"If We are the Body"

If we are the body,
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?

Jesus, help us to be You to the world. Help us to show others Your love through our actions, pouring out unconditional acceptance and offering assistance.

We have a tendency to stick to our own and look down upon others who don't share our views. Break us of the habit.

We like to help when we receive recognition or know we will be paid back. Give us hearts that love without expecting anything in return.

Our actions and words are what draw others to You or push them away. Remind us to speak kindly and act sincerely.

We fail daily to follow Your example. Forgive us.

We're part of a huge body of believers - those on earth and those who have gone before us. Join our prayer with those faithful departed, as they continue to help us out. Saints, named and unnamed, thank you for your example and your intercession. You have shown us a multitude of ways to be Jesus to others.

What more can we do? Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, set in our hearts a desire to follow Your example. Pull us towards our calling, that we may complete the personalized work that You want from us. No one else can fulfill the role You have called us to - make clear to us what that role is and guide us as we pursue it each day.

Keep our hearts fixed on You - Your teaching, Your love, Your suffering, and Your defeat over darkness. You are our perfect role model, and we must strive to emulate the way You lived. Give us empathy, strength, wisdom, and courage to live lives radically altered by our knowledge of You.

St. Joseph's Cathedral - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Who Can I Love Today?

Driving to work this morning, I got this idea...I really like the "Random Acts of Kindness" stories that float around (see this blogger's post for a good cry), but I wanted to incorporate it into daily life instead. So I decided to create a game. I'm calling it, "Who Can I Love Today?"

The premise is simple: as you're going about your day, look for someone who you can help. Then, do it! After you're done, write it down, then repeat.

I was really excited to try it! I started doing nice things and writing them down. My list wasn't about being proud or tallying my "goodness" or competing; it was merely so that at the end of the day, I could reflect on the people whose day I hoped that I had brightened or eased in some way. I wanted to have something to show God, saying, "Here, I did these things for You."

So driving to work, I stopped traffic to let a guy go in front of me at a difficult intersection, knowing he could be waiting for two more lights before the stream of cars gave him a wide enough gap to merge in.

Once I got settled at my desk, I wrote a text to a friend I knew was overwhelmed with her current lot in life, sending encouragement her way.

And then...well...work happened. I said hi to co-workers, thanked the help desk for resetting my password (twice), let my brother eat the leftovers I had my eye on, but I didn't go out of my way to do anymore. My commitment to finding people to help waned, as did my passion for furthering God's will.

And so, I'll try again tomorrow.

I'm still just as excited about playing my new game now as I was this morning, even though I didn't maintain that level of excitement throughout the day. Day-by-day, I'm hoping to get better at my game and focusing more on those around me, since we become fully ourselves when we give ourselves in service to others.

Will you join me?


God, my prayer tonight is that You be with those I tried to reach today and lift their lives to You. Re-energize me with sleep tonight that I may do a better job tomorrow.


(I promise I'll write about the events that led me to this desire...but that's for another day when I have more time!)

Part of SITSgirls' ShareFest

Prayer for Peace

(Taken from prayer journal, written 9/7/13 during Adoration)
On the International Day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace...

Jesus, we desperately need you. Your world is destroying itself with anger and discord. Tragedies happen every day, and no one is moved to tears. Your people suffer; scandal and immorality surround us.

We need Your message of love - recognizing the dignity of all people and serving them, loving all. We need to be reminded of Your example, caring for the sick, reaching out to the broken, and showing others what it means to be neighbor to all.

Help us preserve life in all stages, in all countries. Give us Your Spirit to guide our words and actions, and open the hearts of all to hear and respond.

We unite our suffering to Yours; You are the supreme example of loving fully, without holding anything back. Give us the courage to follow Your lead, to listen to the yearnings of our hearts, and to ever strive to grow closer to You.

Mother Mary, join our prayer for unity and peace throughout the world.

Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

The Stairs to Perfect Love

St. Catherine of Siena is one of thirty-three Doctors of the Church. She lived in 14th century Italy, and although her writing is quite prolific, she died at the young age of 33 and couldn't write without a secretary transcribing her words until her last three years. I have been reading her book, The Dialogue, for at least 6 years. It's quite dense, so a few pages at a time is all I can digest. Every time I pick it up, though, it speaks to me - seemingly as if I'm being given advice about my current situation.

One part of her dialogue with God that keeps coming back to me is the idea of climbing stairs out of a river to reach perfect love of God. I wanted to summarize the analogy so others could read a slimmed down version (and so I could have my own Cliff Notes!).

God explains to St. Catherine that there is a river of selfishness and pleasure which has three stairs leading out of it up to the bridge that is Christ's teaching.

To climb the stairs...

1. You have to be thirsty for God's love. If you don't have enough perseverance to overcome suffering and adversity, you'll turn back and won't make it to the ultimate goal.
2. You can't do it alone. God is present when two or more are gathered together. There's a lot to be said about the support of a community, not to mention that you can't show love if you have no one to show it to. Love of neighbor is intimately linked with love of God.

The River... This is where sinners are suffering and chasing sensual pleasures, but not turning to virtue or considering their future - punishment or purpose. Eventually, if they don't climb out, they will drown in their selfishness.

