Weak Flesh

Well, here we are. Ash Wednesday. Fasting. Prayer. Ashes. More Fasting.

Every year I find fasting difficult. All I want to do is complain about how hungry I am and how much I dislike doing it. I say that I understand why we do it, but then when I really think about it, I realize that I don't understand the point. I know Jesus did it. I know other holy people do it. But what's the point of fasting? How can it help me, an average girl, trying to get to heaven?

Our flesh is weak. If you don't think yours is, think about how much you've sinned just in the past week. This isn't meant to be depressing, but it's a fact. We sin and we're weak. When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, he asked his disciples to do one thing: "stay awake and pray." It was a simple request but they couldn't even do that. Why not? Because as it says in Matthew:

"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; 

the spirit indeed is will but the flesh is weak." 

- Matthew 26:41

We have weak flesh. But we have good hearts and if we're willing to work hard and try to overcome our sin and weakness, then we are capable of doing great things for God.

But how does fasting help us with this? One of my friends wrote a great article on fasting, which you can see here, but in case you don't have time to read it, I wanted to share one of the quotes here:

"The primary reason for fasting is to help us acquire mastery over our passions, our instincts, and our sins.  By denying ourselves a pleasure, we increase our capability to deny our temptations and, ultimately, with the grace of God, to overcome sin. 

In denying ourselves, we also engage in a small martyrdom, a death to self, 

which prepares us for the Cross"

The way I look at it, if we can eat less food for a day, we have at least a small amount of self-control. Self-control is key to mastering sin and becoming a better person. Sooo, fasting is good way to practice this and attain the virtue of temperance.

Another good reason for fasting can be found in this quote from a missionary:

"Fasting helps express, deepens, confirms the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, 

even ourselves to attain what we seek for the Kingdom of God."

Fasting is a great way to practice self-denial and show that we are willing to sacrifice things for Christ. He died on a cross for us - I think the least we could do is sacrifice eating as much for a day.

Lenten Overachiever

So Lent is coming. Usually I hate Lent. It's always been my least favorite time of the year. I mean, come on, who really likes giving up meat on Fridays and eating nothing sweet for 40 days? That's pure torture! Not to mention that I really hate seafood of all kind, so it's hard to eat on Fridays.


But Ash Wednesday is tomorrow, and this is usually the moment where I start frantically trying to think of something, anything to do for Lent. And in my scramble for ideas, I usually choose all of them and end up with unrealistic, unattainable, and un....well un-something else goals. I become a Lenten Overachiever who is discouraged and frustrated by the end of Lent.

Last year, however, I decided that I really didn't want to hate Lent and I wanted to get something out of it. I mean, it's supposed to be a time of growth - in virtues, not vices. It's not supposed to stress you out to the point that you end up sinning more than repenting. So rather than give all kinds of things up, I decided to do something - something simple, yet hard. I decided to make it my goal to have a daily prayer time - no matter what.

Practically speaking, this meant that each day I gave up whatever got in my way for praying. Some days it was facebook. Other days it meant not going out for drinks with my friends. Some times it meant getting a little less sleep that night because I didn't get to go pray sooner. (I usually pray at night). Whatever it was, I refused to let anything stop me from praying each day.

By the end of Lent last year, three things had happened:

1) My prayer life was much better
2) I didn't hate Lent anymore, and I came to see it as a time of growth and development
3) I wasn't stressed or mad at myself for not attaining impossible goals

Since last year though, my prayer life has once again become less of a priority in my life due to craziness (and all kinds of other excuses), so I decided that I will be trying my simplified Lenten challenge again this year. Whatever gets in the way of daily prayer is out. Facebook, friends, sleep, fun, etc.

I found this quote online and thought it was fitting. :)

My challenge to you, particularly if you're a Lenten Overachiever like me, is to really consider what you're doing for Lent. What is your goal? What are you trying to attain or grow in by the end?

If you're doing a lot of things simply to show off how holy you are or how much you can do, then you're acting just like the Pharisees Jesus reprimands for being hypocrites.

So this Lent, don't be a Pharisee - be Christ. Be Love. Be Joy. Be an example. 

Do something that will help you grow in virtue, not vice.

Tolerance - Total Lack of Conviction?

Tolerance. Lack of conviction. Trying to please everyone. We all know people like this. They don't want to step on anyone's toes, so they refuse to state their opinion and seemingly never stand up for anything.

Our country has become a place of tolerance. When many people first came to America it was to escape religious persecution. They were looking for a place that would allow them to practice their religion in peace. They wanted freedom.

But I would suggest to you that our country is less about freedom and more about tolerance in many ways. And I would also suggest that this will hurt our country far more than it will help it.

It is one thing to tolerate someone's opinion on something such as which ice cream flavor is better. In the long run, does it really matter if mint chocolate chip is better or if cookie dough is? The simple answer is no. People are entitled to have their opinions and when we disagree with them, sometimes tolerance is an acceptable answer.

