The Countdown is on!

Hello again! How did April 5^th creep up on me so quickly?! The OC Marathon is now only 1 month away and Litany Run is kicking into high gear!

I woke up just in time to pour my coffee and pop in a piece of toast before going on air with Wake Up Louisiana. The good folks over at Catholic Community Radio were kind enough to let me share my story with them for a few minutes just as my future sisters over in Tehachapi were lining up to enter the chapel for Morning Prayer. When I hung up, I joined the community in prayer (from my own little corner in my own little room) and gave thanks for the opportunity to share Litany Run with a few new listeners down south… and for the invitations I received to be on a couple more radio shows next week!

I hit the concrete around 7am for my 5-mile-Friday run, setting out on a path I’ve now run countless times since my teenage years. From my house to a park in the neighborhood which has a loop that comes to about ¼ mile, and back. I know this route very well and could probably do it with my eyes shut. Actually… I practically did do that a few weeks ago. When people ask me where I train and I answer “On a loop around a park near my house” most of the time the reaction I get is, “I hate loops,” or, “Oh man I just can’t do that.” Perhaps the idea of running the same route over and over again is unappealing to most people. I suppose it used to be that way for me, too.

But these days I feel differently. In training for Litany Run for the past 2.5 months, there have been very few times I’ve chosen to run somewhere different from either this park, or the 4 mile loop from my house to the church and back. The repetition in these routes actually give me comfort. Knowing almost exactly how far I’m running each time (even without the use of my GPS) allows me to focus more intently on the prayers that I offer in thanksgiving and petition for all of my sponsors’ needs. I have truly begun to feel the presence of Litany Run’s patron saints as I go through each mystery of the Rosary and ask these holy people to guide me, and to run with me along my path! Repetition may seem dull to some people, but for me it is a relief. And there hasn’t been one training run yet where I haven’t felt the presence of our Blessed Lady, and been comforted by meditating on her sacrifices, and those of Her son.

This week has taken me deeper into prayer for parents – especially those who make tremendous sacrifices for their children, which often go unappreciated. When I think about how Our Lady must have felt as Jesus was experiencing his Agony in the Garden, what could have been going on in her mind during His Passion, and how much strength is must have taken for her to not only stand there and let it happen, but to do everything she could to be as close to Him as possible – all the way up to Calvary… well I wonder if I would have had the strength to do the same for my son if I were in her place. She knew from the beginning that she would experience great sorrow, and she said “Yes” to God anyway.

“And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” –Luke 2:34-35.

Parents give up so much for their children. I hope that I can begin to show greater gratitude toward my parents for all they’ve done for me, for the short time I have left with them. If I am called to follow in Christ’s footsteps, I am called to treat my parents with as much dignity as He did for His mother. And more than that, if I am called to follow Our Lady when I enter the cloister and begin my journey as a spiritual mother, how much more am I called to imitate the incredible love she had for her Child?  To sacrifice all of my comfort and she did when she watched Him die? To suffer all that I can for the salvation of souls, because this is what the Lord has called me to… and I have said “Yes.”

God grant me the strength to love all Your children as a mother loves her children. For You fulfill the greatest desires of my heart, and I wish to give my everything for You.