Dear Friend,
Yesterday was one of those days when nothing seemed to go right. What do you do when you have one of those days? When my dear Aunt Cecilia was experiencing those days she would always tell me to humor her and I did. Continue Reading
The Fruit of Self-Control: Part X
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. Lamentations 3:22
Most of the time I think we live in a obsessive-compulsive world. Go, go, go – more, more, more seems rather routine attitude. I don’t exclude myself from this. I can get dead set on the task, idea or whatever – and go at it in a rather determined stance. On the other hand, I often feel if something can be done later, then I will do it later. I am a procrastinator in many areas! Continue Reading
The Fruit of Patience: Part IX
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matt 7:7
So often when I pray with Matthew it comes down to trusting in God. While we can be sure God will answer our prayers and open new paths as we need, we also can be sure God will do it in God’s time … not ours! Continue Reading
Come Take a Walk with Me!
Dear Friend,
Come take a walk with me! Autumn days are so proud of their walls of beauty. They call to us wherever we are, to admire the paintings of God. The trees and leaves are beautiful with their various colors. As we stroll down the pathways here at St. Mary’s we see the lake on one side and the woods on the other. When I was in High School I loved Robert Frost’s poem about the woods. Do you recall these lines:
“The woods are lovely dark and deep,
And I have promises to keep.
And I have promises to keep…………..” Continue Reading
The Fruit of Goodness: Part VIII
Have you ever referred to someone as ‘a good person’? I have, and then I have thought to myself, what does that mean? Is a person ‘good’ because they treat me well, or are easy to work with, or perhaps just have a pleasing nature about them? Keating says this fruit of the Spirit is “an affirmation that all creation is good.” Continue Reading
A Letter to You
Dear Friend,
I wish that at this moment we could have a chat over a cup of coffee or tea.
The last several months I have been talking to God about the next person He will choose to send to our community. Will she be young or over 40? What will her ministry interests and skills be? Will she be someone who loves teaching school as I did? Could she be someone who would continue teaching music to adults and students like I continue doing at age 82? Could she be you? Continue Reading
The Fruit of Gentleness: Part VII
“Help me to learn God’s gentle way.” Keating refers to the fruit of gentleness as ”our participation in God’s way of doing things at once gentle and firm….” Continue Reading
What does it mean when God says … NOTHING?
This article appeared in our most recent issue of Connecting Point. Email Sr. Sheila at smcgrath@smmsisters.org if you’d like to be on our mailing list!
We all crave signs from above from time to time. Whether we are looking for guidance, a cure, assistance with a problem or something as specific as a new job, we want God to Speak. We want Answers. More often than not, of course, what we hear is nothing. Continue Reading
The Fruit of Faithfulness Part VI
There are many distractions and temptations that can lead us astray from our intentions. In his description of faithfulness, Thomas Keating describes the “daily oblation of ourselves and all our actions to God.” This phrase strikes me because it speaks of the intentional effort we must make to pray for strength and to turn all of our life over to God daily. Keating says this daily oblation leads to our being compassionate in serving all those we meet. Faithfulness is linked directly to serving others! Continue Reading
The Fruit of Meekness Part V
Meekness has always been a difficult fruit for me to accept. Too often I have associated it with being kind of wimpish; being unable to speak up or stand up for oneself. A meek person, in my book, was huddled in the corner in fear.
When I began to read Thomas Keating, I began to understand meekness as kindness: a rich and generous fruit. Continue Reading
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