On the verge of Holy Week (and this weekend's whole lotta fun)

Palm Sunday just has a special feel to it. I can't quite figure out how to explain it. It's the start of our, as Catholics, week of high holy days. The narrative of Jesus' passion and death comes alive at Mass. We hold our palms high in procession and later shout together, "Crucify him!" All of our faults and sins lay open to Jesus, as we commit to striving even harder to fulfill our promises during this final week of Lent.

And there is a renewed sense of hope. We know that Good Friday has to come first, that Jesus had to die to save us from our sins. But we know that Easter Sunday follows, and we, as Christians, believe in the Resurrection both of Jesus and, one day, of ourselves.

Have a blessed Holy Week and a Happy Easter!

Unrelated, but, in my humble opinion, worth including...

1. On Friday night I joined with over a thousand other people from across the Chicago area to hear Fr. James Martin, SJ, speak at Holy Name Cathedral about the Seven Last Words of Christ. He always provides thoughtful insight into Jesus and the Scriptures - just read one of his many books if you don't believe me - and he sprinkles in both poignancy and humor.

2. My sister and I went for a 16 mile run on Saturday as part of our marathon training. Though beautiful (as evidenced by the pictures below), it was WINDY! Needless to say, the fresh air did us good but the wind just about killed me.

3. Talk about a throwback - one of my good friends just turned thirty, and his wife organized a birthday party involving laser tag and pizza. Most of us hadn't played laser tag since middle or high school, so we were not quite sure what we had gotten into. It ended up being a LOT of fun - even more than we had hoped. Surprisingly I won the first game. And we all got a good laugh when the man announcing the winners got to me and said, "Gorn bows?" in a state of certain uncertainty. (Somehow "Go Ramblers" had been translated to, I believe, "Go rainbows," and then shortened to "Go Rnbows" which then turned into "Gornbows"...Who knows? But I now have a new nickname.)

Grad School Spring Break + Bday + St. Patrick's Day = AMAZING!

What happens when grad school spring break, your birthday, and St. Patrick's Day coincide in the same week?

All good things.

Such as...

• Orchids and Ice Cream
• Shows (Yes, that's plural!)

• Dinner out on a weeknight (gasp!)

• Ice cream post-volleyball practice (and staying up way past the normal bedtime)

• Irish cultural celebrating with friends

There were some other highlights too, including cute birthday cards/gifts from students and a couple of marathon training runs:

That's Jesus...I think...

Yes, that's me with a cape on top of the world...

Everyone wants a card with a giant picture of themselves on the front, right? :P

Oh hey, pretty sunrise at the northernmost part of the path...

20 miles = great excuse to try a new treat from TJ's

This week is going to be rough - it's the last full week before Easter break (which starts on Good Friday for us), and grad school has kicked up again (with multiple big assignments due this week). BUT, there are plenty of good things planned, including a service project, Lenten prayer group, a talk by Fr. James Martin(!), and a friend's birthday party.

And...have you been outside today in the Midwest? It's BEAUTIFUL!

Unexpected Graces

I had my plan made up in my head - I would go for a run, shower, go to daily Mass, head to the coffee shop to finish my book, and then come home. And all went according to plan...until the end of Mass. A friend from Bible study started talking to me and invited me to join the weekly prayer group that meets to talk about the upcoming Sunday's Readings. She had asked me once before, and I had said no, but I had no real excuse today so I figured, why not?

And I am so glad I went. First of all, I met some lovely older parishioners whom I had seen around the church before but whose names I didn't know. Second of all, a few people in the group were women with whom I visited the Holy Land three years ago. They are such wonderful people, so it is always a pleasure to spend extra time with them. 😀 To top it off, at the end of our time together, we celebrated one woman's 83rd birthday with cake, song, and conversation. Such joy!

Our discussion centered around the nature of hospitality and also Jesus' oft-considered harsh command that if we love our mother, father, sister, or brother more than Him that we are not worthy to follow Him. I shared a brief overview of the homily I had recently heard from Fr. Mike's podcast, where he said we need to ask ourselves two questions each day, one at the beginning when we first wake up and one at the end as we prepare to go to sleep: 1) Who do I want to live for today? & 2) Who did I live for today? Inevitably, we start our day with our eyes set on Christ, but decisions and actions (no matter how seemingly small or insignificant) lead us away from that goal. But we should keep striving each day to live for Christ. (I recommend you listen to his full homily here: 6/25/17.) I definitely need to put up post-its to remind myself about asking those questions (until it becomes a habit).

