A Catholic Prayer for the Winter Solstice - The Fourth Sunday of Advent 2009

From the rising of the midwinter sun to its setting,

Scatter the darkness with the light of your love, O Lord.

Make me short on mean thoughts, long on offering words of comfort.

Make me short on being driven, long on paying attention.

Make me short on focusing only on my own, long on looking beyond.

Make me short on obsessive lists, long on spontaneous acts of kindness,

Make me short on mindless activity, long on time to reflect.

Make me short on tradition as a habit, long on rediscovery and re-owning.

Make me short on rushing a tiring, long on walking and wondering.

Make me short on false, festive jollity, long on stilling and rooted joy.

Make me short on guilt, long on being merciful to myself.

Make me short on being overwhelmed, long on peace as I set forth this day.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, our light, our life, and our Lord.

Amen.

From Now Until Thanksgiving...

I've seen many people posting to Facebook and Twitter regarding the following reflection and I want to pose it to all of you readers to think about as well.

For the next 3 days finish this sentence:

Today I am most thankful for...

I'll start.

Today I am most thankful for the gift of my son's first year of life outside the womb. What an amazing journey it has been and I am so humbled that God would trust my husband and I with His precious child.

"Hello? God? This is Amberly calling..."

Reflection Posted by Stewardship Coordinator, Amberly Boerschinger

God calls us to answer our baptismal call. For me, this is anything but easy.

How am I supposed to be mature, holy, concerned with the common good, sharing my gifts and an extension of God’s blessings all in the same day? I can barely remember to brush my teeth and grab the baby’s bottle before I leave the house in the morning!

And then it occurred to me…

- I maturely spoke kind words to the loan specialist about the loan coupon booklet that never
arrived and reversing the subsequent late fee.

- I shared holiness and patience with my son by singing along to his Bible songs CD during an
unusually long traffic delay that postponed his suppertime bottle.

- I responded to the common good by taking the time to e-mail back a flustered friend with
words of affirmation and to follow up on a state health provision that could negatively
impact thousands of marriages.

- I shared my gift for healthy cooking by making a balanced meal for my husband and sister
even though the last thing my stomach could tolerate was cooking beef.

- I was a conduit of God’s blessings as my exhausted husband sighed and opened our nightly
devotional and I said quietly, “I’ll read tonight”.

Upon this reflection, I’ve deduced that the key to answering my baptismal call is being aware of my baptismal call in my everyday life. Specific and intentional responses to our baptismal call are important as well, but I believe that most importantly, God wants us to be thinking of our call within the context of how we live our everyday lives.

And the best way to awareness? A direct line with God by way of a practical, but regular prayer life.

For me, this means prayer time from daycare to work and devotional time with my husband before bed.

If you have trouble carving out time for prayer in your life, here is a method to consider. Presented in this form by author Trudelle Thomas, the Ignatian Examen is a daily practice of spiritual reflection that has been used by Christians for centuries. In essence, it consists of 2 questions.

- What am I most grateful for today?

- What am I least grateful for today?

Sometimes formal prayer can be daunting. These two questions can bring you a greater awareness of God’s presence in your day. These questions can take other forms if you prefer:

- When did I give and receive the most love today?

- When did I give and receive the least love today?

- When did I feel the most alive today?

- When did I feel the most life draining out of me today?

Just remember, however you get there, a direct line of communication with God is the key to answering your baptismal call.

Now, stop reading and go listen.

Introducing: Theology on a Stick!

Posted by Amberly Boerschinger, Stewardship Coordinator

I'll admit...I was raised on the Minnesota State Fair...and here is another reason for me to love the Fair of my childhood!

Follow the link to a program founded by the Young Adults of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis called "Theology on a Stick"! Hear reflections from priests, religous and other baptized people on Catholicism and a varied assortment of topics including the 40th anniversary of Woodstock!!!

http://theologyonastick.org/media.html

Enjoy!

Healthy Habits are an Act of Discipleship

Below are some headlines from a well-known news website.

"Is the Economy Making You Fat?"

"Blow Your Diet? Blame Your Brain."

"How the Recession Wrecked My Cholesterol"

"Too Little Sleep May Raise Blood-Pressure"

All of these headlines make an excuse for living an unhealthy life. That implies that an unhealthy life is not something natural, but instead something that is brought upon by other forces. It is time to recognize that perhaps the busier, more convenient, more "advanced" lifestyle our society proposes is not in fact the right way to live. If a life-style is compromising the very breath that gives us life, I think it is time to re-evaluate.

I've got a headline for you. "The Body is a Temple."

So, let's evaluate this metaphor.

Would you board up the doors of a temple or church like fat and plaque from poor eating habits dam up the arteries of your heart?

Would you keep all of the windows latched and never allow fresh air into a temple like keep fresh air from your lungs when you smoke or pollute the air?

