When I first had my back surgery I struggled with my identity. Especially as a man who grew up in a place where a man’s worth was directly tied to his ability to provide for his wife (click the link to read more)

When I first had my back surgery I struggled with my identity.  Especially as a man who grew up in a place where a man’s worth was directly tied to his ability to provide for his wife, I floundered to find a new way to be a husband, father, and friend.   I empathize with Tobit who has gone from being a breadwinning man of virtue to an unemployed blind man who seems to have very few friends in the world.   As the tension grows in his life, even the generous gift of those who want to reward his family with grace causes him to distrust God’s providence and his wife’s honest, hard work.   She comes back with a statement to remind Tobit of who he is.   “Where are your kind deeds now?”   It’s easy to be generous and kind, to bury the dead in opposition of the enemy when he could see.   Now that he’s blind, unable to function in society, and reliant on others… his doesn’t seem to be as quick to forgive or trust.

That’s easy for us all to fall into, isn’t it?   When things are going swimmingly and our health is strong and robust we find time to do the things God requires of us.  It’s when we are down on our luck, our health is failing, our social roles are broken and we are left to seemingly fend for ourselves that our trust in God and others begins to waver.   The God of the mountaintop is still God in the valley.   How do we get to that point?  Faith.  For me it required time.   It took a long time for me to see my situation as a blessing.  To realize that my daily struggle with pain was an opportunity to grow closer to God in faith and in action.  Serving others in spite of my own trials has led me to realize that even in the darkest of valleys there is a glimmer of hope and light.

When I was a Protestant I spent a great deal of time worrying.  I looked for the end of time symbols and I tried to figure out all the symbols in the book of revelations and put faces and names into the message to see where the devil was at work.   The government seemed an evil.   Organized religion was the furthest thing from my mind.   Jesus reminds us of two simple truths in his short message today.  One, the governments of this world are nothing compared to our God.  Revelation isn’t a message of fear, it’s a message of hope.   We’ve seen the end and He wins.   Secondly, it reminds us that being a good Christian means being a good citizen.   It means working to change our government, our laws, and our society to reflect the values of the kingdom.   That doesn’t mean something crazy like Sharia law or forced conversions!   What it does mean is that we look to make society as good as we can, and always remember that we are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom.   That we work for the good of all mankind and not just the ones who are right here with us, not just our family and friends… but all of the world.   It means even when we are in the darkest of places, spiritually or physically blinded by what the world throws at us, that God’s still there with us and never forget who we truly are.

His servant and yours,

Brian Mullins

 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer. - Psalm 19:14

Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 354
TB 2:9-14
PS 112:1-2, 7-8, 9
MK 12:13-17

Pick your Battles.....

Many years ago, my dad taught me a lesson that I am still learning today.   He said: "Son, sometimes you have to choose your battles."  He meant that you need to examine every situation to see if what you are about to argue about or correct someone about is worth the effort, and more importantly, the repercussions. Do you want to argue this point if it costs you a friendship?  Is what you are being upset about worth it?  As a father and step-father this advice is something I need to listen to more often.  St. Paul says in the first reading today, "Remind people of these things and charge them before God to stop disputing about words. This serves no useful purpose since it harms those who listen."  Oh how many spouses need this today, myself included?  Arguing in front of the kids instead of supporting one another is one of the worst things we can do, but doesn't it happen?  Too often I am sure.  How much more so inside our own faiths?  There wouldn't be a Protestant version of Christianity at all if this line of reasoning had been followed and things had been handled differently.

Jesus reminds us time and again that arguing among ourselves just creates division. A house divided cannot stand.  One of the greatest charges against Christians these days is "If that's how Christians act, I don't want to be one."  The other day I was walking down Washington Street here in our little town.  Two men were yelling at each other, one up on a balcony, the other on the ground.   Angry words were being exchanged riddled with vulgarity and threats.  At one point the man on the balcony yelled, "Yeah you're being real Christian aren't you."  Turns out the guy down on the ground was a minister of some sort.  Would anyone have known that by his behavior?  How often do I set that own example?  Too often I myself would be the guy on the ground, angry with the man shouting down at me, likely responding in kind.

There are though some things which are worth standing up for.   Paul, in our readings today,  also reminds us that we must "be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God, a workman who causes no disgrace, imparting the word of truth without deviation."  We cannot change the truth, we cannot alter the Gospel to go with the times or with our desires.  It is a message that does not belong to us, but rather belongs to God.   We have no right to change it and Paul is quick to say that even if an angel were to come and give you a different Gospel we should not believe it.   How then do we go about walking that line of choosing our battles but always offering the truth?  By offering the truth in love.  "They will know we are Christians by our love."  Does society see that today? Do they find us loving and welcoming? Or hateful and condemning?  We have to choose our battles for sure.  Sometimes the fight will produce no love.  Sometimes the person is not open to it, and we should leave it be.  No use "throwing pearls before swine", right? But in all things, show love.

Jesus reminds us of that in the Gospel for today.  That the greatest commandments are to love God with everything that you are, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.   That is to want good for them, to offer good to them, to pray for good for them.  Loving someone does not always mean condoning their behavior or giving them anything and everything they want.   It does mean though being tactful.   Seeking to find the best way to reach them with an offer to know who Christ is.   Sometimes that means using our words, and other times it means using our actions.   I know, this is a perfect time to use that cliche saying attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi.. and I am going to.  "Preach at all times the Gospel, and when necessary, use words."   Just don't forget that Saint Francis used a lot of words!

2518 The sixth beatitude proclaims, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." "Pure in heart" refers to those who have attuned their intellects and wills to the demands of God's holiness, chiefly in three areas: charity; chastity or sexual rectitude; love of truth and orthodoxy of faith. There is a connection between purity of heart, of body, and of faith: The faithful must believe the articles of the Creed "so that by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe."

The other thing that I think is so important about the encounter between Jesus and the Pharisee in the Gospel for today is that Jesus tells him "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."   I wonder if those men years later realized the irony of that statement.  There this man was speaking to God himself, face to face with Jesus who is the embodiment of the Kingdom of God, and his eyes were closed.  Love itself sat looking at Him and said to Him, "I am right here before you."  Then like most of us, they were scared to ask anymore questions.  How often we become dumbfounded when we realize something profound is happening in front of us.   What would you do if God were to stand before you right now, at this very moment and say "Here I am.  You are so close to being a part of my Kingdom.. just come forward and receive it."