But when it comes to things of a moral nature, tolerance is not the answer. As we approach the 42nd year since abortion was made legal in our country, I think it is necessary to ask ourselves what we have done about this fact. Are we still righteously angry about this problem? Have we taken any steps to try to overturn this decision? Have we contacted our representatives and senators about how we feel? Have we prayed outside of abortion clinics? Have we supported our local crisis pregnancy centers?

Or have we let ourselves become complacent? Have we fallen into a mindset of "it's their choice, not mine," or "it's not my body," or "as long as it doesn't affect me, I don't care what they do." Have we lost our convictions? These statements (and others like them) are a form of tolerance. G.K. Chesterton said it so well when he said the following statement:

I think most of us would be offended if someone told us that they thought we lacked conviction. Most of us have convictions about something, whether it's about something moral or something as simple as which type of car is safer to drive.

But do our actions and words reflect our convictions? Are we willing to stand up for what we believe in or will we simply tolerate the things we do not? I would suggest to you that the more we tolerate things and the less we stand for, the more our country (and our world) will deteriorate into a society where people are "free" to do whatever they want, without regard to anyone else. Alexander Hamilton said it well when he said the following:

Take a look at your life, your beliefs and convictions. Think about how you may have become complacent or tolerant to things and try to find a way to become more convicted and stand up for what you believe in.

Procrastination is the Art of Perfection

I'm gonna be really honest here, I'm not sure what my title means. It sounded poetic. It has repeating "p" sounds, but they're not in a row, so I guess they're not considered alliteration. Can you tell that I have written 3 papers in the last week? My brain is a little fried and I'm running on caffeine right now since I went to bed this morning around 5:30am. Does it even count as going to bed if it's that late? Or is that early?

This is my last semester of college. I'm really excited about it, although I've been too busy working on projects and assignments to really contemplate what being done with school FOREVER means. Maybe next week I'll have more time to think about it.

Teachers are funny, you know that? This Saturday is the start of finals, but all my teachers made papers due this week, BEFORE finals. I suppose that's to help us not have to study for a test AND write a paper, but I think I would have preferred that they let me make that decision on my own.

Procrastination. A word that college students know well. Sometimes I do it because I'm unmotivated. Sometimes I do it because I'm stressed. More often than not, I do it simply because I don't want to complete the assignment.

Up until this point I cared a lot about my grades. Like a lot. I did not want anything below a B- on my transcript. But that changed this semester. This has been the busiest semester of my life. Like seriously, CRAZY busy. I've never had so much homework or so many assignments. I cut back my hours at work from 15 to 10 a week. I've never had to do that. I'm busy and overwhelmed, yet I continue to procrastinate.I care about my grades, just not an obsessive amount.

"I like to tell myself that I'm procrastinating 

because I work better under stress."

I suppose there might be some truth to that statement. I mean, stress can be motivating. After all, I didn't stay up until 5:30am this morning because I wanted to get a "D" on my paper. I want an "A." Probably should have tried to finish it a little sooner though ;)

But there are perks - that rush of adrenaline you get after your second wind, that's powerful. Last night I felt like I could conquer the world - and I honestly think my paper turned out great!

So perhaps this is what I mean when I say,

"Procrastination is the Art of Perfection."

Sometimes a little procrastination and a little extra stress are just the motivation you need to do well on something.....I'll let you know how my paper turns out ;)

Until next time, good luck and remember:

What Really Matters - Persecuted Christians

Excuse me while I vent about something that really matters - and I don't mean the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I mean the persecution and horrible massacre of people in Iraq. Have you read any of the articles that have been posted on facebook? And I mean really read them....to the end...where there are incredibly graphic pictures of the horrible things happening.

I did. Just yesterday. Up until yesterday I had dismissed all the articles popping up on my news feed. Up until yesterday I had assumed that what was going on was nothing more than what normally happens in the middle east. Then I read an article that changed my mind.

When I clicked on the article, I actually read through it, learning the facts of what is really going on in the Middle East. Then I got to the warning. The warning that told me that there were graphic pictures following. I hesitated a second before scrolling down. What I saw made me sick.

There were several images of heads without bodies - real people's heads. People who only a few moments or hours or days ago had been alive. People who were living and breathing and living life like you and me.

There were images of people being beheaded. And I don't mean with a sword or an ax or something that ends your life relatively quickly and can be considered a more "humane" way of killing someone.

When I say "people being beheaded," what I mean is that there were terrorists sawing off people's heads with butter knives. Freaking butter knives. Excuse my language, but if that doesn't hurt like hell and dehumanize people, I don't know what would.

(See the Article I Read Here: http://www.catholic.org/news/international/middle_east/story.php?id=56339 )

I'm not making this stuff up. This is what is going on in the Middle East. This is a problem - a huge problem that is going on today, in our world, in our lives. What are we going to do about it?

