Love, Klarissa

Plain Sailing

This year has been amazing already! I’ve met two of my role models (Chris Stefanick and Brian Butler), and I obtained my Theology of the Body for Teens/Theology of the Body for Teens: Middle School Edition training certificates! I also received the best pre-birthday gift ever: a flight to Philadelphia to attend The Theology of the Body Institute’s TOB I course taught by Christopher West. The Lord continues to purify His plan for me, and I am forever grateful!

Just finished: No Imitations! A Chastity presentation on Real Love by Chris Stefanick
Currently reading: Theology of the Body for Teens: Middle School Edition by Brian Butler, Jason Evert, and Colin and Aimee MacIver
Just purchased: Men, Women, and the Mystery of Love: Practical Insights from John Paul II’s Love and Responsibility by Edward Sri; Heaven’s Song by Christopher West 

Send a signal

We need crosses in order to reach heaven. St. Marguerite d’Youville

Just listened to: God’s Plan for Sexuality w/ Jason Evert
Currently listening to: How to Defend Marriage w/ Bill May 

True blue

An excerpt from Absolute Relativism by Chris Stefanick

Become Saint (your name here). A world that is dominated by relativism has a hard time grasping logical presentations about relativism - or about anything at all, for that matter. Personal holiness is the ultimate argument that a spiritual reality exists that is as solid as the ground under our feet, and that because of it, life is worth living even when it is difficult.

He is not a way, an opinion, or a lifestyle, He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Praying I may continue to not only speak about Him, but show His face to the world!

A man after my own heart

Excerpt from The Story of a Soul by Saint Therese of Lisieux

I realised too that on her wedding day a bride would not be pleasing to her husband unless she was richly and beautifully dressed, and I knew that I had not yet worked to be attired like such a bride. So I told Our Lord: … I’ll wait as long as You wish … and I am going to put all my energy into making myself a gown adorned with diamonds and every kind of gem. When You think it is rich enough, I am certain that nothing will stop You from taking me as Your bride.

Blessed Mother, please help me to adorn the gown for my soul as you did with the Little Flower.

Keep body and soul together

During adoration yesterday, I closed my eyes as I felt the cushion underneath my knees. I suddenly envisioned all the places my knees touched in the past, especially in Italy. Fr. Martin Connor, the priest who led our pilgrimage, said in the beginning that we each have an annunciation — something we can respond with a “yes” to God. Italy is the place I gave Him my ultimate “yes”, and I made a promise to surrender to Him my life in the way He wills and according to His time. Life has never been the same since then! He wants me, all of me… and He wants you too! I’m blessed because He is blest.

My “kneeprints” in Assisi, IT:
Cathedral of San Ruffino - where St. Clare & St. Francis were baptized
Santa Chiara - the tomb of St. Clare
Basilica di San Francesco - the tomb of St. Francis
Santa Maria degli Angeli - Porziuncola & the spot where St. Francis died

My “kneeprints” in Rome, IT:
Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls - burial place of St. Paul
Santa Maria sopra Minerva - the tomb of St. Catherine 
Santa Croce - holds relics of the Passion
Scala Santa - the stairs Christ climbed the day he was sentenced to death
Saint John Lateran - Cathedral of Rome
Saint Mary Major - holds relics of the manger
Regina Apostolorum Pontifical College - where the TOB symposium was held
Saint Peter’s Basilica - Mass at JPII’s tomb

When life knocks you down to your knees, you are in the perfect position to pray. 

To be continued! 

Know which way the wind blows

I watched two shows on t.v. about Italy today, so I’m taking that as a sign to blog about my trip. Stay tuned! Oh and big thanks to my NJ/NY family for hosting me before and after Italy. Love you!

If we will walk humbly with our God, He will lead us by the hand to exactly who and what we need, to those people, things, and experiences he has designed and intended for us, and this alone will be the cause of our deep fulfillment and happiness. Matthew Kelly

Currently reading: Rediscover Advent by Matthew Kelly
Just received: The Story of a Soul by Therese de Lisieux; Under the Torrent of His Love by Marie-Eugene
Just purchased: Green Sex: Good for the Body, Good for the Soul DVD by Jason Evert; Catholicism DVD Box Set with Fr. Barron

Countdown: Due

Most people have no idea what God would make of them if they would only place themselves at his disposal. St. Ignatius Loyola

Tomorrow I leave for Chicago, and Friday the Live Pure Retreat begins. This is only happening because 8 people said “yes” to the Lord to be the paint brushes used to create His painting. What more would happen if we all gave Him our own “yes”?

