My Thank You List

I forgot which saint said that if the only prayer type we ever learn is that of thanksgiving we will do all right in this spiritual journey called life.  While it’s simple to say thank you, it requires a bit of training – am reminded of the Gospel story about the ten lepers who asked Jesus for healing and after healing all ten only one returns to say thank you.  This story illustrates how difficult it is to stop or return to God after we receive what we asked of Him in prayer.  For some reason (at least for me) prayer of petition (of asking for what I want) comes more naturally for most of us; but, the good news is we can learn to become more thankful. We can develop a grateful spirit with proper training (smile).

This week I received some good news and my natural reaction was to run to tell my parents the happy news.  After I told them that I had been extended two more months at my job and returned to my desk savoring the unexpected happening I realized that I hadn’t thanked the One who had made the little miracle possible.  Quickly I returned to God to personally thank Him and though my initial reaction was not to say thank you I didn’t beat myself up because my period before realizing that I must be grateful is getting shorter- yeahy!  I am neither the leper that rushed back to say thank you nor the nine that forgot- I am a happy medium making small progress in prayer of thanksgiving.

Days away from our national Thanksgiving holiday it seems fitting to make time to make a thankful list.  I know that in the cooking and preparations sometimes the spirit of the day is missed, but make an effort to go through your life and acknowledge all those blessings that often get missed in the bustle of things.  You’d be surprise how giving focus to the things we have and not those that we don’t will give you joy and satisfaction.  This Thanksgiving I have so many things to be thankful for especially not being laid off on my birthday or having another Christmas to share with my brown wolf.  Just writing these two things on my list already makes me so utterly happy- so come start your gracias list, “today, I am thankful for..."

1. Dollar's recovery.
2. My job.
3. My birds singing me awake.
4. My health.
5. Family
6. Friends.
7. Community.
8. Learning new skills- like baking!
9. Christmas gatherings.
10. Another year of life.
11. My faith.
12. Our Garden.
13. My silly parents
14. ...

World Vision Sponsor a Child Now

Recently I received the annual World Vision report for my little girl, who is not so little anymore.  Sarai is now in secondary school and looking more like a beautiful young woman.  There’s some people who have reservations about World Vision, but as a sponsor of quite some years now I have nothing but a good, solid experience working with them.

Becoming a Sponsor: For only $39 dollars a month you can help change lives.  Just go to their website and choose to be paired with a child of your choice from anywhere in the world. 

Make a Difference: Your monetary contribution will not only help one child, but it will change a community.  Through your donation children and families will enjoy good nutrition, receive an education, have seminars about human rights, leadership and developing skills to enter the work force.   

Develop a close relationship with your sponsor child:  World Vision makes it quite easy for you to have direct access to your sponsor child having various ways to keep in touch.  You can email your child, send letters or even a small package and wait for the child’s response.  If however you choose not to communicate, World Vision will send you an annual report about your child in addition to other news throughout the year.

I have been a sponsor for some years now and I truly love it because most of the time I can’t see the fruit of my labors, but through this organization I can totally see as my monetary contribution changes lives.  Sarai now lives in a concrete and brick home, has access to drinking water, proper nutrition and is in seventh grade in school.  This year’s photograph shows a confidence that wasn’t there in her earlier photos and it makes me so happy to be part of her growth (smile).       

Thoughts and Prayers

I read a response on a friend’s Facebook page to the shooting in California this morning, he stated quite angrily that he didn’t want to hear, “thoughts and prayers,” but wanted action in relation to gun violence.  I understand his frustration and his misunderstanding in relation to what prayer is because I have been in his shoes where I too had an erroneous understanding of Christian prayer.  I too felt like prayer was a waste of energy – that did nothing, but as I have grown in my faith I’ve come to understand that prayer is active not passive.  When we pray we bring our petitions to God, but we also contemplate with Him and most of the time He inspires us to do our part.  I’ve mentioned many times how I love the way my mother prays, “God, place the people you want me to help in my path today.”  This short prayer illustrates that raising others to God is good, He wants us to ask for His assistance, but He also has equipped us with many talents to help one another.  Prayer invites us to action.

