Musings

Today is Feb. 29th-no quote for this day so I am left with musings of my own.

This morning at prayer we used the song "Change Our Hearts". It is sticking with me.

I wonder what I need to change in my heart. Where is the stickiness, the part I don't want to let go ? I wonder what is in the shadows, around the corners, that I don't want to let see the light of day. I wonder what needs to be changed in my heart to be more like Christ.

Our psalm at morning prayer was Ps. 51 which acknowledges us as sinners from our birth and yet God is there for us. I wonder what sins lie hidden in my heart that I need to cleanse and free.

Maybe today, this midpoint of Lent is a good time for you to take a deep look at your heart and see where there needs to be some change. "Change our hearts this time, your words can make us free...

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Live in Jesus Christ

A quote from Catherine McAuley:

Unless we live in Jesus Christ, by holy recollection
we can never draw souls to His love and service.

Yesterday I was at one of our Mercy High Schools doing vocation talks with one of our Sisters. One of the things that I said that drew me to religious life was my God quest. Searching for the ever illusive God. Another thing was that I loved to teach, especially teaching religion class to the younger childen.

For me this quote is so appropriate. I can never be able to draw others to Christ if I, myself, do not live in Jesus. My personality might bring people to listen politely about Christ, my education might bring people to have knowledge of Jesus, my positiion and experience might bring people to be reminded of Jesus, but without the spiritual dimension of my living in Christ I cannot model who Jesus is in the world so that people can experience Jesus here and now.

I cannot experience Jesus unless I take time to be with him, to pray to him, to experience him in my world, in other words, to have recollection or reflection on who he is for me and how he is for me and where he is in me.

Today, if Jesus came walking up to you, would he greet you as a dear friend, an acquaintance or as a stranger who has yet to know him?

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Conformity to God's Will

A quote from Catherine:

Our conformity to God's will should not be such as says,
"I am content to suffer this affliction or annoyance,"
and, at the same time show by our countenance a want of disposition.

I was wondering what to say abou this quote and it reminded me of a murder mystery I just finished reading by Mary Higgans Clark. In this book a woman was accused of murdering her husband. With overwhelming evidence against her she pled no contest which was basically saying there was enough evidence to convict her. After some prison time she was left out on parole. Once out, she started to say that she did not do it. It's like this quote ( use a long stretch of your imagination...). We take on something and then by our demeanor and words actually do the opposite.

During this Lent perhaps we are fasting. We do it for our own good and for the Lord, yet we complain of being hungry are keep telling people that, no, we cannot have this or that. Somehow we miss the point.

Often though there are enough crosses in our lives that we don't have to put on anything. A willingness to walk the road, means that despite the pain, the tension, the stress and the hurt we do it willingly for the Lord and that is what this is about. We don't complain. We put on a cheerful face even when we don't want to and we accept where we are.

So today, how are you conforming ot God's will? Are you doing it cheerfully or with many groans and complaints? Let us be cheerful in our giving to the Lord.

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Becoming Perfect

A quote from Catherine:

No one becomes perfect at once; but as from little faults we fall into great,
so by the practice of lesser virtues we ascend to the heroic.



Today's gospel is about the unmerciful servant, the one whom the king relented his debt, but then he went out and throttled someone who owed him little. As great was his debt, one would think that his forgiveness of another would be great as well. Unfortunately that is not the way human nature works. We need time to reflect and assimilate what happens to us before we can also follow in those footsteps. That is why we need to practice virtues, even isolate them and concentrate on them one at a time in order to become good at them.

Some virtues take a long time to assimilate. For instance for me, it is patience. I have great patience for little children and very little for adults. I think I have two value systems in place. If only I could see all people as God's children, I think I could get a better handle on this.

Another is forgiveness. For some reason it is easier to forgive some people than others. I wonder why that is? How is it for you?

Catherine says that we need to practice the lesser virtues in order to arise to the great-maybe the greatness that lies latent in ourselves that we do not know we possess. If we do not practice at all, then when the need arises, we may not be able to rise to the occasion.

Well, for today I am going to practice listening. I think I do not fully listen to the other before speaking. It's a discipline I probably have needed for a long time. What can you practice?

