Christmas: A Call to Action

There is a clear and constant theme that has been touched on through the Mass readings leading up to Christmas. I think the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, is reminding us to stay awake, because something big is about to happen... cough, cough, Jesus is coming, not just in Christmas as the baby who will grow up to save the entire human race, but also as a king on a white horse who will come again to see that this evil world is destroyed and the faithful adopted into the kingdom of God. 

We see in scripture, not only are we asked to stay awake, but also to be prepared for the coming of The Lord. The first that comes to mind is the Parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25. Ten virgins, preparing for a wedding, fall asleep as the bridegroom is delayed. At midnight, the bridegroom arrives and the ten virgins awake, but only five have enough oil for their lamps, and the other five have to run and buy some more. The five with enough oil go into the wedding and are welcomed by the bridegroom and the door is shut to the marriage feast. Then straight from Matthew,

"Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.'

But he replied, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.'

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." 

Then in Matthew 26, Jesus asks his disciples to stay awake as he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane; this is that very emotional and powerful moment where we see Jesus sweat blood, the pressure of death taking it's physical toll. Jesus says to his disciples, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." 

We all know how it ends; they fall asleep. 

"And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour?Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Matthew 26:40

Therefore, as Christmas approaches and we prepare for the coming of The Lord, then and now, we are reminded further to keep watch.

The first reading acts as a warning of what is to come. In these verses from Malachi, the Lord tells us that He is sending a messenger to prepare the way for His coming. Here Malachi is prophesying of John the Baptist, but he may also be referring to the second coming. We are warned by Malachi that when the Lord comes, it won't be with rainbows and buckets of Love. No, he says it will be a great and terrible day, where only the strong will endure the fires of purification that The Lord will bring to cleanse us for the kingdom. Sounds fun, right? I'm no expert, but I would say that two things happen to things placed under a really hot fire: they are either strengthened and refined, or they melt and burn into ash. 

"But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears?" Malachi 3:2

Is it clear enough yet? Maybe not, here's more scripture...

Now look at what God shows us in today's Gospel of Luke. Zechariah and Elizabeth are having a baby, which never should of happened because Elizabeth was way past due for a child, but it did, and when it comes time to name the child, there's a big problem: Elizabeth wants to name the child John, but "they", whoever they are, stop her because none of her relatives have had that name. Instead of arguing with Elizabeth, they make signs to ask Zechariah, who astonishingly agrees that the child should be named John, although he has had now communication with his wife since the conception of his child because he did not believe what the angel Gabriel had told him. At this moment, where he announces the name of the child, his voice is restored and he immediately praises The Lord. 

I think we can relate to Zechariah and the "they" in this passage. We have a hard time understanding the Lord's plan for our lives, and when forced to look straight at it in the face, we can be overcome with fear and disbelief that any faith or courage we had before is squandered, and we are rendered immobile. In my own life, with college decisions staring me in the face, following God's will for me is something I struggle with a great deal of confusion and fear. I've know for some time that He is calling me to the priesthood, but what does that mean now that I have to act on that calling? How will my life change? What must I sacrifice? 

Surely Zechariah was asking similar questions as the birth of his child was fast approaching. And what about the "they"? All they are trying to do is circumspect the kid and name him, but they have no clue that The Lord has deemed this child for greatness. And so when they finally understand, scripture tells us,

"Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”"

Luke 1:65

What does this mean for Christians as we prepare for the birth of Christ, and his second coming?

Several things...

1. While contemplating the first coming of Christ, we are reminded constantly to be prepared for the day He will come again, and stay awake! No one but the Father knows when He is coming again. So as we look in our lives and at the future ahead of us, we have to always keep in mind the ultimate end: Heaven. If we're lucky, the second coming will happen while we're still here and we will get to skip the whole death part, but no matter what, we have to be purified before ever stepping foot into the kingdom. By staying awake and preparing for that day we are strengthening ourselves for the final cleanse. So, make it as easy as possible for yourself to get clean. 

