Feast of Christ the King

As previously mentioned, this was like, one of the best years ever for me. It was filled with friends and family celebrations (aka WEDDINGS) but also a lot of time focusing on myself, my studies, etc.

We get realllllyyyy excited for Advent and Christmas, but Christ the King is a pretty cool feast in and of itself. Just like last year, my sophomores' unit on the Ascension fell around this feast of Christ the King again. It's great because my mind is already focused, then, on the gift of the Ascension and what it means for us and it helps me enter into the "end is near" readings of this end of the liturgical year.

We all know how I love NYE (going to LA this year!!)....the feast of Christ the King is like New Year's Eve in a way. The first Sunday of Advent is our "new year" in the Church, so this feast of C to the K is always a chance to look back on the year, but also look forward to new year's resolutions of Advent and, of course, ahead towards our end goal of heaven.

So it's time to start thinking...what is going to be my Advent repentance/resolution? How did I live this past year? And am I working towards my end goal of heaven?

I have a lot of goals in sight: end of the semester. End of 2012. End of grad school. But right now is the time to prepare for those ends the best way I know how. Similarly, now is the time for us to think about how we are preparing for Christmas, for the New Year, and ultimately, heaven.

This image of Christ the King has Jesus looking super official as the authority of Heaven and Earth...but the priest today at Mass reminded us (as I also do with my students), Christ was not the typical King. He is now sitting on his throne in heaven where he is in all of his glory, a glory so great that we can't imagine the beauty that is the beatific vision....BUT we know that he embraced the broken and was himself broken before taking His rightful place.

This verse from Hebrews is always comes to mind: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin."- Hebrews 4:15

Love it. I am also grateful for this feast because it helps remind me that OMG ADVENT IS COMING!!! Time to get on the resolutions for the penitential season stat.

Oh! And it was about this time last year that we were all worried about the NEW TRANSLATION of the Mass....how is that working out for ya? I still get tripped up on the Gloria and Nicene Creed myself, but think of how far we've come! :)

Happy New Year, guys! It's almost here!
Peace,
Julia

Giving Thanks 2012

Around Advent, I like to recap the the year in pics. Advent is almost here and 2012 has been a stellar year!!! I finished my 2nd full year of teaching and began my 3rd. I began my last *full* year (hopefully) of grad school!! I traveled to ALL of the places! AND...of course...

The Year of the Wedding 3.0:

Nov.

Oct.

Sept.

July

May

March

And back in Feb.

Don't judge...I recycled some dresses. Also, I had to say no to 3 weddings that are not featured here and I still have 1 more to go! Whew!!

When I found out that I was going to be going to all of the weddings last year I knew that I was going to have to chose to make 2012 be a little about me as well. Check and check:

 If you are going to go to a wedding, in FL, might as well make the most of it...

Viva Puerto Rico!

And of course, there was Greece...

 A little East Coast fun: Philly, Atlantic City....

...and West/Midwest! LA...

 And home to Ohio for some family fun.

And like the weddings, the travel hasn't stopped yet! Over the Christmas break, I plan to go back home to Ohio for a week and then head back out to the West Coast and celebrate New Year's Eve in LA!

So what am I grateful for this year? Obviously, the above people and places which I have been blessed to have included in my year. I'm grateful that I've gotten to do ME this year. I debated a little during my last session of spiritual direction whether or not I've been too selfish this year. I wouldn't change anything about this year. But I am aware that after I have finally obtained my Masters, I need to probably slow down and start to give back my time again.

(This fall, however, I made it a goal to do one of *my favorite* things several times: go to a winery every weekend. I made it prob 5 out of 8 or so weeks :)



2 of VA's finest :)

I am grateful for all of my friends, but in a special way my single girls this year. I have received so much support from all of my friends and family, but it's been especially nice to know I can call on my girls and they are always there at the ready to grab a drink, go shop, or just chill out and watch some bad reality TV. I've actually decided to forgo the traditional thanksgiving this year, and while I will miss being with my family,  I've decided to take a little break from the travels and stay here in DC with one of my best friends for turkey day (hey, she said she would cook, so I'm in. I'm in charge of the wine, of course! ;)

And I have high hopes for 2013! It will mark 10 YEARS from graduating from CUA the *first* time and should include me graduating from the same institution a *second* time!

