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Daily Advent Prayer Experiences for 2016 by DailyGraces.net

November 27, 2016 – Preparation

Published on November 26, 2016October 19, 2016 by Kate1 Comment

And so we begin! Happy New Year! Advent is the start of the Church’s year. I think it is fitting that our first liturgical season isn’t the celebration of Christ’s birth, which some might argue is the beginning of the Church. Others can make the case that Pentecost would make a good “New Years.” Pentecost is also called the birthday of the Church.

But it is Advent, a season of preparation, that ushers us into a new cycle of readings and a new year. A season of darkness, awaiting the coming of the light. We ask ourselves, “How prepared are we to receive Jesus’ coming?” Are we like the 5 wise virgins who made sure they had extra oil for their lamps, or are we more akin to the 5 foolish virgins who ran out of oil and had to go get more, missing the bridegroom’s coming entirely?

Each time we pray, we start by preparing ourselves for prayer. When we say the Sign of the Cross we are doing a number of things. First, we are focusing ourselves to pray. We are creating a moment of time, sanctifying the space we occupy for prayer. Second, we are professing belief in God as Trinity. God is one, yet God is three. This is a mystery that is fundamental to our faith. Third, while you are preparing yourself for prayer, you are actually praying already! Fourth, you are literally covering your body in the most important symbol of our faith, the cross, through which we are saved. Fifth, we are reminding ourselves of our baptism and baptismal promises (click here for a refresher).

For today, really focus on the Sign of the Cross. Even if this is the only thing you pray, a single Sign of the Cross is worth a great deal and worth doing every day.

Every time that we make the sign of the cross, we draw closer to the great mystery of the Trinity. – Pope Francis’ Twitter feed, Sept. 12, 2015

Gratitude

Published on November 24, 2016 by Kate4 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you!

It is Thanksgiving morning and my pies are all made and cookies are decorated (I was the dessert lady this year). We just got back from Mass and are watching some of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a tradition from Ben’s family’s Thanksgiving mornings that we are carrying on with our kids. They are loving dancing to all the music and seeing the incredible performers. Rosie is especially excited for Santa’s announcement that comes at the end.

Before heading to church I realized I never even drafted a blog post for today and I wondered if I would have a chance to write something. I also had to pause to try and put into words all of the many things I am thankful for this year.

We have so much to be thankful for. 3 beautiful children, a 4th growing well as we anxiously await their birth. We not only have a home that fits our family during our transition, we are in the process of buying a home in Del Rio, where we will be moving early next year. We are surrounded by family without needing to travel, something that Ben and I have not had in our 6 years of marriage. We are healthy, our children are thriving, Ben has a job that provides for our needs. There is much to be thankful for.

I am especially thankful for our Catholic faith and the continuity it gives us as we move from place to place. The familiarity of the liturgical rhythms offer our kids a sense of security and hominess beyond anything we could provide. Today at Mass I was able to see this in full force with John and it really hit me just how grateful I am for this faith community.

John had a good first half of Mass, but started to get upset when he had to share some of the things he brought into church. His new thing is to be “grouchy” and put on a sour face. This was, of course, during the consecration. As we waited for communion to start, John was at the end of the pew. I told him he had the opportunity to “make a change” (our key phrase for the kids to let them know they need to turn their attitude around or consequences will ensue). Since he was on the end, he could have the job of leading our family to communion, leading our family to Jesus. He stood up a little straighter and said “I can do that Mommy.”

We waited for the pew in front of us to empty and then John led us. He made sure Clare stayed behind him and didn’t run into anyone. He did a good job. When we got back I told him that he did well. He was beaming and said to me,

Mommy, I made a change during communion! I’m not grouchy anymore!

Be still my heart! Isn’t this exactly what the gift of communion, of Jesus’ very Body and Blood, is supposed to do to each of us? What an incredible gift Jesus has given us. Eucharist is food for our journey of life. But it is also a powerful, the most powerful, agent of change in our lives. When we receive Christ, we are more intimately brought into communion, union, with Christ and with each other. We change.

There are a great many things to be thankful for. Eucharist even means thanksgiving! I am so thankful that I didn’t have anything written for today so that I could share this beautiful experience of joy, transformation and gratitude with you.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us!

Book Review: Henri Nouwen: His Life and Spirit

Published on November 11, 2016November 9, 2016 by KateLeave a comment

I don’t typically jump up and get excited about reading biographies. Maybe I’m still scarred from my school days or maybe I just haven’t read any truly excellent biographies. They always seem to me to end up “and then so-and-so did this, then this happened, then so-and-so met what’s-his-name and they went there.” The word dry comes to mind. I don’t know, I just usually can’t quite get into them. Henri Nouwen: His Life and Spirit by Kevin Burns was thankfully not like any biography I’ve ever read.

I didn’t know a whole lot about Henri Nouwen prior to reading this biography which is one reason why I decided to give it a go. I knew he was a big name in Christian spirituality and was around the time of Vatican II. I had read a few excerpts of his works here and there and recall being impressed by his depth and ability to find say something very meaningful in only a few simple words.

Kevin Burns was able to elevate the genre of biography for me. Rather than recapping the story of Nouwen’s life, Burns found a way to almost paint his life with words. The book is very aptly named: Henri Nouwen: His Life and Spirit. I do walk away from this book with facts about who Nouwen was and what his life consisted of. But more importantly I feel as though I have been offered a glimpse of the spirit of Nouwen, which is really the whole point of his life. To put it another way:

As his brother [Laurent] says, “I see the way we look at Henri today, and a lot of people who read his books today that do not know him from a personal side. They create another person, generally a very nice person, a wise person. They do not realize that he paid dearly for what he wrote” (107).

I’m sure it was tempting for Burns to “create” this nice, wise person as the central focus of his biography. However, through diligence, patience and an incredible amount of time, it appears to me that he managed to tell Henri’s story while including the reader in some of Henri’s more difficult moments and struggles. In many ways the hardships which Henri weathered are the source of some of his most genius works and contributions in Christian spirituality.

Of course, it is impossible to tell the story of someone’s life in a book. Kevin Burns freely admits that and explains in his introduction

The book in…your hands offers a composite portrait of Henri Nouwen…This portrait is assembled from observations by a small but close group of people who knew him well, and from my own reading of his books…I try, though, to capture something of the spirit and intensity of his life, recognizing the impossibility of trying to capture in words the entirety of any person’s life journey (xii-xiii).

In my opinion, Burns has done an excellent job in his efforts to share the spirit of Henri with us.