Reflective Moments Moments Reflective February 2007
The purpose of Reflective Moments is to offer you a way to incorporate the spirit of Saint Angela into your own lives. Please take a moment to fill out the survey below to tell us your honest opinion about this insert.
The value of time: Bless our clocks and calendars By Sister Marietta Wethington, OSU
As I write this reflection, the year is still new. I am reminded of a prayer for blessing our calendars and timepieces by Father Ed Hays. In his book, Prayers for the Domestic Church, Father Hays prays: Bless our clocks and watches…. May they make us aware of the miracle of each second of life we experience. May these our ticking servants help us not to miss that which is important, while you keep us from machine-like routine. Oftentimes I find myself moving through the day on “automatic pilot” instead of living in the present moment, fully aware of what I am doing. At times like this I need to turn to Angela,
who told us in the Prologue of her Rule to “be alert, with great and longing heart.” Angela reminds us in Chapter 8 of her Rule that the Holy Spirit continually sends inspirations into our hearts. Rather than being a slave to my clock or watch, I need to be free enough to be attentive to those inspirations and nudges that are constantly with me when I am aware enough to listen. Father Hays goes on to pray:
Bless our calendars, these ordered lists of days, weeks and months, of holidays, holydays, fasts and feasts — all our special days of remembering. May these servants, our calendars… Continued on back
Evaluation of Reflective Moments Insert In the Fall 2005 issue of Update, we began publishing a new feature called Reflective Moments. Our intent was to enhance the formation and spiritual life of you, our readers. At this time we would like to evaluate this feature to determine if we should continue including it. Please fill out the evaluation form below and return it by March 15, 2007, to: Office of Ursuline Partnerships Or E-mail associates@maplemount.org 8001 Cummings Road Or Fax: 270-229-4953 Maple Mount, Kentucky 42356 ____ I find the Reflective Moments insert valuable and would like to see it continue. ____ I have not found this feature particularly valuable. Comments/Suggestions/Ideas for content:____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Another formational opportunity appears on our website (www.ursulinesmsj.org) each month. While it is also called Reflective Moments with Angela, it is different from the insert in Update. Please take a moment to evaluate it as well. Thank you.
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now grace our homes and our lives. May they remind us of birthdays and other gift-days, as they teach us the secret that all life is meant for celebration and contemplation.
In today’s world, busy-ness and full calendars seem to be indicators of status and importance. If my day is filled with appointments and meetings, then I must be important. I step back and ask myself if my identity is linked to productivity. Jesus and Angela lived full and busy lives, but I don’t believe their identity came from timepieces and calendars. Often in scripture we read that Jesus went away to a deserted place to pray, and Angela’s biographers tell us she spent mornings in prayer and afternoons serving others. As we pray with Father Hays for a blessing of our time, what lessons can we learn from Jesus and Angela? *Excerpted from Prayers for the Domestic Church by Father Edward Hays, September, 1989, Ave Maria Press, Used by permission of publisher.
For Your Reflection...
Am I a clock watcher or a time lover? Am I a slave to my calendar? Would I panic if I lost it for a day? Dialogue with Angela about steps to take to help you live in awareness and in the present moment.
An Intentional Minute...
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Associates of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, we dedicate this issue’s Intentional Minute to PRAYER. To begin a year of celebration, we invite you to join together in daily prayer for the needs of our world.
PRAYER PRAYER for the abandoned PRAYER for the lonely PRAYER for the oppressed PRAYER for the fearful PRAYER of gratitude for the Ursuline Sisters PRAYER of praise for God’s creation PRAYER of joy for our redemption Join us as we pray for one another! Send your prayer requests for friends and loved ones to the E-Mail Prayer Network. Write the Ursuline Partnerships office, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount KY 42356. Call 270-229-2006 • E-mail associates@maplemount.org