October 1st is the feast day of Saint Therese of Lisieux.
A feast day in the Catholic Church is a day to celebrate the life of a saint who lived an extraordinary life, or to celebrate a holy aspect of the Christian faith like the Nativity of Christ. Many extraordinary saints like the apostles, Saint Joan of Arc, Maximilian Kolbe, Chiara Badano, Therese of Lisieux have feast days in the Catholic Church calendar where we make a point to learn about their lives, remember them, and contemplate the sacrifices they made for Jesus – “wow, they really lived for Christ to the fullest #inspired”. Saints are more alive than we are because they are in heaven! They are our role models in many ways because we can look to them for motivation and encouragement to live the fullness of the Christian life. Many Catholics feel that they can relate to the story or struggles of particular saints, and they will ask those saints to intercede for them in prayer. The intercession of fellow Christians – which is what the saints in heaven are – does not interfere with Christ’s unique mediatorship between us and the Father. St. Paul told Christians to intercede for one another (1 Tim. 2:1-4). The saints in heaven truly do intercede for us! (Revelation 5:8). Praying on behalf of someone else or “intercessory prayer” – just like Christians on earth do for one another - is something that is good and pleasing to God. Okay, okay. I’m getting away from the point. Today is the feast day of Saint Therese of Lisieux. She was a young girl born in Lisieux, France. From a young age, Therese had a deep love of God. She was a romantic, head in the clouds, type of girl. She spent her days day-dreaming during school about God and longed to receive the sacraments when she first was able to understand the Eucharist. Therese loved to pray, and she would spend hours at a time praying to Jesus in her bedroom. She had to lobby the pope for years before he gave her special permission to enter the Carmelite convent at age 16. Her sisters who were also nuns urged her to write an autobiography of her life before she died at 26 of tuberculosis in 1897. Her autobiography “Story of a Soul” has sold thousands of copies all over the world. She is well known for her philosophy of the “Little Way”: doing little menial tasks with great love for God. Therese said many times in her autobiography that she would become a saint for loving God with all her heart in little tasks, not by any great heroic feat. I have never felt a connection to Therese because she seems so unrelatable. #cantrelate #thisisawkward But I decided to read her autobiography because so many other people CAN relate to her, or have found beauty in her relationship with Christ. I read her autobiography because I thought to myself – “I have never, ever felt the desire to be a nun, and I have always found Therese so annoyingly unrelatable.” It is always a good idea to try to understand someone. After reading it, I still maintain that I am not like Therese of Lisieux. As I read her autobiography, I felt myself imagining and picturing her personality: a romantic, day-dreaming, slow-moving, not very smart girl who loved God with all her heart. I began to recognize that I was annoyed with how impractical her personality was. I am now asking myself – who is the modern-day Saint Therese in my life? Who is the person who just doesn’t “click” with me? Who do I have trouble loving and appreciating? God is challenging me to love even the people who may feel hard to love because He created them. And those people are capable of holiness and becoming saints! We are all called to be saints! There are so many diverse personalities of people in the world. And God created each of us. There is beauty in each of our quirky, idiosyncratic personalities. How do we use our individuality to love God? Do we embrace our uniqueness? Do we even like ourselves? Do we offer ourselves as a gift to God, our Creator, every day? Sometimes my prayer to Jesus goes a lot like this: "Jesus, teach me to love me as You love me." Or contemplating the prayer of Saint Francis: Lord make me an instrument of your peace Where there is hatred let me sow love Where there is injury, pardon Where there is doubt, faith Where there is despair, hope Where there is darkness, light And where there is sadness, joy O divine master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console to be understood as to understand To be loved as to love For it is in giving that we receive it is in pardoning that we are pardoned And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life Amen When we become who God created us to be, we will be immeasureably happy. I am finding that Jesus is asking me to love and serve Him in different ways than He asked Therese to do. I am so appreciative of, and I admire the women who do live as nuns because it is a life where they find deep intimacy with Christ. The pursuit of growing in holiness looks different on all of us because we are all different people. But no matter what our talents, skills, careers, and interests… Jesus asks us all to do little things with great love of Him. --- Check out Saint Therese's autobiography here. What do you think? Leave a comment of your own thoughts.
