the gift of mondays

you might think i'm a freak because i'm Catholic. and you'd be right. i am a freak. a Jesus freak. that's right. i'm Catholic AND i believe in Jesus. i say it like that because a couple of years ago someone assumed i didn't. she had been told that Catholics don't worship Jesus. that we don't believe in Him. really? i said. have you been in a Catholic Church? because you'll find the Stations of the Cross which, you know, if you look closely, follow Jesus' Crucifixion. yeah. and speaking of Crucifixion, we have those huge Crosses on the altar. with Jesus on them. Crucified. so you could say...with certainty...that we believe in Jesus. i know i'm being sarcastic but she wasn't the first one. she wasn't the first to think being Catholic was a bad thing. and i'm used to those kind of remarks. i'm used to being right in the middle of a great  Biblical conversation- talking about God and what He has done in my li

i was bullied in high school. not the big time stuff you hear about in the news but enough that it made me never forget it. and enough that i knew i would never stand for it again.  in my life or in the life of anyone i know. i was a senior in high school. taking an easy class the last semester just to get an easy grade. he was a senior too. a celebrated football player. someone i had known since middle school.  someone i thought was my friend. i don't know why he did it. i think maybe he did it to be cool. or to prove his power. or just because he could. but one day-out of the blue-i became his target. he made fun of the way i looked. he made fun of what i wore. he made fun of what i said. everyone around us heard it. everyone smiled or laughed.  and everyone - including myself - let it go on. everyday. until the end of the year. i don't remember anyone trying to defend me. i don't remember anyone trying to change the subject. i do