November 1, 2009
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Tomorrow is All Soul’s Day. Today we celebrate Masses of Remembrance at both Sacred Heart and Saint Rose. We remember all those who have died in the past year. It is a time of holy remembering.
Every week I sit at my desk and type out the Mass Intentions here in the bulletin and from time to time I schedule funerals to be celebrated here… I often find myself wondering who these people were in life. I wonder if they were well loved or lonely souls. I ponder how their lives touched others. Every life on this planet touches another in some way.
Today, I think back to the loved ones I have lost and contemplate lost time. I ask myself was I too busy to visit my grandmothers when they were alive? Do I make time for my friends and relatives now while we are alive and well?
My thoughts today also go out to two of my friends who have terminal illnesses. I pray that a year from now I am not mourning them and feeling like I have neglected them in their time of need. Life is too short for regrets. Let us make in effort today, right now, to make a difference in someone’s life. Let us make time for the lonely, the ill and dying. Let us reach out with open arms to one another as Jesus did. And let us especially pray for and give comfort to those who are remembering and mourning loved ones today.
God Bless, Holly Clark
Friday, October 30, 2009
What Have You’ve Done for the Lord Lately?
Setting Our Hearts Aflame
What Have You’ve Done for the Lord Lately?
“The Lord has done great things for us,
We are filled with gladness and joy.”
Jaime Cortez, based on Psalm 126
As we enter into the season of Autumn I am filled with gladness and joy. The Lord has His paintbrush out painting the trees all sorts of colors, the air is crisp and there is a sense of renewal for me as fall is my favorite season. At this time of year I often pick up a golden leaf and ponder its beauty. Benjamin Disraeli once said “Nature is the art of God.” God gives us the beauty of the earth, sky and seas and the ultimate miracle of life.
As I read Psalm 126 I ask myself “What have I done for the Lord lately? Do I deserve to be filled with gladness and joy? I look at my life and try to see where I can reciprocate God’s gifts to me. I ask you… how do you spend your time? Is it caught up in the minutia of life… the unimportant things in the world… or is it spent in the Lord’s service? How do you give back to the Lord for your gladness and joy?
This fall when you look into an autumn leaf or feel that irresistible urge to jump into a pile of leaves (going back to childhood joy) contemplate how you will give back to God for your happiness and joy. How will you make God joyful today? God gives us so much of His time and energies in order for us to be happy. Consider giving back of your time to God in service and prayer. Consider donating some time to ministry or to a lonely person. Be creative! And let us also commit ourselves to filling others with gladness and joy.
God Bless, Holly Clark
What Have You’ve Done for the Lord Lately?
“The Lord has done great things for us,
We are filled with gladness and joy.”
Jaime Cortez, based on Psalm 126
As we enter into the season of Autumn I am filled with gladness and joy. The Lord has His paintbrush out painting the trees all sorts of colors, the air is crisp and there is a sense of renewal for me as fall is my favorite season. At this time of year I often pick up a golden leaf and ponder its beauty. Benjamin Disraeli once said “Nature is the art of God.” God gives us the beauty of the earth, sky and seas and the ultimate miracle of life.
As I read Psalm 126 I ask myself “What have I done for the Lord lately? Do I deserve to be filled with gladness and joy? I look at my life and try to see where I can reciprocate God’s gifts to me. I ask you… how do you spend your time? Is it caught up in the minutia of life… the unimportant things in the world… or is it spent in the Lord’s service? How do you give back to the Lord for your gladness and joy?
This fall when you look into an autumn leaf or feel that irresistible urge to jump into a pile of leaves (going back to childhood joy) contemplate how you will give back to God for your happiness and joy. How will you make God joyful today? God gives us so much of His time and energies in order for us to be happy. Consider giving back of your time to God in service and prayer. Consider donating some time to ministry or to a lonely person. Be creative! And let us also commit ourselves to filling others with gladness and joy.
God Bless, Holly Clark
We Will Run and Not Grow Weary
Setting Our Hearts Aflame
We Will Run and Not Grow Weary
“It is now 5 o’clock and I have run out of pithy sayings for you.”
This was the content of a fortune cookie I received several years ago. I think this has stayed with me over the years because how often have we all felt this way? It is five o’clock, the end of a workday but yet it is the beginning of a night full of work: getting supper, doing laundry, catching up with family members and really all we want to do is stop the world for a few minutes, catch our breath and be still.
I have been practicing Lectio Devina for more than a year now and it is my favorite form of prayer. In Lectio you read some scripture (daily reading or other selection) and allow the words and phrases speak to you. Do not try too hard to discover the “lesson” in the passage but try to let God speak to you. A single word or phrase may leap out at you… this is God talking to you. Ask God to show you what he wants you to know.
