Grace in Chaos

Nothing Can Separate Me

Ponderings . . .

 

And so we take the ragged fragments,

the patches of darkness
that give shape to the light;
the scraps of desires
unslaked or realized;
the memories of spaces
of blessing, of pain.

And so we gather the scattered pieces

the hopes we carry
fractured or whole;
the struggles of birthing
exhausted, elated;
the places of welcome
that bring healing and life.

And so we lay them at the threshold, God;

bid you hold them, bless them, use them;
ask you tend them, mend them,
transform them
to keep us warm,
make us whole, and send us forth.

~ written by Jan L. Richardson in Through the Advent Door: Entering a Contemplative Christmas

https://www.janrichardson.com/

Lift Up Those Who Have Fallen . . .

 

Holy One, you are our comfort and strength
in times of sudden disaster, crisis, or chaos.
Surround us now with your grace and peace
through storm or earthquake, fire or flood.

By your Spirit, lift up those who have fallen,
sustain those who work to rescue or rebuild,
and fill us with the hope of your new creation;
through You, our rock and redeemer.

Author Unknown

Prayer at a time of natural disasters . . .

 

In Our Hearts

Compassionate Lord, we pray for those who have been devastated by recent natural disasters. We remember those who have lost their lives so suddenly. We hold in our hearts the families forever changed by grief and loss. Bring them consolation and comfort. Surround them with our prayer for strength. Bless those who have survived and heal their memories of trauma and devastation. May they have the courage to face the long road of rebuilding ahead.

We ask your blessing on all those who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their security and their hope. Bless the work of relief agencies and those proving emergency assistance. May their work be guided by the grace and strength that comes from You alone.

Help us to respond with generosity in prayer, in assistance, in aid to the best of our abilities. Keep our hearts focused on the needs of those affected, even after the crisis is over. We ask this in Jesus' name.

Author Unknown

Monica - Widow, Saint and more!!

 Previously Posted

Recently I read an obituary of a woman religious in the Archdiocesan paper. What was provided about her 81 years of life was: her name, dates of birth and death, religious community in which she was a member, dates of first profession and final profession, and States in which she ministered.  I was fortunate to have directed her on a retreat. Her story of faithfulness was not mentioned. I felt a little twinge of emptiness inside. However I’m sure her story of faithfulness probably will be shared again and again at her wake service and funeral.

I felt the same sort of empty twinge when I first began to reflect on the readings about the life of St. Monica (331-387).  As I came upon the feast of St. Monica in the Calendar of Saints,  I was somewhat stunned to read the following in the listing with her name, she is described as simply, WIDOW. Here, too, her story of faithfulness is not mentioned unless you “Bing,” “Google” or “Yahoo” search for her.

As I considered this description, I soon asked myself, “Isn't there more?” Monica lived into her late 50’s – quite uncommon for those days. As I continued to read about her life, I discovered that she had a very full life.  I was sure that if she had lived today, she certainly would have more descriptors than just - Widow.

We celebrate Monica on August 27th – a Christian, a woman, a daughter-in-law, a woman of authentic voice, a woman of fortitude, a visionary and dreamer, a woman of integrity, a woman of long suffering, a patient and prayerful wife, a faithful mother, and widow.

She was born of Christian parents in North Africa, yet they arranged her marriage to a non-Christian. Patricius was a pagan man with a violent temper and unfaithful to her as a husband. It is written that he never beat her, but we know psychological abuse can leave “scars” as well. Her mother-in-law also lived with them and she was verbally abusive to Monica. However, Monica was patient with them and prayed for their openness to be received into the Christian faith. Through her prayers and her kindness, eventually her husband and his mother became Christians.  And it is written that they remained very respectful of Monica’s generosity to the poor, her deep faith, and constant prayer life. When she was at the age of 40, her husband died, leaving her a widow.  

They had three children, of whom the eldest was Augustine.  He was brilliant, likeable, a talented scholar, and also a source of constant worry for her. At age 17, he left home for the wild life, and lived recklessly taking on the truth and ideals of the heresies of his day. He was particularly troubled by the mystery of evil. Eventually, after 18 years of prayers and fasting for her son’s conversion, he was baptized. Shortly thereafter, Monica died.  

