Rosary of the Week

When I attend the Holy
Family Retreat at Notre Dame in August, the Holy Cross organizers always give the participants a rosary.  This is one I received at my second retreat. It has the Holy Cross symbol in the center piece. On the reverse is printed,"the family that prays together, stays together." The crucifix is modeled after the one used by Blessed Pope John Paul II. As he will be beatified this next Sunday it will be a good reminder to pray for him and the people attending the ceremony .

Dancing like the Daffodils

As a member of the Third Order of Carmel I have had certain responsibilities. The latest was to get to our regional Catholic newspaper information about our group in anticipation of expanding our holy numbers. I just received a call from a guy who read about our article in the paper and wants to meet with us! I am dancing! I have prayed about evangelization as one of my Resolutions for the year. I pray for vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, especially for Carmel, when I pray each third mystery of the rosary. ( Mother Teresa taught me this rosary prayer idea) And today I received a call and, Oh, I have dragged my feet about the article and have felt so uninspired in putting it together and agitated about my responsibility. But I did it anyway.and today a response! I realize that this is just the beginning, that we have to shoulder the responsibility for being the face and hands of Christ in Carmel, but still, I feel my prayers have been acknowledged. And I am most grateful.

Rosary of the Week

This week I am praying with a rosary I purchased at Notre Dame, South Bend. It is a wooden Eucharist style rosary with a central image of the host and chalice. Today's prayer calendar request is for the little one's preparing for their First Communion within a few weeks. I have taken a photo of my rosary along with a photo of DD1's FirstCommunion class. This event was at St. Mary's in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Weed and Feed

The weather was warm and sunny this weekend. Everyone was outside playing or working in their yards. I walked eight miles on Saturday Actually this was not planned. i got lost on a path in a neighborhood new to me. My dog Watson was such a trouped to hang in there enthusiastically with me. i also stopped to pick up spring fertilizer for our lawn. As I was walking the spreader around the yard I was thinking about the name of the product and how it related to Lent. Through sacrifice I am to weed out the things that cut off my time with God. And through prayer I am to grow closer to the One who is All Things to me. Is it working? There is a week until Holy Week and then there will be time for an in depth evaluation. I have to let the process work

Rosary of the Week

I purchased this rosary when I was in Medjugorje. It is made from the stones around the  Bosnian village. The crucifix has the name of the village as well as Mary's words "Mir. Mir. Mir." (Peace. Peace. Peace.)For the photo I hung the rosary on a picture I purchased at a Mejugorje conference at Notre Dame last May. It is a photo of the statue made of Mary to the descriptions of the six visionaries. Her eyes seem to  follow as you move around the room. The beads really  grab tactile attention as I pray because they are rough and very oddly shaped. It is a wonderful way to nudge my memories of  my time there. These rocks are visible all over the area. I spent a week there in 2007 after a visit to the Holy Land with a Peace group.This June it will be 30 years since the first apparition.I am attending another Medjugorje conference at Notre Dame in a few weeks.

Television

I thought last night was somewhat of a lost cause. I came home from work and was tired from a late night the night before staying up to watch Notre Dame lose to Texas A&M in the Women's NCAA championship game.
I sat in front of the TV and turned on cable crime shows. Subconsciously I probably feel life is outta control and I like things wrapped up when the bad guys get their just punishment. Or maybe it is just that the heroes are cute and I like to watch the underlying tension of romance. I am not a psychologist. However, both of my choices had Catholic themes in them . Surprise! Grissom, a character from some TV show met the character of a priest who recognized him as a lapsed Catholic and invited him back to the church. I was disappointed in the script that Grissom got the last comment and walked out and away from the altar, but I have thought about his line. It was the standard excuse that he believed in God but didn't want to be told what to do by a religion. The old pride of knowledge and self-importance that keeps so many people away from the Faith. We think we know better than the Word of God, looking to ourselves for the answers thinking we are bigger and better than God, defining Him in human terms because we do not have faith that He is more than we could ever comprehend. 
On today's date in Sacred Space, the Irish Jesuit website, there was perfect response to this character's problem. I  include it here:

Some thoughts on today's scripture

• Our churches rely on structures, on theology, liturgy and human organisation. Jesus puts all of these in perspective by reminding us of our need to come to him for life; only when we do this will our structures have meaning.

And how do we come to Him? I hear, "Oh, I find God in nature." Truly, how often do you go out and search for Him there. Do you spend quality time in searching for God in the trees and the flowers ? I would bet it is a fleeting thought on the way from A to B in a busy life. How do you know the voice of God unless you spend time listening to Him. I know from experience it takes a lot of time to recognize it and even then the evil one tells lies so close to the truth in order to move us away from God in the battle for our soul. Life is not easily lived. Why rely on the limits of human self when there is the gracious and loving God and His Word and His Church to help you through?

