Silent Night

I know that I've been quiet here since Christmas. Sometimes it seems that when the Lord is working most strongly in my soul, He moves me to silence. I've always been a naturally conversational person (I love words...particularly adjectives!), but in recent months He has been gently prompting me to value silence more. Words can be beautiful, but many of life's most beautiful moments occur in the quiet. So, too, does He choose to come to us most intimately in the quiet...in the tiny, whispering wind (1 Kings 19).

How often do we really notice the words we sing in that beloved carol Silent Night? That's right: the King of the Universe chose to arrive to the world in silence, in stillness. This thought was echoed in a poem I wrote several Christmases ago:

In a hushed and waiting world
Darkness reigns with night
Sin and blackness are unfurled
All wait for the Light

Souls are blinded, no one sees
All search for the One
When blackness splits…darkness flees…

Christ, our Light, has come!

I can honestly say that this Christmas season has been one of, if not the most beautiful I have ever known. Moments of adoration, of wonder, came at unexpected times, as the eternal mystery was continuously within my mind and heart. In the midst of action, hustle, and even talkative parties, I was often blessed to have an "interior gaze"...a warm ongoing exchange between the Christ Child and my heart, like a romance in which the lover and the beloved can be as though the only ones present. No matter what the outside clamor, their glances are full of meaning for them alone, and there is a secret joy.

The Christ Child is waiting to catch you in His gaze, also. Have you acknowledged His eyes of love today?

“We need to find God,
and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness.
God is the friend of silence.
See how nature — trees, flowers, grass —

grows in silence; see the stars,

the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...

We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

(Mother Teresa)

Let us allow Him to touch our souls...in the silence.

Advent Day 11

“Peace begins with a smile.”

~Mother Teresa

We are in the Advent week of Peace...have you smiled today?

Solo soy el instrumento

In my morning prayer, I've been reading a little book called "Mother Teresa and the Beatitudes". This morning, I read her quote about being God's pencil— I've heard the first part many times, but never the second before. So beautiful!

"I am only a pencil in the hand of God...

God writes through us,

and however imperfect instruments

we may be,

God writes beautifully."

Let Him write through you today!

The Church is ALIVE!

I was so blessed today to visit St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, IL, where they'd invited me to be Mother Teresa for a few of their their Saint-themed Faith Festivals. And I walked away totally awed by the life, the joy, and the servant-attitudes abounding there. It's a huge parish with over 4400 families, and wow! What a vibrant one!

These Faith Festivals -- occuring every-other month and blended with the parish's Religious Education Program as a "Generations of Faith" approach -- are being so well-received that each of the 4 sessions so far (there are eight total; only two of them were today) have been filled to capacity, with waiting lists of those beyond the 350 they can handle per session. It did my heart good to see so many families, so many youth, so many generous organizers and volunteer youth... it was evident that a lot of planning, preparation, prayer, and hard work went into the events,

but the results were incredible. I came home filled with hope on this Respect Life Sunday: the Church is indeed alive. We have only to look with eyes of hope to see evidence of the springtime of Faith, the new Pentecost as the Holy Spirit continues to pour forth on his people!