CHANGING SEASONS

We just returned from a week trip to Bar Harbor Maine, all in all was very gorgeous drive. Sophie was a good trouper and did well in the car, probably as good as the two of us. 

We enjoyed the changing of the seasons and the beauty of God's gracious world. The heavenly painter really out did herself in the array of colors. 

I will admit that it was a long way to go but a dream of mine to see the ocean and the dessert island of Bar Harbor. We were on the furthest part of the USA without being in the ocean.

As we came home I also noted the change in the weather, cooler at night, most of our leaves are gone. Time to get out the warmer clothes, comforters and the like. Take out the frozen plants. 

Winding down time seems at times more conducive to reflection. I know my personal season is changing as well. The time of being a wisdom figure so they say. I daily pray for God's guidance. We all have wisdom to share if we are willing. 

Parents try to share wisdom with their children to keep them from learning the hard lessons they had to learn. I hear it doesn't always work. 

May we also be willing to share wisdom with friends and  co-workers in this time of change.

Do Dogs go to heaven

Someone asked me if pets to to heaven.
Our loving God made all of creation for us to enjoy. He said it is good.
Why not in heaven as well.

CHANGING OF SEASONS

Today is a beautiful day outside, some frost did hit the plants on our deck and their time has come. The season is changing and today is fall time of the year. 

I have also been asking God's help with the changing of seasons in one who I love. Some days he doesn't remember things. I pray for the gift to enjoy each encounter as he is moving closer to letting go in his life. I know at 96 this is to be expected but that is a intellectual thing and I am not there yet. His letting go is gradual and a good lesson for me.

These moments are hard lessons to learn as I sometimes get too far into the future and grieve the losses. I know I have my own letting go to embrace but somehow this seems different. 

I take time to thank God for the gift of relationship we have.  I ask for the grace to live one day at a time. 

I know life is a journey and God has been with me all the way and will be in days to come. It is just some side trails are not ones I would choose. Prayer helps me to go forward knowing God is my companion. Thank you for your prayers as well.

YEAR OF FAITH-SEEKING THE FACE OF JESUS

This coming church year we will be invited to celebrate a year of Faith. 
The LaCrosse office of evangelization has broken this into 4 themes

Oct-Jan Seeking the Face of Jesus, the Face of God. Focus on faith and content of faith

Feb-April Seeking the Face of Jesus in Prayer. How do I pray and notice for what do I pray.

May-July Seeking the Face of Jesus in the Community of the Church. What does it mean for me to be in community with others. 

Aug-November Seeing the Face of Jesus in Suffering and the Marginalized. It is evaluation how our faith leads us to care and have compassion on others.

These reflections lead us to important question? No matter what we believe we and ask ourselves Who is God? What does God want of me? Who am I? And what do I need to do to be faithful to who I am?

Remember our Jewish friends in prayer this week

 

This past Sunday at sundown the Jewish community began the practice of  Rosh HaShanah

Significant symbols of Rosh HaShanah include apples, honey and round loaves of challah. Apple slices dipped in honey represent our hope for a sweet new year and are traditionally accompanied by a short prayer before eating that goes: "May it by Thy will, O Lord, Our God, to grant us a year that is good and sweet." Challah, which is usually baked into braids, is shaped into round loaves of bread on Rosh HaShanah. The circular shape symbolizes the continuation of life.

On the second night of Rosh HaShanah it is customary to eat a fruit that is new to us for the season, saying the shehechiyanu blessing as we eat it to thank God for bringing us to this season. Pomegranates are a popular choice because Israel is often praised for its pomegranates and because, according to legend, pomegranates contain 613 seeds – one for each of the 613 mitzvot. Another reason for eating pomegranates on Rosh HaShanah has to do with the symbolic hope that our good deeds in the coming year will be as many as the seeds of the fruit.

Rosh HaSanah is also a time of self reflection a time of looking at ones life and how one has been living. It is a time of repentance, forgiveness and making decisions if one wants to change the way they have been living or acting. We all could spend a week in such manner and I believe the world would be a more peaceful kinder place to live. 

Let us remember our Jewish friends this week as they begin their New Year and observe this week.

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM IN YOUR LIFE

Today Jesus asks who am I to you  in your daily life?

James says it is not only what we believe but what we do.

Can others tell by my behavior and what I say I am a follower of Jesus way. 

Today in all we do we are the

living  Gospel of Jesus. 

Is it Good News

Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother celebration day

Today the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother celebrate our feast day. A day in which we remember especially the sorrows the Mother of Jesus experienced and reflect on our mission to stand with those who are not served, those on the margins of society, those who are rejected

How would a mother feel at as her child enters the community of the believers to be told you will suffer many things because of this child. Simeon gave this message to Mary as she presented her child to him. 

How would you feel having to leave your homeland and run to a foreign county because the leadership was looking  for you and your child to kill him. 

How would you feel seeing your child mocked, scourged and then made to carry his death cross along the streets, to a jeering crowd only to be crucified as a common criminal.

Every day we encounter many mothers who are experiencing the same situations. We pray we as Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, or model Mary will help us reach out to them to stand with them.

We also thank today all those who stand with us, work with us to continue to serve those in need especially the poor.

I remember you today in my prayers.