Man who murders Nun confesses and converts to Chrisitanity

I ran across this story and couldn't stop from posting it. A man in India murdered a nun about 15 years ago and upon being visited by her biological sister (who is also a nun), he asked for forgiveness and began his conversion to Christianity. Remember to pray for all those in India, that the religious violence will stop.

In other news, I'm about to board a plane to Chicago and hope to be visiting that Cathedral in a couple hours.

Brief Thoughts on Confession

I went to confession again today (I try to go as regularly as possible, and as the Church suggests, we should at least try to go once a month even if we are confessing venial sins.) It amazes me that no matter how many times you go and no matter how many times you confess things (even the same things!) and even if the priest knows who you are, you always hear the words "I absolve you from your sins". How beautiful those words are, to hear them spoken - to actually hear Christ speaking to you through the priest and forgiving you of your wrongdoing. Each and every time.

I think I should end with the quote from John's letter "If we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us". Go to confession if you haven't in a while!

March for Life

Say a prayer for an end to abortion everywhere today! Our parish is having 24 hour Eucharistic Adoration and I'm about to head out for the evening to go to it. More on this later I hope!

One more note, I read this on CNN:

"A fetus is not a life, sorry," NOW President Terry O'Neill told CNN. "And no, nobody's religious conviction justifies taking women's ability to shape their own futures away from them."

Well, as my professors would say in graduate school, we need a citation on that first sentence (about what a Fetus is or is not) and secondly, note the language shift to make it look like we are trying to "take away women's ability to shape their own futures" rather than trying to protect the future of children.

In another language twist, CNN continues to call us "Anti-Abortion" protesters, refusing to use the term pro-life. More prayers tonight!

January 22

I did not know this prior to today, but January 22nd is a special day set aside by the Church to perform penance for violations against human dignity caused by abortion in our world today. I think it's a good if, as a small New Year's resolution, we all promise to perform some special act of penance (abstinence from meat, the rosary, get up early, fast, etc.) Just wanted to share, but maybe everyone else already knew about this!


In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass "For Peace and Justice" (no. 22 of the "Masses for Various Needs") should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day.

General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373

First Week of Lent - Tuesday

Last year:

Creator of my Life, 
renew me: bring me to new life in you. 
Touch me and make me feel whole again. 
Help me to see your love 
in the passion, death and resurrection of your son. 
Help me to observe Lent 
in a way that allows me to celebrate that love. 
Prepare me for these weeks of Lent 
as I feel both deep sorrow for my sins 
and your undying love for me.

Unfortunately, I don't remember where this came from.  This was a deep subject for me last year because I thought of "celebrating that love" as taking my first Eucharist.  This year, that line is more to me a looking forward to celebrating the ressurection of our savior at Easter.  Through this period of time, I can examine myself and try to fix problems and sin in my life, preparing myself for my own bodily resurrection at the end of time.  Lent is like my lifetime - darkness before the dawn when I first meet Christ in Heaven - the real Easter feast that will last forever.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Last year:

Today being the day after Ash Wednesday, and the day before another day of Abstinence, I wanted to reflect a little on fasting. Of course, we have the example of Christ who did it and told us that the Church would do it after he was gone (Mt. 6:18, Mt. 9:15). We don't see it very often in Christianity (probably not at all among 99% of Protestants), but it helps us clear our mind to focus on God in prayer. It's been a wonderful blessing to me, and I'm hoping that everyone else who got to do it drew closer to God in some way. We should try to do it more often than just when required. Any thoughts or feelings on it?

You know, after a year (and especially after my Holy Week last year), I have only built on how much benefit I think fasting gives us.  I also see a correction from last year, maybe it should have said "90%" of Protestants ;)  

Seriously though, I highly suggest any religious person to try and fast more often.  I was reading and discussing a little about the gospel reading yesterday.  Many people think that the Gospel contradicts what we do on Ash Wednesday as Catholics.  After all, Jesus tells us not to show other people that we fast or repent but just to do it in secret so that our reward will be in Heaven.  This is one of those passages that is easily taken out of context by people.  Looking at the message, Christ is warning us not to let that be the reason we are doing something.  Don't do it for earthly glory or to feel "cool" or something.  I think there are some who go to Ash Wednesday because they think that is when it is cool to be a Catholic.  That's exactly the kind of thing I think Jesus is warning about here - and is the same problem we could have with wearing a cross or praying in public or carrying a Bible around with us.  We have to make sure we are doing things for God and not to please other men - for people like that "have their reward".

