Open your hands, SURRENDER your heart.

Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother says, “I will attempt day by day to break my will into pieces. I want to do God's Holy Will, not my own.” Thanks Saint Gabriel for those awesome words of wisdom.  Hey, what’s up everybody? Brandon Jaquish here.  Cassidy has trusted me to write for her blog this week.  I guess we’ll see if that was a good decision by the end of this lol.  The will of God is definitely a SCARY topic to talk about…it is for me…that’s for sure.  I find it kind of funny that we find following the will of God a scary thing, yet we say it every Sunday (or every day if you go to daily Mass) when we pray the ‘Our Father’ prayer.  Jesus teaches us this prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.  It’s beautiful!  “…thy will be done…”  I once was someone who prayed the ‘Our Father’ as a routine prayer…something I grew up praying, so it didn’t mean as much to me.  It wasn’t until I was older and I was breaking down the prayer and prayed with each part of it that I realized just how important it is.  Obviously, as you’re reading this blog post, I want us to focus on God’s will. 

 Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton says, “The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will.”  Well….dang lol such truth.  As we all might know, God has an amazing and perfect plan for each of us and He has his own way of guiding us to bring that plan to fulfillment.  God the Father even had a plan for Jesus which obviously included the salvation of all of His children. (That includes you!!!) Even Jesus stressed about following the Lord’s will in the Agony in the garden. (Luke 22:42-“…Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”)  Following the Lord’s will isn’t supposed to be easy.  Surrendering to anything isn’t supposed to be easy.  To some, surrenderance is a sign of weakness.  In the case of surrendering our will to God’s will, it is a sign of strength for in our weakness, we are made strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10) 

Personally, when I am presented with 2 paths, one being God’s will and the other one not being His will (but of course I don’t know which one is which), it becomes the hardest decision for me.  I tend to second guess myself a lot.  I’ll end up asking a lot of “what if…?” questions.  I am extremely blessed to have been able to serve 2 awesome years with NET ministries.  I knew it was God’s will that I serve the first year and I had a life changing experience.  Towards the end of that year, I decided to sign up and serve a second year. I didn’t necessarily know if it was God’s will or not.  I kind of made an impulsive decision.  Later on, I found out that my youth minister at my home parish was planning on hiring me as essentially a part- time youth minister for the next year….two different paths…which one is God’s will???  My plan is to eventually become a youth minister which made this decision that much harder lol Instead of making a decision out of impulse, I decided to do what I should have done in the first place…pray about it! I grabbed my bible, a monster energy drink, and I went for a walk and prayed.  As I was praying with scripture, I was trying to see what God’s will was and what He was saying to me.  After a while, I read Psalm 37:4, “Find your delight in the Lord who will give you your heart’s desire.”  My heart’s desire was to serve a second year of NET and I knew that’s what God wanted for me.  It was another life changing experience that I needed.  God’s plan and will for us, no matter what it is, it’s good.  It is very good. 

Take A Moment (with Christmas movie references)

Imagine you’re running in a race, there are people whizzing past you and others lagging behind. You’re trying to keep a steady pace and breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth to slow your heartbeat, but you can’t help but feel like you need to either speed up or slow down. Everyone around you seems to know what they are doing and you begin to feel helpless. There are temptations of voices all around you telling you to ignore your pace and hustle up so you can pass everyone and everything around you, or to just give up and shut down. You become unhappy with your pace and stamina, and are getting tired of trying to keep moving, and now you are beginning to think of giving up…

Okay PAUSE, now I know what you may thinking, pshh Cass I don’t run in races…its summer! I just love to watch re-runs of Friends while eating some rad chips and queso man! And if that’s the case, we should be best friends. Just sayin. But just play along with me here for a little bit. Notice that during this “race” many of your thoughts were about everyone else’s pace and trying to beat them, but also notice that those thoughts only slowed you down making you want to give up, and ignoring the pace that was set for you. This can be very applicable to our own present lives, and how we can often ignore the daily calling Jesus has for us. We often focus our thoughts on how others are achieving/receiving things that we may not have and want. This way of living, comparing ourselves to one another and trying to catch up with them in a negative way is unhealthy. The daily calling of the Lord tells each of us to keep our own pace, and to give thanks for the pace He has set in our lives.

