A Puddle

Occasionally on this blog I have shared a bit about the journey of an illness that pulled me from an active career as an Endodontist and bit by bit simplified my life. At the time it did not feel like my life was becoming simpler. Rather it felt like a terrible road that was leading away from my ability to live life. Through a genetic condition that was diagnosed during the pregnancy with our son, I was warned that my body might deteriorate. Indeed this is what happened. Not only would I lose the ability to do many of the things I wanted to do to care for myself such as even tying my shoes for myself. I could not even open a refrigerator to get something to eat. This was due to instability of the joints in my hands and other parts of my body. This instability caused injury and even joint dislocation. There were periods of time when I was in excruciating pain. It was through this process that Our Lord was breaking down deeply rooted ideas that I could do things on my own and did not need to rely on God. 

After reaching the worst of my physical decline, often I would think of myself as a puddle. I was brought low, so low in fact that nothing solid remained just a puddle of my former self. I thought of this puddle as the lowest point. One could get no lower at least in the way I thought of myself. 

Our Lord did not leave me alone...in fact I am certain I was never alone at any point in that spiraling decline. But once I hit rock bottom and I turned everything over to God hope flooded in. I would never get back my ability to do many things such as practice dentistry, drive or even open a refrigerator, yet the future seemed bright. In some ways my body began to stabilize and I again could walk more then across a room and even could walk to Mass each day. Yet as I would speak of those darkest moments I would often relate the feeling of being a puddle. The image of myself never seemed to leave me. The sadness was gone. It was rather just a way to describe a feeling I had. 

Today when after Mass I found myself needing to lay down I was reminded of the puddle. As I thought of the puddle Our Lord showed me the beauty of even a simple dirty puddle. The water that fell was clean but the world had in many ways sullied it. Yet even in this rather pitiful state when the sun peeked out from behind a cloud this dirty little puddle could reflect that which is above. It surely had no beauty of its own.  Of itself the puddle is to be avoided by most people of good sense as one wants to keep your shoes clean and dry. Yet God can use even this little puddle for His Glory. The puddle could do what many of the things in the yard could not do. It could reflect the beauty of the sky in such a way. 

I have always felt that Our Lord kept my limitations always present to keep me always aware at how dependent I am on Him. He had taught me in a very hard lesson, hard because of my stubbornness. He had taught me the beauty of the response of Peter to Our Lord's question: "You do not want to go away also, do you?" and Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go?"(John 6:68)  I had through many tries attempted many other paths. I found none satisfying save one that Our Lord was leading me on. So today in my bed I called to my daughter to go out and take some pictures of puddles. As a good daughter she indulged me. What she brought back was just what I suspected in my heart. There were small puddles that shown beautifully the sky with all its splendor. As I mentioned before, most people try to avoid puddles. This is of course save for the little child who loves nothing more then jumping in puddles. What can be more fun? Maybe this is why Our Lord has put me among so many children through the Children's Rosary. It is there that His little puddle can serve Him best.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:

A Day of Incredible Blessings at the Shrine of Divine Mercy

Nuestra Fe en Vivo interview

How to Plan a May Crowning

Don't forget to unify prayers with the children during their meetings. A schedule of meetings is present on our website. By clicking "Join in Prayer" you can add your gold flashing light to our View from Heaven map.

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UNA PERSPECTIVA DESDE EL CIELO

For more information about the Children's Rosary visit our website: www.childrensrosary.org

Visite nuestro sitio web en español para obtener más información: www.rosariodeninos.org

Pour plus d'informations sur le Rosaire des Enfants, visitez notre site Web:www.rosairedesenfants.org

Anything is Possible with God

Today I share with you something that has brought wonder to my heart to watch.  It is a little tomato plant that has found its home in the tiniest crack in the mortar of our brick front steps to our home.  Looking at this lush plant my heart began to see this plant as resembling a soul...a soul that has known suffering.

The source of this plant seems to come directly from
within the mortar of the brick steps.

Sometimes adversity and the harshest conditions strengthen a soul and yield something that can withstand the most trying of conditions...drought, poor light, little nutrients.

