Litany of Lessons Hey guys! My name is Andrea and I was a junior in 410 three years ago. I honestly believe this class changed my life. Not in a huge miracle moment, but slowly over the course of that year. Now I know it was Jesus easing me into the crazy ride I’ve been on since then, and it has been a beautiful ride with Him. A ride that has given me chills, that has taught me to trust, and that has made me laugh. A ride full of ups and downs, twists and turns. A ride that is powered by the purest form of love and is secured to rails of the Church. It’s better than any theme park roller coaster I’ve ever ridden! Today I want to give everyone some advice. I asked some of my friends for input and combined their answers with mine to make sure you got feedback about a variety of topics. So here are 12 things we wish we had known when we were in your shoes! 1. God loves you WAY more than you could ever comprehend, so try to open your heart to him. Have you ever felt that “Jesus high” after a retreat? Or maybe you got into hardcore prayer mode and you felt His presence? I’d like to picture those situations as the times we finally decide to stop being stubborn and pay attention to Christ. Because the devil will try to tell you He doesn’t love you or you aren’t worthy of His love, or you’re too messed up to receive his love. Meanwhile, God is trying SO hard to tell you how valuable you are to Him. Yes, you. With your brokenness, faults, and failures. He meets you where you are and loves you unconditionally. It’s hard to believe it sometimes, but I urge you; try to really open your heart to Him, it can be a very powerful experience. 2. Adoration is one of the best things in this world. When I was in this class I had never heard of adoration, so don’t worry if that’s you! Ask Eric and Kathleen about it, but trust me when I say it’s very powerful. It’s my favorite form of prayer because He is right there, visible to you. Fun fact: I can relate a lot to Thomas the Apostle because I sometimes need to see Christ to believe He’s there. I know some of you may struggle with this too, and that’s okay. I highly recommend you try adoration out! 3. Finding your favorite praying style is very important. As I said in the previous point, I love adoration. But I also know that God speaks very clearly to me through Praise and Worship music, and that spending time outdoors enjoying his creation recharges me. I know that the best time I can have breakdowns or rejoice in successes is alone during car rides, where I can talk to him out loud without people thinking I’m crazy (except for people at lights, I’ve gotten some laughs out of the looks people give me sometimes). So my suggestion is to try a different ways to pray. Get out of your comfort zone, because that new prayer style could end up being your favorite. 4. Catholicism is much more than going to mass and this class. This is a huge one that I could write an entire post on, but basically this is something you learn a tiny bit about in this class. I say a tiny bit not to discredit Eric and Katie, but to indicate just how much being Catholic entails. Whether you’re on the fence about Catholicism or you’re positive this is the truth, don’t let the depth of it scare you. Take it slowly and at a pace you can handle. Learn about the Church’s stances on popular topics of the day and pray for understanding of the Church teachings. Go be a servant of Christ and help the helpless. Pray more, for yourself and for others. Ask those questions you’re ashamed or scared to ask. This is a perfect time to build your knowledge and practice true discipleship. 5. God has a way of taking your plans and shifting them in ways you would have never expected. Trust Him. Some of you may already have experienced this, and you know exactly what I’m talking about. You go to Christ in prayer, and you say something along the lines of “God, this is what I want. I want this and this to happen at this time and in this way.” Does this plan ever line up with what He has in store? For me, very rarely. The funny thing is, it always blows my mind when I finally realize what He was doing. Months after I say that flawed, impatient prayer I finally take the time to look back and realize God answered that prayer in His own time and manner. Even though this is something very difficult to understand (even for me), try to trust Him more. He has a plan for all of us and He will reveal it in His most beautiful manner (even if it’s totally unexpected). Pray about it, get pumped for it, and let go of your desire to control everything because it’s impossible to do that! 6. Your faith is a great way to make very good friends that not only will enjoy life with you but also keep you accountable. Your faith journey will not be easy, but God also doesn’t make you trudge through it alone. I’ve found that making friends that share your faith is absolutely amazing. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve thanked God for the people around me because they make sure I’m always working to pursue Christ. I see Christ so clearly in these people that it blows my mind sometimes. So try talking to someone else in this class that you maybe haven’t talked to before. If not, in the future (especially in college) try joining a group at the church, because there’s a good chance you’ll meet some of your best friends there. However, don’t forget to be this kind of friend to others. Don’t be afraid to ask them what you can pray for in their lives, or urge them to deepen their faith. We are called to be disciples, and this includes our friendships! 