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Today is the feast day of the Assumption of Mary into heaven. But after the news of what has happened in Pennsylvania, I don’t feel like celebrating.
I feel heartbroken. I shudder thinking of the trauma the victims carry in their hearts and the damage done to them. I am disgusted that the trauma they endure was inflicted upon them by priests. I am enraged and deeply saddened for the victims. I am devastated for the hundreds of people who felt that their safest option was to leave the Church because there were too much lies and too much sin to witness. What these men did and hid for decades was pure evil. It was somewhat of a relief that many of the men are dead and gone. But this does not change what happened. The burden that the victims carry. And the horrific consequences. The Church has a giant wound. And only the Church can address it. Pope Francis said recently that we need to “stop clericalizing the Church”. I think this may be appropriate to contemplate. While priests and bishops may be the skeleton of the Church and administer the sacraments, they are not the full, total, body of the Church. Christians are the Church. Catholics are the Catholic Church. Young women, young men, families, little old ladies, and people of all ages, experiences, and ethnicities who share the same faith in Jesus Christ are the Church. We see this horrible wound in our Church. When I say that only the Church can address it, I mean people like you and me. The laity. So what are we going to do? To make sure this never, ever happens again. We need practical answers. This is where reform happens. Nothing will change if every single Catholic who was heartbroken by this news left the Church. When something needs to be changed, we cannot give up on it. I heard an old person commiserate once about young people: “When I was growing up, if something was broke, you fixed it!” I think that this idea of giving up may be related to some marriages. Many divorces (but certainly not all!) happen because both parties view the relationship as beyond repair. Couples who have been married 25, 40, 50 years utter similar themes of “compromise”, “always putting in the work”, “never give up on one another”, “date your spouse”. Our Church is broken and deeply wounded. But it is not beyond repair. Thank goodness for saints such as Francis, Teresa of Avila, Dominic, and Catherine of Siena who patiently and vigilantly advocated for reform and the truth of Christ’s doctrine during corruption and injustice. As the laity, we are called to follow in the example of these holy men and women and rededicate the Church to the love of Church in the face of evil. “We've had enough exhortations to be silent. Cry out with a thousand tongues. I see the world is rotten because of silence. - Catherine of Siena” It sounds to me like we need people who will not despair on the Church, but work towards solutions. That is the way to protect and provide for the future Church. In the face of these atrocities that presently bring me to tears, I would not say that I am embarrassed to be a Catholic though. Why? Because my faith has never been in priests. My faith has never been in humans. Though I do not like attributing labels to people, for the sake of clarity I would like to say that I have met many “terrible” Catholics and many “excellent” Catholics. Same goes for any Christian denomination or religion. Humans sin. And where there are humans, there will be sin. As long as the Church has humans, there will be sin in the Church. Ultimately, I place my trust in Jesus Christ alone. Humans will disappoint us, but God does not. I am Catholic because the Catholic Church is the Church that Christ instituted 2,000 years ago. The teachings on faith and morals are based on Christ’s teachings, sacred tradition handed down to us from the first apostles, and divine inspiration. The atrocities do not change the teachings of the Catechism, the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the sacraments. Therefore, I could never not be Catholic. Because no other Christian church can offer that. I would like to encourage everyone not to despair. Do not give up hope. I stand firm in my belief that only light can drive out darkness. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King To rewrite Ghandi’s famous cliché quote: Be the change you wish to see in the Church. ---- I would like to link to this excellent analysis by Father James Martin tracing the causes of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. He provides real practical explanations that must be addressed moving forward. This is what I am praying this week: A Prayer For Angry Catholics ---- A Prayer For Angry Catholics by Father James Martin Dear God, sometimes I get so angry at your church. I know that I’m not alone. So many people who love your church feel frustrated with the Body of Christ on earth. Priests and deacons, and brothers and sisters, can feel frustrated, too. And I’ll bet that even bishops and popes feel frustrated. We grow worried and concerned and bothered and angry and sometimes scandalized because your divine institution, our home, is filled with human beings who are sinful. Just like me. But I get frustrated most of all when I feel that there are things that need to be changed and I don’t have the power to change them. So I need your help, God. -Help me to remember that Jesus promised that he would be with us until the end of time, and that your church is always guided by the Holy Spirit, even if it’s hard for me to see. Sometimes change happens suddenly, and the Spirit astonishes us, but often in the church it happens slowly. In your time, not mine. Help me know that the seeds that I plant with love in the ground of your church will one day bloom. So give me patience. -Help me to understand that there was never a time when