A bit of a challenge getting this done. We had some challenges in getting this created and it is not as “finished” as I’d like, but I didn’t want to wait any longer before getting it published on the site.
Thanks for listening!
Yours in Christ,
Mrs. Summitt
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This morning our family went to Mass at a little Catholic Church in Pigeon Forge, TN. My parents and I have been attending Mass there all week on our vacation, but this morning the entire family was finally together and we all went. Holy Cross is a parish of about 400 families, tucked up on a side street off the main parkway in Pigeon Forge.
One of the greatest things about Mass today, aside from receiving the body of Christ while being surrounded by those I love most in this world, was the opening statement by the Deacon. He reminded us all that this is Thanksgiving Day, in the greatest country in the world and that we cannot forget what makes us great. It was wonderful to hear him speak this morning and I have no doubt that he is not only a faith-filled man, but a true patriot.
I love Thanksgiving Day Mass in this country!
I realize I mention removing hate in my post title and we’ll get to that now.
During the Mass today, I was overcome with emotion. That happens often enough during the consecration and after communion but today it happened shortly after the start of Mass. My heart was filled with an immense feeling of love, forgiveness, and healing. I realized that to be filled with God’s love, I had to empty myself of any feeling that didn’t lead to or include love. I had to forgive my enemies (real and imagined), I needed to pray for them with true love in my heart and I need to pray for my own soul to remain free of hate and enmity.
It isn’t easy in this day and age to be filled with love all the time. Many times hate creeps in; hate at people’s behavior, at their words, at their belief system, sometimes at the people themselves.
But we are called to love. Jesus loved those who hated Him, scorned Him, persecuted Him, murdered Him. He loves saints and sinners alike. He entreats us to love one another and while I like to believe I do, I have realized that I often fall short of His commandment.
I cannot promise that hate won’t creep back into my head and heart. I can’t promise that I will look at everyone with the love God asks me to. I can, however, remember to pray, both for those I find difficult to love and for myself. Prayers to find the light of God within each person. It is there. We are all made by Him and in His image and within us all is a spark of goodness; the love our creator placed in creating us.
On this Thanksgiving Day, I pray for each of you, those who know me personally and those who only know this blog. I pray for the light of God’s love to fill your hearts. I pray that His grace fills your life and the lives of those around you. I pray that we stay faithful to God’s will in our lives and that we continue to live to glorify Him.
In Christ’s Love,
Mrs. Summitt
I spent the better part of Saturday morning attempting to record my first podcast.
Well, not exactly my first. I had done a series several years ago of the Rosary when there weren’t any available to download. That was a long time ago though and I knew exactly what to say.
I find myself at an interesting crossroads with the podcasting. I feel that I should be speaking about matters related to faith but I am so frustrated by the recent election that everything I speak about ends up being related to politics and law. Perhaps that is intentional. We cannot be authentically Catholic and not have our beliefs wrap into our day to day existence and the politics surrounding this nation.
I am going to try and speak mainly about our faith but expect the relation to politics to show up. We can no longer be a ‘live and let live’ society and expect to keep our religious freedoms intact. Morality and faith are not compatible with current society. It is very Old Testament. The golden calf is being trotted around and the people are bowing to it while we look away sickened by the willingness of the masses to engage in sinful behavior that darkens their souls and leads them away from God.
As usual, I digress from my topic but I’ll leave you with the thought that my first podcast is coming soon. Hopefully with limited politics 🙂
Yours in Christ,
Mrs. Summitt
Hello Dear Reader!
You may be stumbling here to see if I have words of wisdom in the aftermath of a highly disappointing November 6th. I do not.
I’m not much on wisdom today having felt like pulling an Atlas Shrugs moment and vacating from all responsibilities that would require my hard earned dollars to be given to the government rather than to where I choose to give it. Luckily, God called this morning (figuratively) and for the first time in a long time, I had my ringer turned on my soul-phone and I answered.
What did God have to say? Well it wasn’t to agree with my perspective this morning on going to Galt’s Gulch. No, it was more of a marching orders call. As a soldier in God’s Spiritual Army, He provided me with the next step on my journey. I am still in a bit of shock but I have faith. If you’re wondering what exactly this next step is, keep reading.
This website is just the beginning. It is a way to get me thinking and writing on paper (or pc), to get used to putting out my thoughts, feelings, life lessons for the world to see, to become comfortable with it. Keep reading…the good stuff is in the next part 🙂
Hears how my soul-phone conversation with God went this morning after I realized what I’m supposed to be doing with my life in service to Him:
Me – Whoa! Are you kidding me? I’ve barely blogged since that realization that this was part of your path for me.
God’s response – It isn’t as though I haven’t tried to get you to blog. (a voice that sounds like mine chimes in “I’m too tired.” “I’m too busy.” “I don’t feel good.” “I have work to do.” “I have school work to do.” “Mom’s in town.”)
Me – It can’t be time though, right? You’re just giving me a heads up and then in a few months when life is a little more quiet after the holidays…….that’s when I should start, right?
God’s response – Nice try, but no. I know you don’t feel ready. Why is that?
Me – Well, because I’m not. I have bills to pay, work to get done, a husband and child to take care of, charities to raise money for, family to love, Christmas cards to write, a house to clean….. When am I going to do THIS? HOW am I going to do THIS? I don’t KNOW HOW to do any of THIS! HOW can I do THIS and still pay the bills?
God’s response – Do you trust in ME? Believe in ME? Love ME?
Me – Of course I do!
God’s response – Then…….
Me – Humph! Fine. I will start but I need help.
God’s response – Help is always there when you’re doing My will. If you do what I ask, the help will arrive just when you need it most.
Me – *sigh* Ok.
