Exaltation of the Holy Cross

I learned about this beautiful Cross of Snow in Colorado and the poem that Longfellow wrote upon the death of his wife through a homily by Fr. Joseph Mary on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I especially loved the quote from Fulton Sheen about the Cross without Jesus making it a burden, whereas, with our Savior, it becomes redemptive. 

It reminded me of another quote of his from his book Life of Christ: “The Western post-Christian civilization has picked up the Christ without His Cross. But a Christ without a sacrifice that reconciles the world to God is a cheap, colorless, itinerant preacher who deserves to be popular for His great Sermon on the Mount, but also merits unpopularity for what He said about His Divinity on the one hand, and divorce, judgment, and hell on the other. This sentimental Christ... Without His Cross, He becomes nothing more than a sultry precursor of democracy or a humanitarian who taught brotherhood without tears.” All this reminded me of another beautiful quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer on cheap grace. I can only hope and pray that Longfellow, at the end of his life received all the necessary graces to reach heaven. 

  

The Cross of Snow

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In the long, sleepless watches of the night,

   A gentle face — the face of one long dead —

   Looks at me from the wall, where round its head

   The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light.

Here in this room she died; and soul more white

   Never through martyrdom of fire was led

   To its repose; nor can in books be read

   The legend of a life more benedight.

There is a mountain in the distant West

   That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines

   Displays a cross of snow upon its side.

Such is the cross I wear upon my breast

   These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes

   And seasons, changeless since the day she died.

The Lamp, Lenten Feasts, and Admiration

We've had such a beautiful time with our church family for Laetare Sunday and the Feast of St. Joseph. We've entered Passiontide but as our pastor reminds us, Lent is 40 days but Eastertide is 50.  Might I suggest Ten Easter Eggs for the little ones in your family? I'm so delighted it's still in print. I wonder if total sales have exceeded 100,000. They were close to 90,000 in 2019 and I've not received a statement since.

Below is Michael's cousin--there's definitely a family resemblance though Michael cannot grow such an impressive beard (his brother can). I can't wait to see Max et. al. during Easter break and have a celebratory reading of his letter to the editor published in its entirety in The Lamp. I might be asking him for advice on publishing in Catholic magazines next. So proud of him. And he's so proud of his father, looking very cool posing next to his Alfa Romeo. Ah, those were the days of fast cars and our guardian angels working overtime. Deo gratias! 

It's definitely spring here with pollen everywhere. I took this picture from the porch where I was hanging out the wash and looking in to see Jules cuddling up to Michael. Such a sweetie. 

And today--Happy Feast of the Annunciation and the Feast of the Good Thief Dismas! Legend tells us that Good Friday occurred on Mar. 25th and I love its circularity (I wrote about it when it did happen in 2016) and this is what Ap. Fulton Sheen said about St. Dismas in Life of Christ: 

“A dying man asked a dying man for eternal life; a man without possessions asked a poor man for a Kingdom; a thief at the door of death asked to die like a thief and steal Paradise. One would have thought a saint would have been the first soul purchased over the counter of Calvary by the red coins of Redemption, but in the Divine plan it was a thief who was the escort of the King of kings into Paradise. If Our Lord had come merely as a teacher, the thief would never have asked for forgiveness. But since the thief's request touched the reason of His coming to earth, namely, to save souls, the thief heard the immediate answer: 'I promise thee, this day thou shalt be With Me in Paradise' (Luke 23:43) It was the thief's last prayer, perhaps even his first. He knocked once, sought once, asked once, dared everything, and found everything. When even the disciples were doubting and only one was present at the Cross, the thief owned and acknowledged Him as Saviour.”

A Writing Retreat with Ap. Fulton Sheen and St. Therese

This summer, my children were on a mission trip for a week, so I took the opportunity to have a home writing retreat (these are the best because I am a homebody at heart and the pets make it so very delightful). I wondered which saint would accompany me and after Sunday night's Mass, a friend slipped this book in my hand, telling me she needed it by next week since she wanted to give it to her son whom she was travelling to see. Imagine my delight when I saw the cover! I didn't have just one saint, but two of my favorites, who kept me company. Even if you’ve read Therese, Ap. Sheen brings new insights in this series of talks given in Dublin: Archbishop Fulton Sheen on St. Therese: A Treasured Love Story.

