Something Old, Something New

My parents like to go to Mexico at least once a year to visit my paternal grandma. During the trips my mother always stops by our house and brings me back little treasures.  They are small family heirlooms like old photographs, childhood keepsakes- just little mementos that never fail to make me blissfully happy.  This time she surprised me with her wedding veil!  The rectangular piece is made of a delicate lace flower pattern.  My mom had a simple Catholic Church wedding when she married my dad.  She wore a personally hand-sewn, lace, pencil skirt (which she brought for me previously) and a matching jacket.  The jacket she converted into a maternity shirt and is lost forever (sigh)!  Since my parents have no surviving wedding pictures these articles hold even more value and serve as glimpses into the beginning of my parents love story.  The skirt is made of luxurious lace - absolutely radiant and I have stored it safely.  The veil though seems too special to put aside.  I had been previously thinking of purchasing a veil to wear when I visit Jesus in chapel and now I have a very special piece to look pretty for my Lord!  It seems like God wanted me veiled too because he provided this heirloom for my wear (smile). 

My moms wedding skirt nicely stored.

 I love the craftsmanship- the sturdy metal zipper and the button covered in the same lace.  The lace has a 3D appeal it's just absolutely gorgeous! 

I love vintage things, giving life to old articles thrills me especially when they have been in my family!  Growing up my mom used to refashion dresses for me from skirts she no longer wore and I loved her creativity in giving second life to garments instead of throwing them out.  For school picture day I always had the neatest refashioned hand-made dresses.  People would shower me with compliments.  That’s why I love thrift shopping and salivate over yard sales.  I just think we can learn so much from the values of past generations.  The idea of reusing things creatively instead of falling into the evils of consumerisms is a value that I like to implement in my life.  After doing some research into the damaging effects of our throw-away society I know that our God given call to good stewardship calls us to care for our planet by considering the effects of all the decisions we make- small as they might be.  In the past, refashioning was a way of life.  To take an old unwanted item and creatively give it new life was the norm.  I remember my mom sewing patches on our jeans instead of throwing them out at the first sign of wear.  She often takes me down memory lane and I love hearing about how she managed to use the material of her wedding jacket to make a pretty blouse to wear during her first pregnancy.  There’s something sweet about a fabric being able to serve so many special functions.

The Chantilly lace rectangular veil has beautiful scalloped edges.

For a few years now, ninety-percent if not more of what I wear comes from second hand stores.  Though, I too suffer from being too busy- in addition to lacking the patience to sew I crave a lifestyle change.  I want to slow down, to do less so that I can pick up some homely skills.  Growing up in Mexico, my mom involved us in daily house chores: cooking, cleaning and even taught us some sewing basics.  Part of the expectations of mothers in the past was to turn daughters into good housewives.  My sister is ten years older than I am, so she had more training than I did and she is very proficient in sewing, knitting, crocheting and baking.  This whole modern shift in first world countries telling women that homely values and skills serve of little or no value has really hurt our society.  I know that as I became a modern educated woman I wanted people to value me because of my mind not my homemaking skills. I prided myself in my very limited cooking and cleaning abilities and frowned upon women who desired to “just” be housewives.  Now a little older and hopefully wiser I see the beauty and the effort that it takes to run a home with love and care.  There’s nothing little about my mother in choosing her family instead of a career.  Shame on our secular culture for telling us that women who choose to sacrifice for their families are weak, ignorant - even deficient.  I love old things, tangible bits that connect me to my past, but I am also really drawn to traditional values which highlight the roles and expectations for the sexes.  There’s order and clear expectations for each to follow, a man must be a man and a woman a woman because together they complement each other.  That’s beautifully and biblically organic.  It’s a blessing to live reaping the positive effects of the women’s rights movement, but again I feel like our popular culture tells us we must make a choice between family and career- between old and new.  I am learning that we can have both.  We can be learned women who still pride ourselves in running a household, exchange family recipes and keep a happy home.  Love is a verb and if we want marriage we need to learn to express our love through every day actions like cooking, cleaning, mending… (SMILE).    

Mamita Maria ruega por nosotros, amen.

