Temptations, Tests, and Trials

Do you ever feel like your faith is being tested? We all go through trials of our faith every single day because we all have temptations. Why is our faith tested? It is to make us stronger in our faith. God allows pain he allows trials of faith for reasons. Reasons we might not understand sometimes. God has his hand on all our lives whether we realize it or not and whether we care or not. Some people say that its luck when something good happens, but I believe its God helping and guiding us through every situation. So why does he do all this for us, when some people don't acknowledge him, or don't believe in him. He is desperate for a relationship with us! He loves every single one of us, and wants to be our friend, which is why he saved us from sin. Most of us have been attacked spiritually by the devil am I right? What does it mean? It means you are doing the right thing. The devil attacks us because he doesn't want us to grow closer to God, and bring others closer to him. These are usually called trials because God lets the devil test our faith, and by doing this we grow closer to him. God does not enjoy this, but sometimes it is necessary to help us grow spiritually. Next time you are tempted cling to Jesus and to your faith because he will help you get through it. He is our strength.
Here is "In Christ Alone" sung by Travis Cottrell

God Bless,

Sarah

Masks

Today I want to talk about masks. We all put them on in our lives. Either we put them on to impress people, or we put them on to hide our pain, there are many reasons we put them on. Let me ask you this, what does it do for you, what do masks do for you? I have put on masks before, but all it does is give people a false impression of you. Why would you want that? I know my reasons, and everybody knows their reasons as well. Although what does God think of this? Do you think he doesn't care, or doesn't notice? Well he does care and he does notice. Putting on a mask is like lying to someone by using body language. If we want to be real disciples of Christ, then we will try our absolute best to stop with the masks. We are here on this earth to evangelize and to bring others to Christ and bring ourselves closer to him as well. We are not here to make false impressions of who we really are. Lent is over, and Christ is Risen, he died for our sins past, present, and future. So, why all the false impressions? Why not be truthful to yourself, and to others, but especially to God? You see when we put on a mask we are pretending to be someone we are not, when we do this we show God, that we don't like who we are, who he made us to be. Because of this, (and just like any other sin) we are offending Jesus, and saying I don't like how you have made me so I'm going to make a false impression of myself, just to look good. So, if you (and I'm, guilty of this too) are somebody different around some people other than others it is not good. I know it can be hard to be yourself around some people, but we have to try because in our perseverance God gives us all the graces we need to be ourselves. So today don't put on a mask, instead ask God to give you the grace to be yourself around everyone you meet. I'll end with this song "If We're Honest" from Francesca Battistelli.

Lord thank you for giving us the grace to be ourselves. Help us to be more truthful to others instead of just putting on a mask in front of certain people.

God Bless,
Sarah

Happy Easter! Jesus Is Risen!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, besides my birthday (of course). In today's world to most people think of Easter as bunnies, candy, flowers, and they don't even acknowledge Jesus. It is sad, and we really should pray for those people who don't acknowledge the origins of some of the big holidays in the year; which is Jesus. Now, we as Catholics, what do we see Easter as? We see it as a couple different things: first off, it is the end of holy week, and lent, second it is the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, and third we see it as a day of joy and new life. Let's all do one thing today, and everyday really, but especially today. "Bring all the joy of the Risen Christ!" Can you guess who said this today? Yes, it was Pope Francis, who said it on his Instagram account (@franciscus, for those of you who have Instagram). This is what Easter is all about telling everyone the joy of Christ, The Risen Christ. Easter is special for everyone in a different way. So today share the joy of Jesus with everyone and anyone you meet! And Enjoy your Easter!

Here is one of my favorite Easter songs: "Christ Is Risen" sung by Matt Maher.

Lord, thank you for redeeming us, and saving us from our sin. Help us to be as forgiving, compassionate, and merciful as you are. In a special way today Lord, I pray for all those, who don't acknowledge you, and all those who do not know your joy. Give them peace, and help them change their ways. Amen.

