A beautiful Prayer for meditation

Christmas Prayer of Pope John

Christmas Prayer of Pope John XXIII
O sweet Child of Bethlehem,
grant that we may share with all our hearts
in this profound mystery of Christmas.
Put into the hearts of men and women this peace
for which they sometimes seek so desperately
and which you alone can give to them.
Help them to know one another better,
and to live as brothers and sisters,
children of the same Father.
Reveal to them also your beauty, holiness and purity.
Awaken in their hearts
love and gratitude for your infinite goodness.
Join them all together in your love.
And give us your heavenly peace. Amen.

Pope John XXIII
~~~~~~

Christmas Prayer of Pope John

A little Christmas Miracle

Six months ago I began my DRE journey with the same fears and joy that I had with the birth of each of my children. There was joy in knowing that this new path is where I needed and wanted to be, but there was also fear of the unknown. Looking back I am aware of how each day I have grown and become more comfortable in the day to day decisions I have to make. The role of a parish catechetical leader is not an easy one, but I am so thankful to have faithful mentors around me who I can confide in and go to when I am perplexed, flustered, or down right confused. Today as I wrap up my work for the 2010 year, I was wonderfully surprised with our parish’s new website. This has been something that I have been praying about for some time. How important is it to be able to reach out to our community through a friendly and easy to use virtual front door? It is invaluable! In fact, a few hours after checking it out, a parish member called me to express his pleasure. He had heard me say “we are working on getting a new website” for a few months and here it was! The new website had not been a priority until the new staff, including myself, realized that it had to be a priority. Through team work and open communication the parish manager and the faith formation team pressed on. Providentially, a parish member called asking to help us with a new website. He is someone who came through RCIA last year and owns a business in communications. I think he understands the mission of the virtual evangelist, especially as he himself experienced the transformative power of what “being in community” means. My DRE journey must include cyber space as one of the evangelization fields. I am just a novice in this realm….but today I am affirmed that I have a lot of good people around me who God sends at the right time and we must be prepared so we can say “yes, let’s do it, we are ready”! Can’t get caught up in my biases or fears….come to think of it, isn’t this the Christmas message…to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. If we focus on our fears, we can’t receive him…but if we open ourselves up and say “yes Lord, let’s do it, I am ready”’ well, perhaps that is how the miracle will happen! Overall, as I finish this last blog for the year I am blessed to be sitting here marveling at my little Christmas miracle: Incarnation’s new website!

My Return Home through the Cross

This week I have been asked to reflect on the Parable of the prodigal Son-in reality this story should be known as the Forgiving Father. In this story we have 3 characters but I want to focus on two:
The younger son who takes his possessions, asks for what is his, and goes off to make his own fortune. The story is told through the lens of that culture, which the son, by asking for his inheritance before his father’s passing on means that he, has no intention of returning.
Then we are told of The Father who represents our loving God, who when his son asks for what is his, gives it to him even knowing that his son’s intention is to never come back. He knows his son is asking for independence. He knows that his son doesn’t realize what he is asking for, and gives it to him anyway.
What happens? The son eventually realizes that he has lost everything. The story doesn’t go into detail, because a parable is not meant to be rich in details, but the richness is in the meaning. What meaning does it have for us to understand that when we go off to try to do things on our own, we end up losing?
Personally, I can share that I have been that son who thinks he doesn’t need his father. I walked away from God, thinking that I can get what I need from my work, from my family or friends, even from my husband. I realized eventually, that if I am not in a relationship with God, all of those things are just distractions. Those distractions create more distractions. I have approached God with an attitude of what I could “get” from him. We live in a culture where what is valuable is what we “get”, what we acquire, what we work for. The lesson in this story is that those things that we go after are not what God has in mind for us.
God gave us his Son, who willing gave up everything in order to do God’s will. Some days I am very aware of my cross-I feel overwhelmed by financial obligations, by work commitments, by goals that I have set for myself…..and I realize when I am in prayer; this is not what God wants of me-to be a fool running around, no sense of time, no sense of who I am. He wants me to be whole, and so I have to give it all up. Every day when I wake up God asks me to give him everything: my kids, my husband, my life. This is not easy…. the more I know this, the more I need to talk to God and listen to what he is asking of me.
