Thy Will Be Done

Palm Sunday Mass was packed.  My 11 year old son and I sat in the last two folding chairs in the back, and my 4 year old son sat in his stroller.  It had been a particularly difficult week, full of disappointments and tears, and I desperately needed this Mass.  I was exhausted, and while I carried the cross I had been given faithfully, I had stumbled and felt as though I was failing to carry it as I should.  My eyes were moist through most of the Mass, desperate for some relief.  But since I knew no one in the parish, I truly felt abandoned.

The moment I received His True Presence within me and carried my son back to our seats, the tears flowed more freely.  I knew I had not been abandoned – I was simply being asked to love a little more than I had been loving before.  But how, Lord?  How?

If you hadn’t already heard, my 4 year old son Fulton was severely burned in a homesteading accident on January 8.  From the moment we were airlifted from our local schoolyard, I had prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries and had received such an overabundance of graces, I couldn’t even begin to describe them all.

“Thy will be done” was the constant underlying prayer of that rosary, and by the time we landed in Tulsa, I actually believed that I could accept His will, no matter what the outcome was.  Having no experience in this level of tragedy before, and having no medical background to give me an inkling as to what might lay ahead for us, “Thy will be done” was the only answer I could give to everything that presented itself to me.  I peacefully accepted this cross and prayed I carried it worthily.

“We’re having trouble securing his airway.”

“Thy will be done.”

“We can’t handle this level of trauma here.  We’re sending you to Texas.”

“Thy will be done.”

“You could be in Galveston for as long as 6 months.”

“Thy will be done.”

Each day was filled with all sorts of bad news.  The accident, this cross, challenged me in ways I had never even dreamed possible, and yet Fulton and I both survived.  In fact, in many ways I thrived spiritually during those darkest of hours in the beginning.  The real challenges began as Fulton began to heal and more of his care was turned over to me.  Hospital vigils and watching helplessly as nurses and doctors rushed around his bed toughened me up emotionally.  And meditating on Our Lord’s suffering, especially as He carried His Cross, prepared me spiritually.  But even with all the preparations, I still staggered mightily under its weight.

Indeed, I have learned much about accepting God’s will and carrying a difficult cross.   I now know it is not the actual carrying of it that matters so much as the manner in which it is carried that seems to matter to Our Lord.  Simply accepting God’s will in life does not mean saying, “OK, here is my cross.  I’ll just scoop this up and be on my way.”  That is not what Jesus meant when he told us to pick up our crosses and follow Him, for we can very well carry a cross given to us by God and gain no merit in it at all.  See how Scripture makes this clear:

Matthew 27:32   “And going out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon: him they forced to take up his cross.”

Luke 23:26  “And as they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus.”

Mark 15:21  “And they forced one Simon a Cyrenian who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and of Rufus, to take up his cross.”

Not one of these accounts remotely implies that Simon eventually had a change of heart and gladly carried the cross forced upon him.  There was no love to motivate him to carry it well.  Only the temporal punishment from the soldiers if he refused, and perhaps even an anger and resentment toward Our Lord spurred him on to begrudgingly shoulder the burden thrust upon him. What an unimaginable loss for Simon, to be so close to Our Lord’s suffering, yet unwilling to accept the salvation that came with it!  I cannot help but think Simon’s ‘assistance’ made Our Lord’s burden even heavier as He struggled under the weight.

Compare this type of help to the loving caress of Veronica as she rushed to Our Lord to wipe His gentle face.  The loving warmth of her hands as she pressed the veil upon his brow seeped into Him and consoled Him in ways Simon never would.  While she did not shoulder an actual cross as Simon did, her cross came to her through the pain and suffering she experienced because of her all-consuming love of Our Lord, taking on His suffering and responding to it by offering what consolations she could.

I returned to my seat and held Fulton on my lap as I closed my eyes and prayed, meditating on the cross we shared.  I prayed I never become a Simon to him.  I never want him to feel as though his care is somehow a burden to me that I despise, for that will only drive a wedge between us and will slow the flow of love. But how, my Lord, shall I do this?  How do I keep my love for You before me, reminding me to carry this burden with love, when at times I feel as though it will crush me?

Tears fell from my eyes, and I felt my son draw nearer to my own.  I felt the gentle bump-bump-bump of his little nose on the tip of mine and I opened my eyes.  There he was, my little man, two days post-surgery, still swollen and bruised, with bloodied stitches around his mouth and eyes, and deep scarring everywhere else.

The face of Our Suffering Lord.  Right before my eyes.

He smiled at me, and bumped my nose again, our silent way of telling each other, “I love you.”

What a sight we must have been, in the back of that church!  Two Veronicas, ministering to each other as they carried their crosses!  But just as Veronica did not care about the crowds that pressed around her as they watched her console Him and lighten His load, I cried as I caressed Fulton’s disfigured little face, and embraced all the suffering that I could, as best I could.

As I stepped out into the bright Texas sunshine, I dusted off my knees, shifted the weight a bit, and renewed my willingness to continue to take up this cross and follow Him each day.

Thy will be done, Lord.  With love.

Copyright 2013 Cassandra Poppe

Celebrate The 12 Days of Christmas

Last Christmas Eve my family and I stopped into our favorite pizza buffet restaurant.  We are fairly regular customers of this place, so when the manager saw us he greeted us in his usual friendly manner.  “Tomorrow is Christmas,” he mused, assuming we were taking part in the Christmas Eve panic, “But don’t worry.  After tomorrow, it will all finally be over with!”

My husband raised an eyebrow and responded.  “Oh no.  That’s when it all begins!”

With an exception of the feast day of St Nicholas, when the children set their stockings out, and the feast day of St. Lucy when we put lights on our tree and let it shine for the day, Advent is our second Lent.  And we have found that Christmas Season can be a rather lonely time for Catholics.  While everyone else is having their pre-Christmas gatherings and open houses, we are freezing cookie dough and performing acts of mortification.  While others are caroling and exchanging cookies, we are privately singing prayers to God and lighting the Advent wreath candles.  While others are decking their homes in holiday festivities, we are stripping ourselves of ourselves to make room for Christ.

But finally, Christmas day arrives!  The great equalizer, where everyone – Catholics and other Christians, and even those with no particular religious conviction – meets and celebrates together!  One day of frantic festivities, family and friends!  And then, for Catholics, the lonely times begin again.

Christmas, for us, is the beginning of the parties and fun.  Christmas is such an important feast, the Church gives us twelve days to celebrate it!  So the tree is up, the lights are lit and after four weeks of mortification, we’re ready to raise the roof!  But everyone else, alas, is just too pooped to party.  Can you imagine trying to host a Christmas party for your friends on December 28^th?  Or just try to find Epiphany decorations for the feast of the Epiphany!  Yes, Christmastime for Catholics can be a lonely time indeed.

But there are many ways to ease the awkwardness while growing in the traditions of the faith.  For instance, instead of one single gift blitz, hand out one gift a day to your children between Christmas and Epiphany.  This builds the excitement and they appreciate each gift they receive so much more.  If Grandma is in town for Christmas, make sure they open her gift on that day so she can see them enjoy what she brought.  But if others have sent them gifts and are not with you on Christmas, there is no harm in spreading these gifts out over the course of the next twelve days.

This approach also gives parents a little financial break.  For people with large families, chances are that your children will already have twelve gifts to open.  And if your family is small or money is tight, I have found that many wonderful gifts can be purchased at a substantial markdown after Christmas!  The gifts do not have to be big.  The kids get great mileage out of a frisbee if it is the only new toy they received that day.  But if they opened it among all the other gifts, a frisbee could easily be set aside and forgotten.

And don’t forget all that cookie dough in your freezer!  Prepare party trays of snacks some evenings, pop popcorn and watch a movie together other nights.  Like gifts, party food also goes on sale after Christmas, so stock up!  Make each day something special.  Learn carols together.  Read scripture of the great Christmas miracle.  Tell stories of Saints and the three wise men.  And be sure to tell stories of Christmases when you were a child as well, while sitting around your beautifully lit Christmas tree.

The twelve days of Christmas is a wonderful and low stress way to really celebrate this holiday.  The focus is no longer on the gifts and the impressive parties.  It is peaceful, and reverent.  I liken these twelve days to how Mary must have been with her newborn infant.  Yes, there were trumpets and choirs of angels at His birth, but the Holy Parents’ adoration and complete absorption of the wonderful miracle did not fade the next day.  And just as the shepherds, upon seeing the Christ child, spread the happy news to others for days afterwards, spread this happy tradition to others you meet during these most joyous days, and do as our Byzantine Catholic friend does each time someone asks her how her Christmas was.  “How was it?” she asks.  “It’s still here – and its going great!”

