today's heavenly postlude

Lord, for thy tender mercy’s sake
 lay not our sins to our charge, 
but forgive that is past, 
and give us grace 
to amend our sinful lives: 
to decline from sin and incline to virtue,
 that we may walk in a perfect heart
 before thee now and evermore. 
Amen.

Collect

O God, who seest that we have no power whatever from ourselves; keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts which may hurt the soul.

Through our Lord.

7 quick one word Lent takes

1. Quietness

Lent offers this gift more often than other times. I try not to turn on music or TV and just let things be silent. It truly is a way to let Christ in, by not filling the space around me with sound. I tend to pray and talk with Him more throughout the day. And hear and feel Him more.

2. Clarity

Funny how number one and acknowledging the presence of Christ can lead to this. Well, not not really funny, or surprising,  but always a gift.

3. Charity

Easier to access when my spirit has been fed in prayer, quietness, and more frequent confession.

4. Beauty

I see it everywhere when I slow my roll enough to pay attention.

5. Grief

This one may surprise you, but to be still in prayer, everything in the heart is revealed. Listening recently to one of Fr. Z's Lentcasts, ( I know, he spellz it with a Z somewhere), He quoted somebody as saying not to shun our grief over past sins, but to be sorry and ask forgiveness each time. And to embrace the temporal consequences, as it is better to do penance now than in Purgatory.  This seems foreign to our ears, as we are told that Christ forgets our sins (He does). But the earthly consequences remain, and are, in fact, a gift.
* I apologize for surely slaughtering original version of this, but the gist is there.

6. Work

With less time spent on forms of entertainment, and attempting to be more disciplined, I find I spend more time doing housework and planning meals, which I enjoy the fruits of, and add to a sense of peace.

 

7. Patience

Is definitely a virtue, and I am either being shown how IM-patient I am, or being given opportunities to become more so. Add to this, persevering in prayer and being content to wait on God's answers and timing. And this past week or so, hugely rewarded with new, wonderful jobs for Meghann and Jeff! And a giant release of heaviness and stress for them both! Praise Be Jesus Christ!

He is the one who always accepts you

In yesterday's daily reading in the Marion Consecration, 33 Days to Morning Glory, is Mother Teresa's letter to her Missionaries of Charity. She wrote it on March 25th, 1993, after hearing Pope John Paul II's Lenten message on Jesus' words, "I thirst."

An excerpt:

Jesus wants me to tell you again...how much love He has for each one of you--beyond all you can imagine. I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus -- one to one -- you and Jesus alone. We may spend time in chapel -- but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love? Do you really know the living Jesus -- not from books but from being with Him in your heart? Have you heard the loving words He speaks to you? Ask for the grace, He is longing to give it. Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying, "I thirst" in the hearts of the poor.  Never give up this daily intimate contact with Jesus as the real living person -- not just the idea. How can we last even one day without hearing Jesus say, "I love you"--impossible. Our soul needs that as much as the body needs to breathe air. If not, prayer is dead--meditation only thinking. Jesus wants you each to hear Him -- speaking in the silence of your heart. 

Be careful of all that can block that personal contact with the living Jesus. The Devil may try to use the hurts of life, and sometimes our own mistakes  -- to make you feel it is impossible that Jesus really loves you, is really cleaving to you. This is a danger for all of us. And so sad, because it is completely the opposite of what Jesus is really wanting, waiting to tell you. Not only that He loves you, but even more -- He longs for you. He misses you when you don't come close. He thirsts for you.  He loves you always, even when you don't feel worthy. When not accepted by others, even by yourself sometimes -- He is the one who always accepts you. My children, you don't have to be different for Jesus to love you. Only believe -- you are precious to Him. Bring all you are suffering to His feet -- only open your heart to be loved by Him as you are. He will do the rest.

(emphases mine)

7 Quick Takes- First Lenten Friday edition

1.Welcome to the first Friday in Lent! By the grace of God, I was able to make it to early mass. It was a blessing. 

2. How are your Lenten practices going. Off to a good start? This was the first year since I've been Catholic that I didn't get ashes. The day was just long and busy, and by the time 7:00 rolled around, I was done. Plus, the fasting made me tired. I have no right to complain, though, as my poor husband had a medical test that required no food at all that day. Everything turned out well, thank God.

3. I did wake up in the middle of the night last night, and used the insomnia as a good time to say a Rosary.

4. Today has a few service activities, so I have that going for me. I always say, if you have kids, you have lots of built in opportunities for service and sometimes even penance. 

5.One additional thing I am doing is listening to Father Z's Lentcasts. He puts them out daily, and they are short but meaty. (acceptable sort of meat, even on Fridays) They are posted to his blog each morning. He also posted several versions of audio Stations of the Cross.

6. Yuk. Turning clocks ahead this weekend. Takes me two weeks to adjust. Oh well. Penance! 

 


7. If you have any prayer requests, I would be happy to add them to my Lenten prayers.

Peace, 

Kelly

Quinquagesima Sunday

(roughly the fiftieth day before Easter)

To we who are not used to the pre-Conciliar Mass, this word sounds like something that would require the use of an antacid.

However, this being my first time attending the TLM during pre Lent, I am finding it beautiful. I feel more tuned in and prepared for Lent this year, not by way of my own ideas, rather that my soul has been prepared.

Here is the music we were blessed to hear while we received Holy Communion today:

 

 

 

If you would like to read a good background on Quinquagesima Sunday, Father Z. has an excellent post about it.


 My hope is to share my Lent with you via this blog. But we all know about human plans.

