So it’s been a couple of months since I last blogged. I could make hundreds of excuses, but truthfully I haven’t felt like I’ve had much to say.

I’m still wrestling with the same demons as I was back in December. Some days are better than others, but most of the time, the struggle is very real.

So this was on my mind as I finalized the notes for a talk I’m giving today.

With each presentation I give, the Spirit moves me to talk about certain people. And I don’t always know the reason why. 

For this talk, He wanted me to focus on the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42), Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18) and St. Paul (Acts 9:1-22).

As I reflected on these Biblical figures, I realized that they all encounter Jesus when they least expect it.

• The woman at the well had been married multiple times, was currently living with someone out of wedlock, had been shunned by her community, and felt cloaked in sin and shame.
• Mary Magdalene’s life was in shambles. She had witnessed Jesus ’crucifixion and death. She had lost the one who cast the 7 demons from her. She brought her heavy heart to the tomb to process her sorrow and grief.
• St. Paul was on the way to Damascus to murder more Christians. His anger and hatred consumed his life.

And Jesus met all three of them where they were on the journey.  In the middle of the mess. And loved them through it.
So, just like our ancestors in faith, encountering Jesus can happen to us too when we least expect it…even in our sin and shame….our sorrow and grief…..our hatred and anger.  He meets us where we are…no matter how messy or stormy our lives can be.

He’s walking with me through my mess….through my sin and shame….my sorrow and grief….my anger and rage.  And He loves me through it.  Even when I least expect it.

Holy Week begins tomorrow. And we get the opportunity to, once again, walk with Jesus through the mess of His betrayal, suffering and death. Can we meet Him where He is?  And love Him through it so He knows He’s not alone?  He does it for us time and time again; perhaps it’s time to return the favor.

​Peace,
Deborah Gretzinger (No R.E. Gretz)

This question was posed to me yesterday by a priest I am acquainted with prior to a talk I gave at an ALPHA retreat. I hadn’t seen him for awhile so he didn’t know about my struggles with Bell’s Palsy for the last 5 months. He didn’t know how much I’ve struggled for more than a year: physically, emotionally and spiritually.  So to be honest, up until that question, I hadn’t thought about finding many fruits with this illness.  Because I’ve focused more on the struggles and sadness. And I’ve sat and wallowed in that well of self-pity and sorrow.

But this priest was prompted by the Spirit to ask the question which continues to haunt me: what fruits have you found with your illness?

As I thought about my answer to that question, I realized there were plenty of fruits but I had been too stuck in my well of self-pity and sorrow to notice.

Fruit #1: My friends and my family have been insanely patient with me. They have listened to me, helped me and challenged me.
Fruit #2: A Facebook article offered me a chance to look at things differently. The mantra ‘only love today’ has definitely helped change my attitude and lift the tension.
Fruit #3: I’ve been blessed to help others in a wide variety of ways.
Fruit #4: I have been reminded about the amazing families in my RE/YM program.
Fruit #5: I’ve been inspired by Scripture, especially this weekend’s readings.

I don’t know that I will stay in this positive state of mind. But I will definitely try. I plan to go to confession this week with my HS students, and begin the season of Advent with a clean heart and a fresh start with a God who mercifully gives us a second chance so I can focus on the fruits of my situation rather than the struggles.

So now I pose the same question to you: What fruits have you noticed in the struggles affecting your life right now?  If you haven’t noticed the fruits, can you use the season of Advent to lift your soul to the Lord? To let Him know what’s on your heart? To challenge yourself to be different when Christ comes at Christmas?

I’ll be praying for you.

Peace,
Deborah Gretzinger (No R.E. Gretz)

Most of you know that the last year has been very rough for me health wise.  Between my struggles with vestibular neuritis and continued difficulties with Bell’s Palsy, there have been times (especially recently) when I have felt more than useless…a burden…more trouble than I’m worth.  And at my very lowest, I have felt that the little I had to give was not important, valuable, worthwhile or able to serve much purpose.

Today’s readings were rough wake up call for me because they teach otherwise. The poor widow in the first reading (1 Kings 17:10-16) gave food and water to the prophet Elijah out of her meager supplies for her and her son. The second reading (Hebrews 9:24-28) reminds us that Christ gave up His very life so that we might live.  And the Gospel reading (Mark 12:38-44) shares the story of the poor widow whose simple offering of a few cents was worth more than all the other people who gave to the treasury. Where others gave from their surplus, but she gave out of her poverty because she gave all she had.

