![When I’m Dying, Please Do This]()
by Catherine | Aug 1, 2014 | Faith
I’ve become a Father John Riccardo podcast junkie. I’m still processing his podcast on the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. I learned some great insights into the sacrament itself. More importantly, Father Riccardo reminded me of the tremendous dignity the suffering and dying have. We all should listen to the show, but those of us who are either dying ourselves or know someone on their deathbed need to hear these words. (Click this link to access the podcast.) Reject what the world says about the dying, and remind them of their invaluable mission:
“One of the key words in the Christian life is to ‘participate’ or to ‘cooperate with.’ There’s one redeemer. His name is Jesus, and yet He wants you and me to participate with Him in the work of redemption. We do that in a particular way when we suffer. That’s why I’m of the opinion that no one’s prayers are more powerful than the prayers of somebody who suffers, because they’re being conformed to Christ.
So, when you take Communion to the homebound or to the people in nursing homes, don’t just bring them the Eucharist. Bring them intentions. Let them know, because the challenge when you’re sick, especially when you’re dying, is that you’re useless.
You know, like, ‘The people out there are having all the fun. They have a quality of life. I’m lying here in my bed in traction. What good am I?’
‘Well, here’s what good you are. You’re participating with the Lord in the work of redeeming the human race. You are not wasting away here. He is inviting you to share in his cross. Is it romantic? No. Is it fun? No. Will you see the payoff of it here? No, at least probably not. But one day you’ll see it.’
And, so, give them intentions. Give them names of people. Just say, ‘You know what, I want to ask you, because I really do think that your prayers are so significant because you’re sharing right now in his passion. If you would pray for these people, would you please do that?’
And almost all the time, you will see somebody sit like this (sitting up). You’re not simply giving them something to do; you’re giving them a sense of worth. You’ll see them begin to stand up or sit back. Well, now there’s a sense of dignity.
‘Now the Lord can use me. He’s not done with me.’
‘Why am I lying here still? Why hasn’t He taken me?’
‘Well, he hasn’t taken you because he’s using you to work with him in redeeming the world, that’s why! Would it be great to be home? Sure, it would, but there’s more to do still. So, hang in, and pray for these people (on the list that you give them).'”
When I’m dying, please do what Fr. Riccardo says. First, please bring a priest. Ask that I receive Anointing of the Sick. Then, be bullheaded and don’t let me waste an ounce of my suffering. Bring me long lists of intentions. Tell me to unite any of my suffering to Jesus’ cross. Remind me of the important job I have to do.
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the Church.” (Colossians 1:24)
What’s lacking in His suffering? Well, nothing. “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
Yet, He mystically invites us to participate in his suffering so that we can help redeem the world. He’ll do the redeeming since he’s the only redeemer, but my membership in the Body of Christ gives me dignity and a mission. Even on my death bed, I will have the supreme dignity of being made in His image and likeness. Until I breathe my last, I will have a mission to unite any sufferings I have to the cross to help redeem the world.
When I need an example of someone who knew how to suffer well, bring me these images of St. John Paul II:
Better yet, don’t wait until I’m on my death bed to do all of that. As Fr. Riccardo said in the podcast, “we’re all terminal” from the moment we’re born. Teach me how to get into the practice of doing all of this before I’m at death’s door. No more wasting the bad days. Remind me how to “offer it up.” If you think I need it, remind me that Anointing of the Sick isn’t just for the dying. God willing, with your help, I’ll be spiritually fit enough to die a holy death whenever that time comes.
For now, to help me train toward that goal, I’m keeping a list of intentions. I’m going to add to it whenever someone asks me to pray for them. Then, when I’m having pity parties or feeling overwhelmed with whatever suffering (big or small) that’s going on, I’ll open up my intentions list. It won’t end the suffering, but it’ll give it purpose. With enough practice, I pray that I’ll remember when I’m ‘just’ getting chemo, lying in a hospital bed, sitting in a nursing home, or entering my last days of hospice care to give my suffering purpose. By God’s grace (and the bullheaded reminders of my loved ones), any suffering I experience will be put to work.
