New Years resolution...

Who doesn't love a good C.S. Lewis quote?

I know what you're thinking...
New Years resolution? That thing people do where they say they're going to change their life or their body or something and then after a week they forget about it and go back to their jobs or school unchanged?
Maybe that's just what I was thinking.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of New Years resolutions.
Why? Because I'm not a huge fan of making promises and then breaking them, telling myself I'm going to change and them failing because my fear gets the better of me.
And why do we need an excuse to change ourselves in the first place? Why is New Years such a big deal?

This is my opinion of the secular New Years.
But I've recently discovered that if you apply your Faith to the concept, everything turns around.
I follow this really great Catholic account on Instagram run by a really awesome Catholic teen, and she posted a list of ideas for the New Year's resolutions for the soul. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I shared them right now. (These aren't word for word, but you get the idea)

1. 5 minutes.
5 minutes of prayer each day can change your life.
To be honest, I pray a rosary daily, but other than that I don't do a ton.
I'm going to start with 5 minutes and work my way up. Why don't you try it too? Unless you already
have an awesome prayer life. In that case, just keep doing what you're doing.

2. "I always forget to pray!"
Same. Well, sometimes.
But this year I'm setting my alarm for 9:45 (when I'm hopefully wrapping up homework). Just sit in silence, go through your day, whatever. Just take time to be in God's presence. It's the best time you'll spent on earth.

3. Sirach 2:4-6
4 Accept whatever happens to you,
    and be patient
    when you suffer humiliation,
5         because gold is tested with fire,
        and acceptable people are tested
        in the furnace of humiliation.
6 Trust him, and he will help you;
    make your ways straight,
    and hope in him.

I had to look this one up.
Perfect people aren't made overnight. You have to get up every single day and try, try, try. It's hard, but trust me when I say that God can use every single moment of your life to make you into who He wants you to be if you just give Him everything.

4. Read GREAT books.
Don't waste your time on good books, only read the great ones.
This year I want to read St. Faustina's diary, St. Augustine's Confessions, the Imitation of Christ, a book by JPII, and re-read The Story of a Soul by St. Therese.

Also, read your Bible!!!
I'm not being a hypocrite, I'm going to read mine too.
But as Albert Einstein said (even though he wasn't a Christian)
"No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word."
Which is so true. I fall in love with Jesus again every time I read the Bible.

5. Find a new saint!!!
This is the one I'm most excited about. Why?
Last night I came across the most awesome website in the entire world. It's from the author of Something other than God (another book to add to the list). It's a random saint generator.

You press a button, say a quick prayer, and it gives you a saint to be your patron!!! (In this case, for 2015).
Isn't that awesome?!?!?!?!?!?
When I did it felt like I was standing on one side of a door with my new best friend on the other side. I couldn't wait to meet them.
And who did I get?
St. Maria Goretti!!! I did a project on her 5 years ago in elementary school. She's the patron of young girls, and I know that she will help me in the coming year to follow God's will and take every opportunity to witness to and grow in my faith.

http://jenniferfulwiler.com/saints/

I'm so excited for all to come in the next year, and I hope that you stick around to experience it with me :)

Sorry this post got so long.

I hope you have a blessed New Years Eve with friends and family.
And Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!
It's still Christmas, and the baby Jesus is still waiting for us to take Him into our arms and love Him forever.
And don't forget to go to mass on New Years Day! It's a Holy Day of Obligation! (But who wouldn't want an extra excuse to go to Mass?)

Love,
A Catholic Teen

A Poem

I've been wanting to post a poem on here since I started this blog, and since I can't think of anything else to write about, now is the perfect time.

I hope you enjoy. Poetry can be hard for me, my thoughts can get so muddled up and I can never think of words that rhyme. But I did my best.

A Poem

Sitting here in the late morning air

Just cool enough for comfort

I feel the touch of the wind

And the soft cool stare

Of the sky, the purest of colors

Out in the open I'm stripped away

Nothing more than a soul

I look within

In the simplest of ways

And try my best to surrender control

Confined within walls I'm just a person

Bored with nothing to do

But in nature I'm able

To catch a glimpse 

Of what You see, what is true

And what do I see when I search my heart,

What is buried deep in its depths?