It was a wonderful week. I finished polishing my contemporary YA and sent out queries, finished a proposal and began another one, thanks to encouragement from the saints. Michael and I enjoyed our quiet evenings together; it was fun to watch the fireworks at Smythe Park. Alas, I was sick again so I spent many hours in bed reading and praying and taking notes. Enjoy! If you wish to have all of them, shoot me an email or write in the comments and I’ll be glad to share them all.

Chapter 1: A Saint for our Troubled Times

"The good lack all conviction while the worst are filled with passionate intensity." ~ William Butler Yeats. How true it is. How are we to live in these troubled times? There is only one answer: we have to become saints! Ap. Sheen calls Therese the "greatest saint of modern times." Her Little Way is about integrating sanctity with what we are doing in our state in life—it may be on a farm, it may be a sick bed, in the office, home. Live it faithfully.

Chapter 2: On Real Saints

Ap. Sheen gave a lecture on hagiography (lives of the saints). In the old days, people wrote about the saints as if they were born saints. They only wrote the good things. And now, it's often the opposite, people only write about terrible things. Therese wrote her own--Story of a Soul. She says, "Tell over and over again the story of God's mercies to me." Ap. Sheen says, "if you intend to be a saint start writing your own life now. Beware of dangers, of painting oneself holy.

"What's killing the world today is ordinariness. Flatness. Dullness. Want of fire. We can't be happy unless we're in love, and when we have perfect love, which is the love of God, then we are supremely happy... Live the life you have now, but make it holy. Start right where you are at.”

Chapter 3: Virtues of Faith, Hope & Perseverance

How this chapter resonated with me. When we pray for special intentions and God says No or Not Yet, we are so terribly disappointed. But Scripture tells us to "wait on the Lord." Therese wanted to enter Carmel at 15. There were so many obstacles. She even went to the Holy Father. She was terribly disappointed. She offered herself to the Child Jesus as a plaything--a ball--and she felt like he'd poked a hole and left her in a corner. Ap. Sheen reminds us, "she did enter Carmel at 15 and today we ask for her to pray for us, not Pope Leo XIII, who had power over her!

“This is Love's Delay. The testing. Think of Abraham, Noah, Lazarus, the Syro-Phoenician woman who pleads with Jesus to save her daughter. She says, "even the dogs eat crumbs from the Master's table." So we have to be. Keep praying. Do not lose heart. All prayer is acknowledging our dependence.”

Chapter 4: The Power of Intercession

Therese says, “I have lived for our Lord, I want to die for Him. This is my love, and I want to be with my Beloved.” She said she wouldn’t go to purgatory because there’s nothing there to burn off. I love her confidence!!! “I will go straight to heaven! … I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.”

We have two great intercessors: our pleading Savior Jesus is the principal one and the Holy Spirit in our soul is the second. The Little Flower says, "me too, beside Mary." Ap. Sheen says, "we probably spend too much time praying for the dead, instead of praying to them... I have great confidence in her. Put her to work! Don't let her rest!"

Chapter 5: The Value of Suffering

St. Therese never looks to our Lord to be consoled. She's always looking to console Him. Ap. Sheen says, "She is far closer to the Truth than many theologians. She writes, "Since our Beloved has trodden the wine press alone, the wine which He gives to drink in our turn, let us not refuse to wear garments dyed with blood. Let us press out for Jesus a new wine which may slake His thirst."

"When Jesus says, "It is finished" He means My mission is accomplished. I have done all the Father has asked me to do. So if He had finished His sufferings, how could St. Therese say she has to console him? Ap. Sheen explains, "Our Lord's sufferings were finished in His physical Body, but His sufferings are not finished in the Mystical Body, the Church." Recall the conversion of St. Paul. Jesus says, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." St. Paul understood this mystery very well. He says in his letter to Colossians 1:24 "It is now my happiness to suffer for you. And this is my way of helping you to complete, in my poor human flesh, the full tale of Christ's afflictions still to be endured for the sake of His Body, which is the Church." Therese is thinking of His Passion still enduring in this world."