Copyright 2012 Cassandra Poppe

Sacrificial Gifts to God

The cathedral bells remained silent, or so the story goes, because everyone in town had turned to evil.  But, they were promised that the bells would ring again, if only someone would bring a gift pleasing to God.  Year after year the people in the village brought their gifts to the sanctuary, and year after year the bells remained mute.

Even the king himself decided to make a showing of his wealth, and after much fanfare, he placed a chest of precious jewels before the sanctuary.  And the bells paid no heed.

But then, a little shepherd boy came forward.  He held in his hand a single apple, and he placed it beside the treasure chest.  He did not try to compete with the king and his gift.  He simply wanted to give God the best of what he had.

As soon as the apple touched the floor, the cathedral bells in the towers began to sing.  This humble shepherd boy brought God a lowly gift and God transformed it into a glorious hymn of praise!

This story of offering and sacrifice reminds me of a few other stories with a similar theme.   In reading about Cain and Abel’s offerings, Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, Melchizedek’s offering of bread and wine, the story of the woman offering her single coin, and of course the young boy who provides the loaves and fishes to feed the crowds, we begin to see that through these stories, God was preparing us for the greatest sacrifice of all: the Mass.

So what exactly is a sacrifice?  A sacrifice is a visible, tangible gift that is offered to God through a priest.  When this gift is offered to God, it must be destroyed or changed in some way so that only God may receive it.  In biblical times, this meant that the lambs were slaughtered and burned, and the grain and the wine were poured out onto the altar, rendering them completely useless to humans.  This gift, now referred to as a ‘victim’, was for God alone.  And while the sacrifices may have not been perfect, they were still pleasing to God because of the intentions behind the gifts.

This is why God loved Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s.  It was not that God preferred lambs over produce – it was because Abel gave God his best out of love, while Cain kept the best for himself.

The Mass is set up so that we too may still make a sacrifice to God as Abel did.  It is during the passing of the collection plate. The physical action of placing money into the basket is the visible gifting of the fruits of our work for God.  And the physical presence of the hosts and wine are further representations of what we have to offer Him.

While tithes may indeed be pleasing to Him, there is even something far better you could offer to Him at this time.  Yourself.  Your will.  Your desires.  Your dreams.  Your whole being.

Remember the boy with the loaves and fishes?  This was not a simple tithe that he handed over to Our Lord.  It was every last bit of food that he had.  Knowing his offering was not nearly enough to feed the crowds, he still held none of it back for himself.  And since God will never be outdone in generosity, He returned this boy’s sacrifice to the crowd thousands of times over, blessing them all.

Keep this in mind the next time the collection is taken up.  Do not thoughtlessly toss in your monetary donation into the collection basket.  Instead, hold that check in your hand and say a prayer, thanking Him for sending your family work and for making the donation possible.  Recall the sufferings you endured and the blessings you received during the week and offer Him those as well.

Deposit your money in the basket and tell Our Lord that while it may not look like much on the outside, it is a physical representation of your love for Him.  Then mentally place your will, desires and dreams in the basket, willing to let Him completely destroy all that you love the most and await to see what blessings He brings to you in return.  Place yourself before Him and allow yourself to be a victim for God, willing to be transformed in Him and therefore belonging to Him alone.

I assure you God will not reject such a loving gift, for this is what He desires most from all of us.  While offering our wills and entire beings to God may sound like an impossible sacrifice to make, rest assured it is the safest sacrifice to make.  Because when you freely give to Him the imperfect gift of yourself, in return, you will receive the body and blood, soul and divinity of His own Son in Holy Communion.  How can we lose?

We could never make up for the difference between the gifts we give and the Gift we receive in return, but with God’s grace, we could strive to make sure that each week we are a better, more loving gift to Him than we were the week before.  And while you may not be able to hear those distant cathedral bells ringing, as long as you focus on lovingly offering yourself completely to Him at each Mass, you can rest in the knowledge that your gift will indeed be pleasing to God.

Copyright 2012 Cassandra Poppe

How Come?

Early this morning I was standing in the laundry room marveling at the miracle of the modern day washing machine when I heard the soft padding of my four-year-old son’s feet behind me.  “Whatcha doing?” he demanded.

“Laundry, “ I confidently replied.

“How come?” he challenged.

As it is with any preschooler entering the bewildering world of childhood, their minds are full of questions.  The most prevalent of them being the age-old question: why?  Only, with Fulton it is “How come?”  Regardless of how it is phrased, a child’s question demands to be answered, and if you do not answer the question satisfactorily, you are met with another “How come?”  This is a situation of endless questions that no one, not even the most brilliant scientist could answer.  Or plumber.  Or chef.  Or weatherman.

The first few weeks after Fulton began his quest for the truth were painful.  I grew up with the notion that “Because I said so,” was a perfectly good answer and usually left my parents alone once they resorted to such answers.

One day, fully expecting Fulton to be exactly like I was, he finally had me stumped on a particularly exhaustive line of questioning.   Fondly recalling my own parents’ final answers, I smiled authoritatively at him and announced, “Because I said so.”  Convinced the battle was won, I returned to whatever I was doing at the time.  Imagine my surprise when I heard his little voice sigh and say, “How come?”

What?  A four-year-old was questioning my authority?  I was shocked.  Shocked.  And when I looked at his face with his wrinkled brow, waiting, I knew he wanted an answer.  I don’t remember the details of that particular line of fire, but I know that I had lost.  For days after that there were a series of attacks on my intelligence, my pride and my patience.

Finally, strictly by accident, I stumbled across a very effective strategy.  Over a bowl of dry Cheerios and peanut butter toast, he was quizzing me on why he couldn’t have syrup in his cereal.

How come?  Because it is too much sugar in the morning.

How come?  Because your body needs good food in the morning.

How come?  Because it needs energy to let you play and keep you healthy.

How come?  Because it is important to me.

How come?  Because I love you…

Silence.

He eyed me for a moment over his bowl of cereal, chewing slowly.  Then he sighed, scooped another spoonful into his mouth and looked perfectly happy.

That was easy, I thought.  So over the next few days I tried similar tactics in his line of questioning and found that if it boiled down to someone loving someone else, it was a good answer and no more questions were asked.  Confident of this trend, I wanted to put it to the test.  I would cut it to the bare bones.  I was armed and ready for my blitz when he asked me why the water in the toilet went around and around when he flushed it.  I answered confidently, “Because I love you!”

He stood there, looking up at me and scowled.

“No,” he said flatly and walked away.

Well, that was new.

Fulton had never given up a good “How come” before.  And then I realized that he did not give up – he just refused to spar with a cheater.  So I vowed that next time I would get it right.  And I did.  The next time he launched a question at me, we were both prepared.  I knew I had to answer his questions in such a manner that no matter what subject we started on, I had to end it with love, and in a way that a four-year-old could believe.

So, this morning when he lobbed his “How come” at me to question my reasons for doing laundry, we entered the arena of a civil fencing tournament instead of a wild uncontrolled battle of unanswerable questions.  “Because they are dirty,” I calmly replied.

How come?  Because you wore them.

How come?  Because I want you to wear clothes.

How come?  Because I don’t want you to catch a cold.

How come?  Because I don’t like it when you are sick.

How come?  Because I love you…

Touche’.  A perfect match.  He clomped away in his chicken boots, dragging his broken bow and arrow set behind him, off to find yet another thing to question.

As I sit here and reflect on this phenomenon, I realize the insight my son has.  Why shouldn’t everything revolve around love?  If anything does not, cannot and just will not go back to love as its basic core, then there is something absolutely wrong with it from the beginning and no amount of reasoning can explain its existence.

It is sometimes hard to see the world through the eyes of a four-year-old boy.  I struggle to find the connection between love and skid marks on the road, or love and the stray dog relieving himself on an unlucky bale of hay.  But I am getting better at it.  Even when I am alone, I will notice something going on that my son could question, and I find myself working through the process of trying to find where the love is.  And the beautiful thing is that I always find it, even when it is hidden among the smell of burning rubber or the freshly ‘watered’ pile of goat feed.

Love is always there.

Had I continued to try to answer Fulton’s questions on a case-by-case basis I never would have learned this basic truth for myself.  When your understanding of the universe is grounded in love, it gives you a sense of security and courage no amount of science or education could give you.  And that is why I have vowed, even after the “how come?” stage has passed, to continue to teach him to find all the love he can in the world.

How come?

Because I love him.

Copyright 2012 Cassandra Poppe

Tonight I am preoccupied with how my children – my fruits – are faring in the world. Are they doing well enough in school? Are they growing in holiness? Where have I failed them and what legacies will I leave to them? Will Our Lord see them as fruits of my labor? Will they grow up to be spiritually sterile?

Yes, things get pretty profound in my home at 2:00am. But when else do I have the time to actually think these things through?

I stir the peach butter, and my mind turns to how it has come to be. I brought the peaches home. Washed, peeled and sliced them, removed the pit, and finely chopped them almost to a pulp. And although they were plenty sweet on their own, I added sugar in case they took on a slightly bitter taste as they simmered. Cinnamon, ginger and cloves mingled in their juices, turning the bright sunny pulp into vivid liquid copper.

The fire was intense at first, to bring the juices to a boil, steaming off the water and intensifying the flavors hidden within. But then I turn it down and let it simmer. I stir it from time to time, to keep the bottom layer from scorching and to continue to release more steam. Hours pass. I remain close to the stove, watching for signs of thickening or scorching, and test it from time to time to see if I should season it a little more.

And it suddenly hits me. Motherhood is rather like making peach butter, is it not? It is not enough for us to simply be fruitful and multiply. We need to take these fruits – our children – and over the years apply generous amounts of both love and discipline, sugar and heat, to bring out that which most resembles God within them. We simmer them for many years, stirring and seasoning them until they are ready to stand firmly on their own, preserving the faith in them for yet another generation to relish.

Almost through now. Most of the water has evaporated off, and the spices are perfectly infused. I scoop up a spoonful of fruit. Does it keep its form and stand tall, or does it ooze off the sides and conform to the concave shape of the ladle? If I have done my job right, the peach butter will be sweet and smooth as silk but thick enough to retain its shape if mounded on the spoon.

Success! I measure out the peach butter, dispersing it among half a dozen jelly jars. All my preparations have led me up to this moment, and I have reached the point where I must let go. I gently lower them into the boiling water canner and close the lid. Will the jars crack? Will they leak or take on the viciously boiling water surrounding them? Or will they, tried by fire, continue to be purified – perfected?

I pace a little, as it is completely out of my hands now. I can watch, I can pray this batch of peach butter will be preserved. But once the timer goes off, there is nothing more I can do.

I have prepped and prepared these fruits. And one day, I will have to send them off on their own, to either persevere in the faith, preserved in purity for their Heavenly home, or collapse under the pressure and become another indistinct ingredient of the worldly domain.

The words of St. John Mary Vianney suddenly come to mind and I ponder the odds of my children being saved. “The number of the saved is as few as the number of grapes left after the vineyard-pickers have passed. “ O Lord, what more must I do to preserve these fruits for you?

Time is up. Each jar has been removed from the raging water and set on the cooling rack. I hold my breath. The moment of truth is upon me. I listen for that tiny pop, that reassuring little ping that proves that all the work that went into the peach butter will be preserved. One, two, three jars are sealed almost immediately. Four and five follow suit soon after. I busy myself in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess, all the time eyeing the last jar.

Will it pop? It does not.

Somehow, these jars of peach butter have come to represent my children to me and I fret over the jar that has not sealed and thus will not be preserved. After all, the odds of a soul gaining Heaven are far bleaker than the odds of a jar of peach butter being sealed. What does this mean?

I resist the urge to just press the center of the lid myself, to force it to seal. But no amount of force or wishful thinking will preserve this fruit. I crawl into bed, full of wondering. Was it something I did? Something I didn’t do? Or was there some flaw in the jar or the lid that was beyond my control?

Mothers, our time with our children is short. Despite what the world tells us, Heaven is not for the many, but the few. What have we done to preserve the purity of the fruits He has entrusted to our care? Have we properly prepared them to persevere in the world outside our homes? Are they strong enough to endure the persecutions and temptations waiting to consume them?

We can never be sure. But we need to trust that Our Lord desires that all will be saved. With His grace we can bring to Him the delicious fruits of our labor, and hope that when our children’s time is up – when Our Lord lifts them out of this world – they will be sealed.

Copyright 2012 Cassandra Poppe

The mere fact that God created your child proves that your child has a worth beyond measure.  As members of the Church Militant, we are all created to know, love and serve God.  But we are each called to know, love and serve God in our own unique way.  It cannot be in a way that we choose to love Him.  It must be in the way that He has made us to know, love and serve Him.  It is within that uniqueness that much of our worth resides.

If we all loved God the way St. Therese did, who would be caring for the sick?  If we all loved God like St. Joan of Arc, there would be no St. Don Bosco.  And if we all loved like St. Padre Pio, where would St. Gianna Molla be?  You see, we are given the Saints as proof that each one of us was created to love God in a very specific way.  Each of us has specific talents, hand picked by God our Creator, so that we may use these talents to serve Him.

So how do we help our children identify their talents and to use them for the greater glory of God?

First, pray for enlightenment.  Sometimes we cannot see a child’s talents because either we do not personally value the talent, or we are simply too busy to recognize it.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the God given gifts He has bestowed in your child.  Thank Almighty God for these talents!  Then ask Him for the wisdom to know how they are to be nurtured.

Sit down with your child and make a list of his hobbies.  Ask him why he enjoys his hobbies.  Then explore how these hobbies can be used for God’s glory.  My 14 year-old daughter has a talent for housework like I have never seen before.  While housework may seem like an activity that requires minimal talent, she really has taken over our home and transformed it into a pleasant place for us all.  “I think it is God’s will that I get married,” she says, “so that I get to do this all the time.”  Really?!  What a blessed husband she will have!  And because she already understands that her skills and attitude are already in tune with God’s will for her, she is able to offer her housework up in a way that gives God glory.

Next, find out what kinds of books he likes to read and why.  Adventure?  Mystery?  Humor?  These are clues into your child’s personality.  Adventure stories could mean a bold evangelist.  Mystery stories could point to a future bible scholar or theologian.  And if he likes humor, he could be one who brings joy and cheerfulness to those who are suffering.

Study your child over a period of a couple of days.  Make a note of how God’s grace works through her.  Is she exceptionally helpful?  Or generous with her toys?  Does she seem to enjoy attending to others who are not feeling well?  Is she naturally prayerful?  These could be further hints to the specific way the Lord wants your child to love Him.

My 10 year old son has a particularly sensitive soul.  Recently, while reading a story about souls in Purgatory, the book mentioned a soul that was damned.  The purpose of the story was to serve as a dire warning for those of us still living that Hell is still very much a possibility for all of us.  He immediately burst into tears.  “Is it because he was afraid?” I wondered.  When his crying subsided, he explained to me, “Mom, I was just so sad for that poor soul!  She will never see God!”  Needless to say, this is the son who has wished for the past 5 years to be a priest when he grows up.

Also, discuss with your child what he wants to be when he grows up.  Any morally acceptable occupation can be used for God’s glory.  Be sure to brainstorm with your child on the different ways he can do God’s will and bring Him glory within his chosen path.  When he participates in the brainstorming session with you, he will begin to gain a sense of responsibility and ownership of his personal mission, and his ideas will give him concrete ways of fulfilling it.

My oldest son has always had an adventurous heart and a natural instinct for administering proper medical treatments to people in emergency situations.  He is Red Cross certified and carries around a backpack of emergency medical supplies wherever he goes.  (And has had plenty of opportunities to use them, too!)  For his 18th birthday in June, we sent him to New Mexico for a week long pararescue training course to encourage his ambitions to become a first responder or part of a search and rescue team either within the military or in civilian life.  What an important vocation he has, to administer physical help to those in need, and if necessary, to be the first on the scene to help direct a soul Home.  If no priest is present at the scene of an accident, it could very well be that the only hope that soul will have of salvation lies within my son’s ability to bring it to perfect contrition.  What better way to bring God glory than to help save a soul!

Pray for guidance as you nurture your children’s vocations, remaining open to whatever the Lord reveals to you.  He may not only reveal His plans for your child, but may also make more clear what His plans for you might be.  And don’t be surprised if He reveals to you your many talents and reinforces your conviction in your own vocation as one of His most powerful forces on earth – to be a mother to the next generation of the Church Militant!

Copyright 2012 Cassandra Poppe

In my younger years, I had always assumed I would grow old gracefully.  I was determined to become that financially comfortable older woman with beautiful gray-white hair, in great shape and playing tennis every weekend, jet setting around the world and living the good life that the late 1980’s touted as the perfect way to be.  I left the Church in search of that world and strove to acquire all I needed to live that ‘perfect life’ of comfort and security and retain as much physical beauty as possible.

If someone would have told this born and bred Chicago girl I would one day be a homeschooling, homesteading mother of 6  in the middle of Nowhere, Oklahoma, I would have laughed.  And maybe even been a little insulted.  Homeschooling?  What is that?  Homesteading?  How does one grow gracefully among chickens and goats?  And 6 kids?!  I don’t even want to think of what I would have said about that one!

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”  My journey thus far illustrates this Proverb quite well. I have learned that my life is not my own and that God has His own plans for me.  I have also learned that to be open to the path He planned for me, it takes a healthy soul – and a healthy soul requires grace.  And while grace is a gift I do not deserve, it has come to me in many different forms throughout my life:

Baptismal grace:  That grace I received, though at the time unaware, that gave me a clean start and made my reception of all future graces possible.

Prevenient grace:  I like to refer to this as the grace of last chances for me.  It is the grace I received, even though I was not in a state of grace, which began my journey back to the Catholic faith.

Illuminating grace:  The Sunday I heard a well known Gospel in a completely new light.  This light shook me out of myself, brought me toward healing and gave me the courage to finally return to the Church.

Sanctifying grace:  Returning in friendship and union with Our Lord through the sacrament of confession after more than 10 years.

Efficacious grace:  Those consolations which fired my soul for love of Him so strongly I could not have opposed Him if I tried.

Sacramental grace:  That which I had consciously refused at Confirmation was restored to me once I understood and accepted it.  It is the same grace my husband and I received once we had our marriage blessed in the Church.

Sufficient grace:  The grace I receive and willingly assent to as I continue to mature.

Actual grace:  The general state of participating in friendship with God, and the state in which I now strive to maintain within my soul.

Before, growing old gracefully meant looking good and enjoying the ways of the world well into old age.  Now I see it means so much more.  Growing old gracefully means to nurture a healthy soul, to grow it to maturity and conformity to God’s holy will in all things; not by my own doing, but by the very grace of God.  My soul has gone through a long growth process as I have aged, and I see how these grace-filled moments help me to grow into the woman I am to become for Him.  It is my most sincere hope that I continue to respond to His grace, no matter what form it may come to me, so that my soul matures into the perfect image He created it to be.

And if that isn’t growing old gracefully, I don’t know what is!

Copyright 2012 Cassandra Poppe

Anyone can be like today’s “role models”. We may not look like them or have the money and fame they have, but if you take a step back and see today’s stars for who they really are, they are no different from the rest of us. I can grab at the limelight, be snooty about services I receive, obsess about my clothes, go on drunken binges and have a child out of wedlock too! That’s easy!

But place a Saint before me and suddenly I am challenged. I am challenged to examine myself a little more closely. I am compelled to become more than who I am today. I am reminded that I am called to become someone so different, that I will no longer be myself – I am to be like Christ!

We Catholics come from a truly royal bloodline. The blood of Christ. And as His family members we are called to imitate Him even unto death. This is a pretty tall order, but thankfully we have been given the Saints to look to for guidance and become our role models. They are truly our brothers and sisters, family members of our Christian bloodline, and deserve a place of honor in our family history. The more you learn about them and honor them, the more they will show you the many different ways you can imitate Our Lord in ways completely unique to who you are and honor your Christian family heritage.

We all have a favorite Saint and Saint story. It matters not which Saint you are drawn to. Just take advantage of that natural pull and nurture your relationship with that Saint. Read all you can about his or her life, and any writings they produced, and absorb the very essence of their hearts and minds. You may find that the Saint has a lot in common with you. Or perhaps that Saint is everything you are not, but everything you wish you could be. Either way, your Saintly sibling is willing to be a role model for your life. All you have to do is ask.

Today’s children do not know very much about the Saints, but they would do well to look up to them as role models, too. When I first fell in love with the Church and all she has to offer, I tried to tell my kids about the Saints. They were bored stiff! And no small wonder, since the Saints I was drawn to had nothing in common with my children.

But then I got smart. I did some research and found that Saints’ lives were not boring to children after all. One Saint raced on horseback onto a battlefield to prevent her son from beginning a war. Twice. Another preached to fish. Some traveled to many different countries and had great adventures. A few actually had conversations with Jesus and Our Lady. Others performed miracles. Some levitated, some bilocated, and some were hunted down and martyred. Compare the Saints’ lives to those which our children are encouraged to imitate, and the glitz and false glory of worldly fame and fortune suddenly pales in comparison.

Read the fascinating stories of the Saints to your children regularly from such sources as the Vision Books series or one of Mary Fabian Windeatt’s series. As you do, remind them that, by right of our Baptism, these Saints are our ancestors – actual family members! You are telling them family stories from “way back when”, when your brother in Christ Patrick ordered the snakes into the ocean, never to return to Ireland. And of the miraculous moment when the rags your sister in Christ Elizabeth was clothed in turned into a royal gown before her husband’s eyes.

Presenting the Saints in this manner will foster a sense of wholesome family pride in your children, inspiring them to carry on the tradition of holiness and become the Saints they were created to be.

We cannot presume our final destination will be Heaven, because we are still in the middle of our own battles. But with a powerfully holy family line extending throughout all of Salvation History, and generations of Saints praying for us at every turn, we have every hope of a glorious victory.

And when the present world ends and eternal life begins, just imagine the family reunion we will have!

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

And those are just the people to whom I am related.  Lets now factor in all the other people it takes to bring lives together.  Friends, a coworker, a teacher – the multitude of people who move in and out of one person’s life, each making an eternal mark upon a single soul.

Millions of people are needed to make one person possible.  What further proof do we need that God has a plan for each of us?  God’s hand, God’s plan.

This fact reminds me of photo mosaics.  This art form, used in some advertisements and even jigsaw puzzles, uses an overwhelming congregation of tiny complete photographs of countless people arranged by colors and levels of light to form one single image.  From far off, all you see is the larger image, but a closer look reveals the intricate details of many faces and lives combined to form the one.

If the larger picture is of me, there are millions of other lives within my image who made my presence possible at this precise time in history.

And again, how many large pictures of others are there that contain my tiny image?  I will know only after I die.  An image of me as a baby, teenager, mother, and perhaps (Lord willing!) as an elderly woman – any time my life has touched another, my image is permanently placed within that person’s larger picture of themselves.

Life is precious, from conception to natural death, and you never know when you will have the most spiritual effect on another soul.

My grandmother, who has since passed away, spent her last years in a nursing home bed, blind and suffering excruciating pain every day.  Most days she felt useless, yet it is precisely because of her supposed “useless” state that she was able to bring about so many graces.

She refused pain medications and offered it up to help my husband to get a job.  And she is the only one who prayed to my confirmation Saint, St. Theresa of Avila, every day since I received the sacrament.  No small wonder it was St. Theresa of Avila who finally brought me home to the faith in the most amazing way, through my grandmother’s prayers.  What might have happened if it weren’t for her constant pleas for my soul?

While most saw her as useless, St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:22: “Those that seem to be the more feeble members of the body, are more necessary.”  Ad not only necessary, but precious – and deserving of our highest respect.

Teaching your children about the infinite value of life is the perfect way to instill respect for life in their hearts.  And with Respect Life Sunday approaching, the Church gives us the perfect opportunity to pass this teaching on to them.  Do not present them with difficult terms such as “euthanasia” or drone on and on about the evils of abortion. Most children raised in a Catholic home will already have a basic understanding of these evils.  Instead, give them a chance to see the power behind your words and the teachings of the Church.

On Saturday, pop some popcorn and go through your photo albums and really discuss the people presented there.  Tell stories of how people met, how they touched your life, and the difference they made in your life and how you made a difference in theirs.

When they go to bed, choose one person to eliminate.  Go through the albums and remove every photo of that person.  Then remove any photos of events that could not have happened, or of other people who never would have entered your family’s life had that one person never been born.

For instance, if I were to eliminate my sister Kim from the albums, I would remove not only all of her pictures, but those of her husband and her children as well. Then I would have to go through and remove pictures of events that would never have occurred had she not been born.  I would not have won that second place ribbon for the long jump if she weren’t there to train me.  Vacations, birthday parties, midnight giggle sessions and tear fests, chance encounters with other people I met through her, any moment of growth, love or decisions I have made that hinged on my sister’s existence would not be there.  How quickly the album has been emptied!

If the one you choose to eliminate happens to be elderly, use this exercise to also point out how important it is that each person be allowed to live out his or her entire God-given life.  The graces lost, the last minute reconciliation and unexpected joys that might not have happened had the person been a victim of euthanasia.  The elderly people in our lives deserve great respect and your children would benefit greatly from regular exposure to such wise and valuable treasures.

On Sunday, look through the now much emptier albums.  Discuss the holes in other people’s lives that could never be filled whenever a life is denied.  If it takes a million people and 500 years to conceive a single person, imagine the loss we experience when millions of souls are never allowed to live out the life God planned for them.  Whether it was through abortion or euthanasia, it does not matter.  Their incomplete lives, lost too soon, leave a trail of incomplete lives that can never be recovered.

All of our lives are touched by these losses.  All of our portraits permanently altered by missing faces that were meant to make up the larger portrait of ourselves.  It is not just one life extinguished – it is history changed.  And because we are each tiny members of the larger body of Christ, the larger image of Christ and His Church is altered for all eternity.

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

It is precisely this group that needs to be re evangelized.  We must find ways of returning them to the fold.  It is no secret that the last two generations have been poorly catechized, and because of this, many have been lost.  I have seen some strange beliefs and practices popping up among Catholics, even within my own family.  These beliefs rarely stem from hostility towards the Church.  Rather, they usually stem from a simple misunderstanding about the actual teachings of the Church.

