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While college often gets a bad rap, there are degrees that are needed. However, no matter how much book learning you do, nothing compares to real life experiences in your field. When I was counseling, something I started to notice pretty quickly, was that most people do not want to let go of their hate. They say they do, but when it comes down to the work necessary to let go of it, they refuse. Hate creates a fire that feeds people. It gives them someone to blame for how their life has turned out. It allows focus to be on another's faults instead of looking at the faults of oneself. For many people, hate comes to wrap them in a suffocating blanket that, as weird as it sounds, comforts them in a distorted sort of way. This wasn't something I learned in school, but something that I just had to observe. And, I know it for myself. There were many years where my hatred for certain people consumed me and it seemed impossible and, if I'm being honest, unjust to let go of it. Hatred of evil is not bad; we should hate pornography, abuse, abortion, and other things that are inherently evil. Hatred for others or ourselves, though, is a problem. That will create a darkness within us that seems justified, but will only consume us until we are a bitter, cynical, ugly person. As St. Paul tells us, "For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness." If we have this kind of darkness in us, there is one Who can cast it out--Jesus. He shows us His authority over demons and darkness in our Gospel reading today. All we have to do is ask for His help, Catholic Pilgrims. Don't let hate for others fester. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday. *Picture is from the synagogue in Capernaum from our Gospel reading today.
Continue ReadingHappy Labor Day, Catholic Pilgrims! Working is a gift, but a day to rest and honor the good work we do, is important, too. "Perform good works all the days of your life, and do not tread the paths of wrongdoing. For if you are steadfast in your service, your good works will bring success, not only to you, but also to all those who live uprightly." Tobit 4:5-6 Have a blessed day!
Continue ReadingIn 2005, I was in NYC for the first time. My family had been in Connecticut for a graduation and then, with my husband's family, we went to NY to sightsee. I had never encountered so many lights, noise, people, or activity. We had a great time seeing many different things. But, one night, right before I went to sleep in our teeny-tiny hotel room, I looked out the window. All I could see was the brick wall of the building next door which was literally mere feet away. I couldn't see the night sky. All I craved in that moment was my grandparent's house located in a simple town in southeast Kansas. Recently, I went to an Allison Krauss and Union Station concert and they played a new song called, "One Ray of Shine." Part of the lyrics go: "I stand at the backdoor screen This is where I like to lean Trees like a village square Keep me here This is where I rest my head This is where I'll always be Home with a hollow tree In the yard But the wind blows through the radio And the sky is always grey The silence tells the sun To give her one One ray of shine." The picture here is the backdoor screen of my grandparent's house. I haven't rested my head here since 2019, as both my grandparents are gone now. But, man, what a sense of peace and love I always felt standing there. It was always a place of "one ray of shine." While I had a great time in NY, I still had overwhelming feelings of being disconnected and unsettled. I think many of us feel that way right now. So much is dark, tense, uncertain, unsettled, overwhelming, and grey. A fallen world is just that...a fallen world. As things grow increasingly dark, or just don't seem to get better, those that have sunk into despair, will tell us all is lost, so just give up. But, Catholic Pilgrims, we must find ways to, if nothing else, give "one ray of shine." We will never have a utopia here on earth, where we as Christians can kick up our feet and call it a day. We are truly here to fight the darkness. So, live the Faith boldly and travel well.
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