I Do!

       This week I saw a video that led me to many “aha” moments. I am posting the video and I really think you should watch it because a) it is awesome and b) you will understand this post. SO, without further ado……
   
        I absolutely love this video! As a girl who is embarrassingly consumed with the idea of marriage the idea of Jesus Christ proposing to me was overpowering. I got super excited and it led me to create a bunch of other connections in my head (which is too jumbled for me to explain everything). Because I can’t talk about everything I thought about at once, in only one post, I am going to try to isolate one of my trains of thought for you to read today: Marriage and the Eucharist. This idea of Christ offering his blood to me as a proposal seriously overwhelmed me. I just love how God uses everything for his glory, even marriage traditions. I know that his choosing to present the Eucharist for the first time, in this way, was no coincidence.                      

       Consider a true marriage proposal. A man loves a woman so much that he wants to commit himself to her fully. He does this by asking for her hand in marriage. When he asks her to marry him he is committing to protect her, to offer up his life for her, to give his blood if need be. That is what Jesus is doing, he is saying I love you so much that I want to marry you, I want to commit myself to protecting you, I will spill my blood for you (and he did). Seriously, take that in for a moment.

        Then, he takes it a step further, he says not only do I commit my life to you, but I love you so much that I want to unite our bodies together. Just as a husband offers himself heart and body to his wife in their marriage, Jesus offers to unite himself with us. He offers himself completely to us through his body in the Eucharist. He gives himself to his church completely, even though we are and “adulterous” and “unfaithful” bride.
       
        Jesus wants us, wants me, to see him with the same wide-eyed wonderment that I view a Disney happily ever after. Guess what, Disney isn't real, God is. This is a real and true and eternal covenant that he is offering us here and we have the choice to push the cup away or drink up.
     
       Sorry if that made zero sense to you but at least the video is great. What did you think of the video? Do you like having a video to watch with the posts? Suggestions? Comments? Questions? Drop me a line in the comments below!

Food For Thought

       I don’t know about you but I LOVE food.  Have you ever noticed how often Jesus uses food to relate to us?  I find it fascinating.  This is one of the topics that I absolutely love exploring during adoration and prayer time.  For me it is one of those mind-blowing Jesus thought of everything kind of topics.

clockwise: Eucharist, My sister's wedding cake,
bread, date dinner, energy bar

       Consider some of the connotations and associations that food posses in our lives.  Food is associated with hunger and alternatively satisfaction.  It is our source of nourishment, sustenance, and energy.  It is a sign of community and hospitality.  Food is what we share when friends and family get together.  What is the most common first date? Dinner.  Parents sacrifice to put food on the table and provide for their family.  Not to mention the comfort and pure enjoyment that comes from the act of eating.

       All of these things and more are associated with food and eating.  God, being the omniscient and infinitely clever being that he is, decided to capitalize on our feelings towards food in his ministry and in his continued presence in the Blessed Sacrament. 

       Something that I have noticed recently during my study of the daily readings is that for at least 3 of the times that Jesus revealed himself to his disciples after his resurrection he shared food with them.

1. In Luke 24 Jesus is walking along the road to Emmaus with two of his disciples, only they don’t recognize him.  During the journey he opens up the scriptures to them and gives them understanding.  When he acts as though he will continue on without them the disciples beg him to stay.  Jesus stays with them and reveals himself through the breaking of the bread.
2. Again in Luke 24 the disciples are gathered in the upper room talking about Jesus.  As they are speaking he appears in the room.    When the disciples didn't believe that it was really him, thinking it was a ghost, Jesus asked for food.  The disciples gave him fish and he ate.
3. In John 21 Peter decides to go fishing and the other disciples join him.  They catch nothing all night and at dawn a “stranger” on shore tells them to cast to the right.  They do and catch 153 fish!  Realizing it is Jesus Peter jumps overboard and swims to him.  When the disciples arrive on shore they see that Jesus is preparing breakfast for them.  He asks for some fresh fish, cooks it, and eats with them.

       I love that Jesus uses food to show us what we need to see.  In the first story he reveals his identity through the breaking of the bread (Eucharist).  In story number two he proves his humanity and true resurrection because a ghost does not eat, it does not have flesh and blood, he is truly risen.  In the final story Jesus uses food to show that he will still provide for us.  He helps them catch fish and then prepares and serves the disciples breakfast, sharing the meal with them.

       Finally, I want to talk about the Eucharist.  This is the “source and summit” of our Catholic faith.  In John 6:35 -69 Jesus presents his teaching of the Eucharist as his true body.  Jesus calls himself the bread of life that comes from Heaven.  The people in the crowd begin to murmur saying, “This is Jesus, son of Joseph.  We know his father and mother.  How can he say, ‘I came from Heaven’?”  Jesus then explained that whoever eats his flesh will live forever.  They are grossed out asking how Jesus can ask them to eat his flesh.

