Friday, May 30, 2008
Liturgical
Committee
It would be much appreciated if someone could explain to me in simple terms, the exact purpose of a Liturgical Committee. As many of you know, our church has just started one of these aberrations, designed, as far as I can see, to waste time and accomplish nothing of real importance.
After each committee meeting, my hubby and I are riled up and determined to quit. Finally Harold said, “Listen, if we keep going because we think we’re going to make any changes, we’ll be driven insane. How about we go just to yank some chains?” Now that sort of pot stirring is right up my Italian alley.
Last night was to be our third meeting. We dragged our tired bodies up to church and not one other committee member bothered to show up or even phone in an excuse. You think there may be a message here?
The whole concept has made me excruciatingly uncomfortable from the get go. And I think I’ve figured out why. I am the laity. Everyone else on the committee is the laity. It is not our job to instruct or recommend how the liturgy is to be conducted. I have spent hundreds of hours studying every document relating to liturgy, plus dabbled a bit in Canon Law, to be competent enough to do something I’m not supposed to do.
It would be much appreciated if someone could explain to me in simple terms, the exact purpose of a Liturgical Committee. As many of you know, our church has just started one of these aberrations, designed, as far as I can see, to waste time and accomplish nothing of real importance.
After each committee meeting, my hubby and I are riled up and determined to quit. Finally Harold said, “Listen, if we keep going because we think we’re going to make any changes, we’ll be driven insane. How about we go just to yank some chains?” Now that sort of pot stirring is right up my Italian alley.
Last night was to be our third meeting. We dragged our tired bodies up to church and not one other committee member bothered to show up or even phone in an excuse. You think there may be a message here?
The whole concept has made me excruciatingly uncomfortable from the get go. And I think I’ve figured out why. I am the laity. Everyone else on the committee is the laity. It is not our job to instruct or recommend how the liturgy is to be conducted. I have spent hundreds of hours studying every document relating to liturgy, plus dabbled a bit in Canon Law, to be competent enough to do something I’m not supposed to do.
Except for the one mad moment when I rebuked Bishop Wuerl for allowing the less than stellar Papal Mass in Washington, DC., I have always refrained from criticizing priests and bishops, and I don’t plan on starting now. I just want them to do their jobs and allow me to be the laity. Fair enough?
Need Humility??
Have a Garden!
You would be wrong if you think I just sit around and admire my garden whilst eating bonbons. Due to the weather being uncooperative we are at least a month behind with the "spring" cleanup. The grass has invaded the daylily beds to a degree never before seen. After hand pulling close to the plants, we go back in and spray Eraser. After that comes the pine needles for mulch. But this year I have a secret weapon - Surflan. This very expensive liquid pre-emergent will be sprayed between the rows before mulch to hopefully stem the tide of weeds. Idaho has more weeds than anywhere else on this earth.
Grass Where It Belongs
The grass and wildflower garden. Dog Trail runs through here and around the back of the property and across Father Bill's back acreage. It is probably about 1/2 mile to make the complete circle
Dog Trail
The Croquet Field
It sounds really nice to call this the Croquet Field. Do we ever play croquet? Noooooo, because we are too busy pulling weeds. I always get cranky this time of year.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorial Day 2008
The Stone Marker in front of the local Vetrans of Foreign Wars Club (VFW)In Bennington Vermont
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Under Renovation
Last year the rooster belonging to "Those That Rip Up Road" got loose and decided that our property was way nicer than his own. In a matter of days he managed to rip to shreds our meditation garden, scattering the bark and ripping the weed guard to the point where it all has to be replaced. We took this opportunity to remove the Rosa Rugosa that centered each square because they grew so large they dominated the enclosure.
The garden measures about 40 x 30 feet and was one of the first gardens we planned. Over the next few weeks we will have it all re-designed and looking just wonderful. My dear hubby carefully constructed the wooden sidewalk and made a concrete cobblestone type walk that leads to the garden that is not shown in these photos.
The white flowering trees on each side of Mary are David Crabapples. The buds are very dark pink and as they open they turn whiter and whiter until they are pure white.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thanks to my cyber-nephew, Tom in Vegas, I am sitting here listening to Eva Cassidy's CD, Songbird. Thanks Tom.
