Mercy Always and Everywhere

I was with a group of amazing young women the other night. They are in that time of life where they are pretty recently married and starting their families. As they shared their stories of the antics of their babies and the missteps and small victories of family life with young children, I sat and watched them in awe. They are gorgeous, and they were so comfortable with one another. They teased and chided; supported and encouraged one another. They spoke of their faith, and one discussed how she and her husband had been praying about a change in job. I was basking at being included in their tribe.

Then the subject of the conversation changed, and suddenly, we were discussing television and the Bachelor and other shows which make a game show out of finding a partner and hooking up. “Oh, yes, on _____________________ if they aren’t in bed with someone by nighttime, they are off the show!” This was followed by a round of laughter and discussing the pros and cons of the different formats, each of which involved finding a partner, “hooking up” and generally making sport of finding a spouse and getting married. As the conversation turned again, I sat there and felt deflated and defeated.

Our culture. Ugh. What are we doing to our young people? What is it that makes these beautiful, incredible young woman, who aren’t living by those twisted values think that this is okay entertainment? And why didn’t I say something?

I have been rereading and praying over today’s Scripture for some time. But it was after this, that it made me sit up straight and take a serious accounting.

At the end of His explanation of the parable of the seeds, Jesus says, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.” Wait. What was that? “They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” Hold on a minute. Did Jesus really just say that not only evildoers but those who cause others to sin will be cast into the fire for ETERNITY? Yessiree Bob, that is precisely what he said.

I am not only responsible for not doing evil myself, but also for making sure I don’t cause others to sin, and that is going to include talking about sinful, stiff-necked behavior (as Moses called it), both mine and theirs. This just got hard. This just got real.

From the Introduction to “Divine Mercy in My Soul”, the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Koiwalska, “We must draw near to Him who redeemed us by His suffering and death borne for us, and, out of love for Him, draw near to our poor and suffering brothers and sisters and bring them relief through spiritual and corporal works of love and mercy. Jesus expects this from us: I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere.”

What does it mean to show mercy to my neighbors always and everywhere? Of course, it starts with making sure their physical needs are met. But it doesn’t end there. The greatest act of mercy we can do for someone is to help them draw closer to God. In this crazy mixed-up world we live in, it means being able to recognize and oh-so-gently point out when we are not living consistent with what we know and profess about Jesus Christ.

I could give you 100 reasons why I didn’t speak up on that evening. I am also sure that listening to an old, grey-haired Aunt pontificate on the evils of the Bachelor wouldn’t have done much good either. I need to be better at finding loving, charitable ways to fulfill Jesus’ demand for deeds of mercy because helping people I love and care about live a life aligned with Christ in word and deed is the most merciful and loving thing I can do. Is it going to put me out there? Yes. Are some people going to take it badly and not like it? Yes. Do I need to practice so that I can do it with as much kindness and charity as possible? Absolutely. Jesus demands it.

I don’t have any great words of wisdom for you today. I can’t even shine the flashlight backward to help you to see the path because I am not ahead of you. The best that I can give you today is to let you know that you are not alone. Jesus is calling me, and he is calling you to live out our faith, to profess it AND to live it. I am right beside you on this path, and I pray it will lead us to the Kingdom of the Father, both now and forever. Amen.


If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation,  trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or figuring out a new knitting or quilting pattern. Since every time she thinks she gets life all figured out, she realizes just how far she has to go, St. Rita of Cascia is her go-to Saint for intercession and help. Home includes Brea, a Bernese Mountain dog and Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever.

Finding Our Essence

Picture a chair in your mind’s eye. What do you see? What kind of chair is it? Where do you use it? Is it a rocking chair? Your favorite recliner? Did you picture a chair unique to your home or something more public like a shared park bench? If we could line up each of our mind pictures, each picture would be different, but each would be a chair. What makes these different images all “chair”? What is it about the concept of “chair” that allows us to see both a dorm room bean bag and a castle’s throne and label them both as “chair”? 

In philosophy, the word essence is used to describe the properties of what an object fundamentally is and without those properties, the object loses its identity. The essence of chair allows us to see those properties that make it a chair in any form or setting. Essence is more about fulfilling a purpose than in physical make up. In today’s readings, Jesus is getting at our essence, the basis of our identity and he goes about it by what sounds on the surface like a rejection of Mary, but is it really? And what does it have to say about who we are? 

