Sarah Christmyer's Blog, page 8

November 29, 2020

1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT: WATCH!

“You be the lookout,” I told my little brother. “Yell the second you see the car!”

My parents had gone for the day, leaving me in charge. And now we were scrambling to finish our chores and get the house in order before they returned, bringing our cousins with them. Only when the last thing was in its place and the table set for dinner did I begin to relax … but my brother kept his vigil. Who knew when they’d be back? Whenever they came, whatever we might be doing at the time, we would be ready.

Today, cell phones and texting make that kind of waiting almost obsolete. Which is too bad, because we need the practice. The Lord has given us each our tasks and in the gospel today, the first Sunday of Advent, he tells his disciples:

What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’

Five times he says it, in four short verses. Three times with exclamation marks. Did you hear me? Don’t miss this! he seems to be saying. He’s not going to text or instant message us; but he promises to come … so be alert; be ready to receive him.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay.

Sometimes it can feel as though Jesus will never come, either at the end of time or into our lives when we are calling him. We can get like a watchman: sleepy because it’s been a long day already. Or discouraged by the darkness around us. Or distracted by the cares of life.

Maybe he gave us these instructions to help with that. Be alert! Use the hour and the darkness to your advantage. Tune all your senses so you’re prepared to handle danger and distractions. What makes you “sleepy”? What sins dull your awareness? What things (even good things) distract you from worship and the work he has given you to do?

When you’re on the lookout, your attention is on the person you’re waiting for. Keep at it, and you’ll find yourself filled with expectation and hope. You’ll do the tasks before you with joy because you’re getting ready for him.

As we enter Advent, listen to Jesus: Watch! Be on the lookout! Draw close to him in prayer, through Scripture and the Sacraments. Then live each day in preparation for life with him: forgiving, loving, helping others … in such a way that it doesn’t matter when he comes. You will be ready.

+ + + + + + +

Take the readings to heart

Be watchful this week by continuing to meditate on the readings of the first Sunday of Advent. Download the reading checklist and instructions at this link:

Advent Reading Plan – Free download

Here are a few additional things to consider as you read:

First reading (Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7)

What thought begins and ends the reading?
How does it provide a frame for the whole passage and impact the reading?

Responsorial Psalm (80)

List all the things the psalmist asks of God
On what basis can he ask them?

Second reading (1 Corinthians 1:3-9)

What gifts does it say the Lord has given us to use as we wait for him?

Gospel (Mark 13:33-37)

How many ways does Jesus say we are to watch for him? (Describe them)
What does the parable of the gatekeeper and servants add to your understanding of his instructions?

God bless you — and make you alert and watchful — as you read his Word!

The post 1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT: WATCH! appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat.

View more on Sarah Christmyer's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 29, 2020 09:19

November 25, 2020

A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS

The signs are everywhere right now: “Grateful”, the word spelled out in fancy type, embellished with flowers, sparkles, or even gold leaf. I almost hit one with my grocery cart this morning, rounding the corner past a woman who, like me, had left her Thanksgiving shopping to the last minute. “Grateful … hmmpf!” she said, nodding at the sign. “What do I have to be grateful for?”

It’s often a struggle, this time of year. How do you “put on” thankfulness and joy or be grateful if it’s been a tough year, or you’re not feeling it inside? Or if things are going well — what is the best way to give thanks to the Lord?

The Psalms can help

Here’s some help from the Psalms, which are a wonderful school of prayer.

Psalm 100 starts out with a title. It’s “A Psalm for giving thanks,” according to verse 1, and it teaches us how. Here it is in the ESV-CE:

A Psalm for giving thanks.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

Strong is God's love for us! Let us give thanks and praise

Here’s what strikes me about Psalm 100:

Gratefulness begins with action.

Look at all the imperatives: “Make a noise!” “Serve!” “Come into his presence!” “Know!” “Enter!” “Give thanks!” “Bless!” All of these are things we can start doing, regardless of what we feel inside. And the “how” matters. Most of these have to do with what comes out of our mouths. If that is complaints or criticism or anger, it will only reinforce those feelings in your heart. But once you start making a joyful noise and singing your way into God’s presence while giving thanks, your heart is bound to start to follow.

