Vita Dulce

 Winter coming to a close harsh winds' bite  sinking less deeply into bone; pavement peaking  out from beneath  tattered blankets; Sun deciding to stay for dinner. Blood in cold veins starts to warm  and muck along like galoshes in slush; scissors in drawers ready to be opened to  cut sleeves off flannel. Perch and walleye look up at square shadowed clouds  moving across their icy sky leaving behind holes  of luminous light; orange trucks look forward to dropping front-end weight  and washing salt off their tail-ends telling war stories to the guys at the garage. Winter coming to a close the season that proves one is still tough enough to not fly away  like a snowbird.

  "Give us Joy     to balance our Affliction."                              - Psalm 90 Life is a potpouri.   Some days good; some days bad.  When the trendline leans toward the latter, sometimes we need to remind (or demand!) God to 'give us joy to balance our affliction'!

  "You need endurance     to do the will of God   And recieve     what He has promised."                         - Hebrews 10:36 Endurance: "the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process without giving way. (Oxford Dictionary)" The passage from Hebrew reminds me that having faith does not mean that "I believe, therefore, all goes well for me."   Faith gives us hope that resurrection follows suffering and death.   The attitude I must have is: "I believe in the Resurrection, therefore, I have hope which gives me strength to endure my suffering and do the will of God even when it's difficult." Everyone has sufferings and the temptation is always to find ways to move around them or find a way to pacify or numb them.  Hebrews reminds me today that I need to endure and move through , to be strong in hope. I don't feel at this time that I have an inord...

 "You are a people     sacred to the Lord, your God; He has chosen you     from all the nations  on the face of the earth      To be a people      peculiarly his own."                              Dt. 7:6 Sacred, chosen, and formed to be peculiarly his own . The words from Deuteronomy in the office of readings today call forward the realization that God has formed us in a very special way.  The peculiarly his own  phrase stands out reminding us of how special and unique we are as a people and as individuals. Today name and claim the fact that you are peculiarly God's own.

  "The Word of God,     born once in the flesh (such is his kindness and goodness),     is always willing to be born spiritually     in those who desire him."                                        - St. Maximus the Confessor,                                   Five Hundred Chapters

 Such a wonderful blessing to be celebrating with family.   It brought me Joy to be able to be together and a deep sense of gratitude in being able to host so that we have a small opportunity to pay back to Mom and Dad and all my siblings for all they have given me and done for me throughout not only this year but our over half a century together. I reserve most of my commitments to Advent and Lenten season but one particular desire entered into my mind and heart and that was to spend 2023 intentionally creating through the Power of the Word :  using the Good Word to build up and avoiding the Bad Word that tears down. I have always found it insightful that Genesis starts with our first image of God as an all-powerful figure creating through the Power of the Benevolent Good Word.   The  pattern of seven days of pronouncing at the start of the day 'Let there be ... ' and then basking in at the end of the day 'he saw that it was good!'. God uses his word ...

  "Do not care much     who is with you and     who is against you; but make it your greatest care              that GOD IS WITH YOU               in everything you do."                         - Imitation of Christ, Thomas A Kempis                              

  "In the shadow of your wings                                            I take refuge.                                                Till the storms of destruction                                                                                             pass by."                                                                 ...

  Feast of St. Andrew - November 30th The painting from El Greco above and the First Reading for the Feast of St. Andrew pasted below a re appropriate for reflection on the life of this saint. 'Blessed are the feet of those who bring the good news!' In the painting Andrew appear depicted with his feet moving forward towing with him the special cross of his matryrdom (the 'X' shaped cross). He has 'picked up his cross' and followed the Lord. His bare feet l eaving an imprint in the mud beneath them, plods forward to deliver the Good News that has been handed on to him. After being called from his spot as a fisherman along the Sea of Galilee, he followed the Lord for his three years of ministry and then after Pentecost was led by the Spirit t o carry the Gospel around the shores of the Black Sea and into what is now Greece and Turkey. But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And ho...

Jean Pierre de Caussade  “Sacrament of the Present Moment”  (Key Excerpts) Just as it is fire and not the phi­los­o­phy or sci­ence of that ele­ment and its effects that heats, so it is God’s order and his will which sanc­ti­fy and not curi­ous spec­u­la­tions about its ori­gin or purpose. What he ordains for us each moment is what is most holy, best, and most divine for us.  The mys­te­ri­ous growth of Jesus Christ in our heart is the accom­plish­ment of God’s pur­pose, the fruit of his grace and divine will. This fruit, as has been point­ed out, forms, grows, and ripens in the suc­ces­sion of our duties to the present which are con­tin­u­al­ly being replen­ished by God, so that obey­ing them is always the best we can do. We must offer no resis­tance and blind­ly aban­don our­selves to his divine will in per­fect trust. It is the will of God that gives every­thing, what­ev­er it may be, the pow­er to form Jesus Christ in the cen­ter of our being Souls must look upon ever...

A centurion approached him and appealed to him, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." Jesus said to him, "I will come and cure him."                                                                      - Matthew 8:6-7 The voice of each of the characters leaves something for deeper reflection.   The centurion's request is filled with compassion.  Although this is not family, he still identifies deeply that he is 'suffering dreadfully.'   Even though he is not a Jew, he approaches this Jewish healer, who he believes may provide relief to his friend. Jesus, meeting a Roman soldier, does not hold back.  He does not ask questions, does not feel out the situation, he responds without hesitation:  "I will come and cure him." T...

