Advent Reflections – Tuesday, December 6 Fran Rossi Szpylczyn

From today’s first reading, which is what we heard on Sunday…

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God. Isaiah 40:1

Molly is having her surgery today. If you read yesterday’s post, you know about her; if not, go have a look now. Or you can go straight to Molly’s Caring Bridge page to learn more.

Nora, Molly’s mother, shared a story with me the other day and gave me her permission to write about it. This is a story about hope and light and waiting – all elements of Advent.

On Saturday Molly and Nora were at the 4pm mass for the Second Sunday of Advent. Molly was in a fine fleece hoody, so bright and colorful. After mass, Fr. Pat anointed Molly with the Sacrament of the Sick. Just thinking about the beauty of anointing, I once more think of the opening line of the Isaiah reading and giving comfort to God’s people.

Apparently after being anointed, Molly felt like she had been bestowed with super powers! And indeed she had been; the hand of the Lord had been upon her in a new way.  Prayer and sacrament are not magic – so let us be very clear about that. No, her anointing, in church, with her mom and others around her is a visible sign of Christ in our community. The power of prayer and love is amazing.

And it is not lost on me that today’s psalm response is, “The Lord our God comes with power.” Something that delighted me about this story is the “super power” of Molly’s imagination and her childlike faith; how she, as a 6 year old, understands what happened through a connection with God. Not only did she feel like she now had “super powers,” not a bad thing for a 6 year old who is facing surgery to experience, but she liked that Fr. Pat had used his “salad dressing oil.”

Now some might shake their head and find that irreverent, but I don’t think so. Molly is 6 and to her, oil has a particular meaning… Salad! That is our catholicity and our sacramental life – to find God present in signs and symbols of our daily lives.  And for Molly, the Oil of the Sick, was like salad dressing oil. God is with and among us everywhere.

Today Molly will have brain surgery. I am praying for her and I know that you are too. At 6, what can she understand about this? I am just thinking that the whole thing must be kind of scary at some level. And what about Nora, her mom? Her grandparents Ann and Ron? As well as other family members… I’m sure that this is scary for them. I can’t imagine what any of them feel like.

Yet they have hope, even if it is just a speck of light. And they can have comfort, from God, in the form of our prayers and good wishes.

In closing, I look at the today’s Gospel from Matthew – its very last line at that… ” it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

Amen and amen and amen.

Today is about hope and about light and about waiting – in our Scriptures, in our lives and in a most particular way, for Molly and her family. Please pray for Molly and her family today. If you are willing, leave a comment and I will make sure that her family sees whatever you send in prayer!

Molly and Nora enjoying a picnic on a summer day.

Advent Reflections – Monday, December 5, 2011 Fran Rossi Szpylczyn

The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.

This is from today’s first reading. It made me think of little Molly. A link to her Caring Bridge page is here. Please keep Molly, her family and medical personnel in your prayers.

I send this thought out to her mom in particular, also from Isaiah today.  That’s little Molly up there – I put this photo on the blog with the permission of her mother, Nora.  Every prayer for her is gratefully appreciated!

Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!

The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary – 50 Reasons to Pray the Rosary

Do you pray the Rosary? Whether you do or not, here are 50 reasons to do so!

The Call to Prophecy

Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
You will free me from the snare they set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
Psalm 31

The life of a Biblical prophet was never an easy one. Called to speak truth to power, they met with all kinds of resistance, from ridicule to murder, and their messages were hardly ever heeded. So why did they persist? It can be hard to imagine.

And yet there are prophets among us today too, speaking truth to power, seeking to turn God’s wrath away from the people, seeking to get us back on the path to peace. Those who reveal corruption in business dealings, those who blow the whistle on the practice of torture, those who speak for persecuted immigrants – all of these are prophets too. And they, too, meet with scorn, ridicule, and sometimes murder, as did Sister Dorothy Stang, who spoke out against the oppression of the indigenous people of Brazil.

So why do they persist? It can be hard to imagine, especially when there are so many alternatives, so many great distractions to occupy us. Just do your job, keep your head down, don’t attract attention. Just don’t worry about it. Go watch TV instead.

And how often do we choose that easier path? How often do we use those distractions to drown out the cries of the people of God? How can we ever repent of our inattention to that call?

I think the answer lies in trusting God enough to know that we are free to act without concern for our own self-preservation. Our preservation is assured, and has been since the first Easter. Our God is kind. We will not be lost. We are redeemed. And that redemption is what frees us from worry about how we will be perceived or treated if we speak out against the things that are not right.

There are many things that are not right. Hold them in your prayer, and God will lead you to right action. Of that I have no doubt.