Love hidden by the world

And a desire for You alone

Longs to escape with every breath

What is it like to live for You alone,

To forget myself completely?

One day I'll know 

When I find where to go,

But until then I'll gaze upon your beauty so sweetly

Love,

A Catholic Teen

Christmas is here!!!

Today is the day! The one we've all waited for all year. Our hearts have recieved our Lord with joy, and all is at peace in the world!

But...

The presents are unwrapped, the family has gone home, and we've already started to take down the decorations.

Christmas is over, right?

WRONG!!!

(And by the way, my family still has decorations up. I'm trying to convince them to keep them up until the Christmas season is actually over).

Today was full of a lot of joy.

Not necessarily the kind of joy where you're happy all the time and everything is perfect and you're skipping in meadows singing happily like a bird.

Sorry, I got carried a bit away there...

No, it was the kind of joy that is always present, that eventually leaves you with an interior peace no matter what happens.

I don't know how long it's going to stick around, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can. The world does tend to have that affect on me, taking away the graces that God gives me.

I have a reputation of being a very joyful and happy person all the time. That's part of who I am, but sometimes I find myself forcing myself to be joyful just so that other people see me with a big smile and think of me a certain way. It's confusing.

Today I did my best to not worry about that.

You never know how many Christmases you have left with your family, and I tried to give everyone in my family a joyful memory to look back on in the years to come.

Not that I'm planning on dying or anything...

But in a way I am.

When you're discerning a religious vocation, especially one to the cloistered life, a part of you can see the pain that lies in store for your family. You want to protect them and make the best of the time you have. 

Part of religious life is dying to yourself, and loving Christ more than anyone else.

But I'm not there yet, so I'm not going to discuss that right now.

Presents are great (my favorite one this year is this adorable St. Therese keychain) . When I was younger, presents was all I cared about. I would lie awake on Chistmas Eve just dreaming about what I would get the next morning, and half the time I was disappointed. The past few years, though, have been different. Jesus has slowly been (and still is) transforming and converting my heart so I can love Him more.

This year I was filled with more love and peace than ever before.

But don't get me wrong, I was only scratching the top.

It's not like I was radiating holiness, not even close.

As we left my grandparents house and I looked across the sky filled with a beautiful sunset, I felt the pure awe of a child, and I heard our Lord say to me "even greater things are to come."

Happy birthday Jesus :)

I hope that through Advent and continuing into the rest of the Christmas season, you grow in love for our amazingly beautiful God.

I'm praying for you all :)

Love,

A Catholic Teen

Christmas Eve

Tonight my family and I went to Christmas Eve mass and it was very nice.

It was very crowded, as expected, but I only saw one or two awkward receivings of the Eucharist and unacceptably short skirts. And we got a nice second row seat.

No, it isn't the most reverent mass. It's hard to be extremely reverent when you've got family talking and babies crying and hundreds of people packed into a not humongous space.
But it was nice.

The music at my parish is fantastic, and all of the classic Christmas hyms were beautiful and really helped set the mood.

Sometimes I get self conscious being too reverent around my family or just around the people at my parish who have known me all my life (because neither are super into their faith. But probably more faithful than average). But tonight I was so full of peace, none of that mattered. It was just me and the baby Jesus and there was nothing I could do but adore Him with all that I have.

Because there were so many people, it took quite a while for everyone to receive communion (but nothing near how long it took at my Confirmation mass). I didn't mind, it gave me a nice long chance to be with the Lord. Unfortunately, this isn't something I get to do all that often because I can't drive myself to Adoration.

I've always wanted to go to a midnight Christmas mass at a monastery near-ish to my house. There's something about Christmas Eve masses that happen earlier in the day that make it feel like Christmas hasn't come yet. I know it's silly, because Jesus wasn't actually born in December at all, but still.
That in mind, lately I've been trying to be present in each moment and make the best of things, so that's what I did.

