Do You Celebrate Christ

I know that as Catholics sometimes we can get caught up in rituals of the Mass, especially if  you are one that attends daily Mass.  Yes it is beautiful, and meaningful but for those of you  that are cradle Catholics and have witnessed the same event every Sunday or daily, you can  have a tendency to loose the spark of what it all means.  I often tell cradle Catholics that I  consider myself lucky in the since that coming into the church as an adult I have a better  understanding of what it all means, I can appreciate it more than say those who have been a  Catholic their whole lives because see as a cradle Catholic, the Catholic Church is all you  know, when you come into the Catholic church after having been affiliated with different  denominations you can see what you have been missing, and I feel that for allot of us converts  to the Church it helps us to have a deeper passion for the Mass.

Now I am not saying that converts are better than cradle's what I am saying is if you have  gotten to the point in your life that the Mass is more of a routine than you need to spice up  your Church life. I often times will tell people that I consider myself an evangelical  Catholic, and I am sure that you are giving the screen the same confused look that people often  give me when they hear me say that.  See I grew up in a Baptist church, and so it was not  uncommon for someone to be "filled with the Holy Spirit" and shout or raise their hands when  they felt overwhelmed with love for God.  Now I am sure that if I was to do that during a Mass,  I would probably get some very strange looks.  But see there are times during the Mass that I  do get that overwhelming love for God, especially when I partake of the Eucharist, and there  are times that I have to bite my tongue to keep from expressing the over abundance of love that  I am feeling.

One thing that I have done that has helped me to keep that fire for Christ burning ever so  bright is spending time in worship here at home.  I know that this sounds silly but some of my  most Spirit filled moments happen when I am cleaning my house.  I turn on some praise and  worship music full blast, and I sing along as I am cleaning, there have been many times that a  song will strike a cord and I stop whatever I am doing and lift my hands up in the air and  spend time just praising the Lord.  I can be so deeply ingrained in praying my Rosary, focusing  on the different mysteries, and I have caught myself stopping, lifting my hands and praising  God.  Or if I watch a movie on TV, I have caught myself tears streaming down my face, praising  God, this happened to me just last night.  I was watching the movie Facing The Giants, I could  not hold back the tears, not because the movie was sad, but because it was so profoundly  moving. Things like the examples I have given are all ways that I celebrate God.

God is not only just present in the Mass, He is present all around us, each and everyday, no  matter where we may be, if we look for Him we can find Him.  So how do you celebrate Christ?   Just during the Mass?  Or do you seek a relationship with Him at all times?  Where does God  stand in your life?  Think about these questions, be honest with yourself, and if you find that  you are not celebrating Christ each and everyday, then you need to spend some time in prayer,  and ask God to become the center of your life again, not just during the Mass but each and  everyday.

Righting A Wrong Way Of Thinking

As any of you that have watched the news in the past couple of weeks knows the area in West
Virginia that I live in was hit by a total of around two feet of snow within a two week period.
This caused all of the roads to be bad, and when the snow started to melt it caused a huge
flood in our area.  Many people lost their homes, and everything that they owned it truly was a
State of Emergency like the governor declared.  I am grateful that our home was spared, and
that the only things that were a true threat to us were the slick roads.

In the process of the river rising because of all the water it effected our city water plant
and caused it to have to shut down, which left us with no water.  As I write this we are still
without water for 5 days now.  Remember now our home was spared from the flood, our electric
managed to stay on throughout the storms, so we had a dry safe, warm home and for that I am
truly grateful.  But not having water for the past five days for some reason has bothered me
more than it should, and I am ashamed to have to admit that the way that I have reacted to it,
is in a way shameful.

There are so many people that have lost so much, everything that they have worked for, gone in
a matter of hours.  And here I am complaining just because I don't have any water, how
embarrassed I truly am.  So why are you writing about this on a Catholic site you might ask?

Well I know as Christians we are suppose to have it ingrained in our minds and hearts that God
is there and He will take care of us, but we also are human and imperfect people and we have
thoughts, and concerns just like everyone else, and yes even Christians at time can have their
periods of doubt, especially in times of great stress.  It is hard during times of heartache to
see God's hand in something, but no matter how bad things look at the moment, you don't have to
worry because God is always there.  And as an imperfect human I have allowed this minor problem
that I am having with no water fester and become a lot more that it really is, and in essence I
feel like I have failed a test that I have been given.

You have heard the saying that hind sight is 20/20, and that is true, as I write this and look
back at my reactions to the struggles that have been placed in front of me, I can see where I
have went wrong, and now I am taking the steps to make them right.  Instead of getting on my
Facebook and complaining to people who have no control over this situation I should be on my
knees asking God to give me the grace to handle this situation in a way that will bring glory
to Him.

In conclusion as I finish writing this article, it is now day 6 with no water, but see I am OK with that now.  Because after giving all of my stresses to God and allowing Him to take control over the situation things are starting to work out.  I was able to go to my daughters house last night and take a long, hot, relaxing bath (with hot water), my dear husband came home from work with a 5 gallon drum of water, and with 6 gallon judges of water, so now after I finish this article I can go in and wash my dishes, and get my kitchen straightened back up, and actually cook a meal for my family this evening instead of us having to eat out yet again, and I spoke with the water department and they are pretty sure that they will have the water back on within a couple of days.  By giving God the control in my life, instead of me trying to control what I can't, not only were my prayers answered, but God is where He is suppose to be in my life, the driver's seat.

My Thoughts On Our Lady Of Fatima

A friend of mine recently ask me what my thoughts on Our Lady Of Fatima were, and it got me to
thinking a lot on the subject.  I remember when I was first learning about the Catholic Church
and hearing all of the wonderful things that people had witnessed in the Church I heard about
Our Lady of Fatima.  When I first heard about Fatima I remember I was instantly amazed at what
the children had witnessed there, and I remember that I believed it right off, I had no doubts
in my mind that it truly did happen and I found the account amazing.

As I read about the three children I was almost jealous in a way that it had happened to them,
and not to me.  Could you imagine seeing Our Lady, listening to Her speak?  Oh how wonderfully
blessed those kids were, I don't really think they understood at the time what a profound
impact that this would have in so many millions of peoples lives.  It never fails to amaze me
the many different ways that God makes His presence known, and the fact that He uses Our Lady
shows how much love He has for His Mother, and it is that love that He has for His Mother, that
makes me love Her so very much.

She is my Spiritual Mother and I have often talked to Her just like I did when my mother was alive.  She can understand me in a way that no one else can, and to talk with Her gives me such a peace in my heart.  At the beginning of April I am going to be reading yet another book on Our Lady of Fatima, and I am going to be sharing my thoughts on it chapter by chapter on a separate page on my blog.  If you would like feel free to get the book and read it along with me.  The title is Our Lady Of Fatima by William Thomas Walsh.