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Several years ago, my family was stationed in Las Vegas. The Air Force Ball is in September and, having not been to one in years, my husband and I decided to go.
We bought our tickets, got all fancied up, and set off to the dinner and dance.
In my pride, I stupidly thought that since my husband was a newly minted Lt. Col, we would have dinner seats towards the front with the big wigs.
However, when we got there, our seats were at the furthest table from everything. We were tucked back in the corner. As we approached our table, it was already filled; only our two spots were vacant. The crazy thing was, was that it was filled with old retired military guys and their wives. My husband was the only active duty guy at the table.
As we sat down, I thought to myself, “How the heck did we get this table?”
But, as I sat there, I have to say, we had the primo spot. I was surrounded by couples with amazing stories. They weren’t trying to impress anyone with fake smiles and surface-level conversations. My husband and I were given a most excellent gift that night getting to sit amongst guys barely able to fit into their uniforms anymore, but who had shed all pretense.
They joked, argued, told fantastic stories, gave advice, and through it all, my husband and I just soaked it up. At one point, I looked around the room at the other tables. Everyone was stiff and proper. Then I looked at my table full of men and women who wanted nothing more than to just laugh, swap stories, and enjoy the evening.
I learned a great lesson that night, one that Jesus teaches about in today’s Gospel reading from Matthew. That lesson is:
Don’t go looking for places and seats of honor. Don’t think that authority and power are where it’s at. In my pride, I wanted to be up front at the dinner, which is wrong and selfish.
Instead, I was humbled, and placed in the very back with probably the coolest people in the room with the best stories.
When we go looking for honors and praise, Catholic Pilgrims, we only look to serve ourselves and life becomes a bit bland. When we, instead, are more interested in others, that’s when life becomes very full and fascinating.
Have a blessed Sunday.
Yesterday, my oldest daughter and I were FaceTiming with my sister. At one point in the conversation, we got around to talking about an old boyfriend of my sister's that she dated like 20 years ago. Needless to say, he wasn't the best guy to her. My sister said, "Did I tell you guys that he wrote me a letter awhile back?" My daughter and I were shocked. "What?! No, you didn't tell us. What did he say?" My sister had a screen shot of it and she started searching for it to read it to us. While we were waiting, I was joking about him. In my mind, I assumed the letter was going to be some sappy I-want-you-back letter. I thought, "Oh, boy, can't wait to hear this pathetic letter. Of course, he's been obsessed with her all this time." My sister found it and she read it to us. After each sentence, I kept waiting for him to beg and plead for her back. But..he didn't. In fact, the letter was an apology letter. He apologized to my sister, took complete ownership for his bad behavior, and wished her well. That was it. No begging. No desperation. No strings attached. It was simply him trying to make amends. I was stunned. And then I felt two things: 1. Shame over how quick I was to assume that the letter was just going to be some pathetic attempt at getting my sister back after all these years and 2. A deep sadness that I have never received such a letter from my two boyfriends that treated me so terribly. Very quickly, though, I changed my heart and mind. I needed to be glad that my sister's ex had changed as a man and tried to make peace. We should be grateful when people have a true conversion and owe up to their sins. I needed to be thankful that he apologized to my sister. As for not receiving apology letters myself, well, I need to be okay with that. Maybe it will happen, but maybe it won't. I need to continue to pray, though, for my two ex-boyfriends regardless. May we always hope and pray that people find a way to confession, redemption, and, if possible, reconciliation, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingThis is Mission Miguel in Sante Fe, New Mexico. It is the oldest church in the United States, which the original walls and altar built in 1610. It's so wonderful that we still have it. There was a time, when the church was the focal point of a town or village. Life moved and centered itself around the church, because the Sacraments were just that important. Whenever people moved to a new area, a church needed to be built. It was a necessity. You don't hear too often, though, of people moving to an area because of a vibrant church community. Jobs and schools are the two main considerations, which isn't bad in the slightest. Both of those things are important things to consider. However, I rarely, if ever, hear someone mention the importance of moving somewhere where the church community is strong and thriving. It's a lower-tiered consideration, if it's even one at all. Of course, work may call you to a place where life isn't centered around church and worship. In those circumstances, it is up to us to continue to find ways to feed our hearts and minds with good spiritual things. Our souls cannot be neglected. I love St. Frances Cabrini's practice. No matter where she was or what island or country she was sailing past, she always looked for the steeples to let her know where Jesus was residing in the Tabernacle. Have a blessed Tuesday, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingOn our road trip, my husband and I stopped in Oklahoma City for the night. We got in town with time to go visit Blessed Stanley Rother's Shrine. It was one of the places I've been wanting to see. We got there kind of late in the day on a Wednesday, so there weren't many people around. As we were walking up the sidewalk, I saw a worker standing with a small group of people and she looked like she was trying to protect them. As I got closer, I could see that there was a lady there who clearly was causing problems. She looked a bit disheveled and agitated. She was not speaking kindly and it seemed she was maybe on drugs. As we approached, the worker tried to block her from us and, smiling nervously, encouraged us to make our way to the church. The second we passed by the small crowd, the upset woman immediately started following my husband and me. It was then that she started spewing the most vile things at us, specifically at my husband. I was so grateful that my son was not around to hear her words. There is a scene in "The Green Mile" where the wife of the warden is seriously ill. Normally she is the sweetest most gentle woman, but because of a brain tumor, her whole personality changed into what resembled demonic possession. That's exactly how the lady following us was acting. At first, given my background of working in a field that brings you in contact with awful behavior, I thought for sure she was using drugs. And she may have been. I was worried that she was going to follow us into the church and I couldn't bear to think of her language in such a holy place. But, as we opened the door, she stopped before the steps. Stopped like she hit a wall and couldn't go any further. Then I knew, this had to be possession. Part of me wanted to rebuke the demon within her, but I've never done anything like that before. Could I even do that? Do I have that power? I do as a baptized and confirmed Christian and I should have done it. The second I saw that she couldn't cross the threshold of the church and realized what was going on, I should have rebuked that demon and prayed for her out loud. In our Gospel reading today, the disciples realize that the demons are subject to them because of Jesus' name and Christ affirms that. To be sure, regular lay people shouldn't go around trying to be exorcists, but, if the situation calls for it, we should use the power of Jesus' name. Also, not everything is demonic possession and we shouldn’t jump to that conclusion in haste. The cops showed up and she ran off, but I've been thinking about her a lot. I've been praying for her and for myself to have courage if ever faced with that situation again. Spiritual warfare is real, Catholic Pilgrims, and we need to use all the tools available to us. The most powerful being the Holy Name of Jesus. Have a blessed Sunday.
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