It helps to enter God’s presence.

The Psalm describes someone going to God’s temple, and the right attitude for approaching him there. Equally, if we deliberately enter the Lord’s presence, it can help us move hearts to praise. That might mean going to church or an adoration chapel, or withdrawing to a quiet place and putting yourself into his presence, asking him to join you there. Set aside your problems for a time and focus on God and his goodness, then intentionally offer your thanks.

God is enough reason to give thanks.

It’s easy to be thankful when things are going well. But when they’re not? “What do I have to be grateful for?” I hear the cry of the woman in the grocery store. Especially at those times, this Psalm helps. It puts our focus on God who is worthy of praise and thanks no matter what else is going on, before we even consider the blessings we can feel.

Meditate on Psalm 100 and notice all the things it says about God. That he made us and we are his. We belong to him as his people – this is a belonging of intimate knowledge and love. We are like the sheep of his pasture, each one precious to him. He is good. His love is steadfast (firm, unwavering). He is faithful now and always will be, forever.

Thanksgiving is a good time to count your blessings. But take some time, too, to give thanks for who God is. Allow the circumstances of your life to take second place, to dissolve before and within the love and care and glory that are God’s.

Make Psalm 100 your Thanksgiving prayer

Pray it again with me now … and may God fill your heart with joy as you bring him your gift of thanksgiving!

November 21, 2020

HANG ON TO HIS WORDS: JESUS IS COMING!

[An Advent Bible Reading plan]

Toward the end of Luke’s gospel, Jesus drives the merchants out of the temple and then goes there, every day, to teach. And all the while, the Jewish leaders look for a way to kill him — but they never get the chance. Why? “Because all the people were hanging on his words.”

“Hanging on his words.”

I love that! Do you ever “hang on” Jesus’ words? What if we all hung on his words so much that the powers-that-be could find no way to cancel him?

I was so struck by that phrase, I looked it up to see its origin in Greek. Turns out, it’s a very literal translation. Ekkremannumi means “to hang from, hang upon (the lips of a speaker), ie to listen closely.” When you “hang on” someone’s every word, you are totally absorbed in what they’re saying. Everything else falls away. Nothing else matters.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Do you ever “hang on” Jesus’ words?

This coming week, the week of Thanksgiving, is National Bible Week. It also leads us into Advent, which we will spend waiting—hanging suspended, in a sense—for the Word to come to us in the flesh. Most years, I focus on the events that lead us to the Incarnation. This year, I think I’ll “hang on his words” that prepare for his coming.

How to hang onto Jesus’ words

Each week, the Church gives us readings that guide our hearts and minds toward receiving the Lord in a new way at Christmas. Here’s how I’ll find the words to hang onto, in five simple steps:

I will listen each Sunday at mass to the Word proclaimed and reflected upon in the homily (the 1st and 2nd readings, the Psalm and the Gospel)
I will spend 10+ minutes a day, Monday through Thursday, in meditation and prayer on a different one of those readings each day.
I will ask the Lord to speak a word to me as I meditate, and I will make a point of returning to that word throughout the day.
I will return on Friday to the same set of readings, especially the 1st reading, the Psalm, and the Gospel, and listen intently.
I will thank Jesus for his word and ask him to plant it in my heart.

Every day, I will keep a journal of the words and truths and questions that strike me. I’ll ask the Lord to speak to me personally and prepare my heart like a manger, of sorts, to receive him in a new way at Christmas.

Please join me

Will you join me? Click on the graphic below to download a printable checklist to guide your reading.

You might also like …

Wake up to Advent with Two Bible Reading Plans: Check out these two other reading plans, based on the popular children’s “Jesse Tree” but meant for adults
The Bible: a Book for the Family: a series I wrote the year Pope Francis came to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, and re-posted for National Bible Week

An announcement for one of my posts for the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia

The post HANG ON TO HIS WORDS: JESUS IS COMING! appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat.

View more on Sarah Christmyer's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 21, 2020 09:32

November 15, 2020

PATIENCE: A VIRTUE WORTH PRACTICING

“Patience is a virtue . . . you get it from your kids.”