Saint Simon and Jude has a ribbon prayer wall this November with our intentions.

I love the story about a man who was stuck on a rooftop during a great flood, and he prayed to God for help.  A boat passed by and the man refused saying, “am waiting for God to come help me.”  Then a helicopter came and again the man refused saying, “am waiting for God to come to my assistance.”  The flood ended claiming his life and when the man was in God’s presence the man angrily said you never came to help me and God said, “I sent you a boat and a helicopter, but you refused.”  Prayer also requires accepting help, many times our pride or just plain ignorance keeps us from being open to assistance.  I know that I have trouble receiving support because it puts me in a position of vulnerability.  Yet, I’ve come to understand that when I refuse the aid of another I am not allowing that person to shine nor allowing her to grow in charity. Prayer invites us to accept help.

Many times the pain of another is so great and so personal that all we can do is pray.  When a person loses a loved one, or discovers a fatal illness or a marriage falls apart…  There are situations where all we can do is raise them in prayer because we have no way of ridding our loved ones of those hurts- so we pray that God will come to their assistance.  Yet, even in those situations where we can't alleviate another’s suffering, prayer invites us to come together and be a unifying force of love.  When my brother died no one could take away my hurt, but all those people who sent sympathy cards, were present for funeral services or just sent good thoughts acknowledging my loss gave me so much hope. Prayer invites us to come together.

Social media is full of empty words, of people posting things without much thought- but when a Christian prayer warrior says, “my prayers and thoughts are with you,” the meaning is much deeper because his understanding of prayer is different.  He’s saying am taking your hurt, am presenting your petitions to a loving God – but I am also going to contemplate on how God can use me to be a blessing to you in this moment of turmoil.  And when those prayers get presented to God, expect Him to show you how to be a supportive friend because prayer is active.  Our Catholic faith is not just about believing, but also of putting those beliefs into action because “a faith without works is dead.”  Thus, I caution that when you do offer someone your thoughts and prayers do so realizing what you are promising because empty words do more hurt than good.

My Love of Scripture

God is always trying to get our attention.  When I was an agnostic I fell for a Christian.  He was the first person that I had ever met with a relationship with Jesus so strong that as much as I was in awe of it, it was also a bit challenging to digest.  He talked about Jesus as if Jesus was a real person and his faith as if it was the most important part of his life.  A few months after starting our relationship I was going away on a trip- which would be our first time apart.  We went out to dinner and he said, “I have a gift for you, I want you to open it at home when you are alone.”  I was excited by the surprise and rushed home to open the beautifully wrapped present thinking of what it could be.  When I opened it there in my hands laid a Bible.  I was both intrigued and insulted – on the corner of the Bible engraved in silver letters was my name and inside a dedication he had written. Though I could see the sentimentality of the gift and appreciated all the thought that went into this gift- I was agnostic and I thought “I am never going to read this.”  Thus, I stored it in my book shelve, there to remain until the day I needed it.

Some of my Bibles

The day my brother took his life, as I rushed to the ER I picked up that book without thinking.  Something inspired me to grab that Bible as I made my way to the hospital.  As I saw my family devastated in the waiting room I felt impotent, unable to wipe their tears.  Then I remembered the Bible that was in my purse and I took it out and said, “God, if you are real give me the words to comfort my family.”  I opened the Bible and began reading on the page where it fell opened to.  It was the first page of the story of Job.  I devoured that book and at its conclusion I knew that suffering could be redeemed by God.  That not one tear was wasted because God would turn our sadness into something good.  I understood that my brother’s suffering had meaning and purpose.  That my family and I could get through this darkness. 

