A Fantastic Response

There's been lots of reaction over the past couple of weeks to the letter from the Dallas & Ft. Worth Bishops that I posted about recently. The reaction has been as local as conversations within my parish, and as national as some news and blogs across the U.S. Lots of emotion and lots of passion in these waning of days of this never-ending election.

I received this email from a friend of mine, and this person absolutely hit the nail on the head. I couldn't have asked more perfect feedback. How could you ask more of someone that to think a little bit? Without further ado...

i read your blog the other day with the link to the letter from the DFW bishops. i must thank you for posting that link . . . . . . you must know that my political tendencies lean much farther left than most of those in my family, and close to me. my argument with the catholic church has always been that the church has a strong, strong, sometimes-forgotten history of forward-thinking in areas of social justice (important to this social worker!!!!! :) ). and, of coure, the democrats fair much better in this area . . . . so, the letter made this democrat THINK and that is never a bad thing. my vote may not be changed (of course i did not tell you who i am voting for, or were going to vote for!), but i am a more informed CATHOLIC VOTER after reading the letter.

i appreciate you for writing the blog and attaching the link - maybe it made a difference to others, too.

Leave it to the Catholic Church

Leave it to the Catholic Church to...

put on an event that raises $4M for needy children (!!) AND brings BOTH presidential candidates together for a fun-filled evening in the midst of all the political craziness in our country.

Read more about it HERE.

(thanks Adam!)

An inspiring arm

Well, maybe an inspiring story instead of an arm.

I saw this story on the Today Show about 18 year old Kasey Edwards who lost his arm to an alligator this summer. This kid has an amazing outlook on life and a beautiful faith in God!

A Beautiful Letter

A letter for those of you who...
1. Do not attend Holy Trinity and were not able to hear the letter that was read during the homily,
2. Do attend HT but were out of town or not able to attend mass,
3. Did attend HT this weekend and would like a copy of the letter.

Linked HERE is a letter from the Dallas and FW Bishops explaining and defending a proper understanding of the Faithful Citizenship document that was put out by our US Bishops. (You can read the full Faithful Citizenship document HERE).

I know that I personally have been struggling quite a bit lately with proper formation of conscience after hearing lots of different and conflicting interpretations of this document. Deep in my heart I knew that (among other things) all issues are not equal, and all issues do not allow for multiple options as solutions. This beautiful 3 page letter clearly explains what we need to understand about our participation in the political process, and ultimately what it means for our eternal salvation.

I do apologize for the mass email, however there has been so much misinformation, misinterpretation, and misguidance on this document and these issues, even within our own parishes. I am so moved by this letter from our bishops, our shepherds, and I hope that you will prayerfully read it and consider it as this election season (finally) comes to a close.

Praise God that we have such strong bishops to stand up for the Catholic faith and her teachings! And may the Holy Spirit be with you as you continue to discern and prepare for this important election.

A New Widget

I added a new widget to my blog: Julie's Shared Blog Reads. It's on the right hand side in case you haven't seen it.

I do read quite a few blogs; on some of those blogs I read almost every post that is made. I subscribe to them through google reader, so I can just pull up that application and see all the new posts for my favorite blogs.

I can also share posts that I find interesting. Previously, only people who were also subscribed to google reader could see those posts I was sharing. Now it is available for the whole world to see!

So, keep an eye on that widget. I haven't found as much time recently to read blogs as I used to be able to (I wouldn't recommend taking 8 hours of grad school in one semester...). However, right now I do a bit more sharing of posts than writing my own...so I hope you will come back often to check that out and maybe you'll find some other blogs you like as well!

Peace and happiness to you all. :)

Her Deepest Identity

First of all, wow, did I really only do 3 posts in the entire month of September?? This whole time management thing is getting away from me...

Just a quick thought. This is from Evangelii Nuntiandi, a writing by Pope Paul VI. My professor referenced it in his remarks on my "Ministerial Vision Statement." (That is actually a fairly interesting insight into my life - maybe I'll be brave enough to post that too - do you want to read it?!)

Anyway....#14 Evangelii Nuntiandi (emphasis added):

The Church knows this. She has a vivid awareness of the fact that the Savior's words, "I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God," apply in all truth to herself: She willingly adds with St. Paul: "Not that I boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty that has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it." It is with joy and consolation that at the end of the great Assembly of 1974 we heard these illuminating words: "We wish to confirm once more that the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church." It is a task and mission which the vast and profound changes of present-day society make all the more urgent. Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ's sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection.

