What makes you smile? What touches your heart? What takes you by surprise this week? A beautiful sunset splashing lots of colors across the sky can remind us of God's love for the world just as much as changing that horribly stinky diaper can remind us of how much God loves His children (i.e. us) and would do anything for us.I hope you'll join me and share your moment when you recognized God around you in some way. Tell us in the comments or share on your own blog and share the link in the comments below. Let's give everyone visiting here many reasons to smile on this Saturday.
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On Wednesday, July 4th, I attended Mass at our parish, also the Cathedral parish in our diocese. If I had to guess, there were about 600 people there, a dozen priests on the altar with the Bishop, several seminarians serving at the mass, and two deacons on the altar and I recognized many, many more throughout the congregation. I saw lots of familiar faces. This was a Mass to end the Fortnight for Freedom in our diocese. I attend Mass at the cathedral every week and the energy that was present throughout the congregation on this day was much more vibrant than I am used to.
It was a very reverent Mass. I saw so many people there I knew from several different parishes. I felt surrounded by people of strong, unyielding faith as we joined together to celebrate our religious freedom as Catholics and as Americans. Despite the fact that I had a squirmy baby in my arms and had to move around the side aisles and back of the church during the Mass, I still felt the vibe of this community coming together. During Mass I remember praying that our religious freedom would not be compromised in the years to come and that my children would have the same freedoms to not just practice their faith within the walls of our churches but also live their lives as people of faith.
At the end of Mass as we started singing America and the crowd of servers, deacons, priests, and the Bishop began the recessional I was overcome with emotion. I truly felt the hand of God among His people at that moment. I felt proud to be a Catholic. I felt proud of my ancestors who remained true to the faith and passed it on to their children all the way down to me. I felt proud of my great-grandparents and the sacrifices they made to come to this country in search of a better life. And I felt proud to be an American.
It did my heart good to know that there is still a strong Catholic faith in this country. I felt honored to be at that Mass. And it made me smile to know that there are so many of us that are willing to stand up and fight for our religious freedom in this country. We are all Americans, but we are Catholics first.
It was a very reverent Mass. I saw so many people there I knew from several different parishes. I felt surrounded by people of strong, unyielding faith as we joined together to celebrate our religious freedom as Catholics and as Americans. Despite the fact that I had a squirmy baby in my arms and had to move around the side aisles and back of the church during the Mass, I still felt the vibe of this community coming together. During Mass I remember praying that our religious freedom would not be compromised in the years to come and that my children would have the same freedoms to not just practice their faith within the walls of our churches but also live their lives as people of faith.
At the end of Mass as we started singing America and the crowd of servers, deacons, priests, and the Bishop began the recessional I was overcome with emotion. I truly felt the hand of God among His people at that moment. I felt proud to be a Catholic. I felt proud of my ancestors who remained true to the faith and passed it on to their children all the way down to me. I felt proud of my great-grandparents and the sacrifices they made to come to this country in search of a better life. And I felt proud to be an American.
It did my heart good to know that there is still a strong Catholic faith in this country. I felt honored to be at that Mass. And it made me smile to know that there are so many of us that are willing to stand up and fight for our religious freedom in this country. We are all Americans, but we are Catholics first.
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What made you smile this week? Where did you most feel God's presence in your every day?
Leave a comment below to share your moment so we can all smile with you. Or if you have a blog, write up your own "Saturday Smiles" post and share the link in the comments below.
Thanks for participating!
Your stinky diaper comment reminded me of a similar God moment I had this week. Caroline, my 4 year old, was blessed with a case of head lice. Yay! During one of our tedious, hour-long, comb-out sessions, I was reminded of the verses stating that every hair on our heads is numbered. I chuckled as I prayed that God would lead me to the hairs with nits on them! Still, I was overwhelmed by the promise that God knows each of us with a knowledge that far surpasses even a mother's knowledge of her child.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great insight at such a trying time. I think this is one of those things that proves that God has a sense of humor. :) Thanks for sharing!
DeleteMy 'smile moment' came out of something I posted on my own blog this week. I have been MIA from my blog for the past several weeks - I even missed the July 1 Pro-life Reflections that I post every Sunday. Yet, late one night I was moved to write a piece that had been swirling around in my mind for quite some time. As the words began to flow, however, the post took an unexpected turn or two and morphed into two concepts I had been contemplating as well as a current event in my life. The subsequent post became a sort of tribute to birthdays, life, and death (specifically the grandmother of my daughter-in-law). After I finished, it posted and I hovered over the check box that sends it to a couple of people who don't subscribe to my blog (you guessed it, the daughter-in-law). Taking a deep breath, I clicked and checked the box - she would receive my post link in an email. Less than an hour later (midnight) my phone chimed the text message notification. Granny had died - most likely while I was writing. Furthermore, Laura had used my blog post to announce her death to her Facebook friends! What an honor to realize that I had not offended her but had rather been a vehicle for sharing her grief! I smiled through the tears! http://designsbybirgit.blogspot.com/2012/07/double-nickels-and-vigils-of-life.html
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