I wept reading this chapter because my heart was so much at peace that I need never worry about the people who are suffering so--Jesus is in their suffering whether they know it or not. I know He will take care of them, so I only need to ask for not mine, but Thy will be done. 

Chapter 6: St. Therese and the Sword

Therese says, “O my Beloved, I understand to what combats You have destined me. It is not on the battlefield I shall fight. I am a prisoner of Your Love. Freely have I riveted the chain which unites me to You and separates me forever from the world. My sword is love…”

Ap. Sheen reminds us Therese “is the patroness of the Propagation of Faith though she was never in mission lands. The deeper reason is that she’s a woman in love and she wanted her Beloved known all over the world.

I came not to bring peace, but the sword. ~ Matt 10:34 

“God hates peace in those who are destined for war! And we are destined for war, spiritual war. We’ve forgotten that we are in a combat. God stationed an angel with a flaming two-edged sword to keep our first parents from going back to eat of the Tree of Life and thus immortalize their evil. The only way we can ever get back into Paradise is by having that sword run into us. It’s flaming because it’s love. It’s two-edged because it cuts and it penetrates. It’s the sword that’s thrust inward to cut out all of our seven pall bearers of the soul—the pride and covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and sloth.”

Chapter 7: On Our Relationship with God.

Ap. Sheen gives the example of pencil. “It’s totally subservient and obedient to my will. But if the pencil had a will of its own I couldn’t do anything with it. We do not give our human nature to God in such a way that He can use it totally and completely. We hold back!

“Worldly people will think Therese wasted her life in a monastery. But remember that in the divine order, some lives have to be wasted. Mary of Bethany wastes precious perfume over our Lord’s feet. David wasted the water brought to him at great sacrifice.

“We have to offer ourselves as pencils. Let Him write poetry. Let Him scribble. What difference does it make? This is happiness.”

Jesus taught: anyone who tries to save his life will lose it. But anyone who loses his life for My sake and for the Gospel’s sake will find it. ~ Mark 8:35

 

Chapter 8: On Fighting Satan

We need not fear the devil if we belong to God. St. Therese says, “I turn my back upon the adversary without ever looking him in the face. Then I am ready to run to Jesus and tell Him I am ready to shed every drop of blood in testimony of my belief that there is a heaven.”

Ap. Sheen shares Dr. Rollo May’s psychological POV on the diabolical. It comes from the Greek dia ballein = tearing apart or rending asunder. Three manifestations: nudity, violence, and distraught minds. We see this in Matt 8:28-34 Jesus goes into the land of the Gadarenes, there’s a young man possessed of the devil. He was naked, violent, and of a split mind. “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

Ap. Sheen reminds us that at the end of life’s journey “you will see either the merciful Face of Christ or the tragic face of Satan. “Mine! Mine!” You are His. You will always be His. Fear not the battle. Why, you’ve already won!”

Chapter 9: Suffering for the Sake of Love

I love how Ap. Sheen explains this. "A friend says, I will pay your debt. This is a financial transference to take your burden upon himself. You see one boy carrying another. He’s crippled. You ask, “Heavy?” But the boy answers, “No he is not heavy, he’s my brother.” This is also transference.

"Jesus transferred to Himself 3 types of evil—physical (sickness, disease), mental suffering, moral sufferings (guilt)... Our Lord is the model of our spiritual life. He took upon Himself our physical illnesses so that we would not complain but bear them patiently. He took upon Himself all of our mental sufferings so that we would never be discouraged, for He went into the dark for us, Himself alone. He took upon Himself our moral guilt.

"We are guilty of the death of Christ and when Christ is raised from the dead gloriously on Easter Sunday, we who are guilty of His death can say, “See? See? He’s alive! I’m free!” That’s the complete transference of guilt to Himself and the conquest of it by His Resurrection. This is the heart and soul of Christianity.

"The Little Flower took upon herself the physical, mental and moral ills of the world. She desired to be a victim. Therese says, “To offer oneself as a victim to Divine Love is not to offer oneself to sweetness and to consolation but to every bitterness, for love lives only by sacrifice. And the more a soul wills to be surrendered to Love, the more must she be surrendered to sacrifice.”

