Lost - a story of St. Anthony
When I see the word, “lost” my immediate thought is to St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint for lost items. Did you know that St. Anthony of Padua is also known for finding things that are missing that aren’t material? St. Anthony can be summoned when we are lost on our journey and need to find our way, or when we have lost our sense of self and need the reassurance to feel whole again. How has St. Anthony helped you in your life?
I love thinking about the saints and how real they all are. It is a fantastic thought to think that an average person could achieve the greatness that is so close to our father in heaven. The story of St. Anthony is special and unique.
Hand it Over
You poured everything you had into loving someone – a friend, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a sibling, a child, a parent, a stranger. And now you’re disappointed. Because it didn’t “work.”
We need to stop and ask ourselves why we think that – why we think that it didn’t “work.”
What was your love supposed to do?
Why Productivity Isn’t Everything
When’s the last time you went outside, laid on the grass, and just like, watched the clouds roll by?
Before this morning, I don’t think I’ve done that since I was a kid. Because who has time to just lay down and look up at the sky? There’s a million and one other things to be done.
But this morning brought me back to something important that I think a lot of adults forget as we grow up: The importance of carefree leisure.
Yes, leisure. Something I haven’t had time for in months given my current state in life.
The Innate Spirituality of Your Career
“Your ordinary contact with God takes place where your fellow men, your yearnings, your work and your affections are. There you have your daily encounter with Christ. It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind.” - St. Josemaria Escriva
Getting from here to there
One of the most critical, basic lessons a soldier needs to learn in any basic training is land navigation. What good are the skills of marksmanship, communication, or grenade throwing if you can’t find your way to the enemy?
Every mission has a destination, or an outcome it is seeking to create. Learning how to navigate through the difficult terrain of the mountains of Georgia and the swamps of Florida helped me to understand how to get from point A to point B. These lessons are incredibly valuable as we head into a new year with new goals.
2020 was rough for many of us. The secret though is that 2021 will only be better if YOU make it so. Here’s how you can do that:
How I Navigate Difficult Conversations — And How You Can Too!
The need to have that difficult conversation tends to be pretty heavy and daunting.
We all know the feeling -- it can be an all-consuming experience leading up to it.
Either you’ve offended someone or you’ve been offended.
Maybe there’s some sort of conflict needing to be resolved, or someone has some serious beef for no apparent reason.
The fact that these kinds of conversations weigh on us proves to me just how much value we humans place on communication.
Choose to Hike the Mountain
Isn’t it crazy how different a certain thing can look from a different perspective? Our experience of life is so profoundly based upon not just where we stand, but where we choose to look. As a society, and even as a Church, we have lost our inclination to look for beauty in the world around us. Our planet, our lives, and our reality are all constantly changing. If we don’t start to pay attention, this sweet, short life of ours will just pass us by.
It’s time we become more intentional about the direction of our gaze.
All the advice you’ve been given
You’ve Been Given A Lot of Advice
Everyone wants to give you their two cents - from your academic advisor to your coach to your mom to your great aunt with the 4 cats - everyone is a little too quick to let you know that they know how you feel. They’ve been here before. They were in your shoes once too, but if you do exactly what they did? You’ll be alright.
You’ve been given a lot of advice.
Be The light
Thanksgiving is always a favorite time of year for me. While most are excited about heading home to spend some much-needed time with family and friends, or eating all of the excellent food, the detail that means the most to me is that we get one day where the focus is entirely on one thing - GRATITUDE.
grat·i·tude /ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/ - the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
How are you doing, really?
“How are you doing?”
This phrase is my knee-jerk greeting when starting to speak with someone. We greet our friends with a “how are you?” so freely and easily in order to connect, catch up, and begin dialogue. It is our culture’s conversation starter. This question often leads to how work, family, spouse, kids, school, the weather are going. Sometimes, the question leads to how the person really is doing and you share in a special, vulnerable, or celebratory connection.