2519 The "pure in heart" are promised that they will see God face to face and be like him. Purity of heart is the precondition of the vision of God. Even now it enables us to see according to God, to accept others as "neighbors"; it lets us perceive the human body - ours and our neighbor's - as a temple of the Holy Spirit, a manifestation of divine beauty.

It happens every day at Mass.  Christ comes down body and soul before you on the altar.  The ministers come forth and elevate this defenseless host before you, and declare "This is the body of Christ."  There it is, the Kingdom of God.. right in front of you... heaven kissing earth.   Christ offering himself to you, the fullness of love, to help you grow and become the person you are called to be.  Do we like the Pharisee of the moment sit in silence unable to ask more?  Or do we say "Here I am Lord, speak, Your servant is listening."?

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

There's healing in the air tonight

This morning at daily Mass, Father Don Ahles mentioned an article by Norman Wirzba in which he mused on the thought that we might be able to now “declare the end of ‘Christian America.’”  The article speaks of the fact that we in America often portray ourselves as Christians through our speech, through our prayers, and through our presence at this or that local.  Yet, when we look at the actions, at the deeds of these Christians, we find that they don’t line up with the Christian line of thought presented in the Gospels.  

Although voters may speak piously and rather vaguely about Christian values and ideals, polls and election results communicate clearly this is a nation consumed by fear, anger and suspicion – none of which are Christian virtues.

Especially during this part of our political timeline we begin to see people who claim to be Catholic or Christian, yet they do play on those things.  The mudslinging begins.  This one can’t be trusted.  This one isn’t really ‘American.’  This one lied.  On and on it goes.  The thing is, we don’t seem very loving at all when we talk about politics.  We talk about how that we do need to vote, but then we turn lose these insults against the candidate we don’t like, and laud the one we do.. even though often we seem to be supporting those people who are truly against our faith entirely.  I think tomorrow's Gospel reading kind of sets the stage for the next line that caught my eye in his article.

[...]From a scriptural point of view, it is all rubbish. What matters is not what you say but how you live. And from a Christian point of view, nothing matters more than living a life that is inspired by God’s love for everyone.

A life inspired by God’s love for everyone.  Scripture affirms that one of the ways we should be recognized is by our love.  You know the song?  They will know we are Christian by our love?  What does God’s love look like?  Jesus has some pretty strong words to say about that.  Forgiveness.   That’s what God’s love looks like, first and foremost.  Jesus says to Peter that we must forgive not just seven times, but seventy seven fold (70X7 times.)  In the world of Biblical numerology seventy times seven does not represent a literal 490 times.. though that in and of itself would be impressive… rather it represents an infinite number.. forgiveness without limit.

I got to thinking about Lamech, the son of Cain.  Cain was seen as a hard man, but Lamech was the epitome of anger and abuse.  He claims to have killed a man just for wounding him, a young man too out of anger.  Lamech made the audacious claim that if the death of Cain would be avenged seven times, then the death of Lamech would be seventy and sevenfold.  In his world forgiveness was never given.  Anger was returned for anger.  Hate for hate. Death for a wound.  Not only did he return what was given, he multiplied it.  How in contrast that is to God’s love?  How far has he gone from God to be in such a world that does not forgive, but amplifies the hate and evil that is present.

Jesus on the other hand, offers us a world where all is forgiven.  That not only does God forgive perfectly, but we are challenged to do the same. That’s what love looks like.  It means offering your love to everyone regardless of what they do to you.  We’ve come a long way away from that message haven’t we?  We’ve begun to look less like Christians in this country, and more like followers of Lamech.  Our television shows become more catty, more snarky, more materialistic.  Just recently a movie was released in which the ‘hero’ was a man of violence, a man who harmed others, who was almost as much devil as he was avenger.   It sold out.  Record sells even.  Who are we following?  Our actions speak of that.  Our shows, our radio, our movies.. all show what we truly believe.

Then comes something that is very near to my heart though, something that fits right in with that unlimited forgiveness of God… the author goes on to say:

What about the refugees and immigrants who are being refused at our borders and made to feel unwelcome in our land, or the homeless (many of them ill) who do not have a home and proper protection from the elements, or the prison inmates (many of them African-American) who are treated like the garbage of society? [..]God is asking the nations about their public policy, not their verbal piety, because the true test of Christianity has only ever been the test of love.

There is the crux of the matter isn’t it?  To forgive as God forgives we have to forgive these people too.  We seem to be holding grudges against the ‘least of these.’  Some of those grudges from people they may not even know.  They’re muslim right?  Lesbian?  Gay? They are drug dealers and prostitutes.  They are vagabonds who don’t bother to work for themselves.  They.. they.. they.. we like to have an other to hate don’t we?  Yet, Christ told us to forgive not just those people we like, those we are comfortable with.. but even the enemy.. the other.. the they.   Are you ready to do that?  Our nation may not be a Christian nation.. to be honest, it may never have been a truly Christian one… but you and I challenged to be Christian regardless of what our nation is.   Are you ready to forgive?  To offer God’s mercy and grace to everyone? Not just those we choose to be worthy?  Are we ready to love like God loves?  That’s what we must learn to do if we want to keep using the word Christian to describe ourselves.. to lift up our own life… to sacrifice ourselves.. to go to our own Cross..  for everyone, not just those we want to choose, but those God puts before us, period.

His servant and yours,

Brian

“He must increase, I must decrease.”

Who do you say that I am?

Tomorrow is the last Sunday in the liturgical year.  Soon we will begin the season of Advent, leading up to Christmas.  We will begin to think about the ways we can bring Christ into the world, and how we can celebrate his birth from day to day.  This Sunday though, we will be celebrating Jesus Christ as our King, the King of the universe.  I've spent a great deal of time thinking about these readings, and wondering.. what will I write about?  I keep being drawn to a specific phrase: "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"

I wonder what I would say if Jesus had said this to me?  Our parents taught us about Jesus first in most cases.  For some though, it was a teacher, a friend, a catechist, a priest.  In every case our faith has been handed on by someone else.  Someone told us about Jesus.  They told us he was the King of the universe.  They told us that we needed him in our lives.  That's a beautiful thing.  That is how the Church has operated since it's foundation in the first century. It can't end there though.