The words in the pages of a rejected Bible gave me hope and I wanted more.  Thus, I started not only to read it, but I also started going to Mass and paying attention to each reading - each hymn.  And those holy words nurtured me back to life.  After the Book of Job I read Ecclesiastes and the Psalms and I remembered how much I identified with the suffering- but I also began to see hope.  I remembered that during Mass I would sob when I heard the readings because the words penetrated my soul, they broke down the walls that I had built against religion and against God.  I’ve always been moved by words- from a very young age I felt goosebumps when I heard poetry or read a good story- but never had I allowed myself to experience Sacred Scripture.  The relationship with the person who gave me the Bible didn’t last, but he came into my life to introduce me to my favorite book, the holy Bible.  That first Bible is now falling apart from the regular use of those early days of my initial conversion, but I am not...  God is always calling us to Him wanting us to allow Him to work in our lives and even when we are stubborn and don’t want anything to do with Him, He continues to reach out.  A gift that I was uncomfortable, ashamed and thought I would never use was how God penetrated my soul.  Looking back I see so many times when God called my name and I refused to hear Him; but, He persisted and that makes me so happy.  Usually when I continue to get rejected I give up- but God, He always seeks us with a love that overpowers pride.

The one I use mostly now.

That first Bible began my love of scripture.  Yesterday, I gave a lesson on the Bible to my RCIA class and I shared my intro to the Bible through a gift that I thought I would never use.  I also showed them my growing collection of Bibles.  Today, I lead a bilingual life and have a great English/Spanish Bible that makes it easy to be multi-cultural (smile).

Solemnity of All Saints a Day of Encouragement

Happy All Saints Day… It’s pretty neat how sandwiched in between Halloween and Dia de los Muertos the beef of our faith, the hope for our lives - All Saints Day is celebrated.  During a season when our society toys with a romanticized view of death our Church dedicates a day to honor all those holy lives gone before us as a way to play tribute, but also encourage us that heaven is possible.  These past few days I have been thinking of those who believe in a second death, the death that comes when a beloved is forgotten.  In fact, for all of us who have lost a loved one- that is perhaps one of the biggest fears that haunts us, I remember when my brother died I was terrified of forgetting the sound of his voice or what he looked like.  For the longest time I held on to the hurt of his passing because I felt that was the only thing I had left of his and I was afraid that letting go of the hurt would also mean letting go of him.  The loss of a loved one is terribly hard and thinking of a second death is equally devastating.  As usual my Catholic faith saved me by helping me realize that when we believe in God a second death is impossible.

Today we honor the saints, those men and women whose lives can serve as role models of our Christian faith, but we also honor those holy lives that never made the headlines.  Those quiet lives who are saints unaware by society.  The Church in its infinite wisdom honors the holiness today of all those people that have beat us to the finish line not just the famous well known saints, but all holy lives. Whether on earth we only remember the most influential – heaven is full of ordinary people because to God each person is equally important, equally loved - equally unforgettable.  As long as I live my brother is with me, “I carry his heart in mine,” BUT if one day my mind fails me and sends his memory to oblivion – God will never send him there.  Jesus came to save us in so many ways, to offer us hope even in the most hopeless situations and to teach us that if we choose Him – His mansion in heaven awaits all of us with a room allocated specifically to each with our name written above the door frame.

Today, is a day of obligation meaning that I will see you in the Eucharist (smile).  It’s also a day where we pray the Litany of the Saints the prayer that reminds me that even in death love doesn’t die or forget.  Just pay attention to the litany - there are names in that litany from Jesus’ day – names our Church has not forgotten.  There’s also names of a few saints that I still don’t know that to me do not have a personal connection (yet) but it excites me to see these names because they are proof that to God we are all worth so much more than sparrows.  A few years ago I went to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles and inside the church on both sides hanging from high are tapestries with life size images of the saints.  As I walked down the center isle admiring the saint art on both sides of me I felt like I was in heaven surrounded by all those gone before me.  I am a novice in the study of saints, thus a lot of the saints honored on those walls were strangers to me which gave me a greater sense that in heaven I am going to meet a lot of holy people, people that perhaps to the world have been lost- but never to God because each of us is inolvidable para Dios today is proof of that.

THE LITANY OF THE SAINTS

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, have mercy on us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, hear us. 

Christ, graciously hear us. 

