The Joy in the Desert

What is joy? The catechism offers several explanations, sources of and impediments to joy; however, there isn’t a definition, at least one that I could find, of what or who it actually is. Mother Teresa’s definition below is awesome and one I’ve started to intentionally pray.

As we approach Lent, what is your disposition? Are you a glum Catholic counting the cost of sacrifice? Are you counting down the days until you can get on facebook, eat chocolate, check your phone whenever you want, text while driving, or break an intentional time of silence? We do not go to the desert for the sake of the desert. We go knowing it is the path from exile to freedom. We go in imitation of Christ.

I love to travel and if you asked me ten places I’d love to go. I can guarantee the desert ain’t in the top 50. That being said, I have to come to love the journey through the desert of the spiritual life. I love it not because it’s where I want to end up. Nor do I love it because it’s easy or comfortable. It’s neither. But if we let it, it is transformative, life giving, and beautiful.

In the beauty of the desert I have learned it is in enveloping darkness that the Light shines most brightly. It is in the resounding silence that we hear whispers that echo. It is in the emptying and stripping from harsh conditions that we cling to Our Protection, Our Lord and Lady. It is in the midst of the coldness where we hover around the fire of the Holy Spirit and it is in the midst of this unknown territory where we come to depend on our guides, the Holy Family and saints. Joy is the proclamation in the wilderness that the desert yields abundant fruit.

As we journey this Easter along to the way of the Cross, let us remember we embrace the cross because it leads to new life. “Pier Giorgio was not afraid to die because he knew that death is, ‘a very simple path,’ as he once said, ‘between life and Life, which must in any case never frighten us.” (Blessed Pier Giorgio: An Ordinary Christian, 100). It has been said that making a good Lent can be a storehouse of graces for the year. Let us let Him make us new and whole. Let us become joyful apostles who live bold hope and joyful courage.

Let us dare to dance in the desert. 

Verso l’alto, K.G.R.C.

Dance, then, wherever you may be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejeyoqH_Gg0&noredirect=1

Shining in the dark, I will follow you 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49x_h4CbZxs&noredirect=1 

We can Trust Our God. He knows what He’s doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6mEQS2fsWE&noredirect=1

How do you wait for Heaven?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Sgn0SQB_I&noredirect=1

“Joy is prayer – Joy is strength – Joy is love – Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. God loves a cheerful giver. She gives most who gives with joy. The best way to show our gratitude to God and the people is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love. Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ Risen.

We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with him right now – to be happy with him at this very moment. But being happy with him now means: loving as he loves, helping as he helps, giving as he gives, serving as he serves, rescuing as he rescues, being with him twenty-four hours, touching him in his distressing disguise.” Mother Teresa 

Striving Towards Acceptance

Being cleared to swim two weeks ago meant I could swim 50 m intervals with a two minute rest in between each set for 30 minutes. I have to be honest the rest part the past few weeks looked more like range of motion and abdominal work off t side of the pool then pure rest. Since this week I was going to be doing 100 meters mixed in with the 50 meters I decided to do this crazy thing and rest during the allotted rest period. I reasoned that if I actually rested I might be able to swim faster. From previous experience, I knew it would work and it did!  

As I was focusing on pulling myself down the length of the pool I had this seemingly dichotomous repetition running through my head: striving and accepting. Striving towards the wall as fast as possible with the best form while also accepting the period of rest as necessary, good, and even beneficial.

We should strive to holistically improve – physically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and socially. We should desire and long to be the great saints God creates us to be.  We should emphatically run the race and compete well. However, we can’t grow if we are busy fighting where we are.

I’ve been struggling with acceptance as of late. In the pool I realized it’s not something to struggle with but rather something to strive towards. What is God asking you to accept – His joy, His peace, His Providence, His goodness, His eternal love, His teachings, His Mother, His cross, His time of preparation, His resurrection?

Bl. Pier Giorgio and Bl. John Paul II accepted God’s good plans and joy through all seasons. “For the joy of the Lord is their strength.” Let us accept God’s joy as strength knowing nothing is outside of His love and mercy and that He will either protect us from suffering or give us unending strength to bear it. Let us accept peace and joy as we strive towards the top.

Verso l’alto,

Kathryn

I got you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBWFUVq85gs&noredirect=1

There was a young guy in the lane next to me training for the Navy. As we spoke about his preparation I blurted out “You’ll get there. It’s just one day at a time trying to be better than yesterday.” #Justkeepswimming

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBtc254NIMc&noredirect=1 

Plowed by Grace

“Learn to be stronger in spirit than in your muscles. If you are you will be real apostles of faith in God” (Man of the Beatitudes, 118). 

This morning, I sauntered out to my car this morning about ten minutes before Mass thinking I would hop in and head on my way. Well, my car was encased in ice so that plan was a bust. My car looked like a toy car that had been placed in an icicle mold. Without exaggeration, I couldn’t open the driver side door the ice was so high. I attempted to shovel for about twenty minutes but quickly decided it might be better to shovel after the sun warmed up. When I attempted a second time to free my car, I quickly recognized I would need some help as I wasn’t going to be able to do it on my own. 

