Friday, October 22, 2010

Wherever You Send Me


At the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah we read the beautiful, yet daunting, exchange between God and the namesake of the book. "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." (Jer. 1:5) Jeremiah, clearly awestruck and dumbfounded by the Lord's call, insists upon his unworthiness citing his young age.  God objects and calls on Jeremiah to go wherever He sends him and to say whatever He tells him and to do so with "no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you." (Jer. 1: 8)  Jeremiah is called.  And so are we.


Fr. Robert Barron, in his book The Strangest Way, describes the call in this way: "And friendship with God - not simply worship, discipleship, seeking, or ethical uprightness - but real intimacy with God entailed, I discovered, a giving of self that mirrored the radicality of God's own gift of self in Christ. The point of the Christian life is to be holy with the very holiness of God, and this means conformity with a love unto death." (Barron, The Strangest Way, p. 11) In the end the call is a complete abandonment to the will of the One in Whose image we are created.


This is the challenge of the Christian journey.  Faced with obstacles, both from within and from the outside, each of us must daily "die to ourselves" for the sake of the call.  Of course this can only be done through prayer, taking part in the sacramental life of the Church (especially the Eucharist), learning about our faith, and selfless giving.  It can only be done through growing a true friendship with God.


I raise the above thoughts as a preface for my announcing a little project that I know God has placed in my heart.  Quite frankly, God has been pounding away on this for almost a year and I have found lots of great excuses to ignore His promptings with the most used one being that "I am not worthy."


Beginning with my next blog I am going to begin to write a reflection for each of the Venerable Pope John Paul II's general audiences which make up his "Theology of the Body."  Now there are many, more learned than I, who are better equipped to take on such a project.  However, I take God at His word, "have no fear," as I embark on this journey.  My thoughts on each audience will be brief - less a theological treatise and more an effort to prayerfully reflect on the little things that God will place in my heart and mind as I move through each audience.


This will be my contribution to the growing body of work which has been inspired by the late pope's masterpiece - the "theological time bomb (as George Weigel famously and prophetically described it)" that has begun to have a tremendous impact on the modern world.


"Wherever you send me, I will go.  Send me Lord. Send me Lord. Whatever you tell me, I will say.  Send me Lord. Send me Lord." (Franzak, "The Call")

Michael Lavigne 

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Preparing a Place


I’ve recently moved into a seasonal rental right on the ocean and have been doing quite a bit of work to make this little beach cottage my own.  Rearranging furniture,sewing new curtains, decorating with my own style, finding rugs I like, new couch pillows, bedding to match, etc. has been filling the bulk of my spare time.  I want my home to be a place where people will feel welcome and comfortable upon entering.  I’m finding it is a lot of work to prepare such a place!  But knowing the purpose behind the work makes it totally worth it.

All of this house remodeling I’ve been doing got me thinking about the passage from John 14:1-3 where Jesus says to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (italics mine)  I started pondering this in light of my recent undertakings.  What does it mean that Jesus is preparing a place for me in His Father’s house?  It seems to me that He is preparing a place where my heart can be at rest in the heart of the Father, where I will enter and immediately know that this is where I belong, that I am home.  So often I allow my heart to become troubled by the things of this world, by the daily obstacles that come my way, by unfulfilled desires and unanswered questions.  I find great comfort and hope in knowing that Jesus has promised to prepare a place where my heart will rest in being home.

Sarah Houde

Humbled to be Catholic


Every morning, I thank God for the day, for the life He has given me and most especially, for my Catholic faith. Often in our culture, faith is seen as something extrinsic, as part of our lives. I’m often accused of being too Catholic, of having no life outside of my Catholic faith. And I think to myself, why would I want to do anything outside of my Catholic faith? If I take the message of the Gospels and Scripture seriously, shouldn’t my faith inform my whole being, everything I am and everything I do (Gal 2:20)? Does this mean that I create a Catholic bubble for myself and shun the rest of the world…ok, occasionally I may be
guilty of this, but for the most part I think I am very much one of God’s workers in the world, just not of the world. Capisce?

