Honoring the Angels ...and, no, not the baseball team!

...Today is the Feast of the Archangels ~ Michael, Gabriel and Raphael ~ and I just can't let the day go without a short post ....

"Let us join the angels of the Lord in their unending praise!
...Michael is honored by the Church as its special protector. Gabriel is best known as the angel of the annunciation to Mary and Zechariah. Raphael healed the blindness of Tobit... ~ from the Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise book - September 29
I get amused sometimes at our society in today's world - over the past couple of years, I've noticed that book stores and 'new age' people have made this big fuss over the "new" concept of angels. I just have to chuckle over all this because in our Catholic tradition, as well as the ancient tradition of our Jewish brothers and sisters, angels have always been so much a part of our belief! And this week, we celebrate two great Angel feast days - the Archangels today and on Saturday, the feast of the Guardian Angels. Angels also have a warm place in the Franciscan tradition stemming from Francis' tender affection and honor to these heavenly beings who have helped us to know God's great care and love for us. Pope Benedict in his writing of these two "angel" days said: "...these two celebrations move us to think of the provident care with which God looks after each human person ..."
So, noting that and with the Franciscan family today and on OCT. 2 nd we remember and pray ...
Francis had a great devotion to the messengers of God; open our ears to hear them and our eyes to see them in our everyday lives.
... And hopefully we are not tiring out our Guardian Angels as in the picture of a statue I tumbled upon a few years ago:)...my angel saying, "Oh no, not in trouble again!?!"

...So Great a Love ...

Happy Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis!

Today is the feast of the great Jesuit, St. Robert Bellarmine, but as a true blue Franciscan ~ follower of St. Francis, I also want to highlight this day as the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi!

In my Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise prayer book (published by The Franciscan Federation, Third Order Regular of the Sisters and Brothers of the United States), the office of the day is introduced with this explanation of the day ...
"Francis had a burning love for the Crucified and never ceased to preach this devotion. In 1224, two years before his death, as he was lost in deep contemplation on Mount La Verna, the marks of Christ's passion were imprinted on his body."
I just couldn't let the day go by without a brief entry, especially since I have this beautiful water colored image to share. A young woman that has become my friend drew and painted this picture and gave me the framed artwork. I love it! (... and technology is so great that I was able to scan it to share.)
Anyway ... in many ways it can be hard for me to comprehend the deep prayer and contemplation that was so very much a part of St.Francis that this awesome gift of the stigmata became his... whew ... So great a love Francis had for Jesus, the crucified Christ!
I don't know what more I can write at this point, so I close with a prayer used in this morning's office.
"O God, in your servant Francis you have given the world a true disciple of Jesus. Help us (help me) who follow Francis to witness faithfully to the living Gospel and bring to the world compassion and joy."
Blessings on your weekend! I am off to Spokane, WA next week for a gathering and meetings with others who minister in vocation and formation work in various Congregations ~ should be good to get together and share!
Pace E Bene!

Criss-Crossing Through God's Country

I am aware that I am long overdue for a new post... Where do the days - hmmm, the weeks, go!?! Many beginnings have been written in my head over the past two weeks, so today I must get to it! It is a good day to write as it is the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross ~ one of my favorite feast days! The picture of the cross I am including here was taken on my recent vacation (more about that later) to the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, to be with two of our Sisters that minister at St. Stephens Indian Mission. The cross is painted on the ceiling of the main mission church. So, today being this feast, I share with you a Franciscan prayer that is almost always said at the beginning of Lauds and Vespers in my local community. I am sure other Franciscans pray it often as well.

We adore You, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all churches throughout the whole world and we bless You because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world. (from the Testament [5] of St. Francis)

So, as I mentioned, I was on vacation ... from August 27th - Sept. 3. Plans for this trip happened kind of fast. On August 31st there was a special ceremony at the Indian Mission that I was asked to come for. For 118 years our Sisters have ministered at St. Stephens Indian Mission along side the Jesuit priests. After 126 years of ministry on the Reservation the Jesuits had to make the decision to leave because of other community demands, and to turn the Mission over to the Diocese of Cheyenne.

