My new project. My friends should expect Celtic Heart necklaces for Christmas this year. I can't wait to get started knitting the icord from a beautiful green silk yarn I just got from Listia.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Posted by Unknown | File under : Corpus Christi, joy and sorrow, living in service to the kingdom, Military
Yesterday was the Feast of Corpus Christi, the feast day when we celebrate the ultimate sacrifice that our Lord Jesus Christ gave to us, his own body and blood as our food and drink. He gave us this not just as nourishment, but also as an act of transformation. As Saint Augustine said when we consume the Eucharist (body and blood of our Lord) we consume it so that we can become it.
When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist we become the Body of Christ. We are here to do the work of Christ in order that his kingdom be fulfilled on this earth. Each one of us is an integral part of that body, and when one of us rejoices we all share in that joy.
At Mass yesterday at Our Lady of The Desert Catholic Community Mass at the Base Chapel at China Lake Navy Base, Fr. James Dowds C.Ss.R. made that very clear by announcing as part of his homily all of the joyful bits of news concerning the members of the small tight knit community.
A little 6 year old girl was able to to return to Loma Linda Children's Hospital last week to present a check for $2000 from the parish community as a gift of thanksgiving for all they did for her there while she was recovering from a grave illness in their Pediatric Intensive Care Unit a year ago.
A young newly married Lieutenant just back from Afghanistan and his bride were sitting just in front of us at Mass. He was welcomed home at Mass with a special blessing and cheerful greetings from the parishioners.
There was a nice recognition of the Base's Rear Admiral who is a member of the parish and has been reassigned and will be leaving to take up a new post soon at another base on the east coast.
There will also be a send off of another kind, a longstanding member of the community had lost her battle with cancer and would be laid to rest with a Mass of Resurrection next week. The prayers of the community go with her on her final journey.
All of these little reminders of how interconnected we are, helped me to remember just why it is that I love to attend Mass with this small community when I come to Ridgecrest, CA with my husband. But there is one other aspect of the Mass that really made the aspect of all of us being one body in Christ very real to me yesterday.
At the end of the Prayers of the Faithful the lector says a special prayer for those men and women of the allied armed services who lost their lives as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom (or in any other capacity around the globe) in the last week. Then the church bell tolls once as each name is read along with the age, rank, branch of service and field of deployment. The names are read slowly and reverently. It had been two years since the last time I had experienced this, and I had forgotten just how powerful it is.
by the time the final name had been read and the final bell tone was fading away, I was wiping tears from my eyes (as were many in the congregation). This is not something that was done simply because this is Corpus Christi though, this intercession happens each and every Sunday so long as their are names to be read. And I imagine that each Sunday that I am here I will be affected in the same way by the beauty and solemnity of this small tribute to those who have offered the ultimate sacrifice to the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God.
We are all connected, we are all one, we share joy and sorrow.
Pax.
When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist we become the Body of Christ. We are here to do the work of Christ in order that his kingdom be fulfilled on this earth. Each one of us is an integral part of that body, and when one of us rejoices we all share in that joy.
At Mass yesterday at Our Lady of The Desert Catholic Community Mass at the Base Chapel at China Lake Navy Base, Fr. James Dowds C.Ss.R. made that very clear by announcing as part of his homily all of the joyful bits of news concerning the members of the small tight knit community.
A little 6 year old girl was able to to return to Loma Linda Children's Hospital last week to present a check for $2000 from the parish community as a gift of thanksgiving for all they did for her there while she was recovering from a grave illness in their Pediatric Intensive Care Unit a year ago.
A young newly married Lieutenant just back from Afghanistan and his bride were sitting just in front of us at Mass. He was welcomed home at Mass with a special blessing and cheerful greetings from the parishioners.
There was a nice recognition of the Base's Rear Admiral who is a member of the parish and has been reassigned and will be leaving to take up a new post soon at another base on the east coast.
There will also be a send off of another kind, a longstanding member of the community had lost her battle with cancer and would be laid to rest with a Mass of Resurrection next week. The prayers of the community go with her on her final journey.
All of these little reminders of how interconnected we are, helped me to remember just why it is that I love to attend Mass with this small community when I come to Ridgecrest, CA with my husband. But there is one other aspect of the Mass that really made the aspect of all of us being one body in Christ very real to me yesterday.