"As Christians, we are to continue the work of Christ. Pray and transfer the pain of others to yourself. St. Paul says, no man dies alone. No man lives alone. Your prayers will save souls. Remember the paralytic. He didn’t ask for anything. But the Lord forgave his sins and healed him. Why? Because of the prayers of the four men.

Chapter 10: St. Therese, Humility and the way of the Child

St. Therese says, “To remain little is to recognize our nothingness.”

Phil 2:7 Let your bearing toward one another arise out of your life in Christ Jesus. For the Divine Nature was His from the first yet He did not think to snatch at equality with God. But He made Himself nothing; nothing, assuming the nature of a slave.

Satan tried to make himself God.

Ap. Sheen explains, “What is the secret of humility? To become nothing. Nothing. Never to stress our own powers, our own wealth, our own gifts, but to recognize they all come from God. We are bidden to become empty, to become nothing, so He can fill us, work in us. There’s the emptiness of the Grand Canyon; it is sterile and produces nothing. Emptiness of a flute, which if you breathe through, you can pipe a tune."

Chapter 11: St. Therese, Sin and Mercy

Ap. Sheen makes me laugh. He writes, “Today’s world we deny human guilt and sin. It used to be that only we Catholics who believed in the Immaculate Conception. Today most people in the world believe they were immaculately conceived, for they deny such a thing as sin or guilt.

“Two escapes from human guilt. 1. People say they are sick, so no penitents, only patients. 2. We rationalize our sin. We argue. Remember Jesus and the Samaritan woman.

“We are all sinners. How are sins forgiven? Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. 2 Heb 9:22 Why? Because sin is in the blood. So blood has to be poured out. Sin is such a serious offense that it takes the blood of someone to block out its terrible burden.

“The Little Flower was a great theologian. She invoked the Blood of Christ. She says, “The Precious Blood of Jesus I poured on souls. My victory is always to run away from evil. But for the conversion of souls, there must be the sight of the Precious Blood flowing from our Lord’s Wounds. And this is to be the cordial bond that will heal off their sins.””

Ap. Sheen then takes us through Scripture, from Genesis through the Gospel of John, so beautifully to show how the shedding of blood is the foundation for the expiation of sins. The old and the new testaments are seamless.

"This is our faith. Every time you go to confession and a priest raises his hand in absolution over your sins, the Blood of Christ is dripping from his fingers. When you receive Communion, you are receiving the Body and Blood of Christ.

"Invoke the Blood of Christ after your sin. This is the basis of forgiveness. When we do not invoke the Blood of Christ to have our sins forgiven, we begin to shed one another’s blood.

Let no one ever despair of Mercy. The Blood of Christ has paid all debts if you but invoke it."

 

On Love

Nearly two months have gone by and I've not shared anything at all from St. Alphonsus. That's not because I have nothing to share but because the subject is so large -- on love. Am I ready to say anything profound? I doubt it, but I've had a chance to ponder and pray both on love of God and love of neighbor, the topics for March and April respectively.

Nature bids us love God! 

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. ~ Matt. 22:37

 

St. Alphonsus says, "Love of God is a divinely infused virtue which leads us to love the Lord our God as the sovereign good, and purely for His own sake."

The good saint challenges us and then gives practical ways to advance in God's love:
First, an ardent desire for perfect love.
Second, renounce all love that doesn't refer to God.
Third, deny oneself by gladly embracing what is opposed to self-love, and refusing oneself what self-love demands.
Fourth, frequent meditation on the sufferings of Jesus Christ, so that our hearts may be inflamed with love for our suffering Savior and to learn from Him what He desires us to do.
Fifth, prayer. "Jesus, give me Thy holy love." The Lord is generous is the bestowal of His gifts; but He is especially bountiful in giving His love to those who seek it.
 

Oh, to love Him perfectly, for nothing, no reason. It is everything. I am sorely lacking. The love I experience is bounded by my human nature. I love Him because He made me, because He is all good, because I want to be with Him, because He has blessed me abundantly. Would I love Him the same if my life were filled with strife? I think not. Remember, I lost my faith over the problem of suffering. That's because even though my heart is moved when I think of Him as a Babe at Christmas, I failed to understand the depths of His love for me when He endured His cruel crucifixion. And therein is the mystery of love. He lays down His life for me, for you, for the whole world.  

