Why Should *I* Pray The Rosary?

Almost every Catholic in the world has prayed it, if not heard of it.

However, the great majority of us think that the Rosary is downright boring. We usually make the excuse that we don't have time to put away our iWhateverthenewestversionis, turn off Beyonce and sit in silence for 20 minutes of prayer.

Ugh. Lame. Stab me with a feather. How many times a day do we spend a half hour or more on buzzfeed learning about how our whole lives relate to a cleverly constructed set of GIFs (guilty as charged, sometimes...) 

But guys! Mary has been pleading with us for centuries to pray this incredibly simple prayer, sometimes with tears in her eyes! She has appeared more times in the last few hundred years than in any other time in history, and every single time she has begged for us to turn to her by praying the Rosary.

Why? Why is Mary asking you to pray it? For that matter, why should *I* pray the Rosary?

- Because we're in the middle of a war! The reason that Mary has encouraged the saying of the Rosary is because of the fact that our times, frankly, suck. As Fr. Michael Gaitley, champion of Marian consecration and author of 33 Days to Morning Glory beautifully puts it, "Satan doesn't want us to enter into the power of the mysteries of the life of Christ. He wants us to stay complacent, lukewarm, and lazy. He wants us to be satisfied with mediocrity...Why is it so hard sometimes to break away and pray? It's because prayer is a battle." Every Hail Mary we say in the Rosary can be described as a bullet to the very heart of the Devil. He simply can't take the complete perfectness of the prayer, and will do anything to make us do everything other than pray it. So basically, praying the Rosary is a big TAKE THAT in Satan's face. 

- Because the Rosary is the way peace will take hold in the hearts of everyone, everywhere. (Soon-to-be-Saint) John Paul II said in his incredible letter concerning the rosary, "The Rosary is by its nature a prayer for peace, since it consists in the contemplation of Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who is 'our peace' (Eph. 2:14)" Once we have the peace of Christ in our hearts that comes from a loving devotion to Mary through the Rosary, we can spread that peace to our families, and from there to the whole world. John Paul goes on to say,

"The Holy Rosary, by age-old tradition, has shown itself particularly effective as a prayer which brings the family together. Individual family members, in turning their eyes towards Jesus, also regain the ability to look one another in the eye, to communicate, to show solidarity, to forgive one another and to see their covenant of love renewed in the Spirit of God.

Many of the problems facing contemporary families, especially in economically developed societies, result from their increasing difficulty in communicating. Families seldom manage to come together, and the rare occasions when they do are often taken up with watching television. To return to the recitation of the family Rosary means filling daily life with very different images, images of the mystery of salvation: the image of the Redeemer, the image of his most Blessed Mother. The family that recites the Rosary together reproduces something of the atmosphere of the household of Nazareth: its members place Jesus at the center, they share his joys and sorrows, they place their needs and their plans in his hands, they draw from him the hope and the strength to go on."

I don't think I need to elaborate any further...right?

- Because through it, we can time travel! But it's way cooler than having a TARDIS. Pope John Paul also wrote about this: "[Christ's] Paschal mystery (his passion, death and resurrection) is a real event that occurred in our history, but it is unique: all other historical events happen at once, and then they pass away, swallowed up in the past. The Paschal mystery of Christ, by contrast, cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed death, and all that Christ is --all that he did and suffered for all men-- participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them all. the event of the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life." DUDE. So, in case you didn't understand that: Jesus, when he died, destroyed death forever. Forever. Something that occurs forever always has to be going on, so he destroyed death even up to this very day. When we pray and contemplate the Paschal mystery of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection, we are transported through faith and love to the very feet of Christ on the cross. Fr. Michael writes that through the Rosary, "we have real contact with him there (on the cross.) We can truly receive, here and now, the fountain of love and mercy that gushes forth from Jesus' pierced side."

- Because it will teach us how to pray. The actual praying of the Rosary does not mean that we must concentrate on the words that we say, and that we're saying it wrong if we wander into other realms of thought. Many people think this (even I did), and this discourages everyone. However, praying the Rosary much easier and more beautiful than that. "When we pray the Rosary, the goal is not so much to reflect on the words of the Hail Mary prayer itself." Fr. Michael writes. (I'm telling you, read his book, it will change your life) "Rather, the Hail Marys are meant to be a kind of 'background music' that helps us enter into contemplation of the mysteries. This background music is like the gentle hand of a mother on our shoulders, standing behind us, getting us to look at Jesus, contemplate his face, and love him through his mother's eyes, mind, and heart." When we pray the rosary, we can go beyond our own selfish lives, and learn to actually care for the needs of others. JPII says that, "our heart can embrace in the decades of the Rosary all the events that make up the lives of individuals, families, nations, the Church, and all mankind. Our personal concerns and those of our neighbor, especially those who are closest to us, who are dearest to us. Thus the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life."

