Tag: Veronica Alvarado

“I should share this on Facebook! It’s so inspirational and really struck a chord with me. No… what if my friends think it’s too religious? Or what if even my Christian friends think it’s too in-your-face?”

This is a conversation (aka battle) I have with myself every day. As a Catholic that also struggles with depression and anxiety, I find a lot of my mental solace comes from inspirational Scripture or Catholic teachings. Still, I know that not all my friends on social media are Christians and rather than using this as an opportunity to evangelize… I choose not to. 

Maybe you can’t relate, but I’ve often had the same conversation with my 21-year-old sister. We realized that we often let what others think of us make decisions for us. Actually, we don’t even know if it’s what others think of us. We let what we think is the public’s perception of us determine our lives. Really, we let fear not faith decide. 

In today’s Gospel reading, we see the powerful, unstoppable faith of the four men carrying the paralytic. They don’t just try to get him to Jesus, they break through the roof to lower him down. They ignore what people are saying and don’t think about what others are thinking because they have so much faith that only a touch, only a word, could heal him. 

In the Gospel, Jesus also shows us the power of witness, regardless of what others are saying or thinking. Unlike us, Jesus actually knew what the scribes were thinking. He knew they were judging him since he was forgiving sins, something the scribes believed could only be done by God directly. So Jesus calls them out on it with the truth and Word of God. And THEN he heals a man. A paralyzed man. Can’t move. Just… gets up. Walks away. And so does Jesus. He says what he needs to, heals the man, and does not engage further. The truth has been shared.

And THEN, the last line of today’s reading is shared and it is almost the most important: 

“They were all astounded and glorified God” (Mark 2:12).

Yes, people were astounded by Jesus calling out and addressing the scribes. Yes, people were astounded by the miracle of healing. But furthermore, they witnessed all of this and glorified God. 

In today’s world, with social media and the internet, we have such an opportunity to share our faith and we cannot let our fear stop us. We must let our faith bring us closer to God, even if it is for the world to see, even if there are people that may confront us. We can show our faith without it being an argument. 

So many times, I see other’s Christian posts and I have never felt upset or annoyed or rolled my eyes. Instead, I am uplifted. I am inspired. It changes my day for the better. 

So I challenge you (and myself) to share your faith on social media. Share the love of your beautiful and merciful God, never condemning, and invite others into a relationship with God. Maybe it’s exactly what they need today. 

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I grew up in Texas, which is south but not what I would call THE South. Texas is its own kind of south since there are so many western influences (see: cowboy references). It also has its own dialect, one where we occasionally speak Spanglish and drop Gs. So when my highschool friend said, “Girl, it’s a comin’,” all ominous-like… it just stuck in my head. 

Here we are, two weeks away from the new liturgical year, a new birth and literally the birth of Christ, and all I hear is people talking about the death of the Church. The death of its aging members. The death of Christian values. The death of youth’s interest in the Church. 

At a prayer meeting last year, someone had the word “rebirth” for the Church and the image that someone else had at the same time was one of a woman about to give birth, feeling as though she was going to die. 

This woman was in agony. She felt like she couldn’t go on. She felt like this had to be the end, the end of her, the end of everything. She felt as though she was about to die because the suffering was too great. 

Then she gave birth to new life. 

And she cried tears of joy. There was celebration. There was restored hope. 

“When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world” (John 16:21).

I believe that the same is true for the Church. We are in a time of cleansing, be it the cleansing of our sinful clergy or finding out who the true Mass-goers are after the pandemic. We are in a time that is testing how much we truly imitate Christ, be it in our unwavering beliefs or total, unselfish love for those who oppose our beliefs. (May we continue to pray for every one of these people with honest compassion.) We are strengthening our Church through truth and faith. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the blind man, “Have sight; your faith has saved you” (Luke 18:42). So in today’s labor pains, I ask that you continue to have faith. Have sight beyond what is happening now and have faith. 

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“For in hope we are saved” (Rom 8:24).

In today’s First Reading, we are reminded that “this, too, shall pass” and what we are truly working towards is the Kingdom of God. The reading is about the Glory of God, the “eager expectation” we should have.  The reading is about hope. 

Sadly, we live in a world where it is so easy to lose hope. We see corrupt people rising in the ranks, we see people starving in the streets, and we see our loved ones falling sick. But when we look to the Lord, keep our eyes set upon Him, we can be renewed in this hope.  The book of Romans tells us that hope isn’t knowing that something has already happened, but waiting in anticipation and with faith. If we based our hopes for this world on what we see, then hope would be a negative word for a negative world.

