"That’s just it, isn’t it? We live in a world which is fleeting, temporary, and transitory. We like things quick and convenient to accommodate our speedy lives that resemble the fast forward button we once used on our VCRs before they became obsolete. We put our faith in machines, men, and metrics, and when they fail we feel cheated.
All the while, we have a God who is everlasting. He doesn’t break down but can pick up the pieces when we do. He isn’t temporal but eternal. If we are willing to buy into his commandment – to love him above all and love our neighbor as ourselves – we too can move beyond the disposable world we live in into the eternal. His commandment is so simple and beautiful and pays way more than it costs.
Like an overzealous salesperson, I might have gotten carried away with the last sentence. Because really, it isn’t always simple to follow his commandment. It requires sacrifice, obedience, and selflessness, all of which can be a hard sell when competing against the deities of the disposable. The messages of here and now can be consuming, carrying a sense of self-inflated significance which distract us from the everlasting." Read more of this week's post: mercymatters.net/2019/02/19/eternal-life-and-disposable-society/ ... See MoreSee Less
"What has changed is the horrific way teenage sex is being normalized by mainstream media to the point that it is considered entertainment. Teenage sex as television entertainment. It’s incredulous. Parental responsibilities to teach about the sacred nature of sex have been disregarded — outsourced to Netflix despite the completely irresponsible premise of a “comedy” teaching the many dimensions of human sexuality. The reviews of the show are generally positive as the characters are described as endearing and empathetic. I even read reviews by teenagers who say that it is a realistic depiction of what teens struggle with. Maybe so. Yet by normalizing teenage sex as something to explore, we are ignoring the spiritual component that is more complicated than its physical counterpart. By debasing sex to something to share as freely as a stick of gum, we exchange the wholeness of the person for a fraction of carnal pleasure. Teenagers are left to sort broken pieces of themselves – feeling more confused than ever as to why something that was marketed to fill them has left them empty. Is Netflix going to create a show to help with that?
Teenagers may be confused about sex, but I am confused how anyone can conscionably produce a show that condones and encourages teen intercourse by reducing it to comedy. One that is described by Joyce Slaton of Common Sense Media where “characters have sex with lots of movement, noise, and realistic talk about orgasms, sexual practices, positions, body fluids, body parts, and on and on.” We are talking about minors. Kids whose bodies are still growing and brains which are still developing. Our babies who are biologically able to make babies of their own, yet who are not mature or responsible enough to care for them. Now they can watch their insecurities, fantasies, and inexperience play out on television as realism instead of a reflection of the surrealism in which morality has dipped." Read more of this week's post: mercymatters.net/2019/02/12/sex-education-failing-teenagers/ ... See MoreSee Less
I was looking at my closet and thinking how insane it would be to pull everything out. I mean, I hung it up already. It’s already clean and ironed. It seems kind of sadistic to pile it like a heap of dead leaves. After all, how much joy am I going to have from wrinkling perfectly ironed clothes and then rehanging them? Then, I worried I wouldn’t find any sparks in my pile. I would be like a homely girl that doesn’t get a Valentine. No spark for you. How sad would that be? (It’s very sad. I’ve been that girl). I could be inspired to donate my entire closet, and end up joyless with no origami in my dresser.
Pondering her method, I wondered what it would be like to take a mental inventory of our lives and discover what sparked joy? Would we start a fire? Saint Catherine of Sienna said, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” But that wasn’t about deciphering joy, it was about discerning who God created you to be. Sometimes that seems even harder than cleaning out closets and organizing tchotchkes. Whenever I examine my life, trying to answer the weighty question of purpose, I feel a spark of panic, not joy. Maybe Kondo would have me thank that question for its dubious service, and send it on its way. Perhaps that works with the material, but when it comes to setting the world on fire for God, we don’t want to dismiss the unique purpose he created for us. “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose,” (Romans 8:28).
By the world’s standards, Saint Catherine’s prediction to set the world on fire would look like a Time Magazine cover, or maybe it would mean we would get our own television show like Kondo. So often, that’s what we think of when we imagine someone setting the world on fire. We think of fame, fortune, glory, notoriety, and nobility. We think of flash, not the forsaken savior betrayed by the very people he came to save. We forget the way of Jesus — the narrow path of his lonely walk on earth; the humility of his birth; the hush in which he performed his miracles – the small ways he made a big difference. Read this week's post: mercymatters.net/2019/02/05/marie-kondo-craze-and-life-changing-joy-of-god/#more-2484 ... See MoreSee Less
Last night we were putting together the yearbook ad for my son who will be graduating from 8th grade this year. I looked at pictures of him when he started Assumption Catholic School when he was four years old and I read all the little stories I wrote about him. Of course, I cried. A lot. It’s funny how you can simultaneously have someone and still miss them terribly.
Today marked the end of Catholic School Week, his last one at our beloved school. They read a beautiful essay from an another 8th grader who won the Catholic School Week essay contest and I remember how I won the same contest my eighth-grade year. It was the first time I had ever won anything.
Catholic school has been part of my life for more than 40 years. Seeing all of the grandparents at mass today made me realize that whether it’s being a student, a parent, or a someday grandparent, the influence and impact of a Catholic education never ends -- no matter what milestone ceremonies mark their passing. Life keeps moving with all the different stages that we move into. With it, we carry the lessons of our faith, sharing it with new generations. Students of Christ’s love. Always learning. Keeping child-like faith and cherished memories. ... See MoreSee Less
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Our souls crave the quiet that is God. Often, when it comes to problem solving and big decisions, we rely on intellect. Reasons, facts, and logic become the trinity we turn to. The noise in our head sputters off a list of pros and cons. We ask friends for advice. We read books to guide us. We troubleshoot and play out different scenarios, alternating the variables, and exposing flaws like a crime-scene detective. Inadvertently, we create more noise for ourselves — obscuring the voice of God with the chatter of our reasoning. The head talks, talks, and talks. It means nothing if the heart is pulled toward something different. Our hearts hold the voice of God. Without quiet, we will never hear the whisper of his wisdom, the lull of his compassion, or peace of an answered prayer.
Read this week's post here: mercymatters.net/2019/01/29/hearing-god-in-a-noisy-world/ ... See MoreSee Less
