Growth and Change

If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living. ~Anatole France

Ave Maria!  The above quote appeared in my email box this morning from Catholic Digest.  It instantly brought to mind two other quotes, both from Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman.

Growth is the only evidence of life.

In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.

When I was younger, I didn't care much for change.  I preferred the comfort of my routine and would even become annoyed when it was upset.  As I've gotten older, I've grown to appreciate the necessity of change, which has made me more flexible and even eager to embrace it.  I thank God for this!  A routine can so easily become a rut, and a rut is no good place for me to be.  One dictionary defines a rut as "a narrow or predictable way of life, set of attitudes, etc.; dreary or undeviating routine" and says that the word probably comes from the French "route" for road.  Huh!  What kind of a road is that?  It sounds like a rather restricted one leading inward, but I want to be on the wide road leading out of myself.  Oh yes, I do cherish my inner room where I happily commune with my Father in secret, but He always sends me out into the world that He has created with such wisdom and love.  "This is my Father's world," as the hymn goes -- and it's where I want to be, with all the ongoing growth and change of its vibrant, overflowing life.  And I want to be fully alive, wholly and holily, throbbing with the abundant life of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Oh yes, my King and my God, according to Your will, let there be change and growth, within and without, and through it all, may You be forever glorified, loved and adored!  Amen!

Watching and Waiting

Ave Maria! Our response to the responsorial psalm at Mass this morning -- "Blessed are those who wait for the Lord!" -- made me think once again of Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman. Among his sermons is one entitled "Watching", which is undeniably part of waiting. The following passage from this sermon is often quoted during Advent:

"He watches for Christ who has a sensitive, eager, apprehensive mind; who is awake, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in seeking and honouring Him; who looks out for Him in all that happens, and who would not be surprised, who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed, if he found that He was coming at once."

But it is another passage that I'm recalling on this Saturday devoted to Our Lady because it speaks of the obedience that must be part of our watching and waiting, and it was through Mary's obedience that the watching and waiting of mankind became fulfilled. Bl. Newman says that we "have to seek His face; obedience is the only way of seeking Him." By her obedience, the handmaid of Nazareth not only sought God but also found Him. Bl. Newman adds that "to obey Him is to approach Him." The Virgin of Advent not only approached God but also enables us to come to Him through her and with her.

Year passes after year silently; Christ's coming is ever nearer than it was. O that, as He comes nearer earth, we may approach nearer heaven! O, my brethren, pray Him to give you the heart to seek Him in sincerity. Pray Him to make you in earnest. You have one work only, to bear your cross after Him. Resolve in His strength to do so. Resolve to be no longer beguiled by "shadows of religion," by words, or by disputings, or by notions, or by high professions, or by excuses, or by the world's promises or threats. Pray Him to give you what Scripture calls "an honest and good heart," or "a perfect heart," and, without waiting, begin at once to obey Him with the best heart you have. Any obedience is better than none,— any profession which is disjoined from obedience, is a mere pretence and deceit. Any religion which does not bring you nearer to God is of the world. You have to seek His face; obedience is the only way of seeking Him. All your duties are obediences. If you are to believe the truths He has revealed, to regulate yourselves by His precepts, to be frequent in His ordinances, to adhere to His Church and people, why is it, except because He has bid you? and to do what He bids is to obey Him, and to obey Him is to approach Him. Every act of obedience is an approach,— an approach to Him who is not far off, though He seems so, but close behind this visible screen of things which hides Him from us. He is behind this material framework; earth and sky are but a veil going between Him and us; the day will come when He will rend that veil, and show Himself to us. And then, according as we have waited for Him, will He recompense us. If we have forgotten Him, He will not know us; but "blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching … He shall gird Himself, and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants" [Luke 22:37, 38.] May this be the portion of every one of us! It is hard to attain it; but it is woeful to fail. Life is short; death is certain; and the world to come is everlasting.

Mary, Virgin of Advent, teach me true obedience as I watch and wait with you. Amen.

Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle

Ave Maria! Among the voluminous works of Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman is a sermon about St. Andrew (Plain and Parochial Sermons, Sermon 1, "The World's Benefactors". Little is known about this apostle, Cardinal Newman readily admits, he adds that this little bit affords us enough for a lesson, and that an important one. These are the facts before us. St. Andrew was the first convert among the Apostles; he was especially in our Lord's confidence; thrice is he described as introducing others to Him; lastly, he is little known in history, while the place of dignity and the name of highest renown have been allotted to his brother Simon, whom he was the means of bringing to the knowledge of his Saviour."

We might wonder what lesson there could possibly be for us with so few facts about this apostle of Christ. Cardinal Newman explains it all quite clearly. "Our lesson, then, is this; that those men are not necessarily the most useful men in their generation, not the most favoured by God, who make the most noise in the world, and who seem to be principals in the great changes and events recorded in history; on the contrary, that even when we are able to point to a certain number of men as the real instruments of any great blessings vouchsafed to mankind, our relative estimate of them, one with another, is often very erroneous: so that, on the whole, if we would trace truly the hand of God in human affairs, and pursue His bounty as displayed in the world to its original sources, we must unlearn our admiration of the powerful and distinguished, our reliance on the opinion of society, our respect for the decisions of the learned or the multitude, and turn our eyes to private life, watching in all we read or witness for the true signs of God's presence, the graces of personal holiness manifested in His elect; which, weak as they may seem to mankind, are mighty through God, and have an influence upon the course of His Providence, and bring about great events in the world at large, when the wisdom and strength of the natural man are of no avail."

We must not let ourselves be fooled or sidetracked by those "who make the most noise in the world" -- and their name is Legion for they are many. We see their flashy pictures on the covers of glossy magazines, we hear their booming voices above the murmurs of us common folks, we're momentarily seduced by their charisma that outshines our ordinariness. They do good and, as Cardinal Newman points out, a certain number of them are true instruments of great blessings. But all that glitters is not gold. And, as J. R. R. Tolkien wrote in The Lord of the Rings:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

The true gold of an individual is not always immediately apparent, and it most likely will never be lauded by the world. Helen Keller once stated that "The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker." God doesn't call all of us to be heroes, but He does need countless ordinary people to be honest workers in His vineyard. Our gold is shiniest when we respond to our Lord and Master as St. Andrew did, quick to respond when He calls us, glad to serve Him in whatever way He chooses, no matter how obscure or lowly. Then one day it can be said of us as it's been said of St. Andrew and all the men and women throughout the ages who have left everything to follow Christ: "Their voice has gone forth to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Romans 18:10).

Dear Mary, Virgin of Advent, I rejoice with you that God chooses the lowly for the praise of His glory! Amen.

The Duty of Self-Denial

If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ~Luke 9:23

He bids you take up your cross; therefore accept the daily opportunities which occur of yielding to others, when you need not yield, and of doing unpleasant services, which you might avoid. He bids those who would be highest, live as the lowest: therefore, turn from ambitious thoughts, and (as far as you religiously may) make resolves against taking on you authority and rule. He bids you sell and give alms; therefore, hate to spend money on yourself. Shut your ears to praise, when it grows loud: set your face like a flint, when the world ridicules, and smile at its threats. Learn to master your heart, when it would burst forth into vehemence, or prolong a barren sorrow, or dissolve into unseasonable tenderness. Curb your tongue, and turn away your eye, lest you fall into temptation. Avoid the dangerous air which relaxes you, and brace yourself upon the heights. Be up at prayer "a great while before day," and seek the true, your only Bridegroom, "by night on your bed." So shall self-denial become natural to you, and a change come over you, gently and imperceptibly; and, like Jacob, you will lie down in the waste, and will soon see Angels, and a way opened for you into heaven.

~Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman
Parochial and Plain Sermons: Sermon 7, The Duty of Self-Denial

Dearest Jesus, my true and only Bridegroom, strengthen me anew to take up my cross this day and to follow You into life everlasting. Let me learn from You the joy of emptying myself through self-denial as You emptied Yourself for the glory of the Father. Amen.