- Because we gain a loving mother in Mary. Remember how we are transported through time to the foot of the cross when we pray? Well, we are also transported to Mary's side, and she takes us under her mantle and forms us to be more like her son. When we pray the Rosary, and meditate on the Mysteries of Christ's life, she is guiding us with the same care that she took with Christ. She loves us as her children, and that means she wants to hear our every need and worry. "To pray to Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother," JPII writes. So basically, Mary wants to love us, and she wants us to take her as our mother; praying the Rosary is our way of taking her as our mother. 

- and finally, Because countless miracles have occurred to those who have prayed it and encouraged devotion to Mary, including:

• The time when a house where German Jesuits who prayed the rosary every day lived was spared from being destroyed by the Atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima
• When the Muslims greatly outnumbered the Christian army at the Battle of Lepanto, Pope Pius V asked the whole European continent to pray the rosary. As a result, the Christians defeated the Turks with a great victory
• When Father Patrick Peyton was suffering from tuberculosis, his sister prayed the rosary and he was healed. He went on to be a pioneer of the New Media as a means to spread the Faith [he is perhaps best known for coining the phrase, "The family that prays together, stays together."])

“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” Blessed Pope Pius IX

“One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world.” Saint Dominic

“When the Holy Rosary is said well, it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious than any other prayer.” Saint Louis de Montfort

“When you say your Rosary, the angels rejoice, the Blessed Trinity delights in it, my Son finds joy in it too, and I myself am happier than you can possibly guess. After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, there is nothing in the Church that I love as much as the Rosary.” Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

By the way..."'All generations will call me blessed' The Church rightly honors the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. This very special devotion differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration." The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 971.

16 Facts You Never Knew About Our Lady of Guadalupe

SO I'M FINALLY DONE WITH FINALS LET THE CELEBRATION (aka the ability to blog again) BEGIN and I thought I write about someone very near and dear to my heart:

Our Beautiful Virgen de Guadalupe

I've completely fallen in love with her over the past month, and since it's her feast day today (YAY) I wanted to share some things that you might not have known about our beautiful mother, because she really is worth getting to know and love!

1. She appeared in Mexico right around the time the Martin Luther was stirring up trouble in Europe. So as he was drawing people away from the Church, She was drawing even more people in the New World into the Church through appearing on the tilma

2. The Aztecs had many gods, including the sun god Tonatiuh and the moon god Tecciztecatl. The fact that Mary appeared in front of the rays of the sun and standing on the moon signifies that she is greater than all their false gods. The brooch carrying the symbol of the cross at her throat showed that only one is greater than her, and that was her son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross

THE TILMA: 

3. The cactus fibrous-material that her image rests on would normally have disintegrated 10-15 years after it was made, but it has lasted over 450 years. The tilma once had acid spilled over it, but the only damage it sustained was a slight stain that is visible in the top right-hand corner 

4. Blue paint and dye usually starts to fade within the first few weeks of being applied. The turquoise color of Mary's mantle has never faded. Turquoise is also the Aztec shade that symbolizes both royalty and virginity. 

5. No matter the temperature of the surrounding area, the tilma is always 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which is normal body temperature 

6. The material surrounding Mary has started to show signs of cracking, while her clothes and her skin show no signs of wear. This symbolizes that all things of this earth will pass away, but the things of Heaven will always remain unchanged. 

THE IMAGE:

7. You know how almost every picture begins with a sketch? Well, scans of the image have shown that there is no underlying sketch, outline, or visible guidelines to the image, which was unheard of in the 1500s

8.  Scientists scanned the image with infrared rays and found no trace of paint used in the image and that the fabric had not been treated with any kind of technique.

9. The stars on Mary's mantle were once thought to be random; only an afterthought. However, scientists have calculated that the stars on her mantle correspond exactly with where the stars of the winter night on which she appeared would have been, except in reverse. DO YOU GET WHAT THIS MEANS?! It means that whoever placed the stars on the tilma was viewing the stars not from Earth, but from outside the universe. So in essence, the stars show that Mary contains the whole universe in a great embrace of love! 

