The Litany of Humility

T passed along the beautiful Litany of Humility prayer a while ago. I love it so much I am hoping to learn it this Lenten season.  The lovely printable below is found here.

The talented Audrey Assad has a beautiful song to pray along with the litany.  It is not word for word, but the spirit is beautifully true.  It is on the Lenten playlist here at our house.

"I shall not want," Audrey Assad:

Happy Lent,
Queen B

A Prayer on the Feast of Christ, the King

Happy Feast of Christ the King!

On this last Sunday before Advent, may Christ be King of all of our hearts, for He is Creator and King of the Universe.

Today, we celebrated with brunch with friends.  We have so much for which to be thankful, and it was a great way to kick off Thanksgiving week.

Below is the beautiful final prayer of the Christ the King Novena.  

(You can find this prayer and all the other prayers from the Novena at PrayMoreNovenas.com . )

It is a perfect prayer for today:

Christ, our Savior and our King, renew in me allegiance to Your Kingship.

I pray for the grace to place You above the powers of this world in all things.
I pray for the grace to obey You before any civic authority.
I pray for the grace to fervently bring about Your Kingdom in my family and community.
I pray that You will reign in my mind.
I pray that You will reign in my heart.
I pray that You will reign in my will.
I pray that You will reign in my body.
I pray that You will reign throughout the world.
I pray that You will reign in every area of my life.

O Prince of Peace, may Your reign be complete in my life and in the life of the world. Christ, my King, please answer my petitions if they be in accordance with Your Holy Will…

As I reflect on Your second, glorious coming and the judgement of all mankind, I beg You to show me mercy and give me the grace to become a great saint. I pray that not only will I spend eternity with You but that You may use me – a sinner – to bring others into Your Kingdom for Your glory.  Christ the King, Your Kingdom come!

Amen.

Happily Ever,
Queen B

Little Steps to being a Saint

"To be holy, it is not necessary to be Bishops, priests or religious. 

We are all called to become saints!"

~Pope Francis, November 19th General Audience

Today, Pope Francis reminded Christians that we are all called to be Saints.  May we all take the little steps toward sainthood that God offers us everyday, regardless of our circumstances.

The full translation of the Holy Father's remarks are available at Zenit.org:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

A great gift of the Second Vatican Council was that of recovering a vision of the Church founded on communion, and regaining also the principle of authority and of hierarchy in this perspective. This has helped us to understand better that all Christians, in as much as baptized, have the same dignity before the Lord and share the same vocation, which is that to holiness (cf. Constitution Lumen Gentium, 39-42). Now we ask ourselves: what does this universal vocation to be Saints consist of? And how can we achieve it?

First of all we must keep very present that holiness is not something that we procure for ourselves; that we obtain with our qualities and our capacities. Holiness is a gift, it is a gift that the Lord Jesus gives us, when He takes us to Himself, clothes us with Himself, and renders us like Himself. In the Letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul affirms that “Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her” (Ephesians 5:25-26). There, holiness is truly the most beautiful face of the Church: it is to rediscover oneself in communion with God, in the fullness of His life and of His love. One understands, then, that holiness is not only the prerogative of some: holiness is a gift that is offered to all; no one is excluded, it is what constitutes the distinctive character of every Christian.

All this makes us understand that, to be holy, it is not necessary to be Bishops, priests or religious … We are all called to become saints! Very often, however, we are tempted to think that holiness is reserved only to those who have the possibility to detach themselves from ordinary tasks, to dedicate themselves exclusively to prayer. But it is not so! Some people think that holiness is closing your eyes and putting on a pious face... No! That is not holiness! Holiness is something greater, more profound that God gives us. In fact, it is precisely by living with love and offering Christian witness in our daily tasks that we are called to become Saints – and each one in the conditions and in the state in which he finds himself. Are you consecrated? Be holy  by living with joy your donation and your ministry. Are you married? Be holy by loving and taking care of your husband or your wife, as Christ did with the Church. Are you an unmarried baptized person? Be holy by doing your work with honesty and competence and offering time to the service of brothers.  "But, father, I work in a factory ... I work as an accountant, always with the numbers, I cannot be a saint there..." - "Yes, you can! There, where you work you can become a saint.