Finding Our Identity in Christ

Lately I have been having trouble keeping up with writing three times a week- I started school again, a ten week bible study series, teach RCIA half day on Sunday’s, plus making time for friends and family in addition for the past two months I have been working longer hours to keep up with my work volume- so I am exhausted! I have been thinking that if I only write once a week, my articles will hopefully improve and I will be able to get more creative with my photos and graphics.  Thus, this week is my last week writing three times, going forward I am going to publish once (maybe twice as the holidays approach) a week and see if this change produces the positive effects I think it will.  Writing has always been a passion of mine, to put word to paper is a process that detangles and orders my thoughts, that gives me courage, leads me to solutions, fills me with peace and recently has helped organized my faith.  Putting order to my spiritual beliefs in this public forum has allowed my relationship with God to mature and my faith to grow.  What began as a shy-a-bit-all-over the place personal testimony has turned into what Simba experienced when he saw his reflection in the river, he realized that he was worthy of becoming the Lion King.  I too have seen my reflection in these past three-hundred plus posts and I like what I see looking back (smile).  I am a woman with a powerful story who is unconditionally and perfectly loved by God and His love allows me to look at my reflection and like Simba know that I am destined for great things (priest, prophet and queen).  When we discover and most importantly KNOW that God loves us we are freed to love ourselves (to do otherwise is to sin against God) and these short, imperfect posts have allowed me to see the spirit of God working in me and changing me daily more into His image. 

This will shock you, but I have never wanted to be a saint, the notion baffles me- I always thought that I didn’t have it in me.  It’s hard for me to think of the great men and women we venerate as saints doing all the great things they did to gain a title.  I think my problem is with the “saint title” because I just don’t see Saint Francis or Saint Claire doing all the wonderful, selfless things they did with a desire to gain status.  All their actions were products of godly love and of stripping themselves to make more room for God.  I still have difficulty thinking of my personal sanctification, but I do want more of God in me and holiness is just that God in me (smile).  Maybe it’s also a matter of my pride thinking that I am too unworthy to become a saint? Perhaps, it takes a certain level of humility (that I still lack) to admit that I want to be saint.  I think it also goes back to the effects of reading some of the writings of Nietzsche in which he makes powerful arguments concerning our human desire for titles and status.  In society we are taught to aim for power, money and status and I think my problem with sainthood is that sometimes I feel like people use it as a form of pride.  For example, I once heard a devout Catholic friend admit that a guy wouldn’t date her because she was too holy and she truly believed she was- and that scares me!  I knew her well and I knew her shortcomings, pride was one of them.  I am a sinner (sometimes I have my moments of holiness) but for the most part I come short.  God wants us to have a healthy self-image, to see ourselves as He does.  His love gives us the courage to accept ourselves today, but it also shows us what we can become.  The becoming is not a matter of status, but a process that forms our identity in Christ.  Holiness should set us apart for God, but still keep us connected to others because the world needs holy people in the world.  There’s not a saint who became one on his own or who claimed to be one.  It’s sort of like claiming humility, the moment we announce that we are humble we are really expressing our pride.  I guess, sainthood is something that happens quietly.  

Nature is the Art of God

I love fall, the cinnamon, crisp air, my dog’s paws crunching the fallen leaves, the variations of browns and oranges…  I love the barren branches reaching towards the sky like long fingers searching for a lover’s hand.  I love the grey skies that engulfs life in a shade of grey and keep people inside in fear of rain.  I love walking in silence with my dog trailing behind and sometimes running ahead with a tail dancing in the wind and a curious nose clinging close to the ground.  He often stops at a bush or a fallen branch, erects his ears, sniffs and if the smell dissatisfies him marks it, lifting his head when finished with a proud smile like he has accomplished a great feat.  He listens to the crackling leaves and the wild sounds that come together to create an autumn song, sometimes I can see his ears attentively moving to capture every noise.  When we arrive home he plops on the carpet enjoying a treat satisfied with another day’s exploration.  He’s not one of those annoying dogs that disrespectfully jumps and licks, no, only occasionally when he truly knows I need affection will he politely lay next to me and offer a few consolatory licks.  He’s the quiet type, rarely barks and when he attempts to howl at the sound of a passing ambulance - it’s hard not to chuckle.  I love creation, whether it’s a beautiful landscape or my perfect, furry companion.  To me the natural world connects me to God, it allows me to catch glimpses of His majesty and to believe in His great love- for who can give us an entire universe, speak things into being or simply breathe life into existence.