 “Someone told him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.’ But he said in reply to the one who told him, ‘Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.’”

Wait a minute! Did Jesus just say Mary is not his mother? First of all, deep breath, on this Memorial of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, we need to be confident that we can never love Mary more than Jesus does. So what does Jesus mean?  

Jesus is making a point about our essence, those properties without which we lose our identity. “Becoming a disciple of Jesus means accepting the invitation to belong to God’s family, to live in conformity with His way of life…” (CCC 2233) It isn’t about belonging to a specific family, tribe or nation. Jesus is telling us that in order to belong to God’s family, in order to fulfill our essence, our identity as God’s children, we need to do the will of our heavenly Father. 

And throughout all of history, since God created Adam and Eve, who has most lived her life completely conformed to the Father’s will? Who gave her fiat as a young girl and lived it out for the rest of her earthly life and continues in heaven? Mary, of course. 

Jesus is telling us that to belong to the family of God, it doesn’t matter where we are born, to whom we were born. It isn’t our circumstances or anything else beyond our control. Like Mary, we can give God our yes, our own fiat and align our will with his own. When we do this, we fulfill our essence, we embrace those properties about ourselves that make us who we were created to be, we come into our identity as a child in God’s family.

And when we claim our identity as part of the family of God we get Mary as our Mother. As our Mother, Mary doesn’t leave us without her aid. 

According to Carmelite tradition on July 16, 1251, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the Brown Scapular with the promise, “Receive, My beloved son, this habit of thy order: this shall be to thee and to all Carmelites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire …. It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.” 

The Brown Scapular is a sacramental approved by the Church for over seven centuries. We can wear the Brown Scapular after enrollment by a priest or authorized person. This makes one a part of the Carmelite family of God. Our Lady called the scapular a privilege and as always, with privilege comes responsibility. Enrollment requires the wearing of the scapular, observance of chastity according to one’s state in life and a commitment to pray the rosary. Wearing the Brown Scapular is a sign of the decision to be open to God’s will, guided by faith, hope, and charity, to pray always, and like Mary, commit to following Jesus. 

Which brings us full circle to the message of today’s Gospel. Our God is not an absentee landlord, or merely a great force which put the world in place and then stands back unconcerned. We were created by love, for love, to love. It is our essence, the core of our identity. We are invited to be a part of God’s family. We have the opportunity to give Him our yes on a daily basis and to live according to His will. Jesus tells us that when we imitate Mary in this, he will acknowledge us too as family. 

“For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Mother Mary, intercede for us all and on this day when we honor you as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, help us to be more like you and to live out our shared identity as children of God. Amen

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation,  trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or figuring out a new knitting or quilting pattern. Since every time she thinks she gets life all figured out, she realizes just how far she has to go, St. Rita of Cascia is her go-to Saint for intercession and help. Home includes Brea, a Bernese Mountain dog and Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever.

One Foot in Front of the Other

I’ve struggled to reflect on today’s readings without oversharing. So this is your fair warning, this post is not “Facebook” photo ready. It is about the day to day struggle to live a life of faith. I share this with my husband’s blessing. 

My husband’s job was “downsized” and my second job was restructured. The result is that within just a few months, we went from three salaries to living on one Catholic School teacher salary. Financial insecurity is part of our lives right now. 

We know we are in a better position than so many and are grateful for every gift we have, but nonetheless, there is no denying we have entered a lean time. At an age when we thought we would be gliding towards retirement, we are plodding along, paycheck to paycheck. 

It may not always be pretty, but there is so much for us to learn at this time. The readings have been speaking to my heart so directly lately. On Sunday, we heard about Elisha, literally burning up what he owned before following God’s call to attend Elijah. In the Sunday Gospel reading, Jesus had several warnings that when we follow Him, we are to follow and not look back. 

And then In today’s readings, we have Lot’s wife. 

Looking back, bemoaning what was and what we wanted is a human tendency. Our plans, our dreams for the near future have gone up in smoke. I can kind of relate to Lot’s wife, she had to look back just once. There is a pull that makes us want to just shut down and watch the smoke rise from our broken lives. In terms of our faith, this is the push where the rubber hits the road. We have choices. We have to decide either to follow where God leads or look back to what we had planned. (A dear friend is fond of reminding me, man proposes, God disposes). We are so fortunate. Like Lot who fled to Zoar, we have a refuge. Now, it is up to us, we can take shelter and praise God for what is or like Lot’s wife, we can turn back to focus on what was.

That Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back is more food for thought. We think of salt as a seasoning, but in times prior to refrigeration, salt was primarily a preservative. In turning back from God’s directions, her choice was literally preserved in salt. Her choice is preserved as a memorial to the fact that we can’t have it both ways. We can’t follow God and hold on to the ways of the world. 

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” That’s our calling! We are not to be a pillar of salt but to go out and salt the world with God’s love. How will it be known if we love God? “I give you a new commandment: love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). 

St. Gregory of Nyssa, in a treatise on Christian Perfection, draws a relevant connection between our deeds, words, and thoughts. “Thoughts come first, then words, since our words express openly the interior conclusions of the mind. Finally, after thoughts and words, come actions, for our deeds carry out what the mind has conceived.” In Lot’s wife, we see this carried to the extreme. We may not know her words, but we ‘see’ the thoughts of her heart in action as she ignores the angels’ directions and turns back to what was. We see immediately the result as her thought is memorialized in the pillar of salt. 

If I want to live up to Jesus’s call to be the salt of the earth, then even when my nature screams for financial security and a sense of control, I have to choose to trust Jesus completely. If I am going to be a disciple of Jesus, if I want to see him calm the sea and still the waves, then I cannot shrink back from the storm. 

So, if life isn’t quite as calm and peaceful as you’d like, if you are struggling to let go of what was or what you wanted, please know you are not alone. I get it! I understand that push and pull struggle between wanting my way and desiring desperately to be all in with Jesus. It’s hard! Jesus is with you…and the Holy Spirit. It hasn’t been that long since Pentecost when we celebrated because the Holy Spirit was sent to strengthen us. He is a real and present help in refocusing our thoughts which will be expressed in our words and lived in our deeds. Even when God feels far away and like life is just putting one step in front of the other on a journey we didn’t choose, He’s there. When the walk is hard, when we are in the lean times, when the path doesn’t seem to make sense, we still get to choose whether to be the salt of the earth or to be a memorial in salt. We get to keep walking and as we walk, we follow the one who calms the sea and controls the wind. If we are going to radical followers of a radical God, we can’t stay focused back towards what we thought we wanted, we need to orient our lives upward to God and then outward, through Him to others. So keep going! You are a beloved child of the One who rules the waves. You can do this. We can do this. 

Today’s Psalm sums it up, what we are to do when we hit rough terrain. When we just need to keep going with our heart focused on God:

“But I walk in integrity; redeem me and have mercy on me. My foot stands on level ground; in the assemblies, I will bless the Lord.” 

May God continue to bless you, wherever you are walking! We are praying for you!

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation,  trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or figuring out a new knitting or quilting pattern. Since every time she thinks she gets life all figured out, she realizes just how far she has to go, St. Rita of Cascia is her go-to Saint for intercession and help. Home includes Brea, a Bernese Mountain dog and Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

There is in the Sacred Heart the symbol and express image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love in return. – Pope Leo XIII

Can you pick just one thing that is great about being Catholic? Definitely, the fact that Jesus is present to us body, blood, soul and divinity at every Mass and we can spend time with him physically present in Adoration have to be at the top of the list. But there are some other things which are pretty great about being part of the family of the Church which is known for “both…and…”. There is room under the Catholic roof for loud praise and worship and silent, reverent devotion. We can attend Mass in the language we speak and in the ancient language of the Church. Some of us are called to proclaim the kingdom by working in the world and being a Christ to those we meet outside of the Church and some of us are called to spend our lives working within the Church helping each one become more like Jesus. Under the Catholic roof is some of the most incredible artwork ever created by man and kitschy plastic St. Christophers for on the dash of your car. Not only is there room for both, but we also NEED both!