10. Also, since scientists could calculate the position of the stars, they could tell which constellations would be shown. The Corona Borealis constellation would have been resting on Mary's head, signifying that she is the Queen of the Universe. The Virgo constellation would be over her heart, signifying her everlasting virginity. Leo, the symbol for a king, would be over her womb, showing that she was carrying the King of the Universe within her!    

11. The flowers on her dress correspond with the location of the various volcanoes in Mexico. SO: The dress and the tilma together signify that Mary is Queen of Earth and Heaven!

12. There is a Jasmine flower in the shape of a cross, an Aztec symbol of the center of the universe, over Mary's womb. This indicated that the baby that Mary was carrying within her the Center of the Universe

13. Viewed from far away, her skin color is the dark, Indian shade of the Aztec people, but up close it grow lighter, signifying the unity of all the peoples of the world. 

14. The image has an audible heartbeat 

THE EYES:

15. When a strong light source is shined into her eyes, they reflect that light the way a human eye does. The pupils have also been known to dilate when light is shined at them. 

Over 13 people have been found within her eyes!

16. Under strong magnification, images of people are visible in Mary's eye! These people include (on the left) Juan Diego, just as he appeared when Mary visited him and (right) the crowd gathered in the room when Juan revealed the tilma to the Bishop. These people are reflected in her eye in perfect correspondence to how the human eye reflects the image of what it sees. 

Gee whiz. That's a lot of info...and I've just barely scratched the surface of how awesome she is! 

Since it is her feast day today (or whenever you happen to read this), try to learn a little bit more about her, because she is absolutely fascinating. 

I just love her...a lot <3

The World Needs More Reverence

...since I'm currently buried in the midst of finals preparations and don't have time to write just for my own pleasure, I give you my Philosophical musings on Reverence. (Originally a paper written for my Philosophy of the Human Person class, taught by Dr. Jim Harold (Don't worry, I got an A))

      The Importance of Reverence in Personal and Modern Societal Life

The loss of reverence is so complete in the society today that many people do not even know what the word means. This loss has led to a rapid decline of respect, charity, and the sense of value. In order for man to be in a right relation to the moral world, he must: know what reverence is; how he can apply it to his life; how society has lost a sense of it; what are its opposites and counterfeits; and what we can do to get back to a state of reverence. When a person learns how to relate to the world through reverent eyes, they can truly love, they can be truly charitable, generous, respectful, humble, and appreciative; they can enter the world of moral values, which is to be valued over any earthly pleasure. Reverence leads men to moral goodness, which is something everyone should desire. A study of reverence will help to smooth the hard path to right relation to the world, and ultimately a sharing in the wonders of heaven on earth.

In order to fully grasp the wonder and power of every realm in the world, be they physical, personal, or spiritual, there needs to be a certain appreciation for them. We can admire the beauty of a tree in the fall season, with all of its glorious red, orange, or yellow hues; we can appreciate the face of a pretty woman; we can smile at the pure innocence of a young child; but there needs to be something more. There needs to be value that a person attaches to the realms. We can appreciate the beauty of Niagara Falls, the magnificence of the Sistine chapel, and the wonder of an opera, but when each of these holds value to a person, each of these object demands a certain individual reverence. Reverence is the way by which we can grasp not only the values of the physical world, but, more importantly, the values of the moral world. Von Hildebrand, in his work, Fundamental Moral Attitudes, states that ‘Moral values are the highest among all natural values. Goodness, purity, truthfulness, humility of man rank higher than genius, brilliancy, exuberant vitality, higher than the beauty of nature or of art, higher than the stability and power of a state.’¹ Through reverence, one goes beyond his individual sphere and enters the world of moral values. Through reverence, we can enter the world of the spiritual. Reverence can bestow on mankind a sense of mystery and right respect toward the world, which is the right relation that man should have.

