Stations

St. John Cantius

During Lent on Fridays, I’ve been going to Stations of the Cross at different churches. For the first three weeks I went to local churches that didn’t broadcast their stations. today it was raining pretty badly so I decided to watch this YouTube broadcast from St. John Cantius in Chicago.

In case you don’t know, Catholics have a tradition during Lent of a ceremony that re-enacts Jesus last hours. These Stations of the Cross feature 14 events from when Jesus was condemned to death through his placement in a tomb.

Kid Catholic

I just saw this kid featured with many others in an online ad for a Catholic Bible. I found his YouTube channel and had to share it.

He’s so enthusiastic and sincere about his faith. He knows more than many about the ins and outs of Catholicism and I love that he uses YouTube to share religion.

He doesn’t shy away from current or controversial topics.

Enjoy and subscribe to his channel.

Deo Gratias

Deo Gratias is Latin for “Thanks be to God.” Remembering to give thanks for all of our blessings, big and small, helps us to find God in our everyday moments and gives us an attitude of gratitude! Colleen at Thoughts on Grace has organized this meme and you can contribute by clicking here. This week I’m thankful for:

• Graham Greene‘s The End of the Affair. We’re reading it for this month’s book club. Greene’s a masterful writer who shows sides of characters that most writer’s don’t begin to understand. On top of that he’s one of the great Catholic writers. He shows the intricacies of the faith and why it’s such a unique religion, why Catholics view a relationship with God uniquely. His masterful writing is a terrific example of how one uses a talent or gift to glorify God.
• That I made it through my Wednesday, my most challenging work day.
• That I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with friends having turkey and possibly cranberry at the Hyatt.
• That I got two submissions accepted for publication in a teaching book.
• That it hasn’t been all that cold ~ till today. Oh, well, I’m also thankful for effective heating, that makes my apartment cosy.

Deo Gratias is Latin for “Thanks be to God.” Remembering to give thanks for all of our blessings, big and small, helps us to find God in our everyday moments and gives us an attitude of gratitude! Colleen at Thoughts on Grace has organized this meme and you can contribute by clicking here. This week I’m thankful for:

1. Les Miserables. The book continues to absorb, entertain and enlighten me. A true masterpiece. I have to restate this. The book is so engaging and I’m learning a lot about (Catholic) history.
2. The bright blue sky we have today. Just gorgeous.
3. The opportunity to take a summer library science course. I leave today and am sure to meet some interesting people and learn a lot.
4. Amtrak. I’m off on a train journey and that has a special feel.
5. Old friends. I’ve been able to see some good friends from high school and college. It’s a blessing to have friends I’ve known for quite a while.

Pentecost Novena (May 10- May 18)

Are you still celebrating Easter?  In these final weeks of the Easter Season I invite you to prepare for Pentecost which is May 19^th.    From May 10-18^th participate in a Pentecost Novena.  Each day pray for the graces you need from the Holy Spirit at this time in your life.  

For the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Blessed Spirit of Wisdom, help me to seek God. Make Him the center of my life and order my life to Him, so that love and harmony may reign in my soul.

Blessed Spirit of Understanding, enlighten my mind, that I may know and love the truths of faith and make them truly my own.

Blessed Spirit of Counsel, enlighten and guide me in all my ways, that I may always know and do Your holy Will. Make me prudent and courageous.

Blessed Spirit of Fortitude, uphold my soul in every time of trouble or adversity. Make me loyal and confident.

Blessed Spirit of Knowledge, help me to know good from evil. Teach me to do what is right in the sight of God. Give me clear vision and firmness in decision.

Blessed Spirit of Piety, possess my heart, incline it to a true faith in You, to a holy love of You, my God, that with my whole soul I may seek You, Who are my Father, and find You, my best, my truest joy.

Blessed Spirit of Holy Fear, penetrate my inmost heart that I may ever be mindful of Your presence. Make me fly from sin, and give me intense reverence for God and for my fellow men who are made in God’s image.

Blessed Holy Spirit, at this time I particularly ask for this spiritual gift   ……………… (name the gift you need right now) and for your guidance as I deal with ………………….. (name something you are dealing with right now)

Prayer

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, enkindle in them the fire of your Love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth.  Let us pray. O God, You have taught the hearts of Your faithful people by sending them the light of Your Holy Spirit. Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Thankful Woman’s Book of Blessings

On Wednesdays, Judy, creator of an inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman’s Book of Blessings encourages participants to list their blessings, to give thanks for the five things in the past week and then link to Judy’s blog.

