Spiritual Woman

God Moments: Stories that Inspire, Moments to Remember
by Michele Elena Bondi
Rochester: Joseph Karl Publishing, 2010

Have you ever experienced a “God Moment?” – a time in your life when God worked behind the scenes to move things in a certain direction. Some people refer to these as coincidences, mere situations of chance. For those who believe, Someone much more powerful is pulling the strings. “God moments are very special and significant events that have great meaning and purpose. They may involve angels, saints, people, animals, or anything in God’s great creation. Always they involve an encounter with the Divine. Perhaps they are meant to challenge or change us, encourage and inspire us, motivate us, sooth us, or prepare us. Sometimes they occur over time for reasons that we do not immediately understand. . . Our challenge is to recognize, believe, take action, trust, or sometimes wait, always loving in greater measure.”

In “God Moments: Stories that Inspire, Moments to Remember,” Michelle Elena Bondi has compiled a collection of personal stories that reveal God acting in our lives. Organized into the categories of Love, Discernment, Faith, Healing, Suffering, Miracles, and Reconciliation, the essays share both intimate and public moments of contact with God.

For example, one mother tells of her eighth-grade son expressing his need for space. She had put her hands on his shoulders in front of his friends, and he removed them and said “Bye, Mom.” She understood the developmental stage, but was still hurt by it. Yet, it was a God moment because it caused her to reflect on her own relationship with God. “How does God feel when he desires to be with us and we respond, sometimes in front of others, ‘Bye, God.’ Perhaps we think to ourselves, ‘Not now’ or ‘Not in front of my friends’ or ‘I do not want to be out of my comfort zone’ or ‘What will people think?’ Does God feel rejected, slighted, or hurt like I did when I was so glad to see my son and he wanted me to go away? Perhaps we reject God without even realizing it.”

Another person tells of how a random phone call to a hotel led to an opportunity to talk about her faith with a man who desperately needed to hear it. She writes, “I was totally moved by this experience. God can use us at any time if we just make ourselves available. I’m sure that man’s wife has been praying for him for years. With God all things are possible. So I’m praying for that man and asked me to contact me at any time.”

“God Moments” is a testament to the many ways God works in our lives. God loves each of us so much. “Share in the delight God has for every person He created. His works are constantly on display and there is a show going on every moment. Admission is always free.” “God Moments” will encourage you to be more open to His plan for your own life and to see Him at work in your daily life. It is a beautiful book that will do much good.

God Moments will be available October 2010 from Joseph Karl Publishing, www.godisatworkinyou.com, and also on Amazon.

Christmas is About Jesus: An Advent Devotional
by Mukkove Johnson
Tate Publishing, 2009

It might seem a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but Advent will be here before we know it, along with all the hustle and bustle that goes along with that time of year. “Christmas is About Jesus” is a lovely little book that will help children (and their parents) focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Each day from December 1st through the 24th features a Scripture verse and a reflection on a symbol of Christmas and how that symbol reminds us of Jesus. Some of the symbols covered include snowflakes, candy canes, ornaments, St. Nicholas, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, cookies, songs, and stars. As the days get closer to Christmas, the devotions focus on those who were at the first Christmas – the wise men, shepherds, Mary, and the most important one of all, Jesus.

The book is attractively designed and easy to use. It could be used at home or as part of a religious education class. The reflections could be used alone or combined with a craft for a longer lesson. “Christmas is About Jesus” will help keep minds focused on Jesus during the Advent season.

Everyday Wisdom (Spiritual Refreshment for Women)
by Joan C. Webb
Barbour Publishing, 2010

“Everyday Wisdom” is one of those delightful little devotional books that fits easily into a purse or briefcase. Featuring quotes from Proverbs and short reflections on those quotes, it provides quick bursts of wisdom. Well-organized by topic, it is easy to find exactly the words of guidance that you need at that moment. Beautifully designed, simply looking at the pages can help relax you and put you in a prayerful spirit. Joan C. Webb has truly compiled a treasure in this little book.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

Conversation

Watch your words and hold your tongue: you’ll save yourself a lot of grief. Proverbs 21:23 Msg

Some of you tend to say almost anything that pops into your mind. This leads to laughter and rollicking conversation. You’re the life of the party. Your quieter friends may envy your boldness. Yet sometimes you utter a comment and inadvertently hurt someone and cause yourself grief. God doesn’t want to change your effervescent personality. He’s the one who made you – and your more reserved friend. He only wants to temper your thoughts and words to grace others.

