Thursday, June 20, 2013

Brazil 101

  Brazil is a very large and diverse country so it is difficult to characterize, but here are some fast facts about the country hosting WYD!

  • Official name: Republica Federative do Brasil; the name Brazil is thought to come from the
    brazilwood, a tree that once grew along the coast
  • World's 5th largest country by area and population
  • Population: 193 million people
  • Official language: Portuguese
  • Was a colony of Portugal until 1822
  • Motto: Order and Progress
  • Capital: Brasilia
  • Largest city: Sao Paulo
  • Currency: the Real (R$)
  • Current President: Dilma Rousseff
  • National dish: feijoada- a stew of pork and black beans with white rice, collard greens, and oranges
  • Religion: approximately 75% Roman Catholic

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The Only Cure for the Ache in our Hearts

            As I look ahead to World Youth Day, God's calling me to look back to where I have been with Him. He doesn't want me to forget the many blessings and graces that He's given me. My freshman year of college was a time of such crazy spiritual growth. I was in a small group Bible  study, going to daily Mass often, and was going to Charismatic at St. Joseph. It was during this time that I finally learned how to listen to God. For me, He likes to speak through images. If it weren't for all of the wonderful people around me helping me to develop my faith, I would still probably not know how to hear Him. Now that I could hear Him, He was so distracting! (in a good way, of course) At a time when I was supposed to be so driven about school, all I wanted to do was grow closer to God and do as much as I could in my campus ministry. I was so hungry for Him and could feel His love so strongly. I was experiencing God like I never had before and falling more in love with the Catholic Church. He was revealing so much beauty to me through His presence in the Eucharist, through His saints, and through my friends who were growing in faith with me. He was filling me up so much and I just wanted to serve Him. I didn't have the strongest trust in where He would take me, but when I was trusting, He never let me down. It was beautiful how He was teaching me to trust Him and helping me to believe that His will is what will make me the happiest. Through the graces He gave me in the sacraments, I developed a stronger prayer life than I'd ever had. I truly appreciated and enjoyed reading scripture because I knew He was speaking to me through it. Having a strong prayer life was not something I had before I came to college, and after everything I experienced in just one semester, I couldn't imagine ever letting myself become spiritually lazy again.
           
            Fast forward to right now, the summer before my junior year of college. Where do you think I am now? If you guessed that I have become a lazy bum in my prayer life, then you get a golden star for being correct. As you can imagine, school got a lot more difficult when I moved out of the gen ed classes that I now miss. I had plenty of unwanted stress and distractions that I let get in the way of my relationship with God. I stopped making time for God and my prayer life got pretty inconsistent along the way. I felt like I was letting Him down after all He's done for me which made me not want to pray even more. Thankfully, through this spiritual low time for me, God has continued to tug at my heart. I know that He changed my heart in the time that I grew so close to Him because otherwise I wouldn't be writing this. Because of what He's done for me, I know what I'm missing out on when I don't take the opportunities I have to pray and serve. I'm coming to realize that even though this time has felt dark and lonely, He's using it to help me grow. Lately, I've been asking God to help me to desire Him again. And as He always does, He has answered my prayer. I don't really know how to describe it, but I know He's putting that desire back into my heart. If you're in a spiritual slump like I've been, try to find the beauty in what He's doing with your heart. In times of desolation it is easy to feel discouraged, but eventually we remember that He is the only cure for the ache in our hearts. Desolation is not fun, but it has allowed me to see how much God has blessed me, and it has reminded me of who I want to be.

"Listen, it has been difficult for me. It has not been easy. But there are also beautiful times. Jesus helps you and gives you joy. But there are also those dark inner moments, there are difficulties, but it's beautiful to follow Jesus and His path. It's a balance that allows you to go forward and that's when the beautiful moments come."
--Pope Francis


  

Monday, June 17, 2013

El Padre que Toca la Puerta

Eso es un poema de Hermana Margaret Halaska, traducido por mi, llamado "The God who Knocks". Lo usé por mi homelía ayer. Abrir sus vidas a El que quiere entregarte todo.

