Whoo-hoo! I’m all excited about Lent! I have plans…. And, they may involve you…. 🙂
Now, here’s the million dollar question: is it okay to involve other people in your Lenten penance, as long as you the the one doing the penance, right?
Next, I need a really good cause for my Lenten penance. Any suggestions?
A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to four-year old David’s comment.
Gently, she tucked the stethoscope into his ears and placed the disk over his heart. “Listen,” she said, “What do you suppose that is?” He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest.
Then, his face broke out in a wondrous grin and he asked, “Is that Jesus knocking?”
Okay, by now, many of you will know that I have a particular aversion to e-mail forwards. That said, occasionally I will pass one on because it is particularly cute or profound. This one, while a decent message, is being posted because, well, I love God, and I have a certain fondness for coffee (no, really, I do! Who would have thought? :P), and I couldn’t pass it up.
Now, if only coffee were used more often as a metaphor for theological teachings…. 🙂
God’s Coffee
A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general …Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal – some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee.. When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering …
”You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems.” He continued …”Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups” … Then you began eyeing each other’s cups ….”
”Now consider this: Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has provided us … God brews the coffee, but he does not supply the cups.
“Enjoy your coffee!” The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have ….
So please remember: Live simply. Love generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.
And remember – the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.” — Jim Stoval
“Do all the good you can, and make as little fuss about it as possible.” –Charles Dickens
A couple of questions arose in Bible study which were unable to be adequately answered in discussion:
1. Regarding 2 Mc 7, the 7 brothers and their mom had unwavering faith in God and were able to withstand their tormentors due to their hope (as in certainty in the goodness and fidelity of God, as opposed to wishful thinking) in the Lord. They knew that God would raise them, and had complete faith in this, and were so able to look beyond the horrible things which were done to them. Where did they get this faith in the resurrection? Paragraph 992 of the Catechism states that, “God revealed the resurrection of the dead to his people progressively.” Okay, how was this progressively revealed to the people such that by the time of this event, the woman and her sons would have such great faith? The reference in the Catechism begins with this text in Maccabees, and continues to talk of Jesus’s ministry. So, how was this shown prior to Maccabees? The only thing that I could think of, and I admit that it’s not a stunning argument, is when Elijah was taken up in the fiery chariot. But this would only seem to point to a reality outside of that which we concretely know now here on Earth, not necessarily on the resurrection of the dead (since he didn’t “die”). And, we haven’t gotten to the New Testament quite yet, but isn’t there a part where Jesus goes up to the mountain and sees Elijah and Moses? *That* would point to a resurrection of the dead, since, I believe, Moses died. However, if I’m remembering correctly about that story (and it is in the NT and not the OT), it still doesn’t explain the faith of this family during the time of the Maccabean Revolt. Any ideas?
2. On a tangent to our discussion (since we were reading one of the deuterocanon books, the conversation drifted to the canon of Scripture), we were noting that the Protestants and the Hebrews use a shorter canon that does not include 7 books of the Old Testament which were in the Greek Septuagint that the Catholic Church has used to define their canon. Alright, I don’t (at the moment) have a question about the canon; however, if the Hebrew canon doesn’t have Maccabees, how do they preserve the tradition of Hanukkah, seeing as that story is told in Maccabees? Or is it found elsewhere in Hebrew-accepted Scripture?
Okay, so yesterday I was late getting out the door, later still after clearing the snow off the car, and slightly delayed due to slower (although not horrible) traffic. End result? I was about 4 minutes late for Mass.
This means that I came in as the Gospel was being proclaimed. What?!? I wasn’t that late! He must have known that I was going to be late and got everyone to agree to skip the first reading and started with the responsorial psalm. Seriously. Okay, okay. He wouldn’t do that, but I thought I was doing pretty good, here to find out I missed almost half of Mass. Maybe it just took me 10 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the chapel?
Anyway, I had the vague impression that there was something that I had wanted to say to Fr. John after Mass, but I could not remember what it was. Sometimes I have a horrible memory, so during Benediction, I just kept looking at the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, trying to remember if there was something that I should be remembering.
Ah ha! (Thank You!) I was going to tell Fr. John that yesterday was my one year of coming into the church (building) and going up to an usher after Mass and asking, “How do you join?”
