At the end of September a dear friend and mentor died from Cancer. I was so moved by her life and her funeral really hit a cord in my being! Most moving is the fact that her 8 children and 23 grandchildren are all still practicing their faith! She died with the peace of knowing her job was well done.
There were 32 priest and one deacon at her simple funeral mass. It was life changing for me to ponder my own life and personality. I know God made me the way I am and even tho I am an extrovert and a very "pushy broad" as my hubby calls me, I still need to work on balance in my life and being more humble and contrite.
I went on a retreat the first weekend of October after the funeral, so it was a perfect time for me to meditate on being more contemplative. I have been going on a weekend silent retreat for about 16 years. This retreat was amazing and one of the best I have ever gone on. I came home with a huge commitment to change and simplify my life more.
Well...I had a little help from modern technology. The fan on my laptop broke-so no more laptop. My phone once again lost all the contacts and was cleared of everything, because I have an encryptive password lock glitch on my computer...and worst of all our family computer just died.
So God is giving me lots of extra time for prayer and mediation.
Today's Gospel Lk 18:1-8
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'" The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
THIS IS MY READING...the priest in this picture used to introduce me as a famous bible character: "the persistent widow" So even tho I am trying to be more humble...I need to use my persistence in prayer, not nagging.
THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+
I thought that that retreat was incredible too . . . hit me right where I needed it.
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