Man does not live by creamer alone.

I have learned much about myself this last week and a half. I have needed this last week and a half to process and digest. I am finally ready to get back into the blogging saddle.

First, Fr. Corapi is amazing. I am so glad I went to listen to him last Saturday because, without trying to sound dramatic, he changed my life. I think he will have changed my family's lives too. We'll see.

I loved his approach. While I did buy his DVD with five seperate one hour talks about raising a Catholic family, this little conference was three talks in which all he did was address written questions from the audience. I won't take too much of your time and go through all 37 questions he was able to answer, rather, I'll just focus on the ones that made the biggest impression on me.

#1) How do I respond to my brother, who is a Protestant, who keeps asking me if I've been 'saved'?

Fr. Corapi: Uh, let me see. No. No you haven't been saved. You have been redeemed. You have been freed. You haven't been 'saved'. I haven't been saved either. You know when we'll know we've been saved? When we actually get to walk through those gates of Heaven. Until then, you better get busy. Work hard. Pray. Serve others. Forgive. Do your work, cuz brother? You haven't been 'saved'. ( I guess that was his hard hitting way of saying...."Um, yeah, it ain't enough to just believe. SHOW me. Faith through works, man.")

#2) Fr. Corapi, is there anything that you have done that you regret?

Fr. Croapi: Yes. Sin. All of it.

#3) Do you ever see all Christian churches being united again?

Fr. Corapi: Yes, I do. Jesus is the one Head of His one Church. Valid baptism brings you unto that One Body. There is a fullness of faith that many are lacking. They have only have two sacrements. We have seven. God writes a Natural Law on everyone's hearts: Do good, avoid evil. We can all be united again in that. We are all His children.

#4) Why do some people say that when our loved ones die they become guardian angels in Heaven to watch over us?

Fr. Corapi: When you die, you do not then become a snake or a rabbit or a fish. You do not become an Angel. Angels are seperate entities. They are not human. They always have been and always will be Angels and we will always be human beings. From the very moment of conception, God assigned you your very own Guradian Angel. That Guardian Angel (I love this part) is with you until you pass from this life on earth, always watching over you, guiding you, whispering in your hear. My Guardian Angel is very big. ( If you read about Fr. Corapi's life at all, you'll know why he says that. :))

#5) What do I say to my daughter who believes in reincarnation, my brother who says there is no God, and my Mormon father who asks 'what role does Jesus play in all of this'?

Fr. Corapi: You pray for them. You never stop praying for them. You lead by example. You show them what fullness of faith looks like. Original sin closed the gates of Heaven. Jesus came and threw them open for us. That's what role he has. He threw open the gates of Heaven and asked us to follow Him to them. Like Padre Pio said, Pray. And don't worry.


There were many more questions obviously, but those were some of the highlights and his responses were so great. The main message I walked away with was this; Don't become complacent. Dead bodies float downstream. We are not supposed to 'go with the flow'. Dead bodies go with the flow. We have been given life. We are alive. We have a duty to breathe life into our families. If we aren't? We are failing. We are not doing our jobs. And we are going to have to answer to God for that. You and I. Our jobs are to swim upstream and make a frontal assault on the gates of Hell by raising morally conscience, selfless, prayerful children, by working harder on our marriages than we want to or feel inspired to at times, by sanctifying each other. The family is the building block of society and it is being directly targeted. If you can look back, after the demise of a culture, it all started with the systematic demise of the family. We need to pray. Not worry. Not fear. Pray. Together. Every day. In the quiet of our hearts, in the midst of noise and laundry, in the face of the unknown and in pain.

So far, in this mere week and half of Lent that has passed, I have learned a lot. I am weak. I become weaker when I strip away all the excess, all the fluff, the things I think I 'need'. I become cranky, tired, weary. I lack faith, I become even shorter tempered and I give into hopelessness at times. I stop working on my marriage, I stop feeling compelled to breathe life and spark into my family. I am forced to look up.

This, I believe, is what I am supposed to be learning. To experience all these grossly unattractive human qualities and to look up. To throw my hands up and say, "Lord! Let this cup pass from me! Oh, wait, it didn't even pass from Your Own Son. I should probably suck it up and try to learn something here. Okay, I get it now. Thank you. I'm so sorry. Help me to do and be better."

I do not, indeed, live by creamer in my coffee. I do not live by all the sugar I consume, the overindulgence in which I partake. I do not live by a bad attidude just because I am tired. I do not live by inactivity or over-activity. I do not live by feelings alone.

I live by Word. I live by Divine Mercy. I live by thinking of myself last. I know I will slip. I know I will fail. I will not worry. I will work and I will pray--for me, for my family, for Him.

God love you all.