Instead, hope is something that inspires us. It reminds us that there is more to dream of, more to live for, more to hope for, because “the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared to the glory to be revealed to us.” 

By living in unity with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, we know that there is good. Just as my high school youth group would chant, “God is good! All the time! All the time! God is good!”

Glory to you, God, for redemption through your Son,
for the most holy sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for the hope you have given us through all your goodness.
Thank you for showing us Your mercy, Your love, and Your glory, even here on earth. 

May we shed tears of joy in hope.
May we dance and sing and cry out in undignified praise,
giving glory to you without worry or pride as King David did. 

May we always hope in you and through you, Lord. Amen.

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I am currently two weeks into a study on getting to know the Eucharist and this perfect sacrifice for us and I am realizing that I have spent nearly my entire life only skimming the surface of Our Father’s love. 

Yes, I know Jesus died for me and for my sins, but sometimes I get too caught up on the “for my sins” part. I constantly try to be “perfect” and can be so hard on myself that I get discouraged. I forget the mercy of God that is offered to me even though I will never truly be worthy, because there is no such thing as perfection for (99.9% of) humans. 

I’m not trying to gloss over the fact that I am a sinner, but I think I forget that God sent His only Son for me… because he loves me. He did it because He wants an eternal relationship with me. In fact, that’s all He asks in return, for me to truly know Him and His truths because once I know them in my heart, how can I deny them in my actions or words?  

I forget He has loved me since before I existed and that when I sinned for the first time as a child, He didn’t flinch or shy away from me in my sinfulness, in the same way that he drew nearer even when I lost my way in college. Each time I mess up, He has opened His arms to me and asked me to come back, to know Him, to come home. 

And that’s something I forget because I try to picture God as a father in a humanly way. 

Now, I’m not saying my dad isn’t amazing. He’s awesome and I love him so much, but he’s also human. I know now that as I grew up and learned from my mistakes, I was also watching my dad grow up and learn from his. Still, something my dad does that reminds me of God’s love is how any time that I am hurt, my dad runs to me. Every. Single. Time. 

Knowing this, I’m amazed and overwhelmed in the best way because our earthly father or father figures’ love is only a glimpse, a tiny sliver, of the love that our Heavenly Father invites us into. He is a merciful God to all of us, “Gentile or Jew”. 

“I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation” (Responsorial Psalm).

He knows you. He knows all that you are and have been and will be… and He loves you.
He shows you mercy. He redeems you. He. Loves. You.

Never forget that part. 

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Today we read of jealousy and lifting others up in Christ. In the First Reading, the 70 elders begin to prophesy and it was amazing! But when the two elders that WEREN’T there begin to prophesy, Joshua asks Moses to stop them. 

Moses’ response is:

Are you jealous for my sake?
Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!
Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all! (Numbers 11:29)

Something similar occurs in the Gospel reading when the apostles come to Jesus, telling him that there are others that are performing miracles in Jesus’ name but they aren’t following the disciples.

Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” (Mark 9:38-43)

In both cases, we are reminded not to be jealous of others’ gifts, nor should we be jealous when people are given the same gifts as us. Just because someone may not have come to the same gift, talent, or gift of the Spirit, does not mean that we should say they’re wrong or don’t deserve it. God’s glory is meant for all, not only for those who experience things exactly as we do. It is meant for all people. 

It is so easy to get caught up in our human ways and to want all the powerful glory of the Lord, all the wondrous gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the sacrificial love of Christ, for ourselves but… that kinda defeats the purpose! 

When we are radically in love with and in relationship with Our God, we know that it is something to be shared. So next time you feel that green hue of jealousy begin to take hold, tell yourself: “I’m so excited for that person, and all those they touch in their life, to know you. I can’t wait for them to receive the gift of eternal life. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of that person. Thank you for the experience of you through that person.”

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Today, during my morning prayers, the thought of the “extra button” on shirts kept popping into my head. Then, while reading the Gospel, I had this epiphany moment of the extra button that we are constantly offered through Jesus.

In today’s reading, we witness the heartbreak of a mother, the tragedy of losing a friend, and the overwhelming grief that follows death. Yet, even at this moment of suffering, Jesus still has concern and unbounded love for his loved ones. 

