Boston's Cardinal Sean Blogs!

Sean Cardinal O'Malley of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (where I live) has entered cyberspace! His current blog posts are about his travels this week in Rome. Great pics and commentary on some of the sites. Here's a few reflections from a recent post:

Today’s world demands a new apologetic and too often we have teachers who rather than explain the Catholic Faith, apologize for it. We need less apologizing and more apologetics. In the face of so much cynicism the Church is depending on you to articulate the liberating truths of the Catholic Faith.

I never go to Rome without visiting the Church of the Gesú. There I often go to confession and visit the tomb of Ignatius. At the Gesú I pray for the Jesuit Order…for friends and for all Jesuits…we have over 300 in the Archdiocese. I kneel before the tomb and pray the Suscipe of Ignatius. “Tomad Senor y recibid mi libertad….Take and receive all my liberty.” The first thing Ignatius offers the Lord is his freedom.

(snip)

The culture of death is seducing our people with the golden calf of freedom. Real freedom is found in the sacrificial self-giving of the Suscipe.

All that I have and possess is a gift and now I give it back to you.
To thee O Lord I return it. All is Thine.
Dispose of it wholly according to Thy will.
Give me only Thy Love and thy Grace,
that is enough for me. (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

My prayer is that God will raise up in the Church many holy sons of St. Ignatius and that they will teach this sacrificial love to our people - the unum recessarium - that God’s love and grace are enough.

(snip)

To live a life in grace and in God’s love is the only success that counts.

TURN ON the Power of Prayer

Recently, I've been called upon by various members of my church community to act as an intercessor for special intentions and special projects. In fact, those needs have just flooded my prayer of late. I don't know why, all of a sudden, it seems that I am being placed in the role of "listener to problems" and reliable intercessor, but I am grateful that the people I know see fit to place these needs in my hands. And I, in turn, place them in the capable hands of The Savior.

And so, Jesus, I place these needs at the foot of your cross, as I lift up each and every name, face, case, and situation. You alone know what's needed. Guide us into all truth for the sake of your Name. AMEN.

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More...on a similar note...
This came through my email inbox. I tried to investigate the validity of the historical facts mentioned, but Google came up empty, so did TruthorFiction.com. But if its factual, great, and if its not, let's just remember how there's always a reason to be on our knees.

THE POWER OF PRAYER

Someone has said if Christians really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless. In WW II there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace.

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 pm Eastern Time >(8:00 pm Central) (7:00 Mountain) (6:00 pm Pacific), stop what ever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation. If you know anyone else who would like to participate, please pass this along.

Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Together, we CAN make a difference!

Thank You and God Bless America.

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Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn

Blessing Counter

My car odometer just reached 65,ooo miles. Unfortunately my sedan needed a new transmission and new tires. The first was covered by the warranty (ouch--nobody at the dealer could fathom the transmission dying so young) and the worn tires just speak to my carpool and commuting duties with my family. Anyway as I was musing behind the wheel of my recently repaired and rerubbered vehicle, I was wondering... If I was equipped with a blessing counter in the same way my car has an odometer, I wonder what the numerical reading would be? And more than that, I wonder if my gratitude-meter would read the same number? Ah, yes, there are so many blessings we miss! And fail to thank the Lord for! I don't think the Lord can be out done in generosity, but I certainly can be more aware of thanking Him for His daily blessings and benefits.

So, thank you Lord as I count my recent blessings just this week...