7. Some days are tough, but those are the days you have to make even more of an effort to work at your faith- even if you don’t feel like it. This one pretty much explains itself but there will be days along your journey that make you wonder if your prayers have a point. There will be days when taking time out of your schedule for Christ is really hard. Things will happen that may cause you to feel frustration or anger at Christ. These are the days when the effort is key. And don’t forget to use your support system to help you through the tough time! 8. There will be times where you go to prayer and “do everything right” but you don’t have a huge Jesus moment or it feels like nothing changes. That doesn’t mean He isn’t there. Oftentimes we hear people give powerful testimonies about the epic moment they knew God was calling them, or a huge climax to their prayers, and we wonder if we need to have a moment like that too. Well, we don’t, and most of the time we won’t. This is totally okay. God works in different ways in different people, but the important part to remember is that God works constantly in our hearts. No matter how much it seems like you aren’t getting answers or He has taken a lunch break from your life, He is always there. In moments of spiritual desolation and loneliness, I suggest praying to Saint (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta. She’s a boss and she definitely can relate to the feeling of separation from Christ. 9. Confession is one of the most beautiful sacraments you can receive. Telling your failures sucks, but so does having a broken relationship with happiness itself. Think about that. God is happiness. Every time we sin we take a step away from pure happiness. Luckily, God yearns to forgive us and pull us back into His embrace. You know that saying “forgive and forget”? Confession is the epitome of this statement. Jesus listens to us admit we messed up (which He already knows anyway) and tells us to do a penance as a way to start on a new path. Here’s an analogy for you. A toddler uses markers to draw on the walls even though a father has already set a rule that markers are only to be used on paper. The dad knows it was his toddler who wrote on the wall, but he patiently waits for the toddler to acknowledge the mistake. This is where it gets really beautiful, because instead of reprimanding or yelling at the toddler the father immediately tells his son it’s okay, paints over the wall, and loves the toddler even more for coming back to him. When we go to confession, God doesn’t get angry that we mess up. Instead, He wipes away our sins with His mercy and allows us to start over. It’s just like the story of the prodigal son. No matter how much we messed up, we are always welcomed home with open arms. Not only are we welcomed back, but we are celebrated. God throws a party for you in heaven every time you go to confession (no matter how many times you go, it’s the same party celebrated with the same joy as the first one)! So try getting out of your comfort zone. Go to confession because He is begging for you to come back to his loving embrace. 10. Mass is SO COOL. When I really think about what mass is, it blows my mind. Every single Catholic is reading the same readings and following the same mass structure we are. It’s a beautiful way to depict what unity and family really mean. Add the fact that Jesus humbles himself, uses bread and wine to offer himself to and for us, and nourishes our spirit. Oh, and let’s not forget that the heavenly banquet that we get a small glimpse of at every mass is happening alongside our earthly celebration. So basically at mass we get to taste what heaven and complete unity with Christ is like. IT’S AMAZING!! I highly suggest that you think about that next time you go to mass, perhaps it will help mass take on a whole new meaning for you. 11. Pray often and listen. I’ve touched on this one some in the other sections, but the part I want to emphasize is the listening part. Not surprisingly, this is the hardest part. How do we listen to God if he almost never speaks to us in a loud booming voice from the sky? I recently read another blog post that addressed this and I really liked how it was worded so I’m going to borrow from it: “The bible is rich and fatty and good for you and still the culture tells us the bible is like lettuce. It’s not flashy. It’s not proud. But it is the living, breathing word of God. If you want to hear him speak, it’s a whole book of him just talking to you.” Also in my recent experience, I’ve found that praise and worship music is often a very clear message from Christ, so maybe try listening to some of that. Mostly, allow Him to speak to you in scripture. You’ll be surprised how clearly He tells you what He’s doing in your life or what He wants you to do if you take the time to buckle down and really listen. 