Mother Cabrini...HER-story

"Prayer is powerful. It fills the earth with mercy."

Mother Cabrini

Today, in honor of Mother Cabrini's feast day, I found the website of her sisters, who are still vibrant and serving in the world mightily.  My favorite Mother Cabrini story is the one where she arrives in New York to help with the Italian immigrants as she was told to do by Pope Leo XIII.  Mind you, she didn't want to go to New York, she wanted to go to China, but in the spirit of obedience, she agreed to take a few of her sisters and go to the US.  When she and her sisters arrived, the bishop tried to send her back to Italy.  I remember Fr. Mike telling us this story at daily mass and he said, "How would you like to be the bishop whose claim to fame was trying to send Mother Cabrini back to Italy?" But, Mother Cabrini, undaunted, said she was staying and that was that.  The rest is history, or really HER-story!  You can read about her here:

http://www.mothercabrini.org/

Blessings on your Friday and weekend!  Love, heidi

Perceive. Contemplate. Share.

"And continually the soul does what it was made for: it perceives God, it contemplates God, and it loves God..."
Julian of Norwich, Showings 44

 

I really love this (I love lessons in threes), but what does it look like in our 21st century life? I sat with it for a while and came up this...First, we perceive God--all around us in nature, in the people we encounter in our day, in the peace and serenity of silence.  We find God. Having found God, we commune with God, learn about God through scripture, prayer and just sitting with God, listening.  And then, after finding and feeling God's presence, we are called to go out and love God in others.  All of this is a delicate balance of action and contemplation, really.  If all of our sitting around communing with God doesn't lead us out to love others, we must be contemplating the wrong thing!  We find God. We commune with God. We love God by loving others.  That may seem simple, but we all know better, right?  I do love lessons in threes...love, heidi

Bare twigs

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; those who are crushed in spirit, he saves."

Psalm 34:19

 

I've really been noticing the changing trees this autumn. As we move through November, they are mostly bare; their last burst of glory laying on the ground beneath them.  One could think they would be ashamed, being so bare there with so little to offer now...no more safe shelter for birds, no more shade for humans. But, there they are, proud to be just bare twigs, pointing toward heaven.  The trees know something we may forget. That these short days and long nights can serve as such a wonderful time of rest.  Less is expected of the trees as they are stripped bare of their offerings. They can rest and rejuvenate to be ready for spring if they use this time wisely.  Lord, please help me to appreciate this time of bare twigs.  Help me to use the restful time wisely and prayerfully.  Help me to offer others what you give me to share, even if it doesn't seem like much right now.  For only you can take my meager offering, make something of it and put it to good use. You can take my bare twigs and help me point toward heaven. Help me to love these days of restful darkness.  Love, heidi

The Spirit of God is in YOU!

"Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

1 Corinthians 3:16

 

Today is the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome and, while it is hard for me to get excited about celebrating a big building, I can easily celebrate human beings housing the Spirit of God! That is definitely worth celebrating!  On Pray-As-You-Go this morning, they ask "What about Christianity are you grateful for?" My answer is easily the people of Christ, past and present, saints and sinners, known and unknown.  The people who quietly, or more widely known, did the work of God.  I just finished a brief essay on Dorothy Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker Movement. While her case for sainthood is in the works, many have thought her too flawed to ever be an "official" saint.  But she DID it--the real work of God--caring for God's people.  She cared for Jesus in the poor and taught others how to do it  All human beings are flawed and if they don't think they are, they are likely worse than others! Jesus purposefully hung out with the flawed and knew he could use them to build up his Kingdom.  So, today, I celebrate the Spirit of God dwelling in all of us.  Every single person we will meet on our autumn Monday houses the Spirit of God, just as holy as any building in Rome.  Let's treat them with the reverence and awe they deserve!  Love, heidi