I ask simply to be used.

God was all-complete, all-blessed in Himself; but it was His will to create a world for His glory. He is Almighty, and might have done all things Himself, but it has been His will to bring about His purposes by the beings He has created. We are all created to His glory—we are created to do His will. I am created to do something or to be something for which no one else is created; I have a place in God's counsels, in God's world, which no one else has; whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man, God knows me and calls me by my name.

God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his—if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me—still He knows what He is about.

O Adonai, O Ruler of Israel, Thou that guidest Joseph like a flock, O Emmanuel, O Sapientia, I give myself to Thee. I trust Thee wholly. Thou art wiser than I—more loving to me than I myself. Deign to fulfill Thy high purposes in me whatever they be—work in and through me. I am born to serve Thee, to be Thine, to be Thy instrument. Let me be Thy blind instrument. I ask not to see—I ask not to know—I ask simply to be used.

~from Meditations and Devotions by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman

Thank you, dear Lord, for today's beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman!

Today's Feast: St. Bartholomew

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ~John 12:24

Today's selection from Speaking to the Soul at the Episcopal Cafe is from the writings of Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman, who reminds us that the "even, unvaried life," when lived properly for God, is not only acceptable to Him but also provides us with the means of growing ever more fully in His life and love. That was the lot of St. Bartholomew and the other apostles as well, Cardinal Newman says, and it was within his God-given life that "St. Bart" was "trained at length to give up his life for Christ, when He demanded it." What a relief and happiness to know that my humdrum life isn't so humdrum after all! God is here, leading me from glory to glory and drawing me ever closer to Him and my heavenly home. All I need do is die to self and live for Him. Thanks be to God!

An even, unvaried life is the lot of most men, in spite of occasional troubles or other accidents; and we are apt to despise it, and to get tired of it, and to long to see the world, -- or, at all events, we think such a life affords no great opportunity for religious obedience. To rise up, and go through the same duties, and then to rest again, day after day, -- to pass week after week, beginning with God’s service on Sunday, and then to our worldly tasks, -- so to continue till year follows year, and we gradually get old, -- an unvaried life like this is apt to seem unprofitable to us when we dwell upon the thought of it. Many indeed there are, who do not think at all; -- but live in their round of employments, without care about God and religion, driven on by the natural course of things in a dull irrational way like the beasts that perish.

But when a man begins to feel he has a soul, and a work to do, and a reward to be gained, greater or less, according as he improves the talents committed to him, then he is naturally tempted to be anxious from his very wish to be saved, and he says, “What must I do to please God?” And sometimes he is led to think he ought to be useful on a large scale, and goes out of his line of life, that he may be doing something worth doing, as he considers it. Here we have the history of St. Bartholomew and the other Apostles to recall us to ourselves, and to assure us that we need not give up our usual manner of life, in order to serve God; that the most humble and quietest station is acceptable to Him, if improved duly, -- nay, affords means for maturing the highest Christian character, even that of an Apostle. Bartholomew read the Scriptures and prayed to God; and thus was trained at length to give up his life for Christ, when He demanded it.

From Sermon XXVII on the Feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle by John Henry Newman, in Parochial and Plain Sermons, volume 2 (London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1891).

May the Lord support us...

Blue on Blue by Ann L. Krumrein

May the Lord support us all the day long,

till the shades lengthen and the evening comes,

and the busy world is hushed,

and the fever of life is over,

and our work is done.

Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging,

and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.

Yesterday I posted one of Daddy's favorite hymns. Today I post one of his favorite prayers, which I also pray often. It was written by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman and always restores peace to my soul.

Today's Feast: The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Litany of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
by Venerable Cardinal John Henry Newman

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, redeemer of the world...
God the Holy Spirit...
Holy Trinity, one God...

Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Heart of Mary, after God’s own Heart...
Heart of Mary, in union with the Heart of Jesus...
Heart of Mary, the vessel of the Holy Spirit...
Heart of Mary, shrine of the Trinity...
Heart of Mary, home of the Word...
Heart of Mary, immaculate in your creation...
Heart of Mary, flooded with grace...
Heart of Mary, blessed of all hearts...
Heart of Mary, Throne of glory...
Heart of Mary, Abyss of humbleness...
Heart of Mary, Victim of love...
Heart of Mary, nailed to the cross...
Heart of Mary, comfort of the sad...
Heart of Mary, refuge of the sinner...
Heart of Mary, hope of the dying...
Heart of Mary, seat of mercy...

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

L: Immaculate Mary, meek and humble of heart.
A: Conform our hearts to the heart of Jesus.

Let us pray: O most merciful God, who for the salvation of sinners and the refuge of the wretched, has made the Immaculate Heart of Mary most like in tenderness and pity to the Heart of Jesus, grant that we, who now commemorate her most sweet and loving heart, may by her merits and intercession, ever live in the fellowship of the hearts of both Mother and Son, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

According to Catholic Culture, "The saintly John Henry Newman, in filial devotion to the Mother of God and of man, composed this litany in honor of the Immaculate Heart soon after his reception into the Catholic Church (1845). A garbled version, without giving the convert the credit of its creation, was included in the Golden Manual of 1851, under title of 'The Sacred Heart of Mary'; a 'Litany of the Heart of Mary,' either adapted from this or written by a coincidence in very similar language, was published in Help of Christians (1863, 1875). " This particular litany, like so many of the 200+ litanies of the Catholic Church (for further information and inspiration, see "A Treasure of 206 Litanies") , is for private devotion only. Aquinas and More in its article on litanies, "an old and deeply spiritual form of prayer," lists the six litanies that the Church has officially proved for public recitation.

During the nine months of preparation immediately preceding my consecration as a virgin living in the world, I made a point of praying each day Cardinal Newman's Litany to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The consecrated virgin has a special love for and devotion to Our Lady, whose immaculate heart God made the home of the eternal Word and the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit (see Opening Prayer, Mass of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary). As Pope Benedict XVI explains, "The heart that resembles that of Christ more than any other is without a doubt the Heart of Mary, his Immaculate Mother" (6/5/05).

Those nine months of intense preparation were like a pregnancy to me. I spent them in Mary's womb and heart as the life of her Beloved Son, my Beloved Bridegroom, took new form within me. The rite of consecration that Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza bestowed upon me on that grand and glorious day six years ago was both wedding and birth, and Our Lady was my mother of the bride and my midwife.

To live in and from the Immaculate Heart of Mary is to live in and from the Sacred Heart of her Beloved Son Jesus. According to the French missionary St. John Eudes, the Hearts of Jesus and Mary were and are so identical in their spirit, affection and will that they were and are but one single heart: "You must never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary."

Immaculate Heart of Mary, may we always love and praise you!

Watching for Christ

They watch for Christ who are sensitive, eager, apprehensive in mind, who are awake, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in honoring him, who look for him in all that happens, and who would not be surprised, who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed, if they found that he was coming at once… This then is to watch: to be detached from what is present, and to live in what is unseen; to live in the thought of Christ as he came once, and as he will come again; to desire his second coming, from our affectionate and grateful remembrance of his first. ~from the Parochial and Plain Sermons of John Henry Cardinal Newman

Dear Mary, Virgin of Advent, we watch with you for the Divine Child, the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Amen.

Prayer for a First Friday

O most sacred, most loving heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still. Now as then Thou sayest, "With desire I have desired." I worship Thee, then, with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. O make my heart beat with Thy heart. Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with Thee, that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may have power to ruffle it; but that in Thy love and Thy fear it may have peace.

~John Henry Cardinal Newman

A Prayer for First Friday

O most sacred, most loving heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still. Now as then Thou sayest, "With desire I have desired." I worship Thee, then, with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. O make my heart beat with Thy heart. Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with Thee, that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may have power to ruffle it; but that in Thy love and Thy fear it may have peace.

John Henry Cardinal Newman