2. We are reminded that our future is unknown except to the Father. So in our own lives, as we look to the future, we have to listen to the Father to know where the next step is, or we'll fall. The future is like a staircase in the dark, and each step is a different height. In this same way, we can't be afraid to take the next step. If we believe that God guides our path, then we must trust Him and persevere, always keeping in mind where we are headed. 

3. Finally, The Lord erasures us that He is leading us to a future better than we can ever imagine. Just as the "they" were clueless as to what the Father wanted to call his son until the asked him, and when they did they were blown away by his answer. They never could have expected it. In this same way, we must constantly turn to the Father with open hearts and minds, not allowing our logic and reasoning to blind us from the will of the Father, even when it seems unknowable, incomprehensible, or just totally insane. 

With total surrender to the will of the Father, we will no longer be unhappy, anxious, discouraged, disappointed, or unfulfilled, because everything he does for us, he does so to give us the best possible future, a life eternal with Him in heaven. 

Christmas is two days away. Until then, I will be praying for my eyes to be opened to the Lord's will for me, for my heart to softened and opened to whatever He calls me to, and for my soul to be strengthened in preparation for His coming. I'll be praying the same for all of you. 

Christmas, undoubtedly is a call to us for action, for mobility. Look into your life and try to see where the Spirit is moving, and what form of action He is calling you to take. Perhaps it is an increase in your devotion to Mary, or maybe it is a call back to confession, to his mercy and love. Whatever it is, know that the result of that action will be good and full of happiness, just as the first Christmas was for Mary and Joseph, both called to accept an unknowable future with the promise that it will bring light to the world... That promise was fulfilled in a way they could have never expected. Can we take this same leap of faith?

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” 

Jer. 29:11

Well if you made it all the way down to here, I thank you immensely for hearing what the Spirit has spoken through me today.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Alex

The Next Step

To my Pines brothers and sisters,

Wow. What a weekend...right?

We were reunited and things just picked up where they left off. (That's the sign of true friendship... it's like we never left.)

We shared in the Body and Blood of our Lord, Emmanuel, and we praised Him together and fell on our knees together. How beautiful of a bond that we share; we've been brothers and sisters longer than you may realize, brought together by a single desire for an experience, an encounter with the One we love. 

Over the last six months, we've craved and thirsted together, and watched each other struggle and search and satisfy our cravings with other things besides God, and we did the same in our own lives. As this weekend approached we prepared to be strengthened again, refreshed in our training, and replenished at the table of The Lord. 

Being back together, we realized that much of our strength comes from God through our brothers and sisters. We need each other; we don't have to walk alone any longer. 

Now it's time to go home, back to our other friends, back to people who did not share in our experience, back to our homework, and practice, and routine. In a worldy reality, we all go back to normal, revert back to our comfort zone, let this weekend become a memory, and the encounter we had just a story...

No. Not again, not ever again. We are worth more than that. We have seen the inside of the honey comb, we took the red pill, and we have seen a reality contrary to everything we thought we knew. In this reality, the weak are strong and the poor are happy, and there is a happy ending! Hold on to it. Don't let go.

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:14

We are in this together, so together let's hold on to this experience, and every encounter preceding it, and together let's live our lives recklessly devoted to our God, the source of our happiness, the One who brought us together. 

I believe in God.

I believe He created us.

I believe that He alone can satisfy our earthly yearnings.

I believe in us, because we have Him.

Brothers and Sisters, as we take this next step, we take it together, all the way to heaven. 

“I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother[s and sisters], because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.” Philemon 1:4-7

All of you have given me so much joy. Thank you.

