St. Margaret Mary

It's the feast of one of my favorite saints today so I'm celebrating with a picture and a poem that I love....

St. Margaret Mary

There were so many thorns

about his brow, 

so many red lips 

to prove the reality 

of His love, 

so little fertility 

in the soil of

His creature's affections,

so much of winter everywhere:

need we be surprised that

when the Gardener

found a rose

fragrant with remembrance

He should lift it

to His Heart?

~Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, sP 

Paths from Bethlehem

Heartbroken Love

"This is the meaning of the cross:  God is heartbroken love."  ~Fr. Robert Barron

"We can never pass a crucifix with indifference because there we see Jesus with His head bent to kiss us,  His arms outstretched to hold us, and His feet nailed fast to pardon our sins."  ~Bishop Donald Hying

Here in Milwaukee the Church has been struggling through some particularly difficult times in recent weeks.  Our Archdiocese is in the process of filing for bankruptcy and as part of the proceedings we had to publish the complete records of all of the cases of priests who have abused minors in the Archdiocese going back 80 years.  My understanding of the purpose of revealing the details of these cases is that  it would help with healing.  For my part, I don't get it.  I was only able to look at one record before I was so sick to my stomach and to my heart that I had to close the file and couldn't bear to look at another one.  I don't understand how reading through the grim details of child sexual abuse could help anyone heal.  For me, hearing about these cases in the news once again only served to increase my pain and sorrow.

During the summer season my family and I have been blessed to attend several graduation parties and other social events.  Sooner or later the topic of discussion inevitably has come around to the release of these records and the outrage that many feel against the Church because of this horrific black mark that is forever laid upon our shoulders.  Time and again people have told me that they have stopped going to church because of the abuse scandal and they won't return until the Church straightens up her act.  No matter what the hierarchy do to apologize, pay victims financially, and work toward assuring these situations never happen again, it's never enough.  Forgiveness is hard to come by.  The saddest comment I heard from a formerly active Catholic was  "God and I are tight.  I don't need the Church-that's only people."

What makes me really sad is not just that the Church is losing out on some really great people in the pews, but that Jesus is losing out on the faithful worship that is His due.  I think it's easy for some to forget that God lives within all of those people who make up the Church.  God lives within all of those good and holy priests whose ministry is made so much more difficult by bearing the burden of those wayward priests whose sins against children caused so much damage.  And most of all, God lives in the Eucharist inside the tabernacle.  How He must long for the company of all of those who are allowing their anger to keep them away!

So this sexual abuse scandal, these tragic, heinous, appalling circumstances, have convinced me that my presence is needed more than ever within the walls of the Church.  My prayers of love and worship, my acts of atonement, my silent company, and my daily living of my Catholic faith as a witness to the world helps to bring a bit of joy to Christ's sorrowful Heart.  For who was hurt by the abusive priests more than Jesus Himself who lives within the souls of each and every child victim and within the abusive priests themselves as an alter Christus.  How completely crushed with pain it must make Him feel to endure this situation.

I look up at the cross and I see the nail marks, the wounds in His side, the thorns pressing into His head and I am overcome with the realization that He did this for me.  He did this for me and for all of His children, sinners that we are.  And when we allow our anger to keep us away from Him we only intensify His suffering.  If we could only unite our suffering with His in fidelity to prayer and Mass attendance, then, perhaps, we could all find the healing that we so desperately seek.

I remember His words to St. Margaret Mary, "Behold this Heart which has so loved men."  I remember His plea to her to work to draw others closer to His Sacred Heart and I am convinced that I must do all I can to love Him more and to spend more and more time in prayer with Him in my own small effort to atone for all that He suffers.   I ask you to join me in giving more of your life to Him.  Come to Mass every Sunday and even daily if you can.  Receive His Body and Blood in the Eucharist with all of the love that is in your heart.  Spend some time in adoration.  Give loving care to those around you in His name.  Confess your own sins and receive His blessed absolution.  Give Him your love and attention.  Help to heal His broken Heart.

Our Lord's words to St. Margaret Mary:

“It is the ingratitude of men which has hurt Me more than all the suffering I underwent during My Passion. If only they would make some return for My love, I should think but little of all I have done for them and would wish, were it possible, to suffer still more. But the sole return they make for all My eagerness to do them good is to reject Me and treat Me with coldness. Do thou at least console Me by supplying for their ingratitude as far as thou art able.”