I do not think I am unique in these experiences.  I am sure many of us have come across some strange teachings or assumptions about the Catholic faith that are just not true.  But how are we supposed to handle this delicate subject when it comes up?  Lets take a look at what the bible has to say on this matter.

Sts. Aquila and Priscilla, husband and wife, were close friends with St. Paul.  They accompanied him on some of his journeys and helped him spread the Gospel.  They are presented to us in the book of Acts 18, where they gently instructed a man, Apollo, new to the faith and zealous in converting others, who was preaching before he himself was completely “catechized”.

Apollo had a great zeal for souls, however he was preaching an incomplete Gospel.  Aquila and Priscilla cleared up his confusion when they “expounded to him the way of the Lord more diligently.”  (Acts 18:26).  In other words, they taught him the catechism!

Soon, Aquilla and Priscilla had confidence in Apollo and sent him off to evangelize to others, complete with a letter of recommendation!  Clearing up Apollo’s confusion was a simple matter of Apollo being open to hearing the truth and Aquila and Priscilla being charitable enough to show him the way.

Clearing up confusion can be a fairly easy task if you are well prepared, but it would be a lot easier to convert non-Catholics to the faith if there was no confusion within the Church’s family to begin with!  Teaching our children is a proactive step we can take to avoid future confusion.

The simplest way to do this is to purchase a good old-fashioned Baltimore Catechism.  They come in different levels, based on your child’s age, and present the faith in very clear language.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in any of its editions, is for adults and is too detailed and confusing to children.  The Baltimore catechism teaches the faith simply and in a language they can understand.  Because the sections in the Baltimore catechism are short, five minutes a night of active teaching is all it takes to teach your children the truths of their faith.  Just remember to live your faith the other 23 hours and 55 minutes to let the faith take hold in their hearts!

If your children like a more animated way of learning their faith, Christopher’s Talks to Catholic Children by David Greenstock presents a more relaxed way of teaching the catechism to them.  If you do not want to read directly from the book, memorize the main points and use the drawings to illustrate these points to your family.  The simple pictures stimulate their memory and help them to recall the topics more readily – and don’t be surprised if many sessions end in giggles!

But be forewarned.  Children will ask some incredible questions when exploring their faith!  Take the time to answer their questions as best you can, however never answer a question you yourself are unsure about.  Instead, bring your child, or the question, to a priest.  Remember, we are catechizing our children to convert their generation and there can be no room for confusion!

Do not shy away from evangelizing your children or your fellow Catholics.  Become an instrument in God’s hands, to revive the faith in them!  And do not let them remain in an incomplete faith as Apollo was.  Instead, gently and charitably help them to fill in the gaps by “expounding to them the way of the Lord” just as Sts. Aquila and Priscilla did!

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

“O Jesus, keep me under the standard of your Cross.”

This quote was made by St. Bernadette, the poor and ignorant child of Lourdes.  Yet, for such an uneducated mind, she managed to produce a sentence layered with profound meanings.

We are familiar with the multiple meanings of Christ’s Cross.  The cross is a symbol of suffering and punishment, but it is also a symbol of a great and triumphant victory.  And just as the cross itself has multiple meanings, so does the word “standard”.  In fact, according to my dictionary, there are approximately 19 different meanings or sub-meanings of the word standard.  But fear not, I will only focus on a few.

Standard:  A pedestal, stand or base.  In its most literal sense, St. Bernadette probably meant to keep her under the physical standard of His cross.  She prayed that He keep her close to His Cross, always.  She wanted the perseverance to remain near Him, even in His suffering when so many others had run away.  This prayer asks that she be counted among the few who remained unafraid and willing to suffer along with Him as He completed the Paschal Mystery.  This level of perseverance in the faith is difficult to attain, as the other eleven disciples have shown us.

Standard:  A flag, banner or ensign.  Wow.  The American flag is overflowing with meaning and it is an honor and privilege to stand beneath it – to say, “I love my country and believe in all that it was intended to be!”  It is so much more powerful to stand beneath the Cross to proclaim your belief in all it stands for.  This standard is raised to indicate the rallying point for soldiers in battle.  As St. Joan of Arc rode into battle beneath the flag of our Lord, Our Lady and her country, so we must remain beneath the Cross as we ride into spiritual battle each day.

Standard: A level of requirement, excellence or attainment.  We are called to live a life of the Cross – a feat no mere human can do on his own.  We all need the grace of God to keep us at the Cross, continually offering up our sufferings and frustrations.  In this case, the Cross is a constant reminder to us to strive to be like Christ, even unto the Cross.

On the feast day of the Exultation of the Cross, explore ways your family can place themselves under its standard.

- Explore together what our faith teaches about the Cross.  What does it mean to pick up our cross and follow Christ?  Make a list of the crosses in the lives of your family members.  A miserable job, a long term illness, an unkind schoolmate, that strange smell in the car.  Anything that causes a family member irritation or complete misery is a cross.  Then brainstorm ways of changing those crosses into a source of sanctification and a chance to grow in virtue.  Thank God for these crosses and ask for whatever you need to help you carry your burden.

- We are members of the Church Militant, fighting a spiritual battle every day.  Build pride in your family and your faith by creating a family crest.  Using the cross as the main feature, embellish it with symbols of the faith and of virtues and talents your family members have contributed to the Church Militant as a whole.  If you pray the Rosary nightly, include a Rosary on the crest.  If someone sings in the church choir, include a musical note on the crest.  Make it something that shows how your family gathers together under the Cross to fight the good fight.

- Discuss the phrases “They have high standards for their children,” and “Why don’t you lower your standards?”  How do these apply to the Cross as a standard?  When a standard is set high, it can be seen from far off and is a constant reminder of what each family member should be striving for.  But if it is lowered, there is no moral compass in sight and family members will begin to stray.  Therefore, raise the Cross high upon that hill as the standard to which everyone in your family should strive for.

St. Bernadette’s words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, remind us of what an honor, duty and privilege it is to venerate and embrace the Cross – not just on the feast day of the Exultation of the Cross, but each and everyday.

O Jesus, keep us all under the standard of your Cross.

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

Venial sin is one of those things frequently treated as an afterthought.  Because it is not “mortal”, we too easily brush the thought aside, saying, “It is only a venial sin,” as if it didn’t matter much in the grander scheme of things.  But it does.

In Fr. P. Lejeune’s book, Counsels of Perfection for Christian Mothers, he eloquently illustrates how serious venial sins actually are.

“Our Savior, in the hours of His agony, was tormented by a thirst which caused Him the most bitter suffering.  You, like the executioners on Calvary, instead of offering Him a beverage which will quench His thirst, place to His lips the vinegar and gall of venial sin, which, far from satisfying His thirst, renders it yet more intolerable.

This is what you do when you deliberately commit a venial sin.  Behold your treatment of Jesus during His passion!  You are not among the numbers of His executioners, I grant, but you are one of those who cause Him to suffer.”

Ouch.

It is only in this light that we can see the seriousness of intentional venial sin.  As we conquer mortal sin in our lives we remove ourselves from the group of executioners, but if we do not weed those intentional venial sins from our hearts, we are still not among the three who remained at the foot of the cross to console Him.

So how do we avoid causing such suffering?  There are two very simple yet powerful rules that can keep any of us from choosing venial sin.  The rules are:  do everything with a smile and always do the better thing.

These rules come to us from a wonderful little book entitled Leading the Little Ones to Mary, which reminds children to do everything as Mary would have done.  While the book may be for children, we all can benefit from following these simple instructions.

Do everything with a smile. Discontent breeds selfishness and the kind of bitter pride that makes us place ourselves above all others.  A discontented heart easily justifies what it does to obtain what it wants.  When we dwell in a state of discontent, we are primed and ready to fall into all sorts of sin. Therefore, the easiest way to avoid this and keep smiling is to nurture a humble and grateful heart.

To nurture humble and grateful hearts within your home, help your family members discover how much they really have.  Every night, take five minutes as a family and talk about what you all are thankful for.  Remind them that all gifts and blessings are from God and He chooses to give us these things out of love for us.  We have them not because we deserve them, but because He has allowed us to have them.  These things are not to be used for ourselves.  Instead, God intends for us to find ways to share what we have with others and using these gifts as tools to help build His Kingdom for His glory.

A humble, grateful heart remembers that material goods and talents present a chance to give back to God a little of what He has given us.  Suddenly our precious time, treasures and talents are shared willingly and with a genuine smile, and pride and selfishness have nowhere to take root.

Always do the better thing. This rule almost explains itself.  But to be able to identify what the better thing is takes some practice.  And to choose to do it takes grace.

Selfishness is an unfortunate byproduct of original sin, and the older we get, the harder it is to overcome.  Train your children now to focus on doing what is good in God’s eyes instead of doing what may please themselves.  When our children have this as their moral base, they are already way ahead of most people when training themselves to avoid sins of all kinds, be they mortal or venial.

