February 20, 2019
Winter - 2
Dear Friends,
Sometimes it feels as if winter will never end.
On some days we may feel that the cold and darkness of winter are all that there is.
Obviously, our experience with the seasons of nature tell us that this is not so.
We know that spring will eventually come.
We may not sense this in winter, but nature is actually being restored.
Because of winter, we have a spring of life and beauty and color.
The same can be true of the personal winters in our lives.
We may feel that they will never end.
We may think that this is all there really is and will be.
But, my faith tells me that we just need to stay with it and look harder.
There is, even in our spiritual winters, the promise of spring, of new life.
There is something even in our winters that is preparing us for this.
I do not always find this easy to believe or accept.
But, my faith tells me that it is so
and even my experience with some personal winters affirm this.
“Winter is not an end but a transition. The abundant and unstoppable life of spring is due to break forth; a new beginning is coming…Winter is a time to diligently and faithfully store up his word in my spirit, drink deeply of his goodness and mercy, and keep the fires of hope alive in my heart. It is a time to stop and reflect on how my life is different because I am God's child, to consider what is most important in my life with him…”
From Winter, A Season To Be Still & Wait by Sally Clarkson (Wife, mother, author, speaker, founder of Whole Heart Ministries).
[For more reflection on Winter, see the Inbox Inspirations for last week, February 13, 2019.]
May God inspire us to fix our hearts on that which lasts forever. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner
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February 13, 2019
Winter - 1
Dear Friends,
These winter months have led me to reflect on what this season can mean for us.
It is cold outside (at least for us in the north).
That’s why we stay inside.
This staying inside physically beckons us to go inside spiritually.
It calls us to look within, to be in touch:
with who we really are, with what we are really doing,
with where we are really going, with what we really think,
with what we are really feeling, with whom we really love,
with what we really believe, and with God who is inside, within us.
So, winter leads us to go inside, to go within a bit.
In truth, maybe it reminds us that this going inside is to be part of life
in every season of the year.
Our doing this will help us to live from within, to live authentically,
to live in a way that is true to ourselves as persons
and true to God who has given us this winter season.
“Winter is a season for reflection, a time we are waiting amidst snow and storms for the coming of spring. But still we must wait for a long season ahead. For all the darkness I may associate with winter, I have discovered that the winter seasons of my life can also be times of peace and even quiet rest...A winter season can force me to slow down, reflect on life, wait on God, and trust him. It can seem that everything is dead in winter, that nothing is happening, but that is never true. Under the surface of the winter snows there is always the continuation of life — roots are growing deeper, sap is being stored, energy is being conserved. Winter is not an end but a transition.”
From Winter, A Season To Be Still & Wait by Sally Clarkson (Wife, mother, author, speaker, founder of Whole Heart Ministries).
[For more reflection on Winter, see the Inbox Inspirations for next week, February 20, 2019.]
May God inspire us to fix our hearts on that which lasts forever. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner
Grace before Meals
Dear Friends,
A prayer before meals – we call it Grace – has real value for us.
Our Grace before meals is first a way of thanking God.
We thank God for our food and recognize that it is a gift – a grace – from God.
Besides this thankfulness, we also ask God’s blessing.
We ask God to bless this food and, through it, bless us:
may God and this meal transform us more and more into his likeness.
All of this is the meaning of our traditional Catholic Grace before Meals:
“Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. “
Sometimes it is helpful to have variety in our Grace before Meals.
For example, we might just pray in our own heartfelt words.
Or we might try a Grace composed by another.
Below is an example of an alternative Grace.
“We give you praise, Lord God, king of the universe:
you have sent your beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
to fill us with grace and truth.
Bless our meal,
those who have prepared it,
and those with whom we share it.
May the love which gathers us here
become our gift to all in need,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
From Give Us This Day by Fr. Michael Kwatera. (1950—. Benedictine priest. Director of Liturgy for Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.)
May God nourish our faith and hope and energize us for living in the love of Christ. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner
