Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said,Join with me in discovering, exploring and nurturing the JOY alive in our hearts! Celebrate Joy! Let this JOY Alive site connect us as we create the JOY Alive Network. Comment on the blogs and Joy Stories. Share your faith journey by telling your unique Joy Story. Let's equip ourselves and one another to catch souls in a net of love. — Nancy H C Ward
Just when you thought you might pull your hair out this summer, CatholicMom.com brings you Lawn Chair Catechism. We hope it will be the discussion none of us makes time to have in real life. And, while we’re at it, we also hope it will help us grow to be better Catholics. www.CatholicMom.com/LawnChairCatechism
Join us in the “Lawn Chair Catechism” at CatholicMom.com on Wednesdays this summer, beginning on May 29. We’re using Forming Intentional Disciples, by Sherry Weddell, as the basis for our study.
You can download a discussion guide that includes both the executive summary of each chapter and discussion questions, and a two-page discussion question-only download.
We’d love to have you participate! You do not have to read the book to participate.
Our Sunday Visitor is offering the book for the incredibly low price of $10 through June 8, with free shipping. After June 8 and through the conclusion of our study, they’ll be offering free shipping.
You can find all the information on the Lawn Chair Catechism page at CatholicMom.com.
“To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit,” promises St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:7. I was born with the natural gift of writing. The Holy Spirit expanded that writing talent into a charism he uses to glorify God.
Just as he did for me, the Holy Spirit will hover over you and develop your charism, if you ask. He will inspire you to use it for God’s glory. He will surround you with love. You’ll find yourself in a Holy Spirit sandwich.
(Editor’s Note: We welcome talented writer Melissa Williams Finn as a guest blogger who promises to contribute frequently.)
Days like this one in late spring – green, breezy, crowned with a blue bowl of a sky – remind me of our little old 1930s house on McCommas and life with just my first two children. After 2 ½ years of diaper-and-nursing mayhem, with life largely governed by fractured nights and sleepy mornings, it was a big deal to get our oldest child fed, dressed and off to preschool at 9 a.m. twice a week. He and his dad would drive off down the leafy street, waving at me standing with the baby on the front porch in our breakfast-sticky pajamas. Then she and I would head back into the wreckage and sit down in the rocking chair, watching the dust motes stream onto the yellow wood floor and enjoying the hush of an almost-empty house.
I love that moment when the house is quiet. It is so full of echoes and promises, a pocketful of time all to yourself. No one cries, requests, insists, demands. In those few minutes of stillness, you can take a breath and restore order to one corner of your little world, literally or figuratively. Wipe up after breakfast, write a letter, take an unhurried shower, clear off your desk. Or just think, pray, be. What will I do today to help my children, my husband and myself get to heaven? Are all those errands on my list really so necessary? How am I making the world better for others? What should I take out of the freezer for dinner? (Big thoughts can continue for only so long.)
Then the phone rings, or the baby fusses, and it’s time to turn back into the problem-solving, house-maintaining, schedule-adhering dynamo without whom life for several people would not exist as they know it.
Sometimes, on days when my four kids under are annoying me coming and going, I think about that holy grail of motherhood: the day the youngest child heads off to school and the house is all mine on a regular basis. I imagine driving home in a leisurely manner from preschool drop-off, not rushing because a car-seated toddler has stunk up the minivan. When I arrive at my empty house, I’ll pour a cup of coffee, perhaps crack open the newspaper, or take out my datebook and ponder my many options. The nearly three hours before carpool will stretch out before me enticingly, unbroken by whining, mess-making, diaper changes and nose wipes.
But other times, I remember the unhurried pace of those McCommas days and the sight of my tow-headed 2-year-old heading into the world. His life now is so crammed with school, homework, sports and music practice that it’s hard to believe he was ever my little shadow. Before long he’ll be busier than ever with friends and other interests, and shortly thereafter will be driving himself down the street – and waving goodbye to me on the front porch.
When I think about that, I’m thankful all over again for my last little bird in the nest. Barely 2, she has 9 more months of shadowhood before preschool begins. Until then, I’m the center of her universe. And I always have someone to walk around the block with me.
