New and Improved

Hello friends!

I have officially moved this blog over to a wordpress and I am abandoning blogger.

All the content has moved, but I have a new URL,

Blessed are the Hungry Ones can now be found here!

Adios, Blogger...it's been real.

Here's to newish blogs, cheers!

Love,
Allison

The Wait

So here we are. The third day of the Triduum, Holy Saturday. The day of waiting.

I don't know about about you, but I love waiting...ha ha and ha. Funny joke, am I right? Although waiting is often not what I want to be doing, I can appreciate a certain excitement and beauty that can only be experienced through the wait.

Today I was on a run...er jog...and I was hit by a ton of bricks when the lyrics of Matt Maher's song, "The Waiting" from his new CD, Saints and Sinners, spoke to my heart in a poignant way. If you haven't bought/listened to this CD...check it out ASAP because incredible is an underwhelming adjective for how truly wonderful this album is.  It grasps themes that I didn't even know I needed to hear and in beautifully poetic manner. 

"The evening tide is falling fast / my feet are weary, but I'm free at last / So meet me in the tomb, my Lord / Come roll away the stone / And this is the mystery / Death bows to the King of Kings / He has overcome the grave / For the sinners and the saints."

For the last year or so the idea of patience and waiting have surfaced quite frequently. Mostly because I have been diligently praying for patience in knowing the vocation God has called me to and how it will manifest itself. Also, I am struggling to adjust my ideal timeline with the timeline God has carefully perfected.  Basically, I am very eager to know the future direction of my life.  Yet, I find myself in position of waiting.   

"I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for them to wait." -C. S. Lewis

Waiting can cause discomfort. It makes me antsy, eager, and sometimes anxious or frustrated. I think that this kind of discomfort is the state of mind in which the most growth takes place. I have learned so much about myself and faith in this period of waiting.  I believe that God has gifted this wait to me with these intentions and I am grateful (most of the time :P).

"The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness." -Pope Benedict XVI

So on this Holy Saturday we are waiting. Yesterday, after experiencing the Passion and Death of Christ I am tempted to be overwhelmed with sorrow, but I need to remind myself that this isn't the end.  Salvation does not stop at the cross, but the mystery and purpose of the Incarnation is fulfilled in the Resurrection.

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are an Easter people and hallelujah is our song."  -St. John Paul II

I am trying to embrace this precious time of waiting and basking in the knowledge that the best part is coming.  Watch and pray. Wait and know this is not the end.

Here's to waiting and the precious anticipation of the greatest triumph the world has ever seen.

cheers. 

Allison

Live a Great Story

I am overjoyed to announce that this summer I will interning for the Office of Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of St. Louis! Check out the blog post I wrote for them promoting the Encounter Young Adult Conference that will take place May 29-31, and I would LOVE to invite you to join us.

Live a great story and it will bring glory to God.  This was a theme from one of Ennie Hickman’s keynotes at last year’s Encounter St. Louis conference that struck a chord with me.  He addressed attitudes of many young adults today that I can see in myself and in our society at large. A satisfaction with mediocrity and letting the hours flit away without any real purpose are just a couple of the themes that plague our stories and make them tearfully boring.  We allow page after page to be turned without adding much content to the story.  Read on HERE. 

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement” –St. Augustine of Hippo

Home Sweet Home

Spring break is upon us and I cannot believe how quickly this semester has arrived at the halfway mark. I am spending my spring break in one of my favorite places ever...St. Louis.  I could list many reasons why I love the good ole STL, but the reason that it holds such a special place in my heart is because it's home.

The notion of home often captures my attention.  How does a place become home?  What constitutes a home?  How do we even know what a home should look like?  Is being home defined by a place, feeling, people, etc?  These are a few of the myriad of questions that my mind asks my heart.

I do not know definite answers to any of these questions, but after much reflection I have attempted to make some sense of the thoughts that by God's grace have crossed my mind (or the minds of incredible people and I stumbled upon them). I have been thinking about this topic for a long time so I apologize for the lack of conciseness in the following. 

"I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world" -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

We have an innate yearning entangled into the fabric of our being that points us to the fact that we are not made for this world. This goes back to the beginning of creation as we are told in Genesis. Made in God's image and likeness as His children our home was the Garden of Eden. But as we all know the Fall came upon us and displaced us from our home. God did not intend evil to enter the world, but through the gift of free will it did. Theistic philosophical arguments tell us that God, all-good, all-powerful, and all-knowing, would not have willed this but due to the confines He set before Himself (i.e. the gift of free will) it is inevitable reality for us to face.

Fast forward to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, the Word become Flesh, and there is hope for us all! Through His Death and Resurrection we have been given the opportunity to once again return to our true home for the rest of eternity. Whoa, I am just going to let that sink in.

"Home is where one starts from" -T.S. Eliot, East Coker

God formed each of us in the inmost of our mother's womb. He has known us to our core before we even came into being. We come from our Creator just as we describe our hometown as the place we come from. They are different realms of home, but the same concept nonetheless.

