My meditation for today

Happily Ever,

Queen B

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

Everyday Wisdom from Blessed Alvaro de Portillo

On Saturday, a man named Fr. Alvaro de Portillo was Beatified in Madrid.  

This is one of his often repeated short prayers to Jesus, perfect for everyday life:

"Thank you, 

forgive me, 

help me more."

~Blessed Don Alvaro de Portillo

Thank you, Lord, for Your many servants who help to show us Your Way.

Help us, too, to follow Your lead.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

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!

Prayer Intentions

Q

"If God seems slow in responding, it is because He is preparing a better gift. He will not deny us. God withholds what you are not yet ready for. He wants you to have a lively desire for His greatest gifts. All of which is to say, pray always and do not lose heart."

- St. Augustine

Weeding the garden

There are a lot of weeds in our garden.

Our little introduction to home owning has blessed us with the chance to maintain several little 

garden spaces.  I have been excited to try out my green thumb and take care of these spaces in hopes of making our home and backyard a beautiful, welcoming place for our family and neighbors.  

But the weeds, oh the weeds, how they crop up and constantly threaten to take over.

There are weeds in the grass,

weeds in the vegetable beds, 

weeds in the shade,

weeds in the sun,

weeds under weeds!

There are so many ways that gardening is similar to parenting.

During the summer, when we are all spending our days together, I more easily notice weeds creeping into our lives as well.  These weeds, too, are always threatening to take over, but they have different names than the weeds in my gardens.  They are:

selfishness,

ungratefulness,

pride,

envy,

disobedience, 

distain,

anger,

impatience.

Somedays, I see the mess of weeds outside and want to throw up my arms in despair.  Where will I find the time and energy to tackle the weeding?  As a parent, somedays I want to throw up my hands in despair over the weeds crowding our lives.  Is there hope for us?  Where will I ever get the time and energy to weed out these behaviors?

It takes a lot of time to weed the gardens, whether the gardens outside or the gardens of our souls.  But weeding is worth it.  At the end of a day of weeding, everything looks fresher, our flowers and vegetables are growing more vigorously.  We see the same rewards when we tackle our sinfulness  and help our children grow in holiness.  Our family life feels fresher, our lives grow more vigorous as weeds are replaced by virtue.

I am more and more aware, however, that no day of weeding is complete without examining the weeds in my own life at the end of each day.  A nightly and weekly examination of conscience is a powerful weeding tool.   Confession avails my soul to the merciful hands of the Perfect Gardener.  Christ is able to uproot even the most persistent, threatening weeds from my soul and fill up remaining holes with the rich, healing soil of His grace.

Indeed, this is hard, worthwhile work.

Our gardens are a beautiful, fruitful blessing this summer.

My Little Flowers are even more precious, and their souls are eternal.

May we all bear fruit that lasts and blesses.

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.

Make Way for the Spirit

This week is the final week of the Easter season.  This is the week between the celebration of Jesus' Ascension into Heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.   In the early church, these days were precious days of prayer, remembering the first disciples days of prayer and anticipation of Jesus' promised Advocate.  The first disciples prayed through their uncertainty, and they received the third person of the Trinity.   This week, I am praying the beautiful Novena to the Holy Spirit for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the Fruits of the Spirit in my life and in the world.  The Gifts of the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3) and the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are needed everywhere in the world today.  With the Spirit of God in our hearts, we can bring these blessings to the whole world.

Lord, send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.

Fix your heart on Jesus

One child is fussing.   A diaper needs to be changed.  Two children are tussling.  The phone is ringing.  We're late for school.   Backpacks are missing.  Shoes need to be tied.  A child needs help on the potty.  The new lawn needs to be watered.  Toys must be picked up.  Breakfast is burning.  The bills must be mailed.  We're out of milk.   This is just one moment of many in the day, and it is only 7:45am.

Thank you, Lord, that I am reminded:

"We are surrounded by many events that move us from one place to another. But we asked for the grace to have a fixed heart, like Paul: so as not to complain about the persecution he went in search to another city; he began to preach there; to heal the sick; realizing that that man had enough faith to be healed; then, calm this excited people who wanted to make a sacrifice to him; then, to proclaim that there is only one God, with their own cultural language. One thing after another ... And this can only come from a steady heart".

Is my heart steady today in the Lord?  Or do all of these tasks, interruptions, demands discourage my heart and make me want to hide? 

"With this example, we can ask ourselves today: What kind of heart do we have? Is it a fickle heart which like a dancer, like a butterfly flits from one to another…always in motion; Is it a heart that is scared by the vicissitudes of life, and is hiding and afraid to give witness to Jesus Christ; is it a brave heart or a heart that has so much fear and is always trying to hide? What does our heart care for? What treasure does our heart custody? Is my heart fixed upon creatures, the problems that we all have ? Is my heart fixed upon everyday gods or is it a heart fixed on the Holy Spirit? "

"Do I let myself get carried away by these things or face these events with a fixed heart, that knows where it is? The only one that gives firmness to our hearts is the Holy Spirit. It would do us good to think that we have this great gift that Jesus left us, the Spirit of fortitude, of counsel, who helps us to move forward in the midst, surrounded by every day trials. We should do this exercise today, ask how our heart is: Firm or not? And if it is firm, where does it dwell? In things or in the Holy Spirit ? It would do us good! "  ~Pope Francis, Monday morning homily

Thoughts from Pope Francis for the end of Lent

I am so grateful for the practical advice and wisdom that Pope Francis shares with us.  In his general audience message on Wednesday, Pope Francis began a new cycle of teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God).  He began his teaching on the gift of wisdom.  His full message can be found here.  Below is an excerpt that spoke right into the heart of my daily life as a wife and mother:

“If we listen to the Holy Spirit, He teaches us this way of wisdom, He gives us wisdom which is to see with God’s eyes, to hear with God’s ears, to love with God’s heart, to judge things with God’s judgment. This is the wisdom that the Holy Spirit gives us, and we can all have it, we only need to ask the Holy Spirit for it.  Think of a mother at home with the children, that when one does something, the other thinks of something else, and the poor mother goes from one place to the other with the problems of the children. And when mothers are tired and shout at the children, is that wisdom? To shout at children – I ask you – is that wisdom? What do you say: is it wisdom or not? No! Instead, when the Mother picks up the child and reproves him gently and says to him: “This isn’t done because …”, and she explains it to him with much patience, is this the wisdom of God? Yes! It is what the Holy Spirit gives us in life!  Then in marriage, for instance, the two spouses – the husband and the wife – quarrel, and then they don’t look at each other, or if they do look at one another they do so with a cross face: is this the wisdom of God? No! Instead they say: “well, the storm has passed, let’s make peace,” and they begin again to go forward in peace: is this wisdom? [the people: Yes!] See, this is the gift of wisdom. May it come to the home, may it come with the children, may it come with all of us!”

How beautiful!  Wisdom from the Holy Spirit isn’t some unattainable, impractical fountain of knowledge.  Rather, it is of inestimable practical value for the minute moments of my everyday life.  I also love how the crowd seemed to be caught off guard by the Holy Father’s example and question.  I could imagine a rumble through the crowd (or was it my own heart?): ‘What, surely we don’t need to be worried about shouting at our children?  Everyone does that!  Surely, the Holy Spirit is concerned with much bigger issues of sin than that?’  Sometimes I can be deluded by the banality of my sin, as if it has less of a poisoning effect on my children or the world because it is common or because “everyone does it.”  No way!  This is where I must start seeking God’s wisdom, right at the heart of my day.

As Holy Week approaches, I am hungry for the wisdom of the Spirit!  Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with your Wisdom.

Retreat to the Desert

I feel like I don't have enough time in my day.
Either that, or I am not organized enough.

The laundry isn't put away,
the dishes are sitting next to the sink.
I am behind on my writing deadlines,
emails sit unanswered.
My desk is piled high with mail,
baby clothes need to be organized,
bathrooms need to be cleaned,
closets need to be purged.

Queen B, what is going on?  Isn't Lent the time for projects like these?
Not this year.  Not for me.

This year, I realized I needed to do something different for Lent.  
I realized that Lenten projects of past years-- cleaning, organizing, giving away--
had distracted me from what I really needed, more time with God.

This year, as I prepared for Lent, I reread a Gospel passage describing Jesus' forty day retreat to the desert.  He had just been baptized by John and was about to start His public ministry, spreading the good news of the Gospel.  But, after being baptized, Jesus didn't rush right out to get started.  First, he retreated to the desert to pray, and not just for a few minutes, a day, a week.  He was gone for forty days.  

