Getting an education

Women of Faith:

As our children head back to school we need to take a serious look at: 1) what will they learn? and 2) why do we send them to school—why do we think education is necessary?

Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding." Prv 9: 6

Education is VERY important. We don’t want our children to be foolish. They need to UNDERSTAND the world in which they live.

Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord. Eph 5:15-17

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord. Eph 6:4

The prayer over parents at their children’s baptism further instructs and reminds: “Parents, you will be the first teachers of your child.”

So, as parents, do we pay attention to what our children (and we) learn or do we just “expect” that everything they (and we) are taught is right? Are we training, instructing, and learning in the Lord and making sure the exposure we, and they, have to God’s teachings is a priority in education?

I think that most “career” educators, regardless of their religious or moral beliefs, would agree that teaching a child with active parent involvement is a much easier task, than to teach those who expect the teacher to do it all.

So, are we all, the educator, the parent and the child learning WWJD? Or are we all learning what society wants us to know and teach?

The “public” has separated church from state—this includes many aspects of law, including education. I believe the intention of our Founding Father’s guidance was that God would be “let in”—not “put out.”

How am I learning and teaching Character Counts—trust, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, citizenship—through God’s eyes, or through completely secular eyes? Am I, as a first teacher, teaching the difference?

In God’s eyes Character Counts should teach us how to serve each other, how to care about each other, and how to give to others.

God designed LIFE and He designed marriage between one-man and one-woman who can and will continue to bring life to this world. He didn’t teach “equality or fairness” as society wants us to believe.

So there is a need for all of us as Christians to reinsert God into education and to help each other understand that the law of society which says abortion is “legal” and that “marriage” is “equal treatment between living partners” is going against a GREATER law—God’s law.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. So do not be associated with them. Eph 5: 6-7

And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Eph 5 18-20

It is our responsibility as parents to be our children’s first teachers: to not “expect” that anyone else is necessarily training and instructing them in the Lord.

Heavenly Father, you are the greatest teacher. Please bless all teachers and those who instruct them with the wisdom that You are not to be PUT OUT, but that we are to LET you into our lives. Bless us with the understanding and the wisdom to put YOU back INTO our children’s lives and education. Thank you for all teachers who teach that God’s morals are the Characters that Count. Amen.

May all students and teachers (that would be EVERYONE of us) be filled with God’s wisdom and understanding!

Blessings through Him, in the Spirit,

Charlotte

"I do it myself"

Friends of Faith:

I’m feeling a little alone this morning as I find myself, for the first time in about four weeks, alone in my own house, with none of our children and no precious grandchildren (ages 2 & 4) saying “I do it myself.”
 

And yet I see God written all over the last four weeks, the last four years, the last forty years plus –in the realization that I didn’t do any of this by myself—God was in complete control—giving me gifts beyond measure—a husband, children and grandchildren, continuing another circle of life.

He gave us life and marriage and life again--“In the beginning God created… (all living creatures)...then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being….The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him…..The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be a helper suited to the man. So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.^*Gn2:7, 18, 20-24

And for the third week in a row we heard that not only did He give us life at creation, but He gives us life through the body and blood of the Eucharist: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." Jn 6:51

I am not to “do it FOR myself” I am to “do it for God.” I was created to be a “helper.”

I am not to “choose” whether I will give life—He has given me the gift of life.

And just as we have to have patience with a two year old who wants to do it herself we are to have patience with God who does it Himself—IF we let him.

“For with God all things are possible.” Mt 19:26

God is in control: of our life and our every blessing here on earth—family, food, shelter and health, and ultimately our spiritual well-being, our eternal health and life in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are the Maker, the Creator, the Life of us all. Help me to appreciate and never take for granted all of the living gifts you have given me. Thank you for physical health, for the spiritual food of Your word, and for the heavenly food given to us by Your institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Praise be your life giving rain and sunshine which provides food for our earthly bodies. Amen.

So while we have gotten very good at “doing it ourselves” have we forgotten that God’s purpose for us was to be “helpmates” for each other?

And has teaching “I do it myself” become “it’s all about me”—selfishness?

Or should it be an opportunity to teach patience, dependence on each other, reliance on God, appreciation of life and thanksgiving for our many gifts, especially the gift of life itself.

Will we teach just as strongly: “I do it for God?”

What can I really do myself? I can choose God’s truth. I can choose life. And I can choose to be a helpmate to all of his human creation.

This week “do it for God and with God”—not by yourself or for yourself,

Blessings,

Charlotte

From A Child, A Season of Hope

Women of Faith:
I need Hope. I need the childlike hope found thru Jesus. Hope that my relationship with Him will be inspired and strengthened everyday; hope that a simpler life exists; hope that everyone that I love will come to follow Jesus as best they are able, with each of them becoming their best versions; and hope that the wars that are being waged against peace, love, and life in our families, society and the world, will be extinguished by prayer, fasting and forgiveness as God intended when He designed each one of us in His image.

In these short, dark, days of winter, when life is speeding by, and stress seems to be swallowing the true spirit of Advent and Christmas, HOPE is what keeps me moving forward; HOPE is what keeps me in tune with “Jesus is the Reason.”

As is often the case the children are often the ones to really “see” what is important and of true value, so this song speaks loudly to where I want to be standing—in a line for Jesus—in Hope of Jesus guiding my every move: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=pPViKJRHyZo&vq=medium (f the link doesn’t work go to www.wheresthelinetoseejesus.com ). Please share and pass this message and beautiful song on. If we could get everyone to be more interested in the “Line to See Jesus” instead of “keeping up with the person next door” oh, what a “Wonderful Life” we might HOPE to see.

