finally, it is the dain in which Pope John Paul II is beatified.  

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Thanks be to God!!!

The Rosary

The rosary is my favorite prayer.  A marvelous prayer!  Marvelous in its simplicity and in its depth.  In the prayer we repeat many times the words that the Virgin Mary heard from the Archangel, and from her kinswoman Elizabeth.  (Address, Rome, 1978) ~~Pope John Paul II, His Essential Wisdom, Edited by Carol Kelly-Gangi

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My favorite prayer too.  

Thanks be to God!

Wisdom from Pope John Paul II

You know, I really don't like to consider my flaws, my weaknesses. I'd prefer to think of myself as a good person who makes mistakes because of weakness. What I fail to consider sometimes is that those mistakes, if done often enough, soon are not mistakes but choices made freely and they then become sin. So while reflecting on today's offering in Lent and Easter Wisdom from Pope John Paul II, compiled by John V Kruse, I realized that I have a lot of work to do. I should acknowledge the weakness, accept the weakness, and allow myself to grow because of this weakness through the grace of God. Even more difficult is the Lenten Action offered here.

Finding Christ In Our Own Shortcomings

True disciples of Christ are conscious of their own weakness. For this reason they put all their trust in the grace of God and they accept it with undivided hearts, convinced that without Him they can do nothing (see John 15:5). What characterizes them and distinguishes them from others is not their talents or natural gifts. It is their firm determination to proceed as followers of Jesus. May you be imitators of them as they were of Christ!

Message for the 18th World Youth Day (April 13, 2003)
From the Vatican, March 8, 2003

Christ's Strength Revealed in Human Weakness

Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." Si, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Prayer

Lord, there is no hiding it: I am far from perfect. I have many weaknesses. I fall many times on my spiritual journey. I praise you as you use my neediness and weakness to demonstrate your own strength and glory. Help Me to remember that you can work great things through me--warts and all. I need only to follow you.

Lenten Action

Identify one of your weaknesses. Place that weakness in God's hands. Think of a way that God may have used that weakness to demonstrate his own strength and glory.

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Thanks be to God!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Today is gloomy, gray and rainy. Sadly, that is how I felt when I got up, gloomy and gray. It seems the environment had encouraged these feelings. You know, I have no reason to feel this way. I have no feelings of anxiety, tension, or sadness. In fact, the opposite is true. Life is good! The grass is green and the roses are blooming. Duchess is napping at my feet and Sam is asleep in his favorite chair. It's quiet and peaceful in this rain, yet I feel "gloomy."

And so in seeking consolation in this "rainy world" I'm in, I picked up Pope John Paul II: His Essential Wisdom, edited by Carol Kelly-Gangi.

And he said to me,

In prayer we express to God our feelings, our thought, our sentiments. We wish to love and to be loved, to be understood and to understand. Only God loves us perfectly, with an everlasting love. In prayers, we open our hearts and our minds to this God of love. And it is prayer that makes us one with the Lord. Through prayer we come to share more deeply in God's life and in his love.

Speech to Youth
New Orleans, 1987

And so with this encouragement and incentive I will attend to the projects of this seemingly gloomy day with prayer and thanksgiving. It is certain to brighten my corner of the world. I prayer your corner of the world is brightened by the love of God!

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Thanks be to God!