What if your active temple or church hung a sign on the door that said, “No services today, we’re too busy and too tired.”? Why is it okay to hang out those excuses when you should be exercising your body?

No temple or church could withstand constant use without downtime for maintenance and care. Why do you expect your body to work well without sleep and leisure?

These items only have to do with our physical and mental health. What about our spiritual health?

I received an e-mail recently that told of a man who had decided to quit going to church. He said to a friend, “I’ve been going to church for years, but I don’t remember the topic of a single sermon.”

The friend replied, “I’ve been married 30 years now and my wife has made me supper every night. I don’t remember a single meal she made me, but I know if I hadn’t eaten them, I wouldn’t be alive today.”

So let’s take a stand! You are not called to live life as a consumer. You are called to live life as a disciple.

As a disciple we must have discipline.

Discipline: (n.) activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training

So, I’ve dug into my files and come up with a discipline from Fr. Al McBride for “Temple Maintenance”. Fr. McBride is a Norbertine at St. Norbert’s Abbey in De Pere, WI.

Everyday do 6 things:

Something Good for Others
Something Good for Yourself
Something that you don’t want to do, but needs to be done
Physical Exercise
Mental Exercise (ie: reading, writing)
An original prayer everyday by naming your blessings (lots will be constant, but everyday something will be new or original).

What maintenance have you done on your temple today?

Pope Benedict Encourages Our Generation to Use Technology to Spread the Gospel and our Values!

Great read! Let's step it up and build the kingdom within and beyond cyberspace!!!!

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHERBENEDICT XVIFOR THE 43rd WORLD DAY OF COMMUNICATIONS

"New Technologies, New Relationships. Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship."

May 24, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

In anticipation of the forthcoming World Communications Day, I would like to address to you some reflections on the theme chosen for this year - New Technologies, New Relationships: Promoting a culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship. The new digital technologies are, indeed, bringing about fundamental shifts in patterns of communication and human relationships. These changes are particularly evident among those young people who have grown up with the new technologies and are at home in a digital world that often seems quite foreign to those of us who, as adults, have had to learn to understand and appreciate the opportunities it has to offer for communications. In this year’s message, I am conscious of those who constitute the so-called digital generation and I would like to share with them, in particular, some ideas concerning the extraordinary potential of the new technologies, if they are used to promote human understanding and solidarity. These technologies are truly a gift to humanity and we must endeavour to ensure that the benefits they offer are put at the service of all human individuals and communities, especially those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable.

The accessibility of mobile telephones and computers, combined with the global reach and penetration of the internet, has opened up a range of means of communication that permit the almost instantaneous communication of words and images across enormous distances and to some of the most isolated corners of the world; something that would have been unthinkable for previous generations. Young people, in particular, have grasped the enormous capacity of the new media to foster connectedness, communication and understanding between individuals and communities, and they are turning to them as means of communicating with existing friends, of meeting new friends, of forming communities and networks, of seeking information and news, and of sharing their ideas and opinions. Many benefits flow from this new culture of communication: families are able to maintain contact across great distances; students and researchers have more immediate and easier access to documents, sources and scientific discoveries, hence they can work collaboratively from different locations; moreover, the interactive nature of many of the new media facilitates more dynamic forms of learning and communication, thereby contributing to social progress.

While the speed with which the new technologies have evolved in terms of their efficiency and reliability is rightly a source of wonder, their popularity with users should not surprise us, as they respond to a fundamental desire of people to communicate and to relate to each other. This desire for communication and friendship is rooted in our very nature as human beings and cannot be adequately understood as a response to technical innovations. In the light of the biblical message, it should be seen primarily as a reflection of our participation in the communicative and unifying Love of God, who desires to make of all humanity one family. When we find ourselves drawn towards other people, when we want to know more about them and make ourselves known to them, we are responding to God’s call - a call that is imprinted in our nature as beings created in the image and likeness of God, the God of communication and communion.

The desire for connectedness and the instinct for communication that are so obvious in contemporary culture are best understood as modern manifestations of the basic and enduring propensity of humans to reach beyond themselves and to seek communion with others. In reality, when we open ourselves to others, we are fulfilling our deepest need and becoming more fully human. Loving is, in fact, what we are designed for by our Creator. Naturally, I am not talking about fleeting, shallow relationships, I am talking about the real love that is at the very heart of Jesus’ moral teaching: "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" and "You must love your neighbour as yourself" (cf. Mk 12:30-31). In this light, reflecting on the significance of the new technologies, it is important to focus not just on their undoubted capacity to foster contact between people, but on the quality of the content that is put into circulation using these means. I would encourage all people of good will who are active in the emerging environment of digital communication to commit themselves to promoting a culture of respect, dialogue and friendship.

