5/8/2018 0 Comments What is Feminine?I have a confession to make: for most of my life I have struggled to feel feminine. It has taken me a while to realize this about myself, because I'm generally a confident woman. But I recently realized, after writing a research paper on the question of 'what is gender', that I have never felt feminine. After thinking and praying about this lack of worldly femininity I realized these feelings in my life stemmed from a couple sources: 1. I am an athlete: I have muscles, therefore I am not petite. I constantly have bruises, scrapes and calloused hands and feet, therefore I am not dainty. I am fiercely competitive, therefore I am not gentle and am not afraid to step on some toes to win. 2. I am opinionated: I have thoughts, many many thoughts, and therefore I make those thoughts heard, often in an blunt and aggressive manner. 3. I care very little about clothes, and I definitely don't care about makeup: When my classmates were looking cute in their J.Crew and Loft, I wore my crocs and athletic shorts with pride. When we would all get dressed up for prom with professionally done makeup, I felt odd and out of place with a full face of makeup caked on. These qualities quickly added up in my head, equalling the thought "of course I am a women, I am just not a feminine one". I thoroughly believed this lie. I have for most of my life believed that there are feminine women, and unfeminine ones. I believed that femininity was a mold to fit into or an ideal to strive towards. And if you didn't fit into that mold, then 'oh well, you're just not feminine.' It wasn't until this year that I realized what true femininity is. This realization came through an introduction to a woman who is now near and dear to my heart; in fact, I consider her my best friend. Her name is Edith Stein. Edith, also known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the the Cross, is an early twentieth century Carmelite nun, martyr and philosopher. She was brilliantly intelligent, outspoken, strong willed and fiercely devout. She wasn't afraid to ask hard questions, give hard answers or speak hard truths. She fought for women's equality in what some would call a manly way, yet she lived out her femininity more fully than any prim and proper 21st century model ever could. Edith wasn't feminine because she was strikingly beautiful. She wasn't a good catholic woman because she was the perfect housewife. She was feminine, she was a strong, beautiful woman, because she lived out her life, her vocation and her relationship with the Lord in the way he intended her to. I always thought femininity was a title to be achieved, or a set of standards to meet. In reality, femininity is just the opposite. In fact, femininity doesn't exist outside of women. True femininity is only found when it is seen through strong women living the lives God intended for them. We don't need to change ourselves to become more feminine. We need to strive to be holy; that is our call. Take these words of Edith Stein today. Pray with them, dwell upon them and let them change your life, and the way you look at yourself. How is the Lord asking you to 'cherish, guard, protect, and nourish' your own growth as a woman as well as to bring life to those around you. See in yourself what Stein knew lay within the heart of each woman, and let that goodness and beauty flow forth. "Woman naturally seeks to embrace that which is living, personal, and whole. To cherish, guard, protect, nourish and advance growth is her natural, maternal yearning.”