El Padre tocó la puerta mia, buscando hogar por su hijo:
Rentar es barrato, le digo
No quiero rentar. Quiero comprar, me dice Dios
No estoy seguro que quiero vender,
Pero pases y veas la casa.
Okay, me dice Dios.
Quizás te dé un cuarto o dos.
Me gustan, me dice Dios. Quiero ambos,
Tal vez un día me entreges otro,
Puedo esperar, me dice Dios.
Me gustaría darte mas,
Pero es difícil. Se ocupa espacio por mi mismo.
Yo sé, me dice Dios, pero te esperaré. Me gusta lo que veo.
Me encantaría regalarte la casa entera,
Pero tengo dudas-
Piénsalo, me dice Dios. No voy a echarte a fuera.
Tu casa sería la mia, y mi hijo viviría allí.
Tendría más espacio que nunca.
No entiendo para nada.
Yo sé, me dice Dios, pero no te puedo explicar eso.
Tienes que descubrirlo tú.
Este sucede solo cuando le entreges toda la casa a El.
¡Que riesgo¡ le digo.
Si, me dice Dios, pero inténtalo.

No estoy seguro. Te lo dejo saber.

Yo puedo esperar. Me gusta lo que veo...

Monday, June 10, 2013

¡Pon tu confianza en Dios y te sorprenderá!

Una de las pasiones que está en mi lista de acontecimientos personales a futuro es viajar.  El simple hecho de pensar en conocer culturas diferentes, conocer gente, tradiciones, lugares, bueno la lista puede ser interminable,  hasta con la idea de sentirme la “rara”, en cualquier lugar remoto, me emociona.  Pero, a veces la “cruel realidad”, lo hace difícil o casi imposible.   La falta de dinero, el trabajo, no tener tiempo disponible, los pagos al fin de mes, hacen que ese deseo lo pongamos al final de nuestra lista de prioridades aunque sea algo que deseamos con toda nuestras fuerzas. 

Dios es grande e infinitamente misericordioso, y él lo único que quiere es que nosotros seamos felices.  A veces, nos sumergimos tanto en nuestras preocupaciones, las cosas que ocurren en nuestro alrededor que acabamos gritando ¡cuando no es una cosa, es otra! 
A lo que voy es a lo siguiente…  Si han seguido este blog, se habrán dado cuenta que mi sacerdote,  mis compañeros y yo tendremos la oportunidad de viajar a Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.  Vamos a vivir una experiencia única  de esas que marca la vida por siempre, asistiremos a la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud. En esta ocasión, hablare de mi lado personal, yo sinceramente  me siento tan afortunada de poder vivir esta experiencia que aun estoy en shock, ¡No lo puedo creer!  Voy a poder cumplir uno de mis sueños (viajar) y todo porque tome la decisión de confiar en ÉL.  Si, en mi caso así fue.  Dios siempre nos demuestra con detalles cuanto nos ama, pero a veces nos segamos a ver las cosas hermosas que están en nuestro alrededor.  Hay una cita hermosa que me encanta de Albert Einstein que dice lo siguiente, “Hay dos maneras de vivir una vida: La primera es pensar que nada es un milagro. La segunda es pensar que todo es un milagro. De lo que estoy seguro  es que Dios existe.” Esta cita explica exactamente lo anterior.  Dios me mostro con este gesto cuanto me quiere y que ¡soy su consentida!

Es difícil la edad de la juventud, especialmente cuando llegas a un punto en tu vida en el que se te acabaron las opciones en la vida y te preguntas, ¿Y ahora a donde le doy?   Allí es donde Dios nos está hablando, donde nos invita a tener fe de lo que te tiene preparado para ti.  Seguir el camino aunque se vea incierto y aunque parezca que vamos con los ojos cerrados, porque sinceramente, quien mejor que Él para confiarle nuestra vida.  Eso me demostró con este viaje.  Si, el sabia de mis gustos y pasiones, y miren me puse en sus manos y que tan grande oportunidad me puso en mi camino, asistir a JMJ.   Voy a ser honesta, al principio fui muy pesimista cuando recibí la invitación para asistir a JMJ.  Lo veía tan lejano, fuera de mis posibilidades, pero Dios ya tenía ese “regalazo“ planeado para mí.  Aun viendo las dificultades que se me presentaban tome la decisión de aceptar la invitación y dije, “¡Que Dios me agarre confesada!”  No quiero mentirles, el proceso fue difícil, incierto, y en ocasiones tuve miedo.   Pero no permití que esos pensamientos invadieran mi confianza, aunque fue difícil continúe.    Hoy en día puedo gritar, ¡Voy a estar en JMJ en BRASIL y tengo la certeza que en este viaje fui guiada por ÉL!

