Celebrating the Eucharist as we Entrust the Mission to Our Blessed Mother

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"Come, let us sing to the Lord 

and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.

Let us approach Him with praise and thanksgiving

And sing joyful songs to the Lord..."

(Psalm 95)

As I was driving home from Mass this morning, I could not help but think of psalm 95 as I was driving along.  The trees here in Knoxville are at their highest peak of fall color.  They inspire one to think of and praise God- they are so, so beautiful.  And, as those thoughts were stirring in my mind, I began thinking about the friends that we had met and shared such wonderful times with while we were in Africa.  

Yesterday, Theresa and I met with Lisa at her home to work on more of the video that we had taken from the trip - specifically for the Mass as we Entrusted the Mission to our Blessed Mother.  I noticed that all or most of the people sang during Mass - the pilgrims' singing was so beautiful - so from their hearts - in a joyful expression of love and praise for our loving Jesus and his Mother, Mary.  

And, as we continued reviewing, editing and choosing parts of video clips for the blog, we realized that in the song that was sung at the end of the Mass, all of the people were singing and repeating the same word over and over in the song.  The word was "Asante"  and that was one word in Swahili that we became quite familiar with - it is the word for Thank you.

Those that participated in the mission did not need to see the fall colors in East Tennessee to inspire them to spontaneously pray psalm 95 as I did - they just lived  that beginning portion of psalm 95 while they were at the mission which was so evident in their singing, in their praying and in all of their smiles.

May all of us move forward in one heart and one spirit continually praising and singing joyfully to Our Lord...

Entrusting the Mission to Our Lady...

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As Mary put it so beautifully in the last blog entry of Entrusting her heart to Our Lady, it is with that thought in mind that we me move forward to share this video of the official start to the Mission...Entrusting the Mission to Our Lady.

It brings back memories from August 2011 when we had a meeting with the local committee at the Shrine...

A little background...We had traveled to Kenya in August 2011 to bring the Enthronement to various sub-parishes in Father William's home area of Nyg'oma, as well as attending the groundbreaking of Laura's Place, an educational resource center, which is now complete  (we will share the grand opening and the story of the center with corresponding videos in the near future).

Father William had arranged a meeting with Father Richard and the local committee at the Shrine for a future Enthronement Mission...looking back on that meeting now over a year ago and seeing what God did is such a blessing!  We met and shared the vision of the Enthronement Mission and left the committee with information along with the Pilgrim Statue of Mary.

As with any Enthronement, that is the first step...presenting the Pilgrim Statue of Mary.  Our Lady opens the door for the Enthronement as she will always lead you to her Son and our Savior Jesus.

We left Kenya that evening not knowing the time or how it would unfold...but God knew.

The doors began to open for this Mission to Kenya...also in the fall of last year was the First World Congress of the Sacred Heart in Paray-le-Monial, France (see the website for more information http://www.sacredheartapostolate.com ).  The World Congress began with the Entrustment of the World Congress to Our Lady...and we felt called to do the same in Kenya.

Entrusting the Mission to our Lady was an extension of the Pilgrim Statue, which we had left with those from the Shrine over a year ago - she always leads us to Jesus...

The Entrustment of the Mission establishes the protection of the mission and ourselves to Our Lady, knowing that she will guide us and point us to Jesus...to His most Loving and Merciful Heart.

In addition to all this...today is the Feast of Saint Anthony Claret (1807-1870)...as we realized that today was the day we would send this blog entry out to everyone we decided to look him up in the Office of Readings and as we read about him, it brought smiles to all of our faces!  Part of what is written is this:  "Saint Claret after becoming a priest spent several years preaching and established a missionary order."  We saw a glimpse of how God brought two worlds together through the efforts of Father William  and how through our Diocese and the many missionaries we have here and now we are ALL called to be missionaries whether we travel halfway around the world or never leave our own backyards.  A perfect example of this is Saint Therese, The Little Flower, who is one of the Patron Saints of Missionaries and she never even left the convent!  We are all called to holiness and missionary activity of the Church!  The prayers of all of you, whether you traveled or not, is the foundation of all of God's work!

This summer we had sent the outlines of the Mission to Father Richard with the words of Entrusting the Mission to Our Lady...however, we had no idea until we arrived and saw what Father Richard and the committee had done to bring that to reality with the Procession/Rosary that officially opened the Mission, a gift which was straight from above...

