Content in Christ: Holy Mass

I wrote on my Facebook page a couple weeks ago, that I'd become one of "those Catholics." I've gotten to the point where Mass is the highlight of my week. And even today as I write this, on a Wednesday, I'm looking forward to Mass next Sunday. I've never been one to hate going to Church, but I definitely wasn't jumping up and down before. I went because I knew it was right, and it was pleasing to God. Now though, I truly want -- need -- to go to see and receive Jesus.

Amidst all the craziness, stress, and to-do lists of my life (of which there are uncountably many), Mass is always there, always constant. Some people may say it's boring because the same thing happens every week. Well, that same thing is the transubstantiation of ordinary bread into Jesus Christ. How in the world can that be boring? When I was at a Steubenville Youth Conference last summer, one of the Brothers (his name was Father John) told us this quote: "Father John, Church is not boring. I am." Basically, Jesus is not boring. We are if we think He is boring.

I feel that one of the reasons I've had this greater devotion to Mass and the Eucharist in the past, oh, four weeks, is because little by little, I'm abandoning myself more and more to Jesus. If I've given him all or part of myself, where else but at Mass will I feel most comfortable? It's time when I know I can pray and worship Him. And I love and desire the Divine Gift of Himself that is present at every Mass.

The things of this world are always unpredictable. People are unpredictable, jobs are unpredictable. Life is unstable on earth. And we get hurt because of that; we put our trust in the wrong person or in the wrong things, and they let us down. I've been let down before...I've let myself down. With God, though, nothing is unpredictable, but is Perfect. His Love is Perfect and Entire. How much better is this?

What kind of Love is writing my story till the end with Mercy’s pen? Only You.

What kind of king would choose to wear a crown that bleeds and scars, to win my heart?

What kind of Love tells me I’m the reason He can’t stay inside the grave?

-Natalie Grant, Alive-

At Mass, we witness the pinnacle of Christ's Love -- His offering of His Body to us, to be joined completely with us. And the Grace we receive truly makes us want to live more faithful lives in general. I started a daily rosary on April 29th, and then decided to continue that daily rosary throughout the month of May (so far, I haven't missed a day, even when it's the last thing I do before bed!) I have a feeling though that this will continue. And it's because of Jesus that I have the desire to do this in the first place. I'm finding myself content in His arms.

I feel His mercy, but I also feel even more unworthy as a sinner. I know that even if I'm not in a state of mortal sin, there is so much that I can do better in my life for Jesus. Realizing that I am content where He has me gives me more incentive and help to avoid those temptations to sin. It makes me more aware of my actions. I don't want to live a life of mediocrity. I don't want to live a life of normality. Instead, I want to live a life of contentment. And if that means looking forward to Mass, so be it. 

Happy Birthday, Catholic Church!

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit breathed His light and grace and gifts on the Apostles, empowering the Church that Jesus established. This weekend I am thrilled to be cantoring the music for all the Masses with my uncle, the music minister. It's an incredibly holy feast day and finds me joy-filled to be a part of the Mass, and even moreso part of this Church.

Father T. had a dynamic homily about the fire of the Holy Spirit. Too often we act like firefighters, he said, and we fight the Spirit's presence and workings in our lives when instead we as Christians need to be receiving His fire and burning with passion and zeal for Him and the faith He left us--and the souls who still need to hear about Him. Father asked us to look into our lives, into the areas where we are fighting the fire of the Spirit. What is holding us back from being consumed by His love and power and leading?

Father T. reminded our parish tonight that Pentecost was not only a historical event, but also an eternal event. The Holy Spirit is perpetually being poured out on the Church and its members. I pray that each one of you receives the Holy Spirit in a deeper way this Pentecost, that we be open to His workings in our minds, our hearts, and our souls. May we use the gifts He gives us for His glory and service and may His fruits be seen in our lives. Pray with me, friends: "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth."

"If we get on fire for the Lord, the world will come and watch us burn." -John Wesley

54-Day Rosary Novena

Our 54-Day Rosary Novena for our future husbands begins tomorrow, May 26th. For those of you who aren't familiar with the novena, it basically consists of this: three novenas said in supplication, and three said in thanksgiving. That is, a rosary every day for 27 days for the intention, and then a rosary every day for 27 days in thanksgiving (even if we haven't seen any visible answer).

Like last time, I'll be posting daily updates of where we are on our Facebook page.

Adding a daily prayer to St. Joseph would be a wonderful thing, as well. And here's a prayer I found at Catholic Online that you could add to your rosary:

O Jesus, lover of the young, the dearest Friend I have, in all confidence I open my heart to You to beg Your light and assistance in the important task of planning my future. Give me the light of Your grace, that I may decide wisely concerning the person who is to be my partner through life. Dearest Jesus, send me such a one whom in Your divine wisdom You judge best suited to be united with me in marriage. May his character reflect some of the traits of Your own Sacred Heart. May he be upright, loyal, pure, sincere and noble, so that with united efforts and with pure and unselfish love we both may strive to perfect ourselves in soul and body, as well as the children it may please You to entrust to our care. Bless our friendship before marriage, that sin may have no part in it. May our mutual love bind us so closely, that our future home may ever be most like Your own at Nazareth. 

O Mary Immaculate, sweet Mother of the young, to your special care I entrust the decision I am to make as to my future husband. You are my guiding Star! Direct me to the person with whom I can best cooperate in doing God's Holy Will, with whom I can live in peace, love and harmony in this life, and attain to eternal joys in the next. Amen.

School's Out!

All the boxes and bags made it safely home, and though there's still  a bit of unpacking to do it is nice, nice, nice to be home.

And I don't know about you, but in my neck of the woods it's not only vacation season, but wedding season as well. It's a fun and special time of year, but I know that for a lot of young women it can be rather hard as well. Without her joy for her friends being in the least diminished, a girl can still feel a little bit wistful and wonder what God has in store for her.

But I've always been a proponent of praying rather than moping, and since I find I have a lot of praying to do, I'm going to be starting a 54-day Rosary Novena on Saturday, May 26th for our future husbands and I invite the rest of you to join me. 

 

We did one of these late last summer, and it was beautiful to see how many of you committed to praying for the physical and spiritual well-being of your future husbands. He's somewhere out there right now, and even if we haven't met him yet we can help him with our prayers. 

Will you join me?

Oh no, here it comes: "Relationship Advice!"

I attend a small college, where everyone knows everyone else and dating is taken very seriously; which means that to start dating someone usually causes at least a few ripples in the pool of community life. So whenever a new couple forms, I notice a slew of advice starts to swirl around them from all quarters. Everyone wants to help them by offering tips, counsel, and warnings along with their congratulations.  

From a supportive and helpful community, offering advice can be very good, especially if it is coming from people you know, respect, and trust. Yet, what is a little peculiar about it is that so much of the advice seems to conflict. This wasn’t a question of “worldly view of relationships” v. “Catholic view of relationships,” but pious, prudent people offering at times seemingly contradictory views on the same question. Some of those issues have already been debated on this blog: how to define dating, when to date, when to call it “courtship,” things to avoid while dating, things to do when dating, etc.

Here's a few examples:

“I think one should date dozens of people. There are tons of important things about someone you can’t learn about them unless you enter that ‘official’ relationship stage.”

“I think I would wait until I am more certain that a person might be ‘the one,’ before I ever would consider dating them.”

“You should never start courting someone until you’re positive they’re the one for you. Until then, you should just get to know them in a group setting.”

“One shouldn’t date until after highschool, but then it’s fine.”

“Never date during the first year or two of college.”

“I don’t think it’s prudent to seriously date until after college years.”

Somehow, the subject of relationships especially seemed to resurface as a perpetual tangent in my theology classes of last year.  I think it was one of my professor’s favorite topics, and throughout the year he liberally dropped tidbits of “relationship advice” here and there like largesse, scattered amidst our Scripture studies, from Genesis to Revelation.  There was quite a bit of it, but one line stuck out to me in particular. “You should never get engaged to anyone,” he said, “Until you’ve had at least one knock-down, drag-out fight with them.” His idea was that you could never know if you could bear to be yoked for life to another person in marriage until you found out if you were able work out arguments together, square differences of opinion, and manage quarrels and reconciliations well together.

Yet, on the same campus, I heard a talk on relationships given by a happy, Catholic married couple who said, upon being asked, that to be honest, they had to admit that they had never once had a serious quarrel. And they had been married for years. 

All this is extremely confusing, but it’s typical of “relationship advice” in the Catholic world. Everyone has a different opinion, and it’s not exactly a matter of dogma that can be clarified by looking in the index of the Catechism. So, by far, I think the absolute best piece of “relationship advice” I ever heard was from one professor who, hearing how some pieces of counsel from different well-respected people seemed to conflict, said simply:

“You have to understand that everyone’s dating advice is anecdotal. It’s based on their relationship experience. So-and-so had a rough relationship in early college years that didn’t turn out right; so he thinks you shouldn’t date in early college years. The other guy dated dozens of women and eventually found the right one; so he’s an advocate of dating a lot to find the right spouse. One fellow started dating freshman year and married her and has lived happily ever since, so he thinks that’s the way to go. All you can do is take everything with a grain of salt, and just try to act prudently. And pray a lot.”

I think his words can be helpful for Catholic young adults who are trying to live, faithful, holy lives, and may feel called to discern a vocation to marriage but are having difficulty balancing all the advice that comes from Catholic circles about how to date, and when, and who.  In the end, the individual is called to use common sense, prudence, patience, and prayer when it comes to discerning relationships and possible vocations to marriage. While there are some obvious rules of thumb to follow that almost everyone will recognize—like not dating someone you barely know, being careful to preserve one’s chastity, and giving due weight to the opinions of those you respect and love—when it comes to relationships, it ultimately depends on each person to prayerfully discern God’s call.

Content in Christ: The First Time

If any of you follow my personal blog, I mentioned several weeks ago that I was going to begin a series on contentment here at CYW. I've been praying, reading, and planning for a while now; and, for the first time, I've received the boost of inspiration and Grace to begin.

