Where is Peace Found?

Matthew 4:1-11 

Keep your eyes on the Heart that refused to turn stones into bread, jump from great heights, and rule with great power. 

Who allows His Heart to be touched by the poor, the maimed, the halt and blind.  A Heart that becomes poor with the poor, rejected with the rejected and abandoned with the abandoned. 

"Where is peace found? - it is there in those places of the heart we feel broken, insecure, in agony, most afraid..   

Why there?  

Because in our weakness our familiar ways of: controlling and manipulating are being stripped away, where we no longer fix, force or find! --  Right there where we are most vulnerable, The Peace That is Not of This World is mysteriously hidden - "Peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your HEARTS and mind through Christ Jesus." - Phil. 4-8. 

You see, I am convinced that everything which happens to us is the instrument by which He Himself draws us into His wounded Heart through our own human condition.  It is He who first suffers the pain we suffer -this is love!  Only in the awesome environment of such Truth can we hear Christ speak to us Heart to heart. 

My Elder, Fr. McNulty, shares a  conversation between himself and Christ - Jesus speaking to him:

"You and I are one. You must not look anywhere else for the meaning of your pain or darkness, no matter what the sin or the consequences of it.  Come into my Heart through yours and I will show you everything.  All I need is a heart pierced by its own human condition just like Mine has been pierced, a heart that has no place else to go but to My Heart. I will do the rest."

Only God can say and do things like that.  This is not psychology, or mere spirituality, but Grace formed by revelation, not meant to be learned theoretically, but personally experienced and assimilated." -Seraphim+ NHA

 

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

World Prayer Corps Prayer Cycle

30 Day World Prayer Cycle

Prayer Broadcasting around the World in 30 days

For each day of the month (30 day cycle), we’ve listed (from left to right) 6-7 Countries in which to pray. By the end of the 30 Days, we will have Prayer Broadcasted over the world.

If you are just starting and let’s say today is the 19th of the Month,  follow down the yellow column until you see the day – 19 and pray for South Africa, Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Denmark, Togo and Kosovo.   The next day, the 20th begin with Nicaragua…

Month of May Rosary Pilgrimage

As May draws to an end, today those of us at Nazareth House Apostolate, St. Simeon Skete embarked on our annual Last Saturday of May Rosary Pilgrimage to celebrate The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Pilgrimage is a necessary regular event for us. 

Today, falling on the Saturday after the vote in Ireland to repeal the 8th amendment, (in other words Ireland voted yesterday to prevent at will, their unborn  children in the womb from ever seeing the light of day - as a matter of convenience, a form of birth control), this tragedy which is an ongoing tragedy here in America already,  especially made today's pilgrimage even more necessary.  The result of this vote and the many implications go way beyond abortion.

Today's pilgrimage as with every exit from our property began with a Hail Mary at the Statue of Our Lady of Grace, for which our parish is named.

Our first stop was at the Valley Hill Shrine. 

There we said the opening Prayers of the Remnant Rosary inside the beautiful Chapel in construction. 

Periodically as a sacrificial act of love for God, David Stillwell travels from Cleveland to Springfield with his trunk filled with bricks that he made in his basement.  He places a row or two on the chapel and returns back home to Cleveland only to make more bricks, travel here again and add another row.  He says, "it doesn't matter if it gets finished,  it is my acting out of my love for God".  Because of its ongoing construction, we felt it fitting to begin the Rosary Pilgrimage within the chapel as the Remnant Rosary which is the Life of Christ is always constructing Christ within us.  Jesus your life is living in me.

At the Nativity Scene at Valley Hill, we said the Joyful Mysteries.

From there we traveled to The Dominican Priory, The Parish of St Rose.  Wandering through the grounds, I was struck by the millstones about the property.  I'd noticed them before but in light of the strong push in the world these days,  for the massacre of the innocents in the womb -- the millstones were more distinct.

But whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. -Mt. 18:6

We began our stop at St. Rose by saying the Reparation Rosary at the Shrine of Rachel - in reparation for abortions and disrespect for life in general.

