"I Do Not Refuse the Battle": A Brief Reflection Upon 24 Club Disqualification

So we are going to try something new, yay!

Things I Really Like

I know, I know, it's been a while.

But, to appease you (like a pagan god or something), here is a hodge-podge of things I've ran across lately that are legit. So, so legit! Readysetgo...

Watch this testimony from Edmund Mitchell, a great guy I went to school with! It's about an hour long, but really worth it:

He also had this great quote in an interview recently:

"It also reminds me how important it is to continue diving deeper into our faith because there are a lot of well intentioned Catholics who, not having a solid enough foundation in Catholic doctrine, philosophy, history, or catechetics, are answering modern man’s hunger for deep, living waters with sprinkles from a red Solo cup."

Snap. I 100% agree!

Along the lines of more catechetical thing-a-ma-jigs, a friend sent me this great address to catechists by Pope Francis! (Who, by the way, showed up in my dream last night! Win.) I love this, especially:

"It builds up the Church!  To 'be' catechists!  Not to 'work' as catechists: this will not do.  I work as a catechist because I like to teach… But unless you 'are' a catechist, it is no good!  You will not be successful … you will not bear fruit!  Catechesis is a vocation:  'being a catechist', this is the vocation, not working as a catechist.  So keep this in mind: I didn’t say to do the 'work' of catechists, but to 'be' catechists, because this is something that embraces our whole life."

Next, another friend shared this with me on Facebook today, and I am just in love. Don't focus on the picture or text quality... just look at it for a minute and picture it in real life:

Do you not love it?!

(By the way, her feast day is tomorrow. Just sayin'.)

Went to see Torri Harris with some friends at the Josephinum this past weekend, which was lovely! Here is one of her songs... soak in the beauty!

Listening to this song on Saturday morning, it dawned on me just how much God uses the beauty of music to open my heart to Him... I'll be pondering that for a while...

Prayer cards from the concert. Beauty, right?

I definitely recommend that you look up more of her music. And if you ever get a chance to see her live, do it! She's very real, authentic, holy and fun... and her testimony blew me out of the water. All about fear vs. trust and God's calling for your life... plus, JPII showed up in her dreams. I mean, come on. JPII!

I've been listening to this a lot lately, too. Lyrics here.

I'm still getting the "Read the Catechism in a Year" emails every day for the Year of Faith... some days I read it, and some days I throw it in a folder that I've entitled "Still need to read for CCC." (Lazy, I know... once an email gets filed away, I don't know if I'll ever look for it again...) They've been using the YouCat, which I find super helpful for my line of work. ;) Yesterday was paragraph 470, "The Prompting to Pray":

"What prompts a person to pray?
"We pray because we are full of an infinite longing and God has created us men for himself: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you" (St. Augustine). But we pray also because we need to; Mother Teresa says, "Because I cannot rely on myself, I rely on him, twenty-four hours a day." [2566-2567, 2591]
"Often we forget God, run away from him and hide. Whether we avoid thinking about God or deny him he is always there for us. He seeks us before we seek him; he yearns for us, he calls us. You speak with your conscience and suddenly notice that you are speaking with God. You feel lonely, have no one to talk with, and then sense that God is always available to talk. You are in danger and experience that a cry for help is answered by God. Praying is as human as breathing, eating, and loving. Praying purifies. Praying makes it possible to resist temptations. Praying strengthens us in our weakness. Praying removes fear, increases energy, and gives a second wind. Praying makes one happy."

I thought that was a really good, simple, beautiful, understandable explanation!

Okey dokey... watch/listen/ponder all of that, and then get back to me. :)

(That should buy me some time until my next post, right??)

"He must increase, I must decrease"

As I sat in Mass today listening to the Gospel reading, I was struck by how quiet the death of John the Baptist was. One would have thought that he would go out with a little more of a bang. Fireworks, or a New Orleans-style funeral procession... or at least an epic, dramatic death at the hands of a large, angry mob or something! After all, even Jesus said there was no greater man born of woman (Matthew 11:11). Mary got a glorious Assumption - how come John gets gypped? (I understand that Mary was sinless... but come on, John was still holy and awesome!).

Think about it: you're hanging out in your prison cell, thinking the ministry is going pretty well. Sure, you're in prison. But your disciples had recently come to visit, reassuring you that Jesus was the Messiah (Luke 7:18-23). Plus, Herod likes to listen to you preach once in a while (Mark 6:20) - maybe you're making ground and he'll have a conversion soon! 

Then all of a sudden, a prison guard comes in and says, "Come with me." He takes you out of your cell, down the hallway, out into the back courtyard of the prison... and chops your head off. The end.

Seriously?! All the stuff that he did and saw throughout his life... then at the whims of a few stupid, petty royal people, it's all over?

I wonder what John was thinking as he was about to die. Personally, I would have wondered what the heck was going on - and how come my death seemed so pointless, when there was still so much work to be done for the Kingdom! Something tells me that John was used to radically trusting God a lot more than most of us (locusts for lunch, anyone?); yet, I wonder what he was praying during those moments. To be honest, I think my pride would have been rebelling like crazy; but we know that John the Baptist was an amazingly humble guy (John 3:30; Matthew 3:11, 14), so I'm sure he accepted it much better than I would. 

It just floors me that the life of someone who experienced so many amazing miracles and signs, starting before he was even born (literally), slipped out of this world with so little notice. It stuns me; but it's beautiful. 

It got me thinking about Therese, my favorite saint (this isn't unusual. Let's be honest: everything relates to her, somehow!). Particularly, it made me think of a novena prayer I've been offering up lately. I'll let it speak for itself: 

"St. Therese, model of the hidden life, I thank you for showing us that great deeds, miracles and ecstasies are not necessary for sanctity. I thank you for choosing to walk in your little way, which is possible for everyone to follow. My life is often monotonous, tedious and filled with commonplace duties. But I know that I can take these everyday tasks and with them build a beautiful life worthy of God's favor. I therefore offer to God each day of my life, with all the simple duties it may contain. I do not ask for extraordinary work to do or great deeds to perform; I only ask that I may do the work God has given me to do, be it ever so ordinary, in the spirit in which you went about the quiet life of the convent. Ask, O Little Flower, that God may accept this offering of my heart and bless it with his approval. Obtain for me that I might do ordinary things with an extraordinary love, and that I may do whatever God asks me solely because I love him and because I am doing it for him."

St. John the Baptist and St. Therese, pray for us. One of you was hidden in a prison, the other in a convent; both of you lived deep within the heart of Christ. Teach us how to be humble, to be hidden, to avoid being showy; to love God more than the praise of others, to do our work for him alone; to have a radical trust in his love and his plan, even when it doesn't make sense. And Jesus, through this quiet way of life, help us to bring others to you. 

Alleluia!

This weekend has been particularly off-the-charts insane... but in a very blessed sort of way! So for now I will simply say, happy Easter! I hope that you are filled with oodles and oodles of joy and peace:

"Enjoy in peace the joy God is giving you, without worrying about the future. He is reserving for you, I am sure, new graces and many consolations." 

~St. Therese

God bless!

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This blog soon to be found at setapartblog.blogspot.com

Saints I Love...

You don't need me to tell you: it's St. Patrick's Day! Although I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to teach my teens about him tonight, I hope you're celebrating - in a happy, holy way, that is! St. Patrick was a great evangelist, so let's beg his intercession today. Seriously, if you don't know much about him, please look him up! If you can get captured by pirates as a teenager, escape, then come back later and convert the nation, all through the power of the Holy Spirit... that's a pretty big deal (and that's just the outline)!

I don't think I really need to explain myself here:

I'm going to steal a line here from Brian Regan, my favorite comedian: "I don't think we're honoring this man properly." But, I have hope that many of you will! So go out and have a fun night... just make sure that you become more of the person you were created to be, not less. That's true fun anyway, right? Oh, and if by God's grace you end up having a super awesome conversation about the faith at a party tonight, I want to hear about it! One of the fabulous things about being Catholic is that you're allowed to evangelize over a beer, if you want (if you're at least 21, of course, and in moderation). Get on out there and make St. Patrick proud!

Second, you may have noticed that I simply cannot stop talking about St. Therese! I wasn't going to... but then I ran across this quote... and then this picture with the quote... and so I just have to share (I'm sure St. Patrick doesn't mind):

Isn't her face just so radiant??

Anyway... let's give thanks for our fabulous fellow Christian friends who run toward heaven with us! And for those who cheer us on from heavenly glory: St. Patrick and St. Therese, pray for us!

Little (and Loving it)

So... super excited about this!

#understatement

We have a Papa! I feel like I can just be a little girl again, because he's going to take care of me. Yay! I'm especially excited to start soaking up everything that he tells us (probably more intentionally than I ever did with Benedict. I feel like I'm in an endless game of catch-up with all the riches that he gave the Church... but in a good way!). 

Today, I got to pondering all of this awesome Pope-ness, and a couple of things dawned on me. So often, I can only see my mistakes, my failures, my weaknesses, my sins. While it's not easy for anyone, I think there can be an extra level of torment present when you're involved in a ministry. Not only do I do things to screw up my own life, and those of my family and friends; I also am potentially mis-directing and failing to reach an entire population (large or small) who are desperately in need of Jesus.

Oy.

But before you start wallowing along with me, here is the beautiful, joyful reality of the matter: we are too little to mess up God's plans! A good friend of mine was visiting over the weekend, and we had a super blessed conversation about this (one of those fabulous, God-is-definitely-speaking-to-me-through-you conversations, if you know what I mean). The bottom line is that yes, I screw things up. But God can handle that! I'm absurd, and putting waaaayyyy too much importance on myself, if I think that I can singlehandedly wreck the plans of the Alpha and the Omega. Therefore, if I don't use the exact perfect analogy in a teaching, young people can still love Jesus! If I leave a room too messy and someone is (justifiably) unhappy with me, they aren't going to leave the Church. If I talk too fast and don't make sense 100% of the time, the entire volunteer team is not going to quit on me. And even when my sins abound, his grace abounds all the more (see Romans 5:20).

I just have to smile when I realize how little I am. I really shouldn't worry so much!

I'm learning from the best!

I'm not trying to justify my dumb mistakes, poor decisions, or the times I give in to temptation. It's all stuff I need to work on - and areas where I need to let the Holy Spirit work on me. I also do think that we can drive people from Christ, if we are not reflecting him, particularly those of us who take on certain roles in the Church (I seem to recall a Scripture verse about a millstone being tied around my neck??). The clergy abuse scandals, unfortunately, are the first thing that come to the minds of some people when they hear the words "Catholic Church." I get that.

However... if God calls you to something, he knows what he's about. He knows you - sins, failings, and all! And he already had that built into the plan. Not because he wants us to screw up, but because he's bigger than that. Just take some of those not-so-holy popes from our history: even though God wanted them to be holy and awesome, of course, he was still able to protect the Church and keep us rooted in the truth when they flopped. Even when the captains were corrupt, they didn't sink the ship!

So while we're talking about all this, we should definitely pray for Pope Francis. I get freaked out by the responsibility of being a youth minister in a small parish; but it kinda puts it all in perspective, when I realize that I'm not in charge of the universal Church, you know? But on the bright side, even Blessed Pope John XXIII used to tell Jesus at night, "It's your Church, Lord... I'm going to bed!" Pope Francis is a child of God too, with a fabulous heavenly Father to watch over him and take care of him. He's also allowed to be little!

So whether it's your job, your ministry, your relationships, etc., do the best you can on the human end of things. Don't make excuses, don't slack - put in a full day's work. But then entrust it to our heavenly Papa, whose grace will do the rest. Be at ease! We are simply not big enough to screw up everything and everyone, permanently (we do think in those extremes sometimes, don't we?). Let's not give ourselves so much credit! Jesus can handle it.

O blood and water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You.

My daughter, why are you giving in to thoughts of fear? I answered, "O Lord, You know why." And He said, Why? "This work frightens me. You know I am incapable of carrying it out..."