"Do you say this on your own?"  It is so important that we don't just know Jesus intellectually.  We must know him intimately.   He is indeed the King of the Universe.  He is indeed our Master and our Teacher.  He's also our brother and our friend.  We need to learn to know who he is.  Unlike the Blue's Brothers, we don't just want the facts.  We want a relationship.  We need to spend time with Jesus.  In the Sacraments.   In our friends and family.  In the poor. Jesus reminds us in the last part of tomorrow's gospel: "For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." 

How can we hear God's voice if we don't listen for it?  Society encourages us to fill everything with sound, everything with self.  Portable music devices, internet coverage from seashore to seashore, if you want something there is an app for that.  We can hear the top songs.  Watch the top shows.  Videos from the top Youtubers are that touch of a button. What we need though is to spend some time just listening to Christ.   If we are constantly talking or listening, we never give him room to speak.  That I think is our challenge this day as we wonder if we truly have accepted, honored and realized the truth of what it means for Christ to be our King.

My wife and I just watched the movie Bruce Almighty together, again. Toward the end of the movie Jim Carey drops to his knees in the middle of a highway in a rain storm.   He realizes that he doesn't know how to take care of things.  That even with unlimited power he is just making a mess of things.  He cries out to God and says "I surrender to your will."  Of course, in typical comedic fashion, he is then hit by a truck.  That leads us though to this amazing scene where he finally realizes how much he loves the lady of his life.  So much so that he doesn't pray to get her back, but rather that she will be happy, no matter what that means.

Are you ready for that kind of prayer?  "Lord, I want other people to be happy, no matter what it costs me."  That's what making Jesus the King of our lives is about.  Jesus showed us by example with his Disciples.   He washed their feet.  Then he said, this is what you must do for one another.  Jesus, the King of the entire Universe... humbled himself to serve others.  We as His adopted brothers, as co-heirs to the Kingdom, as Disciples of Christ... we must do the same.

Find some time today to listen to God's voice.  Then, as Mary would tell you, "Do whatever he tells you."  Serve him.  Serve one another.  If every Christian began to do this, we could truly fulfill that first reading in which all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.

Misericordia

Tonight I attended a Spanish Mass at our Parish.  Both to work on my Spanish listening skills and to
attempt to build some friendships and familiarity with a part of the Parish that I often do not get to see.  I have several friends who come to daily Mass or who are involved in other ministries whose native tongue is Spanish and it was good to see them and spend time with them in worship.  I did feel a little out of place though.

Why?  Probably ego?  Pride? Unfamiliarity?   It was good for me though, that is for sure.  I kept hearing this one word though, one I recognized from my studies and from preparing before hand.  "Misericordia."  Mercy.  Kindness.  I heard it in the antiphon of the Psalm.  I heard it in the singing.  I heard it in the readings.  I heard it Father Dorado's homily. (Most of which I was lost in, but I did understand parts of it!)

At the end a friend of mine, Ignatio, grabbed my hand and welcomed me.  Made sure to encourage me and talked about his experience of going to daily Mass in English.  He talked about how he at first did not understand much, but now after a few years, really has begun to understand it well enough to feel comfortable.  Here was a man willing to put his ego to the side.  A man willing to go where he was uncomfortable, where he didn't know many, but persisted through those feelings in order to learn enough of a language to help those of us who did not know his own to be able to experience one another in the body of Christ.

There are those out there who will tell you, "You are not an American if you don't speak English."  "I refuse to learn another language!"  "Why the hell should I have to press 1 to get English? This is America!"  To that I say rubbish.  Today's gospel calls out to us to put ourselves to the side and to instead humble ourselves to be servants.  Servants don't make those they are serving learn their language, rather they humble themselves and put forth the effort to learn the language themselves. "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt.  But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all." 

Think about this for just a moment.  The God of the universe is so far beyond us that it would be like comparing a human to a worm.  This God of ours humbled himself so much that he condescended into one of us, becoming one of us in every way, except sin.  He learnt our language.   He took on our ways.  He didn't expect us to suddenly learn to speak God's tongue.  How much more so should we be willing to approach our brothers as if they were Christ himself?  Learning a language is the least we can do.   Learning who they are, where they are from, their name;  those are other steps we should take.  Their customs, their cultures, their families.  They are part of us.  We are one body.  There aren't 500,000 bodies of Christ.. only one. 

So go out into the world.  Serve your brothers and sisters.  Learn to speak to them.  More importantly learn to listen and understand them.  Try to learn their names.  Their families.  Their interests.   Let them know how important they are to you.  How much you love them.   Don't expect anything in return.  Just offer yourself for them, as Christ offered himself to us.  Then we can cry out together, with our brothers and sisters, in all tongues: "Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you."

In Christ,

His servant and yours,

Brian

Killing The Prophet

In Tomorrow's Gospel we see Jesus again speaking gloom and doom to the Pharisees and Scribes. It's easy for us today to look back and almost cheer him on, 'get those bad Pharisees!'  We like to have an enemy, a they, to place all the blame on.  We want to be on the side of good.  It's easier to feel like we are when we place all the blame on 'them.'  When we really examine what Jesus said though, it might make us squirm a little ourselves.

"Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors"

Jesus reminded them by their very actions they supported the actions of their ancestors.  In building these tombs and monuments they are applauding the events that happened, as if they are proud of their ancestors for killing the prophets sent to them with God's word.  I'm not guilty of that, we say.  I never killed anyone and surely I've never applauded anyone for doing so? 

Yet, every time we are complacent in someone's sin.... every time we stand idly by not condemning bad actions or aiding in reformation of behavior... we have consented to their deeds.  When we buy that coffee from that organization we know does things we don't approve of, we have consented.   When we vote for that candidate that we know stands for something that is against our faith, we have consented.   When we stand in silent agreement, even nodding our hands, as someone gossips and tears down another individual... we have consented. 

How?  Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.   Every time we allow a sin to occur without speaking up, we have killed the prophet.  In a way we are worse than the Pharisees indeed.   They supported the actions of their fathers who killed the prophets before them, but we support the actions of those who are responsible for God himself having to go to the cross and die in our place... in fact, not only do we support those actions.. we often are the ones committing them.   "Woe to you who sin or stand silently while another sins, You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter."

