Category Archives: Neat Things I Didn’t Author

Magnificat Meditation of the Day

Neat Things I Didn't Author

Humility and the Father’s Love

Why did my Father give you power over me?
Because he wanted me to get very close to you
to show you the depths of his love for you;
not the distant love of a God
who sits on a throne in his heaven
and looks down on you on the earth,
but the love of a Father who longs to help you
to carry your burdens,
to comfort and heal you,
to give you every good gift.
He wants to come into your homes,
and to sit with you at your meals
as one of the family.
He wants to walk with you as a beloved friend.
He could not do that himself
and so he sent me, his only Son,
to make his love known to you.

I could take on your weakness
and then act out my Father’s name which is Love.
Can you truly imagine the love of God?
Can you understand the depth
of your Father’s love for you?

The Father sent me to show you his love,
and to act it out among you
to give you an example to copy.
I am the image of your unseen Father,
in my life, and particularly in my passion,
I showed you the depths
to which love must be prepared to go.
There is no room for fear in love,
no room for shame,
no excuses,
no holidays.
Love offers everything
and expects no return.

You cannot bear the unveiled love of God.
It falls like a fire upon you
and you are consumed and burnt up in its heat.
You are not ready yet to be refined
and purified by the naked flame
of your Father’s love for you,
and so it has to be filtered,
mediated to you through my flesh. — Richard Hobbs

I was just looking up the Mass reading for the day in the Magnificat and I opened up to the meditation of the day. I just love this. Not only is it a great expression of Jesus, but I feel a personal connection to these words as well. I feel that I also am called to mediate God’s love to a particular person. I also feel that this person has incredible power over me. Not that this person is entirely aware of my calling, but that in what this person does, says, feels and experiences, I am also affected. We truly are one Body in Christ, and I feel that most keenly with this person. The way in which I help to carry burdens, comfort and heal is in my daily, continual prayer for this person. I pray night and day and all the time in between. It truly is an act of love, and not done for any false sense of piety. And in this loving, I learn how to love. By opening myself up to God’s love, poured out through me, I learn from His example.

I Have a Strange Sense of Humor

Humor of the Day, Jennspeak, Neat Things I Didn't Author

For example, take the books I picked up from the library today:

“Son of a Witch” by Gregory Maguire
“Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith: 101 Stories to Offer Hope, Deepen Faith, and Spread Love” by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & LeAnn Thieman
“He’s Just Not That Into You” by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
“Sex for Busy People: The Art of the Quickie for Lovers on the Go” by Emily Dubberley (This I think will be hysterical! Completely absurd!)
“Benedict XVI: Spiritual Thoughts in the First Year of His Papacy” by USCCB

Update
The “Sex for Busy People” book? Ugh. Completely X-rated. I’m surprised this was available on the shelves at the public library. Yuck. Not funny. Morally offensive.

Current Thoughts Bouncing Around My Head

Jennspeak, Neat Things I Didn't Author, Pop Culture

1. Yay! I finally have MY car back! I only have about 3 weeks left on my warranty (and the car’s only a year old! I just happen to drive A LOT!), and my little message display stopped working, so it was in the shop to try and figure out what was going on. I had thought it was just a fuse, but the tech said it had power and had a ground, so they want to replace the entire unit. Yay, warranty! Knock yourselves out! 🙂 The only bad thing is that I was without my car for 2 days. I am grateful that my mom was willing to let me borrow her car (and that she had Wednesday and Thursday off!). However, driving her car made me so incredibly glad to get my own back. Not that her car is awful or anything. She has a 2007 Dodge Caliber. But, it does have some characteristics which I found irksome.

a. My mom and I are the same height and everything, but she likes to sit WAY too close to the steering wheel. Since, I understand the pain and anguish of having to readjust the seat, I left it the way she likes it. As a related issue, she likes the steering wheel low, so that’s almost in your lap, too. Problem being that the top part of the steering wheel is right in the line of sight for the speedometer. Now, I understand that Mom doesn’t use those digits at the top of the dial, but for her daughter, Mario Andretti, there was an issue.

b. It seems like this car has much less visibility than mine. Wider pillars, smaller back window. However, her side mirrors are amazingly well-adjusted.

c. Her transmission doesn’t sound the same switching gears. So, I don’t know that I’m going too fast until the little needle comes out of hiding from the steering wheel, like at 95 mph. 🙂 (Just kidding, Mom! I didn’t have your car going that fast!)

d. Mom and Dad were irritated by the shape of the headrests on the seats…so they removed them. Now, the seat only goes up to your shoulder, and there is no support for my head/neck were I to get into a crash. That is more than a little disturbing to me.

e. Her cup holders are further down by the floor than mine and not well protected. It is much easier to spill my coffee. And, because of their location, you almost have to look down to put the cup back in the holder — which, hello, distracted driving. I made sure to evaluate my options for Starbucks-compatibility before purchasing. Just saying.

f. Mom doesn’t care about “options” in a car. If she could buy one without power anything and with no radio, she would do it. It just happens that the better leases are on cars which have at least a few options. Resale value is higher. Go figure. 🙂 Because she does not care, the clock was still at the wrong time (never changed when daylight savings did). So, I fixed that. But then, turning on the radio, I found it all messed up. Obviously, my brother must have messed with it, since the fade and balance were adjusted so that I was certain I was going deaf in one ear, and the bass was cranked up way too much. Not that I don’t like bass. But, seriously, when it is making all the plasticy pieces in the back of the car rattle — not the vibrational sound I was going for.

Overall, it was good, reliable transportation, and I am very, very thankful that I was able to borrow her car to go to work.

2. On a related note, I noticed yesterday that her passenger windshield wiper had hanging rubber, and wasn’t wiping very well. And, because it is expected to snow tomorrow pretty good, I needed to make sure I returned the car fully functional, so Mom could go to work. So, I faced the prospect of having one car in the shop and trying to find a way to get parts for the other car. I stopped by an Auto Zone on the way to get Mom (to pick up my car). I bought a new wiper blade and the kind boy behind the counter installed it for me! Go AutoZoneBoy! Thank you! I prayed that he would have a blessed evening and day today, for his kindness. Because of him, I was able to return her car in perfect condition, with a full tank of gas (okay AZB didn’t do that, but still).

3. “A lot of taxpayers’ money is going into Church schools and I think we should tease out what is happening here,” said Sheerman. “It seems to me that faith education works all right as long as people are not that serious about their faith. But as soon as there is a more doctrinaire attitude, questions have to be asked.” — Courtesy of ZENIT

Oh, I getcha. Religion is fine as long as it’s not REAL. What they are saying is they don’t mind believers who…don’t really believe. What? I mean, if we aren’t to teach the faith, why not just have secular schools? Duh. Why are they surprised? It’s like saying, “Math classes are fine, as long as the students really aren’t learning anything. But as soon as they start actually teaching algebra and long division, questions have to be asked.” In summation, “Keep the dumb sheep dumb.” Thank you, Satan; I think I’ll pass.

Poem of the Day

Neat Things I Didn't Author

Submitted by Karen:

School Prayer

In the name of the day break
and the eyelids of morning,
and the wayfaring moon
and the night when it departs,

I swear I will not dishonor
my soul with hatred,
but offer myself humbly
as a guardian of nature,
as a healer of misery,
as a messenger of wonder,
as an architect of peace.

In the name of the sun and its mirrors
and the day that embraces it
and the cloud veils drawn over it
and the uttermost night
and the male and the female
and the plants bursting with seed
and the crowning seasons
of the firefly and the apple,

I will honor all life
–where ever and in whatever form
it may dwell– on Earth my home,
and in the mansions of the stars.

Diane Ackerman, I Praise My Destroyer, Random House, 1998

Dancing With God

Neat Things I Didn't Author

Thanks to Caryn for sharing!

ATT00001

When I meditated on the word “guidance,”
I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn’t flow with the music,
And everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
Both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
Or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness,
And attentiveness from one person
And gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word “guidance.”
When I saw “G,” I thought of God, followed by “U” and “I.”
“God,” “U” and “I” dance.
God, you and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
That I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today if that God’s blessings
And mercies are upon you this day and every day.
May you abide in God, as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead
And to guide you through each season of your life.

