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Yesterday, my family went to the movies to watch “You Gotta Believe.” It’s a baseball movie based off a true story.
One of the coaches of the team comes down with brain cancer and it’s serious. He has to step back from coaching while he does chemo.
At one point in the story, this coach’s son, devastated that his father isn’t getting better, runs out on the ballfield at night and yells out to the sky, “I hate you! I hate you!”
That was enough to make the tears flow hot on my face because I once did just about the same thing, except it was a football field and I was 17.
After my night on the football field, I went on to “wrestle with God,” much like Jacob in the Bible for years.
Yesterday, after I got home from the movie, I read a comment on my post from the other day that was wildly misunderstood. So many people missed the point of my post on burdensome rules.
Anyway, a woman, still missing the point, commented that respecting Christ in the Eucharist means that we dress up for church and women cover their heads. Boom. End of discussion.
Part of me wanted to defend my deep love of Christ, but the Holy Spirit kept saying, “Stay. Just stay. Don’t do it.”
While I was standing there at the stove with tears in my eyes, I asked, “Why not? Why not let me defend my love for You?”
What I heard was, “Because for some, it will never be enough what you do. Let me handle it. I know your heart.”
I realized how true that is. Because we humans are always trying to one up each other and prove we are better, sometimes, it will never be enough for many.
I have been to the depths with God and fought my way back to a relationship that I never thought possible after that night on the football field. Nobody but God truly understands my love and respect and nobody ever will.
There are a million and one ways, Catholic Pilgrims, that we can practice our Faith. And even if we did all those ways, there would still be someone who comes along and says, “Not enough.”
Of course with God, we can never give Him enough, but the only one we need to prove anything to is Him. He knows our hearts and His understanding of our hearts is all that really matters.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday.
*Picture is from the synagogue in Capernaum from our Gospel reading today.
For this week's small-town church showcase, let's go all the way across the country, shall we? We've spent a lot of time on the eastern side; now let's move to the west. (Side note: My military family has done 5 cross-country moves. And just to let you know, the States in the west are big.) We find ourselves in Snowflake, Arizona today. When one of you sent in this photo, I laughed at the name. While I know that that Arizona does get snow at times, it still seems like an odd name for a desert state. But, it got its name from combining the last names of the two men that founded it: Erastus Snow and William Flake. Both men belonged to the LDS church. This church is Our Lady Of The Snow Catholic Church. While most of the town belongs to The Church of Latter Day Saints, this is still an active parish. While the building is plain and simple, I looked at photos of the inside and it really has a pretty altar. The deep red and dark blue coloring inside is nice, as well. Even though Catholics are outnumbered here, I know that this often brings about great bonding for a church community. You become very close and very grateful for what you have. I've spent a lot of time in Arizona and it's special to me, if for nothing else, then it's my best friend's home state. Even though I'm not a desert dweller (thought the military keeps pushing the issue), I do like Sedona, Flagstaff, and Santa Fe. So, if ever on the east side of Arizona, and you find yourself in Snowflake, attend Mass at Our Lady of the Snow. I'm betting you find a welcoming crowd, Catholic Pilgrims. Live the Faith boldly and travel well.
Continue ReadingWhen I was a young girl, I often thought, "Gosh, the Apostles were so lucky. They got to see Jesus face-to-face. They got to be in His actual presence. The rest of us just have to wait to get to Heaven." Now, of course, you can speak with Christ in prayer. You can read the Word of God and come to understand Him better. These things are incredibly important and fruitful. But, as a Protestant growing up, I didn't have an earthly clue about the Eucharist. I just had my grape juice and TicTac-sized piece of bread and we symbolically remembered Jesus at the Last Supper. It took a very long minute (read years) for me to come to understand the Catholic Church's teaching on the Eucharist. Once I had my *click* moment, I knew that I had to become Catholic. Something else I realized is that after the Ascension, Jesus didn't just ascend up into the clouds and leave us lonely. I didn't have to think that the Apostles were the only lucky ones. I could now make more sense of Jesus' words at the Great Commission right before He ascends in Heaven. "Behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 Yes, He is with us spiritually in prayer. Yes, we can read the Bible. And yes, He is still with us always on our altars in the Eucharist, fully present in Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. He may not look human in form, but He is offered to us to receive Him, thereby, taking Him into our bodies to become more like Him. God's ways are not our ways. I'm so grateful that, yes, Jesus is still physically present to us 21st century Christians in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Have a blessed Seventh Sunday of Easter, Catholic Pilgrims. *Ascension by Francisco Camilo (1651)
Continue ReadingOne early morning in Izmir, Turkey, I walked through a street that looks very much like this. I was on my way to turn in my residency paperwork, so that I could stay legally in the country while my husband was stationed there for a year. I remember thinking, "This is so crazy. I am walking on this street, in a foreign city, on old roads, far from my country and nobody really knows where I am. I would never in a million years ever thought I would be here." I thought something similar when I laid my head down on the stone in Jesus' tomb. I thought, "How did I come to be here?" Then, I closed my eyes and just let my face rest for one blessed minute on the spot where my Lord had lain . When I was younger, the path for my life did not include these experiences. I thought I'd marry a good Kansas guy and settle there for the rest of my life. But, instead, I married a military man and eventually wound up living in Turkey for a bit. When I was younger, I thought I'd always be Protestant, but I became Catholic and started this page, which led to me being asked to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which led me to going inside the tomb where Jesus rose from the dead. People worry all the time about finding that one perfect path that God has planned for them. Many fear that there is only one door to walk through and if they miss that door...too bad. This is not true. We don't need to fear that God has lined up a large line of doors and we just have to make the right choice or we've missed the boat. We just need to start walking. We need to have a plan and goals in mind, but as we walk, if doors close or don't open, we pivot and move towards what is working. Then, we pivot again or we keep trying or we change our focus. Through all this, God can work with us. He is not constrained to only being able to bless our lives if we walk through this imagined perfect door. It's not as if He says, "Man! She missed that door! Well, it's all over now, I can't help her anymore." That's why it's so important to live the faith boldly and travel well on our pilgrimage through life, trusting that God didn't pigeon-hole us into only what our limited human minds can dream up. Have a blessed Thursday, Catholic Pilgrims.
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