Choosing Life

               On this second day of Lent, the first reading for the mass this morning was from Deuteronomy.  Moses says, “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.” Many times when I read this reading, I think about the big life issues. Decisions made by men and women to bring a new life into the world, or to abort the infant. Or end of life issues that ignore the individual’s right to a natural death.

               The homily at mass this morning broadened the context. The priest preached on the decisions we make each day to follow the cross, as preached in today’s gospel, or to go our own way.  He made the point that choosing to follow the cross and die to self is seems like an extreme and foolish way of life in today’s culture.  And by following the cross and making decisions each day in accordance with the precepts of our God, we choose life, over and over again.

               Today’s reading also brought to mind a friend of mine.  She is one of a dozen or so young people who God has brought into my life in the past few years. We worked together for a short time and have kept in touch over the years.  She and her husband have not been able to conceive a baby.  Although they continued to have hope, I knew that they were also going to try to adopt.

               Last spring, I received a Facebook post with the picture of her little boy.  I had lunch with the two of them on Monday and learned the beautiful story of the adoption.  They brought the baby home from the hospital on his third day of life. They learned only 18 hours before they met the baby that they would be parents.  They spent that evening calling family and friends both to notify them and to ask for help.  They shopped to buy the essentials that night.  While they were at the hospital meeting the birth mother and the infant, friends were assembling the crib at their house!

               They had a number of names for the baby, but first asked what the birth mother had named the baby.  It was not a name on the list, but they liked it and decided to use it as his first name.  The baby is now 9 months old and he is beautiful.  He loves music and seemed enchanted when I sang Itsy, Bisty, Spider to him.  (Or he was just putting up with another crazy lady who was singing to him!)

               How tragic it would have been if he had never been born.  And so each day decisions are made to choose life or to choose death.  Those to choose life, such as the decision made by my friend and her husband can bring great joy. Some may include suffering, or at the very least bending ones will to that of the Lord.   When life is chosen, it keeps us on the path that God has designed for us.

I Love You Pope Benedict!

               I woke up on this Monday morning with a list of things to get done.  Later today, I will see a friend that I have not seen in a year.  But my morning routine came to an abrupt halt at 6:58 am when I received an email alert from the New York Times about the resignation of our beloved Pope Benedict XVI.  How can I not take a few minutes to reflect on the effect that this great man of God has had in my life?

               He is only the second Pope that I have known.  In my senior year of college, John Paul I died just weeks after being elected Pope.  Even as a non-Catholic, I became fascinated with the election process in the fall of 1978.  Being a political science major, the process, which was nearly 2000 years old, was engrossing.  In fact I’m glad there wasn’t anything like CNN as I may have skipped class to watch!

               I was waiting for a flight at O’Hare airport when I learned of Pope John Paul II death.  At that time, my faith life was minuscule and I was curious, but wary of this new German Pope.  The months flew by and soon we learned that Pope Benedict would come to Washington DC. My then 10 year old son immediately asked if we could see the Pope.  My internal reaction was, “We aren’t good enough Catholics to see the Pope”.  However I responded, “We will see.”

               And we were able to attend the mass at Nationals Park.  When our pastor asked for people to submit their names if they wanted to attend, I wrote a letter.  When I got call, I felt like we had won the lottery.  What I didn’t realize was that the Holy Spirit was busily at work over these months, preparing me to be open to God’s call back to him later that summer.

               It was an inspiring day to see priests and bishops cheered like rock stars.  The liturgy was beautiful and the Pope had a message that made me stop and ponder the insignificant amount of time that I gave to God.  Just two months later, God swept me back to him in the most marvelous manner.  During this re-conversion  I have learned much from reading what this holy man of God has written.  He writings will be with the Church for the ages.

