Tthe Littlest Angel

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Of all the stories I cherish from my childhood, the story of the Littlest Angel is by far my favorite. My godmother, Aunt Rosemary, gave me the story on record, narrated by Loretta Young. And I had as much anticipation waiting for the time when I could listen to it as I did in anticipation of Christmas.

...On the day of the miracle, the Littlest Angel proudly placed his small box before the throne of God. The littlest Angel trembled as the box was opened. There was a butterfly with golden wings, a sky-blue egg from a bird's nest, two white stones from a river bank, and a strap from the collar of his dog. The voice of God spoke, "of all the gifts this small box pleases me most. I accept this gift in the name of the Child Jesus born this night in Bethlehem." The box began to glow. It rose until it hung over the stable where the Son of God had just been born. The box would forever be known as the "the shining star of Bethlehem.

So you see I knew there was hope for me. For as children we want to know we can please God. The validation came to me in this story. Whatever I did, no matter how plain, it would please God. How is it we forget that when we "grow" up?

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Every breath of air and ray of light and heat,
every beautiful prospect, is, as it were,
the skirts of their garments, the weaving of
the robes of those whose faces see God.
John Henry Newman

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Thanks be to God!!!

New Awakening

As I awoke this morning I realized I was saying the Our Father. Not too hard to understand. A lot of people awaken saying the Our Father in the morning as a matter of course just as I did. But this morning I had a New Awakening. I was struck by the fact that THIS day I said "Thy will be done!" I can only surmise that the excerpt from Contemplation Haven, Asylum for Your Refugee Soul made a real impact on me yesterday. She shared a wonderful excerpt by Hans Urs von Balthasar called Maybe Tomorrow. Wow! It must have had more of an impression on me than I thought!!! TODAY I hear myself saying, "Thy will be done" now...not tomorrow...today! I'm really going to TRY today!!!

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Thanks be to God!

Wisdom of G.K. Chesterton

Though my birthday is still a few days away I received the most wonderful book of reflections from my dear friend, Martha. (You might remember her from my entry on friendship in May this year). I have always love G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown Mysteries. Now, I am so delighted with this gift that I have to share today's reflection with you from the "Wisdom of G.K. Chesterton".

Levity and Levitation

Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. This has always been the instinct of Christendom, and especially the instinct of Christian art. Remember how Fra Angelico represented all his angels, not only as birds, bu almost as butterflies. Remember how the most earnest medieval art was full of light and fluttering draperies, of quick and capering feet...In the old Christian pictures the sky over every figure is like a blue or gold parachute. Every figure seems ready to fly up and float about in the heavens. The tattered cloak of the beggar will bear him up like the rayed plumes of the angels. But the kings in their heavy gold and the proud in their robes of purple will all of their nature sink downward, for pride cannot rise to levity or levitation. Pride is the downward drag of all things into an easy solemnity. One "settles down" into a sort of selfish seriousness; but one has to rise to a gay self-forgetfulness. A man "falls" into a brown study; he reaches up at a blue sky. (ORTHODOXY)

REVIVE THE SPIRIT

For thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 57:15

PRAYER
Holy God, bear us upward toward you. Make our spirits
lighter, more joyful. Teach us how to live without fretting,
without the anxieties that so often obscure our view
of you in your high and holy place, that heaven which is
our true home.

ADVENT ACTION
If you live near an art museum, plan a day trip there and spend an hour or more
in the medieval section. if not, find art books at a local library or search the internet
for images of great art. As you look at the painting, consider what Chesterton
says about the lightness, the "gay self-forgetfulness" of some of the figures. Try
to appreciate the art while also opening yourself to it as a mode for devotion.

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I hope you find this to be a source of reflection you might find as useful and uplifting as I have found it to be. Gee, aren't birthdays grand!!!

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Thanks be to God!!!

Christmas Cards

A co-worker several years ago told me she never sent Christmas cards because they were a waste of time and money. "No one keeps them," she said. "They just throw them away." Well, I had to agree that she might have been right about that.

But I had a wonderful teacher when it came to the "art" of Christmas cards. My dad's cousin, Pat, would SHOP every year for her Christmas cards. It was with loving tenderness and with great care she sought the card she was going to send each year. I remember going shopping with her once. I asked her what she looked for in a Christmas card and she said that it had to have a certain beauty that struck her as being really Christmas. "But why?" I asked. She told me she always wanted the card to be a real gift, not just a piece of paper that was sent in the mail. She said that with each card she addressed and signed she said a prayer for the friend or family. And at least once a year she had remembered them personally in her prayers, her gift to them. Well, that bowled that teenager over...

Ever since, I have tried to remember the lesson Pat taught me that Saturday so many years ago. When I work on the Christmas cards they are a labor of love, one in which I take a great deal of pleasure! I treasure this time with my family and friends and share that little prayer for them as Pat did. That's my Christmas card tradition and I love it.

I hope you love to send Christmas cards as I do. For this card is for All who visit here. God Bless you this Holy Season of Christmas.

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And Thanks Be to God!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

It is so amazing and awe inspiring to witness again how the Spirit has moved the Church Fathers in the instruction of the People of God. I cannot tell you how the reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians really touch my heart and soul this morning at Mass. While proclaiming the Word I was struck by the eloquence of Saint Paul and how on this Holy Feast we are truly drawn securely into the Family of God. This reading is so appropriate and is a reminder of our connection to our Blessed Mother through her son Jesus. I am destined to be holy.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundations of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-6: 11-12)

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Thanks be to God, again!!!