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My husband was talking the other day about the selfishness of the age with me and two of our kids. “What many people try to do is turn inward for “me” time. They think that if they can just focus on themselves enough they will be happy. So, the only person they give to is themselves. They give themselves time and attention. They spend all their money on themselves. They focus on self-love instead of giving love. What people fail to understand is that when you give yourself away, you will get back more and that is when you find you are actually happy.” This is what Christ wants us to do—give ourselves away. He wants us to trust and listen to Him even when what He asks seems crazy or impossible. Just do what He says; cast yourself out into the deep. When we do this, we will receive back more than we ever thought possible, Catholic Pilgrims. Others will be loved and we will be, too. It’s a win-win. Have a blessed Sunday. *Lake of Gennesaret aka Sea of Galilee
On Christmas, my grandmother brought out a bunch of cards that had questions on them. She went around the room and picked one person at a time to ask a question to. At one point, she asked a member of my family, "Do you lean towards justice or mercy?" The person said, "Mercy." It was one of those questions that everyone kinda wanted to answer. As everyone was speaking at once, my husband said, "Hold up, hold up. I have a theory and I want to see if it's true." He then went around the room and asked each person which one--mercy or justice? All the men said, "Justice." All the women said, "Mercy," except two women. I was one of the two. Once everyone gave their answer, my husband said, "That's pretty much what my theory was: I thought the women would lean towards mercy and the men towards justice. This is good because we need both to keep each other in check. God is perfect justice and mercy and this balance of the sexes is an attempt to be more like Him." Later that night, my husband and I talked about it. He said, "Mercy without justice leads to false compassion. Justice without mercy leads to oppression. The thing with mercy is that the person receiving it has to have a contrite heart or the mercy is wasted and the person will go on to continue bad behavior. The thing with justice is that if you never acknowledge a truly contrite heart, you squash redemption and restoration." I asked, "Why am I justice focused? Why am I not like other women?" "Well, because you have seen the worst of the worst in your field. You know that to show mercy to people who aren't really sorry--and you've seen plenty of people that have no qualms over the evil they've done--would mean letting them off the hook to go hurt more people. That would be unjust to those that would be hurt." When we come to God seeking mercy, Catholic Pilgrims, He will always give it to us--even if justice demands punishment--as long as we are seeking repentance and we are contrite. We cannot go to God and ask for mercy while not being one bit sorry for the wrong that we have done and completely intending to do it again. Justice and mercy are both needed for a healthy society. Live the faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.
One of the surest truths of life is that you will at some point be hurt by another human. No one escapes this. There are different responses to this hurt. One is to become bitter. Another is to guard your heart and not really let anyone in. And yet another is to close in on yourself. The bitter person turns right around and seeks to hurt others which is ironic. They desire revenge. The stone-hearted one attempts to love with just a portion of their heart. Their lack of trust leaves them and everyone around them starved for love. The closed-in one never flowers into who God created them to be. They cradle their victimhood like a security blanket. I read this in "The Diary of a Country Priest" yesterday: "I believe, in fact I am certain, that many men never give out the whole of themselves, their deepest truth. They live on the surface, and yet, so rich is the soil of humanity that even this thin outer layer is able to yield a kind of meagre (sic) harvest which gives the illusion of real living." If we live that way, we can never be Saints. To be a Saint, we must allow God to make us become fully alive. We have to love even when it hurts. We have to use our gifts and talents to the full extent. We have to give of ourselves knowing full well we won't always get a positive response in return. We might be able to fake the "illusion of real living" through busyness and mindless entertainment, but we will feel the weight of a meager life lived only on the surface. What I love about the Saints is that they gave their whole self, dug deep into the soil, and were fully alive. At the end of their pilgrimage through life, they could say my favorite verse: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7 So, live the faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday, Catholic Pilgrims.
