The following is a passage from “Exercising Your Soul” by Gary Jansen. I highly recommend this book! What is The Holy Spirit? “A man stood outside a church in the middle of a busy city and watched as passersby went about their daily business. Many were shuffling off to work, others were walking around in shorts with newspapers and brown paper bags, still others seemed lost and in need of directions. Around noon, the man looked up at the tall steeple and fixed his gaze upon the thin iron cross that sat on the top. Every once in a while a man on his way to lunch or a woman on her way to the drugstore for cotton balls would slow down and look…
Learning, Cracking and Sharing The Mysteries of Catholicism
Posts tagged “Christianity”
The Washing of the Disciples’ Feet. 1Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, 3 fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, 4 he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the…
Yesterday morning I was in a class where the leader asked for a volunteer to talk to Jesus — as if you could reach out and touch him. This was the beginning of a long conversation about having your own, personal relationship with Jesus. I passed on the exercise but the question stayed with me throughout the day. What would I have said to Jesus? I decided it would have gone something like this: Hi Jesus, I know you’re always with me so you must have seen the chaos this morning. Actually, before we get to that, I want to thank you Jesus for providing me with enough coffee for that one cup because I thought for sure there wasn’t any more. I’m so…
I have a confession to make… back in the day I thought believing in God was silly. Actually, not only silly but seriously uncool. I used to make fun of this man I worked with for wearing a, “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelet. Given the guy most days wanted to use my head as a bowling ball, I was definitely looking for something to sneer at him for. As a practical joke my coworker in crime even stuck the slogan to my keyboard along with a OMGWTFBBQWWJD? sticker across my screen. O.K., I’m still laughing at that one. I think I may have to thank this co-worker for starting me on my road to belief because everyday I looked at my computer I read…
I just had to share this! This is my daughter at age 2 singing Glory To God. I’m hoping it puts a smile on your face. I’m definitely smiling. Blessings today!
Today is my birthday. After a birthday bash beach weekend I’m sitting here enjoying my quiet little house (and a rosy red glass of Cab). Amazingly, I do not hear a peep! Evidently, the munchkins devised a plan to provide this precious silence for my final birthday present extraordinaire! How lovely! Actually, I do still hear a peep — the shorted out washing machine has decided to wish me a happy birthday every few minutes by singing “da da da ding”, a tune that usually means “Do some laundry already – ding!” but today I’ve decided it means “Girl you look good for, eh-hem, 29 – ding!” Thank you my friend washing machine. Thank you very much. I’m not where I thought I would…
A Psalm
When Psalms surprise me with their music
And antiphons turn to rum
The Spirit sings: the bottom drops out of my soul
And from the center of my cellar, Love, louder than thunder
Opens a heaven of naked air.New eyes awaken.
I send Love’s name into the world with wings
And songs grow up around me like a jungle.
Choirs of all creatures sing the tunes
Your Spirit played in Eden.
Zebras and antelopes and birds of paradise
Shine on the face of the abyss
And I am drunk with the great wilderness
Of the sixth day in Genesis.But sound is never half so fair
As when that music turns to air
And the universe dies of excellence.Sun, moon and stars
Fall from their heavenly towers.
Joys walk no longer down the blue world’s shore.Though fires loiter, lights still fly on the air of the gulf,
All fear another wind, another thunder:
Then one more voice
Snuffs all their flares in one gust.And I go forth with no more wine and no more stars
And no more buds and no more Eden
And no more animals and no more sea:While God sings by himself in acres of night
And walls fall down, that guarded Paradise.
― Thomas Merton
I know I’ve been awfully quiet lately. There I was rolling along happily posting when, “Bam! Wham! Double Blam!” I was hit with a jab, cross, hook and upper-cut. O.k. so I wasn’t literally beaten but I was sucker punched multiple times. My squirrel focus became blurry and I ran around like Rocky yelling, “ADRIAN!” (..not really that part). With my focus diverted from God and fixed on me and my problems, writing a post has been like moving through quicksand — hopeless. But today, yes today, I have (finally) tapped into my inner warrior. Warrior because I have no doubt this is spiritual warfare and I will not give up the fight! Who wins if I stop foraging the faith — he who…
First, for those of us who don’t know: Few practices of the Catholic Church are so misunderstood today as devotion to patron saints. From the earliest days of the Church, groups of the faithful (families, parishes, regions, countries) have chosen a particularly holy person who has passed on to intercede for them with God. Seeking the intercession of a patron saint does not mean that one cannot approach God directly in prayer; rather, it’s like asking a friend to pray for you to God, while you also pray—except, in this case, the friend is already in Heaven, and can pray to God for us without ceasing. It’s the communion of saints, in actual practice. via Patron Saints – The History of Patron Saints –…
A Catholic’s Prayer by Foraging Squirrel Money dropped, candle lit, down on my knees one sore and braced. Chaos hitched a ride today with self-conscious glances. Stillness keeps slipping. ~ Looking up I meet your gaze and I shift. Stilled by bloodshed and torment. ~ Did you watch with sad eyes such as these? Your light’s flesh ripped open, stripped, splintered and aching? Did you hear with ears such as these? The screeching cheers of blackened souls so suffocating, close and acrid … could you breathe? ~ Did tears stain cheeks such as these ? Did you wail “My child NOT my child!” and remember His sweet breath on your cheek? sweet arms clinging… ~ Oh to pick Him up again! To carry Him…