A few points as I read this:

1. Who is this addressed to? Only the clergy, the bishops, the religious? NO! Yes, only the clergy can "perpetuate Christ's sacrifice in the Mass" and only fully "reconcile sinners with God." But we can all "preach and teach" and we can and must all be a "channel of the gift of grace!" In fact, who more often invites people to God that ultimately leads them to reconciliation? Um, you! Me! Are we all doing that?

2. This does not say that the Church's "deepest identity" is to lay out a bunch of rules and condemn those who don't follow them. How many of us think often that is the case?

3. What do you hear in this passage? My filter (since we all have one!) hears a deep desire to bring all people close to Christ and to share his love and his grace with everyone we meet. And the Church doesn't simply want to rely on priests to do that - but she wants YOU to do it! All the time - everyday!

Ok, back to studying since I'm skipping mid-week mass to do homework! :(

A quick prayer for today

From my morning prayer reading...
Ephesians 1:11-12

In Christ we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intentions of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.

Lord, help me to exist for the praise of your glory today!!

Light of the Nations

I was reading a Vatican II document for one of my classes and came across a wonderful passage that I wanted to share.

The document is called The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, but it is more commonly known as Lumen Gentium, which is Latin for “Light of the Nations.” (You can read the full text HERE if you’d like.)

The section is “The Call to Holiness” and talks about how we, as People of God are holy because Christ himself is holy. It explains what it means to be holy, and how we are to live that out. It also talks about the gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit to help us answer this call to holiness…which is what leads into the paragraph I loved - #42.

…the first and most necessary gift [from the Holy Spirit] is charity, by which we love God above all things and our neighbor because of him. But if charity is to grow and fructify in the soul like a good seed, each of the faithful must willingly hear the word of God and carry out his will with deeds, with the help of his grace; he must frequently partake of the sacraments, chiefly the Eucharist, and take part in the liturgy; he must constantly apply himself to prayer, self-denial, actively brotherly service and the practice of all virtues.

Let’s break this down.

…the first and most necessary gift [from the Holy Spirit] is charity, by which we love God above all things and our neighbor because of him.

The gift we need for the base for all other gifts is charity. Not simply giving charity to our local non-profit, but being charitable…being kind, compassionate, and caring to both God and to everyone around us. How hard is it sometimes to start with that mindset when we have people around us who see things differently or make us angry or aren’t charitable to us?

But if charity is to grow and fructify in the soul like a good seed, each of the faithful must willingly hear the word of God and carry out his will with deeds,

So, our ability to be charitable doesn’t work as well as it should without faith, without hearing the word of God. Sure, people can be kind, compassionate, and caring, but for us to really be charitable to the extent that God made us to be, we must immerse ourselves in his word and study and learn it. And it isn’t just the hearing of the word and the faith that makes the difference, but it is the act of being charitable, the deed that allows us to carry out his will. (Yes, faith and works!)

with the help of his grace;

Grace is my favorite thing in the whole world. I feel like those people who are so calm and collected and peaceful have so much grace. And since I’m SOO not like that, I long for grace to enter into my life more fully. It helps me to know that God’s grace is there to help me in this call to holiness.

he [the faithful] must frequently partake of the sacraments, chiefly the Eucharist, and take part in the liturgy;

So, a few months ago, the lady in front of me at church was reading her bulletin through the ENTIRE mass. Not just during the collection of gifts when she didn’t want to sing the song, but during the Our Father and the consecration! She was even reading every single ad on the back. Then, she put it in her purse to take home…not sure why since she had already read every word! Anyway, I’m fairly certain that is NOT taking part in the liturgy.

And what does “frequent” mean? W e all know that the Sunday liturgy is required, and if we miss that we should actually go to confession before receiving the Eucharist again (do we all know that??). But, is that “frequent”? Maybe one other attempt during the week to go to Mass could help all of us in this desire for charity, this call to holiness. But what about other sacraments we can partake of “frequently”? How frequently do you go to confession? I know that I’m way overdue for a good unloading of my many sins.

he must constantly apply himself to prayer, self-denial, actively brotherly service and the practice of all virtues.

Raise your hand if you constantly apply yourself to prayer. (In case you can’t see, neither of my hands is raised…) It is such a challenge in the busy-ness of everyday life to find time to pray. I’ve been trying to work it in more, and at times in my life when I have felt more devoted to prayer, I can definitely feel the grace working more in my life. Self-denial, brotherly service, practice of all virtues…man all this seems so hard! Do I really have to do all this to be holy?!

This call to holiness, this requirement to properly use the gift of charity that we receive from the Holy Spirit, is such a demand on our lives. But for what cause? Is it worth it? How much has God given us in our lives? Doesn’t an extra trip to mass or 5 minutes in prayer or a trip to confession after many days, months, or years seem so small in comparison to the life and the world and the love that God has given to us? Only through all of these things can we receive the grace to truly use our gift of charity and answer the call to holiness that God so gently and lovingly offers out to us.