So, I stand outside the sacristy after Mass, ready to pounce, along with the other parishioners who have questions for him. As incoherent as I often am in e-mails and blogs, I am usually far more incoherent in person, speaking. So, I can totally understand if he thinks I’m a bubblehead. That and I laugh a lot — so much that one of my other priests has said, “You are a giggly little pumpkin. Come, join us, giggle over here.”
I say something like, “Hi! It’s my one year coming into the church — coming through the door! Thank you for scaring me back!” And he replied, “That’s what I do!”
Hahahahahahhahahahaha!
One of these days, when I get more time (does that ever really happen?), I should post my “conversion story,” so you can get all the inside-joke references. 🙂
Okay, am I the only one to find this humorous?
1 Mc 6:34 – “They made the elephants drunk on grape and mulberry wine to provoke them to fight.”
Okay, last year on this date, I decided that I was going to join the Catholic Church (before I ever stepped foot in the door). But, I was certain, and so I Googled “Catholic churches troy mi,” and found two: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Anastasia. Since SEAS was located closer to my old high school (and I was worried that I might run into parents of friends, which would be awkward), I decided to attend St. Anastasia the next day, with the thought that if I didn’t like it, I could always go to the other church the following week.
So, while tomorrow is the anniversary of the first day that I stepped foot inside St. Anastasia and attended a Mass, today is the anniversary of the day I felt that I should be Catholic and resolved to do something about that.
How incredible was it for me to go to Mass today and hear our pastor give his homily on the baptism of our Lord, and how He was called to start His ministry; and how we are called to be the light of Christ to others. Then, he had us renew our baptismal promises. This was all so special and meaningful to me, because it was this day that I also felt called to follow Christ, and He lead me into His church. I know that Easter, too, is going to be this amazing time for me, as the anniversary of when I was baptized and officially entered the Catholic Church, but I wanted to take some time here to acknowledge all of the amazing people who have come into my life, and helped me on my journey last year; who welcomed me and taught me and included me, and so much more! God bless you all! And Praise God for His goodness!
As an aside, being me, I had to make sure that our pastor knew of the significance of this day for me, so I told him all this after Mass. He said, “Happy Anniversary! I’m so glad you made that decision [to come to church last year and become Catholic]!” Now, I just have to reach my other priest (pastor of the church where I attend daily Mass), the one who baptized me, to thank him for scaring me to death last year, January 14th. 🙂 But, I’ll leave the details of that for tomorrow’s posting…. 🙂
This week in our Bible study, we are reading 1 Maccabees, with supplemental passages from 2 Maccabees, Sirach, and Wisdom.
I just wanted to comment that Sirach, chapter 2 — I love it! For some reason, this passage really spoke to me when I was initially writing this blog entry (before I was taken down), and now reading it again now, it still captures my heart in a special way. I think I still agree with my initial assessment — that I may have to post this somewhere in my house, even if it means expanding the Holy Hallway (I have one central area in my house where all my crosses and crucifixi are concentrated)…. 🙂
Here are the little comments on the passage, at least as given in the footnotes of one of my Bibles:
Sir 2:1-11: “Serving God is not without its trials; moreover, it must be done with sincerity, steadfastness and fidelity. Misfortune and humiliation merely purify man and prove his worth. Patience and unwavering trust in God are always rewarded with the benefits of God’s mercy and of lasting joy.”
Sir 2:12-18: “A warning to those who compromise their religion in time of affliction; they fail in courage and trust and therefore have no security. But those who fear the Lord through obedience, reverence, love and humility find his mercy equal to his majesty.”
This looks like a lot of fun — except for the purchase price!
http://www.bibletheology.com/Product.asp?ID=105
Thank you, Steve Ray, for giving me new ways to drain my bank account! 🙂
Sometimes a girl just needs Catholic Answers, you know?
1. Why would someone exclaim, “Jehoshaphat”? I know he was one of the “good” kings of Judah during the Divided Kingdom, but how does that relate?
2. When and why did the Israelites start self-identifying as Jews and Hebrews? What is the etymology of those designations?
Paroxysm of Giggles / Critical Mass 