“God give me patience . . . and I want it now!”

We laugh about patience, joke about it even, but how many of us work at getting it? We treat it as though it’s something one is born with, and if we don’t have it – well, we don’t have it and that’s that.

“I have no patience with that man,” someone will say, as though he has no choice or it’s the other man’s fault.

James doesn’t see it that way. “Be patient,” he told Christians who were scattered in exile, living in a world that wasn’t kind to them. Just do it. Be it. He reminds me of my mother, who used to tell me when I was moping to “Be happy” – or go to my room until I could figure out how.

“Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

(James 5:7-8)

Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash

The Greek word translated “patience” in James 5 is makrothumia. “Longsuffering.” This is not the patience we normally think of, which involves tolerating rush-hour traffic or the antics of small children. Webster’s defines it first as “bearing or enduring pain, trouble, etc. without complaining or losing self-control; refusing to be provoked or angered…; forbearing; tolerant; … steady; diligent; persevering.”

There’s a lot of strength in patience.

Patience is important because there’s something precious to be won by practicing it. James gives an example from nature: a farmer plows a field, plants seed, does all he can to produce a harvest of precious grain or fruit. But all he can do is not enough. He must wait for the rains to come. In the fall, the early rains soften the ground for planting and start germination. In the spring, the late rains enable the fruit to mature.

The farmer can wait patiently because he knows those rains are going to come. We can wait patiently because we know the Lord will come and make things right. Injustice will be judged; the poor, afflicted, and righteous will be rewarded; pain will be changed for blessing. When he comes … and he will come.

Photo by Paz Arando on Unsplash

Patience is a choice we make, or perhaps it comes from a thousand little daily choices. Patience is a way of life. It may seem like a lost virtue, but it is worth striving for.

According to James, patient endurance leads to maturity and wholeness (1:4) and carries us toward the “crown of life” God promises to those who love him (1:12). It leads to happiness (5:11), which in the Bible means being endowed with every blessing.

I used to read a devotional book by Oswald Chambers called My Utmost for His Highest. In it, he has this to say about patience:

“Patience is more than endurance. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says–‘I cannot stand anymore.’ God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God’s hands. Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

Let’s strive to be patient.

No, let’s BE patient. May God give us the grace we need.

October 24, 2020

TRUST IN GOD & IN HIS POWER WITHIN US

The boy pushing the wheelchair stopped at the foot of the steps, unsure of how to navigate them. “There’s only three, I can do it,” said his brother, and carefully stood up from the chair to climb them himself.

“It’s a miracle! He can walk!” shouted the first boy. At which announcement, the whole cafeteria broke into cheers and applause—“Praise the Lord!” “Hallelujah!”—and an embarrassed youth minister ran to calm everyone down.

Photo by Victor Rodriguez on Unsplash

Years later, my sons (for they were the boys) still laugh at the joke. But the one who spent that weekend in a wheelchair speaks of the difference it made that they were at a Catholic conference and not in their public high school. The other kids may have known it wasn’t a miracle, but their wild cheering (and their questions later that day) said they knew it could happen. The Holy Spirit was present in that place, blowing doubt away and filling the air with possibility.

“Mom, it was so cool,” my son told me later: “just being with a bunch of Catholics together and trusting and knowing the reality of God.”

Do you trust and know the reality of God?

Do you see him behind the scenes, at work in your life?

Has he lifted you from your old way of “walking” according to your own whims and desires, to walk in his light, with his direction and strength?

I’m reminded of Saint Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians: “that according to the riches of [God’s] glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” The whole passage is worth spending time on (see Eph 3:14-21—or better yet, the whole letter!), but for now, just think of that one phrase. The thought that God, through his Spirit, can fill us with inner strength.

It’s so easy to feel like we can’t walk on our own. We can feel helpless, not up to the task, unable to do the things we’d like to do or should do. But the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to lift us up, to fill us “with all the fullness of God,” as Paul says.

