How A Single, Catholic Guy Knows He's On The Right Track

Back in January, I took a road trip. After three hours of riding on a sleepy charter bus, we finally made it to Austin, TX. I joined with 100 other people from my parish for the Texas Rally For Life. Pretty cool! We joined thousands of others from around Texas to rally for the pro-life cause. We had great speakers, and Abby Johnson MC'd. No big deal.

Before the march, we had some downtime after we arrived in Austin to relax and take a lunch break.

During this break, I was going around talking to various people being a social butterfly.

Ok, so Apu from The Simpsons is being a hummingbird here, but whatever. 

Not that I have any measure of popularity, but I suppose because I'm pretty involved at my parish, people know of me. Because of this, whenever they have a chance to talk to me, they want to know more about me. I found myself in such a conversation with a mom of one of my religious education students.

She asked me the usual questions. She asked me what I do for a living, the ministries that I'm involved with, and of course she asked about my marital status. When I told her that I'm single, she asked the next natural Catholic question in this Catholic context: do you want to be a priest?  I chuckled and answered no, but what she said next is what prompts me to write this blog post.

She said that she thinks that I would make an excellent priest or husband in the future.

This stuck with me the rest of the Austin trip. Why? Because I guess I needed to hear it. It's an affirmation that whatever I'm doing means I'm on some right track.

In our Catholic world, a vocation is a calling by the Lord to live out one’s life according to His will (His not mine) to a particular state in life. It is truly a calling and not an occupation. The primary vocations, or states in life, available to me are priesthood, marriage, and single life (which single life could also mean religious life in community like in a monastery). The most talked-about vocations are priesthood and marriage, with marriage being the more popular one.

And so for the mom to say that I would make an excellent priest or husband gave me pause because sometimes it’s easier for me think about it if the opinion is more one-sided. But to be considered excellent for both? Hmm.

I’ve heard it said before (I forget where) that a really good, awesome Catholic priest would also make a really good, awesome husband. Now, married priests and priestly husbands is a totally separate discussion which I won’t cover here, but both Catholic priests and husbands share a commonality— both are men! Not only both are men, but both are fathers. In each of these vocations, priesthood and marriage, the man is called to fatherhood in uniquely expressed ways. Fatherhood, to me, is the fullest expression of being a man.

So I took her compliment as a deeper affirmation that I'm living out an authentic masculinity that fits well with either of the two vocations. The commonality between a Catholic priest and a husband is the man and his call to fatherhood. His role as priest or husband doesn't make sense or cannot be lived in its fullness if he doesn't first live out his authentic masculinity.

It was a really nice compliment for me. It was something I needed to hear at the time. It helps me realize that I must be doing something right and that overcoming the struggles of living out authentic masculinity is worth it. Striving for an authentic manliness has been a constant reflection of mine since the end of college. I don’t think I’ve arrived, but I must be on the right track.

Now, time to dig deep, put on my archery mentality (whereby archery mentality focuses on what was done right to continue hitting the bullseye) and take note of what it is I'm doing to be the man God created me to be.

Please pray for me!
-JD

Pastor Lee // The Drop Box
Pope Francis celebrating Mass in the Sistine Chapel // BBC
Apu hummingbird gif // Giphy

Not a review on "The Drop Box"

Sometimes I get the opportunity to watch special movie screenings. That's how I was able to see When The Game Stands Tall starring Jim Caviezel. Apparently a group of people from my parish is part of some program where they get to hear about different special movie screenings, typically films that are faith-based.  And that's how I got invited to watch The Drop Box.

They heard about the special 3-day screening for this movie and shared it with all. No amount of north Texas ice and snow stopped us from getting a pretty decent crowd to go see this movie. Fortunately, the night of our last major snow fall, all the snow earlier in the day had already melted. Just in time for the final day of this special screening!

I hadn't really heard about it until I got invited to this screening. I didn't even watch the trailer until the day I saw the movie. But when I saw the trailer, I knew that it would be a powerful film. It's actually less of a movie and more a documentary.

The Drop Box tells the story of a South Korean Christian pastor named Pastor Lee who created a baby drop box at his church so that mothers can anonymously drop off their baby.  From there, he makes sure the baby is taken care of and if possible, he adopts the baby as his own.

Abandoned babies are a growing problem in Korea, but oftentimes they don't survive after being abandoned out in the elements. The documentary highlights this unfortunate backdrop. Mothers abandon their baby because they feel that they cannot take care of the child, or they would bring great shame upon themselves because of their difficult circumstances such as pregnant but not married, unwanted children, the baby has a disability, friends at school ridiculing, family disowning, etc. Really sad stories.

But The Drop Box isn't necessarily about Pastor Lee. Yes, it tells his story and his motivations for doing the work, but it also highlights the stories of the children that get dropped off in the baby drop box. Many of these children have pretty serious disabilities like Down Syndrome, physical deformations, mental illness, etc.

This movie was a challenge to watch. Not because it showed graphic scenes or gross medical things, but because it really showed the love that Pastor Lee has for these children when everyone else gave up on them. And that's beautiful. I mean, the middle-aged man sitting on my right was sobbing the whole time, and the woman next to me admitted after the movie that she tried not to "ugly cry" the whole time. As for me, yeah, I totally wept too.

After watching this movie, after seeing the work that Pastor Lee does, after learning the stories of many of the kids with special needs that he and his wife adopted, I left the movie questioning where I am in my Christian faith.

But in a good way.

Here are some themes that stuck out to me:

Capacity and Depth of Love
Seeing Pastor Lee totally give of himself as a father for these abandoned children really shows his vast capacity to love. His own son is severely disabled and requires a lot of attention, but somehow Pastor Lee is able to give each child the tender love and care they need. Late nights, lots of children crying, and all the usual beautiful burdens of raising children. He and his family currently takes care of 15 children that came to him via the drop box. 15. Children.  And always open to more. Crazy.

My primary sentiment after watching the movie was being in awe of Pastor Lee's capacity and depth of love. I mean, clearly no normal human being is able to do the work he does without such a heart as he has, but truly the only reason he does is because of his Christian faith and love of God.

Not only was I in awe of his capacity to love, but it really made me think about my own capacity and depth of love. Do I love others enough as they deserve? Do I love even those that were rejected by the world? Can I give more? Can I love more?

Recognizing the dignity of others
With all the crazy things happening in this world, I'd say that a major cause of our problems in humanity stems from our inability to recognize the inherent dignity of others. And that's what makes watching The Drop Box so cool! It's because Pastor Lee shows us by his example what it looks like to recognize the dignity of each baby, no matter their circumstances or shortcomings. I mean, the man truly loves each child as his own, and through the eyes of fatherhood is Pastor Lee able to recognize the dignity of these little ones.

One of the things I love about being Catholic is that it really teaches me to recognize the dignity of others, even if they don't recognize it themselves or in others. Seeing Pastor Lee work with these children and raising them as his own made me reflect on how I view others. These children were abandoned because they were too much of a burden, but they deserve dignity and love like any other children.

Do I view others as a burden to myself, or do I recognize their dignity?

