Wisdom from Wizards

Need a good source of entertainment? Go see The Hobbit.

Need a little adventure in your life? Go see The Hobbit.

Need a break from studying? Go see The Hobbit.

Need to get your mind off something? Go see The Hobbit.

Need a cure for writer’s block? Go see The Hobbit.

(I’d read the book before you go watch the movie, but that’s just because I love to read and get all the extra details).

I’m not sure if you figured it out yet or not, but I went to see The Hobbit tonight ;) and it was awesome! I loved all three movies in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (during a snow day a couple of years ago, my friends and I watched them all in a row) so I was really excited when I heard Peter Jackson was doing this one, too.

Luckily it’s been about 10 years since I read the book, so I had forgotten most of the storyline. I knew the very rough outline, but I could have gotten that much simply by watching the previews. And that’s the way I like it! When the Harry Potter movies were coming out, I used to reread the book right before I saw the movie, and it was the worst mistake I could have made! Apparently I thought it would be a good idea to be aware of all they have to leave out in the interest of time…well, let’s just say, it wasn’t. I’d walk out of the movies angry because they didn’t put this in or they didn’t put that in. Dumb dumb dumb. And I almost made the same mistake this time! Luckily, I recalled the anger that was sure to flare up just in time and stopped myself from experiencing it for the 8^th time.

Anyway, on to the point of this post (as if there is one).

During one of the scenes, Gandalf is talking to Galadriel (don’t worry, I’m not giving anything away) and he says:

“Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

As soon as he said it, I wanted to write it down because I knew I’d never remember it once the movie was over. I can’t even remember the responsorial psalm after the first verse is read, so me keeping that quote in my head for 2.5 hours was not going to happen. I’m surprised I even remembered who the conversation took place with! Luckily the internet helped me out with the rest ;)

I guess I just really love the message in those simple words. We don’t need to be rich or powerful to do good. We don’t need to have armies standing beside us in order to make a difference. We don’t need to be the best or the fastest or the biggest or the brightest or the strongest to have an effect on someone. We just need to be ourselves. Because God has endowed each of us with a gift, a piece of Himself, that will allow us to make a difference. We all have some characteristic within ourselves that will help us fulfill whatever plan God has for us each and every day. Sure we can’t all be the next Mother Teresa, but we’re not supposed to be (just ask Danielle Rose). And there’s so much we can do without simply copying her beautiful ways. We can take the time to smile at someone as we pass them on the sidewalk. We can volunteer somewhere. We can offer to babysit for a family at church. We can put something into the second collection on Sunday. We can bake cookies for a friend. We can send someone a text to say we care about them. We can hold the door open for the person behind us. We can recycle. We can donate our old clothes and toys and books. We can spread joy instead of sorrow. We can smile more and frown less. We can give more and take less. We can be kind. We can be loving.   

What do you think? How can we be ordinary folk keeping the darkness at bay? 

Did someone say miracles?

Originally this post was going to be a response to a challenge one of my friend’s gave me the other day, but after the afternoon I had, I decided I would save that topic for tomorrow and hit you with some MIRACLES!

I discovered a perpetual adoration chapel about 20 minutes away from my house about a month ago. Well, that’s not exactly true…my friend told me about it so I guess she technically discovered it. Haha but that’s not important. What IS important is that we went today. We probably got there around 2:30 and at 3, the priest came in and asked us if we wanted to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with him. Then he invited us over for cookies and coffee whenever we were done praying. So when we were both finished, we walked over to the rectory and walked into a Catholic goldmine! Honestly, there’s no other way to describe it. This man had more prayer cards, relics, statues, pictures, and dishes for his cat (unrelated? Possibly) than most gift shops do. It was amazing. I wish I had had my phone with me so that I could have taken pictures of some of them. He had a first class relic of Blessed John Paul II (a piece from the inside of the little white beanie he was wearing on the day he was shot), a hair from Mother Teresa’s head, a piece from the crown of thorns, aaaand something from each member of the Holy Family (I wish I could remember what they all were…but I don’t). Plus a ton of others but I can’t seem to recall them all…next time I’ll be more prepared!

But that wasn’t even the coolest thing! After we had our fill of relics (as if that’s even possible…), he brought out some rose petals, some oil, and a stack of pictures. He proceeded to tell us a story of aFilipino layman who he’s friends with. Apparently this man takes 3 white roses and puts the petals into a container of water. Then he tells someone to put their rosary into the water and all of the sudden it starts foaming up, and he takes the mixture and pours it into bottles. And it becomes rose-scented OIL! It smells soooo good. But it gets better! Because then he tells everyone to take a rose petal and put it on their shoulder. Once again I can’t remember what exactly happens next but then he tells them to look at their petals AND THEY ALL HAVE IMAGES ON THEM!!! The priest had like 15 of them with images of the kids at Fatima, JPII, Mary’s Immaculate Heart, Padre Pio, and St. Francis with the church he rebuilt.  They were so amazing and so detailed. Looks like I need to plan another trip to the Philippines!

You’re not going to believe this, but there’s more! This priest was just full of stories. The next one involved a little girl from Massachusetts, Audrey Santo. You can read her full story here, but essentially she was in a near drowning accident and wound up in a semi-vegetative state due to some complications. According to the priest, her mother took her to Medugorje where she recovered slightly. When they got back, they turned their garage into a small chapel. When a few priests came to bless the area, blood appeared on 4 of the Hosts. Whoa!

And there’s one more :) I didn’t quite follow the story in the beginning so I’m going to move along to the middle and hope you can catch up. Basically, there was this crucifix in Mexico that a boy had been dreaming about his whole life. They ended up making 3 replicas of it, and the priest I met has one and knows the other two priests who have the others. Apparently they were all together blessing items in what looked like someone’s basement according to the pictures he had, when all of the sudden, two of the replica crosses started weeping. He has pictures of the oil dripping down from all around the cross. Then! They took tissues and wiped Jesus’ legs. When they pulled them back, the tissues had red marks all over them like they had wiped away blood. And then salt started forming on the head of the crucifix! And he’s got pictures of all of this!

There’s just something about stories like these that really set my heart on fire. Yeah we don’t need these miracles, but they sure are nice. They get people talking and thinking and wondering what’s up with those crazy Catholics ;) They remind us that we really do have the fullness of Truth. They let us know that something important is going on and we need to pay attention. It’s like the Marian apparitions. Of course Mary doesn’t have to appear to us, but when she does, we need to listen to the messages she’s bringing. She’s doing it for our benefit, not her own.  Because without us, God’s plan cannot be realized.