Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Happy 7 year and one day anniversary Maria and Joseph!
"The weight of the habit..." John
Oh, how fun it was to have Ruth's family together for a picture in the glorious green sunny world of their farm! This was Sunday and we had made a plan to take family pictures after church... It had rained for 2 days, Luke had fallen off a chair and skinned his nose, and the two youngest were close to nap times - all could have spelled failure and disaster, but... The sun came out on the watered earth in all its glory, Luke's nose will be a part of the story, and he wakes up happy and sweet unlike a lot of babies we have known in the family... so we were able to reach our goal! As Ruth stated on her blog - http://familyfarmexperience.blogspot.com/ " My mom is our photographer and she is persistent and patient with taking the pictures. I do think we got some keepers." Ruth
The three American postulants come into the service a month ago in Kansas City - the threatening thunder storm has left us - too many prayers for this day had to keep the rain off of us! They are wearing the polo shirts and long skirts that they have worn for over a year as postulants in the Community of the Lamb.
Now radiant and dressed in their habits in the heat - close to 90 degrees. They glow and beam huge smiles with no hesitation in their decision to take this huge step in their faith journeys!
This morning out of the blue John said that he would like to go to Kansas City and sit down with Little sister Agape, Little Sister Frances, and Little Sister Kateri - "I would like to see how the weight of the habit feels to them after a month." "Yes, I am sure that it is very warm after wearing polos for their postulancy." "No, I think that it would feel very light to them after making this big decision in their lives." "Yes, I am sure that looking at this from the place you are at. That it looks like there would be a huge weight lifted off your shoulders to have taken a step in your life." "Yes, and I would like to sit down in Kansas City and have a visit with them about it." "Why don't you try to do that?" "I am too busy with the play and stuff going on right now."
Two young girls with a clear view of their asking for "The Mercy of God and of the Church, that of the Community of the Lamb in the Order of Preachers, and yours."
The three novices will soon we heading to France, so it looks like John will not have that opportunity to go and have a visit with them. How I pray that he could find the way, and I would probably want to tag along! How we love to have the blessings and graces that always come to us when we are allowed to share time with our family of the Community of the Lamb! Our lives are enriched and filled with so much as the result of their prayers for us... so powerful through the journey of John's brain cancer! We are continually showered with the depth of their encounters with Christ through becoming his Word and knocking on the doors of the poor as Christ! So radical and out of this world - not of this world but of the Kingdom of God on this earth!
"I revealed my name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I gave to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them... And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you." Jesus to His Father in Heaven! in the Gospel today - John 17:1-11
How this is coming to LIFE this day as I look at it in the LIGHT of the Community of the Lamb - how at the end of each day they start "mendicating" the Gospel from the next day and taking it into themselves through repeating each line speaking it 6 times and chanting it 10 times! It becomes very deeply woven into the fabric of their lives and minds and hearts and souls... they carry The Word/Christ forth into their world living among the poor as the poor and begging for their food from the poor! I love to look at people's faces when I say that - "They beg for their food from the poor." Shock, amazement, ridicule, disbelief, critical of this -saying "I would never do that!" Little Sister Marie heard the Lord telling her to do this. "How Lord can you tell me to beg from the poor? Show me!" She was led to the story of Elijah and the widow - I Kings 17:17-24!
I Kings 17:7-24
New International Version (NIV)
Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath
7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”
Jesus, your words to your Father this day in the Gospel ring true as we know of the Community of the Lamb/our extended family through our Little sister Hallel! They embrace Your Word and make it part of them so that they can be You knocking on the doors of the poor. Why the poor? Because You come to those that are lowly and humble - You tell us that over and over in Your Word! May we ask for the humility to allow the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in us and to die to self so that You may live in us! Yes, we will be called to suffer in this process of being made humble! Just ponder this litany of humility and come to the Truth that will set us free to love and serve You without counting the cost!
