CATHERINE OF SIENA – LESSONS TO REMEMBER

Each year on April 29, many churches remember or commemorate Catherine of Siena. Commemorate means recognizing and learning from the lives of exemplary Christians throughout church history. Until a few years ago I never heard of this fascinating lady, Catherine of Siena, and she has much to share with us today.

 

Catherine of Siena lived during the chaos and violence of the fourteenth century, a time of the Black Death, famine, and numerous civil wars. Catherine was the 25th of the 26 children of a northern Italy wool dyer and was born in 1347 at Siena, Italy.

Catherine claimed to have had her first vision of Christ when she was aged five or six. He smiled at her and blessed her. At age seven she vowed chastity, but that was not unusual among little girls at the time, and they were not supposed to keep the vow once they reached puberty. A girl was regarded as marriageable at twelve, which implied that she took an interest in wearing make-up and bleaching and curling her hair. Catherine however did nothing of the kind.

When she was 19, she had another mystical vision and acted as a nurse, caring for lepers and victims of the plague, the victims others would not care for. About this same time, she joined a Dominican Third Order group (lay women loosely affiliated with the order), most of whose members were widows with independent means.

Catherine then became political active believing Christ called her to reform the church. She was an activist in an age when a woman’s religious vocation was supposed to be confined and apart from the world.

Catherine traveled in the area around Siena, trying to make peace within and between cities. She founded a monastery for nuns, though she herself remained in the lay Third Order. She continued to write letters to her followers, to her critics, and to anyone who could help in her goal of reform. She also began to write Libro della divina dottrina (sometimes called Diologo), setting down her spiritual doctrine in the form of a conversation between God and a soul.

She worked tirelessly for reconciliation and peace, writing countless letters to popes and kings convincing them to end the Great Schism of the West. In spite of her sometimes chiding letters to Pope Urban VI, Catherine was summoned to Rome to serve as his advisor. She died in Rome at the age of 33.

Died at 33?  Think of all she accomplished.

She labored for peace, reform and renewal of people and the church.

She battled popes and kings with courage draw from heaven.

She deeply desired and sought after intimacy with Christ.

She not only comforted the sick and poor and those often ignored and rejected by others, she loved them

She was a writer and used her words to serve God.

She totally trusted God and lived a life of complete surrender to Him.

Quite a woman – from a different time and world but still a role model for us.

Quotes from Catherine:

Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.

To a brave man, good and bad luck are like right an left hand. He uses both.

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.

Every step of the way to heaven is heaven.

Nails were not enough to hold God-and-man nailed and fastened on the Cross, had not love held Him there

What do you think of Catherine?

Internal Non-Violence – Discovering My Violent Heart

I didn’t beat my children. I don’t own a gun. I’ve never even been arrested.

But an article I read recently made me realize I have a violent heart. 

The thought made me uncomfortable. As a spiritual director I have learned to be aware of the movements within my spirit and this concept of having a violent heart resonated deep within me.  What was God teaching me?

Marie Beha wrote “Formation for Nonviolence” in the spring 2003 issue of Human Development. She asked the question in the formation of non-violence where do we start?  Her answer is in the recognition that what goes on inside of us contributes to the culture of violence surrounding us.

Reminds me of the song lyrics: Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Beha writes, “Violence isn’t always noisy….How I respond to others, even to myself, reveals who and how I am. My morning might begin in violence as I smash the button of my ringing alarm clock, resentful of its shrill summons from still needed sleep. Getting into the shower and realizing I have forgotten my towel, I berate myself for being so stupid. At breakfast I discover an almost empty cereal box still on the shelf and express my frustration over someone’s thoughtlessness. Even my hurried attempt at mouthing a Morning Offering can do violence to any real spirit of prayer…. Such low-level violence accompanies much of our living. It’s like the background hum of a heater or air conditioner; we don’t pay attention unless the disturbance reaches a certain threshold that sounds like trouble.”

    

I don’t think I have ever measured the degree of violence inside my heart before. Have you even thought of it from that perspective?

She writes, “Usually the focus is on me: my perceived right, needs, desires. My ego has been bruised and it is this that is protesting. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I eventually have to admit that I am reacting violently because I have fallen out of love…violence rises out of an ego that has shrunken to the size of self-preoccupation.”

OUCH!  The truth hurts!

