Celebrating 60 Years of Service

On June 29, 1951, a young man named Joseph Ratzinger was ordained a priest in Friesing, Germany. Sixty years later, he serves God and the church as Pope Benedict XVI. A few months ago, this rare video emerged online showing the young Ratzinger during his ordination (4:52-4:55 mark).

In his 1997 autobiography, Pope Benedict reflects on the most important moment of his life:

“We were more than forty candidates, who, at the solemn call on that radiant summer day, which I remember as the high point of my life, responded “Adsum”, Here I am. We should not be superstitious; but, at that moment when the elderly archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird—perhaps a lark—flew up from the high altar in the cathedral and trilled a little joyful song. And I could not but see in this a reassurance from on high, as if I heard the words “This is good, you are on the right way.”

In honor of the 60th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's ordination, please pray with us for an increase in vocations. We need more young men to hear God's call and follow Him into religious service as priests.

Father, we're your people, the work of your hands. So precious are we in your sight that you sent your Son, Jesus. Jesus calls us to heal the broken-hearted, to dry the tears of those who mourn, to give hope to those who despair, and to rejoice in your steadfast love. We, the baptized, realize our call to serve. Help us to know how. Call forth from among us priests, sisters, brothers and lay ministers. With our hearts you continue to love your people. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

Amen.

Working Mom Travels

Last month, halfway through my second trimester, work related travel beckoned me to Little Rock, Arkansas. Traditionally I enjoy work-related travel, though at times it’s inconvenient. I’m fortunate that I’m only asked/required to travel three or four times a year, so it’s less of a burden and more of a perk. Work related travel requires some creative childcare options, but largely I’ve been extremely fortunate to have family and a husband that help to manage this.

When my oldest child was a baby and I was nursing, I tried to limit most of my travel and one time I invited my mother and sister with me so I could bring my daughter along. After she weaned, I left her home with my husband to manage, and this practice continued as our family grew. On several occasions, my parents offered to keep our daughters so my husband could join me on my travel. Now that our daughters are older, I watch for opportunities, particularly during the summer, to bring the whole family along.

There have been a few occasions where I’ve been unable to travel, because family comes first. I’ve also left conferences a day early for dance recitals and other important events. While I thoroughly enjoy traveling and my role in these organizations, God finds ways to keep me humble.

Last year I cancelled attending our regional meeting in Santa Fe, NM (where I’ve always wanted to go and haven’t been) because the meeting coincided with my younger daughter’s First Communion. The regional meeting wouldn’t normally be a scheduling conflict, but this particular year it took place earlier than usual. I also could have scheduled a private Communion on another weekend, but I knew how important it was for her to celebrate this Sacrament with her CCE class.

A few weeks before the event, the regional president informed me that I would receive a major award at the conference I wouldn’t be attending. It was a big honor to me, and I’ll confess, it was something I coveted, so I couldn’t help feeling that God must have planned this coincidence to keep me focused on what was more important and to keep me humble.

Now that I’m expecting another baby, I don’t know how much work-related travel will be in my future. It’s been nearly a decade since I traveled with an infant at my side or at home. Again, God’s touch and timing appear to be involved, my role as officer on the national board is term limited. Other appointments will be coming to an end during this next year, and I’ll trust God to show me the path He wants me to follow. I’ll miss the CNMC in October, and any other potential travel can be limited to cities close to home until next May, when the regional meets in Arizona. God willing, I’ll be there toting around a seven-month old son, and perhaps the rest of the family will be able join us and make a mini-vacation out of the trip.

How often do you have to travel out-of-town for work, and how do you juggle childcare for your family?

Pregnant College Students Offered Support for Life

College students who find themselves pregnant and unwed many times turn to abortion because they feel they must choose between their baby and their education.  Room At The Inn provides hope for those young women and their babies by giving them support to care for their family and further their education at the same time.  For years, they have offered college outreach to pregnant women and a residential facility in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Almost two years ago, I wrote about their plans to open a maternity home located on a college campus to further support young women in obtaining their education.    It is now a big step closer to becoming a reality.  

Room At The Inn broke ground this week on the nation's first college based maternity home at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.  This 10,000 square foot pregnancy and after-care home will have two residential wings, one for maternity and one for after-care, and can house up to 15 mothers, 15 infants and eight toddlers for free for up to two years. Each mother will have a private bedroom and bathroom and share the kitchen, dining room and laundry room with other residents. Administrative and counseling offices and quarters for residential managers will also be on site.

