Kate – Page 5 – Daily Graces

Pace – Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Published on September 29, 2023September 28, 2023 by KateLeave a comment

This Gospel is about doing what you say you will do. It’s about taking stock in whether you mean what you say – does your “yes” mean yes and your “no” mean no. This can be in regard to our relationship with God, with others, and even with ourselves. Often, for myself at least, I might say I want to do something, but when it comes down to it I find excuses not to make the effort. This happens especially with changes that are meant to grow and stretch me, moving out of relative comfort and into a new space.

The YouTube channel attached to this blog was a pretty big change for me, and the habit of writing weekly which followed was both surprising and challenging. Some weeks, I’m so happy this new shift has happened. Others, I feel like I’m scraping the bottom of the creative barrel, trying to find connections between the Gospel and life. The Holy Spirit continues inspiring me, and I am learning each week to lean more fully on His inspiration.

To be honest, that’s what this post is, the bottom of the creative barrel. I have been thinking more and more about what I want to write for the Advent journal (if you are new, each year I write a free journal which you can download and print. The previous years are found here). This is taking up a lot of creative brain space. I’m also feeling nervous because I haven’t actually started yet, and Advent is quickly approaching. I need to get to work, but I’m nervous to start. What if I don’t have enough material? Enough inspiration?

I hope you are catching the irony here – in one paragraph I tell you how I am more fully relying on the Holy Spirit for these reflections. In the next, I’m back to trying to rely on myself and my own sources of inspiration.

I am so thankful, again and again, for Bible study and for the women God continues blessing me with. This week, one of them asked for the grace to go, “at the pace of the Holy Spirit.” I loved this image. If we keep pace with the Holy Spirit, we won’t be looking back at what was, and we won’t be sprinting ahead trying to see around the bend a little sooner. We will be living in the present moment, focusing on what God wants us to focus on.

What does this mean for me? It means I need to get working on Advent, because that’s where the Holy Spirit is focusing my attention. It also means laying some crafting and TV time aside to prioritize my writing time during this period.

To bring it full circle, if we are keeping pace with the Holy Spirit, then what we say, “Yes” to will be what God desires, and we will accomplish it joyfully. Even in hard things, we will discover an inner peace because we will be doing God’s Will. When we say, “No” to what God wants, our pacing will be off. We will stumble, struggle, and miss the mark. Thankfully, most thankfully, the Holy Spirit never gets too far ahead or behind. We always have the opportunity open to us to refine our steps to rejoin Him and His pace.

I have 2 ideas for refining our steps, both of which I am actively putting into practice this week so I don’t have a lot of data for you at the moment.

Habit stacking. I struggle with plantar fasciitis. I am supposed to be stretching throughout the day, but often don’t. I regret it, complain about it, but haven’t done a whole lot about it. I am supposed to be taking care of my body as it is made in God’s image, St. Paul reminds us that we are temples where God dwells. I need to change my attitude and find the time to stretch. It occurred to me this week that my powered toothbrush runs for 2 minutes, with 4 – 30 second intervals. I already brush my teeth, no brainer. Now, I am stretching during that time. I am stacking my habits.
Journaling. With all the writing I do, and in talking with other writers, I continue to be drawn to journaling. But it just feels like more work, rather than a source of intellectual and spiritual nourishment. I recently was told about a notebook model which I’m going to try once it arrives in the mail. Each page is one day of the year, with 5 sections, one for each of the 5 years. The intent is to write down one line, one quote, one thought, every day. If you’ve been following the YouTube videos you will know I’ve been praying Morning and Night prayer consistently since May. Lately, a line or two have been standing out to me, and I’ve wanted to remember them without knowing how I would accomplish that. Welcome this new journal idea to that desire and now I have a way. My plan (again, brand new ideas I’m sharing here), is to write down one quote or verse from Morning Prayer every day. It will take minimal time, but will begin to build a habit of writing something down every single day. I’ll keep you posted about how it goes.

As I said, this wasn’t the most organized of posts. I am seriously considering taking a break from weekly reflections until I finish (and by finish, I mean both start and then finish) the Advent devotional. I will post a notice if that becomes the case. Thank you for sticking with me this far.

