Fighting for SAINTHOOD

Every single one of us is called to be a saint. 

There. I said it. Because it's true. Let's practice saying it together. Right there, sitting in front of your computer or phone, say this with me. "LORD, I WANT TO BE A SAINT." You can repeat it if you want to. Maybe even turn it into a rap or something to sing over and over. Whatever fits your style. 

I constantly have to remind myself of this. Sometimes I forget. Sometimes I get caught up in the craziness of this world. Sometimes I think I'm not good enough to be a saint. And sometimes I just wonder why in the world God would even want me to be a saint. 

But He does. 

Our amazing God wants all of us to be holy, just as he himself is holy. When we truly live out this holiness, when we imitate our Lord, and when we choose Him in every situation, we move closer to the sainthood we are all called to. 

God doesn't just suggest that we be saints. HE MADE US TO BE SAINTS. We are like Christ's army of saints in this world. This is spiritual warfare we're talking about here. Our Lord needs his troops to assemble and prepare. 

Mother Teresa puts it best: "The church needs fighters today. The church of God needs saints today." Not tomorrow. Not in 12 days. Not next January. Today. Because as Mark Hart once said, "Putting off holiness until tomorrow means the devil has won today." 

So Christ is commissioning us — you and me — to fight for him in his army. We've gotta step up to the front lines. But here's the real question... how in the world do we actually do that? 

-Standing up for the our faith when other students, professors, or anyone are talking falsely about the Church.

-Loving our family and those closest to us. Be present. Be patient. Radiate joy. 

-Singing at mass. Loud and proud, my friends. The Big Man can hear it upstairs. 

-Filling up our lives with Christ. Through prayer, spiritual direction, adoration, Mass, etc. 

-Loving EVERYONE. 

Christ is calling each of us to step up to the front lines. He's calling each of us to be saints. And the best way for us to do that is to be ourselves. Be unique. Be genuine. And be perfectly ourselves. 

Because the saints are just like us. Ordinary people. I was reading a book by Mother Teresa today, and the end describes her life a little bit. It said that she went to a public school. She attended catechism classes to learn more. And she had a special interest in reading about the lives of saints... I thought to myself... "That sounds just like me!" And there's a saint out there who's just like you too. Saints are just like us — Ordinary people who live extraordinary lives. 

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. 

It's time to RUN A PLAY

"It's time for us to break from the huddle and actually run a play." — Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman

You might be wondering why in the world Fr. Mitch and I were talking about football. But the truth is, we weren't talking about football at all. We were talking about this thing called EVANGELIZATION. 

On Good Friday, St. Lawrence put on the Stations of the Cross on campus. Acting out the stations from Spooner Hall all the way to the crucifixion on Wescoe Beach definitely got some attention. Some people joined our walk as we passed by, others stopped to take pictures, some asked us what in the world we were doing, and some people just stopped and stared. It was crazy awesome.

So after we did stations on campus, a few of us had an awesome talk with Fr. Mitch about how us Catholics are really good Catholics at the St. Lawrence Center and places where faith is in the air, but we do a pretty crappy job of bringing Jesus out of those St. Lawrence walls, onto campus, and ino the world. There are SO many people who are right outside of our little "Catholic bubble" and want to get in. It's our job to find those people and welcome them, guide them, and bring them in.

That's when Fr. Mitchel said that "We need to break from the huddle and actually run a play." He means that we've had our little huddle, we know what we need to do to spread Christ's love, but now it's time that we actually run that play and go out and do it.

Sister Clara said it in an amazing way too. She says that we're call to "Live on the edge" — meaning that we should always be seeking out those people who are just on the outside of that "Catholic bubble." We should always be looking to pull them in, to explain the faith to them if they have questions or misunderstandings, to invite them to hang out with us, to let them know what's going on at St. Lawrence or around our parish, to let them know that they are always welcome because Christ thirsts for their love just as much as he thirsts for ours. 

Check out this passage from Luke 10: "Jesus said to them, 'The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few, so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.'" 

