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A blessed Advent to all!
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
As We Prepare for Him...
As always, you may leave comments here about anything from the Cloistered Heart blog.
A blessed Advent to all!
You may return to the Cloistered Heart blog by clicking on this line.
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I am copying here my last comment from the most recent screen, so that hopefully Jen and Connie and Melanie will see my responses to their very kind comments! Thank you so much, friends.
ReplyDeleteJen, what you said about seeing your friend's contemplative side lamenting makes me think of what a friend of my own has said about the Martha and Mary sides of her. I envision your friend's heart sitting at the feet of Jesus, choosing the Better Portion, even while her body is surrounded by "so many things." And Father Joe (and his friary) sound(s) wonderful! I am happy to pray for him. And thank you for speaking of saturation with the Holy Spirit - there is nothing I'd rather hear, ever.
Connie, you said something that never would have occurred to me... that when you could once again understand all the signs, etc., your senses were overloaded. What an insight into how a cloistered person may feel if she has to leave her monastery. I'm reminded of how I sometimes like to pray with soft monastic chant in the background - but only if it's in Latin. Which is because I don't understand the words. Latin remains in the background and does not interject thoughts that, even if they're holy, may not keep me on the track God is leading me on that day.
Melanie, I LOVE "Poustinia!" The whole concept of Poustinia in the marketplace is something I find wonderful (but I suppose that isn't surprising, huh?!). I like your reminder that it just takes a glance within to connect to Love and Joy and Peace... to the Savior Who is in our souls by His amazing grace. Again: "Mary choosing the Better Portion," even while externally we must be attentive to many things!
I am so grateful that I could weep with pain and joy that our communion with Him is even possible. It really is miraculous but so "normal" as my 3 year old said, " Oh you mean HIIMMM, of course I know HIIMmmm!"
DeleteOut of the mouth of an obviously delightful "baby!"
Deleteyes- although precocious!
DeleteNancy, I love your writing and your blog. I am currently reading your little book "The Cloistered Heart". There is much food for thought in your writing. Many of us can relate to your experiences. I would like to make a comment that might be contrary to what many have written and thought. Many people are looking for that deep silence where there are no distractions. They often call this silence serenity -- a place within themselves where they might hear (figuratively of course) God's voice spoken to them. Many long for that lack of noise, lack of sound, lack of distraction. But, ask a deaf person if that silence that they live in is really serene and has God spoken to them through that silence. For a deaf person that silence is anything but serene. No sound, no singing, no music, no chanting, no nothing. For without sound there is endless frustration and misunderstanding. I am always amazed how it is looked upon as a virtue to be silent in religious life. "Sound" has so much beauty to it. I do not speak of chaotic sound that has no value, but meaningful sound, meaningful words, words that bless, words that send love from one human to another. Forgive me, Nancy. I guess my heart is heavy today. I guess my tears of silence have flowed on to your blog.
ReplyDeleteHannah, thank you for your kind words, and for the depth of your perspective. I'll bet most of us have never viewed silence in this way. You make such an important point. It's interior silence we wish for, not physical silence. Silence into which God is not "speaking" is just...... well, silence.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry your heart is heavy, Hannah, and I pray that our Lord Jesus will soothe your tears and your heart. I will keep you in my prayers this evening. And it's good to have you here.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteYour First Call post is so beautiful~beats any love story out there in the mainstream! I guess we all have our own version of that "first call". I remember the day of my First Communion. When we got home from church, my mother asked me if I was hungry. I told her no because I had Jesus. A very cute comment by a happy seven year old girl, but since my return to Him, that comment has become the core of my faith. In big girl language: I hunger no more for I have Jesus.
Thanks for sharing this part of your story with us.
Oh, what a beautiful response to being asked if you were hungry. It strikes me as definitely more than just a cute comment. First Communicants I've known (in more recent generations than my own) seem to have their minds on parties and cakes and presents... not on a lingering awareness of Jesus. In turn, I thank you for sharing THIS part of YOUR story with us! It's a blessing.
ReplyDeleteNancy, loved your First Call romance with Jesus! How precious you were...sneaking into the back of the church. Can you imagine the joy that brought to the King! If only we could always remain so little and innocent like that. I am so grateful to Jesus that by His Grace, all of us around here survived the turbulent years, and found Him again.
