Monthly Archives: May 2011

A Word About Prayer…

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Mary| Leave a comment

Even though it was a three-day-weekend, this past weekend was one of those that seemed to end too soon.  I was about halfway through my burger yesterday afternoon, after spending most of the day in the pool/ out in the sun, when I realized, oh hey…I have to be at class at 8am tomorrow morning.  Just like that, the summer vacation bubble I had been floating in all weekend was burst, and gravity pulled me back down to reality.

It’s not so bad though.  Thankfully my 8am class today is one I enjoy, and even though the seemingly endless routine of school and/or work can often feel mundane or meaningless, the discipline of routine is something I am thankful for; and many times it is something I actually long for in those “vacation” times of my life.

Still, there are some things in life that we are never supposed to take a vacation from.  I believe the most important is prayer.

My university requires us students to spend a minimum of one hour a week in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in prayer (Some students grumble against this, but I love it).  Because the chapel is just right there on campus, I find myself in there at least for a short while every day I am at the school.  Visiting Jesus in the chapel has just become part of my weekday routine.

It saddens me how easy it is then, while on vacation and away from my typical routine, for me to get hours into my day and realize, I haven’t really prayed yet today! Sure I have usually prayed before every meal and maybe said a few things on my way to the shower, but I haven’t really spent time with God in prayer as if He were someone I was trying to grow in a relationship with.  If the realization of an 8am class in the morning could stop me mid-chew at the Memorial Day BBQ, how much more should this realization hit me?  We live in a culture so wrapped up in material things that we literally do not even realize when we neglect the most important thing we can do with our day—conversing with the one who created us, and the only one who will truly bring us lasting fulfillment.

We need to pray.  It is the simplest lesson to learn and the easiest one to forget.  Prayer needs to be a part of our routine, even on the weekends or when we are on vacation.  Without it, we are surely lost.

One Last Thing-

I know that a lot of my readers may not classify themselves as “Christian” or “Religious” in any way, so you may not think I’m talking to you.  My intention isn’t to preach at you, but to invite you to respond to a conversation that God has already started inside your heart.  Just try it.  What have you got to lose?

Posted in Stuff Catholics Do, You & God

Tagged , ,

Judging Your Self-Worth

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Mary| Leave a comment

I am feeling a bit uneasy these days.  Things are quiet.  …Too quiet.  I have an all too familiar pain in my stomach and anxiety levels are beginning to rise.  I swore this time that I would be prepared—that I wouldn’t let myself get bogged down by the stress of it all—but once again I find myself here.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am dangerously close to, and painfully aware of the impending frustrations of… finals week.

Ok, it is really not that dramatic.  Or at least, it shouldn’t be.  But for some reason I have gotten really good over the years at stressing out.  I don’t really know how it happened; and there is really no logical reason for me to be at this level of stress.  I always end up doing just fine on my finals.

I will say this: I found finals week to be a breeze in high school—and not just because the work was easier back then.  Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I went to a high school with over 3,000 people.  In a crowd that size, it was really easy to slide under the radar.  I never realized that a large group of people could be such a security blanket.  Now?  I will be graduating from my university in a class of about 25 students.

So what’s the big deal?  Going to a university of this size has actually been an extremely positive experience for me.  I know the administration; I know the faculty.  One-on-one time with my professors is not only possible; it is virtually inevitable.  And the community of students is something I would not trade for anything.  I really do love my school.  It just often makes it very difficult for me to be “comfortable.”  It’s a lot harder to slide under the radar in a crowd of 25 than it is in one of 3,000.

You see, at a large school, I had the ability to do less than my full potential because I could comfort myself with the fact that I was still doing better than a good majority of the other students in my class (I know.  A terrible way of looking at things, right?).  At a school of my size now, I know the names, faces, and general history of everyone in my class.  Talk about pressure.

Yet I know that this is one of the major reasons why God had me go to this school rather than a larger university.  It wasn’t because He wanted me to compare myself to other people and judge my worth based on the differences.  It was because He wanted to show me this part of myself and help me rise above it, by learning to be inspired by the achievements of the people around me and be proud of who I am in my own right.

Easier said than done?  Of course.  But I think, with the help of about 25 friends, I am at least beginning to learn.

Oh PS – I like to think that I write this blog for actual people to read it.  As such, I would love to hear your suggestions for future topics you would be interested in reading what I have to say about.  And as always, you can ask me anything you’d like.  Feel free to use the form below to contact me for anything.

[contact-form 1 "Contact form 1"]

Posted in Other Rants, You & God

Tagged , ,

Is This Real Life?

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Mary| Leave a comment

Ever find yourself sitting at home on a Friday night with nothing better to do but mindlessly meander the pages of Facebook? Don’t feel bad; we’ve all been there (and probably more times than we’d like to admit to). When boredom strikes, social media sites like Facebook or Twitter can seem like the perfect antidote.