Litany of Humility
Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X | O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved... From the desire of being extolled ... From the desire of being honored ... From the desire of being praised ... From the desire of being preferred to others... From the desire of being consulted ... From the desire of being approved ... From the fear of being humiliated ... From the fear of being despised... From the fear of suffering rebukes ... From the fear of being calumniated ... From the fear of being forgotten ... From the fear of being ridiculed ... From the fear of being wronged ... From the fear of being suspected ... That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be esteemed more than I ... That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease ... That others may be chosen and I set aside ... That others may be praised and I unnoticed ... That others may be preferred to me in everything... That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should… |
Lord, how can anyone pray for this? Yet, we must and will with you ever by our side and carrying us when we are weak and sick. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Mary's profession of Faith and witness to the Truth she has discovered through having an aunt a Little Sister and being embraced and welcomed into the family of the Community of the Lamb!
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
"Salvation is from our God and from the Lamb!" Rev 7:10
St Charles Lwanga and companions - 21 other martyr Saints - pray for us and show us how to give our all for HIM!
Me with my first born Ruth Ida at 6 months in 1980... about this time of year... hard to tell if she looks like Luke with the hat. Many say that he looks like his dad...
All I know is that they both are wonderful!
Danielle Rose - the Litany of humility
Monday, June 2, 2014
Clothes on the line then to the garden...
Indian corn coming up - thanks, Ruth for helping me make rows in plastic.
My companions - dog on the ground and cat in the tree. At least he isn't a vegetable eating cat... the dogs are giving me enough of a run for my fresh food.
Our cows across the road in the pasture. Momma cow with her calf make a pretty sight. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Bless-bless, Barb
Mary spending some time with her baby brother, Luke, in the shade of their huge cottonwood tree!
The picture of peace...
Satan went beyond all the limits of deception when he went to Father Pio pretending to be a penitent. This is the Father Pio’s testimony: “One day, while I was hearing confessions, a man came to the confessional where I was. He was tall, handsome, dressed with some refinement and he was kind and polite. He started to confess his sins, which were of every kind: against God, against man and against the morals. All the sins were obnoxious! I was disoriented, in fact for all the... sins that he told me, but I responded to him with God’s Word, the example of the Church, and the morals of the Saints. But the enigmatic penitent answered me word for word, justifying his sins, always with extreme ability and politeness. He excused all the sinful actions, making them sound quite normal and natural, even comprehensible on the human level.. He continued this way with the sins that were gruesome against God, Our Lady, the Saints, always using disrespectful round-about argumentation. He kept this up even with with the foulest of sins that could be conjured in the mind of a most sinful man. The answers that he gave me with such skilled subtlety and malice surprised me. I wondered: who is he? What world does he come from? And I tried to look at him in order to read something on his face. At the same time I concentrated on every word he spoke, trying to discover any clue to his identity.. But suddenly; through a vivid, radiant and internal light I clearly recognized who he was. With a sound and imperial tone I told him: “Say long live Jesus, long live Mary!” As soon as I pronounced these sweet and powerful names, Satan instantly disappeared in a trickle of fire, leaving behind him an unbearable stench.” (Don Pierino is a priest and one of the father Pio’s spiritual sons who were present at the same time.) Wow!!!!
"share the lot of the saints in light." Colossians 1:12-20
Mary and I discuss the beauty of the cottonwood tree that is hundreds of years old standing on the side of their driveway... how I love it at every stage of the seasons... but most especially at this time when the new leaves are fully out and the beautiful play of light and shade makes a beautiful background for the eye to take in! I have such powerful memories of two years ago and a newborn little girl, Rose under that dappled shade with her adoring beautiful family - now she is 2 and her baby brother is already 7 months and such a gift of joy!
Rose is now 25 months and her brother, Luke, is 7 months! Such a masterpiece of love and life!
As I was praying evening prayer last night before bed... I came across a wonderful Canticle of Colossians 1 and was so impressed by it! How wonderful to read the amazing words of St Paul to the Colossians, but also to us the followers of Christ of this age!
"Let us give thanks to the Father
for having made you worthy
to share the lot of the saints
in light.
He rescued us
from the power of darkness
and brought us
into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
Through Him we have redemption,
and forgiveness of our sins.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the first born of all creatures.
In him everything in heaven and on earth was created,
things visible and invisible.
All were created through him;
all were created for him.
He is before all else that is.
In him everything continues in being.
It is he who is head of the body, the Church!
He who is the beginning,
the first born of the dead,
so that primacy may be his in everything.
