I've been slowing making my way through "The Diary of a Country Priest." If you remember, I encouraged you all to watch it a few weeks ago. I was having trouble understanding the book and I thought watching the movie would help me understand the characters better. Anyway, it is a rich, rich book and I have found that I need to read a little and then just sit with it for a while before moving on. The girl you see in this picture is Mademoiselle Chantal and she is a prideful, hate-filled brat. To be fair to her, her mother has been emotionally absent nearly her whole life and her father is having an affair with her governess. She hates everybody and she battles with the priest as if she is battling God. She hates her mother for being incapable of being a good mother because she is so wrapped up in the pain of losing a young son long ago. She hates her father for his betrayal and sin. She hates her governess. She even declares to the priest that she wants to kill them all. As the priest (we never know his name) and Mlle Chantal continue with this spiritual battle, the priest says to her, "You hate this woman and feel yourself so far removed from her, when your hate and her sin are as two branches of the same tree." Sometimes, people hurt us deeply. Mlle Chantal has every right to hate the sins that her parents and governess are engaged in--we should always hate evil actions. However, she has allowed her hatred of their sins to move into hatred of the people and that has wrapped a vice around her heart. Once that happens, her hatred and their sins mingle causing them to be linked together as a "communion of sinners," potentially "companions for all eternity." That eternity being in Hell. Once, long ago, I was deeply wounded and I allowed the sins others to take root as hatred of them in my soul. I felt justified in feeling that way. Yet, it was not helping me one bit, in fact, it made me a prideful, hate-filled brat in many ways. We cannot let another's sin lead us into sin, Catholic Pilgrims. We must fight to keep our souls free from darkness or we are no different than the ones that hurt us. Live the faith boldly and travel well.
It’s National Marriage Week, Catholic Pilgrims, so I thought I’d share a bit about mine. How many years married: 23 How we met: Air Force ROTC at Kansas State University. I was actually engaged to another guy when we met. 😳 How long after we met until we started dating: 6 months. Faith life when we married: I was the Catholic-hating Protestant, he was the cradle Catholic. Both of us were lukewarm. Degrees: He’s an engineer, I’m a criminologist. How many kids: 3 beautiful children here, 10 saints in Heaven. Where are we from: He’s a California boy, I’m a Kansas girl. How he won me over: The first day I saw him in ROTC, I knew he was the one. (Those uniforms will get ya!) But, we both had significant others. In the end, he won me over with relentless teasing.😅 He didn’t have to try that hard actually. Our strengths in our marriage: His—patience and leadership. Mine—spirit and loving support. The song we’ll always dance to: Harvest Moon by Neil Young. It’s my favorite love song. How our faith life is today: We went from being divided to united in Catholicism. We went from never going to church to never missing Mass. We went from leading very secular lives to seeing our home as our domestic church. The transformation in our marriage has been amazing all thanks to God. I’d love to hear about your marriages, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed day, and yes, he still goes after my neck after all these years to tease me.
My middle daughter recently was home for a visit and we were discussing how Christianity is often presented in a corny and unauthentic way. I started wondering, "How did we go from courageous disciples and intellectual heavyweights to happy-clappy Christianity?" Sure, there are courageous disciples out there, especially in places other than the West. And, yes, we have intellectual powerhouses out there doing good work. But, how did it happen that if you suggest any type of rigor, fortitude, discipline, depth, or seriousness to the faith, you will be shouted down by those that seek ease, timidity, comfort, surface-level approaches to the faith? Has this always been so? I think so. I think since the dawn of Christianity, there have been people that have sought to make Christianity more easy to accept. There's been the big heresies that have tried to mute aspects of Christ so that He's less than fully God and fully man. There's been splits because people can't handle authority and just want to be their own authority. There's been the hyper-focus on making sure nobody ever, for any reason, feels one bit of shame over any sin ever. "What if that makes people not feel welcome or included? We can't have that! Speakth no more of sin and repentance! Stop judging actions and accept everything and anything...uh...accept a Christianity that has principles and defined teachings." There is NOTHING inspiring about these attempts to make things easier. People may follow it for a bit because they lack discipline and strength of character. What will inevitably happen, though, is the faith will become like an old hobby that fades. Once that happens, they will get mad if anyone tries to call them to greatness in their faith. If anyone suggests a challenge or a figurative "call to arms," they will lash out and try to browbeat them into just being "nice, and tolerate, and nice." We must resist this at all costs. You will know it by its fruits. The modern, indifferent Christianity is on life-support because it's boring, bland, and wrong. The way of the Saints--the way of the Cross--changes the world. Live the Faith boldly and travel well, Catholic Pilgrims.
I didn't grow up with the Sacraments. In fact, I didn't even know what a Sacrament was until after marrying my husband. The idea of a Sacrament and its purpose was beyond my severly limited theological understanding of things. See, for me growing up, there was no talk of sainthood or holiness. Jesus just lived in your heart in a very abstract way if you believed in Him. It was good to go to church and read the Bible and it was good to get baptized, but even that wasn't seen as a sacrament. Baptism was just a profession of faith. It was saying to the world that you now fully declared yourself a believer. So, when I started learning about the Sacraments, I was blown away with talk of "channels of grace" and "Divine life." What did all this mean? When I was a kid and would hear Bible stories, I was always a little envious of the people who got to see Jesus. Man, were they blessed. Then I would think about how hard it is to be a believer when Jesus is up in Heaven. There seemed to be this great distance between us on earth and God in Heaven. Sure, you could connect to God through prayer, worship, and Scripture reading, but I always wanted some way to touch God. Yesterday in my OCIA class, we were watching Bishop Barron speak on the Sacraments and he quoted Pope St. Leo the Great, who said, "What was visible in our Savior has passed over into His mysteries." He was referring to the Sacraments. As Bishop Barron stated, "The Sacraments are the most important things on earth. Yes, THE most important things, because they are the way that the Divine Life, which is grace, gets into us." To be sure, this is not in a symbolic or figurative sense. When we receive the Sacraments, God's life literally enters into us. It's as if we touched God, just like all the people in the Bible who reached out to touch Jesus. "And begged Him that they might touch only the tassel on His cloak; and as many as touched it were healed." The Sacraments are the supernatural, mysterious, very real way that God remains right here with us even after ascending nearly 2,000 years ago. Nothing could be more important, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed Monday. *Mission St. Inez, CA
My husband was talking the other day about the selfishness of the age with me and two of our kids. “What many people try to do is turn inward for “me” time. They think that if they can just focus on themselves enough they will be happy. So, the only person they give to is themselves. They give themselves time and attention. They spend all their money on themselves. They focus on self-love instead of giving love. What people fail to understand is that when you give yourself away, you will get back more and that is when you find you are actually happy.” This is what Christ wants us to do—give ourselves away. He wants us to trust and listen to Him even when what He asks seems crazy or impossible. Just do what He says; cast yourself out into the deep. When we do this, we will receive back more than we ever thought possible, Catholic Pilgrims. Others will be loved and we will be, too. It’s a win-win. Have a blessed Sunday. *Lake of Gennesaret aka Sea of Galilee
On Christmas, my grandmother brought out a bunch of cards that had questions on them. She went around the room and picked one person at a time to ask a question to. At one point, she asked a member of my family, "Do you lean towards justice or mercy?" The person said, "Mercy." It was one of those questions that everyone kinda wanted to answer. As everyone was speaking at once, my husband said, "Hold up, hold up. I have a theory and I want to see if it's true." He then went around the room and asked each person which one--mercy or justice? All the men said, "Justice." All the women said, "Mercy," except two women. I was one of the two. Once everyone gave their answer, my husband said, "That's pretty much what my theory was: I thought the women would lean towards mercy and the men towards justice. This is good because we need both to keep each other in check. God is perfect justice and mercy and this balance of the sexes is an attempt to be more like Him." Later that night, my husband and I talked about it. He said, "Mercy without justice leads to false compassion. Justice without mercy leads to oppression. The thing with mercy is that the person receiving it has to have a contrite heart or the mercy is wasted and the person will go on to continue bad behavior. The thing with justice is that if you never acknowledge a truly contrite heart, you squash redemption and restoration." I asked, "Why am I justice focused? Why am I not like other women?" "Well, because you have seen the worst of the worst in your field. You know that to show mercy to people who aren't really sorry--and you've seen plenty of people that have no qualms over the evil they've done--would mean letting them off the hook to go hurt more people. That would be unjust to those that would be hurt." When we come to God seeking mercy, Catholic Pilgrims, He will always give it to us--even if justice demands punishment--as long as we are seeking repentance and we are contrite. We cannot go to God and ask for mercy while not being one bit sorry for the wrong that we have done and completely intending to do it again. Justice and mercy are both needed for a healthy society. Live the faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.
