The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Catholic faith. As such, it is perfectly fitting that Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina would co-write a book to teach the faithful about this crucial aspect of their faith. Published near the time of the implementation of the new Mass translation, it guides the reader through the Mass step-by-step.
The first half of the book seeks to help the reader grow in greater knowledge about the history of the Mass, the different names for the Mass, the people involved, and the different materials used in the celebration of a typical Mass. By covering this aspect first, they are setting the stage for the Mass to be understood in a new way. Pictures are included to help the reader visualize the specific vessels used in Mass or the way different parts of the Mass would actually look.
Once the stage is set, the materials are identified, and the faithful are equipped with the necessary background knowledge, the authors launch into a thorough walk through of the Mass. Each aspect of the Mass, from the simple opening prayer to the purification of the vessels after Communion, is explained and presented in a way that is both easy to grasp and yet provides knowledge that helps deepen one’s spirituality. After reading through what the prayers mean, it is difficult to view the Mass in the same way. I will find myself at Mass hearing a specific line in a prayer or watching the priest do something and will recall the greater significance from the book.
If the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the Catholic faith, it is necessary to understand it as fully as possible. Reading this book ensures that you will be able to grasp more fully the nourishment that is being offered to you through the saving Bread of Life that is Jesus Christ. The book ends with sending you out to actually live out the Eucharist and to live out the closing words of the Mass: "Go forth, the Mass is ended!"
**I received this book free through “Blogging for Books."
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
The Date Was March 19th
The date was March 19, 2004. I was a young teenager about to experience one of the greatest sacrifices of her life. The sacrifice would begin on this day and continue for the rest of her life. This was the day my sister entered a cloistered Carmelite monastery. While I didn't know exactly what to expect, I knew that it would be difficult and I knew that I didn't want it to happen. My family went to Mass in the morning and then out to eat at a restaurant. We drove to the monastery, helped my sister into her postulant garb, and took some pictures.
I ruined the pictures. I wanted to go last and so I let the others go first. Each produced a lovely last picture with my sister. When I got there, my dammed emotions overflowed in a torrent of tears. My picture was terrible with both my sister and I having red eyes and trembling smiles. We gave our last hugs and my sister entered the cloister. To my knowledge, that would be the last hug I would ever bestow on her. This was an incredibly difficult knowledge to accept. I cried quite a bit and mourned the loss of the sister I loved so dearly. I love each of my siblings for different reasons. But this sister was the one who seemed to know me the best. For my young melancholic self, that was a gold mine. While six years older than me, she took the time to read me books with her delightful accents, build make-believe forts outside that I would imagine lavishly in my mind, and would eventually try to teach me Latin during one of our summer school sessions. I loved her deeply and fiercely.
My mother will sometimes describe having a daughter enter religious life to losing a daughter to death. One of the differences is that people will congratulate you on your sister's vocation (or look at you curiously) but will never understand the internal mourning that is taking place. I am a huge proponent of religious vocations but I try to be sensitive and understanding to the suffering that the family is certainly enduring. While it is a great joy and blessing, it is also a sacrifice. And the sacrifice is felt by all involved.
The date was March 19, 2014. My sister had now been in the monastery for a decade. In her mind I am still the young teen that I was instead of a young adult teaching high schoolers. This is the day that she will move from the convent about an hour from our home to a new monastery being founded about six hours from home. However, this day is one of rejoicing for me but still mixed with some sorrow. My sister is saying goodbye, perhaps forever, to the religious sisters she has lived life with for the past decade. I am saying goodbye to monthly visits at the monastery with my sister.
However, I am saying hello to wrapping my sister in a tender embrace. My parents and I had the great privilege of helping the sisters move north and begin to set their monastery in order. I rolled a cart outside of the convent and then I saw my sister. This isn't the first time I've hugged her since her entrance a decade ago, but each embrace is cherished and sweet because I know how rare they are. I am near her and talking to her but she is the one who will initiate the hug first.
"Remember 10 years ago today?" I've been thinking of this day so much as the day I will help my sister move that I had momentarily forgotten the significance of the day. I briefly flash back to the young girl with tears streaming down her face as the convent door separates her from her sister. I remember.
This day there will be no tears. Those will come a couple days later when I must say goodbye to her again. Today I am reveling in the joy of simple things. Riding in a van with my sister driving and seeing her eyes in the rear view mirror as she looks back at me. My sister stopping by the room I am working in and smiling briefly at me. Going out for lunch at a restaurant and hearing her order her food. Watching her fill the van's tank with fuel as we stop briefly. Meeting her eyes during supper conversation or seeing her appreciate one of my quieter inputs to the conversation. The things that are so easy to take for granted, the things that I didn't even realize were gifts until I experienced their deprivation.
As I was at the new monastery, moving boxes and unpacking various items, I would see my sister and think, "This is how it should be." This is what it would be like if my sister was like most sisters. There was also the realization that everything I did was simply to put her once more outside of my grasp. I was cutting open boxes and sorting through bubble wrap so that my sister could be enclosed in a cloister again. Yet I was thankful for the grace of those few days. For a short while I was able to be with my sister in a way that I hadn't been for 10 years. I could see her living joy, I could feel her arms embrace me in a hug, and I could be with her for this time. I was not bitter or unaware of these manifest blessings. Most families of sisters in cloistered orders can only dream of this privilege.
While I was helping for the few days, I was preparing myself for the end. I was trying to soak up the experiences of the present so as to endure the remaining years ahead. "Heaven will be amazing," I thought to myself on numerous occasions. Of course it will be because we will be in communion with Our Lord, but also because I will be reunited with people I love so dearly. I will see the joy that has been stored up while I sacrificed and cried on earth.
On the final day I felt unprepared to leave. The sisters gathered to send us off and my sister was the first to give the hugs. I wanted to save her for the end but it wasn't to be. Instead we embraced and it was far longer than usual. Her arms were firmly around me and she kept them there when she would usually not. I couldn't stop the tears and soon I was shaking with tears. I could feel her nod her head. She understood. She also suffered. It is not as though the family only suffers. The sister suffers, too. She must give up all else to follow her Beloved.
"You are gaining great merits." I wasn't certain how to respond to that as I looked at her through reddened eyes, tears coursing down my cheeks. I know the reward will be great in Heaven. "And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life." (Mt. 19: 29) So while she left me and it wasn't my choice, I claim that verse for all who have offered siblings or children to the religious life. It is a sorrow and a joy that is impossible to put into words.
I left the convent and drove most of the six hours home. The first couple hours were marked by sobbing and then eventually silent conversation with the Lord. Unlike a decade ago, I wasn't accusing Him of taking my sister away unfairly. I wasn't even upset really. My conversation went more like this, "It hurts, Lord. My heart hurts and this sacrifice seems too much at times." The last decade has assured me that God provides and that God knows best. I was able to view this time not as my right but as a grace that I did not expect. "It is a privilege I think not of" kept coming to mind and I was certain it was a quote from something but I don't know what. It was the Lord's gift to me and I was hesitant to let it run its natural course.
March 19th. It is a day that is etched into my memory. Each year the Church celebrates St. Joseph, the protector of the Church, the guardian of the Virgin, the terror of demons. And each year I celebrate his life as well as my sister, Sr. Mary Joseph. It is a day of gratitude. It causes me to remember what the Lord has done in my life and the great graces that He has bestowed upon me.
All of this toil on earth will be worth it. Someday, I pray, I will come to the Heavenly Banquet of the Lamb. I will meet my Beloved face to face and be filled with such a joy that my earthly heart would burst if it hadn't been widened. He will lead me to a place at the table and I will look about at the faces there with eyes shining with tears of joy. Among the glorious faces around me I will see hers, my beloved sister. She will be radiant with joy, intoxicated at being in such intimate communion with Our Lord. I will look at Jesus, sitting beside me and gazing at me with eyes of complete understanding. And I will say, "My Lord, if I had known on earth the joy that suffering would produce, I would have gladly suffered more."
This is what I must remember now. I am allowing the Lord to prepare my heart for the joy that is to come. Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
I ruined the pictures. I wanted to go last and so I let the others go first. Each produced a lovely last picture with my sister. When I got there, my dammed emotions overflowed in a torrent of tears. My picture was terrible with both my sister and I having red eyes and trembling smiles. We gave our last hugs and my sister entered the cloister. To my knowledge, that would be the last hug I would ever bestow on her. This was an incredibly difficult knowledge to accept. I cried quite a bit and mourned the loss of the sister I loved so dearly. I love each of my siblings for different reasons. But this sister was the one who seemed to know me the best. For my young melancholic self, that was a gold mine. While six years older than me, she took the time to read me books with her delightful accents, build make-believe forts outside that I would imagine lavishly in my mind, and would eventually try to teach me Latin during one of our summer school sessions. I loved her deeply and fiercely.
My mother will sometimes describe having a daughter enter religious life to losing a daughter to death. One of the differences is that people will congratulate you on your sister's vocation (or look at you curiously) but will never understand the internal mourning that is taking place. I am a huge proponent of religious vocations but I try to be sensitive and understanding to the suffering that the family is certainly enduring. While it is a great joy and blessing, it is also a sacrifice. And the sacrifice is felt by all involved.
The date was March 19, 2014. My sister had now been in the monastery for a decade. In her mind I am still the young teen that I was instead of a young adult teaching high schoolers. This is the day that she will move from the convent about an hour from our home to a new monastery being founded about six hours from home. However, this day is one of rejoicing for me but still mixed with some sorrow. My sister is saying goodbye, perhaps forever, to the religious sisters she has lived life with for the past decade. I am saying goodbye to monthly visits at the monastery with my sister.
However, I am saying hello to wrapping my sister in a tender embrace. My parents and I had the great privilege of helping the sisters move north and begin to set their monastery in order. I rolled a cart outside of the convent and then I saw my sister. This isn't the first time I've hugged her since her entrance a decade ago, but each embrace is cherished and sweet because I know how rare they are. I am near her and talking to her but she is the one who will initiate the hug first.
"Remember 10 years ago today?" I've been thinking of this day so much as the day I will help my sister move that I had momentarily forgotten the significance of the day. I briefly flash back to the young girl with tears streaming down her face as the convent door separates her from her sister. I remember.
This day there will be no tears. Those will come a couple days later when I must say goodbye to her again. Today I am reveling in the joy of simple things. Riding in a van with my sister driving and seeing her eyes in the rear view mirror as she looks back at me. My sister stopping by the room I am working in and smiling briefly at me. Going out for lunch at a restaurant and hearing her order her food. Watching her fill the van's tank with fuel as we stop briefly. Meeting her eyes during supper conversation or seeing her appreciate one of my quieter inputs to the conversation. The things that are so easy to take for granted, the things that I didn't even realize were gifts until I experienced their deprivation.
As I was at the new monastery, moving boxes and unpacking various items, I would see my sister and think, "This is how it should be." This is what it would be like if my sister was like most sisters. There was also the realization that everything I did was simply to put her once more outside of my grasp. I was cutting open boxes and sorting through bubble wrap so that my sister could be enclosed in a cloister again. Yet I was thankful for the grace of those few days. For a short while I was able to be with my sister in a way that I hadn't been for 10 years. I could see her living joy, I could feel her arms embrace me in a hug, and I could be with her for this time. I was not bitter or unaware of these manifest blessings. Most families of sisters in cloistered orders can only dream of this privilege.
While I was helping for the few days, I was preparing myself for the end. I was trying to soak up the experiences of the present so as to endure the remaining years ahead. "Heaven will be amazing," I thought to myself on numerous occasions. Of course it will be because we will be in communion with Our Lord, but also because I will be reunited with people I love so dearly. I will see the joy that has been stored up while I sacrificed and cried on earth.
On the final day I felt unprepared to leave. The sisters gathered to send us off and my sister was the first to give the hugs. I wanted to save her for the end but it wasn't to be. Instead we embraced and it was far longer than usual. Her arms were firmly around me and she kept them there when she would usually not. I couldn't stop the tears and soon I was shaking with tears. I could feel her nod her head. She understood. She also suffered. It is not as though the family only suffers. The sister suffers, too. She must give up all else to follow her Beloved.
"You are gaining great merits." I wasn't certain how to respond to that as I looked at her through reddened eyes, tears coursing down my cheeks. I know the reward will be great in Heaven. "And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life." (Mt. 19: 29) So while she left me and it wasn't my choice, I claim that verse for all who have offered siblings or children to the religious life. It is a sorrow and a joy that is impossible to put into words.
I left the convent and drove most of the six hours home. The first couple hours were marked by sobbing and then eventually silent conversation with the Lord. Unlike a decade ago, I wasn't accusing Him of taking my sister away unfairly. I wasn't even upset really. My conversation went more like this, "It hurts, Lord. My heart hurts and this sacrifice seems too much at times." The last decade has assured me that God provides and that God knows best. I was able to view this time not as my right but as a grace that I did not expect. "It is a privilege I think not of" kept coming to mind and I was certain it was a quote from something but I don't know what. It was the Lord's gift to me and I was hesitant to let it run its natural course.
March 19th. It is a day that is etched into my memory. Each year the Church celebrates St. Joseph, the protector of the Church, the guardian of the Virgin, the terror of demons. And each year I celebrate his life as well as my sister, Sr. Mary Joseph. It is a day of gratitude. It causes me to remember what the Lord has done in my life and the great graces that He has bestowed upon me.
All of this toil on earth will be worth it. Someday, I pray, I will come to the Heavenly Banquet of the Lamb. I will meet my Beloved face to face and be filled with such a joy that my earthly heart would burst if it hadn't been widened. He will lead me to a place at the table and I will look about at the faces there with eyes shining with tears of joy. Among the glorious faces around me I will see hers, my beloved sister. She will be radiant with joy, intoxicated at being in such intimate communion with Our Lord. I will look at Jesus, sitting beside me and gazing at me with eyes of complete understanding. And I will say, "My Lord, if I had known on earth the joy that suffering would produce, I would have gladly suffered more."
This is what I must remember now. I am allowing the Lord to prepare my heart for the joy that is to come. Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Monday, March 3, 2014
Who is your father?
"Who is your father?"
The words are spoken by the silver-tongued devil as Jesus agonizes in the garden. I am always struck by the way Satan is portrayed in "The Passion of the Christ" and how perfectly it is done. Part of me thinks he should be far more evil in appearance and words but I think they actually did it correctly. Satan doesn't tempt us with murder at first. Rather he sows seeds of doubt and distrust. Jesus agonizes in the garden and Satan is attacking His very identity. To attack His identity means to attack the very relationship that defines Him, that defines us.
Who is your father? The question is laden with subtle hints that a loving father would not subject His only beloved son to such torture. Such suffering is unnecessary, it is unkind, it is not good. Satan is trying to shake the belief that God is all-good and all-loving. Once the question of doubt is placed about the Father, then he attempts to destroy the very image of the Son.
"Who are you?" Such simple questions. With such simple answers. Yet in the midst of despair and confusion, the answers can be hard to come by. I am....who am I? Once the relationship with the Father is cut, then it is much easier to destroy who you are. Think of the Lion King. Mufasa appears to Simba and says that because Simba has forgotten who he is, he has also forgotten who his father is. We also can fall into the same trap. We forget ourselves because we have forgotten who the Father is.
Satan plants these little lies, these questions, these doubts and then lets them wreck havoc in our lives. Who are we? "You are my son (daughter), the one true king...and you must take your place in the circle of life." Theological translation? You are the son/daughter of the one true King and you must take your place in the Body of Christ.
He is.
You are because He is.
Never think that He is because you are. You are the dependent being. You are the one who relies on Him for everything. Do not let Satan shake your foundation. One of the best things I have learned (and strive to put into practice) is simply asking, "Would Jesus speak to me in this way?" Jesus challenges us and pushes us forward but He doesn't do this by tearing us apart.
St. Francis of Assisi prayed, "Who are you, Lord my God, and who am I?" This is very different from how Satan approaches the issue. He attacks when we are weak and questioning. He uses the questions to create distance, not to draw us nearer to Our Lord. Satan's questions cause unrest, lack of peace, and sow doubt. The prayer of St. Francis encourages depth and seeking the Truth about God.
Who is your father? Who are you? You are the Beloved of the Father. The Father is transcendent and immanent. He is Mercy, Love, Goodness. He is the great I AM. He doesn't need you but He loves you radically. He is the origin of all things, the Creator of the Universe. He is wonder, awe, and beauty that we find all around us. He is. And because He is, we are.
Who is your father? The question is laden with subtle hints that a loving father would not subject His only beloved son to such torture. Such suffering is unnecessary, it is unkind, it is not good. Satan is trying to shake the belief that God is all-good and all-loving. Once the question of doubt is placed about the Father, then he attempts to destroy the very image of the Son.
"Who are you?" Such simple questions. With such simple answers. Yet in the midst of despair and confusion, the answers can be hard to come by. I am....who am I? Once the relationship with the Father is cut, then it is much easier to destroy who you are. Think of the Lion King. Mufasa appears to Simba and says that because Simba has forgotten who he is, he has also forgotten who his father is. We also can fall into the same trap. We forget ourselves because we have forgotten who the Father is.
Satan plants these little lies, these questions, these doubts and then lets them wreck havoc in our lives. Who are we? "You are my son (daughter), the one true king...and you must take your place in the circle of life." Theological translation? You are the son/daughter of the one true King and you must take your place in the Body of Christ.
He is.
You are because He is.
Never think that He is because you are. You are the dependent being. You are the one who relies on Him for everything. Do not let Satan shake your foundation. One of the best things I have learned (and strive to put into practice) is simply asking, "Would Jesus speak to me in this way?" Jesus challenges us and pushes us forward but He doesn't do this by tearing us apart.
St. Francis of Assisi prayed, "Who are you, Lord my God, and who am I?" This is very different from how Satan approaches the issue. He attacks when we are weak and questioning. He uses the questions to create distance, not to draw us nearer to Our Lord. Satan's questions cause unrest, lack of peace, and sow doubt. The prayer of St. Francis encourages depth and seeking the Truth about God.
Who is your father? Who are you? You are the Beloved of the Father. The Father is transcendent and immanent. He is Mercy, Love, Goodness. He is the great I AM. He doesn't need you but He loves you radically. He is the origin of all things, the Creator of the Universe. He is wonder, awe, and beauty that we find all around us. He is. And because He is, we are.
"here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)"
--excerpt from ee cummings [i carry your heart with me (i carry it in]
Saturday, March 1, 2014
The Warmth of Church in Winter
The wind is chilling as it caresses my cheek with a frigid wisp of air. Walk quickly, breath in the exhilarating fresh air, and scrunch my shoulders to my ears to keep in the warmth. Of all the things I do, this is one of the things that makes me feel most like an adult. I am hurrying from work to a little chapel, tucked away in a hospital. My feet will lead me out of the wintry cold and into the warmth of a chapel. I will be united with the universal Church in prayer and receiving the Eucharist. I will rest in the pews and hear the readings proclaimed. While I like going to Mass during the school day, I feel most adult-like when I am trudging through the snow on my way to Mass. Something seems so beautiful about that prospect. In college it was typical for people to go to daily Mass often. There were multiple Mass times on campus but it was only when I would go to Mass off-campus, surrounded by people who had come from work or brought the young children from home, that I felt a strong interior gladness. It was as though college was an artificial world and stepping off the campus and into the town I was stepping into reality. I was taking my place among the adults of the world and showing the importance of the Eucharist. The fact that I wasn't going because it was so accessible or expected, but because I desired to, my heart longed to go.
I love Mass regardless of the season or location. But there is a special beauty found in going to Mass when it is cold outside and the church embraces you like you were in your mother's womb. The outside world might be cold and hostile, but Mother Church will always take you in, nourish you, and send you back out to fight the good fight.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Surrogacy and Women: A Rant
"Wouldn't spending the money and going through the extra effort prove they loved the child more?"
"Isn't is just nice to do for someone?"
In a move that was perhaps questionable from the outset, I decided to open the floor to questions for the entirety of a class period. After a couple weeks of my classes being off-sync, I wanted to finally draw them together and the rampant questions of one class had provided the perfect opening. However, that class asked questions that flowed naturally from one to the next and with only thirteen in the class, there was a feeling of closeness and simplicity. Trying to re-create that atmosphere for a class of twenty-nine was a different story. I offered to them the chance to simply ask questions that they had about the Church or the faith. The first class had found questions that flowed from Our Lady to salvation to exorcisms. The next class found a different route and were spurred on by different questions. They followed the line of exorcisms with a leap to evolution and surrogacy. The result was a class that ended with a bit more intensity and moral depth. Time ran out and they left unsatisfied with some of my answers.
I have never really discussed surrogacy with a class before but I had recently talked about such things with a friend of mine. One girl originally asked the question and she seemed alright with my answer. Others were not.
"Wouldn't spending the money and going through the extra effort prove they loved the child more?"
"Isn't is just nice to do for someone?"
In a move that was perhaps questionable from the outset, I decided to open the floor to questions for the entirety of a class period. After a couple weeks of my classes being off-sync, I wanted to finally draw them together and the rampant questions of one class had provided the perfect opening. However, that class asked questions that flowed naturally from one to the next and with only thirteen in the class, there was a feeling of closeness and simplicity. Trying to re-create that atmosphere for a class of twenty-nine was a different story. I offered to them the chance to simply ask questions that they had about the Church or the faith. The first class had found questions that flowed from Our Lady to salvation to exorcisms. The next class found a different route and were spurred on by different questions. They followed the line of exorcisms with a leap to evolution and surrogacy. The result was a class that ended with a bit more intensity and moral depth. Time ran out and they left unsatisfied with some of my answers.
I have never really discussed surrogacy with a class before but I had recently talked about such things with a friend of mine. One girl originally asked the question and she seemed alright with my answer. Others were not.
"Wouldn't spending the money and going through the extra effort prove they loved the child more?"
I tried to explain that spending money doesn't mean more love. (Only later did I think of prostitution as a fitting example.) Can the couple love this child? Of course. I'm not denying that a couple can love a child they "paid" for, but I don't think it means they love him/her more. A great example came to mind (thanks, Holy Spirit) that the true statement of love would not be that I can afford to create a life in a laboratory but rather that I can let go of my desire to have a biological child and rather adopt. (They argued that adoption was spending money, too. A different matter, I believe.) The love is found not in the willingness to spend a large sum of money so that their desires can be fulfilled but rather that they can accept the disappointment and then love a child that isn't theirs biologically but is accepted totally into their loving family. That seems to indicate a great love.
"Isn't it just nice to do for someone?"
The heartache of infertility is not one that I have experienced nor one that I hope to experience. However, lending my womb to a friend doesn't seem to fall under that category of "nice." This world tends to approach situations with an "how can I get what I want?" attitude. The desire isn't simply, "I want a child." That would be easily remedied. The desire is, "I want a child that is biologically mine even if I cannot carry that life in my womb." Perhaps, even, the "want" is changed to "deserve" or "have a right" to a child.
It isn't "nice" to let yourself be a host for a child. You can love that child, you can love that couple, but you are not permitted to let your womb be used in a paid/unpaid transaction. The worth of woman is more than just a womb. I don't quite understand what people mean when they say the Church suppresses women or has a negative view of women. They have never read Chesterton. Chesterton will throw men under the bus and elevate the dignity of women in one fell swoop. They also have never looked very closely at theology. The Church says no only so that she may say a greater Yes.
Woman, you may not engage in sex outside of marriage because you deserve the lasting love and devotion of a man who will offer his very life for you, not just a few moments right now.
Woman, you may not have an abortion because that little baby in your womb needs you and you will only inflict a great wound on yourself. You deserve better.
Woman, you may not use contraception because you are a precious gift in your entirety and when you offer yourself to your husband, you must offer your whole self holding nothing back, masking nothing of your beauty. Your ability to create life is not something to be disabled but something to be exalted.
Woman, you may not be a surrogate mother because you are far more than a host for the baby of your friends or strangers. You are not an object to be used but rather you are a person to be loved. It is beautiful for the gift of life to grow within your womb but it should be planted there by God and your husband, not by the doctor in the laboratory. You are more than what they would lead you to believe.
How any of this becomes heard as "Women are stepped on by the Church" is beyond me.
This "niceness" is not something that should be encouraged because it is the same "niceness" that will cause me to put you out of your misery if I think your quality of life is not good enough. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" is a cliche because there is truth to it. It is not enough to just intend to do good things, you must actually do them. And this good must go beyond my personal understanding of good. (Cue Hitler and his quest for what he deemed good.)
I was surprised with the direction the class took the Q&A session and how we wandered into the realm of sexual morality. Again I am convinced that the way to win the next generation is to have holy couples that teach their children the faith in their home and live it out daily. My rant is finished but I cannot help but wonder what the future holds for this world. The youth are such an important part of the future and their hearts can be in a world-imposed ignorance.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Friday, February 7, 2014
I forgot to look for Jesus...
Last night there was a moment in spiritual direction when the priest was talking to me about seeing Jesus in my students. I was nodding my head, having heard this before and thinking I already knew it but still glad to hear it again.
Then I realized. I haven't been looking for Jesus in my students. I teach them about Jesus, Sacred Scripture, and the Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church and I forgot to look for Jesus in them. I mean, to seriously look for Jesus in them.
I briefly imagined what that would look like. To look at a classroom full of students and see 25 varying pictures of Christ looking at me. To teach to Jesus residing within each one of their souls and to know that, despite exterior appearances, despite however little response I may receive, that Jesus is resting within them. To know that Jesus, within them, is receiving my words. To know that not every person is against me because Christ, dwelling in them, is very much for me. I imagined being able to look at a student who was annoyed with me, making a scene in my class, or being extremely critical and having the grace to calmly ask myself where Jesus was in that student.
That changes everything. It doesn't make all of the problems or troubles go away. It doesn't make all of students like me. But I can know that there is someone, very present in the room, who is rooting for me, who is willing me to remain faithful, who is sympathizing with me. He is not just with me, He is with them, too. Mother Teresa found Christ in the poorest of the poor. The streets of Calcutta might not be my streets to go out on but I have a different kind of mission field. And like the streets in India, it is brimming with the many faces of Christ. If I but have the eyes to see and the heart to love.
Bl. Mother Teresa, pray for us.
Bl. Pope John Paul II, pray for us.
Then I realized. I haven't been looking for Jesus in my students. I teach them about Jesus, Sacred Scripture, and the Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church and I forgot to look for Jesus in them. I mean, to seriously look for Jesus in them.
I briefly imagined what that would look like. To look at a classroom full of students and see 25 varying pictures of Christ looking at me. To teach to Jesus residing within each one of their souls and to know that, despite exterior appearances, despite however little response I may receive, that Jesus is resting within them. To know that Jesus, within them, is receiving my words. To know that not every person is against me because Christ, dwelling in them, is very much for me. I imagined being able to look at a student who was annoyed with me, making a scene in my class, or being extremely critical and having the grace to calmly ask myself where Jesus was in that student.
That changes everything. It doesn't make all of the problems or troubles go away. It doesn't make all of students like me. But I can know that there is someone, very present in the room, who is rooting for me, who is willing me to remain faithful, who is sympathizing with me. He is not just with me, He is with them, too. Mother Teresa found Christ in the poorest of the poor. The streets of Calcutta might not be my streets to go out on but I have a different kind of mission field. And like the streets in India, it is brimming with the many faces of Christ. If I but have the eyes to see and the heart to love.
Bl. Mother Teresa, pray for us.
Bl. Pope John Paul II, pray for us.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
A Country Heart
I'm fairly convinced that my little heart would shrivel a bit if forced to reside in a major city. I could do it, mind you, because I'm stubborn and (I like to think) tough. However, it would be difficult. Recently I made the move from my beloved parents' farm to the "big city" of 150,000. Today, as I sat in traffic caused by a train I had a couple thoughts.
1. It is nice to see these tracks actually being used for a train. I miss the train tracks that run by my home in the country.
2. Lord, I could never live in a big city for too long. Or if I did, my heart would ache a bit and feel a little restricted.
I've been to big cities--New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Rome, Madrid--but I think it would take a lot to be at home in one. The novelty would eventually wear off and I wonder if I would just walk around with an extra weight on my shoulders.
Freshman year of college I found myself on the phone with my parents telling them that there were people everywhere. I went to a school boasting about 2500 students but I felt that wherever I turned there were people. My room was no longer a quiet sanctuary and I couldn't think of one place where I could go and be alone. It was a frightening prospect to an introvert. Even as I got used to the people that surrounded me, there were a couple times when I wanted to just go be by myself. Whether it was to have a good cry (and not have to explain why--can't we just feel like crying sometimes?) or to just let down all of my defenses, I longed for a quiet place of my own. I was used to being in the country. My summer days were isolated from the rest of the world with only my sisters, a TV, a stack of books, and the great outdoors to occupy my hours. In the country, if you want to be alone you have so many options to choose from. You can even walk down a road and not encounter any people for quite a while. It was a haven from the rest of the world and I loved it.
Now I find myself driving home most weekends and relishing the sight of stores fading away, houses fading away, and finally paved roads fading away. Then I will turn off my car and hear...nothing. The beautiful sound of silence that is deep and hearty. I can go to my favorite window in the house and gaze down at the surrounding countryside. The creek that forms a frozen bridge to the pastureland and a sprinkling of trees that provide refuge for the wildlife. If you ignore the lone white house on the hill and the power lines, you could feel like you are all alone for miles and miles. That, my friend, is a very good feeling.
I'm a country girl at heart. My soul is rooted in simplicity and silence. The concrete jungle isn't really my thing and house after house isn't the landscape I long for. All of this leads me to conclude (obviously) that Heaven, while being a great communion, must also be filled with deep silence and that beautiful feeling of being alone. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I look forward to finding out.
1. It is nice to see these tracks actually being used for a train. I miss the train tracks that run by my home in the country.
2. Lord, I could never live in a big city for too long. Or if I did, my heart would ache a bit and feel a little restricted.
I've been to big cities--New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Rome, Madrid--but I think it would take a lot to be at home in one. The novelty would eventually wear off and I wonder if I would just walk around with an extra weight on my shoulders.
Freshman year of college I found myself on the phone with my parents telling them that there were people everywhere. I went to a school boasting about 2500 students but I felt that wherever I turned there were people. My room was no longer a quiet sanctuary and I couldn't think of one place where I could go and be alone. It was a frightening prospect to an introvert. Even as I got used to the people that surrounded me, there were a couple times when I wanted to just go be by myself. Whether it was to have a good cry (and not have to explain why--can't we just feel like crying sometimes?) or to just let down all of my defenses, I longed for a quiet place of my own. I was used to being in the country. My summer days were isolated from the rest of the world with only my sisters, a TV, a stack of books, and the great outdoors to occupy my hours. In the country, if you want to be alone you have so many options to choose from. You can even walk down a road and not encounter any people for quite a while. It was a haven from the rest of the world and I loved it.
Now I find myself driving home most weekends and relishing the sight of stores fading away, houses fading away, and finally paved roads fading away. Then I will turn off my car and hear...nothing. The beautiful sound of silence that is deep and hearty. I can go to my favorite window in the house and gaze down at the surrounding countryside. The creek that forms a frozen bridge to the pastureland and a sprinkling of trees that provide refuge for the wildlife. If you ignore the lone white house on the hill and the power lines, you could feel like you are all alone for miles and miles. That, my friend, is a very good feeling.
I'm a country girl at heart. My soul is rooted in simplicity and silence. The concrete jungle isn't really my thing and house after house isn't the landscape I long for. All of this leads me to conclude (obviously) that Heaven, while being a great communion, must also be filled with deep silence and that beautiful feeling of being alone. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I look forward to finding out.
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