Riding a Dog to Heaven

Okay.  Here's the deal.  We are keeping my friend's dog (which was actually our dog that we pawned off on her a few years ago).  We are on Day 5, and I'm not sure how many more days are left.  She went out of state for her Dad's funeral, and wasn't sure when she would return. 

But, before I elaborate on how her dog is going to take (at least) me to Heaven's gates, I need to explain the basis for how these things work, in case you didn't know, or need a refresher.

My son is making his First Communion this year, so yesterday, I spoke to the kiddos and their parents on this very subject, as they prepare to make their first Confession.

If you're not Catholic, this is our belief in a nutshell: 

1.  Jesus redeemed us from our sins by His death on the Cross.  (We are Christians, after all).   
2.  When we are sorry for our sins, He forgives us and heals us in the Sacrament of Penance (Also called Reconciliation or Confession).
3.  Out of gratitude and love for God, we make an effort to make up for our sins, or to do "penance".  Christ redeemed us, but gives us the gift of participating with him in our redemption, and that of others.  If we have "broken" things, or people, or relationships, they still need mending, even after we have been forgiven for "breaking" them in the first place. 

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, there are at least eight ways to do penance.  They are:

1.  Prayer
2.  Works of charity
3.  Service to neighbor
4.  Offering
5.  Acts of self-denial
6.  Acceptance of our cross
7.  Sacrifice
8.  Works of mercy

So, basically anything (by our intention) can be penance, or means to repair our relationship with God and others.  And not only repair it, but improve it beyond what is was before we messed it up.  We do this over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.  And, as long as we keep trying, through the mercy of God, and Jesus' death on the cross, we hope for Heaven.  We do our little (necessary only because God knows we need it) part, to cooperate with the big and very necessary part of Christ redeeming us.  He is the one thing necessary.

Back to the dog...The potential spiritual gift this dog is to us this week is incomprehensible.  She is 8 penances wrapped in one!  8 in 1.  With Christmas around the corner, I can't even imagine what you'd have to pay for the equivalent in the material world.  Who could put a price on a
Bo-Flex/Swiffer/Flobie/Noiseless Insect Repellant/Clap-on Lamp/Ab Roller/iBot/Boze Sound Wave machine?! 

Let me describe life with Piper, so you can better appreciate what an 8-in-1 penance "Super Buy" looks like:

*She is BIG.  Well over 100 pounds.  Considerably more than any of my kids.  Maybe more than me.  She could flatten my 4-year-old, if he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And it would be terrible to look like a pancake to a dog who loves to eat. 

*She stinks.  Think wet dog, dirt, and pee.  In all fairness, my friend gave her a bath less than a week ago, but it has worn off. 

*She is a LOVER.  L.O.V.E.R.  Love...Lover...Love-est.  Scratch lover.  She is a LOVE-EST.  She wants to be in constant contact.  Her butt to your kneecap is FINE with her.  She is not at all picky about where or how.  If you are walking and accidentally look at her, she'll throw herself down in your projected path and roll over, waiting for any effort you can part with. 

*She talks.  Growls, really, but in a friendly, I-love-you, pay-attention-to-me, way.  Only, if you don't engage her, she gets louder and more insistent, and pretty soon, she is plain rude.  Especially when I'm making dinner.  And I end up thinking, "You're not my boss!", and then I start feeling a little nutty that I have self-talk about a dog not being my boss.

*She's a little incontinent.  Every time she takes a little step, a little pee comes out.  I wonder if my friend even notices this, because she only comes in at night at her house, and then she sleeps in one contained room at the end of the house.  However, it is cold and rainy, and as much as I want to, I can't leave her outside the whole time!  Unfortunately, one of the reasons we bought and love our house is that it is so open.  No unoccupied, uncarpeted rooms with a door, here.  Wait a minute!  I just realized she could stay in the bathroom!  Ha!  Oh, the irony.  At any rate, my husband and I are mopping up more pee than when we were potty training our two-year-olds.

*She seems to think the trash can is a store where she can afford everything and has a tab, so she just helps herself.  A cloth napkin, a pencil, some foil, and the bones from a chicken breast were a few of her selections today.  The trash can is sleeping on the kitchen counter tonight.  Hopefully, she's not feeling that ambitious. 

*The final thing is that we've been adopted by a cat in the last month or so.  You know how it goes, you can't get your hands on it at first, and then it's sleeping in your bed.  On your face.  Well, this kitty is much loved and adored around here, and you probably guessed it...Piper isn't big on cats.  She corners and chases them.  There's only been one showdown so far, but there's plenty of tension at play while kitty sharpens her ninja and spy skills. 

So, when I say I am riding a dog to Heaven.  I mean, Piper.  And this is how Piper is "getting me to Heaven", as my penance:

1.  I pray.  I pray to God that my friend comes back SOON.  I pray that I don't do anything I'll regret.  I pray that I don't end up in the "loony bin".  I pray that my children will still speak to me when they see that I can stoop even lower than they ever thought possible before.

2.  Act of charity.  I knew keeping Piper would be hard.  We already have a very good, very sweet, very stinky, very hairy dog.  I said "yes" anyway, for love of my friend, who has experienced more tragedy in the last month than hopefully, any of us will in our lifetime. 