Be sure to also check out her other blog and her website when you visit.

This week I am thankful for:

1. Getting to attend mass in English! I went to Beijing’s South Cathedral and it was wonderful to attend their 10:30 English mass with French readings (in addition to English ones). How I wish I could participate in their Advent retreat, but it’s right at exam/grading time. Still I do love going to church in Jinan where I feel the universality that transcends language. The priest was wonderful, so genuine. He apologized, needlessly, for his poor English as he hadn’t used it to preach in 7 years. We would not have known.
2. All the things I’ve asked God for that He denied. Yep. I can look back and think of things I prayed and prayed for, but didn’t get and in every instance, that was a tremendous blessing. Let me listen more for the Holy Spirit and God’s direction.
3. The temperatures that are just a bit chilly so we feel like winter’s coming, but nothing to dread.
4. A lovely weekend in Beijing and a chance to explore more museums and sights there.
5. The chance to drop into Alice’s Tea House in Beijing. Alice is such a wonderful woman and her tea house is a gem. It’s near the hostel where I stay and I can’t believe she remembers me and asks about my friends. Then she offers a perfect pot of tea and warm conversation.

In Honor of the 50th Anniversary of Vatican II

My friend Theresa sends out weekly inspirational emails and this is the text from this week. Ponder . . .

“The People of God believe that it is led by the Spirit of the Lord who fills the while world.  Moved by that faith it tries to discern in the events, the needs and the longings, which it shares with other men of our time, what may be genuine signs of the presence or of the purpose of God.  For faith throws a new light on all things and makes known the full ideal which God has set for man, thus guiding the mind towards solutions that are fully human.” (Guadium et Spes 11)

“Those also have a claim on our respect and charity who think and act differently from us in social, political, and religious matters.  If fact the more deeply we come to understand their ways of thinking through kindness and love the more easily we will be able to enter into dialogue with them.”(Guadium et Spes 28)

“The laity, however, are given this special vocation: to make the church present and fruitful in those places and circumstances where it is only through them that she can become the salt of the earth, Thus every lay person, through those gifts given to him, is at once the witness and living instrument of the emission of the Church itself, ‘according to the measure of Christ’s bestowal.’ ”   (Lumen Gentium 33)

No Politics, Please

When I go to mass, I’d love it if the priest refrains from departing from the scripture and veering into politics during the homily. Offer a different forum for that, please. Since we’re not illiterates or uneducated, we don’t need someone to pontificate on what we should think politically. We don’t need a political monologue during mass. It would be better to stay home and watch Meet the Press.

Instead, help us become disciples of Christ, help us to grow spiritually. Believe me there’s plenty to preach on that.

If for some reason the parish wants to discuss a political issue, that’s fine. Do it another day and allow for questions.

When a political diatribe enters a homily, it takes my mind completely out of the mass and puts it back outside on the Red State/Blue State, mud slinging, stump speech arena. Also, there’s a good chance that the preacher won’t sufficiently substantiate his claims or may use logical fallacies. Since I teach English this just infuriates me.

I regret not walking out and going to another mass. Next time this happens, I will.

Related articles

• First lady: “No place better” for political issues than in church (religionnews.com)
• Jesus Didn’t Die To Give You A Political Stance (christianlifehacker.wordpress.com)
• Politics, Patriotism, and Making Disciples of Jesus (timmybrister.com)
• Are You Hungry? Saints and Scripture Sunday (thekennedyadventures.com)

A Thankful Woman’s Book of Blessings

On Wednesdays, Judy, creator of an inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman’s Book of Blessings encourages participants to list their blessings, to give thanks for the five things in the past week and then link to Judy’s blog.

Be sure to also check out her other blog and her website when you visit.

This week I am thankful for:

1. The perfect temperatures: not too hot, not too cold. Just right. I admit I’m a bit of a Goldilocks.
2. The Catholic church in downtown Jinan. I went there for mass on Sunday. It was small and so cozy. The people there were very welcoming although we don’t share a language, there was a mutual understanding that we share a faith. I do with I could have spoken with them as I bet many had to suffer greatly for their faith in the past.
3. For white mulberries. I’d never had them before and they’re delicious. Here I bought a small bag full for 18 cents more or less. An organic store in the U.S. sells them for $23.99 a pound. What a tasty bargain I got!
4. For Adobe’s free trial for Illustrator, which allowed me to design a simple cover for my short story, “Mierna’s House” which I’m selling on Amazon.
5. For my friend Sheila, who will visit China at the end of the month. I’m blessed to still be in touch with old friends from high school. Not everyone has that.