GIVEN UP FOR YOU: Every single day

Tonight at Praise and Worship Adoration night at St Lawrence at KU, we sang this amazing song called "The Stand." There's this part of the song where it says "You stood before MY failures, and carried the cross for MY shame. MY sin weighed upon your shoulders. My soul now to stand." Just think about that for a sec. CHRIST suffered for YOU and ME. When He was up on that cross, what was on His mind? You and me. Crazy.

But here's the craziest part: The death and resurrection of Christ happens EVERY SINGLE DAY in the Eucharist at Mass. So every single day He's thinking of you and me, and giving up His life for OUR failure, shame, and sin. Everyday. 

Once I thought of that, I was thinking... Wow, He does all that for us every single day? So that means that every single day, He should be on our minds, and we should make an effort to praise Him. Yeah, there are days when life seems like it sucks, but Christ is still carrying us on those days, too.

He didn't just suffer for us once, he does it all the time in the Mass. So our constant gift of ourselves to Him can't just be a one-time thing either. We can't just have a cool conversion of heart on Kairos, TEC, Koinonia, at Camp Tekakwitha, Steubenville, etc. and think that that's good enough. We've gotta live out that change of heart every single day, just like Jesus does for us. :)

If you remember one thing from all of this, just remember: Christ shows his love for us every single day, so the least we can do is make an effort everyday to show our love for Him and those around us. 

"The Stand" by Hillsong

You stood before creation
Eternity in your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand

You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon your shoulders
My soul now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart, Oh God
Completely to you

So I'll walk upon salvation
Your spirit alive in me
This life to declare your promise
My soul now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart, Oh God
Completely to you

I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the one who gave it all
I'll stand
My soul Lord to you surrendered
All I am is yours

Guardian Angels: Better than any other security guards

I was just on LifeTeen.com, reading a pretty stinkin' great blog by Mark Hart about Guardian Angels. And since today (Oct. 2) is the Catholic Church's Feast Day in honor of Guardian Angels, I totally got to thinking... What does my guardian angel look like? What does he do for me? 

So from that point, my mind went into small-child imagination mode. And here are a few characteristics I've come up with for the angel who's always got my back:

1. Football pads —I like to think that my guardian angel is like my crazy awesome protector, sent down from God. So it makes sense to me for him to have some serious armor for all that business. "Therefore, put on the armor of GOd, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground" (Ephesians 6:13). Football pads seems like the perfect answer. Lookin' legit and holding down the fort.

2. Rainbow-colored wings (and lots of them) — All angels should have wings, right? So why not have tons of them and make them colorful? Remember that show Dragon Tales from back in the day? I've gotta give them props for their colorful wings. And as for how many wings... The more the merrier. "How precious is your love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings" (Psalm 36:8). I'm thinking that more wings means more shelter. Yes, please.

3. A shield like Captain America's — I'm picturing a sweet shield that blocks out ANYTHING. A shield that relies on the power of God. A shield of FAITH. "In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16). But instead of a big star in the middle of the shield, he'll have a huge Kairos cross on his. My guardian angel is a champ.

4. A Rosary — Finally, I was thinking about all the crazy weapons he could have to fight off anybody who tries to come at me... I'd thought of swords, baseball bats, nun chucks, and all of those things... But I don't want to underestimate the power of prayer here. Instead of attacking my enemies, my guardian angel can "kill 'em with kindness." The Rosary is the perfect weapon. It calls upon our Heavenly Mother, who NEVER loses a fight. As we hear in The Memorare, "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy PROTECTION, implored thy HELP, or sought thine INTERCESSION was left unaided." Mary can totally help my guardian angel show people who's boss. The Rosary packs a powerful punch.

So how do you picture your guardian angel?

However it is, just know that he or she ALWAYS has your back, and is ALWAYS protecting you and helping you carry out the will of God.

Guardian Angels, PRAY FOR US.

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.