St Rita of Cascia

               I have attended St. Rita’s Catholic Church in Alexandria Virginia many times.  It was where my nephew was Baptized and received First Communion. I witnessed the blessing of my sister’s marriage after she became Catholic.  And yet, I never really thought about St. Rita and why she was a saint.  That is not until my sister and her family went to Italy last year.

               My nephew has a devotion to St. Rita, whose feast day we celebrated on May 22nd.  Many years, in fact most years, her feast day falls during the Easter season and is not celebrated.  My sister and her family drove to Cascia to visit St. Rita.

               She is a saint who was married.  (I always find the lives of married saints interesting, since that is my vocation!) She was born in 1386.  Her desire was to become a nun, but her parents had her marry a man of “cruel and ill temper”.  She lived as a model wife for 18 years until her husband was murdered.  Her twin sons died before they took revenge on those who killed them.  She was initially refused admission to the Augustinian convent at Cascia, and with prayer eventually became part of the community.  She was known for her prayers.  After her death in 1456, many miracles were reported to have been wrought at her intercession. 

               She is often called the Saint of Impossible Causes!  Her body is uncorrupted and she was canonized a Saint in 1900. For me there are at least two lessons to be learned from St. Rita. 

               The first lesson is that marriage is for life, no matter what the circumstance.  In today’s time, we choose our spouse and even then there are challenges once we are married.  As a wife it is important for me to believe that God brought my husband into my life so that we can help each other to eternal life.  That means that sometimes we drive each other crazy and other times we enjoy marital bliss.  Where ever we are in that journey, we are there for each other.  Our union, blessed by God, is a sacrament, not a contract.  “In sickness and in health” really means in sickness and in health!

               The second lesson is that by radically loving God, by putting Him first, even the difficult marriage of St. Rita was possible.  Persistence and perseverance are essential to achieving God’s purpose for life on this earth.

               I thank St. Rita for the great example of being a woman who lived for Christ.  St. Rita, pray for us!

It is a mystery!

               Recently, on an absolutely perfect May evening, I spent time in the courtyard of the Dominican House of Studies (DHS) in Washington D.C. enjoying libations and thoughtful conversation.  The occasion was the graduation of a friend of mine from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the DHS. Two degrees were conferred on my friend, who is a brother in the Order of Preachers. This evening was a milestone on his journey to become a priest in the order founded by St. Dominic nearly 800 years ago. 

               In the courtyard, there were dozens of men dressed in the white habit of the Dominican’s, many of them, like my friend, who are in the process of discerning their vocation as a priest.  I turned to my friend and commented, “Why do you think so many men are joining the Dominicans?”  “It’s a mystery,” was his comment.  At first I wanted to shrug off his comment, thinking that it is something that someone in religious life might say.  He began to discuss cause and effect, and at this point I knew I was way over my head trying to follow a line of thought by a philosophy major.  But he was insistent, in today’s culture, why would so many intelligent, talented, men be drawn to a life of obedience, poverty and chastity?  “It is a mystery” he emphatically declared.  Who understands how the Holy Spirit works?

               Those words have followed me since that conversation.  It especially crossed my mind today as I think about the Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form for Corpus Christi that will be held at my church tonight.  It will be the first Latin mass that I have attended in two years. 

               I could make the case that attending a Latin mass four years ago is the reason I am a member of a Lay Dominican community today.  At that time in my life, I was exploring my Catholic faith, and interested in trying new experiences that could bring me closer to God.  My interest in learning more about the Latin mass led me to take a class offered in my parish to help lay members learn Latin for the mass.  The young man who taught the class was considering a vocation and introduced me to the Order of Preachers.  When my regular confessor left the DC area and I was seeking formation, I ran across information about Lay Dominican communities.  I would have not followed this journey without listening to and following the urgings of the Holy Spirit. What mystery is planned for me today?

Lead Kindly Light

I recently heard an excerpt from Lead Kindly Light, a poem by Blessed John Henry Newman.  After reading the reflecting on it, I wanted to share it with you.

