Lent and The Sacred Heart

At the beginning of Lent I was determined and gung ho about everythig I was going to do and not do.

I was doing well until life set it and I got off track. At the end of the day when I would lay in bed I realized I was too busy and I did not pray that day, I fell short on my diet restrictions, and my mind and heart were not focused on Lent.

This lasted for about a week. My husband and I briefly talked about it this past Sunday and once again I was determined to give my all.

This past Sunday night my husband and I were relaxing and watching tv. We turned on EWTN and listened to Archbishop Timothy Dolan. He was talking about the exact thing I had been going through that week. He told a story of when he was in school and a nun, who was his teacher, gave some great advice which included The Sacred Heart. My ears perked up.

I have always had a special pull towards The Sacred Heart. The Sacred Heart calms me, helps me in some way.

His teacher told him that we must try to do our best during lent when it comes to fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, but the least you can do is say these three prayers...

When you awake say, Sacred Heart of Jesus, all for you.

During the day when temptations, worry, and stress want to knock you off track say, Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in you.

Before going to sleep say, Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner.

The Archbishop went on to explain that we are like Peter walking on the water to Jesus. If we focus on Him we will succeed. When we take our eyes away and concern ourselves with the waves of life, we will sink.

I felt this was a immediate answer to my prayer for help that Sunday night, and I am grateful for it.

I am going to try my best to move onward and to keep my eyes focused on The Sacred Heart.

I wish you all a blessed and meaningful Lent.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, all for you

Happy Fat Tuesday, Lets get ready for Lent!

I was thinking of something great to post on this fat Tuesday/Paczki day. I wanted to talk about our preparations for Lent and some good tips for bringing ourselves closer to God. Well a good friend beat me to it, Rachel from the blog Young Catholic Mom has written a great post about Paczki Day and more importantly Lent.

Thanks Rachel for writing such a great post, it frees up my time to eat more Paczki! :)

You can view Rachel's post HERE.

Trouble In Mind

Trouble in mind, I'm blue,

but I won"t be blue always.

Child that wind's gonna come and blow my blues away!

-Trouble in Mind-Janis Joplin

We all have our troubles and we all get blue, but it is very important not to dwell on all the bad things that come our way. In my experience the best way to fight the blues or troubles is to forgive. It seems all things that hold me back or keep me angry stem from incidents that I have not let forgiveness heal. Whether it is forgiving someone else or the hardest type of forgiveness, forgiving myself.

I have done many things that need to be forgiven, I have asked the Lord for his forgiveness and believing in His Grace I know I have received that gift. But forgiving myself is another story.

Not forgiving myself for shameful and hurtful things I have done or have allowed to happen to me is a drag. Basically I am living day to day with a person who is angry, resentful, and hurt. Imagine living with someone for your whole life who will not forgive you for anything you have done. After a while you will see yourself as those hurtful actions, that is who you will eventually become. If that is who you are you will most likely continue to do more hurtful and shameful things.

Forgiving others is a little tricky for me. I forgive easily but tend to hold a grudge, that is not forgiveness and it hurts the other person and me. It is easy to forgive someone you love, especially if that person tries on a daily basis to be a good person and tries not to do the offence that was forgiven again.

How do you forgive someone who continually does the same offence over and over again? The Lord says we must forgive for the sake of others and ourselves. How do you do this when the person will not stop hurting or offending you?

A wise man told me something about marriage. He said a marriage contains three rings, her ring, his ring, and suffering. The suffering is do to the forgiveness a marriage must have to survive. I am lucky that my husband is a person who strives everyday to be a good person. But what if your spouse will not correct their ways and you must forgive them for the same acts over and over again? What about a friend or a family member who will not correct their offences?

There is suffering in life, that suffering holds many Graces for us, but there are times when you must forgive a person, love and pray for them from far away. Some people are detrimental to our soul, but that does not mean we leave them and hold hatred for them, that is damaging to the soul as well. Some people think that when someone forgives them it means what they did was alright. Those types of people don't know what forgiveness is, or how precious to the soul someones forgiveness can be.

Some people including myself at times, see true forgiveness as a sign of weakness. How can that be when it takes so much strength to do so?

Lent is coming up and I have been thinking about what I can do this year. What I can "give up"

I have given up a lot of physical things already. This year for Lent I am going to give up holding grudges. I am going to feel what it's really like to forgive, the way the Lord wants me too. Even if it means forgiving people in my life, past or present, and loving them from far away.

This year I am going to try not to let grudges, for myself, or anyone else trouble me. I am going to let the wind of forgiveness blow my blues away.

Frugal Friday:Mom's Rice and Bean Vegetarian Enchiladas (Lent Friendly)

My family loves these enchiladas. It is my own recipe so there is no measuring. You can add as much or as little ingredients that will fit your family size.

The recipe below gives me two 9x13 dishes of enchiladas. I freeze the second batch for a quick dinner.

Ingredients:

Large flour tortillas

One large can or two small cans of red enchilada sauce

One box of Spanish rice

One large can or two small cans of re fried beans (If I am making this for lent I use the vegetarian re fried beans)

One can of whole kernel corn

Shredded cheddar cheese (I like sharp cheddar) Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees

Cook Spanish rice according to package directions. When the rice is done add the can of corn, some cheese and some of the enchilada sauce to moisten.

Spread out the tortillas. Spread the re fried beans on the tortilla then spread the rice mixture on top of the re fried beans. Fold each end of the tortilla inwards and roll into an enchilada.

Pour some of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish. Place your rolled enchiladas into the baking dish, pour the rest of the sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top.

Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy

Martha or Mary?

One of my favorite bloggers Cathy at From the field of Blue Children has given me some thoughts about Lent.

Cathy's post Thanks is all about how little things like giving thanks to the Lord can mean so much.

After reading this post I started thinking about Jesus and when he went to the house of Mary and Martha. Martha kept busy cleaning, preparing food, and making the house perfect for her Lord. Mary sat at Jesus' feet and just wanted to be with him.

I am a lot like Martha. My family says Grace before every meal. Everyone sits at the table hands folded and gives thanks. I on the other hand am running around getting drinks, cleaning up messes, dishing out food while I am saying Grace.

While at Church or praying at home I always have my next task in the back of my mind. What do I have to do next, what do the kids need, what did my husband ask me to do?

I believe that Martha was doing what she thought was best to show Jesus how important he was. I think I can do that as well in my daily tasks but sometimes it is good to be Mary,to forget everything and put all of our attention on the Lord. Even if that means a quick little thank you to God or to others as Cathy mentioned in her post.

To be honest I think I will always be more like Martha, thinking about and praising God while my hands are busy, but I hope to let the quiet actions of Mary in as well.

Give It Up

Being pregnant I am not required to fast this Lent. I will refrain from eating things like the two paczki I devoured last night.

What will I give up this Lent? I am going to continue to give up my materialistic ways. I want to turn to God when I need a boost rather than a cute pair of flats that I think will make me happy. Turning my thoughts away from all the "stuff" I want will help me turn my thoughts to God,only He can give me the "stuff" I need.

As I was thinking about Lent and what I can add or give up I read a post from Jennifer at her blog "Et tu?" The post is titled Why My Life Is Better Since Becoming Open To Life.

Reading this post gave me ideas on how I will reflect during Lent, by embracing my vocation and not gritting my teeth wondering when my time will come. This is my time and I want to make the most of it.

I will be giving up some things, like being a slave to consumerism and I will be adding some things, like loving my call to being a wife and mother.

Who knows, maybe after all is said and done I might find a cute pair of flats in my Easter basket.

Have a blessed Lent