Mother's Day! Celebrate a Different Way!

With Mother’s Day approaching, like any modern day mom, I am looking forward to celebrating the day. I must admit, I love breakfast in bed, I love receiving the gifts, the flowers, the homemade cards. I particularly enjoy enjoying relishing in the graces of the day. I must admit tho, my mind does go back to a different version of Mother’s Day. I have very fond and vivid memories of taking part in an annual Mother’s Day recital, hosted by my home parish, St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, run by the Oblates of the Immaculate Mary in Toronto. 

 Sister Archangela, and a host of other Felician sisters, would orchestrate an event after mass that honoured the vocation of motherhood. Children would recite beautiful poems celebrating the tenderness and love of a mother, musicians would play songs on the depth of her love and prayers would be prayed to thank God for the gift of our mothers. Oh yes, and don’t forget the flowers, mothers were showered with flowers and often times a formal blessing by the pastor. 

It was no doubt a potently beautiful event that did not shy away from being religious, and I loved it! As a young girl, I was deeply moved by participating in these recitals, it stirred within my soul such gratitude and longing to become a mother. In the Polish culture, while I was growing up, mothers were revered, the vocation itself considered sublime.
  

There was sacredness in the celebrations of the day, and yes those celebrations were linked to Mary, the Mother of God. Each mother knew that she had a duty before God, not only to care for her children, but to pass down the Catholic faith.

As, I was raised, I knew becoming a mother, meant not only embracing a hearty list of things to do, to buy, to organize—it wasn’t only a photo opportunity of happy moments, becoming a mother involved an level of accountability before God Himself. 

It’s a stark contrast to secular Mother’s Day celebrations which at times to me, ring hollow. 

Very recently, my mom, from her death bed, announced,

 “The only thing, I have ever wanted was

 to succeed at passing down the Catholic

 faith. To have children, who practiced 

and lived their Catholic faith from the 

bottom of their hearts.”

It really did get me thinking. 

Can you imagine living with that goal as a desired end in mind? 

How different the world would be all Catholic mothers made passing down the Catholic faith as their life’s priority?

Imagine for just a second, if we all forgot all of the other things that seem to pull at us as mothers, what would our life look like?

I don't know if I am the only mom who thinks that sometimes the world is completely upside down. It appears that some mothers seem to make EVERYTHING else a priority in their lives. Honestly, it drives me crazy!

I was edified when a few days ago, a friend on Facebook, posted this as her status, 

"My number one goal as a mom is to do everything in my power to help my children get to Heaven. This ultimately, is all that matters. Pray for your children every day, teach them our beautiful Catholic faith, and help them develop a wonderful relationship with Jesus and His Blessed Mother. Your children will be eternally grateful."

It got me thinking maybe we should all consider hosting a Mother’s Day recital in our parish!

 This blog post was written in memory of my mom,

 Teresa Pilarski who passed away on April, 12, 2013.

Motherly Musing -- Morning Prayers!

I was talking to my mom yesterday and since she is quite frail, and her voice weak, I have found myself listening to her a little more carefully.

The strong, confident comanding voice is weakening, but on another level it has grown stronger.

She is spending much of her time praying. And, I know she will continue to evangelize until her very last breath. She has ALWAYS talked about matters of Faith to my sister and I, ever since I can remember!

That is just my mom.

I have been blessed with a mother of incredible Faith. She is a survivor of World War 11 -- She was 13 years old when her home was bombed in Warsaw, Poland.

Yesterday, as always, she spoke to me about the importance of morning prayers. I am a wife and mother and my own mother is still reminding me of the importance of devoting time to prayer first thing in the morning. I have very vivid memories growing up, with her bellowing voice,

"Did you say your morning prayers?"

Just like any kid, sometimes I said them, sometimes I didn't, most times I looked at the crucifix above my bed and did the sign of the cross.

