A prayer request: the Mission Trip of our parish

Our oldest daughter will be going on the mission trip for the first time this summer. She is so excited and so are we. They will be serving the community in Pittsburg, PA for a week. This is one of the largest parish mission trips in our nation with 140 students and adults strong. Their patron saint is St. Theresa of Calcutta, who tells us all to "give God permission" to work through us. This is what is on the mission trip t-shirts all the mission trip attendees received yesterday at the commissioning Mass.

Please say a prayer for them as they make preparations and travel this Saturday to PA to work/pray/and play together as a parish family. They will be keeping a blog for us to keep up with them and all their activities.

Many thanks!

Book Review: Magnificat, May 2009

Magnificat, Vol. 11, No. 3. May 2009

Another The Catholic Company book Review has been a true pleasure and learning experience…as usual! As an official reviewer for them, I got excited when the call came out for takers of several copies of the May issue of the Magnificat, so I clicked YES without even thinking twice.

This issue, while being true to the Marian month, also honored the people of China. With May 24^th being the annual Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Magnificat delivered a wonderful issue about the saints from this region in the “Saints of today and yesterday.” There are so many saints now thanks for Pope John Paul II (The great) that it was refreshing to learn about saints that aren’t so common like Saint Aemilianus, Bishop (6^th century) who was said to have lived to be 100. Blessed John of Saint Dominic Martinez, priest, Religious and Martyr (1619) who was brave enough to enter Japan with another priest and was imprisoned, dying there under harsh treatment and deprivations. Saint Augustine Yi Kwang-Hon, martyr (1786-1839), a native Korean, he was married with a son, but still refused to renounce his faith unto death. Saint Peter Van Van Doan, Martyr (1780-1857) from Vietnam, served as a lay catechist, he lived to be about 77 during several waves of anti-Catholic repression and was finally beheaded on May 25, 1857.

Meditation of the Day is another feature that I looked forward to each morning. One in particular brought me to tears:

An S.A.S. Soldier’s Prayer

I bring this prayer to You, Lord,

For you alone can give

What one cannot demand from oneself.

Give me, Lord, what You have left over,

Give me what no one ever asks You for.

I don’t ask You for rest,

Or quiet,

Whether of soul or body;

I don’t ask You for wealth

Nor for success, nor even health perhaps.

That sort of thing You get asked for so much

That You can’t have any of it left.

Give me, Lord, what you have left over,

Give me what no one wants from You.

I want insecurity, strife,

And I want You to give me these

Once and for all.

So that I can be sure of having them always,

Since I shall not always have the courage

To ask You for them.

Give me, Lord, what You have left over.

Give me what others want nothing to do with.

But give me courage too,

And strength and faith;

For You alone can give

What one cannot demand from oneself.

Lieutenant Andre Zirnheld (+1941)

Who served in WWII with the British S.A.S. He was killed in action in Libya, this prayer was found on his body when they found him.

Anyway, along with these regular features is the format that closely relates to the Liturgy of the Hours with canticles, Hymns, and antiphons for each day. Morning prayers and evening prayers, daily Mass readings, and the canticles of Mary and Zechariah are conveniently located on the back cover along with the Canticle of Simeon and the Te Deum. If only the actual Liturgy of the Hours could be written so easily!

All in all, this is a true blessing to your daily prayer routine, in deed! I still leaf through this issue for prayers, meditations, and saint information. You can obtain your copy or subscription through The Catholic Company after reading this glowing review.

The liturgy of the Hours

Excited to finally purchase my very own Liturgy of the Hours prayer book and guide thanks to our parish pastor's generous invitation for bulk buying for a cheaper price. I picked up my prize the other day and dove into it wholeheartily....to my dismay it is as it was years ago when I wondered how folks can pray this complicated prayer.....confusing.

++++Political informercial - Urgent!+++++

This That and the Other Thing: Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

This That and the Other Thing: Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Reading today in my June Issue of 'The Word Among Us,' I am reminded how Mary took everything quietly into her heart. Trusting that young Jesus followed them on the caravan and finding out that he didn't, caused them confusion and panic. The change in her 12 year old son had begun, part of the different phases a young boy/man goes through as he tries to figure out his true mission and destiny in life. He knew something was up at aged 12, but maybe he didn't know what it was. Mary, possibly had forgotten His purpose too, in all the days and years of being a mother to this young God/man. From the Annunciation, to the Magnificat, to the Presentation of our Lord to this moment, lots of mothering days and moments occurred. She bonded with Him as a mother should, loved him and cared for him, so much so that even these enormous moments in her history with this young lad could be buried deep in another realm not part of the real mechanics of daily life.

Fast film forward and we stand in the midst of modern day parenthood. I know these Biblical stories, I know that Our Lady is praying for me as a modern day mother of 3. She knows the struggles, bonding, love, and care that I put into being who I need to be for these 3 people. But what struck me today is that I don't take these things quietly into my heart as she did. I lecture, scream, panic, cry, mourn, and regret the ineviable, trying to change, reverse, and preserve the yesteryears of my children. Taking these changes quietly into my heart. No, I seem to continue to fight these invaders. Keep them at bay so that I and my knight can continue to enjoy the simpler days of parenthood. But now I see that I am selfish! These young people don't want to remain perpetually young and childish, they want to fly, flourish, and grow independent and free. They see what their parents have and want them too. Drive cars, have their own money (we have money!), they want their own homes, clothes, jobs and the freedom to make choices as adults do.

So, I must not fight these changes, but welcome them as doorways into a new realm of relationships. From being a 'mommy' to being 'momma', to recently being just plain 'mom'...they still call me when they need me. My job isn't going anywhere, just changing. My place in their lives is still important to them. With this, I am learning too.

Dear Mother Mary, Please keep praying for me.....I think they might finally be working. Amen

To Coexist

This is not exactly a very popular bumper sticker in my area, but I have seen it and know about it. There are many interpretations of the sign itself, but the message is that all should get along despite our differences.

Now I like that idea and it is a goal to really shoot for, but there is an element that is missing in this concept that I am not so sure everyone who displays this message realizes. It's the clear understanding of each other IN their differences without spite.

Is this possible? Can we take the time to understand why one person worships Abba, another Jesus Christ, another God only, and yet others who either do not believe in a higher being (creator) and those who do, but worship the "almighty dollar" and all that it brings to them? Can we really take the time to learn these positions and even their etiologies?

It takes quite a bit of time and resources to accomplish such an understanding. Talking, reading, visiting places of worship, being a part of the process of understanding wholeheartedly. No one has this kind of time! Is it possible to tolerate /coexist with something that is wrong? In our society now, there are no wrong answers, way of living, so does coexist mean "leave me alone on my own individual existence"? If so, I guess what this bumper sticker is really saying is, just keep your mouth shut, I'm living the way I want to live despite you, so be nice!

I don't know, just a thought.