A Year of Posts

Hey everyone!!

    I can’t believe how fast this year has gone!  My brain has already been fried by the pre-studying prep for the actual late-night studying for finals that will take place next week.  I have decided to post some excerpts from some of the past posts so that you can skim through and see a loose overview of the posts throughout the year, and if one sticks out to you and you want to read more, check it out!  It’s a great way to take a break from studying and reflect on the year!

“We have been so conformed by our society, which holds up productivity and usefulness as ideals to which we should aspire, that we women have taken on the male tendency of defining ourselves by our productivity.”  - Megan, “Truth: We are Not Defined By What We Do” October 2011

“Every time I wash dishes, sweep the floor, or hug my aching friend, I am saying, “This is my body which is given up for you” (Luke 22:19)”.  - Margaret, “This is My Body”, October 2011

 “If each individual moment is willed by God, then each individual person we encounter presents great possibility, because in that moment Christ asks us to love Him and be present to Him.” -FUS Women’s Ministry, “Loving the Hidden Christ in Our Visible Neighbor”, October 2011

“We are all called to be spiritual mothers, whether we have children or not.” - Holly, “Spiritual Motherhood”, October 2011

“I think it is important for each of us to go before God and present our self portraits to Him and see if it is an accurate depiction of our reflection of Christ.” - Jenny, “Self Portraits”, October 2011

“Just as a beautiful landscape or a night sky or walking through a field invites us to the presence of God, the beauty of our femininity invites others into an encounter with the Divine Beauty.” - Sr. Elizabeth TOR, “Beauty”, October 2011

“I’ve been getting the feeling that the Lord is trying to challenge me to turn my bad attitude around and to realize that what He has placed before me right now, the life of a student, is His will for me at the moment.” -Megan, “The Life of a Student: Much More Than Papers, Projects, and Finals”, December 2011

“A stinky, smelly, dirty stable littered with animal refuse and old straw?  Poor Joseph.  Bethlehem was his cross.” - Sr. Elizabeth TOR, “Emmanuel”, December 2011

“Our hearts were not made to linger in the Land of What-Ifs”. -Jenny, “New Year Resolution: Let Them Go” December 2011

“Loving these victims is not condoning the evils of abortions, it is actually doing the exact opposite.” -Jenny, “The Right to Love”, January 2012

“We are to feel every emotion, but that does not mean that every emotion will be expressed or gratified.” -Margaret, “Oh Those Emotions!”, February 2012

“The Virgin Mary, in all her splendor and beauty always orients us towards her son. Even in her being she reflects Christ.” -Holly, “Mary Most Beautiful”, February 2012

“Oh Rapunzel.  How many of us can identify with her in this situation- going back and forth in our heads and getting ourselves all tangled up in our thoughts and emotions?” - Sr. Elizabeth TOR, “Untangled By Truth”, February 2012

“Judith does not try to be a man in order to save her people; she saved them by being a woman, by charming Holofernes with her sweetness and beauty.” -Margaret, “Judith and Feminine Courage”, February 2012

“Not taking action when it is necessary is not prudence at all!” - Holly, “Lenten Virtue Challenge: Prudence”, February 2012

“We need temperance to practice fortitude.  The practice of temperance should ultimately endow us with a clear vision in which we see all things the way God sees them, even ourselves.” - Marta, “The Virtue of the Week: Fortitude”, March 2012

“Do you enjoy seeing your friends?  Show the world!  When you see them approaching, throw back your head and roar to the heavens your joy at being on the same earth as them.” - Jenny, “Just About Justice”, March 2012

“Then I realized- God isn’t going to ask of me anything, that He doesn’t already know I can handle.” - Margaret, “When No Means Yes”, March 2012

“This is the kind of heart we should be praying for- one that has the potential to experience great sorrow precisely because it has been filled with great Love first.” - Jenny, “A Heart Like Mary”, April 2012

“I think birthdays are a great chance to reflect on the past year of one's life and to think about things to look forward to in the coming year and ways to grow more and more into the person God created you to be, kind of like a personal New Year.” - Megan, “Celebrate Being Alive”, April 2012


So there you go!  I hope you have a wonderful rest of semester and a relaxing finals week (ok, as relaxed as possible)!
Your Sister in Christ,
Jenny

Hey, Check This Out!

Hello ladies!

This week I wanted to share with you an online Catholic publication called Dignitas Magazine, which promotes true femininity and the role of women in salvation. Here are a few quotes from the magazine that I found inspiring:

From “The Romance of the Eucharist” by Heather Burgess:

Did you know that you are Christ’s beloved, His beautiful one, and that He wants you to draw close to him through the Eucharist? In an earthly relationship we long to spend as much time as possible with the man we love. Should we not be as eager to be with Christ in the Eucharist? …Christ pursues each of us individually, knowing exactly how to make us feel most loved (p67).

From “A Lady Victorious” by Katherine Williams:

When Mary said, “yes” to the Lord, she said “’yes’ to the suffering and sacrifice necessary to deliver the crushing blow upon the serpent’s head” and like Mary, “We must say ‘yes’ to working proactively for each other’s salvation” (p25, 27).

Want to read more? Check out other features including pages ‘from the guys’, a news report on gendercide, and spring fashion tips!

Check it out here:

http://dignitasmagazine.com/

Like the magazine? Here’s the facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dignitas-Magazine/218878728214234

Enjoy!

-Holly

A poetic reflection on Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday

Afraid to show You my wounds

I cower,

Hiding faults and failures,

Unable to meet your gaze.

Afraid of being too much and too little

all at once,

I build my wall,

Brick after brick—excuses, pious prayers and what I think I’m supposed to say to You,

All the while hiding how I really feel, what I really think, who I really am—

my heart.

But You too were broken once.

You show me Yourself—Your Body, broken, for me.

“Here is My side, the wound cuts deep.

Behold My heart,

beating for you,

pouring out blood and water—

mercy, for you.

Take and drink, be washed clean.

Here are my hands,

pierced,

nailed down so that you may be set free.

Place you hands in My wounds,

My hands and My side.

See My love, My mercy,

Doubt no more.”

I see Your wounds, Your hands, Your side.

I reach out my hand

Slowly, cautiously,

Afraid You might change Your mind.

I touch Your wounds

Your hands, Your side.

Mercy,

Love,

Beyond compare flow from Your wounds

over my heart.

Your wounds heal mine.

Jesus I trust in You.

Celebrate Being Alive

Happy Friday!

Today I want to share a beautiful reflection by Henri Nouwen on the importance of celebrating birthdays. No, it's not completely random, today is my birthday!


I thought that by now I would be over excitedly awaiting my birthday, but this year was like the 21 years before it, I got more and more excited as April 13th came closer and closer and I even counted down the minutes until midnight so I could watch my birthday roll in. On the one hand, this all seems childish and maybe even a little self-centered....but I think there's a better way of looking at it. I think it's more childlike than childish. I think birthdays are a great chance to reflect on the past year of one's life and to think about things to look forward to in the coming year and ways to grow more and more into the person God created you to be, kind of like a personal New Year. For me this birthday is about hope and trust-- hopefully looking forward to the blessings and joys to come and trusting in God's plan for me this year.

Henri Nouwen writes:

"Birthdays are so important. On our birthdays we celebrate being alive. On our birthdays people can say to us, “Thank you for being!” Birthday presents are signs of our families’ and friends’ joy that we are part of their lives. Little children often look forward to their birthdays for months. Their birthdays are their big days, when they are the center of attention and all their friends come to celebrate.

We should never forget our birthdays or the birthdays of those who are close to us. Birthdays keep us childlike. They remind us that what is important is not what we do or accomplish, not what we have or who we know, but that we are, here and now. On birthdays let us be grateful for the gift of life."

