Joyful Words Blog
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.
– Psalm 119:105
– Psalm 119:105
When I hear the word poor, I usually think of no money…anyone else think that? The story of the widow’s coins is a part of the Holy Week narrative, and it was one of many lessons Jesus was teaching during his final week. Truth is, it’s not about money or earthly wealth at all but rather about humility, generosity, trust and the sincere condition of the heart. I pondered some areas of my life where I needed to imitate the poor widow because I missed the point of story and here’s what I came up with.
There are days when I’m short on patience. My tongue can be snappy and my judgments quick. One of the great casualties of being poor in patience is not being a good listener. To be like the poor widow, I need to listen more than I insist on being listened to. Lord, on these impatient days, help me know the wealth of loving those beloved of yours that come into my life. Sometimes I’m short on trust. When my trust is low, I decide to take control and try to do God’s work for him. I tend to look to heaven and say, “I got this one God!” I can tell ya how that usually works out. When I’m low on trust, I doubt his love for me and the wisdom of his plan…silly me! Being like the poor widow means believing with all my heart that the Father’s plan is Heaven, and getting there is a beautiful story. I can’t forget that I’m looking at one page of the story and He’s holding the whole book! Lord, on the days I lack trust, help me remember the only riches I should desire come from trusting you and being your disciple. I’m often rich in pride instead of poor in humility. I forget that God organizes things specifically the way he needs them to be. When money is tight or when success seems to find its way into someone else’s life it’s tough not to get discouraged. Remind me of the wealth that comes from celebrating the good things that come to others because they are blessings from you. We are like the poor widow we rejoice in the blessings of others instead of evaluating all the reasons it should have happened to us instead. When I’m poor in humility; Lord remind me to keep my nose in my own journey. The poor widow showed us how to live in the present. God has created THIS day and is inviting us to be with him here. Yesterday is already finished, and tomorrow isn’t a guarantee. The people, the opportunities, the joys and the challenges of THIS day are His gift to me and it’s my job to soak it all in and ask constantly through the day how to do his will. A Seed To Plant: As we prepare for the Glory of Easter, let’s take these last few days of Holy Week praying for ways to be like the poor widow who gave from the bottom of her trusting heart. Blessings on your day!
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Believe it or not, here we sit right in the middle of the last regular week of Lent. As we close in on Palm Sunday, I’m offering this re-post because it contains so much to consider. If your Lent expectations didn’t quite match up with your Lent reality, this is the perfect way to finish strong and head into Easter with a joy and a prayerfulness that will bring peace to your heart. As Palm Sunday comes barreling toward us, some of you are tired, some are frustrated, some are happy, and some are worried. No matter what you’re feeling as we wrap up this week and head into the next week, I’m going to ask you to put it all on hold and realize this is not just another week. This is HOLY WEEK and more than anything I want this week to be different for you, for me, for everyone who is a Christian. This is a week of powerful sacrifice, love, commitment and glory. The point and purpose of this post is to help you make this week set apart from all the others. I’m asking all of us to lay down our worries, our burdens and our “stuff” and choose instead to walk this week with Jesus.
The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist in Duluth MN have a spectacular way of living out this week and setting it apart. I’d like to share their Holy Week focus in hopes it will change our focus too. Here’s what they think and pray about each day this week. They actually begin on Saturday before Palm Sunday. I’ve added a couple of questions to each day in hopes we can think about and act on them as we walk with Jesus through this extraordinary last week of his earthly life. ***Commitment Saturday - Ponder and pray about the commitment Jesus made to his Father’s plan and will. The commitment he made to our salvation. How have I committed to Jesus? What can I commit to do for him today? ***Procession Sunday - Jesus publicly showed his love for the Father. Will I walk with him? What will I do today to publicly stand and walk with Jesus? ***Extravagance Monday - How extravagant was his love for us. Read the story of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume in Matthew 26. Her love and her actions showed extravagant love. How has Jesus shown extravagant love for you? Who can you love today? ***Compulsion to Completion Tuesday - Jesus was compelled to move forward to do his Father’s will despite doubts, worries, troubles or fear. He was determined to complete the Father’s will. What is God asking you to do for him? Where do you need to add compulsion and completion like Jesus? ***Aloneness Wednesday - Jesus knew the next day he would give everything and he paused to be alone in prayer, in silence in the presence of his Father. Spend at least 30 minutes in silence today. Take time to be alone with your Father and His Son pondering the upcoming few days and all Jesus did for you. Read the Gospel accounts of Holy Thursday and Good Friday so you will be ready to think about them in the upcoming days. ***Body Given Thursday - Jesus gave everything. His body to the guards who arrest him this night and in the Last Supper, he gave us the everlasting promise of His Body and Blood which were to be poured out for the salvation of us all. What is Jesus asking you to give? Are there people in your life who need the gifts you can offer them? ***Impotent Friday - Jesus was powerless on this day. He who was Almighty became powerless for our sake and his Father had to observe it all. That happened for you and for me. Where do you need to submit to the Father? Where do you need to relinquish some power to the Father, knowing all the while he will be with you? From the time you wake up until 3 spend 5 to 10 minutes each hour meditating on the events of Good Friday; walking with him through this sorrowful day. ***Saturday - The Day of Night, Jesus spent this day in darkness. It was still, it was waiting, it was quiet. It was a day that with patience, reaped great glorious joy. Where do you need to be more patient? Find a way to practice that today. ***Sunday - The Day of Miracles. After you eat your chocolate bunny, make a list of all the miracles God has worked in your life and be sure to put Jesus a the top of the list. A Seed To Plant: Print this one or open it each morning so you remember how to pray your way through each day and say a prayer of thanksgiving for the good Sisters for their Holy Week example. Blessings on your day! I’m often asked how I like my first months of retirement and the truth is, I have loved all the extra time I’ve gotten to spend with grandkids and time spent helping family. I had the opportunity and the time to write a book. I do enjoy the extra prayer time and the time with my handsome groom, but I miss my teacher friends and I miss the kids for sure. I was cleaning out a file folder and came across some wise words written by some fifth graders a few years back and have been saving them for a Lenten post. These were snippets from Stations of the Cross Reflections written by some very beautiful and prayerful hearted eleven-year-olds. I hope they give you cause to ponder and pray.
