Ruth: Week 6 Reflections

Ruth:  Week 6

It seems like forever since I read this but let me highlight some of the things that stood out to me, that I underlined and wanted to futher reflect on....

p. 115 Elizabeth says how she recognizes the slow, silent action of Providence in her and for her; the wonderful work of inner conversion, begun, guided, and completed by God alone,  This spoke to me as I seem to want to run the process of conversion and reconstruction of myself on my timetable.  Come on God, make me into the person you want me to be, right now.  Yet, how to I cooperate with the work he is doing, or trying to do.   Am I faithful to my daily scripture reading as Elizabeth was faithful?  Do I fast and offer mortifications as I am often inspired to do?  The Lord is guiding me but I am sure he beats his head against the wall and thinks, "Would Ruth just listen to me!"  .... yet I continue to beg prayerfully, "Lord make me into the woman you want me to be. I only want to do YOUR will"

p. 117 Here Elizabeth asks, "What will this winter bring to me: sickness or health, joy or suffering?  I do not know; but I know that I shall welcome all, because all will come from God for my good and the good of those souls for whom I have surrendered myself into the hands of the adored Master."  Winter is coming in many ways.  Physically and in our chronological age. My husband is having prostrate cancer surgery next week.  Can I say, "I know that I shall welcome all?"  I do have a peace and want to leave all to the Lord knowing all will come from God for good.  I want to be a witness of faithfully handling what comes in the upcoming winter of life but to do so I have to keep my eyes on the Savior.  I pray, "Lead us and use us Lord throughout  the autumn and winter of our lives."

The world is afraid of suffering and penance but we are not to be of the world although we are in it.  Do you have a model of suffering/penance in your life?  Elizabeth is a beautiful model for me. She stays focused.

Elizabeth shows she is real.  When her soul longed for recollectedness and prayer she realized that she must give herself to people, occupations, and even pleasures that are entirely superficial. She knew that real joy was only found in the Lord.  

Prayer (p. 120)  Use me, O my adored Master, according to Thy will, for souls, and for They glory.

p. 121  I thought this was worth reflecting on, " Then at the first opportunity I retire quickly into my inner "cell" and there I pray and adore and lie at the feet of my Savior. My three Communions each week and the few minutes of meditation each morning prepare me for my daily activity; and every day when I offer Him in advance all the activity and suffering that makes up my days, everything that later happens is gathering up by our God and nothing is lost..."  The cell here is my soul... and I need to spend more time there throughout the day consciously in His presence and conversing with Him.  

p. 123  The angels, while at our side fulfill their function of watchfulness while never ceasing to contemplate God. Can we do both... our daily responsibilities and consciously contemplating God?

I love that this chapter, like the others, offered so much to reflect on.  "Hear I am, Lord, ready to do They will." (p.126)

There is so much for each section.  Much is reinforcement of our basic call to pray, fast and to do all in love.  

Ruth .... so sorry.

I have been reading but busy with company, etc., and last weekend my computer was down.  I thought it was "dead" but was able to get it going again.  I hope to blog today or tomorrow and then reply to those who have graciously posted already on week 6.

Week 6 .... from other blog

Some of you have told me that they could not access the original blog that gave us the idea to do ours so I have posted the notes for week 6. It might enrich our discussion.

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THE SECRET DIARY OF ELISABETH LESEUR 

(WEEK 6 OF 12)

O my God, through the precious Blood of Jesus

and His five blessed Wounds,

grant me today five graces:

the conversion of a sinner;

the conversion of a heretic, infidel, or Jew;

the salvation of someone dying in peril of everlasting death;

a vocation to the priesthood or to religious life;

and, for some new soul,

the grace of entering into

and savoring the mystery of the Eucharist.

The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur, p. 111

(Resolutions: 1906-1912, May 18, 1912)

Recently, I was listening to a series of podcasts from a men’s conference in Detroit, where Father John Riccardo had been a speaker. I was shocked when I heard him report that only 30% of people who were raised Catholic still practice the Faith today. Not only that, but among that 30%, only 48% believe that the God of their Faith is a personal God, with whom they could have an actual relationship. I know it’s simple math, but let’s put numbers with those statistics just for shock value. Out of 100 people who were raised Catholic, only 30 of them still practice the Faith. And of those 30, fewer than 15 believe that they can have a personal relationship with God.

No wonder the Church is in such a crisis! If we don’t even believe we can have a relationship with God – if He is a remote Being, who remains an enigma to us, how can we recognize Him when He is right before our eyes in the Holy Eucharist? How could we possibly believe that His laws are applicable in the world we live in today, a world from which He has apparently removed Himself?

After hearing those statistics, Elisabeth’s prayer struck every chord in my body as I read it this week. I’ve read her diary several times, and, although I realize I’m getting a little ahead of myself, I had always envisioned “Saint” Elisabeth of Leseur, as a patron saint for wives like me; but today it hit me – she is not simply a model for married women.Elisabeth Leseur is a model for the entire Western world, as we suffer from this devastating Crisis of Faith.

