A Much Needed Reminder

I haven’t been great at going to church lately.  I’m not proud of it, but I’m being honest.  Attending Mass had been on the backburner lately.  It all started a few months ago when week after week we left Mass feeling like we had just attending a political presentation.  I don’t go to Mass to hear political opinions.  Frankly, I hate hearing about politics during Mass.  I got discouraged and I was slightly embarrassed by the homilies.  It wasn’t good.  I decided to take a break for a little while and then I started feeling guilty for taking a break from Mass.  So, this past weekend Ryan and I went to Mass.  I prayed for a homily that would inspire us, speak to us and rejuvenate my spirit to come back to Mass.  Boy oh Boy, were my prayers heard alright! 

Father gave a beautiful homily on humility.  At times he went a little extreme and made it sound that accomplishments and success are to be looked down upon, which I completely disagree with because when you work hard and succeed, you should be proud of your accomplishments.  Not proud in a boasting, I’m better than you manner, but a healthy sense of accomplishment isn’t anything to be ashamed about in my opinion.  Father spoke about humility and how with humility comes a great love and appreciation for others.  When we are humble, we open our hearts to others, accept others, and understand others better because we aren’t judging, we aren’t competing and we don’t have a sense of entitlement.  He reminded us that only God knows the inner workings of our hearts.  Only God knows the motives behind each action.  Only God knows what we have experienced and how we have been impacted.  Only God truly knows who we are.  God is all-knowing and only God can truly judge us.

This homily was exactly what Ryan and I needed.  We can both become overly confident and judgmental at times.  It’s a definitely weakness of ours.  I’m grateful that we heard this beautiful homily and were reminded that we need the Lord in our life and we need to be more understanding and loving to all of humanity.  Only God knows what’s in our hearts. 

A Prayer for the Virtue of Humility:

Lord Jesus,

When You walked the earth, Your humility obscured Your Kingship. Your meekness confused the arrogant, Hindering them from grasping Your purpose, Your nobleness attending to the destitutes. Teach me to model after Your eminence, to subject my human nature to humility. Grant me a natural inclination to never view myself greater than anyone. Banish all lingering sparks of self-importance That could elevate me greater than You. Let my heart always imitate Your humility! Amen.

I definitely feel much more fulfilled after attending Mass.  It’s truly amazing how much my soul thrives off of experiencing the Mass.  It is who I am and I have been abandoning it for selfish reasons.  I am still learning and growing in my faith and understanding of how much my faith influences my life.  While Mass was lacking in my life, Prayer was very active.  Prayer is an integral part of my life, but not in a traditional sense.  I pray while I drive, I pray while I walk, I pray for people when I’m reminded of them by a smell, a song, a flower, an image, you name it.  Before I go to bed, I pray traditional prayers.  All day long, I pray nontraditionally, more conversational.  Before meals, I whisper a prayer of thanks.  Before dinner, we pray as a family.  When I see the moon, I pray one of my favorite prayers:

I see the moon.

The moon sees me.

God bless the moon

And God bless me.

Amen.

One reason I am super stoked to have kids is to teach them all the amazing children’s prayers out there today!  There are so many wonderful books that are packed full of beautiful prayers and stunning pictures!  One day…

Much love.