*Jesus, they stripped your garment from you, and you didn’t complain, help me realize I need to be stripped of bad habits without complaining. Jesus, help me strip from evil things and put on clothes of kindness and clothes of love. *Jesus, when they rolled that stone in front of the tomb it separated you from the people who loved you. Help me realize my sin is just like that big stone; it separates me from you and the more I sin the heavier that stone becomes making it harder to roll away. *Jesus, when Simon helped you, he showed us how to be unselfish, he showed us how to be a friend even to a stranger. Help me love others even when it’s hard or I don’t want to. *When the women of Jerusalem came to meet you, they weren’t afraid; I would have been. I would have worried about those mean soldiers and their whips, but you weren’t. This station shows me I shouldn’t be afraid to stand up for Jesus and defend him. It also makes me think that I should be a friend to others and accept friendship when somebody shows it to me. *Jesus, I could never do what you did. I don’t think I’m supposed to because you did it for me and I thank you for that. I can carry my own cross though; I can fold the towels when my mom asks me and not pretend, I don’t hear her ask. Jesus, you give us little crosses to carry and every time I do that, I make it easier for the person who follows me just like you made it easier to follow you because you did the hard stuff. *I can understand why you fell Jesus. You were so tired, and the cross was so heavy but you got up and kept going. Help me get up when I fall, help me realize things like being ignored or getting blamed for something I didn’t do are so tiny compared to what you did for me. Help me be stronger and not make such a big deal out of little things. As I read their reflections, I was inspired to be a better Disciple of Jesus. Their words were so honest and to the point they left me changed. As adults we tend to complicate things, so maybe this Lent these simple words can inspired us to pick up our cross. A Seed To Plant: Strip yourself of devices and screens and noise this week and spend some prayerful time reflecting on the Passion Narrative from the Gospel…walk with Jesus this week in a quiet powerful way. Blessings on your day Welcome to the third week of Lent. So, how’s it going? Are you feeling yourself growing in holiness through your prayer, study and discipline? Maybe this Lent isn’t quite what you planned and imagined on Ash Wednesday. I have discovered that life itself has provided my Lent through events and situations that were not on my radar. Completely by the grace of God, I have been able to abandon my plans and just roll with the things He’s put in my path. We did however have a couple of tuff days where I tried to convince Him we needed a re-route because my first Lent as a retired person was a star-spangled holy plan for sure. It was full of doing and serving and giving and leading and had a very “worldly” focus because I had the time…or so I thought. But then life just started shifting and I had to let go of my plan to take care of the world!
I sure have a knack for overcomplicating things sometimes! I was still trying to convince myself that my extra retirement minutes gave me time to tend to the world and God helped me see how easy it is to get tangled up in the stories and happenings in others’ lives and forget that we aren’t saddled with the job of deciding and judging and sorting it all out. Thank goodness that’s the work of the Father. I’m simply called to love God and to love others. Seems simple but rest assured, I can goof up even that very simple instruction. God always has a way of yanking me back when I’ve wandered too far off. The first few days of Lent he did it with a teeny, little story. A wise, old middle eastern mystic said this about himself. “I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayer to God was: ‘Lord, give me the energy to change the world.’ As I approached middle age and realized that my life was half-gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: ‘Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come in to contact with me. Just my family and friends and I shall be satisfied.’ Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. My one prayer now is: ‘Lord, give me the grace to change myself.’ If I had prayed for this right from the start, I would not have wasted my life. Jesus is calling us to notice the need, the want, the holes and flaws in our own life. Allowing Him to love us and fill those places with His mercy and love is much harder work than trying to change the world. Maybe you will join me during the second half of Lent to let Him help us with the beam in our eye and leave the splinters to Him. A Seed To Plant: Just read that little story a few times and ask the Lord to let it wash over you and change you. I think the world will look a whole lot different if we get this one little prayer right! Blessings on your day! |
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Sheri's writing can also be found at Faith Catholic Publications and on CatholicMom.com
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