In Mexico, we had a small farm and my brothers were sheep herders during summer breaks.  My brother-in-heaven used to take our sheep out into the wild and climb a cherry tree while the sheep grazed the fields.  I love thinking of him high on a tree plopping cherries into his mouth and enjoying the natural wonders of God (Michoacán (where I am from in Mexico) is known for its stunning forests).  While my brothers took leave every morning with the sheep, I stayed home and helped care for the rabbits and chickens.  I would give them feed, but mostly spend hours playing with my friends.  During certain times of the year my little pueblo would have celebrations that would send us out into the forests.  Like once a year the fields would produce mushrooms and this would send all the children into the forests to collect the delights for consumption.  I remember going out pail in hand with my friends to pick mushrooms and we would have so much fun filling our buckets with the mana from heaven.  During the summer, the fields would become inundated with Amapolas (the native flowers of Michoacán) and again we would all leave our little pueblo and go out into the woods to picnic and to pick flowers.  I remember all the girls making beautiful necklaces and wreaths for their heads, while the boys chased squirrels, the women proudly shared recipes and the men laid beneath trees socializing.  Those were such happy times! 

Nature gave us such joy and we thanked God simply by enjoying it.  When I give someone a gift, let’s say a cute shirt and I see my friend wearing it, it makes me so happy.  In the same way, when we sit and contemplate a blue sky, or close our eyes to feel the caress of the wind God rejoices because He loves seeing us enjoy His gifts.  Sometimes we forget that in order to be great givers we need to practice at becoming grateful receivers.  We receive from God so we can give to the world (smile).  

Fall Celebrations

This weekend was full of celebrations!

Halloween:  Though I normally write a post ahead of time giving you guys some ideas about how to celebrate the festivity in a way that honors God, this year October turned into an unexpected busy month for me.  Thus, I had to postpone my pumpkin carving activity and converting my candy until the actual Halloween day.  On Saturday morning my nephew and I read our traditional children’s story “The Pumpkin Gospel.”  The book takes the pumpkin carving process and turns it into a neat way of explaining how God helps clean us out of the icky we have inside and once clean He pours Himself into us making us shine with happy new faces.  It’s a short read that helps us focus on God in a creative way.

Then we mark our candy with “smile God loves you” stickers so that the kids that come to our doors get a yummy treat and a positive message of God’s love.  The activity can sometimes generate some good spiritual discussion with my nephew, but usually ends with a race on who can put more stickers on the candy (smile).       

All Saints Day: This year the solemnity fell on Sunday so Father asked all the children to come to Mass in saint costumes.  He had them enter the parish in procession during the beginning of the liturgy.  The kids looked fabulous and produced many smiles amongst the community.  During the homily Father asked the children questions about their saints and it was just such a special liturgical celebration full of giggles and laughter.  I could tell the children felt very special and were more attentive during mass they sat together in a special reserved section.  Before the service ended Father gave our little saints a special blessing and again they left the church in procession.  We are blessed to have Father, he’s so creative and extremely passionate about God - his faith is contagious.      

All Souls Day: Today my brother would have had one more birthday- he was born on El Dia de Los Muertos.  Thus, every year my family and I visit the cemetery to remember and pray for him.  Yesterday, after mass we headed to the cemetery to decorate his grave with flowers and to pray for him.  Our Catholic faith through tradition and rituals really help us heal.  Last week I attended a funeral.  After the Catholic Mass, my friend who doesn’t believe in God came over and told me, “You Catholics sure know how to make people cry, I felt a lot of healing during the service.  I couldn’t stop crying.”  I felt so comforted by her words because that’s what brought me back to God and to my Catholic faith the healing and the hope of life after death.  I too have experienced and continue to experience a lot of healing in our beautiful liturgical celebrations.

