Judgement. It's rough.

It’s official — I’ve been a college student for three full weeks. It might seem like a short time, but in those three weeks, I was exposed to more than I ever had been in my previous 18 ½ years on this planet. Partying. Drama. All the stereotypical college-life stuff you would expect.

But not participating in these shenanigans wasn’t the hard part — I’ve made some amazing friends at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center who love to have fun in unique, hilarious ways like playing sand volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, or going to Dairy Queen. So avoiding the craziness of the college life isn’t extremely difficult. Where things get tough is fighting the temptation to judge people who don’t make the best decisions.

I’m being real here — it’s not easy. 

Judging is something we all do. It just happens. At least for me, it’s usually because I want to feel like I’m superior to others. I’m working with Mary on trying to become more humble. But we all judge for different reasons.

I had really been struggling with judging many, many people around me at school. And the Big Man Upstairs decided to throw me help me out, like He always does somehow.

A few days ago, I was looking for a Mother Teresa quote to put in my English paper. I was on some quote website, and the first thing I saw at the top of the screen was this: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” Thanks for that one, God.

Next, we had our first night of catechetical classes at the St. Lawrence Center yesterday. John-Mark Miravalle (“Teaching Fellow in the St Lawrence Institute for Faith and Culture,” what a sweet title) taught a class about Virtue and the origins of happiness. I learned that every single action we commit, good or bad, has some root of good intentions. Even if I went and stole a necklace from Macy’s (which I don’t plan on doing, by the way), I could justify that I had good intentions by saying that I wanted to look beautiful, because beauty is a good thing and a cause of happiness. So you see how every action is rooted in a desire to be happy.  Therefore, we have no right to judge anyone, because we all look for happiness in different but similar ways.

Finally, today, I was just scrolling down my News Feed on Facebook, right? Here’s what comes up this time — a picture that said, “Don’t judge people someone because they sin differently than you.” Everything came together. And that’s when it really hit me. I have absolutely no right to judge. Because there are numerous things that I too could be judged for — they’re just different things that I judge others for.

When it comes down to it, we don’t know everyone else’s lives. We don’t know their struggles. We don’t know their desires. We don’t know their story.

So all in all, judging is not cool. And Mary can totally help us. She’s a rock star with humility.

Mary, Star of the Prairie, pray for us. 

Thank you, youth ministry: A tribute to St. Michael's youth group.

Oh youth ministry, what would I have done without you? But really. I have no idea where in this crazy world I would be if it weren't for years and years of GIFT, Flock, AP Flock, Camp Tekakwitha, Prayer and Action, Kairos, etc.

This particular post is a tribute to the place that got me started with making faith a priority in my life: St. Michael the Archangel.

I met Sara at GET REAL going into 5th grade and to this day I can call her one of my greatest role models. So what am I walking away with from eight years of fantastic SMA youth ministry? Here's just a few things:

1. I've learned that dodgeball is not just a fun game. It's basically like a friendly war, that isn't always so friendly... St. Michael, defend us in battle. Please.

2. I've learned that the more ridiculous you look, the better. I mean, how can you not just laugh in amazement of these fantastic shirts??

3. I've learned that everyone looks way tougher when wearing a "fire-fightering" suit. Watch out world.  "If you are who God made you to be, you'll set the world on fire." - St. Catherine of Siena. 

4. I've learned that it's imperative to have a good fake laugh. They make situations so much more awkward. ETA. Embrace the awkward.

5. I've learned that if you bring a dozen high schoolers to work at Harvesters, they'll actually get a lot done, despite the craziness (i.e. hiding in giant boxes, looking ridiculous in hair nets, etc).

6. I've learned that rocking up is WAY cooler than holding hands during prayer. Pretty soon everybody will be doing it. Total hipster move, St. Michaels.

7. I've learned that if Sara and Michael let Evelyn, Olivia, Annelise, and I design their house, it would be the coolest living space in history. And it would include a nice moat, with Aaron floating around in there with a nice sea monster. 

8. I've learned that yoga is definitely the best way to de-stress... Or the best way to break your back... Thank you, "Yoga with Tara Stiles." 

9. I've learned that Chris and Sara get ABSOLUTELY NO work done when I'm in town... I mean, how can you actually work when there are so many cups that are just perrrrfect for cup stacking? Cup pyramids > work.

10. And finally, I've learned that despite our absolute ridiculousness, everything we do is for the Big Man upstairs. Everything relates back to the cross and to His love for each of us.  

LIVIN' FOR THE STORY — Camp Tekakwitha 2012

It was the end of my senior year in high school. Everybody was hugging at graduation, saying, "Let's hang out this summer!" or "I'll see you up at the pool, right?" Right. Actually, not.

Five days after graduation, I, along with 60 some other college kids, made the drive down to Williamsburg, Kansas to begin the best summer of my life. That summer would consist of days jam packed with action. Praying, singing, building, dancing, talking, climbing, riding, canoeing, swimming, jumping, laughing — we did it all. 

The theme for camp this summer was "Open the Door to Faith," and that's what Camp Tekakwitha is all about. God, our King and Creator, is always passing by the door of each of our hearts, knocking, waiting for us to let Him in. All we have to do is Trust — trust in our God that He has everything under control, that He has a plan for us, and that He wants to walk through this whole journey right by our side. 

But opening the door to faith isn't just a personal challenge for each of us, it's a world-wide mission. Once we know that Christ is knocking at the doors of our hearts, it's our duty to go out into the world — into our schools, families, parishes, and sports teams — and let everyone know that Jesus is waiting outside the doors of their hearts, too. 

One of my favorite praise and worship songs that we sing at camp is "Overcome" by Jeremy Camp. There's one line that gets me every time: "We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony." This means that if we wish to truly change the world and carry out God's will, we must share our testimonies, tell our stories. Each of us has a story, there's no doubt about that. And each of our stories is a witness to Christ's love, and each of our stories can touch others in such a profound way because we carry similar crosses in life. So I'm telling you, yes YOU, that your story is important. 

We're all livin' for the story. Because our stories intertwine. Our stories are related. Our stories all make up a huge "tapestry" (as Debbie Nearmyer would say) that makes us who we are as the people of God. All of our stories lead back to the cross. 

So all of the crazy stories I have from camp this summer relate back to Jesus, because it's all for Him. The day when some other sweepers and I worked through the 107 degree heat to rebuilt the amphitheater stage for the Mikey Needleman concert — just livin' for the story... The day when we sang "Old McDonald" over and over on a hayride with VBS kids for family camp — just livin' for the story... The day hundreds of past and present campers and staffers reunited at PSR for the 15th anniversary of Camp Tekakwitha — just livin' for the story. 

Someday when we're all saints up in Heaven (because we're ALL called to be saints), we can look back on these beautiful memories that brought us closer to Christ and closer to each other, and we'll realize that this whole time we were just LIVIN' FOR THE STORY. 

Tiger Print Senior Column: ‘No matter what I end up doing, love is all that matters.’

Senior Column: ‘No matter what I end up doing, love is all that matters.’

Jordan McEntee, Sports Editor

I remember when I was a little eighth grader.
I was 4 feet 9 inches tall. I wore my light blue KC Chaos soccer jacket and jeans just about every day.
My hair was always in a ponytail with different colored headbands, and I just scooted on through my days with a smile.
Hey, sounds like senior me, too (except, thank goodness, I grew a few inches).
But I specifically remember sitting in the computer lab at Blue Valley Middle, enrolling in my classes for freshman year.
With every click of the mouse, I felt like I was one step closer to discovering what in the world I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
Well, it’s senior year now — in fact, we’re graduating in 16 days — and I have more questions about my future than I did when I first walked into BV.
I do know that I’ll be rockin’ the crimson and blue at the University of Kansas next year.
And I do know that I’ll be studying journalism and hopefully doing some work for the University Daily Kansan newspaper.
But I don’t entirely know where I’m going to go from there.
Considering I’ve basically fallen in love with writing and designing for the Tiger Print, I would love to be a journalist. And since I spend close to every waking moment (when I’m not at school) up at St. Michael’s, I’d be thrilled to be a youth minister. But who knows what else I’ll discover.
I’ve spent the past four years in this school trying to figure out my future, yet I’m still in the dark.
But I’m perfectly okay with that, and this is why:
“Wherever God has put you, that is your vocation. It is not what we do, but how much love we put into it.”
Mother Teresa said that. What a genius.
So all this time I’ve spent stressing about what I’m going to do, all I needed to do was trust — trust that God has some amazing plan for my life, and that when I’m ready to figure it out, He’ll clue me in.
No matter what I end up doing, love is all that matters.
In the meantime, I’m going to continue living by my other favorite Mother Teresa quote: “Let no one come to you without leaving better and happier.”
Because, for us seniors, we only have a few more days until we graduate and are thrown out into the real world — a world that needs each and every one of us. All of us will find something we’re good at, something that makes us happy and something that we love to do.
It’s through that vocation that each of us can bring a little bit more joy into this beautiful world.

PURE LOVE

Last night and all day today, a few of my best friends and I went to the Youth for Truth conference. On our way there, we were kind of hoping that it wouldn't be the same as all the chastity talks we'd already heard... Little did we know that we would be blown away by how much new stuff we would learn and how much we would be influenced by all the talks. Throughout the weekend, we heard talks from Sara Sheerin, Chelsea Schmidt, Chris Walters, and Kyle Kuckelman, Alli Donohue, Molly Sanborn (aka The Cheeseball Chick), and the legendary Jason Evert. AMAAAAAZINGGG.

