Monday, February 26, 2007
Evangelizing
As a Catholic, it is important to evangelize to those around us. Here at school, it is easy to find those to evangelize to, yet hard to get them to listen. This Lent, the Catholic Newman Club decided to do something a little bit different. In our cafeteria we have stands that can hold up to 6 different announcements, so we took advantage of them. Over break, I designed a paper that defined what Lent is and an announcement to invite people to our meetings. I tried to do it in a flashy way that people would enjoy it and not want to rip it up. Today, several of us went around the cafeteria and posted them. I pray that it will open some minds and hearts to Catholicism and God during such an important time of year.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
The Power of Prayer
Since Nathan started his job in September, we have not had the opportunity to attend mass together very often. Thankfully we are on break this week and have attended mass together both yesterday and today. Today was especially a huge blessing. Being Ash Wednesday, we decided to go to confession, mass, and adoration.
Adoration is always incredible, but especially so today. Being in the presence of our Lord is so powerful that my heart is always yearning to embrace Him. Although I had the same desire, I felt as though both my heart and Nathan's were focused so deeply on allowing Jesus into our hearts, that we were walking the path together. I really understood that loving the Lord in that way with someone else, is ultimately what love is all about.
After confession, I could feel our souls being cleansed and immediately knew that we would be growing even closer to one another. After finishing our penances, we knelt and prayed in front of Mary. It was such a beautiful opportunity to spend time asking her for guidance and intercession in our relationship.
Adoration is always incredible, but especially so today. Being in the presence of our Lord is so powerful that my heart is always yearning to embrace Him. Although I had the same desire, I felt as though both my heart and Nathan's were focused so deeply on allowing Jesus into our hearts, that we were walking the path together. I really understood that loving the Lord in that way with someone else, is ultimately what love is all about.
Ash Wednesday
Father in heaven,the light of your truth bestows sight
to the darkness of sinful eyes
May this season of repentance
bring us the blessing of your forgiveness
and the gift of your light. Amen.
Monday, February 19, 2007
A Lesson in Perseverance
Mom bought me ice skates for Christmas and since then I've only had the opportunity to use them twice, including yesterday. There are only a few times a week that public skating is offered around here, so we took advantage of it. Unfortunately, I really haven't skated in atleast 5 years. Mom held my hand and helped me get going, but I looked extremely scared and uncomfortable on my feet. Thankfully, Mom stayed next to me the entire time and helped me out in all of my near falling experiences. Although it was not looking as though I would be a pro skater anytime soon, I continued to try. I was determined to go around the rink 
on my own by the time the 2 hours were up. During the second hour, I successfully had myself on my feet with no problems. It was incredible! I was so excited to have reached my goal! As my ego grew, so did my skating abilities. During the last 30 seconds I decided I would prove my stuff and try to do some fancy foot work. At that moment, my ego crashed, I fell first on my knees, ended up on my stomach, and slid across the ice. With 24 seconds remaining, I fell for the first time all day. It was embarrassing, but I got right back up and realized that although we can persevere and accomplish our goals, we should never let our egos grow or else bumps will form in the ice.
on my own by the time the 2 hours were up. During the second hour, I successfully had myself on my feet with no problems. It was incredible! I was so excited to have reached my goal! As my ego grew, so did my skating abilities. During the last 30 seconds I decided I would prove my stuff and try to do some fancy foot work. At that moment, my ego crashed, I fell first on my knees, ended up on my stomach, and slid across the ice. With 24 seconds remaining, I fell for the first time all day. It was embarrassing, but I got right back up and realized that although we can persevere and accomplish our goals, we should never let our egos grow or else bumps will form in the ice.
Lent
Lent is only a few days away and I have yet to give much thought to it. Usually I come up with some elaborate plan of how I'm going to better myself and grow closer to God, but for some reason I have yet to do this. I cannot seem to come up with something that will allow me to offer up my sacrifices in a way that I see fit. Perhaps this struggle is God's way of telling me to look at the smaller things in life. There are many trivial things that I could work on and perhaps that is what I will focus on this year.
Nathan and I have decided to also have something to work on together throughout lent. Although I do not intend on sharing it, I know that it will truly help us to grow closer to God and to grow in our love through Him. Lent truly is a time to grow closer to God by offering up our sacrifices so that we may fully prepare ourselves for the ultimate sacrifice of His son.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Classes
It's amazing that three weeks of the semester are already over. I feel as though I have already learned a great deal, yet at the same time have come across so many interesting situations. Since I'm a music major, I do not have a chance to take many of my core classes until I'm a junior and senior. This semester, I decided to take Intro to Literature and Western Civilization I. What I've found the most interesting is how easy it is for the professors to discuss political issues and their own personal agendas. Although this is much more apparent in my Intro to Literature class, I have seen it in both.
So far our required reading has consisted of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, Thomas Paine's views on religion, a piece called "The Equality of the Sexes," and poems written by a black woman in the mid-late 1700s. We started by discussing Franklin and Paine's religious views which consist of a belief in God and being "good", but against religion (deism). It was obvious that the professor was in favor of such a thing, along with many students who don't want to be told what to do. The obvious downfall is that people in today's society do not have a connection to what is virtuous and acceptable as moral behavior. As human beings we need someone (religion) to help us along the way and guide us away from temptation and sin.
The discussions that have really upset me the most however, are on gender equality. Our professor (a man) finds every way he can to prove that men and women are equal. He even went as far as to say that women are motherly and nurturing because society has shown us that role rather than it being a gift from nature. Of course this is absolutely crazy. Although I am not a mother, I can only imagine having a child grow in my womb and how caring and nurturing that will make me. It's amazing how many odd ideas this professor is able to come up with that make absolutely no sense, yet people listen and agree with him. Yesterday, we were discussing this topic once again and he mentioned how women were passionate and emotional, like we no longer possess these traits today. Almost every woman I have ever known will cry when anything difficult happens or when a man first professes his love, if that isn't being emotional, I don't know what is. Overall, when I sit in that class, I do not feel as though I am being empowered as a woman, but instead treated as an object that is constantly being torn apart for what I truly am.
So far our required reading has consisted of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, Thomas Paine's views on religion, a piece called "The Equality of the Sexes," and poems written by a black woman in the mid-late 1700s. We started by discussing Franklin and Paine's religious views which consist of a belief in God and being "good", but against religion (deism). It was obvious that the professor was in favor of such a thing, along with many students who don't want to be told what to do. The obvious downfall is that people in today's society do not have a connection to what is virtuous and acceptable as moral behavior. As human beings we need someone (religion) to help us along the way and guide us away from temptation and sin.
The discussions that have really upset me the most however, are on gender equality. Our professor (a man) finds every way he can to prove that men and women are equal. He even went as far as to say that women are motherly and nurturing because society has shown us that role rather than it being a gift from nature. Of course this is absolutely crazy. Although I am not a mother, I can only imagine having a child grow in my womb and how caring and nurturing that will make me. It's amazing how many odd ideas this professor is able to come up with that make absolutely no sense, yet people listen and agree with him. Yesterday, we were discussing this topic once again and he mentioned how women were passionate and emotional, like we no longer possess these traits today. Almost every woman I have ever known will cry when anything difficult happens or when a man first professes his love, if that isn't being emotional, I don't know what is. Overall, when I sit in that class, I do not feel as though I am being empowered as a woman, but instead treated as an object that is constantly being torn apart for what I truly am.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