Humility
The film highlighted some of the necessary work that Pastor Lee has to do.  I have a lot of friends who have recently had their own kids, and it's fascinating to me the work and sacrifice it takes to raise kids. Honestly, sometimes I have IM conversations at work about baby diarrhea.

It requires a certain kind of humility and love to endure these sufferings. What surprised me is that Pastor Lee is elderly yet despite all the difficulties, the late nights, and the challenges of raising children with special needs, he serves and loves those children without complaint. It takes great humility to do the work he does.

Do I consider the needs of others before my own needs? Do I do what needs to be done even if I don't feel like it?

Life Lessons
The Pastor Lee quote pictured above really sticks out to me. He was talking about how he loves kids with special needs because they teach him how to love. They teach him many things. He learns more from them than they learn from Pastor Lee.

That made me go whoa. Whereas most people see kids with special needs or even kids in general as burdens, it's cool to hear how Pastor Lee admits that these children teaches him many life lessons, perhaps even more than he teaches them life lessons.

What can I learn more about the beauty, truth, and goodness of life in those that I encounter?

Pro-Life
While the movie is not overtly pro-life in terms of the movement, it still has a very pro-life message. The pro-life message resonates through the very example of Pastor Lee in his depth of love for these adopted children, recognizing their dignity, and serving them with humility. Perhaps that's why abortion is a thing in our country because we don't recognize that we have the capacity to love greatly, we don't recognize the inherent dignity of our fellow people, and we're not willing to have the humility necessary to love others authentically with self-sacrificial, life-giving love. So, it was entirely refreshing to learn about Pastor Lee and his work because it is work that goes unnoticed, and we can learn a lot from his example.

How can I engage in further pro-life work in addition to what I'm already doing?

I really wanted to have a small group discussion right there in the middle of the theater hallway after the movie because the entire movie is a beautiful nugget at which to continue to chew on. What does it mean now that I've seen it? How have I changed because of this film? How shall I respond?

Pondering this, I will. And I'm totally getting the DVD/Blu-ray.
- JD

PS After the movie, they played a pre-recorded screening event for the movie to give further background, insight, and shameless plugs for ministries that help out families. In it, they talked to the director of the movie. I just wanted to mention that he felt intrigued to do this movie because he saw a headline in the L.A. Times (this one), and he needed something for the Sundance Film Festival. He actually spent time in South Korea helping Pastor Lee and the kids, and because of that time spent with him and filming, he converted to Christianity. That's awesome! One does not simply engage in works of mercy and not feel the Holy Spirit's tug on the heart to discover the source of the beauty, goodness, and truth in serving abandoned kids with special needs. Please pray for him!

Pictures // TheDropBoxFilm.com

Why Don't They?

Only for stock photo purposes. "The stillness of 4AM" from my Instagram.

The alarm goes off. 2:45AM. Mad rush to shower, pack lunch, and make coffee. Out the door by 3:15AM. Travel 45 minutes. Easy drive because there's no traffic. I get there, and there's no one really around save for the lone gentleman who I'm replacing. 4AM. Minutes later, my colleagues arrive.

After some small talk, we begin what we're there for--we pray. At the very least, we join together in praying a Rosary, but much of our hour is spent in silence and personal prayer time. At 5AM, the next group of people show up, and we exchange greetings for this "changing of the guard." 

The nice consolation for getting up so freakin' early in the morning and praying at an abortion clinic from 4AM to 5AM on a weekly basis for 6 weeks last fall was that I got to go to breakfast with the other men that I shared the 4AM hour with. IHOP and Einstein Bros. are delicious at 5AM.

Yes, I did this weekly for six weeks, once a week. I actually got to do 40 Days for Life again this past fall, and that was nice because I wasn't able to back in 2013. I actually freely and willingly chose to have my hour at 4AM because one of the men I shared that hour with is a coworker and friend, and he normally does that hour for 40 Days for Life. And we could squeeze this in before work.

Now, in years past I've actually blogged reflections from doing 40 Days for Life. This time, I elected not to do so.

But as I stood there outside of Everyone's Favorite Name Brand of "Women's Health"™ praying and thinking, I had one particular thought that occupied my brain each time I went: they aren't here. I mean, yeah, at 4AM the clinic is definitely not open because it is way before business hours, but even then... they aren't here.

In fact, in all my experience of praying in front of abortion clinics, they are hardly ever around. Sometimes they have escorts in the parking lot helping clients into the building, but even then I begin to wonder why they are hardly there. One particular morning, I saw a little opossum. It was adorable. But even that opossum was present. But they were not.

Some mornings for this past 40 Days for Life, being the fall, were really cold. Here I am standing out in the cold when the clinic is closed at 4AM in the morning, and they're not there.

So that brings me to wonder the question: why don't they? Why don't they occupy public easements in peaceful protest at awkward hours in the morning like we do? Why do they never match our intensity and willingness to endure suffering and hardship for the sake of their cause like we do for pro-life? Why don't they rally together on a yearly basis on a grand scale like we do, across the country? 

From my camera, March for Life 2014 in Washington, D.C.

In other words...why do we do many things and actually do stuff, but they do not?

I guess that's a very superficial reason why I'm not a pro-abortion advocate. They don't do anything adventurous.

- JD

Walking Across America...For Life!

Back in May, I further blogged about my experiences at this year's March for Life in Washington, D.C. I basically said how I inhale at being pro-life because I've not really responded to the different pro-life rally experiences that I attended at the beginning of the year.

October is National Respect Life Month, and I realize it is now November. I totally meant to post this in October because it would be more fitting, but like Aggie football, I simply ran out of time.

As I'm still marinating on different ways to be further involved in the pro-life movement, I thought it would be cool to feature how others are involved. Honestly, with over 500,000 people attending the March for Life on a yearly basis, surely there's someone doing something cool, interesting, clever, impactful, etc. to spread the pro-life message.

And that leads me to Crossroads.

I heard about Crossroads for the first time from a good friend in ministry who did it about 10 years ago. Oddly enough, he's the same good friend who inspired Lauren to do Crossroads. She is one of my relatively new friends.

Lauren is a student at St. Gregory's University. I met her at a diocesan service camp reunion last Christmas break, and she later helped me with a Confirmation retreat. You can view her Crossroads profile here: Lauren.

I had some questions for her regarding Crossroads:

What is Crossroads?

Crossroads started 20 years ago when a group of Franciscan University students, inspired by a talk St. John Paul II had given at World Youth Day in Denver, decided that they needed to do something to address the problem of America's culture of death.  That "something" ended up being hitchhiking to the west coast and walking from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. wearing t-shirts that had the words "Pro-Life" spelled out in duct tape.  Today, Crossroads is a nonprofit organization that sponsors and oversees groups of young adults who walk in three routes across the United States as well as routes across Canada, Australia, Spain, and Ireland every year.  

Why did you want to do Crossroads?

The pro-life movement is a movement that's happening in every field, all the time.  Every kind of professional, from doctors and lawyers to parents and pastors to journalists and celebrities can help people to understand the sanctity and dignity of human life.  I'm a teenager and a student: I can't write laws, raise children, or affect people through my work.  But I can spend twelve weeks walking across the country, and maybe that's crazy enough to get people thinking.  

