May God Be With Us . . .

God Be With Us

May God be with us in strength, holding us in strong-fingered hands; and may we be the sacrament of God’s strength to those whose hands we hold.

May God be with us in gentleness, touching us with sunlight and rain and wind. May God’s tenderness shine through us to warm all who are hurt and lonely.

May God be with us in wonder, delighting us with thunder and song, sunrise and daisy; enchanting our senses, filling our hearts, giving us wide-open eyes for seeing and splendor in the humble and majestic. And may we open the eyes and hearts of the blind and the insensitive.

May God be with us in love and friendship, listening to us,  speaking to us, drawing us close as we tremble at the edge of self-gift.  May God’s love in us light fires of faith and hope, glow in our eyes and meet God’s love glowing in the eyes of our friends.

May God be with us in compassion, holding us close when we are weary and hurt and alone – when there is rain in our heart. And may we be the warm hands and the warm eyes of compassion for our friends when they reach out to us in need.

May God be with us in joy, thrilling us with nearness, filling our heart to fullness and filling our throat to ringing, singing exultation.

May God be with us in peace, stilling the heart that hammers with fear and doubt and confusion, and may our peace, the warm mantle of your peace, cover those who are troubled or anxious.

May God be with us in simplicity, opening us to a clearer vision of what is real and true, leading us deeply into the mystery of life and may our dealings with others be marked by honesty.

May God be with us today and every day. May God hold each of us, empowering us with understanding, love, and respect.
May God’s forgiveness touch our hearts, enabling us to forgive ourselves and each other.

And finally, may we experience God’s peace and the joy that results from unity and prayer, shared values, and common vision
Author Unknown

 

St. Julie Billiart ~ Foundress of the Notre Dame de Namur Sisters

April 8 - Feast of Julie Billiart

Julie Billiart was a woman who was completely immersed in the love of God. Julie has a special place in the life of the Catholic Church, not only as a saint but also as a visionary woman who responded to the needs of the suffering world around her.

Her life was a very common one with perhaps more personal suffering than many would ever guess. She survived numerous hardships including the loss of several siblings to illness. She went to work at the age of 16 to help support her family, and at the age of 23 was paralyzed by the trauma of nearly being shot in her father's store. She spent more than 20 years confined to her bed and unable to care for even her most basic needs.
Julie knew what it was like to live not only as an invalid but also as a refugee, to suffer religious persecution, to be shunned as an outcast, and to be the subject of mean-spirited rumors. In spite of her suffering, she clung to God and at the age of 53 she founded the Sisters of Notre Dame.

Julie reached out to the poor and forgotten; she brought comfort and hope to those around her; she brought faith to the seeking and the lost, and more than anything else, she was a witness to the deep loving goodness of God.The impact that Julie had on the world continues to live on in the sisters who claim her heritage.

On July 12, 1751 in a small village in Cuvilly, France, Francois and Marie Antoinette DeBraine gave birth to the fifth of seven children. The child was baptized that same day and was given the name of Marie Rose Julie.

Her family were peasant farmers, who also owned a little shop at Cuvilly in Picardy, France. When Julie was only eight years old, she would take on the role of teacher of catechism and Sacred Scripture while playing, and the children of her own age and older ones, listened enraptured.

The pastor of the village recognized the spiritual gifts of the child and taught Julie how to pray. When she was nine years old, she secretly made her first communion.
In spite of their meager income, the Billiarts were a happy family. But repeated losses brought about real financial pressure and thieves broke into their shop creating further devastation. When Julie was only sixteen years of age she had to earn her living. She was obliged to work, to join the harvesters in the fields. She used this as an opportunity to teach the other field workers about their duties as Christians.

One evening while Julie was in conversation with her father in the old store, a shot came through the window pane. Julie's nerves were so badly shaken that her walking and movement were severely impaired. At the age of twenty-three she was reduced to the condition of an invalid. Refusing to give into despair, Julie found a way to overcome her trials. She lived a life of even closer union with God and taught catechism to the children of the village. With the aid of crutches she would visit the sick and hold vigils beside their beds. When she was thirty-one, her paralysis became complete. For long hours she conversed with Jesus, absolutely oblivious of what went on around her, absorbed. She began to receive pupils at her bedside and teach them catechism.