The reverent man has a sense of the mystery of everything in the world, such as birth and death, and everything in the spiritual realm, such as God. Man is only able to enter the world of moral values by abandoning himself to and getting to know such genuine values that can be found only through reverence. Reverence leads man to moral goodness. ‘In proportion to man’s capacity to grasp values, in so far as he sees the fullness of the world of values with a clear and fresh vision, in so far as his abandonment to this world is pure and unconditional, he will be rich in moral values. As long as a man blindly disregards the moral values of other persons, as long as he does not distinguish the positive values which inheres in truth, and the negative value which is proper to error, as long as he does not understand the value which inheres in the life of man, and the negative value attached to an injustice, he will be incapable of moral goodness. As long as he is only interested in the question of whether something is subjectively satisfying or not, whether it is agreeable to him or not, he cannot be morally good.’ ² The reverent man does not consider himself to be the most important being in the world; he recognizes that there is so much value in every other being in the world that he lets them speak to him. His appreciation and admiration for people will only grow, and thus reverence is the basis for respect and love. Without reverence, there can be no respect, and without respect there can be no love. The reverent man understands the dignity and beauty of his partner, and therefore can value her infinitely more, which leads to a deeper love than can ever be experienced in the absence of reverence. Courtship, chastity, and purity can all be accomplished within dating and even within marriage when a man has reverence for his partner. A man who does not possess reverence cannot partake of the spiritual dimensions of the world, such as love and faith, since he cannot access the dimension of depth within the world. Unfortunately, modern society has lost all sense of reverence, and all the benefits that come with it.

The loss of reverence in the world today has led to a shocking change unimaginable only one-hundred years ago. It has led to complete superficiality with respect to what the world values, especially with regard to persons. Modern men have become totally and completely irreverent of each other, and there is no better example of this than in music today. A completely revolting song called “Move, B****, by Ludacris, illustrates this point beautifully. Filled with immature, expletive-laced  lyrics that should never be repeated, the singer enters into a tirade: he is the best; everyone wants to be him; anyone standing in his way will get hurt; everything in this man’s life is filled with violence, sex, a need to act for his own pleasure, and a through-the-roof ego. This song clearly goes against the very nature of a reverent person: he is incapable of respect –of himself, as well as of other people-, any kind of love, kindness, selflessness, patience, etc. Another clear example is Katy Perry’s hit “Peacock.” With lyrics such as:

“Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?

Don't be a chicken, boy, stop acting like a beeotch

I'ma peace out if you don't give me the payoff

Come on, baby, let me see what you're hiding underneath”,

the meaning behind the lyrics is sadly obvious. She is completely, utterly, and totally incapable of love, since she has no respect and reverence for the nature of the human body and the wonderful gift of sex.

The lack of reverence leads to lives of lust, with actions like the song quite clearly describes. The lustful man limits his interest to one thing and one thing only: whether or not some experience will give him pleasure, and if it is of use to him. The irreverent man also becomes impertinent: he thinks that he knows everything, that there is nothing new to be discovered in the world. He cannot see the simple beauty that true value and reverence brings, since he is so wrapped up in his own selfish being. Like the Rolling Stones, they “can’t get no satisfaction.” So, since this culture has lost all of the reverence it once had, is there a way we get it back?

To re-introduce reverence into the world is extremely hard to do, yet it is incredibly necessary. There are many ways to build personal reverence, which eventually leads to the buildup of a reverent society. One of the most important ways to do this is to recognize once more the great wonder and mystery of sex, as an expression of committed love. As previously stated, our society is sadly lacking in reverence of this wonderful gift, and this has led to a rapid decline in the value of people, objects, and the individual self. Once a person can recognize how beautiful sex and the human body are, they will treat themselves and others around them with due respect and reverence. The practices of chastity, self-control, and prayer can help immensely to regain purity. Another aspect of life that society has lost all reverence for are the mysteries of the faith. God, the sacraments, and the Church are all bygone fads that grandparents used to believe in. There needs to be a huge upsurge of interest in the faith, because, contrary to what people believe, it is quite relevant. However, without reverence we will never be able to enter the realm of the spiritual.

The pressing need to reverence is obvious. As was shown, reverence is the way that a person truly learns to value. Reverence leads to a value of the physical wonders of the world and a true value of persons. Man cannot be morally good without reverence. The reverent man has a deep respect and correct distance towards things in the physical and moral realms. Through a growing personal reverence by means of chastity, faith, and respect, we can heal the gaping hole in our society and bring it back into a world that can truly be called good. 

1.  Dietrich von Hildebrand, Fundamental Moral Attitudes Essay 1. Reverence,     pg 1. 
2. Essay: Reverence, Pg. 2. 

The Lion King, Human Existence...and Aquinas

Growing up, I wasn't allowed to watch The Lion King. My parents were trying to fully live their re-conversion, and didn't want to expose their kids to the Pantheistic philosophy that says that "we are one with nature." But once they realize that their 10 year-olds were not even going to hear of that heresy for years to come (or in my case, five minutes ago when I called my mom to find out why), the let us watch it.

