My Journey to the PCPA!

[Ora et Labora]

[quote name='shortnun' post='1066226' date='Sep 18 2006, 06:50 PM']
<------------- Franciscan thoughts.

Franciscan friends:

[/quote]

[zunshynn]

[font="Palatino Linotype"][size=4][color="#FF0000"][b]42 Days!!![/b][/color][/size][/font]

And Part II of Clare's letter to Ermentrude:

[quote]
This labor of ours is brief, but the reward is eternal; let the noises of the fleeting world and its shadow not confound you; let the empty specters of the deceiving world not drive you mad; shut your ears to the whispers of hell and, strong, break down its attempts [against you]; willingly bear adverse evils and let provident goods not puff you up; for the one requires faith, the other demands it; what you promised God, faithfully render, and he will repay you.

O dearest, look on heaven that invites us, and bear the cross and follow Christ who preceded us; indeed, after various and many tribulations we shall enter through him into his glory. Love with your whole heart God and Jesus, his son, crucified for our sins, and never let his memory escape your mind; make yourself mediate continually on the mysteries of the cross and the anguish of the mother standing beneath the cross.
[/quote]

A nice reminder to chill out, roll with the punches and keep in mind, as Sr. Esther Marie says, that "This ain't it." : I have to keep looking toward heaven, and if I get caught up in all the drama of this life as I often do, then that's time I'm wasting, time that God gave me that I might spend it for Him. In [i]The Rosary is a Place[/i] Fr. Benedict Groeschel talks about how meditating on the Rosary is really meditating upon the only important things that ever happened in history. And as Catholics, we're invited to enter into those realities constantly, by offering up our own sufferings, the communion of saints, mass, prayer, and so on. So what the heck am I doing worrying about these realities of my daily life that really are nothing!

Lord, help me keep my mind on the things above!

Edited September 19, 2006 by zunshynn

[Guest phatdaddy]

Jen,

Thank you dear for responding to God's call. I am edified reading your conversation. Jesus must be so pleased with His future bride. Yea for PCPA's.

Jesus and Mary bless you now and in eternity.
Mr. ray
I think fun is really a cardinal virtue that must be practiced every day. : Does that make me sort of Franciscan too?

[zunshynn]

[quote name='phatdaddy' post='1066936' date='Sep 19 2006, 03:46 PM']
Jen,

Thank you dear for responding to God's call. I am edified reading your conversation. Jesus must be so pleased with His future bride. Yea for PCPA's.

Jesus and Mary bless you now and in eternity.
Mr. ray[/quote]Oh, I'm glad! I sure hope He's happy! He's like that pesky guy that keeps nagging you, and you keep telling Him to go away, but then gradually you totally fall for Him, and you can't imagine anything more incredible.


[quote]I think fun is really a cardinal virtue that must be practiced every day. : Does that make me sort of Franciscan too?
[/quote]Sure it does! That's probably the only reason we'd let OLAM Dad be "sort of Franciscan"!

I'm sure it's a cardinal virtue. Perhaps that's why I have to be a Franciscan, because I was boring, and clearly slacking off in regards to that virtue, so God thought the Franciscans would whip me into shape. Either that or someone was playing a joke on me. Perhaps it was both!

Edited September 19, 2006 by zunshynn

[zunshynn]

In honor of P.G., our phamily member who has passed away, I'm posting the St. Francis' "Canticle of All Creatures." Out of respect for him, I won't pester you with my thoughts on it. I just ask that you reflect on it prayerfully for him, and especially on the highlighted portion.

[quote]Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon
for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
By You Most High, they will be crowned.

[b]Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.[/b]

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.

Heavenly Father,
You gave Your servant Francis
great love for each of Your creatures.
Teach us to see Your design in all of creation.
We ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen. [/quote]

May you find eternal peace in God, P. G.

