Last Monday began our first official meeting for the new year. It felt great being back and I could tell the girls were happy to be there. I handed out their passports for the year and gave them the hand-outs for Endurance and the United States.
Jessica is in charge of the meetings for the month and she sent me all of her notes!! I am going to go ahead and just post them as is.
Before I post them, I'll post the craft. We made God's Eyes. Jessica and her daughter had the popsicle sticks already glued together. The girls got to pick out their yarn. As she explained it, since St. Rose - Philippine Duchesne loved the Indians, this was a perfect craft. God looks with love on people everywhere.
Endurance
- Think of sport events (triathlon or marathon) Also it's a virtue. Difference between perseverance and endurance is that endurance usually attached to different or unpleasant situations.
- EVERY martyr and lots of saints would list endurance as a virtue they possessed. went through lots for Christ.
- We, however, are not always so committed. We are often quick to abandon God's will when it becomes too hard too uncomfortable. We may be convinced of our need to be more generous to a neighbor, but if they respond to our kindness with grumpiness, we storm off, thinking "that's what I get for being nice!"
- Too often we lack endurance because it is just too hard to always be nice, always follow Jesus, but that is what we are called to do. He reminds us "if anyone wants to come with me, he must forget himself, pick up his cross and follow me"
- It comes from Fortitude, Helps us face really tough stuff. Helps us stand in the face of danger without attacking it or seeking to alter or change it. We are called to different things that we cannot change and endurance is what we rely on and what God gives us.
- In truth, we may never be asked to endure anything. For many of us, our lives are ones of relative comfort and ease. We do not know hunger or cold or danger. In recent times, the phrase "first world problems" has been created. This is a rather casual response to complaints from those who have "nothing to wear" or "nothing to eat" when in truth the closets and cupboards are full - they just don't want what they have.
- So many times now we feel we are entitled to (have a right to) so much and doing without is something we "endure". Too often we may encounter people (or worse yet, BE the people) who feel they are enduring the lack of a phone, new car, trip to Disney, etc. Our family situation, income, or something else may be preventing us from having “what everyone else has" and we are enduring such difficulty as a result. This is not the case. Endurance is the virtue for danger, pain or the threat of death- not the inability to go out to dinner when we want.
- (That being said - People have to work hard if they want things in life. Can't just think you are entitled to everything in life.)
- Some of us ARE being asked to endure. There are those of us who endure real pain and suffering through an illness or disease that affects us or a family member close to us. Or a recent natural disaster. Let us keep our minds focused on what these virtues really mean and help others know as well.
- Many had to endure it all. Paul challenges Timothy "You have followed my teaching, my way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love and endurance."Paul knows suffering, for he endured it all!" He quiets his critics with the list of all he's endured, from beatings, to floggings, to imprisonment. This is of great help to us, for while we hope we are never asked to endure a beating, we know from our verse there is “a time of trial which is coming.
- Helen Keller quote- "With endurance and determination we can help to better the lives of those around us"
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Saint - St. Rose - Philippine
Duchesne
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne (Feast day - November 18) Born in Grenoble, France, in 1769.
Rose joined the Society of
the Sacred Heart as a sister.
In 1818, when she was forty-nine years old, Rose was sent to
the United States.
She founded a boarding school for daughters of pioneers near
St. Louis and opened the first free school west of the Missouri.
71-she began a school for Indians, who soon came to call her
"the woman
who is always praying".
Her biographers have also stressed her courage in
frontier conditions, her single-mindedness in pursuing her dream of serving
Native Americans, and her self-acceptance.
We worked on/will work on the following activities:
#3 Passports
#6 We will be trying a form of endurance spiritually and
physically next time we meet. (Me- look up patron saint of athletes)
#9 Create list together of individuals or situations that
illustrate endurance. We all make list and write it down so we can turn to this
during moments of discouragement and inspire us with new endurance.
(Ideas from lesson pulled from Wreath
IV Leader's Guide.)
