Sunday, July 18, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
God is funny.
I just finished reading The Mass: Four Encounters with Jesus That Will Change Your Life by Dr. Tom Curran. It is an incredibly simple but eye opening book that describes what we encounter when we go to mass. I have learned so much. I will share a few things, but would first like to share what happened at mass this morning.
I arrived at mass and was ushered to one of the seats toward the front. With two small children in tow, I tried to pay attention as best I could, and enter into the mass and what was truly going on. I have to say, it was difficult. The readings were about dying by the sword, the just judgements of God, and the Gospel was about the story in Matthew 9 when Jesus tells the paralytic to pick up his mat and walk.
As I sat in the pew listening to the homily, I said to myself, "What are you talking about?" The priest was talking about how he had been in the seminary since he was in high school and that people throughout his life had often shared with him how bored they were. I did not get the connection until he continued. He began to share about how God is in the ordinary things of every day life. He is in the mundane day in and day out duties that we have at our jobs, in our homes, with our children, with our spouses. He is there every day, offering us the opportunity to be sanctified to become holy in the simple duties of every day life.
He then went on to say that we can apply the same concept to the mass. It is the same thing every day. We read the readings, say the prayers, sing the songs and receive communion. We do it over and over again every day, but again, we must understand that God is there! He is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. He is waiting to sanctify us, to purify us to make us holy with the very ordinary things of life. Bread and wine become the catalyst to a life filled with holiness. The altar, a simple table, becomes the sacred place where Jesus chooses to come to us every day in the form of a little piece of bread.
In human terms, this can become very boring and ordinary with no pomp and circumstance, but what we don't often realize is that with every mass, there IS great celebration! With every mass, the angels and saints and Mary Our Blessed Mother, and Jesus himself, come to us in the holy celebration, offering us the grace to do all that we are called to do while walking on this journey through life.
We are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and sent forth to spread the gospel, the truth of Jesus Christ, and sometimes that mission is fulfilled in the very ordinary duties of every day life. Amazing.
As I read the book, I came to understand that the presentation of the gifts, is really a presentation of you and me. The gifts brought up by members of the community really represent our lives offered as a spiritual sacrifice. The bread and wine stand for every member of the church, and we are offering ourselves as a sacrifice to God, asking Him to change us, transform us and make us into who He has called us to be.
I will never look upon the offering of the gifts the same again. We indeed place ourselves onto the altar, into the cup, into the hands of the priest, never to be returned the same. We no longer belong to ourselves, we belong to God. How many actually know what is going on when the gifts are being presented? I did not know.
Dr. Corran goes on to say, "The word sacrifice comes from two Latin words which literally mean "to make holy." To make something holy means to take it out of ordinary usage and set it apart for God's purpose. In the Old Testament, it meant that the animal brought to the Jewish priest to be sacrificed or made holy, no longer belonged to its owner; it belonged to God, it became God's property. The lamb is no longer part of the flock; it is given up to God and set apart for His purpose. Indeed, it is killed; it is set apart so radically that there is no way it can be brought back into the flock. There is no returning it back to its pre-sacrificial condition."
Now that I know this, I want to shout it from the rooftops and tell everyone what they are actually doing as they partake in the holy mass and are given as gifts on the altar. We are to be self giving sacrifices, giving ourselves over to God, asking Him to fill us, change us and make us holy, that we may be sent out into the world to draw others in to do the very same thing. All of which is an act of love given by the Grace of God.
There is so much to share about what I have learned. This may turn into a bit of a Bible study, or maybe I should call it Mass 101. I often ask myself, "Why didn't anyone tell me this?" Now, I have to say, "Now that I know this, why am I not telling everyone else?"
That is one reason for this blog. I hope others will see the beauty of the Catholic Church that our Lord has given to us. There is so much richness and beauty in the Catholic faith. May God give us the grace to understand and live the beauty of the mass in the every day ordinary beautiful lives He has given to each of us.
I arrived at mass and was ushered to one of the seats toward the front. With two small children in tow, I tried to pay attention as best I could, and enter into the mass and what was truly going on. I have to say, it was difficult. The readings were about dying by the sword, the just judgements of God, and the Gospel was about the story in Matthew 9 when Jesus tells the paralytic to pick up his mat and walk.
As I sat in the pew listening to the homily, I said to myself, "What are you talking about?" The priest was talking about how he had been in the seminary since he was in high school and that people throughout his life had often shared with him how bored they were. I did not get the connection until he continued. He began to share about how God is in the ordinary things of every day life. He is in the mundane day in and day out duties that we have at our jobs, in our homes, with our children, with our spouses. He is there every day, offering us the opportunity to be sanctified to become holy in the simple duties of every day life.
He then went on to say that we can apply the same concept to the mass. It is the same thing every day. We read the readings, say the prayers, sing the songs and receive communion. We do it over and over again every day, but again, we must understand that God is there! He is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. He is waiting to sanctify us, to purify us to make us holy with the very ordinary things of life. Bread and wine become the catalyst to a life filled with holiness. The altar, a simple table, becomes the sacred place where Jesus chooses to come to us every day in the form of a little piece of bread.
In human terms, this can become very boring and ordinary with no pomp and circumstance, but what we don't often realize is that with every mass, there IS great celebration! With every mass, the angels and saints and Mary Our Blessed Mother, and Jesus himself, come to us in the holy celebration, offering us the grace to do all that we are called to do while walking on this journey through life.
We are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and sent forth to spread the gospel, the truth of Jesus Christ, and sometimes that mission is fulfilled in the very ordinary duties of every day life. Amazing.
As I read the book, I came to understand that the presentation of the gifts, is really a presentation of you and me. The gifts brought up by members of the community really represent our lives offered as a spiritual sacrifice. The bread and wine stand for every member of the church, and we are offering ourselves as a sacrifice to God, asking Him to change us, transform us and make us into who He has called us to be.
I will never look upon the offering of the gifts the same again. We indeed place ourselves onto the altar, into the cup, into the hands of the priest, never to be returned the same. We no longer belong to ourselves, we belong to God. How many actually know what is going on when the gifts are being presented? I did not know.
Dr. Corran goes on to say, "The word sacrifice comes from two Latin words which literally mean "to make holy." To make something holy means to take it out of ordinary usage and set it apart for God's purpose. In the Old Testament, it meant that the animal brought to the Jewish priest to be sacrificed or made holy, no longer belonged to its owner; it belonged to God, it became God's property. The lamb is no longer part of the flock; it is given up to God and set apart for His purpose. Indeed, it is killed; it is set apart so radically that there is no way it can be brought back into the flock. There is no returning it back to its pre-sacrificial condition."
Now that I know this, I want to shout it from the rooftops and tell everyone what they are actually doing as they partake in the holy mass and are given as gifts on the altar. We are to be self giving sacrifices, giving ourselves over to God, asking Him to fill us, change us and make us holy, that we may be sent out into the world to draw others in to do the very same thing. All of which is an act of love given by the Grace of God.
There is so much to share about what I have learned. This may turn into a bit of a Bible study, or maybe I should call it Mass 101. I often ask myself, "Why didn't anyone tell me this?" Now, I have to say, "Now that I know this, why am I not telling everyone else?"
That is one reason for this blog. I hope others will see the beauty of the Catholic Church that our Lord has given to us. There is so much richness and beauty in the Catholic faith. May God give us the grace to understand and live the beauty of the mass in the every day ordinary beautiful lives He has given to each of us.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
What goes on at the Mass? You can trust that Jesus will be present there.
A friend of mine gave me a book entitled, The Mass, Four Encounters With Jesus That Will Change Your Life. It's written by Dr. Tom Curran. It is an amazing look into the four ways we encounter Jesus when we go to mass. I am not even finished reading it yet, and I am already changed forever. I will never go to mass the same way again.