God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us. (repeat after each line)

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, 

God the Holy Ghost, 

Holy Trinity, one God, 

Holy Mary, pray for us (repeat after each line)

Holy Mother of God, 

Holy Virgin of virgins, 

St. Michael, 

St. Gabriel, 

St. Raphael, 

All you holy angels and archangels, 

All you holy orders of blessed spirits, 

St. John the Baptist, 

St. Joseph, 

All you holy patriarchs and prophets, 

St. Peter, 

St. Paul, 

St. Andrew, 

St. James, 

St. John, 

St. Thomas, 

St. James, 

St. Philip, 

St. Bartholomew, 

St. Matthew, 

St. Simon, 

St. Thaddeus, 

St. Matthias, 

St. Barnabas, 

St. Luke, 

St. Mark, 

All you holy apostles and evangelists, 

All you holy disciples of our Lord, 

All you holy innocents, 

St. Stephen, 

St. Lawrence, 

St. Vincent, 

SS. Fabian and Sebastian, 

SS. John and Paul, 

SS. Cosmas and Damian, 

SS. Gervase and Protase, 

All you holy Martyrs, 

St. Sylvester, 

St. Gregory, 

St. Ambrose, 

St. Augustine, 

St. Jerome, 

St. Martin, 

St. Nicholas, 

All you holy bishops and confessors, 

All you holy doctors, 

St. Anthony, 

St. Benedict, 

St. Bernard, 

St. Dominic, 

St. Francis, 

All you holy priests and levites, 

All you holy monks and hermits, 

St. Mary Magdalen, 

St. Agatha, 

St. Lucy, 

St. Agnes, 

St. Cecilia, 

St. Catherine, 

St. Anastasia, 

All you holy virgins and widows, 

All you holy men and women, saints of God, intercede for us. 

Be merciful, spare us, O Lord. 

Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord. 

From all evil, deliver us, O Lord. (repeat after each line)

From all sin, 

From Thy wrath, 

From a sudden and unprovided death, 

From the deciets of the devil, 

From anger, and hatred, and all ill-will, 

From the spirit of fornication, 

From lightning and tempest, 

From the scourge of earthquakes, 

From plague, famine and war, 

From everlasting death, 

By the mystery of Thy holy incarnation, 

By Thy coming, 

By Thy nativity, 

By Thy baptism and holy fasting, 

By Thy Cross and Passion, 

By Thy Death and burial, 

By Thy holy Resurrection, 

By Thine admirable Ascension, 

By the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete. 

On the day of judgment. 

We sinners, we beseech Thee, hear us (repeat after each line)

That Thou wouldst spare us, 

That Thou wouldst pardon us, 

That Thou wouldst bring us to true penance, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to govern and preserve Thy Holy Church, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to preserve our Apostolic Prelate, and all ecclesiastical orders in holy religion, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to humble the enemies of holy Church, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give peace and true concord to Christian kings and princes, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant peace and unity to all Christian peoples, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to ring back to the unity of the Church all who have strayed away, and lead to the light of the Gospel all unbelievers, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to confirm and preserve us in Thy holy service, 

That Thou wouldst lift up our minds to heavenly desires, 

That Thou wouldst render eternal blessings to all our benefactors, 

That Thou wouldst deliver our souls, and the souls of our brethren, relatives, and benefactors from eternal damnation, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give and preserve the fruits of the earth, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed, 

That Thou wouldst vouchsafe graciously to hear us, Son of God, 

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord. 

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord. 

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. 

Christ, hear us. 

Christ, graciously hear us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, have mercy on us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Our Father, etc. (inaudibly) 

V. And lead us not into temptation 

R. But deliver us from evil.

Our Halloween Traditions

Over the weekend my nephew and I were able to work on our Halloween traditions.  First up was carving our pumpkin.  This year he wanted to create a jack-o-lantern that played tribute to his new obsession, his favorite computer game, Fornite.  Since he’s getting older I thought that our usual tradition of reading the toddler book “The Pumpkin Gospel” before our carving process was no longer age appropriate because he’s almost a teen now.  I never expected him to miss this part of our carving process, but as we began to outline the design on his pumpkin he said, “Tia, aren’t you forgetting something, what about the story we usually read before we carve?”  I almost fell to the floor in shock because in the years past he’s complained about the book, but now I realize that he’s one of those kids that complains about things even though in reality he really enjoys these small faith traditions.  I asked him to summarize the book and he totally remembered the story, but now it had a new depth because he’s older and understands spiritual truths a little better.  After his retelling I went and I grabbed the picture book from my book shelve and we read it just like we have done so since our first year carving pumpkins.

