tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29206572613929385982024-02-20T09:23:29.169-08:0054 Days with Marytcljbbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05561724910770768574noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2920657261392938598.post-25231395746560451352012-05-04T19:06:00.000-07:002012-05-04T19:06:23.967-07:00Day FourteenThe Lumious Mysteries tonight.<br />
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I began reading Michael E. Gaitely's 33 Days to Morning Glory. In just the introduction I am humbled at taught. <br />
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Mary understood free will more than we can describe. It was her "yes" to the Holy Spirit that brought forth the redemption of the world. <br />
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I think about the moments in my life that are waiting for a "yes". Fear and lack of faith in myself (which I am learning is more an attempt to control) hold me back. <br />
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Tonight's mysteries as filled with moments of "yes". Jesus being baptised. John the Baptist baptising Jesus. Jesus's first miracle. In saying "yes" to Mary's request that he help the wedding, Jesus said "yes" to his public service. <br />
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The most beautiful invitation to "yes" being in the form of Jesus's sacrifice. <br />
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Help me to say yes, with my heart, my head and my life.tcljbbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05561724910770768574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2920657261392938598.post-28643659270569674842012-04-28T18:13:00.000-07:002012-04-28T18:13:16.518-07:00Day Seven<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“My legs hurt.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bumble Bee says in a groggy voice, her last words before slipping off
into her own dreams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My legs hurt.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were the words that James spoke to me when he
was in my class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Could it be, three years ago?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was recess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had
come back to school after a month of absence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No one could figure out why he was in such pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And all the while, this disease was brewing
deep inside him, unnoticed except for the mystery hovering over him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My legs hurt” and as the rest of the
children ran and played, he pulled out the napping mats and curled up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Curled up like my Bumble Bee lays now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if it were her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if her hurt was a sign of some deeper
disease instead of the sign of a day of climbing trees and running through
woods?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">She orbits me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less lately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She used to orbit me all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just wanting to be near me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Closeness feeding her some invisible
nourishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But now, she orbits her
brothers and I feel her pulling away from me…or have I pushed her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I spite the burdens that are bringing me
closer to my Lord?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tonight, the Glorious Mysteries fill my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as my thumb and fingers feel the larger
wooden bead, the prayer that fills my heart becomes larger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thy kingdom, God’s son, Jesus, the Prince of
Peace come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thy will…His death on the
cross…be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His death so that I can
once again have the Holy presence in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thy will…the will of God the Father since the days of Eden…communion…be
done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is God’s will for us to have
communion with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I feel God’s presence in my prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s those moments in between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My experience has taught me that God is
there, it is my lack of vision keeping me from seeing his presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And I think of my Bumble Bea, whose orbit is humbling and
wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I think of Jesus’s
command to let the little children come to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He knew that children receive that invisible nourishment through
presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is so much to
learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And I wonder, as I offer this for James, that I should
receive the grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need the grace so
much, but I ask for James…thy will be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>tcljbbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05561724910770768574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2920657261392938598.post-22006362823189230592012-04-26T18:45:00.000-07:002012-04-26T18:51:54.580-07:00Day Six<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The room was full of laughter at each other’s tales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The circle of mothers giggled like girls at a
slumber party, whispering secrets and telling scary stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These stories weren’t stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were, in fact, tales of
experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Creepy, exciting,
unbelievable stories about spiritual worlds and our brushes with them:
premonitions that came true, intuitions that turned into close-calls, and
nighttime images that startle in the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each mom certain of her experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The children practiced their gymnastics and the moms nervously laughed
about connections to an unknown world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The word
has circled my head as I seek to understand the gift God gave us in the real
presence of the Holy Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
connection to Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our real
connection to Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I have failed
and stumbled and singed the fibers that connect me to others, I am still
offered the real presence of Jesus and a connection to all that is beautiful
through him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I struggle to know the Holy Spirit, to recognize the Holy
Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as the travelers did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They did not expect to see Jesus, they weren’t
looking for him, and yet he came to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am seeking the voice of the Holy Spirit, and yet I don’t know the
voice, either from being out of practice or by never really knowing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps, I must first tune out the interference
that I know is not the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I come to the rosary each night, expecting and hopeful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I am never disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I meditate on the Luminous Mysteries tonight
and pray for openness to the Holy Spirit and I learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know the Holy Spirit through our
experiences with him, just as the travelers recognized Jesus through the meal
together and the disciples knew the risen Jesus through touching his
scars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am offered that experience every time I come to the Holy
Eucharist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am offered that experience
every time I meditate on the rosary and every time I reach out to touch the
scars that heal me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">James is waiting at Children’s Hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His youngest brother has an infection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His mom is torn between comforting sick sons
who cannot be near each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they
wait. </span>tcljbbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05561724910770768574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2920657261392938598.post-51749042054859224042012-04-23T19:13:00.003-07:002012-04-26T18:51:38.178-07:00Day ThreeThis morning, James and his family traveled to Children's Hospital in a distant state. They need to test all of the children. It's unclear if the disease is hereditary, if one of his siblings may carry the same. <br />
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This morning, I opened the back door to let the dogs out and was met with a brisk cold wind. It chilled me and I wanted to crawl back in bed and back into the warmth. Today, I ached as I thought of all that is tugging on me, pulling at my attention, needing me at every moment. And yet, in those quiet moments in the garden, Jesus saw me. For every of the forty lashes he received, he saw me. As he was mocked and beaten, and traveled with my cross to the end...he focused on the forgiveness of those around him. <br />
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All my distractions that pull me away: pity, doubt, anger...keep me from recognizing my Lord. <br />
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When I think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, that they didn't recognize the one person who had changed their lives because they didn't think they would meet him there. And when I think of the mess I've made of my life and the struggles that I have because of my bad choices all in the name of "finding my own path", I wouldn't think that I would find Him here. <br />
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And so today, I pray the Sorrowful Mysteries and I ask for James. May he and his family recognize your presence and be comforted.tcljbbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05561724910770768574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2920657261392938598.post-31096856380740258682012-04-22T18:26:00.001-07:002012-04-26T18:51:16.461-07:00Day TwoThe readings today tell the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus's disciples did not recognize him. Recognize, Listen, Learn--and Teach. <br />
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Today was the Luminous Mysteries. I come prepared to receive. <br />
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And for my young friend, whom I offer this novena for...he is on his way to a bigger children's hospital. <br />
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He is a boy in need of a miracle.tcljbbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05561724910770768574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2920657261392938598.post-11320409433590265302012-04-21T18:26:00.000-07:002012-04-26T18:50:47.528-07:00Day OneI offer this for James. And for your glory. You've shown your goodness and your Son to me. Thank you for spending this time with me. Please guide me. Be my Mother. Comfort James. And his family. <br />
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Joyful. Joyful. Joyful mysteries. <br />
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First, you remind me. Humility. He is not mine. He is a gift from God. I must treat him as such.<br />
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Second, you whisper to me. Community, charity. There are so many to minister to in each moment. <br />
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Third, you guide me. Through things not made by man. As the star guided the shepherds and the wise men.<br />
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Fourth, you reveal to me. Purity. It is found in the execution of the minutae. <br />
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Fifth, you teach me. Keep searching. <br />
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I offer this for James. And yet, it is I who receive the grace.tcljbbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05561724910770768574noreply@blogger.com0