A Simple Question Answered by the Interwebs...

"Just Google it!" 

This seems to be my life motto. Frankly, I'm going to avoid all of the "information-overload" reasons of why this is an unnecessary and possibly damaging habit and skip to what I really want to talk about:

Liturgy of the Hours

I recently met with a priest friend of mine who was home for a visit and one of his parting remarks was, "Well, maybe this summer you can get back into the habit of praying [Morning Prayer for Liturgy of the Hours]. It's that and the Rosary. If you pray, all things will fall into place."

I've always failed at praying the Rosary every day, and one day I decided that I didn't really need to pray Morning Prayer every day either. I didn't have the heart to tell him these disappointing truths so that's probably why the Holy Spirit took over.

...Since I had a 15-minute drive home to think about the conversation, I wondered "Why should I pray Morning Prayer?" I could understand why I should pray the Rosary every day...I mean, I love Our Lady! I can definitely make an effort to ask for her help on a daily basis.

But, Morning Prayer? My friends and I have been praying Night Prayer almost every night. Why wouldn't that be enough? The Divine Office* is a crucial part of the Priesthood and Religious Life, but is it necessary for the Laity which I am proudly a member of? I pondered and pondered this question until I decided to do some digging and find out the answer. I'm too embarrassed to ask Father what seems like an ignorant question: "Why should I pray Morning Prayer?" because I should know this answer. So I went to the "next best source," where I can find out answers by keeping my anonymity. I asked Google because I only needed a good reason to pray the Office.

Sometimes, it is important for us to know the reasons behind the practices of our Faith. I had made the Office a part of my morning routine for a long time (not only in the convent, but also once I got to college). Routine comes easy for me and maybe for most of us: Wake up, pray, brush teeth, shower, etc. But when you do something out of habit without knowing why, all it takes is one little fall and we start to think twice. So here's a thank you to some Catholic Dad out there, because:

A Catholic Dad's blog has a short and sweet explanation of why we should pray at all, and why we should pray the Liturgy of the Hours:

The Divine Office allows for us as Catholics to set special times of the day aside to connect with our faith and our relationship to Christ. “This celebration, faithful to the apostolic exhortations to ‘pray constantly,’ is ‘so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God.’ In this ‘public prayer of the church, the faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized.’”[5] The Liturgy of the Hours is “like an extension of the Eucharistic celebration.”[6]

and:

As Catholics we are all called to be priests, prophets and kings through the liturgy or “public work” of Christ.[11] When we make prayer an important part of our day, whether it be in the form of “Reading Sacred Scripture, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Our Father – every sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of conversion and repentance within us and contributes to the forgiveness of our sins.”[12]

He found his sources from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. What a genius to look there! :)

*The term "Divine Office" is the same as "Liturgy of the Hours". For more information follow this link to the Divine Office official website. :)

Go Forth and...Live the Summer Life

It's been months (literally...like 3 and a half) since my last post and I have since unleashed my blog to the general public (ie, my friends). Due to this incredibly awkward but simultaneously stimulating circumestance, they have been slightly hinting for me to add another post. So this goes to all y'all out there - you know who you are! :)
There will be a "Second-Semester Summary" to come soon, but for now, here are some exciting tidbits I deem worthy of sharing:

- home
- get my own car this summer
- just learned how to change the oil on my own car
- nannying 3 boys
- biking so much that the wheels fall off
- hopeful to be a positive role model for some young-lady cousins
- ROAD TRIP to Michigan with the best of friends

- second round of Character Course Challenge: see picture, follow link for further information :)




- Visiting Z  in Wisconsin with my "new friend," (as introduced to my parents) C.
- volunteering my time at First Choice Pregnancy Services, hopefully!
- secret thrifting (as it was banned by my parents...sometimes when you need things, it's better to just find them in a thrift store; all the power to you when you can save money!)
- waiting to see what else awaits me for this summer!



The Man in the Blue Gloves (i.e. my dad)

On "Sunday Funday-Sleepday," a name I created in defense of my dad's holler into my bedroom a beautiful Sunday morning, I spent the majority of my day with my father. We went to deliver Mother's Day flowers to my Grandma (don't worry, you're not late for Mother's Day, my mom just didn't want to kill the flowers before we delivered them!), ran some errands, had a lesson on changing oil on my car, and watched Heaven is for Real in the theatres.

Now about that oil change:

My dad is an excellent teacher when it comes to all things mechanical. I was tempted at the beginning, though, to politely ask him to speak in layman's terms. Eventually I got a hang of his oil-changing lingo. I think we have a filter, a dipstick, a nobby (I made that up myself ;) ), the engine, the oil pan, etc....

And I can't say I would be able to do it all by myself again, but it's good to add the instruction to my list of "things I've learned."

When I came into the house, Mom told me I can cross that off my bucket list...So I will proceed to put it on my bucket list, and then cross it off.

Horrah!

No More Excuses!

Often when I'm examining my faults, I will let the train of thought take me to the town called "Maybe That's Why I was Called to Leave the Convent." And before I know it, I'm recalling instances like that one worldly conversation I had with a sister; or the feeling of insecurity when trying to do the 'right thing'; or the way I overreacted when the pot of soup boiled over; or my attachment to always winning at a game of cards...need I go on? Well, most of the time these thougths lead me to further examination, which leads to either a vague feeling of enlightenment or the feeling of disappointment...in myself and in God.

Except for last night. I was lying in bed and started to think about how it seemed like I wasn't able to embrace the present circumstances of my life. Again, that train took off: "That's it!! I don't think I embraced 'The Life' as 'My Life'..."

And all of a sudden, it's like the Holy Spirit jumped in front of this train and simply said: WHAT IF I did everything I was supposed to do (according to the state of life I was in), and it was God's plan all along?! WHAT IF I didn't do anything wrong but it was all right in the sight of God?

It certainly gave me peace as the "train" came to a screeching halt and I remembered that "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4)." Which means that He had each and every one of us in mind before He even created the world - so He must know what He's doing and loves us according to His plan!

WHAT IF I could stop trying to make excuses for "Why I was Called to Leave the Convent"?
---I think it would be a lot easier to see my life as more of a purpose and less of an accident.---

Lord, grant me the grace to see myself and my life as You see it.