Many in the pro-life community have dreamed of a place to support young pregnant women so they could continue their college studies and better their family.  Room At the Inn, with their staff, volunteers, the Knights of Columbus and generous donors are making this dream a reality.  It is the hope of many that this college based maternity home will become a national model for other maternity home facilities on other campuses across the nation.  

Room At The Inn is a Catholic 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that serves women regardless of their economic, social, religious, racial, or ethnic background. Visit them at Room At The Inn. 

Join us in praying for the success of their college-based maternity home, that the idea will spread to support women at other universities, and for the families directly affected by this organization.  Room At The Inn is spreading the truth of Life to young women in crisis and supporting them in their choice for a future that includes both their baby and their education. 

2012 Presidential Candidate Watch List - Rick Perry

Our Texas Governor, Rick Perry, made a splash with a speech given in New Orleans at the Republican Leadership Conference over the weekend.  The Sunday talk shows buzzed about the passion he stirred in the audience.  

In a 25 minute address, Perry touched on many of the top button issues bridging social and fiscal conservatives with the Tea Party.  Pro-Life, Economics, Spending, Voter Integrity, Obamacare, the Tenth Amendment and American Exceptionalism are just a few of the big topics to which the crowd actively responded.  

For Texans, this speech reminded us of many given by Governor Perry over the last election cycle.  While he might not be known well nationally, the importance he places on many of these top issues is not new.  He has been focused on these topics for several years, but only now is gaining a national audience as rumors that he will join the GOP primary rise to the surface. 

Specifically, Perry mentioned that Texas is the top exporting state in the nation and 47.8% of all jobs created in America within the last two years have been in the Lone Star State.  Perry stated his simple economic guiding principles he has followed in his 10 years as Texas Governor.  

1.  Don't spend all the money; 2. Keep the taxes low and under control;  3.  Have regulations that are fair and predictable so business owners know what to expect from one quarter to the next; and 4. Reform the legal system so frivolous lawsuits don't paralyze employers that are trying to create real wealth. 

Over the last 10 years this recipe allowed Texas to reap economic success that comes with job creation and a job friendly climate.  In dealing with the nation's economic crisis, he said, "You can't defer tough decisions to tomorrow's generation."  

What Gov. Perry did so well in this attention getting speech, was promote American values and it's greatness. He passionately reminded us that the American dream is still alive and attainable.  We will have to work hard to make serious changes, but America is strong and a government ...of the people, by the people, for the people.  

The GOP primary offers a real opening for Rick Perry. With this speech, he differentiates himself from so many of the "top-tier" GOP candidates by showing his experience, his values and his enthusiasm for our great nation and the American people.  

Governor Rick Perry has made my 2012 Watch List for GOP Presidential Candidates.  Is he on yours?

How to Feed a Starving Community

In this time of economic uncertainty and financial hardship, many people are focused on their tangible needs: feeding families, paying the bills, clothing their children.  I’m fortunate to live in a community that is a bit insulated from the growing poverty and economic strife brought by the country’s recession. 

But my community is starving.

Not for want of food or material items, but with a burning spiritual hunger. Most of our families do not worry about putting food on the table each night. They have a roof over their head, two cars in the driveway, several big screen televisions and from all outward appearances a nice life.  Yet, there is dissatisfaction, a raw unease among many.  We need something more.

Our society encourages families to focus on bigger, better and more of everything. We strive to succeed at any cost. Society tells us not to be content with the small abundant blessings in our everyday lives, but to seek more. 

We must not overlook this need and hunger that secretly plagues communities, families, and lives across our nation.  The spiritual need.

In our community, God has sent Fr. John Rooney to feed our spiritual hunger.  Every Sunday, Fr. John reminds us to focus on our faith, the beauty of the Sacraments and the fullness of truth offered in our Church. We are called to recognize the need to prioritize our lives around God, Faith and Family, and tune out society’s loud incessant messages.

While many of us have spent the last decade seeking larger homes, new cars, the latest tech gadgets, or the best sports teams for our kids to quell the churning hunger we feel, Father John uniquely shows us that what we are truly searching for-- the only thing that will quench our hunger-- is Christ.  


God is there, loving us, waiting for us to be open to him. The message is clear, “God is more for us, than we can be for ourselves.”  With gentleness and a bit of humor, Fr. John repeatedly educates our parishioners about God’s love and invites us to allow God to be in control of our lives.

