Now, apply the same ideas to people: What does it mean to live with integrity? The best practical definition of integrity I have ever heard is: “Integrity is who you are when no one is looking.” This should get us thinking, what kind of people are we when the people, whose respect we care about, are not present? What kinds of people are we when the disciplinarians in our lives have their backs turned? What kinds of people are we when our parents, our friends, or our significant others are not around? What kinds of people are we, when we don’t have to the face the consequences of our actions? Do we act with consistency, regardless of the circumstances?

It is not difficult to see how integrity plays out in our culture today. Even though Western society may promote greed, selfishness, and the idea of ‘getting ahead at the expense of others’ there is still a persistent appreciation for the integrity of the individual. A world leader can revolutionize a country, broker peace between nations, and reinvigorate the economy, but the moment he is caught in a personal scandal (such as an extramarital affair) his entire reputation is ruined. The same principle applies to teachers, parents, and even our beloved priests. I personally remember looking up to one person as a great inspiration to my faith only to find out that that person stopped going to Mass and took up drinking in college. At that point, the level of disappointment I felt toward that person turned into indignation. How could that person go through all the motions of being a devout Catholic and making good life decisions and then suddenly make a couple choices that completely stray from those values? Though I would not view my initial reaction as particularly justified, since we all stumble in our faith journeys, it demonstrates the necessity for integrity in daily living. Without integrity, the authenticity of the principles and morals we uphold can be called into question.

What makes integrity such a difficult principle to live out? One of the most challenging aspects of integrity coincides with recognizing that all our actions influence others. Now I am not talking about the obvious, public actions people can commit which have an effect on others such as theft, murder, fraud or, on the positive side, complimenting another, donating to the poor, or giving a hug. The actions I am talking about are private actions, ones that are not seen by the majority of people. These ‘private’ actions may seem to only affect the person committing the action, but they have an indirect, yet concrete influence, on the people the person is around. Let me give an easy example. Many perceive the viewing of pornography as a ‘private’ act that only affects the viewer. However, if a man habitually views pornography it incapacitates him from being able to view other women as human beings and not as objects to lust after. This translates into how he interacts with women. All actions, public or private, have an influence on the others around us whether we like it or not.

Integrity is intrinsically tied to the idea of faith and works. Though there always seems to be a lot of debate among Christians about faith and works, I am here to say that faith does not come before works and works do not come before faith. Faith and works go hand-in-hand. They are like two sides of the same coin. They both fall under our calling to discipleship, to be followers of Christ by believing in Him and carrying out His work through our actions. This means that our faith, and all the morals and principles associated with it, must be reflected in our actions. This is where integrity comes in because in order to be good Christians, every action we commit must be a reflection of the faith we have. We cannot preach forgiveness, only to go home and hold a grudge against a family member for being inconsiderate. Nor can we talk about the evils of stealing only to go home and download illegal music off the internet. When our actions do not reflect our morals, we turn our backs on our faith and, ultimately, on God Himself, which is also called sin. If we call ourselves Catholic, we have to act in a manner consistent with the Catholic faith every moment of every day.

If we look at the Church today, a common trend we will find is that it is easy to be Catholic some of the time, but not easy to be Catholic all the time. What I mean by that is, it is easy to be passionate about the faith and share it with others, through word and deed, some of the time, like at church or youth group, but it is difficult to do those same things every moment of the day, especially in the midst of temptation. Sometimes it just seems justified to cut corners, give into peer pressure, or hold onto our anger on a bad day. However, this very trend is what separates saints from the average person, and we are all called to be saints. If we look at any saint’s biography, we will find that when the saints dedicated their lives to Christ, every action and every thought was observed through the lens of their faith. It did not matter what the circumstances were or whether the action was in private or in public. They viewed all of their actions in terms of how they reflected or did not reflect their faith. It is time for us to follow in the footsteps of the saints. What are areas in our lives where we fail to live out our faith? They can range from downloading illegal music to looking at pornography to being difficult with our parents to something as small as not saying ‘hi’ to a newcomer at youth group or a club. Whatever it is, big or small, we are called to live in a manner consistent with our faith every moment of every day.