12. Actually ask for Momma Mary and the Saints’ intercessions. Look up their stories and learn from their examples. I didn’t really understand this until last year. I knew Mary was pretty cool and I thought the saints were all crazy intense people who did heroic deeds to get a sort of “special spot” with Christ. I also thought they were too amazing to pray to, so I never really asked for their intercessions. Boy was I wrong… The saints have been through some of the exact same things we go through, and they’ve all sinned like we have. If anything, they should be some of the most relatable figures in the church. Oscar Wilde said it best, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” When you pick a confirmation saint, actually do some research into who the saints were and their stories. I promise you will find some fantastic stories! With regards to Mary, as Jesus’ mom she has a pretty special place in heaven. There’s a reason we call her the Queen of Heaven! Her deep love for her son is reflected in every prayer you send her way, as it gets perfected on its way to Christ. She knows exactly what it means to trust in God’s plan, and is all around a fantastic role model. I encourage you to ask for Mary’s and the saint’s intercession more often, because they can be part of your support group that can lead you to God. I know I just threw a lot of information your way and it might take some time to process. That’s okay! I just got really excited to share this with y’all and I trust the Holy Spirit guided me to type something you needed to hear. To end, I want to emphasize that I am still learning about and developing my relationship with Christ. It’s one really long learning process and I don’t want you guys to think I have it all figured out because I’m still learning! I wish you all the best as you wrap up the first half of the school year, and Happy Thanksgiving! May God bless you all this holiday season!
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Does prayer really do anything?
If God cared about us, why would He need us to ask for anything before He gave it to us? The only thing prayer does is make you feel good about yourself. Do you ever find yourself thinking this way about prayer? Or have your heard others question prayer in this way? That’s totally normal . . . you are not a freak or a “terrible Christian.” It shows that you are taking prayer seriously and not just kind of “going through the motions.” If prayer is going to “mean something,” then it should “do something.” Why Pray if God is Good? Hold up! If God is good, wouldn’t He already be planning on doing that thing in the first place? This question is so deep that it goes all the way to the very identity of God and the nature of the universe. We can sometimes fall into the mistaken notion that God is in control of everything. And I acknowledge that, in a general sense, that is kind of true. Everything that exists either comes directly or indirectly from God. We readily acknowledge that God is the “ground of Being”; without Him nothing at all would exist. But that is not the same thing as saying that God is “in control” of everything or that everything that happens is a “part of his plan.” In choosing to create a universe that operates according to certain “rules,” God has willed to abdicate his power to a certain extent. A Free World In the Christian perspective, God is all-powerful, but God is also Reason. Reason is part of the very nature of who God is. Therefore, when God willed to create the universe, He was free to create it to operate somewhat “independently” of Himself. God is certainly still the Primary Cause, but He has created a universe that has both “laws of nature” and is also filled with free beings. Because of the laws of nature, there are things like physics through which we can deduce that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Unless there is a suspension of this law, it will happen every time – both when a baseball player hits the ball to deep center field as well as when a stray ball hits a child in the temple. God is not the “cause” of either occasion except for the fact that He created a world based on physical laws. God created chemistry, but He does not “control” a campfire or “cause” a wildfire; the fire burns because of the “secondary cause” of reason or science (the laws of nature). And God has also created a universe with free beings. These beings are truly free, therefore they are free to act as “secondary causes.” Human beings are part of this kind of causality. This is why we have thieves, liars, and kidnappers. But it is also why we can have doctors, nurses, judges, and teachers. Human beings are free to choose to act or not to act. And in choosing, we become causes ourselves. God Cares. But… When it comes to prayer (and how prayer works), it might be helpful to consider this reality. Christians believe that God exists and that God cares and acts in this world. But we also know that there are an abundance of secondary causes at work. For example, it would be a little crazy for someone to say, “I don’t have to go to work in order to have money for food; if God wants me to have food, he will give it to me.” Absolutely not! We may be completely convinced that God loves us and still know we have to work for our daily bread. C.S. Lewis gives the example of asking whether any of us would leave the house in a rainstorm without an umbrella under the idea that “If God doesn’t want me to get wet, he won’t let the rain fall where I am.” All Christians go through their day counting on God’s care while simultaneously making choices that make a difference. We are accustomed to being secondary causes! In the Bible, God has revealed that He wants prayer to operate in a similar way. There are many times when the Bible teaches us that prayer makes a difference. In fact, it is one of the ways in which we cooperate with God’s will. In the same way your choice to give