by Mary Sellars Malloy
Question of the Week, Second Sunday of Lent, Year B
Today’s Second Reading (Romans 8:31b-34) has long been one of my favorite Scripture passages. When I find myself feeling defeated, discouraged, or confused, I often quote it to myself. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31b)
Like many of you, I’ve had a lot of things come against me. I’ve had days and seasons in my life where I boldly asked God, “Where are you?” (This year of confinement, isolation, and challenge might prompt us to frequently ask this question!) But the truth is, even on the hardest of days and in the hardest of times, God is for us. Just sit with this thought for a second. “God is for me!”
What does God’s being for us look like in our lives? It’s the note or call that comes on just the right day. It’s the beautiful colors of the morning sky that cause us to stop and say, “Wow, God!” It’s food on the table, a roof over our heads, friends and family by our side (or via Zoom!). It’s a good book and time to read, an answered prayer, or finding something we thought we’d lost for good.
And it is the gift of the Son, his Body, and Blood in the Eucharist. It’s the presence of community and the power of the Sacraments. It’s the truth and beauty of God’s Word and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is love poured out on the Cross and love poured out to us through others.
This second week of Lent, make this promise a part of your daily prayer: “God is for me.” Be aware of the many ways this has been true in the past and is true in your life today. Look for opportunities to remind others of this truth too. A kind word, a simple gesture of thoughtfulness, an act of generosity can often be all it takes to let others know they are not alone and that God is for them too.
Mary Sellars Malloy has over forty years’ experience as a Catholic educator and lay minister. She is a frequent workshop presenter on prayer, liturgy, spirituality, the Sacraments, and the RCIA. Also, Mary leads retreats and parish missions throughout the country. Her goal is to encourage Catholics of all ages to appreciate and to live their Catholic faith.
by Mary Clifford Morrell
Being the founder and facilitator of an online network of intercessory pray-ers has had an unexpected perk—in addition to the privilege of praying for others. The prayer network, and the daily requests of those who carry the cross of Christ, has the unique ability to keep me grounded in gratitude, not only when it is my time to ask for prayers.
For more than 20 years, reading and responding to the prayer requests of others has encouraged me to refresh the happiness page of life at those times when I allow the ordinary challenges of being human to become extraordinary problems draining me of joy.
The prayer requests are often heartbreaking. On any given day I may receive requests to pray for families whose children are suffering from cancer, or who have lost an infant or toddler to illness or accidents. Others may be grieving for loved ones who are missing or who have committed suicide. Vibrant, healthy people are struck down in the prime of life by freak accidents or debilitating illness, while others have lost their jobs, their life savings, and their homes, perhaps living in a shelter or relying on the generosity of family or friends.
Then there are those families that are struck again and again with one tragedy after another. For them, especially, my heart breaks. At the same time, I am humbled by their continued strength and perseverance, something I have often lost in less trying times.
Most touching are the notes of gratitude our pray-ers receive, even from those who have lost the ones for whom we are praying, sharing that our prayers have been a source of comfort and peace for family and friends, and even the deceased who often seemed strengthened in the face of their illness.
One person, in particular, a good friend, will always be an inspiration to me. In the space of two months, she lost her husband, her mom and dad, and her brother. As I watched her move from one funeral Mass to the next, and in the months following, I marveled at her ability to carry on—and to smile whenever I saw her. I asked her how she was handling so much and she simply said, “If I didn’t have my faith, I wouldn’t have anything.”
Famed English poet and playwright, John Dryden once wrote, “We first make our habits, then our habits make us.” It seems my friend’s faith has enabled her to make a habit of happiness, and that's the kind of habit that's worth cultivating.
In his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis encourages us in our outreach to others through intercessory prayer, explaining it as a form of prayer that moves us to the good of others; prayers filled with people, as in the manner of St. Paul. “This attitude becomes a prayer of gratitude to God for others. … It is constant thankfulness … it is a spiritual gaze born of deep faith that acknowledges what God is doing in the lives of others. At the same time, it is the gratitude which flows from a heart attentive to others.”
Mary Regina Morrell is a Catholic journalist, author, and syndicated columnist who has served the dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey, and RENEW International in the areas of catechesis and communication.
by Mary Sellars Malloy
Question of the Week, 1st Sunday of Lent, Year B
What an interesting time to consider this question! My first thought is, “What activities?” Hasn’t the pandemic already done a number on our calendars? Except for daily tasks and the occasional run to the grocery store, my own calendar is pretty blank. There’s just not much left to forgo!
Be that as it may, as we enter into the season of Lent--a forty-day retreat time of intense prayer, fasting, and almsgiving--I am captured by the reminder in today’s Gospel (Mark 1:12-15) that during his own forty-day time in the desert, angels came and ministered to Jesus.
This image of angels ministering to Jesus captures my attention because every morning I pray specifically that angels will surround and protect a young woman I know who struggles with severe depression. This is not my usual way of praying for someone, but this is how I feel called to pray for her. In light of today’s Gospel, and through this season of Lent, I want to draw upon this image of angels ministering to others as I offer my morning prayer.
At the same time, I know my own need to be ministered to by the angels, who protect me and who speak God’s message to me. In the spirit of today’s Gospel, I want to carve out just a few minutes each day to invite the angels to minister to those places in my mind, heart, and spirit that need to be healed, renewed, and strengthened too.
Lent is always a season to pray for and do acts of charity that benefit others. But perhaps this Lent is also a time to place ourselves into the loving, protective embrace of God and of God’s angels, and to return to a prayer from our childhood: Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
Mary Sellars Malloy has over forty years’ experience as a Catholic educator and lay minister. She is a frequent workshop presenter on prayer, liturgy, spirituality, the Sacraments, and the RCIA. Also, Mary leads retreats and parish missions throughout the country. Her goal is to encourage Catholics of all ages to appreciate and to live their Catholic faith.
by Mary Clifford Morrell
After almost a year of dealing with a pandemic that has brought monumental loss, anxiety, and, often, a brooding melancholy that is hard to shake, it sometimes seems hard to find the blessings.
Now, for many, bad weather is added into the mix, limiting trips even to the corner drug store or local restaurant for pick up.
I know I’ve been feeling out of sorts for a while and resenting my homebound state, like my friend who said the only trip outside she can look forward to is a trip to the mailbox, and that’s been empty.
But then I decided to take the garbage out to the deck, though it was covered with wind-blown snow. At least I would get a few minutes of fresh air. What I also got was a run-in with a very large spider, hanging down from a single line of the web.
In the warmer weather, we seem to have an overabundance of spiders, but I’m not accustomed to seeing them when there's frost on the windows. His unexpected appearance reminded me of Charlotte, the compassionate, intelligent spider of the well-loved children’s book “Charlotte’s Web.”
For some reason, I never read the story until I was an adult, and I still got weepy, especially when Charlotte, who is going to die, says to Wilbur, the pig, “You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s life anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps, I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can use a little of that.”
What’s life anyway? It’s an age-old question.
There seem to be days when we just can’t find an answer, when things seem so overwhelming that we wonder why we are here in the first place. But then, in those moments when we are able to lift up someone’s life a trifle, or when our lives have been enriched by someone else, we know, like Charlotte, that we are here for each other.
Surely, if God has given us any amazing gifts, the gift of friends is one of the best, especially the kind that lasts a lifetime; the kind that is genuine and encourages you to do the things you need to do to live life with joy and courage and faith.
Scriptures say it best: “A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he that has found one has found a treasure. There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, and no scales can measure his excellence. A faithful friend is an elixir of life…” (Sirach 6:14-16).
Mary Regina Morrell is a Catholic journalist, author, and syndicated columnist who has served the dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey, and RENEW International in the areas of catechesis and communication.
by Mary Sellars Malloy
Question of the Week, 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
“Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?” my mom would ask if I seemed to be having an off day. I could hear her saying those words to me recently when I not only “woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” but just had a couple of days when I was really out of sorts. Definitely not days on which I would invite others to “do as I do” in order to be a Christian.
But on those very days, three people--following in the footsteps of Paul, who followed in the footsteps of Jesus—were the healing and uplifting presence of Christ to me.
For two days in a row, as I approached the drive-in window to pay for my morning beverage, I was told, “The lady ahead of you paid for your drink this morning and wanted me to tell you to have a blessed day!” And at the end of the second day, the UPS driver rang our doorbell and handed me a box containing twelve beautiful pears. The friend who sent them does not normally gift us in such a lavish way, but when I thanked her, she said, “I just wanted to thank Michael and you for all the hospitality you’ve shown me over the years.”
Now, those are three examples of people to imitate. Two of them will never know that their blessings touched my life and my heart on just the right days.
This week, I’m challenging myself to follow in their footsteps. I may never know how my words and actions uplift or encourage someone else who “got up on the wrong side of the bed” this morning, but that’s not important. I just hope to inspire others to follow in my footsteps as I imitate three people who touched my life by imitating Paul, who imitated Jesus, the One whom we are called to imitate each and every day.
Mary Sellars Malloy has over forty years’ experience as a Catholic educator and lay minister. She is a frequent workshop presenter on prayer, liturgy, spirituality, the Sacraments, and the RCIA. Also, Mary leads retreats and parish missions throughout the country. Her goal is to encourage Catholics of all ages to appreciate and to live their Catholic faith.
by Mary Clifford Morrell
Sometimes, if you are lucky while reading through the many quotes that are buffeted back and forth and shared in workshops, retreats, and now, social media, you find one that resonates enough with you to cause you to pause, to reflect, and possibly, make a difference in how you live your faith.
That quote, for me, comes from Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe, once a superior general of the Society of Jesus. Today, this quote often surfaces around Valentine’s Day because it is a powerful insight about love; more particularly, the love of God:
"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."
After reading this quote I felt I needed to learn more about Father Arrupe. His history includes being arrested and imprisoned in Japan during the war and ministering to the wounded after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. His ministry to those in need continued to the very poor in Latin America.