I have very little free time these days.  Between school drop-offs and pick-ups, meal-times and abbreviated naps, I have very little time by myself.  The chores are constantly clamoring for more of my time, and I am constantly tempted to lay my babes in their beds and frantically tackle the To-Do list.  But this Lent, I am trying to set aside the To-Do list and tackle prayer first.  Everyday, it is a struggle for me to do this.  The biggest challenge for me is that when I get done with my prayer time the laundry is still unfolded or a mess is still staring me in the face, but it is school pick-up time or nap time is over or the kids are waking up or it is simply too late to do another chore.  

My house and email inbox look a bit more disorganized than usual this Lent.  But, I am hoping that my soul is just a tiny bit more organized, more centered, more patient, more peaceful, more loving.  I am also hoping that come Easter,  the Lord will bless these forty days of prayer, perhaps with a renewed sense of direction, a renewed energy to tackle the waiting projects.  Perhaps, as a result of this prayerful detour, my Easter path will be more clear.  

“Come now, miserable mortal, flee for a brief time from your occupations, leave for a while your tumultuous thoughts. Move away at this moment from your grave anxieties and put aside your exhausting activities. Attend to God and repose in him. Enter into the depth of your soul, exclude everything, except God and what helps you seek him and, having closed the door, say to God: I seek your face. Your face I seek, Lord.”  

~Saint Anselm of Aosta

Filling Up Again

"When we spend time with God, we bring something with us for others, and that is supposed to decrease, to be lessened while it enriches others.  No water boy should complain that the bottles get empty when he goes down to the field. His job is to go back and fill them up again."  ~Dr. Edward Mulholland, Benedictine College

This Lenten season, I have tried to spend more time with God in prayer.  I have been encouraged by the excellent book, Time for God by Father Jacques Philippe.  This extra prayer time, when I have made time for it, has been a blessing!  Father Philippe makes the simple point that no matter what our daily schedule holds, we MUST prioritize quiet time with God in prayer.   Returning to the loving, peaceful presence of God is infinitely valuable and healing for our souls.

When my prayer time is over and I return to the fray of family life, though, it is not long before I feel as though my spiritual and emotional stores are draining again.  "What happened, Lord?" I wonder.  I feel as though my children, neighbors, and responsibilities,  important as they are, are like little vacuums sucking up the peacefulness, patience and loving presence that I experienced during my prayers.

The quote above, part of a larger Lenten article by Dr. Mulholland, helped me to put these feelings in perspective, as did our Holy Father's Lenten message.  "He became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich," we are encouraged by 2 Corinthians 8:9, the focal scripture passage for Pope Francis' message.

Rising up from prayer, I can emulate our Lord by offering the riches of my prayer time to my children, my husband, my neighbor.  Yes, as I delve back into the business and messiness of the world, I may feel a drain of my peace and patience and loving kindness as I interact with others.  By God's grace, others may be enriched by the Living Water I have to offer from my time with Him.  If I feel "poured out" from sharing these spiritual blessings with others, I am learning that this is something to celebrate, not resent!  And, when I feel my tank is empty, may take the time to return to the Lord, that He might fill me up again.   Even Jesus retreated often to be alone with the Father in quiet prayer, and so must I.

Light on or off?

"The Christian must be a shining person, who brings light, who always gives light! A light that is not his, but a gift from God, it is Jesus’ gift. And we carry this light. If the Christian extinguishes this light, his life has no meaning. He is a Christian in name only, he does not bring light with him, his light is without meaning. But I would like to ask you now, how do you want to live? Do you want to live like a light that is on or one that is off? On or off? How do you want to live?  A light that is on! It is God himself who gives us this light and we give it to others. A light that is on! This is the Christian vocation.

~Pope Francis, Angelus Address, February 9th 2014

Ordinary Time

Ordinary time, you are here.

January is a good time to remember that God is awesome in simplicity, in littleness.

Our Christmas decorations have been slow to disappear this year.  This weekend marks the Feast of the Presentation, or Candlemas, so hopefully our tree will finally be down and recycled and the last of the Christmas books stored away.  With each removal, however, I have been reminded that Christ is in our simplicity, not just in our decoration and feasting.  As we have been holed up for home days in the cold, as we have returned to routine, battled sickness and snow, I have savored His presence in the ordinary moments of our daily life.  Yes, this is ordinary time, where God can be extraordinary in our normalcy.

The readings at Mass these days have focused on Jesus' public life following His baptism.  Pope Francis has reminded the world that "the Lord walks the roads of our daily life."  No one, and no moment of our day, is beyond His reach.  He wants to fill all of us, and all of our lives, with His love. So, Lord, come into the ordinary moments of this ordinary time.  Reach into the cold, the routine, and fill us with your Love.  

“Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out, but all of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’ in need of the light of the Gospel.”

~Pope Francis, “Evangelii gaudium,” 20

Beginning Anew

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.”

- Saint Francis de Sales

These words are a great encouragement for me today, 

spoken by a man whose trust in God was great.  

Lord, thank you for your abundant patience.  Today, help me to begin anew!

Conclusion to the Year of Faith

Yesterday was the feast of Christ the King.  The feast day is normally notable because it brings the end of the liturgical year and heralds the coming of Advent in only 7 short days.  This year, it also marked the conclusion of the Year of Faith.  Last year, Pope Benedict inducted the Year of Faith, calling all Christians and indeed, all people, to make time to seek and grow in a walk of faith with the Lord.

The Year of Faith provided me a focus and a goal at numerous times during the past year.  I am already a bit nostalgic at its passing.  I challenged myself to pray more earnestly for myself and others, attend daily Mass more often with children in tow, and talk more openly about matters of faith with my children and acquaintances.  But, as with the turning of any page, I look back and I wonder, 'did I take full advantage of the opportunity?  Could I have grown more?  Did I make enough of a difference?"

The answers to those questions are inevitably 'no, yes and no.'  But, there is good news.  Our walk of faith, and our opportunities to share it, doesn't end with the Year of Faith.  Pope Francis touched on this yesterday during his message at the closing Mass of the Year of Faith:

"Jesus’ promise to the good thief gives us great hope: it tells us that God’s grace is always greater than the prayer which sought it. The Lord always grants more, he is so generous, he always gives more than what he has been asked: you ask him to remember you, and he brings you into his kingdom! Let us go forward together on this road! "  ~Pope Francis, November 24th 2013, Closing Mass for the Year of Faith

When we look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, we are at the beginning, not the end, of a journey.  As the Year of Faith ends, the road is still long, there is still work to be done, faith to be found, and love to be lived.  He remains with us to help us on our way.

Thoughts for today

"Am I a Christian by fits and starts, or am I a Christian full-time? The culture of the ephemeral, the relative, also takes it toll on the way we live our faith. God asks us to be faithful to him, daily, in our everyday actions. He goes on to say that, even if we are sometimes unfaithful to him, he remains faithful. In his mercy, he never tires of stretching out his hand to lift us up, to encourage us to continue our journey, to come back and tell him of our weakness, so that he can grant us his strength."

~Pope Francis, Homily on Ocober 13th, 2013

For the weaker days...

God's Intervention in Our Lives

Yesterday morning, all the Bears and I attended Mass as part of G-Bear's VBS finale.  This was a feat that should not be overlooked.  It is quite worthy of its own post.  I was so thankful, we made it through  the whole Mass!  J-Bear slept, Buddy Bear sat quietly (!!), E-Bear and G-Bear even joined in on a few of the prayers and knelt once or twice.  But, I am digressing.

The readings for today were taken from Genesis 17 and Matthew 8.  The first reading recounts God's promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah while the Gospel recounted Jesus' curing of a leper.  This afternoon, I read part of a beautiful homily that Pope Francis offered, reflecting on the protagonists of the two readings and the way that God acts in our lives:

“The Lord slowly enters the life of Abraham, who is 99 years old when He promises him a son. Instead He immediately enters the life of the leper; Jesus listens to his prayer, touches him and performs a miracle...

..."When the Lord intervenes, He does not always do so in the same way. There is no ‘set protocol’ of action of God in our life. Once he intervenes in one way, another time in a different way but He always intervenes. There is always this meeting between us and the Lord....

..."Life’s troubles at times become so dark that it makes us want to come down from the cross.  This is the precise moment: the night is at its darkest, when dawn is about to break. And when we come down from the Cross, we always do so just five minutes before our liberation comes, at the very moment when our impatience is greatest.....

....“He tells us exactly what He told Abraham: 'Walk in my presence and be blameless', be above reproach, this is exactly the right word. Walk in my presence and try to be above reproach. This is the journey with the Lord and He intervenes, but we have to wait, wait for the moment, walking always in His presence and trying to be beyond reproach. We ask this grace from the Lord, to always walk in His presence, trying to be blameless'.”

~Pope Francis, June 28, 2013

Homily at the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae

I have been so slow to learn this lesson in my life.  I have needed to hear this message so many times.  I will likely need to be reminded of it again.  Today, I'll start by thanking God for intervening in my life, according to His perfect timing rather than mine.