Psalm 46:10a

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I AM.

Be still and know

Be still.

Be.


Pax

A Few Reasons Why I Didn't Give up Facebook for Lent

There has been a huge push among Catholic Facebook users to give up their Facebook presence for the 40 Days of Lent as part of their Lenten Sacrifice. They see this as a way to strip away the "distraction" that Facebook may have become in their lives so that they can redirect that time toward God.

I did not join them. There are a few really important reasons why and I wish to share them with you:

Most of my extended family; all but three of my siblings, most of my nieces and nephews, my cousins, their husbands, wives, and children are all on facebook. As we have grown older and become separated geographically, Facebook is an immediate and very fun way to communicate and keep in touch with my family. I probably reply to my Cousin's daughter whom I have never met, but who is a college student in Texas every day. It is really nice that I have gotten this chance to get to know her. I would hate to give that up.

My nephew was in a skiing accident last Saturday and I have been able to ask all of my friends on Facebook to pray for him, and to connect them to his Facebook page Praying for Ben Smith where they can post prayers for him. There is such power in this for his family who are dealing with a long road to recovery. I have great friends and they are really stepping into the breach to show my sister and her family the power of Christian community on the Internet via Facebook.

I am also posting a snippet every day from the book I have chosen to use as my Lenten Reflection: Quantum Grace by Judy Cannato. The obedience of doing this every morning is helping me to stay faithful to my reflection on the book and has the ripple effect of sharing a bit with others (Catholic , non Catholic Christians, and non believers ) who are friends of mine on Facebook. To me this is a way for me to evangelize.

So, you see, I will be staying on Facebook. I will be posting daily updates about my nephew's progress as he heals of his injuries, and I will be posting my own progress as I move through the season of Lent. Oh and I will be posting responses to other people's posts in my normal, sarcastic, humorous style, because God gave me a sense of humor and I am pretty sure She doesn't want me to give that up for Lent.

Pax

Archdiocese of Los Angeles Prayer for Priests

This was also printed in the Sacred Heart bulletin and will be their prayer for the Year for Priests. I really love this prayer and wanted to share it with all of you. If everyone said this prayer how amazing that would be for all our priests:


Dear Lord we pray that the Blessed Mother wrap her mantle around your priests and through her intercession strengthen them for their ministry. We pray that Mary will guide your priests to follow her words "Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5) May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph, Mary's most chaste spouse. May the Blessed Mother's pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer at the foot of the cross. May your priests be holy, filled with the fire of your love, seeking nothing but your glory and the salvation of souls. Amen

St. John Vianney pray for us.

Pax

Practice . . .

is one of those words that no one likes to hear, or think about. It has such bad connotations. Boring drills and repetitive mind numbing action of doing the same things over and over again thousands upon thousands of times. Perhaps that is why the word practice is so foreign to our understanding of the spiritual life. We don't want our spiritual life to be boring or repetitive or the same thing done over and over again.

Yet, the same principle that makes a golfer wanting to hone his short game hit thousands of chip shots day after day, is the same principle that could be applied to anyone who wants to grow in the spiritual life as well. If there isn't some form of practice going on there can be no growth.

Of course, I could take my golf clubs and hit chip shots all day every day, and I will never be as skilled at golf as Tiger Woods, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try. And just because Tiger Woods has so much innate talent doesn't mean he just sits back and rests without any practice at all. In fact just this year in an interview he stated that since his recent knee surgery he has been able to spend much more time practicing and he has noticed a decided improvement in the quality of his game because he was spending more time on the range and the practice green. Imagine that, Tiger Woods admitting that his game improves when he has more time to practice.

So, we should spend time in the practice of the spiritual life. But how? That is something that is very individual. We tend to know what we need to work on. How you practice your spiritual discipline is a very individual pursuit. There are a few standard fundamentals that will help anyone grow in the spiritual discipline if we practice them:

Immerse yourself in the Word -- Pick up your bible and read a few chapters every day. You can actually get through the entire bible in less than a year if you make a practice of reading a bit each day. Find a translation that you like and understand (there are many, some more conversational than others, some more flowery) Don't worry about the boring, listy parts, skim them quickly or just skip over them: I had a Professor in Gradual School who gave us all a list entitled Reading the bible without having to read any of the boring bits, and it listed which specific repetitive chapters to skip.)