Even more telling is the response of the Pharisees and Scribes, they began to interrogate him "for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say."    How many of us have at some point in our life tried to get around something God has told us?  "Ooh, I'm supposed to Fast on every Friday, but if I give up chocolate that's kind of fasting."   "Technically, even though Mass starts at 8, Communion doesn't occur till 8:30.. so I can eat at 7:30."  How often do we look for ways around doing what we should?  Plotting to get around what God said, or to twist it into something that is more convenient or easy for us. God forbid!

There is hope though!  A great light shining in the darkness!  "For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God."   The first reading reminds us that Jesus, though we didn't deserve it, through God's grace and grace alone, provided a way through our human weakness, through His sacrifice on the cross.   To both Jew and Gentile, all of mankind, is the offer of salvation and freedom from sin.  Faith!  We must grow in this grace and learn to have faith in God.   That even when we fail, even when we sin, we must place that sin at the foot of the Cross, trusting in his forgiveness.   We go to the Church, we go to the Sacraments, we ask Jesus for his Grace and we know that it will come.    We ask him to come and change us, to help us grow and to do better next time. As the responsorial Psalm reminds us, "With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption." 

Tomorrow as we celebrate the Memorial of Teresa of Jesus, let us remember to increase our time with the Lord.  Let us reach out to have a mystical experience with him.  Let us find him in the stillness of our heart and the silence of prayerful contemplation.  Tomorrow, find a moment to invite God into your life and simply sit with him, singing in prayerful confidence:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.

I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
My soul waits for the LORD
more than sentinels wait for the dawn.

In Christ,

Brian

The dishes, again.

I looked into the kitchen this morning, after spending the day in bed in pain.  I lifted too much yesterday and was just unable to get up this A.M.  The dishes weren't done.  I for some reason expected to magically get up at noon and find them washed.  There they were though.  Still waiting for me.

I've put them off a good portion of the day.  Waiting for someone to decide that's their cleaning for today.  Then I made the mistake.   I went to the bathroom and decided to read the Pope's homily.  Doesn't that always kick your butt into gear?  I was reading about the wedding of Cana and how that Mary wasn't concerned with herself whatsoever.  She didn't go gossip to her friends about the poor organization.  She didn't run and say did you see that?  They ran out of wine!  How shameful!   No, rather she was concerned for the other.  Mother Mary instead went to Jesus.  She prayed.  Then she went to deliver a message.  She said "Do what he tells you."  Then the Pope used those words that convicted my heart, "after all Jesus came to serve, not to be served."

My mind began to meditate on so many things.  First and foremost on the life of Father Solanus Casey, whose example often convicts me to shame and repentance.   Father Solanus took the hardest chores, took the tasks he was given with obedience and joy.  He, even in his pain, often ran up and down the stairs to get where he was going.  Never complaining.  Even when in confined to a bed in the hospital, he would hear people's problems with compassion and joy.

Father Solanus Casey

Then my mind wandered to Mother Theresa and her example of taking the hardest job for herself.  My mind reels at how often I want someone else to do the dishes.  I think of my friends, one of whom hates the dishes and another who loves them.  What makes that difference?  Why do we hate it?  Why do we love it?  Isn't it really just perspective?

Then I go back to Thich Nhaht Hahn and his writing that doing the dishes can be a moment with God, a moment of interconnection and love.  If we think and ponder on the reality that is a plate.  How it got there?  How many things it touched on the way.  How many lives were involved to get these pieces of sand to my hands.   How that God created it all and it belongs to Him.  Ah, so much to think about, and what better way than to place your hands in the warm sudsy water and begin to contemplate the mysteries of the universe.

So here I am.. off to do the dishes.

Mother Teresa

Supreme Court Decision

It's been an interesting few days.  We've seen the supreme court decide for the entire nation an issue
of morality.  Forcing states (regardless of voters opinion in those states) to accept something they may or may not approve of.  For many that's a hard thing to swallow.  Tempers are high.  Families are fighting among one another. People are spitting on Priests.  In several celebratory parades people mocked Jesus Christ himself, and attacked Christians in effigy.

So how do we as Christians respond?  We live our vocation.  It is time for us to step up and be the men and women we claim to be.  Imperfect, broken, but forgiven.  We pray.   We love.  We remain chaste to our calling in life.   We call people to Christ by our actions as well as our words.   It is not a time for anger or berating.  Rather its a time for peace, joy and love.

The Supreme court decision does nothing to redefine what we morally believe to be the real, revealed truth of God.  So we raise our families.   We stay true to our spouses.   We live our lives as Catholics. That means a sacramental life.   It's time to start receiving those channels of grace and putting them to work.  When we do something wrong, it's time to get to confession.   When we are having a rough day, it's time to get to communion.  We need to start praying as families, as husbands and wives, as single men and women.   We need to sanctify the day to the Lord, hour by hour.  Take up a rosary, the Divine Office, or just speak to God!

Live your calling.  Live it with love, peace and joy.  Let people see that you are the person you claim to be.  Do not condone sin, but always treat it with the gloves of mercy and love.  Every single one of us is a sinner.  We all have things in our closet that we are not proud of.  We are forgiven, and so we forgive.  We pray for the other, as we would pray for ourselves.  Above all, we pray His will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven.

-Brian

What does it mean to be Sacramental?

 To be a sacramental person is so far beyond anything that I think we can convey in words.   It is to be Christ himself present to the world, as his hands, eyes, feet and mouth.

As a convert, the very nature of our faith is so much beyond what I felt and knew growing up.  Though my basic beliefs have not changed much, many of them have been further defined in ways that I could hardly have imagined.  Fleshed out if you will.  Baptism for instance in the church I grew up in was not a sacrament, but a symbol of an inward change.  It was something we did, not something that “did” something to us.  Seeing baptism for what it truly is makes a great deal of difference in how we react to the world.

