Holy THursday

I find such wonderful reflections, that I just need to pass them on.  They may move you as they do me.

THe title:  Freedom, Bread and WIne, a Towel:

Freedom:  Jesus frees us in his new Passover. 
Reflect:  How free am I?  Is there anyting that still enslaves me:  an addiction, self-centeredness, bitterness, consumerism, pride?

Bread and Wine:  transformed into Jesus' body and blood, Eucharist.
Reflect:  How do I show my appreciation and love for this incredible gift?

Towel:  in his washing of feet, Jesus showed us that the hallmark of Christian discipleship is humble service and unconditional love.
Reflect: Who needs MY unconditional love? Who might I serve?  We don our aprons in loving service....

From  This Day

Who am I at the table of the Lord?

This was the title in my reflection book for Tuesday.  I  found the questions worth sharing.

When Jesus announced someone would betray him: would I be like the disciples, staring wide-eyed, open-mouthed, not knowing what to say?  Would I be like John, collapsed in grief, laying my head sadly on his bosom?  Would I be like Peter, promising loyaly even to death?  Would I possibly be like Judas, taking the morsel Jesus offers as a last gesture of LOVE....then go out into the dark to do my dark act?

The author suggests that each character represents some defect in our lives...times we ought to have spoken up and times to be silent....times so bound up in my own pain and so failed to see the pain of the other...times I have betrayed the love of Christ in my weakness and failed to be a real disciple.

Good reflection stuff....

Favorite days....

The Triduum is my favorite 3 days.  It goes way back 60+ years from my childhood.  I loved Holy Thursday (when litugy was in the moring--pre-Varican II).  After Mass we had adoration ALL day at a beautifully decorated altar of repose.  THis is where my love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament birthed, I think.

Then...my dad was a member of the "Hermanos" a men's group dedicated to the passion of Jesus.  They had small private chapels...ours was up in the mountains.  On Good Friday we went there for prayer and for outside Way of the Cross.  Lots of praying and singing and carrying a cross.

Holy Saturday was a quiet day of mourning....no playing or visiting!

Then in community, we had these days of silence. 

Since I don't know when, I go for a Triduum retreat.  This year I could not go because I need to be here for my ministry....four are joinng the Church, one is being confirmed, and one is receiving first eucharist...so I am making my own triduum retreat.  Prayer and silence.

I pray these holy days are truly holy for you too.

Pope Fancis I

I'm only one of the many who are rejoicing at the election of pope Francis.  As of now all is praise and thanks.  Time will tell how much of that continues as he begins to say and do things with which we disagree.  That is bound to come...when the "honeymoon" ends!  We need to keep him in our prayers for he has a difficult ministry, especially because of where we are in our Church. 

In my reflection yesterday, I ran into "The Parable of a Pencil" which I think is wonderful, so I want to share it with you.

A pencil maker tells a pencil that it must learn important lessons before he puts it in the box.  "First" he said "remember that everything you do will leave a mark--either good or bad.  But you can always correct the mistakes you make, because that's what an eraser is for.  What is important is not the outer mark you make in the world, but what is inside of you.  It's not just lead you know.  It is your hopes and dreams, your values and goals--and it is all enclosed in a protective case that will keep you from
breaking.  Keep in mind, though, you will need to be constantly sharpened, but this will only make you better.  And last, to be the best penil, you must allow yourself to be guided by the hand that holds you."   

Isn't that the best?  Such lessons to be drawn from this to apply to life.  Good luck....let's see how much we can remember and DO!

Greetings from Tulsa!

Yes, Tulsa, where I am enjoying very different temps from Milwaukee!  Beautifully sunny, green grass, green bushes....much Spring in the air.  But, back to WI reality later today.

I would like to share from my reflection in "Give us This Day" by Lewis Smedes writng on forgive-ness.  I'm sure you have had the experience of holding on to hurts, actually nursing them, finding it so difficult to let go, to forgive.

AND....you and I know that WE are the ones hurting, suffering, being miserable.  The "hurter"  totally oblivious is enjoying life, going along "free"...and we blasted in pain....self-made, at that.  If only we could just see the sense of it all, actually the stupidity of it all....making myself miserable.  Sound familiar?

Lewis says "forgiving is the only way to be fair to yourself.  Getting even is a loser's game.  It is the ultimate frustration because it leaves you with more pan than you got in the first place...Your own memory is a replay of your hurt--a videotape within your soul that plays unending retuns of your old rendezvous with pain...You are hooked into it like a pain junkie; you become addicted to your remembrance of pain past...Is this fair to yourself-this wretched justice of not forgiving? You could not be more unfair to yourself...

The only way to heal the pain that will not heal itself is to forgive the person who hurt you... forgiving stops the reruns of pain.  Forgiving heals your memory as you change your memory's vision.

When you release the wrongdoer from the wrong, you cut a malignant tumor out of your inner life.
You set a prinsoner free, but you discover that the real prisoner was yourself."

Did you recognize yourself?  I surely did! 

What words of wisdom....now to take them to heart...and do them....tough, but the way to go!

LENTEN BLESSINGS...

Cannot believe it.....

Right!  I cannot believe that I've been away so long....just too little time for the too many things and places and people!

So much has happened, I could not begin to list, but am glad I am back.  Here in Milwaukee we have been "enjoying" snow!  Truly.  We have had LOTS, but God's work of art is magnificent. I love the trees, the bushes, espeially the leafless trees when they are snow-laden.  It is truly breathtaking. 

My route to work has trees on both sides of the road and it is just a magnificence.  I cannot help but be filled with praise and gratitude for the beauty....yet I have to make sure I don't slip and slide!

And LENT!  Not given...lent to us for prayer, fasting, and works of charity...all in preparation for the BIG EVENT. 

"Return to God with all your heart"...genuinely.  Reconcile.  Seek forgiveness. 

What aspects of my life and my attitudes need to be restored in line with Gospel values?  Lent is a period of spiritual recovery.

I wish you recovery!