Soul Searching

I think I mentioned the lovely Jehovah's Witnesses that I have been talking to over the past few weeks....  It has been a wild ride for sure.  Here are they things I have figured out:

1.  JW's really know their Bible.

2.  They are very passionate about their faith.

3.  I am being so challenged to get into Scripture and really look at what it means.

4.  I never realized how much of my Catholic faith I did not know until I met these ladies.

5.  I can't believe how much I thought I did know about Catholicism.

6.  I am burning with the desire to know more and more about Catholicism!

7.  We are all called to evangelization.... and we need to be educated and prepared before we begin.

8.  Catholicism is not for the weak at heart!  There are so many things that must be researched and looked in to!

9.  I am in love with Catholicism.

If anyone has had any experience with JW's and would be willing to email me I would SO appreciate it!  Thanks :)

Evangelization in the home

Sometimes I get this urge to proclaim the love of Christ to the world.  You know what I mean?   I read Scripture and I read how we are called to evangelize and I wonder in what capacity that means?  God has been so faithful with His teachings throughout my life and I am convinced that the knowledge He has shared is meant to be shared. 

So, I was talking to my mom and sharing with her my frustrations of determining to what extent we are supposed to be evangelizing and she said that the most important evangelizing I can do is to my daughter.  She firmly believes that upon entering the gates of Heaven we will be asked what we did to bring Christ to our children.  In one breath this is a simple statement. Of course we need to evangelize to our children.  On the other hand it takes that breath away!  I am responsible for being the first Christ that my daughter encounters.  My actions, my words and my teachings must all consistently reflect the love of Christ.  What  a HUGE endeavor!  What a HUGE gift!  What a HUGE responsibility!

I think it such a testament to the gift of a child.  I am someone who has a very difficult time getting pregnant and then maintaining the pregnancies.  I am beginning to really see the miracle of life in that God is truly in charge of our fertility.  This can be difficult for me because I wanted many children!  And God has blessed me with one on earth and one in Heaven.  How much more am I being called to raise the one I have been given to truly serve the Lord and bring Christ to all she meets. 

I pray that I am always a witness to Christ's love in the world but I pray even more so that my little one knows and loves the Lord so that she may be a witness to all.  Whew!

Jehovah's Witnesses and my broken down car

I was having a particularly difficult day. Late for a meeting, I couldn't find my keys. I spent about 30 minutes trying to find them. The kiddos ran around in the garage while I tore through everything I could think to check. I was actually quite startled when I heard a woman’s voice ask if everything was alright. It was an older woman, dressed quite nice, coming to speak about Our personal Lord and Savior. I politely told her I was searching for my keys and to please say a prayer that I would find them. She left me some literature and continued on her way.  I found the keys shortly thereafter, put both kids in their car seats and learned quickly that the car was not going to start.

As I silently banged my head on the steering wheel I noticed the two nicely dressed people approaching my car. A moment of relief and of annoyance crossed over me. Don't get me wrong, I am one of those people that truly enjoys hearing about other faiths. It helps answer questions that I have and truly it helps to solidify my love for the Catholic faith. But I was just so overwhelmed and tired trying to get to this meeting.

They approached the car and asked if I needed a jump. Why yes, yes I did. So these two very nice people took quite a bit of time to help me jump my car and get on my way. They also provided me with some literature about Jehovah's Witnesses, which I welcomed.

The nice lady has been back quite a few times. I haven’t been here to greet her until this last visit. She asked how I was and if she could give me some more literature. I took the opportunity to share with her that I was a devout Catholic but at her request she was welcome to come back and talk.


I think I get that Jehovah's witnesses are very good about evangelization as the disciples did. I guess I am trying to figure out if she would be open to my questions challenging the validity of her faith. I would love to sit down with her and know what it is that makes her loved her faith so much. People with passion are inspiring! But mostly I feel like I will be wasting her time... knowing that all I really want to do is allow her to see the beauty of Catholicism.
 
I love that they are out in the world truly evangelizing. Isn’t that what we are all called to do? I want to respect her and the Jehovah faith enough to listen to her words. And yet I want to be prepared to share from my heart as well.

Has anyone had any experience with a situation like this one? And courteous advice? I know she will be back soon! :)

Holy Boldness

Bishop Fulton Sheen once wrote:

"There are not 100 people in the world who hate Catholicism, but there are millions who hate what they mistakenly believe Catholicism to be".

How true are these words! In light of a new year, I have felt that tiny tug on my heart that begs the question, 'Will you tell them who I am?'

For the most part I have lost my fervor, my holy boldness, to evangelize to those in need. There was a time when I felt the conviction to spread the Gospel message independent of my pride. Now my pride envelopes me and I want to shy away from speaking out loud to someone about our Savior. I mean, I might offend them, or bore them, or look strange. And then it hits me.