Although it wasn't the vacation I had planned on, I am certainly glad I was able to go ... to be present to/with our Sisters who live there ... and to the Jesuits, to meet the new priests of the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity, and to share in this ceremony and transition time with the Shoshone and Arapaho people. The OSFs had a nice showing of Sisters with 4 of us able to travel in for the event, so there was some enjoyable community time too! St. Stephens was my first "mission experience" when I went there as a Candidate my first year in Community. It is a wonderful place with beautiful people! You can read more about the event as the Bishop of Wyoming, Bishop Etienne, writes in his blog about St. Stephen Indian Mission The Bishop has also included quite a number of great pictures, so just click on the link above :) I was glad to meet the Bishop and enjoyed reading his account of Aug.31st ...
It was a fun trip, although a LOT of driving was involved, traveling from Oregon to Washington State, into Idaho and Montana and finally into Wyoming. We did travel though some beautiful country as well as some wide open spaces! God truly speaks to my heart in all the diverse beauty of the landscape! Also, I had a fun traveling companion who joined me - Sr. Dolores Herbeck, a Sister living in Tacoma who is from Wyoming and lived many years on the Mission as she worked in Riverton as the Catholic grade school Principal. We definitely had some adventures and lots of good talks about life, community, the countryside and the spiritual-side.... However, even though we spent a day in Yellowstone National Park with several other Sisters, I still did not see a moose! Oh, that elusive moose ...
Thought you might enjoy a few more pictures ...


Including a pose of the Franciscans after a few busy days!

Star Light, Star Bright ....

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight ....

Remember the rhyme from when you were a kid?! ...Actually, I still think of that little saying even to this day. For me there is something awesome and magical about the stars and I love clear summer nights to look up at the starry sky. Of course living in the city it is often hard to see the stars so brightly, but where I grew up in Southern Oregon, almost at the 5,000 foot level, the night sky is amazing! The picture here was taken on my retreat last summer at the Trappist Abbey in LaFayette, OR. Greeting the night time and watching the stars come out is a favorite thing for me when I am on retreat ...if the mosquitoes aren't too bad like they were for me this summer ....

Anyway, I'm not sure what is making me think of the stars right now, except August is the month of shooting stars and this past week I heard news of meteor showers - which I missed because of the 3 AM time of viewing! Also, I came across a quote yesterday which I would like to share with you. It might speak a bit of the many situations our world seems to be in right now ~ the earthquakes in Haiti and other countries recently, the oil spill in the Gulf, the flooding in Pakistan, etc....
Madeline L'Engle (1918-2007) wrote in "A Stone for a Pillow" (1986) this piece to reflect and think upon ..."If we look at the makeup of the word disaster, dis-aster, we see dis which means separation, and aster, which means star. So dis-aster is separation from the stars. Such separation is disaster indeed. When we are separated from the stars, the sea, each other, we are in danger of being separated from God." Something the think about indeed! In any kind of disaster, it is so important to stay connected to each other, help each other and especially stay connected with God to give us the courage and strength we need ...
I am off to spend a weekend with my family and, hopefully, I will be able to enjoy a couple of clear night skies to see some shooting stars! No matter if I see any shooting stars or not, I still give praise for the beauty of the night sky ... All Praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the Stars; in the heavens You made them, bright and precious and fair ... from the Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis

How Good it is to Celebrate!

Happy Feast of St. Clare!
Today, August 11th, we celebrate St. Clare of Assisi ... a very special day in my community. It is on this day that so many Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia - including myself - made our Final Vow!
Even though we have always celebrated the life of Clare, it is only in recent history that we have discovered what a strong and faith-filled person she truly was in her own right, not just a copy of St. Francis... Clare was a woman of initiative and courage. She was the first woman in the Church to have written a rule of life for woman - the "Poor Clares", and it is through her that we can understand St. Francis better.
So anyway, this evening we will have a nice dinner ~ I'm the cook ~ and special prayers to commemorate her Feast.
My Congregation broke from tradition a bit this year however, as many of us gathered together this past Sunday, at Our Lady of Angels Convent in Aston PA, (our Motherhouse) to support Sr. Patricia Kerezsi as she professed her Perpetual Profession ~ made her Final Vows as a Sr. of St. Francis! We had a wonderful celebration! So, in the spirit of St. Clare, may you have Faith to lead you. Joy to lift you. Love to light your way.
Here is a picture of Sr. Patricia with her mother (in the middle) our Formation Director, Sr. Diane (left) and Sr. Marijane (right),
and others who were there to celebrate and be a part of the special occasion ...

Reflections From the Hermitage

Last week I was away on my yearly, week long retreat! Ahh, what a very good and blessed week it was as I spent some solitude days in my own little hermitage in eastern Washington thanks to the gracious hospitality of the Carmelite Sisters of Mary. My great aunt was a Carmelite Sister so it was wonderful to connect a bit with the Carmelite charism and to celebrate their great Feast Day of Our Lady of Mt Carmel on July 16th. I think my aunt, Sr. Joseph, was watching over me from heaven and blessing my time during my retreat days ... I actually began retreat on a very appropriate Franciscan day, July 15th, the Feast of St. Bonaventure! The invocation for Morning Praise in my Franciscan prayer book that day was, "The Spirit of Wisdom is given to us in abundance. Let us rejoice in the goodness poured forth into our hearts and minds."
That message was confirmed over and over again for me while I was on retreat... so many graced, wisdom moments! At one point I was listening to a CD on John's Gospel and some words the Dominican Sister, Sr. Mary Margaret Pazdan said caught my ears and really describes what retreat is about in so many ways - "...to nestle into the heart of God and say yes..." In the tradition of the Carmelite Sisters with whom I shared some time, I tried to allow the Holy Spirit to guide my days and my prayer. I had 80 acres of forested land to wander around in. The homily at Sunday's Mass included the thought that "All of creation is God's hospitality to us ... how do we receive it and take care of it?" In my roaming around each day - which I was able to do, and went for a good walk/hike every day - I found so much beauty and could really enter into the moment - that moment of God's abundant love and hospitality. I don't know about you, but I often tend to get caught up in things to do, worries and anxieties
about things that need to be done, that I forget to be fully present to the preciousness of every moment. Retreat was a good reminder! ... And now I hope that I can carry the spirit of that time, "Hush now ... be still", with me into the days and months ahead! I hope that you can take a moment here and there in your day to "nestle into the heart of God".
In a little book written in the 1970s that I picked up in the hermitage - Jesus, Set Me Free: Inner Freedom Through Contemplation, Fr. George Maloney, SJ wrote ...
"In prayer, the Spirit comes to our spirit and bears witness that we are truly loved as the Father loves His eternal Son (Rm. 8:15). God's very own dynamic current of love, between Father and Son, catches us up and regenerates us into new creatures, ever more consciously aware of our inner dignity of being so privileged as to be loved infinitely by God." WOW! I thank God that I was able to have this retreat time. It was good for my heart, my soul and my mental state... and probably for the Sisters I live with too!
*A few more photos I took ... I was refreshed by the beauty that I encountered every day, and also want to share a picture of my hiking buddy, Strider :)
"Come forth into the light of things; let nature be your teacher." ~ William Wordsworth 1770-1850

FREE to Be ... You and Me...

I had great intentions to write on the 4th of July ~ at least I am still within the week ... What a wonderful day to celebrate though! We, as a people and a country have so much to be thankful for. I hope you were able to enjoy the holiday?
Personally, I had a nice day! The weather was kind of overcast, but I went out for an energetic bike ride in the morning downtown on the waterfront along the Willamette River... always a pleasant ride for me. There were quite a few people and lots going on - it was just fun to mingle with the crowd on the holiday. Then later in the afternoon I enjoyed a delicious picnic type dinner with the Sisters I live with. I didn't go out to see any fireworks this year, but have surely enjoyed the ones nature has on display these summer days. ...*See the photos below that I've taken the past few weeks of God's daytime fireworks ...
Anyway, on my bike ride Sunday, I rode past the the Blue's Festival event that was in full swing. People were flocking in to hear the music, but what was so great is that the proceeds were going to support the Oregon Food Bank! To go along with that happening, in the Portland "Oregonian" newspaper this morning, there is a good article on food and feeding the poor. I didn't have time to read the whole article yet, but I will! A non-profit organization called Portland Urban Gleaners was mentioned. Volunteers go around to grocery stores, restaurants, farmers markets, etc collecting GOOD food that can no longer be sold or served for profit. This food is then donated to places that can use the food to feed the hungry and serve meals to the homeless ...! What a wonderful concept! You know, as a society we waste so much food (in America, 150 lbs per person each year). How excellent that people have the freedom to be so resourceful like the Urban Gleaners to help others!!
Last night after community prayer ... to get a jump start on my weekend since I have family coming to town for a nieces wedding ... I was cleaning house. In our living/community room we have a little calendar called "A Year of Daily Wisdom" by Marianne Williamson. I guess all the Sisters in my house, including myself, have been a little low on "wisdom" recently because the pages hadn't been turned since June 29th! So, I decided I better get the pages up to date and in doing so read each entry for the days we missed. I felt so wise when I went to bed last night :) Seriously though, I did like what Ms. Williamson wrote for July 4 ~ Independence Day... and since I wanted to write on the 4th, I share her quote with you now:

"Our freedom is not guaranteed by the Constitution; the only thing that guarantees freedom, ultimately, is our own commitment to it. That commitment must include our capacity to love each other as human beings, to remember we are brothers and sisters on this planet, and to surrender to God any thoughts we have to the contrary."