God gives you the grace to become a saint. God communicates with you." Always and everywhere you can become a saint, that is, by being receptive to the grace that is working in us and leads us to holiness. Are you a parent or a grandparent? Be holy by passionately teaching your children or your grandchildren to know and to follow Jesus. And this takes a lot of patience, to be a good parent, a good grandfather, a good mother, a good grandmother, it takes a lot of patience and this patience is the holiness exercising patience.  Are you a catechist, educator or volunteer? Be a Saint by becoming a visible sign of the love of God and of His presence at our side. This is it: every state of life leads to holiness, always!  At home, on the streets, at work, at church, in the moment and with the state of life that you have, a door is opened on the road to sainthood. Do not be discouraged to travel this road. God gives you the grace to do so. And this is all that the Lord asks, is that we are in communion with Him and serve others. If lived in communion with the Lord and in the service of others.

At this point, each of us can examine our conscience, we can do it now, everyone answering for himself, inside, in silence: So far how have we responded to God's call to holiness? But do I want to improve, to be a better Christian? This is the path to holiness. When the Lord calls us to be saints, he does not call us to something hard or sad... Not at all! It is an invitation to share His joy, to live and offer every moment of our lives with joy, at the same time making it a gift of love for the people around us. If we understand this, everything changes and takes on a new meaning, a beautiful meaning, to begin with the little everyday things. An example. A lady goes to the market to shop and meets another neighbor and starts talking and then comes the gossip and this lady says, "No, no, no I will not gossip about anyone." That's one step towards holiness, this helps you to become more holy. Then, at home, your son asks you to talk to him about his fantasies: "Oh, I'm so tired, I worked so hard today..." - "But sit down and listen to your son, he needs this." And you sit, you listen with patience... This is a step towards holiness. Then at end the day, we are all tired, but prayer... We must pray! That's one way to holiness. Then Sunday comes and you go to Mass and to take Communion, at times, a good confession that cleans us up a little. This is a step towards holiness. Then, Our Lady, so good, so beautiful, I take up the Rosary and pray. This is a step towards holiness. And so many steps towards holiness, little ones... Then I go down the street, I see a poor person, someone in need, I ask him, give him something, another step towards holiness. Small things are small steps toward holiness. And every step towards holiness will make us better people, free from selfishness and being closed in on ourselves, and open us up to our brothers and sisters and their needs.

Dear friends, in the First Letter of Saint Peter, this exhortation is addressed to us: “As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (4:10-11). See the invitation to holiness! Let us receive it with joy, and support one another, because the path to holiness is not traveled on one’s own, each one on his own account, but it is traveled together, in the one Body that is the Church, loved and rendered holy by the Lord Jesus.

~Pope Francis, November 19th General Audience

Encouraging the Family

"Today more than ever, we need witnesses who live out the Gospel of the family to the fullest and with joy, and who show the world that it is a beautiful and fascinating way of life, a source of happiness for spouses and children. Here there is enormous scope for the prophetic mission of our laity. In the lives of Christian couples today it takes the courage of prophets, the courage to stand up to the dominant culture."

~Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko

President of the Pontifical Council of the Laity

October 4, 2014

The Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family is about to begin.  Let's pray for the Light and Encouragement of Christ to guide the Bishops and His Church.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

What I will teach my children about civility

I read an article recently entitled "Who Deserves Respect?".  I was impressed and challenged.  Although we live in a culture that touts diversity and tolerance as paramount, individuals often speak so disparagingly of those who don't share their views as though to suggest that dissidents are unworthy of respect.  I hope to model and teach my children otherwise.

