The Joy of a Mothers Labor

Friends of Faith:

With Mother’s Day just around the corner it is a great time to think about the wisdom God uses in passing on His kingdom through the lessons of acceptance, patience and perseverance learned in motherhood and childbirth.

From Mary’s first yes in accepting God’s call to be the mother of Jesus, to her peace and joy in his birth, to her sorrow and suffering in seeing him unjustly accused and crucified, and then again to her joy, peace and glory in his resurrection God has given all mother’s (and all humankind) a powerful and encouraging role model.

Mary’s faithful example teaches us patience, trust, courage, and perseverance, in giving God control: in pain, in sorrow AND in joy; in the sacrifice of doing his will at whatever the cost.

“When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.” (John 16:21)

God has the power to do all, so that must mean He had a purpose in allowing Jesus to suffer for us and in making Jesus human thru Mary. Likewise, God has a purpose in each of our own sufferings: so that we learn to accept his grace and give him our trust.

The grace of God allows us as wives and mothers (fathers and friends) to accept and bear both pain and sorrow in the sacrifices we make while serving each other. The same grace of God that allows us to accept suffering will also allow us to be rewarded in His time (years, nine months, or tomorrow) with the joys of seeing God’s kingdom, through them.

Just as Mary said yes to God in being a mother, so then for the sake of all she bore the pain of her son’s death on a cross so that we might be saved. Think of her agony as she watched him die for our sakes. We have somewhat those same types of experiences and feelings of pain when our children are struggling in school, careers or relationships. But like Mary we must also trust God to lead them (and us) to the right conclusions.

And we are constantly being asked to give up and sacrifice time, talents and treasures to help others, to die to our selfish desires – that is what it means to be Christian, a follower of Christ, to act as Jesus did, to give up our life, our desires and our wants for the sake of others.

As a spouse we are asked to become a vehicle to help “deliver” our spouse to heaven – if we accept our role in God’s design we will be asked to make sacrifices for the sake of the other, and we will be rewarded with the joy of seeing Christ thru them.

And just as the birth of a child (the end result of God’s grace) create joy, so too does the end result of other situations given over to God: a healing after an illness; a “thank you” after an act of service; or a conversion of heart/Spirit after soul searching or sin. Each act of kindness done with a heart of giving, in a Spirit of humility, can create joy – both for the person that sacrifices or gives up, and for the person that suffers or for the one who has been healed.

Like a woman who bears the pain of pregnancy and childbirth we will ultimately be rewarded with new birth, the joy of being a child of God in heaven.

Heavenly Father, We are your children, given by you to help others find joy in you. Help us to have patience in bearing the pain created by our own sins. Help us to be willing to sacrifice and bear pain for the sake of others. And may we be blessed by the encouragement of finding your joy in our lives. Thank you for the gift of all mothers and for Mary’s powerful example to each of us. Amen.

I think God’s most visible example of His love is the role and the outcome of a mother’s labor of love – the joy of a child—new life created and found through self-sacrifice and pain.

May all who labor find the joy of new birth in Jesus Christ,

Blessings,

Charlotte

Monday Morning Reflection

Believing

Friends of Faith:

Why is it that we sometimes have such a difficult time acting on the beliefs of our moral faith, as strongly as we identify in our belief of God?

Could it be that we just get too busy in this “culture of stuff” and don’t take time to exercise our faith belief?

I am often torn between the treasurers of God’s world and a world which includes both the fulfillment of human treasures and the trials of “being tested” in my faith.

In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Pt 1: 3-9

It is difficult to maintain our lives in this world while searching and yearning for God’s. Yet, this should be our goal… to live in this world making it God’s world. With Jesus as our example: to love one another, as Christ loved us; by giving our lives for each other; by doing God’s will even though it may not be what I might want for myself (“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” Mt 26:39)

The disciples, too, even though Jesus lived in their midst, were tested, tried, and failed to recognize, live, believe, and always do what Jesus asked of them.

Simon Peter denied Christ three times; the disciples on the road to Emmaus didn’t recognize him and Thomas asked to touch Christ to “prove” his existence.

Yet, like them I am asked to have the faith to believe in a power higher than myself, like them I am asked to pray unceasingly, to have the trust to get out of the boat and meet Jesus on the water,and to sustain myself with the food He provides (in nature and in the Eucharist).

