It is neither celibacy nor promiscuity. It applies to every aspect, stage, and area of every life. It is often looked down upon, misunderstood, and everyone has a different opinion on it. But what is it? Chastity. To combine holiness, which is supernatural, with our very natural bodies. Chastity is striving for a healthy body and soul. Pope John Paul II once said,

"Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable

of true love."

- Pope John Paul II

At first, these words seem a little harsh. C'mon, only chaste couples are capable of true love? It's not a very casual statement. After all, chastity can not only be a touchy subject, but it is- let's face it- hard. It may not be hard to ask yourself, "how can I treat my physiognomy with holiness today and use it to lead others to Christ?", but it sure is hard to actually treat oneself and others with holiness in practice. 

For example, when you marry someone, you love them body and soul. To borrow a definition from Saint Thomas Aquinas, love is wanting the best for the beloved.

Obviously, the absolute best is union with Our Lord. It's a simple but difficult truth, as wishing somebody heaven means you also wish them holiness. If I were in love, I would want my partner to be as holy as humanly possible, right? The hard part is that, if we ladies want our husbands or boyfriends to follow Our Lord, we must deny them certain things in turn, as they must deny us. 

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires. -Song of Songs 2:7

But what does chastity have to do with love? Precisely that. I used to think that the commandment not to sleep with a man unless you're married to him was a little strict, but it actually makes so much sense. When you are sexually involved with another person, you are joined into one (Genesis 2:24; a woman's body actually releases a 'bonding hormone'). So you are giving a piece of yourself, whether you love them, they love you, or not, and you are taking a piece of them (in this way, contrary to what those weird scientists keep telling us, God has sort of designed us for fidelity; who'd have thought?). Pleasure is all very well while it lasts, but if you give yourself away continually, how much will be left to give to your spouse? In much the same way, even if one is already in love when they become intimately involved, one is disrespecting the soul and body of the beloved, although they are trying to show love. Not only does it send the message that one is perfectly okay with sex outside of marriage, but also that "you please me, but are not worth a promise of faithfulness". That is not real love or real respect; it is not an expression of 'freedom'. It is a grave degradation of our sacredness as human beings. Our bodies are living tabernacles- we receive Jesus in the Eucharist with them!

You are not your own. You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your bodies. -1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

Ladies, don't give yourselves to situations that, far from leading to true love and happy marriages, lead away from them. It not only involves one partner in sin for submitting to the relationship, but encourages the other to sin because they are not shown that there is a better way to love. Chaste love is saying "no", even if you both want to. Chaste love is not based on cheapened intimacy, or sex that is devoid of beauty, but on God's plan to give a complete 'gift of self', to each other exclusively, in holy matrimony. To love chastely is to wait, falling in love with the heart and personality of another so that they can love the body with more awe and reverence once they have married it. 

Beautiful as it is, chastity seems absolutely impossible at times. Do we really have to nix intimacy until we're married? And why is it so dang hard to find modest clothing nowadays?! 

The thing is that chastity is impossible. For us. But not for Him. With His guidance, chaste living becomes a challenging, but wonderful, journey of dignity and great joy. Chastity is divine, of of God's greatest gifts to His people. I can't imagine being gladly chaste on my own, but I know that I can with Christ. We all can. And our relationships will lead to Paradise because of it. 

 "Chastity is a difficult, long term matter; one must wait patiently for it to bear fruit, for the happiness of loving kindness which it must bring. But at the same time, chastity is the sure way to happiness."

-Pope John Paul II 

*This post was provided by the lovely Grace. Grace is an introverted writer-person who likes cats, busy with surviving high school and converting to Roman Catholicism (Tiber Swim Team '14, baby!). She is struggling with chaste living, and considered it a great honour to write this post. Pax et bonum. 

The Road of the Mass


I heard about this beautiful analogy in comparison of the Mass to the Road to Emmaus journey found in the Gospel of Luke 24: 13-35 this Friday night at youth group, and I wanted to share my thoughts about it with you.

In this story, two of Christ's followers were walking the road to Emmaus, a town about seven miles away from Jerusalem.  The topic of discussion is, of course, the death and passion of the Lord that has recently occurred.  Suddenly, a man joins the companions and walks with them.  Unknown to them, this new traveler is Christ himself.  He asks what the men are talking about and they probably looked at him as if he was crazy.  They ask him, "Are you the only one who has been visiting Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have happened these days?"

Jesus plays dumb and asks, "What things?"  The men go on to explain how Christ was supposed to be savior of the people of God, but even though he spoke of the Kingdom of God, he was still handed over to the Chief Priests who brutally murdered him.  To  make things even more confusing, they said they knew some women who had been to the tomb that very day, the third day, and came back saying Christ was alive.  They probably looked to Christ for confirmation of the women' insanity, but he shocks them.

He turns to them and says, "How foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken? Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? Then he went on to explain, from the beginning of the Bible, all the way to their current time, the prophesies concerning the Lord.  

