“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Philippians 4:13
“Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”
Deuteronomy 32:2
spiritual
Thursday Travels – Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs
StandardThese grounds are a reliquary to the North American Martyrs, St. Isaac Jogues and his Companions, St. Rene Goupil and St. John LaLande. In 1642, the same year Rene Goupil was martyred, the first known recitation of the Rosary was prayed here. This was also the birthplace ten years later after St. Jogues and St. Lalande’s martyrdoms, of St. Kateri Tekakwitha.
The view of the Mohawk Valley and River from the Shrine Grounds
Three Crosses bearing the names of the North American Martyrs at the Entrance, at the edge of what was the Mohawk village.
Monday’s Good for the Soul – Shrines
StandardUnfortunately, I’ve been ill all morning so I wasn’t able to post what I intended today; the reflection from my visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs. I am hoping to push my usual dailies down by a day, and start my week tomorrow.
Taking its place today then is a link to the Top 10 Catholic Shrines in the US, one of which is the one I visited.
Here is also a virtual tour supplied by Acevedo Homeschoolers on You Tube:
I hope to see you tomorrow.
Preview – Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs
StandardMartyrs Shrine – North American Martyrs
Birthplace of St. Kateri Tekakwitha
in Auriesville, NY
Entrance to the Shrine
This is where I prayed the rosary
Perfect day - blue sky, fluffy clouds, cool breeze
The original chapel from 1885
I sat here and wrote for a bit
Monday’s Good for the Soul – GishWhes and G-d
Standard“Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
With gishwhes week coming to a close for 2015, this was today’s reading at Mass. It is from Corinthians 9.
It is a good reminder that G-d is everywhere as are good people. Random acts can occur all year long beginning today.
Live gishwhes everyday. Love your neighbors and your friends. Pray for your enemies or those who mistreat you.
Do good.
Be well.
Stuff and Things – Rosaries
Standard
My First Rosary
Growing up Jewish, rosaries were as unfamiliar to me as the Chinese language. I’m not sure I ever saw one outside of a television show, and even then it would have been a fully habitted nun.
When I first began attending Mass, the woman sitting in front of me prayed her rosary before the mass. Every morning I would walk in, sit behind her, and glance over her shoulder as she worked the beads. It was both equally intriguing and foreign to me.
In the Fall of 2013, I traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia to participate in a LARP (think dinner and a show except there’s no audience) and Premiere Viewing of Supernatural. I was staying with a friend who was working on props for the event. Among her prop work, she gave me my first rosary, the one in the second picture, that she made for me by hand. It’s beautiful. It is in my two favorite colors: greens and silver. I was touched that she would spend the time and honor me with her gift. As soon as I returned to New York, I brought it to my priest to bless it. It is primarily the rosary that I use. It not only brings me closer to G-d and Jesus and the Blessed Mother, but it also ties me to friendship and love here on earth.
In the first picture are my other rosaries. These were lovely gifts from special people who helped foster my Catholic education.
In the first photo, from left to right:
This gold rosary is very shiny and has the delicate features of a necklace. It was sent to me for Christmas after my baptism from my dear friend and godfather. He stood up for me as a witness at my Easter Vigil, but more importantly, he introduced me to the practicalities of knowing Jesus: compassion, forgiveness, and loving one’s neighbor no matter what. Those three things, those ideals, changed my heart and my life forever.
Second in line is the rosary I’ve already spoken about.
Next is the white one. This is from the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. I was given this by the RCIA teachers who taught me the class on Mary. They are a couple who I know from my memoir writing workshop, and they have a large devotion to Mary. They collect Mary statues and pictures/icons from all over the world, and they are magnificent. This rosary comes in a little clear box with a gold picture of the shrine/Fatima icon.
The fourth is not actually a rosary, but a chaplet. Chaplets have less beads than a rosary, and are personal prayer devotionals. This one is the chaplet of St. Anne’s, and was a gift on my baptism day from another couple who taught me during the RCIA program.
I don’t pray the rosary daily, but I will often be called to at the oddest moments, and I try to stop, take a breather, and pray.
Monday’s Good for the Soul – Tea
StandardThis morning’s tea makes yesterday distant.
~Author Unknown
Tea is one of those substances that has universal appeal. It is both balm and cure. It is both home and on holiday. It is therapeutic and spiritual. It carries the weight or the lightness of the moment. It is steeped in tradition and ritual.
