PRAY for LIFE

If you're reading this right now, chances are that you're wishing you were in D.C. at the March for Life right now. I know that's what I'm doing. I keep seeing everyone's tweets, Facebook posts, and photos on Instagram of the beautiful masses, the huge crowds of pro-lifers, and inspiring quotes. It definitely makes me wish that I was there.

But. There's always a but... You and I — the people sitting at home, at school, at work, or anywhere — play a HUGE part in the March for Life, too.

Nothing great is ever achieved without prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. And that is our job — to just COVER those wonderful people at the March with our prayers. Especially today, they need our prayers more than ever. But along with the March for Lifers, there are quite a few other people we need to pray for:

-For women who are considering having an abortion, that they can see the beauty in the precious life they hold within them.

-For those babies, that they will have the chance to live extraordinary lives.

-For our country's leaders, that they might have a conversion of heart, leading them to respect and protect all forms of life.

They need our prayers in this fight for life. And we have to remember that conversion of hearts happens on a personal level. Our country can't change right at once. It will take us reaching out to individuals, showing them that we care about them, showing them that every life is worth fighting for. And prayer is the first way that we can do that.

I'd like to leave you with this wonderful quote from Jared Cheek:
"I think God chooses a few people to support the rest, and it is a mystery to me how the whole prayer things works, all I know is that it does. I would be NOWHERE if people hadn't prayed for me."

Somehow, the whole prayer thing works. And that's why everything works. Because nothing great is ever achieved without prayer.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn, PRAY FOR US. 

Pushing on a Pull Door

The Christian band of two Australian brothers, for KING & COUNTRY, sings this amazing song called "Pushing on a Pull Door." If you haven't heard it, you're missing out big time. So check it out on youtube real quick. This song recently changed my life in a big way.

The refrain to this song goes like this:


"Upside down, then you see it all.
Everything's the wrong way around, but clearer than before.
When you're upside down, then you see it all.
That you spend all your time pushing on a pull door."

Those words could not be any more accurate. Everything we do in this life, whether we realize it or not, we do to make us happy. How many times do we try to change our lives, to make us happier, and totally go about it in wrong way... We look for love in places and people that won't satisfy our ultimate thirst for God's love. We try to better our prayer lives with methods of prayer that might work for others but don't work for us. We try to PUSH our way through, when what we should do is PULL.

Sometimes it takes us doing the wrong thing to find out what the right move is. It's like those times when you don't realize that it's a pull door so you push it. Then you have that awkward moment when you look left and look right, and hope that nobody saw you struggle with the door... Guess what? Christ knows when we try to push the pull door. But He's the one whispering to us, "Pssssst, try the other way..." He's on our side. Thank goodness.

God uses different ways to point out to us that we need to try it a different way. Sometimes He tells us through other people. Sometimes it's through something we read. Sometimes it's in a song. And that's why the song "Pushing on a Pull Door"means so much to me. Hearing for KING & COUNTRY sing that song live hit me hard. There's a line in the song that says, "Don't you hear me coming? I'm your wake up call." That right there, hearing them sing those words, was my wake up call. It made me realize that I've been trying to strengthen my relationship with Christ is the wrong ways. And that for KING & COUNTRY concert was the first step in starting to pull this door open instead of push it.

Maybe that song will do the same for you. Maybe reading this is your wake up call. Maybe you've already heard your wake up call. Wherever you're at, just remember, sometimes that door that we've always tried to push might actually need to be pulled open instead.

Push or pull, Christ is whispering which way to open that next door in your life.

FEARLESS 2013

Oh, how I love LifeTeen. I'm gonna be completely honest here — I have a slight obsession with the blogs on LifeTeen.com. I check back at least once a day to read the newest ones. But it's alright. Reading those blogs helps me try to be the best-version-of-myself everyday.

So while I was doing my daily website check the other day, I scrolled down the page to find a glorious blog post about LifeTeen's new theme for 2013: FEARLESS. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've heard the word a gazillion times. It's thrown around a lot, and I'm pretty sure it's even the name of one of T-Swift's albums. But for some reason when I read that blog post, it struck a different chord in me. It got me excited. It got me fired up. I felt like I could go take on a pack of vicious Ligers, okay maybe not.

But I felt a new strength. There are so many quotes and phrases out there about being fearless, and they were all running through my mind. A few of my favorites:

"Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence." -JP2


Sometimes the world seems like a crazy place with absolutely no hope for humanity. But Blessed John Paul II, who lived on this earth while we were here and was a total champ, is telling us that "all is very, very well." Not just well, or very well, but very VERY well. I believe him. Fear is not necessary. All is very, very well.

“Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity.” -JP2

I love this so much. Honestly, it's pretty easy to be mediocre. It's not difficult to let life happen to us, to get just-okay grades, to have surface level relationships with people, and to go through the motions. But it takes some guts and some serious faith to actually MAKE LIFE HAPPEN, to go deeper, to take some chances, to make some new friends, to love like crazy, and to really be the best-version-of-ourselves. It takes a FEARLESS attitude to make that happen. And yet again, this is what we're called to.

"Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!" —Mark 6:50

This is perfect. Even the disciples had some issues being fearless. They saw Jesus Christ himself walking on the water, and they were scared. They so terrified because they thought He was a ghost. When are times that we can see Christ so near to us, but we are afraid? Is He asking something of us? Are we saying yes to Him? Whatever it might be, take courage. Jesus is telling YOU: "Do not be afraid." It's time to be fearless. Because after Jesus said this to his disciples, He got in the boat with them and the wind died. Jesus is with you, too. He'll never abandon you. But we've gotta trust him.


2013 is a new start. Time to start being FEARLESS. 

ZEAL and ZEST

Last weekend at Mass, the Gospel reading told the story of Mary's visit to Elizabeth and Zechariah. Our priest Fr. Bill gave a rockin' homily last weekend about this reading. Of all the things that he mentioned, here's what stuck with me the most: zeal and zest. Two little words that mean so much (and they're pretty fun words to say, I might add).

Fr. Bill was referring to Mary's actions when he used these words. The Gospel reading said that Mary set out and traveled "in haste" to go see her cousin Elizabeth. She didn't just take her sweet time, she didn't stop every 10 minutes to rest, she didn't waste a second. She went out in haste. Mary knows her purpose. She knows what she's gotta do, and she does it.

That's where this idea of zeal comes from. Zeal means "fervent or enthusiastic devotion" (thank you, dictionary.com). Mary was definitely enthusiastic in her journeying to the house of Zechariah. Upon her arrival, Elizabeth's baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. It is Mary's zeal that bears the Holy Spirit.

This is what we are all called to: living with a zeal for joy, a zeal for souls, and a zeal for spreading the good news of Christ. Because when it comes down to it, our job is to get those around us to Heaven. Living authentic, dynamic, zealous lives is the only way we can make that happen.

So what about that other word I mentioned — zest? Fr. Bill, in his spiel about zeal, he mentioned the word zest. I don't entirely remember how that word related, or if he even meant to say it. But I liked it. I liked it a lot.

I don't know about you, but when I think of the word zest, I think of that zesty sauce from Burger King. (And I wonder why my brain jumps around so much when I'm trying to pay attention to the homilies every week...) While this might seem completely ridiculous, I think there's a connection here.

If you've ever tried that zesty sauce from Burger King, you'd know that it has a little zing to it. It's a little spicy — that kind of spicy that makes you raise your eyebrows after your first bite. And THAT is the kind of Catholics and people we should all strive to be. We want to be the kind of people who aren't just mild or boring like ketchup or mustard, but the kind of people who are full of energy and add some spice to life. We don't want to be the kind of people who just go with the flow, we should want to shake things up, change the societal norms, and stand out from the rest (after all, the word holy means "to be set apart").

And that's where zest and zeal come together. We just need to realize what God is calling us to do (big or small) and go after it with enthusiasm, not just go with the flow, but stand out, and make life happen. We're all called to be saints, and we've gotta start somewhere. So let's do this. Let's throw some zeal and some zest into every day.

@PONTIFEX

It's official. Pope Benedict XVI has entered the world of Twitter. And it couldn't have come at a better time. 

Yesterday, Monday Dec. 3, the pope's twitter was created, and within hours, he had more than 250,000 follows. Talk about popularity. Benedict is expected to post his first tweet at a general audience at the Vatican on Dec. 12. He is now accepting questions about matters of the faith using the hashtag #askpontifex, and he plans to use the Twitter account to answer these questions. 

If you ask me, this is pure genius. 

It's no secret that our society is becoming more and more focused on the media. And we've heard story after story about how technology is pulling people, especially the youth, away from their faith. But it doesn't have to be that way.

When Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media sites are used with purpose, they can, in fact, bring us closer to Christ and help us learn more about Him. And in all honesty, it is one of the most important ways to reach out to the youth of the Church today. Pope Benedict's smart move of joining Twitter has the potential to draw a great number of people into the Church and introduce them to the love that Christ has for them.

Blessed John Paul II put it best: "The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications MEDIA so as to let him have the full impact of the GOSPEL MESSAGE." 

