Prayers for Aunt Barbara

It was quite a shock to hear of Aunt Barbara's condition. As I said in a previous post, she has a special place in my heart. Not only for her unselfish help to Mom with her medical problems last year, but for being there to help me when I was in college--giving me a place to stay, sharing meals, and making me feel less apprehensive in a new environment after leaving LA just out of high school.

I have been praying and asking God for the right thing to say in this time of concern--something I can say (or do) for Barbara and her family. I even decided to search the internet to see if I could find a "special" prayer for her. You know what? All I can think of is saying the rosary! And the Divine Mercy!

Look at what I just wrote! I said "ALL I can think of is saying the rosary", as though it is a minor act of mercy! As soon as I wrote it, I thought "What is more POWERFUL than the rosary?"

Please help me

I was at a meeting with some General Managers yesterday. These are my friends (thank God!) and I can depend on them to say what they feel. They truly let their "yes mean yes" and their "no mean no" (Matthew 5:37). We were speaking about some topic or the other and my training methods came up. One of the GMs made an off-hand remark, saying "Steve is a good trainer, but he gets really grumpy and short with you when you don't learn fast enough." This got a laugh out of the group (and I joined in with them), but I put that little bit of information away, thinking I might speak with the individual later and find out exactly why she felt this way, as I didn't realize this is one of my faults. A little later, I was doing a "hands-on" demonstration of a procedure that I have to do in my position out in the field. Often I have to drill out tumblers from locks before I can auction goods that have been in storage and the customers have not paid. I have to have a witness when I do this. Usually it is a GM. Anyway, as I was demonstrating to the GMs this procedure, one of the guys who watches me drilling locks a lot, said, "Steve, that's not how you always do it. You have to use the "Catholic language". I looked quizzically at him and he said, "You know, when you swear at the MF'n customer for not paying his bill or for not putting the lock on the right way that will make it easier to drill, or you'll swear at the lock for being too difficult to open once you've drilled it." This again got a huge roar of laughter and a lot of nodding heads as the rest of the team agreed with his assessment of my demeanor when faced with frustration.
It also got me to take a deeper look at myself and the pride I take in being a Catholic. Is this the picture I want to paint for others as to how Catholics behave? I am ashamed. I am going to try (starting yesterday) to think before I speak and ask Jesus to send the Holy Spirit to help me remember that, just as I see Christ in others, others should be able to see Christ in me. How can you help? I would like any of you who witness me falling into this type of behavior (using swear words), please remind me that it is not how a good Catholic behaves.

The Triumph of the Cross

Today was the feast day of The Triumph of the Cross. For the first time in a long time I went to mass last night, the Saturday vigil. I don’t usually go on Saturdays because I have a personal problem recognizing it as the “Sabbath.” The “problem” arises because I usually work on Saturdays, and so, I haven’t “rested”. I went, because I was visiting Mom and she likes to go on Saturdays. However, she wasn’t feeling up to it, so I went by myself. Now, Sunday is a different kettle of fish, so to speak. I am in the habit of getting up early on Sunday and going to either the 8 AM or the 10 AM mass, depending on how fast I can get my act together. Then I spend the rest of the day either meditating on the mass, going to the forums on Catholic.com to learn more about my Church, or visiting Mom and the rest of my family. This is a fairly recent habit—ever since Lorenzo started doing the yard work I used to do on Sundays. But I digress. I don’t know if it’s because I went to confession and said my rosary before mass or just the Holy Spirit filling my mind for His own purposes, but during the mass I kept focusing on the crucifix and trying to understand how anyone who truly believes in Jesus Christ and calls himself a Christian isn’t moved by the sacrifice Christ made for us. I tried to pay more attention to the mass, but my eyes kept returning to the crucifix and the wounds Christ suffered for ME. I was getting choked up every time I thought of His wounds. Each time I looked at the cross, I tried to see the cross again for the first time, as though I was truly at Calvary (which is exactly where we are at every mass!). I looked at Jesus’ suffering, His cruel death, and His resurrection as something He did for ME (and does at every mass), something that brings me new life, no matter how bad the problems I may think I am facing at times.

From "The Word Among Us" today

He spent the night in prayer to God. (Luke 6:12)

This verse isn’t one most people remember, but it speaks volumes about Jesus. Before he made the crucial decision about whom he would choose as his apostles, he prayed. It shows how completely dependent Jesus was on his heavenly Father. He never made a move without asking which way he should go. And when the decision was important, he didn’t just offer a quick “Our Father”! As in this case, he went to a place with few distractions and spent long hours listening in prayer.
If we’re serious about doing what Jesus did, we have to pray too. Of course, if you’re new to prayer, you won’t begin by staying up all night on a mountaintop! Your starting point can be just knowing that God wants to speak to you personally and reccognizing that you want to hear his voice. It all begins when you trust in God’s promise: “When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
The fact is, there is no magical secret to prayer. We simply have to turn to him, and God will answer us. So in part, it really is up to us. We have to take the time and effort to listen. We have to decide whether we will follow God’s plans or our own—and we have to discern how we’re going to implement them. We may even need the help of a trusted friend to help us along the way. But through it all, God will be right beside us!
If you haven’t done so before, why not start today to ask God about the decisions you are facing? You can begin by making small steps at listening and trying to put into practice what you hear. Tell the Lord about your schedule, and ask him to direct your steps. Read the Scriptures, and see if the Spirit gives you some sense about what you should do in a situation. Like anything else, prayer takes practice. And the better you get at hearing the Lord, the more confident you will become—and the more effective you will be at building his
kingdom!
“Lord, I ask for your guidance today. Help me to hear your voice and to know your will, even in the small decisions I’m facing. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!”

