What's your sycamore tree?

Yesterday 7AM mass at St. Mary Magadelene in Abbeville was a very special one... not only did I wake up before 7AM and go to mass alone, I also heard the Gospel in a new and exciting way.

The Gospel is from Luke 19:1-10 (read here). While listening I honestly didn't think much of it. So my summary from just listening to the Gospel is (i'm paraphrasing) "Zacchaeus is a short man who climbed a tree to see Jesus and then Jesus saw him and said something along the lines of: 'get down you sinner so I can come stay at your house' then he came down from the tree and he was really pumped up" The End.

Thennn came the Homily to blow my mind.

The Priest explained how Zacchaeus was a sinner, but he really wanted to see Jesus in the flesh..but Zacchaeus was short and old and couldn't see over the crowd so he climbed a sycamore tree. He was willing to do whatever it took to see Jesus. I think tree climbing is a pretty difficult task, so much so that I have never done it and I have no desire to do so, but this tiny old man was so persistent and excited to see Jesus in the flesh that he climbed a tree!

After hearing this I: 1. felt like a baby for being afraid of climbing and 2. wondered if I would climb a tree to see Jesus in the flesh

But really...

The Priest then struck my heart chord by asking the question: "What things are you willing to do that is out of the ordinary to discover God?" What is my sycamore tree? hmmm... what is my sycamore tree? What am I willing to do that is radical and that requires sacrifice?

umm, MISSIONS!

Jesus is literally speaking to us saying, "You, oh sinner, I want to dine in your house. Will you invite me in?"

and with that invitation to let Jesus in, there is an overflowing joy...just as little old Zacchaeus hopped out of that tree with such haste to be with Jesus.

Grace does not come without sacrifice. Order and peace does not come without sacrifice. Jesus wants to help us change and to make the radical sacrifices to encounter Him in a more profound and intimate way.

What will you do that requires sacrifice for the greater good of your soul and the souls of many?

How will you be radical or out of the ordinary?

To what extreme will you go to see JESUS in the flesh?

What is your sycamore tree?

"Glory Story"

Here at FMC, people sometimes share their "Glory Story" - just a moment where God swoops in and saves the day or you immediately pray for something and it happens or just any "wow" God moment.
Soooo, story time!

Yesterday I was praying and thanking God that I don't have to deal with Youth Ministry anymore. I've made myself believe that I am terrible at small group leading and I'm really awkward and I just can't relate with teens...and most of all I am not funny. Well, immediately after that, the director of FMC (Joseph Summers) asks me and 3 other Missionaries to work a Freshman retreat. In this moment I was just in shock and couldn't believe it, but it's so typical of God.

So this morning we leave at 6:15AM to work Notre Dame High School's Freshman Class retreat in Crowley, Louisiana. I decided to ask Jesus to please make me funny. I have just always wanted to be the funny one sometimes...I want people to laugh! I love it when people laugh!
I felt like if I could make the teens laugh, they could relate more to me and in turn maybe listen to me and in turn simply think I'm awesome ;)
Sooooo, I shared my simple prayer with 2 of the missionaries in the car on the way to the retreat and they seemed to get a kick out of it, but other than the initial giggle, we didn't make a big deal about it.
Well, as the 150 teens arrive in the KC Bingo Hall, I got a little nervous, but the retreat was SO fun. It was literally the most effective, fun, simple, and impacting Catholic high school retreat I have ever worked. After some of the main talks, we split into guy and girl groups, which was FABULOUS. Those girls are striving for holiness.
Anyway, I literally told one story or just an interrupting word or made a hand motion or noise and I had the entire room bursting in laughter...I have no idea what I said or how I did it... but for the rest of the day girls were telling me I am hilarious or so funny or (my personal favorite): "Have you seen Pitch Perfect? You remind me SO MUCH of Fat Amy." Ummmm, not sure how to react to that, but she is pretty funny hahahaha

At the end of the retreat, one of the missionaries told the girls what I prayed for...which in turn made them laugh even more...
I truly cannot remember a single thing I told those girls (holy spirit moment), but they were beautiful and I love them and even my little prayer to be funny was sincere and genuine - but simple - was answered!

