How fitting that the first Saint this book focuses on is our spiritual Mother, Mary.
Everyday, the chapter ends with seven small scripture readings and devotional prayers (one for each day). I started writing them on a white board on our refrigerator, and I find that in doing even such simple things like this allow me to more frequently reflect and pray. I find that it is making me more patient as well.
Mary, the Mother of God, often strikes me as almost unrelatable. After all, how am I, even supposed to fathom being close to being anything like Our Blessed Mother? However. that kind of thinking is a bit of a hurdle one should pass, as while we will never be on par with Mary, to emulate her perfection and holiness is part of striving towards Heaven and a Chirst-filled home.
I made the comment earlier, that I find that writing the reflections in a place I come across quite frequently (after all, a 1.5 and 3.5 year old are constantly starving, no matter how often or how much you feed them) make me more mindful of spiritual things. Now, when times before I would be frustrated or stressed, I find I say Hail Mary's or I'll read the reflection and it will remind me of how petty what I am upset about truly is in comparison.
This week, has been one of perspective.
I haven't posted to this blog in ages, and I think it's been pretty stagnant for a long time. While I don't think my posts will be the same as my husband's , I think that here is a fairly pertinent place to put what I want to work on...which is...sort of lengthy to explain (for me at least).
It is very hard, to keep commitments when you have children, let alone two, let alone eventually more. However, that is not to say that you shouldn't, especially one's focus on God, religion, and the Eucharist. I really struggle with balancing my vocation to marriage (and therefore family) and how I am to incorperate my spiritual life within that - after all, it is next to impossible to truely focus on Mass when you're juggling two children. However, that is an easy cop out, and perhaps an excuse. In other words, there needs to be some real spiritual grounding in my life that has gone (sadly) missing. It is my aim and goal, to turn that around.
Back during Advent, I downloaded on Kindle a book that focused on a different Saint every week for a year. I read it maybe twice, but then it sat gathering proverbial dust on my tablet. There's no good excuse for me to have stopped reading it. If I tallied up the hours I spent eyeing Facebook and reading (and I confess, judging or fighting and a myriad of other petty things) it would be not only embarrassing , but downright shameful.
So here it is - I am going to commit myself to not only reading this book, but also blogging about it once a week. The end of the chapter provides great springboard questions that I will discuss and post. I'll lay it out in the open, because I think if left to being too private, I am prone to, let's be honest, laziness.
Today's second reading in the Liturgy of the Hours is from St. Ignatius of Antioch, his letter to the Magnesians. This reading is a very important apologetic piece because it discusses the differences between priests and laypersons and between priests and the diocesan Bishop. Many fundamentalist Protestants will argue that this distinction was developed by Catholics in the 400s or even the Middle Ages. That's why this writing is so important. It dates as early as 70 A.D. and definitely no later than 120 A.D. Indeed our Catholic Faith is Christ's Body - the same today, yesterday, and forever.
Because today is the feast day of the Chinese martyrs, this morning's homily focused on their giving of themselves and how that is tied to the Holy Spirit as seen in the readings. I was thinking during mass that most of us will never be fortunate enough to call ourselves martyrs for Christ. We will likely never die because of our faith or suffer as Our Lord did.
However, as ordinary individuals we have the opportunity to offer up little sufferings in unity with Christ's suffering. As St. Terese of Liseaux and so many other saints have taught us, even the smallest inconvienences and pains can be offered to God.
Also, we can martyr ourselves in another way, frequently mentioned in the New Testament. By "dying" to sin, we not only sacrifice something that brings us temporal pleasure, but also draw closer to God. In both these ways we can become "little martyrs". and indeed saints.
I just wanted to share a quick picture of our new parish. We think it is quite beautiful. I will try to get our good camera there soon and take some detail shots but this one is a quickie with my cell phone.
Last night my wife and I watched the Polish movie Faustina about the life of the saint. My biggest complaints were that the movie had to roll many characters and events into one or oversimplify them, that the theological depth of her writing is largely missing, and that her relationship with her confessor Fr. Sopocko is very simplified. Overall, however, the movie does give a general introduction to St. Faustina's life and sufferings and I recommend it.
As I was listening to the Gospel readings yesterday morning in mass, I was once again struck by how God speaks to us in each reading. If we open our ears and listen, we can all discern totally different important messages from the very same readings. Try reading them slowly below and see what God is saying to you personally:
http://usccb.org/nab/062710.shtml
So sorry that its been a while since my last post. We moved to a new city when I got a new job and I've just been swamped. Everyone in ny family is doing great down here. I wanted to share two devotions I've been doing since the move. First, riding the bus to work allows me now to do my morning and evening prayer consistently every day from the Liturgy of the Hours. I even started using IBreviary on my Android phone. Second, in the mornings when I get up, my wife got me "Mornings with Fulton Sheen" where I can read a meditation from his life, a scripture from Proverbs, and meditate for a few minutes on how it impacts my life. God continues to bless us!