As in baptism we are buried to the world in the tomb with Christ, and we arise a new man; so too must we think of our daily life.  When approaching others we are to be priest, prophet and king; representatives of a holy Kingdom, of Christ himself.   Our priestly role is to be liturgically present to the church and participate fully in the Mass.  We are a part of the liturgy and with the Bishop, Priests, and Deacons; we the body of Christ offer ourselves up sacramentally as a living sacrifice to be united with Christ's sacrifice on the cross.  As prophet(s) we are to be ever willing and ready to speak the word of God, by internalizing it and living the spirit of the Gospels in front of and TO every person we meet. The true King, Christ himself came as a servant, so too must we as king be servants to other, ready to pour ourselves out as a living libation in the world.

Through the sacrament of Reconciliation we are able to heal the damage we have done to our relationship with God, but also we are able to restore ourselves to right community with the body of Christ.   The grace of Christ pours out into our hearts and through the actions of our penance we are able to make 'right', what we have put wrong.  When we live this sacrament out in the world we too should be channels of grace that pour out our forgiveness to others and want to draw them closer to Christ and his church.

Through the sacrament of Confirmation we can say a resounding Yes, just as Mary, the mother of God, gave her fiat; so too must we say to Christ “Let it be done to me according to thy word.”  As living members sealed by this Sacrament, we must also go into the world renewed with energy and joy, allowing Christ to be created in us so that we can then in turn bring him into the world.  A spiritual rebirth that begins with the humbling of ourselves to do his will.

I think to sum up, as I have gone longer than a single page, the sacramental character of our lives means that we as Catholic Christians should live in the world in the exact same way we live at the Altar.  All too often we see church as an action we do on Sunday, living one way in front of the priest, and another in the parking lot on the way back into our lives.  Until we begin to not just internalize the Sacraments but to live them out fully in our lives, so that the person we are is starting to look like the person that God created us to be, can we truly begin to be the body of Christ in a world that so very much needs us!  It is only by allowing grace to flow through our lives and to restore us to the fullness of humanity that God bestowed upon our first father and mother, and restored to us through the second Adam and second Eve, Jesus and Mary, that we can begin to truly live out what we pray in the Our Father, “Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.”

An Encounter with Christ

As many of you know, I've taken some time away from the computer for Lent; only recently returning to Facebook and blogging.  During that time I've tried to add some other pursuits that would help me grow closer to God.   One of the things I decided to do was get back to 'pleasure reading.'  With classes for ministry formation, bible studies, prayer groups, etc... a great deal of my reading has been 'assignments' or things I needed to research to plan a prayer retreat, or even the Facebook posts.  So I picked out a few books to read, to help me grow closer, but also books that are just for me.  Books I wanted to read.

One of those books is The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything by Reverend James Martin, SJ.  This book interested me because of our new Holy Father, Pope Francis, and his Jesuit background.  I don't know a lot about Jesuits so trying to understand their spirituality is very interesting and enlightening to me.   I've also been reading the wonderful book, Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads given to me as a gift by my dear friend Laci.   One of the interesting things I have found about Father Martin, is that he consistently looks for Gods presence in everything.  In every person. In every action. In every thought. In every 'desire'.   He looks to find God, if not in the moment, at least in retrospect to the end of his day when he does his daily Examen.  There is such a wonderful anecdote in the book by Father Martin about a man working in an administrative position who, when the door bell rings, would say "I am coming Lord!" in preparation for trying to see God in whoever had come to visit or to do business.

Such a simple concept, to look at your day and try to find God in each person you talk to.  In each task you are doing. In every blessing and even in every problem.  Father Tim Seigel  used to say much the same thing, when he would talk about the beauty of our round church.   He would tell us that in each person in the room, there is Jesus waiting.  I even remember a story about a grumpy old man that someone was trying to serve or at least talk with in a shelter, and the story ended with "Jesus wasn't in a very good mood that day."

It all boils down to "whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done for me" and in the same token "whatever you have not done for the least of these, you have not done for me."  This long introduction leads me to such a simple moment, but one that really opened my eyes and blessed me this morning.   On Thursdays we say a chaplet of Divine Mercy in our Sanctuary after Mass.  Today as we were praying for Mercy for the world and all of us in it, I was drawn to contemplating Mary Magdalene and the gospel from a few days previous.  In that Gospel Mary arrives at the tomb and finds it empty.  She is devastated.  Jesus walks up but she doesn't recognize him in his glorified state, and I'm sure her grief stricken heart and tears helped make it even more difficult to recognize anyone at all.  She, thinking he was the caretaker, begged him to just tell her where Jesus body was and she'd come get it.  She turned back to the tomb, turning her back on God... and a moment later, Jesus said her name.   Something so simple, but immediately she recognized him.  As we were praying for Divine Mercy, I was thinking of the beauty and mercy of that tender moment... being called by God, by name.

There I sat thinking looking around at the faces of the beautiful people praying with me, and asking myself do I see Jesus in this room? In Richard and Gene I always find love, in Mary I find patience and fortitude, in Paul I find the kindness to go out of his way to help everyone.  Yes, in these people I see Jesus every day.  My heart was content for I thought, "Yes, I have seen Jesus today in his body!"

Then as we were leaving, I was talking to Rita about the prayer basket we had set up in the entrance and she, as always, was kind and generous.  Then as she was leaving she gave me a hug and a kiss on the check, and she said "You tell your children and wife," then she paused for a moment as if taking time to get every word just right and said, "Haley.  Hannah. Sarah.  Moira. and Julie."  Pausing between each name as if they were precious and beautiful, and then "that I love them."   Then she walked away.  There He was.   When I was least expecting him, when I thought I had already seen through my own effort what he had to offer me for today, the God of Surprises blessed me with a beautiful moment in which he reminded me "I have called you by name.  You are mine." (Isaiah 43:1) Thank you Lord for reminding me that you love and watch over my family, and that they belong to you.  May I try to live up to that honor of having them in my life; and thank you Lord for Rita, for being your instrument today to bring me such a beautiful present.

How can church Doctrine help me grow closer to God?

How Can Accepting the Doctrine of the Church help you come closer to God?

As a convert to the Catholic faith, the organic nature of the development of doctrine is something that I have experienced first hand.  During my formative years I began to do what is most common in the Protestant denominations; that is I began to church shop.  Many protestants are taught that the bible is the sole authority of their faith, and that they should continue looking for a church until they find one that teaches the bible and only the bible.  The problem then becomes whose version of interpretation is the correct one? Who is the authority who has the final say in interpretation? The Holy Spirit of course is the answer, but in the physical world we also have to have someone speaking via the Holy Spirit to make decisions in matters of  faith.