God answers even our smallest prayers!

"The True Missionary is the Saint"

"I would like to encourage everyone to be a bearer of the good news of Christ and I am grateful especially to missionaries.... – who by accepting the Lord's call, leave their homeland to serve the Gospel in different lands and cultures." Pope Francis Message for World Mission Day 2013

Missions are kind of a big deal...If you didn't know that already. The Catholic Church and practically all Christian churches are all stressing the importance of World Missions Sunday. Well, what the heck is it? onefamilymission.org says that, "it is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church's missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice."

At Intake, we faithfully read Pope John Paul II's Encyclical called Mission of the Redeemer (if you're feeling fancy - in Latin: Redemptoris Missio). This work by JPII is getting me super pumped up about Missions. He says in the encyclical that World Missions Day is a day in "which seeks to heighten awareness of the missions, as well as to collect funds for them, is an important date in the life of the Church, because it teaches how to give: as an offering made to God, in the Eucharistic celebration and for all the missions of the world." In this encyclical he says that the church is in the "new springtime" but Catholic Foreign Missionaries in the world are decreasing and the "missionary drive has always been a sign of vitality, just as its lessening is a sign of a crisis of faith." Honestly, we have a sick Church. Our Director, Joseph says that if our church was healthy we would have foreign and stateside missionaries in every parish and in every diocese throughout the world proclaiming the Gospel and serving the poor.


So I've gathered that this is the point of World Missions Day: to remind the church the importance of Missions, to renew the zeal for the Gospel, to increase knowledge of Missionary activity throughout the world, and to remind the Church that we are ALL called to be Missionaries.


In the time of the Apostles, being a missionary was a normal vocation and the entire church was missionary through witness of personal conduct and through proclaiming the Gospel whenever and wherever they could. Pope Francis even says that, "Everyone should be able to experience the joy of being loved by God, the joy of salvation! It is a gift that one cannot keep to oneself, but it is to be shared. If we want to keep it only to ourselves, we will become isolated, sterile and sick Christians. The proclamation of the Gospel is part of being disciples of Christ and it is a constant commitment that animates the whole life of the Church."

So if we, the church, do not act as the Apostles did and proclaim the Gospel - we are not being good Christians. We are withholding truth and goodness from those who have yet to hear the good news.

On this world missions sunday weekend, remember that we are in the New Springtime of our Church, we are ALL called to be missionaries - whether you are stateside or foreign, and it is our duty as Catholic's to proclaim the Good News of Salvation to all those who have never heard of it before!

So Church, I'm talking to all you fellow Catholic people, get off your tuckus and DO something!!! There are SOO many videos and writings made by many great Saints and Popes and little baby lay missionaries like me who have an abundance of information about the urgency of missionary activity. So the resources and tools are out there, now it's your chance to getcha-self educated. Everyone of every culture, race, and belief have respect for Pope Francis so let's listen to this holy man when he says for us to make a mess of things!

Let's not be lukewarm or mundane; let's be SAINTS!

"The Missionary is the Saint"

Jesus Thinks He's Funny

Small recap of the past week at Big Woods:
1. everyone is getting sick
2. the Bailey Family has lice
3. everyone is sick
4. we have bed bugs

Oh yeah, it's been crazy. Community life has definitely not been a breeze, but somehow (by the grace of God) we are not all going crazy and laughter still fills all of the rooms. When one of the babies started getting a cough, we knew it wouldn't be long till it spread to almost all 40+ of us. Then, the whispering began of one of the 4 Bailey daughters having lice eggs in her hair... of course it spread. Each day another person gets infected with the sore throat, coughing, sneezy, and achy-ness and the smell of the essential oils fills up the rooms.

