Catholic Hermit: This and That

The Bishop and the Rector will con-celebrate Mass today. The priests have been on retreat with the Bishop for five long days. A priest or two stayed behind to minister to us needy souls. Priest retreat week is one the nothing dreads; and there will be another in the autumn.

Seems as if (when the priests are away) there is no sun or moon. The stars therefore do not shine. A sense of temporal void reflects their absence. The nothing finds itself praying all the more for priests. Can't live without them! They are our link between heaven and earth: our temporal means to Jesus in sustenance of body, of absolution, of all sacraments and Gospel proclamation.

So this week we have had one daily Mass, thanks be to God; and many parishes have had Communion services. The nothing has deeply sensed the priests' retreated absence. Yet thanks be to God for their well-deserved and much-needed time of renewal!

This (above) tiny piney shrub is actually quite a marvel in the Mary Garden. See the gold needles? It used to be "worse"! The cultivar "Chief Joseph" has been renamed (properly so!) "St. Joseph." In the autumn the needles will turn brilliant gold and remain thus through winter, then sprinkling gradually back to luscious green in spring through summer. Just like St. Joseph to lead a double life. For he did, when on earth. He lived a life observed by others, that of a father, husband and carpenter. Interiorly, and to his wife and son and to God in all--St. Joseph was protector of the virgin mother of God, protector of Jesus God-made-man, and enactor of mystical messages from angels and instilled by the Holy Spirit.

There is a typical green to this St. Joseph pinus, and there is a surprise waiting in its transfiguration. We all have the propensity, by the grace of the Most Holy Trinity, to live transfigured lives. There is a Joseph in the nothing's sphere who is prayed for with each glimpse of this "St. Joseph" pine. Nothing knows the human can transform within to without, without to within. Lord, hear our prayers!

Two hours manual labor in the Mary Garden last evening renewed energy. But the amount of work to be done yet could overwhelm. A hermit must not allow itself to become overwhelmed, but rather a hermit must trust all the more in God and relinquish all. If health fails, so be it. If those hired to do heavy work don't quite repair stone patios to the original state, deal with it as best one can, and accept one's own limitations of strength. A nothing Catholic hermit must not entertain thoughts of how it will manage upkeep of its hermitage in the future. What future? All is in God's prerogative. But the manual labor today will occur early in the day. Soon, before the breeze becomes wind.

Fra Jerome's last years as a hermit help keep perspective and instill encouragement. He kept going, his body honed to austerities which had to be meliorated from time to time. He went with the flow, adapting like the perennials from spring, summer, into fall and then winter. After some time, they root in, and can become hardeneed off--enduring more and more. Then, at the appointed time, perennials, too, die. They just seem to wear out if not siezed by some extra harsh winter or unchecked blight or lack of water in a drought.

The nothing must keep going. This is the month of its espousal anniversary: the wedding of the soul. Consider St. John the Baptist, nothing, and recall how he lived among the plants and animals, learning from them how to proceed, how to be different, how to go on ahead, then fall back into nothingness, flowing and ebbing as ordained by God. Twenty years 'twill be, on the 24th, the anniversary of wonder and awe, undeserved.

The friend who struggles with the mind e-mailed a quote, by St. Francis de Sales:

"Mingle sweetly the office of Martha with that of Magdalen;
 do diligently the service of your vocation, and often
recollect yourself, and put yourself in spirit at the feet
of our Lord, and say, "My Lord, whether I run or stay, I am
all Yours and You mine:  You are my first spouse; and
whatever I do is for love of You, both this and that"...

Just right for this phase in the nothing's climb.  The body has taken the
strongest over-the-counter pain reliever this morning, and it collapses a
bit at Jesus' feet before it dons garden garb.  Then it will do the
necessary labor, reminded to be yet in spirit at His feet, low to the
ground, planting more perennials, moving a couple to new locations,
perhaps spraying the roses if time before noon Mass.  And then,
such relief to be with its Bishop and confessor, collapsed at the feet
of Jesus in them, the nothing's earthly stalwarts and cornerstones.

There has been reflection on the elderly couple, now returned to nursing
home and apt., each. Much effort was expended, especially in securing
better physical therapy for the man who is quite capable of regaining his
walking strength.  But,in speaking with the wife last evening, it is learned
that he is not walking, and she does not want him to out of fear it is
too tiring!


The nothing must detach, and also must realize that its expenditure of
what little extra energy has worn down the nothing to a nub.  And doubts
have arisen as to if the Lord even desires the nothing to do such physical
charity exertions in future.  It seems the Lord beckons the nothing Catholic
hermit to remain more at His feet and more this and less that.

The Lord is the nothing's only Spouse.  My Love, my Love, my only Love!
The Cross, the Cross, and only the Cross!