It was all so simple, so sweet. Just sitting at the foot of the altar, which was transformed into a manger before my eyes. Our Blessed Mother showed be the awe and joy of our Savior's birth as she placed Him in my arms.
Our imaginations are some of our greatest tools, ones that God gave us for a reason, and we should use them while we are able to.

So silent, quiet, and peacefully our Lord came into my heart tonight. And He was met with open arms and the pure joy of a child doing her best to receive Him who comes to her as a child.

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin, mother and child
Holy infant, so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace

May you have the most blessed and joyful Christmas Day ever!!!

Love,
A Catholic Teen

Clouds...

I have a very Franciscan spirituality (have I mentioned that before? I think I have. Sorry...) and as you would assume, nature is one of my favorite things ever (besides the Eucharist, of course). I could stay outside for hours, running in fields of flowers, playing in streams, discovering woods, etc. You get the idea. 

Well, the weather has to be right. Not too hot, not too cold, not mosquitos. But that's not important.

And off all things nature related, can you guess which ones my favorite?

I'll give you a hint. It's the name of this post. 

Yes, clouds, my one true love. I could be completely, or at least partially content in a world desolate of great beauty if there was at least the most magnificent clouds ever.

I could literally watch clouds for days.

They're one if God's favorite ways of showing us His love. What's more obvious than clouds? They're everywhere. Too many people don't take the opportunity to simply look up.

Whenever I see an especially beautiful cloud, I'm filled with an unexplainable wonder and awe and love for our awesome God.

The only thing I can do is raise my eyes, stretch out my arms, and be. This state of just being is a prayer in itself, and quite possibly the purest and the most simple prayer known to man. St. Francis (and St. Therese and Anne of Green Gables) knew this prayer very well. 

But I didn't decide to write this post just to rant about clouds.

Gosh, I sound a but crazy.

No, I am also going to show you some nice pictures of clouds I took the other day.

If that's not your thing, than by all means, close this page. Maybe go check out a different post of mine that better suits your taste.

But if you too are a cloud enthusiast, than enjoy. (You know, there is an official cloud appreciation society).

Pretty, aren't they? :)

Love,

A Catholic Teen

Spiritual Dryness

This time last year, my family was sick with the flu. It wasn't the most cheery of holidays, as you might imagine.

This year, we're physically all happy and healthy, but a different kind of sickness has descended upon me (sounds so dramatic, doesn't it). One that my family doesn't know about.

The dreaded spiritual dryness.
Typing out these words makes it sound so final. Like a diagnosis.
And I don't want to over-exaggerate what I've been feeling. It's not like the great periods of spiritual dryness many saints went through.

You see, God is so good to me. I'm used to seeing Him everywhere, being constantly in awe of His beauty and power.
It's a shock to my system when I have an especially dreary day where nothing seems to be looking up. Especially right before Christmas when I've been preparing my soul so diligently for our Savior.

It all started out with laziness. Breaks from school often lead to laziness, and laziness often leads to lukewarmness in my prayer life and relationship with God. I know, I'm just that weak.
I suppose that's the point of all of this, to make me stronger.

There's two clear sources of spiritual dryness. One is, as I mentioned, lukewarm faith. If it gets out of hand, sometimes the only thing God can do to make you notice how far gone you are is to take a step back.
The second is if a soul is so holy that the devil cant help but personally intercede and make it as hard as possible for the soul to take one more step in the right direction.

I was feeling pretty down, pretty selfish, and like there was nothing I could do to make up for anything bad I've ever done. This is one mind trick dryness plays with you, making you feel hopeless, like there's no point to anything anymore.
Advent being the season of hope, you can see how I was also feeling bad because of all the Christmas spirit that I should be excited about but wasn't.

It's all so confusing, this stuff.

Anyways. I came upon an article by the wonderful Mother Angelica (the Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration who started EWTN) about spiritual dryness. That nun has so much wisdom, it's unbelievable!
Right away, I was very soothed and comforted by her words, which spoke right to my soul.
I'll post the link below..

