Let It Snow

Well, January is over. Have you had your fill of snow yet? Like everyone else, I am happy to see this month of white weather behind us and hope February will be a little kinder. So many people I have talked to this year, said they wish they could just hibernate for the winter and wake up in the spring. Well yes, that may be a solution but despite the nasty weather think about what you would miss. There are so many wonderful things that happen each day, ordinary, wonderful things. Like a phone call from a friend, a smile on a child's face or a hand on your shoulder helping you through a rough patch now and then. Of course there are also the opportunities that would pass us by as well. Opportunities to help our neighbor (even if it's digging out their car!), to be with loved ones in all kinds of ways, smell a warm winter meal simmering on the stove (mine's pot roast-what's yours?), and the list can go on.

I have always found the most extraordinary moments in the simple, ordinary events of life that unfold before us each day. God's presence revealed each day in unexpected ways. It is what makes life exciting, interesting and a great adventure not to be missed. So leave the hibernation to the bears and enjoy life each day (even the snowy ones) and take the path (or make the path) on the road God calls us to follow. Peace!

2011-It's Official!

Happy New Year, everyone! As 2011 came to pass, I must admit I was not one of the million or so in Times Square. No I was at home (probably like most of humanity) quietly watching the festivities on TV and thinking back to so many New Year's Eve's in times past. Now depending on your age you may or may not relate to this but my earliest and perhaps happiest memories of this event was when I was living in Jackson Heights at about the age of 8++. We would have a special treat in our apartment (usually just Mom and the kids) and in my family that treat would be onion dip. cream cheese with chives, pretzels and potato chips all washed down with root beer, or coke. We would munch and watch (in black and white) all these rich looking men and ladies dancing in a ballroom in NYC while a famous man named Guy Lombardi and his orchestra played. Every year his brother (I think his name was Carmine) would sing a song called "Boo Hoo" and for some reason we found that very funny. The time would arrive......Guy would start the countdown and when we hit that momentous moment we would all shout "Happy New Year" at which point apartment doors would swing open and all of us kids (accompanied by our parents) would rush into the hallways and up and down the stairs repeating the chant, "Happy New Year" while banging one of Mom's pots with a big spoon. In about 10 minutes, it was done, the New Year had been officially proclaimed at 35-63 89th Street in as festive a manner as we thought possible. It was simple, it was sweet and best of all it was ushered in with spirits filled with hope and anticipation of wonderful adventures that lie ahead! Of course, it also meant that our Christmas vacation was soon over and we would be back in school, back to our ordinary routine.
So what about this year. Once again we have greeted in a new year and hopefully despite all the ways our world has changed and we along with it, we can still conjur up some of that hopeful spirit we recall from the new years' we greeted when we were young and still innocent. Yes, things are different today and the world certainly has its problems. Wars, economic woes, global warming, cyberbullying, hate and distrust of others because they are different, you can add others as well. However, does not every year and generation have its challenges (and blessings) as well? What's important is not so much that we usher in a new year but a new outlook on the life we will live in 2011. What will make this a better year for us and ultimately the lives of others we relate to at home, school, work etc? Each has to entertain that question for themselves. For me, it will be to let go and let God be God in my life. To trust that the will of God will not take me where the grace of God will not protect me. Finally to once in a while, kick back, enjoy the simple things in life (get out the chips and dip) and maybe even bang on a pot and shout Halleluia just for being me! May 2011 be a year of peace, laughter, love and joy for each of you and all you hold dear.

OMG-It's Christmas Is All About!

It is hard to believe that we are midway through Advent and that in a short time we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago! Of course, there has been no shortage of reminders that Christmas is coming from the commercial world! The last syllable of Trick or Treat was hardly out of the mouths of ghosts and goblins when tinsel (does anyone use that anymore??) trees and candy canes lined store shelves! I find this hard to bear, after all how can I enjoy my Thanksgiving turkey leg when commercials are telling me I already missed pre-Black Friday and I'd better arise at 3 AM to get a good spot in line for the (real???) one the next day! As Charlie Brown would so aptly put it...YIKES!!!

Now please do not think me a Scrooge (although it is my favorite Christmas story as I'm a sucker for conversion stories!). I do love Christmas and all the festivities that go with this wonderful day. It just seems to me that we (as a society) are getting further and further away from the reality of what we are truly celebrating - a holy day. A day when in the simplest way, on a starry night a little babe was born. A birth witnessed not by the mighty and strong but by simple shepherds tending their sheep on what seemed another ordinary night and acknowledged by those who were wise enough to recognize the wonder of a star. So in these last two weeks of preparation, (Jackie save a turkey leg for me!), let us try amid all the distractions the commercial world may bring, to attend to our tasks with the patient simplicity of the shepherds. May we have the wisdom, to enjoy with wonder the special stars, our family and friends, who journey with us throughout the year helping us to witness again and again the LOVE of God who came to earth to teach us how to live. Christmas Blessings or as Tiny Tim would say: "GOD BLESS US EVERYONE!"

Thanks?Giving

Well, it is that time of year. Yes, where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday that we were ushering in 2010 and here we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, Turkey Day whatever you call it, it is a day we set aside to be with those we care about and give thanks to God for the blessings we have received both long term as well as in the present year.

Actually, this is my favorite holiday of the year and I look forward to being with some very special folks, sharing memories and making new ones to share in the years ahead. But there are times when I look around at all the struggles going on in the world, our church, our country, and in my own experience - wars, hunger, corporate greed, a threatened environment, disease and violence against others for just being who they are meant to be- and I say Thanksgiving??? How much can I really be thankful for this year? As I was struggling with this thought, as often happens, a wonderful Carmelite sister that I was running a retreat with shared with me a writing she had come across. It spoke right to my heart and gave me a clear reason why I can have an "attitide of gratitude" this Thanksgiving. May it help to fill your heart with gratitude as well and may you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day.