Maybe I got a little off topic today....be sure to check out our first baby photo below :)

Lenten Blog Plans

Happy Mardi Gras everyone.  Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and as such I want to continue what I did last year by blogging every day during Lent.  I thought this year would be an awesome time to reflect on all my posts last year during lent.  After all, last year I was in RCIA awaiting the sacraments, and now I have been partaking of them for a year.  So, each day I will post what I wrote about last year in my Lenten diary and how I feel or think my journey has led me over the last year.

The one limitation I will have is that sometimes I do not always have access to the internet.  Therefore, some days I might have to post several days worth of Lenten blogging at once, but I do plan to get through all forty reflections I had last year.  

Lenten Resolutions

Just a quick note - but this year for Lent instead of giving up something that might not make you suffer much or that God might not care about whether or not you do, try doing some penance in the form of outreach.  Do a ministry of some sort to the poor - maybe volunteer at a soup kitchen once a week or even just do some kind of spiritual ministry.  Then you can really make some waves in the world as a Catholic.

Penance

Many times in the Gospels, Jesus teaches us that we have to give up things.  In doing so, we lay up treasure in Heaven.  He tells people to sell all they have, to fast, to give up their families, and all kinds of things.  

Some individuals literally have a calling to do this.  St. Francis, for instance, gave up everything he ever had in order to follow Christ.  Many of us are called to a different life - one of marriage, Children, or even the single life.  When we are called to this, we have to try and figure out how Christ's message applies to us.  One way we as Catholics do penance - or offer reparation for our sins in order to help negate temporal punishment associated with them - is to give up certain things.  Most famously, we abstain from meat on Fridays during the Lenten Season, and fast on certain Holy Days of Obligations.  Many will go on to extend that abstention to all Fridays in the year, or give up other things.

We are definitely called to give up the pleasures associated with sin when we follow Christ.  That is not an option.  But, I encourage you to go even further.  Think of something that you depend on, or use as a crutch, or just really enjoy.  Give that up on one day a week or for a month and dedicate that saved time or money to Christ.  In doing so, you will draw closer to him and lay up treasure in Heaven.

Ebbs and Flows

My friend The Catholic Journeyman left a post over on his blog about Catholic bloggers.  I highly recommend you fellow bloggers to go check it out and respond.  I would like to thresh out my thoughts a little more about myself too.  As I have been writing on this blog for a few months now, I notice that it parallels my spiritual life in many ways.  I think mine (and most people's) spirituality ebbs and flows, like a tide coming in and out.  Each time it comes in, however, it is stronger than before in my case, I feel closer and closer to God.  Each time it goes out, it doesn't go as far, and I don't get as distracted as I used to.  I don't fall into temptation as often as I used to.  Closer and closer we come until eventually we can be with God in Heaven (purgatory might help out here too).  Even the saints would write about "Dark nights of the soul".  We need to pray for one another and with one another to grow in faith and love and hope.

Daily Mass

Joseph once vocalized to me when we had waited until a Sunday to attend again "It feels like I haven't been to Mass in forever!"

Unfortunately, do to my more tumultuous schedule this semester, my Daily Mass goings have been much less frequent. However, I do make the time to still try to go at least once in the week, and whenever I do I can't help but feel so much more in harmony with the rest of my life. It allows me to take just a half an hour and completely focus on spiritual things.

I am digressing. Perhaps a post on this at a later time.

What I wanted to post for everyone is a homily spoken by one of our parish priests. It was in reference to the readings on Thursday, November 6th, 2008.

Today's parables include the theme of repentance, but they change the way repentance sounds. We often think of repentance as a change of direction in our lives - and that's a good picture of what it means. But, we lose a deeper sense of this change if we begin to badger ourselves, or others, with the notion that sinners must abandon their sins before God will forgive them; and the lost must figure out a way to get themselves found before a heavenly search and rescue effort begins. As St. Augustine pointed out, that's like waiting to get healthy before you go to the doctor and deal with what ails you. Today, our Lord shows us that repentance is the deep trust that our Good Shepherd has already come to us and gathered us in his arms; that God, pictured as a searching woman, has sought us out and found us. After all, a lost sheep doesn't have to prove it's the one with the wooliest coat before the shepherd goes after it, and a lost coin can't make sincere prayers to get the woman of the house looking for it. But, because the sheep is precious, the shepherd searches; because the coin is valuable, the woman picks up the broom and won't rest until it's found. Repentance is the joy of being found and refusing to wander away, the deep trust that we are sought after by God and brought home safely in the life of Jesus Christ.

Even as I type this out I can't help but heave a sigh of relief. Perhaps so much time in a Fundamentalist Protestant Church made me doubt the ability God's grace and occasionally, I need to be reminded of its far reach.

Glory to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - Amen!