Happy 16th Birthday Catherine Therese!!

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Although you'll never read this my sweet Catherine, I love you. 16 years ago you changed our life forever. All of your siblings have done this in their own way but you have done so in a very special way. You have made me more empathetic, compassionate, and much more prayerful. Your smile lights up the world around you and we are all blessed by it.  It's not easy living with a saint. You remind me of my weakness and limited time on this earth. You challenge me to go deeper within myself and find what the Lord is trying to teach me...usually patience. You are made in His image and likeness but He uses you so that I can see my own beauty, goodness, and shortcomings.  You struggle mightily against me with every bath, diaper change, and wardrobe change. I struggle mightily with Him against all the changes He wills in my life. You depend on me and your mom for even the simplest of things. You teach me to depend on Him for everything and not rely on my on strength. You teach me that I
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Lost and Found

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Tonight I will be giving a talk to some teens about my conversion story so today's Gospel is very fitting. Jesus tells me, through the parable of the lost sheep and lost coin, that I am very precious to Him.

I was lost. I had stopped attending Mass and even believing in God for nearly 10 years when He finally found me and carried me back home. I know that there was "joy before the angels of God" when I came back. I also know that that joy has been expressed many other times as I have grown closer to Christ through the years.

As I prepare for this talk tonight and read this Gospel I am reminded that as a disciple of Christ, I am to do what He has done. I too am to seek out the lost sheep that have wandered from the flock. I too am to search for the lost coin that has rolled across the floor of life into some dark corner. I hope and pray that tonight God will work, through my words, on a young person's heart.

We all know someone who is "lost", someone who is in darkness at this time. They may not want to be found but they need help. If you or I can't "find" them or bring them out of this darkness we can at least pray for them. St. James tells us that, "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects." Our prayer for them opens a flood gate of grace from the Heart of Jesus allowing them to be more easily and quickly found. When this happens, you and I, along with the angels, can rejoice.

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