Fidelity to His Law

A quote from Catherine McAuley:

Our love for God is shown by fidelity in obeying his law.

We just returned for our first Assembly for our new community,the West Midwest Community of the Sisters of Mercy of America. What a long name! One of the first things we did was to pass the governance plan that helps us to function within parameters of community life. In one sense- our law or rule. To be faithful to it is to be faithful to God's law as well, for it is the abiding rule for our lives.

God's rule is one of love-deep love for all people. Sometimes we think that God's rule is NO! NO! No!. In reality it is Yes! Yes! Yes! for all, not just myself. God sees a bigger picture.
In today's world we have a cafeteria attitude about God's law for our life. It is the pick and choose, not accepting all and returning something if you don't like it. God doesn't work on the buffet or cafeteria plan. God's plan is simple. Take it all!
Today let us ponder what it is that we want to pick and choose. Maybe we need to research and study a little more as to why this is God's law. We need to see it from God's perspective, not just ours.

Look to our Suffering Lord

A quote from Catherine:

If we looked more to our suffering Lord, our trials would seem light and consolation would soon come to our hearts.

Today is Good Friday. In some areas it is also called God's Friday, Black Friday or other descriptive words to explain this day. As we meditate on the suffering of our Lord, we can get caught up in the gore and the violence of this day. Rather that be repulsed by the historical experience , let us look to why Jesus suffered. It was his compassion for the outcasts, the healing of those marginalized, the challenge to the staus quo and the love he showed to all.

If we look at his suffering as love, then our trials can turn to love as well. Our hearts can be turned to suffering in a different way and peace can them come to our hearts.

We have many examples of this in daily life-a mother who is up with a sick child, an athlete training, a student studying, a person who is disabled striving for independence, a firefighter, a police officer, an rescue squad.

Today as we gaze upon the cross let us look at suffering in a new light, that of the gift of consolation and peace.

www.sistersofmercy.org

Be happy!

A quote from Catherine;
It is God's will that everyone called to His service should be happy.

There is a child's song that runs through my mind as I reflect on this quote, 'If You're Happy and you Know it...", especially the part ..."then your face will surely show it." Also there is an old catechism question about why did God make you? Part of the answer is ..."and to be happy with Him in heaven."

God made us to be happy. We start out as children happy and curious about life. We wonder about small things; dandelions, worms, bugs, ice cream, do cats swim, etc.. Whatever happened to our smiles and laughter and sheer enjoyment of the moment?

Well, I think God says it is there if you look for it. We can find joy in small things and in deep things. We can smile at humor and humorous events in our lives. Probably the best thing to the laugh at is ourselves. We take ourselves and everyone else too seriously! Lighten up, smile, be happy! God is there! God is here! God is now!

Today smile-a lot! It make people wonder what you are up to! It also makes others smile just in seeing yours. What a great way to live in His service!

www.sistersofmercy.org

God has Been so Good to Us

A quote from Mother Austin Carroll, one of our biographers:

God has been so good to us;
we must do something extra to prove our gratitude

Mother Austin Carroll was a pioneer Mercy woman in the South in the late 1800's. She started several schools for both people of color and whites. She knew hardships like many of us have never experienced. She also was the person who held all of the letters from Frances Warde, our American founder. Unfortunately, they were burned after she died. What a loss!

Her words of wisdom come at a wonderful time to use them for reflection because this is holy Week. God's greatest gift was to love us and and bless us with salvation through the death of Jesus. What a gift! And there is no way we can ever repay God for that sacrifice. Our only feeble attempt would be to prove our gratitude by how we live our lives.

How can we repay this wondrous gift? It's something each of us needs to ponder as we walk this Holy Week. What can y0u resolved to do or be?

www.sistersofmercy.org

Pray fro Me

A quote from Catherine:

Get all the prayers you can that God may direct me.

Please pray for me...I'll keep you in my prayers...Love and prayers..... These are phrases we use often. Do we follow through on them? As Catherine was trying to make tough decisions, she had her sisters praying for her that the best decisions would be made. Do we ask others to pray for us as we make decisions? Maybe we should look to that source of strength more often.

When my mother was dying, I felt the strength of others who were praying for me and for my family. It made the time of dying and death more bearable. It helped the grief process to be less of a loss and more of beautiful memories.

