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Divine Mercy in Pandora

Posted by eph21920 on April 3, 2016 in Answer, Connected, Faith, Jesus, Mercy, Music

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday and I have been looking forward to it. A very good friend gave me the “Diary of St. Faustina” many years ago. It has only been within the past year that I have started reading it, just a little at a time as there is much to contemplate. St. Faustina had actual conversations with Jesus and from her we have the image of Divine Mercy. In the picture, Jesus is standing, approaching us with one arm extended and the other one near his heart which is emitting white and red rays of light. He invites us to come to Him just as we are, and to accept His love and mercy. I started saying the novena to the Divine Mercy on Good Friday and actually made it all the way through – which is amazing for me. I went to Mass and then to a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration which included the Chaplet to Divine Mercy. I guess I expected an overwhelming sense of God’s presence, love and mercy. It was peaceful. No thunder or earthquake. Part of me wondered if I had gotten myself all excited for nothing. I guess that is where the trust comes in. Even though I did not experience a huge – something – I trust that my intentions and prayers have been heard and will be answered in due time. Later I spoke to my son who plays music for Mass. He said they sang “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever”. I remembered that being one of the favorites when we were involved with youth ministry. After I hung up with him, I put on my Pandora station. That was the first song that played. I smiled and took it as God’s little way of saying that He is here and He is listening.

I Found God today as I learned more about Divine Mercy, prayed, and experienced a “coincidence” that made me smile.

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Not Too Much Trouble

Posted by eph21920 on April 2, 2016 in Mercy, Shopping, Stranger

As I was out and about this afternoon, I pulled into a busy shopping area. At one of the busiest intersections was a seemingly homeless man sitting with his backpack and carelessly holding a sign that I could not read. Across the road from him a young woman was jogging his direction. I thought that was a strange place to be running as there were no sidewalks and tons of cars. She made her way across the street and handed something to the man. She waved to him as she crossed back over. This young woman evidently had parked her car somewhere in the packed parking lot and went through the trouble of navigating the hectic traffic just to give something to this man. She could have decided it -he- was too much of a bother. She didn’t. She showed mercy.

I Found God today in a generous and merciful young woman.

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What Is It About Flowers?

Posted by eph21920 on April 1, 2016 in Creation, Happiness, Joy

I got a bouquet of cut spring flowers for the table for Easter. My mom knows how to prepare them and arrange them so they look like they came straight from the florist. This time, however, I thought I would “help”. I told my mom that I usually just cut the ends off and put them in a vase. She said that would be fine – as she humored me. So, that’s what I did. They looked pretty good – for about 2 days. Then some of the more delicate flowers withered up. My mom did some surgery and the flowers that remained looked better than before, though they were sparse. Today at the grocery store, I went down an aisle close to the florist and saw a woman handing out free bouquets. She would ask people if they wanted some free flowers to take home. Everyone said yes as it brought a smile to their face. She offered one to me and I followed suit. I stuck around for a bit just to watch and everyone who got the flowers was grateful and joyful. Not one person turned down the offer. What is it about flowers? I brought my bouquet home and let my mom work her magic. She trimmed them down and added them to the meager arrangement that was left from Easter. They are beautiful.

I Found God today in the beauty of flowers and the joy that was spread by sharing them.

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Prayer at Dutch Bros

Posted by eph21920 on March 31, 2016 in Faith, Life, Mercy, Prayer

Today I saw a story about some employees from Dutch Brothers coffee who gave comfort to a grieving woman. When the woman drove up to the drive-thru window, she was in tears. She said that her husband had passed away. The young men at the window immediately took her hand and prayed with her. The person in the car behind took a photo and you can see the guys with their heads bowed. You can also see other employees extending their arms, though they cannot reach the vehicle. It was such a beautiful example of showing mercy as I was just learning about. You can see the full story here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNV0X3n3HE4

I Found God today in a wonderful act of mercy.