Being content. This is a topic especially close to my heart for two reasons. First, it's something that I always say I should be, but often haven't been...and now finally am beginning to be. And second, it's the foundation for a much more fulfilling life with Christ because it encompasses so many other virtues. Contentment will help with our day-to-day lives, it will help in choosing our vocation, and it will help when we get lonesome for a future husband. And before I start, I know I'm still only at the beginning of my journey, and I don't claim to know the answers to everything; I just want to share some of the words God has been speaking to me lately.

If you read here, you got a little glimpse into something I've been struggling with lately. I'd always been adamant that I would follow God's will and not just my feelings. That's a lot easier said than done, as I soon found out. However, what I found in the result was a beautiful blessing: God dealt me a heartache that was really a blessing in disguise, and then He gave me the Grace to see past that disguise.

Without going into too much detail, I was struggling with curbing emotional feelings for Someone, and still trying to remain on the "friends" level. It didn't help that he seemed to be reciprocating, and we truly were becoming closer as friends. But that was just it...we were growing closer as friends. While trying to guard my own heart, I did let some hopes slip through, and was thus disappointed when the friendship line was firmly drawn between us. I thought I would be devastated; I was afraid I had already given away too much of my heart emotionally.

This is where the blessing kicked in: I wasn't as upset as I thought I was, and the experience actually opened my eyes. I saw this Someone for who He was, and once I really looked, I realized how truly blessed I was to have him as a friend...only a friend. Where I thought maybe he was feeling the same for me as I was for him, he was only acting out of friendship.

I called to mind this verse from Matthew 6:34

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. 

Truly, I was so worried about my future, and where things could lead, as much as I told myself not to get carried away. But instead of worrying, I found myself content in Christ. I am content with where He has me. I am content with this friendship -- I am truly thankful and blessed by it. Now that I have realized this, I can see so much more beauty in this relationship, and I instantly felt fears, worries, and awkwardness begin to melt away. This is what I wanted all along, and it was through abandonment and trust in Jesus that I received it. For the first time, I truly feel peace.

Trials help greatly to detach us from earth. They make us look to God, rather than to this world.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus

Why Mary is Awesome

I remember a time in fourth grade when we were talking about the Book of Genesis during religion class. We learned about Original Sin, and the fall of humanity at the beginning of time. Being the immature fourth grade boys that they were, some students picked up on the idea that it was Eve who was first tempted by the Serpent and who first ate the Forbidden Fruit. Therefore, it was Eve's fault...it was woman's fault that humanity fell. I'm sure you can imagine that we girls got pretty riled up after that too. How could it possibly be woman's fault? Didn't God love women? Were women forever doomed?

I read an article this morning that reminded me of this incident. During my later years of religion classes, I learned that Mary was called the "New Eve," but never really quite understood what that meant, or more specifically, the magnitude of that statement both on the world and on us as women. In answer, the article states:

"Mary was chosen from the beginning of time to play a role in salvation history as the “New Eve” (CCC 411). Just as Eve’s disobedience led to the fall of Adam, bringing death to humanity, it is Mary’s obedience, her “yes” to God that led to the “New Adam,” Jesus who brings life for humanity. Satan no longer has power; she crushes his head (Genesis 3:15)."

Mary not only restored humanity to God, but she also brought unimaginable dignity to women. Despite the fact that some say it was “Eve’s fault” way back in the Garden of Eden, Mary’s “yes” pretty much makes up for that and more. Mary is the perfect model, the Mother of all of humanity, and the Mother of God! How awesome is that? Just by Mary's very existence, Christ elevated women to such a degree by His coming to earth through woman, through Mary. Mary is the Mother of the Church, and because of this, women have a special place in God’s Church and in the world.

And then, look at all the feminists who think the Catholic Church is oppressive to women. What they don’t understand is that the Church recognizes the differences between men and women, but also recognizes their equality in dignity. If Jesus so exalted His mother, don’t you think He would want to do the same with us?

“The perfume of Mary’s purity has attracted innumerable souls, anxious to offer to God the ‘rich worth of your virginity.’ … [The Roman Catholic Church] has exalted the status of women in a unique fashion, and the fact that they have no ‘power’ in the Church is once again a sign of God’s special love for the ‘weak’ sex.” (The Privilege of Being a Woman, pg 106).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (412) gives us some other insight: But why did God not prevent the first man from sinning? St. Leo the Great responds, "Christ's inexpressible grace gave us blessings better than those the demon's envy had taken away." And St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "There is nothing to prevent human nature's being raised up to something greater, even after sin; God permits evil in order to draw forth some greater good. Thus St. Paul says, 'Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more'; and the Exsultet sings, 'O happy fault...which gained for us so great a Redeemer!'"

So, even if Eve was the first sinner, Christ is bigger than that. God specifically chose Mary as the model for all women in order to bring Jesus to this world, and reunite humanity with God. Alice von Hildebrand lovingly wrote: “The privilege of being a woman is particularly highlighted by the fact that Mary – the most perfect creature – was a woman.” That really sums it up nicely. Mary was the only sinless human being, aside from her Son (who was God), and she was a woman.