Patience
Patient persistence pierces through indifference; gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses. Proverbs 25:15 Msg

Microwave dinners, e-mails and Twitter posts on your cell phone, 24/7 news channels, instant messaging. We’re not used to waiting for much. But when it comes to relationships, we really need patience. You can’t change someone else. You can only adjust your own attitudes and behavior. But positive change takes time, whether it is you or the other person who decides to change. Be encouraged, though. Patience and persistence will pay off in the long run.

St. Martha, whose feast day falls on July 29th, has something of a poor reputation. The first thing people tend to think about when they hear her name is her being chastised by the Lord. Her sister Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet, hanging on his every word while Martha was busy doing housework and serving their guests. She asks Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me. But the Lord answered, ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said, ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.” (Luke 11:40-42) Indeed, there are whole books on how to be more like Mary and less like Martha. Yet, St. Martha is also held in high esteem by the Church. It is important to know all of her story and to appreciate her for who she was.

The Gospel of John shows a different side of her. Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus has died. Mary remains in the house, one can only presume she is paralyzed with grief. Martha, on the other hand, runs out to meet the Lord and holds him accountable for his delay. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but even now I know that God will grant whatever you ask of him.” (John 11:21-22) She is a take charge, practical-minded woman, but she also has complete faith in Jesus and His Father in heaven. Jesus then tells her that her brother will rise again, and Martha responds, “I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.” It is a statement of faith, but Jesus asks more of her. He asks her to affirm that he is, in fact the Son of God. “̔I am the resurrection. Anyone who believes in me, even though that person dies, will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Sod of God, the one who was to come into this world.’” Her faith is rewarded and Lazarus is raised from the dead.

The last time we see Martha in the Gospels, she is once again serving. It is shortly before Jesus dies. “Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there; Martha waited on them and Lazarus was among those at table.” This time, her sister brings in a pound of costly ointment and anoints Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair. This time, Martha offers no complaint. She allows Mary to serve and love Jesus in her way while she serves and loves in her own way.

Saint Martha is the patron of housewives, servants, waiters and cooks. She is a role model for all of us who serve others (which should really be all of us.) Even with the limited information we are given about her in the Gospels, she grows as a person. She moves from a martyr-type attitude, to a position of complete faith, to a willingness to love and serve without complaint. She invites each of us to do the same. We should look up to St. Martha for her example of trust and service. While we should certainly strive to imitate her sister Mary as well, Martha stands on her own two feet as a spiritual role model. The beauty of having so many saints is that there is someone for each of us to look up to and identify with.

Win It All: The Way to Heaven for Catholic Teens
by Justin Fatica
Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2010

Catholic Evangelist Justin Fatica has made it his life’s mission to reach out to teens with an extremely counter-cultural message, that what matters in this life isn’t money or fame or popularity, but rather living in order to get to heaven. He puts the focus where it belongs, on loving God and others and aiming for eternal life. What does it mean to “Win it All?” Fatica states “to win it all means to discover what God intends for our lives.” He then goes on to set forth eight steps to living the life God wants you to live. Those eight steps are: recognize your importance, discover your mission in life, make your mess your message, keep your passion, remain fearless, commit to loving, never give up, and live every day as if it were your last. Fatica also includes a helpful appendix, “More Helps to Win it All” which features prayers and instructions on how to go to confession.

“Win it All” is definitely geared for teenagers, yet Fatica’s message is an important one for people of all ages. As he states, “everyone needs to hear how important, unique and special they are. You need to hear it too: God has made you as a one and only you.” We each have a God-given purpose in this world. Fatica also speaks of God’s great love. “You all see people with tattoos. You may have one yourself. Well, you have been ‘tattoed’ with the life of God. It is a permanent mark that will never go away. . . There is nothing you can do or not do that would keep God from loving you.” Our job is then to share that love with others.

Fatica offers practical advice. He pulls no punches. He knows that life is hard and that there are challenges and temptations at every turn. Yet, he encourages all of us to keep our eyes on the final destination. We need to make that our priority and live life accordingly.

Walking Together: Discovering the Catholic Tradition of Spiritual Friendship
by Mary DeTurris Poust
Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2010

Our world does not seem to allow for deep friendships today. Family and friends are often separated by physical distance. Our lives are so busy that even keeping up with people via electronic means can be a challenge. One is lucky to have one or two close friends. A spiritual friend is an even rarer gift. In “Walking Toegther: Discovering the Catholic Tradition of Spiritual Friendship,” Mary DeTurris Poust emphasizes the value of such friendships while acknowledging the difficulty in forming them.

