Suffering With Joy

Sabbath Moments

July 30, 2010

On Saturdays we join Colleen at Thoughts on Grace to share those moments we rested quietly in God. Sometimes I may not be resting physically, but I am with God.  My Sabbath Moments for this week:

First, the asparagus beans have been producing prolifically and every morning I collect the ripe ones.  The next step is to chop them in lengths suitable for steaming and freezing or cooking fresh.  As I was chopping the beans at the counter, I thought of how lovingly Our Lady must have prepared food for her family and that she probably shared with neighbors or those less fortunate than she.

These ideas led me to search for information on how people lived in Nazareth and I found some interesting facts about the manner of living, the houses, clothing, agriculture, politics, etc. in the article: Life of Jesus – First Century Context of Palestine (Israel).  Outside of the fact that the article makes the erroneous claim that Mary and Joseph had other children after Jesus, it gave me enough information to imagine well how Mary’s typical day went. I spend many lovely Sabbath Moments researching things like this which help me in my meditations which are also Sabbath Moments.

Second, thanks to a dear friend, I had some great quiet time reading Our Lady of Kibeho, which I reviewed and commented on.  This is an inspiring story, but a very sad one, too, because just as people did not heed her calls for repentance and sacrifice at Fatima and the world was thrown into yet another terrible war, neither did the Rwandans heed Mary and Jesus who urged conversion of heart. A million people died in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 while the world shrugged its shoulders and the UN “peacekeeping forces” didn’t keep the peace.

I remember being appalled at the slaughter and wondered how people could do such terrible things to their very neighbors.  It was as if an entire nation became possessed by the devil, going about in a blind rage screaming and hacking and slicing whoever came into their paths for 100 days of hell.  I wonder if we will soon see the same here.

Does it seem to you that enough people are in love with the truth (I am the Way, the Truth and the Life) or are most people in love with their own limited definitions of truth? Most of us cannot do big things to resolve the evils in this world, but we can do many little things every day, conforming ourselves to the will of God, transforming the ordinary into the invisible extraordinary. What looks like somebody chopping beans is really somebody loving God and neighbor the best she can at that moment.  Thank you Blessed Mother, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Josemaria Escriva for your example!

Tags: conversion

6 Comments to Sabbath Moments

1. 

   Oh my … this post has touched my soul at its very core.
   I am in tears. You have shared such profound insights and posed questions that stop me in my tracks…you wouldn’t have known it, but your question about “Truth” is one that just yesterday, one of my best friends and I were discussing on the phone. I am emailing her a link to your post.
   God bless you in these beautiful Sabbath Moments and thank you for sharing them with us.
   May I have your permission to reprint this post on my “Inspired by Others” page at http://www.momoften.webs.com/
   site? I know so many of my visitors would be blessed by your words here today.
Judy on July 31st, 2010
2. 

   Judy, you are more than welcome to reprint any of my posts that you think will help others. God bless you and thank you for visiting me.
barb on July 31st, 2010
3. 

   It’s easy to disdain the little everyday tasks as being of little importance, thinking that “big things” are of the most importance. But isn’t most of life in the little details? And it’s those seemingly little things that make the big ones possible.

   I understand that the Marian apparitions at Fatima and other places usually brought admonishments to repent/convert. And then we see what happens when true conversion doesn’t take place. I’ve heard that most people in Rwanda were nominally Catholic, yet look at the horrible things that happened there in the 90s.

   Evan
Evan on July 31st, 2010
4. 

   Barb, what a beautiful post! That discussion on Truth really touched me, too. And chopping beans made me think of Brother Lawrence and The Practice of the Presence of God. He found God in washing pots and pans. Thanks for joining me every week!
Colleen on July 31st, 2010
5. 

   Thanks for sharing the link to life in Palestine–looking forward to reading through that! I love this idea of Sabbath moments.
Kathleen@so much to say, so little time on August 1st, 2010
6. 

   Me, too. Or in good English, I also.
barb on August 1st, 2010