Pandemic Poem

History repeats itself. Came across this poem written in 1869, reprinted during 1919 Pandemic.

This is Timeless....

It was written in 1869 by Kathleen O’Mara:

And people stayed at home

And read books

And listened

And they rested

And did exercises

And made art and played

And learned new ways of being

And stopped and listened

More deeply

Someone meditated, someone prayed

Someone met their shadow

And people began to think differently

And people healed.

And in the absence of people who

Lived in ignorant ways

Dangerous, meaningless and heartless,

The earth also began to heal

And when the danger ended and

People found themselves

They grieved for the dead

And made new choices

And dreamed of new visions

And created new ways of living

And completely healed the earth

Just as they were healed.

Reprinted during Spanish flu

Pandemic, 1919

How to Pray the Rosary from the Heart

An article in Belief Net on Five Ways to Pray the Rosary More Deeply has a misleading title. It really is just clickbait.  You have to jump from slide to slide to read the next paragraph.  They really weren't steps or methods, they were just nominal explaining praying.

Now I have a love/hate relationship with the rosary.  When I first became a Lay Dominican, I started praying the rosary because it is part of our rule.  I couldn't do it.  I have a monkey brain that won't let me focus.  My spiritual director tried to help me.  The best thing he could have said was St. Therese of Lisieux hated praying the rosary too.  She said she wouldn't pray the rosary if it weren't part of her rule.  That's exactly how I felt.

But I dutifully tried praying the rosary, every day.

Now, after some twenty-something years, I haven't come to love the rosary, but it is part of my life. I NEED to pray the rosary.  Along the way, I have picked up some ways to make me stay focused, interested, and pray more heartfully. 

(1)  Try praying with one of the Rosary TV programs.
(2)   "       "           "      "     "  "       "       Radio   ".
(3)  Buy a Rosary CD and pray along.  Dana and Fr. Scanlon are nice.  Another favorite is David Hass praying the Rosary of St. James.
(4)  Break up the rosary by only praying decades at a time, e.i., first when you awake, second before lunch, third in the afternoon, fourth before supper, fifth before bed.
(5)  Add names to the last sentence in the Hail Mary, e.i., "...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my mother, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."

Presently, I use a combination of # 4 and # 5.  Once in a while, I will go back to # 3 or even pray the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, which I learned about when I read Immaculee Ilibagiza's Left to Tell.

Presently, upon rising in the morning, on the first decade, I pray for my family: ...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my husband and name him, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my godchildren and name them all, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my daughter______ , now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my daughter _____, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my son_____, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my son-in-law_____, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my son-in-law, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my daughter-in-law____, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my granddaughter_____, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
.Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my granddaughter____, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."

Before lunch the second decade is for the church:
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Pope Francis, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for the College of Cardinals, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, OP, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for USCCB, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Bishop Reed, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for all pastors, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Brian, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Al, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Jack, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."

In the afternoon the third decade is for the Order of Preachers:
..Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Master Gerard, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for the Master's socius, now and at the hour of their death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for fr. Salamanca, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Provincial, Fr. Ken, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Provincial Promoter, Fr. Carlos, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my fraternity's spiritual advisor, Fr. Nic, now and at the hour of his death.
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Provincial President, Kathy, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Lay Provincial Council, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Council President, Christina, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Lay Regional Council, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."

Before supper the fourth decade is for my own fraternity, my "cloistered brothers":
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my President, James, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my VP, Peter, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
..Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Treasurer, Milton, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Formation Director, Moses, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my delegate, Ruth, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Denis, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Wayne, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Tony, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Frank, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for all my "cloistered brothers," now and at the hour of their death.  Amen."

My last decade is at bedtime for my friends:
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Donna, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Merril and Judy, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Christine, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Joan, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Joe, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Rocco, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Aniello, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Jordi, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Pat, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Marina, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."

Hail, Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and, after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Pray for us O holy mother of God, * that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Rosary Prayer

Let us pray. * O God, whose only-begotten Son by his life, death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life; grant, we beseech thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Who Did This?

It has always annoyed me to no end, that most people ask the question: "Who did this?"  I've worked in many jobs in which the boss would FIRST ask, "Who did this?"  Pray tell, how does that solve the problem?  Knowing the name of the person who made the mistake, how does that solve the problem?  Punishing the person who erred, how does that solve the problem?

Why isn't the first question, "How do we fix this,"?  It looks like Rene Girard's scapegoating theory is correct.  People need someone to blame.  Girard posits that people need to blame somebody or something for happenstances that go wrong.  I'm sad to say I think he's correct.  Dictators are perfect examples of this.  Once the scapegoat is identified, the people have something to unite over--punish the scapegoat.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, I see this scapegoating, all the time, e.i., it's the president's fault, it's China's fault, it's the drug companies fault, it's hoarding, it's people not social distancing, etc..

STOP! Stop blaming and focus on the problem.

Can You Change God's Mind?

Well no.  God is omniscient and knows what is best for us.

 But God was going to destroy Nineveh but the people changed His mind.  Did they really though? (Jonah 3: 10)

And then there's Abraham sweet talking God out of not destroying Sodom.  Or did he?  (Genesis 18: 31-32)

Think deeper.  God always wants what is good for us.  That's His plan from the beginning. God wants us to go to Him, to pray in petition.  He likes us to pray.  Didn't Jesus pray? Sometimes after we pray God will answer with exactly or better than we want.  Sometimes it's wait, not now and sometimes it's no that is not good for you.  We don't change God's mind because this is all part of His plan.  

It's Called Community

Sooner or later most people learn that the sun doesn't revolve around them.  One sign of adulthood is the understanding that you have responsibilities.  The adult will accept them.  The child will shirk them. 
    My husband accepted the responsibilities of supporting a family at 18, when his father died. I accepted the responsibility of being a mother.  When my parents became old and dependent, I accepted the responsibility of being a caretaker.  And we accepted these responsibilities freely because we loved the people that needed us.

This is nature's way.  Do you think that's the purpose of life?  To give our lives over to others?  That we all take care of each other?

Look at people during this Covid-19 pandemic.  Many have called, not including family, to see if I'm okay and/or need anything.  I have done likewise.  The town has a list of resources and phone numbers.  The Senior Center calls to check up on me.  The church sends out weekly messages and has a list of resources.  My primary care physician called to make sure I stay home!

I love my town.

2020 Palm Sunday

In a few days, Catholics will be celebrating Palm Sunday.  Unfortunately, there will be no distribution of palms.  But other greenery can be used to substitute.  After all, there are places where palms don't grow or palms can't be shipped to, so one must make do. 

One picture is of my Easter wreaths that I put up right after St. Patrick's day.  The other picture is my substitute palms

.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

If It's NOT Good It's NOT from God

This COVID-19 pandemic is a trying time.  I have one friend is being driven crazy with worry.  She worries that it's the end times and her children haven't turned to God.  She did her best in bringing them up in the faith.  But they don't go to church or ever think of God.  Her grandchildren were never baptized. 

After days of talking to her on the phone--for hours, you know what struck a chord with her?  I told her that her feelings of despair and anxious worry were the work of the devil.  God only gives us good things.  If she feels bad about herself, that's the work of the devil.

That worked.  She never considered that before.  She thought God was making her feel bad about herself as punishment.

Philippians 4:6-7 says:

“Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

and this poster is going around the net