Melissa Williams Finn is a suburban housewife in Dallas with four children, a dog and a ferret. She was formerly a reporter for The Associated Press and Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
(© 2013 Melissa Williams Finn)
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Solemnity of Pentecost: Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Rom 8:8-17; John 20:19-23 or John 14:15-16, 23b-26.
Last Monday I spoke to a prayer group about the joys and blessings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Early Tuesday morning as my mind began to think, I kept hearing the words, “Give us joys that never end.” The thoughts continue to "float" into my mind as those thoughts developed. I thought of the texts that I sent you the last few weeks about the major work of the Holy Spirit found in John’s Gospel in chapters 14 to 16. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is a person not a thing. He is holy and the love between the Father and the Son was placed into us at our Baptism. He is making us more aware of what they want to share with us now if we are open to listen in some degree of peace and quiet.
Before Pentecost the disciples were fearful orphans subject to their whims of the moment. Sad and grieving without Jesus, they lacked self-direction and self-motivating guidance. He was their protector who promised to stay with them always.
Then the mighty rushing wind of the Holy Spirit breathed into them a divine life of spiritual maturity. After Pentecost they put away childish things, thought with understanding, spoke with discernment, acted with zeal and certainty. They changed the world!
Believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ
and you and
your household
will be saved.
Acts 16:31
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Acts 7:55-60 Ps 97:1-2, 6-7, 9; Rev 22:12-14, 16-17, 20; John 17:20-26
Or Ascension: Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47:2-3, 6-9; Eph 1:17-23 or Hebrews 9:24-28, 10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53
For those diocesan areas that did not celebrate the Ascension last Thursday here is its significance. Jesus finished his teachings and saving of the human race from its sins in three years. Acts 1:1-5 told us: "In my first account, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught (Luke’s gospel) until the day he was taken up to heaven, having first instructed the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit. In the time after his suffering he showed them in many convincing ways that he was alive, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking to them about the kingdom of God. On one occasion when he met with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem: ‘Wait, rather, for the fulfillment of my Father’s promise, of which you have heard me speak. John baptized with water, but within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’"
Last Mother’s Day we went to the 10:00 a.m. Mass at St. Jude’s in Allen, TX, with my son Andrew and his family. We arrived early while the choir was practicing and sat in the third row behind their two reserved rows. Andrew prepared his French horn and joined the music practice.
When the practice was over, just before Mass started, I observed this young man come from the row of choir microphones and around the pews with an armful of pillows. He headed toward the pew in front of us where an elderly woman and a couple of young people were sitting. He motioned that he wanted to sit in that pew and they moved toward the aisle to allow him to move past them. He hesitated, said something to them and after a short conversation, they moved to another pew. He arranged his pillows in the pew and lay down on his back.
We all know the touching song, “Amazing Grace.” Instead of trying to sing that without crying, now I sing it smiling. The words “I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see,” speak volumes to me.
I became lost at an early age through a circumstance that I had no control over but it set me on the wrong path. I grew up in New York in a family of 8. My Mom was Catholic and my Dad was Lutheran. Every Sunday he stayed home while she took us to church.
When I was 8 years old a drunk driver killed my 16-year-old brother, Donald. I remember most that Donald was the good boy in the family. After his death, I was told, “Because he was a good boy, he is with God in heaven.” Well, that’s how my 8-year-old mind interpreted his death, and that’s how I got off on the wrong path.
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Ps 67:2-3, 5-6, 8; Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29
We see in the Liturgy today how the structure that Jesus set up in his church works as it is guided by the Holy Spirit. Yet God gave us free will at creation and we don’t always listen or follow God’s direction, which is why he gave us his church. We see a discussion and debate of some of Jewish converts about the nature of this new group and how God wanted to guide them. Some believed in strict obedience to the details of the Mosaic and rabbinic laws to be applied to Gentile converts to the faith. Paul, Barnabas and some others were sent from the church in Antioch to Jerusalem to present this issue to the Apostles and elders there. Thus the first Church council made a dramatic decision. "It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage," Acts 15:28.
I was barely out of college. My journalism degree helped me land a part-time office job with the publisher of a Texas restaurant guide. The hours were flexible and so I could continue my prayer time schedule of 8 a.m. mass, then prayer until 9. The publication folded in less than a year.
