The Gift of Humility and Was God Generous with me!

I know that humility is a virtue on which I need to work.  I have to admit that I have not prayed to receive this gift, but God knows best, and He does things in His own time, in His own way.  I was given the gift of humility yesterday, and I was given this gift in a way that I will never forget.

I have to back up to Saturday.  This was the first time that I sang at Mass.  I was assigned to sing with a wonderful singer.  We did sound good together, she and I.  We had practiced together, and I did learn a lot from her.  She has a beautiful voice.  She took the lead, and I followed.  It was a success.  I left Mass feeling good about our help with the liturgy. 

Fast forward to Sunday Mass.  The cantor for the Mass did not show up.  I knew that our music director  would be playing and singing alone.  He has a magnificent voice!  I volunteered to help, if he would sing with me.  He did, but I missed cues, notes, and during the Lamb of God, I sang the wrong song.  Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious!  It was terrible!  I hung my head in shame.  I noticed the smell, too.  I had been sweating so much that I smelled.  I slunk out of church avoiding eyes and greetings. 

Brian had been kind.  He assured me that things would get better.   He knew I had been shaking, but I knew I had learned humility yesterday.  Looking down at the Mass and the congregation from that loft opened my eyes and my ears to the wonder of a beautifully sung Mass and how much music can enhance the liturgy or detract from it. 

I will try again another day, but I will never forget Sunday.  God blessed me with an early Christmas gift.  I learned humility through failure.  I learned that through failure, I had been blessed because I could no longer look upon the ministry of music in the same way again.  The seasoned cantors make this ministry look easy.  Trust me when I say this, It’s not an easy ministry.  Timing.  Singing.  Sound.  These elements all matter.  I screwed up, but I was given a good does of humility. 

Thank You, Lord.  You knew.  I learned.  Thank You!

Silent Night

Praise God!

For Unto Us A Child is Born

Amen.

The Journey Ends in Bethlehem

Luke 2: 1-14

The Birth of Jesus. 

 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.  

This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.

And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  

While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son.  She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. 


The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

As Our Advent Journey Continues...

      We can forgive others, but can we forgive ourselves?


In the Our Father, we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…”

We’ve learned to forgive others.  As we traveled through this process, we released the pent up anger and allowed God the room to work in our souls, our lives.  We surrendered to Him the power that anger has over us.  He used His love to bring peace to our souls, our hearts, and our lives.  We became reconciled with our God through the process of forgiveness.  Forgiveness is not for wimps, and we must rejoice when we, through the graces of God, forgive those who have hurt us.

Now, fast forward.  We made a terrible mistake.  We have hurt someone we did or didn’t want to hurt.  We have learned to forgive others.  Now can we forgive ourselves?  The answer to this is yes, through the graces of our loving God we can, and through the gift of self love.

Many of us were not taught to love ourselves as we grew up.  We were told how terrible we were, and we were berated until it hurt, for the mistakes we made.  Our self esteem became attached to this negativity.  Now, we try too hard to please, to succeed, to control situations to bring about the outcome we want to see.  This is not self love, nor is this allowing God into our lives and trusting that He knows what’s best for us.  God’s job is to work miracles, not ours.  Anxiety is a great blocker to God’s graces.  Worry is a great blocker to God’s graces. It’s not easy to step aside and let God be God and trust.

In Matthew 22: 37-40, Jesus spoke: And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

The key sentence here is:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  To truly love God and our neighbors, we must love as we love ourselves.  We cannot give what we don’t have whether it’s patience, humility, or love of self.  Contrary to popular opinion, self love is not selfish.  Self love is not controlling.  Self love is not filled with anxiety.  Self love is not demonstrated in worry.   Self love is not centered on us.  Self love is centered on God and allowing God to work in our lives with trust and confidence.  Self is love is knowing that no matter who the world treats us, or how the world makes us feel, there is a greater power at work, and that power is the love of God.  God loves us.  He made us to feel and be worthy of all love, including the love of ourselves.

