Seize the Moment Because Tomorrow You Might Be Dead: Things I Learned At Cafe Catholica

Seize the Moment Because Tomorrow You Might Be Dead: Things I Learned At Cafe Catholica July 7, 2015

Last night, I ventured into my diocese’s annual Cafe Catholica, a young adult event that takes place in the summer. Throughout the month of July, hundreds of people come to a church in my area for Mass, dinner, and a lecture. I wasn’t just there for the lecture, though. I was part of the choir! I sang my heart out alongside my friends and marveled at the beauty of the church I was singing in.

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Reasons I love being Catholic: The many, many, many gorgeous churches!

 

The night started with my friends and me singing praise and worship songs before Mass started. I pretty much sang by ear because I hadn’t sung in choir since I was a kid. But I felt like I was performing, looking out at the crowd in front of me. Best of all, I was doing this for God, not just for myself. After Mass ended, there was a dinner. I didn’t eat much given my allergies, but I was glad to find some friends from retreats as well as fellow UST alums who were either with friends or volunteering. I even made some new friends and managed to avoid causing any drama in spite of the fact that I fangirl squeed over Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris with one of my friends and argued with someone over Doctor Who companions. (Shipping and fandoms are serious business with me.)

The lecture last night talked about authentic love and how it’s more than just a feeling. Authentic love is a reflection of God, a reflection of the Trinity. She mentioned a lot of CS Lewis and Pope Benedict, both of which scored major points with me. Overall, I felt like I had a great time.

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I’ve been complaining about how I wish my life were different on this blog a lot. The biggest thing I learned from the Mass, the dinner, and the lecture at Cafe Catholica last night was that I needed to enjoy the moment. I tend to go into events like this with a lot of expectations only to end up disappointed. This time, I just went with the flow and left the event feeling wonderful. Although there was wifi, I chose not to seek out a way to log into it because I was in a church and felt like going online, either before the Mass or during the lecture, felt improper. I also chose not to focus on the past, either, because I was there to try new things. I told myself “You are going to sing your heart out and blow their socks off!” And that’s exactly what I did.

I learned that I was getting better at making small talk. That there were other people who were going through the same thing that I was going through. Most of all, I learned that when you live in the moment, really cherishing it instead of hiding behind a smartphone or a layer of apathy/disgust/boredom, you find new, wonderful things.

So, as my favorite Slayer says “Seize the moment because tomorrow, you might be dead.”


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