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Being Happy

A quote from Catherine:

We can never be happy nor feel as we ought to feel, until we bring ourselves to the
conviction, that we are treated by everybody better than we deserve.


This is not an invitation to abuse or to poor self-esteem! It is not false humility or the words of someone who does not know her worth! It is way of getting along in the world that proposes single-mindedness and purity of heart!

If we truly want to be happy we cannot go around expecting people to be mean to us, to expect better service, expect to be treated differently because of who we are. We need to be about our business with purity of heart and not be sarcastic, back-biting, gossiping and trying to find motives for why someone did or said something the way they did. If your feelings are hurt, look back at your expectations!

All of this gets in the way of having our hearts centered on God. It is God who is our strength, our help and our hope. It is God who deserves the attention and the energy that is expended on catty remarks and energy spent on trying to outwit others. We need to be innocent as doves and sly as a fox, not stupid or naive! With God's help we will see the truth behind the works of others and then know how to act to bring about right relations and justice.

So today, simply love others and trust God!

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Guard our Exterior

A quote fromCatherine:

We can so guard our exterior as to let no disturbance of mind
appear in our manner of countenance.

Oh, to be calm in a tempest! To remain focused when beset with lots of stresses from every side. To not let anything ruffle you...

That's a tall order and one we need to strive to be able to minister in our world today. There are so many things that could upset us. Even in Catherine's day there were so many things on her mind. So how do we do it?
I think for me to rely on God's approval, not others, to not be defensive when attacked, to be serene when thingsd are happening on all sides. This takes prayer, lots of silence and a deep abiding peace from within. It takes practice and it takes reflection each day on how well things are handled.

What would help you? Do yuo need to first learn to be calm and at peace in quiet moments ? Do you need feedback? Do you need to role play? Do you need prayer?

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Passing Events

A quote From Catherine:

Try to view passing events as you will view them a year hence,
or as if they happened a year ago.

Have you even gotten bent out of shape over some triffling thing? I know I have.
I seems we put so much store on one opinion, one event, one remark, one mistake, instead of looking at a bigger picture. Catherine was a wise woman in suggesting we look at events as if they were a year ago or a year to come. Somehow the episode won't seem to matter much with that viewpoint.

In a way, it's a lesson in detachment, a virtue that we as religious need to cultivate even more today. In days gone by, we had a lot experience with the virtue of detachment. I think we may have forgotten about it in the busyness of our work and ministry.

A friend of mine lost her job. She worked in a parish and had a good evaluaton by the pastor. A couple of month later she was told she would be eliminated from the position. She was devastated. It took some hard praying, some super-positive thinking and sheer determination to go on from there. That's detachment. She was able to let go of the injustice and turn it into something positive, a new ministry in the same area, but not within the parish.

What are the triffling things in your life that get blown out of proportion? Is it a way someone eats? Leaves a messy room? Doesn't do her/his share of the house work? Is it someone who is pushy? Negative? Insists on her/his way?
How can you practice detachment? If you could imagine what it would be a year from now, would that help you to put it into perspective?

For me, it is sometimes hard to let go and go on. I'm sure it is for you as well. Let us recall Catherine's wise advice.

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A Time and a Place

Today's quote belongs to another of our foundresses, Mother Emily George one of the leaders of the Detroit region.

"...Each is given a time and a place which belong to no one else."

This quote reminds me of the Ecc. 3:1-10 reading...a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot from planting...

Each of us has a time, a place, a moment in history that belongs to no one else. We are the only one of us that will ever be; there will be no duplicate. Yes, we are one of a kind and so is our place in time.

That can make me excited and anxious at the same time. Have I used this time well? Have I used my gifts well? Is there something I still need to do in my life that I have yet to discover? Each new day is a day closer to eternity. I will not live forever, so how am I using each day?

At the end of my day, can I say that I have done anything to further God's reign? Which spiritual or corporal work of mercy have I done today?

It also makes me very excited. No one has the exact skills and talents in the combination that I have. I may not be the world's greatest, but I am the only in this configuration. What do I have to offer the world?

I think of the young man without toes who became an Olympic runner... I think of a young man in communist Poland who became Pope... I think of the poor boy born in log cabin, dirt floor, little formal education who became President... Yes, each of us has a combination of gifts that are only us and God has given each of us a time and place in history. How are you making history today?

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