Also, as much as I have been blessed to live with many awesome solid roommates over the years, I think 2013 will include me moving out on my own and possibly becoming a...gulp...homeowner?!? We shall see what God has in store.

I definitely made the most out of 2012 and I am so grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Peace,
Julia

New Evangelization

So I don't know if you all know this, but there's kind of a lot of things that have happened in our country recently. Sandy. An election. A day to honor those who have served in war.

While I clearly am not afraid of sharing  my religious beliefs, I do refrain from making overarching political statements because I do let my faith, obviously, influence my politics and I do happen to believe there is no particular political party in our country that encompasses my beliefs. I also happen to believe that while absolutely we should let our faith and values inform our politics, we have separation of church and state and freedom of religion (which has become a hot button issue, so I know y'all know this too!). God Himself gives us the guidelines, but he also gives us free will. Love is, by design, a choice. Love is not forced. (see this awesome video of my favorite little priest talking about Thomas Aquinas' definition of love :) We can share with others our beliefs and vote from our own consciences, but that is really all we can do.

Oh, yeah. And we can PRAY. I know that seems really trite, perhaps, but I was amazed at the amount of people who took to facebook and Twitter to judge rather than pray. And, trust, I am just as guilty as the next when it comes to using Twitter for Judgy McJudgerton things. I will be the first one to tell you when the woman in front of me is buying 12 boxes of kitty litter or the guy on Jeopardy collects Star Wars action figures just to make myself feel witty. But come on, people! If you really want people to buy into your point of view, HONEY. NOT VINEGAR.

And also prayer. Because our Church is guided by the magisterium insofar as they are guided by the HOLY SPIRIT. And how does one receive insight from the Holy Spirit? Prayer. 

I'm not gonna lie, I started to feel a little lost and hopeless after this election, but not for the reason some of my fellow Catholics were. I was more saddened by the Catholics I saw posting the Facebook messages I mention above. I was more saddened by the homilies I heard that chose to sway our political beliefs instead of our belief in the Gospel.

It is easy to make ourselves seem like an authority on something when we can't see the person we are speaking to like on Facebook or Twitter. And I'm not saying we shouldn't use these to evangelize, because, come on! I'm a media girl. Also, I'm clearly blogging. Sharing our beliefs via social media is a part of the New Evangelization. But the goal of using these cultural tools is to meet people where they are at. Not bark down to them from whatever level you think you are on.

Okay. I need to stop myself lest I fall into the very same category which I am speaking against. New evangelization also involves prayer. It involves us looking into ourselves FIRST and converting ourselves FIRST so that we might lead others to Christ by our example.

I was starting to lose hope...but then I saw this from Cardinal Dolan (yes the man who gave a blessing at the RNC and DNC) and I was reminded of how the Holy Spirit moves and that the Spirit is in control, not us:

http://www.usccb.org/about/leadership/usccb-general-assembly/2012-november-meeting/presidential-address-cardinal-dolan.cfm

I'm not naive...i know some of you won't read the whole thing :) But the thing that sold me are the following points which I will share with you:

"We cannot engage culture unless we let Him first engage us; we cannot dialogue with others unless we first dialogue with Him; we cannot challenge unless we first let Him challenge us."

.   .    .

"​To be sure, the sacraments of initiation - - Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist - - charge, challenge, and equip the agents of evangelization. Without those sacraments, we remain isolated, unredeemed, timid and unfed.

​But, the Sacrament of Reconciliation evangelizes the evangelizers, as it brings us sacramentally into contact with Jesus, who calls us to conversion of heart, and allows us to answer his invitation to repentance -- a repentance from within that can then transform the world without."

and also this:

"With this as my presidential address, I know I risk the criticism. I can hear it now: "With all the controversies and urgent matters for the Church, Dolan spoke of conversion of heart through the Sacrament of Penance. Can you believe it?" 

