Feeling Overwhelmed?

Losing Yourself In Love

Annie's friend Lydia sent her the best book...and then she read it and sent it to me... and then I read it in two days. Loved it!  The book is My Sisters the Saints by Colleen Carroll Campbell. 

Page 112 has the best advice from Edith Stein (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) to each of us.  

Edith Stein

"Edith recommends that a woman should, if possible, attend mass in the morning and ask Jesus after receiving Him in the Eucharist how He wants her to spend her day. As the day progresses and new worries and problems accumulate, she should take a noontime break to reconnect w/ God. A Eucharistic holy hour or solitary rest in a quiet place is ideal, but if that's impossible, she should take a moment to 'seal herself off inwardly against all other things and take refuge in the Lord. He is indeed there and can give us in a single moment what we need.’ The day’s work and problems will continue, but we will remain at peace.

Edith then says: "When night comes, and retrospect shows that everything was patchwork and much that one had planned left undone, when so many things rouse shame and regret, then take all as is, lay it in God's hands, and offer it up to Him. In this way we will be able to rest in Him, actually to rest and to begin the new day like a new life."

A woman who follows these natural rhythms of prayer, work, and rest will be rewarded with abiding peace, Edith says. She will find in Jesus a worthy outlet for her feminine longing to lose herself in love." 

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Colleen Carroll Campbell

Colleen Carroll Campbell is an author, columnist, television and radio host and former presidential speechwriter. She writes for such national outlets as The New York Times, Washington Post, America and First Things; comments on those issues on such networks as PBS, NPR, FOX News and CNN; and discusses them as host of “Faith & Culture,” a weekly television and radio interview show that airs internationally on EWTN, the world’s largest religious network. A former speechwriter to President George W. Bush and the author of The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy (Loyola, 2002), Campbell speaks to audiences across America.  

Check out Colleen’s inspiring talk Feminine Genius with bonus track from the book, read by Colleen, about St Therese of Liseux and her father. To purchase this CD or MP3Download click here.   

Lent in a Year of Faith

This past Saturday at our Moms meeting we brainstormed ideas for Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday.

A great idea for moms and dads is to break down our Lenten activities into three categories: Either do or give something up individually, for our spouse, and also as a family.

So, for example, I'm considering giving up all sweets and potatoes chips as my own personal sacrifice (good-bye salts and sweets).

 

I'll be trying to do something extra nice for my husband every day (and using a calender like this so I don't forget).

As a family we're giving up TV three days a week and replacing some of that time with an extra decade of the Rosary (all 4 kids are under the age of 8 so we've been trying to say one decade together as a family each night...we'll bump that to two for Lent...eventually as they grow older we'll try for a full rosary).

picture taken from http://www.spiritofmedjugorje.org/may2009.htm

A few other ideas that were shared at the Moms meeting are below:

Resurrection Eggs: Make your own, buy them ready to go, or a combo.  

(Click here for Station of the Cross Eggs.)

Crown of Thorns: Let the kids remove a toothpick each time they make a sacrifice or do a good deed.

Last year we interviewed three rock-solid dads and heard what they will be doing for Lent.
You and the men in your life can listen to that interview here.

Below are a few more ideas for the whole family:
- Fish Fry and Stations of the Cross at church on Fridays
- Read the gospel each morning (smart phone apps also available)
- Each week read a Catholic book, listen to a Lighthouse CD, or watch a Christian movie as a family. Click here for movie ideas.


Whatever you decide, turn away from sin and make it your best Lent yet.

Have any Lent ideas to share? Leave a comment below.