Where to Look – Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023

Published on September 22, 2023September 21, 2023 by KateLeave a comment

No matter what time period in history we are considering, humans have a tendency to look around first before looking up to God. With today’s incredible amount of connectivity, it has never been easier to see what others are doing, where they are traveling, and how they are generally living their lives. But even with this intense level of connection, the phenomenon remains the same as in Jesus’ time – we are a species very concerned with what others of our same species are doing. To be blunt, we are a bunch of busybodies.

Look at how nosey the workers are in Jesus’ parable. The wages of the workers should be between them and the landowner. And yet the first round of workers to come to the vineyard, knowing full well what they had arranged with the land owner, still expect some kind of shift in situation because they had been eavesdropping on the first to be paid.

In the video for this week, I talk about how we are meant to live in community and some of the ways that we are supposed to look out for one another. Looking out for someone is different than looking at someone in comparison. It is very difficult to live in a fruitful, healthy community if so much of our time is spent worrying about what others are doing from a position of judgment or envy. Our time would be much better spent looking for opportunities to to help one another, assisting from a place of love and care for the other individuals in our community.

It is also interesting to consider that just as the workers in the parable didn’t get to choose what they were owed at the end of the day, as workers in God’s vineyard, we don’t get to either. There is no accounting from our end when we die. We don’t get to come to God with a list of receipts in order to receive payback for the times we felt were unfair. We have already received salvation. If we are baptized, we have already received admittance to the Church and membership in God’s family as sons and daughters. If you are reading this, you have received the gift of life. These gifts are beyond compare when weighed against life’s imbalances.

Life isn’t fair. Jesus’ parable pretty much spells that out for us. Not all people who are in heaven today did exactly the same amount of work, suffered the same amount of loss and pain, or achieved the same level of holiness here on earth. Everyone has their own struggles and triumphs. No one is repeated or repeatable. We are unique individuals on a unique journey to heaven. We can help one another along on our collective journey by looking out for one another. We encourage, rather than compare. We support, rather than strive to pass by. We forgive, rather than holding onto anger. Above all, we trust that at the end of our days, we will meet our Creator who loves us beyond all forms of measuring and it is His esteem we only need to be concerned about.

The Devout Life – Book Review

Published on September 18, 2023September 14, 2023 by KateLeave a comment

St. Francis de Sales is a spiritual teacher par excellence. The instruction he offers in, Introduction to the Devout Life (Introduction for short), which was first published in 1609, is as rich and beneficial today as it was over 400 years ago. However, as with most texts of this kind of history, sometimes the phrasing can be unfamiliar. Enter The Devout Life: A Modern Guide to Practical Holiness with St. Francis de Sales by Deacon Matthew Newsome.

Dcn. Newsome haș carefully and thoughtfully brought St. Francis de Sales’ timeless advice into a format that is easily accessible for anyone who wishes to learn more about the devout life. Newsome is quick to point out that this book isn’t a summary or a new translation. Rather, “it is a helpful resource, built upon the framework of St. Francis’s Introduction, for anyone seeking to grow in devotion to God through individual or small group-study” (pg.3).

Newsome follows the same structure of short reflections as the original Introduction. He offers practical ideas for how to digest and better put into practice the principles St. Francis de Sales recommends for growing in the spiritual life. There are reflection questions at the end of each 1-3 page section as well as an applicable Scripture verse which corresponds with the topic discussed. These additions lend themselves very well to individual journaling, conversations with Jesus during Adoration, or for sharing in a group setting.

All people are called to holiness. St. Francis de Sales wrote his Introduction to be a roadmap for everyday ordinary people to learn to lead a devout life, a life of holiness. To lead a devout life, one must practice devotion. Newsome recommends reading his book a little at a time, just one section a day. In this manner, the reader is building a habit of daily time with the Lord and considering how they are living out this calling to holiness.

Personally, I can attest to the strength of this wisdom. This is not a book to read in a weekend. It is one you can return to again and again, especially after slowly walking through it in its entirety. There will be times in your life when specific reflections will speak more strongly to you than others. The division of sections and topics makes this book easy to reference as you go through different seasons of the spiritual life.

The structure, the pace, the reflections, the wisdom – this book provides a solid frame work for anyone who wishes to cultivate habits of listening for God’s voice in their everyday life and making concrete choices which will help them live a holier, devout life.

For disclosures: I received a free copy of this book from Sophia Institute Press in order to review it both here and on Catholicmom.com. The opinions I share here are my own.

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