Saturday, April 28, 2007

the New Springtime!!

"Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away and He gives you everything. When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundred-fold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ - and you will find true life."

-Pope Benedict XVI

Diamonds

I'm feeling a little less creative today, but I am still feeling like I want to write something. So I will turn to Luke to speak instead...

" The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of the possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore winess to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favour was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the cale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need." Acts 4: 32-37

Imagine imagine living like this on a national level..one person's material poverty as the responsibility of the community...oh simplicity, will you ever return?

Last night I watched the movie "Blood Diamond" ...I was really hesitant because I have been blissfully sheltered from pop culture for the past few months. I could not have predicted that the intense violence of the whole movie would have such an appreciated effect on me. You will have to watch it to know what I mean-I felt so sad- but my sadness forced me to confront my own ignorance and maybe even my subconscious indifference. The exploitation of the desperate(especially children) has become very real to me. Good job Hollywood...?...

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Follow-up


Sara at the Catholic Register wanted a little bit of follow-up on my Dad to go to print tomorrow. I was happy to comply... I never run out of words to say about my Beloved Papa... who I believe, has a St. before his name now....



Hi Sara,
In hopes that I am not too late in getting this to you, I thought maybe I would offer you a more personal take on my whole situation. I cannot seem to talk enough about my Dad. He was a father to so many of our friends... and we would sometimes come home to find him entertaining a bunch of them. Even throughout his sickness... he maintained a healthy crew of 'followers'. When his family would come to visit him when he became confined to his hospital bed, he would con us into getting him to sit up so he could 'preach' as he put it. Dad was never too much of a wordy man-- he tended to steer away from wearing his faith on his sleeve. In his last days, however, things changed . He felt directly responsible in his sickness to evangelize to souls he deemed 'searching'. He would tell my sisters and I to send certain people from the rosary to his bedside where he would whisper in their ear for a while. We would see the person leave with tears in their eyes...joyful tears. I feel like I witnessed an array of miracles... but I maintain that the greatest miracles I have witnessed were the ones in the hearts of virtual strangers who visited our home throughout Dad's illness. Until the very end...Dad exploited a mysterious energy source whenever 'an old friend' would pop in for a visit. dad really did embrace his cross...I recall that I would frequently just stare at him in disbelief. I was there all day with him and I saw when he stopped eating, I knew the inside scoop and what he was putting out for these people was not at all consistent with what he was taking in for sustenance. The Lord used him powerfully.
My whole family and my grandparents were blessed enough to have been at his bedside when he passed from this world. He was laughing about an hour before he died. The peace was supernatural, and I am convinced without a doubt that this peace was because of the Blessed Mother's prayers for us. Mary makes a vast number of beautiful promises to those who devote themselves to the rosary including special graces at the time of death and the promise of eternal life.
This whole experience was completely anointed. I have taken away with me so much understanding surrounding why we suffer and the INESTIMABLE VALUE of this suffering. I have been so embraced in prayer by so many people, that I will never say 'I am praying for you' in a half-hearted way again. These prayers are REAL RECOMMENDATIONS to the Father on the behalf of another. I was once told that praying for others is praying to the Father with the heart of Jesus. What better way to pray. I am so thankful for my Catholic family--and by family I mean those all over the country who have held my family and I in prayer over the years. God hears our every word, and even though things may seem bleak from within a situation, God is making the most good out of our sufferings. May He grant us this recognition and thus teach us all the more to trust boundlessly in His great love for us.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Saint Faustina has lots to say to me today

Give me books and let me learn!



" I did not know that the Lord had put so much happiness in these drab little corners. Now I understand that even in prison, there can burst forth from a pure heart, the fullness of love for You, O Lord! External Love means nothing to pure love; its cuts through them all. Neither prison doors nor the gates of heaven are strong enough to stop it. It reaches God Himself, and nothing can quench it. It knows no obstacles; it is free like a queen and has free access to all places. Death itself must bow its head.. " (201)

" I fervently beg the Lord to strengthen my faith, so that in my drab, everyday life I will not be guided by human dispositions, but by those of the spirit. Oh, how everything drags man towards the earth! But lively faith maintains the soul in the higher regions and assigns self-love its proper place; that is to say, the lowest one." (210)

