Just Another Day

I couldn't resist another random song reference as a title! Those of you on facebook know that I currently re-discovered an early 90's classic when a band that played at Catholic Underground opened with this blog title's namesake! It was so random, but I knew the band was gonna be good if they could pull it off. And they were. Anyways, that was equally random...

I'm not sure what I'm going to write about (ugh- I know. I used to HATE when people would preface whatever came next out of their mouths with something like that: 'I don't really know anything about this topic, but...I'm going to give my opinion on it...' Hated that in undergrad and in formation classes. Shout out to Media Studies majors and the postulants! :) But I felt the need to write because I had a good spiritual direction session yesterday and I always seem to blog after spiritual direction :)

I had told one of my friends ahead of time that I was going to go into Father this week as a 'hot mess'. She dared me to use that exact phrase when he asked me how I was doing. So I did. He laughed. I'm glad he got the reference, though I'm pretty sure he doesn't watch Project Runway, where the phrase was re-coined for all of America to embrace. Anyways, he then went on to point out to me that I wasn't such a mess after all, which was even greater than him laughing at my cultural reference!

We talked a little about hope, which is no surprise since many of these blogs have had that very virtue as their theme. He made a good point- not many people pray for the virtue of hope. We often pray to increase the virtues of love/charity, or faith.

But he pointed out that if we have hope (and perhaps the Holy Father also made this point in Spe Salvi. Probably. It's been a little while since I read it though) faith and love spring from that. So it is so essential that we pray for the virtue of hope. And hope is also one of the hardest virtues to acquire- especially in our culture, since hope and trust go hand in hand- and no one seems to really trust others anymore.

I was also praying last night the Glorious Mysteries (as we often do on Sundays! Especially during Easter!) and I was praying about the virtue of hope with the Ascension. It seemed odd to me that this is the virtue we are to pray for while saying that mystery, because of how confused and sad the apostles must've been when they saw their Lord leave them. Were their first thoughts those of hope?

The Ascension has come up a lot for me lately, and appropriately so since we are approaching that feast in these days. It is true, though, that in the most difficult times we have to hope. Because there's nothing else we can do, really. When the disciples watched the Risen Christ return to Heaven, they probably were sad and overcome, but they had to hope that He would keep His Word as He had before, and that the salvation and promise of Heaven would be greater than any distraught feelings they felt now.

I know I've made similar statements recently-that we have to trust and believe that something unimaginable may be in store for us. My spiritual director confirmed for me yesterday that this is the path I'm on right now. To pray for perseverance and patience, but also for hope. For we, as the Holy Father declared to us a year or so ago (and St. Paul before him! :), we really are Saved in Hope.

Hope's all we gots, people! Otherwise it's Just Another Day (you were wondering when I would tie that all in, weren't you??) And isn't easy, but it's the stuff. I'm hoping I'll still feel this way by the time I post my next blog :) Until then...

Peace,
Julia