Then we worked on branding our candy with stickers to evangelize the masses on Halloween night.  This year instead of our usual “Jesus loves you” stickers we found stickers with images of Jesus and Mary to place on all of our candy wrappers because sometimes an image can be equally inspiring as words.  Again, while we were blessing our candy with a good Catholic message my nephew was like, “Tia, you know we are the only house that does this.”  Which followed with a great discussion on how being different is totally cool.  “We want to share our love for Jesus with others,” I told him “can you imagine getting a candy with the image of Jesus or Mary - it can help families have discussions about who the people in these images are. Besides Halloween is a day to not be normal…”

Then we attended our annual Parish Fall Fest as Saint Barbara and Saint Maximilian Kolbe.  The parish fest is a celebration for the children in our parish, they are invited to dress as saints, there’s a pizza dinner, games and a scary reptile critters show.  This year both my nephew and I volunteered and we had such a great time!  He was the only middle schooler dressed in costume (apparently at his age it’s no longer cool to dress up) but again I passed my love for costumes with him and in the end he enjoyed dressing up. Thus, our Halloween weekend came to a close.     

 Saint selfies!

Halloween Costume: Saint Barbara

We are about to enter one of my favorite weekends of the year, Halloween weekend!  Each year I take the challenge of making one of the most controversial nights for Christians, full of Jesus.  Usually it begins with a well prepared saint costume.  This year I began my costume hunting at Goodwill and found a gold beauty of a dress and a crown that needed proper jewels, both pieces reminded me of Saint Barbara.  While Saint Barbara has been a saint that has always been present in my spiritual journey, I have never given her enough attention.  Though the first Catholic parish that I started attending after my reversion is dedicated to her and though recently I discovered that an image that has been hanging in my parents’ bedroom is none other than Saint Barbara- this October I finally made a conscious effort to get to know her better.  I had a bit of trouble finding a proper biography in book form, so I used a film that my Texan Angel gifted me with very high ratings.

Saint Barbara is known for physical beauty, according to the film “Saint Barbara: Convert and Martyr of the Early Church.” She lives during a time of great Christian persecution and is the daughter of a wealthy Roman governor, Dioscoro, who guards her carefully.  So afraid is he of letting Barbara out into the world that he builds a tower with three windows to preserve her from outside influence.  However, through a slave who attends to her, Barbara comes to know Jesus and secretly converts to Christianity.  Her love for God is so strong that when her slave is condemned to death due to her Christian faith Barbara attempts to save her.  She rebels and goes against her father and other government leaders as she also tries to save other persecuted Christians too.  Ultimately her Christian faith costs her life, as her father orders her execution after unsuccessfully trying to get her to reject her faith.  Before her death she is severely tortured and endures much cruelty.  Legend has it that after each torture session her wounds would heal, however her father eventually carried the execution himself beheading his daughter after failing to convert her to paganism.  As punishment Dioscoro was struck by lightning on his way home and Barbara was given a Christian burial and her tomb became a place of great miracles.  She is venerated on December fourth, the day of her believed martyrdom and because of her association with lightning she is the patron saint of artillerymen, military or anyone who faces danger and a sudden violent death in work.  She is usually represented with the tower, a martyr crown, palm branch or chalice.   

 This statue was my inspiration.

Her story is such a strong testament of faith and a most beautiful conversion testimony.  During a dark time in Christian history, God still works using people to spread His salvific message.  Saint Barbara hears the truth and from her tower prison she sees daily the beauty of creation.  She spends hours looking out her windows, admiring the natural beauty and being warmed by the rays of sunshine that shine through.  These gifts propel her thank such a generous, beautiful God.  As she learns her Christian faith (from her slave) she comes to encounter God- and their bond is so tight that no matter how hard her earthly father tries to separate her from God she refuses to surrender.  Her refusal to turn against her new found Christian faith is what most strikes me.  Learning of the humiliating, long, painful torture she received I am not sure if I could endure the same.  Especially so soon after my conversion!  Equally impressive is her ability to stand up against her father during a time period when women were seen to have so little value.  Her actions are quite courageous- truly a role model to keep and now another of my close intercessors. 