In our RCIA class we built our altar and had the students place the name of their faithfully departed in small cards to place on the altar and we did a communal prayer for our deceased and I also saw a lot of healing in this small action.  Some of my students cried during the short prayer.  At the end of class one of my students asked me to be his sponsor! I am super excited – last year I had his soon to be wife in my class.  Her experience in the RCIA program was so moving that she enlisted her man this year.  It’s just so awesome to see God in action in the lives of my spiritual kiddos (smile).

Solemnity of All Saint’s Day: Saint Joan of Arc

The Solemnity of All Saint’s Day is this Sunday.  Sometimes with all the hoopla of Halloween (October 31) and Dia de Los Muertos (November 2), Catholics forget that every year our church dedicates a day (November 1) to celebrating the lives of all the men and women who have attained heaven.  Generally the day is a Holy Day of Obligation, meaning that we must attend Mass to participate in this great festivity.  This year it falls on a Sunday, so Father is encouraging all the kids in our community to dress as saints, these children in costume will walk in procession during the beginning of our liturgical celebration. Also, tonight at my parish we hold our annual Fall Fest, in which the children in our community also come in costume (representing a saint of their devotion) and participate in games, a pizza dinner, yummy treats, crafts and a spooky critters presentation.  My nephew and I love going together every year. 

Anyway, as a way to commemorate all these festivities I usually choose a saint at the beginning of October and spend the entire month getting to know my saint.  This year I went with Saint Joan of Arc, only because I fell upon a novel that Mark Twain wrote about her (I usually like more feminine costumes, smile).  The novel happens to be Twain’s favorite amongst his works, he spent two years gathering information before he wrote it.  The book presents Saint Joan as a beautiful, innocent girl of seventeen who loves God and has such an intimate relationship with her Creator that she’s able to hear God’s voice.  There are many times when she gets lost in ecstasy in God’s presence.  The story goes, that one day while she’s out in the forest the Archangel Michael appears and shares with her God’s desire for her to defend France against the invading armies. After this encounter she leaves her small countryside village and heads out to comply with her God given mission.  After enduring a long, tiresome inquisition into her mental faculties the king and his court finally succeed and give her the army she has requested.  Her pure spirit is extremely contagious and she brings to faith many of the soldiers under her command.  Though she is illiterate and has never been taught in military strategy she leads her country to victory. And this is where I am in the novel. I know that she gets captured and sentenced to trial for heresy and cross-dressing and is eventually burned at the stake.

What I learned from Saint Joan…

Courage- She was a brave girl who said yes to God’s calling even though she was a simple, uneducated peasant girl.  She led an army, restored the confidence of her country and encouraged her soldiers to be men of God.  There’s this great story in which she meets “La Hire” a hardened and experience soldier who was notorious as the worst blasphemer in the army and she is able to reach his heart.  He becomes one of Joan’s greatest supporters.  With his help, Saint Joan brings morality and faith into the army camp banishing blasphemy, gambling, and prostitution insisting on regular participation of religious practices.  All these changes required a lot of courage on her part.

Obedience- Though she was very aware of her weaknesses in character, in position and just in her sex she honored God’s will for her life.  She left her family and all she knew in compliance with God’s will.  Her yes allowed God to work through her for the betterment of others.  And in obedience she gave up her life for her faith and for her mission.

Love- Though she was this great military leader she still was a girl with a soft heart who cared deeply about each person under her command.  She wanted everyone to experience the goodness of God.

Lately, I have been so busy with things that were not part of my plans, just life unexpected happening.  Things that brought me really down and made me afraid and unsure of so many things.  I lost my focus for a bit and hurt people through my own insecurities.  I am a doer and sometimes it’s really challenging for me to wait and be patient - to trust in the will of God and His plans for my life in peaceful inactivity.  I especially get fearful of inactivity when death reminds me of time and its merciless passing.  I am finally understanding that I need to work on not freaking out every time I attend a funeral.  That I should reflect on my life, but do it in a constructive manner.  Yes, death is always lurking by and yes we have no idea when our time is up; but I cannot allow these observations to send me in a fearful riot.  I am in God’s plan and in His time things will happen – I just need to learn to chill out (smile).  Yesterday, as I worked on my costume and reflected on Saint Joan I realized that God is also a doer and sometimes I need to let Him do and just relax - to trust in Him like Saint Joan, to have courage and faith in His plans.