My oldest daughter, who is a Focus missionary, recently came back from SEEK 2025. She remarked, "In my opinion, the most beautiful part of SEEK is always the Mass, especially seeing the hundreds of priests there ministering to the thousands and thousands of students, missionaries, and families." Each time she's been to SEEK, she brims with joy when she talks about seeing the long, long line of priests process in for Mass. The other day, I was reading St. Frances Cabrini's words for my podcast. She was writing after many days on a ship heading from France to NY. At one point she says, "When we arrive on land, we shall look for a priest at once." The reason? She wanted Holy Communion. That got me thinking about one particular Mass in Ohio that moved me to the point of tears. There surrounding the altar were several priests, a deacon, and eight altar boys. It was such a stunningly powerful image. I cannot spiritual live without priests. The power invested in them by Almighty God to change mere bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord is supernatural. I need priests and you do, too. Why does my daughter get overwhelmed at the sight of hundreds of priests at Mass? Because she recognizes the immense sacrifices they endure for us so that we can have Christ in the Eucharist. Why did Mother Cabrini need to find a priest immediately upon landing? Because no one else could give her Christ in the Eucharist. Why did I get choked up seeing men and boys on their knees around the altar while the priest elevated the consecrated Host? Because the gravity of what God is doing through the priest is just incredible. Thank a priest when you get the chance, Catholic Pilgrims, and pray for them. If you are a priest reading this, thank you for feeding your sheep with the Bread of Life.
My husband talks pretty frequently about how authentic love must necessarily involve sacrifice. “If it doesn’t, it’s nothing more than self-serving emotions, which is why you see so many people abandon those they claim to love. Once it stops feeling good, people jump ship because they don’t want to sacrifice.” It’s no different with Christ. If we cannot sacrifice one single thing for Christ, our claims of love are empty and meaningless. If we can’t sacrifice one hour on Sunday… If we can’t sacrifice giving up bad entertainment that we like… If we can’t sacrifice rooting out our favorite sin… If we can’t sacrifice our time to do God’s Will… then we like the idea of being a Christian and that’s about all. True love for Christ should make us radically change our lives. It should make us desire holiness, Catholic Pilgrims, and that takes sacrifice. So, live the faith boldly and travel well this Monday. *Church is Our Lady of Sorrows in Santa Barbara, CA
I was reading about the early Church martyrs the other day and each time I do, I am utterly inspired by their faith. While they didn't go purposefully seeking martyrdom, they, also, didn't hide their "lamp" under a bushel basket. As I sat thinking of those that lived out the faith so courageously, I thought about the current state of Christianity in the West. For decades now, Christians have been told to hide their faith and keep it in private. "We don't want to see it, so keep it to yourself." What saddens me is that we complied. We shuffled off to our hidey-holes and tried to sanitize our public lives to make sure nobody was offended or could catch a whiff of Christianity on us. Then, I realized that the goal became to look just like the secular crowd--blend in. Champion what the secular culture wants, twist the words in the Bible to make the Bible conform to what non-believers would have it say. Stop calling out sin because that's mean and judgy. In fact, the goal became to do everything the secular culture encouraged. Until, there came a day, when you couldn't tell a Christian from a non-Christian. That was me once. Sure, I called myself a Christian, but I couldn't be bothered with church and the Bible. I didn't want to clean up my language, my habits, my entertainment, or anything. Heaven forbid, I appear too Christian. Had the early Christians been like me, Christianity would have faded out like the Beatles on "Hey Jude." It would have been just a nice thought once upon an ancient time. All that they bled and died for, I was too embarrassed and cowardly to show and live. They fought to give me the faith and I sadly took it from their hands and slid it into the back closet where things go to collect dust and be forgotten. We either live the Faith boldly, Catholic Pilgrims, or not at all. We either shine our light or we become just a dim, dull shell of a Christian, unimpressive and uninspiring. So, live the Faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.
We are T-minus three days out from Season Five dropping on my podcast "Journeying with the Saints." On Saturday, the introduction episode will come out and you can hear why I picked St. Frances Cabrini for this season and I'll give some background information on her. I'll also give you a run down on how the season is going to operate. It's a little different this time. I've been doing this podcast for five seasons now which is incredible to me. My brother prompted me to start a podcast back in 2019 and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to. After all, there are like 900 million podcasts out there and who was I to add another? I half-heartedly tried a Catholic Pilgrim podcast, but I just couldn't get the gears rolling. Then, lying on my bed one day in Turkey, the idea came into my head to read St. Faustina's Diary for a 365-day podcast. As crazy and ambitious as that idea sounded, I knew I had to do it. I wanted to bring the Saints' writings to people and that was the motivation and inspiration I needed. So, with my cheap microphone propped up on an ironing board, I started my first season. It was received better than I could have ever hoped. Five seasons in and I'm continually amazed at how the Saints guide me. Once I land on a particular saint, I definitely notice how they are working in my life. Season Five hasn't even started and I've already been blessed by so many people and opportunities. I've spoken with people at different shrines dedicated to St. Frances and the collaboration has been amazing. I've been excited for every season, but this one has been laced with connections that I couldn't have imagined. Later in the year, I've got some trips--pilgrimages--that I can't wait to share with you. So, I hope you are ready. You can find my podcast pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts and please subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Share with a friend if you can. It's going to be a great season, Catholic Pilgrims! St. Frances Cabrini, pray for us!