“Behold this Heart, Which has loved men so much, that It has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love; and in return I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel most keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me, that treat Me thus...”

Seven Quick Takes-It's Summer!

I'm living easy these days, or at least,I'm trying to. The kids are home for summer break and so I thought a summer quick takes would be in order...

1. When the kids are home and Paul and I are at work, we do quite a bit of communicating through e-mail. It's a great way for me to silently keep tabs on the home life while not interfering with my work. I like to call it e-tattling since that's what the majority of the messages I receive contain. On the first day of summer break, it was my two youngest who were home while the three oldest were finishing up their final exams at school. I received an e-mail with a very interesting question: "Do eyebrows grow back?" Sometimes an e-mail reply won't suffice and a phone call is in order. Let's just say we are grateful that it is summer break and the eyebrowless child won't be fodder for classroom teasing!

2. I had forgotten how beautiful my son Joe's eyes were because for the past year he kept them hidden behind a mop of hair. He took it upon himself to hike on over to the $5.00 haircut shop (not Otto the Barber-but a deal just the same) after his final exam for the year and I didn't recognize him when he walked in the door. It was $5.00 very well spent and the sight of my handsome son with short hair is the best part of my summer so far!

3. So, between shaving eyebrows and fabulous haircuts, I got to wondering about the mystery of hair. Why is it that hair on our extremities quits growing after it reaches a certain length, but the hair on the top of our heads would continue indefinitely unless we lose it? Maybe that's a good summer research topic!

4. My family and I had been struggling with the decision of whether or not to pull our two youngest out of Catholic school next year in favor of tuition-free public schools. I had gone so far as to enroll them at our neighborhood public schools when I learned that the grade school only offers split classes. Being quite biased from my own negative childhood experiences in split classrooms, I decided to quit fighting my husband (who was against the idea of public schools to begin with; and what kind of Catholic mother am I anyway for even considering public schools?) and sacrifice the finances to keep the little ones in the Catholic school. This decision was met with great joy by Jack and Mary and was blessed with a little sign from God in the form of a small scholarship check that arrived in the mail on the very same day the decision was made. God does answer prayer!

5. It's a well known fact that all mothers earnestly pray for the well-being and success of their children and often ask others to pray for their children as well. Now, I've a spiritual son for whom I'd like to ask prayers. John Howard, the brainchild behind the (now-closed) worldwide website A Vocation to be a Priest has completed his high school exams and is off to the seminary to begin preparation for the priesthood. Please keep him and all seminarians and those discerning a call to the priesthood in your prayers!

6. And while you're praying for seminarians and those in discernment, perhaps you'd like to pray for an increase to vocations as well. If you happen to be in the Milwaukee area this weekend, it would be a thrill to meet you at the Holy Hour for Vocations at St. Francis de Sales Seminary (3257 S. Lake Dr.) at 2 PM on Sunday. These monthly holy hours are hosted by Roses for Our Lady and we will be honoring Bishop-elect Hying, our spiritual director, at the social that follows prayer. Stop in and offer a word of congratulations to Milwaukee's newest bishop!

7. I've been devoting all of my spiritual reading to the subject of the Sacred Heart of Jesus this June. I have currently plunged into The Letters of St. Margaret Mary Alocoque. I think that the letters written by the saints reveal their true hearts and souls in a far deeper manner than the words written about them in biographies. I was particularly moved by this passage:

"Go on blindly, forget yourself, let Him act in you, for He loves you. If you try to do too much you will only prevent Him from furthering the work of your perfection."

So, dear friends, I plan to enjoy a summer that has a little less hair, a lot more prayer and the quiet peace that comes from letting the Sacred Heart of Jesus work within me. Perhaps, I will also enjoy soaking up a bit more sunshine, since the very kind Holly at A Lifesize Catholic has bestowed a "Sunshine Award" upon me and my blog and shared the following words:

"I’m drawn to Anne and her posts because she makes serious religion engaging. I fear that many are lost to religion because when you start getting past what I teach in 1st grade, it gets a little, uh … shall I say, challenging, demanding, and serious. Somehow, Anne is able to be in the realm of the latter, and still get to people like me—the academically-religiously-challenged—engaged. Her light is a bright beam in my world."

Thanks Holly! I'm feeling significantly warmer from the light in your words! Visit Jennifer for more Quick Takes.