Mourning ➡️ Gladness

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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Last Sunday, I was in the beautiful Sedona, Arizona. Red rock mountains surrounded the church where I went to visit for the weekend. It was a "high desert" experience of Arizona.

The final Mass of that day was in Spanish. My Word for the Week resonated. "¿Dónde está, muerte, tu victoria?"

(There are some Matt Maher song lyrics that I really like, with the line, "Oh, death, where is your sting?" I think that's the direct translation of this verse.)

For some reason, over the course of this week, I haven't been able to recall this word, however! Even when I've entered into specific times of prayer, I couldn't remember the passage.

Now that I'm sitting down to write this entry, it's dawning on me again. (I looked through the Spanish-language readings from last Sunday until I found it, in 1 Corinthians.)

It's incredible to experience how the Lord speaks! I see Providence in forgetting this word until now. Because it's been such a joyful week. I've sensed the victory of the Lord—who triumphs over death—in my life this week, even when I forgot the words of the victory chant.

Even with the start of Lent, it's been a joyous moment. A few days ago, I said, "Happy Ash Wednesday!" to a friend, and she said, "Do we say that?"

We do! In fact, Ash Wednesday of 2009 was the happiest day of my life: the day David proposed to me! We got engaged with ashes on our foreheads. And ever since, we've seen how God changes our "mourning into dancing." To quote Psalm 30:11 a bit further:

"...you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness."

What sackcloth of yours needs to be changed today? Is there something weighing you down, or dampening your joy? Maybe the Lord is calling you to let him transform it into gladness.

There is certainly much cause for mourning in our world today: death, destruction, and a more distinct general awareness of mortality. Yet, God is convicting my heart. He who made us from the dust, can turn our experiences of death into new life again.

Oh death, where is your sting?

Let's pray. Lord, come change our mourning into dancing. We give you permission to transform even the sadness of our life into joy in you. Give us courage to enter in your rest, Lord. Amen!

P.S. This topic reminds me of the theme of our We Should Pray podcast: "...prayer changes tragedy into comedy." So I'll invite you to listen to the latest episode of the show, or to watch it on YouTube!
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Dick Safranski
Jordan Mendez
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Frances Jones
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Beautiful (?) Obedience

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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At Mass last weekend, I had trouble breathing. Because of mask wearing. And also because my kids didn’t seem to stop fidgeting and/or talking the entire time. Mental note: I need to pray about this guilty feeling when my kids are more than silent in public.

Actually. I just remembered that my friend Anel spoke graciously into this situation over a year ago. It was at a time when going to Mass was my biggest challenge of the week. She asked, “What does David think?”

“David thinks it’s good for us to go to Mass as a family.”

And with an enduring mix of sass and gentleness, Anel reminded me that my responsibility is to my husband and family first. In other words, maybe others are annoyed that my kids are squirmy or making noise. Is that my main concern?

I think this has to do with my Word for the Week: “He learned obedience through what he suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8)

As I asked the Lord, “What do you want me to do about this word?” The answer in my heart was simple but not so easy, “Be obedient.”

Obedient in what way?

At some point this week, I realized: A. I am still (still) not being called to initiate live events, and B. I am so very happy. These realizations did not occur at the same time! Yet somehow I moved from being majorly disappointed that David wasn’t excited about my latest get-people-together plan, into an overwhelmingly joyful contentment.

It was clear that one springs from the other. Obedience to God gives way to serenity!

This morning, as I sat down to write Word for the Week, I reflected upon this psalm setting from today’s Mass reading. Perhaps you, as well, are being tempted by “good” things to do. (See examples above: to have quiet children at Mass, to facilitate a backpacking retreat, etc.) And yet! If the things that take our attention aren’t bringing peace, then God has something even better for us.

I’ll invite you to take a deep breath and ask the Holy Spirit, “How are you calling me to be obedient to your voice today?” Let’s close with this psalm as we listen for the Lord’s answer:

(From Psalm 40)

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, “Behold I come.”
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!”
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord, know.
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart; your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth in the vast assembly.
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

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Special thanks to VIP Patrons:

Dick Safranski
Jordan Mendez
Julian Padilla
Jessica Cook
Kate Hicks
Sara Chacon
Kelly Wesaw
Deacon Tim & Lily Roberto
Carrie Brzezinski

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Stay on the Trail

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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Two weeks ago, my Word for the Week was “patience.” In the ensuing days, I had a very full workweek of filming for our upcoming podcast. Midweek, I went up to Sedona, AZ for a hiking retreat. Along the trail, I saw a sign that said:

“HEALING IN PROGRESS -Please stay on trail- Thank you”

This is how God speaks to me: through specific words and symbols. The words were quite distinct. And the symbolism of being on a quite challenging climb was too obvious to miss.