As Joan Chittister once remarked, “The good news is that great women have always walked the earth; that their footprints are still clear; that their presence has changed things both in the Church and society.” 

And so today, Monica – your life made a difference in the faith of your husband, mother-in-law, children, and especially in the life of your son, Augustine.  Your life has made a difference in the lives of so many people throughout the centuries – for you are considered patroness of troubled parents, battered wives, despondent mothers, widows, and alcoholics. May the words from Thessalonians honor you today: “The news of your faith in God is celebrated everywhere – We call to mind how you proved your faith by your actions, laboring in love, and showing constancy of hope in Christ Jesus.”
We thank you, Monica, woman, Christian, wife, mother, faith-filled pray-er, widow, and Saint.

Only the Seed

 

Once upon a time, a pilgrim set out on the long journey in search of peace, joy and love. The pilgrim walked for many weary miles, and time passed.

Gradually, the young, lively steps became slower and more labored. The pilgrim’s journey passed through landscapes that were not always happy ones. Through war. Through sickness. Through quarrels and rejections and separations. A land where, it is seemed, the more people possessed, the more warlike they became – the more they had to defend, the more they needed to attack each other. Longing for peace, they prepared for war. Longing for love, they surrounded themselves with walls of distrust and barriers of fear. Longing for life, they were walking deeper into death.

But one morning, the pilgrim came to a little cottage at the wayside. Something about this little cottage attracted the pilgrim. It was as though it was lit up from the inside. Full of curiosity, the pilgrim went inside. And inside the cottage was a little shop, and behind the counter stood a shopkeeper. It was hard to judge the age – hard even to say for sure whether it was a man or a woman. There was an air of timelessness about the place.

‘What would you like?’ asked the shopkeeper in a kindly voice.
‘What do you stock here?’ asked the pilgrim.
‘Oh, we have all the things here that you most long for,’ replied the shopkeeper. ‘Just tell me what you desire.’ The pilgrim hardly knew where to begin. So many desires came rushing to mind.
‘I want peace – in my own family, in my native land and in the whole world.
I want to make something good of my life.
I want those who are sick to be well again and those who are lonely to have friends.
I want those who are hungry to have enough to eat.
I want every child born on this planet today to have a chance be educated.
I want everyone on earth to live in freedom.
I want the world to be a kingdom of love.’

There was a pause, while the pilgrim reviewed this shopping list.
Gently, the shopkeeper broke in. ‘I’m sorry,’ came the quiet reply. ‘I should have explained. We don’t supply the fruits here. We only supply the seeds.’
 (Source unknown)

Holding Afghanistan in Prayer . . .

 

Too Muching . . .

 

Sometimes, Lord,

it just seems to be too much:

    too much violence, too much fear;

    too much of demands and problems;

    too much of broken dreams and broken lives;

    too much of war and slums and dying;

    too much of greed and squishy fatness

        and the sounds of people

            devouring each other

                and the earth;

too much of stale routines and quarrels,

    unpaid bills and dead ends;

too much of words lobbed in to explode

    and leaving shredded hearts and lacerated souls;

too much turned-away backs and yellow silence,

    red rage and bitter taste of ashes in my mouth

Sometimes the very air seems scorched

    by threats and rejection and decay

        until there is nothing

        but to inhale pain

            and exhale confusion.

Too much of darkness, Lord,          

    too much of cruelty

        and selfishness

            and indifference…

Too much, Lord,

    too much,

        too bloody,

            bruising,

                brain-washing much.

 Or is it too little,

    too little of compassion,

    too little of courage,

        of daring,

        of persistence,

        of sacrifice;

    too little of music

        and laughter

            and celebration?

O God,

make of me some nourishment

    for these starved times,

        some food for my brothers and sisters

    who are hungry for gladness and hope,

        that, being bread for them,

    I may also be fed

        And be full

Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace

 

The Power of a Whisper . . .

 

 Slow me down today, Lord,

and whisper a word or two - or more,

in the quiet of my mind and heart...

 

When I'm cursing myself or others,

whisper words of blessing...

 

When I'm judging another's words and deeds,

whisper words of patience...

 

When my voice is still and silent,

whisper words that I might speak...

 

When I'm saying much too much,

whisper words to shut me up...