Beha’s answer is love. Loving oneself enough not to let the negative self-talk persist and not to follow the Satan’s lie that we are not beloved children of God.  Loving our neighbors as ourselves by taking a deep breath before responding and creating a space for God’s grace to lead our response. Loving God enough to “discipline ourselves to sit in silence before the Lord until some measure of peace is restored to our own soul and we can begin to respond in love. We keep our focus on God’s mercy rather than our on ourselves and our own hurt and difficulty.”

I think it will take a lifetime to learn internal non-violence.  No wonder external non-violence is so hard.  But I do know the next time my internal voice speak to my heart in a derogatory manner or I fill up with a revengeful attitude towards someone  - I will think about the words – internal non-violence.  Awareness is the first step and focusing on reacting within the spirit of God’s love, instead of my ego, will be my guide.

“We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.” Gandhi

“Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” Martin Luther King Jr.

What do you think about internal non-violence? 

God says, “Yes” - Lectio Divina - April 25, 2010

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.  2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV)

Yes!

No matter my questions; the Lord answers YES.

No matter my doubts; the Lord answers YES.

When I am full of fear, is God still with me? The answer is YES.

No matter when the answers in this world and lifetime seems to be no; the Lord is saying YES.

All my no’s disappear because in Christ they are a YES.

Does God keep His promises? The answer is YES!

Is Christ the answer? YES!

My words are inadequate. All I can answer is AMEN!

Hymn of Promise by Natalie Sleeth

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Savoring the Small Sacred Spaces

I almost missed it.

Driving to a meeting last Tuesday evening, I glanced down at my dashboard. The odometer read:

99999.

As the next mile sped along, I keep watching for the exact moment the numbers switched to:

100000.

As luck would have it, there was a safe place to pull over and snap this photo of this silly moment.

But is it so silly?

A small unimportant moment opened my heart to the Important. 

I paused for one brief minute and thanked God for having a reliable car. For times He kept me safe in the near misses and times I didn’t realize how He protected me.  I was grateful for the too many times to count that the car turned over and started its engine – some thing I take for granted. For its heat in winter and the air conditioning in sweltering summers.  For the moments of pure pleasure of singing along with the music at the top of my lungs.  I thought of the headlights to guide me home in the dark. And felt grateful for the hands that built this car and changes its oil.

Pausing to savor a silly splice of life – is that sacred?  I think it can be if you look for God even within fleeting simple moments.

Sometimes we have to force ourselves to treasure His presence in the huge landmark passages of time – a wedding, graduation, funerals or births – but we rarely stop to catch a glimpse of God in the minute details of life  - the steam from my morning coffee, a wave of the hand from a neighbor, or something a trivial as the odometer turning 100,000.

The significant God dwells everywhere, even in our insignificant moments.

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, 
ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV)

SPIRITUAL LESSONS FROM DANDELIONS

I am a successful gardener. My specialty?  Dandelions! Though most gardeners (myself included) struggle the entire growing season to remove these perennials and their deep roots, God did create these flowers we chose to call weeds.

“A weed is but an unloved flower.”
- Ella Wilcox

These perpetual shoots of yellow love to grow among my carefully laid out plans, distracting my attention from other beauties.  I tend, though, to agree with Eeyore, friend of Winnie the Pooh who said: “Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.”

I befriended dandelions this year. Dandelions entertained me with delightful memories while I weeded last week. Instead of a nuisance, this flower invited me into the wonder of God’s ingenuity.

Remember as kids, taking one of the flowers and squishing it around on your best friend’s face? If it left a smudge of yellow, it meant you like butter.

Or even more meaningful - remember taking the dandelion that has transformed into downy seed and blowing on the white feathery ball?  Counting the number of puffs needed to remove all the seeds is claimed to tell us the time or the number of years before marriage. Or we could determine if our true love was really true by blowing on the dandelion fuzzy ball three times; if at least one of the fuzzy seeds remained, it was taken as an omen that our sweethearts were thinking about us.

And nothing grabs the heart of a mother so much as when our babies toddle over to us with their gift of dandelions clutched in their tiny fists.  “For you, mommy,” they beam.  Just think - one of the first tangible gifts of love from our children is often a bunch of freshly picked dandelions.

The dandelion flower symbolizes persistence and a strong will. It is also thought to represent wishes coming true, cheerful love, and general happiness.  And wonder upon wonder, each flower head is actually composed of thousands of small ray flowers. What a miracle.

