Cardinal Dolan on the Colbert Report

One of my favorite famous Catholics, Stephen Colbert, had Cardinal Dolan on his show this week! I've embedded the videos so you can watch their interview too!

Part 1:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/428795/september-03-2013/timothy-dolan-pt--1

Part 2:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/428796/september-03-2013/timothy-dolan-pt--2

Be sure to check out Cardinal Dolan's new book, "Praying in Rome: Reflections on the Conclave and Electing Pope Francis." I read it after it first came out and really enjoyed the peek into what happens while at the conclave (of course, Cardinal Dolan couldn't share everything that happened at the conclave, but it was still a worthwhile read!).

Here is a link to that book: http://www.imagecatholicbooks.com/book/234728/praying-in-rome/

Who Will Be Greatest?

A Bible passage is stuck in my head today...it is from Luke 9:43-48. In this passage, the disciples end up arguing over who will be the greatest. It does not surprise me that this argument happened, it is something that I think all of us struggle with in our lives. We want to be the "favorite" child, student, friend, or employee. We want to hold that high regard in someone's life, we want to earn the favor of our peers and of our superiors - and the higher in power the person that we earn the favor of, the more justified and powerful we in turn feel.

I can totally see why the disciples would want to be the "highest" person on Jesus' disciple roster - who wouldn't want to hold that highest position? I think it is something that all of us should want to achieve with our lives! It is interesting though, because Jesus goes on to tell them that whoever is the least among them will become the greatest...that means continually dying to oneself in order to live for God. I should probably mention that there is room for all of us on Jesus' #1 roster - he loves us all the same and we can show our appreciation by living for him.

I must say that one of my biggest flaws is that I want to be the most important person to everyone. I love staying in contact with people that I have met, and I want to be held in high regards in all of those peoples' lives...but that is simply impossible, and I think that sometimes when I know I don't hold that high position in their life, I want to do everything in my power to become someone of huge importance to them...but this is such a wrong desire. Everyone holds different interests and some personalities "click" better than others - it's impossible to be the #1 person for everyone you know...you just need to do what you do best -- be yourself and show them the same love that Christ shows you.

Love and Support in Trying Times

If Jesus was here today, he wouldn't be focusing his time on his devoted followers...he would be going after the lost, the confused, the downtrodden...I'm not saying he would ignore his loyal followers, certainly he would give teachings to all just as he did to large crowds in so many Bible stories, but many of the stories we hear about Jesus also involve him making differences in the lives of those who NEED to be turned around.

That being said, I have been struggling lately with how to properly show Jesus' love to those who are the lost, confused, and misled. Jesus told us to love everyone, and we should, but showing love doesn't mean that we have to drag ourselves down into the hole with those people. No, instead we are to stand as a beacon of light to show the way out of the bad habits or problems others may be facing. It has been so difficult throughout my life to see friends or acquaintances begin to live a life that pulls them away from God's calling to them, they follow people who only make them weaker rather than stronger, and rather than showing these people how to lead their own life in Christ...the person instead loses their own identity in Christ.

How do we help our friends or the people we see doing this? How do you properly continue to show love to this person when you become bitter or angry at their sudden change? I must admit, I do not know the answer, and every chance I have had in my life to steer a friend back to their faith has only ended in failure. As I face this confusion and disappointment once again, I am still at a loss of what to do. What I am praying for is that God gives me the grace, patience, and love needed to be firmly standing behind this person throughout this time in their life...and I am asking God to help me to be accepting if they ever decide to turn back.

"Soulprint" by Mark Batterson

Over the past several years, Mark Batterson has become my favorite author. I follow his blog and try to get my hands on his new books as soon as possible. One of the things I love about Mark is that he is so prayerfully intentional with his books - he prays over what he is writing and asks God to put his books into the hands of people that it will help, and I truly believe that his prayers work.

Mark's writing can reach anyone at any point in their life. Right now, I personally am going through a bit of a transition, one where I am questioning my faith and God's hand in my life. Soulprint could not have landed in my hands at a better moment. Within the first two pages of the book, Mark's writing had cut straight to the core of my soul. I ended up re-reading those first two pages several times that first night and then meditating on Mark's words until I went to sleep. I couldn't even read any further, I couldn't believe how much truth Mark had put into my life in just two pages!

I read Mark's book within about a week, which is pretty fast for me to complete a book, and found myself often sitting and contemplating the book. This is not a book that you can just sit, read the information, and move on with your life. This book will have you reflecting on your own life, who you are as an individual in the eyes of God, and moving forward in a way that will positively change your view on yourself, life, and God.

I highly recommend any of Mark's books, and especially his new book, Soulprint. I have already ordered 4 extra copies to give to friends and family so that they can also begin their journey to find who they truly are in God's infinite love.

Musings on the "Our Father"

I received this in an email newsletter I subscribe to...I felt you may enjoy reading it as well!

Our Father: (from St. Gregory Catholic Church, Smithville, TN)

I cannot say Our

If my faith has no room for others, especially the poor and their needs.

I cannot say Father

If I do not remember that no community is more central than family.

I cannot say Who art in Heaven

If my interests are selfish and I forget about Mother Earth.

I cannot say Hallowed be your name

Unless I remember that each person is the clearest reflection of God among us.

I cannot say Your Kingdom come

Unless I am willing to work towards building your reign here and now.

I cannot say Your will be done

If I stand in judgement of others and do not remember that we are all one human family.

I cannot say on Earth as it is in heaven

Unless I trust in the will of God.

I cannot say Give us this day our daily bread

Unless I remember the million who go to bed hungry each day or the thousands who die each day of starvation.

