For all things homely, visit my Life on the Home Front blog
For peace and solitude, visit my Seeking Silence blog
For the wisdom of our Holy Father, visit Benedict Everyday
No hands and feet but yours…
July 8, 2009 at 6:58 pm (Being a Mother, Blooming at Home, Here I am: send me!, Prayer, Saints)
This has really, really spoken to me today…just when I needed to hear it! It has also reminded me that the core of the Gospel is not just what I believe but how I put those beliefs into action…
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Teresa of Avila 
I have been struggling so much with the extra workload that comes from sharing a home with my daughter and grandson…to the point that I was saying to hubby this morning that I was going to have to tell her I couldn’t keep on doing what I’m doing, helping and “holding the baby” so much, and slogging away until 11pm at night, then going to work in the morning. Hubby wasn’t happy with this, so I haven’t said anything, but pondered on his objections. Of course, he is right ~ as he said, it’s not forever, and if I say anything then it will make it harder for her to ask for help when she really needs it, and she will feel guilty, and a burden. I came to this conclusion myself after my morning prayer out in the garden, after saying the Rosary and pondering on Mary. You see, in Scripture, we never see Mary doing anything for herself! Not that she never did, I’m sure, but the message we have been left with is her commitment to her Son, and from that to ourselves when He gave her to us as our Mother. Now I know I am not holy like Mary! Far from it ~ but perhaps I can be a Saint Anne instead…the Grandmother of Jesus. I am sure that Saint Anne would have been very involved with Jesus and Mary’s lives, helping, supporting and loving. If I can put myself in her place, then I can re-connect with the sacramental nature of my role in the home.
I am certain that my daughter appreciates what we do ~ she has said so and seems aware of that side of things. But I still shouldn’t be doing this for her acknowledgement, but for God, the One who matters! I have been so “round the houses” on this issue and it’s about time I accepted with grace my vocation and stop whinging! The prayer above really helped, because it made me realise that yes, I am Christ’s hands and feet; Christ isn’t powerless by nature, but I think He often chooses to be, because He wants us to be His co-workers. In this situation I am in, Christ has no hands and feet but mine! By that I mean no physical hands and feet…no -one else to do the work, get their hands dirty, put themselves out and sacrifice their free time. That thought, for me, can be transformative, and turn a drudge into a joy! It’s like prayer…I don’t believe that God actually needs our prayers, but he wants them, because that’s how He ensures we work together, in prayer and in service.
Just thought I’d share that!
Family Prayer to St. Anne
Saint Anne, Bless My Family
My family is the heart of my life.
It is my little Church.
Saint Anne, guard the members of my family
against all physical and spiritual danger.
You lived in the presence of your husband Joachim
and your little daughter Mary.
Later, you welcomed your son-in-law, Saint Joseph,
and above all your beloved Grandson Jesus, our Saviour.
May your family inspire our families.
May we remain united in a deep mutual love.
If my family is broken by separation or divorce,
remain for us the Saint of tenderness and lead us to God.
Saint Anne, you were a spouse, a mother, and a grandmother;
bless all the members of my family.
Keep us faithful to the Lord
and may we remain attentive to the needs of other families.
~ Amen
The Chaplet of St. Therese
July 6, 2009 at 2:31 pm (Prayer, Saints)
Sharon asked me about the Chaplet of St. Therese in a comment on another post, so here’s a little bit about it.
The St. Therese Chaplet consists of 1 large bead, on which one recites the opening prayer: “St. Thérèse of the Infant Jesus, Patroness of Missions, pray for us!”
On the 24 smaller beads, which represent a bead for each year of St. Therese’s life, one recites a “Glory be…”
It is a beautiful prayer, and one which I pray regularly! I finish with a novena prayer to St. Therese:
O Little Thérèse of the Child Jesus,
please pick for me a rose
from the heavenly gardens
and send it to me as a message of love.
O Little Flower of Jesus,
ask God today to grant the favours
I now place with confidence in your hands…
(Make your request here…)
St. Thérèse,
help me to always believe as you did,
in God’s great love for me,
so that I might imitate
your “Little Way” each day.