 

When I've failed and when I've sinned,

whisper words of pardon...

 

When I'm facing loss and grief,

whisper words of consolation...

 

When I'm stuck in my own foolishness,

whisper words of wisdom...

 

When I'm confounded and confused,

whisper words of counsel...

 

When I'm caught up in my lies,

whisper words of truth.

 

When life is just too tough to take,

whisper words of hope...

 

When my heart is broken, hurt and wounded,

whisper words of healing...

 

When I'm at war with my neighbor or myself,

whisper words of peace...

 

Slow me down, Lord,

and help me find a quiet place to hear

the whisper of your word...

 

Slow me down today, Lord,

and whisper a word or two - or more,

in the quiet of my mind and heart...

 

Amen.

 

- Rev. Austin Fleming

Remembering Jessica . . .

 

The Garments

Of God

By

Jessica Powers

(Died August 18, 1988)

God sits on a chair of darkness in my soul.

He is God alone, supreme in His majesty.

I sit at His feet, a child in the dark beside Him;

my joy is aware of His glance and my sorrow is tempted

to nest on the thought that His face is turned from me.

He is clothed in the robes of His mercy, voluminous

garments –

no velvet or silk and affable to the touch,

but fabric strong for a frantic hand to clutch,

and I hold to it fast with the fingers of my will.

Here is my cry of faith, my deep avowal

to the Divinity that I am dust.

Here is the loud profession of my trust.

I need not go abroad

to the hills of speech or the hinterlands of music

for a crier to walk in my soul where all is still.

I have this potent prayer through good or ill:

Here in the dark, I clutch the garments of God.

 https://www.spondee.net/JessicaPowers/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Powers

Molleen Dupree-Dominguez, M.Div, preaches for the Solemnity of the Assum...

God and the Soul . . .speaking . . .

 

(Mechtild of Magdeburg)

God Speaks to the Soul . . .

And God said to the soul:

I desired you before the world began.

I desire you now as you desire me,

And where the desires of two come together

There love is perfected.

 

How the soul speaks to God . . .

God, you are my lover,

My longing,

My flowing stream,

My sun,

And I am your reflection.

 

How God answers the soul . . .

It is my nature that makes me love you often,

For I am love itself.

It is my longing that makes me love you intensely,

For I yearn to be loved from the heart.

It is my eternity that makes me love you long,

For I have no end.

 

 

SHOW ME THE SUFFERING OF THE MOST MISERABLE

 

Show me the suffering of the most miserable; So I will know my people’s plight. Free me to pray for others; For you are present in every person. Help me to take responsibility for my own life; So that I can be free at last. Give me honesty and patience; So that I can work with other workers. Bring forth song and celebration; So that the Spirit will be alive among us. Let the Spirit flourish and grow; So that we will never tire of the struggle. Let us remember those who have died for justice; For they have given us life. Help us love even those who hate us; So we can change the world. Amen.
                                                                                          ~César Chávez

 

Christ Has No Body . . .

 

Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.                                                                                                        -Teresa of Avila

Ever present Presence . . .

 

 God is there in these moments of rest and can give us in a single instant exactly what we need. Then the rest of the day can take its course, under the same effort and strain, perhaps, but in peace.  And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone. . . just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with God.  Then you will be able to rest in God ~ really rest ~ and start the next day as a new life.

St. Teresa Benedict of the Cross (Edith Stein)

August 9 Feastday

Photo by Doris Klein, CSA

Remembering . . .

 

On August 6 we commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima. Please use this prayer to remember the victims and to end all forms of weapons of mass destruction.

A time for remembrance and challenge. At 8:15 in the morning of August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb was dropped from a USA B-29 bomber on Hiroshima, Japan. More than seventy thousand people died instantly or within hours. Few were soldiers. …

Leader: Let us join in prayer on this day of remembrance for Hiroshima, to recall the past, to be challenged in the present and to seek hope for the future.

People: O God of power, gracious in love, you have given humankind responsibility to care for all the earth. But we have put our faith in military power, while you call us to build a community of trust and love.

Leader: By our actions and by our inaction, and by our participation in the systems of society we often become agents of violence and destruction.

People: O God of us all, let Hiroshima become for us a symbol of hope that nuclear weapons will never again be used to kill and destroy.

