In Times of Peace, Praise God

"Nothing is far from God." St. Monica

Today is the feast day of St. Monica. She is the patron saint of mothers. She faithfully prayed for the conversion of her son Augustine who was a great sinner. He lived with different women, he abused alcohol and had all types of addictions. But she never gave up on him. And God rewarded her faithfulness by calling Augustine to turn his life around. He embraced Christianity and he is one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Church.

St. Monica has been my faithful companion during this last week. I turned to her to take my petitions to God when I received abnormal results for Alex's labs. The doctor ordered more tests to rule out a lot of scary diseases and all those results came back negative. I truly believe that there was some divine intervention. And now I praise God. I seeked Him in my sorrow and He answered a mother's plea.

Just like St. Monica never stopped praying for her son, we can learn from her as we pray for our own children. No matter what is troubling us regarding our children, let's ask St. Monica to intercede for them and to take our petitions to God. It could be an illness. It could be an addiction. It could be a legal issue. It could be that they are renouncing their faith. It could be that they don't want to study. Whatever it is that is troubling a mother's heart, St. Monica understands because she lived in agony because of her son Augustine. But if Augustine had such a big conversion, there is hope for all our children, as long as we don't give up and continue praying for them with a faithful heart.

St. Monica is also the patron saint of wives. Her husband Patricius was an alcoholic with a violent temper. St. Monica was often the victim of his rage. But she endured all her trials with patience, gentleness and kindness. She prayed daily for the conversion of her husband. And just like God answered her prayers regarding her son Augustine, He also answered her prayers regarding her husband. Patricius converted one year before his death and he admitted that it was her strong faith and unwavering kindness towards him that changed him.

Let's ask St. Monica to intercede for our husbands, especially if they are not walking in the faith. Of course, wives who are being abused should not rely just on prayer. They need to seek help beyond prayers. But St. Monica can take our petitions to God for those husbands that have turned their backs to God, those husbands that are abusing alcohol or other addictions, those husbands that are sick, those husbands that are unemployed, those husbands that are not being a good role model to their children, those husbands that are not loving to their wives... Whatever is troubling your marriage, ask St. Monica to help out. She understands because she lived in an unhappy marriage for many years. If her drunken and abusive husband was converted, there is hope for all our spouses, as long as we don't give up and continue praying for them with a faithful heart.

St. Monica, patron saint of mothers and wives, please take our petitions to God. Please grant us fortitude, patience and trust in the Lord. Please pray with us for our sons, daughters and spouses. And St. Monica, please pray for us. Amen.

And when God answers our prayers and we find the peace that we are seeking, let us remember to praise God.

Waiting in the Lord

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" Psalm 27:14

There is an endless song

Echoes in my soul

I hear the music ring 

And though the storms may come

I am holding on

To the rock I cling

This song has been playing on my head all week long. It began on Sunday when we sang it during mass. Little did I know it was providential. I was going to have to hold on to the Rock with all my strength this week when we received disturbing news. Some lab results for my youngest son Alex were abnormal. We spent one day at the hospital running more tests and now we wait.

Waiting for me is the hardest. I want to know everything immediately. If I had a crystal ball that could show me the future, I would be checking it constantly. But that's not how life works. Life is a waiting game. We are always in a holding pattern because we don't know what tomorrow will bring.

But we do have two choices: we can despair and get anxious while we wait or we can be at peace while we wait in the Lord. It's very easy to succumb to the first one but the second one is so much better. At first, I found myself filled with anxiety, fear and distress. The worst possible scenarios were crowding my head. But Jesus who knows me so well sent me a ray of hope. The ultrasound results looked good. I could remove the worst from my mind.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." John 14:27

Another God-incidence this week is that the novena to St. Monica began on Tuesday. St. Monica is one of my favorite saints, probably because she's the patron saint of mothers and oh how I need her. I know that she is taking my prayers and requests to the Lord and through her intercession I am finding the peace that I crave.

By Friday I knew that I had no choice but to wait in the Lord. I went back and I read my last meditation, "Turn your Worries to God." I stopped being the driver and I turned the wheel to God. And He gave me another ray of hope. I called the doctor's office and they told me that based on the results they had gotten back it looked like things were improving.

