Tag: featured

Good Friday 2023

Published on by Kate2 Comments

Good Friday is always such a hard day to reflect upon. It’s one of the main reasons why I’ve struggled to write Lenten reflection books, so this is going to be short.

Toward the close of today’s video, I touched on Jesus’ greatest moment of suffering. Just before Jesus dies, He cries out, “My God, my God! Why have you abandoned me?” In this moment of furthest separation from God, Jesus offers up for us the greatest example of His love. He was willing to go so far, as far as to be emptied of everything. Yet at the same time, He was placing on display for the whole world exactly who God is – Love. Perfect, complete, unyielding, undying – God is Love.

Through Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, we have a name for this distinct moment. Jesus Forsaken. I am currently working through a book that contains all of Chiara’s writings about Jesus Forsaken, not light reading to be sure. But at the same time, it is so full of hope and love and light. Jesus’ darkest moment is also where we find His greatest love. Here’s just one quote, a poem of sorts, from too many to count that I’ve highlighted so far, and I’m not halfway through yet.

So that we might have Light, you made yourself blind.

So that we might have union, you tasted separation from the Father.

So that we might possess Wisdom, you made yourself “ignorance.”

So that we might be clothed with innocence, you became “sin.”

So that we might have hope, you almost despaired…

So that God might be in us, you felt him far from you.

So that Heaven might be ours, you experienced Hell.

So that we might have a glad sojourn on earth, among hundreds of brothers and sisters, you were banished from Heaven and from earth, from humankind and from nature.

You are God, you are my God, our God of infinite love.

Chiara Lubich, Jesus Forsaken, pg 33.

A few years ago, Bishop Kurtz of the Louisville Archdiocese, wrote a beautiful article about looking for and discovering Jesus Forsaken in our daily lives. I would invite you to follow the link to read his article. He does a much more eloquent job than I can about how we all have the opportunity to embrace Jesus Forsaken each day.

There will not be a video or blog post for Holy Saturday. Together, we will wait in anticipation for the wondrous miracle of Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Daily Graces. kktaliaferro.wordpress.com

Palm Sunday 2023

Published on by Kate3 Comments

This week’s video focuses on remaining in the present moment. This means avoiding dwelling on the past which we cannot change and anxiously awaiting the future which distracts us from the moment we are in.

Chiara Lubich, who I reference in the video, explained living in the present moment as being on a train. Once the train starts, you can’t make it travel backward, even by walking to the back and gazing longingly at the fading station. You can only go forward. Similarly, you can’t make the train get to your destination faster, even by walking the length of the train to the front and pressing your nose to the glass. You can only be exactly where you are in that moment. The train is outside of your control.

Life is similar. We only occupy this space in this moment. Unless you have the spiritual gift of bilocation, I suppose. I do not possess this gift.

Expanding on this idea, if we only have this moment, then we should fill it with as much as possible. Right?

Multitasking is a feat many moms pride themselves on. Let’s see just how much I can juggle today without all the plates crashing to the floor is a game I often play. There’s a lot to get done in one day and often, it feels like not enough time to do it all in. So, we multitask. Sometimes this works out really well, the laundry got folded and at the same time I was able to have a heart to heart phone conversation with a friend. Other times, dinner ends up burned because I was also trying to help a child with their piano practice, finish folding the laundry that got started in the morning, hear about a science project and meet the demands of a noisy 1 year old who is as fickle as they come.

I recently read a quote by Peter Kreeft in his book, Christianity for Modern Pagans, that is thought provoking in regards to multitasking:

“We want to complexity our lives. We don’t have to, we want to. We want to be harried and hassled and busy. Unconsciously, we want the very things we complain about. For if we had leisure, we would look at our selves and listen to our hearts and see the great gaping hole in our hearts and be terrified, because that hole is so big nothing but God can fill it.”

Oh boy. How often do I complain, to myself or others, that I’m just too busy? Often. How often do I sit down to critically think about our schedule, the activities we are engaged in, and how much time we have to accomplish everything on the list? Less than often.

Something the Holy Spirit has been working in me is an awareness of “wasted time.” In a multitasker’s world, nothing is worse than wasted time. 30 seconds of non-productivity here, shocking! 5 minutes of wasted time in the grocery line, the horror! Imagine how much I could have gotten done if I only had green lights on the way to x, y, or z! I think you know what I’m talking about. Some days, I have this attitude so intensely swaying my thoughts I get mad at myself for not knitting enough rows while watching TV, what a slacker! All of these are completely ridiculous and in truth, I have thought them all.

Yet, none of these examples are bringing me closer to Jesus. They make me anxious, annoyed, unpleasant to be around, and generally crabby. They are not life-giving. The truly wasted time is the time I spend wallowing in my perceived lack of productivity instead of relishing the gifts God has given me.

