Praying Mentis

A Laymen's Journey into the Catholic faith.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Faith and the Impossible

We all have had that situation where we come face to face with the impossible. A great deal of us give up in these situations. That makes sense. I mean if you truly believe it is impossible to accomplish something, then you should give up. It is logical. As Yoda said, we only have two choices, "do or do not, there is no try." Either something is impossible or it isn't. So I am going to try and make another analogy, so bear with me. A general rule of thumb is, if it happened to Luke Skywalker during his quest, then it will happen to us in our journey. So here is a way awesome excerpt from Star Wars. 


Luke: You want the impossible.
Yoda: Raises ship from swamp
Luke: I can’t believe it!
Yoda: That is why you fail.

So why aren’t we all lifting, X-Wings left and right? Perhaps we think like Luke, and believe that, "Yoda" is asking us to do "the impossible." Maybe we believe overcoming our sins is impossible... and so we give up. When I went to confession on Saturday my priest told gave me some great advice "let go of the past" and focus on the first reading. For this lent season he suggested that I focus on God and what he desired for my life. I thought this was a strange thing to emphasize but then I turned to the first reading.


“You burdened me with your sins, and wearied me with your crimes. It is I, I, who wipe 

out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

That's when it hit me, salvation is a progressive act! At times I think that we think that God won't help us if we fall, I know I fall into that kind of thinking alot. But that is not the case. It is actually alot like the gameplay in World of Warcraft. It is alot of work and it takes alot of time, but eventually, you will get to level 80.  And boy when you do, you will look back and laugh at the days when you were level 20. But even then you need to get new armor and face new challenges. 

God knows that we are trying to make it to level 80 and He just wishes that we would ask Him to power level us! If all of this analogy went over your head because you are not a complete nerd and used to dedicate your life to World of Warcraft... then let me just say that, even in our sin, God still reaches out to us... He never stops loving us even and offers His help. He only wants to help us in the most amazing ways. I think this is why my priest told me, to let go of the past. So many times Jesus calls us and says,

"I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." (Mark 2:11)

Jesus makes His intentions for humanity known throughout all of scriptures. He reassures us that He loves us, and when He healed the paralytics sin and paralysis, He demonstrated that He can and will forgive us of our sins. However, whenever Jesus calls us to repentance He always says to us, rise go out into the world, or rise go home, or in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah leave and do not turn back or you will be turned to a pillar of salt. I don't know about you guys, but I really appreciate my human form-- and would really, really, prefer to not turn into a pillar of salt... even if it was ony in a symbolic way (whatever that entails.)

In the battle against Sin, it is in the moment we look back, that we fall again. We have to confess our sins and then fix our eyes on God. We have to have faith that God is doing, "something new!" in our lives! This makes the best kind of repentance! Isaiah reminds us that our salvation is in the future, not our past!

“Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!”(Isaiah 43:25)

This is the Christian definition of hope and faith. If every time we fell, we looked up towards God and truly had faith and hope in His magnificent working in our lives, our conversion would be so much easier! I might make another post on this subject alone, but by getting rid of our sin God brings our soul to a point where, we can better understand the revelation of His love that He made clear to us with his redemptive acts. 

The supernatural character of the series of objective acts with which it formally identifies revelation, it recognizes an immediate action of God’s Spirit on the mind of man, preparing, fitting, and enabling him to apprehend and interpret aright the revelation made objectively in the redemptive acts. Warfield, B. B. (2008).

If we don't use that time to ponder His redemptive acts, then we will miss out on one of the greatest opportunities to grow closer to God. In order that you realize how much you would miss out on, lets just say that the only equivalent to not focusing on God after a repentance would be, if you created a time machine and went back in time to when Yahoo, Apple, or Google were first established... then after you arrived, you DID NOT purchase their stocks. Yes, it's that ridiculous. 

