What a week!!!

What a blessed week this has been!!! There is so much excitement in the world right now after the wonderful blessing God bestowed on us in sending us a new Pope!!!  Of course, everyone is talking about his humility; I too was blown away at his request for us to pray over him.  What a privilege for us to do so!  And how wonderful to be reminded that even the Vicar of Christ needs God's divine assistance to serve his mission.  Phil 4:13 - "We are self-sufficient only in that we are Christ sufficient."  I read that translation this morning and loved it! This is my "life" scripture verse and I had never heard it put that way but it is true! 

I stop and wonder though, why we would be surprised at his humility?  All of the Pope's I've lived through have shown great humility!  It is the hallmark of a servant of Christ!  And then special attention is being given to the fact that he is passionate towards the poor.  But again, this is nothing new.  Social Justice is one of the pillars of the Catholic Church!  She has always taught that we are all the same in God's eyes and everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and compassion; inside the Catholic Church and out of it!  We don't only care for just our own; we are called to serve everyone!  Where our poor brothers are concerned, She teaches that we are to ensure they receive the same basic needs everyone needs to survive.  If we have not heard this or even practiced it, it is really through our own fault; society's influence in telling us that it's every man for himself; but this is not what the Church teaches.  Yes, that same Church that so many seem to think is out of touch in today's world ; that same Church has always, always been passionate about helping the poor!  Of course, I believe that God in His almighty wisdom knows how badly the world has become blind to the virtues of humility and compassion for the poor and I for one am so happy to see the WORLD paying close attention!   And what a joyful, warm and loving man He has sent to do this!  There is no doubt He is the one chosen by God for this specific time because it is evident that people are immediately drawn to him and I believe he will make a deep impact in not only Catholics, but all Christians alike!  Praise be to God!

I also thought about Pope Benedict; how loved and humbled he must have felt to have Pope Francis ask all of the faithful to pray for him!  I hope he felt our love and prayers for him deep in his heart!  Which brings me to the main subject of my blog today; what I felt God asking me to share.

When he was elected, I was especially moved by his admission of feeling overwhelmed by the task assigned to him; he was praying someone else would be elected.  He said in one of his first audiences with the people; "I am simply a servant in the vineyard of the Lord; please come and join me."  I am paraphrasing of course, but I understood what he was saying because in that moment, I had just decided to answer the call to start CSS.  I really was hoping someone else would be called to that task and I felt unprepared, unworthy and certainly humbled when it was clear that the task was being assigned to me!  I think I even shared that at my first meeting with the Group Leaders that year.  Anyway, I felt a connection to him immediately in that regard.  And how funny that 8 years later, at almost the same time again, we were both "released" from those duties.  Not because we asked to be; simply because God felt it was time.  And here we are again, both called to live a contemplative life.

I had not event thought about it that way until I received an email from my dear friend, Christy Balsiger, who said that I was now living the contemplative life, like Pope Benedict!  Wow!  That is true!  I may not be secluded by myself away in a monastery or convent, I am in a place that allows me to quietly spend as much time as I want in deep conversation with God.  And as I sat there pondering those thoughts this morning, I felt God asking me to share with you the beauty of this experience and how easy it is for anyone to spend some time in contemplative prayer.

The term sounds intense; it seems to take too much time; and maybe it even sounds b-o-r-i-n-g.   But what I have found is that contemplative prayer is simply sitting and having a one-on-one conversation with God.  I will admit that I'm not good at formal prayer; I don't pray the Rosary daily or have certain devotions I have to pray every day; I do have my own favorite short aspirations I say daily, especially to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, ie. Jesus, I trust in You; Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner, etc...  But for the most part, I just love sitting there and thinking.  I let my mind just quietly think what it will, since what is in our minds is what is usually in our hearts.  I sit there and think and then when I start to ask a question or ask God for something, it's amazing that somehow, at the same time I'm thinking about it, He's already giving me the answer!  It's true!  It causes a slight problem because if I'm journaling, I already have the answer before I've finished writing the question and I'm tempted to just quit writing! ;)  But as I was contemplating that today and how cool that is, God said, "It's like any relationship that you cherish.  the more time you spend with that person, the more you know them and you can almost hear what they are going to say before they even say it!  You can complete their sentences; you can read their minds!"   GOD has this ability; it's humbling to know He knows us inside and out and yet He still loves us the same.  But to know that we can get to know Him so intimately too is truly amazing!!!  The Scriptures are true!  If you live in Me, I will live in You!  My Sheep know Me and they know My voice!  Your heavenly Father knows what you need before you even ask! (If you know the exact Scripture verse, feel free to insert here) :)

It's so simple; all it takes is giving Him some uninterrupted time for conversation...simple conversation.  And believe me; for a person who is not used to sitting still; is not very disciplined and can be very easily bored - doing this has been the easiest thing for me and the most rewarding!  I long for that quiet time in the morning - so much that sometimes on Dave's days off, I get a little annoyed that I'm not alone. lol  And I have never, ever felt bored; in fact; I sometimes have to force myself to get off that chair and move! And it has brought a profound peace to my life that I hope I can pass along to others.

I am sure Pope Benedict was watching that night and was humbled by our love and prayers!  And I want you to know that I feel the same way.  In every letter you wrote me; in every email, phone call, FB posting, care package, comments on this blog, I feel your love and prayers and I am humbled and very grateful.  They uplift me daily and I want you to know that you are in my daily prayers too. I am so happy to be able to share this exciting time in the Church with all of you as we join our Holy Father, Pope Francis I, on this wonderful journey!!!

Blessings from Bahrain!!!