Lifelong Crusaders

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." – Proverbs 27:17

It has been nine years since I graduated from 8th grade at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Tampa, FL, home to the Crusaders. During my last year at MHR all of the 8th graders were assigned a Kindergarden buddy. It was our responsibility, as the older students, to hold our buddy's hand and walk them to the church for all-school Mass. We also played games with the Kindergardeners and helped them out with arts and crafts. Thankfully, God placed me with a little angel named Catie. I have some great memories of being her "Secret Santa" and watching her fall asleep at nap time.

Over the years I kept in contact with Catie and her beautiful family. Since we both attend the same local parish I would see her every now and then at Mass on Sunday mornings. Her father also became a deacon and is very much involved with the church at St. Paul's in Tampa. Now, Catie is 14-years-old and I watched her last night graduate from 8th grade at Most Holy Redeemer like I did nine years ago.

What a blessing! I am so thankful to still be friends with Catie. I even promised her way back then that I would attend her MHR graduation, and I'm so happy I did! I'm very proud of the young woman she has flourished into and I know she will become even more spectacular as she heads off to high school next year.

With high school in mind, I gave her a copy of the book How To Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul by Jason and Crystalina Evert. This book was such a blessing for me and I wished I had read it during my high school years. Although I couldn't have, because it wasn't published back then, I know that she has the opportunity to read it now and apply all of the Evert's great advice to her future relationships.

And for all of those young men and women out there who are in a similar situation, waiting and praying for your future spouse, here is a novena prayer I found to St. Agnes—the patron saint of unmarried couples.

St. Agnes, although you were only a child, you believed that Jesus was alway with you; help us to remember that He is also with us and to remain true to His presence.

St. Agnes, you refused to give up your faith, help us to be proud of our faith to love it, to be strong in it, and to give witness to it daily.

St. Agnes, patron saint of unmarried couples, watch over my future husband/wife and I. Please keep us strong in our faith, committed to chastity and virginity until marriage. Be with us and always pray for us. Amen. 

Just like I gave Catie a copy of the Soulmate book, I pray that you too will grow in the light of Christ in your own personal relationships. Ask St. Anges for her intercession and I guarantee she will not let you down! But as I mentioned in my pervious blog post, A Love Worth Waiting For, it may take some time before you meet the right person you are meant to be with. Every milestone in our lives takes patience to complete. It is something that cannot be rushed. Just like graduating from middle school, high school, and college... it all takes time. Relationships also take time to develop and grow in Christ's love.

So as I see it, enjoy the moments we have now. You never know if you'll have tomorrow, so celebrate life today! If it is God's will then everything you can hope for and possibly dream of will happen in His own good time. Probably the hardest part of it all is just giving Him our heart's desires and letting Him have complete control. In doing this, God can work through other people to help guide you. And just as I guided Catie to weekly Mass when she was in Kindergarden, I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you follow a pure lifestyle in your personal relationships and all of your future endeavors.

            

Saintly Friendships

"A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure." - Sirach 6:14

Friendships are a big part of life! Whenever life brings us up or down it is usually our friends we turn to -- in both the good times and bad. We look to them for advice, comfort, companionship, peace, joy, love, hope, and guidance. They help transform our lives for the best in weakness, sorrow, and distress. They yearn for us to find truth, meaning, passion, and purpose.

Virtuous friends, filled with the light of the Holy Spirit, will pray for you, will pray with you, and will speak to you with the words of God. They will help show you what you cannot see. Christ-like friends will encourage you to stand up again when you are brought to your knees. These true and faithful friends will give their best effort to be there for you when you are in most need of their presence and consolation. In order for the friendship to sustain itself, you too must also be willing to hold out your hand to them in the times when they have fallen. Treat them as you would want them to treat you. The more you become their friend the more likely they will become a true friend to you.

However, be careful when forming friendships. Not everyone can be your friend and not everyone is going to be. Being friends with someone means you have to be able to trust them. Imagine confiding your deepest feelings to someone who doesn't have your best interest at heart? Real friends want to help you. They will not tear you down. They might tell you things you do not want to hear, but it is because they care about you ssssoooo much! If they purposely try to sabotage your dreams and continuously hurt you...then you should take a step back, reevaluate the situation, and reconsider having any type of relationship with them. A true friend will give you the joy you seek and will even help you to become the best version of yourself.

Finding these true friends can be difficult...and sometimes it is just a very simple solution. Go to God. In God you will be able to find your true friends. That means you might find them at church or in a Catholic/Christian group in your school or community. Friendship built on a sturdy foundation of the same faith (or very similar) will be able to withstand the test of time. These friendships have a common union in God, in morality, and in virtue.

Similarities are important, but a friendship rooted outside of God cannot bear good fruit. Since God is love, a friend who does not know God cannot love you the way a true friend should. It is nice for you and your friend to have similar tastes in music, fashion, art, books, hobbies, sports, food, culture, ...etc. But if the two of you can only base your friendship on materialistic things then it is not "true friendship" you are finding.

If you have a best friend now who does not believe in God, please pray for them and their conversion. However, it is up to them to choose God and you should not force them to. You may invite them to church or pray a rosary with you sometime, but if they reject the invitation don't feel like your prayers for them were in vain. We are all given free will. If they refuse God deliberately, then it is because they have freely chosen to do so. In that case, even though it may be extremely difficult, you should remove yourself from the friendship. In a friendship without God you cannot be led in the right direction with their help or guidance. Even if you feel that you can help them, you would be doing yourself a favor to end the relationship or at least dropping it down to an acquaintance level.

You may have heard the phrase "birds of a feather flock together." This means people who have the same beliefs, morals, or principals of life tend to hang around each other. Going back through the history of the church you may notice that many saints were friends with other saints. For example, St. Francis of Assisi was friends with both St. Clare and St. Anthony. The twin brother and sister duo, St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, were lifelong companions and both canonized by the Catholic Church. Even St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier were great friends and Jesuit roommates. As you can see, Sainthood begets Sainthood. Finding friends who are saintly and love God will also help you to become saintly and to love God more deeply.

So in your quest for true, holy, pure, and "saintly" friends---seek God. Focus on deepening your relationship with Him. Don't worry. Just put your trust in Him. Don't even try to force friendships. Just let it happen naturally when you meet someone. I guarantee you that He will lead you close to those who also love Him. The church is a family united under the one God, and He wants you to know your beloved brothers and sisters in Christ.

If you have these wonderful saintly friends already, praise God that you do! You are so blest to have these people in your life. They help you throughout life's difficult moments and help you to not despair nor become despondent. For that reason, as it says in the Holy Bible, "Cherish your friend, keep faith in him." - Sirach 27:17