3.  Service to Neighbor.  Yep.

4.  Offering my actions.  I should be offering every time I pet her, and every time I have to wash my hands right afterward, for those who can't get to the sink on their own, for my friend, or for all of the people who work as hard as Piper does to be loved, without ever being noticed.  I'll do better in the offering department.  Right now, I offer this blog for all of those intentions, and for you.

5.  Act of self-denial.  She's still alive and she's still in my house.  That's two.

6.  Acceptance of our cross.  In this case, I'm working on it.  This post has been the perfect therapy.  I mean, tool.

7.  Sacrifice.  Check.

8.  Work of mercy.  See number two.

Dear God, Father and Creator of all that is good and all that makes us good, Thank you for Piper.  Thank you for my friend who took her off of our hands years ago.  Thank you for the way she has bonded our family in so many ways, particularly in appreciation of the dog we already have.  Thank you for Your Mercy, Your greatest attribute.  Thank you for Confession, and all priests who make it possible. 

Father, please "expiate all the sins I have committed this day and during all my life.  Purify the good I have done poorly this day and during all my life.  Supply for the good I ought to have done, and that I have neglected this day and all my life."

Thank you for opportunities to reflect on the ways you allow us to participate in Your Saving Work.  You know we need to show You how much we love You.  Thank you for giving us things we can do to prove our love.  Lord, please be with my friend, and all who are suffering the loss of those who were, and are, dearest to them.  Console them as only You can, and help us to follow Your inspirations when it's our turn.  May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Fasting for Lent

Yesterday, our Lord told us, “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”  

Do we fast because our Lord has been taken away from us? 

In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  We know this when we meet Him in the Sacraments.  So, why should we fast?

We should fast to make room for our Lord.   We fill ourselves up with the stuff of the world – food, alcohol, Facebook, video games, and fleeting pleasures of every kind.  But, Mother Teresa says, “Even God Himself cannot fill what is already full.”

 During Lent, we are called to enter the desert with our Lord, to know and love Him more.  We have the privilege of carrying Him in our very bodies and souls.  Let us not force our Lord to travel by another way because there is no room for Him.  He already knows what that feels like.  It was the first experience of His humanity.

Dear Heavenly Father,  Thank you for this Lenten season.  A time to go deeper with You.  Thank you for the example of those who suffer and unite their suffering to Your own.  Help us to know what needs to be left at the desert's edge, those things which You will not be bound up with.  Help us provide ample room for You, so that You may reside comfortably within us.  Help us to imitate Your humility and spare You the pain of repeating the circumstances of Your birth.  Lord, never permit me to be separated from You.  Amen. 

Are You Dead, Yet?

I heard this poem several weeks ago on Red-C radio. I googled it this morning and found it on a website called Yahweh's Sword. This ties in perfectly with the "little deaths" I was talking about yesterday.

Dying To Self
When you are forgotten, or neglected,
or purposely set at naught, and you
don't sting or hurt with the insult or
the oversight, but your heart is happy,
being counted worthy to suffer for YAHSHUA,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When your good is evil spoken of,
when your wishes are misunderstood
your advise disregarded, your opinions
ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger
rise in your heart, or even defend
yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you lovingly and patiently bear
any disorder, any irregularity, any
unpunctuality, or any annoyance; when
you stand face to face with waste, folly,
extravagance, spiritual insensibility-
and endure it as YAHSHUA endured,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you are content with any food,
any offering, any climate, any society,
any raiment, any interruption
by the will of YAHWEH,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you never care to refer to your-
self in conversation, or to record your
own good works, or itch after commendations,
when you can truly love to be unknown,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you can see your brother prosper
and have his needs met and can honestly
rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy,
nor question YAHWEH while your own
needs are greater and in desperate circumstances,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you can receive correction and
reproof from one of less stature than your-
self and can humbly submit inwardly as
well as outwardly, finding no rebellion
or resentment rising up within your heart,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
Are you dead yet?

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for loving us. Please convict us of your love, so that we may joyfully and willingly die to ourselves daily, as a response to Your love. Amen.

Selfish to Deny Help to Family or Friends?

This is Part 2 to the babysitting conversation.  Around the same time I made the journal entry that I posted yesterday, I emailed the following question to a Roman Catholic Spiritual Direction website.  Dear Father John, if Christians are called to charity, and we assume that our charity must cost us something (like time, comfort, or money), is there a time when we can justifiably deny a request without being selfish?  I'm an at-home mom and my friends often ask me to babysit for their children.  I always say "Yes", but only because it is difficult for me to do so, and I wonder if God is increasing my capacity to give.  Please visit the link below to see my question answered (in two parts) by Fr. John Bartunek.  By the way, this is a great website for all things Catholic and if you're interested, you can subscribe and get the daily post in your inbox.

http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2011/10/24/am-i-being-selfish-by-denying-help-to-my-family-or-friends-part-i-of-ii-2

http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2011/10/31/am-i-being-selfish-by-denying-help-to-my-family-or-friends-part-ii-of-ii