I can’t control the world around me, so God is constantly giving me signs that He, through the Spirit, and in Christ’s example is with me everywhere I turn: in all of nature (thru the rain that waters the food grown to sustain us),and in all of life (thru children and grandchildren who continue our family).

Although science thinks they can control, choose, and imitate life and nature, we will not find everlasting joy and peace until we truly believe and trust in the mercy of God: in the elements we cannot touch: the wind (Spirit), the sun (Son), and the rain (Baptism of God).

And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Lk 24: 30-32

My conscience burns with moral truth. My heart burns with internal knowledge of His will. But my eyes aren’t always open to see and my ears don’t always listen. That is the choice I am given by God, to believe in this world, or to believe in His living Word.

God is in charge of the growing and the feeding of both my body and my soul. He is ultimately in charge of my life if I will trust Him to have power over me. And it is in that giving up of my own self, that I find ultimate peace and happiness.

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. Acts 2: 42-47

God, You are power and mercy, You are in control. Help me to believe and to give up the life I think I want, for the beauty of the life you give me, even when I can’t or don’t recognize the gifts I am being given. Thank you for the people you have put in my life that allow me to see you and help me to be a person that allows others to see you through me. In faith I trust, I believe. Amen.

Believe. God is providing us all that we need. Find the faith to trust in all that He is and has provided.

Blessings,

Charlotte

Be Not Afraid and Have Peace

Friends of Faith:

The Resurrection message is about the peace we find by placing our trust in the Lord.

Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! … Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.” Mt 28: 1-10

The published “count” for the number of times “do not be afraid” appears in the bible differs – up to an often quoted 365 times (once for each day of the year).

 

But the actual count really doesn’t make as much difference as the message itself and WHY God is so adamant that instead of having fear we should place our trust in him. And the promise that God gives us if, and when, we place our trust in him – the promise of eternal life. A life filled with something more than just worldly happiness, a life of eternal peace!

 

Calming the disciples fears the risen Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Jn 19:20

 

Yet what feeling is described as the peace Jesus speaks of? Isn’t the often asked for cliché of “world peace” more than just the absence of war, of conflict and of fighting? Isn’t that peace more aptly represented by our own internal desires not to fear, for our hearts to have peace within us, a peace represented by the absence of worry, stress and anxiety?

 

I think the peace I feel in my heart is achieved directly in proportion to how much trust I place in God. The more I trust what God wants me to do, the easier I can accept the things I have to do; and the more I accept and trust the direction that God leads my life, the less I am afraid that my decisions will not bear His fruit in the outcomes.

 

Because trying to find peace by myself, trying to control how those around me act or react to situations, trying to control the forces of nature, even trying to control how my computer will react to my commands – is really beyond my control.

 

And if I think I have control, I will quickly find out otherwise –by a virus of some sort: the virus of illness, the virus of computer technology, even the virus of a friend or clients frustrations.

 

While at certain times I might think otherwise, the bigger influence, the biggest influence, the only one that has complete and total control, of my life and this world, is God. Therefore, He deserves my entire and unconditional trust. He is the only one who can give me peace of mind and peace of Spirit – a peace that allows me to accept what is beyond my personal choice, that which I cannot control.

 

The hope I entrust to God is that the daily choices I make will lead not to difficulty, turmoil or struggles for myself or others, but to an acceptance of whatever sacrifices I have to make to deal with those struggles and forces of nature; a hope for contentment, a removal of stress and a freeing of my mind because the burden of unmet expectations are placed in God’s trust. I hope and trust that God will give me peace on earth as well as eternal peace!

 

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.” Ps 33: 20, 22 Amen.

 

May your faith and hope bring you peace in trusting God,

Blessings in Christ,

Charlotte

Engagement Holy Week Walk with Christ

Friends of Faith:

I have had others agree with me that Holy Week is their favorite spiritual and sacramental week of the liturgical year.

I don’t remember very many times, over the years, that I haven’t been able to attend liturgies every day from Thursday thru Sunday – Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil) and Easter Sunday. It was then, and has over the years become extremely important for me to have a full experience of not just history, but to be a part of Christ’s saving journey for us during Holy Week.

Certainly I didn’t go to church every day when I was younger because I was “holy,” nor do I now. I went then because I was lucky enough to be part of a family who found Christ not just in his Resurrection, but also in his passion and death.