Let’s join together in trusting and knowing the reality of God. Let’s start from the premise that GOD IS ABLE and then look for him to act. Let’s remind one another to trust in his power to give us inner strength. With Saint Paul, let us pray:

“…that according to the riches of [God’s] glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—

that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

—Ephesians 3:16-21 (ESV-CE; emphasis mine)

October 13, 2020

PRAYER IN DESPERATE TIMES

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. Would you consider prayer a desperate measure?”

I wasn’t expecting that question at the start of this interview on “prayer in desperate times”! Ben Akers, who is Director of Formed at the Augustine Institute in Denver, invited me to talk on Formed Now! about how the Psalms teach us to pray when times are rough. The idea came from my little guided journal, Lord, Make Haste to Help Me! Seven Psalms to Pray in Time of Need.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure what I would do without the Psalms. They have a way of meeting me right where I am; of gathering up my wayward thoughts and focusing them where they should be: toward the God who loves me, who is there to help.

Listen in as as Ben and I talk about how to pray in the bad times, and how the Psalms can help.

Ben Akers interviews Sarah Christmyer on Formed Now!

Ben Akers interviews Sarah Christmyer on the value of prayer in desperate times on Formed Now!

Watch the video here

RELATED POSTS

Learn how Psalm 13 teaches us to move from plight … to praise
Seven reasons to rejoice when things go wrong
Giving thanks in good times and in bad
Reasons for hope during COVID-19

Available here from Amazon.com

The post PRAYER IN DESPERATE TIMES appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat.

View more on Sarah Christmyer's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on October 13, 2020 12:14

October 2, 2020

HAVE FAITH IN THE FIRE: Take a Lesson from Job

“Hope in God.”

“Have Faith.”

“Hang in there — God’s got this!”

For real? Are these phrases (which I hear so often now, with so much distress in the streets) — are these pious phrases just “opium for the masses,” as Karl Marx famously declared of religion?

When I can’t get a break; when my child is sick and may never get well; when fear of COVID means I can’t work and the piggy-bank’s empty: does it do any good to hope in God? Has he really “got this”?

Can you have faith when you’re in the fire?

Ask Job, if things are really bad for you right now. Job was like today’s model Christian, who goes to church every Sunday and then some; who tithes religiously and raises children in the faith; who carries a Rosary so as to make good use of down-time; who gives to the poor and follows the Ten Commandments.

Image by massaoud el allaoui from Pixabay.

God was proud of Job. He even praised him to Satan! Job, the model God-fearer.

Satan was not impressed.

Of course Job’s all that! he said to God. You’ve given him more than any man could ask for! Everything he does turns to gold. The man’s impervious to harm, thanks to you. Who wouldn’t follow you then?

So God let Satan take it all away.

Who is our God?

What kind of a God does that? Is this a God to trust? The only way to know is to read the book to the end. God knows Job better than Satan does. He permits Satan to try Job. And as a result, Job’s faith was strengthened and proved to be true.

Think about gold: it’s valuable in itself, but it takes fire to get out the impurities so it can shine. Similarly, Job was “blameless and upright.” Everything about him looked good. But that didn’t mean he was sinless. It didn’t mean he was perfect. It didn’t even mean he really knew God. In the terrible fire Job went through, those things came to light. Listen to his last words in the book, which he says to God: I had heard of you with my ears, but now I’ve seen you with my own eyes. I take back what I said; I repent in dust and ashes (see Job 42:5-6).

As terrible as all the things were that Job suffered, they may have saved him from being what Satan accused him of being: someone whose faith was only skin deep, who followed God only because he was materially blessed. Satan wanted to strip that away so he could expose Job for a sham. Instead, the fire he sent served to bring out the gold. By the end of his ordeal (read Job 42):

Job has become a man who knows God personally. He has seen him, not just heard about him.
Job has become a man who knows himself and who he is before God. Gone is the false confidence that wealth brings. Gone is any false pride, replaced by the strength of humility.
Job has become a man who looks beyond his own needs and prays for his friends.

Not only that — and perhaps because of all three of those things — God has restored to Job double what he’d had in the past, blessed him with long life and many children (including three daughters who are named and who are given inheritance along with their brothers). Job is truly blessed, above and beyond anything he’d experienced before. More than his possessions are restored. Job is restored.

have faith when you're in the fire. Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

Background image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay (cropped)

Who is our God?