Today, let us look at who and what we pray for that it may be a source of comfort and good decision for others. If we need help, let us ask others for prayer as well.

www.sistersofmercy.org

Instructions in Action

A quote from Catherine:

Show your instructions in actions as much as you can.

As an elementary teacher, I learned that you have to present a new lesson using at least three different ways-oral, written, kinesthetically. Combinations of these three help a student to grasp the concept much quicker.

Catherine had the right idea-to demonstrate the instructions, not just tell the instructions. She also was looking a bit deeper in saying that you need to model the instructions. If you are instructing in virtue, then model it. If you are instructing how to help a sick person, model it. If you are instructing in the deeper realms of spirituality, then model it!

A good teacher leads by example(s)! I hope that I can take that to heart today and remember to be the model I wish to see. How about you? Do you just give out orders or instructions or do you model them and demonstrate with your own life how to carry them out?

His Holy Peace

A quote from Catherine:
Take what he will from us, He still leaves his holy peace.

This week I am at a Busy Person Retreat. This quote would be so appropriate for the women with whom I am journeying. There is so much going on in the lives of those we come into contact that, to find that place of peace would be a great gift to them. Hopefully I can guide them to see that if their lives are centerd in the Lord, then they, too, can have that place of peace.

And me, I strive to be at peace every day and I think on the whole I can do it. But when something hard comes along, i am not sure I can keep that peace, because my trust in God may not be deep enough. It is something I work on each day. Somehow I keep forgetting that God is in charge, not me!

And how about you? Are you at peace? Do you need to place your trust in the Lord on a deeper level? Maybe today is the day you start!

www.sistersofmercy.org

A Mind Well-regulated

A quote from Catherine:

When the mind is well regulated, there is little danger of anything unsuitable appearing in the contenance.

This week I am a guide at a Busy Person Retreat. It is always a joy for me to do this because it is a time to connect spiritually with others as they share their spiritual journey with me.

What often amazes me is the polarity among retreatants. Some are so fragmented with work, studies, family and just the pressures of making decisions. Mostly they are very tired and running on little sleep and even less on prayer. On the otherhand, I sometimes have a retreatant that comes in, and has an established focus on the spiritual life despite all of the things mentioned above. How vastly different! And, how vastly different is the energy level!

When the mind is well regulated and prayer comes into the fore, then whatever comes can be taken in stride. Though it might seem to be a crisis, and it may lead to a great deal of consternation, the deeper levels of faith are unruffled. That sense of calm and tranquility are evident.

Today I wonder how Catherine kept her cool. She had women dying, more coming to the door than could be helped, a priest or two working against her and all this with the adoption of her nieces and nephews and opening new foundations! She knew what it meant to keep a well regulated mind, putting God first. All other things, though difficult, worked out.

It is certainly a model for me today as I ponder some stuff going on in my life and how I need to deal with it. How are you dealing with your life?

www.sistersofmercy.org

Distractions at Prayer

A quote from Catherine:

Not all our distractions in prayer would cause God to withhold His graces from us, so much as a departure from his ways.

Some days I want to not sit down and begin the time of prayer. It's hard to get started; I have lots to do and there just doesn't seem time to take that half hour for prayer. Wrong!

What I have found out is that without that time for prayer, the day does not go well. I need that time for prayer in order for my day to go well! I've learned from experience that prayer makes my day go better, the work smoother, the hassles less complicated and the enjoyment multiplied.

I have also learned that the distrations of my day can get into the way of prayer, so I have found that for me there is a way to minimize them. I keep a note pad near my prayer corner to jot myself a note and then go back to the prayer. Often the jotted note is exactly what I will need for the day to solve a problem or find a way to smoothly finish something. God is at work in me as I prayer.

The prayer time of the day is my anchor for the rest of the day. I have started my day and find that I can go back to my prayer in snatches during the day to keep that balance of work and prayer throughout my day.

For you today, look at your rhythm of prayer. Does your day start with prayer? Do you have a word or phrase to hang onto for the rest of the day? To remember it, jot in down in you daytimer so you look at it throughout the day. You will be surprised how easily it comes back. And God will be pleased as you raise your heart and mind to him throughout your day!

www.sistersofmercy.org