The Practical Power of Penitence

One of the blogs I like to read is Fr. Dwight Longenecker's site Standing on My Head. His most recent post is The Practical Power of Penitence and it was very good. I like the way Father Longenecker lays things on the table in a clear manner - his forthright writing style means I don't have to weed through piles of "excess" to get at the meat of what he is pointing out. It's right there before our eyes. 

The Practical Power of Penitence made me smile, especially the ending:

"Stop blaming others–even if it’s their fault. Take responsibility. Claim the blame. Pick up other people’s trash."

"Grow up."

Well, darned if that post didn't make me want to "grow up" right then and there!

Seriously. I was sitting there saying, "That grumbling he mentions? Yes, I know it well."

Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.

I catch myself grumbling interiorly (oops, Google Chrome says interiorly is not a word) on a regular basis. It's a pride thing. After all, it's much easier to grumble than to repair things, isn't it? 

Ahem.

Could you excuse me for a few moments while I go empty the "trash"? And "clean up" the house a bit?

(I will not put up another picture of Pigpen. I will not put up another picture of Pigpen. I will not put up...)

(oops)

(Down Freud! Down Jung! )

First Things First - A Book Review

Colleen Spiro is a blogger, an author, and a spiritual director. Her newest book is an e-book, First Things First, A Personal Retreat Journal and is available for download (pdf ) and also available on Kindle.

First Things First is a journal that takes you on a spiritual journey as seen through the eyes and heart of the author. It is written with simplicity and the straightforward manner which is the mark of this particular author's writing style. Many of you know Colleen through her blog and Catholic website or from reading her memoir, The Third Floor Window (a personal favorite of mine) and have been blessed by her insights and her ability to pierce through the morass of our messy lives and reach to the heart of things. She has done this once again with First Things First. This book can be used as a retreat guide or for spiritual reading and reflection.

Whenever we read spiritual books under the guidance of the Holy Spirit there are things that have a tendency to "stand out" for each reader. These things that stand out are often areas the Lord is calling our attention to so I am going to write about what jumped out at me.

The first thing that struck a chord in me were Colleen's words about patience and balance.  "The message I have been getting today is to be more patient with myself. I expect too much of myself. I expect perfection..."

Got me there. I have a tendency toward perfectionism, especially in the spiritual life (which is a mark of pride). Unfortunately, my idea of perfect and God's are miles apart.

 "My life is out of balance."

Mine too. Until we understand that we need to let go of our rigid hold on life (our idea of perfect) our lives will never be balanced. Like Colleen, I have a tendency to multi-task. Multi-tasking robs me of my peace and makes me feel as if I am rushing through life and using my time unwisely. A wise use of time is to focus  on the task at hand and live in the present moment. Colleen touches upon this widespread problem in her book. We live in a world that focuses on rushing and productivity and many of us need to slow down so we can hear the Lord instead of our inner tumult.

And then came these words: "I am worried about the birds. They look exhausted trying to beat their wings with the wind and the rain pelting down on them. There are enough trees around here for them to rest in. Why don't they?"

I read these words over and over. At first I couldn't understand why they struck me like a ton of bricks. And then I realized...I felt like one of those birds. Pelted by the storm and beaten by the wind. When she mentioned trees, a mental picture of the Tree of the Cross formed in my mind and I knew Jesus was telling me to bring my disordered life to the foot of the cross and take refuge in His opened side.

Colleen's book is all about putting things in their proper order. I'll leave you with this quote:

 "First things first. Put God first in my life and let everything flow from there."


As an interesting side note: I have been wanting to do this book review ever since I first read the book but I kept getting a check in the spirit (a "not yet") and couldn't figure out why. Today I felt the nudge to write it and after finishing the review I realized that this e-book would be a good book for those who are trying to discern if their aridity in prayer is due to measures beyond their control or due to an imbalance in their spiritual lives. The Lord lined it up after my post on aridity. The second thing I noticed is the theme of the book lined up with today's Gospel reading. Interesting.


 

An Invitation and a Welcome

Today I posted about apathy versus holy indifference on Community of Catholic Bloggers. For those of you who have not yet visited this new site I invite you to stop in and take a look around this new blog which is the result of the group effort of a number of Catholic writers. I'd also like to welcome our newest author, Isaac from Praeceptorum Deus to the community. Here's a link to his first post for the Community of Catholic Bloggers.

 Welcome aboard, Isaac!

His Daughter

Each week, Holly at A Life-Size Catholic Blog hosts a meme called Pay it Forward where you can highlight another blogger or share with others posts from blogs that you would like to draw attention to.

My Pay it Forward this week goes to Karinann at Daughter of the King. Her blog is one of my personal favorites and her writing inspires me. I don't only read her posts, I "feel" her posts and that, to me, is the mark of someone who truly loves the Lord and is writing from the heart. Karinann is not afraid to speak the truth and I'd like to point everyone toward a particular post of hers called We are at War. Another post that struck me powerfully is God is the Lord. Both these posts contain truths that we really need to hear these days. We live in a secular society that has mostly forgotten God and these two posts are eye-openers. I highly recommend this site.

Karinann also writes for the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers and the Community of Catholic Bloggers.  Without Karinann's hard work the Community of Catholic Bloggers would never have gotten off the ground. Many, many, thanks for all that you do, Karinann.