        Step one to solving this problem is to realize that the Lord is TIMELESS. He lives forever and always, so within His timelessness we are called to thank Him by living out His will in the PRESENT. Allow Him to work in you and through you DAY by DAY and MOMENT by MOMENT. Some days and moments may seem pointless, like they are leading nowhere. However, I encourage you to TRUST in how the Lord is working in your life. He is present ALWAYS. You may feel stuck, frustrated, confused, disappointed, tired, or neglected but open your heart and know that the Lord is ever present in EACH of those moments. He is constantly lifting us up and teaching us things in each day we face.  Those days and moments are so precious to the Lord, for He has great plans for every detail of your life. So I also encourage you to take those ordinary days that seem pointless and seek the Joy of the Lord in every moment. Okay, so now you’re probably thinking: “But Cass, how the heck do I do that? My life isn’t that exciting.” And I would say to you WRONGO!

       (okay I couldn’t help but quote the Grinch, but just stay with me) When I say EACH moment of your life is blessed, I’m not exaggerating. I mean, I’m not saying that as you’re biting into a taco and it depressingly falls onto the floor you need to yell out “I’m #blessed man!” But I AM saying that even the most ordinary of days are full of moments that the Lord is calling you to be a present disciple and serve Him. He is calling YOU, yes YOU, to be present in each moment He gives you. If you are not open to this message He has for you, you may miss an amazing opportunity to serve Him. (add a little more)                             

 

           Step two to solving this problem is to also realize that the Lord creates us each unique in the image and likeness of Himself. So while every tiny detail of your life is precious to Him, also every detail of YOU and YOUR soul and YOUR heart is so very precious to Him as well. No one else could repeat what you do in your life the same way. YOU are an unrepeatable soul, whom with the Lord is well pleased! (YAY!) Comparing ourselves to one another is a very easy thing to be tempted to do. I know I have personally struggled with this time and time again. So that leads into…..*drum roll*…..STORY TIME! WOOHOO!! GET PUMPED! Alright so I was at this conference called DCYC (Diocesan Catholic Youth Conference) (which is an amazing experience by the way, so check that out *wink wink*) (Shout out to the Fort Worth Diocese!) and there are lots of Franciscan Friars there among other holy orders (gosh I love them….Fraannciisscaaannn that’s fun to say…also quoting Elf…guess I’m feeling that Christmas spirit *not in July*) (okay I’m done) and one of my favorites Fr. Augustino was there and we were just hangin’ out and eating some Chicken Express (#itscasual) and he said something to me that has really stuck with me ever since. My mom and I were joking around about my freckles and that I have SO MANY and He looked me straight in the eye and said: “’He tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names.’ Then he pointed to my face and said “and He knows every ONE.” (Psalm 147:4) This opened my eyes to the fact that Jesus created each and every part of me and calls it BEAUTIFUL, even my brokenness. How freakin’ great is that?! So the Lord takes pride in every single tiny detail of your being. He gets the hugest smile on His face when we make Him proud and do all things in His name. Even the events in your life, because through all of those events, whether they seem pointless or good or bad, they mean EVERYTHING to Him. So if He sees that in each of us…shouldn’t that mean that we should be rejoicing in our uniqueness and be proud of ourselves rather than looking toward others with jealousy? Just something to think about.

