Opportunities for gratitude - Looking Up

I generally forget about this moment in Lent - when we stop reading about the movement towards a covenant sealed in sacrifice.  Standing with the apostles bathed in the glory of God in a transfigured Christ, I have to look up. 

I can pause, and remember the joy that the transfiguration foretells of the glory of Easter.

I have often said that when I am old, or sooner if possible,  I want to have the same expression that I have witnessed on the faces of old religious sisters that I have met here in the US and around the world.  There is often a serene smile from a life well lived, but there is something more, and I have always believed it is true joy.  Most missionaries I have known have had moments that they retell where they have felt richer than any king.  They tell of a child, or a family, or a kindness, or an occasion when they truly felt the presence of this transfigured Christ, the beloved Son.

This weekend we had the tremendous blessing of being at the Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles where there is truly an abundance of faith and joy. For this opportunity to be here with more than 40,000 Catholics and for the opportunity to reflect on these moments of joy on the journey, I am grateful.

Our journey begins again

To change and to change for the better are two different things.
          - German proverb.
 
As Ash Wednesday is upon us I think this is true - and I can look at it and consider just how different sacrificing is from sacrificing for the better.
 
The readings reminded me that I need to consider my motivation - ensure that what I do is also going to change me for the better.
 
Fr. Dan, at Mass, reminded us all this morning, that the reason we sacrifice is also to develop the discipline necessary to look beyond our own needs, to feel hungry and not satiate the hunger, to desire something and not give into that desire. Today, we fast and abstain and I am trying to feel grateful for hunger that helps me remember that I can change, and change for the better.
 
We make this journey together!
 

How did it get to be February?

I find myself saying these kind of things more and more – but then I hear that from everyone else too!

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? 
Henry David Thoreau

January was a particularly busy month for us!   Doctors headed to Cameroon, Uganda and Tanzania.  Our new class begins today with the arrival of Dr. Antoinette Lullo and Dr. Brian Medernach who drove in from Chicago on Friday.  They will be here in Los Angeles for four months for the formation program, will be commissioned in May, and will then begin a three year assignment to Peru.

We are also preparing for the Religious Education Congress, our Annual Retreat / Seminar, the Appreciation Brunch, working with the Auxiliary for the Annual Benefit, well the list goes on and on… but, I think we can answer the question of: What are we busy about?

We are busy with the Mission of Mission Doctors – A Mission of Healing – A Partnership of Hope! 

Thanks to all who help us make the work possible!

Lent is just around the corner….