0 Comments
5/3/2018 0 Comments Love is P A T I E N T1 Corinthians 13. “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” Love is patient. Interesting, isn’t it? The first word St. Paul uses to describe love, is patience. He doesn’t start by saying love is selfless, or love is bold, but simply that love is patient. I think patience is a virtue that we easily overlook. It’s a virtue we assume is for people who struggle with their temper or a virtue we ask for in this midst of rush hour. But St. Paul calls each of us to be patient, patient in love. However, in living out this invitation to love through patience, we cannot overlook that in order for our love to be patient we must first be patient with ourselves. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we find that “God is Love” (CCC 221). Therefore, He is patient. Our Father’s love is patient. He is a Father who waits patiently when we turn from him, when we may stumble and fall. He is patient as he awaits our return to his unending merciful love. It’s so easy to get caught up in our short comings or comparing ourselves to others. But my sister, be patient with yourself for Love is patient with you. Be patient in receiving the love the Lord has for you. Be patient as he guides your life by his love. Patience is also a key aspect of the virtue of fortitude. That's right: fortitude. Patience doesn't seem like a courageous, strong virtue. In fact, sometimes it seems that in order to be patient, we have to be weak and put up with the filth life throws at us. But fortitude isn't just fighting evil boldly, it is enduring evil patiently. That is what the Lord did on the his cross. He embraced the power of his suffering. And that is what he is asking us to do in patient love. We must patiently embrace our sufferings, for he is embracing them patiently alongside us. Patience requires strength and it requires courage. Why? Because it requires that we trust. Trust in the Lord and not in ourselves, trust in where he is leading us rather than where we want to be led. So my sisters, in receiving and in giving, let your love be patient. Bring a patient love into your relationship with God, your relationship with others, and your relationship with yourself. Today I encourage you to reflect on these few points:
3/31/2018 0 Comments All Glory to GodOne thing that I have always struggled with is recognizing Father, Son, AND Holy Spirit in prayer. I constantly find myself praying in Christ’s name and forgetting that He is only one of three. And while the Trinity is a bit complicated, it is such a blessing that we Catholics have. And even when we don’t fully understand, well, we’re not alone. Even Thomas Aquinas couldn’t put his finger on this beautiful mystery! The Glory Be is the literal definition of small but mighty. It is short and concise and really hits the nail on the head. In the rosary, it comes at just the right time, giving us a reminder of the Triune God at the end of each mystery. So, let's break it down a bit. Glory be: All our praise is due to the God of the Universe. We owe it to no one else. If you think about it, what can we glory in, but the love of God. He created us. He sustains us, guides us, protects us, and leads us through all of life’s ups and downs. He is with us always. He is the cause of our every blessing and the reason for our every good. And that, my friends, is why he deserves all the praise. To the Father: The Father is where this all started. From Him proceeds the Son and the Spirit. He is the rich wisdom of the three-in-one, the grandfather figure, if you will (at least that’s what my brain pictures Him as). It’s also wonderful to look at the Father through the lenses of John 17. As Christ praises the Father for the ways that He had helped Him in His ministry, we too can praise Him for all the ways that He helps us in our daily lives. And to the Son: Christ is here to lead us to a deeper life of faith and virtue. He has given us the groundwork for a very integrated life and He wants us to run with it. His church is our guide on this earth, leading us along the way of righteousness and helping us when we fall. As we pray “to the Son”, we are asking Him to lead us once again. And to the Holy Spirit: The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is so powerful. The Spirit is like the inspiration of the Trinity. He’s most likely the small voice in our head that is calling us to bigger, brighter feats of faith. There is no coward in the Holy Spirit. He will always be there, pushing us on and encouraging us. When we pray, “to the Holy Spirit”, we are asking for a fearless spirit and a fearless faith. As it was in the beginning is now: One of the qualities of God is that He is unchanging. He has always been the source of all good and He always will be. As we pray these words, we are reminded of the fact that God is unchanging in His love and devotion to us. Just as He loved us at the foundation of the world, He loves us now. And ever shall be, world without end: Just as God’s love has never changed since the beginning of time, it will never change for the rest of eternity. He will always remain steadfast in His devotion to us. He will always be with us, even into eternity. That’s where the “world without end” comes in. The world without end is our life in heaven. God’s love for His children is so strong that He has literally destined us to live on with Him in heaven forever. What an amazing testament to love!! When I was first asked if I could write this, I doubted I would have much to say about this “simple” prayer. Sadly, I’d never really thought about it with much depth. This little prayer, however, is NOTHING but little. It truly packs a punch!! I pray that you will now look at it in a new light and understand how truly beautiful it is!