That sounds pretty Franciscan to me! It's all about relationship ... depending on our extravagant God who loves us deeply, reaching out in love to all our brothers and sisters, and striving daily to make our world a more beautiful, just and peaceful place!
May you be blessed in this next week. I am heading off for my annual week of retreat next week (July14-22) and am so looking forward to having more time for personal prayer and realigning my heart and spirit...

...No Moose, But Lots of Faith Energy...

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ Dr. Seuss

Last week I was graced with the opportunity to travel north to Anchorage, Alaska to be a part of ACYC 2010 - the Alaska Catholic Youth Conference! ... and what a great week it was! Catholic youth from all three Diocese of Alaska gathered together for four and a half days under the theme Who? What? Where? Why Catholic?? Thought provoking theme for all of us to ponder ...The enthusiasm and interest of these young people for their Catholic Faith and spiritual life was awesome to be a part of and inspiring for me!
On the front cover of the conference booklet that each participant received were the words: "...we have come to be strengthened in the Christian way of life and to become more determined to devote ourselves to the works of charity..." The teenagers listened, prayed, sang their hearts out, played, gave service and met new friends! I helped to give two workshops with my friend Sr. Bea LaFramboise, a Providence Sister and vocation minister from Seattle. The first workshop was on Prayer. The dozen or so who came were very sincere and the interest in their prayer life was beautiful! We had another good crowd of over 20 that attended the second workshop called Where Am I Going with my Life and How will I get There? in which we tried to introduce the teens to some tools for discernment.
One afternoon every participant was involved in some kind of service out in the community around Anchorage from grounds keeping at local religious sites, to soup kitchens, to the Food Bank of Alaska, to the weeding of invasive plants on BLM land to singing for the elderly... No job was too big or too small ...we were ALL out there making a difference, putting our faith into action, modeling the Catholic Social Teachings and trying to make our small corner of the world a better place ~ Dr. Seus AND St. Francis both have words to affirm our actions that day!
An added delight for me was the chance to connect with a Sister in my Franciscan Congregation, Sr. Kathy Radich, OSF who has ministered in St. Marys, Alaska for many years. Sr. Kathy was invited to be one of the main speakers and gave a wonderful talk on building and living Christian Community.
The whole week was great! I saw some beautiful scenery ... but no moose :(
I guess that just means I need to go back someday!

Today is the Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles ... need I say, there are some zealous, young apostles of Christ in Alaska ...be with them O, God!

...From Thomas of Celano on, The Life of Saint Francis:
"Yes, the noble building of charity rises upon the foundation of perseverance; and in it living stones, gathered from every part of the world, have been built into a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. What a great flame of charity burned in the new disciples of Christ! What great love of devout company flourished in them!" (1C 38)

A Time of Jubilee!

JUBILEE ...

The dictionary tells us that the word 'ju*bi*lee' means a season or occasion of celebration.
Well, the past several weeks I have been lucky enough to travel near and far, from Tacoma, WA to Spokane, WA and on to Aston, PA to celebrate the lives of many of my Franciscan Sisters as they have been celebrating 50 ... 70 ... and 75 years of dedication and faithfulness as Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia! What wonderful occasions to celebrate! ... what wonderful women to honor at Jubilee time!

In Tacoma three sisters celebrated their 50th Jubilee together. The picture here at the left is the three receiving a blessing, after they renewed their vows, from all those who were present for the Liturgical celebration. They were joined by other Jubilarians for the celebration ...

At evening prayers last night we had a reading from the Franciscan Rule of the Third Order Regular that really spoke to me of this Jubilee time of the year in my Community.
"Within themselves, let them always make a dwelling place and home for the one who is Lord God almighty, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, so that, with undivided hearts, they may increase in universal love by continually turning to God and to neighbor...(Jn 14:23) " TOR Rule 8

I am inspired by these Sisters who are so joyous and have a zest for life - they have truly taken the above rule of life to heart in their lives! Congratulations Jubilarians!

Remembering PEACE in our world over this Memorial Day

Peace and All Good!

I can hardly believe that it is the end of May already and that we are heading into the Memorial Day Holiday weekend!
Hopefully the sun will shine for part of the weekend because the past few days here in Portland the days have been quite wet and soggy ...

