A prayer for the cave...

"Our sojourn of inner growth sometimes

Confines us to the cave's empty gloom.

In this silent, gray space of waiting

When we are unsure of how to proceed

We hear your voice of wisdom urging us:

'Do not be afraid. I am with you.'

'Learn to love the silence.'

'Trust this time of slow gestation.'

'This is not a waste of your time.'

'Breathe, Be at peace. Easy does it.'"

 

~Sr. Joyce Rupp, Fragments of Your Ancient Name"

God alone is enough...

"Let nothing disturb you;

Let nothing make you afraid;

All things pass,

But God is unchanging,

Patience

is enough for everything.

You who have God

lack nothing.

God alone is sufficient."

St. Teresa of Avila, as quoted in "The Dark Night of the Soul," by Gerald G. May

 

Let's let this beautiful prayer of St. Teresa settle in us today.  God alone is enough.  Love, heidi

Marymount Hermitage

"The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days."
Revelation 12:6

If you would like to read about my adventures on retreat at Marymount, please click on the link below.  Marymount is a little piece of heaven on the desert mesa of Idaho. I only wish I could stay for twelve hundred and sixty days!
http://www.marymount-hermitage.org/newsletters/monthly/2014-10.pdf

Keeping it clean...

"Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil."

Luke 11:39

 

This reminded me of a story from one of our favorite priests.  He told this at a class he was teaching and it really stuck with me.  His favorite movie, when he was a young lad, was "Braveheart," with Mel Gibson.  Many years later, he decided to go a full year without watching anything with violence...no movies, TV shows or video games. After that year, he had the chance to see Braveheart and he settled in to watch his favorite movie.  He realized, however, that he was appalled at the violence.  It was the same as always, but HE had changed. He could no longer stomach the violence in a movie he had previously enjoyed.  Well, a similar thing just happened to me.  I had read a popular book recently and decided to see the newly released movie.  After watching mostly documentaries and reading only spiritual and historical books, I was surprised by my own reaction to the movie.  I felt like I needed a good shower after watching it!  Is the world really like that?  I felt like I wanted to "un-see" it, but that is impossible.  I decided to learn from the experience so as to lessen the mistakenness of it.  I want the inside of my cup to be as clean as I want the outside. And that takes an awareness on my part on what I should watch. These are things we need to know about ourselves.  We are all different, but we need to know ourselves and allow ourselves to grow and change.  Love, heidi