Tag: god

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

Passover, Seder, and Frogs?

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

Lenten Reflections #37

“I am FULL Jewish,” said Josie, a bright, six-year-old who is more faith-driven than most grown adults.

She asked if she could share a little about Passover with the class.

She sat straight up and began, “Today is the first day of Passover. It represents God leading his people out of Egypt. It’s called Passover because the angel of death passed over. Back then, they used to have a lamb leg; it was a lamb that you had to love for a lot of days, but then you had to kill it, eat it, and then put its blood on your doorpost, or else the firstborn would die. And um…this person, I forgot his name, but this person who used to live in Egypt, killed someone, then he ran away. God came through a burning bush, and the bush was all fine. He told Joseph to lead his people there.”

Josie continued, “We’re also going to do something really fun with frogs!”

Class was ending, so we missed the story of the frogs, but intrigued, I did a little research on the amphibian and how it fit into Josie’s Passover explanation.

Biblically speaking, frogs were the second of 10 divine plagues unleashed upon Egypt when the Pharaoh refused to free the Hebrews from slavery. Throughout history, the frog symbolizes the liberation struggle—the very liberation Jews celebrate on Passover.

God told Moses, “Behold, I hear the cry of the children of Israel. I have surely remembered you and seen what is done to you. And now I will put forth my hand and smite Egypt with signs and with wonders. Go tell Pharaoh, Let My people go!”Moses told Pharaoh, “Let My people go!” But Pharaoh said no. So God sent ten awful plagues to punish the Egyptians and to teach Pharaoh that only God is God.

After turning the water in all of Egypt’s rivers, streams, and ponds into blood, God said, “Let My people go!” That’s when the frogs hopped into the kitchen ovens where bread is baked. Then God sends gnats, flies, locusts, darkness, and finally the killing of the firstborn, as young Josie mentioned. Finally, Pharaoh freed them from slavery. (Our Beautiful Passover Seder Table and Frogs)

Josie went on to say she’s super lucky because she will be the child to ask the four questions at the Passover Seder meal. A true honor.

Here they are:

How is this night different from all other nights?

On all other nights, we eat chametz (leavened foods) and matzah. Why on this night, only matzah?

On all other nights, we eat all vegetables. Why, on this night, maror (bitter herbs)?

On all other nights, we don’t dip even once. Why on this night do we dip twice?

She told us the story beautifully, now she just has to memorize the questions in Hebrew! If any six-year-old can do it, it’s Josie.

What I learned:

Jewish children are immersed in their religion, culture, and education. The Seder is a prime example of a time when they are encouraged to ask questions, think critically, and explore their beliefs. The pride Josie has for who she is and where she came from is remarkable. What a gift.

Thanks for joining me.

I’m so glad you’re here,

🙂 Lucretia

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

“He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war…” – Pope Leo

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

Lenten Reflections #35 – Holy Week

Let’s start this Holy Week with the words of our dear Pope Leo:

“This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood” (Is 1:15).

In his homily on Sunday, Pope Leo referenced a Bible passage in which Jesus, about to be arrested ahead of his crucifixion, rebuked one of his followers for striking the ⁠person arresting ​him with a sword.

“(Jesus) did not arm himself, or ​defend himself, or fight any war,” Leo said. “He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. Rather than saving ​himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross.”

What I learned:

These are the words of our Pope. He’s got connections. He’s smart. Listen to him. Steer towards peace. Keep hope and joy alive through prayer for all of those boots that should not be on the ground.

Here is a Prayer for Peace by Pope Francis:

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain.

Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.

Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness.

Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam!

Amen.

Thanks for joining me.

I’m so glad you’re here,

Lucretia

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

Santa and God go fishing

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

Lenten Reflections #31

I was walking with bright eyed, Claire today, golden curls falling in her face, cheeks flush from playing outside. We passed by the garden and she picked anything green and gave it a trial taste. “Mmm, mint!” She shrieked. We then both tried a very bitter lettuce and and immediately spit it out, moving on. She ripped a few of the chicory-type lettuce into small pieces and carefully placed them inside the “bowl” of a bright red tulip. It looked like a pricey salad at a steakhouse served inside the delicate petals.

Looking very satisfied with her garden art, she exhaled and said, “Pretty”.

As we walked back to the playground, she passed a small white painted rock with pink swirls on top amid the tulips. “I really like this rock.” She said cradling it like a small kitten. “It’s so pretty”.

“It sure is.” I said hastily trying to keep her moving to our destination.

“Time to go” I said.

“One sec.” she said. I really want this rock.”

