My Heart of the Matter

Thirst No More

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Jesus with the Samaritan woman

Happy International Women’s Day!

The Samaritan Woman

When reading  John 4:5-42, the story about the Samaritan woman, we can truly understand how Jesus liberated women. Jesus always treated women with the utmost respect and honored their role in His ministry. He knew about the Samaritan woman’s past sins and all the men in her life.  Yet he did not judge her;  rather, He invited her to drink of the living water.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to purchase food. 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew. How can you ask me, a Samaritan woman, for some water to drink?” (Jews do not share anything in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied,

“If you recognized the gift of God
and who it is that is asking you for something to drink,
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you do not have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself along with his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus said to her,

“Everyone who drinks this water
will be thirsty again.
14 But whoever drinks the water that I will give him
will never be thirsty.
The water that I will give him
will become a spring of water within him
welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I may not be thirsty and have to come here to draw water.”

Women
God gave us specific roles in life. Whether I wanted to accept it or not, my role as a young woman was being a wife and mother. The world was different 54 years ago and, like the song I Am Woman by Helen Reddy, I wanted to be heard.
Searching For Direction
I have never dabbled into neo-paganism “otherwise known as witchcraft;” well at least I thought that to be true. But when I was  attending college in the 70’s we were bombarded with many social issues: the war in Vietnam and the women’s movement. They were gaining momentum on college campuses. I found myself questioning my sense of womanhood.
The Women’s Movement

Getting caught up in the frenzy, one day I was so upset so I decided to leave. It was Susan B. Anthony Day. Believe me when I explain that this was the bravest thing I have ever done as a young adult. Driving from Santa Barbara to Colton was so horrifying because I rarely drove on any freeways.  I know that God had assigned angels, His special agents,  to get me and my baby boy to my mother’s home that day.

Me and my baby boy Mikos
Thank the good Lord that I married very young. Though I was involved in this movement for a hot minute, it was not conducive to my lifestyle. You see, when I was  21 our son Mikos was born. But the rebellious spirit was still running through my blood.
The Connection
How do I make a connection with witchcraft and this current women’s movement? Well it’s not hard to see that women who are involved in witchcraft are turning to the use of crystals, calling on Mother Nature like their goddess. And New Age beliefs are all opening every door possible to welcome dark, evil spirits to enter into their lives. The Devil doesn’t need much, he waits for the opportunity and then, like the snake in Genesis, he slithers into their lives. Do these women realize that they are opening these doors? Some do it with intention, while others innocently fall into the trap set by Satan. Remember Satan loves it when we are in the dark.
Why do these women feel the need for empowerment? These women are broken, angry and blame men and their patriarchal rules. They turn away from Christianity because they have a problem with the masculinity and gender of God.  And some go so far as to believe that God is a woman!
You Don’t Need A Man
The demasculizing of men is very apparent in this movement, and it’s slowly taking a toll on young men. This ideology is riddled with confusion and sometimes young men do not know how to react. My advice to them is to date a well-grounded young lady who is serving God. My advice to young women is, “If you want to be treated like a queen, treat a man like a king.”
Stepping Into The Masculine Role
God created men to be the head of the household. When this is disrupted, it affects the entire order of the role of a man. I know for a fact that my husband Mike wants to take care of me and our family. Mike wants nothing more in life than to make sure we are all fine. Nothing pleases a man more than to fulfill the role of husband and father. I need my husband’s protection and welcome all that he does for us.

4 He must manage his own household well and ensure that his children are submissive and respectful in every way. 5 For if someone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the Church of God?

Falling Into The Trap 

Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44) and deceives even the most elect (Mat 24:24). We need to become the example that God called us to be. Falling into the trap of deception will only lead to emptiness. We, as women, must step up to the role of being completely whole. With Christ there is no partiality between men and women. Once we come on board, the gifts set aside for us will be poured out; there will be so many that we need to share them with others.

The Gifts

I prayed for years about having a platform to share the Gospel, and the Lord gave me this Blog. It was in a long vivid dream of Him instructing me about the name, My Catholic Roots Are Showing. When I woke up I said, “No, Lord! That title will offend Protestants.  It’s too long!” The following night I had the very same dream. I realized the confirmation was from God. This Blog has been in existence for almost 10 years.