In the words of St. Paul:

“[Show] yourself as a model of good deeds in every respect, with integrity in your teaching, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be criticized, so that the opponent will be put to shame without anything bad to say about us.” (Titus 2:7-8)

Birthright International: supports pregnant girls and women through their pregnancies
40 Days for Life: community of people praying and fasting for an end to abortion
Catholics Mobilizing: works with the USCCB to inform Catholics on how to engage in local campaigns to end the death penalty
Pax Christi USA: encouraging a nonviolent society through the model of the life of Jesus Christ
USCCB: Respect Life Month pamphlets covering all life issues

Here is a USA Today column inspired by this year’s World Youth Day discussing the millennial generation’s growing preference for orthodoxy.

This article does make a good point when it says that there are disadvantages of listing one’s unborn baby, because in the event of a miscarriage, it may not be news that you want your entire social network to know. Again, this only re-affirms the fact that most people really do believe that an unborn baby is alive due to the sadness of the parents and sympathy from friends that occur during a miscarriage. If a foetus was just a collection of cells like an appendix or kidney, miscarriages would not be such a big emotional ordeal.

The last thing Asian parents want is for their kids to grow up to be cartoonists … or journalists. Jeff Yang and a bunch of other guys who’ve wasted their fancy degrees discuss why their parents were probably right.

What should a Catholic reaction to this news be? This is the official statement released by the Vatican per the Director of the Holy See Press Office, P. Federico Lombardi:

Another good read is Fr. James Martin’s response.

Go check it out! Watermark, represent!

I think this is why I really enjoyed this article by Simcha Fisher entitled: Why I Love My Ugly Little Liturgy.

It amazes me that even in all of the imperfection, I still get to receive Jesus in this place each week. It’s a grace to be reminded of that which points out my own brokenness and sinfulness. Like Fisher says in her article, if Christ can stand it, so can I.

Here’s a snippet:

Today—this evening—there is something happening. I can’t imagine what. It isn’t a federal holiday; it isn’t on your employer’s calendar; it isn’t on your children’s school calendar; I doubt it is even a Hallmark holiday. And yet, mysteriously, 100 million people will do something different than they do on a normal Sunday; 100 million. They will all watch the same television channel, so that it will be the most-watched program of the year—perhaps even of all television history, as it was last year. They will all make special food, especially chili and wings, so that it ranks only second to Thanksgiving as food purchasing for a holiday. It might even generate more prayers, on behalf of one team or the other, than many other days of the year.

Yes, the government investigator would probably find evidence of the Super Bowl in your finances and your calendar. It shows up; it makes a bump.

But what about last Wednesday? The investigator would point to the evening of February 2 and say, “It says Presentation; was that some sort of talk you were giving?” “Oh no,” you would say, “that’s the Feast of the Presentation—one of the great feasts of the Church year. It comes 40 days after Christmas, and celebrates when Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple. And so the Lord entered his Temple. And the old man Simeon said he would be a ‘light to enlighten the nations.’ And so the whole parish gets together in the evening. And we start out in the front of the property, and the priest blesses candles, and we have this candlelight procession, singing, until we get inside the church—which has been a Catholic tradition for centuries. And then we celebrate Mass. And then we go to the parish hall for a great dinner—with traditional foods for that feast day. And there are games for the kids; and one class always puts on a little skit about the day. It’s so much fun. I look forward to it every year. You know, you should come next year. I think you would really enjoy it.”

And the investigator would mark down: Yep, this one is Catholic. This one is salt and light. This Feast of the Presentation isn’t a federal holiday, or on the employer’s calendar or the school calendar or in the Hallmark cards; but it sure makes a bump in his life.

If you need another reminder of what the Walk for Life is all about, read this article about Abby Johnson who was a former Planned Parenthood director who is converting to Catholicism. The article shares her turning point when she assisted with an ultrasound abortion. It is quite intense and really sad. Abby will be one of the speakers at the rally on Saturday!

Pretty cool that Watermarkers are out there in the world representing. And for a fun piece of trivia, the guy on the left with the iphone is actually Hank, our other co-founder.

There are lots of responses to the article out there. Here is a good one.

And lastly, always remember that we are Asians. Not Bsians. Kidding!!

After reading the article, my next reaction is to scratch my head. It’s definitely on the ridiculous side. I *think* the article is written as satire, but to be honest, there are some parts where I’m not so sure. Maybe it’s a bit of both? The controversy is pretty evident based on the number of comments (2347 at time of writing).

One thing the article doesn’t discuss is the spiritual affects of this type of parenting. The writer talks about how Chinese parents assume strength in their child which is the underlying reason for their methods of punishing and shaming/guilt-tripping them (they’re strong enough to handle it). However, in my opinion, this is why so many of us Chinese Americans associate our self-worth and feeling loved with our accomplishments. This makes it hard for us to grasp passages like this past Sunday’s Gospel on the Baptism of Jesus. We just can’t seem to wrap our minds around God’s love for Jesus as His Beloved Son because of who Jesus is, not what He’s done.

If you want to learn more about this concept, I highly recommend reading Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen. If you prefer youtube videos to reading, you can watch Nouwen give a talk on it (it’s split into eight parts). This is part 1.

Ted Williams, 53, a homeless guy with an amazing radio voice, was recorded at his typical panhandling spot begging/working for money on an Ohio roadside. The video was uploaded to YouTube where it’s gone viral:

The update to the story today is that he has now been offered a second chance with multiple offers for voice work. You can watch an interview with him all cleaned up on the Early Show here.

That is exactly what Stevie Johnson of the Buffalo Bills did yesterday. Check out what he actually said to the Big Man upstairs after he dropped a game-winning touchdown in the end zone Sunday in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

What are some passages we have studied that come to mind when reading Johnson’s Tweet?

What was surprising? Atheists and agnostics scored the best on a religious knowledge survey! Even worse? More than 4 out of 10 (45%) of Catholics don’t even know that the Church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion do not merely symbolize but actually become the body and blood of Christ! You can be sure your CM teachers have steam coming out of their ears on that one.

What the heck? Chinese Catholics didn’t even place!!! Just kidding. I’m guessing that no Chinese Catholics were even surveyed (The sample size was 3412 – have at it all you AP Statistics people). We are quite the minority. What I am sure of is that if Watermark were surveyed, we may have ruined the curve =P.

To be clear, this survey was about world religions, and not just Christianity. In some ways, it may not be so surprising that atheists scored well. To be atheist, particularly in a mostly Christian country, you have to actively choose against religion and that often means a greater awareness. But even regarding questions relating to the Bible and Christianity, Mormons and Evangelicals scored highest with Catholics lagging behind.

You can take a simplified version of the test yourself. What did you score?

So at the risk of awkwardness, we must talk about the facts of life. It is true that marriage is, in part, an emotional union, and it is also true that spouses often take care of each other and thereby reduce the caregiving burden on other people. But neither of these truths is the fundamental reason for marriage. The reason marriage exists is that the sexual intercourse of men and women regularly produces children. If it did not produce children, neither society nor the government would have much reason, let alone a valid reason, to regulate people’s emotional unions. (The government does not regulate non-marital friendships, no matter how intense they are.) If mutual caregiving were the purpose of marriage, there would be no reason to exclude adult incestuous unions from marriage. What the institution and policy of marriage aims to regulate is sex, not love or commitment. These days, marriage regulates sex (to the extent it does regulate it) in a wholly non-coercive manner, sex outside of marriage no longer being a crime.

Anne Havard of Atlanta, Georgia, may be a rarity. She's an American teenager who is passionate about her Christian faith

Here is an interesting read from CNN about teens in the United States and their relationship with God and Christianity.

Story Highlights:

• More teenagers embracing watered-down Christianity, author argues in new book
• Teenagers see God as “divine therapist,” author says
• Teenager: “They don’t want to make sacrifices”
• Who’s responsible for inspiring teens? Parents and pastors are, author says

Speaking of forgiveness, last weekend, gay pride parades were held all over the US. Where you normally see fire and brimstone protests, the Marin Foundation, a non-profit that aims to build a bridge between the religious and GLBT communities through scientific research, and Biblical and social education, showed up to the Chicago parade with a different message.

You can read more about it here.

It’s about a priest from Wyoming, who during his seminarian days made an unfortunate decision that cost the lives of two of his fellow seminarians. The resulting journey is a powerful one of forgiveness and redemption that really challenges my fear of failure.

Fall in love with the Lord, and it will change everything. Fall out of love with Him, and it will change everything.