On Monday we will hear the final diagnosis. In the meantime, I am at peace because I know my prayer warriors are carrying me. I sent a text to my sisters in Christ, my prayer Angels. I know that Alex is covered with prayers. And I promise not to worry and be at peace this weekend. As my friend Claire likes to point out: "It's better to laugh than to cry." So I'm planning to laugh a lot this weekend while holding on to the Rock. I will remain calm and pray for Alex.

Please join me and pray for Alex.

Turn your Worries to God

"Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about." Saint Jane Frances de Chantal

I'm pretty sure that when God was distributing genes, He gave me an overdose of worry. I thought that as I matured in my faith, my worries would decrease, but that has not been the case. I have gotten worst. It's horrible. I try, I really do. I am constantly praying. I try really hard to leave everything in God's hands. I try to let Him be in charge. And yet, I can't stop worrying.

I remember a time when being a passenger in a car was a pleasant experience. I could relax and enjoy the ride. Not anymore. It drives my poor husband nuts. He's a really good driver. According to his driving record, he's a much better driver than I am. And yet, you wouldn't think so if you were to see how I behave when I sit next to him as he drives. I am constantly breaking in the imaginary break I have installed on my seat. I hold on to the door for dear life. And I have to bite my tongue constantly so as not to scream "Be Careful!" every three seconds. It's funny because this doesn't happen when I drive. And yet I trust him behind the wheel more than I trust myself. But I can't help it. I have not talked to a psychologist about this but I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with the fact that I like to be in control and when I'm a passenger, I'm not in control. My husband is in charge of the wheel and he's the one in control.

The same thing happens when we are on our life journey. We are not in control. God is in charge of the wheel. He's the one in control. And how difficult it is to just be a passenger. We want to be in charge. Even though we know that God is a much better driver than we are, we still want to be the driver of our own destinies. No matter how many wrong turns we take, we just don't trust Him enough. We question Him in everything. We second guess every decision, even if deep inside we know that is what He is telling us to do. And we worry about everything, not realizing that the only reason we worry is because we have not given Him full control of the wheel.

1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

There comes a time in everyone's life when we realize that we cannot drive anymore. We have to turn over the wheel to a wiser driver because if we don't, we are going to end up in serious trouble. There are obstacles on the road that are beyond our control: illness, divorce, accidents, issues with our offspring, unemployment, financial trouble, the death of a loved one... When we encounter these detours in our life, we have no choice but to step out of the driver seat, walk around the car to the passenger side and ask God to take the wheel. We have to trust Him to be in charge of our lives and of our destinies. We have to place our eyes on God and we have to hand the keys over to Him.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" Psalm 27:14

Let us turn our worries to God and trust that He is in control. Let us be patient that in whatever suffering we are going through, He is in charge. Let us wait in confidence that He has a map and He knows how to get to the destination. Let us place our eyes on God and leave the driving to Him. He has a plan for each one of us. Take courage and allow Him to drive. 

Be Not Afraid

"Trust always in your God. He does not lose battles." The Way by St. Josemaria Escriva Ch 34 Par 733

I know a lot of people that are afraid, myself included. We are afraid of many things. We are afraid of the future. The future of our country looks pretty bleak. For the next fifteen months we are going to be bombarded with politics. Our country will be divided. The conservatives against the liberals. The democrats against the republicans. Blue against red. All issues will be brought out in the open, to be surgically analyzed and at the end, the open wounds will take time to heal but eventually they will mend. For the next fifteen months, families will be divided, friendships will be strained and we will unfriend a lot of people on Facebook. But no matter who wins, we are still blessed to live in a free country where we have the choice to cast a vote.

Others are afraid for other reasons. I know a lot of people that are dealing with health issues. Many are fighting cancer. It's an epidemic. A modern day plague. And of course this brings tremendous fear to our hearts. We are all afraid that we could be next. Or a loved one could be next. We worry about the food we eat. We turn to organic choices hoping that they have less chemicals that will prevent that scary "C" word. We are terrified because after so many years there is still not a known cause or a sure cure. And nothing is more scary than the unknown.

Many are scared because they have lost a loved one. They don't know how to go on without their spouse by their side or without the laughter of that child or without the comfort of a parent. The future is frightening. They are anxious and angry and they don't understand why this happened. They feel that God let them down. He did not answer their prayers. They are disheartened and discouraged. They feel that the battle has been lost.