When my friend died, several of us drank certain teas that she liked or that represented her, and we wrote about the experience. I wrote about her, and our complicated relationship, about my own feelings for the tea I was drinking that day, describing the flavors and sensations of the drink, and I experienced several spiritual mindfulness. It gave me an opportunity for discernment and was an integral part in my spiritual journey.
It might be idiosyncratic, but I have my own rituals around my morning tea. When my tea is dark enough, I add the milk (if it’s not a citrusy flavor) and two teaspoons of sugar. I remove the tea bag, turn out the kitchen lights, and go to my favorite chair. Before leaving the threshold of the kitchen, though I always take two sips of the hot tea through the steam. I don’t know why; I just do. Every time.
But tea is also simple in its simplicity. It’s part of my daily life a part of my sacred space. I eat with it. I write with it. I pray with it. It is rare to find something that fits in everywhere and anywhere, and tea is that rare something.
Drinking a daily cup of tea will surely starve the apothecary.
~Chinese Proverb
Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea.
~Author Unknown
(This very strongly made me think of communion – the body and blood of Christ in the wafer and the wine.)
Monday’s Good for the Soul – Baptismal Water
StandardI’ve been trying to follow weekly themes. For the most part, it gives me a place to start when I’m looking at my weekly posts and prompt suggestions. This week is Water, Water Everywhere.
I have a mixed relationship with water. For the most part, I’m not a fan. I don’t like water. I take showers and wash my hands; my problem is mostly with natural bodies of water and boats. My husband tried to propose on a boat. That did not work out for us at all.
On the other hand, I do like waterfalls. I find them calming and soothing. I’ll share one of my favorite places (after Niagara Falls, which is too far for a day trip) later in the week. I discovered when we went out to Montauk Point a few years ago that I have a real problem with the ocean. It’s too big and never-ending from the shore.
When I returned to church and Mass one week ago today, the first thing I returned to was the baptismal font. I put my fingers in, and made the sign of the cross over myself, and I was back.
For my baptism (in 2014) I was not baptised in the font; an Easter pool (for lack of a better word) was built on the church’s altar. You’re supposed to get your whole body wet. I was told to bring a change of clothes for after, and I definitely needed them.
I thought today I would share the Gospel of Jesus’ Baptism as well as some of my photos from my Easter Vigil, the first one of my baptism.
The water was ice cold, and the pitcher was full and the priest poured it over my head (and the rest of me) three times: appropriately in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Baptism
Confirmation
My First Communion
The Baptism of Jesus
Matthew 3:13-17Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son,whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Monday’s Good for the Soul – Mass Returns
StandardWith much less fanfare than General MacArthur, I returned to church this morning. The door was heavy, and the air conditioning was cool. I crossed myself at the font of holy water, and took my regular seat. There was no one there who I usually sit with but there were the many familiar faces of the “regulars”.
Flipping through the missalette to today’s date, I waited for the hymn number to be announced.
Number 39. Humbly, Lord, we worship you. Good tempo, not terribly long, simple, serene, and lovely, and then the mass began.
It was as if I hadn’t missed a day.
As much as I might have wanted there to be something acknowledged for me in my head, petting my feelings, there was nothing to make me think that that any time had passed or that I had somehow was gone too long. In fact, I didn’t feel as though I was absent or that I was coming back, I was simply home again.
I hadn’t been to the physical church building, but I hadn’t been ignoring my faith; G-d was still everywhere with me.
I look forward to tomorrow and the rest of the week’s Masses.
Education or Retreat or Both?
StandardThis is my second year.
There are still jitters and anxiety of what people think, how I look, that I don’t fit in the auditorium seats, but there is also familiarity. I know where to park. I know where the back door to the events center is so I can get to the air conditioning quicker. I know where to get my ID and my schedule and how to use the online interactive map. I remembered to print out the bathroom, food and wi-fi highlights.
I recognize people like the wonderful storyteller from my last retreat, and she recognized me. And waved. I’m taking two classes with her this week. I recognize the musicians and the introductory speakers from the Diocese. I recognize the Bishop who has a wonderful way of making you at east with a smile that illuminates how much he believes and the joy of bringing that to the people of our Diocese. The Bishop Emeritus has his own way, a little less smiley, but no less welcoming to a new face.
The chatter continues and I forget about what I’ve forgotten at home and fill my senses with the buzz around me. It could be cooler, but part of that is in my head. I people-watch. People hug, people wave, people wave back. I got my own hug from a familiar friend and smiles towards me from new ones.
We are all in good company and we know it. All friends here, though most not yet met. And this week of open minds and new ideas and history remembered begins with music and the opening prayer in Spanish. Gracias a Dios.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 