(SIde Note:Did I already say that the last mass was the best mass ever? I mean when I got out I felt like I just watched the entire Star Wars series for the frist time! I mean do you know just about every quote I used in this post has been from mass?!?!-- Sorry back to my point)


What determines how long our conversion lasts is, do we turn our gaze towards our sins and say to God as Luke said to Yoda, “you want the impossible!” Or do we turn towards God and look towards His redemptive acts on the cross and have faith in God during the impossible battles we face?


I think its time now for, yes, yes it is. That's right, it's time for yet ANOTHER reference to last Sunday's Mass. 


Collect: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, always pondering spiritual things, we may carry out in both word and deed that which is pleasing to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

It is by pondering spiritual things, God, Jesus, His unconditional love for us, that we trust in God and thus become Dragon Warriors able to accomplish the impossible. It is then that we overcome our sins! As I write this, I am undergoing one of the largest conversions of my life. A shift in the very way I look at life. I wrote about it briefly in my last blog, but let me just say that God's forgiveness, mercy, and love is almost too much. Before I was worried how I would balance doing what God wanted for my life while still embracing my role as a Christian man in society--Then I heard this reading about 3 or 4 weeks ago:

"An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. " (1 Corinthians 7:34)

I began to throw a fit. I wanted an active role in Catholic society where I could contribute someway and forward the grace of God that has bestowed upon me in my own life. But when I read this, I started thinking, "Ok, thanks for stating the obvious and amplifying the feeling that that had been eating away at my soul..." and went into my "kid temper tantrum mode." (This is a mode that I go into when I either I can't understand scriptures or I can't understand God's will for my life) 
Slowly, and very slowly at that, I realized that the passage also had the solution the this paradox. St. Paul did not want us to worry, he instead states explicitly,

"17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them...Keeping God’s commands is what counts.20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. ( 1 Corinthians 7:34)

That passage helped me change my life. I repeated the words over and over, live as a believer. Live as a believer. Live as a believer. I kinda wanna say it again... live as a believer! Ok. I am done, for now. A believer has faith and trusts in God. A believer keeps God's Commandments and if he falls, he seeks forgiveness and tries again. It is then necessary as believers after we fall, that we make the big leaps of faith like Tobit, Tobia, Abraham, and become followers of Christ like the apostles who left everything behind for Jesus. If we take leaps of faith without a worry in our heart, then we can trust in God with the little things too. Ironically, this is also how we conquer sin. =0 

Perhaps we still have lingering doubts. Perhaps we think that God will not forgive us and will abandon us for our past sins... But this is not the message of last sunday's readings!

Once I said, "O LORD, have pity on me; heal me, though I have sinned against you."But because of my integrity you sustain me and let me stand before you forever. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from all eternity. Amen. Amen. (Re sponsorial from Psalm 41) 

Jesus takes the time to forget our sins for our integrity---

"You burdened me with your sins, and wearied me with your crimes. It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more. (Isaiah 43:24-25) 

So, let's take the opportunity of lent to ponder spiritual things. Let's ponder the profound forgiveness Jesus offers us, and ask ourselves, "what does God desire for my life?" Yes repent of your sins, but, don't just lament about the past, embrace what God calls you to now in the present! Have faith that God is working in your life! The new feeling of letting go of your past sins and placing trust and faith in God will completely change your life in unimaginable ways. Who knows you may even come to find that the impossible is entirely all too possible.
--------

For Citation Purposes:   Warfield, B. B. (2008). The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield, Volume 1: Revelation and Inspiration (6). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Monday, February 13, 2012

How to Become a Dragon Warrior

Last night I went to adoration and picked up a book  called, "Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart." It was then that I came to the realization that drinking a large vanilla iced coffee from Mcdonalds, before going to adoration, is a very bad idea. Being completely wired with Coffee, makes it very difficult to focus. And so, I had begun to ask God to help me to pray because I was... wired. At first all I could think about was the fact that I got locked into my prayer closet with my girlfriend and had to break the door down, and kinda chuckled and wondered if God really did lock me in a closet to teach me some sort of lesson.. or if that was just my bad luck. Oh--and just in case anyone wanted to know:


Sorry, back to the main point.The first section I read made a really awesome analogy of the soul as being a lake and if it had ripples in it, then it could not reflect the sky. Our soul reflects God when it is at peace. This video came into my mind when I pictured it. 



