Hope you had a blessed weekend! And Happy Halloween (aka All Hallow’s Eve)!!!
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday.
GregORian chant! 🎵🎶😀😆😀😆🐔😆😀🙂🐔🐔But he is so good at helping us find things! 😀😆This was helping in keeping me calm during some stressful shifts this week. 🙏🙂“So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first.” 🥇 —John 20:3-4💪🔑 password indeed!! Boo (no pun intended…at least initially) to heretics! 🙂🙏😀So true! God’s grace works vertically not linearly. 🙏🙏🙏
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
Here’s a poem I wrote in reflection of seeing the beautiful colors on a tree I saw this morning. I’m trying to be more intentional in finding joy in life. I ended up turning around to get a better photo of the amazing fall colors on these trees.
Hope you enjoy!
Some Autumnal Afterthoughts
Beauty is often found in the ordinary.
Yet, it’s not always expected.
Sometimes you find it by happenchance.
Serendipity. Fate. Perhaps Divine Providence.
The constant is it’s all around.
Through sight, smell or sound.
In thought or sharing laughter.
No matter the weather— winter, summer or fall.
You will find beauty in all
When you seek beauty you will be free,
To see it in everything, even in something as simple as this tree.
And though the world changes: friendships, ages, even a shift in chlorophyll
When you are open to beauty and be still
Wonderment begins to color your eyes
And see life as it is meant to be— free from it’s guise.
The cloud of witnesses cheering us on. 🙂😀🙏Meme credit: They Geekdom ComeMeme I made a few years ago still rings true! 🙂😀Scary indeed! Good thing one of the precepts of the Church is to receive confession at least once a year. 🙏🙏🙏Ratzinger gonna throw down theological facts. 🙂😀😆The Holy Spirit does this often for me. 🕊️🔥🙏#facts #nicenecreedThis quote reminds me of the Saint Teresa of Avila prayer. Trust in God! Like the Ratzinger meme but honestly I’m more afraid of Mother Angelica. 😆😀🙂🙏Fear not for I am a sandwich of the Lord! 😀😆👼🥪
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
Editor’s Note: Article originally published in October 18, 2018.
As a child I had a fascination with maps, geography, and the idea of being on a quest. My favorite books to read as a kid included the famous Greek epic TheOdyssey and the Redwall Series by English author Brian Jacques. Both included a sense of adventure whereby the main character(s) trekked across dangerous terrain and met obstacles to overcome (external and internal struggles) before arriving at their destination towards the end of the story. The word odyssey means journey, pilgrimage, or trek.
As a father of four [one is in utero!], I am able to reacquaint myself with the sense of life as a voyage. Frequently, I lose sight of reality as the flood of daily temptations, confusion, and struggles assail me. My 5-year-old daughter definitely got her penchant for atlases from me. Almost every day, she asks me, “Daddy! Can you please get me paper and markers for me to make a map?!” Cartography reigns supreme in my household—especially on rainy days!
Life is a Journey
The other day I read an article online that referenced the importance of returning to a sense of voyage. A quote from St. Thérèse of Lisieux stuck in my mind after I went on with the rest of my day. The Doctor of the Church wrote, “The symbol of a ship always delights me and helps me to bear the exile of this life.”
Her words convey a truth that something about sea travel points to a higher reality. Perhaps it is because we named our child Noah, named after the Old Testament figure who crafted the ark, that I tend to have boats on the mind—at least subconsciously. Or maybe, there is something innate in each of us that desires the continual movement that travel affords us. St. Augustine famously declared, “Our hearts are restless, until they rest in you [God].”
Here is a well-written and easy to understand article on the connection between Noah’s Ark and its prefiguring of the Catholic Church: Ten Ways Noah’s Ark Prefigured the Church. Just as the giant boat housed the holy individuals of Noah and his family, so too, does the Catholic Church safeguard individuals striving for holiness against the dangers of the deluge of temptations!
Hope on the Heavenly Horizon
Another important point that stands out regarding the maritime theme is that life is bearable when we look to the Promised Land—Heaven—as our destination. When times get tough, during the turbulence of life we look beyond our vehicle, and outside of ourselves toward the horizon—toward the rising of the Sun [Son]!
Every quest involves dead-ends, treacherous terrain, and wild beasts [physical and/or spiritual]. Fellowship is essential for any journey—just ask Frodo the Hobbit!
Knowing life is a voyage helped remind me I’m not alone in the journey. God send you helpmates along the way!
Family. Friends. Saints.
When life gets your down and despair sets in, please be reminded that you still have a road ahead. You have the ability to pick the road on this pilgrimage of life. Make life more joyful by following the witnesses of the holy ones before us!
P.S. Congratulations on finishing your latest (reading) voyage!
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😆😆😆Christmas gift idea. 🙂😆😀An early Saint Nick meme…because it’s never too early for such memes. 🙂😀😆🥺Gives a new meaning to “wrestling with God”!Swap out Mary with Saint Michael to make this meme even more accurate!! 🙂😀🙏#catholicpickuplines “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.” —John 20:29Image credit: Catholicmemequeen This was an incredible Mass to attend. 🙏♥️😀🙂
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
Among my favorite saints is the Spanish Carmelite nun Teresa of Avila. Her spirituals works bring peace and comfort to my life. I discovered a simple, but powerful prayer, a poem Saint Teresa wrote, that brings comfort in distressing times.
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
We thank God for the wonder witness of the life of Saint Teresa of Avila. May we look to her as a faithful spiritual toward Jesus Christ. St. Teresa pray for us!