John Janaro's Blog, page 73

Martha’s “Need” … and Ours

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing” (Luke 10:42). The Gospel reading for this Sunday was a subject for meditation at the 2022 International Spiritual Exercises of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, presented by Abbot Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori (currently Abbot General of the Cistercian Order). Abbot Mauro reflected on this decisive exchange between Jesus and Martha, and what He means in saying that “there is need of only one thing”:

“This is the word that Jesus wanted to penetrate into her heart so that she might meditate on it and assimilate it, so that it could do her good, do good in her life, heal it, save it, unify it from its fragmentation. The meaning of this message is not a bit of psychological or spiritual hygiene, or an invitation to commit herself to bringing order into her life, starting by getting her bad character under control. The meaning of this word is Christ Himself, the meaning of Christ for Martha, the gift of Christ for Martha, which is already a shared gift even before Martha becomes aware of it. 

“The meaning of this message is that only Jesus responds to the fundamental desire of the heart and of life: the desire for unity, the desire to find a meaning that holds everything together, that keeps us all together, that saves communion, a unity that embraces everything and everyone, in which we feel embraced by everything and everyone, embraced by the everything in everything and everyone that is God, that is the Father, that is Christ, Christ who is the incarnation of the mercy of the Father and thus the incarnation of the embrace of the good Father, the one who welcomes back with infinite joy the prodigal son who returns to Him. 

“Only one thing is necessary, ‘There is need of only one thing.’ 

“Jesus offered Martha this word that puts everything back together again in the one thing needed, which is Jesus Himself, as a gift already present and shared, as a gift that He gives to everyone.”

Slowing Down For Summer

The “Big Event” for Summer 2022 has been accomplished. Lucia and Mike arrived in Spain today to begin their honeymoon. The hot, humid, overgrown, buggy days of late July and August are approaching.

I will have to slow down. I’m very tired. I shall continue to post here as much as I am able. I may need more time than usual to recuperate. These days have been intense and full of complicated emotions underlying the overwhelmingly predominant joy.

It has been a great gift to participate in these days.

Now, we move forward in life, with gratitude to the Lord for everything, following Jesus (or at least seeking to follow Him, wanting to follow Him even though we still so often get lost), calling on the Holy Spirit to be our strength.

Veni Sancte Spiritus / Veni Per Mariam.

Bonaventure Seeks God With “Sighs of Prayer”

“A person should turn his full attention [to Christ],

“to this throne of mercy,and should gaze at Him hanging on the cross,full of faith, hope and charity,devoted, full of wonder and joy,marked by gratitude,and open to praise and jubilation.

“He will experience,as much as is possible for one who is still living,what was promised to the thief who hung beside Christ:‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’

“This is a sacred mystical experience.It cannot be comprehended by anyoneunless he surrenders himself to it;nor can he surrender himself to it unless he longs for it;nor can he long for it unless the Holy Spirit,whom Christ sent into the world,should come and inflame his innermost soul.Hence the Apostle says that this mystical wisdomis revealed by the Holy Spirit.

“If you ask how such things can occur,seek the answer in God’s grace, not in doctrine;in the longing of the will, not in the understanding;in the sighs of prayer, not in research;seek the bridegroom not the teacher;God and not man;darkness not daylight;and look not to the light but ratherto the raging fire that carries the soul to Godwith intense fervor and glowing love.The fire is God, and the furnace is in Jerusalem,fired by Christ in the ardor of His loving passion.Only he understood this who said:‘My soul chose hanging and my bones death.’Anyone who cherishes this kind of death can see God,for it is certainly true that:‘No man can look upon me and live.’
“Let us die, then, and enter into the darkness....Let us pass over with the crucified Christfrom this world to the Fatherso that, when the Father has shown himself to us,we can say with Philip: ‘It is enough.’We may hear with Paul: ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’And we can rejoice with David, saying:‘My flesh and my heart fail me,but God is the strength of my heartand my heritage for ever.’ ”
~Saint Bonaventure (1217-1274)from The Journey of the Mind to God, ch. 7

Pictures From a Wedding

Introducing… the NEWLYWEDS:

The wedding of Lucia Janaro and Michael Rego was a wonderful event which we all enjoyed. With travel restrictions lifted everywhere this Summer, Eileen’s parents visited from California for a week, Mike’s extended family came from New Jersey, and friends from all around were in attendance.