At times we become like Shifu and simply let that worry run its course. Master Oogway has a great word of advice for us, "Your mind is like this water my friend, when it is agitated it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle the answer becomes clear."   What we don't realize is that  worry, doubt, and anxiety  takes away the solution to our problems , just like how the ripples blinded Shifu from the Dragon scroll. If we put an end to worry in our life, we could finally see the p eace and grace that naturally comes to us if we place trust and confidence in God. 


God has always desired for the inner peace and building up of our souls.

"This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. (Isaiah 30:15)"


But, there is something about fear, worry, or doubt that  produces a ripple in our souls that takes away our ability to hear God.  It diverts our attention away from God who is the only one that can bring peace to our hearts. In Old Testament physical manifestations were often signs of spiritual realities. 1 Kings19:11-13 is a perfect example of what takes place in our souls when we doubt:


Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  (1 Kings 19:11-13)

These physical anomalies resemble the effects of the worry that plague us when we doubt God. In our minds our thoughts become what Elijah witnessed physically. They become mountains being torn apart and shattered, winds fiercely blowing, earthquakes, and fires ripping away at our peace that comes from trust in God. It is with trust in God that we can see most clearly, this is how we, "let go" of all other things and progressively find the solution to our problem. And so... that's right! It's Star Wars time!


I noticed in prayer that night, that my worry, doubt, or anxiety about the future was not what God wanted for me. (Side note: Yes, yes, an OBVIOUS conclusion for the audience, whatever, the enemy in a film is always more obvious to the audience then the protagonist) But in addition to this I realized that these vices blocked God from entering my life more fully.


Here is why, speaking very generally whenever someone is not at peace--- be it from worry, doubt, or anxiety--- it is because they feel something is lacking in their lives. The underlying assumption then is that once you get whatever it is that you are lacking, you will have inner peace. However, if we think this way about anything besides God, then we are seeking it as an end. In that sense, we desire to fulfill ourselves, the lack of peace that God Himself is meant to fulfill. Thus once we fill whatever arbitrary need we seek, we will once again feel disturbed and out of place because we did not fullfil our need with what we were supposed to fill it with, which is God. We try to fit a square into a circular hole, even though we laugh at kids for doing it all the time! (or I suppose that might just be me and my cruel sense of humor.) 


The devil will always try and distract us from hearing God's voice. He uses many "mountains, fires, winds, and earthquakes" to get our attention away from God. He uses only methods that slip under our radar... but if they aren't under our radar, they don't work as well. And so, I would like to share with you three things that have gotten under my radar, and have driven me further from God (hopefully for the last time): Worry, doubt, and anxiety. Hah not so under the radar now are you!? Ka-bam! Can you handle that? I know you are problably still wondering... But how do I become a dragon warrior...And so... Let me spell it out, with these vices no longer under the radar we finally become Dragon Warriors by focusing on the virtue of trust in God.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Obamacare vs. Constitution Episode I – “The Federal Menace”

Introduction:
Good news everyone, Obama's Healthcare act forcing Catholic institutions to provide Contraceptives in their insurance plans to employees has been revoked.

I would like to applaud the many successful arguments by Catholics that address the violation of the constitution by the mandate forcing Catholic institutions to pay for contraceptives for their employees.. and w hile this is good progess, we still have aways to go! Catholic Laymen, who are not employeed by Catholic Institutions  as well as Catholic insurance agencies   will still have to pay for contraceptives ! 

Catholics will still have to violate their consciences.  The m andate only exempts Religious Organizations, Employers, and Institutions. On the positive side, we know more about Obama.  And so... Here is an argument on the constitutionality of forcing the American public and Catholic Laymen to pay for contraceptives in general.