Our God is incarnational. He took on our flesh, our matter and in doing so, He sanctified all creation. The very physicality of the created world is now capable of pointing us to God and leading us to holiness. 

For those of us who have been around for a while, we don’t even blink an eye or do a double take at the sight of an icon of Jesus with his heart on the outside of his body. Not only is his bloody heart exposed, but it is also wrapped in thorns and on fire! Yikes! But we understand the role of icons. Icons are art which points to something beyond itself. (Sounds pretty close to the definition of a sacrament doesn’t it? There is a pattern here.) 

So for today, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I invite you to look and really see the icon of the Sacred Heart. As you do, look to the revelation of God’s nature that we are given through the prophet Ezekiel in the first reading. 

Thus says the Lord:

I myself will look after
I will tend
I will rescue
I will lead
I will bring them back
I will pasture
I myself will give them rest
I will seek out
I will bind up
I will heal 

In every age and culture, the heart can be found as a symbol of love and affection. Jesus came as one of us and took that symbol further. He came to show us that love is not just cute cupids. Love is not just when times are good and we feel all emotional. True love is a total gift of self. It is set aside for a purpose and is precious. Love pierces our souls as surely as a thorn pierces flesh. It opens us to something deeper than ourselves and wider than our own interests. Love is a fire which burns but does not consume. It is the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us from our selfish innermost ways. When we give ourselves over to that, when we can give our whole heart without counting the cost, then we are most fulfilled. 

Paradoxical? Yes. 

Wonderful? Absolutely.

Worth it? Without a doubt. 

So gaze upon Jesus’s exposed heart and ask him on this day, and every day, to convert your heart to be just like his; open to all, courageous enough to bear the thorns and on fire with the Holy Spirit.

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation,  trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or figuring out a new knitting or quilting pattern. Since every time she thinks she gets life all figured out, she realizes just how far she has to go, St. Rita of Cascia is her go-to Saint for intercession and help. Home includes Brea, a Bernese Mountain dog, and Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever.

An Antithesis of Ideas

An antithesis is a figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by a connection of meaning through a connection of form. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stands everything we think we know on its head. He redefines happiness (Beatitudes) not for what the world thinks is happiness, but in a manner consistent with how God created us to be happy.

Following the Beatitudes, Jesus presents 6 antitheses. He uses the form, “You have heard that it was said…” “But I say to you…” to connect the teachings and to take us beyond the written word of the law to spirit or purpose for which the law was written. He even goes so far as to present the literal interpretation of the law as opposed to the purpose of the law.

The first reading also uses a connection of form to set up concepts which the world sees as opposites. The world sees affliction as a constraint against happiness. St. Paul says, we are afflicted, but we are not constrained. The world sees being perplexed as a road to despair, St. Paul says we are perplexed, but we do not despair. The world sees being persecuted as an abandonment, St. Paul says we are persecuted, but we are never abandoned. The world sees being struck down as being destroyed. St. Paul says we are struck down, but we are not destroyed. Why? We carry within us the death of Jesus so that His life may be manifested, incarnated, may live in the world through us!

We are people who don’t shy away from the crucifix. We look upon the death of Jesus and see his arms outstretched for us. We see that suffering and pain and being perplexed and struck down are not the path to despair and destruction. We look at Jesus on the crucifix and we see the power of his Sacred Heart. When we look at the crucifix, we see the incarnation, the love of God made flesh. We see Jesus’ merciful heart, wrapped in bands of thorns, on fire with the Holy Spirit.

As we pause today, part way between Pentecost and the Feast of the Sacred Heart we read about the relationship between the law and our life. Jesus shows us that it isn’t about just following the law, it is about living the spirit of the law. “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.” Jesus isn’t advocating self-mutilation, Jesus is telling us that nothing, nothing is as important as love. Nothing is as important as living the rest of eternity in the presence of love itself. As we look back on Pentecost and forward to the Feast of the Sacred Heart, let us love. For in love is happiness, not happiness as the world defines, but God’s true happiness found in a heart wrapped in thorns and on fire with the Holy Spirit.

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through https://www.ignitedinchristnacc.com/.


