Tag: lent2018

Click here for Spanish version

I love to daydream.

and text

and go on Facebook

and Instagram

and my bank app

and my email

and my photos

and read that random new story

……

All things that take me away from where I am.

I don’t think my imagination or my phone are intrinsically evil… but at the wrong time, they can rob me of giving the most important gift I have to give to another: myself.

Much of my time at work is spent as a one-to-one support, just the other and myself sharing ordinary moments. When I first started, the whole experience was interesting to my intellect and fulfilling to my heart. But after you do the same thing every week for a year, the initial allure is lost and it can be easy to get bored.

I am tempted to “mentally” be elsewhere when we are cooking tacos for the billionth time, and I often give in… but it is exactly in those ordinary moments that I have an opportunity to love the person with whom I am sharing that moment of life.

Be present.

Give yourself to others.

During the week, Matt is a mentor for individuals who have developmental and intellectual disabilities. On the weekends, he is a drummer for Full Armor Band.
You can find more content by Matt and his band at www.fullarmorband.com

 

Click here for Spanish version

My son, Mason, started middle school in September. As you would expect, he started copping an attitude at the same time. It’s gotten to the point where looking at him sideways puts him in a mood. He also can’t seem to focus on a task and follow it through from beginning to end.

After picking him up from an overnight at a friend’s, I asked him to unpack his bag and put everything away before he moved on to the next thing. Two seconds into the task, he was doing nothing but standing still and sulking. I assumed he was mad because I was forcing him to unpack. I lost my patience.

When I finished lecturing him, he said, “No. It’s not that. I just realized I forgot my slippers back at my friend’s house.”

Mason LOVES his slippers! They are these huge, furry, bear paws with claws that light up when he walks. He’d only gotten them a few days before. I felt his pain; and I felt like a heel. Despite knowing the old adage “Never assume…,” I had done just that.

In John 7, the chief priests and Pharisees want Jesus arrested for what they assume He’s saying and doing. Nicodemus challenges them by pointing out that they’re condemning Jesus without first asking clarifying questions, and then hearing Him out. They ignore Nicodemus’ challenge; but I can’t.

If I truly want to be a good mother to my children, I have to stop assuming anything. I need to ask them clarifying questions always, and then take the time to hear them out before I react.

Ever-patient God, please help me to suspend my reactions until I have learned all I need to know, in any given situation.

CatholicMom.com was started by Lisa Hendey in 2000 to create a community for Catholic parents to share insights on living their faith with their family. The website has grown substantially over the years to become a rich resource for all Catholicsseeking spiritual enrichment for their families.  It continues to provide fresh perspectives from the enriching columnists and contributors with daily articles and reflections as well as book and tech recommendations.

Click here for Spanish version

Lately my husband and I have been battling with our preschooler’s changing attitudes. One of his classmates has had a negative impact on him and he has learned bad words and violent play by observing him. Since we are new to the whole “being parents of a kid in school” thing, our first reaction is one of protection and anger.

It seems as if Wisdom 2:12 is playing out before our very eyes and this classmate is saying to himself “Let us beset the just one! ARRG!” (cue the evil pirate look) Of course upon further reflection we realize that this child most likely doesn’t have the best home life, or hasn’t been taught, or God-forbid, is being neglected and acts out to get attention in any way possible.

But the whole scenario is really a metaphor for our lives. How often the bullies of this life (whether they be people or situations) seem to cry out “let us put him to the test, that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience” (Wis 2:19). We can either get angry and put on a protective shell or run to Jesus and confront it.

 

The Psalm Response promises:

“When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,

and from all their distress he rescues them.” Ps 34:7

“Many are the troubles of the just man,

but out of them all the LORD delivers him.” Ps 34: 20

 

Do we know Jesus enough to trust that these promises are true?

In the Gospel some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem claimed that Jesus couldn’t be the Christ because they knew him. (ref Jn 7:27) This passage both infuriates and poses a challenge. How can you claim you know Him if you are doubting Him? How deeply do you really know Him if you don’t believe He is the Christ? Obviously not very well. And then it hits me. I ask myself the same questions and come up sorely lacking. How often do I doubt Him? How deeply do I believe?  Do I trust that he will rescue and deliver me, that He will hear my every word?

On this Lenten Friday, I resolve to go deeper. To dive into the depths of Christ’s heart to know and trust him more, and I invite you to embark on this venture with me.

Tami Urcia spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, while simultaneously studying Theology and Philosophy in Spanish. She has worked in Family Life Ministry at both the diocesan and parish levels. She currently works for Diocesan, is a freelance translator and blogger. She and her Peruvian husband are raising their children bilingual and love sharing reflections of life, love and everything in between. Find out more about her here: https://togetherandalways.wordpress.com

Click here for Spanish version

In his Confessions, Saint Augustine recounts the great struggle he went through in his conversion. He was drawing closer to embracing the Catholic faith, but he couldn’t bring himself to give up his sinful life. He was living with a woman but not married. One day he was in a garden with his friend Alypius, with his heart torn and heavily burdened. Would he ever get to know and love God? Suddenly he heard something that sounded like children chanting, Tolle lege! Take and read! Startled, Augustine noticed a book and picked it up. Opening it at random, his eyes fell on Romans 13:13-14: “Let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

 

That was all he needed to read. Moved by grace, Augustine put the book down and made a decision that would change his life forever. He went on to become one of the Church’s greatest saints.