My Prayer

Lord, may we all drink from the living waters You provide for us. Blessed Mary, thank you for being the best role model for all women. Bestow on all women the gentle spirt of Your Blessed Mother. Amen

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My Heart of the Matter

The Testimony

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Me and Yosellin

You can never prepare for what will happen at a retreat.

Catechist

For the past five years I have volunteered as a catechist for our parish. With each year brings new adventures. Last year I had the pleasure of having an assistant to help me with the students. I was elated to discover that Yosellin would be my aide.

The 2024 Class

Yosellin was one of my former students, so for two years she was one of the group I helped prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Yosellin’s  introverted and quiet demeanor made me notice her. She was in a class with strangers, but quickly made her way into a group of friends. I will never forget that class because it was the most diverse. Half of the class was made up of students from private Catholic schools, while the other students came from five different local public high schools.

The students from the Catholic schools all knew each other, some of them were friends from elementary at St. Norbert School. They were comfortable and adjusted well. It took some time for the other students to warm up to the rest of the class.

Preparing For Public Speaking

Yosellin approached me and said that she wanted to share her testimony at the retreat. This came as a total surprise for me because she is so introverted. When she shared the subject matter, I, too felt that it was important for her to share her story. But at the following meeting Yosellin was uncertain about getting up in front of the group.

The Holy Spirit moved her to speak and, though she followed the main speaker, I was completely taken aback by how eloquently she spoke. She came across as a natural, and her words touched the girls in a special way. You see, Yosellin suffered from a depression that led to suicidal thoughts.

Depression

Yosellin’s depression started early.  Her strained relationship with both her parents made her feel ignored. With her father always working long hours,  by the time he got home he was too tired to deal with his daughter’s emotional needs. Her relationship with her mother was always unstable and strained.

Yosellin was in the eighth grade when she started having suicidal thoughts: she felt alone and that her parents were incapable of helping her.

The Plan

In her mindset she believed that no one cared about her, so she decided to end her life. Alone in her bathroom she cried and was ready to harm herself.  But something happened; although she did not make the connection, God intervened on her behalf.

 The thought of suicide was taken from her mind. But she was still depressed.

Because she needed  inner healing, Yosellin turned to drugs. She started smoking pot with one of her classmates. When she felt sad or unhappy marijuana boosted her adrenaline. This cycle continued for two years. The sadder she felt, the more she’d smoke pot. She loved the instant gratification she received.

School Counselor

Because she continued smoking pot, Yosellin’s grades dropped. She sought help from the school’s counselor, who expressed concern and said that her feelings aligned with clinical depression. She was then told that the counselor would contact her mother to arrange for therapy. But nothing came of this and she never asked her mother about it. Her disappointment was just another emotion swept under the rug.

Yosellin’s Sister

Yosellin found solace in her older married sister. She always felt a loving bond with her. Her sister  was worried because she recognized that Yosellin was in a dark place. Her sister spoke to her, “Don’t let the depression define you, and do not allow it to be who you are.” Yosellin held onto these words. After the conversation with her sister, she eased up on smoking pot.

The Spirit Returns

The Devil knows our struggles, especially for a young lady who is attempting to clean up her life. The spirit of depression once again reared its ugly head, but this time it wanted to do real damage. Yosellin started mixing the marijuana with other synthetic substances. At one point it almost took her life. Her heart rate was so accelerated that she thought she was going to have a heart attack. This scared her straight.

Survey

According to a 2023 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey of high schoolers, about 53% of female students report persistent feelings of sadness or helplessness, compared to about 25% of the male students.

Her Confirmation

Shortly after the retreat in 2024 Yosellin’s drug abuse slowly came to an end.  She discovered that she wanted a stronger prayer life and was curious about drawing closer to God.

Our parish has “Vision,” an organization composed of students who have recently been confirmed. They are the youth who are making a difference in this program. The members of Vision help mold the younger Catechumens into the Sacrament of Confirmation. Out of the class of 2024, 10 are now Catechists, including Yosellin.

Confirmation

When the Bishop anoints the catechumens with the Chrism Oil, they are transformed. After Yosellin’s Confirmation she stopped using drugs.

