Quote of the Week

Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

                This verse piggybacks very well with the writing I did with Saint Francis earlier this week.  I talked about how Francis worked towards helping the lay people strive towards a devout life and how it can be difficult in the secular world.    This verse gives us guidance while dealing with those who are of less devout pursuits.  We don’t want to take their advice because it won’t be Christ centered.  If we stand in the way of sinners, we are libel to get mixed up in their affairs.  Sitting in the seat of mockers I struggle with the meaning.  Yet, I am afraid it brings to mind the time I talk badly of others because of the person I am with gossips.  And I have never been blessed when I do this.  What I like about this verse is it doesn’t say that you have to avoid this type of person.  We can’t avoid them.  They are in the work place, organizations we volunteer, church, family, and quite frankly they are us from time to time.  Plus, we are to minister to them either through voice or actions.  But, we are not to assimilate if we want to be blessed.

Blessings to you all.

The Bus Driver

                In the structure of churches of all faiths, ministries are a vital part of how they continue to function.  Depending on the faith, it can have a welcoming, social, Eucharist, and youth ministry.  The church I attended as a child had a ministry that was vital to my attending every Sunday and the one week in the summer for Vacation Bible School.  This was the church bus ministry.

                I don’t know if this was the official name.  I also didn’t know what all it entailed.  Maintenance and payment of gas were probably a big part, but as a grade school girl, none of this was relevant to me.  Mrs. Fields played the role that was so very important.  Every Sunday morning, she woke up early, prepared her children, and the bus to begin their journey.  She drove around town and out into the countryside to pick all of us up.  I believe her service first thing in the morning was a nicety for some families.  They sent their children to Sunday school and followed later for church services.   My parents didn’t attend church, so the bus was my only option.

                For me, I woke myself up and prepared for my mornings with God.  I waited patiently at the kitchen window until the yellow bus showed up at the end of my driveway and the horn blew.  If the weather was nice, I waited outside.  This journey took me to learn about Jesus and his followers and grow friendships of faith with my fellow students.  At church I would sit by an elderly couple who were cousins to my grandmother or a family would take me in and let me sit with them.  At the end of church, I got on the bus once again for my ride home.

                I didn’t always appreciate Mrs. Fields.  She was a strange lady.  Though we didn’t have much money growing up, her family had less which scared me.  As I entered those terrible junior high school years, I looked down on her lack of worldly goods.  At the time, I lacked in spiritual goods.  She could also be very mean if we misbehaved.  However, she did let us sit at the back of the bus when we were good and we could bounce on the seat.  One day we hit a bump in the road and the two of us in the seat hit the bounce just right.  We flew through the air, cushion and all.  A bump on my head resulted and much concern from Mrs. Fields.

                Years have passed since those days long gone.  She played a critical part in my early journey to holiness through her service to our small little church by working on her journey to holiness driving an old yellow bus.  I pray for her now whether still with us on earth or making her way through heaven.

                Who played a role in your early faith development?  Offer up a prayer for them.

                Blessing to you all.

A Devout Life

            The next couple of weeks, I would like to study the words of Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers.  I believe even though he lived over four hundred years ago, he still has something to teach us.  Amazingly, he grabbed my attention in his introduction to Introduction to the Devout Life.  He is a writer with vivid analogies painting a picture which helps in his guidance to holiness.  I also was amazed by his humbleness.

            In the introduction to his essays, Francis explains that he has nothing to add to the great works of the Bible.  Instead, he wants to use different words to assemble the ideas from the Bible to make a different arrangement.  He compared what he did to that of a florist making an unusual arrangement from the same flowers.  The imagery of his words took my breath away.  He continues in humbleness by saying though he writes about being devout he in not.  “…but most certainly I am not without the wish to become so [devout], and it is this wish which encourages me to teach you.”  Again, his modest manner as a bishop when he is writing reflects holiness even if in the beginning stages.

            We are all called to a vocation, career.  Francis knew we are not all called to work for our churches.  We are called to be soldiers, bankers, doctors, mothers, and fathers.  This does not leave us out of the call to holiness.  “But my object is to teach those who are living in towns, at court, in their own households, and whose calling obliges them to a social life, so far as externals are concerned.”  In other words, though we are not called to live a life away from the secular world as monks, nuns, and other cloistered groups, we are still in need of being taught further then just attending services on Sunday.

            Our world is filled with many temptations.  We see people fall to the lure of power and money.  We are swayed by taking the easy route.  Francis gives us hope.  “…a true steadfast soul may live in the world untainted by worldly breath, finding a well-spring of holy piety amid the bitter waves of society, and hovering amid the flames of earthly lusts without singeing the wings of its devout life.”  Francis doesn’t paint a pretty picture and warns us.  “Of a truth this is not easy, and for that very reason I would have Christians bestow more care and energy than heretofore on the attempt, and thus it is that, while conscious of my own weakness, I endeavor by this book to afford some help to those who are undertaking this noble work with a generous heart.”  Again Francis expresses his understanding for he is also weak.  I am comforted by his understanding and belief we are working a noble endeavor in the world.