I decided to learn more about this flower: the early colonists brought dandelions to the New World. They used the whole plant. The flowers made wine, the leaves made salads, the stems and roots dried and used medicinally. According to stories, a dandelion never grows where there are no human inhabitants. The early pioneers found no trace of them in western America. After a few years, up sprang a dandelion head and soon there were millions of them. Native Americans learned to love them and would walk miles to gather them if they could not be found locally.

Today dandelions are used in food and medicines.

The scientific name of the dandelion comes from the Greek word taraxos, which means disorder, and akos, which means remedy. The word dandelion comes from the old French word Dent-de-lion or from the Latin dens leonis, both also meaning lion’s tooth or teeth doe its ragged leaves.

Disorder and remedy?  So often life is like that: what at first confuses us, frightens us, and throws us into chaos also leads the healing and transformation. We live a dandelion life, don’t we?

The pesky dandelion still irritates me growing where it shouldn’t and spreading where I don’t want it, but I have learned a new admiration for its ability to thrive no matter what I do.

Like a dandelion, I hope my roots go so deep in God’s earthy heart no poison or violent tugs from the outside world can dislodge my love for Him.

God created the dandelion and its lessons of joy and love spread throughout the garden of my heart.

What does the dandelion teach you?

Don’t Forget God’s Blessings - Lectio Divina - April 18 2010

 O my soul, bless God, don't forget a single blessing! Psalm 103:2 (The Message)

Don't forget a single blessing!

Lord you shower me with blessings - thank you.

I am nothing without You - everything I have, everything I am and everything I will be - all come from Your hand. I will never be able to count all the blessings.  

Blessings found in family,

in laughter

in sleep

in times I never knew Your presence

and in times I couldn’t have taken my next breath without You.

Yet this psalm invites us to bless YOU, Lord.

How can I bless you, Lord? With my love? With my obedience? How can I give you pleasure? I do so want to bring a smile to Your face. 

All I can do is turn from my ego driven ways to face You as I am - a mere human who is nothing without You. My eyes focus only on You. My hands rise in offering You all the glory.  

You and only You are God. And that is a blessing I will never forget.

The Present Moment

You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.  ~James Matthew Barrie

Spring is my favorite time of year. The bright colors, warming breezes, and digging my hands into the cool earth awaken me after a winter of hibernation. 

Driving home the other evening I noticed the pale hint of green dancing on the edges of the trees as the earth too slowly rises from its slumber.  After a few warm days, the tight buds on the bushes in my front yard shake off their drowsiness unfurling their new leaves.

Soon every bush and tree will be fully dressed for summer.  I can’t wait.

But why am I wishing away this early hint of spring? So often I whiz through the day barely noticing the emerging new life until it is fully here. For a change I pause and capture the inkling of things to come.

As a ‘three’ on the Enneagram, I tend to live in the future - setting goals and planning my next step. I fail at living in and enjoying the present moment. My glimpse at the early greens of the trees stopped me this week.

Like an orchestra warming up, the forest I passed by strikes up the first notes that build the excitement, anticipation, and hope for the future. Early spring is like the rising of the official’s gun at the start of a race. For once, I savor the words “ready” and “set” without rushing into “go.”

I am observing the details of life this week – the small scratch in my desk, the hum of the computer, the dance of the chickadees in my backyard.  I invite you to take a moment to enjoy the present with me.

“May you live every day of your life”  (Jonathan Swift) is my blessing for you today.

What others have written by the living in the present:

Having spent the better part of my life trying either to relive the past or experience the future before it arrives, I have come to believe that in between these two extremes is peace.  ~Author Unknown

If you have one eye on yesterday, and one eye on tomorrow, you're going to be cockeyed today.  ~Author Unknown

No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness -- or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated out of it. Henry Ward Beecher

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living.  We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.  ~Dale Carnegie

The present moment holds infinite riches beyond your wildest dreams but you will only enjoy them to the extent of your faith and love. The more a soul loves, the more it longs, the more it hopes, the more it finds. The will of God is manifest in each moment, an immense ocean which only the heart fathoms insofar as it overflows with faith, trust and love. 
— Jean-Pierre De Caussade in The Sacrament of the Present Moment

The place you are right now 
God circled on a map for you. 
— Hafiz quoted in Marrow of Flame by Dorothy Walters

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.  Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.  Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.  Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.  One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.  ~Mary Jean Iron

Accepting Compliments Gracefully - Internally and Externally

We were in the middle of the grocery store.  The elderly lady in her motorized shopping cart rode right up next to my husband and me.  I recognized her from my county, but her name totally escaped my mind.

