#MyMassTakeaway

My Mass Takeaway is inspired by Rosie Hill from A blog for my mom, and her #MySundayBest linkup.

Sunday is the Lord’s day… but how do we set it apart from every other day of the week?  Sometimes, just by going to Mass for an hour in the morning, then business as usual.

But I decided I want more.

I don’t want to walk away from Mass and forget the readings, the homily, the grace I’ve been given through God’s Word and His very Body.  I want to carry Him with me in my heart, truly devoting the day to loving Him.

Join me every Sunday on Instagram or Facebook to read #MyMassTakeaway: a summary of the thoughts and reflections I bring home from Mass.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, too.  Use hashtag #MyMassTakeaway to join the conversation! And tag me so I don’t miss you!

This Sunday’s Takeaway:

#myMasstakeaway "Lord, bid me to come to You across the water." This is the cry of my heart: reaching out to God, calling out to Him, begging Him to draw me into the spiritual. Begging Him to bring me closer to Him. . The Egyptian hieroglyph for "impossible" is a depiction of a man walking on the water. In today's Gospel, Peter cries out to Jesus to help him do the impossible. Literally. to command him to walk on the water. And Jesus does it. . It only takes a little bit of faith. Daring the Lord: go ahead, do it, ask this of me. Let's see what happens. Well, don't be surprised when Jesus rises to your challenge. When, with a smirk on His face, He says, "Fine, step out of that boat. Walk to me on this stormy wavy sea." . You want to do the impossible? He's calling you to it. And He won't leave you alone. He won't let you sink. Jesus is only a step away. He's there with outstretched hand. With His aid and His grace to pull You through it. To work the miracle. No matter how much you doubt yourself after that first admittedly outrageous leap of faith. He's going to make it happen. Because He's God and that's just what He does. . Lord, I'm begging You today to call me to step out in faith and do the impossible. Just say the word. You know I already desire it in my heart, but lead me to take that first step. And when I get afraid and start to sink, remind me to turn my eyes back toward You. Remind me that You'll be there, right by my side, to pull this thing off. . With You, all things are possible. . Amen.

A post shared by To Jesus Sincerely (@tojesussincerely) on Aug 13, 2017 at 5:13pm PDT

Some of my Faves:

Somebody had good Mass behavior today… _ And someobodies else didn't… #MyMassTakeaway is the fact that I spent a good chunk of time outside the church doors, sitting on the front step. And another chunk of time in the narthex. And slowly worked our way back into our seat. Mass with kids is hard. Especially with crazy energetic kids who never. ever. sit still. Whose feet hit the floor running (literally) every morning. It would be easier to stay home. To indulge my children and their desire for freedom, for playtime, for running around outside and doing anything BUT sitting still in a hard pew in the front row. _ I love my kids. It hurts me to see them sad. _ But I love Jesus more. _ I love Him so much, I want to bring my kids to Him whether they like it or not. I want to teach them the importance of loving Him, whether it's easy or hard. And I want to teach them that life isn't all about them and what they want right now. Life's about finding fulfillment in Jesus our Savior. In loving Him and serving Him fully and totally. – So we go to Mass. We get up bright and early every morning, because we love Jesus more than we love ourselves. More than we love our soft comfy bed. More than we love golf or picnics or our family or our friends or breakfast or ANYTHING else. – Jesus, I love You more than these. But I want to love You even more than THAT. Help me grow in love for You everyday, so that nothing competes for first place in my heart. I want to love You and You alone. Amen. – #mySundaybest with @rosiehill425 #iloveYoumore #iloveYoumost #truelove #jesusreigns #Catholiclife #Catholicliving #CatholicsofInstagram #Sundaybest #momlife #momming #momsofinstagram #BISsisterhood #projectblessed #gotoMass #gotoChurch #worthit

A post shared by To Jesus Sincerely (@tojesussincerely) on Jul 2, 2017 at 10:02am PDT

#MySundayBest: Take 1: I forgot to put my shoes on for the photo. And Princess was pointing the camera towards the ground. Hence the awkward barefoot pose… Take 2: Nailed it. #MyMassTakeaway: I'm not a big worrier. I don't stay awake in the middle of the night imagining worst case scenarios and having panic attacks. But I'm not immune to fear, as much as I'd like to think I am. Today Jesus (and my pastor) talked about spiritual fears. The fear of sacrifice and suffering. The fear of witnessing to the truth, proclaiming the faith. Jesus said, "Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my Father." Do I really do that? Do I acknowledge Jesus before others who don't share my faith? You may think I do – I'm here blogging, right? I'm sharing my faith publicly. But you guys are all so wonderful. You WANT to share the truth. You make it so easy for me. But I need to acknowledge Jesus IRL, which is a lot harder than typing uplifting words and pressing send. Do I say "God bless you" to the strangers I have passing conversations with? Do I redirect compliments to give praise to God, who gave me all my gifts and talents? Do I pray Grace out loud in public? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If I take an honest look at my actions, there are plenty of times that I keep my faith quiet for fear of offending others. Plenty of times that I'm a lousy witness to the faith. My pastor said the Greek word for witness is "martyr." There are people dying around the world for the faith. Can I die to myself, just a little bit, to witness to the faith as a living martyr? God my Father, give me the courage to forsake my fear and become a living martyr – a walking, breathing witness of Your Son Jesus. Increase my faith. Help me acknowledge You and praise You fearlessly. Keep my eyes and my heart set on Heaven. Amen.