Then came the French Revolution, and with it the Civil Constitution for the Clergy. All priests were remanded to take an oath of allegiance to the revolutionary authorities. Those priests who did not, were hunted down. Julie tried to organize the towns people to reject the "constitutional" priest sent to replace their pastor and helped to find hiding places for fugitive priests who rejected the taking of the oath.

When the authorities learned of her activity, they wanted to burn her alive, causing her to flee and go into hiding. She fled to Compiegne, France hidden in a cartload of straw. She suffered much from the situation and had to keep moving to stay alive. In spite of her suffering, Julie clung to God.

In the first lull which followed the end of the Reign of Terror, an old friend rescued Julie and brought her to Amiens to the house of Viscount Blin de Bourdon. Francois Blin de Bourdon was henceforth to be her close friend and her associate in all her work. In the sickroom of Julie, mass was offered daily and a little party of women who were inspired by Julie's suffering soon gathered around her.

However, this calm was not meant to last, and a recurrence of persecution caused the group to scatter. Julie and Francois landed at the house belonging to the Doria family at Bettencourt. During their stay here, they were visited by Fr. Joseph Varin who was immensely struck by the personality and capabilities of Julie. He was convinced that God intended her to do great things. Under his direction, the foundations of the Institute of Notre Dame were laid. The Institute was to devote itself primarily to the spiritual care of poor children, the Christian education of girls of all classes, and to the training of religious teachers.

During a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on June 1, 1804, Julie was miraculously cured. She was fifty-three years old.
Three torches lit up the path of Julie Billiart: a lively faith, a boundless charity and a keen sense of the goodness of God. "Ah! How good is the good God!"
In January, 1816, Julie became seriously ill. On April 8, while she was repeating the Magnificat, Julie died and entered eternal life. Julie was 65 years old when she died.
(Kindness of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Billiart

Lenten Poetry

Poem: "For Lent" by Monica Lavia

What are you giving up for Lent? Adam asked of Eve.
Well, Eve said. I am thinking I should give up apples.
And what about you, husband of mine?
Adam replied, I think I am going to give up taking advice from you.

What are you giving up for Lent?
Abel asked his brother Cain?
Cain replied, I am going to try to give up my anger
Lest in a weak moment, I injure someone I love.

What are you giving up for Lent?
Jacob asked his twin, Esau.
Apparently my birthright, little brother of mine.

What are you giving up for Lent?
Moses asked of Aaron?
I am going to give up worshiping false gods
Especially the golden calf variety.
What about you? Aaron asked Moses in return.
I am giving up my need to see the promised land.

What are you giving up for lent?
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar asked Job.
I am giving up trying to understand the mind of God.

What are you giving up for Lent? I asked of Mary.
She whispered her response so softly
I had to move in close to her to hear her hushed reply:

My only Son

http://www.edwardhays.com/lent--holy-week-homilies.html

 

Tension, Trauma, Transformation

Prayer for Those Who Have Suffered Trauma       

     

Most merciful God, bless all who have suffered trauma in their lives.

Support them with love during their time of shock. Grace them with peace as they wrestle with the challenges of each day. Sustain them in hope as they prepare for the days ahead. Amen. 
                                                              (From: www.beliefnet.com)

• Unrest and Tensions in Russia/Crimea/Ukraine, Syria, Israel, 
  Palestine, Chad, Afghanistan,  Cairo, Egypt

• Natural disasters in: Chile, California, Washington, South Sudan, 
  England,  West Africa

• Missing flight ~ MH370 

• Shooting at Fort Hood, TX

These are a few of the global awarenesses that I hold in my prayers and thoughts throughout my day. I looked for prayers online that I could post that would speak to some if not all of these earth-shaking and spirit shaking events.  I couldn't find one specific one, but I found a few along with a meditation entitled: Transforming Sorrow into Compassion.  Like the insert below, each time we are exposed to the traumas and tragedies around our families, neighborhoods, communities, cities, States, and countries across the world, we can be filled with sorrow, sadness, and grief. Our inner movements of compassion can become somewhat overwhelmed trying to hold the meaning of all these events.  However we, too, can suffer from a secondary traumatic stress if these tragedies are not held within a healthy context, or that we are mentored through them by friends or even professional counselors.

