The Unprofitable Servant: Living the Life

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Living the Life

The Crescat has a good posts today on our vocations in life and how we sometimes catch ourselves saying we "missed our calling".

As you know, I started my new job last Monday. The only weekday on which I was able to get to Mass was Wednesday evening. This week, I decided to try going to the weekday parish that I've called home for the past three years to see how long it would take me to get to work, and since it's only taken me about 20 minutes, I've decided to forgo the suburban church a few miles from the hospital to stick with what I'm familiar with.

I have a few reasons for this. One, I'm assured there will be no liturgical abuses here. Second, the regulars at the 6:30 am Mass have forged a bond of sorts. We notice when someone is missing, or when someone is ailing or not quite themselves and we pray for one another. Third, there is a wonderful priest who I actually PRAYED would be assigned to this church. He was, a bit later than the cardinal usually makes assignments, and it's a joy to assist at any Mass he celebrates and listen to him speak. But if truth be told, I have a selfish reason for loving this Mass as much as I do.

And what would that be?

The sisters.

The Mighty Macs (IHM nuns) who taught me in grade school, along with watching "The Trouble With Angels" and "The Nun's Story" one too many times, left an indelible impression on me. Since that's not the route I took in life, I confess that I feel I get to live a small part of what I'm missing by going to the same Mass that the sisters do each morning. It's silly, I know, but it's one of those little things in life that bring such joy. The funny part is that these sisters and I seem to travel in the same "Mass" circles. We go to the same weekday Mass, and many times, I will see them at the same church where I go for confession and the same chapel where I go for Saturday Noon Mass and Adoration. Once, we even all showed up at the same Lenten day of recollection at the seminary.

Aside from the fact that I enjoy this Mass, I need it. I felt so disjointed after being out of my normal routine last week. I like the discipline that comes with rising so early and having a strict prayer regimen. I need the strength that I draw daily from the Eucharist. Sometimes, going to that Mass is the most pious thing I get to do all day because of work and family responsibilities. And if Mass is the most pious devotion one can manage, that's not a bad thing. I notice when I get up early for this Mass even on days that I don't have to work, I'm much more productive and waste far less time than I do if I get up at my leisure and go to a later one. My prayer life is more focused. I have more patience and more strength to endure the every day trials that can drive you crazy, like husbands. I understand why the strict structure of the monastic life is so important.

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No photos to post of this, but I made a great discovery. If you add cup of club soda to a cup of buttermilk pancake mix, you get the best coating for fried fish. I accidentally took cod fillets out of the freezer instead of chicken tenders, so imagine my surprise when I opened the wrapping. Luckily, I had some seltzer and some delicious New Hope Mills mix on hand. The family loved it. I'll have to keep this in mind when Lent rolls around.

1 comment:

KellyJanuary 26, 2011 at 7:08 AM
So glad you found you can make it to the 6:30! :) NOW if I could just be consistent with the 8:30 :( I am so sorry to say that one of the things that deter me from that mass is that the same priest always does that one and I have a really hard time with him. :( for several reasons. :( :(
I REALLY should try getting to the 6:30. And ditto an the effect on the whole day thing. Let me see if I can perhaps gear myself up and do this for lent, and make a new start!

oooh and the fish recipe sounds fantastic....must try....
God Bless--careful in this messy weather...
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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God Bless You!

The Unprofitable Servant

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Living the Life

1 comment:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross