Luminaries, part II

OK, so this post is a LITTLE late, but better late than never. On Christmas Eve, we finally put out the luminary display, after months of anticipation. About 150 of the luminaries were sponsored by parishioner-donors, and the others were purchased by parents and friends of the youth group. The proceeds were designated to support our World Youth Day 2008 pilgrims.

We set the display up starting around 5 p.m., so that people going into the first vigil Mass wouldn't have to deal with all the clutter. Man, did we have to work! The idea was to get the display set up and lit up by about 5:45 p.m. so that Massgoers leaving would be able to see and enjoy it. We left it up through the end of the following Mass and the beginning of the Pastorela, the Spanish-language nativity pageant. Then down it came in a record 10 minutes! Many hands make light work! With approximately 300 luminaries, it was a really beautiful display of Christian hope in the Father's great love for us!

Thanks to all who helped!

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Join the Rosary Army

Your rosary is like a little chapel or church that you can carry around with you wherever you go. When things get hard, when you are very grateful, or when you're just bored, you can whoop it out and let 'er rip. Or you can just stick your hand in your pocket and pray it under cover. Go to the Rosary Army website for lots of great resources.

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Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico

Are you familiar with the story of San Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe?

(To read the original story, click here,......go ahead! Take a few seconds to read it!)

If not, here's the "reader's digest" version......long ago, Our Lady appeared several times to San Juan Diego on a little hill in Mexico with a request. She longed for a chapel to be built there. She wanted a holy place where people from all over could come to find rest and to worship her Son. She sent Juan Diego to the local bishop to ask him to build it. Juan made several visits to the bishop and each time, he turned him away. Finally, he told Juan Diego not to come back unless he brought some kind of sign from the Virgin. The bishop wanted proof that Juan was really being visited by our Heavenly Queen.

Juan Diego asked Mary for a sign to take to the bishop and she told him to pick some roses that were growing there. (These roses typically did not grow in Mexico in that time of year.) Then, she gracefully and with much care arranged them in his tilma (his shirt or cloak). Holding them carefully, Juan Diego returned to the bishop and opened his tilma, spilling the roses to the floor. Much to his surprise, on his shirt where Mary had arranged the roses so lovingly, was the image of the beautiful Virgin herself!

This image still exists and is displayed at a grand basilica in Mexico City where people from all over the world come to worship God and to honor His mother.

Take a moment to reflect on these words of Mama Mary, spoken so long ago to San Juan Diego. They still resound from Tepeyac Hill.....as if she is speaking to each of us, her youngest and dearest children:

"LISTEN. PUT IT INTO YOUR HEART, MY YOUNGEST AND DEAREST SON, THAT THE THING THAT FRIGHTENED YOU, THE THING THAT AFFLICTED YOU IS NOTHING: DO NOT LET IT DISTURB YOU: DO NOT FEAR THIS SICKNESS NOR ANY OTHER SICKNESS, NOR ANY SHARP AND HURTFUL THING. AM I NOT HERE, I, WHO AM YOUR MOTHER? ARE YOU NOT UNDER MY SHADOW AND PROTECTION? AM I NOT THE SOURCE OF YOUR JOY? ARE YOU NOT IN THE HOLLOW OF MY MANTLE, IN THE CROSSING OF MY ARMS? DO YOU NEED SOMETHING MORE? "

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Pilgrimage

We're Back

We have returned safely from Mexico. We had some pretty amazing experiences! Please know that we prayed for all of you and your intentions at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and in each church; at every Mass; and while we traveled. May God bless each of you for your prayers and support for our trip as well!

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A Bright Idea

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is coming to

GAITHERSBURG!!!

Well, not exactly.

But he IS coming to Washington, D.C., and that's just a few miles away! While he is here, there will be several events open to the public, including a Mass offered by the Holy Father at National's Stadium. These events are free, but to help regulate crowd control, typically require a ticket to get in.

So here's the bright idea. Let's get tickets and go!

Psych. The tickets will be really hard to get - usually a lottery will determine who goes to the Mass. So let's pray. Maybe God WANTS the St. Martin Youth Group to go, and all we have to do is ask Him to get us the tickets. If you'd like to go, leave a comment to this post, and start praying your guts out!

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Getting a Bigger Heart

Two things will make our heart bigger: getting gifts gratefully and giving gifts graciously.

Getting gifts, receiving what others want to share with us, might just make us more greedy. It might make us think that we DESERVE what we have received. When we receive a gift, we have to do it with gratitude: saying and meaning, "You were really free not to give me that gift but you did anyway, not to get something, but just because you care for me. Thank you."

Giving gifts might not make our hearts bigger, but just more conniving and scheming. How could that happen? If we give a gift hoping to get something back, we will almost certainly be upset if the recipient doesn't give us what we secretly wanted. If we want to make a business transaction, say, a mix CD for $5, that's fine. But if we want to give a gift, we must do so for free, graciously, "just because I care." Very often, when we give gifts we do so for reasons that are hidden even to ourselves. How often have we given a gift so someone will give something back: another gift, or so that someone else will like us more, etc.? When we give a gift, we should do it so freely that we will give it even if the recipient doesn't even say, "Thank you."

Grateful gift-getting and gracious gift-giving put love into concrete action in a way that expands our heart. When we give a gift freely, rather than losing something we gain people who will live in our heart. When we receive a gift with gratitude, our hearts expand and make room for more people to move in.

It is no coincidence that in many languages, the words for free-of-charge and thank you are very similar. In Spanish, for instance, thank you is gracias and free-of-charge is gratis.

The ability to give and receive freely is beyond us. Try to give something sacrificial to someone who neither will nor can make a repayment. For instance, don't give $1 to a homeless person - give him $50. Ouch. Here is the last it's-no-coincidence. It is no coincidence that in many languages the word for thank you is gracias and the word for grace is gracia. Grace is not just being able to dance well or move in a beautiful way or speak well. Grace is God's life of joyful love shared with us. It is like a spiritual blood transfusion. God takes His Heart and His Blood and puts them into us so we can think, feel, act, and live as He does. That's why the Son of God took on human nature, so He could share with us His Divine Nature. If He wants to take His Flesh and Blood and put them into us to change how we love... can you guess how He does such a thing?

Let's spend this Advent time preparing for Christmas by making confessing our sins so that we can make very holy communions, and spending time with Jesus asking Him to help us appreciate His free gift to us.

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look out, tupac!

In a really, really weird way, the video below kinda summarizes our C. A. #28 Retreat experience. Enjoy!

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A Weekend of Mystery

I'd like to tell you the story of some very funny....very mischievous teenagers who embarked on a journey to play pranks on their poor...innocent youth minister this weekend....a.k.a ME! In a game-like fashion they secretly hid my toothbrush in the gazebo, my shoes in the chapel, my hair gel in the refrigerator, and my pillow in Rogerio's cabin! As in all good mysteries, the hooligans left me clues; hand- written in red ink.... leading me on an adventure to find my missing belongings. I found the toothbrush, hair gel, shoes and pillow, but guess what else was missing......my mattress!!! Now....I would like to know how a group of teenagers can pick up a mattress and hide it....without me noticing! Way to go guys....this was a good one! It seems that everyone was in on it....even our adult volunteers. Late Saturday night, my mattress reappeared and all was well that ended well.

So why do I tell you the story of my incredible plight? Well you see.....since our return, my coat has been missing....and well, I am beginning to wonder where I'll find the next clue....

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