1. The new tranny was under warranty...
2. It got done in under a week..
3. The new tires were purchased on sale...
4. I got to Mass a few times this week...
5. My daughter stood up before her peers and gave witness to what she learned on her summer mission trip...
6. There is a lovely moon at night...
7. My son "loves it" at his new college...
8. I just finished a project...
9. My husband and I are embarking on a home improvement project...
10. The house gets some new flooring out of the deal...
11. I am reading a new book...
12. I saw an old friend last night...
13. The leaves are tinged with fall colors ever so delicately...
14. I found an answer to a pressing medical question...
15. I have a new project, now I need the organization to do it...
16. My son's eye exam was uneventful...
17. My friend brought me a gourmet coffee on an afternoon when I needed a pickmeup...
18. I have a dinner date with my girlfriends coming up...
19. Mums are blooming...
20. I love watching my daughter and her team play volleyball...
21. The smell of something good coming from the oven...
22. My dog is slowly being trained to overcome a bad habit...
23. Our new grass seed is growing where there once was weeds...
24. I have an opportunity to play in a music ministry in my parish...
25. We safely passed through another 9/11 anniversary despite threats around the world...
26. I am grateful to be an American...
27. I thank God for each of the members of the Armed Forces, and especially the young recruits who are still in training...
28. I am grateful to be a Catholic...
29. There is so much grace in each day...
30. I am thankful for my son's help during chore time...
31. The family is recycling more...
32. I am grateful that I have new music to listen to...
33. I had fun selecting gifts for special occasions coming up...
34. My new shoes are truly comfy...
35. Parents Weekend is coming soon at my son's college...
36. My husband is home at night after many months on the road for business...
37. This list is making me smile...
38. My haircut and color came out right...
39. I found my lost keys...
40. I found $10 in my pocket doing the laundry...
41. I have a comfortable home, messy, but comfortable...
42. My children do their own laundry...
43. I can find the strength to clean out the refrigerator...
44. There are chocolate chip cookies in the pantry...
45. There's half and half for the morning coffee...
46. There are left-overs that make for an easy dinner tonight...
47. There are calories I can avoid...
48. I was considered for a job by people I would have loved to work with...
49. And was equally at peace when I realized that the timing of the job did not fit my life's circumstances...
50. I have two sisters who are long-distance and who I miss but I'm grateful for the telephone...
51. It's a warm sunny day...
52. My dog entertains me...
53. The birds are returning to our feeders...
54. Lunch boxes that have cool snacks...
55. My back-to-school exercise routine has finally kicked in...
56. There is fruit on the counter...
57. We have good food in the frig...
58. For Advil...
59. My daughter loves her theology teacher...
60. My older son has two airshifts on his college radio station...
61. My younger son still like cartoons...
62. There is only a small ironing pile...
63. I laughed and smiled alot this week...
64. We are putting spring dates on the calendar for first communions and for travel...
65. Prayers have been answered...
66. Family dinners have been served...
67. Junk has been hauled to the dump...
68. A sprain is slowly healing...
69. We are beginning the college search for our junior...
70. We have enough, and enough to share...
71. There is the sound of wind chimes coming in from the porch...
72. We are coming up on an anniversary...
73. We have love in the midst of chaos...
74. We know our Lord...
75. We experience Providence.

Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn

The Father Who Sees in Secret... (And the Mother who Cleans Up the Mess)

True confession: I hate housework, but I’m learning to make peace with it. For years, I failed to embrace all things domestic. Of course, my family would never have survived this long without some household routines, but suffice to say, the discipline of keeping house was slow to develop in me.

I loved raising my children--all that nurturing and caring was very satisfying --but it's all rather messy. I never liked all the chores that went with the role. I failed to see housework connected to my vocation, and did not attach any meaning to it. In fact, I found it “kept me” from all the “other stuff” I wanted to do.

Looking back to my early mothering years, I most definitely suffered from "comparativitis." I was in awe of neighbors who grew vegetable gardens so their children could enjoy organic foods. Women who had time and skill to sew or crochet amazed me. I admired women who cooked with the zeal of Julia Child, others whose flair (and budgets) for interior design rivaled House Beautiful. I once met a delightful gal who LOVED to clean her house--really; vacuuming was "her thing." I was definitely out of their league. When my kids were small, most days my goal was to cook dinner each night, make the bed, and clear a path from the front door to the living room so my husband could walk in after work and not trip over anything!

It took me a while to realize that my gifts were elsewhere. But still, I was self-conscious about the inertia and drain I faced regarding housekeeping. Friends started noticing this shortcoming. They delighted in presenting me housewarming gifts--like plaques that read: Dull Women have Immaculate Homes, or, Feel free to write in my dust --just don't date it!

