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Showing posts from 2023

A Garden Is for Growing

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Source I grew up surrounded by families and friends who had converted the better part of their backyards into vegetable gardens. My grandfather, in particular, who had immigrated from Europe, oh so long ago, had made a third of his backyard into a garden. I can remember as a child helping him plant the potatoes, tomatoes, beans and corn, while he continued with the cabbages, peppers, onions and garlic as I had gone in to have ice cream. My grandfather being Catholic, always prayed over his seeded garden, trusting in our good Lord to help the crops grow that particular season, and he let the garden do its thing- to grow and supply us with  "the best vegetables anywhere", as my grandpa would say.  Each passing day my grandfather would sit outside on his green plastic rocking chair and watch the garden grow. He would sit back, watch the birds go by and scare them away if they got too close to the garden. He tended to the garden, pulling each weed out, and ensuring there was enou

A Repeated Prayer

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Below are some biblical and non-biblical prayers that can be repeated multiple times, and repeated throughout the day. They are to help us to recenter ourselves on God and his beauty and greatness. Let us contemplate on these invocations and remember them in our heart of hearts.  "My Lord and My God"  John 20:28  "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God"  Matthew 16:16 "Yes, Lord; You know that I love you"  John 21:15 "It is the Lord"  John 21: 7 "For you are my God" Psalm 143:10 "O God, have mercy on me a sinner"  Luke 18:13 "Stay with us, Lord"  Luke 24: 29 " Increase our faith" Luke 17:5 "For nothing is impossible with God"  Luke 1:37 "Truly this Man was the Son of God"  Matthew 27:54 "Lord, I love you"  " Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Have mercy on me, a sinner "  "Jesu

The Catholic Difference

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One of the big themes I had chosen for the school year was Joshua 1:9, which reads, "Do not fear or be discouraged, for the Lord, your God, is with your wherever you go." Throughout the year I have been guiding students to really and truly understand that no matter what happens in life, no matter what pains and ills we go through, no matter where we end up, God is going to be with us and always looking out for us. Its a beautiful reminder I think we all need, that Joshua reminds us of: that God is constantly there with us, constantly searching for us, and never abandons us.  Recently, I had a student that approached me and asked, "If God is with us constantly, why on earth do bad things happen to us? And if bad things happen to us, even if we believe in God, why bother believing in God if there isn't any difference?" An intriguing and powerful question, asked by an equally smart and intriguing teenager. I listened to them expand a little bit, and began to answer

A Challenge

Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And whe

Forgive... Not Seven times but Seventy Seven times

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21  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22  It's very hard to forgive. Forgiveness is essential to our life here on earth. Jesus gave us the perfect example of forgiveness while he was on earth. Jesus loved us so much that he bore all our sins on the cross that goes before us. Every wrong we have done; every pain has become  A LOT LIGHTER because Jesus bore it before us. Jesus is asked by his own, disciples, how many times should they forgive. Because they know that they have to forgive, and they know they everyone does wrong, but how much is enough? We need to draw a line right? No. Jesus tells us that we shouldn't just forgive seven times. He told us to forgive 77 times. Or 77 X 7 times. Which is a higher perfect number. Jesus told us that we must forgive as many times as

A Personable God

 "Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him..."  Hebrews 5: 8-9 Sometimes I come across, and maybe we even believe that because Jesus is fully God, his death and resurrection were pretty easy and that it wasn't all that bad for him. But this sort of thinking doesn't acknowledge the fact that Jesus was entirely human as well, and that he indeed suffered.  Earlier in the passage from Hebrews it says that Jesus "offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death..." He experiences pains and suffering, heartbreaks and grief, joy and compassion, sadness and betrayal by his best friends.  Jesus knows what we are going through, what we bring him every day in prayer, and especially at every Mass, and it's because he has gone through it too.  Through his suffering, he showed us an app

Uncomfortable

Every week I gather with the students who are part of my Campus Ministry team. These are great opportunities for me to build connections with the teenagers, hear what they are going through, and help aid them on their faith journey. These are also critical moments for me to get their help with the religious activities within the school and be of service to them in anyways I can.  When I get together with the 30 students, I always start off with a prayer, of course. I never do off-the-cuff prayers. Instead each week I introduce them to a different prayer from our church's rich history. I have done prayers from St. Augustine, St. Francis,  St. Patrick, among others. Recently I led them to pray the "The Litany of Humility." If you have never prayed it, here it is:  O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved...Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being extolled ...Deliver me, Jesus. From th