{"id":20986,"date":"2012-08-09T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=20986"},"modified":"2012-08-07T21:20:17","modified_gmt":"2012-08-08T02:20:17","slug":"good-where-weve-been-good-where-were-going-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/good-where-weve-been-good-where-were-going-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Where We\u2019ve Been Good Where We\u2019re Going To"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"What<\/a>

What does your schedule say about what you value?<\/p><\/div>\n

When you say yes to something you say no to something else.<\/p>\n

I learn this adage at a \u201cProtecting Your Goals\u201d class I had the honor of participating in last year. Whether you are addicted to volunteering or superbly balanced in your calendar-planning, this phrase is worth reflecting on.<\/p>\n

How do your time commitments reflect on who you are? How have your commitments changed in the last month? Year? Five years? How do these changes reflect your life changes? Who is valued through your commitments (it\u2019s not selfish for you<\/em> to be valued!)<\/p>\n

How do the saints\u2019 timesheets fare? They may have more community service and prayer hours in – but it\u2019s important to remember that their time commitments were as diverse as they were, and any given saint’s scheduled activities were based on his\/her growth toward God through the inclinations and charisms that He gave them. Not everyone chose monastic life, or community, and not everyone stuck with the initial vocation to which they felt called!<\/p>\n

Cardinal Dolan recently tweeted<\/a> \u201cAt the gates of heaven, we will not be asked for an ID, but the gatekeeper will look for the sign of the Cross. Is it visible in your life?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Good<\/a>

Good Where You’ve Been Good Where You’re Going To<\/p><\/div>\n

Our paths to sainthood will vary, but they\u2019ll be marked by the sign of the cross in some sense because every time we say \u201cyes\u201d to God we say “no” to the world, to sin (perhaps) but also to self, to our longings that pretend to satisfy us more than God. While the cross is a sign of suffering, it is also a sign of salvation. The cross in our lives draws us closer to our Creator, a way to more greatly understand His sacrifice while also recognizing His rightful place as the source of our salvation!<\/p>\n

My husband and I started attending our current parish right as the pastor was leaving for a new assignment. At one of his last Masses, the choir played a song called \u201cGood Where We\u2019ve Been Good Where We\u2019re Going to.\u201d The bulk of the song\u2019s lyrics is a slow repetition of the title. We\u2019ve heard that song a few more times as our pastor and RE director have also moved on to different places.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to keep tears and second-guesses away as you know you\u2019re moving on to different things – but it IS good to remember that wherever we\u2019ve been and wherever we\u2019re going to, whatever the cross we carry, God is with us!<\/p>\n

Scripture tells us that when Jesus commissioned his disciples he reminded them, \u201cI am with you always, until the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:20). Truly God is everpresent with us on our path and in our joys and sufferings. The saints knew this truth and invite us to experience and make it true in our own lives.<\/p>\n

Ok so this post hopefully hits home the points that God is with us always, in our past and in our journey toward him. But I also have a more personal footnote – I\u2019ve spent a little less than a year blogging here, and it\u2019s been good where I\u2019ve been, but for various personal reasons, I will be discontinuing my ACNM blogging (at least regularly!) It has been an honor and pleasure to share thoughts on living a faith-filled life and seeking sainthood! I pray that you will continue to find time for prayer and gain confidence that in every tiny way you turn toward God, He will bless you abundantly on your path to sainthood.<\/p>\n

Note: Reflections in this blog are my own and do not represent the positions of my employer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you say yes to something you say no to something else. I learn this adage at a \u201cProtecting Your Goals\u201d class I had the honor of participating in last year. Whether you are addicted to volunteering or superbly balanced in your calendar-planning, this phrase is worth reflecting on. How do your time commitments reflect… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,90,91],"tags":[50,37,168,143],"class_list":{"0":"post-20986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"category-faith-blog","8":"category-young-adult","9":"tag-faith","10":"tag-gospel","11":"tag-holiness","12":"tag-saints","13":"entry","14":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10027,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/01\/wishful-thinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":20986,"position":0},"title":"Wishful Thinking","author":"Steve Scott","date":"January 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw a recent article in Forbes online magazine with the provocative headline, \u201cWhy Your New Year's Resolution Will Fail by February 1.\u201d The article goes on to say that if Gym Membership is an indicator, a third of resolutions are dropped by February 1. And while the Forbes headline\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Franz_von_Sales1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":167867,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/sunday-says-november-1-2015-mass-readings-and-reflection\/","url_meta":{"origin":20986,"position":1},"title":"Sunday Says Podcast – November 1, 2015 Mass Readings and Reflection","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"October 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"November 1, 2015 Solemnity of All Saints Lectionary: 667 (NAB Translation) [powerpress] We celebrate the great Solemnity of All Saints this Sunday. Reading 1 Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 In this week\u2019s first reading we hear an apocalyptic passage of the great witnesses that have gone before us. We hear of how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sunday Says"","block_context":{"text":"Sunday Says","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/podcast\/sundaysays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunday Says Podcast","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49932,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/review-open-mind-faithful-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":20986,"position":2},"title":"Straight from the Shepherd’s Mouth (Review: “Open Mind, Faithful Heart”)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"July 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I don\u2019t really have an opinion on Pope Francis yet. I mean, he\u2019s the pope, so I follow his authority on Earth and all that, but I don\u2019t know whether I like his individual personality or not (as much as that matters). I realize that he\u2019s been pope for over\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"greenfieldsacnm","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/greenfieldsacnm-550x308.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/greenfieldsacnm-550x308.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/greenfieldsacnm-550x308.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":300080,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/sunday-says-podcast-september-25-2016-mass-readings-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":20986,"position":3},"title":"Sunday Says Podcast – September 25, 2016 Mass Readings and Reflections","author":"Steve Scott","date":"September 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Sunday September 25, 2016 Lectionary: 138 (NAB Translation) Reading 1 Amos 6:1,4-7 This week\u2019s first reading is from the book of the prophet Amos.\u00a0 Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa (a village in the southern kingdom of Judah), but preached to the rich in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunday Says","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo1-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40196,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/06\/building-you-faith-and-habit\/","url_meta":{"origin":20986,"position":4},"title":"Building You: Faith and Habit","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"June 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm going to have to start this blog with a small confession. When it comes to dating, my approach has been notoriously ineffective. Don't worry, this blog isn't about dating. But for a single man in his thirties, I have decided it is time to be more intentional about changing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"growth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/growth-630x315.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":312059,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/10\/sunday-says-podcast-october-23-2016-mass-readings-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":20986,"position":5},"title":"Sunday Says Podcast – October 23, 2016 Mass Readings and Reflections","author":"Steve Scott","date":"October 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time Sunday October 23, 2016 Lectionary: 150 (NAB Translation) Reading 1 Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 This week\u2019s first reading is on from the book of the Book of Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus), part of the great wisdom literature in the Old Testament.\u00a0 This book was written\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SundaySaysPodcast-logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}