Alex, "Galilee" 

We, the Miserable

Let me just start off by apologizing for a depressing post at Christmas time, but I do think this fitting somehow. I have been reading the unabridged version of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables (which I cannot recommend enough) and reflecting on the themes he deals with that are present in my life, as well as the rest of the world. Also I just watched The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and that might have had something to do with this post as well.
I won't go into detail about what's going on in my life right now (you might be reading for hours) but suffice it to say that it is not hard for anyone to reflect upon their lives and find some amount of miserableness in it. The amazing thing that I am realizing is, you can go deeper. If you look further into your life or the lives of those around you, you will probably be able to pick out chains of misery that have passed down from generation to generation. You can find the wretchedness in everyone's life. Seeing this led me to another reflection.
Human beings are constantly crying out for God. This is not a choice; we are built for it. You are a human being, therefore, you ache for the love of God. There is no choice, and even if you think you aren't, I assure you, any passion that you may have, anything in your life that you try to fill the hole in your heart with, is indirectly a call out to God. We are all miserable, mainly because we know perfection exists, and we cannot obtain it in this world, no matter how hard we try. We may get close, but ultimate perfection is only found in heaven, in the presence of our Lord.
So, the solution I have found for dealing with misery in the world, and the reason I find this post appropriate to the Christmas season, is that we should love others. It seems pretty straightforward, even though it is easier said than done. This is, after all, the thing that Jesus stressed the most in his life and ministry. But how to go about it? Pray for others; give unexpected acts of kindness toward those you don't favor; and separate yourself from any negative feelings. Even if you find that there is no capacity for love, you can still fight complete misery by denouncing feelings of hate or envy that arise in you. You may not be able to help those feelings, but you can separate yourself from them, saying "I will not identify myself with these negative feelings," and even then you are taking a small step in the right direction. Snuffing out the vices in your life will give room for the virtues to grow.

I wish patience, love, and kindness towards all you, brothers and sisters, in this Advent/Christmas season, and for the rest of your lives.

Fa La La

It's almost Christmas! False.

It's almost Advent. It's almost time to begin preparing for the celebration of the birth of our Lord! I've been getting into the spirit of Christmas lately by listening to the Pandora Christmas station, and desperately avoiding every time Justin Bieber's Christmas album comes on. 

However, I cant run forever, and finally , this afternoon I ran out of skips. 

Consequently, I landed on the Beib's holiday hit, "Fa La La". 

The song highlights everything that Christmas is NOT all about.

So here's my list of how not to celebrate this Christmas, courtesy of JB.

1. Christmas is about getting.

Evidence: "One through ten on your list you can get it, get it, get it, get it now"

Christmas isn't about getting! It's about giving! So give it, give it, give it all! How?

Give charity! Organize a soup kitchen trip with your friends or adopt an underprivileged child to help feed and give Christmas gifts to!

Give hope! Spread the good news! Open yourself up to sharing the true meaning of Christmas. (*Cough cough, it's Jesus)

Give love! Make a deal with yourself to tell the people you love why you love them, one person each day! Or three or four!

2. Happy Christmas to Me!

Evidence: "Baby you deserve everything you want, It's your night, ohhh"

News flash! Unless you were born on December 25, this ain't yo birthday! And honestly who's to say we deserve anything, when the greatest gift of all has already been given to us! Even if Christmas is your birthday, (happy birthday) we have to recognize that our Christmas gift is Christmas itself! (*cough cough, Jesus)

3. Wait, what the...?

Evidence: "I'll deck your heart with bells of holly. Fa la la, etc. 

Baby cuz you're the reason to be jolly. Fa la la, etc."

I'm not going to discuss the strange implications if the first lines of the evidence, this blog would get awkward real fast. 

Look... Baby... Whoever you are... I'm sure you're a nice gal, but you are not the reason to be jolly. (*cough cough, Jesus)

Joy, happiness, jolliness, you name it, it comes from knowing one person and knowing what He came here for.

*cough cough, Jesus

It comes from believing that Jesus was born to die and rise again, out of His immeasurable and uncontainable love for us, and that our lives have purpose and meaning because of His birth.