Today we purchased all our tomato and bedding plants. We also found a wonderful old fashioned wooden screen door for our laundry room door. Shopping of that magnitude made us pretty hungry so we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Tomato Street compliments of Harold's music class at Holy Names Music Academy.
They lavish him with wonderful gifts at the end of each year after calling me to inquire about his favorite places to eat and shop. I thought about suggesting a BIG gift certificate to T.J Maxx but figured they would know something was a bit hinkey about that.
Meet William
William used to be "Bill the Cat", a really poor excuse of a tree. With only three long branches he was not at all what I imagined for the corner of my back deck. Two years ago I decided to do some very hard pruning with the help of my husband. Bill was delighted with his haircut and now is known by the more fitting name of William. (And no, we don't name all our plants.)
Jeffrey over at Roving Medievalist loves lilacs. I finally have lilacs for you Jeffrey. Enjoy! I haven't included all the lilacs because that would get really boring.
Bordering the cutting garden.
Bordering the veggie garden.
More lilacs on the back acreage.
The tool shed. Please notice the shingles that are now falling off the ramp. When Harold first built the ramp I kept bringing up how slippery it was when wet. "Ah hon, could you put some shingles or something on the ramp??" He did - the afternoon after I broke my leg. I forgave him and painted the door red just as he wanted.
Lilacs in the "back yard." All our white lilacs (about 10 bushes) were from starts that I found at a rental property owned by my friend and boss in the car business. This was close to 20 years ago and when we bought this house 10 years ago, I brought along starts. My friend, Larry, died of cancer about 5 years ago. I think of him always, but most of all when the white lilacs bloom. 
More lilacs and flowering trees. Uncle Jim, please note - these are next to my driveway, not the road.
Even more lilacs in the the front.
One of my five weeping willows. Soon my bench, named Sarah Jane, after Sarah Bernhardt and Jane Austen, will go under the tree for afternoon reading, (and no, I don't name all our furniture, either.)
Looking toward the front deck. The little red chairs and table in the corner next to the tree is my "morning place" for coffee.Reach Gonzaga 2008
The video is only 4 1/2 minutes long and very well done by Laura McCain of Reach Youth Ministries.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Reach Recap
I'm Baaack!!
I have passed from survival to actually feeling human today. Yesterday – not so much. The day started out wonderfully, but by 11:00 am I was on the couch. I resurfaced in time to drag myself to RCIA where I made a heroic effort to appear lucid.
There is no doubt that the money, time, and talents of all the people involved in this Reach Retreat will produce long lasting spiritual results. Reach Ministries, led by the gentle Executive Director, Dan Bartleson, and the hard working Laura McCain, stepped out in faith when they hired a keynote speaker and a band. They would have been happy with 75 registrations and were not even expecting that many, due to many conflicting activities on that weekend. Final count? Over 130 happy, well-behaved kids. When you add on all the Reach traveling retreat teams, chaperones and band, we made a group of over 160 Catholics coming together at Gonzaga University to celebrate our faith.
In the past our parish has hosted their own Reach Retreat, so I have first hand knowledge of the wonderful retreats this group provides. If you live in California, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, or Oregon, run, don’t walk to their website and book them for your parish.
The keynote speaker, Courtney Brown, from Louisiana, was excellent. This young married man and father is working on his master’s degree in theology and is on fire for his faith. The kids really connected and were very pleased to not be “talked down” to. Courtney was not afraid to hit them with some pretty advanced theology, and the results were evident in the comments from the kids. I would highly recommend this young man for your event.
The Thirsting out of Washington provided the music, including a full concert on Saturday night. For Mass on Sunday morning they were wise enough to just provide guitar and two voices. Good job, guys!
The Sacrament of Reconciliation was almost cancelled due to the lack of priests. My cohort in Rathdrum, Jenn, hopped on the phone and God provided priests aplenty. What a wonderful sight on Saturday night to see so many “collars” show up just to hear confessions. Father Bill O’Brien from SS. Cyril & Methodius Byzantine Catholic Church even came to help. He was quite charmed when four of my girls raced up to him and told him how “cool” he looked in his hat.
This month, we had three perfect days of weather in the 80’s. All of them were on the retreat days. We had priests, chaperones, and youth ministers. And most importantly, we had the kids.