Si nos ponemos a pensar, nos damos cuenta de que Dios y todo en su entorno es bello.  Qué gran dicha  de cumplir mi gran anhelo (viajar) y a su misma vez asistir a la congregación católica más grande de jóvenes como es JMJ. Dios mediante conoceré al Papa Francisco y podre decir que yo estuve allí.  En si la moraleja de mi historia es que Dios te quiere dar todo lo que tú anhelas, solo tienes que confiar en Él con tus sueños y deseos.  Deja de preocuparte y ponlo todo en sus manos,  el te guiara a donde debes estar.  Dile todo lo que quieres, pero recuerda: Él te dará lo que es para ti y lo que necesitas, no lo que tú crees que sea necesario para ti.  ¡Confía en el! Mira mi experiencia, Yo viajare a un lugar de ensueño y a su misma vez estaré allí por Él. 

Take a Vacation with God


Make some time to relax in God's presence this Summer!

Saturday, June 8, 2013

You Can Do What I Can Do!

The Holy Gospel according to Luke 2:41-51- 06/08/2013

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
and when he was twelve years old,
they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were ASTOUNDED
at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him,
they were astonished,
and his mother said to him,
“Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And he said to them,
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them;
and his mother kept all these things in her heart.


Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ!


     We have all heard this story many many times. As far as I can remember I have always heard this story used by church leaders as an example of Jesus following His parents and being obedient. While this is a very important lesson, I feel that there is an equally important lesson to be learned in this story. A lesson that will have implications in almost every other New Testament and Gospel reading. 


     Before we go any further lets discuss who Jesus was as a 12 year old boy. In His time, education was structured much differently from our own. In fact their grade school's one and only focus was the Word of God as it was presented Moses. As children of this time period, they would all study the first five books of the bible or the Torah until about age ten. This first studying of the Torah was called Beit Sefer (Bait Se-fair), and at its completion the children would have memorized the first five books in the bible. They would know the words of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy by heart! Once they had each finished Beit Sefer, 90% of the children would go on to become apprentices in the family trade or business. Only the very best of these would go on the continue their study of the Torah in what was called Beit Talmud (Bait Tal-mood). 


     In this second tier of the education system, the children would finish memorizing the Torah. So that by the time they were about 14-15 years old they would have all of the books from Genesis-Malachi memorized. They would also learn the different traditions and applications of the Torah. The young teens would then learn the interpretations of the word of God. 

     
     I realize that in all of this talk of the education system of Jesus' time I have yet to mention the teachers. The ones teaching the children of the Torah were in fact Rabbi, and in as much were the very pinnacle of Jewish society. No one was as revered as a Rabbi, one who knew the word of God and how to teach it to the people.

     Now lets look at who this young 12 year old Jesus was. He was in among those who would be His teachers if He had been a child of the city of Jerusalem. These guys were the Harvard professors, and here is this pre-teen from some tiny working town talking with them. And not just asking question after question as you might expect, He was giving them answers. Not just regular old answers straight out of your text book. Jesus gave them answers and they were ASTOUNDED! They didn't dismiss some annoying young kid, they sat and listened to Him! For me, the lesson to be learned here is that my Jesus was the best of the best. He was in the 99th percentile. So what happened next?


     It's true we know very little about our King's childhood. We do know, however, about what those who completed Beit Talmud did. Most of them went home. In fact even the best of these didn't always move on. Only those who were truly put on this Earth to be Rabbi went on to the next stage of education. This was called Beit Midrash (Bait Mid-rash). And in this final stage of the education process, the 14-15 year old kids went and petitioned a Rabbi. They went and told the Rabbi, "I want to learn to do as you do." Immediately the Rabbi would grill the student on their knowledge of the Torah, of the prophets, on the oral traditions, and many other things. Once this test was over the Rabbi usually told the youngster, "It is clear that you know the Torah very well, and that you love God. Go now and ply your family's trade." What a let down, right? Sometimes, however, The Rabbi was impressed with the students knowledge, astounded even. It was at these times, when the Rabbi thought the pupil had what it took to do what the Rabbi himself did, that the Rabbi would say, "Come,follow me." The Rabbi wasn't just saying lets go on a walk and I'll teach you a few things. He was telling this pupil, "Come be my disciple, for I believe you can do what I can do." Let's put this in perspective. Here is this wise Rabbi, respected above every other person in the community, telling this 14-15 year old boy, "You have what it takes to be at the pinnacle of society, let me show you how." How could you not follow him?! 