Dr. Curran breaks down into biteable pieces the many ways we encounter Christ from the time we walk in the door and reach for the Holy Water, to the time we say, "Thanks be to God", just before we walk out the door.
I highly recommend the book, and when I finish reading it a few hours from now, I will come back and share more of what I have newly discovered about the mass and our union with Christ.
If we could wrap our minds around what really happens at mass, the world would be changed overnight.
God bless you this day and always!
Dr. Curran breaks down into biteable pieces the many ways we encounter Christ from the time we walk in the door and reach for the Holy Water, to the time we say, "Thanks be to God", just before we walk out the door.
I highly recommend the book, and when I finish reading it a few hours from now, I will come back and share more of what I have newly discovered about the mass and our union with Christ.
If we could wrap our minds around what really happens at mass, the world would be changed overnight.
God bless you this day and always!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
We can trust Him with our finances
As millions of people have lost their job in the past few years, my husband lost his as well, two years ago now. Thanks be to God for His grace, because with eight kids to feed, the responsibility could become overwhelming when something like this happens. As a result of the job loss, we also lost our house. Many, many people asked us, "What are you going to do?" Our one and only answer was, "I don't know, but God does."
We had received a notice telling us that we had to be out of the house in five days or we would be charged a very high rent from the bank. We had no where to go. Our hope was in the Lord, and we sought Our Lady's intercession.
As we were packing boxes, I looked around and for a moment had a feeling of just being overwhelmed. A friend had offered to let us stay in their vacant home just a few miles away, praise be to God. We were only going to be able to stay there for eight weeks though, about enough time to find a more permanent location. My overwhelming moment came at the thought of the fact that in eight weeks, we were going to have to pack all over again. I just whispered a little prayer, "Lord, I trust in you. Thy will be done."
Those words no more than left my mind when the phone rang. I said, "Hello, this is Anita, how may I help you?" The voice on the other end said, "The question is, "How may we help you." I did not understand. "What do you mean?", I asked.
It was my pastor, Fr. Dan, from St. Mary's. He said "An anonymous donor has come forth and has told me that wherever the Usher's move to, he wants to pay their rent." "An anonymous donor has offered to help us?" "Yes." Who?, I wondered, why I wondered, and, thanks be to God for his generosity, my heart sang out as I pondered what I had just been told.
This benefactor has been helping us for over two years now. He recently passed away, but his legacy will live on throughout eternity. I could have never guessed how God was going to solve our dilemma. I could have never guessed how He was going to provide, but our job is not to ask why or how, our job is to trust.
We had received a notice telling us that we had to be out of the house in five days or we would be charged a very high rent from the bank. We had no where to go. Our hope was in the Lord, and we sought Our Lady's intercession.
As we were packing boxes, I looked around and for a moment had a feeling of just being overwhelmed. A friend had offered to let us stay in their vacant home just a few miles away, praise be to God. We were only going to be able to stay there for eight weeks though, about enough time to find a more permanent location. My overwhelming moment came at the thought of the fact that in eight weeks, we were going to have to pack all over again. I just whispered a little prayer, "Lord, I trust in you. Thy will be done."
Those words no more than left my mind when the phone rang. I said, "Hello, this is Anita, how may I help you?" The voice on the other end said, "The question is, "How may we help you." I did not understand. "What do you mean?", I asked.
It was my pastor, Fr. Dan, from St. Mary's. He said "An anonymous donor has come forth and has told me that wherever the Usher's move to, he wants to pay their rent." "An anonymous donor has offered to help us?" "Yes." Who?, I wondered, why I wondered, and, thanks be to God for his generosity, my heart sang out as I pondered what I had just been told.
This benefactor has been helping us for over two years now. He recently passed away, but his legacy will live on throughout eternity. I could have never guessed how God was going to solve our dilemma. I could have never guessed how He was going to provide, but our job is not to ask why or how, our job is to trust.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
WE CAN TRUST HIM IN THE EVERY DAY DETAILS OF OUR LIFE
We need never worry about anything. God has every detail of our life in His hands. His loving eye is on every moment. It is He who gives us our every breath. He knows what we need and He knows when we need it and He is more than happy to provide for us.
