Freedom (8/26/12)

  During formation, we have been discussing what is true freedom. Society would tell us that freedom is the right to be able to do whatever we want, whenever we want- regardless of the consequences. However, the very wise Bl. John Paul II said it very well when he said "Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."

Freedom consists in doing what is morally good and following the only person who is fully good, God. This may seem paradoxical but we are most free when we are following God’s law and his will for our lives. When we are not following His will we are sinning and we become slaves to sin as St. Paul describes in his letter to the Romans.

Think about it… let’s say someone is addicted to pornography, that person has to get "his fix."Money, time, loss of relationships, etc, are ensnaring this person. He can no longer function without porn. Is that freedom? How about always striving after the best car, house, technology- you name it- Is that really freedom? Or how about the desire to always fit in? You would do anything to be part of the "in crowd"- are you really free to live as God made you? In all these circumstances the answer is no! But these are the things that the world tells us will make us free.
So... what does the Church say about being free? In the beginning, Adam and Eve were created free. They were free from sin, death, corruption, etc. Their only limit was not to eat from the tree of good and evil, but they freely sinned by refusing God's plan of love and became a slave to sin. (C.C.C. 1730)
So when we deviate from moral law, we violate our own freedom because we become imprisoned within our own selves. (C.C.C. 1740) In other words, we become slaves to our own desires instead of being charitable to our neighbors. But we have hope. Our hope is in Christ (Gal 5:1). Christ desires to set us free from the enslavement of sin and death. All we have to do is run to Him and admit that we need his help. Us Catholics have a great way of doing this and that is by the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we approach the Sacrament with a contrite heart and repentant soul Christ will set you free.
Now even through Christ has freed up by the Sacrament we must remember that we have an enemy who likes to ensnare us and will tempt us and sometime we will fall- but that is when we run back to confession. Christ's Mercy is unending. He loves us that much... here are some ways to fight against these temptations. 
1. The Eucharist- Daily Mass and Adoration.
2. St. Michael Prayer (see below)
3. Ask Momma Mary
4. Look up the saint who might assist you in this and ask for their intersession... there is a saint for EVERYTHING!
5. The Sacrament of reconciliation.

Remember to be patient with yourself as you try to grow in Christ's freedom. We are imperfect but our Lord is stronger than anything we could imagine and his love is infinite. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13. and "For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37.



Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

The Secret Life of the Franciscan Candidate 8-12-12

This past month has been amazing!! I have been learning many new things including how to use a grill, thanks to Sr. Mary Michael. I do still need a few more lessons though... I have almost learned all of the community prayers! Woohoo! That means one less book I have to try and juggle during prayer and we all know how uncoordinated I am! Jussayin'

I have also been told I will be working as a high school faith formation teacher/volunteer on Sunday mornings and a middle school teacher at a neighboring parish on Wednesday nights. I just can't seem to get away from that age group, but we all know I love them all! I am looking forward to this!

One of our dear Sisters renewed her vows yesterday on her feast day. It was such a beautiful ceremony- and yes, I cried. I am a sap. The vows are so beautiful!

So a list of things I wonder about.
1- Why do things get so dusty in TX? I could dust my room on Saturday and it's dusty by Tuesday.
2- Why can't I keep white shirts white? Something always manages to get on them.
3- How does one keep nylon black knee high socks up?! Mine are ALWAYS falling down! ALWAYS!!!! The only ones that stay up are the cotton ones from Target but I only have 3 pairs of those. (insert note from Lori- I think I'm about to go do a Ari shopping trip, hehe!)
4- Why does God love us so much???
5- Where are all my letters from home.... ie, Fergus Falls? Haha... I love mail!


Well... it is time for bed (9:10pm) Know that many of you... at least all the one's I know, are in my prayers!

Prayer Requests:
1- Continued discernment.
2- The health of my soon to be Uncle, Shawn, and all my family.
3- For the other candidate and all the Sisters on the Formation Team.
4- All the Sisters who are about to get back to school.

God bless you!


Your Sister in Christ,

Ari

Feast Days and the Like- 8-7-12

The last few weeks have been a flurry of feast days. A feast day is when we, as a community, celebrate the saint that a Sister is named after. For example, if a Sister's name is Sr. Mary Claire, her feast day would be August 11th which is the day the Church celebrates St. Claire.

As a community, the Sister whose feast day it is, gets to pick/suggest her meal, a paticular recreational activity, and a mass said for her and her intentions. It is such a fun day! This day is celebrated more than her birthday.

On August 5th we celebrated our superior's feast day... a day late though. Now her feast day is a bigger deal- she gets all the normal things but..... she also get's entertainment provided by the other sisters. This time was a flash mob/games hour at lunch time. *Cue corny "The Dating Game Show" theme song* A bunch of the junior (in temporary vows) and us two candidates get up and start dancing and set up for a silly game show. It was a blast.

So yes, Sisters like to celebrate and have a little fun too!!!

God Bless,

Ari :)

7/20/2012

Ariel and Dawn with one of the Sisters.

Praise be Jesus Christ!

       I have officially entered, and oh, what a joy it is! God is so good and faithful for calling me here, to my new home!
       The last few days have seemed unreal. It has not completely sunk in that I have entered a convent and am starting the process of becoming a religious sister.
       This evening at recreation I was talking to Sr. Mary Ana and I was using the pronouns "us" and "we" and "our" and it seemed to natural to be using them. Speaking of Sisters,all the Sisters are so patient with the other candidate and me as we struggle to remember where everything goes or where something is located, or how to do something. There is so much to learn and I do enjoy learning it.
       This week has been more relaxed schedule wise because it is our first week and we both are still adjusting to all the changes that have just happened. Many of you all know that I am not a morning person! Not at all! This has definitely been an adjustment but tomorrow I will be trying something one of the formators suggested... the "Heroic Minute"... Get up within the first moment and "offer it up"- aka pray for someone or something at that very moment. Makes that minute worth something! So we will see how that goes!
       On a spiritual side... my soul is at peace here and that I am doing God's will at this moment in my life. During adoration of the Blessed Sacrament or Meditation, the reoccurring thought that keeps coming back to me is "You are Mine!" as if Jesus is claiming me for Himself and no other! Wow!!! That just blows me away! The God of the Universe who created everything, who died for my sins and the one who is my love (1 John 4:8) is claiming me in my weakness, sinfulness, and all my imperfections.

Please pray for:
1- The Community for patience
2- Myself and the other candidate for perseverance
3- Our formators, especially Sr. Mary Michael
4- For all the souls in purgatory!

God Bless!!

Ariel

PS: St. Therese of the Little Flower is still stalking me!!! It is a good thing!

Tomorrow is the day!

Hello Folks,

As I write this I am preparing to enter the School Sisters of St. Francis in Panhandle tomorrow.  I will be leaving the blogging world but do not fear Lori, my faithful and patient friend will be updating you on my progress as I am not allowed to use social networking sites for the next few years....yes I said years!  Bye bye Facebook. :(  But it is a small sacrifice to make compared to what our Lord has done for us.

Please pray for me as I continue to pray for you all!  I will have another note with my thoughts during this time and the next week to Lori ASAP or she will get angry with me! :) Just kidding! 

Love you all!!!!

Bittersweet

That is the word that I would use to describe the last couple of weeks...bittersweet.  The time is here that everything is coming to a close.  A few weeks ago we finished EDGE and Life Teen for the year and we had our last night. It was so hard to say good bye to all the kids that I have seen grow closer to the Lord and the Church  I have seen these youth through highs and lows of their lives these past two years. The teens have taught me a lot about myself.  I have learned that I am stronger than I thought and that I really do love youth ministry despite all the craziness that consumes youth ministry. I have grown close to my Core as we went through together, the beautiful moments of the ministry when the youth had their "aha" moments and the light bulb finally went off and the lows in ministry when you hear and see the things that these youth are up against each and everyday. Thank you all of you for all of your support these past two years! I could not have done it without all of the Core Team leaders! One of the most important things I have learned by working in youth ministry is that one must completely trust in the Lord and His plan.  Things always seemed to work out for the best when I got out of the way and allowed the Lord to do what He does best. 