It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him
and, by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person,
both on earth and in the heavens,
making peace through the blood of his cross."
Canticle from Colossians 1:12-20
So blessed by this! And in the first reading from mass today we read in the first reading from Acts 19 that after St Paul baptized 12 disciples in the Holy Spirit he then went and spent 3 months - into the synagogue and "debated boldly with persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God." I think we just heard some of those words in this Canticle and I think I am super persuaded to follow Christ at all costs as I know He is leading me into the Kingdom of God and I can only imagine how glorious that is and will be!
I can only imagine - MercyMe
"surrounded by His Glory!!!!"
The Gospel is reminding us today that no matter what we face in life and what the world will present troubles to us - "Take courage, I have conquered the world." Jesus to us, and we are given hope to persevere against all the darkness and temptation of sin that surrounds us in so many forms - TV, internet, influences of the media and misled thinking of the world, desire for material things over LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT... we are surrounded by much darkness and need to be that light placed on the lampstand for all to see!
Sharing morning office with John is delightful as is sharing morning prayer in the Magnificat with Pat! The first psalm from the office today filled my inner temple with such praise and worship!
1"How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.#
:4The Hebrew has Selah(a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 8.
5Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.#
:6Or blessings
7They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9Look on our shield,#
O God;
:9Or sovereign
look with favor on your anointed one.
10Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
12Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you." Psalm 84
This is where the Kingdom of God is in this our world - within ourselves - the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and making us part of the Body of Christ - His hands and feet!
If we are the body - Casting Crowns... "why aren't our arms reaching, why aren't our hands healing...?"
Jesus, we are so filled with the Holy Spirit as we are given all we need to carry on as we face the troubles of this world. We can take total hope and the courage we need to share the Truth with all we meet - most especially those the closest to us in our domestic Church/family. May we never hesitate to find You and ask what you want for us each moment of each day. It will mean that we need to die to self and our personal wants and desires in order to put others first. Imagine how much that would touch and change the world if we can give without counting the cost! Thank you, Lord, for the "life-giving rain." Pat Verly Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
"Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are my God my savior.
The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
he guides the humble in the right path;
he teaches his way to the poor."
Psalm 25
We are all called to be Saints!
Danielle Rose - The Saint that is just me
Dad with his two girls 2 years ago...
Precious keepsake!
Dad with his girls 2 years later - last day of May 2014!
I just heard a great story related to this Christian song... a Christian mother of 4 and friend attended and school talent show and heard some very horrible ugly songs sung by some young girls. She invited them to come sing at her Christian festival this summer, but told them they had to sing a Christian song, so she made a CD of songs for them to listen to and maybe choose one. They chose "God girl" and said that they are going to sing it in 4H competition this summer too. A life changed? It has definitely opened the door to allow this prayer of song to enter their hearts and make a subtle change and encounter with Christ! Praise HIM! Bless-bless
So very good and true, St Therese, show us the little humble "way."
Sunday, June 1, 2014
A wonderful Sunday night - pizza, popcorn, pictures - now Ruth's camera
While I was snapping away this morning I was using Ruth's beautiful nice new camera for the most part, and it was great fun to see the special ones she shared on her blog - http://familyfarmexperience.blogspot.com/. They are a total gift to behold!
Another special one - Rose is a bit tired looking... Still a keepsake!
A nice one - Luke and Simon are amazing!
Can't get much better than this - all looking and smiling with a few squinty eyes in the beautiful sunlight and the florescent green of the corn field coming up behind them. A fairy tail picture that will be cherished down the years. I predict this will be on the front of her 2014 book - every year she makes a family picture photo book. This will be a stunner!
The happy couple - very busy but blessed with all that LIFE/LOVE/LIFE has to give them sharing Faith/Family/Farm! Jesus, we trust in YOU. Bless-bless, Barb
I am friends with St Therese and St Padre Pio - what gems I am given each day!
Storm clouds on the horizon brings much needed rain!
Beautiful Rose at great-grandma's for breakfast after sharing family mass together on this Ascension Sunday - the 7th Sunday of Easter! What a JOY that Easter is celebrated and celebrated and celebrated - 7 long and ever increasingly more summer like weeks! Today we had planned to get some family photos of Ruth's family as Luke was a few weeks old the last time they were taken.
