I continue making my way through my collection of Random
Thoughts
Division within
Where is the place within your own life where the division
causes you the most suffering? Can you hold that up to God this day and ask
pray the words of this holy antiphon: Bid our sad divisions cease and be for ME
my King of peace?
Donne, John
I love this little prayer, buried in a poem by John Donne:
“Father, come and recreate me, that new-fashioned, I may rise up from death,
before I'm dead.”
Easter Exhortation
"Since you have been raised up in company with Christ,
re-discover that sense of quality and excellence in your life that has nothing
at all to do with your material or social status. Re-discover the beauty of gentleness. Learn to hear and appreciate silence, and learn
to listen to the voice of the spirit inside of you that seeks what is truly
good for you, but that speaks only in a gentle whisper. Re-claim the sense of awe and mystery and
reverence in your life that has been taken away from you. Respect yourself so that others can respect
you. Forgive yourself so that your peace
of soul can spill out into your home, into your workplace. Play and laugh often, in ways that bring you
joy without degrading your spirit. Ask
for the wisdom and the courage to make choices that give you must have if your
soul is to have the time it needs to breathe clean air. These were the things you are meant to
have. These are the things that the
enemy of your soul plots to keep away from you, so that he can feed you on the
toxic poison of sin and death. And these
are the things that Christ died to re-claim for you.
It is the miracle that keeps us working together despite our
differences. It is the miracle that
causes married couples to discover the deepest meaning of their commitment to
each other--not during the honeymoon, but long after the honeymoon is
over. It is the miracle that causes a
mother to love her two-year-old after he's been wining and yelling for three
hours. It is the miracle that causes us
to pray for one another, and to extend the handshake of peace even when we are
not all of one mind and one heart. It is
the miracle that has held the Church together through 2,000 years--years not of
harmony, but years of conflict and of grace found in the midst of conflict.
Examination of conscience
consider bringing to the sacrament the following:
·
These are the areas of my life where I know I
have sinned.
·
These are the areas where I just can't seem to
get my act together.
·
These are areas where I am very ambivalent, or
deceptive, or where I know I am fooling myself.
·
This is where my selfishness gets the better of
me.
·
This is where I act mainly out of rivalry and
conceit.
When we take the time and the care to look out over the
vineyard of our souls, do we find fruit, or do we find destruction? Do we find
growth and life and beauty, or do we see weeds and ruin and withered branches?
God bless you!
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