Book Review: These Sacred Days

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I am part of a prayer group at church and we use the Magnificat daily prayers and readings. Every so often, something will strike me and I will earmark a page and eventually, I write it down. I was recently going through and recording these thoughts and prayers when I came across this from the December issue:

Long familiarity with the Passion narratives can dull our awareness of the acute suffering that Christ endured for our sake.

These Sacred Days #Lent #Daily Graces #BookReview #TriduumI know that I fall into this trap. Thank goodness there are authors out there like Br. Richard Contino, OSF, who have the courage to write a book like These Sacred Days: Walking with Jesus through the Sacred Triduum.

This short book is packed with meaning. Contino hones in on the drama that unfolds during the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Instead of simply narrating the story, the reader is submerged in it, witnessing the events through the eyes and ears of those who were actually there. I do not recommend reading it in one sitting. This is a book meant to be prayed over, to be read and re-read as you allow yourself to walk the Way of the Cross with Christ.

Christmas has only just ended but Lent is fast approaching. As you begin to consider how you are going to celebrate the Lenten season, I highly encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. It can easily be read a few pages at a time throughout the whole season, or be used as the text for a book club or bible study. I believe that your Lent, or any season of the year, would be enhanced and your spiritual life edified.

Reflection

Published on by KateLeave a comment

I think one of the scariest things that has happened to me as a parent is hearing my voice mimicked back to me by my children. My son, who is 4, is a particularly excellent parrot. It is not uncommon to hear him shout through the house lines memorized from his favorite books, movies or TV shows. It’s especially fun to hear him tie different storylines together, weaving such complicated web that only he can decipher. Consider this recent tale:

“Rapunzel! Merida is stuck in the seaweed. We have to call the Octonauts to save her. Calling all Octonauts. Captain, we have to save Merida. On my honor as an Octonaut, we will save her. Peso! We have to figure out how to get her out. Can you do it? Yes Captain. OK, let’s go!”

It was so funny! I’m glad I was in the kitchen listening in so that he didn’t get self-conscious.

As cute and sweet as these kids can be, sometimes I wish they weren’t always listening. Like the other evening when John said that dinner “was gross.” He must have heard me me the previous day when I said that a rotten clementine was gross. Or when Rosie says “Mommy, you don’t get to talk like that. I don’t like that voice!” which she frequently hears from my husband and I when she starts to have an attitude about cleaning up the toys.

Speech may be one of the most important things that we teach our children. They learn it from us, in my experience, by listening to what adults say and how we say it. Kids are brutally honest and their speech pattern holds us accountable to our own. A child is more likely to say “please” and “thank you” if they hear these works spoken to them and around them, not just because they are told to say them.

When John was quite young, I went to a play group. There was a mom there who had a few older children and her youngest was about 1 and a half I would say. I noticed how every time she had to tell her daughter “No” she said “No thank you.” Even when we were leaving and her daughter ran into the parking lot, as her mom ran after her she was shouting “That’s a No Thank You!” I realized that this mom had trained her speech to always say “No Thank You”, modeling for her daughter a more polite speech pattern. When I retold the story to Ben, we both decided to make the same change. So, we are the “No Thank You” family.  We also try to be very aware of saying “Excuse me” to the kids, trying not to interrupt them, and always saying “Please.”

As parents, we are charged with raising up our children to live, work and contribute to society. Part of being a parent is recognizing that we still have room to grow and sometimes we make mistakes. Fortunate for us, we are all children of a forgiving and merciful God, who we call Father. As His children, still learning who we are and what His will for our lives is, we can look to His example, just as our children look to us. Scripture tells us that God spoke and creation came into being. God spoke, imbuing all of the Earth with His Word. If this wasn’t example enough, God sent His Word to live among us, to be with us, to die for us, and to bring us safely home to heaven once again. When we turn our gaze, or to continue with the speech example, our ears, to the Word of God, we are better able to mimic or reflect the speech of the Father.

 

Book Review: Thrift Store Saints

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Every so often the stars align and I have time not only to read a book, but I am able to finish it in a timely manner. Such an alignment happened while we were on our Christmas vacation, and I’m so happy that I was able to read Thrift Store Saints: Meeting Jesus 25¢ at at Time by Jane Knuth.

41HE5HRAAiL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_This is a quick read but packed with inspiration and wisdom. Jane chronicles her experiences working at a St. Vincent de Paul store in Michigan. Like so many of us, she walked into the store expecting to complete a simple transaction, only to find herself colliding (quite literally) with an unexpected face of Jesus – Jesus in the poor, the homeless, the needy, and the lonely.

Knuth’s stories of the store’s clients are down-to-earth, real, heart-warming and often heart-wrenching. This is an emotional book, written by a woman who has discovered how to surrender to God’s work and will for her life. On more than one occasion, Knuth recalls a time when the cashbox and the need didn’t balance. Instead of fretting or turning people away, Jane and the other volunteers trust in God’s providence. Things always seem to work out.

One of the main points of the book concerns the volunteers themselves. Knuth wisely recognizes that Jesus is not just found in the thrift store clients. He is in the faces of the volunteers as well. Toward the end of the book, Knuth talks about the importance of the invitation she received to be a volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul store. She wasn’t bullied or guilted into returning for the first meeting. Rather, she was personally, specifically invited to come and see what the store was all about. The volunteers truly form a community with one another.

Knuth speaks of how before starting to volunteer, she was a teetering tree when it came to matters of faith – her roots did not go very deep. She was lacking a foundation, a real and tangible connection with God.

By intertwining their [the other volunteers] roots with mine, by struggling together with the practical mechanics of how to best help the poor, they have become for me the good, firm soil I need to stay erect in the forest.

I believe Jane’s story is relatable and gently challenging for each of us. She asks each of us to consider how we view the poor and homeless. This question is powerful enough. But Knuth masterfully takes us a few steps further. She also calls us to task on how well we invite others to encounter Jesus.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. It was refreshing in it’s honesty and enlightening about the realities of poverty and the incredible work of the St. Vincent de Paul society.