Looking back, I totally get where they were coming from. 

However, its my favorite animated kids movie, followed closely by The Prince of Egypt. (Hans Zimmer did the soundtrack for both the movies, so that's an added bonus.)

Sure, there are a lot of new-agey themes throughout the story, there are also profound theological lessons that can be gleaned from it, especially if we consider it in light of some writings by some of the most famous people in the history of the Church:

St. Maximilian Kolbe

St. Thomas Aquinas

No one who has watched the movie can forget the scene where Mufasa tells Simba that when he is King of Pride Rock, he must respect the delicate balance of nature, from the crawling ant, to the leaping antelope.
"But, Dad, don't we eat the antelope?" The naive Simba objects.

"Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life."

Ok, so I'm not saying that Thomas and Kolbe wants us to believe that we are the grass, and we're going to be eaten by antelopes when we get dead. But I'm getting to my point. I recently discovered this quote by the Angelic Doctor regarding all of creation: 

"Issuing from the Primary Principle, creatures accomplish a sort of circuit, 

a gyratory movement, such that all things when they tend to their proper end

are returning to the Principle whence they came forth. We were created 

by the Son and by the Holy Spirit;and hence it is by them that we are brought

back to our end."

Kolbe took this huge wisdom that Aquinas revealed a step further by relating it to the personal experience that we, ourselves, have with the world:

"Everywhere in this world we notice action...departure and return; going away and 

coming back; separation and reunion. The separation always looks forward to union, 

which is creative. All this is simply an image of the Blessed Trinity in the activity

of all creatures. First, God creates the universe; that is something like

 a separation. Creatures, by following the natural law implanted in them by God, 

reach their perfection, become like him, and go back to him. Intelligent Creatures

 (...that would be us) love him in a conscious manner; through this love they

unite themselves more and more closely with him, and so find their way back to him."

There is a great, ever evolving cycle that we are a part of from the very moment of our conception. We were created by God, for God, and if we live within the "Circle of Being" that we were created for, we will return to God once we die. This cycle is not dissimilar to the "Circle of Life" that Mufasa teaches his son about. Without even knowing it, James Earl Jones, Elton John, and everyone else behind the movie have given us a glimpse into a great mystery of our existence.

And I thought that was pretty cool.

Now, pardon me while I go belt out this song to my hearts' content. 

Quid Est Amor? (aka I Have A Hard Time Just Liking People, How Do I Even Begin to Love?)

Ok, I'm not even going to pretend to be an expert here.

In fact, I don't even have a very good idea of what I'm trying to muddle through in my mind and attempt to put into print. But that's the point: I'm trying!

In the past few months, I have come to a couple life-altering conclusions. First off: British Television>every television show ever. Second: I have no idea how to love. I'm not a naturally loving person. Love takes effort, and I've found that I'm one who likes to act more along the lines of "if its not easy for me to get or do, then never mind", instead of "I want a challenge!" Since those rather depressing realizations, I've gone through a major change: I've started my Freshman year at Franciscan University. Being around all of these authentically Catholic, on-fire young adults every moment of my life now (Shameless plug for my college? Sure.) has awakened a passion within me: I WANNA LEARN TO LOVE, DANGIT!

(Not what I look like, btw)

But how?! 

Well, like any good Catholic, I dusted off my bible and hit up the bookstore for a few new books. I began to read with a hunger that I had no idea I had. (Oh and P.S., The Bible: Its awesome. I honestly didn't know how awesome 'till now. Just open up the gospel of Luke. Jesus deals with demons on like every page, and delivers his message with the intensity of a shotgun blast. It's pretty boss.) I found 

this lovely passage, that I'm sure you're pretty much all familiar with, on one level or another:

"Love is patient, love is kind. 

It is not jealous, is not pompous,

it is not inflated, it is not rude, 

it does not seek its own interests, 

it is not quick tempered, 

it does not brood over injury, 

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

 but rejoices with the truth. 

It bears all things, 

believes all things, 

hopes all things, 

endures all things.

Love never fails." 

                                          ~ 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a.

Yikes. 