 

Lastly, another step to allow yourself to receive your daily calling from the Lord is to know your limits. By this, I mean to know how much you can do and what is out of your control. Always be aware that the Lord is good, and that if something is truly upsetting you but you know that there is nothing you can do to change it that it is completely out of your control. Let go of those feelings of helplessness or regret and move on to what He is trying to teach you RIGHT NOW. If you continue to dwell on the negativity of the situation, that will only lead you to feel more helpless. Through that experience of not having control of a situation, Jesus wants you to walk with Him and see just how that situation is allowing you to TRUST in His daily plan and allow Him to dwell in your heart forever. Each day is different and SO blessed in the eyes of the Lord! He doesn’t want to see any of His beloved children upset over something that is out of their control. Instead He calls each of us to pray to Him and ask for guidance as simple as this: “Oh Lord Jesus, I feel helpless and restless, like I can’t do anything to help this situation. Lift my load Lord, and allow me to find peace in the fact that this is out of my control and forever in your blessed hands. Jesus I trust in You. Amen.”

Second lastly…of course I have a song that I feel can speak to any of you who are struggling with anything I have mentioned, or if you know anyone who may need to hear this please share it! It’s a song called “Take A Moment” by Will Reagan and the United Pursuit. It’s so simple, yet beautiful! Here’s a little quote from it to finish out this post: “Take a moment to remember, who God is and who I am…there You go lifting my load again.”

 

“I’m in love, I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it!” (With Jesus) (Courtesy of Buddy the Elf)

 

Love and Blessings

Cass

RAISED UP.

[ Psalm 139: 14-17 ] "I praise you because I am wonderfully made, wonderful in all of your works. My very self you know, my bones are not hidden from you...your eyes saw me unformed, in your book all are written down, my days were shaped, before one came to be. How precious to me are your designs O God."

Saint Pope John Paul II quote: “We are not the summation of our weaknesses and failures but the summation of God’s love for us.”

       I’ve been inspired lately by hearing my friends and families’ stories of how the Lord has worked in their lives. Whether that was through them and unto others or receiving that gift from another, the way the Lord works never ceases to blow my mind! Like dang GOD IS SO GOOD! (all the time am I right?!) The most breathtaking stories of faith to me are the ones that start as struggles or failures with sin and how the Lord allowed that person to grow from that experience. For example, Saint Mary Magdalene was known for her great amounts of sin and proudness yet she saw Jesus and immediately fell to the ground on her knees to praise Him. He saw the love she had and forgave all her sins, and from then on she was one of His closest followers. He takes those messed up situations, exposes them in the light of His presence, and gives them pure love. Pure and wholehearted forgiveness, *POOF* and it’s all in the past! The Lord does not dwell on those struggles, He brings them to light and allows it to be a learning experience. That’s the Lords love, the forgiveness comes from the EVERLASTING love of the Father. So no matter what you do, or what you may regret, bring it to the foot of the Lord’s cross and He will do the rest. He loves us, and because He knows us so well that it's insane! (in a great way!) He knows exactly what needs to happen in our lives in order for us to grow in faith and therefore closer to Him.

        Some of you may be in the middle of a struggle right now, whether it be spiritually related, family related, school related or maybe even helping someone else get through their own trials. So whatever your situation may be, hakuna matata my friends because truthfully that is the best place to be…because from there you can only be RAISED UP. (I don’t know about you…but now I’m singing Josh Groban in my head) (and I also just sang Taylor Swift…wow #noshame) A friend of mine shared with me this analogy that a priest said in a homily during mass: All of our sins we must use as fertilizer to grow our spiritual tree. Just like the waste of the earth is mixed together as fertilizer to make trees grow big and strong. Without our failures we cannot grow and we are human so we are bound to fail but it is what you decide to do with those failures that determines how fast and strong you grow.

