A summer adventure

This Sunday I am going on an adventure.

I shall be beginning a summer job working as a camp councilor at Camp Fatima and Bernadette in New Hampshire.

So a few things about this adventure. First off I’ll be rather busy and probably wont be able post that often if at all.  But I’m sure I’ll have plenty to write about when I get back.

Second:  I am going to become incredibly sunburned.  I am a pale skinned ginger.  Large amounts of 4000000 spf sunblock will work for a bit, but I will miss bits, it will wear off, or I’ll just plain forget to put any on until I’m roughly the same color as a lobster.

Third:  It’s going to be a while.  I’m going to be working for eight weeks.  The scary part is that it will give me about a week to get back down to SC and get read/move into college.  That is assuming I’m not immobilized by sunburns.

Fourth:  I can’t wait.  This is a Catholic camp run by the Diocese of Manchester and I am so happy that I’ve been given the chance to work there.  I’m not sure what awaits me but I bet it’s going to be great.

So if you could all keep me in prayers that would be great!

God bless.

 

Telephone: God is Calling!

God is calling

“Stop callin’, stop callin’, I don’t wanna talk anymore I left my head and my heart on the dance floor.”
Know this song? It’s Telephone by Lady Gaga. Now, Lady Gaga is not really a person one should look to as a role model but God has a pretty cool way of making all things eventually reflect back to Him. He calls our attention everywhere we go, reminding us that we are His and telling us when we‘re getting ourselves into trouble. This message can be found even in Lady Gaga’s song.
Maybe you’re nor familiar enough with Telephone to understand its “plot” so here is a summary. Basically the singer is out partying and is getting annoyed at the caller for pestering her while she’s out. She (by way of song) tells the caller that she’s sorry, but she can’t answer him right now. She’s too busy. She doesn’t want to talk. She doesn’t want to think. She wants to dance, drink and have a good time. It’s funny how this can so often sum up our relationship with God.

Psalm number Two:

Life is better than good

Once again I don’t have a picture so here’s another flower!

So a few weeks ago I posted a short piece entitled Life is Good about the birth of my niece and how good life is. Since then I have gotten to travel to Texas to visit said niece and I have changed my mind.

Life isn’t good.

Life is great.

Life is amazing!

My niece was only a week and a half old when I saw her but even at that early age she had already started to smile in her sleep. It’s just part of human nature to be happy! And we should be happy because life is amazing.

The gift of life, ours and other peoples, is not something to be disregarded or ignored, it’s something to be protected and cherished. I love being around babies and getting to hold my niece was awesome and I love her so much (I plan to spoil her rotten) but the amusingness of her life doesn’t apply to her alone.

Every person I meet. Every person you meet. Everybody in the world has the gift of life. Not only should they cherish it but we should cherish it with them.

A lot of the time people can forget this and treat each other badly.

But the truth is: Life is amazing. And we need to start acting that way.

My Mom is Amazing

So once again the time of year has come to honor, celebrate, and brag about MOTHERS!

So who am I not to brag about my amazing mother?

Here are a few facts to support my assertion of her awesomeness.

May the Fourth be With You!

Because Star Wars in cool.

Life is Good

I don’t have a picture for this so here’s a pretty flower.

Earlier this week I became an uncle. I know this makes me sound old but I’m not really, I’m still only 18. But my older sister just had her first baby and my niece is beautiful.

Life is good.

If you look in the book of Genesis you see that that is how God describes everything that he made, including life. He saw it and he said that it was good. And it is good.

Sometimes it can be hard to see that life is good, especially when we’re going through rough spots.

But life is always good. Because God made it and he gave it to us!!

When I saw the first picture of my niece I knew that life was good. And that made me happy.

Be happy because no matter what happens life is good. God is good.

Saints JPII and Pope John XXIII Pray for us!

Xtreme Papa!

Theology of the Wet Towel

I believe that, God having made everything, everything can be used to show God. So when a friend of mine challenged me to write a piece called “Theology of the wet towel” how could I do anything but say yes?
So that what I’m going to do and I’m going to use a method of writing that I’m quite familiar with. It’s called: Wing it and see what happens! Because my friend hadn’t thought any farther than the name of the piece…
So let’s see, how do I tie in wet towels with God…
I’ll start with the characteristics of a wet towel.
1) It’s wet.
2) It’s a towel.
2) When hot it’s awesome and when cold it’s horrid. Bingo!
Have you ever put a steaming hot towel on your face or on your back? It’s amazing! It relaxes you, sooths and all in all feels fantastic.
But then it gets cold.
The cold towel is nothing like the warm one. It sucks the heat out of you. It feels uncomfortable; it has none of the good things that the warm towel had.
Well our faith is very much like that wet towel. When it’s hot and active you feel great and you’re happy. But the colder it get’s the less you like it and the unhappier you become.
Sometimes people view faith as a thing that once attained becomes permanent and never needs renewal. But just like a wet towel we need to keep it warm for it to be something we can use and appreciate. And thankfully Jesus gave us exactly what we need to keep our faith warm. The sacraments.
I could spend ages talking about how awesome the sacraments are but I’m just going to say that they are what keep a faith warm. Through Reconciliation we free ourselves from the burdens of our guilt and sins. In the Eucharist we become close physically and spiritually. In baptism, confirmation, marriage, holy orders and anointing of the sick we live not just on our own but constantly with God at our side helping us, granting us grace and keeping our faith warm.
When we ignore the sacraments we’re letting our towel of faith become cold and unpleasant so we have to keep up with the sacraments. We have to keep our faiths, like our wet towels, very warm.

After Lent

So if I were to ask the question “What comes after Lent?” the obvious answer would be: Easter!! Lent ends this weekend and the Easter season begins! A season for celebration. A season where we get to go back to all the foods and privileges that we’ve given up. A season that bring to an end all that we’ve been doing to prepare ourselves for Easter. All in all a great season.

But there is a bit of a problem.

We spend all of Lent trying to better ourselves and making sacrifices but when Easter comes we stop and forget all about it until next year.

That’s not how it should work.

Lent is a special time for prayer, fasting and sacrificing but it’s not the only time. A relationship with God can only work if we maintain it year round.   Lent isn’t a time to make up for the rest of the year. It’s a time to improve ourselves so that each year we become closer to God. This doesn’t mean that we have to keep up our sacrifices (I for one am looking forward to having sugar in my tea again) but our efforts to grow closer to God need to continue.

So this Easter season and beyond try to take what you’ve accomplished spiritually this Lent and incorporate it into your life.

And don’t get sick easting to much Easter candy. That’s important too.