The video that follows gives you a glimpse into the beauty of that Entrustment and the love of Our Lady for each of us by leading us always to her Son..."I love you Lord, my strength." (Psalm 18)

Entrusting our Hearts to Mary as she Always Leads Us to Jesus

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It was about eight and a half years ago that I truly met our Blessed Mother.  A friend of mine lent me a book to read about a place that I had never heard of before.  The name of the book was Queen of the Cosmos and the name of the place was Medjugorje.  Apparently there were six young people that originated and lived in Medjugorje and each of them saw, met, and prayed with our Blessed Mother on a consistent basis.  The Blessed Mother would appear to them and then communicate messages to them that were meant for all people.  The author of the book, Jan Connell, interviewed each of the visionaries (as these young people were called) individually and each chapter contained a different interview of each of the visionaries.  Each visionary was asked a different set of questions and each answered in different ways, but after reading them all together, they all painted a very vivid and complete picture of what our Blessed Mother wanted us to know.  The most important parts of the book for me were those things that our Blessed Mother said that were important for us to do:  To pray (preferably the Rosary), to go to confession, to fast twice a week on Wednesday and Friday on bread and water, to attend Mass as often as possible, and to read Scripture every day.  I now understand that I was very blessed as I received a very powerful grace after reading the book because I believed ALL of it - all that the visionaries witnessed as well as the messages that our Blessed Mother was communicating to us through the visionaries - with all of my heart.  And, more importantly, I began to do all that our Blessed Mother asked us to do...

-I did not know how to pray the Rosary although I attended Catholic Schools for all of my education - Elementary School through College.  I was raised in a very catholic environment.  My parents were diligent in making sure that we attended Mass every single Sunday, even on vacations.  We often said grace before meals and they prayed with us before we went to bed at night when we were small children.  But we never prayed the Rosary together as a family.  I bought myself a Rosary and a pamphlet on how to pray it and I taught myself.

-I was a stay-at-home mom at the time and I would go to Mass every day after I would drop my children off at school. I continue to attend Holy Mass every single day and it is the highlight of my day.

-I began fasting, although slowly at first, as instructed by our Blessed Mother through the visionaries.  I am still not able to completely fast on bread and water alone for those two days so I do a modified fast and that is still difficult for me.

-I began to go to confession (I think that I was away from the sacrament for almost 20 years) and then continued going each First Friday of the month.  I now go once every two weeks or so.

-And I started reading the Bible, especially while praying the Rosary.  The Bible opened up a new world for me.  I remember reading the first words of John's Gospel for the first time and truly understanding, believing and falling in love with the words that I was reading:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."  John 1: 1-5

And something Big started happening to me.  I changed.  And it was not a subtle change.  I began to experience a peace - a truly supernatural peace - while praying the Rosary.  I began to understand Mass by listening and reflecting on the words as it was being prayed.  It was no longer this boring, long and  drawn-out obligation that I was required to attend each Sunday.  I began to pray during it and was drawn into the prayer - better understanding the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and how much Love came from that Cross not only for all of us as a people - but the love that was meant for each and every person.  It was a singular and personal love and that love is then given to each of us in the gift of Holy Communion each and every time we receive it.  To be united with that Love, especially when we receive Holy Communion, is something akin to Heaven - it is Heaven.  It is an experience that is most important and yet unlike anything else in our lives.  It is very personal and intimate and yet it is available to all of us.  I had received Holy Communion each and every Sunday of my life (after first receiving it in the 2nd Grade) but I never really understood it until I did all that our Blessed Mother asked us to do.  By Entrusting my Heart to Mary - she led me directly to Jesus.

Not only did my life change interiorly as a result of my new relationship with Jesus through our Blessed Mother, but I changed outwardly as well.  I was more conscious of those around me than I was before. I was happy to try to help anyone in need.  I prayed more for others than for myself.  I began to be active in different ministries in our parish.  And, most of all, I wanted others to know and experience what I knew and lived:  that Jesus is Alive and Present for each one of us.  That if we do all that our Blessed Mother asks us to do, that we will grow in relationship with Jesus and our lives will change for the better as a result of it.

There is an Elton John song that I always think of when I think of the changes that came about in my life after meeting our Blessed Mother:  "Someone Saved My Life Tonight".  Because that is what she did for me.  She showed me the way to her Son and in so doing, she saved my life and she changed it- she gave me a new life - a new way to live my life.  And it is all about living it in Jesus and I am truly blessed for living in this way.

God is Good...All the Time

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God is good...all the time.  A statement of fact that was stated quite frequently throughout the day while at the Enthronement Mission at the Shrine of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Nairobi.

