Love Will Set You Free

One of my favorite bands is Mumford and Sons, and one of the songs I particularly enjoy is Sigh No More. They seem to at times have lyrics in their songs that are uncharacteristically deep when compared to other popular radio songs (and they sound good too, which is a nice perk).

For instance, in Sigh No More, they have this lyric near the end of the song.

"Love it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be"

Rarely in music have I seen lyrics so right on. They are so simple and so deep at the same time. We can look at them in a couple of different ways.

One is in relation to our relationship with those around us. If we are in a relationship where we feel like we are enslaved to someone (or vice versa) that is not a loving relationship. If that is true, then we are being used (or, again, doing the using), which is the opposite of love.

Love should do what the last lines of the lyric say - allow us to feel free and become better people, indeed the people who we are meant to be. For myself, I will be married in 4 months or so... and if I felt that my fianceé was holding me back from becoming who I was meant to be, or if I felt like I could not be myself around her, then I should not marry her, and what was shared between us would not really be love. (Fortunately, that is not the case, and October 8th will be the best day of my life! But I digress... :))

At the same time, we can look at this lyric in relation to our relationship with God. Oftentimes people (who don't really understand God) think religion is simply about rules. "I have a personal relationship with Jesus," they will say, "I don't need religion." And they will use that excuse to justify doing whatever they want.

But God's love is not about rules. He does not betray us. He does not tell us that we cannot get drunk, or have premarital sex, or lie to others as a way of enslaving us. It rather a way to set us free to live happy, fulfilling lives. It is like this, when you play a game of basketball, there are rules. If you play a pickup game anywhere, you won't be able to run with the ball and foul everyone. There are fouls and there is the rule of traveling. These things are not in place to enslave us or prohibit us from enjoying the game, but rather the opposite. They are there to allow us to be free to enjoy the game.

In the same way, God does not put things in our life as a way of making us "enjoy it" less, or make it seem like all we do all day is follow rules. Rather, he puts things there so that we can live more freely and fully.

Love shall you set you free and allow you to become the person you were meant to be. Anything less is simply not love.

Where True Happiness Lies

In "Story of a Soul," St. Therese of Lisieux offers this insight on where happiness can be found. Rather, where happiness IS found.

"I realized very clearly that happiness has nothing to do with the material things which surround us; it dwells in the very depth of the soul." (79)

To take a look at this, all you have to do is to thing about the things which make you happiest. Odds are they will not be things like your TV, or your car, or your computer. If those are the first things you think of, be wary! Your happiness is very fleeting, because those things will not provide you with long lasting, sustaining happiness.

For truly happy people, their joy and happiness lies in their loved ones, their experiences, and the things to which they dedicate their life. These are the things which provide a more fulfilling happiness, one which cannot be taken away by the loss of possessions or circumstance.

For me, it is easy to find that the things that make me happiest are not my material possessions. They are things like going for a hike with my fiancee, reading a good book, getting a letter in the mail or writing a letter, coming upon a beautiful site in the outdoors, Adoring Our Lord, or making someone else smile or laugh.

None of these things are dependent on material possessions or wealth, but they come from the very depths of the soul. They come from those free gifts given to us by God, through the natural beauty of the earth, our friends and loved ones, or our own curiousity.

What brings you happiness?

Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?

In Peter Kreeft's enlightening book called "The Handbook of Christian Apologetics," he addresses the Resurrection, the most central important event in Christian history. With Easter right behind us, it is time to address a question that is of central importance: Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

St. Paul wrote: "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen again. And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." (1 Corinthians 15: 13-14) Thus, the question is of the greatest importance to Christians, because if Jesus did not rise, then the faith is futile.

When non-believers think of the Resurrection, they surely must think it is a wild notion, rooted in mythology. Indeed, it is miraculous, that someone would be dead, and 3 days later rise from the dead. Without faith, it is difficult to prove that the Resurrection occurred, because it is not observable. However, in can be proven in that for all of the existing information, the fact that the Resurrection occurred as Christians believe is the only adequate explanation.

Kreeft says this:

"We believe Christ's resurrection can be proved with at least as much certainty as any universally believed and well-documented event in ancient history. To prove this, we do not need to presuppose anything controversial (e.g. that miracles happen). But the skeptic must also not presuppose anything (e.g. that they do not)... We need to presuppose only two things, both of which are hard data, empirical data, which no one denies: the existence of the New Testament texts as we have them, and the existence (but not necessarily the truth) of the Christian religion as we find it today.