               When I was in Rome 18 months ago, we walked to St. Peter’s Square the first night we arrived.  The lights were on in the Pope’s apartments.  I had this childlike delight when his lights turned out and I whispered “Good night Pope Benedict” as I strolled thought the streets of Rome back to the hotel.  I love listening to him speak English with his adorable German accent.  When he met with the young people in England, I was taken aback at the huge smile, reflecting the great love his has the youth of the world.

               I have watched as he has slowed down in the past couple of years.  I have prayed that the Lord give him the physical and mental strength to continue his great work. I admire him even more for making this difficult decision.  After February 28, we will continue to benefit from his continual prayer.  I love you Pope Benedict and you are in my prayers!

Actions of the Holy Spirit

               Last week, my attention focused on events that came together in an interesting way. I stopped and pondered the connection. How often has the Holy Spirit been active in my life when I was not aware of it?

              

                On Thursday, my son turned 16.  Some years I am focused on find the right gift or gifts for him.  Other years, I prepare when I shop for Christmas, since his birthday is in January.  This year, the day arrived without a package wrapped. (Part of the reason is that he is a Baltimore Raven’s fan and he is hoping for Super Bowl Championship clothing this coming week.)

               As his birthday approached this year, I was filled with wonder at the gift of being a parent.  A variety of my favorite memories played over and over in my brain.  I remember those first weeks and my husband and I navigated our new roles of mom and dad.  Visits to the zoo, our vacation to Yosemite when he, as an 18-month old, carried a stick in every picture, reading the entire series of Magic Tree House books as a family and watching him play baseball. 

               As he is on the cusp of adulthood, I wondered at the wisdom of giving my son to God when he was just days old.  At that time in my life, I believe in God, but didn’t have a consistent prayer life.  The first night that I but him to sleep in his room, before I put him in the crib, I held him, said an Our Father in his ear and traced a cross on his forehead. And he I said something like, “God, I can’t protect him from all of the dangers of this world, only you can.   Please protect him, he is yours.”  I kissed him on his forehead and laid him in the crib.  That began a pattern of praying an Our Father with him every night until he began going to bed by himself.

               As I listened to the priest’s summary of Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, I realized that the day I committed my son to God was close to, if not on this feast.  It has its roots in a day of purification and of presentation and consecration.  I had no idea that this feast even existed at the time.  I can only believe that it was the Holy Spirit that encouraged me to entrust my son to God.

               As he begins to drive in the next year, look at colleges and spends more time with friends, I will continue to pray for his protection and for him to have the wisdom to follow God’s plan for him. May the Holy Spirit continue to act in both of our lives, even when we aren’t conscious of his action. 

Life

On Friday, I walked with hundreds of thousands of men and women, boys and girls from across the United States for the defense of life.  The number of young people carrying placards saying. “We are the Pro-Life generation” was impressive.  I had many friends who participated in the March for Life, including my son, but chose to walk alone so that I could observe it without distraction.  It also allowed me to pray as I walked.

I stood at the corner of 7^th Street and Constitution to observe the beginning of the march. Behind the Knights of Columbus, who carried flags, were dozens of women carrying signs that proclaimed, “I Regret My Abortion”.  I admire them for their honesty and willingness to speak about an event that most likely happened when they were young. At middle age, they are trying to make a difference in a culture that wants to claim that their message is a “War on Women”.  But they know a sadness and guilt that has accompanied them and hope that other women will not have to experience it.

I watched as hundreds and thousands of individuals, young and old marched.  After forty minutes or so, I joined the masses and began my trek. As I walked, I thought about the heroes in my life who have made the choice for life in difficult or inconvenient situations.  

          My former boss’s daughter found herself pregnant and unmarried at 19.  She has taken to motherhood while working and finishing college.  Not an easy life, but her daughter is the delight of her life.

          My niece chose life when she discovered she was pregnant at 17 years old.  She had her son, who is now 12, married the father a few months later, had another child and finished her college degree.  She works as an auditor and is an outstanding wife and mother.