there were not arguments or disputes within your church. Arguments go all the way back to Peter and Paul debating one another. And there was never a time when there wasn’t sin among the members of your church. That kind of sin goes back to Peter denying Jesus during his Passion. Why would today’s church be any different than it was for people who knew Jesus on earth? Give me wisdom. -Help me to trust in the Resurrection. The Risen Christ reminds us that there is always the hope of something new. Death is never the last word for us. Neither is despair. And help me remember that when the Risen Christ appeared to his disciples, he bore the wounds of his Crucifixion. Like Christ, the church is always wounded, but always a carrier of grace. Give me hope. -Help me to believe that your Spirit can do anything: raise up saints when we need them most, soften hearts when they seem hardened, open minds when they seem closed, inspire confidence when all seems lost, help us do what had seemed impossible until it was done. This is the same Spirit that converted Paul, inspired Augustine, called Francis of Assisi, emboldened Catherine of Siena, consoled Ignatius of Loyola, comforted Thérèse of Lisieux, enlivened John XXIII, accompanied Teresa of Calcutta, strengthened Dorothy Day and encouraged John Paul II. It is the same Spirit that it with us today, and your Spirit has lost none of its power. Give me faith. -Help me to remember all your saints. Most of them had it a lot worse than I do. They were frustrated with your church at times, struggled with it, and were occasionally persecuted by it. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by church authorities. Ignatius of Loyola was thrown into jail by the Inquisition. Mary MacKillop was excommunicated. If they can trust in your church in the midst of those difficulties, so can I. Give me courage. -Help me to be peaceful when people tell me that I don’t belong in the church, that I’m a heretic for trying to make things better, or that I’m not a good Catholic. I know that I was baptized. You called me by name to be in your church, God. As long as I draw breath, help me remember how the holy waters of baptism welcomed me into your holy family of sinners and saints. Let the voice that called me into your church be what I hear when other voices tell me that I’m not welcome in the church. Give me peace. -Most of all, help me to place all of my hope in your Son. My faith is in Jesus Christ. Give me only his love and his grace. That’s enough for me. Help me God, and help your church. Amen. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about how I’m going to look on my wedding day.
When I think about how I want to look on my wedding day, there is a part of me that feels this pressure to be beautiful. Because everyone expects a bride to be beautiful. I get this feeling like I need to live up to this standard to be beautiful. What if I’m not what people expect? What if I don’t look beautiful? The fact that my mind goes to these thoughts is irrational because they are based on irrational fears. These thoughts reveal a lot about myself, and I want to share them with you because there are many other people out there who have similar thoughts about not being good enough. Lies grow in the darkness, so by sharing my thoughts with you, I am no longer giving them power over me! So first, these thoughts reveal my fear of failure. I have a fear of failing. Aren’t we all a little bit afraid of failure? Afraid of saying the wrong answer out loud, losing, or attempting something and falling flat on your face. Failing can be stressful and scary because it means you did not succeed in reaching a goal or an expectation you set for yourself. I have to reassess this “expectation” of beauty I place on myself. I have to remind myself that my beauty is who I am not what I look like! Secondly, these thoughts reveal that I have made assumptions of the people who will be at my wedding. Tom and I invited the people who are closest to us to our wedding. Therefore, if I assume that someone would think less of us for how we appear, I am making a huge judgment on those people’s characters. If I honestly think that someone at my wedding would tear me down for how I look, then that person shouldn’t be at our wedding because they don’t love us for us. Thirdly, I am a people pleaser. This is part of my personality. I am the compromiser in those conflict management style tests who wants to make everyone happy. However, there are many drawbacks to being a people pleaser one of which is the inclination to vanity. If you care more about what other people’s opinions than what is true then that is vanity. True beauty comes from within. True beauty comes from what you do with your body not what it looks like. I know that my self-worth is in who I am as a woman. Each person has sacredness in their soul. This is not something that can be changed or taken away. My self-worth cannot be measured in appearances. My self-worth is in my identity as a human. As a Catholic Christian, I believe that being human means that we were created out of love by a God who made us – not because He needs us – but so that we could experience Him, Love. When I scroll across something that says “lose 10 pounds for your wedding now”, I get sick to my stomach because there is a diet industry exploiting women like me into second guessing their self-worth is defined by a number on the scale and the sexual appeal of their body. So to you – fellow woman - you are already beautiful. You are already perfect. Just the way you are. Right now. In your current state. Your perfection is who you are. You always have been flawless, and you always will be beautiful. The only true standard of beauty is you being unapologetically feminine in your own unique way and living a life of love. For a very long time I did not understand the Rosary.
