Thinking of Hallel this day and the last time we were with her was in September of last year. Why? Because of the first reading for today... it was the scripture that Little Sister Marie was led to when she asked God to give her an answer to her feeling that her Community of the Lamb would be called to beg for their food from the poor! What could possibly justify this crazy "call?" I Kings 17:7-16... The story of Elijah and the widow! She was the poorest of the poor with only enough flour and oil to make one small loaf for herself and her son, "when we have eaten it, we shall die." "Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me... For the Lord, the God of Israel says, 'The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'...She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry."
Surrounded by her earthly family that loves her and misses her... Little Sister Hallel has given us a huge family to expand ours - her Little Brothers and Little Sisters of the Lamb!
How rich can life become, if you only look to Jesus and ask him to reveal his Plan for you! John is at this time filling out an application for NET team for this next year. Yes, he has applications out for jobs here, but this door just opened before him, so he is taking some steps to add it to the possibility for this next year. Writing a short sharing about his journey called cancer/healing/finding faith/now what Lord? - he has been excitedly sharing some of the words he has been writing down - "Jesus didn't give me brain cancer, but he allowed it to bring me back as I was a lost sheep." "My parents and family planted the seeds and watered them in me, but it took this experience of cancer to make the seeds die and then produce roots and yield fruit!" So fun to hear him excited and filled with wonder as he puts his journey to word.
Bernadette at 10 months with Hallel. Hallel has yet to meet Luke and in these next days Dominic. We are all very excited to meet and hold our newest grandson, Dominic!
Why Dominic? Little Sister Hallel and her Dominican Community has a lot to do with it. I think we are about to learn a lot more about wonderful amazing St Dominic!
I have shared numerous times the most outrageous ministry of the Community of the Lamb in begging for their food from the poor! Yes, that is just wrong in our hearts and minds, but there is a real beauty to it, and a powerful reminder that Jesus comes to the poor, lowly, and humble! I could go on and on, and I have in the past... Here is a sharing by Little Sister Frances/Courtney, who has been living the life and has now taken the habit and changed her name...
"A few days later, I found myself sitting in a park with two sisters and a poor man from our inner city neighborhood who had bought us bread and milk and was sharing this meal with us. At first, I was in disbelief of where I was and what I was doing. As I sat on the bench and listened to our neighbor share his life story with so much joy, I was struck by how the world would consider him poor, but in reality he was rich in spirit and filled with the Lord!We walked back to the convent that day, and I was speechless. Before I visited the sisters, I didn’t realize they were mendicant sisters, who go on mission and ask people to share something to eat with them. That day I knocked on the door of different houses and heard the Lord say in my heart, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Until this point, I was afraid to open the door, but I knew the Lord was saying, “Courtney, I am simply asking you to trust me. I am calling you to love.” I fell to my knees in the chapel, and tears of joy rolled down my face. My heart rejoiced saying, “Yes Lord, I love you, and I desire to give my whole life to you!”
http://courtneyinkc.wordpress.com/my-story/ here is her site, if you want to read her complete sharing... it is so good!
Jesus, so much this day as in the Gospel you tell us forcefully and without hesitation that "your LIGHT must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." Matthew 5:13-16 How do we do this in our day to day lives with family and work and all that comes to us? We do it by looking to You in our day to day lives - by entering that inner temple throughout the day - for me with my rosary in hand whenever there is nothing else in my hand. Pray without ceasing! May we look to your Spirit and recognize the sound of your voice in our lives through the Sacraments, the Saints, Our Lady Queen of heaven and earth, Your Word... there are so many ways that you speak to us and direct us on the path of LIGHT/LOVE/LIFE! Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barb
"The Life of God is lived within us, within the deepest center of our being. Man becomes truly himself precisely a the point where he recognizes that the highest and brightest Being dwells within him. Moreover, he will rediscover himself and his own identity, as well as his faith in his own individual value, mission, and life options, to the degree that he comprehends human life as streaming forth out of the mystery of God.. Then all that is negative and threatening is surmounted, its futility is exposed from within and simultaneously disempowered." Fr Alfred Delp, SJ (1945) was a German Jesuit condemned by the Nazis
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