Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

Well.  I had a post on my trip to Rome just about finished, but then I heard some news this morning.  I figured this was a bit more important…

This morning, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he is stepping down from his place as Supreme Pontiff; he is resigning.  Needless to say, the Church (and the world) were shocked.  And rightly so: this hasn’t happened in 600 years.  I believe in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope has resigned a total of 5 or 6 times.  So it’s a bit of an “unknown”- no one exactly knows how this is all going to work out.

Now, because I’m at a Catholic University, studying in Europe for the semester, this event hits a little closer to home.  After the initial “freak-out-oh-my-gosh-Is-This-Happening?-THIS-IS-HAPPENING!”, we all realized how incredible it is that we are on this side of the ocean, right now.

~~~~

14 days ago, Grace and I were standing in St. Peter’s Square, listening to a performance at some sort of a youth cultural event, counting down the minutes until we got to see Pope Benedict.  We cheered as loud as anyone when he emerged from the window, and even though we couldn’t understand a word of what he said in the address (except for “Carpe Diem!”), it was thrilling to be there, in front of the Vatican, along with thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We prayed the Angelus in Latin with him, and he gave us a blessing.  I felt ridiculous for crying, but it really couldn’t be helped: he’s our father, Christ’s representative here on earth, and I was meeting him for the first time.  The added bonus was returning to Austria and finding out that we were shown for over 10 seconds of a video on not only Rome Reports, but EWTN.  

~~~~

Every semester, Franciscan University provides the students an opportunity to go to Rome and Assisi for 10 days.  We will be getting on a bus the same day that Pope Benedict steps down.  We will arrive in Rome on March 2, potentially in the middle of or at the beginning of a conclave.  We could be present for the election of a new Pope.

OK, so here’s the neat part.  The University may not be able to get us into the Vatican Museums; Grace and I went on a private tour of the Museums and saw the Sistine Chapel with less than 100 people inside.  It may be difficult to really see the Basilica while there are so many people there; Grace and I saw that already.  We even saw part of the crypt and had Mass at St. Peter’s tomb… Really, though!  This has to be God’s doing!

In a mere 19 days, I will once again be standing in St. Peter’s Square.  This time, though, I will literally be part of history.  I really can’t wait.

If you are Catholic, please, please pray for our Pope as he finishes his last days as Pontiff.  I can’t imagine the amount of humility he has in order to accept that his health isn’t good enough to adequately lead the Church.  Pray for the Cardinals who are preparing to elect a new leader for us.  (If you are not Catholic, please still pray for our Church!)

May God bless Pope Benedict XVI as he begins this next stage in his life and as he enters a life of prayer for the Church!

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol 3)

(hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary)

--1--

I didn't mention it in my last post, but my great-aunt passed away last week.  It was fairly sudden and we're still trying to get everything in order.  I'm sure my whole family would greatly appreciate your prayers for her soul, and for the family's peace.

--2--

The longer I am in my Principles of Biblical Studies class, the more I get excited about Theology and the Bible.  my high school scripture class was what convinced me that I needed to major in Theology in the first place, and this class is confirming that.  We just learn so many fascinating things, and almost every class, I have that "Catholic nerd" moment when I look at Grace and say "Oh-my-goodness-this-is-so-amazing!!!!!!"  Unfortunately, when I attempt to share my joy with others, they usually don't quite understand my excitement about learning that, for example, there were so many sacrifices at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem (when it was built by Solomon), that they had to wash it out, so blood and water flowed out of the side of the temple.  Jump forward a couple centuries, and blood and water flowed out of Jesus' side on the cross!!  How amazingly awesome and beautiful is that??

--3--

Last night, I had the opportunity to go to a Byzantine Divine Liturgy here on campus!  I had been to one before, in 8th grade, but when I had gone before, we didn't have booklets, so we couldn't really participate.  So, for clarification, I am a Roman Catholic, and this was a liturgy in the Byzantine rite, so it was a liturgy of St. John Chrysostom  who was a bishop of Constantinople.  It was really beautiful and made me think a lot about what was going on, mainly because I had no idea what was coming next.  I would love to go again and hopefully participate more this time!

--4--

When I go home, I am going to sleep until I wake up on my own.  No alarm.  Enough said.

