He Hears Our Prayers

There are 10 inches of snow outside my front steps. It's mid-March. Surreal.

Surreal.

The entire month has felt surreal so far, so why not big snow in Virginia in March? Sure; why not?

Thank you for your thoughts and kind words last week. I've shared them with Michael. If only everyone could know Jesus the way Shawn knew Him! To me, that's the legacy he left: the inspiration, the urgency to know Christ and to make Him known.

Yesterday's Gospel has us on Mount Tabor with Christ. Well, ideally, it has us there. But some of us are still climbing. I can see Him there, when I look up as I climb. He's there and He gives us a glimpse of heaven.  But if I glance down? If I see where I was and I begin to lose my footing. 

Gospel

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, 
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them; 
his face shone like the sun 
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, 
“Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here, 
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, 
then from the cloud came a voice that said, 
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
“Rise, and do not be afraid.”
And when the disciples raised their eyes, 
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.

As they were coming down from the mountain,
Jesus charged them,
“Do not tell the vision to anyone 
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

 

Matthew 17:1-9

Think

Jesus, through his Transfiguration, shows us a little spark of the eternal bliss that is awaiting us. Our Lord is transfigured to make us desire eternal happiness in its entirety. ~St. Francis de Sales

And this: But I’m here to say that God is sovereign and good. When I can see the good. And when I can’t see the good. ~Shawn Kuykendall

Pray

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

(St. Patrick's Breastplate)

Act 

Today, look for the good. Look up! See the good. Write it down. Count the blessings. Every single one.

How can I pray for you this week?

He Won

When they're little, you pray they'll have good friends. When they're bigger, you pray harder because you know how friends shape the man. Shawn Kuykendall was the greatest of friends. In living and in dying, he was one of life's best gifts. I am grateful and my family will always be ‪#‎kuykenstrong‬

Eternal rest grant unto him, dear Lord, and may your perpetual light shine upon him.

Big Amen.

Michael writes his heart here.

Taking on Tough Topics for Lent

Late last week, I promised my editor and the bishop's office that I would read and review Bishop Loverde's pastoral letter. I promised to get right to it and turn it around over the weekend. Sure! No problem. It's a "letter," right? I never looked to see what the pastoral letter addressed. I agreed to write about it without ever opening the 80-page PDF to see the subject. As I committed my weekend to it, I didn’t even know it was 80 pages. Who writes 80 page letters? Oh, that's right. Catholic clerics do.

Please read the rest here.

Oh She Glows! {for Lent}

I was so excited that the new Oh She Glows cookbook arrived yesterday. Even though my fasting was made perfectly simple thanks to a stomach bug, I spent several hours in bed yesterday doing some planning with a new vegan cookbook that I'd pre-ordered sometime last year. Menu planning while fighting a stomach bug is very similar to watching hours of Food Network to distract from morning sickness. It makes no sense at all, but I've done both.  I found the Oh She Glows blog to be a treasure trove of inspiration and guidance. But really, I so prefer cookbooks to cooking blogs. I think my aversion to clicking and clicking again is especially pronounced with cooking blogs. However, I'm a bit of a cookbook addict.

This one didn't disappoint. I've put to paper three weeks worth of meal plans taken from this book. Already! I'm so excited to get started (just as soon as my digestive system catches up;-). I think it's going to be very family-friendly. I might need to toss in a chicken breast or a hamburger here and there if they start to protest about the lack of meat, but with Lent on my side and this new study to point to, I like my chances of going totally meatless more often than not. 

As far as sewing goes, you get fabric again this week--lots of surprises in the works. Some pink. Some blue. Some for Michael's baby. Some for Bobby's baby. Both Kristin and Sloane have great midwives and they're both getting serious about getting ready-- the Easter season shines bright with anticipation. And the little aunties are busy as bees in the sewing room.

What about you? Sewing plans for Easter? Reading plans for Lent? Do share!

Notes before Lent Begins

In the atrium, right before their first confessions, the children gather with their parents and meditate on the  the true vine. It is my favorite of five preparatory meditations. I will never tire of watching the "ah ha" in the eyes of children (and, frankly, their parents) when they see that God is the sturdy vine that supports healthy gowth and He also prunes so that they will bear much fruit.

Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.

Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.

By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.

John 15: 4-9

 

Lent is a time of pruning. Before the rapid growth of springtime, before the burst of joy at Easter, He prunes. I have been blessed in Lents past. I have been blessed with a gracious God who cares so much for me that He  made clear to me what I must do lest I wither and die. One year, He showed me clearly how to prune away the branches in my life that were keeping me from spending time in Him, from remaining in Him.It was excruciating, that pruning. And scars remain even today. He showed me that there is a difference between talking about religion and being drawn into the very being of Jesus Himself. I don't ever want to forget.