Last weekend I attended Life Teen’s Core Member University in Boston. They made a very important distinction: for those of us who work for the Church, whether we are paid employees and/or we are volunteering our time, our work doesn’t make us exceptional Catholics. Ministry, evangelization and teaching the faith are the bare minimum of what is required of us. You may be familiar with this quote from G.K. Chesterton, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried." I challenge all of you to rise above the bare minimum of your faith and to allow God to cast you out into the deep (Lk 5:4). Living out radical hospitality, striving to build up community and being good stewards of all that God has blessed us with (suffering included – never miss an opportunity to offer up your pains, fears and anxieties), answering those calls is what makes us different and in accordance with the dignity God has given us, exceptional. 


At a youth rally mass a few years ago, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio for the United States, remarked that we are not Catholic Americans, we are American Catholics. In other words, our Catholic faith is at the very core of our identity and as such, we very much should be viewing the world and all we do through Catholic-tinted glasses. I absolutely love being Catholic, and I’m humbled at the gift of our faith.

Shaina Tanguay-Colucci

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Miner's Miracle


October 15th is the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, doctor of the Church and famous for her analogy of our spiritual life being connected to the depths of the 'well within' from which we draw "life giving water" as Jesus promised the woman in John's gospel.

How appropriate that today I would want to focus my sharing on the Miracle in the Chile Mine!  Because from St Teresa's 'well bucket' of spiritual graces from which we drink the love of God who dwells within... to the Miners in the depths of the earth 'drinking the grace of HOPE'... the same lessons can be applied.

Imagine, 17 days with limited food, you are in complete darkness not knowing if people have given up the search for you?  Then suddenly the ceiling opens and you look up realizing that you will be rescued.  "Mario Sepulveda, the one who brought rocks as souvenirs for fellow miners, gave this remarkable testimony: “I was with both God and the Devil. God won. I held His Hand and there was no doubt He would get me out.” 

The Fenix descended 2,230 feet below the ground to 'scoop up' the miners one by one and hoist them to the surface where the whole world cheered, intoxicated with JOY!  The chaplain to the President who organized a prayer chain said, “this miracle is a proof that there is a God." (taken from Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid, Manilla Bulletin Publishing Co.)

Both images (well bucket and Fenix capsule) make me grateful to the Lord that I'm Catholic!  Because I know that Faith, Hope, and Love, with the greatest virtue being Love... certainly embraced each miner below and family members above, sustaining the HOPE that the miners would be found, would be alive, and would be brought to safety.

St Teresa speaks about the dark night of the soul as a feeling of abandonment by God, yet, she tells us, it is in this moment that we most need to be faithful to prayer which is our lifeline to the "Light" of God's loving embrace.  Like the miners who held God's hand, trusting, refusing to collapse in fear, we too are challenged to trust with Faith, Hope, and Love, that our Lord will never abandon us in times of trouble.

My relationship with Jesus has taught me this truth.  It is through prayer, reading God's Word, quiet times for listening in the depths of my being that enable me to discern between the devil of doubt and the God of Hope!  Thank you Lord, for your steadfast love!  Bless the Miners, family members, rescue workers, and all who choose to drink from the depths of your grace!  Amen.

Ruth Oakley

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Profound? Not so much.




I’ve had a note on my desk for several weeks now with the word “BLOG” written in large red letters.  It’s supposed to be a reminder that I have a Blog to write. It’s been all over my desk as I move it from one place to the other wondering, “What do I write about?”  I would like to write something profound and moving.  Something truly inspiring. Something worthy of all of you “out in the trenches” so to speak.  Alas, it is not to be.  Again this morning I saw the big red “BLOG” on my desk and said “Lord, what do you want me to write about?”  Immediately, in my mind, I saw an image of my year old grandson laughing.  In a heartbeat, I knew what this blog would be about.

His name is Emerson and I’ve only seen him twice in person because he lives in Alaska.  However, I’ve been blessed to live in a time when we can use Skype and video footage can be sent via email.  I was watching a clip of him the other day.  He was toddling along laughing at the camera and he was so happy! My heart filled with joy & love for this wonderful baby boy. When that image came to mind this morning, I sensed that this is the same reaction our Heavenly Father has when we turn to Him.  I know, it’s cliché. But for me, at that moment , it became a tangible experience of something that is intangible, incomprehensible really because much as I love Emerson, that love pales in comparison to God’s love for me, for us.

Judy Michaud