I honestly thought it was dumb simply because I did not understand it. I think this is a very dangerous thought to have: to dismiss something simply because we do not understand it. Some parts of the Catholic faith are difficult to understand. Because they take time. However, we will miss out on that truth when we fail to take that time to question, contemplate, and discuss what we do not understand. One of the things that I tell literally everyone is that it is 100% ok, good, and necessary to have questions in your journey to know God. It is ok to have doubt. It is NOT ok to leave your questions lingering unanswered. Say your question out loud. Ask someone who is wise and might know the answer. Seek out the truth. This takes humility. It takes humility to say -you know what I do not know the answer. It takes humility to learn because it requires admitting that we do not know something. This is how we grow in wisdom and understanding. At a certain point, I had to start from the beginning with humility and consider – maybe there is something I’m missing about the Rosary. Maybe it’s not the Catholic Church that has a problem, maybe I just don’t get this. So, what is the Rosary? The Rosary is a prayer of meditation on the incarnation, life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. The Rosary beads are used as a guide along the 5 decades of one Our Father prayer and ten Hail Mary prayers. I used to think to myself: There are more prayers to Mary than to Jesus in the rosary. Why am I even saying the Hail Mary prayer? Why would I ever want to say the same prayer 10 times in a row? Well, first. I want to clarify what the Hail Mary prayer is. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you” This first part is the words of the Angel Gabriel in greeting the Blessed Virgin (Luke 1:28). "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Jesus)" The second are the words of St. Elizabeth borrowed from the Divinely inspired greeting of St. Elizabeth (Luke 1:42), "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." The final words are a prayer petitioning Mary to pray for us. Have you ever asked a friend to pray for you? We do the same thing except we are asking Mary, Jesus’ mother, to pray for us. We ask Mary to pray for us and with us because she is Jesus’ mother. The purpose of Mary’s life was to give birth to Jesus, be his mother, allow salvation to enter the world, and model submission to God. Any attention we give to Mary automatically gives glory to Jesus because without Jesus, her life is meaningless. I have found personally that saying structured prayer such as the Hail Mary and the Our Father provide me the words to say in prayer when I don’t know what to say. There is a place in our lives for both free prayer and structured prayer. In other words, talking to God straight from your own uninhibited honest self, and talking to God with words somebody else wrote. Have you ever tried to pray and talk to God, but you just don’t know what to say? Or maybe you just want God to read your heart, but you feel like no matter what you try to say nothing is going to do your heart justice? Don’t get me wrong – rambling is BEAUTIFUL. But sometimes, it can be exhausting. There is something calming and comforting about repetitively saying deeply meaningful holy words. God knows our hearts. He knows our thoughts and deepest desires. When we pray the Rosary, we actively are saying to Jesus: “you know my heart, and I trust you”. The Rosary is not a prayer of vain repetition. It is a deep meditation moved by familiar words. The gentle repetition allows us to be present in the silence of our hearts where Christ dwells. --- Click here to learn how to pray the Rosary. Click here to learn about Mary's promises to those who say the Rosary. “True love is free, total, faithful, and fruitful.” During this season of engagement, this quote from Saint Pope John Paul II has spoke to my heart. It has taken me a while to understand what it means. And how it is relevant to Tom’s and my future marriage. “True love is free, total, faithful, and fruitful.” Engagement is a time of preparing for marriage. Asking questions like: How can I love the other person better? How can I strive to be the best person I can be? What can we do now that will help us in 20 years? What determines a successful marriage? A successful marriage isn't just not getting divorced. There are many couples who are unhappily married or have become resentful and bitter towards one another. Tom and I want to do everything we can to have a happy marriage in five, ten, twenty, and fifty years. Because engagement is not just about wedding planning. So many people get caught up in planning ONE day that they forget to plan for the rest of their lives. We are preparing for marriage. The most important promise either of us will ever make. A lifetime of commitment. Forever. Til freaking death do us part. Yeah. This may sound dramatic or intimidating. If you aren’t engaged, you might be thinking – Wow, I don’t think I could ever get married. If so, that is okay. Believe me, I was convinced for a while that I was literally incapable of marriage. (Blog post for