Some days I feel like I am just too exhausted to pray this way. But in the last week or so I’ve ignored my weariness and prayed with scripture… to my surprise, I have had some very deep and profound conversations with Jesus even though I was really tired and needed to be in bed. I discovered that some of my most personal encounters with God have occurred in my life when I have been totally out of energy and spent. At these times I have tried to “be still” and empty my cluttered brain and have been able to hear God more clearly. When we think too much we may be blocking out God unintentionally. Let us try to empty our brains and let God’s words come to us. Let us keep in mind Psalm 46:10:
Be still, and know that I am God.
Be still, and know.
Be still.
Be.
We Will Run and Not Grow Weary
“It is now 5 o’clock and I have run out of pithy sayings for you.”
This was the content of a fortune cookie I received several years ago. I think this has stayed with me over the years because how often have we all felt this way? It is five o’clock, the end of a workday but yet it is the beginning of a night full of work: getting supper, doing laundry, catching up with family members and really all we want to do is stop the world for a few minutes, catch our breath and be still.
I have been practicing Lectio Devina for more than a year now and it is my favorite form of prayer. In Lectio you read some scripture (daily reading or other selection) and allow the words and phrases speak to you. Do not try too hard to discover the “lesson” in the passage but try to let God speak to you. A single word or phrase may leap out at you… this is God talking to you. Ask God to show you what he wants you to know.
Some days I feel like I am just too exhausted to pray this way. But in the last week or so I’ve ignored my weariness and prayed with scripture… to my surprise, I have had some very deep and profound conversations with Jesus even though I was really tired and needed to be in bed. I discovered that some of my most personal encounters with God have occurred in my life when I have been totally out of energy and spent. At these times I have tried to “be still” and empty my cluttered brain and have been able to hear God more clearly. When we think too much we may be blocking out God unintentionally. Let us try to empty our brains and let God’s words come to us. Let us keep in mind Psalm 46:10:
Be still, and know that I am God.
Be still, and know.
Be still.
Be.
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Teddy Bear
Setting Our Hearts Aflame
The Teddy Bear
Blessed be… the God of all encouragement,who encourages us in our every affliction,so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. 2 Cor 1:3-4
Sometimes we get very caught up in our daily problems and woes and we ask God why now, why us or why me? One day I came across the above passage from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. These verses opened my mind to a new way of thinking.
About two years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had begun radiation therapy, a friend of mine left me big teddy bear sitting on my desk. I’ll never forget how much that bear cheered me up. My friend later told me that she had also been diagnosed with breast cancer some years ago and had also received a teddy bear. The next person I know who is diagnosed breast cancer will receive a teddy bear from me! It was through generous persons sharing their “afflictions” with me that helped me get through my illness. They joined me on my journey, giving me encouragement all along the way.
We all have issues in life, some more than others, but we all learn from these struggles and it is what we learn in the journey to resolve our problems that is important. Let us not be shy. When we see someone who is traveling down a path where we have trod, let us help them along and share the journey. Let us resolve to share our lives with others who are struggling with similar issues. Imagine what the world could be like if we all shared our triumphs, our woes and our hearts with one another. God Bless… Holly Clark
P.S. October is Breast Cancer awareness month. Please remember to get those yearly exams… you never know… you might save your life… it did mine.
The Teddy Bear
Blessed be… the God of all encouragement,who encourages us in our every affliction,so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. 2 Cor 1:3-4
Sometimes we get very caught up in our daily problems and woes and we ask God why now, why us or why me? One day I came across the above passage from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. These verses opened my mind to a new way of thinking.
About two years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had begun radiation therapy, a friend of mine left me big teddy bear sitting on my desk. I’ll never forget how much that bear cheered me up. My friend later told me that she had also been diagnosed with breast cancer some years ago and had also received a teddy bear. The next person I know who is diagnosed breast cancer will receive a teddy bear from me! It was through generous persons sharing their “afflictions” with me that helped me get through my illness. They joined me on my journey, giving me encouragement all along the way.
We all have issues in life, some more than others, but we all learn from these struggles and it is what we learn in the journey to resolve our problems that is important. Let us not be shy. When we see someone who is traveling down a path where we have trod, let us help them along and share the journey. Let us resolve to share our lives with others who are struggling with similar issues. Imagine what the world could be like if we all shared our triumphs, our woes and our hearts with one another. God Bless… Holly Clark
P.S. October is Breast Cancer awareness month. Please remember to get those yearly exams… you never know… you might save your life… it did mine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)