St. John Joseph of the Cross was born about the middle of the seventeenth century in the beautiful island of Ischia, near Naples. From his childhood he was the model of virtue, and in his sixteenth year he entered the Franciscan Order of the Strictest Observance, or Reform of St. Peter of Alcantara. Such was the edification he gave in his Order, that within three years after his profession he was sent to found a monastery in Piedmont. He became a priest out of obedience, and obtained, as it …
Month: March 2022
Psalm for the Sick: Prayer of the Day for Saturday, March 05, 2022
O Lord, in your anger punish me not; in your wrath chastise me not. For your arrows have sunk deep in me; your hand has come down upon me. There is no health in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no wholeness in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are like a heavy burden, beyond my strength. Noisome and festering are my sores, because of my folly. I am stooped and bowed down profoundly; all the day I go in mourning. For my loins are filled with …
When Life Gives You Lemons
We have all heard the phrase “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But what if life just keeps throwing you lemon after lemon after lemon, so that everything seems to turn sour? After getting through my young son’s illness, giving birth to our 5th child and recovering from the C-section, it seemed like life was finally getting “back to normal”, when we got hit with the dreaded virus.
I fell ill right after saying goodbye to my grandmother and I couldn’t even go to her funeral. One by one, the kids all got sick and then finally my husband. While the kids and I all recovered within a few days, he did not fare so well. We ended up in the ER and he was diagnosed with pneumonia.
So here I sit, taking care of five littles and a sick husband, while simultaneously homeschooling, breastfeeding and working from home. As a stay at home dad, he normally takes care of all the cooking, cleaning, dishes and laundry so we’ll just throw that in too as the icing on the cake.
Yes, I feel a bit overwhelmed and stretched thin, yet as I did before when my son was sick, I call on my Lord and Savior to BE my strength. Not to give me strength, but to BE my strength. And I am not overcome. The kids pitch in to help out a little more, the baby sits in her high chair a little longer and somehow, life just keeps moving on.
Now that we have entered into this beautiful season of Lent, I don’t even have to look around for sacrifices and penance. Jesus lovingly gives it to me of His own accord! All I have to do is accept it, embrace it and offer it up for others.
Today’s First Reading reminds me to “Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up [my] voice like a trumpet blast…seek [God] day after day and desire to know [His] ways.” It reminds me to abandon my cares to Him, forget myself and my woes and think rather of others. The oppressed, the hungry, the homeless, the naked, all those who have it much worse than I do.
I recall talking to a fellow parishioner. She has four boys, lives in a broken down trailer and her husband was deported. Yet she does not complain, but rather gives thanks to God that she has a roof over her head, (barely) enough to pay her bills and she and her children are healthy. She even goes so far as to say that others are worse off than she is. She embodies today’s Psalm “A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn”.
So as we navigate through this first week of Lent, let us recognize our own lemons, i.e. crosses, offer them up to the Lord, and seek to alleviate the crosses of others. “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
Tami Urcia grew up in Western Michigan, a middle child in a large Catholic family. She spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, studying theology and philosophy, then worked and traveled extensively before finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Western Kentucky. She loves tackling projects, finding fun ways to keep her little ones occupied, quiet conversation with the hubby and finding unique ways to love. She works at her parish, is a guest blogger on CatholicMom.com and BlessedIsShe.net, runs her own blog at https://togetherandalways.wordpress.com and has been doing Spanish translations on the side for over 20 years.
Feature Image Credit: ERnest Porzi, https://unsplash.com/photos/Z-Y6I45f9kQ
St. Casimir: Saint of the Day for Friday, March 04, 2022
Casimir grew up in a world where his life was not his own. As a prince of Poland, the second son of King Casimir IV and Elizabeth of Austria, his life was scheduled to cement his father’s authority and increase Poland’s power. Casimir realized from an early age that his life belonged to someone else, but to a much higher King than his father. Despite pressure, humiliation, and rejection, he stood by that loyalty through his whole life. Born the third of thirteen children in 1461, …
Morning Offering Prayer #4: Prayer of the Day for Friday, March 04, 2022
Almighty God, I thank you for your past blessings.
Today I offer myself – whatever I do, say, or think –
to your loving care.
Continue to bless me, Lord.
I make this morning offering in union
with the divine intentions of Jesus Christ
who offers himself daily inthe holy sacrifice of the Mass,
and in union with Mary, his Virgin Mother and our Mother,
who was always the faithful handmaid of the Lord.
Amen.
Our Crosses and How We Carry Them
When I read today’s readings, I am drawn to the reality that how I understand what my cross is and how I carry it will define the lens of how I comprehend these readings. My hope is that Holy Spirit will refine your understanding as well as mine through this reflection.
