Category Archives: Catholicism

I’M NOT LAZY, I’M TIRED

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33. PRACTICE BREATHING IN AND OUT

  • Sometimes what we need most is to just “be”.  In our goal-oriented society, many of us have lost the knack for simply living. (HEALING A PARENT’S GRIEVING HEART: 100 PRACTICAL IDEAS AFTER YOUR CHILD DIES; Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD; 2005)

CARPE DIEM:

Sit down, focus on something 20-30 feet away and take 10 deep breaths.

Yes. It is okay to just be. I am retired…well, sort of. That’s what I tell myself, anyway. I am still “on demand” with my employer and take assignments here and there. And I agreed to work 5 hours, one day a week, in a private practice. So far I have only one client; and, they have been coming only every other week. 

I almost went to Germany for two months, on assignment, but there’s a problem with getting my fingerprints…they tend to be illegible…so the job offer was rescinded. I was a little disappointed…and a little relieved. 

I had lunch with a friend the other day. She is older than me and continues to work fairly regularly, 12 hour days, because, she says, she still has something to offer. And she does. She is an amazing hospice nurse who ensures that her patients get what they need.

It got me thinking I was being lazy. But…at Mass this morning, my pastor mentioned waiting on the Lord. And so, I am. Assignments, opportunities for service, will arise as they should. I get energized when I am working and then I need time to recover. I am not lazy. I am tired.

(Photo taken at BAPS, Robbinsville, NJ)

SAINT CECILIA PRAY FOR US

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27. KNOW THAT YOU ARE LOVED

  • Love gives our lives meaning. To heal, you must learn to love fully again.
  • Think about the people who care about you and the ways in which your life matters.

CARPE DIEM:

Spend some time today with someone who loves you. Focus on this person and what she is saying. Tell her how much you love her too.

It is difficult for me to believe that I am loved. It’s Lent and I have been working with the Hallow app to meditate and try to grow closer, again, to God. I am doing the Pray40: The Return Challenge. We are reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky and focusing on its similarity to the parable of the Prodigal son, with some reference to Henri Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son, which I am also reading a little at a time. God’s Love.

On the Hallow App today, there was an interview with Patricia Heaton, the actress from Everybody Loves Raymond and Malcolm in the Middle. She is, apparently, a devout Catholic. She went on a mission trip as a young adult; and, when she came back, prayed for discernment about becoming a missionary. She asked God to put an end to her auditions if that was what she was meant to do. She then ended up with long-time roles AND has raised money for missions around the world.

So…I spent some time in meditation this morning. My question was, “What do you want from me? I’m sorry to put it this way, but, what do you want from me?” No immediate answer. Heaton and the interviewer prayed in a chapel at a convent for St. Cecilia, where her sister is a nun. I don’t know much about St. Cecilia, except for the fact that she was musical. I prayed along, but got turned off at the mention of her as “virgin”. What is it with Catholics and the preoccupation with virgins? The interviewer mentioned her “husband”…so, she remained a virgin while married??? I have to look into this.

So…I remembered that St. Cecilia was one of my mother’s favorites. Then I remembered her confirmation name was Cecilia. Joseph’s godmother’s name was also Cecelia, spelled differently.

Anyway, this evening I am having dinner with my Survivors of Suicide friend group. We all love each other in a very special way. That’ll be good.

https://www.axiawomen.org/wow/st-cecilia-featured-saint