A THANKSGIVING THOUGHT

We can't be thankful for all things-

at least not with any degree of honesty

at least not with any sense of integrity.

Some things are simply too painful, too sad,

too tragic to be thankful for them.

But we can be thankful in all things:

Thankful for family and friends

who stand beside us in difficult times.

Thankful for new thoughts and new feelings

that lead us through dark hours.

Thankful for signs of hope in an otherwise

bleak and barren landscape.

Thankful for the peace that wells up unexpectedly

from within when we are not at peace.

Thankful for a touch of humor to lighten

our heavy load.

There is so much this season

that we will remember

and for which we will indeed be thankful.

But when we cannot be thankful for all things,

grant us the grace to remember

that we can at least be thankful

in all things.

Deepen in us, gentle Lord, this faith

in your graciousness, this faith in our resiliency

that we may indeed be thankful. Amen.

-Author Unknown

A MINER/MINOR MIRACLE???

This week all eyes were focused on the rescue of 33 miners in Chile. Actually though people have been watching and praying for these men for the past 60+ days. Watching, waiting, praying. It did not matter where you were from or what beliefs you held, the compassion that runs through all of humanity was in full view - a compassion that we somethings look long and hard to see in each other at times-it was there in the hearts and hopes of humankind. Who can forget the image of that first miner appearing and the sight of his young son bursting into tears as he saw his father! That same scene repeated again and again for approximately 24 hours as families were reunited. Gratitude expressed again and again to the rescuers and engineers but most of all to God who answered their prayers. All 33 returned safely-a miracle for sure!

Often today I hear people say there aren't any miracles anymore-that God has abandoned us - and yet, an event occurs that focuses our hearts and minds on the infinite goodness of God. This week it was the miracle of the miners-last year you will recall the miracle on the Hudson. Not minor events for sure but we need to open our awareness to the everyday, the minor miracles that do take place in our lives. I recall my mother talking about minor miracles every time we cleaned up the mess we had made with our toys without being asked but besides that there are those unexplained, unexpected interventions of God in our lives that we too often miss or explain away. When was the last miracle in your life? Nothing that would attract CNN to your door but just those little events where God's mercy, love and compassion are revealed. A time perhaps when you felt hopeless and hope walked into your life on the feet of a friend. Only you can answer for yourself. It is all about being open and being aware of God's active presence in our lives-allowing God to be God in your space and accepting that things do occur that cannot be explained any other way. Yes, the rescue of the miners was no minor miracle but I don't think any miracle is minor (sorry Mom) from the changing of the seasons, to the birth of a child, to the butterfly that lands on your shoulder just when you are missing someone you've lost. Miracles, those glimpses of God in our lives, surround us. Be open, be aware, BElieve!

Women and Spirit

Yesterday, I was priviliged to be a part of the opening reception for a wonderful new exhibit held on Ellis Island, NY. It is entitled "Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America" This exhibit reveals the mystery behind a small group of innovative American women who helped to shape the nation's social and cultural landscape. In it, one discovers the quiet courage of these women during many dramatic moments in U.S. history, including the Civil War, the Gold Rush, the San Francisco Earthquake, the Civil Rights movement, Hurricane Katrina and beyond.

As I journeyed on the Ferry toward Ellis Island, three military helicopters flew in formation toward midtown Manhattan. It reminded me of the many leaders who would be at the U.N. that day to discuss the many crisis' that face our world today. I thought how these powerful men and women could learn from these sisters who were seemingly powerless and yet relying on the one power, the power of their faith in God, made a lasting impact on generations of Americans through the work they did and continue to do today. Women and Spirit is not just a dry historical timeline of the work of sisters past and present, but rather an awe inspiring experience that will touch your heart as it enlightens your mind.

To tell you everything would go beyond the limits of this post so I invite you to take the journey to Ellis Island, sometime between now and January 22nd and "Discover A World Few Have Seen, But Millions Have Shared." To learn more visit their wonderful website: www.womenandspirit.org and share the info with your family and friends. I will be going back to see the exhibit again. Hope to see you there.

Time To Retreat

As I write this I am getting ready to go on my annual retreat. Often when we think of that word it may conjure up an image of going backward or moving away from something in a stance of defeat but that is not the case. My reflection today brought me to see this word through my experience of teaching little ones phonics for many years (perhaps more than I'd like to own up to!). Each year we would get to the topic of prefixes such as un-, pro- and re- to name a few. Adding these little sounds to the beginnings of words impacted their meaning in some way. In the case of re- it usually meant (we all know that our language has many exceptions to the rule!) to do again. It was pretty easy to explain that rewrite meant to write over again, or how remake was to make again and my second graders could always come up with examples of their own. But today, as I am thinking about my upcoming retreat, I am thinking that it is truly a gift to be able to re-treat myself each year by spending this special time with God. Throughout the year I may treat myself to an ice cream or a movie but those things as scripture tells us are passing. To treat myself, to be in the presence of God in this special way, to let go, if only for a week, of the many things that often distract me from God's presence in my life is a blessing that takes root within and remains to be drawn upon throughout the year. So I am off to RE-Treat myself to a wonderful week. A week of quiet reflection and conversation with my God. A week to rest, renew and refresh body, mind and spirit. What about you? Can you take some "Mary Time" out of your "Martha World"? It is hard sometimes to let go and let God, but go ahead treat yourself and perhaps you'll be re-treating for years to come.