Phew!  I made it!  I am everything I ever wanted to be - a Sister, A Reverend Mother, an Anchoress and a Cardinal!  I have taken a vow of stability to the Trenton Diocese, so I will stay here for the rest of my life!  May God bless Pope Benedit XVI!  May he live long in excellent health and prosper, and never be taken by his enemies!

David the Psalmist often speaks of vows and keeping them in the eyes of the people.  Some people, because of the popularity of divorce today, think nothing of breaking them.  So, when you take a vow, take time out to discern if it is right for you.

 

In 1997, I went to my pastor and asked how I could best serve the church and the world.  He said I should be a hermit and a bride of Christ.  Later, we settled on anchorite and spouse of Christ.  I follow that to the best of my ability years later, because I took two full years making up my mind.  In 1999, I took vows and I have done my best to keep them to this day.

 

Even though I am leaving Catholicism, I maintain my vows, because I am still Christian; but most of all, because I gave my word.  I shall never marry an ordinary man, but the exaltation of my love for Jesus outdoes any average relationship.  I will always be a Christian, and I have come to see the wisdom in that; and I see the wisdom in my vows as well.

 

I suppose I am my own denomination, borrowing from the best of all denominations.  Ahead lies discovery and learning, especially from the Bible.  Much of my Catholic background I am not giving up, though, somewhat like Methodism's John Wesley; but I will take on at least some of the wisdom of other forms of Christianity.  It should prove to be interesting, at the least.

Churches are places where believers come together to praise the Lord.  As long as it is not an obligation, it is a beautiful thing.  When it is not just to avoid mortal sin, it is the ultimate in prayerful thanksgiving for the things God has freely given us.  For some, church can be a release from the grind of daily living out the often tedious battle against the world, the flesh and the devil.  When church provides no relief, but is just a continuation of the struggle, no wonder people stampede to get out.

 

But if we make it a place of love and light, a place freely entered into, a place where we come together in the Lord, it is no longer tedious.  It is pure joy. 

 

So, go to church because you really long for it.  If people pressure you into it, it is just as tasteless as pablum.  But if you go because, like a deer yearning for running streams, you crave the Lord and the full communion with his people, then it is bliss on Earth.  Everything looks so beautiful inside, the people are no longer just in the way of what you might have done that day, but are indeed, brothers and sisters, closer than friends, and thus highly to be treasured.

 

Go to church because you want to, and it will be worth it.