“In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”
—St. John of the Cross (via v-niceee)
October 2011
Praying Without Ceasing
As junior year in high school is starting to get into its full effect; sleep deprivation, exhaustion, hallucinations, and sudden bursts of paranoia has become a regular thing for me. Just kidding about the sleep deprivation and exhaustion.
Granted, I’m not taking many AP or honors classes this year (just one honors and one AP). I’m also not doing any school sports this year, nor am I planning to take up any time consuming activities besides maybe theater, and two or three clubs.
As I write these words, I find it hard to imagine how much my original plans for junior year have changed since school started. So far, I’ve dropped two AP classes, and quit two extra curricular activities; and now I’m starting to question myself yet again, why? I know I have the capability to take those classes.
September 2011
“Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.”
—St. Catherine of Siena (via v-niceee)
Raising your hand for the obvious question so you don't get called on later.
This never worked out for me.
“Jesus never talked to a prostitute because he didn’t see a prostitute. He just saw a child of God he was madly in love with. When we have new eyes, we can look into the eyes of those we don’t even like and see the One we love. We can see God’s image in everyone we encounter. As Henri Nouwen puts it, ‘In the face of the oppressed I recognize my own face, and in the hands of the oppressor I recognize my own hands. Their flesh is my flesh, their blood is my blood, their pain is my pain, their smile is my smile.’ We are made of the same dust. We cry the same tears. No one is beyond redemption. And we are free to imagine a revolution that sets both the oppressed and the oppressors free.”
—Shane Claiborne (via redeemedheart)
It's official. I can dunk on a 9 foot basketball hoop now.
You know what that means.
Come at me, bro.
Do you have any advice for young girls who are constantly fighting pressure from media and society on body image issues?
Sadly, the world that we live in today constantly bombards us with messages of what we should wear, how we should act, and what we should do - in order to find self worth and feel loved. All you have to do is turn on the TV, watch a commercial, read a magazine, or walk through the mall to realize that a lot of us, at times, feel unloved and unappreciated because of the materialistic and self-seeking world we all live in today.
Mother Teresa, perhaps, recognized this above all in her ministry. She realized that one of the most terrible poverties in the world today is the feeling of being unloved and unappreciated.
Furthermore, there seems to have always been this feeling of pressure instilled in our generation today where we feel compelled to behave and act in a certain way based on society’s expectations and “norms”.
And coming from the perspective of a guy, I also feel that on top of these growing social pressures, young girls today feel the pressure and the need to meet up to the expectations of others - whether it might be the expectations of their parents, their peers, the cute guy who sits across from them in 4th period that they want to impress - the list goes on and on.
I can honestly say that I feel that way sometimes. There are days when I feel worthless because my reality doesn’t quite seem to meet my expectations. But we must also remember that with God, our expectations are nothing in the light of our reality.
Because the reality is, that we all have this inherent, and inalienable worth given to us by God. He willed us into existence, loving us until death.
I know of no other advice, but this: Let go of your worldly desires. Let go of the expectations. Smile. God created you to be the person that you are for a reason. He loves you as if you were the only one living in this whole universe.
He was willing to be mocked, scourged, and crucified for your sake - that you might share in his glory and happiness one day.
St. Catherine of Siena once said,
What is it you want to change? Your hair, your face, your body? Why? For God is in love with all these things and he might weep when they are gone.
Remember that you are loved by God, and know that there are people out there who are willing to recognize your worth, love you for the very fact that you are, and take the time each day to let you know that they appreciate you.
Never forget, that you are worth so much.
May God bless you. (:
Play
religious people, don't hate on me for this
but God doesn’t exist.
If so, you’re all praising some cunt that lets catastrophes happen everyday, millions of innocent people dying and the bad ones getting to live. You’re praising someone who lets evil events occur, who lets pure scum walk among us who get away with what they do. Murderers. Rapists. Pedophiles. Every single type of evil that could exist, does, and it’s all because of this so called ‘God’. Yeah, the guy who lets all those mothers, fathers, and children in third-world countries die from completely preventable causes. That guy who lets the best people die, and the worst live.
What kind of ‘God’ does these things?
I used to believe in religion, I was religious. But now, I can see the reality of the world, I can see that this is all wrong.To me, God doesn’t exist. Sorry folks.
I just wanted to clarify some things about what we, Catholics believe about suffering in the world and why God allows them to happen.
You asked in your post, “What kind of ‘God’ does these things?”
For us, it is the same kind of God who chose to die on the cross for the sake of our salvation. The same kind of God who “humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” The same kind of God who allowed himself to be mocked, tortured, spat upon, and persecuted.
The same kind of God who died for You and for me.
Referring to my handy YOUCAT, it says that:
God does not want men to suffer and die. God’s original idea for man was paradise: life forever and peace between God and man and their environment, between man and woman. [374-379, 384, 400]
The result of our sin and our choice to freely turn away from God’s original plan for us brought suffering and injustice to our world. As disheartening and hopeless as this seems, we must put our hope and trust in God’s love for us because He never gave up on us when we chose to turn away from Him.
We believe that the evil and disorder that lies in the world today are caused by the sin of man and the work of the devil! But God, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, allows these things to happen and, in ways we cannot fathom or understand, uses them to bring about a greater good.
As Catholics, we also realize that this life is merely temporary, and our knowledge and understanding of this life amounts to almost nothing compared to the immensity that is God. We believe that greater things are yet to come. And think of it this way: if not for the fall of Adam and Eve, we would not have known the mercy of God.
To me, God exists. One only has to look for Him.
“When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the LORD” - Jeremiah 29:13-14
All things considered, I sincerely hope that you find the Truth and Happiness you long for. (: Be blessed.
“Before you receive Jesus Christ, you should remove from your heart all worldly attachments which you know to be displeasing to Him.”
—St. Augustine (via wreckedsolitaryhere)
- Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
- Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
- Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
- Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.
Going to Adoration in a few minutes..
If any of you have any prayer requests or special intentions, feel free to drop me a message! (:
Passivity
Do you ever have those nights when you go to bed, and you can’t seem to sleep because when you look back on your day, you beat yourself up about all the things you could have done?
This day, my friends, seemed to be all about the things I fail to do in my life - especially the little things. It was not about being On Fire for my faith as I originally planned - instead, it was a time for me to reflect upon my struggles in actually keeping the flame alive.
I constantly find myself struggling to remember that I’m never alone and that my strength comes from Christ alone. Have I become so proud that I choose to take the weight of my trials on my shoulders by myself?
Lord forbid me that those thoughts should ever cross my mind.
“An evil thought defiles the soul when it is deliberate and is consented to. Our Lord placed evil thoughts at the head of all crimes, because they are their principle and source.”
—St. John Baptiste de la Salle (via catholic-inspiration)
Interesting...
For my Christian Living class, we have to make a presentation about something relating to morality through a website called Prezi.
Here is what I have so far.
Let me know what you think! I thought I came up with a rather interesting approach to this. (;
“Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.”
—St. Padre Pio (via midnightbluebalaclava)
Promise Me Something Catholic Bloggers →
virtuouspla.net
This is great.
“I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.”
—Jeremiah 31:13 (via wreckedsolitaryhere)