You and me. He is sending us. He's trying to clue us into the fact that there's so much potential good out there inside people, but no one is there to plant that seed and make it happen. That needs to be us. That seed could be an invitation to come to St. Lawrence, a smile or nice greeting toward someone who's having a bad day, a conversation about Christ, or simply letting someone know that you're praying for them. 

Christ needs us to be those laborers going out to the harvest. And sometimes it might feel like we're the "lambs among wolves," but Christ is always there with us. He wouldn't send us out there without preparing us and watching over us. So now is our time. 

Let's go out and be laborers of the harvest.
Let's live on the edge.
Let's break from the huddle and actually run a play. 

Wait, He did ALL of that for US? Yep.

IT'S HOLY WEEK 2013. OH YES.

So as you might know, my roommate and I are the Youth Ministers for the 6th graders at St. John's parish in Lawrence, KS, and last night we did a super cool activity with our kiddos.

We went through the stations of the cross, from Jesus's point of view — all the torture, all the sorrow, all the emotions, all the details. After every station we had them write down on a sticky note how Jesus must have felt, or what was going through his head. Their understanding of it was so much deeper than I ever thought it would be. Some of their answers to what was going through Jesus's mind absolutely blew me away: "Why me, Father?" ... "I want to give up, but I must press on." ... "I'm trying to make others feel good, Lord, but I can't." ... "I'm done trying." ... "Embarrassed." ... "What did I do to deserve this?"... "Abandoned."

Then we read them the Easter Gospel of the women returning to the tomb to find that Jesus was not there because he had risen from the dead. They wrote down how they would have felt if they were one of the women. Again, their answers were excellent: "God, how can this be?" ... "Joy and happiness." ... "In awe of the sight." ... "Confused but joyful."

When we looked at the two poster boards, one was flooded with sticky notes — everything Jesus went through for us — and the other had just a few — our joy and happiness.

This is just a simple representation of how much Christ endured, so that we wouldn't have to. He took on the burden of the cross — all of our sins — and he went through embarrassment, betrayal, torture, ridicule, sheer pain, and the ultimate sacrifice, death. He did all of that so that we wouldn't have to. Yes, every once in a while we have to go through some of these things, and take part in the suffering of Christ, but we never have to go through the agony of what Jesus went through for us.

That is love.

So this Holy Week, go through the stations and really dive into the beauty of what Christ did for YOU. He was thinking of you when he picked up that cross. He was thinking of you when he had the strength to get up from his falls. He was thinking of you as the centurions pounded nails through his palms. And he was thinking of you as he bowed his head and died on that wooden cross.

Will you accept this rose?

I guess I should start this by admitting something: I do watch the Bachelor. Every week. And I get pretty into it. My roommates and I yell at the TV when we think Sean sent the wrong girl home. That's how we roll. You can judge me, you can agree with you, you can laugh at me — whatever you'd like. But this is how it is. Okay, now that I've established that, I can move on. 

I love The Bachelor. It's entertaining to watch. It's cool to see all the interesting, extravagant destinations they visit. I always get a good laugh watching the girl drama in the house. It's interesting to see how different all of their relationships with Sean are. Watching Tierra do anything she could to get Sean's attention was pretty hilarious for a while. And I definitely won't complain about the fact that God blessed Sean with a very attractive body either. :)

I don't think there's anything wrong with watching the Bachelor, but I think the most important thing about watching it is this: recognizing that the show is fake fake fake fake fake. It's fun to watch, but I definitely don't believe this show is what REAL LOVE is all about. We all have a desire to love and be loved — it's human. But this show is not how we should learn to really love. 

Real love doesn't mean going on ridiculous extravagant dates in Thailand or somewhere else across the planet. Real love doesn't mean kissing every five seconds (especially on camera... weird). Real love doesn't mean seriously pursuing like seven women at the same time. Real love doesn't mean talking all about how much you're "in love" in front of the camera to millions of people watching on TV... That's Hollywood love.

Real love is about loving someone as Christ loves us. Real love is about doing the little everyday things with love. Real love is about sacrificing for one another. Real love is about committing to ONE person's heart, and being their best friend FOREVER. 