“I have been wanting to tell you,” she said, “how much I enjoy reading your articles in the newspaper. Whenever I see your name, I read the whole thing. Just love your writing.”

I stammered out a weak thank you.  Smiling, I told her I enjoyed my job as a feature writer and the opportunity to meet lots of people and learn new things.

We chatted briefly a little longer, and then parted ways.

The next day a church member told me she had seen a nurse I used to work with at the health department. 

“She said you were the best boss she ever had. Thought you would enjoy hearing that.”

Wow, two unexpected compliments. Why did they make me feel so uncomfortable, instead of joyful?

To be honest I thought, “Oh, no something bad is going to happen now.”

Why can’t I just breath in the fresh air of nice words and bask in its pleasure for a moment? Why do I always think I am unworthy of these simple gestures of kindness?

Publically I responded the “correct” way.  I thanked the giver verbally and with my smile. I accepted the compliments externally with good manners.

Yet later I wrestled with why did the two incidents bother me so? Internally the two compliments sat undigested in my stomach like a waist-expanding, fat-laden heavy meal.

I asked God for some insight into this reaction in my morning prayers today.  I know deep in my heart I want HIM to have the glory. Yet when He sends me this type of gracious gift – I refuse to accept it?  Who in the right mind would refuse a gift from God?  I must be crazy.

Why are we so uncomfortable with legitimate compliments? Probably because there are so few on them (now that is sad, isn’t it?). Maybe because we have been hurt in the past by false compliments or compliments used to get something. Maybe the compliment stirs up a fear of success and now I have to live up to that expectation. Is it a learned habit of not trusting others or leaning towards a low self esteem?

I can wallow in the whys, but with God in my morning prayers I finally let the compliments seep into my soul. Lord, thank you for these two spirit-lifting surprises.

Mark Twain wrote: “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”  Notice he didn’t say dwell on them, brag about them, or refuse them. He let them digest to build his inner strength and nourishment.

Compliments are like butterflies. They land on your hand or on the flower petal briefly; enjoy that moment, then let them fly off to someplace else. I think from now on, I will receive a compliment with an open hand and appreciate its refreshing surprise briefly, then let it fly back to God.

I am working on the internal side of accepting compliment gracefully.  How do you handle compliments internally?

Doubting Thomas - Lectio Divina- April 11 2-10

Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" John 20:24

What a statement of faith - Thomas recognized You for who You are and all he could say was “My Lord and my God.”  That is probably all he needed to say isn’t it, Lord?

Lord forgive me when I get too wordy, focusing my prayers only on my needs, my doubts, my fears.

Lord when I see You - really recognize You - with the eyes of my heart - I know.  Yes I know deeply You are my Lord and my God.

No other words are needed

A prayer of worship and praise - my Lord and my God.

A prayer when I can’t find the words - my Lord and my God

A prayer when I am filled with doubt and have lost my way - my Lord and my God.

A prayer to whisper in your presence - my Lord and my God.

You are my Lord and my God!

Prayer and Henri Nouwen

Henri Nouwen is one of my favorite authors. The first book I read by him, edited by Wendy Greer is titled The Only Necessary Thing – Living a Prayerful Life.  I revisited that book this week and here are some of my favorite quotes from that book:

·      Prayer is the center of the Christian life. It is the only necessary thing. (Luke 10:42) It is living with God here and now.

·      The more we pray – in the sense of living a prayerful life – the more we desire to pray

·      I am deeply convince that the necessity of prayer, and to pray unceasingly, is not as much based on our desire for God as on God’s desire for us. It is God’s passionate pursuit of us that calls us to prayer.

·      A spiritual life without prayer is like the Gospel without Christ.

·      Praying is living. Praying pervades every aspect of our lives. It is the unceasing recognition that God is wherever we are, always inviting us to come closer and to celebrate the divine gift of being alive.

·      Prayer is not what is done by us, but rather what is done by the Holy Spirit in us.