Amen
The above picture is of a Chaplet you can buy from Cenacle, at a very reasonable price. Later I will post a picture of my own Chaplet 
Show and Tell
July 3, 2009 at 8:47 pm (Chat over Coffee, Grandma Gossip, Mrs. Pogle)
I thought I’d post and show you what I bought in Chester yesterday 
I went with the intention of buying my Grand-daughter Upsy-Daisy her first proper doll…and in the end chose this one from the old-fashioned toyshop (which sells the loveliest toys!)
…her name is Sarah, and she is hand-finished and has her own unique serial number on the back of her neck! She is soft-bodied, so is cuddly, and she has lovely little shoes which you can take on and off. Her eyes close when she is lying down and she has eyelashes! I adore her, and would like to keep her for myself 
Upsy-daisy adores her too, and gave her hugs and kisses, and played with her fringe (which is lovely and soft!)
The other gift I bought yesterday was for myself. I bought a new wooden Rosary to replace my old one which broke 
…it is lovely and bright, a child’s Rosary really…but I chose it deliberately, to remind me to always trust God with a child-like faith and an open and innocent heart. I have attached a medal of Saint Bernadette, as she came to Our Blessed Lady of Lourdes as an innocent child, and continued in her child-like trust through her painful illness. Lord, please let my heart be beautiful, as Saint Bernadette’s was!
10 honest things about me…
June 30, 2009 at 10:44 am (Fun, Memes, Mrs. Pogle)
I picked this up from UKOK’s Place ~ many thanks!
To keep this award, I must do the following:
1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2) Share “ten honest things” about myself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4) Tell those 7 people that they’ve been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving it.
So, here goes!
- I am a total home-bod, and happiest in my kitchen. If you read my Life on the Home Front blog, you will already know this! I love donning my pinny and spending a whole afternoon baking, and get a kick out of doing housework. There is nothing more satisfying than licked clean plates and a hoovered carpet at the end of the day. Some say life’s too short to dust, but like Br. Lawrence, I try to make my home-keeping into a prayer!
- I have a fear of clowns, ever since being frightened to death by one at a school event when I was 5. It has got a bit easier as I have got older, but they still give me the creeps, especially the ones with frizzy orange hair, white faces and big red evil grins…
- When I was 11, before even being Catholic, I wanted to be a Nun, after watching “The Song of Bernadette”. God chose another vocation for me but I am still attracted to the Monastic life, and live it out through being a Benedictine Oblate and being consecrated to Mary through the Crusade of Mary Immaculate.
- My most favourite food ever is…cheese…too much isn’t good for you, so I try to ration it, but have to eat a little bit every day. My favourites are Sage Derby, Lancashire and Shropshire Blue. Yum yum!
- I love to pray! I pray the shorter morning and evening prayer each day, or pray from the Bendictine Breviary. My favourite prayer is the Rosary, and the Glory Be chaplet of St. Therese. I sleep with my Rosary in my hand and another under my pillow! Talking to God is the greatest privilege I can imagine, and praying to Mary is the greatest comfort.
- My greatest vocation is being a wife, mother and grandmother. Through these things my life has been blessed beyond imagining. I would love to be a stay-at-home wife, but have to work part-time in order for us to survive! But part-time is good ~ the rest of the week, I get to be a SAHW!
- I have a degree in Creative Arts, majoring in drama and creative writing. The creative writing comes out in poetry, and one day I intend to have them published ~ perhaps when I retire and have more time! (12 years to go )
- I love strong coffee, and going to Costa. Everyone should go to a coffee shop at least once a week! It’s my chill out time, and I always drop by for a coffee on my way home from work on a Wednesday and sit reading the Times and watching the world go by. It helps me keep my sanity.
- I wear a head scarf to Mass as I have recently been convicted of the need to veil. You can read more about that here: Taking the Veil
- Here are some of the things in life which make me feel happy: Jesus; clean washing blowing on the line; curling up in front of the fire on a winter’s evening with a good book; foreign films with subtitles; cookery programmes; bubble baths; books about the Tudors; being Catholic; fluffy bed-socks; Italian food; coffee and chocolate; baking cakes; paddling in the sea; going to Mass; retreats; time spent with my family; writing; my friends!; art and music; following God’s will; Our Blessed Mother; early mornings in summer; crisp sunny winter days; sunsets; thunderstorms; flowers; the smell of baking bread and fresh ground coffee; blogging!; Saints…and lots more!