I borrowed this picture taken by a friend of the storms that came and gave us much rain last evening. In our neck of the woods we always take the rain we are given and usually hope for more. So to see over an inch this morning we are happy with that... now more is on the way. After mass it was dark and rumbling and we had a short shower of large wet raindrops. But then the sun came out just in time for a scheduled/planned family picture for Ruth and Paul and their 5!
One of the attempts - Ruth now owns a beautiful camera so I take less with mine and more with hers. There was no perfect one on mine, but I really am fond of the photo stories that each one tells with the different movements and expressions of the 7 of them. The sun coming out made it spectacularly beautiful and using one of their porch rockers kept them out of the wet grass... so picturesque with the red barn behind them and in the shade of their beautiful lone cottonwood tree... My favorite thing to do, and try to capture a snapshot of their growing family... Luke is changing so much and now at 7 months this was a needed picture for their family.
One of the better ones - Luke steals the show with his rug burned nose!
"Why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven." Acts 1:1-11 The first reading for today on Ascension Sunday. We are told that we will not know the time that He will return, but that we are to not just stand there and wait... we are to share our LIGHT with all those we come in contact with - most especially those in our domestic Church/family. We are to take go forth armed with the Holy Spirit of Truth, LOVE, LIFE, LIGHT, peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, kindness, self-control, Patience, goodness, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord. All the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit that they may flow out from us, as we are always prepared for His return, yet going ahead full force with LIFE and sharing in all the ways we can. Helping others to arrive in Heaven someday too!
Such a wonderful family filled with the brightness of LIGHT/LIFE/LOVE!
The second reading from Ephesians 1... speaks to us of how the Holy Spirit will carry us forth to share the LIGHT!
"May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him... May the eyes of your heart be enlightened..."
Michael W Smith - Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Sharing a wonderful evening with some young friends last evening... it was so uplifting to sit and share with some young women, who are in love with the Catholic Church! Pat, I, and John came away saying that it is such a wonderful thing to share the fire we have for our Faith. Truly the Spirit has opened the eyes of our hearts - the eyes of our hearts has been enlightened to see that The Church gives us so much that our lives, days, each moment is full to bursting with all the graces and blessings we are given through the Sacraments, the Saints, Our Lady, Mary the Mother of God, the Prayer in so many varied and wonderful forms, Spiritual reading... on and on and on and on!!! Our young friends shared with us a wonderful idea about bringing the saints ever more into our journey! You take many varied names of the Saints and place them on small pieces of paper and then each year pick a new one out of a hat, which you learn about and include on your journey for that next year. So cool! I was told that you can find the list to place on the papers on Danielle Rose's site -http://daniellerose.com/category/articles/
Not quite perfect but still wonderful to have!
Jesus, we are not alone and do not need to keep looking for you to come. No, we need to be always ready and follow after Your example of dying so that LIFE may come to the world... being ready so that we are not caught by the thief. Yet, we are to live our lives and follow after You carrying our Most Cherished Cross and following after You to the path to LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT! We are not to sit and look at the sky for your return - rather we are to carry the Truth to all those in our lives and seeing your face in the poor and the sorrowful! We are to go forth and share with all those from the great wealth we are given by You and your Bride, The Church. We are to share the faith without ceasing within our domestic Church/family/home and we are to teach and share our stories of Your unconditional LOVE and forgiveness with all those in our lives... whether by word and when that is not possible by living our lives within your Way, your Truth and your LIFE! Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
"I am with you always, until the end of the age." Jesus to us in the Gospel today - Matthew 28: 16-20
Truly we are never alone and need have no fear of sharing the Truth in what we say and what we do!
Lord, I lift your name on high by Mercy Me
So fun to sing this at the end of mass today with the hand signs with Mary and Simon and the kids across the aisle - sharing the JOY makes our faith grow more and more together!
"May the heart of Jesus be the goal of all your aspirations." St. Padre Pio
St Pio help us to enter the Heart of Jesus more and more with every beat of our hearts and every breath that we take - "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..."
From Ruth's camera!! This one as close to perfect as it can get!!!
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