And Now to Write

This morning, I was thinking a bit about what I would respond if someone who had left the Catholic Church asked me why I choose to stay. While there are a whole bunch of reasons I could give, I would probably focus on two things: the Eucharist and being able to experience God's mercy in Reconciliation. How I could never give up that intimate contact with my beloved. Sitting with that answer, particularly in light of calling the Lord my beloved. In the context of receiving the Eucharist, that is when the Body and Blood of Jesus becomes one with His Church. Two become one flesh. When we eat something, it is literally incorporated into our bodies. 1  In this way, the Divine Bridegroom becomes one with His bride. And, moving along the lines of two becoming one flesh, this union is to bear fruit and bring life into this world that is dying of sin. This is the wedding feast of the lamb - what we call the Mass. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives His Body and Blood to us. He desires to be ...

Well, the new year is upon us! It's a perfect time to reflect on how we've done with our resolutions from last year as we plan new ones for 2020. In that vein, I'm coming full circle with this blog, by revisiting an old topic . Toward the close of 2018, I had chosen my word to focus on for 2019: everything. I wasn't entirely sure what that would mean, but that's what I felt drawn to. While I had spit balled a couple of ideas in that blog post, they only felt like that - sketches of ideas. I had noted that "everything" didn't just mean surrendering everything. It also involved God's presence in every situation, rejoicing in everything, and knowing everything that is good comes from Him. But I didn't quite know where to go with all of that. So, I unknowingly embarked on a mission to answer two questions: Is there something that unifies all of the ways the word "everything" is used in the spiritual life? Is it possible to grow in ...

The question "how are you doing?" is an interesting one. Wondering where am I going with that statement? Stop and think about the word "how." It is usually used when describing a process, whether it is outlining the process itself or discussing its quality. After all, the first three definitions for "how" are "in what way or manner," "to what degree or extent," and "in what state or condition" according to Merriam-Webster. Consider the structure of your own "how" conversations. When asked how a project is going, you launch into a commentary about your progress and hindrances. You talk about a process - giving some degree of background about the process itself and then evaluating it. The interesting thing is when we apply the how question to a person. We tend to give a "feeling check" as a response or choose whatever it is we want that question to refer to and answer that way. We might respond as if the ...

When encountering a Christian giving a mini testimonial, there are certain phrases you might hear. "Before I knew Christ...," "Before I converted...," "If I hadn't ___, then..." are a couple that come to mind. One time at Mass, one of these types of thoughts came out of nowhere to grab my attention: "If God didn't exist...." It's an interesting phrase. When it's used, the unspoken assumption tends to be that life as we know it would still be, well, as we know it. Maybe a couple specific tweaks depending on the argument, but at its core, the person speaking assumes existence. I know that approach has its place, but what if that thought is followed along the lines of what theists believe. Theists believe that God is the  creator of everything. So, if God didn't exist, nothing would exist. Close your eyes and try picturing that.                                             ...

As many of my close friends know, I have a soft spot for environmental concerns. Growing up, I have memories of my brother trying to insult me by calling me a "tree hugger," to which I would respond by ginning and hugging whatever tree was nearby. Being in nature is one of my happy places. When I would think of my dream home during high school, it always included woods in the backyard or at least within a minute or two's walking distance. One of my answers to "what would you do if you won a million dollars" was to buy a large piece of wooded/marsh land that is being earmarked for development and turn it into a preserve with a nature education center instead. During undergrad my love for nature took on a slightly different form. When I learned the science behind climate change and how maltreatment of the environment often disproportionately impacts the poorest of the poor, my heart was grabbed. Instead of simply enjoying nature and getting upset when another co...

Good news: I'm learning interesting things in my classes. Even better news: I'm passing some of that knowledge on to you! Don't worry, though. I'm not going to go on a vaccine rant or spew out math equations at you. I want to give you a tool of sorts that you can easily use in your day-to-day life. What is this magnificent thing I felt the need to tell you about? Well, it's nothing new. It's the question we hate getting bombarded by: "Why?" I know, this is earth-shattering. But really, this is a super helpful question, especially when asked over and over again. My professor in my social epidemiology class started our semester with this approach, and I'm going to show you via her example why I think this is so important. Her main research interest is the effects of smoking on pregnancy. Now from the outset, you're probably thinking, "This topic is pretty closed. Don't smoke while you're pregnant." Ok, well consider women who ...

If you grew up in a Jewish or Christian household, you've heard the phrase "keep holy the sabbath" before. For both religions, a big part of this is to not do work on one day of the weekend.  For Jews, this is Saturday; for Christians, this is Sunday (the Lord's Day). For the sake of keeping things easily readable and as accurate as I can write them, I'm going to continue this post from the Christian tradition.   Side note: if the difference in days piques your interest, check out this passage of a book that chronicles the history of the Christian Sunday (and partially inspired this post) or this article . From the outset, this command seems pretty simple. Don't clock in to your job on a Sunday, or if you're a student, don't do your homework on a Sunday. Of course, there are some exceptions like nurses, firemen, police officers, etc. But, for most of us, we aren't exempt from the "no work" command. I know there might not seem to be muc...