I cannot say Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

Unless I remember that each person possesses the basic dignity that comes from God.

I cannot say deliver us from evil,

Unless I am prepared to pray for all God's people, the dignity of life, and justice for all.

I cannot say for the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are Yours, now and forever,

Unless I remember that my baptismal call is working in service for God's plan.

Amen.

New Server!

Our offices are getting a new server system. It will be great once it's done - all of our files will be backed up and we'll be able to use any of the printers in the building that are hooked up to the server - we'll also finally be attached digitally to the school - however, this has also meant I've been away from my office for a few days as they set up my "new" computer. My computer has been getting an overhaul of updates which will be great...but I am now in the back corner at the "website computer" being exiled until my updating is done. It's been nice to be in the office across from Kayleen since we can discuss what we're doing without phone calls or emails, but it also means all of my files are far away from me! Oh well. Sooner or later it will all be back to normal.

For now, I'm signing off, from my office of exile. :)

Hiatus - Done!

Well, after a year of not posting...I think I'm going to try to resurrect the blog. From now on, it will be a variety of things - reminders, updates, reflections, summaries of events, etc. Hopefully it will be entertaining and informational.

So. My first new update will be for this week! I am happy to say that we are finally getting ahead of schedule with lessons! What a dream it has been! Changing to new curriculum has really made things much easier for myself and for the catechists. Hopefully you will see less stress in all of us. :) That being said: my new goal is to tackle my office....who wants to come help me organize my life??

let's be more than hype and talk...

Lent freedom!

So. It's less than a week into Lent...and I'm figuring that many of you have probably given something up for Lent, right? How is that going? Feeling good? Feeling stressed? So far...I've heard most people saying that they are starting to feel the pains from what they gave up.

For Lent, I decided to give up eating out. I decided it was ok for me to order beverages at restaurants, I just can't order food (I threw that in there so I could at least have the social aspect of going out to eat and not be a jerk to the waiter/waitress by not ordering anything). I decided that this was what I was giving up several weeks before Lent began, and when I would tell people what I was doing they would always have the same reaction: "That is going to be SO HARD!" ....I don't know if they were saying that because they thought it would be hard for me or if they thought it would be hard in general....I'm hoping it was the latter one.

And if I can be honest, I was looking forward to Lent and giving up going out to eat. I knew that it was becoming way too main of a source of my diet so it was hurting my health and hurting my checkbook! I was so excited for the day that I could finally decline going out to eat since I had given it up for God! Otherwise I would have just stuck to my typical ways.

Then it dawned on me...all of these people who are struggling to give up something for Lent...while I'm feeling a great sense of freedom even though it's something most people are telling me would be a burden...and I wonder if everyone could feel the same way as me? If everyone could find something "bad" for them to give up where they could feel freedom rather than pain? Most people give up something that they know isn't good for them but what they do anyways - such as drinking pop or eating sweets - and most people really struggle with giving these up. Maybe it's because even though they know it's bad for them...they don't think it's that big of a deal to actually need to give it up? Like it's not hurting them enough that they should have to give it up...and maybe I was just in the right place since I was sick of eating out so much and wanted to give it up and knew that with the upcoming Lent that it was a reason good enough for me to give it up.

Abstaining from harmful things for the sake of God gives us strength and gives God glory. I haven't heard of anyone giving up something that was good for them...so I hope that you find some freedom in what you gave up for Lent. I know I will have a few times when I will struggle with the fact that I cannot eat out, but I know that I am going to feel much more freedom from this experience than feeling like it is a burden. And maybe that is what Lent can be about - gaining that amazing freedom that comes by the time we reach Easter morning...rather than only the somberness of the Lenten season leading up to it.

Happy Lent everyone!

you are remembered...

One thing you can always count on in this world is death...sad, but true. And the older you get...the more you see it. Last year, I lost one of my high school friends on February 5th to a suicide, and four years ago on February 12th, my college roommate lost her brother to a car accident. So for my blog today...I would like to repost my blog about my friend from last year, and I'd like to say a little something about my friend who lost her brother.

It was the spring semester of my junior year at college. For whatever reason, I chose to take a full day of classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I was up bright and early to get ready for my 8 am class. Before leaving the apartment, I would usually check my email to make sure I hadn't received any emails from professors regarding class that day...and there was an email from my previous roommate. We had a pretty close group of friends involving all of us that lived on the same floor freshmen year - and she had emailed all of us saying: "I might not be around this next week. My brother died last night, so I am going home today and will be there for awhile."

Imagine my shock! First off, I was wondering why in the world she hadn't called all of us immediately rather than emailed...and secondly, I felt such heartache for her losing her brother. I went and woke up my roommate to tell her and then began to call all of our friends who wouldn't have seen the email yet.

Our group of friends came together that night to pray for the family and for her brother...and then within the next few days we went to the visitation. It's so surreal when these things happen, and we did what we could to be there for her...and to help her work through all of the emotions with this tragedy. Within the first few months, I told her that I felt like we could never completely comprehend or "get over" the death of those so close to us...that we would still struggle with it in different ways for the rest of our life.

Last year I received a call from this friend around this time...and when I let our conversation regarding our current life updates up come to a little lull, she finally said why she had really been calling: to remind me that it was the anniversary of her brother's death. I received that same call again this year, and I felt honored to have received it. I'm not sure who else she called, but the fact that she felt like I was someone who would listen and care for her as she once again processes the emotions related to her brother's death was great.

This Friday, I am planning on joining her as she travels to her hometown to visit her brother's grave again. I'm pretty sure it will be emotional...even though it has been four years.

Rest in peace, Joe Hartmann and Mike Winans. You are both still greatly missed.