            The other day I was listening to the Catholic channel on XM radio.  Lino Rulli talked about how we need more Saints that are parishioners instead of archbishops, nuns, priests, and popes.  His thinking was that then the common lay people would feel they have something to work towards.  I think Francis agrees.  “This is a caviling [to make petty or unnecessary objections] age and I foresee that many will say that only Religious and persons living apart are fit to undertake the guidance of souls in such special devout ways.”  Wow, not much has changed in the last four hundred years.

            The easy way that many people take is to believe if we aren’t working directly for God, our work doesn’t matter.  But it does.  All work we perform is noble if we approach it with a generous heart.  This will lead us to holiness.  I believe a good dose of humbleness will also help us along the way.  Saint Francis de Sales believes in us.  We can live a devout life.

            Blessings to you all.

Pray Without Ceasing

            All great people of faith making the journey to holiness pray.  Many of them pray without ceasing.  After making Cursillo (a four day Catholic retreat) over ten years ago, I began a more serious walk with Christ.  I began by studying and praying more.  My passion is to learn so studying is a constant.  Prayer is more difficult for me.  I forget to pray.  Unless someone reminds me, I practically never pray before breakfast, lunch, or snacks.  If I am not with my family, I forget to pray at dinner.

            Thoughts of God are never far away.  I think of Him often throughout the day; yet, I am not actively having a conversation with Him.  Distractions at work, radio and other areas get in the way.  Over the years I used paperclips at work.  I put ten on my desk.  Through the day each time I said a prayer, I put a paperclip back in the container.  For years I kept a prayer by Saint Teresa on my computer monitor.  During one lent, I taped a morning prayer to the bathroom mirror.  While I exercise, I love to pray the Rosary.  All of these activities in prayer have fallen by the wayside for a variety of reasons.  I need to get back to these and start some more.  Oh, and I should add prayer to my mornings when driving the two younger kids to school.  I need to pray when cleaning the bathroom, cooking for the family, and doing dishes.  I need to pray without ceasing. 

            While reading Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly, this sentence touched my heart.  “And the actions of our lives are determined by our last most dominant thought.”  If we are praying continuously, our last thought will be of God causing our actions to be virtuous.  So, if I pray while doing dishes, I will approach the task with more love and not resentment.  If I pray while driving, instead of getting angry at other drivers, I will have more patience.  Praying without ceasing is a goal worth striving for in our lives.

            How often and when do you pray?  Blessings to you all.

Be You

“Be who you are and be that well.”  Saint Francis de Sales

          We have all tried to fit in with friends, coworkers, or family; changing something about ourselves to make them like us more.  A friend of mine actually gained weight to be more like his adoptive relatives.  In my case, a number of times when I have tried to assimilate; I have become miserable and still not accepted for the core being of Lisa.  (Luckily I have never changed the core.)  We loss who we are and who God wants us to be when we try to change and become someone else.  So, I will continue to be my peculiar introverted self who likes to stay home more then be out and about.

Blessings to you all.

Traits of Holiness

                The other night I went to dinner with my family for Monday night football.  Usually just my husband and the boys go to meet with their fantasy football buddies, but the daughter and I tagged along.  One of the guys showed up and asked if I had started a blog yet.  He is a dear military friend who I have known for too many years to remember.  I laughed because I did start the blog that very day.  Then he asked the dreaded question, what is it about?  Hum, how do I answer that question in a short one sentence answer?

                I don’t remember exactly what I answered.  However, I do remember the gist of his reply.  “Oh, I don’t think it is a blog for me.”  My counter reply, “Oh, but it is.  The blog is for the average person.”  We didn’t continue the conversation because he was on the other side of the table, the restaurant was loud; plus, we were watching football.  However, some of my less holy traits are pride and bullheadedness; I was going to write a post just about this friend, for this friend.

                We met about twelve to fourteen years ago in a maintenance unit.  Being in different platoons, I didn’t get to know him until about nine years ago when he applied for a job as a voucher examiner.  I was the lead and fortunately my boss agreed he would be perfect for the job.  Over the years our friendship has grown at work and across a table drinking beer and watching football.  His wife and my husband join us on these outings plus we go out to dinner during the off season.  His integrity is impeccable and his loyalty to friendship brings tears to my eyes.  He annoyingly sees situations in a positive light when I want to just growl.  In the past we have talked a little about church and God.  He doesn’t attend church, but if I remember correctly, he does believe in a higher power. 