For the rest of Lent, make a conscious effort as a family to follow these two rules.  Remind them not to be the one offering Our Lord the vinegar and gall of venial sin as He hangs upon the cross.  Rather, implore them to remain at His feet as ones who comfort and console.  After all, no sin, no matter how “little” it may seem to be to us, was a little matter to Jesus.  He still had to pay for them all.

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

Again, some details of the story may vary slightly, but almost all of the stories are careful to include a lone woman.  This woman was the mother of the youngest martyr, and her silent presence served to encourage all the martyrs to remain strong in their faith.

During the attempts to freeze and then torture the martyrs, and even as they headed off to be burned alive, she stayed close to them and never faltered in her own faith.  A soldier, taking pity on the woman, encouraged her to take her son home while he could still be saved.  She refused, knowing no matter how painful losing her beloved son would be, she could not deny him the martyrdom to which he had so willingly assented.

What kind of woman could send her son to his death when she could have saved him?

A woman very much like Mary.

Father Pablo Straub once gave a talk entitled “Would You Hang Your Son on a Cross?”  His talk revolved around God’s greater plan for our salvation and the unconditional “yes” Jesus gave to his Father’s plan.  While Father Straub’s talk focused on the Father’s will and Jesus’ acceptance of it, I cannot help but think of Mary’s fiat as well.  Not her acceptance of the Incarnation, but her acceptance of the cross.

Many Christians have missed Mary’s powerful story, hidden throughout the Gospels.  But sometimes it is necessary to bring Our Lady forward to learn from her quiet yet prevailing example.  I am speaking specifically of the wedding feast at Cana – a story so important for us to meditate on, it is repeated in the story of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste, just in case we did not catch it the first time around.

Contained within the 1889 translation of the Douay-Rheims Bible is a treasure that has since been omitted in later translations.  The 1889 translation is the last time we hear Jesus say something most Christians have not heard before, and it’s tragic absence has caused much confusion among Christians in interpreting this scene, so I bring it to you now to ponder and to know a little more deeply what the original scriptures wanted us to know.  After Mary tells her Son the wine had run out, the original translation reads Our Lord’s response as, “Woman, what is that to me and to thee?  My hour is not yet come.”  (John 2:4)

When we hear “and to thee”, it shows the inseparable bond between the mother and the Son in God’s great plan.  Though few words are spoken between mother and Son, there is within this scene clarification, acceptance and obedience.  “Do you understand what this miracle you ask me to perform will mean for me?  And what it will mean for you?”  He makes it clear that if she continues to encourage him, there can be no turning back.

Any time Jesus refers to his “hour”, he speaks of his passion, and he reminds her here that once he begins his public ministry through this miracle, she is in essence sending him to his death.  She understands this and for love, for charity and to fulfill God’s holy will no matter what the personal cost, it is she who sends her Son off to his 3-year ascent to Calvary.

Jesus, and the martyrs, chose their crosses themselves.  And while the mothers may have held some sway in when the impending crosses for their sons might be erected, they ultimately could not nor should not interfere with God’s plan.  To do so might have temporarily prolonged their sons’ lives, but ultimately it would have been a grave loss to us all.

As a mother, I am deeply humbled by the heroic virtue Mary and the martyr’s mother possessed.  Could I willingly send one of my children to the cross?  I think it would be much easier to send myself there for the sake of my children.  It is the kind of nightmare a parent hopes will never come true.  Yet, as parents, we are called to bring up God’s children to be saints.  And sometimes, to become a saint, martyrdom is necessary.

As you continue your Lenten journey this year, consider this: have you taught your children to follow in Our Lord’s steps and to sacrifice self for the sake of others?  Have you raised them to love God above all worldly things?  Do they have the hope and faith required to go through martyrdom, no matter what form it may come in?  And, should God require it of you, do you have the hope and faith required to allow your own child to choose to hang on a cross?

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

Behind them, soldiers were preparing what promised to be a warm and soothing contrast to the slow, torturous death that lay before them.  Tubs with steaming hot water and tables set with tempting foods awaited them all, if only they would simply renounce their faith.

The soldiers stood watch, waiting for the men to come ashore to warm themselves and deny their Catholic faith.   Some scoffed at the stupidity of the martyrs, but others watched, silently impressed at the strength the 40 men displayed.  And one soldier in particular deeply pondered the scene before him.  What could make a man go so cheerfully to such a painful death?  He himself was getting quite cold, and could hardly imagine the torture these Christians must have been enduring.

Then, as if receiving an answer to his question, the soldier’s gaze turned towards Heaven. To his great astonishment, he beheld 40 crowns slowly descending towards the Christian prisoners – glorious crowns of martyrdom, whose splendor far exceeded any earthly crowns the soldier had ever seen!

But as he watched these crowns continue their descent, however, one Christian could no longer bear the icy tortures.  He left the others, and hurried toward shore.  Who could blame him?  Surely he shouldn’t have to endure so much to gain a Heavenly reward!  Perhaps he would repent sometime later if the persecutions in his country eventually stopped.  Yes, he concluded, I can indeed save my life today and my soul tomorrow!  But as he emerged from the water toward the cheering soldiers, one abandoned crown ascended back towards Heaven.

By grace, the one soldier was allowed this vision.  In an instant he understood what was at stake and suddenly no price was too high to pay for such a glorious inheritance.  The soldier flung his armor aside and plunged himself into the water, joining the other martyrs to claim the lost man’s glory for himself.

Meanwhile, the Christian who renounced his faith climbed into the warm tub of water, craving nothing but the temporal comfort and relief it promised.  But the shock to his body was so great he died instantly, and the crown formerly prepared for him hovered securely above the soldier’s head instead.

Soon, God, in His mercy, chose to slowly warm the waters for them, putting an end to their bitter suffering.  This relief was to be short lived, however, for the discouraged soldiers decided to take matters into their own hands.  And when torture was unable to kill the martyrs’ spirit of love for Our Lord, the soldiers burned the men alive.  Not one of these men faltered in their faith, and as the smoke rose toward the heavens, their souls were crowned with glory.

While some details of this story vary slightly from one storyteller to the next, the Church has proclaimed these 40 Martyrs of Sebaste as Saints and their story is worthy of reflection.  Their feast day falls in March, giving us a prime opportunity to meditate on the 40 martyrs during the 40 days of Lent.

For most of us, the conditions these men had to endure to live and die for their Catholic faith is mind-boggling.  We have not had to suffer as they did for the faith, and to think that such a sacrifice might be required of us is almost unimaginable.  But beware – many souls have found that sometimes it is harder staying faithful in the little, day-to-day things than it is to stand firmly in the faith in large matters.  When it seems nothing is at stake, it is easy to cave in to our temptations.  “Maybe just a few chocolate chips,” we tell ourselves.  Then, when we cater to our temporal desires and comfort and nothing “bad” happens, it makes it that much easier to cave in again.  And again.  And pretty soon Lent seems hardly a time for penance at all.

If you have had a hard time completing your Lenten penance in the past, try using these powerful martyrs to help you persevere by keeping these men in the forefront of your mind for the remainder of Lent.  Every day you succeed in completing your Lenten penance, imagine a crown being placed on the head of a martyr.  And should you fall, repent immediately and jump right back into that icy water!  Don’t give up and assume you will do better next year.  Remind yourself that like the man who died in the tub, next year may never come.

Lent is not only the perfect time to strengthen your resolve to remain true to the faith through self-mortification, but it is a great time to evangelize to others as well.  As Lent goes on, you may find that others may be silently watching you during this season – a neighbor, an in-law, or your child.  And your example of mortification very well could be the example Our Lord uses to inspire that soul to shed its worldly ways and join you on your quest to obtain your crown in His heavenly Kingdom!

40 Martyrs of Sebaste, pray for us this Lenten season!

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

My daughter’s plea was muffled within wiggling layers of tulle and sequins.  Moments later, and with my assistance, she appeared from within the dress, triumphant and grinning.  “What’s the rush, your Heighness?” I asked.

“We’re getting ready for the feast!” she announced, and off she went to join her sister in their room.

She asked me to help her be a princess.  I hope that is what I have been doing, ever since she was born, for it is a known fact that she is indeed a princess.  All of my children, in fact, are princes and princesses, and I myself am a princess as well.

This honor is not just for my family, though.  You see, we all were brought into a royal family on the days of our baptisms.  We are all sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Christ our King and children of Mary, Queen of Heaven.  And under the appearance of a baptismal certificate, we each received a personal invitation to attend a great and royal Wedding Feast.  But what have we done to prepare for this great day?

Lets pretend that my family has been invited to the formal wedding and reception of Prince William, to be held in England.  After laughing hysterically for a minute or two, a sense of urgency will take over and I will have to make a plan.  What will I wear?  How will I get there?  How do I greet the royal couple?  And what is that little fork above the plate for again?

