The Thread

Sometimes people hurt us. It may be people close to us or acquaintances. No matter who it comes from, if the attack is a personal one, it hurts just the same. As humans, we often run through a range of emotions when this happens: Anger, discontent, hurt and frustration. These are all normal, human reactions especially if the offender's actions are chronic.

However, as Christians we are called to a higher behavior. Jesus calls on us repeatedly to "forgive" each other.In Matthew18:21 He tells us we should forgive not 7 times, but seventy times seven. In the Lord's Prayer it even states, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." These are meaningful words-we are asking God to forgive us the way we forgive others. So if we expect God to be merciful to us, we must be merciful to others.

But, not only are we called to forgive those who hurt us, but we are called to pray for them.Praying for those who hurt us seems like a daunting task. Pray for the person who called you those degrading names? Pray for that person who bullies you? Yes! Hurtful people probably need many prayers.

However, this really is as much for us as it is for them. Prayer pulls us closer to God and brings us in His presence. Often times, an offense may be so hurtful that we may be "hanging on by a thread" before giving into the temptations of anger, depression, anxiety, and loneliness. But, I have noticed the times I've been at that point that prayer is the one thing that keeps the "thread" intact. If we pray enough, our hearts will soften, and we let go of the desire for revenge. Instead of a racing mind on "what to say the next time I see them," our hearts and minds will be at peace. Sometimes it may take a few "Hail Marys", other times it could take much more.  But once we have prayed, we can rest peacefully knowing we did right by God and our offender. The peacefulness in our hearts is a much better feeling than the snapping of the "thread" we've been hanging on to.

Why is the Mass so Important

Even the most devout families hear it from the kids:

 "But Moooommmm, do we have to go? Again?"

"We just went last week."

"We go every week!"

And so went our discussion at breakfast this morning. I discussed how attending Mass is something God asks of us, how it is part of the ten commandments, and how it is the only time during the week in which we participate in the Miracle of the Eucharist. After all, we are responsible for our choices. God will not force us to go to church,. He will not force us to choose Him. However, when we make a choice, we also choose the consequences of that choice.

Some were not impressed, and once again it turned into  a "Well, we're going to Church, deal with it," situation.

We make our way to church, with some grumbling along the way. We pick our seats and kneel down in prayer before Mass starts. Part of my prayer was that my children see the benefit of the Mass and why it is so important. I finish my prayer and sit in the pew. I lean over and whisper to the kids, "I want you to be sure to pay attention to what Father says during the Homily." My hope was that in paying attention, the may see some spiritual benefit in going to church in  addition to Holy Communion. I hoped they would hear something that made them "get it".

The time for the Homily came and I was flabbergasted. Did God just answer my prayer? Already? The Homily was mostly about the importance of a funeral mass (tying into today's Gospel) but the priest also stressed why the Mass is important. He stressed Mass and general prayer (for example a prayer service) are not equal. Mass is The Great Prayer. THE prayer. Why? Because we are joining our living and spiritual brothers and sisters in witnessing the miracle of the Eucharist. Mass is the highest form of prayer.

Our priest gave several examples illustrating all his points.During this homily, I watched my children's hearts soften as they began to understand that the Mass is more than an obligation in which people talk and sing for an hour. As Mass continued, I was in awe. Once again (it happens often) being at Mass addressed an issue I have been struggling with. How wonderful that what I had just been teaching my children at breakfast, had been reiterated by a respected priest.

Thank you God for hearing my prayers once again. And thank you for the gift of a devout and holy priest!

Praying for our priests

This is the second week in a row that my local parish priest emphasised how the Gospels of these 2 weeks and Pope Francis' inaugural wish tie together. What was that wish? That we, the members of the Church, take care of each other. We should take care of each other the way the Good Samaritan took care of the injured man on the road. We should take care of each other by showing hospitality the way Martha and her sister Mary did in this week's Gospel. He is right. We should do these things. Many times neighbors do not treat each other well. One might make life difficult instead of easier for the other. But that is not what we are called to do. In contrast I've seen another neighbor help a family just by bringing their trash to the curb when the family was with their child in the hospital battling a serious illness. That IS what we are called to do.