       In this passage’s original Greek there are two different words for used for "eat".  One is phago used in verses 50-52 this word in Greek means to eat or consume and can be used figuratively.  After the crowd begins to question his meaning and are grossed out Jesus changes the word he uses to trogo, this word means to gnaw or chew and was not used figuratively in the original language.  *Disclaimer: I am not a Greek expert I have learned this from studies I have taken via FOCUS. 

       The point is that after people are confused of Jesus’ meaning he clarifies by changing the word to make clear that he wants them to actually chew his flesh and eat it (Eucharist).  The Biblical account goes on to say that many of his followers walked away that day.  Jesus did not stop them.  He didn't say “no, no, hey guys that’s not what I meant!”, instead he asked the twelve if they too were going to leave.  Jesus wants all of us completely but he doesn't force us to follow him.  He presents his teaching and allows us to decide if we want to stay, or walk away.  This was his teaching; he wants us to eat his flesh.  He wants us to partake of his body in the sacrament of Communion.  Yet he let those people walk away, not because he didn't want them, but because they could not accept that the Eucharist was in fact his body. 

       Food plays a huge role in our lives.  This was not by accident but design.  The LORD uses all things to his glory and our love of and dependence on food is not excluded.  So eat, drink, and be merry!

       Can you think of other ways food impacts our lives? Bible Accounts featuring food? What is your favorite food, other than the Bread of Life? Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Drop me a line in the comments below! 

 

I really like food. Candy counts right?
ps. That pic with the Kettle Cooked Lays was taken while writing this post.

Who Do You Say That I Am? : Prince of Peace

“Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.  Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.  Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.”

poster available at lifeposters

       I was sitting in adoration last week and I was freaking out.  I was really stressed out about school and I was worrying about my future (yet another habit I have).  So, I was sitting there in the presence of Jesus Christ and panicking.  It occurred to me that I should take my own advice and lay all my worries at the feet of Jesus.  I decided to write a list of all the fears and worries I have.  After writing a rather extensive list and looking at all my worries on paper I realized how completely ridiculous they were.  A sense of peace washed over me.  I am by no means saying that I was cured of my tendency to worry(I have a huge test on Monday).  What I am saying is that making the list reminded me that my worries are silly, truly inconsequential, and that more importantly, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. 

       In Romans 8:6 it says, “For to set the mind on flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.”  We live in such a fast paced world; it seems that as soon as one worry passes another pops up.  Our problem is what we are worrying about.  I am often consumed with financial worries, school worries, career worries, relationship (or lack there of) worries, and the list goes on and on.  These are of the flesh.  These lead to death.

       If I was to truly set my mind on the Spirit, on Jesus, on the Father I would find my life, I would find my peace.  I mean think about it.  Jesus Christ son of the living God came to Earth as a baby grew up into a man and then sacrificed his life for us only to rise from the dead and guarantee us eternal life if we take up our cross and follow him.  Why am I worried about an Econ test?  This life is a blink of an eye in the eternity that I have awaiting me.

       

What are your worries? How do you deal with them? Comments? Suggestions? Questions?

God Moments: This Is My Body

       This past January I was privileged enough to travel with about 70 of my closest friends to Orlando, Fl.  No, we weren't on our way to greet Mickey at the Magic Kingdom (although some did).  No, we were headed down south to join up with thousands of other college students at the FOCUS national conference.

       FOCUS is an incredible college ministry that I am honored to be a part of.  The national conference, SEEK, consisted of a week of daily mass, talks from some of the best Catholic speakers (i.e. Matthew Kelly, Chris Stefanick, Dr. Edward Sri, Matt Fradd, the list goes on and on), and fellowship.

Me, Catherine, and Holly with Chris Stefanick 

       Part of the planned itinerary was confession and group adoration.  As embarrassing as it is to admit, I was not looking forward to this event.  I thought, “Oh great stand in a huge line for confession and then sit all uncomfortable and bored in adoration for two hours.”  So I made up my mind to get to confession right away and miss the line, then go to adoration for an hour tops.

       I arrived early for confession and only had to stand in line for ten minutes, score!(people stood in line for literally hours)  When I was directed to confession I ended up face-to-face with who I am convinced is Jim Gaffigan’s twin brother.  It was a good confession and Father Gaffigan gave me my penance and sent me out into adoration.

       I walked out into the ballroom where adoration was being held and saw thousands of college students horded together.  I looked for my group, found them, and made a beeline to join them all the way in the front(sigh).  The place was so packed that I had to wedge myself in on the floor near the aisle. 

      From my spot on the floor I completed my penance and then sat for a minute wondering how long I should stay in order to not look like a total heathen, leaving after only a few minutes.  While I was planning my escape route I looked around again.