One of my first memorable experiences of this sort of process in action was in a church in rural southwest Virginia.  As the preacher began his sermon for the day, he began talking about another preacher from a different church and condemned him for smoking tobacco.  He talked about how it was bad for the body and that scripture had clearly shown that our body was a temple, and that smoking was desecrating that temple.  He kept preaching into a fevered pitch and paused just long enough to spit his ambeer into the cup.  This man of God had just been preaching about the sinful use of smoking tobacco while clearly chewing tobacco himself. I began to look for another church.

My next experience of this sort of doctrinal formation was in a Pentecostal style church where they were very animated and vibrant. They began to argue though shortly after I arrived about the necessity of one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, glossolalia. One of the more prominent ministers argued that one must indeed speak tongues in order to be saved.  The pastor began to refute that argument with scripture and indicated that while it was indeed a sign of being saved, there were other gifts of the spirit and that speaking in tongues was not required of every single person. A few weeks of arguing back and forth, during church service mind you, and they decided to go their separate ways. So one minister who disagreed with the preacher, along with all those who agreed with him, formed his own church just a few miles away.   Now we had two separate churches just a few miles apart that agreed in every issue but one, but both would point to the other and say that they were going to hell. I again began to look for another church.

After a while I settled down in a small church of the non-denominational variety, where they preached 'the bible' and studied it quite often together. The Pastor seemed to be a very nice fellow who gave a very good sermon, and they often had visiting singers and preachers who would get the congregation 'stirred'.  Everything here seemed to be right on the mark, they talked about hell, gave altar calls, shared scripture in snippets just like always.  In Sunday school they had us memorize the 23rd Psalm and various bible verses that we should be able to speak at a moments notice. Then one day before Christmas, the pastor began to preach against Santa, and instead of sharing the Christmas story and God's love for us.. it became a tirade about how Santa was truly from Satan.  Each holiday became just the same, the Easter Bunny next, then Halloween. Eventually it was that time again, I began to look for another church.

One day, shortly after I began to really research the Catholic church at the insistence of my wife, I stumbled upon a verse that I had read many, many times in the past. “Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, 'The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat;  practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice.'”  Here in Jesus own words was a verse telling me not to simply walk away and search for another church every time they did not agree with me. So I began to ask myself, which church is it that Jesus established? How can I know? What do they teach?

After many years of study and fighting the call of the Holy Spirit to become Catholic, I knew that it was here that I needed to be. It was only here that we had the seat of St. Peter, from whose authority the bishops and priests receive their anointing. It was here that we have the church with the power to bind and loosen.  It was here that we have the sacraments as Jesus himself initiated them. It was only in the Catholic church that I would find the fullness of faith, the teachings of the Apostles and of the Holy Spirit himself.

So how do those teachings help me to grow closer to God? For the last two thousands years men much smarter than myself have been studying, philosophizing, agreeing and disagreeing about various questions that I myself have seen others speaking about and arguing about.   Many of these have been put into documents, encyclicals, and into the Catechism of the church. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit many of those very questions that I have seen protestant churches splitting over, have already been answered and cemented as Dogma. Not only can I find the answers when there is a disagreement, but I can find the documents and biblical verses that back up those teachings as well. By following Catholic doctrine I have freed myself from a world where two men can split an entire congregation into two separate bodies; and joined myself to a church, that guided by the Holy Spirit, instead tries to keep the body of Christ as One Body.

The doctrines, teachings, and dogmas of the church also help me to find aspects of God that help me to further understand the mystery of his incarnation, of the trinity, and of the Sacraments. Through each of these wonderful teachings and writings on those teachings, I can further understand who God is, what God did for me, and how I can live to better please God.  I also have access to the treasure of the doctors of the church who have expounded in words much more eloquent than my own matters that sometimes seem very difficult to understand. As St. Peter said, “There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.”  By finding the church, guided by the Holy Spirit, lead by the seat of Peter himself, I have found the key to understanding those scriptures.  I have found the source which will allow me to further understand and further grow closer to God, to find answers to those questions and find hope and grace in the Sacraments. That hope and grace draws me closer and closer to God himself.

Personal Relationship?

There are three camps in Christianity right now that seem to be the most prevalent, and two of them I find to be fatally flawed and separate from the Gospel according to Jesus Christ. Both have their merits, but both are lacking something to be complete.

The first is the camp that our relationship with Jesus is a personal relationship. You often see people say don't judge me, I only answer to God! In a way that's correct, just as David said, I sinned against you and you alone, our concern should be first and foremost with God. That's what Jesus said the most important commandment was right? So in a way our relationship with God is personal, it's primary.. but it's not just. Just said that was the first and greatest commandment, but then he went on to say there was a second, like it. (Another translation says "A second, equally as important" (see Mark 12:28-33). That makes a big difference doesn't it?

Then the second camp, one less common but one the Pharisees themselves seem to have been guilty of, is that it's a community relationship and only a community relationship. These are the people who put the commandments before the people. Their relationship is ONLY religion, only about the community. The Pharisees were very guilty of this, and if you watch the recent 'Bible' television series, you see some of that attitude. The "I need to protect my religion, my people" at all costs mentality.  The man who follows his religion to a T but neglects the needs of his fellow brothers and sisters, this man puts community before person, there is no personal relationship, even among the community.. only the community structure. The white washed tomb that Jesus called them greatly expresses this ideal. They appear clean on the outside, because they do everything right, but on the inside.. it's still dirty, still hate filled. We all seem to fall into that trap from time to time.. but notice that Jesus didn't say for people to ignore the tradition? No.. Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples,  “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat;  so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice.  They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. (Matthew 23:1-4)

So then what are we to do? We see here clearly that Tradition is not bad.. no the Tradition of the Pharisees was beautiful and had many beautiful teachings in it.. but they weren't practicing what they preach. We also see that God is important, the first and foremost.. but so are our brothers and sisters.. So neither of these approaches work. Why? Because they try to separate the body from the head. You see with the first, you take you and try only have communion with the head, Jesus.  With the second, you only have communion with the body as a whole, and not the head at all. Both ignore the other parts of the body and Sacred Scripture clearly tells us that we cannot separate the parts of the body. The eye cannot tell the hand I have no need of you (1 Corinthians 12:21), etc.