Do not fear; I will not leave you alone. Do whatever you can in this matter; I will accomplish everything that is lacking in you. You know what is within your power to do; do that. The Lord looked on me with great kindness; I thought I would die for joy under that gaze.

-excerpted from the Diary of St. Faustina

(paragraph 881)

The "Waste" of Love

I love to read! Unfortunately, I have this problem: I keep beginning books, reading them partway, and never finishing them! One girl in our youth ministry program has taken it upon herself to hold me accountable and rid me of this tendency (which really is so amusing and endearing to me!). However, she might as well give up, because once you get into the range of "reading" 15+ books at the same time, there is probably no return. (On the other hand, no one is a lost cause in Christ, so perhaps there is hope for me still.)

Yet obviously I'm not actually reading them all simultaneously (although that would be a funny sight!). I'm just reading halves and quarters and three-quarters of various books, then getting distracted by other books. At the moment though, I'm quite proud of myself! I'm focusing on two books right now, and the payoff has been enormous. They're rocking my socks - actually, they're rocking my soul.

The first is the Fr. Michael Gaitley book on the Trinity that I keep referencing. The other one is about my favorite saint of all time:

Reading this one has been a long time coming - basically, since I found out that it was published (as I say this, though, I'm consulting the front of the book. It says copyright 2012... it must just feel like a long time, when there's a book out there about your favorite saint from one of your favorite writers that you haven't read yet!).

Sometimes, I can get to the point of thinking that no one is going to have a fresh insight on Therese; since everyone seems to love her and relate to her so much, there are a plethora of books on her. Then you've got to sift through the authors who really do know her life, her spirituality, her writings, etc., versus the people who think they get her, but totally miss the mark (it usually comes in the form of trying to push their own agendas onto her, such as, "she had a repressed desire to be a priest - oh what a sexist, sexist Church!"). However, I knew that it would be different with Sheen! So when I saw a paperback version in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception bookstore in D.C. a couple of weeks ago, I had to snatch it up! My entire "justification" for buying it is that I've only seen it in hardcover so far, which is more expensive (just roll with it...).

As a total and complete side note, you know that you have a fabulous spiritual friend when you both go into said bookstore, buy 4-5 books each, can't wait to show each other... and 3 of them are the exact same books. Two of which, of course, are this St. Therese book and the Fr. Gaitley book (and the third being a Scriptural rosary book). Win!

At any rate, back to business! The way that Fulton Sheen puts things - anything, really - is so wonderful and good for my soul! That's an understatement, really (if you need convincing, I can refer you to a Sheen-loving friend of mine). And with this book, it's no different. You really should just read it for yourself; but just for fun, here are a couple of things he said that particularly spoke to me during my holy hour tonight:

"After all, the reason we are tired in body is because we are already tired in mind. We have no love. The fires have gone out. We are cinders, burnt out cinders floating in the immensity of space and time. And here is a young girl. It is almost as if she is locked up in a gilded cage, absolutely straining at the leash in order to become a missionary. Why? Simply because she loved!"

Also:

"You'll fall in love. Then you'll discipline yourself. Then you'll be full of zeal. Then when the Lord's work is to be done, you'll do it. And when we're not in love, we're tired, and we're exhausted. Because she was full of love, the particular action that appealed to her was that of the soldier and the missionary. This is the new vision of sanctity. It needs to be revived in our day."

How true!! I think about the times that I am most exhausted - in a negative sense, the sense of being burned out - and I realize how little I am praying, how little I am loving! On the other hand, we have the saints. They spend themselves totally for God's sake, pour themselves out for Him - yet they want more!

"You read this book to receive strength, but then when you have received it, you'll have to spend it. As you waste your life, then you'll become richer and richer in the Kingdom of God."

Which reminds me... less than one week until Lent! It's a good time to start thinking and praying about what God wants you to do during this time, if you haven't already (personally, I'm a slacker/procrastinator, so I can always use a reminder, myself!).

At any rate, I hear St. Therese and Fulton Sheen calling to me: pray! "Waste" your time with Jesus, and you won't feel so exhausted. And spend yourself in service to others. "Waste" your time on them, for no reason other than love!

The antidote to burning out? It's the beautiful "waste" of love.

