Flowers have patience, why can't I

In St. Francis De Sales Introduction to the Devout Life, I was surprised to read in his instructions on the practice of virtue that after speaking on Charity as the Virtue to cultivate for it brings all other virtues with it, he speaks on Patience.

Patience: "For you have need for patience that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise," says the apostle. True, for our Savior himself has declared, "By your patience you will win you souls." It is man's great happiness to possess his own soul, Philothea, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls. We must often recall that our Lord has saved us by his suffering and endurance and that we must work out our salvation by sufferings and afflictions, enduring with all possible meekness the injuries, denials, and discomforts we meet."

St. Francis De Sales goes on, "do not limit your patience to this or that kind of injury and affliction. Extend it universally to all those God will send you or let happen to you." I believe these words strike to the heart of many of our struggles with sin.

My life has drastically changed since the birth of our first child. In the worlds view life gets more complicated and time flies by, but as a married man who questions how to best live out life according to my vocation as a husband and father, it is the opposite. At first we struggle with time to accomplish everything plus all the new responsibilities of being a parent. With this struggle I often was short with those I loved the most. My wife, my baby, co-workers, my boss, my family, etc. But the Lord had a plan.

My wife and I were stuck in the rut of life. Rush here, get that done, "why I'm here I might as well do this, that and the other." Swerving in and out of the traffic lanes of life, speeding through yellow lights to accomplish one more thing before going home.

But the Lord is working on purifying our lives and the helping us to grow in the virtues we need to live a christian life. The home is supposed to be a school of Love, the domestic church and my demeanor was not that when I got home from the busyness of Life. So the Lord allowed me to be tried. I definitely struggled against this and made many people angry, mostly myself. Worrying, rushing, gunning for finishing projects, usually results in rolling over anything in the way, even family. So...

When I'm on the road I try not to speed for my family is either with me, or waiting for me to arrive home alive. I try not to get angry when someone cuts me off, I offer it up for that driver's soul, or for my family. When I have a disagreement at work, I try to calm myself and react out of reflection and with love and not get defensive. Offer apologies when I am wrong (especially to my wife), and if I am not wrong, try to clarify the other persons feelings so I understand where they are coming from. So take time to smell the roses, for they had patience to wait to bloom until you wandered by.

Don't think I am a saint, I fail many, many, many times in this endeavor and I am only gaining this reflection because I fail constantly and I'm back in the confessional asking for forgiveness. It is here that we may get ahead. The grace of confessing our sins gives us the special graces that we need to avoid that particular sin in the future along with our contrition and will to avoid the sin. St. Thomas More said the greatest gift a man can have is "a clear conscience." We can only achieve this by frequenting the sacraments of Confession and Communion and working on living in a patient and loving way.

"By your patience you will win you souls." It is man's great happiness to possess his own soul, Philothea, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls. We must often recall that our Lord has saved us by his suffering and endurance and that we must work out our salvation by sufferings and afflictions, enduring with all possible meekness the injuries, denials, and discomforts we meet."

Note: Philothea is a name that means "lover of God, or friend of God." The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are written to a person named Theophilos, which means the same thing. So Luke was writing to all Christians, or the beloved of God.

A Short Reflection on a Personal Prayer Life

Have you ever had the opportunity to sit in silence in a chapel or church, with only the light and shadows cast by candles, perhaps just in a pew or kneeling before our Lord in the Tabernacle?Have you ever just closed your eyes in this tranquil setting, and taken in one deep breath after another, and simply allowed yourself to be present to this moment in history, in time and space, truly present to the unconditional love of God?

For many of us in our busy days, this seems like a luxury that we simply can't find time for and yet, it could be the most profound experience of our lives during the times that we are most busy and most hectic. I have found myself drawn to this form of personal prayer for many years, and by this action, it is an example of what prayer can be on a very deep and personal level. Prayer can be a chance to step out of the ordinary and to experience the extraordinary in a deeper union with God. According to the Catechism prayer is:

"a lifting of the mind and heart to God...The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart."