That Lent, in a most alone sort of way, I turned to the timeless prayers of the Church, to scripture, and to the wisdom of the saints of old. I went again and again and again, with the rhythm of a well-practiced monk, to the Liturgy of the Hours. And there, I lingered, remaining in Him. Easter found me clinging to God.

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.

~G.K. Chesterton

Lent is a gift. A grace. An opportunity. Lent calls us to Him.

Lent is a chance for a Love Dare like no other. It's a chance to let the God prune and then to water us with His grace. It's also a chance to rest in Him, to stop trying to struggle under our own strength and let His love be sufficient be more than enough. It's a time to surrender to the love of God. A woman cannot have a love affair with a stranger. She cannot have a love affair with someone she knows only through the teaching of other people.

In order to be in love with God, she has to remain in Him. But how? How to remain in God? How to know Him so well that she rests in Him, abides in Him? How to be always with God?

To be ignorant of scripture is to be ignorant of God.

~St. Jerome

“The Gospel,” they explained, “is to be understood not as a book or a doctrine, but rather as a person: Jesus Christ, the definitive Word of God, who made himself a man.”

~drafters of the preparatory document of the 2012 Synod on the New Evangelization

To know God as a person--to have a relationship--she must know Scripture. And not just a little, not just as read from the missal. Not just on Sundays. But really, really know it. Know it so well that she rests in it, that it is the background music to her life, every minute of her life. Know it so well that it abides in her and she in it.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you..

I want to breathe the Word of God to the point where I don't know where I stop and He begins.

Have you ever met someone like that? Someone truly united, truly remaining in God? It's an amazing thing to behold. She walks in grace. She blesses with her smile, with her gestures, with her words. She lives the life for which she is created because she is the genuine image of God He intended her to be.

I want that.

So, yes, this Lent is about Scripture, with the sure idea that this is not a temporary Lenten habit but a lifetime habit.

I know that in order to make time for Him, I will have to again prune away those things rob time, waste time. I will have to quiet the voices that do nothing to bring me closer to God and nothing to help me hear Him. And then I will make some conscious choices.

Quiet time is the pillar of my day. I admit freely that this is not a heroic sacrifice. I am wired to get out of bed easily in the morning. I am never anything but happy to settle into a chair with the Word of God in total silence. The sacrifice is putting it all away and getting on with my day. Morning breaks beautifully here. It's keeping that melody of His voice playing throughout the day that is tricky.

There will still be that Lenten Spring Cleaning List. And then there's Forty Bags in Forty Days, but I really don't think I have stuff for forty bags. I don't know; maybe I do. I'm going to give it a go. Regardless of how many bags I fill, systematic spring cleaning always benefits us all spiritually. Easter in a clean, uncluttered home is a beautiful thing!  God will accompany me as I clean. I've downloaded an amazing audio dramatization of the RSV Bible to my computer and my iPhone. I can listen as I deep clean corners, as I fold laundry, as I clear clutter. And if my children happen to be with me, all the better. They can listen, too. I start the day's listening every day with John, because I promised a friend I'd memorize with her and I'm woefully behind where I should be by now. And then, I move on to Matthew.

 

I'm focusing on the Gospel of Matthew because that's the Church's focus this year. So, it's Matthew again and again in my listening, until it's a part of me. The children and I are memorizing large chunks of the Gospel of John together, using a simple system, maybe two simple systems;-) So that might not be simple--but it's effective;-). I fully admit that I have exploited the ridiculous competitive spirit in this family to motivate some major memorizing. Whatever it takes. I think this gift of the Word could be the greatest gift we ever give our children.

The books baskets have been stuffed with Lenten story books, Bible story books and children's Bibles. And I will make time, several times a day, to read them aloud in unhurried, joy-filled moments with my own dear loves. (I hope to make a list of New Testament story picture books to share with you very soon--feel free to email me with your favorites.) Everyone over ten has been spending about an hour every day for the past few months going slowly through Fr. Barron's Catholicism. We watch together, talk, look up scripture references, use the study guide, and then journal privately. It's bearing tremendous fruit--really, this time is every good thing I ever imagined when I first considered homsechooling over 20 years ago. I'm grateful beyond words for it. 

 

There are Bibles in nearly every room of my house and we've recently begun to consult severaltranslations and commentaries and a Bible dictionary whenever something comes up in conversation. These moments of discovery are joys with older children.

And then there is that lovely electronic version on my Kindle. A Bible everywhere I go.

Lenten reading this year? Oh, it's so much more than just Lenten reading.

It's Jesus.

The Word of God.

More On Lent

Hiding the Alleluia (tutorial, sort of)

Talking with Your Kids about Lent

Lent is a Good Thing

Prayer Rule for all of Lent

What to Give Up?

Remain in Him

Thoughts on Fasting

Family Lent Project: Counting Blessings

~ This post is a reprise from the archives, because this plan worked and it's well worth repeating.