"Civility is due not to a person’s opinions, but to the person himself. Such civility is right and just because, while we may be very convinced that our opponent is wrong, our opponent is still a person with dignity. The just response to error is, as Socrates pointed out long ago, not mockery but argument. Civility is, moreover, prudent and good because if we reject it, if we indulge the desire to denounce, we destroy the civic friendship that is necessary to preserve a free and diverse society."
~Carson Holloway, "Who Deserves Respect?" The Witherspoon Institute Public Discourse

Civil disagreement is so difficult to learn.  It is also a lost art.  It is so much easier to denounce or slander a person who disagrees with us or who promotes ideas that we find repulsive or untenable.  I need to begin by teaching my children now, at home, and by ensuring that when they hear me disagreeing with someone, they hear me doing it in a respectful way.  I recently read the American Girl book, Felicity Learns a Lesson with G-Bear, and I was tremendously impressed by how the protagonist Merrimans were depicted as a family.  They were embroiled in the confusing, contentious revolutionary period, yet they were determined to be civil and respectful in their disagreements with their friends and neighbors.  Such lessons are just as important in my life as they are for my daughter.

Lord, let civility begin with me, even with those with whom I disagree.

Pray Today for Peace in Iraq

Today, our family joins Pope Francis' plea that "an incessant unanimous prayer be raised by the whole Church to invoke from the Holy Spirit the gift of peace."

Lord, have mercy, deliver the suffering from evil, and make us all instruments of your peace.

Inspiration from the Beach

We're at the Beach.

We've been here before, and it is a blessing to be back again.

I found this inspiration while perusing the boardwalk shop windows.

It's a lovely memento to take home from the beach:

"The pessimist complains about the wind;

the optimist expects it to change;

the realist adjusts the sails."

~ William Arthur Ward

Our view of the Harbor Town lighthouse in Hilton Head, SC

More to come from Hilton Head...

Cheerful Everyday

Sometimes I need the reminder.

I struggle to be cheerful amidst the obligations of everyday life.  The gospels and New Testament letters are filled with exhortations to believers to be of good cheer.   But, let’s face it, not every moment of the day is rosy and enjoyable, no matter our vocation.  A priest recently reminded me that a cheerful witness is easier when we unite ourselves with Jesus in difficult moments.  We can pray that “the joy of the Lord” might be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).  After all, Christ was not smiling and skipping on his way to the cross, but bore his sufferings and cross “for the joy set before him” (Heb 12:2). When the pot is boiling over on the stove, when the mess must be cleaned up, when baby is screaming and the bike ride is getting tough, I can offer a great witness to my kids if I offer a cheerful word or action rather than a frustrated frown.  Lord, may your joy be our strength!

The Difficulties of the Day in Perspective

Have you set out to do something good today?

Felt thwarted at every turn?

Is everything suddenly harder or more frustrating?

I needed a reminder today:

"We no sooner begin a work for the honor and glory of God, than the world at once becomes uneasy, or the devil throws obstacles in the way."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

Lord, today help me offer every moment, every action up for you.  And when I meet resistance or challenge, help me rise to the occasion and glorify you all the more.

Daily Works of Mercy

Occasionally, I am tempted to feel overwhelmed by all the needs and hurting in the world.  The overachiever in me sometimes feels restrained by the demands of daily, family life.   Really, can I do any good for the wider, broken world in the midst of meal prep, laundry loads, potty training and nap time?

In those moments, I need to settle my restless heart with a reminder from Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta:

"Do ordinary things with extraordinary love."

To help this needy, hurting world, I need to change the way I see the work in my day, not shirk my responsibilities within it.

Mother Theresa also once said,

"What I can do, you can not.  What you can do, I can not.  

But together, we can do something beautiful for God."

Which reminds me of one of my favorite prayers from Saint Teresa of Avila:

Jesus has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. 

Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good.

Yours are the hands with which he is to bless his people.

