Me? Grateful?

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'll be posting some pictures from our Thanksgiving soon, but I'd love to see some of yours!

If you've read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, you may recall a certain scene in which Corrie's sister expresses gratitude to God for a lice infestation. Corrie could not bring herself to be grateful for the pests until time showed how much of a blessing they were. (For those who have not read The Hiding Place, it is the story of how Corrie and her family were sent to concentration camps due to the fact that they hid Jews. In the above mentioned episode, the presence of lice in the camps allowed the prisoners to pray in their bunks as the guards did not want to get lice.)

Although I read the book almost ten years ago, this incident has always been retained in my memory. It seems appropriate to recall on this Thanksgiving weekend. Sadly, I am often one of those people who "never wants a drink of water until the well runs dry." Oftentimes it takes not having something for me to appreciate its value...or like Corrie: fail to be grateful for something until I have proof of its value.

Gratitude is integral to Catholicism, yet I wonder, is this sort of "Now I see now how good that was. Can I have it back?" mentality true gratitude?

Upon reading St. Paul's query, "What have you that you have not received?" and St. Therese of Lisieux's simple statement, "Everything is grace" it is quite apparent that the aforementioned approach is not correct.

So, what really constitutes gratitude? 

I am no spiritual scholar, but I would hazard to say that the virtue of gratitude is one that is integrally tied to humility.

A professor of mine once described humility as being the acknowledgement of the truth. How simple this is, yet how hard it is to be truly humble! Through it one can see that everything is given by God our loving Father. Indeed we are nothing by ourselves--in fact, our being itself is a gift.
This humble acknowledgement of our nothingness then leads to the joyful praise of the goodness of God-- gratitude.

While it is often easy to sit and make resolutions,  we all know that growing in virtue involves more than just thinking about growing. (And truly, it involves more than just ourselves... God's grace is a must!)

How, then, can one grow in gratitude?


Let us look Psalm 116. This particular psalm is one that is sometimes said as a preparation for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The whole psalm is beautiful, but two of the verses reveal the "secret" to growing in gratitude:

12     How can I repay the LORD

for all the great good done for me?

13I will raise the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the LORD.

The psalmist was not referring to the Mass when he mentioned "the cup of salvation", but what fits his description more than the re--presentation of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary? Here we encounter the interminable goodness and humility of God in the Eucharist. And how fitting that the word "Eucharist" means "thanksgiving"!

St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi demonstrates how we can grow in gratitude (and all virtues) when she writes,

"All graces are contained in you, O Jesus in the Eucharist, our celestial Food! What more can a soul wish when it has within itself the One who contains everything?....What more can I want or desire, if all the virtues, graces, and gifts for which I long, are found in you, O Lord, who are as truly present under the sacramental species as you are in heaven, at the right hand of the Father?..."

Not only can we grow in gratitude through our reception of the Eucharist, but what would be more ungrateful than to avoid God's great gift of himself in the Eucharist?


Do you have any tips on growing in gratitude? 

Silence is a Gift

"Enter into your heart, as the Prophet Isaiah says. And, if you have faith, you will find Christ there. There He speaks to you.

I, the preacher, must raise my voice when I speak to you. But Christ instructs you more effectively in silence."

- Sermon by St. Augustine

I read this part of St. Augustines sermon one morning after mass. All was quiet, and only a few people were left in the chapel. It is amazing what a few moments of silence can do for the soul. A peace enfolds you, a peace you can't feel when surrounded by the distractions of the outside world. A lot of us tend to be constantly plugged in to some sort of media/technology. Todays gadgets have made it so easy to be distracted, which prevents us from putting ourselves in the presence of God even for a few minutes. We have apps for our phones for every little thing, even ones that are supposed to help us pray. Now I have nothing against them per se, but using them distracts us from placing or full attention on God. I have seen people using their apps in church, some of them were prayer related, but some were not. Even in church we are plugged in! For some people it may help them to focus on what they can do to pray, but is it what they should be doing? How can we hear Christ speak to us when we are distracted? We might miss His loving words because we cannot be silent to ourselves and let Him speak.