It made me realize the reason and value in spiritual suffering. Spiritual dryness comes to everyone. If your a Catholic (or any type of Christian. Yes, Catholics are Christians) who is earnestly seeking a relationship with God and the path towards holiness, you will at some point experience it. I've never had it last more that a couple days, and to be honest, I know that I haven't suffered very much in comparison to others.

The thing is, no matter how long it lasts or how bad it is, spiritual dryness is God's way of changing us, raising us to places we'd never have gone before, and drawing us closer to Him.
Why must we feel separated from Him then? I do not know. That is the paradox.
All I know is that it is a sign that you're headed in the right direction.
Don't give up. Don't worry. God needs to separate you from the things of this world in order to make you as holy as possible.

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I hope that you're having a fruitful Advent and are patiently awaiting our Blessed Savior!

Love,
A Catholic Teen

http://www.ewtn.com/library/mother/madawn.htm

Just some thoughts...

The last, stressful week of school is over and now is time to relax and focus our minds on what Christmas is truly about... loving our Savior more perfectly!!!
Instead of going out to that cool party I didn't even know about, I spent a quiet night at home with my family. And after watching The Amazing Race and re-watching an episode of Sherlock, I'm still up, waiting for what to happen exactly? I don't know. So that's why I'm writing this. Don't worry, I've already prayed my rosary for the day.

Some pretty cool things have crossed my path while perusing the internet or other random things that I think are worth sharing. So here they are.

1. The Nativity Story. The other day in Theology class my wonderful teacher was showing us Christmas related youtube videos, and one of them included clips from this movie, which I had never seen before. They whole thing is on youtube, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for some good God-centered entertainment to reflect on Christ's birth while also not worrying about stress and other things. It really changed the way I look at the struggles Mary went to leading up to Jesus' birth, and also Joseph's love for the mother and child. And the pure awe that comes with anything truly related to Christmas (not snowmen or Santa Claus or the secular stuff).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=meIDz98MFBs

Also, in one of the other videos, the background music was this great song called "How Many Kings" by downhere. The lyrics are absolutely beautiful, and I've been listening to it nonstop the last few days.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lw3EG6kVNtI

2. This quote has popped up a couple times lately, and so I felt the need to share it. It's one of my all-time favorites:

"In my deepest wound I saw your glory, and it astounded me."
-St. Augustine

3. Another youtube video, this one I found on Instagram. It's the vocation story of a priest in some northern diocese- Bismark, I believe. I've never met this guy- Fr. Joshua Waltz, but during this video (it'll take about an hour to watch, but it's beyond worth it) I was laughing hysterically (not joking), and just in complete awe of how God has worked in his life. And he's so funny. Towards the end, when he started talking about how life not lived completely for God isn't worth it, I started crying. It was life changing. I beg you, please watch it as soon as you can.
https://m.youtube.com/results?q=fr.%20joshua%20waltz&sm=1

4. My Imagine Sisters package came in!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got THE shirt, some stickers, a bracelet, and the sunglasses.
I can't wait to see if I get to go to a Steubenville conference this summer or NCYC next year so I can rock my #nunswag with all my other fellow Catholic teens.

I thought I had a lot to share with y'all, but I'm really tired and I should go to bed. I'll try to post a lot over Christmas break. I like little stuff, like quotes that inspire me and stuff.

What about you? Do you want me to post anything in particular? About me? Inspirational stuff? A certain topic? Just leave a comment :)
Also, if you have a CATHOLIC/christian/inspirational/cool blog you want me to check out, just comment below.

Until next time, I hope you are having a most blessed end of the Advent season (that sounds sad, but don't worry it's not over get. I've decided that Advent is my favorite time of year. Well, it depends. Can you tell that I'm tired). I hope you're growing in your prayer life like I'm trying to, and imitating Christ's humility. The Lord of Lords, King of Kings, the One who is Love and who created the universe with His own two hands became the sweetest, poorest baby in all of human history just so that we, who are so broken and lost, could love Him. And so He could prove to us His love my the ultimate sacrifice of the Cross.
But we're not to that yet.
So let's live in the presents, loving each moment to its fullest.
He's almost here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahhh I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
A Catholic Teen

Therese and me

One thing everyone should know about me is that St. Therese is my patron/confirmation saint. I love her like a sister (which I consider her to be considering that I only have brothers). To me, reading her autobiography The Story of a Soul is just like talking to her in real life, quite similar to what we experience Christ in Scripture.