I have very vivid memories of seeing both of my parents, at different times, getting on their knees and saying their morning prayers, leaning against their beds, first thing when they got up. Since my dad and often my mom, left the house at the crack of dawn to got to work, I knew they were rushed, but they never lacked the time to say their morning prayers.

Morning prayers shower us with graces first thing. Those prayers bring us into His presence and focus us on His Will.

Yesterday, February 17, 2013, my 86 year old mom was reminding me of the importance of saying your prayers before you leave your bedroom.

"Once you leave your bedroom, you are subject to distraction, the coffee maker, demands of your kids, light housekeeping, tidying, all pulls us away from the VERY FIRST THING we ought to be doing, saying our morning prayers!"

There was a time, that I neglected morning prayers. I remember a good speaker, talking about making a committment during Lent. He suggested making a small committment, but sticking to it. Something like saying your morning prayers!

Since then, it's been quite the journey, sometimes I have prayed too long first thing in the morning, other times I prayed kneeling with my toddlers before a crucifix we have hanging in our kitchen, now that they are teenagers, I find myself saying three short prayers in the car on the way to school.

At this point in my life, I now find myself saying my morning prayers twice! Once as soon as I get up, in my room. I love just saying the words, "Thank you Jesus, or Help me Jesus" to the beat of my heart. Don't ask me why, but for some crazy reason, I can hear my heart beat most times of the day!

But, it is my prayer, that I always remain a mother, who asks,

"Have you said your morning prayers?"

I found this quote. I just had to share. 

In order to succeed in it (prayer), it should be done when we first awaken, when our whole being
is calm and recollected. We need to make our meditation before anything else.
- Saint Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868)

S*E*C*R*E*T -- But it's GARBAGE

I was at Chapter's shopping the other day and noticed the cover of this book. 

I must admit it caught me eye.

I guess my Guardian Angel was watching over me because after reading this review, I am so happy that I did not pick it up.

Why is there so much garbage out there?This excellent blog post will give you some insight and truth about the motivations and sexual themes presented by the person who wrote this book.

http://everydayforlifecanada.blogspot.ca/2013/02/secret-just-another-shade-of-grey.html

Is your home a castle?

It's so funny.... I often come across couples who are procrastinating getting married, or procrastinating having children because they are saving to buy a house... or something... And I can't help but thinking they have it all backwards. God has given you a GIFT in your fiancee. God has given you a GIFT with your fertility. Why in the world want to delay getting married? Why would you want to delay having children? If you view them as a gift from God, wouldn't you want to embrace those spiritual gifts as a priority? I will never forget relishing in the grace that helped me see that my newborn daughter did not care about the size of my house, whether I owned it or not, all she cared about was having mommy hold her, feed her and love her! We rented for the first FIVE years in our marriage. We had both of our children in a rented house! Why do couples think that they have to have it ALL right away? There is no security except for God's mercy, His providence and care! A real castle is a home filled with love and tenderness, not equity and stuff. In fact, the stuff, and yes the BIG house CAN be a distraction to family life.

Retreat in the City

Before becoming a mom, I would go, quite regularly, on organized retreats, Catholic conferences or attend prayer groups on a regular night. 

But since having my children and dealing with my husband's travel schedule and my kids sports schedule and my own work schedule, 
I have had to become a little more creative in getting my Catholic spirituality nourished. 

I am not exactly sure when, but somewhere along the way, I started creating my own retreats, based on my own timetable , right in the middle of the city and my family life. 

I found that communing with God, doesn't really require a cabin in the woods, a long drive to a distant city or even a remote retreat center. I have found a way to retreat, right in my own neighborhood. These monthly retreats are incredibly convenient and besides that, the price is right. And guess what, graces really do abound.

I often hear women say they want to become more spiritual, so I thought sharing how I spend my retreat days might spark a little interest -- and intrigue other women to do the same, especially women who might not be able to get away from home.

