"I Trust in Him, and Have No Fear"

Courage. Strength. Faith. These three values go very much hand in hand, and their significance was a major theme of this past Sunday's readings. In the First Reading, we heard that though the path down which we travel may be full of roadblocks and resistance, we must be brave and persist, and cultivate strength of heart, soul, and will. In the Gospel, we witnessed Jesus personify this concept. Jesus knew that many did not believe that He was the true Son of God and our Saviour, and some were very forceful in their opposition to His goals and teachings. However, Jesus never backed down; He always persisted in spreading the loving Word of God, gently and humbly, yet also strongly and authoritatively.

Yes, we will all encounter some form of difficulty or resistance when we strive to do good and to spread the will and Word of God. We may face doubters, disbelief, and perhaps even ridicule. But, we are called to be strong, and we can derive this strength from our faith in the goodness of God. He will protect us, and He will not lead us astray. From any darkness, He will bring us light! From any coldness, He will bring us warmth. From any harm, He will bring us healing.

Let us strive to take courage in that knowledge!

In keeping with this theme, we sang two fun and uplifting hymns as our Processional and Recessional hymns: Blest Be the Lord and Yahweh. Here are some wonderful excerpts from each song.

Blest Be the Lord

Blest be the Lord, blest be the Lord

The God of mercy, the God who saves

I shall not fear

The dark of night

Nor the arrow that flies by day

I need not shrink before the terrors of the night

Nor stand alone before the light of day

No harm shall come to me, no arrow strike me down

No evil settle in my soul

Yahweh

Yahweh is the God of my salvation

I trust in Him, and have no fear

I sing of the joy which His love gives to me

And I draw deeply from the springs of His great kindness

Open our eyes to the wonder of this moment

The beginning of another day

As you can see, both songs not only extol the virtue of finding strength in one's faith in God, but also take it a step further and suggest that even in difficult times, we can find ways to cultivate joy and gratitude. This concept has been quite prevalent in my blog posts of late, and I think it is quite important and helpful to keep in mind, especially in tough times.

Now then, what we are called to do with our faith-inspired strength and courage?

We have been given many suggestions in the Liturgies of the previous two Sundays.

On January 20, we were encouraged to be "moved by the Spirit" - to let the Holy Spirit abound in our hearts and be inspired by it to take action to help others.

That Sunday, we sang Everyone Moved By the Spirit. Here are the two short verses from this song.

Come, O Spirit of Jesus

Come in the power of His name

Renew the depths of our hearts

Come, O Spirit of Jesus

Send forth the power of Your love

Renew the face of the earth

I think that the ordering of these two verses is significant. Before we can 'renew the face of the earth', we must first renew our own hearts! 

Through prayer, reflection, reading, and positive social interaction with others, we can continuously learn and grow and find ourselves more spiritually invigorated. We can find ourselves feeling closer to God, more attuned to His loving direction, and more ready to do His will. When this happens, we are better equipped to go out into the world and make a positive difference for others in a genuine and meaningful way.

On January 27th, we were given further suggestions and explanations as to what we can do. We were told that we have all been given unique gifts of the Holy Spirit; no one is exactly the same, and therefore, no one has exactly the same path to walk throughout life. We are called to discern what our special gifts are, to develop them as much as possible, and then use them to the fullest for the service of others.

The song You Have Anointed Me gave us some good suggestions for ways to help others. Here are the lyrics to this lovely song.

To bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the broken heart

You have anointed me

To proclaim liberty to captives, release to prisoners

You have anointed me

Your spirit, O God, is upon me

You have anointed me

To announce a year of favour, to comfort those who mourn

You have anointed me

To give to them the oil of gladness, and share a mantle of joy

You have anointed me

Your spirit, O God, is upon me

You have anointed me

As you can see, there are many, many different ways to use our God-given gifts to help others. Those mentioned above are just a few suggestions.

To reiterate the main theme for this week, using these gifts may not always be easy. We may encounter a variety of challenges and difficulties along the way. However, we can take solace in the knowledge that God is always there at our side, helping us along the way. Let us pray to God to grant us what I have come to think of as the 3 Ps: Patience, Perseverance, and Positivity. If we can cultivate these three virtues, I believe we can find true strength to accomplish an unlimited amount of wonderful things.

I would love to hear your ideas for ways we can be moved by the spirit and spread the love of God to others! Please feel free to leave some comments and get a discussion started.

God bless you, today and always!

Karen

"Fire and Water"

This past Sunday, we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus Christ. In keeping with this theme, my choir's song lyrics featured two significant symbols: fire and water. While these two things seem completely contrary and oppositional on the surface, we can see through the Liturgy that they are, in fact, very much complementary.

FIRE

For the processional hymn, we sang "Glory and Praise to Our God", a song that offers praise and thanks to our God for the many blessings and gifts he bestows upon us. The lines that stood out to me most were as follows:

In His wisdom, he strengthens us

Like gold that's tested in fire

In everyday life, we associate fire with danger, damage, and destruction. Fires can cause great pain and loss. How, then, can fire be a gift for which we praise God?

Look closely at the first part of that excerpt. What does the fire do? It strengthens us!
 

We have all encountered "fire" in the form of painful, difficult situations in our lives - times of great hurt, fear, anger, sadness, and despair. At the time of such a situation, it is hard to find any positivity or silver linings. However, with time, prayer, and reflection, we can see that from all things, even terrible things, something good can emerge.

Pain and suffering help us build and extend our inner strength. From coping with difficult situations, we can learn many helpful things and develop many beneficial skills and attitudes that will in turn better equip us for the many new experiences that lie ahead.

I myself have gone through such a difficult period of time. A few years ago, all within 7 months, I went through the painful end of a long relationship, the death of my closest relative, and the loss of my job. At this time, it felt like too much to handle, and I felt like I would never experience anything good again. However, with God at my side, my heart healed, and I was able to work through these difficulties and glean something good from them. I worked on developing greater patience, empathy, optimism, lightheartedness, and independence. These qualities would serve to be very important, because the very next year, I met the amazing man who would become my fiance, and got a new job, finally in the teaching field. Had I not had occasion to work on bettering myself, I might not have been in the "right place" mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for my new relationship and new job to blossom and flourish in the beautiful ways that they did.

I cannot thank God enough for helping me to turn my negative experiences into positive self-growth. By fire, He strengthened me, and I am at a place in my life now where I have never experienced such profound joy!

In sum, with the help, love, and support of the Lord, we can overcome life's painful obstacles and come to find new happiness, love, and light. It is not to downplay the seriousness of pain and loss - pain and loss HURT. I just encourage you to remember that, even when times are at their worst, there is always something more beautiful ahead.

WATER

Let us now discuss the signficance of water.

The two main "water-themed" songs we sang on Sunday were "Come to the Water" and "We Have Been Baptized in Christ". Here are excerpts from both of them:

Oh, let all who thirst

Let them come to the water

And let all who have nothing

Let them come to the Lord

We have been baptized in Christ

It is He that we have put on

We who are washed in this water

Have hope of eternal life

Water does many wonderful things for us. It refreshes us when we are thirsty. It helps cook meals that nourish us. It cools us down when we are hot. It cleanses us when we are dirty.

In Baptism, and every day after that, God indeed does all of these things for us. When we hunger and thirst for something, particularly emotional and spiritual nourishment, God is there to provide it. He fills up and rejuvenates our hearts and souls.

When we our emotions are "hot" and we are feeling angry, hurt, jealous, or otherwise ill at ease, we can rely on God to help calm us down. Through prayer and spiritual reflection, these negative feelings can begin to melt away and be replaced with happier, more peaceful feelings.

Similarly, God can "wash away" the sins that weigh down and harden our hearts and souls. Baptism is meant to cleanse us of original sin, and thereafter, we have the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation to cleanse us from the sins we commit in life. 

These many benefits are ever available to us. We just have to be prepared to genuinely, humbly ask for them.

We can see, then, that while seemingly opposite, fire and water actually go very much hand in hand. The forces and processes of challenge, strengthening, cleansing, and rejuvenation work together to help us grow and realize our greater potential, such that we become better prepared for the many wonders and experiences that God has in store for us. Let us, therefore, work to keep our minds and hearts open to what lies ahead, and to trust in God to guide us every step of the way.

May God bless you, today and always!

Karen

"What Are We That You Have Loved Us So Well?"

This past Sunday, we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, the recognition of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and our Saviour.

This was the last Sunday for my choir to solely play Christmas-themed songs. While I look forward to getting back to our regular repertoire, I will miss playing these  joyous, upbeat songs. I find Christmas hymns in general to be very inspiring, and on Sunday, the song that spoke to me most was our Offertory hymn, "Emmanuel". It is a wonderful song with great lyrics, yet it is also noteworthy for its change in tempo and metre. The verses are in a slow-paced 3/4 time, whereas the choruses change to an upbeat, quicker, 4/4 time. This change from doleful music to rejoicing music symbolizes the emergence of light and life that Jesus's birth brought to our world.

Here are a few excerpts from anyone who is unfamiliar with this song.

Baby born in a stall
Long ago now, and hard to recall
Cold wind, darkness and sin
Your welcoming from us all

Lord, lead us to know
You lay like a beggar, so humble, so low
No place for your head
And straw for a bed
The glory of God to show

Emmanuel, Emmanuel
What are we that You have loved us so well?
A song on high, a Saviour's nigh
Angel hosts rejoice Thy glory to tell

The overarching theme that resonates with me here is that of humility.