Over time I learned that my lacking domesticity was a latent rebellion of sorts to being the oldest child growing up. Being the oldest, naturally, my chore list always seemed the longest. I also got in trouble the most, and--you guessed it--got the extra chores. Chores kept me from the “other stuff” I so desperately wanted to do. So, for me, domestic chores were somehow linked with punishment or poor performance. Somewhere along the way, I missed the vital connection between loving your family by serving their temporal needs. It took me years to understand that my relationship with housework was dysfunctional.

Funny how we carry this baggage around without ever noticing it piled up in the various corners of our lives.

With the increasing clutter from years of marriage and three kids, I had to get better organized. Or at least, cultivate a better attitude. My servitude needed to become servanthood, (and my attitude needed a gratitude make-over.) This flaw was, in truth, selfishness. Frequently, I just did the minimum to get by.

I needed to lay hold of a new image for myself as a woman who, among the other hats she wore, was the keeper of the house. I found it in the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31:27. “She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Now here’s a woman who understands the busyness of family life! How could I “look well” over my household?

First, I had to humble myself. If I was going to surrender my life totally to Christ, I had to give up the messy parts too. (Spiritual life isn’t just about interior life; it's about the exterior life too.) I really wanted to be a loving wife and mom AND keep a decent house that honored the Lord who lived there as well. I had to find ways to see that household chores really could be beneficial for my soul and vocation. In short, the path to humility started with my kitchen floor. I had to choose to walk that path, even when sticky.

This was a fundamental shift in my thinking. The little mortifications of housework and family care were meant to sanctify me, to do the work on my soul that God intended. The ways of my household should reflect the ways of the Lord in my life: doing chores lovingly allowed me to touch the face of Jesus in those I served. More important, it found me on my knees as I searched to find him even amidst the crumbs, spills, stains, and messes in our home.

Second, choosing to change meant replacing the old tapes that played in my head about chores and hearing a new song playing (which literally means, when I’m cleaning, there’s loud praise music playing!) But it also meant I needed help for my household ways. (For those needing housekeeping encouragement and helpful tips, I recommend professionals like The Fly Lady and Messies Anonymous.

And so, armed with nothing more than my own chore list and a little bit of Scripture memory, I began to enlist mental prayers to find the blessing of chore time. I also applied scriptures, like Colossians 3:23: Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men. This was especially helpful when I was doing the menial tasks--you know, the kind that every mother does--the ones that no one ever thanks you for, or sees you do?

I discovered that these chores--especially the unnoticed, unseen, loving gestures that care for family and home--are much like the spiritual disciplines of fasting, prayer and almsgiving--only "your Father who sees in secret will reward you. " (Matthew 6:6)

Finally, transforming my household ways into prayers and mortifications allows me to make peace with housework and maintain my sanity. It provides the proper context I need to approach tasks sacrificially and willingly. It also helps me lead my family with a better attitude as we share household duties and my children work through their own age-appropriate chores. I still fight selfish urges to ignore it all, or to procrastinate, but as a recovering housework hater, taking these thoughts captive to Christ helps a lot.

I’m no expert, and I’m still “under construction,” but here are a few examples from my typical day, using scripture as a springboard for my mental energies as I clean.

I sit down on the potty for a few moments peace, and the toilet paper roll is empty. (I'm sure this only happens in my home.) Of course, the old roll must be replaced. But when you give... do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. (Matthew 6:3)

Now, after I've had my moment, I rise to discover that the toilet bowl needs scrubbing. (Five people over the age of 13 share this bathroom, but only my eyes notice this pressing need?) I can do all things in him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

Moving from the bathroom to the family room, I spy dirty dishes left behind from junior's movie night with his pals. Naturally, I collect them, add them to the dishwasher without a word since he has already left for "work." (By the way, at work he serves and clears tables in a dining hall.) For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you. (Matthew 6: 14)

In so doing, I walk past the indoor plants wilting from neglect, so I load them up into the sink for a drink. Let every one who thirsts, come to the waters. (Isaiah 55: 1: 1)

I pass the ironing pile. I switch on the iron with this thought: …the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water. (Revelation 7: 16b- 17a).

