Keep Calm the Advocate is Coming

Happy Pentecost!

I don’t want to be that person and start a story this way, but I’m going to…

When I was in Rome (so pretentious) we stopped at a Church (some really nice one with an Italian name) and inside was a beautiful painting of the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles and what I really like about it was that all the apostles were wigging out but Mary looked serene.

I was reflecting on that today and then started googling pictures of Pentecost and trying to find a depiction where Mary looked as harried as the apostles.

Obviously I can’t claim to have checked every single piece of art that depicts Pentecost, but in all the ones I saw, Mary is keeping it calm.

I love the second one (click for full size) because let’s be real, if this happened I would totally be that disciple who is practically in the fetal position. But Mary’s cool with it because the Holy Spirit is her spouse.

So thinking more about that relationship makes me tired and I feel like I need a nap, but it’s a beautiful relationship for us to attempt to understand. Maybe not even attempt, maybe just admire.

In the Magnificat Mary has a line that has always seemed out of character to me and caused me to struggle in my understanding of the Blessed Mother. She says “from this day all generations will call me blessed”. Okay, Mary, we know you are a big deal. But she isn’t boasting or bragging, the Holy Spirit is inspiring those words, so in a way they aren’t her words; it seems out of character because it is.

When the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles they begin to speak in different tongues, using not their own words, to get a point across. The Holy Spirit is the giver of gifts, the Advocate, the Helper to us. The apostles are filled with the courage to leave their hidey-hole and boldly proclaim Christ. When the Spirit descends on Mary and her “soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord”, the Spirit is using her as instrument to proclaim the glory of God. It’s not a violation of our free will because gifts need to be accepted, we need to make an act in order to receive them.

So on this Pentecost we should turn to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to strengthen us, to have us be used as instruments of God’s glory and to have our own talents imbued with divine love. The Spirit uses those who freak out at His gift giving (apostles) and those who are calm about it (Mary).

Caitlin

There’s no such thing as soul mates, and that’s great

I’m going to explain to you why soul mates don’t exist and how, in the grand scheme of things, this is actually better for us.

I’m sure someone, somewhere is mad at me, which is understandable because we’ve been programmed to believe that there is one person in the world, and only one, who will complete us and if we somehow miss them we will be a spinster cat lady until we die (also, what is the male equivalent of spinster cat lady? Oh, there isn’t one…?)

That puts a lot of pressure on us. I mean, seriously. This is probably why we make such a big deal about prom and going on dates and running to the grocery store because at any moment we could run into THE ONE and if we miss THE ONE then we’ve screwed up everything. Gosh, that is a lot of pressure.

In my mind, not having a soul mate is reminiscent of the existence of purgatory (oh man, so romantic) because we are lovingly given the ability to try again. We have free will, and God gave it to us knowing that we would make mistakes but He also gave it to us knowing that, occasionally, we’d listen to Him and get something right.

But the biggest reason why soul mates are a social construction to create a greater emphasis on romantic love, is because love is a choice and a soul mate effectively removes that choice for us.

Where is the free will if we are cosmically destined to run into one person and love them because it’s “fate” and “destiny”? How much more romantic is it to find a person that we like, who likes us back, and then choose to love them because we want to get them to Heaven? And maybe it will work out and maybe it won’t. And if it doesn’t, it doesn’t necessarily mean you weren’t “meant to be” or that you are going to be forever alone, it just means you’re human.

I’m definitely NOT saying that God doesn’t have a plan for us. So often when I say I don’t believe in soul mates, people assume that I don’t believe the Father has a plan for our love lives. Quite the opposite. He has a spectacular plan. Christopher West talks about how God’s greatest desire involves marrying us off, either to a person, the Church, or to His Son. We are made for relationship with Christ and for relationship with others. And that relationship involves making decisions to love.

Here’s a great little article from the magazine Verily (which taught me how to order drinks at a bar without looking like an idiot. Praise God) about the Myth of the Soul Mate.

I think the biggest reason people like the idea of soul mates is that it takes away a lot of our responsibility; it gives our relationships an auto pilot function. If things get rough then we weren’t “meant to be” and we should just scrap it and start over. Instead we are encouraged to love boldly, and knowing that love isn’t easy but that makes it all the more worthwhile.

Caitlin

Wish I could make a “Union” pun

So the UNL Newman Center is being torn down which means some of us are feeling like a flock of sheep without a shepherd…no, that analogy doesn’t work…a flock of sheep without a stable. I’m sure sheep don’t need stables, give me a break I grew up in Wisconsin.

Bad analogies aside, we feel weird and maybe a little dispersed. Our temporary building works well enough, it’s a bit cramped and not designed for Catholic liturgies (i.e., no kneelers, also does everyone agree that the pews are super close together?).

But, the weirdest part is having Sunday Mass in the Centennial Ballroom at the Union. I’ve heard whining and moaning about it, but I’m going to give you 3 reasons why it’s actually super awesome.

1. JESUS is LITERALLY in the Union
During Mass the priest literally brings Jesus Christ (Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity) into a public university building. We talk about bringing Christ to campus in our hearts and actions, which is super important, but think of how much more powerful it is that Jesus is physically present four separate times on Sundays. Think of all the other things that happen in the Centennial Room (meetings of some kind I’m sure) and how that room is now saturated with Jesus in a very physical way.

2. That room is ugly, Praise God.
We were pretty spoiled with our Newman Center. The blue stained glass, that majestic painting behind the tabernacle, the fact that we had a tabernacle and a crucifix (check out this cool 3D tour!) and now we are in a big open room with no art, no color, no sanctuary, etc.
But I see it as an opportunity to realize how easy it is to get distracted in Mass and how we need to cling to Jesus because He is the reason why we are there. The art and structure help draw us back to Christ, but now we are left to beg the Holy Spirit to draw us closer to Him and recall what’s really happening…in the UNION of UNL. I mean, Pagan Life had a pagan ritual outside of the Union by the fountain, but I see that pagan ritual and raise it one Transubstantiation.

3. It’s like Purgatory.
Gosh, it stinks and it’s a change, and we hate change, but think of what’s to come! The new building will be totally worth all this hassle. And in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t even that big of a hassle. We are being stripped down to the bare bones of Mass and hopefully will grow in devotion to the Eucharist and then when the new building is done, we will be better prepared to fill it to capacity.

So we can totally handle this. I encourage the Newman community to keep attending Mass in the Union even though it’s ugly!

Have a great day!

CRCM

Our very first link-up!

Because I’m engaged, and getting married in 89 days (yay!), I’ve started reading a lot of mom blogs.

A LOT of mom blogs.

And they are awesome.

So, when I saw the Camp Patton et al. link up for What I Wore Sunday, Easter edition and Open to Interpretation all in one beautiful little set, I thought, why not?

Below you will find David and I in our Easter best! Forgive the puffy face on my part, as I was getting (am getting) over a freaking annoying cold and my face puffed up all funny.

Dress: Target
Sweater: Forever 21
Heels: Jessica Simpson via Dillards
Necklace/Earrings: Presents from David

For you men readers out there…
Suit: Joseph A. Bank
Tie: Younkers
Shoes: Dillards (Calvin Klein? not sure)

Stay tuned for Caitlin’s outfit!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
Love,
Hannah

Ne-Yo’s Wisdom (aka Songs Caitlin Hates, Part 1 of Infinity)

Well, I was going to write an awesomely detailed post about the reading for the Gospel on Palm Sunday.

Then Sunday came and went. Quickly, I might add.

So, instead, via promptings from my lovely roommate, I am going to tell you all about how out of all the cheesy and terribly-messaged songs on the radio, Ne-Yo’s “Let Me Love You” is a great example of two things: a song that has a great message and one that could easily be interpreted as Jesus singing to all you lovely ladies (and men too, if you change some pronouns) about how much you deserve His love.

This maybe isn’t the timeliest article, as the song has been out for awhile, and considering Holy Week and Ne-Yo (NeYo? Ne Yo? The internet can’t agree) don’t seem to jive well together.

Let me just reaaal quick prove you wrong.

First of all, here’s the video:

Okay, let’s take premise #1. I will first of all admit that my and my roommate’s conversation about this topic generated from a disagreement with Caitlin, who seemed to think this song was bad. Ohhh, silly Caitlin. How wrong you are. It’s okay, I forgive you.

On a very basic level, this song seems to Ne-Yo singing to some girl (hopefully a girlfriend/wife, but to be honest I’m not going to spend time looking up things about his biography) about however damaged and unworthy she might think she is, he will still love her and support her no matter what.

The chorus goes,

Girl let me love you
And I will love you
Until you learn to love yourself
Girl let me love you
And all your troubles
Don’t be afraid, girl, let me help

Etc.

Perhaps for just a millisecond, I can see Caitlin’s hesitation with this song through the lyrics “until you learn to love yourself.” But if you think about it, how bad can this be, in reality? He’s not saying he wants to get with her, or make her love him, or do anything forceful of any kind. He’s simply stating that he will love you, girl, until you can also appreciate the same things he sees in her.

Not once in the song does he expect anything back from the girl – he spends the whole time trying to convince her how beautiful and worthy of love she is! He wants to show her “what true love can really do” and wants to be the guy who reminds her “what it really is to smile.” How cute is that, and how realistic (for once in hip-hop’s history)! And isn’t this often how real relationships are? Often times you can get down in the dumps, seeing only your flaws, hurting the person you’re with whether intentionally or not. But they love you through it, no matter that you can’t see what there is to love about you. Ne-Yo does a fantastic job of expressing this through pretty catchy melody.

Translate this same thing to Jesus. Just imagine as if He were singing (dancing, saying, whatever you wish) this to every person in the entire world. Makes sense, doesn’t it? If you look at it this way, Jesus is saying to each and every one of us that He loves us, no matter how full of flaws and mistakes we might be. He knows we get caught up in our own sins, in our flaws and how hard we find it sometimes to live in the way we are called. He says, “You know what, Son or Daughter? I love you through it. I have loved YOU from the beginning. I will love you, no matter how long it takes for you to see the same worth in yourself that I do. I will love you until you learn to love yourself.”

