Blessed Joseph

Tags

faith, intercessor, Patris Corde, patron, Pope Francis, Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Joseph, support, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

If you noticed that I am speaking late today, there is good reason. Today is the feast of St. Joseph, husband of Mary and Mother of Jesus. I am a Sister of St. Joseph, one of the thousands of women whose religious community gathers with pride on this date each year to celebrate this quiet, loving, faithful and holy man who was willing to take on the protection and parenting of “the boy Jesus.” We who live under the patronage of St. Joseph trust the guidance we find in the Scriptures, the stories of Joseph, full of silence and listening to God and the messages of God. You will not find conversations of Joseph with God’s messengers. Rather, he is busy being silent deep in the heart of God, his love and reverence for his young wife and then his son, Jesus, of primary concern to him.

This evening, as the celebrations of this day ended we again had reason to pause and join our Sisters across our province who joined from far and near to pray in thanksgiving for Joseph—through the miracle of “Zoom”. We listened to a part of the Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis, Patris Corde which was a fitting conclusion to our day. Here is what we heard:

Each of us can discover in Joseph—the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence—an intercessor, a support and guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation…Even though Joseph’s fears, God’s will, his history and his plan were at work, Joseph, then, teaches us that faith in God includes believing that he can work even through our fears, our frailties and our weaknesses.

May we go to Joseph in any hour of need, for he is the patron of the universal Church and a great model of who we are to be in the world!

Encouragement

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Br. Curtis Almquist, dignity, encouragement, gratitude, recognition, support, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worth

I am not accustomed to posting in the afternoon but being off schedule today got me to play catch-up and I found the second-in-a-row message that comes from the monks of St. John the Evangelist. (See yesterday’s post). I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share it as we all need encouragement once in awhile and I thought this a good reminder. (I especially liked the first line about being “rescued by love.”)

We are rescued by love when someone bequeaths dignity, worth, recognition, gratitude upon us, encouragement for us because of who we are and what we do. We simply cannot grasp this alone: that we are precious, and amazing, and of inestimable value, unless this truth is mirrored into our being by another person. We need to give and receive support and encouragement for one another as “daily bread.” (Br. Curtis Almquist.)

Imagine!

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A Deep Breath of Life, abilities, Alan Cohen, awareness, creativity, enlightened, healing, I am the way, Imagine, Jesus, joy, life, love, seeking, striving, success, support, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, trying

Home again this morning in my own space, I first did what is my usual Sunday morning task: checking my calendar for the week to make sure nothing creeps up on me for which I’m not prepared. I was reminded that there is some creative work to be done and that is a good thing for my spirit. That task done but still in waking mode, I turned to Alan Cohen to find the perfect message for this morning. Perhaps you will find it to be so as well.

Imagine that all of your trying, seeking, and striving has been completed. Imagine that you have within you all the awareness and tools you need to live a life of joy, creativity, success and love. Imagine that you don’t have to pass any more tests or prove anything to anyone. Imagine that you don’t have to earn the love or favor of God. Imagine that you have the abilities and credentials to offer healing and support to others. These imaginings are much closer to the truth than imaginings that you are broken, wounded or needy. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” If you recognize who you are, you can make this statement with equal authority. 

Practice being enlightened. It is the truth about you.  (Alan Cohen – A Deep Breath of Life)

Praying for Strength

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A Prayer for Strength, belief, change, courage, fortify, insurmountable, Joyce Rupp, love, Prayer Seeds, provider, purpose, serenity, strength, suffer, support, sustain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, worries

I went to sleep last night in my safe and warm bedroom with images from the internet news of cars and trucks smashing into utility poles and one another on icy roads in South Carolina and Georgia. Weather gone wild has stranded thousands in airports and shelters and the only happy people are the children who are playing in the snow that has closed their schools. It is a trying time in our country – for this and many other reasons.

Having no words of my own today, I turn to Joyce Rupp, a wonderful spiritual guide who always seems to have something helpful to say. I am never disappointed by whatever book of hers that comes into my hands. She has a way of comforting and challenging me at the same time. Here is part of “A Prayer for Strength” from her book Prayer Seeds.

Provider of Purpose, Firm Foundation, Enduring Love, support my determination to give the best of myself to others. Fortify the forgiveness you have placed and nurtured in my heart. Sustain a solid belief that I can get through what appears insurmountable. Bolster my efforts to be a person who reaches out to those who suffer. Foster greater trust in you when worries and anxieties attempt to prevail. Impart the courage I need to change what appears to be unchangeable. In you I find sufficient strength, abounding love, and secure serenity. (p.56)

 

 

 

 

 

For A Sunny Saturday Morning

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bad news, coffee, forgivenes, Fully Human Divine, Good News, guidance, Hebrews, hospitality, lightness, Michael Casey, sleep, support, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

A page from Michael Casey’s book Fully Human Fully Divine gave me pause this morning. After a “short night” when sleep evaded me until about 1:30am, I needed some encouragement and it seems I have found it. Perhaps it might set the course for someone else today as well. I’m a little late in “coming to the table” that Casey offers as I’ve already had one cup of coffee, but it’s better late than never for me today. What about you?

Each morning as we rise from sleep we can say, “This day God will send me whatever support, whatever guidance, whatever forgiveness I need.” It is only a matter of remaining alert, watching for God’s agents. “Do not forget hospitality since in being hospitable some have unknowingly entertained angels” (Heb. 13:2). What a difference it would make if I were to welcome everything that happens as good news. It may require some extra digging in some situations to get beneath the surface affront to discover the pleasant surprise, but what a different person I would be if I were to jettison my readiness to qualify everything unexpected as bad news. What an incredible sense of lightness would infuse my heart and mind, and thus modify the way I present to others. (p. 151)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Help!

Tags

care, dance with God, draw near to God, help, psalm 55, resistance, support, The Letter of James, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worries

There are times in life when we each need help. Asking for what we need is more difficult for some of us than for others. There are many reasons why this could be true in life but I’m coming to learn that resisting help is something we need to come to grips with and let go. Most of us are willing to give help; it’s just receiving assistance from someone else that takes more humility than some of us can muster. It might come easier to us if we considered that when we allow others to help us we are giving them the opportunity to be generous. However we overcome our overactive sense of independence, we need to do it – else how can we ever break down the walls of separation that keep us apart?

This concept also applies to our relationship with God (the most important word here being relationship). There are two lines in today’s readings that emphasize our part in seeking help from God. We can’t just go along assuming God will take care of everything to our liking. That may be the case, but put yourself in God’s place. How would you feel if your spouse or child or very good friend never asked for your help but always assumed you would take care of everything? Where is the relatedness in that? Where is the exchange, the gratitude – the love expressed? The Letter of James advises us to draw near to God and he will draw near to you. That reminds me of the synergy of the couples on Dancing with the Stars last night. If they were just thinking of their own steps, the dance was choppy and stagnant. Last night each of the five remaining couples were brilliantly connected, dancing as one. Don’t we owe God that kind of relationship? The psalmist gives the same kind of advice with a vivid verb in the refrain of Psalm 55, saying: Throw your cares on the Lord, and he will support you. Again I see the dancers, especially one couple in a contemporary dance, where the lifts were extraordinary and the partners so in sync that there wasn’t even an inkling that he would drop her.

Why not try a dance with God today – letting God lead but responding in kind? It might be good preparation for seeking the help of a fellow seeker/traveler on the earth.