“In the last six years alone, I’ve been fingerprinted four times,” said Mick Kelly, a 32-year-old former philosophy student who will be ordained next month in the Arlington Diocese. “That’s more than some criminals out there get.”

Most of the priests he investigated had come from an era when celibacy was not taught at seminaries in a pragmatic, thorough way. Another thing the fallen priests had in common, he said, was that not one had kept up his daily prayers.

So at Mount St. Mary’s, he has urged seminarians to pray at least one hour every day. If they don’t, he demands to know what they could possibly be doing that’s more important than talking to God?

But not even prayer can substitute for love. That’s what stuck out most to Rohlfs in the wreckage of the fallen priests’ lives. “We can teach them everything we know, but, in the end, duty cannot do it,” he said. “It must be love — loving God more than you love sin.”

“Another thing the fallen priests had in common, he said, was that not one had kept up his daily prayers.” That was the most sobering thing for me. We live in such a culture of busy-ness, noise, and distraction that it’s easy to not spend time talking with God. In effect, we have placed whatever it is we’re so busy doing in front of God. We love those things more than we love God.

We can see the effect lack of prayer can have on the priesthood, a group of people that Catholics deem so holy, and so what makes us think we can get away with it for our own lives, we, who are less “holy”? Wasn’t it St. Francis de Sales who said, “We all need one half hour of prayer every day. Except when we’re busy, then we need an hour.”

How about in our daily prayer times, let’s throw up a few prayers for our priests and while we’re at it, let’s pray for Joe Kim and all those to be ordained.

There have been only 20 Perfect Games in 135 years of Major League history which means there have been more people who have orbited the moon than this elite club of pitchers. The sports world has blown up in the aftermath especially after TV replays clearly showed that the runner was out by a half step (a fairly large margin in baseball).

So what does this have to do with being Catholic?

Well, in an age of entitlement and self-justification, it has become increasingly rare to see public examples of graciousness. If you pause the video (below) at the 39 second mark, what would you expect the pitcher’s reaction to be? So often we see players blowing up at the umpire, reacting in a way as if they have been personally and mortally wronged because they deserve it. Galarraga just smiles and walks back to the mound. That should be homily-bait in itself. At least in some semblance of “normalcy”, the manager of the Tigers comes out to argue. Galarraga on the otherhand, whereas it is common for the wheels to fall off after such a distraction, just continues on his business retiring the next batter for a one-hit shutout. In post-game interviews, Galarraga was very gracious towards the umpire ironically acknowledging that “nobody is perfect”, instead of stewing on how badly he had been robbed. In another surprise, the umpire, who are a proud bunch typically known for tersely standing by their calls, fully concedes that he made a mistake and “cost the kid a perfect game.” He even reached out to Galarraga after the game to personally apologize.

As a sports fan, I found myself a bit confused by the situation because this is not the typical reaction you see. Usually the player will raise a big stink, criticize the umpire after the game, and get himself a fine for doing so. The umpire would say that he called it like he saw it. Instead of the extra fodder the news outlets would typically get, there is no gossip to distract here. The fact that both parties called into mind the human aspect of it made this story stand out beyond the typical potential scandal. It also stands out as a glowing example of humility and reconciliation in a game that so often can be about assertion at the expense of another and using grudges to motivate.

Though this play may be what pushes the use of instant-replay fully into Major League baseball, always remember that there is no instant-replay in real life.

Here’s a fun post.

A group of Australian artists have created images of Biblical narratives from the perspective of Google Maps’ satellite view. It includes the crossing of the Red Sea, the crucifixion, the garden of Eden, and Noah’s Ark.

You can go directly to their online gallery here.

Particularly off of today’s Post-Confirmation class, mainstream articles about people (and celebrities) realizing the emptiness of the “hook-up” culture and choosing to take a stand against it is a refreshing change. Interestingly, the people in the article are taking more of secular route as well. Just thought I’d share…

Given the recent event in the news, we as Catholics are reminded by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and individual bishops around the country of the Church’s position on this matter.

“Justice for Immigrants,” the official campaign for immigration reform of the USCCB, has compiled this brief info sheet that I found very informative.

Other good reads are from Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City and Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles.

In many ways, the usual arguments for “gay marriage” apply here, but there is the added complexity that whatever holes and flaws there are in the logic get one more level of obscurity on this side of the debate. What is interesting to me is that the article reads with genuine perplexion. Even the usual hallmark of “equal rights” doesn’t seem to have the same sexiness. As a quote from the article says, “Once you grant the divorce, you are recognizing that there was a marriage.”

