I first learned about the Beatitudes in 2nd grade while preparing for my First Communion, and I think I just liked them because of their name. A lot of the kids in my class couldn’t pronounce it, but I could, and so I felt a little like a had a special connection with the Beatitudes.

Before we begin, Background Info:

• “Beatitudes” means “blessings.”
• You can find the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-10 (or a slightly different version in Luke)
• The Beatitudes are part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount
• If you want a really in depth and wonderful analysis of the Beatitudes, click here (or else just stick with me on the blog for a not-quite-as-in-depth version!).

So here are The Beatitudes, spoken by Jesus:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 3)
2. Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land. (Verse 4)
3. Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Verse 5)
4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. (Verse 6)
5. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Verse 7)
6. Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. (Verse 8)
7. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Verse 9)
8. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 10)

Back in second grade, we cut out little construction paper keys and wrote each one of these on a key. We attached our eight keys to a keyring, and those were our “Keys to Heaven.” Cute, huh?

So let’s go through these bad boys one by one.

1. The poor in spirit. Ironic, because usually being “poor in spirit” seems like a negative thing. One of the things I’ve heard about the Beatitudes over the years is that for many of them, there just isn’t an exact translation. Apparently for this first one, the important idea in the original text was that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who live their lives in an attempt to grow closer to God. The “poor in spirit” long for God like the usual “poor” long for money or food.

2. The meek. I always though meek was a kind of odd word. For some reason it reminds me of sheep. I think in this case “meek” means the people who humbly bend down before God, and “the land” means our place in heaven.

3. They who mourn. To be honest, I don’t think I fully “get” this one. I’ve heard this verse cited a lot in response to people dealing with the death of a loved one, but I’ve also read somewhere that “mourn” refers to a broader concept. It’s possible to mourn over the evils in the world or the sins of oneself or others. This sort of mourning will be comforted by God.

4. They who hunger and thirst after justice. This one always reminds me of the people who toil endlessly for organizations like Coalition for Life. God calls us to know what is right and to fight for it. Jesus says that “they shall have their fill,” which means that when people work towards what is right and just, eventually they will succeed. Inspiring, right?

5. The merciful. This one’s pretty simple to understand. Basically, if you show mercy, you will receive mercy (at least in the eyes of God).

6. The clean of heart. This one’s my favorite. Jesus says, “Blessed are the clean of heart.” I like to think that this really means the people with a pure heart, which to me means people who live to serve others, to do the right thing, and to fulfill God’s will. People who act selflessly out of the goodness of their hearts are the “clean of heart” that Jesus speaks of. These people are blessed because “they shall see God” (meaning they will be with Him in Heaven). If I could pick any one Bible verse to live my life by, it would be this one. Step One: Live with a pure heart. Step Two: Hang out with God. Simple, motivating, love it.

7. The peacemakers. So God likes peace. Peacemakers are people who keep peace between themselves and others, as well as between others and others. On a deeper note, peacemakers can also keep peace between God and Man. These peacemakers shall be called the Children of God because they are the ones who preserve healthy relationships and interactions between Man and God.

8. The last one. They that suffer persecution. I usually don’t feel like I can relate as much to this one as I can to the other seven. I’m obviously not being religiously persecuted. My faith and view of justice are accepted and even encouraged by the people surrounding me. BUT…I think we can read this one in a broader sense so that “persecution” includes things like surprised glances when new friends find out you go to Church every Sunday, or people subtly poking fun at “the Churchy people.” Basically this Beatitude challenges us to live our faith openly and excitedly even when it isn’t necessarily “cool.”

Okay so there’s my eight interpretations. I love the Beatitudes, but I know there are SO SO SO many different ways to read and understand them, and these are just what I think about when I read them. I would love to hear y’alls thoughts on them…which one is your favorite? How do you interpret this sermon from Jesus? Do you have fun 2nd grade Beatitude stories too??

ps-I’m really busy today and just didn’t have time to add cute pictures to this post, but tomorrow I should be able to get some pictures in it!

I don’t know how this popped into my head, but it did, and today I’m going to talk about the similarities between faith and Verizon wireles. Crazy, right? Let it be said that I’m not in any way endorsing Verizon or whatever (I’m actually an AT&T subscriber), but the parallels the Verizon’s marketing schemes lend to religion and relationships with God are just too fun to ignore.

So let’s start it off with the Verizon network.

