"Union with God is a song which does not die in the hearing, a flavor which does not abate in the eating, an embrace which gives delight without end."

St. Augustine

CAN'T

WAIT

TO GO

HOME!!!

My Kind of Mothering

The readings for daily mass have been pretty kick-butt lately. I love how the Mother in the first reading today is not only encouraging her sons to be faithful to God because of the law, but because God made the world out of nothing. This Mom not only instilled in her children a fear of the Lord but she educated them about really cool things! So much so that her youngest asks his executioner "what he is waiting for"- Blessed be God forever!

It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.

Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother,
who saw her seven sons perish in a single day,
yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord.
Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly courage,
she exhorted each of them
in the language of their ancestors with these words:
“I do not know how you came into existence in my womb;
it was not I who gave you the breath of life,
nor was it I who set in order
the elements of which each of you is composed.
Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe
who shapes each man’s beginning,
as he brings about the origin of everything,
he, in his mercy,
will give you back both breath and life,
because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law.”

Antiochus, suspecting insult in her words,
thought he was being ridiculed.
As the youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him,
not with mere words, but with promises on oath,
to make him rich and happy if he would abandon his ancestral customs:
he would make him his Friend
and entrust him with high office.
When the youth paid no attention to him at all,
the king appealed to the mother,
urging her to advise her boy to save his life.
After he had urged her for a long time,
she went through the motions of persuading her son.
In derision of the cruel tyrant,
she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language:
“Son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months,
nursed you for three years, brought you up,
educated and supported you to your present age.
I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth
and see all that is in them;
then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things;
and in the same way the human race came into existence.
Do not be afraid of this executioner,
but be worthy of your brothers and accept death,
so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with them.”

She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said:
“What are you waiting for?
I will not obey the king’s command.
I obey the command of the law given to our fathers through Moses.
But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews,
will not escape the hands of God.”

2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31

Upon the Feast of St. Elizabeth

"The apostolate implies souls capable of being carried away with enthusiasm for an idea, of consecrating themselves to the triumph of a principle. When the realization of this ideal is supernaturalized by the interior spirit, and when our zeal, in its end, its center, and its means is quickened by the spirit of Christ, we shall have the life which is in itself the most perfect of all, the highest possible life..."

Dom Jean Baptiste Chautard, The Soul of the Apostolate

Sunday

First of all, can I just say that I love God? Seriously, He's just so amazing and normal and there but not and just every incredible paradox you could ever think of. What the heck- no wonder He's can create a universe- I mean- really. And in two weeks it will be the first Sunday of Advent. I'm ridiculously excited for Christmas this year.

In any case I've been pretty down this week because of my classes. I go to a Christian school and all but there are many here who still ascribe to worldly ideas. In my "Jesus in Scripture and Tradition" class we keep talking about the "historical Jesus" and what stories in the New Testament are historical and what words those early Christians decided to put in Jesus' mouth. While reading about it all these arguments can make sense and for awhile I felt like I was in this weird state of "but I thought these things were real!"- and then I remembered that God exists. I think people get so into things so fast- even studying Jesus- that they forget that God exists. God times things so well. First of all he had Jesus be Jewish (I had a friend freak out about how cool it was that Jesus was Jewish this week- little did she know I was thinking the same thing!). The Jews were so cool- they had everything figured out- or rather, God had figured everything out for them with the 10 commandments and Solomon and the prophets- plus they really knew how to worship, study God, and party. In short, they knew how to live. Granted at Jesus time there was some corruption and oppression and tax collecting, but hey, who doesn't do a little tax collecting every now and then? Plus, in Jesus time the Romans were lording over the Jews- and what were the Romans? They were some pretty intelligent folks- I mean God putting himself in Greco-Roman influenced society was just about the smartest move ever- those guys had it all figured out too! And on top of it all GOD did it! Why are we even asking if Jesus really turned the water into wine at the wedding in Canna, or what Jesus "really said"- Jesus said it all because it's holy scripture! Did Jesus eat on the Wednesday before passover or Thursday night when passover was beginning? Can't the answer be "yes"? Can't God do what he sees fit? Can't we live with paradoxes? Do scholars every pray? Do we have to forget that we're not God the second we start studying something? Can't we love what God gave us? Humans!

In the meantime it's Sunday and I'm deciding to focus on what God gave me this week. The world gives me so much crap and it weighs me down. God gives me love and light and life. Let us continually give thanks to Him! There is nothing better for us to do than to give ourselves wholly and unreservedly to God!