--5--

I made pumpkin bars over break!  And they were quite yummy, if I do say so myself... I got the recipe from Stephanie at Little Bit of Paradise and her Thanksgiving Desserts post.  Although, I have to admit, I didn't use a jelly roll pan.  I actually used the bottom of a broiler pan.  They turned out just fine, except the middle 6 bars were rather wet still.  Oh well, snacks for me!! ;)  The other thing that went a little wonky was the frosting... I'm not sure if it was the melted butter, or what, but Stephanie's frosting looked creamy and think, whereas mine was more like a glaze.  hey, as long as it tastes good, right?!

--6--

I know I keep saying this, but Europe is just getting closer and closer!  43 days from today, I'll be on a flight overseas... Yikes!  Plans are starting to come together.

--7--

Last but not least, vote for Scythian for the best studio album of 2012!  Danylo and Alexander, who started the band, walked with us for 2 weeks this summer, and they are wonderful guys in addition to being fantastic musicians!  Check out one of our (Northern Crossroads) favorite songs from the summer here!

With a Grateful Heart

Thanksgiving Day is a day that most see as a day of family and food.  But, as my pastor reminded us at Mass this morning, it's primarily a day to thank God for what He does in our lives.  That's so important for me to remember, and I definitely don't do it enough.

My "Thankful" List

My Faith- a God who loves me, a Savior who died to save me, and the Spirit who gives me so much grace and inspiration

My Family- Mom, Dad, Aunt Patti, Christine, David, Teresa, Jake, Sarah, Matthew, Joseph, Tobias, Rebekah, Catherine, MaryGrace, Celia, Jacob, Jonah, Rosie, Baby G*: You guys are awesome, I love you, and I thank God for you every day!  Thanks for keeping me “in the loop” while I’m constantly away from home :P

My “Second Family”- John, Josh, Zechariah, Peter, Mario, Stephanie, Grace, Kirstin, and Amanda: Thank you all for the beautiful friendship that we all have.  We’ve all been blessed beyond imagination and God certainly knew what He was doing putting us all together this summer!  I say this with all the sincerity in my heart- you are family, and I love you.

My Friends- Hannah, Robyn, Hannah, Leslie, Abby, Leslie, Gracie, Evelyn, Stasia, Grace and everyone else who has made me who I am over the years: I’m so grateful that you’re in my life.  I’m sorry that I haven’t kept in touch with all of you like I should have, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten you.  Thank you for your friendship.

What else I’m thankful for: (in no particular order)

Confession

Spiritual Direction

love

the opportunity to go to a Catholic school **

Once Upon a Time

Waking Rose

Principles of Biblical Studies class

Skype and Google chat

laughter at 2 am

photoshop

quotes

Montana

The Milky Way

the founders of Crossroads and all current directors

Andrew and his beautiful witness

tea & scones

conversation with friends who expand my worldview

* surprise!  Come June, I will have a new little niece or nephew!!  Needless to say, I’m fairly excited (read: I’m freaking bouncing off the walls!)

** despite the fact that sometimes it drives me nuts… ;)

What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving Day?  Maybe tonight, before you fall asleep, you can say a quick prayer thanking God for something that you usually take for granted.

xoxo,

show us where to go

Well, last night was interesting, to say the least.

Yes, this is a political post.  In my (ever-so)humble opinion, I have spared you all from rants and raves throughout this election season, so maybe you can put up with one little tiny political post?  Perhaps?  Good, I thought so.

Um... what happened last night?  Really, America?  Right now, I'm just sad.  Does our country realize what it's done to itself?  I honestly don't think it does.  We just re-elected a man who is against religious freedom, against life, and is driving our country further and further into debt.  And yet, we've re-elected him.

Needless to say, campus was going nuts both last night and today.  Reactions ranged from "WHATTHEHECK" to "Well, that's the end, then" to "I'm moving to Canada/Malta/Australia/[insert country of choice here]".

This election was a deciding point for our country.  I truly believe that everyone will be affected in some way, shape, or form.

My professors will no longer have health care, because Franciscan University of Steubenville will not support a mandate that provides birth control.
I will most likely not have health care after college, because any parish I work for will have the same mentality of Franciscan. (just for clarification, this is a good thing!)
Catholic OB-GYNs could potentially be forced to close down.
Any retirement home is in danger of forcing to euthanize their residents.
Unborn children are still at risk of being murdered.
Any nursing majors here at school could be required by law to assist at abortions or to recommend birth control.
--This is not ok!  Talk about removing freedoms...

Now, I'm not one to think that the world is over and we're all doomed to go to Hell in a handbasket.  There's still hope.  The church militant is rising up, and the youth of my generation are impassioned!  We can't sit by and just let all this happen, but at the same time, we must trust that this is either ordained or allowed by God for a reason.  We are meant to be alive right now, we are meant to have our Catholic faith at this point in time.  We must work alongside our Lord, stay in tune with His will, and pray for our country and our President.