There is no doubt in my mind that God sent the Holy Spirit to make this a time of spiritual growth for these young people.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Reach Retreat
On
Schedule
- Bananas purchased -check
- Mucho chips - check
- Protein bars - check
- Car filled and washed -check
- Paperwork in order - check
- Parish check to pay Reach - check
Humility
So here's a nice little story about humility. I was complaining to Father about some folks at church that just give me fits. My closing statement after much whining was, "what did I do to deserve this?" Father's reply? "I don't know. Should we get out a piece of paper and pencil and start a list?"
"The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient."
— St. Augustine
Be back Sunday afternoon. I'll miss you all!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Reach Retreat
What Was I Thinking????
I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon to be locked up for the entire weekend with approximately 25 of my own kids, not to mention the other 100 or so kids attending this retreat. I have just finished the car assignments, still have to clean my car, mow the lawn, water the house plants, and shop for bananas. Yes folks, banana shopping is an important part of all retreats. Kids love bananas. They ate so many bananas one year I feared they would start swinging from the chandeliers.
So in some sort of drug-induced moment yesterday, I, displaying no humility whatsoever, said I would post some examples of humble saints and sinners today. That may still happen - after the banana shopping.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Twelve Steps for Catholics ~ part 12
Step Seven
“Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”
The concept of the virtue of humility is very hard for most people in our “me centered” society to grasp. This step has as its core in this virtue. We have discovered through the preceding steps, that pride is at the root of most of our problems and sins. Humility is the antidote to pride, so we must look at what humility really asks of us.
When the alcoholic admits in the first step that they are “powerless over alcohol”, they have taken the first step on the road to true humility. In step two they came to believe that a “power greater than themselves could restore them to sanity.” All they really did here was recognize who and what they were. You don’t have to have a problem with alcohol to have a problem with lack of humility. We live in a society that values self-esteem, either real or imagined, to be the highest “virtue” to be attained.
“Certainly no alcoholic, and surely no member of A.A., wants to deprecate material achievement. Nor do we enter into debate with the many who still so passionately cling to the belief that to satisfy our basic natural desires is the main object of life. But we are sure that no class of people in the world ever made a worse mess of trying to live by this formula than alcoholics. For thousands of years, we have been demanding more than our share of security, prestige, and romance. When we seemed to be succeeding, we drank to dream still greater dreams. When we were frustrated, even in part, we drank for oblivion. Never was there enough of what we thought we wanted.
In all these strivings, so many of them well intentioned, our crippling handicap had been our lack of humility. We lack the perspective to see that character-building and spiritual values had to come first, and that material satisfactions were not the purpose of living." 12 Steps and 12 Traditions page 71
My Mother was a very well educated woman, particularly for growing up in the 1920’s when most women did not go to college. I used to receive an inordinate amount of attention in my formative years. One of the things my Mom always said to me was, “remember, there is always someone prettier or smarter than you.” Notice she did not say I wasn’t pretty or smart. This was her gentle way of saying, “Don’t take credit for something you did nothing to earn.” My appearance or intelligence was not to be a substitute for character building.
Some people have a distorted view of humility. These are the folks who constantly go around declaring themselves to be unworthy, and allow others to use them as a doormat. This is no more than a subtle, or often not so subtle, attempt to set themselves above others, and it really is a form of pride. “Look at me,” these people cry, “aren’t I humble?” Well, no – you’re just boring.
Tomorrow we will look at what Jesus taught us about humility as well as look at the lives of some saints and ordinary people to see what “humility in action” looks like.
The concept of the virtue of humility is very hard for most people in our “me centered” society to grasp. This step has as its core in this virtue. We have discovered through the preceding steps, that pride is at the root of most of our problems and sins. Humility is the antidote to pride, so we must look at what humility really asks of us.
When the alcoholic admits in the first step that they are “powerless over alcohol”, they have taken the first step on the road to true humility. In step two they came to believe that a “power greater than themselves could restore them to sanity.” All they really did here was recognize who and what they were. You don’t have to have a problem with alcohol to have a problem with lack of humility. We live in a society that values self-esteem, either real or imagined, to be the highest “virtue” to be attained.
“Certainly no alcoholic, and surely no member of A.A., wants to deprecate material achievement. Nor do we enter into debate with the many who still so passionately cling to the belief that to satisfy our basic natural desires is the main object of life. But we are sure that no class of people in the world ever made a worse mess of trying to live by this formula than alcoholics. For thousands of years, we have been demanding more than our share of security, prestige, and romance. When we seemed to be succeeding, we drank to dream still greater dreams. When we were frustrated, even in part, we drank for oblivion. Never was there enough of what we thought we wanted.
In all these strivings, so many of them well intentioned, our crippling handicap had been our lack of humility. We lack the perspective to see that character-building and spiritual values had to come first, and that material satisfactions were not the purpose of living." 12 Steps and 12 Traditions page 71
My Mother was a very well educated woman, particularly for growing up in the 1920’s when most women did not go to college. I used to receive an inordinate amount of attention in my formative years. One of the things my Mom always said to me was, “remember, there is always someone prettier or smarter than you.” Notice she did not say I wasn’t pretty or smart. This was her gentle way of saying, “Don’t take credit for something you did nothing to earn.” My appearance or intelligence was not to be a substitute for character building.
Some people have a distorted view of humility. These are the folks who constantly go around declaring themselves to be unworthy, and allow others to use them as a doormat. This is no more than a subtle, or often not so subtle, attempt to set themselves above others, and it really is a form of pride. “Look at me,” these people cry, “aren’t I humble?” Well, no – you’re just boring.
Tomorrow we will look at what Jesus taught us about humility as well as look at the lives of some saints and ordinary people to see what “humility in action” looks like.
“No Humility, No Holiness, No Heaven.”
Fr. John Corapi, SOLT
Picture by Simon Dewey,Fortune Art Gallery
Simon Dewey is a great family and religious artist from England. Even though his artworks haven't been greatly promoted in United States, he has become famous for his delicate and masterful way to portray the love and compassion in the face of the Savior Jesus Christ.
Monday, May 12, 2008
THE EFFECTS OF CONFIRMATION
It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace: - it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!"
- it unites us more firmly to Christ;
- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;
- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross
Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts. CCC 1302-1303
Imagine - all that happened tonight!
Confirmation
Tonight is Confirmation for the young people of our parish. As usual, they were very nonchalant at rehearsal last night. What is about to happen really doesn't hit them until the Bishop processes in. I used to become very frustrated thinking, "why don't they "get it", until I realized the Holy Spirit does His job quite nicely without my help.
Rogier van der Weyden. Seven Sacraments Altarpiece. Baptism, Confirmation, and Penance. Detail of the left wing. c.1445-1450. Oil on panel. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, Belgium
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Great Literary Blog
This must be my week to talk about other blogs, which is a good thing. I have been remiss in my visits to this wonderful site. Bell Literary Reflections, home to Jaimie, is a wonderful literary blog. I love to read a great variety of books and the links and reviews Jaime provides are excellent.
"Meet Your Host - An English Major
enjoys reading great literature
and the classics
long after they ceased
to be required reading." Bell Literary Reflections
Sometimes I just go into Catholic overload, particularly when some of the postings become a tad on the ugly side. A visit to Jaime always perks me up and and gets my creative juices flowing. And recommendations from folks who share your tastes in books makes trips to the library or Amazon easier.
Jaimie also maintains one of the best laid out and informative blogs I have ever visited. I am anxious to visit some of her links and spend some time investigating the Library Thing. Visit Jaimie's Library Thing site here.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Evening Devotions
Fr Scott Bailey, C.Ss.R. has a wonderful blog Evening Devotions. It appears that not very many people are taking advantage of this wonderful site. Each day he posts a lesson, an example of the application of the lesson, a prayer, and a practice (now that's a lot of work) and includes beautiful pictures, too.
I borrowed this picture of a lovely holy card from his post of May 8th. If you are like me and are always looking for some inspiration in your prayer life, Evening Devotions should be your last stop of the day.
Pentecost
Our rehearsal for Confirmation is Sunday evening, the feast of Pentecost. On Monday evening nine young ladies and men from our parish will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Keep them in your prayers.
Pentecost represents God’s gracious presence actively at work among His people, calling and enabling them to live out in dynamic ways the witness of being His people.
Breathe into me, Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
Move in me, Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.