       Above I have a bible quote from Psalms that references how well the Lord knows us and calls us each by name. (Say my name, say my naaammee….yesss Destiny’s Child throwback jam!) He knows every thought that comes to our mind before we even think it, so He knows that whatever struggle you or anyone else is going through isn’t fun…but most of all He wants each of you to know that those struggles and failures DO NOT define you. HIS LOVE is what defines us, I mean…He sorta gave His life to save you… so I would say that’s true and defining love! He wants you to know that every new day that He brings is an automatic and true “I love you” from Him. (How romantic right?!) With each sunrise there comes a new opportunity to take those struggles and failures and turn them into something beautiful, all for the glory of God! Sin and struggle can seem like a dark hole that you just cannot seem to get yourself out of. A place where you can’t seem to forgive yourself or think that you can never be forgiven. Quite the contrary dude, because that’s where you’re totally on the wrong track! (I just thought of “Totally Kyle” from the Amanda Show as I wrote that) The Lord’s mercy is undeniable and doesn’t vary or change! It is forever constant and glorifying! He doesn’t want to us to beat ourselves up over something that happened, He just wants us to rely on Him and only Him to raise us up out of that darkness. Only He can satisfy! As mentioned before, the Lord knows each of us so well. Therefore He already knew what struggles you are going through would happen, which means He has wonderful plans for it to take you HIGHER. It means He’s cookin’ up something SO GOOD! The Lord is always knocking on the door of your heart…I encourage you to let Him in. No matter what state you are in or how broken you feel, let the Lord into your heart and the rest will follow. Speaking from experience…ignoring that knock on the door of your heart isn’t possible, so why wait? Blow that door WIDE OPEN and pray without ceasing. Here’s a little quote from a song by All Sons and Daughters: “You have called me higher, you have called me deeper, and I’ll go where you will lead me Lord.”

       P.S. If any of you want to share a short story of how the Lord has worked in your life I would LOVE to hear! It’s always SO inspiring because of how UNIQUE we all are. Also if you have any prayer requests I will gladly take those as well! May the peace of Christ be with each of you!

      P.S.S. I also left a link to "Called Me Higher" by All Sons and Daughters, so that you could listen to it if you want! (which you should cuz it's great!)

Hakuna Matata friends! God Bless!

(and lots of love!)  Cass


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAzLKXqcDk

Seeking the truth

Veritas....meaning truth....Hmm...well, as humans, we are constantly on the prowl for truth in our lives. Whether that's through seeking the truth in a new haircut you just got, or why you are a coke fan rather than dr. pepper, or why your co-workers are so rude, or maybe something a little more personal like the truth about why a family member/loved got some sort of sick. (Dang that got dark kinda fast Cass, maybe take it a little slower..) Sorry, (#sorrynotsorry haha) but basically, as a society we are constantly searching for truth in the wrong places. Many of which lead us all deeper into sin, therefore farther away from the real truth, which is God. I am definitely guilty of this, and I have come to realize how unimportant all those things are. Through every situation, we are called upon by the Lord to trust Him in all of these situations no matter how dark and endless they may seem. He is forever the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE. God, our heavenly father is always calling us DAILY to follow His truth of heart. Some of you may be wondering.. "Well wait Cass...you make it sound so easy, how are we supposed to follow the truth of the Lord daily?" (or maybe you're not, but even if that's the case, just stick with me here) and my response to you would be "Well lemme tell ya, it's not necessarily a stroll in a field of rainbows, where they hand out free ice cream and let you watch SpongeBob all day" (but dang wouldn't that be nice) it's asking the Lord for help daily, in simple ways like: "Lord, today allow me to be an instrument of your peace and to not get easily frustrated with my siblings." and see where He takes that desire! Along with this, also taking the opportunities (no matter how small they may seem) that He hands you each day and using them in the most positive and Christ driven ways you can think of. God made that beautiful brain of yours SO UNIQUE, and He wants to see what you, and specifically YOU can do with it! It will not always come so easily, for the world is full of negative temptations that come straight from Satan (that mean dude who lives WAY downstairs) but the Lord prevails ALWAYS. So, what does this have to do with this blog? Well, I hope to fill this blog with positive, Christ-driven, and hopefully inspiring posts and laughs, that allow each of you in some way become closer to Christ in the process.

Peace and Blessings!

Cass


"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."
~ Saint Catherine of Siena ~