Blessed Sunday!
 

Kelly

A Post a Day #s 4 and 5, 7 lightning takes, the catch-up version

1. Sorry about missing yesterday! Long day+having gotten back to working out after a week or two off while trying to get the dang pinched nerve in my neck sorted out+another laundromat day=eyelids at half mast by dinnertime.

2. Plus I knew we were going to a funeral the next morning (today), and wanted to sleep off the funk.

3. The funeral. More a memorial service, but very nice. It's been quite a while since I have been at anything other than a Catholic um, anything, and I remember some of the nice things about it. The nuts and bolts preaching, the worship music. I like to see what we have in common. I do see, as well, what is missing. But this was where the parents of my *cousin, who passed away, attend church, so this was the right place for them to hold the service.

*My father was at the younger end of a large family (11, I think), so the cousins are legion in number, and all, in-laws, children, close friends,  are simply called cousin. Sometimes we trace back to which Biehl sibling we are offspring of, just to get our bearings.

 4. Although it is for sad reasons, we all enjoy seeing one another. We always say, "wish it was under better circumstances". But, I find comfort in seeing my extended family. My parents have both been gone for over 30 years, and to see the people that carry their traits, and remember them from before I was born, is something that makes me feel a part of something wonderful.

5. And tonight, I am sitting in my comfy sweats, with one of the last beers until after Easter, with some kids around me, and this is All Right.

6. Another Lenten resolve that really should not take Lent to make happen is that I want to keep in much better contact with these people. I want to get as many of our butts down to North Carolina to see my brother ASAP. Dang it!

7. And so, with only the doings of yesterday evening and today having been chronicled for you, I am off to finish reading CS Lewis' space trilogy, and just to be sure I leave you with something pithy, here is a favorite quote from Perelandra:

We have learned of evil, though not as the Evil One wished us to learn. We have learned better than that, and know it more, for it is waking that understands sleep and not sleep that understands waking. There is an ignorance of evil that comes from being young: there is a darker ignorance that comes from doing it, as men by sleeping lose the knowledge of sleep.

Peace, 

Kelly

A Post a Day #3. Resistance to Change

So, in yesterday's post I mentioned the things I would like to change and improve during Lent. I know full well that when I make up my mind to make a change for the better, in any area, I will encounter resistance. Whether it is from within or without, from the material world or the spiritual, making changes to my body, my mind, or my spirit involves warfare against the comfortable inertia I am currently enjoying.

Which got me to remembering how I agree with Jen Fulweiler's statements about how one experiences resistance in the context of trying to lose weight.

18. If you’re approaching it the right way, trying to lose weight will involve major spiritual warfare — not because holiness has anything to do with a number on a scale, but because you’re attempting to free yourself from attachments that drag you down. We Christians call the force behind this phenomenon evil, Steven Pressfield calls it Resistance. Whatever label you want to use, know that it is real and it is going to try to stop you.

From her entire excellent post,The lazy nerd's guide to weight loss.


 So, if we accept that as a given, what do we do when we're in the thick of it? 

Here is some decidedly unprofessional advice from my own mind and experience. You're welcome.



1. Trust that what I am doing is a good thing. It doesn't have to be Nobel Prize Winning Good, just something that adds to yours or others' lives. Then when you go to do it, you don't have to keep revisiting it's "rightness." I like what Mother Angelica says:

“Faith is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air, and a queasy feeling in the stomach.”

“Unless you are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous. When you have God, you don’t have to know everything about it; you just do it.”

“Never put a lid on God. You can give God a thimble and ask for a quart. It won't work. Your plans, your projects, your dreams have to always be bigger than you, so God has room to operate. I want you to get good ideas, crazy ideas, extravagant ideas. Nothing is too much for The Lord to do - accent on 'The Lord'.”

2. Expect the roadblocks, deal with them and keep going.  

I wear the brown scapular. When I was struggling with consistency in my prayer life, I thought perhaps I should stop wearing it until I get back on track. A wise priest told me to just make some small prayer offering to Mary rather than stop wearing the scapular. 

 After all the evil one would like nothing more than to see me give up my devotion to the Blessed Mother, who crushes his head beneath her heel.

Don't give points to the wrong team. Don't give up.

3. Don't be surprised at the weakness of your own flesh. (Boy, this one rings true when I am working out).  But really, we ALL sin and fall short of the glory of God. We ALL are sitting squarely in the

middle of our humanity and have to rely on grace for everything, most especially in our areas of struggle. We supply the willingness, effort and faith, and God grants us results. 

So, when I don't feel like doing my workout, I apply what I know about inertia, and just put my sneakers on, start the video and make the motions. Sometimes I get into it part way, as I get warmed up, and it gets easier. Not every time, but the results, ahh. The benefits help me in so many areas.

4. Don't be surprised at the way your old thought patterns try to drag you down. Especially if you have an inner critic, as I do. In these instances, you have to recognize the lies and tell yourself the truth. Example: I want to say a Rosary on a given day, but have a bunch of stuff I also need to do around the house. The Critic says, "Praying while doing tasks does not show proper reverence." If I listen to the Critic, guess what? I don't pray. So I tell myself the truth, that God would rather I pray. 

Be clear and honest with yourself.

 5.  Do expect grace. In my experience, any time we make a move toward God, whatever resistance we may encounter pales in comparison with the grace we receive. If we stay the course with our eyes on Him, He truly does pave the way and vanquish the foes, even if the foes come from our minds. 

So, I say this to myself and to you, go and be bold, be Catholic, let Him fill, energize and encourage you. 


 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14