 

In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus presenting his case to a hostile audience. It’s their moment of decision. Jesus is trying to win their hearts to accept the grace of the Gospel. He presents four powerful witnesses to the truth of his teaching:

 

1. John the Baptist, who was a lamp burning brightly that pointed the way to Jesus.

2. The works that Jesus did, which he received from his Father. Jesus had worked miracles of healing that were confirmed his teaching.

3. The Father himself testified to Jesus. At his baptism the words came from heaven, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him!”

4. The Scriptures themselves, which meant the Old Testament. They spoke of the Messiah who was to come, the Savior of the world. Though the language was veiled the meaning was clear to those who wanted to see.

 

The hostile crowd faced this moment of decision. With all these witnesses, what would they do? Some believed, but many turned away. Jesus told them bluntly that though he would not accuse them, Moses would, for Moses had written about Jesus.

 

Like Augustine and the hostile crowd, all of us have moments of decision. We may have had a major moment of conversion in our lives. But on our spiritual journey, we face many such moments, big and small. Each of them gives us an opportunity to grow in love. It might be helping a child with homework, smiling at a co-worker, or donating my time to a special project. Lent gives us more time to reflect on these daily decisions, as well as any larger movements in one’s life. Where am I right now, and how am I walking on the path to God? Has Jesus sent some witnesses into my life to give me a nudge in the right direction? How will I respond?

“Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” –Joel 3:14

Sr. Marianne Lorraine Trouve’ has been a member of the Daughters of Saint Paul since 1976. She has an MA in theology from the University of Dayton and has served on the editorial staff of Pauline Books & Media for over 20 years. She is the author of several books, including Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Mary: Help in Hard Times. When she’s not writing, editing, or working on logic puzzles, she can be found blogging at www.thomasfortoday.blogspot.com.

Click here for Spanish version

I like to look for the surprises in the spiritual life. Many people I have spoken with have a sense that we approach God to ask for or even beg for graces, and to some degree, I think this is a good and healthy stance in the spiritual life. But being the spiritual daughter of St. Paul—who wasn’t exactly known for his timid mincing of words—reminds me to be surprised by the Gospel. St. Paul says radical things like, “when I am weak [in Christ] I am strong” and “I glory in the cross of Christ.” So, who is the one who is begging and asking?

Really when we stop in a liturgical season such as this time of powerful graces, I think we could make a solid case for the reality that some of the Saints have articulated. They see God as the one who is outside the doors of our hearts asking and begging.

This is part of the beauty of our faith which is more often “both and” rather than “either or.” It is both me asking and begging Almighty God to give me, my loved ones, my Sisters, the people we serve, every grace from heaven, AND it is also God asking and begging me to let him into my heart, to pray to him and let him transform me, and to enter my life so that he can affect graces in the world.

Some Sister-friends and I went to Holy Mass at a nearby college recently and the priest was drawing our attention to the fact that heaven and earth mix together during this time of Lent. We see it in the story of our sinfulness and blind selfishness mingled with the story of God Incarnate dwelling among us as our Savior. There is both the victory of redemption and the slow work of redeeming grace in our hearts, minds, souls, family, communities, and world.

What can we do about the fragmentation, horrendous poverty and violence we hear of in the news every day? What can we do about the fragmentation and the personal and communal poverty we experience in our homes and workplaces and our own hearts? Allow the One who makes himself a beggar in and give him space to be Lord.

Sr. Maria Kim-Ngân Bùi  is a Daughter of St. Paul, women religious dedicated to evangelization in and through the media. She has a degree from Boston College and the Augustine Institute. She has offered workshops, presentations, and retreats around the country. She currently serves as the head of marketing and sales at Pauline and one of the guides of Spiritual Accompaniment—the gemstone of the My Sisters online faith community.

Click here for Spanish version

Last week I went to what I thought was a Catholic Theology on Tap, but as it turns out, “Pub Theology” is not the same thing as Theology on Tap. Pub Theology was a local interfaith group that met to discuss their various religions in not a “safe” space, but a “brave” and “open” space.

Not going to lie, my first reaction upon realizing that this wasn’t a Catholic event was, “I’ve made a grave mistake and need to find an excuse to leave ASAP.” I mean, I’m Catholic and I don’t want to change religions, so what am I doing here at a table with some Protestants, Jews, and Hindus, discussing religion? We sound like the beginning of a bad joke!

Then as we began going over the rules and goals of Pub Theology, I realized how wrong I was. This group was not about trying to force your religion onto others, it was about realizing that we have more in common than we think. We all live out our faiths by spreading God’s love and striving to do what is right. Along with being respectful and trying to understand the other person, our goal was to get to the point where we could say, “Here is the beauty that I find in the other” and not “This is why I am better than them.”

