A Rock Foundation

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.  And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”  Matthew 7:24-27

             
This last Sunday, I believe this was read at Mass; plus, these verses are in the little black book I read during Lent.  They have stayed with me.  I can’t remember what Father said during the Homily or the commentary from the book.  Yet, I keep thinking of my life relating to these words.  As a child, one of my favorite songs came from these verses.  The last part of the song made it all clear.  “So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ, and the blessings will come down.  The blessings come down as the prayers go up….”  My entire life I have tried to live these very words.  If I haven’t, I have walked in the sand. 

My first boyfriend was definitely a sandy time for me.  I fell head over heels in puppy love.  He broke my heart.  My dad amazed me when he talked about the relationship and God.  I don’t remember what he said, but my conclusion was that I needed to pray about my relationships.  From that moment forward, if I did get hurt, it wasn’t hard.  God stood with me.  Thus, my marriage has always been steeped in prayer since the very first date.  It hasn’t been easy.  Storms have buffeted our relationship many, many times.  However, both my husband and I pray for our marriage giving us a firm foundation of rock.

                With the strong foundation of our marriage, it has carried over to our children.  Both Jerry and I prayed to God about our children from the moment we knew they were expected.  We dedicated them to God even before the baptism.  One of the big things I prayed for is that God would send the mentors they would need throughout their journey to holiness.  With these prayers, we have had many blessings for our children.

                After forty odd years, I am learning to pray for the rest of my relationships.  I incorrectly had it in my head that if I had people in my life that God sent them, and all would be good.  Wrong!  Well, mostly wrong.  Just because they are in my life, doesn’t mean God sent them.  There have been some mean people in my life and I know God would never intend that.  Many of those He did send, I failed to pray for the relationship.  This has created relationships that aren’t built on the foundation of rock that is God.  Because of this failure, I have struggled with many of my friendships and family relationships. 

                At this point, I think I have a pretty strong rock foundation for my house.  I need to continuously pray otherwise the foundation could crack in the next storm.  Alas, I still need to work on the foundation for the outbuildings.  Besides prayer, I don’t know what to do for them in the sand.  Maybe all I can do is pray.  Oh, and sing.  “So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ, and the blessings will come down.  The blessings come down as the prayers go up….”

                Blessings to you all.

Lent: Cleaning and Participation

The word Lent comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime.  Lent is a time in the church calendar of many Christian churches that is spent fasting and in prayer.  Earliest history shows fasting to take place as far back as 180 AD by the testimony of Irenaeus.  The number of days varied for many years until the Canons of Nicaea in 325 AD mentioned 40 days of fasting.  I compare fasting to spiritual spring cleaning.  Of course, we need to clean every day, but this is when we can do some deep down cleaning. 

Why 40 days, some might ask?  These 40 days represent a time in Jesus’ life.  “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.” Matthew 4:1-2.  Today, people are encouraged to do more than just fast during Lent.  They are called to pray and give alms along with fasting.  I tend to like to include reflective study to my Lenten plans as well.

Fasting range from cutting back food, liquids, television, internet, facebook, gossip, anger, and a host of other things, basically you cut out things that aren’t good for you or the amount you partake is beginning to take over your life.  In our busy lives, we can start to forget to spend time with God.  Rosary, Morning Prayer, a prayer of thanksgiving, praying for a person who drives you crazy are all examples of prayers that can be done to spruce up your praying.  Almsgiving can be more than just writing a check.  Volunteer at the local Good Samaritan or soup kitchen.  Put your talents to work by helping an elderly person get their yard in order.  I like to make baby afghans during Lent to give to a local charity.  Finally, studying is good to do by reading the Bible.  Remember though if you struggle with reading the Bible, there are wonderful books by the fathers of Christianity and current lay people.

Jesus stated, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.” Matthew 7:21.  Our faith has to be more than just playing lip service to our God.  We must act.  Lent is a wonderful time to get busy.  Many times, we are merely spectators in life.  We watch football or listen to music or we go to church.  I see God as my coach or music teacher.  We would never think of just sitting on the bench or just tapping our foot to the beat of the music.  Instead our mentors would be making us catch the ball or plunk away at the piano keys.  God is no different.  He encourages us to volunteer our time and talent; plus, He loves to talk with us.  Participate.  This is what life and faith are all about.