        This time I didn't just see thousands of people crammed together.  This time I saw thousands of my brothers and sisters sitting, standing, kneeling, and prostrating in worship.  I followed their gaze to the stage and for the first time since I entered the room, I really looked at Jesus, I saw him.

       I allowed my thoughts to turn to the conversation I had with my Dad on the way to drop me off for the trip.  My Dad is not Catholic and for the first time I asked him straight out, “why don’t you believe in the Eucharist?”  After some back and forth discussion he ended with this, “I think it is something that has to be revealed to you by the Holy Spirit, and it hasn't been revealed to me yet.”

       Sitting there, uncomfortably crammed on the floor, I asked God to reveal himself to me through the Eucharist and to reveal himself to my Dad.  Now, I have never heard the audible voice of God but sometimes I just know that I hear his heart speaking to mine.  As I sat in this thought, contemplating his presence, confronting any doubts I had God answered at least part of my prayer. Jesus spoke to me very clearly that day, he said, “This is my body, this is really me, if you deny the Eucharist you deny a part of me.  You have been given the gift of knowing the truth and you cannot turn away from it.  Holly, you can’t doubt the Eucharist without also doubting me.”

       So of course, I started crying (it’s a running theme in my life).  Then a multitude of priests began a Eucharistic procession all around the enormous ballroom with the monstrance.  At the very end they stopped right in front of me, being stuck at the edge of the group put me face to face with our LORD and savior.  I gazed at him and he gazed at me.  That, my friends, was a God moment.

      Adoration ended three hours after it began and I found myself wishing it would just go on and on.  What started as me following a schedule and planning a way to escape for a nap turned into one of the most important days of my life.  That day changed how I look at my desires, the mass, my life on Earth, and my ability to hear God.  So, no, I don’t hear the voice of God but when I hear his heart I listen.  

       Have you ever been to adoration?  Do you have any life changing stories from your experiences there? Have you heard the voice of God? Have you heard His heart?  Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Drop me a line in the comments below!

Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt

       Today I had a DUH moment.  Jesus is alive.  Even though I guess I knew this I didn't think of it as he is alive right now.  I always thought, "he rose from the dead 2000 years ago and then floated up to Heaven and now he’s there, with all the dead people."  I am not sure why but it didn't really hit me that he is as alive as I am, even more so.  This just shows another hole in my understanding and my faith.

picture via vinodnarayan

       In the first reading today we hear of people laying sick and crippled friends out in the street in hopes that St.Peter’s shadow would touch them.  These people believed that the mere shadow of a man doing God’s work could heal them.  St.Peter was walking around with the same flawed humanity as each of us and healing people in the name of Jesus.  He wasn't divine, but he had faith.  Jesus tells us in the Gospel that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can move mountains.  We all posses the power to heal people and cure the sick but we lack faith.

       My lack of faith is tied closely with my lack of trust.  Even though intellectually I know that God has the power to do all, faith doesn't live in your head, it lives in your heart.  Many times I will try to do the will of God or hand over a situation to him but in the back of my mind I doubt.  I rely on myself.  I think of plan B in case God doesn't come through.  He always comes through, if you trust him, if you have faith.  Granted, it isn't always coming through in the way you expect or think he "should", but he comes through.

       I don’t know about you but I need to work on letting go and having faith.  Imagine the good works we could accomplish if we all had the faith of St.Peter.

       Do you ever have a God DUH moment?  What did you think of St.Peter’s faith?  Any suggestions on how to to strengthen my faith?  Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Drop me a line in the comments below. 

            

We're Off to See the Wizard

       Do you all remember the Wizard of Oz?  Of course you do, if not, spoiler alert.  The characters spend the whole movie on a quest for qualities that the wizard informs them they already have.

      Famously, the cowardly lion was lacking in the courage department until the wizard pinned on a badge of courage and told him that he always possessed it, he just didn't know it.  The same is true for us.  We are cowardly.  How many times have I seen an opportunity to bring Christ up in a conversation or to perform a random act of kindness and been too afraid?  Countless.  We miss out on opportunities to share the Good News of Christ’s love all the time, and for what? Fear.  The most repeated phrases in the Bible are “fear not” and “do not be afraid”, I think God’s message to us is pretty clear.

picture via magvickers

      The thing about our fear is that we have all we need to be courageous, we just don’t know it.  If you have been baptized you have received the Holy Spirit and if you have been confirmed you have received the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is fortitude, or courage.  We possess the gift, it has been given to us, have we bothered to open it?

      How do I open this gift?  That’s how I feel so much of the time.  People tell me to open the gifts of the Holy Spirit and it seems so cliché and nobody knows how actually accomplish the task (not helpful).  So I am going to tell you some ways I try to “open my gifts”.