          My brother and his wife were counseled to not have their child when the test came back that he might have Down syndrome.  Their son was born and will be 12 in March.  Our family life would be greatly impoverished without Jon’s lively sense of humor and fearless honesty. 

And there are many more.  I learned this year that Justin Bieber’s mom had considered abortion but was counseled at a Crisis Pregnancy Center and choose life – to the delight of teenage girls around the world!

Abortion became legal when I was 15.  The women of my generation were the first to be allowed this “freedom” of eliminating pregnancy.  I do not judge women who chose abortion; in fact I have a deep empathy for them.  I doubt that many women make this decision easily, thinking that it is their only option.

I do believe, in the core of my soul, that abortion is violence against women.  While I have not had an abortion, I lost a baby in the 16^th week of pregnancy. It took many years for me to be able to think about the loss of without tears.  It is my great hope that the young people who are the pro-life generation are able to influence our law makers and help us to become, once again, a country that protects all life.

Evangelization in 2013

               Typically, I try not to copy the ideas and thoughts of other bloggers but today, I am making an exception.  In August, I heard Indianapolis Auxiliary Bishop Christopher Coyne preach and I have been following his blog – Let’s Walk Together, Thoughts of a Catholic Bishop - since.  He usually posts something very timely once a week. On his last post, he offers 25 suggestions for actions that we might consider if we are serious about evangelizing in 2013. 

               Originally, I was going to blog about five of the options that really spoke to me. I can't choose five!  There are so many great suggestions, that all of them are listed below. I think my favorite is “to talk about Jesus Christ and my faith to someone at least once a day”.   If you want to read his entire post, click on http://thoughtsofacatholicbishop.blogspot.com/. 

Quote from "Thought of a Catholic Bishop" Blog 

As a Catholic Christian committed to the Church and the work of the new evangelization, I resolve with the love of Christ in my heart and the guidance of the Holy Spirit:

- to strive to grow in my love for the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church everyday.

- to be someone who seeks opportunities to invite others to faith in Jesus Christ and then seizes those opportunities when they come.

- to try and talk about Jesus Christ and my faith to someone at least once a day.

- to strive to live as someone who seeks to love God with all my heart, with all my mind, and with all my soul and to love my neighbor as I would seek to be loved.

- everyday to wake up in the morning, put my feet on the floor, and before I stand up, bow my head in praise to God for all that he has done for me. 

- everyday as I prepare for bed, to sit or kneel at my bedside and thank God for the blessings of the day and seek His forgiveness for any of my human transgressions. 

- to attend Sunday Mass every week, arriving at least 15 minutes before Mass starts so I can properly prepare myself to listen to the Word of God and celebrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

- every time I eat, regardless of where I am, to give thanks to God for the food I am about to receive.

- to celebrate the Sacrament of Confession and Reconciliation at least once a month or more as needed.

- to meditate on the daily Mass readings. 

- to pray the Rosary once a day.

- to be someone who seeks to judge less and understand more.

- to remember that,"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into the doing that matters." (Blessed Mother Teresa) 

 - to balance the way I talk about the Church. If I have to complain about something I do not agree with or like about the Church, I will remember to say something about what I love about the Church, especially around others who may not believe as I do.

- to chose one night per week in which I will not watch TV, use my computer, play on my phone, laptop, or tablet, text, tweet, or FB or anything like that. Instead, I will become involved: involved with my church, a charity, a neighbor, whatever the opportunity and the desire leads me. 

- to "tithe" some part of myself (time, treasure, and talent) to furthering God's kingdom in this world.

- to meditate seriously on the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy and to strive to live them.

- to be meek but not "milquetoast."

- to comfort those who mourn.

- to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

- to be pure of heart in thought, word, and deed.

- to be merciful.

- to be a peacemaker but to also be courageous.

- to be righteous before God and others.

I resolve to be a child of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

Twelve Drummers Drumming

             Today is January 6^th, the twelfth day of Christmas.  As a child my sister and I would love to play a record that we had of the song, “Twelve Days of Christmas”.  We had created dance moves to go along with the song and when we got to the twelfth day, we would be leaping, and dancing and drumming and milking in quick secession.  Growing up in a Protestant faith, I didn’t have any sense of what the twelfth day of Christmas really meant and Christmas ended on December 25^th. Of course, we knew that the wise men came bearing gifts to Jesus, but not in the context of the twelfth day.

               Four Christmases ago, during the first year that I was attending daily mass, I was astonished and overwhelmed by the beauty of the daily masses during the week after Christmas.  That year, the twelfth day, or Epiphany really came alive for me.  This reality has changed how my family and I celebrate Christmas. Some years, we have an Epiphany party or open house to celebrate the twelfth day.  Our Christmas decorations don’t some down until after the Sunday after Epiphany and Christmas songs are played in our home and car until the end of the Catholic Christmas season.

               I’ve learned that Epiphany means the manifestation of God to man.  And that there are actually three events when God manifested himself to man: as the kings arrive to pay homage to Jesus, at the baptism of Christ and during the wedding at Cana when he begins the public journey that will take him to Jerusalem, Golgotha, and the tomb where he will be resurrected.

               As I gaze at the babe in the manger, I wonder what it must have been like to have been those kings whose journey finally ended in this humble setting.  And what did they experience that had them worshiping the King of the Jews on their knees?     For that matter, what did those who watched the baptism of Christ feel as they saw John pour water over his cousin?  We know of the wonder of the apostles who watched Jesus first miracle, perhaps tasted the watch into wine and then believed!

               Then I think of the times that God has made himself manifest to me.  Sometimes in very small ways and a few times that have been that have caused goose bumps to pepper my arms, and my life to change immensely.  In this year of faith, I pray that I will be wise enough and courageous enough to share with others these times when God has been revealed to me.

               So rather than celebrating Twelve Drummers Drumming today.  I wish you a very joyful twelfth day of Christmas.  While most of us are back to our regular routines, I pray that you keep the peace of Christmas with you in the coming week!

              

A year of JOY

               On January 2^nd, a local Christian radio station asked listeners to select one word that would describe 2013.  Some of the choices included patience, endurance, and love.  All are good choices, but did not ring true for me.  Then I realized that as I was writing the majority of my Christmas cards, during the twelve days of Christmas, I found myself wishing my family and friends a JOYful New Year, rather than a Happy New Year.  So my choice for 2013 is JOY.

               That old Christian song, “You will know they are Christians by their love”, should be rewritten, “you will know they are Christians by their JOY”!  My goal this year is to find joy everyday in it activities, knowing that there will be struggles, challenges and even sadness.  Joy in work, joy in family life, joy in exercise (well maybe not), all grounded in my relationship with God. 

               My resolve was tested on the morning of January 3^rd.  The back of a religious pin that I was putting on scampered down the drain of my bathroom sink.  I slammed my finger in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator.  Someone pull out right in front of me on the way to work and then proceeded to drive very slowly in front of me for most of my drive.  When I got to work, I realized that I had forgotten something that I needed. During each of these events, my temper was tested and each time I replied, “JOY”.   And I did have a joyful day!

               Today, I found joy in accomplishing a report for a client, in spending time reading and writing and in taking my teenage son to the local football field for him to practice kicking and punting.  Twice I almost caught the ball, having my hands on it, but not quiet able to hang on.  (I didn’t realize how hard it is to catch a football!)  If I hadn’t gone with him, I wouldn’t have spent more than an hour outside in the sunshine today.  (The high is 37 degrees, so it is cold, but with the right clothes and being active it was a delight!)

              A few days down and more than 350 to go. To keep the joyful theme, I plan to play a version of Joy to the World each morning and I prepare breakfast and pack lunches.  For the source of this JOY is because the Lord has come.

               And on this 10^th Day of Christmas, I wish you a 2013 filled with JOY!