Today at CDH, new teaches and staff of the Lasallian schools within the archdiocese, gathered for a formation event. A part of the day occurred in the chapel and a reflection was given by Lou Ann Tighe on Blessed Brother Jim Miller, a Christian Brother from Wisconsin, who served at CDH during some of his years of ministry (he was actually the person who started their boy's soccer program). The story was told of Brother Jim serving in the mission school for boys in Guatemala during the time of their conflicts.  Almost any young men was fair game to be taken from his family to serve in the military, but those who were enrolled in school at the time, were not allowed to be conscripted.   Unfortunately, one of the boys from the school disappeared, and it was discovered he had been taken to serve as a soldier in a nearby camp.  Brother Jim and leaders of the school appealed and worked to have the student returned. While their efforts were successful, the brothers in the c...

  "You have lost the love                    you had at first.  Realize how far                    you have fallen. Repent and do the works                    you did at first."                              -Revelation 2:4-5 As we move to the end of the liturgical year, the Church has us ponder the last things and uses readings from the Book of Revelation. Today's first reading calls us to be shaken out of complacency and return to a greater sense of zeal and love.   Time sometimes wears us down gradually without us noticing.   You have lost the love you had at first  is a phrase that can shake us back to commitment in both work and relationship.   Are we still putting in the time and effort to do...

 " Sing a New Song     to the Lord, His praise to the ends     of the Earth."                    -Isaiah 42:10 Over the past year,  the scripture readings that refer to a 'new song' have struck a chord with me.  There is something exciting within those words in that they seem to be saying that each of us has an opportunity, no matter the age or circumstance to start a 'new song' each day. That phrase, to me, calls us to not fall into such consistent patterns of existence that we end in boredom or malaise.  God desires us to be attentive to the people, places, and things that surround us and to realize we have the ability to respond to them in new and unique ways; he does not want us to wake each day and just walk past them. It is like Jean Pierre de Caussade's idea of the  sacrament of the present moment: each day we awake to encounter the world anew and to see how God is present and spea...

Awareness arises sometimes  a pang from the depths stuck in hidden places when it is fall and the final leaves are crisp, burnt, and clinging and you realize  that like them it's time for you too to let go of past seasons and to float gently to the ground where you may  slowly deteriorate over winter and arise in the spring as something new.                              -MAK 11/04/22  

Did you ever go through an experience in public with your children where things went poorly and the people around you at the time simply did not understand the complexities involved in the situation?  Have you ever been embarrassed by the way you responded to a difficult experience in the heat of the moment? Have you ever wondered why you or your loved ones struggle in areas that others don't ever seem to have to worry about? This scripture reading from Wednesday Evening Prayer, Week II  brings some consolation.  Through the grace of God, perhaps we can look at difficult moments that appear to be humiliating , rather in the context of humbling . While humiliation leads us to embarrassment, shame, anger and other lingering toxic feelings that drag us down; viewing a circumstance as humbling can change the perception by leading us to deeper insight and compassion for others or self.    Humiliation is isolating, it gives us the sense that others (and even God) are ...

  Freedom and the Spirit A few thoughts from Mysticism of Everyday Life by Ed Carter, SJ in his chapter on "Life in the Spirit."  As a Jesuit, he uses Ignatian principles and scripture and these three parts of the chapter struck me:      1. "Spiritual Freedom  is the ability to relate to persons, places, things, circumstances, and all else                     according to God's will ...  (it is to) not be attached ... (to anything) which prevents us from following          the lead of the Spirit." (54)      2. " Flexibility of Will  is openness to the Spirit's guidance; a disposition open to legitimate changes,                    modifications and adaptations we are called to make at certain junctures of our spiritual journey."(56)      3. "We have not received the spirit of the world ...

Today is my Name's Day.  In my grandparent's generation, many of the men did not celebrate their birthday but rather their 'Name Day' which was the date of the feast of the saint they were named for.  September 29th used to be reserved for St. Michael ( Michaelmas)  in the liturgical calendar, but over time, he came to share the feast with two of the other archangels (Gabriel and Raphael). Name's carry power and understanding the Hebrew origin behind Michael helped me get a deeper insight into God's call in my life.  Originally, upon hearing that Michael means 'who is like God' one could get a sense of hubris in thinking one is actually 'like God,' But in looking into the Hebrew origin Mi-ka-el actually is a rhetorical question:  Who is like God?   The answer: no one.  My thought is that in pondering the great actions of the archangel in overcoming evil, he was given the name in the sense that such great things were done through him by God, that ...

 "God is Wise in Heart     and Mighty in Strength; Who has withstood Him     and remained Unscathed ?"                                   -JOB 9:4 *I love the idea of this encounter with God as described by Job.  The word unscathed  is used in a wonderful way.  When we bring our deepest thoughts, feelings, words to God and dump them onto his lap we cannot expect to walk away unscathed. If we only bring him the 'sugar and spice' superficial musings of our lives but hold back the deepest corners of our heart we will never fully be affected by God's love and power.  But if are truly honest and bring forward all the pieces of our lives, particularly those that are hurting, wounded, bruised, confused, suffering, angry, jilted, abused ... when we bring all these real parts of ourselves - we will not walk away unscathed.    We will walk away ...

  This is the type of statue that stood at the end of the hallway on second floor at St. Vincent's School.  As a student at the time because it was always just 'there' I never thought much about it.  As time passes, however, it has come to sear itself in my memory and I find so much meaning and value in the image. The trust the two children exhibit as they lean in to be close to the figure of Vincent and the generosity of the saint, who as a man of great poverty, shares the warmth of his cloak, which symbolizes all he possesses, are for me a reminder of the love that was shown to me at St. Vincent's School. It also calls me to the responsibility I have as a Catholic school administrator to help students receive the love and direction they deserve while doing my best to share my all with them.  St. Vincent de Paul ... pray for us.