Emptiness… and Fulfillment!

This week at my school, we were given a special opportunity to take part in a program with STARS. It was mainly about stopping bullying, kindness, and becoming less judgmental. It was a two day program that consisted of half of our grade going on one day and the other half going on the next. On the day we weren't in the program, we sat in teacher's classrooms and did "busy work" like copying definitions and doing worksheets on things we had known since like 3^rd grade. I remember sitting in the classroom on Wednesday afternoon, after almost an hour of copying full dictionary definitions and writing sentences in silence, and the feeling I felt wasn't really bored. It was more "empty". I couldn't really understand why we were spending so much time copying definitions of words we had known for years. (I still don't, by the way) And so, as I sat there in silence staring at the clock and wondering how much longer I could really take the emptiness of the busy work, I came a realization about my faith.

One thing that's great about God, our Savior and Redeemer is his Holy gift of love. We never ever feel empty when we are filled with the joy of Christ. We can still feel sad, afraid, even sometimes a little bit alone, but we never feel empty. We are filled with emotion as we are filled with the gift of Jesus Christ. I know as a teenager it can be hard to pray. It may be finding time to pray that's difficult, or even just the actual prayer itself. We've all had those moments where we really couldn't concentrate and we felt like we were just talking to the ceiling when we prayed. Sometimes we think our prayers should be answered sooner or in a different way. I know there have been times when I asked God for guidance, and it seemed that He just never answered. But looking back, I really see that it was me who never found the answer. Prayer is a conversation with God. You can't just ask God for guidance then wait for the heavens to open up and you to hear his voice coming from a burning bush. That's just not how things usually happen these days (not to say they couldn't, it's just not every day that we witness these). So when you search for God's call, when you search for a purpose or guidance in your life, stay open and listen. Listen to what Jesus is telling you. True prayer is a two way conversation, not a monologue.

So back to the subject of emptiness…. If you feel empty in your prayer life, take the time to embrace Jesus. With Christ's love and Christ's spirit, you'll never feel empty in faith. Fulfillment is a great thing. Whenever prophecies were fulfilled in the New Testament, it was a great thing. In our lives, the fulfillment will be our ultimate goal: Salvation. So stay open to God's call and work towards the goal of fulfillment in your life: Salvation in Jesus Christ. We've never been to heaven, but just from reading the words of our Lord, we know that its well worth the wait and struggles of our lives.

Oh, what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day….

So how is everybody? Honestly, I have to say that I'm just glad that this school week is over! Wow, life has been crazy busy lately…

I think my favorite Bible verse of all time has to be Psalm 118:24. I don't know if it's just the fact that I've heard it so many times, sang so many nursery songs about it, or what, but it always lightens my days and brings me peace, comfort, and joy.

"For this is the day that the Lord God has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

Psalm 118:24

I think it's really a perspective thing. Sometimes we so caught up in our daily lives, we can forget about the real reasons we are here: To praise God, discover God, and build up his Holy Kingdom here on Earth. It's a verse I have posted on every wall in my room. When I get up in the morning (at 5:45 am- and I'm not really a morning person!), I sometimes think that there are about a million other things I'd rather be doing right now then getting up at an unearthly hour to get on a bus, to go to a school, to go to lacrosse or piano or dance class or something like that (which I really enjoy, it can just be stressful sometimes) to come home and do hours of homework. But I have to remember the blessings I have. Jesus Christ, my Lord, my Savior, and my King, blessed me with this day, these opportunities, these things. I have the blessing of living in a country where I can get an education. I have the blessing of living in a country where I can do fun things like sports, dance, and music. I've been blessed with a day, an opportunity, a life. So count every day as a blessing. There's song by the band Superchick called "We Live". It's really about embracing every day for the blessing from God that it is, and making the most of life. There's a verse in there that I'm remembering right now that says,

Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day
Is a gift somehow, someway

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love 

So remember, every day that we have, every day that we are blessed with is a gift from God. We can embrace it and use it to build up His Holy Kingdom.

With something to think about…. May God Bless You!

Avery

Finding God’s presence in life… you know, just regular old life.

So, how's everybody doing? I decided to take a quick breather from studying right now. Between trigonometry, world issue research papers, the Constitution, chemistry, Spanish verb conjugations, Haiti relief projects and new piano songs, my brain is scattered everywhere today! Oh, and did I mention that tomorrow is a Friday, the day with all the tests at school? Well, I didn't write today to complain or vent (although sometimes that does feel pretty good, I will admit). I wrote to give you some updates and talk a little about God's presence.

