How do we know that God has a plan for us? We pray! I heard this great analogy yesterday about our relationship with God. When we go to adoration to pray directly to Jesus in the sacrament of the Eucharist, it's like going to talk with your spouse. Communication is vital in a marriage, and it is just as vital in our relationship with God. This is our most important relationship. So we must take special care to make sure that we are listening to what God has to say. Often times I find myself asking God a question and then quickly covering my ears so that I won't hear an answer I don't like. But that is the opposite of what should be done. Trusting God's plan is something that doesn't always seem natural. Listening doesn't always seem natural. This is because we are human and imperfect. We think of ourselves firstly a lot of times when we should think of God first. So when we ask God a question, we NEED to listen to his answer! If he answers in a way that doesn't seem easy or correct in our lives, we need to trust him because he knows our lives better than we do. He knows every hair on our heads. I know I don't know that about myself, so how could I know the plan for my life?
Small bit about this photo, this is a friend of mine who I traveled with in Europe earlier this year. This is a picture from Medjugorje, which is in Bosnia-Herzegovenia. Medjugorje is a place where Mary appears to some visionaries. It has not been approved by the Church yet because the visions are still happening. Mary has been appearing here for the last 25+ years. It is an amazing place. I'll talk more about it later when the topic of pilgimages comes up.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
Morning Sun at Gilmore
I woke up one morning a couple of years ago and took this photo. I'm not much of a morning person so it was a small miracle that I was able to be awake at all. Every time I look at this photo I see more detail in God's beautiful creation. What was he trying to tell me that morning? It was definitely a message of hope. That wasn't the easiest year for me. But God stood by me for every moment, and when I wasn't awake for something important, he woke me up. Praise Him!
Life is so precious and so fragile. It is so easy to feel invincible, especially when we are young. I used to think that I could stay up all night, all the time and feel fine the next day. I've since learned that this is not true at all. Instead I feel like I want to die rather than be awake and be at work or school. It's not a good feeling.
Just a few days ago, I found out how much life is fragile. It was quite the wake up call from God. A friend of mine was hit by a train and is now living off of life support at a hospital. The shock that hit me was profound. Death seemed so far away until that moment when I read the email from my school informing me and every other student of what had happened. Immediately I was thrown into prayer. I felt helpless, useless, except for my prayer. I knew that I could help my friend by praying for her. Please pray for her to regain conciousness soon. Just as God woke me up, let him wake her up to life in Him! I pray that I get to see her again soon.
Be reminded that our lives on this earth are not forever. This world is not our permanent home. Everything on this earth is preparation for the next. Everything. We have to become good stewards of the earth and of everyone around us. And finally, may we come to live eternally in perfect bliss with our Lord. Every moment will be a praise to Him. Let us start praising him and thanking him now for the precious gift of life that we all have. And let us respect the lives of eachother; born and unborn, young and old.
Life is so precious and so fragile. It is so easy to feel invincible, especially when we are young. I used to think that I could stay up all night, all the time and feel fine the next day. I've since learned that this is not true at all. Instead I feel like I want to die rather than be awake and be at work or school. It's not a good feeling.
Just a few days ago, I found out how much life is fragile. It was quite the wake up call from God. A friend of mine was hit by a train and is now living off of life support at a hospital. The shock that hit me was profound. Death seemed so far away until that moment when I read the email from my school informing me and every other student of what had happened. Immediately I was thrown into prayer. I felt helpless, useless, except for my prayer. I knew that I could help my friend by praying for her. Please pray for her to regain conciousness soon. Just as God woke me up, let him wake her up to life in Him! I pray that I get to see her again soon.
Be reminded that our lives on this earth are not forever. This world is not our permanent home. Everything on this earth is preparation for the next. Everything. We have to become good stewards of the earth and of everyone around us. And finally, may we come to live eternally in perfect bliss with our Lord. Every moment will be a praise to Him. Let us start praising him and thanking him now for the precious gift of life that we all have. And let us respect the lives of eachother; born and unborn, young and old.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Mary, Mother of God
Immaculately concieved.
Virgin mother.
Mother of God.
Assumed into heaven.
Immaculate heart of Mary, pray for us!
Virgin mother.
Mother of God.
Assumed into heaven.
Immaculate heart of Mary, pray for us!
Mercy
I don't want to say much about this photo. I just want to let it speak for itself and say "blessed are they."
God the entertainer?
Sometimes we get caught up in the excitement of a great moment. Sometimes we don't. This picture reminds me of how you have to look so much deeper than emotion. Let me explain. In this picture, it's hard not to be distracted by the large amount of black space that surrounds the entrance into St. Peter's Square in Rome. If we are completely distracted by the black abyss, we will miss the true subject of the picture. This is also true of our faith and life in the Church. If we are only moved by emotions (the distracting black abyss) then we can miss the true deep and vast vaults of grace that our God blesses us with.
I love talking about Church. One thing that I am particularly passionate about talking about right now is why going to Mass can be boring. It's true, the music may not always be rockstar, and the homily may not always make sense. But the big question we need to ask is this "IS GOD JUST HERE TO ENTERTAIN US?" The answer is obviously "NO". But often times it is easy to think that because we are not emotionally satisfied, that we are not satisfied at all. When we go to Mass, we recieve JESUS, and Jesus is the "source and summit" of our faith. That's a big deal. So to say that Mass is boring to us may be true, but it is never fruitless! God knows that our faith is not perfect, and He knows that it is impossible for us to fully comprehend Him. And yet he still offers us the body and blood of His only son, Jesus Christ.
So is it wrong to be bored? I don't think so. I believe it's wrong to think that boredom equals meaninglessness. So look into this picture one more time. Cover up the black surrounding the middle subject, focus on the true subject (in the case of our faith, that true subject is Jesus Christ). If we are focused on him, who cares if WE are bored. WE are created to love and serve GOD, so let's do it!
-AMEN!
I love talking about Church. One thing that I am particularly passionate about talking about right now is why going to Mass can be boring. It's true, the music may not always be rockstar, and the homily may not always make sense. But the big question we need to ask is this "IS GOD JUST HERE TO ENTERTAIN US?" The answer is obviously "NO". But often times it is easy to think that because we are not emotionally satisfied, that we are not satisfied at all. When we go to Mass, we recieve JESUS, and Jesus is the "source and summit" of our faith. That's a big deal. So to say that Mass is boring to us may be true, but it is never fruitless! God knows that our faith is not perfect, and He knows that it is impossible for us to fully comprehend Him. And yet he still offers us the body and blood of His only son, Jesus Christ.
So is it wrong to be bored? I don't think so. I believe it's wrong to think that boredom equals meaninglessness. So look into this picture one more time. Cover up the black surrounding the middle subject, focus on the true subject (in the case of our faith, that true subject is Jesus Christ). If we are focused on him, who cares if WE are bored. WE are created to love and serve GOD, so let's do it!
-AMEN!
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