Into the Desert

Lead me into the desert, oh Lord.
Make straight, my path.
Empty me of all that is self so that I may be filled with all that is You.
Purge me, gently break me, and rid me of pride, selfishness, arrogance, self-righteousness, laziness, vanity,
and doubt.

Lead me into the desert, oh Lord.
And, just as You did for Your Son, allow my angels to minister to me there.
As I come to You, on bended knee, to fast and pray.
Comfort me in my journey to the Cross.

Lead me into the desert, oh Lord.
Grant me strength to resist the wiles and snares that satan will lay before me.
Remind me that "men can not live by bread, alone".
Feed me on Your Sacred Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity; that my soul, my mind, and my body may be
nourished for all eternity.

I come to this Lenten Season with a heavy and troubled heart, my God.
Your beautiful and perfect Church is under attack in America.
Your beautiful and innocent babies in the womb are being left to killers' hands and their government will
not protect them, nor save them.
Your beautiful and precious Sacrament of Matrimony is being degraded and defiled and twisted in evil ways.
Those who profess their faith in you are being scorned, persecuted, mocked, and treated with disregard.

Oh, but You understand this, don't You?

For, before us, they did these things to YOU.

Breathe in me, Your words of comfort, (John 15:18) that before the world hated me, it first hated You.

And so, I ask You, oh Lord, my God...to lead me into the desert...for just as YOU were willing to suffer
at the hands of mere mortals for my sake; So, too, am I willing to suffer for YOU.

But, I beg of Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...let not my suffering be in vain.

Unite me to my Savior, Redeemer, and King, Jesus Christ, upon His holy Cross...that by HIS merit, by

HIS grace, and by HIS Passion, Death, and Resurrection, my humble offerings may be turned into blessings
to heal the sick, comfort the afflicted, love the unlovable, and save lost souls.

* The above is a meditation that came to my heart as I prepare and look forward to my own Lenten Journey, ahead. I share it with you, my brothers and sisters in Christ...here, in our wonderful Catholic Blogging Community, to let you know that I carry each and all of you with me "into the desert". I pray that Jesus will tend to you in the ways you need Him most and that these 40 days of prayer and fasting will draw you nearer to His Most Sacred Heart and bring you swiftly, and joyfully, to the glorious celebration of His miraculous RESURRECTION! I am blessed to be among you and I thank you all for your fellowship.

She Didn't Understand

Last night, my family had the privilege of attending a beautiful community penance service at the parish just across the bridge from ours. Our own pastor was a "guest" priest for the gathering; and 2 others came to join the "home" priest in West Virginia.

The pastor of the host parish offered a wonderful homily and something he said several times has stuck with me into the next day and has become a meditation for me as I go about my day.

I thought I'd share my thoughts with you here:

In speaking about The Annunciation, Father S. drew our attention to the fact, that even after Mary knew that her visitor was an angel of God...and even after she listened to his message AND his subsequent explanation of how the events being foretold would come to be...

SHE STILL DID NOT UNDERSTAND.

The Virgin Mary, the one, whom from all time was chosen, destined, prepared, and preserved in order to one day find herself greeted by an Angel and asked to be the mother of the Messiah...

DID NOT UNDERSTAND.

Mary was confused. She was "in the dark". She could not comprehend what was happening; much less God's WILL for her life...SHE WAS CLUELESS.

All that she knew was that she, like her people, had long-been awaiting the coming of a Savior.
She knew/believed that there was a God.
She knew/believed that it was His Angel who was speaking to her.

She knew of all that, but beyond it...

SHE DID NOT UNDERSTAND.

In fact, she no more understood what was happening or going to happen any more than WE do today...even after all these years and what we've learned since then!

The beauty of this idea is what came next.

This young girl, even though she was confused...even though she did not understand...and even though she was troubled in her heart...TRUSTED COMPLETELY and SAID "YES" to God.

She did not hesitate. She did not demand further explanation. She did not ask for a sign (though, it could be said, God offered her one in the pregnancy of Elizabeth for in seeing her cousin with-child, Mary  then knew that what had happened to her was REAL and was TRUE) and she did not stop to consider the consequences which might befall her...

She simply surrendered all to God and made herself available to Him as His chosen vessel!

We must be like Mary.

How many times do we cry out that "we do not understand"?

We do not understand why children and good people must suffer.
We do not understand why we do "x, y, and z" with our families according to the Teachings of the Church and yet, our lives end up tossed about in turmoil and confusion and it seems that those who have fallen away or have never known God to begin with, are often, (it appears) "better-off".
We do not understand the mysteries of our Faith, nor do we understand the depth or infinite components of God's love and mercy.
We do not understand why we feel so lonely when we are surrounded by people.
We do not understand what He is asking of us half the time...or if our choices/decisions reflect His will/plan.

But, even so...we can be like Mary.

We can go forth, on bended knee, in humility and with complete trust ...

AND SAY, "YES".

We need not ask for explanation...or wait for an audible/clear answer...

It is good enough to know that He is there and that He is GOD...our loving Father in heaven.

