Heart of God

This fall, I challenged myself to take on a 28 day personal retreat through the book Heart of God published by Lifeteen.

I've never done anything like this before, and to be completely honest, I had no idea what to expect.  In the end, this personal retreat has encouraged me to live a more Christ-like life...by reminding me to share His love and mercy in all that I do...and to "be the heart of God."

I want to share about my biggest take away from each day of the journey.

1) The key is prayer. We must communicate through prayer with the Father. Without this communication, we show no desire to be wrapped in His arms.

2) God doesn't pursue unimportant things; therefore, you are important.

3) Each of us has the freedom to either pursue God or reject God.  The choice is up to us.

4) We must not be quick to end our love.  We must push through, just as God does with us each and every day.

5) The Heavenly Father is the only one who can love us unconditionally through all of our faults.  We must continually seek His love in order to be forgiven.

6) Why do we doubt Him when we know He is leading the way?

7) God provides for us even in the darkest of times.  Those dark times are when we must place even more trust in Him than before.

8) Stop asking God for things that you don't need.  Instead, praise Him for what He has given you.

9) Just like God's heart freely gives, we must freely give our life to Him. We must follow the call that He has for us.

10) Jesus died on the cross so that we would be free to receive God's love and mercy.

11) Know that God's love will always be free to you.  His love is not bound to anyone or anything.

12) God is waiting to love you and show you mercy.

13) Don't look at yourself through your eyes.  Rather, look at yourself through God's eyes.

14) Always keep in mid if you are serving God in everything that you do.

15) God's heart becomes jealous of us when we cast our focus on things other than Him.  His jealousy never turns into envy, though.

16) God doesn't just want to be the missing piece in the puzzle.  He wants to be the whole puzzle.

17) God knows when you need a heart transplant.  That's when He sends in the Holy Spirit to the operating room.

18) Every day, God gives us the ability to love others as He loves us.

19) We are not on the same level as God.  This is why we implore Him: to show Him our desire to be as close to Him as possible.

20) We sinned, and He didn't; yet, because of His great mercy, He accepts those sins and forgives us.

21) The mystery of God is meant to push each one of us to see who we are in Him.

22) Our prayer to understand His great mystery must become an active exercise that shows full confidence in Him.

23) God holds us, reveals Himself to us, and loves us for all that we are and all that we can (and will) become.

24) We must embrace the mystery, trust in His mysterious providence, comet to understand that He is far beyond any person/thing we could imagine, and then shout this for all to hear.

25) Don't mistake silence for absence.  Messages aren't always conveyed by words.

26) Courage is staying rooted to Him and trusting in Him to provide for all of your needs.

27) Through sin, He is beckoning you to Him.  He is calling you to sainthood.

28) God's heart beats with everlasting love. His love pours freely from His unyielding heart, constantly in a pursuit to fill our mortal bodies with everlasting life.

Why I Veil

Growing up, I didn’t know anyone who veiled, nor did I really ever see anyone wearing one. Because of this, I was never that curious about it or knew much about it.

Fast forward to my college years. As I started to grow and become more active in my faith, I also started to follow more Catholics on social media. The world of social media can be viewed as a very negative thing, but it can also be used as a beacon of light, although many people forget about this. And a beacon of light is most definitely what it has been for me. 

Through social media, I grew to have a curiosity and yearning for a deeper understanding about many things in my faith, especially veiling. As I became curious, I did my research.  Through this curiosity and research, I discovered that my heart was longing for a deeper connection in my faith life, and that veiling might be a step along that journey.

The idea of veiling just kept running through my head, and I couldn't stop looking at veils online...so, I finally gave in and bought a veil. My excitement grew as I waited for it to arrive in the mail. Then the day finally came, and my veil arrived in my mailbox.

Now to take the next steps: getting the veil blessed and actually wearing it.  This was going to be the true test. Would I follow through?

After getting it blessed, it was now time to actually wear the veil. I trusted in Him and wore it to Eucharistic Adoration for the first time...and what an amazing experience it was! 

I was nervous and very self-conscious.  A part of me didn't care what others would think, and a part of me couldn't stop wondering what people would think. Would I attract attention to myself? Would people be judging me? Will people think that I believe I am holier than them? 

But after the experience that I had wearing my veil for the first time, I knew that this was a part of His plan for me.  Each time I wear my veil, I begin to discover more about my faith and grow deeper in my relationship with Him.

The biggest take away from wearing my veil is the fact that it helps me to stay focused, especially when I am leading music.  Whether I'm at Adoration or at mass, wearing my veil helps me to stay connected to the reason that I am there: to spend time with Christ.

We live in a world of modern technology, social media, and thousands of distractions.  As a college student, it is extremely hard to block out distractions...but wearing my veil helps me to do just that: eliminate distractions.

I have now come to the point where I don't care what others think.  The fear of judgement doesn't really bother me...The only thing that matters is that I know why I am veiling: to be as close to God as possible; to live a life that shows Him my constant desire to be as Christ-like as possible.