good for the soul

in which I ponder adverbs

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A friend of mine gave me a poster at the beginning of Advent that has a list of adverbs on it.

That’s all, just adverbs.

It’s a pretty funny thing. I mean, what do adverbs have to do with Advent? I think if you reflect on these words in light of our yearning for the coming of Christ, you might just get it.

I’ve been pondering the words myself, so I added a few of my own, and created what we boring old English teachers call a Concrete Poem.

You probably call it a Wordle.

What adverbs would you add?

it’s been ages since I make a rosary

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I found this loop of twine and dug around and found a crucifix, so I made a rosary today. I’m way out of practice because I had to untie the knot for the crucifix three times before I finally got it right.

Ok, I didn’t so much get it right as get it to a place that didn’t make me want to untie the whole thing again.

I used to make rosaries all the time, and then an extraordinary thing happened and I started praying rosaries all the time. I still make the random rosary, but a touch of arthritis is making pulling the twine a little difficult. The prayer, however, is as comfortable in my hands as ever.

I wonder, do you have a favorite prayer or devotion?

advent, light, and confession

Thanks to Facebook friends Elizabeth Scalia and Tom Clowe posting two unrelated links to things they had read or seen, I ended up with quite a fruitful morning of prayer and reflection. I thought I’d pass them along since that seems to be the real gift of the internet although we’d all like to believe it’s really this.

It seems that confession is a hot topic this week, and I suppose, it should be. I was talking briefly to the gang on Catholic Weekend about it and the opportunity it brings us during Advent, and then I ran across Elizabeth’s recommendation for this beautiful reflection by Heather King, and I was undone by the beauty of it, and the simple simple truth, that what we want is to go home…to be home.

Like many people, I resist[ed] confession, and could list a multitude of rational reasons for it. Upon reflection, they are not rational at all, but mere rationalizations. Discomfort, shame, pride, inconvenience, ignorance, anger, shyness, shame, did I say shame?

In the midst of all the misunderstanding about this sacrament is the fear of rebuke. We are, after all, confessing our failings. Let me put that out there more accurately, our sins. I already feel pretty crappy about the fact that a confession doesn’t go by where I don’t confess some of the same things. Over and over and over again. At some point the priest is going to ask me to knock it off already. Maybe in a stern voice to shake me up a little and make me see the error of my ways.

Who wants that?

Well. I do. I want it very much. And I want the penance that goes with it.

But Tom’s post of this lovely video inspired by Newman’s poem, Pillar of the Cloud, reminded me of a different confession. One that I surmise was a good confession but yielded, not an intense penance, but a parting gift of this poem, straight from the priest’s own prayer book. He didn’t direct me to reflect on it or even read it. He just looked at me kindly and gave it to me. I guess we both left it up to Jesus to do His work in my heart.

I can’t come across this poem or the hymn without revisiting that day and the overwhelming sense of having been heard. Understood.

Loved.

I understood, in a different way, in a way meaningful to me, what Heather meant by “a complete and utter miracle.”

are you ready? [redux]

The following post was originally published in 2010. I thought I’d bring it back for Advent!

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For every perceived betrayal that my body delivers to me as I age, I am consoled by the graces that come with aging – the most important and appreciated is wisdom. I’m still nowhere near that place where the patience to be quiet and wait comes naturally, but I’m working on it. At least on an intellectual level I understand it. That knowledge, however, doesn’t make the exercise any easier.

It seems that impatience and wanting it now is a condition of the times in which we live. If we can’t access that website in a click, we get frustrated. If there are two cars ahead of us at the drive-thru, we feel put out.

If God doesn’t answer our prayers on the spot, we are quick to accuse Him of not listening.

Once, I fervently asked God to give me patience. He accommodated me rather nicely. By providing seemingly endless opportunities to practice being patient! I’m not bitter; I got what I asked for. I learned that I cannot control the clock – but I can use it.

It wasn’t an easy lesson to grasp, but once I understood it, the peace that came to me was almost overwhelming. Letting go of that need for control (and by the way, a control I never had) was not just liberating, but empowering.

I’d love to say that I have a singular purpose in my faith that allows me to live my life in perfect concert with what God wants for me. Unfortunately, I regularly fall short of my potential. The human propensity to sin, whether through commission or omission, is alive and well in my heart. The thought would ordinarily depress me except that I have finally understood that God has given us a powerful gift in the sacraments of Holy Communion and Reconciliation. One nourishes our spirit, and the other heals it.

Advent, as a time for preparation, capitalizes on the graces of those two sacraments in such a profound way, that the effect is to slow us down rather than agitate us. If only we’d stop and see it.

I have wasted innumerable opportunities for peace over the years because of my impatience and failure to see the opportunity in the Advent Season. As a child, Advent didn’t even exist for me! There was Thanksgiving, and then a countdown to Christmas morning. Oh, and there was Baby Jesus in there somewhere. Sort of.

That attitude continued as I became an adult, only the problem was in reverse. I was counting the days because I had so much to do that the days would not be enough. I had gifts to buy. Food to cook. Parties to attend (obligations, not fun). A house to decorate. Oh. And Jesus was in there somewhere. Sort of. Maybe at the Christmas pageant where I had to dress up a kid as a shepherd.