So, let's start with Jason's talk: "Finding Love in a World of Lust." This guy is absolutely hilarious. He talked all about how everything and everyone in our world pressure us to live unchaste lives, and they tell us that if you don't give into society's temptations, that you're the weird one. But Jason says that amidst our lustful society, it really is possible to find true, pure love. If we live out the virtue of chastity by saving ourselves for our future spouses, we are actually gaining freedom, not giving it up like many people think. We gain the freedom to have the most beautiful, Christ-filled love once we find the person God planned for us to be with forever. We have to be patient and wait it out so we don't miss that person, though. This idea led to my favorite quote of the entire weekend from Jason, "High school isn't for finding your husband. It's for finding your bridesmaids." This is the time in our lives that we should be forming friendships that will last for years and years and years. Jason also focused on the idea that we can always be forgiven in Christ for what we've done. We can't just cram our feelings down and put on masks for people to think we're just fine. He said, "If anything comes up, down just stuff it back down; push it up even further to the Lord." Offer everything up to Him. Another thing that I really took away from this talk is the idea of writing letters to my future husband. Any time you're tempted to do something, or any time you think there's no chance for love, write a letter to your future spouse. Pray for them, know they're out there somewhere. God's just waiting for the pefect opportunity for you two to meet.

Another talk of the weekend was Chris and Kyle's "Manimal: The Call of Duty." This talk was hysterical, mostly because it was Kyle and Chris. But these guys actually know a lot about the way guys think and the "call of duty" (haha duty....) that God wants all of us to answer. Chris started it off with a fantastic quote from Blessed John Paul II: "The duty of every man is to protect the dignity of every woman." Holy shnikeys. That pretty much sums it all up right there. Kyle and C-Dub used the analogy that guys can be like vikings or knights. The vikings just go around taking whatever they want and dumping it once it isn't useful to them anymore. Then there are the knights who would stand up for their beautiful princess, protect her, and even die for her. Kyle told all of us girls, "Every single one of you girls are princesses, and you deserve absolutely nothing less than a knight." Kind of amazing. Chris then went on to say that we need to protect ourselves from the vikings out there, but that we can't over-guard our hearts. He says "a guy can't be your knight in shining armor if you're the one wearing all the armor." True that, true that.

The next great talk was Sara, Chelsea, and Alli's "You are More than a Victoria's Secret Model." These ladies split this talk into three main sections: Beauty, strength, and mystery. For the beauty part, Alli focused on how dressing modestly is more attractive than those Victoria's Secret models who wear pretty close to nothing. Dressing modestly shows guys that we want them to look inside us at our personalities, not just our bodies on the outside. Then Chelsea talked about mystery. She said our bodies are beautifully and wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God, and that God wants us to share ourselves with only one person once we're married. We can't be flaunting ourselves like those Victoria's Secret models, because where's the mystery in that? What is going to be left for our future husbands if we've already shown all that to the rest of the world? We are special, and can't let anyone tell us differently. Then Sara focused on strength. She talked about how we have to be strong in our decisions of living chastity, but even more importantly, we have to be strong in letting the men be men. Many people say that chivalry has died in our society, but Sara says that's because we ladies killed it. We live in a society that tells us we need to be indepent and that we should do everything ourselves. But we need to let the guys answer the call of duty. Sara said, "If the guys want to be that knight on on their little white cartoon horse, let them."

The last talk was Molly's "Lies About Guys." This is what every girl hears all the time. All the lies that we hear about he we have to act and what will make us more beautiful. The lies that Molly dicussed were: 1. If he doesn't glace, get some tighter pants. LIE. Dressing modestly will attract the kind of attention you want -- a guy who won't just look at you, but look into your personality. 2) If you're not making out, you're missing out. LIE. There are so many better things we can be doing with our high school years than hooking up. Am I right? And 3) You need a boy to have joy. LIE. No guy will ever be able to complete us and make us fully happy. Only Jesus can do that. He's kind of a big deal... And my favorite thing about Molly is her motto: "Spreading joy to the world one cheese ball at a time."

This was a FANTASTIC weekend full of love, learning, and life lessons. If strongggggly suggest going next year, if you missed this one. I pinky promise it will rock your world, and get you thinking about pure love.

So for chastity, cheeseballs, and true love... GOD IS GREAT.

#SaveTheBabies #March4Life2012

36 hours on a bus from KC to DC.
22 hours back home.
58 total hours on a bus.
All of that for the the most amazing 36 hours of our lives in Washington DC.


On Friday afternoon, we all met for a send-off mass with everyone from the Archdiocese of KCK. Fr. Gary's homily pertained specifically to the fact that when we do good things for the world, people and other forces are going to oppose us. After seeing the effects of driving straight into a huge snow and ice storm on the bus, we realized that truer words have never been said. Satan obviously knows the impact that the March for Life has on so many people, so he tried to stop us. Several times. Stopping the busses for the ice storm, getting us kicked out of a mall and left trying to find somewhere for food, and stopping our busses at yet another wreck on the highway. But did Satan stop us from saving those babies? Absolutely not. Satan's got nothing on us.