Despite all odds the soul sets roots that go deep and in all things it bends toward the light.  Others marvel at such a sight as most would think it impossible to bear fruits under such conditions.  Yet it is this humble soul that through divine providence finds sufficient nutrients to continue to grow and indeed develop thick branches strong enough to be pushed down without permanent affect.  Indeed some might begin to see the unlikely home of this soul as most perfectly suited for no one can reach its source and its roots are completely protected from destruction.  The poor light due to the large trees actually provides shade in the long summer days without rain.  The plants or souls found in the traditional gardens have little protection as the sun beats down and little rain falls.  The little seed that seemed ill-placed now appears to have produced one of the strongest plants in the yard.  Having survived so much adversity it continues to grow through all the trials that befall it.  The wisdom of the sower can now be seen.  It is through the souls persistence and trust that the Sower can now be more beautifully glorified.  

Indeed being close to nature and agriculture one sees the Gospels come alive.  Our Lord shows us the wonder that exists through His creations.  How can this be that such a seed bears fruits and those that are planted in a garden with ideal conditions produce less?  Those reading this who have been cultivated through suffering may find great consolation in this thought.  It would seem the trials were not meant to hurt the little soul but actually to have strengthened it.

Praying with the Heart

We know that the prayers of the heart are pleasing to Our Lord but how to we do this?  How do we pray from the heart? 

It has been my humble experience that Our Lord uses suffering to teach us how to pray with the heart. As I have shared in the past, a genetic disability has resulted in severe joint instability throughout my body and especially my hands.  As a result there are many unexpected injuries that occur as well as daily weakness in my hands that cause me to ask others for help with most tasks.

It is in those times of acute injury that I can feel how quickly ones prayers migrate from a most superficial level to the very depths of the heart.  It is as if in one moment Our Lord pulls you from across the room to the most intimate of conversations.  Through this school of suffering I began to see these trials and injuries as special graces which help us pray more and more deeply.  Such repeated trials begin to teach a soul that it is completely vulnerable and the only place of security is with Our Lord. The more dependent one becomes on Our Lord the more child-like we become in our approach to Him.  It is as if Our Lord uses such times of increased suffering as a special protection for us.  A way to keep us very close to His Heart.  

Padre Pio spoke of the importance of suffering. "Jesus said to me; 'How many times would you have abandoned Me, my son, if I had not crucified you. Beneath the cross, one learns love, and I do not give this to everyone, but only to those souls who are dearest to Me."

Indeed the Children's Rosary has been no stranger to suffering but there is an appreciation of the good that comes from it.  There may be other ways to learn to pray from the heart but in my humble experience suffering is one of the fastest and most effective ways Our Lord can share with us to deepen our prayers.

Over the next week we have many Children's Rosary groups meeting.  Please consider joining the children in prayer.  The children always pray for those unifying prayers with them.

Friday March 13th
Children's Rosary at St. Mary's School Orange TX 7:05AM CT
Children's Rosary at St. Mary's School in Pontiac IL 9:05 AM CT
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Lagos, Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Paul Church in Fenton, Missouri 7PM 
Saturday March 14th
Children's Rosary at St. Mary's Church in Corvalis Oregon 9AM PT
Children's Rosary at St. Michael's Church in Garden City SC at 10:30 aM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Michael the Archangel Parish held in Kibera Slum in Langatta Nairobi Kenya 10 AM local time
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Trinity Church in Nairobi Kenya 2PM local time. 
Children's Rosary at the Daughters of Charity Convent in Bridgeport CT 2:30 PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Peter Claver Church West Hartford CT 3:45 PM ET
Sunday March 15th
Children's Rosary at Our Lady and St. Patrick Parish in Nottingham England 9AM local time(4AM ET)
Children's Rosary at Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Nairobi Kenya 6AM ET
Children's Rosary at Assumption Church in Nairobi Kenya at 7AM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Thomas Church in Thomaston CT 11AM CT
Children's Rosary at St. Patrick's Church in Tacoma WA 11:30 PM PT
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Lagos, Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at the Daughter's of Charity Convent in Bridgeport, CT 2:30 PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Anthony Church in Lorain, Ohio 3PM ET in front of the Blessed Sacrament
Children's Rosary at Annunciation Church in Hanover, PA at 3PM in the Adoration Chapel
Monday March 16th
Children's Rosary at St. Joseph Church in Wakefield MA 9:30 AM