In the Annex (the place where I live with 3 other girls), 2 of the girls have been complaining of being itchy and jokingly claimed it was bed bugs. Well, I thought they were just being dramatic because I wasn't itchy except for my absurd amounts of mosquito bites on my legs. Since they thought they may be allergic to something in the bed, they got some plastic covers to put on it and then they found it.... bed bugs. So we've been living almost 3 weeks among bed bugs that have bitten us and have comfortably lived in our house among us. This afternoon after our work day we had to take out all of our clothes in trash bags, seal them and put them outside so the sun can suffocate and kill the bugs. All four of us put our clothes outside, took 3 pairs of clothes and put them in the dryer on high heat and showered so we can have clothes until Sunday. Luckily tomorrow morning we are having an exterminator come and fumigate our whole place but now we are all separated living in empty spaces around Big Woods.
After putting all of our clothes in trash bags outside, we left to go to Christ in the City which is like a Young Adult Adoration/Praise and Worship/Fellowship thing. I couldn't help but laugh at all that is going on.

This week I have been in really great communication with Jesus. Like, really good. I've just been straight up and treating him like a friend and a teacher and a brother. I told Jesus that I am happy to be here and to have this wonderful strong two-way relationship with Him. I also said how things have been easy...I haven't really struggled with anything. I like everyone, I haven't been worked too hard, the service days have been really good for my prayer life and have been very helpful in teaching me how to pray with people. Of course, sometimes I get overwhelmed with studying and reading and comprehending all of our reading material...but if that is my biggest struggle - praise God! This has been easy so far, no manual labor to make me sweat, the roomies are so dynamic and fun, the community is crazy beautiful... I have it easy! No complaints. HA soooo, have you ever heard of the saying "be careful what you say/pray for and make sure you are really specific"?
Well, God just thinks He's reaaaal funny. Today I overslept, ran into a lot of inanimate objects, almost broke my ankle, then almost broke my foot, found out we had bed bugs, moved all of my stuff outside, shrunk some of my clothes and then finally I thought about, "What if it rains and all of our clothes are outside?" ...not even a millisecond after this thought, one of my roommates runs in and says, "you will not believe it. it's pouring." Soooo we had to go get our stuff and move it under the back porch of the Big House.
Normally, I probably would be crying because it is all just so overwhelming... but I am laughing. This is insane, but it is a beautiful adventure. I haven't complained once because there is nothing to complain about! God is good, life is good, my family back home is good - so there is no need to worry. God is completely taking care of me and I have absolutely no need to worry. Although my roommates now may thing the bed bug epidemic may be my fault since I told God my life is "easy" hahaha

But really, we should rejoice in the good times and the bad, when we are sick or healthy, when we are infected with lice or bed bugs or when we are..not infected with lice or bed bugs. "I trust in your faithfulness. Grant my heart joy in your help, That I may sing of the Lord, 'How good our God has been to me!'" Psalm 13:6

So with my scrapes and bruises and sore throat and now that I am in a clean bug free bed with a joy filled spirit I can say: "In peace I shall lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me secure." Psalm 4:9

Theology of the Body in the New Evangelization (Part One)

Theology of the Body and the New Evangelization. Whew, these two statements that are quite overwhelming.

Theology of the Body (TOB) is a collection of Blessed John Paul II's General Audiences while he was Pope. He examines and explains the "nuptial meaning of the body" and practically rediscovers the meaning of our existence and really, the meaning of life in general.

The New Evangelization is simply proclaiming the Gospel, trying to convert people, getting people into church, and even getting Catholics who are in a state of complacency back to being on fire for their faith. The word "evangelization" and "missionary" are practically synonyms. Adding the word "new" to "evangelization" makes the definition more like: proclaiming the Gospel ad gentes (to all the Nations) and outreaching to fallen away Catholics.