You Gotta Pray

Ok, so I’m way overdue for a posting, so I’ll just make this one short!

The US Bishops have asked us to pray a novena for the upcoming election. For those of you who are not Catholic, a novena is simply 9 prayers said in some sort of succession. You can either say these prayers starting 9 days before the election, or you can say it once a week for 9 weeks leading up to the election.

I’m choosing the 2^nd option, and anyone who attends our Mid-week Mass on Wednesday nights will have the pleasure of joining me. We started last week, so if you want to catch up you can do the 1^st prayer on your own. Or, if you can’t be with us in person, join us spiritually and say the prayers each week on Wednesday around 7:25pm (or any time convenient to you!)

All the info can be found HERE. You can either use the pdf version, or there is a podcast you can download if you prefer to listen to the prayer while you are praying it.

There’s some other good podcasts and info on the site if you want to look around!

Donkeys, Elephants, and God

Oh, how I get so tired of the political arena. I’ve had too many experiences of conversations gone bad when we all get a little excited about our own point of view and don’t actually try to listen to the other person’s beliefs. It just makes me scared to start any discussion on the topic.

The issue of faith and politics has catapulted the last couple of weeks as the Saddleback Church interviewed both candidates, as Obama selected a pro-choice Catholic as his running mate, and as we are right in between the two conventions.

We also have politicians starting to speak as if they are theologians, the US bishops responding (right on their front page, “above the fold”!) along with a whole slew of other bishops, and Pelosi even trying to counter-argue with the bishops (here’s a good review of her comments and an interpretation of them)

Obviously this abortion issue is a big one, and one that is not going to be solved easily or quickly. Although I don’t always agree with what Doug Kmiec has to say, he makes some good arguments in this article. I wish more Democrats would stand up for this point. What an interesting time it would be if that happened!

So, with all the politics and hoopla going on, what can we do to really make an informed decision? Here’s my 4 step plan:

1. Read the Faithful Citizenship document from the bishops.
2. Read McCain’s stance on the issues. From the source…not from any “news” outlet!
3. Read Obama’s stance on the issues. Again, from the source.
4. Re-read the Faithful Citizenship document, with this new info in mind.

And, during all of that, PRAY for God to guide your understand, and to truly form yourself to His Will.

Anyone want to join me in this? We have 2 months to get through all this reading!

The Maze, Defined

Hello world,

After several months of thinking about this and brainstorming ideas, I’m finally writing my first blog post.

I don’t really think of myself as a writer (I am an accountant after all…well, for 8 more days…), but I’ve started writing more and more with the Masters in Theological Studies that I’m working on. Plus, I read all these other blogs and listen to podcasts, and I have started feeling like I need an outlet to share what I learn with other people. Then I was finally convinced to give this a shot when I had 2 people in one week tell me I should write a book! (Side note: seriously?? A whole book?? You people are crazy.)

So, when I was trying to come up with a name for this blog, I spent quite a bit of time reflecting on my life and what my approach to life has been. I realized that my life has been a series of turning corners, or making changes… the family moves as I was growing up, going to college, several job changes, getting married, deciding to go into ministry, and many others. At each corner, I never completely knew what I was going to find around the turn.

Sometimes the turn would lead me down a long, successful path, other times the turn led to a dead end. Occasionally, I would think about making a turn and decide to continue going straight ahead, and other times I would hope for a turn to appear yet it would never show up. Sometimes I wasn’t able to control the corner I had to turn – the family moves, being laid off from a job; however, usually I was making the decision about turning left or turning right. I would do research, consult with family and friends, think about it and weigh the options before deciding.

And always, always, there was a LOT of praying involved.

All of this process, both the praying AND the research and consultation, was rooted in my faith in God. I always know that He has a plan for me, but I’m the one on the journey trying to live out that plan the best I can. I’m the one taking the step around the corner to see what happens, seeing if that step I take falls on firm ground or unstable ground.

And God is my flashlight, the God that I know through my Catholic faith. Sometimes He is immediately warning me about a dead end around a turn, sometimes illuminating a turn or a path that I didn’t know existed, and sometimes simply telling me to take a few more steps forward to something that will help me see better around the corner.

Is God your flashlight as well? What are the batteries – people, research, experience – that power your flashlight as you are trying to turn a corner in your life? How do you let God speak to you and show you the light that you need to make decisions?

Thanks for reading. I’ll try to update this often, so I hope you check back! Some days I may reflect on something, other days I may just post some links to interesting articles/blogs/podcasts that I come across. Hope you enjoy!