Children's Rosary at Our Lady of Grace Home for Children in Meru, Kenya 10AM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Trinity Academy in Shenandoah, PA 12:20 PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lago Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Family Church in Gladstone Michigan 4:30PM  ET
Children's Rosary at St. John the Evangelist Church in Mahopac, New York 4:30 PM 
Children's Rosary at St. Patrick's Church in Kennett Square, PA 5:45 PM ET in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Tuesday March 17th

Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate, Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Redeemer Parish in Menominee, Michigan 6PM ET

Wednesday March 18th
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate, Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
Thursday March 19th
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
The Children's Rosary at Resurrection Parish in Rye, NY 5PM ET

The Children's Rosary at St. Martin Church in Kingsville, Texas will meet at 6:30 PM

Other posts you may enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
A Long Winter
Suffering a Call to Come Home

Weathering the Storms Faithfully in Prayer

This past Sunday as we left Church the wind was howling and the snow was blowing in our faces as we walked.  We were in the midst of another snow storm, one of many that have hit the Northeastern part of the United States. Looking over as we left the Church I saw the statue of Our Blessed Mother.  Many times the children have gathered around her in the summer to pray the Rosary.  However,  now most of her body was no longer visible with snow up to her elbows and a large dollop on her head.  The snow buffeted her and swirled around her at times. In the midst of the wind and biting cold there stood Our Lady with the most gentle and sweet expression on her face peacefully with her hands folded in prayer.  In looking at Our Lady I was reminded of her faithfulness to prayer despite the trials that she encountered. 
For many of us the snow and cold this year have been a source of suffering.  So many struggling to stay warm.  The cold is just one form of suffering that many have had to endure. Yet within the storms that swirl around us there is also much joy.  Our Lady helps us to see the sweetness in the crosses we carry and the fruits that can come when we unify our suffering to that of her Son's suffering.   

"There is but one price at which souls are bought", Jesus told St. Faustina, "and that is suffering united to My suffering on the cross (Dairy 324).

"Without Humility There is No Holiness" Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Children's Rosary held at the Missionaries of Charity Convent

These were the words Bl Mother Teresa spoke to her sisters.  She would go on to tell them, "Let humility be your strength".  

Prayer and suffering help us to develop this virtue of humility which is integral to progressing in holiness.  It has been my experience that suffering can be a very great gift as it begins to open ones eyes to the reality of our weakness and inability to control things in our lives.  Prayer coupled with suffering opens the heart to the understanding that we are completely dependent on God.  Acknowledging our complete dependence on God for everything is the wonderful blossoming of humility.  The more one embraces this dependence the less one worries, because worry in itself is to think we control things.  

It is beautiful that Bl. Mother Teresa speaks of humility as being a strength. For St. Paul speaks in the same way "for when I am weak then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)

More and more the children and the little in spirit seem to have the wisdom of what Our Lord is calling us to.  Some time ago a little child age 6 told me that the Children's Rosary is important because it shows God we trust in Him.  Indeed to come and kneel in prayer of the Rosary is to acknowledge that we need God.  Instead of doing something else we give our time to Him.  We contemplate His life and pray for the strength to follow in His example.  

Last Sunday we had the first meeting of the Children's Rosary at a Parish named after Bl. Mother Teresa.  This Parish is a sister Church and located relatively close to our established Children's Rosary group at Assumption Church in Nairobi Kenya.  This new group will be meeting each Sunday.  
Over the next week we have many Children's Rosary groups meeting.  Please consider joining them in prayer either in person or from your home.  The children always pray for those unifying prayers with them.

