Compassion and Spritual Leader fest in the USA!

Just in case anyone has been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, the United States is being graced by the presence of two of the most well known spiritual leaders in the world, the Dalai Lama and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Living in Seattle, it seems that "compassion" has been quite the buzz word. The Dalai Lama, exiled spritual leader of Tibetan buddhism, was brought to Seattle by for the Seeds of Compassion conference ending earlier this week. Now as those of you who know me surely know, I am not Buddhist, however I think that the Dalai Lama said some very important things that should be heeded by everyone regardless of their religious beliefs. He spoke very candidly about forgiveness and reconciliation and many times about the importance of performing acts of charity, kindness, respect and justice for others...in short, treating them with compassion. Coming at this issue from my Christian understanding, I have to agree. Jesus, through his acts in the Gospels, exemplified a compassionate interaction with those around him. We only need look at the stories of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), the woman at the well (John 4:1-42),countless miracles and stories of faith presented in the bible. While Jesus never condoned acts that were sinful and evil, he treated all those he interacted with as children of God, and thus, His own brothers and sisters. We are called to that same kind of love! While not easy, we have the stories of saints, the teachings of the Church and the Word of God to guide us. How easy is it to look to someone like Mother Teresa, now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, to see an example of someone who worked so hard to emulate Christ. I hope that the Dalai Lama's words will not soon be forgotten, and I really hope it is listened to by people who feel wary of other organized religion and wouldn't hear it there. While I still hope and pray that they might reconsider their stance on Christianity, maybe this is a way for them to really hear what a compassionate life should look like.

Onto other religious leaders, His Holiness Pope Bendict XVI has arrived in the U.S.! Being a young Catholic today, this is very exciting, especially since this is his first U.S. visit. I have been very pleased with His Papacy thus far, and am really excited by the focus he has placed on love. In fact, I am hoping to read his first encyclical (I know, I know, I'm a little behind!) Deus Caritas Est, or simply, God is Love very soon. He will be visiting Washington D.C. and New York and taking advantage of the hugeness of baseball stadiums to celebrate Mass for a very large group of people. I pray for his safety while he is here, as well as all those who are traveling to see him, and hope that people might be open to hearing what he has to say. Sadly the horrible actions by a few priests in the sex abuse scandals have shattered lives and made many turn from listening to the vast majority of good faithful priests and the wisdom passed down through the Church over 2000 years. Pope Benedict has much to give and many things to say that our country desperately needs to hear. Christ is our hope, may we open our ears to hear His word in our society today.

Okay, enough editorializing, I should go study for my Kinesiology exam :)

Happy Day

The Office is back with new episodes...all is right with the world again :)

Back again

Hmmm...yeah so I guess my dropping off the blog radar happens not just at the end of the quarter but at the beginning too... oh well. That's right I've just started my third quarter of PT school. It really feels like I just started, but I'm getting close to a third of the way done...eep! I feel like I'm floating in this strange place between crazy excitement and sheer terror at being this much closer to being a clinician. Well, I guess terror is somewhat of an overstatement. When I stop to think about just how much I've learned in these last few months, it really is mind-boggling. And as for being one step closer....I have my summer internship assignment! I'll be working for four weeks at an outpatient clinic in Federal Way, not too far from my house. I'm pretty excited to be able to get some real hands-on experience, but know I'll have to do a lot of review from my procedures classes to prep.

As for this quarter, it already has a completely different feel than the others...mainly I think this is because of the advent of the three-hour class, yes I have three of them. Luckily my professors are wonderful about giving breaks, it pays to be in a department with a bunch of people who just can't sit still for that long. I'm still feeling out the territory as far as balancing reading and homework with other activities, but I think it should be okay as long as I stay on top of everything.

One last thing, completely unrelated to any of the above. I know there are some of you out there who are Matt Maher fans. Aside from earning uber-cool points for using the word "transubstantiation" in a song, he just put out his first album under a major Christian label called "Empty and Beautiful". It's currently the top selling CD on Family Christian Stores website, so let's get the word out and support! He has also released a slightly revamped version of "Your Grace is Enough" to radio, so be sure and request. Alright, enough of my random plugs...I'm going to go get my trivia on tonight, as I wait in anticipation for The Office to return tomorrow. Take it easy!

Alleluia!

Just had to say it because I can, happy Easter to all!

