Tag Archives: Catholicism

A Journey of Faith

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Last year sometime, we got a DVD in the mail from the monks at Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma, northeast of Tulsa. It shows them going through their days: praying, singing, and working. “Ora et Labora” is one of their mottos: Pray and work.

We have no idea why we were sent this. We probably got on their mailing list through another Catholic organization we support or something. And they were probably hoping to elicit a donation from us.

Frankly, I thought the video was a little boring, although it was interesting in its way. Kevin, on the other hand, was fascinated by it. He watched it over and over, usually while he was doing other things.

Fast forward to February of this year, Friday the 18th to be exact (according to Kevin).

For a couple of months around that time, there was a table in the commons of our church with used religious items and a box for donations. Kevin saw a Benedictine medal on the table. Two inches in diameter, the medal is pretty heavy and made of some kind of metal. It commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Benedictine sisters’ coming to America.

He paid a dollar for it, but that medal has become immeasurably valuable to him.

That very day, he put it on a chain and started wearing it, and it inspired him to research all of the inscriptions on it, which led him to research the Benedictine order.

Then, on July 3, our new priest Father Tony blessed the medal, and he’s worn it ever since.

At that point, Kevin says he began to officially live his life as a spiritual Benedictine oblate.

The word oblate means “to offer.” An oblate in the Benedictine order is a lay person, meaning someone out “in the world” as opposed to in a monastery, who follows the Rule of St. Benedict, while possibly also being fathers and husbands (or mothers and wives, since women can be oblates, as well).

On July 15, Kevin emailed Father Joseph Mary Lukyamuzi, director of oblate formation at Mary Mother of the Church Abbey in Richmond, who encouraged him to continue on his path, offering his assistance along the way.

And then, today, Kevin’s journey came full-circle: The Clear Creek Abbey rosary we ordered earlier this week came in the mail.

All that time Kevin watched the Clear Creek video, he didn’t realize that the monks he was watching were Benedictine monks. At that time, he hadn’t studied anything about the Benedictines (or any of the many orders), and the video doesn’t spend a lot of time on the distinction. It wasn’t until he’d begun researching the order that it hit him.

God does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t He? 🙂

The Two Who Stayed

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In the end, there were only two, his mother Mary and his apostle John.

Is it any wonder that Mary was assumed into Heaven and that John was the only apostle whose life didn’t end in tragedy?

All the other 12 apostles — with the exception of Judas, who committed suicide — were martyred for the faith.

[Taken today at Sacred Heart’s chapel. One of the 12 stations of the cross, it was handmade years ago and was in the old church building up on West Main Street.]

Hymnal Symbol

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Since 2008, when we first went to a Mass at Sacred Heart, I’ve been puzzled by the symbol on the cover of these hymnals.

The embossed cross, I can see. But the gilt-embossed circle and gumdrop-looking flower-ish design? And that one gumdrop thingy that’s not gold?

Well, it took me until today, but I finally figured out the meaning.

See, I had a little more time than usual to unfocus during this morning’s Mass.

I know that sounds bad, but we went to Spanish Mass today, and I am not a Spanish speaker.

Usually, I can follow pretty well with the translation bulletin; it has the Spanish and English side-by-side on each page.

But today was my first Spanish Mass with our new priest, Father Tony. Instead of reading the message on the front cover of the translation bulletin like our former priest, Father Charles, who wasn’t perfectly fluent in Spanish, Father Tony, who is, gave his own homily, no translation.

I could pick out some words here and there, but not enough to string together anything coherent, so my mind just wandered a bit…

And it hit me.

There’s one circle in the center of the cross that represents Jesus.

And there are 12 embossed gumdrop shapes around the circle that represent the 12 apostles that Jesus chose.

And there’s one gumdrop shape which is not gilt that represents Judas, the one apostle who turned away from Jesus completely.

I’m not sure if there’s any meaning in the shapes…

Lucas and His Rosary

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Lucas with his rosary and Atticus' Blue Puppy 🙂

Kevin picked up this rosary last year at church when it was on the give-away table.

It’s easy to see why he picked it; lavender crystals with an Our Lady of Lourdes signet, it really is stunning.

Not long afterward, he gave it to Lucas when he said he wanted it. Not long after that, though, he’d broken it, probably tugging a little too hard at its delicate links.

We put it up in my jewelry box, still broken, waiting until he was a little older and better able to take care of it.

Yesterday, Kevin decided to take it out and fix it up. Lucas was ecstatic!

Although he’s not ready to take it wherever he goes, Lucas wanted to wear it around his neck like Kevin does with his sometimes and sleep with it under his pillow like Kevin does with his every night.

This morning, as soon as I went in to wake him up, Lucas shot up in bed: “MY ROSARY!” He reached under his pillow and scooped it up, hugging it to him like a long-lost friend.

Quotation Inspiration: Padre Pio’s Embroidery Parable

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“There is a mother who is embroidering. Her son, sitting on a low stool, sees her work, but upside down. He sees the knots of the embroidery, the tangled threads and says, ‘Mother, what are you doing? Your work is not at all clear.’ The mother lowers the embroidery frame and shows the good part of her work, each color in its place and the variety of threads forming a harmonious design. We are seeing the reverse side of the embroidery; we are sitting on the low stool.” -Padre Pio