3/24/2018 0 Comments Hail Mary, full of G R A C E“Even when you want to speak to the Father or to the Holy Spirit or to Me, start by uniting yourself to My Mother. If you are close to her, your recollection will be more profound, your faith more solid, your confidence more complete, and your love more ardent; for the perfect dispositions of My Mother will be united with yours. Have recourse to Mary especially when you receive Me in the Sacrament of love. Ask her to lend you her faith, her hope, her confidence, her charity. Ask her to give Me to you and to transform you into Myself.” (My Ideal, Jesus Son of Mary by Fr. Emil Neubert) There is something simple and beautiful about offering ourselves to Jesus through the hands of our Blessed Mother. Yet, despite its simplicity, it’s something I still struggle to stick with on a daily basis. Our Lord desires that we know his Mother and that we turn to her in times of joy and of sorrow. He desires a relationship with us, but he also desires that we have a relationship with his Mother. Why? Because he loves her and he desires for us to share in that love. Has there ever been someone in your life that you really admire or appreciate and you just wanted to tell every person you knew about this person? This desire to share this person stems from the love that we have for them. We share what we love, what we’re passionate about and we ultimately desire for others to share in the joy and love we ourselves experience. Thus, Christ loves his Mother and he desires for us to share in that love, to share in that relationship, and to allow ourselves to be transformed through that. So where do we start? Well let’s look at one of the most common prayers we pray to honor our Blessed Mother-the Hail Mary. Our Blessed Mother said to Sr: Benigna Consolata Ferrero ". . . One Hail Mary said without sensible fervor, but with a pure will in a time of aridity, has much more value in my sight than an entire Rosary recited in the midst of consolations." The Hail Mary is a beautiful and very powerful prayer, but what are we truly praying as we recite the Hail Mary? Let’s break it down. The Hail Mary is broken down into two parts: 1. Who is Mary. 2. Our prayer to Mary. ‘Hail Mary’–The beginning of this prayer stems from Luke 1:28 when the angel Gabriel greets Mary. Through the angel Gabriel, it is God who is greeting Mary. As we pray ‘hail Mary’ we too dare to greet Mary and recognize her lowliness as the Lord’s handmaid. ‘full of grace, the Lord is with thee’-The angel Gabriel greets Mary with these two phrases and they shed light on one another. Why is Mary full of grace? Because the Lord is wit her. She receives the presence of him who is the source of all grace. Mary has become the dwelling place of the Lord, the new ark of the covenant. She is full of grace as she has given herself fully to the Lord and he dwells within her. ‘Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus’ -Here we join Mary’s cousin Elizabeth as she proclaims “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1: 42-43) Mary is blessed among women because she believed in the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises and through her faith she became the mother of all believers. It is through Mary that we receive Jesus, which means ‘God saves,’ is ‘the fruit of thy womb.’ ‘Holy Mary Mother of God’-Again, we look at the words of Elizabeth “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43) Mary is the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God. It is through her ‘fiat’, her yes, that she accepted this role. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read, “We believe that the Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members of Christ" (CCC 975). Through accepting her role as Mother of Christ, she becomes our Mother as well. ‘Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death’-We turn to our Mother for prayers because she remains close to her Son. She who is the ‘Mother of Mercy’ takes our sinfulness and weaknesses and offers our intentions before her Son. Like a mother who will not leave her child in moments of distress, neither will Mary leave us if we call upon her. She is a mother who remains present with her children. May a better understanding of the Hail Mary and Mary’s role as our Mother in our lives draw us ever deeper to her Son. 3/2/2018 0 Comments Abba-FatherAs I sat in my parish last Friday waiting for the stations of the cross to begin, I noticed a little blonde head barely skimming over the front pew of the Church. This little head soon made an appearance as a little boy could be seen standing in the aisle making his way to the side altar where Jesus was being exposed in the Blessed Sacrament. This blonde haired, bright blue eyed child looked only to be about 3 or 4 as he glowed with innocence and walked with an air of confidence. He knelt down before the Eucharist very intently and remained there for at least 5 minutes. It was precious and I couldn't help but admire the humility and simplicity that he revealed as he presented himself before our Lord. A child approaching his father and being received with love. It's as simple as that. We turn to our fathers for protection. We rely on them when we're in need and they provide for us. As we mature, the love that we have for our Father's or those who stand as Father figures in our lives remains constant, but how we show the love we have for them often changes. I think that as children, it's