Random Thoughts: A Degree in Love With a Minor in Cheesy

Life is short and it goes by so quickly; those that are able to grasp this truth live life more authentically free.  Knowing the end is near makes our today, our right now more precious and encourages us to enjoy every moment and every person haorita.  Sometimes in order for us to come to the conclusion that life ends unscheduled, uncaringly and abruptly- we must lose someone we truly love.  When death hits home (in the core of our being) we are taught very unwillingly lessons that mark the course of our lives.  One that time is our enemy because we are constantly running out of it; that love gives meaning and purpose to life; that we need each other to heal, to partake in happiness and in sadness and to experience life as it was meant to be - shared, in unity and communion with one another and with God.

Time stops for no one.  Even in the deepest tempests of human pain, life goes on.  Though pain causes us to halt, to stop long enough to catch our breath – time continues its course.  Yet, loss humbles us enough to understand that our days are relentlessly numbered - this confrontation with the finite can be a great blessing if we allow it.  This knowing gives us a deep desire to live life more passionately, and carefree.  It challenges us to reconsider and restore our priorities and values.  Love suddenly becomes the number one priority.  When loss hits us we realize that status, power, fame, possessions are meaningless in comparison to love.  As the old saying says, “it’s better to love and have lost…” When we love and are loved back in return heaven comes to earth and God manifests His beauty in the single act of loving.  Those who Love finds worthy are in the heart of God.  I love our Pope because he’s what I call “all heart”- he speaks from his heart, acts from his heart - he’s not afraid to act simply on inspirations he feels deep within his heart.  This heart courage is admirable and so uniquely real and rare.  Most of us would rather hide than expose our feelings. To admit and profess our love takes courage and vulnerability, but when we are real that’s when we connect with one another.  Because everyone is attracted to “realness” to truth.  I have been thinking a lot lately about the scriptures in the New Testament that use lamps as metaphors.  God is not only telling us to shine our light or exhorting us to be the light for others, but also to be authentic – to be real.  I think of the saints and how “real” they were.  Saint Francis of Assisi showed no concerned when others thought he had lost his mind because he decided to give everything to restore God’s church, Mother Teresa didn’t care that others thought she had gone rogue when she decided to leave the convent to help the poor and destitute, Joan of Arc didn’t care when people laughed thinking she was a crazy dame for requesting an army to fight for God’s Kingdom… Our friends the Saints had kingdom vision. They understood that following God and doing His will would not always be popular, sometimes they would be huge outcasts; but, throughout history we remember them because they had the courage to be truly authentic and obedient to God’s will.  They didn’t care to have fifty likes, or a million followers and they sure didn’t care what others thought when they showed God’s love to others.  Yet, I see in my Christian circle fear of expressing love towards one another in panic of what others will think or say and it sadness me that we who have God in our hearts allow such pettiness to keep us from showing God’s love to one another.  And this anxiety of expression is an epidemic that affects all believers because we allow pride and fear to reign in our lives.  But sometimes if we are fortunate and malleable the pain of great loss forms us into better lovers.  I am medically diagnosed as mentally ill so maybe when I profess my love towards others people just assume it’s the bipolar in me, but death has freed me to say and do what my heart feels because time is our enemy and we never know when our time will come to an end.  I want to leave knowing I loved much and that my lot of people felt and knew it.  I want to graduate from this life with a degree in love and a minor in cheesy (smile).