Not only did God use her goodness as a catalyst for her husband’s conversion form atheist to Catholic priest; but after reading Elisabeth’s diary, it’s almost impossible for me to imagine that God is anything other than personal.  She had a more intimate relationship with Him than many individuals share with a spouse! Consequently, reading HER secret conversations with God inspires ME to want to get to know Him better.

It also makes me want to know just how Elisabeth became the person I’ve come to admire in her journal. Thankfully, her husband provides some helpful information. In the In Memoriam section, while Felix asserts that “she never argued with me and never spoke to me of the supernatural side of her life save by her example,” he shares that as a result of his constant attempts to “ruin” her faith,

…she devoted herself to her own religious instruction…To counterbalance my anti-Christian library, she gathered together one composed of the works of the great masters of Catholic thought: Fathers, Doctors, mystics, St. Jerome, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of Avila, and many more. Above all she read and reread the New Testament, the Gospels, The Acts, the Epistles; she never passed a day without meditating upon some passage from it. She thus acquired a reasoned and substantial faith” (p. xxiii).

Not only did she become knowledgeable in the Faith, but her faith was an intricate part of her day-to-day life.  And as we can see throughout her diary, she sought to live the Truth that was in her, through charity shown to everyone she met.

Interestingly enough, Pope Benedict XVI proposed a plan (which he called a path) – one that very much resembles the route taken by Elisabeth –  in his encyclical, Porta Fidei “The Door of Faith” (PF), wherein he announced this, The Year of Faith.

According to Lucas Pollice, M.T.S., in his article The Year of Faith: Pope Benedict’s Blueprint for the New Evangelization, Pope Benedict offers a three-pronged solution to this crisis of Faith:

1.  A Solid Understanding of Catholic Doctrine, particularly as revealed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as a renewed understanding of Vatican II that is guided by the Magisterium. An understanding “in which Vatican II is properly interpreted as a continuation of Tradition and a call to teach, live, and witness the Catholic faith that has been faithfully handed on in a renewed and dynamic way.”

2. Renewed Catholic Spirituality – It is not enough to know the Faith, but we must live it, making it an intricate part of our lives. We must seek God in the Sacraments and take advantage of the amazing examples we have in the Saints, who help us to live out our universal call to holiness. Further, we must renew our prayer lives, which will allow us to encounter Christ in a personal way.

3. Dialogue and Witness – In addition to providing the ability to “be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), the above prongs will help us to live as Christ in the world. According to Pope Benedict:

Intent on gathering the signs of the times in the present of history, faith commits every one of us to become a living sign of the presence of the Risen Lord in the world. What the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people enlightened in mind and heart by the word of the Lord, and capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life, life without end (PF 15).

Elisabeth is a role model for the entire Church, particularly during this Year of Faith. On her own island of material desolation and caught in a world that did not recognize her Creator as God, Elisabeth adopted the above plan in its entirety, roughly a hundred years before it was written. The testimony of her Felix is witness to the fruit that this three-pronged plan can bear. Imagine a world in which each of us followed this path. Or better yet, imagine a world, in which, having ventured even further down the road, each of us was willing to sacrifice all, to give all, for God? Where each of us could vow, like Elisabeth, “Complete abandonment of myself to Thy Will, offering my heart and my life in Thy service for souls” (p. 118).

Read more: http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2013/09/10/a-model-for-our-times#ixzz2hoWhOCjP

Week 7 P. 133 - 145

Reading Assignment:

Week 7: Holy Thursday, March 20, 1913 – End of Spiritual Testament (p. 133-145)

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you been participating in any special programs specifically in response to Pope Benedict’s declaration of the Year of Faith? If so, please share them with us and let us know how you’ve grown from your experience!

2. Feel free to comment on anything from this past week!

Read more: http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2013/09/10/a-model-for-our-times#ixzz2hoUnwWZC

Carol -- Week 4

On pg. 51 Elisabeth stated:  "I must not give way to depressing and sinful sorrow.  I must make my actual life better and more fruitful for God and for the souls who have been entrusted to me."  The souls entrusted to me (my kids) have a way of causing depression and sorrow.  The more you help, the more they demand.  At what point does doing the will of God end and being taken advantage of start?  I pray on this often.  On pg. 52 she states:  "With Him and by Him I must become more tender, strong, and peaceful, to live more in the soul and yet give myself more to those I love and to all whom Providence has put or will put in my way."  I believe that I do this already, but I believe my kids wear steel cleets as they walk all over me.  When they get angry with me, they throw how great a christian I am not.  On this same page she continues:  "To expect nothing from those whom I will try to benefit...........; to accept in silence the disappointments, the misunderstandings, and even the scorn that always come to those in whose depths others discern--and think they can attack--God."  I have lots of work to do to follow in her footsteps.  I am not a silent person.  I think she sums it all up with:  "To pray, to act, to work, to love."