“Compassion fatigue, also known as secondary traumatic stress (STS), is a condition characterized by a gradual lessening of compassion over time. It is common among individuals that work directly with trauma victims such as nurses, psychologists, and first responders. It was first diagnosed in nurses in the 1950s. Sufferers can exhibit several symptoms including hopelessness, a decrease in experiences of pleasure, constant stress and anxiety, sleeplessness or nightmares, and a pervasive negative attitude. This can have detrimental effects on individuals, both professionally and personally, including a decrease in productivity, the inability to focus, and the development of new feelings of incompetency and self-doubt.[1]

Journalism analysts argue that the media has caused widespread compassion fatigue in society by saturating newspapers and news shows with often decontextualized images and stories of tragedy and suffering. This has caused the public to become cynical, or become resistant to helping people who are suffering.”

Prayer For Soldiers with PTSD: Lord, so many of our servicemen and women returning from the Middle East are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. We grieve for those who died and those who have sustained terrible physical injuries but soldiers with PTSD carry scars of war as well—emotional and mental scars that are just as devastating. I ask you to heal the painful memories and the trauma of war that our loved ones and all those returning from combat face. Please restore their minds and emotions. Give them hope and flood them with your peace. Please provide for their every need and grant them purpose and a bright future no matter what has happened. You are the Great Physician who mends and restores broken bodies, minds, emotions and relationships, and we trust you to do this for all our servicemen and women. Thank you for their sacrificial service and for your faithfulness to all generations! (Prayer by a Military Family)

http://www.wikihow.com/Cope-With-a-Traumatic-Event

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/PTSD/public/PTSD-overview/basics/symptoms_of_ptsd.asp

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/04/president-obama-shooting-reopens-pain-at-fort-hood/

Meditation: Transforming sorrow into compassion                                                                     (From: A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield) 

• Let yourself sit still in a centered and quiet way. Breathe softly and feel your body, your heartbeat, the life-force within you. Feel how you treasure your own life. How you guard yourself in the face of your sorrows. After some time, bring to mind someone close to you whom you dearly love. Picture them and your caring for them. Notice how you can hold them in your heart. Then let yourself be aware of their sorrows, their measure of suffering in this life. Feel how your heart opens naturally, moving toward them to wish them well, to extend comfort, to share in their pain, and meet it with compassion.

• Along with this response, begin to actively wish them well, reciting the traditional phrases: May you be free from pain and sorrow, may you be at peace, while holding them in your heart of compassion. Continue reciting these phrases in this way for some time.

• As you learn to feel your deep caring for this person close to you, you can then extend this compassion to others you know, one at a time. Gradually you can open your compassion further, to your neighbors, to all those who live far away, and finally to the sisterhood and brotherhood of all being.  Let yourself feel how the beauty of every being brings you joy and how the suffering of any being makes you weep. Feel your tenderhearted connection with all life and its creatures, how it moves with their sorrows and holds them in compassion.

• Now let your heart become a transformer for the sorrows of the world. Feel your breath in the area of your heart, as if you could breathe gently in and out of your heart. Feel the kindness of your heart and envision that with each breath you can breathe in pain and breathe out compassion. Start to breathe in the sorrows of all living beings. With each  in-breath, let their sorrows touch your heart and turn into compassion. With each out-breath wish all living beings well, extend your caring and merciful heart to them.

• As you breathe, begin to envision your heart as a purifying fire that can receive the pains of the world and transform them into the light and warmth of compassion. This is a powerful meditation that will require some practice – Be gentle with yourself. 

• Let the fire of your heart burn gently in your chest. Breathe in the sorrows of those who are hungry. Breathe in the sorrows of those who are caught in war. Breathe in the sorrows of ignorance. With each out-breath, picture living beings everywhere and breathe out the healing balm of compassion. With every gentle in-breath, over and over, let the breath of every form of life touch your heart. With every out-breath, over and over, extend the mercy and healing of compassion. Like the mother of the world, bring the world into your heart, inviting all beings to touch you with each breath in, embracing all beings with compassion with each breath out.