Will you please help me to start my training? Please share any intentions you have! Then, if you hear me complaining or having a pity party about something, you have my permission to say, “Catherine, put your list to work!”
![Our Little Oratory]()
by Catherine | Jul 31, 2014 | Faith, The Homefront
Remember how I asked you for your input on how/where to create an oratory (prayer space in our home)?
Well, it’s (mostly) put together, so I thought I’d share a few pictures.
We have this great little area behind the family room loveseat. It’s a focal point when you enter the space, and it’s an area we pass by several times a day. I chose this as the spot for our little oratory.
First, I found this fantastic teal accent cabinet from Target on sale.
Look at all of the fun colors it comes in! I like the teal even better in person. I am so proud of myself for picking out a color that I love instead of something safe or neutral.
Then, I found a large paneled mirror from Home Goods that reminds me of a chapel window. Philip helped me to hang it above the cabinet. The room’s high ceilings and the mirror make the space seem larger.
Finally, I added the finishing touches and filled the cabinets. Here’s the (nearly) finished product:
We will continue adding to the space as time goes on.
In the left cabinet, I have the Bibles, books of saints, the Catechism, the family prayer binder, prayer journals, and other devotional materials.
In the right cabinet, I have the kids’ Bibles and other religious books, holy cards, and holy water. I used to have all of our rosaries here, but they became what you could call a “near occasion of sin” for Mr. Harry. He thinks all things with strings are numchucks and doesn’t understand the whole “we don’t throw sacramentals around” rule, so the rosaries got relocated.
I’m still deciding what I want to put on the middle shelves. The trouble is always those little hands and little mouths that love to throw and eat everything… Let me know if you have a great idea for a home with young children.
I thought long and hard about what I wanted to put on top of the cabinet. I decided on items that would expose the children to various vocations–the priesthood, religious life, and married life. Additionally, we needed a little pretty, so I put in some fresh flowers. Gotta love a $7.98 bouquet from Sam’s!
This is a special memento from my high school days at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart. The statue captures St. Rose Philippine Duchesne (my confirmation name!) stroking the hair of a young girl. St. Rose Philippine Duchesne founded the Society of the Sacred Heart in America. Her order served the Native American communities where they traveled while establishing schools. The Native Americans called her the “woman who is always praying.” I love this tender scene between St. Rose Philippine Duchesne and the little child. What’s more beautiful than a woman happily serving the Lord by serving others?
This image of St. John Paul II, “Totus Tuus,” was done by local artist Terrence St. Hilaire. He specializes in Catholic and patriotic fine art. Isn’t that sketch beautiful? St. John Paul II is a personal hero of mine (and the guy behind the name of this blog). I love his model of suffering well and deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, illustrated by the Rosary in his right hand.
Finally, I included a black and white picture of us on our wedding day alongside our unity candle. I had this print already, but I want to get one of us from the moment of consecration during our nuptial Mass. It’s probably more fitting for a little oratory than us smooching! We want the kids to know that marriage, just like the priesthood and religious life, is a vocation that we are called to with the aim of bringing us, our spouse, and all of our children to sanctification. It’s not just a default thing you do when you’re not a priest or religious!
I love our little oratory! It’s been a great focal point for our home, and it brings me joy every time I look at it. Th
e kids love having all of their Bibles and religious books set apart, and they regularly sit in the little nook area to pore over the pages of Bible stories or lives of saints. Being able to access our prayer and devotional materials all in one convenient, prominent spot helps to make prayer the center and focus of our home.
Do you have a little oratory in your home? What kinds of things have you included? How do you use the space?
![Challenge of the week: observe]()
by Catherine | Jul 22, 2014 | Faith
A Catholic women’s Bible study I’m participating in is between studies. Before we move on to the next study, I was asked to select an article for the group to read and discuss. The article we’re reading and discussing next week is, “Observe” by Sheri Wohlfert from CatholicMom.com.
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| Photo from CatholicMom |
In the article, Sheri writes about the power of observation and the blessings that being a deliberate observer of God’s Creation can bring to our lives.
