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Many times when we are experiencing conflict, our values and integrity are also being challenged. What makes it "a rock and a hard place" is often that two or more things of importance to us are not playing nicely together.
Sometimes it could be wanting to purchase two things we really really really want, and only having enough money for one of them.
It can even be that we're torn between what we want for somebody else and what we wants for ourselves.
In one of my favorite plays, Les Miserables, Jean Valjean who steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family.
Whatever the conflict is, when we get to the heart of "rock and a hard place" we realize that our values and integrity are being challenged.
What's more important: Letting our families starve or breaking the law and violating somebody elses' boundaries? Jean Valjean chose the latter. Hopefully, your "rock and a hard place" decisions aren't as dire as Jean Valjean's were.
Each difficult situation challenges us to make a choice: Will we live in alignment with what is most important to us, or will we sell ourselves short?
One of the gifts of allowing ourselves to remain in uncertainty, in the unknown, is that our most important values naturally become clearer. As we explore different options, we can feel within which of those options feels better or worse.
Sure stealing the loaf of bread may resolve the conflict quickly. But what if there's another solution... that could be discovered if only we allowed our discomfort to reveal more information to us?
Les Miserables is a play, so we can't really suggest what possibilities Jean Valjean could have chosen instead. However, we can acknowledge that if he had the presence of mind to pause before stealing, he might have found a new possibility that both fed his family and didn't break the law. We can't know for certain. But we can see that the choice he made landed him in prison, made him an outlaw, and burdened his soul for a lifetime. And a lifetime is a long time to live with the inner conflict that comes from making hasty decisions that compromise our core values.
Therefore, next time you are facing a real conflict, one question you can ask yourself is simply this:
"What's more important to me?"
The only way to get clear is this:
- Pause and be present
- Resist the temptation to rush to the quickest possible solution.
- Ask difficult questions that clarify our values
When we give our inner world enough space, the right answer will always come to us. Maybe not as quickly as we'd like, but it's there waiting to be discovered.
God bless you.
In Mary Help of Christians,
I remain,
Fr. Jim McKenna SDB
Director
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What's the Center of your life
On any given day, the center of our world shifts a bit. Some hours are all about wage-earning. After work, the focus may be family, chores, supper, or entertainment. If we're students, education or career preparation may take center stage. Worry and fear, ambition or envy or arrogance may be our controlling perspective. The mystics all agree with Jesus: Compassion is the natural center of the human experience. When we live each hour from mercy, it transforms everything: work, family, play, and personal formation.
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 How the Apostles died
1. Matthew -- Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword wound. 2. Mark -- Died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead. 3. Luke -- Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost. 4. John -- Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome . However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos . He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
5. Peter -- He was crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
6. James -- The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation. 7. James the Great -- Son of Zebedee was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem . The Roman officer who guarded James watched, amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
8. Bartholomew -- Also known as Nathaniel was a missionary to Asia . He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey . Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
9. Andrew -- Was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras , Greece . After being whipped severely by seven soldiers, they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it." He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.
10. Thomas -- Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the Sub-continent.
11. Jude -- Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
12. Matthias -- The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
13. Paul -- Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil emperor Nero, at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire . These letters, which taught many of the foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the Apostles and disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith." And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved." Matthew
Faith is not believing that God can, it is knowing that God WILL!"
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 Laughter the best medicine
A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license.
First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test.
The optician showed him a card with the letters
'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'
'Can you read this?' the optician asked.
'Read it?' the Polish guy replied, 'I know the guy.'
A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.
Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.
'Careful,' he said, 'CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my gosh! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my gosh! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful. CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the! salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!'
The wife stared at him.
'What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?'
The husband calmly replied, 'I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving.'
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 The Devotion of the Three Hail Marys
The devotion of the THREE HAIL MARYS is a very simple yet most efficacious devotion.
Everyday, recite Three Hail Marys, adding the invocation: "O Mary, My Mother, keep me from mortal sin." Many people recite the Three Hail Marys as part of their morning and night prayers. To practice this devotion in time of danger, stress, special need or temptation, is a sure means to obtain Our Lady's help.
Belated but sincere thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ and Our dearest Mother Mary for being with us at the time of need. Please continue protecting us. Mrs. Evelyn Amaral, NY
My sincere thanks to Mother Mary and St. John Bosco and St.Joseph for helping us find a buyer for our property after it was in the market for almost a year. Miguel Hernandez, FL
Our heartfelt thanks to the Lord Jesus, Our Blessed Mother, Don Bosco and Dominic Savio for the safe delivery to my wife and for blessing us with healthy twin girls.
Andrew and Maria Kim, NJ
Our sincere thanks to our Blessed Mother for curing me from a very painful illness. A Devotee
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In Closing
Dear devotees of Our Lady and Don Bosco,
If you have received a miracle through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, we would like to hear from you. Email us at MaryShrine@aol.com.
Bookstore hours: Monday - Saturday - 10 am to 5 pm, Sundays: 12 - 4 pm
Confessions on weekdays begin at 11.30 am.
Weekday Masses: 12 noon.
Sunday Masses: 11 am and 12.30 pm
Other activities: Day Retreats, Weekend retreats, Don Bosco Summer Camp, Friday night Lenten Pasta Dinners, 50/50 raffle, 350 club, Rosary Madonna Statue.
Rent Lomagno Hall, Rent our Banquet Hall.
MEMORIES
Remember a Loved One: Engrave plaques on Wall of Memories, adopt a Tree, Engrave blocks on Walk of Honor, All Souls, All year Candle lighting, Holiday (Christmas and Easter), Flowers, Schedule a Mass, Bell Chimes.
MASS INTENTIONS
To offer a mass intention, please write to
Fr. Jim McKenna SDB
174 Filors Lane,
Stony Point, NY 10980
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Marian Shrine
174 Filors Lane, Stony Point, NY 10980
(845) 947-2200
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