“Woman, behold your son” (John 19:26). 

In Jesus’ last moments, he gives his mother to John to take care of.

“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do’” (Luke 23:34).

Again, in Jesus’ last moments, he forgives them. Them, his murders. He forgives them and dies for all of our sins, washing us with eternally-offered forgiveness.

You see, Jesus knew that he was about to give his life, the greatest sacrifice, in order to give us all the gift of forgiveness and eternal life, but he still provided for those on earth. He gave his mother to someone to take care of her, he gave us forgiveness, he gave us his life. 

These last couple years have been difficult for most of us in so many ways, yet even in our grief, hurt, and misplaced anger, we are offered all that we need through Christ Jesus’ sacrifice. We are offered a family and community when we feel so lonely that it hurts. We are offered truth when we have believed the lies for so long. We are offered forgiveness and mercy even when we can’t stand to look at ourselves in the mirror. 

Jesus has given us so much, everything we could ever need and beyond everything we could ever imagine, so that when we lose a button… or when the button is torn away leaving a hole…or maybe it’s just suddenly gone without realizing it for weeks… he will always pull the extra button out of his pocket and help us to be whole again.

Through the intercession of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, we pray:

Mother Mary, we ask for your faith.
You chose to willingly devote yourself to God’s will
and understood the pain of sacrifice.
Help us to trust in the Lord and His will.

Christ Jesus, we plead for your mercy.
Even in giving your life, you took care of your people
and provided them with all they may need.
Help us know that we will always be cared for. 

Amen.

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“For I will re-establish my covenant with you” (Ezekial 16:62).

God is so good! He is so righteous, so wondrous, so powerful, so awesome… and so merciful! The last month, as I have been digging deeper into what baptism in the Holy Spirit means, I have just been overcome and undone by God’s everlasting mercy. 

Just yesterday, I was sharing with my mother that I went to Spanish Mass and encountered a word I had heard before but never known. Misericordia. The root of the Latin word is “misery” and “heart”. What a beautiful image of what mercy means, to share and have a heart for the misery of the world. Even now, I am crying at the weight of the word, the weight of God’s heart, crying over us again and again. 

I once heard a conference speaker say, “It is not that we are worthy of His goodness, we could never be, but it is that He is so good, that He gifts it to us, asking only that we have a relationship with Him in return.” How true this is. We are never asked to strive for worthiness or perfection, because God knows that we are human. Instead, we are asked to strive for sharing mercy, sharing hope, sharing love, and sharing the Word of God, because God is love. We are called to be holy people made in the image and likeness of a merciful, beautiful God. 

How do we do this? We show mercy, no matter what. 

Jesus, we plead your precious blood,

poured out for our sins without demands.

We implore you to teach us your mercy each time we sit in Mass,

each time you give yourself so freely for our sins.

We ask for your example of unending love.

Teach us to love others without selfishness,

even when we may be wronged in ways so tiny, compared to your cross. 

Teach us to come to you when we feel too weak to show mercy.

Remind us of your unending, undying love for us.

Amen.

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In today’s First Reading, there was one thing that stood out to me. In my daily readings, I highlighted “For the Lord, your God, […] has no favorites [and] accepts no bribes” (Deuteronomy 10:17). 

This struck me at first because, really, how often do we try to bribe God? I certainly don’t! …right? Then I realized that it was pretty often that I had, in my own life, said,  “Lord, if you do this for me, then I will do this for you” and then gotten upset when it didn’t happen. We think, “Of course God wants me to go to Mass every Sunday, so why wouldn’t he heal me.” We try so often to bend God’s will into our will.

Last weekend, I met a man named Roman who asked me if I knew God’s will. I replied, “No, but I am always trying to figure it out.” Roman asked me how I did this. How did I even know where to start? How could I possibly distinguish God’s will from my own? I thought about this for a moment, then told him that while I don’t have it all figured out, I believe it first requires a relationship with God. That means kneeling in prayer, standing and jumping in praise, and sitting in silence with the Lord. I told Roman that a healthy relationship requires constant conversation, that it required sacrifice that would always come from a place of selfless love, and a relationship with the Lord, Our Father, was no different in that regard. 