                So, how does a guy like this portray holiness?  He isn’t a priest or minister.  He doesn’t attend church.  He is the average Joe, or is he?  In Colossians 3:12 it states, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience”.  For years, he has been very patient with me.  He laughs a lot about my thoughts on the military, but he is also very patient with them.  At work, he displays humility in admitting when he doesn’t know the answer to a problem by finding it.  When he does something wrong, he admits it and immediately goes about fixing it when it is within his power.  My daughter adores him because he has always been gentle with her.

                Going through tough times in life brings out interesting traits in a person’s friends.  While my husband was deployed to Iraq, this friend displayed kindness and heartfelt compassion.  Every day at work he stopped by my cubicle to check up on me and the kids.  If I needed to vent, he sat and we would talk.  For a military guy listening to an emotional wife is not an easy task.  But without him, my life would have been much harder.  His compassion didn’t stop there.  When my husband came home, this dear friend didn’t just welcome him home.  He called, he visited, and he drug my husband out of the house.  Neither my husband nor I could ever thank him enough for all that he did during those trying years.

                This past year we almost lost this friend to medical problems.  Much praying went on in our household for his recovery of numerous surgeries and difficulties.  Even the other night, I was so thankful he could join us for some football.  Sitting around the table at Thanksgiving, we all were stating what we were thankful for.  My oldest said he was thankful that our friend is still here on Earth.  Now I ask you, how can this man’s actions not display the true meaning of what it is to be working on a holy life?  I challenge all of you to think of those “unlikely” people around you.  How are they displaying the traits of compassion and kindness?  Look for it.  See their goodness, their holiness.

                Blessings to you all.

Francis de Sales

                My love of history began in elementary school while watching television Monday nights.  The life of a pioneer girl named Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House on the Prairie fascinated me.  I also lost myself in the Great Depression while watching the Walton children in The Waltons.  Finally, the study of history came alive in 8^th grade with the mini-series The Blue and the Gray while studying the Civil War in history class with Mr. Lee.  My love of theology also began at this young age.  I love hearing the stories of the Bible and reading the beautiful words.  In fact, I wanted to be a nun back then but since I wasn’t Catholic I dreamed of writing or teaching just like Laura.  Thus, the Catholic saints have fascinated me once I became Catholic in my early twenties.  History and theology coming together in a perfect combination like chocolate and peanut butter.

                Over the years, I have studied Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, Mother Mary, the Little Flower (Saint Teresa), Christopher, Patrick, and Daniel of Padua.  I have also read about a bunch of the others along with the apostles.  Now whether a person is Catholic or not, it can’t be argued that these are people in history who did amazing works for God.  Most of them were far from perfect though some of their stories say otherwise.  Once I started this blog I wondered who I would pick from history to study.  Being a writer, I thought it was time to look up the patron saint of writers, Saint Francis de Sales.

                Like many young people and their parents, Francis and his father had different ideas of what Francis should do with his life in the 1580s.  Francis wanted to become a priest but his father wanted him to become a soldier.  This reminds me of when I was preparing for college.  I so wanted to go to Puget Sound Bible College in Seattle, Washington, but my father wanted me to go to a school that would give me a real job.  Francis went to Paris to study and I went to Billings.  After going to Padua to study, God finally told Francis it was time to make his commitment.  One day while riding, he fell three times from his mount.  Each time his sword and scabbard fell to the ground forming a cross.  Francis made the move and became a priest.  I never became a nun or received a degree in theology, but I write about it.

                Priesthood did not come easy for Francis.  The people complained about him because they thought he made fun of them while he preached and they thought he was arrogant.  Against the good guidance of others, he decided to cross the mountains to Switzerland to bring back 60,000 people into the Catholic Church.  They had converted to Calvinism.  The people wouldn’t listen to him.  He slept on the ground, in trees, and in haylofts.  Finally he started writing his sermons on paper and put them under the doors.  These are the first known religious pamphlets to be distributed.  The people finally started listening when he began talking and interacting with the children.  Of the 60,000, it is said he brought 40,000 back to his beloved church.

                During this time in Catholic history, the belief was that only nuns and priests could work towards holiness.  Francis disagreed and offered spiritual direction to the ordinary people.  He wrote the famous book Introduction to the Devout Life.  He recommended to, “Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others and talk to God.”  He also thought gossip and judging others a great sin.  In the next couple of weeks I plan to read his book and see what other words of wisdom he has for all of us.  So far, he seems like an amazing man who can help me on my journey to holiness.

                Do you have perfect combinations in your life that help you on the journey to holiness?  Someday, I think it would be fun to study the great works of art that depicts theology.  So go out and enjoy your blending of an everyday activity like history and see how it intertwines with theology.  And maybe the next time you eat a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup you will think of history and theology.

                Blessing to you all.