An attitude of gratitude - that is what is on my mind today as I review the last month. School ended! I left for a week at Oakwood with my beloved Sisters in retirement. What gifts of love and acceptance and warmth they give to me. There is a tinge of sadness as I watch them fade as they grow older-some I have known since they were first professed and came to teach at the Sacred Heart school in Cincinnat-62 years ago. However it is balanced with the joy of long term friendships and the mutual exchange of love and prayers.
And now I am home for a month until I go to celebrate success with Casey my oldest. She will host her agency's annual Tribute to Change in Philadelphia and I am able to be there to cheer her on. How grateful I am for that and for her in my life.
In August I go to England to visit my other blessings, daughter Trish, Ian and baby Jack for two blessed weeks. They too are such a grace in my life and give me  much joy.
God is very good to me and has been all through my life - even when I have not noticed it. Today I am very aware of it every day and thank God frequently throughout the day for the many blessings with which I am showered;my sobriety, the beauty around me, loving family, loyal friends, opportunities to grow, interesting students - and I could go on and on.
Today I am also praying for the Board of the LCWR who are meeting in D.C. They have much to think, pray and talk about. May our loving God surround them with care and protection.
Cape Cod Cathy

It has been awhile since I wrote here. Mostly because I had conflicting thoughts and feelings about what I wanted to write and no clear sense of it. But today being Mothers' Day there are several feelings that come to the surface.
First I just read that a good RSCJ friend of mine died this week. This is the third one that has gone to God in a short period of time. These women were friends, not mothers. But there were many like them who were "mothers" to me and who are gone now. They made my life safe when it wasn't, gave me comfort when I was sad, made me walk straight when I wanted to go crooked, laughed with me, prayed with me and did  many of the things a mother does.
My own mother did the best she knew how. We developed a deep strong relationship in the years before she died. She was able to tell me how proud she was of me and that she loved me- large accomplishments for her. She has been gone 16 years and every Mothers' Day I miss her.
My own children remind me of what it is to be a mother. And I look to Mary, the universal Mother for guidance in dealing with them, particularly today when they are adults. Last Saturday I heard a speaker talk about Mary and how she must have felt when Jesus was an adult. And I thought about my own conflicted feelings, pride in my girls because of what they are accomplishing and the wonderful strong women they have become. I am delighted that they have found life partners whom they love and who love them in return. And my one daughter who is such a good momma to her year old-how happy I am for her. And yet sometimes I miss them, the geographic closeness we used to have, their need for me. And I think of Mary when Jesus was 12 and stayed behind in the Temple and later as an adult when he said,"And who are my mother and my brothers?" When I am in pain not knowing where my son is, I turn to Mary. And I ask her to keep me steadfast with my eyes on her and her Son. And to learn from her. Salve Regina.

In the liturgies of the last few days we have focused on the love and goodness of God.
I have just finished reading several hundred blogs spurred into being by the Vatican's latest antics. A frivolous name for a serious matter, I realize, Since we have been encouraged not to interact with "the press" , I am not adding to the many I have read online at the NCR site. There have been several I want to blast out of the water and others I want to add my support to.
Only the love and goodness of God will pull our Church through this morass as God has done so many times before. Having read an article earlier today on politics and religion which discussed how many fewer religious people in the younger generation there are today then in 1950, I am surprised at the storm the Vatican's indictment has caused. That article talked about the resurgence particularly in the Catholic Church in the 60's and the fact that it is also dwindling quickly especially since the scandals of the early 21st century.
I pray that people coming together in their support for "the sisters" will also come together to worship and love God in the process. Wouldn't that be a true gift in response to God's love and goodness?
Cape Cod Cathy

Good morning. It is a beautiful day outside here on Cape Cod. The sun is shining, flowers are blooming and trees are budding. God's creation is awake and alive.
Last Sunday at the Associates' meeting in Boston El shared with us a meditation she received from another friend. It was titled " Blessed Poverty". Seems to be a theme in my life right now? Anyway the lines that struck me were:
" It is to know that in Jesus Christ God loves us first, the one who constantly takes initiative in our lives. It is to understand that his work in us is far more important than any work we can offer him. I have learnt to say: My God, I welcome my day, I receive it with all that it will bring, rather than <I offer you my day>."
Again there is a meaning for the words of St. Madeleine Sophie to  "pray in silence and in poverty of heart". It is God who gives the opportunity to do the work that he gives us to do, it is up to us to accept the invitation. WOW what a change of thought!

I too have heard about the Vatican's latest bit of interference in the work of God's laborers in the vineyard. Although I would love to spout off about it, I will follow the example of my wiser sisters and friends and wait until we know more:-)
Have a beautiful day - in all ways.
Cape Cod Cathy

This is the week of rejoicing and gratitude. In this morning's prayer readings there is one from Wisdom which reminds us that the manna given by God was "untoiled for" and "to each one's taste". The first really struck my heart. How many of God's gifts to me were given not only without my having worked for them but even without my having asked for them?
And taking "to each one's taste" to mean being good for each one, hasn't each gift of God benefited me in some way?
Last weekend my daughter and her partner came on Saturday and stayed until Sunday so we could celebrate their Feast of Passover and my Feast of Easter together. They brought the movie Mary Poppins. Ever since the melody to "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down" has been ringing in my head. This morning I realized what the spoonful of sugar is - gratitude. Whenever I remember to be grateful for God's many gifts then any disappointment, pain or loss is  easier to handle. My favorite AA phrase is "keep an attitude of gratitude".
Cape Cod Cathy

Christ the Lord is risen today -Alleluia.
Christ is Risen-Come let us rejoice - Alleluia. 
Our Lord rose this morning even though  the sun didn't. But that fact didn't matter, it was still a bright and joyous day all over this earth.
The Mass this morning at St. Patrick's was beautiful and the homily given by a priest with the mind and heart of a poet.
My joy was made complete by the presence of my daughter and her partner Shauna who came yesterday and left today.
Yesterday I awoke to a sense of waiting and expectation - expectation of something wonderful. It was as though the sadness and pain of the day before had passed and now I was to wait and pray. 
A song kept going through my head and finally the words came too:"There's a hush all over the world today;all over the house (of people in love) of waiting for God. There's a hush today all over the world, all over the world(of people in love) waiting for Jesus to rise. The new words don't exactly fit but they do fit the mood. Before I remembered the words the melody kept playing in my head and once I remembered the words it played most of the rest of the day. I was praying to and with Our Lady and I had this sense that she would say that He told us He would rise-we are to wait for Him. And she didn't seem worried.
What a gift!
So wishes for a truly joyous and blessed Easter to Each One.
Cape Cod Cathy

Good Friday-the day of silent prayer in union with Jesus and Mary. As I was praying "The Way of Our Sorrowful Mother" in Magnificat, the answer to my Lenten question came to me. During Lent I have been focusing on the quote from our Constitutions where St. Madeleine Sophie tell us to pray "in silence and in poverty of heart". This was part of the reading sent to all members of the family of the Sacred Heart as part of our focus on Justice,Peace and the Integrity of Creation.
Asking Our Lord to explain to me what is meant by "silence and poverty of heart". This morning Jesus gave me the answer-Mary didn't only surrender her body to God at the Annunciation, she gave up her freedom and her heart.In other words her heart was now open
to God for whatever purpose God chose to use it, as well as all the characteristics we think about in connection with the heart, affections, loves, wants, desires,concerns etc. So poverty of heart means for me now giving my heart once again to God for whatever is God's will on a daily basis. Easily said-not so easily done!
Happy Easter to Each One!
Cape Cod Cathy