END IT: Shine a Light on Slavery

In July 2011, Franciscans joined together at the Franciscan Federation's annual conference and made a commitment to help end human trafficking, provide healing for the victims, and prosecution for the perpetrators. I wrote a blog entry about it the following February: Slavery Has Not Ended. It Just Has a Different Name.

 I am proud to stay that this commitment still stands today! In fact, in our Community we were asked to pray a special evening prayer for this intention on the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita. As always, we are educated about human trafficking and are asked to pay attention to any warning signs of it in our daily lives.

Human trafficking is a major problem, and the more people who have taken the time to read about it, the more lives we can save. Many times people who trafficked are hidden in plain sight. We can help give them freedom!

Lent begins this coming Wednesday. As many of you know, we are called to pray, give alms, and fast. Many times, when we think of fasting, we think of restricting our food intake. Yet the Lord calls us to a deeper form of fasting, one that requires a greater commitment:

Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke? -Isaiah 58:6, NAB

Let us pray for all those affected by human trafficking.
Let us give alms to organizations working to end human trafficking, provide healing for victims, and punishment for the perpetrators.
Let us fast from something we'd prefer to do and instead take time to educate ourselves about human trafficking so that we can save lives.

If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely listen to their cry. - Exodus 22:23, NAB

Forgive Them Anyway

There is cause for rejoicing here. You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials; but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness lead to praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ appears. Although you have never seen him, you love him, and without seeing you now believe in him, and rejoice with inexpressible joy touched with glory because you are achieving faith's goal, your salvation. - 1 Peter 1: 6-9, ICEL

As a member of the choir in our parish, I am able to attend both Mass times. It affords me the opportunity to hear the homily twice and let it really sink in. This weekend, Father Arnel talked about an aspect of forgiveness that I had never really pondered before. He said that many times people get away with doing terrible things during their lives here on earth, but they will have to face Divine Justice:

Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. - Romans 12: 19, NAB

Justice is one of the cardinal virtues and it means giving everyone their due. God is not a pushover. He made that very clear when he overturned the tables of the money-changers in the Temple. Our God is a God of love, and part of love is protecting the beloved. If we have been hurt, He finds a way to not only make things right but make them better than they have ever been before.

Knowing this certainly makes it easier to let go of our grudges and offer them up to God. Truthfully, as long as we have stood up for ourselves, there isn't much more that we can do. Some people will never experience remorse for what they've done and will find a way to blame the victim. Others will deny everything and try to get other people to think that the victim is a liar. We can always remember that the truth wins out in the end.

Forgiveness doesn't excuse their behavior. Forgiveness prevents their behavior from destroying your heart. - Unknown

By offering our wounds to the Lord and allowing His grace of forgiveness to wash over us, we can be truly free. After all, what is better "revenge" than letting our enemies see that we are still standing? That we didn't just survive but we are thriving?

I was pondering this when the following song started playing on one of my Pandora stations:



Grieving is very important, because if we don't take time to grieve we are left with a false sense of happiness. However even in the midst of darkness we can see the light and the hope from this light is an aid for forgiveness, true freedom, and perfect joy.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. - Philippians 4:8, NRSV

What? You can't have pets?!

This is an exclamation I hear frequently from young women discerning our Community. I can understand this. I know the healing power that having a pet provides. Dogs have a lot to teach us about unconditional love and loyalty. Cats, well...they are entertaining at least. So I get it and I empathize.

The next question that usually follows is, "But aren't you Franciscan? Didn't Saint Francis have a love for animals?" Yes and yes. Actually, it's our love for animals that keeps us from having them as pets. With our schedule of being gone most of the summers, and we never know when we as individual Sisters will move from one mission to the next, it is not fair to the animals to have so many frequent changes in their lives. Stability is a basic need.

It can be sad at times. I had a student last year who had a litter of puppies and offered me one. He knew the convent would be a good safe home for one of them. I had to decline. However, God cannot be outdone in generosity! He finds a way to meet our needs, both great and small. Going back to cats. Our neighbors' cats have adopted us. They probably think that we feed them mice. We find our feline friends all over our yard and garage and occasionally they try to get inside our home.