Dear God, “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song…They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Is 35:1-10 Please forgive me when I get discouraged. Humble me to ask forgiveness for my sins, for it is never too late to repent. Thank you for answering my prayers and for giving me signs to help guide my way through the maze of earthen treasures (and pleasures). Help me to remember that when times get tough my sufferings aren’t nearly as painful as what you gave up for me by dying on the cross. Guide me to the Line for Jesus. My hope lies in You. Amen.

Blessings of Childlike Hope and Love,
Charlotte

Life's Miracles

My original title today was “random thoughts”, but as I finished I realized that all of the random thoughts I had written, actually revolved around today’s topic at mass-- “life” -- so therefore I will share these somewhat random bible verses about the miracles of life.

Father began our service today with this introduction: “God’s most life giving gift to us was his son, sent here to forgive us.” Do we ask for and accept his forgiveness and ultimately eternal life?

October is “Respect Life” month and as Joe and Francie so aptly put it, not just life in the human sense, but more importantly as the ultimate gift of eternal life. “Children, and those who are dependent on us due to disability or age, offer us the opportunity to grow in patience, kindness, and love. They teach us that life is a shared gift, not an encumbrance. At the end of life, we will be judged on love alone.” Cardinal Justin Rigali, Statement for Respect Life Sunday, September 29, 2009

I would ask your prayers for the approximately 4,000 mothers who sought abortion today, so that they may be forgiven and given the consolation of God’s love. And secondly for all those who are thinking about seeking abortion, so that they will see that God’s creation is meant to be loved, not forsaken. (See Project Rachel for more information on healing and forgiveness from abortion.)

Very much the opposite side of abortion is that of wanting to give life. I had a friend this week who asked me to pray for her daughter who is having difficulty conceiving a child. I told her I would pray for her and suggested that we should ask for the intercession of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla (canonized in 2004) (Saint Gianna), “pro-life saint.” Saint Gianna is the patron saint for motherhood and thru her intercessions with God many who were previously infertile have had “miraculous” babies. http://www.saintgianna.org/main.htm

I think it is only right to explain what “praying to a saint” means since it is one of those things that are misunderstood by non-Catholics and Catholics alike. When we pray to a saint, we are praying “through” the saint. A saint is someone who through their life demonstrated a complete “laying down of their lives for God’s purpose.” (See Col 1:11 “who has made you fit to share the inheritance of the holy ones in light.”)

In this case Saint Gianna gave her life in childbirth, even though as a doctor she knew all of the risks and by giving life she would probably lose her own life. She provides an inspiration to all those who experience the constant demands and confusing signals that our current culture places on us.

Praying to or through the saints, angels or Mary is not unlike asking our prayer groups and friends to pray for us. And because the saints (for more on how someone is given sainthood see http://www.saintgianna.org/catholicchurch.htm), have been raised to the altar in heaven, they have an even more “direct line” of communication with God to help us ask for his help in our lives. Personally, I will take all the help I can get by asking for the help of “those who share in God’s inheritance” for the special needs of my family and friends.

As you will notice in the following prayer to Saint Gianna, it does not pray TO Saint Gianna, but prays through her to Jesus: “Jesus, I promise You to submit myself to all that You permit to befall me, make me only know Your will. My most sweet Jesus, infinitely merciful God, most tender Father of souls, and in a particular way of the most weak, most miserable, most infirm which You carry with special tenderness between Your divine arms, I come to You to ask You, through the love and merits of Your Sacred Heart, the grace to comprehend and to do always Your holy will, the grace to confide in You, the grace to rest securely through time and eternity in Your loving divine arms.”

So I would ask your prayers for not only my friend’s daughter, but for all others who are having difficulty having a child. Children are one of the greatest miracles of God. I think many of us know someone who was blessed with a miracle child, especially after a lengthy period of infertility and many times after an adoption.

Following the miracle theme, today’s reading was about one of the miracles Jesus performed, by giving sight to the blind man. Mk 10:46-52 The miracles documented today by the church are not much different than those performed by Jesus during his life, that of healing, giving life, and feeding (giving the basic needs of life). While scientists always try to explain away these phenomena, there is really no need for an explanation if we believe in God.

Saturday’s readings applied a parable to our acceptance of life through forgiveness in the story about the barren fig tree.

“Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!’

“And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’” Lk 13:1-9

Do I have the faith to repent, forgive and trust in the miracles in my life? Are my eyes and ears opened with/by my faith in God? Am I willing to ask for God’s “fertilizer” and accept and grow because of God’s greatest miracle, his Son’s death on the cross?

Who will I be this week? The owner ready “to cut it down,” to accept the immortality of the world, unwilling to take a stance for change because “it doesn’t affect me,” or using the “I can’t do anything about it anyway,” excuse? Or am I a barren fig tree, fertilized, but unwilling to accept the love and truth of God’s words? Or am I like the Galileans, letting those around me suffer because I will not accept God’s forgiveness, his miracle in my own life? Could I be the gardener, fertilizing, helping others to grow in faith so that they can see their positive selves by forgiving and patiently “tending the soil” so that I give those I love another chance like the gardener gave the fig tree. Or am I like the fertilized and ready fig tree, ready to give my life in faith thru God’s word and truth, so that through my own forgiveness and model I might show others the way to eternal life?

Blessings, Charlotte