I was struck when Sister Jane Dominic spoke about woman's greatest desire: to be loved for who she is. Yes! Not for what I can do or give, but to be loved for who I am. And then she posed the question of man's greatest desire. I didn't know what it was. I looked to Michael and wondered if he'd whisper it to me. But there was pin drop silence. We waited to hear what Sister had to say. She said, man's greatest desire is to lay down his life for those he loves.

 

And everything clicked. Man, made in the image of God. Who lays down His life for us.

 

And so love of God is tied intimately to love of neighbor. St. Alphonsus says, "Why must we love our neighbor? Because he is loved by God." He goes on to remind us that brotherly love induces us to practice mutual forbearance.  

 

And so what is love? St. Paul defines it for us in his letter to the Corinthians: Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

 

It's a tall order. And the hardest to exercise with the people I know and say I love. St. Alphonsus gives some acts to practice in loving our neighbor:
Strive in the first place to reject every rash judgment, every distrust, and unfounded suspicion of your neighbor.
For charity in speech, avoid calumny and slander.
Give alms to the poor and needy.
Above all, extend charity towards your enemies. It is heavenly revenge!

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ~ John 15:12


My love is so limited and often, distorted. But my good friend Fulton Sheen (soon to be a saint, who is embracing Saint John Paul II) comes to the rescue. In one retreat he explains the conversation between Jesus and Peter after the resurrection. Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" And thrice Peter declares his love. However, Peter uses the word "philia" (brotherly love) instead of "agape" (self sacrificial Godly love) that Jesus uses. But the third time, Jesus comes down to the human level of Peter and uses the word philia. Oh, how our Lord understands and knows our limitations, yet He trusts Peter to "feed My sheep." He is the Good Shepherd.

I wanted to speak of love in stories but this post is too long already. So I will close in His love. 

Books and Author Love: Fulton Sheen

I've been reading Life of Christ and From the Angel's Blackboard and Three to Get Married by Venerable Fulton Sheen. Every time I check out a book by him from the library, eventually I end up buying it. We already have several of his books, and it looks like we just can't seem to have enough of him. Not only is he a wonderful writer (I think he's a poet at heart) but his teaching is always clear and beautiful.

I urge you to take a look at some of his works. Much of it is free, but I can guarantee you'll want your own personal copies of books to highlight and scribble in.

If you prefer to listen, you can download MP3 files. Lots of great topics from the philosophy of life to the mystery of sex to the necessity of wasted lives, and much, much more.

He is a gift to the Church! Pray for us, Blessed Fulton Sheen.

Here are some quotes. Although they are all taken out of context, they still pack a punch. Enjoy.

The essence of prayer is not the effort to make God give us something. Prayer, then, is not just informing God of our needs, for God already knows them. Rather, the purpose of prayer is to give God the opportunity to bestow the gifts He will give us when we are ready to accept them.

Nothing ever happens in the world that does not first happen inside a mind. When one meditates and fills the mind for an hour a day with thoughts and resolutions bearing on the love of God and neighbor above all things, there is a gradual seepage of love down to the level of what is called the subconscious, and finally these good thoughts emerge, of themselves, in the form of effortless good actions.

Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.

Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them.

We are more often tempted to do good than we are to do evil and it is a temptation
that we don't often enough give into.

God love you!

Another Treasure

This book along with Mystic Monk coffee arrived in the mail yesterday! Haven't brewed the coffee yet, but read a few pages and it is marvelous. Quintessential Fulton Sheen. Scripture, reflection and prayer. Reflection for Day 1: God walks into your soul with silent step. God comes to you more than you go to Him. Never will his coming be what you expect, and yet never will it disappoint. The more you respond to his gentle pressure, the greater will be your freedom.

This is a busy season for many, including us. It's all too easy to become distracted by the things of the world. Archbishop Fulton Sheen is a wonderful companion to our little Advent village -- inside the cubbies I tuck in chocolate kisses, little animals and selected Scripture passages for the children.

