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I'm definitely in the hum de dums. Which is a step below the doldrums. Which means (possibly) that I just maybe shouldn't have had those extra couple of chocolates. Could be that. Could also be that I am in that sort of depression one sometimes gets when working on a big project (like the book) and one wonders "Was it worth it? Should I keep doing this? Why?"

Today at recreation we watched a video about Saint Padre Pio. When it started out.. the last thing I wanted to watch was a video of any saint... I wanted something silly, and happy and let's forget we live in the real world for awhile sort of video. But no, it was Sister Jane's turn to select the video and she wanted something a bit on the holy side. Sigh. So I grumbled a bit out loud and a bit to myself. Truthfully, I'm not the sort of hold everything in sort of person. I've got rolling my eyes and heavy sighs down pretty darn good. So... I know the merit I'm chalking up is soooo in the red, and we'll have to work on it.. but its the way things stand with me at present.

Anyway, as the video progressed, I did enjoy it. And it was probably exactly what Jesus ordered as I was definitely heading down the old, "I'm so sorry for me" path. The thing I picked up that was sort of cheerful in a uncheerful sort of way... was how much trouble Padre had in doing good. It's like, "Hey, if things are not going so well... buck up... that's part of the tour. It's all part of the "Saint" package you signed up for when you were baptized. Welcome to the Club!"

Sigh.
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Coming Soon!


FOREWORD (Part One)

By Jerry Usher

One of my theology professors at Franciscan University of
Steubenville once told our class, ?If you want to lose your faith, just stop
praying, and breathe.? His statement initially seemed rather odd, since
I assumed that falling away from God would take a bit more effort than
simply not spending time with Him in prayer. It turns out what he said
can almost serve as a one-line summary of the Christian faith. In reality,
prayer is the sine qua non of our relationship with the Lord, the essential
element without which we would, indeed, soon fail to even think of Him,
let alone love Him.

Understanding prayer strictly in that way, however, results in an
incomplete appreciation of its power and importance. If we pray merely
to avoid losing our faith in God, that?s a sort of white knuckle approach to
seeking salvation, a kind of insurance policy by which we hope to make
it to heaven by tossing up an occasional prayer. But God wants prayer to
be so much more than that for each of us. Prayer is the means by which
we build our relationship of love with the Holy Trinity, how we share
everything with God, and receive all that He has for us.

From the Foreword for "101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer"
Jerry Usher is the Creator and radio host of Catholic Answers Live, www.catholic.com, and
co-author of Called by Name: The Inspiring Stories of 12 Men Who Became
Catholic Priests
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Blessings of Peace,
Sister Patricia and all the Sisters

Sr Patricia