So, with new eyes I review the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we, as Christians, are called to bring into the world:

The Corporal Works of Mercy                                   The Spiritual works of Mercy

Feeding the hungry                                                   Admonishing the sinner

Giving drink to the thirsty                                              Instructing the ignorant

Clothing the naked                                                      Counseling the doubtful

Hospitality to the homeless                                            Comforting the sorrowful

Caring for the sick                                                         Bearing wrongs patiently   

Visiting the imprisoned                                                      Forgiving all injuries

Burying the dead                                                      Praying for the living 

                                                                                                       and the dead

When I reflect on these works of mercy with new eyes, they suddenly sound remarkably similar to many of my daily responsibilities.  God, grant me the mercy to complete these great works with great love.  Then I would be truly helping to change the world.

Little Eyes Looking Up

This weekend, while we were up at the lake, Papa took a moment to sit and enjoy the view.

Unless you look carefully, 

you might not notice Buddy Bear's shadow in the chair next to Papa.

He was enjoying the view too, right next to his beloved Papa Bear.

This quiet, precious moment reminded me that there are many, many moments in life

when a young person's admiring eyes are upon us.

Unless we look carefully, we might not notice.  

We might not know that we're being watched, learned from, admired.

 Thus, we have all the more reason to pray for the grace of a loving heart and worthy actions,

that little eyes might behold us in moments of grace, and embrace a path of love for their own lives.

Surely, Buddy Bear beholds that in his Papa.

May little eyes behold the same in each of us.

Beginning at Home

A gentle reminder, a fresh perspective, 

as the week begins anew:

Too young for compassion? No way, says Aunt K!

Aunt K is an inspiration to our family for many reasons, but I think her recent Lenten efforts to encourage generosity and compassion in her young brood are worthy of special note.  You can read all the details about the Joyful Noise Family's Lent project here.  To summarize, for Lent this year the Joyful Noise Family is learning about one problem in the world every Sunday as well as one organization that is trying to help address the problem.  In addition to praying each week for people affected by the problem, the kids will get to help decide which organizations receive donations from their family at the end of Lent.

It is meaningful to me that the Joyful Noise Family is only slightly older than ours.  At this tender age, there is often a tension between protecting our children from the harms and sad realities of society and exposing them to the truth of a fallen world so that they might learn positive processing skills as well as virtues like compassion and generosity.  The encouraging part about this project is the positive effect it has had on the Joyful Noise Kids.  Thanks to their parents' planning and some careful thought over age-appropriate problems to introduce, the kids have embraced the project and are excited to help make the world a better place for others.

Thanks to Aunt K for sharing this project and the positive responses they have seen from their kids.  I am so thankful for examples like this as we strive to grow in generosity as a family.

Song in the Snow

This week, we weathered another winter storm.  The snow plows have only now fully cleared our neighborhood streets, but that hasn't kept us from work, school or playtime with Nana.

On Tuesday, as I walked in the snow to the library to study, I noticed something strange.  The only sound to interrupt the silent snow fall was the sound of birds singing.  We don't hear many birds during the winter (most are smart enough to fly south!) and no one could mistake the inclement weather for an early spring thaw.  Yet, here were the birds chirping in the midst of our winter storm.  Their song was startling to me in a way that it wouldn't have been if the day had been warm and sunny.  After all, one expects to hear birds chirping in the loveliness of spring.  The joyfulness of the birds' song was quite out of place in the context of the winter storm, however, which is what made it so curious, so wonderfully noticeable, so irresistible.

A light shines brightest in the darkness, doesn't it?

There are so many storms in our world today.  The storms are personal, they might be within our families, they are certainly societal and global.   In spite of these storms, God has a song of Good News for each one of us to "sing" with our lives.  His song is a message of love and peace, of truth and hope and mercy, shown perfectly to us in the life, death and resurrection of Christ.  When we live according to this message in spite of the hardships and storms of life, our lives can be just as striking to others as the birds' song was to my ears this week.  The true joy of the children of God is a stark contrast to the storminess of life.

Lord, make my life a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.   May it ring true and joyful for my family, my friends and everyone I meet.

