Author: Sr. Dorcee, beloved

I am the one whom Jesus loves.

Lights in a darkened church

Sr. Dorcee, beloved2 Comments

Today is the Feast of the Presentation:

When Christ was presented in the temple, “there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.” When St. Mary and St. Joseph brought Christ to the temple, Simeon embraced the Child and prayed the Canticle of Simeon: “Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

Because of the words of the canticle (“a light to the revelation of the Gentiles”), by the 11th century, the custom had developed in the West of blessing candles on the Feast of the Presentation. The candles were then lit, and a procession took place through the darkened church while the Canticle of Simeon was sung.

What a loss that nowadays we seldom see this procession observed.  It would be such a wonderful precursor of the Easter Vigil in this time before Lent.

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From the Office of Readings for today, a marvelous sermon by St. Sophronius about how we, ourselves, can be shining lights.

In honor of the divine mystery that we celebrate today, let us all hasten to meet Christ.  Everyone should be eager to join the procession and to carry a light.
Our lighted candles are a sign of the divine splendor of the one who comes to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe radiant with the brilliance of his eternal light. Our candles also show how bright our souls should be when we go to meet Christ.

The Mother of God, the most pure Virgin, carried the true light in her arms and brought him to those who lay in darkness. We too should carry a light for all to see and reflect the radiance of the true light as we hasten to meet him.

The light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in shadows;the Dayspring from on high has visited us and given light to those who lived in darkness. This, then, is our feast, and we join in procession with lighted candles to reveal the light that has shone upon us and the glory that is yet to come to us through him. So let us hasten all together to meet our God.

The true light has come, the light that enlightens every man who is born into this world. Let all of us, my brethren, be enlightened and made radiant by this light. Let all of us share in its splendor, and be so filled with it that no one remains in the darkness. Let us be shining ourselves as we go together to meet and to receive with the aged Simeon the light whose brilliance is eternal. Rejoicing with Simeon, let us sing a hymn of thanksgiving to God, the Father of the light, who sent the true light to dispel the darkness and to give us all a share in his splendor.

Through Simeon’s eyes we too have seen the salvation of God which he prepared for all the nations and revealed as the glory of the new Israel, which is ourselves. As Simeon was released from the bonds of this life when he had seen Christ, so we too were at once freed from our old state of sinfulness.

By faith we too embraced Christ, the salvation of God the Father, as he came to us from Bethlehem. Gentiles before, we have now become the people of God. Our eyes have seen God incarnate, and because we have seen him present among us and have mentally received him into our arms, we are called the new Israel. Never shall we forget this presence; every year we keep a feast in his honor.

No others like it

Sr. Dorcee, beloved1 Comment

I have a little flip chart of quotes from St. Thérèse.  It has been open to the quote below for weeks (and I’m still not ready to flip it).  I hope your reading it will increase your confidence in the greatness of God’s personal love for you.

Just as the sun shines simultaneously on the tall cedars and on each little flower as though it were alone on the earth, so our Lord is occupied with each soul as though there were no others like it.

“With each soul . . .”  That means you.

Christ asleep in us

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Last Saturday’s gospel was the very familiar passage about Jesus sleeping in the boat.  St. Augustine has a fine commentary on it:

When you are insulted, that is the wind.  When you are angry, that is the waves.  So when the winds blow and the waves surge, the boat is in danger, your heart is in jeopardy, your heart is tossed to and fro.  On being insulted, you long to retaliate.  But revenge brings another kind of misfortune–shipwreck.  Why?  Because Christ is asleep in you.  What do I mean?  I mean you have forgotten Christ.  Rouse him, then; remember Christ, let Christ awake within you, give heed to him . . . . “Who is this, that even the winds and sea obey him?”

Love found me needing Him

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Today’s poem comes from Amy Carmichael:

Love, travelling in the greatness of His strength,
   Found me alone,
Footsore and tired by the journey's length,
   Though I had known
All the long way many a kindly air,
And flowers had blossomed for me everywhere.

And yet Love found me needing Him.  He stayed;
   Love stayed by me.
"Let not your heart be troubled or dismayed,
   My child," said He.
Slipped from me then, all troubles, all alarms,
For Love had gathered me into His arms.

Gathered storm

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Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes, into the midst of a peaceful family–without warning of gathered storm above or slightest tremble of earthquake beneath–will fall a terrible fact, and from that moment everything is changed.  The air is thick with cloud, and cannot weep itself clear.  There may come a gorgeous sunset, though.   (George MacDonald)

Loved by Christ

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In this Monday’s Office of Readings (for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul), John Chrysostom wrote, describing St. Paul: “The most important thing of all to him, however, was that he knew himself to be loved by Christ.”