One of the surest truths of life is that you will at some point be hurt by another human. No one escapes this. There are different responses to this hurt. One is to become bitter. Another is to guard your heart and not really let anyone in. And yet another is to close in on yourself. The bitter person turns right around and seeks to hurt others which is ironic. They desire revenge. The stone-hearted one attempts to love with just a portion of their heart. Their lack of trust leaves them and everyone around them starved for love. The closed-in one never flowers into who God created them to be. They cradle their victimhood like a security blanket. I read this in "The Diary of a Country Priest" yesterday: "I believe, in fact I am certain, that many men never give out the whole of themselves, their deepest truth. They live on the surface, and yet, so rich is the soil of humanity that even this thin outer layer is able to yield a kind of meagre (sic) harvest which gives the illusion of real living." If we live that way, we can never be Saints. To be a Saint, we must allow God to make us become fully alive. We have to love even when it hurts. We have to use our gifts and talents to the full extent. We have to give of ourselves knowing full well we won't always get a positive response in return. We might be able to fake the "illusion of real living" through busyness and mindless entertainment, but we will feel the weight of a meager life lived only on the surface. What I love about the Saints is that they gave their whole self, dug deep into the soil, and were fully alive. At the end of their pilgrimage through life, they could say my favorite verse: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7 So, live the faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday, Catholic Pilgrims.
My oldest daughter, who is a Focus missionary, recently came back from SEEK 2025. She remarked, "In my opinion, the most beautiful part of SEEK is always the Mass, especially seeing the hundreds of priests there ministering to the thousands and thousands of students, missionaries, and families." Each time she's been to SEEK, she brims with joy when she talks about seeing the long, long line of priests process in for Mass. The other day, I was reading St. Frances Cabrini's words for my podcast. She was writing after many days on a ship heading from France to NY. At one point she says, "When we arrive on land, we shall look for a priest at once." The reason? She wanted Holy Communion. That got me thinking about one particular Mass in Ohio that moved me to the point of tears. There surrounding the altar were several priests, a deacon, and eight altar boys. It was such a stunningly powerful image. I cannot spiritual live without priests. The power invested in them by Almighty God to change mere bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord is supernatural. I need priests and you do, too. Why does my daughter get overwhelmed at the sight of hundreds of priests at Mass? Because she recognizes the immense sacrifices they endure for us so that we can have Christ in the Eucharist. Why did Mother Cabrini need to find a priest immediately upon landing? Because no one else could give her Christ in the Eucharist. Why did I get choked up seeing men and boys on their knees around the altar while the priest elevated the consecrated Host? Because the gravity of what God is doing through the priest is just incredible. Thank a priest when you get the chance, Catholic Pilgrims, and pray for them. If you are a priest reading this, thank you for feeding your sheep with the Bread of Life.
