Meet my Girl: St. Teresa of Avila. Feast Day is Tomorrow!

To paraphrase my 16 old, St. Teresa of Avila is totally FIRE!  

I have been reading St. Theresa of Avila's Interior Castle.  I have to be honest, I am only understanding probably less than half of what I read.  But what I am reading is SO RICH.

First of all, St. Theresa writes so plainly, it as if she is having a conversation with the reader.  And there is something completely AMAZING about feeling like you are having a REAL conversation with a Saint.  Like these are her words, and she is speaking directly to you.  Not just a conversation that you make up in your head. (I do that a lot by the way.)

The whole book is basically an instruction manual that the Saint's superiors asked her to write for the religious living the carmelite way of life.  Things had gotten a little comfortable over the years, and Teresa was great at shaking things up.   Her book, Interior Castle, explains how a person can enter their own soul through meditation to encounter God in this amazing way.

But she doesn't just give a brief explanation or description of what step 1 is; followed by step 2.  Although some may prefer if she had!  She speaks directly from her heart, and gives such rich words of wisdom along the way.

Here are some of my favorite snipits...

In talking about how limited our own knowledge of ourselves is: "It is no small pity, and should cause us no little shame, that, through our own fault, we do not understand ourselves, or know who we are."   Well isn't that a relief?  She is basically saying we are not that smart, people, but it is not our fault.  God created us so uniquely, and wonderfully and beautifully, that we couldn't possibly understand ourselves.  I get it.  I don't get it.

At another point St. Theresa talks about consolations, or favors, or what I would consider almost "God-Incidents" and she says, "He grants these favours, then, not because those who receive them are holier than those who do not, but in order that His greatness may be made known, as we see in the case of Saint Paul and Magdalen, and in order that we may praise Him in His creatures."  She explains those times in our lives where we recognize these little God Moments as opportunities to recognize God's goodness.  YES. Totally!  (but in like 16th-century language.)

St. Teresa of Avila is a powerhouse and not for the light-hearted.  She is essentially the EXACT opposite of Puppy dogs and ice cream.   Whenever you need a kick in the pants, she is there for you.  Another quote from her that I need to hear occasionally is that "prayer and comfortable living are incompatible."  She also shares that "The less I have, the more free I become."   Yes. I find this true in my life as well.  

There are so many great stories about this firey woman.  I pray that she can help me become a Powerhouse for the Lord.  She loved him Fiercely and I pray I will have the courage to do the same someday!

Life is Hard

 I recently had an opportunity to walk alongside someone who was in crisis.  

This person recently experienced a tragic death, and living with the aftermath of this tremendous loss seems overwhelming, unfair, and to be honest pretty sucky.

My prayer to God in times like these is, "Why God?  We don't understand."  

I don't mean it rudely, or disrespectfully, but we teach that God is merciful and loving, and kind, and gentle and so often that is not our experience.  If prayer is merely talking to God, then as far as I am considered, that prayer counts.  

I am constantly reminded of that beautiful prayer we call the Serenity Prayer.

REASONABLY Happy.  REASONABLE Happy.  That is all we should expect in this life.  Can I say that I am reasonable Happy?  TOTALLY.  Perfectly Happy?  No.  Supremely Happy?  Definitely NOT.  But that is NEVER to be expected in this life.   (And yet, I think I have had some pretty supremely happy Moments!)  

Thank you Lord, for resetting the expectations.  For helping me understand that this is a broken world.  The Brokenness is not from you. But have you given us HOPE.  Hope for a supremely Happy life in the next!  

When the things you pray for don't happen

Ask and you shall receive. Knock and the door will be opened.  

But what about when it doesn't turn out the way you prayed for?  What about when you don't receive it? Or when the door is slammed in your face?  I am going to be real for a minute.  There are good things that I pray for, and God answers my prayer with "No."    

I am not talking about winning the lottery, or some self-promoting prayer.  I am talking about healing.  I am talking about a child who, for whatever reason, doesn't beat her cancer.  I am talking about the most terrible thing you can ever imagine.  I was taught to pray expectantly.  To claim these answers from Heaven, and to thank God for answering them, even if it hasn't happened yet.  But how are we supposed to respond when the exact opposite of what we pray for happens?

