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When I invited a woman who works at St. Mary's, Oneonta, NY, to read and respond to my latest blog bit on "The Catholic 'Man-Crisis' " at Let It All Start Here, she said: "I'd be happy to. I have six sons."
Six sons! What could I possibly say to a woman who has taken on the awesome responsibility of raising six men? And, raising them at a time that, as Fr. Cambi (Sacred Heart, Stamford, NY) suggests, has never been so challenging. I say: Pray. This is not to suggest that one prays for something specific, but instead, that one assumes the posture of prayer so that the Holy Spirit may effect change in one's life. Simply: "Be still and know that I am...." Psalm 46:10 This blog has been launched for two reasons: As a means of evangelization, and as a platform where Matthew Kelly's concept, The Genius of Catholicism, could be examined. I'm composing this blog bit today with a copy of Kelly's THE FOUR SIGNS OF A DYNAMIC CATHOLIC on my desk, along side THE ESSENTIAL NIETZSCHE. You may wonder: What do these two men have to do with one another? Afterall, Matthew Kelly is a faithful follower of Christ, and Nietzsche is famous for his anti-Christian philosophy.... How does this work? Well, in a strange way, Nietzsche's insights into human nature support Matthew Kelly's belief in the necessity of prayer. Matthew Kelly writes: "Dynamic Catholics have a daily commitment to prayer. God is not a distant force to these people, but rather a personal friend and adviser. They are trying to listen to the voice of God in their lives, and believe doing God's will is the only path that leads to lasting happiness in this changing world (and beyond)." Nietzsche once said, "When we are alone and quiet, we fear that something will be whispered in our ear. So we hate silence and drug ourselves with social life." Be still.... Prayer is not only one of the four signs of a Dynamic Catholic, a Catholic who is willing to let God transform his or her life, but it is the catalyst for that transformation. God calls you to holiness, or to grow in virtue and character. So what can we do? What can the mother of six sons do as she supports her sons on their journey to manhood? Pray.
3 Comments
Charlene Caramore
12/6/2014 07:41:53 am
I'm not surprised that I agreed with Matthew Kelly's quote since I have read some of his works and admire his spirituality but Nietzsche? I can really relate to his quote. So many times I've avoided silence because I fear that the voice I hear sounds like God but isn't or it is God's voice and He's telling me something I don't want to hear. I've had both experiences. Praying for discernment helps but in my sinfulness, it's not easy to do God's will .
Stephanie Zito
12/10/2014 03:53:10 am
This is such a beautiful blog Evelyn. When we pray without ceasing and through whatever we are doing, through the power of the Holy Spirit we will know His will. Although we are sinners, Jesus Christ our redeemer will enable us to do His will. We cannot be perfect as Jesus Christ is, but we can reach out to others and share our love for Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us. Through all things Jesus Christ gives us strength and courage to serve Him even though we know that we are not worthy of Him. When we let Jesus Christ into our hearts and pray to Him we will be reborn in spirit, heart and mind and be transformed into Holiness. God will always take us beyond what we as humans believe we can do, and He will enable us to live according to His will. In Luke 4:12 v4 Jesus said "It is written: Man does not live on bread alone". Jesus reminds us that when we live according to His word and His will and the word of God, we are living according to His will. When we worship our Lord God we are living within the will of God. Even if those don't have a specific "job" to serve God, we are still serving Him when we pray to Him daily and go to the Mass. It is always God's will when we go to the Mass and worship Him and celebrate Jesus Christ. When we celebrate Jesus in the Mass we are reminded all of what Jesus did for us and what it means to carry the cross of Jesus in our daily lives. We are reminded the significance of the cross because of Jesus Christ who was born to save the world and to die on the cross to prove to all mankind that there is eternal life. We need to always seek to spend eternity with Jesus Christ. Through our daily walk and praying to Jesus Christ we are living in the will of God. When we repent and sorrowfully offer up our sins to Jesus Christ He will hear our prayers and He will forgive us and give us strength to serve Him in whatever way He wants us to. In Luke 4:12 v.8 Jesus said "It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only"
Stephanie Zito
12/10/2014 03:30:41 am
This is a wonderful blog with so much to respond to. Simply to say for now that I have experienced being alone to listen to the quiet. It is a wonderful experience and to know that when we listen, and pray we will have discerning hearts to know the voice of God speaking to us and calling us to do His will. We can know that when we are relying on Sacred Scripture and the words of Jesus Christ and keep Jesus Christ at the center of our mind at all times even when midst the noise, quietly praying and talking to Jesus will keep us close to Him always. Mathew Kelly is right when he says that Catholics have a daily commitment to prayer. We know what God's will is when we speak to God and ask Him for His guidance and to reveal to us what is His will. When someone comes to us and tells us we should be doing something that we have secretly prayed to God seeking His will and God has put into our hearts the desire to do what He has revealed to us as His will, confirmation of His will comes when someone comes to us and tells us we need to be doing whatever it is that we had secretly prayed to God for. We can know God's will through prayer and His answer. Confirmation comes through others who God sends to us telling us we need to do the very thing that we had prayed to God to seeking His will. I had this kind of experience many times including at St. Mary's in Oneonta when I had spent a year praying to Jesus asking Him if He wants me to Cantor for the Mass. I friended a wonderful Cantor Mary Ann who is a professional opera singer. When she was Cantor her love for God came through. She smiled and was always so loving. I sat in the front row and many times tears streamed down my face as I listened to her Cantor with her beautiful voice and her love for Jesus Christ. Her Cantoring was a ministry and so many people loved her. She was Cantor there for over 35 years. After she left Cantoring she recommended me to be Cantor. Suddenly one Sat Vigil Mass no one showed up to Cantor and the Choir Director who knows I am a Cellist and have Choral background, called me up to Cantor. It was very profound and scary to be standing in front of a packed Parish while I sight read the portions of the Mass the Cantor had to sing. After that I cantored for every Saturday evening vigil Mass for a few months and I lived for that experience . I always felt the presence of Jesus when I was Cantoring. Now that I am no longer there at St. Mary's I am still praying to Jesus daily and I know that He has a calling for me. I don't need to do anything but keep praying and talk to Jesus. Thank you Evelyn for providing this beautiful blog. I love it . You are a very gifted writer and should write a book. I am so thankful that you are ministering to people in this wonderful way and at Sacred Heart Parish in Stamford. I am always happy to see you there. I have loved attending the Mass there for a year now. God Bless You, Leave a Reply. |
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