Then he asked me, “How do you know when it’s selfish instead of selfless?” I immediately had a flashback of the last time I had to stop and be brutally honest with myself. It wasn’t easy. It didn’t come naturally. I even remember trying to justify my behavior and convince God that my will was technically in line with His will. Spoiler, it wasn’t. It was just me trying to bribe God with technicalities and I knew it. So I prayed. I prayed for discernment to recognize and reject the world and then to accept God’s will into my life, even in the smallest of decisions. Then, in reading Scripture, I read a passage that spoke so clearly to me. “But the wisdom from above is pure, then peaceful, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). 

I shared this with the man and we ended our conversation with prayer, but his words continue to stick with me, “How do you distinguish God’s will from your own?” I pose this question to you and go even further to ask, “Do you even try to distinguish God’s will from your own?” If the answer is no, that’s okay! Today is a great day to start.

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Today my coworker led our morning prayer and ended with, “Father, all I ask is that we find ourselves laughing today. I ask for nothing more than the beautiful gift of laughter.”

And what a gift it is, being able to feel so free, so joyous, so relaxed, that we find ourselves enjoying laughter. A large part of being able to genuinely laugh (not nervously laugh) is being able to let your guard down, being able to trust the situation you’re in, and being able to trust the people you’re with. Similarly, I find myself laughing with the Lord when I trust in Him. 

How many times have I found myself in some ridiculous situation that would normally be worrisome or stressful, yet I am laughing because I trust in God’s plan, whatever that may be. For example, I was once late to work because there were literally goats on the road and traffic was stopped while people got out of their cars and tried to chase them down. Instead of being upset, I laughed. I laughed because I knew how ridiculous it would sound when I told my boss that I was late because goats had escaped onto the road. I laughed because even though I would be late, I knew that this was a part of God’s plan.

You see, I was having a terrible day before this and, just minutes before, I had started praying in the car. I was just having a conversation with God. I asked for His grace so I could see beauty in the world. What I was given was the beautiful gift of laughter.

In today’s reading, Jacob trusts in the Lord enough to leave his home with everything he owns and everyone he loves. Then, he is greatly rewarded by the joy of seeing his son. I can just imagine his overwhelming joy, the tears as he laughs. His trust in the Lord’s plan, in the Lord Himself, means the beautiful gift of laughter is able to enter his life. 

So, today, pray for the gift of laughter. Allow yourself to trust in God. Drop the guard around your heart and… Just laugh.

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Today, on the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we get a glimpse of what it must have been like raising Jesus. Kind of nerve-wracking, if you ask me. Jesus, my son, the Son of God, lost for three whole days??? I can’t even imagine! Still, in this Gospel, we are humbled by the voice of a child, so calmly knowing that he is his Father’s child. 

Last weekend, I met someone that was sharing her humbling experience of raising faith-filled children. She shared with me that the other day her daughter started a sentence with, “Mommy, I had a vision while adoring Jesus and I was wondering…” and it was at that point that she knew she was out of her depth. She knew that she would be relying on her Father, Our Father, to raise this little, prayerful child. If anything, she strived to have the child-like faith and relationship with the Lord that her daughter had!

This little one, as well as young Jesus, are such wonderful examples of how we should be young in spirit when it comes to our relationship with the world. In Matthew 18:3, Jesus says, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” 

How do we do this? How can we be like holy little children? How do we come to be so comfortable in our Father’s house that we lose ourselves?

I believe the biggest components of this are the following two things:

1. Share your life with the Lord! 

Whether you’re celebrating, worried, or needing guidance, just spend some time in community with God. You don’t have to start with three hours in adoration or a special chair for prayer, it can be small. It can be while you’re driving to the grocery store, as you wash the dishes, or even when you’re taking a shower! The main thing is to just begin that open communication of sharing your life, all the joy and heartaches, with God.

2. Have the strength to rely on God, your father. 

So many times, we push ourselves to the limit trying to be the best, to do the best, and are then let down when our best doesn’t feel good enough. But, like children, we must remember that we are not alone and we are put in community because we are meant to ask for help. Children will raise their arms to the sky as a signal to pick them up or that they need help, and we can do the same. In fact, even in 2 Corinthians 12:9, we are given the words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” This means that the power of God does not rely on our power, because truly we have none. We are weak and that is OKAY because it is through HIS grace, HIS love, HIS power that we are able to do such glorious things and experience true joy. 

So take some time to share your life with God. Tell Him about your work week while you fold laundry. Surrender your exhaustion to the Lord. Ask Him to strengthen and guide you. 

Start the conversation. Accept God’s strength. Be childlike. 

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