I forgot – or perhaps better stated – I failed to realize the gift of Advent. Christmas morning was coming, whether or not I had picked out the right tinsel. In the end, the only thing that mattered was whether or not I was ready for the real Christmas, not just the celebration of the birth of Our Lord, but ready for his return.

The Catechism states, “When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor’s birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’ “ (524).

Advent is a time for quiet prayer and public prayer. That’s why traditions such as a family Advent wreath are powerful. We pray and reflect and get ready for Our Lord.

That’s why parish missions are popular at this time of year. We gather as a community, united in our powerful need to seek the Lord, just as the Magi did.

And that’s why we are shrouded in purple – a majestic color often misunderstood as a symbol of kingly splendor, but also used as a symbol for penance. Most of us are quick to clean the house and make it presentable for the celebration…let’s also clean house in our souls and embrace the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

I urge you to slow down during this Season of Advent, and embrace the opportunity for preparation. We can still prepare for Christmas with our shopping sprees and decorating sessions, but we should also keep in mind that these physical acts of preparation for Christmas day are not enough. We must also seek the greater spiritual preparation for the coming of Our Lord.

Get ready. You have time.

This blog posts appears as part of the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar. Follow the link to see what else is going on over at CatholicRoundup.com

autumn…love this time of year!

This is what I see when I walk out my front door. It won’t be as lovely in a week or so, but today, a little bit of God’s handiwork. Such an artist! Makes me want to bake a pumpkin pie.

a prayer for the nations

I’ve had this prayer bookmarked in my journal for the longest time. Maybe I’ve used it here before, but as I gathered my little holy cards and placeholders in preparation for a new journal, I took another look at this and found it worth the share, even if I have posted it already.

O Jesus, present in the sacrament of the altar, teach all the nations to serve you with willing hearts, knowing that to serve God is to reign. May your sacrament, O Jesus, be light to the mind, strength to the will, joy to the heart. May it be the support of the weak, the comfort of the suffering, the wayfaring bread of salvation for the dying and for all the pledge of future glory.

Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)

gratitude and twitter

Woohoo! back in the CatholicMom.com playground this weekend. So awesome to be with so many thoughtful ladies (and guys, too! it’s true!). I hope you follow the link to see what I share over there, and then look around and read some of the other great posts.

For all its practical uses and community building, Twitter can also easily turn into a source of self-absorption, where we go to whine and bemoan the petty ills that befall us.

It’s not just that no one wants to listen to a sourpuss all day. There’s a real danger in engaging in this persistent negativity. It brings us down, and brings others down with us. It turns us into ungrateful social media brats. And it’s contagious.

What if, instead of getting on social media first thing in the morning and complaining about not having enough sleep, we Tweeted in thanksgiving for having a bed to sleep in? What would happen to us if our first thought of the day was to express gratitude for our blessings?

[read the rest here]

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

So here we are on October 7th, this Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. You didn’t think I’d escape posting something, right?

If you’ve read this blog for a while you’ll probably recognize this picture of a well-worn (um, make that well-prayed rosary) which I had for many years before finally giving it away. It was a Rosary Army rosary, which meant it was destined to be given away, but I held onto it for many, many, many years before passing it along to someone whom I knew loved the prayer, the Blessed Mother, and her Son as much as I do.

Timing, they say, is everything, and I was granted one last very important prayer on that rosary before passing it along to someone who would use it, even if it was only rarely, to think of me and my intentions. As it happens, I couldn’t have entrusted that rosary to a finer friend and prayer buddy.

Which of course leads me to today’s prayer on a new rosary —  made by the same beloved friend who made the blue and purple rosary above. The new one hasn’t been entirely broken in, and by that I mean, it’s still stiff in places where the twine doesn’t have much give.

It’s getting comfortable in my hand, but there are many, many, many decades left on it, where I’ll worry the twine “beads” a little more, sweat a little more, maybe cry a little more, and forget it in my jeans and run it through another wash a time or three.

And that’s ok. Because the rosary is meant to be used. It’s meant to be prayed, over and over again. And again. And again.

I admit that I have sentimental attachments to some of these little sacramentals. I get comfortable with one or another for a number of reasons — whether I like the particular clink of one, or the feel of another, or like this black and gold one that has that Steelers pin on it. I know you noticed it. I’m not praying for the Steelers, ok? Really. It’s a sentimental reminder to pray for a deceased friend who maybe did pray for a Steelers win a time or two. I won’t judge him. But I do smile and pray for his soul.

So whip out that rosary you have tucked away somewhere. It deserves to be used. Momma Mary deserves a little “phone call” today. Like the loving Momma that she is, she’ll quickly turn the conversation away from her, and to her Son.

Hey! I’m on Among Women!

Among Women 146: The Power of a Praying Friend

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And I’m having a blast. Of course, the delightful Pat Gohn is such a welcoming host, and her porch is so cozy and comfy, how could this be anything but fun?

Give this special episode a listen. Pat shares about St. Teresa of Avila, including some beautiful prayers, and then we have a lovely chat about friendship, and about being praying friends. It’s an intimate conversation about a very special and important theme, especially as we approach The Year of Faith.

How do we love our friends best, if not through prayer, for them, but also with them?