This morning was a very tough for me. My family is going through some very difficult problems. After spending the morning consulting experts on the matters that I am struggling with, I took a detour and ended up at a prayer garden. This prayer garden was very peaceful; there was a meandering path, and shade trees, nooks to meditate in the beauty of a natural park. What struck me was that this prayer garden was actually a path for praying the Stations of the Cross. God led me straight to His cross. Now, my family prays this meditative prayer every Lent, usually on Fridays. It is a wonderful way to reflect on the mystery of Christ’s passion story-that Jesus, who was a man as well as divine, suffered for our sins -he willingly carried his cross all the way up to the hill where he was cruelly murdered. He did that for me, and for you!
As I walked into this park I encountered the first station, where there was a beautiful, large sculpture, carved out of white rock, it presented me the image of Jesus being handed his cross. I encountered this mystery through this artwork and realized that without knowing the prayer by memory, I was beginning to understand this experience in a very deep and new way. I understood that I too have to willingly take my cross, to plunge into my situation head on, to accept what comes my way, whether I deserve it or not. I can’t try to hide from my problems, or numb myself through alcohol or eating or shopping or smoking or mindless TV watching…or whatever else.......no I must accept it. Then I continued to walk this path and I ended up in a smaller path where I encountered the 4th station. Here I saw Jesus falling under the weight of the cross….this is how I felt at that moment. I didn’t think I could bear this problem….tears came to my eyes, because as I scanned the park I saw how much more Jesus endured for me…..I was only at the 4th station and yet, he didn’t give up then. In fact, I noticed that there were people around him who were helping him carry this cross. I thought of the people in my life that God has been sending me lately to give me a good word, or have prepared a meal, or gave a ride to my son to a soccer game, or have prayed for me. I realized that my father in heaven sent those people to me; these are the people who are helping me carry my cross. The faith of these people is the faith that is sustaining me. I wondered, was Jesus also feeling like he couldn’t carry this cross any longer? Did these people who appeared not just give him physical assistance, but also spiritual and mental strength? Jesus knew he had to keep going. I know I have to keep going too. This station was encouraging me to accept my cross with faith.
After walking this tranquil path, I came to the end….the final station which is where Jesus is being taken from the Cross and only a few friends are there left with him. Almost everyone had abandoned him, but God never did. His mother and his closest friend John were still there. I think about my life….who has stuck by me through thick and thin? These people were my church! They are the ones who love me even when I have nothing left…. Nothing at all….and yet, they don’t see through the lens of the world; they see that in reality, I may have something very powerful, something very valuable, I may have a purified heart. Why is my heart pure? Because by giving it all away I may gain something better, I have God’s love and mercy. I can’t cling to things I can acquire….in giving up the material stuff, my power, my ego, my obsessions, my distractions, I find that God gives me something much more meaningful and important for me.
As I reflected on this thought, that God is asking me to do what Jesus did, to follow him by letting go of everything and everyone, I too will find peace. At the end of that walk, I ended up in a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and there was a group of ladies there in adoration. At first I wanted to stay hidden from the Blessed Sacrament, but soon I knew I needed to get closer. I had to talk to Jesus….I had to plunge into the mystery of what is he asking me to do. My tears felt like a cleansing. I sat there in front of the tabernacle and heard these words: “Are you willing to let go so I can give you something better?”
This question was like a break through…..God is telling me to trust in him. Can I really trust in him? I claim to be a Christian, someone who is a follower, a disciple of Jesus…this is where the rubber hits the road. Darn it, I thought to myself, I have been in denial! Look at all the stupid things I have said, not said, done, not done…..pretending to be someone I am not. God is saying to me-let go Carmen. Let it all go. I can’t Lord, I have a lot of good reasons why I can’t. So did Jesus, by gosh, he was just starting his ministry, he was just organizing his church, he had so many more people to save. Yet, God had a different plan. Jesus was willing to struggle through what God had placed before him and let it all go and in doing so God has left me and you with his church and his gifts which are the sacraments. I so easily continue to walk away from it, and yet, God continues to call me back. God wants you back.