Think about it. Every. single. one. of. us. has failed everything on this list. Look at it: ITS A CHALLENGE, people! It is a simple, beautiful, masterfully conceived challenge from our Creator to us saying: Love! Love one another as I have loved you! And He's basically giving us the outline on how to love here. 

Saint Paul gives a beautiful follow-up to this passage in his letter to the Romans : 

(C) Made In His Image

 

Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, 

hold onto what is good; 

love one another with mutual affection; 

anticipate one another in showing honor. 

Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, 

serve the Lord. 

Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, 

persevere in prayer. 

Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, 

exercise hospitality. 

Bless those who persecute you, 

bless and do not curse them. 

Rejoice with those who rejoice, 

weep with those who weep. 

Have the same regard for one another; 

do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. 

         ~Chapter 12: 9-16ab

I've discovered a lot about myself since the start of this school year, but much more so over the start of this past few weeks: I am up for this whole "Love Challenge" thing. I'm getting excited just typing this out. I want to do something that will be hard, that will be out of my comfort zone, that will make me truly, completely, inexplicably happy. 

But, as Jason Evert oh-so-wisely says, "Love does not just happen, it is something we do." 

So, how can we love?

Here's a practical list of actions you can do to help you grow in love: 

• Imagine how God, our heavenly father would treat someone, and try to do the very same. Even if that means putting up with an annoying habit or two of your friend's, or not eating both of those Oreos when you know your sister wants one. Consider the fact that we are all his children, and we are all - every single broken one of us - fearfully and wonderfully made. 
• FORGIVE. This is huge. Mother Teresa once said,"If we really want to love, we must learn to forgive before anything else."
• PRAY. "If we pray, we will believe; If we believe, we will love." (again Mother Teresa. Wasn't she just brilliant?) Through prayer, we get to know God himself. And since God IS love (isn't that amazing?!), the only way you can discover, grow, and accomplish anything through love, we need to build a relationship with the being who literally IS LOVE. Dive head first into the bible. Spend time in silent adoration (even if you don't say a thing, God just loves to have you sitting before him.). Also, you're not on your own in your struggle to learn to love. Many saints can help you. My personal favorites are: St. Therese, Maria Goretti, Maximilian Kolbe, John Paul II (This guy actually wrote a couple thousand pages on love, jussayin.), Mother Teresa, St. Gianna, and Jason Evert. (Yeah, I know he's technically not a saint yet, but he's still awesome.) 
• Consider the scripture passages above. Take them to heart; build upon them, grow with them, spread them, and LIVE them. Tape them to the wall so they will always be fresh in your mind, if need be. 
• SERVE. Nothing brings true happiness to a soul than serving. It could be in the large events such as volunteering at a soup kitchen, but when we love through small acts of service -paying for someone's coffee, helping someone open a door, picking up a letter someone may have dropped, helping Grannie Mae clear her lawn of leaves- we are truly living the life of love that Christ wanted. 
• GIVE HUGS. You never know when it might turn an entire day around for anyone.
• DON'T JUDGE. (watch out-I'm about to quote Mother Teresa again) "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." This includes inwardly judging them. If you find yourself thinking nasty thoughts about someone, stop. Think, "Wait, what if they're going through something incredibly painful right now that no one knows about? I should pray for them." And then say a simple prayer for them, and go think about other things. (Like how amazing this video of  Benedict Cumberbatch is)
• Play with babies. And little kids. Seriously. They're just amazing balls of love, you can't help but learn to love watching them.

And last, but not least:

Smile :) "Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of life, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." ~ Mother Teresa. (you knew it was gunna be her, didn't ya.)

I hope this has at least given you some food for thought. I know that I feel so much better and have a clearer idea just from writing this. 

Pray for me, and know that I'll be praying for you, and your journey!

Wait, The Catholic Church Can Use Social Media Too?!

Let’s face it: most teens –and more than half of the adults- in America think that the Catholic Church is dry-as-dust boring. Their experience of church is being dragged by their parents to sit on a cold, hard bench for a whole 45-minutes or even –gasp! - and hour each Sunday morning to listen to an eighty year-old man say the same things over and over again. Even if they were made to read over some of the teachings of the church in that boring bible study group, it was of such lofty, confusing, or ancient language that it was all just highfalutin’ mumbo-jumbo. Thus, as soon as they graduated from their Catholic high school and began to enjoy the freedom of a state university filled with sexy classmates and no religion classes, it was adios to anything Religious.

