Can a moment change the world?
Click the “Read More” to see the video. Blessed Mother Teresa. Enough said..
God gives us exactly what we need.
I was reading through some of the stuff that CS Lewis has said over his ages and came across a quote that I really like. ”Though our feelings may come and go, God’s love for us does not.” That is so, so true.
Well the past few weeks I’ve been a little bit lacking in my motivation/creativity/passion for writing and whatnot. Well today I got a really cool opprotunity to meet some neat people. I went with Tori to the Women’s Center, a local clinic that performs abortions. We went to say the Rosary outside the clinic and met the people from Crossroads Walk, a SUPER cool organization.
Basically, they walk across America with the message of hope and pro-life. They walk through the rain, the snow, the heat, all of it. They have passion for the pro-life cause and present it through their love and devotion to that cause. What I love about them is they don’t preach it. They don’t feel like they have a argument to present or try to convert people. They simply call on what really works: Jesus.
Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother and the love and mercy of Christ, they love the people that they encounter and have changed many, many lives. They also seek to help those who have already had abortions to bring them healing and love. The guy I was talking to today, Carlos, described it as this:
“It’s like the prodigal son. We love them and pray for them before, and even if they don’t change their minds, we love them and pray for them after. That’s the Gospel. That’s living the Gospel. We don’t have billboards telling them that they are going to hell. We don’t yell or show pictures of dead babies. We live through the example of Christ. We walk for them, and for their healing.”
The perspective they have for reality and the hope that they have for ending this evil is amazing and inspiring to me. I’ve met a lot of people who are pro-life, being involved in the Catholic circle. But meeting these people and seeing the passion and devotion that they have, the knowledge and understanding of where people come from, and the love and hope they have for the future, it changed my perspective a bit.
Then after a great morning with Tori, (where we may have been freaking out the people in Panera with our conversations haha) I got to spend the afternoon with my best friends in the whole wide world. Skit rehearsal for the retreat (story of my life), but hey, it’s my best friends. It doesn’t take much more than them and a beautiful day to make everything great 
Then tonight we had movie night with a bunch of friends from my old school and church, which was lots of fun. Overall it was a great day. Tomorrow I will spend my life powerwashing a driveway. It’s going to be 103 degrees. Talk about a party. Builds character, right?
Well, Jesus loves you. Our God is an incredible artist, and He made you just the way you are.
He loves you so much that He can pull you out of whatever craziness you may have allowed yourself to fall to. He loves you wherever you are, but too much to let you stay there. Just trust. He’s bigger than this.
Happy 2 Year ANNIVERSARY (:
So we’ve been at this crazy stuff for 2 years. And none of it would have been possible without you guys and your prayers and support, as well as the grace of our Lord. Happy 2 years, Live WTL Ministries.
I know it’s been down lately (I’ve been really sick) BUT it’s summer, and it’s time to revitalize! Get ready for a new feel and a new series called “This is REALITY” where we answer your questions about…life. So yeah.
I love you all. Prayers always,
Avery
p.s. I’m not really sure what all that awkwardness at the end was about. “Kthanks, bye?” What was that, a phone conversation. Haha well, it is what it is. I’m an awkward person, let’s just face the facts
John Paul 2 BEATIFICATION
So today is a super great day. Why? Because JP2 is finally beatified!
It’s crazy to think that someone who was the Pope during my lifetime is actually one step closer to being a legit saint. His story is truly, truly, incredible.
He grew up in a rough time. It was the 40’s, and Germany was invading Poland. He had to give up his true passion of theater and song and struggled to get by. His best friends were Jewish, and he had to watch them, one by one, be sent to concentration camps. His best friend was murdered and his dad died in the same day. His sister was tortured and raped in front of him, and he couldn’t do anything about it. Just stand, and watch. He had to dump his gorgeous and devoted girlfriend (almost to be his wife) to follow God’s plan. Major heartbreak. Life didn’t get much easier after following the plan of God. As he grew in faith, bad things continued to happen. People hated him, disagreed with him, and openly ridiculed him as a “dreamer”. An attempt was even taken on his life.
That man was Pope John Paul II. He didn’t necessarily have an easy or a fun life. Sure, there were happy moments, but he went through many, many trying and traumatic times along the way. Through all of these, though, he still maintained joy in Christ. It wasn’t easy to see his father die, but he found joy in the fact that his father was in heaven. It wasn’t easy to dump his incredible girlfriend to commit to chastity and celibacy in the priesthood. It was not easy to be ridiculed and hated but he found joy in that he was following the will of God. And that was all that even mattered to him.
