It has been a long full time since I have written here. There have been gifts of joy and sorrow in the intervening days. One of my dearest friends here on The Cape has been diagnosed with uterine and ovarian cancer. Her first name is Karlen. She is such a woman of faith, it boggles my mind. I can only try to follow her example.
I was blessed with the premature birth of a grand niece who is perfect and came home to New Jersey just before the hurricane Sandy. She and her mother were able to go inland to stay with friends where there was heat and power.
My own daughter and her partner never lost power in S. Philadelphia. And here in Falmouth we only lost it for about three hours. Did not even interrupt our house Halloween Party!!
We have been praying for those in South Jersey and New York City who have suffered and are still suffering so much. A cold snap followed the hurricane and it has been quite chilly. Also a nor'easter came through the beginning of this week and further damaged some of the original areas. Sometimes I am tempted to say "What is God thinking?" Yet I know that this is not part of His deliberate will but simply what He allows to happen as part of the forces of nature. It is part of the cyclical weather change and cannot even be blamed on human beings.
Our world would be so much better off if we all stopped looking for someone to blame all the time. I like everyone else need to learn to accept what happens on a daily basis for that day and ask God for the strength to deal just with that day. An elder friend of mine who is ill and going blind said to me that each morning he asks God for the courage to face that day. A good prayer.
On Friday I celebrated 29 years of continual sobriety - another blessing. I did it with the grace of God and the support of my fellows. Another joy in the list.
Thank you dear Lord for all the gifts you have given to me and those I love and help me to keep an attitude of gratitude!

capecodcathy

Today word came that another beloved RSCJ has gone to God. This has certainly been a time of loss, especially that of one whom I had known for over 60 years and who had been an important person in my life. Often when I am grieving I find it hard to pray. One day last week I came across a prayer card given to me by another dear one who has gone to God a number of years ago. "Be still and know that I am God". It became my meditation mantra for this time. And then a couple of days later in prayer came to me the lines from a hymn, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you aand you are mine". As I prayed these two lines the following came to me:

        Be
        Be who you are, a being I created; a being not a doing.

        Be still
        Be quiet in your mind and heart, let go of the worries, grieving thoughts, the plans.

         Be still and know
         Know that I am with you all days, days of joy, days of sorrow,
         I have called you and you are mine .

          That I am God  all loving, all forgiving, all sharing of my everlasting love for you.

           Be still and know that i am God.

Peace and love to each one,
capecodcathy

Yesterday, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady was the 53rd anniversary of the day I promised my life to Our Lord. I am keeping that promise but not the way I had planned it :-)
Instead of living my life keeping the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as a member of an RSCJ religious community, I am living by myself as an RSCJ Associate  trying to live a life of simplicity, purity and openness to the Will of God  as a mother and grandmother, friend, sober woman and educator. God works in mysterious ways and I can see the hand of God in my life all through it.  In each of the pieces and places of my life, God uses me to share the message of the eternal love of God with the people who cross my paths.

The paths I recently crossed included my daughter Trish and her family including my grandson Jack in London. We had a wonderful family time and I was able to experience ordinary days with Jack, seeing him enjoy playing, running, watching and chasing bubbles and loving life as only an 18 mos old child can.

While I was in Barnes,London,England for those two weeks in August I experienced once again the international charism of the Society of the Sacred Heart. An RSCJ, whom I met through her blog, continued to build a relationship through FB, came to my daughter's house in Barnes from her home in Oxford. We spent the better part of a day and evening together, she taking me to Digby Stuart College in Roehampton to meet the new English Archivist, Barbara Vessey where I spent several hours in the Archives with Janet Erskine Stuart and praying in the newly renovated Chapel. We returned to my daughter's home where we shared supper with my family and then my new friend returned to Oxford.

I am now home, starting a new Fall semester of online teaching, volunteering as a member of the Council of Catholic Women, attending Bible Classes, and ministering to some friends who are ill with cards and phone calls, maintaining contact with my family;; all ways of sharing God's message  of love.

