I love Ash Wednesday.
This is the first Ash Wednesday I am a Catholic. It is the second Ash Wednesday when I have received the dark ashen sign of the cross on my forehead.
The thing I love most about Ash Wednesday is that Catholics all over the world who attend Mass on Ash Wednesday are visibly marked with the sign of their faith, which they then carry with them throughout the day. Behind each of those sooty smudges is a Catholic, unified with the Church community through the symbol of the cross.
The humility with which people acquiesce to be marked in this way is striking. This mark is a sign of one's repentance -- an external admission of sorrow for one's mistakes and failings. What a profound way to submit to God and express your service to God to those around you.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Shrine of St. Joseph
From time to time, I go on what I term as "field trips" with the lady who was my RCIA sponsor. We pick a Catholic place I haven't been to and go there with each other. It is a great way for me to spend time with my friend, who's a great lady (and former School Sister of Notre Dame), and the field trips help me get a greater understanding and context for the universal Church.
Today, we visited the Shrine of St. Joseph, which is in downtown St. Louis. After Mass at 11 AM, we went on a tour that was given by Les, a volunteer at the shrine. His tour was extremely informative and lasted far longer than I thought it might; the whole thing was well over an hour. Not only did we tour the church itself, but we were also invited to tour the rectory.
The most unique thing to know about the shrine is it is the site of the only miracle in the midwestern U.S. to have been authenticated by the Vatican.
The shrine itself is beautiful and has a lot of statuary. A major restoration of the shrine began in the early 80's. I don't think the restoration is officially "over", but many people have certainly have done some amazing things with this previously dilapidated site in the last quarter century.
Today, we visited the Shrine of St. Joseph, which is in downtown St. Louis. After Mass at 11 AM, we went on a tour that was given by Les, a volunteer at the shrine. His tour was extremely informative and lasted far longer than I thought it might; the whole thing was well over an hour. Not only did we tour the church itself, but we were also invited to tour the rectory.
The most unique thing to know about the shrine is it is the site of the only miracle in the midwestern U.S. to have been authenticated by the Vatican.
The shrine itself is beautiful and has a lot of statuary. A major restoration of the shrine began in the early 80's. I don't think the restoration is officially "over", but many people have certainly have done some amazing things with this previously dilapidated site in the last quarter century.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
St. Malo - peak to peak highway
OK this is totally sweet -- it's a place I can go to do a spiritual retreat that also happens to be located near one of the most spectacular destinations and bicycling locations in this country:
www.saintmalo.org
It's good to be Catholic. God bless Rev. Msgr. Joseph J. Bosetti for discovering this location.
www.saintmalo.org
It's good to be Catholic. God bless Rev. Msgr. Joseph J. Bosetti for discovering this location.
Notes from the pain cave
You may know that in bicycling (and probably other sports), there is a concept known as the "pain cave", which is the place you go when you are really pushing yourself to, or even beyond, your previously achieved or known limits. The object of going through your pain cave is to see how far you can push yourself to the limits, but still manage to come out of the pain cave alive.
I am training myself for the cycling season, getting motivated to enter the pain cave, which will culminate in an attempt at my first ever 100-mile bike ride, which I hope to do in May of this year. I think I can do it, but won't know until I have done a few training rides on my new road bike, which I hope to buy some time next month.
In 2005, riding even 10 miles on a bike, let alone 100, would have seemed utterly insurmountable, physically and mentally. In 2006, I began cycling again, but the 100-mile ride was not something that entered my head until the last ride of the season, when I strongly finished 40 miles on my mountain bike. When talking to people at bike shops and at the gym about this accomplishment, they usually express surprise that I rode so far on a mountain bike, then tell me that if I am able to do 40 miles on a mt. bike, I should be able to do 60 miles on a road bike with no problems. Cool!
Life itself has many pain caves that we go through. We experience physical pain, searing heartbreak at the hands of loved ones, disappointments, sadness, and mourning. Sometimes several of these things happen all at once, which can really test your perseverance. I have had many of these experiences in the past few months -- the death of a very dear family friend in November, the death of a too-young (35 years old) co-worker due to cancer in January, personal issues, and the most recent trip to the pain cave was courtesy of the two guys who mugged me. The trick is to bear down and work through the pain cave, trusting in God to get you through it.
You will find me in the gym several times a week during these cold winter months, hammering away on the arc trainer machine, or sometimes the elliptical or maybe even jogging the treadmill (another goal this year to is complete my first-ever 5-K run). I'm usually staring straight ahead, into a wall or looking at a window. I'm envisioning myself pushing through the pain cave at mile 75, working my way through the darkness and pain, and into the light, with God's help.
I am training myself for the cycling season, getting motivated to enter the pain cave, which will culminate in an attempt at my first ever 100-mile bike ride, which I hope to do in May of this year. I think I can do it, but won't know until I have done a few training rides on my new road bike, which I hope to buy some time next month.
In 2005, riding even 10 miles on a bike, let alone 100, would have seemed utterly insurmountable, physically and mentally. In 2006, I began cycling again, but the 100-mile ride was not something that entered my head until the last ride of the season, when I strongly finished 40 miles on my mountain bike. When talking to people at bike shops and at the gym about this accomplishment, they usually express surprise that I rode so far on a mountain bike, then tell me that if I am able to do 40 miles on a mt. bike, I should be able to do 60 miles on a road bike with no problems. Cool!