How do I plan to involve myself more fully this Lenten season?  I plan to walk with God, literally.  Each day, I am going to walk while praying the Rosary and giving thanks for the beauty surrounding me.  I plan to crochet a baby blanket and pray for the little one it will keep warm.  I am going to give up sweets during my days at home.  For a week, I am going to fast from the internet.  Finally, I am going to study the Maccabees which are part of our faith history prior to the birth of Jesus.  I am going to be plenty busy, but I am excited because I am focused.  What plans have you made for Lent?  Do you plan to participate?  Are you going to clean?

Blessings to you all.

Ashes

                Since I was first introduced to mythology and being I went to many different churches growing up, I have always been fascinated by different religious practices.  My favorite mythology is Scandinavian.  In college, my favorite project was a twenty page paper combining the Norse ancient religion and their book the Prose Edda.  My favorite religion is Christianity; however, I have always felt a pull towards Judaism.  I believe to understand my faith better it would behoove me to study the Jewish laws and customs.  The other night at the after party of my daughter’s school’s big fundraising event, I chatted with one of the parents.  This mother grew up Catholic and became Jewish when she married her husband.  Many of the Catholic traditions derive from the Jewish faith.

                The Old Testament can help me in studying Christianity’s roots of faith.  “Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long tunic in which she was clothed….” 2 Samuel 13:19.  The theme of ashes continues in Esther 4:1.  “When Mordecai learned all that was happening, he tore his garments, put on sackcloth and ashes, and walked through the city, crying out loudly and bitterly.”  Daniel used ashes.  “I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” Daniel 9:1.  Jesus himself mentions ashes when he reproached towns for not repenting.  “Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.” Matthew 11:21.  Our Jewish and Christian faith ancestors have used ashes for mourning and repentance. 

                Ash Wednesday is not in the Bible.  Jesus didn’t celebrate the day.  Many Christians believe that if a practice isn’t in the Bible, it shouldn’t be a part of today’s faith journey.  Maybe they are right.  However, I like the celebration of Ash Wednesday.  The somber tone of repentance of my sins and mourning the death of Christ enables me to begin the walk towards Holy Week.  Now is the time to remember that the nails that went into Jesus on the cross were my fault.  They are your fault.  We put Jesus on the cross because we sin.  It isn’t a pretty sight.  It doesn’t make me feel good inside.  But I need to take responsibility for my part in his death.  Ash Wednesday brings this into perspective for me.

                When my children need discipline, I have hated punishing them.  This is the worst part of parenting.  However, as they grow up, they begin to make better choices because of this discipline.  Now that my sons are becoming young men, I see them disciplining themselves.  My job of parent has led them to look into themselves and build themselves into better people.  To me, this is what Ash Wednesday means to me.  I am an adult in my faith.  I need to apply discipline to become a better follower of Christ.

                The Jews have always been God’s chosen people.  Jesus practiced the Jewish faith, but he added to its richness.  They used ashes and repented.  In the Prose Edda, even the Scandinavians were expected to repent.  “Thor [God of War] declared that Hrungnir should repent….”  Skaldskaparmal: The Poesy of Skalds.  When I go to Mass tonight, I will think of those who have gone before me in repentance and mourning.  They strove to be better children of their God. I will join them in this walk.

                Blessings to you all.

Celebrating: Fat Tuesday

                Confession is good for the soul.  I must make a confession.  For the past couple of weeks, I have been struggling with this blog.  I have been struggling with a lot of things really: winter blues, spring fever, boredom, tired of reading, studying, and the list goes on and on.  Today I am really struggling.  I would rather take a nap then sit at the computer working on a post.  Yet, I look at the calendar.  Ash Wednesday is in two days.  Two days!!!  This is my favorite time in the church year and I am dreading it.  Today I thought I should write about something of some significance for the events of Mardi Gras, Lent, Fat Tuesday, and/or Ash Wednesday, but to be frank, it is boring me.  But, I will give it a go.

                Mardi Gras is French meaning Fat Tuesday.  Most people are familiar with the celebration that takes place in New Orleans.  The other day I did here on the radio how a friend criticized Catholics for such blatant hedonistic practices that take place in New Orleans during this time.  This is a secular celebration that isn’t supported by the Catholic Church.  I do know of one Mardi Gras celebration being supported by the church.  In our community, the high school youth group is throwing a celebration to raise money.  They are decorating with the official colors of purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power with carnival games and serving corn bread and gumbo.  This will be a G rated event.