CONFESSION & MASS on a WEEKDAY

My retreat day usually starts with a visit to my spiritual director for both spiritual direction and the sacrament of reconciliation. From that visit some type of theme usually does develop. This past visit my spiritual director asked me some thought provoking questions. One of them really got me thinking....

"Where does your self value come from?" 

He also asked me to reflect on the history of my relationship with God. Often, right after my meeting, I go to a near by park, a beautiful park and scribble notes from our meeting in my journal. It's not unusual for me to walk by the lake and pray the rosary and do the penance he recommended immediately after I have met with him. 

With my heart full of graces and inspirations, I head out to noon mass or if the Holy Spirit calls, I may go to mass at the airport at 1pm instead. It's not unusual for the Holy Spirit to give me a very specific instruction during mass. I was inspired to write a blog post entitled, Retreat in the City, immediately after mass. The title itself, an inspiration.

LUNCH

After all of this spiritual work, I stop for lunch and reflect on the inspirations and graces God has given me. 

I have loved having lunch on my own ever since I can remember!

This particular lunch I fell upon a magazine that is the bomb! I absolutely love it! very inspirational -- Where Women Create is a real joy and it focused my attention on my work and how God has given me all sorts of signal graces which have changed the course of my professional work... 

This particular issue is jam packed with women who have now challenged me NOT to be satisfied with what I have done so far...   but to keep seeking His Will and stretching myself for Him, through Him and with Him. 

Often times, when we look to women in our immediate surroundings, we may find women who are disgruntled with their work, don't expect much of themselves, or women who just don't believe in miracles and that God wants to work through them to touch other lives -- so, finding inspiration in other women who have listened to the promptings in their own hearts and followed their intuition to lead a creative life -- is something I love doing...

DOING SOMETHING THAT YOU LOVE

Whenever I have delivered seminars, I have often asked participants,

"What do you
 LOVE 
to do?" 

And then I coaxed or coached participants into actually dedicating some time to doing it. I am a big believer that if you love doing something, you are bringing more LOVE into the world. So, if you love baking bake, if you love dancing dance, if you love painting paint.

My retreat days, often include giving myself the permission to follow an inner surge to do something I love or something creative. This particular afternoon, I gave myself permission to take at least a dozen photographs of a couple of buildings that have always intrigued me. I gave myself permission to go and stare at them from different angles. I allowed myself to ask myself, why I liked them, how they affected me and just to stare at them.

It's funny, I stared at them from different angles, different places and just immersed myself in them. I have been wanting to do this for such a very long time, but I was always in a hurry to somewhere else.

Somewhere else, besides where God was calling me to, somewhere else besides the present moment, somewhere else besides relishing in the sun, the sky and the beauty and richness of living in the city I live in.

After awhile, it dawned on me, that there was a connection between the inspiration to write a Retreat in the City and the photographs. I hadn't planned it. It just ended up that way....

RESUMING DUTIES

On my retreat days, I give myself permission,

not to do housework, 
not to make dinner from scratch....   

I do go about fulfilling my duties -- but I try to stream line them by either cooking ahead of time, or cleaning in advance, so I can create a day in my life where I pay most of my attention to Him. 

I know it may sound selfish, but a reassuring thought is that many go away on retreats for several days and I doing this once a month as a way to refocus my efforts to discern His Will.

This particular day, I popped into the house served dinner, talking much less than I usually do which was in itself a miracle and then I left for the 24 hour chapel which is moments away from home.

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

I am really blessed because I live 15 minutes away from three different Eucharistic Adoration Chapels. Isn't it marvelous how Jesus Christ Himself, makes Himself available to us 24/7? My retreat this time round ended with a Holy Hour. I will never forget the year where the Holy Spirit prompted me to do nine holy hours in nine consecutive days to help me map out what God wanted me to do the following year!  

I pray that you too will start the habit of a monthly day of retreat! This particular month, I was treated to some beautiful flowers and so far -- I have been able to keep them! 

I would love to hear about your retreat adventures and about the marvelous things that God is doing in your life!