There has been a lot of healing in progress in my heart, mind, and body already this Lent. Of note, we’ve started to meet new friends from our neighborhood and our parish. It’s healing to share food and laughter and to remember that this current season of cultural isolation will not last forever! But it certainly requires patience from me, because I do not feel settled in our new community yet. And I really, really miss touring.

This past Sunday, the Word that stood out was:

“...he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” - Mark 9:9

That secrecy theme runs strong in the Gospel of Mark. Secrecy is a promising message for me! Like the theme of my Christmas album, “Secretos Navideños,” I think of God’s secrets as the beautiful messages that He shares with us in the stillness. They’re destined to be shared!

Right now, I’m starting to see some fruit of this past year of world-wide struggle. I’m realizing how God is tying the pieces together for my family. It’s not quite time to describe it publicly yet.

My Word for the Week over the past two Sundays has reassured me that: A) God is giving me the precious gift of time, and B) I’ll be ready to witness when the time is right.

In the meantime, is God pointing out any new healing in your life? Are you able to see the healing in your own heart or in the hearts of those you love? Even though the sign post on the Sedona trail was referring to regrowth in the mountainous terrain, I believe there is also healing happening on a massive scale in the Church throughout the World.

Are you able to speak to the healing that’s in progress right now? If not, maybe we’re in good company with the Apostles who saw a glimpse of Jesus’ full splendor on the mountaintop. They didn’t know how to respond! They were overwhelmed! So Jesus advised them to not talk about it until they could see more of the picture.

As we approach a full year since the COVID19 pandemic began in full force in the United States, perhaps we’re almost ready to proclaim the healing that has happened in our communities and in our own hearts. Maybe we, like the Apostles, are about to receive even more healing just a bit further ahead on our path.

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Special thanks to VIP Patrons:

Dick Safranski
Jordan Mendez
Julian Padilla
Jessica Cook
Kate Hicks
Sara Chacon
Kelly Wesaw
Deacon Tim & Lily Roberto
Carrie Brzezinski

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The Joy of Being Rescued

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

---

Welcome to Word for the Week! My word for the week is, “the joy of salvation.”

As always, I'd like to share how I felt God speaking to me at Mass last weekend, explore what the Lord wants me to do about it, and ask how this Word for the Week might apply to your life, as well. 

We sat in the very last pew this Sunday. (It’s my goal to arrive a little earlier for Mass this week!) Highlights: no one in our family had to leave church during Mass! There was a choir and a cantor. Afterward, we spoke with our pastor for a while and we met a couple of other young families. Additionally, my Word for the Week was considerably more upbeat than the week before!

Two weeks ago, the phrase that stood out from the reading was, “I shall not see happiness again.” It didn’t sound appealing. And although the word still applied positively to my life, this past Sunday’s psalm response offered a remedy to the problem of unhappiness: “I turn to you Lord, in time of trouble and you fill me with the joy of salvation.”

Over the last couple of weeks, we hit some unexpected financial troubles. (I shared about it last week). Over the past seven days, we were gratefully able to switch some things around and we feel more financially secure moving forward. Throughout the entire process, the Word of God reminded me of how wonderful it is to be rescued.

Not only in financial hardship but in emotional, spiritual, and physical matters, the experience of being rescued (salvation) has to produce more joy than if I didn’t need to be saved in the first place. I’m thinking of a recent moment when a tire popped on the way home from a late-night recording session. 

It was in the middle of a phone conversation in which I shared with a friend, “I feel uncomfortable when things are going too smoothly,” and then *pop* something was wrong with the vehicle! Thankfully, there was a nearby offramp, and I was able to exit the highway before the tire completely deflated. 

What a fiasco to make it back home! But it seemed hilarious that the Lord allowed it just as I said I don’t want to be too comfortable. And truly, I felt God’s love by being rescued. That love showed up by way of David, our neighbors, and our insurance company over the phone; plus the tow driver, a gas station worker, and a Lyft driver in person.

How do you need to be rescued this week? Are there any challenges that seem to have you bound up; have you come to a spiritual impasse in the first week of Lent? Perhaps like the leper who cried out to Jesus for healing in last week’s gospel, your problems are keeping you from community and closeness with others. Certainly, it seems we are living in a society of illness and isolation right now in the midst of the pandemic.

As we see modeled in the gospel, let’s pray together for healing. Lord, we trust you can heal us, if you wish. Please say to us, as you said to the leper, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

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Special thanks to VIP Patrons:

Kim Moline
Dick Safranski
Jordan Mendez
Julian Padilla
Jessica Cook
Kate Hicks
Sara Chacon
Kelly Wesaw
Deacon Tim & Lily Roberto
Carrie Brzezinski

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