“Well…” I told her someone placed it in that special spot and would be back looking for it. “And just in case, we should leave it right where it was.”

With a lot of hesitation, she tiptoed back and she set it in the soil.

Not even five steps away from that small stone and she stopped abruptly.

“Wait!” She looked at me and then up at the sky.

“Señora Lucretia! It was God!”

She quickly walked back to the rock like a long-time friend, picked it up and said,

“God sent this rock down for me and my sister to share! I HAVE to take this rock! It’s the sister rock!!!!”

“God?” I questioned.

“Oh ya, it was God. He wants us to have it. The Claire sisters.”

I jumped in…

“Well, it was probably God, that sent it, but maybe we should leave it here and check on it tomorrow.”

She turned around, rock in hand, and gave it a toss back into the tulip patch.

She walked a little further, running her hand over a patch of reeds.

“Señora, it wasn’t God.” She confessed.

I nodded. “Not God?”

“It was Santa. He left the rock.”

“Santa?”

Riveted, I asked if they knew each other, these two rock delivery guys…God and Santa.

“Yes! God and Santa DO know each other!” She was out of breath from the utter excitement of talking about God and Santa at the same time…something reserved exclusively for December.

“They like to pick leaves together.” She said.

She went on, “But they really like to go fishing together.”

“That sounds nice.” I said.

Our walk continued and we eventually made it to the playground, which to imaginative, joyful and creative minds like Claires, isn’t just a playground, it is a palette for pure magic.

What I learned:

Walk with anyone under five. At their pace. Look high, look low, look outside and most importantly, look inside your heart and listen to their magical words.

Thanks for joining me.

I’m so glad you’re here,

Lucretia

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

Mary’s Holy Saturday was just awful

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

Lenten Reflections #39

I awoke this morning with a heartbreaking curiosity about what Mary must have felt the morning of Holy Saturday. There is no record of how Mary spent the day, but I would imagine it was agonizing, silent, exhausting, and empty.

We’ve all been in that void when we wonder why horrible things happen.

Like recently…why were there more school shootings? Why is there a continued war in Ukraine? Why is Putin so evil? Am I supposed to love him like I love my own children? Why are people fighting over land? Why can’t we share? Where is God in all of this when we need him the most? Agonizing moments like this make us feel abandoned by God.

So Holy Saturday, when the most faithful of disciples, Mary, the Holy Mother, who gave her life and all of her love to her son, on that Holy Saturday morning, was severed from the one she loved so dearly.

This enduring loss Mary felt reminded me of a eulogy I heard on “Thanks for Being Here,” a podcast by Kelly Corrigan. It was written by a father from Dublin who lost his young son.

He talked about what he thought was the impossible, the death of his son, how it came thick and fast. “I sought the intercession of the saints of the church triumphant, evoked all the choirs of angels for the grace of God’s healing, insisted on the impossible, asked for the undoable…”. He felt upended in a tempest, pulled under the surface of everything they knew and were.

Like Mary must have realized, this father said he knew the currents of their lives and their children’s lives would carry them apart. But with faith, they held on tight to each other, then surrendered, finding grace and mercy. “We’ll live it for them and ourselves, doing good, being kind, showing mercy, getting into mischief, finding fun…start the day with prayer, we love, you we miss you, we love you, we miss you…and one day, lead us to the garden where we will never be parted again.”

What I learned:

The despair felt from the loss of someone you cannot live without is strong and unrelenting. Yet the faith we muster serves as a tiny lifeboat in a sea of grief. Let us live like Mary, stand by the cross, knowing in our hearts, the ones we love who have departed first will be waiting on the other side of the tomb in a beautiful garden with arms wide open to receive us.

Here’s to Another Good Day and a Holy Saturday.

Thanks for joining me,

Lucretia

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

Kids Define Miracles

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

Lenten Reflections #38

Today I read the story Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Polacco to my kindergarten and first grade classes. My own kids grew up reading Polacco’s family-centered stories, all intermingled with lovely cultural lessons. Rechenka’s Eggs tells a story about Easter eggs intricately painted in the Ukrainian/Eastern European style, a Babushka, and a wild goose. Carefully woven throughout is the message of miracles. Miracles that come when you need them the most, but there’s no reason to expect them.

After I read the story, the children’s hands went up immediately, and we went around the circle discussing what a miracle is to these little ones. With this profound, faith-filled insight, it is hard to believe they only have five or six years on our earth.

What is a miracle?