I recently read a story about Father Arrupe’s time in Latin America, where he said Mass in the poorest of all areas. After Mass, the priest was invited to the home of the man who wanted to thank the Jesuit for all he had done for the community. The house was no more than a shack. The man gave Father Arrupe an old chair and asked him to sit and watch the setting sun in all its beauty with him. It was the only gift he had to share.
Father Arrupe reflected, “He gave me his hand. As I was leaving, I thought: ‘I have met very few hearts that are so kind.’”
As we prepare to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, a tradition that has grown up around a third-century Roman saint of whom not much is known, we may celebrate the day more meaningfully by remembering the simple gift of a setting sun and Father Arrupe’s gift of self to those who needed to be sure of God’s love.
Our best present is always a presence. It’s a mark of kindness and one that finds its strength in our love of God.
Mary Regina Morrell is a Catholic journalist, author, and syndicated columnist who has served the dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey, and RENEW International in the areas of catechesis and communication.
by Mary Sellars Malloy
Question of the Week, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
In today’s Gospel (Mark 1:29-39), Jesus states that the reason he came to Earth was to proclaim the Gospel, the Good News, to all people. Today we witness Jesus proclaiming the Good News by healing Simon’s mother-in-law and many others who come to him. In other Gospel accounts, Jesus proclaimed the Good News by healing the man born blind, raising Lazarus from the dead, and changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
What prepared him to do these things? His deep and abiding relationship with God the Father, listening with his heart attuned to the inspiration and wisdom of the Holy Spirit and persevering in prayer. We who are his disciples need to follow his example.
And, in a very practical way, we need to know the Good News we proclaim. What is our relationship with the Word of God? Do we allow it, day after day and week after week, to take root in our hearts and shape our behaviors and choices accordingly? Do we actively seek the wisdom and guidance it has to offer by taking time to read and ponder its riches? We cannot proclaim what we do not know, what is not an integral part of our lives.
In 2019, Pope Francis established “Sunday of the Word of God,” to be celebrated each year on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. At its first celebration (January 26, 2020), Pope Francis preached: “Each day, let us read a verse or two of the Bible. Let us begin with the Gospel,” he said: “let us keep it open on our table, carry it in our pocket, read it on our cell phones, and allow it to inspire us daily. We will discover that God is close to us, that he dispels our darkness and, with great love, leads our lives into deep waters.”
Mary Sellars Malloy has over forty years’ experience as a Catholic educator and lay minister. She is a frequent workshop presenter on prayer, liturgy, spirituality, the Sacraments, and the RCIA. Also, Mary leads retreats and parish missions throughout the country. Her goal is to encourage Catholics of all ages to appreciate and to live their Catholic faith.
by Mary Clifford Morrell
Looking out my door during an unusually heavy snowfall recently, I was reminded of some typical days growing up in Albany, N.Y. I can’t count the number of times I bundled up in double or triple layers to shovel the driveway before my dad came home from work.
I remember the sound of chains on the tires and walking to school on blizzardy days on the rare occasion buses weren't running. One year my dad donned snowshoes to rescue my cousins who tried to drive the few miles to our house for Thanksgiving.
When I shared that memory on social media, a cousin wrote back to tell me she remembered that Thanksgiving, and was one of those who got stuck with her parents. It was, she told me, the first time my mother held Thanksgiving dinner at our house for our very large extended family. I didn’t know that.
What followed was a social media conversation, including my only remaining aunt, in which we shared some wonderful memories long relegated to the past, but, in sharing, were now the source of warm feelings and a reminder of the bond we share as a family.
When I was a child in religious education classes, the nun once explained the Bible to us as a collection of memories of the Hebrew people and those who lived and served with Jesus, as well as those who had stories handed down to them from others.
I understood the concept of sharing memories when I was young, but it means much more to me now that I am older and I value the importance of maintaining the bonds of family. Where faith is concerned that would be the family of God.
The idea of memories has also helped me improve my relationship with Mary, our Blessed Mother. As a young woman, I felt I could never live up to Mary’s perfection. I kept her at a distance. But as a parent, I’m familiar with the whole isolated teenager experience.
What changed things for me was a scene in a movie, when Mary is faced with the impending crucifixion of Jesus and she has a flashback to Jesus as a child, running to her in tears because he had fallen and been hurt. He was comforted by her hug and the sound of her voice.
Faced with his death, she knew there was nothing she could do. No hug, no soothing words would change anything. And I sobbed my eyes out until I couldn’t breathe.
I began to reflect on the memories that would have filled her journal if she kept one, and I found myself growing closer to her. She was not just the young, beautiful girl envisaged in art all over the world, but a woman who aged, who experienced joy and incredible pain. She was like me, and I wanted her in my life.
Not all memories are pleasant. They do not bring about warm thoughts and feelings. I suspect the suffering and death of Jesus were traumatic memories for Mary and Jesus’ Apostles. But in sharing those memories in Scripture, the scribes of the Bible have made it possible for all of us who have come after to recognize our place at the table of the family of God.
Mary Regina Morrell is a Catholic journalist, author, and syndicated columnist who has served the dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey, and RENEW International in the areas of catechesis and communication.