10.08.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:51 pm by newell
Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a repeated theme, an idea that has echoed through many of my thoughts. The motif? “Filling the void.” I’ve heard it everywhere. While preparing for the football Mass: in Luke’s Gospel (the story about the empty house) and Saint Augustine, talking about the ‘God-shaped void.’
Then, back to C.S. Lewis, who assures me that dissatisfaction is the natural byproduct of a human life. (Of course we feel dissatisfied with the experiences of this world, because we’re made for the next…) How nice that the empty spaces we sense in our lives are supposed to be that way! I thought it was just me…
A favorite Irish folksong, “Red is the Rose,” describes the cool, clear water that flows from the void, or natural spring in the rocks. (Here, the void is a good place to be.)
Lots of pop culture crosses my brain every day. I’ve been studying the psychology of hoarding. Today, some hoarders appeared on the Oprah show, telling how they collected way too much stuff to fill some kind of a void in their lives. Huh. An alcoholic used the very same words a few minutes later.
I rely frequently on the principles of 12 step programs for substance abusers and enablers. So, those of us who drink/drug/eat/anything too much are simply feeling the void, an emptiness. We don’t like it and do what we can to numb or cover that feeling. Is every obsession just a patch over an empty hole? I’m beginning to think so.
Lots of my friends are struggling with empty nest issues at this point of their lives. I, too, walk around weepy on the weekends simply because I miss my daughter! For eighteen years she was the center of my life, 24/7. What do we do when the loved ones are gone? It’s an emptiness you can feel, and it’s so strong you can hear your heart break.
Some of the mechanisms we use to cope with The Void are respected and rewarded by our culture and world, so it’s really hard to recognize them for what they are, just band-aids. The world tells us that to be good moms, we are supposed to be 100% super involved and devoted to every need of our children. We jump right in, work as hard as we can, and before we know it we’re too busy and tired to notice The Void. The world tells us we need to work hard and get ahead in our career. Perform. Make yourself the most valuable employee. Again, too tired to feel The Void. How about exercise? It’s easy to get caught up in the positive results and spend way too much time at the gym every day. That’s good, right? I’m healthy, I’ve lost a few pounds, toned up…. Could it be another way to cover up The Void? All those things and projects we’re ‘obsessed’ with: what is underneath them?
Truth is, our lives are build on that void. On an empty space. And I think that’s the idea. Nothing here is ever going to fill it. Augustine says only God can fill it. I don’t feel too secure about living with nothing but emptiness below me, but it certainly directs my attention to the right place: God. (Catch me, God! Don’t let me fall!) I am forced to address my relationship with him, warts and all. It’s useless to waste precious time and energy on all those obsessions, possessions, and busy-ness — which we can’t control anyways. The Irish tenors tell me that clean, life-giving water flows from the void. A conversion of the baptized? Maybe a big do-over like Noah’s flood…
Perhaps I should rest in God, and just be with him for awhile, and see if Augustine is right.
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09.29.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:59 pm by newell
The liturgy for today celebrates the feast of the three archangels who have been venerated throughout the history of the Church, Michael (from the Hebrew Who is like God?) is the archangel who defends the friends of God against Satan and all his evil angels. Gabriel, (the Power of God), is chosen by the Creator to announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation. Raphael, (the Medicine of God), is the archangel who takes care of Tobias on his journey.
In Conversation With God : Feast Days July – December
St. Michael’s Prayer is one of my favorites; I always feel safe when I’ve said it. I do believe that evil exists in a very real way in our world, and this is one reason why the Archangels are such a gift to us.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl around the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
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09.13.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:28 am by newell
Okay, I admit it, I zoned out was thinking about alternative topics during the Bishop’s Fund video. I sit on the Gospel side, and yesterday my view of the statue of the Blessed Mother was blocked, as I was behind a big column. All I could see was her left hand. But it spoke to me…
Mary’s hands are open to us, reaching out in love to all the faithful who gaze on her for comfort, or guidance, or for any reason. I was reminded of the powerful scenes in The Passion of the Christ, when images of Jesus’ torture were juxtaposed with His Mother’s memories of reaching out for her precious young child as He fell.
