Monday, July 2, 2012

Welcome to Litany Lane, An Artistic Avenue of Spiritual Tranquility Blog


An Artistic Avenue of Spiritual Tranquility

Introduction



Litany Lane is the spiritual themed art division of Zarya Parx Studio. It is part is the collective creation of the mother and daughter artistic team of Charlene Perret and Madalaine Anne. It is our intention to simply extend an avenue of enlightenment, solace and tranquility through Litany Lane. We welcome you to our humble cyber abode.

Our current Litany Lane art submissions pertain to Catholic  prayers, biblical scripture and poetic snippets displayed through various art mediums consisting of our original photographs, paintings, sketches and digital art and all available for purchase on custom designed merchandise through our webstores.  A Pinterest link is also posted for accessing and following our products. The links for all our webpages and webstores are are accessible through the Facebook badges and Webstore Widgets in the side and bottom bars.

Humanitarianism is an essential key factor towards long term sustenance and survival of the human species.  As a Roman Catholic, my ancestors and family grew up and I continue to raise my children and grandchildren under the inspiration of such devoted humanitarians as Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II.  Through our global travels we have learned to respect other cultures and faiths. We strongly feel it is our individual responsibility as stewards of our biosphere to join our resources in an effort to help those who are not in a position to help themselves, especially children and animals. It is imperative to sequester or at least minimize the effects of such atrocities as child abuse, apathy, famine, poverty, war, genocide, disease and natural disasters as no country including the USA is immune.

As a Roman Catholic and Mount Carmel Academy Alumni, I created an online Marian Carmelite charism Facebook fan-page as a gift of love, to be shared with the world in honor of Our Lady's of Mount Carmel's request to offer an unbiased avenue to help open your hearts & mind to all mankind to embrace God intended for anyone, regardless of regardless of religious preference, everyone, who needs an unbiased place for console, inspiration and reflection as a remembrance that we are not alone, even in our darkest hour, united together in prayer and faith in God everything is possible! This charism inspired Litany Lane Studio, the spiritual themed webstore of Zarya Parx Studio.

As environmental conservation advocates, we are trying to do our part to maintain a "Greener" biosphere!...and you will notice the majority of our custom design products are Eco-friendly and Organic!

Your purchases are deeply appreciated and we hope you enjoy them as they are created with lots of love and inspired by your support and feedback! In addition, monthly 10% of the net of total monthly purchases will be donated in rotation to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (PKD), Arthritis Foundation, World Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Audubon Zoo and/or New Orleans Museum of Art.

Browse our Custom Design Merchandise in our Webstores










Today's Word:   

Fortitude - for·ti·tude (fawr-ti-tyood) noun. mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously: Never once did Dounbting Thomas's fortitude waver during his ministry and martydom.

Today's Gospel Reading - July 2, 2012, Matthew 8,18-22

When Jesus saw the crowd all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side. One of the scribes then came up and said to him, 'Master, I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus said, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.'
Another man, one of the disciples, said to him, 'Lord, let me go and bury my father first.' But Jesus said, 'Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.'

Reflection:

• From the 10th to the 12th week of ordinary time, we have meditated on chapters 5 to 8 of the Gospel of Matthew. Following the meditation of chapter 8, today’s Gospel presents the conditions of the following of Jesus. Jesus decides to go to the other side of the lake, and a person asks to follow him (Mt 8, 18-22).

• Matthew 8, 18: Jesus orders to go to the other side of the lake. He had accepted and cured all the sick whom people had brought to him (Mt 8, 16). Many people were around him. Seeing that crowd, Jesus decides to go to the other side of the lake. In Mark’s Gospel, from which Matthew takes a great part of his information, the context is diverse. Jesus had just finished the discourse of the parables (Mk 4, 3-34) and said: “Let us go to the other side!” (Mk 4, 35), and, once on the boat from where he had pronounced the discourse (cf. Mk 4, 1-2), the disciples took him to the other side. Jesus was so tired that he went to sleep on a cushion (Mc 4, 38).