The congregation is nourished by his abundant faith, leading and guiding our own faith in our parish, the Catholic Church and in each other. We are called back to the table to be fed by the Bread of Life. In our one parish, one community, lives are being changed, lost Catholics reborn, and children filled with the Holy Spirit.  The gift of God’s grace is ever present to provide exactly what is needed in a community many would think needs nothing.  

Returning to the Sacrament

For many years I felt no compunction to experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation, having only been once - on the day of my Confirmation with no formal preparation. As I began to rediscover my connection to the faith, this missing Sacrament began to pull at my heart. At first, God’s gentle tug was easily ignored. But as the years wore on, I learned more about the beauty and grace offered, the reasons why it was a Sacrament of healing and felt God’s pull getting stronger.

My turning point began while helping my daughter in her own preparation to receive the Sacrament for the first time. We read John 20:19-23 together, where Jesus bestowed the gift to forgive sins on the disciples. We discussed how our sins are forgiven, and we "experience healing and wholeness and the tenderness of God’s divine mercy in the Sacrament." In Reconciliation, we humble ourselves before God, as he asks us to do. The Sacrament imparts divine grace through the real presence of our Lord.

Watching my daughter walk out of the confessional, I could see her radiate God’s love and embrace a pure faith in Jesus. Fr. John had given her a coin with a prayer inscription to always remember God’s mercy, “Jesus, I Trust in You.” I found myself wanting that radiance and mercy for myself, but my pride and fear stood in the way.

For the next year, everywhere I turned I heard about the healing power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Fr. Roderick from SQPN, Greg and Jennifer of The Catholics Next Door, author Patrick Madrid, author and speaker Sister Briege McKenna, and most profoundly, from my own parish priest Fr. John at Mass. Fr. John consistently spoke on the importance and healing offered to us by Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We were reminded that confessing our sins was only part of it; what we truly needed was the forgiveness, healing and reconciliation Christ offers to us. I knew he and the others were right.

The idea of walking into the confessional and saying, “Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been 21 years since my first and only confession” filled me with trepidation. I was ashamed it had been so long. How can I aspire to be a good Catholic and refuse a Sacrament?

Finally, one day during Lent I made up my mind that I was going. I grabbed several books on the Sacrament I had been reading, including A Pocket Guide to Confession, before I left the house and ran my errands. I did not speak about it all day for fear I would once again rationalize myself out of going. With my kids in tow, we arrived at the parish to a line outside the confessional. After settling my kids in the foyer with lots of library books, I waited and silently prayed for guidance.

Simply put, my fear, trepidation and shame were unwarranted. After hearing the words of absolution and performing my penance, I felt a huge emotional release. I had let myself get in the way of my relationship with God. Finally, I was able to hear Him more clearly without the encumbrance of sin. Over the following days and weeks a new spiritual calmness washed over me as I was cleansed and healed by the Sacrament.

Sharing my 21-year absence in receiving God’s healing grace is difficult for me, but I know I am not alone in my avoidance of this Sacrament. If you are like me and have been away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, please know that your desire to seek the way back to the healing power offered to us by Jesus is in my prayers.

Be a Light: Inspire Others

The daily scripture arrives in my mailbox every morning via Flocknote.com and is a positive way to begin my workday. Of course there are mornings when I don't have time--correction, don't make time--to spend five or ten minutes reading the Word of God and meditating on the daily message.

Here are a few lines from today's reading and Gospel that really stood out to me. I hope they bring you some inspiration.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save. As scripture says: I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned. Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes? Where are any of our thinkers today? Do you see now how God has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom? If it was God’s wisdom that human wisdom should not know God, it was because God wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach. And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Who can even imagine God having a foolish moment? Or God being weak? God's foolishness is wiser than all our human wisdom? God's weakness is stronger than all our human strength? How powerful He must be to transform our lives and those we touch when we find the courage to put our faith and trust in the Lord. To overcome that moment of rational or irrational fear of what if...? To stand on the cliff and feel the call of surrendering our whole self to Him.

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said, ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men. ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.

Reading this Gospel forces me to ask myself: Am I being a light today? Do my actions give you praise and inspire others to seek God? Oh God, please grant me the ability to shine with the radiance you gifted me, through my faith and your grace, to keep the Commandments, particularly to love God and love my neighbor. And in doing so, let me allow You to work through me to reach others.

What are you doing today to shine and inspire others?