To which I reply, "You better believe it!" 

First things first! "

First things first. We need to look into our own hearts, pull out our own plank in our own eyes, and meet others where they are at:


"The premier answer to the question "What's wrong with the world?" "what's wrong with the church?" is not politics, the economy, secularism, sectarianism, globalization or global warming . . .none of these, as significant as they are. As Chesterton wrote, "The answer to the question 'What's wrong with the world?' is just two words:'I am,'"

​I am! Admitting that leads to conversion of heart and repentance, the marrow of the Gospel-invitation. . . If we want the New Evangelization to work, it starts on our knees."

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for inspiring each of us and giving us hope. And thank you, Cardinal Dolan, today, for these inspiring words!

Peace,

Julia

When it Rains...

I'm not going to even dignify Sandy by finishing that sentence. Humpf.

I write this blog post on day two of Hurricane/TropicalStorm/ThatEvilWitch Sandy. I was supposed to be on Kairos II with our students this week. I was really bummed when I found out the retreat was being cancelled, mostly because I know a lot of students were looking forward to it. But God works in mysterious ways and there is much more to be concerned/pray for at this time, obvi.

I am definitely praying for my friends in NYC, NJ, DE, PA, MD, effected by Storm Sandy. We are okay here in DC/VA. My house is once again without power, but frankly, we are getting used to it. This is like the third time I've been displaced because of weather/power related things in the past 2 years. Whatevs. I can always rely on a Starbucks to be open for wifi and a warm drink. #FirstWorldProblem solved.

Since there wasn't much else to do this morning but stay still and just be, I took some to pray. I prayed for my friend Dan who is getting his bone marrow transplant today. I prayed for my godson and nephew, Lucas, who turns 2 today! I'm praying for my friend's grandfather who is dying. So much to pray for! It can start to feel hopeless or debilitating, especially as we sit in the cold, wind, and rain.

But I opened the readings for the day, and it never ceases to amaze me that when I am at my surliest, God can give me hope in His Word.

The first reading for today is everyone's "favorite", Ephesians 5 which I've blogged about before. At a time like this, I thought God had to be joking with me. Was this the reading He prompted me to read?:  "Husbands love your wives, wives be subordinate to your husbands..." Really? How was this supposed to be offering me inspiration?

But the Church always has a method to Her seeming madness. The Gospel is often the answer to the Old Testament/First Reading confusion. So I looked at the Gospel: The Mustard Seed. Hmm. Really?

But as I said, God always restores me even when I don't think any sense can be made of a situation. Many of my prayers today had to do with people I am in relationship with. The first reading gives the basic model of ANY relationship, not just a marriage: loving as Christ loves His Church. We all need to be subservient at times when our friends are in need. And right now I was asking how I might be in service to my friends. BOOM. Prayer problem answered :)

And the Gospel, too, gave me hope and insight. The Mustard Seed can seem like a cliche or overused Gospel passage, which is why I was frustrated with the sight of it at first. But that is because its message is true and basic: even the TINIEST bit of faith can save us. God does the rest. What a hopeful message in this time when we are perhaps overwhelmed.

So I share this good news with you today: let us serve one another as Christ serves his Church. And if we just surrender the tiniest bit to God with faith, He will take care of any of our needs.

I will leave you with a pic of my little nephew in honor of his birthday and also a pic that might look familiar from this blog scene:

 Happy 2nd Birthday, happy little guy!

Left: power outage of Jan. 2011, Right: Today, Oct. 2012. I realized I was in the exact same outfit of survival: hoodie scarf made by nuns and Snuggie. Sigh. My life!

Stay warm and know of my prayers!
Peace,
Julia

Year of Faith

An obligatory blogpost to serve as a public service announcement about that thing you've probably already heard about:

In case you didn't already know, Pope Benedict has announced tomorrow: Oct. 11, 2012 until Nov. 24th, 2013 (the feast of Christ the King that year) as the "Year of Faith". He explains this in a document called "Porta Fidei" or "Door of Faith" which you can read here. Who writes like a 16 page "letter"? The pope.