Anyway, when I think of the month of May, I do think of peace and to remember to pray for peace in our world. As we come to this Memorial Day we remember in a special way our veterans who have given their lives to help to make the world a more just and peaceful place. We also remember all those who have died.

The past day or so I keep thinking of some words of St. Francis connected to all of this, so I share them with you ...
from the Legend of the Three Companions:

"May the peace you announce with your lips be even more abundant in your hearts. Do not provoke anyone to anger or to scandal. May everyone be attracted by your lived example of meekness, peace, goodness and harmony. This is your vocation: to heal the wounds, to mend the broken, to call back the lost."
St. Francis sure has a way of challenging me in my life! I guess that is what conversion is all about ... a daily stiving to make a difference and live in peace ...
Have a great holiday weekend and be safe especially if you are traveling about! I'm heading to Spokane Washington for a quick trip to help one of my Franciscan Sisters to celebrate her Golden Jubilee - WOW 50 years of service and dedication to the Church and to the people of God. Congratualtions Sr. Elaine!
It should be a grand celebration! Hopefully I will have some pictures to share next time...
Peace and Blessings!

Water, water everywhere ... or so we think

This morning I heard someone comment, "We sure had a wet and rainy April - it is so good to see a nice day!" Well, I do agree that I am glad for a beautiful, dry, spring day here in the Northwest. However, the rains brought snow to the mountains and helped to keep our water table high. That is good for us! I have been profoundly aware of water troubles in other parts of our country lately though - our Gulf coast with the terrible oil spill going on there and also the horrible flooding in Tennessee! Both those situations need a lot of prayers right now!

Sometimes we do take safe, clean water for granted! Recently the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center (IPJC) in Seattle, of which my community helps to sponsor (along with several other religious congregations), held a video contest for high school students. The first place winner of the contest, Laura Jansen from Chicago Heights, IL produced an excellent video! Please take a few minutes to watch her video ~ it has a powerful message to share .....



Way to go, Laura! You have challenged us all to be creative and help with this issue of water - thank you!
When I was in Haiti several years ago I became VERY aware of the need for clean water. We stayed in a "safe" place while we were there, but we never drank any water out of the tap. We discovered through personal experience that even in the city water supply little worms were swimming around ~ extra protein I guess, but definitely not desirable for anyone....
How fortunate we are in the United States! Let us work together to help with this problem so that all people may have that basic right of water and with St. Francis sing: "Most high, all-powerful, all-good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honour and all blessing ....All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water, so useful, lowly, precious and pure." (from the Canticle of Brother Sun)

What’s in your (wallet) heart today?!?

Continued GREETINGS of the EASTER Season!
Do you still have an Easter Alleluia ringing in your heart? It is hard to believe that we are now in the fourth week of Easter... we are still in the Easter season though! Spring has really blossomed in the Portland area and it is wonderful to see all the signs of new life that abound .... signs of Resurrection indeed! In St. Francis' words ..."Most high, all-powerful, all-good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honour and all blessing..."
God gives us so many signs of love and presence .... This past Saturday I was given two opportunities to pause and reflect on God's presence in my life, and in the beautiful world around me/us. The first "pause" was during a prayer/faith sharing time at a Community meeting I was at. Then, later in the day, the opportunity arose at the Saturday evening vigil Mass that I attended when we took a few moments after the homily to share with the person next to us. It was good and is good to take time like that now and then ... to become aware of the divine presence within and without!

In trying to learn a little more of the capabilities of this blog spot so I can share some links and videos that I find, I am experimenting. I've added a video to this blog! My niece sent me some "how to" directions last week, and a young friend helped me today, so I have inserted a You Tube video I think you might enjoy.As we continue to celebrate the Easter Season remember "Jesus lives, Alleluia"!



I hoped you liked it!? Recently I came across a saying I wrote down a long time ago and so close this entry with the wise words of William Blake (1757-1827): "Everything that lives is holy, life delights in life."
Let us delight in each other and our holy world that our loving God has gifted us with...
If you still might like more spiritual type thoughts for your day, check out the blog from the Franciscan Spiritual Center-Milwaukie, OR
Until my next writing ....Peace and Blessings!

It's Easter ~ Alleluia!

Greetings for a HAPPY EASTER!
Jesus is Risen ... Alleluia!

