Saints for Friends

It's been interesting since I felt the call to befriend the saints.  

First, in tidying up, I came upon an old prayer book that Pam gave me. As I browsed through it, there was a whole section of prayers to different saints. The first one I read was a prayer to the angel who comforted Jesus on the Cross.  How beautiful to think of that being, full of compassion, honored to be the one chosen to minister to Jesus, his God.  I thought of how that angel might be the one who comes to us when we are enduring our crosses! 


For the first time, I wrapped my mind around the PERSON of that angel, and thanked him for doing that, and asked for him to help me when I need it.


Yesterday was the feast of St Scholastica, the sister of St Benedict!  So I read a little about her, and remembered the Benedictine sisters who taught me in grade school.  The favorite story I remember:  When Benedict had his monastery, and she had her convent of sisters, they would get together to pray and talk long into the night.  On one occasion, he wanted to leave and she wanted him to stay.  He was strict about his needing to go back to the monastery, but she prayed that he would stay, and God sent a horrible storm so he was forced to stay and pray with her some more!  Her vibrant faith and confidence startled him!  I love that!  It inspired me to ask her to pray for me that I would grow in confident prayer!


Today, in moving a few things around in my prayer room, I found a real treasure I had stored there.  It was a copy of the words Cindy and Jim shared at Kristen's funeral.  Oh my goodness.  The tears flowed, the memories played like a movie...the first time Cindy brought Kristen to prayer group, the love we all had for her, the LOVE that this little girl engendered in everyone.  Her life of 18 years, how her dear Lord came for her and carried her across His threshhold!  And there's the saint of this day for me!  I prayed and asked Kristen to pray for my family.  I also see her as a saint who taught us that all life is sacred and beautiful, no matter what we DO.  Her life was not DOING, but BEING, and it was holy!  


So today, I ask Kristen to pray for me to learn that my value to God is not just what I do for him, but in my being.  After all, He made each one of us before we DID anything.  He created us simply out of LOVE.  Oh, the joy of knowing she is in heaven with Him and is still deeply connected to us who loved her unconditionally.  That's what I need to do with everyone, especially family -- love unconditionally, the way she inspired us all to love her!


Thanks be to God!

Thoughts about asking for prayers!

This morning, as I was praying special prayers for my children, I found myself caught up in this:

me:  

Lord, Abba, 
You gave us the Perfect Gift in Your Son Jesus Christ!  
Jesus, You gave us the Perfect Gift, the Holy Spirit to be in us and with us forever!  Heaven!
Why would we hesitate to believe that ALL good things, 
very small in comparison, 
ALL good things--
peripheral to the ENORMOUS PERFECT GIFT 
would not be given also?!

Yet You also will that we, 
and the angels and saints 
play a part in the goodness, 
not simply sit back and watch You do it, 
but we all get to play a little part in it.
I sense that as I have been praying for the family to be more tightly bonded, You are answering that prayer by changing me and giving me more unconditional love for them all. That will naturally bring us all closer.

God:

Learn your Father's ways, 

like Jesus learning carpentry from Joseph,

and you learning from your father --

about oil wells, about snakes and spiders, about electricity and table saws, etc. From Carl, you learned to embrace it all, to fix a wall or a faucet without fear.

Well, from Me, you ALL learn My ways,

and get to participate in the love, the healings, the good works --

You pray for each other,

you stand for each other,

you serve each other,

and share faith with each other!

And you ALL continue when you enter eternity --

Constantly, you all get to continue the work of the Kingdom, 

sharing, healing, helping, praying!

That's the way it goes!

That's why I want you to ask the saints on earth for prayers,

for help, for companionship.

It's all part of heaven!

And it's why I want you to ask the Saints and angels already in heaven also!

Heavenly life isn't just sitting there receiving from My Beatific Vision --

It's also giving by interceding for you all on earth.

How could you all be so filled with My Godhead,

and NOT overflow to the friends you still love on earth?

You have no idea how people in heaven have been part of blessing you all along the way.  Family members who still love you from eternity, and My Mother and the saints and angels!!

Embrace them all, the way you embrace your sisters and brothers in Christ here.