The Seasons of My Life

Today is the Feast Day of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). As a Secular Carmelite, I have a great fondness for all Carmelite saints, but some more than others. I love the writings and conversion story of St. Teresa Benedicta. I pray that she intercedes for all of us today to follow Jesus.

The Gospel message today hit me in a powerful way. It began with the following from Matthew 16:24 - Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." All so not easy to do! I just want him to love me and make everything easy and good. But his message is clear - deny myself (lots that I can do in this area: time spent on computer, TV, eating chocolate in its many forms, and more), take up my cross (suffer! me! I don't do that well! But I know that what is impossible for me is possible for God!) and follow him (he is definitely worth following! I know he loves me and will love me till the end!)

Today I wanted to follow the Seasons of My Life so I made a chart for each season and then expanded on it.

January & February - harsh winter
March & April - early spring
May & June - spring turning into summer
July & August - heat of summer
September & October - early fall
November & December - fall turning into winter

My life is like the seasons - ever evolving, ever moving. I can enter into the harsh winter of depression and sadness, completely forgetting that spring is just around the corner. But it is from this darkness and cold that the appreciation for the beauty and newness of life that is spring comes! For it seems that I was blind during those harsh winter months and now I see. And what I see almost blinds me again by its newness and sparkle. And then I move into the passing of spring and the coming of summer. The newness wears off. The baby birds are growing up and flying away. The air that offered warm breezes is now getting heavier and I am not noticing so much anymore. And then comes the heat of summer. The air is heavy and difficult to breath. My thought becomes languid and sleepy. So much that happens will pass me by unnoticed, uncared for. This is a time for suffering, for trusting that God who brought life to spring, will bring life once again. Ad then we enter the early fall season that brings the crisp refreshing air that once again opens the mind and heart to the beauty of God's creation. The colors and aromas of fall open the soul's deepest longings for we see now how good the good God is. And then we enter the fall turning to winter and the colors go gray and the smells are bland but we receive a great treasure, the birthday of our redeemer who is love and his love will carry us through the seasons of our life.

Adoration

This is a place of respite and peace for me! A place of prayer and a coming to know my God and yours!! But then I leave and find myself outside and distracted once again. For as St. Paul says in Romans 7: 18-24 from the USCCB site.

18For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.19For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.20Now if [I] do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.21So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand.22For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self,23but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.24Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body?

Relationship with God

What will you do today to have a better relationship with God, our father and redeemer? Prayer is our best communication with he who loves us more than we know. In spite of our own lack of love or thought for him, he still watches over us! Spend time with him today in silence!

Joy

What is Joy? Joy is a pure, infinite sense of peace and love. It is extremely difficult for most human beings to find. But it does exist. Our great and loving Father in Heaven offers it freely to all of us. So why aren't we all drowning in Joy? Because we keep blocking it from entering our bodies and souls. And we do that by our own stubborn, selfish, addictive desires and wants. We are convinced that we are the ones in charge and know the answers to all of life's problems. And then we wonder why God allows bad things to happen. Or we wonder why God doesn't answer our prayers. Or we wonder why God just doesn't listen to us for surely we know best about our lives! After all we're living them!

But the truth lies in giving up our desires, our wants, our knowledge, our thoughts (most especially those that are dark and hopeless), our addictions, our selfishness; give up all people, places, and things. Empty ourselves and replace it all with humility and obedience. Humility will teach us how to serve and how to listen to someone other than ourselves. Obedience will teach us how to serve others, especially the lost and the lonely for there are many lost and lonely and then the way we think will change. Always remember that God's ways are not our ways. We must never listen to the crowd out there, but rather listen to the silence that exists in your heart for that is where God lives.

Once we have finally been released from all that enslaves us, we are now ready for Joy to enter in. Once we experience this pure, infinite joy that our loving Father greatly desires to gives us, freely, our lives will never be the same.

Blessings!

Pentecost Sunday-50 days of Easter are over!

First reading in the Liturgy of the Hours is taken from the letter of the apostle Paul to the Romans.
"Those who live according to the flesh are intent on the things of the flesh, those who live according to the spirit, on those of the spirit. The tendency of the flesh is toward death but that of the spirit toward life and peace. The flesh in its tendency is at enmity with God; it is not subject to God's law. Indeed, it cannot be; those who are in the flesh cannot please God".

Jesus said,. "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."  Luke 16: 13

We all need to look at what is our first love. If it is God then it is eternal. If it is anything else, then it is temporal. It will end. Having faith in God is having faith in the unseen for if you can see it, there is no faith. Having hope is hope in the unseen for if you can see it, there is no reason to hope. Having love is eternal for God is love. We must rid ourselves of all attachments in order to make room for the infinite and all he desires to give us. Today is a great day to do this as the Holy Spirit comes upon us to renew and restore, to heal and forgive, to open us to possibilities beyond our imaginings! 

Blessings!

Papa Francis - His First Homily

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/francis-1st-homily

Pope Francis' first Mass and homily as Pope was held today in the Sistine Chapel. Enjoy!

Pope Francis Again

Papa Francis even pays his own bill and picks up his own suitcase when he checks out of his hotel in Rome. He is a holy, humble man.

And he visited the sick, but instead of kissing their hands he kissed their feet. And these were Aids patients. He has such great love for the poor.

And when he washed the peoples' feet, it was not during Holy Thursday but during a visit to a Mothers' home. He made them feel so special!