So, just a reminder, Monday is St. Thérèse's feast day, and there's that big movement going on to try to get more women to consider a vocation to religious orders.

So, if you know anybody who would make a good nun, give her a rose on Monday.

I'm praying for you!

:)

So, this is Google's quote of the day: (St.) Augustine of Hippo - "Custom is second nature."

Also, here's some more wisdom from Matthew's Gospel:

He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand.

It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; 

but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.”

Then his disciples approached and said to him, 

“Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”

He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

Let them alone; they are blind guides (of the blind).

If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit.” - Matthew 15:10-14

Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, 
for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send 
them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way.” - Matthew 15:32


 In coming to the other side of the sea, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread.
Jesus said to them, “Look out, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
They concluded among themselves, saying, “It is because we have brought no bread.”
When Jesus became aware of this he said, “You of little faith, why do you conclude among yourselves that it is because you have no bread?
Do you not yet understand, and do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many wicker baskets you took up?
Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
How do you not comprehend that I was not speaking to you about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Then they understood that he was not telling them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. - Matthew 16:5-12


Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” - Matthew 16:16-19

He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” - Matthew 16:23


While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” - Matthew 17:5-7


Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:18-20

This next passage has nothing to do with the theme I'm trying to find passages to fit, but I have literally never noticed it before, so: 


When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
“Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?”
When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.” - Matthew 17:24-27

I'm praying for you!

:)

Don't ever let anybody stop you from expecting the world (humbly).

I'm praying for you!

:)

Today was a perfect day, since I went to Mass and received Communion :)

Before Mass, though, I went to Adoration, and I had a really interesting talk with Jesus, so I thought I'd share some of it with you:

Me - "God, I can't find you. Where should I go? How can I find you?"

Jesus - "Don't go anywhere. Stay where you are. I'm coming to you."

Me - "What do you mean? Why do you want me to stay here?"

Jesus - "You know when you were little and you would get lost in a store, and your mom would tell you to not go looking for her, but to just stay where you were and wait?"

Me - "Yeah, I'm not sure where You're going with this, though."

Jesus - "If you're lost and you don't have any map or any idea where to look, wandering around aimlessly isn't going to help. Stay where you are and I will come to you. Then you can follow me."

Me - "I'm still confused. How do I stay where I am and let you find me? What does that even mean?"

I didn't get an answer right away, but then, I went to Confession, and when I was talking to Fr. Baker, he said that I should find a time during my day every day to pray, to just sit and be quiet with God.

"It won't change the circumstances of your life," he said, "But it will change how you come at them."

And I said, "You know, I came in here with a question nagging at me from Adoration, and you just answered it."

I kinda like how Jesus withheld answering my question until after I'd gone to Confession. He left the question nagging at me so that I would go seek him in the Sacraments, and then when I had, he answered me.

I can't find God by wandering around frantically searching for Him, because He's not in the earthquake, or the fire, or the mighty wind (1 Kings 19). He's in the small, quiet sound that I can only hear when I sit very still and listen for Him.

Not sure if this story helps you in any way, but I'm praying for you!

:)

Fr. Baker gave an awesome homily yesterday about purity and about what it means to be natural and pure.

He said that he went to visit a couple in the hospital after their 9th child was born.

The woman, he said, rolled over and her hospital gown revealed part of her stomach, which was covered in stretch marks.

The really interesting thing he said was that the world would have viewed that woman's stretch mark-covered stomach as ugly, but that if he were her husband, that sight would have made him fall in love with her all over again.

Because it showed that she's lived, with all the pains and joys of life, she'd truly lived and loved, purely.

Blessed Mother Teresa and Blessed John Paul II both looked old and wrinkly at the end of their lives, but they were truly beautiful, because they'd lived purely, and their wrinkles and illnesses were only further proof of having truly lived.

I'm praying for you to grow old and wrinkly!

:)

Then the LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD;* the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. - 1 Kings 19:11-12

I'm praying for you!

Sorry for being absent for so long!

I will return to Matthew soon, but for now, here's some wisdom from 1 John 4:

God’s Love and Christian Life.

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

8 Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.

10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.

12 No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.

13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit.

14 Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.

15 Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.

16 We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.

17 In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world.

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us.

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

21 This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.


I'm praying for you! 

:)

I found some scripture passages for you to meditate on:


Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’
All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.
- Matthew 6:25-34


Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asks for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. - Matthew 7:7-11


Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.
l By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them. - Matthew 7:15-20

Actually, all of Matthew 7 is pretty good.


Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners. - Matthew 9:12b-13

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. - Matthew 9:36


Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. - Matthew 10:29-31


Hear then the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. - Matthew 13:18-23

And, one of the best:


When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once [Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how [strong] the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt? - Matthew 14:26-31

I'll try to make it the rest of the way through Matthew's Gospel tomorrow.

I'm praying for you!

:)

So, sometimes I hear a song and I think, "Wow, that sounds like something Jesus would sing."

In this case, somebody else suggested hearing this song as sung by Jesus, but whatevs, it's still an awesome song:

I'm praying for you!

:)

Yesterday, I resigned from The Hustler, and my computer died before I could publish your blog post.

But, the good news is that I should now have time each day to post on your blog!

As always, I'm praying for you!

:)

So, the other night at Midnight Worship, my friend Jordan gave this great talk about seeking and finding, a lot of which I unfortunately do not remember.

During the talk, he mentioned Matthew 19:21, in which Jesus tells the rich man to go sell all of his possessions and give everything to the poor.

So many people always see this line as hippy Jesus, who demands that only people who have given everything they have to the poor can follow Him.

But that's missing the point.

This man was bragging about how he'd followed all the commandments. He saw the Law as rules to be checked off, rather than as a means to love God. Following all those commands was easy for him (my mom actually pointed that part out).

Jesus tested his resolve to actually follow and love Him by asking him to do something difficult. The giving to the poor wasn't the crucial part, although that is important. The crucial part of following Christ is love and the willingness to do whatever He asks, no matter how difficult.

I'm praying for you!

:)

I've been faced with some difficult decisions lately about my responsibilities to truth and ethical behavior, so I pray tonight that God will light the way for you when you are faced with difficult decisions about responsibilities, truth and ethics.

I'm praying for you!

:)

Luke, Lindsey and I had this conversation the other day about what it would be like to go back in time and be friends with Jesus.

So often, we see the Bible accounts of Jesus'  teachings and forget that Jesus lived among us as a human. 

I read the account of Jesus and His disciples eating with unclean hands and usually I just take notice of  the teaching moment He has with those who criticize them. What I so often gloss over in my mind is the humanity and camaraderie hinted at by this exchange.

Jesus and His disciples, when they sat down to eat on a regular basis, didn't go through an elaborate ceremony and talk only about the Kingdom of God and Jesus' mission on Earth. They sat down as friends, dispensing with formalities and likely talking about recent events or the cute little kid they had just seen in the street a few minutes before. 

Kids in the days of Jesus played with musical instruments and played sports. Dances were a common community activity. There were probably kids who played alongside God during their childhood and people who danced with Jesus on occasion.

He was a carpenter. There were people who had tables or chairs or shelves made by God incarnate. 

He didn't spend 24/7 healing people. God slept and ate and joked with His friends. 

Jesus used sarcasm.

John 10:31-32 says:

The Jews fetched stones to stone him, so Jesus said to them, 'I have shown you many good works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?

Most importantly of all of this, Jesus was a friend to His apostles, the most loving friend ever.

He always knew that Judas would betray Him, even before Judas became one of the twelve, and yet Jesus still befriended him, taught him, and even fed him with His flesh. 

If I knew when I met somebody that they would hand me over to death, I would avoid that person like the plague, but Jesus shows Judas infinite love, giving him the opportunity to love in return, even though He knew all the time how it would end. 

I'm praying for you!

:)

I got this from livingfaith.org, which provides daily Catholic devotions:


'Stewards of Mysteries'

Thus should one regard us: as...stewards of the mysteries of God.

- 1 Corinthians 4:1

I'm praying for you!

:)

So, I know I said I would talk about being friends with Jesus tonight, but I desperately need sleep, so instead I will leave with some words by St. Theresa of Avila:


Nada te turbe;
nada te espante;
todo se pasa;
Dios no se muda,
la paciencia
todo lo alcanza.
Quien a Dios tiene,
nada le falta.
Solo Dios basta.

Which, of course, means:

Let nothing disturb you
Let nothing afright you
All things are passing
God never changes
Patient endurance obtains all it strives for
With God as you portion,
Nothing is wanting
Alone God suffices

I've been singing that basically all the time for a while.

I'm praying for you!

:)

So, I'm sorry for being such a slacker when it comes to blogging. I have been praying for you every day - the blog just doesn't automatically update every time I say a Hail Mary (although that would be really cool).

I went to Mass today, and Fr. Baker gave this awesome homily about being a slave to God.

He quoted St. Paul and Pope Gregory a bunch, but he also pointed out that when Mary says, "Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to Thy Word," she's pretty much saying, "Look at me! I am God's slave. May He do with me whatever He wants."

Fr. Baker said it a lot more eloquently, but hopefully you see my point.

We are not called to just be "servants," to get paid for some time spent doing stuff for God. We could be called servants of God if we set ourselves a regular schedule, daily Mass for instance, and we set aside that time as "God's" time. When that time is over, though, as servants, we leave, for we have done enough to get paid and we are not obliged to do more.

But that's not enough! We need to be slaves to God. We need to give Him absolutely everything that we have, everything we are, everything we do, every second of our lives. Of course, God lifts us up from this and calls us friends "For a slave does not know what the Master is doing," but that is a discourse for tomorrow.

Until then, I'm praying for you!

:)

I am getting super bad at this blogging thing. Feel free to punch me through the computer.

Anyway, it's like 3 am, so I don't know what to post. I google imaged "Altonji," and this guy is the first picture that popped up:

 His name is Joseph Altonji, and he is a Yale Professor of Economics, apparently.

You are actually at the bottom of the first page, and the first picture on the second page is:



Which reminds me, PJ's Chaffin threw him a surprise birthday party the other night (disguised as Compline).

I missed it because of the paper, and when I asked Jeff how it was, he replied, "It was strange but awesome. We locked PJ in the closet and Saran wrapped everything in his room."

How did they keep him in the closet?

"Well, we told him to get in there, then we put a chair up against the door while Brendan and Christopher read Thomas a Kempis to him."

I'm praying for you!

:)