SHE DID NOT UNDERSTAND any more than we do.

Let us, like her, make ourselves "handmaids" and invite

"it to be done unto us according to His Word".

Do Catholics Worship Mary?

I'm hoping that some of the visitors we receive on this wonderful new community blog of ours are those who hale from different faith backgrounds than ourselves.
That being the case, I offer this post for their benefit:

I have found that this is one of the most common misconceptions about the Catholic Faith.
The plain and simple answer is: NO, Catholics do NOT worship Mary. Catholics worship ONLY the ONE, TRUE, GOD in the MOST HOLY TRINITY...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

True, Mary, as Mother of Our Redeemer, holds a special place of honor in our Church.
The proper term for the respect and esteem given to her in the Catholic Church is: veneration.

We "venerate" Mary.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines "venerate" as follows:
venerate - Definition

[vĕńə-rāt́]

(v.)	To regard with respect, reverence, or heartfelt deference.

As is made clear by that definition, to "venerate" is not the same as "worship", which is defined by the same dictionary as follows:worship - Definition

[wûŕshĭp]

(n.)

The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity

(v.)

To honor and love as a deity. Deity, is to be defined as: deity - Definition [dḗĭ-tē, dā́-] (n.) A god or goddess. (n.) The essential nature or condition of being a god; divinity. Catholics believe in One, True God, therefore "deity" pertains to that same God and no other. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states in # 963: "The Virgin Mary...is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of Our Redeemer...She is 'clearly the Mother of the members of Christ'...since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of Its Head"..."Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church". (Following are my personal thoughts): If we are to follow the example of Jesus, in His life on Earth, then we can not help but offer our respect, honor, and obedience to Mary, just as HE did. Well known is the story in Scripture of the Wedding in Cana, (John 2: 1~11), where Our Lord performed His first public miracle at the beckoning of His Mother! When Mary first said, "They have no wine", Jesus responded, "Woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come"...However, Mary goes on to tell the servants, "Do whatever He tells you"...and Jesus, AT THE REQUEST OF HIS MOTHER, honors her, respects her, and fulfills her request by changing the water into wine! : So to, must we "Do whatever He tells us"...and clearly, by His actions in Cana, He tells us that Mary is to be respected. The Angel Gabriel told this humble handmaiden, that she had found "favor" with God. So to then, should she find "favor" in our hearts if we are to follow His Way. As a homeschooling mother, I find SUCH comfort, and peace, and JOY contemplating Mary as she held, cuddled, loved, taught, cared for, and raised THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD! Think of how close you are to your son...(if you have one)...very often, if we wish to know something about someone, the best person to ask is his/her mother. This is what Catholics are doing when we venerate Mary. We are not "praying" using the sense of the term as to "worship"...we are "praying" using the sense of the term as to "ask, or request"...and what we are asking, is that she tell us about her Son...that as she kneels before Him in His Kingdom of Heaven, to please ask Him to help us, to bless us, to come to our aid, to bring us to Heaven with Him....and we trust, that just as He listened to her and granted her request at the Wedding in Cana...He will listen to her and grant her request on our behalf!

ALL Things

Romans 8:28 ~ We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according his purpose. (NAB St. Joseph Edition)


During his homily yesterday, my pastor offered a commentary regarding this passage that was a true "epiphany" for me.

Often, I think this passage is misinterpreted to mean that "good things happen to us when we love God".

Some relate this verse to "All things happen for a reason".


What my pastor stressed, in sharing his thoughts, and what I had NOT paid much attention to before now, is the word "ALL".  "We know that ALL things..."

"This means", said my pastor, "the joys AND the sufferings...the good times AND the trials....the feel-good days AND the sorrows and challenges....ALL things work together for good".

Perhaps it's just me, small, imperfect, finite, and not always the sharpest tack in the tool shed...but I had never considered it quite that way.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

It goes right along with the "Redemptive Suffering" that we discussed last week on this blog.

ALL things work for good for those who love God.

Without Christ, without His Sacrifice, without His Redeeming Grace, our bad days are just that: BAD DAYS.

But Romans 8:28 offers a whole new outlook on that, doesn't it?

Trusting in God's Word means that even our "bad days" are, for those of us who love God, "good days".

Each challenge, each trial, each sorrow, each test, each suffering, is working WITH each joy, each success, each adventure, each happy moment, and each celebration...ALL things...together...work for the GOOD.


I hope this thought brings you comfort, as it did me.

Interview

Hello, fellow Catholic Bloggers!

Recently, I had the pleasure and honor of being interviewed for an interesting blog entitled, "You, Me, & Religion". The author attempts to forge bridges amongst a diverse group of people from various faith backgrounds by allowing her blog to be used as an ecumenical sounding board via the interview process.

I was very happy that, as a guest, I was free to express my thoughts and opinions without sensor and my interview was published exactly as I submitted it.

I hope you will take a moment and stop by the following link to read it:

http://youmereligion.blogspot.com/2011/07/judy-dudich.html



Peace and joy to each and all of you as we strive to share the Faith with the world by means of "blogging"!