On this same page she state:  "To give myself to everyone in charity, but not to let everyone enter into my heart, which I must not open too lightly.  To welcome an affection only when I have solidly proved its value, and yet to have kindness for all."  I'm a little confused on this aspect.  How does one give to everyone in charity but not let them enter your heart?

On pg. 53 she states:  "I believe, I adore, I hope."  I have no comment except that this sort of sums it all up.
Also on this page she mentions external distractions and agitations which aggravates pain and how she will defend her home and self from all who are unworthy.

On pg. 54 she says:  "this earth is not Heaven".  Heaven in my eyes is peaceful, calm, beautiful, etc.  Just where I hope to end up!!!  She also says:  "May He do a little good through me!"  I hope that is what happens when I help out the crazy lady up the street, or when I volunteer to be a hall monitor during Religion classes, etc.

On pg 55:  "anxious to sacrifice all for Him and for the good of those I love most of all."  "a new resolution to be more brave, to establish myself in peace, and to submit to these offenses without revealing the suffering they cause me."  "My weakness is great"  I couldn't have said it better!  On pg 56 she quotes St Paul:  "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."  Such a great line!  She continues with:  "My God, assist her ..... to make Thee known and loved."  I try to live my life as though God is shining through me, without preaching,  as this turns everyone off if I even make a comment regarding God.  She also states on that page:  "may at least one heart know and love Jesus Christ through me."  Sums it all up.

On pg 57:  "I have even spoken too much of Thee, my God, for it is true that in this world that does not know Thee, one should weigh well one's words concerning Thee."  I find it amazing that even 100 years ago conversations about God were censored.

On pg 62 Elisabeth wrote:  "to let my Communions, prayers, and meditations be known as little as possible, that I may remain humble, and so that I may not provoke the spirit of obstinacy and ignorance with which I am surrounded."  Boy does this sound like my family.  I pray for my children to return to Church.  For instance,  I take my grandchildren to religion classes and to Mass on Sundays, but when my daughter has to attend a First Communion meeting, the kids are all of a sudden worse than ever and she is unable to get ready.  Because I monitor the hallways during the classes, I am unable to go back and bring her to Church.  I leave everything in God's hands, and know that as long as I pray for her, in His time He will change her heart.  I could go on forever with something about each child, but I won't.  Again, I leave everything in God's hands and in His time frame.  I believe we must live Christlike and teach without words.  ""Let him see God without hearing His name."  {pg.70}.

A few of the resolutions that really stood out to me are:
To neglect not even the smallest duty. {pg 76}
Each day to work first for God and then for my neighbor. {pg 79}
To maintain always exterior calm and evenness of temper.{pg 79}
To put into all my words, acts, and gestures even, a moderation, a peaceful gentleness, which will be a constant sign of my interior serenity. {pg 79}


 

 Corrine   Week 6    pg. 106-133

In the November 1911 entry, after Elisabeth entered a nursing home and had a tumor removed, she said, “To suffer seems to be my true vocation and the interior call of God in my soul. Suffering enables me to do the work of reparation; to obtain, I hope, the great graces I desire so much for my dear souls, for all souls. Suffering is the reply to my abandonment of myself to the divine Master for my dear ones, for souls, and for the Church.”  She says that if her prayers are heard no suffering will have been too great and she would sing thanks.  She is not complaining about her suffering but sees the good in it….

Elisabeth asks God to “use all this ill for the good of everyone.”

Wouldn’t this be an accomplishment!    Pg. 117  “May my grief and supernatural joy, my whole life and even my death proclaim the greatness of divine love, the holiness of the Church, the tenderness and sweetness of the Heart of Jesus, the existence and the beauty of the supernatural life, the reality of our Christian hopes.”

Elisabeth keeps mentioning dealing with her suffering for reparation.  Sadly, I forget the reparation part.  Must be because I do not love enough and do not realize the pain my sins cause.  I have a long ways to go!

Pg. 121 She says she offers Him, each morning, all that will happen that day so that “everything that later happens is gathered up by our good God, and nothing is lost…”

She asked Jesus for the virtues of purity of heart, gentleness, patience, obedience to God,

humility, mortification, spiritual poverty.  That  is an examination of conscience right there.

Elisabeth will be ready for whatever God sends her…., “Here I am, Lord, ready to do Thy will” she said.

Pg. 132 She calls an apostolate of prayer and suffering a blessed vocation of hers.  She says she will love “the cross of Jesus, carrying it daily, always placing in the divine Heart my burden of pains, privations, and weaknesses!”

I must keep developing my relationship with Jesus so that I am ready for those last moments before eternity.   Oh, there are so many distractions!  I wonder how Jesus dealt with the distractions.