Friday January 30th
Children's Rosary at St. Mary's School in Orange TX 7:05 AM CT
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos, Nigeria 1PM ET
Saturday January 31st
Children's Rosary of St. Michael the Archangel Parish and held in the Kibera slum in Langatta Nairobi Kenya 10 local time
Children's Rosary at St. Mary's Church in Corvallis Orgon 12 PM PT
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos, Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at the Daughters of Charity Convent in Bridgeport CT 2:30 PM ET
Sunday February 1st
Children's Rosary at Our Lady and St. Patrick's Church in Nottingham, England 9AM local time  (4AM ET)
Children's Rosary at Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Nairobi, Kenya 6 AM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Luke's Church in Ogallala, Nebraska at 8:30 AM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Thomas Church in Thomaston, CT 11AM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Trinity Church in Harlan Kentucky 11:30 AM 
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lago Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Bernard Church in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania at 2PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Anthony Church in Lorain, Ohio 3PM ET in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Children's Rosary at St. Joachim Parish in Madera, California 5:30 PM ET
Children's Rosary at Assumption Church in Umoja, Kenya 2PM local time 
Children's Rosary at Immaculate Conception Church North Delta, British Columbia 6PM ET
Monday February 2nd
Children's Rosary at Our Lady of Grace Home for Children in Meru, Kenya at 10 AM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Trinity Academy in Shenandoah, PA 12:20 PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Family Church in Gladstone Michigan 4:30PM  ET
Children's Rosary at St. John the Evangelist Church in Mahopac, New York 4:30 PM ET
Children's Rosary at Rose of Mystica House in Edmeston, NY 4:30 PM ET
Tuesday February 3rd

Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate, Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Redeemer Parish in Menominee, Michigan 6PM EST

Children's Rosary at St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross ub Lawrenceberg, Indiana 6:30 PM ET

Wednesday February 4th

Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos, Nigeria 1PM ET

Thursday February 5th
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate, Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
The Children's Rosary at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Brentwood, California will meet at 6:30 PM ET in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Children's Rosary at St. Martin Church in Kingsville, Texas will meet at 6:30 PM

For Those Outside the Church Who will Open the Door?

It is an interesting question.  I relate it to an experience I had several weeks ago.  Arriving at Church as I usually do, I found I was a bit later then most days and I feared that all had already entered the Church for Mass.  See I have a genetic condition which affects joints and results in joint instability.  Although I can no longer drive I can by the grace of God walk to Church.  However, my hands are too weak to open the Church doors.  So I stand and wait at the door until someone comes along to let me in.  There have been a few instances such as this particular day, when I arrive close to the start of Mass and all have already entered.  It is at such times, when the large wooden doors stand closed and I am outside that I wonder how I will get in.  There is a no way I would attempt to open the door myself as this would surely result in a joint dislocation.  And so I remain outside.

This one particular day, a few weeks ago, a cold wind had kicked up and I stood praying with a little prayer book by the door.  Looking up I noticed a child walking toward me with her mother at a distance.

Her mother inquired if I needed help and I said, yes.  Her daughter ran on and opened the door.  As I passed through she smiled at me.  I did not know the little girl or her mother.  They had been waiting in a car for school to start, as there is a parochial school associated with our Church.  I marvelled as I prayed at Mass that it was a child who opened the door to the Church for me.  It occurred to me that many stand outside the Church unable to open the door themselves.  The cause of the obstacle is different for each person.  Yet there is a comfort and ease of accepting help from a child.  They do not judge the one in need and seem only to happy to be of assistance.

I would meet this girl again only a week ago.  She again saw me waiting at the door and this time seemed to know just what to do.  I asked her name and she said Hannah.  She mentioned she was in second grade, probably 7 or 8 years old.

It gave me joy to see this little one with smiles so eager to help. I did not feel silly needing the help as so often I do when asking the help of a stranger. 

It occurred to me that our children are uniquely suited to reach out to others who silently wait for help.

Recently such a thing happened within the Children's Rosary. A member of our group asked for prayers for a man whose knee joint replacement had failed.  He was without a joint and in horrible pain.  The children began praying for this man and his wife who was caring for him.  Something beautiful happened.  The wife felt so moved that children were praying for her husband that she encouraged her daughter to begin a Children's Rosary, buying the books needed for the children.  She herself is not Catholic but her daughter had recently converted.  An unlikely individual to encourage a group to form but children have a way of bringing people together.

As more Children's Rosary groups form it is my hope that more people will experience the help and love of our children and through them they will be drawn closer to the warm embrace of Our Lord. 

Other posts you may enjoy:
Children's Rosary turns 1
How to Start a Children's Rosary
A Grandmother's Experience with the Children's Rosary

A Long Winter

As many of you may be aware of who live in the United States it has been a long cold winter.  Even today on May 16th there is word of some snow in Chicago.  Strange but apparently true. As we celebrated the Memorial of St. Isidore, the Patron Saint of farmers this week, I thought it might be timely to share some experiences from our garden.