How do we continue to trust God through that?   

I battled this hard recently and the best answer I came up with was, "Because I have no other choice."

The only other option from trusting God is trusting the world. AND I DEFINITELY Don't trust the world. Because we are NOT Living for this world.  This world is temporary and broken, and expecting to live forever here, is like expecting a woman to remain pregnant forever. 

So I have to move forward with Faith, even if I don't understand, even if it is hard.  God never leaves me. He walks with me through these difficult times.  He provides perfect consolation to let me know it is okay to be hurt. That he also was hurt by this world.  He doesn't expect us to walk through anything in this world, that he also didn't experience.  This brings me comfort.  This helps me heal.   

Pray for me!  I will pray for you!

Be an Instrument of Peace

Today’s Gospel is not my favorite – because it is especially tough.  Jesus speaks to all of us about the importance of reconciliation with one another.  Notice there is not a disclaimer about how we should seek to reconcile only if we intentionally hurt someone, or if we may have done something we weren’t supposed to do.   Jesus makes it clear that it is OUR responsibility to seek reconciliation “when we realize that someone has something against us.” 
 
Say what?  This is opposite from how our world responds to injustice.  Our culture today would argue that this is not our problem.  Just leave it alone and go on with your life, or post something on social media and publicly ridicule this offender.  This is how the world often responds.
 
Musician and Monk John Michael Talbot has an excellent reflection on this Gospel where he recalls that approaching the altar of the lord, and realizing that we have something against our brother or sister; well that’s easy – we can go to confession.  But if we realize that someone has something against us, we need to go talk to that person first.   This is the challenging part.
 
The prayer of St. Francis seems especially appropriate for these occasions in our life. Why should we bother ourselves with reconciling with those who might be difficult?  Because we want to be instruments of peace.  Because where there is hatred, we should be sowing love, and where there is injury, we should be seeking pardons.  It doesn’t matter who is injured.  It doesn’t matter who feels the hatred.  We are called to be instruments of peace in every situation!

Epic Fail Again, The Family prayer night...

I know amazing people whose children behave perfectly during mass,  do millions of hours of family service for other people, and participate in weekly or even nightly family prayer time.

Yes, this is happening out there.  Unfortunately, it isn't happening in my home. 

I know, I know. Shocker!  The lady who writes a blog called "Disciplechic" whose family attends two churches doesn't have a family prayer time.  (See me shrugging over here?)  I tried.

Now before you start judging me for judging myself, please know that I am super proud of my family.  My kids aren't terrible during Mass, and we do pray regularly. Usually, it is when I am sighing very loudly, "Lord have mercy" because some crazy thing is happening at that moment. (Think 5 kids explaining their Christmas wish list at the same exact time, and then arguing that they were talking first, at the same exact time.)    But we aren't good at planned family prayer time.

I was half hoping for Advent we could start a new tradition, and really spend this season anticipating the birth of Jesus. But my most recent advent efforts resulted in me lighting a candle, praying for hope, and my 16-year-old blowing it out immediately so that the dog doesn't eat the lit candle.  It lasted less than .02 seconds and I am pretty sure episodes of Judge Judy

Therefore, I decided to give up the idea of Family Prayer Night.  Then the Lord inspired with me a different idea.  Family prayer MORNING.  I know I am sort of an idiot sometimes.   We are definitely better morning people. So every school morning at 7 AM before my husband leaves for work before we take the dog for a walk. AFTER my 17-year-old is out of bed (sometimes not dressed) we spend 5 minutes in prayer.  We usually play a 2-minute video from the bible app or You Version and then read the scripture.  Then we all make a prayer request and pray together before heading out in five different directions. 

IT HAS BEEN AMAZING!

Now I am not sharing this to brag yall.  This is supposed to be inspiring.  If the family with 5 kids and two full-time working parents can do it, I KNOW YOU CAN TOO!

Are you ready for your work out?

