So make it a habit little by little to Worship in this way. Ask Him for His grace and offer Him your heart from time to time during the day in the midst of your work — at every moment if you are able. Offer Him your heart in faith, with love and humility. ~ Brother Lawrence
There was a time when I used to come home in the morning after dropping the kids off at school, make half a pot of coffee, and leisurely pray a rosary before I went about my daily chores and activities.
I was fairly new at this discipline of praying daily, and I needed time, and I definitely needed plenty of cheat sheets. I ended up with a lovely little book that had the scriptural rosary. That helped me a lot because I was able to follow along with the story. It was just what I needed to help me remember the mysteries, and I was hooked on the prayer.
As it happens, other things changed. I lost the little booklet, but not the habit of praying. I was already in love with the prayer…and falling deeper in love with the story. Slowly, and steadily, my faith was blossoming … one bead at a time.
Years later, I see Mary’s gentle hand in this journey as she has led me to her Son. That little book with the scriptural rosary came back to me, a sweet little gift that keeps giving as I revisit the pages I almost knew by heart.
But times have changed. I’ve gone back to a demanding career, and I don’t have the luxury of running a pot of coffee in the middle of my morning. Heck, I don’t have time to run to the vending machine to buy a terrible impersonation of coffee.
I do, however, attempt to finish a rosary. That challenge has proven to be more difficult than I imagined, mostly because I’m constantly interrupted and I’d forget where I was. And then I came upon this plan…if I couldn’t get 20 minutes of uninterrupted time, perhaps I could make the time for a reverent Hail Mary.
One Hail Mary prayed right is certainly worth more than a distracted and mumbled rosary, so I developed a 
plan. All I needed was a tally system to help me keep track of my progress through the rosary…so I designed this cheat sheet — just a series of bubbles and boxes I could check as I moved through the prayer. One glance told me where I had left off before racing to class or a meeting.
I was sure I’d never be able to get through a whole rosary this way. The thing is, on those days when I can’t escape for a quiet lunch with prayer, I not only find myself praying all day, one Hail Mary at a time, but I find that I have just enough moments throughout the day to finish.
How about that?
Click on this link for a printable bookmark Rosary that you can check off as you pray.
Remember that ad from years ago that asked, Do you know where your children are? I always thought it was a little creepy, but now that my kids are grown, and they aren’t necessarily checking in several times a day, I’ve had to learn to let go, and let God….
I’m at CatholicMom.com this week sharing a little prayer I’ve picked up in the past few years that has helped me release my worries.
I know my schedule has kicked into high gear with the beginning of the term and everything, but I’ve lost track of when the younger kids go back to school. I don’t miss the anxiety of those days, although taking that “first day of school” picture was a lot of fun….
These days August is a little slower around the house. The oldest has been on her own for several years, proudly serving our country. Two are still in college, one finishing in the next year, and the youngest following quickly behind her. There’s still a revolving door to the house, but it seems to be opening out more often than in. And that’s OK – I suppose it’s the way it should be….
On September 8th Cubans everywhere celebrated the 400th anniversary of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, patroness of Cuba and, in a special way, advocate for all who feel displaced, far from home, or living in exile.
Caridad, as she is affectionately known, wants nothing more than to gather her children together and bring them to her son, Jesus. It seems such a simple desire—corrupted now in popular culture with the ironic “Can’t we all just get along.”
But Charity’s message is clear. It is first a message of Love. She holds the Child Jesus in her arms, close to her heart, and we are reminded that she is mother to us all because she is mother to the One.
Hey there! I’m over at Patheos today! How fun is that? I hope you follow the link to read the rest, and then stick around to see the other insightful, interesting, and yes, even funny stuff that’s over there. There’s a little something for everyone.
When the spiritual person cannot meditate, let him learn to be still in God, fixing loving attention on God in the calm of his understanding, although he may think himself to be doing nothing. Little by little, divine calm and peace will be infused into his soul.
~ St. John of the Cross
On September 8th Cubans everywhere will celebrate the 400th anniversary of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, patroness of Cuba and, in a special way, advocate for all who feel displaced, far from home, or living in exile.
Caridad, as she is affectionately known, wants nothing more than to gather her children together and bring them to her son, Jesus. It seems such a simple desire – corrupted now in popular culture with the ironic “Can’t we all just get along?”