What makes a spiritual friend different from a “regular” friend? They are “two people bound together by a love of God.” They walk side by side, with God always in between. “Spiritual friends magnify our virtuous qualities. More casual friends might bring out the worst in us through competitiveness, idle gossip, jealousy. Spiritual friends, however, bring out the best – in inspiring us to live in humility, honesty, charity. Spiritual friends inspire us to move beyond pettiness to a place where our hearts and minds are focused on doing what is right.” The goal that both parties are reaching for is life with God in heaven.

Poust profiles some famous spiritual friendships, holding them up as a model for our own lives. The bonds between St. Frances de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, and St. Francis and St. Clare are all discussed. Poust, who seems to have been extraordinarily blessed in this area, also shares her own experiences of spiritual friendship.

Poust offers some practical advice on how to find and nurture spiritual friends. She also examines spiritual direction, which can sometimes develop into a spiritual friendship. Some time is devoted to spiritual friendships between men and women, both within marriage and outside of it. She acknowledges that there can be challenges in celibate opposite-sex friendships and cautions that the temptations toward infatuation and romantic interest must be overcome in order for a healthy, loving friendship to develop and flourish. If one or both of the parties are married, great care must be taken to make sure that the friendship does not threaten the marriage in any way. Despite these concerns, Poust does feel that male-female spiritual friendships can be a great blessing and she has benefited from them in her own life.

Spiritual friendship is a rare and good gift. It is to be greatly treasured. Hopefully, “Walking Together” will encourage many to pursue them in their own lives.

My family and I were shopping at our local mall today when the fire alarm suddenly went off. While not ear-piercing, it was very loud, and there were strobe lights going off everywhere. Truly, there was no way to miss it. We were done our shopping and heading out of the mall when this occurred. During the five minutes it took us to exit the building, there was no public address announcement to indicate it was a false alarm. While we could not see any smoke or fire, there very well could have been in some other part of the building. As I looked around, I noticed that no one else was moving to the exits. People continued shopping. A few people, especially children, covered their ears in response to the shrill noise, but that was it. Everyone else simply ignored the alarm. Truly, I was flabbergasted by the lack of concern.

As a society, we have become used to false alarms. Car alarms, house alarms – they all get ignored. The media tries to get us worked up about things on a daily basis. There is always a threat du jour, some new thing or food that is bad for us. Most of these are proved false in time. We have learned not to be bothered.

What about in our spiritual life? Do we pay any attention to the alarms that we hear there? Or does our jaded attitude carry over into our relationship with God? As I reflected on this, I thought of John the Baptist crying out in the desert, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” If we encountered him today on the street (there aren’t many deserts in my part of the world), we would most likely move to the other side of the road in an attempt to avoid him. Do we take seriously the need to repent?

We’ve heard Scripture passages so many times, we barely listen during Mass. Can you recall what the Gospel was about this past Sunday? What the priest said in his homily? Do we take the message of the Word of God seriously in our lives? Do we hear God asking us to change our lives?

What about when that little voice inside our head tells us what we are doing is wrong? Do we pay attention to our conscience, or do we ignore it? Do we try to rationalize our behavior? Do we think that because everyone else is doing something that it is okay? Do we want to take the easy road rather than the right road? Do we ignore the alarms inside ourselves, shut them out until our conscience is deadened and the warnings go away?

Despite all the false alarms in our lives, there are alarms that we should take seriously. Contrary to the opinion of my fellow mall shoppers, I still believe that it is better to leave a building when the fire alarm goes off. You can always go back inside when it stops. It is even more important to pay attention to the alarms in our spiritual lives. They rarely come with piercing noises and strobe lights. Instead, they come in whispers, the nagging feeling that something isn’t right in our lives. They come in the Word of God and in answers to prayers. Ignore them at the risk of your eternal lives.

I was recently reading “Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary with my children. A classic from a generation ago, it features a five-year-old Ramona and the trials and tribulations of Kindergarten. One chapter features a battle between her and her neighbor and fellow classmate Howie. She and Howie are really not friends, but their mothers are. Therefore, they end up spending a great deal of time together. In this particular scene they are fighting over a red ribbon. They both have what they perceive to be a rightful claim of ownership to the ribbon. As mothers are prone to doing, one of them tells the two children to share the ribbon. She even suggests that they can cut it in half, thereby solving the problem. About the only thing that Ramona and Howie can agree on is that this is a bad idea! They do not want to share.

