Month: February 2016

This lent challenge yourself to see others through the lens of Christ. In the words of Father Mark’s sermon from last Sunday “Don’t give up smoking this lent if you are going to be out robbing 7-11 convenience stores…” Lent is about doing something that will bring you closer to Christ. It is a time of personal reflection, growth and a sacred time to focus on your daily walk with the Lord. For some that may be giving up or sacrificing a pleasure. Maybe it’s refraining from the things and places of this world that lead to temptations, lust or make it difficult to have a chaste heart. St. Augustine said: “Do not say that you have chaste minds if you have unchaste eyes, because an unchaste eye is the messenger of an unchaste heart.” This calls to mind the great calling for each of us to view each other through the lens of Christ himself, with love for one another and respect for the dignity he created in the male and female person.

Maybe for you it will not be giving up a habit or practice in your daily life, maybe this lent you are called to be a doer. In your daily actions you can strive to make others feel loved, increase your prayer time or offer small acts of kindness in some way each day. This is a great way to spread the love of Christ and be a prophet of hope in this world.

Lent is a time to seek freedom, to grow in virtue and walk away from vice. A personal struggle for each one of us in our daily walk in this life. The beauty of this walk  is, if you are sincerely seeking Christ and his love, you will find freedom. You may have days that you stumble, but thats okay he is right there beside you. It is not an easy walk but one that is well worth it.

Remember whatever you do or sacrifice, no matter how big or small as long as you do it with love and your focus is on Christ, he will in return fill your heart with his peace and Love beyond abundance.

What will you do this lent to help you grow closer to Christ?

God bestows more consideration on the purity of the intention with which our actions are performed than on the actions themselves.
–St. Augustine

“A clean heart is a free heart. A free heart can love Christ with an undivided love in chastity, convinced that nothing and nobody will separate it from his love. Purity, chastity, and virginity created a special beauty in Mary that attracted God’s attention. He showed his great love for the world by giving Jesus to her.”
–Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

We all have layers, reminds me of a line from Shrek. Like an onion, if we peel away the layers we would see that each one of us has many beautiful traits, gifts and talents. You are a unique individual God created in his image and there is no one else like you! I often reflect on how each of us has experienced many things in this life, we’ve learned lessons along the way. We have crossed path’s with people that have blessed us or hurt us or for some reason just needed us.

I know in my life, I have always had a great joy in the Lord. When I came back to the Catholic Church in 2008 after about a seven year hiatus of church hopping in the evangelical world, I was filled with passion for my catholic faith! It brought me such comfort to come home to the faith I knew as a child. I was so hungry to learn more about my catholic faith, share it and address common misconceptions, like the one that Catholics worship Mary. I wanted to educate my inner circle on what catholics really believed.

I started to really get involved in serving the Lord through the ACTS ministry after my first retreat in 2011. That is when I started meeting many wonderful women that shared my faith. These new-found friends, my sisters in Christ, were an inspiration in how they understood and shared my beliefs. I was blessed to witness many examples of Christ’s love in how they served others.

As I continued to serve and grow, becoming more actively involved with each passing year I began to see even in a community rooted in christ that we can still hurt each other very deeply. A sad reality, that I guess is inevitable even within the church among its most devout active members and volunteers. We are all sinners called to be saints, that is why we need Christ. We never stop needing his strength and grace but it does sadden me that within the church there can be so much envy, judgement and gossip.

Gossip still divides and wounds. I still remember the shock, when I learned firsthand that a young woman and her mom whom I had served with on team, loved and prayed for was actively gossiping about me with her daughter. This happened during a very difficult and painful time in my life. I remember thinking how easy it is to judge others, when you really have no clue. No clue, what battles they have endured or sacrifices they have made. The irony in the christian life is we preach mercy, compassion and understanding.  Yet, how many of us truly do our best to live out each day in our relationships with that in the forefront of our minds.

It has taken strength that is not my own to forgive and pray for those women, my sisters in Christ. It is hard but I understand that is what Christ calls each of us to do. I hope that wherever you are in your walk with God you may be a witness to his love and when an opportunity arises to gossip or slander you will be courageous enough to choose love. To love your neighbor enough to build them up, to protect their honor and to pray for them.

 

Ephesians 4:29
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Do you ever feel like your all over the place? One day your dreaming of traveling around the world. The next day your just trying to break away from social media and find the motivation to accomplish daily tasks. I know I do. Some days I just don’t feel like moving forward it’s almost as if I’m stuck! It’s those days that I have to remind myself, it’s okay to be where I’m at. Which for me can be frustrating but the only thing holding me back is myself. I have to remind myself that the only limitations we have in life is fear and the limits we impose on ourselves. If we pondered more often on our hopes and how they are secure in the Lord, imagine the peace our hearts would have. It is our own selves that limits our big God, he is limitless! I cannot even comprehend how great his glory and power is, as I am a mere and weak creature even though I try.

So remember, when you feel down and life is not exactly going your way just remind yourself that we can never have too much confidence in God. One of my favorite saints, St. Therese of Lisieux would say we obtain from him as much as we hope for! So let my hope in the Lord be limitless!!! What are your hopes? Whatever they may be trust they are secure in the Lord.

 

“We Obtain from God as much as we hope for.”

St. Therese of Lisieux

Love your kids, your family, your friends! Cherish. Everything! Hug everyone and mean it. life is too short.

These are my inmost thoughts as I am on my way to the cemetery as we bury my dad’s brother. My uncle he was so young, only 53. He was killed upon impact in a motor vehicle accident. It was a sudden loss.

I pray for his soul and for his closest family and friends.

That’s what’s beautiful about this life. The greatest gift we can give one another is prayer. It costs nothing and has impacts on others that we may never know. Never stop praying for those you love, it is a treasure in this life and the root of love.

Romans 13:10

Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Below is a portion of the lyrics from Lauren Daigle’s song:  First

I want to seek you, I want to keep you first, more than anything…

I want to know you, I want to find you….

You are my treasure and my reward, let nothing ever come before…

My prayer for you, is to fall in Love with God so deeply that you’ll never be the same, that you are always guided by his grace and blessed abundantly all of the days of your life. May you truly Live, laugh and enjoy God’s blessings…