$50, Some Prayers and Some Smiles

$50, Some Prayers and Some Smiles
Last week I was touched by hearing the story of how some business proprietors touched the hearts of two of our parishioners. Two members of our Liturgical Environment team went out last week to purchase plants, flowers, gourds, etc. to decorate the church for Thanksgiving. The nursery owners gave them a $100-200 amount of stuff and only asked for fifty dollars and some prayers.

When these two ladies got back to the Church they couldn’t wait to share their story of goodness and generosity. As I was chatting with them I found myself uplifted. The Holy Spirit was at work. I got to thinking how a simple act of generosity brought two ladies some joy and happiness, uplifted my spirits and will eventually brighten up the spirits of out parishioners when they see the flowers, plants, etc. on the altar.

As we enter into the holy season of Advent let us try to perform random acts of kindness. One small act of kindness or generosity can blossom and grow to several acts and bring joy to a great many. As today’s second reading states:

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love
for one another and for all – 1 Thes 3:12

Just imagine! A world abounding in love! So let us begin Advent in love and kindness… When someone beats you out at the store for the must have toy… pray… maybe they have a sick child at home and it will be their last Christmas. When someone cuts you off in traffic… pray… maybe there is an emergency at home. When stressed out over too much to do preparing for the holidays… thank God for the love of family and friends, after all it is love that really matters. God Bless, Holly Clark

What are You Thankful For?

What are You Thankful For?
Last weekend I walked into a Michael’s Craft Store and was immediately bombarded by Christmas carols, Christmas crafts, cards, decorations and there was someone painting snowmen on the outside windows. I was there to buy a birthday gift and was really not ready to begin to think about Christmas. As I wandered the store I got to wondering whatever happened to Thanksgiving?

I have always thought of Thanksgiving as a time to count and reflect upon my blessings and what I am thankful for. I always thought Thanksgiving was a god secular holiday to prepare us for moving into Advent: a time of preparing for our Savior’s arrival.

So I ask you to try to not to be overwhelmed by materialism and focus on what you are grateful for this Thanksgiving. As we gather with family and friends let us do some holy remembering and see where God is at work in our lives.

Be thankful for loved ones… many are lonely.
Be thankful for the roof over your heads… many are homeless.
Be thankful for good health… many are suffering.
Be thankful for food on the table… many are starving.
Be thankful for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in your life…
Many will never know devine love…

Have a blessed Thanksgiving, Holly Cark

Got Talent?

November 15, 2009
Got Talent?

In our Church today, we find in our laity a huge reservoir of talent and expertise just waiting to be called on in the service of the Kingdom.

Theresa EE-Choi, Member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity (Malaysia)

Do you have talents to offer? In this new millennium we are facing a culture of pastoral planning as the number priests and religious decline drastically. We each need to do a serious inventory of our gifts and talents and discover where we can put them to the best use in service to our Lord and our parish. You may say “I have no talent. I have nothing to offer…” Nonsense! Everyone has a talent for something! Even a baby can give away a smile.

A few years ago I was unemployed and feeling a bit worthless when I was at Mass one Sunday morning and saw a Stewardship form for volunteering time and talent. I thought as I was not working that I had plenty of time to offer and did an inventory of my talents. I filled out the form offering my graphic design skills. My first project was designing a bulletin board for CCD classes. Later projects included flyers, PowerPoint presentations and building the parish website. Through this stewardship of time and talent I found myself reawakened spiritually. I fell in love with ministry! Stewardship lit the flame of my heart and I decided to dedicate my life to ministry. (You never know what God has in mind for you!)

Today as we conclude our stewardship talks I would ask each of you to reflect upon your talents. Please use today’s bulletin insert as an aid to discern your talents and gifts. Perhaps ask your friends and families where they think you are talented. I guarantee you there is spot here for you! Be brave! Walk into, or call, the church offices at Sacred Heart or St. Rose and say “YES! I am here to donate my time and talent!” If the church is to survive and thrive in the third millennium she will need ALL of us working together in communion with Christ.

Let us go forward in hope! A new millennium is opening before the Church like a vast ocean upon which we shall venture, relying on the help of Christ.
Novo Millennio Ineunte, Pope John Paul II, 2000

God Bless, Holly Clark

A Widow's Contribution

November 8, 2009
A Widow’s Contribution

In today’s gospel Jesus is awed by a widow’s contribution of a few coins towards helping others. In our culture today when a husband dies the wife inherits his goods. However, in old Israel, it is the children who inherit everything leaving the widow penniless and at the mercy of her children and society. Penniless widows were abundant in old Israel. In the Old Testament widows were considered the epitome of the lonely and helpless.

Widows in old Israel were readily recognizable by the wearing of special clothing called “widow’s reeds.” This made them easily recognizable and easy to victimize as their clothing signaled they had no man to protect them. In the New Testament, Paul (1 Timothy 5:3-16) and James (James 1:27) describe the special responsibility Christians have toward the caring of widows.

You can more fully understand now the context of today’s Gospel. Jesus easily recognized the woman as a widow because of her clothing and knew widows were almost always penniless. This is what made her giving so much more special. She not only was giving what few pennies she had but was also giving her heart.

Today let us reflect upon all that we have, count our blessings and remember those who have nothing. Let us not be judgmental. When a parishioner only puts in a few coins into our collection basket let us pray for that person for that may all they can give. Let us also pray for all widows and widowers who find themselves in poverty and loneliness. Let us share our earthly goods and our heart with one another.
God Bless Holly Clark

P.S. A careful reading of the above-mentioned New Testament passages will show that widows, especially older ones, wers called to a special vocation by Christianity. Christian widows came together as the first group of women to live the consecrated life, living in poverty, dedicating their lives to Jesus and service to the poor. Hence, in a way, they were our first nuns.

Source: A Guide to the Church, Lawrence B. Porter

Blessed are Those Who Mourn

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

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

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.

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.

Imagination

Setting Our Hearts Aflame
Imagination
Holly got a message that on this day, God wants her to know... that you are only as free as you imagine yourself to be. There is nothing ''out there'' that's holding you down, - you are limiting yourself only with your own imagination. And your greatest limits are not even the ''cannot'' and the ''should not'', but the places where your imagination hasn't yet gone at all. There has never been a better time for you to open your eyes, let the imagination soar and see what more is possible.

A few months ago I joined Facebook and I came across a little application called “What God wants you to know…” Everyday a little message is delivered to me. Very often these messages provide me with much food for thought and prayer.

This message brought me back to a day in November 1970. My parents gave me a newspaper clipping with the heading “My Parents Knocked the Word Can’t Out of My Life.” On November 8, 1970 the placekicker for the New Orleans Saints, Tom Dempsey, kicked the game winning field goal in the last two seconds of the game. The kick was good at 63 yards, a record still held today. What was amazing about this feat was that Tom Dempsey was born with only a partial right hand and no toes on his right foot (his kicking foot).

The news article gave a brief synopsis of Dempsey’s life. He gave full credit to his parents for encouraging him in anything he wanted to do. The word “can’t” was not allowed in his household (nor was it allowed in mine.) I kept that news clipping until this day as a reminder to me that with faith anything is possible.

The next time you feel something is impossible ask God to show you a path. Ask Him for strength, insight, and imagination and you will find that with God’s help, nothing is impossible.
God Bless… Holly Clark