This was fun! Instead of tagging individuals, I am going to say as UKOK did that if you want to do this, go ahead, and leave a comment with a link
Today’s Entry…
June 30, 2009 at 10:06 am (Blooming at Home, Mrs. Pogle)
…is over at Life on the Home Front
The Fruit of the Spirit ~ Longsuffering
June 29, 2009 at 10:28 am (The Holy Spirit)
The word “longsuffering” is often replaced in some Biblical translations with the word “patience” ~ and patience is indeed a virtue…and I am afraid it is not one of my best! I struggle to be a patient person, I do not “suffer long” well, and yet I am aware of the blessings which come with this fruit! James 5:7 uses the analogy of a farmer waiting for the harvest to illustrate the blessings of patience:
“Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth: patiently bearing till he receive the early and latter rain.”
…and those of us who are gardeners will know that seeds do not sprout overnight no matter how often we keep staring at the soil where we have planted them! But when they do appear ~ what joy! I remember the little jump of joy inside when my salad leaves first started sprouting, anticipating the pleasure of seeing them on my plate at tea time
God is infinitely patient with us ~ He knows that we too need time to grow, time spent in the dark under the soil, and the heat of the Son and the water of the Spirit before we burst into bloom. He doesn’t expect us t run before we can walk, but patiently and lovingly holds our hands as we take baby steps, and picks us up and comforts us when we fall and scrape our knees.
We too, in following His example need to be patient with others around us. This is especially important with children ~ we can make the mistake of thinking that they should have learned life’s lessons when they haven’t had the learning experiences we have had as parents. Gently and lovingly picking them up when they make mistakes, and sharing that learning with them is far more productive than impatiently expecting them to always get things right! And it’s the same with everyone else too ~ we are called to patiently bear the faults of others without complaining…not allowing them to abuse us, of course…but being patient in recognising that they; like us, are a “work-in-progress”.
This world we live in does not encourage patience ~ we are instead told that we can “have it now”, or “buy now, pay later”. We live in a culture of instant gratification, where we can so easily grow up believing that our needs must be met instantly without having to wait. Fast food, microwave meals, easy loans, borrowing rather than saving. Instant messaging, texting and e-mailing have replaced snail-mail letters and taken away the joy for many of the sound of a letter hitting the mat. The faster life gets, the more impatient we become!
Sometimes too we have to be patient with circumstances. We may be stuck trying to sell our house trying to find a better job, recover from illness, complete a grieving process; many of these things cause us to suffer. It helps to remember that these things too are part of God’s plan, and that suffering and waiting have their own purpose in refining us and making us more in the image of Jesus. And in the meantime, despite our feelings of impatience, we can always offer these sufferings up and allow God to make use of them. Nothing is in vain if we surrender it to Him and submit to His will!
So today, I will open myself to the Holy Spirit and ask Him for the blessings of patience, knowing that my “longsuffering” can be a blessing, rather than a curse!
A nice cup of tea…
June 29, 2009 at 9:39 am (Grandma Gossip, Mrs. Pogle's Garden)
…how very English!
But there is nothing more thirst quenching on a hot day, in my opinion, than a cup of tea ~ far more refreshing than a glass of juice even! There is something deliciously “English” about sitting and taking tea in the garden on a summer’s day, with some home-made biscuits, little cakes or cucumber sandwiches…so sit yourself down and have a cup of Earl Grey and I’ll share the last week with you
The weather is hot, hot, hot here in the UK at the moment! I am sat here with a large fan blowing cool air on me, and at times like this, air-conditioning would be rather nice. If it wasn’t for the sneezing and watering eyes I have at the moment, I would be really content with the hot weather, but the last couple of years I have been stricken with a mild hay-fever…but all the same, it was lovely sitting in my garden having a morning cup of tea at 7.30am. It seems that every morning I spy a new flower that has opened in the night ~ today it was a bright red poppy just outside my back door.
I have been busy with home and family over the last few days, which is why I haven’t posted for a week! On Friday I went out for my usual cup of coffee with my daughter and two eldest grandchildren Iggle-Piggle and Upsy-Daisy (not their real names!) to Costa, which was air-conditioned, and very nice and cool! Saturday was not really sunny, just hot and muggy, and I spent most of the day cleaning the house and catching up on chores I never got around to during the week while hubby was at work. Yesterday was hot and sunny, and I divided my time between the kitchen and the garden…I had a baking day, despite the heat, and made a cake and some scones and a mushroom quiche for our tea. Happy days!
Work is slowing down now, as the students have finished term, so I only have bits and pieces to be getting on with, and just 2 remaining clients who will have sessions for the next couple of weeks. Then have a long (5 week) summer break! Pray the lovely weather lasts!
So that’s me! Not particularly interesting, I know, but a succession of blessed days all the same. God is so good, and His world, despite the sorrow and turmoil so often focused on in the news, is still breath-takingly beautiful, especially when taking tea in the garden. God bless you today!
the crux
June 23, 2009 at 1:52 pm (Mrs. Pogle is feeling..., Poetry, Pondering Holiness, Pondering Life, Pondering Self)
A real change from yesterday! Today has been a thoughtful, reflective day so far as I have pondered how God heals us, and how long that process can sometimes take. I found a poem today that I wrote last September. I haven’t written much poetry since, as I go through “dried-up poet” phases quite often, but in the poem I ask “how long?”, as I was struggling with so many unruly thoughts and feelings at the time. Yet when I look back, it was after writing this and other poems that I began to embrace God’s will for me and to move forward. 10 months later, I feel like a different person ~ at home in my chosen vocation, actively wanting to be holy, rather than being a rebel. God has tamed me during this time, and I have been willing to be tamed.
I think there have been times during my spiritual walk when the “old” me has still been very apparent; when I have chafed against the bit wanting to live a life of liberty and freedom to do what I want (because God’s way is so often much harder than my way!) But I have discovered, like many before me, that God’s way is the way of true freedom, and that I can never be truly free until I am prepared to be a servant, to Him and to others. Reading this poem, I remember being on the crux of a major shift in attitude; the word crux means “a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point”, but it also means a cross. All our life changes revolve around the cross, and involve sacrifice of one kind or another. We are asked by Jesus to take up our cross daily, and in doing so we become changed people. Thank You Lord for my cross; help me to continue to change, and become more like You ~ Amen!
How long Lord
must I wrestle,
like Jacob wrestled
with an angel?
How long must I
wrestle with self?
My temptations;
my desires;
my wants;
my needs:
me, me, me ~
Mine
Mine
Mine.
How long, Lord?
Must I fight ’til daybreak?
Will I bear the scars?
Limp for the rest of my life?
Yet scars are sanctified ~
they speak of Christ;
His feet,
His hands,
His head,
His side.
Will my limp
make me like Him,
and not just a cripple?
silliness
June 22, 2009 at 10:18 am (Fun, YouTube Tuesday)
I found this on YouTube this morning, and it made me go all nostalgic for Trevor and Simon, who used to be on Saturday morning kid’s tv ~ I used to watch this with my kids…
Swing your pants!
advertisement!
June 22, 2009 at 9:10 am (Great Sites to Visit, Mrs. Pogle, Pondering Blogging)
For my other blog!
Please pop on over to my Life on the Home Front blog, where there is a lovely cake recipe waiting for you. It’s a bit lonely in my kitchen at the moment 
the diluted faith…
June 21, 2009 at 3:21 pm (Pondering Church, Pondering Grace)
I have been reading around sites and blogs this weekend, and have come across certain things which disturb me a tad…it is worrying how some Catholics, and some Monastic communities are incorporating eastern and ”other” elements into the Catholic faith. Buddhist meditation, the eneagram, aspects of pagan religion and goddess philosophy…even the monk, Thomas Merton was enchanted by the lure of Zen…
The Catholic faith is like a glass of rich, full-bodied, expensive wine. In it is contained everything we need for our spiritual succour. Christ is all, and we need nothing else for our needs to be fulfilled. Whether we are attracted by action, contemplation, social justice, ritual, liturgy, it’s all there in the Catholic Church. When we add other elements, it is like adding water to our glass of wine. It may look like we’re getting more, but what we are left with is something weaker and more and more dilute, until the flavour of faith is undectectable. It is diluting the blood of Christ.
There have been times when I have been tempted to “dabble” in a little water to add to my wine, but by the Grace of God, I have held back. Please ~ don’t dilute your faith, Jesus turned water into wine, not wine into water!
The Immaculate Heart of Mary
June 20, 2009 at 8:05 pm (Feast Days, Mary our Mother)
Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today, especially …(special intention).
We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever…Amen
Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
(St. Louis-De Montfort’s Consecration)
I, (Mrs. Pogle), a faithless sinner– renew and ratify today in thy hands, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.