The Way, The Truth, The Life

“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” -Pope Paul VI

“The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord, and you also will testify. Alleluia, Alleluia!”

Witnesses are called to testify to the truth. So, just how are we to testify? Most of us break out in a cold sweat at even the thought of being asked to give “a testimony”. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have some big dramatic story about a single event that caused me, a wayward sinner (although I am that!) to see the error of my ways and turn my life over to Jesus. While I think those stories are important to remind us of God’s power, like many others, sometimes God works so quietly that we simply don’t see our story as worthy testimony. So, it bears asking again, just how do we testify?

Today’s Psalms tell us to sing praise with timbrels and harp. Timbrels? A quick internet search describes timbrels as a form of tambourines. Now that’s music that makes you want to smile and move! We are supposed to testify with laughter and Joie de Vie! We testify by how we participate in praise. It doesn’t matter if we can’t sing a note, we testify by singing and adding our unique voice to the symphony of praise that echoes all the way to heaven. Wait, I can testify by something as simple as opening the hymnal and singing along? Really? Absolutely. When we sing together, we testify to our unity in Christ.  

In the first reading, Lydia testifies with her hospitality. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home.”  

We may not be able to physically open our homes to every person we meet, but what acts of hospitality can we show? Through what seemingly tiny gestures can we testify to how much God loves each person we meet? Do they walk away from us feeling a little lighter? Do our actions let them know we care? That they have a God who infinitely cares? When we pay attention to the needs of others, we testify to the power of sacrificial love.

Yet, in the Gospel reading, Jesus doesn’t sugar coat things. He is sending the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who will testify by activity in our community. Others may teach about truth, but only Jesus IS the Truth, the Way, and the Life. (John 14:6) We are called to testify to that Truth by cooperating with the Holy Spirit. Jesus loved those who were considered unloveable and he was condemned and crucified for that act of love. Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit so we can continue His work with those who are passed by, passed over and oppressed in society. By continuing Jesus’s work, by seeking to live as He lived, to love as He loved, we start to testify with every breath, every smile, every decision, every action.

Jesus tells us straight out, that when we live like him, we will be treated like him. Those “who have not known either the Father or me” will not understand either what we do or why we do it. But to paraphrase St. Mother Teresa’s prayer, we will “do it anyway.”

May the Holy Spirit, sent by our Lord Jesus Christ, continue to guide us and strengthen us as we testify, maybe not with dramatic stories, but with all the little moments of our daily lives.

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through ignitedinchristnacc.com.


Our Lady of Fatima

Today, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, 3 people will make their initial Consecration to Jesus through Mary in our parish. We have spent the last 33 days “on retreat” as we have read, pondered and discussed Fr. Michael Gaitley’s book, “33 Days to Morning Glory.”

It has been one of the most profound times of preparation I have ever been through. My husband and I made our initial Consecration about 5 years ago. Looking back, I wish I had kept better track of the groups we have led through the same process since then. There have been at least a couple every year. However, this time through has been different. I have received the most amazing grace of being able to see more clearly than ever just how Mary has been working in my life and the immense changes that have happened as a result of entrusting myself to her and allowing her to lead me closer to Jesus.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus gives us the parable of the sheep in the sheepfold. “…he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”

Without me even consciously realizing it, ever since my consecration, Mary has been helping me recognize my shepherd’s voice. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, she has cleared my heart and my mind of so much of the flotsam and jetsam of life which blocks my really hearing Jesus’s softly whispered call. He calls with such tenderness and such mercy, he never rushes and he never forces, he waits for our “Yes” in each and every moment. The Catechism tells us that the call to conversion is on-going, “it is the movement of a ‘contrite heart’ drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved first.” (CCC 1428) Saying yes to Mary has made it easier to say yes to God in all the little things.

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is speaking of eating with the Gentiles and he says, “‘John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” Peter’s words are so powerful that those who are arguing with him stop immediately and begin praising God. Peter may have been talking about eating with those who were considered outsiders, but it seems to me, he could just as well have been speaking about consecration to Our Blessed Mother. We are baptized with the Holy Spirit, who has deigned to distribute his graces through the mother of his son, Mary. Through the disciple John, Jesus gave Mary as a spiritual mother to all of us. To be bold enough to use John’s words another way, if God gave the same gift, Mary, when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?