Those who are active in the production and dissemination of new media content, therefore, should strive to respect the dignity and worth of the human person. If the new technologies are to serve the good of individuals and of society, all users will avoid the sharing of words and images that are degrading of human beings, that promote hatred and intolerance, that debase the goodness and intimacy of human sexuality or that exploit the weak and vulnerable.

The new technologies have also opened the way for dialogue between people from different countries, cultures and religions. The new digital arena, the so-called cyberspace, allows them to encounter and to know each other’s traditions and values. Such encounters, if they are to be fruitful, require honest and appropriate forms of expression together with attentive and respectful listening. The dialogue must be rooted in a genuine and mutual searching for truth if it is to realize its potential to promote growth in understanding and tolerance. Life is not just a succession of events or experiences: it is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this - in truth, in goodness, and in beauty - that we find happiness and joy. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by those who see us merely as consumers in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.

The concept of friendship has enjoyed a renewed prominence in the vocabulary of the new digital social networks that have emerged in the last few years. The concept is one of the noblest achievements of human culture. It is in and through our friendships that we grow and develop as humans. For this reason, true friendship has always been seen as one of the greatest goods any human person can experience. We should be careful, therefore, never to trivialize the concept or the experience of friendship. It would be sad if our desire to sustain and develop on-line friendships were to be at the cost of our availability to engage with our families, our neighbours and those we meet in the daily reality of our places of work, education and recreation. If the desire for virtual connectedness becomes obsessive, it may in fact function to isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development.

Friendship is a great human good, but it would be emptied of its ultimate value if it were to be understood as an end in itself. Friends should support and encourage each other in developing their gifts and talents and in putting them at the service of the human community. In this context, it is gratifying to note the emergence of new digital networks that seek to promote human solidarity, peace and justice, human rights and respect for human life and the good of creation. These networks can facilitate forms of co-operation between people from different geographical and cultural contexts that enable them to deepen their common humanity and their sense of shared responsibility for the good of all. We must, therefore, strive to ensure that the digital world, where such networks can be established, is a world that is truly open to all. It would be a tragedy for the future of humanity if the new instruments of communication, which permit the sharing of knowledge and information in a more rapid and effective manner, were not made accessible to those who are already economically and socially marginalized, or if it should contribute only to increasing the gap separating the poor from the new networks that are developing at the service of human socialization and information.

I would like to conclude this message by addressing myself, in particular, to young Catholic believers: to encourage them to bring the witness of their faith to the digital world. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I ask you to introduce into the culture of this new environment of communications and information technology the values on which you have built your lives. In the early life of the Church, the great Apostles and their disciples brought the Good News of Jesus to the Greek and Roman world. Just as, at that time, a fruitful evangelization required that careful attention be given to understanding the culture and customs of those pagan peoples so that the truth of the gospel would touch their hearts and minds, so also today, the proclamation of Christ in the world of new technologies requires a profound knowledge of this world if the technologies are to serve our mission adequately. It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this "digital continent". Be sure to announce the Gospel to your contemporaries with enthusiasm. You know their fears and their hopes, their aspirations and their disappointments: the greatest gift you can give to them is to share with them the "Good News" of a God who became man, who suffered, died and rose again to save all people. Human hearts are yearning for a world where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. Our faith can respond to these expectations: may you become its heralds! The Pope accompanies you with his prayers and his blessing.

From the Vatican, 24 January 2009, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.

BENEDICTUS XVI

Stewards of Providence

Resurrection Parish has just begun a small group titled "7 Steps to Financial Freedom". It's premise is seeking God's plan for our personal finances and financial future. Not only does it help individuals get a better perspective and handle on their daily spending, but it gives a unique opportunity to reflect on God's relationship with us and our money.

It has been very moving to see how many people, over the course of only 1 session, have had a drastic conversion in the way that they see their money. This resource makes it undeniably clear that our money is not ours. It is a gift from God and we are to be good stewards, or managers, of that gift.

Money is the most individual, earthly thing we encounter. Our paychecks have OUR names on them, not God's name. Our bank accounts have OUR names on them. Our raises are based on what we see as OUR performance. When individuals are able to see their money as not their own, they are also able to see many other things as not their own: their talents, their time, their relationships. They all become clearer gifts to be cared for, grown, and shared.

It is not easy to accept that our money is not our own. This resource, along with many others, creates this awareness while also creating a small group community to support each person as they move toward a life of stewarding God's money. Sometimes we need a reminder or a challenge from a trusted faith companion to get our priorities straight again.

This resource isn't about personal financial freedom. It is about freedom from the master that is our finances so that we are better able to follow the way of Christ as disciples.

I encourage you to participate in or possibly start a 7 Steps program. Your heart can be changed and your relationship with God transformed!