You may be asking yourself: what's so special about Oct. 11, 2012? If you are like my students, you might think it is because tomorrow is 10/11/12. You might think that until I and one of your intelligent classmates points out, when it is 10/11/12 here, it will be 10/12/12 somewhere else, and that the Pope isn't really a numerology type of guy anyway.

The deal with Oct. 11, 2012 is that it is the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the 1st publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Knowing that I am older than the CCC makes me feel doubly OLD. I mean, how is it possible that I am OLDER than something the Catholic Church produced?!?

(also, as an aside, when I asked my students what they thought it was the 50th anniversary of, one student legit said "Jesus." Yup. To which I replied: 'Yes! In fact, my parents are older than Jesus.' Can't wait to tell them! ;)

I took this opportunity to discuss the pope's letter- "Door of Faith"- with my students and I do the same now with you, my lovely, lovely blog readers. The Holy Father is calling for a renewal of faith in this year that we celebrate some of the great things to come out of Vatican II and the catechism. He asks us to return to Scripture, retrace the steps of history and people who came before us, and rediscover our faith.

So I encourage you to read the document and think about what you might do differently in this year of faith. I'm going to continue to explore my relationship with Mary (as I mentioned a couple of posts prior) and also hopefully celebrate by GETTING MY MASTERS IN THEOLOGY and passing my comprehensive exams in the Spring! :)

I will leave you as the Holy Father begins his letter: "The door of faith is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church." I think it's interesting that he starts with this visual: an open door.

Ummm...yeah. I'm not trying to be ironic here. I legitimately couldn't find a small jpg of an "open door..." My bad.

I don't think too many people think about an "open door", unfortunately, when they think of the Catholic Church. Perhaps  many would think that the door to faith is closed and dead bolted with some secret code or key only given to a few.

Or if you are like me, the door of faith is sometimes of revolving door, just going round and round in a cycle.

What does the door to your faith look like? Do we believe the Holy Father's words about the open door of our faith? If not, what can we do to try and embrace that?

Happy Year of Faith! Please continue to keep my friend Dan in your prayers as well as some other special intentions that have been brought to me lately. Thanks! You guys are the best.

Peace,
Julia

Reaping the Harvest

I know I constantly talk about the spiritual cycle and also how I love all of the things about Fall.

See exhibit A from last year

Exhibit B from year prior (just the last bit on harvesting grapes...one of my FAVORITE things about fall: FALL WINE! And it comes so timely: just as school starts. THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES, people!)

I was reflecting this week on how great a week it had been. School seemed to go smoothly and quickly as we've "fallen" into the routine, the weather was starting to become just right for a light jacket, and all felt right in the world....

AND TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF FALL!!

To speak ONCE AGAIN about the cycle of life, there is no coincidence that it is many a person's favorite season. (this is only my 2nd favorite McSweeney's article on fall. The 1st is too profane to link as I have previously mentioned last year, but enjoy!)

My mood is always heavily affected by the weather and so winter is THE WORST. Things outside die and I feel dead inside (Okay, that was a bit dramatic, but you get the point). Spring starts to bring about some life and I get excited to see the sun again, but Spring and Summer can still be WORK. (Well, not really anymore since I've taken up teaching....but....hmmm. Maybe I'm not the greatest example of this...)  But it's hot out and (if and when) we are working, there is sweat on our brow and while we may get some days at the beach, they are much deserved because we've been working to maintain whatever is we are trying to maintain throughout the year (for some of us, it's just a tan :)

My point is, by fall we are ready to reap the harvest of our year's efforts! We have fruit to show for the hard labor we've put in for the year,  and we are ready to slow down and enjoy the nice weather that comes with these fruits.

The school year can confuse us a bit because we've really just started, but in reality, we are nine+ months into the year! A BABY could be produced by this time! New Life! (I think my body just broke out into hives a little bit with the mention of babies, or it could just be my seasonal allergies, but again, YOU GET MY POINT). A lot has happened in these past nine months of 2012 and now it's time to start enjoying our efforts before the cold comes again and takes it all away.