A quick word about numbers, 3 people making their initial consecration may not sound like much, but 3 people with hearts set on fire for Jesus through Mary can each set 3 more hearts on fire who then make their consecration and who each then set 3 more hearts on fire to make their consecration, who each set 3 more hearts on fire to make their consecration and before you know it Mary and the Holy Spirit have set the world ablaze with love of Jesus Christ. St. Maximilian Kolbe wanted to give not just glory to God but the greatest glory to God. He desired to do this by getting the whole world to give God the greatest glory through Mary. He called it the Militia Immaculata. The next Marian feast day is July 16, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Care to join St. Maximilian Kolbe in giving the greatest glory to God? Let Mary help you recognize the Shepherd’s voice.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through ignitedinchristnacc.com.


Fearful Yet Overjoyed

Think back on a moment of life where everything changed. One of those crystal moments, where you know things will never be the same. Think of that moment when something you had been looking forward to became real; you were accepted at college, got your dream job, the moment your vocation became clear, the day of your marriage, the birth of your child.

These are such happy spots in our earthly lives! We are overcome with joy and delight. And, often, then reality sinks in. Can I cut it in college? What if I can’t? What if I am not as good at this job as I think I will be? Can I really spend the rest of my earthly life this way? Am I willing to give everything to get this person to heaven? What if I fail as a parent? How does this change tomorrow? Will anything in my life ever be the same?

The same can happen as we experience the joy of Easter. Christ is risen, Alleluia! Something so minor as death cannot overtake our Lord!

But the questions come, what does this mean to me? Is Easter simply the ending of my Lenten penance? Can I now go back to eating chocolate and putting cream in my coffee without giving it another thought? Can I pick up that weekly grande latte again rather than giving to someone in greater need? Do I just pick up where I left off on Mardi Gras like Lent (and Easter) never happened? What has to change in my life because Jesus has risen? How does this change tomorrow? Will anything in my life ever be the same?

The Church, in her infinite motherly wisdom, again provides. Easter is not a single day after which we put away the bunnies and baskets and go back to our daily routine. Easter is a season which begins with the rising of Jesus and ends with the descent of the Holy Spirit as the grand finale! Lent was 40 days. Easter gives us 50 days to soak it all in. We have time to meditate on the reality of Easter, not to be fearful but to let our senses, honed by abstinence and penance, truly consider what it means to serve a risen Lord. Our Lenten penance isn’t a thing of the past, it is now the prepared bedding where our Easter joy takes root. Our hearts and souls are ready to turn back to God for this time of grace and joy.

My prayer for you is that you are able to spend this Easter, all of Easter, not as a “getting back to normal” but as a time to find a new normal. To integrate in new ways, what it means to serve the One who overcame death through love. Like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, may your joy at Easter so fill your heart that you run to share the news of Christ’s love with all you meet.

Easter blessings!

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through www.youthministrynacc.com.


The Final Leg

“So the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.’”

We are in the final stretch of Lent, almost to Holy Week. In just 3 days, we will begin the Mass with Hosannas and palms and then abruptly shift to the cries of “Crucify him” during the reading of the Gospel. We will begin the final steps with Jesus through his passion and crucifixion. We will travel those steps with him through the liturgy, through our prayers, through our own sacrifices, through our desire to love him and quench his thirst on the cross.

A week from today, we shall stay with him in the garden. The next day we will venerate the cross by which he died. Then we shall sit vigil with his mother and his disciples and maintain a holy silence until his Resurrection.

With all of this before us, Jesus reminds us today of who he is. “…before Abraham came to be, I AM.” It is the name spoken by God to Moses at the burning bush. “By revealing his name God at the same time reveals his faithfulness which is from everlasting to everlasting…God, who reveals his name as “I AM,” reveals himself as the God who is always there, present to his people in order to save them.” (CCC 207)

As we prepare ourselves for Holy Week, we are reminded, reminded of God’s covenant with Abraham. Reminded that God will “maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact to be your God and the God of your descendants” (Genesis 17: ) Reminded that God is always there, present to his people.