He looks at 5 possible explanations of the Resurrection: that it happened and Christianity is correct, that the Apostles hallucinated, that Jesus' resurrection was a myth, that it was a conspiracy by the Apostles, or that Jesus was not really dead, but simply appeared to be dead. So, to take a look at the other theories, and why [I believe] they are not adequate explanations:

The Swoon Theory
- The Romans were very good at crucifixion, they did it often. Plus, the Roman soldiers had plenty of incentive to make sure the job was done right - they could face severe punishment (even death) if the prisoner escaped.
- Accounts show that blood and water poured out of Jesus' side when he was pierced, which is a sign that he would have died from asphyxiation.
- If Jesus merely resuscitate and was not resurrected, how did he get out of the tomb? He would certainly have been extremely weak, so how did he overpower the guards at the tomb? How did he inspire the disciples to spread his message and eventually die for the cause? How did he move the boulder to get out of the tomb?

The Conspiracy Theory
- If this was true, it is certainly the greatest conspiracy in human history, and laughably so far above the 2nd biggest. None of the Apostles ever told, through torture or bribe, that Jesus was not really resurrected. They were martyred for their faith, whereas if they had simply said that the resurrection was a conspiracy, they would have saved their lives. But none of them said that.
- Think about the Apostles of the Gospels... fishermen, tax collectors, meek, cowardice... and then after Jesus' death they are confident, spreading the Word throughout all of the lands, facing down powerful enemies. Would a lie and conspiracy have so transformed them all?
- There is the obvious question... why would the Apostles have done this? What motive would they have had? They got no earthly benefit out of this. Logically, it is not rational that they would have created this conspiracy.
- If it was all a conspiracy, the Romans simply could have produced the body, and it would have been proven false. Yet they never did this. Why? They would have had no motive to hide the body.

The Hallucination Theory
- It was said that Jesus appeared to over 500 people at once. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, including that most of the people he appeared to were still alive at the time, meaning it could have been easy to refute by asking people if they saw Jesus or not. 500 people do not all have the same hallucination.
- The Apostles needed to be won over, they did not believe that Jesus was there at first, thinking He was a ghost. They were only convinced when they were able to touch him and see him eat. A hallucination would not eat real food.
- Once again, all of this could have been put to a stop if the body of Jesus had been produced. Or if the Apostles had gone to the tomb and found His body, they would have known that it was simply a hallucination. One has to imagine that they checked.
- As CS Lewis writes, "Any theory of hallucination breaks down on the fact (and if it is indeed invention [rather than fact] it is the oddest invention that ever entered the mind of man) that on three separate occasions this hallucination was not immediately recognized as Jesus. Even granting that God sent a holy hallucination to teach truths already widely believed without it, and far more easily taught by other methods, and certain to be completely obscured by this, might we not at least hope that he would get the face of the hallucination right? Is he who made all faces such a bungler that he cannot even work up a recognizable likeness of the Man who was himself?"

The Myth Theory
- If the Gospels were simply a myth and work of fiction, then four men who are historically seen as a fisherman (John), tax collector (Matthew), doctor (Luke), and "young man" (Mark) independently created stories strikingly similar in a style that was radically different than any other myth of its time. The more plausible explanation is they observed the things that they wrote about.
- Not enough time passed between the life of Jesus and the writings of the Gospels (and letters of Paul) for this to be a myth. If it was simply a myth, it would have been easily refuted.
- All of the writings and accounts from that time period point to Jesus being resurrected. There are no other explanations or stories from that time which talk about the story of Jesus and provide a different explanation.
- Logically it would not hold true that the Gospels could be a myth, because Peter specifically said that they were not a myth. Thus it is either the truth or a lie, it cannot be a myth.

Thus, I believe, it can be proved that the Resurrection is the most adequate explanation for what actually happened.

What are your thoughts? Have you heard other arguments, or do you believe something else? I would love to hear it.

HAPPY EASTER!

Christ the Lord is risen today!! :)

Happy Easter!! I hope you have a great holiday with your loved ones!

Keeping Things In Perspective

In this life, it is easy for us to blow things out of perspective, and lose sight of the things that are really important (or should be really important), and instead focus on other things.