A few years after I entered the Catholic Church, I decided to pick up St. Thomas’ Summa. I thought, “How hard could this be to read?” lol. I made it about two pages in and gently set it to the side. At that time, I was not primed for reading something like that. Since that time, I’ve worked really hard to educate myself and learn how to think deeply, not just emotionally. More than anything, St. Thomas has taught me how to have integrity in my thinking and how to seek truth. I’ll share what I’ve learned from him. 1. You must always read the primary source. In this day and age, quotes are taken out of context and used to press an agenda. Go to the source. 2. Reactionary thinking is often flawed. If people are trying to get you ginned up and emotional, chances are, you will miss the truth. 3. Sit with things for a while…in silence. 4. Just because you want something to be true, doesn’t mean it is. 5. Ask questions. 6. Always look at both sides of an argument. If something does not make logical sense, you can toss it and do not have to entertain it anymore. 7. If seeking the truth is not coupled with prayer and humility, you will struggle to find it. There have been many times in my life since learning from St. Thomas Aquinas where I’ve asked, “How would St. Thomas handle this situation?” He’s been a good guide, Catholic Pilgrims. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday. St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
"Man can counterfeit everything in himself except a clean conscience." When we were stationed at Tyndall AFB, one of my husband's favorite things to do was to rent a boat for visitors. Whenever we would cruise around the bay, I'd be fine. However, if you got me out onto the open ocean, it was within minutes that I would feel nauseous. One day, my husband and I went out with my sister and her then boyfriend. My sister and I immediately started feeling sick and my husband said, "Stand up, look at the horizon, and smile." If you can imagine it, there we were standing stick straight, holding onto the boat, staring off into the distance with stupid fake smiles on our face. But, the fake smiles worked, we started to feel better. I get motion sickness pretty easily and whenever I'm feeling bad, my husband tells me to smile or force a laugh. It's ridiculous, but it works. I can fake it until I make it when it comes to motion sickness. Yesterday, in my OCIA class, I was telling the catechumens about my first confession. Being raised Protestant, I didn't have Confession at my disposal and I thought it was stupid anyway. I could just "talk to Jesus in my head and ask Him to forgive my sins." I never did this, but that was my argument. Plus, Jesus covered all my sins already, so what was the point really in confessing anything. AND to add to that, I wasn't *that* bad, so I didn't really have that much to confess, or so I thought. I faked a lot of happiness and goodness in my life and a lot of people were convinced. I could not convince myself, though. You cannot fake a clean conscience on the inside. Eventually, it will eat you up. You cannot fake it until you make it with regards to a clean conscience. I could trick my brain with fake smiles so that I wouldn't feel motion sickness. But, I could not trick my soul with fake smiles so that I wouldn't "feel" my unclean conscience. There was something I needed to do to clean my conscience and that was to go to Confession. "Conscience brings to man rewards of happiness or of pain: rewards of vivid life or--of death." --Dirk Coster A clean conscience rewards of happiness, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed Monday.
This is a Nazareth kitty. I'm from a small town just outside the Kansas City area. My mom used to work for the city and, consequently, everyone knew who I was. I was very familiar to a lot of people and, to many, I still am. It's always a bit hard to go back to your hometown once you've started out on your journey. People in town just see you as who you once were or how they once knew you. This is comforting on the one hand because you'll always feel you belong. However, it is hard for them to see you as a person that has grown and changed. For them, you will always just be the person before you left town. That's what they are familiar with. Today, in our Gospel reading from Luke, we hear, "He came to Nazareth, where He had grown up." We know from other verses that people in Nazareth didn't take to Jesus coming back and being different than when He was young and lived among them. He was just Jesus, the carpenter's son. That was who was familiar to them. In their minds, He needed to just stay in that lane--just the "ordinary" Nazareth guy. Because Jesus was familiar to them, they had a hard time accepting His authority, His mission. Sometimes, I fear that we are like the townspeople of Nazareth. Jesus becomes just a pal, someone we know, someone we can hang with, you know...the familiar guy. When He becomes familiar in that way, we start to not see Him as the authority in our lives, and as Our King, Our Lord, and Our Savior. For some, familiarity breeds contempt. It did with many of the townspeople in Nazareth. It does with many of us today. We are familiar with Jesus, but we don't really want Him to have too much influence. We don't want to listen to Him too closely. If He tries to guide our lives in a direction we don't want to go, we tell Him how it's gonna be. If we hear anything from the Gospel that doesn't fit our worldview, we get mad and upset. It's not enough to just be familiar with Jesus. We need to know Him, seek Him, revere Him, and be in awe of Him. We can never say, "Oh, Jesus, yeah, I know that guy." Instead, Catholic Pilgrims, let us say with the Apostle Thomas, "Jesus, my Lord and my God." Have a blessed Sunday.
