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Smartphones, Mopeds and Cars That Turn Heads are Not the Way to Happiness, says Pope

Pope FrancisAs my family prepared to go to Disney World for spring break, our first real family vacation, I warned my son, who is prone to depression after any significant, fun event (a visit to his grandparents, birthdays, trips), that happiness is fleeting. It’s a tough lesson to learn – and one that I think many of us never realize – but I’m working to show him not to so desperately mourn the loss of an event that has passed. We have to enjoy it to its fullest while it’s going on and get back to normal when it’s done. We shouldn’t cry because it’s over, but be happy that it occurred.

Pope Francis echoed my sentiments recently in a great talk to seminarians and nuns about how to live their lives. He warned them to avoid the temptation of thinking “the latest smartphone, the fastest moped and a car that turns heads” will make them happy. And in one of my favorite statements from this humble, down-to-earth pope, he recommended riding a bike, or if you have to drive a car, just “get a humbler one.”

I think chasing happiness is what many of us get caught up in during this life. Constantly searching for our next thrill, our next moment of contentment or even ecstasy, our next chance at perfection. “True joy doesn’t come from ‘living on the edge’ and having wild, fleeting experiences,” said the pope in his talk. As soon as the event is over, we’re left in depression and in a panic for “what’s next?” This leads to continued depression and dissatisfaction with life.

I’ve seen people who continually seek for a new place to live that’s “perfect”. The weather is better, the scenery is prettier, there are more things to do and places to go. But after the newness wears off, they find themselves in the same search for perfection, only someplace else.

A book I’m currently reading “The Holy Longing” by Ron Rolheiser (Image Catholic Books, 2014), which I received as a complimentary review copy, talks about the restless energy within each of us. Father Rolheiser says that this is because we are apart from God; we are not where we belong; we are not at our Eternal home, so this restless energy remains in us and we must harness it properly.

He says this restlessness can lead us to the extreme of drugs, sexual trysts, and other wild behavior to try to quench this thirst. Or it can lead us in the other extreme like Mother Teresa, who directed all her energy to helping others. He suggests a happy medium may be the best approach for most of us in this life.

For me, I tried to teach my son that while there is happiness in this life, there is sadness, too and the good news is that sadness is also fleeting. This too shall pass. But I want him to know as he embarks on the journey of life the only true lasting happiness that he will find is by plugging into God. He provides us that peace and contentment through the ups and downs that keeps us on an even keel and helps us bear even the most difficult moments, knowing that our suffering will work for our redemption.

Church-of-Mercy-415As we recently passed the pope’s first year, I look forward to a new book from Loyola Press called “The Church of Mercy” that collects all of his writings from this first year arranged thematically for easy reading. I feel like Pope Francis is “my” pope, because he became pope just as I became Catholic. But this has been a busy year for me and I’ve not paid as much attention as I would have liked to his homilies and writings. I’m looking forward to having it encapsulated for me in an easy-to-read format.

What are some of your favorite statements and words from Pope Francis in his first year?

Let God Mess Up Your Plans and You Just Might Get Some Unexpected Surprises

Teresa Tomeo

Me and Teresa at St. Boniface in Lafayette, Indiana

I wanted to share with all my readers one amazing example of God’s blessings that have poured down on me since beginning the process of Total Consecration to Mary. Although it’s been only a few months, I still am flabbergasted by this one event.

I am a writer and public relations professional by trade and run my own business. I’ve been through many ups and downs with my business, and I am now seeing it wasn’t until I let go of MY plans for my life and career that God began his work in me. I once had aspirations of growing and running a large company with many employees, but situation after situation has revealed to me that’s not what would bring me happiness or fulfillment.

Around this time last year, I came to grips with what God was trying to show me. I took a big step and handed over some current work that was not fulfilling or bringing me joy to a fellow co-worker to instead focus on the things that were fulfilling and bringing me happiness. It’s not easy to GIVE UP work, let me tell you. But I felt very called to do so, and as soon as I did it, I knew it was the right thing. Slowly, I’ve delved more into work that aligns with my Catholic values and that I feel called to do.

Earlier this summer, I began in earnest to get to know Our Lady better and I came across a pamphlet for Total Consecration in our Blessed Sacrament chapel. I was curious, so I looked up St. Louis de Monfort and read a couple of his books. After much study and hearing Gary Zimak on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo mention he was going to lead a group through Consecration via his podcast, I was sold. Even before we started the preparation, I began daily, as a trial, offering up the merits of all my actions, goods and works to Mary for her safekeeping and distribution.

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been listening to Catholic Radio Indy and came to really enjoy Teresa Tomeo’s drive time (9-10 a.m.) show every morning. As soon as I dropped my kids off at school, I’d tune in and listen to a Catholic perspective on the news of the day and learn about new books and Catholic teachings from all the great people she interviewed.

One day, I went to her website and saw she had her own PR/communications firm… Hmmm… So all summer long, I toyed with the idea that maybe I should try to email her just to see if she might need any freelance help. But I thought that was a total long shot. Well, finally in August, the calling was so strong, I just up and did it. Lo and behold, she emailed me back within the hour, saying yes indeed they needed some help and they were especially interested in my experience working with non-Catholic media and particularly with travel journalists. That was a hole her team was just saying they needed to fill!

