Buried treasure

Today's gospel reading was absolutely beautiful.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” (Mt 13:44-46)


It's true when God says that where our treasure is, there also our heart will be. 
Sometimes we try to deny that this is the case  so that we can justify ourselves and continue to store up these treasures - whether they be our image, possessions, relationships, anything. But the truth is... they will never be enough. I could dig and dig and dig every corner of the world, searching for some earthly thing that could fill the empty void in my heart that I may feel at times, but I would be digging in vain. I would be trying to fill a hole that only Christ can fill. He is that treasure.

And He is the greatest treasure. Do we believe it? And not only that, but do we live like we believe it? Are we willing to give away all our other "treasures" that hinder us from fully loving and fully trusting in God's plan, knowing that He alone suffices. Do we recognize the great gift of salvation that Christ won for us...or are we still digging? Are we still on a treasure hunt? 

God, let your love, your mercy, and your truth fill all the empty holes of my life. May I always keep my eyes fixed on Your kingdom. Amen

Learning to love

Sometimes it's hard to love, sometimes it almost hurts. Like Mother Teresa says, "I have found the paradox that if we love until it hurts, there is no hurt, but only more love." And I think this is the hardest part of a Christian's journey because we want to follow Christ but we find that being Christ to others is extremely difficult. And I think Jesus knew that when he said, "This is how the world will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." He didn't say...if you understand everything I've told you, if you have wisdom, knowledge, can do miracles, speak in tongues. The world knows us by our love. Loving is an essential part of the gospel, but sometimes it takes a lot of time and grace. 

Let's pray for each other. 

Happily, ever after – separating the fact from fiction

I know I’m 20, but I have to admit…I’m a huge Disney Princess fan. And Disney taught me a lot growing up. Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White are prime examples. When young girls are put to bed, they’re often told stories about a princess finding her prince…and how the two lived happily ever after.

And these stories really become a part of them. They begin to dream about their own kingdom far, far away...their own prince..their own story of love. But I think the reason girls tend to hold on to these fairy tale ideas (well maybe just this girl) is because they speak something to the heart of a woman. God breathed into her a desire to love and be loved. It’s what she was made for. It wraps around the core of her existence, her purpose, the very essence of her being. He desired for her to be in complete union with this love – His love. And she sets out on the journey, waiting to find that special someone…the one she’s told will be her knight in shining armor.

But here’s the dangerous part. We often fail to see, as young women, these desires in the light of God’s plan. In the light of truth. And we end up giving into the lies of society. We choose to take the poisonous apple, touch the needle of the spinning wheel’s spindle, kiss a real frog.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. And I don’t mean to sound like a pessimist. But there’s no guy in the world that could rescue me from every danger. There’s no guy that could complete me. There’s no guy that could be my all in all. Every person I know will at some point disappoint me, will at one point fail me.

And I think it’s important to remember that. The idea of "true love" that I see on the screen in a Disney movie should be sought after and does exist, but it’s not the fulfillment I could ever find in another created being. It’s something much greater than that. 

The world tells a girl: A girl’s wedding day is supposed to be like the best day of her life. Her future spouse is going to complete her and be her one, true love. He’s her knight in shining armor. He’ll be perfect in every way. But these expectations are false and can cause a girl to seriously misunderstand marriage and love as a whole. It gives her the impression that in her earthly marriage is where she'll find ultimate fulfillment. But the truth is, marriage points to that ultimate fulfillment in Christ. The best day of my life will not be my wedding day. It'll probably always be each new day I experience…because I have come to know Christ and experience his love a little bit more than I had. Each day brings grace anew! And with each new day I’m transformed and made a little more to fit His image. My past experiences continue to shape me and I am closer to the day I will be forever with my God.

 Be careful not to give into the Father of Lies, but allow God to transform you from the inside out.