And I go now because I understand that without his passion and death we would not have a Resurrection. Christ’s passion and death, his suffering, allow us the grace of forgiveness, so that through His death we can have the gift of eternal life—Resurrection. I would feel denied and empty if I was unable to engage in the liturgies of His death and Resurrection, not just during Holy Week, but every day of my life.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,^*and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” … He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!”Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open. He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again. Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.” Mt 26: 36-45

One of my earliest memories of Holy Week is spending Holy Thursday night with my dad from 11 p.m. to midnight in church. Dad explained to me that our hour of prayer in front of the exposed tabernacle (Eucharistic adoration) was to commemorate the time the disciples spent at watch with Jesus as he prayed, and I remember thinking that I could not and would not be like them – I was going to stay awake (a difficult task for someone age 5 or 6 in a quiet church that late at night).

I know now that I fall asleep as the disciples did each time I sin. I fall asleep each time I don’t fully trust in my faith. And I fall asleep each time I justify a choice that is not God’s will for me.

But I realize that each time I walk this Holy Week with Christ, and that each time I am given the opportunity to celebrate Mass (the Last Supper) I am given another gift, another grace by which to bear my own sufferings, and another opportunity to feel His awe and presence in my life.

The glory of his Resurrection is just that much greater when I have am able to take part in the entire experience celebrated this week. I become a part of the crowd exalting His entrance into Jerusalem by waving of palms on Palm Sunday. I am a witness to the initiation of the Eucharist and priesthood, through the blessing of bread and wine and the washing of the feet of His disciples at His Last Supper on Holy Thursday.

I feel empty of His presence by the lack of Mass on Good Friday (while there is a liturgy service, no Eucharist is celebrated anywhere in the world on the day we commemorate Jesus’ death.) And great sorrow in the reading of Holy Scripture which tells of the pain and suffering Jesus Christ experienced – knowing that it is my sin for which He was nailed to and hung on the cross.

And I have witnessed with joy the rebirth given to those who symbolically become new lights in faith as they fully join the church through the blessing of the new water in baptism and in the first communions, and confirmations celebrated at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.

Lord God, make me one with you. Help every human to have the opportunities I have been given, to be a Christian who walks with You, who is present in both Your death and Resurrection and who participates fully in the Sacraments You have initiated for us in faith. Thank You for the gift of salvation. May I be a faithful disciple whose awe for you keeps me awake, engaged and present in the journey. Amen.

Every ritual, every veneration and blessing allows me to walk one step closer with Jesus: to walk, fall, deny, and to be forgiven, as one of His faithful disciples; to feel the sorrow and pain of His mother, Mary; even to bear the judgments, hatred and the misunderstandings of the crowd.

If you have not been blessed to experience these days with a community within a church I would invite your participation in the liturgy of a Holy Week,

Engage. Make Christ’s journey more, take the opportunity and make it your priority to become one with Him on the journey He walked for us. Without you, His journey for us means nothing.

Have a Blessed Holy Week and a Joyous Easter,

In Christ,

Charlotte

Mistaken Notions

Friends of Faith:

I think I started this message last week, but Archbishop Jackels perfected it for me at mass this weekend when he talked about “mistaken notions.” His message projected a part of what Pope Francis keeps trying to instill in us as Christians; that it is not just okay to call ourselves the faithful, to be pious by attending church and praying, if we aren’t really doing something for each other with good intentions, lifting up those around us (the needy) in mind and spirit, and serving each other with kindness and compassion.

Each of us is a vehicle to help others make the right choices to become holy and it is the path of holiness that leads us to heaven. 

My mistaken notion may take the belief “that everyone else is doing it” to justify my own actions. I may condemn another’s beliefs by misreading Scripture to fit my own beliefs. O I may and spend a lot of time within church walls piously praying.

But if I’m not disciplined enough to look for God’s justification instead of my own, if I don’t learn about Christ’s teachings from the Church itself, or if I don’t take the time to serve others and do the work it takes to help others first then am I really driving the vehicle I am down a path of true holiness?

I don’t have the liberty to justify everyone’s action as freedom of choice nor should I make someone feel good when they are making a wrong choice, but instead I have the responsibility as a Christian to live up to God’s standards and God’s freedoms, hating sin, but loving sinners.