Talk to God (pray) every day --, in whatever way you feel most comfortable. For some people this will mean doing a set group of rote prayers morning and evening. For some people this will mean setting aside time for meditation or contemplation. For some people this will mean practicing the presence of God, or cultivating a lifestyle where they always feel as though they are in God's presence and are in communication with God. For some people it may mean small , sticky note, arrow (the old term for these was ejaculation) prayers throughout the day. For some people, the greatest form of daily prayer is to participate in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Church, These are a set pattern of psalms, responses and readings that all clergy and religious of the church pray every day, and can be prayed by anyone who wants to join in.

The most important thing about prayer isn't how you do it, it is that you do it.


Learn something new -- there are many ways to accomplish this, you could read spiritual readings, listen to or watch something enriching, go to lectures or to Mass or your worship service if you aren't Catholic.

You could join with a group of friends and actually study the bible you have been reading, that is a very different form of immersion, to study the word. To look at the context of the time in which it was written and the people to whom the story is speaking in that time and what that story meant for them and then what that same story means now.

You could join a group of friends for prayer and support in the Christian walk. Get together once a week to support each other, pray for each other's needs and give each other guidance and love. We all can learn something from each other if we take the time to really listen to each other.


Reach Out -- Action is part of the spiritual growth process. Every week you would be doing something for others. It doesn't have to be something grand or amazing like a mission trip to some foreign country, it might just be dropping off some canned goods at the food pantry, or stopping in at the nursing home to visit someone from your church who lives there now. Mother Teresa used to say we didn't have to do great things we just had to do small things with great joy. My prayer each morning is that God will make me aware of the people and situations that have been placed in my path that day so that I may serve the Kingdom. Then when I am faced with a chance to help someone with a heavy load at the grocery, or a few extra minutes of my time for a chat I think of that as my gift to God and not an inconvenience at all.


I think if you start practicing these simple things every day, your spiritual life will grow in amazing ways; ways you would never have imagined. God has a plan for your life, and you have to participate in that plan in the same way that Tiger Woods has to participate in the plan for his career. Think about having a spiritual life more amazing as Tiger Woods' golf career. With practice it could happen.

Pax

Remember Child That You Are Dust . . .

and unto dust you shall return.

Today is the day that we enter Lent by reminding ourselves that there is no way to get out of this place alive, so everything we have here is transient. As John of the Cross reminds us repeatedly in his writings; what gets in the way of our purest love must be removed (nada,. nada, nada) Everything is up for review during this holy season as we pare back our lives to the most basic essentials and discover what it is that we really need to live as God has asked us to live:

To fast from everything that isn't essential. To pray as one who is speaking to a beloved. To give of one's first fruits and not of one's excess.

Bear your lent proudly and with grace, and smile when well meaning folk stop to tell you that you have dirt on your face.

Pax

I'm Offering It Up . . .

In a BIG way for the election.

Along with continuing to campaign for my causes, and talking to everyone who will listen, I have decided that in order to show my committment to the outcome of this election I am giving up chocolate until after election day. Mrangelmeg has given up ice cream.

The angelbaby is a bit concerned. I had to promise her that it wouldn't be a bad thing, my giving up chocolate. Those of you who know me well, know that this is a serious sacrifice for me.

Pax

What I'm Reading Now

I am actually reading two books, both by the Jesuit Authors.

The first one I talked about a few posts ago When the Well Runs Dry: Prayer Beyond Beginnings by Thomas Green SJ I love it and each chapter brings me a new perspective on my relationship with the Divine and why the old ways of praying are no longer working for me and why trying to go back to them isn't the best choice when I should be moving forward.

The other book is the next textbook in my Spiritual Direction Internship and is called The Practice of Spiritual Direction by William a Barry SJ. It is a practical guide to actually doing Spiritual Direction, a guidebook you might say. I haven't yet finished the first chapter, so I have quite a ways to go. I will write more when I have had time to digest a bit more of it.

