today was a wonderful day.  i woke up and started cooking in the morning – i’ve been working on getting all my swedish recipes for culinary school tested – which lasted until mid-afternoon, and then i took a little rest and went to church with mike at 5.  after church, i had him over for dinner, and we sat on the terrace because the weather was SO perfect.  and then we watched the first half of the cowboys game together before he went home.  it really is the best thing having him close by.  i love it [and him!] so much!

i was thinking about something our priest said today in church.  he was talking about being brothers and sisters in christ, and how we shouldn’t be judgmental towards other people.  he said that we need to stop simplifying things into black and white, and that even saying that there are gray areas, that the world is gray and not black and white, etc. does not accurately describe the world that we live in.  life is vibrant and colorful, he said.  there are different cultures, different beliefs, different types of people.  we need to be open and accepting if we truly want to be brothers and sisters in christ.

with pope francis as a leader of our church, i feel like this is such a great time to be catholic.  he’s doing amazing things for the world, and though i’ve been a part of the catholic faith since i was born, it’s awesome to know what an impact our faith is making right now.  i love his stance on issues like homosexuality – who are we to judge?  we need to love and be kind and gentle and welcoming to everyone.  we’re all sinners and we’ll save the judging for the Lord – after all, he was the one who created each one of us in his image, and we each have our own relationship with him.  in the end, we have to answer to him, and it’s nobody else’s business what that conversation comes down to.  i think if we all just worried about ourselves – how we could better ourselves and do our part in spreading love and kindness and compassion – the world would be a better place.

{a stock image but just had to get a picture of pope francis on here!}

anyway, i’m just proud to be catholic and proud of the stance the church is taking towards some of these current issues, and i’m going to work on spreading that love, kindness, and compassion wherever i go!  xoxo