At the end of the Prayers of the Faithful the lector says a special prayer for those men and women of the allied armed services who lost their lives as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom (or in any other capacity around the globe) in the last week. Then the church bell tolls once as each name is read along with the age, rank, branch of service and field of deployment. The names are read slowly and reverently. It had been two years since the last time I had experienced this, and I had forgotten just how powerful it is.
by the time the final name had been read and the final bell tone was fading away, I was wiping tears from my eyes (as were many in the congregation). This is not something that was done simply because this is Corpus Christi though, this intercession happens each and every Sunday so long as their are names to be read. And I imagine that each Sunday that I am here I will be affected in the same way by the beauty and solemnity of this small tribute to those who have offered the ultimate sacrifice to the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God.
We are all connected, we are all one, we share joy and sorrow.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Posted by Unknown |
The Ironic Catholic: The great big giveaway for a new life for Harper!: Oh, this is going to be so much fun . But first, you need to read this! Many of you know my husband and I are adopting a little boy thro...
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Posted by Unknown |
Today we have Mark's account of the Last Supper and the betrayal by Judas. When Jesus tells his twelve closest friends that one of them will betray him they are all quick to say, of course it won't be me! Interestingly enough, in this account we know that Judas has already gone to the Sanhedrin and made a bargain for the life of Jesus in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. So, how much sincerity is Judas showing when he utters the phrase "Surely it is not I. Rabbi?"
How often do we betray our faith in Christ and His teachings in very overt ways and yet we come to the Eucharist and present ourselves among those who are worthy to receive him, body, blood, soul and divinity?
One of the changes to the New Translation of the Roman Missal that I was really happy about was that we went back to the original wording of the prayer we say just before we proceed up to receive communion:
How often do we betray our faith in Christ and His teachings in very overt ways and yet we come to the Eucharist and present ourselves among those who are worthy to receive him, body, blood, soul and divinity?
One of the changes to the New Translation of the Roman Missal that I was really happy about was that we went back to the original wording of the prayer we say just before we proceed up to receive communion:
Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
When I am at my most vulnerable, when I am confronted with my sinfulness by the Confetior at the beginning of mass (in my thoughts in my deeds. in what I have done and in what I have failed to do. Through my fault, through my fault. through my most grievous fault) My only response to the thought that I have betrayed my Lord is "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" When I know full well that it is I that have made these errors in judgement and strayed from the path and taken my equivalent of thirty pieces of silver. But I can stand before Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament I am about to receive and say the above words and know that even though I stumble and fall in my attempts to follow Him, he will accept me and heal me and make me stronger.
And with the strength of the Eucharist within me, hopefully I can reject the offer of the thirty pieces of silver the next time it is extended.
Just for today, be honest with yourself about how faithful you are to following God's plan for your life. Ask for his mercy and healing, and if you get a chance go to Mass or Confession, or both.
PAX
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Posted by Unknown |
"Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you."
In today's gospel we hear a snippet of the story of the Last Supper according to John. Jesus has just sent Judas away to betray him, and is trying to prepare the remaining apostles for his impending death on the cross. But none of them, least of all Peter wants to hear that Jesus will die soon. Jesus tells them that where he is going they cannot follow. and Peter (you have to love how impetuous Peter is) replies with the line above, I will lay down my life for you.
We all know the end of that story; in the early hours of the morning after the arrest of Jesus Peter denies any knowledge of him to protect himself on three different occasions, just as Jesus said he would.
How often are we, when confronted with a situation where it is uncomfortable to stand up and be counted as a Christian, willing to act like Peter and remain silent, or worse yet, deny that we have any connection to Christianity. In American culture today it becomes very easy to "deny Jesus" in the name of "it was just a joke" or "I personally don't believe in it, but I shouldn't force my beliefs on others. or I don't want to seem to much of s stick in the mud so I will go along a little just to fit in what will it hurt.
Does Jesus send a cock to crow in our lives to remind us that we have been found out? Maybe if he did we would be more willing to admit that we do deny our Christianity all too often.
Just for today. stand up and be counted for something that really matters in the lives of not only Christians, but people everywhere. You decide what that stand should be, just be willing to stand up for the truth even if you are the only one standing in the entire crowd in which you find yourself. Remember, if you truly are living In Christ, you are never really alone.
PAX
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