Reflective Moments Moments Reflective November 2009
The purpose of Reflective Moments is to offer you a way to incorporate the spirit of Saint Angela Merici into your own lives. We hope that it enriches you spiritually.
Our families: the same, yet unique By Sister Marietta Wethington, OSU
R
ecently I spent a few days with some of my family members at the farm in Casey County, Ky., where we all had our beginning. It was a week filled with memories, storytelling, laughter, tears, and prayer. As we recalled the good times and the bad, where life has led us, and some of the twists and turns along the way, our hearts were filled with gratitude. On the last morning I was up earlier than the others. A gentle rain was falling. As I listened to the pitterpatter of the raindrops, I was called to a place deep inside me. In that place I realized, in a deeper way, what a blessing the time had been. As my reflection continued, my thoughts were drawn away from Casey County to Angela Merici and her childhood experiences on her family farm in Le Grezze, Italy. So many of her experiences were not unlike those my siblings and I experienced: helping tend the garden, gathering the vegetables, caring for the animals, playing outside, and working together in the fields. In the evenings the Merici family gathered to listen to the stories of saints read to them by their father. In the evenings we gathered around our mother as she read to us and taught us to pray. When we were old enough to pray together, our father led us in praying the family rosary. I reflected on how God was the center of the Merici home and God was the center of my home. One of the activities of our week together was to work on my youngest sister’s very first patchwork quilt. We all contributed in our own way. How exciting to watch the quilt top grow and what a wonderful feeling to hold up the finished product at the end. Just as the quilt had different designs and colors, our family members too, have our own unique qualities. It takes us all to complete what we were meant to be. Later in the morning as we prepared to leave, we gathered for one last prayer and a group hug. Our roots run deep in that Casey County soil and amid our tears and good-byes, we promised to return in the not too distant future.
For Your Reflection Sit with Angela and walk through your family memories. • How were you challenged and strengthened by them? • What unexpected twists did your life take? Are you grateful now for those turns? • What shattered dreams do you recall? What is your response now? How did the shattered dreams help shape you into the person you are now? • What color, size, and shape are you in the “patches” of your family quilt? • What color, size, and shape are the other members of your family?
Write your own prayer expressing what you want to say to God.
An Intentional Minute... Take just one minute in your busy day to turn to God.
Turn Your Face to Jesus To discover the beauty of all creation. To reach out to sisters and brothers in need. To nurture the beauty within you. To be made whole.
Join us as we pray for one another!
Send your prayer requests for friends and loved ones to the E-mail Prayer Network. Write the Ursuline Partnerships office, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356 Call 270-229-2006 • E-mail associates.msj@maplemount.org