I wrote this poem/short story/idk what to call it a few days ago. I was having a tough day and Therese really cheered me up. It's not the most technically correct (I like to use my "artistic license"), but the thought and love behind it is there. I hope you enjoy.

A place I've never been.
A time I'll never know.
And yet down the dirt path covered with wildflowers
my bare feet go
Just because it's in my head doesn't mean it's not real.

I see her and her father having a picnic by the pond.
She and her mother leading a trail of candies on their journey home.
Her sister carries her on their evening walk
And her father carries her on the way to Church.
They collect flowers for little altars.
And pretend to be hermits.
She sits on a windowsill contemplating the wonders of the universe.
And on the lap of he sister, preparing to receive the first sweet kiss of our spouse.
She travels to far off lands and mountains and valleys my eyes will never see.
And always flies back home to her little family.

Sometimes I ask myself why I must always be an onlooker, why she will never know me.

But then I'm on that little path and she takes me by the hand and we walk together.

We may be off frolicking in fields but they're actually the realities life.

She looks into my eyes with such joy on her face and I tell her how God has been revealing to me His grace.

I may not have been there to be with her in her life, but they is no reason for her to not be in mine.
She chose me as her little sister, and I gladly accept,
for someone must teach me how to love.

One day when we're united, she'll show me it all, the pond, the church, and beauty of her little life in Lisieux.
But at the same time our life There will be much greater and much more beautiful.
And the memories we make There will last forever.

Until then, our words unite us.
I love you, my sister.


Love,
A Catholic Teen

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

Happy feast of the Immaculate Conception! I hope you had a wonderful time honoring Mama Mary at mass today, because I know I did!

Something the priest said really struck me- if each day you take a moment to consecrate yourself to Mary (nothing formal, just entrust yourself to her hands), then she would help you to imitate her holiness and obedience so perfectly.

I am going to do this every day for the rest of advent, along with praying an extra 3 Hail Marys each day to go along with it. By Christmas, our Blessed Mother will have prepared my heart for her Son's coming better than I ever could.

I just finished the Immaculate Conception novena from praymorenovenas.com, and it was beautiful. I grew so much closer to Mama Mary- oh the power of prayer! I highly recommend that you sign up to receive their novenas, which are emailed straight to you.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived so immaculately, watch over you always :)

Love,
A Catholic Teen

Sisters :)

Yesterday I watched the first two episodes of the Lifetime series "The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns." It was very interesting. I feel like that they dramatized it and that the community wasn't a good match for some of the girls, but I also think that they all have the right intentions and that it's a great way to plant seeds of vocations in this Year of Consecrated Life.

Speaking of consecrated life, I recently read another Catholic teen blog post of statistics of the number of sisters in the United States and what young Catholics think of our faith. It was all good information, but definitely discouraging. We tend to focus so much on how much vocations have gone down since the peak in the 1960's. Too often we forget the renewal that is going on in vocations right now!

I'm not sure where you fall in your knowledge of Catholic religious orders that are receiving many young vocations, but I happen to be pretty proficient on the subject. After all, I've gone on the websites of whatever order I can get my hands on almost every single day for at least the past two years. I just can't help myself, if I can't meet sisters in real life, I have to google them.

I find it really hard to believe that , from statistics, I am one of 1% of Catholic women between the ages of 14-30 that have seriously considered religious life. It is so clear to me that girls want to wear the habit, have hours of adoration, a community full of others your age, and a life lived joyfully and radically for God! I realized that not everyone knows how many vibrant  communities are out there!

I have put together a list of all of the religious orders that from what I have seen, have young women completely head over heels in love with our Savior (basically every order I've consistently kept up with). I hope you enjoy!