But when was the last time you asked yourself…How am I REALLY doing?
Brand New
Do you ever think back on your past and remember a time in your life when things were going really well—you were achieving your dreams and living on a high—and think, “I wish that was still me.” You remember the rush of emotions and feelings you felt in a previous moment of consolation.
Or maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe you’re running from the past—feeling like an empty shell of the person you used to be before the mistakes, the hurt, the decisions made, or life circumstances. You just want to be able to start over and shake it all off. But it sticks with you.
Be Not Afraid
The week we were leaving, I was scared out of my mind. I tend to get really anxious and worked up, so I went to Adoration to let it all out and pray for protection.
As I was sitting in my parish’s Adoration chapel, I looked up and I saw the words painted behind the monstrance - Be not afraid, follow me. I had seen those words on the wall for years, but on that day it was like they jumped off the wall. I even felt the Lord continue, “Follow me to Poland.”
5 steps to effective evangelization
For two millennia, the Catholic Church has been the missionary church.
The Catholic faith has and will continue to be the only religion whose primary goal is the conversion of souls.
You may be thinking that that is a bold statement.
You’re correct, it is a bold statement.
One that also happens to be true.
Hail Mary, Gentle Mother
"Take a deep breath, really hold it, allow the breath to travel from your nose to the bottom of your chest, Marissa... take a deep breath, MARISSA.. are you breathing?" I think to myself.
Isn't it funny how the most straightforward act can be so challenging to do?
Nathan Crankfield's blog, Mama's boy, on building a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary, prompted this reflection.
He Doesn’t Need Us
I think praying is so hard.
Oftentimes my scattered brain can’t focus long enough to connect one mental sentence with the next and any visit to the chapel usually turns into a staring contest with the leaves on the trees outside. My greatest challenge is to fill my mind with quiet.
That’s why I write.
Mama’s Boy
I’ve never been good at planning surprises for people. However, my mom was in for quite the surprise on Christmas Day in the year 2000. She excitedly opened up the box I had my dad help me wrap for her the night before. I was pretty thrilled to give her this gift. I was only seven-years-old, but we had a “Secret Santa” shop at school where we could buy gifts for our loved ones.
Mom opened the box and there it was. I had given my Lutheran mother a beautiful little image of Mary.
She was perplexed, thankful, and happy. Neither of us knew that this was the beginning of a journey that would lead to both of us converting to the Church and falling deeply in love with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
self love, and all the extras
It is challenging to scroll through Instagram or flip through a magazine in 2020 without continually hearing the phrase self-love. Not saying anything with "loving yourself" is wrong, but in a "Me" based society that puts the sense of self before "we," is it really conducive to promote a world that encourages to love yourself even more?
Loving yourself can mean different things to different people. Some reserve their Sundays for quiet time and meditation, while for others, this “self-love" mentality is used as motivation to buy themselves that extra handbag or indulging on the second scoop of ice cream.
But if we really took a step back and paused, we would ask ourselves, where does "self-love" really come from?
Sit with me
I know they judge me.
I know you think they judge you too.
This one is for those who feel like they don’t belong. This is to the people who feel unseen, unworthy, and unloved. This is for those of you who feel as though you are not enough to be a part of the Church because you don’t “look the part” or “fit the mold.”
Grace: It Taught me to love myself through the cross
In 2006 my mother took me to the neurologist after a series of profoundly aligned events that led her to believe I may have had a tic disorder known as Tourette syndrome.
At age 13, I finally received the answer to a riddle that plagued my life for many years. The doctor confirmed it, I had Tourette syndrome. This brought about a multitude of feelings. Relief, fear, and joy to name a few.
Beyond the limit
“10 seconds!”
I heard our coach yell those dreaded words as my teammates and I approached the line yet again. Running suicides in the Florida summer heat should be a scene from Dante’s Inferno.
I tried to catch my breath as I stepped up to the line, but couldn’t—It felt like I was breathing through a thin paper straw.