Lent – Page 5 – Daily Graces

First Sunday of Lent 2023

Published on February 23, 2023 by Kate1 Comment

I cannot thank you all enough for the warm reception I’ve received since joining the YouTube community. This is a new thing for me and I am definitely not comfortable yet. But, two videos down and I’m happy to say I don’t hate it, so that’s a good start!

Without going into exactly what’s in the video – you’ll have to go watch it yourself for the full reflection AND, it’s under 6 minutes, whoot! – I wanted to share a little bit more about times of preparation.

If you stop and really think about it, we are always preparing for something. It can be big things, like how childhood is preparation for adulthood, or super small, ordinary things, like preparing onions for tonight’s stew, or any number of in-between things. Preparing for a presentation at work, preparing for seasonal changes, preparing lesson plans, preparing for that potentially confrontational phone call. Some part of our mind is in preparation mode. Always.

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

If God is working all things for good, then even our back of the mind preparations can be used for His purposes.

How?

There is always an end goal in mind when it comes to preparations. Even if the event fails to take place, there was still something driving the preparations. You don’t prepare for nothing, there’s always something. You get to a specific point and can look back and discern if your preparations were enough, worth the time, could have gone better, etc.

We are in the season of Lent, a season of preparation. Ah, you see how it connects now. What is the event we are preparing for? Easter, of course. But more than just this Easter my friends. A lifetime of Easters. For the eternal Easter in heaven. Each Lent, we should be farther along in our preparations to our ultimate goal – heaven. How is this Lent bringing you closer to that heavenly reality of endless Easter?

I was sharing about this week’s video with my kids. They are loving this whole new “YouTuber” status they think I have. In the video, I offer the Fruits of the Spirit as a lens through which we can look at our Lenten fast to see what God is cultivating in our lives. As I explained it to them, I was quickly interrupted: “Oh, like temperance? That’s a virtue people can grow in by fasting.” and “What about modesty or forbearance?” and “I bet people grow in patience over Lent.”

Yes! Yes! Yes! I should have talked to them before recording because a thousand times, YES! The virtues they have been striving to live as a school community would have fit perfectly alongside the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Quick shout out to our wonderful school, St. Mary’s in Derby, KS, which takes the time to look closely at a specific virtue each quarter as a whole school. It’s a small thing, but it’s not so small at all when an 8, 10, and 11 year old can hear me speak about God working in people’s lives and be able to specifically identify virtues which can help someone grow closer to God. You are amazing St. Mary’s, we love you!

So, if after watching the video, you find you want to look even more closely at how God is using this season of Lent to prepare you for whatever He wills for your life, consider the following list of virtues to be an excellent addition to the Fruits of the Holy Spirit:

Four Cardinal Virtues (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1804-1809)

Prudence
Justice
Fortitude
Temperance

Seven Cardinal or Heavenly Virtues which Counteract the Seven Deadly Sins

Chastity counteracts Lust
Good Works (also known as Charity) counteracts Greed
Temperance counteracts Gluttony
Diligence counteracts Sloth
Patience counteracts Envy
Kindness counteracts Wrath
Humility counteracts Pride

I hope these lists, along with the reflection video for this Sunday, are helpful for getting a conversation started with God in prayer about where He is taking you and what He wants you to be preparing for.

Seeking to Remain: A YouTube Announcement!

Published on February 19, 2023February 19, 2023 by Kate1 Comment

Well, the Holy Spirit has been at it again. First things, there are no new Lenten journals this year. I don’t know what it is about Lent but I have a hard time figuring out a journal in the style I tend to create which makes sense across the span of the 40 days of Lent and Holy Week. But this isn’t stopping the Holy Spirit from inspiring other ways to share with you all.

Seeking to Remain is my brand new YouTube channel for Lent, 2023. I will be posting weekly Gospel reflections which I hope will encourage you in your Lenten journey. I’ll be sharing insights into the passages themselves, at times offering wider context for what’s going on, and thinking about ways we can carry the messages we find into our coming week.

Whole books, whole collections of books, have been written about the Gospels. We have 2,000+ years of research, reflection and inspiration to draw from. A lifetime is not enough time to fully experience the richness of tradition and wisdom God has gifted to the Church.

That being said, I am not going to be making lengthy , 40+ minute long videos which tease any number of nuances or challenges from the readings. A. I don’t have that kind of time. B. I’m guessing you don’t either. Or if you do, you’re already watching that kind of content.

My goal is 5-7 minute videos. That’s it. Short and to the point with minimal ad interruptions. I want these brief minutes to become sacred space for you to spend time with God during Lent. No matter how busy we are, we can find 5 minutes out of a whole week to dedicate to God. If you find you have more time, read the full Gospel passage before or after watching the video. Spend time talking with God about what you heard and what He is asking if you.