Eating Well for Less

We all know that in times of financial and personal stress our eating habits can run a bit rampant. The convenience and low-cost factor of fast food can seem like the best solution on a Wednesday night at 6:00. However, the cost is much higher than initially perceived when one considers the rising rates of obesity and heart-related conditions.

Here are five ways to be good stewards of our time and money while also being good stewards of our bodies! I'm paraphrasing an article on msnbc.com by Anne Kadet, "Eat Better - For Less Money".

1. Buy direct. Consider farmers markets, co-ops, and local meat farmers as good sources of fresh product for lower costs.

2. Go automatic. If money isn't of concern consider grocery websites that offer delivery. For non-perishables look to amazon.com for percentage savings in bulk.

3. Don't rule out large warehouses. Clubs like Costco can actually save you quite a bit of money on health foods. Brown rice, olive oil, diapers, and formula are all staples that can save you money. But be careful, not everything is a deal. (Costco also has solid business practices for those of you also concerned about fair wages and work.)

4. Frozen over fresh. Especially for a colder climate like Wisconsin, frozen foods are not only about 50% cheaper, but they are also available year-round. In fact, many frozen foods are frozen within hours of leaving the farm and retain many more nutrients than fresh produce that is shipped thousands of miles and then sold.

5. Organic can be done, but doesn't have to be. Milk and eggs have been shown to be good options to go organic. Just be sure they also note omega-3s. Fruits and veggies with thin skins and very exposed surfaces are good to buy organic. Peaches, apples, peppers, pears, strawberries, lettuce, and grapes are good examples. Things with thicker skins and less sugar content tend to need less pesticide and allow less to permeate if it is used. Think bananas, asparagus, onions. If you've saved money by the ideas above, organic is definitely possible and affordable!

A Visible Commitment to Stewardship

Take a look at these photos from our Stewardship Renewal Weekend!!!

The Basket We Presented to the Lord with Our Gifts of Stewardship

Bishop Bob Inviting Our Members to Bring Their Commitments Forward

People Walking Forward

Four Masses of People Renewed Their Commitments

Volunteers Handing Out Pedometers to Help Our Members "Take the Next Step!" in Stewardship

Would You Do ANYTHING?

Submitted by Amberly Boerschinger, Stewardship Coordinator

This is last weekend’s message from an old pastor of mine…I was moved and thought I would share it.

How many times have we heard someone say: ‘I would do ANYTHING ….to get that job…to go on a date with her/him……to get into that college….to have a decent night’s sleep……to live in that neighborhood…..to drive that car…to lose 40 pounds.’ Really? ANYTHING? Granted, many of us are prone to grandiose and exaggerated statements but it does pose an interesting idea…just how far are we willing to go for something? In this weekend’s selection from Genesis we hear the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice (at his own hand) his son in deference to his relationship with God. While in today’s culture we would decry such an action as criminal and the sign of a twisted mind, the image of sacrifice reinforces the question of how far we will go in order to obtain what we want/crave/desire/need. Will we remove our kids from private school if our financial health is threatened? Will we forgo a vacation to save for a rainy day or emergency? If we are unemployed and facing foreclosure will we contemplate a move out of state or out of county? If our marriage is in trouble, will we seek out authentic counseling to try to save it? If our friends are inviting us down unsavory paths, will we sever the connections? The cold splash of maturity reminds us that those things to which we set our hearts and minds will require sacrifice and a prioritization of competing events, ideas and relationships. Just a small example….a few weeks ago Lent was initiated with hours and hours of opportunity to come and receive ashes in the wee hours before work or school. Recognizing that some people completely forgot that it was Ash Wednesday….how about the pretty large number of people who seemingly chose to NOT get out of bed a little early? Was it a definitive choice to NOT wear ashes that day? Was it an impossibility to set the alarm clock a little earlier? When we are in our conversations with God (prayer), do we somehow think that our relationship with Jesus will not require sacrifice? Do we somehow think that we can be a disciple of Jesus and never have to make any changes in our lives? This weekend’s scripture selections remind us that our relationships with God will indeed require sacrifice…as all meaningful relationships do. So, how far will you go…what will you do to deepen your relationship with Jesus? Would you do ANYTHING?

Fr. Fred K. Bailey

Corpus Christi Catholic Community, Aliso Viejo, CA

Our Parish Lenten Prayer Book

In past years, Resurrection has ordered the Little Black Books to guide our Lenten Journey. This year, we leveraged the time and talent of our very own parishioners to reflect on the daily scriptures and offer their insights. The link below is the very powerful result!

http://www.gbres.org/pdf/Faith%20Formation/2009%20Lenten%20Prayer%20Book%20Web%20Version.pdf

Into the Desert - GB Diocese Lenten Stewardship Video

Click below to view a Lenten Stewardship video from the Diocese of Green Bay.