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.

The Language of Love

Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes! We also celebrate World Day of the Sick ... and in a couple of days Valentine's Day. It has been awhile since I last wrote and today is a good day to write for several reasons. As we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, I recall my own wonderful pilgrimage to the Shrine in Lourdes, France in the 80's with my Mom and my younger sister - it was a very special trip with many beautiful memories! Since today is also World Day of the Sick, I also want to remember and continue to pray for all the people in Haiti who are still suffering so from the earthquake. Many people in Haiti and other parts of our world need our loving God's healing care right now in their lives! May Our Lady of Lourdes intercede on their behalf. This morning I was looking though a booklet that I bought when I was at Lourdes. A line that I read as I glanced though the pages stuck out to me ...in the context of the place, the faith, the welcome to all people, the respect in silence and the kindness that is so present there I read,"This language of love is used habitually between pilgrims from all over the world. It is a language spoken without words."

Last night on CNN, Anderson Cooper was reporting from Port-Au-Prince and was telling of all the individuals who are still working so tirelessly to help the people, care for the orphans and some who are working none stop to help recover bodies under the rubble so that they may be buried with dignity - the "language of love"! (see stories @ http://www.hospicesaintjoseph.org/blog/wordpress/- this is where I stayed during my two trips to Haiti, http://crs.org/haiti/stories/ and http://www.haitichildren.com/ ) Today in the Gospel reading at Mass I heard the story of the Wedding Feast of Cana (John 2:1-11) ~ Mary asking Jesus to change the water into wine - the "language of love" with her concern for the wedding party. So whether it is in Haiti, or at a wedding feast, in your neighborhood to a lost stranger, listening to an upset loved one, or a kindness to a homeless person, it is the language of love that will make the greatest difference in our world!

I want and need to pay tribute as well to the one who taught me the language of love in my life ~ my wonderful mother, Ruth, whom my family and I buried this past week. Mom died on January 26th and even at the grand age of 96 my Mom was still a person who reached out to others - always wanting to offer a visitor coffee, candy, or a cookie even when she really couldn't get up to serve it any more, who paid attention to the stories and activities of others, who loved unconditionally and had a deep faith in God. With eight children, my Mom always seemed to make things work for us kids and made many sacrifices to give us a good home and education. Mom was a nurse by training and was always watching out for the health needs of those around her, offering a compassionate hand of healing whenever it was needed! We celebrated her life on Friday, Feb.5th. There is so much I could say ... but mostly I am grateful for the gift of her in my life, and for the example of the good and loving person/mother that she was to me and so many others! Mom, you were my first Valentine and you always will be in my heart! Deo Gratias!

Holding Haiti In Prayer

We ourselves feel that what we are doing
is just a drop in the ocean.
But the ocean would be less because of
that missing drop.
~ Mother Teresa

The above picture is of a sunset looking out towards the ocean over the city of Port-Au-Prince, the capitol city of Haiti that has just been devastated by the 7.0 earthquake. I have been very distracted the past day by this horrible event and feel such great sorrow and concern for all the people there. Haiti holds a special place in my heart ... I have been there twice on "eye glass mission trips" with some of my Franciscan Sisters.
At times like this is when I really feel a "poverty of spirit" ~ seeing so much destruction and such pain and not really being able to do anything about it- physically! A multitude of prayers sigh from my heart during this time and I guess right now, that is my "drop in the ocean" ... that is what I can offer ...and to share briefly a glimpse of the country that I know.

The Haitian people are beautiful people! These pictures were taken on one of my trips, either in 1999 or 2000. The little boy above on the left is/was an orphan finding shelter at Lafanmi Selavi. He had nothing, but had made himself a little toy car out of a plastic bottle, sticks and cans. May the spirit of this boy give hope to all of those whose lives have been so disrupted and to a country that has so little to begin with! Please join me in prayer that our loving God is especially present to all those in Haiti right now and that the people find hope despite the adversity! W. Paul Jones once said: "Hope is the simple trust that God has not forgotten the recipe for manna."

January of New Beginnings & Insights

Greetings for a Happy New Year ~ 2010! Let me begin with
"A Prayer for the New Year" ...

The old year is gone with its joys and its sorrows;

Before us are stretching the New Year's tomorrows.
Forgive what was thoughtless and wrong in the past,
And grant to our virtues the power to last;

That we may go forward with gladness, not fear,

To a joyful and worthy and blessed New Year.

Last week, as I was trying to be good at the beginning of the new year with a vigorous morning walk, I discovered I had locked myself out of my house! So, the dilemma - what do I do now?!? Thank goodness for community and a dry, somewhat warmer garage to go into! As I waited an hour and a half for one of the other Sisters to come home, I opened a box of "stuff" stored in the garage that I had been meaning to go through from my Mom's house. The above prayer was one thing I found in the box along with many old pictures of my growing up years, including baby pictures that had seemed lost.

...Oh happy fault to have the chance to find these "treasures" and to spend some nostalgic time reviewing my life. God does work in strange and mysterious ways sometimes! As I begin a new year, it was gift to be able look back over my life (I even found school papers from my grade school years), to affirm who I am, where I have come from and to ponder in a new way my hopes and dreams!