In Luke 11:1-13, our Lord teacher's the disciples to pray and follows this with a simple illustration of how we are to be dependant upon God in a very tangible way:

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

God gives a a share of His life, a glimpse and taste of what is to come, in the power of prayer. Our human nature tends to complicate things often, by trying to factor every aspect of our lives into the equation, to wrestle for control of our environment and what we "get" from it. The beautiful and simple truth about a personal prayer life is that it is actually built into us, right from the start of creation, we were created with a predisposition or longing for God. God created us to be in union with Him and His creation, we allow so many things to intrude on us and draw our attention away from this perfect and attainable relationship. I believe, really at the heart of the matter, we are simply being told by God to ask. We must give life and meaning to what it is we seek from God, in the form of our prayer. It is true that our heavenly Father knows our wants and desires, but this has always been a two way communication experience with our God. Our free will has always allowed for us to be the ones to shut off or walk away from union, a chance that we would choose something other than unconditional love. For most of us though, we rejoice to know that we are in a loving commitment with the Creator, to recognize and give Him glory and to give life to our needs by the word of our hearts and souls in prayer. According to the Gospel of John, this is the natural state that we find ourselves in because even:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (Jn 1:1-5)

God's confirmation to us of the power of our "asking prayer" may not always be tangible to us in the present, but in many ways the practice of prayer allows us to become more open to having an abundant heart and allows us to expand toward God, seeking and receiving grace even in the most busy of times. Our prayers can not magnify God, in the sense of making Him greater than He is,it simply isn't possible to do this, but our prayers of asking, praise, and thanksgiving can increase our desire for God and His presence in our lives. Consistent prayer can help us to
grow more integrated and more fully human, fulfilling the plan He has set in place for us.

In the wake of the book and various comments on Mother Theresa's very private struggle with her prayers and her faith, it brings me great comfort to know that even in the midst of struggle, the grace to be sustained in my work is there for the asking. She persevered and never questioned the actions of her work, for we know that prayer must also be accompanied by actions. We all, no doubt, have experienced moments of true desert experiences, where we feel that we have been poured out and emptied and there is just nothing left. And yet, by virtue of our faith, by the fact of our salvation from Jesus Christ's death on the cross, we can have a personal and deep relationship with God the Father.

In Christ Jesus, I pray for you.

All Saints

What a glorious Day. There are so many saints in history who were inspired to live great lives of holiness by the examples of other saints. The moral of the story is get to reading the lives of the saints. There are many great biographies and other writings of the saints that are truly inspiring.

St. Ignatius of Loyola lay sick in bed and he was contemplating the life he wanted to live; storming castles, fighting evil, and winning the Damsel in distress. But this feeling of happiness and joy was passing. He next read stories of the lives of the saints, and also of Jesus' life, and this feeling of Joy and Happiness did not leave, it brought true consolation. That is what the true Christian Life brings, the fruit of Joy that only Christ can bring. "I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." John 15:11 Christ's words have power and strength in them, place your hope in Him.

May the prayers of all the angels and saints be for your holiness, and the holiness of all families this day, to give the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to live the true life of a Christian Witness. May your families be schools of love for our children to grow up in coming to know and love Christ.

"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,for they will be satisfied." (Matthew 5)

Introduction

Welcome to Holy Family's First Blog. My name is Luke Oestman, the Director of Religious Education and this blog is going to have periodic articles on living out the Christian life. These articles will range from current topics facing families, the latest movies coming out, current topics in the news, book reviews, how to understand difficult doctrine and dogma, to how to build virtue. So this blog will be an eclectic posting at best, but the common thread is heading toward a balanced living out of the Christian Life. This is for all ages and anything posted will be for the greater glory of God.

Here is a quote from St. Gregory of Nyssa, "He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows."

This is what we are blessed to have in desiring to live out the Christian Life, for "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him..." (Romans 8:28).

New Word to learn: eclectic. –adjective
Definition:
1. selecting or choosing from various sources.
2. made up of what is selected from different sources.
3. not following any one system, as of philosophy, medicine, etc., but selecting and using what are considered the best elements of all systems.
4. noting or pertaining to works of architecture, decoration, landscaping, etc., produced by a certain person or during a certain period, that derive from a wide range of historic styles, the style in each instance often being chosen for its fancied appropriateness to local tradition, local geography, the purpose to be served, or the cultural background of the client