Happy Friday, Catholic Pilgrims. Tis the season for executive orders and so, what would be the executive orders I would sign IMMEDIATELY if I were President? 1. All vats of hard-boiled eggs soaking in their egg juice at hotel breakfasts would be banned. No more sulfur bombs allowed. 2. Any Christmas song by a former Beatles member would be stripped from the catalog of available Christmas songs and sent to the vault where all bad music goes to die. 3. Turkey as a national Thanksgiving meat would cease. 4. Any man who wants to grow a mustache must submit documentation explaining why they want a mustache and provide their wife/girlfriend with an example photo of what he would look like with one. She will review it and decide if it is allowed. She has full veto power. 5. All college football conferences will have numbers in their names that reflect the actual number of teams in the conference. However, as the numbers seem to change each year, I strongly recommend picking a conference name with no number or geographical location. 6. Dressing rooms across the land must remove all bad lighting and all fun-house mirrors. Nobody wants to look like death-warmed over when trying to buy new clothes. We need to look alive and the mirrors should reflect actual size. Any businesses found not in compliance will be run out of town by a pitch-fork mob. 7. Any object that requires placement in a bag (tent, sleeping bad, outdoor chairs, cots, etc) must have a bag that doesn't require people to wrestle with it on the ground to get said object back in the bag. It is time to add more fabric to the bag and I will see to it that Americans everywhere are free from this plight. 8. Kansas City barbecue will be recognized as the Nation's best barbecue and I will hear no more from those on the east coast. 9. Federal agents will be sent to all homes to confiscate the box-o-cords that every man has stashed somewhere. The 1994 Compaq desktop monitor cord is not longer needed. 10. Any person found to be a Bills' fan just for this upcoming weekend will be sent to federal prison for fraud. My goal, Catholic Pilgrims, will be to make life better for all Americans!
I became Catholic eight years into my marriage, seven years into the military life. I became Catholic just as we were leaving Tyndall AFB in Panama City, Florida. Since that time, it has been fascinating to see what each place teaches me and how I grow in my faith. After Tyndall, our next duty station happened to be where I am now, Edwards AFB. Back then, I was fresh into the Catholic Faith and I had so much to learn. I jumped into teaching CCD and really started to explore all things Catholic. Then, we moved to Virginia. We went to church on the campus of UVA and that church is led by Dominicans. Their homilies were the stuff of intellectual giants. I had never experienced understanding God and theological things at such a high level of intelligence. This is where I began to dive deep into studying the faith. From there, it was on to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. That was a hard move. I'm not a Vegas fan, but my family had to learn to bloom where we are planted and, in time, we did. This was where I put all that knowledge from Virginia to good use by teaching Confirmation classes. In Ohio, I learned to really integrate my faith into all aspects of my life. This is, also, when I went to the Holy Land. Turkey was like an immersion in the Acts of the Apostles and my time there growing in my faith was so rich and rewarding. Washington DC brought the joy of exploring many of the Catholic roots of our country, at least on the eastern side. Montgomery, AL was where I learned to give as much of myself to volunteering at the church and Daily Mass became a love. Now, I'm back at Edwards and since I've been here before, I've been doubtful that I can learn anything new. How can I grow in a place I've already been? But, I've kinda become the unofficial altar decorator and, yesterday, my kids and I went to clean the small Blessed Sacrament Room on base. As I vacuumed, dusted, organized, decluttered all in the presence of Jesus, I felt so good making things as beautiful as I can for Him. What I learned yesterday is that even in a desert, I can bring beauty. That is a good reminder for us all. Have a blessed Thursday, Catholic Pilgrims.
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