My husband talks pretty frequently about how authentic love must necessarily involve sacrifice. “If it doesn’t, it’s nothing more than self-serving emotions, which is why you see so many people abandon those they claim to love. Once it stops feeling good, people jump ship because they don’t want to sacrifice.” It’s no different with Christ. If we cannot sacrifice one single thing for Christ, our claims of love are empty and meaningless. If we can’t sacrifice one hour on Sunday… If we can’t sacrifice giving up bad entertainment that we like… If we can’t sacrifice rooting out our favorite sin… If we can’t sacrifice our time to do God’s Will… then we like the idea of being a Christian and that’s about all. True love for Christ should make us radically change our lives. It should make us desire holiness, Catholic Pilgrims, and that takes sacrifice. So, live the faith boldly and travel well this Monday. *Church is Our Lady of Sorrows in Santa Barbara, CA
I was reading about the early Church martyrs the other day and each time I do, I am utterly inspired by their faith. While they didn't go purposefully seeking martyrdom, they, also, didn't hide their "lamp" under a bushel basket. As I sat thinking of those that lived out the faith so courageously, I thought about the current state of Christianity in the West. For decades now, Christians have been told to hide their faith and keep it in private. "We don't want to see it, so keep it to yourself." What saddens me is that we complied. We shuffled off to our hidey-holes and tried to sanitize our public lives to make sure nobody was offended or could catch a whiff of Christianity on us. Then, I realized that the goal became to look just like the secular crowd--blend in. Champion what the secular culture wants, twist the words in the Bible to make the Bible conform to what non-believers would have it say. Stop calling out sin because that's mean and judgy. In fact, the goal became to do everything the secular culture encouraged. Until, there came a day, when you couldn't tell a Christian from a non-Christian. That was me once. Sure, I called myself a Christian, but I couldn't be bothered with church and the Bible. I didn't want to clean up my language, my habits, my entertainment, or anything. Heaven forbid, I appear too Christian. Had the early Christians been like me, Christianity would have faded out like the Beatles on "Hey Jude." It would have been just a nice thought once upon an ancient time. All that they bled and died for, I was too embarrassed and cowardly to show and live. They fought to give me the faith and I sadly took it from their hands and slid it into the back closet where things go to collect dust and be forgotten. We either live the Faith boldly, Catholic Pilgrims, or not at all. We either shine our light or we become just a dim, dull shell of a Christian, unimpressive and uninspiring. So, live the Faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.
We are T-minus three days out from Season Five dropping on my podcast "Journeying with the Saints." On Saturday, the introduction episode will come out and you can hear why I picked St. Frances Cabrini for this season and I'll give some background information on her. I'll also give you a run down on how the season is going to operate. It's a little different this time. I've been doing this podcast for five seasons now which is incredible to me. My brother prompted me to start a podcast back in 2019 and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to. After all, there are like 900 million podcasts out there and who was I to add another? I half-heartedly tried a Catholic Pilgrim podcast, but I just couldn't get the gears rolling. Then, lying on my bed one day in Turkey, the idea came into my head to read St. Faustina's Diary for a 365-day podcast. As crazy and ambitious as that idea sounded, I knew I had to do it. I wanted to bring the Saints' writings to people and that was the motivation and inspiration I needed. So, with my cheap microphone propped up on an ironing board, I started my first season. It was received better than I could have ever hoped. Five seasons in and I'm continually amazed at how the Saints guide me. Once I land on a particular saint, I definitely notice how they are working in my life. Season Five hasn't even started and I've already been blessed by so many people and opportunities. I've spoken with people at different shrines dedicated to St. Frances and the collaboration has been amazing. I've been excited for every season, but this one has been laced with connections that I couldn't have imagined. Later in the year, I've got some trips--pilgrimages--that I can't wait to share with you. So, I hope you are ready. You can find my podcast pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts and please subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Share with a friend if you can. It's going to be a great season, Catholic Pilgrims! St. Frances Cabrini, pray for us!
A few years after I entered the Catholic Church, I decided to pick up St. Thomas’ Summa. I thought, “How hard could this be to read?” lol. I made it about two pages in and gently set it to the side. At that time, I was not primed for reading something like that. Since that time, I’ve worked really hard to educate myself and learn how to think deeply, not just emotionally. More than anything, St. Thomas has taught me how to have integrity in my thinking and how to seek truth. I’ll share what I’ve learned from him. 1. You must always read the primary source. In this day and age, quotes are taken out of context and used to press an agenda. Go to the source. 2. Reactionary thinking is often flawed. If people are trying to get you ginned up and emotional, chances are, you will miss the truth. 3. Sit with things for a while…in silence. 4. Just because you want something to be true, doesn’t mean it is. 5. Ask questions. 6. Always look at both sides of an argument. If something does not make logical sense, you can toss it and do not have to entertain it anymore. 7. If seeking the truth is not coupled with prayer and humility, you will struggle to find it. There have been many times in my life since learning from St. Thomas Aquinas where I’ve asked, “How would St. Thomas handle this situation?” He’s been a good guide, Catholic Pilgrims. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday. St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.