By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.

It’s a wonderful phenomenon—yeast.  It permeates lifeless flour and causes it to rise and expand.  The power of yeast effects the brewing of beer and the making of wine.   The yeast plant is a fungus that grows without limits to its borders.  Only if yeast is alive and active will it interact with the dough.

On her TV program, “Martha Bakes,” the talented Ms. Stewart cannot contain her delight when she makes yeast dough: “Look at the sheen—so soft and shiny! The aroma is “bee-you-tee-ful,” and the fragrance gratifies all the senses!” Follow these instructions: proof active yeast, blend it into the flour mixture, and let it rise to double the size.  From yeast dough come baked goods such as breads, sticky buns and sugar buns, and monkey bread.  “Soo pretty, soo delicious,” Ms. Stewart swoons over her culinary works of art.

Yeast as a Metaphor

In the Matthean parable (13:33), the reign of God is like yeast that a woman took and kneaded into three measures of flour.  Eventually the entire mass of dough began to rise.  The image of yeast was a favorite in the Early Church.  Everyone understood the inner power of yeast with its limitless ability to make things grow, even in small beginnings with “three measures of flour.”  They grasped the comparison.  The yeast referred to the Church as an unlimited and growing reality, “destined ultimately to be present everywhere and to affect everything, though by no means to convert everything into itself” (Walter J. Ong, “Yeast: A Parable for Catholic Higher Education,” America Magazine, April 7, 1990).  The Church is catholic because it has always been expanding into new and shiny ‘dough’ without limit. Katholicos, from kata or kath and holos, means “through-the-whole or “throughout-the-whole.”

The Laity: Worldly and Yet Unworldly    

The laity are catholic, yeast in business and finance, entertainment, nursing and medicine, arts and science, law and law enforcement, politics, and sports.  They are the inner power with its limitless ability to make things grow, even in small ways. The laity find their holiness in the world with its financial concerns and family responsibilities.  Those who marry and have children become not just a family but also the Domestic Church.

In 1987, the Catholic Church held a World Synod on the Laity, one of many, beginning with Vatican II in the 1960s.  According to the synod’s final document, the laity are equal with clergy and consecrated religious in the life and mission of the Church.  

The call to holiness of the laity differs from the vocation of consecrated religious.  The laity are to be in the world in an unworldly way.  They approach life with wisdom that teaches the limited and relative value of material things. This would seem to be a contradiction in terms.  How to be worldly and unworldly at the same time?   It cannot be easy, for at times, the challenges seem insurmountable.  Yet, it remains for the lay vocation to find a theology of being present in the world. It is a practical spirituality of the family and the workplace.  For the laity, this is where holiness resides.*  

Holiness of the Laity

The holiness of the laity began with Jesus himself.  He was a rabbi and teacher, as were his disciples. Peter was a married man, and for all we know, so were the other apostles, the exception being John, the Beloved Disciple.  

St. Paul addresses and refers to those he evangelized as ‘saints,’ meaning that they were on their way to becoming saints.  In the Early Church, there were no consecrated institutes of men and women.  All Christians grasped the importance of living as disciples and ambassadors of the Lord.

As increasing numbers of Christians came to view the world as wicked, they flocked to the desert to live alone. When the desert grew so overcrowded with these solitaries, they came together and formed religious communities.  Thus, the start of monastic orders of men and women.

Prayer

Consecrated men and women, and especially those who live in cloisters, spend several hours a day in prayer.

This is not the way of the laity. Their days focus almost entirely on family and the means of supporting it.  Their prayer is measured not in hours but in minutes—two here, five there, perhaps a Holy Hour or Retreat Day on rare occasions.

The conciliar document on the sacred liturgy encourages Catholic families to pray portions of the Liturgy of the Hours (#102-111).  The Hours are not private or devotional prayer but the prayer of the entire Church, the Church at prayer.  Praying the psalms nourishes Catholic family life whose welfare is daily beset with conflicting external forces. If prayer is the underlying power of strong family life, then parents can find ways to incorporate parts of the Hours into their daily schedule. In prayer, married couples derive the strength of God’s grace to live their married vocation.  

