The Cheese & Crackers = Quotes by St. Francis of Assisi, Linda Buxa, and Ryan Williams
The Veggies= My 2💰
The Potatoes = "The Hidden Power Of Kindness", by Lawrence G. Lovasik. p. cm.
The Seafood =“Lenten With Padre Pio", by Susan Hines-Brigger
The Dessert= Audio presentation: "The Hidden Power of Kindness", by Matthew Leonard
🍵"Lent is all about Jesus. That’s why the color of Lent is purple. Purple is not the color of our sin (those are scarlet). Purple shows that our royal and majestic King came to us righteous and victorious, yet lowly and riding on a donkey. Lent shows that our King has taken our past sins, put them on himself, died for them and with them on the cross, and buried them. When he came alive again, he shared that victory with us and made us children of God. So by all means, observe Lent with humility, because you used to be a slave to sin. But celebrate it with awe because the King of glory has made you glorious. And we shall wear purple". By Linda Buxa
🎚Romans 8:17 “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory”
🧀"Sanctity (“betterness”) and superiority are two different things. For example, Satan is ontologically superior to every human being and every fallen angel. However, Satan is not “better” than anything or anyone at all. He is, in fact, the most damnable of them all. Likewise, Our Lady is better than everything in creation, yet she cannot consecrate the Eucharist, though the most morally reprobate priest can. The distinction between ontological superiority and “betterness” is a distinction that many Catholics, priests included, have not kept clear in their minds. Priestly superiority pertains not to the moral quality of a priest, nor to his competence to lead or teach, but to the ontological state of his soul that conforms him to Christ and permits him to perform the sacraments. This conformity is not moral conformity or sanctity; it is one of being. Thus any judgment concerning the superiority of the priest must be limited in mind and practice to the particular aspects of a priest’s life to which the superiority pertains. Today many people, lay and ordained alike, conflate the notion of ontological superiority with moral “betterness.” This leads to statements such as “the ordained life is better than the lay life.” Such a disposition makes the temptation to complacency much more potent. The laity may be inclined to leave holiness to priests, and priests might errantly presume that, by virtue of their ordination, everything they do is excellent. It also makes relationships between distinct groups of the Church strained; those who are more competent in the non-sacramental duties of the priesthood might be ignored out of deference to the priest, and priests who do not know what they are doing regarding teaching, learning, or leading might feel overwhelmed, or, worse, they may fail in these tasks, hurting those to whom they minister. As an analogy, just as a father has a duty to ensure the health of his children, but fails miserably in that duty if he presumes to be doctor, surgeon, and counselor, so too do priests have responsibilities incumbent upon them by virtue of their ordination, though they might not be competent to directly carry them out and will fail if they attempt to do so." By Ryan Williams
Dwight could see the concern on my face in regards to any possible mishaps or difficulties that they might encounter. Dwight was so polite and careful about details, trying to avoid unwanted incidents. He was trying to do everything to assist me and be very understanding in matters where concerns were shown. Thank you Jesus, survived jumping over that hurdle with injury because if your great mercy.
Who would think there would be a clinical practice session to go along with the theory lesson (a shout out to the docs and nurses, familiar lingo for sure). It happened two days later after leaving the Adoration chapel in Laplace. There was a Lenten morning of prayer and we decided to got to the chapel across the street after the presentation in church. Since we parked the car near the church for the morning refection we just walked over to the chapel area. After leaving and walking about twenty feet, this lady came out of the chapel and asked if we needed a ride. She said she was praying her Rosary, it was in her hands, and thought that we might need a ride. Well how kind, someone perceiving a possible need because maybe she didn't see our car and recognized the other cars, and that we were walking slow. Someone putting themselves on the back burner and reaching out to help another without being asked, was a good, real live example provided by the Lord. When deciding to Journal about niceness verses kindness, these were the illustrative examples that were initially planned:
🍆Nice = when someone have two complimentary tickets to a game and decides to offer one to a coworker
🍆Kind = when someone sees that you are overwhelmed as a caretaker for a sick family member and the person offers to fill in for an eight hour shift.
The Lord does all things well, the clinical example in Laplace makes very clear the contrast between kindness and niceness. After reading in the book about kindness by Fr. Lawrence Lovasik, something new was learned. Please sample the potatoes and if you aren't already familiar, you will learn about obligingness. It is stated that it is an act of charity even more beautiful than a simple readiness to serve another. Amazing how God added to the theory session a wonderful book (the potato entry is the book entitled: "The Hidden Power Of Kindness") and an "in real time" spiritual clinical practice session to drive the point home.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's for the people of God to go beyond being nice, we are to exhibit the virtue of kindness. Now for the icing on the cake, later at the Vigil Mass, the Responsorial Psalm made an impact. It was from Psalm 103, and it is the first verse that is my response to the Lord for blessing me with this wonderful meditation:
📖 Psalms 103:1 "Bless the LORD, my soul; all my being, bless his holy name!"
What a blessing to have the lesson prolonged and to repeat over and over in church: "The Lord is kind and merciful"
🤳🏻Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R/ The Lord is kind and merciful.
🤳🏻He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R/ The Lord is kind and merciful.
🤳🏻The Lord secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R/ The Lord is kind and merciful.
🤳🏻Merciful and gracious is the Lord,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear
him.
R/ The Lord is kind and merciful.