Blood

This is the stuff that keeps me alive.
I was getting bloodwork done this morning and as usual, I never have to wait the typical hour because all of my tests must be done at 9am. So I'm fortunate that way. As I was just slipping into the hot-seat with my health card and information, an older man that I used to work with came up to me to offer his condolences. I am a terrible multi-tasker, so I imagine that I appeared to be pre-occupied and not entirely friendly to this man. I managed to give him the one minute sign and motion that I would go find him in a minute to talk. After I had my 'golden tickets', I looked around and spotted the guy in the crowd of senior citizens -these people basically choose to come sit and wait in the morning for bloodwork, as opposed to waiting until later when the rush calms down.
I started talking to this man and within minutes we were into theology on a very everyday, human level. Let me just say-- wow what blessings my whole predicament has afforded me! I always yearn for substance in my everyday mundane conversations. It has ALWAYS seemed to me that so much time and energy is wasted with casual jabber and etiquette. Now, however, my conversations are so MEATY and thought-provoking that I reach for my journal after speaking to the mailman.
This man at the hospital started talking about how he wasted most of his life with alcohol ...and then he told me that it is only by the grace of God that he has the strength to never pick up another bottle. This is where I saw, once again, the naked reality of the human condition. It was like I was staring at my father as a skeleton all over again. We grin and bear it...my father did more than grin...I am left speechless at humanity's tendency to assume they are as powerful as they pretend to be. We have "no power that was not given to us from above". What made this man cry was not that he made his whole family suffer, but because he realizes that without God, that is who he is---a man who puts his own needs first. He cried because he recognized God's mercy and the second chance he had been given, with the full knowledge that he did not deserve it. THIS is unconditional love.
After this conversation, I went in to get 6 tubes taken... I have always kind of liked bloodwork..not sure why. The woman who took my blood commented on my height, ask the usual questions involving basketball and boyfriends etc. I then made some remark about perhaps not needing to worry about finding a ' tall husband'. She kind of just looked at me. I then started to tell her why I am contemplating joining a relgious order. I told her that I want to be the person I am created to be, I want to help people find out who they are created to be and I want to do the most good with what I have been given. For me, I believe that these desires do not ensure a normal job with a family and kids. There is obviously going to be some degree of sacrifice... but I am 100% certain that if I am doing God's work, the rewards will be much greater than I could ever imagine.
I couldn't believe the things that were coming out of my mouth. I felt like Dad. Instantly friends with everyone, immediately in their inner circle. If we let our guards down, the results are amazing. Sometimes I get caught in little ruts where I feel like sitting out, and turning off my emotions. I think we all get into that survival mode... because feeling all the time is exhausting. Then I think about all the fighters in the world. The people who effected change because they worked and ' felt' full time. I want to be one of these people.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Monday, April 9, 2007

Holy Saturday

MURPHY, Robert Paul - 54, Yarmouth, peacefully entered into eternity on April 7, 2007 (Holy Saturday), at home surrounded by family and friends. Born September 13,1952, Robert was the son of the late Clarence Murphy and is survived by his wife, Deborah; his daughters, Jenna, Jillian and Whitney; his mother, Elizabeth (Kneebone); brothers, Clarence "Speedy" (Linda), Stratford, P.E.I.; Brendon, Charlottetown, P.E.I.; sister, Beverlee (Niels), Montreal, Que.; Wayne (Elaine), Stratford, P.E.I.; Brian (Marthe), Edmonton, Alta.; and David (Gaelyne), Charlottetown, P.E.I. A retired RCMP officer and federal government (Public Works Canada) employee, Robert was renowned for being renowned. A member of the Yarmouth Curling Club and the Pubnico Golf Club, Fourth Degree Knight and Red Cross volunteer, Robert made friends wherever he went. After his wife and his girls, Robert's pride and joy was his cottage on Island Pond which he designed and built with his own hands over the past five years of his walk with cancer. A lover of nature (especially of the ocean and sunsets) and camping with his family, Robert took pleasure in the simple moments and taught everyone he knew to appreciate a job well done. Robert excelled in many sports beginning early in his youth with hockey (junior and senior league) and baseball, and continuing on throughout his life with golf and curling. Everyone who knows Robert will attest to the power of that deep laugh that followed him wherever he went and whenever he would playfully tease those he loved. Robert poured his whole heart into fundraising with the Knights of Columbus, the Canadian Cancer Society, and especially with the youth of the church who know him as the infamous "Chef Bob" at Catholic Summer Camp and champion fundraiser for World Youth Day pilgrimages. We will especially remember Robert with each plane we see take off and fondly recall how he would pull to the side of the road to watch them overhead. Robert was a man of great faith, and he taught all of those around him how to better serve Our Lord. Never a complainer, Robert graciously met each day with a smile and left this world with one on his face. Visiting hours will be held on Tuesday, April 10, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. with prayers at 8 p.m. in H.M. Huskilson's Funeral Home, 29 Albert St., Yarmouth. The funeral will be held in St. Ambrose Cathedral on Wednesday, April 11, at 10 a.m. with a reception following downstairs in the Jubilee Room. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Yarmouth Catholic Churches, particularly to Youth Ministry. On-line condolences may be send to: huskilson@ns.sympatico.ca

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Like a Rose

I unpetalled you, like a rose,
to see your soul,
and I didn't see it.
But everything around
-horizons of lands and of seas-,
everything, out to the infinite,
was filled with a fragrance, enormous and alive.

***Juan Ramón Jiménez, translated by Stephen Mitchell from the book " Risking Everything"