I about fell off my chair.  (Side note: I prayed to Mary before sending the email and praised God when I got this response back. Never hurts to send an important email off with a prayer attached!) After talking with the head of her team of communications professionals, they added me to their team and I am now working on projects that match my values and further the spread of the Catholic faith. What a blessing!! Every project is bathed in prayer for whomever we are working with and we get to share and talk about topics that we’d be discussing anyway. I can’t think of any other work I’d rather be doing.

Just last weekend, Teresa spoke at a parish in Lafayette, Ind., near mine and so I had the opportunity to meet her in person, hear her entire story live and assist her with selling, signing books and more throughout the day. I still cannot believe I was helping Teresa Tomeo, whom I listen to on the radio every day! I’ll share more about her talk in a future blog, as it was incredibly inspiring.

So my point here is this. Give your life up to God and amazing things will happen. It’s not all going to be pleasant, because we all know that God calls us to suffering, as well, but it will all be satisfying and fulfilling and likely bring you things beyond your imagining.

As Pope Francis recently said: “God always surprises us, he overturns our categories, he wreaks havoc with our plans. And he tells us: Trust me, do not be afraid, let yourself be surprised, leave yourself behind and follow me!” This was certainly one of God’s joyful surprises for me. Thanks for messing up my plans, God :).

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Meet the Pope in This Clever YouTube Video

Take 4 minutes out of your day and watch this fun little video introducing you to our Holy Father Pope Francis. Thanks to Marge Fenelon for sharing in her email newsletter and Catholic Link for producing it.

How I Stay Updated on All Things Catholic

Great Catholic resourcesSince I’ve now spent more than a year on this journey to Catholicism, I thought I’d share with you some of the many daily resources I’ve come across to stay up to date on all things Catholic. I thought it might save you the work of finding it all for yourself :).

Here are some of my favorite resources, both online and off, that keep my thirst for Catholicism at least partially quenched:

  • National Catholic Register daily email – This is a newspaper that is published weekly; however, they have a great website with wonderful, very down to earth columnists/bloggers and they send out a daily email with the Catholic news of the day. Great way to stay updated on Pope Francis’ speeches and other activities. Sign up here (click Register for our E-Letter at the top). They also are calling for donations to keep them afloat and provide us with news from a Catholic perspective (so helpful!), so please help if you feel called: Donate to the National Catholic Register.
  • Catholicism.About.com – This is another website who offers a regular email. They offer a very informed perspective on both daily Catholic news and the liturgical year. I like this one to keep me updated on novenas and special indulgence opportunities and thoughts on the liturgical year. Sign up here.
  • ETWN TV – I just discovered EWTN TV during the Papal Conclave. I can’t believe I didn’t know about it before! It’s a tremendous resource not just for news (they offer daily shows in the evenings with a wrap up of Catholic news), but also Masses, rosaries and other prayers on TV. I’ve enjoyed shows so far about the saints and one during Lent from Bishop Timothy Dolan, as well as watched the announcement of the new Pope, his installation Mass and more. Good stuff. Check with your TV provider to see if they carry it. I have AT&T Uverse and it’s 562 on there. They also have good Catholic resources on their website.
  • Pray More Novenas – This is an email that regularly sets up and encourages you to pray a select novena with thousands of other participants around the world. It’s helpful because they pray the particular novenas relevant to the liturgical season. For example, we prayed the Divine Mercy Novena leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday and we prayed a special novena during the Papal Conclave. They write and send the prayers every day and remind you to pray them. One of my favorites! Sign up here.
  • Laudate iPad and iPhone App – Another of my favorites! This free app has tons of prayers, the entire New American Bible, the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church, Liturgy of the Hours/Daily Office prayers (which I try to do 1-2 times daily and it’s easy when it’s on my phone!), a digital rosary, the scripture readings for the day, a reading on the featured saint of the day and lots more. So handy! Our bishop actually just mentioned it in a recent column he wrote.
  • For Christ and The Church Blog – This is the blog of one of my church’s priests. He updates usually daily both with information about our parish, as well as great videos, texts from the Pope, spiritual thoughts for the day, his homilies and just generally great food for thought.
  • The “Little” Books – I was given a variety of these throughout my RCIA process and loved incorporating them into my daily routine. They are small paperback books and they make them for Lent, Easter and Advent, as well as reflections on the four books of the Gospel. The books give you a daily tidbit about Catholicism (maybe about a saint or an event that happened on that day) and then they reflect on the scripture reading for the day. It can be done in less than 5 minutes and is a great spiritual “shot” to boost you for the day. They are very inexpensive ($2 for one with $1 shipping!) and you can buy them here.

These are all resources that I use on a daily basis. How do I work it in? Usually I pray the Liturgy of the Hours around 9 a.m. and before bed, using the Laudate App on my iPad. I read my National Catholic Register and Catholicism.About.com emails, as well as any updates from the For Christ and the Church blog while waiting in line or after dinner and before the kids go to bed on my iPad or iPhone.

I usually set my DVR to record shows on EWTN that I’m interested in and then watch them when I have time. At noon, I take a work break and starting today am incorporating a prayerful hour daily (more to come on that). So I work in my Little Books daily read then along with any novena prayers that are relevant for the day, as well as the daily scripture readings and Saint of the Day on my Laudate app.

It really does not take all that much time when it’s all said and done with these very helpful Catholic resources.

What are your go-to resources for Catholicism? Please share! I love to find great new resources!