Tag Archives: bible

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

SAYING HIS NAME

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23. USE THE NAME OF YOUR CHILD

  • When you’re talking about the death or about your life in general, don’t avoid using the name of the child who has died. Sometimes others are afraid to use the name in your presence out of fear that it is painful to you. If you use the name, others will know that they can use it too. 

CARPE DIEM: Flip through a baby name book at a local bookstore or library and look up the name of your child. Reflect on the name’s meaning as it relates to the unique person you loved. (HEALING A PARENT’S GRIEVING HEART: 100 PRACTICAL IDEAS AFTER YOUR CHILD DIES; Alan D. Wolfelt PhD; 2005)

I would like to begin here by saying that I still love Joseph, in response to the “unique person you loved” prompt above. My love for him is ever present. It did not die with him.

I don’t hesitate to use his name; and, I am ever grateful to hear others say it. It is a pleasure to know that they, too, remember him.

I don’t need to go to a bookstore to look up the meaning of his name. I can, “Ask the Google,” as we say in my family:

The name Joseph has its origins in Hebrew and holds significant meaning. Derived from the Hebrew name Yosef, it translates to God will Increase. This name has deep roots in biblical history, prominent in the narrative of the Old Testament. Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, was a central figure whose life and virtues are vividly recounted in the Book of Genesis. (accessed at https://www.ancestry.com/first-name-meaning/Joeseph)

The only surprise is that the name translates from the Hebrew to “God will increase”. God certainly did increase. Joseph was the fourth of our children. When I was pregnant with him, I woke from a dream one day and said, “How about Joseph Francis?” I had previously been considering James Andrew, the name of my great grandfather from Scotland. His father didn’t like the idea, having an uncle “Jimmy” of whom he wasn’t particularly fond.

I was thinking of Joseph, for the dreamer of the Old Testament, mentioned above as the son of Jacob and Rachel, and also for the earthly father of Jesus. I always called him Joseph, not Joe or Joey. When he was little, his father called him Josie, which was picked up by some in the family for a while. Josie reminded me of the Clint Eastwood character, The Outlaw Josie Wales, although his dad pronounced it with a softer “s” sound. My grandkids called him Uncle Joe. His friends called him Joe. He called himself Joe on his FaceBook page. One of his sisters called him Broseph. She still does when she posts about him.