Now I must tell you we live on a very small piece of land in a town so garden space is precious.  Two years ago our family tried to grow parsnips for the first time in one of our raised beds.  The seeds were planted in the spring.  All summer and fall we waited and watched as these tiny seedlings barely grew. As fall harvest came we looked at these tiny little plants and realized for some reason they had not made any parsnips.  It was generally a great disappointment.  Not wanting to pull out living plants at the end of the season we left them in the ground.  The next spring we noticed some very thick green shoots that looked much like a carrot green but thicker.  I wasn't sure what it was for a while.  By the time I realized that indeed these were some of the parsnips from the previous summer the plants had "bolted" a term referring to the plant sending up a shoot to form seeds.  The children pulled out the plant to reveal a tiny parsnip too tiny to eat. I was disappointed but in reading a very old gardening book written by a gardener from our area, it explained that if a plant makes it through a winter it will indeed produce fruit but harvest quickly as it will go to seed very fast.  It has been through so much it quickly tries to ensure the next generation before harsh weather kills it.  With this piece of knowledge I was poised for the following year.  We left the remaining parsnips that had gone to seed and left them alone.  In the fall the whole bed looked like snow with parsnip seeds through the whole bed.  There were also some random little parsnip plants as well. With record cold this year I wondered if any of the plants would live through the winter.  As the snow melted one of the first things to emerge were 5 strong shoots.  There was no mistaking them this year.  A few parsnips had made it.  

As my hands are too weak now for gardening due to a disability with my joints I called our son Asher who is in first grade.  He came over and with all his might he pulled.  One of the medium sized parsnips on the table came out.  We were intrigued by the many extensions that came out of the parsnip.  The one he had pulled out had three distinct roots all attached at the top.  He began to try to pull another one out but could not.  Later our 13 year old daughter Alina and my husband set to work to remove the others.  It was comical to see them sinking their hands deep into the ground trying to get under each root.  Pulling very hard they came to light. These larger parsnips were even more unusual looking then Asher's first one.  This was all new to us.  We wondered how these strange looking parsnips would taste.  With a roast chicken these roots were cut up.  The roots were so big we needed a second glass dish to cook the remaining ones.  As our family sat down to dinner we all could not believe how sweet these parsnips were.  My husband said he thought they were the sweetest parsnips he had ever tasted.  A couple of things struck me about these parsnips.  
Through the severe weather of the winter with extreme cold and harsh conditions a few things happened.  The parsnips lost their "normal" appearance and were deformed.  This deformation allowed them to extend like many tiny fingers into the soil so removing them was a difficult task indeed.  As weather broke and fair weather came they were the strongest looking parsnips I have seen with thick healthy shoots.  Their mission was not to sit around and enjoy the weather but to pass on what they had to future generations...quickly.  Upon removing them despite their disfigured appearance they were tender and sweet.  

The effect of "suffering" or trials on these plants seemed much the same as the effect suffering has on us when we unify it with the suffering of Our Lord.  We may less and less resemble our old selves but to Our Lord these sufferings produce sweetness in our soul when endured with love.   Our ability to sustain and survive further trials increases and when the sun comes out our leaves are thick and lush.  We care less and less for the material things of this world.  Instead we have our eyes looking upward and also have a desire to pass on such faith to our children and the next generation.  It is beautiful that Our Lord who spoke often of farming in the Gospels, helps us understand many things through nature around us and toiling with the land.  These lessons are particularly helpful for our children who love to work in the garden and who in a special way seem to understand many of these things easily.

You may also like the following posts:
Finding Answers to Our Spiritual Questions in the Garden.

“Lord to Whom Shall We Go”

These are the words Simon Peter spoke to Jesus in the Gospel reading from Mass today.