So we need all of it. We need the head, the body, and the parts! In order to be in communion with God who is a trinity.. we must also worship in a trinity (you'll find this pattern all through scripture!) We have to be in communion with God, with the body, AND with each other! So that is the simple answer. Tradition is beautiful, but so is love. God is important, but so is your brother and sister. You love God BY loving each other. It's really that simple.

That was one of the first things that drew me to Catholicism, and it's the thing that keeps reminding me that this is home for me. That there is a huge emphasis on God, worshiping him and him alone.  Yet, there is an emphasis on still talking among the body (both here and those already gone to Heaven), in the communion of saints. And yet there is still the personal relationship, how much more personal can it be than to go forward every Sunday and touch Jesus in such a unique way in the Eucharist? It's all there.

And remember, the only person scripture records as saying "Am I my brothers keeper?" was the one who had just killed his brother.

Peace be with you,
Brian

The Least of These

President Obama famously declared in a speech a while back that whatever we are, we are no longer a Christian nation.  I would like to believe that isn't true.  The numbers say that we are mostly Christians in our population. The increase in secular thought, belief, and liberalism would say differently. Even our conservatism is much more liberal than it was in years past. That's not the point I want to talk about.

Included the presidents exact words, so that others

could see exactly what he said in context. 

Lately I've been seeing a lot of posts decrying our government from spending money elsewhere, when it is needed at home. How dare we send relief to some other country when our country has some problems of its own? Why spend money educating children in Africa when we could be increasing our own public schools.  Why subsidize third world countries when we are hurting here and need jobs? These are all powerful questions, questions that can't be answered lightly or in few words.

But there is a key here... if we ARE a Chrisitian nation.. then we truly believe that all people deserve help. "Whatever you do for the least of these you do for me."  If we are a Christian nation then our neighbor is not just the homeless man here, but the homeless man in South Africa as well. If we are a Christian nation, then the child who needs school supplies in  China is just as important as the one who needs school supplies here in our home town. If we are a Christian nation, then every man needs our help.. not one or the other.

Am I saying that we should help those abroad before we help those at home? No. What then am I saying, that we should help those who are here before we help those abroad? No. I am saying IF we are a Christian nation, we should help both!  

If President Obama is right, that we are no longer a Christian nation then none of this matters. We should only be concerned with our own national issues, and not worry about the world.. but if he is wrong... if we are still a Christian nation... then we should be concerned with all of humanity, and yes all of creation as well. We don't have room in a Christian mindset to say I will ignore the plight of someone I cannot see, and only concentrate on those I know personally... we cannot say stop taking care of those in need because we have needs here... instead we must realize that we all have a little to give, and a lot of places to give it.

Stewardship

Just wanted to share with you the speech that I prepared for this weekend and had the honor of delivering at our parish. God really helped me through it and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would :)

When Father Don asked me if I would be interested in saying a few words about Stewardship at the weekend masses, I was very excited! Perhaps a bit scared and nervous too. It such and important topic in the Catholic life, one that I am very passionate about. Most of the time when we hear the word Stewardship our minds immediately go to tithing and money. Don't get me wrong, that is an extremely necessary part of the Christian life. Without funding the church itself could not continue to lead the world in charitable works, missions, and ministries.  Hospitals, schools, soup kitchens, and homes could not continue to work without that money.

But stewardship does not end there at all. Stewardship involves realizing that everything we have comes from and belongs to God. As our responsorial Psalm today says, “Behold God is my helper, the Lord sustains my life.”  It is so very easy in our materialistic society to get caught up in the daily life of earning things. “He works hard for the money” has become a mantra and it has allowed us to lose sight of the simple fact that those skills, talents, and even our lives themselves are gifts from God. We do often work hard to earn what we have, and that's good. Yet we must remember where we get the ability to work, the ability to breath, the ability to earn that gift and that the gift itself still belongs to the one who created all that we are and have.

How often do we ponder that the home we have, the car we drive, even the dishes we use for our meals are all gifts from above? Do we treat them as such? I know that when I borrow a car that belongs to someone else, I often take better care of it than I do my own. When I spend the night at someone else's home I take care not to throw my clothes on the bathroom floor, and usually make the bed in the morning, something I fail to do at my own home nearly every day. If we truly believe then that every thing we have, everything we use belongs to God, why then do we treat them as our own personal things?

When I was a  young man fresh out of high school I had the privilege of joining a fraternity. Being a member of that organization helped to shape my view of what stewardship is all about. As a young member interested in moving up through the ranks of officers I was installed as a Steward. It was an interesting position and essentially it meant that I got all the grunt work. Here I was the youngest member, and I got to clean the toilets, change the lights, and make sure the air conditioner was on before meetings. I wasn't allowed to just do anything I wanted. It wasn't my building. It belonged to the entire organization. Rather, it was my job to make sure that when members showed up, the building was in an acceptable state of repair. It was my job to take care of what had been given to us, to make sure that it was there when the 'owner's returned.

Now so far I've been talking about 'things'.  I'm not a wealthy man and in 2007 I had my spine fused. This has led my family and I into a much lower income bracket than we were used to. We are by no means rich, and we don't have a lot of 'things' to give. What we do have though, especially myself, is time. We also have talent to give, as does every person in this room. God has created each one of us as unique individuals.  Only you can do what you do, the way that you do it. There are likely many people in this room who can paint a wall, but there are some in here who really know what they are doing. There are others in this room who can sew together a blanket if they had to, but then there are some who can make beautiful quilts like the ones for our centennial. There are those who can speak well, and those who wouldn't want to be up here talking for any amount of time at all.

You see God wants us to take care of our time and our talents as well. When we truly search our hearts we all have a little time here or there to give. It may not be much. It may only be a few minutes on a Saturday morning. Or 10-20 minutes on a Thursday afternoon as your coming home from work. If we analyze our lives, especially when I analyze mine, I find that there are many moments in which I'm sitting watching television or looking at Facebook on the computer. I agree there is a time for relaxation, we all need to wind down after a long day of work, or a stressful day of raising the children, or even just recover from an illness or deal with some sort of cross that we are bearing. If we earnestly look at our lives though, we find there is a great deal of time in our life that we could be doing something for each other.