This can especially manifest itself in focusing on negative things. It is generally far easier and simpler for us to focus on our problems and the unfairness of life, rather than the good things that we do have, or the many blessings that we receive. For me, when I have to work late, I think it stinks that I have to work late... instead of focusing on the fact that I am fortunate to have a good job, or that I live above the poverty line, or that I don't have to worry about where I am going to sleep tonight or where my next meal will come from.

For most people, the good things in life laughably outnumber the bad things, but the bad things are all anyone focuses on. I read a reflection once that talked about perspective:

"Am I good at keeping things in perspective - or do I blow things out of proportion? Do my fears rule me or do I view them against the backdrop of God's love? In whom does my hope lie?"

Of course, it is not easy when things go wrong to have an eternal perspective, but that is exactly what we should strive for. To know that even when little things in life go wrong, God is still in our side, so does the litter inconvenience really matter? (The Lord is my shepherd, whom shall I fear?)

When we keep things in perspective and give them the proper weight that they deserve, we find that the little things in life don't really matter. Or, more so, they are simply trivial when we have our hope in the Lord.

Where does your hope lie?

(Photo from here)

Quotes about Mary

Here are some quotes about Mary from a calendar that was in my parents basement!

"Every good, every help, and every grace that human beings have received and will receive from God until the end of time came and will come to them by the intercession and through then hands of Mary." - Blessed Raymond Jordano

"O sorrowful Virgin, give me strength to accept my little crosses with patience and joy." - Saint Bonaventure

"Let us run to her, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence." - Saint Francis de Sales

"He who asks favors of God without the intercession of Mary is like a bird who tries to fly without wings." - Saint Antonius

"I could convert the whole world, if I had an army praying the rosary." Blessed Pope Pis IX

"Mary seeks those who approach her devoutly and with reverence, for such she loves, nourishes, and adopts as her children." - Saint Bonaventure

"O Blessed Virgin, nothing resists your power. God the Father looks upon your glory as if it were His own." - Saint Gregory of Nicemedia

"It is almost impossible to reach Jesus except through Mary." - Saint John Bosco

"Great was the love that Mary possessed. So great indeed that it gave rise to that perfect beauty by which she captivated the Heart of her God!" - Saint Thomas of Villanova

"Let the storm rage and the sky darken - we shall not be dismayed. If we trust as we should in Mary, we shall recognize in her, the Virgin Most Powerful 'who with virginal foot did crush the head of the serpent.'" - Pope Saint Pius X

"As mariners are guided into port by the light of a star, so Christians are guided into heaven by Mary." - Saint Thomas Aquinas

"Whoever does not have a great love for the Mother of God cannot have a great love for her Son." - Saint Joseph Cafasso

Magnanimity

I got a newsletter from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Dickinson, ND, and there was a great article written by Fr. Keith Streifel about how we are all qualified to be worthy stewards for the Lord.

He writes that sometimes we feel as if we are not qualified for certain things, or are unworthy of helping because we think that we lack experience or expertise. This feeling can cause us to fail to get involved and help out and use all of the talents that God has given us. However, there is a way for us to get beyond that mental block and mental feeling, and it is by recognizing that God will work through us.

"The antidote to the "unworthiness" disease that threatens the best of us can be summed up in one word: 'Magnanimity' - a virtue with which most of us may be unfamiliar. The word itself is virtually extinct in the English language. It comes from the Latin words, magnus and anima, which taken together mean, 'greatness of soul.'"

So how can we practically apply this to our everyday lives?

"A magnanimous person is someone who see the demands of the Christian life as a sea of endless possibilities with God's grace, and who determines to rise to the greatness to which God calls him, neither stopping to count the cost, nor to measure his unworthiness. Magnanimity is not arrogance, because a magnanimous person recognizes that only by God's grace does he accomplish anything. Nor is it imprudence, since he strives only to do what God asks of him and nothing more."

May magnanimity be a virtue we always strive for, so that we are always ready to answer the call of the Lord like the saints.

On Perspective

In college I took a class on Detective Fiction, a genre that I absolutely love. It was a great class (seriously, I just got to read Detective Fiction books and write about them, what could be better than that?), and one of the surprisingly fun parts about it is that some of the books had some great insights on life.

One book that I read was called "Valley of Bones" by the author Michael Gruber. It was one of my favorite books of the class, and actually at one point in the book it provided me with a great prayer that I still pray to this day. But I will talk about that another time on this blog I am sure!

Anyway, this particular section deals with the perspective we have on life and how we view things, and some of the ways that God talks to us. The book talks about the "Conspiracy of Accidents." God is there, we just have to look for him!

But I digress. The section in the book is:

"A pilot walks into a saloon in Alaska and the bartender says, oh Fred we have not seen you in church recently. Where have you been? The pilot says, I don't go to church any longer. I have lost my faith. The bartender says, but why? The pilot says, last month I crushed my plan in the wilderness in the mountains and I was trapped in the wreckage. I prayed to God to get me out but nothing happened. Day after day I am praying, but nothing. I decide there is no God and I am going to die and there is nothing after death. This is how I lost my faith. So the bartender says, but you did escape from there. You are here alive. And the pilot says, oh, that had nothing to do with God. Some damn Eskimo wandered by and pulled me out." (265)

Are we open to the ways that God talks to us?

Mysteries of the Rosary

Whether you are Catholic or not, I believe there is still a lot to be gained by reflecting on the Mysteries of the Rosary.

The Joyful Mysteries
(Said on Mondays, Saturdays, Sundays of Advent, and Sundays from Epiphany until Lent)
1. The Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1: 26-38)
2. The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Luke 1: 40-56)
3. The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2: 6-20)
4. The Presenation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2: 21-39)
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2: 41-51)

The Sorrowful Mysteries
(Said on Tuesdays, Fridays, and daily from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday)
1. The Agony in the Garden (Matt 26: 36-46)
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Matt 27:26)
3. The Crowning With Thorns (Matt 27:29)
4. The Carrying of the Cross (John 19:17)
5. The Crucifixion (Luke 23: 33-46)

The Glorious Mysteries
(Said on Wednesdays, and Sundays throughout the year)
1. The Resurrection of Jesus (Luke 24: 1-12)
2. The Ascension of Jesus (Luke 24: 50-51)
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-4)
4. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven (Revelation 12)
5. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth (Revelation 12: 1)

The Luminous Mysteries
(Said on Thursdays throughout the year)
1. The Baptism in the Jordan River (Matthew 3: 13-17)
2. The Wedding at Cana (John 2: 1-11)
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17 - 5: 1-16)
4. The Transfiguration (Luke 9: 28-36)
5. The Institution of the Eucharist (Luke 22: 19-20)
Meditations on the Luminous Mysteries

It is important to note that the rosary is not meant to be merely a meditation of prayers, as is often claimed. It is meant to be a meditation upon the mysteries of the Rosary. This is what makes the Rosary so powerful.

From catholic.com:

First we must understand that they are meditations. When Catholics recite the twelve prayers that form a decade of the rosary, they meditate on the mystery associated with that decade. If they merely recite the prayers, whether vocally or silently, they’re missing the essence of the rosary. It isn’t just a recitation of prayers, but a meditation on the grace of God. Critics, not knowing about the meditation part, imagine the rosary must be boring, uselessly repetitious, meaningless, and their criticism carries weight if you reduce the rosary to a formula. Christ forbade meaningless repetition (Matt. 6:7), but the Bible itself prescribes some prayers that involve repetition. Look at Psalms 136, which is a litany (a prayer with a recurring refrain) meant to be sung in the Jewish Temple. In the psalm the refrain is "His mercy endures forever." Sometimes in Psalms 136 the refrain starts before a sentence is finished, meaning it is more repetitious than the rosary, though this prayer was written directly under the inspiration of God.

It is the meditation on the mysteries that gives the rosary its staying power.

Oh what a beautiful view...

[I wrote this as a Facebook note once but figured I may as well repost it on here!]

"I wish we could open our eyes,
To see in all directions at the same time.
Oh what a beautiful view,
If you were never aware of what was around you"
-- Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan

Picture a typical Monday morning (or really, any weekday morning)... walking around, going to school or work. With few exceptions, everyone has a dreadfully dull look on their face. You probably do too (I know I usually do). Everyone seems to be simply... bored. And unfulfilled. But that's not how it should be. That's not how it's supposed to be. To put it simply, I think, in many respects, we've lost our excitement for life. The way the snow falls, the way the leaves change colors, a letter from a friend, the way we can affect the lives of others... these things are exciting! If we really stopped to appreciate life and the things around us, I would humbly suggest that we would be in awe. The grandeur of the world is mindblowing, but we reduce it to its simplest level. We are always thinking about the things we have to do and need to get done, and we stop focusing on simply enjoying things. Things like watching the snow fall, or seeing how our bodies adapt to freezing temperatures, or enjoying the presence of the people around us. These are things to be celebrated, not tossed aside and forgotten.

This reminds me again of a quote from GK Chesterton that I've used before, but it's so good I'll use it again. "How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it; if you could really look at other men with common curiosity and pleasure; if you could see them walking as they are in their sunny selfishness and virile indifference! You would begin to be interested in them, because they were not interested in you. You would break out of this tiny and tawdry theatre in which your own little plot is always being played, and you would find yourself under a freer sky, in a street full of splendid strangers." Life isn't boring, we're just not looking hard enough. Or in the right places.

In many respects, most of us have resigned ourselves to being ordinary. Cogs in the machine. But we shouldn't be satisfied with this, we are called to be better. "So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt 5:48) We cease to think big, and focus more on our limitations than our abilities. We fit in with the crowd. As Marianne Williamson writes, "We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone." We see no way to break out of the day-to-day doldrums, and so at some point we simply stop trying. We become content to be an average worker, average student, average friend, average listener, average person. It's easier that way. It's less work, and we probably won't be called out for it. No one finds it easy to go the extra mile, to help out just a little longer, to be a friend even when it's not convenient... but these are the things we were made for. We must continually strive to become better than we are, to turn weaknesses into strengths. Change isn't impossible, it's just hard.

Being ordinary people (in our own minds), we begin to lose sight of our dreams! We forget we even had any in the first place. Or we keep putting them off for "someday." We forget the importance of them. Matthew Kelly writes, "Isn't one of the primary responsibilities of all relationships to help each other fulfill our dreams?" (Dream Manager) Instead, what happens is this... if someone tells us their dreams, we make a face and say "good luck," knowing it will be hard and take a lot of work, more than we ourselves would probably want to do. Plus, if we're honest with ourselves, we're probably a little jealous, because having dreams helps give us a sense of purpose, and we lose that to some degree when we lose our dreams. Think about it... if our only goal is surviving, then of course we'll get caught up in everyday things, and find them all boring and ultimately unsatisfying. When we have dreams and goals, it gives us something to look forward to. Ultimately, hopefully the end goal is heaven(!), but it's good to have some intermediate goals too. As Jack Johnson sings, "Don't let your dreams be dreams." Dream big, and work to achieve it. As Henry David Thoreau writes, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."

Ultimately, we should seek to change the world! Lofty goal, right? It sure seems daunting, upon first blush, but I don't think it's as hard as you think. By every act of kindness, every act of love, every small thing we do, we change the world (for good or bad). Maybe it's small, but it helps. "It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness." (Confucius) To put it at the simplest level, think of when anyone (even a stranger) smiles at you, or says hello, or opens the door for you... doesn't that put you in a better mood, brighten your day? It does for me. Doesn't that make you more likely to reciprocate, or do something nice for someone else? It does for me. It's a small action, but it might start a chain of small actions. Everything we do affects others, even if we don't know it. Mother Teresa has so many great quotes on this, but I'll limit myself to two. First, "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." We might feel it makes no difference to anyone else if we're a little crabby, and this causes us to be a little rude, or simply indifferent to those around us. But life is all about the small actions, the little details. Again from Mother Teresa, "We do not need to carry out grand things in order to show a great love for God and for our neighbor. It is in the intensity of love we put into our gestures that makes them something beautiful for God."

Lastly, I would suggest this... if you are constantly seeking to help others, or simply in the mindset of appreciating everything around us, the reverberations will be felt. Again, at the simplest level, it's like this... when I am able to put the little worries out of my mind, it allows me to focus on the great things of life. When I do that, I'm happier. When I'm happier, I smile more, and help out others more. When I do that, I help make others happier. Still think you have no affect on others? Think about the happiest person you know... are you happier when you're around them? Your happiness makes other people happier, your unselfishness makes other people unselfish... at the same time, your worrying causes other people to worry, your dissatisfaction causes other people to be dissatisfied. There are exceptions to every rule, but I have found that we are indelibly linked to those around us, and we feed off of them many times, whether good or bad. Again, Marianne Williamson writes, "And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." There's a popular quote by Gandhi that says, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." This is not idealistic fluff, it's practical, life-changing advice.

