"humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you..." James 1/Jesus is here!

 Hallel reading the reflection on the Gospel for the next day starting the night before!  It was very powerful to hear her echoing the Gospel from around the Bible.

Hallel fell in love with Jesus and found him very powerfully in The Word!  The Community of the Lamb spends much of their time looking to Jesus in The Word, as well as Eucharist each day and Adoration of Him on the altar morning and evening!  This is how the Lord answered her heartfelt prayer to show her The Community he wanted her to enter.  It also was providential that the Little Sisters came to start a foundation in KC right when she was making her decision.
https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/susan-angela-agneslittle-sister-hallel.html

 The chapel of the LIGHT of Mary the Mother of God at the Little Brothers Monastery down the hill.

 The light from the cupala where the Lamb is painted and the motto they live by - "Wounded, I will never cease to love."

James 1 this morning...

humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.

Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves...But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres,
and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts;
such a one shall be blessed in what he does.

 Little Sister Joyce and a young girl named Emma, who shared our weekend retreat with Hallel and her Community of the Lamb.

 Little Sister Joyce during adoration pouring over Jesus in Psalms and Word.  Every week they do all 150 Psalms!

At evening prayer the first night we did the last few Psalms which are known at the Hallel Psalms of total praise to the Lord!  It made me smile to hear the beautiful voices praising God - "Whenever anyone says my name they are giving God praise!"  Hallelujah!

 Sometimes I get some special time with my head covered, and really feel like I am being blessed by the Lord, whom I love with my all, sharing in the life of my daughter, nun.

It is especially powerful to be staying with them now.  As Pat pointed out we get to share more totally in their lives and Jesus in The Word is there blessing us with The Truth!

 A new Little Brother from France... Little Brother John Mary and now we are sharing our canning with the Little Brothers, too!  Now up to 8 families!

The kitchen of the little Brothers Monastery where we gather for Open Table each Saturday.  We got up in the dark to get there for this meal where many come to share from their hearts!

We were stuck in our driveway after the South winds blew all night, so it set up back by about half an hour, but we still were able to eat and share and be amazed by witness of Jesus at work and in song!

Arriving to Open Table...Postulant Jed playing with 2 little girls, whose sister died from a brain tumor, a couple years ago.  She was baptized, and had her first communion, and was confirmed before she died.  John and Fr Craig has visited her and prayed over her when they had visited when she was sick.

A microphone is passed around and people share and Jed shared about a mission that he went on with little Brother Louis Marie on the occasion of his 50th birthday.  They had stayed with his family for a couple nights and spoken to different age groups at the school in town.  Then they went on to St Louis and ate as the poor in the soup kitchen and then slept in a homeless shelter.  They reported that they didn't get much sleep as the first shelter was full and then the other was complete chaos with yelling and fighting and even a drug overdose!  Little Brother Louis Marie and Jed sat on the bed and prayed together out loud with their beautiful voices and hearts filled with love for Jesus in Bread, Blood, Word and the poor!

Jed is blind, which makes for some interesting challenges.  He has a brail reader and I have seen him sing a psalm in evening prayer with a glorious voice!  So powerful to have him there sharing His LIGHT and deep personal relationship to Jesus through Mary and The Church.

 LOVE this so much as it speaks to me of a father, who totally supports and loves his nun daughter!  The large farmers hands folded in prayer as he gazes upon his 4th daughter, who said "yes" to the call to be the bride of Christ!

We are so moved and touched by our close time in prayer with our daughter and her amazing Community of the Lamb!  We do not mourn the children she will not have.  We see her ministry and love for her nieces and nephews.. knowing that they are receiving a special gift to have an aunt that is a nun!  How they are bathed in attention and love by her and the other sisters when they get a chance to visit them!

 "Wounded I will never cease to love."  The Lamb

Here is an example of what we encounter at Open Table from their newsletter that came out at Christmas time...
We never see Martita without Lala.  That's the way it is: Martita and Lala.  Lala is severely disabled.  A few years ago, she had a brain hemorrhage and had surgery.  The doctors told Martita that Lala would not survive...  They also said that they were surprised that Lala could do so many things described by Martita, because her brain was so tiny...  Lala survived, Lala became her old self again... sweet and quiet and so affectionate.  LOVE does that.

Martita has spent her life fighting for her family; for her children, one of whom has serious mental illness, and for her sister... We have seen her do a thousand different jobs, move from apartment to apartment... sometimes we lose sight of them, but we always end up reuniting: we are friends. Today they have come to open table, Martita and Lala.  After the meal, as everyone introduces themselves or shares something about their week, Martita gets up in front of everybody, takes the microphone and explains: "I received my mother's greatest gift when she died.  The greatest gift I received from my mother was the inheritance of my little sister."  It is Lala, who gets up to hug her with one of those bear hugs whose secret she only knows.

"Praise God in his Holy Place..."  Psalm 150  Jesus is here!!!

Jesus, I am overwhelmed by your generous unconditional LOVE and forgiveness.  I am so weak and unworthy of that love, as I am so weak and lowly sinful and sorrowful.  Hallel reminds me that when we weak is when we turn to Jesus... I want to always do that, my Lord!  Today in the Gospel you heal the blind man in two stages... a gradual healing that reminds us of how far we come if only we trust in you and give you all the control!  May we see You clearly in the ways you touch us in Word each day and carry that forth to share with the poor we meet.  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah!

 Sharing from the heart and the dishes after each meal...

 I love to see my Most Cherished Cross sharing deeply in the life of his 4th daughter!  It has been such a blessing to have her here in the U.S. these last 3 years!  How we hope to have her home for her home visit this summer and mob her with our family which will be 30 strong!

 Sharing our lives with our nun... her dad took her shopping at Walmart and went with her to pick up a friend after work and his car broke down.  She likes to share our small window of time with her and use her dad to be a dad!  I love to have that special feeling when you can be her loving parents!

Hallel always liked to hear about the farm and when she came home 3 years ago for her last home visit, Pat was planting the crop.  Hallel rode along with him and got a good farm visit.  Pat shared that we had our meals out in his new shop on big tables as we have outgrown the house when we are all home.  "That way all the kids could be riding around on their bikes, and the weather was nice so we could just have a lot of big family time together."  Yes, all the family was together and how we loved that!  Bless-bless, Barb