Right to Life IV

Quebec, 2003

Day Four
To Love Through Amazement

Prayer
Father of life, as you have given me the gift of life, so may I give it away each day to your, and to my brothers and sisters, that through penitence, prayer, and charity my days on earth may lead me home to you.

A Reading from the first Letter of Saint John 3:14-16, 19-20
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brother. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers...Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.

(silent reflection)

Prayer
God of all creation, help me to listen with everyone I meet to the profound and persuasive echo in their heart of the Gospel of Life and the joy of your presence.

A Reflection by Pope John Paul II*
Yes, dear brothers and sisters, our Christian communities must become genuine "schools: of prayer, where the meeting with Christ is expressed not just in imploring help but also in thanksgiving, praise, adoration, contemplation, listening and ardent devotion until the heart truly "falls in love." Intense prayer, yes, but it does not distract us from our commitment to history: by opening our heart to the love of God it also opens it to the love of our brothers and sisters, and makes us capable of shaping history according to God's plan.

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...

*Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, Novo Millenio Inuente, no. 33

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I feel the need today to tell the story of a young lady from our parish who is a living witness to us all. She daily lives out the word of God by deed and example. Rachel (this is not her real name but those who know her will recognize who it is, and I cannot tell this story without a name for that is what will give this story life). Rachel lives this "life of love" every day. She began this journey of love when she was a university student and spent a summer in India caring for the indigent, sick and dying. Rachel says she felt the tug of our Lord to go to China after graduation, and as parents are wont to do, tried in all ways to discourage her going to this godless place in fear and love for her. I would have been no different if one of my children had said the same thing to me. For we love them and want the very best for them. But again His ways are not our ways.

Rachael did indeed go to China where she cares for handicapped, abandoned, and orphaned babies and children, most of whom are girls. Rachel openly witnesses to her faith daily. She travels by bus making several transfers to attend Mass daily. She and fellow employees pray and study together. She walks among the people with the assurance of the Holy Spirit. This tender, gentle, soft spoken young lady daily LIVES the Word of God.

Rachel says she could not say "no" to the call for she was compelled to do so. The Lord's summons to her was so strong that she could not deny Him. And so it is, that in the midst of the parish of St. John the Baptist (though far from us) , we have a living example of what it means to truly answer the call and live it daily.

And what of her parents? They are gracious, loving supporters of their gift, their treasure from God.

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As for her presence in my life and how I have been touched by her, I say,
Thanks be to God!

Right to Life III

Quebec, 2003

Day Three
To Truth Through Amazement

Prayer
Father of life, unworthy though I am, implant within my heart an amazement that you have shared your life with me, and have destined me for eternal bliss.

A Reading from the First Letter of Saint John 1John 3:1-2
See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

(silent reflection)

Prayer
God of all creation give me the grace to live this day as a prelude and a preparation for eternal life with you.

A Reflection by Pope John Paul II*
Revelation therefore introduces into our history a universal and ultimate truth which stirs the human mind to ceaseless effort; indeed, it impels reason continually to extend the range of its knowledge until is senses that it has done all in its power, leaving no stone unturned...The truth of Christian Revelation, found in Jesus of Nazareth, enables all men and women to embrace the "mystery" of their own life... Christian Revelation is the true lodestar of men and women as they strive to make their way amid the pressures of an immanentist habit of mind and the constriction of a technocratic logic. It is the ultimate possibility offered of love which began with creation. To those wishing to know the truth, if they can look beyond themselves and their own concerns, there is given the possibility of taking full and harmonious possession of their lives precisely by following the path of truth.

Our Father. . .
Hail Mary. . .
Glory Be. . .

*Pope John Paul II, Encyclical, Fides et Ration, nos, 14, 15.

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"To those wishing to know the truth, if they can look beyond themselves and their own concerns, there is given the possibility of taking full and harmonious possession of their lives precisely by following the path of truth." As I read this, I was struck by the wealth of insight in these words. Imagine, Cathy. If you can be less selfish and more selfless you can follow the Way without those burdens that claim you when the "I" in you is overshadowed by concerns for the "other". The "truth" is I know and have experienced the "path of truth". But wanderlust causes me to roam and I have to stumble, twist an ankle or stub a toe in order to know I must find my way back to "the path." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to "read" this map.

Taking full and harmonious possession of my life means loving Him who made me and loving what he made, Me! Some days I am not so easy to love, by me or anyone else. Knowing that God always does, no matter what, is the hardest part of the concept to understand and yet since it is true I must glory in that and in turn love "me" as well. So it is that true self-love means giving up the "ego" as I envision it and accept the vision of Truth as it really is. God made me, God loves me, and I have been saved by His Son. Amen.

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~Today I have again been amazed!~
Thanks be to God.

Right to Life II

Niagara Falls, 2003

Day Two
Living life for Eternity

Prayer
Father of life, here and now, reveal the greatness of your love in the inestimable value of each and every human life.

A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 4:14--5:1
Know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. , as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory; but what is unseen is eternal.

(silent reflection)

Prayer
God of all creation, help us to see our earthly lives as but the beginning of the plans you have in store for us.