·      To pray means to stop expecting from God the same small-mindedness, which you discover in yourself. To pray is to walk in the full light of God and to simply, without holding back, “I am human and you are God.”

May these wise words on prayer inspire your walk with God.  I will close with a prayer written by Nouwen:

Dear God,

Speak gently in my silence.

When the loud outer noises of my surroundings

and the loud inner noises of my fears

keep pulling me away from you,

help me to trust that you are still there

even when I am unable to hear you.

Give me ears to listen to your small, soft voice saying:

"Come to me, you who are overburdened,

and I will give you rest...

for I am gentle and humble of heart."

Let that loving voice be my guide.

Amen.

Five Spiritual Spring Cleaning Tips

Last week’s warm weather in northwest Ohio jumpstarted my spring cleaning. I emptied cupboards, reorganized shelves, and even washed the outside windows.  The silver tea service I inherited from my mother is buffed and polished. The house is beginning to shine.

That is not all.  I made my appointment for my overdue mammogram and even had my teeth cleaned.  Sparkling though and though, right?

Then I felt God nudge me: What about some spiritual spring cleaning? Mmm, good time to assess that, Lord.  I know the dirt and grime in my heart and soul contaminate my life and draw me away from God.  Here are five spiritual spring cleaning tips I am going to work on:

1.     Get rid of clutter - Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Ephesians 4:31.   Ok, time to dispose of my judgmental and sarcastic attitude. Help me to let go of old habits and sinful ways, Lord. I have been writing a lot about my poor attitude in my journal. Periodically I review what I write there, highlighting what I have learned and what I think God is showing me – I call it harvesting my journal.  Time to conduct a spring harvest and ask God to show me the next step in this chipping away of what does not belong and transforming my heart more like His.

2.     Take off the winter blankets and put away the heavy wool afghans. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us- Hebrew 12: 1.  I will spend more time in prayer listening than rambling on with my needs. Lord, open my heart to hear your word anew. Only in You do I find freedom.

3.     Dust those cobwebs out of the corners of my mind. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly Colossians 3:16a.   I want to pay closer attention to God’s word by finding a new Bible study to dig into this spring. Lord, awaken me when I read your word and give me new eyes like I am hearing it for the first time.

4.     Dig up the dead weeds and replant. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6.   I choose You, Lord, rather than my self-destructive habits of discouragement and self-pity. May seeds of hope, faith, and love be nurtured in my heart this season, Lord.

5.     Throw open the windows, welcoming fresh air. Our mouths were filled with laughter, 
our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." Psalms 126:2.   I breathe in the refreshing breezes of gratitude. You have done great things for me, Lord, thank you. My heart leaps with joy and I count the many ways You have blessed me. Your Spirit fills my heart and guides my path.

Have you begun your spring cleaning yet? How will you renew yourself spiritual this season?

HE IS RISEN - All Other Words are Unnecessary

Lectio Divina - April 4 2010

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 1Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."  Matt. 28:1-10

He is risen!

What Does Maundy (Thursday) Mean?

What does the word “Maundy” mean?  As we progress through this holy week of Christ’s passion, I paused and realized I didn’t really know the definition.

The name "Maundy" derives from Latin, mandatum novum, the first sung response of the traditional ceremony for the washing of the feet. (See John 13.)  The Christian church observes Maundy Thursday as the commemoration of the sacrament of Holy Communion and, in some traditions, the footwashing.

Another place claimed the word came from the Latin word mandatum, meaning "commandment," Maundy refers to the commands Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper: to love with humility by serving one another and to remember his sacrifice.

The observance is one of Christianity's oldest celebrations, dating back to the first century church. In the 12th century, the English Church initiated a custom of distributing money to older adults who had performed outstanding service to the crown. Known as "Maundy Money," these specially minted coins are handed out in red and white ceremonial purses by the reigning King or Queen. Along with the giving of alms, Kings and Queens of England would also wash the feet of the poor as a way of humbling themselves.

In Germany, Maundy Thursday was also known as Green Thursday. The name was not due to the color green, but from the close association to the German word for "grief" or "weeping". Many families would eat only green vegetables, spinach in particular, as a way of humbling themselves before God.

No matter what the exact definition or what rituals take place, Maundy Thursday is a time to pause and humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord, remembering his suffering and death for us so we can live forever with Him.  May our hearts recommit to Jesus’ command at the Last Supper found in John 13:34: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."