life is changed....not ended

I went today to the funeral of my best friend's mom.  It is a comfort to know that death is not the end of our lives, just a change.  The liturgy was beautiful.  There is the reminder at the beginning of our baptism.  The Easter candle is lit, the coffin is sprinkled with Holy Water, and the funeral pall, symbolic of the white garment at baptism is placed over the casket. Things come full circle.  The readings were perfect, and the music was beautiful.  There was one song that was sung during the blessing with incense, that I would love to have at my own funeral.  Something about "May the Angels Lead You into Paradise".  I don't recall hearing it before...

As I sat in the church, I wondered if now friend's mom is present with us at Mass - in the company of the angels and saints who are at every Mass.  There is every reason to hope, and she is almost certainly in a better place, freed from the limitations that were part of life here.

Plans to visit with my friend after the funeral were changed when she called to tell me that she had an awful virus and to stay away!  I'm glad that I have planned to take off on Monday for a real chance to visit.  I am always reluctant to "use my days", but this is one of those things that fits the "10 year rule".  Will it matter in 10 years if we visited?  Possibly, because sometimes there are years between our visits and they are grace-filled times.  While I would like to make a trip to the monastery yearly, one never knows what the future holds.  Will it matter in 10 years if I was at work on 1.11.10?  Probably NOT!

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of Cody's death.  If ever anyone got a headstart on their "purgatory time" while they were still on earth, it was this child.  I still think of him often.  I can still see that twinkle in his eye. 

And tomorrow is the first anniversary of my neighbor's death.  For over 40 years, our families lived next door to each other.  I don't think they make neighbors like that anymore.  A wonderful, kind, gentle person who never had anything bad to say about anyone.

When I got back to town, I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription.  While I was there, I ran into Ms. Clara and her granddaughter.

May they all rest in peace, and may perpetual light shine upon them!

if a picture is worth 1000 words

Then maybe this is worth about 16,000??  This is from a Facebook application that randomly selected 16  pictures (and then allowed you to make substitutions) from the year.  Lots of high points!  Winter camp, my trip to Langhorne, snow, camping, decorations from church, the cat, the garden.  It's all good!

words of wisdom

Bible Study tonight.  It was good to be back after three weeks off for the holidays.  Sometimes what Jeff [Cavins] has to say is really good and sometimes what our pastor has to say is really good.  Sometimes both.

Things that caught my ear from Jeff:   Be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.  (Matthew 10:16)  Make your heart a project.  Develop your spiritual life.  Know yourself.  Be shrewd, wise, and innocent. 

The goal of the religious formation of our children is that they love God more than us.

A holy fear of God  is necessary to avoid sin and its consequences.

From the good monsignor after the video:   Be not afraid!  Be faithful!  Do not be complacent!  He further explained that if you are feeling comfortable with your spiritual life, then that's not good.  So conversely, I guess that makes it good news that I am not feeling real happy with mine right now!

leftovers

Putting communication with God (prayer) ahead of other things in my life is looking to be an ongoing struggle.  Reflecting the other night, I came to the conclusion that in this area of my life, God is getting the "leftovers".  When everything else has been done, the last pair of pants ironed, the last Facebook status checked, the last lesson plan done, the last Bejeweled game played, the last email answered, THEN it is time for prayer.  The result of this is that I am often tired and often just blow through my prayers with about a half a mind working.  The focus is on just getting through.  The chances of God speaking to me through this prayer - or rather the chances of me hearing him - are slim.  And prayer is about communication.  The other option is that I pray before I do those things that I really "want" to do, which results in about the same effect - rushing through just to be finished so I can get on to other things. Maybe I should pray about prayer.

Also too, I realized that this attitude applies to other areas of my life, as well.  I can fuss and complain that things are not as they should be, but when I give only the leftovers...well...  Leftovers can only be reheated so many times.

a quick trip back

For the past several years, I have used photographs from the preceding year to make a calendar for the upcoming year.  Gives me a chance to enjoy the pictures again, and gives me a place to write things down.

Looking back at 2009...

January was a busy month.  Hubby's sixth grandchild was born.  The following day, our neighbor of over 40 years passed away.  This was unexpected and our holiday celebrations won't be the same.  She was part of our family.  One of the few people who never had a bad thing to say about anyone.  A few weeks later, our family made a trip to Tampa to visit the new grandchild, and the rest of his family.  The boys and I flew.  It was their first flight, and my first flight in over 20 years.  God showed his sense of humor because my stepson's mother was also on the same flight - going to visit!  We also began a 24-week Bible Study at church - the Bible Timeline.

February brought us the celebration of Mardi Gras and an opportunity for me to pick up a little extra cash by tutoring.  This made for some long days.

March continued the journey through Lent.  The boys went on a couple of camping trips; I spent a day with them at the Camporee, but came home to sleep!  Lent was a productive time for me.