Our God is the God who lifts up the lowly from the ash-heap, who fills the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty (see Luke 1:52-53).

Our God is the God who loves us as his children. Who wants the best for us (the ultimate best, not the good-enough-for-show kind of best; he is restoring his image in us!). Who will, therefore. allow Satan to test us. But who limits the power of the devil. God won’t allow us to be tested beyond our strength:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful,

and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength,

but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape,

that you may be able to endure it.

(1 Corinthians 10:13)

Our God is the God who rewards those who seek diligently for him (see Hebrews 11:6).

Our God is the God who loves us to the death — to his death, in his Son.

So:

“Hope in God.”

“Have Faith.”

“Hang in there — God’s got this!”

It might not seem like it at a particular moment, but in light of eternity, he does “have this” situation of yours. He has you written in the palm of his hand. He will never forget you. (Don’t believe it? Read Isaiah 49:15-16).

Have faith!

Ask for the faith of Job. When he was really questioning his situation and all his friends had turned against him, he wrote this:

Oh, would that my words were written down!

Would that they were inscribed in a record:

That with an iron chisel and with lead

they were cut in the rock forever!

As for me, I know that my vindicator lives,

and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust.

This will happen when my skin has been stripped off,

and from my flesh I will see God:

I will see for myself,

my own eyes, not another’s, will behold him:

my inmost being is consumed with longing. (Job 19:23-27, NABRE)

When you don’t understand the fire blazing around you, allow your inmost being to be consumed with longing for God.

Hope in Him who loves you, who has a good plan to make you even better and to bless you, who loves you forever. No matter what.

Trust him. Have faith. God’s got this! He has you in the palm of his hand.

@ 2020 Sarah Christmyer

September 18, 2020

ROSH HASHANAH, A CALL TO REPENTANCE

I’ve heard it said that the shofar (ram’s horn trumpet), with its curving shape, represents the way a repentant heart “bends” before the Lord in supplication.

When it’s blown, it has a unique sound that can trumpet victory or a mournful wail. In the liturgy of Rosh Hashanah, today’s Jewish “Feast of Trumpets,” three types of blasts make up the 100 that are blown. Together they remind the Lord’s people of his faithfulness; they also ring in the new year and yearn for the future coming of the Messiah.

Shofar in Rosh Hashanah. Photo by MinoZig. Source: Wikipedia Commons.

Rosh Hashanah kicks off ten days of self-reflection and prayer that culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. As Catholics, we find atonement in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But we share with the Jews an understanding of the burden of sin and the need for repentance. We both look for new life to the One God, who reveals himself through his Word. Like them, we examine our consciences and bend our hearts in sorrow before him. We, too, trust in the mercy of God.

God’s mercy is always available

Some people believe there is a different God portrayed in the Old and New Testaments. They think (wrongly) that mercy shines only with the coming of Jesus, whereas God before Christ did nothing but judge. Rosh Hashanah provides a beautiful reminder that God has always been merciful. In fact, it reminds us that God is not only merciful, he IS mercy, to the core. Every day during this season, special prayers of repentance (“selichot”) are said that focus on the “Thirteen Attributes” of God. They are drawn from the way God described himself when Moses pled for mercy on Israel’s behalf after they rebelled by worshiping the golden calf:

The LORD passed before [Moses], and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, The LORD [that is, I AM, I AM], a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin….” —Exodus 34:6-7a

Those words are worth reading slowly. Allow them to sink in. This is what God IS! The Lord’s patience and steadfast love are on display not only then, in forgiving Israel when it rejected him, but throughout the history of Israel. And his patience and steadfast love are available to us today. God is the same now as he ever has been! (See Hebrews 13:8.)

Learn more here about “The 13 Attributes”

Spend time in the Word

In the spirit of Rosh Hashanah, I offer the following Scriptures for reflection, from the Old and New Testaments both. Look them up in your Bible to get the context. Take one to prayer with an examination of conscience, and take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. God longs to forgive you. Turn to him!

