"I Lift Up My Soul"

In today's Mass, we heard such an incredibly inspiring story of spiritual fortitude and all-consuming faith: Mary's acceptance of God's call to bear Jesus Christ.

It is hard to even imagine a fourteen-year-old girl being able to fully comprehend this call, let alone to agree to it wholeheartedly. Yet, Mary was special, so full of grace and love and purity of heart. She is such a tremendous role model for us of surrendering our hearts, our souls, and our lives truly and completely unto God, to say yes to God's call, even if we don't understand exactly what that call entails.

To fully give ourselves to God and to cultivate genuine willingness to go anywhere that God leads us can certainly be difficult, and even scary. As humans, we tend to feel uncomfortable where unknowns are concerned. We like to feel like we are "in control" of our lives and our surroundings. Part of our challenge lies in admitting and accepting that, ultimately, we are not in total control; only God is!

To be sure, God gave us all free will, so we do have a sense of control in that regard. However, it is God who creates and shapes the paths that our lives will take. We do not control what this path is. We can, however, control how we respond to the life events, challenge, and changes that God sends our way. We can choose to open our hearts to everything God would like us to do, and we can choose to try our best to live them out in the most Christlike way possible.

This message of total openness to and faith in God has been reflected in the seasonal Psalm we have been singing in my choir during Advent, "I Lift Up My Soul".

Here are the lyrics for those of you who are unfamiliar with it.

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul
O, my God

O, Lord, make me know your ways
Teach me your paths
And make me walk in your truth
For you are my God and my Saviour

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul
O, my God

The Lord is so good and upright
He shows those who stray
He guides the humble in the right path
He teaches His way to the poor

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul
O, my God

His ways are faithfulness and love
For those who keep
His covenant and His will
His friendship is for those who revere Him

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul
O, my God

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul
O, my God

In addition, we sang "Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above", in the Sister Act style, for our second Communion song. It is such a fun song offering our joy and gratitude unto Mary for her acceptance of God's call. Here is a link to a video of the Sister Act version, for your viewing and listening pleasure!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyYNcpWhVbk

May God bless you, today and always!

Karen

"What a Wonderful World"

One of the predominant messages of today's liturgy involved encouraging us to rejoice, to sing out with praise and thanks for the many glorious people and gifts in our lives. In keeping with this theme, my choir sang Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" as our second Communion hymn.

I'm sure that many of you have heard this song many times, but for any of you who haven't, here are the lyrics.

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colours of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying, "I love you"

I hear babies cry; I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself
What a wonderful world

In light of the tragic events in Newton, Connecticut on Friday, December 14, singing this song, and the fourth stanza in particular, was a rather difficult emotional experience for me. At my tutoring job, the majority of my students are grade school-aged, and the thought of anything even slightly bad happening to any of them makes me sick to my stomach. I cannot even conceive of the pain and suffering of the loved ones of the dead, the other teachers and students of Sandy Hook Elementary, and the members of that community.

For people all around the world, events like this bring about a torrent of strong, negative emotions. We feel sadness, fear, anger, worry, and confusion. It is all so hard to understand and to deal with. We can never fully make sense of what happened or figure out 'why'. 

What, then, can we do?

When senseless tragedy occurs, I believe there are two positive responses we can embrace.

First, we can endeavour to be more prayerful. We can try to make our prayers not only more frequent, but especially more fervent. We can strive to quiet ourselves, and let go of the busy noise around us, and focus our minds and hearts solely on God and those for whom we are praying. When we pray, we can speak meaningfully and genuinely from the heart.

Let us pray wholeheartedly for the innocent victims of the Sandy Hook shooting, that they may receive salvation and be united with God in the splendour of Heaven. Let us pray for their loved ones left behind, and they face such unbearable grief, that they can feel the comforting presence of God, and can ultimately achieve a sense of healing and peace. Let us also pray for the other members of the community, and the world at large, that fear, devastation, and other negative emotions can be lessened with time.

Second, as we have discussed in recent blog posts, let us cultivate a greater, stronger attitude of thankfulness for the wonderful gifts God has given us, namely the beautiful, loving people in our lives. Let us refuse to take one moment with them for granted. Rather, let us regularly express our love and gratitude to these special people. Let us honour them, cherish them, and celebrate them. Let us love them with the fullness of our being. Let not an opportunity pass us by to rejoice in their presence in our lives.

 Of course, as we have discussed in past blogs, prayer and gratitude are not separate entities; in fact, they are very much linked. Let us strive to also express in prayer our heartfelt gratitude unto God, for God is the giver of all the beautiful gifts in our lives.

 May God bless, protect, and comfort each and every one of you, today and always.

 Karen 

"Awake, Awake"

A predominant theme of Advent is preparing for the magnificence of Jesus's birth. Last week, we discussed what this preparation can entail. Part of it is being watchful and aware of the wonders happening around us. In this vein, this past Sunday, my choir sang "Awake, Awake, and Greet the New Morn" as our Recessional hymn. Here are some excerpts from the first and second verses:

Awake, awake, and greet the new morn
For angels herald its dawning
Sing out your joy, for soon He is born
Behold the child of our longing

Come as a baby, weak and poor
To bring all hearts together
He opens wide the heavenly door
And lives now inside us forever

Music to heal the broken soul
And hymns of loving kindness
The thunder of His anthems roll
To shatter all hatred and blindness

What a lovely song of hope and joy triumphing over darkness!

As the song reminds us, we must be ever "awake" to fully notice, appreciate, and take joy in the presence of God in our lives.

While this need for re-awakening is most emphasized at holidays like Christmas and Easter, I believe that we must be watchful and alert at all times, every day. This is not always easy, to be sure, and a line from the Second Reading spoke significantly to me on this matter:

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine..." (Philippians 1:3-4)

This reminded me of an area in which I have been working to improve. There are many things in life that give me great joy and that fill me with strong feelings of gratitude. I say a prayer of thanks to God every night, thanking Him for my fiance, my family, my friends, my job, my birth into a Catholic upbringing, and so on. However, I am striving to offer these prayers of thanks more immediately upon receiving any gift from God. These gifts can include even the smallest things during the monotony of the day, for as we have discussed previously, great joy and gratitude can be found in simple, small things, too.

Sometimes at night, I realize that in the happiness of such a moment, I forgot to offer a grateful prayer to God. I am glad to say one at the end of the day, but I still think it is best to express my thanks and love right away. Sometimes I remember to do this, but sometimes I don't. This is something I am working on. I want to pour forth my love, joy, and gratitude unto God in every minute of every day, and Advent is a great reminder to try harder!

What positive changes are you hoping to make? In what ways are you striving to prepare your heart for Jesus? I would love to hear from you!

May God bless you now and always!

Karen

"Mold Us and Fashion Us"

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, a time of preparing our hearts for the coming of Jesus. How can we prepare our hearts?

As we have discussed in many of the prior blog posts, we can commit ourselves to doing what is right and just. We can work harder to be less focused on our own needs, and more attuned and responsive to the needs of others. We can examine and reflect on the people and other God-given gifts that make us happy, and cultivate joy and gratitude unto the Lord. We can, in so doing, abound in great, pure love for God, others, and the self.

The Second Reading reflected this theme in a very meaningful way. I just loved it and found that it really spoke to me. Here is a reminder of the lovely words from 1 Thessalonians 3: 12-13:

"May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

Not only do I greatly appreciate and agree with our need to purify our hearts and cultivate greater love, but I am glad for the reminder that we cannot do this on our own. Rather, we need God to help us along the way!

This is true for any situation or challenge in life. We are never alone. We are always being carried on the back of the Lord. It is God who gives us the grace and strength to get through difficult times and to accomplish great things. It is God who lights our path, wherever it may lead.

Let us commit ourselves to being humble, recognizing our extreme need for God's help and direction, and praising Him for all that He gives to us!

The song we sang for the Offertory this past Sunday, Abba Father, reflected this concept. Here are the lyrics:

Abba
Abba, Father
You are the potter
We are the clay
The work of Your hands

Mold us
Mold us and fashion us
Into the image
Of Jesus, Your Son

Father
May we be one in You
May we be one in You
As He is in You
And You are in Him

Glory
Glory and praise to You
Glory and praise to You
Forever, Amen
Forever, Amen


I really enjoy this beautiful ballad! I particularly enjoy the symbolic image of us as the clay that can only be molded by God, the potter.

Take a moment and think of modelling clay. It can be twisted and turned and shaped into any one of an endless range of beautiful things. However, it can't do this on its own. On its own, clay is static. It is in need of a skillful artist to form it into something greater. We indeed need God to help us realize our potential and become the best people we can be!

To recognize our all-encompassing need for God, and to surrender unto Him our ultimate faith and trust may not always be easy, but just remember, God loves us! He wants what is best for us and the world around us, and He will never leave us. He is always there to help, support, and guide us, and even if we get knocked down once in a while, like a piece of clay that has been flattened, He is always there to build us back up again.

May the Lord bless you, today and always!

Karen