Being a very active child, I had a terrible time sitting still and concentrating on anything for very long. I had my little books to read in church, but my family would always make sure I was aware of Christ in the tabernacle or present on the altar. I learned to be silent and listen, even if it was only for a minute. Now that I am older, I see the good it does me to just let Christ take hold of me without any exterior items. Advent has begun, and in this time of preparation for the birth of our Savior, I am going to try and be like Mary and just be "silent" with God, to let Him speak to me without my asking for anything or complaining. I'm not looking for a physical voice to start booming at me, but just knowing that He is there with me is so refreshing. God cares for each and every one of us. Let us give Him the time to show us the path he has planned for us, even if it is just 5-minutes everyday, in or out of church. If we have time for gadgets, we certainly should have time for God. =)

Peter Kreeft on Suffering

While perusing the Catholic Education website today I happened upon this wonderful article on Suffering by Peter Kreeft. It is Part 1 of a series he is giving on Suffering, Death and Sin. The second part is also available on the CERC website.

It serves as a great reminder for why we, as Catholics, embrace suffering.

Suffering

Overpopulation is a Myth

I don't know how many people are familiar with overpopulationisamyth.com but it has recently become one of my favorite websites. They have several short, informative videos concerning population issues.

Here is their latest:

Martyrdom

Lately there has been so much going on to keep me busy, but despite everything, I keep getting new ideas for posts...My only resort is to make a billion drafts so I don’t forget the ideas! I’ve been meaning to post this particular one for several months, and now I finally have the chance! 

(This image is from the NYPL Digital Gallery.

 It is originally from the 1600s.)

Some time ago, when I was praying in front of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, I got to thinking about martyrdom. 

When thinking about martyrdom, I often picture people like St. Charles Lwanga and his companions or some of the members of the early Church who were told, “Renounce your faith or die."

The problem is, looking at martyrdom this way makes it seem distant and almost “unreal” to us on a personal level.  But in reality, the life of the Christian is the life of the martyr. Yet how can this be so since many of us are not called to physically die for the Faith? 

As I sat before Our Lord that day, I imagined myself facing the martyr’s ultimate decision. I prayed that I would have the strength to stay strong if I were ever in that situation. But I was also reminded that faithfulness in small things is what leads to faithfulness in great ones. 

In other words, no one can be a martyr in great things if they are not first a martyr in the small. No one die the ultimate martyr’s death without first having suffered a martyrdom to self on an everyday basis. 

As someone who is often very impulsive, this resonates with me in a very tangible way. It is sad to say, but sometimes it can be hard to motivate myself due to procrastination or just plain laziness. Now, when I do not feel like doing something I ought, I can say, “I will do this because I believe in the Triune God/the True Presence/the Immaculate Conception/etc.” 

To some this may seem protracted, but for me it seems to be quite helpful. (I mean, once you’ve stipulated it in this way, you really cannot not do whatever it is you need to do.) 

While we may not be called to give our life in the ultimate martyr’s death (we may yet!), we are certainly called to die to ourselves in an everyday martyrdom. In this way, it becomes apparent that the life of the Christian is indeed the life of the martyr. 

Have you had any thoughts about martyrdom lately?  Also, what helps motivate you when you feel like procrastinating?

Pre-Writer's Block

I am doing this National Novel Writing Month thing just for fun. FUN. And I am having fun when I write, but I finally decided what the whole she-bang will be about. NOW the framework must come in. I do not like framework. I like free, uninhibited writing, not the planning and outlining.

So I do things a little out of order, ... *shrug*. I wrote some key scenes that were always part of the novel even before I gave the novel the main theme. I want to express that there is natural law. But I don't want to be preachy. It has to be subtle, which means I have to think of a good framing for the thesis. When you think of great novels like Crime and Punishment, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Jane Eyre, you don't think preachy, do you? No, they are epically awesome books that underneath express the importance of morals. So now I have to figure how to form this frame to uphold the theme. What do I write to subtly express this? I really want to get back to the joy of writing, but first the grunt work. It is going to take a VERY long time, I'm afraid. Sigh, back to work I guess!

Until next time, I am your
Cagey frame-builder

Maafa 21

A couple days ago I happened upon a really great article on the EWTN news homepage. I am posting the article below so you can read it in full.

Cain maintains Planned Parenthood has racist roots :: EWTN News

I don't know how much/how far I will go in supporting Cain as a presidential candidate, but he is doing a great work by speaking out about PP's genocidal tendencies. In this day and age only someone like Cain could say it without getting thrown into jail. So, kudos to Herman for taking the chance!

Several years ago, when I was writing my senior thesis about slavery and abortion, I happened upon a very insightful documentary called Maafa 21. Basically, it gives you the history of the modern eugenics movement in America. It includes Margaret Sanger and her cronies' real motives for founding PP. I'm wondering if Mr. Cain has seen it.

The entire show is in 13 parts. Please watch and share: