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A funny story for the month of November where we pray for the souls of our dearly departed. During my sophomore year of college, I cleaned people's houses to make enough money to get by. One house that I cleaned was the home of a very elderly couple, who really didn't dirty up the house that much. I was supposed to be there for three hours of cleaning, but after changing the bed sheets, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, and a few other minor things, there wasn't too much to do. So, one day, I decided to deep clean a bit more and clean areas that were neglected or hard to reach. Now, if you asked my husband what is one of the reasons he fell in love with me, he would jokingly tell you that it was because of my clumsiness. Grace is not my middle name and I'm known for my fantastic, clumsy incidents. Anyway, knowing my tendency to fall, I still grabbed an unsteady chair to climb on while I cleaned a very high mantle over the fireplace. I really had to stretch to grab things off so that I could dust the wooden ledge. One of the things was a squat vase with a lid and when I grabbed it, I was surprised at how heavy it was. But, as I was standing there on this rickety chair, with this vase over my head, the old gentleman of the house came into the kitchen and said, "You know what's in that jar?" "No," I replied back. "That's my sister!" Heh. Heh. My heart started beating fast as I could just picture myself toppling off the chair with 'ole sis in my hands. And as I fell to the earth, the urn would crash to the ground spilling ashes everywhere. So, instead, of continuing to take down the urn, I said, "You know what, I'll just put this back up," and I gently, uneventfully, put the urn back in place. Moral of the story: 1. Don't sneak up on people when they are handling urns with people's ashes in them and 2. Just put people in the ground when they die and save all housecleaners from a potential disaster. HA! Have a great weekend, Catholic Pilgrims.
I've posted this picture before, but I've been thinking about it--I think about it a lot actually--and so you all get to see it again today. Up near Calvary inside the Holy Sepulcher off to the left side, if facing the Calvary altar, there is a very dark area where you can light candles for prayers. When I went to place my lighted candle in the sand, I could sort of see the area beyond the candlelight. It is a dark, almost empty abyss which feels utterly mysterious. Since being there, my mind has drifted so many times to the moment I stood there with my lighted candle. There I was, with my light of faith, standing in darkness and unable to fully see the big picture. For many, many months now, I have been praying for certain things, certain outcomes and not a single one has been answered the way I have begged God to answer it. Each prayer hasn't been for me, but for others. Each prayer has been offered with the intention to align my will and my prayers with what I think God would want, but that doesn't seem to be the case. This has happened before and sometimes I have been able to clearly see the reason why God didn't answer as I requested. He gave me an even better answer. And sometimes, I see the outcome and it's not necessarily what I would consider a better answer back. It's okay, but there's still pain. It's not the utopia I had hoped for. Then, there are prayers where the outcome is completely confusing and heartbreaking and I don't understand. When this happens, I think of standing there with my little light, little Amy with my little light, near the place where Christ died on the Cross. There's darkness all around, I can barely see five feet in front of me and it all boils down to faith and trust. Christ at Calvary was the darkest of times and, yet, those that loved Christ didn't yet know of the glory that was soon to come. I must always remember that I only see what is right in front of me and even when times seem dark, I must trust that through it all, God has a plan. One that I may not fully understand even in this life. Have a blessed day, Catholic Pilgrims, and keep your little light shining.
My sophomore year or college, I was still doing the hypocrite thing where I called myself a Christian, but there was really not one thing in my life that would have pointed towards that. One of my roommates ended up having to leave our house because of some poor choices she made and the day she told me and our other roommates, I went absolutely nuclear on her. I screamed at her. Cussed at her. Called her names. Pointed out all her failings. All I wanted to do was make her feel small and terrible, because she was leaving us in a bind. So, "in the name of Jesus," I stood on my comically high soapbox and berated her for being a bad Christian. I just destroyed her. It is a high form of blasphemy to try to destroy people like that "in the name of Jesus." Truth be told, I was more angry with myself because the sins that led her to leave the house were sins that I was committing. However, I just needed to make myself feel better--to feel more righteous. It was not my shining moment. I have since apologized and asked forgiveness from her. But, I say all this because, here on the internet, I see that same behavior in many Catholic/Christian "influencers. If you follow someone who yells, cusses all the time, and who spends more time bashing others all in the "name of Jesus," you are following someone that has lost their way. Side note: Beware those that believe everything is a conspiracy, too. They may have kernels of truth in some things they say, but their hearts are not full of Christ. Instead they are filled with bitterness and I know because I used to be that way. I see my old self in them. It is important to speak truth, but it must be done well. It is important to spread the Gospel, but it must be done joyfully. It is important to call out evil, but we can't be evil ourselves when calling it out. Instead of these "influencers" and, heck, instead of me, read the Bible. Listen to podcasts where the Bible is read. Read the Saints. Or--shameless plug--listen to podcasts like mine where I read the Saints' works. Be influenced by those that were/are filled with joy, love, and hope and show us how to really do things in the name of Jesus and do it well. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday, Catholic Pilgrims.
I was sitting at Mass yesterday thinking about the Saints in Heaven and how important so many of them are to me now. When I need help with forgiveness, I ask my patron saint, St. Maria Goretti, for prayers. When I need help with pride and vanity, I ask for prayers from St. Teresa of Avila. Throughout the day, I think on Venerable Fulton Sheen, St. Faustina, St. Frances Cabrini, St. Francis de Sales. Now that I've read their works, I feel like they are dear friends. St. Joseph has been involved in my life so much lately and, of course, beloved Mary. As I was sitting in church, I thought, "How curious that all Christians understand that we, as sinful, limited humans, here on earth can reach across the veil from natural to supernatural to make contact with Heaven through our prayers, yet, many Christians think that the Saints in Heaven cannot reach across that that veil anymore to receive our requests for prayers. In Heaven, the Saints, who are purified, made perfect, and are no longer limited by space, time, or physical bodies, are seen as having less impact or abilities than those of us here on earth." Most understand that Angels can cross that veil. I least I hope they do, as we see it everywhere in Scripture. Saints, though, for many, are seen as just dead people that have zero influence anymore. People will often say that they can't hear our requests for intercessory prayers because they aren't God. That's right, they aren't God, but is God not capable of giving them that ability? It all comes down to this: It is a misunderstanding of how Catholics view things. I think for so many, they think we see the Saints and Angels as having powers that come from themselves. What so many don't understand is that Catholics are taught that any abilities or special gifts and graces given to Saints and Angels all come from the power of God. He is glorified in them. We are grateful to God for the gift of the Communion of Saints, because it is only by God's power that we have the ability to have the communion in the first place. Everything good points to God's blessings and grace, Catholic Pilgrims. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
In 2015, my family went to the World Meeting of Families in Philly. (Gosh, it's hard to believe that was 10 years ago.) It was such a grace-filled week. I got to see some of my favorite speakers, venerated the relics of my patron saint, St. Maria Goretti, attended Mass every day, saw historic sights, waited for a long time with my best friend to see the pope, and at the end of the week, attended Mass outside with a million of my fellow Catholics. During the day, you could attend different talks. My husband and I always picked different ones from each other so that we could share something new when we meet up for lunch and dinner. One day, I attended a class that I was really looking forward to, though I don't remember the topic now. Ha! It was given by a professor and at one point in her talk, she said, "Don't evangelize Protestants! We all believe in Jesus so leave them alone!" Instantly, I was extremely angry. What a bunch of stupid advice. Here I was, a former Protestant, converted to the Catholic Faith by people who were willing to give me the truth. Yes, we both believe in Jesus, but, what the heck, do you not want to give them the truth of Jesus in the Eucharist???? Yesterday, I had a few people tell me to leave Protestants alone, don't debate with them. They just live in ignorance and believe in heresies, so don't worry about them or waste your time. I understand their intention was good. But, I will never not try to share the truth with Protestants or anybody, for that matter. If other Catholics had written me off and never tried to bring me to the fullness of the truth, I shudder to think about all I would have missed out on. At our baptism, we all are made priest, prophet, and king. As Bishop Barron says, "Priest to give right worship to God, prophet to go out and speak divine truths, and king to advance the kingdom of God." If I love people, it is my Catholic duty to evangelize, using my gifts and talents, to bring people to the fullness of truth found in the Catholic Church. I am called to do it in charity, prudence, and to not be annoying. We all must do that, Catholic Pilgrims, because our Catholic Faith was never meant to be kept to ourselves. Live the Faith boldly and travel well.