At St. Lawrence classes last week, John-Mark was talking about what we have to do to change our culture that confuses sex for love. What he said is that men have to learn to WIN, CHERISH, and COMMIT to a woman's heart. That's something that sets real love apart from "Bachelor love." Sean might be "crazy about" four different girls (considering he uses that line about 29 times every week), but has he actually won, cherished, or seriously committed to any ONE of these women?

But there is one guy who will win, cherish, and commit to every single one of our hearts. JESUS. You knew that one was comin' didn't you? But it's true. He's the Man. 

In the Sacred Liturgies class at St. Lawrence, Fr. Steve said something I will NEVER forget. He said "The readings at mass are more than just a letter from St. Paul to the Philippians or whoever... They're a letter from JESUS to YOU." Mind blown. So at the end of the second reading last Sunday, it said "You, brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown..." That wasn't just St. Paul talking to those Philippians. It was Jesus talking to you and me. Telling us He loves us. Telling us that He longs for us. That we are His joy. That means a lot.

So the next time Sean is passing out those red roses at the Rose Ceremony and you can feel your emotional chastity levels tanking because you wish your life was like that... Don't worry. We don't want those roses anyway. Jesus' garden of roses that He has for us is full of REAL love. He's our Man. :) 

Open my eyes, Lord.

It's no secret: I have some serious vision problems. 

Through my eyes, anything that's more than 5 feet away from my face is blurry. It's a bit of a problem. So I wear contacts. But right now, I'm working on getting a new pair of glasses. They're kind of important.

When I don't have my glasses on or contacts in, I'm totally out of it. Putting on a pair of glasses gives a me a new perspective. It makes everything more clear. It gets me in the zone.

But do you know my favorite zone to be in? The spiritual zone. I flippin' love this zone. I wish we were in the spiritual zone all the time. And the best news is... WE CAN BE. 

Fr. Curtis gave a homily yesterday that was all about that — those spiritual zones or "spiritual peaks." He was saying how in the gospel, we saw Jesus's transfiguration... from the ordinary to the extraordinary. And that's exactly how our lives can be too. If we put ourselves in a Christ-filled atmosphere (setting aside time for prayer, attending a retreat, going to daily mass, going to a great Catholic camp, etc), God can transform the ordinary in our lives into the extraordinary, where we can experience "spiritual peaks." 

Getting in these spiritual zones or peaks is all about our preparation, and God's grace. We have to meet Him half way by putting ourselves in a place to receive the grace, mercy and love God has for us. It's just like putting on a pair of glasses. Once you put them on, you can see so much more. 

It makes me think of that praise and worship song: "Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see Your face. Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see." 

Unfortunately, my glasses aren't really going to help me see Christ. We have to open our HEARTS to see our Lord, and experience all of the extraordinary things He has in store for us.

Open our eyes, Lord. Help us to see Your face.  

MASS and KU Basketball

As KU students, Jayhawk basketball is a good portion of what we live for this time of year. The tradition, the suspense, the excitement... We're all in.

One of the craziest traditions we have at KU is camping at Allen Fieldhouse for basketball games. Every day leading up to basketball games, we all get in our camping groups, sign up for time slots on big Google Calendar spreadsheets, and devote hours and hours everyday to camping out in Allen Fieldhouse just so we can get in and get a good seat. We'd do just about anything to get into the building.

When game-day finally arrives,  everyone is ready to go. We're all decked out in our KU gear — sporting our basketball jerseys, reppin' our crimson and blue necklaces, many girls have a sunflower in their hair, and dozens of "punny"basketball signs are lifted enthusiastically into the air, trying to catch the camera's attention. Everyone is fully engaged.

Of course, our favorite parts of the games are when Ben McLemore slams in a crazy dunk or when Jeff Withey pulls out a huge block. The crowd goes CRAZY with emotion. Jumping up in excitement, stomping our feet, sitting down and standing back up to distract the other team's free throw shooter, and eventually waving the wheat. Everything we do has a purpose, and we do it all with insane enthusiasm.