Prayer to Saint Barbara

St Barbara,

you are stronger than the tower of a fortress

and the fury of hurricanes.

Do not let lightning hit me, thunder frighten me

or the roar of canons jolt my courage or bravery.

Stay always by my side so that I may confront

all the storms and battles of my life

with my head held high and a serene countenance.

Winning all the struggles, may I,

aware of doing my duty, be grateful to you,

my protector, and render thanks to God,

the Creator of heaven, earth and nature

who has the power to dominate the fury of the storm

and to mitigate the cruelty of war.

St Barbara, pray for us.

Amen.

Previous year Saints Costume Links: St. Rita , St. Cecilia, Joan of Arc, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Saint Helena 

There's Still a Penny & Dollar

Pablo Neruda wrote “A Dog Has Died,” a poetic eulogy for his beloved dog when his dog passed.  In the second stanza he writes:

“I, the materialist, who never believed in any promised heaven in the sky for any human being, I believe in a heaven I’ll never enter.  Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom where my dog waits for my arrival waving his fan-like tail in friendship.” 

When death comes knocking at our door to claim a beloved -simultaneously the ones left behind are left trying to make sense of the loss.  For many of us death is the first time we acknowledge our mortality and with it what comes next.  When my brother died I understood Neruda’s words to the core of my being, but unlike his poem I needed concrete evidence that life after death is real.  In fact, death was what humbled me to my knees and opened my heart to hear God’s truth.  Today, I believe in heaven with the same certainty that I trust the air that I breathe gives me life.  It is this truth in life after death, that has given me and continues to give me a reason to live.  A reason that my life on earth matters, has meaning and that when one breathes life's last breath all is not lost...  In fact, it's only the beginning of eternity (smile).    

Nevertheless, we all deal with death differently, but in the end we all hope for a heaven- a place where all those gone before us go…  I usually dissociate myself from loss, when my brother died I immediately packed up his room and gave everything away- almost erasing him from my life because that’s the only way that I could cope.  I didn’t want things of his in my home to remind me of his absence- so they all went to charity or in a box in the attic.  This past weekend, I found myself getting ready to purge my dog’s things because I thought that he too was about to leave me…

A couple days ago during his regular short walk around the neighborhood my dog collapsed, two out of the ordinary sways before his body plummeted to the floor.  As he laid on the concrete sidewalk completely unconscious, I thought he had had a heart attack and as I waited for any signs of life, his little chest showed me there was still life in him.  I carried him home where he continued to have balance issues.  Seeing the signs of his rapid deterioration I was bracing myself for the worse, and once again I had to find peace in the promises of my faith.  Those promises that in November of 2004 began my spiritual journey.  I thought of Neruda’s poem and while many say that animals don’t have souls therefore heaven is not their destination I believe that God is merciful even with little furry friends who are angels here on earth for so many of us.

Late last night, the vet called and told me that the results were back for Dollar’s tests and they all came back normal- except for his thyroid.  His thyroid is rather low which is causing him to fall all over the place, but with medication he should improve. Praise be to God!  I get to have him in my life a little longer.  While I was making preparatory arrangements for a possible euthanasia – God extended our time together.  Thank you all for the prayers, God heard them! In a couple weeks hopefully after the meds begin to kick in, my little wolf will be back to his shenanigans.  

Acts of Kindness

On Sunday, I gave my first lesson as a catechist this year, as I was sharing God as creator of the world, I mentioned that to me being outdoors contemplating the beauty of nature always pushes away my anxiety.  When I see the perfection of things at work it’s easy for me to believe that my struggles are a piece of cake for God.  When I see the animals in nature I am reminded that even though birds do not sow or reap they do not fall prey to anxiety trusting that God will provide. Since God esteems us much, much more than birds then we too must not waste energy worrying.  After my lecture one of my students shared how she has been super anxious because she is about to give birth to her fifth child and she got notice that within two months she and her family must turn the keys to her apartment.  Her husband is sole provider and his income is not high enough to qualify for an apartment.  Thus, she’s afraid that in a couple of months she, her new baby and family will be homeless.  In hearing that God provides, that He’s all powerful and meditating further on the Sunday Gospel reading (that we need to let go of things that keep us from God), she found solace knowing that she needed to offer her worry to God. 