Like the examples given in the readings today, we each have areas of poverty in our lives. For me, it’s been my bouts of illness. For you, it could be illness too or a financial strain.  But it could also be impatience, exhaustion, feeling overworked, stressed, depressed, or anxious. It could be addiction, family challenges, loneliness, or a season of sorrow. At any of these points of the journey, we can feel that we truly have nothing left to give or that the little that we do have is not worth very much.  I know I have.

But Jesus shows us another way. Our “few cents” can become an offering of great value. Holiness can be found in the day-to-day moments when we complete the small tasks that seem insurmountable. These can be amazing achievements, especially when we don’t want to do something or feel particularly limited by additional challenges that seem to get in the way from doing what we can and offering the little that we have to others and to God. Because it can be SO difficult to keep going when we feel like we have nothing left to give. But let us draw strength from others...let us share our stories….let us remember that our “few cents” are always worth something…and let us remember that even when we feel we have very little to offer, it is indeed a great treasure when offered to God from a sincere and humble heart.

Peace,
Deborah Gretzinger (No R.E.-Gretz)

Note: Today's blog post was inspired by Mary Catherine Craige of Blessed is She

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​I’m not always as inspired by the Holy Spirit as I would like to be. Then again, maybe I’m just not listening hard enough. But yesterday’s readings really resonated with me so I thought I’d write down a few of my thoughts.
 
In the gospel reading yesterday (Luke 10:1-12), we hear that Jesus sends out 72 of His disciples because “the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” Seasonally, the harvest is abundant here in Wisconsin.  The time of the year has come to reap the benefits of the seeds planted in the spring. And when we pray Psalm 27, “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living” at this time of year, we do tend to see all the good parts of the earth that God has created for us.  Food like apples and pumpkins….sustenance for the animals like hay and corn….leaves changing colors which reminds us that God has the best set of crayons…..
 
But what else are we supposed to harvest? What seeds have we planted?  I’d like to suggest that we use our stories to ‘harvest’ the seeds we’ve planted in others to bring them closer to Christ. Because those people are also the “good things in the land of the living” (Psalm 27) and unique, beloved members of the Kingdom of God.  And we should use our stories to rebuild the Church because at this time in history, although the Kingdom of God is at hand (Luke 10:9), the Church is struggling to survive in a world that loves materialism, relativism, individualism and selfishness.
 
But the harvest requires work….hard labor….persistence….and perseverance. We have to be ready to answer Jesus’ call…to go out…to forsake distraction, to forsake sin and do this work.  We have to be open to letting Christ rebuild our souls so that we can help rebuild His Church.  And we should look towards saints like St. Francis of Assisi (feast day-Oct 4) and St. Faustina (feast day-Oct 5) who inspire us and challenge us to be like the 72 disciples that Jesus sent into the “land of the living” because the “harvest is abundant.”
 
May we all be inspired by the Spirit to answer God’s call and enter the harvest.
 
Peace and blessings,
Deborah Gretzinger (No R.E.-Gretz)

Early this morning, I found myself awake…a victim of insomnia at 2am. I laid awake for almost an hour before deciding to get up and pray. I started with Blessed is She, my favorite devotional website. I read through the readings of the day and then the reflection posted by Joan Geiger. The question she posed was based on today’s Gospel reading of the ten virgins – five who were wise and five who were foolish (Mark 25:1-13). The question Joan posed was this: what fills your spiritual lamp?  And that got me to thinking.

One of the things that fills my spiritual lamp is providing service to others – using my time, talent and treasure – to help those in need. This past Wednesday, my children and I got the chance to help with an ecumenical service project through cityServe and work at Jefferson Elementary School in Green Bay helping a special education teacher named Kathy set up her classroom. We spent two hours doing menial tasks for her: testing markers, sharpening pencils, building a cart, assembling binders, etc. And while none of the tasks were difficult, ultimately they made her life easier and allowed her to get her classroom ready on time for open house that night.  It was a great feeling to know that we had helped Kathy and her students in some small way.

And through my ministry at St. Agnes, I try to provide many opportunities for students and their families to serve others both inside the parish and outside in the community. To give them a chance to fill their spiritual lamps, as it were. Our website has a flyer of options that can be downloaded under the ‘Youth Ministry’ tab.