Leader: Let us remember Hiroshima as a beacon to commit ourselves to find ways to live together in peace, that we may not be just peace lovers, but peacemakers.

People: O God of infinite possibility, transform our hearts and minds and give us courage to use our skills and technology to transform weapons that destroy into all that upholds life.

Leader: Isaiah said: “It shall come to pass that the peoples shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

All: We pray for the time when “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Source: Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice. Prayer by Susan Adams, a missionary in Japan for 13 years, now serves as a volunteer at Asian Rural Institute in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.

Transparency and transfiguration!

Transfiguration is not unique to Jesus. Neither is witnessing powerful change a prerogative of the disciples who knew the historical Jesus. All of us are called to go up the mountain, to climb the steep ground of truth where prejudices are identified, where the unexplored places of our souls are traversed, and where dormant possibilities of love are awakened. Transfiguration involves a lifetime journey. We go up the mountain of transformation accompanied by those closest to us, those who love us enough to challenge us. As we tell our deepest truth to someone, we become more transparent. The very process of interpersonal sharing, in context of trust, makes us more radiant - revealing a brilliance that is numinous.
(Enter the Story by Fran Ferder)  

A prayer of waiting, looking, loving . . .

  

 

You keep us waiting.

You, the God of all time,

Want us to wait for the right time

in which to discover

Who we are, where we must go,

Who will be with us, and what we must do.

So, thank you . . . for waiting time.

 

You keep us looking.

You, the God of all space,

Want us to look in the right and wrong places

for signs of hope,

For people who are hopeless,

For visions of a better world

that will appear among the disappointments

of the world we know.

So, thank you . . . for the looking time.

 

You keep us loving.

You, the God whose name is Love,

Want us to be like you –

To love the loveless and the unlovely and the unlovable;

To love without jealousy or design or threat,

And most difficult of all, to love ourselves.

So, thank you . . . for loving time.

 

And in all this you keep us,

Through hard questions with no easy answers;

Through falling where we hoped to succeed

and making an impact when we felt useless;

Through the patience and the dreams

and the love of others;

And through Jesus Christ and his Spirit, you keep us.

(By Lisa Terneus of the Iona Community in Scotland

Walking in Trust . . .

  

The Courage to be myself . . .

I have the courage to . . .

Embrace my strengths ~

Get excited about life ~ Enjoy giving

and receiving love ~ Face and transform

my fears ~ Ask for help and support

when I need it ~

Spring free of the Superwoman Trap~

Trust myself ~ Make my own decisions

and choices ~ Befriend myself ~ Complete

unfinished business ~ Realize that I have

emotional and practical rights ~

Talk as nicely to myself

as I do to my plants ~ Communicate

lovingly with understanding as my goal ~

Honor my own needs ~

Give myself credit for my accomplishments ~

Love the little girl within me ~

Overcome my addiction to approval ~

Grant myself permission to play ~

Quit being a Responsibility Sponge ~

Feel all of my feelings and act on them

appropriately ~ Nurture others because

I want to, not because I have to ~

Choose what is right for me ~ Insist on being

paid fairly for what I do ~

Set limits and boundaries and stick by them ~

Say “yes” only when I really mean it ~

Have realistic expectations ~ Take risks and

accept change ~ Grow through challenges ~

Be totally honest with myself ~

Correct erroneous beliefs and assumptions ~

Respect my vulnerabilities ~

Heal old and current wounds ~

Savor the mystery of Spirit ~

Wave good-bye to guilt ~ Plant “flower,”

not “weed” thoughts in my mind ~

Treat myself with respect and teach others

to do the same ~

Fill my cup first, then nourish

others from the overflow ~

Own my own excellence ~

Plan for the future but live

in the present ~ Value my

intuition and wisdom ~ Know that I am

lovable ~ Celebrate the differences between

women and men ~ Develop healthy,

supportive relationships ~

Make forgiveness a priority ~

Accept myself just as I am now ~

(Author Unknown)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inner knowing, inner listening. . .

 

Discernment is an invitation . . .

to be attentive to the voices of our deep inner knowing.  

It demands time to quiet the outer noises and listen to our heart and our body which, when we walk in integrity, will tell the truth even a truth we may not want to hear.                      

~ Doris Klein, CSA