So, here I am… announcing… that mrssummitt.com is going to be growing to include a podcast and eventually video-casts and other downloadable mp3’s with favorite prayers and devotions.
More to come…first I need to go buy a microphone and figure out what I’m supposed to say and to whom. Of course, first part of that first is I need some sleep. As with most folks who think as I do, last night was a very long night and today was just as long. The light is there though……within each of us. Just pray and God will help that light shine as a beacon to others. We can make a difference, we will make a difference.
I’ll leave you with this, A Prayer for Daily Neglects:
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with all its love, all its sufferings and all its merits.
First – To expiate all the sins I have committed this day and during all my life.(Glory be to the Father…)
Second – To purify the good I have done badly this day and during all my life.(Glory Be to the Father…)
Third – To minister for the good I ought to have done, and that I have neglected this day and during all my life.(Glory Be to the Father…)
Amen.
(If you are not familiar with the Glory Be…
Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.)
In Christ’s Love,
Mrs. Summitt
I like to believe that I’m self-aware, I know my flaws, I know when I’ve crossed lines, I know when I’m not quite living up to my own promises and expectations. As humans, most of us trip on the journey and if we’re lucky we recover before we hit the ground or even after but with only a few bruises and scrapes to our soul. So, I consider the fact that I rarely “hit the ground” any more to be “proof” of my self-awareness.
I’m sure you are now thinking to yourself, “You sound sanctimonious not self-aware.”
I agree. I do.
When I sat down to write this post, I thought I understood what I was going to say, the points I wanted to make, the thrill I would get from sharing with you, my dear reader, all that God has given to me in the grace of self-awareness.
Not so much.
My original intent today was to discuss how even self-aware types can sometimes miss the call from God and I expect I’ll still end up there by the end of this post. However, a secondary theme is forming which is the thing that leads us to miss God’s call. Arrogant, Sanctimonious, Self-Righteous…these behaviors keep us from hearing God’s voice. Mainly because we think we already know what God is calling us to do so we stop listening. Basically, we send God to voicemail.
As you may recall, I wrote in my relaunch post for the site that I had been attempting to avoid God’s call. I thought at the time I was done running from Him. I realize now that while I’m not running anymore, I certainly don’t pick up every time He calls.
Why do I just now realize this? My journey is often clouded by little distractions, much as when a pull in a sweater you’re wearing catches your eye. You can’t help yourself, you pick at it, rub it, poke at it, maybe even tug on it to see if you can just pull the thread out without ruining the entire thing. Life sometimes gets that way for me. I end up with hours of time lost on picking at the pulls instead of focusing on listening for God and answering when He calls. Of course that doesn’t really answer the question of how I now realize I’ve been sending God to voicemail. That story starts in the next paragraph.
My brother-in-law, Chris, is an amazing man. Calm, rational, thoughtful, prayerful, giving and frankly, someone who could write a book on how to deal with his in-laws, including me. As usual when we finally have a chance to sit down as a family and catch up I mention some conversation with a colleague that I found amusing. I was at an event and one of my colleagues during an exchange said she felt that she would be seeing me on TV one day very soon. I laughed nervously and said “only if I’m arrested.” (True Fact: I am not always witty) In the exchange with Chris I mentioned that I don’t consider myself an extraordinary person and added in that I am of a certain age. We chatted a little more, he mentioned Mother Teresa and we talked about how I felt I was answering God’s call but perhaps had let a few calls go unanswered and needed to get back to my purpose. Then I realized – I still don’t know the answer to what that purpose is. I’m still just a few steps in and I haven’t been asking for that next step to be illuminated.
That leads me to this moment, this post and some very odd musings.
I’m apparently not self-aware or God-aware.
Did those unanswered calls include the revelation of God’s vision of my true purpose?
Was my spiritual answering machine at least plugged in so I can listen to God’s voicemails? Did He leave any?
Is there some way He could text me instead? I’m really good at answering my texts, not so good at answering calls.
Maybe He tweets and I just need to find His twitter handle?
Maybe I shouldn’t have deleted my FB account. He might have been sending me messages there.
Why can’t I ever actually quiet my mind, even in prayer (or blog post writing)?
Is He calling me to play powerball yet?
Does this line of thinking indicate I’ve gone off the deep end?
Ok, so perhaps God is unlikely to respond to these particular questions but He always answers the important ones and I’ve learned not to take for granted that I will always hear His call. First, I need to learn to listen for His call no matter what else is going on in my life.
To that end, I am going to pray The Litany of Humility and then head to confession.
O Jesus meek and humble of heart, hear me
From the desire of being esteemed………Deliver Me Jesus
From the desire of being loved………….Deliver me Jesus
From the desire of being extolled ……….Deliver me Jesus
From the desire of being honored…………..Deliver me Jesus
From the desire of being praised……… Deliver me Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred………Deliver me Jesus
From the desire of being consulted………..Deliver me Jesus
From the desire of being approved………….Deliver me Jesus
From the fear of being humiliated………Deliver me Jesus
From the fear of being despised…………Deliver me Jesus
From the fear of suffering rebukes…………..Deliver me Jesus
From the fear of being calumniated………..Deliver me Jesus
From the fear of being forgotten……………. Deliver me Jesus
From the fear of being ridiculed…………..Deliver me Jesus
From the fear of being wronged…………Deliver me Jesus
From the fear of being suspected………..Deliver me Jesus
That others may be loved more than I……….Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it
That others may be esteemed more than I …………….Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it
That in the opinion of the world others may increase and I may decrease…………..Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it
That others may be chosen and I set aside…………Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it
That others may be praised and I unnoticed…………Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may became as holy as I should…………………..Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen and Amen
Yours in Christ’s Love,
Mrs. Summitt