Then they reached their destination, and they begged their companion to stay with them for a meal. It was finally that they clued in about the very presence of the Lord when He broke bread with them.  They asked each other "Where not our hearts burning within us when He talked with us on the road?"  Christ had left, but they returned to Jerusalem to tell the 11 about how Christ had appeared to them.

They. Returned. Immediately.   They did not wait until morning and the roads were safe, and they had rested and ate their fill.  No, the desire to share the light of Christ was stronger then anything else.  This is similar to how the apostles in today's Gospel left behind everything RIGHT AWAY and left to follow Christ.  

Now look at the Mass.  We come to the Mass and we all have our burdens that we carry and discuss.  Work was trying.  School was crazy.  Relationships are struggling.  Friendships need mending.  We come to Mass with something to get off our chest.  We want to talk to someone about how we can live a Christian life in a world broken and torn.  We come into Mass and here is the Lord in the tabernacle.  He doesn't look like much....most of the time we don't even recognize Him as He is under the appearance of the host.  We began to tell Him all of our problems and He stops us.  

"Oh ye of little faith...do you not think I know of the day to day occurrences of your life?  Do you not know that I have a plan for you?"  And then He, through the words of the lectors and cantors, brings the liturgy of the word to life.  We read two readings from the Bible as well as a Psalm and things come together.  We hear God's very words in the Gospel, and then things are explained through the scripture.

And then comes the liturgy of the Eucharist....the source and summit of Christian life. And, just like the two on the road to Emmaus, we should have our eyes opened to the true presence of Christ.  Not a symbol, but the Lord Himself.  When we leave the Mass, our hearts should be on fire for a God who died to get to know you.

And when we leave from the Mass, we shouldn't go back to comfort.  "Oh, well I'll get to Christian living when I don't have to do anything else."  On the contrary....we should leave every Mass more in line with Christ and His love for us every time.  Every Mass should change our hearts and mold them to God.  

God grant us the grace to let every encounter with you in the Eucharist set our hearts ablaze for you!

God bless,




Chloe M.

Disney Land

Have you ever seen those YouTube videos that some parents will post?  You know which ones I'm talking about....the kids are in the back seat of a mini van, anxiously buckling up.  The parents share knowing smiles and tell the kids that they are going somewhere very special.  So special, that they will never be able to guess.  

Of course, the kids take up the challenge.  Surely they can guess this very special place.  So they start to guess, and count on their fingers the most special places they can think of.

"Grandma's house?"
"Nope."
"The beach?"
"Guess again!"

And so on and so on....the kids becoming more and more bewildered with each negative answer to even the most special place they could possibly guess.

And then, eventually after the kids have nearly driven themselves CRAZY guessing about the special place, the parents reveal the location.  Disneyland!  And the crowds go wild....literally.  Jumping up and down, leaving parents thanking their lucky stars for seat belt restraints so that their car doesn't go off the road thanks to enthusiastic travelers.  

Every time I see those videos, the only thing I can think about is God. What, you thought I was going to say Mickey Mouse? :)

No, think about it.  We think we can figure life out.  We search literally everywhere for things that will make us happy beyond  compare.  And it seems like, no matter where we search, the answer is "No."  Not that these things can never make us happy, but they have a funny way of making us discontent.  

Can't you just image God, playing the role of the knowing parent in the front seat? Can't you just see Him smiling and shaking His head at every guess?  When we say:

"Is true happiness found in this relationship?"
"Nope."
"This newest model of car?"
"Guess again."
 "What about all this time that I'm pouring into Church functions?" "Oh, so close."

And finally, when we, as 1 Corinthians 13:12  says so much better than I ever could, "see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as also I am known." When we see that final goal of Heaven and are blown away by God's incredible goodness and sheer LOVE for us...then we realize that no matter where we searched, or how many times we guessed, we never would have gotten close to the beauty that God had planned for us.  Just like those kids in the video couldn't even guess what their parents had in mind for them, we couldn't have even fathomed what God has for us.  

I don't know about you....but I'm looking forward to being blown away. 

God bless!

Chloe M.

Not so Happy Happy Happy....my thoughts on Phil Robertson

Although you may not know it, I am a huge Duck Dynasty fan. My family thinks that it is hysterical that I like this show so much.  Yet one of my favorite things to do to unwind after a day at work or a hard homework session is laugh and learn with the cast of Duck Dynasty.  Our family went to the set of the show over the summer vacation, and my little sister Olivia has worn her shirt that she purchased there into the ground.

So, it should not surprise you that A&E's decision to "suspend" Phil Robertson from their show due to his comments concerning homosexuality has gotten me pretty upset.  If you haven't heard about this so called controversy, let me explain.  Phil, the head of the Robertson family, was interviewed by GQ for their January 2014 issue.  In the interview, he touched on quite a bit of subjects.  He also offered some comments concerning the subject of homosexuality.  He had some graphic content, but basically condemned the practice of sexual relations with someone of the same gender.  He also made a point to show the slippery slope that sin can have, saying,

"Start with homosexual behavior, and just morph out from there.  Bestiality, sleeping with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men."

The most resounding part of the article, however, was when he provided a thought from Corinthians:

     "Don't be deceived.  Neither the adulterers, the idolaters,
       the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy,
       the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers - they won't    
       inherit the kingdom of God.  Don't deceive yourself."

