Assessment of the Week

It's been a weird week, full of ups and downs. I've had good news and met good people. I've had discouraging news and discouraging run-ins with people. I've been happy and felt on the right path, and I've been disappointed in myself. I've gotten lots done and I've totally wasted my time. And then, there were those nights when the heat wasn't working....

The freaky thing was that God seemed to be in a particularly pointed mood, as stuff kept coming up that I'd just read advice about in The Imitation of Christ. Talk about relevant books!

All in all, though, I suppose I feel pretty blessed. Inconveniently blessed, maybe, and weirdly blessed, always. But blessed all the same.

I actually remembered to watch the EWTN show on Clare Asquith and her book Shadowplay, which I now wish I'd taped. Then I actually remembered to watch the Fulton Sheen show, which has been really neat the two or three times I've actually remembered it.

He told the amazing story of Charles de Foucauld, a playboy French viscount who ended up a martyred hermit in the Sahara. He also mentioned that some orders had been founded after his death by those who were touched by a biography written about his life and inspired to live by the Rule he wrote for himself -- living among the desert people in utter poverty, but as Christians and helpers.

Meet the Little Brothers of Jesus, and the Little Sisters of Jesus. Meet the Little Brothers of Jesus Caritas, who live the same way but in Italy.

And it turns out that this Charles de Foucauld... is the same Charles de Foucauld who's getting beatified this Sunday on November 13! Gotta love EWTN!