1. The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist (the Oprah nuns)

How could I ever just pick one picture got this fabulous order? Just google their name, and you will see dozens of amazing photos of young sisters with indescribable joy on their faces! I could go on forever about this order. It was founded in just 1997 with 4 sisters and now had almost 200. They have so many women joining that they are building another convent in Texas, which is much closer to me than  Ann Arbor, Michigan, where their motherhouse is. This order is where my discernment began. I want to wait to share my whole story until I'm a bit more established, bit if it wasn't for the witness of 2 wonderful sisters from this order, I don't know where I'd be. Also, I've heard that they have wonderful discernment retreats!
https://www.sistersofmary.org/about-us/dominican-sisters-of-mary.html

2. Sisters of Life

For a while, I was obsessed with this order. Really, obsessed. Like, go home every day and see if they've updated their website. Over time, that's faded, but I still love these sisters even I'm not called to be one. They are based in New York and work with women who have unexpected pregnancies. They can be seen at every March for Life and travel around the country to speak to young people. And look at those habits- so beautiful. 

http://www.sistersoflife.org

3. Franciscan Sisters, T.O.R (third order regular), of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother 

These sisters are a charismatic order (praise and worship and a more modern liturgy, among other things). They work at the Franciscan University of Steubenville along with the brothers of their order and also care for the poor and homeless in downtown Steubenville. They look like so much fun, don't they? They were featured in the Imagine Sisters documentary Light of Love (I'll put the link below- would highly recommend). They combine hours of adoration with energetic worship and service, and are overall amazing women who are attracting many of the younger generation.

http://www.franciscansisterstor.org

4. Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal

Yes, another franciscan order. I have a very franciscan spirituality, and love every franciscan order out there! I don't know a whole lot about this order, but I've met some of their brothers (they have a lot more brothers than sisters, but they're definitely growing). They were founded by the wonderful late Fr. Benedict and I believe are based in NYC where they work with the poor, and also have missions in England. I am going on a retreat later this year where I might get to meet a few!

http://franciscansisterscfr.com

5. Daughters of St. Paul

The famous singing media nuns! These sisters instagrams... Yes, INSTAGRAMS light up my day when I see their latest posts. They do everything from selling Catholic books and media to going on singing tours to... Well, anything. Not the most traditional order, but anyone who was heard Sr. Helena Burns speak knows that these sisters are so full of joy and excitement for the new evangelization. And yes, their cross necklaces are a roll of film and open book.

http://www.daughtersofstpaul.com

6. Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia 

Once again, I don't know a whole lot about this order, but I do know that they have a whole lot of young sisters- a lot. I also know someone who is discerning with them right now. Like the other Dominicans I mentioned, they are teachers and have a very beautifully traditional habit, convent, and gorgeous music (obviously, considering their patron). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the 4 founding sisters of the other order originally came from this order.

http://nashvilledominican.org

7. Young cloistered nuns !!!

How could we ever not mention the dozens of young women completely giving up everything to live a quiet secluded life praying for the world?  While they may not be as involved in our lives as active sisters, they are none the less vital to these modern times. I'm very lucky to have found the youtube channels and blogs of women who have entered this lifestyle, and am currently very interested in becoming a cloistered Poor Clare!!! They are so peaceful and radiant, especially for such a young age! (This isn't the order I am interested in- I couldn't get the picture to load). 

http://www.poor-clares.org

I hope you love all these sisters as much as I do!

Love,

A Catholic Teen

P.s. If you're discerning and want to search further, check out the Imagine Sisters- an organization started by 2 young Catholic women who really love nuns!

http://imaginesisters.org

Their AMAZING movie about nuns: The Light of Love

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PIwJacw_Z3Y

A Thought on Happiness

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time.

I don't know much about the Beatles, but I know enough to know that John Lennon understood that life isn't about things. It's about so much more.

Growing up, I wanted to be a teacher. That's what I told everyone. I even had an ingenuous plan with my best friend that we would come back to our elementary school and teach in rooms next to each other when we grew up.
One day, that all changed.

I've always been attracted to sisters. Going to Catholic school, I never really saw them, but I heard about them occasionally. Looking back, I see that that is where the seeds were planted. I may not have felt it strongly then, but my heart would leap at the mention of nuns, and I wouldn't be able to stop listening.