Kansas basketball games are a huge deal here. We love 'em, we get prepared for 'em, and we thrive in the CRAZY atmosphere of Allen Fieldhouse.

But there's an event that's even more FANTASTIC, more exciting, more meaningful, and more important than KU basketball games... The holy sacrifice of the Mass.

What if we prepared for mass and were as enthusiastic about mass as we are for Kansas basketball games? Let's take a look at this...

If we all truly understood just how beautiful, precious, and amazing the Mass is, we would be camping out in front of the church days in advance, just to get inside to be with our Lord. We would be dressed in our nicest clothes to show our love and respect for our Savior who's waiting inside for us. We would actually mean everything that we say and do during the Mass. And we would be SO prepared, mentally and spiritually, by the time we got in there to be with and receive Jesus.

Wouldn't that be crazy awesome??? I'm gonna answer my own question: Yeah, it would.

We might not go at it quite like that, but there are definitely a few ways that we can focus on changing our approach about Mass. Here are a few things we can all work on so we can get the most out of the Mass:

1. Check out the readings BEFORE going to Mass.
If we know what's going to be read, we'll be more like to pay attention, instead of dozing off.

2. Do some kind of studying about the Gospel before Mass. 
Mark Hart's "Beyond Words" videos on LifeTeen.com are super helpful in better understanding the Gospel reading and learning how exactly it relates to our lives today.

3. Bring your joys, intentions, and sacrifices to the altar at Mass with you. 
There's that part of the Mass when the priest says, "Pray, my brothers and sisters, that OUR sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father." OUR sacrifice. Not just the priest's. All of our sacrifices. Christ wants us to bring all our joys, all our sorrows, all our everyyyything up to the altar, and turn it over to Him.

4. Dress to impress (Jesus).

I know that I'm terrible at this, and really need to work on it... Jesus is a King, in fact, He's THE King. And we should definitely try to look our best for our King. Classy and modest (because modesty is hottesty).

5. Understand and actually mean what we say and do.
There is SO much awesomeness packed into the mass, and there are so many things we say and do. All of these things have meaning — even every time we stand up, sit down, kneel, or anything... It's all for a reason. We can all work on being enthusiastic about everything we say and do, and actually meaning the prayers we say and the songs we sing.

Hopefully, if we all put some of these things into practice, we can turn our parishes and campus centers into places full of teenagers who are FIRED UP about going to mass and getting involved. And if you really wanted to camp out all week for a spot at mass, you'd be my hero.

FIRED UP FOR OUR GOD >>> BEWARE OF THE PHOG.
(Wouldya look at that, it even rhymes... sort of.)

Short quotes... BIG IDEAS.

During the month of January, I've been keeping a list of some fantastic quotes I've come across. Some are hilarious, some are super deep, but they're all inspiring and can teach us a lot. So here's the list I've compiled. Enjoy them, share them, live them. :)


"The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness."
— Therese of Lisieux

"Want to see a miracle? Plant a world of love heartdeep in a person's life. Nurture it with a smile and a prayer, and watch what happens." — Max Lucado

"Don't love people the way that Hallmark says to love people; love them linebacker style, in a full contact way." — Bob Goff, Love Does

"We are reminded that love does things. It writes letters and gets on a plane. It orders pizza and jumps in a lake. It hugs and prays and cries and sings." — Bob Goff, Love Does

"Feel your heart being moved and do something about it." — Fr. Scott at Mass at SJA

"Saints are not freaks or exceptions. They are the standard operating model for human beings." —Dr. Peter Kreeft

"Transforming people one at a time is at the heart of God's plan for the world." —Matthew Kelly, The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic

"Every family needs a cornerstone of prayer to pray for the family, now and in the future... In each generation, each family needs at least one of these men and women of faithful prayer to guide and protect it." —Matthew Kelly, The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic

"To love another person is to see the face of God." —Les Miserables

"God loves us too much to compromise on our happiness." —Leah Darrow

"Let my life be the proof, the proof of your love. How you lived, how you died. Love and sacrifice." — for KING & COUNTRY

"The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness." —Pope Benedict XVI