Paid Forward!

By Christian (photos by Christine)

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I don’t know if you have ever been to San Luis, Colorado in the San Luis valley.
It’s the oldest town in Colorado, registered in 1851. Mainly Hispanic settlers used to live there.
Population today is about 600.

Stations of the Cross, San Luis

There are beautiful Stations of the Cross going up to a Chapel, rightly called the Shrine of the Stations of the Cross on top of a hill. There is another great Church ‘down town’ with a bed and breakfast attached, the Convent.

The convent

Then you have Main Street with two gas stations at both ends, and one cantina.
It was the very beginning of April when we went there, very few tourists, Main Street was kind of deserted.

We had an 18 years old French friend visiting us and we wanted to show her a bit of deep Colorado. Friends of ours had lent us their adobe house for the weekend and we had just arrived and wanted to eat.
We entered the cantina,  where only two tables were taken, one with four or six farm hands who stopped eating when we entered with our three teenage girls,  and another table with two Anglo couples sitting a bit in the back of the dining room.

It was kind of late in the afternoon; we ordered, blessed the table, made the Sign of the Cross as usual, and enjoyed our meal. The farm hands left their table, still staring at the girls, their lower jaws still hanging, and then the two Anglo couples also left the cantina. We realized that we were the only customers left and that it was maybe time for us to ask for the check and leave too.
So I asked the nice lady at the cash register for the check and she answered: “It’s been taken care of”. Her answer didn’t bother me since I am used to the fact that people don’t understand me when I speak. So I reiterated my question, I made an effort to articulate and polished my American accent. I got the same answer and I just couldn’t get it. It must have seemed obvious to the lady who got down from her high stool and came to our table to tell us: “Well I promised I wouldn’t tell you, but the two Anglo couples who were sitting there had a problem in their family, they prayed about it and the problem was solved. So they wanted to share their blessing and paid for your meal!”
What about that?
I promised I would never be shy blessing the table in public and so should you.

The San Luis Valley

Following the Queen

by Maura
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Drawing in ink- Christine Meert

By some small miracle, we ACTUALLY made it to morning mass today- the feast of the Queenship of Mary. Our wonderful priest gave a short homily, but one that was so profound that… here I sit, still thinking about it, hours later. He said it much better, but the idea was this: All of the feasts of Mary go back to one moment- the Magnificat- the moment that Mary said yes to God. We are all called to say yes to God, and Mary showed us how to do that. In fact, she is the QUEEN at that! 

I often hear from couples that they are afraid for the future. They have financial debt, they are unsure of where they will settle, some are still finishing school, etc. From the viewpoint of an engaged person, the idea of total self-giving love is scary….they are so close, but they have yet to experience what it truly means to give 100% of yourself to the spouse.  The idea of pregnancy is scary for many. The idea of NFP is…let’s face it, kind of hard. What if that means a honeymoon of abstinence? Major buzz kill. Couldn’t they just use contraception until they get the hang of NFP? Questions and questions and uncertainty after uncertainty….leading to logical points on why THEY are the exception to the 
(God- is-in-Charge) rule.

Now imagine Mary, a single teenager living in a culture where adultery meant stoning to death. Imagine her uncertainty! But she said yes to God. Her faith at that moment paved the way for our salvation. Her faith at that moment outweighed the possibility of severe consequences for being pregnant and unwed. 

Drawing in ink - Christine Meert

Drawing in ink - Christine Meert

 “Living in the moment” has a reckless ring to it, right? There is a difference with that and with what we SHOULD do, which is to constantly respond to the stream of God’s graces.  Luckily, we are not asked to provide anything—just to respond to what is being provided for us. One couple, who had always planned on using contraception, was upset when they were presented with the knowledge that contraception is actually sinful. Now what? They preferred the time when they didn’t know it was wrong. Well, don’t worry. The God who led you down this path of marriage with your intended chose this very moment for you to receive this knowledge. All he asks is for you to respond. Clean Slate. Respond now. Drop pre-planned ideas and preconceived ideas. It will take time to talk this out with your spouse. It will take humility, no doubt, to come to grips with the knowledge that your prior plan wasn’t good. But, be like Mary. Don’t look to the uncertainty of what is ahead. Don’t be too proud to face the fact that your plan wasn’t best.  Respond to the truth that is being given to you this day. Tomorrow there will be another one, then another one, then another one. And that is what it means to walk in faith. No one who has walked this faith and responded to these truths is left alone and uncared for. 

And, yet, here I am married with 4 kids. Every single time we have been open and generous to life, God has outdone us in generosity in other areas of our life. You’d think that responding back with more generosity would not be scary or hard….how little we are! I’m that apostle. (Sorry, Thomas). My husband is Peter. No really- that is his name. Pray for us!