Within the past two weeks, I have received a lot of anti-Mary comments. Over and over again, people are coming at me with the argument that Mary is not the Mother of God. To which I say, "You better hope she is or what happened on the Cross did nothing." The ghost of Nestorian rises from the grave. I think all Christians can agree that Mary gave birth to Jesus. What some people have a problem with is what Mary gave birth to--they want to say just a man. Jesus the man, but not Jesus the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. When my mom gave birth to me, she gave birth to Amy (the person), a human (what I am, my nature.) That is why we can say that my mom is the mother of Amy. Nobody asks my mother, "So, you gave birth to Amy, what was her nature? Was she a plant? An animal? Angel?" No, they know that human mother's give birth to human babies. Jesus is different. Hence the whole reason we make a big deal out of Him. At the Incarnation, God--Jesus--became man. Jesus didn't lose His Divine nature at that moment. But, He did gain His human nature. This is why the Incarnation is so significant--Jesus (one Person) has two natures (Divine and human.) Jesus is one Person with two natures. He is not two persons each with His own nature. It's not as if Jesus the God person stayed in Heaven and Jesus the man was born. It's one Person--fully human and fully Divine. And you better hope that's Who Mary gave birth to, because without that reality, our sins were not atoned for on the Cross. If Mary gave birth to just Jesus the man, then it was just a man on the cross and his attempted atonement for man's sins didn't do much other than seem like a nice gesture. In order to atone for man's sins, you need a human, because humans are the ones that sinned against God, the Father. But...you also need Someone whose atonement has infinite value and can actually be a worthwhile sacrifice. You need an infinite Being--Jesus--the God man. So, because Mary gave birth to Jesus the God man, she is the Mother of God. It is a mystery and one we may not fully understand this side of Heaven, but without this reality, we would be in deep trouble. Mary, Mother of Our Lord and Savior, pray for us!
When I was baptized at around 11-years old, I didn't really get what the next step was supposed to be. I believed Jesus was "my Lord and Savior," but for me, that was a bit like a safety net and my nonrefundable ticket to Heaven. Of course, I was 11-years old and wasn't steeped in theology or fully understood the ins and outs of our Christian faith, so you can give me a bit of a pass for my naiveté. In a way, though, the journey stopped there for me, because what else was there? I believed in Jesus and that was good enough. See, though, once you are feel assured of something, you give it little thought. I felt assured of Heaven and assured of a basic level of ease through life now that I was a Christian. Bad things certainly wouldn't happen to me. For a lot of people, once they get their kids through Confirmation or even their first reception of Holy Eucharist, they check out. "We've done enough." "We checked the boxes, did the things we are supposed to do, and now we can cruise on autopilot." Many stop going to Mass, stop reading their Bible, stop doing anything to advance their relationship with God. What I've come to understand now, and age helps, though these things can be taught to younger people, is that we are on a pilgrimage towards Heaven. That pilgrimage gets kicked off at our baptism--the starting point. But, as St. Paul tells the Ephesians and us, we aren't just strangers and sojourners wandering around aimlessly, or at least we shouldn't be. We are "fellow citizens with the holy ones, members of the household of God." We have an earthly spiritual home--The Church, and an eternal spiritual home--Heaven. We must realize that our pilgrimage has purpose--we have a purpose--and we can only find that and realize that when we strive to have a relationship with God. Our pilgrimage will have real trials, we will be tested, we will suffer, we will be asked to sacrifice--it will not be a life of ease. Just as Christ did not call His Apostles into a life of ease and comfort, He does not call us to that either. You simply cannot be made holy that way, Catholic Pilgrims. So, live the faith boldly and travel well.
Yesterday in my OCIA class, we were talking about the four marks of the Church--One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. It's the holy mark that always gets criticized. "Look at all the bad people that have been in the Church. How could you possibly say it's holy." The Catholic Church is not holy because of anything man has done. The Catholic Church's holiness does not come from its members, it comes from the fact that it is the Church that Christ founded. It is holy because through the Church and the Sacraments established by Christ, through the preservation of the Church by the Holy Spirit, and through the infallible teachings of the Church we can be made holy. It is holy because it was not established by man. People always like to point out "bad Catholics." And I would agree that there are bad Catholics out there, just as there are bad people in any group, organization, or institution. For Catholics, the only reason that people can say that they are bad is because people hold them to the standard of holiness that they intuitively know is called for in the Church. If these bad-faith Catholics are bad, it's because they did not follow the teachings of the Church, because the Church teaches to eradicate sin. It teaches to strive for sainthood. It does not teach that any sin should be tolerated, celebrated, normalized, or embraced so that we "can get with the times." To be sure, there are churches out there that do this. Instead, though, we should look to the Saints, who did take Christ's Church seriously and her call to holiness. Because they received the Sacraments and the grace that comes with, because they were obedient to the teachings of Christ and His Church, and because they took advantage of the treasure trove of helps given to us to help us live more Christ-like, well, they were made holy. To say that the Catholic Church isn't holy because of sinners, is a bit like saying that Jesus wasn't holy because his Apostles were sinners. Yet, it was through Him that they were made holy, just like He continues to do for us through His Church. Have a blessed Monday.
We get to read my favorite Bible verse today. "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith." 2 Tim. 4:7 Why is this one my favorite? Part of it has to do with being a former athlete and understanding all that goes into competing well. The other part is that I didn't even try once upon a time to "compete well" and I know the difference. This verse is my reminder to never slip back into old ways. What were my old ways? Well, I definitely was like a Pharisee in many respects. Unlike them, I didn't practice my faith, but I did look for ways to pat myself on the back. "Oh God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--murderous, uh...murderous...greedy, I'm not too greedy...uh...oh, WEIRD, I'm not weird." I couldn't see all the ways that I was just like the rest of humanity--hypocrite, dishonest, fornicator, sloth-like when it came to spiritual things, prideful, prone to rage, etc. I did nothing to keep the faith, or "compete well." I didn't even go to church. My Bible was somewhere, who knows where. And while I couldn't vocally say these things about myself, I knew it. I knew I was a barely limping along Christian, and it made me miserable. It wasn't until I couldn't bear it anymore that I became more like the tax collector in the parable Jesus tells us today in Luke 18:9-14. I came to my first confession begging God to "be merciful to me a sinner" and for the first time felt the relief of saying out loud what I knew to be true about myself. I'm still prideful, prone to a quick temper. I still struggle with envy and jealousy, and vanity for sure, especially as I age. I'm still like the rest of humanity--a human prone to sin. The difference is now, I want to "compete well" and "finish the race" having lived a life where people know that I was trying my hardest to love the Lord well and with a sincere heart. Just because I want to, doesn't mean it's always easy, but I have the remedy--Confession. That beautiful, wonderful Sacrament where I must go and humbly face Jesus, confess my sins, ask for mercy and forgiveness, and receive it. Then, I leave and try to become just a little bit better than before. So, live the faith boldly, my fellow Pilgrims, and travel well this Sunday.
Don't you just love it when pieces fall into place? Last night at my women's bible study, we were watching the final episode of the series "The Mass" with Bishop Barron. In the last episode, he covers the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. He talked about how, many times, God's words aren't just spoken to convey a message, they actually affect change. "Let there be light," and there was light. "Lazarus, come out!" and a dead man comes back to life and walks out of his tomb. "Talitha koum! Little girl, I say to you, arise!" and a dead girl gets up and is restored to her parents. "Quiet! Be still!" and a storm on the sea calms down. "Rise, take up your mat and walk," and a crippled man is restored to health. So many instances throughout the Bible we read how God speaks and His words affect change. And then there is, "This is My Body, this is My Blood" at the Last Supper. Jesus wasn't telling a parable or making reference to symbols. In that very moment, when He spoke those words, the bread and wine were affected by His words and became what He said they were--His Body and Blood. God speaks the world into existence. He heals the sick with words. He forgives sins with the power of His words. He calms storms, raises the dead, multiplies fish and loaves all with His words. And people think that one of the most significant nights of His earthly life--the night of the Last Supper--was just Jesus playing in word symbols? No. The Son of God is the Word made flesh and His words have power beyond our ability to understand. He still affects this change in bread and wine at every Mass. Working through the priest, who is in persona Christ and says Jesus' own words in first person, Jesus affects the change of the bread and wine into His Body and Blood. And then there He is fully present on our altars for us. I've known these things, but last night more pieces fell into place. We are truly blessed, Catholic Pilgrims.
