Advent, the Journey

The Journey Begins on Page ONE

It is a grand time of the year.  Again I am offered a chance to reflect on the past and pursue the future in the celebration of Advent.  One of the books I like to use during this season is Advent and Christmas ~Wisdom from G. K. Chesterton, edited by the Center for the Study of C. S. Lewis and Friends.

It is currently said that hope goes with youth, and lends to your its wings of a butterfly; but I fancy that hope is the last gift given to man, and the only gift not given to youth...But the power of hoping through everything, the knowledge that the soul survives its adventures, that great inspiration comes to the middle-aged; God has kept that good wine until now.  IT is from the backs of the elderly gentlemen that the wings of the butterfly should burst.

Charles Dickens: Last of the Great Men

G. K. Chesterton

It is a great source of inspiration and it challenges me to actively enter into the season.  This is a season of hope and that is what I have found to be most important to me of late.  And so it is that I look to  Advent seeing it as a season full of Hope.

~~~^j^~~~

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

 ~~~^j^~~~

My favorite prayer too.  

Thanks be to God!

True Value!

So valuable to heaven is the dignity of the human soul

that every member of the human race has a guardian

angel from the moment the person begins to be.

~Saint Jerome~

The question I ask myself today is what value do I place on my life.  Do I even understand that I have worth?  Do I ever consider that I am a treasure and that the way I live my life either corrodes  or polishes this treasure?

Consider that silver teapot you were given by your grandmother.  It is beautiful.  But the trouble is it requires diligence to take care of it.  If it sits too long in the air without use it tarnishes.  So, you have to get the silver polish and clean it until it sparkles.  You are the one given the responsibility to oversee and protect it since your grandmother  loved you.

You see I am a treasure.  I am that teapot.  When I neglect to follow the ways of God, I become tarnished.  I forget that I have value and worth.  In order to repair any damage or to remove the tarnish that I have acquired through the neglect of my soul I must take out that "polish" and restore the shine I once had.

How do I do that?  I know what it is that causes the problem.  I avoid it.  If because of circumstance beyond my control I cannot avoid it, I must apply a thick coat of prayer that will be a buffer.  Then in order to repair what has been broken I ask for forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  

I see that my guardian angel is at all times my "buffer."  She often, without my realizing it, diminishes the tarnish by guiding me past difficulty.  I truly believe this and as I reflect on who I am and where I have been I see that this gift from God for my journey here on earth is part of my treasury.  I know that I am responsible for who I am and who I am becoming, but it is good to know that I have partner that will help me reduce the tarnish and renew the luster of this life I have been given.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cleaning Out Small Spaces...

Is it as hard for you as it is for me to part with things?  I love a good mystery.  Any book really but mysteries in particular.  I love Agatha Christi, Mary Higgins Clark, and Anne Perry.  I am especially fond of Diane Mott Davidson who writes delicious mysteries set in my native Colorado.  She takes me home as I sit in my chair here in Indiana.

Giving up or parting with things I find dear is challenging.  The excuse I'll read it again is just that, an excuse.  Indeed, I've had all these books for years and I've not returned to any of them.  I simply buy the next.  So why save them.?

I read the verse offered by Saint Francis de Sales and find myself asking,  "How do I bring forth good fruit when I do not share what I have to offer?"  So if I hoard these books and no one has the opportunity to avail themselves of them then what good are they?  So I intend to take them to the library.

The same could be true of my soul.  If I simply do nothing, if I hoard my talent, time, or treasure what good are they to me.  If I never intend to use them they become worthless and a terrible waste.   So clean out the small spaces I will.  I will share what I have with others as Providence guides.  I will not hoard those things he has provided but share them so that I can "bring forth good works seasonalby and with discretion."

~~~^j^~~~

Wishing all a grand weekend 

and

Thanks be to God!

Words of Saint Mother Theodore

Besides the admirable union that exists between

persons of different nationalities, of dispositions so

opposite, some well informed, others without

education, there is also among the Sisters a great

spirit of faith, of piety and a confidence in God

which goes as far, I believe, as it an go.

~Saint Mother Theodore Guerin~

In these words I find encouragement, even hope that as a nation we can still be that melting pot of nationalities that can come together in union.  Yes, as one so that we will continue to grow as a nation that learns from those who come to share this land with us.  We are privileged to be a country that has evolved because of the beauty of individual cultures woven into this tapestry we call home.  We become a people of understanding and compassion when we allow ourselves to learn from others who seem different that we are. 

~~^j^~~

Thanks be to God!

Generosity of Providence

I can say that when reflecting on these words of Saint Mother Theodore I find no flaw in them.  For I have found, in my Journey of Providence, what she has said is true..  On the days most gray and bleak I can look back and see the hand of Providence as my guide.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

On Holy Ground

I had the opportunity again to spend time at The Woods, that is Saint Mary-of-the Woods.  And there to tread on holy ground.  Yes, we followed the path of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin upon her arrival there nearly 160 years ago.  Having read about her journey in Mother Theodore Guerin, Journals and Letters, it was a wonderful experience to share it with others on this Providence Journey.  Sharing with the Sisters of Providence who live Saint Mother Theodore's mission and those of us who are learning to live it as Associates I was emboldened and excited to have been on Holy Ground.  The story of Mother Theodore is a true adventure!  An adventure worth sharing! 

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!