Monday, February 29, 2016

Lent: How ya doin'?

Hi friends!

We are making our way through the Lenten season.
How's it going?
Are you keeping up with your Lenten goals?

I'll be honest. This Lent has not been the best for me. I really challenged myself to focus on prayer and I have not done much to make my relationship with God stronger.
I swore I would pray the rosary daily.
Then I backed off and said well maybe a few times a week.
Then I went even further and decided a rosary once a week would be ok.
You know how many rosaries I've said? ZERO.

I've spent more time talking about my lack of follow through of my goals than sticking to any goals.

So today I woke up and decided that it was time to change.

I know change doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. It takes hard work. It takes dedication (something I don't always have). So I spent some time browsing the incredible shelf of resources in the youth office and decided to start some spiritual reading. I will begin reading Henri Nouwen's "Can You Drink From The Cup". It is a short book that I have heard about from many friends in ministry. My hope is that by starting small, with this book, it will spark something inside me. It will help me refocus on the things that are important, like prayer and taking time to feed my spiritual soul.
It's not a rosary every day, but maybe this is a better goal for me.

I challenge you to take some time to evaluate where you are with your own Lenten goals.
And if you feel like they aren't working, try to determine why. Maybe you need a new goal.

Remember that NCYC feeling? Or the feeling you had after Kairos? I know how those fabulous experiences made me feel! They made me feel on FIRE for my faith. How we keep that fire alive is the challenge. Daily life is not NCYC or Kairos. But there is beauty and joy and faith wrapped into every part of every day. We just need to watch for it.

As always, please watch the high school youth ministry facebook page for all that is happening.
You can always go to www.waterloocatholics.org and click the youth ministry button on the homepage for information.

Until next time......
Annie