I think for our own sorrow, St. Dominic's words to his brothers on his deathbed are also appropriate: [quote]Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effecitively during my life.[/quote]

Edited September 20, 2006 by zunshynn

[zunshynn]

[color="#FF9900"][size=3][b]I have 40 days left![/b][/size][/color]

And today, I want to share St. Francis' exhortation to the Poor Ladies, from [url="http://www.desertnuns.com/aboutus.htm"]www.desertnuns.com/aboutus.htm[/url]:

[center][quote]Listen, little poor ones, whom the Lord has called
who have come together from all parts of the world;
May the truth unite you, so that when you die,
on complete obedience your trust may rely.
Look not to the outside for the life you live;
better far the bounty that the spirit will give.
In great love, I beg you; use God's gifts with grace,
and that those who suffer ills may bear them in peace.
You will sell your burdens at a higher price,
and as queens in heaven you will wear crowns of life
[/quote][/center]

The reality that contemplative life doesn't cut us off from the world, but rather unites us more intimately to it, was difficult and important for me to understand, because it was really hard for me to get beyond that mentality that says contemplative life is a waste, and that I should be "doing something." And I know that I still only have the slightest idea of what that means. It's awe-inspiring to me.

That God will be using me to serve those of his children that suffer the most, without me even fully understanding how, is incredibly humbling. What a challenge to grow in love and faith like that! We're a community of faith that is diverse in most every way, but we are united by the Truth of this beautiful Faith of ours, even in an age, or perhaps all the ages of time, that says there is no Truth. And we are in a great battle, and we do undergo great trials... but the life that God offers us to spend together with Him for all time is a gift beyond our imagination's ideals

Because I that's kind of ultimately why we're here isn't it? I mean, certainly God could give us anything under the sun, even redemption, without requiring anything. He doesn't [i]need[/i] us to pray or to love each other. And yet, he asked us to. And I think that's because of the beautiful and glorious triumph of loving, because it is such a challenge to truly love each other as He loves, and He wanted to let us experience that victory that is love. He wants us to choose love freely, because that's the only time it really means anything.


Anywho, enough with the philosophical stuff. I turned my passport papers in today! Well, sort of. I have to go back again tomorrow, because apparently you can only pay the 30 dollar fee with cash, and the other 67 dollar fee has to be paid for by check. Bureaucracy.

Edited September 21, 2006 by zunshynn

[brandelynmarie]

[quote name='zunshynn' post='1069524' date='Sep 21 2006, 07:19 PM']
Anywho, enough with the philosophical stuff. I turned my passport papers in today! Well, sort of. I have to go back again tomorrow, because apparently you can only pay the 30 dollar fee with cash, and the other 67 dollar fee has to be paid for by check. Bureaucracy.
[/quote]



Ah, the government....

[zunshynn]

[size=5][font="Blackadder ITC"][color="#330033"]39 days!!![/color][/font][/size]

And today, a short little quote from the PCPA constitutions about the beautiful vocation of PCPA externs...
[quote]By their special vocation our Extern Sisters are called to live as contemplative Eucharistic adorers fulfilling the external service of the monastery.[/quote][url="http://www.olamshrine.com/olam/externs.htm"]from the OLAM Extern Page[/url]

I can't tell you how much I love the idea of being an extern... I love the idea of working to give other people a beautiful place to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. There's just such a wealth of graces that flow from Perpetual Adoration that I know Jesus is dying to give us! I firmly believe that Eucharistic adoration will save, and is saving, the entire world. I want so much for every person to realize how wonderful it is to spend time with Him...

And as an extern, I'll have the opportunity to witness to people the love that Jesus has waiting for us in the Blessed Sacrament. And the chores that I have to do, I think in humble but important ways give people a place to simply come and fully experience His Presence there at the Shrine... And perhaps when they leave, their lives will be completely changed by that one experience there, and maybe will even go and bring the practice of perpetual adoration elsewhere.

And in serving the community as an extern, I'm helping to make it possible for the other nuns to be more completely hidden away for the constant adoration of Our Lord, and yet, also giving people that link to the contemplative life that we're starving for in a world that is constantly on the go. How awesome! And what a blessing for me, to have these small encounters of meeting the people whose lives God has so powerfully affected... The externs give us just a tiny glimpse of the life we have waiting for us. I mean of course, they have their own difficulties in growing closer to God... but I think the challenge of that is precisely what makes it such an awesome thing to strive for.