“Who knows…if we become better observers we might have a front row seat to the wonder and awe of the Father and a much clearer understanding of the things he’s asking us to be a part of. It sounds too simple doesn’t it? Who would ever imagine great knowledge and understanding could come from just sitting still and watching the people and things around us carefully and without judgment.”
Inspired by Sheri’s column, I’ve asked the group to do some daily “homework” before our next meeting:
- Carve out 10 minutes each day
- Spend 5 minutes *just* observing the people around us (especially our family members)
- Spend 5 minutes *just* observing the rest of God’s Creation
- Write down the lessons learned and blessings this time brings
I’m looking forward to this exercise in deliberately taking in the world around me. It’s already bearing great fruit, and I’m anxious to hear how it blessed the other women in my study. Will you take on the challenge with us? Are you ready to just OBSERVE?
![“We didn’t start the fire…”]()
by Catherine | Jun 30, 2014 | Faith
Over my breakfast, I read about the First Martyrs of the Church in Rome. We celebrate their feast day today. American Catholic gives a great summary:
In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” Peter and Paul were probably among the victims. (emphasis mine)
“Wow,” I thought, “It must have been crazy living in a time like that.” There were people so scared of Christians that they started fires, accused them of hating the human race, and killed them.
A few hours later, I heard the blessed news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Christian-run Hobby Lobby. In summary, Justice Alito said, “The Supreme Court holds government can’t require closely held corporations with religious owners to provide contraception coverage.”
Then, The Examiner shared the reactionary Tweets from those hoping to see the Christian-run company burned to the ground. I’ll let you go to the link to read the most explicit Tweets.
“[L]iterally burn hobby lobby (sic) to the ground,” one pro-abortion liberal screamed on Twitter.
“I hope all your stores burn to the ground,” another person said.
“#HobbyLobby are scum of the earth. Burn every single one down, build a homeless shelter there instead,” a third person said.
And then came this:
Sound familiar? Paranoid, scared people accusing Christians of hating humanity? And then starting fires out of paranoia?
On this feast day dedicated to the Roman martyrs killed by a paranoid Christian hater in a fire, sing it with me and Billy! “We didn’t start the fire…”
!["We didn't start the fire…"]()
by Catherine | Jun 30, 2014 | Faith
Over my breakfast, I read about the First Martyrs of the Church in Rome. We celebrate their feast day today. American Catholic gives a great summary:
In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” Peter and Paul were probably among the victims. (emphasis mine)
“Wow,” I thought, “It must have been crazy living in a time like that.” There were people so scared of Christians that they started fires, accused them of hating the human race, and killed them.
A few hours later, I heard the blessed news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Christian-run Hobby Lobby. In summary, Justice Alito said, “The Supreme Court holds government can’t require closely held corporations with religious owners to provide contraception coverage.”
Then, The Examiner shared the reactionary Tweets from those hoping to see the Christian-run company burned to the ground. I’ll let you go to the link to read the most explicit Tweets.
“[L]iterally burn hobby lobby (sic) to the ground,” one pro-abortion liberal screamed on Twitter.
“I hope all your stores burn to the ground,” another person said.
“#HobbyLobby are scum of the earth. Burn every single one down, build a homeless shelter there instead,” a third person said.
And then came this:
Sound familiar? Paranoid, scared people accusing Christians of hating humanity? And then starting fires out of paranoia?
On this feast day dedicated to the Roman martyrs killed by a paranoid Christian hater in a fire, sing it with me and Billy! “We didn’t start the fire…”
![Help a Decorating Challenged Girl Create an Oratory]()
by Catherine | Jun 5, 2014 | Faith, The Homefront
I’ve been inspired by this summer book club, “Summer in the Little Oratory,” to create our own “little oratory.” An oratory is just a fancy word for a dedicated prayer space. As my friend Lisa Schmidt says, it’s all about “bringing the monastic into my domestic.” (If you haven’t checked out the book club yet, you should! Lisa Schmidt gives a great intro and summary of what the group is all about here. There are weekly posts dedicated to each chapter of the book, and there is an accompanying podcast as well. The book is The Little Oratory: A Beginner’s Guide to Praying at Home.)