So much for staying off the Internet, but sometimes I just have to share all this goodness.

Tell me, how do you maintain the spirit of Christmas in the midst of all the secular noise?
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Reading

We're halfway through Lent. I fail daily at keeping my resolutions, but I pick myself up and try harder again. Developing good habits takes time and I although I feel like this cat some days, most days, I am happy to spend greater time with our Blessed Lord. Today I am giving in to temptation so that I can share all the great books I've been reading.

I loved Home is with Our Family by Joyce Hansen because it so vividly portrays family life at a time that I don't know much about. My kids soaked up all the details of how school was conducted. And I thoroughly enjoyed reading a book about black Americans who were relatively well-off and who did not have a dysfunctional family. The illustrations by E.B. Lewis are gorgeous. It's a beautiful book to read.

Long after I closed this book, I wondered how Maria and her family fared in the Midwest, and whether Anna and Maria were able to keep in touch. Their homes, gone, replaced by Central Park. Hansen is unsentimental, letting us into the hearts of her characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool, taking me into two times and places, and again, what it means to be a family. I loved the way Vanderpool peeled the layers of this onion to reveal the hearts of the characters, the mystery I never suspected.

Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse was sheer delight. It's based upon the pilgrimage of Margery Kempe from England to Rome, but from the viewpoint of her maidservant, who Margery described in her autobiography as disobedient. Again, the details of their lives on the road with their fellow-travelers created a picture for me that I will not forget soon.

As you can see, I enjoy historical fiction very much and I must admit that I've learned more history by reading historical fiction than dry history books. Oh, there are some exceptional authors I've read, like Steven Ambrose or David Halberstam, but I'm afraid the vast majority of history books do not appeal to me.

Other books I've enjoyed are the Latin-English Missal, since we try to go to High Mass at least once a month. There is so much Beauty and Sacred Tradition that I didn't know I was even missing. We will probably invest in the 1962 Daily Missal eventually.

In The Seven Capital Sins, Fulton Sheen reflects upon the seven Words of Christ and correlates them to the reparation of the seven sins. In our culture, the idea of sin has practically vanished in the name of tolerance, so this slim book is a must.

I've also been enjoying Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer by Bruce Holland Rogers. It is not a book about the craft of writing, but about becoming and staying a writer. I highly recommend it.

My reading pile is ever growing ... I can't wait to get my copy Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys and The End of the Line by Angela Cerritos. My own writing is going well too -- I'm now revising the second half of my book.

I hope you have all found something in here that piques your interest, and I hope you will continue to have a blessed Lent.

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On Breaks, Revisions and a Cracked Pot

I had a lovely break with my husband's folks this weekend -- got some much needed TLC, a change of scenery, and pace. So relaxing. I brought the kids, the dog, a book I'm reading by Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Your Life is Worth Living: The Christian Philosophy of Life), my notebook, and my first draft of my novel. I forgot all my toiletries, because I was so intent on packing all my medicines. But I did not need them, despite the long drive and rain. I am truly on the mend thanks to all the loving support and prayers and should've had faith!

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We left the kitties at home in care of a neighbor. My husband was supposed to come along as well but he had to go to Japan. So he's working long hours, sleeping in a fancy high rise hotel and eating lunch out of bento boxes. He says we'd love it here. And all I can think of is the song from the Chipmunks: Japanese Banana.

So after nearly a two month hiatus, I have begun my revisions on my novel. If I suddenly drop off the blogosphere or the Blueboards, that's why. Although I have 15K revised already, I had to start at the beginning and as always, there are things to fix. Always.

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I had much time to think and reflect and write in my notebook. One thing I am certain of, although I am a very cracked and crooked pot, God can still use me to do His work. I may never hold oil or wine or perfume, but I can hold water and pour it out to a thirsty fellow being. So I pray that the Lord fill me.

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Sunday's Mass and readings all felt directed toward this (I always feel this way, but especially so this weekend -- it really did feel like a retreat). I sang Psalm 40 with my entire heart: Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

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I highly recommend this book ... for Christians and non-Christians alike. Very readable. It's actually a transcript of Fulton Sheen's radio broadcasts.

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