Help raise funds so a woman can enter religious life!

The blogger over at myheartmyall (linked to in the sidebar) wants to enter the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa, but needs to pay off her debt to do that. She is making rosary bracelets and selling them to raise funds. (The bracelet she has in her picture is, by the way, the one that she made for me.)

My rosary bracelet

Her post where she talks about the bracelets is here: http://myheartmyall.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/a-brilliant-idea/

So, if you have anything spare to give, go over and give her some help, whether or not you want a bracelet from her!

And, whether or not you have anything to give, pray for her. She doesn't have any work at the moment, so she could really use all the prayers she can get.

Alleluia!

Yes, I am very well aware that I am late. But it is Easter, and I am getting rather tired of seeing a post that was very appropriate for Good Friday (and a lot of purple for Lent) every time I open the internet. So, I decided I would actually post. And change the format of the blog.

Happy Easter! Christ is risen!

I was confirmed at the Easter Vigil, and have been just growing this last bit. Hence the lack of blogging. Well, that, plus the fact that I don't really blog very often anyway, plus the fact that I am a college student.

So, that said, here's a picture that is more appropriate for the season:

Also:

Behold the Lamb of God

See, my servant shall prosper,

he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.

Even as many were amazed at him—

so marred was his look beyond human semblance

and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man—

so shall he startle many nations,

because of him kings shall stand speechless;

for those who have not been told shall see,

those who have not heard shall ponder it.

Who would believe what we have heard?

To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

He grew up like a sapling before him,

like a shoot from the parched earth;

there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,

nor appearance that would attract us to him.

He was spurned and avoided by people,

a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,

one of those from whom people hide their faces,

spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,

our sufferings that he endured,

while we thought of him as stricken,

as one smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our offenses,

crushed for our sins;

upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,

by his stripes we were healed.

We had all gone astray like sheep,

each following his own way;

but the LORD laid upon him

the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted

and opened not his mouth;

like a lamb led to the slaughter

or a sheep before the shearers,

he was silent and opened not his mouth.

Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,

and who would have thought any more of his destiny?

When he was cut off from the land of the living,

and smitten for the sin of his people,

a grave was assigned him among the wicked

and a burial place with evildoers,

though he had done no wrong

nor spoken any falsehood.

But the LORD was pleased

to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin,

he shall see his descendants in a long life,

and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction

he shall see the light in fullness of days;

through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,

and their guilt he shall bear.

Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,

and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,

because he surrendered himself to death

and was counted among the wicked;

and he shall take away the sins of many,

and win pardon for their offenses.

(Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

Habemus Papam!

By now you must know that we have a new pope, Pope Francis I. Previously Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires (where my mom lived for about 20 years when she was young), he studied chemistry (like I used to be doing, for a little bit more than a year) and graduated as a chemical engineer before discerning that his vocation was to the priesthood.

I got this picture from taking a screen clipping of the youtube video without translation by Rome Reports here.

A really good article, which is also short, can be found here: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/fr-lombardi-pope-francis-gives-testimony-of-simplicity My brother sent it to me, saying that I should read it, and it was quite beautiful.

Ad multos annos, Sancte Pater! (I'm only pretending to know Latin, so corrections would be heeded gratefully. Actually, that's probably the case even if I think I really do know something.)

God bless Pope Francis!

Confession

I long to go. It is through the sacrament of Reconciliation that we are reconciled to God and to His Church. It is though this great sacrament that we are given the grace to grow in Him. I have been told that I must wait a couple of weeks, and I will do so in humble obedience. But I long to go as soon as I may, and I commend this great sacrament to anyone who has recourse to it and is in need of God's mercy. I could go on, but will leave this post here as a short, simple, exhortation to this great sacrament.

The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father:³⁷ The fascination of illusory freedom, the abandonment of the father's house; the extreme misery in which the son finds himself after squandering his fortune; his deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed swine, and still worse, at wanting to feed on the husks the pigs ate; his reflection on all he has lost; his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father; the journey back; the father's generous welcome; the father's joy - all these are characteristic of the process of conversion. the beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet are symbols of that new life - pure worthy, and joyful - of anyone who returns to God and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only the heart of Christ Who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1439)

Station 1: Jesus is Condemned to Die (Take 2)

I promise, I will write about the station I promised above soon. First, however, I want to say something else.

Just to point it out, you might notice that the blog title has changed. The URL will remain the same always, but I wanted something less vague for a title. The title is liable to change again, too, but that could be a while. I want to wait to make it what I really wanted until that title fits both me and the blog. (And then I might not even be blogging anymore, so this may well be the title that remains for as long as the blog continues to exist.)

Also, you might notice that I said "(Take 2)" in the title of this post. That is because I want to start this series of the Stations again, in a different way. I want to try, as Nancy over at The Cloistered Heart has been talking a little bit about doing, writing letters to Jesus. This sounds like a better way to do the Stations, since what I wrote last just didn't feel right. I don't know if I'll finish the Stations on the blog this Lent, since there are only 5 more weeks, but the series will hopefully be completed at some point in time. And then, who knows, I might begin them again just because I love them so much.

And now, for the first Station.

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My Jesus, how is it that you were condemned to die for me? My punishment, my pain, my suffering. All of this was given to you. And yet, you humbly accepted this fate. We merited condemnation and death, but through your bearing of this trial we were given life. You chose to become weak for our sake.

What else can I say? Your weakness, your pain, has brought me life. I do not understand this mystery, far beyond my comprehension, but I do know that you suffered so that I might be freed. You died so that I might live.

O my Jesus, I would stand by you. When you are condemned in my place, I would give you all I have of love. When your humble love for us bids you accept your fate, I would also accept what trials come to me because of my love for you.

O Jesu, trahe me post te.

Station 1: Jesus is Condemned to Die

Our Lord could have stopped at any time if He had wished not to suffer. His Father could have done any number of things to prevent Him from being crucified. But He chose to continue, bearing all of the pain, because of His love for us.

Love. Love for us, His unworthy and fickle followers, drew Him on. Love for us drew Him to accept Pilate's decree. Love for us drew Him on to suffer and to die.

Love. He gave Himself to draw us up, to make us worthy of all He had to give. He loved us so much that He desired to make us perfect, so we could live in Him.

If He gave all of this for us, should we then not follow Him? Should we not accept what comes each day, knowing that it will help us to grow closer to Him whom we love?

Love drew Our Lord on to death for us, let us follow Him in love and live each day for Him. Let us run into His light, following Him in trusting love.