The good news is I stumbled upon the book club series for the little oratory at a perfect time–just after we moved into a new home. The bad news is I’m, well, shall we say….decorating challenged.
This is my plea to get some decorating advice for my little oratory from all of you. I’ve found what I think is the perfect space for our little oratory, but I’m not sure what to do with it. We have a small hallway from our front door that leads into the family room/kitchen. The space I have in mind is in direct eyesight from the front door. It’s directly behind the family room loveseat in a little nook that backs up to a wall separating the family room from the kitchen informal dining area.
Here’s the angle from the hallway.
Since we already have so much furniture for seating in the family room, I don’t want to add another chair. I want our little oratory to be a place to store our Bibles, the Catechism, lives of the saints, studies/devotionals, rosaries, holy water, other reference books. I’m envisioning beautiful artwork including icons of Jesus, the Blessed Mother, our family’s favorite intercessors.
Here’s another angle of the space:
I went to a lot of trouble to create a “circle time” bulletin board earlier this year. I’m on the fence as to whether or not I’d include it on the little wall backing up to the kitchen, or if I should just leave it in the playroom downstairs…It’s very classroom-y and not very aesthetically pleasing, so I hesitate to put it up on the wall.
Buuuuuuuut the kids would love to have that easy access to it, and it’d be nice to sit on the ground with them after breakfast and start our day off together in front of our religious artwork. Maybe I could just prop it against the wall? I’d love for the kids to be able to see everything that’s on that board on a more regular basis than they would in the basement playroom. It has a Happy Saints liturgical calendar, our daily prayers (Morning Offering, Angelus, and prayer to St. Joseph), the days of the week with an attached devotion to each, the mysteries of the Rosary for that day, and our special prayer intentions as well as our extended family “person of the week” that we’re praying for.
I know, I know….it’s our space, and we should just do what we want with it, but I want it to be pretty! I want it to be my little visual retreat every time I glance at it or come over to get my prayer materials. Maybe I should just put it on the wall and remember that I don’t have to look at it from the kitchen!
Let me share a few pictures of the family room so that you get an idea of what the surrounding space looks like:
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| From the kitchen |
The previous owners sold us their kitchen table & chairs and the family room sofa, loveseat, and two chairs. Yay for inexpensively furnishing our home! Kindly pretend that: our built-ins are perfectly accessorized, this shorty bothered to pull out the ladder to put stuff on the top shelves, and that I have the right art up on the walls.
Now that you have a sense of what the rest of the space looks like, how would you go about filling the oratory?
For this wall, I was thinking
:
- Framed artwork and crucifix on the wall
- Short, wide bookcase
- Use top of bookcase for smaller artwork, statues, flowers, candles/candlesticks
- Use shelves to store our Bibles, the Catechism, lives of the saints, studies/devotionals, rosaries, holy water, other reference books
What do I do about this wall?
I don’t want to add additional seating. Is the circle time board really crazy ugly to hang here? Be brutally honest, please. Really. Just tell me. Do I need to just leave it blank? Share your brilliance! I’ve been spending my prayer time in the family room on the couch or at the kitchen table, so I guess I’m treating this area as a storage space & visual retreat. Maybe I should add something to make the area more enticing for the kids to stay there like some little baskets that they can easily get their books and sacramentals from. I have some space next to that end table (or even the bottom shelf of that end table) where I can put a little bean bag and some bins. What about those cute little cube seats with the removable lids for storage?
I love, love, love this prayer space that a teacher in a Catholic school created for her kindergarteners.
Maybe that’s what this wall needs to become–the elementary-themed oratory space with the circle time board, a cute framed “let the children come to me,” and bins for their stuff.
I’d adore any and all feedback you have! Help a decorating challenged girl out.
By the way, I created a “Little Oratory” board on Pinterest to help me gather my favorite pictures of other oratories and some artwork I’d love to have in our space.
