May Feelings

The Proper 'Hugging' of a Baby

Instructions for properly hugging a baby:

1. First, uh, find a baby...

2. Second, be sure that the object you found was

indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques.

3. Next you will need to flatten the baby

before actually beginning the hugging process.

4. The 'paw slide: to accomplish this technique,

simply slide paws around baby and prepare for possible close-up.

5. Finally, if a camera is present,

you will need to execute the difficult and patented

'hug, smile, and lean' so as to achieve the best photo quality.

6. Prepare to go "Awwwwwwwww!"


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Poverty of Spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

Poverty of Spirit by Johannes Baptist Metz seemed like such a simple book the first time I read it. Perhaps I was just so overwhelmed by everything else to do with Retreat in Daily Life -- the term given to St. Ignatian' Spiritual Exercises when they are conducted over a six month period verses the usual thirty day intensive seminar format. In 2004-2005 I participated in the program offered here in Oklahoma by the Benedictine Sisters at their Red Plains Spirituality Center in Piedmont.

However, the simplicity of Poverty of Spirit is comparable to that of the initial Beatitude which it expounds, the closer you look the deeper it goes. 'To become human means to become "poor," to have nothing that one might brag about before God.' (p.10) Nothing? Nothing! NOTHING! Let that sink in. Really and truly sink in. Poverty of spirit isn't about becoming poor but accepting that we already are poor, only most of the time we just don't know it, or get it. 'We are so poor, even our poverty isn't our own.' (p.51)

Ah, but this is a review and not a homily. Still, it is hard to write about this book without going into its spiritual teachings and mystery. Poverty of Spirit can be read in one sitting; it's only fifty-two pages. And yet probably a third of my copy is highlighted because of all the quotable sayings.

Jesus's poverty of spirit begins with His acceptance of His humanity, something we are so familiar with we usually fail to grasp the immense significance of God-become-man. It continues with His life of prayer, obedience, service, ultimately culminating in His sacrifice on the Cross, called the sacrament of poverty of spirit.

Cardinal Metz shows how we human beings are innately poor and the various shapes poverty takes: commonplace; misery and need; uniqueness and superiority; provisional nature; finiteness and death. Each distinct form is dealt with as both our chalice and our curse. And yet, those of us who would lay claim to the kingdom of God/heaven, know this to be blessed.

A spiritual classic worth reading . . . many times. For me, once every Lent. I re-read this again this year, as I've done every Lent since I first did the St. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises-like many of the great works, it can be read in a short span of time, but probably never mastered.

One additional note about the author, which I just learned recently in reading, The End of Time?: The Provocation of Talking about God, Cardinal Metz is a fellow Bavarian and colleague of Pope Benedict XVI.

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Happy Mother's Day!

I used to evaluate, rank or rate my holidays, i.e., try to determine if they were better than previous ones. As I’ve gotten older, for better or worse – and it really doesn’t matter which – I don’t do that anymore. Now instead I’ve learned to use special days as opportunities to count my blessings. Today I had so many I lost track.

For starters there are my own dear mothers: the dear lady who gave birth to and raised me in the Catholic faith and the other special lady who bore and lovingly brought up my husband. I call them both, “Mom” and I love them beyond words. I am twice blessed in their love and in the wonderful men they've been married to for over fifty years each, my two “Dad”s.

Then there’s the man who made me it possible for me to become a mother, the most profound vocation and life-changing event which has ever happened to me. Thank you Bear, for our two beautiful daughters, and for the gift of your love, fidelity, and friendship through these many years.

Which brings me to our own dear children, the two most beautiful young ladies—inside and out—I know. This week they were both inducted in the National Honor Society (NHS). Our older daughter, Meg, will be President of the Carl Albert High School NHS next year. Michelle performed in her Spring Concert this past week; she amazed me with her talent! And Meg attended her own school’s prom with her friends; she enjoyed herself very much.

If all these blessings were enough, I got to spend the day with my entire family and talk to all four parents as well. Last night I went to Mass with my husband and Michelle and today I went again with Meg. In front of us today at Mass there was a young family with three children, the youngest of which was the most delightful blonde-haired little boy with Down’s syndrome. He was affectionate, sweet, well-behaved and so cute it almost hurt to look at him. It was also obvious he was the delight of his family. As I watched the little boy hugging and kissing his bigger brother, I couldn’t help but think of this video I’d recently watched called, What Do These People Have In Common?

It’s been a lovely overcast misty day spent quietly doing nothing in particular. I am most abundantly blessed. Thank You God for everything! May this little branch forever be attached to Your True Vine!

May all the mothers everywhere have a very happy and blessed Mother's Day!

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The Contraception of Grief

Not an easy book to read nor absorb, although I did technically-speaking "finish" it in under two hours. It can be purchased from Priests For Life or read entirely on-line.

The difficulty in the first chapter stems from the historical framework, medical language and theological background necessary to place this work in its proper perspective. So while I'd love to be able to just hand it to my teen-age daughters the way my own mother handed me a book on "The Facts" when I was about twelve, it wouldn't be advisable.

In one of the subheadings, "The Manipulation of Language" I was again reminded of Josef Pieper's Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power where he talks about lies, the crafting of well-reasoned arguments and whether the writer is seeking to convey the truth or deceive his audience. When such is the case, 'from that moment on (the author/artist) no longer considers the other as partner, as equal. In fact, he no longer respects the other as a human person.' Pieper says this 'becomes a speech without a partner, since there is no true other; such speech, in contradiction to the nature of language, intends not to communicate but to manipulate.'

This section of the book examines popular methods of birth “control” – commonly used even by those who consider themselves pro-life – which in effect do more than just prevent conception. Subtle shifts in definition, lack of full information and pressure from significant others have led to life-changing choices by women with disastrous results.

Chapter 2, A Collection of Personal Testimonies, is the longest; while less challenging methodologically it is more draining emotionally. Families – and women in particular – who are still trying to come to grips with their own Contraception Grief are encouraged to begin the process of healing. One place where understanding and compassion may be assured is at Janet Moreno’s website Silent No More.

Subsequent chapters offer other positive solutions, stories and redeeming outpourings to flow from this holocaust of sorrow, including: Contraceptive Evangelization; acknowledging the challenges of living this Truth; the virtue of Chastity; the healing power of the Eucharist and the power of the Marital Covenant. So while the first two chapters can be overwhelmingly difficult to read, especially for anyone between the ages of sixty and twenty who has been a victim of this disinformation campaign, there is hope to be found in this book and honestly, it’s the only true Hope to be had anywhere, redemption through Jesus Christ.

Important book!

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Different Presidents, A Different Corps

I don't know how much longer this video will be around to be viewed ... in my country of supposed free speech. I know it's a political 'statement' ... of the wrong kind and therefore dangerous.

What can I say? As a Pro-Life, practicing Roman Catholic, military vet who is against gun control, same sex marriage, right-to-die, and embryonic stem cell research legislation, married to someone who shares all those same 'heinous' characteristics/views, I've become public enemy number one in my own country today.

But if I was in both of those crowds, I'd cheer Dubya and I'd stand there when Barry came swaggering in. Oh how I miss you George W.! Still I hope you and Laura are enjoying a well-deserved retirement! God bless you both!

booklady

Silence

I wrote the book review below just after I finished reading Silence. It was the end of a long and very fruitful Lent which culminated in the finishing of Father Neuhaus' great work, Death on a Friday Afternoon, our neighborhood fire and, most importantly, Holy Week leading up to the Easter Triduum. Bearing this in mind, this review seems a bit out of place now in the light of the Resurrection. And yet, in a recent discussion on the Via Dolorosa with my friend, Sharon*, she helped me to understand that 'sometimes when it seems that all around us are celebrating, this may not be true joy in the Lord.' Sharon referred me to a selection in Sister Faustina Kowalska's, Divine Mercy in My Soul, where that saint writes about the happiness of the crowd on Palm Sunday, 'But Jesus was very grave, and the Lord gave me to know how much He was suffering at the time. And at that moment, I saw nothing but only Jesus, whose heart was saturated with ingratitude.'

Here is my review:

Silence is a modern classic by Shusaku Endo. On the cover a crucified Jesus hangs from Japanese writing characters. My friend, Carol, recommended this book to me awhile back and I've had it sitting on my bookshelf. Then during Holy Week while I was finishing Fr. Neuhaus’ Death on a Friday Afternoon, he mentions the heroic struggles of the European missionaries who gave their all to travel around the world to share the Gospel message. Sometimes it just seems appropriate to leave off one book and seek out another, as if you are being led to it.

Silence tells a fictionalized story of what may have happened to two Portuguese priests who ventured onto mainland Japan during the persecution of the Christians around 1643. The story is told – brilliantly and poignantly – through the eyes of one Sebastian Rodrigues. The all important thing was to suffer and die a glorious martyr’s death. It was unthinkable that those who did not know Christ could devise any suffering, whether it be physical, mental, emotional or even spiritual which would lead the true believer to recant—but then this was before the days of Vietnam and the Japanese POW camps. Then it was believed no pain, deprivation, imprisonment, torture of oneself or one’s fellows—however prolonged, could ever be so bad it couldn’t be endured for love of God. It was simply a matter of one’s faith and will.

Silence is about the silence of God. I was 96 pages into the book before it occurred to me to keep track of all the times Shusaku Endo used the word, ‘silence’, ‘silent’ or ‘silently’, as well as words about sound. I had a feeling it was central to the story. From then until the end of the book (page 191) I counted fifty-one more times; I may have missed a few. It might have been a silly exercise—like something a high school English teacher would have you do—but I didn’t mind. And it focused my reading just when plot action came almost to a halt and most everything which was ‘happening’ was in the main character’s mind, or as experienced through his senses.

Silence is a powerful book. It seems to have as much to say about East meets West as it does about evangelization, martyrdom and the true voice of God. It is one Christian man’s search for the meaning of ‘the mud swamp Japanese in me’. ‘Japan is a mud swamp because it sucks up all sorts of ideologies, transforming them into itself and distorting them in the process.’ (p. xv) Sound like another country we all know and love?

Silence will leave you different than it found you. 'Be still (silent?) and know that I am God.' (Psalm 46:10)

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* Thank you Sharon!