The POPE!

So, as I sat here avoiding my impending to do list, I thought, I'd write a post at the very least.

Alot has happened in the nearly nine months since I've started. I've learned a ton and I'm way more comfortable in my own skin. Perhaps one of the best moments as of late had to be taking kids to see the Pope at his mass at the Nationals' Stadium.

I had the ENORMOUS privilege of taking three kids to the papal mass with me in April. It was THE singular most transformative moment of my life. Just being there, seeing the stadium full of 46,000 made it totally amazing, besides the fact that the pope was there! Getting up at 3 am, was not the most fun, nor was organizing a bus full of almost 100 papal goers, but the whole experience was almost indescribable. My kids were amazing, were never too far from site and posed for every CHEESY picture that I made them pose for. They were dolls.

At first, I was having a little pity party for myself because I thought that the experience would have been way better if I didn't have kids there. I felt like I could have prayed more, listened better and had a much better time in general. Then the Holy Spirit gave me a slap on the face. During the procession of the gifts and leading into the Eucharistic prayer, one of my kids looked at me and said: "Thank you Em" and it was in that moment that I realized that I was watching these kids' lives be transformed, for that, I am most thankful and completely unworthy. I have had the privilege to watch three (we had another kid tag along with him mom...so really four) kids' lives be completely transformed. That has brought me to my knees a lot lately. I also think that God used it to help me process that I'll have to work through being at work while I'm world youth day and let the Holy Spirit in.

The pictures are us after the papal mass...look at those smiles and then the other one is Benny obviously.

Come Holy Spirit! Thank you for the opportunity to be able to have you work through me to bring teens to Christ. I am unworthy.

A Truly Great Moment in Ministry

So there's some good days in ministry and then there's some GREAT days. Today was one of those great days....

As many of you know, Our Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI is coming to Washington, DC in mid April. Getting tickets for the mass to be said at the Nationals Stadium has been quiet the production. Because I'm a staff member, my pastor has graciously given each of us a ticket as well as a ticket for a person of our choice, but I don't get an extra ticket.

I get three: to take three teens from my ministry with me to the Papal Mass! Woah. I got to call them today and let them know that they had been selected for the mass. The reactions were great..by far, my favorite was the silence on the other line and sheer Oh my gosh! I was amazing.

I'm so blessed to be seeing the Pope in person, much less to be able to watch three kids' lives be transformed by their seeing the Pope. This is what makes ministry worth it.

If Only...

Give Confession top priority, Pope asks priests
Vatican, Feb. 19, 2007 (CWNews.com)

At a February 19 meeting with confessors, Pope Benedict XVI remarked on how the "limitless renovating power of divine love" is realized in the sacrament of Penance. The Holy Father was speaking to the father-confessors of the Roman basilica and the officials of the Apostolic Penitentiary, led by Cardinal James Stafford. He told them that the priest, as confessor, is an "active instrument of divine mercy."The task of the confessor, the Pope said, is to help the penitent "recognize the gravity of sin," and resolve to avoid sin in the future, while provide "the comfort and consolation of Christ.""How many penitents find in confession the peace and joy they were seeking for so long!" the Pope said. (emp added)

He encouraged priests to help the faithful use the sacrament properly. To do so, he said, confessors must learn as much as possible about the background of their people, the problems they face, and the spiritual problems they encounter. Above all, the Pope continued, "We cannot preach forgiveness and reconciliation to others if we do not experience these things personally." He encouraged confessors to make frequent use of the sacrament themselves, so that they too have a fuller appreciation for the forgiveness offered by Christ through his priestly ministers.The sacrament of Penance, the Pontiff concluded, "is a specific ecclesial service to which we must give priority."

If only Anna Nicole and Britney had this in their lives.
As Sister says "Do Good Work".