 And let’s not forget the scandals that have rocked the Church in the past few years. Abuse, cover-ups, by-passing of teachings, you name it. It’s reached such a point to where being known to have any affiliation to the Catholic faith was a cause of shame and embarrassment. Ask anyone on the street and they will probably tell you that the Catholic Church was a passing fad meant for those who lived in the stone age, wrote with pen and ink, wore floor-length, black cotton skirts or who don’t even know what a cell phone is. It’s a thing of the past, and not for the modern world.

 THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

Sure, we still have a few stuffy priests and technology-illiterate moms, but the Church is more alive, vibrant, and modern than ever before! Sound a bit ludicrous and hard to believe? Here are just a few examples of those who have used the modern media to change the face of the church, and the world:

Such a boss

 • Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: Hailed by many as the father of evangelization using the modern means of communication, Sheen started off using radio broadcasts to spread the faith, eventually gaining fame as one of the most recognizable religious figures in the country. In time, he moved to television, with his still-popular Life is Worth Living series, which drew up to 30 million people on a weekly basis. His dynamic, unscripted messages still continue to cut through the slop of the worldly mortality like a knife.

Read his blog.
You'll be a cool
hipster Catholic, too. 

·        EWTN: Undoubtedly the leading religious network in the world, the Eternal Word Television Network has brought the message of truth to more people in the last few decades than almost any other medium. Founded by in a garage by a penniless nun with a boatload of faith, the station features programs for all ages and levels of faith: from infants to the elderly, from the RCIA student to the theological doctorate. 

·         Marc Barnes: Known to those in the blogosphere and the Catholic online community as the author of the BadCatholic blog, Marc, a junior at Franciscan University of Steubenville, writes with a no-nonsense, intensely Catholic B.A. attitude. He delivers the faith to the new generation in a crazily relevant way that to deny the truth in his posts is to show yourself to be a proper fool. 

·         Pope Francis: Pope Francis. On twitter. ‘Nuff said. 

The use of new media in the church isn't just being used by those that have great theological degrees, nor have ages of wisdom engrained into their very souls. The teens of today are the ones who need the most reaching by the truth, and some of their fellow young adults have recognized this pressing need:

Catholics can have cool logos, too!

·         New Catholic Generation: This group of Catholic Teen YouTubers from all over the world (Including Franciscan University student Renee Shumay and Orlando, Florida resident Joseph Palmer (yes, this is a shameless plug for some of my NCG friends)) spread the faith in ways that teens will understand and connect with. 

·         Jonathan Culbreath: For those teens with a philosophical bent, this Thomas Aquinas College freshman’s blog is packed to the brim with Aristotle, Augustine and Thomas-ish musings. Keep an eye on this guy, he’ll go far.

Catholics also use new media to spread other vital teachings of the church, especially the Pro-Life message... 

·        Live Action: Few prolife organizations have gained such respect and admiration as this group of young adults, headed by Lila Rose, that go undercover at abortion facilities and post their footage on YouTube. As a result, many mill workers have quit their jobs and whole clinics have come under official government review and have been shut down. 

·        40 Days For Life: Founded in 2004 by Shawn and Marilisa Carney, the 40 Days for Life campaign has grown from a one-time, local event in Texas, to one of the biggest pro-life events in the country through the use of the internet. At various times of the year, and especially around the Lenten season, those on facebook (and off…for those grandparents out there) rise up and for forty days post messages, pray, fast, peacefully demonstrate for the pro-life cause. No other organization has been able to unite people of all faiths from all around the world more effectively than the 40 Days campaign, and it has the miracle of social media to thank for that.

…and the message of chastity: 

• Jackie and Bobbie Angel
• Lifeteen

All of these organizations are vibrant and alive, relevant and cool, engaging and thought-provoking. As I've said, the Church is more alive now than it ever was before, just as some famous guy once remarked:

It is gratifying to note the emergence of new

digital networks that seek to promote human

solidarity, peace and justice, human rights

and respect for human life and the good of 

creation. These networks can facilitate forms of 

co-operation between people from different

geographical and cultural contexts that enable

them to deepen thier common humanity and their

shared responsibility for the good of all. 

~ Benedict XVI,

                                                   message for the 43rd World Communications Day

The question I will leave with you is: 

HOW CAN I BE INVOLVED? HOW CAN I JOIN THIS REVOLUTION TO TAKE BACK THE MEDIA AND USE IT FOR THE GLORY OF GOD? 

Be fearless.