Blessed John Henry Newman was born at the beginning of the 19th century and lived until 1890.  He was a well known academic at Oxford and priest of the Church of England (Anglican). At mid-life, after much discernment,  he became Roman Catholic and was ordained a Catholic priest a few years later.  He was an important religious figure in England in the 19th century.  He also was a known literary figure and was named a Cardinal.

I hope you enjoy pondering the poem as much as I did. 

Lead, Kindly Light

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,

Lead thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home,--

Lead thou me on!

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene,--one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou

Shouldst lead me on:

I loved to choose and see my path, but now

Lead thou me on!

I loved the garish days, and, spite of fears,

Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

So long thy power hath blessed me, sure it still

Will lead me on;

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till

The night is gone;

And with the morn those angel faces smile

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 

John Henry Newman

Stirring Things Up!

               It the crazy month of May!  If you are a parent with children in school, you know what I mean.  Final concerts, end of the year parent meetings, sports playoff games, organizational meetings for Fall sports, final details for summer plans and maybe even planning the family vacation.  All of these joyful activities collide in this beautiful month of May.

               One of my May activities is leading a group of men and women through the 33 Days of Morning Glory retreat for Marian Consecration.  One of the participants said, “The idea of Marian Consecration is stirring things up, and my life is so busy that I don’t have time for them to be stirred up.”

               “Thank you Holy Spirit” was my silent response.  In this crazy busy world, sometimes I need to have my thoughts about my relationship with God “stirred up”. That is how I struggle and grow.  Today, I thought I would share with you some of the experiences that I have had that have “stirred things up” and brought me closer to the Lord.

Mary and Marian Consecration – As a convert, it took my many years to develop a relationship with Mary.  St. Louis de Montfort’s book True Devotion to Mary is a terrific read to understand Marian theology.  De Montfort’s Total Consecration for Mary is one method for Marian Consecration.  A second is the 33 Days to Morning Glory.  Both take 33 days and are begun on a day that allows consecration on a Marian feast. 

Catholicism series – Fr. Robert Barron is the creator and narrator of this 10 hours series on the Catholic Faith.  Rather than just words, this video series takes you on a world tour of sacred places, while teaching you about the faith.  It is visually breathtaking and spiritually challenging.  This is a series that every Catholic family should own!  It can be purchased on line for about $100 or so.

The Bible Timeline of Salvation History – Former protestant ministry, now Catholic leader has the premier video Bible Study.  This study takes you through fourteen books of the Bible and ties the Old Testament into the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  Well worth the 24 hours of viewing and the many hours of Bible reading.  More information, including studies happening in your area can be found by ascensionpress.com.

Walking Toward Eternity: Making Choices for Today.  – This is another video series by Jeff Cavins, but very different from Bible study.  It helps Catholics live out the faith they profess by cultivating Christina virtue in their daily lives. Walking Toward Eternity combines lectio divina, journaling, group discussion, video commentary and prayer to help individuals live lives of holiness and virtue.  The first series includes lessons on faithfulness, sacrifice, humility and thankfulness.

               

Two lives - St. Augustine on John

This morning, my family began the day with a trip to Mt. Olivet Cemetery, where my father in law and many members of his family are buried.  Each year, the family chooses one day to gather and remember the dead with a mass.  While waiting for mass to begin, I read the daily reading for the office.  In the following homily  St. Augustine describes life on this earth and life in heaven.  It is just too beautiful not to share! St Augustine's homilies on St John's gospel

      The Church recognized two kinds of life as having been commended to her by God.  One is a life of faith, the other a life of vision; one is a life passed on pilgrimage in time, the other in a dwelling place in eternity; one is a life of toil, the other of repose; one is spent on the road, the other in our homeland; one is active, involving labor, other contemplative, the reward of labor.    

