The Weekly Saint- Catherine

Lent ended, and I decided to keep posting on this blog, even if it is just once in a while. I have realized it helps me realize everything that I am grateful for and everything that God is making happen in my life.
I also decided to start a new thing on the blog. Every week or so, I will be posting about someone that I think is doing an extremely good job at life. Someone that is well on their way to sainthood. I am calling it "The Weekly Saint".

This week, I want to talk about my friend Catherine. Fist of all, she is probably the best person I have ever met. She has made me grow so much closer to Christ and she makes me feel like I am extremely important every single second I am with her. The thing about her, is that she is always thinking of others and what others want 24/7, and she never thinks about herself (which gets to be extremely overwhelming for her) but she will always notice is there is something wrong going on with you or if anyone is feeling sick or sad, she will be the first one to notice and take care of it. She always has a smile or a kind word to offer. She is just an all-around incredible and talented person and I really really hope she can see that, because that's all other people see in her, an outstanding person.I truly believe that God sent her into my life to teach me a handful of lessons. He is definitely using her for big things in life!

Secondly, she is extremely close to God. She has such a special connection with him that you can literally see Jesus acting through her with her acts of kindness and love. I had the pleasure of being her roommate for one semester and she would basically remind me to pray every night and invite me to mass or prayer groups all the time, even when I was feeling discouraged she would make sure I attended. She would visit the Eucharistic chapel several times a day, and after mass, she would go and pray in there for a while. Even though I never told her, I was always a little bit jealous of her super-strong connection to God. She would pray to him in the chapel for long periods of time when all I could do was pray for 5 minutes...

Thirdly, Catherine has been sick for three years. She has "been struggling with severe symptoms since [her] senior year of high school. From extreme fatigue, bad headaches and brain fog to vision problems and dizziness every time [she] stands up. Much of the past two years have felt more like surviving than living. Not only has it been hard living a life that is anything but "normal," but [her] symptoms have been and continue to be diagnosed, re-diagnosed, misdiagnosed, claimed to be curable by some doctors while incurable by others, constantly resulting in further frustration and fear. “Is it ever going to end?” is sometimes a heavier cross to carry than the physical suffering. Where is God? Why is He allowing this? These are the questions I have been asking since day one. I thought He wanted me to be happy…But through much prayer, grace, and encouragement, I have been able to see that He has been by me the whole time, waiting for my permission to help me carry my cross. When I finally gave Him permission, I thought He would take the whole thing. “Here’s my cross, Jesus! Take my suffering and my pain, take it all! If I knew you were here all of this time, I would have handed it over sooner!" (Catherine's website). Even though she has been sick for so long, she is an incredible source of hope, guidance, and happiness to others. She continues to love every single person ans treat them like true children of God. 

Catherine recently stated a website of encouragement for anyone that feels like they are running out of hope. Her reflections are some of the best things I have ever read. Each one made me cry like a baby. I invite you guys to go check it out.

http://iamwithyoualways.wix.com/hope

I have seen Catherine make so many people smile, feel loved, feel wanted, bring them closer to God, that I am sure she is a little saint on earth. She is extremely special to me and I cannot wait to re-unite with her soon!

Dear God,

Please help us all strive to be your good and faithful servants. Help us love you with all out hearts, with all out might, with all our soul. Help us be holier every day, to raise our heads and hearts up high and to rejoice in your love. Help us be saints. Everyday. Help us be holy, pure, and more loving.

Amen. 

Whatever You Are, Be a Good One.

I once had a teacher who said that she was sad and unhappy with her career choice because if she would have chosen to become a doctor instead of being an economics teacher, she would be saving lives daily. I told her that there are a lot of amazing doctors out there but we really needed an amazing teacher like her. The truth is that she actually made an impact on a lot of her students' lives because she was extremely kind and caring and was always encouraging others. 

It doesn't matter if you are a doctor, a teacher, a mother, a daughter, an uncle, a pizza-delivery man, a salesperson, or a janitor. Whatever you are, be a good one. Whether your vocation is to get married or enter the religious life or be single, you should strive to be the best person you can be every day. If you are a student, your vocation at the moment is to be a good student. If you struggle with studying or doing assignments, it's a good idea to offer them up to Christ. Tell him: "Since you died for me, I'm going to rock these next 20 pages of Aristotle!" You can offer each page you do as a prayer. You can offer Him every hamburger you cook or every hole that you dig as a prayer. You can do that with whatever you are doing such as your job, driving, cooking, doing laundry, or whatever you think is unpleasant or a hassle to do. 

I work at a hamburger restaurant on the weekends, and the main cook is such an incredible person because He tries to be the best hamburger cook he can be in the world. He comes to work with a smile  and puts all his energy into what he is doing. He has accepted the fact that this is the job that God wants him to do, so he wants to do it to the best of his abilities. I think we should all strive to be like him. Imagine waking up each day and doing whatever it is we have to do with joy and purpose. We could change the way everyone does things and slowly change the world!

We are all God's children, so we should strive to be good ones. Our main goal in life should be to get to heaven, and nothing else. Getting to heaven is more important than any test, any job offer, any trip, or opportunity. If anything we do contradicts what we believe in, we should put aside, for that takes away our goodness.

That teacher that I had was better than any Doctor that I have ever met, and it is such a shame that she never realized that. That is why I believe we should fill up everyone around us with words of affirmation. You have no idea how much a little pick-me-up can mean to someone. It can help them figure out that they are doing alright, that they should keep on going and that whatever they are doing  is a light to the world.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 11 of Lent

• Live for others Jar- Daniela. I had speech class with her sophomore year of high school. She was really sweet and a good friend. She moved to Houston, Puerto Rico, and is now ding her last year of high school in California. I messaged her on facebook to ask how she was doing and she was glad to hear from me and told me that these past two years have actually been extremely hard for her because she feel like she doesn't fit in with anyone and she just doesn't have many friends. I was really glad I got her name because I got to pray for her and do everything for her today. She will be moving to Mexico next year, so I wish her luck on all her endeavors.
• 'Good Deed a Day'- I visited my friend who just had surgery at her house and brought her a little stuffed angel and a card.
• Positive experience of the day- I worked for 12 hours at the restaurant and I met some pretty cool people. A guy asked if he could sit next to me while I was on break. I said sure! He talked about how he wanted to become a Christian rapper because he wanted to be  positive influence on the youth of today. He asked me if I was religious, and when I said I was Catholic, he asked me if I could explain to him our beliefs on the Eucharist and on 'worshiping' Mary and the Saints. I explained to him that we believed that the bread literally becomes the body of Jesus and so does the wine, and also explained how we don't worship Mary or the saints, but how we venerate them and look up to them for guidance in our lives. He said.. "Oh that's nice to know. I don't believe that, but I get your point of view." It was really nice to be able to have a civil conversation like that. He was a really nice guy. 
• 3 things I am grateful for-

          1. Kind people

          2. The business is doing better.

          3. Good Books.

• Prayer intentions- My friend Daniela, those who are unhappy, those who have lost a loved one recently.