A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI*
I believe. . .that our life tends in the end toward a discovery of love, toward receiving love and giving love. And the crucified Christ, who presents us with love lived out to the end, as he himself says in the Gospel of John, lifts this principle up into the realm of absolute reality. God himself is love. In this sense, love is indeed both the fundamental rule and ultimate aim of life. . . Human love always lays claim to eternity. Love contradicts death. . .This human love is turned from a promise into a fulfillment of reality only when it is wrapped in a love that can truly impart eternity. [Love] is what we are looking for and is the goal toward which our lives are directed. But within its own framework and on its own terms it directs our view toward God and brings us to wait upon God.

Our Father. . .
Hali Mary. . .
Glory Be. . .

*Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, God and the World, p. 185f

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Example of his gracious love...

The Beginning of the Trip

I told you I would tell you about the beginning of the trip and I think this is a perfect time to do that. You see nearly a week ago, I began my journey to my mother's for a visit. I had packed and prepared for days in advance even to double checking the itinerary. Yours truly READ the itinerary incorrectly. I thought I left here at 10:30 a.m. en route to INDY. Well, that was not my departure time. It was my arrival time to INDY. I was to leave here at 8:30 a.m. I discovered this error at 8:10 a.m. My kind and loving husband, my belongings and yours truly left for the airport knowing that I would miss my flight. (The Hand of God: we did this in peace, calm, generosity of spirit and love.) When I arrived at the check-in counter I told the attendant that I had missed my flight and was told I needed to contact the carrier because I had purchased the ticket through Expedia. In the next hour and twenty minutes (Ron hoping that the cell phone battery was fully charged) Felice worked with all the airlines involved, but apparently none of them could resolve my dilemma. She was generous, kind and diligent. AND she was on overtime caring for me. We laughed together and I was lifted up by her understanding. (One could say that is her job. I prefer to see it as The Hand of God.) When all was said and done the only thing for me to do, she said was to present myself to the check-in counter again and ask if they would issue a new itinerary. I fully expected a full day's delay. When I approached the counter I explained to the agent again what I had been told and she started to work on my "project", when a gentleman standing behind her in blue jeans and a sweatshirt, asked her to take care of the man behind me, he would take care of me. ( The Hand of God: in less than ten minutes he had me rerouted from here to Atlanta, to Salt Lake City, to Billings with arrival only three hours later than anticipated.) My flight out was in about 20 minutes. Ron asked him about the penalty fee charged for the change of plans. ( The Hand of God: the gentleman said there is no time). That my dear friends is how my wonderful trip to my mother's started and I have to tell you that I did not experience one moment of anxiety or fear. Calm prevailed. And what of the $100.00? It will donated to the Newburgh Food Pantry in gratitude to The Hand of God.

God bless you all...

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And thanks be to God!

Right to Life

(Niagara River, 2003)

The Knights of Columbus at our parish have generously supplied all members of St. John the Baptist the Novena for Life. January 21, 2008 is the Right to Life March in DC. I'm a couple of days late in starting, but beginning none-the-less and would ask you to pray it with me.

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Day One
Created to Live with You

Prayer
Father of life, help us to long for the fullness of life and to know the wonder of what awaits us beyond the dimensions of this earthly existence.

A reading from the Book of Job 19:1, 23-27a
The Job answered and said: Oh, would that my words were written down! Would that they were inscribed in a record: That with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever! But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust; Whom I myself shall see; my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him; And from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing.

(Silent reflection)

Prayer
God of all creation grant us the wisdom to understand fully the mystery that life has no meaning apart from you.

A Reflection by Pope John Paul II*
The Eucharist is a straining towards the goal, a foretaste of the fullness of joy promised by Christ (cf. Jn 15:11); it is in some way the anticipation of heaven, the "pledge of future glory". . . Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to receive eternal life; they already possess it on earth, as the first-fruits of a future fullness which will embrace man in his totality. For in the Eucharist we also received the pledge of our bodily resurrection at the end of the world; "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (Jn 6:54)

Our Father. . .
Hail Mary. . .
Glory Be. . .

*Ecclesia de Eucharistia, no. 18.

Thank you for this time of prayer with me. Tomorrow then.

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Thanks be to God!!

Spreading the Love...

Much to my surprise I have been given the "Spread the Love Award" by Maria at Mommy of Four. To her I say thank you. It is a delight to be honored. But it is to all of you who have given me such encouragement that I feel obliged to say thank you as well. I do so enjoy this means of communication and education, because there is not one of you who has not taught me something, lifted my spirits and made me laugh, sometimes out loud with your contributions.

*!^!^!^!^!*

And so it is that I choose someone for this award. It is so difficult not feel as if you have left someone out! But here are a few of the ones who brighten my day. I have been blessed by so many that this is just the icing on a really wonderful cake. So to these who share their love I give you, Musings, Sailing by Starlight, Are We There Yet, What I Choose Today, View From the Pews, A Trucker's Wife, and Contemplative Haven, asylum for your refugee soul. And so it is for them to pass the baton!

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~Thanks be to God~