Rosary Meditations for America

I think I mentioned before that, when our Rosary Group cannot find appropriate meditations for our prayer intentions, we write our own.  We have chosen to pray for the country in July, but I have been unable to find any Rosary meditations for America that I like (Kate is still looking).  I started writing meditations (with the help of the Holy Spirit) and decided to post what I have so far in case someone would like to use these meditations in prayer during the Fortnight for Freedom (I know the fortnight is 1/2 over, but this is not a process that can be rushed). 

Here is the first set of Mysteries -- the JOYFUL:

1) The Annunciation:  Then the Angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."  Luke 1:30-33

This month we celebrate the founding of our nation which was founded on the principle that all people are created equal and have the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."  When we see these values being undermined in our present day, we must remember the words of the angel and not be afraid.  We pray that American Christians will not be afraid to stand up for the values and teachings of the Kingdom that will never end.

2) The Visitation:  Elizabeth cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"  Luke 1:42-43

We pray for the conversion of our country, that public policy and private actions will turn away from the culture of death and once again embrace the gift of life.  We ask that Mary, the mother of our Lord, will remain with us and show us all the way to her son.

3) The Nativity:  But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by man's decision but of God.  And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.  John 1:12-14

We pray for our country, that the Word made flesh may always dwell among us.  That He, in the fullness of His grace and truth, may be welcome in our homes, our churches and in our public places as well.

4) The Presentation:  When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, the took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord."  Luke 2:22-23

We pray for our country's lawyers, judges and law makers.  May they, in the practice of their professions, allow themselves to be guided by the law of the Lord.  May they also consecrate the work that they do to God.

5)  The Finding of Jesus in the Temple:  After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding.  Luke 2:46-47

The founders of our country recognized that knowledge was necessary to the democratic process and so provided for free, public education.  We pray for our country's teacher and preachers and all those who are responsible for the instruction of others.  May they themselves continue to listen and ask questions so that they will understand the truth and pass it on to their students.

Jubilee

Our parish hosted the Diocesan Mass for the Jubilee of Anniversaries today.  The diocese rarely holds this Mass at the Cathedral.  I don't know if that is because of the size of the Cathedral or the lack of available parking.  This is the second time in recent years that the Mass was held at St. Cecilia's.  It is an honor to be asked to host this celebration.  What's more, they also asked our parish choir to sing for the event.  I have heard that when the Jubilee Mass has been held at other parishes, the Cathedral choir will go and sing.  The Cathedral choir is made up of paid professionals who had to audition to get their place in the choir.  St. Cecilia are amateurs (except for the choir director).  However, many have the talent of professionals.  I give credit to our Patroness who is the Patron Saint of music and musicians.

What has all this to do with me, since I am obviously not celebrating a jubilee anniversary??  Well, I volunteered to serve as a hospitality minister for this special Mass.  There are a small number of us who tend to respond to the call when ministers are needed for these special events.  I don't mind.  I enjoy serving when the people who are there really want to be there.  (The only people I saw leave Mass before the Bishop and Priests was a woman who didn't feel well, her husband and a young man who took his baby out to the gathering space to quiet him)  I also have found that I really like going to Mass . . . and a Mass where the Bishop is celebrating is extra special.  I even saw several people there from other parishes that I know, which was kind of cool.

Our Lady of Consolation

There is a lady at our parish who has organized a parish pilgrimage to the Shrine of our Lady of Consolation each year for the last few years.  I have thought about going in the past, but it is always on a Wednesday in June.  By the time I get around to deciding I want to go, I usually cannot get the time off work.  This year, I did request the day off, but before my boss approved my request, the bus was full.  I decided that I really hadn't wanted to go . . . it was going just be all retired people, right?  I wouldn't have anything in common with anyone.  (I just said this to console myself, as I knew several ladies from Quilt Group were going).  Six days before the trip, I got notice that there had been some cancelations.  Yay!  I signed right up.

 

I can't tell you what a beautiful day it was!  The night before, we had a cold front come through from Canada.  That day, we had clear skies, low humidity and a high of about 79.  I think everyone had a good time and many (if not all) were blessed by the beauty and grace that fill that holy place. 

 

I did not get many pictures, but here are a few of the Basilica:

And our bus loading up to head home:

 

I also discovered that it was likely my great, great, great uncle who went over to Luxembourg to bring the statue of Our Lady of Consolation over to the U.S.  Very cool!