Attract my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Twelve Steps for Catholics ~ part 11
Step Six
“Were entirely ready to have
“Were entirely ready to have
God remove all these
defects of character.”
If we have done a thorough job on steps four and five, step six is the next logical step. It sounds pretty simple but as we dig a bit deeper, we will find land mines. Many of us, having offered complete surrender to God in the area of our drinking, were granted a miracle of release. The desire to have that drink was lifted from us.
We’ve turned our lives over to the care of God, done a searching and fearless inventory of our character defects, and admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. So what could possibly be so hard about being ready to have God remove all these defects of character? The key word here is “entirely.”
“How many of us have this degree of readiness? In an absolute sense, practically nobody has it. The best we can do, with all the honesty we can summon, is to try to have it. Even then the best of us will discover to our dismay that there is always a sticking point, a point at which we say, “No, I can’t give this up yet.” And we shall often tread on even more dangerous ground when we cry, “This I will never give up!” Such is the power of our instincts to over-reach themselves. No matter how far we have progressed, desires will always be found which oppose the grace of God.” Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 65
It’s easy for us to see our faults that are of an extreme nature. If our character fault is such that it would cost us our job or land us in jail, we can usually manage to squelch the urge to indulge in the behavior.
“Not much spiritual effort is involved in avoiding excesses which will bring us punishment anyway. But when we face up to the less violent aspects of these very same defects, then where do we stand?” page 66
It is time to face an important fact; we actually like some of our character defects. Not just a little bit but a whole lot. How many bloggers, for instance, really have pure intentions as the motivating factor for what they write? How many of us want to feel a bit superior or smarter than someone else? I can’t speak to the motives of others, but I constantly have to guard against the desire for attention or acclamation.
Make a list of your milder defects and ask yourself if you are really ready to give them up. This is where the fun starts. Do you really want to give up, for instance, all that “self-righteous” anger? It feels so good to hit someone with a zinger, either in print or in person. I can spend whole days just wallowing in my anger. After all, I have a right to be angry, don’t I?
I know this sounds like we are attempting to be perfect. But that is exactly what God expects from us. Are we going to make it? No, but we must keep trying. Only Step One, admitting we were powerless, can be attained with any degree of perfection.
“The remaining eleven steps state perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which we estimate our progress. Seen in this light, Step Six is still difficult, but not at all impossible. The only urgent thing is that we make a beginning, and keep trying.” Page 68
If we have done a thorough job on steps four and five, step six is the next logical step. It sounds pretty simple but as we dig a bit deeper, we will find land mines. Many of us, having offered complete surrender to God in the area of our drinking, were granted a miracle of release. The desire to have that drink was lifted from us.
We’ve turned our lives over to the care of God, done a searching and fearless inventory of our character defects, and admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. So what could possibly be so hard about being ready to have God remove all these defects of character? The key word here is “entirely.”
“How many of us have this degree of readiness? In an absolute sense, practically nobody has it. The best we can do, with all the honesty we can summon, is to try to have it. Even then the best of us will discover to our dismay that there is always a sticking point, a point at which we say, “No, I can’t give this up yet.” And we shall often tread on even more dangerous ground when we cry, “This I will never give up!” Such is the power of our instincts to over-reach themselves. No matter how far we have progressed, desires will always be found which oppose the grace of God.” Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 65
It’s easy for us to see our faults that are of an extreme nature. If our character fault is such that it would cost us our job or land us in jail, we can usually manage to squelch the urge to indulge in the behavior.
“Not much spiritual effort is involved in avoiding excesses which will bring us punishment anyway. But when we face up to the less violent aspects of these very same defects, then where do we stand?” page 66
It is time to face an important fact; we actually like some of our character defects. Not just a little bit but a whole lot. How many bloggers, for instance, really have pure intentions as the motivating factor for what they write? How many of us want to feel a bit superior or smarter than someone else? I can’t speak to the motives of others, but I constantly have to guard against the desire for attention or acclamation.
Make a list of your milder defects and ask yourself if you are really ready to give them up. This is where the fun starts. Do you really want to give up, for instance, all that “self-righteous” anger? It feels so good to hit someone with a zinger, either in print or in person. I can spend whole days just wallowing in my anger. After all, I have a right to be angry, don’t I?