What was the most rewarding aspect of doing Crossroads?

When we were walking, we were really trying to inspire people to get involved by praying, offering sacrifices, and participate in ministry and activism in their communities.  Because we were literally passing through every place we went to, we never really saw the results of our actions.  With that in mind, I think the most rewarding aspect of Crossroads was just accomplishing the task we set out to do.  At the end of the walk, my team got bumper stickers that looked like the ones people get at marathons, except ours said "2,438" instead of "26.2."  Being able to say that we walked across the country was amazing.  

What was the greatest challenge?

I suppose the obvious answer here would be "walking," but I enjoyed that.  My walk's RV engine blew up after three weeks, just before we crossed the Rocky Mountains.  It was supposed to be fixed within a few days, but due to the inevitable comedy of errors, we didn't get it back until two days before we reached D.C.  While that led to plenty of adventures living out of a suburban, a minivan, and a host of shady motels, it was pretty difficult.  We joked about being homeless a lot, and even wrote a ballad about it (which can be sung to the tune of Amazing Grace or the Gilligan's Island theme, depending on how bored you are of walking through Missouri).  

Walking across America, did you encounter more people who were pro-life or pro-abortion?

The vast majority of the people who interacted with us (meaning that they honked, yelled at us from their cars, talked to us in grocery stores and gas stations, or came up to us after Mass) were pro-life.  That was one of the most hopeful things I encountered over the summer.  One of the most disappointing things, however, was how few of those people were involved in the pro-life movement in any way.  I hope that maybe by seeing what us walkers were doing and how important life is to us some of them were inspired to do something in their own lives.  

After doing this, what was your response?  What did you do going forward and/or how did this experience change your approach to being pro-life?

I loved it, and I'd really like to walk again because I think that it's a phenomenal opportunity for sacrifice for any young person.  I think that sacrifice is what I really learned about this summer: small things that would have irritated me or made me angry in the comfort of my college campus simply had to be accepted on the road.  Every aspect of our lives for those 12 weeks was about the other, not about us. 

I recently went on a 20 mile walk to visit a Benedictine monastery, and that is nothing compared to the nearly 2500 miles that people walk for Crossroads. I have much respect for those who participate in Crossroads because I've had but a small taste of what they've accomplished.

I like what Lauren said how it really taught her about sacrifice. Any young person can better spend their summer doing other things and not face the challenges of walking across America. As any properly formed practicing Catholic would understand, we can suffer to bring about a greater good. They had purpose in their mission by spreading the pro-life message everywhere they walked. The unborn are worth fighting for, even in this way.

I also find it interesting to note that on the ground level, the everyday American people encountered along the road, are pro-life. But not necessarily engaged. I wonder how I can personally inspire others to actively respect and defend the dignity of human life.

While I do find Lauren's experiences to be inspiring, it's not practical for me to take that many months of work to do Crossroads. I mean, it's not like I'm saving vacation days to go to Poland in 2016 or anything. I'll definitely be praying for Crossroads and their apostolate for next year, though!

You can read stories from the road at their blog (with pictures!): Crossroads Pro-Life Walks

To read up more on what they're about, who the walkers were this past year, and look into possibly participating in the future, check out their website: http://www.crossroadswalk.org/

-JD

"At this stage of history, the liberating message of the Gospel of life has been put into your hands." Pope St. John Paul II

All pictures from Crossroads

I Got Scolded At Mass Today

I'll begin this blog post in saying that I attended an anime convention for the first time in my life yesterday. And long story short, because that placed me across town and because of the hospitality of friends letting me crash at their place after said anime convention, I decided to venture forth where this Catholic has never gone before in terms of parishes visited.

With that said, I knew that my crashing at a friend's place meant that I would be in the near vicinity of a Catholic parish that I've always wanted to visit. This parish is Mater Dei, which is a Latin Mass parish in Irving, TX. My motivation for even visiting Mater Dei is simply to experience Mass done in the Extraordinary Form again. No English. It's all done in Latin. Pretty cool!

Apart from me stumbling through Mass as I attempted at following along with what everyone is doing in terms of postures and trying not to get lost in following in the Missal to see the English translation of what was being said, I was particularly jarred by how the priest scolded us.

During announcements to the congregation, the priest (Fr. Longua) opened up in saying that sometimes a father has to scold his children. That makes sense to me because how often has my own father scolded me for things... Then he made reference that he, as a Catholic priest and father to us as a congregation (not in the same sense as God is our Father in heaven), needed to scold us. Okay...

Apparently last Friday for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (it's a holy day of obligation for us Catholics (and that we should go to Mass)), some woman with a lot of kids had a crying baby. Her husband wasn't present due to work. Apparently, one of the parishioners at Mater Dei harshly scolded the mother for having the crying baby and told her to go to the crying room (some churches have designated areas for parents to calm their kids).

And mother-of-crying-baby got really upset. She was already stressed out already from looking after her kids and dealing with her crying baby. And now someone is upset at her.

And the priest scolded us that this happened.

He said that it's okay for babies to make weird noises. If a baby makes a sad noise, we're free to share a sad moment with the baby. A happy noise merits a happy reaction and moment from us.

Fr. Longua mentioned that under no circumstances is it cool for us to be totally unwelcoming and harshly tell mothers to get out when crying babies happen. This parish (really any parish) should be welcoming because it's already tough to be welcoming and for someone (one person) to harshly tell this mother to get out of Mass is unacceptable. But I wouldn't say he scolded us out of anger. Very father-like. You know, very disappointed, but still forgiving. I knew that him scolding us was not a gesture of malice, but really from a place of love and desire for us to be better versions of ourselves.

Actually, it was awkward because as he was saying these things, I wanted to raise my hand and make the classic Mean Girls reference and yell out "I DON'T EVEN GO HERE!" so as not to be guilty by association with my fellow pew warmers.

*He

Haha, but I love what Fr. Longua said because it is applicable to me. I haven't personally given mothers death stares or vocally expressed them to excuse themselves, but it's important for me to keep in mind Fr. Longua's words. He also said something cool, and I paraphrase him in saying it is selfish of us to be upset/frustrated/angry about crying babies at Mass. We should focus on the Mass and not the crying baby. If we react in an upset/frustrated/angry way, the focus has then turned onto ourselves and not the Mass. This is kind of a big deal when one realizes that the Mass is about worshipping God by encountering Him in His Word and Flesh in the Eucharist. That is our focus. Not ourselves. Nor what's going on with others.

See, crying babies at Mass are definitely a thing at my home parish. Man, sometimes the 9AM Mass is a cacophonous symphony of crying babies and that can be quite distracting. In recent years, I've taken such moments to be opportunities to really refocus on the Mass rather than the baby crying. It's difficult. It takes practice. Even as I've practiced, I still let my focus go wayward sometimes. But I never react in a negative way to the sound of crying babies at Mass.

Actually, the sound of crying babies at Mass is a good thing. It means that a baby exists in the midsts of the pews. This means that the love between husband and wife has indeed been fruitful. A crying baby is a beautiful sign that the Church is growing. Not just the domestic church (ie. the family), not just for the local church (ie. the parish), but the Church as a whole (ie. the Body of Christ) is growing! This growth points towards the fruitfulness of the love that Christ has for His Bride, the Church. And that's really cool.

Sometimes it's hard to remember that beautiful fact when I'm too frustrated with a crying baby. Sure, it is indeed courteous of parents to excuse themselves (without being harshly told) when dealing with their crying baby. And even if they don't, it's still on me to focus on what I should be focused on.

In the end, I'm grateful that Fr. Longua scolded us. It needed to be said. I needed the reminder of what my focus should be on during Mass.

Mass isn't about me.
- JD

Mater Dei altar and consecration // Mater Dei on Flickr
Crying Baby // BabyWorld
She Doesn't Even Go Here // WiffleGif

I Inhale At Being Pro-Life

Before getting into the bacon and eggs (as opposed to meat and potatoes (maybe I just finished cooking myself homemade bacon and egg english muffin sandwiches)) of this blog post, I originally intended to have a really good intro. You know, to help introduce this idea that I particularly inhale (translation: suck) at being pro-life. In the first draft of this blog post, I began to talk about how f___ing cold it was at the March For Life in Washington D.C. back in January of this year.

Lo, and behold! That ended up being its own separate blog post. #BloggerProbz Read it here, for it is technically my intro to this blog post.

And I’ll awkwardly pause for you to re-read that because it is important to know. (the ellipses following all link to the intro)

…

…

…

Ok. Cool.

Like I said, I experienced different consolations for attending the March for Life. And again, the March for Life was actually just a particular event of a greater trip to Washington D.C., but the March itself was our primary purpose although we did get to experience other things. This year was pretty similar to my first time going back in 2013. This year I had a fantastic time, and going again really reminded me about the importance of continuing to defend the right to life of unborn human beings and behold the preciousness of life.

In recent years, I’ve grown to understand and appreciate the importance of responding to experiences. An example of that would be like my trip to Rio De Janeiro last year for World Youth Day. At the vigil the night before before the closing Mass, everyone was gathered at Copacabana Beach to hang out and pray with Pope Francis. There was a time when other members of the group that I went to Rio with and myself had to go use the facilities. The problem was, because there were a few million people squeezed into the Copacabana Beach and not really enough portable toilets, my group and I walked into a very crappy situation. You could smell the toilets from at least 50 feet away. The. worst. So at other points during that trip and whenever I returned back to the United States and attended large public events like air shows and festivals and had the need to go, I remembered that really crappy experience and respond with ecstatic joy knowing that over 9000+ other people didn’t use my chosen port-a-potty. I just need to remember to also respond with bringing hand sanitizer with me, too. x_x

Or another example would be trying a restaurant for the first time, liking it, then telling everyone about it. Because it was a good, enjoyable experience, I cannot help but tell the world that DeVivo’s is a good restaurant, even if their meatball sub received a bad review from one guy on Yelp.

Post by DeVivo Bros. Eatery.

I’m sure I can come up with other examples, but the basic idea is simple: experiencing different things evokes a response following such experiences. I can either respond or not respond with further action.

And that’s where I begin to inhale at being pro-life.

One does not simply experience the March for Life and not go do pro-life things afterwards. It’s a worthy, truthful cause because it does become a matter of life or death for those who cannot choose it for themselves. I mean, if you know any 10-week old human beings in the womb who can Chuck Norris their way out of getting sucked into a powerful vacuum that would suck their brains out or use knife hand blocks against scalpels attempting to cut them up during an abortion, I would love to meet them and blog about it. But otherwise, who will fight for them?

I would think that it should follow that after going to the March For Life, I should be more motivated to be more active in pro-life things. I mean, I distinctly remembered being rather motivated after going to the March. I remembered that I resolved to do more than what I was already doing. I remembered that this desire to help out in ways I could swelled all the more because of the March. I remembered that I’m not alone in this cause and it should be really easy for me to do stuff with the strength of others.

But no.

I have not done a good job with that at all this year, thus far.

Nevermind that I used to go pray in front of clinics and have actually saved a baby or two. Nevermind that I do, in fact, have some sidewalk counselor training and slight experience in the field. Nevermind that I have advocated and donated to a ministry that helps abortion clinic workers leave their clinics. Nevermind that I’ve helped make baby beds or raised money to help pregnant women in need. After the March for Life, I’ve not really continued to do any of these things. But after the March, I felt a fiery motivation to pick these up again and do more.

But I didn’t respond or follow through with resolutions after experiencing the March.

That’s why I inhale at being pro-life.

As I’m writing this, I’m trying to think of why I have so failed to respond. My only excuse is that I’ve been too busy since January. Sure, I’ve had some life transitions, and many other things going on, but that’s not a good enough of excuse (to me) to not continue what I’ve been doing for pro-life work. And then some.

To make it worse, the weekend after the March for Life in Washington D.C., I went to the Texas Rally for Life in Austin! I responded to the March with another march, AND I STILL DIDN’T RESPOND…

But just because I haven’t responded with doing actual stuff doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about what I can and should do. Ok, maybe once I did go do my usual pray in front an abortion clinic but Everyone’s Favorite Name Brand Women’s “Health” Clinic was closed for the day because no abortionist was available. Still prayed though. Even then, I didn’t resolve to keep up with my usual frequency of praying in front of abortion clinics. I’ve only gone once since coming back from both of those marches.

However, one idea kept haunting me since January. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. My idea, which I’ve been hanging on to since January, never came to any sort of fruition. I never responded fully to this idea. My idea was this: I should help out the local pro-life pregnancy center that’s within my city’s limits! They’re close by, maybe they could use volunteers for help, and maybe I can donate my time, money, or supplies. I like this idea because it’s something I haven’t done before. I mean, if this guy can bring pro-life women’s health to the front steps of abortion clinics, then maybe I can not do anything as intense as that but perhaps bring myself to the front steps of a pregnancy center and help out with whatever I can.

Cool idea!

Never did anything with it. Inhale. Inhale. Inhale.

Until…

Now. May, as in…month of.

One of my unofficial bros is a middle school youth minister for my parish. Nine months ago, he had a night teaching his middle schoolers about the importance of pro-life and why we are pro-life. Middle schoolers. That's awesome! And as a way to make the importance real, he had them all spiritually adopt babies and name them. I’ve done that before. My first one’s name is Melody and my second one is RJ, but that was a year or two ago. Well, fast forward 9 months, and we are here in the month of May. They decided to have an end of the year party to celebrate not just the end of the year, but to celebrate the birthdays of their spiritually adopted babies because it’s been 9 months. How fitting! There were Coke floats, pizza and cake.

An aspect to this end of the year party was for the middle schoolers to bring baby supplies. Oh and get this! These supplies are going to be donated to the pregnancy center that I’ve been constantly thinking about since January! So when I heard that my Middle School Youth Minister Bro was doing this for that pregnancy center, I simply couldn’t resist. I was like…”chyessss!!!! FINALLY! An easy, achievable way for me to contribute!” And contribute, I did. Yes, because I’m single-but-hopeful-for-kids-one-day-but-striving-to-not-be-jealous, I still find it awkward to be in the baby supply aisles at Super Target. What do I get? What brand should I get? Would they need more diapers or wipes? Shampoo? Heck, I’ll get all three…

Mission success, awkwardness not-withstanding. I threw in my stuff along with the other baby supplies, and between the other adult volunteers and students, we have a nice pile of supplies to donate to that pregnancy center.