  • It is something that makes you really, really happy.
  • It is when the Jews crossed the sea and the sea parted.
  • It is when you get hit with a bow and arrow by accident, but you don’t get hurt.
  • It is something to be happy about.
  • It is when something happens and you don’t know who did it.
  • It is a thing that did what cannot exist.
  • It is when you don’t know what made something happen, and never thought it could.
  • A miracle is anytime you don’t even wish for something, it just happens.
  • A miracle is when something bad happens, and then something good happens.
  • A miracle is when you’re drawing something and you have no art, and then suddenly art appears!
  • Miracles are the things you are thankful for
  • A miracle is something you are scared to do, then you try it, and it works
  • A miracle is something beautiful
  • A miracle is when you are wanting to win something so much and then you do
  • A miracle is like good luck
  • Miracles are impossible for humans to imagine

Who can give me an example of a miracle?

  • Happy tears
  • It’s like having something that is plain, but then it is perfectly polished
  • When the candles lasted for more nights for Hannukah
  • There was a boy on the Titanic when it crashed, and only women could be saved, and the boy jumped into the sea and he survived, that’s the miracle.
  • We had a treehouse, and it was rebuilt after being destroyed.
  • It is Jesus changing the wine and bread
  • I don’t know if this will happen, but I think it will…it will be a miracle when I grow up and I am big and strong.
  • A miracle is like when Martin Luther King changed white people fighting with brown people
  • “Can I do way back then miracles? Then, when Jesus rose, it was a miracle.”
  • Going to heaven is kinda like that – a miracle
  • When you invite Jesus into your heart and you get to go to Heaven…but heaven isn’t the only place you go when you die, there’s a really hot place, but I forgot the name of it.
  • The den full of lions story, when Daniel got out – that’s a miracle
  • In snow-white, the queen was about to get shot by an arrow and didn’t get hit, that’s a miracle
  • When Jesus died on the cross, and the guys who helped him (disciples) found out he didn’t die
  • Last supper when Jesus said one will betray me, and then one did
  • When baby Jesus was born
  • When I came alive, it was a miracle
  • A miracle is something that a human can’t do, but Jesus can
  • A miracle is when people who couldn’t walk and then they could
  • Or that time when they ran out of wine and Jesus asked some boys to get buckets of water, and he changed it into wine.
  • When something bad turns into something amazing
  • The time in the Bible when there was no food and one kid had a lunchbox, and Jesus kept it filled with the bread and fish

Who has had a miracle happen to them?

  • A miracle is like if you walk out your front door and there is a pile of clovers, and right on top, above all of them, is a four-leaf clover
  • I always wanted my lovey, Pinky, to have a rattler inside her, and I woke up one day, and she did.
  • It’s a miracle my grandma is turning 90 and she doesn’t need a wheelchair, just a stroller (walker)
  • A miracle happened when I thought my pet catfish had died, and then I found out it didn’t
  • I almost got hit by a car when I was two, and my aunt pushed me out of the way, and we both survived; that was a miracle.
  • It was a miracle when I saw a great white sturgeon, the biggest fish in the world, and then it laid its eggs in front of me
  • It was a miracle cause I didn’t know I was going to Great Wolf Lodge, and then we went
  • It’s a miracle when something impossible you can’t do and then you can. One time, I didn’t think I could lift a really heavy weight, and then I did.
  • If you have a pet dog and you release it, and it comes back
  • It was a miracle when I was sick, I didn’t think I’d feel better, and two days after I did.
  • Once my aunt couldn’t remember anything, and then she could, that was a miracle
  • There was a man in the Bible who thought he was going to die, and then he didn’t die, he had so much faith in God that he was swept up in a cloud. That story makes me laugh every time! Imagine a man being swept up by a cloud!

What I learned:

Miracles surround us every day – the sun rising and setting, stones skipping, hummingbirds stopping by for a sip, addictions squelched, children being born, diseases cured, monarch butterflies migrating, stars shining, waves crashing. All miracles.

One of the blessings of miracles is the faith they provide and the hope they restore. That is what happened; each child in class candidly shared their thoughts and filled my heart with love and hope, and courage to believe in miracles.

Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

Holy Week Reflections

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

LENTEN REFLECTIONS #34

As Holy Week begins, I’m reminded of how things have changed over the years. Growing up, Holy Week was a quiet time.

PREP:

Typically, we would have Thursday and Friday off from school and prep the menu for Easter Sunday, including ham, mashed potatoes, red chili (instead of gravy), and the other usual Thanksgiving/Easter suspects. Also, Mom’s pineapple salad made with cream cheese, Cool Whip, and crushed pineapple and topped with shiny maraschino cherries was a Dad-favorite. Aunt Eugenia’s finely chopped salad always made the list too – she was the aunt who rode motorcycles, brought her bird “Bonita” to visit, and played the accordion for Sunday mass. I’ve been told I have the same sharp-slanted nose as her.