                Actually, Mardi Gras is the French offshoot of carnival.  This celebration began with the Romans in the middle of the second century.  The word itself means farewell to flesh (meat).  The merriment would begin with Epiphany (January 6^th celebrating the Three Kings visiting the baby Jesus with gifts) and ends the day before Lent.  Thus the tradition, of a “party” before Lent begins, has a long tradition.  Also, celebrations will be happening all over the world tomorrow for Wednesday begins the somber time of the year.

                Though none of this is exciting information for me, I did learn a bit.  I didn’t realize the link of carnival to Mardi Gras.  I also didn’t know this type of celebration started so long ago.  Unfortunately, I won’t be celebrating at the church tomorrow night.  My daughter and I have piano lessons and then she has open gym for softball.  Maybe afterwards, we will stop by for some ice cream.  Do you have plans for Fat Tuesday?  Do you have plans for Lent?  I am starting to work on mine, but that is another topic for Wednesday’s post.

                Blessings to you all.

Dead to Sin

            Yesterday in our 4^th Day Group, we finished up a section of a new book that we are working with.  The book is quite demanding in that we have to look up Bible verses continuously and we have to look up things in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  The book we are using is called Women of Grace: A Bible Study for Married Women.  This study takes me back to my younger years in elementary school.  Mr. Williams taught my Sunday School class one year.  At least I think he was the one.  During the class, we had to look up about 20 verses all over the Bible.  The author of this book reminds me of that time.  In fact, I had to look at the author’s name again just to make sure it wasn’t him.
            Now, I have not worked with the Catechism.  Years ago, my middle child’s godmother reprimanded me for not owning the book.  I still don’t.  I might just need to go down and get a copy.  There are probably a hundred excuses why I haven’t procured a copy, but my biggest reason is the Bible will reaffirm everything I need to know.  “I don’t need to know what a bunch of old men declared thousands of years ago.”  Really this is a stupid attitude when I love to do research and love the writings of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Francis of de Sales.  Well, we read one little section (one of the ladies brought her copy) and it threw me for a loop and I said some stupid stuff.
“1694 Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians are "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" and so participate in the life of the Risen Lord.⁸ Following Christ and united with him,⁹ Christians can strive to be "imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love"¹⁰ by conforming their thoughts, words and actions to the "mind . . . which is yours in Christ Jesus,"¹¹ and by following his example.¹² “  Catechism

8 Rom 6:11 and cf. 6:5; cf. Col 2:12.
9 Cf. Jn 15:5.
10 Eph 5:1-2.
11 Phil 2:5.
12 Cf. Jn 13:12-16.

            I believe all of us nervously chuckled at the fact that we are “dead to sin.”  We all agreed we weren’t doing well if we are supposed to be dead to sin.  One of us mentioned that our baptism must not have taken very well.  I have the personality of having to figure out the meaning behind things.  Since I didn’t have the Catechism, I didn’t realize these words were quoted and that there it came from the Bible.  I think my friend looked up the verse that corresponds with the quote and read it.  I was still lost in the words and the Bible reading didn’t register.  Instead of keeping my mouth shut, I started thinking out loud. 

            I can’t remember exactly what I said, but it had something to do with once we are baptized maybe our sins aren’t the big ones anymore.  I mean we don’t murder, have affairs, and look sinful because we are trying to be like Christ.  Wow, if that wasn’t judgmental and egotistical I don’t know the meaning of either word!  How these women put up with me I have no idea.  I am very blessed to have them in my life.  Luckily, one of them lovingly reminded me that as Christians more is expected of us.  We went on to the next question and no more was said on this bit of information.

            Two things have been bothering me.  The first, I am horrible at comparing myself to the rest of the world.  “I don’t do _____(fill in the blank), so I must be doing a good job at being a Christian.”  Why do I do this?  It isn’t because I think other people are horrible.  I know I am one step away from doing ______.  Let’s face it, my harsh judging is not loving and we are called to love one another, so I am obviously not “dead to sin.”  I think the world has beaten me/us down so much I/we have to reaffirm to ourselves that I/we are not all that bad.  Instead of looking at what the world thinks of me, I need to look to Christ.  What does He think?  I shouldn’t compare myself to others.  I should compare myself to the words in the Bible.  What an amazing revelation that most people already probably get but it has taken me forty plus years to come up with.  And really, I am sure I have heard it before I just needed another reminder.  I will probably need another reminder in a year or two.