Baya Clare, CSJ

Ascension to Pentecost Novena – Day 8

These days have dragged Lord, how slow they go.

Did you really leave us? Yes you did and yet – not really.

I know that the Spirit will come – to enlighten, to console and to bring wisdom and understanding.

How can we have courage? How can we know one another? How can we walk in community? How can we pray in one voice?

Come Holy Spirit, Come!

Veni Sancte Spiri

Ascension to Pentecost Novena – Day 5

For what shall we pray on this fifth day?

Lord, we pray for the shelter of the upper room and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to lead us out of that room. As we make our way these days, we know you have left, we know that the Advocate is coming, but when? How?

These are the trapeze days as we let go of one thing and cast ourselves in pure faith as we await the other trapeze. There is no proof that our reach will encounter a new bar to grab, yet we fly through the air, arms extended and heart beating madly.

So accompany us O God of mystery and light.

We await your spirit.

You ascended the other day and we were dumbstruck by this. You would think that with all we have seen and come to know to know through you Jesus, that this would not be the case. How will we ever be transformed?

That is what Pentecost gives us the hope of, as does every other day… The hope of transformation. And that then we go and transform in Your name.

Come Holy Spirit.

Veni Sanctus Spiritus.

Praying by Mary Oliver

Praying

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

Mary Oliver

Distraction as a Spiritual Gift

Praying Our Distractions
by Martin Smith

You can’t say about praying: “Practice makes perfect; gradually you will get to be really good, so be patient with the messiness of your beginner’s results. In time you will be proud of what you achieve.” Instead, the advice might go something like this: “Honey, prayer is God’s way of getting you to meet the cast of characters you call your distractions. God knows we spend a lot of time disowning them and pretending we don’t know them. They are family. Prayer will always be messy, because they are. Those ‘distractions’ are our mess. They’re the mess we are in. So prayer is our rendezvous with them and God is present to introduce us. Maybe what you call your distractions are really the main event.”

God has such an interesting way of making everything pure gift… even when we view it otherwise. God’s persistence in reminding us of God’s presence, in everything is so beautiful and never far from sight.

But often far from my “practice.”

Practice makes perfect is such a beautifully human and beautifully broken way to approach our faith. I can remember as a child – wanting to sit perfectly still in the pew, to be focused on God, to remember all the words of my prayers… It was so hard, I rarely could do it and I often felt like I had let God down.

As an adult I struggle with many distractions. Maybe these words can help me see my short attention span issues as a gift and not a burden. It is surrender that is perfection… meeting distractions with the same love that God meets me with.

What a truly daunting thought that is! No wonder I prefer my distractions – they give so little, they demand so little.

Deep sigh.

Trinity Sunday – The Three Hermits by Leo Tolstoy

I am away this weekend, but I have a moment and I wanted to republish this post from August of 2007. We have added many new readers since then, so this may be new to you.

It is a great reminder that we live in a day to day world of practical measures that often demands doing and saying more and more and more just to keep going… but that at the heart of the Trinity is a purity and a simplicity that is startling in its clarity.

Peace and Blessings to all.
*************************************************************************************

The Three Hermits is a short story by Leo Tolstoy, based upon on old Russian legend. It is a lovely allegory about prayer and simplicity.

The story basically says this- a bishop was traveling on a boat. When on this boat, he hears about some hermits. These hermits live on an island that the ship was passing. A fisherman told the bishop about being stranded overnight on that island and encountering these three holy hermits.

The bishop is compelled to go see this trio and convinces the captain of this ship to send him ashore in a rowboat. Off he goes to see these old men who are apparently living lives of simplicity and prayer.

Upon arrival he informs them that he wants to see what he can do to teach them something about the Lord. After all it would appear that he is so well schooled and learned as the bishop and they are but three simple ones on an island. The men say little. Undeterred, the bishop forges ahead and asks them to spell out just how they are saving their souls and serving God.

He quickly learns that they have but one prayer… “Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us”. While happy to hear that they know the Trinity, the bishop now goes into an explanation of how to pray the right way. To this end, he attempts to get them to memorize the Lord’s Prayer.

All day long he would say the words, the men would try and try to memorize and repeat them and each time the three holy, old men would just fumble their way through. Finally though they got it and the bishop was satisfied.

At this point the bishop takes his leave and as he rows back to the main ship he hears them praying the Lord’s Prayer in unison. He is so pleased that he could share his great knowledge with these simple servants. Unable to sleep he is standing on deck in the silent night. He feels so good about how he could teach these men this prayer and he thanks God for the chance to have enlightened the island dwellers.