Then came the God-incidence. I worked as a volunteer one weekend in the pressroom of a large Catholic conference. The manager of the pressroom was the editor of the diocesan newspaper. He was looking for a copyeditor. The job would bring some opportunities to write stories, interview people and get published with a byline!
All the evils
of the world
are due to
lukewarm Catholics."
— Pope Pius V
Acts 14:21-27; Ps 145:8-13; Rev 21:1-5a John 13:31-33a, 34-35
The first reading speaks about the marvelous events God worked through the preaching and encouragement of Paul and Barnabas even though Paul’s was stoned. They returned to Antioch to report what God had done in opening the church to Gentiles. They appointed (ordained) elders to care for the church. Psalm 145 should also be our song to praise God for his gracious mercy for he is slow to anger and of great kindness. We are also to tell others of the Good News of his kingdom. Tell them Jesus died to free us also from our sin and bring us to new life in him.
“And this is the first word that I want to tell you: 'Joy!' Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement!
“Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but it comes from having encountered a Person, Jesus, who is among us. It comes from knowing that with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life’s journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are so many of them! This is the moment when the enemy comes, when the devil, often times dressed as an angel, comes and insidiously tells us his word. Don't listen to him!
“Follow Jesus! We accompany, we follow Jesus, but above all we know that he accompanies us and carries us on his shoulders. This is our joy; this is the hope that we must bring to this world of ours.”
Excerpt from his first homily as Pope, Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013
The humility and joy of Pope Francis catches us off guard. We have a certain mind-set in approaching what a Pope says. We expect to be educated and inspired, but not with such an obvious truth! Not in the depth of simple words. We expect theology, not practicality; complicated discourses to ponder, not our immediate heart reaction of “I get it!”
I have been nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, thanks to Melanie Jean Juneau at Mother of Nine9. She is an inspiration to all of us who know her humor and spiritual depth. As a new blogger I am honored to participate in such a supportive adventure. In accepting this award I share 7 things that inspire me:
Acts 13:14, 43-52; Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5; Rev 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30
Something has been changing in me during the last few months. I look less at scripture commentaries. I pray to the Holy Spirit for light and guidance and then read that Sunday’s texts. Then I go back to pray to sense what should be the nature of my comments.
A woman in my water exercise class lives on the edge, financially. She is trying to sell her trailer home and buy a house. One Monday morning she was excited because a prospective buyer was coming to look at her trailer in a few days. Now empty of most of the furniture, it was time to shampoo the carpets. My initial reaction was pure human nature: wish her well and go about my busy life.
As we moved around the pool the Lord reminded me that I have a rug shampooer. Soon, my heart sunk with the thought, “Whose rug shampooer is that in your closet?” The Lord is in charge of all my stuff. And he knows my hesitation to share what may come back in bad condition, if returned at all.
As I showered and dressed, I told the Lord I would lend her the machine if she came into the dressing room before I left. Immediately she came in. “Okay, Lord, you’re on!” I sighed.
I love this quote from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered: Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives: Be kind anyway.
If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies: Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank people will try to cheat you: Be honest anyway.
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Ps 30:2,4,5-6,11-13 Rev 5:11-14; John 21:1-14
Part of the New Evangelization and the Year of Faith is sharing some of our story of meeting Jesus with others. The Easter readings can help us to have "burning hearts."
What do I mean? Yesterday, Friday, I was going into J C Penney in Altoona, PA, to get a new pair of black shoes. I have been lead to carry copies of the Divine Mercy Hyla Image of Jesus in my left shirt pocket over my heart. Jesus’ face is "peeking" out of the top of my pocket.
Author Teresa Tomeo is a familiar syndicated talk-show host that I hear almost daily on my local Catholic radio station. I enjoyed and reviewed her bestseller, “Extreme Makeover.” Co-author Cheryl Dickow is new to me but I find her biblical approach a wonderful balance to Teresa’s fact-based fervor. With separate viewpoints, they bring us ten gifts God gives women.
My favorite is God’s Gift of a Joyful Attitude. Cheryl writes, “We find true, complete, and lasting joy when we discern God’s call upon our lives in our unique vocation. That is the miracle of seeking God’s perfect and holy will.” She explains that however joy presents itself it embodies God’s love for each of us as a wholly unique creature with a special place in his heart. Joy expresses, “the reality that God is with us in all things.”