Let's really look at this paraphrased Bible verse.  This is not saying:

     "Don't be deceived.  Neither the adulterers, the idolaters,    
       the male prostitutes, ESPECIALLY the homosexual
       offenders...."

No - in fact, it's right up there with the drunkards! Christ wasn't singling anyone out in their sin.  SIN doesn't get into Heaven.  It doesn't matter what sin, it's not getting past the gates of Heaven.  So if you constantly lie, do not think you are any better than a person acting out on homosexual tendencies.  Without God's grace and contrition on your part, Heaven isn't going to be something for either of you to enjoy.

As I've stated before - Christians do not hate gays.  They don't enjoy seeing them hurt or abused, or living in sin when Christ offers freedom from sin and addictions in every shape or form.  The fact that Wilson Cruz, who is a spokesperson for GLAAD said the following proves that he knows nothing about true Christianity:

     "Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil's lies  
       about an entire community fly in the face of what
       true Christians believe."  

Christianity's statement on this issue - a belief that should not only be verbally provided but LIVED is that people do not go to hell because they are "gay" or "straight."  More importantly, having sexual feelings towards someone of the same gender isn't a sin.  But, acting out on those feelings with full knowledge of the weight of that sin is a mortal sin.  (BTW, so is having sexual feelings towards someone of the opposite gender and then acting out on those feelings outside of marriage with full knowledge of the mortal sin effect.)

People struggle.  Everyone has their cross. Mine is my temper and quick snarky remarks.  Do you think that's going to be welcome in Heaven?  Nope.  Although Saint Jerome could sure have at it. So if people struggle with homosexual tendencies,

The Catechism does a beautiful job of explaining the Church's stance on the subject of homosexuality:

     "The number of men and women who have deep seated
       homosexual tendencies is not negligible.  This inclination,
       which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them
       a trial.  They must be accepted with respect, compassion,
       and sensitivity....homosexual persons are called to
       chastity."

Translation?  There most definitely are people who struggle with homosexual tendencies.  And their struggle isn't fake, so it should be treated with respect and love.  As children of God they should be accepted into a community with love (NOT their sin, THE PERSON.)  More over, they are called to chastity

Yet not just homosexual people are called to chastity.  All of God's children are called to chastity.  

So, in regards to Phil Robertson's comments and consequent hiatus from the show, I think his comments couldn't have come at a better time.  I'll close by sharing my Dad's thoughts on the subject:

"John the Baptist was a manly man out in the wilderness preaching repent and come to God...as does Phil.

John the Baptist made people be curious about the message...as does Phil.

John the Baptist told Herod the truth about his sinfulness...as does Phil.

John the Baptist paid with his head...Phil was suspended from the show.

Jesus gives me my hope..Phil is just one example of Godly men standing in the breach of the city wall with evil attempting to come into the city.  God is calling all of us to stand in the breach.  Is your faith making people uncomfortable? Every pastor and priest needs to be standing in the breach and preaching the truth...whatever that may cost."

God bless!

Chloe M. 

These Boots Were Made For                       Holiness

  What Wearing One Pair of Shoes for 3 Weeks Taught Me. 


So, I'm on a glorious 38 day break from college classes and I have an enormous amount of time on my hand.  What better time to write a blog!  (Since it has been over a month since a new post appeared on this poor, neglected page!)

Three weeks ago, in Bible Study, my youth group decided to pick three things to work on to grow closer to God until we met again for the next study.  After much deliberation, and, let's be honest, a lot of goofing around, we finalized our three:

1) Eat only bread for lunch of Fridays

2) One random act of kindness during the three week time period.

3) Pray for 30 minutes a day.

After deliberation after Bible Study, the guys jokingly suggested that the girls should only wear one pair of shoes for the entire time.  This came up after they pointed out that some of us, (yours truly), had over 50 pairs of shoes. The guys said they would take cold showers for the 3 weeks if the girls wore one pair of shoes.  Who could say  no to that kind of offer!  So, I committed to one pair of shoes, my boots, for the 3 weeks.

I didn't know it would be this hard, to be honest.  There have been many days during this time that I have gotten mad that I couldn't wear what I wanted to for work since it didn't really look that great with boots.  Shallow, right?  After a week of trying to stifle thoughts of cussing in my head at the youth group boys who suggested this challenge,  I realized that the opportunity for grace and growing closer to God was passing me by.

So, every time I was frustrated with that pair of boots, instead of getting angry,  I got my prayer on.  During a parish mission, a priest had told us a story from St. Therese of Lisieux's life.  She once said that she would "prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifices to all ecstasies.  To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul."  If simply picking up a dropped pin can save souls, what could one pair of boots do? 

The lesson learned from these three weeks is perfect in it's simplicity: Even the littlest things can bring your closer to God.  You can offer up anything to the Lord and He can perfect it in His amazing way - transforming your small gift into graces for others.

May your Christmas season be full of the blessings of the Lord and your New Year bring with it opportunities to grow closer to Our Lord!

God bless,

Chloe M.