As children mature, they too must learn to travel the road to discipleship in the Lord.  Small children can be taught to pray a psalm or two at bed time. If this is not feasible during the week, then prayer on weekend is an alternate possibility.  

A minimal and external Christianity will not fortify today’s Domestic Church but only a vibrant Christianity in which Christ is a living reality.  It takes a few minutes to pray short sections of the Hours, even on public transit.  It is a consoling thought to recall that “in him, we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).  

At Pre-Cana instructions, couples can learn the practice of making the Hours an integral part of their married life.

Can Yeast Corrupt?

The image of yeast is not always positive.  In First Corinthians 5:6-8, St. Paul mentions what all Jews understood.  At the Paschal festival time, they were to destroy all yeasted products because leaven was a metaphor for the corruptive influence of evil, for puffing up the self, leaving no room for God.   

Proofing the yeast in warm water will yield bubbles around the surface, and the yeast will become puffed up if it does not interact with the flour dough.  The puffed up yeast will die.  In this sense, neither the laity, nor any minister in the Church, can afford to be puffed up with pride.

Élisabeth Leseur (1866-1914) and Félix Leseur (1861-1950)

The story of Élisabeth Arrighi Leseur exemplifies the limitless power of marital love.  Élisabeth was born into a wealthy French Catholic family of Corsican descent.  As a child, she had contracted hepatitis, a disease from which she suffered all her life.  At twenty-one, she met Félix Leseur, a medical doctor, who also came from an affluent Catholic family.  Shortly before they were to be married, Élisabeth discovered that Félix was no longer a practicing Catholic.  Soon he became well known as the editor of an anti-clerical, atheistic newspaper.  

Despite the circumstances, the couple married, for Élisabeth was deeply in love with Félix.  They were unable to have children, a fact that made their marriage all the more difficult.  His attack on her religious devotion prompted an even more serious fidelity to the faith. She bore the brunt of his hatred of the Church with patient love.  At thirty-two years of age, Élisabeth experienced the grace to a deeper form of prayer.  She was convinced that her task now was to love her husband and pray for his conversion while remaining steadfast during his taunts against religion, and the Church in particular.

Homebound and Bed-Ridden

Élisabeth’s deteriorating health forced her to lead a sedentary life.  She received visitors and was able to conduct a vibrant apostolate from the confines of her home.  She became a devotee of St. Francis de Sales who wrote for the layperson in the seventeenth century. His Introduction to the Devout Life, perhaps the most famous spiritual guide of all time, is an offshoot of the Ignatian Exercises. During this period, Élisabeth kept a secret spiritual diary.  

When, at the age of forty-five, Élisabeth underwent surgery and radiation for the removal of a malignant tumor, she recovered and continued to receive visitors to her home. Three years later, she succumbed to cancer.  Her life has been recommended for sainthood. Why?  We turn the page to continue the narrative of her husband.

Dr. Félix Leseur

After Élisabeth’s death, Félix found a note addressed to him.  Not only did it predict his conversion, but he would also become a Dominican priest.  His hatred of the Church prompted him to expose her note as a fake, and he decided to do so at Lourdes, the famous Marian shrine in France.  There, something prevented him from carrying out his intended project—call it God’s intervening grace. As Élisabeth had predicted, he experienced a conversion and published her spiritual journal.  In 1919, Félix entered the Dominican Order, was ordained a priest four years later, and spent his remaining years speaking about his wife’s difficult yet remarkable life with him.  

In 1924, the future Archibishop Fulton J. Sheen made a retreat under Fr. Leseur’s direction.  It was at this time that he learned of Élisabeth’s life and her husband’s conversion.  In 1934, Fr. Leseur, O.P. worked to begin the cause for her canonization, and the Archbishop shared the story of this remarkable married couple in many presentations.  Élisabeth is currently a Servant of God, the first step in the cause for sainthood.

Élisabeth Leseur’s suffering was not wasted. On the contrary, her lifelong devotion to Félix was central to his conversion.  She became the yeast that permeated the lifeless soul of her husband.  It forever transformed his life so that he could affect change in the lives of others. Love begets love.

*The Ignatian “Prayer for Finding God in All Things” by Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. can help the busy person find God throughout the day.  Copies are available from the Institute of Jesuit Sources, Boston, MA.

"Reshaping rural schools in the Northwest Region: Lessons from federal School Improvement Grant implementation" was written by Caitlin Scott and Nora Ostler at the Regional Education Laboratory At Education Northwest, and prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences.

The trial, which will be open to residents of Christiansburg, Virginia, offers a glimpse into what kinds of services we can expect from Wing's drone-powered delivery system.

Researcher Robin Anderson shares what happened when one online community of teachers tried to unlearn their deficit mindsets together.

A first look at new federal data on parent involvement suggests a disconnect between parents' expectations and school outcomes.

Wilmington, Del. (November 20, 2017) – People You Won’t Recognize will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery from December 1-29, 2017. An opening reception to meet the artist will be held on Friday, December 1 from 5-7 p.m. The opening will include live music performed by Karen Mercer, the artist’s cousin. Trepper received a […]

Businesses that want to stay competitive are adopting a phygital model to address these demands through the holistic integration of offline and online retail.

Some retailers are using technology to resolve customer queries, and offer customers a better shopping experience

To effectively reach and engage with this new class of consumers who spend most of their time online, the medical community must explore digital marketing and make strategic patient-centric decisions.

By 2022, the company hopes to have 2,000 operational stores. Interestingly, two thirds of these will be located in the tier III, IV, V and VI towns, in the smaller retail format — The Mini Raymond Shop.

Google has released an update for its Authenticator app to allow users to manage their account security keys easily while switching to a different phone.

Queen Elizabeth II on Friday invoked the wartime spirit to "never despair" as Britain marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe under the shadow of coronavirus.

Victorien Barbet, Juliette Rouchier, Noé Guiraud and Vincent Laperrière: We present a model showing the evolution of an organization of agents who discuss democratically about good practices. This model feeds on a field study we did for about twelve years in France where we followed NPOs, called AMAP, and observed their construction through time at the regional and national level. Most of the hypothesis we make are here either based on the literature on opinion diffusion or on the results of our field study. By defining dynamics where agents influence each other, make collective decision at the group level, and decide to stay in or leave their respective groups, we analyse the effect of different forms of vertical communication that is meant to spread good practices within the organization. Our main indicators of the good functioning of the democratic dynamics are stability and representativeness. We show that if communication about norms is well designed, it has a positive impact on both stability and representativeness. Interestingly the effect of communication increases with the number of dimensions discussed in the groups. Communication about norms is thus a valuable tool to use in groups that wish to improve their democratic practices without jeopardizing stability.

The State of Delaware was one of just five states recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for its leadership in the first year of the Better Buildings Challenge.

NEW CASTLE (May 3, 2018) – Ranking in the bottom half of states in a variety of health measures, including adults who smoke, annual diabetes treatment testing, and adults who are obese, Delaware fell four spots in The Commonwealth Fund’s 2018 Scorecard on State Health System Performance released today. Delaware ranked 22nd among all the […]

  DOVER, Del. (Oct. 25, 2018) — In her latest efforts to help build a stronger and healthier Delaware, Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long kicked off the annual Lt. Governor’s Challenge on Thursday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. at DE TURF in Frederica, Delaware. The Lt. Governor’s Challenge is an ongoing opportunity for Delawareans to embrace […]

People with diabetes are encouraged to attend the free Diabetes Wellness Expo on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018, at the Dover Downs Conference Center, located at 1131 N. DuPont Highway in Dover.

NEW CASTLE (Aug. 1, 2019) – As a way to improve the health of Delawareans who are covered by Medicaid, while potentially reducing overall health care spending, the Department of Health and Social Services’ two Medicaid managed care organizations are making the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program available to their members who meet eligibility criteria. The […]

DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE: Office of the Commissioner

Using R programming, marketers can create a marketing mix model to determine how sustainable their audience channels are, and make better ad spend decisions. Here's how

The Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos are pretty identical underneath sharing the same underpinning. But, each has their USPs and drawbacks. We take look at the interior and feature offerings to see which is better.

