Tag: pondering in my heart

Prayer from the Heart

Posted: by Monica McConkey
Jesus, I want to know Your Truth AND live it. Jesus, I’m so easily distracted, so easily jostled, startled, untethered. Jesus, I worry about so many things.
Jesus, I want to pray. I want my words to be deliberate and heart-felt. I want to say what my heart feels and listen  intently and hear Your Words to me in my heart, with no doubt, no second guessing. I want to be focused and consumed by You and undistracted, unswayed.
I want to know You, bathe in Your Love, directed by Your Priorities and I want to receive Your Love and Your intentions for me, correctly, fully, purely.
I want to brim over with the fire of your Love, uncontained, unfettered, unlimited, unconstrained so that I can only reflect Your Love, enthusiastically and untarnished by human limitations.
I want to see…

Continue reading “Prayer from the Heart” →

God Doesn’t Speak in Riddles

Posted: by Monica McConkey

bubble

 

I don’t like riddles…maybe because I’m dismal at them. Even if I’ve actually heard the riddle before, I probably won’t be able to spout the right answer, just like that. It just doesn’t excite me that much to be that kind of clever.

That said, I’ve just kind of realized that all this time, I’ve been assuming that God likes them. That God likes to talk to us in riddles and that He chooses to reveal His Plans for us in little broken pieces and clues and He waits with trepidation to see if we can actually figure out the big puzzle before us.

I don’t think that God speaks in riddles…unless maybe you like that sort of thing. Continue reading “God Doesn’t Speak in Riddles” →

The Case for Sacred Subtitles at Mass

Posted: by Monica McConkey

Sacred Subtitles for Mass

I’ve been going to Mass at least once a week for over 44 years. Even with the New Translation of 2011, the text of the Mass is pretty familiar…or is it?

old missal

The truth is, I don’t always hear the beautiful words of the Mass. It’s true I’m a little hearing impaired, but I think it’s quite possible for most of us to glaze over and not listen intently to the words of the priest. Heck, it seems like sometimes even the priest can glaze over a little bit and speed-read the prayers of the Mass, taking for granted the wisdom and the diligence of our Church to carefully choose these beautiful and meaningful words invoking the Holy Spirit, rounding up the Faithful and transubstantiating the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ out of mere bread and wine. Continue reading “The Case for Sacred Subtitles at Mass” →

pondering in my heart

Posted: by Monica McConkey
pondering in my heart

I’m trying something new over at my main blog Equipping Catholic Families.
I’ve opened up a secret portal and I’m going to post some more reflective posts…some plucked right out of my prayer journal >gasp<

I recently heard in a homily…how we should be more like Mary and follow her example, pondering these things in her heart.

This is a part of what I’m pondering in my heart….the rest is over here.

—1— Jesus loves me. Unconditionally.
—2— Jesus loves my kids even more than I do and no matter what mistakes I make, He can and will fix them and call them to Him.
—3—I am the lost sheep….and I’m hardly the only one. Everyone of us is the lost sheep: loved and searched for and taken up into His Arms as the treasured one.
—4— My desire to know Him, love Him, serve Him, please Him…is already a prayer and a sign that He is working in my life.

—5— The Holy Spirit is real. He moves, He speaks, He prompts, He inspires, He gives hope.
—6— The Saints are real. They call us, they come to us, they answer us, they look for ways to lead us closer to Jesus.
—7— Jesus is real. He materializes in the words of the priest at the Consecration. He waits for us in the Blessed Sacrament, He asks us to seek Him as much as He seeks us and He answers our prayers even if we don’t slow or quiet down enough to listen.

He waits for us to climb up onto His Lap…like a little child.