“So the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.’ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.”

As we enter the holiest week of the year, as we walk with Jesus to his passion and death, we can do so with our whole hearts, confident that God is the God who is everlastingly present. We remember they didn’t take Jesus’s life, he gave it as a gift. The impact we feel at the awareness of that gift is one of the graces of Holy Week. As you walk this week, as you participate in the liturgies and prayers, remember that Jesus, the one who is, willingly did it all for you. You are so loved. Can we do anything less than give him our whole hearts in return?

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through www.youthministrynacc.com.


Decluttering and Finding Joy

There is a new system of organizing and decluttering that has people all abuzz. I will openly admit that I am not an expert in this area. There are parts of our home that could use a good decluttering. One of the foundational principles of this currently popular system is to cherish those things that bring you joy. You are supposed to hold something in your hands and ask yourself, “Does this bring me joy?” If the answer is “yes,” you keep it. If the answer is “no,” you pass it on (i.e., donate, sell, dispose of…) I had heard some positive responses and thought, “Maybe I could use this. I would welcome more joy.”

Hold on a second, there is a fatal flaw in the very question being asked. I am supposed to hold an object, a thing, a part of creation and ask if it brings me joy.

Lent is about making room for the only true source of joy, God himself. Lent is about returning to God with our whole hearts, hearts decluttered and free from attachment to things, attitudes, behaviors which block God’s grace.

In today’s readings, both Joseph’s brothers and the Pharisees have disordered ideas about finding joy. Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, is considered a killjoy by his brothers. They don’t like his dreams, his favored status, and it’s all wrapped up in his multi-colored coat so when they have the chance, they seize him. Having already determined he doesn’t bring joy to them, they plot his murder. Eventually, they throw him in a cistern and sell him as a slave, relegating their brother to the status of an object to be bought, sold, and disposed of at will.

The Pharisees in today’s Gospels are in much the same boat, although the things which they count on to bring them joy are not physical in nature. As the chief priests and elders of the people, they are used to having position and status in the community. They have no doubt that Jesus is comparing them to the tenants in the parable of the vineyard. Jesus knows that like the tenants in the parable, they will resort to murder to maintain their position, power and status rejecting the One who is capable of bringing all true joy. Jesus tells them straight out that “the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

When we look for joy, a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), in all the wrong places, we end up cluttering our lives with created things; objects or social constructs like position and status, which can’t really bring joy anyway. When we accumulate this clutter, we end up valuing the created over the Creator.

As we approach the Third Week of Lent, it is in our human nature to have our resolve to our Lenten promises begin to waiver. Instead of being frustrated or abandoning them, let’s look at them anew. How does my Lenten commitment help me to declutter my heart and mind? How are my small acts of penance helping me pave the way for Jesus to change my heart? If they aren’t, now is the time to adjust. How am I disciplining myself through fasting and abstinence to let go of my wants and make room for real joy? How am I giving of myself so that others see through me to the One who wants to bring them joy too?

As you continue your Lenten journey, may the Holy Spirit continue to guide you in your spiritual decluttering so that your heart is ready to be filled with Easter joy.

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through www.youthministrynacc.com.


One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic

As a part of Tom (mi esposo)’s discernment and formation for the diaconate, we have taken several classes on the Creed. So, when this last class came to the marks of the Church, I thought, “I’ve got this. I’ve taught this in CCD. I have them memorized. Bring it on.”

Then in “The Creed” by Berard L. Mathaler I read:

“The marks of the Church are first of all gifts, but they need to be cultivated and nurtured. On the day of Pentecost, before it even moved outside of the gates of Jerusalem, the Church was ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC and APOSTOLIC, (emphasis is his), and much as a newborn is every inch a human being even before it begins to grow and develop its innate gifts. It is the Christian’s task to make the marks visible and recognizable.”

Wait? What?

In all of my years of professing the Creed, I always took this as a descriptor, not a responsibility. As God draws our own hearts’ back to himself this Lent, this puts an entirely new spin on my Lenten practices. Today’s readings spell out exactly how this is to look in practice in my life.

