I just discovered this video and song by Casting Crowns. I remember once having a discussion in college led by a philosophy professor, about what must be an age-old question. When people come together in a relationship, what is happening? Is it two halves completing each other as a whole? Two wholes somehow coming together to make a new whole together?
Or maybe, as this song suggests, is it something different, something more humbling, but yet something more real, and beautiful? What a gift that God made marriage a sacrament -- so we can have the gift of His Grace to pour over us, and to fill in all those cracks!
As I listened to this song, all I could think was, "Yes, that is real life!"
As much as we may love our spouse, God is the only One Who can make us complete. Ideally, in marriage, the journey toward that completeness is at least one we can make together.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
Praying the Rosary
After writing a bit in my last post about real methods for bringing about world peace, I came across this quote on Facebook, from Pope St. Pius X: "If you want peace in your heart, in your home, in your country, assemble together every night and say the rosary."
We have done this at times, and then seem to fall out of the practice. I don't know why we allow that to happen, because although praying every night is not something always easily accomplished, our family has always experienced tangible graces from our efforts.
I am hoping, with the inspiration of Pope St. Pius X, and with the real need for prayer in our community, home, and world, we can rededicate ourselves to the family rosary.
Franciscan Rosary House shared this quote on Facebook. I have been wanting to talk about their beautiful rosaries here for a while. Not because they have asked me to, or because I am being reimbursed in any way -- I am not. I just really love their rosaries. Plus, Christmas is just around the corner, and who doesn't need gift ideas?
I discovered Franciscan Rosary House earlier this year, while looking for a rosary that would not break. We have been given so many beautiful rosaries over the years, but they always break. Yes, we can fix them. We connect the little metal loops, and use pliers to seal them shut, but usually the rosary comes apart at another point shortly thereafter.
I always thought we were the only family who gathered with pieces of rosaries, or whole ones that have come unlooped, until I shared our dilemma with an older mom, and she laughed and said they had the same experience.
I ordered a Padre Pio rosary for Luke for his First Communion, and I started using it even before the big day. The beads are strung on leather, and it seemed a bit stiff at first, but quickly softened and is now my favorite rosary. (This is partly why I had to order myself one recently!) Luke took it to school for October, when they pray the rosary at morning prayer, and said everyone thought his rosary was "cool." Of course, it's not necessary that anyone thinks a rosary is cool, but it can't hurt, either!
I recently bought my husband a St. Jude rosary, and myself one dedicated to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. My daughter Kate has been praying on one with a relic of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and my niece will get a beautiful one for her Confirmation next month with a Sacred and Immaculate Heart medal on it. I love that there are many different saints represented on Franciscan House rosaries. Also, they usually come with a black pouch and a holy card.
They are among the most reasonably priced rosaries I have found anywhere. If you visit the sale page, the prices get even better.
All of these rosaries are so beautiful, and so solid! I truly feel like I am holding a weapon when I pray on these rosaries! And now my family is guaranteed at least four whole rosaries when we re-implement this powerful family prayer.
Another beautiful part of these rosaries is the they are made by third-order Franciscans, who pray over the rosary, and who pray for you, before they send your order.
Please let me know if you give them a try! Or even better, if you have thoughts on how we can remain more consistent with our family rosary! God bless you!
 |
| My Our Lady of Perpetual Help Rosary |
We have done this at times, and then seem to fall out of the practice. I don't know why we allow that to happen, because although praying every night is not something always easily accomplished, our family has always experienced tangible graces from our efforts.
I am hoping, with the inspiration of Pope St. Pius X, and with the real need for prayer in our community, home, and world, we can rededicate ourselves to the family rosary.
Franciscan Rosary House shared this quote on Facebook. I have been wanting to talk about their beautiful rosaries here for a while. Not because they have asked me to, or because I am being reimbursed in any way -- I am not. I just really love their rosaries. Plus, Christmas is just around the corner, and who doesn't need gift ideas?
 |
| I love the detail on the painted beads on my Our Lady of Perpetual Help rosary. I prayed a lot to Our Lady of Perpetual Help after my late miscarriage. That certainly adds to the comfort I find in this rosary! |
I always thought we were the only family who gathered with pieces of rosaries, or whole ones that have come unlooped, until I shared our dilemma with an older mom, and she laughed and said they had the same experience.
I ordered a Padre Pio rosary for Luke for his First Communion, and I started using it even before the big day. The beads are strung on leather, and it seemed a bit stiff at first, but quickly softened and is now my favorite rosary. (This is partly why I had to order myself one recently!) Luke took it to school for October, when they pray the rosary at morning prayer, and said everyone thought his rosary was "cool." Of course, it's not necessary that anyone thinks a rosary is cool, but it can't hurt, either!
 |
| Luke's Padre Pio rosary, which contains a relic. |
They are among the most reasonably priced rosaries I have found anywhere. If you visit the sale page, the prices get even better.
 |
| This is Doug's St. Jude rosary. The different wood tones on the beads add so much character! The medal contains a relic. |
Another beautiful part of these rosaries is the they are made by third-order Franciscans, who pray over the rosary, and who pray for you, before they send your order.
Please let me know if you give them a try! Or even better, if you have thoughts on how we can remain more consistent with our family rosary! God bless you!
 |
| Shh! This one is for my niece Ellie's Confirmation next month! |
 |
| Isn't this a perfect bead for a teenage girl's rosary? |
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Take time to know God's Love
An hour spent listening to Catholic radio recently reminded me of an important, but oft-overlooked aspect of our faith.
