Good Friday

Have you ever wished you could have been in Jerusalem on Good Friday? I know I have. It would have been frightening but I would have loved to be one of the townspeople who lined the street as Jesus walked by. I would have wanted to be Simon of Cyrene, chosen to help Jesus carry His cross through the streets, easing His burden ever so slightly, the burden He took on so my sins could be forgiven. Or Veronica, able to step forward and wipe the face of our Lord, clearing the blood and sweat from His eyes, soothing the sting for just a moment. Every Good Friday, while praying the Stations of the Cross, I desire nothing more than to put myself there, in the shadows of the crowd. I would want to run to Jesus and wipe His blood stained face before heaving the bottom of the wooden cross on to my shoulder. I would give anything to help the Man who gave us everything. Lord, how can I show you the depth of my gratitude, the burning love I have for You…

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’.” Matthew 25:40

We might not be able to help Jesus carry his cross down the streets of Jerusalem, bombarded with pain both physical an emotional, but we can help those around us who we see suffering. When we witness an injustice taking place and we stand up for the truth, we are easing the weight of Jesus’ cross. When we see someone who is hurting or lonely and we extend a loving hand, we are wiping the sweat from the face of our God. Even though we are unable to help Jesus carry the cross to His ultimate death, we are able to ease the weight of the cross by helping those around us on a daily basis, showing the love of Christ to our brothers and sisters.

Reflections after a Retreat

Kevin and I just spent the weekend with a dozen or so teens from the Life Teen group we help with and it was an amazing experience. As a Core member, there are lots of responsibilities and time commitments that need to be stuck by and sometimes it can get a little overwhelming. Then, a weekend like this comes along and every second spent in preparation is more than worth it. There is nothing more beautiful then seeing teenagers praising and worshipping Creator and taking refuge in His endless mercy. Teens these days are sick of being fed the same old lies by society and are searching for the truth. This genuine truth is found in Jesus and I am so honored to be able to be part of it. God has blessed Kevin and I with many things, but the one that keeps amazing us, day after day, is working with these teens. I am so thankful that God has called me to be a part of this ministry. Although going back to work on a Monday is always hard after having such a God-filled weekend, I know that this isn’t my true vocation. This cubicle is not the extent of my job. I work to pay the bills, but I minister to help fill His kingdom.

Simple Prayer for a Rainy Morning

God, Your will is perfect, complete beyond all of my understanding. Please grant me patience and help me to place all of my trust in You.

A Beer and a Retreat with Bob Rice

I got to see one of my favorite, musicians, speakers, authors, and all around awesome Catholic dudes I know, not once, but TWICE this past week! (I know, but remember, jealousy is a sin.) My husband took me into Boston Thursday night to see Bob Rice at Theology on Tap. We had heard of it before but had never been, we won’t be making that mistake again ;) We enjoyed a nice dinner and a beer while listening to Bob play some acoustic songs and give a talk on a great topic… “You are going to die, and other good news.” The section of the bar that we were in was packed but Bob’s voice and our applause could be heard all over. I never pictured myself singing “How Great is our God” in a bar full of people, but it was truly inspiring to see the eyes peering around the corners to see what we were up to. Bob’s talk was also inspiring (no surprise there) as he talked about the inevitable death we will all face and how it’s actually something we shouldn’t be afraid of. Here is a short video from Theology on Tap (please excuse the poor quality, it was a loud dark bar lol)

 
Friday morning, we went to a mini-retreat at the Marian Center, such a beautiful place!
It started with Mass at 9am followed by a talk from Bob and some time in adoration in
front of the Blessed Sacrament. Mass was great and Bob’s Mass parts were excellent (I
have always loved going to Mass when he is doing the music!) Bob’s talk was geared at
youth ministers and those who work closely with te youth at their church. Here are some
highlights from his talk, although I am doing it no justice what so ever!

• We need to allow ourselves to be surprised by Jesus. We don’t always know what he would say or do and if we pretend we know, we are missing out on His mystery.

• We don’t always completely understand ourselves so why would we be able to understand God? His Will is perfect, we just need to accept that we might not always understand what He is doing.

• Jesus suffered and died on the cross for us, so suffering is not a foreign concept to our religion and should not get in the way of our relationship with God.

• We can face the ugliness of Good Friday because of our hope in Easter Sunday. We should approach all of the pain in our life this way.

Bob read a few passages from his new book Between the Savior and the Sea, which you can buy here or here, and I highly recommend it! Not only is the book beautifully written but it opens up the Gospels and lets us look at the apostles in a whole new, more human, way. Excellent read!