When you are watching all of the videos that we will put together and place on the blog over the next few weeks, please try to keep the following thoughts and impressions in mind.  It is easy to put pictures and video's together (well...somewhat easy) but it is hard to put what is in-between - - kind of like reading between the lines.  What was most evident to all of us was the love and spirit of the people...and that truly came from both those that were there with us at the Mission as well as those that were there with us in Spirit...what took place happened because of the work of the Holy Spirit and because of the many prayers of those who traveled with us in their heart.

So for those here in the States and those in Kenya and beyond, here is a glimpse of the grace of God:

...Everyone that we met were full of joy, friendly, easy to be with, warm and hospitable, patient and kind...sounds like the fruits of the Holy Spirit!

Theresa with Pamela, the Kenyan part of our Enthronement Team, SO warm, fun, gracious - a Kindred Spirit

Pilgrims from the Mission

...Those in Kenya have a rich and vibrant life of community.  Family and friends live, work, pray and share - Community is just a continuous and necessary part of their lives.  And it was such a blessing to be a included as part of it for the two weeks that we were there.

People walking are very much a part of the Kenyan landscape...a time of reflecting...

...The people sing.  They sing and move and dance - giving glory to God with a joy as one could only imagine King David having while he danced for our Lord.

...The pilgrims that attended the mission thirsted for Jesus - which was evident in their prayer, their devotions, and their desire for all that was offered with regard to all of the catechesis involving the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Most of the pilgrims took notes during the catechesis part of the presentation.

...The women dress in beautiful, vibrant colorful fabrics in dresses and skirts.  Many men wore jackets-similar to suit or sport jackets.  Their dress reflected their love, devotion, respect and reverence for Jesus.  It was so evident in who they were as a people - both on the inside and outside.

A pilgrim praying and loving Jesus in the Underground Stations of the Cross...
Where hundreds of people slept over the course of three days.

We have so much to be thankful for and so much to share.  And it is quite evident throughout all of our experiences in Kenya both personally and with those that we met that God is indeed very, very good...All of the time.  And we are, as all of His children are, so grateful to be on this journey together.

Begininning the Work that Is His...

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It is on this Feast of St. Margaret Mary that we come with hearts full of gratitude and thanks for the gifts and blessings of God through His most Sacred Heart.

We could never have imagined all that God had in store for this Mission when Father William first asked that we go and share the message of the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Enthronement, but God knew...

We went in total abandonment as Blessed Mother Teresa would say and her words were ever in our minds and in our hearts...both sides of the ocean were unsure and even at times perhaps fearful, interiorly asking the question:  "Is this really what You want?"  Prayers were being sent up from all around the world through the blog, the Consecration prayer, the Novena to the Rosa Mystica, and more.   The answer kept repeating itself through various ways...and we knew that God wanted this.  And so, with the prayers of the people here in the States as well as the prayers from all over - we continued to move forward in faith and trust, knowing that we were called to live in total obedience to do what was in front of us with love and to Let the Work Be His...

As Mary has said through the words of Theresa, we thought that the messages of what was happening would come from Africa each day, but God had other plans...to live and to be in the present moment for all of us, those in Africa and those who waited and prayed from a distance.

He knew the timing and, today, October 16th, the Feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom Jesus appeared and showed her His Sacred Heart, comes the first of the Journey that we are all on together...to spread His Love and His Mercy and His Heart to all we meet and to be a Light to the World.

And So We Are Back

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And so we are back at home.

The pilgrimage was nothing but pure gift and blessing.  The people we met, shared, loved, laughed with, worked with, prayed with, sang and danced with...the places we visited, the meals we shared, the homes we visited, the travel...all of it was pure gift.  Well, most of it...I could have done without having to sleep under the mosquito nets.  But even that, I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

After arriving, I was able to purchase an external modem that I thought would enable me to freely use the Internet and blog.  It was not to be, however.  The modem was very slow and I was completely unable to publish any of the entries that I wrote.  I was also unable to post any pictures.  And I am so, so glad for it.

When discussing it with my travel companions, Theresa said something that just was so perfect; so astute.  She said:  "I think that you need to live in the present moment." 

And so, that was what I did.  That is what we all did.  And it was so necessary to do that.  Each day began as a large empty cup and by the end of each day, it was completely filled to the brim and almost overflowing with experiences and memories - all lived in the present and meant to be shared at a later time.

It will come and we are so happy to relive all of it with you.  I, from the bottom of my heart, am so grateful for each one of you.  For your prayers, for your support, for your enthusiasm, for  your love, and for your sharing in the desire that our pilgrimage be all that God wanted it to be.  That the work would be HIS.  And it was.  And we will share.

Father William, Lisa, Theresa, Judi and Mary