It’s a bunch of men and women that follow you around everywhere just because you subscribe to Verizon’s network. Some of them carry laptops, some of them wear hard hats, some of them have ropes that let them dangle from buildings next to the walking crowd. As believers in Christ, we have a “network” of sorts as well. Like the Verizon network, they’re usually not physical present and visible in the sense that we can touch and see them, but all the same they’re there. Who is this network?? Well…none other than the saints, angels, and the Holy Spirit. These guys are present with you always. Picture the saints as the people with the laptops, willing to come to your aid and e-mail the big guy (Jesus) when you need a little help. Picture the angels as those hard hat men, guarding you from harm and strong enough to protect you. Picture those people the dangle from ropes as the Holy Spirit, placed above all the saints and angels and constantly hovering over you. Even if you’re on AT&T like me, you’ve got a network.

Next let’s think about some of Verizon’s recent commercials…the ones about dead zones.

The Verizon customers always seem to find themselves in some creepy place. They end up nervous and a bit afraid, but then they are reminded that the network is there. The laptop people punch some buttons, the head network guy says “You’re good!” and the happy Verizon customer is reassured, safe, and happy. Soooo…think about the creepy dead zones as situations of stress, danger, or temptation. Sometimes we end up in these situations and we feel a little worried or unsure, but if we just stop to check we’ll see that our huge network of saints, angels, and the Trinity is right there behind us saying “You’re good!”

And what about the classic Verizon slogan, “Can you hear me now?” This phrase is one of the most popular advertising campaigns of recent years.

Poor frustrated cell phone guy is walking around and he can’t seem to find a clear connection on his phone. He repeats “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?” And then…when on the Verizon network, he asks again, “Can you hear me now?” and apparently gets a YES!, which makes him say, “Good.” When trying to talk to God, it’s easy to be Mr. Frustrated Cell Phone Guy. We feel like we pray and ask God constantly, “Can you hear me now?” Sometimes we feel stuck on “another network” and we just can’t seem to find that clear connection, but eventually if we keep trying we’ll be able to hear God’s voice and follow that “Can you hear me now?” with “Good!”

So basically:
Verizon = having a relationship with God
the network = Holy Spirit, saints, angels
Can you hear me now? = The question we ask when seeking direction or answers from God
dead zones = times of hardship, stress, temptation, etc.
a clear connection = an ideal relationship with God

Isn’t that fun? I LOVE picturing all my guarding angels and stuff following me around in matching polos with laptops and hard hats and stuff. I just feel protected or something.

So, how much do you love your “Verizon network?” Can you think of any more similarities? Can you relate to Mr. Frustrated Cell Phone Guy?

We all have our favorite parts, but I think by learning about others’ favorite parts we’ll be able to appreciate more the Mass as a whole.

So if you’ve been quietly stalking my blog…now is the time to leave a comment and talk about your favorite part (or your favorite part of your church service if you’re not Catholic!).

I’ll go first. I’ve had the same favorite part for a couple of years now, and it’s this quote:

Lord, I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

I just love that. It brings me completely back down to earth every time I say it. The reality of our faith is that no one could ever be worthy to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, but because Jesus is so amazing and encompassing, He can heal us of our imperfections and allow us to partake of His holiness.

That one quote included in the Catholic Mass comforts me because it tells me that no matter what I do, no matter how badly I mess up in God’s eyes, I can still trust Him to just “say the word” and I am right back in communion with Him again.

The Catholic Church isn’t for perfect, self-righteous people. It’s for sinners who struggle every day to live a life God wants us to live. We recognize that we are never worthy to receive the Lord. Fortunately, we also know that God loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for us and to feed us even though we don’t deserve it at all.

I’d also like to point out that my favorite response in the Mass comes right after the priest says “Happy are those who are called to his supper.” So basically, we are happy (not miserable failures or rejected sinners) even though we feel unworthy because we are surrounded by the Lord’s unconditional love.

Doesn't she just look so so so happy to be surrounded by God's love?

If you’re wondering where that part of the Mass came from, take a look at Matthew 8:8 – a man tells Jesus that he is not worthy to have him in his home to cure his servant, but that if Jesus will only say the word the servant will be cured without even going to the house.

Soooo, what’s your favorite part and why? Do you know the scriptural/traditional meaning behind it?

Many of Mother Teresa’s quotes have profound inspirational value, and so today I’d like to share a few of them with you.

Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.

I love this quote because it reminds me that I don’t have to do huge amazing things…I just have to live my life as someone who loves others constantly.

God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.

I think too often we give God an excuse that says “But God…it’s not going to do any good anyway…it won’t work!” This quote from Mother Teresa tells us to stop with the excuses. We only have to try, and God will help with the succeeding part.

If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

I like this quote too because it inspires me to just do what I can. This is something I’ve been thinking about lately, so be on the lookout for a future blog post on this topic. Maybe tomorrow?

Sooo, which of these quotes do you like? What do you get out of them?

And to finish off, here’s the prayer Mother Teresa used to pray every day:

Dear Jesus, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. Amen.

So this post is for yesterday. I’ll write today’s later.

So here’s the theme for this post: Sometimes we really have great plans for something (e.g. this blog), we mean well and we wholeheartedly want to do what God wants, but life gets hectic and crazy and it just doesn’t happen. We feel like we let God down, like we failed, or like we’re just not worthy of God’s grace. Sometimes our lives get so crazy that we’re just totally overwhelmed and we don’t feel like we can handle it any more. This can happen to anyone in a variety of situations, but regardless of how it happens, we just feel so powerless and frustrated sometimes that it seems like there’s nothing we can do.

With midterms coming up, I’m guessing that some of you are feeling the stress and getting a bit overwhelmed by life like me, so for all of you and for me as well I want to say…OUR GOD IS A LOVING AND MERCIFUL GOD!!

It’s easy to be hard on ourselves, but Jesus is always there to pick us up and help us out, and we have to remember that. When the world gets to hard to handle on our own, God is there.

I first heard this song in eighth grade, and it has gotten me through many stressful or hectic times over the years.

If you’ve heard the song before great, if not go ahead and listen to it. I think it has a really beautiful message about how God loves us so much that He lovingly takes our broken pieces and puts them back together.

So here’s the prayer I’m praying tonight:

Thank you God for being so unconditionally loving.
Thank you for loving each of us exactly how we are,
despite our shortcomings and our failures.
Thank you for always being there for us all,
even though we don’t always make time for you.
Thank you, God, for being the only truly steadfast thing in our lives,
and thank you for sending your Son to die for us,
so that we can continually be forgiven by your amazing grace.

Amen.

Today I’d like to talk about just one of the ways we are challenged as college students. This is something that I find myself constantly having to work on, and I bet it’s the same for some of you. Being in college puts pressure on us all to figure things out and plan ahead. We’re expected to have an answer for questions like “What do you want to do with your life?” or “What are you doing when you graduate?” We’re constantly planning ways to pull off better grades by the end of the semester…or planning things to do that will help our resumes, or planning career paths that will utilize the things we’ve learned.

When someone asks me “What do you plan on doing when you graduate?” I want to give them a good answer. For some reason “Well…I’m just going to see where God takes me” usually doesn’t sound like a good answer to me. I’m guilty of picking a career and then changing my mind a month later multiple times, but I still like to tell people my current concrete plans.

Here’s what I struggle with: I’m a planner. Being in college makes it even more necessary that I plan, and I like to know what’s happening and when. BUT…if I’m in total contol and totally obsessing over my future, where does God fit in? It’s impossible to hear anything God is trying to tell me when I’m so preoccupied with my own plans!

When I first realized that letting go of my plans and control doesn’t come easily to me, someone from my church at home gave me this simple phrase:

Let go, and let God.

How simple, but how beautiful. I feel like this phrase applies so much to everyone’s life, and every time it pops into my head, I think of something that I really should be handing over to God and not worrying about.

Here are some bible verses I find to be helpful when I’m struggling with letting God take the wheel:

With all your heart you must trust the Lord and not your own judgement. Always let Him lead you, and He will clear the road for you to follow.

Proverbs 3:5-6

That pretty much says it all. It’s like God straight up telling me, “Katie…stop worrying. I’ve got your life figure out, so just trust me, and allow me to guide you through life.”

” ‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you…plans to give you hope and a future.’ “

Jeremiah 29:11

I love this verse. It always reminds me that God has a plan. Even when I don’t and when I’m stressed, God has a plan. God knows what’s meant to happen in my life, and ultimately He’s in charge. Also, I love that last bit (“give you a hope and a future). That part always makes me think to  myself, Wow. Our hopes and our dreams and our futures are all totally dependent upon the Lord…and because of Him we are able to have amazing hopes and futures!

“… Be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great things.”