easier to for us to approach our fathers with childlike faith and confidence. But as we grow old, the demeanor in which we approach our father changes. And we find this not only in relationship with our earthly fathers, but also with our heavenly Father. The Our Father We are taught this prayer at a young age and say it at every Mass. But how often do we rattle off this prayer and by the time we conclude we don't even know the words that just came out of our mouth? St. Thomas Aquinas goes on to say, "The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of prayers. . . . In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them." When a disciple asks Jesus how to pray, he responds by revealing the Our Father. He asks us to come to him as his children and to present our needs and desires to him as we would our father. So what is it that we are truly saying when we pray the Our Father? Our Father-In this first statement we are acknowledging our with God. He is our father. In Romans 8:15 we read, "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” In saying 'Our Father' we recognize that we are his people and he is our God. Who art in Heaven-Often times when we think of heaven, we find ourselves thinking of a place high above the clouds we're God dwells. However, heaven is not a place where God dwells, where God dwells is heaven. We were created for union with God and ultimately our goal is heaven where we will be fully united with him. In the CCC 2795 we read, "He is in heaven, his dwelling place; the Father's house is our homeland. Sin has exiled us from the land of the covenant, but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to heaven." Hallowed be thy Name-The name of the Lord needs to be recognized as holy and needs to be treated in such a way. The Our Father presents this phrase as a petition. It is asking the Lord to make holy his name, and by his own holiness he has redeemed us and makes holy creation. By recognizing that the name of the Lord is holy, we are drawn deeper into his plan of loving kindness. Thy Kingdom Come-We are approaching the Kingdom of God. It has been coming since the time of the Last Supper and by the Eucharist we partake in the coming of the Kingdom. The coming of the Kingdom is brought closer to us through the Incarnation. The whole of the Gospel proclaims the coming of the Kingdom and it has come in the death and Resurrection of Christ. During this time, we are called to prepare for the final coming of God by Christ's return. Thy Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven-Our Father desires that all men be saved and come to know him. It is by prayer and discernment that we can come to know the will of God. He reveals the mystery of His will in Christ. In it by Christ and his human will that the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled. In this phrase we are petitioning that the will of God be done in our lives and in our world. "Not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42) Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread-We approach the Lord with childlike humility asking him to supply for our daily needs. This petition applies not only to our physical hunger, but also the hunger of our souls for God. The famine on earth not only involves a lack of bread of water, but also a famine on hearing the Gospel message. "For this reason the specifically Christian sense of this fourth petition concerns the Bread of Life: The Word of God accepted in faith, the Body of Christ received in the Eucharist" (CCC 2835). And Forgive Us Our Trespasses.-In this petition we turn to the Lord like the prodigal son, like the woman seen in adultery, and we seek forgiveness. We approach the Lord with confidence in his mercy and recognize that we have sinned. We find hope through our redemption in Christ and through the sacrament of reconciliation can embrace his merciful love. As We Forgive Those who Trespass Against Us-The Lord has shown us his forgiveness and mercy, so we in turn are to do the same for others. Forgiveness reveals the power of love and how love is greater than sin. We are called into reconciliation with God our Father as well with one another. "Owe no one anything, except to love one another" (Romans 13:8). And Lead Us Not into Temptation- This petition follows the preceding one as our sins are a result of giving into temptation. Here we ask our Father to lead us away from sin as we call upon the Holy Spirit for strength and discernment. But Deliver Us From Evil-In this petition, evil refers to the person of Satan, the angel who turned from God. We we pray to be delivered from evil, this includes all evils of the past, present, and future. We present before our Father the suffering of the world caused by evil. We petition for peace and the grace to persevere in virtue and holiness until Christ's second coming. "If God is for us, who is against us?" (Romans 8:31). Amen-'So be it'. As we conclude the Our Father, we honor him and present our needs before him by submitting ourselves to his will. It is so easy to overlook the beauty and the power of this prayer that was given to us directly from the Lord. Today I challenge you to say the Our Father slowly and with reverence. I challenge you to think about the words that you are saying and what they truly mean. And lastly, I challenge you to approach our Father like a child with boldness, confidence, and humility. Let him care for you, guide you, and provide for you. |