Pax

Walking by Faith OR My Steps are So Carefully Ordered

My prayer life has been changing radically in the last few months. At almost an exponential rate I have been catapulted into a very different experience of prayer and I feel so off balance at times because I am not sure where it fits into my devotional life.



Should I abandon all the old forms of prayer and simply use this new deeper form of prayer always? Should I trust that this prayer is actually from God and not just assume that I am decieving myself because this prayer takes almost no effort on my part? How do I gain the most fruit from this new type of prayer? . . . These are the questions that swim around in my rational mind almost every day now that I am living in this new reality of prayer.



So then, God sent me a day like yesterday.



I was rushing to get to my internship in Indianapolis, and was going to be getting there without a moment to spare, but there was an overturned semi in the median of the highway, so trafic was at a standstill at one point and I was stopped. The consequence was I arrived five minutes late and class had already begun.



The session was on the Art of Holy Listening, and Sr. Wanda was leading the opening prayer when I walked in. I assumed that she was leading a guided meditation from her tone and the words she was using, so I hurried to my seat and tried to engage as quickly as possible in the prayer. My mind was still racing, and I was wondering if I was doing what I was supposed to be doing when I got a clear message from God that I didn't need to "do" anything I just needed to "be". After that I became very calm and let out a breath and totally relaxed into a very peaceful space. At that moment Sr. Wanda played a song which was a reflection on the verse from the bible that says "Be still and know that I am God" !



After the song, Sr Wanda asked us all to write in our journals a phrase or sentance that captured how we felt about our prayer experience. Without thinking at all I wrote "human beings, not human doings" . Then class began.



At the end of class, (a very full class on the art of listening well) we were given a chance to use the tools we had just learned in a spiritual direction setting. We broke into groups of three, and did an exercise where one of us was the director, one the directee and one was a compassionate observer. (every five minutes we switched roles till everyone had had a chance to be each). When it was my turn to be the directee I talked about my experience at prayer that morning, and how that type of wordless prayer is so much more effective for me than any rote prayers that I say and how in my prayer life I am finding that using time for this type of "being with God is usurping all of my prayer time. I was wondering (to the director) if I needed to balance the two? In five minutes we didn't nearly have time to work it out, but I said that I would probably take that question to my Spiritual Director when I saw him in October since it had been on my heart for so long.



Later that day I had picked up a book to do some casual reading because I was staying over in Indianapolis with mrangelmeg who is there for a class and he wasn't going to get out of his class for a few hours after my class was over. When I was packing for the trip I had tossed in a book that I had purchased a few weeks back that was written by one of my favorite authors. I bought it without really looking at what it was about, knowing that whatever it was I would like it because I have enjoyed all of his other books.

I took the book out of my bag to kill some time while I was waiting for mrangelmeg's class to get over and what should it be about do you suppose? What to do when one"s prayer life begins to go beyond the early stages and into a deeper more intimate form of prayer. It is called When the Well Runs Dry by Thomas Green SJ. Coincidence? I should think not!!!

So, I spent the next hour (and later that night. and some more this morning while mrangelmeg was sleeping in) reading about exactly where I am in my prayer life and being affirmed by one of my favorite Jesuit authors that I am not alone, and that he will be my guide as I begin to navigate this new country and make it my own. So far, I have read nearly 100 pages of this book, it is so compelling to me probably because I am reading it right when I need to be reading it, not a moment too soon.

How amazing that just when I need it I happen to purchase this book not because of the content but because of the author, and just when I am at a crisis point in this new land of prayer of all the books in my pile of bookss I want to read some day I happen to throw that particular one into my bag to take along for my overnight stay after this particular class when I have a deeply moving prayer experience and it wells up in me many questions about this place I am entering in my prayer life and what I should or shouldn't be doing here.

It just goes to show how carefully God orders my steps.

God is good, all the time.