God put us here on earth as an extension of himself (we are created in His image (Gen 1:27)) and He gave us helpmates (our spouse (Gen 2:18) and the Spirit within His church (Jn 14:26)) to teach us and to guide us to accept His grace and eventually lift us back to Him for all eternity (Rev 19: 7-9) holy and unblemished—clean of sin (Eph 5: 25-27).

“Watch carefully then 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.”

Wives and Husbands.” Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord… Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

God designed for us the vehicles to holiness: he taught us to pray, he gave us the commandments and he initiated the Sacraments so that we would not have any mistaken notions about our roles here on earth. We are to love and serve one another as Christ did.

In the Sacrament of Marriage (as designed by God, see Genesis and Ephesians above) we are to be helpmates to our spouse, a vehicle to help another attain holiness. Just as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for it, so a spouse is to care for and love the other, serving each other as Christ served us.

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are taught to say “I’m sorry,” and “I forgive you,” just as Christ forgave us.

And in the Sacrament of Holy orders the priests are given the duty to carry out his examples of prayer and discipline by sacrificing their own desires and using their talents and time, just as Christ sacrificed His own life for us.

And that is enlarged upon by Pope Francis’ message of caring for and serving  each other, to rid ourselves of the mistaken notions that Christ’s grace given freely to all ends when we accept that grace, but rather becomes our beginning to act upon that grace, to touch others, to become a vehicle for others, by our thoughts (prayer) and actions to live our lives as God designed.

All of life is a balance. I am called to choose to be disciplined enough to avoid making myself feel good, to be disciplined enough that I don’t  justify my own actions with the filter of human eyes, but rather to search for and see my actions and my intentions through God’s eyes and Christ’s example. I am called to avoid the earthly “mistaken notions” that I have rights, or that I should be given rights other than what God has intended for us in the beginning.

Heavenly Father, You created each of us in Your image. I know that I fail, sometimes miserably, in my decisions, in my mistaken notions, and justifying my choices. Thank You for the mercy You extend each of us. Help me to avoid my mistaken notions and to search diligently for your purpose in my life. Help me to do what it is You want me to do, rather than what fulfills my own desires. Help me to accept Your decisions in my life and to have the patience to bear heart aches and physical aches. Help me to remember that Your son, Jesus, died, not so that I could be fulfilled in this life, but so that I would have eternal life. Amen.

I have a lot to learn. The world has a lot to learn. It is my job, it is our job, to avoid the mistaken notions, to go out and seek God’s truth, to go out and to be Christ to others this week,

Blessings,
Charlotte

The "Right" Right

Friends of Faith:

This weekend we saw the movie “God’s Not Dead.” Would you be willing as a college freshman (or an even more mature adult) to stand up to someone with authority and defend your choice to believe in God and to choose the right “right?” (If you haven’t seen the movie, I would highly recommend it.)

When God looks into my hearts and asks: “Have you been for me, or against me—what will I honestly be able to answer?” This is the “million dollar” for “all eternity question.”

“But the LORD said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” 1 Sm 16: 7

What is permissible by God and what has been made by man to SEEM permissible by God?

God looks into our hearts. God sees differently than you or I. He sees differently than what the world sees.

Man may make “laws,” and deem something necessary (a choice, an equality), but God sees right laws, and true necessities (disciplines and responsibilities.) He sees the one, true, holy right.

The separation between what God teaches, what Christ gives us as an example and what the world wants us to believe as the truth can be very small. It is one of the reasons I keep seeking education about my faith, because sometimes the differences between God’s right and mine (human’s) can easily trick me into wrong decisions or judgments.

We all know the commandment: “Keep holy the Sabbath.” But yet Jesus preached, healed and performed miracles on the Sabbath. It was one of the reasons the “legal system” of that time abandoned and crucified him. Yet, as Jesus himself depicted, how can something be deemed a “sin” when it is performing miracles in God’s name?

“This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them.” Jn 9: 16

Christ chose to cure the blind man on the Sabbath. He chose mercy over the law. He chose to make God’s mercy visible to others even though it was the Sabbath. Otherwise he would have been the hypocrite who said, “go, take care of yourself, I can’t help you because I am “obeying” the law and not  working today.” So, will my own choices make God’s mercy visible and present to others? Will God see my choices as a choice for him?

Every time I make a decision to DO something is it “my desire” or a “work of God’s?” Does it draw me closer to God, or does it keep me FROM God? Is it of this world, or of God’s world? Am I justifying what I do because it is what I want to be believe (my right), or am I justifying what I do, because I truly believe that God would say it is the “right” right?