I didn't really mean for this post to be about my vocation journey, but it kind of has turned into that. One thing led to another, and now I know that I was made to be a sister. It's not a question about it a family and career will make me happy- Jesus took those desires away from me long ago. I want to be happy. I know that only fulfilling God's plan for me will make me happy. And I know that that entails giving up everything the world holds dear.

Now when people ask me what I want to be when I grow up, I tell them that I don't know. I'm not that open about my vocation- actually, only one of my good friends knows. I tell myself I'm waiting for the right time and place, when I'm older, more independent, and can have a spiritual director and start visiting orders. But what if that day never comes? I'm so good at putting things off, but as St. Catherine of Siena said, "to the servant of God, every place is the right place and every time is the right time." This is something I'm working on, and I hope that this blog helps me.

But for now, I just tell people I want to be happy.
Sometimes they don't understand, but that's okay.

Love,
A Catholic Teen

Advent Reflection

Wow this week has been so busy. All the teachers want to squeeze tests and projects in before Christmas break. Life can get so stressful at times.

I don't know what I'd do if it wasn't Advent. Don't get me wrong, I love ordinary time, but that big green wedge on the liturgical calendar gets very, very long.

Advent is always something I look forward to. Lighting the wreath. All the "holiday cheer" (the real stuff, that actually means something, not that nonsense commercialism tries to sell us). At my house we have decorations everywhere, and my favorite of all is our nativity scene. It's that brand that has all those angel statues- I don't know the name, but it's beautiful. It's a constant reminder of what CHRISTmas is really about. Hmm, what could that be?

Most of my life the weeks before Christmas have been about the food and presents. I was so materialistic and selfish. It's the truth. When you don't know God yet, that's what happens.
But now that I know better, I know that I should get as much out of Advent as I can. This year, that means striving to have a constantly new personal encounter with Christ each day. It's so easy to let out guard down and fall asleep. Sometimes I even subconsciously forget that God loves me and that I should love Him back. So far, Advent has been trying to become holier and holier every day. I definitely haven't succeeded all the time. I've had bad days, but I've also had really good days. By the end of the season, I know that I will be holy and ready to recieve out infant Lord with joy..

In theology class the other day we were reflecting on the daily reading, which was (like usual during this time of year) about Christ coming and being ready and watching. It can be tempting to assume that it's all about doomsday and judgement, like Jesus wants to catch us off guard and punish is for however we've failed Him lately. But it's not.

Yes, Advent is about preparing, but it's not about preparing for the day when all our sins are going to come back to haunt us. Advent is about preparing for the birth of a baby- the baby who was destined to surrender Himself in love for us. And our Lord will come in glory not to punish us, but to fully unite ourselves to Him.
Then, nothing else will matter.
This is what I'm thinking of this Advent.

Wow if you've read all this, God bless you!

Love,
A Catholic Teen

Hello!

Hello fellow Catholic teens!
(And anyone else of any age, Catholic or not)

I'm so excited to start this blog. I don't care how many people read it, I'm just grateful to have an outlet where I can touch at least one life :)
I'll be posting random thoughts from my life, things I love about my faith, quotes I find, and much more! Whatever the Holy Spirit moves me to post...

I guess I should start out by introducing myself. I am a cradle Catholic, but it wasn't until two- three? years ago that I made my faith my own. I was on a retreat at my school with the NET team (national evangelization team- they're fabulous). For the first time in my entire life, I sat down, picked up a bible and actually thought about God. As soon as I took that first step, BOOM. I knew in my heart and soul that
1. God is real
2. God loves me
3. I was made to give up my entire life because of this love

It all went from there, and my faith grows stronger every day. Now I'm in high school, and I want my faith to move from my private life at home and in Church to truly making a difference and surrendering myself completely to God's will.
Hopefully this blog will help me do just that. Maybe one day I'll make a youtube account and join the wonderful New Catholic Generation (a teen-organized collection of all young Catholic youtubers)
Until then, I'll update you with all the interesting things that go on inside my head.

See you next time and may your life be full of Christ's joy and love!

Love,
A Catholic Teen