HOLY THURSDAY

On Holy Thursday, as we loaded up the station wagon and headed to St. Anne’s, Dad would remind us that mass “would be a long one”. Typically, he would do the readings as a lector, and Mom would play the organ. I had a choice to either turn pages for Mom or try to sit still with my sisters for the two hours of feet washing and the Last Supper. Up the stairs, I climbed to the choir loft for my bird’s eye view.

GOOD FRIDAY

Under the cloudy Good Friday skies, we would attend services at 3:00 pm sharp every year. I still remember the cold, empty altar and solemn sentiment inside St. Anne’s Church. Mom reminded us, “This is the one day we don’t need to genuflect, and we don’t call it a mass. It’s a service.” She went on to explain why, and I said, “Ohhhh,” knowing I really wasn’t paying attention.

But back then, I knew I could ask her anything, anytime I needed to – that time of life when you think your parents are going to live forever and moments stand still like lighthouses shining bright.

HOLY SATURDAY, we buckled in for another “long one,” and I loved that mass. One Easter weekend, after Holy Saturday Mass, we visited my oldest sister at New Mexico State University. That was the year I gave up soda for Lent – even though we never had soda in the house except for Dad’s RC Cola. I remember going out for pizza right after mass and getting the coldest, most delicious Shirley Temple ever. It was served in one of those big red plastic cups with a fat straw. One of my favorite Holy Saturdays on record.

What I learned:

Over the years, my view of Lent became less soda and more sacrifice. In college, a friend of mine and I vowed to say a Rosary together every day. During the long drive to San Diego for spring break, we prayed, after going out with friends we prayed, and even before watching Shamoo jump through hoops, we prayed the Rosary. Yup. I was wild and crazy then, too.

Today, unless kids attend a school starting with the word “Saint,” it’s likely they will be in school during Holy Week. Even Good Friday. Because times are different. Holy Week just seemed holier back then. Calendars are filled with games, practices, and activities, with church fitting into the gaps. Like anything else, age readjusts the lens on what matters.

Lent is about sacrifice and love – giving the homeless water, really listening to a friend, praying for peace in our world, and realizing we all truly need each other.

Here’s to Another Good Day!

Thanks for joining me,

Lucretia

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

8 Quotes about Renewal and Springtime

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

Lenten Reflections #28

Some days, I just need to read words from the wise. Today was one of them. So, I compiled a few to share with you. A reminder that although worry hangs over us like a pall, knowing that tomorrow will bring us renewed life is the power we need to move forward.

  1. “Through your deepest wound, Light enters.” – Rumi
  2. “There can be no renewal of our relationship with nature without a renewal of humanity itself.” — Pope Francis
  3. “There is a cleansing from winter darkness the moment we sink our fingers into spring’s fresh earth.” — Toni Sorenson
  4. “There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force which really changes our lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. To be born again is not to become somebody else, but to become ourselves.” — Thomas Merton
  5. “One’s doing well if age improves even slightly one’s capacity to hold on to that vital truism: ‘This too shall pass.’” – Alain de Botton
  6. “Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise.” – Maya Angelou
  7. “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” – Jack London
  8. “In the study of the Way, each day something is dropped. Less and less do you have to force things, until finally, you arrive at the place of non-action, where nothing is forced, and nothing remains undone.” – Lao Tzu

What I learned:

Words are transformative.

Here’s to Another Good Day.

Thanks for joining me,

Lucretia

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

Finding Faith through Stories

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

40 Lenten Reflections – #24

Years ago, on any given weekend, our 14-year-old son was typically riding bikes, exploring the woods, and climbing trees with a friend. One Saturday, he came home from the trails and told us a tree fell on him. Thankfully, his friend was able to lift it off as it was a small, older pine tree. He wore his bike helmet, so luckily, he only had a few scratches on his face and legs. On Monday at school, a classmate asked about the mark on his face. So, our son shared his story.

“So, do you have a video of it?” a boy asked.

“No video,” our son replied.

“Well then…it didn’t happen.” The boy said flatly.

They debated back and forth, and finally, our son, a professional selective listener, confirmed, “Yes, it did happen.” He then moved on, ignoring further hassle.

At bedtime, he told me this story, and we sat and picked it apart like old layers of paint peeling off a wall, trying to find the original color.

What happened to imagination and faith?