I’m going to try to post on the blog as well when new videos come out. As with all social media, subscribe to the channel if you want up to date notifications in the event I don’t also get the chance to post here. I won’t be hounding you for likes, comments, etc in the videos. The point is sacred space, not likes or subscription milestones.

So, without further ado, here’s video 1 of the Seeking to Remain YouTube channel for Lent! May you have a Lent full of connection with God as He continues to draw you closer in His love.

A Place for Guests – Your Guest Space

Published on April 10, 2022April 10, 2022 by Kate2 Comments

While not every home may have a designated “guest room,” most families have some kind of space or plan for how to host guests. In our home, our guest space is multi-functional. When we do not have one of our parents (our most frequent guests – hooray for grandparents!) staying with us, the guest room serves as a sewing/weaving/film scanning/3-D printer/violin practice/overflow storage room. That’s quite a lot for one room. Whenever I am preparing for someone to come stay, I usually end up in the middle of it and wonder, “Where am I going to put them with all the stuff in here!?”

No matter how multi-functional your guest space is, there are things you do when you know someone is coming. I can recall whenever my own grandmother would come to stay we always had to clean the bathroom. It didn’t matter if it had been cleaned the day prior, my mom always (at least it felt like always, she may say differently) had to have the bathroom clean. I have a little mental checklist I try to get through at least 24 hours before a guest arrives. It goes something like this:

Clean the bathroom (surprised?)
Dust the guest room
Verify the sheets are clean
Clear off the table as much as possible to allow for guest use
Tidy room as much as possible, lament over how crammed it is, wish I had better storage solutions, try to cram the yarn boxes deeper into the closet, remember the closet doors won’t close because of the looms in the way, straighten the bed covers again because I can at least make that presentable, close the door and say it’s good enough.

It’s not perfect, obviously.

There’s another kind of guest I’d like to consider. So far, I’ve been thinking about the planned guest. What about the unplanned or spontaneous guest? What do you do when you child wants to have a playdate or you think it would be nice to have a family over for a weekend bbq? Depending on when you make those plans, you may or may not have time to overhaul your house.

When we lived in California, I dreaded having anyone over. I felt like our home was never clean enough, that I wasn’t prepared enough. I did not have a good system of cleaning and staying on top of things. I was easily overwhelmed with the prospect of hosting someone. I wanted to be the person who had it all together. Standing on the corner talking with a neighbor, playing at the park with a friend, the facade could stand. But to come into our home it would quickly crumble – at least from my perspective. I am a little sad to look back at that time, to see my lack of confidence in who I was and that I was enough, even if my home was quite less than magazine worthy (spoiler alert, it still isn’t magazine worthy). I know there are some friendships that I did not cultivate as I could have because of these doubts.

Back in 2010, the English version of the Roman Missal underwent a translation overhaul. One big change came during the Eucharistic Prayer. After singing the Lamb of God, we kneel. The priest elevates the Body and Blood of Jesus as says, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” In the old translation, we said, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you. Only say the word and I shall be healed.” Today, this response has changed to mirror the words of the Roman centurion from Matthew 8:5-8 who said, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. Only say the word and my servant will be healed.” The faith of the centurion was so great, Jesus healed his servant on the spot, not needing to go be physically with him.

When we echo the words of the centurion, we are placing ourselves before Jesus, asking Him to heal us even in our brokenness. Even though our homes and hearts are not perfect, our checklists not complete to welcome him. We acknowledge our unworthiness. St. Paul says it more eloquently than I ever could: “But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And again, “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-34).

Jesus does not say, “Get it together, then I’ll come over.” Yes, we are sinners. We are broken. But we are not lost. Jesus is the best kind of guest if we just let Him in. He will help us with our daily tasks, He will encourage us when times are tough, and no matter the mess, He will never leave us in our neediness. It doesn’t matter whether we’ve cleaned under the beds or not.

We are entering Holy Week. We’ve gone through most parts of our homes, considering how the function both physically and spiritually. As we transition to these holiest of days, the Church invites us into her home in a unique way. For each of the days of Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday), once a year liturgical experiences are celebrated. We are entering the heart of our faith, the Paschal Mystery which is Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.

Every year we celebrate these sacred mysteries. Jesus didn’t wait for the world to be ready before He came to save us. Every year we are invited to delve deeper into this gift of salvation, to invite Jesus to a more intimate relationship within us. Every day we have the opportunity to welcome Jesus into our home, but these days of Holy Week are exceptional.

This week, instead of focusing on our physical homes, take the time you have been using with these reflections to spend time on your spiritual home. Have you invited Jesus into your heart? Take Him on a tour of the work you’ve done these past weeks. How have you grown? Where do you need His mercy, His strength or His tenderness? Think about the Triduum days from last year. What liturgies did you attend? Stretch yourself and plan to attend one more than last year. Embrace these days and the spiritual drama that is unfolding. These days are one big story and we are invited to enter into it.