I am sad to be leaving but I am so excited to be entering.  I know that it is a life of sacrifice but I am ready for that sacrifice.  I love being with the Sisters because of their prayer life and the joy of Christ that radiates off of them. I look forward to living a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience. 

I end with this post with a quote from St. Therese of Lisieux "Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors."  That sums up I feel right now...peace!

My high school youth at our first ever Life Teen Retreat. 

Countdown:69 days until entrance.

St. Therese is a Heavenly Stalker

St. Therese of Lisieux has captured my heart by her simplicity and desire to be like a child. She might be taking over my favorite saint spot... One of my friends, Samantha, said that St. Therese does not like to share and is a "heavenly stalker".  She is still like a child even in Heaven.  St. Therese really is a heavenly stalker and this is how it all began...

I was at Mass last week listening to the homily and a thought popped into my head.  "I desire to be little as Jesus is little in the Eucharistic Host."  When the bread and wine are consecrated and becomes the the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ He humbles Himself and makes Himself vulnerable. It sounds something that St. Therese of Lisieux would have said but I cannot find it on Google at all or any other place that I have looked.  My curiosity has driven me to read her autobiography to see if I could find it some where in there.  I have loved reading it because it is written simply, like a child, but so theologically deep.  The more I have read the more I feel connected with her in a spiritual manner. She has simply captured my heart.

St. Therese talks about "the Little Way" of living.  I desire to be like a little child in the arms of Christ and His blessed mother.  When one is a child there is a complete trust and a simple understanding of things around them but with a curiosity that knows no end. When I was first learning about the Catholic Church and Her beautiful teachings I was given an extraordinary grace of not questioning the teachings of the Church and just knowing that they are Truth given to us by Christ.  There was a complete trust in the Church.  I did not recognize this grace until I was older and have had time to reflect upon it.  

Another beautiful truth that St. Therese talked about was her desire to be a saint.  I desire to be a saint as well.  I feel awkward saying that because when most people think of saints they think of our most famous saints, St. Francis, St. Clare, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Moore, etc. and I would never desire the popularity that comes with being a canonized saint but the real definition of being a saint is to forever be with Christ in Heaven. I want to be with Christ in Heaven forever!  I want to be a saint!  I know that I could never become a saint without the extraordinary graces that the Lord continues to bestow upon me each and every day.  His mercy endures forever!  (Psalm 136) I am so thankful that it does!

Over the past few months, my heart has been sorrowful because as I see how society is changing and how they no longer care what God wants and what His teachings are.  They no longer care for each other unless it has something that goes against the Church's teachings.  They care not for the homeless, the poor, the downtrodden, the widow, and the orphan.  My heart feels this immense sorrow for our world.  I am not perfect and in the past I have been one of them and turned my face from the poor and the homeless.  I acknowledged my sin and recognized that when I turned my face from the poor I turned my face from Christ.  I now make sure I pray for them and give them a smile to know that they still have dignity and that someone still cares.  Therese had a love for the poor.  When she was little and would go on walks with her father she would give alms to the poor that she would meet along the road.  She recognized Christ in the poor just as Francis and Clare did.  Lord forgive me for not recognizing You in the poor.  My heart is sorrowful because of all of the sins against the unborn and women around the world, for the lack of understanding of the definition and importance of marriage, the priesthood, and religious life, and for many of the things that are happening around the world.  I know I am called to pray for all of these things and to continue to educate the young people of the Church and everyone else.  

St. Therese of the Child Jesus please help us to desire to be little as you were little. Please intercede for us at the Father's feet that we may someday obtain the reward of everlasting life.  St. Therese you said that "I want to spend my Heaven doing good on earth" please pray that the world will see the truth.  Amen

P.S. 70 more days until entrance! :)