In Pursuit of Goodness

Hello again... It's been awhile. Sorry there haven't been any blog posts in so long. I am back with some new reflections and I hope that you find my thoughts fruitful.

Last week I was feeling rather frustrated with some financial dilemmas. Plus, I'm trying to find a new place to live. Add that to a long day of work and you get one exhausted person. I needed to burn off a little steam, so I decided to do a free write. I quickly jotted a few things down on paper and this is what I wrote:

God gave us the animals and the plants. He did not give us houses or tools or even clothes. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the apples we have sought to live outside of our natural means. We wear unnecessary outfits and live in climates we naturally shouldn't live in. We eat more than we need to and create things we don't even need. We consume and we waste things in a search for personal gain. But who pays the price? It is the weak, those who are unable to stop the self indulgent. People who are meant to be our brothers and sisters are homeless. They live on streets with barely enough to survive. The natural world, which can nurture us and which we are meant to care for, withers away. Sometimes to the point of extinction. It is said that we came into the world with nothing and we shall leave it with nothing. Perhaps trying to have nothing between those two moments will help us to attain everything we ever wanted.

Let Love Shine

I have been meaning to post this post for a while but have not had the time to finish it. But here it is. We are in the second week of Advent and thus we are preparing for the coming of Jesus. One of the messages that often comes up during the time before Christmas is the message of love. It is wonderful because everyone gets into the spirit of love and kindness. I believe that this is the spirit of love that God wishes us to express every day not just during December.  

Spending Time With God

My name is Monica. I’m a 20 year old 2nd year college student. From August of 2015 to May of 2016 I was a missionary in Syracuse, New York with Hard as Nails Ministries.  Hard as Nails (HANM) is a Catholic evangelization ministry that reaches out to youth and their families with a message of hope. Their message is: “You’re Amazing” not because of what you have done or what you look like but because of Jesus who died for you. They go to schools, churches and men's conferences all around the world giving hour to hour ½ talks. The role that missionaries play is that they help out in the office with office tasks, go out on the road, talk to kids, pray with kids and basically are like older brothers/sisters at the events.

Power of Prayer

You know those moments where life hit us by surprise? The moments we aren't expecting, the moments where life happens and we're left to figure what to do next. You feel like you need to do something but you don't know what. More often than not, there is nothing that you can do. Which makes it that much harder to deal with. There is nothing worse than the feeling of helplessness that comes with these moments. Yet, it is in these moment of helplessness that I find myself turning to God even more. 

Same Same but Different

It has always been a humbling experience to witness and become one part of a person’s life story. What a gift it is to listen with an attentive ear to the stories of people from all different walks of life. To share with them for a moment a feeling of novelty, uniqueness, and beauty that encompasses the very essence of who they are and what makes them tick. I’ve always been fascinated by other people: what they choose to be passionate about, who their friends are, their purpose for rising every morning to a start a new day, what they like to eat, who they love, and how they suffer. This summer my curious mind and adventurous heart led me to Southeast Asia where I explored the intricate beauty and warming culture of Thailand. I was invited to fall in love with a new place but most importantly to fall in love with the stories of strangers that soon became my friends. Language barriers were abrogated and dialogue was never closed off despite these language differences, instead what I was able to witness, was that at the core of every human heart we are all the same-created to love and be loved.

Discovering the Gift of Presence

“May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.”

― St. Thérèse de Lisieux

Mary Mother of the Body of Christ

   “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Ephesians 5:23). I think many of us are familiar with this concept, the Church being the Body of Christ. This passage from St. Paul unveils a reality which is beyond our own perception.  We can perceive the visible Church, but her spiritual reality is something relatively hidden from us. This spiritual reality links the Church with her source, Christ. Christ guides his Church as the head guides the body, and just as all the parts of the body are in service and exist for the sake of the head, so too does each member of the Body of Christ exist for the sake of Christ and for Christ. But how does this idea relate to the person of Jesus?