Look Up

                “Dear Lord, I was thinking about about the last time I flew on an airplane and how I spent the whole time like a child with my nose pressed on the tiny window looking out in wonder at the vast world You created. I felt so small looking at one tiny part of the whole earth yet from so high up, I could see so much farther than when I am on the ground. I imagined looking at all of us through Your eyes. Everything looked so tiny and toy-like below. Oh Lord, we are so tiny and insignificant and yet You love us anyway. I looked at all the rooftops and I imagined how many people were under those rooftops and I wondered how many were thinking about You. How many were praying, meditating or talking about You? How many were ignoring You? How many were mocking You, denying You, or not even caring about You? Looking down at the large cities, they seemed so small. It would be so easy for You to annihilate a whole city; it is just one tiny part of this whole world. And yet You would spare a whole city for the sake of one faithful believer. How many people in that city below were thinking about that?

                “I looked at the changing land below; the dry flat lands, the rivers that bring life-giving water from the higher mountains, the white dusting of snow on those high mountains that provide the source for the water and how it trickles down through the mountains to the hills to the valleys and eventually to the oceans or to dry up in the deserts. I saw the landscape like our souls and the life-giving water as Your love which You freely give and slowly fill our souls. But we can so easily misuse the water and try to control its distribution, create dams that block the flow and change the landscape of our souls which You created and turn them into the vast dry desert with little fruits or living things growing anywhere.

                “Then I imagined a person wandering in the vast dry desert I was flying over. The person is lost, thirsty, can’t find food or water. I can see the way out of the desert from my viewpoint up above but the person is too tired and weak to even think about me up above. ‘Look up! Up here!’ my heart cries out but the person stumbles in circles, slowly dying. I desperately want to save that person but he won’t look up. ‘I can’t help you until you look up. Look for help! Look for me! I can show you the way!’ My heart aches for this lost person.

                “Oh God in heaven, how often do You feel this way? I was only seeing one tiny part of the whole earth. There are so many souls on Your earth. How do You care for all their needs?  How do You get them to look up and ask for Your help when they are lost? Lord, touch their hearts, awaken their inner senses. Hear the prayers of Your faithful as we pray for those lost. Oh Lord, I am so tiny and unable to imagine how You work but I am so grateful and happy to be one of Yours. May I always look up wherever I am.”

Thank You for the Gift of Life

                “My Lord, my God, my Creator, today I thank You for the gift of life. I thank You for breathing life into my soul so that I could learn to be Your loving daughter. Thank You for the gifts You have graciously bestowed on me to be able to speak of our great love – the love I have for You, the love You have for me, the love I have for all Your creations and the love You have for all Your creations. You created me in an instant to live with You for all eternity and I am so grateful for that instant! My life here on earth which is measured in our concept of time is but a blink of the whole picture You created. Within that blink, I thankfully grow and develop into Your eternal daughter.

                “Dear Father in heaven, I long to be with You but I currently exist in this blink where I am not yet ready to dwell with You. I must remain here, increasing my faith, my hope and my love in You. When I sense Your presence is near, I cherish those moments and breathe in deeply the sweet incense of Your existence, taking You far into the depths of my soul. I cling to those sublime moments and like a child, I don’t want to return to my earthly life and I cry out in a child’s voice, “No, don’t make me go. I want to stay here with You!” But then You reassure me that in Your omnipresence, You are everywhere. You gently remind me to seek You in everyone around me. You tell me to go out and look for Your presence in good works for Your presence is just as strong out there.

“So I wipe my tears away and muster up the courage to continue walking in this earthly life in a blink of time. I prepare myself to recognize Your presence in the poor, the downtrodden, those mourning the sick and the dead, the fearful, the angry the depressed, the lost, as well as in the rich, the strong, the joyful, the kind, the compassionate, the holy servants, the missionaries, the evangelists and in the everyday person I encounter. I earnestly look into the eyes of those around me and search for You looking back at me. I excitedly seek the Reign of God in the actions of those around me and offer my little humble self and all I do as a piece of the masterpiece You have created in the world.

“Thank You for creating me to exist in this blink of time here on earth.”

Your Whole Life Cycle is Present Around the Altar

                “Oh dear Lord, beautiful Savior, wondrous King, merciful redeemer, as I sit here in Your presence at the beginning of a new year, I am filled with love, hope and awe. I hear the whispers of others around me who love You tenderly as well and it fills me with great joy. As I breathe in the lingering incense, I know their whispers of prayers are being sent to You enveloped in the sweet scent of their faith and love.

                “At this time of year, Your whole life cycle is present around the altar. Baby Jesus rests in the manger of the nativity scene. Baby Jesus, teach us all to be as humble and meek as You; You who contains infinite power and might in the form of a helpless baby. Teach us all to show our love for others as a little infant does in its smile and coos and sparkly eyes. I pray especially for those considering vocations, may You baby Jesus touch their hearts with Your purity, humility and love. Call them to serve You, to care for You, to tenderly carry You in their hearts and to shepherd Your people to You.

                “Crucified Jesus who hangs above the altar, teach us all to see and imitate Your mercy, Your sacrifice, Your ultimate and complete obedience to Your Father’s will. Crucified Jesus, teach us to live in great gratitude for loving us so much that You found a way to save all of our fallen souls so that we can be with You for Eternity. May Your crucified body not only invoke a sadness at the death of Your humanity, but also a sense of great joy and elation at Your divine conquering of death and sin. May all those considering vocations find not only mercy, but strength, fortitude and obedience in Your crucified body on the cross to sacrifice their lives to live as Your holy servants.

                “Risen Christ, present in the Eucharist within the monstrance sparkling in the candlelight, You stand like a sentinel watching over all of us, waiting for us to humbly approach and ask for mercy and the opportunity to live our lives for You. Risen Christ, may Your presence give us great hope and a deep faith in Your eternal love for each and every one of us. May we look to You always for guidance, for strength, for love, for mercy and for humility to elevate our souls, with the help of Your grace, to transform our lives into existing solely to love You and to be with You forever. Risen Christ, touch the hearts of those considering vocations to recognize the honor and importance of serving You. Help them humbly submit themselves to Your all powerful Sacred Heart. Fill them with hope and faith in You and help them desire, with every inch of their souls, to bring all of us to You.

                “My Lord, My God, as Your entire life cycle is revealed to my meager mind, I am once again humbled and excited to be but a grain of sand in Your blessed reality.”