However, I want to take this a step further. I feel we should extend this care and hospitality to our priests. Our priests sacrifice everyday to bring us God's Word, the Eucharist, His Mercy and forgiveness, and many other things we don't "see". Several times in confession a priest will ask at the end, "And please pray for me,"
Wow. Our priests need our prayers and support. They not only face the battles, prejudices and injustices in daily life, but they face a spiritual battle. Remember, they bring us the life-saving Eucharist. They are on the front lines of the battle! They need our prayers.

Now, having heard that call from the pulpit to take care of each other, I felt a deeper call. A call to take care of our priests. How can I do that? Prayer. I plan to incorporate all priests in every prayer I utter and every prayer in my heart.

We are all called to live in Heaven with God and to become saints. If I ever reach that, God willing, I will continue to pray for our priests. They need us. And even more so, we need them

Christmas is Hope

Christmas is a time of hope. It may be hard to remember that this year in the aftermath of the shooting in the Connecticut school. Too many young, innocent and heroic lives were taken just days before Christmas. We see devastation, sorrow and pain all over the nation. We feel for the families who lost their children, sisters, brothers, and cousins. How will any of them ever get through this?

But...just as in Jesus' ultimate suffering - this is not the end of the story. First, these children are probably spending their Christmas with our Lord Himself. Are they huddled by the manger? Are they telling Him all about their families on Earth? Are they celebrating at the ultimate feast where there are no kiddie tables - just one big table?

 Meanwhile, back here, in the aftermath of the shooting, people are bringing a part of Heaven back to Earth. In Heaven there is love. Lots of love. As I read the news, peruse Facebook, and talk with friends and family, I hear stories of people banding together to "do something" to ease the people's suffering in CT.

                                                        ©2012 Jacqueline Gladen



I know a preschool family gathering hearts with messages of love to send to CT. I learned of a project being done to create glittery snowflakes to decorate the CT kids' new school. There are prayers and Masses, being said. There are laws being looked at. There are children creating art and writing poems for these families. There are groups protecting the funerals.  Everyone is pulling together and showing love.

This, my friends, is Hope. This is what Jesus brought into the world 2,000 years ago. This is real compassion to help those who need it most. When these families feel so alone, the country is showing them they are not. Jesus feels our pain. He knows what the suffering of the innocent is like. He shared His sacrificial cup with them, but now they are sharing in His glorifying feast.

Jesus came here to bring hope to us all. And after seeing the country coming together to ease the pain in CT, I still see Christmas Hope amidst all the suffering going on.  God bless the families in CT. God bless His helpers easing the suffering. And  "God bless us, everyone!"

A Little Perspective

Before this week, this tragic event that happened in CT would have depressed me more and make me wonder how our society can be so crazy. "What is the world coming to," would be my question. 

However, last week, after being stressed about insurance issues for my ill children, someone (you know who you are) offered to help us in everyway possible. For the first time in a month and a half I felt hope. 

I think God allows everything for a reason. If it were not for my own stresses about my children and then experiencing people's love and eagerness to relieve our stress, I might be tempted to lose hope in humanity again after hearing about the shooting in Connecticut. It is so easy to slip into thoughts such as "People today are crazy." Or "The world is gone insane." But don't despair, because there are good people in the world. In fact, despite what we see, there is still much more good than evil in the world. Remember - God created the world and called it "Good". 

So - a little bit of Thanks goes out to all the good people in the world. And thank you to that person who put things in perspective with out even knowing it! God Bless you all and have a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS SEASON.

PS - Looking for something to do for the victims and help relieve your anxiety about the situation? Offer a Rosary or a Chaplet of Divine Mercy for the victims. Offer the prayer that they all may be celebrating Christmas with our Savior in person this year.