Bible Study:

        I am not just talking about an organized group study (although those are awesome, shout-out Bible Bombshells!) I am talking about personal reading and reflection.  This is a daunting task for some.  I know that when I decided to try this I had no idea where to start.  A simple way to start is with reading the Gospels, this is where we get to know Jesus in all of his humanity and in all of his divinity.  It is a wonderful way to grow in our relationship with him. Another way to go about studying the Bible is to read the daily mass readings.  I do this on my Laudate app every morning which also provides a reflection to aid in deeper thinking.

       Whichever method you choose I recommend practicing Lectio Divina.  Read through a small passage two or three times, look for words and phrases that stick out, ask why they stick out, look for ways they apply to your life, and open your heart to what Jesus is telling you(don’t resist change). 

Prayer:

       This is another area that I know people can struggle with.  God created us for relationship with him!  That means he wants to talk to us, he wants us to talk to him.  How cool is it that God is interested in what you have to say!  I recently apologized to my Dad after talking his ear off and he replied with, “No, I like it!”  He wanted to know what was going on in my life and what I was thinking about, and he wanted to hear it directly from me.  SO much more so does God want to hear from us.  Just talk to him, it doesn't need to be fancy or scripted.  I remember I used to feel unholy if I prayed in the same style as I speak to my friends.  That is ridiculous.  God is our best friend.  That being said, if you have trouble talking to God on a familiar level right now and need to build a relationship there are a multitude of set prayers.  I suggest starting with The Our Father.  Set aside at least 10 minutes a day just for prayer and chat with God. 

Sacraments:

       The sacraments will be getting their own posts but for right now lets talk Reconciliation and Communion.  First off, Reconciliation has such a bad rep but it is incredible and I highly recommend it.  I especially urge you to go to Reconciliation so that you can enter into communion fully with Christ in the Eucharist.  The Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our Catholic faith.  Jesus Christ has given us the incredible gift to be able to receive him into ourselves physically. WHAT!? I know, stop and think about it and your mind gets blown.  The sacraments give us grace and grace helps us open up our gifts like an over-eager younger sibling. 

       I am sorry that this post has gone longer than usual.  I see fear as the biggest obstacle we face in our quest to fulfill Jesus’ great commission to make disciples of all nations.  The topic deserves time, more than I can provide so I urge you all to think about your own fear, hunt for your gifts, and open them up!

       Do you have an example of fear or an example of courage?  How do you “open” your gifts?  Comments? Suggestions? Questions? 

I've Been Thinking About Your Salvation and Stuff

       Hello readers, I am so sorry I didn't post on Easter but I was so busy celebrating the LORD’s resurrection with my family! What a whirlwind of a weekend.  Holy Week came and went so quickly and there are so many things I could write about but I HAVE to tell you about the most exciting day of my life so far! My best friend and roommate, Holly (yes, we have the same name), was baptized and fully initiated into the Church during the Easter Vigil!!!!! *Hold for applause

Frob and Holly after the Vigil

       Holly was raised Seventh Day Adventist and the tradition of their church is to dedicate infants to the church and to make the personal decision to be baptized when they feel ready.  Holly never did get baptized in the Seventh Day Adventist church
(I am convinced now that God was saving her for a Catholic baptism).  When she came to the University of Maryland last Spring I had already been here for a semester and had formed my core group of friends at the CSC.  When she moved onto campus she began to accompany me to the Catholic Student Center and formed friendships there (and got a boyfriend). 

       She became more and more willing to spend her time at the CSC and I saw her opening herself up to the faith.  Several months ago I was on vacation in Florida when I got a text from Holly that she had decided to be baptized, as a Catholic.  I was overjoyed!  I had never experienced anyone making that decision for themselves and it really inspired me.

       For the last few months I have seen Holly grow in the LORD so much.  I have seen her go trough RCIA and really take a personal and deep interest in her faith and in the Catholic Church.  She now knows more than I do, I am sure.  The beauty is that her fervor only inspires me to take my faith more seriously.

       I will always cherish the moment when Holly told me she couldn't wait for us to be Catholic friends.  It sounded a little bit silly to say out loud but I felt the same way.  We have always been inseparable but now I feel like we can understand and relate to each other in a new deeper and more complete way.  It is such a blessing to me that I can now go to my best friend with my worries, my joys, and my new discoveries and questions about the Church.

        The moment when Holly was baptized was one of the happiest moments of my life and I cannot wait to join her on the rest of her faith journey and have her walk next to me on mine.  I love you Holly and I am blessed to have you as my best friend…

       

       Do you know anyone who got baptized this Easter? Share your experience.  What was your favorite moment/part of Holy Week?  Did you have any new discoveries or come to any new understandings? Comments? Suggestions? Questions?