But Charity’s message is clear. It is first a message of Love. She holds the Child Jesus in her arms, close to her heart, and we are reminded that she is mother to us all because she is mother to the One.
Her appearance 400 years ago to three young men adrift in a stormy sea by the Bay of Nipe, off the coast of Cuba, inspires hope. Charity’s presence in our lives today is just as relevant as we navigate the stormy seas of the 21st century.
With the infant Jesus in one hand, and the cross in the other, we are reminded, literally, of the message she carries. Our salvation is present and accessible through her, always – every time we turn to her for guidance or succor, as those young men did centuries before us.
She is, for me, a symbol of the faith for which my parents sacrificed so much. As a Cuban-born American, much of my cultural identity connects with Our Lady of Charity. She is iconic, a symbol for the Cuban people, but she is so much more.
As a child, my mom often whispered into my ear as she hugged and kissed me goodbye, “Que la virgen te acompañe.” No matter how old I get, and how far away I live, I can count on my mom’s blessing before I travel. Instead of a whispered caress, today I get a text message, “May Our Lady accompany you .”
This gentle reminder that Our Lady would accompany me on my journey, to my child’s mind, was just one of those things moms said. To my adult heart, the knowledge that Mary does indeed accompany me buoys me when I feel adrift in my own Bay of Nipe. Consoling and calm, Caridad stands as a beacon…always calling me to safety, showing me the way home to her Son.
The little icon of Our Lady of Charity has been traveling throughout the island nation of Cuba these past three years in a beautiful pilgrimage awakening a dormant faith, inspiring hope, and spreading love to a nation thirsty for Christ’s message.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2012 address at the Shrine of Our Lady Of Charity of El Cobre, called on the Cuban people to look upon the Blessed Mother as a model.
Following the example of the Most Holy Virgin, I encourage all the sons and daughters of this dear country to continue to build their lives on the firm rock which is Jesus Christ, to work for justice, to be servants of charity and to persevere in the midst of trials.
The theme of this pilgrimage, indeed, the theme for the 400th anniversary celebration is “Charity Unites Us/Caridad nos une”. This lovely play on words, in both English and Spanish, speaks a great Truth, that Love unites us in the Body of Christ. All of us.
Que la virgen te acompañe.
A recent post about books I’ve enjoyed sent me down a course to reclaim time for reading. I ran across this quotation from Lewis which was taken out of context, so I dug around to find it. It’s from The Four Loves, and I’m glad I did because the second half of the quotation, the part that says that friendship is about creation as well as revelation, really resonated with me.
Christ, who said to the disciples “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends “You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” The Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others. They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by Friendship God opens our eyes to them. They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good Friendship, increased by Him through the Friendship itself, so that it is His instrument for creating as well as for revealing.
It made me think about how I see new things through my friends, and how old things become new when seen through their eyes. But more than that, it brought home the central truth of friendship…
At this feast it is He who has spread the board and it is He who has chosen the guests. It is He, we may dare to hope, who sometimes does, and always should, preside. Let us not reckon without our Host.
My summer reading pile is getting smaller. Sortof. I keep adding books to the pile, so it rarely gets smaller than the stack you see above.
The problem is that I have a stack at work, and a stack on the floor next to my night table…and two or three books on my desk at home.
A whole bookshelf at work. And still…I read. And read. And read!
You could say I get paid to read (and you wouldn’t be too terribly off), but I haven’t read everything I want to read. And there’s a whole bunch of stuff that I don’t even know exists and is waiting for me to discover. I know, I’m a nerd that way.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say something a little…well…honest. Interesting people, people that I find interesting, are big readers. I don’t know if that necessarily makes me any more interesting, but there you have it. My friends are big readers. It turns out that some other very interesting people, besides my friends (yes, I think you guys are brilliant) are big readers.
In fact, the Harvard Business Review has an interesting article on the importance of reading to good leadership. I’d venture to say it does more than make good leaders. Reading things that edify us, strengthen our characters, give us vicarious adventures, can make us better people.
I’d say, it can make us better Christians. I’m still working on that.
These are some books that have had a huge impact on me:
In no particular order
1. The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
2. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
3. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
5. Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain
I’d love to know what books have impacted you! And of course, I’ll take recommendations to add to my pile.
“The greatest good we can do for others is not just to share our riches with them, but to reveal theirs.” — Zig Ziglar
Hail bright star of ocean,
another cup of coffee 