• Matthew 8, 19: A doctor of the Law wants to follow Jesus. At the moment in which Jesus decides to cross the lake, a doctor of the law came to him and said: “Master I will follow you wherever you go”. A parallel text in Luke (Lk 9, 57-62) treats the same theme but in a slightly diverse way. According to Luke, Jesus had decided to go to Jerusalem where he would have been condemned and killed. In going toward Jerusalem, he entered the territory of Samaria (Lk 9, 51-52), where three persons ask to follow him (Lk 9, 57.59.61). In Matthew’s Gospel, who writes for the converted Jews, the person who wants to follow Jesus is a doctor of the law. Matthew insists on the fact that an authority of the Jews recognizes the value of Jesus and asks to follow him, to be one of his disciples. In Luke, who writes for the converted pagans, the persons who want to follow Jesus are Samaritans. Luke stresses the ecumenical openness of Jesus who accepts also the non Jews to be his disciples.

• Matthew 8, 20: The response of Jesus to the doctor of the law. The response of Jesus is identical both in Matthew and in Luke, and it is a very demanding response which leaves no doubts: “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”. Anyone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus has to know what he is doing. He should examine the exigencies and estimate well, before taking a decision (Lk 14, 28-32). “So in the same way none of you can be my disciple without giving up all that he owns”. (Lk 14, 33).

• Matthew 8, 21: A disciple asks to go and bury his father. Immediately, one who was already a disciple asks him permission to go and bury his deceased father: “Lord, let me go and bury my father first”. In other words, he asks Jesus to delay crossing the lake for later after the burial of his father. To bury one’s parents was a sacred duty for the sons (cf. Tb 4, 3-4).

• Matthew 8, 22: The answer of Jesus. Once again the response of Jesus is very demanding. Jesus does not delay his trip over to the other side of the lake and says to the disciple: “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead”. When Elijah called Elisha, he allows him to greet his relatives (1K 19, 20). Jesus is much more demanding.

In order to understand all the significance and importance of the response of Jesus it is well to remember that the expression Leave the dead to bury their dead was a popular proverb used by the people to indicate that it is not necessary to spend energies in things which have no future and which have nothing to do with life. Such a proverb should not be taken literally. It is necessary to consider the objective with which it is being used.

Thus, in our case, by means of the proverb Jesus stresses the radical exigency of the new life to which he calls and which demands to abandon everything to follow Jesus.It describes the exigencies of following of Jesus. To follow Jesus. Like the rabbi of that time Jesus gathers his disciples . All of them “follow Jesus” To follow was the term which was used to indicate the relationship between the disciple and the master.

For the first Christians, to follow Jesus, meant three very important things bound together: a) To imitate the example of the Master: Jesus was the model to be imitated and to recreate in the life of the disciple (Jn 13, 13-15). Living together daily allowed for a constant confrontation. In “Jesus’ School” only one subject was taught: The Kingdom and this Kingdom is recognized in the life and practice of Jesus. b) To participate in the destiny of the Master: Anyone who followed Jesus should commit himself like he to be with him in his privations (Lk 22, 28), including in persecutions (Mt 10, 24-25) and on the Cross (Lk 14, 27). He should be ready to die with him (Jn 11, 16). c) To bear within us the life of Jesus: After Easter, the light of the Resurrection, the following took on a third dimension: "It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me" (Ga 2, 20). It is a question of the mystical dimension of the following, fruit of the action of the Spirit. The Christians tried to follow in their life the path of Jesus who had died in defense of life and rose from the dead thanks to the power of God. (Ph 3, 10-11).


Reference: Courtesy of the Order of Carmelites, Italy.  www.ocarm.org.

Today's Snippet:

For those who need a little incentive to keep moving forward: "Its never too late to become the person you can be, regardless of age or obstacles ...

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but DON'T YOU QUIT.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that YOU MUST NOT QUIT.

- Author unknown

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