Since childhood, I have been very affectionate and loving. If I would take the "The Five Love Languages" quiz, I'd probably be Words of Affirmation, Receiving/Giving gifts...maybe Acts of Service and Quality Time too hahaha
So, once I grew older and learned about Theology of the Body, I was hooked. Nothing can be more affirming than the Song of Solomon in the Bible. Nothing you read can make you feel more loved and beautiful than TOB and Song of Songs. When you meet a person who loves and lives out TOB, you just know it.
For example, I have a friend named Roch and he is like THE ultimate man. I picture him as Lazarus...if Jesus was around today and Roch died, Jesus would weep. Jesus' heart would be broken. Just how David is a man after Jesus's Heart... Roch is too - I just know it. Roch embodies Theology of the Body and it is evident on how he lives out his faith and the way he speaks and the way he listens. His temperament or disposition and demeanor IS Theology of the Body and his example to others promotes the New Evangelization. His love and gentle personality is what makes people yearn to be true genuine Catholic.
If you'd meet someone with a Fire and Brimstone, someone may not be apt to want to join whatever organization. But, if you would meet someone like Roch - a gentle, kind, welcoming, holy man - you'd be more apt to do whatever he's doing.

In prayer the past two weeks, Song of Songs has been very present in my life. Last week in community morning prayer, a specific line said: "I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels." Isaiah 61:10

Then, when I went to do my personal prayer, I opened Scripture to Psalm 139:13-14 "I praise you for I am wonderfully made." To this I made the connection that the Lord takes delight in us. We, the church, are his bride and He is our bridegroom. We are all jewels in His eyes and that we are beautiful and wonderfully made. I have no reason to be self-conscious because God made me the way he did for a reason and I am exactly the way I am supposed to be for Him. In His eyes, I am beautiful. Reaffirming my realization during Desert Day, I read from Song of Songs 7:1 "...your rounded thighs are like jewels, the handiwork of an artist..." Even in my insecurities and my disillusions about my self image, I "shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem held by my God"..."you shall be called my delight", "as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you." The Lord takes delight in my fat thighs and what I think are my imperfections.

I just love the comparisons of the Church being the Bride! mmmmm, so good.

I have been reading "At the Heart of the Gospel" by Christopher West which is about "reclaiming the body for the new evangelization" and is recommended by many chairman of the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) and many elite professors of philosophy and theology and authors. Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, cardinal archbishop of Vienna; general editor, Catechism of the Catholic Church; and grand chancellor, International Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family said that this is a "teaching so urgently needed for an effective proclamation of the Gospel."

I'll have to update everyone on this book about Theology of the Body and the New Evangelization in my next Blog!

*Happy Lord's Day*

We Must Go

The life of a Missionary, man - it is GLORIOUS.

It has been an unbelievably awesome first week at Intake at Big Woods in Abbeville. I have had an incredible experience living in community with over 37 other missionaries. The transition from living in a house with my parents in my own room in Thibodaux to living with 4 girls in a (really nice and home-y) trailer in Abbeville has actually been easier than I expected. God has definitely given me the graces I need to live through this transitional period. The first night was very very difficult because everything hit me like a ton of bricks. I got in bed and prayed the rosary but I cried and cried and cried. I didn't want to wake anyone up, so I went to the bathroom, sat on the floor and cried for a good while. Everything hit me... I moved away for the first time, I can't call my mommy and daddy whenever I want to, I am literally making a complete life change, I am living simply, and I am living amongst people I don't know. It was so overwhelming and terrifying and I felt like I was a baby. I was a small baby girl sitting on the floor absolutely terrified and alone. Then I looked up at an image on our wall of Jesus' face, in agonizing pain, with blood dripping from his head from the crown of thorns. I told Him I was afraid, but I was reassured that if I unite my sadness and suffering with Jesus, blessings will pour fourth into my life and my families life and all of the lives of the people I am praying for. My mindset since I have made the decision to drop my life at home and become a missionary to proclaim the Gospel and serve the poor in a foreign country has been: "I am a daughter of God, with childlike faith I am fully relying on God for EVERYTHING. He is enough. His grace is sufficient for me. He is literally all I need." I stopped crying, went to sleep, and woke up a different woman. I spoke with Brooke, one of the FMC Directors, about my tears that night and she knew exactly what to say to calm my heart and explained how to discern that the spirit of anxiety and fear is absolutely not of God. After I spoke with her, we had community prayer time (family style) and everyone laid hands on me and some of the others who were feeling anxious and scared and overwhelmed. I am so happy. I really and truly love it here and I'm glad I got my good first night cry out of the way because every cry since then has been of pure and complete joy. I CANNOT believe this is my life!!!

