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When we visited St. Mary’s Church in Fairfax Station, the church that became a field hospital during the Civil War, my son wanted to take a picture from the perspective of the priest.
This church is mostly used now for special occasions and because of this fact, Jesus was not in the Tabernacle, so I told him it was okay. I think he was interested to see what the priest looks out on.
I stood back there with him and anytime you see things from a different perspective, it feels odd. I mean, have you ever been across the street from your house and looked back on it, to see what your neighbor sees? It’s a weird feeling.
One of the things I love about being a military spouse is that I get the opportunity to see the country from different perspectives. Living in Las Vegas was much different than here in Alabama. Living in the middle of nowhere in the desert of California was different than in DC.
Each place we move, we want to see all that we can before the moving trucks roll up to carry us off to some place else. Often times, our fresh eyes bring a new perspective to people who have lived in an area for years and years. They are often surprised at all the things we find to explore and they gain a new sense of appreciation for where they live. Military families have a way of making people proud of their city or state by our ability to be excited by what has become mundane to them.
I was the thinking about the word “perspective” a lot this morning. Not all perspectives are valid or good nor should we entertain certain ones.
The perspective we should most try to see and understand is Christ’s. His is not just one among many, but the most perfect one of all. To try to see as Jesus sees us, fellow human beings, His creation, and life will give us the best understanding of ourselves and the purpose of our life.
We won’t be able to do this perfectly, Catholic Pilgrims, but we can strive to have eyes of Christ through reading Scripture daily, prayer, and attending Mass. The saints are great examples of how striving to understand Christ changes your life for the better.
Have a blessed Monday.
"OKLAHOMA, WHERE THE WIND COMES SWEEPIN' DOWN THE PLAIN." (sang in burly man voice) As much as Kansans get bombarded with "Wizard of Oz" jokes, I imagine Oklahomans get bombarded with this song from the musical "Oklahoma." 😅 It's a great musical, btw. Carrying on, though, my wayward sons, today's small town church showcase is St. Anthony of Padua in Okeene, Oklahoma. (Picture sent in by one of you.) Okeene is a tiny little town with a population of 1,040 and it sits northwest of Oklahoma City. This church was built in 1922. It was built to replace the wooden church before it. That one had been damaged in a tornado and the congregation realized that it was time for brick, instead of wood. Hopefully, a tornado wouldn't be able to blow and blow their brick house down. My husband and I stopped in Oklahoma City on our epic road trip last year and I've been bragging about that city ever since. The downtown was clean, interesting, and felt safe and my husband and I had a great time in The Bricks area. We, also, visited the amazing Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine there which is a must-see. A great day trip would be to go see St. Anthony's in Okeene and then head into Oklahoma City to see the Shrine and enjoy an evening downtown on the riverwalk. The outside of this church is lovely and, looking online, the inside is just what we like to see, too. So, if ever you find yourself sweeping across the plains of Oklahoma and have time to stop, go see St. Anthony's in Okeene, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed Tuesday! St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church
Continue ReadingI heard someone say the other day, "Catholics try to bring people to everything other than Christ first. They try to bring them to the Eucharist, to Mary..." Stop right there. Eucharist = Christ Usually we get dissenters who try to tell us that the Eucharist isn't Christ, but they at least know that we believe that It is Him. This guy was so off the mark that He didn't even realize that we believe the Eucharist is Christ. He thinks that we think we are just bringing people to round wafers. Yes, all day, everyday, I wanna bring people to Christ in the Eucharist. Guilty as charged. Christ did not leave us a mere symbol to help us to symbolically reenact the Last Supper every once in a while. He offers us His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the perpetual Sacrifice offered every day at every Mass, which "re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the Cross." "For His Flesh is true food, and His blood is true drink." John 6:55 It is the single most incredible, most miraculous way to get the Divine Life within you, Catholic Pilgrims. Yes, we want to bring people to Our Lord. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Monday. *Jesus in the monstrance for Adoration at St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax, VA
Continue ReadingI heard someone say not too long ago, "As you go through your marriage, and as long as you strive to love your spouse well, you will realize, as you look back, that your wedding day was when you loved your spouse the least." The point of this quote is that on your wedding day, you can't possibly imagine how much more in love you will grow with your spouse. But, that's how love works. There isn't a finite amount and it gets tapped out. I'm not a perfect spouse by any stretch of the imagination, but I have learned how to love Dustin better through the decades. At the beginning of our marriage, I was definitely more selfish, more nitpicky, less patient. The Sacrament of Marriage will, if you let the graces from it work as they should, weed out obstacles to love. I'm reading "The Brothers Karamazov" right now and yesterday I read a great passage. It's from an old priest-monk who is imparting wisdom right before he dies. "Love is a teacher, but a hard one to obtain: learning to love is hard and we pay dearly for it. It takes hard work and a long apprenticeship, for it is not just for a moment that we must learn to love, but forever." I think one of the greatest things I've learned as a wife, is that to properly love my husband, I need to focus on how I can be a better woman. So often, especially early in a marriage, both spouses are trying to change the other person, to mold them into who they want the other to be. I have learned and, I'm still learning, that when I become a better me, I love Dustin better and that, in turn, frees him to be a better him. And I don't want to become better just so that Dustin will fix his faults. I want to become better so that I can love him better. I want him to know that it is my desire to love him more and more as the years go by. Learning to love well does take hard work, because it necessarily requires that you face yourself and see that parts of you need to be changed and nobody likes to think that they are the ones that need to change. I would do anything for love of this man and that includes purging negative parts of me so that I can love him better. That is what we are all called to do as spouses, Catholic Pilgrims. So, love your spouse well, because they are yours to love. *And before any feminist has to ask, yes, he does the same for me.
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