Diane Schoemperlen paved the way... even if I took a wrong turn

When I started this blog and created a profile, I added Diane Schoemperlen as a favored author. Every now and then I click to see how many other blogspot bloggers favor her, so far there have been none, other than myself.

These Monday nights with Episcopalians discussing Joe Paprocki's book has made it clear how myself and a friend have met in the middle from different directions. She was raised Roman Catholic, while I was an Evangelical Lutheran. I read Joe's words, and see many things that were missing from my early faith which have come to mean so much by my visits to the Jesuit Center. The Jesuits have introduced a mystical aspect to Christianity to what I remember from my youth. My friend is often reminded of what troubled her (but also things that do not trouble) from her childhood. She sees limits placed on faith which have expanded by leaving the Catholics. We are moving in opposite directions and find much common ground.

Prior to my first 8 days of silence, I read Our Lady of The Lost and Found by Diane Schoemperlen. It is a simple story line. Mary, after 2000 years of petitions, is worn out and decides to take a break from it all at the house of a single woman. It introduced me to a world that was alien to me. And then I went off to be with the Jesuits. What happened was intense and I petitioned to Mary.

the wrong turn. On that retreat I found a statue and would sit with Mary as the long days came to an end. I would pray for healing. As the years have passed, this became a favored spot of mine. Late at night sitting on the floor. Then one night I saw a tag and when I arose, I saw that it had not been Mary all these years, but Saint Therese of Lisieux, who ironically was a saint who I knew something of.

Oh well... there are many ways to God, and petitioning to Mary, by visiting St. Therese worked quite well for me