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One of the great tragedies of Protestantism is the removal of nearly all the helps God gives us. Growing up, I could never lean on the saints and angels because…well…they weren’t even talked about. I didn’t even know it was a possibility. Sure, I heard people say that a loved one who had died was now an “angel in Heaven” and they might “watch over you.” But, that’s the extent to what was said. Upon becoming Catholic, I came to see the importance of angels. I learned, that humans, upon death, do not become angels. Angels are entirely different creatures and a human soul does not change into an angelic soul in Heaven. If you are a human in Heaven, you are a human saint. I also recognized that God sends angels to help, guide, protect, and to deliver messages numerous times in Scripture. Upon the closing of the Canon, God didn’t say, “Okay, Angels, no more from you all. You can’t help these humans anymore.” Why would He do that? Our guardian angels are meant to be a help to us and we should rely on them. God gives us many helps to strengthen us on our pilgrimage through life and angels are one of those helps. The power of the angels and saints doesn’t come from themselves but from God. Including them in our lives does not diminish God’s power, it shows just how powerful He is. That He would allow for us humans here on earth to have such access to the supernatural is amazing. Today, we celebrate the Feast Day of the Holy Guardian Angels, Catholic Pilgrims. May we ask them daily “to light, to guard, to rule, and guide” us. Have a blessed Wednesday.
Continue ReadingWhen I was working, my boss asked me to go out and collect donations for an upcoming fundraiser. I would rather clean toilets than ask for donations. I would literally rather cut the lawn with scissors than ask for donations. But...I went. I would walk into a store, slink around to try and get a feel for the person I would have to confront, hide behind some column or product display and talk myself up to emerge from hiding to go ask. Once in front of the person, I'd awkwardly explain my cause, who I was, and ask for a donation. I'd always try to give them an out. Midwesterners do not like to obligate anyone to anything. Basically, it went something like this, "We'd appreciate it if you'd be willing to donate to our fundraiser, but if you don't want to, I understand. If you do, that would be great, but I feel like I'm annoying you, so I'll just leave, bye." I went back to work completely defeated. Some people gave me like a pack of gum and some just flat out rejected me and that's what I had feared all along. I hate rejection. Back at work, I went into my breakroom with a deflated self-worth and one of my co-workers asked how it went. Sliding out of my chair like a pile of goop, I explained that I had basically gotten nothing. She laughed and was like, "Did you act like this? Come with me, I'm going to show you how to do this." So, we went back and I followed her into the stores, hiding behind her shoulder like a small child. I watched her walk in confident, smiling, sure of her cause that she was asking for donations for, and engaging. In nearly every store, we got something. Some rejected us and when they did, she just smiled and said, "That's alright. You have a blessed day." I was in awe. I asked her how she handled the rejection. She said, "Girl, it's not personal. You take it too personal." Jesus experiences rejection in our Gospel reading today and while He doesn't take it personal, his Apostles do. Rejection is hard and it can crush our self-worth IF we allow it to. We all will experience rejection in this life, but we have to learn to "shake the dust off our feet," Catholic Pilgrims. While we will experience rejection from others, we will never experience it from God. That's the important thing to hold on to. Have a blessed Tuesday.
Continue ReadingYesterday at the Bible study my husband goes to while I teach OCIA, the group was talking about suffering. One of the older guys said, “We understand that in order to be good at sports, you have to suffer and sacrifice. We also understand that if you want to be good in school, you have to suffer and sacrifice. It’s not the same bodily suffering that you get with sports, but you still will to some degree. But, with the spiritual life, so many think it must be suffer-free. We are willing to suffer for sports because we know the end goal. We want to be good in order to win a certain game or event. We are willing to suffer for learning because we know the end goal. We want to earn a degree or learn a trade. But, it’s like we don’t know what the end goal is for the spiritual life and because we don’t really get the end goal, we don’t think we should suffer or sacrifice for it.” Reading through my Magnificat this morning, I was reading about Job. Job had it all and God permitted Satan to cause him to suffer greatly. Job lost nearly everything. Satan says something that I think gets to the heart of what the guy was saying at the Bible study: “Is it nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection?” In essence, Satan is saying, “Job’s faith is easy to have because he hasn’t suffered or sacrificed. His love for God is just a product of feeling good. Could it possible be real?” Your love for something will be measured by your willingness to suffer and sacrifice for it, Catholic Pilgrims. May we take all our trials, sufferings, and crosses and unite them to Christ on the Cross in order to give us strength to bear them. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
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