In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day, for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity…Amen.
Picture from Holy Cards for Your Inspiration
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart
June 19, 2009 at 11:09 am (Feast Days, Pondering Love)
Prayer of Trust to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
In all my temptations, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my weaknesses, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my difficulties, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my trials, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my sorrows, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my work, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In every failure, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In every discouragement, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In life and in death, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In time and in eternity, I place my trust in You,
O Sacred Heart of Jesus…Amen
Act of Love to the Sacred Heart
Reveal Thy Sacred Heart to me, O Jesus, and show me Its attractions.
Unite me to It for ever.
Grant that all my aspirations and all the beats of my heart,
which cease not even while I sleep,
may be a testimonial to Thee of my love for Thee and may say to Thee:
Yes, Lord, I am all Thine; the pledge of my allegiance to Thee
rests ever in my heart and will never cease to be there.
Do Thou accept the slight amount of good that I do
and be graciously pleased to repair all my wrongdoing;
so that I may be able to bless Thee in time and in eternity…Amen
The Fruit of the Spirit ~ Peace, part 2
June 17, 2009 at 7:56 pm (Blessings, Mrs. Pogle, Pondering Grace, The Holy Spirit)
Having looked at how we can bring about an environment of peace through our attitude and actions, now I want to look at the concept of inner peace, and how we can feel at peace with our lives and our selves.
I would hazard a guess that peace of heart and mind is in short supply in these days of stress, overwork, anxiety and worry. Working as a counsellor I come across people on a regular basis who are suffering from stress and have no peace in their lives. There are times too when I suffer from stress, and I have come to realise recently that some of the digestive problems I have been struggling with are stress, as well as diet related I have been keeping a kind of mental diary of what I’m eating and how I’m feeling, and it’s mainly on the days when I know I have been stressed that I have experienced stomach pain and digestive troubles.
So what is inner peace? The Buddhists would tell us that it is detachment from worldly concerns, and in some ways, that is also true of Christianity. When Jesus told us not to store up earthly treasures, He was referring to a kind of detachment. If I think about it, a lot of stress is connected to such things as acquisition, success, achievement, goals. St. Paul said that he regarded all things as rubbish in comparison to Christ. The Douay-Rheims translation uses the word “dung”! Similarly, St. Benedict exhorted “prefer nothing to Christ”. This I believe, is a great step forward on the path to peace.
What is it that destroys your own inner peace? Is it finance, security, possessions? Is it fear for your own, or your family’s health? Is it rooted in selfishness, as I know mine is…me, me, me? I want time, peace, space, quiet. I chafe against the busy family life God has placed me in from time to time. All these things destroy our peace. Jesus said “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.” This was His promise to the Disciples at the Last Supper, when He also promised to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to them. The peace Jesus talks about is interwoven with the presence of His Spirit in our lives. The closer we draw to Jesus, and trust in His love for us and His wisdom, the more we will feel at peace.
Last night, I awoke some time in the early hours, feeling extremely anxious about a friend in hospital. There was nothing I could actively do about the situation, which goes for most things that wake us up in the middle of the night ~ but I could pray, and so pray I did ~ and eventually I felt the knot of anxiety in my stomach begin to gently undo itself and relax, until the peace of Jesus overuled my anxiety and I fell asleep, confident in the Lord’s will. Peace is surrendering to the Lord’s will, for my friend and myself. My prayer is that you will all experience the deep and lasting peace of Christ in your hearts today…
The Fruit of the Spirit ~ Peace
June 16, 2009 at 9:29 am (The Holy Spirit)
Peace is a word that is bandied about an awful lot. I can remember it being the buzz word of the sixties (just) with the Hippy movement and the call for world peace. 30 years later, and the world is still struggling to find peace, with conflicts constantly raging in one or another part of the world. I grew up at a time when there was a lot of fighting in Northern Ireland just across the water and so became aware from early on that all was not well in the world. I can still remember too in the late sixties finding a copy of Time magazine my Mum had (not so successfully) hidden, which contained pictures of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, and that now famous photograph of Kim Phuc, running along the road after being burned with napalm. I have never forgotten it. Then there are incidents closer to home: stabbings, beatings, rape, child abuse…
We still live in a world ravaged by war and atrocities, on all sides…humanity is still in bondage, and it can sometimes feel like a hopeless situation. The Hippy message of “all of you need is love” and the peace symbol are now faded reminders of the past, and seem useless in the face of the hatred we see on our tv screens every day. What can we do? What is our response?