After considering the logistics of attending the event, a new wave of panic sets in when I remember that my husband and children have been invited too!  Now, I can trust Jay to be Prince Charming for a night.  But the kids?  Who knows what they could do in such a setting!  Actually, I know full well what they could do, and I begin to hyperventilate.

There are so many things I have to teach them about how to behave, how to speak to others properly, and so on – not to mention what to do with that little fork at the top of the plate.  If only I had taken the time to learn the proper rules of English etiquette and passed that information down to my children, I would not be so fearful right now.

I could plead ignorance and perhaps be forgiven for not being prepared for this fictitious event.  But culpable ignorance does not go over so well with God when it comes to His real life invitation to attend the Wedding Feast in His Kingdom.  I have had my invitation for 41 years, and I am ashamed to admit that I am still woefully unprepared.  And so are my children.  How can we become Saints with so little time left?  I do not know, trust or love enough to be a Saint yet.  I am constantly working on it, but I can never do enough on my own.

Thankfully, I have recourse to the Queen.

Now, any good queen would be an advocate for her loyal subjects, but I am more than just a loyal subject in the eyes of the Queen of Heaven.  I am her daughter, given to her by her Son, and it is His wish that I become a Saint.  Therefore she will help me to obtain all that I need to gain admittance to that Wedding Feast.  All it takes is sincere prayers for help and she can literally shower me with graces.  And should I remain faithful in using these graces, I will soon be on my way to becoming the polished princess I was created to be.

Are you prepared?  Dig out your baptismal certificate.  When were you baptized?  How much time has passed? Was it 50 years or more, or just this past Easter when you received your invitation, and what have you done during this time to prepare?  Have you enlisted the Queen’s help in your preparation?

Frame the baptismal certificates of everyone in your home as a reminder of this once in a lifetime invitation.  And refer to it often.  Let it be your constant reminder to trust in the Queen of Heaven and she will make sure that you are properly attired and admitted to the royal Wedding Feast – whether you know what to do with that little fork at the top of your plate or not.

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

This month, we sing Mary’s praises, decorate her shrines and crown her with roses, for May is the month of Our Lady.  And it is fitting we pray this last mystery of the rosary in May, as we honor the Queen of Heaven.  While all her merits are due to God’s will and His creation, His ultimate creation is worthy of great admiration and praise.

‘With love the Divine Artist bestowed the white of absolute sinlessness, the fullness of grace; the red of ardent charity, blended with the blue of true humility.  What any son would do for his mother, that and incomparably more the Incarnate God did for His Mother.  The result of God’s handiwork was magnificent beyond description, something befitting the Queen of Heaven, yet so attractive that the lowliest human being, the outcast, could look up and lovingly whisper, ‘Mother.’ “  (Fr. Daniel A. Hare, S.J.)  And once we whisper her name, the treasures of her grace begin to fall upon us, for she is Our Lady, Our Blessed Mother, and Our Queen, given to us by Our King.

The title of queen, in Jewish tradition, was given to the king’s mother.  This station was highly honored by all the king’s subjects and was used to gain favors from the king for those who had recourse to her.  To have the ear of the queen meant the king would hear you as well.  And if she favored your request, the king would find a way to grant it, if it was for the benefit of his subjects.

Mary has been given to us all not only as Our Blessed Mother, but as our Queen – to hear our supplications and present them to Christ Our King.  And while He would not approve a request that was outside His ultimate will, her entreaty holds sway for those who request help in growing in virtue for the sake of His glory, and she happily bestows graces upon the children of His Kingdom for the benefit of their souls.

One of the greatest graces we could receive is the gift of perseverance in growing in holiness and virtue.  There is no shortage of references to this fact in scripture, Church teachings and the writings of the Saints.  Quotes such as “He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved,”  (Matt 24:13) point to the fact that the Kingdom of God is reserved for those who continually strive for it.  And St. Bonaventure reminds us that, “Only perseverance is crowned.”  What ultimate anguish it will be to be refused the crown He has prepared for us because we failed to pursue a virtuous life!

Yet we have a simple instrument to assist us. For while Our Lady may be the distributor, the rosary prayer is the most efficient means through which we request to receive virtues.   St. Louis de Montfort reminds us of the importance of persevering in praying the rosary: “ (Let) no man take thy crown: take care that your crown is not stolen by somebody who has been more faithful than you in saying the Holy Rosary.  It is “thy crown” -  Almighty God has chosen it for you and you have already won it halfway by means of the Rosaries that you have said well.”

We have learned these past months that the rosary is not a tired old prayer.  Each mystery replays for us the fascinating stories of the lives of Christ and Our Lady and demonstrates a treasured and holy virtue invaluable to the soul.  Indeed, this holiness is within everyone’s grasp!  Take hold of and cling to your humble beads, that Mary will reveal to you the treasures of grace hidden within the rosary.  For these virtues, should you persevere in finding and polishing them until the moment of your death will be your pride, glorifying God as they adorn your heavenly crown.

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

Editor’s Note:  Due to an oversight, this column is being run out of order.  We thank Cassandra Poppe for sharing her writing with us!  LMH

“We offer Thee, O Holy Spirit, this thirteenth decade in honor of the mystery of Pentecost, and we ask of Thee, through this mystery and through the intercession of Mary, Thy most faithful spouse, Thy holy wisdom so that we my know, really love and practice Thy truth, and make all others share in it”

When it comes to the life of Christ, any story worth telling should also be worth repeating.  And Pentecost, in many ways, is an all-encompassing retelling of God’s plan for salvation, reduced to a flickering flame that would catch souls on fire around the world.

The Church’s repetitive cycle of the liturgical year shows us this.  And for many centuries, it was Pentecost that was the climax of this fascinating story.  After searching our wills in the desert of Lent, we purge ourselves of our sinful habits and return to God through confession and penance.  Once sin is removed, the life of God returns to our souls, preparing us to give Him our own “yes”, and to do His will in all things – whenever he makes His will known.

It is a time of darkness and suffering.  But Easter comes and hope is renewed.  Mary, while awaiting the coming of the Messiah, lived in the darkness of the world, but faith and hope resided in her heart. Our sinful nature keeps us in darkness, but faith and hope come to us through the mysteries of the resurrection and ascension.  It is a personal journey for us – we wrestle with our private darkness and then bask in the season of Eastertide and His loving promise of salvation.

But this is not the end of His plan for us.  Even as we celebrate His resurrection, we hear in our hearts a higher calling, for our journey does not end with Easter.  While we know we cannot hide this light under a basket, how do we go about spreading it to others?   We once again look to Mary for answers.  Once faith and hope are ours, we must go forth and make Christ known to others in a visible and viable way.  And glory of glories, it is Pentecost. The birth of the Church!  The Holy Spirit descends upon the souls of the faithful, bringing with Him the gifts we need to fulfill His plan.

While it took nine months between the annunciation and nativity for Mary, our own annunciation and resulting birth of His will happens in an instant.

While all his gifts are important, it is wisdom that brings His will into focus.  “Grant, Almighty God, that the coming of the Holy Spirit may glorify Thy Son by making known to us His grandeur!” the ancient prayer from the Gelasian Missal says.  This great wisdom – to know the grandeur of God, discern His plan and how to go about fulfilling it – is a vital gift of the Holy Spirit we must receive if we are to be a light to others.

Throughout all of the Church’s history, shepherds and kings alike have been drawn to this great light.  A single light, at first appearing as a faint glow in the distance, spreads from one soul to the next will soon become brilliant and irresistible to those who see it.  But for this to become a reality in our time, we must ask ourselves if we are truly prepared for this great Pentecostal event in our souls.  Are we, with God’s help, as holy as we can possibly be?  Are we firm in our resolution to purge ourselves of “self” to take on the higher identity of being a vessel of God?  Can we, as Mary did in the annunciation, give Him our firm and absolute “yes”, trusting He will bestow upon us all the graces we need to serve Him in any way He asks?

Accept the Holy Spirit and His gifts with an open heart, allowing Him to descend upon you and show you how to fearlessly and effectively bring forth the light of Our Lord to those around you. “Just as when a sunbeam falls on bright and transparent bodies, they themselves become brilliant too, and shed forth a fresh brightness from themselves, so souls wherein the Spirit dwells, illuminated by the Spirit, themselves become spiritual, and send forth their grace to others.”  (St. Basil the Great)

Trust in Mary to obtain these graces form her Holy Spouse, that we too can bring Christ to others in a visible way.  And expect nothing short of miracles, for Pentecost, if we are properly prepared, will be no different for us than it was for those first apostles.  “For each year when the Church celebrates Pentecost in mystery the Holy Spirit brings about an effect like that of the Pentecost of history, pouring into the Church and into the souls of the members of the Mystic Christ the activity which is His life, which is grace – the “wonderful work of God.” (Saint Anthony’s Messenger, ’44)

“Grace of Pentecost, come down into my soul and make me really wise in the eyes of Almighty God.”