Just a glimpse of my day: I wake up around 7:30AM and pray the Rosary in bed. Then as a community we have breakfast, praise and worship and morning prayer (community prayer is always at least an hour) in the Big House. After community prayer we have a teaching workshop then a break for either service/chores/or lunch prep, then we have a lunch study after we eat. After cleaning up we have personal prayer time and rest, then dinner, community prayer/praise and worship/fellowship, and lights out at 11PM (but we're always finished around 9ish).  Sundays are our free days and every day is a little different, but that is the general schedule. We are also spilt into 3 groups and are assigned either breakfast, lunch, or dinner prep each day. Along with preparing one of the meals and cleaning up after meals with my group, I am also assigned personal chores. My chore is to organize the community pantry and fridge and to help with the Proclaim Conference preparations (EVERYONE should come to the conference..it's going to be AMAZING. Seriously, come see me). I actually learned how to make Taco Soup and Spaghetti (everyone survived, Praise God!) so I am pretty excited all that I'm learning. The day by day schedule is so ideal because it is the perfect balance of community time and personal prayer time and rest time and workshop time. Living in community has been the ultimate blessing. It has calmed my spirit and quenched my anxiety and my fears and is re-ordering my life. I just cannot put into words how blessed I am to be living in such a wonderful community.

This is the question I have been asked the most, "Breana, you really can't date or drink or text for a whole year?!? You're going to DIE!" Well actually, I made a first year commitment to daily personal prayer time for at least 15 minutes, daily personal reading of Scripture, no personal use of phone/internet other than 2 hours on Sunday, and no alcohol or dating/romantic relationships. Of course it will be a challenge at times because things will always be challenging, but these challenges will bear good fruit. Dude, why not sacrifice to benefit the Kingdom? Why not sacrifice if it will save souls?


The other night during community Praise and Worship we sang a song called "God of Justice." I've never heard of it before, but watching and listening to everyone pour out their heart singing this song...oh man. As I watched one of the little Eckstine children sing, I just cried and cried (The Eckstine's are a family from Oregon with 10 children. Their youngest daughter, Rebekah, who I believe is 4, was the one I was watching). The song says, "We must go. Live to feed the hungry, stand beside the broken. We must go. Stepping forward, keep us from just singing, move us into action. We must go. Fill us up and send us out!" She is FOUR years old and singing these words. She is living to feed the hungry and to stand beside the broken. I know you're thinking, "who in their right mind would take their children to live in a third world country?" Umm, those children are SAINTS. Who wouldn't take their children to a third world country to proclaim the Gospel and to save souls? Do you want your family to be Saints? If we don't tell these people the good news, who will??? How selfish is it that we live in the world consumed by our culture where everything is about me me me and I will just dieee without my cell phone. Dude, some of these people have probably never heard of or touched a cell phone. Over 7 Billion people in the world have never heard of JESUS. Are you kidding me?
Why aren't there more missionaries? Why aren't people taking every opportunity they can to go out to all the world and proclaim the good news that there is more to this life??? I cannot believe that people around the world think that this life is it. I am being trained to be sent out to share this news that there is salvation! There is hope for the future! There is Heaven and there is a God who loves and knows you and want to have a personal relationship with you! This world is fleeting and this life is temporary, but Heaven is forever. For eternity. How can we deprive the world of this good news??
I can't... I have to go. I have to tell the world the good news. Jesus is sending me on the great commission.

Whew, sorry if that was a little intense hahaha! But I am passionate about this. I believe in this. I know that this is exactly how I'm supposed to be living my life. I have been keeping all of my family, friends, donors, and benefactors in my prayers and have been lifting you all up in community prayer as well (especially praying for my dad's work situation). Thank you all so much again for your generous monetary support and prayer support for my family and I!!! We appreciate each and every one of you seaux much.


