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I used to love a good battle. Give me a political battle and I’d happily enter the ring.
My competitor and I would battle it out with our words and then exhausted, we’d both leave the “ring” not changed one bit.
It was after the summer of 2020 when my eyes were opened to the pointlessness of it all. There was so much chaos and everyone had picked their side and I was accused of not picking a side because I didn’t really talk about all the things here on my platform.
I was accused of not caring enough.
I was accused of being weak for not having an opinion.
I thought to myself, “This is all just stupid.”
Everyone running around with their hair on fire and trying to scream louder than the next person and solving not one thing. Nothing.
I realized, people that agree with me are just going to agree with me and people who don’t will just show up to call me names.
Christ said, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15
Boy, that seems hard in this day and age, because what people care about is the next outrage…and then the next outrage…and the next one. All fueled by social media.
It’s not that I don’t have opinions on things, I do. And I do care deeply. It’s just that it gets exhausting to keep up that level of outrage for any length of time and then you get bitter, and disgruntled, and…bleh.
If your reaction is to take this post as me calling for surrender or suggesting that we should just sit back and watch all the destruction, well, don’t have that reaction.
Thinking of the Apostles today, especially St. Mark, I marvel at their patience to change hearts through steady charitable witness to the Gospel. Even amongst people who wanted nothing to do with the message of Truth.
Such a hard task, Catholic Pilgrims, but one that truly matters.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.
St. Mark, pray for us!
I was watching a video yesterday where a Christian conservative was debating a college student who was an atheist. They were supposed to be debating whether college was scam these days or not. The atheist couldn’t stay on topic and kept throwing out non sequiturs. His reasoning was that college wasn’t a scam because Jesus was a scam. One doesn’t have anything to do with the other. He kept asking the Christian questions about Christianity and whenever the Christian would try to answer, he’d get out maybe three words before being interrupted. The college guy sat there smirking, shaking, and interrupting. The whole conversation was utterly fruitless. Today, in our first reading from Acts 8, we hear about the eunuch who was reading Isaiah. Philip comes up to him and asks him if he understands it and the eunuch responds with, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” What a truly humble response. I’ve always been so impressed with the humility of the Ethiopian eunuch in realizing he doesn’t know everything. It’s refreshing because we see so little of it these days. Everyone thinks they are an expert in everything. Few people listen to understand. And when it comes to Scripture, far too many think they are Biblical scholars and have all the answers. The atheist in the video kept throwing out questions about Christianity but he wasn’t willing to listen to the answers from a Christian. His snobbish pride left him looking like a fool. Back when I was arguing with my husband about Catholicism, I’d frequently throw out challenges to him. As he’d begin to answer, I’d cut him off and tell him what Catholics believed. He finally got fed up and calmly said, “Amy, don’t ask me a question and then cut me off. You aren’t Catholic, so don’t tell me what we believe. Either listen to me or don’t ask your questions.” I felt like such a fool and I shut my mouth. The eunuch’s approach is one of humility and it is a good lesson for us all, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed Thursday.
Continue ReadingWe aren’t the ones who elect the pope, Catholic Pilgrims. But, whether you are the laity, part of the clergy, or a Religious, we do have a job in this Conclave. It is our job to pray. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our Cardinals as they discern our next earthly spiritual leader. Don’t pray stressed. Pray, instead, with trust that God will never abandon us and that, no matter what, His Church will stand until Christ comes again. Let’s pray boldly and with great Faith. St. Peter, pray for us!
Continue ReadingIn the early years of our marriage, whenever Dustin and I would get into an argument over Catholicism, I was always the angrier one. Even though I was wildly ignorant about Catholicism, I thought I knew it all. I’d yell at Dustin and always try to raise my voice to drown out his words. I’d cut him off as he was trying to explain why my arguments against Catholicism were wrong. I was trying to not let his words fall on my ears. The crowd stoning Stephen in our reading today from Acts 7, behaved just like me. As Stephen was trying to teach them about Jesus, they “cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him.” It’s the covering of the ears part that is so telling. It’s an attempt to protect your pride by not allowing the truth to penetrate you. It was hard for me to hear my husband prove me wrong. Everybody wants to believe that they are always right and it kills us to hear someone correct or admonish us. Most often, those that scream, yell, cover their ears, and seek to silence others realize they don’t really have the truth or moral upper hand on their side. However, they can’t stand the thought of examining themselves and considering a change of thought. When you won’t do this, bad things always happen, like Stephen getting stoned. Thankfully, my husband got through to me and once I actually listened, he gave me the keys to unlock the beauty of Catholicism and eventually come home. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday, Catholic Pilgrims. *Painting is of St. Stephen. It’s in a Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Istanbul.
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