Stand on the Rock(s) of Your Faith!

"The Rock" at Texas Tech -- Sr. Mary Michael talked with the College Students about standing on the "rocks" of our faith when the winds blow and try to topple us over. Some of those rocks that she has experienced first hand are found in the Unconditional Love of God for us and the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist (see the bottom picture above).

These pictures are mostly from our trip to Lubbock, but the middle one with the wigs is from the TOB talk with the Middle School recently. It was too funny to pass up.

God really does give us extraordinary gifts! If she had more time to talk, she would've talked about the "Rock" of Scripture that helps us to keep our sanity and peace in this world. No matter what ups and downs come our way, we need to be solidly clinging and standing on the Truth of the True Roman Catholic Church, the Truth that God is Trustworthy and is totally connected to us in intimacy and Love, and intimate prayer with God is one of those ways to have a strong-hold on this more balanced life!

No matter how busy you are, you need prayer every day! Don't miss out on this awesome Truth!

Also, April 1-3 will be our next "Receive Love -- Be Love" Retreat for those wanting to know more and to briefly experience Religious Life in a real way! Pass the word!
http://www.panhandlefranciscans.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=163

God bless you all!

T.O.B. for Teens! Being "Self-Forgetful"

Last night we spoke at a Middle School "Edge" program on the Theology of the Body! It was fun! Top picture is from our skit "costumes". Bottom picture is an actual skit. Sr. Mary Michael felt like breaking into a rap song, but she didn't.... She doesn't quite have that rhythm.

It was awesome, actually, being an instrument of God's awesome love, the truth of happiness in being "self-forgetful", and so much more! This alone is enough to think about, ask God for the grace for, and to work on practicing every day.

Come Holy Trinity, live in our hearts! Help us to be self-forgetful to serve and love our neighbors. Mary, be our Spiritual Mother. Pray for us to grow in purity of mind and heart and soul. Amen.

God more than "created" us!

Excerpt from the book, "The Human Person according to John Paul II" by J. Brian Bransfield:

When reflecting on the book of Genesis and how man was created by God in His own Image, John Paul II points out that the Hebrew word used here for "create" is bara. Apparently, this word was only used when referring to God and reserved to God alone. It is a "divine action" different from our ability to make a chair or something similar. God's bara is divine.

God not only created us, but continues to hold us in existence: "God, as part of his creative power, continues to hold creatures in existence." (p. 59)

God's work reveals Him, just as a painting or work of art reveals part of who the artist is. John Paul II said, "God drew man from the mystery of his own Being." (p. 60, quoting from a General audience talk Dec. 6, 1978)

"God is present in analogous fashion in creation." (p. 60)

Wow. God has created us in His Own Image! He not only created us, He continues to hold us into existence. He is intimately tied to us in this magnificent relationship.

Lord, help us to be more like you every day, so that we can show others the Beauty that you truly are!

Busy February and Great Insights!

There's so many things happening -- the green signs above are from the Denver FOCUS Conference we went to a couple weeks ago. Great speakers . . . and it's always great to be with the ever-growing "John Paul II Generation"! The top picture above is from an awesome retreat that we recently visited. It was awesome too!

The insights that we've been growing in are partly from books: http://www.amazon.com/Men-Women-Mystery-Love-Responsibility/dp/0867168404 The insights from John Paul's "Love and Responsibility" are amazing. Hopefully we can give some of those insights in this blog soon!

Another good book is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Human-Person-According-John-Paul/dp/0819833940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298856871&sr=1-1 "The Human Person According to John Paul II". Powerful book. Again, we'll share some of those insights soon in this blog.

God bless you all! Pray for us as we pray for you!

Aggie "Busy Student Retreat"

Dear Friends,

Sr. Mary Michael just spent last week with the Aggies at Texas A&M at their annual "Busy Student Retreat". It was intense work as she met with several retreatants for 4 days in a row, helping them to grow in their prayer life and to deepen their understanding of God's infinite love for them! It was great.

Sr. M. Herlinde, our Superior General from Vienna, is here through Thursday. We've been enjoying getting to know her better!

We hope all of you are doing well! We're praying for you every day!

Vita Consecrata

A Spectacle -- even though our diocese is in the "Bible Belt" with a low percentage of Catholics, we have a pretty high percentage of Religious Sisters! And most of us are Franciscan!

So, on Saturday, Bishop Patrick Zurek met with all the Sisters of the Diocese to celebrate "Vita Consecrata". We had Mass and a meal together. Bishop Yanta used to do the same thing. We love spending time with the other Communities -- in a way, they are a part of our family.

Sorry, we forgot our camera, so we don't have a picture . . . just imagine a bunch of Sisters, in different color habits and some without one, all together for prayer and fellowship. It's a great feeling.

This is a special day (Vita Consecrata on Feb. 2) to celebrate and reflect on the Consecrated Life. God is alive and well, calling many to love Him in a very special and exclusive way. We pray that all called to the priesthood or Religious Life will hear Him, respond with an overwhelming YES!, and be filled with the joy and peace and love that He has for His Brides.

Pray for us as we pray for all of you!

Catholic Schools Week!

We're in the middle of "Catholic Schools Week"!

We LOVE Catholic Schools (and the students, staff, and families involved)!!! We as teachers and students can talk about and integrate God and faith all day long if we want to. This includes teaching morals, virtues, and all the awesome Truths of the Faith!

There's so many activities this week -- vocations, learning about famous American Catholics that have contributed to society, not to mention the Catholics that have built the school system in America. (Our Catholic ancestors have also been instumental in creating most of social charities, working for human rights, the poor, the sick, and the most neglected.) Today, actually, at Holy Cross Academy, the students and teachers are dressing up as one of these people mentioned above. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with!

Help us to pray for these awesome youth!