April was a busy, busy month with things at school, Holy Week, family from New Jersey visiting.  Dear hubby was at home most of the month, waiting medical clearance for work.

May brought the typical end-of-the-year stresses from school.  I attended a Mother's Day of Reflection which I enjoyed immensely and which offered respite from the stress.  School ended on May 22, and I finalized plans to visit my best friend at her monastery in Pennsylvania at the end of the month.  Our Bible Study took us through Samuel and Kings. 

In June, I returned from my visit with my friend.  What a wonderful treat that was!  I went anticipating the visit, but was delighted to find abundant QUIET!  I attended a week long "camp" for teachers that I found very enjoyable and worked for a week at an art camp for students, which I found interesting.  I made the wonderful discovery of a church parish about a mile and a half from my church.  I had avoided it for years, because of the liklihood that I would be the only white person in attendance.  However, I needed to work around the times of the camp for daily Mass, and the Mass times at that parish worked.  I loved it!  And I made a new friend.  And occasionally I was the only white person besides the priest, and it was OK.

July brought many birthdays (as did June), a week at camp in Georgia for my boys, and another week at Art Camp for me.  A visit from a friend who moved away, and the end of summer - already!

August was filled with back to school things - open houses and inservices.  Our Bible Study concluded with a supper and a video presentation of our pastor/facilitator's trip to Ireland. 

Things got into rhythm in September.  Our Boy Scouts went on a "Shoot and Swim" activity at camp.  After all the rain, a better name would have been "Slosh and Swat".  I did get to shoot a rifle, though, and we had a good day, mud and all.  Another Bible Study got underway - a study of the Gospel of Matthew. 

The undisputed highlight of October was a visit with my friend from Pennsylvania.  A family emergency allowed for her to be at home, and we were able to spend a wonderful, wonderful day together visiting.  It was a rare day when everything just went right.  I also spent an enjoyable weekend on a campout with my boys and my scout friends.

November followed October.  There was a Confirmation Mass at our parish for the youth.  I spent a night and a couple of days at Winter Camp with our Boy Scout troop.  Sleeping in a tent just isn't as comfortable as it once was!

And before we knew what happened, December was here!  Advent.  Christmas.  Decorating. Ornaments.  Presents.  Gumbo.  Lessons and Carols.

A whole trip around the sun!

changed by the light

Today marks the Feast of the Epiphany.  The arrival of three pagan kings from far-off lands to pay homage to a little Jewish baby.  People must have thought they were crazy!  However, they were drawn there by the Light.  The light of faith, moreso than the light of a star.  They brought gifts - gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, myhrr for a suffering servant.  How well those three identies define Jesus!  And when they arrived at the place where the baby was, they were touched by him.  They left this encounter changed. 

We are drawn to Jesus.  Do we make the journey to  Him?  Or do we expect Him to come to us?  Do we bring the gifts of our lives to Him?  Our sorrows, our joys, our successes, our failures, our sinfullness, our holiness?  Do we leave those things with Him or do we take them home with us?  When we encounter Him in the sacraments or in prayer or in the Word, do we leave changed? 

       

I still haven't figured out how to make pictures do exactly what I would like them to do on blogger. 

resolution or revolution?

Happy New Year!

2009 was pretty good!  I would say there were probably more highlights than lowlights.   We lost one almost-family member at the beginning of Janaury, but other than that we are mostly healthy and still alive. No arrests.  No accidents.  No close friends moving far away.  No unemployment.  Nothing worth complaining about.  Hopefully 2010 will bring more good things than bad.  More blessings than trials, though there are certain to be some of each.

We started the year off right with Mass at 8:30 this morning.  The official title of the day is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.    I can remember it having other titles when we were growing up.  A celebration of the circumcision of Jesus (ouch), the Feast of the Holy Family, and something about the Octave of Christmas.  Yesterday at the Anticipated Mass, Father talked about Mary, and while he had lots of good points, his homily was really difficult to summarize.  More like a collection of thoughts. 

Today was a little more streamlined.  He mentioned New Year's Resolutions - which I refuse to even bother with.  He said that the only resolution worth making is to resolve to make use of all the opportunities given to us to live as a child of God.  That sounds fairly reasonable.  Off the top of my head, I can see that the sacraments offer us opportunities to live as children of God.  Even confession - Reconciliation - is a gift which acknowledges God as a loving and merciful Father and frees us from our sins - allowing us to live with the dignity of one of God's chosen ones.  Certainly there will be opportunities other than the sacraments.  Opportunities for service.  Opportunities for prayer.  Opportunities of worship and thanksgiving.  Opportunities for study and learning.  Let us use the opportunities we are given.  If the world would resolve to do that, Father says, then we will not have a resolution, but a revolution.