Pentecost... Now What?

 So we celebrated Easter for an entire liturgical season, then Jesus' Ascension, then Pentecost....  Now what?  We enter back into Ordinary Time with Sunday Solemnities, but what do we do now?

Well, from Pentecost, the disciples went forth to proclaim the gospel.  Even to this day, all Christians are called to proclaim the truth of Jesus' redeeming love, with others.  Each of us has our own gifts and talents, word and example, to bring the Love of God to others.  The question for you personally is: 

How will you be a witness of His Love?  

Ask Jesus how you can better serve Him.  With every vocation, and in every day to day decision, is an opportunity to bring Him to others, and to sanctify the moment. 

Overcoming Fear, (My Call to Share How I am Growing Out of my Weakness)

 I have been experiencing a lot of fear lately (yes, even the one "preaching" to you is imperfect and has a weakness, because I am human).  While being vague for the sake of my own privacy, let me share a few generalities regarding these things: The fear of the unknown, the fear of losing control, and the fear of falling short and failing.  Maybe you can relate.  I invite you to take a look at your fears and see how you and I are choosing to respond to them.

Pope St. John Paul II boldly proclaimed throughout his papacy: Be Not Afraid! because Jesus is with us.  And you and I have got to remember that fear is a human emotion, and (wake-up call) we are human.  We have options to fight/flight/ or freeze every time we have a sense of fear come over us.  (Unfortunately, I tend to freeze and get stuck.  Though lately I have been working on breaking that pattern and choosing to "fight," in order to reclaim who I want to be when those fears tempt to dissuade me.)

Jesus wants us to trust Him.  Where we might feel frightened about the future, He wants us to know that nothing will ever happen without His plan for our lives.  Where we might fear losing control, He is the calm in the storm.  Where we fear failing in what we expect from ourselves, Christ calls us to be gentle with ourselves, and to just let ourselves feel Loved by Him.

I don't know, maybe you are going through something similar.  I felt called to share this with you, and sometimes I speak more boldly by written word rather than putting together a video.  So if you feel isolated and troubled in yours fears, know that I am praying for you, and that Jesus is inviting you to break the isolation and face it with Him.  I pray that He also sends people into your lives to be a support to you.

The Peace of Christ invites us to a renewed hope, so walk on in the freedom and the knowing that you are Loved by Him!  In recently recalling His Ascension, we remember that He promises to never leave us.  Give Jesus a big hug, and called Him "Father!"

Happy Feast of the Ascension

 We have reached the Feast of the Ascension, and now it is time for the Novena to the Holy Spirit, which leads to Pentecost!  Jesus promised His disciples that He would never leave them, and He makes that same promise to us.  I try to look for different signs of His Presence throughout the day, and wonder how I can bring His Love to others.  

The Holy Spirit works through us, and we need to be open by having a relationship with Him.  This includes through personal prayer, by receiving the sacraments, and bringing the joy of being a Christian to others.  

I am learning to rejoice in Jesus and to love Him in both the ups and downs of life, because I know I can trust in Him.  Yes, we are called to trust in Him even when things do not go according to our plans, in good times and in bad, and to carry our cross with Him.  Because we are not alone; Jesus walks with us, and He loves us.  

So let us rejoice in Him Who redeems us!  He has ascended into Heaven!

Jesus, the Bread of Life-giving Love

 This past week, Jesus has kept leading me back to the Bread of Life Discourse in the Bible.  It has shown up in the daily Readings, at youth group, and in a bible study.  Praise God!  He is Present in the Eucharist!  Jesus is calling us to have faith in what He says, and to receive Him as sustenance to what it means to follow Him with our very lives.

We must never take His Presence among us for granted, and know that He makes Himself small, so that we are not afraid to approach Him.  We have an approachable God, and He is showing us the way of the gospel!  

Jesus wants to give of Himself, though it takes our willingness to be attentive to this great Mystery of merciful love.  He does not force us; He only bids us.  I was blessed with an opportunity to go to adoration this week, and what a blessing it always is!  Can we fathom His great love for us?  He is among us in the Eucharist, and makes us "walking tabernacles" when we receive Him at Mass.  So we must go forth, bringing that same love and mercy to others!  

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Second Reading Reflection

 In this Sunday's Second Reading (for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time), St. Paul writes to the Corinthians about his proclamation of the gospel: and woe to me if I do not preach it!  He feels drawn to his obligation to tell the world that Jesus is Lord, the promised Messiah who walked the earth, suffered, died, and rose again, for our sakes.  And now, it is the apostle's duty, and our duty, to bring Jesus to others.  

Like Paul, we are called to use our gifts with his same call from the Spirit.... "and woe to me if I do not preach it!" with our actions, with our words, and with our lives!

I encourage you- I plea for you- to read the rest of the 2nd Reading (1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23) and see how you too, are called to bring the light and hope of Christ to others.  This is Good News!  God places us at this time and place on earth, for a reason.  "All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it."

God be Praised!

Moving Forward in the Joy of Christmas

 God be Praised, I found the time to do a video on the YouTube channel (I encourage you to visit "A Catholic Presence" for my latest one)!  Though still in the Season of Christmas, we are past all the officially marked holidays, including this one and New Years.  I do not plan on removing my decorations for at least another week, but it's already back to the grind of working and less preparing.  

Christmas is not yet over.  How can we live out this sacred time within the "ordinariness" of our lives?  To practice gratitude for Christ's coming down from heaven to live among us, and even to die for us? To let the "peace of Christ control your hearts" (excerpt from Collosians 3:15).  We have prepared the way for Him this advent; now it is time to keep Him at the center of our lives.

What will your resolution be in this new year, and how committed are you to keeping it?  I pray for your perseverance in it, your peace in it, and that you do it with love, as St. Faustina learned to do (and I shared in my latest video).  May God continue to bless you, and may you magnify Him in it, as Our Lady demonstrated so well in her Magnificat.

Third Week of Advent: Rejoice!

Welcome to the Third Week of Advent!  I was delighted to pray Morning Prayer with my husband before our advent wreathe which glows all the brighter this week.  There are a few things I would like to cover in this post about this time of year.

It is a time to rejoice!

I know that there are people out there in the world who feel too forgotten and/or lonely to rejoice.  If this is you, keep this in mind: it is not a sin to be sad on Christmas, if this is where you find yourself.  And if you have the time to give, remember to think, pray, and do something for those in need.  Reach out with a Christmas card so that someone feels remembered; give them a phone call; donate to your local homeless shelter.  We might not be able to change the situation ourselves, but at least they will not feel alone in their need.  They do not have to remain forgotten.

The other day I was reflecting on the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  It is a special time of year to consider how they supported one another as a family.  The God-Man, lying in a manger; Our Blessed Mother, also conceived without sin, "pondering all these things in her heart;" but what about Joseph?  He was not immaculately conceived; he was simply a man!  He must have felt humbled, to be the foster father of the promised Messiah, and the wife of Mary.  St. Joseph preferred to be in the background, probably also treasuring these life events in his heart, like Our Lady, but also knowing that he was a sinner.  That makes him all the more relatable to us, who sometimes fall short.  How can we imitate St. Joseph, in his humility, before the good things of God?

I also would like to mentioned a recent homily given by a great, Catholic speaker, Fr. Mike Schmitz (on the youtube channel: Sundays with Ascension).  He made a lot of points about this past Sunday's Readings.  One thing that stood out for me was more of a confirmation regarding what I try to explain on this blog and my YouTube channel (A Catholic Presence).  How can we strive to live in the Presence of God?  I learned how to practice Direction of Intention while in the monastery, and how to stay ever in His loving Presence.  So I highly recommend watching Fr. Mike's video, along with the other points he makes.

That's what has been on my heart today.  Wishing you a joy-filled week, and remember to rejoice in all things!