            Well, I am still bothered by the thought of being “dead to sin.”  I still don’t get it because obviously I am not dead to sin.  I just revealed one way I sin on a daily basis.  So, I went back to the Bible and read Romans 6:1-11.  The eleventh verse brought it home to me.  “Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as [being] dead to sin….”  In reality, I am not dead to sin, but I must think I am in that I don’t let it run my life.  I have to fight it.  I definitely need to approach this with a humble heart because thinking can get me into trouble as well.  The nice thing is that our baptism did take.  But, I still need to work hard at being “dead to sin.” 

I think I need to go out and buy the Catechism.  I know I have read the book of Romans in my life, but never with this amount of thought have I dived into the verses.  Yes, the Bible does have all I need to know, but those old men have a way of helping me to see it again with clearer eyes.  Okay, maybe not clearer, but different eyes.

Blessings to you all.

Quote of the Week

“Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor.  If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion.  Woe to the solitary man!  For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up.”  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

                Today, we read multiple verses about marriage and spiritual vocation.  This passage struck a chord with my soul.  “Two are better than one.”  I have struggled with this concept.  I get very bullheaded in life and figure “I can do it myself.”  I also pride myself in my independence.  However, God doesn’t want us to be independent.  He wants us to be a part of a team.  After many “falls”, I have realized that I need God in my life.  Ultimately, he makes my two.  He is always there to pick me up and help with my labors.  I have also been blessed with another two and that is of my husband and me.  We make a great team always helping each other through life’s trials.  I have a number of others on my team who help me to continue along my journey to holiness: the Bible study ladies, my church family, my own family, and more then I could really ever mention.  This past weekend I headed a small group of people to volunteer for an auction for our local school.  I could never have pulled off a tenth of the work if I had been a solitary woman.  It took a team.  Who is a part of your team?

                Blessings to you all.

Tripping Up

                Many times throughout our lives there are people who cause situations in our life that trip us up in our journey to holiness.  For the past eight and a half months, I have had such a person in my life.  Unfortunately, she has also been in my son’s life.  The ending result is hopefully he learned an important lesson.  For me, I was reaffirmed that God hears my prayer.

                Last June, I was excited about my son going through the different mile stones of being a senior in high school.  Well, I should clarify.  I was excited to do the pictures and the football season.  The rest is a bit sad.  Since I was so excited and wanted to make sure I had the pictures done before the summer became too hectic, I started the process in June.  The last week of the month, we went done to a photographer’s studio.  I had admired her work since the summer we moved here about thirteen years ago.  Besides school pictures and baby pictures, we have only done two professional sessions as a family and those were through our parish.  I was determined to get excellent pictures.

                She scheduled us for later in the week.  The session went beautifully.  We took a bunch of indoor shots.  We traveled up to a small little town in the area and she did a bunch of shots by the creek and by an old truck.  Of course, we had some football shots and formal shots, but the best were the casual shots in the woods.  Within a week, we had the booklet of pictures that we were able to show family members at a big family reunion.  After we came back to town, we sat down to order the pictures.  I was very impressed.  We got this all done in two to three weeks.  I paid the full amount for the pictures because she said they would be done in four to six weeks.  The end of August was the latest.  I commented that it was perfect and I could get pictures out to family for Christmas.

                No call came in August.  I had done a lot of traveling and figured I missed the call, so at the beginning of September, I went to the store.  I got the distinct feeling I was interrupting her.  I figured she was preoccupied and didn’t think much of it.  She said she had been busy doing a bunch of summer weddings and would get to the pictures.  I reminded her of the yearbook photo that was due in October.  She said she would have the order done by then.  I wasn’t in a huge hurry, so I thanked her and went on my way.  Really, I didn’t mind.