After one of my old college roommates became an atheist, she said to me one time, "How could God ever take someone too soon?" I asked, "Well, what's too soon?" "I feel like you should at least get 90 years." "Does God owe you that?" Mind you, this is all coming from someone who supposedly didn't believe in God anymore. As we talked, her thinking became more and more clear. What she wanted was for everybody to have the opportunity to do whatever they wanted for X amount of years and then, once the end was drawing near, then, you get right with God, if you want. This attitude is what Jesus is referring to in our parable today. "But, if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and rink and get drunk, then that servant's master will come on an unexpected day." If God owed each of us at least 90 years, many of us would live however we wanted until we got close to the end. Then, we would "shape up" and hope to get that chance into Heaven and that God would just ignore all the past and we'd be good to go. But this attitude lacks love of any kind. In fact, it is selfishness of the highest degree. In effect, we are saying, "God, you owe me. I'll live how I want here on earth. Then, once my days are done, I'll try to do what you ask, and I expect welcome arms waiting for me in Heaven. Also, Heaven better live up to what I'd like it to be." What lies at the heart of all this, is a lack of trust that God's Will can satisfy here on earth. Many believe that they need to be allowed indulge sin to have their fun and then once they are "too old" to really do anymore, then the God stuff can come along. God, though, doesn't owe us anything. Instead, we owe Him everything because our very existence would not be possible without Him. It is better, infinitely better, to be like the servant in the parable who is faithful and prudent and ready for whenever the Master comes. The truth is, a life squandered for self will never satisfy no matter how many years you get, Catholic Pilgrims. So, live the faith boldly and travel well.
So last week, I saw a video of a female "pastor" doing a "I'm a pastor" take on social media. Throughout the entire church, the going theme was rainbow flags and banners galore. And they weren't there because this "church" was super into Noah. It was weird because it looked like she had taken over a church and just gutted it, turning it into a place where maybe a mosh pit would be? I don't know. It was weirdly hollow...or maybe that isn't weird...but instead incredibly on the nose. Anyway, at one point, she said, "I'm a pastor, of course, I believe all lives are sacred, which means that women and those who can bear children should make the decisions that they, their doctor, their family, and their god believes is best for them." So many problems with the nonsense uttered here. I responded with, "I 'love' when they say, 'I believe all lives are sacred' and then go on to support women deciding that it's fine to murder their unborn babies. There's such a disconnect." To which I got this response: "How about we stay JUDGMENT FREE and continue to love thy neighbor, like Jesus taught?!" Beware the ALL CAPS, as we discussed a few weeks ago. So, I said back, "Loving people doesn't mean we just let them sink in sin. Also, your comment doesn't address what I said. Her nonsense belief that all lives are sacred and, also, unborn babies are fine to kill if the mom wants them dead, is contradictory and utterly wrong. Also, you showing up to tell me to be judgment free is a judgment call. We can and should judge actions as morally good and morally bad. What we can't do is judge souls to Heaven or Hell." "She never stated 'Unborn babies are fine to kill,' YOU said that. Vilifying someone doesn't make you right." "She couched her thoughts on abortion in a slew of euphemisms. I'm making it clear." "You interpret what in YOUR heart {sic}. Ask yourself what would Jesus do?! and do THAT. "No, I'm not interpreting what's in my heart. I'm using clear language because I know what abortion is--the murder of unborn babies. And Jesus would say, "Thou shall not murder." It's in the Ten Commandments, clear as day." And that was it. It's so important, Catholic Pilgrims, that we speak firmly, truthfully, and with clarity. When you have truth on your side, you don't need to shroud your language in euphemisms. If all lives are sacred, they are from conception to death. Live the faith boldly and travel well.
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