God Bless, and Happy Easter,

Sarah

From Betrayal to compassion mercy, and forgiveness

Betrayal, something I know all to well. Raise your hand if you have been betrayed. Congrats you have experienced what Jesus did when Judas betrayed him, and Peter denied knowing him three times. Betrayal is the total opposite of trust, and friendship. Imagine this being able to see inside a person's soul, and on the outside they are happy, joyful, and seem trustworthy, and loving, then you see their soul, and they are waiting for the perfect time to hurt you, and betray you, and cause you the most damage. This was Jesus, he knew what Judas was going to do, he knew very well what his thoughts were. But you know something he did not do was this: he did not get angry with Judas instead he told him to get it over with quickly, he did not expose Judas, and he most likely had mercy on Judas. When someone betrays us, or talks bad about us behind our backs, we get mad am I right? Yes we all do, but the key to avoiding anger, and judgement on that person, and not doing the same thing to them as they did to us is COMPASSION. What does compassion mean? Compassion is sympathy, it is kind of like mercy. Compassion is very very important. Think of it this way if you wronged someone on accident not on purpose wouldn't you want them to have compassion, and mercy on you? Yes we all in our own way want mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Who doesn't? So think about compassion as understanding the sufferings, and misfortunes of others; we don't know everyone's full story most of the time. We have all been let down, and we have all let others down, and mainly we all sin, but as long as we have these three things, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion; and we ask God for the grace to forgive; we can forgive anyone and I mean anyone who has hurt us! God has forgiven us right? Shouldn't we do the same? Jesus does not like betrayal we all know that. So, neither should we! It is hard I know from experience, and we are all imperfect, but we need to at least try right? It isn't enough to forgive some people, and then be angry with someone, and forget about them, and say, "Well I kind of forgave them, but I am still mad." No this is not forgiveness. We need to forgive everyone in our lives. Let's look at Matthew 6:14-15: "If you forgive others their transgressions your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others neither will your heavenly father forgive your transgressions." This is Jesus directly asking us to forgive, and he is telling us the consequences of not forgiving. I could be put so many bible verses about forgiveness, but that isn't really going to help anyone so I'll just put one more here. Matthew 18:21-35: "Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full. Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you? Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
This is an important parable that Jesus tells. Compare it to your life. Think of all the sins you have; you could never pay God back am I right? No none of us could ever pay him back but he forgives us. So, let's say you are the servant who owes the big debt. God forgives your sins, and then you go and stay angry with someone you know who wronged you. Imagine how much this hurts our Lord. I can't, I can't imagine how much pain he feels every single day! As you can see forgiveness is important, and we all need to ask God for the grace to forgive, be compassionate, and have mercy on our brother and sisters no matter how big the sin because if God can forgive us we can at least forgive our brothers and sisters. Here is a song from Matthew West, "Forgiveness."

Thank You Lord, for all giving us the grace to forgive. Help us to have a heart like yours, and have compassion for those who hurt us in life. Give us the grace as well to realize that anger, jealousy, and all those things only harden our hearts, and keep us from loving others, and becoming more like you, Lord.

God Bless,
Sarah

Service

These days the word service can mean many different things. I want to talk to about service to others, but service to God as well. Some people think, that service means someone is below them, and that person should serve them. No, Service is sacrifice. Service is helping someone, or doing work for someone. So, yesterdays Gospel was Judas' betrayal right? Today's Gospel is about the washing of the feet. Jesus the apostles' teacher washed their feet, which is exactly what service is. Putting away our so called prestige, and putting on the mind of a servant of Christ. By doing this we forget about prestige, and remember what it means to help, and serve those around us. Why is this so important? It is important because we are called to imitate Jesus in his virtues, and actions. He served the Jews, he served the apostles, but most of all he served those who were put down, or shunned by society because of their certain condition. We are all imperfect, and we all sin, which is why we should not put ourselves above others. We are all the same, and we all make mistakes. So service refers back to sacrifice; by serving we are taking our time to fulfill someone's needs. Today is Holy Thursday, Easter is right around the corner, before Lent ends do one thing. Practice service, so that when lent is over you can easily be in the habit of serving others. God needs our service, and by serving others we serve him. He even says it himself, that whatever we do to the least of our brothers, we do to him. That being said if you let's say saw Jesus in need you would help him right? We all would for two reason we love him, and he died for us. Now someone shouldn't have to do something dramatic for us to serve, or love them. We should be the kind of person who sees someone's need, and wants to fulfill it. The kind of person that helps someone no matter what. Next time you see someone in need think of it as a trial that person could be Jesus in disguise. You never know. I would like to end this post with the song "Servant Song." I love this song, and it reminds me to let others serve me, which is very hard for me because I would rather help someone, than someone help me. But God has put people in my life to help me understand how much I need someone's prayers. If this is also hard for you just remember today's Gospel how Simon Peter did not want Jesus to wash his feet, but Jesus explained how he needed to do it.

Thank You Lord for giving us the grace to be servants to our brothers and sisters. Help us to be more willing to serve, and give us the grace to want to fulfill another's needs.

God Bless,

Sarah

Sacrifice

What is a sacrifice? It is an action we take to further someone's needs by saying no to our own desires. A perfect sacrifice would be the Crucifixion, and the Passion of course. Jesus decided to go against his human temptation, to complete the father's will for his life. This is what we focus on in Lent, and especially Holy Week right? We all make sacrifices. They don't have to be as big as Jesus' but they are part of our everyday life. For example, maybe going to church in the morning, when you know you are tired, and don't really want to go. I have definitely felt this way, but in the end it felt so good to go. Or maybe helping another person, when you had other plans. So you see sacrifices are part of our everyday life. I want to talk for a second about helping others, and sacrificing our time for others. It is good, and all, but when you take time to help others, what is your attitude? Attitude is what really matters! What I am trying to say here is this. When you help others with a bad attitude, wishing you were somewhere else, or trying to figure out how fast you can finish; it doesn't help, and it doesn't really matter either. I mean sure you helped physically, but what good does it do spiritually, and without a positive attitude?  Sacrificing is all about the attitude behind what you are doing. Jesus sacrificed himself Willingly, and he should be our example. So next time you are doing something for someone else, sacrificing time, or maybe suffering through a hard time, or an injury; check your attitude, because it really does matter. I'll finish with a story, and then a song. Back in October I had a fall...let's just say that I fell off my skateboard, and had a trilateral fracture. I was in the hospital for about four days, and my surgery took four hours. I was in a lot of pain...what did I do? I offered it to Jesus, for everyone I know, and the souls in purgatory. For me this was a pretty big sacrifice. It was hard at first because all I want to do was complain, and be mad at God (even though it wasn't his fault). When I looked past the pain God gave me the grace to know it happened for a reason. I can tell you from experience it is hard to sacrifice without complaining, but it is worth it. It was worth it for Jesus because he loves us, and it should be worth it for us because we want to please him, and help others.
Here is a song from Jeremy Camp, "He Knows." This is an awesome song that reminds you Jesus went through the same temptations, but he trusted in God's will. This is what we need to do Trust in God, and his Divine Will.

Thank You Lord, for always reminding us that you understand what we go through in life. Give us the grace to have the same courage you did when you carried the cross. Help us to serve others, and to serve you with a good heart and a positive, loving attitude.

God Bless,

Sarah

Gratitude

What is Holy Week all about? Holy Week like all of lent is a time of preparation, repentance, and especially gratitude. Gratitude is something each one of us has, whether it's towards a friend, a family member, a priest, or anyone else who has sacrificed their time for us. Think about one person...it can be anyone, who has sacrificed something for you. For me many people come to mind, but besides all those people Jesus comes to mind. For one reason, The Passion. This Holy Week our focus should be on gratitude towards others, but mostly towards Jesus. Now there is gratitude, but there is also ingratitude. What does ingratitude look like? Ingratitude can mean you are not grateful towards someone. For example Jesus we all sin in our lives right? So, sinning is like saying to Jesus you are not grateful for his sacrifice. This should be an encouragement for us to avoid the near occasion of sin. Now ingratitude can also be shown to another person as well. For example a friend helps you or prays for you, and you don't do the same for them. Don't get me wrong here we should not just help someone because they helped us, or because we need something from them. We should help others because we see their need, and want to fulfill it. When we help others we don't do it for our glory but for God's. It isn't always very easy to give God the credit, but we need to especially when he works through us because without him we would be nothing. People have always told me so many things for example, "You are my little Angel." Yes that is great and all I am glad I could help, but God is the one using me. Yes take credit, but make God the source of your actions, and give him the most of the credit. So this week practice gratitude towards others, and especially towards Jesus. Ask him to give you the grace to see how big his sacrifice was, and how much he suffered. One last thing I want to say; writing all this reminds me of one song, and from Francesca Battistelli, "Angel By Your Side." This is one of my favorites!

Thank You Lord for using us in ways we can never imagine! Help us to keep our egos in check, and give you the glory, not ourselves. Help us to be angels by others' sides when you need us to be!

God Bless,

Sarah

Palm Sunday

It is Palm Sunday; which is the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I'm not going to put the gospel here because it is so long, but look it up in your bible if you want. The Gospel (Luke 22:14--23:56) for today shows us Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, and his arrest. So, I want to ask you something. The people who welcomed Jesus in Jerusalem...what did they do when he was arrested, and Pilate asked them what to do with Jesus? Mocked him, and wanted him crucified. What do we do when we sin? Sinning for us is like what those people did. We accept Jesus into our heart, and then we disobey his commandments. Now I know we aren't all saints, and we are all imperfect, but next time you catch yourself in the near occasion of sin...think about the Gospel for Palm Sunday. It isn't always easy, and  I don't have it down either. I mean when you have a vice, or a bad habit it can be hard to stop it, although ask God today for the grace to know when you are in the near occasion of sin. One thing I want to talk about today is this. For me Palm Sunday is very emotional, especially because of the closing song we sang at our church "Were You There." I absolutely LOVE this song, and to be honest it is hard to hold back tears when you are carrying the cross, and altar serving. Now I'm not crying  because I'm sad, but because I know my sins caused Jesus' death, and it is a touching event, which moves my heart. Anyway Palm Sunday should be a reminder for all of us, of the actions Jesus took to save us, and what he did to make it possible for us to have eternal life.

Thank You Lord, for the gift of your son Jesus. Thank You for this Lenten season, and help us to grow closer to you in this last week of Lent. Help our hearts to look more like your heart, because that is what matters, us loving each and every one of our brothers. Overall that is what holiness is all about.

I'll leave you with this song: "Were You There?"

God Bless, Sarah

LOVE

Today I'm going to make it short, but important. It's the Vigil of Palm Sunday, what have you done to grow in holiness this Lent? Before we answer this question we need to know what holiness is. I was listening to a "Christ is the Answer" podcast yesterday, and it was mainly about love. This is not a direct quote but Fr. Ricardo said something to this extent: Holiness is not an accumulation of virtues, but it is making our hearts look more like God. What is God? God is love, and goodness. What I am trying to say here is that in Lent it is not about losing weight, or giving stuff up. Don't get me wrong those things are all good, but Lent is about becoming more like God, and living the heavenly life on earth as much as possible for us. In that podcast I listened to Fr. Ricardo referred to 1st Corinthians 13:4-8:"Love is patient, Love is kind. It is not jealous,or boastful it is not arrogant or rude; Love does not insist in its own interests, it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice over wrong doing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing." Here is what you should do for this last week in lent, well for the rest of your life really...Put your name in the place of the word love, and practice being Love. It is hard yes, but it is how you will grow in holiness, throughout your life!
Thank You Lord for your infinite love and mercy. Help us to become more like you, and help us especially to love ALL those around us no matter how hard it might be for us.

God Bless,

Sarah

Adoration

Does anyone else just love going to Adoration?!?! For me it is honestly a breathtaking experience every time I go. Let me explain. First, what is Adoration? It is when the Eucharist is exposed in a Monstrance, for worship, and veneration. Different parishes have it at different times during each month. For example my parish has it every 1st and 3rd Friday of every month. So, adoration is also an invitation from Jesus for us. So, why go to Adoration? There are so so many reasons to go to adoration. I'll give you just a few: You grow spiritually with each moment you spend with Jesus, it is the absolute best way to spend your spare time, and to pray, and you create a relationship with him. Alright you might be saying, 'these are all good reasons to go, but what am I supposed to do in Adoration?' Adoration is your time with Jesus, so try and ask Jesus what he wants or needs you to do. I usually just sit/kneel and pray to God; thank him, praise him, ask him to hear my prayers, ask him to forgive my sins, and I especially ask him for graces to get me through my day. Then I will just sit there and contemplate him in silence, and clear my mind of anything else. Everyone has their little thing, you just have to find yours! One last thing I want to say is this, there are absolutely no words to describe the awesomeness of adoration and how good and peaceful it makes you feel when you come out. So my advice is to go because you never know what the Lord has in store for you, and how much you may need whatever he wants to give you. He is patiently waiting there for you to come and open your heart to him!
Let me just end with this song from Matt Maher:

God Bless,

Sarah

Distractions and Prayer

Have you ever had a hard time praying or maybe even staying focused at mass? Distractions are everywhere; no matter where you go. Now do not let this discourage you. I mean sure you have distractions, and your mind wanders, but taking little steps, and asking God for the graces to help you with prayer in life will make a big difference no matter how hard it is for you. Let us start by asking the question what is prayer exactly? Prayer is dialogue or communication with God. Now what is prayer NOT? Prayer is not saying, and repeating prayers. Now do not get me wrong here saying those kinds of prayer is awesome, and I love it too, but  we need to talk and communicate with God as well. You see when you pray (communicate with God) you put your heart into it, and if you are just saying and repeating prayers your heart can be a thousand miles away, and your mind on others things. How can you put your heart into your prayer? Well here are 5 actions you can take while praying: first is thanksgiving, which is thanking God for everything he has done for you; second is intercession, asking God to answer your petitions; third is repentance, telling God you are sorry for your sins, and asking him for forgiveness;  fourth is listening to God, whether its in scripture or it is in the silence of your heart; and finally fifth is praise and worship, singing songs, and expressing to God your love and gratitude, which can be done in many ways. 

I want to talk about praise and worship for a second. Let's say you have a favorite sports team. What do you do? Well you go to their games, watch their games on TV, Keep track of the stats, and players, and so on. Right? You tailgate at games, or have jerseys, and signatures, and praise them. Now I am not saying this a bad thing, but what I am trying to get at is this: We give so much praise to people who are sports players, or actors, or celebrities, it isn't bad, (as long as it doesn't get to out of whack) but what about our Savior the one who saved us all, and suffered for our sins, when he didn't have to? Are we giving Him the praise that is due to him? So just think about that next time you go to adoration or mass or watch a game, or your favorite show on TV. Am I giving Jesus the praise due to him, when he was killed for all our sins? We are all Imperfect, and we won't get it right all the time, but taking little steps towards prayer and praising Jesus is all we need.

So ask God today to reveal to you how much more praise you should be giving Him, and communicate with him about everything, and anything because he is there and wants to create a relationship with You. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and he knows what is best for us. He is just waiting for us to pray, and open our hearts to his will, his graces, and his gifts. Thank You Lord for showing us the right path, and guiding us in the right direction! Help us to be your light, and to praise you forever and for always.

God Bless,
Sarah

Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to my blog. Here is one of my favorite songs "Greater" by Mercy Me to brighten up your day. I will post a couple times a week, and  every Sunday I will post a reflection for the Gospel that day. Thank You for visiting my blog, and have fun reading!