| |
|
| |
| December 29, 2010
St. Thomas a Becket Dear Family of Mary! "Dear children! Also today I am with you and call all of you to complete conversion. Decide for God, little children, and you will find in God the peace your heart seeks. Imitate the lives of saints and may they be an example for you; and I will inspire you as long as the Almighty permits me to be with you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (September 25, 2006) On New Year's Day it is our custom to pray with each other and then draw a saint from our box of saints to be our particular friend for the New Year! It seems that the Saints in heaven are excited to "choose" us, and take us on as their work for the year! The Lord can also communicate a lot to us through the saint we receive, giving us hints as to what virtues to work on and showing us how to pray for that year. My saint for 2010 was Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, and I learned that she was a skillful and faithful wife and mother who brought peace to her family on many occasions. I leaned on her often to help bring peace to my heart and to our family in 2010! Saint Maria Faustina shares in her diary about her experience in picking a saint: "New Year 1935
"Jesus likes to intervene in the smallest details of our life, and He often fulfills secret wishes of mine that I sometimes hide from Him, although I know that from Him nothing can be hidden. "There is a custom among us of drawing by lot, on New Year's Day, special Patrons for ourselves for the whole year. In the morning during meditation, there arose within me a secret desire that the Eucharistic Jesus be my special Patron for this year also, as in the past. But, hiding this desire from my Beloved, I spoke to Him about everything else but that. When we came to refectory for breakfast, we blessed ourselves and began drawing our patrons. When I approached the holy cards on which the names of the patrons were written, without hesitation I took one, but I didn't read the name immediately as I wanted to mortify myself for a few minutes. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul: I am your patron. Read. I looked at once at the inscription and read, "Patron for the Year 1935 - the Most Blessed Eucharist." My heart leapt with joy, and I slipped quietly away from the sisters and went for a short visit before the Blessed Sacrament, where I poured out my heart. But Jesus sweetly admonished me that I should be, at that moment, together with the sisters. I went immediately in obedience to the rule." (360 Diary) I love it that Jesus couldn't even wait for her to read the card! He told her to read it because He was so excited to have been able to accede to her "hidden" request! The Lord is always listening to our hearts, always! There is not one sigh or deep longing that He doesn't observe and heed. This year we have posted the list of saints on our homepage in case any of you need to print it out. It is great to gather the family and after blessing each person, drawing a saint out of the box or bag of saints! It is meaningful for everyone, especially the children! Imitate the saints and may they be an example for you! In Jesus and Mary! Cathy Nolan
| |
| |
Posted via email from deaconjohn's posterous
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.