Bob’s music during adoration set the tone for an amazing prayer experience and a real break from all the stress that has been going on. You could tell that the atmosphere in the chapel changed as people let their troubles go and relaxed in front of the Lord. It was a great “mini-retreat” and I am so grateful to have spent this time with Bob! The photo below is from the retreat and I give photo credit to my friend Joe Perry and his amazing iPhone ;)

Angry Thoughts

Anger is not from God. Nothing good comes from anger, just the sins of judgment, bitterness, and resentment. Anger is hard to control and can lead your mind into places that it shouldn’t be, places that don’t lead to anything but further sinful thoughts. Venting and gossiping are also two very different things. Gossiping is talking about what a person is doing where as venting is talking about how it makes you feel and expressing the emotions it brings up. We need to be careful though because venting can often times lead to gossip, which can then feed right back into the feelings of anger. It really is a vicious cycle. How can we stop it? Prayer. Prayer is the only thing I have found that is able to stop the circle of anger right in its tracks. The Grace we can receive through prayer is stronger than the strongest anger that can hold on to. If we let the hurt take up too much room in our hearts, we are not leaving any room for God’s love and the healing power it brings.

Thoughts on a Rainy Day

“To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water” Revelation 21:6

Is my soul thirsty for the Lord? Or am I content with where I am spiritually? If I’m satisfied with what I have now, then there would be no need for this gift from God, this spring of life-giving water. Scripture doesn’t say that everyone will receive this gift, only the thirsty, those who realize something is missing and can feel the aching in their souls. This thirst can be quenched by nothing other than our Lord; we need to stop trying to satisfy it with things of this world. We are not meant for this world. Our thirst needs to be strong enough to keep pushing us towards Him. We can never be satisfied with where we are spiritually, we should constantly be striving for more, that thirst never quite being fully satisfied. Jesus didn’t come to help those who felt satisfied, the ones who were content with who they were. He came to change those who know they are meant for something more. If we don’t have a constant thirst for our Lord, then there is no room for his gift of life-giving water and our souls will be dry for eternity.

Prayer Books

Today, my first grade religious ed. class made prayer books using a printable found at Catholic Icing, one of my favorite blogs ever :) Here are some pictures of the adorable finished product! (Notice the coffee- a staple for my 9am class)

40 Days - Matt Maher

An amazing song about Lent :)

Forty days to wander
Forty days to die to self
Forty days to grow stronger
As faith breaks open the gates of hell
The jubilee is over
But grace is far from gone
In the hearts of the faithful
Broken on the wheels of love

'Cause in the dessert of temptation
Lies the storm of true conversion
Where springs of living water drown and refresh you
And as the Jordan pours out change
Your true self is all that remains
Where springs of living water bind and break you
Bind and break you

Forty days to remember
The Paschal Sacrifice
Forty days to discover
His passion calls us to new life
The jubilee is over
But mercy's far from gone
In the arms of the Father
As the wayward child comes home

'Cause in the dessert of temptation
Lies the storm of true conversion
Where springs of living water drown and refresh you
And as the Jordan pours out change
Your true self is all that remains
Where springs of living water bind and break you
Bind and break you

Bind and break you
Bind and break you

No Meat Fridays

I’m on my lunch break right now and just finished a delicious veggie burger from the company cafeteria (strange combo huh… delicious and company caf?) Anyways, I’m walking back to my desk and one of my co-workers says “Hey, you’re going to need to go to confession after lunch for that burger hahaha!” He obviously thought he was amusing, so I smiled and said, “Good thing it’s a veggie burger!” and kept walking. I was almost back to my desk when he called my name, “Taryne, why do you stick to that whole ‘no meat on Fridays’ thing anyways? Don’t you think God has better things to do than keep track of who eats what?” To be honest, he caught me off guard. No one had really put it that way before. I thought about it for a few seconds before heading over to his desk and explained my thoughts with a smile. I don’t abstain from eating meat because I’m afraid God is “watching” me. I choose to not eat meat on Fridays as a very, very small sacrifice for what Jesus did for me on the Cross. Lent is not a time to keep track of our sacrifices as a way to “please” God, but a time for us to give up small things in our daily lives because we want to show Him how grateful we are. If you are giving up eating meat (or drinking coffee, or going online, etc) for the mere reason that “that’s what God expects,” I ask you to reconsider your motives. We should want to make these sacrifices as a way to thank our Lord , who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.