What do we learn from this? That today's media has the potential to be the most effective tool is spreading Christ's message. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and all the other social media sites are here, and I don't think they're going anywhere any time soon. So since we've got them, we should use them. We have the ability to harness the media to reach unfathomable amounts of people. 

Papa Benny is doing it with his Twitter account.

Let's follow his lead. 

Social media, watch out. Catholicism is about to rock the world.  

Gotta Have HOPE

On Saturday, November 24th, Dr. Michael J. Feder entered the beautiful kingdom of Heaven. There's no doubt in my mind that he's up there doing cartwheels, playing soccer, and hanging with all his new best friends — Jesus and all those extraordinary saints. He lived an amazing life down here, but he's truly livin' it up up there.

The phrase we've all been using during Coach Feder's fight against cancer is "Gotta Have HOPE." It's on bracelets, it's the name of the nonprofit organization the Feders founded, it's been hashtagged a gazillion times on Twitter, and I'm sure it's been doodled on quite a few notebooks, as well.

In a class at St. Lawrence on Sunday night, John-Mark Miravalle said something that will stick with me forever: "Hope says, 'The best is yet to come.'" This means that we didn't lose hope when Coach Feder passed away... That was when we had the most hope — hope that we are made for more than this life, hope that Coach Feder would be joining John Paul II and all the other saints up in heaven, hope that our true home isn't here.

When I talked to Annelise on the phone tonight, she put it perfectly: "It's a reminder that we weren't made for this world. We were made for our home in heaven." We will ALWAYS have hope because we know that Coach is now up spending eternity with the Big Man, having the best 50th birthday party of all time in heaven.

Without hope, we can do absolutely nothing. Without hope, we can't truly live. Without hope, we live in fear. John Paul II tells us, "Do no be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity." Hope is what allows us to break free from that mediocrity of this world. We have to hope and act. One of the greatest things Coach Feder ever taught me is this: "You'll miss 100% of the shots you don't take." This means that we've gotta have hope and act on that hope, or else we'll get nowhere in life. Coach Feder is a fantastic example of a genuine man who lived out the virtue of hope. And now that he's up in heaven, we can pray through his intercession so he can help us increase this virtue in our own lives.

I know for a fact that we will never ever ever forget Coach Feder and the life lessons he taught us. Because FEDstrong isn't just for this earth, and Coach didn't lose his battle. FEDstrong is FOREVER because we know that he'll spend forever in the VICTORY of heaven with our Lord.

Mike Feder, pray for us.

#FEDstrongFOREVER

The End vs CARPE DIEM: Jesus' apocalyptic stories

Yesterday at Mass, we heard the Gospel about the end times coming. But when?? Well, that part we don't know... "But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Mark 13:32) 

Jesus doesn’t give us apocalyptic stories to scare us. He also doesn't tell them to us so that we spend our time trying to predict when He’s coming back… He tells us these stories so that we live everyday to be the person that we've always wanted to be. 

Fr. Mitch celebrated the 9 pm mass that I went to at St. Lawrence last night. His homily really hit me: “When Jesus goes apocalyptic, He is not just forwarding the apocalyptic story. He is fulfilling the story.  Jesus is the apocalypse.  He is the unveiling of all things as they really are... There is a point of no return for each one of us, a point where we either become the person we always wanted to become or we don't.”

In Jesus Christ, we are able to see ourselves how we REALLY are. And there is that point of no return. When we've done what we've done, and that's that. 

You know those things in life where we always say, "Yes. I'm totally doing this! ... tomorrow." What if there was no tomorrow? What if today was it? What would you do today? 

Carpe Diem. It means "seize the day." It's the idea that “Hey, TODAY is the day. Not tomorrow. Not two and a half weeks. Not 7 months. TODAY.” And finally getting down to actually becoming the person you’ve always wanted to be. As Pope John Paul II said it: "The future starts today, not tomorrow."

Today is your day. 

If you need to forgive someone, do it.

If you need to call someone and tell them you love them, do it.

If you need to reach out to someone to repair are fading friendship, do it. 

It's all up to you. 

Bob Goff, author of Love Does, put it perfectly: "Each of us gets to decide every time whether to lean in or step back—to say yes, ignore it, or tell God why he has the wrong person." God definitely doesn't have the wrong person... He wants you. He wants you and I to be the people that he created us to be. To say yes and become the person that we've always wanted to be. 

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” –St. Catherine of Siena. Let’s freaking set this world ABLAZE. Can you imagine how awesome it would be if Christ came back here to a flaming earth (in a good way!). If every single person here accepted the mission given to them by Christ, He would come back and this place would be like a huge Easy Bake oven that went up in flames…

So, hey, we’re here. Let's live everyday like it could be our last, and become the people that we've always wanted to be. 

Carpe Diem.