2013 has been good to me: I traveled, changed church
communities, discovered Peanuts Comics, and bonded with family & friends…
During the Cruise I swam with dolphins, parasailed, went cave tubing & explored the Mayan Ruins
At the end of January I went on my first cruise ever- which is really a monumental moment because one of my biggest fears is
getting eaten by sharks! I hate shark
movies & sharks terrify me in general!
The ocean too is not my favorite, since I almost drowned in it when I
was a child and thus never learned to swim.
Also, it wasn’t any cruise it was a Catholic Single’s Cruise which meant
wearing a bathing suit in front of potential suitors! I remember one late night I was out on the
terrace by myself looking into the infinite night, listening to the crashing of
waves upon the ship and I remember thinking to myself I can’t believe that I am out in
the middle of the ocean in shark territory (smile).
Medjugorje, Roman Colosseum, Pantheon...
The Vatican, Sunday Mass
Fountain of Trevi, Dubrovnik, Split
In May, along with my parish’s choir I got to go on
my first pilgrimage through Europe. Father
was able to get us a special pass to celebrate Mass on Saint Peter’s tomb. Our choir was invited to perform at one of
the Liturgical Celebrations at the Vatican- to our surprise we were assigned
the Sunday Mass at Saint Peters’ Square and we were 20 feet away from Pope
Francis! Of all the days, we were there
the day he was canonizing a Mexican saint and his homily was in Spanish so I
was able to understand his message (smile). I
have experience many Eucharistic Celebrations that have been quite spectacular-
but there on Saint Peter’s Square surrounded by giant statues of the apostles
and masses of people- with the playing of trumpets announcing a great king I
had no doubt that Jesus was present.
Young Adults, Hikes, Adoration & Teen Ministry
After being relieved of my duties as secretary for
the Hispanic Council at Saint Barbara, I decided to move parishes and to begin practicing
my faith in English. When I started
attending Mass I started going to Spanish services and I started to practice my
spirituality in Spanish, but as time went by and some of my friends started
getting curious about my faith- I didn’t have resources (in English) to point
them in the correct direction. Thus,
after contemplating the move for some time I decided that it was time to act
and I moved to Saint Vincent de Paul Church which is closer to my home too. It’s been interesting learning the Mass in
English and the popular prayers- I am still quite the amateur, but am enjoying
the change and being able to worship God in two languages!
One day I was terribly bored and came across a
Peanuts cartoon and it made me smile and the more Charlie Brown Comics I read
the harder I laughed. I am not a comedy
person I love drama & thrillers as a genre - comedy not so much- therefore,
discovering that I found a source of laughter really impressed me! Since then I have found comics for every
possible life situation and my favorite of all the characters is Snoopy and
Linus comes in close second. The
language the characters use is so mature and proper- other than their use of "stupid" I quite enjoy them!
Lot's of fun times with friends
This past year also allowed me to enjoy my family
and friends to the max. There were many
special moments- from my nephew’s first piano concert, the birth of a few more
little guys to many happy celebrations.
& Family
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