What a simple, ordinary thing it should be to pray.  Today's reading gives us the prayer of all prayers.  Hallowed be thy name.  How is that possible in my life?  What will it look like for this old gardener in South Saint Louis?  

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.

Simple, ordinary comfort.  Simple, ordinary challenge.  Amen.

Happy Monday from the old gardener from Carondelet.  

I've been thinking about the "what if?" lately.  What if we simply stopped worrying about the things we can't control.  What if, where others were upset or possessive, I was objective, calm and clearheaded.  How relaxed I would be.  What if I simply enjoyed what I have while it is there and accepted things when they were no longer there.  Instead of craving more, I should enjoy what I have now.  Not as easy as it should be in our culture.  

I was doing my daily meditation and thinking about the reading from Matthew 13 today.  The things we are asked to do are simple, ordinary things.  We are asked to give food and drink to the hungry.  Take care of those who are sick and in need.  Help those who haven't the means to clothe themselves.  Simple, basic, ordinary things most of take for granted.  When I do this for the ones in most need, I am doing it for Jesus himself.  Simple. Ordinary. Basic.  Something for this old gardener to think about on this last Monday in February.

Rest, Relax, Renew!  

Snowdrops on the ground here in the Carondelet Garden on this last Saturday of February.  It's a bit cloudy and overcast this morning but the sun should arrive by this afternoon as the warmup begins.  We are excited to see the final home Men's Billikens Basketball game tonight at Saint Louis University.  Let's Go Bills!

It's a quiet start to the morning.  The music is playing.  It's Saturday morning so that means we are listening to "Radio DeLuxe" on WNYC and the Smart Speaker.  If you haven't listened to John Pizzarelli, then you are missing out on one of the best jazz guitarists around today.  The channel is called "New Standards on WNYC."  Highly recommended!

It's a good day for a good day.  Be good to yourself.  Be good and be kind to others as you get your Saturday started.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

The skies are clear and sunshine spreads across the Carondelet Garden on this Fish Fry Friday in South Saint Louis.  It seems Winter has returned to the Garden as we woke to temperatures in the lower 20s this morning.  These little Crocus flowers can handle it, thank goodness!  Such a beautiful reminder that Spring is coming.

Lent brings a kind of darkness with it but also a bit of light.  One of the bright spots of this Lenten season is Fish Fry Fridays.  Here in South Saint Louis we are blessed with an abundance of Fish Fry options.  Luckily we have one of the best just down the street at St. Stephen Protomartyr Catholic church.  If you are out and about you will definitely run into this #supercoololdcouple hanging out and playing the State 50/50 game and enjoying a great meal.

It's the first Friday of Lent.  We enter into that kind of darkness and explore our hearts and minds as we journey toward Easter.  "You have given all to me.  To you, Lord, I return it.  Everything is yours.  Do with is what you will.  Give me only your love and your grace.  That is enough for me."  Amen!

Create in me a clean heart, O Lord and have mercy on me according to your endless love.  Today I am presented with a choice.  A choice of life and death.  Which one do I choose?  Do I turn away and act as if I do not hear?  Do I turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to that small voice?  Do I have the courage to actually act on what I hear today?

Today I am given radical freedom, so many choices.  Sometimes I feel like it's so much easier to simply keep doing what I've always done.  It may not feel right.  It may not be the best thing.  Yet, I travel the road more traveled.  I keep on down the same old path because it's easy.  Making decisions can be difficult.  I have so much freedom to choose that I simply don't.  I stick with the familiar.  The easy path.  Today I'm questioning is this what God wants?

Saint Ignatius has a radical prayer.  The "Suscipe," which is Latin for Take.  It goes something like this:

​Take Lord, Receive 
All my liberty,
My memory,
My understanding,
My entire will.
Everything I have and possess.
You have given all to me.  
To you, O Lord, I give it back.
Everything is yours.  
Use me according to your will.
Give me your Love and your Grace.
That's enough for me.

That's enough for me.  That's enough for me.  Take Lord, Receive.

"Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Today, we are called to remember our mortality and failures.  We are called to confront our beautiful, messy, sinful selves and bare ourselves to our God.  This becomes even more real as I am getting older and mortality is more real than ever.  There comes a bit of calm knowing it is not all up to us.  It is comforting to know that God loves us, just the way we are, right now.  

I love this prayer by Jan Richardson called "Ash Wednesday:  Blessing the Dust"
So let us be marked
not for sorrow
And let us be marked 
not for shame
Let us be marked
not for false humility
or for thinking
we are less
than we are
but for claiming
what God can do
within the dust,
within the dirt,
within the stuff
of which the world
is made,
and the stars that blaze
in our bones,
and the galaxies that spiral
inside the smudge
we bear.

We begin our journey into Lent today.  Through the messy ashes comes the holiness of God.  

Happy Fat Tuesday.  Happy Mardis Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday or just plain Tuesday if you wish.  It's the end of Ordinary Time and the preparation day for Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.

I'm feeling a bit like this tree today.  Feeling a bit twisty and turny on this Tuesday morning.  This tree and the world we live in right now is a bit twisted and turned. The path is not straight.  The journey is not mapped out.  Fortunately, we have mentors and helpers along the way. We have the gift of grace to lift us up when the turns are too sharp.  We carry on through faith.  We cling to hope.  We live because we love.  

It's Shrove Tuesday here in the Carondelet Garden.  A day of preparation for the journey of Lent. The journey is not mapped out but we have the tools to carry us through.  A backpack of faith, hope and love to make the journey.  That's all the news from the Carondelet Garden.

This majestic beauty in the pond at Lafayette Park on Saturday just caught our attention.  Such beauty and grace in motion.  What a lovely weekend to get out and about and enjoy a bit of nature.  

Happy President's Day 2023.  It's a beautiful day.  Hopefully you have a long, three day weekend to enjoy.  The weather should be perfect.  No matter, I hope you have the opportunity to get outside and soak up some of the lovely sunshine and Vitamin D.  Be good to yourself.  Be kind to yourself and others as you travel about this Monday in February.  We're getting busy already this morning.  That's all the news from the Carondelet Garden.

The crocus are in bloom.  The daffodils and tulips are pushing themselves out of the cold ground and reach upward towards the sun.  Spring is showing itself in South Saint Louis on this Ordinary Sunday in February.  The skies are blue and sunny.  There is a warmth in the air.  I know Winter is not over yet.  I will enjoy the sunshine today.

Enjoy today.  Smile a little more.  Love a little more.  Enjoy what we have right now.  That's been a focus for me these past few weeks.  Enjoy this simple, ordinary life.  You never know when it will be over.  We recently learned that Jimmy Carter has decided to stop all medical interventions and live out his final days in hospice at home.  I think of President Carter and the kindness and love he showed so many during his life.  I pray for comfort for him and his family at this time.  He was the first President I was able to cast a vote for.  I'm still proud of that vote.  No one is perfect but he is a good, decent man who did his best for his country.  Even after his presidency he continued to do good works through the Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity.  

A lot of things happening this week.  Fat Tuesday or Mardis Gras.  Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  I pray that we all have a week filled with kindness and love this week.  Kindness and love. Nothing could make the world better than more kindness and love.  Amen.