God doesn’t make junk.  We are valuable children in the eyes of God.  He loves us with an unending love that cannot be surpassed by anyone in heaven or on earth.  God is madly in love with each of His children.  He knows us by name.  He knows our thoughts before we think them.  He has counted each hair on our head.  He is Love. If that which is love, loves us, can we reject the beauty which God gave us?   Can we refuse to love that creation of God which is ourselves?
of course not.

Like forgiveness learning to love ourselves is a process.  Learning to love ourselves is a gift from God. 
All journey’s begin with a single step.  That step is to pray and ask God for this gift.  You are worthy of self love.  Jesus loved Himself.  He knew He was good.  He knew He was Holy.  He knew, and He loved himself.  It’s okay for us to do the same.  The Father wants us to love ourselves as our brother Jesus loved himself.  If we love ourselves, we will be at peace, and this peace will flow from us to our world, and the world will be a better place.  So ask God for this gift of self love, then, when we slip and realize we are thinking poorly of ourselves, pray and ask God again for this amazing gift.  In time, you will realize you are good and worthy of God’s love, humanity’s love, and your own love.  Pray! Pray! Pray!

Heavenly Father, I ask you for the gift of self love. 
Jesus, my Brother, help me to love myself as You love Me.
Holy Spirit, open my mind that I might learn to love myself.

You will learn to love yourself so that you can love your neighbor as yourself.

What does self love have to do with self forgiveness?  When we learn to love ourselves as God loves us, we surrender to Him our self doubt, our insecurities, our anxieties, our attempts to control God, our self hatred.  We surrender to God all that He does not wish us to be.  As we learn to love ourselves, God is able to work in our souls healing, nurturing and caring for us through the gift of His unending love.  We are able to finally say, “Your Will be done.”  When we fall and make a mistake, we are able to trust that even though we have sinned, God will bring good out of sin.  We are able to trust that God will grant us the gift of forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  If God forgives us, then why shouldn’t we forgive ourselves?  All that matters is that we are able to love God with our entire heart, soul and body.  This is the epitome of self love.  God heals and cures us.  We can forgive others as we forgive ourselves because God is in control.  We have given all to Him.  He has given all to us.  We can rest easy in His Loving arms knowing that His Love will surround us as we surrender to Him.  God is good.  You are worthy of His goodness.

Jesus, I love You. 

An Advent Prayer

Praise to You,
Lord God of all Creation!
Praise to You
Jesus our Brother!
Praise to You,
Holy Spirit, our Counselor and our Guide!

The veil lifts as we approach the end of Advent.
Jesus, our Savior and God,
born of Mary,
in a stable,
the Light of Heaven
born into cold and poverty.
One with us,
Our Savior King.
Unrecognized,
Rejected,
but Loved with the Love only a mother can give
and a father chosen for Him.
Angels sang when You were born.
King of Angels,
no one heard but you and the humble shepherds watching their sheep in the dark night
Cold, but protective of their flocks
they left their precious sheep to find You, trusting that God would take care of them.
No one of any authority knew or believed
except for the one who wanted to kill You.
Even as a baby You reigned as a King.
The shepherds found You in your cradle of straw and wood.
They saw Your Mother holding You while Your fathers kept guard.
Sweet Jesus!
You life began in suffering, always for love us!
Jesus, Jesus, our Loving God!
Jesus, Jesus, Son of the Father,
Born of Mary,
Protected and Raised by Joseph!
Peace of Heaven!
Light in a Darkened World.!
Come, Come!
Be with us we pray.
Touch our hearts that we may learn to love You as your parents loved You.
Touch our hearts so that our hearts may beat as one with Your Most Sacred Heart.
Jesus!
Fill us with Your Love.
We can ask for nothing more!
Jesus!  Lord!  God!
King of all Creation!
A babe held in Your Mother's arms.
God Man.
Miracle of the Father.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Your love is unending!
Glory to God in the highest!
Glory! Glory! Glory!
Praise! Praise! Praise!
Peace.
Love is on earth.

Viva Pope Francis!

Happy Birthday, dear Father.

Viva Pope Francis!