As I titled this blog-I am so - blessed by God - the best of all worlds.

cape cod cathy

This prayer has been sitting on my desktop. The Spirit prompted me to open it this morning and I share it with you. It seems like a most appropriate prayer for these days, written by an RSCJ who is preparing to go to God and who has devoted her life to championing the marginalized, the downtrodden, the nonviolent, the victims of injustice.
Prayer at this Kairos Time

In this Kairos time of crisis and challenge, may we, like Mary of
Nazareth, be open to the Spirit who calls us to new ways of in-
carnating the Word of truth and love.



In the face of harsh judgment even by those closest, may we,
too, ponder deep in our hearts a response inspired by the nonvi-
olent Christ who went beyond traditional teachings to grow to
maturity in wisdom and grace.



May we invite the servants in the house of our Church to re-
spond in trust to the faith that turns water into new wine,
bursting the old skins of paternalism and outgrown legalistic
structures,



May we, in the bold meekness of the Syrophoenecian woman,
challenge our Church to an inclusivity that dissolves fear to en-
rich and fill up the Body of Christ.



May we, by nonviolent and creative actions that speak louder
than words, pour out whatever gifts we have, remembering the
promise to the woman at Bethany: "Wherever the gospel is
preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told
in memory of her." (Mk. 14:9)



May we have the courage to leave our securities and publicly
follow the way of the cross to stand by the One who rejected
the sword, healed the enemy, and challenged the perversion of
truth by fidelity to it.



May we stand firm, even when darkness and chaos seem to fill
our threatened earth, and express hope in the hidden energy of
creative hope and love.



May we carry the message to the fearful disciples of the resur-
rection of a new humanity, birthed by the Spirit in the heart of
a creation that groans " in the pains of childbirth right up to the
present time." (Rom. 8:22)

~ Anne Montgomery, RSCJ


peace and love,
capecodcathy

As I sit here by my window  this morning attempting to meditate on the reflection from the English website "Give glory to God with a quiet mind", I am struck by an awareness coming from the flowers on my deck. They symbolize the ever present love of my God. My pink New Guinea impatiens live even when I forget to water them; they look dead, but the minute they are watered they spring back to full life again. So when I forget to nurture my relationship with Our Lord, my connection droops, but springs back to life because God's love is still present. The lavender and white petunias give off blossoms continuously, just as God gives me gifts always and ever. I need to be mindful of them. A recent gift is the opportunity to put sacred music back into my life. At the Methodist Church down the street, there is a monthly Taize practice and worship service. Sunday I attended the worship service at the invitation of a friend. What a gift. I left, with my soul singing Jubilatae Deo ! I will return. A strange plant the name of which I do not know :-)  is growing in one of my flower boxes. It has a very thin stem topped by a large leaf of pink ringed with green. Last night we had a  storm complete with high winds, thunder and lightning. This morning the stems are not broken, just as when the are large storms in my life, God's love can withstand them.
So now I go out about my day more aware of God's love, in gratitude for the new insight into God's creation. Hope your day is similar.
cape cod cathy

Our two Feast Days the end of last week, The Feast of the Sacred Heart and the Feast of the Immaculate Heart brought with them a great gift. Starting early in the morning of the Feast of the Sacred Heart  every fiber of my being felt a connection with all the RSCJ and Associates with whom I am connected and have been connected. During Mass there was the realization that somewhere in the world others were also celebrating the Eucharist with the same focus on God's love poured out for us. All day small reminders of our connectedness with His Love and with each other kept popping up. Reminders that God's love is everlasting and surrounds me all the time. Remembrances of connections with people I have not seen for many moons and yet still feel in touch with. As I clean out boxes and corners for a yard sale coming up, items, notes and pictures show up unexpectedly that remind me of a funny time, a sad moment, a happy occasion - all signs of connection. For one who used to worry about abandonment, Our Lord has certainly filled my life with signs of love and caring, pouring from the wellsping of his heart.
cape cod cathy

Today is a beautiful day.A spring-summer day. warm sun, cool breezes, the scent of blooming flowers on the air, a sense of freshness all about. It makes me wonder if Jesus experienced days like this? How did He see them, feel them?
These days are God's gift to us-out of God's love for us. The Eucharist is also God's love for us,a way of uniting us with God, with Jesus. Yesterday at Mass we sag-"Here I am, Lord". I always sing this hymn with my heart as well as my voice. This is the only way of saying "thank you" for the gift of the Eucharist and for all the gifts God gives me on a daily basis.
cape cod cathy