Speaking of praying for our president, 5 friends and I were talking at lunch today, and we've decided to start something kinda big.  It involves facebook, twitter, tumblr, and lots and lots of praying.  We're still in the baby steps, but in the next couple days (yes, days.  we're movers and shakers here at Franciscan!)  we should have this up and running!  I'll be sure to let you know what's going on!

Peace,

like birds upon the dawn arising

This last week has been a week of beauty.

Beauty comes from liturgy committee; those people who I am able to serve with, who all have our Lord as the center of their lives and love helping others worship Him in the Mass.

Beauty is seen in reading blogs.  Blogs that emanate God's love and joy.

Beauty is a multitude of conversations with friends: Robyn, who I've known since Kindergarten; Stasia, an amazing friend here at school; Evie, my ever-insightful roommate; Patrick, who I hadn't gotten to really have a discussion with in a long time; Josh, who's got amazing views of so many things; Mario, who is just fun to talk to and makes me smile.

Beauty is found in the women at Lord's Day, singing praise and worship and sharing their joys of the week with each other.

There is even beauty in swing dancing for 2 hours straight 'till you're sweating, and sloshing through rain that's so heavy that your umbrella does absolutely no good.

These are the weeks that I just have to laugh and think, God is just so present in our lives!

God is there in so many seemingly everyday activities- long late-night walks, dinners in the caf, classes, and homework readings.

I have been struck at the number of relevant articles and such that I've been seeing lately.  Relevant to my life, that is.  Things that I've been struggling with or questioning, I've just run across these things to read and have said "Ok, God, I get it.  I need to work on this.  Thanks."  And then I'll read it and 6 hours later (no, more like 2) he'll throw something else in front of me that I need to hear/read.  People say that God never interacts with us?  I challenge that.  I challenge it from the depths of my soul.

Go now.  Live out the beauty that's surrounding you.  Be aware of God's presence in the minute, seemingly insignificant moments of your life.  And share your joy with others.  For it is through others that we can truly know God's love.

xoxo,

Montana:Revisited

People keep asking me what my favorite state was, and I have to say Montana.  I could never live there- I'm definitely a city girl- but the skies were phenomenal!  

windshield sunset

Mario's amazing photo-taking skills... yes, this was posed, but I still love it!

the road goes ever on and on

This is the Cathedral of St. Helen in Helena, MT.  We were blessed to be able to attend Mass here 3 mornings, and boy oh boy, was it gorgeous!

Is it not apparent that there IS a God, and that He is oh-so-good?  How could all this beauty have happened by chance?

Dropping like ... Stanley

This post requires a pre-explanation: Who is Stanley?

I will give you some hints.  Stanley likes flies.  He is green.  He lives in a pot.  Night Shift loves him.

Stanley is a Venus Fly Trap.

Don’t ask why we scoured Lowes’, Walmart’s, and Hy-Vee’s galore to find him.  All you need to know is that when we (Mario, Stephanie, Josh, and I) found him, we were quite elated:

 (Stephanie)

But Stanley wasn’t happy living in an RV.  He quickly began drooping and no amount of sustenance, whether it be flies or cereal, would make him happy again.  So Stanley resided in our (non-working) sink, looking sad in a half-filled cup of water.  And just 10 minutes ago, Stephanie buried him in the trashcan.  He came quickly, and died almost as quickly.  And this, my friends, is the situation I'm in.  My health came back, and went away very quickly.

Monday night, I cried for the first time while on Crossroads.

I think anyone in my situation would have.

Let me back up a minute.  I was put on day shift again after 2 weeks on night.  Monday, it was super hot.  Like, 100.  I was prepared, though: I bought a hat, I had sunglasses, sunscreen, and plenty of water.  I started by first shift of the week walking with Grace.  She and I walked for a mile, then I had to get back in the van because my calves were killing me.  I had had 3 charlie horses the night before, so I thought that’s what it was.  After another 10 miles of others walking, Grace and I headed out again.  I had gone 2 before I started getting heat exhaustion symptoms.  At 3.5 I got back into the van, thinking that water and protein would make me feel all better and I could walk again later.  Well, faintness turned into spacey-ness turned into an escalating pounding headache, and I could feel my blood sugar crashing.  Nothing that I did helped.