Please pray for us as we serve 120+ youth and young adults. Please have faith that the truth sets us all free. Please hope that we will all accept the invitation to “The Banquet”!

Countdown: Tre

I hope you all had a good day today! This evening I started my journey in becoming a certified catechist. Tonight’s class was on Jesus and how He is the fullness of revelation. I would get more into it now, but I’m kind of sleepy… let’s just say we have a humble God who shared in our humanity (Jesus) so that we may one day share in His divinity (heaven)! Amazed once again.

The foundation of our faith is prayer, and that is how we build our relationships with God. We can also build our relationships with one another through prayer. It being one week until I land in Italy, I’ve decided to start compiling prayer requests. If you have any, please send them over for I will hold them dearly to my heart. This will be a spiritual journey for me, but I’d like to take as many of you as possible along for the ride! Who wants to come?!

Countdown: Quattro

A couple of weeks ago I was reading my parish’s bulletin and it said, “Family Faith Formation desperately needs your help! We are in urgent need of a teacher and aid for our 6th grade class”. I read it and thought about it, however; I brushed the thought aside quickly since I knew I’d be gone for three weekends in a row for my trips.

A couple days later my boss called me and asked, “How do you feel about 6th graders?” Long story short I was literally called and chosen to teach catechism to the little ones. Last week I just sat in the class to get a sense of the flow of how things run, and then this morning we went to mass together and I led my very first class! No other teacher, no other aide… just me, the kids, and the hope that I may impact their lives in the one hour I have with them.

Turns out they were the ones who impacted my life in one hour. If you read a couple posts earlier, I talk about bodies being icons to Christ, and I guess you can say those tikes helped my body become more iconic. Remember, our bodies are icons that point to Christ. My body is now more iconic to the 6th graders because I told them stories to learn about God. It is now more iconic because I actively listened to them and they felt heard. It is now more iconic because I prayed with them to be better servants of His people. My life changed not just because I became more iconic, but more so because I became a little less of myself, and more like Christ!

God > Loves
Jesus > Saves
Spirit > Lives

Countdown: Cinque

Today’s SFL NorCal Core meeting theme was “Empowered”. We were empowered to seek the truth, to pray, to plan and to act so that we may be not just baptized Catholic Christians, but true disciples of Christ. I have multiple roles of service, but I have no doubt the reason why they feel so natural is because I have received and acted upon His grace and His calling for me.

Tonight was the 40 Days for Life Youth and Family Rally which I coordinated. It is my prayer that the participants of the rally were empowered to seek the truth, to pray, to plan and to act so that they may not be just baptized Catholic Christians, but true disciples of Christ. With their involvement and prayers for the pro-life movement, I hope they feel this work is natural because they are receiving and acting upon His grace and His calling for them.

This is how empowerment works. You get empowered, and then you empower others! As a result, we aren’t made powerful but powerless because He is the one who turns the key to start the engine. Why have it any other way?

Countdown: Sei

Just finished: Called to Knighthood: The Sacrament of Confirmation in the Kingdom Family of God by Thomas K. Sullivan

I bought this booklet today and read it this afternoon! It was such an easy and interesting read. It helped me better understand the sacrament of confirmation and I am amazed once again at how much God loves us. I pray I can deliver the meaning of the sacrament to the teens at their confirmation retreat as effectively as the author of the booklet did for me.

The grace conferred by the Sacrament of Confirmation is more specifically a gift of strength. This gift corresponds to the need for greater zeal in facing the ‘spiritual battle’ of faith and charity in order to resist temptation and give the witness of Christian word and deed to the world with courage, fervor and perseverance. This zeal is conferred by the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II

Countdown: Sette

I grabbed coffee with John Rinaldo, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of San Jose, and he gave me some great advice on how to build up the youth ministry at my church. I never did foresee being a Director of Youth Ministry, but God knows us and our desires better than we do!

John asked me what my mission and vision is as a youth minister. I told him that through prayer, God is leading me in a direction that consists of renewing youth ministry in my community and teaching my teens to be more rooted in Christ. Praise God, for John strongly affirmed this direction.

Afterward, I thought about this mission and vision of mine again. I realized that it shouldn’t just be applied to youth ministry, but it should be the mission and vision of my life! Anytime anyone sees me or comes across my blog/social websites should always leave somehow feeling renewed and rooted in Christ more than before. 

This relates to my life verse, …yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me…” Galatians 2:20. My mission and vision is not mine, it’s God’s. My mission and vision will not be carried out by me, it will be carried out by God. This is our purpose: to allow Him to empower us, work through us, and to ultimately deliver us. Amen. 