2 Chronicles 7:14 — “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 30:9 — “For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”
Acts 3:19 — “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,”
1 John 1:9 — “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
2 Peter 3:9 — “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

We all need the refreshment and new start that comes with true repentance and divine mercy. Join me in wishing our Jewish brothers and sisters a Happy New Year. And may their celebration serve as a reminder to us to examine our hearts and bend them before the Lord who forgives us and brings us new life.

+ + + + + + +

Read Nostra Aetate (“In Our Times”), the Vatican II document that opened up Catholic-Jewish relations more than 50 years ago. “In her task of promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship” (NA, 1)

+ + + + + + +

Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Catholic Edition now available from The Augustine Institute.

The post ROSH HASHANAH, A CALL TO REPENTANCE appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat.

View more on Sarah Christmyer's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on September 18, 2020 14:01

August 27, 2020

THE POWER OF PERSISTENT PRAYER: ST. MONICA

“Pray without ceasing,” St. Paul urged his fellow Christians in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Today we honor a woman who did just that: St. Monica, who prayed through years of tears and against all odds for her pagan husband and wayward son.

That son, who became Saint Augustine, later wrote gratefully of his mother: “She said little, preached not at all, loved deeply, prayed without ceasing.”

Prayer allows us to invite God into not just our own brokenness but also into the brokenness of others, to do his healing work. Saint Monica stands as proof of the power of love and tears and above all persistence in prayer.

Portrait of Saint Monica by Spanish painter Luis Tristán (1586-1624). Image from Wikimedia Commons.

In honor of her feast day today (and St. Augustine’s tomorrow), I offer this reflection on St. Monica in hopes it will encourage other parents to persist in prayer. It is excerpted from Becoming Women of the Word: How to Answer God’s Call with Purpose and Joy with permission of Ave Maria Press, the publisher:

When I was still a fairly new Catholic, a friend gave me a medal with an image of St. Monica imprinted on one side and St. Augustine on the other. She thought it suited me as a Bible teacher-scholar and mother of boys. Today I wear it frequently, together with medals of St. Helena, “seeker of the true cross,” and St. Walburga, missionary and patron saint of authors. I look to their example and ask their intercession related to the three most important things in my life: my family, both biological and spiritual; my growth in faith; and my teaching and speaking and writing.

For a long time, though, the St. Monica/St. Augustine medal lay untouched in my jewelry box. I’d spent thirty years as a Protestant suspicious of things like medals because of my misunderstanding of Catholic devotion to the saints. Although I’d come to accept the truth of Catholic teaching, asking saints to pray wasn’t something that came naturally to me. And as much as I appreciated the gift, I couldn’t bring myself to wear the medal.

Until, that is, I got to know St. Monica.

Mark and I had been praying hard for one of our children, who had gotten tangled up with some bad friends and questionable activities. It was like we were watching a train barreling forward on a broken track: unless something changed, there could only be disaster ahead. I went for advice to a wise woman I knew whose children were grown. “I always ask St. Monica to pray for my kids,” she said, “and to pray for me, too—that I’ll stay strong and keep praying.” I’d never thought to ask a saint to pray. “What else is St. Monica doing up there,” my friend continued, “besides worshiping God and praying for people like us? You should ask her.”

I knew that Monica had prayed for decades for her profligate son, who ended up becoming a brilliant spokesman for the faith and a Doctor of the Church. Now I started reading up on her, figuring it would be easier to approach someone I knew something about. I learned that she developed a secret passion for wine when she was a young girl, but when a family slave called her out on it, she was so ashamed, she never touched a drop again (which is why people who struggle with addictions seek her prayers, as well.) While she was still young, Monica was married off to a pagan man with a violent temper who was critical of her faith. She met his rage with patient kindness and by the end of his life, won him over to Christianity.

Monica’s brilliant son Augustine drove her to her knees because of his loose lifestyle and his love of Manicheism, a dualistic heresy that sees (instead of one almighty God) conflicting worlds of good spirit and evil matter. Augustine challenged his mother to give up her faith to overcome the split between them, but she insisted that he was the one who was out of line. The more he strayed, the more she prayed and fasted and cried on his behalf. When she followed him to Rome, afraid he would never convert, he eluded her and moved to Milan, where he met St. Ambrose, under whose influence he eventually entered the Church. It was an answer to decades of his mother’s prayers.

