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August memories and fall good news

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Today's lead is particularly dear to me. It starts with looking back at childhood memories of an August feast day and its enduring message of love and hope. Enjoy.

Then we look ahead, not to rush summer away, but things you'll want to know:

  • The invitation to join a September Zoom retreat
  • A new Spanish translation soon to be available.

Lastly, a poem from Denise Levertov

MEMORIES

The Feast of the Assumption, August 15, falls on a Tuesday this year. When I was a child that would have been no ordinary Tuesday. No play clothes that weekday morning; instead, Mom would have laid out Sunday dresses and shiny shoes the night before. Later we'd return to dungarees and sneakers, but for now our job was to shovel in our cheerios, peel off our jammies, and put on the dresses we'd worn just two days before. Our faces were scrubbed, our hair was brushed, and we were lined up like daisies in the garden of Mary, Mary quite contrary." I don't remember much complaint about going--that wasn't considered--though there was a bit of whining as tangled hair got pulled in the brushing and there was, likely, a bit of jostling in the one bathroom all shared.

All in all, it was a good day. I never minded dressing up, twirling around to watch my skirt spin. Once we'd climbed the granite steps, I welcomed the cool darkness the church offered against the summer scorch of mid-August. And I loved to sing the Marian songs we'd learned in school, "Ave, Ave Maria...," all the verses.

Best of all for me, was just sitting there thinking, pondering what it all meant, imagining what it was like. I thought of Mary who got to hold her baby, Jesus, in the stable and now Jesus, who got to hold his mother Mary, in heaven, of all places! I liked that. I liked that all these people sitting in the pew with me, the people I belonged to, they would always be mine, like Jesus and Mary would always belong to each other.

HISTORY and THEOLOGY in a nutshell

For those who are interested The Feast of the Assumption, in the Catholic Church, celebrates the assuming, or "taking up," of Mary, body and soul, at the end of her life, to heaven where she is reunited with her son, Jesus. In the Eastern Church it is the Feast of the Dormition of Theotokos, the "falling asleep" of the Mother of God. This Tradition provides additional details in the belief that Mary died, her soul was received by Christ, her body buried, but three days later her body, too, rose from the grave and she was fully, body and soul, reunited with her Son. The belief in the Assumption was widespread throughout the early Christian world as evidenced by it having been celebrated as early as the 5th century. Very little of this tradition made its way into the Protestant expression of Christianity after the Reformation and the Catholic Church did not proclaim it as dogma until 1950. It is not, therefore, widely known or considered across all Christian tradition, although it is still a national holiday in nearly 50 nations.

WHAT MATTERS

I look back and think my eight-year-old self basically got it right. It's about love and the people you love most. It's especially about the love you feel when those people die. You can have all the faith in the world and believe they are now happy in heaven with God, but you can still miss them--a lot. After they die, you have memories. Ideas, even messages, visit you about what they would have thought, or said, or suggest you do. There can be days when they are so present to you, alongside you like a breeze or a melody, you can almost reach out and touch them, though you can't make those days happen, no matter how hard you try. Those days are gift, pure and simple, and oh, so sweet. While your spirit may be at peace, your body can still ache for the hand to hold, the familiar face, sound of voice, the feel of skin.

The thing about this Assumption feast is that it is saying Jesus and Mary felt that way too. Jesus missed her and wanted her with him, all of her, her body and her soul. Just like us. And what happened was the best reunion ever, better than all the aunts and uncles and in-laws at a wedding, better than all the cousins and kin at a summer barbeque. This was embrace that said you are home for good, you are mine forever. You will never have to say goodbye again.

And if you sit and think about it long enough--what the Assumption means--think about it even when you're back outdoors in your dungarees, think about it for so many years that you get to a time when nobody even says "dungarees" any more, then you realize, you remember. You remember that every Sunday we say it. "We believe in the resurrection of the body." Our bodies. It seems this reunion is not meant for just Jesus and Mary. We get to do that too. It will be real and it will be ours, just like for them.

Spiritual Practices to Help Cultivate Peace in Your Day

Saturday, Sept 23rd, 2023

Online via Zoom

9-3 Pacific / 11-5 Central / 12-6 Eastern

Cost: $50 / Early bird @ $40 by 8/28/23

I am so pleased and privileged to have been asked to partner with other gifted presenters at the upcoming Zoom retreat sponsored by Retreat, Reflect, Renew:

Join us for "Playful Spirits, Prayerful Hearts." Discover spiritual practices that can help bring more peace to your day. This will be an interactive Zoom event full of presenters offering a taste of different prayer practices to nurture your mind, body, and soul. Learn how to use music, movement, and Scripture in new ways to pray. Discover gratitude breathing practices and open your heart to soul listening.

This event is hosted by RETREAT, REFLECT, RENEW, a retreat ministry dedicated to creating sacred community for women and men to find support and inspiration to live a more Christ-centered life. Use the button below to register or find out more, and browse through the RETREAT, REFLECT, RENEW website for a variety of offerings designed to help you on your spiritual journey.

 Playful Spirits Prayerful Hearts

Gran Noticia! / Big News!

Muchas Gracias to the Fellowship of Christian Women who used NEVER ON SUNDAY as their book of the year last year, 2022-23. It was a great success and I had the added benefit of meeting many of their members online providing some online sessions and author Q&A's. This is my second partnership with FCCW as they used my first study, SISTERS IN SCRIPTURE, in 2013.

I cannot speak highly enough of the ministry they provide for women in the Catholic Church. They were founded in year by whose vision was Their membership has grown to 400 women in 26 parishes spread throughout the western states of WA, CA, AZ, and TX. As their numbers grew, so did the number of Spanish-speaking women who joined their community. The leadership of FCCW has done something quite remarkable in providing a common space for Catholic women, both Hispanic and Anglo. In response to that diversity, they translated NEVER ON SUNDAY for their members and debuted the use of both NEVER ON SUNDAY and NUNCA EN DOMINGO.

Now this is available as a bi-lingual resource for faith communities looking to provide that same common ground for faith sharing, bible study, and spiritual growth. The Spanish version has been professionally edited and both versions are now available in a special 8.5 x 11" Study Edition which allows ample space for notetaking and for recording your response to reflection questions.

Both these new study editions will be available September 1, 2023. I just wanted my faithful readers to be the first to know. While not many of you may be in need of a Spanish bible study, I would ask you, as partners in ministry, to consider any communities or parishes where this might be a valuable resource. In the generous spirit of FCCW who provided the translation, may others be blessed as well by our combined efforts. Please Contact me if you have information or ideas.

Prayer / Poem for Today

The Avowal

by Denise Levertov

As swimmers dare to lie face up to the sky and waters bear them, as hawks rest upon air and air sustains them, so would I learn to attain freefall, and float.

Into Creator Spirit's deep embrace, knowing no effort earns that all-surrounding grace.

I confess to a fondness for Denise Levertov not only for the beauty of her poetry, but for the intersection of our stories, as she lived her last years in Seattle, a parishioner at St. Joseph's Parish, Capitol Hill.

This poem played in mind as I wrote of my mother teaching me to float:

"Put your head back. Arch your back, Relax, stretch out your arms. I have a hold of you." I could feel her fingers beneath me as I occasionally lifted free with the movement of the waves. To discover that the water can support you is a transcendent moment. Mom never broke the spell; her voice was calm, gentle, persuasive. If you do it right, you don't even know when it happens; it just does. (WHY THESE WOMEN, p. 21).

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