The boy’s need for documentation was testimony that technology negotiates our day with swipes, texts, and posts. We click pictures of our meals and memories, shorten words, and deliver messages as fast as our thumbs can go. Conversations dwindle with our busy lives, as does the age-old craft of storytelling. This is exactly what our son was doing.

As young children, there’s an unwavering faith in stories.

Maurice Sendak takes us to a wild rumpus and faithfully floats us home with Max as he arrives home to his warm dinner.

Faith in friendship is palpable when Charlotte sits in her web and says: “You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
― E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

Faith requires vulnerability. Stripping the need for that which is tangible.

In “Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus” Francis Church interprets faith in his editorial in The New York Sun in 1897: “You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart.” When Mr. Church referred to “the skepticism of a skeptical age” in the story, he was speaking to grown-ups and the dwindling of religious faith among middle-class Americans in the 19th century. Faith in faith.

Now, that doubt cloaks children, too.

What I learned:

We make an emotional investment with every story we tell. Some may believe that if a tree falls on a boy in a forest, it’s true, but doubters will question and want video proof. The vital action is to tell the story, be the raconteur, and propel your listeners on a journey of faith.

Lenten Challenge: Keep story-telling alive!

Here’s to Another Good Day!

Thanks for joining me on my storytelling journey and having faith in me,

Lucretia

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

One word to stop using…

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

40 Reflections – #5:  40 days of raw recollections during the Lenten Season

Ever wake up, glance at the clock, and say, “I SHOULD have gotten up earlier” only to follow it up with “I SHOULD have gone to the gym, prepped dinner, called my parents, run with the dogs, played with the kids, or checked the pockets for that pen before I tossed everything in the wash?”

The “S” word is verifiably toxic, yet to avert our gaze away from what our lives would look like if we accomplished all of the SHOULDS is nearly impossible. Haven’t you marveled at the early birds who amble into work chatting about their early morning run, seamless commute, or the dinner menu they prepared for the month?

Let’s ditch the SHOULD have narrative with three easy tips:

  1. BE YOURSELF:  Change the lens through which you see yourself, and celebrate who you are and where you are today.
  2. ACCEPT AND ALLOW:  Your reality may be vacant of the plans you slated for yourself years ago, but by clutching onto the people we love, our SHOULD HAVE world dissipates. Some say, “Let go, Let God” It’s worth a shot.
  3. SET YOUR INTENTIONS: Our deepest hopes are shaped by our intentions. Step out of the noise, serve others, find your passion, and share it!

What I learned:

When our minds harp on these unaccomplished actions, we sadly allow the present moment to circle the drain. All of the should haves coupled with regret keep popping up. I run low on forgiveness – mostly towards myself and allowing the “Did Not Do” list to ruin my day. I have heard that forgiveness is our work on earth. So let’s start with ourselves and those around us. Celebrate the now and keep moving forward.

DIG DEEP:  On your next run or walk, bring a friend, and you do the listening.

Please Pray for the Pope…he’s improving.

Thank you for joining me,

Lucretia

Posted in Family, Faith and Fitness

40 Days – Journeying together

Posted on by Lucretia Cahill

Lenten Reflections #1

Nine years ago, I decided to ditch giving up chocolate or coffee during Lent and instead, track my 40 days right here. Since then, I’ve shared little snippets of life – the messy, funny, daunting, and unpredictable moments I experience or observe. My hope is that anyone who reads this will connect and learn something on the journey because people’s stories spark emotion, and emotion sparks memory, and if you’re like me, my memory needs as much spark as it can get.

As I begin Lent each year, I am inspired by the words of Pope Francis, who, as of today, is in stable condition and will be put back on a ventilator tonight after spending the day in his armchair.

So as I prayed for him, I found his Lenten message focused on journeying together tender and true:

“Journeying together means consolidating the unity grounded in our common dignity as children of God (cf. Gal 3:26- 28). It means walking side-by-side, without shoving or stepping on others, without envy or hypocrisy, without letting anyone be left behind or excluded. Let us all walk in the same direction, tending towards the same goal, attentive to one another in love and patience. This Lent, God is asking us to examine whether in our lives, in our families, in the places where we work and spend our time, we are capable of walking together with others, listening to them, resisting the temptation to become self-absorbed and to think only of our own needs.”

Let’s start this journey and focus on what brings us joy, what drives us crazy, and what brings tears to our eyes. Personally, some days I feel like I’m the only one whose back hurts every time I stand up or am the lone mom whose nest is empty, and I just want to bring them all back and hear the laughter or yelling or random singing in the shower. I know I’m not alone, and neither are you.

So, here we go. Forty days, full speed ahead!

Thanks for being here with me,

Lucretia