Still, I am ever amazed at God's gentleness and generosity. Yesterday when I looked at our bank account, it told me that I would not be able to put gas in the van nor would I be able to buy milk for breakfast. There was enough gas to drive to mass (1.5 miles), and then to the station on Friday morning (pay day) to fill up, that was it. Milk could wait. No worries, all was well.
I loaded up the kids and went to mass. When I returned to the van after mass, I found a twenty dollar bill that had been scrunched into my door handle. I felt like a little girl in the loving embrace of her Father, and indeed I was. My heavenly daddy is always taking care of me, and here He was at it again. He often uses other people to bring blessings to us, and I thank God for the person who so lovingly placed that sacrifice of generosity in my door. May God return the blessings to you a thousand times over.
God's generosity never ends. Not long after receiving this blessing I heard my doorbell ring. It was a friend from church who had come to deliver a gift card for the local grocery store. Someone had anonymously given it to her to give to us. Milk was again on the menu.
My daddy was embracing me again. I am so in love with Him, I am so confident in Him and I trust Him with every molecule of my being. He loves me more than anyone on this earth will ever love me. That's who He is! A loving Father who desires to tenderly take care of His children.
I pray that every person on the face of the planet would realize that God is the Father of all of His children. He is intensely in love with each and every one of us. We are made in His image, and He wants us to be with Him so much, that He died on a cruel an inhumane cross so that He could open the door to bring even the ones who crucified Him to be in heaven with Him.
The only thing that keeps us from heaven, is our refusal of God's love, His mercy and His grace. He is always calling out to us. It is up to us to answer.
May God's peace fill you today. May you know His loving embrace. May you come to understand the depth of love that God has for you and for each and every one of His children.
Have a blessed day! I will be praying for you!
Still, I am ever amazed at God's gentleness and generosity. Yesterday when I looked at our bank account, it told me that I would not be able to put gas in the van nor would I be able to buy milk for breakfast. There was enough gas to drive to mass (1.5 miles), and then to the station on Friday morning (pay day) to fill up, that was it. Milk could wait. No worries, all was well.
I loaded up the kids and went to mass. When I returned to the van after mass, I found a twenty dollar bill that had been scrunched into my door handle. I felt like a little girl in the loving embrace of her Father, and indeed I was. My heavenly daddy is always taking care of me, and here He was at it again. He often uses other people to bring blessings to us, and I thank God for the person who so lovingly placed that sacrifice of generosity in my door. May God return the blessings to you a thousand times over.
God's generosity never ends. Not long after receiving this blessing I heard my doorbell ring. It was a friend from church who had come to deliver a gift card for the local grocery store. Someone had anonymously given it to her to give to us. Milk was again on the menu.
My daddy was embracing me again. I am so in love with Him, I am so confident in Him and I trust Him with every molecule of my being. He loves me more than anyone on this earth will ever love me. That's who He is! A loving Father who desires to tenderly take care of His children.
I pray that every person on the face of the planet would realize that God is the Father of all of His children. He is intensely in love with each and every one of us. We are made in His image, and He wants us to be with Him so much, that He died on a cruel an inhumane cross so that He could open the door to bring even the ones who crucified Him to be in heaven with Him.
The only thing that keeps us from heaven, is our refusal of God's love, His mercy and His grace. He is always calling out to us. It is up to us to answer.
May God's peace fill you today. May you know His loving embrace. May you come to understand the depth of love that God has for you and for each and every one of His children.
Have a blessed day! I will be praying for you!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
We do not value the unborn in our society, so is it any wonder why we can't say the word baby without receiving contempt and irritation from those who would rather hug a tree than a child?
I found this article and thought it appropriate to post, as it is a bit of an explanation as to why we have a hard time saying "baby" and why so many think we have nothing to grieve about when that "baby" dies before it is born.
The contempt shown to parents of large families
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=35062
The contempt shown to parents of large families
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=35062
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