Writing for Association of Catholic Women Bloggers

I would like to thank Jackie for the invitation to contribute posts to the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers. I have just written about Purgatory as my first post for them. I hope you'll stop by for a visit
and read this post on the souls in Purgatory and check out some of the other wonderful articles written by Catholic Bloggers. Thanks!

Sabbath Moments - Life Missions

Colleen at Thoughts on Grace hosts the weekly meme Sabbath Moments. These are the moments when we
"live in the present" and find God's beauty in our daily lives. To those who would like to join in, please visit Colleen's blog. Check out her website Catholic Prayer Life too!

Here in the northeast the weather has been very cool and rainy. I've been taking advantage of this weather by catching up on my spiritual reading. One of the books I am reading is Life Missions, Family healings  
by Michael Brown of Spirit Daily fame. I highly recommend both this book and the website. The book is an inexpensive, easy read with a wealth of information to help one understand their particular mission (or missions) in life and speaks about the obstacles that may impede this mission. God created us for love and has given each one of us an "unique mission" that no one else on earth can complete. I loved Michael Brown's book!  I have been interested in this subject for quite a long time and I am already on my 2nd reading of this book. I like to reflect on particular areas which strike me and highlight them to go back to later. The subject of life missions fascinates me so much that I may do a future post on this subject. Here is an article about the book Life Missions, Family Healings  and another article about life missions and interior cleansing.

Speaking of life missions, coincidentally, the priests homily at Mass Wednesday was on this subject! He was a visiting priest, taking over for the Pastor who is in Rome right now. Isn't it funny how God throws what you are currently tackling spiritually right into your path? I just started attending this church recently for weekday Mass. I usually attend the noon Mass at my own parish because I couldn't find a morning Mass that fit in with my daughter's schedule - they all took place in the morning while I was getting her ready for school. It was only a few weeks ago that I found a Mass in the town next to me that starts 20 minutes after her bus leaves. I was thrilled! There's nothing like starting your day with the Eucharist! What I also love about this church is they pray the Regina Coeli or the Angelus (Regina Coeli from Easter until Pentecost) each day before Mass and they serve Communion under both Species which is less common these days. I put up the link because I found the document on this issue interesting and thought others may enjoy reading it also.

I don't think I've ever put so many links in a post! Have a great weekend!

Saints and Blesseds

My "pick" for Lent yesterday was to research a little known saint (little known to me anyway) and during the course of my research I came across a great website - Saints and Blesseds Page. This site is filled with information on unusual and lesser known saints. I chose to research St Lidwina whom I had heard of but knew little about. She is the patron saint of ice skaters and the chronically ill. Her story is fascinating! Thomas a Kempis witnessed a few of her miracles and was so fascinated by this saint that he wrote a book about her that you can read online.

Virtues, Grace, and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

I added a new favorite website to my sidebar that I thought others might be interested in as well. If you click on Spirituality 101 you can find a wonderful series of articles on virtues, grace, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It's a great site. My husband stumbled upon it during a google search and am I glad he did!

A Gem Reflects Light

There came a time on the earth when people no longer pointed upward to things of God but, rather, pointed at themselves and even downward at things less than themselves. That time is now. Art, film, books have become some of the greatest purveyors of this distorted way of thinking. What artists and writers  fail to understand is that their work is often a reflection of the state of their souls. Reading a book tells one a lot about the author, just as gazing at a painting tells us much about the artist who created it. Even fictional works contain a hidden autobiography which speaks volumes about the author.

It's always nice to find a gem hidden in the midst of dirt and stones. Today's Catholic Treasure is Time for Reflections . Victor Moubarak's short stories are food for the soul and nourishment for the spirit. The author uses his stories and the character of Father Ignatius (Whom I jokingly call St. Ig ... because he'd surely be beatified if he existed!) to draw our attention away from ourselves and the problems we are facing in this day and, instead, gently turns the focus towards God. This is where our focus should be. Victor has a gift for pointing out the truths of our Catholic faith and the great truths of life with wit and wisdom. May God continue to inspire him!

"A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."           Luke 6:45

Catholic Treasures

One of the first sites I started following as a blogger and enjoy to this day is Anne Bender's blog -
Imprisoned in my Bones. I am pretty much a daily visitor there. As a matter of fact, I used to drink my morning coffee while reading her posts until school interfered with this routine. Anne is a gifted poet and writer. I can picture God standing over Anne's cradle as a baby, anointing her hands with a kiss and turning to the angels with a smile,  "This child shall paint pictures with her words and these words will touch the hearts of many." God has blessed Anne with a beautiful gift and this blogger's heart is as lovely as her words. I highly recommend this site!

Catholic Treasures

Each week I would like to feature a blog or website that I enjoy visiting that reflects the richness of our Catholic Faith.  We are blessed to have a vast array of sites dedicated to sharing that faith with others. This week, to start off, I am featuring two. One is a blog I've been following for a while, the other is a brand new website by the same author :

Thoughts on Grace - a great blog authored by Colleen Spiro. Colleen shares her reflections on God and her thoughts on spirituality with us at this site.

Catholic Prayer Life - Colleen's new website! At Catholic Prayer Life you can find information on Catholic spirituality, Catholic prayers and devotions, E-cards, audio reflections, and more!

Check them out!