 

I, of course, did not get any pictures of myself.  I was hoping my friend who was taking lots of pictures would post the one she took of me on FaceBook . . . or at least email me a copy, but she hasn't, yet.  I really need to update the profile pic one of these days.

Unusual day

Well, it has been a notable day to say the least.  I know many people think that the predicted "Derecho 2013" was a big joke.  But this isn't the case in the Mill Run area of Hilliard, where I work.  I saw video on the news this morning of the intersection near my office building.  One of the traffic lights was turned completely backward and the lights (naturally) were not working.  Somehow, it never occurred to me that the power in our building may also have been effected.

When I got to the area, you could see a whole crew of people in orange vests with red shopping carts picking up debris from the lawn of the big church there on the corner.  Looking the other way, I saw that Lowe's Garden Center and green house had sustained major damage . . . the people on the church lawn were picking up pieces of Lowe's building. 

At the office, people were milling around outside or sitting in the lobby.  The power was out, so the elevators were not working, and even if you tried to take the stairs, the office where I (and all these other people) work is a secure floor and you cannot get onto the floor without an electronic key card.  Note the root "elec" in electronic . . . these don't work if there is no electricity. 

I got to work about 7:45 -- many others had been there as early as 7:00.  It took until 8:45 for the powers that be to decide to send us home . . . but just for the morning.  We were given a conference call number and pass code to call in at noon to see if we would need to come in in the afternoon. 

From what I heard, power was restored about 11:30, so we were called back into work.  This really throws the rhythm of the day off when you are used to processing your casework in a certain order, but then only have half the usual time to do it.  Also, many of the employees who live further away chose to take PTO time rather than return for the afternoon, so everything just seemed very "off" this afternoon. 

On my way back to the office, a crew was in the intersection repairing the damaged traffic lights, so I had to go around the block to get to work.  There were pieces of insulation (presumably from Lowe's) as far as a block away, as well as several downed trees.  This is the only place that I have yet seen any damage from last night's storms.

Rosary Group

Have I told you about our Rosary Prayer Group?

 

My friend, Kate, suggested the group last fall and we got approval from Father to meet at the Church each week, so we have had a Rosary Prayer Group meeting every week since the beginning of December.  Most months, we pick an intention and pray for that intention using a different set of mysteies each week.  Other times, we have switched it up, just because we cannot agree on one intention to do for the entire month. 

 

I was actually granted the privledge of getting a key to the church because of this group.  During the winter and spring, we were meeting in the Day Chapel for our prayer.  The Youth Minister, who was originally involved in helping organize and lead the group, would unlock and lock back up.  However, he got too busy to participate, and so was just coming down to church to unlock for us, and leaving again.  Not fair to Ted to keep making him do this, so Kate and I petitioned for one of us to get a key.  Funny thing is, since I got the key, I have not used it for the purpose for which it was granted to me.  I have unlocked for 7:30 Mass on Sunday twice (Father sometimes forgets that he is supposed to open the Church).  I have unlocked for Quilt Group when Rita couldn't come.  And I have even unlocked for Weight Watchers when the lady that usually opens up for them was out of town and her substitute was in Adoration.  But, with the weather being so nice the last few weeks, our Rosary group has been meeting outside by the Statue of the Blessed Virgin in the school court yard. 

 

As my Mother always told me, "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."  Although, I think she was talking about packing a sweatshirt when you go camping . . . not the key to the Church.

Since I live in an apartment, I don't get to indulge my green thumb as much as I would like, but I make do.  Here are some pics I took today of this year's efforts at gardening:

 

Some of the herbs with my angel statue.

My tomato - quickly outgrowing its pot.

Some of the flowers.

My cat, Herbie, enjoying the sun.

Hello,

Welcome to my new blog!  I don't expect to have much to say that will be of great interest to many people, but then I don't expect to have many (if any) followers out side my family and a few friends.

Today is Sunday, June 9, and I am getting close to the end of a 4 day weekend that I gave myself by using some of my personal time.  It is always hard to think about returning to work after some time off.  However, living alone, I also find that too much time away from the regular schedule tends to get me living too much in my own head.  I need the interpersonal interaction, whether I like it or not. 

That's about it for 'thoughts for the day.'  Go with God.