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

Traditionally this fourth glorious mystery is only dedicated to the Assumption.  But since we seek to develop a deeper devotion to Mary through this mystery, St. Louis de Montfort suggests we also meditate on Mary’s Immaculate Conception when we pray.  This helps us to better understand God’s plan for Mary and how she proves His great love for us all.  He created her with the utmost care and precision, not only because she was to become the Mother of God, but in a smaller way, because she was also to become our mother as well.

A mother is an indispensable element in propagating the human race and providing for her child’s earthly needs.  Her body has the ability to help bring new life into the world and physically sustain that new life.  But far greater than tending to the needs of the body is a mother’s vital relationship with her child as she brings her child’s soul closer to God.  The mother’s natural instinct to love and protect her child, and through the child’s instinct to imitate his mother as he learns about the world around him, are only a few proofs of God’s will for mothers to bring their children to Him.

God chooses for each of us an earthly mother best suited to help us get to Heaven.  For many, she may be a quiet, virtuous woman who inspires a great love of God.  For others she may be an energetic evangelist, teaching to live a life for God and win souls for Him.  And for some, she may be an adoptive mother mirroring God’s love of His own adopted children brought to Him through baptism.  Even the worst of mothers have some quality about her that could ultimately draw her children to God.

But all earthly mothers, no matter who they may be, are limited in what they can give to a soul.  Thankfully, in His great wisdom, the Immaculate Conception fills this void.  Wherever your own mother might have fallen short, Our Blessed Mother excels.  In areas where your mother may have been strong, Our Blessed Mother is even stronger.  And no matter how much your mother loves you, Our Blessed Mother loves you even more.  She can comfort you and encourage you in ways no human mother can.   She can shower you with graces to strengthen your soul, leading you to her Son.  And she is always the perfect example of who we are to become.  How much God must love each of us to give us such a mother!

Through the Immaculate Conception He created a perfect vessel, flawless in both beauty and virtue, a living miracle completely free of original sin and worthy to be called Mother of God.  She was also given all these graces so that she could be our mother as well.  Those who accept her as their mother look to her for guidance.   Her life of love and sacrifice for the sake of our souls and her protective instinct to shield us from the attacks of Satan endear herself to our grateful hearts.  And it is through this love and devotion that we can then appreciate the second part of the mystery: the Assumption.

We are not certain whether Mary’s Assumption occurred right before or after she died but we know she was taken bodily into Heaven.  The Assumption demonstrates God’s great love for her.  And if God so loved Our Lady that He spared her from the corruptions of death, should we not also love Our Lady?  If you do not already have a great love for the Blessed Mother, pray to her for this grace.  Ponder the fact that she was intended to be your mother, too.  Then ask her to obtain for you the graces you need to follow in all of her ways, that you may imitate her holiness all your life and one day follow her into Heaven.

“Grace of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary, come down into my soul and make me truly devoted to her.”

Copyright 2011 Cassandra Poppe

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread”, to help establish that He was indeed the Bread of Life.   He chose Bethany, which means “house of obedience”, to be the site where He gave His followers His final blessing before His ascension.  Venerable Bede explains this significance. “It is appropriate that He led those who He blessed out to Bethany, which is interpreted “house of obedience”.  Contempt and pride deserved a curse, but obedience deserved a blessing.  The Lord Himself was made obedient to His Father even unto death, so that He might restore the lost grace of blessing to the world.  He gives the blessing of heavenly life only to those who strive in the holy Church to comply with the divine commands.”

“If you love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus told them.  And He meant it.  His entire life was an act of obedience, and in ascending to Heaven from Bethany, He revealed the path we are to take to salvation.  We must remain firmly rooted in His “house of obedience”, which is His Church, careful to obey all God has commanded.  And while we do not actually know what awaits us in Heaven, He showed us a taste of what is to come. In His ascension, He demonstrated in a most spectacular way, how richly the obedient will be rewarded.

Hope lives in the hearts of Christian who possess a lively faith.  Without a firm belief in Jesus’ divinity, we could not hope in His promises.  His resurrection established His divinity freeing us to hope in all He promised, knowing God would not inspire us to strive for something we could not obtain.

But do we really want Heaven?  Do we live each day with a heart aching to be united with God?  Do our daily actions point us towards His Kingdom or do we spend our time focused on worldly matters?  When we make plans for our future, are they geared towards pleasure and worldly gain or for a Heavenly reward?  The ways of the world easily tempt us to go astray.  That wide, well-beaten path is so easy to travel, most of us do not realize we are on it.  We comfort ourselves with “The Lord is merciful,” and continue on our way, refusing to admit which path we are really on.

It is true that God’s mercy is vast, but mercy will not save us if it is all we are counting on.  St. Gregory points out this error in thinking when he says, “Let him who does all that he can, rely firmly on the mercy of God.  But for him who does not do all that lies within his power, to rely upon the mercy of God would be simple presumption.”  Meditate on this quote.  This is not the kind of message we hear much anymore, but how many more souls could be saved if we did!  We must continually “strive in the holy Church to comply with the divine commands,” trusting in the guidance of Christ’s Church and all He promised to those within His “house of obedience”.

Plan for your entrance into Heaven with as much zeal and excitement as you would plan for a long awaited vacation.  Research as much as you can to make sure you are not found lacking anything when you arrive at Heaven’s gate.  Read Church approved books such as The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell, Heaven to help you to focus on the glories and unending happiness awaiting you in Heaven, and inspire you to sacrifice worldly lures for the love of God.  “The good that I hope for,” says St. Francis, “is so great that every suffering becomes for me a pleasure.”   When we follow His commands, we are justified in our hope of Heaven, which He merited for us through His death and resurrection.  And in return for this hope, the Psalms assure us of our reward. “Because he hath hoped in Me, I will deliver him; I will protect him.”

“Grace of the mystery of the Ascension of Our Lord, come down into my soul and make me ready for Heaven.”

Our Lord referred to His Resurrection at least seven times before it occurred, presenting it as absolute proof of His divinity.   In fact, if Jesus never performed a single miracle, His Resurrection alone would have proven He was the Son of God.  But He knew man’s faith was weak, so He performed many miracles while on earth to strengthen the faith in those who followed Him.

St. Alphonsus Liguori defines faith as “a divinely infused virtue by which man believes, on God’s authority, what God has revealed and teaches through His Holy Church.”  Faith requires that we renounce all that seems logical and reasonable, and accept that which we do not fully understand, simply because God told us so.  It asks us to plunge into unknown waters in complete trust and without a backup plan, placing the fate of our eternal souls into God’s hands.

This kind of faith used to be a highly prized gift from God, whereas now it seems it is hardly asked for at all.  We live in a time where the laws of science are supreme while the idea of faith is shunned, and sometimes even devout Catholics feel the sting of today’s unbelieving culture.  Those who are “of this world” tell us we are the ones who walk in darkness, and that we need to be enlightened and shown the way to the truth.

But the reality is that while they may walk in the light of reason, which can reveal much of the truth, they do not walk in the higher light of faith, which reveals all truth.  We may not understand all that faith offers us, but part of the beauty of a deep faith is knowing that no amount of human reasoning can possibly explain the depths of God’s mysteries.  Instead, we learn to bend and humble our reason before some revealed truth which reason alone cannot understand, and allow ourselves to willingly embrace all that God presents to us.

The Eucharist is just one of those revealed truths He asks us to take on faith.  Some of us have believed since we were children.  Others of us may struggle with the concept of transubstantiation but humbly accept it.  And others still may not have come to believe in His presence until they had been shown physical miracles backed by science.

Each of these pathways to belief in the True Presence indicates the amount of faith with which we have been blessed, and perhaps the manner in which God asks us to spread our faith to others.  If you are one who has never questioned or wavered, you may be one to inspire others with your unwavering faith and devotion.  If you are the one who has simply decided to trust in the Lord and accepted that there are some aspects of our faith you will not understand until your soul passes on, you are a great example of faith, humility and obedience.  But do not despair if you are one who does not believe without proof.  St. Thomas required the same proof to believe Christ’s Resurrection.  Perhaps your role will be to help bolster other people’s faith in the Eucharist by passionately educating them on the multitude of physical proofs and miracles with which God has blessed us, to show us the way to a deeper faith.

No matter how much or how little faith we have been given, it is what we do with our faith that matters.  For He tells us that even if our faith is the size of a mustard seed, we could command a tree to uproot and replant itself in the sea.  The smallest amount of faith, when humbly united with Our Lord, has the power to convert those around us to His truth – even the ones who seem most firmly rooted in their own beliefs – and inspire them to take that plunge into unknown waters with complete faith in Our Lord.

“Grace of the Resurrection, come down into my soul and make me truly faithful.”


Copyright 2010 Cassandra Poppe