Get that heart beating!

"But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

I watched a TV show the other night about a family with five children and all five ended up having serious heart problems. The two older girls both had heart transplants. Shocking and scary, that! I thought of that show this morning, as I sat outside reflecting on this reading and today's feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In a way, we all need a heart transplant! We need to have Jesus' most loving and merciful heart transplanted into all of us. Oh wait! We DO have Jesus' love residing in our hearts. Maybe we just need a heart jump-start to get it beating. They showed on the documentary a heart transplant procedure and, just after the transplant was completed, they stimulated the new heart. It suddenly began beating in beautiful rhythm. Today, as we celebrate the first Friday in June, let's picture ourselves in prayer, stimulating the Heart of Jesus within our own chests. And let's glory in how Jesus' loving heart helps us to love all around us. Blessings on your weekend! Love, heidi

Come to the quiet...

"Come to the Quiet"

~An Invitation

I notice that everything is quieter when I'm in my silence mode in my backyard (lately it's been Sunday mornings). I whisper to the dogs instead of talking in a normal voice. I close doors softly; I'm so much more gentle with all my actions. It's like I don't want any noise to disturb the bird's song or the sound of the leaves rustling. When I was on silent retreat at Nazareth, I found myself even walking more gently and slowly, like I was in a wedding. I didn't want to disturb the sacred ground I was walking on. As well as quieting our actions, we can quiet our minds and even our souls. In that stillness, we can be so much more attune to God's tiny whisper. I urge you to take some time and enjoy a quiet hour, whenever you can! Turn off all electronics and just still in the stillness of your yard or living room. Listen for the tiniest sound you can hear...a cricket, a bird, a leaf. Just revel in that tiny-ness. And realize that God's voice is only that loud. Love, heidi

Your true colors...are beautiful

"Where are your charitable deeds now? Where are your virtuous acts? See! Your true character is finally showing itself!"

Tobit 2:14

In a word: Ouch! How quickly things can change, right? Why, just yesterday we met our friend, Tobit, who was inviting the poor and downtrodden to dinner and burying the dead, like a good guy. Today, he is falsely accusing his wife of stealing a goat, setting off this diatribe of anger from her. Sr. Joyce Rupp, in yesterday's entry in "Living Faith" talks about this head-spinning turn of events for Tobit. She likened it to us in the here and now. When things are going along well, we can be quite virtuous and well-behaved. But, things go awry and we go awry with them. Our goodness, out the window! I guess it will keep us humble, knowing how our goodness can turn on a dime. It is reassuring for us to remember, that God loves us, even when our true character shows itself. God knows our true character better than anyone...and loves us all the same. That doesn't excuse our misbehavior one bit. To the contrary, it should make us want to return the love back to God, by loving those around us and treating them the way God loves them. Love, heidi

One fish, two fish...

"Then taking the five loaves and the two fish,
and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing over them, broke them,
and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd."

Luke 9:16
 

The miracle of the loaves and fishes (Sunday's Gospel, Luke 9:11-17) really got me thinking as I sat outside and pondered it early yesterday morning. I tried to imagine myself there with the five thousand and tried to picture how it all played out. I imagined that it involved a good deal of sharing among the people, too. Think of it. Jesus asks the disciples to get the folks in groups of fifty. Then the disciples begin to hand out the bread and fish meal. I pictured people taking the bread and passing it to the others in their groups. They passed it to people they knew, but also people they didn't know...or maybe didn't even like! In my mind's picture, Jesus' miracle of the loaves and fish required the people to share with each other, too. And that is so much how we can continue that miracle in our own day. We share in the miracle of Jesus' body and blood, and then go out and share that grace with everyone we meet. So, let's make that our vision for today...to share Jesus' gift with others! Love, heidi