• After sometime, sit quietly and let your breath and heart rest naturally, as a center of compassion in the midst of the world.

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. ~ April 4

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial ~ Washington, D.C.

This week, we remember the 46th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, April 4, 1968.

"After preaching at Washington Cathedral on March 31, 1968, King went to Memphis in support of sanitation workers in their struggle for better wages. There, he proclaimed that he had been “to the mountain-top” and had seen “the Promised Land,” and that he knew that one day he and his people would be “free at last.” On the following day, April 4, he was cut down by an assassin’s bullet."

Prayer for Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Gracious God, you create us and love us; you make us to live together in a community. We thank you for Martin Luther King, Jr. and all your children who have been filled with your vision for our lives and who have worked to make bring your vision into reality. Fill us with your vision. Guide us to live by your vision, working to build the beloved community where everyone is welcomed, all are valued, power is shared, privilege is no more, and all your children know wholeness and well-being. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.


Free at Last! Free at Last! 
God grant that right here in America and all over this world, we will choose the high way; a way in which men will live together as brothers. A way in which the nations of the world will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. A way in which every man will respect the dignity and worth of all human personality. A way in which every nation will allow justice to run down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. A way in which men will do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. A way in which men will be able to stand up, and in the midst of oppression, in the midst of darkness and agony, they will be able to stand there and love their enemies, bless those persons that curse them, pray for those individuals that despitefully use them. And this is the way that will bring us once more into that society which we think of as the brotherhood of man. This will be that day when white people, colored people, whether they are brown or whether they are yellow or whether they are black, will join together and stretch out with their arms and be able to cry out: “Free at last! Free at last! Great God Almighty, we are free at last!”

A Litany of Celebration

LEADER: Martin King had a dream. The ideals of justice and freedom and the belief that all are created equal in the eyes of God are noble principles. But they are meaningless unless they become the personal possession of each one of us.
ALL: For Zion's sake I will not keep silent. I will struggle with myself. I will not rest until the dream of justice and freedom becomes my personal dream. I must realize that I am not an innocent bystander. I can help realize the dream by my action, or delay it by in inaction.
LEADER: Martin's dream of a day when people from all races and nations, eve the offsprings of slaves and former slave owners, can sit at a table as brothers and sisters and find ways of transforming their differences into assets. That was Martin's dream. What is your dream?
ALL: My dream is that one day soon I will find a way to stop just celebrating the dream and start living it. It must become a part of my daily life; or nothing much will change.
LEADER: The dream is not about an ideal world; it is about the real world. Martin King's poetic refrain, "I Have a Dream," is a call for us to remember the real world where injustice abounds.
ALL: When I am in the shelter of my home I must remember the homeless. When I eat, I must remember the hungry. When I feel secure I must remember the insecure. When I see injustice I must remember that it will not stop unless I stop it.
LEADER: I have a dream!
ALL: I also have a dream. I have a dream that the Holy Spirit will arouse in me that very flame of righteousness that caused Martin King to become a living sacrifice for the freedom and liberation of all of God's Children. Then I will be able to resist racial injustice everywhere I see it, even within myself.
-- The United Presbyterian Church

http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/prayers-martin-luther-king-jr

http://www.livescience.com/42660-martin-luther-king-jr.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/24/martin-luther-king-jr-quotes-faith_n_3799179.html

"Lazarus heard the tears of Jesus . . ."

Anthony de Mello (Taking Flight) shares this story in reflecting on truth.

The judge called the prisoner to the bar.
“I find you guilty on twenty-three counts. 
I therefore sentence you to a total of one hundred and seventy-five years”
The prisoner was an old man.  He burst into tears.  The judge’s facial expression softened.
“I did not mean to be harsh,” he said.
“I know the sentence I have imposed is a very severe one.  You don’t really have to serve the whole of it.” 
The prisoner’s eyes brightened with hope.
“That’s right,” said the judge.  “Just do as much as you can!”

