"Choose Life"

For a few weeks now, some of our Sunday readings have carried out the important theme of being "Doers" of the Word, rather than mere "Hearers". We learned in the Second Reading (James 2: 14-18) this past Sunday that faith alone is not enough; we must have faith and works. The two can and should be intertwined, as works of love, justice and charity are how we truly embody and express our faith. We as Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is our one perfect role model in life, and we marvel at and glorify His many examples of loving kindness, generosity, and mercy. To simply believe in Jesus's complete goodness is merely the first step, however; we are called to take what we have learned and act on it, to strive to model our own behaviour after our Lord's.

Throughout our whole lives, it has followed that once we learn something, we take it and actively use it in everyday life. When we learned how to tie our shoes as young children, we were ready to put away our Velcros and "graduate" to lace-up shoes. Once we learned how to drive, we did drive, rather than continuing to be chauffeured everywhere. In school, we learned a multitude of subjects, and ultimately pursued a specific subject area so that we could take what we learn into the world of work. Long story short, once we learn something new and important, we don't immediately forget it or push it aside; we actively apply what we've learned to create positive outcomes for ourselves and others. The same should be true for what we learn about God and our faith! As our Catholic faith strengthens and develops, let's try our best to manifest it in everything that we do, in all areas of life. What better way to spread the love of Christ than to treat others in a truly Christlike way?

In keeping with this theme this past Sunday, my choir sang "Choose Life" by Big Tent Revival for our second Communion hymn. This is one of my favourite Christian Rock songs. If you are unfamiliar with the song, here are the lyrics, and a link to a video where you can hear it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnN33ozmmIc

A choice is set before you now:
Living or dying, blessing or cursing
And know, the time has come around
To turn from your fighting
And rest in His mercy

Choose life, that you might live

The life that He gives, He gives you forever

Choose life, the way that is true
From the One who chose you
Your Father in Heaven
Choose life

Trust the Lord with all your heart,

With all of your soul, and all of your being

Hold on, listen and obey

Surrender your life into His keeping

Choose life, that you might live

The life that He gives, He gives you forever

Choose life, the way that is true

From the One who chose you

Your Father in Heaven

Choose life

And the weight you're under will be lifted away

And the world will wonder what happened here today

And you'll stand right there and say

Choose life, that you might live

The life that He gives, He gives you forever

Choose life, the way that is true

From the One who chose you

Your Father in Heaven

Choose life

Choosing to Live

What beautiful, inspiring words!

Let us look more closely now; what does it mean to "choose life"?

We as Catholics have faith that whoever believes in God and Jesus shall have eternal life (a paraphrase of John 3:16); this is truly one of the hallmark tenets of our faith. However, as we have learned, to truly have faith means not only to believe, but to act on our faith. We must choose to receive salvation and eternal life with God the Father, and we make this choice through our actions. God gave us all free will, and we are all capable of making loving, compassionate, merciful decisions.

As we have discussed in an earlier blog, it is not always easy or convenient to do what is right, just and loving; it can sometimes take a significant sacrifice. Also, we may be negatively influenced by our past experiences (such as painful relationships, losses, and hurts), our present interactions with others, or negative emotions such as fear and anxiety. When that happens, let us try to remember that God is just a prayer away. We can pray and ask Him for the strength and grace to do what is right, to help us to live our lives in a way that best reflects Jesus's loving example. This is a type of prayer I try to say regularly, and I encourage you to try something similar.

Let us all do our best to "choose life" by actively and positively living out our faith. Let us try to be more kind, more gentle, more humble, and more patient. Let us try to be more attuned to the feelings and needs of others. Let us try to forgive others when they have wronged us, and let us in turn recognize and act on our need for forgiveness when we fail to act as kindly and faithfully as we should. 

Of course, none of us are perfect, and we all take a "wrong turn" from time to time. When that happens, let us not get discouraged; rather, let us work towards getting back on track as quickly as possible. Let us always strive to return to the path that leads to salvation, the path down which we walk hand in hand with Jesus Christ.

