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No Vacancy
The end of yet another busy Christmas season usually makes for a weary start of the new year as countless holiday decorations are stored away, schools and workplaces are reopened, and life suddenly goes back to “normal.”
Whatever that means, anyway.
Because normal, for me, means that I have to go back to a chaotic schedule of waking up at 5:30 AM for Mass; going to school sleepy-eyed and often irritable; sitting down through less-than-fascinating lectures, more focused on not falling asleep in class than actually paying attention and taking notes; going home to realize that I have a bunch of homework and projects to work on; and sleeping late only to regret it again in the morning.
And the cycle continues. Lather, rinse, repeat.
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Our labor here is brief, but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world, which passes like a shadow. Do not let the false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.
St. Clare of AssisiThe Necessity of Flat Tires
A few days ago when I was driving home from school, I got a flat tire. While it was not exactly the peaceful drive home I expected after a long day of finals, I somehow found a reason to laugh.
Be it, frustrated laughter, exhausted laughter, or hysterical laughter, it was laughter nonetheless.
And as if that weren’t strange enough, this laughter led me to wonder at how often the saints and prophets laughed.
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The law entered in so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 5:20-21Chasing After Jesus
The other day, as I was watching Scott Pilgrim vs The World, an interesting thought crossed my mind. As I watched the main character, Scott Pilgrim, having to go through these crazy situations just to win the love of a girl he claimed to be “the one” - I thought of how relevant the concept was for guys. Seriously. We’d be willing to do most mentally deranged things ever just to get a girl’s attention.
Or maybe that’s just me.
I’ve never been in an actual relationship, but I do know what it’s like to be captivated by the beauty of girl; that for a moment, you’d be willing to do whatever it takes to win her heart - in Pilgrim’s case, he had to fight 7 evil exes to the death - in my case, well, that’s a different story which resulted in the perfect culmination of humiliation and embarrassment.
..Did I ever mention I was awkward with girls?
Sure explains why I’m seriously considering the priesthood.
Read moreLet God
I’ve always had a thing for pictures like this. I always thought that they captured much more than just an ordinary image.
Take this picture for example.. As I look at it, I can’t help but think that life can be compared to a busy, lonely street at night. Sometimes we can get lost in the street when we’re actually trying to find the way out. But what I find to be interesting, however, is that we hardly ever know how we got there in the first place. So what exactly does this mean?
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If anyone is seeking God, know that the Beloved is seeking that person much more.
St. John of the CrossDetachment
“They all look so stupid,” he said dejectedly. “This all feels so stupid.” We continued to sit down outside of the gym in silence. “It feels as if I’m watching a movie,” he continued. “A stupid one.. And I don’t even know why I’m here. I don’t know how else to say it, but you know what I mean, right?
I hesitated for a moment, and suddenly, I knew exactly what he meant.
Detachment.
Read moreAn Introduction to Transcendence
It’s a universal concept. It’s probably crossed your mind a number of times. And let’s face it, it’s probably a question that we’ve all been asked at one point or another in our lives. It demands, what seems to be a simple answer, and yet, we all find difficulty in trying to express such an abstract idea in concrete terms.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
And without fail, the answers usually turn out sounding like this:
“I want to be rich!”
“I want to be famous!”
“I want to be Kim Kardashian’s husband for longer than 72 days!” (And to that, I’d say, you’d probably have a better chance of becoming rich and famous.)
Funnily enough, I tend to take more interest in the answers rather than the question itself, for the answers usually reflect something very profound in human nature:
They all express some sort of longing to be understood. Some sort of longing to be happy. Some sort of longing to be loved.
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