As we entered the Narthex it was comforting to see a collection of diapers which will be distributed to babies in need.  Praise God for Life. 

Inside the Sanctuary of St. Rose we prayed the Luminous Mysteries:

St. Rose has beautiful stained glass windows.  We prayed the Baptism Mystery at this window.

The changing water into wine mystery at this window

Finishing with The Supper Mystery we began our journey to the Abbey of Gethsemani. 

There we prayed the sorrowful mysteries.

upon leaving Gethsemani, I had to make sure to see one of my favorite Icons...

I always like it when Mary wears red.

From here we concluded our Pilgrimage by saying the Glorious Mysteries at the Holy Rosary Dominican Cemetery.

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner.

Nazareth House Apostolate is the last place in the West 

and the first place in the East.

"As I think back over the years of this Nazareth, I can see God’s hand shaping and bringing us to a fullness.  May we be or have nothing unique that can set us apart.  May such terms as “new, exciting, dynamic, unmatched, remarkable, rare, unparalleled” be not a part of that which describes us.  Aside from the barest organizational needs (I Cor. 14:40) may we have no leader other than Christ; may we have no rule other than the Gospels; may we have no titles, nothing that can distinguish us (Jn.3:30; Gal.2:20).   ... we are merely stepping into the current of a great unfolding movement that God has already started quietly and inconspicuously in the hearts of men (Ps. 46:4; Ezek. 47:1-9).  May we come to realize that out of the sight of the average man, something very powerful has been going on under the surface of things (Jn. 12:24).  At this 'level’ we multiply by losing ourselves in God as He has ’lost’ Himself in us.  We in hope, must cling to our hiddenness, our ordinariness, as ancient seeds, waiting to be found in the caves and tombs of antiquity to be replanted and watered, to flower with a strange strength." -Seraphim

The Rule of Nazareth can be summed up in the following:

“The Poorer Means” ©

“Go, sell, give and so become poor.  Take up your cross and follow Him into the moment…as leaven into the dough of humanity that it may rise to become bread of Eucharist for the hungry…As leaven, invisible that He might be visible…being flung out to the furthest places by His centrifugal love and at the same time being pulled paradoxically into the centre by His centripetal love…as salt, light, leaven and branch to the edges and to the centre of a savorless, dark, flat and barren world, establish Houses of Nazareth, Reveal Jesus, follow Jesus revealed…poor, as Jesus was poor…Pray always.”   © 2003 Poorer Means, Nazareth House Apostolate

BEANS over RICE

Deacon Tom remembered how much James likes Baked Beans.


We had a box filled with hospital syringes and other supplies ready to ship. Though much needed, they are very light to ship. Priority Flat-Rate boxes are the same shipping price for 2 ounces or up to 20 pounds. Since we had to ship the hospital items anyway, Deacon Tom packed with the syringes, a few cans of James favorite beans.


Needless to say, James (and Roo) enjoyed them. I love how they fix them over rice. Everything is over RICE!

St. Laurence House says goodbye to good friend...

As the Grace Church Family says Good-bye to their dear friend, Nancy Denison, in Louisville, Kentucky - the St. Laurence House family in Freetown also say their goodbyes to Nancy. Nancy, a long time Sr. Warden of Grace Church, communicated regularly by email, text with James before her illness took hold of her. She was very involved in their lives, in the ministry in Sierra Leone. Whatever the need, if just a phone call of encouragement, Nancy was quick to be there for our Nazareth House family. She loved them and they loved her as evidenced by the above photos - it is their way of saying goodbye to a member of the family that has penetrated their lives across oceans, across borders, across boundaries.

Today, Grace Church celebrated Nancy's life in a Requiem Mass for the parish. Carol South, our organist, played the songs that Nancy (a dedicated member of the choir) cherished and loved. Words of love were spoken. It was a beautiful tribute to the one we loved so much. The impact that Nancy has had on our lives (at Grace Church and beyond) is tremendous, she will be missed and always in our hearts.