It comes from striving to imitate the same faith that Mary had knowing she would bear the King and Lord of all in her womb, certain that He alone would save us. 

It comes from understanding, like Joesph, that God's great plan is beyond our understanding and comprehension, and His love is more powerful than we will ever be able to grasp as mere humans, but that we can still try, even in our weakness and doubt, to live devoted to serving Jesus humbly and faithfully. 

It comes from recognizing that celebrating Christmas means celebrating the day God stepped onto this Earth in human flesh, as weak as an infant, then went on to heal sinners and lepers, create His church, and win for us life eternal. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and stay faithful my friends! 

God Bless,

Alex

Invincible

I'm a sinner, and I am broken. Sometimes that is the hardest thing to do. Admit that right there. I know for me, a mix of pride, shame, and insecurity often prevent me from doing just that. And before I confuse you too much more, lemme explain.

I have grown up in the perfect life. I have an older brother, two loving parents, a dog, and straight a's. I have had multiple people tell me my life is like a movie. I'm not sure what happened, but freshman year my life didn't seem good enough anymore. I was constantly trying to impress everyone I met. Maybe it came from the fact that I have always considered myself overlooked, with nothing to make me special, or beautiful, or anything but 100% ordinary. But since freshman, I have tried to make myself stand out, only to be one uped every time. I love my friends, don't get me wrong, but all of them seem to be so much smarter, or prettier, or well liked. I constantly compared myself to them. By the time my junior year hit, I had put so much pressure on myself, I started losing control of it. Normally bubbly and happy, I began to fear school and seeing my friends. I, without realizing it, distanced myself from my friends. I was always stressing about one thing or another and it began to effect every aspect of my life. Around February, I began to realize nobody wanted to be my friend anymore. Have you ever tried high school without friends? I don't suggest it. I cried every night begging for someone to reach out. I didn't understand what I had done to lose all my friends. They talked to me at school? I became a master of "faking it" and making it seem I had it all together when I was falling apart. I honestly wouldn't have made it through without my boyfriend, who confronted my friends behind my back. Of course, my true friends had no intention of hurting me and felt horrible once they knew the pain I was going through. Because of this, I  began to feel so insecure about my personality, I hid it, balled it up inside of me and through it to the side. Before long, I began to feel a pit in my stomach, especially around new or intimidating people. The pit didn't go away, though. It stayed there no matter how sick it made me or how much weight it made me lose. I had this pit in my stomach for 5 months straight, only getting worse with each time I woke up.

Now, throughout this trial in my life, I refused help. I mean, my boyfriend had to go behind my back to get me help!!! I didn't want to inconvenience anyone and I thought I was strong enough to pull myself out of it. Worst part is, I neglected God. My hard-headed self thought I was strong enough to face my human life with out God, while part of me felt too embarrassed to ask God for help when my life was so great. My anxiety continued until about halfway through of my first week as summer camp at The Pines Catholic Camp. My friends from camp will never truly understand how much they mean to me. They saved me from a dark place and even though I don't keep up with them as much as I used too, when I think about them and their beautiful, genuine souls and how they encourage me to be myself and go to God for help, I am at peace for I know the Lord had given me more than I deserve. I woke up on that Tuesday morning, holding back tears because for the first time in forever, I was happy. I was relaxed and I was myself.

Crazy how I spent all that time searching, and the answer was literally right beside me, begging me to ask Him for help. I cant explain the joy that overflowed my life, and how nice it felt to smile again. I didn't want to admit I was broken, but once I did, I was fixed. Beautiful, right?

Now  a few months later, I don't even recognize the girl I was six months ago. I have let myself enjoy this year and I have never been more happy. Though I still have many challenges, I pray. I beg the Lord for help. I cry "I am broken and I am a sinner" and with patience, I know he will fill my breaks with love and peace and he will heal my pain in time.

If you ever struggle, ask for help. The Lord made us to be vulnerable to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are made vulnerable so the Lord can make us invincible.