Meanwhile, Amanda’s blood sugar was crashing too, so she couldn’t walk or drive, therefore John had to drive the whole way.  Peter is gone for the week, so Josh is doing most of the walking on night shift because Mario is injured.  Kirstin's ankle is hurting.  Michael, the guy who's with us for the week, also hurt his ankle.  It ended up that Grace did the majority of the walking (like, 21 out of 30 miles).  We got our 30 for the day, but just barely.

When I got back to the RV, I called Mom and after talking to her I realized that my body just can’t do day shift anymore.  I was crying, Mom was crying, Amanda and Grace were crying; we were overall just a huge mess.  I came in the RV where John and Josh were and (with tears streaming down my face) I told them “I just can’t do day shift anymore”.  Thankfully, they had foreseen this happening (as I had.  I had just been in denial…) and had put me on day shift just as a trial.  They were understanding (thanks, guys!) and promptly moved me to night.  I drank some water, told my family what was going on, and went to bed.

*sigh*  This isn’t how I was envisioning the rest of my Crossroads journey.  I figured I’d be the healthy one who could be put on any shift.  Not the girl who has to ask special consideration.  I hate having people worry, and I hate not being able to do what everyone else does.  I just really have to remember that God does know what he’s doing.  He knows that I will do just as much good on night shift as I would have on day shift.  That I can pray as much and do just as many sacrifices on night.  There is a reason.

So I am permanently on night shift.  And I’m ok with that.  As I said to my family, that just means that I’ll have more time to call people!!

~~~~

I’m gonna make some changes to my blog right now, and the next couple times I have internet.  My plan is to take away my graphic design page (because I never use it), change my book shift page, and add a pictures page with highlight photos from my trip.  (And I'm pretty sure this is gonna break a cardinal rule of blogging by telling you this, but) I'm gong to do a couple blogs in advance to be posted automatically for you guys.  With pictures and captions and such.  Enjoy, in advance!

Please, please, please keep us in your prayers.  Even though our RV is air conditioned, it’s still sweltering in here, and I can’t even imagine what day shift is going through at the moment.  Pray for our health, our safety, and God’s will in every aspect of this walk.

xoxo,

Different Kind of Sacrifice

I think everyone enters the Crossroads experience expecting something.  They may not know precisely what it is, but they're definitely expecting it.  It could be new friends, a life changing experience, to get in shape, to grow closer to God, to see cool scenery, to explore the country, and so much more.

One of my expectations was not to get sick.

The other day (Thursday, I believe it was) I woke up and walked 3 minutes down the road to Mass.  As I sat down, I felt a strange wave of lightheadedness.  Mass went on, and I got progressively worse and worse.  By the end, I was bent over, leaning on the pew in front of me, dizzy, with a pounding headache.  Afterwards, as I sat on the church steps with my head between my knees, all I could think was "This was not part of the plan".  I hated to do it, but I took the day off and slept for 6 hours.  Grace ended up walking for me, which meant she did back-to-back shifts.  (thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!)

I was eternally grateful for those 6 hours of sleep.  So grateful that I did night shift that night.  An extra long night shift which lasted 14 hours and in which we walked 40 miles.  A night shift that lasted so long that I walked in the sun again.  Which was super stupid and dumb on my part, because I had heat exhaustion.

Heat exhaustion.  Why, oh why, oh why???

Did you know that the symptoms for heat exhaustion are pretty similar to those of heat stroke?  And that heat stroke can be fatal?  Yeah, me neither.  Needless to say, I was pretty freaked out for a little while.

If there's anything I hate, it's being sick.  Not because I feel yucky, but because I feel so useless.  Like I should be up and doing things, helping people make dinner and clean, but instead I have to sit on the sofa and do nothing.  And then I'll feel better and do something, and immediately after another wave of faintness will come over me and I'll have to sit down right away.  People, I promise I'm not faking!

Last night, I sat in the hot tub for a little bit, making me feel 1000% better, and then my mom was like "That probably wasn't the best idea for someone who has heat exhaustion".... oh yeah.  Whoops.  Kinda forgot about that.

(disclaimer: I'm drinking lots of sports drinks, taking natural remedies of various sorts, and am taking it easy.  No worries, I'm gonna be ok ;) )

This is all to say... I've been thinking about the reason I'm here.  My expectations.  I wanted to grow in my faith, to gain friendships, to witness to the dignity of life.  But as I've sat with a spinning head, I've wondered if my last couple days have even been worthwhile.  If I'm not walking, is there even a point to being here?

I've come to realize that there is.

Why am I here?  For prayer and sacrifice.  I'm getting a heck of a lot of prayer in sitting on this sofa.  It's a huge sacrifice for me to not walk.  I thought I was here to walk.  But there's so much more than that.  I am here to walk, but I can witness in other ways too.

Last night during dinner, Josh said something that I've always heard, but it really hit me.  He said "Make every bite a prayer!"  I may pray my morning offering when I wake up, but do I mean those words I say?  Do I mean that I offer "my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of the day"?  Or do I say it because that's what I've been doing for years?  Do I remember that literally everything I do while I'm here is for the greater glory of God, and that everything should be a prayer?  It's definitely something that I need to work on.