We are called to give people the benefit of the doubt -- to give a positive interpretation to what may feel like someone's failings, rather than the negative interpretations that seem to step into our thoughts so much easier.
Even more important, though, is that we allow some of that positive light to shine on ourselves as well.
When I am kinder to myself -- when I remember that I am loved, and especially when I feel like I am loved -- it is easier to assume the best of those (often my children) with whom I share my day.
But when all I can see are my shortcomings, it's so hard to extend grace to others. Not because I don't think they deserve it. Not because I don't want to reach out and be loving to them. Simply because I can't give what I don't have. I can't instill the warmth of Chist's love into another's heart when I feel unloveable and flawed.
At those times, I can't imagine why anyone would want anything from me at all, unless it would be to have me clean up the dishes or to run another load of laundry!
At those times, my whole mindset is operating on a big, ugly lie -- that I am unloveable -- so it's no wonder that all I really want to do is crawl out of my skin and hide in a hole somewhere.
I recently read "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic" by Matthew Kelly, and the book has a powerful premise. About seven percent of Catholics achieve everything the Church accomplishes in today's world. What if we could reach out to, and help grow the faith of, enough people to increase that number by just one percent a year? What if we could increase the number of active Catholics to just fourteen percent? We could change the world.
A large part of what sets apart the seven percent is that they spend at least a small part of every day in prayer and spiritual reading.
God can and will use the time we give Him to transform our lives. To pour graces and beauty into our lives.
My thought is that we can make that time even more powerful if, at some point in those minutes we give Him, we ask a simple question.
"Lord, help me to know Your love for me."
How much unrest, dissension, and distance from the faith comes from the simple fact that most people do not know He loves them? Even we who know God loves us often struggle to really believe in it enough so that we can rest in it in those moments when we are face-to-face with our own struggles and failures.
If we dedicate time every day to pray, the message of God's love for us probably will ultimately become clear. By why not just ask for this understanding from the beginning? Knowing God loves us enables us to love others. We can better accept others' failing when we know we too are loved, even though we are imperfect. When we know Someone finds us beautiful, it is easier to see beauty in others.
When we refuse to forgive ourselves, when we hold ourselves to a higher standard than He ever would, we really are denying His forgiveness and Mercy. How can these gifts flow through us to others, if we won't accept them?
Mother Teresa said, "The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God."
She also said, "If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it."
If we want to help people know God's love, we must know it first.
When my children say they want world peace, I remind them of Mother Teresa's words, and that the only way to achieve world peace is to first build it within ourselves, and in relationships with our own family members. How can we expect world peace, if we do not have peace in our own hearts and homes?
How can we share His peace and love with those closest to us, unless we first know His love for us?
So let's take the time to ask Him to help us know His Love. Then, we can share that Love with those around us. Then, we can be conduits of His Grace. And then, we can transform the world.
We are called to give people the benefit of the doubt -- to give a positive interpretation to what may feel like someone's failings, rather than the negative interpretations that seem to step into our thoughts so much easier.
Even more important, though, is that we allow some of that positive light to shine on ourselves as well.
When I am kinder to myself -- when I remember that I am loved, and especially when I feel like I am loved -- it is easier to assume the best of those (often my children) with whom I share my day.
But when all I can see are my shortcomings, it's so hard to extend grace to others. Not because I don't think they deserve it. Not because I don't want to reach out and be loving to them. Simply because I can't give what I don't have. I can't instill the warmth of Chist's love into another's heart when I feel unloveable and flawed.
At those times, I can't imagine why anyone would want anything from me at all, unless it would be to have me clean up the dishes or to run another load of laundry!
At those times, my whole mindset is operating on a big, ugly lie -- that I am unloveable -- so it's no wonder that all I really want to do is crawl out of my skin and hide in a hole somewhere.
I recently read "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic" by Matthew Kelly, and the book has a powerful premise. About seven percent of Catholics achieve everything the Church accomplishes in today's world. What if we could reach out to, and help grow the faith of, enough people to increase that number by just one percent a year? What if we could increase the number of active Catholics to just fourteen percent? We could change the world.
A large part of what sets apart the seven percent is that they spend at least a small part of every day in prayer and spiritual reading.
God can and will use the time we give Him to transform our lives. To pour graces and beauty into our lives.
My thought is that we can make that time even more powerful if, at some point in those minutes we give Him, we ask a simple question.
"Lord, help me to know Your love for me."
How much unrest, dissension, and distance from the faith comes from the simple fact that most people do not know He loves them? Even we who know God loves us often struggle to really believe in it enough so that we can rest in it in those moments when we are face-to-face with our own struggles and failures.
If we dedicate time every day to pray, the message of God's love for us probably will ultimately become clear. By why not just ask for this understanding from the beginning? Knowing God loves us enables us to love others. We can better accept others' failing when we know we too are loved, even though we are imperfect. When we know Someone finds us beautiful, it is easier to see beauty in others.
When we refuse to forgive ourselves, when we hold ourselves to a higher standard than He ever would, we really are denying His forgiveness and Mercy. How can these gifts flow through us to others, if we won't accept them?
Mother Teresa said, "The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God."
She also said, "If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it."
If we want to help people know God's love, we must know it first.
When my children say they want world peace, I remind them of Mother Teresa's words, and that the only way to achieve world peace is to first build it within ourselves, and in relationships with our own family members. How can we expect world peace, if we do not have peace in our own hearts and homes?
How can we share His peace and love with those closest to us, unless we first know His love for us?
So let's take the time to ask Him to help us know His Love. Then, we can share that Love with those around us. Then, we can be conduits of His Grace. And then, we can transform the world.
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