As parents, we spend a lot of our time telling our children to share. Sharing does not appear to be an inborn trait. We humans like to own things and keep them for ourselves. Even as adults, sharing is not always easy. This week’s Gospel (Lk 9:11b-17) features that very problem. Jesus and the disciples have 5,000 hungry people on their hands. The disciples want to dismiss them so that they can go find food for themselves. Jesus in turn tells them to feed them. They counter with the fact that they only have 5 loaves and two fishes available. Yet, somehow, once that choice is made to share, there is plenty for everyone. Over the years, I’ve heard different explanations for this. The most obvious one is that Jesus performed a miracle and multiplied the food that was available. Another explanation is that once the disciples started sharing, the people in the crowd started sharing as well. Everybody shared what they had with their neighbor and then there was plenty. I wasn’t there and I don’t know what happened, but, if that was the scenario, then I would say that was a miracle unto itself.

Sr. Kathryn James Hermes reflects on this Gospel in “Living Faith.” She writes that the disciples in wanting to send the people away were guilty of “stingy thinking.” Some of the time, maybe even most of the time, each one of us is guilty of that mindset. We worry that if we share, we won’t have enough for ourselves, instead of trusting that God will multiply our gift freely given and return it to us. If we share, we will always have enough. That’s a tough lesson for both children and adults to comprehend and accept. I am as guilty of it as the next person. When money is tight, there is always that temptation to cut back on charitable giving. What I have found is that those are times I actually need to increase it. When I finally make the decision to be brave and trust that God will provide, the financial pressures ease a bit. Learning to share is one of those things that takes a lifetime to master.

Families have different ideas of what they view as a “fun” adventure on a beautiful day. Some enjoy amusement parks or going hiking or going to the beach. My family? We enjoy going on a good grave hunt! (Yes, it is entirely possible my children will be discussing this with their therapists when they are older.)

I’ve always enjoyed cemeteries. I find them peaceful places. As a child, my parents would take me as they dutifully brought flowers to the family gravesites. I would explore the nearby graves with interest. Who were all these people? What were there lives like? As a teenager, my father taught me to drive in a cemetery. As a young adult, one of my best friends lived right next to a cemetery. We spent many enjoyable evenings walking the grounds. I’m trying to share my love of cemeteries with my children.

To make these cemetery trips more interesting for them, we try to find certain graves for them to look for, a treasure hunt of sort. This past week found us at the Stockbridge Cemetery, about an hour from home. We were searching for three graves in particular: artist Norman Rockwell, theologian Reinhold Neibuhr (author of the Serenity Prayer) and Elizabeth Freeman (a freed slave). Amazingly, we were successful in finding all three.

As we searched the graves, I made a point of praying for the souls of the people whose remains laid beneath the ground. Many had left this world a long time ago. Who knew the last time someone had said a prayer on their behalf? But our time is not God’s time, and prayers for souls are never wasted. If they are not needed by the soul for whom we are praying, they are applied to another soul in need. Just as when as I when a little girl, I still wonder about the people whose names are on those stones. A life cannot be summed up on a tombstone. Most modern stones offer little more information than a name and two dates. Older stones offer more of a tribute to a person. The one that struck me most on this particular journey was that of Mrs. Julia Hawkins Brown. She died on January 18, 1898 at the age of 74. Her epitaph reads “She Made Home Happy.”

What a wonderful tribute to a person! How thankful I would be if, as a wife and mother, I was remembered as making home happy, of bringing joy and peace to our domicile. Of course, there are other things I’d like to be remembered for. I’d like to be remembered for being a good Christian, for being kind to others, for being a hard worker, and for being a good writer. Yet, if I do all those things for the rest of the world, and fail in my domestic duties, I really haven’t accomplished much of anything. After God, my family is my first priority. I hope that I succeed in making our home a happy one. I hope that is how my children and (hopefully) grandchildren will remember me. Maybe they will even put it on my gravestone, and some stranger will come by a hundred plus years after my death and stop and say a prayer for me and think I was a good woman.

Go in Peace: Your Guide to the Purpose and Power of Confession

by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. and Sean Brown
West Chester, PA: Ascension Press, 2007

If there is one area of Catholicism that causes more confusion than any other, it is the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as confession). In “Go in Peace: Your Guide to the Purpose and Power of Confession,” Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. and Sean Brown do an admirable job of explaining this sacrament. In a straight-forward question and answer format, they provide concise explanations of 101 aspects of sin, confession, heaven, hell, purgatory, and indulgences. Non-Catholics who wish to understand more about Catholicism will gain much information from this book. Catholics who struggle with the Sacrament of Reconciliation will find more reason to appreciate its value and the need for it. Catholics who regularly take advantage of the sacrament will still learn from “Go in Peace.” The section on indulgences is particularly well-written and does much to clear up misunderstandings regarding this practice. “Go in Peace” also features a helpful Examination of Conscience at the end of the book to help people review the state of their soul prior to going to confession.