(Kasia, isn’t this remarkably timely, given last night’s conversation? 🙂

Tale of Horror of the Day

Bioethics, Neat Things I Didn't Author

Courtesy of “The Clone Age: Adventures in the New World of Reproductive Technology” by Lori B. Andrews:

After Jonathan Slack cloned headless frogs, other researchers suggested cloning headless humans to serve as organ donors. They argued that, with no brain, such creatures would not be considered persons under the law.

I just had to stop eating my Cheerios after that. I mean, most of the book talks about human life being treated in a horribly callous way, but that…takes the cake right there. Even in the researchers’ argument, they are looking for ways to depersonalize and dehumanize…human people! The question is more like: “How can I make this not a person, so that I can do whatever I want to it and others will not object?” Well, a good start would be to call it a “creature.” Oh, wait. They already did that.

So disgusting.

Commentary by Jaibee

Liturgy of the Hours/Christian Prayer, Neat Things I Didn't Author

From a letter to the Ephesians by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (from the readings of the Liturgy of the Hours):

Have faith in Christ, and love

Try to gather together more frequently to give thanks to God and to praise him. For when you come together frequently, Satan’s powers are undermined, (1) and the destruction he threatens is done away with in the unanimity of your faith. Nothing is better than peace, in which all warfare between heaven and earth is brought to an end.

None of this will escape you if you have perfect faith and love toward Jesus Christ. These are the beginning and the end of life: faith the beginning, love the end. (2) When these two are found together, there is God, and everything else concerning right living follows from them. No one professing faith sins; no one possessing love hates. “A tree is known by its fruit.” So those who profess to belong to Christ will be known by what they do. (3) For the work we are about is not a matter of words here and now, but depends on the power of faith and on being found faithful to the end.

It is better to remain silent and to be than to talk and not be. Teaching is good if the teacher also acts. Now there was one teacher who “spoke, and it was made,” and even what he did in silence is worthy of the Father. He who has the word of Jesus can truly listen also to his silence, in order to be perfect, that he may act through his speech and be known by his silence. (4) Nothing is hidden from the Lord, but even our secrets are close to him. Let us then do everything in the knowledge that he is dwelling within us so that we may be his temples and he may be God within us. (5) He is, and will reveal himself, in our sight, according to the love we bear him in holiness.

“Make no mistake,” my brothers: those who corrupt families “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” If those who do these things in accordance with the flesh have died, how much worse will it be if one corrupts through evil doctrine the faith of God for which Jesus was crucified. Such a person, because he is defiled, will depart into the unquenchable fire, as will any one who listens to him.

For the Lord received anointing on his head in order that he might breathe incorruptibility on the Church. Do not be anointed with the evil odour of the teachings of the prince of this world, do not let him lead you captive away from the life that is set before you. But why is it that we are not all wise when we have received the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we perish in our stupidity, (6) not knowing the gift the Lord has truly sent us?

My spirit is given over to the humble service of the cross which is a stumbling block to unbelievers but to us salvation and eternal life.

(1) For me, I associate this with daily Mass. Daily reception of the Eucharist which gives us amazing power and grace to be not only what He wants us to be, but to be the man or woman we ourselves wish to be.
(2) Faith — even the size of a mustard seed; Love — conformity to God, who is love.
(3) We will not be saved by our works, but rather by our faith in God. As we trust only in Him, we grow in conformity to Him and thus more closely resemble that which is pure love. The more we allow ourselves to be filled with this pure love, the more our actions will demonstrate this; not out of pride or boasting, but from an interior conversion of heart.
(4) How often do we sin by the works of our tongue? Of what need do others have to know of our good deeds? To inflate our egos and to make a mockery of the humility to which we aspire?
(5) Live so as not to show others “me,” but to show “Him in me.”
(6) It is by listening to that evil doubt within us, the seed planted by the Evil One, that we are not strong enough or that maybe we don’t have all the answers and should get other opinions (opinions from the world, and not of God) instead of clinging to our own faith. Of course, we are not strong enough — but God is! If we but have faith in Him, there is no one who can take us from His hand!