Pax

GO: Theology Thursday: Spirituality and Knitting

I have been doing quite a bit of knitting since mrangelmeg began his new job and has had to travel so much. It really gives me a sense of purpose and keeps me calm and centered. It also gives me something other to focus on than being without him. The fact that eventually I have something to show for my work helps as well.

I started out making simple scarves and then ventured into even more adventurous items like shawls that had patterned stitching and intricate instructions that had to be followed.

Then when I got more confidence in my ability I even attempted a hat using circular needles. My first attempt was less of a hat and more of a mobius strip though, because I forgot to take care in making sure that I didn't twist the stitches when I knitted the first round.

What does all of this have to do with theology or spirituality you might ask? I discovered that when I am knitting I am in the same state of mind that I am in when I am practicing meditation or contemplative prayer. I am mindful of nothing in my surroundings except for the needles in my hand and the yarn passing through my fingers. My mind becomes free to engage in prayer (I often pray for the person who created the yarn I am using and the person who will use the garment I am making.)

Sometimes I am overcome by a deep wordless connection to God in the act of creation that is happening as I manipulate the needles.

I wanted to explore this a little further, so I did what any. literate person would do, I went to the library. There I discovered a wonderful book by Bernadette Murphy called Zen and the Art of Knitting. Mrs. Murphy, a knitter and writer (I love this woman already) talked to many knitters from many faith traditions and many backgrounds about the connection between knitting and spirituality. Within the pages of this book my own feelings have been confirmed.

If you love the creative needle arts, and want to discover how they fit into your spiritual life this book is a great read. I need to get back to my praying/knitting, I want to try to get the sweater done for daughter's graduation at the end of the month. With God's help and mrangelmeg's travel schedule I may just have enough prayer time to fill to get it done in time.

Pax

GO: Two-fer What I'm Writing/Theology Thursday

So just a few days ago I got an email from a woman who runs a website dedicated to spreading the word on Christian meditation and Contemplation. She came across an essay I wrote on Meditation as a Christian Prayer Form for Helium.com and wants to use it on a site that she runs that is dedicated to information on Christian Meditation and Relaxation.

I am a firm believer in the concepts of contemplative prayer. In order to pray one needs to do nothing more than be with God. We spend so much energy trying to form the perfect words to communicate with God who can see into our hearts more clearly than we can ever imagine.

So, I am humbled that my little essay will be used to aide other Christians to come to understand a form of prayer that I have come to love so much. I have looked over her site and really like the content and have actually downloaded some of the meditation music to give to my daughter who is going to begin to use meditation as a method of reducing stress in her life.

If you haven't tried this form of prayer I encourage you to give it a try. If you decide that it doesn't work for you, then you at least will have given it a try. You may find that it will become one of your favorite parts of your day, and a great way to re-energize and get re-centered when your life seems to spin out of control.

Give it a try.

Pax

This is Awesome

I am going through a bit of a spiritual crisis right now and what do I find via my pals at Korrektiv and Ironic Catholic but this awesome bit of Christian Poetry that sums up exactly where I am right at this very moment:






I may have to start saying this as my evening prayer for a few days until my sanity returns or my final is finished (hopefully both will happen at the same time).

Pax

I've Been Philosofried

So I have decided to start on my homework while the stuff I did get in class this weekend is still relatively fresh in my mind. in actuality I am terrified that if I sleep on it I will wake up tomorrow morning and remember nothing at all.

Just a quick prayer before I begin: (My deepest apologies to Thomas Merton)


My Lord, I have no idea what I am writing. I do not see the point ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am making a coherent point does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to do well in this course does in fact count for something. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing (or at least that I can fake it for another month). And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right path to my sought after degree, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of Plato's cave. I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face being philosofried alone.

Pax

Prayerbook for This Self Obsessed World

Really want to work on your prayer life but just cant find the time?


Now Curt Jester has the answer for you


Liturgy of the Seconds


With this little volume you will be able to get through morning and evening prayer in a matter of seconds.

If I didn't know a few people who would look at this and take it seriously I would be laughing right now. Jeff should be finding somewhere to print this puppy and laughing all the way to the bank.

Pax