God Bless!
~Megan

With Jesus with Mary

Hello Ladies. Today is Good Friday and we would like to share with you some Stations of the Cross from the perspective of Our Lady.  A number of us found these to be particularly powerful.  May you walk with Our Lady this day and allow her to draw you into the Passion of her Son.  May you experience His deep, intimate, and personal love for you as He, the Bridegroom of your soul, fought for you this day. 

"Look at His adorable face.
Look at His glazed and sunken eyes.
Look at His wounds.
Look Jesus in the Face.
There, you will see how He loves us."
~ St. Therese of Lisieux

Peace to your beautiful hearts,

-Sr. Elizabeth, TOR

A Heart Like Mary

    It seems like one of the most prayed prayers among women on this campus is “Please make my heart like Our Lady’s!!”  While this is a beautiful prayer that should definitely be prayed, I sometimes wonder if we know what we’re really asking for. 
    A heart like Our Lady’s is not one of stone.  It is not impervious to grief or sorrow.  It doesn’t mean we’ll suddenly be calm at all times and nothing will ever faze us or stress us out again.  What it IS is a heart full of grace and complete openness to God’s Will. 
    Let’s think about this more.  Mary is the Immaculate Conception- she was born without original sin.  But she also had free will.  So even though she was untouched by sin, she still had a choice every moment of every day whether or not to remain that way.  Being filled with grace helped with this decision of course, but it was still a choice.  The “yes” that she gave at the Annunciation had been repeated everyday of her life up to that point (and continued after).  So we can say that Mary had a perfect heart- Immaculate actually. 
    Fast forward to when Jesus gets left behind in the Temple.  When Mary and Joseph find Him, look at the first thing Mary says, “Son, why have you treated us so?  Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously!”  I do not believe this was delivered in a calm, even tone with a gentle smile.  Mary and Joseph had been running around the city for three days frantically searching for the Son of God Whom they had misplaced.  It was not a leisurely stroll around Jerusalem, knowing Jesus was probably in the Temple.  There was uncertainty and anxiety involved.  I can only imagine what  Joseph was going through.
    Let us look also at the Passion of Christ.  Mary was with Him the whole time.  Do you not think she shared in the pain of her Son?  Back at the Presentation at the Temple, Simeon tells Mary “…and a sword shall pierce through your own soul also, that thoughts out of many may be revealed.”  A sword does not merely tickle.  A sword hacks through flesh and bone.  During the Passion, she walked with her Son and was there through it all, watching and praying.  The deep maternal pain of seeing your child in agony was added to the spiritual pain of her God being attacked. 
    Through all this pain and grief, we can identify something that makes Our Lady’s sufferings different.  She was not suffering from selfish desires, her grief was holy.  She was mourning the loss of the good, what was replaced by the evil that was happening.  Her grief honored the good by acknowledging the choices that could have been made.  So closely was her heart tied to Christ’s that there was really no room for anything but Love.  This is the kind of heart we should be praying for, one that has the potential to experience great sorrow precisely because it has been filled with great Love first.

Happy Holy Week!
Your sister in Christ,
Jenny

Happy Holy Week!

Hello Ladies!

                I hope your Lent has gone well and as we kick off Holy week, I just wanted to encourage you all to keep growing in virtue! The past few weeks we have looked at prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.  These cardinal virtues lead to all other virtues and assist us in growing in love for God and for others. During this holy week, I think it would be a great idea to focus on all four of these virtues in order to help prepare our hearts to enter into the paschal mystery so we may celebrate the Resurrected Christ during Easter!

 A great way to see the cardinal virtues in action is by looking at the lives of the saints! Tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 9pm in the Assissi Heights Community Lounge we will be showing an episode of Father Robert Barron’s Catholicism Series called the Communion of Saints. The video looks at these virtues in connection with St Edith Stein, Blessed Mother Teresa, St Katharine Drexel, and St Therese Lisieux.  Hope to see you there!

-Holly