God does not desire for us to fill every moment of every day with work, production, or action. That is not the example He gave us. Work hard, yes. But rest well in complement. That means, waste time! Another way I’ve heard this described is to create white space. White space, like the white space on a paper, isn’t filled with plans, activities, to-do lists, etc. It’s blank, open for possibility. It’s time for play, for prayer, for walks, for reading, for laying in a hammock and listening to birds, it’s meditation, it’s phone calls that don’t include laundry folding or dinner making, it’s fill in the blank because that space is open for anything!

Be on the look out for how you can find some white space. It doesn’t need to be whole afternoons of skipping through daisies. Perhaps it is as small as including 5 extra minutes at the breakfast table to savor your coffee instead of downing it in 2 gulps. Make that cup of tea you are craving in the evening but still have your to-do list running in your head. Say yes to a walk, even if it’s just once around the block. Pause and pray when you are prompted, instead of thinking you’ll remember later. These aren’t wasted minutes, these are what make a life well-lived.

Daily Graces. kktaliaferro.wordpress.com

Fifth Sunday of Lent 2023

Published on by Kate1 Comment

Today’s post is going to be a little different in that it’s also a book review. Over spring break I was able to read a most excellent book I wanted to share with you. By the Rivers of Babylon by Michael D. O’Brien is a historical fiction novel about the early life of the prophet Ezekiel. I fell in love immediately and one of the overall themes of the book fits in perfectly with this Sunday’s Gospel reading – God’s timing.

In case you haven’t noticed, either from Scripture or your own life experience, God doesn’t follow a schedule we can easily decipher. In the story of Jesus’ raising Lazarus, Jesus finds out about Lazarus’ illness 2 full days before He begins to journey to Bethany. Jesus is about 30ish miles from Bethany at this time (the previous chapter of John tells us Jesus traveled to Samaria after some confrontations at the Temple in Jerusalem). At a walking pace, it would have taken them at least 2 days to get to Bethany, maybe longer. And Jesus waited to get started.

I’m sure everyone was wondering why Jesus chose to wait. If they had listened closely, they would have already known the answer to their question:

When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

John 11:4

Something larger was at work in Lazarus’ illness. Jesus could have rushed to Lazarus’ side and cured him of whatever was ailing him. But, the bigger, more miraculous, impossible story happens because Jesus choses to wait for God’s timing. To reflect more fully on God’s timing, check out this week’s video.

The Israelite people experienced this time and again. In By The Rivers of Babylon, you walk with Ezekiel through the crumbling of faithfulness in Jerusalem and into exile in Babylon. While this at first sounds like a depressing read, Ezekiel’s perspective lifts your eyes to heaven and God’s larger plan that is at work. Below is my full review:

Because of the distance of time between today and Biblical days, it can be difficult to fully appreciate the world during which the Bible was written. We rely on ancient texts, cultural traditions, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what life could have been like during the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, the glory of David’s kingship, or times of exile. We are also blessed by the imaginations of authors such as Michael D. O’Brien who, through his new book, By The Rivers of Babylon, can open up for us a whole new perspective on a particular moment in Biblical history. 

O’Brien has crafted a beautiful book about the early life of the prophet Ezekiel, or Yezekiel in the Hebrew O’Brien utilizes. I was entranced by this book and the gentle way O’Brien unfolds the young Ezekiel’s life. The inside of the dust jacket includes the question, “What makes a prophet?” I found this to be a poignant question. While the book thoughtfully unfolds moments of Ezekiel’s life which are clearly preparatory for his eventual calling to be a prophet to the exiles, O’Brien also invites the reader to consider what God could be preparing them for someday. Do we each have a unique purpose to which God is calling us? How is God using today to prepare us for the tomorrow we do not yet see?

I’ll share one quote as an example:

“I am carefully fitting corner bricks to overlap with bricks of the adjoining wall. Ah, if only I could mold a whole wall in an instant, go my thoughts. I could carry it here on my shoulders. I could put four walls together and make a house in the blink of an eye.

Then I smile at the notion. Life is like this, I remind myself. You cannot move a whole wall on your shoulders. You move the wall brick by brick. This is how God as built Israel, little by little, step by step.

pg 178

What a beautiful, timeless insight into the human heart. We want things to happen immediately. We want quick answers, minimal waits, instant gratification. The story of Ezekiel through O’Brien’s imagination is one of slowness, anticipation, and difficult waiting. Instead of lashing out against their conquerors, Ezekiel offers a prayerful approach. He trusts in God’s plan for His people and continually unites himself to that plan through simple acts of love and generosity. He also would have been a man immersed in the psalms, which O’Brien does a masterful job of weaving into all sections of the book. Through these psalm-prayers of Ezekiel, we are able to witness a powerful form of praying in, with, and through the words of Scripture.

You know you’ve found a good book of Biblical historical fiction when the first thing you want to read after finishing is the book(s) of the Bible referenced. This is exactly how I felt and what I did upon closing By The Rivers of Babylon.

I cannot encourage everyone enough to find the time to read this book, and then to go on to read through the book of Ezekiel. I am already planning a second read through, likely of both.

Daily Graces. kktaliaferro.wordpress.com