Our Lady of Rwanda/Immaculee

I'm a little amazed. Well, kind-of a lot amazed, really. Today was a weird kind-of day. I've been feeling out-of-sorts, lost, not sure what to do about a lot things in almost every area of my life, including my faith and spiritual life.

I had some time alone and found myself thinking about Jesus and how distant I feel from him. I came across a video that I purchased a couple of years ago, but never got around to watching: The Diary of Immaculee. I have been a great admirer of Immaulee Ilibagiza ever since I first saw her interview on 60-Minutes in December of 2006.

If you do not know her story, she is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide who has told her amazing story of survival, suffering, and forgiveness in her book Left to Tell. I definitely recommend that you read it. She has written a couple other books, as well, including Our Lady of Kibeho (more on that in a minute).

I have not thought of Immaculee in a very long time, but as I said, I picked up this previously unseen video, which was a short interview and documentary of her first trip home after starting her new life here in the U.S. It was incredibly moving.

After watching it I went to check on her website to see if anything was new. Her site led me to her blog (http://www.immaculee.info/) where I found that she is, right now, even as I write this, back in Rwanda, leading a group to Kibeho, the site of approved apparitions of Mary, Mother of the Word. The most amazing thing to me is that TODAY is the designated Feast Day in honor of Our Lady of Kibeho. I had no idea, none whatsoever. And upon Immaculee's blog I found this Prayer to Our Lady of Kibeho:

Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word, Mother of all those who believe in Him and who welcome Him into their life, we are here before you to contemplate You. We believe that you are amongst us, like a mother in the midst of her children, even though we do not see You with our bodily eyes.
We bless you, the Sure way that leads us to Jesus the Savior, for, all the favors which You endlessly pour out upon us, especially, that, in your meekness, You were gracious enough to appear miraculously in Kibeho, just when our world needed it most.

Grant us always the light and the strength necessary to accept, with all seriousness, Your call to us to be converted, to repent, and to live according to your Son’s Gospel. Teach us how to pray with sincerity, and to love one another as He loved us, so that, just as You have requested, we may always be beautiful flowers diffusing their pleasant fragrance everywhere and upon everyone.

Holy Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, teach us to understand the value of the cross in our lives, so that whatever is still lacking to the sufferings of Christ we may fill up in our own bodies for His mystical Body, which is the Church. And, when our pilgrimage on this earth comes to an end, may we live eternally with You in the kingdom of Heaven.

Amen.

Imprimatur: Gikongore, the 25th of March, 2006
+August Misgo-Bishop of Gikongoro

I also include here a link to a video that I found on youtube during with one of the visionaries speaks of Mary and light: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfTtIl_MXaU

Immaculee's books, including her newest title, If Only We Had Listened: Heaven Warned Rwanda Long Before the Genocide, are available at her website: http://www.immaculee.biz/.

I plan to get the book and begin anew to listen and to listen more closely with my heart.

For peace and light in our hearts and in our world, Our Lady of Kibeho, pray for us.

A blessed Advent.

Morning Prayer - Radiance

Ahhh....that the darkness be banished from our minds and we be filled with the Light of Christ...our morning prayer today.

All-powerful and ever-living God,
splendor of true light, and never ending day:
let the radiance of your coming
banish from our minds
the darkness of sin.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

(Liturgy of the Hours, Week IV
Saturday Morning/Concluding Prayer)

Solemnity of All Saints - Lights in Our World!

Happy Feast Day!

Jack-O-Lantern Light

PUMPKIN
We bought a fat orange pumpkin
The plumpest sort they sell.
We neatly scooped the inside out
And only left the shell.
We carved a funny funny-face
Of silly shape and size,
A pointy nose,
A jagged mouth and two enormous eyes.
We set it in a window
And we put a candle in,
Then lit it up for all to see
Our jack-o-lantern grin.

-Author unknown
Found at http://www.coolest-holiday-parties.com/halloween-poems.html

JACK-O-LANTERN
Jack-o-lantern, Jack-o-lantern,
You are such a funny sight
As you sit there by the window,
Looking out at the night.
You were once a sturdy pumpkin
Growing on a vine.
Now you are a Jack-o-lantern,
See the light shine.

-Author unknown
Found at: http:www.coolest-holiday-parties.com/halloween-poems.html

HAPPY ALL HALLOWS EVE!
(The moon is almost full!)

The Bright Flame of Thanksgiving

May your heart be an altar,
from which the bright flame
of unending thanksgiving
ascends to heaven.

-Sr. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
Embrace the World

"Your light shall rise for you in the darkness..."

Your light shall rise for you in the darkness
and the Lord will give you rest continually
and fill your soul with brightness,
And you shall be like a watered garden
and like a fountain whose waters shall not fail.
-Isaiah 58:10-11

Last week at a Franciscan day of reflection, Fr. Jim said something that really struck me and has stayed with me all week.

There's a necessary light that is only available in the darkness.

I find this intriguing, comforting, and true. It takes me back the first grasp of the little light within me, the only light I could cling to during the darkest time of my life. It was in the darkness and the grasping of this little light , that the necessary light was made available to me. The Light did, indeed, rise for me in my darkness...and my soul has been filled with brightness. Thanks be to God! :D

If you are walking in and struggling with the darkness that surrounds you or seems to be filling you, close your eyes and find that tiniest bit of light - mine was only the size of the head of a pin - and it will be sufficient; it will be enough, it will be the necessary light that you must grab hold of and cling to with everything you've got. This is enough to carry you for now and it will grow and flourish and fill you with brightness and light. It is true. Trust me. The time will come when you will let your light shine and your very presence will brighten the world.

For now: Breathe. Hold on. If you can, pray; if you can not, don't worry, others are praying for you and on your behalf. Walk with the tiniest piece of light that is within you and soon your path will be made bright. When you break through the darkness and are living and walking in the Light, you will be able to share your experience with others and help carry another's burden, thus, passing it on. Peace to you during you this difficult time.

P.S. If as you are reading this you are having a hard time even imagining any LIGHT within you, right now....light a candle, stare at the flame, breathe deeply and imagine that this little light is the light of Christ, and draw that light into your self. With your mind's eye, draw the light into your heart and hold it there. The light of this one little candle will surround you, this light will enfold you, the power of this light will protect you, the presence of Christ, the Light, watches over you.

It's better to LIGHT ONE CANDLE than to curse the darkness.

The darkness does not have the power to overcome the light; light overcomes the darkness every time.

Afraid of the Light?

A question worth pondering...

Who is more foolish,
the child afraid of the dark
or the man afraid of the light?

~Maurice Freehill