The cross still stands

Like millions of people around the world, I am terribly saddened by the suffering in Haiti, and I think of those poor, beleaguered people. From far away, all we can do is pray, but we know that our prayers here can help them there.

A friend sent me this photo yesterday, and I kept thinking "the cross still stands".

In the midst of pain and suffering, the cross still stands. It stands as a sign of hope, since Jesus' death and resurrection is the ultimate act of love and hope.

Later on in the day as I drove around town doing errands, I was listening to Matt Maher's CD "Alive Again". One of the songs on it is "You Were on the Cross". I have grown to love this song, particularly in the face of circumstances that I don't understand. The lyrics are eerily appropriate to this sad situation in Haiti. (There was a live version posted that I like more, but this one has the lyrics.)

In Matt's own words about this song at a concert last year - "When the world looks at poverty and hunger, and the world looks at disease and natural disasters, and yells out “Where is God?, you say, “He’s on the cross. He’s on the cross because of suffering. He’s on the cross because of disease. He’s on the cross because of sin, because of shame, because of anger, because of deceit." And from Matt's liner notes - "In the Laments of Job, you get this sense of, "everything is lost, everything is gone, everything that I have worked so hard for, everything that I had been blessed with and I have sores all over me" - I think most people don't really stop to imagine what that must have been like for Job. I got to thinking 'God where were you when this happened?' He was on the cross. I realized that not only is the cross in and of itself the atonement for all sin, but the way in which it happened is now a means by which all human suffering becomes a transformational moment. It does not matter how dark your situation is - God himself has been there and as you grieve it and mourn it you can find consolation in him because he was there."

"Whenever I feel that the things of the world are too much for me, I take refuge at the foot of the Cross. Even if the whole world is shrouded in darkness, if the curtains of all my temples are rent, if I cannot see, nor hear, nor understand, I know that I am safe at the feet of my crucified Saviour."- Catherine Doherty

More on Starting Out

I was tidying a bookshelf last week and came across a printed copy of this article, written by the late Fr. Emile Brière of Madonna House. I guess the title of it must have worked its way into my brain, because when I was mulling over names for the blog, this kept coming back to me. I hope Father doesn't mind me borrowing it.

On occasion, I will be posting articles that I have written for The Bread of Life. Over the years, writing these articles has served as an opportunity to look at what God is teaching me in my daily life and what - if anything - I am learning as I journey this way through life.

I am still working out what form this blog will take. I see writing a blog as similar to writing a magazine article, as I put thoughts together and then send them out to readers. However, it's more likely that blog readers will know me personally, so in that way, it is different. Those of you who have blogs, who have chosen to read mine, please feel free to offer any advice that might help me as I start out.

I hope to put pictures up now and then, so here's a little colour for your day. These were given to me by Daniel and his girlfriend Alexa for my birthday last July. I wisely took a picture, since I knew I'd be craving colour in January!

Doing things well

Sitting on my desk there is a perpetual desktop calendar with excerpts from the writings of Catherine Doherty. Yesterday's page had the following on it -

"Little things done exceedingly well over and over again for the love of God; this is going to make you saints. It is absolutely positive. Don't seek immense mortifications of flagellations or what have you. Seek the daily mortification of doing a thing exceedingly well."

This has inspired me over the years to do things to the best of my ability, to embrace the many small tasks of the day and try to do them with love. Sometimes I have succeeded, many times, not so much. How does this make us saints? I think it is because in the very act of trying to do things well, and with great love, we overcome our selfish tendency to "just get the job done" so we can move on to something we think is more important or valuable or enjoyable. Anytime we overcome our own will and choose God's will, even in the most ordinary of tasks or events, we grow in holiness. We have our whole lives to do it, but really it starts with today.

Starting Out

I discovered the world of blogs a few years ago while living through a bout of insomnia. I was googling around and discovered a whole world of interesting reading. I have a few favourites that I read regularly, and am inspired and entertained by them. I thought I would finally start my own blog.

I love to write. I have been writing a family column for The Bread of Life for about fifteen years. I am forever commenting on Facebook and the occasional blog. Starting a blog is likely a natural progression from writing a column six times a year, since there's often something on my mind, and not always magazine material.

I called my blog "The Extraordinary Ordinary", since as Catholics we live most of our life in what is known as "ordinary time" liturgically. I like to find the "extraordinary" in daily life...those events, thoughts, simple happenings that make us sit up and notice, that help us remember that God is with us in what we might otherwise think of as ordinary.

Thank you for joining me, and I hope that I can use this blog for the glory of God and the good of others.