Some of you might think that Easter was a couple of days ago, but as was mentioned at the Mass I attended this morning, the Church asks us to celebrate every day this week as Sunday ... as Easter Sunday! It is such a beautiful Feast! How good it is to keep celebrating - the Resurrection that brings new life to us!
As I prepared to write this Blog entry though, I was a bit discouraged ... I was looking for a "Easter type" quote to use and wasn't finding much of anything ...Easter is our greatest feast and yet it is almost dismissed or basically reserved for just a day. One saying that I did find that I like is from a man named Carl Knudsen ~ The story of Easter is the story of God's wonderful window of divine surprise. And what a wonderful surprise we have in Jesus - God with us ... the Risen Christ - the end of the story was not Good Friday!
... and again in Scripture "...But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb ... Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rab-bo'ni! (John 20) Mary recognized Jesus in his voice as he lovingly said her name .... May we also recognize Jesus' voice. Gerard M. Hopkins, SJ shared with us the words, "Let him easter in us ... be a dayspring to the dimness in us" Blessings to you during this beautiful Easter Season!...Peace and All Good ...

Continuing on in Patience ~ The Lenten Journey 2

The Eighth Station of the Cross:
Jesus meets /comforts the women of Jerusalem ...

I can hardly believe we are in the 5th week of Lent already! It seems that I am finally into the rhythm of this blessed season and now it is almost Holy Week. I can get down on myself sometimes when I acknowledge to myself that I haven't quite lived up to my expectations of how this Lenten season should have gone for myself ... sigh! Each day is a new start though in God's eyes and so I need to try to make today better than yesterday!

At Mass this morning the first reading was from the Book of Numbers (Numbers 21:4-9). The words that really struck me were, "...with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses ..."
I travel a lot and I can thoroughly identify with this attitude - journeys can make us weary! The journey of our faith life or spiritual life is not much different. I don't know about you, but I can get pretty impatient with myself and with God sometimes in my prayer, especially when I think nothing is happening, or don't feel like it is making a difference in my life or a situation.
I guess that is why I have included a picture of one of the station of the cross - a devotion by the way, that has Franciscan roots! Jesus' journey to Calvary was not easy (which is an understatement) and yet he continued on! He has patient trust in God and in what he needs to endure. In the midst of it all, Jesus stops to give comfort to the women -He was not thinking of himself ... He tells them instead to take care of others, especially their children. I think one can only have this posture if they are deeply rooted and centered in God.

St. Francis wrote in The Rule of the Third Order Regular (TOR Rule 8):
Within themselves, let them always make a dwelling place and home for the one who is Lord God almighty, Father, and Son and Holy Spirit, so that, with undivided hearts, they may increase in universal love by continually turning to God and to neighbor (Jn 14:23).
It is the faithfulness to the journey that is important, and always striving to allow God to be God in my life ... To look to Jesus and draw my strength ... and patience from Him ! Blessings to you in these last days of Lenten journeying!

Live Life ~ A Lenten Reflection

Live the Life You Love .... I say ...

Love the Life you Live and ... Live to the Fullest!

I know ... it has been a number of weeks since I last wrote. It seems I have been coming and going a lot lately and I will be traveling again in the morning to the east coast, but I thought I would share a couple of quick thoughts. A couple of weeks ago I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Live the Life You Love". I thought it was interesting, but I felt like something was missing in that saying. Yesterday when I was out for my walk, I saw the saying again ... Living the life you love is important, but in some ways it could turn selfish if we are not careful. So, I add "Love the Life You Live and Live it to the Fullest!"

Life brings a lot of ups and downs and sometimes things are not always the way we like it, but our attitude can make a lot of difference. This season of Lent is a good time to step back and to examine the life we live.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM - a popular speaker and author once said "God loves life! Why else would 90% of all life live at the depths of the oceans where no person has ever seen it! - God loves life!" I might not have the quote exactly correct (it was a long time ago when I heard that talk on tape), but I do believe Fr. Rohr has a point! Think of all the variety and diversity of living things - it is amazing!

So perhaps these are good days to step back and reflect on that gift of life and how you (we) can live the life we have to the fullest! The other day as I was going through things in my room, I found a very little book (a pocket book) called "The Wisdom of the Desert" with writings from Thomas Merton. I thought, hmmm, a good little book to keep close during Lent ... Opening to somewhere in the middle I read, "Abbot Pastor said: If you have a chest full of clothing, and leave it for a long time, the clothing will rot inside it. It is the same with the thoughts in our heart. If we do not carry them out by physical action, after a long while they will spoil and turn bad." I think that could mean positive and negative thoughts .... Something to ponder during these Lenten days.