Happy 80th Birthday

 

I just arrived home from the time I spend at day’s end in the adoration chapel.  While there, I pray the rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet for our country, and prayers for people and souls I never want to forget.  And I spend time just being in Jesus’ presence, a visitor in His house.  I always have lots of stuff to talk about, and sometimes I just ramble, and often He lets me know His response or thoughts on the matters, even if sometimes He has to interrupt my ramblings.

Today, there were a number of people coming and going in the chapel.  I was never alone, which was a bit surprising since it had snowed heavily this morning, and the roads were pretty hazardous.  At a certain point an elderly man with a cane entered the chapel.  I only noticed because he spoke to someone standing next to him “you’ll come back, right?  Don’t be in any hurry.”  I assumed that the man had been helped on the snowy walks, perhaps by the guy who was plowing the church parking lot.  Time passed quickly, and I felt it was time for me to go home --- I didn’t want to overstay my welcome.  I noticed that now there was only the elderly man sitting near the door and me in the chapel.  And as I was about to pass him, the man who had first helped him came back in.  The older man beckoned me over to speak to him, and asked about the proper way to leave the chapel empty, since we both were leaving.  I told him I would take care of things, but he said “No, my son-in-law will do that.”  Apparently, that was the man who had come in to help him.  Then he said: “I just had to come here today; today is my 80^th birthday.”  And I told him I recently turned 77, but these birthdays don’t matter.  When I die, I told him, there will be a birthday cake at my funeral because “that’s a birthday worth celebrating.”  He didn’t laugh, but only nodded seriously, and said: “Yes, I agree.”

And we parted new friends, from our Friend’s house.

Driving home I thought that perhaps I should have told him how special that chapel is, and all the miracles (or amazing coincidences) I have seen there.  But then I thought, no, perhaps this was just another.

Review: Finding Peace in the Storm

 

St. Alphonsus Ligouri wrote over 100 books and pamphlets in his 60 years of life.  In Finding Peace in the Storm, Dan Burke re-prints (and offers his own commentary and insights) to a letter Ligouri wrote to his daughter, published under the title: Uniformity with God’s Will.

St. Alphonsus Ligouri is a major teacher, a doctor of the Catholic faith.  Mr. Burke does extremely well in explaining how we live in “uniformity with God’s will”, and how this will enable our “finding peace in the storm” of our lives.  St. Alphonsus’ 1760 letter is most appropriate to reflect on in these times.

These are just a few of the words and commentaries which struck me:

St. Alphonsus: Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God: Charity is the bond of perfection; and perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God’s: “The principal effect of love is so to unite the wills of those who love each other as to make them will the same things.
Dan Burke:  Said another way, when we love others deeply, we become more like them.

SA:  … fully persuaded that God does all things, or permits all things, for His Glory and for our greater good; thus, I am always at peace, no matter what happens. 
DB:  When we rail, criticize, and obsess over the work of our “enemies,” or the enemies of all that is good and true in the Church, we can find ourselves in the very dangerous position of railing at something that God has allowed --- and thus at God Himself.  Instead, we should ask ourselves, “What is the Almighty doing here?  How can I join Him?  How can I be part of the solution to the difficulties at hand?

SA:  In matters that affect us personally, let us deliberately embrace God’s will.  … Build up or tear down. O Lord, as seems good in your sight.  I am content.  I wish only what You desire.
DB:  The devil tries to draw us into the past to hold us bondage to our shame or into the future to be fearful of possible outcomes.  Thus, temptations to dwell in the past or in the future should always be resisted.

SA:  How many, on account of physical beauty or robust health, have plunged headlong into a life of debauchery!  How many, on the contrary, who, by reason of poverty, infirmity, or physical deformity, have become saints and have saved their souls --- who, given health, wealth, or physical attractiveness, had else lost their souls!
MY COMMENT:  Those are my words!!!  I’ve often said that being born beautiful, rich, or wise is both a blessing and a curse, for just the reasons St. Alphonsus noted. 

SA:  If souls resigned to God’s will are humiliated, they want to be humiliated; if they are poor, they want to be poor; in short, whatever happens is acceptable to them; hence, they are truly at peace in this life.  …. This is the abiding peace that, in the experience of the saints, surpasses all understanding,
DB:  Here St. Alphonsus references a truly outstanding passage from St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice.  Let all men know your forbearance.  … Have no anxiety about anything. …  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  (4:4-7)   The most astonishing aspect of this passage is that it was written while Paul was in prison!