Dia de Los Muertos: Death is A Passage To Heaven

On Saturday, I attended the 18^th annual Dia de Los Muertos event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.  The event celebrates the Mexican tradition of remembering and honoring the dead once a year by decorating the graves of our beloved.  When I was a child in Mexico, each year we would go decorate my grandparents’ graves with the traditional marigold flowers, pictures and favorite foods of our loved ones.  The altars built on the graves could be simple or extremely elaborate and creative.  During the day we would gather at the gravesite as a family, share a meal and recall funny and memorable events about our abuelitos.  It would also be a day of prayer, we would pray together as a family for the souls of our departed and offer a Eucharistic celebration in remembrance and intercession for their souls.  It was also typical to transform ourselves into Catrinas by painting our faces to resemble skulls.  This is a satirical action that represents the limited power of death; for death is only a passage towards the next life- a life in heaven with Christ.  Overall the celebration holds a very festive, happy feeling which helps those in this world heal and support one another because to us death is not final.  It promotes family and community unity giving us a universal reason to gather together while sharing personal stories remembering our dearly departed.  Most important is a day of faith, a day in which we honor Jesus’ death and resurrection because He is the way, our guide into eternal life.

Death is so unnatural and difficult for everyone even people of faith.  Though I believe in life after death and though God gives me courage I still hurt when I lose someone I love. During these days I’ve heard friends’ say, “They don’t do well with death,” as reason to excuse themselves from accompanying loved ones during the trials and challenges of loss.  But that's just selfish talk- no one does well with death- even Jesus cried when his buddy died because it hurts!  It’s painful and unnatural for everyone.  Thus, it makes me happy that my culture has a day to celebrate and honor those people who mean so much to us and are no longer physically present.  Remembering our loved ones helps us heal and gives us hope, but more importantly it makes us thankful for the promises of Jesus and His heroic actions.  Happy thought - death is a passage to God not a destination.

Below are pictures of my early Dia de Los Muertos enjoy!  Though of course this event in Hollywood is completely secular, our diocese does a great job each year hosting a Dia de Los Muertos liturgical celebration, I encourage you to learn more about this beautiful Catholic tradition. DIOCESE OF ORANGE CELEBRATES ALL SOULS DAY IN HONOR OF THE DEPARTED

One of the decorated graves with the typical sugar skull motif.

 Beautiful dispaly & models.

 A collage of various graves.

 I know you like cats, this one reminded me of you. 

 A Peruvian decorated grave.

 This one was inside a vintage Volkswagen.

 When I was little we used to make "El Ojo de Dios" which is that triangular art piece.

These girls added acrobats to their altar decor. 

In addition to the artistic displays there was also great music and delicious food.

Theology on Tap in the OC

Father Spitzer and his fan club.

Yesterday I went to Theology on Tap with my friends.  We normally like attending these kind of social gatherings to hang out with each other while supporting Catholic events and learning more about our faith.  Last night, a man I admire so much (that if he had a fan club I would volunteer as president) came to deliver a talk on happiness.  A topic that encompasses his latest book, Finding True Happiness Satisfying Our Restless Hearts, which I bought and got signed with a personal dedication to me! Ok so he was signing and personally dedicating every book sold- but that doesn’t take the special out of my signed copy (smile).  Father Robert Spitzer is a genius, a treasure of the Catholic Church, who when he speaks (though my ignorant mind only comprehends the simplest concepts) he presents God’s truth in such relatable ways.  He speaks of science, philosophy, theology all as supporting pillars - as brothers that nurture each other to reveal deep spiritual truths.  He challenges us to ask questions, to dig deep into matters of faith to allow ourselves to know God through channels that perhaps we thought conflicted or even denied God.  Last night he simplified things quite a lot from his usual manner of speaking, knowing his audience was largely young adults and he added his warm, geeky sense of humor and had us laughing in true spirit of his happiness topic!  Father Spitzer is the Catholic science guy- and I am super attracted to his genius because before my conversion I always thought that science and religion couldn’t coexist.  To me, the two subjects were enemies and a choice had to be made between the two.  Being a “college” educated woman I made my erroneous choice and went with science, but when I realized that science didn’t satisfy the deep longings in my soul, that it left a lot to be desired and much to the unknown; I went with God.  And it was with God that I realized that I didn’t need to choose because God created science and knowledge and He encourages us to explore and get to know Him through His creation.  Science gives us glimpses into the genius of God!  And Father Spitzer has been a very influential figure in my life because he’s the smartest man I know- and his smarts are his way to God.  Sometimes, when we look at Christian spirituality from the outside it can appear like a religion based on fantastical fairytales and myths and this false appearance can distract us from God.  We make erroneous assumptions that all Christians must be brainless dimwits- I know that’s how I saw Christians- but now I know better.  Now I know that our church began the first universities because it understands the power of education and some of the greatest minds in history are devout Catholics who questioned and investigated the claims of our God and our church.  Thus, I recommend that if you are having trouble reconciling science with God search the writings and talks of Father Spitzer he’s a true gem a great resource!