Politically speaking…

1.)Violation of the Due Process Clause:

"No person shall... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

  • Violation: Since the new law would make a fee for the refusal to purchase insurance, which could be anywhere from $750-$3800 per a family, it would deprive people of "property" without, "due process." That's right Jar Jar, your attempts at destroying society has failed again.

2.)Violation of the Ninth amendment:
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

  • Violation: The right of the people to refuse purchase of a product.

3.) Violation of the Tenth Ammendment:


“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

  • Violation: The power to force people to pay for contraceptives is not expressively included in the constitution. Thus
bureaucrat,  but is instead one that is up to a vote by you and me! Yay democracy!

In a case where the federal government tried to impose penalties for not purchasing products, The supreme court reported it as a violation of the tenth amendment:

“Justice   Sandra Day O'Connor  
wrote that the federal government can encourage the states to adopt certain regulations through the spending power (e.g. by attaching conditions to the receipt of federal funds, see (South Dakota v. Dole), or through the commerce power (by directly pre-empting state law). However, Congress cannot directly compel states to enforce federal regulations.”


Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Forced_participation_or_commandeering

Financially Unsound Usage of Tax Dollars

There are many different companies that have to profit from this, insurance companies, Insurance agents who handle the policies, the people who designed the policies, the government. Otherwise, how is the policy supposed to survive? This means that the public is going to pay much MORE for services that we already have available at most pregnancy clinics.  Woooaaa, hold on a second there. We are now going to pay roughly 4 times as many parties for this service now? When has that ever been a good idea?

In my next blog I will dive into the effectiveness of contraceptives and consequences of not only everyone having access to contraceptives — which everyone already does have — but also, the effects of government enforcement on the increased prevalence of sex as a consequence in our country. In the meanwhile, here is a website of the Catholic Bishops analysing the affects of Obama's newly purposed plans to keep you occupied.

http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-026.cfm



Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Dark Side

So today's topic is conflict resolution and Catholics or... The Dark Side! I want to discuss one method of conflict resolution that isn’t used enough, plain simple silence. Father Qui-Thac had a homily about its powerful effects a couple weeks ago, I just thought I would make a post on it because I was kinda forced into using it a few weeks ago. 


There are some people that are just more difficult to get along with in this world. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good people too   but, there are people who are set in their ways. Seemingly unchangeable, annoying, punks, who are enchanted with -1 to forgiving, and would never show mercy. (See below)


These are people (or space aliens) that cannot be reasoned with-- the ones that no matter how much you do for them, they will eventually hate you forever based off some arbitrary reason. This arbitrary reason in their mind will be a violation of common sense. (I mean I am sure that everyone has done this sometime in their lifetime...This is not to say that Catholics don't do it too.) I think this eventually happens to people who don’t realize that in order to love someone, it is absolutely necessary for you to tolerate at least some parts of them that irritate you.

Some base this off of scriptures, saying we can judge others... But I have yet to have found scriptures that support that view. 

"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister  will be subject to judgment." (Matthew 5:5-7)

You will be subject to judgement because in your heart you have put them on the level of a thing, an object to be mad at... Its just like what the United States did when we went to war with Germany. Hamburgers were named after a city in Germany, but that was suspended and named, for a time, Salisbury steak. Why? Dehumanization of an enemy. Last time I checked this is not (in most scenarios anyways) a virtue.

Jesus never responded to any conflict with an eye for an eye, or justice, solution. When Peter struck the guard and cut off his ear, Jesus stopped him. Why? When Peter said that he would not let anything happen to Jesus what happened? Jesus actually got angry with Peter. He was stopping him from saving the world! When Judas betrayed Jesus, did he even rebuke Judas? No, he rebuked Peter. Imagine that you are standing by Jesus and you are watching as the guards strike at him… wouldn’t you attack them? Wouldn’t you do all you could to protect Jesus? Isn’t that justice?