So reap and enjoy this harvest! We will give thanks for it at the END of fall, but Imma start enjoying it from the get-go. Glass of wine, anyone? Pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING?! Let's DO THIS.

Peace,
Julia

Holy Mother! (of Grace)

So clearly I have been off the blog train this past "back to school" month and unfortunately, that means prayer time has also been a little derailed (see what I did there? ). If you haven't figured out already, muh prayer often inspires muh blogs. And lately the inspiration has been lacking at the fault of no one but, well, me, myself, and I.

You may recall when I went to spiritual direction last...oh, wayyyyy back in June (eep!) Father had told me  not to focus so much on goals or routine for my prayer in the summer, but on confidence in my prayer and in Jesus. He described it as a Marian Peace.

Here's the thing...I feel like I need to back up and explain a little of my relationship with Mary. I didn't really have one until college when I realllllyyyy liked a boy and my spiritual director at the time told me to pray a novena to Mary using the Memorare (which I had never heard of before that point). I was open to it (mainly because of the boy!) and prayed the novena. On the 9th day, I got my answer...but it wasn't the one that I wanted. Thus begins my relationship with the Mother of God: she had answered my prayer, but she was the tough love type in my eyes.

And so brings us to present day. I finally sat myself down in the chapel during one of my free periods at school and tried to do my regular routine of spiritual reading and journaling. That wasn't quite working, so I thought of how Father told me just to rest in prayer and focus on confidence in the Lord. While that was certainly very lovely, I am a girl who likes a bit of a challenge. So my mind shifted from Christ's Love to Mary- the woman of "tough love."

There she was- waiting to challenge me. I instantly thought: "it is easier for me to pray to Christ. Much more difficult to win over the MOTHER of the one you love." Right?

Mary doesn't need to be "won over", of course, but I like that idea. It helps to push me a little. Christ and I- we are good. I know He loves me. We were engaged after all! So I like the idea of using Mary to get to Christ in a different way, a new way, a more challenging way. You may recall that I often add a rosary during the Penitential seasons of Advent and Lent. I am going to make praying to Mary during my prayer time more of a point right now- even though those seasons are still far off. And I'm hoping she will draw me closer to her son in a new way.

As usual, what is happening in my classroom also affects my prayer and lately we've been talking about GRACE. I've taught Sacraments so many times that sometimes I take God's Grace for granted. It is indeed a free gift that we cannot earn. People misunderstand that. We think that we need to DO something. And there certainly are things that we Catholics can do to receive EXTRA grace (sanctifying, sacramental, and all that...) but it's not that we earn it. God gives it. Freely.

I went to Confession this evening and Father told me for my penance to pray some Hail Marys (alright, Mary!) and reflect upon God's Mercy. And so I did (need to make it a true confession, right??). The first thought that came to my mind was similar to what I thought earlier in the chapel at school: "You make it so easy for us, Lord. One Confession. Sins erased. You make it EASY for us. WE make it hard."

In an election year, I get pretty excited about the political process, but it also STRESSES ME OUT. CAN"T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?! We tend to make things difficult. But I think we need to do what the priest told me today after Confession. Let's think about God's Mercy and Love. St Paul (as usual) as some cool things to say about Love (one that we should be familiar with):

"If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal." 1 Corinth. 12:31

Man, are there some people that sound like resounding gongs these days! Where is the love?! There is just no pleasing everyone. Even Jesus says so in the Gospel:

"For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine and you said: 'He is possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is vindicated by all her children." - Luke 7: 35

The free gift of Grace can help us overcome the negative effects of our Original Sin. (Arguing and bitterness and hate to name just some!) And Grace can help clear out the gunk keeping us from moving forward in our lives and our relationship with God. Let's pray to Our Lady of Grace for our country and for all who need prayers:

Our Lady of Grace, pray for us, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Amen!
Peace,
Julia