Chosen

Aside from the occasional heart-to-heart-screen (?) on more serious matters, my Sunday drive blog mostly consists of hardly-enriching content (which leaves me in bewilderment that any of you are reading this). So to switch things up, here is a snippet from one of many incredible notes from our pastor in a recent church bulletin. Fingers crossed that this will help me meet the bare minimum quota for being a value-contributing member of the blogging community.

What does it mean to be chosen? I think at some level everyone wants to be chosen, to hear their name called. The worst place on the playground is in the place that is chosen last for a game, or not chosen at all. I was always skinny and un-athletic, left handed, so no gloves fit my hands...I know what it feels like to be chosen last. But I also know what it feels like to be chosen first! Long before God called me to be a priest he chose me, he picked me first. Not before you though. He chose me when I was created in my mother's womb. And he chose you first as well, in your mother's womb, before you even knew it. That fundamental choice is why we as Catholics are pro-life not because of scientific evidence, or ultrasounds, or any human reason. We choose life because God has chosen us first.

~ Fr. Dan

Now before you go into a frenzy, my intention of this post isn't to start a pro-life/pro-choice debate or to promote my religion over anyone else's. My list of flaws is neverending and I am the last person who could ever throw a stone. I just wanted to share something that made me feel one step closer to understanding my faith, in hopes that it does the same for even just one reader.

We'll be back to regularly scheduled programming (i.e. food, babies, incoherent ramblings) next post. Don't you worry.

Look Who's Talking

  

"You'll never guess what comes after 3...
4! I know, crazy right?"





"Take a whiff of my new aftershave."



"What the heck just happened?"

"Listen bro, I love you and all but don't do that again. You almost messed up my 'do."



"It ain't easy lookin' this good."





"Oh yea? Well then GET OFF MY BUMBO!!!"



 And in matters of a pinch more importance than make-believe banter between a toddler and a 2 month old, articles like this one is one of the many reasons why I'm a huge fan of Jenn.

Have a stupendous weekend erryone!

My POV

On a more serious note, this rapping priest (wha??? I know) pretty much covers what I think about this video that's been all over FB lately.

God Isn't Santa

A few months ago, I applied for an internal position in my company that I was really hoping to get. When I got the call from the hiring manager asking to meet with me, I did a little happy dance in my office.

By the end of the interview, I was certain I had it in the bag and was told I would know the final decision in a week. One week turned to two, two to three and before I knew it a month had gone by. After tracking down the hiring manager with the tenacity of this gentleman:

he told me that they had decided to go with someone who had previous experience in the role. I was devastated. When a friend asked me about the job, I replied that it didn't work out but that it was for the best b/c I was clearly meant for something else. As I said those words, I couldn't help but wonder if I was saying it b/c I believed it or if I was saying it in an effort to convince myself. I had prayed so hard for this. Why did I get so far just to be let down?

A few weeks later, I was offerred a position in a similar role to the one that I originally had my heart set on. Today I went to my new building to set up my cubicle when I came across a familiar face, one of the people that had interviewed me for the first job that turned me down. "You're so much better off here," he said. I learned that he, along with a couple more people, left that group shortly after I interviewed b/c they were so unhappy.

It's days like today that remind me not to treat my prayers like they're letters to Santa. I often ask for things that I want and what I think is best then get so easily discouraged when things don't go my way. Had I gotten that first job, I would've had to take on a huge workload in order to fill the void left by the people who quit, giving me virtually no work-life balance. I would've been stuck working for an awful manager who had already chased several good employees away. I would've never taken the extra steps to better prepare for my next interview where I blew the socks off the members of my new group. And most importantly, I would've never seen yet another example of how God always has bigger and better plans for us, even if we don't see it right away.

From the Cradle to the Grave

My mother was the 4th child out of 6 and grew up in a war-torn South Korea back in the 1950's. Her family, along with the majority of the population, practiced paganism until the typhoid epidemic took the life of her baby brother. Neighbors started telling my grieving grandmother about a few missionaries in town who were spreading the message of an afterlife free of suffering. She was comforted by the idea that she could pray for the soul of her infant son to help him reach heaven. She wanted to learn more about this faith and that was the beginning of her family's conversion to Catholicism.