No, I don’t feel totally satisfied with this simple act of buying some stuff. I feel called to do more. Or maybe re-called to do the stuff that I used to do on a more consistent basis. I don’t know, but I need it to make sense for where I’m at right now in life. That doesn't mean I'm compromising my position in any way regarding abortion. I'm just trying to figure out the best way for me to help out in a productive way. Maybe that means continuing to make awkward trips to Super Duper Awesome Target or Wal-Mart SuperDuperAwesomeCenter to pick up more supplies to donate.  Maybe that means praying in front of abortion clinics again with more added emphasis on me sidewalk counseling because that’s totally uncomfortable for me. Maybe that means that I try to reach out to abortion clinic workers and literally try to help them find other jobs in case they harbor a conflicted heart because of the way they are applying their profession. Maybe that means actually, physically volunteering at that pregnancy center. The options are many. How can I still respond to my experiencing the March for Life (and the Rally for Life)? It’s not good enough for me to just experience these rallying moments for the movement without responding in kind.

I don’t want to inhale at being pro-life. As a man, I want to be heroic at it because it’s so totally worth fighting for saving lives. Maybe not necessarily in the biggest ways, but at least in the trivial ways. It's not easy. It's going to inhale. Not everyone is necessarily a friend of pro-life work. It makes me uncomfortable. It's not going to be convenient. I'm already hated for doing this or even desiring to do this. And I'm okay with that. Challenge accepted.

Ponder this more, I will. Then action, will I do. I just need to…

-JD

So F(reez)ing Cold

It was so f____ing cold!!! A day or two before, Washington D.C. got something like six to eight inches of snow. We were effectively snowed in because A) public transportation was closed, and B) it would be strongly lacking common sense to walk around in that kind of snow in an unsafe neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

PS We stayed in a dangerous ‘hood of D.C--Anacostia 4 life!

Anyway, when it snowed, that’s when the wrath of Canada hit us like a cold-nami. The weather service said that the temperature would be in the single digits with negative wind chill. So f____ing cold! #NativeTexanProblems  The verbiage in the weather report pretty much said to...

…because of frostbite potential. Ew.

I remember looking up the weather on the day of the March. It was in the low 20’s and wind chill in the single digits or something. I had to go full on winter ninja.

On the day of the march, we set out to go to a rally and Mass at the D.C. Armory with hundreds of our friends who were there for the same reason. After that event, we made our way to the March at the Mall.

Because the Mall is a fairly large expanse of field, the wind was definitely not subtle. The mall looked impressive with a fluffy comforter-sized blanket of snow. So f____ing cold! Removing gloves to take pictures was painful. Even as a winter ninja and silently stomping through the snow, the frigid air out-ninja’d me and silently snuck past my multiple layers.

But let me tell ya—despite the incredibly cold temperature, my group was still but a snowflake in the ocean of people that showed up to this year’s March for Life. Last year, it actively snowed during the March, but it didn’t accumulate. This year, it had already snowed, but the unapologizing wind was terrible.Yeah, the snowy weather on the east coast that week in January deterred people from being able to attend the march, but the turn out was still rather impressive. Sure, it was miserable (because it was so f___ing cold!), but everyone was smiling and enthusiastic!

That’s what I find to be pretty awesome about the March for Life. Yes, it is always tempting for our mainstream media to paint such a thing as “anti-choice” or “anti-women” and that we pro-lifers are a hateful bunch of snowballs, but what never seems to be captured or talked about is this resounding joy and enthusiasm for the pro-life cause. The March is so full of joyful people! It begins to make no common, logical sense why would anyone want to stand and march in so f____ing cold weather for a few hours. We march because we celebrate life and abhor that it is okay (and legal) to kill our most vulnerable of human beings. We do not march out of hate, but out of love for the preciousness of life, of love for both mother and child, and to make a stand against the forces that make it okay to take life away from these vulnerable, innocent human beings.

We are joyful! This genuine, authentic joy lets us be impervious to our trivial sufferings in the so f___ing cold weather because the cause is worth it on a deep, human, and universal level. It's worth fighting for.

This was my second March for Life. The consolations for going included awesome reminders to myself that:

• I am far from being the only one who cares (as evidenced by the hundred thousands also marching alongside me)
• The cause worth it, and any suffering endured because of the cause is worth it too
• Seeing that this will continue because for the most part, the general population of those who march are younger than I am, and that is encouraging
• Life is worth guarding and celebrating

Yeah, the March was only a day out of a week that I spent in Washington, D.C. However, the March was the primary motivation to go in the first place. The other days of the week was spent in prayer, and sightseeing. You can get an idea of what I did by looking at my blog posts from last year: here, here, and here. Pretty similar, although we weren't able to make it out to Arlington Cemetery this year.

Because of all that I suffered through that week of the March, which climaxed with a wintry wrath just before it, my sufferings made that experience all the more awesome. It left me begging a certain question of what should I do next, after the March? How should I respond?

Hmm.
- JD

Dear Facebook friends, I'm so frustrated with all of your baby pictures

I'm actually not that great of a Facebook stalker. I don't really go into profiles, but I do go into certain groups because maybe I'm an admin for a few of them. Therefore, the extent of my "Facebook stalking" is whatever shows up on my News Feed. I suppose I stalk my News Feed.

Inevitably, being the age that I am, it is the. prime. time.  to get married and start having kids. Because an abundance of love overflows and love is never kept to self, it only makes logical sense that husbands and wives share their love and joy with others. On Facebook. Cool wedding pictures!

Then comes the baby in the baby carriage. The love of husband and wife is so strong, so real, that it results in a third person. That is so profoundly biological and Catholic-ly theological/philosophical. Undoubtedly, a barrage of totally adorable pictures follows on Insta-Face-gram-book. First steps. First bath. Here's our baby with our other babies (ie. dogs). Oh look at this picture with our baby wearing the cutest clothes evurrrrr. Teehee, our baby made a funny face (MEME DAT!). Aw, look at our baby dressed in collegiate wear!

Ugh.

With that said...

Dear Facebook friends,

I'm so frustrated with your postings of your adorable baby (or babies, if you have been generous in your love for your spouse) on Facebook and Instagram.

Look, I get it. You want to share with your friends and family this joy that you and your spouse have. I get it. You want to preserve these precious memories of your child so that you can easily go back on your Facebook Timeline years later and have that nostalgic moment remembering that precious memory. I get it. Now you have blackmail-worthy pictures of your child to show their friends when they're in high school or college or wedding day. Whatever your reason, I get it.

First thing. Did a bunch of you get together about 9 months ago (+/- few months) and collectively decide to have babies right around the same time? Because my Facebook News Feed is totally inundated with a wave of babies' pictures right now. Post, after post, after post. Babies. Babies. Babies. And let's not forget the sonogram pictures too. And because y'all may or may not have gotten together about 9 months ago and collectively decide to birth at the same time, there are a good number of you posting baby pictures. At least I'm not forced to keep looking at the same cute, adorable baby at any point during my typical News Feed stalking. Hey, variety helps.

Second thing. Not only are you posting baby pictures, but you're posting baby announcement pictures, baby-in-the-womb-growing progress pictures, and other fancy creative ways to posting pictures about your baby. What deep bowels of Pinterest have you been perusing? Not that there's anything wrong with that. And these kinds of pictures are usually not one-and-done. No, no! They're like a weekly (dare I even say in some cases, daily?!) update. More status-ing about it all. More pictures. More frustration for me.

Third thing. What's the deal with you who are married yet don't have kids? It's frustrating because I practically expect some sort of generous, overflowing profound love that results in a baby that merits posting about it Facebook/Instagram. And yet I'm left with nothing. The anticipation is killer and that's frustrating. Look, you and your spouse might have legit reasons to not have kids right now...but come on, it's been a few years.  Please, I beg you--add to my frustration!

41 Years of Roe v. Wade

- JD

Real Life Tribute

So my Thanksgiving plans this year included going to watch The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with my family since it just came out. But see, this was awkward for me because I hadn't yet seen the first one! Or read the books! (I know, utter your groans...).

After returning home from work for the break, I decided to solve this problem of not having seen the first one in preparation for seeing Catching Fire. But first, I had to confront a very real, first-world problem. Where should I use Netflix? On the PS3? Xbox 360? Wii? 3DS? iPhone? iPad? Desktop? Laptop? Blu-Ray player? Wi-fi connected TV? Ultimately, the PS3 won.

Popped some corn... Cracked open a cold beverage (okay, twisted open)...

And then I watched The Hunger Games!

I thought it was pretty good after watching the movie! I felt hipster because I was already into archery before Katniss made it really cool. Even then, after watching the movie I really wanted to shoot my bow again!

Now, remember that I haven't read the books so I don't know how well the movie follows the books, and many often say that the books are always better etc etc etc...

But what intrigued me from watching the first movie was this entire concept of the "Hunger Games" whereby kids are chosen by lottery to compete in a nationally teleivised deathmatch as entertainment and remembrance of some rebellion against the Capitol from the past. And the Games are advertised as a good and necessary thing by the government. x_x

While there are so many themes and elements about the story that I could blog about, I really want to focus on just one. It's an important one, not just to us as the movie-watchers or book-readers, but to the setting and people found in Panem as well.

#SpoilerAlert

I think the most striking thing about the story is how Katniss volunteered to be Tribute in place of her sister, Primrose, who was chosen by the lottery to represent their District 12. This was unheard of! Katniss was the first volunteer ever for District 12! And she did this out of protection and love for her sister. That is very apparent. People throughout Katniss' journey to the Arena in preparation for the Games are struck by this. And since I saw Catching Fire, I can now also say that this act of volunteer sacrifice has inspired others throughout the various Districts. Pretty cool. I smell a rebellion coming.

We've seen this sort of act of love...this "take me instead!"...in Hollywood and fictional works pretty often. It's pretty effective in conveying a deeper sense of love and evoking sentiment in the audience.

Katniss' heroic action in volunteering herself reminded me of a fairly modern Catholic saint that I'm growing to love and appreciate more and more. It's fascinating because it involves Nazis, torture, volunteer sacrifice and...it's totally real!

Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, ca. 1939

St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Franciscan priest from Poland. Some highlights about his life:

• Born in 1894
• The Virgin Mary appeared to him before his First Communion and asked him whether he wanted the graces from a life of purity or martyrdom. He wanted both. 
• He was ordained as a Catholic priest at the age of 24.
• He founded the Immaculata Movement, a movement with devotion to the Virgin Mary asking for her help in the conversion of "sinners, heretics, schismatics, and so on and above all the Masons, and for the sanctification of all persons".
• Started a magazine called Knight of the Immaculate to fight religious indifference
• Tuberculosis nearly killed him and left him frail for the rest of his life
• Spent time in Japan and India to expand the Immaculata Movement

He returned to Poland in the late 1930's. By this time, the Nazis gained power in Europe and began their persecutions of the Jews, Catholics, and anyone else who didn't fit their ideals or who stood in their way. Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was arrested during the Nazi invasion of Poland, but was later released. He was arrested again in 1941 because of his different publications that also began to contain anti-Nazi materials.

Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was sent to the concentration camp in Auschwitz and was branded as prisoner #16670. 

A prisoner in Fr. Kolbe's barracks escaped from Auschwitz, and protocol called for 10 prisoners from the escaped prisoner's barracks to be killed as retribution. Francis Gajowniczek, a Catholic Polish sergeant, was one of the 10 chosen to die. When chosen, Francis exclaimed that he had a wife and kids. 

An elderly Francis Gajowniczek

Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, as an old Catholic priest, stepped forward and volunteered to take the place of Francis. The Nazis accepted the request.

Years later, Francis remembered:

I could only thank him with my eyes. I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on. The immensity of it: I, the condemned, am to live and someone else willingly and voluntarily offers his life for me, a stranger. Is this some dream?

I was put back into my place without having had time to say anything to Maximilian Kolbe. I was saved. ... The news spread quickly all around the camp. It was the first and last time that such an incident happened in the whole history of Auschwitz. (qtd. in TheDivineMercy.org)

The 10 prisoners, including Fr. Maximilian, were sent to one of the camp's blocks to be stripped naked and left to starve and die. However, Fr. Maximilian led the group in hymns and prayers, encouraging them despite their dire situation. He was also often seen kneeling and praying calmly whenever he was checked on. After a few weeks, he was the only survivor of the 10. Wanting to clear out the starvation bunker, the Nazis administered a lethal injection of carbolic acid to Fr. Maximilian Kolbe. Apparently some witnesses to the injection said he willingly offered his arm.

He died in August 1941, and his body was cremated in the ovens at Auschwitz.

While I still admire Katniss' heroic actions and desire to give of herself to protect others, especially the vulnerable, her story is fictitious. I haven't finished reading/watching her story, but I'm sure it comes to a glorious conclusion. However! Her story reminds me a lot of St. Maximilian Kolbe, and I couldn't help but to share his story.

What's compelling to me about Fr. Maximilian Kolbe is that he volunteered his life for someone he didn't really know. A stranger. For Katniss, it makes sense because she did so for her dear sister. Given a similar situation, would I even do that? Am I willing to offer my life in someone else's place, especially for those that I love? Do I even desire to willingly offer my life for the betterment of someone else's? While I will most likely not be called to die on purpose in a major way, what are small ways I can die to myself to better love others? These are questions worth reflecting on.

Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was beatified in 1973 by Pope Paul VI and later canonized as a martyr by Pope John Paul II in 1982. Francis Gajowniczek was present at both ceremonies at the invitation of the respective popes.

For tribute and honor, Catholics celebrate His feast day on August 14. He is a patron saint of drug addicts, against drug addiction, of journalists, of prisoners, and for the pro-life movement.

"Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15: 13)

- JD

Resources and More Info:

St. Maximilian Kolbe / Catholic Online

Saint Maximilian Kolbe / SQPN

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe / American Catholic

Who Is St. Maximilian? / EWTN

The Ideals and Program of the Knights of the Immacula / Consecration, Militia of the Immaculata

Francis Gajowniczek / Wikipedia

'Greater Love Than This No Man Has', Maximilian Kolbe Exemplifies Divine Mercy In Action / The Divine Mercy

---

Photo of The Hunger Games movie poster from The Hunger Games Society blog
Photo of St. Maximilian Kolbe from Wikipedia
Photo of Francis Gajowniczek from Auschwitz.dk

Because of Eli

A little over a month ago, I blogged about this Catholic Answer's radio show featuring Chad Judice as the guest. If you recall, his son, Eli, was diagnosed with spina bifida and wasn't expected to live or have good quality of life. As I heard Chad talk about this story regarding on his son on the radio, I was inspired to hopefully read Chad's books regarding Eli someday.

Well, I didn't mention it after I had written that blog post, but literally the following week I found out my parish's Respect Life Committee would be hosting Chad Judice at our parish in the month of November to kick off their new series of events entitled, "Fridays for Life", where they will invite someone every quarter to talk about pro-lifey things. Like, I had no idea that they were planning on inviting him! So when I found out he would be coming to my parish to come speak, I couldn't pass up that opportunity. 

And that happened the other day!

What did he talk about?

Even though I had heard the basic gist of Eli's story via that radio show and a little bit from Chad's EWTN appearance on The World Over, it was definitely more gripping to listen to him speak in person. He shared with us the state of his life prior to Eli and how normal it was. He's a history teacher and coach, and one time one of his students asked Chad before he got married what his greatest fear was, and he answered with having a child with special needs. Before Eli, Chad's faith was meh.

After giving us this background, he began to recount the process of how he and his wife found out about Eli's condition with spina bifida. Their doctor recommended abortion and for a moment, she considered it. But something stirred within them to decide to keep the baby.

The parts of the entirety of the story that stood out to me were those seemingly miraculous (or coincidental) moments. Chad teaches at a Catholic high school, and it was miraculous to him that hundreds of teenagers genuinely prayed for Eli's healing. This was miraculous to him because our culture today doesn't make it conducive for the average teenager to care about this sort of thing, AND the fact that they prayed showed him that they acknowledged that Eli is in fact a human being in his mother's womb and not just a clump of cells with deformities.

What I also found quite interesting is how the Daily or Sunday Gospel readings over the course of this process seem to fit soooooo well with whatever Chad was dealing with at the time. He shared with us those readings that were cause of hope and inspiration for him at major milestones throughout this process.

Chad also detailed how his life of prayer increased in dealing with all the emotional and spiritual challenges in accepting the fact that his son isn't going to live a normal life. He provided more seemingly miraculous moments when praying at the grave of Charlene Richard, who is on her way to beatification. Chad and his wife went to a "healing priest". His wife received a rose after praying a novena for St. Therese of Lisieux's intercession, which for every knowledgeable Catholic, that's a real deal. And he listed many more instances of how God seemed to have offered him and his wife consolations in their decision to have Eli, but not without challenges.

Eli was born in 2009. Despite spinal and neuro problems from his condition, he's doing pretty good. He cannot walk. He cannot go to the bathroom on his own--someone else has to manually empty his bladder or induce a bowel movement. He's on medications to prevent epilepsy and urinary tract infection. He loves to swim. He loves baseball. He's pretty cognitive despite brain problems. He's in pre-3K. It takes full effort from everyone around him to take care of him. Chad mentioned that his in-laws and his own parents are pretty involved in taking care of him and are on rotation for weekends.

How did this affect me?

I think spent 75% of the time reminding myself not to cry. In my head, I kept saying to myself "Don't cry don't cry don't cry don't cry don't cry!" I guess I was just moved by Chad's inner strength at dealing with all this because I realized that if I were in his shoes, I don't think I could handle it. But that's where his story is inspiring. Chad couldn't handle all this on his own. He realized he had to surrender to God's will, and in doing so, he found the strength to endure this. He also realized that he can longer live for himself. That whole idea of agape love (self-sacrificial love) made manifest in caring for Eli, because without the love and care of others, he would die. But to care for him demands so much time and effort, even if it's inconvenient or unpleasant. Chad said, "love isn't about feelings--it's a decision." And I see in the Judice's lives that self-sacrificial decision to will the good of each other and the good of Eli, which is authentic, profound love. Inspiring!

But yeah, I began to start reflecting on my own prayer life and thinking about my own inner strength while listening to Chad's story. I realized that I have a lot to improve on. Haha sometimes I feel like I'm too Catholic in a group of Catholics, but I'm glad that I had the opportunity to listen to Chad to help me realize that I'm not Catholic enough...that I'm not trusting enough of God's will for my life.

After his talk and taking some questions, I definitely went and bought his two books. The first one, Waiting for Eli, is the story about Eli. The second one, Eli's Reach, is about other people whose lives were affected by learning about Eli's story. Like, seriously--stories of conversion and hope because they've read Chad's first book. He gave us a preview at the end of the talk (ie. shameless plug, but that's understandable). Fascinating! I hope to start these books sometime after I finish some of the current books I'm currently reading!

Anyway, what a cool opportunity to hear him speak. Please pray for him and his family, especially for Eli!

You can follow Chad Judice at www.chadjudice.com, which has links to his social medias and books.

We need stories of hope and inspiration, and be reminded that there's only so much we can do and control. The rest is up to God. And I'm glad I had the opportunity to hear Chad tell this story in person.

Because of Eli.

- JD

Health Centers

I saw a seemingly pretty harsh information article regarding Planned Parenthood. I've put it below, emphasis mine.

---

Deciding what to do about an unplanned pregnancy can be very difficult. It may be made even more difficult by so-called "women's health centers." These are fake clinics run by people who are anti-abortion. They have a history of giving women wrong, biased information to scare them into not having abortions.

These health centers

• may not give you complete and correct information about all your options — abortion, adoption, and parenting
• may try to frighten you with misleading films and pictures to keep you from choosing abortion
• may lie to you about the medical and emotional effects of abortion
• may tell you that you are not pregnant even if you are. This may fool you into continuing your pregnancy without knowing it. If your decision is delayed, it could make abortion more risky. It could also keep you from getting early prenatal care.
• may discourage you from using certain methods of birth control that are very safe and effective

Planned Parenthood health centers often pretend to be real health care providers —but many are not. These fake clinics often trick women with false advertising. They may make women think they will be offered unbiased information and a full range of health services.

Planned Parenthood health centers also sometimes try to trick women by using names that are similar to the names of real reproductive health centers in the neighborhood. Many times, the crisis pregnancy centers are located very close to real reproductive health centers. This makes it easy for women to go to the Planned Parenthood health center by mistake.

How do you avoid a Planned Parenthood health center?

• Don't schedule an appointment unless you are sure it's a legitimate place.
• Ask friends, other health care providers, counselors, or other people you trust for the name of a real health center.
• If you are considering abortion, you can find a list of abortion providers on the National Abortion Federation website.

No health care provider should pressure you into a decision about your pregnancy. All real family planning clinics will give you information about all your options.

Staff at your local crisis pregnancy center can help. They can give you information on all of your options — abortion, adoption, and parenting. And they can talk through your options with you so that you can make the decision that is best for you.

---

Those darn crisis pregnancy centers! Talking about Planned parenthood this way! Don't they know how much women need Planned Parenthood?!

AND.  THIS JUST GOT AWKWARD.

Because...Planned Parenthood doesn't play nice with crisis pregnancy centers. But it's really good about talking about itself. The real article here: Crisis Pregnancy Centers according to Planned Parenthood.

Support your local crisis pregnancy center-that-actually-helps-women-by-tending-to-their-pregnancy-needs-rather-than-force-abortion-because-they-aren't-in-it-to-make-money!

- JD

The Gift of a Special Needs Child

Perhaps one of the big temptations in our modern world is that if you don't like it, get rid of it.

But that shouldn't apply to our kids...and so...it's always touching to hear a miraculous story of hope, perseverance, trust,  and humility when the chosen choice is not to get rid of a child because they have special needs.

I heard this podcast on Catholic Answers featuring Chad Judice, whose second son was born with spinal bifida. He gives a brief recap on their story and answers listeners' questions regarding his story and similar situations.

Sure, Chad and his wife could have aborted their son knowing the prenatal diagnosis ...but...they did not! And listening to the struggles and trials they had to endure in making that life-affirming decision has become inspirational for many, including myself.

Not gonna lie, I nearly wept at work while listening to this. Now I really want to read Chad's books on his son!

Listen here:
The Gift of a Special Needs Child | Catholic Answers

- JD

Eli's Reach // Barnes and Noble

Associate's Day

I'm a big fan of the Franciscan Friars (and sisters, but this is about the friars) of the Renewal. Always have been. They're an awesome group of friars and it's cool that my parish has a close relationship with them (maybe in recent history, two of our own are or have been Franciscans of the Renewal), and it's nice that they have a local friary!

Once a month, usually at the beginning, they host an "associate's day" for us lay people. I've been hearing my some of parish friends talk about attending and how great it is. A lay associate is simply a lay person who desires to share in the spirituality and work of a particular religious community.

Looking at my really busy calendar, I saw that yesterday was a free-enough of a day for me to attend!

Under ordinary circumstances, an associate's day consists of several things. It starts out with Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, a few hours spent with the homeless at a local park, lunch, catechesis, and a Holy Hour.

I arrived at the friary a few minutes past 8AM. I thought I would be late because my dog escaped my residential premises this morning, and it took a little while to coax her back close enough for me to catch her... >_>

No one was really there when I arrived. A few other guys and I walked into the friary and got to chit-chat with the friars while we waited for everyone to show up. I met Br. Isaiah, who I have never met or seen before. I also met Fr. Leo, who apparently is just visiting since he's assigned to some town in England (I forget the name). He apparently is a home grown local and a Tech Red Raider. He is visiting because he needs to receive some surgery.

This was my second time inside their humble abode. After a while, I want to say like 40 people showed up? A good chunk were familiar faces from my parish! 

Because yesterday was the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the friars did a renewal of lay associate promises. Lay associates can commit themselves for a full year of dedication to the spirituality and mission of the Friars of Renewal. I got to partially take part in that even though this was my first time. By partially, I mean that everyone present participated in reciting the prayer, but only the candidates who wanted to be official lay associates stated their name during the prayer. The friars keep a list ;-). Haha I didn't put myself on that list...this time.

After that brief ceremony, if you will, we went into catchesis to learn more about an aspect of the faith. In the past few associate's days, Fr. Pio had been explaining the Mass and its different parts. Apparently last month, he had wrapped up talking about Eucharistic Prayer I, and yesterday he explained Eucharistic Prayers II through IV and the end of the Mass.

Wow! I learned a lot! I didn't realize there was a lot of theological, Scriptural, symbolic richness to the Mass! I mean...I knew, but not the details! And even then, I only got part of the Mass since I wasn't there when Fr. Pio explained the beginning parts of the Mass!

Fr. Pio finished his talk, took some questions, then jetted out of there to catch a flight to Chicago to talk more about his experiences in a visit to China where it's really tough to be Catholic. While trying to digest all he had said and all that I learned, we all went into brunch mode.

As I found out at some point, the friars weren't going to take us to the park where, under ordinary circumstances, we we would hang out and help the homeless. And then I also found out that they wouldn't be doing a Holy Hour of Adoration. Instead, there would be brunch and then we would be joining our diocese's Respect Life committee for a Mass in memorial of babies lost before baptism celebrated by our diocesan administrator (since we don't have a bishop...yet).

So, brunch mode. That explained why I saw many other associates bring food through the friary door earlier in the morning. It was a scrumptious spread of dessert and breakfast-type foods! Speaking of food coming through the friary door, one of my parish friends works at Panera Bread, and on Friday night he was able to obtain the leftover breads. He sincerely wanted to donate the bread to the poor and homeless somewhere, and knowing that some of us from my parish were going to the friary, he decided to join along but arriving later. I saw him walk through the door with his bags and bags of breads. What a good way to make use of that bread since I know the friars will definitely distribute it amongst the poor and homeless that they work with!

After much mingling with others, we all left the friary to go to the Mass at another nearby Catholic church.

Haha, it was funny on our way out. I carpooled with two of my parish buddies, and as we pulled out of the parking lot of the friary, Fr. Leo flags us down. Apparently he needed to catch a ride to the church because he was going to concelebrate the Mass.

We arrived at the church and walked in. I had never been in this particular church before, but I could have had an opportunity for Wedding #3B but it conflicted with Wedding #3A. Oh if only I had the gift of bi-location to be at both weddings at the same time!

Beautiful church though! The stain glass windows were recently cleaned and fixed up and you can tell! They had an adult My Size Mary Statue outside that was pretty cool. Oh if only I took a picture ....

Like I said, the Mass was for unborn babies lost before baptism. This includes those babies lost due to abortion, also miscarriages and illnesses as well. And while I could go into writing about why Catholics baptize babies and how important that is, that would make this post too lengthy.

It was cool because I saw some of my brother Knights of Columbus, of the 4th degree, were dressed in their full ceremonial regalia (feathered hat, cape, saber, sash, etc). If I ever see them, that means its a special occasion for sure! There was a part during the Mass (between Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist) where people processed down the aisle to place a rose at the feet of Mary (ie. place the roses at the feet of a Mary statue at the side of the sanctuary). I don't quite know the significance of this other than A) it was Saturday AKA Mary's day B) the Mass was dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and C) each rose placed is in memoriam of a baby lost before baptism. Solemn stuff.

After Mass, there was a reception. I made the comment to my parish friends that you could never go hungry at Catholic events because you'll always be fed--spiritually and physically. I mean, we just had brunch not too long ago... Haha. At the reception, I got to do more mingling. Then...went home.

So there you have it! While I fully intended to experience a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal lay associate's day, it didn't end up being that way. But that's okay! I still had a very good experience praying with, hanging out with, and Mass-ing with my fellow brothers and sisters! While I think next month might be a challenge for me to go to associate's day, I'm for sure wanting to come back for December!

Beards.
- JD

The Community of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal // CFRtexas.com