I'm sick of just sitting around doing nothing. The problem with this situation is that there really is nothing I can do about it - on my own anyway. We need to raise awareness about this problem. We need to change it. We need to help these people.

Don't get me wrong, the ALS disease is a real problem. And if this Ice Bucket challenge raises both money and awareness, more power to them (just make sure you donate somewhere that isn't supporting embryonic stem cell research).

But while you're out raising awareness about ALS, consider raising awareness about the current persecution and problems happening in Iraq and join me in praying for an end to all of this.

Boredom Doesn't Exist

Boredom doesn't exist.

Let me elaborate. In my Philosophy of the Human Person class, we had a discussion about something we called the "boredom delusion." Bored/Boredom were words that did not exist until more recent times. From what I can tell from my research, Charles Dickens was possibly the first person to use it in writing, which would be around 1852.

What does this mean for us? Boredom is a fairly new development; it's a little over 160 years old. What is boredom? According to the Oxford Dictionaries, Bored means the following: "Feeling weary and impatient because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one’s current activity."

While I agree that people do experience boredom from time to time, I would like to propose that we cause ourselves to be bored. We live in a culture where we are constantly surrounded by technology, movies, sports, and a go-go-go attitude. Therefore when there is silence and time to actually think or be productive, we deem ourselves to be bored.

Boredom is often simply an excuse to avoid responsibility. My professor said the following statement in class: "It [boredom] exists for people who don't want to do what they have to do and want to do what they want." Think about it. When I was little I would go to my mom and tell her I was bored. She always assured me that she could give me something to do (usually a chore). I immediately left the room and found something to keep me busy. Suddenly I wasn't bored anymore.

Boredom is also a sign that you have a lack of meaning in your life. If you constantly sit around on your computer or cellphone and don't go out and do productive, meaningful things, you're likely to find yourself in a state of boredom. And whose fault is that?

When you give in to boredom and give up on searching for meaning in your life, you'll find yourself searching for something to fill up your life. This can lead to consumerism (shopping because you're bored....anyone, ladies?), improper use of technology (hours and hours on facebook or video games), and just generally missing out on the opportunities that life offers you.

As I was searching for quotes to share in this post, I came across this powerful one:

"Life is never boring but some people choose to be bored. The concept of boredom entails an inability to use up present moments in a personally fulfilling way. Boredom is a choice; something you visit upon yourself, and it is another of those self-defeating items that you can eliminate from your life." - Wayne W. Dyer

How do we solve this problem of boredom? I propose we get off of our computers, couches, beds, and search for meaning in our lives. Do a kind deed for someone else. Go out for coffee with a friend. Invest your time in something worthwhile that will last longer than a 5minute youtube video.

Remember, boredom doesn't exist unless we let it. 

Everyone Smiles in the Same Language

"Everyone smiles in the same language." This quote was something I thought about a LOT while I was in Haiti. See, most of the people down there speak little to no English. Everyone speaks Creole, a French dialect, so communication was very interesting.

I went down there knowing that we didn't all speak the same language, but not really knowing just how much that would impact our mission trip. As much as I would have liked to talk about God, I just wanted to be able to talk about anything! But that's not the way it worked out. So I got very good at smiling at people.

It seems like I've heard multiple stories of people who were depressed with life and didn't feel that it was worth living, but then someone smiled at them or even just said hi and their perspective changed. So I decided to use the only common language I had: a smile.

On Monday, we woke up and had Mass at 7am, bright and early. After Mass, we ate breakfast and then went to help serve lunch to the children. I guess I should explain more about what the mission does. They run a school for about 800 children, from pre-school age up through 6th grade. School days are from 8am-12pm and each day the children line up in front of the main building to sing the National Anthem and then they proceed to their classrooms, grabbing a piece of bread to eat along the way. And as they walk to class, they sing a song that says "Thank you, God, Thank you."

The kids lining up and singing before school starts.

Grabbing bread while walking to class

Anyway, after we had eaten, we went to help with serving food to the kids. Because the school day is so short and there are so many of them, the men and women making the food begin serving around 9:30/10ish. The next few pictures describe the setup of everything and how it all works. Basically all the food is cooked outdoors in massive quantities, dished up, and served to the kids.

The "fire pits" where the women cook the food

In the middle of cooking

The bowls/food we served the children.

Here are some pictures of us serving the kiddos....as well as a classroom picture.

Mrs. Shoup handing out food

Lauren and Abigail serving food

One of the classrooms....very much like an outdoor pavilion.

Once we were done serving and the children had left for the day, we ate lunch and then went to pick egg plant from the field where the mission grows a bunch of different vegetables. Here is the end result of our picking for the afternoon:

Eggplant!

And that was pretty much the summary of our first day, Monday. I just really learned a lot about smiling and how valuable it is in communicating - especially when it's your only form of communication. Just look at this beautiful child and how can you not smile?