In the distance, I hear the washing machine timer go off. The next load awaits my attention. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! (Psalm 51: 2)

I take my lunch break out on the porch where I am the only one who seems to have noticed that that the dog peed on the porch again. She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." (Matthew 15:27)

I take the dog out for a walk passing the perennial garden where I see weeds encroaching the phlox and day lilies. I kneel down to the rescue. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. (Matthew 13:40)

I prepare dinner observing the fading light of day through my window. Outside I spy Mary’s statue in my yard. She is “Our Lady of Grace”--The Virtuous Woman—whose example gently reminds me that “prayer and work” has been a model for domestic life for generations. Indeed, for we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10.)


[This article is currently running on Catholic.Mom.com]

Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn

New Movie about the Nativity

Mark your calendars... Advent is just a 12 weeks away! And there's a new movie in the works entitled The Nativity Story.

Check it out. Sounds like the writer and director have a faith foundation in their personal lives and that may allow the Holy Spirit room to work through them. The movie won't have the name recognition like screen star Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, but perhaps it won't need it. The scheduled release date is December 1st. Let us pray for these those employed in such a worthy film project!

Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn

Today this blog honors Elena Ledesma

2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11.
On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers will join together

for a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.

We will honor them by remembering their lives,

and not by remembering their murderers.

Today I honor Elena Ledesma, 36, of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who died on 9/11/01 in Tower One at the World Trade Center in NYC. She was maintenance coordinator for Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. for floors 93-99 (Elena was one of 295 M&MC employees who perished that day.)

Elena was a single mom to Angelina and Shanhellen. The girls were 12 and 17 at the time of her death. Her mother, aunts and cousins all lived in the same building.

The little I know of her is that she loved to go camping. And often invited friends who were non-campers along for the fun. (Sounds like my kind of gal.)

See Elena's picture here.

Read Newsday's write-up.

Let us pray:

Jesus, beloved Savior, in remembering these terrible events, we recognize our great need for your guidance and protection.

We have painfully learned that our country is vulnerable and that violence can disrupt both individuals and nations.

We pray then for healing for all the people whose lives were shattered in the attacks.

We pray for those who defend our freedom.

We pray for our national leaders.

We pray for peace, for our country and our world.

Jesus, beloved Savior, as we remember, hold us in your loving hands. Amen.

Everyone over the age of 5 has a story of "where I was when the towers were hit"

I was working from home on the computer, while the carpet-cleaning man “Bob, from Duraclean” was steam-cleaning the white carpet in the living room (yet again).

The phone rings… a neighbor, Anne Marie, wondered what I thought of that stuff happening down in New York. What stuff? It was 9am on September 11th. I became glued to the television set. On my knees. Praying mercy for the world, and yes, even praying with the carpet guy, a member of a local Christian church, so I found out.

Yes, we knew people who died. Yes, we know a lot of people who knew a whole lot more. We couldn’t get a phone line to New York, all day, but we did reach the plumbing supply shop out on Long Island, where my father-in-law and brother-in-law work. Slowly, they were hearing from our siblings and friends in the city. I phoned Bob, my husband, and he came home "just as soon as I find out who is in the air today." (Bob, the consummate frequent flyer also frequently had to send colleagues on travel for business too. Fortunately, the three co-workers were either diverted or still on the ground.) Bob came home in stunned silence. We held hands for two hours without even being able to talk or eat. Numbly, we picked up the children from school. And so it began for us, as it must have begun for you.

Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn

Remembering

A few random thoughts:

• I am a native New Yorker -- born in The City and raised on Long Island. I will always be proud of being from New York, no matter where I live. My three children were born there. New York's politics don't usually agree with mine, and the traffic is beyond belief, but I will always remember the sight of thousands of New Yorkers helping each other, comforting one another, and walking silently over bridges toward safety after the attack on the towers. We had family in those crowds and we prayed a thousand prayers for their safety that day. New Yorkers are often characterized as being tough. Well, it has served them well. Tough enough to come through such an ordeal, and tough enough to reveal tender hearts. We remember all those who died at the World Trade Center, those from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and those from Boston and beyond on the planes.