First, Jesus's humble beginnings are highlighted. He was born in a stable, amid animals, dirt, and straw, rather than in some extravagant location befitting a king. It was nighttime and weather was unpleasant, and sin was abounding in the world. For the glorious Son of the all-knowing, all-powerful God to be born in a setting like this is very significant. What a remarkable image and example of humility for us!

Further, the call to be humble is especially exemplified in the line "What are we that You have loved us so well?"

That is, this song recognizes the immensity of God's love for us, despite the fact that we may not always be or feel worthy of it. That is, God's love is not necessarily a right; we cannot necessarily say that we deserve God's love. Rather, it is a beautiful gift.

In what ways has God shown His love for us? They really are countless. He has given each of us life, for starters! He has provided us with a planet on which to live, with the beauty of nature all around us. He has given us many special people, such as family, friends, spouses, and so on, who enrich our lives in so many ways. God has also blessed us all with a unique set of gifts and talents, with which we can in turn strive to enrich the lives of those around us. Most importantly, He gave us the gift of His Son. He sent us Jesus as the most wonderful example of how we should live our lives, and then He made the ultimate sacrifice by enduring the painful crucifixion and death of Jesus in order to bring about salvation for our widespread sins. The enormity of this gift is hard to even fully comprehend! 

God's love for us is immense, and it is also unconditional. Regardless of what we do wrong (and let's face it, being human, we make mistakes all the time), He is always waiting with open arms to take us back, willing to grant us forgiveness when we truly and sincerely ask for it. He is always there to help us get back on the path to salvation.

How marvelous and wondrous indeed is God's love for us! It is a precious, priceless gift that we must never take for granted. Let us instead strive to revel in that love and reflect that love back to God. How can we do that?

Think of people that you love very much. How do we show it? For one, we spend time with them. We can certainly do this with God; we are called to be in His presence at least every Sunday at Mass! There is also the wonderful option of being in God's holy presence during Adoration of the Blessed Eucharist. My church, Corpus Christi, has this on Mondays during the day. I have been to Adoration a couple times and it is a lovely, uplifting experience. Perhaps your church or another one near you has regular Adoration. Why not try something new (if you haven't already gone) and look into it?

Another way we show love for others, especially those who are not nearby, is communicating with them via phone, email, social networking, and the like. Similarly, we can always communicate with God, at any time of day, through prayer. In prayer, we can share so many things with God - our joys, our thanks, our worries, our fears. God is always there to listen.

Further, we can show love by embracing and embodying Jesus's loving example in our own lives, and reflecting God's love to others. One way to show love and respect for our parents is to behave in a way that is in line with the values they lovingly taught to us, and the same is true for God. As we work to live in a Christlike way, we live out our loving with relationship with God beautifully. Although it is impossible to show love for others in such an enormous and complete way as God has shown for us, we are called to emulate it as best we can. Let us never take God's love for granted, but instead, make the most of it as we work to be "Christ for one another".

May God bless you, today and always!

Love, Karen

"A Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year"

I am a bit belated in saying this, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed and happy New Year!

2012 has been a year of astounding blessings for me. My heart has been filled with such gratitude and joy, and I can't help but want to share it with others. 

Taking time to reflect on and rejoice in the gifts God has given us in the many areas of our lives is always a wonderful exercise. For what and/or whom have you been most thankful this past year?

Likewise, what are you looking forward to in the new year?

I personally am unbelievably excited because this year, I will be marrying the man of my dreams! He is my soulmate and best friend and he makes me happy in so many ways. Perhaps the most important thing is that through his shining example and loving support, he has helped me to strengthen and deepen my relationship with God. What better gift could I ask for? I can't wait to share in the blessed Sacrament of Marriage with him, to be united together by God, in a bond that will last forever. Whenever I reflect on the profundity of this Sacrament, on the eternity and enormity of this union, I am absolutely overwhelmed with joy and gratitude.

When a new year comes around, many of us think about resolutions and goals; we want to better ourselves in some area or another. Let us consider which areas of our spiritual life can use some further development or "sprucing up". Perhaps we could stand to pray more. Maybe we could try to more actively and meaningfully participate in the Mass. Perhaps we could make an effort to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation more often. This is definitely one that I could stand to work on! What might you be able to work on, in order to rejuvenate yourself and your relationship with God?

When thinking about this commitment for spiritual growth, let us keep in mind a message we heard on Christmas - that Christmas is a time for Jesus to be re-born in our hearts. Let us take this a step further and commit ourselves to recognizing and rejoicing in the re-birth of Jesus's love, glory, and peace in our hearts not just on Christmas Day, but every day. Let us revel in it, and strive to emulate His spotless, loving example in all that we do. 

May God bless you, today and always!

Karen

"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