Rise Up and Dance

Are you feeling confused, depressed or fearful at what seems to be, more and more, the emptiness of life here… (they must have felt the same way when they saw the empty tomb).  Are you more and more afraid to go anywhere, do anything, be with strangers in crowds… (they locked themselves in the Upper Room too, didn’t they.)  Well, we can be blown to smithereens, or die slowly from chemtrails; be so filled with dread we don’t want to go to work, or poison ourselves with genetically modified foods; we can live in terror of the unknown, or live in terror of the known, as we watch our children’s lives disintegrate before our eyes.  Or we can remember.  Remember that Jesus blew death to smithereens on the Cross.  Remember Easter.

And keep preparing for the Wedding. You will be at the Wedding Feast, as part of the Bride of Christ. Breathe now, get up and dance now. Raise your voices in song.

O Croix Dressée Sur le Monde

If you click on this link you will find two versions (I like the 2nd version) of something we sing at the Good Friday service at many French parishes.  Of course, the online version is very orchestrated, but this hymn is also very moving when sung by ordinary parishioners whose hearts are focused on Jesus and the Cross.  musicme.com  (Please note, a few words have been changed in the first verse, and the third verse isn’t sung on the recording sample).

Ô Croix Dressée Sur le Monde

1. O Croix dressée sur le monde (bis)
O Croix de Jésus Christ! (bis)

Fleuve dont l’eau féconde
Du cœur ouvert a jailli.
Par toi la vie surabonde,
O Croix de Jésus Christ!

2. O Croix sublime folie, (bis)
O Croix de Jésus Christ! (bis)

Dieu rend par toi la vie
Et nous rachète à grand prix:
L’amour de Dieu est folie,
O Croix de Jésus Christ!

3. O Croix sagesse suprême, (bis)
O Croix de Jésus Christ! (bis)

Le Fils de Dieu lui-même
Jusqu’à sa mort obéit;
Ton dénuement est extrême,
O Croix de Jésus Christ!

4. O Croix victoire éclatante, (bis)
O Croix de Jésus Christ! (bis)

Tu jugeras le monde,
Au jour que Dieu s’est choisi,
Croix à jamais triomphante
O Croix de Jésus Christ!

The Met Museum for more information regarding this artwork.

6 Ways to Make Holy Week Holy

Examen – Session 6

As found at: Ignatian Spirituality.com, this six-session series is led by Jim Manney, author of “A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer. Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen”. See: Lunchtime Examen.

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During the final week of this session, I have been able to manifest love primarily through visiting and helping a loved one who is recovering from a fall and is exhausted from the efforts of rehab.  I do have a recurring (or chronic) distressing situation which I wasn’t really bringing to the Lord, but which I am now.  I don’t know whether it is because Holy Week is approaching and my thoughts are naturally also turning constantly to the Divine Mercy Chaplet, but I have found myself all week turning again and again to “Jesus, I trust in you”, when I feel overwhelmed and hope starts to diminish.

Question, if anyone is reading here:  does anyone have any experience with, or any advice, on how to approach the subject of having the Sacrament of the Sick with someone who is elderly and could go at any moment (a devout Catholic, but who hasn’t raised the subject herself).  Thank you for any advice, and I wish you all a very blessed and peaceful Holy Week.

Final Session:  Session 6 (March 20 – 26, 2013) – Extract: “The Examen leads us to concrete deeds of love and service…”

1) Call and response; “…love manifests itself in deeds rather than words.”  I ask God for light on this, and do something. 

2) Thinking of God like the sun, bathing me in the warmth of His blessings…

3) What sticks out in my mind as I reflect on the day that’s just passed?  I bring it to God and ask Him why it is important – what does it mean?

4) What didn’t go well?  I allow my feelings to guide me.  Please, Lord, reveal anything I need to know about the distressing situations in my life.

5) Help me, Lord, to open my mind and my heart so I can love others.  Challenges…challenges…challenges ahead.

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Another beautiful Lenten resource I’m following: 24-7 Prayer – Lent 2013 Walk With Us (podcast or video), starting February 13, 2013.

Examen – Session 5

As found at: Ignatian Spirituality.com, this six-session series is led by Jim Manney, author of “A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer. Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen”. See: Lunchtime Examen.

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Session 5 (March 13 – 19, 2013) – Extract: “What does the examen have to do with being honest with God?”

This session is being posted right at the end of it, due to a very busy week with student progress reports, etc.  Recalling different points of the examen throughout the day helped me to remember (intermittently) God’s presence in all the hubbub, so I could ask Jesus to place more peace in my heart.  The point in Session 5 that had me pondering the most was that of honesty with God.  I thought about how, if one were doing a retreat with a daily meeting with a spiritual director, what the point would be if we didn’t open up – if we tried, as Jim Manney points out, to put on a “good face” and not reveal any of our real difficulties or shortcomings.  There seems to be a fine balance between admitting to the dark and also having the courage to admit to the light within, without false pride.  God, of course, already knows everything about us, so what is the point of telling Him our shortcomings (since the examen isn’t the same as the sacrament of penance)?  The point is really communication; honest communication.  Then I thought how very much this is what the life of the Trinity is all about – communication among the Three Persons in One.  And since the examen is very much directed between ourselves and each Person of the Trinity at various points in prayer and reflection, it occurred to me that doing the examen is helping us enter more fully into a Trinitarian life.

1) Father, please give me the grace to see what I need to see.

2) How would I live differently if I loved myself as much as God loves me?

3) So much stress and hurriedness, Lord.  Where are you in all of this?  Help me to find you.  Did I miss any of your invitations to do something?

4) What negative feelings did I experience?  Do they point to something that needs attention?

5) What’s facing me (that I know about) tomorrow?  Jesus, show me how to respond to your love in known and unknown activities/responsibilities.

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Another beautiful Lenten resource I’m following: 24-7 Prayer – Lent 2013 Walk With Us (podcast or video), starting February 13, 2013.

What’s Up With These Earthlings?

I found myself wondering, if other forms of intelligent life somewhere out in the universe were watching us today, what they might be thinking. Millions of people watching a smoke stack. Millions of people gazing at a seagull on a smoke stack. Millions of people groaning over black smoke and cheering about white smoke. Millions of people staring at an empty balcony.

I also wondered if any of them understood Latin.

Habemus Papam! and as was tweeted: Habemus Papam Franciscum!

Examen – Session 4

As found at: Ignatian Spirituality.com, this six-session series is led by Jim Manney, author of “A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer. Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen”. See: Lunchtime Examen.

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This week, I had the privilege of bringing Jesus to a relative in the hospital, and making her laugh.  I brought her a hot chocolate from Tim Horton’s, and it’s that time of year when they have the “roll up the rim to win” contest.  I poured the remainder of her hot chocolate into a hospital mug so we could roll up the rim on the paper cup before I had to leave.  I told her that if we won the car, we would “blow this joint and go to Florida”.  She laughed out loud, doing both our souls good.  She will be 100 years old in a few weeks.

Session 4 (March 6 – 12, 2013) – Extract:  “A method of prayer that takes our feelings seriously.”

1) Father, show me what You think is important.

2) Gratitude – for the blessing of knowing God.

3) Review the day – slow the movie down when you get to a scene you think is important.

4) How did I react to things, even (or especially) to those things that were out of my control?

5) Resolve to act lovingly. Ask Jesus for help and guidance.

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Another beautiful Lenten resource I’m following: 24-7 Prayer – Lent 2013 Walk With Us (podcast or video), starting February 13, 2013.