As I chiseled away like a sculptor does his masterpiece, I recognized the progress I made was the result of many little actions. Though I had found a patch of the road and was excited to see the progress, I started to think about tools. I was using a plastic shovel and realized an old school spade, the heavy metal shovel that could have been found in my grandfather’s basement, would be much more efficient. Shortly thereafter a man offered to let me borrow a replica of my grandfather’s shovel. It surely made a significant difference. A little while later another man came and offered to help break up some of the ice while his mom ran into her apartment. He broke up some of the frozen mass and even pointed the direction to which I needed to go in order to get my car out. Next the PLOW TRUCK came. No joke, kids. The kind driver honked me out of the way and plowed the remaining blockade, which would have taken me hours to get through on my own.  Each stage of this excavation was enjoyable and beneficial.

As I prayed and played in the snow, I was thinking about Pier Giorgio’s tools which he had in his arsenal.  I thought about his good deeds, his investment in community, his love for the Eucharist (in both Mass and Adoration), and his devotion to Our Lady. Similar to the tools used to get my car out, each has their value and was needed at different times. The plow was the quickest and surest way to freeing my car. Today, I’d like to focus on what is analogous in the spiritual life - devotion to our Lady. 

The surest way to Jesus is through Mother Mary. It is in fact how He chose to come. If we are to imitate Him most perfectly, we are to entrust ourselves to her mantle and intercession as Christ vulnerably did. She is both gentle and strong. She gently nurses us to nourishment and growth while also safeguarding us from the snares of the Devil.  She can melt our hardened hearts like the sun melts ice over time and she can cut through and crush the head of the serpent. Are you clinging to her Mantle?  She desires to bring us closer to her Son.

Whatever means God uses to bestow His grace, be it difficulty or consolation, let us implore His mother to intercede so that we may always see with eyes of faith His loving hand of Providence. Also, let us remember the gifts He has given – especially the gift of His love, the Sacred Heart of a crucified Messiah, who holds us in existence. Mary teach us to do “whatever he tells us,” to go in haste to visit our Lord in our brothers and sister in need, and to behold Him from conception through eternity. Let us enjoy the journey and to remember to pray and play along the way.

Verso l’alto,

Kathryn Cooper 

In the sorrow and the dancing … Your Grace Finds Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXZf-rc_XaA&feature=kp&noredirect=1 

ITS TIME TO PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(This is my new favorite song. In case you couldn’t tell)

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8JmQ5hIrK4&noredirect=1

“The glory of God is Man fully alive.” St. Irenaeus .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em_ismUt5uI&noredirect=1

Set A Fire

What’s your playlist and what’s your highlight reel?

The other day I was swimming and it looked as though a Duke Basketball highlight reel was playing against the wall. Now this Duke fan was thrilled. It got me wondering what’s my highlight reel. What do envision for yourself?  What thoughts and images are on loop in your mind? Do you see success and prosperity? Do you see trial and difficulty, health and love, or sickness and fear? Do you take time to mind your mind? The thoughts we have influence the words we say, the decisions we make, the prayers we dare to utter, and the disposition of our heart. What verses of scripture do you cling to and proclaim over your heart and life? What promises do you cling to?

There is not enough room for fear and faith. So starve your doubt and feed your faith. I think of Pier Giorgio’s “highlight reel” and his play list. He yearned to constantly know the Lord more intimately and He sought Him in community, nature, his studies, and most importantly through relationship with Our Blessed Mother and The Eucharistic Lord, Himself. The song Set a Fire Comes to mind. Like the coals of a fire burn brightest when lumped together, Pier Giorgio knew the vital necessity of being connected to Christ through community and adoration. He knew Christ was His daily, Providential, provider and that He was the source of his strength and faith.

As Catholics we proclaim the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of our faith and Bl. Pier Giorgio knew the necessity of fostering the gifts he had been given by receiving the strength of the Lord. Do we run to the fire of His love so as to live more ardent charity? Let us pray for greater faith, bolder hope, charismatic love and radiant joy so that others might know the joy of the Gospel and the freedom that is found in Christ. 

Verso l’alto,

Kathryn 

No place I’d rather be then here in your love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A8almp_nCU

What it takes to come alive, got to let it go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g9poWKKpbU 

We’ve got the Fire  and we’re gonna let it burn

(let us live with the power of the Holy Spirit)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyEd0aKWZE

A Soldier's Hero

“He was always interested in soldiers, especially those who when the war was over, were approaching demobilization. He attended their clubs to speak about getting back into civilian life after the tragic parenthesis of war. He as deeply aware of their problems (A Man of the Beatitudes, 47).”

Modern war is extremely different from our grandparents’ age. They rallied as a society where everyone had a part to play and a role to fill. Today, we often send our troops off with the support of close friends and family. Yet, how often do many of us settle into thinking that it’s not our struggle if we are not personally affected? Bl. Pier Giorgio was aware of the struggles of veterans and he played an active role in helping them reacclimatize to civilian life.