I also spent some time with Bones . The character Booth is a Catholic and there are often discussion between his character and another re: the faith. I like it. There is no preaching.  I don't think his character is written to live the faith fully, but respectfully having a Catholic character is better than  shows full of people who do not address their faith at all.

Writing of faith, today's Writer's Almanac informed me that today is the birthday of Buddha and people in Japan have traditionally dress his statues in flowers as it is a day of gratitude. I am trying to imagine places like the many shrines I visited while there now destroyed by the tsunami and earthquake, a landscape without flowers and people moving through the tragedy of great loss . I pray they may have gratitude somewhere in their hearts.Gratitude is a path to healing.

Catholic Relief Services is providing help to the people of Japan. I have donated. I believe in their ability to get my money to the people who need it.

Feast of St. Vincent Ferrer

I edit a prayer calendar for my Christ Renew's Team. This is today's entry:
Tues 5 St. Vincent Ferrer. Vincent felt that he was the messenger of penance sent to prepare men for the judgment. For twenty years he traversed Western Europe preaching penance and awakening the dormant consciences of sinners by his wondrous eloquence. His austere life was but the living expression of his doctrine. The floor was his usual bed; perpetually fasting, he arose at two in the morning to chant the Office, celebrating Mass daily, afterwards preaching, sometimes three hours, and frequently working miracles. After his midday meal he would tend the sic children; at eight o'clock he prepared his sermon for the following day. he  usually traveled on foot, poorly clad. Well, his schedule is not mine. Thank God He called me to a different evangelization. But it certainly seems Vincent fulfilled his call with enthusiasm. May it be said to be the same for all of us.

In today's Magnificat there is a  meditation written by St. Vincent. Commenting on the words of St. Bernard, Vincent said, "But what is the use of all the other qualities, as the same saint remarks, if the strength is lacking which establishes the other virtues in the fortress of constancy, arming them so well that the fury of this persecutor (the evil one) cannot expect to vanquish them?"

'The fortress of constancy. '

A quote by Mother Teresa crossed my desk from another source. She said we are called to faithfulness, not to success.

An emailed web page introduced me today to  the word pre-mortem. The inventor of the term calls us to imagine something that we want that has not yet been achieved and to think about failing at its success. We are to imagine what we would think  in a post-mortem;  what we would have changed in hopes of attainment. This would help us in determining the tools for success.
I am sure persistence, constancy, and faithfulness to the right path would be some my tools. Slip shod activity, and lackadaisical attitude do not a successful person make. I must listen to the saints; and learn from their wisdom.
Constancy and faithfulness. These are my watchwords for today.

Rosary of the Week

The rosary I am using this week was given to me by my DDL. She bought it for me when she was in Spain. It is beautiful cloisonne in blues and pinks, whites and greens. This weekend I received a long back ordered alabaster statue of Our Lady of the Rosary. It is her name I chose when I was professed as a Third Order Carmelite.

Movies

I am a total movie fan, although this has been more of a year for books than for movies, I did manage to see a fewthis Lent.
The first was Bella. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect; maybe a movie so blatantly Catholic that it would be off-putting to those who did not know our Faith. What a surprise! The main character prays before meals. And that's it! Other than that he just lives his faith in the decisions he makes and in trying to talk the girl into choosing life for her child. It was a fun movie and suitable for anyone. The family dynamic was so real. I would certainly recommend this to anyone.
Right after that I watched Italian Lessons. It was in a language I could not identify, Swedish or something, but I read the English subtitles. I think it has a mature rating because of some unmarried sexual situations, but I certainly cheered for  the Catholic character. Some guys were talking about her and one warned the other that because she was Catholic not to expect a sexual relationship until they were married. It was said and accepted seriously. How I wished that were the norm for those of our faith.
And the third movie was The Nun; another Swedish or something documentary about a young girl, one of eight or nine children who thought she was called to the Carmelites. The filmmaker, an atheist, filmed her with her family before she went into the convent, just before final vows, and again had permission to film her and her family a few years later. As a Third Order Carmelite I thought this movie would be interesting, especially an inside  look into a cloistered order. And it was. I especially en joyed her family life and the reactions to her decision and how they learned to live with it. She took the name Sister Mary of the Annunciation. As March 25 was that feast, it was a privilege to pray for that young lady on that day. 
I have read about the life of Jessica Powers, a cloistered Carmelite nun and poet. I found a website of her convent,It is in Wisconsin and within traveling distance. Perhaps I shall visit sthere sometime. And I know of Sr. Wendy, the art historian. I have been entertained by her many books and television programs. There is a fascination in the cloistered existence for those of us who will never witness it beyond a book or very briefly in this movie. Powers convent website had a breakdown of a Carmelite's Day within the cloister. Their prayer life is much more structured than for those of us out here in this world. And I was jealous that every Thursday was a retreat Day for the community. We Third Orders have to be disciplined on our own. It is called grace! Which reminds me, it is time for Evening Prayer.
blessings,
Nancy