How I Found My Favorite Bible Verse

Do you have a favorite Bible verse? Most Catholics do, because of our deep devotion to the Bible. We understand the Bible to be written by men and inspired by the Holy Spirit - the Word of G'D! Readings from the Bible pop up all over Catholic liturgies, from the Mass to the Liturgy of the Hours to a myriad of blessings and prayers. Even the word "amen" is biblical! Because of the way the scriptures are so present in our lives, it is very easy to get caught in the beauty of a particular verse. 

It took me a very long time to find a verse that truly spoke to me. Whenever I was asked, I would recite the first verse from Revelation 12: "And a great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon at her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars". I remember very clearly sitting on the bristly, multicolored, and very ugly carpet at my elementary school after the last day of fifth grade, skimming through the book of Revelation and coming across that verse, then thinking about what a beautiful description of Mary it was. I think I acknowledged that verse as my "favorite" before that moment, but I distinctly remember reading it then. 

So for years I would call this Bible verse my favorite because I loved how they described Our Lady. 

But then one day, in the recent past, I came across another beautiful verse from Revelation that really stood out to me. You know how life is sort of like a roller coaster? You have good days, you have bad days, and sometimes, those bad days sort of take hold for longer than a day. One of my favorite questions from these instances is probably "why?" 

Those bad times feel like they can take over your whole life and ruin everything. Those bad times feel like they are your life, and you can't escape it, and you're doomed to live a life of depression forever. But of course this is not true, because, if we stick to the analogy, life is a roller coaster and eventually you'll be soaring again. 

What I remember in these difficult times is that this life, and any grief we experience in it, is not all there is. We don't just cease to exist after we breath our final breaths...there is a beautiful land awaiting us ruled by a King who loves all of us deeply, even to His own dying breath. It is hope that I remember in these difficult times! 

When the world feels like it's falling apart, when it feels like nothing can go right, when it feels like you're a failure, remember that there is something greater than all this, something far more lovely and marvelous than all our best memories combined. Remember that if you cling to the Cross of Christ - Christ, Who was abandoned by His own friends in His time of great suffering and killed by those He came to save - if you put all your trust in Him and grow to depend on him for your comfort and avoid sin as best you can, He will guide you, His most precious child, to the kingdom where G'D has called you!

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, 

neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more,

for the former things have passed away."

- Revelation 21:4

Happy Easter! Hallelujah!

"Blessed be G'D, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!"

- 1 Peter 1:3

Let's All Be Dogs: A Random Thought Either Inspired by the Holy Spirit or Pulled From My 10-Year-Old Subconscious After Reading an Article or Something

This is my dog.

(Here's a brief pause so you all can say "AWWWWWWW!!!" - and yes, I expect you ALL to do pledge your allegiance to Cooper)

Maybe you have a dog. Maybe you don't. But I'm pretty sure you know what a dog is, so I'll spare you the biology. 

What I'm trying to say, albeit very poorly, is that we can all take several lessons from dogs (maybe from cats too, or parrots, or iguanas, or, G'D forbid, tarantulas...I wouldn't really know, I've only ever owned a dog). Spiritual lessons, I mean. 

Let me *try* to explain this a little better than I've started to...

1. Cooper follows me everywhere. I'm not even kidding...I could walk off a cliff and he would just jump right off with me. He's got a tiny brain.
2. Cooper is totally and completely dependent upon me for EVERYTHING. Cooper does not have opposable thumbs...so he can't open the food bin and pour it into his bowl in an orderly fashion. He can stick his head in there if he's being naughty, but if he keeps eating he'll just get fat and die. 
3. Cooper trusts that what I'll do is right for him. Cooper never wonders whether I've drugged his dog food. When I take him for a walk, he never thinks I'm taking him to the pound. He has this deep trust that I'll give him the right food, or bring him right back...again, he's totally dependent on me. 
4. Cooper finds peace in the moment. He doesn't worry. He doesn't freak out when our schedule gets messed up. He just keeps trusting me, and then he completes every activity with that big, slobbery puppy smile...

In a sense, Jesus calls us to be like Cooper in our spiritual lives. He calls us to follow Him in all things by following His teachings, to completely depend on Him for our spiritual needs, to trust Him even when the path ahead is different from the one usually travelled, and to find peace in our relationship with Him and put on a smile as we journey down the road to Heaven, hand-in-hand with Him, even when we have no clue what's going on (and wow, that's a long sentence!). 

So pay attention to your dogs, your cats, your *shudder* tarantulas, and observe them as they, in a SENSE, live the way we are called to. Think about the trust you are called to have in G'D, the daily surrenders you are supposed to make to Him in all your actions, and bring yourself to depend on Him more fully in these final days of Lent...

Saint Margaret of Castello

"They called names and shot confetti and they did each house three times, and I was really tense all through this because I wasn't called until the end..."

I distinctly remember finding out which "house" I had been placed in at my current high school. I was sitting on the bleachers with two good friends of mine, and I was very, very tense. I wanted so very much to end up in the same house with at least one of these friends, and I sincerely hoped it was a "good saint" (you know, the ones you are already connected to in a particular way - all saints are good, of course!). Every few minutes, twelve or so kids would be called to one section of the bleachers and they would sit there in the suspense before a shot of colored confetti would be blasted into their faces. The color corresponded to their house...that's how you would figure it all out. 

When they finally called my name - the last of my friends to be called, and completely alone (plus, they pronounced my last name wrong, which I saw as some kind of bad omen) - I made my hesitant walk to the bleachers in the far right corner. I sat down and waited, waited, waited. It was agony. 

And then, after a little drum roll, the air above me exploded into fluttering yellow, and the words "Castello!" boomed at me from the student leaders. 

A few things exploded inside me as the confetti exploded over me. To begin, I had never even heard of this Margaret of Castello person...I had zero connections to her. Secondly, I knew no one in my house. It was a total nightmare, and I dragged myself back to my two friends with a very heavy heart. All was lost!

Reading through my journal entry from that day, you would've thought the world was ending (well, I mean it was 2020...)! But despite my, well, unflattering acceptance of my new patroness, Margaret was not ready to give up on me! Over the past year and some change, I have realized that Margaret and I have some blessed connections, including a love of the Dominican tradition. 

I've learned a whole lot more about Saint Margaret since I joined the House of Castello almost two years ago, and she really has guided me through the stress of high school (*groan*). I was even able to celebrate her canonization late last year with the members of our house...and through her intercession we were able to win house of the year (top lockers aren't all they're cracked up to be, though...)!

Maybe you haven't fallen deeply into connection with dear Saint Margaret yet, but perhaps you can foster a relationship with her by recognizing similarities between your life and hers...