We try to do our best of meeting each week for a couple hours. It usually lands on a Wednesday. We always start out going around the group of about 10 of us, talking about our "Happy, Crappy, and Grace (God) moment" for the week. It's a time we get to become vulnerable with each other, and just being true, real. I love these moments, as they not only are a beautiful way to get to know each other, but they also have helped me tremendously in realizing I am not alone. We all have struggles, sufferings, and heartbreaks. We all have joys and excitements. We all have special and simple things that make us smile. As there have been times in my past, where I have thought that there must be something wrong with me, for still feeling a certain way, but came to realize... no, there is nothing wrong with me. We all have these feelings, it is okay. And with each others help, we offer it up, and through that we become closer to Jesus.
We then pray together. There have been times where we have even written down things we needed prayers for, and each of us were dedicated to a certain day. So one knew that we were being prayed for on that day. How cool is that?! :) We then discuss a book we have decided to read as a group. When I first joined, we discussed parts of the bible... but in the past months, we have turned to reading some pretty great books. I wanted to share them with you, in case any sounded like something you'd want to read. I highly recommend all of them!!
1) These Beautiful Bones by Emily Stimpson
I loved this book! It is related to Saint John Paul II's Theology of the Body. However, this takes it on a different route, showing how we can relate the teachings to everyday life. Not just to the bedroom. It talks through seven different areas of how we can relate the teachings of Theology of the Body. These seven areas are work, spiritual parenthood, manners, well-dressed man, gift of food, prayer, and culture of distraction. Each chapter shares so much, and opened my eyes to so many ways we share our bodies with each other in everyday interaction. And how each little act means so much in so many ways. It reminded me a lot of using our bodies for sharing in the water of grace.
It's a great book. I will just share a few points I highlighted as reading.
"Life is about eating and drinking, dressing and cleaning, working and playing, laughing and talking, running and dancing, crying and fighting, forgiving and being forgiven. It's about thanking God and wrestling with God, falling on our knees before Him in perfect contrition and adoring Him for being with us in the midst of the whole beautiful mess. Life is about God. It's about falling in love with Him and becoming like Him so that we can be with Him forever. Life is how we become saints."
"Without our body, we couldn't love. Nor without the body, could we receive love. That's the gift of the body. It reveals our soul to the world, enabling us to love and be loved, to create and be touched by creation."
"We're all called to give ourselves away in love every day, to friends and family, co-workers and neighbors, even perfect strangers. We're all made to be a gift. And we become that gift by using our bodies to serve, teach, comfort, correct, feed, clothe, shelter, heal, encourage, lead, suffer, sacrifice, and pray for others."
"More than what work we do, it's how we do our work that matters. It's how we talk to our patients, secretary, old man sweeping the hallways. It's also how we treat those who work for us and with us--with kindness, compassion, and justice. And how we show understanding and respect, how we offer criticism and guidance, how we exercise integrity, and how we make every minute of our workday a silent witness to the God we love. When we do all the rightly, we make a gift of ourselves. Also creating an environment where the people we work with can become more capable of making a gift of themselves."
There is so much goodness in this book! I highly recommend it! :)
2) A Biblical Walk Through the Mass by Edward Sri
I loved this book too. It literally walked us through every part of the Catholic Mass. Every section, every word. And explained why we say certain things, where they came from in the bible or in history of the church, and what they mean. I learned so much. Yes, I am called a "cradle catholic," born in a strong Catholic family and community. Growing up, the Catholic church is the only thing I knew. Not until I went to college, did I really start to understand other faiths, and be challenged in why I believed in my faith, in the Catholic faith. So I loved that this book, helped me understand even more in detail of the whats and whys of what we are doing and saying in Mass each time. And discussing it, gave me more of a love for the Mass. The more one thinks about it, it's pretty darn awesome how the Catholic Church has been doing the same thing for thousands of years to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus, the unending love He wants to share with us always, starting way back from the Last Supper. And my favorite thing about the Catholic Mass, is that ANYWHERE one goes... it is the same. I could be in small town Nebraska or in Rome, Italy, or in Beijing, China, and it's all the same. I might not know the language, but I know what is happening, I will be able to know when Jesus becomes alive in the Eucharist. And I think that is pretty darn incredible! :)
3) Therese, Faustina, and Bernadette by Elizabeth Ficocelli
We are currently reading this book right now, and only to chapter 5, but love it already. It's about a women who looked to these three saints through different times in her life, to help her and grow in virtues of faith, hope, and love. One thing so far that really stuck out to me was this, "Hope inspires us and keeps us from discouragement. It sustains us during times of abandonment and preserves us from selfishness. Hope also affords us joy, even (and especially) in moments of great trial." After reading this, I realized I really need to pray for more hope. To ask Jesus to help me grow in this hope. Another thing, "Virtue is not just about improving ourselves and enhancing our relationship with God; it is about the powerful effect virtue can have on others." The effect on others... I love that. That every little thing we do, every little positive can make a different for others too, not just ourselves.
4) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I'm reading this one on my own. It was recommended to me by a few friends and a podcast. So decided to dig into it. I am half way through, and am liking it. It's about World War II, a German boy being trained by the Nazis and a blind, French girl trying to stay safe. Each chapter goes back and forth between these two individuals, so can be slightly confusing, but also keeps one well intrigued by the story. I really enjoy reading about our history, even though it's so sad at times, knowing how we treated one another, or how things like the Holocaust could have happened. I think it helps keep our eyes open to what is going on around us, and help to prevent terribleness like that happening again. And a good reminder to always keep our country, it's leaders, and the people in our prayers.
What books have you read recently, that you would recommend. I am always looking for a good book to read. And our book study is always open to suggestions for our next read.
So, yes, I have really loved my new friends, my new companions, my new group. They are what I was looking for, praying for. And I love how God answered that. One of our books (#3) talked about the importance of women friendships.
"I believe, as a woman, that having true female companions on our journey through life is a good thing. In fact, I think it essential. We may be blessed with adoring husbands, loving children, supportive parents, or loyal and friendly co-workers, but those relationships are never quite the same as having a close girlfriend or network or available female companions. Girlfriends fill a need for women that other people simply cannot fill."
Funny thing is, I met this group by my mom. She was at a study, in which two of these girls were there too. She got to talking to them, and said, "My daughter would really like you both. Could I get your email address?" How great is that... so yes, about three months later, I randomly emailed them, and yes they remembered, invited me with them... and the rest is history. So thank you mom!! :)
"It's precisely in our relationships with others that we best experience God's love for us and best reflect that same love to others. God wants us to be people in relationship. He wants us to share our journeys with one another."
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