another time?) Yet here I am, sharing how Tom and I are doing this whole engagement thing. Be patient and forgiving to yourself. You do not know what plans God has for your future. Tom and I take engagement very seriously because the Catholic Church does not recognize divorce except for in very serious situations like to protect the safety of the family. Annulments are given to a marriage if it was never valid to begin with. Like if one person lied to the other about their intentions in the marriage, or if the parties did not fully understand the sacrament before taking their vows. However. That is why the Catholic Church has engagement retreats, marriage counseling, and diocesan classes to help couples understand what they are getting into. Marriage is super awesome, that’s why the Church takes it so seriously. Back to the beginning though. This quote was the theme of our engagement retreat this past summer. Ever since hearing the meaning of love explained, I have felt in awe at the beauty and complexity of love. I love Love! Love is God himself. God created us not because He needs us. God created us simply because He desires us. God was dazzled by the idea He had of you. He created us because He desires us to share in Himself. To share in Himself which is Love. God created us to share in His Love. Love is free. God does not force us to love Him. God gave every person free will. When I say free will , I mean the ability to choose right or wrong. We are not robots forced into loving God. Jesus is constantly pursuing us at all moments of our life. Are we pursuing Him? Do we notice those moments in our lives? When someone does something because they had no choice, is it genuine? No. Christ freely chose to die a painful, sorrowful, humiliating death, so that we could be free of our sin. He chose this freely. God wants our voluntary love and attention. He is not going to force you into a relationship with Him, but He will always be pursuing your heart. True love is offered and received freely. “If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give humans free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata--of creatures that worked like machines--would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other.” - C.S. Lewis Love is total. Love gives everything. Christ poured out his entire life for our salvation. Christ did not leave mankind abandoned. Christ left us with the Church and instituted the sacraments so that we can have a real, intimate relationship with Him. God, the Creator of the Universe, has gone to extremes, so that we can know, love, and serve Him. Love gives everything. Love sacrifices. That last piece of cake. The five dollars in your pocket. The last ounce of patience you have left. Those ten minutes you could spend doing something else. The smile beneath layers of frustration. These are small acts of love. They are small acts of love that are practice for big acts of love. Are we willing to offer love and small acts of service for the good of someone who needs us? Love is faithful. Love is not contingent. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Love is persistent and enduring. Tom and I discerned that we wanted to get married because we determined that our love for each other would be faithful regardless of what happens in the future. I am so thankful for many friends, my family, and Tom who have shown me that love is faithful. Marriage vows are a solemn promise of faithfulness in every circumstance or situation: “I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.” God is faithful. He keeps his promises. He abides among us. God waits patiently for us to seek Him. The faithful love of marriage reflects this unconditional love God has for each one of us. Love is fruitful. Love multiplies. Love gives of itself. Love creates and sacrifices. Love cannot be contained and kept a secret. Love gives and grows. The mystery of the Trinity is three Persons in one God : the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The love of the Father and the Son literally creates a third person of God which is the Holy Spirit. No, do not ask me to explain this any further because I am literally a lowly peasant in the great universe of theology. Talk to a priest if you don’t get this. Or click here. The love of a married couple reflects the fruitful love of God in the Trinity. The love of the two persons creates a third human being! Contemplating on the meaning of true love - free, total, faithful, and fruitful - is already transforming the way I see marriage! ---- I encourage you to ask God to help you understand Him. Maybe your faith isn’t there right now. Maybe you’re mad at God. Maybe it is hard to believe that God even exists. Or that if He does, that He cares about us. I encourage you to ask God to hold your hand through the questions you are experiencing. Will you give Him a chance to show you the love He so desperately longs to show you? I hope we all will. ---- Thanks for reading! Madeleine Last night, I scrolled past a romantic comedy on Netflix called "The Good Catholic". It’s a show about a priest who falls in love with a woman after hearing her confession.
