January usually brings such cold weather; however, today was
warm and sunny for the Associates meeting in New Bern. So warm we stopped at
the park in New Bern before the meeting to see the water and the ducks. Edgar
and Jennifer took a stroll along the water way and enjoyed the sites and smells
of the water.
While
the St Paul’s Church was still decorated for the last day of Christmas (Joy was
working diligently to take down the decorations and pack them away for next
year) and thoughts of the snow in Scranton were discussed,
The new book from the IHM Sisters’ Lessons from Life was
discussed and favorite stories from the book were shared. After we broke into individual groups, I
shared how Sister Amanda Del Alle’s story Milagros from the book had touched
me. I have thought to ask God for a lot of
things in my life but never a rose. Her
request for a red rose as a sign of God’s presence really made me stop and contemplate
how she must live her love every day to be able to ask in such simplicity for a
red rose. Which in my thoughts lead me
to see it not just as a sign of God’s presence but a sign of his love as well. This lead to a discussion of other things we have
asked of God or other times we knew he had made his presence known to us. Then when we came back together with the
other groups, Jennifer from the Youth Group begins by telling Maggie how much she likes her
poem “Give Me a Rose”.
“Give me a rose,
while I yet live
Don’t
wait until my death before you give.
If you have not
a rose, a daffodil will do.
I’ll
cherish it . . . because it came from you.”
There is more to this poem but you will have to ask Maggie;
for her rendition of the poem, she gives the words more power then I can share
here.
For the closing prayer, we were joined by Sister Monica and
her friend who shared her story with us.
It seems they have been discussing Sister Monigue’s return to Marywood
when she is ready to retire; while her friend, Irene, does not have a place to look
forward to, but is looking into her options. After spending time discussing this, they had
lunch together and upon opening their fortune cookies, Irene's
fortune was “You are going to have a comfortable old age.” Not will have or going to have but are
going to. This lead to a discussion
of how we are taught to Walk by Faith for God has everything planned out for
us. This walking in faith brings peace
and comfort to the soul like nothing else in the world can do.
Another book recommended for reading was When God Winks at You, a gathering of
short stories describing how God uses coincidences to send us encouragement. Kind of how Maggie and I were discussing Sister Amanda's story about the Red Rose and then Jennifer asked Maggie about her Poem "Give Me a Rose." Coincidence? I think not! I think we were winked at right then!
The meeting for next month was set for February 17 at 2 pm at St Paul's in New Bern.
Please feel free to share what you found interesting, moving or something that just touched you in a special way. For the ones that were not able to attend know you were missed, prayed for, and we look forward to seeing you in February.
Peace to all.
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