I was at the Newman Center today visiting with my priest friend when he received a phone call. He excused himself and when he returned, he looked concerned. He asked for prayers for a family member who had been in an accident and had to be airlifted to the hospital. After telling the story to me and the others there, he went into the chapel to pray. It wasn’t long before he came back out. His family wanted to pray the rosary together, so he left to get on Zoom with them. I thought that was a beautiful way to get everyone together. Later tonight I touched base with him. He reported that the doctor said the injured man was very lucky and, while he had some broken bones, he was expected to recover. That was great news.
I Found God today in a positive diagnosis for an injured man.
A friend of mine breeds poodles. The last litter there were only 2 puppies, but I had fun playing with them. She has a new litter now with 9 puppies. They are 7 weeks old. I got to go for a visit today. Raising 9 puppies took up the whole main floor of her house. When I arrived they were in their resting pen. She opened the gate and they all came running out. She called them, “puppies, puppies!” and they followed her down the hall to the enclosed “Puppy Kindergarten”. Both of us went in with them. The area was full of puppy play toys, a tunnel, a slide, a rocker, and other sensory devices. My friend and I had some treats, so when a puppy came up on the platform in front of us and sat down nicely, they would get a reward. It was pure mayhem for about an hour as the puppies ran around, played with each other, fought with each other, claimed the tunnel for their own, played tug of war, and much more. I just laughed and laughed. After a while, they started to wear out. One by one they found a spot to plop down and close their eyes. Five of them made a puppy pile all together. One of them fell asleep in my lap while I petted his soft fluffy fur. I was so glad my friend allowed me to come over. There’s nothing like an afternoon of puppy therapy.
Yesterday I visited a friend and showed her the photos from my recent trip. Today I had lunch with a different friend and told her about the trip and shared the pictures with her as well. Last week when I visited another friend, part of our conversation was the same as I had the last couple of days. It was about the connection of family. We all have different family structures – married for years, divorced, single, grew up with siblings, or in an adoptive family, knowing extended family or not. In all situations the common experience was that family ties and relationships are like none other. Even in circumstances that are not the best, there is a special bond with those we are related to. This is not to say that those relationships are always great, but my 3 very different friends and I all expressed that even when we have met a new family member for the first time, we feel that connection. It is as if we had known them our whole lives. And if we haven’t visited with someone for a long time, when we are reunited, we just pick up where we were. It is an interesting dynamic and a gift that I am grateful for.
I Found God today being reminded of the beauty and importance of family bonds.
Today when I went to Mass, I just chose a place to sit randomly. Typically, people seem to sit in the same place every week. We like consistency. But today I only thought about sitting in a place where the sun wouldn’t be shining in my face. After a little while I looked around and noticed the large stained-glass window of St. Mother Cabrini right next to me. I smiled. Today the Catholic Church celebrated the first papal church that was constructed in Rome after Constantine ended the persecution of Christians. It is the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The Lateran family owned the land at one time which was confiscated, then passed along to Constantine. He named the church after the family. When the priest was talking about these things in his homily, he brought up a good question, which I have heard too, and which seems to be very relevant as I am seeing so many beautiful churches. The question is, “Why are Catholic churches so elaborate?” The priest acknowledged the struggle that many people have and his answer made so much sense. We know God is everywhere and people can pray to Him wherever they are. Yet, people of God construct buildings and dedicate them totally to and for God’s glory. Everything in the structure is developed to bring us closer to God. Many of the elements are from tradition that have been handed down from centuries. For example, the stained-glass windows harken back to a time when people couldn’t read. The pictures told the story of Jesus Christ. They are still great learning tools for kids. Also, the statues are not meant to be a distraction to take away from praising God, but we learn from and about them. Since we believe that there is life after death, we ask those who have gone before us to pray for us. The bottom line is that a church is a place set aside to come together to worship God. And God is present in the church in a unique way in the Eucharist. We realize our limitations just as Solomon did when he was given the task to build the temple – we cannot contain God. But, we can give the very best we have to create a space for Him. When I witness the beauty and awe-inspiring churches, it humbles me as I remember how small I am and how great God is.
I Found God today understanding more about the beauty of churches.