    Once a student had become the disciple of a Rabbi he left his entire life behind. The teen would have left his town, his synagogue, and even his family. He followed the Rabbi everywhere, yearning to become what his teacher was. He would usually spend the next decade and a half learning to be a teacher of the Word of God to the Jewish people. Then at about age 30 the disciple would go out and begin their ministry. Coincidentally this is the same time that Luke tells us that Jesus began his ministry. (LUKE 3:23)


     I'm almost done, I just want to tie-in what we have learned, to put it in perspective. Lets start from the top, Peter and Andrew are off in their boat, just fishing like they would any other day. Then they here some guy call from the beach. They recognize him as a Rabbi. What does Jesus tell them? Come, follow me! Come you lowly fishermen for I believe you can do what I can do! Matthew tells us they dropped their nets and left immediately. Of course they did! Here was this guy who has all the knowledge of one of the premiere members of their society, telling them that they can do all that he can do. Of course Peter stepped out onto the raging water! Jesus said I can do what he can do, and by Him I'm going to walk on that water. When Peter sinks, Jesus asked why did you doubt? Peter wasn't doubting Jesus. Jesus wasn't the one sinking. Peter doubted himself and that he could do as Jesus did.


     We have been told thousands of times that Jesus calls each one of us to,"Come, follow Him." I hope you hear now what I hear when someone tells me those three little words. Jesus is telling me that I can do what He can do. I can pick up my cross, cast down Satan and all my shame, and carry that cross all the way to gates of the Kingdom of Heaven where I will be the child He is so infinitely proud of and will wrap in His Eternal Embrace. Oh how He loves me. 


Friday, June 7, 2013

Unforeseen Moments

At this time in my life as a college student, still technically undeclared as a junior, I am completely confused as to where God is leading me and where my future lies. I would like to be able to say that I know all the answers, but of course that is not the case. I've learned the hard way that God doesn't like long-term plans. So that leaves me constantly trying to have faith and trust in Him and His plan for me. It is in unforeseen moments where I have found God working the most.

Last year right before Lent, my friend Holly and I were approached and asked if we would be willing to take up an adoration hour on Friday nights at 8. As a young college student you can imagine my initial thought of heck no! But it didn't take long before I decided that it was only an hour a week. What better way to sacrifice than to give up my precious free time on a Friday night when I would rather be hanging out with friends? Plus it was only a temporary commitment for Lent, then Holly and I could decide whether we wanted to continue. Lent went by quickly and I looked forward to having that quiet time to sit, reflect, and pray with Jesus. Needless to say we continued to keep our hour. Consequently, my faith has grown exponentially, and I am able to see the impact God has had in my life. Flash forward a year later and now I am reflecting on how generous and glorious Our God is that He would have given me such a life changing opportunity that would help me to become a more committed Catholic. I never would have thought that I would have such a desire to know God, to love Him, and to learn about my Catholic faith back in high school. I was a "good" Catholic, but I still didn't grasp what being Catholic meant, until now.

It is events such as this one that has transformed my faith life in remarkable ways. I still struggle to maintain my relationship with God on a daily basis, but I know that daily Mass and adoration are constant reminders of why God has put me on this Earth. We are all here for a purpose. I just hope when its all said and done that I can say my purpose was to grow close to God so that I can bring others to Him. He has blessed me beyond words. Having this opportunity to participate in WYD with millions of other Catholics with the same struggles who also have the same purpose sets me on fire. We are all united under Him. It is our duty as Christians to bring others to Him, and to do that, we must love. St. Augustine once wrote, "What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like." My purpose is to love. What is yours?