I was joking with some friends that I am not ready for Lent since the past two years have felt like a perpetual Lent. In self-reflection, that joke is telling of how I often slip into viewing my approach to Lent and sacrifice. What I find myself focusing on is the sacrifice itself rather than the resurrection that comes to follow. I think that for me these past few years I have relied on a variety of sources of entertainment or pleasures to cope with the isolation and pain that we are feeling as a society. Admittedly, when I reflect on my joke, I realize that I am not ready for Lent due to the hardships of the past few years but rather because of my affection for the good things of this world. I have given them greater importance than what they deserve in my inability to cope well. Even though I do not worship my streaming services or food and drink, God wants freedom for me that cannot be gained when I am held back in an inverted affection for these things.
In the First Reading, Moses says, “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes, and decrees…” Moses continues to describe that life and goodness come from fidelity to God and pain and sorrow come from turning away to ‘adore and serve other gods.’ In our day and age, not too many of us are tempted to carve a statue and worship it. However, God still wants our affection and love and our use of the things in this world in the right order. He does not want us to be bound by the affection that creates a need for the things of this world. Admittedly, when I examine my thinking patterns, my ability to listen and be empathetic is usually limited when I have a nagging need or desire to be doing my own thing that ‘makes me happy.’
So as we move through Lent, I want to encourage myself and you to look at how we sacrifice and what we sacrifice, with hope in the Lord for a new life and new freedom. I want to leave you with the last bit of the Gospel to reflect on what your cross is and what you need to deny yourself of. Not for the sake of denying yourself but for the sake of new life in Jesus Christ.
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?”
Featured Image Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko, https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-a-person-holding-a-cross-pendant-5206048/
Arthur Richardson is married to his wonderful wife, Gabby Richardson. They will be married for two years this January! Most of his work experience is in ministry. He was a retreat missionary in Wisconsin for two years and a youth minister for three years. He is now the Web Project Manager here at Diocesan, and loves it!
St. Katharine Drexel: Saint of the Day for Thursday, March 03, 2022
St. Katharine Drexel is the second American-born saint to be canonized by the Catholic Church. This amazing woman was an heiress to a large bequest who became a religious sister and a brilliant educator.
Katherine was born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1858, the second child of a prominent and wealthy banker, Francis Anthony Drexel and his wife, Hannah Langstroth. He mother passed away just five weeks after Katharine was born. Her father remarried to Emma Bouvier in 1860 and together they …
Prayer for the Sick: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, March 03, 2022
Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ.
Rest your weary ones.
Bless your dying ones.
Soothe your suffering ones.
Pity your afflicted ones.
Shield your joyous ones.
And for all your love’s sake. Amen.
Saint Augustine
The Sacrifice of Words
In the Gospel, we are told by Jesus of the importance of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as well as the proper way to participate in those sacrifices. When we pray, fast, and give alms, we should do so not to gain praise from those around us, but rather for the sake of praising God. The intention of our sacrifice should be to honor our Lord in Heaven so that “your Father who sees you in secret will repay you”.
During this season of Lent we are called to enter into fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in a more profound way than during other seasons of the year. In the weeks leading up to the start of Lent, today, I saw a lot of reflections, journals, and calendars advertising “how to make your Lent more meaningful/sacrificial/powerful”. These resources are all encouraging people to go deeper than just abstaining from meat on Fridays and giving up coffee or chocolate or social media. In fact, this year I noticed a common theme: changing our language so it better reflects the love of Christ. That has really stuck with me; how can changes in the way we speak and what we say be sacrifices? We can abstain from gossip. We can give up the tendency to say the first thing that comes to mind and more intentionally think before we speak. We can fast from swearing. We can ask others to join us in prayer before meals. We can humbly ask others to pray for us.
I think the most powerful thing we can do this Lent is be joyful through our sacrifice. That is at the heart of what Jesus tells His disciples. May we be joyful in our sacrifice and in our words so that others may see the mercy and love of Christ through us. May we spend this Lent with the words “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned” readily in our hearts and minds.
Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO and teaches English Language Development and Spanish to high schoolers. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.
Feature Image Credit: catholicpicture, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/4002-imposicion-cenizas
Bl. Charles the Good: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, March 02, 2022
In 1086, St. Canute, King of Denmark and father of Blessed Charles the Good, was slain in St. Alban’s Church, Odence. Charles who was only a few years old was taken by his mother to the court of Robert, Count of Flanders, his maternal grandfather. When he grew up, he became a knight and accompanied Robert in a crusade to the Holy Land where he distinguished himself; on their return, Charles also fought against the English with his uncle. On Robert’s death, his son Baldwin succeeded him and …