When God Lowers the Kneeler

I don’t know about you, but I am fully prepared to petition that the month of February be officially removed from the calendar (sorry those of you with February birthdays!). One needs a lot of endurance to make it through February sanely. Though teachers can get a lot of work done during the month, students are struggling to stay with the program-even the ones who agreed to it in the first place. For me, one crazy thing happened after another, and though most things in my life were in place, it felt like anything but. 

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Parce Domine (Spare, Lord)

Can it be that Lent is upon us so soon? I know that I, for one, am not ready. Though I am ready for Christ’s triumph, I am steadfast in my complacency and my sin. Change my ways? Ehh, better not. I will, however, vow to not eat sweets and work out three times a week, because “giving up” and “adding” things will help me reach my goal of a smaller weight!

Though I have never taken part in Lenten work-outs, I have given up sweets in the hopes that it will lead me to a better lifestyle; and while neither of these are always bad things to do for Lent, we must do them for the right reasons (ie; not because you want to lose weight!).

A Holy Pilgrimage, Part 3

I am at a loss for words over what I have experienced this past week. The president of my high school, Father Jones, told us many times that this was a mission trip of witness rather than service, and that it is just as important. Our main contributions were physical presence and prayer, and though it may not seem like much, I feel in my heart that it was. 

A Holy Pilgrimage, Part 2

Wednesday we traveled to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The purpose of the group going there was to be reminded that all human life is sacred, and that man has power to commit horrible atrocities to fellow man. The museum itself is a beautiful remembrance of something that is so prevalent in human history, but to me it represented so much more. 

The Cotton Ball of Sin

If you’re looking for a sign, this is it. Growing up at a Catholic grade school and then attending a Catholic high school, I have seen many, many signs for vocations awareness. I have heard talks from priests and religious sisters alike, and have been encouraged by many to pursue a future in vocations. What was never really explained to me, or any of us really, was that matrimony is a holy vocation as well. We heard a couple of talks later on in our education from beautiful people who were following the vocation to marriage, but is always seemed emphasized that to live a truly holy life, you must give everything to God, and that didn’t seem to be possible in marriage.

With all of the emphasis that the Church must put on vocations to the religious life, I found myself lost in what God actually wanted me to be.

Bring Us Living Water

As Catholics, how often do we ponder our own baptism? For many of us, it was long before we could remember, and that seems to hide it from the forefront of our mind. The Church explains to us that Baptism is necessary for salvation. This is why you must be baptized to be ordained or even to be married in the Church. At Baptism we are given the key to the gates of Heaven, and that is not something to be taken lightly.

New Year, New Saint

New Year, New You: ten common New Year’s resolutions and five things you can do to make sure you keep them!

Everywhere we look at the beginning of a new year tells us how we can make ourselves, our lives, or our careers better and more successful. Exercise more, eat healthier, be kinder, make more money, find yourself, be the person you’ve always wanted to be. As Catholics we are called to always be looking at ways that we can improve ourselves, mold ourselves into the people God has always intended us to be. We must never be satisfied with the temptations and apathy of human nature. 

Fiat 500

“Every once in a while, something comes along so powerful in concept, so revolutionary in its design, it redefines a generation.” (Fiat 500 webpage) Upon entering the word “fiat” in my search bank, the first website that comes up is the Fiat 500 page, advertising the Italian-made American-imported car. This was not what I had meant, but it posed an interesting question: How many teens my age actually know what the meaning of the word “fiat” is, or know that it was not first used to describe a car?