I wrote about one of the cats in a previous entry: The Queen of the Cul-de-sac. Tonight I had another visit from one of the cats....

I decided it would be fun to plant a pineapple. We heard from a friend of ours that it isn't necessary to put the pineapple in water for the roots to form, but the scientist in me wanted to see what pineapple roots looked like.

I planted the pineapple next to the one Sister Verone had planted. While I was working, this cat came right up to me, totally unafraid. She was curious about what I was doing. Finally she went behind some plants to watch. It was amazing how comfortable she was with me!

Here's hoping! They say it takes a good two years for pineapples to grow. They grow from the ground. I'm not sure that they'll survive the dry summer, but we could be in for a nice surprise come this time next year.

Just passing through....

It is ridiculously early. I am at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). After writing this, I'm going to find some breakfast. I'm looking forward to it. I love breakfast. Nothing was open yet when we arrived an hour ago. No one here looks awake yet, either, but I may be projecting my sleep deprivation on my fellow travelers. Then again, I just heard a small child say to her mom, "Here, Sleeping Beauty!"

I am on my way to the Motherhouse for our Initial Formation Weekend. It's like a mini-retreat combined with a chance to reconnect with each other. The topic is "Contemplative Prayer," and I can't wait!

Aw...said child is playing "house." She's getting her mom some spicy chicken. She's so cute!

I am thinking of my students now. I hope they and our sub have a good couple of days. I left more than enough for them to do. It was kind of hard to leave them. They gave me a group hug before I left and I had to very carefully keep my balance! If I could figure out how to box some snow to bring back, I would.

I have nothing deep to write today. Breakfast is calling.

Countdown to....7pm?

As the year draws to a close, a lot of people are sharing New Years Resolutions. One of mine is to write in this blog two times a month. (I know, it's about time right?!) Don't worry, I do enjoy blogging, I just haven't made time for it in the midst of everything else. It's going to be higher on my list of priorities in this new year. The other is to read the Bible in a year through this book:

http://www.amazon.com/My-Daily-Catholic-Bible-20-Minute/dp/1592761445

I had started to read this last July with the intent of completing the Bible this July but then I kept thinking it would be cool to have it be a 2014 thing.

 Having studied scripture under the direction of Sister Mary Ann Spanjers, as well as the books of Daniel and Revelation under Fr. Jean-Pierre Ruiz, I am looking forward to it. I wouldn't call the readings "20-Minutes" unless you can read and reflect fast, but it does break the Bible into more manageable sections.

Tonight we are each preparing hors d'oeuvres, or pupus in Hawaiian. My goodness, pupus is much easier to spell! Thanks to the time-zone differences, we can watch the ball drop in Time Square at 7pm and still go to bed early. No worries, I will still at least hear the arrival of the New Year. It's a tradition around here to let off fireworks at midnight. I'm a heavy sleeper but even I woke up at the sound of it last year! This year I might stumble outside for a second. We shall see. I'm not as motivated when I'm half-asleep as anyone who has tried waking me up can attest. 

May you have a wonderful New Years and a blessed solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Oh, that reminds me...last year I thought it would be fun to teach my 3rd/4th graders what "Theotokos" meant. I wonder if any of them still remember. :) 

Spontaneous Star Gazing

Last night we had a power outage. Sadly, I learned at school today that a car had hit a power line. I hope and pray that they are okay. I was blissfully unaware of this last night. In fact, I was enjoying the lack of power. Everything was dark and I was amazed at the number of visible stars in the sky! 

I decided to spend my hour of personal prayer laying on our picnic table and gazing up at the stars. (I have a healthy fear of centipedes.) It was incredible! I saw some meteors, including one really spectacular one that seemed to travel further than the others. I was in awe of God and the stars seemed to be in awe of Him, too.

I kept thinking of a line from my favorite poem, i carry your heart with me [i carry it in]: "and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart" - E.E. Cummings. How the Lord holds and enfolds the universe!