Peace doesn’t begin around a negotiating table, but in the hearts of human beings, where the Fruit of the Spirit grows. True peace comes from God, and is not naturally found within the human heart! Many of the efforts of secular peace-makers will flounder without God. Any efforts that do succeed are touched by the hand of God.
Peace begins in the heart, your heart, my heart. It begins in our attitudes, in our homes, in our valuing each person as made in the image of God. There may not be much we can do on a global level to bring about peace in times of conflict, but we can all ensure that we live our daily lives with an attitude of peace and reconciliation. Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) ~ our daily actions can bring about peace or conflict. It’s up to us. Which shall you cultivate today?
“Peace begins with a smile…” ~ Blessed Mother Teresa
another chat over coffee…
June 15, 2009 at 12:34 pm (Chat over Coffee, Mrs. Pogle, News)
Time for another chat, another catch-up! I’m becoming a rather unreliable blogger, but each week feels like it has a week and a half crammed into it right now! I’m so looking forward to the summer holidays and a good amount of time off work to recharge my batteries. I’ve had the odd day to rest here and there, but not enough to be fully refreshed. I will need a good break this year before term starts again in September, as due to changes in my work department, I will be under a little more pressure than I am currently, and basically providing a service on my own, instead of with a colleague. I will have more responsibilities, and will be working more hours. That will be helpful financially, but I know I will have to streamline here and there. I am working on accepting that this is where God has put me for now. I would like to stay at home full time, but we couldn’t get by without my salary…and I have no small children at home, so cannot justify the life of a housewife at 100%. I keep reminding myself that God has set my boundaries in pleasant places!
I had quite a busy weekend, travelling somewhere I’ve not been before to visit a friend in hospital. I had to catch 3 trains o the way there, but her husband very kindly dropped me off at the middle station on the way home, which cut out one leg of the journey. It was lovely to see my friend, but sad that it was in such circumstances. I just hope and pray that she will be healed and home again soon. I had an opportunity to sit and pray with and for her, and that was a blessing, and the whole visit felt very much under God’s care.
Yesterday I had such a lovely day, which began with the Mass of Corpus Christi. The Church was very full, and there was a hum of chatter (well, more than a hum actually!) as I knelt in the pew to pray. I normally find that so hard to deal with, and wish that people wouldn’t talk before Mass…but somehow I was able to shut it out and talk to God in the quietness of my own heart. But how I long for stiller, quieter, more reverent Masses. I am seriously thinking of joining the Latin Mass Society in my parish, which travels periodically to Holywell for Mass in the Extraordinary Form. I have heard so much about the EF Latin Mass, but never experienced it. Watch this space But I do appreciate the weekday Mass at my Church, which is very quiet, with far fewer people…the rest of the day I spent quietly at home, pottering around the garden, making tea, reading my book in the sunshine. It went some way to refreshing my tired body and spirit!
I am in a strange place with God at the moment ~ kind of ”hovering on the edge”. I want so much to connect deeply, but am aware of God hovering somewhere just out of reach. It was about this time last year that I had a very powerful experience of the presence of Jesus in my life, which was quite overwhelming. Unfortunately, it was followed by a dark and difficult period in my life. I have often wondered if my very powerful experience with Jesus left me wide open in an emotional sense, and I didn’t deal with that wisely. Perhaps I am being wary, and hovering, rather than God keeping His presence from me. Something I need to ponder on! But I am praying “come Lord Jesus!” and offering an open invitation…
Lord, in Your mercy, hear my prayer…and praying too that you are having a good day! I look forward to chatting over coffee again soon!
The Fruit of the Spirit ~ Joy
June 15, 2009 at 11:27 am (Blessings, The Holy Spirit)
Joy is the aspect of the fruit of the Spirit which moves us to live life enthusiastically! This doesn’t mean that we’re always bubbly and extroverted. It means that wherever we’re at, whatever we’re doing, we enhance life and love. Joy means others feel Christ’s loving presence no matter what they’re going through. This joy is not a fleeting moment, rather it is an enduring state of being based on the confident hope that we will be with God in paradise forever! For that faith knowledge we rejoice in the Lord always, again we say, Rejoice!
by Fr. David C. Schwartz S.J.
Joy…what is it, to you, to me?