The first full day we were DC, Kyle found something on Twitter that totally changed our outlook on the entire march. The tweet said that the March for Life wasn't just a pilgrimage, it is the front line of battle. That hit all of us like a ton of bricks. Standing up against Roe v. Wade and the killing of 1.3 million babies per year is not something that we should take lightly. This is spiritual warfare we're dealing with here. That's intense stuff. So from that point on, we referred to all of our actions as preparing for the battle. The battle between life and death. And as Archbishop Naumann always says, "Vitae Victoria Erit" -- LIFE WILL BE VICTORIOUS. We will pray, fight, and march until our side, the side of LIFE, claims victory.


Another thing I realized on this fantastic trip: The power of PRAYER. Prayer is our number one weapon going into battle. It's peaceful, purposeful, and powerful. One of the first times we saw this power on the trip was when our bus was stopped for three and a half hours on the highway. Someone suggested that we pray a Rosary while we waited. Literally, the second we all picked up our Rosaries, the traffic began moving and the bus started inching forward. That moment definitely called for an "Ohhh yeahhhh, Virgin Mary, yeahhh!" But it all seriousness, we realized that God had his hand in every little thing that happened that weekend, as he always does. Prayer is our way of knowing that he's there all the time, watching our backs, and getting us through. Praying to St. Michael was another method of prayer that we found really helpful. The St. Michael prayer is absolutely fitting for our battle for LIFE, considering that it begins with "St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil." With St. Michael, Mary, all the saints and angels, and of course Jesus on our side, how could we not be confident going onto the front lines?


The actual march itself was mind-blowing. Over 300,000 people marched the streets of our nation's capitol, and those people ranged anywhere from newborn babies to toddlers to teenagers to college students to middle aged people to the elderly. This is a fight for everyone. Why? Because it affects each and every one of us on a personal level. Because we all have life... Seeing all of these people marching for one cause was life-changing. Especially because the media totally downplays it, in fact, they don't really cover it at all. But that's alright, because we don't do it for the media, we don't do it for attention. We do it to save lives. If even one woman decides to keep her baby instead of abort it, because of our efforts, then we've done well. At first, I had this mindset of "Yes! Let's go save the world!" And this isn't totally impossible, but we have to change the world little by little, one person at a time. Like Mother Teresa said, "There are no great things, only small things with great love."


The final big idea I have to share about what changed me at the March for Life is the idea that our generation has so much power. The youth of church has sooooo much potential to do so much good for this world. “Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity” (1 Timothy 5:12). We can be leaders. Especially through all the technology we have available. On the march, we realized that if we want young people around us to care about being pro-life, we had to bring this pilgrimage to them, through Twitter especially. Everyday, we all tweeted hundreds of times using #savethebabies. So simple, yet so impactful. Technology can be our friend if we use it correctly.


So overall, it was an absolutely fantastic trip. It opened our eyes, hearts, and minds to the thing we should all be fighting for -- LIFE.


#March4Life #savethebabies

Marriage. WOAH BABY.

The past few weeks, I had the pleasure of helping set up a bunch of stuff for a wedding. No, not just any wedding... Sara and Michael Sheerin's wedding (aka, basically the coolest people I know). So the suspense was building... We were making place cards for the reception, decorating centerpieces for the tables, tying bows on the worship aids, and other fun stuff. I started getting caught up in the craziness, but then I took and step back and I was like, "Holy crap and a half. They're getting MARRIED."

Marriage is pretty much the coolest thing of all time. When you say "I do," you commit yourself to that other person FOREVER. Forever is a reallllllllly long time. You promise to always be there for that person through all the highs and lows, and to love them no matter what. Unconditional love. That's where it's at.

Oh, speaking of unconditional love. Coolest thing I've ever seen... A couple girls and I got to the wedding early to pass out worship aids and we were going to talk to Michael, but he was like, "Hold on, I'm going to confession really quick!" Um.... WOW. Getting his soul all clean for his beautiful bride. That's a man right there. And that's unconditional love.

Later, at the reception, there was an old couple who had been married for 48 years. Dang. And they were giving advice to Sara and Michael... The man said, "My advice is: She's always number one, and I'm number two." Then the woman followed by saying, "My advice is: He's always number one, and I'm number two." Sacrificial, unconditional love yet again.

So congratulations to Sara and Michael. I love you both, and I know you guys are going to do amazing things for this world... And you already have. I'll be praying for you guys.

For the beautiful sacrament of marriage, for Sara and Michael, and for unconditional love... GOD IS GREAT.