Do we pray for our troops? Do we support them physically and emotionally as they battle the difficulties of war? Do we rejoice over their victories as they establish allies and bring peace? Do we thank them and embrace them when they come home? “Modern society is wracked with the sorrows of human passions and is moving away from any ideal of love and peace…[Therefore,] for [Pier Giorgio] living in society meant struggling for the Spirit to return, reactivating it where it was feeble and kindling it where it did not exists. (Ibid, 48).”

May we all pray with gratitude for our military personnel’s sacrifices, with zeal for their protection, and for wisdom and counsel in how to support them and their loved ones while they are abroad as well as they come home. . Let us be more grateful for the infinite blessings we have as Americans. May the Holy Spirit attune us to the responsibility that comes with such blessings. Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us. 

Verso l’alto,

Coop

To those families in the military, THANK You !!!!

Don't close your eyes don't be afraid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLuFL6ZMUJM

I won’t lose hope

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSJoZiB-UGY

Cause what day isn’t good with Bruce in the background?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD4ezDbbu4

Pure Gift

“One evening when [Frassati and his friends] had been to a play by Gioacchino Forzano, Il Conte di Brechard, Pier Giorgio and his friends gathered informally as the Sinister Ones Society. “They specialized in cracking jokes against their “co-citizens.” Their ‘exploits’ often ended with a sack in someone’s bed, a little donkey sent to an unstudious member, ranting letters and hoaxes, but all of it carried out with pure Christian feelings that helped to create brotherhood. The members, however, followed no rules and attended no set meetings. Everything was improvised. The important thing was to be together as much as possible under the great ensign of faith.” (Man of the Beatitudes) 

The important thing was to be together as much as possible under the great ensign of faith. Last week I was speaking to a Sister who was telling a great story about a group of women in their 60s. The group had been friends for years and in fact one of their dear friends just happened to be a current Archbishop. Sister told the story as she recounted spending time with this group of women and their friend, the Archbishop, casually and jovially chatting in the comforts of one of their living rooms. The Archbishop, who was just a neophyte priest at the time, was present for their children’s births and blessed the babies when they were born. Now many years later they have fostered a friendship that has been cultivated through the years and sustained through the seasons of life. I loved this image of friendship, in the living room, which was sustained over the years. It made me ponder where might we be in forty years.

It made me think of JPII and Mother Teresa's affinity and affection for one another. I love that these pillars of Catholicism recognized the goodness in having each other's support and how they recognized the gift of friendship. They, similar, to Frassati knew the beautiful gifts God gives through friendship. There is something about old friends and there is something about dear friends. Whether you feel blessed by poignant friendships as of yet, is something to consider. Do your friends raise you up or you lower through the roof so that you might be placed front and center for healing? Do they call you to be the best version of yourself? Do you enJOY their company and make time to be together? Are you investing in wholesome friendships with those who help you know Christ better? Are you invested in mutual relationships? CS Lewis marks the Four Types of Loves in his classic masterpiece where he recognizes that foundational to love is to be vulnerable. Let us take courage to vulnerably love one another - not facebook, airbrushed, love but rather real, authentic, strong and weak, unconditional love. 

"In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.” (CS Lewis, The Four Loves). 

Verso l’alto,

Kathryn Grace

I’d tell you these simple truths

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t9u-LOa3OI

I get by with a little help from my friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MZRh3PFmBY

Just because it's one of my favorites 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co6WMzDOh1o

A Gentleman's Strength

A Gentleman's Strength

By Kathryn Cooper on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at 12:41pm

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”  Matthew 5:5

The more I get to know Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati the more I come to love him. I was reading today about how he received a $5000 allowance once and how he immediately knew he would give the money for equipment for aSt. Vincent Conference. “With regard to money, he considered himself to be the administrator of a treasure which did not belong to him, of which he would have to give an account one day” (Man of the Beatitudes, 129).  What’s your relationship with money? How do you understand need vs. want? Are you a good steward of the gifts, (physical,intellectual, financial, emotional, or spiritual gifts) God has given you?

I used to think of meekness as being synonymous with weakness or if I’m being honest with being a doormat. I was wrong! “ [Frassati] had a willpower for himself and others. He only had to exchange a few words to win a friend, whom he then looked after and advised. His whole life was characterized by numerous intense human relationships and they consumed much of his energy that he said: ‘I feel like someone who is drowning and has to find the strength for one more stroke (Man of the Beatitudes, 129).” So frequently he asked for prayers. “I beg you to pray for me a little, so that God may give me an iron will that does not bend and does not fail in his projects”(Ibid, 130). I don’t really understand meekness. However, I’m starting to see through the example of Bl. Pier Giorgio that it is a gentle strength. “He continued to live spartanly in his freezing room, which was never heated, with barely enough blankets. His manly approach to live made his engagement in the struggle for himself and others easier. (Ibid,130).  What mortifications do you practice? We’re Catholic, these things don’t go outta style!
Let us celebrate the call to live meekness

Verso l’alto,
Kathryn Grace

Let us physically and spiritually sacrifice for others. Letus be thankful for those who stand in harms way so that we may live in safety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJesfljJ1vk

This is just a journey, drop your worries!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmrOB_q3tjo

So that others might live : “And nothing again would be casual or small”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T281lL_6e44