Some examples from my life: shopping—Am I spending money I don’t have, buying things I don’t need or am I stopping for a gallon of milk because the refrigerator is empty and I have hungry kids to feed?

Working: Is my work to help others, or is my work to make more money for myself out of greed (different than sustaining the needs of my family)?

Becoming more Christ centered: Am I fulfilled and satisfied by attending church, do I make it my priority, or do I let others convince me that something else is more important?

How am I “justifying” my decisions—based on God, or based on what “everyone else” is doing?

Christ Jesus, You were sent here to be my example. Teach me right from wrong. Help me to discern what is Your way, and what is deceptively just “my way.” Thank you for giving me the opportunity and the freedom to be in your presence each week. Help my life to make You and Your mercy visible to others. Amen.

God IS NOT DEAD!! Stand up for your beliefs. Choose the “right” right for the right reason this week.

Blessings,

Charlotte

Hungry and Thirsty

Women of Faith:

Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? By what, whom or how are you being nourished? Is it lasting, or are you constantly looking for more?

I was fed this past week by family, by spending time in Colorado with our new grandson, Caleb Joseph (born 3-9-14 to Sara and Luke, on his big sister Karolina’s 4^th birthday, and joined by a very proud big brother, Colby.) Kristy, Tyler and Avery also joined us.

So we had two babies who very vocally made known to us like clockwork just how important it was to eat and drink, of our need to be fed.

And I was watered by this week’s readings and through our travel time, which allowed us silence and time to listen to God’s teachings in Scripture, on the radio and by visiting another church community.

Without food and water we could not survive—they are both necessities of life: physically, spiritually, even emotionally.

Symbolically the readings, especially this week were loaded with spiritual “living water”and the food provided by Jesus’ example—physically in His teachings (Scripture and Church) and spiritually by the nourishment He left us in the Body of Christ (grace and Sacraments.)

"In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” The LORD answered Moses, …“Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” Ex 17: 3-7

 

"A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jn 4:5-42

 

In Exodus the people physically threatened Moses because they felt as if they were being left in the desert to die without food and water—which God provided through the power of miracles where he allowed water to flow from rock, and justenough manna each day for a daily serving. (Ex 16:4) (These verses prophetically tie to the need for water (Baptism) and to be fed daily by the transformation of bread into the Eucharist celebrated daily—the Jewish root of Mass.)

 

In the story of the unnamed Samaritan woman at the well she represents the lost, the lonely, the spiritually malnourished, the outcast, and the sinner—all of humanity. It is her “thirsting”for more and then her response in faith which gives her spiritual fulfillment.

 

Her encounter with Jesus ties us to our eternal salvation through the Sacraments of Baptism (by Christ’s grace poured out we are given new life), Eucharist (Jesus is the ”living” food and through our reception of the sacrificial meal we will never die), Reconciliation (although she was a Samaritan and a sinner forgiveness is offered to everyone), and Marriage (despite the guy she lived with and the five previous “husbands” Jesus is the perfected seventh—a representation as her one true and only eternal spouse. (In those days when a man met a single woman at the well she often became his spouse.))

(For more listen to: “I’m Not Being Fed” by Jeff Cavins available at ww.lighthousecatholicmedia.org)

When I thirst and hunger, when I feel spiritually lost or lonely, when I recognize my sin, I am fed and I am watered through simple prayer (a response in faith) or by going to the well’s of reception, the Sacraments: attending church (seeking the fulfillment of His community) and by physically and spiritually being fed by Him in the Eucharist, or by seeking His forgiveness thru the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

And I am fed by the grace received in my vocation, marriage, through serving and through being served by my spouse—by sacramentally fulfilling my call, in the Spirit of sacrifice (doing for another) and in the joy of being lifted up, encouraged and accepted, by another.

Lord, I thirst and I hunger for the washing of my soul and food that strengthens my Spirit. Help me to respond to my deepest needs in faith. Take away the junk food of “happy meals” and shallow societal thoughts and allow me to be nourished by the deep well you have left in the teachings of the Church Fathers and through Your offering of daily, healthy food , the Eucharist. Amen.

Fill your body AND your soul with more than junk—search for the living water and the Body of Christ,

Blessings,

Charlotte

www.morningreflection.blogspot.com