Adoration

This year’s retreat was about transformation. What I witnessed this weekend was nothing short of a miracle. God moved mightily in the souls of these kids. I know that many were indeed transformed. Although  my group was scattered throughout the hall, I tried to find them to pray with them and to convince them to go to confession. We had a total of four priests hearing confessions, and more than half of the students confessed their sins.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You for Your Holy Presence at the retreat. I pray for all the young  men and women who participated in the retreat. Thank You for using all of us who volunteered to guide them into Your loving arms. Amen.

 

 

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My Heart of the Matter

Purifying Your Soul

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Me and Prudie

We are in the first week of Lent.

Confessing Your Sins

Sins are a part of my everyday life, so for me confession is essential. Going to confession at least every five to six weeks has been part of my regimen, but during Lent, I go more frequently because I want to remain pure. Sure, attending daily Mass absolves me of all my venial sins, but sometimes my thoughts take a dark turn. Honestly if my mind did not run with so many thoughts, I would have a free pass into heaven.

My Pew

You should be in the spirit when entering into church, right? Well, for the most part I am, until I see someone sitting in my pew. I realize that we don’t have assigned seating at Mass, but for those who attend every Sunday, we have a routine.  Nothing is more irritating than when someone sits in my pew. It’s usually the same woman with her nine-year-old-looking son. Is there something wrong with me having this bad attitude? Yes and no: yes, because I am taken out of the spirit; and no, because I can’t kneel when they are already sitting there, plus the boy is always playing games on his phone.

My Parking Spot

I could move to another pew, but that won’t work either. Mike has the habit of letting me out of the car in front of the church, and then he parks in his usual spot. He, too, believes that he has an assigned parking spot; so by the time he comes into church, he knows exactly where to find me.

Offering It Up To God

This Lent I am going to offer up these small annoyances to the Lord. I will no longer allow myself to get out of the spirit when someone sits in the pew where I normally sit.

The Sacrament of Penance

I can only share from the perspective of a Catholic as to why we need to confess our sins. The following information is from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

The confession of sins
1455
The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.
1456
Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: “All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly.”54When Christ’s faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, “for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know.”55
Two Confessions

During COVID I had back-to-back confessions. It was announced that one of our regular priests was being transferred to another parish. We had confessions but, because of COVID, they were done in the open area of the church using room dividers.

It was very important for me to thank the priest who was leaving (I’ll refer to him as Priest B). I had been to confession the day prior with Priest A. So I decided to go to confession again, but my intention was to bid the outgoing priest a thank you.

This was the only way to thank Priest B because we were all keeping our distance. Both Priest A and Priest B were there that morning. As I carefully observed the room dividers being placed for confession, I thought I saw  Priest B go behind one of the dividers. Quickly rushing from the back of the church, I was waiting in line for confession. Remember, I was there to express my gratitude and to wish him well in his new assignment, not to confess my sins.

The Same Sin

When it was my turn for confession, I said the usual prayer: Bless me, father, for I have sinned. My last confession was yesterday. I could not see who was behind the divider, but when the priest spoke it was not Priest B but Priest A. “You confessed these sins yesterday.” he said. Realizing the debacle, I quickly responded, “I know, I can’t get past them.” There in the confessional, before a priest I lied!

I never got to say goodbye to Priest B, but I did go to Mass the following day and this little white lie was removed from my soul because I received communion.

The Pew Report

According to the 2025 Pew Research Center survey of Catholics in the U.S., only 23% said they go to confession at least once a year, 30% go less often, and 47% say they never go.

Our parish does not fall in the Pew Report because we always have a long line for confessions. Tonight February 23rd there will be several priest hearing confessions, more than 100 persons will participate in this Holy Sacrament.

Finding Freedom

Speaking for myself, there is nothing more beautiful than being absolved of my sins. My soul is purified and my mind is cleared. I am once again in the fellowship of Christ. So if you are Catholic, confess your sins. There is nothing hidden from the Lord, He already knows how we have failed. The Enemy, on the other hand, holds you captive to your sins, reminding you daily that you are not worthy. I am here to share with you that the God of our universe is patiently waiting for you to return to Him.

This Lent is for us to re-examine ourselves. We need to look deep within our spirits and  purge all the dusty clouds so that we can see the Son.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, forgive me for all my transgressions. Purify our souls and open the deep wounds of our past sins to free us of them. May we enter this Lent with the knowledge of Your forgiving heart. For those who have avoided confessing their sins, Lord soften their hearts and free them. Amen.

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