“Joy is one of those things which identify the Christian life, the Catholic life, isn’t it? So how come everyone I meet and talk to lately is burdened and carrying loss, grief, sadness, anxiety, worry and illness. Is this what a life of joy is supposed to look like Lord?” ~ taken from my prayer journal recently. Fortunately, I didn’t stay with that thought, because joy is one of those emotions which can co-exist alongside trials and troubles, problems and persecutions. It is a sense of inner delight and a constant knowing that God is for us not against us which we are able to rejoice in and celebrate, whatever our circumstances. Or rather, that’s the way it’s supposed to be!
Joy is quite different from happiness. To come back to the analogy I used in the entry about Love below, happiness is rather like a butterfly…it comes unbidden, stays a short while, and then just as quickly it flutters away. Joy is deeper, stronger, longer lasting. It is rooted in God, sustained in Him, grows in Him, and is not dependant on good things happening to us.
The word JOY has its roots in the Latin “gaudēre”, “to rejoice”, and St. Paul tells us to “rejoice always”. But how? One of the more popular acronyms of the word JOY, is Jesus first, others second and ourselves last. It is a matter of getting our priorities right. We need to make God the first and foremost priority of our lives and devote time to our relationship with Him. Then we will have the means to reach out to others in acts of love and service. I used to really struggle with the concept of myself as last! I often used to change this acronym to mean “Jesus, and others as myself”. Time has taught me not to mess about with it. The Christian life is one in which I need to learn, every day, how to die to self, to sacrifice my own wants and desires, to serve others and “…in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” ~ Philippians 2v3 (nkjv)
Our joy should rub off on others, too ~ Catholicism is full of joy, and light and life, and is not a gloomy doom-laden religion. It is that sparkling sense of joy in us, that undercurrent of grace which attracts others to out way of life and our faith. As the quote above says, it isn’t about being “bubbly and extroverted”, and indeed that would be really tiresome. I myself have been put off in the past be over-enthusiastic, happy, clappy Christianity! Joy is a quietly flowing stream, a sense of warmth, a simple smile, a breath of fresh air…a gentle whisper…
So this then is joy ~ to be less self-absorbed, less self-focused, less self-seeking. To put God in His rightful place at the centre of my personal universe. To see Christ in others and to serve Christ in others. Dear Lord, help me to be full of JOY in Your name!
“Joy is prayer – Joy is strength – Joy is love – Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls…”
Blessed Mother Teresa
a chat over coffee…
June 10, 2009 at 12:49 pm (Mrs. Pogle, Mrs. Pogle is feeling..., Pondering Self)
I thought it was about time I posted something personal about myself! I enjoy writing entries about Scripture, theology etc., but it doesn’t give very much away about myself, and what God is doing personally in my life at present. So, by having a chat over coffee with you, I also hope to give myself an opportunity to reflect on where I’m at, with life, with family, with God!
Things are undoubtedly busy right now, as I share a house with my daughter and grandson (now 15 weeks old, can you believe! He’s now rolling over onto his front and then carries on rolling onto his back again! I imagine he’ll be crawling soon 
) I’m busy with work, with family, grandchildren especially, and trying to ensure that God is always my foundation, the ground beneath my feet!
On that subject, things have meandered slightly recently and I have become sloppy in my devotions This seems to happen periodically, I let things slide and find I am missing out my prayers, my quiet time…and then wondering why my attitude deteriorates accordingly. Usually (but not always) it takes a smack on the cheek from reality to steer me back onto the right path, but this time it has just been a growing awareness that my life is not quite right somehow. Funnily enough, it was missing a train home with my husband last week after going to a concert in Manchester which drew me up short! We ended up stuck on Piccadilly Station until 5am in the morning, trying but failing miserably to get some sleep! My attitude was awful, not to mention my language, and I didn’t deal with the crisis in the manner befitting a Christian! It was like God holding a mirror up to me and I saw myself as this not-very-pleasant person 
Much of it comes down to discipline ~ I am a very free-spirited flibberty-jibberty sort of person at heart, and I have realised over the years that I need to incorporate a strong discipline into my spiritual life, or otherwise I end up with this airy-fairy candy-floss-like imitation of faith. After doing a lot of thinking and praying, I have re-committed myself to God’s path for my life, starting off by praying the Penitential Psalms last night. Although not a member of Opus Dei, I have re-acquainted myself with the writings of St. JoseMaria, and incorporated some of the Opus Dei way of life into my daily routine. It feels like opening a window in a stuffy room, and once more I can feel the joy creeping back into my lethargy!
