Oh No, Life feels dry is something wrong with me?; Lent and Prayer

In this lenten season, we have the tendency of perhaps complaining or boasting of our lenten sacrifices or offerings. During this lenten season, it is a time for us to better ourselves as people and as faithful servants of God.

It may seem pretty panic-stricken when all you see on social media are people posting of how fruitful their lent has been. That is great for them, but is it also great if it has been hard.

It is supposed to be a challenge. 

If you feel as though, it has been nothing but difficult and you've failed more than you would like to admit, that is okay.

We are human, we are bound to fail. We are bound to fall back into old habits.

If we are struggling, it only means that we are trying.

When we experience no struggle, that is when it is dangerous.

If your prayer has been dry, embrace it.

If all you have been feeling is "Meh" ask yourself, why do I feel this way?

Chances are, we are not taking time to appreciate beauty around us. We are so caught up in life, we forget to stop and smell the roses. 

We won't always be in this dry season. It is just that we have to try harder.

God wants us to try more and persevere through it.

That is when we grow. We grow when we least feel it, when we least want to. 

As long as the effort is there, you do your part and God will do his.

If you keep failing on your lenten service, don't give up. Follow through with it and make it through the end. Your rewards will be far greater than you imagined. 

Not Made for [C o m f o r t]

It is that time of the year again, Lent.
A time where Ash Wednesday is packed with people trying to get dark ash on their forehead so they could proclaim to the world their faith. A time where we causally lay off certain junk foods for fourty days only to complain the entire time, nag and go right back and indulge on it come Easter Sunday.
It is a time where we constantly forget that we can't have meat on Friday so we settle for fish.
This is supposed to be a time of change, NOT ROUTINE.
We are called to leave our comfort zone and venture out to a small taste of what Christ endured.
There are a few things I need to clarify.
The church should not simply be packed with people for Ash Wednesday. But every day, or at least every Sunday. Within this area, there are multiple Catholic Churches that offer daily mass as various times throughout the day.
The ashes on our forehead are not to proclaim to the world of our faith, though it does fulfill that purpose. It is mean to remind us of our sinfulness and how we must repent.
Our Lent sacrifice should consist more of simply junk food,
Our lent offering should draw us closer to God.
Find something in your life that keeps you from God.
This is a time for us to be uncomfortable, and offer up that to God.
This is a time for us to change our bad habits into something good.

If that means waking up a little earlier, than so be it.

We are called to suffer and to be in pain, not all the time but for some time.
This does not mean we should seek this out, but if it be done according to God's will, then acceptingly embrace your Cross he has bestowed upon you. Accept your Cross God has blessed you with.
How much better does accomplishment feel when you know that you have put so much into it?
Our journey with Christ is not a day a year, it is not one simple task, it is a marathon, So do not sprint, Since we are not of this world, we will not find complete comfort and rest in earthly matters.
Enjoy the things we have been given, but do not take them for granted or be satisfied in them.
Our only satisfaction should come from Christ.
"Our souls are restless until they rest in thee" St. Augustine,

C O M M U N I T Y

Today we live in a culture very much centered around independence. We do everything ourselves because accepting help from others is seen as weakness. In doing everything ourselves, we forget we are only human. We forget the fact that we forget, and we mess up and we cannot hold the world on our shoulders.

Because we are so isolated in this world, sharing our lives with others, accepting or asking for help seems weak. 

Well guess what? WE ARE.

WE ARE only human who mess up

WE ARE a race that needs help from others

WE ARE not helping ourselves by refusing or not seeking help from others.

I cannot stress how important community or fellowship is.

In trying to reach goals, you need ACCOUNTABILITY to help you. With accountability you have someone to keep you on track and remind you of your goals and strength when you forget.

We need people to tell us how it is.

Especially in our spirituality and our walk with Christ.

If we do not have someone or several others helping us stay on task, we will fail to see our own sin.

We need someone to call us onto holiness. We need someone to direct us toward Christ when we are feeling down.

Find people to keep you on track, whether it be for your faith life or goals you want to reach.

We have one another one this planet for as reason. Asking for help is strength not weakness.

It is strength in admitting that we are only humans who are not perfect but are striving to be or striving to better ourselves and accept who we are.

This Season

I remember those times when Christmas was about presents and I was disappointed most Christmases because I didn't get what I wanted.

I attempted to find fulfilment and lasting happiness in materialistic gifts. The happiness was fleeting. I wanted to feel complete and satisfied. I never got that and I always wondered why. 

Everyone always remind me about Jesus and his birthday and how It was his day. I always found it annoying. But the older I got the more I understood that happiness does not come from gifts. It comes from love. Love given by family, friends and Christ. True, genuine love is more than the giddy feelings. It's about unconditional love. Loving the good, bad, ugly, pretty, messy and clean parts of our soul.

 In a world that thrives on the "feel-good" motto, holidays are robbed of their true meaning. It has turned into being about spending, buying, pleasing,and satisfying. We buy gifts for people simply to please them. We panic thinking they need to be of high quality and expensive. We spend money we don't have to buy things we don't need.

That is what our world is. No longer is it about family, or enjoying others company because technology has robbed us of company. 

We shouldn't want to wait until the holidays are over. We should enjoy the time we have with people we seldom see because immediately it could call be taken away from us. Death is inevitable and we spend a large portion of our life bitterly complaining about family. 

Family is not perfect but it is what you have, they may not love you the way you need to be loved but be thankful for the family you have. Whatever holiday you celebrate, look at the good though it may be difficult and count what you have instead of what you don't have. And in this, you'll discover the happiness you attempted to get from presents when you were a child.

Life lesson learned in three weeks time

After running my marathon, it was like my life has fulfilled its purpose and everything sort of stopped.

I had stopped running, I was still "recovering" two weeks after the marathon. I made up more excuses, woke up later than usual. And l felt lazier, cranky, stressed and overwhelmed.

Needless to say I had set goals, accomplished them but failed to continue on after.

This would take discipline, a lot of it. God supplied me with the grace to wake up each and every morning during the summer to train but I simply could not for the life of me have the discipline during this time. Maybe school, extra curricular activities and church played a part because that needed my energy but I definitely was being a baby in denying my body the exercise it needed. Sure I went to the gym but it was not the same.

You need discipline not just for running but for anything you want to accomplish. As for me, I struggled with consistency. It made me question what I was running for. Did I run for goals, or for health and sanity? 

I made up plenty of excuses and oh how all of them were baloney. I HAD the time to run, I HAD the support to get up in the morning; my mom runs several days of the week; so what stopped me? 

To tell you the truth, It was laziness. It has gotten the better of me. Once you identify the problem, it is easier to fix. If you cannot pinpoint your problem, the first step is to recognize it.  

Running clears my mind and give me sanity. It makes me realize the world will not end if I fail. I am human and striving for perfection is okay but I am not perfect.

Everything will come together with patience, dedication, passion and hope.

No longer will I lay in bed those hours I could be running, I will be productive.

No longer will I waste my precious minutes on reckless social media, I will make a schedule and discipline myself to follow it.

Life is yours to add meaning to it. You can do so many successful things in life and may still feel like you haven't "lived life". You may never "accomplish something great" as defined through the eyes of society but if you love life, those in it, you have accomplished much.

You are the one who adds meaning to the life you have been blessed with. Make the most of it, do no dwell in misery but keep your eyes looking forward and never give up hope. Practice discipline, avoid excuses and get back into life. The best is yet to come. ✨

Virginity and Purity...What's the difference?

Okay, so I stumbled upon an article dealing with these themes and while reading it I became inspired to define as to what many people in society confuse.

To say that one is a virgin doe not imply they are pure.
You can be a virgin as much as possible, but if you have impure thoughts, have impure intentions then you are not pure.
There is a difference.
Many people confuse these and combine both together.
To no longer be a virgin is to have sex and lose your virginity.
However if you do not directly have sex, but talk dirty, send inappropriate pictures, fantasize, lust and have impure thoughts you are not considered pure.
To be pure is something you are constantly working on.
To be pure means working towards purity every day. Choosing to be selfless over selfishness is pure. To serve someone out of the goodness of your heart because they are a brother or sister in Christ rather than to please them, is pure.
This does not have only to do with our sexual intentions but with any part of our life.
To think good of others rather than judge them, is pure.
To not be greedy, or selfish is pure.
To give and not expect something in return is pure.
As Christians were are called to have pure of heart and this is what it means.
Granted, this is not easy but it is what we are called to do.
To be pure of heart is greater than all the riches in the world we must strive for it daily and not settle for the minimum amount of work.

We must not allow virgins to think it is okay to continue to internally sin. If you are doing something to better benefit you, that is not pure intention.Give give give and love love love as Christ has endlessly loved us.

"Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God" Mt 5:8

Loving the stone throwers

All else put aside, vulnerability.

How comfortable must one be with this in order to get through life? 

What is God calling us to do? 

One thing we must recognize is that we are not from this world. We are in it but not of it. This is not out final destination, having said so, we will suffer. We are going to hurt, we are going to struggle.

we are called to struggle, constantly.

Family, oh family, how beautiful and yet breaking.

Iron sharpens iron.

Family is people destined to be in your for to help you on the road with holiness.

Christ did not pair us up with these people for pure enjoyment.

In some way or another, we will lead each other to heaven.

We do this through prayer, intercession, guidance and healing.

No matter what happens, no matter what you go through, YOU are responsible for showing Christ to your family. YOU are responsible for showing what authentic LOVE is.

Authentic love is loving through thick and thin.

If your sister criticises you; LOVE her.

If your parents belittle you; LOVE them.

If they do not show you any support through hardships; LOVE them.

Oif your family does not show you love; LOVE them.

This Is extremely crucial because it only shows that Christ is first and foremost our true love. The one whom are supposed to be In union with. This is why  mass is so important, the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith.

Our heart must break, we must be hurt, so that we may rely soley on Christ. Do not expect love and comfort from earthly beings. Seek from God first.

He is the most important in our life. With him as our center, we can get through anything. 

Our hearts will break, yes several times and the beauty of that is Christ has expirienced all we will. 

He has a plan for all this.

As comfortable as we are in complacency. We are called to suffer on different forms. 

Love, give give give love.

Receive first from Christ.

This will only strengthen us into the person God is calling us to be.

It WILL be emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically draining at times. But The Lord will provide graces.

All glory to his honour and name.