Why do we go to church? Do we go to “get” something? Or because we want to let go? By bringing our kids to the church for the sacraments are we teaching them that we can “get” confession, or "get" communion….or that we are called by God to reach deep inside ourselves, be true to ourselves, and before a priest, who is representing Christ, be able to say “I am sorry I haven’t been able to let go….help me! Heal me!” He wants us to have enough trust in Him that whatever our cross is that we may be carrying, He will not abandon us! He sustains us through his church, through his sacrament of Eucharist. These are the gifts that through Jesus God has given us ….He did not abandon us! My lesson today, as I left the chapel was that I need to go live my life today knowing this-that we, as followers of Jesus, are called to be joyful people. We can be joyful and hopeful even in the midst of our heaviest cross, because God is a forgiving father who waits for us in his sacraments and in his church. Let’s teach our kids how to run to meet him too!

Reflect:
What is God asking you to let go of?

Reflecting on discipleship

This weeks gospel at Mass proclaimed Jesus telling his disciples, "If you come to me, without being ready to give up your love for your father, and your mother, your spouse, and your children, your brothers and sisters, indeed yourself, you cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not follow me carrying his cross cannot be my disciple." (Lk 14: 25-33) Jesus wants me to carry my cross; to hate those things, people, or objects that keep me from being 100% his. God wants all of us, not just a piece of us. Therefore, we must realize that being Christian is an "all or nothing" proposition. It's also about today...not tomorrow, not until I am ready, it is about plunging into a journey with only faith in God as my foundation.
Catholic imagination is rich in the idea of the Christian cross. I think of those deeply moving and mystical icons and sculptures that reminds us of the paradox of the theology of the Christian cross. Those ancient works of art speak more powerfully than the best psychological thesis about the human experience, our spiritual journey, and how God calls us to be wholly for him, in spite of our weaknesses. The Bible tells me that my weaknesses are those opportunities that God can use to bring peace and justice to our world. It is through my weakness that I can help God co-create a better existence for us all, not just for myself. What Jesus is telling us is to renounce any and all sinful living. "Sin" is a word that is usally only heard anymore in religious discussions. In our secular world we think of sin as weakness, we have learned to accept our weaknesses; we have rationalized them and we say to ourselves "this is who I am". Jesus says to radically remove ourselves from this way of being. He wants us to remove ourselves from sin. He wants us to realize is that life is not about "who we are" but "who we are be-coming". What a challenge this is for us today, because we have developed ways to excuse away our sins. Today's gospel challenges us to look at our surroundings and ask the Lord to help us see where we may be blind to sin in our lives. Jesus doesn't want us to have a false understanding of who we are as his followers. We are to carry our cross. This means I am to separate myself to the things or people in my life that keep me from following him entirely. This is what it means to be like Christ.
It is important to be aware of our crosses, not to make them a focus, because that too could keep us from being a disciple. It is necessary to reflect on our crosses and whether or not we are embracing them or just dragging them along in despair? Is my attitude one of "woe is me" or am I Christ-like? Do I surround myself with people who are more interested in the pleasures of the world, the power of job status, the chase of money making ventures? Do I join communities where their only focus is on making a better life for themselves at the expense of the weaker people in the world? How about the objects or "things" in my life? Am I consumed with having or diplaying more things that symbolize to others my success, my wisdom, my self-importance? Jesus says to "give up my love" for my husband, my mother, my children, if they keep me from him. These are really powerful words-his message is to confront my obsessions, my distractions, my conditions that keep me from being a whole person and to not be timid about those things or people that I have learned to accept in my life, just because I was too afraid to confront them, it was too hard for me to deal with or eliminate them. It requires me to face those people who keep me from having a healthy relationship with my Lord and be able to say, "Peace be with you.......and don't let the door hit you on the way out." Sounds like tough love to me. No one said it would be easy to be a Catholic.

