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Over the years, I've asked people if they know what grace is. After thinking for a while, they usually say something like, "I don't really know how to define it." Some people have said to me that they don't really get what it is. I wasn't able to define it once upon a time, too. But, I've homeschooled my kids using the Baltimore Catechism and the answer to what grace is in that book makes everything clear. Grace is the Divine Life within you. How do we get grace within us? Well, the Catholic Church has seven beautiful Sacraments that give grace. "A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Jesus Christ to give grace." Baltimore Catechism for the win! At Baptism, Original Sin is washed away and we are flooded with grace. At Confession, we rid ourselves of sin hogging up space in our souls and grace can come pouring back in. Receiving Holy Communion is literally receiving Christ's Body and Blood and with that comes the Source of grace. You can receive grace in others ways, too. For example, actual grace comes to us when we pray and ask for help in a certain situation. Once I understood what grace is and could define it, it made it so much easier to see myself as a "temple of God," as St. Paul tells us today in Corinthians. Crazy as it sounds, I think of grace like the game Zelda. In that game, Link starts out with a heart full of life. As he wanders around and gets hurt, the life in the heart starts to drain out. That's how I see grace, funny enough. Our souls get flooded with grace from some Sacrament, it is full of Divine Life. But, as we go about our lives, we sin and little-by-little grace drains out of our soul. To revive it, we need to go to a source of grace--Confession. Then our soul is filled up. It's why we feel so good after receiving a Sacrament. I want that Divine Life--God's grace--within me, Catholic Pilgrims. It's what makes us holy and Christ-like. So protect your temple, that is your soul. Seek to keep it full of grace. Have a beautiful Sunday.
Continue ReadingA 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.
Continue ReadingI'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.
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