                A couple of weeks later as the deadline to the yearbook started closing in, I began to get a bit concerned.  I started calling and calling.  I left messages.  I became concerned and e-mailed the teacher of the yearbook staff.  In a very polite way, she said that there were certain photographers in town who where hard to work with.  If we needed too, the teacher would set us up with another option for the yearbook.  Great!  Would I ever get my photos?  Finally she called two days before the due date saying the one picture was done.  (She never did get one of Michel’s friend’s yearbook picture done.  She had her pictures taken in August.)  When I picked up the picture, I asked when the rest would be getting finished.  She said she would get to it.  I reminded her that I did want to give them to family for Christmas.  In fact, I had a really cool framing project for one of the parents that I wanted to do.

                I will freely admit.  I was irritated.  I hate conflict.  I avoid it like the plague.  Needless to say, I put off calling her until the beginning of November.  This was the latest I would be able to wait to get the pictures out with the one framing project in particular.  Her true colors showed during this conversation.  First she stated that she didn’t do any processing in November.  “But the pictures were in June.”  I couldn’t believe her.  Then I was informed she was too busy to work on my pictures until all the Christmas pictures and cards were finished for her other customers.  My thought was if they wanted their pictures in time they should have been in her shop in June!  She ever so patiently explained that seniors didn’t need their pictures until the spring.  Maybe they didn’t need the wallets, but I needed the rest of the pictures.  The icing on the cake was that she would sacrifice and do develop the pictures so I wouldn’t have to call anymore.

                You guessed it.  I didn’t get the pictures before Christmas.  Being tired of the entire situation, I decided I would let it rest.  If my son received his announcements before the pictures, I would then start looking into options of dealing with this horrible businesswoman.  Well, I complained to my mother-in-law and my son decided he would take on the project.  Being he is eighteen, I thought it could be a good learning experience.  Though I paid for him, they were his, so… 

Right after Christmas, he started going to her store weekly asking about the pictures.  By the end of January, he was pretty angry.  I told him to let it rest.  So, he messaged her on facebook.  He then heard the friend who did her pictures in the fall received her photos.  Hum, we were still waiting.  Last Friday, he went to see her with his younger brother.  I didn’t know he was going to.  A couple of days earlier we heard she had his portrait in her window.  Well, he confronted her.  Words flew.  She threatened to call the cops.  The younger son got him out of the shopping area.

They came straight home and he told us everything.  Minus one word he used, I had no objections to what he said.  We told him he was wrong in the word choice and he wasn’t allowed to go to her store, lesson one.  I was very surprised.  Normally he is a very respectful gentleman.  I now know I won’t have to worry about him sticking up to injustice.  This happened on Friday.  Monday she called saying the pictures were finished.  I let the machine take the call. 

Monday night I kept debating.  I didn’t want to go into her shop alone, but my husband is out of town.  I also didn’t want him to come because the cops would probably be called.  He has been beyond angry about this since October.  I also realized the pictures could be a source of irritation when we have to look at them on a daily basis on the wall.  So I had a talk with said son.  He said he would be fine with the pictures if we got a discount.  I had to explain that hell would literally freeze over before that would every happen.  He was again angry that she had won, lesson two.  The good guy doesn’t always win.

My affirmation came on Tuesday.  During my nightly prayers Monday night, I prayed God would show we the answer of when to pick up the pictures.  I couldn’t sleep most of the night fretting over the stupid situation, imagining the not so nice things I wanted to say to her about her business practices.  Yet at the same time, I wanted the blasted pictures.  Tuesday afternoon came and I hadn’t heard from God.  Gurr.  Since it was my insistence that I get the pictures through this photographer, I figured I had to battle the dragon.  Armed with the pamphlet that said pictures would be done in 4 to 6 weeks with the all encompassing ‘barring studio schedule’ and my check duplicate, I left the house. 

Driving up the last street, my stomach was rolling.  I get physically sick when conflict hits me.  I got angry with myself for being such a wimp.  I said one last prayer before arrival.  “Okay, I need help in this mess.  God, Jesus, saints, and angels, I need you surrounding me when I go into that store.”  I think instead they went ahead of me and cleared the way.  The photographer was gone, so I only had to get the pictures from her secretary.  They are gorgeous, but we will go somewhere else next time.

Through this time of our life, my son learned to stand up for himself and adjust his language.  He did falter a bit in his walk, but he dusted himself off and will try again to win the next battle.  I turned to God in a moment of crisis and He stuck with me.  I didn’t do anything rash and he didn’t put me in a place that would tempt me.  Even people causing chaos can help us grow in our walk.

Blessing to you all.