"...not for a few years..."

The following article was just sent to me by my dear friend, Br. Beau Schweitzer. Thank you Br. Beau!!

St. Thérèse's Astronaut Visits Vatican

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The U.S. astronaut who carried relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux into space and put them in orbit around the earth attended Benedict XVI's general audience today.

On a Discovery shuttle mission one year ago, Colonel Ronald Garan brought the relics given to him by a Carmelite community in New Caney, Texas.

The astronaut had called the women religious before his space flight to ask for prayers, and at that time he told them he could take some small item into space on behalf of the community.

The sisters reported that the words of St. Thérèse came to mind: "I have the vocation of an apostle. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach your name... But oh, my beloved, one mission would not be enough for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages."

Garan stated that he will be bringing a second relic of the saint to space on his next mission, which is scheduled for March 2011.

The colonel is also the founder of the Manna Energy Foundation that, by using NASA technology and U.N. funding, is implementing a unique system to make potable water in the villages of Rwanda.

Original article is here.

these questions got my attention today...

By these things examine thyself:
By whose rules am I acting?
In whose name?
In whose strength?
For whose glory?
What faith, humility, self-denial and love of God and to man have there been in my actions? - Anonymous

"the weight of glory"

My dear friend Ani recently gave me a marvelous book called "A Year with C.S. Lewis" and I thought I'd share today's excerpt...

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously--no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners--no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat, the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.

- from The Weight of Glory C.S. Lewis

I've recently begun my surgery rotation at Children's hospital which I am absolutely loving. I've been blessed on this rotation with the chance to learn from a few fabulous mentors and teachers who I see treat everyone (from those who clean up the operating rooms after surgeries to most novice med student) with respect and dignity. These are incredibly gifted people whose talents as surgeons are matched at least equally by their charity, dedication, kindness and humility. I'm beyond grateful for this experience and grateful that in a profession that truly is an apprenticeship, I've been blessed with such excellent people to learn from. Thank you, God, for chosing these teachers for me-- I do not take it for granted!

I also want to take the chance to say thank you to Ani for the beautiful book and for the inspiration! See you in a few weeks when you come back to Pittsburgh!!

This isn't easy to watch, but I felt compelled to share it...

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com