If you'd like to read more about The Great Commission from Jesus Himself:
Mark 16:14-20
Matthew 28:16-20

You Lead Me

As I rode in the passanger seat of my moms car on Hwy 90 going home to Thibodaux, I had a flashback to Sunday, August 18 - the day my mom picked me up from the Family Missions Company 'Come and See' Retreat. We were listening to the Christian band All Sons and Daughters when my mom was hysterically crying because she did not want me to become a Missionary. I was incredibly calm the whole ride knowing that if God was calling me to be a Missionary, He would comfort my mom. She kept saying that I could not go until she got a sign from God (she actually said, "He needs to come down here and TELL ME." But who's quoting?). I told her that she had to listen. ...bad idea... She said that she does listen and she prays really hard but He doesn't tell her anything. She had just been crying and crying and scared all week. I understood where she was coming from. You see, I was on the retreat crying as well. I didn't want to disobey my parents and leave our house if it made them so upset, but I also did not want to avoid or decline the call that Jesus had so graciously given me. In the end I had to make the decision if I would totally rely on God to take care of me and most importantly, take care of my family. Back to the "sign" thing that my mother was asking God for. I kind of took a nap in the car but then I dramatically woke up, wiped the drool off my face, and said, "YOU SEE! This is how God sends signs!!!" The song that was playing...if that wasn't a sign, I'm not sure what is! Well, she ignored me. And I completely understand...I would have ignored me too initially if I were in her shoes.
The song that was playing is called "Called Me Higher" and I've never noticed what the words meant until that car ride. The lyrics made me realize that it would be easy to stay in the comfort of home and the routine of my daily life... but God has called me higher and deeper and I will go where He will lead me - because what could be better than that? He opened up the door for me and I recognized it and I want to run through it. I want to run to Him. I cannot get enough. Even though it was Hell watching my mom and dad suffer, I was in some type of mystical ecstasy... the God of the Universe is calling ME to serve the poor and to have a direct encounter with Jesus...every single day. He is calling ME to be a missionary. Dude, I still cannot even fathom it. Of course, mom didn't see that the song was about me.
Fast forward to this week. I was listening to my music and she walks in and said, "I like this band. They sing a song and it's you." Well, forgetting all about the car ride and the song (because I subconsciously blocked out my mothers suffering), I kept playing all their songs to find the one she was talking about. Once it hit me, I played it and she started crying and she said, "Breana, it's you." Then she started singing along with the parts she knew. Ahh, so cute. I love it when she sings and when she dances and when she embarrasses me. I've always loved it. Who wouldn't be proud of their cool crazy mom?!

So this all leads me to night before last. Me, some college church friends, and my mom went to the Audrey Assad concert in Lafayette (which is near Abbeville). The concert was incredible, of course, but watching my mom love the concert was so much more incredible. Seeing my family encounter Jesus is.. ahhh.. it's just the most wonderful thing. My mom was actin the fool at this concert and she was enjoying EVERY SECOND of it!
Anyway, on the way home, we took the same Highway as we did going home from the Come and See Retreat. We were on Hwy 90 and listening to All Sons and Daughters and "Called Me Higher" comes on and she tells everyone in the car that this song is about me. So we sang it together and I knew she was probably tearing up a little bit, but this time she was not crying out of anger or fear; she is proud of me. She understands that I am saying yes to God's call. Why not give just 2 years of my life to God as a Missionary? (I mean I hope I am called to more years of missionary life...but He's the Boss.)
In 19 days my mother made a radical change from being so upset and angry and almost standoff-ish to the idea of listening to God in different ways to listening to Him in the quiet of her heart and to scripture and through the kindness of others. As my dad said, "In the 62 years I've been alive, God had never talked to me." No. That's a lie. God may speak to you through images, art, music, people, scripture, the sacraments... you just can't be close minded. You have to open your heart to listen to the whisper.


If you'd like to hear the song: Called Me Higher by All Sons and Daughters

"I will be Yours, I will be Yours for all my life..."