In order to begin to understand this issue, we need to understand what the Church teaches about sacraments and love. Think of this as a preview of this Sunday’s Post-Confirmation class.

“It was the biggest shock in my life, when I realised how horrible, soulless and without feeling the five star lifestyle is,” he said. “In those three weeks, we spent all the money you could possibly spend. But in all that time, we had the feeling we hadn’t met a single real person – that we were all just actors. The staff played the role of being friendly and the guests played the role of being important and nobody was real.”

All the money from the selling of his possessions will to go his microcredit charity where he doesn’t take a salary.

It’s pretty challenging to see a real life example of someone following Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler in Mark 10:21 to, “Go, sell what you have, and give to (the) poor and you will have treasure in heaven.” I just pray he got the last part of Jesus’ words, you know, the whole “come, follow me” thing. I think he’ll really find what he’s looking for there.

1. Priest checks fingerprints for mass attendance

2. Pope cautions tribunals against granting annulments too easily

3. A pro-choice writer defends Tim Tebow’s pro-life Super Bowl ad

4. A commentary on Dominican Sisters of Mary appearing on Oprah

Download the permission slip and ride form and turn it into Rosemary or Derek.

Last year, on Valentine’s Day, LTS went up to People’s Park in Berkeley, CA to have lunch and a conversation with the homeless. Spending the morning making sandwiches, we listened to a talk on poverty and then went to Mass before trekking down to the park to scope out some cool people to eat and hang out with.

This year, it’s happening again! (:

Please tell all of your friends! We are making more than double the amount of lunches last year (since we ran out so quickly). We will be meeting in the parking lot at St. Clare’s Parish at 10:00 AM. We will leave promptly at 10:15. If you are not there, I hope you have nice parents who will drive you up to Berkeley!

Last year, it rained. This year, we will also do it rain or shine. Please bring umbrellas, and wear jackets in case it does rain.

A note about presence:

• Wear a jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweater/jacket. Do not wear heels, do not wear a strapless dress, do not wear anything that is overly excessive.
• Although this is a fun event, please remember to respectfully listen to the leaders and other participants during this event. Do not stray from the group or behave inappropriately.
• Please be wary of your surroundings when you are taking a picture. Don’t be disrespectful! Pictures are great, but I would encourage you to live the moment instead of trying to capture the scene. Especially do not take pictures of people if you haven’t asked their permission.

We will have all materials to fill up the sandwich bags. You don’t need to bring anything except a water bottle. There will be a leader who will look after valuable items (we will keep them locked in the church/kitchen where we make the sandwiches).

We will be meeting at St. Clare’s parking lot to carpool to a church near People’s Park at 10:00 AM. Please be prompt!

It’s sad to me that the majority of Catholics who find themselves unaffiliated with any religion now just gradually drifted away. All that time spent at church and nothing was found worth giving their life for. That sucks…particularly when inherent in being Catholic is the opportunity to receive Jesus, the Lord of the universe, in person.

On the flip side, I found it very revealing that the majority of Catholics who are now Protestant converted because their spiritual needs weren’t being met. I think this is an area the Church can really grow in at the lowest level. A personal example of this has been the struggle to find available spiritual directors.

Anyhow, I’m sure you noticed a lot of interesting connections as well. Feel free to share.

You can read the full report here.

Blog Post: Greatest Nothing I Ever Felt

If you’ve had the same experience about Adoration as Jennifer (I admit I have), come to this Saturday’s Boom Sizzle to at least be in His presence.

Another Advent season has come and gone. At SJCCC, this usually means another year of rotating which St. Clare’s community actually gets to celebrate Midnight Mass at midnight and another Christmas Party successfully pulled off with all the hustle and bustle of the preparations beforehand. Somewhere in the midst of all this, we try to hold on to the true meaning of Advent – the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. As we pondered this sacred mystery during the Christmas liturgies this year, I could not help but notice another recurring tradition – the mass influx of old, familiar, young adult faces returning to their roots. Among the faces in the crowd, there are those who have gone away for college and are home for winter break, there are those that have moved away and are back to visit family, and there are those that are still in the area and making a cameo as they no longer make their home with us.