Catholic Book Review: My First Prayers for Christmas

My First Prayers for Christmas by Maite Roche is a beautiful board book fillled with heartwarming Christmas prayers for children. The illustrations are colorful and inspiring. The book was originally publishd in French and was translated by Carie Akoun

There are seven simple prayers in this book which  all children can enjoy. They are short enough to hold the attention of infants and toddlers for a combination of bedtime prayers and a bedtime story, yet hold the attention of older readers who are reading and internalizing the sweet prayers. The language in the prayers offer concrete words, which allow the reader to visualize the concepts in the prayers. 

I love how each prayer begins with "In the name of the Father, and of the Son..." and ends with "Amen", just as all our prayers do in the Catholic faith. This consistancy reinforces what the children are learning about prayer in their religious classes and at church.

"Soon it will be Christmas Day." The prayer book starts out from the perspective of anxious children awaiting the birth of our Savior. "With the angels I sing your wonders." The next prayer joins the angels on this most holy night.  Each prayer through the book follows along in succession the events of the Christmas Miracle. As we follow along the journey of Christmas, we pray along with prayers of joy, wonder, praise  and thanksgiving.

This book was a fun book to read with the lively illustrations jumping off the page. With each turn of the page, there was colorful words and pictuers which shared the joy of the prayers. As I read this to young children, they, too were enticed by the language and colors used in the book. They reached out and wanted to touch the angels or the baby Jesus. This book is sure to be a great start to a lifetime of prayer.

I highly recommend this book for a child's first collection of Christmas prayers. 

I wrote this review of My First Prayers for Christmas for the free Catholic book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods. Aquinas and More is the largest on-line Catholic bookstore. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

Jesus King of Peace

"Let God deal with the things they do. Because hate in your heart will consume you too." ~~Will Smith

This quote from Will Smith has been on my mind lately. You see, ever since my husband and I got married and moved into our home, our next door neighbor has caused a ton of pain and heartache for our family. For thirteen years every run in with them consists of a negative comment, complaint, anger or threat. We only got a little relief when new neighbors on our other side moved in. At least now we had someone to be bullied with. As the years went on, and our family began and grew, we learned to avoid our grumpy neighbor. It was the easiest way to keep the peace. Though it didn't help really. Because when you bottle things up, an explosion occurs eventually. 

At times we remained prisoners in our home. It would be time to take out the trash. I peek outside and see the neighbor sitting on the step. The trash bag waits by the door until the neighbor goes in. 

Then the unthinkable happens. My two youngest children are diagnosed with serious, possibly life threatening illnesses. Of course our top priorities are keeping the children alive, healthy and safe. And yet, you could always count on that neighbor to catch you on the way to the hospital, complaining that the grass is 2 1/2 inches long. Only "slobs" let the grass get that "bad". What she didn't know or chose to ignore was the fact that my 3 year old was in the hospital every month for at least 10 days. By the time life got back to normal, we were back in the hospital. 

As more years went on, the children's health stabilized. The children grew older and loved to play outside. However, every time they are out there, the grumpy neighbor is yelling about something. Even though the children are following my strict rules of staying in my driveway. There just seems to be no win. 

Finally, just recently, I couldn't take it anymore and yelled back. My children just wanted to play. That was it. The neighbor called us all nasty names and ran inside. Many many times I play the scene back in my head. "I should have said this. That would get back at her." "Next time I'll say..." As I played the scenes in my head I hoped I'd feel better. But I didn't. It made me feel worse. As I laid in bed that night I realized the only way I could "let go" of the situation was to do what Jesus told us to do so long ago. Give it to Him.

My heart wanted to hang on to the anger and despair. By sheer will,I turned it over to God. I was too upset to say too much. So I just prayed:

Jesus, King of Peace, fill my heart.
Jesus, King of Peace, fill my heart.
Jesus, King of Peace, fill my heart.

And guess what happened. Suddenly, I was able to let go of the situation. Of course the situation makes me sad at times, but it doesn't have a hold on me. I was able to fall asleep peacefully that night.

And so, just as the song goes, "Let God deal with the things they do. Because hate in your heart will consume you too."