Sunday, April 12, 2009

Randon Adventures

I bumped into my friend Veronica today on my way to the DH. She told me how she wanted to go see I Love You Man but her friends bailed. So I said I'd go. We walked over to Boylston for the 8:50.

Definitely worth it. One of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

It's great how in college you never know what you will wind up doing if you just take a minute to stop and talk to your friends.

Bar hopping... oops, wrong blog...

Alright, so it wasn't bar hopping. It was church hopping.

After Holy Thursday mass my friends and I went church hopping. We hit up St. Clements, St. Cecelia's, St. Francis's (in the Pru) and finished at the Cathedral. We stopped for adoration at each one. On the way we met up with a bunch of Kids from the CC at BU. We sang praise and worship and the rosary as we traveled the streets of Boston. At the Cathedral we said night prayer with the Cardinal... The girl sitting behind me had the most amazing voice I had ever heard. Totally made the end of my night amazing.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Archangel of Westminster

So I just finished reading The Archangel of Westminster by Mike Shaughnessy. It is hands down the best book I've ever read. It is about a man who goes to Westminster Cathedral and meets St. Michael who proceeds to tell him all about angels and the fall and Christ and various other things. It takes place around this time and I suggest reading it. It is really short. It only took me a few hours to finish. So give it a shot, even if you're busy. I promise it will be worth your time. (Guys especially)

Peace

Eucharistic Congress

So I don't know if anyone other than mom and dad actually ever look at this, but there is going to be a Eucharistic Congress this weekend in the Northend... I think, I don't actually know where per-se or when the exact time is, or what that all even means. I simply know my friends will tell me where to be and when and I'll go from there. =p If any of the fun Catholic people (who may or may not ever look at this) are going to be there, feel free to let me know and I'll attempt to track you down and say hi.

Also, I will be doing a reading/the narrator (or so I've been promised) for our Palm Sunday mass at the Fenway Cente,. (though i'm sure you all have your exciting own masses to go to) so wish me luck. (If any readers other than mom and dad actually exist) (I also promise to start writing on this more so it may become worthwile)

Peace

Sunday, March 29, 2009

To whom much is given...

Luke 12:48
International Standard Version

"But the servant who did things that deserved a beating without knowing it will receive a light beating. Much will be required from everyone to whom much has been given. But even more will be demanded from the one to whom much has been entrusted"

These are words that never really meant anything to me. I certainly never thought I had been given much in life. Coming from a family of 7 kids, I never had as much stuff as the other kids my age. I guess whenever I heard these words, I simply thought I had lucked out. I never thought I was given much and thus not much would be expected of me.

Boy how wrong I was.

My guardian Angel is St. Michael the Archangel. This is pretty ballin' truth be told. How do I know who my guardian angel is when almost no one else does? It's simple really. My mother had 2 miscarriages before I was conceived. The doctors didn't think there was much chance of them having another child. At the time though, my parents only had Mary and Tim and wanted more kids. So, they prayed and prayed to St. Michael, the first among the heavenly host, to come down and be my guardian angel when my mom became pregnant to me. Needless to say, I was born and he has been protecting me ever since.

As a young child I never thought to much into it. I could never see where he was or what he was doing. I still to this day can't generally understand what he does for me. Those few occasions I do, it's pretty special. The biggest time his presence is noticeable is during mass. When I was an alter server, I would often be standing alone during the reciting of the Our Father and thus had no one's hand to hold. At the same time, I could always feel someone holding my hand, generally the left. When I was young I explained this away as an imaginary friend, but when I got older, I came to see the truth. St. Michael would be present there with me praising the lord since in the end, it is his favorite thing to do, give praise.

What does this have to do with Luke 12:48?

Well quite simply, I am not the servant that didn't understand. Nor am I the one to whom much is given, but I am one of the ones to whom much is entrusted... I have been given one of the greatest gifts in God's grace, that of the protection of St. Michael. There is a battle for my soul taking place as there is for all of ours. The Archangel is definitely winning in my case. Of course, the more deeply he helps me, the more I see that is being demanded of me.

I often feel like the weight of the whole world is on my shoulders, though it is not an unbearable load. I have been given ample weapons to handle this. With Michael as my sword and shield I cannot lose. I'll get it all right eventually, and when that day arrives, I can only hope that there will be much rejoicing because of it. But until then, I shall continue to struggle with my own battles, and fighting other peoples battles as well. Because when you are entrusted with the Archangel, your life is never completely your own. Michael himself is given special assignments to help others when even their own guardians strength isn't enough. This is the same that is demanded of myself.

These are battles that I will win.

Prayer to St. Michael

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against wickedness and the snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.

Amen

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

St. Patrick's Day Rosary

So my friend Sam (girl Sam, not boy Sam, cuz theres two friend Sams...) and I sat down after our volleyball game tonight to say the rosary. Unfortunately, neither of us know the mysteries, or even what ones to say on what day. As we were discussing what to do, I realized I had the Little Green Book of Blarney in my pocket. It is an excellent book about all things Irish. In the back, there is a bunch of Irish blessings, so in honor of St. Patrick, we said those instead of the mysteries. It was goofy and a lot of fun because some of them are less serious than others but some are really deep an insightful and they all seemed to be just what I needed to hear. Funny how it works out that way.

CB out.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Retreat

So I went on retreat over the weekend. I always find it so amazing how you can come back feeling so refreshed and ready to face the world again. The week after you always have such a powerful spiritual high. I managed to get my friend Abbie to come along to our NUlife meeting on Wednesday which was cool. It's so strange to me to have a group of friends who actually think quite highly of you because no matter how you act they know who you truly are beneath that. It really allows you to be yourself. You know that you won't be judged as harshly for things because the people around you also know about your spiritual life and how strong you are in that regard. Their opinions about you are always tempered by that knowledge and it is a truly wonderful thing.