Let's start with the updates. As many of you all know, there was a major earthquake in Haiti recently. It killed and displaced many, many people. I strongly encourage you to pray for the people there and look into sponsoring Catholic Relief Services with donations if possible. At my school, our NJHS project for this month is working with "Project Cure", which is an organization that helps with disaster relief. Try to take the time to look into an organization and keep the people there in your prayers. They are going through things that you and I can't even imagine. Our church's mission trip was actually scheduled for next week to Haiti, so I'm sure that we'll be sending relief. However, 15 people are not going to solve the problems without some more help. Churches may have special collections this week for Haiti relief, and I encourage you to at least offer prayers if you can't provide donations for these people.

Also, you may already know about the exciting opportunity I am looking forward to working on. My first "Teen Moments" segment aired today on Catholic Moments podcast with Lisa Hendey, and I am so excited to be on the show and look forward to working more on segments for the show.

So you may be wondering what all of this has to do with God's presence (and I apologize for rambling a bit… let's just say it has been a really, really long week). Well, despite the stress of schoolwork and such, I have found joy the last couple of days in trying to find God's presence in my life always. You know, when you are sitting in Church looking up at a huge crucifix and down on your knees praying, you can't help but feel God's presence. But I am talking a little more about the "outside world"… the everyday life when we don't always feel the way we do in Church. Sometimes life is random. We have absolutely no idea whatsoever what to say to something. That's when we have to turn to God, the creator, and our savior and say "God, it's up to you. Use me." And trust me, that's not always and easy thing to do. But it's the right thing to do. Now say you're not in a terrible situation. Like no one is telling you to cheat, steal, do drugs, that kind of thing. It's just the negative attitude of the people around you or the pushing and shoving and stuff in the hallway. One thing I used to do to remind myself of Christ's presence was pretend it was "shadow student day". Our school does that a lot, where people have their friends from other schools come and see our school. I would do the same with Jesus. When people were trying to get me to engage in negative conversations, copy homework, gossip, or do something that I knew was not in any way building up God's kingdom, I mentally said a little prayer. I pretended that Jesus was right there with me (which He was, God's always with us, I'm just making a point here.) Whenever you don't know what to do, whenever you feel alone, whenever you feel like no one at all could possibly understand what you're going through (and yes, we all have those moments), just remember God. Remember that nothing is too big for him. Nothing. Remember, He did make us all. He made us all the beautiful, wonderful, intricate people that we are. He gave us these emotions and totally understands us. He also made all the trees, and the birds, and the ocean. All that great stuff- that was God. So try today and every day to remember that and remember what's important. Not that your trigonometry test isn't important (look up Proverbs 4:13) but just remember that the events of today, the choices we make to draw closer to Christ today, that's what's really important. Find God's presence and you can do anything. You just have to be open to the call. Our plans aren't always His, but trust me, He's got greater plans than we can even imagine.

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall? All you have to do is call…

Yes, I know it's corny. I'm getting the theme for my blog post this week from a 70's song by James Taylor ("You've Got a Friend"). But really, I think it has a good point that I want to dig into. Right now, I'm preparing for Confirmation in April. I'm doing a book with my sponsor called Have Faith: Sustaining the Spirit for Confirmation and beyond. The book is by Michael Carotta, and one of the points that he made during the first reflection was that we are always in different spiritual seasons. We can be in summer, enjoying the warmth and comfort of our spiritual lives, just like we love the warmth and comfort of the beach, the pool, and lazy summer days. Or we could be the opposite, in winter. We could feel cold and frigid, kind of like it is outside our windows right now (but, hey, I'm not complaining about that- I've had a four day weekend because of the snow!) There's also spring and fall, the in between seasons. If you are in spiritual spring, you may feel like your faith is blossoming. Or if you're in fall, you may feel like your faith is changing, just like the leaves. But remember, God's always with you. So whether it's winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call on God, and he will help you. So embrace the season you are in. If it's winter, pray for help and guidance to stay close to God. If it's summer, enjoy the season, and store up some of that hope and some of that love you have right now.

Also, I wanted to let you all know about an exciting opportunity I have been blessed with this week. I am happy to let you know that I will be having a segment on Catholic Moments podcast with Lisa Hendey called Teen Moments. The post above is actually the focus of this week's Teen Moment, but that won't usually be the case.

May God Bless you this week,

Avery

2010 Revolution of Faith

Last week I launched the 2010 Revolution of Faith program. You can find it online at revolution.livewtl.com.

It is a program designed for families that focuses on faith, fun, and fellowship. It is also about new year's resolutions. Many times we make new year's resolutions on new year's eve or day, but we all know that usually by the end of the year we have given up hope on these or completely forgotten about them. That's where the 2010 Program comes in. It will help you to evaluate your goals and see if you need to make any changes. It will also help you chart your progress. The goal is for you to make faith goals, family goals, and personal goals, then connect them. I hope you enjoy the program! If you have any questions, email me at avery@livewtl.com!