I know this sounds like we are attempting to be perfect. But that is exactly what God expects from us. Are we going to make it? No, but we must keep trying. Only Step One, admitting we were powerless, can be attained with any degree of perfection.
“The remaining eleven steps state perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which we estimate our progress. Seen in this light, Step Six is still difficult, but not at all impossible. The only urgent thing is that we make a beginning, and keep trying.” Page 68
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." James 4:10
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Twelve Steps for Catholics ~ part 10
Sunday Reward
In A.A., after Step Nine, we have what is known as "The Promises." But before we get to them we have many smaller promises along the way. Often we are so busy doing the work of recovery that we miss the smaller promises. Sunday is a day of rest and reflection so take the time to reflect on some of things that you have probably experienced along the way. These are all taken from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Promises of Step Two
Big Book page #25
• There is a solution.
• We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.
• The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences, which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's universe.
• The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way, which is indeed miraculous.
• He has commenced to accomplish those things for us, which we could never do by ourselves.
Big Book page #28:
• A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, "a design for living" that really works.
• Big Book page #46:
• We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him.
• To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all-inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
Big Book page #47:
• As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.
• It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built.
Big Book page #50:
• In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them.
Big Book page #57:
• Even so has God restored us all to our right minds.
• But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him.
• When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us!
Promises of Step Three
Big Book page #63.
• More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life.
• As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.
• An effect, sometimes a very great one, was felt at once.
Big Book page #68.
• At once, we commence to outgrow fear.
Big Book page #70.
• We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on them as sick people.
Promises of Step Five
Big Book page #75:
• Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted.
• We can look the world in the eye.
• We can be alone at perfect peace and ease.
• Our fears fall from us.
• We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator.
• We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Twelve Steps for Catholics ~ part 9
Sacrament
of
Penance
and
The Twelve Steps
and
The Twelve Steps
of
A.A.
Often others ask us why we go to Confession when we can just have a casual chat with God. Sometimes that is a hard one for us to explain. Listen to what the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions has to say about this:
"At this stage, the difficulties of trying to deal rightly with God by ourselves are twofold. Though we may at first be startled to realize that God knows all about us, we are apt to get used to that quite quickly. Somehow, being alone with God doesn't seem as embarrassing as facing up to another person. Until we actually sit down and talk aloud about what we have so long hidden, our willingness to clean house is still largely theoretical. When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and with God.
The second difficulty is this: what comes to us alone may be garbled by our own rationalization and wishful thinking.
...Going it alone in spiritual matters is dangerous. How many times have we heard well-intentioned people claim the guidance of God when it was all too plain that they were sorely mistaken. Lacking both practice and humility, they had deluded themselves and were able to justify the most arrant nonsense on the ground that this was what God has told them. It is worth noting that people of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with friends or spiritual adviser the guidance they feel they have received from God." page 60
If you are ever charged with a crime, try telling the judge that you are going right home to sit in a corner and tell God and society how sorry you are. Trust me, you will not get a "get out of jail free card or $200.00 for passing go." The Church gets it, society gets it, the founders of AA get it, and the counselors and psychologists who suck up our money get it. How come so many Catholics don't get it?
Meeting New Folks
The weekend is always a great time to get to know some new people so I'm having a get acquainted party.
Rachel Gray over at Infused Knowledge is one very smart cookie. She used to hang out at Would You Like Blog With That and had a name change so she may have dropped off your radar
True Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter is home to Mary Rose . She has been on a journey that is familiar to many of us. Stop over and cheer her on.
Auntie Joanna Writes is home to Joanna Bogle. One of my favorite clerics Fr. Dwight Longenecker led me to her and I am so grateful. Joanna is an author and can make even the most mundane things sound positively fascinating. After spending time with Auntie Joanna you may even come to love rain.
Dave and Catherine just started a new blog called Pro Veritas that is looking pretty interesting. They do bunches of teaching and speaking, too.
One of what I call my "personal blogs" to visit is the Unclutterer. Simplifying our lives can sometimes be a big help in improving our spiritual life. This blog has given me lots of helpful hints and helps keep me motivated.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Ascension Thursday
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God,that we will believe Thine only-begotten Son our Redeemer to have ascended this day into heaven, may ourselves dwell in spirit amid heavenly things.
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