I remember sites like this started gaining popularity when I was in my first couple years of high school. What seemed like a neat idea to begin with sometimes left me longing for simpler times, when young people could leave the vanity and meaningless comparisons behind when the bell rang at 3:00pm.

Maybe you can relate. Today, it’s way too easy to look at someone’s Facebook— which by its very nature is only going to show you the highlights of an event or individual— and think they have the life you’ve always wanted. As if being a young person wasn’t already challenging, now we have a stage to potentially play out the drama of high school for the rest our digital lives.

We love using our Facebook pages to define ourselves for everyone else to see, but no matter how many times we update our status or find different pages to “Like” (and maybe “Dislike” someday soon, if we get our way), we are more than a collection of facts and personal preferences. We are more than the sum total of the 500 pictures we are tagged in on our profiles. As Blessed John Paul II put it in his Letter to Families:

Human beings are not the same thing as the images proposed in advertising and shown by the modern mass media. They are much more, in their physical and psychic unity, as composites of soul and body, as persons. They are much more because of their vocation to love

This vocation to love is something we all have, regardless of age, job, or Facebook status. Maybe no one will call you to go out on Friday night, but God is always calling on you to love. Let’s stop comparing and start loving.

Posted in Youthful Antics

Tagged , , ,

The Next Step

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Mary| Leave a comment

I’m stealing the bit of wisdom coming to you in this post from a homily I heard while attending mass at school about a month or so ago.  All succeeding praises and admiration will defer to Fr. Gerard (and of course the Holy Spirit speaking through him).

I have said it before and I will say it again, the future can be a scary thing.  It sometimes is so stressful to address all of the questions the future poses.  What will I do to earn a living?  Will I love my job or will I just do it to make some money—or both?  Even worse, sometimes we think we have everything planned out for the next five years, and then a terrible thing happens to take it away from us.  Maybe we didn’t get that deal we were hoping for at work, or maybe we lost our job completely.  Maybe that Ms. Perfect you had your heart set on marrying in a few years decides she just wants to be friends (ouch!). Whatever the reason, life always finds a way to serve us up a heaping plate of uncertainty.  If you’re anything like me, you often find this accompanied by a considerably-sized side dish of anxiety, just to make things interesting.

Unlike fear, which has the ability to motivate us to take action when needed, anxiety is something that brings with it unnecessary stress.  Planning for the future is important and sometimes necessarily stressful; but there is a reason for the saying “one step at a time.”  Just like those of us with shorter legs do not have the option of leaping up staircases five steps at a time, so too do us limited human beings not always have the luxury of seeing the next few steps in our life.  Even if we think we can plan out every detail of the future, sometimes life just decides to put a big clumsy kid in front of us to block our view or knock us down mid-ascent.  The cool thing about staircases is that you don’t need to get from step 1 to step 5 in one swift motion.  All you need to do is focus on the step in front of you.

As always, prayer is powerful.  Pray often and stay close to God; live always in His plan.  If you have the confidence you are living the life He has laid out for you, you can have certainty that things will work out for the best, even if at the moment you can’t see how.

Posted in Other Rants

Tagged ,

How NOT to Express Your Love

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Mary| 4 Comments

Sometimes I think we make extravagant promises because they are easier than little ones— especially true when it comes to love.

Yesterday I was working on some homework when Grenade by Bruno Mars came on the radio.  The chorus played and he vowed his love by singing:

“I’d catch a grenade for you/ throw my hand on a blade for you/ I’d jump in front of a train for you/ You know I’d do anything for you”

This is just one example of the countless number of songs that have this similar theme: It must be real love if you are willing to die.

Now anyone who has read my blog long enough will tell you that I am all about a guy being willing to fight for his girl.  It’s not that I want a guy who will get into a fistfight over me at a bar (please, no); but I do want the guy whose love doesn’t fail when things start to get a little rough.  And I guess that is sort of my issue with songs like Grenade.  Promising to die for your love sounds nice and meaningful, but is Bruno Mars’ girlfriend really so at risk of getting a grenade thrown at her that it even means anything at all for him to make that vow?  I’m guessing probably not…

For me, a much more meaningful demonstration of love would be not a promise of death but of life.  You say you would be willing to die for your love?  That’s great!  But will you live for her?  Will you wake up early and sacrifice your sleep to spend time with her?  Will you stop looking at pornography for the sake of the one you love?  Will you love regardless of your busy schedule or how you may be feeling on that particular day?  It’s the little decisions like these that we make every day that will ultimately demonstrate our love.

Posted in Dating & Relationships

Tagged , , , , ,