Life itself has many pain caves that we go through. We experience physical pain, searing heartbreak at the hands of loved ones, disappointments, sadness, and mourning. Sometimes several of these things happen all at once, which can really test your perseverance. I have had many of these experiences in the past few months -- the death of a very dear family friend in November, the death of a too-young (35 years old) co-worker due to cancer in January, personal issues, and the most recent trip to the pain cave was courtesy of the two guys who mugged me. The trick is to bear down and work through the pain cave, trusting in God to get you through it.
You will find me in the gym several times a week during these cold winter months, hammering away on the arc trainer machine, or sometimes the elliptical or maybe even jogging the treadmill (another goal this year to is complete my first-ever 5-K run). I'm usually staring straight ahead, into a wall or looking at a window. I'm envisioning myself pushing through the pain cave at mile 75, working my way through the darkness and pain, and into the light, with God's help.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Trust in God; love people
Next Sunday's first reading is from Jeremiah, and I am really looking forward to hearing what our homilist has to say about it (excerpt below):
Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
This reading really caught my attention, especially in light of what my co-worker's girlfriend had advised him, which was "trust in God; love people" and because this reading just happens to come a few days after having been mugged at knifepoint.
I think God must be trying to tell me something. . .
Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
This reading really caught my attention, especially in light of what my co-worker's girlfriend had advised him, which was "trust in God; love people" and because this reading just happens to come a few days after having been mugged at knifepoint.
I think God must be trying to tell me something. . .
Friday, February 2, 2007
Mugged!
Yesterday morning, I was mugged at 6:30 by two young men, one of whom was wielding a knife. I was on the street in front of my house where I park my van, preparing to get inside the van to leave; they cornered me by my van, one of them displayed a knife, and they stole my tote bag (thinking it was my purse), then realizing they hadn't gotten my purse, one of them pushed me out of the way to get to my purse, which was in the passenger's front seat, and took off running. I screamed "NO" and "HELP" as loud as I could, but no one heard me, or if they could, they weren't able to get out of their house fast enough to help me. It was over in about 2 seconds, if that.
I was really grateful I wasn't physically harmed. Also, the van was running, with both the driver's and driver's side doors open, so they could easily have pushed me out of the way, hopped in, and drove off with everything, so I was really grateful that didn't happen, either! I think they were too young to drive, so I think they didn't try to steal it for that reason. The police recovered my tote bag, which the robbers ditched less than a block away when they realized all it contained was papers and books. I haven't heard from the police about them recovering my purse, but I don't expect to get that back. Believe me, after calling the police, then calming down, my next response was to get service turned off to my mobile phone and, when they opened, I called all my debit/credit card companies and cancelled everything in my wallet. Of course, I have lost my mobile phone, iPod, and two 1 GB jump drives, so that's a hassle/expense to contend with.
So, what's a Christian person to do with this kind of situation?
Well I definitely said more than a couple of prayers of thanksgiving for my being physically unharmed and for that my van was not stolen, also. After those two major things, I am trying to figure out a way to forgive these people. For one thing, they are young, and young people do some really dumb things. I just hope they realize the error of their ways before they do something idiotic and permanent, like hurting someone. I think I will ultimately be able to forgive them, but that's not to say I am taking lightly what has happened, and have already begun taking precautions to avoid this situation again. Of course, my forgiving them does not mean I condone what they have done; they are absolutely in the wrong for what they have done.
The day before this happened to me, a friend of mine at work told me something his girlfriend said to him that he found to be very profound. He said she had told him "love people, but put your trust in God" and that if you trust people, they will always fail you, and you will forever be disappointed in them. I suppose, based upon this incident and some other things that have happened to me in my life, this is true. I wish it weren't.
I have never been one to let people into my inner sanctum. There are very few who I can say I trust with my innermost thoughts and feelings . . . . maybe only one or two people in my life right now.
God, however, can be trusted with all of my self, and He is always constant and true.
I was really grateful I wasn't physically harmed. Also, the van was running, with both the driver's and driver's side doors open, so they could easily have pushed me out of the way, hopped in, and drove off with everything, so I was really grateful that didn't happen, either! I think they were too young to drive, so I think they didn't try to steal it for that reason. The police recovered my tote bag, which the robbers ditched less than a block away when they realized all it contained was papers and books. I haven't heard from the police about them recovering my purse, but I don't expect to get that back. Believe me, after calling the police, then calming down, my next response was to get service turned off to my mobile phone and, when they opened, I called all my debit/credit card companies and cancelled everything in my wallet. Of course, I have lost my mobile phone, iPod, and two 1 GB jump drives, so that's a hassle/expense to contend with.
So, what's a Christian person to do with this kind of situation?
Well I definitely said more than a couple of prayers of thanksgiving for my being physically unharmed and for that my van was not stolen, also. After those two major things, I am trying to figure out a way to forgive these people. For one thing, they are young, and young people do some really dumb things. I just hope they realize the error of their ways before they do something idiotic and permanent, like hurting someone. I think I will ultimately be able to forgive them, but that's not to say I am taking lightly what has happened, and have already begun taking precautions to avoid this situation again. Of course, my forgiving them does not mean I condone what they have done; they are absolutely in the wrong for what they have done.
The day before this happened to me, a friend of mine at work told me something his girlfriend said to him that he found to be very profound. He said she had told him "love people, but put your trust in God" and that if you trust people, they will always fail you, and you will forever be disappointed in them. I suppose, based upon this incident and some other things that have happened to me in my life, this is true. I wish it weren't.
I have never been one to let people into my inner sanctum. There are very few who I can say I trust with my innermost thoughts and feelings . . . . maybe only one or two people in my life right now.
God, however, can be trusted with all of my self, and He is always constant and true.
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