The RCIA team was of course inspired by her openness to share such personal details and feeling the desire to offer more than affirmation, our fearless leader organized a surprise gift from both teachers and students.  We are all giving a small monetary donation in addition to voluntary gifts for the baby.  Since, this mommy is three weeks away from welcoming her baby and under so much stress I thought that she deserved a bouquet of flowers, but thinking that the flowers would die within days I decided to get crafty and create a bouquet of diapers!  I can’t wait to see her face on Sunday when we all surprise her with a little bit of kindness (smile).  Sometimes we forget when we intercede for another person, that we are the vehicle through which God can bless another person.  I know that I can be really good at saying a prayer for another person, but prayer invites us to do more than just state the intention and leave it to God.  In prayer God inspires us to be Jesus for that friend in need.  My mom’s favorite prayer is, “God place someone in my path that you wish me to help today.”  That is a really lovely prayer because though God doesn’t need our assistance to answer our prayer intentions, He loves to use us to do good. 

Sometimes it’s not that clear as to what to do to help another, but usually if we sit with God, He will inspire us on how to act.  I bought a pack of Huggies initially thinking that I would do a nappy cake, but then decided that a diaper flower bouquet would be much more special because it goes with the talk about creation... You can also pray for the recipient as you create her gift.    

The bouquet is really easy to make you just need: diapers, foam ball, vase, skewer wooden sticks, ribbon, tissue paper, invisible rubber bands      

God's Universe

A few nights ago I was in my bedroom reading a book when I started seeing flashes that appeared like someone outside my bedroom window was taking pictures with the flash constantly going off.  For a moment I thought it was a person with a camera outside my window and curious to discover my stalker I opened the blinds only to find an illuminated sky.  Sunny California surprisingly hosted a lighting storm complete with thunder and showers.  In my home state rain always generate such a buzz because for the most part our year is sunny side up, thus when there’s an interruption Californians get super excited.  I enjoy dusting my sweaters and Ugg boots for wear in the rare colder temperatures as people rush to express their gratitude because we need the water to avoid a drought.  It is this positive frenzy that makes connection with God so simple.  He could have made one single season with a set temperature and weather pattern- but he gives us such variety. He caresses us with the power of the wind, touches us with drops of rain and lights the sky.  These seasonal changes, so experienced by our senses, also renew washing the earth and watering the plants. 

It is during these changes in weather that I most meditate on the power of God because He controls the wind with the sound of His voice the wind obeys.  I think of Jesus asleep on a boat in the middle of the ocean during the terrible storm, his apostles in utter fear wake him up and he simply commands the natural elements to behave and the tempest passes.  Or the story of creation (in the Book of Genesis) where the voice of God creates: the Creator says, “Let there be light,” and light comes into existence.  Just the sound of God’s voice carries power beyond our comprehension!  This natural phenomenon gives me hope because no matter the difficulties that I might be facing when I become aware of the power of God in controlling elements beyond anyone’s scope I realize that my tribulation is a piece of cake for Him.  Just like the storm that panicked the apostles my problems too will pass- and if I ask God for His assistance even better because He loves helping us out.

I am not one that can easily ask for help- it makes me uncomfortable relying on someone else.  When I do, I feel like I become a burden for them; even in prayer when I pray for myself- for my own intentions I struggle.  I feel like God only wants to listen to my intercessions, but when it’s about me he just doesn’t hear them.  Which of course is a lie because Jesus constantly told us to ask God for everything.  I think of the rain and how happy the flowers, trees and plants are to receive sustenance and am reminded that accepting help is an act of humility of recognizing my smallness and in doing so allowing another to shine in service.  We are all interconnected including creation- the beautiful home God created for us- this interconnectedness makes us dependent on one another.  In this country of individualism, God reminds us that in order to exist in harmony we all need one another.  In recognizing our smallness we become aware of His absolute power and that is pretty liberating (smile).