The Unprofitable Servant: Offer it up to God

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Offer it up to God

If, like me, you went to Catholic school in the 60's and 70's, you were probably advised at least once to offer some insult or injury up to God. So I'm going to offer nearly my entire day. The alarm went off sooner than I was ready for it, but hey, at least I was still alive to hear it, right? My appointment, part of a pre-employment physical for new my job, took 2 hours longer than it should have and the icing on the cake was that the doctor dilated my pupils. Even with sunglasses, this made driving in snow a joy. And the cherry on that icing? My husband lost track of time and sat waiting in the car with Sirius radio blaring and his headlights on and killed the battery, which meant having to wait for Triple A. At the risk of offending my gentle readers, it's times like this that make me want to refer to my marriage as a martyrdom. The man is on his own planet sometimes, and I'll leave it at that.

I didn't make it to Noon Mass as a result. I hadn't eaten this morning and I guess I could have really enhanced the sacrifice by waiting until I got back. Well, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak, so I didn't get there. I did, however, get to Adoration. I was so grateful to be there that I promised I wasn't going to let the usual things disturb me. Like the woman who could have sat anywhere but chose to sit directly behind me and breathe heavily down my neck as she was praying her Rosary out loud. Or the two women who came in and rattled their paper bags from the gift shop and then engaged in a therapy session with each other. Or the autistic man who started to set the chapel up for Vespers, banging doors, kneelers and anything else he touched, even though Vespers wasn't set to start for another 90 minutes.

At some point, I heard another two women come in and sit down and shortly thereafter, I heard one of them break down in heart-wrenching sobs. I have no idea why but I would imagine she had just suffered some loss in her life. She cried out loud that Christmas had been so difficult and she thought when it was over, she'd be better, but she's not. Her friend soothingly told her it was ok to cry, and then she said the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the both of them. As disruptive as it might have been, it wasn't. It was almost as though the Lord was letting me share what He hears all day long in that chapel. And, as I have mentioned before, it was also an opportunity to add someone to my prayer intentions. I don't need to know everything about everyone to know that everyone needs our prayers.

If I were to be totally honest, I would have to tell you that there was a time in my life when I secretly entertained the idea of joining a contemplative order. Obviously, that is not how my life panned out and I think that I am probably exactly where the Lord wants me to be. I might would have enjoyed life as a Poor Clare a little too much for it to have had much merit. As I was watching a show on a Benedictine Abbey on EWTN last week, I heard one of the monks talk about the gifts each person enters with. If a person enjoys cooking and wants to be the cook, that is the last job they'll be assigned, because the most important thing is that the person desire to be with and serve God, not that they want to be a cook in a monastery.

St. Therese made much spiritual use of everything available to her, emptying herself in the process so that she could be filled with Christ. How much use am I making of that which the Lord sends me? And do I accept it joyfully, or with a groan of "why, Lord?" Today, I confess it was more of the latter but I'll try to do better tomorrow. No time like the present though.

4 comments:

meJanuary 13, 2011 at 5:18 PM
This too, shall pass.
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KellyJanuary 13, 2011 at 6:24 PM
AH! Sorry but first I have to laugh really loud because I feel the same way when someone sits really close to me in an empty church- and then usually does something that makes me want to jump our of my skin. I really did LOL! And I SO identify with the sort of day that is an end to end quest for a single moment of sanity. But yeah, I hear you, and I get the other side of it.
My husband is an usher at the Academy of Music, and was kindly given two nice seats for Les Mis. last night. This was my THIRD time seeing it, and it still grabs me. The power of that one act of charity and forgiveness in the beginning sets off the entire story, and always makes me think how I could be doing that in small ways so many times when I do otherwise.
So you and I both will do better tomorrow. You are in my prayers.
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TLWJanuary 13, 2011 at 6:41 PM
Thank you dear friends.

Yes, Kelly, it was LOL at first. I was like "what the heck, you have the entire chapel and you have to breathe down MY neck?" The whole car episode was LOL but not until well after it happened. My husband cringes when I say this, but I borrowed it from Father Corapi. To paraphrase, we all have our crosses, and sometimes, your cross is lying next to you at night. He means well, and we love him, but his absent-mindedness drives us all crazy.

I have never seen Les Mis. I guess I should.
You are in my prayers, too :-D
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Mary ChristineJanuary 13, 2011 at 7:31 PM
I used to share an adoration time with a woman who sighed loudly for an hour every week. Oh, how I had to pray not to be annoyed with her! Someone breathing down my neck? I think that would push me over the edge! But what a wonderful thing to have so many people at adoration.
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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

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Offer it up to God

4 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross