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Hello, fellow pilgrims! My name is Amy Thomas. In 2009, I converted to Catholicism and I started writing to share the Faith. I’m a military spouse and my lifestyle has afforded me the opportunity to travel all over, exploring Catholic places. I have since expanded my writing to include a podcast and videos. My goal is to travel with fellow pilgrims and help them to discover the richness of the Catholic Church and grow closer to Christ. If interested in having me speak at your event or ask me a question, please click below.
One of my jobs in high school was a shift manager for Mr. Goodcents, a sandwich shop. As I was getting ready to start my freshman year at K-State, the owner of the Mr. Goodcents in Manhattan, reached out to my boss in my hometown, to see if he knew anyone that could be a manager for his store. His had just quit. My boss explained that he had this gal that was getting ready to go to K-State and that I was experienced as a shift manager. My boss asked me if I wanted the job and, in my naivety, I agreed to take it. That was a terrible decision. With a full course load and marching band obligations, I did not have the time or energy to run a store with a MUCH higher volume than my hometown store. One day, I was standing at the register and had been there for hours, just ringing people up that came through in the steady, continuous line. I was exhausted and stressed over when I was going to do my homework and memorize my band songs, so I had completely checked out. I rang up this one girl and her boyfriend and looked to move to the next person when the girl said, "Amy. Amy!" I looked at her and there in front of me was my friend who lived across the hall from me in the dorms. Through my stress and exhaustion, I had not see her standing right in front of me. It took her calling my name to wake me up. So, I get why Mary Magdalene didn't see Jesus standing in front of her. She was worn and weary from what had happened on Good Friday, her sorrow drowned her, now her Lord's body was missing. She's so wrapped up in her emotions and thoughts that she can't even see Jesus. It takes Him calling her name to pull her out of it. We all do this: We get so overwhelmed by anxiety, confusion, sadness, anger, and busyness that we collapse in on ourselves and think we are all alone. We must listen for Jesus speaking our name to pull us out of these downward spirals and remind us that we are loved, He is with us, and we don't have to do go it all alone. Have a very blessed Monday in the Octave of Easter, Catholic Pilgrims. P.S. I didn't stay at the sandwich shop much longer after that incident with my friend. I realized that I couldn't do it all.
Continue ReadingHoly Thursday. The day that Christ instituted the Eucharist. I've had a lot of back and forth conversations this week. It's definitely made for lively discussions. A lady on Instagram was trying to tell me that, as Catholics, we are wrong in thinking that the Eucharist is really Jesus. What was interesting to me is her reasonings. First, she thought that we believe it's the power of the priest that changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. "No," I told her, "It's the power of the Holy Spirit working through the priest." Then, she said, "You believe Jesus dwells in the bread and wine." "No, He doesn't dwell there. The bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Eucharist is Him." One of her last attempts at refuting the Eucharist was a new one for me. She didn't think it was possible for Jesus to be in Heaven, yet pieces of His Body be here on our altars. So interesting. It's like she thinks that Jesus places a little bit of His shoulder matter on one altar and then a little bit of His forearm matter on another altar. Do this enough times for a few millennia and how could you not run out of His Body? For her, it's subtraction--Jesus is going to run out. For Catholics, it's more like multiplication. Like the loaves and fishes. God has the ability to multiply and whatever He multiplies, He never runs out of. The Consecration is a miracle, meaning, we won't fully understand it in this life. But, when I was Protestant, what finally clicked with me, was when I realized that nothing that Jesus did could be less than or equal to anything in the Old Testament. It had to be better. The Passover was wonderful and miraculous; Christ took it to the next level. Nothing about what Christ did on Holy Thursday could be symbolic because that would be less than or equal to the Passover meal. He elevated it to a degree that is infinitely staggering. Once, I realized this, I knew that I had to become Catholic. Jesus said, "This is My Body and this is My Blood," and I was done arguing with the Son of God over what He said. Thank God, our souls are nourished by the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed Holy Thursday.
Continue ReadingDid you ever wonder what Judas planned to do with the 30 pieces of silver? What were his plans? What in his mind did he think was going to amount to more than his friendship with Jesus? Those 30 pieces of silver were roughly the amount of four months wages, maybe a little more, maybe a little less. So, not even a year's worth of living. I just wonder what was going on in his head? So, you get the money, betray your Lord, and now what? In his greedy mind, what possible good did he foresee those coins purchasing for him that could outweigh what he had with Jesus? He does come to realize his mistake when he tries to give the money back. He must have thought, "This isn't worth it." He says as much, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood." The temptation is to shake our heads and say, "Judas, Judas, Judas. What were you thinking? Thirty pieces of silver? That's not even a year's worth of wages." But, how many of us have betrayed the Lord for even less? For a day's worth of immoral pleasure? An hour? Swap out the 30 pieces of silver for any other idol that we are willing to take that betrays our Lord. True, we may not be handing Jesus over to the authorities to be ultimately executed, but what it is that causes us to turn our back on Jesus instead of move towards Him? What do we put our hope in more to satisfy than Jesus? We all have something. Those things that we cling to, Catholic Pilgrims, will never satisfy like Jesus. May God give us the grace to remove idols from our lives whatever they may be. Have a blessed Wednesday of Holy Week. *Street in Old Jerusalem.
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