Don't ask me why I was thinking about this today (I don't even know where God is calling me yet), but I want my wedding day (if that is what He desires for me) to be a reflection of what I want my marriage to look like. I want it to be completely Christ-centered. So yes, it’s about me and my future spouse…a celebration of our love. But not a love that points to each other and how awesome we are…but that points to Him and how awesome He is. Because no matter what I go through in my marriage (no matter what difficulties, suffering, tests I experience)… I want to glorify Him. It has to be about that. Marriage is not always easy. Marriage is not always fun. But I believe that God is going to use my marriage to really sanctify me and lead me to Him. I want people to walk out of my wedding ceremony and know the awesome love that God has…I hope when people see me and my spouse, they are able to see God’s love in the flesh. Some will leave thinking nothing but…”They’re such a cute couple” or “They ran out of wine (sound familiar?)” or “I loved her dress” or “They had a really nice color scheme”…but I hope that it can be about more than those technicalities. I don’t want to walk into my marriage with all these false expectations. I know that I’m not always going to be understood, I may not always be loved, I’m not always going to be cared for the way God intended for me to. I might get hurt, I might be dishonored, I might feel really alone at times. My future spouse could really hurt me sometimes. I’ll make mistakes, my husband will make mistakes. But we’ll get through it, we’ll be faithful to each other and the promise that we make to God. We’ll learn what it means to love as Christ loves. And I will be committed to caring for him, loving him, and getting to know him a little more each day (never assuming that what I see in him in a moment of anger is all there is to him). God sees my whole person, and I want to do the same with my future spouse.  And anything we go through, we won’t go through alone.  God will form us and teach us. He’ll pick us up and carry us through those difficulties. My hope and trust all rests in the truth of His power, His goodness, His glory.

 I would encourage each girl (and I mean this - from my heart to yours) to allow God to write your love story. And not just that, let Him BE your love story. For without Him, there is no love. And in Him is perfect love. It’s not a fairy tale. It’s as real as it can get. Put your hope and trust in His love and mercy. And “hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). Nothing else satisfies. In Him we are complete. Everything that leads us away from this truth instead of towards it is a counterfeit.

 “For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

—	St. Thérèse de Lisieux

“who can tell me what is most pleasing to God that I may do it?”

—	Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

“If anyone comes to me, I want to lead them to Him.”

—	St. Edith Stein

“To proclaim Jesus Christ the only Savior of the world seems more complex today than in the past; but our task remains the same as at the dawn of our history. The mission has not changed, just as the enthusiasm and the courage that moved the Apostles and the first disciples must not change.”

—	Pope Benedict XVI

Letting Go - Matt Maher

Unborn but not Unloved

The truth of the Gospel sets me free…free to love. To love others more than myself. And Christ extended love (poured out love) to the defenseless, to those neglected, unloved and despised. I feel called to do the same. This means to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. For the unborn. The womb is supposed to be the safest place in the world…but it’s become the most attacked. At the last pro-life I went to, there was someone pushing an empty stroller..and there was one empty stroller to represent every year since Roe vs. Wade. And it was really eye-opening to reflect on all those who were not given the chance a life. Dr. Seuss is right, “A person’s a person no matter how small.” All of creation is beautiful and should be treated with the dignity God intended. This dignity should be fought after, to the best of one’s ability….as much as I am able. If I care for someone, when I see anything that could hurt him or her…I would do anything in my power to defend and protect that person. I must do the same for my unborn brothers and sisters. Its my duty as a fellow human being, a fellow child of God.

I really admire those who commit themselves to praying in front of abortion center. I believe in the power of prayer…but I’ve never gone. Why not? Lives could be changed if we just opened our heart to love. We give ourselves labels: ”I’m Christian.” “I’m pro-life”…but we must ask ourselves, are we really? Do our lives show it? Or is it something we wish we were but aren’t willing to make the sacrifices necessary to truly be.” Just saying something and wishing it was a reality doesn’t make it so.  That’s the sad truth. Why have I never thought about it before enough to do anything? I don’t know the answer to that. But I want things to change. Just as a doctor who sees the tiniest movements of an unborn baby is held to a greater responsibility over upholding the little person’s humanity and dignity…a true believer in the gospel is held responsible for the living out of those beliefs (sharing it with others, having faith that translates into love). I am called to love as Christ did.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

“1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.  4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.   8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Father God, give me a renewed love for the unborn and for those who are involved in the destruction of these lives, so that I may commit myself to doing whatever I am called to do to protect and defend them. Heal all mothers that have experienced the loss of a child, whether due to their own “choice”, a miscarriage, or for any other reason. Show them your healing power and welcome them into your arms of love. Amen.

Stewardship - Mine, Yours, Ours

We all know that there’s a difference between borrowing something and owning it. We check out library books for short periods of time, but they’re not ours. They belong to the library. When I rent out an apartment for my time on campus,  it is considered “mine” but I know that once my lease ends, I’ll move on to a new place. And when we’re put as a caretaker over something….we literally take care of it. And we’re careful (full of care), because we know that it belongs to someone else and that it has been entrusted to us for a short time. And that’s just the thing….they’ve trusted us with it. To not care for it in the way its owner intended is to break their trust. We should have the same attitude about things God has made us caretaker of and treat them as something lent out to us. But this includes more than our material possessions.

We’re called to be good stewards over relationships with those around us. This extends to our family, friends, significant others, and even acquaintances that slip in and out of our lives. God invites us to bring Him into every friendship that we have made. True friendship seeks the good of the other person. This is also true in dating relationships. This means that if I know that I could never eVER EVER consider marrying the guy I’m dating, then I’m using him physically (his body), emotionally (his heart), and spiritually (his spirit) to meet my needs (whether those needs are to just plain have something to do, to be like all my friends who are in relationships, to increase my self-esteem, or because I don’t want to hurt him by saying “no” to him). And there’s a difference between considering marriage with the guy and knowing I’ll marry him. I should clarify - I won’t always know how something will end up, but by dating someone and engaging in intimacy with him I have to be open to something more. If not, then I must consider whether or not I’m just using him for the time being. And he could be a great guy, but I don’t have to date every great guy…I can be a good friend to him. Friendship is a beautiful thing that God can use if we just let Him.

We are also called to be stewards of our talents and abilities by cultivating them and using them in the service of our Lord rather than keeping them to ourselves. This is something I’ve always struggled with. Because the self-conscious part of me sometimes tells myself that I don’t really have any talents and abilities that could be used in service. I tell myself, “Well, I’m okay at that but…” My hesitance shows my lack of trust that God will not only call me but also equip me. He doesn’t just send me into a battlefield without armor and a shield and expect me to fight. In the same way that Moses was instructed to use his staff to divide the Red Sea, so will slowly God reveal to us how we can use our talents and abilities (essentially, what He’s equipped us with) to carry out his Will.

 And most of all, God desires that we’d be good stewards of our time (because that includes everything else).  Time as in our whole lifespan. Time as in each moment we are given. And to be a good steward of our time all goes back to this “everything is Yours” idea. This perspective changes our reactions to everything we experience –whether it be loss, rejection, anything we suffer. We are able to see the beauty that lies in and beyond our experiences. And that truth is, if we truly believe this and give our time here over to God to use however He wishes, we will be so much more at peace. Because then, when my dad stops me from heading out the door to give me a lecture right when I’m running late to a meeting with a friend…I can embrace him and what he’s saying rather than dismiss him so I can do “my own thing.” And then, when a friend of mine is going through a difficult break-up and is rambling on and on about the person they care about, instead of seeing my time spent with them as me setting aside “my own time to help out a friend” I can see it as an opportunity to love and support.

And it’s not that everything is only God’s and not ours. We cooperate with God’s plan by accepting Him into our life. Our family, friends, material blessings, skills are gifts of His love. They’re things that are not entirely ours, but not something God shares with us to help us. He loves to share everything that is His with us. We were made to share in Him – His love, His glory, His kingdom.   God wants me to make this life on earth my own but asks that I look beyond this life and recognize its temporal nature. That I have a heart that’s willing to fully give back.

Knowing that I am a steward can change my perspective on everything. And ultimately, this gives me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. God fills me with the gifts of the spirit. How beautiful – to know that when I recognize that I am only a steward of these things, God is able to fill me all the more and prepare me for that eternal union with Him in His kingdom.

Sometimes we feel bad when people that were once close to us now have a new friend. We feel like we’ve been replaced. “She was my friend first”, we remark. But if we appreciate what a great gift that person is, we are not only willing but want to share them with the world around us.

St. Therese of Leiseux is such a great example of someone who lived as though nothing was her own (She’s really just a great example in general). She embraced poverty, knowing that everything we have is a blessing. St. Therese became indifferent to claiming even credit for her ideas and feelings.

She once said, “If I told a sister some enlightenment that came to me in prayer and if she later disclosed it as if it were hers, I was inclined to think she had stolen my property.”

St. Therese calls it a pathetic human weakness.

“If I think of something and speak about it and the other sisters like the idea, I find it quite natural that they should grab it as if it belonged to them, for such a thought is the Holy Ghost’s not mine.”

What a beautiful attitude! May God help us to be true stewards of His blessings - never seeking to store up what we consider valuable, but letting go and looking always to Him and to His promise.

“Be careful how you live. You may be the only bible some people ever read.”

—	Author unknown

The Great Deceiver

Something someone spoke about on 910 AM radio:

 The enemy is nonsensical. We can see when something is the work of the great deceiver.

 A woman couldn’t afford an abortion so she shot herself in the womb to kill her 6-week-old fetus. She was charged for 3rd degree manslaughter. The paper states that she killed her baby girl, when the baby is otherwise referred to as a fetus. What makes it against the law? That the procedure was done in her home rather than a hospital room? That some medical doctors and nurses were deprived of some money? What makes the same act perfectly legal and even a “right” in one situation, but against the law in another? Society attempts to sugarcoat the truth of the ugliness of the issue using words like abortion instead of murder, a fetus instead of a baby, a woman’s choice over what to do with her own body rather than motherhood.  But that doesn’t change the truth of it.

Like Larry Parrault once said:

“Isn’t that remarkable? There are illegal and legal ways to kill unborn children. We are more likely to call it “illegal” when we have an emotional reaction that it’s yucky.”

Its sad to see the many things that have become twisted in modern society. 

What our world has come to:

1. We’re trying to end life in the womb (abortion) and recreate life outside of the womb (stem cell research). Isn’t that absurd?

2. We sometimes see the gift of bearing life as somewhat of a burden. I hear many people nowadays say things like, “I’m not sure if I want kids” or “I just want one.” We fail to realize the great blessing of being able to raise holy families. God has such great plans for family life. If only we were open to it.

3. In God’s word, “knowing one another” often refers to sexual intimacy. However, a girl once came on the Jay Leno Show and talked about going to a bar to get picked up. When asked if she knew the names of those guys she “hooked up” with, she remarked, “Oh no, that would be too personal.” What a contrast!

4. Some time ago, adultery was unheard of and something punishable by death. But sadly, infidelity has become what’s common, expected. Long-lasting marriages are almost rare and applauded as accomplishments, rather than as the standard.

5. Where has faithfulness gone? Even in our friendships. We have millions of friends on facebook, but we struggle to find a faithful friend in our own lives -those that are committed to our betterment and encourage us to be men and women of God.

Thank the Lord for mercy. Thank the Lord for grace. Lets commit to praying for each other and offering whatever support we can to our brothers and sisters.

Like a Child

It’s’ so funny. Yesterday I was thinking about how the idea of God loving us is irrational, and today during the homily Fr. Alphons spoke about something so closely related. The same is true for us. When we come to believe in the truth of the Gospel, we often appear in the eyes of the world to be irrational.

He shared what it means to embrace the Gospel like a child. A child doesn’t need to figure out the answer to everything, but trusts and accepts. The rational person will become a lunatic trying to come up with the answer for everything.  But most often, we fall into thinking like the society we live in which that tells us we need to be rational. We need to do what’s best for us. And sometimes being irrational is confused with being irresponsible or childish. But there is a big difference. Being irrational, as in not always feeling the need to do what makes the most sense, frees us to see the bigger picture.

The rational person doesn’t forgive and forget. The rational person doesn’t love others more than he loves himself. The rational person doesn’t pray for those who persecute them.  All these things are not rational. They’re irrational.

Christianity is completely irrational.

Faith. Believing in something that cannot be proved (the existence of God). Hope. Hoping in the impossible (life  after death). Love. Loving those that are hard to love (our enemies). Faith. Hope. Love. These are the marks of an irrational person. These are the marks of a true Christian.

Christ was completely irrational. Everything about him. He was the King of Israel, yet he was born in a manger and worked as a carpenter. He came to set His people free, but he was arrested, beaten, and crucified. He himself was perfect and without blemish, but he spent his time with those who were considered great sinners rather than the “righteous” Pharisees. He died but then rose again after three days in fulfillment of age-old prophesies. Christ even said ““There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Completely irrational.  Every detail of Christianity is absurd to the rational mind because it goes against all rational logic. But through the eyes of faith, hope, and love…it is the greatest reality.  It is truth. It allows us to have faith, hope, and love…and this reality of God’s irrational, crazy love for us and our call to love like Him may make us irrational…but it transforms and renews us. And we are forever changed. What a mystery.

No wonder it's called a mystery.

I will never understand why God “SO loved the world”. It will always be a mystery to me. Its irrational. Its almost unbelievable, except through the eyes of faith - faith in his Word, in His revelation, in experience of that love…which now drives every aspect of our own existence as believers – our motives, our perception, our reactions, our interactions with others, everything.  His love doesn’t make sense, but it changes everything.