In today’s Gospel,  Jesus performs a miracle on the Holy Sabbath, which went against Jewish culture. As Catholics, we think that Jesus did the right thing by performing this miracle. He not only saved the man from physical death but from being “dead” to the world around him due to his illness. Still, in that time period and setting, it was scandalous! It was unheard of, unthinkable!

Instead of being in awe of his miracle and feeling joy that he had just saved a person’s life, “the “Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on the Sabbath” (John 5:16). If we had been there, can we honestly say that we would find the beauty in Jesus’ choice? Or would we have said, “He worked on a Sunday and I don’t, so that makes me better than him.”

You see, Jesus went against what the Pharisees preached and they held it against him, regardless of his life-giving act. They would rather ignore all the good that he had done because they could not see past the fact that he was not a perfect Jewish man. I think that if I were there, I would have had an inner struggle on whether or not it was right to work on the Sabbath. It would have conflicted with my beliefs, but I like to think that in the end, I would have been able to say that I admired Jesus for his action to preserve life.

You see, the idea of American culture is about the mixing of religions, backgrounds, and practices, yet we have come to the conclusion that America’s melting pot is full and no longer needs anything else.  Quite the opposite is true. We need to remember that no matter where we go in the world, not everyone has the same beliefs as we do. Regardless of different beliefs, there is always something we can learn from one another. Growing up, we learn from the people around us, so why would we not continue to learn from each other as adults?

Today I want to point out that God is not asking us to coexist, because coexisting is not community, just the way tolerance is not love and listening is not understanding. Instead, we should listen without judgment or argument, so that we can hear and fully respect their human dignity as a child of God. Each and every day, Our Heavenly Father calls us to learn from one another so that we may find the beauty in the other.

For more information on interfaith groups and Interfaith Days of Prayer in your community, contact your local diocese.

Veronica Alvarado is a born and bred Texan currently living in Michigan. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has been published in the Catholic Diocese of Austin’s official newspaper, Catholic Spirit, as well as other local publications. She now works as the Content Specialist in Diocesan’s Web Department.

Click here for Spanish version

I always like to look to the scriptures for inspiration in my writing, but do you ever read the Bible and just get depressed? I clearly remember as a kid that we would all gather as a family and pray our daily rosary. As the beads went through our fingers we would meditate on scripture readings. It seemed that especially during the Lenten season these readings were not stories of the glory of the resurrection, but more of wrath, hurt, pain, suffering, and despair. There are some pretty depressing readings during the lenten season, obviously ending with the atrocity of the crucifixion.

You can imagine the immense satisfaction that I felt waking up this morning and reading, “For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people.” Not quite the typical solemn readings that we sometimes hear during this season. Anyone that has ever met me, knows that I am a very optimistic person. I always think the best of people and strive to help them reach their full potential. Today’s first reading from Isaiah is a fantastic reminder that joy and suffering are not opposed.

Now this idea seems a little strange at first glance; how could joy and suffering not be diametrically opposed to each other? After all, we are not happy when we suffer. I don’t know of anyone who laughs while standing in line at the department of motor vehicles. I think the problem in our culture is that we think joy and happiness are the same thing, and this is simply not true. Happiness is an emotion that happens to us as a result of a stimulus. Joy is a virtue; it is a choice that no matter what is happening to us, we can have a positive disposition. You might say that happiness remains on the level of reflex until it enters our will and either flatlines or becomes virtue.

These ideas are a little heavy, but it is actually quite simple. Suffering is not something we were meant for, but a consequence of the original sin. We were meant for joy, we were created to have perfect joy with each other and with God himself. Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross attained for us eternal salvation, giving us the perfect example of how joy can come from even the most horrendous action.

This is good news for optimists and pessimists alike. The problem of evil in the world is one that always makes me uncomfortable. How can a loving God allow such horrible suffering? When these thoughts creep into my mind, I always think back on the crucifixion. Without the crucifixion we would not be able to intimately participate in the Divine Nature of God in heaven someday. The darkest time in human history brought about the most immense joy.

What are you suffering with today? What struggles do you have that make you angry at God or at the very least make it hard to see that joy could eventually come from this? We all have pain and heartache in this life, but God promises that, “All things work together for good to them that love Him.” I challenge you today to give your suffering to Christ. Allow him to walk with you through that suffering. After all, Jesus suffered, he sweat blood, he wept, he endured human suffering, and he can help you experience joy when it may seem impossible.

“For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people.” ~Isaiah 65: 18-19

As a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan, Tommy is committed to showing parish and diocesan staffs how to use our communication tools to their best advantage. He has worked for years in various, youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. As an expert on Catholic communication, Tommy uses his parish and diocesan experiences to help you make your ministry effective. To bring Tommy to your parish or for general inquiry, contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com or find him online at www.rodzinkaministry.com.