(See what I did there? I made it as if Jesus was singing Ne-Yo’s lyrics. Pretty clever, huh?)

I think everybody struggles with this idea sometimes. It’s easy to see how flawed we are and how far away we pretty much always are from our goals – but Jesus calls us back to His Sacred Heart to tell us truly how much He loves us, no matter how flawed we are, no matter how much we don’t think we deserve His love. He knows we fall, and knows we try ardently to deserve what He gives us, but in reality we can never deserve His infinite love and mercy, because we are finite beings in comparison to an infinite God. So He says to us, over and over again, every time we fall: “I will love you until you learn to love yourself.”

This is always especially important for me to remember during Holy Week. I look on the cross, and meditate on His suffering, and say to myself, “How could I, this weak person who falls time and time again, ever deserve all of this LOVE poured out for me?” And then Jesus says to me, “Child, I love you no matter what you do. I would do this all for you, time and time again. I will always love you.”

Happy Holy Week, everyone, and have a Happy Triduum!
Love,
Hannah

Out of the mouths of babes

We are super blessed in Lincoln to have the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, also known as the Pink Sisters because:

1. Gosh, they are super stinkin’ cute

2. They are praying for us constantly and we can’t even imagine the amount of graces we are receiving because of their prayers

And finally,

3. For some reason, kids come to that chapel completely uninhibited by normal Church-going-standards and just do whatever they want and it is beautiful. And it makes me remember how often I complicate prayer and how I over pack and over plan holy hours and just in general over-complicate every aspect of my life.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Pink Sister chapel and was getting my rosary on, when a mom came in with her two kids. I’m going to make a confession, now that we are all so close, I sighed internally in frustration because these kids looked ornery and because I’m a terrible person.

Jesus heard my sigh and then proceeded to rock my world.

The mom knelt down, silently encouraged her sons to do the same (with her mom eyes, so scary) and then the younger of the two, folded his hands and whispered, “Hey Jesus, I love you,”

He repeated that prayer a dozen times and I realized that his prayer was just about a million times better, more authentic, more loving, and more true than mine. Man, nothing like a 5-year-old to shatter your pride and bring you back to earth. Praise God.

So I finished my rosary and didn’t take out any books or anything, I took a lesson for that little babe of a man and just told Jesus that I loved Him, and that felt like real prayer. A real experience of me and my Creator, expressing love in the simplest of terms. So, needless to say (but I’m going to say it anyway) it was pretty great.

This weekend I went to the Pinks again, around the same time, and wouldn’t you know, a mom brought in her two beautiful daughters. The youngest one decided she wanted a pew to herself, picked up some pamphlet I’m fairly certain she couldn’t read and then just smiled at the monstrance.

The worst/best part was that she could sit still and gaze at Jesus for longer than I can.

How often do I go into a holy hour, or just a quick visit, and fill my time with reading, writing, thinking, obsessing, analyzing etc? Of course, some of these excellent tools for prayer, but I neglect the use of silence and being still.

Be still, and know that I am God, Psalm 46:10

So I’m going to be childlike in prayer, more silence, simple phrases, just gazing upon my Beloved, and allowing Him to carry me in His arms.

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 18:3

HAPPY ALMOST HOLY WEEK!

Caitlin

Pope Francis

Simply put, I am in love with Pope Francis. I knew from the moment I heard the name “Francesco” uttered that I would love this man at an intense level. And then he came out, no fancy mozzetta, no golden cross, and a slight look of panic on his face and I knew the entire world would fall in love with him.

Because here is a man who understands humility. His bishop’s crest reads Miserando Atque Eligendo, “Lowly But Chosen”.

Something the modern media couldn’t seem to understand is that no cardinal wants to become Pope. Honestly, who would want to be Pope? You are Enemy #1, you are responsible for every single soul in the entire world, you are running the biggest charitable institution in the entire world, also people hate you and everything you stand for. Not to mention it’s the Church of Christ, the one He founded and you’ve got some pretty big shoes to fill.

But in our modern day of campaigning, gaining, grasping, taking, climbing and clawing, the mentality of “Thy will be done” is completely foreign. The gentle embrace of the Cross cannot be fathomed, how could someone accept the inevitable suffering that will come with this and approach it with such love?

Pope Francis’s timid approach at the balcony, his shy wave, his tentative smile shows us all what an intense responsibility this man has agreed to.

And then he smiled and greeted us, and then he asked for our prayers before he blessed us. A friend of mine is in Rome now studying at the NAC and said that the deafening roar of St. Peter’s square went completely silent when Pope Francis bowed in prayer.

I have a lot of feelings about this and will write another blog post about the response of secular media, but for right now, I’m just going to soak up how awesome this is and probably cry some more.

HABEMUS PAPAM

Caitlin