     The first life, the life of action, is personified by the Apostle Peter; the contemplative life, by John. The first life is passed here on earth until the end of time, when it reaches its completion; the second is not fulfilled until the end of the world, but in the world to come it lasts for ever. For this reason Peter is told “Follow me”, but Jesus adds, “If I want John to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me”.There are two ways of life that God has commended to the Church. One is through faith, the other is through vision. One is in pilgrimage through a foreign land, the other is in our eternal home; one in labour, the other in repose; one in a journey to our homeland, the other in that land itself; one in action, the other in the fruits of contemplation.

  You are to follow me by imitating me in the enduring suffering; he is to remain till I come to restore the blessings that last for ever. To put it more clearly: let action, which is complete in itself, follow me and follow the example of my passion; but let contemplation, which has only begun, remain until I come, wait until the moment of its completion.

  It is the fullness of patience to follow Christ loyally even to death; the fullness of knowledge lies in wait until Christ comes again, when it will be revealed and made manifest. The ills of this world are endured in the land of the dying; the good gifts of God will be revealed in the land of the living.

  We should not understand “I want him to stay behind until I come” as meaning to remain permanently but rather to wait: what is signified by John will not be fulfilled now, but it will be fulfilled, when Christ comes. On the other hand, what is signified by Peter, to whom Jesus says “follow me”, must be realised now or it will never be fulfilled.

  But we should not separate these great apostles. They were both part of the present life symbolized by Peter and they were both part of the future life symbolized by John. Considered as symbols, Peter followed Christ and John remained; but in their living faith both endured the evils of the present life and both looked forward to the future blessings of the coming life of joy.

  It is not they alone that do this but the whole of the holy Church, the bride of Christ, who needs to be rescued from the trials of the present and to be brought to safety in the joys of the future. Individually, Peter and John represent these two lives, the present and the future; but both journeyed in faith through this temporal life and both will enjoy the second life by vision, eternally.

  All the faithful form an integral part of the body of Christ, and therefore, so that they may be steered through the perilous seas of this present life, Peter, first among the Apostles, has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, to bind and loose from sin. And also for the sake of the faithful, so that they may keep the still and secret heart of his mode of life, John the evangelist rested on Christ’s breast.

  It is not Peter alone who binds and looses sins, but the whole Church. It is not John alone who has drunk at the fountain of the Lord’s breast and pours forth what he had drunk in his teaching of the Word being God in the beginning, God with God, of the Trinity and Unity of God — of all those things which we shall see face to face in his kingdom but now, before the Lord comes, we see only in images and reflections — not John alone, for the Lord himself spreads John’s gospel throughout the world, giving everyone to drink as much as he is capable of absorbing.

Who Lights Up Heaven?

              Yesterday, during the opening collect at Mass, lights began to fade in the church.  Before the end of the first reading, the altar was only lit by candlelight.  (This was a power loss scheduled by the power company to replace a pole, so it wasn’t a complete surprise.) The silence seemed more pronounced during mass. The candle light was soft and fluid and the pace more leisurely.  I’m sure it was in my imagination, but it gave a different perspective to praising and worshiping God.

               Coincidentally, or not, a quote from the daily reading from Revelation 21 stood out for me.  It said, “The city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb. The nations shall walk by it light; to it the kings of the earth shall bring its treasurers.  During the day the gates shall not be shut and there will be no night.”   

                   And the reading for this Sunday is also from Revelation and references light in heaven.  Also in Revelation 21:22-23 is says, “I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.”

                   These readings made me think of the 6^th grade religious education class that I substitute taught a few weeks ago.  In an attempt to help them think about heaven as a real place, I asked them to draw a picture of what they think heaven will be like.  The results were interesting.  One drew a hotel, another had a place for fishing, and one girl can’t imagine heaven with Chipotle.  We talked about the idea that there will not be any hate or fear in heaven.  “But what about baseball?” asked one young man.   Will we need to sleep or eat? All of this, we did not know.

                   What I do know, from the two passages in Revelations is that there will not be a sun or moon or a night.  The light will come from the glory of God.  And yet in the church yesterday, it was the lack of artificial light that helped me feel closer to the one who has all the glory!