Lent starts next week on Wednesday, March 2^nd with Ash Wednesday and if you are an active Catholic your email inbox might look like mine; flooded with ways to make this year’s Lent the MOST AMAZING LENT EVER.   There is no shortage of publications, email subscription lists, and prayer meditations for you to subscribe to make your journey through lent a powerful one.   But will you?

As Catholics, our Lenten experience is supposed to be a bit of a workout.  It is 40 days of spiritual weightlifting.    Sacrifice, Prayer and Charitable works. This is the tri-fecta for your Lenten Exercises.   But with so many choices out there for spiritual content, sometimes less if more.   

However, you decide to spend your Lent, just like with a workout regime, it’s best to come up with a plan BEFORE you begin.  Think about your Lenten Goals. Think about what ways God is calling you to grow.  Take time to discern and listen to the will of God, and then pray for God to reveal himself to you in a powerful way!  Decide now, which resources will be best for you.

There is something for everyone.   Are you into podcasts? Listening to prayer? Know the basics of how to use a smart Phone?  Then the Catholic App HALLOW is amazing!  There is a free version with access to wonderful prayer resources and speakers, or a paid subscription that unlocks content to keep you listening and praying through the day.  This is one of my favorites to use with my family and has wonderful content for children as well.   (I like doing the examen prayer with my kids before bed.)

Do you sit in front of a computer all day long?  Then perhaps filling your inbox with prayer spam isn’t a bad idea?  The Catholic Company sends a daily reflection that only takes a few minutes to read each morning.  Beginning your work day in prayer is a really smart way to spend some time focusing on God and what better place to read these prayers than in your own INBOX.  Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire also provides excellent content to keep you focused, or if your parish subscribes to Flocknote, they have access to send you wonderful Lenten reflections through email or Text.

No matter what you decide, decide SOMETHING.  Your extra sacrifices might end come Easter, but hopefully your charitable acts and prayer time will continue into life-long habits.  

Sorry it's been a while...

I have definitely been avoiding this blog for a bit.  It wasn't that I didn't have a lot to say, I just was having a hard time staying positive.

Do you ever go through those dark times?

I stopped praying regularly, and I stopped meditating on my awesome God.  I still talked to God, but it was more of a whine than a prayer.

And well, life has been a little crazy lately. Like Hurricane Crazy.

But in truth, things are good.  Isn't that when it all comes crashing down? When things are normal, it's like autopilot.  That is when it is hardest for me to connect with God.  When it seems all is well.

In an attempt to get back into a powerful prayer time here are a few things I think I need to do.  Maybe these are good for you as well. 


1.  Just sit and be quiet for at least 10 minutes a day.
2.  Read a prayerful or Christ-centered book for at least 10 minutes a day.
3. Be grateful for the normal that might exist at the moment.
4.  Seek out others that might not be experiencing normal, and walk with them through their darkness.

Pray for me Yall!  I will be praying for you!

New Parish Event!

 My new parish event that I am really excited to promote is going to be HUGE.  I am actually hoping to get THOUSANDS of people to participate in this FREE event.  First of all this is going to be a super fun event, that will be extremely convenient for pretty everyone, and I think will be pretty successful!  

The name of this event is:

"GO HOME AND LOVE YOUR FAMILY!"

I can't wait to launch this event.  I am thinking bulletin posts, social media promotions, maybe even some Lector announcements.  WE ARE GOING TO PROMOTE THE HECK OUT OF THIS EVENT!

This event is grounded in Scripture: Mark 6:19 actually says, "But he would not permit him but told him instead, Go Home to your Family."

Basically I am thinking our parish is getting short of a country club.  We have events pretty much every night and weekends.  Bible studies, fellowship groups, Catholic Women groups, Knight of Columbus, youth group, etc. etc.   I think I see some of the same people at church EVERYDAY.  

I gotta be honest everyone, Church is not meant to be everyone's mission field.  We definitely need to be spiritually fed, and I LOVE studying scripture with others. But at some point we have to Go home and love our families!  Then we need to go OUT into the world and share the Love of God with everyone out there.

We haven't settled on a specific date yet, but I will be sure to let you all know how it goes!