Thank you to all of you who help me look beyond myself, who help me not to be satisfied with being ordinary, who help me reach for my dreams!

Dependence on God

I once heard a story by Fr. Tom Richter talking about our dependence on God, even if we don't always realize how much we depend on Him.

The story is about a little boy who we will call Johnny (because it just seems like the best little kid name!)... He tells it a lot better than I will type it, I am sure, but the gist of it will come through!

----------

Johnny was at recess with a couple of friends. He seemed very tired and worried, and his friends asked him, "Johnny, you look like you are exhausted and not having any fun? What is the problem?"

And Johnny says, "Well, I haven't been sleeping very well."

So, they ask him why he's not sleeping well, and he says, "I have been up all night trying to figure out how I am going to pay the mortgage, how I am going to feed all of the kids, what kind of job I am going to get. Don't you guys worry about that stuff?"

The friends tell him, "No Johnny, our daddy takes care of all of those things. Your daddy takes care of all of those things too, you don't have to worry about all of that."

----------

The moral of the story is, of course, that if we think that we are any less dependent on God than Johnny is dependent on his father for things like putting food on the table and paying the mortgage, then we have completely deluded ourselves.

Jesus, I Trust In You!

The things we can't change

It seems like for everybody there are things that they wish they could change, but they can't. Whether a bad habit, a bad situation, or any number of things, there is always something that we try over and over to change and we just never can seem to get over the hump and completely change it.

Many times, we (I know I have done it) get frustrated with God during these times, wondering why He won't just help us get out of our own way, or why we can't change other situations. We might think that the fact that we want to change and are trying hard to change should be enough for the change to happen, and we are hesitant to blame ourselves in the case of failure. Or, we might see a bad situation that somebody else is in and wonder why God isn't changing things even though we are praying for change.

However, if we let it, these types of situation can bring us the closest to God, because it in these things that we must trust totally in God and put our dependence on Him. I believe one of the ways that we receive most is when we have an interior trusting that God will take care of us, and especially in the things that we wish we could change but we can't.

We must seek God in all ways and in all things, putting our trust and dependence totally and completely on Him. He will never let us down.

Honoring God by Loving Mary

Here is a quote from St. Louis de Montfort in his book True Devotion to Mary:

He did not will to come into the world at an age of a perfect man, independent of others, but like a poor little babe, dependent on the care and support of his holy Mother. He is that infinite wisdom who had a boundless desire to glorify God His Father and to save men; and yet He found no more perfect means, no shorter way to do it, than to submit himself in all things to the Blessed Virgin, not only during eight, ten, or fifteen years of His life, like other children, but for thirty years! He gave more glory to God His Father during all that time of submission and dependence on our Blessed Lady than He would have given Him if He had employed those thirty years in working miracles, in preaching to the whole world, and in converting all men - all of which He would have done, could He have thereby contributed more to God's glory. (pg. 88-89

Just one of many reasons to love Mary :)

Trusting in God

A quote from Mother Teresa, from the book Come Be My Light:

"Now I really rejoice when something does not go as I wish - because I see that He wants our trust - that is why in the loss let us praise God as if we have got everything."

Wow, how different our lives would be if we had that attitude towards loss and disappoint, that is is just another way for us to learn to trust in God and in His divine providence.

How often does something not go as we want it to, only for something better to come along later? If something does not go as we wish, it might open up another, better opportunity for something. Like the saying goes, "Thank God for unanswered prayers."
He knows what is best for our life, even if we sometimes feel like He does not.

Ultimately, the things that we want might not be the best things for us, and in these cases all we can do is trust God, as Mother Teresa said, "as if we have got everything."

Jesus, I Trust in You

The beauty all around us

"You light up the sky to show me/
that You are with me"
- The Afters ("Light Up the Sky")

People always want proof of things, they can't believe in something until there is absolute proof that it is true. The biggest example of this is faith. How do you prove God exists?

For me, one thing that works is just to look up the sky as the sun sets or the sun rises, or to look up at a mountain, or an open prairie, or a gushing river, or a weeping willow, or any number of a million different things. You want proof? Take a look at the world around you!