These monthly Theology on Tap events in Orange County, have been made popular by Father Bartus, an Anglican priest who converted into the Catholic Church a few years ago as part of the reunification program authorized by Pope Benedict.  He and his whole congregation were converted into the Catholic Church- neat-o right!  Father Bartus has this great desire to evangelize the youth, especially college age kids and Bishop Vann has given him the green light to create these social gatherings to encourage, support, inform and guide young Catholics.  It’s great to see this revival in the young community, to know that healthy (yet fun) events exist for people to socialize and learn more about their Catholic faith.  I took quite a few pics enjoy.    

Father Bartus introducing Father Spitzer.

Valiant Brewery is a Catholic company that opens it's doors

 to most of the events providing some local good cheer.

Speaking on happiness- and St. Augustine, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you."  

A sizable diverse crowd.

 Great talk as always!

My friend getting her book signed.

Evangelizing Halloween

Saint Helena of Constantinople, Saint Kateri, Saint Cleopatra

Before my conversion Halloween was by tops my favorite holiday.  There’s just something quite appealing (for a shy introvert) in fantastical transformation, especially if I must muster the courage only one day a year (smile). Becoming someone completely sensational, someone completely different from me, a character that has lived deep in my childish wonderland is like conquering a hidden dream.  While my past costume selection have always been some variation of a pretty princess, as I came to know God and my faith grew there was an inner transformation that slowly took place in regards to how I celebrate Hallows Eve.  In 2007, I was a member of Jovenes Para Cristo a big family of fellowship and also a very conservative Catholic group.  It was there that I learned that Halloween is a very controversial holiday in the Christian world.  Every year we heard a talk on the origins and history of the holiday.  The themes of evil, demonic and the occult were topics that were strictly impressed upon us and we were told not participate in the evil day.  To stand in solidarity against the darkest night of the year.  Though I didn’t agree with some of the viewpoints expressed during our annual anti-Halloween talk I stopped participating.  I stopped dressing up and what was once one of my favorite days of the year now turned into a day of uncomfortable sadness, of repressed dreams and creativity. 

Even my dog gets in the fun!

As I meditated on Halloween for a couple years while I turned off the lights and closed my door to trick-or-treaters I realized that not participating didn’t make my day any holier.  In fact, in a desire to oppose Satan by not participating in one of my favorite celebrations I was also pushing God out of my October thirty-first.  One day, in a homily Father made a side comment which began my recreation of what I now call "Holy Halloween."  He said dressing up for Halloween is not bad and he encouraged those “kids” who wanted to dress in costume to think of being a saint for Halloween.  It was one of those eureka moments where my mind raced and my heart made flips inside – because I knew that Halloween was a day of the Lord too and a great day to evangelize and to share my faith with others.  What other day are people out in the streets coming to your door interacting?  I began with placing “Jesus loves you” stickers on the candies I passed out.  This became a great tradition that my nephew and I do every year.   A few days before Halloween each year while we mark our candies we talk about God and just spend time bonding.  I was listening to the radio and a Catholic speaker mentioned that she passes little cards to evangelize the people that come to her door and then prays for their deceased during November- I might try that next.  We carve pumpkins using the Pumpkin Gospel which is a beautiful book that uses the carving process to tell our salvation story.  You take icky stuff out of the pumpkin, clean it all out to put God’s light in and then the pumpkin shines just like we do when God is in our lives.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary & Saint Francis of Assisi

The biggest thing that I have implemented is dressing up as a saint.  I love medieval times so usually I choose a saint from that era (smile).  At first, I would just pick a saint using google and read a quick Wikipedia bio on her and that was the end of that.  But as the years have passed I now order a good book biography and during the entire month of October I read about the saint and learn more about her.  This year in addition to reading Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc, I am also praying a novena to Saint Joan with my friends.  I am not too knowledgeable of the Catholic saints so it’s great that my October routine helps me grow in wisdom and to make friends with great intercessors.  The thing I learned is that every day is a day for God, and we need to have the creativity to use pagan holidays for God’s work much like our church has done throughout history.            