These words invoke a deep interior reflection for this would be a phrase that has come to give me much consolation.  May I share that as an individual who has spent a great deal of my life in the study of the sciences in particular dentistry and the specialty of Endodontics,  my mind has been trained to work in testing hypothesizes and working with facts.  This training fosters a mind keen to details and solidly pragmatic.  Such was the way I responded to an illness that took me by surprise.  It would turn out to be a genetic condition that brings with it a deterioration of ones collagen prematurely due to a genetic defect.  Such deterioration brings with it joint dislocations, pain, weakness and a host of other manifestations.  As a trained clinician my mind began sifting through the details of the case.  What were the factors that seemed to trigger such a rapid decline in function.  How could these be slowed, mitigated and even reversed.  There must be a dogmatic answer or a doctor to right that which was clearly dysfunctional.  Such was the path I set out on.  To talk and speak to anyone who was doing research in this area and to study the condition myself through review of scientific literature. Yet this journey in the world of details seemed to lead no where.  No one had the magic bullet to slow the rapid deterioration in health I was experiencing.  

As a practicing Catholic attending Sunday Mass only, I vividly recall picking up a prayer card with prayers honoring Our Lady’s seven sorrows.  It lay for a long time right by the back door.  One day on the way out the door I picked it up.  I looked at it and interiorly said, I am not bad enough.  It reminds me of a hair dresser I once talked to who complained of back pain but was wearing designer shoes.  I suggested she wear a pair of orthopedic shoes like mine.  She looked at my shoes and said, my back would have to get much worse before I would ever consider wearing those.  I laugh at such a statement because this is what I thought deep in my heart.  Things would have to get much worse to change my pursuit of a scientific solution to my problems and look elsewhere for help.  Yet such would be my fate.  All the things I held on so tightly to: my fierce independence and self reliance would be stripped away layer by layer.  Slowly, I would have to ask for help with everything.  Luxuries such as driving would be lost and even the strength to open the refrigerator.  Yes I would find that place where I would finally give up my pursuit of the details and begin to look elsewhere.  

The gate that opened began with a confession which was long overdue. A pamphlet on Divine Mercy was the wind that blew the door wide open.  Indeed all the despair which seemed to be swallowing me up was washed away by an enveloping feeling of hope.  This began a road in a different direction.  One that ended with a the phrase spoken today, "Lord to whom shall we go"(John 6:68) or the way I find myself saying it in prayer, Lord where else would I go.  Yes this is such a comforting phrase to me. For it is a truth that has been tested in the fire of intense suffering and has shown never to fail.  After exhausting all earthly directions only one place remained...to live and rest in the heart of Our Lord. To not only seek out His love but to be consumed by His love.

When a soul finds this truth it is such a consolation and strength.  Many souls I suspect find out this fact with far less resistance but such was my path.

"Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind"

Dear Friends,

Yesterday concluded our Novena of Masses.  Two Masses said daily for 9 days for the fulfillment of Our Lady’s plans for the Children’s Rosary and then two Masses said daily for 9 days in thanksgiving.  With so many Masses and prayers going up it is truly a blessed way to enter holy week.  This beautiful novena of Masses and prayers happened through the generosity of many people.  May I humbly say, thank you for making such a gift to Our Lady and her Son possible. 

Reflecting over these 18 days it has been an interesting journey.  In the first few days there were a string of signal graces and pieces of good news.  I remember remarking to one member of the Children’s Rosary that everything seemed to get easier.  Impedances removed and the feeling of wonderful grace flowing.  

Something interesting happened after a few days, periods of intense struggle began.  Those who read of the trip to the Divine Mercy Conference have some sense of one particular struggle with a rather long day of travel including a bus ride with little Asher who had a terrible stomach flu. An illness that lasted almost a full week. For my own part there were times of complete physical exhaustion, spiritual questioning and disappointment.  A feeling that certain branches were being deeply pruned.  Last Friday at Mass there was a reading that seemed to speak to these experiences, "Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind"  (Jeremiah 20:12). Indeed it would seem that the Lord was probing the heart and testing.  With so many Masses going up and our prayers for Our Lady’s Plans to be fulfilled in us there was a green light for Our Lord to set to work and continue to mold us and fashion us according to His Will.  Psalm 23 was a true consolation "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me." Yes, indeed despite such trials there is a sense that we are never left alone.  Our Lady in a special way also supporting us and reassuring us. 

I share these inner feelings as I suspect others may have experienced something similar.  Several have written asking for extra prayers due to family struggles and spiritual struggles in their faith.  Please do not think you are being punished.  Our conversion is life long and we may expect such suffering as we follow Our Lord, for He is the most beautiful example of suffering done with love. 