In the last few pages of this book, Mr. Burke describes some of the ministries he has founded to help people in their spiritual growth, of which I am a member and support.  I liked his closing words where he gives a simple way to review your day before you go to bed.  “Fly slowly over your day and ask two simple questions: (1) What have I been able to do, by the grace of God, that honors Him and others?  … and express praise and thanksgiving to God.  (2) How have I failed to honor God and others?  Then pray in thanksgiving: ‘Thank you, Lord, for revealing my sin to me so that I can be forgiven and strengthened to overcome this sin in the future.’  … (this daily reflection) ke
eps you awake to your progress on the narrow way to heaven, and it helps ensure you stay on the path.  It also perfects your trust in God, and deepens your understanding of yourself as a beloved child, dependent on His help and mercy for every good in your life.

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In a somewhat related matter, the men’s group watched a video talk by Fr. Mike Schmitz, one he gave in Washington two years ago at the March for Life.  In that talk, Fr. Mike mentioned two critical things.  First, he said all life is a gift, something I’ve come to understand and speak of often.  We cannot “make” human life happen, we can only set the stage for God’s gift, but it is He who chooses to give it or not, whether to the long-married couple, the casual “I did it because it feels good” people, or the rape victim.  He chooses to make the gift of life, for His reasons, at His times.  Regardless of when we were chosen to be gifts to our parents, we should give thanks.

The second point Fr. Mike made hit me personally.  Human life, a person, this gift, starts at conception.  At that point there is a baby, there is a mother, and she will remain a mother all her life --- and therefore, as will the father always remain a father of this conceived child.  Both received the gift of life from God.  I’ve rarely thought of the child conceived by my wife, and then miscarried.  I treated it as an event that happened, “oh well, …”.  A gift from God that I ignored.  A gift I never said thanks for.  A child I rarely prayed for.

All life is a gift from God.  It is not something we choose.  It is not something we should ever abort, or ignore, or forget.  Seeing life as a gift really is seeing it in “Uniformity with God’s Will.”  Seeing it as so, will give us “Peace in the Storm”.

Winter in Michigan

 

It’s winter in Michigan, albeit about a month late.  “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” was only a dream then, but I’ve still got my Christmas tree up and now playing that carol seems appropriate.  (I leave my tree up to celebrate His birth, until Easter, when we celebrate His re-birth.)  The snow falling is beautiful and playing the carols again is just great.

Other things, however, are not so great.

The first real snow came after a month of above freezing temperatures, so when the flakes hit the unseasonably warm ground, the first flakes melted, until the inches falling rapidly began to add up.  And up.  Meanwhile, the temperature went down.  And down.  Shoveling yesterday morning showed me my age, and I tackled the driveway with the very heavy snow on the bottom in three stages, with rest breaks in between.  Even at that, when I came to the last bit, the driveway between the sidewalk and the street, I called it quits.  It had the added snow and ice from the plow which had gone down my street.  If I were to tackle that, I’d probably need at least another 6 rest breaks.  So, I gave up.  It will melt, although perhaps not this month.  At worst, if another wave of snow arrives, I’ll be homebound, like the people I visit each week.  Maybe somebody will visit me!  But I did go shopping just two days ago, and I have plenty of food for at least a month, although I might have to start checking the expiration dates on some of those old canned goods.

Driving to church this morning, I drove some of the less-traveled main roads, or perhaps I should say I slid down them.  But at least I stayed on the roads, unlike many others, as the tracks off into the snow indicated.  The main roads had two tire tracks in the snow, and sometimes showed the bare pavement, but traffic was slowed.  And my car’s technology was in full swing.  The first was the lane guards, which sense when the car goes out of its lane, either over the right white line, or the left yellow line.  Unfortunately, when the early drivers drove over the snow, they couldn’t see the lines, and stayed approximately where they should be --- but my car’s technology kept warning me that by staying in the two tire tracks I was often going over either of the lane lines.  Later, after I’d driven a while in the single digit temperatures, the “Low Tire Pressure” indicator came on.  On my newly leased vehicle, it indicated the tire pressure in each of the 4 tires, and I had to respond “OK” to the message each time it appeared.  Oh well, at least my car electronics doesn’t have Alexa (or whatever other dumb name) TELLING me each time it warned me.  That would make me nuttier than I already am.

I can’t imagine how driverless vehicles --- soon to be forced on us by the government which knows everything --- would handle the lane protection technology.  Would it respond by steering the car out of the two rutted lanes and into the packed snow, and sending the car into a spin, or the ditch?  Ah, the wonders of technology that await us.

When I arrived at church this morning, the parking lot was almost empty.  I wondered if the mass had been cancelled, but people continued wandering into church up to a half hour after the mass had started.  The roads again, but then I saw all the bundled-up kids and realized the cold and snow could cause more problems than the driving ones.  Families seem to have forgotten how long it takes to get the kids ready for the extreme cold.  But at least the kids were still laughing at events, as only kids can.  They brighten any gloomy day, and remind us how very blessed we are, regardless of the weather.

NOW I will feel comfortable saying to people: “Season’s Greetings.” It is the winter season in Michigan.

Merry Christmas!  Now it looks like a Michigan Christmas.