I thought of the countless tasks my own mother’s hands performed for so many years. Today, her hands are wrinkled and worn, and mine are more like hers every day. I am missing my child, off at college, and wish my hands could help her in some real way today. Never though I’d wish for a blouse to mend or a meal to prepare, but right now I do.
Mothers’ hands make love visible. Mary’s hands do, too. Take a look.
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09.07.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:47 pm by newell
Today we honor the worker. Each of us produces in some way for society, and has corresponding rights and responsibilties. The dignity of the worker is often forgotten…
6. Economic Justice
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. All workers have a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, and to safe working conditions. They also have a fundamental right to organize and join unions. People have a right to economic initiative and private property, but these rights have limits. No one is allowed to amass excessive wealth when others lack the basic necessities of life.
Catholic teaching opposes collectivist and statist economic approaches. But it also rejects the notion that a free market automatically produces justice. Distributive justice, for example, cannot be achieved by relying entirely on free market forces. Competition and free markets are useful elements of economic systems. However, markets must be kept within limits, because there are many needs and goods that cannot be satisfied by the market system. It is the task of the state and of all society to intervene and ensure that these needs are met.
from Major Themes of Catholic Social Teaching
http://www.osjspm.org/major_themes.aspx
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09.03.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:00 pm by newell
I would love, for my classroom:
Tissues
Hand sanitizer
Disinfecting wipes
Let’s stop H1N1 before it gets to Seton! All donations gratefully accepted…
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Posted in Uncategorized at 6:58 pm by newell
Last week I had a chance to see lots of films, old and new. Best:
District 9. I really liked its style: documentary, tongue-in-cheek. Some really funny little ‘throwaway’ lines. But it was at heart a story about apartheid, sameness/difference, and human love. Even though they were aliens…Lots of action and violence, but unique and fresh.
Also saw Julie & Julia. Loved the Julia Child part, hated the obnoxious Julie blogger part. Maybe an object lesson in how not to be self-absorbed and mean to your husband. The relationship between Julia and Paul was exactly what I think a marriage is supposed to be – a blessing.
Let’s see – also, Sunshine Cleaners, very good, bittersweet kind of quiet story. And Shall We Dance: better than I thought it would be, helped me to talk/understand about men and what they are really thinking.
Hope you got to see something good. Tell me when you get to school!
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08.22.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:55 am by newell
“Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”
- Annie Dillard.
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08.16.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:25 am by newell
“Jesus is saying there must be a clear consistency, a constant unity between our means and the ends we hope to achieve. There is no way to peace other than peacemaking itself. How you get there is always where you finally arrive.”
Adapted from Jesus’ Plan for the New World, Father Richard Rohr, p.139
Profound. Want love? Then love. Get to justice by practicing it. Achieve success by being successful…
‘Rather, the Kingdom is within you and it is outside of you.’
The Gospel of Thomas
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Posted in Uncategorized at 11:05 am by newell
Father Jeff Jubbard’s homily “The Dangerous Reality of Eating” nicely enriched the last two homilies Father John has delivered at St. Peter’s. I don’t understand the mystery of the Eucharist, but I need it, and it should be more important in our lives.
Simultaneously, I’ve been trying to eat less (and exercise more), and the practice of counting every calorie can get a little obsessive. The epidemic of American obesity and its related chronic conditions hits home for those of use who pay health insurance premiums and those who love people who are too heavy. So it seems like this summer has been all about food…
Perhaps we as a nation are so obsessed with food because we are not truly getting what we hunger for: Christ. Maybe we have a spiritual, soul kind of hunger that we misinterpret, or misdirect. Maybe if Americans went to church more often, and received the Sacraments more frequently (and with a less ‘casual’ attitude), we would feel full, satisfied. Maybe it’s not all about food after all.
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08.15.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:03 pm by newell
“In an age of sensuality and materialism the Assumption points out the dignity and destiny of our human body, extols the dignity of womanhood, and turns our eyes to the true life beyond the grave. At Mass today ask Mary for the grace to keep your mind fixed on things above and to aspire continually to be united with her and to be brought to the glory of the Resurrection.”
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm
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