How many of us can say that about ourselves, that the most important thing of all to each of us is that we know ourselves to be loved by Christ?  That reminds me of a quote I’ve shared before, but think it apt to share it with you again:

Not long ago I received in the mail a postcard from a friend that had on it only six words, “I am the one Jesus loves.” . . . When I called him, he told me the slogan came from the author and speaker Brennan Manning.  At a seminar, Manning referred to Jesus’ closest friend on earth, the disciple named John, identified in the Gospels as “the one Jesus loved.”  Manning said, “If John were to be asked, ‘What is your primary identity in life?’ he would not reply, ‘I am a disciple, an apostle, an evangelist, an author of one of the four Gospels,’ but rather, ‘I am the one Jesus loves.’”  What would it mean, I ask myself, if I too came to the place where I saw my primary identity in life as “the one Jesus loves”?   (Philip Yancey)

May the Holy Spirit, the love of Christ that has been poured out into our hearts, bring us more and more to this point.

Breaking the jar

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Every other month we host an Evening of Reflection for young single women.  We have a simple dinner, a speaker, and time for adoration.  This past week, we were graced with a talk by Dr. Mary Healy (Professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary).  I thought you would enjoy hearing her reflections on Mark 14, the story of the woman breaking the alabaster jar.  You can listen to it here: Woman breaking the alabaster jar (Mk 14)

Blaspheming

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Be prepared for a “punch to the solar plexus” as you read the quote below.  At least, that’s what I experienced when I read it.  A good punch, though.

You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances, and tedious annoyances really are.  You would realize that your complaints about them are nothing more nor less than blasphemies–thought that never occurs to you.  Nothing happens to you except by the will of God, and yet [God’s] beloved children curse it because they do not know it for what it is.   ~Jeanne-Pierre de Caussade

This quote implies the need to grow in the ability to see through what is going on to the hand of God at work, which of course is something only the Holy Spirit can do in us.  Let’s beg Him again to help us to see with His eyes rather than our own, which are blinded so much of the time.

You are also the God of me

Sr. Dorcee, beloved1 Comment

I post a poem every Sunday mostly for myself.  I love poetry–and always have–and I’m hoping someone out there does as well.  One of the reasons I love poetry is because it forces us more to the edges of heaven, to open our minds to the beauty and goodness and truth of God.

Small Song

God of the sky,
God of the sea,
God of the rock
and bird and tree,
you are also
the God of me.

The pebble fell.
The water stirred
and stilled again.
The hidden bird
made song for you.
His praise is heard.

You heard him sing
from in the tree.
And searching still
I know you’ll see
The love that wings
to you from me.

~Luci Shaw

Spiritual program for a mother

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If you are a mother, I hope you will take time to read this letter from Dom Marmion, outlining his advice on the appropriate spiritual focuses for a mother:

Your kind letter gave me so much pleasure because I see you are seeking God with sincerity.  I tell you in all simplicity that I believe God loves you dearly and that the little worries of this life form that portion of the cross of Jesus which is to unite you to Him.  God does not ask a married woman of the world for the austerities and mortifications that may be practiced by those living in the cloister.  But He sends them other trials adapted to their state and which render them so agreeable to his Divine Majesty.

Our Lord asks of you:
1. — To accept daily the sufferings, the duties and the joys that He sends you, as Jesus accepted all that came to Him from His Father.  When St. Peter wanted to turn Him away from His Passion, on account of his great affection for Him, Jesus answered him, “The chalice which my Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?”  There, my daughter, is the answer you ought to give when you seem to be overwhelmed with suffering.
2. — The perfect fulfillment of your duties:
a) Towards God. –Prayer, Mass, Holy Communion, not too many prayers, but great fidelity in saying those which it is a duty to offer to God, above all family prayers.
b) Towards your neighbor.–Towards your husband.  Marriage, says St. Paul, is the image of Christ’s union with the Church, and the Sacrament of marriage give you a continual participation in the union of Jesus and His Church.  Jesus so loved His Church that He died for her, and she, in return loves Him as her God and her Bridegroom.  Thus you should love your husband as representing Christ for you.
Towards your children.  The grace of motherhood has its origin in the Heart of God and He puts it in the mother’s heart in order that she may love and guide her children according to the Divine good pleasure.
c) Towards yourself.–At present no other mortifications are necessary for you than those which God sends you daily.  But you must sanctify them by uniting them to the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
Be joyful, natural and straightforward as you are, and God will bless you.