Turning to Prayer

Years ago I had a conversation with a retired army veteran who shared with me that during a war he was injured and as he lay huddled in a trench terrified at the prospect of dying alone on the battlefield, the only words that flowed from his mind was "The Lord's Prayer". He confessed that he had stopped praying for many years and the recitation of this prayer had apparently embedded itself in his psyche and its free flowing recitation during that time of need provided him with spiritual comfort; thus he began a dialogue with his divine father, one he had not called on in a very long time.
Isn't that the way it happens? It is during our struggles that we naturally turn to divine intervention through prayer. The "Lord's Prayer" is one, as well as "The Glory Be" and "Hail Mary". There are some who feel that memorized prayer result in formalism and spontaneous prayer is the better alternative. I would argue that both have a place in our spiritual journey. Spontaneous prayer relates to the mood one may be in at the moment. But moods change. What happens when I don't feel like it? Or I have had situations in my life where I can't even begin to form words on my own. In those moments I have turned to reciting the prayers that have sustained me during my times when I have prayed with my family or my faith community. Some times, those prayers were actually songs that I learned in our liturgies. My own children learned prayers through morning prayers, bed time routines and weekly church liturgies. I take comfort in knowing that the prayers that they have memorized may one day manifest themselves at moments in their lives when I may not be around to spiritually support them. It is kind of like teaching our children in the early years to dial 9-1-1, just in case! (I am not saying that prayer should be used on an emergency basis only.)
Teaching our children to pray both ways is of great value; spontaneous praying allows us to be vulnerable and open to our interior movements while memorized praying allows us to rely on words that for centuries have provided an opportunity to a conversation with our creator.
And the best way to teach our children how to pray is to allow them to experience prayer as a natural and meaningful part of our day; allow them to know that at times we may struggle with our own prayer life. And be sure to point out to the joy and peace that follows when prayer is given the highest priority in our lives.

Figuring out my role

So what is a Director of Religious Education? The title is really Director of Faith Formation and Evangelization. Some years ago, the church stopped calling our Sunday Religious classes “CCD” classes and began calling them Faith Formation classes; they also reassessed the Director’s title and thus began a conversion. Words matter. So as the incoming Director what is my role….? I assess this every day. Yes, I was given a job description list, but we all know that those lists don’t even begin to give a true picture of what a person who is directing the formation of all religious education is about. I suppose that after one year I should have a better idea. Every day has been different; there are many people who have diverse needs and motivations for why they are looking to participate in a church community or wanting to know more about the Christian faith as expressed through the sacramental life of the Catholic Church. I enjoy the relationships that are being fashioned, I like listening to the individual’s life story, I don’t like the feeling when I speak to someone who sees the church as an institution only, and often it’s not their fault as to why that is so. Many times those of us who represent “church” officially will respond to people as robots asking them to first “fill out this form” or to “wait until our classes begin in the Fall”…..when I listen to each person I notice that it is an opportunity to say “you are important, your life has meaning"… it is a big part of my week and I always walk away as have been gifted by this experience. This is where evangelization becomes part of the ministry, because as I listen to each person I am able to share with them the good news that God loved us first!

New Beginnings

I am sitting in my office, past my office hours, but for the first time in a long time I am not looking at the clock when I work. How crazy is that? I look around my desk and I see "Human trafficking in the US", "Sacramental Prep", "At home with the word", "New Jerusalem Bible", "Ministry and Liturgy", among a few of the phrases that catch my eye. Ayear ago today these titles would not have surrounded me in my work place. Who could have forcast that this is where I would be today? A year ago, I remember wondering where it was that I should find my bliss? I was beginning to feel uncomfortable in a way I had not experienced before in a profession that I devoted so many years to. I loved design and I loved teaching. Yet, I was not feeling that sense that one gets when you just know that you are at peace with where you are in your life. It is those moments in your life that you begin to try to "listen" more when you are praying. So I listened.....and listened....and listened....and finally He spoke to me and directed me to this place. That beginning made me practice the virtue of patience. I had to be patient with myself and with my circumstances. I continued to give as much of myself to my work while I figured out where I needed to be. So, today instead of finding myself in a college classroom surrounded by drawing papers and pens and textbooks on design and human factors, I am in an environment that is challenging me in new ways and surrounded by people who inspire me and give me confidence in my new skills. I am thankful for new beginnings!