Suddenly he notices something white and shining traveling towards the boat. It was moving at such rapid speed he could not fathom what it might be! Needless to say he was alarmed and turned to the helmsman to see if he knew what was happening. The helmsman just about loses controls of the ship.

And in the great white light he could suddenly make out the three hermits running across the surface of the water! The helmsman nearly faints and the bishop is shaken to the core.

As the hermits neared the ship the holy old ones said in a single voice “We have forgotten your teaching, servant of God”.

The bishop- realizing with gravity what has happened, simply tells them that their own original prayer will truly reach the Lord. Understanding that he – the great bishop – could not teach these men, he simply asked them to pray for “us sinners”.

Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.

This story so beautifully illustrates that sometimes the learned have much to learn from the simple. Which pretty much sounds like something Jesus tried to tell us in many ways.

If you would like to read the story please click,here.

Saturday Musings and Prayers

What a nice day it is today… Warm, but not too hot. Breezy. Sunny. It’s good and I am thankful.

That said, I am at odds and ends today. I, for one, will be glad to get to mass later today – I really feel like I need it. One of the reasons I love going to church (yes I do tend to feel that way) is because the idea of community is so important to me. That is also why I had asked Father Butler about starting this blog – community done another way.

It is so hard to admit this, but I must. I guess it is my “confession”. Right now I feel a bit sad and frustrated, but I know that is just part of the cycle. Knowing that does little to comfort me. There have been so many technical issues with this blog that I don’t know what to do. Despite my being here, I am no real techie… I am just a voice that wants to mingle with other voices. The technical issues dog me and I can’t quite ever get to the bottom of it. Recently I thought I had solved most of them, but I can tell that I have not. As a result, the “look” of the blog changes; even if I don’t want it to.

Warning- whiny and possibly self indulgent words ahead. Included with said words are a plea for the peace of God in my heart. And in yours as well, whoever you may be.

It is a message, a lesson that I can learn from… Don’t give up. Have faith. Live in hope. Isn’t that the point of our religion anyway? Another reason why I am here- faith and hope.

The other day I planted about 50 bulbs. Bulbs are a real symbol of following Jesus. They go down into the dark hole… ok, for the whole fall and winter, but that’s not the point. You plant, you go away and despite the cold, dark winter, spring comes and all these bright flowers appear. Bulbs are important to me for the same reason faith is.

Another thing on my mind is that the readership (hello- are you out there?) of this blog started slow, but that was ok. Then it started to build. It grew from about 5 readers a day to about 25 in recent weeks. Then the tech issues started… did we lose folks there? I don’t know. All I know is we are back down to around 5 a day.

Also I had really hoped to have some “conversation” here. I have done other blogging and it has been so easy to have online community in other areas – not physical areas, topical areas. There are so few comments and almost all of them anonymous. I respect your privacy but I wish to know you is all I can say. I always invite you in, whoever you are.

That’s when its time for me to remember that I am here to seek and build community and that sometimes comes slowly. I am not always patient. And it comes on God’s terms, not my own. I am not always so good at that part. Patience and a willing heart, are my prayer today and every day.

Another worry would be that what I am writing about just doesn’t spark. I started out doing more about the saints – but in the poll that was up, people reflected more interest in spirituality. So having done that, somehow there are less people.

While not a professional, I do a lot of writing. I don’t think I am the greatest, but I do think this is one of my gifts. As a gift- from God, I do it to glorify God. Father Butler and I spoke of that before as well. If 1 person reads this or if 100 do, it is for the glory of God. Most of the time I am totally good with that. Just not today. Since I am human and sadly more vain than I care to admit, I have that worry that I am missing the mark. Lord, heal my brokenness, please. Let me do your will in your ways.

If you listen to either Father Butler or Father Lanese (or countless others but I will note them as they are here) really they say the same thing over and over, just in different ways. Those things are hard to understand. Forgive. Love. Be loved. Be forgiven. Give. Receive. Give some more. Love some more. Forgive some more. Lather, rinse, repeat. It is like that.

Do they get frustrated I wonder? Maybe they do- I will have to ask them. Father Butler in particular preaches about forgiveness all the time at daily mass. And while we all shake our heads “yes” that we understand, even when I want to believe I do understand and live that forgiveness… I am not sure I do.

In a week I am going on a trip- my honeymoon actually. My husband and I got married at St Edwards on April 28 but we are just taking the trip now. We are going to Barcelona, Spain. When I return I am going to put out a call to more writers to contribute to this blog. That is another community builder for me.

So here I have rambled on in what is probably a most self serving way; but I have rambled on the whole time with a prayer in my heart. And mostly that prayer is to learn to surrender to do and be what God intends… Now there’s something for me to spend the rest of my days on!