I find an incomparable sense comfort in the places that I have called home here on Earth and I think this is because they naturally seek to recreate what our hearts long for. My homes have been made of unconditional love given and received, unquestioning forgiveness, constant familiarity, fulfilling conversation, and genuine concern. I am the most myself and most accepted for who I am when I am at home. These things overflow my cup with joy and they are merely glimpses of what eternal life with the Jesus will look like.  These are the things seen brightened by the light without witnessing the sun in all its magnificence.

"If you want to get warm, you move near the fire.  If you want joy, peace, eternal life, you must get close to what has them." -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

It is only logical that we replicate this most desired comfort of home in life lived for God. I am constantly inspired by the family and friends that make up my home.  By their commitment to the faith they reflect the home we were designed to inhabit.  I am encouraged to live a life that participates and promotes that of Heaven, an eternal union with the Trinity because of their example and because I am inclined to believe...

"The world's thy ship and not thy home." -St. Therese of Lisieux

And that...

 "Life's a voyage that's homeward bound." -Herman Melville

This world is not our final destination but rather a means to learn how to participate in our true home. In one of my very favorite books, there is a description of characters as they experience and begin the ascent to Heaven. It cannot truly be grasped in all its fullness and beauty without reading the entire book, but this is pretty good summation.

"I have come home at last! This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it until now." C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

So...here's to finding blissful comfort at home and knowing God has something even better in store.
cheers.

Allison

Greater Things Are Yet to Come

The year 2014 came with more blessings than I can count, many opportunities for growth, and some new found and very dear friends. Fortunately I was able to ring in the new year with some of those new friends.  The night was filled with good brews, great conversation, and wonderful company.  

To kick off the new year here is a list of the things I would like to accomplish in the year 2015

1. Read these 5 literary gems: 

Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton  (I am sort of cheating with this one since I am already half way through...please withhold judgment)

The Story of a Soul by Therese of Lisieux

Back to Virtue by Dr. Peter Kreeft

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

The World's First Love by Fulton Sheen

And maybe post a blurb (my favorite parts, quotes, what struck me, etc) about them when finished? Am I setting myself up for failure with this caveat? I guess only time will tell...ha.  I plan on reading more books that these noted, but I wanted to set a concrete goal and these seemed like a reasonable undertaking. Also, I would like to throw up some posts/suggestions for other books that I have already read but I am not going to explicitly state them because I have not chosen any.  No expectations leads to no disappointments.

2.  Talk (a lot) less in order to listen more.

I have never counted the number of words I say, but I am confident it is absurdly higher than the average person's.  Frankly, I just need to shut up because no one enjoys me monopolizing the conversation.  I truly appreciate that I am outgoing and extroverted, but I also want to be wary of the hindrances this gift (that's for you to decide if it should appropriately be called a gift) presents.

3.  Run my second half and first (and probably only) full marathon.  

I'll see you at the finish line 13.1 miles later in April and a whopping 26.2 miles later in October.  I wanted to slide the dates in there to solidify this goal. Still to be determined if these races will be in Kansas City or St. Louis, but probably one of each.  Running will help me stay physically and spiritually fit because this girl gets her podcast on as she jogs along. Also, I am going to dedicate my training to praying for the souls in purgatory.

4. Pray the Liturgy of the Hours consistently.

I am pretty good about saying the morning prayer found in my daily missal, but I would like to take the next step and do the full Liturgy of the Hours.  My hope is to essentially have my day scheduled (as much as I can) around prayer and taking time to be quiet with the Lord.  Fingers crossed that this contributes to me talking less too.

5. Go to confession more, need to go less.

I absolutely love the sacrament of Reconciliation (seriously...I could talk your ear off about how incredible I think it is, but there I go again talking too much).  I am beyond grateful for the grace given in this sacrament.  I never ever regret taking the time to go and I always feel exponentially renewed and revived afterwards.  The point of confession is forgiveness, but also to continually try to overcome particularly tricky pitfalls that we encounter, hence the latter part of this goal.  In this coming year, with the grace from the sacraments I pray that I can fine tune my conscience and avoid the temptations that usually get to me.  Ultimately, working on becoming more humble, less prideful.

6.  Attempt to curb my caffeine addiction.

I am not going to cut out coffee completely (ya crazy!) because there is nothing inherently wrong with coffee, but I do want to not be dependent upon it.  Nobody has time for that afternoon caffeine headache. So I am going to cut down the amount of coffee I consume on a daily basis and substitute more herbal and green teas. Putting my brand new red tea kettle to use (Thanks for the Christmas gift, Grandma!)  All good things in moderation.

7.  Leave less crossword puzzles almost finished.

I am notorious for getting most of the puzzle filled in.  This goal is rather silly, but a personal goal nonetheless. 

Hmm...seven sounds like a reasonable number of goals for the year.  I wouldn't want to overwhelm myself too early.  So I will wrap it up here.  Blog readers, please hold me accountable (this is where it comes in handy that you all are few and far between muwahah...just kidding...I genuinely want to stick to these seven manageable goals and would appreciate your help)  

So here's to 2015...a year filled with good books, good runs, good tea, and more prayer, more humility, more listening, and more completed crossword puzzles.  Greater things are yet to come.  

cheers.

Allison