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Be Merciful to Others

Posted by eph21920 on March 30, 2016 in Faith, Mercy, Prayer, Relationship

Tonight I met with the group at the church for the final session of the retreat I have been doing. To finish, the speaker talked about making a plan to help live what we learned over the past 10 weeks. One of the biggest points to take away from the retreat was to be merciful to others. I always struggle with large concepts and was happy that this was broken down into something tangible. The author explained that the characteristic that sets people apart from other living creatures is that we have a yearning for God. Each one of us experiences a deep loneliness and long for someone to really know and love us. We keep ourselves very distracted so we don’t have to be alone with ourselves and face this fact. Between cell phones and computers, work and sports, sometimes drugs and alcohol, we do what we can to stay busy or to try to find happiness. But ultimately, we each have a sense of emptiness and loneliness that can only be filled by a relationship with God. So, how do we “be merciful to others”? We can do this by acknowledging the dignity of each person through simple things like allowing someone to go in front of us in a grocery store line, to ask someone how they are doing and then really listen to them, by being joyful and patient and helping others to do the same, by praying for others. And as a bonus, when we act merciful, it makes us more compassionate. I thought these were all great suggestions and things that I can work on. I really enjoyed the retreat and will definitely try to be more merciful to others.

I Found God today in the final retreat session and a commitment to be more merciful.

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A Smokestack

Posted by eph21920 on March 29, 2016 in Answer, Family, Grateful, Happiness

Today my mom had a doctor appointment about 25 minutes away. It seemed like we would never get there. As we headed down our normal route, there was some road construction and the traffic was backed way up. After waiting a while, I made a u-turn and took a different route. That seemed to work out OK. I intended on dropping my mom at the front door so she could go right in. When we arrived at the office – which is right next to the busy hospital – there were 2 small transport buses parked on either side letting people out. We were actually stopped behind another bus waiting for their turn to pull in. There was a little juggling of the vehicles so the bus in front of us could make his way into the entrance, but that was it. The parking lot was jam packed and behind us at this point, so I got as close as I could and my mom got out. I made sure she made it across the street safely to the sidewalk where the door was. Then I headed through the hospital parking which was just as crowded. I went around the block to try it again. I drove through the lot of the doctor’s office and there were still people waiting for someone to leave so they could park somewhere. Then I spotted the parking garage and figured it was probably my best bet. I was happy to see some open spaces – until I saw the “Reserved For . . . ” signs. So I continued up, and up, and up to the roof. By this time, I was elated to find a parking spot up there. As I walked to the elevator, I saw a large smokestack in front of me protruding up from the other side of the parking garage. I looked up and saw that there were 4 crosses painted along the top. My frustrations vanished and I could feel myself smile. To me, it was a little reminder that God is in every situation. Oh, and my mom’s doctor appointment went great.

I Found God today in a reminder that God is in every situation.

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Hearing From a Friend

Posted by eph21920 on March 28, 2016 in Connected, Faith, Friends, Grateful, Happiness, Youth

Today I heard from a friend that I haven’t seen in over a year. I was blessed to have him work in youth ministry with me. He was always one that I looked up to and knew that I could count on. I always admired his quiet, yet strong faith and his desire and ability to share it with the youth. He caught me up to date on things that were going on in his life. Hearing from him really made me happy.

I Found God today touching base with a friend and remembering the impact he had on me and on the youth he worked with.

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Easter Weekend

Posted by eph21920 on March 27, 2016 in Faith, Family, Food, Grateful, Jesus

Happy Easter! Yesterday was Holy Saturday. I read a few things and listened to a few things and watched a few things. All of them spoke of how Holy Saturday on a Christian level is a day of silence. We remember that Jesus is in the tomb between death and Resurrection. I thought of this pretty often during the day and imagined being there, in the dark, in the silence, with Him. It was strangely peaceful. My sister and her son came just in time for dinner. My teenage nephew found the candy making supplies and got creative. He experimented with different objects to see what he could make out of the chocolate melts. He actually made a chocolate cup with a handle that was amazing among many other things. Then we put together a Blueberry French Toast casserole so it would be ready to pop in the oven for Easter breakfast.