Its all about Christ! Everything is about our Lord. And what a gift it is to be able to tell the world about the love of Christ. What would be the point of our existence if not to glorify our Creator? I am amazed at how distracted I can become by the world and all the empty promises it has to offer. I pray that I will not worry about feeling embarrassed or looking weird. It is not about me. It's about Him.


Thank you Lord that men like Fulton Sheen can inspire and remind us that it is indeed all about You. May 2010 be a year filled with Holy Boldness and a greater love for You! Teach us how to evangelize Lord so that all Creation may know of your greatness.

E & E- Easter and Evangelization

I had to share my experience this Easter at Franciscan University of Steubenville this past weekend.

I attended the vigil Mass on Saturday with my three year old. Just to give you an idea, it begins at 8:45p but doors open at 7:30p. Seriously, 7:30p. So this is about a four to five hour event that draws a thousand people or so. It was amazing. There is something so moving, so spectacular about being a part of a Catholic community that is truly celebrating the Risen Lord.

Everyone is at Mass because they WANT to be there. They sing because they WANT to sing. Pray because they WANT to pray. They are CELEBRATING, REJOICING! They really know and believe that our Lord has died for our sins and has risen.

So as I was sitting at Mass I was thinking about why all parishes don't react with this excitement and with the knowledge of what is truly happening. During Mass at home you can hardly get the congregation to sing, prayers are mumbled if they are said at all and there is an overall feeling of boredom exuding from people. Why is this? How do we inspire our friends, family and coworkers? How can share a fire for Christ to our fellow Catholics who light has dimmed? We talk about evangelization of those who do not know Christ but for some reason I feel like we overlook our very own Catholic brothers and sisters who need to be touched.

Our Catholic faith is so beautiful and inspiring. We are a community of people that must turn to one another and share the Good News. I am always amazed by friends who say, 'Wow- you are the first Catholic I have ever met that really loves Christ.' WHAT?! I am?!! At first it stunned me and then it just convicted me to open my eyes to Catholics who need to be brought back to the church.

By example of Mother Teresa and St. Francis of Assisi, I pray that we may all be touched by holy boldness and a renewal of love for our Father in Heaven!

le Monde

Le Monde is the largest newspaper in France. As you may have heard, Le Monde published a blasphemous cartoon on March 19 showing 'Our Lord' handing out prophylactics to the excited masses with the caption "The multiplication of the condoms followed the multiplication of the loaves."The cartoon targeted the Pope too. He was depicted as a decrepit old man who says: "Anything goes!"

Many offended Catholics have sent a note to Le Monde expressing their protest. Below is the email address and example note you may send.

Send it to courrier-des-lecteurs@lemonde.fr:

Le Monde: As a Catholic, I was dismayed and offended by your newspaper publishing a sacrilegious cartoon showing Our Lord Jesus Christ handing out prophylactics from a boat to the excited masses. The cartoon depicts Christ and the Pope saying things that are sacrilegious. This is offensive and hurtful to the Catholic faith. In response, I demand that you apologize for the cartoon and pledge never to publish such offensive material again. Thank you for your time.

Fallen Away

I was talking to a really nice lady at a playgroup recently. I assumed she was a Protestant until we got to talking and she shared she was a Catholic. I always get an excited feeling of kinship when someone shares that they are Catholic. But, she also shared that she is a non practicing Catholic.... but as our conversation continued I was struck by her 'relationship' with Catholicism in general. She spoke of her affection to saints and how she gave her St. Christopher medal to a friends high school newly driving son. She said her boyfriend had fallen ill, been given a rosary while in the hospital and how he wore it around his neck. She laughed and shared that he made him take the rosary off and told him what it was for. When admitted to the hospital the boyfriend shared that his religion was Catholic and she said,' Catholic? You aren't Catholic!' When he replied that his mother had been Catholic she exclaimed 'Being Catholic isn't like being Irish! You have to work to be Catholic!'

The conversation really moved me. I invited her to the church we attend downtown and tried to share my love for the Eucharist. It was at this point that she shared how her daughter was asking about receiving her First Communion. She said that she told her daughter that receiving First Communion required learning and time... that it was a huge commitment.

It stopped me. Her child was asking to receive her Holy Communion. Her daughter was asking about the Son of God! Granted it is enticing thinking about a white dress and possible party of course but overall the child was asking to be united with God in a way no other earthly experience can provide.

How beautiful! How fascinating! Yet still there remains a huge element of sad..... Because I don't think that the mom had any intention of letting her daughter receive this beautiful mystery. It made me think about that huge population of men and women who are Catholic and not practicing. And the effects they have on their children. How do you reach them? How do you evangelize to those who have already been catechized? How do you break through the reasons why they 'left' the church in the first place? Through the power of the Holy Spirit and our ability to open our hearts to holy boldness maybe we can be instruments in the conversion of those who have 'fallen' away.

Lord, please bless those that have fallen away. Open their hearts to your love once again. Please use us however You desire so that we can be instruments of conversion for your loved ones who have forgotten the way.

Romans 10:17

Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.