The Final Harvest

I just posted a review of The Final Harvest: Medjugorje at the End of the Century by Wayne Weible. This book was published in 1999 and covers the visions up to that point. For more up-to-date information, please visit www.medjugorje.org. Mary's message is so important. Please take the time to find out more.

The End of Education

Commonweal just posted a very interesting article on The End of Education. In it, Alasdair MacIntyre, a professor at Notre Dame, argues that American Higher Education has become too specialized, that we need to instead embrace a model of education that would allow students to see the interconnectedness of ideas and subjects. I have long felt that this should be the case.

The best class I ever took was as a senior in high school. For two hours every day, my classmates and I would sit in front of Fr. Richard Riendieu in a combination theology / humanities class. We studied culture - theology, art, history, music, literature, and philosophy - and how they informed and influenced each other. It taught us connections and opened up new worlds for us. If such a curriculum could be duplicated in other high schools and colleges, I think students would benefit greatly from it.

We Have the Power to Change the World

Reading the paper in the morning is so discouraging. There is news of the war and of increased nuclear tensions, of global warming, and local crime. There is poverty and pain on almost every page. Sin and evil seem rampant in the world. It can be so overwhelming at times, especially when it seems there is so little we can do to change any of it. Especially for those of us who live our lives primarily within the domestic sphere, our power and influence can feel very insignificant.

And yet, there are things we can do. In the past century, Jesus appeared to St. Faustina and Mary has appeared to the young children of Fatima and the people of Medjugorje. In all of these visions, the message has been the same. We must pray and sacrifice for our own salvation, to help save other souls, and to help change the course of world events.

Prayer and sacrifice - it seems so simple, doesn't it? But we often put up obstacles or make excuses not to do it. Who has time for prayer? There are children to feed and a house to clean and work to do and volunteer projects to attend to. Sacrifice? No one talks about sacrifice anymore. Life is supposed to be about self-fulfillment. We work hard and are tired. We deserve good food, the best entertainment, the finest things we can afford.

Yes, the message of Jesus is one that is as counter-cultural today as it was two thousand years ago. The truth is that we do have time for prayer and sacrifice. We need to make the time. Prayer is the foundation of all that we are and all that we do. When we dedicate some of our time to prayer, God will make the remainder of our time more fruitful. We will operate with God in His plan for the world.

We also have many opportunities for sacrifice. We can give up something that we enjoy on certain days of the week, television or shopping or dessert for example. In addition, we can accept the crosses that come our way willingly rather than raising a ruckus. We can serve our spouses or our parents or our children when they ask us to even when we would prefer to be doing something else. We can listen patiently to another person who wants desperately to talk. We can be kind. We can be loving. We can choose to give of ourselves instead of looking for what we can get out of a situation. We can then offer these sacrifices to God as small gifts.

Prayer and sacrifice are something each one of us can do, no matter what our age or circumstances in life. With them, we have the power to help change the world, a little bit at a time. Jesus and Mary have told us this is true. What better authority could one ask for?

Prayer Request

I just found out that one of my nephews is on suicide watch. He has been given anti-depressants and is under medical care. Please pray for my sister and her family.

Thank you.

Unplanned Pregnancies

In Jane Brody's syndicated health column today, she was talking about how 1/2 of all pregnancies are unplanned. Her position was that this was an outrage because of all the contraceptive options out there. She then went over each option in detail, weighing the pros and cons of each (natural family planning was conspicuously absent from her list.) Her argument was that no woman should have to face being pregnant unless she had chosen to become so. She then postulated that there would be no need for abortions if this were the case.

Readers of my blog know that I am 100% pro-life and that I use natural family planning. Regardless, I can appreciate the fear that an unplanned pregnancy can put into a woman. I can understand how it feels to be thrust into a situation you feel ill-equipped to deal with. For those facing such difficulties there are places to turn to for help. You can find a list of them on my website at: http://www.spiritualwoman.net/Sorrow/UnplannedPregnancy.html

And yet, I wonder how we got to this point, where children are no longer regarded as a gift from God, but rather as a burden to be contended with or to be fit into life when the time is right. You can't plan on a gift and if you are sexually active, you need to accept that possibility that a gift may come. If God sends you a child, God will give you the strength to make it through the day (yes, one day - life and parenthood can often be only handled one day at a time).

Perhaps that 50% unplanned pregnancy rate is just God showing us that He is still the one in charge of giving life. If He wants to send a baby, one will be sent, and God has a purpose for every soul He sends to this earth. Regardless of the circumstances of the conception, every child is a child of God and loved by God.

Opening Our Eyes

Five-year-old David climbed into bed with us early this morning. He said "I had to go to the bathroom, and then I was coming in here to tell you I was blind, but then I opened up my eyes and I realized that I could see!"

I spent a good part of my day laughing over that comment, but I also realized that there is some truth to it. How many times do we walk around with our eyes closed? We choose not to see the truth of a situation. We fail to acknowledge the pain and suffering of someone close to us. We don't see the joy present in a given situation. We don't see God working every day in our lives. We, too, can be blind. But we can also open our eyes. God invites us to see and fully experience life with its full spectrum of colors. Will we accept the invitation?

What are you Becoming?

This was sent to be by Janet Cassidy today and I thought it was good so I am sharing it with you. Send an e-mail to cassidycomments@yahoo.com with the word “subscribe” in the subject line if you would like to receive future issues of Cassidy Comments.

WHAT ARE YOU BECOMING?

Our adult son was rushing out the door to work this morning and he was throwing on his shoeboots and tying up the laces. I stood there and watched him, recalling what a challenge it was for him to master this task when he was little.

Time is a good yardstick against which we can measure that kind of progress, but, I think we have to be careful to watch what we are using for a measuring stick for other things in our life.

For instance, if you are over forty, you shouldn’t use a 20 something as your model for vitality or freedom. It’s always dangerous to use people as your measure anyway, because too often we pick the ideal against which to measure ourselves, and without fail, we simply do not measure up.

If you find yourself longing for the way things once were, or the way you were, you might find comfort in reflecting on this: At every moment in your life, you are in process. You are becoming. The question is, becoming what?

Separate those words and see where your thoughts take you. Allow yourself to investigate what it is to become something/someone, and contemplate the purpose or destination given to that progression.