A romantic comedy built around a priest's struggle with his vocation. That ain’t right. References to Confession in the media reveal that there is lot of stigma surrounding Catholicism and Confession. That it is stifling, burdensome, and oppressive. I wanted to share a little bit in this first post about why I go to Confession and why it is so wonderful. --- Confession is one of the 7 sacraments in the Catholic Church. The others are Baptism, the Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage (GONNA BE RECEIVING THIS ONE IN 174 DAYS but who’s counting), Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. A sacrament is a tangible way for us to experience an intangible grace. As an example, in Confession we experience forgiveness by confessing our sins to a priest. I am very thankful that God (who we cannot touch or see) instituted the sacraments so that we can experience Him in physical ways that we can touch and see. Some people have the idea that the sacraments are more hoops to jump through to get to Heaven. This is false! Christ who created us, knows that we as humans rely on our senses to understand truth and derive meaning. Christ instituted the sacraments, so that we can experience Him in physical, sensational ways that increase our faith and strengthen our relationship with Him. I get a lot of questions about Confession. Is it awkward? Do you look the priest in the eyes? Do you tell him everything? No, it’s not awkward. It is an opportunity to humble ourselves, create a conversation, and talk with God about our mistakes. In the confessional, you have the option to kneel behind a screen or sit beside or in front of the priest. The priest is standing in for Christ who is love and mercy. The priest does not judge anyone. We are all sinners! Priests are sworn to protect the secrecy of the confessional. Read here about priests who were martyred for refusing to reveal what was said in the confessional. And yes, Confession is a place where no matter what sin you have done, no matter how bad, or how many times you have done it. The sin is forgiven. Our sin is met with love and forgiveness every. single. time. No matter what. Our sin is met with love and forgiveness every single time. Because Christ forgives us every single time we ask for it. The story of the Prodigal Son illustrates how deeply Christ loves us and how He longs for us to come back; no matter how “far gone” we think we may be. No one is beyond forgiveness. Priests regularly hear each other's confessions. Yes, even the Pope goes to confession. Saint Pope John Paul II was said to go to confession daily. Pope Francis is said to go every two weeks. We all struggle with sin, but God will never get tired of forgiving us. God's mercy is limitless. Confession is also a cathartic experience. It is like spring cleaning. Resurfacing and dusting out all the old junk we have buried under other junk in our past. When the priest, standing in the place of Jesus, offers absolution, those sins are gone forever. Because Christ forgives. I am learning in my graduate counseling classes how catharsis is a part of psychological healing. Confession is that safe place to acknowledge what we have done wrong and to ask God’s forgiveness. The priest provides love, mercy, and acceptance in response to whatever we need to get off our chest. Jesus forgave sins throughout the Bible. Before his Ascension to Heaven, He told His apostles: “Whoever’s sins you forgive are forgiven them” (Mt 16:20). Jesus gave this power to His apostles because He knew that He would no longer be around to offer that physical experience of forgiveness to us. Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to His apostles so that the apostles could continue His ministry on earth. Through apostolic succession, the Catholic Church exists today to continue Jesus’ ministry! I try to go to Confession about once a month or every other month. The Church tells us that Catholics need to go to Confession at least once a year. I try to go once a month because I do not want to become comfortable with my sins accumulating on my conscience. I also want to become more comfortable humbling myself, admitting how I have done wrong to God, myself, and/or my neighbor, and asking forgiveness. Every time I go it reinforces my belief in God's mercy. I will always be a sinner, and I will always need God’s mercy! --- Thanks for reading! Madeleine |
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Thanks for stopping by! I'm Madeleine, and I write about how I think and why I do the things I do as a Catholic. Archives
October 2018
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