Oh, No Way

Bioethics, Neat Things I Didn't Author, Right to Life Issues

OH boy!  I snatched up this book from the library, and even in the prologue I found something so utterly horrifying, that I just had to stop reading to let you know:

From “The Clone Age,” by Lori B. Andrews, page 7:  “Is it the wrong time for a pregnancy, but you want to freeze the fetus in case you later want to bring to life that very baby?  Cryogenic Solutions of Houston offers such freezing, even though the technology to ‘reanimate’ such a fetus is not yet available.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Although, I probably shouldn’t be surprised, it’s not like people don’t already freeze their children — that we don’t have thousands of little kids on ice right now.  But something about how very callous that statement is just struck me in a unique way.  This is not about a couple wanting desperately to have kids and the only way is to conceive in a petri dish.  This is about your personal convenience!  That poor child has already been conceived normally and is growing and thriving in his or her natural environment, and you want to rip him out of your body and freeze him — oh, but hang on there kid, because some day I might decide that I want you?!!?!?!

There is nothing in that decision that has anything to do with love — except for the extreme, selfish love of self of the individual making that horrible decision.

And, supposing you do this, what do you tell your kid???!?  “Hi, honey.  Yeah, well I want you now, but I didn’t want you earlier,”?????  What is that going to do to the poor kid’s self esteem?

This is a sick, sick world in which we live.

Malfunction in Human

Humor of the Day, Neat Things I Didn't Author

(Sent to me by our DRE):

RECALL NOTICE: The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.

This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed ‘Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality,’ or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.

Some of the symptoms include:
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect.

The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.

The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.

No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:
1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers’ Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus.

DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention!

– GOD

P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by ‘Knee Mail’.

Bible Study – Session 15, Adventures in Matthew

Bible Study, Critical Mass, Jennspeak, Neat Things I Didn't Author, Prayer/Prayer Requests

This was a really productive Bible study for me this evening. I really enjoyed answering my questions and reflecting upon the Word of God. Here are three things which I came across this evening that were of particular significance to me:

1. “To deny oneself is to disown oneself as the center on one’s existence.” — The Catholic Study Bible (Pg. 1283; MT 16:24)

2. Sin thwarts us in our vocation as God’s children. Pp. 549, Catechism of the Catholic Church

3. Regarding the Transfiguration: “Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says: ‘Go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse to suffer?'” — St. Augustine, Sermo 78, 6: PL 38, 492-493, cf. Lk 9:33

Sin is, to me, a fixation on self. A feeding of that which is of the earth and of ourselves. A selfishness of mind, body and spirit. A turning from His will, in the preference of our own. By pleading with God to remove all suffering from our life, we are asking not to be a part of Christ’s redemptive suffering on the cross. And to choose not to take up our cross and suffer alongside Him, we are choosing also not to share in his Resurrection and kingdom. Instead, we should choose to take up our cross, and suffer alongside our Lord — but not blindly. We should always unite our suffering to his for a purpose. Somehow, God will make our suffering efficacious for those purposes. We should not waste our suffering, but have it be used as redemption for others. Enter fully into the body of Christ and give fully of ourselves — not only the good parts and the surplus of ourselves and our possessions, but of our suffering, pain and need. When we have given of ourselves until we are empty and wrung out, will we truly know what it means to submit completely and receive back all the grace of our Lord. The more we empty of ourselves, the more we have room for Him.

Lord, in the words of John the Baptist on this day of the Baptism of our Lord, help me to decrease in myself, so that He who dwells within me can increase.
Amen.

Also, at the beginning of Vocation Week, let us remember the words of Fr. Mark’s homily today (he quoting someone else, I just forget who): “There is no VAcation from your VOcation.” How true. May we always live according to God’s plan for our life. Please join me in praying for people’s discernment of the vocation God has in mind for them, and the acceptance of this calling, whether to the priesthood, diaconate, religious life, married life or single life; may all of God’s people live for the glory of Him according to their state of life.