“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
— Matthew 1:23
Madonna with Child by Master of the Madonna of Childbirth. Click image for source.
God is with us.
Believe it. Live like you believe it.
Not just during Advent. Not just during Christmas.
Every.single.day.
Emmanuel.
God is with us.
Exactly one year ago, on December 14, 2012, twenty children and six adults were fatally shot in Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut. The shooter, Adam Lanza, shot and killed his own mother before driving to the school. After his shooting rampage, Adam committed suicide as first responders started arriving on the scene.
I saw this on Jamie’s (of Simple Homeschool and Steady Mom) Facebook wall. We will never forget what happened at Sandy Hook.
I remember being in shock when I read news reports, tweets and posts about the shooting. I remember writing a post about not just the evil that “invaded” Sandy Hook, but other parts of the world, too, and how people — including me — need the Lord. I remember joining the Blogger Day of Silence, in support of the victims of Sandy Hook, and their families.
So many things have happened since then. So many other evil, senseless acts all around the world. So many tragedies, both man-made and caused by nature, including a super typhoon that has claimed thousands of lives and affected millions of people in our very own country.
Sometimes, we may ask, “Where is God in all this? Did evil triumph during tragedies like Sandy Hook? Why does God allow suffering in this world?”
If you ask me, my answer to these questions is the same as Alissa Parker’s. Alissa is the mom of six-year-old Emilie Parker, one of the children who died at Sandy Hook last year. She uploaded the video below, and you have GOT to watch it:
I don’t know about you, but I’m of the belief that evil will never win, even during what seems to be the darkest of days. Because of Christ’s coming down to earth as a babe in a manger, just so He could gain victory on the cross, evil will never, ever win. And that’s something we can cling on to during tough times. That’s something we can and should celebrate this coming Christmas and beyond.
How about you — do you believe that evil will never win too?
Yesterday, I posted this on my Facebook page:
I wanted to remind myself that my life — this “truly rich” life I claim to have now — only exists because of His grace. I have actually been meaning to write a post about just how dirty and muddy my life used to be. I’ll get around to it… someday.
Sometimes I am scared that the people who read my blog and my posts on Facebook and will come away thinking that I’m so “holy,” or maybe even self-righteous. Others may think that I am a “supermom” because I can “do it all” — especially since we have no helper now, I homeschool my kids, plus work from home, etc. etc.
If you do have those thoughts, I sincerely apologize.
I am so not holy. Though I’d definitely like to be. (Yup, I want to be counted among the saints someday!)
I’m definitely no supermom. (Just ask my husband, my kids… and maybe even my neighbors, who may have — on occasion — heard me shouting in anger! True story!)
I certainly don’t do it all. (I thank God every.single.day that I have a husband who is my partner and “teammate” when it comes to everything — including chores and attending to the kids’ needs)!
Every day for me is a struggle between “flesh and blood,” as they say.
The First Reading for today is SO apt actually… for me, anyway:
Source: www.kerygmafamily.com
See, even Saint Paul struggled with temptation and sin!
This encourages me. Because I struggle with my sinfulness, brokenness, pride, anger every day.
Sometimes I lose. Other times, God wins.
No matter what though, I’ll keep striving to rise from the “dirt and mud” and “become a powerful river of healing” for other people.
Today, I choose to rise again.
Today, I choose to let God win my battles for me.
Today, I will let my struggles become victories for Him.
I raise my white flag. I surrender.
Do you struggle with something too? Fear not, friend, you are NOT alone! Let’s talk in the comments, and encourage each other.
At Mass yesterday, the priest spoke about our Catholic faith, and asked us, the congregation, whether or not we were happy with the things we do as part of being Catholic. You know — go to Mass, pray (including praying the Rosary, novenas, etc.), getting our kids baptized, getting confirmed, getting married in church, praying for and blessing the dead at wakes and funerals, and everything that comes with the “requirements” of our Catholic faith. He challenged all of us to think, “Is that really all there is to it, to our faith?”
Photo by dan on freedigitalphotos.net
Well, my answer is no.
There’s more to being Catholic than “just obeying the rules,” and “doing our obligations.” Father said the same thing yesterday. We can’t just say, “OK, I’ve done my part by attending Mass. Now I can enjoy the rest of my Sunday by going to the mall, hanging out with my friends, etc. etc.” There is definitely more to it than that, dear friends.
Three things that totally stuck with me from the homily:
First, when it comes to our faith, it’s more than just “membership,” i.e. it’s not sufficient to say that we’re Catholics and do “what’s expected of us.” It’s also about ministry. How do we serve others? What do we do to live out Jesus’ commandments to love God and love our neighbor?
Second, having faith doesn’t mean simply receiving God’s grace through the sacraments and other things that we do — it’s about reciprocating that grace, too. It’s about giving and sharing His grace with others.
Last, but definitely not the least, we should not “cheapen” our faith by convincing ourselves that fulfilling our Sunday “obligations” and meeting the “minimum requirements” of being Catholic are enough. Every time we are tempted to think so, let’s look at what Jesus did on the cross for us. His sacrifice, suffering, death (and resurrection) — all these came at a HUGE price: His very own life.
The question now is: What are we going to do with the life that we have been given? How can we truly live out our faith?
I’m no saint (that’s for sure!) but I do hope and pray every day that through my current ministry of motherhood (which includes blogging about it when I can, ha, ha), I am able to live out my faith and what God wants for me.
I plead with God every day that the people whom He has called me to be a “missionary” to — no longer people in another country, or people in different parishes and groups and places, but my own husband and children (and whoever reads my blog, and other articles elsewhere) — will be blessed by what I think, say and do (and write).
I beg Him daily that, despite my faults, failures and weaknesses, my children especially will learn to love Him and put Him first — and not feel that they’re just fulfilling obligations when it comes to our faith: “I only pray because Mama said so,” or “I have to read my Bible devotional because Papa asked me to.” This may be true in the beginning but I fervently hope that their love for Jesus will become their driving force to do all these (and more!), because they want to have a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him.
This is my prayer, not just for my kids, but also for myself (and my husband) too.
It’s also my prayer for you.
When the day comes for the Lord to call us Home, I only hope that He finds us faithful.
How about you? What are your thoughts about your faith (Catholic or otherwise)? Come share in the comments. And don’t worry — this is a judge-free zone. 😉
A few days ago, I saw a video on Facebook that really inspired me. I told myself that I would look for it on YouTube later on so I could share it here. Last night, I kept trying to look for it but I couldn’t find it.
Then, just this afternoon, by God’s grace, my husband shared the video on my wall. (Isn’t he the sweetest? 😉 )
When I saw it, I just knew that God wanted me to share it here. Call it serendipity; call it God’s plan and timing. Whatever it is, here’s the video — all women MUST watch this!
I did a little bit more searching and found that the people behind the video are part of this project called . Here’s the description on their Facebook page:
Anima is the Latin word for spirit. Our goal is to make people aware of that spirit around them and inside of themselves so that the true power of that spirit may be recognized in the world.
I saw another video on and saw that they had created a similar video — like the one above — for men. Of course, I had to share it on my husband’s wall! 🙂 If you’re a guy, you MUST watch it! Sharing it below:
I pray that every day, we will never lose sight of who we are in God’s eyes. That we will recognize our true worth in Him.
I also pray that we can teach our kids to do the same. Will you pray (and act on this) with me, too?
