Vanities

Vanity of vanities, says Quohelth,
vanities of Vanaties! All things are vanity!
Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it, he must leave property. This also is vanity and a great misfortune. For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun? All his days sorry and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest. This is also vanity.

-- Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23

I went to Sunday Mass in Dickinson on Saturday. That was my first time at this church and apparently it's also a shrine. It's a small humble church with the interior that looked like it was built in the '70s. The church wasn't filled, but there was enough people that my brother and I had to look for open seating that was easily accessible (we were a few minutes late).

The priest had a beautiful Homily that truly hit the spot. He reminded us of the "vanities" in our lives that hold us back. He wasn't talking about materialistic items that we can touch and feel, but the vanities in our hearts and minds that keep us from God. He asked us to write down the things running through our minds that we need to "let go" of. It was a perfect mass, almost felt like God wanted me to be there to listen to the Priest. He couldn't have said it best.

I was reminded that all the current worry in my heart is needless and will just consume my entire being if I continue to hold on to it. All this mental burden is like the rope that ties down the hot air balloon to the ground. If you never let go of the rope, you will never be able to drift into space to see the beauty of the world from the sky. Don't hold pain, worry and stress in your life.... or you'll never be able to enjoy it.

Thank you God for reminding me once again to put my trust in you. I trust that you will take care of me in the next few months and all my prayers will be answered.

Music, The Universal Language

Have you ever listened to a song, and at the end of if you felt some type of emotion? Songs are very powerful ways of expressing how you feel. I've said it before, it's a damn good song if it reminds you of a horrible incident, yet you can still listen to it.

Sometimes when I feel a certain way, my music will reflect it. My running is a perfect example. If I feel relaxed and plan on running for miles on end, I can only listen to acoustics, easy melodies, and calm voices to get me in my zone. In retrospect, when I'm getting ready for a big night I can't help but listen to upbeat tempos that get me moving and excited for the evening.

I love songs with beautiful lyrics. A lot of the old songs have simple sounds, yet their words are amazing.

John Lennon's "Imagine" always makes me feel inspired.

What song inspires you?

January

With Papa's death anniversary coming up & Vinh's right around the corner, and despite the fact that my birthday is this month, I can't help but feel sadness at this time every year. Two great people were taken from this world almost exactly a year apart. Papa lived his life to the fullest, yet suffered the last 5 years of his life; while Vinh at such a young age was drastically taken from us without any warning. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, one can never prepare and be ready for the true heartbreak reality of death until it happens to someone close to you.

For the past 7 months, I have learned the ins and outs of staffing in healthcare. It's brutal and cutthroat. We work with a lot of hospice companies around town and every time we are given a case, my thoughts are always for the family that is going through such a trying time. Death is a part of life, and learning how to cope with it is the challenge to overcome. It breaks my heart when dealing with some of these hospice companies who are not so compassionate with the patients and their families. I just finished begging and pleading one of my nurses to pick up a case that is over an hour drive from her because the company failed to do their part in communicating to us about having enough coverage for the case. If it wasn't my persistence and a little prayer, the dying patient and her family would have been left with an overwhelming situation that they are not prepared to deal with on their own.

I did the best I could trying to cover the case as far as I can, but I can't say the same for the hospice company. It felt almost as if they did not care, it didn't even feel like they even tried. The on call nurse even told me that if we can't find anyone, the case "will just have to end at 8a." WHAT?! I hate being on call too, but I keep trying and trying until there is truly nothing left. Eventually, the psycho calling pays off. Don't get me wrong, not all companies are like this one. In fact, my favorite one would NEVER miss coverage for any case. It just sucks having to deal with these situations.

Bin Laden Dies on Divine Mercy Sunday

In the last hours of Divine Mercy Sunday, shows were interrupted to tell us that President Obama had breaking news on America's national security. Minutes later, CNN was reporting: "Osama Bin Laden is dead."
Sunday morning, the only mass I was able to make was in Friendswood, not my frist choice, but the only choice I had since it was the last English mass in my area before the evening masses started. The Homily of course, was about Pope John Paul. He was beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday, a very special day for him and for all Catholics who are aware of recent history. St. Faustina is responsible for the Divine Mercy devotion and Pope John Paul was the Pope who canonized her and made her a saint. So, it is very fitting that his beatification (the 2nd step to becoming a saint) happened the second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday.
The priest, Father Benny, opened up with the story of a picture in Time magazine of Pope John Paul speaking to his attempted assassinator. In 1981, the Pope was shot 4 times at St. Peter's Square in Rome amongst thousands of people as he was blessing them. Years later, the Pope visited his shooter in jail, spoke with him and forgave him. Father Benny connected the Pope's mercy with the intentions and meanings of the "Divine Mercy."
Mercy is defined by Webster's Dictionary as: compassion or forbearance shown to an offender or subject; clemency or kindness extended to someone instead of strictness or severity.
Despite the fact that Pope John Paul nearly died from one man's acts, he was able to forgive him. He even faced his shooter and forgave him personally. What a beautiful story. Of course, instinct would have us ask, "Why would he do that?" The Pontiff, speaking to children at a Rome parish on Oct. 10, 1999, said the teachings of Christ instructed him to forgive Agca.

Forgiveness, an act of love that we all seem to struggle with. Pope John's Mercy towards his shooter is the perfect example of God's Mercy towards us. If God can forgive us and show mercy to us, then why can't we do it to one another?
So we come to today's "breaking news." I find it ironic that Bin Laden's death occurred on the exact day of Pope John Paul's beatification, Divine Mercy Sunday. Is God sending us a message? Is He asking this country to learn how to forgive and show mercy? Bin Laden's ruthless and murderous acts upon the United States and the rest of the world are horrific, yet how can we truly forgive someone like him? If anytime Pope John Paul is needed, it is now. It scares me to see people praise a person's death. Even if he is a cruel and evil person, he was still one of God's children. I am in no way in support of Bin Laden, but justifying his death and finding joy in it, just goes to show you how much prayer this county needs! This country doesn't get it. I really don't know how to explain how I feel, but as relieved as I am to know that the leader of Al Queda has been taken down, it scares me to see how joyous everyone is about it.
God bless us all, especially the troops who are still over there away from their loved ones.

Food for the Soul

The funniest thing I heard today was at church.

I love going to church at St. Francis Cabrini because not only is it a smaller church, but the priest is always straight and to the point with lots of humor. Father Frank is your typical old school Italian who loves his pasta (and food in general). Today he explained that the other night he sat down in front of the TV with a big bowl of spaghetti watching the news about all the turmoil in Libya. The news was reporting on the bombings and the innocent lives who are in danger and just all this violence on that side of the world.

Then he said: “No matter what goes on in this world, us Catholics have to eat!”

As for someone who likes to eat, it sure made me laugh!! Then he went on to explain that as Catholics, we can do that because we have such strong faith in God. We have full trust in him to take care of us that we can sit down and eat, and not be in constant worry about everything that goes on around us.

Pretty deep stuff.