Today I visited the Mother Cabrini Shrine with some ladies from the church social group that I joined. It was about an hour and a half drive from the city we live in, so I got to know the ladies a little bit more. One of them shares a birthday with me. Not only that, but Mother Cabrini’s feast day is also celebrated on that same day. It was all Divine Providence. Mother Cabrini dedicated her life to helping the poor, the sick, immigrants and those less fortunate and was the first American Citizen to become a canonized saint. During her journeys in 1902 to visit the Italian workers and their families in the Clear Creek, Argentine, and South Park mining districts, Frances X. Cabrini discovered a property on the east slope of Lookout Mountain owned by the town of Golden. In 1909–1910, she negotiated the purchase of this property as a summer camp for her charges at the Queen of Heaven Orphanage in Denver, CO. The only water was in a small pond next to the spring house. All of the water needed for drinking and cooking had to be brought up to the summer camp from the stream at the bottom of Mt. Vernon Canyon. In September 1912, the sisters complained to Mother Cabrini that they were dying of thirst and there was no water to be had. She answered, “Lift that rock over there and start to dig. You will find water fresh enough to drink and clean enough to wash.” The spring, which is housed in an 8,000 gallon tank, has never stopped running. Many pilgrims, through their faith, believe the water has brought healing and peace to their lives. Part of the land included a staircase to the top of a hill overlooking Denver. I surprised myself that I climbed the 373 steps leading up to the top of the Mount of the Sacred Heart. At the top was a large statue of Jesus in blessing over the city. There was also a heart shaped by rocks that Mother Cabrini herself arranged. The structure is under glass for all to see. When we went into the chapel, there was a priest talking with a group of young children. As we loitered, we realized it was his homily and they were actually celebrating Mass. We stayed and were surprised at the intimate, personal prayers for the families there. At the end a boy handed out prayer cards. We then realized that we had crashed a Mass that was being celebrated specifically for a family that included a mother and father, their 6 children and 27 grandchildren. The patriarch had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. As they concluded their time, we snuck out. The time that we spent at the shrine was peaceful and energizing at the same time. I was so grateful for the day.
I Found God today experiencing the Mother Cabrini Shrine.
I was going through social media today as I haven’t really been on too much – which is fine. I came across several thoughtful quotes from TobyMac that made me pause and think.
“Please don’t settle for something you know isn’t God’s plan for you just because you’re tired of waiting.”
“He calls each and every star by name. It’s not likely that He’s forgotten yours.”
“God doesn’t owe us an explanation every time He does something we don’t understand.”
All of these statements reminded me how big God is and how small I am. There are times when I am just doing things that need to be done and ask myself if it really matters in the whole scheme of life. Many times, those “things” really matter to me, such as keeping the house in order, even though I’m the only one here right now. That is necessary for my own personal mental well being. I guess it is good to ask those questions to help me get on the path God wants me to be on. It can be hard and even tedious to wait on God, to remember that He will never forget me, and that His will is perfect even if I don’t understand it. But I find that the more time I spend in prayer, the more I am able to allow Him to guide my actions.
I went to Mass this afternoon, which was specifically for those who have died this past year. I prayed for those I knew and my parents. The priest talked about a funeral he recently attended for a young woman. From his description, I recognized the story I heard at the Newman Center. The teenager was active in their community and they were devastated by her sudden death. The priest talked about how we are both physical and spiritual beings, therefore able to perceive spiritual things. He said that at the funeral, as the host was being consecrated, a beam of light shown through a window directly on the casket. I got chills just thinking about it. He said he looked at the girl’s family who noticed the light and were smiling. Afterwards, they said that they felt it was God telling them that their daughter was with Him. Later in the day, I went to the Newman Center for some volunteer work. I talked with one of the girls there about what the priest said. She had been to the funeral and seen what the priest talked about. She started crying as she showed me some photos of the scene that someone had taken. I had envisioned a small stream of light, but the entire casket was illuminated. One picture showed the light streaming through the incense that was also around the casket. It was dramatic, breath taking, and I joined the girl in tears.
I Found God today in his illuminating presence during a funeral.
Today I talked with the Campus Minister of the Newman Center and learned more about her. She said that she wasn’t raised Catholic, but participated in Christian and Catholic groups, particularly after she graduated from high school. As she explored different religions, she started to attend Mass with a friend and their family. The more she learned about Catholicism, the more she fell in love with it – especially the Catechism, which explains what Catholics believe and why. She was Confirmed into the faith when she was 20 years old. Her experience as a young adult was very meaningful, which is why being the Campus Minister is so important to her, why she has so much love for the students. Her love for them is evident in the way she prepares events for them and interacts with them in person. God has done a great work in her life, and now she is doing a great work for others.
I Found God today in a loving, giving, faithful woman.
Today I visited a friend and her mother who is 90 years old. I told them about my trip and showed them pictures. I’m not sure how much the elderly woman was able to see, so I explained what was in the photos. She explained to me that her eyesight is getting worse and her eyes are getting weaker, but at the same time she is not going blind and she felt blessed by that. Her daughter had made her a big eye chart that looked kind of like a giant word search. It included numbers as well. The woman told me that she uses the chart as part of her eye exercises. She looks at the letters and spells out words with her eye movements. She can also trace phone numbers. My friend showed me pictures of an extravagant church that she had visited. We had a good time visiting and sharing gratitude.
I Found God today sharing stories and gratitude with friends.
Yesterday was a gorgeous day, and I was happy to go for a long walk with one of my neighbors. Later that night, I went over to visit with her and her husband and tell them about my trip. I showed them photos of the sites and my people, and they shared their pictures of a trip they took as well. Perhaps it got too late too fast because of the time change, and maybe we were tired from our long walk, but suddenly everything seemed funny. My friend started laughing and soon her husband and I joined in. We couldn’t stop. It was one hysterical moment after another. When we finally calmed down, I decided I should go home and go to bed. But we all agreed that kind of laughter was good for the body, mind, and soul.
Still Finding God 