In the Words of Peter Pan, Here We GO!

For my inaugural blog post, I will detail the importance of living a healthy, well-rounded, faith-filled lifestyle, which you can easily implement in Three Easy Steps You Can Complete in Five Minutes From Your Couch!

Just kidding. Life is not so simple. Life, oftentimes, seems immensely complex and overwhelming. Even the task of typing out this post was monumental for me, despite the facility of creating a blog. You see, anyone can make a blog to write about anything. Social networks are overrun with links to blog posts about fitness, relationships, spirituality—you name it, it’s probably been blogged about. And of course there is very little pressure on me to create a completely original, captivating, heart-rending blog with a substantial readership and regular updates and practical life advice relevant to others. (Hello, innocent new readers. Sit down, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.) 

I can’t offer much, but I can lend a shoulder to lean on as your sister in Christ, because life is difficult. As I overheard one of my peers attest, “Grace and coffee, in that order, is what keeps me alive.” Sometimes it feels as if we are running on grace and coffee alone! But it is in such a poverty that God moves. When we empty ourselves until we have nothing, when we release our own desires in favor of God’s, it is only then that God can truly transform our lives. And transformation is, quite literally, better than anything we can imagine. God continues to transform my life daily, and He wants to transform yours, too. 

Like I said, I can’t offer much (except some Internet gifs and a delicious dessert recipe I recently made with my dad). What I do know, however, is that the Catholic Church is based on community. God Himself is a Trinity of Three Persons in one Godhead. We, who are made in the image and likeness of God, desire community by our very nature. For without community, there is no love. I offer you this blog as your sister. St. Thérèse of Lisieux (my newest saint friend, who is an awesome Doctor of the Church) wrote to Maurice Barthélémy Bellière, a struggling young seminarian for whom Thérèse prayed, “I shall always be happy to call myself your unworthy little sister.” It is in the spirit of Thérèse that I offer myself to you. Let us pray:

Mother… at this solemn moment we listen with particular attention to your words: "Do whatever my Son tells you." And we wish to respond to your words with all our heart. We wish to do what your Son tells us, for He has the words of eternal life. We wish to carry out and fulfill all that comes from Him, all that is contained in the Good News, as our forefathers did for many centuries.

May our ears constantly hear with the proper clarity your motherly voice: "Do whatever my Son tells you." Enable us to persevere with Christ. Enable us, Mother of the Church, to build up His Mystical Body by living with the life that He alone can grant us from His fullness, which is both divine and human.

[Pope Saint John Paul II’s L’Osservatore Romano, 10-8-79, 14]