A post shared by To Jesus Sincerely (@tojesussincerely) on Jun 25, 2017 at 8:18am PDT

My Mass Takeaway: Today, our pastor prayed: “May our love for Mary flow from Jesus’ love for His Mother.” This quick prayer touched my heart. During this month of May, I’ve been reflecting on Mary’s love for God. But how about His love for her? My mom is an amazing woman. She poured her whole self into raising me and my 7 siblings to know and love God. She’s so generous, she’d give you the shirt off her back. Literally. If she buys herself a new top, and I say, “Oh hey Mom, I love your new top.” She often comes back with, “You can have it! Let me go change real quick.” She’s selfless. She opens her heart and her home to anyone in need. I admire her, and look up to her. I love her. I can’t imagine my life without her. But mine is a finite love. I love her as much as I can. But I also share my love with my husband, my children, my siblings and friends. My love is sometimes clouded by my impatience and my selfishness. Mary is Jesus’ mother. She loved God so much, she gave Him her very body to give birth to His Son, Jesus. She trusted Him in all things. She followed God’s will perfectly. She devoted her life to serving Jesus. She raised Him, she gave Him a little nudge into His public ministry. She stood by Him during His suffering. Can you imagine the admiration Jesus had for her, the woman who mothered Him? Can you imagine just how much he cherished her presence in His life? Jesus is God. His love is an infinite love. With every fiber of His being, He loves His mother. And even though His love each person He created totally and fully, His love for us takes nothing away from His love for her. Jesus’ love is so strong I can hardly imagine it. “May our love for Mary flow from Jesus’ love for His mother.” Wow. That’s an incredible prayer. All I can say is: Amen. #MyMassTakeaway #MySundayBest #MothersDay #InfiniteLove #Jesus #rainyday #thebootsmaketheoutfit #rainboots @RosieHill425

A post shared by To Jesus Sincerely (@tojesussincerely) on May 14, 2017 at 7:10am PDT

My Mass Takeaway: When I think of Martha and Mary, the first thing that comes to mind is, “Martha, Martha, you are worried about many things.” Martha who was too busy making dinner to sit and hang out with Jesus like Mary did. Martha who chose the worse part. Martha the screw-up. But in today’s story, I hardly recognize her. Lazarus is dead. Mary is sitting at home wallowing in sadness. And Martha is the star of the story. She runs out to meet Jesus saying, “Lord if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you…. I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day… I have come to believe that you are the Christ.” Dang, lady. Is this the same person we saw before? Martha who comes out to meet Jesus while Mary sat at home. Martha the faithful. Martha the brave. How come I never think of this story? How come the version of Martha I’m most familiar with is the one where she lets everyone down? The one where she’s reprimanded by Jesus? Why do I think of myself this way? I look at myself, and I see my mistakes clearly. I search my memory and my most embarrassing moments come to mind most easily. Why do I think of my kids this way? I ignore them while they’re playing nicely, and only pay attention when they’re doing something wrong and I need to correct them. Why do I think of my friends this way? I’m hurt by their careless words for days. But their kind words only stay with me for a moment. It’s time to look again. It’s time to see the moments where Martha shines brightly. Where I practiced virtue. Where my kids shared generously. Where my friends were there for me. Everybody has good days and bad days. It’s so not fair to overlook the good and cling to the bad. So I’m looking for the good today. The good in Martha, the good in myself, and the good in others. Will you look for the good, too? Let’s forgive past mistakes and forget them. #tojesussincerely #myMasstakeaway #mysundaybest #Martha #lookagain #forgiveandforget @rosiehill425

A post shared by To Jesus Sincerely (@tojesussincerely) on Apr 2, 2017 at 3:48pm PDT

My Mass takeaway: Man, these Gospels lately have some tough call-to actions. Today's is: "Be not anxious." In our modern lives, we have so many things we worry about: money, politics, having enough time to do everything we need to do. And how about those who are less fortunate than us? Those who have to worry about where their next meal will come from. Or those in war zones who wonder whether they will live through the hour. So many troubles. Yet still Jesus says not to be anxious. Or rather, only be anxious about what really matters: getting to Heaven. He said the pagans worry about things of the world. Those who don't have faith in God are anxious about these things. But we know better. We know in the end, money and politics and our to-do list don't really matter. So we need to stop letting them steal our peace. Stop letting them keep us up at night. Start taking our lives one day at a time. And don't be anxious. Because God's got this. #tojesussincerely #myMasstakeaway #mysundaybest #benotanxious #Godsgotthis @rosiehill425

A post shared by To Jesus Sincerely (@tojesussincerely) on Feb 26, 2017 at 12:19pm PST

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