Peace the World Cannot Give

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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Last week, on Pentecost Sunday I watched a live-streamed Mass on YouTube. Bishop Nevares celebrated the liturgy. It was comforting to see and hear the congregation that was present, albeit with masks on their faces! After Mass concluded, I drove over to our church to receive the Eucharist. The words that stood out to me from the gospel were, “Peace be with you.”

“What am I called to do about this word?” I’ve been asking the Lord. I believe the answer is coming by way of many realizations this week. I’m able to see with clarity that the peace of Christ is different from the peace that this world can offer (see John 14:27). This same week, I got a distinct taste of that peace as a few of my earthly freedoms were taken from me.

Our governor implemented Arizona’s first-ever state-wide curfew last Sunday⁠—Pentecost!⁠—at 8PM. The curfew is in effect from 8pm to 5am each day for eight days.

As David and I stood out in our backyard on Sunday night around 10 PM, I looked at the cinder block walls that surround our rental property. With tears welling in my eyes, I said, “This is the closest I’ve been to slavery, babe.”

“Slavery? Nobody is beating you, though,” David replied.

“Right. But if I go out there,” I pointed past our house to the quiet suburban street beyond, “I could be sent to jail. Beatings during slavery were for the sake of keeping slaves in captivity.” I gazed up at the faint stars in the darkened night sky. There were no clouds, per usual in Arizona.

I looked back at David and exclaimed, “Now I get to do what my ancestors did!”  David took in my beaming smile. He grinned and squinted his eyes slightly. He looked happy to see the fire in my spirit.

The peace I experienced on Pentecost wasn’t coming from the world or from our surroundings. Rather, it proceeded from the same Spirit behind the old Gospel hymn, “I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.” I’ve known that song as long as I can remember! Now, I’ll get to sing it with new fervor.

It’s my turn to practice what I preach, or⁠—as Mahalia Jackson so eloquently sang⁠—to “live the life I sing about in my song.”

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Special thanks to VIP Patrons:

Kim Moline
Dick Safranski
Jordan Mendez
Julian Padilla
Jessica Cook
Kate Hicks
Sara Chacon
Kelly Wesaw
Deacon Tim & Lily Roberto
Carrie Brzezinski

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Peace Be With You

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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Lately, for “home church” we gather 2 parents, 4 kids, and one auntie/nanny into our home office. I lead songs from the keyboard. Our focal point is David’s favorite painting of Christ. Different family members take turns proclaiming the readings with a microphone. No matter what, there are a lot of distractions at church with 4 kids under the age of 10. I'll share thoughts about this week once I have time to pray through it. But looking back to last weekend, the message was both clear and repetitive on Divine Mercy Sunday.

“Peace be with you.” Jesus said it three different times in the 20th chapter of the Gospel of John. The word impacted me in myriad ways over the course of last week. For brevity, I’ll elaborate on just one of those ways. (Disclaimer: This is about to get super girly.)

Early in the week, I came across a podcast from a ministry that I love called Fierce Athlete . The episode was entitled “The Female Fertility Cycle + Sports Performance.” As the podcast played in my earbuds on my morning run, I kept stopping to take notes. The host, Sam Kelley, whom I consider a friend and colleague!, interviewed Marie DiCecco. A long-time health education teacher, an athletic coach, and a Fertility Care Practitioner, Ms. DiCecco spoke with compassion, honesty, and a thick New York accent.

This podcast helped me recognize how I frequently disdain myself for a process that naturally occurs because of who I am as a woman. Upon further reflection, I realized the Lord is calling me to be at peace with my body. That includes what I perceive as weakness in myself!

I don't fully *get it* yet, but I don't need to. If He's calling me to be at peace, He'll show me how to integrate that peace into my thoughts and feelings.

So many of the Easter Season readings speak specifically about Jesus’ Body. Last Sunday, for instance, Jesus invited Thomas to reach out and touch the wounds in his hands and side. (My kids were pretty appalled/enraptured by the Doubting Thomas narrative.) Also, lots of those same stories feature a group of confused apostles.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

If you're on a journey to be at peace with yourself or with others mentally, emotionally, or physically, I'll leave you with some recent advice from 3-year-old Serra. She gets it better than I do.

Serra: “God doesn’t make us afraid, Mom. He makes us not afraid.” 

Me: “Where did you hear that, Ser?”

Serra: “I just know it, in my heart.”

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Special thanks to VIP Patrons:

Kim Moline
Dick Safranski
Jordan Mendez
Julian Padilla
Jessica Cook
Kate Hicks
Sara Chacon
Kelly Wesaw
Deacon Tim & Lily Roberto

To become an Amanda Vernon Patron and receive exclusive rewards, signup at amandavernon.com/patron.

What’s a Quarantined Girl Supposed to Do?

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

--- 

This was a different kind of week. Here’s a photo with our daughter Mercedes who seems to be quite happy with our current at-home situation. My family also had "home church," as we now call it, last Sunday. Although we couldn’t be at Mass physically, it brought happy tears to my eyes to hear our kids sing church songs at the top of their lungs in our living room. 

My sister led us in a prayer for Spiritual Communion after we took turns proclaiming the Mass readings. The first word that stood out to me was “grief.” That sounded ominous, so I brushed it aside and listened for a different word instead. The second word that stood out was “try to find out what is pleasing to God,” which was more appealing. All told, it was a beautiful home church.

As I prayed about my Word for the Week since last Sunday, I recognized that the word that stood out initially was right on. “Grief” was indeed the trigger for a number of unshakable symptoms this week. For instance, there’s been a constant knot of tension in the base of my throat from subconsciously trying not to cry.

There has been much to grieve, surely. From the loss of life itself, to the loss of a semblance of balance and routine, many are grieving around the world. And while my family is in good health, the sadness of the global situation is palpable. There is also the uncertainty that accompanies the sudden loss of our income as a family. Thankfully, through my Word for the Week, I feel assured that the Lord is with me in this grief.

Meanwhile, the second part of my Word for the Week provided excitement and hope that there was something active to be done! To me, “Try to find out what is pleasing to God,” meant to find out what is pleasing to God in my precise, current circumstances.

I believe it is pleasing to God for me to keep singing, speaking, writing, and sharing the faith with people around the world. Not someday, hypothetically, but now. So I poured my heart out into a new music project last week! (More on that soon!)

Time and again we hear stories of God’s people who sing in the midst of their most challenging moment. The story of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego comes to mind (Daniel 3). They were cast into a furnace for refusing to idolize a false god. Yet they prayed with passion and an angel of the Lord came to praise God with them! When they emerged from the furnace unharmed, the king who cast them into the fire exclaimed, “There is no other God who can rescue like this.”

Maybe you're feeling happy like Mercedes! But if you are grieving today, too, perhaps the Lord is inviting you to pray passionately in the midst of your experience. Let’s praise God even as the fire surrounds us, so to speak. Perhaps this could be a comforting prayer: “We trust that You are with us in this grief, Lord Jesus. Let your name be glorified in the midst of these flames. Lift others’ spirits through our praise. And when this trial passes, let us proclaim your love with all the more joy. Amen.”

P.S. Here's the link for a YouTube video that has been a huge encouragement this week, as well!

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Thanks to new patron Martha & also Miles and Jessica who increased their patron support.

Special thanks to VIP Patrons:

Kim Moline
Dick Safranski
Jordan Mendez
Julian Padilla
Jessica Cook
Kate Hicks
Sara Chacon
Kelly Wesaw
Deacon Tim & Lily Roberto

To become an Amanda Vernon Patron and receive exclusive rewards, signup at amandavernon.com/patron.