Parents live in constant fear. Nothing paralyzes me more than my children's future. I worry constantly for them. At this point in my life, you would think it should be easier. My nest is officially empty. The oldest one lives in New York. He has a good job, a very loving girlfriend and he is happy. I should not worry about him. And yet, I still worry. I don't talk to him on a daily basis but if a couple of days go by that I have not heard from him, I sent him a text or an email just to make sure he is fine.  My daughter lives in town but no longer at home. Since she lives alone, I make her text me in the morning and call me at night. I know she doesn't like it but I tell her that is the only way I can breathe. And my youngest is the one that worries me the most. He's still in college, all the way in Connecticut and I feel that he's in a battlefield... Alcohol, drugs, peer pressure... I feel that he is at risk every minute and every hour of every day. Just one step from falling down a cliff. And I know most of my friends feel exactly the same way. Being awake in the middle of the night is a common ailment.

A few weeks ago I went to mass carrying my heavy bookbag of worries. The communion song was "Be not afraid." I felt that God was talking directly to me, I felt that He was telling me to trust Him, that He had a plan. He has a plan for our country, a plan for that friend that is battling cancer, a plan for that person that is mourning, a plan for each of my children, a plan for you and a plan for me. I had gone to mass at Church of the Little Flower. When I got home, my friend Susy who goes to mass at St. Kevin, heard the same song and she sent me a text: "Be not Afraid." I got goosebumps. But I knew I could trust God. He fights our battles and He always wins.

He is asking each one of us to turn our bookbags filled with worries to Him. He will take care of our country and our world. He will take care of those that are sick. He will take care of those who mourn. Those that are no longer with us are in His presence, enjoying the beauty of His kingdom. He will take care of our children. He will take care of our parents. He will take care of our spouses. He will take care of us. Trust in God. He is fighting our battles and He is always victorious.

Be not afraid.

God will provide

"Serve your God straightforwardly; be faithful to him, and don’t worry about anything else. For it’s a great truth that if you 'seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, all other things'—material things, the means—'will be given you besides.' He will provide them for you." The Way by St. Josemaria Escriva Ch 20 Par 472

This past Sunday I attended mass at St. Matthew Catholic Church and the priest who officiated, Father Raphael, was visiting from Tanzania, a remote country in East Africa. He talked about his missionary work in this remote region of the world. The more he talked, the more I thanked God for His blessings. There are so many things that I take for granted that the majority of the world lacks: a hot shower, a soft bed to sleep at night, enough food to feed me and my family, a microwave to warm up the leftovers, electricity to power up all my appliances, computers, telephones, television, a grocery store that provides all sort of foods, a car that I just need to make sure has a full tank of gas and most importantly, security and peace of mind that I am safe in my home.

We hear in the news how Christians are being persecuted and killed in other countries and we tune it off because it doesn't affect us. We think that because is happening far away from us we don't need to worry. Our little corner of the world is safe. Even though it may not affect us directly, it certainly affect us indirectly. As Christians, we are one body, the body of Christ, and what is happening in a remote country in Africa, in a poor country in South America or in the Middle East, should move our hearts because those are our brothers and sisters in Christ and they need our prayers and support.

Father Raphael told us that we are very blessed that we can go to church to celebrate mass without fear that someone is going to walk in with a weapon and kill us (even though that happened not too long ago in Charleston, NC). But most of the time, we are not afraid to go to church. We are not afraid at night that someone is going to break into our homes and kill us simply because of the faith we profess. But that is not the reality for the majority of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

After mass we went to the beach and as I was walking with my husband by the seashore (another blessing), we were talking that the majority of us are never going to have to die for our faith. We are never going to be placed in a position where we will have to choose between Christ or our life. Yes, it's very easy to say "I will choose Christ" when you don't have a gun pointed to your head, but the reality is that unless we are in that situation, we don't know what we would do. Would we go to mass if our life was threatened? And how about if our family was threatened? Would we still go to mass?

In our country a lot of churches are empty not because of fear but because we are losing our faith. In Africa a lot of churches are empty because of fear that they could lose their lives. Here our churches are being closed because there are not enough priests. In Africa, they have plenty of priests whose lives are at risk every day, but they stand true to their faith. And what amazed me the most is that Father Raphael told us that even though in most cases they don't have the means to keep all these churches open, they don't close them because their people depend on the church to provide them with the most basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, education for the children and health services.

These missionaries serve God without worrying whether they will be alive the next day and whether they will have the means to serve their parishioners. They place all their worries at His feet and they leave it all in His hands. They know that He will provide the means. What an amazing faith. By the end of mass I was wondering who was truly blessed, me or these missionaries?