A prayer for Aunt Barbara

My Aunt Barbara is special to me. She was a great help to me when I was a young man attending college and trying to grow up. She and her family have always been there for me and my family. She is not doing very well recently, and can use our prayers. I would like to offer the following prayer for her. I will post the prayer on Mom's blog, as well.

Holy Mary, we ask that you wrap Barbara in your loving embrace and help her through this trial. Keep her free from worry and pain.

Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer, we turn to You on behalf of Your servant Barbara. O dearest comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with Your gentle love, and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden.

Dear God, we place our worries for Barbara in Your hands. We place Barbara and all our sick and troubled under Your care and humbly ask that You restore Your servant Barbara to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge Your will and know that whatever You do, You do for the love of us. Amen.

Reverence

Today, it's two posts for the price of one! I've been meaning to post this thought for a while, but after my daily dose of Catholic.com, I posted the previous thought first. Oh, well I guess the mind wanders..........

I spend most of Mass with my eyes closed. Why? It's a fault of mine that I am (possibly) over-critical of how others are "worshipping", and it is a distraction to watch what I perceive as irreverence or disrespect for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and especially the Eucharist. Keeping my eyes closed is one tactic I've come up with to keep me from possibly misjudging others and (more likely) to keep from having to look at the 'plank in my own eye'. I've written before about the disrespect one shows when they enter God's house and neglect to genuflect or bow to the Altar and acknowledge His presence, then carry on with conversations as if He is not there. You know the people I am talking about...those who are at Mass because it's an obligation, not out of love for God, and the gifts He has given us. I think most of us at Mass are there to give thanks to Jesus for His sacrifice at Calvary (as if we could ever thank Him enough!) and worship Him and give Him due reverence. But there are always one or two who (forgive me, Jesus, if my assessment is wrong) have no idea why they are there. Then they present themselves to recieve our Lord in a manner as if the Sacrament were just a symbol, rather than the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ Himself, under the 'appearance' of bread and wine. Some will "take" the Host, rather than "recieve" Him, some will wait until they are back at the pew before consuming Him, some will talk in the procession line! I read somewhere a writing of an early church father about the reverence one should have when receiving the Eucharist. (Yes, in the early days of the church, the Sacrament was received in the hand--it's not new, since Vatican II). The father said when you present your hands for the reception of the Host, form a "throne" out of the left hand for the priest to place the King of the Universe upon, gaze upon the King, then, with reverence, and a prayer, consume Him. I think if more people thought of recieving with this sort of image in mind, I could open my eyes again during Mass. God forgive me for judging others without really knowing what is in their hearts, but it's my perception, and I hope I'm wrong.

Pray. Listen. Act.

The following is a post from Catholic Answers (catholic.com) in response to the question, "Do you think every feeling or thought you get about God, Mary or anything else spiritual is a prompt from God, or sent from God? Like God is giving you a nudge? Like, Oh, I think I’ll say the Rosary, or, Oh, I’ll go visit the church - is that always God giving us a hint?”

And here is the wonderful response to that question:

If I could boil down everything I’ve learned about spirituality. . .it would go something like this:

1) Pray always, in all times and circumstances.
2) “Tune-in” to the world around you . . . the people, events and circumstances of your immediate surroundings. This is where the Holy Spirit meets you and speaks to you . . . if we can learn to listen. And “seeing” what’s around you is the first step in listening. Combined with an habitual prayerful attitude (#1), this is how we are made receptive for His prompts and inspirations. Oh, how we tune out the world as we go about “our” business. So many missed opportunities in all our present moments.
3) Act upon any good impulse that pops into our mind as it occurs.
If we are diligent in #1 and #2 it will be amazing how many times #3 occurs in any given day. Just a few examples that come to mind . . .
* One moment we might feel drawn to give a word of encouragement to someone who is feeling down.
* The next moment we might bite our toungue when that particularly troublesome co-worker rags on you again.
* A moment latter, we praise God for a small act of virtue we see in this very same co-worker.
* Another moment, we stop our day dreaming to silently adore Him in our heart.
* The next moment, we “change the subject” of the train of thought going on in our mind when we recognize it has the potential to lead us to sin.
* The next moment we pick of that piece of trash in the parking lot instead of stepping over it.
* A moment latter we smile and nod at a person passing our way.
* The next moment we say a silent prayer because someone we haven’t thought of in a long while popped into our mind.
* On another moment we pitch in and give a helping hand.
* Another moment, we give up our recreation and down time to spend time with a family member.
We could go on and on forever about these types of prompts and inspirations that come to us in the present moment . . . for they are endless really.
Pray, listen, act.