This week, I encourage you to think about ways you can "choose life" and embody your faith in an active and positive way. I would love to hear your comments and ideas!

May God bless you, today and always!

Karen

"Amazing Grace"

This past Sunday, we heard of some of Jesus's incredible acts of love, mercy, and healing. To complement the readings, the song we sang for the Offertory was "Amazing Grace". Most of you have probably heard this song many times at Mass, during funerals, and possibly even on TV and in movies; it is a popular and well-loved song, and rightfully so. Amid a beautiful melody are powerful lyrics which extol God's power, grace, and love and offer praise and thanks for these gifts.

The most familiar verse of this song is undoubtedly the first ("Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me..."), but the verse that moves and inspires me the most is the third. The lyrics to this verse go as follows:

"The Lord has promised good to me;

His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures."

God: My Shield and Portion

Let us first look at the third and fourth lines, which remind us that via our relationship with God, we receive everything we truly need.

There is a difference between that which we want (things that make our lives more fun or convenient) and that which we really need. We likely all have had experiences in the past where we see some consumer item and think, "Oh, I need this" piece of clothing, food, or electronics. Personally, my two weaknesses are shoes and kitchen gadgets. Many times have I seen a sparkly pair of peep-toe shoes or a brightly coloured silicone whisk (yes, I'm a kitchen nerd, haha) and thought how much I would love to own them. But, most of the time I resist, because I remind myself that I don't really need these possessions.

What in life do we truly need?

We need physical health and safety, reliable shelter, food and drink, and loving relationships. I feel very fortunate to say that I have indeed been blessed with these things, and I know many of you have, too. They are wonderful gifts that have been given to me by God, and I give Him thanks in prayer every day. I never want to take my blessings for granted. Instead, I pray to God every day for the ability to always recognize the value of the gifts He has given to me, and the ability to make the most of them. That is, I want to draw from these assets, particularly my cherished relationships, to learn and grow and become a person who is better equipped to make positive differences for others.

Yes, life is undoubtedly full of blessings that we should take care to recognize and nurture. Sometimes, however, life can get rather difficult. We or a loved one may experience a serious illness or injury. One may suffer a great loss, such as the death of a loved one or the end of a relationship, or endure severe financial hardship. Such experiences can bring about great feelings of anxiety and fear. Things may seem utterly hopeless, and we may feel utterly alone. But in times like this, it is beneficial to remember that we are never alone; God is always there beside us, ready to be our shield from the storm. God will provide us with the help, comfort, and love that we need. It is up to us, however, to ask for it! Pray to God, fervently and wholeheartedly, and He will answer you.

One thing to keep in mind is that sometimes we may not always see or understand God's answer right away. This relates back to the point on what we want versus what we need. We may think that God hasn't answered our prayers because we haven't been given exactly what we want; however, it may very well be the case that God has instead given us exactly what we need. We may think we know just what is right for us, and sometimes we may be correct. Being human, however, we are not perfect, and as much as we might like to think so, we do not know absolutely everything. The only one who does is God.

As such, we are called to put our total faith and trust in the Lord, to have our hope secured by His loving Word. When times get difficult and things are not going as we would like, we should try to remember that God has a loving plan for each and every one of us. We might not understand it at the time, and there may be many twists and turns along the way, but He will lead us to exactly where it is that we need to be.

A question for discussion:

In what specific ways has God been your shield and portion?

I would love for you to share your ideas with me in the Comments section!

Finally, a small bit of advertising:

My fiance, some friends, and I are involved in a Catholic young adults' group called WE CAN (Windsor-Essex Catholic young Adults Network). It is for young people aged 19-35 who are interested in spiritual growth and development as well as in socializing with other individuals of the faith. We meet once a month, generally the second Friday of the month, for prayer, spiritual discussion, food, and games. Music and/or guest speakers are sometimes part of the night as well. If you are interested in receiving more information, you can check out our Facebook group here and/or email us here.

"Amazing Love"

Welcome to Amazing Love: An Uplifting Roman Catholic Blog!

About This Blog

I assume that most of you who are reading this already know me, but for those of you who may have just stumbled upon this blog, here's a bit about me.

My name is Karen, and I am from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I am 25 years old and have been raised a Roman Catholic. Every day, my love of God and passion for my faith grows stronger and deeper, due largely in part to the amazing people I have in my life! I have been very blessed by God with a loving family, terrific friends, and the man of my dreams, whom I can't wait to marry next year.

I have many hobbies and passions, but two of my main ones are to teach and to write. Currently, I work as a public and private tutor for students aged 4 to 15. It is a job I immensely enjoy. Every child has a special light inside of them, and to be able to help my students discover and then develop their special gifts is an incredible and exciting honour.

I also believe that much teaching can be done through writing. For the past year or so, I have worked to find an outlet to use writing as a teaching tool in order to spread the word and love of Jesus Christ to others. Upon much prayer and reflection, I felt God calling me to reach out to others in this way, and thus, "Amazing Love: Uplifting Words from a Roman Catholic Perspective" has finally come to fruition.

Amazing Love 

I belong to the Folk Rock Choir at Corpus Christi Parish. Although our "reverent rock and roll" is a great deal of fun, our main goal is to complement the weekly readings and awaken enthusiasm for the faith in our congregation. I find myself quite inspired by the beautiful lyrics of the fun, yet liturgically appropriate songs that we sing, and often find them helpful to  further my understanding and appreciation of the readings I've heard during the Mass. As such, this blog will highlight passages from the readings and/or lines from the songs that I've found especially moving and inspiring each week. I will discuss not only the surface words themselves, but the message that lies deeper within them, as well as ways in which to put these words into practice. After all, as the Second Reading from last Sunday urged us, we must not only be Hearers of the Word; we must be Doers. It is thus my goal with this blog to not only encourage you to think deeply about the Word of God, but to also help inspire you to actively incorporate what you have learned into your everyday actions and interactions.

"You Are My King (Amazing Love") by the Newsboys is one of my favourite songs that we sing in the choir. We didn't do this song this past Sunday, but since it is in the name of this blog, I thought it was fitting to discuss it today. If you are unfamiliar with the song, you can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJrcwzBlaXw

This song tells of the ultimate act of sacrifice and love: Jesus's death and Resurrection. God sent His only Son to Earth to ultimately provide the world with salvation. Jesus endured immense pain and torture, physically and emotionally, for us. He was savagely whipped, cruelly mocked, and painfully nailed to the cross, for us. He gave up His life, for us. What amazing love this is indeed!

The Lord has shown to us through Jesus the strongest, most unconditional, most perfect love possible, and we are called to love in the same way. The love God would like us to embrace and embody is threefold: love of God, love of others, and love of self. While seemingly separate, these three strands of love are undoubtedly intertwined. We are all children of God, and thus, when we show love for others and for ourselves, we in turn show love for God. Likewise, when we fail to show love for ourselves or others, we fail to show love for God. When we  participate in malicious gossip, fail to help someone, or put our own needs ahead of others', we hurt them, and in doing so, we hurt God.

Of course, try as we might, no one is perfect. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. What we are called to do is always try to do better. Let us commit ourselves to learning from our mistakes so that we can grow spiritually, socially, and emotionally. Let us also commit ourselves to living in a constant spirit of love, through our thoughts, words, and actions.

To be sure, some acts of selfless love may involve some degree of sacrifice; to show love in a pure and complete way, we are sometimes called to expend our time, energy, resources, or a combination thereof. I certainly experience this from time to time. However, when I encounter some perceived sacrifice, I pray to God, asking Him to help me remember that no hardship I have to endure is anything compared to the ultimate sacrifice of the Resurrection, and to help me persevere with strength, humility, and grace. I humbly encourage you to try something similar!

Let's end with a simple question for discussion:

What can you do this week to show love for God, others, and/or yourself on a deeper and more meaningful level?

I would love to hear your ideas, and I welcome and appreciate any comments!

May God bless you this week and always,
Karen