Links I Love + Ven. Fulton Sheen Quote-y Goodness

Happy Tuesday! I think I'm going to take a cue from The Evangelista, and share some gems that I've come across on the webbernets lately (thank you to Fr. Kyle for that fabulous word. Interwebs, too!). Here we go:

This. This times five hundred and ninety-two! As a youth minister, I share similar frustrations... partially because the sorts of comments that he describes always make me somewhat insecure. But also, because I really, truly do want every baptized Christian to realize that they can be a relevant witness, if they love the Lord, love the people they meet and engage the culture in which those people live. I'm not the only person who can relate to youth, just because I'm 23, as if I'm going to expire someday. Thank you, Edmund, for this!

Jenifer Fulwiler has been rocking my socks lately! Last week, I exhorted you to watch her show; now, here it is, for your YouTube viewing pleasure! I was very excited indeed that it was trending on Twitter! Today, I also ran across this article she wrote about the message that dressing up sends to our lackadaisical culture.

My parish recently got Lighthouse Catholic Media, so I've been listening to their talks to try to spread the word! Today I listened to "True Worship" by Fr. Mike Schmitz, and I am in love with it. If I had listened to it earlier, I would have ordered a whole bunch of copies and handed them out as Christmas presents to the teens in my youth group... I still might do that sometime. It's not a freebie, but it's well worth the $2.50 to get the MP3 version online. Listen and share!! You can also find his homilies (for free) here. Praise the Lord for his gift of preachin' the truth! Seriously, it cuts me to the core.

This picture. Memes are kind of starting to get old for me. But this one makes me smile so much! Imagine Dwight saying it, and I guarantee that there is a 97.2% chance that it will make you feel better on a rainy day.

God's providence plays a definite hand in saving a prematurely born baby's life! I'm less than impressed with the UK's "ethical guidelines," but praise the LORD that this little one is alive and with his parents today!

Last but not least, I've been running across some smashing quotes from the Venerable Fulton Sheen over the last couple of days!

"Love that is only giving, ends in exhaustion; love that is only seeking, perishes in its selfishness. Love that is ever seeking to give and is ever defeated by receiving is the shadow of the Trinity on earth, and therefore a foretaste of heaven." (Three to Get Married)

"Each child that is born begins to be a bead in the great rosary of love, binding the parents together in the rosy chains of a sweet slavery of love." (Three to Get Married)

And my current favorite:

"If at all possible, the priest should make his daily Holy Hour before celebrating his Mass. Now that the Church's regulations on the pre-Eucharistic fast have been modified, he will be well-advised to take a cup of coffee before he starts. The average American is physically, biologically, psychologically and neurologically unable to do anything worthwhile before he has a cup of coffee! And that goes for prayer too. Even sisters in convents whose rules were written well before electric percolators were developed would do well to update their procedures. Let them have coffee before meditation." (The Priest is not his Own)

"...physically, biologically, psychologically and neurologically unable..." Gets me every time! I'm still giggling over it... dude, I really wish I could have coffee with Fulton Sheen. That would be the best! Although apparently, he shows up in my friend's dreams and drinks milkshakes with her. #jealous. (Probably shouldn't complain, though, because Cardinal Dolan crashed my dream once! It was pretty fabulous.)

I will leave you with one of my favorite links, the Mass readings of the day. Hopefully, this site isn't new to you. You might need a refresher on who Manoah from Zorah is, though! I did. But in all seriousness, the readings for tomorrow are beautiful, especially considering all of my friends who are currently pregnant, hoping for pregnancy, or taking care of small children. I also love this line from the Psalm 71, especially as a youth minister:

"For you are my hope, O Lord;

my trust, O God, from my youth.

On you I depend from birth;

from my mother's womb you are my strength."

See, it is possible and beautiful to be young and holy! St. Therese (my fave!) comes to mind here.

That's all for now! I pray for you, you pray for me... good night!

P.S. If anyone knows why my formatting ends up looking funny, especially for quotation marks and apostrophes, please let me know how I can fix that! I'm a grammar/format/editing nerd, so it bugs me. Thank you!