But maybe service doesn’t fill your spiritual lamp.  Maybe it’s spending time in prayer, going to Mass or Adoration, participating in the Sacraments, listening to Christian music or podcast, or reading a book that brings life to your soul…whatever it is, take some time today to figure out what fills your spiritual lamp because our Lord tells us “therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour" when He is coming.

Peace and blessings,
Deborah Gretzinger (No R.E.-Gretz)

Our gospel reading for this weekend begins with unbelief. “The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’” (John 6:52) And last weekend, we found that they struggled with belief as well when they murmured among themselves (John 6:41). As we have heard the last several weeks, Jesus teaches the crowds and His disciples that He would feed them not with perishable bread, but with the bread of life that would enable them to live forever. But in the Gospel we hear their response—or at least the response of most of them: “No way! This saying is too hard.”

Quite naturally, we don’t want to admit that this might be too hard.  On the surface, it looks pretty easy. We want to accept Jesus’ word and receive the bread of life. We want to believe in the Eucharist. We want to believe in its awesome, saving power to transform us. We want to believe that Jesus is really present in it. We want to believe that it is the bread of life.

But for many of us (and those around us), we are like the people in the Gospels….we murmur, we mutter under our breath, we quarrel among ourselves that this saying is too hard…because our culture, our society, our friends, our family tell us to take the easy route….to think it’s a symbol or a sign of Christ’s presence.  But the truth is…we have been blessed with the Bread of Life…the real presence of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist…not a sign or a symbol…..so we are sent forth to make Christ’s presence real to others. As Christ the Bread of Life has given us Himself to make us His own…to be food for the journey of our lives, we are sent forth to feed the hungry people we meet on our respective journeys. At the end of every Mass, the priest or deacon tells us, “The Mass is ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” So the Eucharist never simply ends, like a play, movie or sporting event ends. No, instead we are all sent forth….sent forth with a mission…to be the bread of life for others.

So this week, take a moment to stop the murmuring, muttering and quarrelling that this saying is too hard and ask Christ instead for a deeper appreciation of the Eucharist. Pray for the grace to make His presence real to others. Share the knowledge that the Eucharist is a gift, and in this life, there is no greater gift that we could ever receive.

Peace,
Deborah (No R.E.-Gretz) Gretzinger

With the summer solstice right around the corner, I figured there would be plenty of time to write a blog post. Time…get it…ha, ha! 😊
 
Summer can be a time of rest for us. There is work to be sure, but there is, too, a laziness about summer. The busyness of the school year is over. Vacation beckons—road trips, camping, plane rides, family time, reunions….
 
The fullness of creation beckons in the summertime. The days are long, and the nights are shorter. The grass and trees are green. Warm nights invite us to gaze at campfires or at the stars. Our summer encounters with creation can serve both to enrich our own relationship with God the Creator and to open us to new ways of bringing that creativity into our lives.
 
God models for us, in the first creation story in Genesis, the rhythms of work and rest. In God’s good creation, human beings are given everything we need before we ever put our hands to work. We were made to enjoy the natural world, walking in peace and friendship with God (see Gen. 3:8).  And God rested on the 7th day…the Sabbath…..and we should remember His example.
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So take some down time this summer and meditate on the vastness of God’s creation. What do the big things speak to you about the nature and character of the One who has created them? What do you notice about yourself as you spend time with this facet of the Creator’s revelation in creation? Or meditate on the intricacy of God’s creation. Who is this God who made and set in motion a world and universe for our bodies and souls to inhabit? What does God have to say to you?
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You might be surprised at how much time you have!

Peace,
Deborah Gretzinger (no R.E.-Gretz)

​I’ve been sick for almost three months now…I’ve been frustrated, overwhelmed, and loved beyond measure by my husband, family, catechists, RE/YM students and families.  This blog is to thank you for your understanding and patience.
 
Next weekend, we will hear of the beginning of Jesus’ mission.  Jesus’ desert experience raises important questions for all of us, including me. What are some of the “desert” experiences I have experienced in my life? What desert experience am I living through right now? When and how do I find moments of contemplation in the midst of a busy life? How have I lived in the midst of my own desert wilderness? Have I been courageous and persistent in fighting with the demons? How have I resisted transforming my own deserts into places of abundant life?
 
My time of illness now is like Jesus’ time to the desert.    Throughout this time, He’s taught me to step back.   To let Him take control.  To let go of my pride and say yes and no more often.  To take more time for Him.  This has been a difficult test for me and my family  to endure, but I don’t know where I’d be without Him.
 
