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I find it hard to believe that Lent is nearly over. This year it has flown by for me. Here we are almost at April and it feels like we just celebrated Christmas a few weeks back. Things that I learned over this Lent. 1. Our base priest had to leave for the entire Lenten season for training and so we haven't had Daily Mass on base. I have felt that loss intensely and I'm very much looking forward to our priest being back. What an unfortunate time for Daily Mass to be taken away. I live in the middle of nowhere on a base in the desert and this made it feel even more stripped down and desert-y. But, it has made my soul yearn even more for Christ. 2. I learned something about myself with regards to exercise. I've been trying to exercise every day for Lent. Before Covid, I had been working out for years in the gym. That's where I like to be. But, gyms were shut down and I lost my habit which was a bit jarring. Then, we moved to Turkey and exercise, other than walking, is not really a part of their culture, so I still struggled to get my habit back. Once we moved back to the States, my son was at the age where he was too old for child care at any gym, but too young to be out in the gym, so that didn't work. I've been trying ever since to get that habit back, but I always just feel frustrated. Finally, I realized that I've been trying to go back to how I worked out in my early 20s. My expectation has been that I have to go back to intense workouts, but I don't have that desire. So, I changed my expectations for a late 40s woman and that has made a huge difference. All this to say, sometimes to make things work--praying, working out, reading, etc., we need to reevaluate and change things up if our stage of life calls for it. 3. Fasting is the craziest thing: I can avoid certain foods if I don't think about them, but the second I start avoiding it for fasting purposes, well, then it's all I want. Lol. We are headed into my favorite week of the year--Holy Week. I pray you stay strong with your Lenten observances. Have a blessed Friday, Catholic Pilgrims. *Picture was taken by my sister, Beth, outside the Cathedral in Santa Fe.
Continue ReadingWhen I was in my late teens, all the way into my early 30s, I loved to verbally fight. I loved the adrenaline rush, the confrontation, the back and forth, the chance to land a verbal blow, and, most of all, I loved the feeling of being victorious, no matter the cost. I honestly didn't know how to engage in healthy debate. Debate is good. It flushes out ideas, weighs insights, and, if it's authentic, its goal should be to find the truth. I didn't understand any of this. All I wanted was an opponent to embarrass and figuratively destroy. I believed the winner would be the loudest, the most crass, the most aggressive, and the most belittling. Thank God, for the grace to not desire that way anymore. That intense, ugly energy has been spent and I think it's because I finally saw myself in other people online. For years now, I've watched loads of people act in the same way I used to act. It now causes me to cringe. I still love a good debate, I'm still a bit sarcastic, I still feel compelled to correct wrong beliefs. Those things haven't gone away. Last Thursday when I was visiting the Cathedral in Santa Fe, I looked up over the door into the church and saw what you see in this picture. The church was founded by Franciscans and what you see are the words that Jesus said to St. Francis of Assisi--"Rebuild my Church." Initially, St. Francis took that very literally and started rebuilding a dilapidated church, but God meant it somewhat differently, a spiritual rebuilding. We will rebuild, or rather reform, nothing with overly aggressive, crass, and ugly language. All you will do is break people's spirits and push them away. "You might win the argument but lose the soul." Venerable Fulton Sheen If we are joyless, rigid, and angry, Catholic Pilgrims, when we speak of the Catholic Church, who on earth do we think we are going to draw in? None, if any. So, be sure to live the faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday.
Continue ReadingI've taken dozens of photos of me in front of church remains over the years. I didn't even know I was going to run into this old Spanish church on a hike in Pecos National Historic Park this past week. But, I was very excited when I saw it along the trail. What a find for a pilgrim! At one point, I'd see these old remains and feel deep grief over what has been lost. To be sure, I'd love it if all the Catholic Churches that now lay in ruins were still with us in good condition. This church would have been amazing. People get sad over this and understandably so. A once great church has gone out of use. It's not something to be thrilled about, that's for sure. But, it doesn't depress me like it once did and I'll tell you why. Catholics fret pretty consistently about the state of things in the Church. "Crisis is everywhere!" they yell. While we should always been working for reform and we shouldn't stick our heads in the sand, I have come to see that the Holy Spirit will not let Christ's Church fall. Since the beginning, the Church has had to deal with one crisis after another. Persecution--Heresies--Scandal--Corruption None of these things are good by any stretch of the imagination and, yet, here we are some two thousand years later. Buildings will come and go within the Church, that's just the way of things. Bad people will come and go, because you can't escape sinners in this life. But, good people and good works will always come in to build up where others have torn down. Saints will be born in each age and rise up to handle things with their gifts, in their way with the help of God's grace. I'm also reminded that material things in this life are temporary, they are not meant for forever. But, the Body of Christ--that invisible, supernatural reality--is forever. So, when I visit these churches that seem lost to time, I thank God for the Catholics that built them, sustained the faith, and passed it on so that I might have it, too. That was their time...and this is my time and your time. The material things we build will fall and crumble someday, but the Faith we pass on will keep the Church alive and that is what matters most. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
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