Monday Memo

"We are to love God for Himself, 
because of a twofold reason;
nothing is more reasonable, 
nothing more profitable." 
-St. Bernard of Clairvaux

A Sure Foundation

So, I have been renewing my Marian Consecration to Jesus and one of today's readings was Matt. 26:36-46, the passage of Jesus at Gethsemane. Today I was really reflecting on how imperfect and weak we are humans. Jesus asks his disciples to stay and keep watch in prayer while he goes away, and when Jesus returns the first time the disciples are asleep. He goes away again, and when he returns they are asleep again. They cannot even keep watch for one hour. We, in our human imperfection, are so weak that we often cannot keep in prayer one house without growing tired or distracted. I know I'm so often distracted in my prayer time either but what's going on around me, or by how much I wish I was asleep in the time that I'm praying. Without Jesus we are nothing, as I read over this passage today it struck me how when Jesus was off praying to his Father the disciples could not keep vigil. They could do little because Jesus' presence was essentially lacking.

Then I went throughout my day, and today was a beautiful day. I was blessed to be able to see God in many places, and truly see his blessings reign down on me. So I'm going through out my day, and my last class today is pilates, and today we were doing this meditation for part of class, which the professor was quite excited about. Basically in this exercise we lay down on our backs and take deep breaths where we allow ourselves to sink into the floor. It is encouraged to simply breathe and let go of all that is weighing us down. And as we're doing this I really feel my stress, my anxiety, my exhaustion leaving my body. It felt as if I totally emptied myself and I was just deflated onto the floor, (which might sound strange, but stick with me here) and all the while I just say the name of Jesus over and over again in my heart and in my head. As I'm resting there I feel the firmness of the ground under me, all the while repeating the name of Jesus, and it strikes me how much Jesus is our rock, on which we stand firm, but also in whom we can rest.

Often times when I think of Jesus as the rock, I picture like a storm or something where would easily be able to slip or fall, but we stand on Jesus and he protects us, which is most definitely true, but I never really thought about the resting aspect. Jesus is a rock on which we can rest as well.

May we rest quietly, calmly, and firmly in our Lord and Savior, whom we can do nothing without!

God bless!

Monday Memo

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Part of the breast plate of St. Patrick! Happy Monday :)

_______________________________________

Eucharisteo. Give Thanks for the Little Things

This week has been interesting, in that every day I looked through my schedule, my agenda, my to do list, whatever you want to call it and had that "when am I even going to breathe" feeling. I kept thinking to myself, this only week 2, I can't do this the whole semester. I'll be having a melt down the end of next week at this rate. Then I got out of both labs early on Tuesday giving me an opportunity to eat my pb&j in more than a 5 minute window and giving time to sit in a quiet coffee shop with my pumpkin spice latte and a notebook to just write, and process through a lot of my thoughts. Then Wednesday, well that day was just crazy, and I wasn't feeling good so I just went to bed around 6:30.... So come Thursday morning, I'm slightly panicked because I didn't read over any of my labs or study for any of my quizzes that day...uh-oh. So I go to lab and just take it as it is...well turns out for anatomy lab there wasn't really any pre-reading that needed to be done, and for microbiology lab the professor changed the lab we were doing, and my quizzes for both labs were easy. Praise the Lord! I got out of lab early again, and was took the opportunity of this free time to go to confession and take my prayer time. Now, as I had previously stated - this week was one of those "go go go" weeks, so when I sat down in the quiet church to take my prayer time, I had this urge to buzz through this time of day that I was "giving to God" so I could move onto the next thing. It was like I just wanted to be able to check that off my to-do list for the day. Which is definitely not the approach to be taking with our prayer time.

During this time I felt the Lord just moving in my heart to sit in silence. Someone was telling me the other day there was parishioner at their church who went to daily mass and afterwards would just sit in silence for long periods of time. One day the priest asked the man what he was doing, and he said I look at Him, and He looks back at me. This person literally just took time each day in silence with Jesus, before the alter, where he wasn't talking or reading or anything, he was just present. This really struck me.

We need to just be. If we're feeling stressed, if we're feeling overwhelmed, if we're feeling like we just need to rush from thing to thing to thing to thing, and it almost seems as if we just can't even breathe, then we need to pause. What needs to give? Where do I need to remove something to lift the weight off my shoulder? This is what I have been evaluating, and reflecting on this week, and there's not much I can do to have an immediate fix to my problem, and the Lord sees this. Therefore, He has been providing little opportunities for me each day. They're his little gifts to me.

Like Tuesday, I was released from lab early enough to have a coffee date with myself. Thursday he provided me with an opportunity to be present with him in the Eucharist, and gave me an unexpected gift of an easy lab day. Our Lord knows us better than we know ourselves, and for this we shall give thanks. In each moment of our lives there is an opportunity for us to give thanks. Let us give thanks, and praise God for the little things.

Monday Memo: Silence

"We have a need for silence. Because of quietness we are able to recognize the Lord before us" -Fr. Michael

This was actually from the homily from Sunday mass yesterday.

We need silence in our lives. I've noticed a change in my own life, in taking quiet time each morning to give my day to God and enter into conversation with him. I encourage all of you to spend that time in silence, don't be surprised if soon find yourself desiring more silence in your life!

Tuesday Memo

So this week has been a little crazy, but awesome. I just got internet in my house today, I'm planning a hog roast, and loving every second of my life - living the dream :) My weekly encouragement is a day late, but here is! Have a blessed week!


“If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.”
-Pope Benedict XVI

Monday Memo

Coming to you from St. Paul, MN today, the quote I share with you this day is one a brother shared earlier and my heart was convicted to share with you all. Posting from my phone, expect me to be back in full blogging swing soon once I return to Ohio and get into the start of our new school year and living in our SPO household.


“Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? . . . No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen.” Pope Benedict XVI