What a blessing to find a free copy from this site:
op54rosary.ning.com/page/thehiddenpowerofkindness
"You should love others in the same measure as you love yourself — as if your neighbor were your very self. Such love is naturally kind. When you are kind, you put others in the place of yourself. Self-love becomes unselfishness. Kindness in God is the act of creation and the constant preservation of the world in existence. From divine kindness flow, as from a fountain, the powers and the blessings of all created kindness.
🎚Luke 10:27 "He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
Kindness also means coming to the rescue of others when they need help, if it is in our power to supply it. This, too, is the work of the attributes of God toward His creatures. His omnipotence is forever making up our deficiency of power. His justice is continually correcting our erroneous judgments. His mercy is always consoling our fellow creatures under our unkindnesses. His perfections are unceasingly coming to the rescue of our imperfections. This is Divine Providence. Kindness is our imitation of Divine Providence. Kindness, to be perfect and lasting, must be a conscious imitation of God. If you are earnestly conforming yourself to the image of Jesus Christ, sharpness, bitterness, and sarcasm disappear. The very attempt to be like Jesus is already a source of sweetness within you, flowing with an easy grace over all who come within your reach. Not only is kindness due to everyone, but a special kindness is due to everyone. Kindness is not kindness unless it is special. Its charm consists in its fitness, its timeliness, and its individual application. Kindness adds sweetness to everything. It makes life’s capabilities blossom and fills them with fragrance. Kindness is like divine grace. It bestows on men something that neither self nor nature can give them. What it gives them is something of which they are in need, or something which only another person can give, such as consolation. Besides, the manner in which this is given is a true gift itself, better far than the thing given. The secret impulse out of which kindness acts is an instinct that is the noblest part of yourself. It is the most undoubted remnant of the image of God, given to us at the beginning.
Kindness springs from the soul of man; it is the nobility of man — a divine rather than a human being. Kindness anticipates others’ needs and wishes. Obligingness urges you to carry out a wish or satisfy need before a request is made. You will not wait for your neighbor to express a wish; you detect his need and kindly gratify his unspoken request. When you comply with the spoken request of your neighbor, you may do so either because you do not wish to appear unkind, or because you feel unable to resist the persuasion of another, or because in this way you hope to rid yourself sooner of a troublesome person. But when you are truly obliging, love prompts gracious thoughts, tells you of your neighbor’s wish, and urges you to comply with it. Here love alone pleads and complies with the wish. Hence, obligingness is an act of charity even more beautiful than a simple readiness to serve another. Obligingness prevents you from becoming careless in charity, because it arouses charity to action. It is a constant striving to do good on your own initiative. Even though you comply more or less unwillingly with a request, the danger remains of your falling back into a spiritual carelessness. Obligingness is an attractive form of charity. It has something divine about it.
Most of God’s gifts come to us without our asking for them. Long before weak man existed, God planned to call him to share in His everlasting bliss. Long before we could lift our hearts to pray, He created, redeemed, and sanctified us. St. John says:
🎚1 John 4:9-11 “In this the love of God was made manifest in us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Obligingness is a richer joy-giver than mere willingness to render service. A gift which is the result of a formal request nearly always loses something of its full value and, as a consequence, something of its power to give pleasure; whereas, anything done out of obliging love keeps undiminished its ability to make people happy. When a pure motive of charity inspires a gift, it never fails to produce much joy and bestow on the giver a rich blessing. The purer your love, the richer its natural and supernatural blessings. The more you give, the more you receive. If you are a person of gentle feelings, you will attract others by a certain delicacy and attention to their small needs, by discovering their least desires and constantly forgoing your own, and by rendering little services even before they are requested. Do not wait for your neighbor to express a wish, but gratify his unspoken wish. Keep your eyes open to discover other people’s needs; take the trouble to remove an obstacle in the path of another; let your hands be busy providing pleasant surprises for your neighbor; be eager to undertake things for others or run errands for them without waiting to be asked. This is what it means to be obliging. This is genuine kindness that imitates the obliging love of God.
Kindness counteracts the unhappiness of sin. God wants all men to be happy. He created us to show forth His goodness and to share in His happiness in Heaven someday. God gave you the power to be happy, and kindness is a great part of that very power. Kindness makes life more endurable. The burden of life presses heavily on most people. Many find life almost unbearable. Yet, to a virtuous man, sin alone is sufficient to make life unbearable. We make ourselves more unhappy than other people make us. A great portion of this self-inflicted unhappiness arises from our sense of justice being so continually wounded by the events of life. Kindness steps forward to remedy this evil also, because kindness is the amiability of justice. Each kind action that you do works to restore the balance between right and wrong."
"Confession is the soul’s bath. You must go at least once a week. I do not want souls to stay away from confession more than a week.”—Padre Pio
"Over the years, Padre Pio heard millions of confessions. People flocked to him, so much so that he would spend long days sitting in the confessional. Frequent confession was a priority for him. He often used the example of dusting a room, pointing out that even if you dust a room, when you come back the next week it will need to be dusted again. But he also had the gift of seeing one’s soul and was not afraid to call out those he felt were not truly sorry for their sins or had simply come to see the priest with the stigmata. The act of baring one’s soul and sins before God was extremely important to him and he expected that same respect for the sacrament from those seeking absolution. Praying with Padre Pio St. Pio, inspire in us the yearning to take advantage of the Sacrament of Penance offered to us, so that we may clear our minds and souls of our sins and once again be in communion with God."
Audio link: http://content.blubrry.com/theartofcatholic/062_The_Hidden_Power_of_Kindness.mp3