~~~~
Break break.

We've been making videos like there's no tomorrow.  So much so that the Crossroads office assured everyone that yes, we are still walking. :P  (We are, in fact, 2 days ahead!)

So here, I present you with Peter's latest work.

And here is the video I referenced in my last post that Josh made: 30 Miles in Our Shoes

Enjoy your day (and your week!) everyone!  Pray for us all as we venture into the flatness that is South Dakota.
xoxo,

Sacrifice: The Hard Truth

Often, any kind of suffering, whether it be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, serious or superficial, is looked at as a horrible burden.  Why is it that so few people see the value of "offering it up" or "suffering in silence"?  So much good can come out of suffering and sacrifice.

I think that as Catholics and Christians, we sometimes get tired of hearing about sacrifices.  But there are toms of unconventional ways to sacrifice, little and big.  Say you wanted to go to a concert, but you found out that the tickets were sold out.  Sacrifice!!  Tell yourself "Shoot" and "I offer this disappointment for the souls in purgatory", and move on with your day.  You don't get a raise.  You fail a test.  You lose your favorite earrings.  Instead of making a huge deal about it, stomping around for hours (or days!), complaining to every person you see, say a little prayer and just move on!

But what if something doesn't go wrong?  What if everything is just peachy and you're like "I have nothing to sacrifice!"  Heck yes you do!  Don't eat that cookie.  Sleep without your pillow.  Take a cold (or cool) shower.  Drink water instead of soda.  See, it's simple.  And then there are big things.  Go on a missionary trip to Africa.  Donate more than your normal tithe to a charitable organization.  Go out of your way to go to Mass everyday (even if it means getting up early!)

Now, I'm by no means suggesting that everyone is called to do all this.  Some people are called to do more than others.  What do you think you think you can do?  Is there one more sacrifice you can offer during these last couple weeks of Lent?

NOT that "old time religion"....

I love technology.

I suppose that as a young adult in the 21st century, most people would consider that a given.  But for me, it's not so much the technology itself, but what we can do with it.

Because I love my faith more than technology.

Do you realize how important technology is for the Church today?  As more and more young people buy iPhones, iPads, Kindles, mP3 players, and use google every single day, the Church needs to be there.  Some people have realized this, and are using modern methods to spread the faith and make it more accessible to the world.

Matthew Warner, founder of flockNote, developed a website where parishes can centralize registration, bulletins, notices, etc.  Opus Dei has iPhone/iTouch apps for an examination of conscience and daily prayers.  There is a Catholic calendar app, a Bible app, a prayer reminder app, and a guide to confession app.  I know of several priests who record their homilies and upload them as podcasts.  Bloggers such as Jennifer Fulwiler, Fr. Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, and Mark Shea are engaging Catholics and non-Catholics alike in discussions concerning matters of faith.

Of course, there has to be something that I don't think is going quite right.  The Church Herself, while starting her journey towards technology, is very behind.  Who do I mean when I refer to "the Church"?  Mainly parishes and dioceses.While many have updated their websites, I think most are stuck in the last decade, and I'm not talking 2 years ago.  Many parishes make it hard to find mass and confession times, information about their church groups, or anything else!  This is super important in a world where people don't make phone calls as much ........  Searches on diocese sites don't produce the right results, and, sorry to say, the Vatican website is a bear to navigate!  (My professor recently assigned us a paper based on Vatican documents.  Instead of directing us to the website, she told us to search for document names in google.)  Have these sites gotten better?  Absolutely.  But do they still need help?  Most definitely.

As the world progresses in technology, it's important for us to accept these changes or risk being left behind.  But can't we help the Church advance?  It doesn't just take one person to revolutionize Catholic interactions online, it takes many.  Make Catholic sites visually appealing and easy to navigate.  Promote religious videos, podcasts, and apps.  Help people gain easier access to Catholic teachings, documents, mass times, and talks.

And now you know why I'm majoring in communications and theology!

What are your favorite Catholic blogs, apps, and websites?  What should the Church do to reach more people via media and technology?