"Well i just saw the sun rise over the hill/
Never used to give me much of a thrill/
But hey man now I'm really living"
- Eels

Loving every bit of someone

In Chris Tomlin's song Indescribable (linked at the end of this post), he has this lyric:

"You see the depths of my heart/
And you love me the same"

To me, the difference between real love and not-so-real love is this: when you find out something bad about another person (something from their past that they are ashamed/embarrassed about, a fault that they are trying so hard to overcome but they are struggling, with, etc), do you love them more than when you didn't know about it, or do you love them less?

With God, we know that He sees the depths of our heart and He loves us the same (and even more, when we are at our weakest and we need Him the most, that is when He is closest to us). Many times this is the opposite of the human reaction to a situation, and as a result is causes us to not be ourselves, or to cause others to not be themselves.

At the beginning of most relationships, we act like how we think the other person would want us to act, or in a matter that is socially acceptable so that the other person likes us. This is especially true in romantic relationships. We might think, "If they knew this about me, they would think it was weird and leave." Or, "I'll tell them this eventually, but not yet." And then, when you finally do share it with them (or vice versa), you find that instead of running for the hills, you find that they love you all the more because you opened yourself and shared things with them that you didn't want to share. This is love.

We won't ever see the depths of another person's heart in this life (much as we or someone else opens up, ultimately it is likely only God really knows the depths of a person's heart, and maybe, if they're lucky, the person themselves), but we still have the opportunity to love all that we can of a person. We don't have to tolerate faults, but we can still love a person because they have faults, because they are human, because they are deserving of our love, no matter what they have done or who they are. This is truly loving every bit of someone, which is loving how God loves.

Devotion to Mary

On the Catholic Holy Day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, I figured it was only right to write up a little something about Mary, or at least include a quote about Mary.

I'll include a quote from "True Devotion to Mary" by St. Louis de Montfort. I understand (at least for the most part, there are probably intricacies that are still a little beyond my perfect understanding) the Catholic Church's teaching on Mary, but I especially like this quote because it brings things down to a very practical level. Sometimes my brain is not very complex, it needs simple explanations and analogies, and that works here.

One of the most powerful reasons in my mind to honor Mary and ask for her intercession is that Jesus Himself perfectly honored Mary while He was on earth, and we are called to imitate Him. As St. Louis de Montfort writes (emphasis mine),

"He did not will to come into the world at the age of a perfect man, independent of others, but like a poor little babe, dependent on the care of support of this God His Father and to save men; and yet He found no more perfect means, no shorter way to do it, than to submit Himself in all things to the Blessed Virgin, not only during the first eight, ten, or fifteen years of His life, like other children, but for thirty years! He gave more glory to God His Father during all that time of submission and dependence on our Blessed Lady than He would have given Him if He had employed those thirty years in working miracles, in preaching to the whole word and in converting all men - all of which He would have done, could He have thereby contributed more to God's glory."

Let us have the same attitude and view on life that Mary did. "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word."

Living your dreams...

The thing that is difficult for us to understand and fathom (or maybe it is just me), is that whatever grand plans and dreams we have for our life, whatever best case scenario "someday" plans that we hope to achieve, God has even bigger plans for us!

It is true. If we would truly let God's will take over, we would be happier than we could ever imagine and do greater things than we could ever imagine. Someone named Emmet Fox once said (or possibly wrote)(emphasis mine):

"The most secret, sacred wish that lies deep down at the bottom of your heart, the wonderful thing that you hardly dare to look at, or think about - the thing that you would rather die than have anyone else know of, because it seems so far beyond anything that you are, or have at the present time, that you fear you would be cruelly ridiculed if the mere thought of it were known - that is just the very thing that God is wishing you to do or be for him. And the birth of that marvelous wish in your soul - the dawning of that secret dream - was the voice of God Himself telling you to arise and come up higher because He had need of you."

I am sure we all have those things deep down inside of us, that we want to achieve but we are not sure if we ever will. Heck, for me, this page is one of those things... I always wanted to do something like this, but was scared that people would think it was dumb, or not like it, or nobody would read it, etc. Finally I decided that if I really wanted to do it and really felt called to do it, then all of that other stuff didn't matter!

Such is everything in life, all of our hopes and dreams. We might be met with failure (almost certainly), but that shouldn't deter us. If we are following our dreams and God's plan, then the pursuit will always lead us higher and closer to God and closer to what we were created to be.