I'm not one for making big New Year's Resolutions, but there are a few things I need to work on. Yesterday, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, one of the readings from our evening prayer was from the writings of St. Bonaventure taken from "The Soul's Journey into God". His words are a good reminder to me as I strive to journey into this new year. I pass Bonaventure's words on to you ....

"We cannot rise above ourselves unless a higher power lift us up. No matter how much our interior progress is ordered, nothing will come of it unless accompanied by divine aid. Divine aid is available to those who seek it from their hearts, humbly and devoutly; and this means to sigh for it through fervent prayer ..."

Christmas ~ X Marks the Spot ...

CHRISTMAS ... An every day celebration of the Heart!

Some of you might think I am a little late for Christmas with this post ... and you might be right if you are thinking of Christmas day. However, I am a firm believer in the 12 days of Christmas. We are at the last day of December ... and at the 6th or 7th day of Christmas. How good it is to continue to celebrate!

Many years ago on a bus ride home for Christmas when I was in college, I saw a painted sign in a store front window that read. "X marks the spot where Christ is taken out of Christmas! " I have never forgotten that ...

We must not let that happen ... Let us celebrate Jesus, Emmanual, God-with-Us ... a baby born in a humble stable and the God who came to share humanity with us.

May the blessings of Christmas fill your heart with the gifts of peace and love! ... and may we in turn bless others as we journey into a new year!

The Hope of Advent Waiting

HOPE comes in little ways,
it only takes one shining star, one faithful friend, one wisp of inspiration,
one touch of creation's beauty, one deep sip of love,
to keep the illumination alive in us.
~ Sr. Joyce Rupp

So many times over the past few days the theme of HOPE has jumped out at me! I stumbled upon Sr. Joyce Rupp's wonderful quote a week or so ago and just loved it ... Then hope came to me during my Saturday morning walk through "one touch of creation's beauty" as shown in the picture above of the frost covered holly branch. Over the past few days I keep bumping into the word ... on a car bumper sticker, during the homily at Mass yesterday, in the lines of the psalm that I prayed during morning prayer, in several reflection prayer books I have and even on an ad on my e-mail page .... Hope is the word of the week for me! I do believe that this is what Advent and the beautiful season of Christmas is all about!

As I went for my walk this past Saturday morning it was very cold, a bit of fog was hanging and everything was frosted over ~ it was really quite beautiful. At first I couldn't get that Christmas song "... frosted window panes ..." out of my my head. However, as the sun started to peak through, the frost on the trees and bushes started to melt. My Christmas carol turned into a mediation....

Here we are in a very dark time of the year. For me, certain things in life have been on the bleak side. Three significant people in my life died within 6 weeks of each other a few months ago, and a short time later a friendly neighbor died. I've also been dealing with some health issues and the concern of an ailing Mom. All those things can start to drag a person down ~ or at least stress me out a bit. Seeing the beauty of the frosted holly branch touched me with refreshment and I felt a sense of hope. As the sunshine began to hit each branch, the frost disappeared and water droplets were left glimmering in the sun. That is what the light of Jesus, our Sonshine, does to our sometimes cold and frosty hearts. God's love can melt away so much if we can just bask in the warmth for awhile. Advent gives us that time ... time to be still, to ponder the mystery of the Incarnation and the wonderful gift of Jesus to us ~ Emmanuel ~ one with us! Let us light that third candle of Advent with joyful expectation and hope!

As Sr. Joan Chittister says so well, "Hope sends us dancing around the dark corners trusting in a common tomorrow we cannot see."
What brings you HOPE? How and when does hope find a way into your heart and mind? ... Please share ....
May the God of hope fill you with all joy, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ~ Romans 15:13

...Advent Advantages...

O Radiant Dawn,
Splendor of Eternal Light,

Sun of Justice:

Come, shine on those who dwell in darkness ...

It is that beautiful season of Advent already! Although this season came all too quickly for me, I am happy for this time of the year. Yesterday I spent a little time in my office trading out items from the Fall and Thanksgiving seasons and putting out reminders of Advent for myself. The lovely card in the picture above is one of those items. It is a piece of artwork done by Sr. Mary Southard, CSJ entitled "Madona of the World", and the quote next to the picture are the words that grace the card. This Advent Season gives us a time of preparation for Christmas, not in the consumer sense, but in the spiritual sense!

Advent is a time to prepare our hearts and minds for Christmas .... and that is the advantage of these four weeks in our Church! Hopefully we all can STOP briefly each day, take a little time, pull ourselves aside from all the busy shopping and decorating of the season, and ponder the gift of Jesus that was born as one of us!

Perhaps these words from St. Francis of Assisi will give you something to think about as we begin this Advent time ... Francis used to tell his brothers: "As you announce peace with your mouth, may you keep it in your heart, thus no one will be provoked to anger or scandal, but rather to kindness and gentleness. For we have been called to this: to cure the wounded, to bind up the broken, and to recall the erring."

As our Gospel reading this weekend says, "Prepare the way of the Lord." Wishing you many blessings as we journey through this Advent Season!
Oh, I almost forgot ...The United States Catholic Bishops have a great site with an advent calendar. Check it out at www.usccb.org/advent/. There is a door for everyday of Advent that opens up when you click on it and gives some Advent thoughts. Does anyone else have a good Advent preparation tip to share?