I grew up in the community and like many others, went away for college. After graduating, I have since moved back home with SJCCC. From this perspective, I find myself excited to see so many old friends and acquaintances. But conflictingly, I also find myself feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and the thoughts and questions running through my head. Absence creates a bit of a wall. For some relationships, they are easily torn down, but for others, it breeds a bit of hesitation to even say hello. I can’t help but wonder what their lives are like now. How have they changed? How will they perceive how I have changed, if at all? Are they finding satisfaction in their work or are they looking for a career change, potentially forced by the recession? Have they grown in their faith or took a few steps backwards or maybe they lost it entirely? Do they feel that perhaps SJCCC does not boast the spiritual depth they need to grow in their faith or maybe they feel judgmental eyes fabricated by gossip, assumption, or personal insecurity? Will anyone reach out? “Hey! Long time no see! How’s it going?”

I imagine that for the Young Adults coming home, the feelings must be similar if not magnified. It must be exciting to see the place where so much time was spent and so many good memories were made. Or it must be dreadful to return to a place where attendance was forced and no meaning was ever found or attempted. For better or for worse, one of the costs of an academic success oriented culture is the inevitable sheltering to the “real world” with all of its vices and desires. Going to college, while one of the badges of child-rearing success for Chinese parents, can be an eye-opener for the freshly-minted Young Adult. So inevitably, returning home is likely seen through the lens of the new experiences; maybe a symbol of repression, or happier, more faithful times, or spiritual mediocrity, depending. For some, the subconscious desire is to see things exactly how they were left, but they find themselves surprised that things are chugging along, pushing on, and that there is a new generation of Watermarkers or college graduates. “Wow! I don’t recognize anyone anymore…”

What is God’s plan for Chinese Americans in a Chinese Catholic Community whose mission is to reach out to Chinese immigrants? Surely, it can not be just for our feet to run out of ground as more and more new immigrants raise their American born children pushing us past the extent of what is built, could it? This yearly pilgrimage of young adults back to our community is a snapshot of the journey SJCCC has taken, in all of its successes and all of its shortcomings. We are still finding our way as even the definition of “young adult” is still evolving while we struggle to define who exactly fits in to this category. The current definition seems to be, “anyone who is or was affiliated with Watermark who has graduated from high school.” I find solace in the fact that our Christ, named Emmanuel, is with us when we soar and when we are stumbling in the mud, groping in the dark. Let us hold fast to Jesus, our Savior, both personally and as a community so we would grow ever closer to his loving and compassionate heart leading the way. As we do, in spite of the prodigal experiences or spiritual heights away from SJCCC, perhaps Young Adults who come back would say that they caught a glimpse of God, the Father. Welcome home.

Came upon this article when I was doing my daily ESPN browsing, and found out that the Oakland A’s top prospect has left baseball to enter into priesthood.  It is awesome to see that he has left his life of potential fame and fortune to pursue a higher calling.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4849432

It is also interesting to read some of the comments made by other people.  It has turned ESPN into a religious battlefield.

Apparently teen pregnancy rates are on the rise according to this article. I was bummed to read it, but was a little annoyed by the following quote:

“It’s interesting to note that this flattening out of the rate and the increase in the rate is happening at the same time that we’ve seen substantial increases in funding for abstinence-only programs,” Finer said.

“We do know that when we saw the big decline in the ’90s, that a lot of that decline was due to improved contraceptive use among teens.”

It’s not that I think the existing abstinence-only programs are particularly great (more TOB anyone? though that’s a whole other separation of church and state conversation altogether), it’s just that “improved contraceptive use” is just a short-term band-aid type of solution that doesn’t touch upon the real issue of what leads teens to make these choices and what they are looking for in the first place. I appreciate that the general public is wanting to lower teenage pregnancy rates (we agree on something!), but what bothers me is that we have stopped trying to engage the person and instead implement an impersonal solution leaving them to their own devices.

To me, a life worth living includes putting in the effort for good spiritual and moral formation even if some teenagers decide to do it anyways. Instead of throwing our hands up relenting that they will do it anyways, let’s get down on our knees and pray that even though they do it despite our efforts, give us the grace to keep trying.

I can only imagine how road rage would evolve into air rage. *sigh* another thing to confess.