JP2 knew what was up.
And His life is an inspiration for all.
Happy beatification day(:
Blogs to Feature
My friend Jordan started a blog and asked if I would put it on the website. Her’s is called “I’m Just Beautiful Me” and has lots of cool stuff on it.
http://deezysoftballchick21.tumblr.com/
While I’m at it, here’s some other cool blogs:
Allie’s: bible365.tumblr.com
Savannah’s: lightglittertea.tumblr.com
and as always, mine can be found here: leadmealong.tumblr.com
I love you all!
Prayers always,
Avery
Dan’s Life Testimony
[The following life testimony was originally published on AmazingCatechists.com and is reprinted with person from DanSmrokowski.com.]
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My name is Daniel Smrokowski. I was born in Long Beach, California and was born 3 and 1/3 months premature. Due to being born so early, I was diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD). At the age of 4, we moved to the west suburbs of Chicago, where we continue to reside. I have grown up as a cradle Catholic and for pre-school through 3rd grade, I attended our local Catholic Parish School, Holy Trinity School. During my 3rd grade year, my teacher had talked with my parents about how I may need some extra help and so around this time I was tested and eventually diagnosed with learning disabilities. For about 17 or 18 years of my life, my parents were happily married– my mom grew up in the Lutheran faith and my dad grew up as a cradle Catholic and then as they brought me, and my two younger sisters into the world, my mom converted to the Catholic faith. About 3 or 4 years ago, a sad event happened in my family: my mom divorced my dad. Now, that some time has passed, it is still sad in our family, but we are trying to get through life as best as we can through prayer and one thing that has remained the same and has helped us is the community of believers within our Catholic faith and some good friends in our parish. I go into greater detail about the community of believers and why I value spirituality, in an article that was published on CatholicMom.com. For about 17 years or so that we have lived in the west suburbs of Chicago, we have been parishioners of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Parish, and continue to attend Mass and ever since our parish has had an Eucharistic Adoration chapel that is open all day and night, my dad has encouraged us to spend time in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
I first got involved in advocating for people, like myself, with intellectual disabilities, back in the beginning of March 2009. This is when I attended a two day beginner “Global Messenger” training. The Global Messenger program is a part of the Athlete Leadership Programs of the Special Olympics and provides Special Olympics athletes with the opportunity to lead and particularly in the Global Messenger program that I am a part of, we are asked to give speeches and presentations to various community groups. One of the first groups I have spoken to was a group of about 100 high school students. Another time I spoke to about 800 people which was to the Knights of Columbus Illinois banquet, where many Bishops were also in attendance, including Cardinal Francis George, who was seated to the right of me as I was giving a thank you presentation to the Knights of Columbus in Illinois. Then, there were other smaller and medium sized groups I have spoken to such as the high school students that are a part of our youth ministry at our parish and some school children at our parish school. I have a regular PowerPoint presentation that I use as a backdrop to my speeches that has become well-known within the Special Olympics Illinois staff community. If any of your readers would like to have me speak to your church or school group, I am available to speak via Skype video conference call. If you are not in the west suburbs of Chicago, you can find out how to contact me for speaking engagements by visiting my website.
Since the beginning of January 2010, I have produced the Special Chronicles Podcast, in which I share my Special Olympics message and share with listeners the importance of respecting those of us with intellectual disabilities, along with providing people with information relating to the Special Olympics and about intellectual or physical disabilities in an inspiring and entertaining format. On my blog, “Dan’s Journal: Thoughts To Share”, I’ll post about any topics of interest to me or that I’d like to promote. Another effort that I am active in on a weekly basis during the academic year, is that I am a radio DJ and Continuity Director for WRBC: The Blaze, the college student-run radio station at Roosevelt University in Chicago. For the past year, I have hosted and produced a radio show called, “RU Inspired?”, where I feature various inspirational, Christian-Catholic music, along with offering brief meditational reflections by St. Josemaria Escriva, and spreading the Good News of our Catholic-Christian faith in an inspiring and entertaining way that even those who may not be Catholic or Christian and happen to tune in may still be inspired and uplifted. Anyone throughout the world can listen to WRBC and in particular “RU Inspired?” weekly on Friday’s from 3 to 4 PM Central Time.
You can find links to everything that I am involved in (the Special Chronicles Podcast, RUInspired Radio Show, my blogs, contact information, media appearances, published writings, photos I’ve taken, videos I’ve produced, as well as a page of recommended links) by going to http://www.dansmrokowski.com/.