Edited September 22, 2006 by zunshynn

[zunshynn]

Ooh! In other, exciting news, they're updating the website, and they've put up [url="http://www.olamshrine.com/olam/25th%20anniversary_6%20birmingham.htm"]new pictures[/url] of the nuns at the EWTN celebration in Birmingham!

[franciscanheart]

[quote name='zunshynn' post='1065671' date='Sep 17 2006, 11:59 PM']
So I wanted to start my official countdown on a big Franciscan day... so I thought I'd start it on the feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis which is September 17th (except today is a Sunday, so I don't know if that makes it not the feast after all or what.) But then I haven't even had a chance to go online today because I was at my parish's harvest festival working at the Perpetual Adoration booth where, unfortunately, we only had one person sign up.

Anyway, so today would have been 44 days until my entrance ceremony, which is, of course, on the Solemnity of All Saints but the day is pretty much gone. But I felt like starting it anyway, so here it is. Chaos like the rest of my life! My life isn't really that chaotic.

And I'm stealing Puella's idea about putting stuff from the Rule of St. Benedict up. Well, except as cool as St. Benedict is I'm gonna put Franciscan stuff up, because yeah... I'm going to be a Franciscan of course. That still makes me laugh. Me, a contemplative Franciscan. Go figure.

So our first Franciscan tidbit is the first chapter of the Rule of St. Francis:

( [url="http://www.franciscan-archive.org/patriarcha/opera/rules.html#RegB"]from the Franciscan Archives[/url] )

During my aspirancy I was reading [i]The Franciscan Life in Christ[/i] and this quote really resonated with me, and I think sums up my surprising attraction to the Franciscans. I was struck by the sheer simplicity of it. Our rule of life is "to observe the Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ." Like, wow. On the one hand that's kind of a [i]duh[/i] thing. Like that's what we're all supposed to do. But I think we forget that sometimes. I know I have a tendency to make things more complicated than they should be. And yet, as basic as that is, it's that very simplicity that makes it a challenge. It's so simple it demands everything of you, because there is no other measure of how you're living up to it but putting everything you are into it. And I think the Christian life, Franciscan or otherwise, is about giving yourself completely to God. So I think I needed that, and I think that's why God drew me to the Franciscans even though that wasn't my natural inclination. Opposites really do attract!

p.s. Just so my address at the Monastery is in an easy to find place, here it is:

Sr. Jennifer
Our Lady of the Angels Monastery
3222 County Road 548
Hanceville, AL 35077
[/quote]
It IS kind of a 'duh' thing isn't it? I love Saint Francis. I can't wait to write to you!

[zunshynn]

I'm sorry, I just can't think of anything to put today. I was at work all day, which is why I didn't put anything up this morning... And then when I got home I found out that a friend of mine from high school went missing Friday in the ocean, and he's been presumed dead... I'm just so stunned. You here about things like that happening to people, and you never imagine it could happen to someone you know.

Anyway, if you could please pray for him and his family and friends... his name is Enrique Jiminez, I'd really appreciate it.

I promise I'll have something for you guys tomorrow. I just can't think right now.

[shortnun]

for you, and the friends and family of Enrique

[ThyHolyLove]

Many prayers for you Jen, Enrique and his family.....God be with you all.....

[zunshynn]

Hey guys,

I've actually decided to "fast" from the internet and some other things for my friend Enrique. I don't know exactly what's going on with the searches for him, but I've chosen not to give up hope for a miracle that he will return safely and that whatever happens, that God may use this tragedy to bring all of his friends closer to God. Please continue to pray for him and his friends.

I will still be checking myspace occasionally, because that's where I'm getting most of my updates about him, so if you want to message me [url="http://www.myspace.com/factus_sanctus"]there[/url], you can.

I'm not sure how long I will be gone, but we'll see. I'll resume my countdown then.

In the peace of Christ, Jen

p.s. Although I won't be here, you all will still be in my prayers.

[brandelynmarie]