Happily Ever,
Queen B

A New To Do List

"Whether we are married and taking care of home and family, or studying in school, or working in an office or a factory or on a farm, whether we are dedicated to the priestly or religious life, matters little -- in whatever we do, we must always seek first the kingdom of God.  That is, all of our actions of every day must be accepted as from God and referred back to Him, must be done in a way that fulfills His will, for in this way alone is the kingdom of God promoted and spread upon the earth." 

~Father Walter Ciszek, S.J.

I need a new To Do list.

With our approaching move, my To Do list has gotten way too long.

It often makes me crabby.

I often loose it.

Worst of all?  I think I have been filling it with the wrong tasks.


I came to this realization while talking about the Fruits of the Spirit with my kids last week:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  Against such things there is no law."  ~Galatians 5:22-23

I am reminded that the tasks on my To Do list are not nearly as important as how I do them.  

So, instead of this:

1. Return library books

2. Grocery run

3.  Parent the behavior

4. Dinner at 6

5. Clean kitchen

6. Pay bills

I need a To Do list like this:

1. A smile and a joyful heart at the library.

2. Patience with my kids at the grocery store.

3. Peace behind the firmness as I confront the misbehavior.

4. Faithfulness, not frustration, as I make dinner.

5. Goodness, not grumbling, as I clean the mess.

5. Self-control, not sarcasm, with the customer service phone call.

Now those are tasks worth remembering, worth accomplishing.

Nota bene, Queen B!   Whatever graces your To Do list today, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through Him (Colossians 3:17).  

Solidarity

T and I were touched by the following story this weekend:

"Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas Mass, serving as human shields"

Egypt's Coptic Christian community suffered a terrible attack on New Year's Eve at Saint's Church in Alexandria, where 21 people were killed.  In response to the horrific violence, thousands of Muslims attended the Christmas Mass on Jan 8th (the day of the Orthodox Christmas celebration) to stand in solidarity with their Coptic countrymen.  

The article is a touching recount of the the brotherly act of solidarity.  

Our prayers are with our close Coptic friends, their families in Egypt, and their country.  

So you want to make a difference?!

I am a public policy college major, type A school geek, a bleeding heart, a gotta-be-there-for-my-kids intensive mom, a love-everything-in-medical-school enthusiast and a save-the-world poster child.  I am DYING to make a difference in this broken world full of broken people (like me!) who need help.  I am dying to help change the world for the better.  But some days I STRUGGLE mightily with how to do this.

Do you want to make a difference too?  

In the lives of your family?  

In the lives of total strangers?  

In the lives of your neighbor?  

In the lives of people half-way around the world?

Edith Stein (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) wanted to make a difference too.  But she was imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz.  Before she died at their hands, she wrote the following on how to make a difference in the world. Today it was just what I needed to read:

"The world is in flames.  Are you impelled to put them out?  Look at the cross.  From the open heart gushes the blood of the Savior.  This extinguishes the flames of hell.  Make your heart free by the faithful fulfillment of your vows; then the flood of divine love will be poured into your heart until it overflows and becomes fruitful to all the ends of the earth.  Do you hear the groans of the wounded on the battlefields in the west and the east?  You are not a physician and not a nurse and cannot bind up the wounds.  You are enclosed in a cell and cannot get to them.  Do you hear the anguish of the dying?  You would like to be a priest and comfort them.  Does the lament of the widows and orphans distress you?  You would like to be an angel of mercy and help them.  LOOK at the crucified.  If you are bound to him, your being is precious blood.  Bound to him, you are omnipresent as he is.  Perhaps you cannot help here or there like the physician, the nurse, the priest.  But, you can be at all fronts, wherever there is grief, in the power of the cross.  Your compassionate love takes you everywhere, this love from the divine heart....The eyes of the Crucified look down on you asking, probing.  Will you make you covenant with the Crucified anew in all seriousness?  What will you answer him?  "Lord, where shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life." 

So you want to make a difference, Queen B?  Spend some time with the Lord today. 

Then get up, follow Him, and help change the world.