One of my new favorite videos

I kind of really this really existed...

I Love Ash Wednesday!

You get free stuff at Mass :-)

DONATIONS FOR RELAY FOR LIFE!!!!!

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take…

but by the moments that take our breath away.”

RELAY FOR LIFE WILL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY!

A 24-hour team event filled with fun, food and friendship, surrounded by people of all ages joined together to honor cancer survivors and remember loved ones who lost their battle.

Dear Family and Friends,

March is just around the corner, and it is almost time for Creighton University’s Colleges Against Cancer’s Relay for Life. You may now know a lot about Relay for Life, but it is a very important event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This is an organization I am passionate because many people in my family have suffered from cancer. More than 70 percent of the money raised from Relay goes directly to support the American Cancer Society’s programs for research, education and services for patients and their families whose lives have been touched by cancer. 

I have already begun forming my 2010 team, and we will be participating in the 24-hour walk/campout at Relay for Life on March 26-27. My fundraising goal for this year’s Relay is large, and I really need your help to meet this challenge. But my challenge is nothing in comparison to the challenge that so many children and adults have to face 24 hours a day once diagnosed with cancer. I feel blessed to be part of such an important cause. This year Team Virginia is dedicated not only to my grandmother, who is currently fighting cancer, but also in honor of or in memory of all of those who are fighting cancer – the people of valor whose legacies pave the way for children and grandchildren to not have to fight this awful disease, and help guide each of us through life’s journey.

Please help support my efforts for Team Virginia this year with a tax-deductible contribution to the American Cancer Society. I am asking for only $20 from you, which is a small sum if we can find a cure for the suffering of millions. You can donate directly to me online at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/KatieKastl. 

My grandmother’s amazing courage and strength during her battle with cancer gives me hope and inspiration to help reduce the suffering and loss caused by this horrific disease. Together, we can make a difference!  Remember…There’s no finish line until we find a cure.

Warm regards and many thanks,

Katie Kastl

So....the Westboro Baptist Church is a Creighton Today.

and I feel kind of violated. These people seem so insensitive and are one of the more prominent hate groups out there today. They are only here for a half an hour, but I want the OFF my campus. No, God does NOT hate gays and lesbians and AIDS is not his punishment for those who like the same gender. Priests are not pedophile, boy raping men, like those people apparently think (that is what they are protesting here and at Creighton Prep today). It is weird, because I have seen these people on the Laramie Project and on the news and internet, but it is a lot more real when they are here at my home. I want them gone, because Creighton is a great place that is very open to all people, not matter what. You know, as a Catholic I might be going to hell (if you listen to this church's propaganda), but at least I am going there not hating my borther and sister. Love will hold us together, make us a shelter to weather the storm, and I'll be my brother's keeper, so the whole world will know that we're not ALONE!

Oh the Mass, and how you make me think

I love going to Mass! It always gives me something good to think about. Today, my favorite song was sung! It is called The Summons. The first verse says, "Will you come and follow me if I but call your name? Will you go where you don't know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known, will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?" I love this, because it really tells how, if you choose to follow Christ, your life WILL be changed. But, what does God have to do to summon you? Can he just call your name and when you say, "Yes?" he can send you on your way? The readings today fit this song very well (or really the song the readings...good job Tony Ward!). The first reading is the story of Isaiah when he is called to be a prophet. God says, "Whom shall I send?" wondering who will go in his name and serve his people. Isaiah turns around (or really in my mind, which is like a movie he turns around) and says "Here I am, Lord! Send me!" To me, this the reaction we should have to the call of the gospel. Oh, Oh pick me! pick me! We should be as a little child, jumping on our chairs, using all the restraint we have to keep from running up to God, pulling on his robes, and making him pick us.

This song fits well with the gospel too. Today's gospel is the story of Jesus calling James and John, as told by St. Luke. Jesus just calls these men, who probably had never even heard of him, and asks them to drop everything and follow him. They do, and little do they know that he will send them to the ends of the earth to let his love be shown and let his name be known. They are changed forever and let him grow in them.

The fourth verse goes like this, "Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?" This verse speaks a lot to me, personally. I have had people in my life tell me that my personality isn't good. I also seem (at least to myself) to have a hard time making friendships that will last a lifetime. I  have a hard time opening myself up and letting the real me show, because I am scared of being hurt. Maybe this is why I haven't had a lot of really serious boyfriends, or why when we are separated my friends and I from back home barely speak. Or maybe why I can't seem to fit into the jobs, etc. I (think) I want to fit into. I try to hide the parts of me that I think cause these things, so I can have what I think I want. I have to trust that this is all in God's plan, because sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) it is really hard to see where God is going with all of this and what he is calling me to do. This verse reminds me that God is calling me to love the me I hide, because he made it and he things that it is beautiful. I need to rid myself of the fear that is keeping me from doing what I want to do, and use the faith that he has given me to change the world into what it should be. Maybe I will only change things in small ways. And maybe I won't have the life that I think I want, but I have to try and trust in God that all will turn out alright. If I can't trust him, who can I trust in?