           
In order to answer why Jesus did this we only have to look at the scriptures, 
for God so loved the world, he gave his only son.”  (John 3:16)
He loved the world and so he made a sacrifice. Why was the sacrifice necessary? Because of Sin. What is sin? Sin is evil. This is the legendary question, why does evil exist? God does not want to destroy evil but save it:

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”On hearing this, Jesus said to them,   “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”(Mark 2:15-17)
When you add yeast to bread, the yeast makes the entire loaf rise. Or for food that might taste bland you would add salt to increase the flavor of the entire meal. Evil exists because God loves the world so much that he doesn’t want to destroy it, but instead convert it. So, how should we go about conflict resolution?



There is something about watching a clear cut battle between good vs evil that sparks that "Aha!" moment within us where we can see good. We see a tyrant besides a humble, life giving servant, then we can then see which is right and which is wrong. But then there comes the question, how do we approach conflict when it comes our way? Many of us today see another performing a, “evil” deed and then, approach it with what some describe as righteous anger.

"Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:19–20, ESV)

If someone else hurts you, you shouldn’t try to hurt them back.  You should try to restore their soul, or have we learned at all from Jesus’ example on the cross? I am pretty sure, last time i checked anyways, that killing someone on a cross is something that should be punished by death… but… ironically the opposite happened. Assuming that others should receive justice for their sins and you should receive forgiveness for yours is a double standard. We need to love the person, accept them for who they are, and love them despite the fact that there are some issues we might have with them.

I just tried this hardcore, for the first time, because of my girlfriend. I am usually abit of a, "if you’re doing something wrong I should immediately point it out to the other person," type person. Abit judgemental I suppose. And, you know, it made me realize something. What would saying any words possibly do? Has anyone every persuaded another person with just words? No. Even Jesus taught by example, not just words. We need to provide an example to the secular, moral relativistic society today and show them how to fight fire! Which is not with fire-- I mean that doesn't even make sense-- but with water. =)

Saturday, February 4, 2012

A Catholic Perspective on Love


Today I have decided to write A Catholic Perpective on Love. You see, Lizzie was having a bad day so I texted her to cheer her up. I told her to feel lucky that we have each other: not only because we have each other’s remarkable presences to enjoy, but also because we have physical proof of God always acting in our lives. For me, that proof is her. For her, that proof is (I hope at least, and if not then I have horribly misread my girlfriend) me. Then I thought for a second… hey… wait… isn’t that—Yep. That’s right—that could be part of the reason that Marriage is a sacrament. Now I’m not saying that we’re married... Not yet anyways... But just bare with me for a second while I sort out this analogy. (p.s. I’m really good with analogies. But actually not really. So that’s why you have to bare with me.)
Firstly we should define what a Sacrament is. Many people wonder why Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest when they can confess to God Himself. Or why do Catholics need to go to church in order to receive Christ in the form of the Eucharist. A very good general response, without diving too deeply into any one of the seven sacraments is this: The reason is not that God requires us to do it in this way for some random arbitrary reason, but because we ourselves require some kind of physical sign of God grace due to our humanity. I’ve never heard anyone say, “Boy, I really wish I had less proof that God existed! That would really help my belief in Him.” Truth is, we are all a bunch of doubting Thomases. We look at the Bible and say, “Hah! I can’t believe Thomas needed proof that Jesus was Jesus. I mean, it was totally obvious. What a horrible Apostle… Can’t even recognize his Savior Jesus Christ after three consecutive years of constant companionship!” But then we don’t believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ (even some Catholic doubt this fundamental truth). The truth is, we need a physical sign that God has forgiven us. We need a physical sign that God is with us, and we need a physical sign that the Holy Spirit will be with us always. This is what a sacrament accomplishes.