This morning I got up and headed to the kitchen to do the rest of the preparation for breakfast and decorate the dining room table with Easter trinkets and candy. The Blueberry French Toast was delicious. It was like eating dessert for breakfast. We headed to church and I was a little surprised that my dad went as he is still re-gaining his strength from his recent hospital episode. The church was packed of course and after standing for quite some time at the beginning, my dad started feeling dizzy. He made it through the Scripture of the apostles going to Jesus’ tomb and finding it empty. Then I brought him home to rest and put my nephew in charge. As I went back to church for my mom and sister, I was thinking how I would have really liked to receive Communion on Easter. When I entered the church, the last few people were getting in the Communion line so I joined them. I was so grateful. When we got back home after church, we raided the candy basket, got dinner started, and had some lunch. By that time my dad was feeling better. We were all very happy about that. We made a leg of lamb for dinner with a recipe I found. It was to be cooked in a hot oven for a bit, then turn the oven down and cook it for a longer time. We could smell it cooking after not too long. It turned out that my sister, who is unfamiliar with the newer oven, thought she turned it down, but had not pushed the correct button. We were afraid it was ruined. However, it turned out beautifully. We were all surprised and thankful. During the day we had fun looking at and sharing pictures and video chatting with family. It was an all around wonderful weekend.

I Found God today in so many ways to be grateful, especially in the Resurrection of Jesus and His hope and promise of eternal life.

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Suffering Stations

Posted by eph21920 on March 25, 2016 in Faith, Jesus, Lent, Prayer, Sacrifice, Struggles

Good Friday. My mom and I went to the church today to pray the Stations of the Cross. At each of the 14 stations, there was a meditation about a particular element of suffering that Jesus Christ endured as he carried his cross to the place of his crucifixion and was ultimately put to death. Each station also included a personal prayer that correlated with the particular element. Even though the church was full of people saying the same prayers, it felt very personal to me. We asked for help to undergo the sufferings that we feel in life – physical ailments, missing loved ones, watching others go through hard times. We prayed for faith and the ability to trust God with all the situations in our lives. We asked for help to love more and be more compassionate. Generic prayers, perhaps, but I felt as if the words were written for me alone. My mother felt the same way. I think that is one of the blessings of being in relationship with God. He is everywhere, available to everyone, all the time. Yet, when I pray, it feels very private – just me and God.

I Found God today in remembering the suffering Jesus Christ endured through His crucifixion, which helped me to trust that my own sufferings are beneficial.

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Look of Love

Posted by eph21920 on March 24, 2016 in Faith, Jesus, Lent, Love

I always look forward to Holy Thursday. Maybe that is strange. But to me the day offers so much symbolism and meaning to contemplate. I went to Mass this evening and the scripture readings included the story of Jesus’ last supper with His apostles. At the meal, Jesus washed the feet of his friends. He served them and we are asked to do the same. At church, the priest reenacted Jesus’ actions by washing the feet of 12 people. He had them lined up at the ends of the pews down a couple of aisles. I was sitting 2 rows back from one of the ladies, so got to see it up close. The priest came to the woman, knelt down, and poured the water over her feet. As he was drying them, he looked at her. But this wasn’t just any look. It was a deep, penetrating look of love. I even felt it. I watched her as her eyes welled up with tears. I looked at the young man who was an altar server standing behind the priest. He was watching the interaction also and getting teary eyed. I wondered if the woman was a particularly close friend of the priest. But as he moved on to the others, he did exactly the same thing and his look of love to each one was as if Jesus Himself was there. It was a beautiful thing to be present for.

I Found God today in a look of love.

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