What, Me Worry?

Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman has asked this question with every issue of Mad Magazine since 1956. How often do you worry? How much time do you spend worrying and does it do any good? What do you worry about?

Today’s Gospel (Mt 6:24-34) asks “Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?” Take a moment now and reflect upon the things you tend to worry about and worrying affects you. To answer Jesus’ question we would have to say that worrying probably shortens our lives. Worry causes stress which in turn causes heart problems, high blood pressure, strokes, etc. But you may ask how can we stop worrying? (Worrying can be very addictive!) It is not easy, especially when we care so much but worrying only gets in our way to reason out solutions to our problems.

During this Lent let us try to fast on worry and feast on life instead! Take note of today’s Gospel and reread it and reflect upon it often. When you catch yourself worrying, ask yourself “Will this add to my lifespan?” Then take your worries and let them go. Give them over to our God… Look to God, Father for strength, to Jesus for support and healing and to the Holy Spirit for guidance. You may find your worries will lessen in time…and always remember:

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. – Mt 6:34

God Bless, Holly Clark

Seeing Christ

Seeing Christ

Chaos and mayhem… floods, earthquakes… murder, starvation… war… sadness… Looking at the daily news everyday can be very depressing. You read world and local news everyday and it seems as if our world is falling apart. You may find yourself asking “Where is Joy? Where is God? Where is our Savior?” Sometimes I feel very overwhelmed by humanity’s state of affairs. When I get depressed I remember a quote I once heard from a nun: “We live in a time of Spirit-filled chaos?” Spirit-filled chaos? We need to remember that Christ is always with us in the middle of our chaotic world. Very often He is working silently and it is up to each of us to actively seek Christ working amongst us. The hard part is we are so often caught up in our own lives to see much beyond our own space.

Where do you find Christ working in your life and in the world? This past month I have tried to find Christ as we battle our winter woes. And… I have found Christ everywhere! He is often a silent, but efficient worker! I have found Christ in my neighbors who helped shovel and snow-blow our walkways, and in our parishioners who call in to make donations to the food pantry and in a group of kids who will be diving into icy waters to raise money and awareness for those in need. I see Christ in my friends and co-workers who sense when I need a hug or a shoulder to lean on. I see Christ in my family who are with me through the good times and bad.

More recently I found Christ at work in the three Generations of Faith Festivals I attended. I facilitate three of our adult groups and the time spent sharing my faith with other adults and aiding them in their own faith journey, has been priceless to me. Christ said “wherever two or more are gathered you will find Me.” How true! When I facilitate a GoF session I am so buoyed by the love of Christ I find in each of the adults! At GoF I also see the face of Christ in our children. They show such enthusiasm for the faith and learning about Jesus. At the end of our last session a little 6 year-old girl came up to me, hands still in a prayer position as we had just finished our Lord’s Prayer, looked straight into my eyes and said, “Thank you.” I didn’t quite know what specifically she was thanking me for but it really didn’t matter. I looked into her face and saw the face of Christ.

This week I challenge you to seek out Christ in others. Examine where Christ has been at work in your lives and lastly examine how you can be Christ to others. Spring is coming and it is time to come out of winter darkness and chaos and go seek the light of Christ.
God Bless, Holly Clark

Caregiver Advice from St. Francis de Sales

Caregiving for an aging parent or terminal loved one can be very draining spiritually, emotionally and physically. Always remember to take of yourself too. If you don't you will not be able to take of your loved one too. Remeber, Jesus is always at your side... God Bless...

What Do You Pray For?

What Do You Pray For?

Last Tuesday morning I woke up and looked out the window and saw that it was snowing, yet again, and the ground was slushy/icy/slippery. We had just been blessed with a couple of nice days with plenty of sunshine and blue skies and I prayed for a very early spring. As I trudged to my car, trying not to slip in slush, I wondered whether praying for an early spring was perhaps a selfish prayer on my part. I had a conversation with someone a few weeks ago whose family had come across some hard times, but…, they owned a snowplow. Because of all the snow they are able to keep afloat. So, of course, they are praying for a very late spring!

How often do we pray for something, which if granted, may cause hardship to someone else? My praying for early spring will help me, and others afraid of falling on ice, etc. but what about those who depend on the extra income: snow plowers, neighborhood kids shoveling, etc.? I pondered this for quite some time. How do I pray for what may be selfish but necessary needs? What do you think? After much thought, and more prayer (!) I decided to pray for an early spring for myself but added to that a prayer to God to watch over those who need extra income. We can pray for our needs and the needs of others and let God figure it out!

This month, let us examine our prayers and ask if God were to answer them, how would his decision affect others? Let us pray for our needs and remember others’ needs at the same time and know that God sent Jesus to be always at our side, in good times and bad.

God Bless, Holly Clark

Lenten Longings

Lenten Longings:
LET YOURSELF BE

Let us pray that our prayer and sharing lead us to greater self-understanding and to reverence anew God’s way of leading us to our deepest peace and truest potential through life’s rhythm of joy and struggle. – Lenten Longings

Last week I went to a workshop at the Archdiocese on “Lenten Longings”. Lenten Longings is a faith sharing program put out by Renew International, a company dedicated to renewing parish life and the faith of her parishioners. By rediscovering and sharing our faith we find that we renew ourselves and each other with Christ’s help.

During the six weeks of Lent we will gather in small groups to pray together, break open the Sunday scripture together and share our faith with one another. During Lent we are asked to reflect deeply into our faith and seek ways to becoming closer to Christ. We can only do that if we allow ourselves to just “let ourselves be.” We need to--we long to- allow Christ to take care of us and shape us into the people, or persons, we are meant to be. We need to be still and hear God’s voice in the quiet of our minds. Let us break open God’s Word this Lent and truly listen with our hearts as we are invited to “just be”…

… these reflections on the Sunday readings of Lent invite us to “let ourselves be so that together and alone we may be moved during this holy season by the Loving Presence who longs for us more than we long for life itself To this God of our longing, we entrust ourselves throughout this paschal journey, asking only that—little by little or in one great flaming of our hearts— we may let ourselves be set ablaze.
– Lenten Longings

We set our hearts ablaze when we come together to share our faith and our hearts with one another. We set our faith on fire when we join together in Christ’s name. And… we WILL set the world on fire with love. Please consider joining a Lenten Longings group (or leading one!). Details to come…
God Bless, Holly Clark