In improv, there’s a practice where participants are encouraged to never respond with “no, but” and to instead offer a “yes, and…” This allows for not only growth in the scene but in the actors as well. Similarly, God is always offering us different “scenes” to get us to sainthood. How are we responding? Turning our “no, but” into a “yes, and” opens our life to Christ’s will, and is the quickest path to sanctification.
Today, Fr. Mike explains how we can practice a better relationship with God by just saying “yes, and…”
Francis wrote his immortal Canticle of the Creatures while in Clare’s care at San Damiano. The incredible power and poetry of this song has long fascinated all who read, study, or sing it. One word in that poem, written in Umbrian dialect, and written during a time of daily nursing by Clare, catches the eye. It is the word clarite. “Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful” (Canticle, 5). This is the adjective for the stars. They are “clarite et pretiose et belle,”—clear, precious, beautiful. In the long dark time of his illness, was it Clare who was this “pretiose, belle, clarite” companion whose light helped him endure encroaching blindness and searing pain? She had been—and would remain—the North Star for all who wanted to follow his way.
St. Hunna (d. 679 A.D.) was born in Alsace, France. She was the virtuous daughter of a duke, and she married a similarly virtuous nobleman. Hunna and her husband did not indulge in unnecessary luxuries according to their high state in life, and instead detached themselves from their riches by opening their home to the poor and assisting them in their need. St. Deodatus, a bishop who resigned from his See, came to live with the holy couple for a time. St. Hunna and her husband greatly profited from his religious instruction and grew in sanctity as a result. When Hunna bore a son, she named him after St. Deodatus. This child, raised by such holy parents, later joined a monastery and also became a saint. After her husband’s death Hunna continued to spend her life serving the poor, especially women. No task was too menial for her. She tended to the poor and the sick and regularly, including their laundry and mending, even to the point of exhaustion. For this she was nicknamed the “Holy Washerwoman.” She also gave away her wealth and property to build churches and monasteries. So many miracles were attributed to her that Pope Leo X canonized her in 1520. St. Hunna is the patron saint of laundresses and her feast day is April 15.
The key to a happy death is not a long and fulfilled life—it’s a life of gratitude for the time given.
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We often forget that this life isn’t owed to us. Every breath we take is a gift from God, who is holding us in existence at this very moment. Once we start to think that this life is owed to us, that in some way we deserve it, we will become ungrateful for the time that is given, even if we’ve lived a long and happy life.
Today, Father Mike explains how to fill your life with gratitude, and how that will prepare you for a happy death.
Mari Pablo shares the lessons she learned from cancer.
Want more Mari? She’s featured in Ascension’s upcoming program Connected: Catholic Social Teaching for This Generation. Sign up for updates here: https://tinyurl.com/yf59qsdc
Almost all of us have shared some kind of experience with the devastating effects of cancer. Either we’ve known someone diagnosed with it, lost someone to it, or have had it ourselves. Regardless of how cancer has made its way into your life though, it’s impacted each of us in a specific way.
Today, Mari shares 4 personal stories about people in her life who’ve fought cancer, and what she learned from each one.
When is it okay for us to give up? Is it ever okay?
You may have seen the movie Rudy. Its eponymous protagonist is a not-so-athletic college football player who spent years taking hits and practicing with his team, only to see a few moments on the field. Those short moments, however, left him with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and pride, knowing that he committed to something and saw it through, even when it seemed hopeless.
The question: is that always the right approach? Maybe if Rudy had dedicated that time to learning something he was naturally better at, he could have become an expert in his field. The choice Rudy made was made out of passion: he loved the game to the point of dedicating his college career to it, and not caring if the outcome wasn’t what he had expected.
But what about bigger dreams? The dream of getting married, having kids, getting into a certain religious order, entering into a certain profession? Is there ever a point where you just have to give it up?
There are a few things it’s never okay to give up. It’s never okay to give up hope itself. Hope is trust in the Lord extended into the future, knowing that he will always be with you in whatever circumstances you find yourself in. It’s also never okay to give up faith, God’s promises, or life itself.
However, it is okay—and sometimes wise—to reevaluate certain outcomes, and realize that maybe it’s time to adjust your expectations. How do you know when to do that? When reality makes it obvious.
For Rudy, that might have meant recognizing that he wasn’t going to be a starter on his football team. It’s still okay for him to want to be a part of the team in some way, and maybe get playing time one day, but reality must be acknowledged and accepted in these situations, or else we risk chasing empty expectations.
This doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dreams, or that you can’t do anything: it just means you can’t do everything. Maybe your dream is to have a family, but you and your spouse can’t get pregnant. You might not be able to conceive, but you can still adopt, or be a foster parent. Accepting the reality of your current situation means having a dream, realizing it’s place in your life, and then asking, “Okay God, now what do you want me to do?”
The outcome may not be what you had expected or planned, but if it’s with the Lord, it will still be good. And once we accept this reality, we will start to see that the real work is being done in our character, and that’s the power of trying. It may not make you the kind of person you had planned to be, but it will make you the kind of person that God wants you to be.
Mari Pablo uncovers what surrendering to God really looks like. Anytime we face trials, temptations, or hard times, we hear the common adages telling us to “offer it up” or “give it to God.” But what does that actually look like? Where do we begin that process? Maybe there is no concrete “how-to guide”, but we can start by doing two simple things:
“Always give good heed to the Word of God, whether you hear or read it in private, or hearken to it when publicly preached: listen with attention and reverence; seek to profit by it, and do not let the precious words fall unheeded; receive them into your heart as a costly balsam; imitate the Blessed Virgin who ‘kept all the sayings’ concerning her Son, ‘in her heart.’ And remember that according as we hearken to and receive God’s words, so will He hearken and receive our supplications.”— St. Francis de Sales
“Our Lord has created persons for all states in life, and in all of them we see people who achieved sanctity by fulfilling their obligations well.” — St. Anthony Mary Claret
We can expect people to be mean sometimes—especially on social media. But what we don’t always expect is for people who claim to be Christians to be those mean people. It’s always difficult for us to react in a charitable way when people are rude or mean to us, but what we must remember is that—as Christians—we are examples of Christ by bearing the name of his people. Today, Jackie gives some advice on dealing with mean people.
