Lent!

Subtitle: the top 10 (or however many I come up with) reasons that I'm pretty darn excited for this Lent!

1) Because I get to reflect on crucified Love. 
You know, I was actually very glad that Valentine's Day was the day after Ash Wednesday! Cue the murmurs and whispers: is she just bitter because she doesn't have a boyfriend? Does she want to spoil everyone's fun? NO! It was beautiful to me, because I was able to better connect the concepts of both sacrifice and love in my mind and my heart. Just like in real life, they were literally side by side!

2) Communio!
This Lent, I feel called to spend more time in community. Living alone can sometimes be depressing, and it's tempting to retreat within myself even more at times... which has the effect of a downward spiral. You may have picked up on it lately, but the book I just finished reading on the Trinity has knocked some sense into me in this arena! So whether I'm putting myself more in touch with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through prayer (the community par excellence!), or spending more time with people (in person, on the phone, through letters or emails, or even just working on gifts or projects that are not for myself), I'm going outside myself this Lent.

3) Spiritual hunger >>>> physical hunger
Youth culture lesson time! So, the "kids these days" are all using greater than (>) and less than (<) signs in their Facebook statuses and tweets, in massive quantities. As an example, I got mentioned in a tweet the other day that said (and I quote):

"@katieschuerger 's tweets>>>>"

When I asked her what it meant, she explained that they were a bunch of "greater than" signs. While I was super flattered, I was super confused. Greater than... what? Apparently, as I found, you don't have to actually be comparing two things. So, while the mathematical equation says that my tweets are greater than uh, nothing... she actually meant that she really likes them. Dude, I think I'm getting old...

That was a super long, unnecessary preface (but you learned something! Well, maybe). All I wanted to say is this: the fasting and sacrificing of Lent points to a greater reality... spiritual hunger! When it's Ash Wednesday and my tummy is a little rumbly, it reminds me that there are more important things than physical food. When I'm bored, I don't need to go to the refrigerator - I need to go to prayer!

4. It's an opportunity that I know I will force myself to take!
Let's be honest - I have lots of good intentions that pop up all year long, and then fade away in a day or two. But Lent is a more "official" time to work on these things. In other words, there's a much better chance of me actually following through during these 40 days than any of the other 325 days of the year! And maybe - just maybe - it will help me form the discipline to follow through a little more during those other days.


Okay, so I only got to number four. But hey, I'm still pretty excited! How about you... are you pumped for the growing pains of Lent? Why or why not?

On Newtown

The only response to the Connecticut shootings that I can think of:

In all of our suffering, Christ is right there with us, on the cross. 

Please keep everyone who was involved or affected in your prayers. Also, please keep the youth of my parish in prayer, too - I'm sure we are going to be having some discussions about this over the next few days, as it is very much on their hearts and minds. The problem of evil, and the need for hope and forgiveness and healing, are sure to come up... pray for openness.

Blood Donation

(Before I begin my regular post, I'd just like to thank a former classmate who featured me in her own blog today! I'm so humbled and grateful. Please take some time to explore her fabulous, more established blog - I especially love the recent one about Our Lady, Untier of Knots! The post can be found here: http://trenchcoatintrospective.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/featured-blog-of-the-week-diary-of-a-passionate-phlegmatic/)
 
 
I'm not going to lie... I really, really do not like donating blood. They can never find my vein right away and the needle is so thick and scary (why does the doctor's office use a butterfly needle on me, but the Red Cross uses the gigundo one??). Plus, the last time I was there, I fainted. I woke up to a fan blowing on my face and a nurse saying, "Katherine, Katherine?" This confused an already confusing situation - if you've ever fainted, you understand the disorientation that takes place when you wake up - because no one ever calls me by my full name.

It could have been worse. Apparently if you faint while giving blood, the needle can come out and spurt blood everywhere, and/or you can pee your pants... at least neither of those happened!

But every so often, I feel obligated to do this simple thing to help out humanity. So yesterday, I dutifully kept my appointment (sometimes I "forget").

It was a long, long wait. But as I finally lay in the chair/stretcher type thing, I looked across at my arm. And all I could see in my mind was this:

Suddenly, the needle in my vein seemed tiny, compared to the thick nail in his wrist.

The whole process I went through was sterilized, safe and ordinary; when he fell carrying the cross, dirt and rocks got in his cuts.

When I looked down at my arm, I saw that yellowish color from the iodine; when he looked down his arm, he saw the cuts in his flesh from the scourging.

I didn't feel anything except a little pain when they put the needle in and pulled it out at the end; he agonized on the cross for three hours.

I sipped Sprite with my free hand to keep myself from feeling dizzy. He said, "I thirst," and they gave him vinegar.

I came out with a bandage wrapped around my arm and went on with my day; he was wrapped in cloth and placed in a tomb.

My blood potentially saved three lives. His saved the world.