Just purchased: Pure Manhood by Jason Evert, Pure Womanhood by Crystalina Evert, No Sex in the City by Lindsey N. Isham
Just beginning: Called to Knighthood: The Sacrament of Confirmation in the Kingdom Family of God by Thomas K. Sullivan
Just booked: My first spiritual direction meeting with Father Samuel

*Note: Thanks to all of you who have been recommending me some great reads! Keep them coming please!

Countdown: Otto

Earlier today, I went a couple houses down to do a one hour trial run to see how well I can take care of Arisaya and my neighbor’s 2 month old named Owen (for the past month or so I have been taking care of my 5 month old niece while my brother and sister-in-law transition back to work. I will do so until probably December).

First, Arisaya sat in her bumbo chair as I carried Owen. When she started getting restless, I put Owen in his swing and I transferred Arisaya to a blanket on the floor so she could roll around. Once Owen started crying, I realized I had to change his diaper. After changing him, he calmly laid on the changing pad while I rocked Arisaya to sleep. Once she fell asleep, I put her in the swing. I then rocked him asleep and put him in his rocker. Though my arms were sore and I was sweating bullets, I’ll always remember that precious moment of them both peacefully snoozing.

My first thought when walking home afterward? “My body is stronger than I thought it was.”

My second thought? “It’s tough to carry one baby all day, none the less two of them for one hour!”

My third thought? “Ah, I understand more than ever what part of the first reading of today meant.”

Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. Romans 6:13

The word “members” in this verse is referring to our bodies. Sometimes society feeds us lies that our bodies are just objects instead of subjects (one night stands), that they are just bodies instead of somebody (inhumanity), that they are idols to be worshiped and glorified (celebrities). When dirty and always out of tune, our bodily instruments make sounds that even the tone deaf have trouble listening to. Sadly though, we often get used to the sounds and believe that they are “normal”.

Our bodies are spiritual and physical manifestations of God’s image and likeness. They are like sacraments; things that make our invisible God visible through the physical (physically carrying Owen, because God spiritually carries me). They are like icons; pointing everyone and everything to Christ (loving Arisaya, because Christ taught me what love is). When cleaned and tuned regularly, our bodily instruments make the most beautiful and heavenly sound. Naturally, our favorite song for our bodies to play is “Righteousness”. Trust me, no matter how many dents our instruments have, we all have the potential to play that #1 top hit.

My fourth thought? “My body is stronger because of God’s grace.”

My fifth thought? “Love isn’t always an easy language to communicate with our bodies. It takes self-sacrifice and commitment on all levels.”

My sixth thought? “Praise and thank You.”

Countdown: Nove

To better prepare myself for my series of trips, I have decided to fast watching Real World: San Diego. Surprising, right? I really wanted to continue watching it honestly because I miss living in San Diego so much!

Fasting is a form of prayer that allows us to empty ourselves of the things that are not of God. It doesn’t stop there though, for fasting allows God to fill our emptiness with His blood/water/soul/divinity. The result? A cup that overflows and cleanses the soul.

By fasting that reality show, I am striving to keep my mind and thoughts pure and fixed on Christ. Fasting has helped me realize that I should pray for those “seven strangers”, because despite them being blessed with an amazing (rent free) house in one of the best cities in the U.S., I can sense that each and every one of them is still yearning for something more. I can sense it when one of the males on the show, one of my brothers in Christ, is angry when he is intoxicated. I can sense it when one of the females on the show, one of my sisters in Christ, says she is now a vulnerable person due to giving her body to multiple men who all ended up breaking her heart. What are they all yearning for? There is only one answer: God. Or maybe two answers: God and love. God is love though, so there is only one answer.

We may think fasting is very difficult and self-mutilating. It is most depressing to do when we repress our desires and say “no”. No, I won’t eat chocolate. No, I won’t go on Facebook. No, I won’t watch t.v. No, no, no! With this posture, we are only delaying that inevitable moment(s) when we succumb to our selfish desires. It’s a recipe for repeated failure.

Fasting can actually turn out to be easy and self-mastering. It is most enjoyable to do when we allow God to transform our desires and say “yes”. Yes, I will be healthy. Yes, I will be productive with my time. Yes, I will increase my knowledge and wisdom by reading a book. Yes, yes, yes! With this posture, we are living each day knowing that God’s desires are becoming our (selfless) desires. It’s a recipe not just for victory, but everlasting peace.

Fasting is good. Fasting and almsgiving is better. Fasting, almsgiving and prayer is the best!