The First Stair... Once they realize there may be punishment for their actions, they decide to change their ways. This is born out of fear of suffering, and is described as imperfect or "mercenary" love. It's still selfish, but there is some thought to consequences.

The Second Stair... Once they get a taste for virtue, they start to follow because of their love of virtue instead of fear of punishment. This is a more perfect love, described as the love of a "faithful servant". They begin to love God and neighbor and to keep commandments. It's still selfish, as they are focused on delighting in their own profit because of virtue. The way you know it's still imperfect love is to see what they do when they are troubled by adversity - do they keep up their commitment or waiver because they aren't getting the reward for their goodness? A specific example is Peter's denial - when the going got tough, he ran away. That's not to say he was a bad disciple; he just wasn't there yet.

The Third Stair... Through perseverance and growing in self-knowledge, they can grow to perfect love. This love is described as "filial", where they have become more than friends to God but children of God, showing love free of selfish interest. There is a unity with God, where they strive for his will, aligning their own with it completely. They don't just follow the commandments but also understand its wider context and live according to the spirit of the law. No matter what adversity may come, they do not waiver from their steadfast love of God and neighbor. They treat all with love to reflect their love for God, not expecting anything in return and not growing weary or agitated when others do not act in kind. The example of this type of love was when the disciples emerged from the upper room after the Holy Spirit descended upon them; they went out, fearlessly proclaiming Christ's resurrection and glorifying in their suffering for their faith.

The Bridge... At the top of the third stair is the bridge that is Christ's teaching. This is more an extension of the third stair, as the two go hand-in-hand. A perfect union with God brings about a unity with the Word.


Each time I think back to this analogy, I try to determine where I am along the journey and what is holding me back from reaching the next stair. What keeps you from advancing toward God's love?

Sioux Falls, SD

Aggie Catholics...there's something in the water

I am amazed by the Catholic community at Texas A&M and in the surrounding area. I've personally met a few of their members years ago, and although I was far away from my normal surroundings, I felt right at home due to their genuine love and earnest desire to lift up others. They were individuals, each striving to build a Christ-centered life and to share that joy with everyone they met. We became fast friends, and I was really sad to see them go when we said our good byes. I haven't kept in touch with them as I'd like, but every time I think about them and the weekend we shared, I smile and feel their joy once again.

In addition to my personal experience, two other things stand out to me that distinguish this group and solidify it in my mind as a vibrant, life-giving community.
 
Awakening

Awakening retreats have popped up at more than 40 college campuses across the country. The retreat is generally a weekend away from campus consisting of small group discussion and activities, talks by fellow students, lots of singing, silly costumes, confession, mass, and community-building to deepen participants' love of Christ. It is well-scheduled and well-designed, and each college adds a little of its own flavor.

I had the opportunity to serve as coordinator years ago. There were some stressful moments (as you'd expect when running a 2-night, 100-person event): regulating preparations, keeping speakers on schedule, and discerning successors, but overall it was such a rewarding and humbling experience. Strong, lasting friendships were formed, many tears were shed, and the community dedicated themselves to Christ in a profound way.

My first time on the retreat, I was moved by the outpouring of love by the staffers, even before I had any concept of the hard work and prayers they had contributed to make the weekend happen. After staffing in many different capacities over the subsequent years, I came to understand and appreciate even more what an extraordinary retreat it is. One day I'll post my prayer talk, which I still find relevant to my life today.

The retreat is decentralized, so it only spreads as students talk about their experiences and other colleges reach out to current participants for help setting up their own retreat. Without Texas A&M, this retreat would not have spread across the country like it has. McNeese University started the retreat in 1974, and Texas A&M got a hold of it in 1983. The Aggies have the largest and longest-running Awakening retreat in the country, and they have helped many other colleges set up their own, which is how I met these lovely people!

They drove 700 miles, missing Friday classes and lots of sleep, just to help another college get their retreat off the ground. They were eager to help and didn't complain at all the entire weekend. I don't know how many other colleges they directly contributed to, but their influence is widely felt (whoop!).



40 Days for Life

The campaign against abortion has never been stronger. 40 Days for Life is a prayerful protest of abortion clinics across the US and spreading into other countries. It started in Bryan, TX (where else!) by the Coalition for Life in 2004 to protest the Planned Parenthood clinic down the street. Its first year going national, more than 80 cities joined. Today, there are more than 500 cities (including 19 other countries) contributing to the effort. That's amazing. (Looking back through pictures of my time with my Aggie family in 2007, I noticed that one of them was wearing a 40 Days for Life shirt. More than 5 years later, I am now discovering what a great cause they had already begun!)

I just finishing the book Unplanned, which told me about the role this Texas community has played in the pro-life movement. I'm looking forward to participating in my local 40 Days for Life campaign in the fall. As a result of the community here, a surgery center that approved second trimester abortions in 2009 had many patients cancel there appointments, and the center never performed a single procedure. They abandoned their plans to offer abortions after peaceful protests and questions into the legality of the procedure. What a victory!




These two programs have done great things for the Bryan/College Station community, the US Catholic community, and the world at large. This is a loving group that is making a big impact in such an inspiring way. In the manner of Switch, we need to examine this "bright spot". What makes this Texas community so successful at cultivating a loving environment and launching wide-reaching programs? How can we foster those same qualities in other communities to make their efforts as impactful as they can be? There must be something in the water.

For now, I stand in awe.