to a person in need is one way you can cooperate with God’s will to care for the poor, your decision to pray for a person is another. Now, this doesn’t mean that everything you pray for is a part of God’s will. Sometimes what we want (even if it is a good thing) is not simply “given” because we asked for it. Sometimes God’s answer is “no”… sometimes God’s answer is “wait.” And even if we are asking for a good thing… or an end to a bad thing (like war or cancer)… sometimes we do not “get what we ask for.” Remember that this is a world where things go wrong and where people are free to choose violence rather than peace. Let’s Work Together When you care for a sick person, are you changing God’s will? No. Are you making a real difference? Yes. What you are doing is fulfilling God’s will. You are doing your part in God’s will to make this world more and more the way He wants it to be. Along these same lines, when you pray for another person, are you changing God’s mind? No. But your prayers make a difference because they are fulfilling what is needed for God’s will to be done. When you pray, you have become a “cause.” In fact, that is something that has been taught for a long time. Blaise Pascal once declared, “In calling us to pray for one another, God has extended to us the dignity of becoming causes.” This reveals a great deal about the nature and identity of God. It reveals that God is the opposite of a tyrant. In Christianity, God is not a dictator, but a father who wants to work with us. Consider the parent who makes their child do chores at home and help out around the house. At first glance, you might be tempted to think that this was because the mom or dad wanted to “lord it over” their children. But on further reflection, you would realize that it would be a lot easier for mom to just clean the room herself or for dad to take out the trash himself than trying to teach the kids how to do it. However, a good parent will bring their children in on the chores of the household because this is one way children become full-grown. A parent who never makes their children contribute is more likely to see their children stunted in their development. That parent is “soft,” but they are a soft tyrant, because they have kept all of the strength for themselves. God shares his strength with us. God shares his power with us. When he calls us to pray (and that prayer actually makes a difference), God makes us into something even more than children, he allows us to be co-workers with him. And when we pray… when we work with God, we are drawn into even more intimate relationship with Him. And that kind of prayer and relationship definitely changes something else… it changes us. As juniors in high school the approach of college applications can be very daunting. Not only do you have to pick where to go, but decide a major that can determine what you do for the rest of your life. There is so much uncertainty as questions fill your head. For some these decisions are easier. From day one I've been a fightin' Texas Aggie. I knew that's where I wanted to go but yet there was still so much stress. What do I major in? What if I don't get in? Time seemed so slow as I went through the application process. With every step I could feel the stress weighing me down more and more. This continued until my stress peaked so much that it was all I could think about the first semester of my senior year. Fortunately I have strong support from my friends, many of whom are also 410 alum. They urged me to pray about my struggles and put them in the hands of God. As I prayed more and more I could feel the weights coming off. By sharing my struggles with God he was able to help me carry some of those weights. Now instead of checking my online portal every hour I found myself checking once a day then even once a week. Eventually my prayers were answered. I opened my portal to find a new message. Congratulations! You have been accepted to Texas A&M Blinn TEAM. Wait what? For those of you who don't know Blinn TEAM is a program that allows more students into A&M by allowing them to be full A&M students who have to take many of there classes at Blinn for the first two years of college. That's not what I wanted at all. How was I supposed to feel like a part of A&M if I spent most of my days at Blinn? For months I was devastated and I can admit a part of me still is. But I've come to realize something very important. That day my prayers WERE answered; just not in the way I first thought. I got into my dream school, a privilege many people don't have, and Blinn TEAM has been a blessing in disguise. It's allowed me to have a smoother transition into college because instead of having all my classes in 200 people lecture halls I'm able to have the comforts of still being in a classroom like setting. My letterman bore the verse Joshua 1:9 all throughout high school but I never paid much attention to it. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” In the years to come there will be many times you find yourselves with this stress. Rather than bearing the burden alone allow God to help. Even if you find your prayers going unanswered you may, like me, soon find he answered them in an unexpected way. Just remember you don't have to bear the stress alone. |
AuthorYour confirmation teachers - Kathleen, Eric, Sophia, and Valerie, and with contributions from 410 alumni Archives
September 2021
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