No Matter Our Life Work
From The Cloistered Heart
Posts
Where Lions Wait
I have never faced the challenge of praying where lions wait. I've never been like Daniel, prohibited from praying, and I haven't endured threats of hungry animals waiting to feast on me if I did ... (....continue....)
At Least Your Hair
"...Take patiently the petty annoyances, the trifling discomforts, the unimportant losses which come upon all of us daily; for by means of these little matters, lovingly and freely accepted, you will give him your whole heart, and win His. I mean the acts of daily forbearance; the headache, or toothache, or heavy cold; the tiresome peculiarities of husband or wife..." (continue...)
A Morning Habit
Nuns and monks dress anew in their habits every morning, usually turning even the act of dressing into an opportunity to renew their consecrations to Christ. And what about those of us who do not wear the pieces of a habit? I find great richness in the following morning prayer... (continue...)
Ourselves the Garments
"Let us spread before His feet, not garments of soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves clothed in His grace, or rather, clothed completely in Him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before Him...." (continue...)
I Just Know
'How does one know if the Lord is calling? In varied ways, but as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta responded when asked how someone knows if she is called: 'She knows. She knows.' This is the language of the heart, and often it is difficult to put words to the language of the heart. The good news is, no one discerns a vocation in the Church alone - with the help of a vocation director, you will be able to discern whether the Lord is calling you to one community or another, or to marriage or the single life. All disciples of Christ are called to love without limits...' (from Sisters of Life website) 'She knows. She knows...' When I first heard these words spoken by Mother Teresa, I thought my heart would burst into flame. Watching a videotape with my husband, I too felt an inexplicable, unwordable sense of being called. Not able to understand how that fit in with my life as a wife and mother, still I knew. I just knew.... (continue)
Astonished by Beauty
'There was a lush cloister garden,' I wrote several years ago, 'and it was separated from the streets by high walls. My plan was to sit with Bible and journal and gather together scattered threads of thoughts and prayers. The sounds of traffic around? No problem. I looked upon those as bits of minor background noise. I would spend the day with God, in peace. An ideal set up for serenity. That is, until the band. From a campus nearby, there were sudden sounds of an outdoor concert. A LOUD outdoor concert. I sat in the garden surrounded by trees, statues, birds, and THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD. Thud thud thuds out of context, setting my nerves on end. Suddenly, ordinary street sounds began to unsettle me. How long had there been planes flying overhead, one after another, and so close-by? The city seemed filled with sirens. Voices shouted, just outside the enclosure walls. Oh dear. However could I pray?...' (continue)