In order to make the marks of the Church visible to the world, to have them live in my whole heart and be manifested in my actions today, I need to not defraud or rob my neighbor, not only of their physical goods but of their inherent human dignity. I need to neither show partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty; rather acknowledging each as a child of God, a brother or sister in Christ regardless of what they believe or do. I can’t spread slander among my kin nor stand idly by when my neighbor’s life is at stake. I might rush to help someone who is not physically safe, but do I stand by as others jeopardize their immortal lives? I can take no revenge nor bear a grudge against my fellow countrymen. That means all of my countrymen; the ones I agree with and the ones I don’t, the ones who were born here and the ones who came here in search of a better life. No revenge, I can’t talk them down, move against them or even bear a grudge towards them or even wish that I could.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that when we do all this, we do it for him and to him. He is present in each and every person we encounter, those we embrace and those from whom we turn away.

So whatever your Lenten practice this year, try to take it one step deeper, one step farther. If you are denying yourself some cherished thing, offer that sacrifice for the good of another. If you are seeking new practices, such as prayer or spiritual reading, reach out to someone else and invite them to join you. If you can’t give money as alms, give of yourself.

As we take this Lent to turn back to God with our whole heart, may our Lenten practices, guided by today’s readings help us to live up to our call to be a sign of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church in an aching and divided world.

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through her through www.youthministrynacc.com.


The Leaven of Language

I love making artisan bread. It sounds fancy, tastes fantastic and yet is so simple to make. Every time, I wonder, “Why I don’t do this more often?” My basic recipe includes flour, warm water, honey, and yeast.

The yeast is a leaven. It literally permeates every molecule of the dough, consuming simple sugars and emitting carbon dioxide into the bubble gum-like gluten causing it to expand and rise, giving the bread texture and contributing to the flavor.

Leaven (or leavened) is mentioned 22 times in the Old Testament and 17 times in the New Testament. It is that property of something small entering into and changing the whole that is used as an analogy over and over, sometimes in a positive vein and sometimes in a negative connotation.

The easiest analogy to make is to compare leaven to sin. It is the small sins which we may discount which change our attitude and decrease our sensitivity to sin so that it becomes easier and easier to sin than to chose to act with virtue.

As the English language continues to evolve, we begin to use words in ways that no longer adhere to the original meaning. For instance, “adore” comes from the Latin, “ad” meaning to and “orare” meaning speak or pray, hence “adore” meaning to speak a prayer, or to worship. Adore is the veneration or worship due only to God. Yet, the synonyms for the word in common usage now include, “like, love, have a liking for, be fond of, be keen on, be partial to, have a taste for, have a weakness for, enjoy, delight in, revel in, take pleasure in, relish, savor, rate highly, regard highly.” A word which once directed us straight to God and our appropriate behavior to Him now is used to describe being “keen” on something. As we use words which once were reserved for God for created things, how does that language act as a leaven in our attitude towards God and our faith?

Today’s readings make a pretty convincing argument for a significant impact. In the Old Testament reading, the God who created us, knows us and loves us, looked at the whole of creation and saw how the leaven of evil had permeated the whole of humanity. The whole of humanity had been consumed with evil to the point where God “regretted he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved.” Through Noah, God stops short of wiping men out completely. Through that one man, He saves creation and expands upon his covenant from promising salvation to one couple to salvation to a family. Finally, Jesus comes to fulfill God’s covenant and provide salvation to all men, however, even while He is here to save us, Jesus still warns the disciples to watch against the “leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” The disciples are warned against sharing the destructive attitudes of the Pharisees and Herod toward Jesus.

How much of our attitude is influenced by our language? The word Pharisee means “separated out”. They set themselves apart to so that they could avoid contamination from those who weren’t “God’s chosen people”; most specifically the unclean Gentiles. Language is used to separate people in to “us” and “them” impacting human relationships. How does our relationship with God change when we speak of creatures in the same way we speak of our Creator? Ask God to send the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind today to the words you use. Start with something familiar, like the Creed and spend some time really understanding the words that were chosen and the insight they provide us into who God is and who we are in His presence. Watch and see, how little changes in the leaven of our language open up our hearts and minds to the wonders God has waiting for us.

Now that is some powerful leaven for good.


If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through her through www.youthministrynacc.com.