• Just this past July I walked in the summer sun with my husband and three children as we toured Washington DC while en route to the Outer Banks for vacation. It was a gift to be there and to remind our children of the preciousness of our freedoms bequeathed to us by our courageous men and women in the armed services. It was 16 years since our last visit to DC. We began our walking tour on The Mall, beginning at the Lincoln Memorial, where we took time to read the immortal words of a weary President who sought to bring dignity amidst thousands of war dead. The Gettysburg Address is inscribed on the wall beside Lincoln's imposing statue. It was a fitting start for as we traversed the Mall. We decided that the highlights for us were the (never seen by us) Korean War Memorial and the World War Two Memorial. We also visited the Vietnam Memorial and the Washington Memorial. Capping off our Mall visit, we walked to the Natonal Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I am grateful to my four uncles who served in the military while I was growing up and to my grandfather as well. All of these men came home after their years of service to the joy of their families. Many military and civilian lives were lost in the Pentagon attack, and we honor their memory.

• In June I drove from Ohio to Massachusetts by myself as I returned home from taking a college course. On the way home I drove out to the crash site of Flight 93 in the rolling hills of Shanksville in western Pennsylvania. It was a holy time. I stayed and prayed there, and hung up a set of rosary beads on the memorial in honor of all the victims who fought the first battle of the War on Terror in the skies over Pennsylvania farmlands. I also visited the chapel there and spoke at length with the priest who is making it his life's work to keep the chapel open as a place of prayer and quiet remembrance of all the victims of that crash on 9/11. The tiny town of Shanksville will never be the same. It is now a place of pilgrimage and a shrine in our nation's history. I came as a pilgrim that day to honor people I have never met in a town I never heard of, but will now never forget.

Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn

Same week, different year

Ok, its the first real week of school around here (even though my highschooler and middle schooler had a few days of school last week.) I've been here before. I have had kids starting school each September since 1991. But I recognize the symptoms in the same way I feel a flu coming on... all I want to do is put my head down 'cause its starting to swim. It's usually right about now that I realize that I have not fully transitioned out of summer and a million things are piling up. And its starting to make me sweat.

A trillion little forms to fill out, school supplies and uniforms need tending, letters to teachers need to be written, and yes I did volunteer to take that project on, through in extra "new year" meetings, more practices, a new carpool, and oh yeah, the house still needs to be cleaned and the frig is beckoning to be filled. My hamper and my calendar overfloweth.

Two weeks ago I was confident that I was "ready" for all the demands of family, school and my own commitments. Two weeks into it and I'm not so sure. Can we really be on Day 4 of the school year and I'm already a week behind in my chores, my work, and my studies?

You may think I'm complaining. I'm not. I'm truly grateful to have a full life. I'm learning more than ever that I have limitations and that means I have to lean more into Christ. The more I lean on him, the less I panic about all that must be done. I am happy to recognize that He is Lord of my calendar, my schedule and everything it holds.

But even so, at least once a day, there is a surprise to my schedule that requires patience and trust that all things live and more and have their being in Him. Today it was being late to an appointment due to missing car keys, two construction detours and a dead cell phone battery. Yesterday it was misreading the cooking time on a recipe that resulted in the delay of dinner by an hour. The day before it was a series of unscheduled errands that demanded a reworking of my car usage, since one car has been in the shop since last week for a major repair that was last week's thrill.

We must be flexible and adjust... and find the cheer in the mundane, and ways to maintain a humble bearing despite things going crazy around us, or worse, in our minds.

All things are in God's hands. I am finite. He is infinite. I am late. He is always right on time. I am overburdened. He is the burden-lifter. I am a wimp. He is my hero.

Yup, I've been here before. The "new" year awaits. I salute all moms and dads and our new year of school with our children. Let the games begin. We're all in this together. See you in the stands, on the field, at the meeting, in the school pick-up line, at the drive-thru, at the bus stop, and in the pew.

Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn

Days of Remembrance

I'll be posting a tribute as part of the 2996 Bloggers who are dedicated to honoring each of the individual deceased victims from September 11, 2001. Check it out.

Also, Legacy.com is posting 11 Days of Remembrance to recall the tragic events and the loss of life on September 11, 2001. Read it all here.




Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn