A World of Wanderers

My sister and I have been watching Heroes (the TV show that aired a few years ago with the actor who played Jess on Gilmore Girls - here's looking at you, my fellow Gilmore Girl enthusiasts from college). She is about a season and a half behind me, but she is quickly catching up. It's funny because she has all of these reactions and I just have to run with them even though I know what happens next season. I'm trying to be good, though, and not spoil the whole series. Just a bit of fluff and insight into the world of Megan this summer.

My dad and I have been going to daily Mass together. He started going for Fortnight of Freedom and has continued for the rest of the week. Because he works, he goes to the 7am Mass (as opposed to the 8:30). Once I realized he was going to Mass too, I decided to go with him. There is something about praying with your family that is beautiful, and I was raised to consider family time with God important. So when my alarm goes off at 6am, and I am sorely tempted to snooze it for another hour and a half of sleep, I roll out of bed because it is important for me to go to Mass with my dad.

This morning the first reading was a little intense.

"Yes, days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send famine upon the land: Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the Lord. Then they shall wander from sea to sea and rove from the north to the east in search of the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it." ~Amos 8:11-12

Amos was a prophet to the northern tribes of Israel around 750 BC during the time of the divided kingdom, right before they were exiled into Assyria. (I know all of this thanks to my handy dandy Bible Timeline) The Israelites were cheating their neighbors and giving into the greed in their hearts. This dark time, the absence of the word of God, was to be their punishment for all of their disobedience to God. As one would say if we were in English class: "Foreshadowing!"

But this darkness does not sound unfamiliar. Aren't we living in an age where God's word is hard to find? And can't you see people wandering across the Earth searching for...something, they don't quite know what? That is why I am so glad that I am a missionary. I have been so blessed in my life: I was raised by loving parents who taught me about God; I had decent friends growing up, good ones even by the time I got to college; I was brought to FOCUS, God only knows how, where He fed my desperate desire to know Him; now I am continually fed by amazing examples of virtuous men and women daily. Yet not everyone's lives are like mine. In fact, 44% of American college students reported feeling symptoms of depression (source) and suicide is the third (some sources say second) leading cause of deaths among college students (source). They are searching for the word of Life but can't find it. I praise God for all of the work He is doing on college campuses, for the compassion He is showing to His disobedient children by bringing them His word through FOCUS and other organizations like us. Please pray for all of us who are wandering around the earth, starving for the word of the Lord.

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" ~ Deuteronomy 8:3

Home Again

Happy July 4th everyone! I pray you have a blessed day with family and friends.

My life has been pretty crazy the past few days! Drove to Atlanta on Saturday with two amazing new missionaries - it's so strange to say: "See you at Conference!" - and got to my friend's house where 4 adorable children were waiting with a birthday cake for me (made from scratch...she's such a baker). That night we got a chance to catch up, which was so good. The next day we went to Mass and two of us headed for Florida while our host left to be a counselor at a LifeTeen camp. The drive both days was pretty uneventful: we loved the scenery in TN, clutched the steering wheel all the way through Atlanta (even on a weekend!), and shouted for joy once we hit the FL border. Kentucky was somewhere in there too...I might have been sleeping.

That night, I was able to talk with my sister for a long time, definitely longer than I should have, about life and a camp she had recently worked at. I was involved with that camp for a long time. It has such potential but was a bad trap for me spiritually. Listening to stories from her, I could see the true desire to be disciples of Christ and lead others to him, yet because of our humanity and lack of guidance, falling far short of that goal. One of the most important things I learned by joining FOCUS is the need for witnesses. The world doesn't need more teachers, they need witnesses.

I was definitely NOT the best witness through high school and the first half of college. My actions were one of a lazy, half-committed Catholic while I condemned those who had commitment problems of their own. Those were definitely not some of my better days. But having lived through them helped me realize my need to pray for the graces of compassion and understanding. And with being involved in FOCUS, I have realized how important it is not to excuse my behavior, but to truly hold myself to a higher standard. In order to impart your knowledge to another person, it is necessary to prove you can say such things. For example, if you want to teach Algebra, you have to graduate from college, proving proficiency in Math and Teaching. You have the intellectual authority to teach. The same goes with morals: we must have the moral high ground. And while that sounds condescending, if you are truly living a moral life, following Christ and His Church, you will be growing in the graces of charity and understanding. With these spiritual gifts, when you fraternally correct a brother or sister, you will not be condemning them because you will be speaking from the Holy Spirit. We cannot be leaders in faith walking behind or even with our brothers and sisters, we must walk ahead and show them the way.