ReplyDeleteThank you for blessing us all with what you share in such beautifully chosen words!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you, Patricia. I, too, am grateful to have survived the turbulent later years, knowing that such survival was solely by the mercy and grace of God. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me...."
ReplyDeleteA blessed Advent to you, and to all!
It's always so good to have you here, Colleen. What a wonderful way to close a retreat... I'm sure it DID go well! Thanks be to God. May your Advent be a special time of joyous anticipation!
ReplyDeleteNancy, I'm also so grateful to my parents for sending me to Catholic school and have memories of the sisters saying, " don't forget to stop in to visit Jesus on your walk home." I think that's where I first fell in love with Him, too. What sweet memories you bring alive in your post..Do you think back on it often drawn up like a treasure stored in your heart?
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you this Advent and +
"does not come on earth
ReplyDeleteto have an easy life
or to enjoy spiritual
and temporal comforts,
but to fight,
to mortify Himself,
and to die."
Wow, how I often wish for things to be easier! I'm such a baby! In a not so great way.
Beautiful post about your personal Advent at Cloistered Heart. I just love listening to other people's stories, like the beating heart of baby Jesus that grows into the love of His Sacred Heart. Thanks for sharing and blessed Advent, Nancy!
ReplyDeleteI love to hear of how God breaks through in people's lives. I am always in awe of how the little moments, the smallest circumstances, lead to recognition, acceptance, and surrender. Thank you for sharing your story, Nancy. It's a beautiful testimony of how God never abandons us. Thank goodness for that!
ReplyDeleteCAROLINE: Thank you! Oh yes, I do think back on these treasures. What you said makes me think of going into a musty attic, opening a special old treasure chest to look inside now and then. Indeed I do just that, with much gratitude to Him.
ReplyDeleteJEN: I am a baby too, and my being so is not so great either! In fact, at my age, being a baby is not only not "charming," it is DOWNRIGHT ANNOYING TO ME AND EVERYONE ELSE! :)
TIFFANY: Thanks so much. I had never thought, before, about the Sacred Heart of Jesus being the Heart of the Infant Christ. But of course. It is the very Heart that began beating in His holy mother's womb. What an amazing and beautiful Advent thought.
TESS: I look back over my life and see a long succession of small circumstances, little moments, beautiful touches of His grace that were almost (if not totally) unnoticed at the times. I feel quite sure all our lives are like that... if we just look back and notice. Thanks!
Lovely piece for Advent :-)
ReplyDeleteI loved your post about that advent.God has a way of finding us no matter where we are.
ReplyDeleteThank you both! Thank God He DOES find us!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Colleen!
ReplyDeleteAAAAK! I just clicked on a comment that had come in for moderation (I hadn't read it yet), and it suddenly disappeared! Did I accidentally click on "send to a galaxy far far away..?"
ReplyDeleteIf that was "you" (which you that might be), I'd love it if you would try again.
Anybody have a clue why this happens? It's about the third time it's happened here. And I apologize to the "lost folks"... I know those in That Other Galaxy are enjoying what you had to say.
Nancy, I love your stories! I could just imagine Jesus tugging on your heart. Isn't He wonderful! He really does go after His wandering sheep, just like He told us in the gospels. So glad He found YOU...cause you are such a blessing to me, and I know to so many others. Hugs to you, and prayers for a very Blessed Advent.
ReplyDeleteWas it St. John of the Cross who said even though we think it's been us pursuing God all this time, it's actually been the other way around? I think of that when I read your post. This interior life that He has called you to, and never stopped, is something I'm so grateful for personally. Or you wouldn't have your blog ;) I look back and think of things that happened that I know were little wooings. The smell of incense from a church (one of the easiest ways for me to become interiorly recollected..I don't even have to do anything. Just sniff!), chanting, a piece of holy art...all make me swoon. Even now. And, the bell of my two year old is ringing...off to get her, start the day, and go to Mass. Bless you Nancy!
ReplyDeleteThanks for such kind words, Jen, and for your own sharing. I am the same way about incense, and even bought a tiny incense burner for myself some years ago (with incense from a monastery to go in it). I wound up with dreadful headaches, and then when someone walked in and said "it smells like someone burned a church down in here!!," I figured I must be doing something wrong :)! But I kept the incense, and open it to have a whiff (unburned) now and then... ahhh...
ReplyDeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving your beautiful comment on my post about Thomas. It really did fill my heart with joy.
I have been soaking up your posts. Your words are so alive! I can see what you describe and I have been thinking and thinking...
You said, "A slot, a crack in the Everyday, through which the call of God might be heard through carol or card." Yes! I just love how you have expressed that thought.
I meant to visit your blog long ago. I am glad that today I actually arrived.
God bless!
Sue, I'm glad you arrived, too! I've been reading your ("Sue Elvis Writes") blog for awhile now, and your posts tug at my heart. Thanks for visiting the CH blog... and then hiking all the way over here to the parlor :)!! Thank you SO MUCH for your kind words.
DeleteNancy,
DeleteThank you for reading my blog! I had no idea you were sharing my stories.
I love your parlour. What a beautiful place to stop and share and encourage each other.
If you notice a spike in your page views, it is me! I am working my way through your posts. I have felt very anti-monastery for a long time now, but your posts are drawing me back. Thank you!
God bless you.
Thank you, Sue! May God bless you and your beautiful family.
DeleteIn response to your Advent article-It's true. God just needs a crack, a split second opening to slip into a person's heart and whisper,"I am here. I am as near to you as the words on your lips or the thought in your heart. You do not need to climb a mountain to find me or cross an ocean; I am near to you."
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these moving words. They have touched my heart today.
DeleteOh my goodness, I just watched the video of the singing in the shopping mall! Wow! That had me in tears, wonderful! Suddenly, the real meaning of Christmas stopped people in their tracks. Thank you for your wonderful, inspirational blog xx
ReplyDeleteIt had me in tears also. Thanks so much for your kind comment!
DeleteI loved the shopping mall video!! I just wish it would happen when I'm there!!
ReplyDeleteMe too! Wouldn't that have been terrific?
DeleteSo needed your post on de-cluttering today. My brain is sizzling it is so fried with to-do lists and financial worries, etc.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your prayer...and I will do the same for you this evening.
I'm so with you Theresa on the finances. God provides...just would a nice break to not have to sit on the edge of ones seat wondering how it's all going to get paid (it always does but still).
DeleteThank you, Theresa, and especially for prayer. Our Lord must have nudged you that I need it just now! My brain is fried as well, with.. well, let's just say you and I appear to be in pretty much the same boat. I re-read this post from last year and knew I needed it again, right now. I actually need to keep up the de-cluttering year-round. Sigh....
ReplyDeleteThank you again, so much.
I must have had a tiny opening in my heart as I read this post because God came flooding in. Tour words flow like liquid sunshine into the shadows of my heart.
ReplyDeleteI can think of nothing better to hear than that God came flooding in. Thank you so very much for sharing this.
DeleteThis post could not come at a better time. I have been just frazzled, busy, more busy, and feeling so overwhelmed. A small nudging at me everyday to run up to my room, light my candle, and just be...even if it's only for a few minute. Do I listen? No. I tell myself I will when the baby naps..but wait, she naps in our room. Then in the morning. I'm exhausted in the morning, and have just enough time for the Office (I fell asleep in the middle of it yesterday). I keep wondering and thinking, and MISSING Our Lord. I miss Him. I miss His sweetness, His peace...HIM. And yet...I do nothing to change it. Your remark about asking Him to remove the distractions. Yes, this I can do...
ReplyDeleteYour included one phrase that is flashing in my heart.. and that is "even if it's only for a few minutes." Sometimes "only a few minutes-es" :) are all I seem to have, and so I wait for MORE minutes, and wind up giving Our Lord none. I think He really wants me to zero in on that one phrase, so thank you!
DeleteWell said! A Good reminder as we get closer to the Christmas frenzy!! He is, after all, the reason for the season.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The frenzy does seem to be encroaching around here!
DeleteWonderful post on making room in your heart for Jesus. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIf I don't make my prayer time first thing in the day the whole day seems to be empty no matter how busy I am. It's way too easy to disconnect from God for days on end and if I do that I feel disjointed and unfocused. Your post is a good reminder to keep my prayer schedule active, especially over the holidays when family wants to claim my energy. Jesus first.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Barb... I just reposted this on today's screen, and left my reply there. Sorry this is a confusing way to do things :)!
ReplyDelete