‘Wow’, I thought. ‘Here’s a woman who understands not only the broken-hearted mom but also the wayward kid. She’s had troubles of her own to battle. She’s not some self-righteous fanatic, she’s real.’ What really impressed me was that she didn’t wear her worry on her sleeve, moaning and nagging at her son. She took her tears to God and left them in his care; and she never stopped praying. I want to be like that.

Monica makes me think of Hannah in the Old Testament, whose tears and prayers caught the attention of the Lord long before there was a Monica or an Augustine. The Lord answered her request by sending her a son: the great judge and prophet Samuel. Like Monica, Hannah is known for her prayers; like Monica, her prayers contributed to the raising of a faithful, holy son. May their examples encourage us to redouble our prayers for the children in our care and for those who have no one to pray for them.

(The above excerpt introduces the chapter on “Hannah: God Listens to Our Prayers” in Becoming Women of the Word, pgs. 91-93. More information can be found here.)

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

Saint Monica, pray for us!

Make a spiritual pilgrimage through the Old Testament and take some friends along!
In “Becoming Women of the Word,” you will walk alongside women of the Old Testament who pave the way for Mary. Learn how Eve picks up again after the Fall … how Sarah trusts in the impossible … how rival sisters Leah and Rachel cope with unmet longing. Find a soul sister in Miriam or Rahab, Deborah or Ruth. Learn to pray with Hannah; from Esther learn to act boldly when you’re afraid. And from Judith – well, you’ll need to read to find out. Available from Ave Maria Press, your favorite Catholic bookstore, or from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

The post THE POWER OF PERSISTENT PRAYER: ST. MONICA appeared first on Come Into The Word with Sarah Christmyer | Bible Study | Lectio Divina | Journals | Retreat.

View more on Sarah Christmyer's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 27, 2020 12:49

July 17, 2020

WHEN THERE’S NOT ENOUGH OF YOU TO GO AROUND

Sometimes there’s not enough of me to go around.

The kids need help. A loved one dies. The dryer breaks, or the car. Taxes are due and a deadline zooms and no, I can’t possibly help you today. My own needs are too great … I’m stretched as far as I can go.

Sometimes there’s not enough of me for you.

What would Jesus do?

I feel like Jesus must have felt when he set off for a lonely place to grieve after John the Baptist was killed. He’d just lost a dear friend and cousin. He needed that time alone. But crowds of people followed, begging for his help, and his compassion was so great that he set aside his needs to tend to theirs.

Could I do that? I’m not so sure. My need tends to overwhelm compassion. I relate better to the disciples who were with Jesus, who told him to call it day and send the people away (see Matthew 14:15).

Jesus, however, used that clamoring need to teach his disciples a lesson: “They don’t have to go away,” he said. “Take care of them.”

“But….”

“Bring me what you have.”

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay.

You know what he did: he took their meager dinner, held it up to heaven, blessed it – and then broke it up. Again and again he tore the loaves and cut the fish and by the end, an enormous crowd was fed and there was more left over than they had at the start.

Not enough was more than they needed!

Think of that: in the breaking, there was increase.

After breaking, there was more.

Am I willing to put my meager, insufficient self in Jesus’s hands? I want to hold myself together; to stand up whole and self-sufficient and solve the needs around me. I don’t want to break and I don’t want you to see me broken.

But it was from those broken pieces that Jesus fed the crowds. Nothing was lost in the end, but more was left. “And all were satisfied”!

With Jesus, broken pieces feed and heal

Hear what God says in Isaiah 58:10:

If you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness

and your gloom be as the noonday.

Lord, I give you the inadequate pieces of my life. Thank you for what you have given me! Please take my broken pieces in your compassionate hands and help me respond to the needs around me.

This post was originally published January 9, 2015. It was revised July 17, 2020.

Sarah Christmyer's Blog

Sarah Christmyer's profile
13 followers