A recent event at my IHM Motherhouse reminded me of some of the reasons why I love being Catholic … how we as a Catholic community are deeply ritualistic and how we celebrate the many vehicles of grace no matter how mundane.
The event was the homecoming of the new IHM Motherhouse bus. On Wednesday the bus (we’ve never had a bus before) arrived at the Motherhouse and was blessed by our friend Father Bill. Truly this bus will be a vehicle of grace for us because it will give our sisters more mobility to get around. It has room for 14 passengers including 2 with wheelchairs.
How cool is it that the sisters took the time to thank God for this bus and to have it blessed!? That they did this helps me to remember that all things are sacred and are gifts from God. How is a bus sacred? This little bus was made by talented people from the goods of this earth — the talents and the goods of the earth are gifts from God. And, the bus will be used to help sisters continue to be active with others in the world around us.
What seemingly mundane thing is a vehicle of grace for you today?
"She wrote the way she lived: on the fly, without retrospect, always on the way, climbing higher."
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I was impressed also when I read the article about the bus being blessed. It is wonderful that the sisters gathered around a bus and gave thanks. What a lesson for each of us. How many times a day we could be giving thanks to God. Let me count my blessings!
The seemingly mundane vehicle or perhaps the thing I take most for granted is my ballpoint pen. And yesterday I was leaving it everywhere. As a matter of fact, it seemed to be the source of laughter for many of the patients and staff in the office when I had to re-enter a room to find it. And since I believe that laughter brings healing I would like to think that it was not that I forgot the pen, but that I was meant to “lose” it in order to “find” it. And in sharing, both patient and I, could find humor in the “mundane”. I was not alone in my “Quest”.
The bus by the way looks like a marvelous vehicle that will offer comfort and happiness for those who use it.
My vehicle of grace today has been the brand new snow boots that I bought in Montana last week. I wore them just for a hoot today and lo and behold! It starts snowing! I live in Seattle where it often doesn’t snow until February, so it was a surprise to get at least half an inch, while I just happened to be wearing my brand new boots.
Thank God for that little voice in my head that said, I think today is a good day to wear those boots, because I sure would have had wet feet without them. Congratulations on your new bus, I hope it serves you and your sisters well!
Never underestimate transportation! However mundane a bus may be, it can get you to the experience of standing on the beach with the wind in your hair and the immensity of All That Is around you - and that isn’t mundane. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to be there… Every time I get a new car, I go to the beach, because, invariably, my old car wouldn’t get me there for maybe years.
My mundanity is grocery shopping. It may sound judgmental, but I look - listen really - to the people around me and I am SO SO SO thankful that I am not in their space.
I hear angry conversations and meanness to their loved ones. I see couples who don’t smile at one another and have sharp words. People who are so completely unaware of their children’s attempts at attention and learning that it boarders on abusive.
I am filled with gratitude that my life doesn’t have that in it anymore. My husband is kind and courteous. We laugh and smile through the hustle and bustle and chat about mundane and trivial things.
It has been a hard road to get here. To not allow abusive things in my life, but even when I was homeless - even when things were at their worst - I can see the pattern of Grace leading me blindly down the Path to where I am. Genuinely happy and cared for.
Honk the horn once for me!
The blessing of your Motherhouse bus came up at an opportune time. Our school has recently been gifted with a bus, which is in the process of being inspected and brought up to safety standards. It will be used for field trips.
When I suggested at our faculty meeting today that we have a blessing ceremony, the idea was well received. Of course, any good idea is well received, and you had best not present it unless you are willing to be the major party in planning for it.
Do you have any suggestions for where to find ideas for a bus blessing?
Congrats to your school, Kathy! I’m sure you could check in with my sisters who did the bus blessing. I’ll see what I can find out and then email you directly. Peace, Sister J
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