Monday, November 21, 2016

Story & Quote

Here is a beautiful glimpse of one love story: Humans of New York Post - in sickness and in health...



"Some are called to holiness through family life in the sacrament of marriage. Today, there are those who say that marriage is out of fashion. Is it out of fashion? In a culture of relativism and the ephemeral, many preach the importance of ‘enjoying’ the moment. They say that it is not worth making a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘for ever,' because we do not know what tomorrow will bring. I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility, that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you."

-Pope Francis

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Wholeheartedly

Lord, please help me stop loving so poorly. 
Please show me the ways to love unconditionally.


St. Francis Prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.



Tuesday, November 8, 2016

November 9

"I have a prediction. I know exactly what November 9 will bring. Another day of God’s perfect sovereignty. He will still be in charge. His throne will still be occupied. He will still manage the affairs of the world. Never before has His providence depended on a king, president, or ruler. And it won’t on November 9, 2016." 
- Max Lucado




“A king's heart is channeled water in the hand of the Lord; God directs it wherever he pleases.” (Proverbs 21:1).



"Understanding God’s sovereignty over the nations opens the door to peace. When we realize that God influences the hearts of all rulers, we can then choose to pray for them rather than fret about them. Rather than wring our hands we bend our knees, we select prayer over despair."
-Max Lucado

Saturday, November 5, 2016

God, I choose to love you

...even if I keep failing.



“This is what it means to live in heroic confidence: To be able to say I am Yours. Jesus, you hold me in your hands and even if I experience death, no one can snatch me from your hands. Jesus, you are the good shepherd. I belong to you, and even if my life never recovers and that my heart is always broken. Even if I lose everything. I will always be held by you. This is what it is to have heroic confidence. To say I am yours God. Even if. “


-from a talk by Fr. Mike Schmitz

Monday, October 31, 2016

Small Lens

How do we live life with the recognition of our brothers and sisters in Christ that are suffering through things we may never fully understand? How can we connect our hearts with theirs not just for the mere moments when we hear of news, but in the midst of our days and throughout our lives? What is to blame than my own fallenness to prioritize my self and seek fulfillment before being shaken to the core to realize that I am not the center of the world. 


"I wish to lose myself and never find myself except in God." 
-St. John Vianney

Thursday, October 20, 2016

The Ocean


"Whenever you find yourself inclined to diffidence, lift up your heart lovingly to God, and be assured that your defects are, in the sight of His infinite goodness, but as a few threads of tow cast into a sea of fire. Figure to yourself a burning surface, as vast as the hemisphere we inhabit; if a piece of tow were thrown into it, would---it not be so absorbed in the fire as instantly to disappear? "Our God is a consuming fire," and our imperfections, compared with His goodness, are what a piece of tow is to the furnace. When, therefore, we have fallen, let us humble ourselves sorrowfully in His presence, and then, with an act of unbounded confidence, let us throw ourselves into the ocean of His goodness, where every failing will be canceled, and anxiety will be turned into love."
 - St. Paul of the Cross



with sincerity,
Ahhhh-me

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Longing His Will

Repeating this quote in my head (+1000 times)

"If it is not an act of love, it is not the will of God." 
 -Fr. Larry Richard


Friday, September 30, 2016

Strong Enough

A friend of mine recently shared this quote that was hand written in the front of his Magnificat:

"Accept with joy the circumstances that are placed in your life, because these are the means God has placed for you to become holy."


The quote came from a book he had read. I am still trying to find the book source. 

Fr. Mike actually talks about that too, in his youtube video titled Will God Heal My Wounds?


Lord, grant that we may fix our eyes on your Cross. In times of gladness and sadness, that we may unite it with your love for us. Help us to be attentive to others. Fill us with your graces to distinguish compassion and pity when others are in distress. Purify our hearts. Amen. 

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Suscipe

[Photos from a morning jog through the fog]

I recently learned that "suscipe" is the Latin word for "receive."
St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote a prayer titled Suscipe:

Receive, O Lord, all my liberty. Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. Whatsoever I have or possess Thou hast bestowed upon me; I give it all back to Thee and surrender it wholly to be governed by Thy Will. Give me love for Thee alone along with Thy grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.


Now Playing: Touch The Sky by Hillsong UNITED

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

To the girl without a father


I pray for you.
I long for you to know your worth.
I pray for you to realize that you are beautiful.
I know that you may be confused, frustrated, exhausted.
Sometimes you may feel lonely, fighting the good fight alone.
and that you have to keep eyes on your back, to always be on guard.
As if in this world, you are unprotected.
You may have fallen into the trap of letting the words of the wrong man define you.
You may experience that deep sense of longing.
A long for protection, affection, through love.
My fear is that you fell into the lies that this world feeds on.
Or settle for a man that cannot see you as God sees you.
What could have first looked as assertiveness could turn to possessiveness and aggression.
Yet that spark in your eyes and that hole in your heart keep steering your sight.
and what you  deeply want is
just to see the truth.
and sense of courage
and to be in sync with the Spirit that guides your soul to the path of the Cross.
But at times, the days look dull.
Yet you pull a front face, while in truth, how delicate are your bones.
It is a fact, that growing up fatherless  can pierce a part of child's life. 
---
God please,
heal the souls of the broken. 
---
God is with you.
He will hold you.
He will protect you.
and He will always love you.

Maybe we all are like this butterfly that has a broken wing.
Nevertheless, beautiful creations. 
Only made complete through Him. 

Monday, September 5, 2016

Vocation to Charity


"Love to be real, it must cost-it must hurt- it must empty us of self."
-Mother Teresa

Missionaries of Charity convent in DC.
Back in 2011, a group of friends and I got the opportunity to visit the Missionaries of Charity in DC. We had a short project to help with the garden and we even got to pray in their chapel.