Traveling With Instructions - Boundaries are Good

Boundaries are good.  I remember when I used to teach high school on the first day of class as we went over the classroom rules I would always share with my students the importance of following rules.  “Let’s take for example,” I would say, “that one morning one person decided that he was not going to stop at red lights- can you imagine the destruction that would cause? When we drive we rely on others keeping the rules for our safety.”  In order to create an environment conducive to growth we must set and abide by rules.  This order provides a sense of safety and safety allows us to take risks knowing that we won’t fall to our demise. Rules also clarify expectations and show us our roles within any given relationship.  I love the first account of creation in the book of Genesis because God establishes that order is good.  In six days He creates in an orderly manner and gives man duties and rules.  One of the things I love about our Creator is that He is a God of order, He doesn’t like chaos and always wants us to live in harmony.  Our past history shows time and again, God’s efforts to reestablish harmony after our repeated attempts to fall into chaos.  After numerous tries, we come to understand that on our own we are unable to live in everlasting peace (we just always find a way to mess it up); thus, God gives us Jesus as His final way to bring us back to Him were we find eternal peace and harmony.  Catholicism gets a bad rap, people associate it with the “no” religion because people misunderstand that rules are good for us.  When there is love (and love is God) order is always present.

I remember growing up my mom gave me what then seemed like a ton of limitations.  She gave me a really early curfew, if I went out I needed to leave contact information and she needed to meet the people before I left the house, the clothes I wore needed her approval, I always needed to ask for permission to attend any school or extracurricular event, if one of my friends didn’t meet her approval she would ask me to rethink that friendship and wouldn’t let me hang out with the girl friend outside of school… I remember I used to envy girls at school who had no rules and whose parents gave them all the freedom that I was lacking.  Yet, when I graduated from university I realized that if my mom hadn’t imposed all those rules (especially during the troublesome years of adolescence) I would probably have ended pregnant and working to make ends meet like many of the girls I had envied did.  Rules sometimes feel like an imposition and even like there’s no love.  Especially in these modern times where relativism is the new world philosophy and the mindset that there’s no absolutes between good and bad has consumed many of the mindsets of developed countries.  Yet, if one has had the blessing of having good parents or is a parent we can better understand that the old, traditional, family values by establishing high morality really are creating a safe environment for the better development of our children.  Furthermore, if anyone has been in love before, we experience this desire for the best in our beloved and usually the best is reached through discipline.  In lighter terms, the greatest athletes develop their talents by setting rules and abiding to a set order.  Thus, when there are so many examples in a healthy society based on the following of established ways of government how can we say rules are bad? If anything rules are good- they guide, protect and inspire us to grow and succeed.

In order to win a game, we need to know the rules first.  My nephew likes to play Monopoly.  The other day he had a friend over and they decided to play the board game. Before the game began my nephew explained the rules to his friend.  As I watched this exchange between the two, I realized how even in the most trivial life experiences rules are still essential.  Boundaries help win games, but in a more personal level they create healthy relationships.  When a boundary is clearly defined and respected- we don’t need to set up walls anymore, we begin to trust and to learn how to act towards our beloved.  Weak boundaries leave us vulnerable, but a healthy set of expectations will produce respect and show us how to treat one another well and protect us from exploitive relationships.  Also, regarding the matter of fear- when there are clear expectations fear diminishes and our actions are motivated by love and not insecurity.  We are no longer easily hurt or offended because we have developed a mutual understanding of how things work between the two.  All this shedding of insecurities, fears and negativity are made possible by creating order and building together harmoniously.  God knew the importance of order that’s why He created the law or covenant with our ancestors.  Our church shares in this wisdom in keeping order and structure throughout time- even when it’s tested and ridiculed – it still chooses God’s way because His truth is eternal and the only way to real happiness and peace.