I like to make plans and to follow them. But I also like the flexibility to adjust my own schedule when opportunities arise. By saying yes, I felt that, in a small way, I was aligning myself more to God's will for my day by spending time in fellowship and Scripture reflection. Yes, I left church about 2 hours after I originally intended, but God is so good like that. And I still had plenty of time for a last-minute Target stop as well as time to finish my (for fun!) book. (I did regrettably discover that the book is part of a 4-part series, so the rest of the books have to wait till after grad school; though, I am eager to know what happens!)

Please keep me and my classmates in your prayers these upcoming weeks as we take our grad school classes. Happy summer!

What an Amazing Grace It Is!

I was never a huge fan of the song "Amazing Grace" growing up - it was one of those ones that, when we sang it, I didn't really feel anything special. It was just a song, one we had to sing every so often because it sounded good. (So, needless to say, I have, over time, committed it to memory.)

However, last night at my church's contemplative Mass, I had a different experience. I think what hit me this time was the word grace (which clearly is in the title, but which, also clearly, I have taken for granted) - it's not by any means of our own that we earn salvation; it's already been won by Jesus who died for us on the cross! (How many times have I sung this song and not really thought of that?!) I think all of the weekly Fr. Barron Catholicism lessons are finally starting to hit home...

It was, to sound cliche, amazing to finally (after all these years) come to this realization - what an amazing grace God has given us! Now, it's our turn to go out in the world, accept it, and share it with others!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On an unrelated note (but one that, in some way, has to do with graces), I am so grateful to the family and friends who helped Marisa and me celebrate our birthday this weekend. From enjoying a fish fry after conferences on Friday to phone calls and texts to St. Patrick's Day festivities to getting ice cream to gathering together for margaritas and chips after Mass last night - wow.

Now, if only Michigan State had won their bball game versus Wisconsin yesterday, it would have been pretty perfect... c'est la vie...

Keep On Moving On

There seems to have been so much to do and keep up with over the past week (as evidenced by my absence from this blog, among other things) - my head was constantly swimming just thinking about it all...

- Fourth grade volleyball practices started up again. It's been good to be back with the kiddos and helping them work on basic skills. "Can we spike it?" Hmm...let's see if we can just bump it up and over the net first, ok?

- Our school had an in-house field trip on Thursday. It was called Saints Alive, and it was a one woman production. I had my doubts that 75 middle school students could sit still to watch and listen for an hour, but most of them were truly captivated. Many even went home and told their parents about the performance. She was absolutely wonderful, and she was so humble about all of it. (I'm really glad I got motivated to organize that for the kids!)

- Parent/teacher conferences were on Friday - our last ones of the school year! They went well - some conversations surrounding behavior were a little bit harder than others, but the parents were all very responsive. I almost fell out of my chair when one dad told me that his son came home and said, "We should go to Mass as a family more often." (I feel like my work has not been in vain!) The feedback from parents was affirming and helpful - even though the students don't always show it, I think they're thinking a little deeper about those tougher topics and are not afraid to ask questions of our Catholic faith. Now that parent/teacher conferences are over, I feel a little less overwhelmed, especially knowing that spring break is just a week away.

St. Patrick's Day will be lighting up Chicago this weekend with the annual river dye-ing and parade...but this girl is steering clear for the first time in 3 years. (Yes, I went even before I lived in this city.) I went out last night for some good old Catholic fish fry followed by a few stops for birthday drinks with my roommate, sister (coincidentally, it's her birthday too), and friends from Church. It was a lot of fun...but it was a late night, so today is going to be low-key...especially since there is still work to be done tomorrow for the upcoming week.

May the luck o' the Irish be with ye! (Everyone's Irish on Saint Patrick's Day...)

Happpppppy Birthday!

Of the 365 (or, in the case of this year due to the Leap Year, 366) days of the year, only one of those is your actual birthday...so you gotta make it count.

Happy Birthday Mom! It was fun celebrating with you today. :)

@ Mom's Birthday Lunch

Easter Family Beach Photo