A gift from the sisters.

“The task which the Lord gives us ... is the vocation to charity in which each of Christ's disciples puts his or her entire life at his service, so to grow each day in love,”
-Pope Francis
(News article from C.N.A.)

This picture makes me so happy. I remember the sight of it all.
"Perhaps I don't speak their language, but I can smile."
-Mother Teresa

Dios mio, please grant us the graces to become the best versions of ourselves in Your image. Help us to radiate Your love, so that each time we encounter someone, they see You. That we may be use as instruments, surrendering it all so that our wills become Your will. Please teach us to trust You and never forget to love.  And that each day, we may grow to know You better. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Evening Post

Today's homily reminded me:

To be honestly grateful.
The look of DC through lenses


Not just to wait until someone asks me how I am doing, but to already have the mindset and attitude that we are truly blessed.

As a silly side post. I am preparing myself for another day. A gift. Truly thankful for coffeeeeeeee!

Notice the caption. Some may say it is true for them too. :P 
Buenos Nachos,
Ahhhh-meee.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Graces For Every Day

Here is a prayer (revised) from a book titled "Graces For Every Day" that captivated my heart when I heard it this past week. Thank you to Sheryl for introducing it to me:

Summer sunset in the Midwest

"Lord, fill us with Your love. Help us to look at others as You look at us, for we never know what another soul is feeling or going through. Lord, keep us from becoming cold and hardened by the world. Teach us Your compassion; may we always be willing to help our neighbors without first having to be ask. Please bless us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen."


Foggy morning
with love,
Ahhh-me

Monday, August 15, 2016

Smile

We are made in His image



The music video really hits my heart. May we never forget to love. May we never forget to pray for others. 

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Cake Topper


“Love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery.”
 - Arcbishop Fulton Sheen


A cake topper from a friend's wedding. There is something magical about the natural bokeh effect that appears when using telephoto lenses.   
Buenos nachos,
Ahhh me


Sunday, June 19, 2016

Sunsets and Joy




"Talking about our problems has become our greatest addiction. Break the habit – talk about your joys."
-Rita Schiano
Spring time in the midwest

Another spring time sunset

Well, that quote hit the spot. But then, I realized that the word "joy" is even hard for me to grasp. So I looked it up: "The Difference Between Joy And Happiness"

Today my joy were from the people I encountered, because God allowed the opportunity for us to greet each other with a smile, and therefore; to love.

Good night,
Amy

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Lord, I need You


"You are the one that guides my heart."


Now Playing: Matt Maher songs

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Trust in You

"Keep me safe, O God; in You I take refuge." -Psalm 16:1

Haiti

Monday, April 18, 2016

Humility and holiness

Happy Monday!
Here are two quotes from a saint that showed the beauty in humility. She felt called to serve the poorest. Also known as the silent saint.

"Refuse God nothing... We must do everything through love." 



"My little ones, never forget that the poor are our Lord. In caring for the poor say to yourself, this is for my Jesus- what a great grace!"

-st. Jeanne
From the Little Sisters of the Poor



Thursday, April 7, 2016

The Perfect Joy

Happy Thursday!

So I am reading Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality, and this little snippet was something that struck me:

 Sincerely,
Yellow-Balloon Amy


Tuesday, March 29, 2016

"Faith is the art of holding on to things in spite of your changing moods and circumstances.” - C.S. Lewis
 


Saturday, March 12, 2016

Trusting God in the desolated times

Now Playing: Yet I will praise you - Vineyard Music

"and I will not forget that you hung on the Cross. Lord, you bled and died for me. 
and if I have to suffer, I know that You've been there, and I know that You are here now. "



"Even when my heart is torn, I will trust you Lord. 
Even when I feel deserted, I will trust you Lord. 
Even in the darkest valleys, I will trust you Lord. 
and when my world is shattered, and it seems all hope is gone. 
Yet I will praise you Lord. "

In times of suffering, it is truly hard to see the beauty in our life. Yet, there is so much beauty to be found in the midst of suffering, and in ways these are the times when we can come closer to knowing God and offer up our pains for the souls of others. 

As hard as it for me to acknowledge this sometimes, I pray that those in the midst of suffering can attempt to find truth, beauty, and goodness in the midst of suffering. 

You are not alone in these trialled times. God loves you so much!

Even if you can't see that or feel a hint of that, I hope that you have that seed of faith that will soon blossom to something so big and beautiful. 

Jesus, I trust in You. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and because some of us like "recipes" for dealing with things: 
  • Pray 
    • Let this suffering be in your prayers as an offering for special intentions
    • Sing, kneel, or just sit on a pew. There is no recipe for this, God wants you as you are.
    • "Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at his disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts." - Blessed Mother Teresa
  • Attend Daily Mass
    • Don't be discouraged by your emotions to prevent you from going. God loves you, knows you, and wants to heal you. Let Go and Let God.
  • Visit Adoration chapel (or just a chapel)
    • Again, don't be discourage of passing this opportunity because of your emotions.
  • Console with loved ones (do not bottle things)
    • This applies to everyone differently, but do not let yourself sink from this suffering. 
  • Go to Confession
in a lighter tone, here are things to do:
  • Be with friends and/or family (if you are ready)
  • Serve others (you have a gift that can be given)
  • Be outside (running, walking, biking, etc)
in a lighter lighter tone....
  • Go to a Petland and play with puppies! (They let you play with them for free)




This puppy was adorable! She was so melancholic at first, because she just wanted to lay in the ground and put her head down. If I could keep her,  I would name her Eeyore. I joked that she empathize with me. It brought a joy that she became playful after lots of petting.

Lastly, I would say that there are good and bad ways to deal with suffering. I pray that God grants you the ability to distinguish between the two. 

You are loved!

Ahhhh-meee