Author Archives: Amanda Grassi

The Other “D” Word

By | December 22, 2011

Discernment. What is it really? In a few words, it’s the process of us trying to discover the Lord’s will for our lives either in something big such as which University we’ll attend or what trade we’d like to study or in small things like whether we’ll give a talk in youth group or not. In certain circles, you’ll often hear people say things like, “I’m discerning it” or “I’ll pray about it.” But, what exactly does that mean? For me, it often means spending a lot of time in prayer

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Ich Bin Überzeugt

By | June 21, 2011

I have been blessed in the last few months to be able to begin many of my sentences with the phrase, “Ich bin überzeugt, dass…” (I’m convinced that…). It may not be totally clear why this is so exciting, so let me explain a little further. Most of what followed that phrase was something that I had learned and “known” about our faith, but didn’t necessarily know-know. You know? ;) I knew with my head but not my heart, and I didn’t always believe what I “knew.” For example:

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Back to Basics

By | May 16, 2011

Over the last couple of years, I’ve really become a rosary pray-er. I used to pray it sporadically when I was in the car or when others were praying it, but for at least the past year or so, I’ve prayed it pretty much daily. I’ve always had a strong devotion to Mary, so I love going to her in prayer. One thing that always annoyed me, though, was having to pray the Apostles’ Creed at the beginning. Oftentimes, I would stumble over the exact wording of the Apostles’ versus the Nicene Creed

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Come In

By | March 30, 2011

At the beginning of March, all of the LT Board, Staff and Missionaries came together for our annual Staff Retreat. Each year, as we gather, I feel like I’m at a family reunion—I’ve never actually been to a family reunion, so maybe it’s nothing like one, but, either way, it’s a bunch of people I love coming together for a few days. One of the days we were there, we had a time for local outreach and the team I was on was making home visits. We put together simple, little baskets with some

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Tell Me How You Really Feel

By | March 15, 2011

A few Thursdays ago, we did something totally and blessedly spontaneous. We had just gotten home from Mass and were sitting down to breakfast, when the phone rang. It was Fr. Roland—he was sick and wouldn’t be able to come to Holy Hour that day. He wasn’t the only sick one that day either; Pam and Stephen were also both feeling under the weather. A few minutes after we got the news, I randomly mused aloud, “Hey, do you know what we should do today? We should go somewhere!” I had been thinking

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Lord, I’m Not Worthy to Receive You

By | February 4, 2011

Over the past few years, I’ve dealt with a lot of interior struggle when it comes to receiving the Eucharist. There’s been many a Mass where I’ve spent a good majority of the liturgy fighting an inner battle over whether or not I should receive when it came time for Holy Communion. The drill usually goes something like this: I start to think of all of the sins I’ve committed and then think, “Wow, maybe I shouldn’t receive; I’ve really failed in a lot of ways.” Then, that voice goes

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Stop, Drop and Pray

By | January 14, 2011

A few weeks ago, a couple of us were sitting around the kitchen table doing language homework. Our teacher was supposed to be arriving soon and we were getting some last minute practice in. She was running late and as we sat there, we began to wonder what was up. Then, we got a phone call; it was her–her dad had passed away. I asked her if there was anything we could do for her and she said, “Yes, pray for my mother.” It was so simple, yet, so beautiful. She was saying, “Yes, you can do something.”

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The Lord is My Shepherd

By | January 7, 2011

A few Sundays ago, I was sick, in bed, and unable to attend Mass. Thankfully, a priest came over after Mass to bring me Communion. Not only did this priest go out of his way to bring me the Eucharist, but he also took the time to hear my confession and bless me. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a shortened Communion Service but it’s basically a mini version of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Since the Eucharist is already consecrated, it’s pretty quick. It still includes the key prayers and

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The Father Who Delights

By | December 13, 2010

A few summers ago, I was given a scripture to pray through. It was from Psalm 37:4, “Take delight in the Lord who will give you the desires of your heart.” This was very foreign to me. I thought, “What does that mean?” I remember sitting in adoration after that and trying really hard to delight in the Lord. I sat there looking at Him intently and saying, “Lord, I delight in you.” As you can imagine, though, it felt a little weird, and it didn’t seem to be working. Around that same time,

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Would You Like a Brownie?

By | November 30, 2010

One night, quite a few years ago, a friend and I were getting ready to go to the movies. Right as we were about to leave the house, my friend’s dad asked what movie we were going to see. Upon hearing the title and rating (PG-13), he had one word for us: “poop.” A little disappointed and annoyed, we both whined about how it wasn’t that big of a deal. “Poop,” he repeated. Now, this may seem like a strange comment for him to make, but there’s a history there. My friend’s dad was referring

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