Road Map to Heaven

During formation, someone asked what makes Catholicism special if anyone can go to Heaven, regardless of their religious beliefs. Father seemed to struggle with a solid answer to that question. It is a hard concept to grasp without landing in a relativistic mindset.

We are all born with the knowledge that there is a God and we are meant to be with him in Heaven. God set up a distinct path that leads anyone who follows it to Him. But, we are flawed people. Some refuse to acknowledge that God exists, let alone a way to reach Him. Others try to create their own path believing that as long as it feels right to them, they must be on the right path. Then there are still others that want to be on the path, but loose their way. A very few are able to not only find the path, but stay on it. Those are the people who make it to Heaven.


Every religion believes they have the map that shows the path, but only our map was given to us directly by God. It the most complete and accurate map available. Those who choose to follow God's map have a full proof way into Heaven. Yes, they will stumble and fall off the path at points along the way, but ultimately they will get to where they are trying to go. The rest of us, those who aren't saints, will have a much harder time keeping to the path. We have the ultimate map, but we forget to look at it or think we have it memorized or we're pretty sure there's a short cut just over the next hill. Some of us will make it to Heaven despite our failings and others won't.


All other maps are incomplete or inaccurate. It may lead people on the correct path for a while, but goes in the wrong direction at other times and never quite leads to Heaven. They may see the road signs that tell them they are going the wrong way, but give them no thought or refuse to believe what they know in their heart. A very few will follow that call from God that is ingrained in every heart and they will be led on the right path.  


As Catholics, we need only to pull out the map and follow it.

He's Here!

After two orders and one stolen print, my favorite Divine Mercy picture came. Whoo hoo! It's not the image that's currently so popular. I've never really liked that picture. It has too much of a "70ish" hippy type feel for me and doesn't inspire me to pray.

I first encountered the Vilnius image in the chapel at Broomtree Retreat Center. Immediately this image drew me in. It was as if I was kneeling directly before Jesus.

St. Theresa of Avila advised talking to Jesus as if he were right there with you. Some people are fortunate enough to do this without having external helps. I'm not one of those people. My mind wanders and I start making mental task lists or trying to remember if I fed my dogs or other pointless stuff during prayer without a picture or statue or other aid. Now that I have my own copy, I don't have wait until my next Broomtree visit to have those great conversations.


Broomtree Chapel

On My Knees

I have always wanted a kneeler for my home. Sitting in a chair or kneeling by my bed, just doesn't do anything for me. My dogs think that I want to play and getting up from the floor just isn't that easy anymore. So I scoured the internet for instructions on making one. Well since I have very very limited tools in which to make one, most plans that I found were way beyond my capabilities and buying one isn't an option. I did find a crude YouTube video with plans for a very simple, very basic prie-dieu (aka kneeler). My trusty teenage son declared that he could build it for me. I discovered that Lowes is a very bad place to find cheap (or straight) wood. Eventually I found what I was looking for at Menards. My son's motto for building anything is "Close enough, is good enough," so anything expensive was out. I convinced him that we would do a test model before we went with the expensive wood. Considering we only have a drill and box saw, cutting the boards to length was rather difficult. The edges weren't exactly straight and the measurements were questionable, but it went together nicely. It's not exactly straight, and there are gaps in places, but it's sturdy and works beautifully for praying. I had a stray throw pillow that fits perfectly on the kneeling end so for now I don't have to venture into figuring out how to pad a board without a staple gun or a hammer. (I know I have a hammer, but I'm not sure where it disappeared)  The shelf is the perfect size to hold my bible and my breviary. And on the top, I have Mother Theresa's (or is that Blessed Theresa of Calcutta) instructions on humility. After all of the hard work that my son went into making this prie-dieu for me, even with all of it's unique characteristics, I wouldn't trade it for a better model.

Can I Go Back Yet?

This weekend was another grace filled weekend. Seminarian Andrew Jasper (who looks barely out of highschool, but is really in his 30's) led the retreat. There is such a peace about Andrew that is rarely found. His backup was Monsignor Mahold (or something like that). He's a jolly old priest who seems to have been everywhere and met every saint of the 21st century and has a story to go with it.

This retreat was focused on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, who I'm guessing was a type A personality. The exercises themselves have a definite format and rely to a great deal on imagery, as in picture yourself at the foot of the cross with Mary and John. For me, the imagining things is really easy. Sticking to a specific format was a little more difficult. I get far better results from spontaneous prayer as opposed to formatted prayer. When I was at BroomTree in November, I had great conversations with God while out walking. This time, there were only a few. The few I had were spectacular, but I felt like it was work to get those few. I did do considerably more writing this time. In fact, I ran out of pages before the end of the retreat. Between notes and journaling I went through quite a bit of paper. I will give it a few days and go back through to see what gems I can glean from those pages. The notes will be of use if I decide to give some of the exercises another try, which I expect I will.

I wish it had been longer so that I could really get a grasp on the exercises, but I accomplished quite a bit in the little bit of time I had there. I'm not sure when my next visit to BroomTree will be, but I'm sure it will not be soon enough.

Back To BroomTree

I'm so excited! I'm heading back to BroomTree Retreat Center for the weekend. The silent retreats are so amazing. It is just you and God in the middle of nowhere. If only I could run away to BroomTree and stay forever. Instead, on Sunday I will come back home to my noise filled life, where God has to compete with all of the other things going on in my life. It is so much harder to focus on God when you have a job and family and a life. But, I am trying to change that by carving out a small place in my home that is dedicated only to God. A special place where I can go to pray, meditate and just be with God in silence. Okay, so silence may be hard to come by. It will be our place. Until then, I will just be glad for BroomTree where I get to spend 3 whole days of uninterrupted time with God.

Carmelite Music Video

I just came across this music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AadnA8Jet2A&feature=related which takes scenes from different movies of Carmelite saints to show our love of Jesus and his Church.

It gives me goosebumps every time I've watched it...and I've watched it a more than a few times since discovering it. Maybe, someday, God will call me to the monastery. Until then, I'll just have to be satisfied being over-joyous when others are called.

Journey Through The Desert

This year for Lent I was "prepared" to give up some of my cherished sleep to attend daily Mass at 6:45 am. I completely underestimated my ability to sleep through my alarm or force myself out of bed when I'm tired. Dawn is very much a misnomer. Late night is my much preferred time of day, but there are no daily Masses at night. My decision now is to either scrap going to daily Mass and choose a different penance or push myself harder.  Although, giving in for an easier tasks seems more appealing, pushing myself would be a more satisfying penance. I think I will pray on it for a while and ask God's opinion.