Job 2:21

For some reason, this short sentence really speaks to me. First of all, God tells us to be happy and rejoicing. Sometimes it’s easy to get so caught up in our busy schedules that we forget to thank God for amazing things he has given us. The second part says that the Lord will do “great things.” God has a plan for each of us, and those plans are all “great things” in His mind.

So…do you struggle with letting go and letting God? Are you a planner like me? How do you make room for God in your future plans?

PS-Morning Challenge update: I prayed when I woke up this morning, and it was lovely. Short and lovely, and a wonderful start to my day. What about you?

Oh, prayer. Sometimes prayer comes easy, other times it seems more like work. Obviously to have a relationship with anyone you have to talk to them, and its the same way with God. But why is it so hard sometimes to really spend time having a conversation with God?

Obviously talking to God isn’t talking to a friend. First of all, you just can’t hear God as clearly. Prayer takes reflection time and listening. Also, somewhere in the back of our minds we know that even if we don’t talk to God for a while, he’ll still be there. With our friends, it’s not quite the same (if you randomly stop talking to a friend, they probably won’t like you very much anymore).

Since Lent is a time for reflection and drawing closer to God, what better time to work on prayer, right? I’ll probably post more on this topic later, but today I want to share with you The Morning Challenge.

The Morning Challenge is the first of a few “Lenten Challenges” I’m going to attempt. One of the simplest ways to add prayer to your day is to dedicate each day to the Lord when you wake up in the morning. Just a simple prayer like “Thank you God for this beautiful day, and help me to let you guide me through it.” works just fine. Or even just a Sign of the Cross – deducate your day in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. However you want to do it, the challenge is to start saying hi to God every morning.

To make it easier for me to remember, I put this paper on my alarm clock.

This way, I have to look at the paper to turn my alarm off.

Sooo…what do you think? Why is prayer so hard sometimes? Are you up for the Morning Challenge?

Well, today’s the first day of Lent, and so it’s time for my first entry in the Let’s Do Lent blog. Most of my entries will be more along the lines of bible studies or spiritual discussion topics, but just for today I want to talk about the meaning behind Ash Wednesday and the reasons we do what we do. I’m going to delve into the Catholic church’s concept and practice of Ash Wednesday, but I know other denominations recognize it as well, so feel free to write about what your church does in a Comment!

5 Things You Might Not Know About Ash Wednesday:

1. One of the things I really like about being Catholic is the traditions we have. When I go to Mass, I know that hundreds of years ago people were going to Mass doing pretty much the same thing. Ash Wednesday is no different. It started way back around 900AD. People have been going to Church and receiving ashes for over 1000 years!

This church was built around 900 AD. Can't you just imagine a bunch of 10th century Christians going in there and coming out with their ashes?

2. Ash Wednesday is officially called the Day of Ashes, but apparently we all just like calling it Ash Wednesday more.

3. Why on our foreheads? I don’t know about you, but if I’m going walk around all day with a dirty face, I want it to be for a good reason (and by the way, “I’m Catholic and that’s just what I do” does NOT count as a good reason!).

"Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return."

Let’s take a look at our handy-dandy Bibles…go ahead, get yours out. I’ll wait.

Got it? Okay. Flip open to Ezekial 9 (it’s towards the end of the Old Testament). Check out verses 4-6.

Then the Lord called to the man…and said to him “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” As I listened, he said to the others “…Slaughter old men, young men, maidens, women and children, but don not touch anyone who has the mark.

So basically, God uses a mark on the forehead to show that these people belong to him. Okay, now flip to Revelation 7: 3.

Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.

And then Revelation 14:1…

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

So again, this symbol on the forehead marks God’s people. It’s like God’s seal on us showing that we belong to Him. Here’s something even more interesting – I did some research on the Romans verse, and it turns out that the original translation says “tav” instead of “mark.” Tav is a Hebrew letter that looks like an x. Apparently, this verse and its original translation is a large part of the reasoning behind the Sign of the Cross. Cool, huh?

4. Ash Wednesday IS NOT a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church. Now don’t go telling your priest that Katie from Let’s do Lent told you not to go to church and get your ashes, but seriously, it’s just not. Holy Days of Obligation are reserved for celebrating events or people (commemorating Saint Joseph, Christ’s birth, etc.), and Ash Wednesday just isn’t  one of those days. Here’s what I find funny though: Most Catholics make an effort to go to Church on Ash Wednesday, even thought it’s not officially “required.” But way fewer people go on say…the Mary, Mother of God Holy Day of Obligation (it was on Jan. 1st). Why is this? Is it because churches schedule more mass times for Ash Wednesday (St. Mary’s has eight today!!)? Is it because people know that if they don’t go get their ashes, it wil be really obvious because of their blank foreheads? What do you think?

5. Why ashes?

Most people know that ashes symbolize death or mortality. Biblical examples:

• Ecclesiastes 4:20: All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
• Psalms 90:3: You turn men back to dust, saying “Return to dust, O sons of men.”
• Psalms 104:29: When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
• Genesis 3:19: For dust you are and unto dust you shall return.

Okay, Bible, we get it. Dust/ashes = mortality, etc…but what’s the point? So we go to church on Ash Wednesday, get some ashes, and realize that someday we’ll die? There has to be more. This is something that I haven’t quite figured out, so I’d love for y’all to comment on it! I looked at some other verses that had something to do with dust/ashes, and I found this:

“Now that I have ben so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes…”

That’s Abraham talking in Genesis 18:27. So here’s what I’m thinking…Abraham uses the idea of dust and ashes to show his humility in front of the Lord. Abraham realizes that he, as a mortal man, is nothing without the Lord and nothing compared to Him. So maybe, that’s what we’re supposed to get out of Ash Wednesday. We go to church, those ashes are put on our foreheads, and we are filled with this sense of humility from the greatness of God and the humble fact of our own short lives. And then we walk around all day with those ashes on our foreheads as a sign of reverence and humility to the Lord, whom we are meant to grow closer to during Lent.

Make sense? Do you agree? Other ideas?

Okay soooo, things to comment on. Pick any/all of them:

1. Church traditions. Do you like them? What’s your favorite traditional thing?
2. Thoughts on the Revelation or Romans verses
3. Why do people go to church on Ash Wednesday, but skip Holy Days of Obligation?
4. What’s the point of the ashes? What do the ashes mean to you?
5. Anything else you’d like to add/bring up!

Pictures Sources: 1, 2, 3

For many of us, the days leading up to Lent mean that the time has come to stop and think to ourselves, “Ok self…what am I going to do this year to bring myself closer to God? What’s holding me back from a greater relationship with the Lord, and what can I do about it?” I had this year’s conversation with myself this weekend at the Kappa Theta Beta retreat, and here’s how it went:

Me: Katie, what’s holding you back from a closer relationship with God?

Katie: Being busy.

Me: Why does that keep you away from God?

Katie: When I’m busy I don’t take time for prayer or thinking about my faith.

Me: Ok, so what are you going to do about it?

Katie: I need to make some time…but how?

Me: Well, what do you spend time doing that you could cut out of your schedule to make room for God?

Katie: I’m always on the computer. Facebook, e-mail, that wedding planning blog website I like to look at…

Me: Okay, so how can you cut down on the facebook,etc. and turn that time into something spiritually productive?

Katie: AHHHH! Idea Idea Idea Idea Idea!

This, my friends, is when it hit me (or hit Katie. or both of us). I don’t have to build a fence around my laptop to keep myself away. I can take the things I know about the Internet, blogging, etc. and use them for an amazing purpose: drawing myself closer to God.

Here’s where you come in. I’ve started this blog, “Let’s do Lent.” I’ve set a goal for myself to blog every day about a spiritual topic (faith, God, Catholicism, prayer, bible passages, Jesus, etc.). I’d like to invite you all to read the blog, and most importantly COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT! I’m going to end my blog posts each day by opening the topic up for discussion through the comment feature, and I want you all to feel free to write comments to add your thoughts. We can all read what everyone else has to say, pray for each other, and keep each other accountable this Lent.

If you’re up for it, make Let’s Do Lent a part of your Lenten journey. Commit to reading and commenting every day, or just stop by when you get the chance. If you’re not Catholic or you don’t observe Lent, I’d like to invite you to hang out with me anyway…you just might learn something interesting! I’m hoping to make this Lenten journey my best one yet, and I’d love as many of you to join me as possible.

Let’s use our “laptop time” for something good. Let’s use the amazing technologies we have to give something back to God. Let’s get together and support each other through these 40 days. Let’s do Lent.

Are you in? Please introduce yourself (First name, what you hope to get out of Let’s do Lent, any other fun information) below in a comment, and get ready for Ash Wednesday!

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3