As Christians, we are in a constant fight with the desires born of our sinful natures.  We are unable to resist temptation without God’s grace. We are called to trust the Lord (not ourselves) for strength to resist temptation before it becomes sin. It is not the temptation itself that leads us to sin, but the lack of resistance and trust in the Lord for deliverance.
 
Lord, lead us not into temptation!  Rather, guide us into the pathways of justice, love and peace during these Lenten days.  Give us the grace and fidelity to be faithful to our God and Father in heaven.  Give us the courage to accept who we really are and where we should be.

As I starting thinking about this blog post, I found my thoughts drifting to recent events that took place at religious education classes a few weeks ago. It was a stressful, chaotic night, but amid the stress and chaos, God made His presence known very clearly. One God moment I was able to experience myself; the other two were shared by a parent and catechist, respectively.

The first moment involved a new catechist. He’s been very nervous about teaching as this is out of his wheelhouse. I met with him before class, reviewed the lesson with him, gave him a pep talk and prayed with him, specifically invoking the presence of the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, he came to me unable to speak but very clearly shaken by something that had occurred in the classroom. I gave him a few minutes to compose himself while I handled some other business. When he collected himself, he shared an experience that gave me goosebumps.

When he started class, he almost let his nerves overwhelm him. But he prayed for strength and suddenly, for the first time ever, felt confident enough to push the nerves aside and proceeded to teach an excellent lesson (confirmed by two other adults present in the room). After the students were dismissed and he went back up to the classroom to clean up, his strength left him and he was unable to breathe or stand. He sat with his head in his hands while he collected himself. He was convinced he was filled with the Holy Spirit during that class, and that everything he learned in his 13 years of Catholic school education culminated in that experience because for the first time he knew God was real. This was beyond head knowledge. He felt like everything suddenly made sense. And he was visibly moved by the experience.

For me, it was the first time in my career I was blessed to witness that realization for someone. I never thought in my lifetime I would ever seen the fruit of seeds that I knew I had planted. It was amazing.

The second experience was shared by a parent who is attending the adult faith formation classes offered at the church at the same time we hold religious education classes for the youth. She said because of these classes her husband is now a recovering alcoholic and is much more comfortable with his faith so much so that he is pursuing RCIA.

The third experience was shared by a high school catechist who had forgotten to close class with a prayer and dismissed her students early. As she stopped to pray about it, she heard the students coming back up the stairs. They had gone down the wrong staircase (the creepy one according to one of the girls) and were coming back. This catechist brought them back in the room to pray and shared with them that God had answered her prayer and sent them back to her so they could end class properly.

I drove home that Wednesday night in tears, crying out my gratitude to God for His generous blessings.

In my silent reflection today, God reminded me that even in the stress and chaos, He has things under control. His blessings may come when we least expect them, and maybe when we feel we least deserve them. But in His mercy and because He loves us so much, He continues to show us in ways we understand.

Peace,
Deborah (no RE-Gretz)

“WWJD?” “What would Jesus do?” This question brings to mind the parable in this coming Sunday’s gospel in Matthew 21: 28-32 – the parable of the two sons. In this story, Jesus contrasts the first son, who initially refuses the request of his father to work in the vineyard but then thinks about it and obeys that request, with the second son, who initially says yes to the request but disobeys his father in the end.
 
It would be nice to have instant acceptance of things in our lives that we find difficult. Whether it is a situation like that of this father or making a choice to do what we believe is right in the face of criticism and opposition from others, we would like to be able to move into immediate acceptance. But often the process of discerning and accepting the will of God takes some time and involves a bit of struggle. It is truly a process. But if we are open to the grace of God in our lives…if we bring our concerns and struggles honestly to God in prayer… if we take one step at a time in acting on our Catholic Christian instincts, we can be confident that we will be able to do God’s will.
 
Like the first son in Jesus’ parable, we too will find our way out into the vineyard. God makes sure that He meets us where we are and knows how to move us forward in this process of challenging us to discern, and eventually understand, His will so we can be partners with Him in building the Kingdom on earth. The most important thing is for us to remain open to the workings of God in our lives, to stay in constant communication with the Lord through prayer and then invite God to lead us and transform us so we can become the best version of ourselves…the person God intended us to be. Usually that happens through small steps rather than giant ones.  What small step are you willing to take towards God today?
 
Peace,
Deborah Gretzinger (No RE-Gretz)