Gold ETFs investors can exit only by selling to secondary market participants on the stock exchange.

With new developments in technology, it has become easier to get a quick personal loan.

However, if someone wants to buy a comprehensive health cover, it would cost them Rs 8,000-11,000 for Rs 10 lakh sum insured.

Index funds are better for those unable to select quality stocks or bear the risk of near term under-performance from actively managed funds.

If you want the market upside, benefit of current low prices and have appetite for volatility, you may invest in ELSS now in a staggered manner, that is, via SIP.

Data-driven is a buzzword again. It feels new and shiny but has been around for years. Yet, people still ask what it means to be data-driven. If you wonder why it’s important to be data-driven, you might ask your bookie. Yes, I said your bookie. In thinking about when I [...]

The post Data-driven is better: Lessons from handicapping the ponies appeared first on Government Data Connection.

When Russian quad-jumping prodigy Alexandra Trusova parted ways with her famed coach, Eteri Tutberidze, she was quickly denounced as a traitor by some of her former colleagues.
Read Full Article at RT.com

With US President Donald Trump preparing to square off with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 race, Americans might as well be choosing between Orwell and Huxley, Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters told RT.
Read Full Article at RT.com

Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has called on New Delhi to directly engage with the Taliban, asking India to play a “more active” part in the Afghan peace process and the fight against terrorism.
Read Full Article at RT.com

While the world’s second-largest economy, China, has suffered its first contraction on record due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some experts argue the country has been preparing for a possible crisis for a long time.
Read Full Article at RT.com

Despite once again being denied seeing Tony Ferguson do battle with Khabib Nurmagomedov, the UFC has served up the next best thing as the fiercely exciting Justin Gaethje steps in to face Ferguson for the interim title at UFC 249.
Read Full Article at RT.com

Denmark has recently launched its new initiative ‘operation Africa’ in order to strengthen the presence of Denmark in Africa. This initiative was launched on 21st, October 2013. This political initiative is a step towards ensuring that the foreign…

In an exclusive study done at the university of Copenhagen, economists determined that there is no reason to worry neither unemployment nor wage reduce for those working in low paying jobs due to the migrants in the mid-1990s. On the contrary the economic…

  Introduction Android* applications may require a peer-to-peer connection between two or more Android* devices without a Wi-Fi access point or Internet access. Two examples of this are file sharing...

  Last week, Xiaomi announced the global variant of its MiUI 7 ROM, based on Android Lollipop v5.1. As stated at launch, the MiUI 7 beta v5.8.22 is now available for download. Here&#...

Honda Cars implements new corporate identity for its dealer network.

We have recently ridden the new 2020 TVS Apache RTR 200 4V on a racetrack and came back impressed. Here is why!

A business glossary improves data quality – one of the top five ways it makes analytics better.

The post Top 5 ways business glossaries make analytics better appeared first on The Data Roundtable.

After not being able to fly during the nationwide lockdown, Airline companies entertain Twitteratis with an interesting word play on Twitter.

Microsoft set to unveil details about Windows 10 that can adapt PC applications to mobile devices

For the next four days, a sprawling conference centre here will become the global hub for the telecommunications and technology industries.

It refers to the difficulty of the direction that takes the small hole around its partner-a difficulty that the research team has now integrated into a highly sophisticated model.

AN NRI WANTS TO SELL HIS PROPERTY IN INDIA. UNDER I. TAX PROVISIONS THE BUYER IS SUPPOSED TO DEDUCT TDS @ 20% . WHETHER A LOWER RATE IS THERE UNDER THE data BETWEEN UAE AND INDIA?

IN MY PREVIOUS QUERY THE WORD SHOULD BE DTAA AND NOT DATA.. THANKS.

Five persons were killed in a clash between two groups at Moti Hamirpar village in Kutch district of Gujarat on Saturday afternoon, police said.

Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, who debuts as a BJP candidate for the February Delhi election, is one of the ruling party's most prominent faces on social media. On the flip-side, he has been accused by his...