I am what you call a 'Cradle Catholic,' someone who was born and raised in the faith. I attended Catholic school, recieved all my sacraments and went to mass on every holy day of obligation with my mother & sister growing up. It's all I've ever known and it was expected of me.

There were always different...incentives for me to attend mass. When I was very young, we attended a Korean parish that had a kids room. All the young ones were herded in and allowed to have a free-for-all with buckets of toys and fellow children while their parents quietly enjoyed mass, much different from your average cry room where parents sit with their children and at least attempt to get them to behave. Needless to say, I looked forward to Sunday mass much more than the mass on Wednesdays at school b/c I had to actually pay attention during the latter. Then as I entered my teens, we moved to a city in South Carolina that had a really popular teen program. Throughout my adolescence I rarely missed mass and eagerly attended youth group every week. Unfortunately my foolish teenge motivation was because it was the 'cool' thing to do and for the cute boys I got to see after mass and not so much the graces I could recieve during the holy hour.

In college I became the lazy Catholic. Someone who still claimed to be one but didn't live like one. I hardly ever went to mass and made a lot of bad decisions during that period of my life, some that I still struggle with today. Looking back, I think the two went hand in hand. When I saw The Passion in 2004, my faith was renewed and I started going to mass and receiving the Eucharist again...but it was short-lived. After a few months, I fell back into my lazy ways.

Sometimes a jump start isn't enough and you have to replace the whole battery if you want your car to run. The battery in this random analogy was my understanding of the Catholic faith. I grew up simply doing what I saw my family doing and what was expected of me but I never took the time to ask myself if I truly believed and WHY. When friends would ask me why the Catholic church had so many 'rules,' I realized that I knew the trivial answers: why we have the sacraments, why we have a pope/bishops/priests, etc...but I didn't know WHY I held my faith to be TRUE. Without that conviction, I could never see the importance of fulfilling all my Catholic duties. I reasoned with myself that as long as I believed in Christ and I tried to live by his teachings, I was still a good person and that I wouldn't go to hell for missing mass. So with that, I became perfectly content with being a part-time Catholic.

My battery was finally replaced while attending marriage preparation classes. During the 1st session, a single quote popped up on the Power Point presentation, stopped me in my complacent tracks and made the inner light bulb turn on:

"The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness." -Pope Benedict XVI

I was so used to hearing modern society talk about what human nature is that I had completely forgotten I was not 'just human.' We were created to be like Him. We should not strive for good enough when we were intended for holiness. Though I have a loooong ways to go, I will never get any closer to achieving it unless I aim for it. Suddenly all the 'rules' made sense. I no longer saw them as restrictions. I saw them as a means to be liberated. Freed from the sufferrings that can make a thorny life.

I began to see the true glory of mass. Whenever I have a tough week, it's like the readings and homily are meant just for me. I am so overcome with emotion every time I kneel after receiving the Eucharist that I'm often brought to tears. Words can't explain how blessed I am to be able to celebrate the holy hour with my husband and son.

Some people don't have to stray before they learn to value their faith They're instilled with this unwavering certainty from the moment they're born and just KNOW what they hold to be true. My sister falls into this category and I admire her everyday for it. I, on the other hand, had to see what life was like without my faith to learn the beauty of my life with it.

I know religion can be a sensitive subject. By no means is the intent of anything said in this blog to push my faith or pass judgement on others. I just wanted to post an expression of my humble (and on-going) journey. Also keep in mind that I am an engineer, not a writer. I apologize for any grammatical errors or lack of literary....pizazz.

Happy Advent

Just wanted to share a little reflection that made my morning:

Like Mary when the angel came,
Like Joseph after his dream,
Like the shepherds when the angels sang,
Like Wise Men who tracked the star’s gleam.

Like the saints who suffer in silence,
Like the priest who answers the call,
Like the man and woman who marry in love,
Like the teacher whose values stand tall.

Like the mother who nurtures her unborn child,
Like the child who kneels to pray,
Like the family who lives by putting God first,
Help me say “Yes” every day.

~ Lynn Wehner