I would sum up my mission by sharing with the world the importance of respecting and accepting those of us with intellectual disabilities. Also, I would say that my mission is to help in the New Evangelization of our Catholic Faith by spreading the Good News through my college radio show.
One of the obstacles in creating a cultural respect for people with disabilities, such as removing the word “retard(ed)”, most commonly referred to as the “R-Word,” would be that someone may say that this takes away our right of freedom of speech. In response to this I would say that campaigns such as “Spread the Word to End the Word” are not exclusively about ending the r-word, but is to spread a greater awareness of respect and the promote the New R-Word which is respect. I strongly believe that this is important for everyone, and especially as Catholics, that we need to promote and be a fan of respect, acceptance, unity, friendship and inclusion. For more information about Spread the Word to End the Word, everyone is encouraged to visit and the pledge to promote the new r-word by going tohttp://r-word.org/.
I do feel a strong connection with the pro-life movement. One of the main reasons is because I have been told from my mom who told me that her doctors had advised her to have an abortion when I was about to be born. Thankfully, she chose life and I was born. Since I was born so early, I had to deal with a lot of medical and developmental problems and had a lot of scars due to my premature birth. I also was in an incubator where the doctors had to keep a close watch on me. My parents had a local Catholic priest come to the hospital and baptized me in the hospital since I was in the hospital for about 3 months after being born. Since I was given the chance to live and have grown up as a cradle Catholic, I strongly believe in being pro-life and that every human being–this especially includes all of us who may be different and are diagnosed with an intellectual disability–need to be given the chance to live. Everyone needs to respect life. I firmly believe that it is vitally important to respect life and to stand firm in being pro-life.
Yes, I am in college. I am in my 3rd year at Roosevelt University in Chicago, IL, which is a private high education institution that is dedicated to living social justice. The coursework that I am pursuing is journalism. I am currently studying journalism and am almost done with the general education requirements and then will be able to fully concentrate on journalism. So, far I have taken an introduction to journalism course, a media writing course, and am currently taking an essential multimedia skills course and news broadcasting course this fall 2010 semester. My goals are to work in some form of media. I am really enjoying Radio and Podcasting aspects of journalism and in particular I would love to someday work in Catholic Media– perhaps at a radio station. Some of the joys of handling my schoolwork and online apostolates would be all the encouragement and feedback that I receive from listeners to the podcast and radio show. Many have told me how inspiring, informational and entertaining the Special Chronicles Podcast is, as well as similar comments about the RUInspired college radio show. It is truly a blessing and joy to hear that people find the podcast and radio show inspiring and entertaining–this is the motivation that keeps me to continue the online apostates that I produce. As for some of the joys of handling my schoolwork, the coursework that I am taking helps me to learn more about the journalism field and world issues helps me to discover more about the world and the media field that I am interested in.
Some challenges would be time and how to accomplish everything that I am involved in. It is sometimes how to keep track of everything from schoolwork and the podcast and radio show, but I do my best and try to often pray to Jesus and often will ask St. Josemaria Escriva for guidance and will pray to.
There are many people who inspire me. In Catholic New Media, Fr. Roderick (from SQPN.com) and all the podcasters from the Star Quest Production Network help to inspire me to continue to produce the Special Chronicles Podcast as well as to produce the college radio show. In my family, my parents inspire me to keep living my faith and to do my best in anything that I do. In my prayer life, St. Josemaria Escriva inspires me to find God in daily life.
In closing, I would like to share with your readers to help promote the new r-word, which his respect and to tell people that the word “retard(ed)” hurts all of us with intellectual disabilities, our families and friends. I also would like say that you can do anything that you set your mind to. Also, to spread the Good News of our Catholic faith in any way that you feel called to do and to listen to God’s calling for what he is calling you to do in your life. Be a fan of respect, acceptance, unity, friendship, and inclusion.
Comment below and share your thoughts.
Take Care and God Bless.
-Daniel
SpecialChronicles.com – podcasting a message of respect. podcast produced and hosted by Daniel.
Special Chronicles Production Network
About the Author:
Who could have known that a boy born 3 and 1/3 months early, with medical and developmental hurdles to overcome, would do public speaking and podcasting as well as compete in athletics? Daniel is host of the Special Chronicles Podcast. He is also a Special Olympics athlete as well as a Global Messenger (spokesperson) for Special Olympics Illinois. Dan studies journalism at Roosevelt University in Chicago where he is a D.J. for WRBC The Blaze, the student-run streaming radio station. Daniel enjoys spreading the message to respect those like himself with intellectual disabilities. Visit Daniel at http://www.dansmrokowski.com/.