I recognise that I am very much like a butterfly by nature ~ liable to flit from one flower to another but not staying around long enough for real sustenance. Like the life-span of the butterfly, my intentions can be very short-lived! My aim is to be more like the flower…rooted and grounded in God, constant, growing, stable. Even when it appears dead, and the seeds fall to the ground, the flower lives on, as God resurrects it again and again. I guess the spiritual life, after all, is a constant dying to self and being resurrected in Christ. And as an Oblate, the Benedictine vows of obedience, stability and on-going conversion of life are an important part of maintaining a sense of spiritual grounding for me…
So, that’s where I’m at right now ~ learning (hopefully) from my mistakes, and waiting to bloom again! Thanks for sharing a chat over coffee with me today!
Love
June 9, 2009 at 9:05 am (Pondering Love, Scripture, The Holy Spirit)
This is an old entry which I have “bumped” to the top, as it ties in with yesterday’s post Try replacing the word “love” with “I”
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
1 Corinthians 13: 1-8, NRSV
The Way of Love (The Message)
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.Love never dies.
The Fruit of the Spirit ~ Love
June 8, 2009 at 10:37 am (Pondering Love, The Holy Spirit)
I had intended not to wait so long since my last entry, but life kind of “took over”, and I have been busy and tired…hence inspiration has been slow in coming! I have sat here wondering how on earth do I write about such a vast subject as love? Where do I begin? Just allowing my thoughts to wander on this subject, words came to mind such as “sacrifice”, “acceptance”, “tenderness”, “passion” and even “holiness”…
I think love is so hard to write about because it has been so de-valued in our society. We use the word so indiscriminately, for instace “I LOVE coffee” or “I LOVE that dress!” ~ and then we have to contend with the portrayal of love in the media, which is either sloppy romance or unbridled passion, and says very little of the true meaning of love. Even Saint Valentine’s day has been reduced to an over-sentimental festival, more about making money than celebrating true love.
God’s love is very different from all these portrayals of love. God’s love, far from being wishy-washy is love at the extreme end of the scale; love which led Jesus to voluntarily offer Himself as a sacrifice, and to die on the Cross. God’s love was offered to us at great cost, and yet we too can so often treat it in a sentimental, mushy fashion. God’s love is a far cry from hearts and flowers and feelings of warm fuzziness. It is powerful, deep, resplendent and just a little bit scary. Most of all, whilst freely given, it demands a response…God’s love is intertwined with His holiness. He loves us just as we are, but too much to leave us there. The natural effect of receiving God’s love has to be a growth in the desire to love and please Him, and to grow in holiness, turn away from sin, and spread that love outwards to others.
God’s love is both passionate and tender ~ I guess that’s why we call Christ’s death His “Passion” ~ love poured out for us from the passion in God’s heart for us, His children. It is also tender, in the same way as the love we experience when we gaze at our new born children…the desire to love and protect the weak and helpless, which is, after all, what we are. The Bible is full of images of God as a Mother who tenderly loves and nurtures us.
The Fruit of Love will grow in us if we are deeply rooted in God, for love needs deep roots in order to flourish. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves more loving, but it is God’s work within us. Our own human attempts to love are pale imitations of God’s love, and tainted by our selfish sinful nature even in their purest forms. And of course the idea of what love is can so easily become distorted ~ it isn’t true love which leads a woman to be unfaithful to her husband because she “loves” someone else, it’s not a faithful reflection of God’s love when we tolerate harmful behaviour from our children because we “love” them. Love isn’t about tolerance or acceptance of what is sinful ~ but it is about loving and accepting people as made in the image of God, and being prepared to help them grow into that image.
Love is also sacrificial for us who strive to be like Christ. It often means walking away from the things we want and desire. Loving can cause us as much pain as it does joy. Loving often means sacrificing what is good for what is better. In all things, love of God has to come first, and only then can we really love other people and ourselves in way God intends us to. So, hold the hearts and flowers, the chocolates and sentimental love songs…the Fruit of Love bears more than a passing resemblance to the Cross ~ are we ready to carry ours?
“Love, to be real, must hurt…” ~ Blessed Mother Teresa