In a few weeks we are about to enter more deeply into our Lenten journey through remembering and listening to the sacred stories of the final days of Jesus’ life. Some say stories are medicine. They have power; they do not require that we be a certain way, or act anything – we need only listen, and do as much as we can to be aware, attentive, receptive.
Stories are crucial to our sense of well-being, to our identity, to our memory and to our future. There is a power to stories that can often be experienced as one listens.  Stories are a means for speaking the truth, exhorting us to do justice and to make peace.  Stories can disturb the status quo that accepts inhuman acts and situations.  Stories can trouble us, disturb our false sense of security and self-righteousness and jolt us out of our complacency.
In every age, God sends prophets to remind us of the story of how our God is involved in our lives.  One author remarks “Prophets stand in our midst and tell it like it is, speaking the disturbing words that people don’t like to hear.  If you find that the Word of God has not placed a demand on you, or challenged your life, you have not heard it.  If it has not called you to death, to lay down your life, to forget about yourself, you have not heard it.  If it has not called you where you do not want to go, you have not heard the voice of the prophets nor the Word that speaks through them.”

Let us open ourselves to the Word this week and do as much as we can to receive the graces that God so desires to bestow upon us.
In the first reading, we recall the prophet Ezekiel who experienced the destruction of Jerusalem and went with his people into captivity.  Early in his prophetic ministry, like Jeremiah, he called his people to conversion.  But after their repentance, he spoke in a new way to them, giving them a vision of hope.  He heard God speaking through him and with prophetic insight he saw a New Jerusalem.  He spoke the Word that came to him in terms of conversion and a new covenant.  He saw the restoration of Israel in the image of a new city from which God’s glory would shine over all the earth. 

This Sunday’s Gospel is the conclusion of John - Chapter 11; it picks up after the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  Jesus’ gift of life to Lazarus did not bring Jesus friends and followers but was the trigger point that brought his enemies to move against him. The unbelieving Jews do not accept the signs that Jesus had worked in their midst. They refuse to let themselves be drawn in to the life which Jesus wants to share with them and which he invites them to share with others. They refuse to hear the Good News. They choose to be alone rather than unite themselves with life. They prefer to do as much as they can to hold on to their land, their power, their greed, their fear, their resentment. This Jesus is too much for them.

This is the season of the unfolding story of the mystery of the God who spoke – “My dwelling will be with you, and I will be your God” - it is a truth so large that we can only touch one part of it at a time. We have to let ourselves encounter it piece by piece, grace by grace without expecting that we will comprehend the whole picture. “We can never grasp this mystery; we can only allow ourselves to be grasped by it.”  So let us pray throughout this coming week to be open to the graces of the readings, and do as much as we can to let God love us tenderly, tenaciously and totally.

The Raising of Lazarus by James Tissot

A Lenten Poem

 

 

A Clean Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
 – Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, open and receptive, so that I may embrace the many ways you choose to visit my life.

Create in me a clean heart, cleared of the refuse of old battles with others and deadly opposition with myself.

Create in me a clean heart, purified through the daily disruptions and the life encounters that take me beyond my grasping control and ego-centeredness.

Create in me a clean heart, freed from the clutter of cultural enticements, so that I can enjoy the beauty of life’s simple things and relish the gifts I so easily take for granted.

Create in me a clean heart, bathed from harsh thoughts, shame, and perfectionist tendencies, warmly welcoming with others with the embrace of nonjudgment.

Create in me a clean heart, brushed free of frantic busyness, so that I will have time to dwell with you in the listening space of solitude and silence.

Create in me a clean heart, rinsed of the residue of false messages about my identity, enabling my inner goodness and light to shine through all I am and do.

Create in me a clean heart, cleansed of anxiety and lack of trust, restoring in me an enduring faith in your abiding presence and unconditional love.

Create in me a clean heart, scrubbed of racism and prejudice, drawing me toward all as my sisters and brothers.

Create in me a clean heart, washed with your mercy and strengthened by your love, helping me to move beyond whatever keeps me from union with you.

Create a clean heart in me, God. Dust off the unmindful activity that constantly collects there. De-clutter my heart from harsh judgments and negativity. Wash away my resistance to working through difficult relationships. Rinse off my unloving so the beauty of my generous and kind heart can shine forth. Remove whatever keeps me from following in your compassionate footsteps. Amen.

From Out of the Ordinary: Prayers, Poems, and Reflections for Every Season by Joyce Rupp