Maria got a birthday cake at the reception, and then her own birthday party the next day. Lots of pictures were taken and shared, and I’m too exhausted from all of it to write anything now.

So it’s “picture time”!

Above is the most recent and most complete “Janaro-Family-Plus-Spouses-Plus-Granddaughter” photo. We are all here, and Maria looks like she’s enraptured by Aunt Lucia’s beautiful wedding dress.😉



Of course, a little princess also came to the ball…


Yay, Aunt Lucia! (No, you can’t have any beer.😉)


Maria's happy: "I have my own cake for my birthday!"


The “Elders” - Happy Dad, Happy Uncle.


Dad gives - believe it or not - a “brief” toast…


…and dances with the bride!


Cake and kisses.😘 
May God give you many happy years!

Rehearsal Day

We had the rehearsal and the dinner, and everything is set to go.

At some point there will be wedding pictures, and a wedding blog post. It may take some time for me to get to it. Meanwhile, here is the picture from their engagement last year, during their semester in Rome. (Rome has been good for my kids, as it was for us a generation ago.) And some peeks from today.

Rehearsal is always fun. Butterflies will come tomorrow.😉

Marriages, Funerals, Births, Marriages…

Ah, the “cycle of life”! It’s a vivid experience for us at this time of year.

If I am even more inaccessible than usual in the digital world, it is because we are full in these days of memories, sorrows, joys, events, celebrations, expectations, and longings.

You have seen on this blog (or other media) old wedding pictures, new tombstones, cute babies, young adults, and silver-bearded “elders” (or near enough - this is the state of life that I seem to be approaching). Our wedding anniversary (June 22), my mother’s death (July 3, 2021), and Maria’s FIRST birthday (coming up July 9) are among the markers of the Summer. Maria will have a birthday party, but it will be on July 10. On this July 9, we will celebrate a wedding.

Our third child and second daughter Lucia is getting married to Michael Rego this Saturday! We are very happy and grateful. We know Mike well; they have been dating through most of their time in university, and engaged since last year. Because Lucia lived at home most of this time, we have seen Mike a lot. They are a very sweet young couple, and well suited to each other. We have also enjoyed numerous gatherings already with Mike’s parents and family, who are wonderful people.

It’s a joyful time! My emotions? Well, one of my “baby girls” is getting married. Wow! She is joining her life to a fine young man, and they will be united in Christ through the Sacrament of Matrimony, which I know (from experience) is a fountain of graces, of unity, of healing, of power that sustains couples through every trial and weakness. He will always be present for them, and will sustain them and deepen their relationship, inviting them to trust in Him, turn to Him, and remember Him every day.

Emotions can be like the weather, I am beginning to realize. They change a lot, they can be complicated, but there is beauty deep down in every sky, in every season. The storms even have beauty because Jesus is with us in the midst of them. In the sunny times, the joys, the wedding feasts, He is “the good wine” - the superabundance that brings tranquility and hope.

Our partings and comings and celebrations, our growing, our eating and drinking, living and dying, are in His Heart, for His glory, with the promise of His fullness.

Daisies of July

July brings these daisies, which I have attempted to render in digital art. So much happens, or is remembered in this month, it seems. So many breezes waft across the petals of the Daisies of Summer.

Daisies of Summer

July brings these daisies, which I have attempted to render in digital art. So much happens, or is remembered in this month, it seems. So many breezes waft across the petals of the Daisies of Summer.

Happy Birthday, U.S.A.

HAPPY 246th BIRTHDAY TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

I hope for my country a ’renewal of the spirit of cooperation’ in which we ’resolve to support one another’ in our difficulties and responsibilities.“To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject....The challenges facing us today call for a renewal of that spirit of cooperation, which has accomplished so much good throughout the history of the United States. The complexity, the gravity and the urgency of these challenges demand that we pool our resources and talents, and resolve to support one another" (Pope Francis, to the U.S. Congress, Sept. 14, 2015).

One Year Anniversary of My Mother’s Death

Sunday, July 3rd, marked one year since my Mom passed away. I have put together a collage in her honor, which shows glimpses of her (some with my Dad +2019) over the course of five decades. I’m working to restore the old photographs as best as I can, but it remains a work-in-progress. 

A group of us also went to the cemetery in Winchester. I saw the recently finished (and very basic) headstone, finally, with Mom’s name carved next to my Dad, who was her husband for nearly 60 years.

May the Lord grant them both eternal rest and glory with Jesus His Son. I miss them, and I think of them and pray for them every day.