Funny how my departures from the blogosphere correspond perfectly to test taking madness...this time being no exception :) I am gloriously on Spring Break, having made it through finals week alive, and obviously long overdue for an update. When last I left you, I was getting ready to head to Yelm for our Life Teen spring retreat. The retreat was incredibly powerful for all involved, teens and adults! Our theme was Focus on God, and dealt with burdens and hardships, and how to overcome them. We had powerful sharings from adults in our group, a skit that left me absolutely floored and humbled it was so amazing, powerful Adoration, and a small group that I was so blessed to have, they were incredible. My retreat high continued into the next week, as I went to help a friend with her Confirmation retreat, giving a talk on the Gifts of the Spirit....I would have loved to stay all weekend, but finals week loomed ahead of me.

What better way to celebrate ending finals week, then entering into the most holy time of the Church year, the Easter Triduum. I was lucky enough this year to attend Mass or a service on every day starting Holy Thursday, then the reading of the Passion on Good Friday, and our parish's Easter Vigil last night. We welcomed four women who got Baptized, two adults and a six year old girl (one of the adults' daughter) doing their First Communion and a profession of faith and four more adults who got Confirmed. It was truly a joyous celebration of the Resurrection of Christ and is always my favorite Mass of the year. The use of the symbols of light and dark at the beginning and the readings that speak to us of our own history as a people, culminating in Jesus' resurrection...wow! And of course it just makes me want to say Alleluia!! I hope everyone has a truly blessed Easter and Easter season!

Weekend in the Woods

The woods being at a retreat center in Yelm. Hard to believe but our Life Teen Spring Retreat has arrived. I'll be on retreat with our high schoolers for the weekend, it promises to be a lot of fun as well as deeply insightful. Our amazing retreat team has been hard at work for several months putting this together and I hope that our group gets a lot of it. Please keep us in your prayers this weekend and I'll let you know all about it next week (which somehow, incredibly, is Dead Week, how the heck did that happen?)

A Night at the Opera

There's a first time for everything right? Well, a couple of nights ago was my first time experiencing the art form that is opera during a trip to see Seattle Opera's production of Puccini's "Tosca". Now knowing myself, as I do, I'm really surprised I haven't dabbled in this art form before. After all, I love classical music and classically trained voices, as well as the stage - plays and musical theatre. However while opera encompasses both of these, it is also unique unto itself. My foray into opera began a few weeks ago when one of my classmates, who had been part of an opera club in high school, suggested we gather enough people to get a group rate. I was game to go and am so glad I did. The opera was full of all sorts of sordid details....love, murder, jealousy - as any tragic story should be. The actors were wonderful and their voices just beautiful. With English subtitles discreetly displayed on a screen above the stage you didn't even have to speak Italian to enjoy it. At times, I would even stop reading the subtitles and just listen to an aria being sung. Additionally the sets were gorgeous, Act I nailed an Italian church spot on. Now I know opera isn't everyone's cup of tea...too many high notes, or what is perceived as "overacting", but I really enjoyed myself. If you haven't ever given opera a try, think about it, you might be pleasantly surprised. And you also just might see me there, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Just one of the (many) reasons my teens are amazing!

As most of you probably know, I volunteer with my parish's high school youth ministry program, Life Teen. Being a Core member is so wonderful and my teens never cease to amaze me with their love of God, His Church and their insight into their blossoming faith. This year I'm not sponsoring anyone for Confirmation an am too busy to help out with the planning so I didn't get a chance to go on the retreat. A few days ago, however, during our Guatemala committee meeting, our Pastoral Associate brought in for our opening prayer, a compilation of Beatitudes written by our teens and their sponsors during the Confirmation retreat. They were asked to think about times that teens face challenges in their faith, and how they might stand up to them. He picked a few to share with us, and now I'm sharing them with you, so that you might get a chance to be inspired by our Church's young faith!

Blessed are they who see themselves as a child of God,
for they will know His love.
Blessed are they who see God in others,
for they will be blessed with friendship.
Blessed are they who resist and do not exert peer pressure,
for they will have the confidence to stand up for themselves.
Blessed are they who are unafraid to verbalize their beliefs,
for they will sing with the angels.
Blessed are they who live out their uniqueness,
for they will accept and understand themselves and others.
Blessed are they who help the stragglers,
for they will find themselves welcomed.
Blessed are they who act when they are called,
for they will not miss the opportunity to share their gifts.
Blessed are they who can cope with life's pressures,
for they will relieve the pressures of others.

Amen!