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 9:38-39

Much Love and God Bless,

MC Halphen

(thanks for reading all the way though, ive never blogged before and idk if I did this right but you rock because you stuck with it!)

Thoughts on Love

Taken directly from Cathryn's journal (you're all in for a treat):

"Humans need to be loved.
We can exist physically without it, but to be able to continue our existence in a life that would otherwise be meaningless, we need to know that we are something precious to someone else, whether they be our parents, spouse, friend, cat, etc. We feel the need for someone else to actualize our value as a human being.
For those of us who know we are loved, and more importantly, that we are loved by God, this may seem obvious, or taken for granted. A baby feels its mother's love when she hold him in her arms. (Now the baby may be so comfy that he happens to fall asleep. Just as Christians, when they feel they are in the Father's loving embrace, may drift off because they are so content. Then we wonder why we do not emotionally feel the Father's love for us - it is because we are sleeping. You cannot feel another's love in reality when you are dreaming.) But say the babe is awoken by a crying child, who feels forsaken and forgotten because the parent stepped out of the room for a minute. If we give this babe the cognitive abilities of an adult (humor me) it would feel sorry for the abandoned child, and realize yet again how amazing it is to be in its mother's safe embrace. Were the babe a good Christian, it would see there is room enough in its mother's arms to accept this lonely child, and may try in some way to help the poor creature come to its mother, for she would surely accept another, and show it what true love and compassion are.

I'm sure there are many more scenarios that would explain the same situation, but my point is, to make it clear: we should love those around us, and make the best effort to show them compassion, in order to bring them to the one who is perfect and will fulfill all their needs. Even if this means looking past the tears and the red face with a gaping mouth to see the anguish they are in. (The expression just mentioned obviously shows pain, yet there can be different ways of expressing the anguish of a soul - this is what I mean.)

Love at all costs."

I'm sorry if this seems like an undeveloped thought or a really rough draft, because it is. I wrote this one night after watching a video of Miley Cyrus break down in tears while singing "Wrecking Ball" and I just felt awful, for her and for the fact that I judged her harshly without knowing what's going on in her life right now. It made me realize that as Christians, we should have compassion for everyone, no matter what they're doing or how they look.

Dependency

I'm the type of person who loves to keep a prayer journal. Yet today was the first time I set aside the time to authentically talk to God through my journal in 6 days. 6 days! I sat there and realized the impact it had had on my week by not setting aside some of my time to have that much needed one-on-one conversation with God. A year ago or so, this might realization may not have been so shocking to me, but in the past year, as I've challenged myself further in my faith, I'm realizing more and more my dependency on God. Not setting aside time to talk to Him directly (besides mass & Bible study), affected me so much, I felt like I hadn't talked to Him in a century.

As I reflect on the past week, I'm realizing how differently a lot of situations could have gone had I taken it to God. There were two separate accounts in the past week where I witnessed people I love more than anything making decisions that hurt them. I became upset at myself, beating myself up for not doing more to keep them away from these decisions. But I didn't even take enough time to go back and offer them up in prayer, the greatest thing you can do for anyone. I was more concerned with how I could help them on my own, than how I know God can handle it.

We honestly can't do anything without God's grace. But we have to remember that with it, there's nothing we can't do. My favorite verse is Isaiah 41:13, which says, "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.'" If that wasn't enough for me to hear tonight, right after I read that verse, the song Let The Waters Rise by Mikeschair sang, "You were faithful before, You'll be faithful again, I'm holding Your hand." He's holding our hand, but we have to remember to reach out and hold it back, letting ourselves rely on Him. He is always faithful, and we will never have to face any storm alone because He is with us. We all have highs and lows in our prayer lives, but I challenge y'all and am praying for y'all as you work on creating a greater dependency on Christ, and please pray for me to continue to be more diligent in mine as well!

In His Name,

Ali 

alimartinez11@gmail.com