Then at the Children's Mass today, we sang a praise and worship song called Just Like You by Matt Maher. I had never heard it before but it sums up my prayer experience under the stars. It's amazing how God works like that. You can read the lyrics to Just Like You by clicking here.

***

In my previous entry, I wrote that my students planned how we would decorate our door for the annual door decorating contest:

 There is a zombie and he is trying to break into a car. Inside the car is a man eating cheeseburgers. On the roof is a Frankenstein head with spider legs. 

 (I had forgotten that they also wanted a ghost above the scene, and for the vehicle to be a truck, not a car.)

The following picture is the result. Note that the work I did was minimal and a lot of it consisted of printing out pictures that the students copied through free-draw. Since we used construction paper, it was impossible for them to trace the pictures. Other than that I only drew a few things myself. They did most of the work and drawings/cut-outs and I am so proud of them!

Our Halloween Door! Just in case you are wondering, Frankenstein is saying, "I'm your worst nightmare!" Notice the bag to the left of it. One of my students sewed it for her friend, including the pocket, which she said was the hardest part. I'm jealous of an eight-year-old who can already sew. Just saying.

God bless you and your week.

Family, Ministry, Community and Prayer

Family.

I recently said aloha to my Grandma Beechnau. She died just over a week ago. I really don't know what to say about her. Nothing really describes her well. She's just...Grandma. She had vascular dementia and she had been suffering for long time so her death was bittersweet. I am so grateful that I had wonderful visits with her while on home visits. Sister Julie Ann and Sister Mary Ann even got to meet her and they loved her.

Vascular dementia is caused by strokes and this affected her speech. For some reason though, whenever she made a joke, her speech was clear. She never lost her sense of humor. 

She would go back and forth between remembering family members and not remembering them. I have been blessed in that in every interaction I've had with her she either remembered me or still made me feel remembered. 

When my Grandpa Beechnau had died, my cousins and I didn't understand where Grandpa had gone. It was explained to us that he was feeding the birds with St. Francis (his best friend). Now I have an image of the three of them feeding the birds together. Except Grandma's paying more attention to the flowers. 

Ministry.

In other news, we have already completed the first quarter of the school year. We did standardized testing this week. It was the second graders' first standardized test of their lives, but no pressure for the teacher. ;) I kind of had fun teaching them how to fill in bubbles: a circular motion is best. I feel like I am going to start dreaming about proctoring the tests: Put your figure on Sample A. We will do Sample A together. Make your mark heavy and dark. 

It felt good to finish the tests today, and right after this we planned how we are going to decorate our classroom door for the Halloween Door Decorating Contest. I taught the students how to brainstorm. I love brainstorming! It's when creativity really shines through. After brainstorming, we moved to voting and somehow we are going to create the following scenario on our door:

There is a zombie and he is trying to break into a car. Inside the car is a man eating cheeseburgers. On the roof is a Frankenstein head with spider legs. 

I love the creativity! And I love how the children laugh when we get to the cheeseburger part. :)

Community.

One of the people who Sister Verone visits let us borrow a movie about St. Damien. It is an excellent film and this evening we enjoyed watching it as a local community. It is called Molokai: The Story of Father Damien. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this relatively newly canonized saint, Father Damien is a priest who heroically served the lepers of Molokai. He and St. (Mother) Marianne are truly inspiring. We were edified by their courage and how much they personally sacrificed so that others could more fully live. There were moments of humor throughout this film and it was simply enjoyable to watch. 

Prayer.

Sometimes YouTube can have some nice talks to medicate on...similar to spiritual reading. Lately, I have been listening to talks from this year's Steubenville Youth Conferences. They are for high school students but I love the this year's theme, Chosen, and there are some good messages for all of us. Here is their YouTube Channel that has the talks: Steubenville Conferences

 Here is a video explaining this year's theme: Seriously, doesn't watching this video make you want to go there right now?! Good thing they generously upload the talks to YouTube.

 And here is an excellent talk from one of this year's conferences about relativism, the truth, and compassion. It's probably the best talk I have heard on the topic, and it is given by one of my favorite priests:

Enjoy. :)