A sacrament is merely a physical sign of a spiritual reality, namely that God loves us and is with us. Marriage then falls quiet nicely into the definition of a sacrament then because we see in so many ways that God is acting in our lives. God shows us what love is by giving us another part of ourselves to love. There is something quiet profound about the (mostly) un-conditional love from another human being that we try to emulate when we are in a relationship. This unconditional love that we give to our partner is meant to be given to the entire world. Perhaps this is what it is so necessary that some fall in love, perhaps this is why God Himself placed you in each others’ lives. God said, “Yeah those two would totally work together!” God actually said this through Holy Scripture:

“Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (
Mark 10:9)          

Ok lets repeat that, God himself not only approves of the person you are going to marry, but He finds it so necessary for the two of you to be together, that he himself placed the two of you in each others’ lives. Think of children who ask their dad’s permission for marriage, or children when they ask if they can go to the movies with their friends for the first time. What is the first thing they do? That’s right, a jump and a fist pump!

Just like all sacraments, Marriage is supposed to reflect God and ultimately leads towards our unity with Him which includes necessary unity with others. What does that mean for the married? What God has given, namely love, is meant to be given away. I said it earlier and I will say it again: the unconditional love that we give to our partner is meant to be an example of how to treat the entire world.
I remember talking with a good friend of mine who shall remain nameless merely to protect her humility—about the countless couples getting married within our friendship circle. I do mean countless, like how many times Jar Jar Binks appeared in Star Wars despite the fact that he was a universally despised character—yeah, that countless. We were talking about how to tell if relationships are going to work and we decided that you could tell by how much they unite those around them. One reason for the great mystery of marriage is this awesome verse, which you wouldn’t at first think is about marriage at all, but totally is!:

“Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I.” (Matthew 18:20)

Marriage does not only unite you with your spouse, but it is also intended to unite those around you because Christ is working through you both. God knows the most direct path to your salvation involves caring for another and making a new life through said union. Isn’t that awesome??!

Some may find it satisfactory to say that anything in our life is given to us by God, but at times these and other statements become cliché and we feel as though they do not apply to us. When those times come, it becomes more and more necessary for us to follow Bing Crosby’s advice and count our blessings instead of sheep.


And so-- Ready your sheep!  St Ignatius said that anything God gives us is meant to lead us closer to Him. Any married person was given his/her other half as a gift or grace, they were meant in a special way to lead them closer to God. (
This is a strange thought… does that mean the person you marry is himself or herself a grace? But those are thoughts for another day.)  Marriage necessarily brings you closer to God in many ways, like, through knowing that God is acting through your lives simply from the fact you found each other.  I am emphasizing this concept in this way because no one really focuses on it, but there are many other ways that you can tell that God has a working hand in HOLY MARRIAGES: the children which you are given by God, the way that your trust increases as you turn to Him and trust in Him to lead you and your family, the way you will necessarily have to forgive your partner an infinite amount of times just like Jesus forgives us an infinite amount of times, the way the two of you watch each others’ backs for sin through vigilant prayer and reliance on God.

There is a reason why most people, when talking about their partner they say, “They make me want to become a better person” or something along those lines. The origin of this feeling does not come from the innate virtue radiating around the imperfect partner (thank goodness), but from the fact that Christ is present in that relationship. Jesus says to us in our broken nature,

"Behold, I make all things new!" (Revalation 21:5)." 


Jesus gives us a simple way to follow him, if used appropriately the sacrament of marriage provides one of the most powerful means to getting closer to God and humanity. 

" And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. " (Isaiah 35:8)

Granted the last quote is mainly about the Catholic Church and the giving of the Holy Spirit-- I believe it can be applied to the Sacrament of marriage. Even if you are completely unaware of God's love, you can still participate in the type of love that God had planned for all of humanity since the beginning through the Sacrament of Marriage... And in many ways see God and ultimately grow closer to Him. Ahhh its soo awesomme!! We need to make a feast day!! A feast to all of the married who have seen God work in their lives so that they never ever, ever, forget God's active hand in their lives!..

…Nevermind, they already have that. It’s called an anniversary.Whatever I totally thought up the concept of an anniversary before anyone else.