As you might be thinking right now that such a novena of Masses has brought down a great deal of suffering alone, may I share with you some tender stories that warm the heart and assure us that Our Lord cherishes the prayers of these little ones and the Masses we offered to Him.  For the Sacrifice of the Mass was the gift He gave to us out of Love today.

May I share with you that during this novena of Masses many new people reached out and began Children’s Rosary groups.  Two moms contacted us from Michigan.  Each had been meeting for some time praying the Rosary with children.  They wanted to join our prayer movement.  One group meeting weekly on Tuesday evenings at 5PM and the other meeting weekly on Mondays at 4:30 PM.  We also have an existing Children’s Rosary group which meets on Mondays at 4:30 PM in Mahopac, NY which now means there will be two groups able to unify prayers together.  More beautiful ways that Our Lady is helping us to create a web of children’s prayers unified across the world. New groups also began in South Carolina and word that a new group will be meeting the first weekend in May at the Parish of St. Joachim in Madera, California.  In total we now have reached approximately 60 Children’s Rosary groups...one for each bead of the Rosary!  A wonderful image to contemplate.  

May I share one more blessed gift.  Several months ago I received a note from a women named Bette whose niece was very sick.  She had a clot in her lung and was early in her pregnancy.   Quickly both mom and baby were put on our intention list that went out to our groups for the children to pray over.  Day by day mom pushed through with her little baby.  Then word came that there were severe developmental problems with the baby detected on ultrasound.  The doctors said the following two weeks would be important in the survival of the baby. Such news was a hard blow for the family.  Yet Bette wrote that in prayer she felt called to ask for the prayers of the Children’s Rosary.  After many rosaries lifting up these intentions word recently came:  A MRI did not show the extreme problems the doctors had thought. Such news was a blessing which one cannot begin to measure.  While Bette is quick to say that both mom and baby still are in constant need of prayers things are looking much brighter.  This family has truly embraced the Children’s Rosary and may I share offered many prayers of thanksgiving and sent several beautiful Mass cards.  One indicated that the Children’s Rosary Apostolate would share in the Masses, prayers and good works of the Servants of Mary including a daily Mass celebrated at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.  An other card indicated a Perpetual Mass enrollment in the Golden Heart of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

As we join Our Lord tonight for His sharing of the Holy Eucharist and then accompany Him to the Garden, there is a feeling that such struggle allows us to have that naked, raw heart that allows us to better understand the suffering Our Lord undertook for us.  

Thank you all for being a part of the Children’s Rosary.  Thank you for your prayers and sacrifices.  Despite our flaws there is a feeling that Our Lord and Our Lady are happy with our efforts.

Your Grateful Friend in Christ,

Blythe

Suffering: A Call to Come Home

Last Saturday at daily Mass the Gospel was read of the prodigal son.  In listening to the story of the wayward son, we hear how he takes all his inheritance and squanders his property in loose living.  The parable goes on to say "And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you." (Luke 15:14-18)

There was a portion of the story that seemed to stand out in a way that had not occurred to me before.  The story mentions a famine that arose and created a want in the young son.  This suffering began a period of reflection that finally brought his heart home to his father.  It was not through words that the son left his ways but a period of struggle and suffering that served as the call home.  Such is the way Our Heavenly Father often calls us.  It is through our struggle and want that we initially find ourselves turning our heart to prayer.  Once we reconcile ourselves to Our Lord, we find that only Love is waiting.

As we contemplate the Passion during Lent there is a wonderful appreciation of the good that comes through suffering.  A purification and letting go of all the feelings of self dependence and an appreciation that we cannot do anything without God, not even to take a single step.

There are some beautiful quotes about suffering from the saints:

"Suffering is the greatest treasure on earth; it purifies the soul. In suffering, we learn who our true friend is" (Diary of St. Faustina 342).

"True love is measured by the thermometer of suffering"(Diary of St. Faustina 343)

Padre Pio led an intense spiritual life, full of both suffering and mysticism. From this he said,
"In order to attract us, the Lord grants us many graces that we believe can easily obtain Heaven for us. We do not know, however, that in order to grow, we need hard bread: the cross, humiliation, trials and denials."

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