Here at Saint Catherine's we are blessed with a great deal of councils, committees, and groups that help out. One thing you find though is if you begin to look through the list of names on those committees you begin to find that many of them are the same names over and over. We need each and every one of your talents. There are things only you can do, that I cannot. Each of you has a singular unique individuality that you bring to the table that no one else can bring. God wants you to use that in your life, to help build his Kingdom here, to help keep it present and to help others come to know it.

I'd like to talk just briefly about a few of the ministries that I've been involved with. First and foremost, one of the most important ministries to me is the RCIA. It is through the RCIA that we as Catholics reach out to those who are not, and we offer them the beauty of the faith, the beauty of the Eucharist that we come to receive every chance we can. The source and summit of our faith, when Jesus Christ himself becomes present and allows you to receive him into your body, into your soul, and allow him to change you and bring you to eternal life. There are so many out there who are calling out for that chance to receive Jesus Christ, a chance to fill that emptiness with the only thing that can truly fill it up. So many out there are trying to fill it with something else, with television, with games, with entertainment, chemicals and substances. We need people to step forward and help find candidates. To reach out to those they know that are interested, or even to simply mention to those you think need it. We also need people to step forward and say, you know.. I'd be interested in helping out with this. This is dear to my heart and I want to help.

I have also had the wonderful opportunity to be on our evangelization team, which offers those wonderful programs like Awakening Faith, Living the Eucharist, and soon to come Seeking Christ. It is through these that we help each other grow, to learn more about our faith, and to learn more about one another. We are a community of believers, not just a personal relationship. We are a family and through this we can continue to grow as one. These programs need leaders who are interested in helping small groups get through the program. We also need members who are willing to come to the sessions.

During the summers I tend to come to daily mass a lot. This is an important part of our lives. Being able to receive Jesus daily is such a powerful reminder of how free the grace of God is, and how important it is for us to make an effort to come forward and make a commitment to him. During this time I've been allowed to be one of the daily lector's. I cannot tell you in words how powerful it is to come forward and be a part of that service. To stand up here and read to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from the very word of God. How powerful a moment it is for the Lector when he says the 'Word of the Lord', and everyone responds thanks be to God. For us to realize that God has just spoken to us through the scriptures, and through the mouth of one of our own.

Last year I began to help out teaching our 8th graders in the per-confirmation class. Here is an opportunity for someone to make a difference in the life of our children, and at the same time to help develop their own faith. While teaching you help share that faith with our youth and often I find myself learning things that I myself did not know, and getting fresh perspectives on our faith from children who see things in such an amazing way that we adults often miss. It doesn't take a great deal of skills or talents to help out, it just takes someone willing to try. We need teachers and we need aides. As the popular song says, “I believe the children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way.” We need our children to understand our faith, to grow in it, to help continue the life of the church.

I've also had the privilege of being a part of the respect life committee and I must say it's been one of the most rewarding ones to me personally. Being able to help out with our youth, knowing that the work we are doing is making a difference, and seeing the fruit of those labors in action is something that truly touches the soul. The various events that I've been able to attend and places I've been able to visit have reminded me just how much work we have to do. A few months ago Linda Dolder and I had the chance to visit our state capital and spend the day as lobbyist. It gave us a valuable look at our political process and how we can make a difference. We also visited the We Care pregnancy center, delivering some much needed supplies that will be given out to parents who are in need of them. This ministry allows us to spread the message that all life is sacred, and that is a message that our society is very much in need of hearing.

In Christ,
His servant and yours;
Brian

Seeds? Words? Gardens?

Bear with me as I try to convey to you something that I do not know if I can put into words. Today as I was reading Sacred Scripture, a line of thought began to form in my mind. It begins with the concept of the logos, the Christ, the messiah. Jesus is the Word of God. That is something that almost all Christians agree on. It's also key in understanding the power of the tongue. First I want to talk about what the logos means to us, and what that means about Jesus.

We as Christians believe that when God spoke before time ever began, that the Word he spoke was Jesus himself. That the word that came out of his mouth, the word through which all things were created, was Christ. First off we see that when God speaks, he speaks a Word, and that Word is the messiah. It shows us how powerful that word is. All of creation, the universe, people, soul, spirit... all were created by a Word.

Next we see the concept that the Word is a seed. Jesus talked many times about the Word of God being a seed which is planted in the heart, in the garden of the World, which grows or not according to the condition of the soil. Here we see that the Word spoken by God has the power to multiply and grow, to create and uplift. The power of life and death, the power of all of God's creation is in a Word. The Word IS a seed.

Then I began to ponder the fact that we are made in the image of God. Being made in the image of God means that we should be aware that we also have power, spiritual power given to us by God's Holy Spirit. That means that when we speak, we also speak words. Now that seems very obvious on the surface. But let's look at what we said above, not only do the words we speak have power.. but they are seeds. When we speak we sow spiritual seeds in the garden of life. We have the power to plant spiritual food, or to grow weeds.

What does that mean for us? When we edify and uplift, when we build up and encourage... we are planting spiritual food, we are giving spiritual fruit... we are planting seeds of God's Kingdom. We are sharing the Word, through our word. We are spreading the Kingdom of God one seed at a time. At the same time, when we speak words that tear down or demean, words that harm and destroy, we plant weeds that choke and destroy the fruit we have planted. You see Jesus told us that the soil is very important to the growth of the seed. Did you know that God put man in charge of tilling and caring for the soil? Adam was given the job of protecting the garden of Eden, and we as descendents of Adam also have a duty to protect, till, and prepare the garden of our Spiritual world.. the Kingdom of God.

Are you building up God's kingdom? Are you spreading it one word at a time? Or are you planting weeds in your relationships? In your marriage? Is your home a garden of lovely flowers, tantalizing fruits, and gorgeous flowing rivers of kindness? Or is it filled with briars, burning sands, and empty river beds in decay?

His servant and yours;



Brian

Grant me your peace

Lord make me an instrument of your peace. I say this prayer almost every morning as I awake, trusting God to transform me because I know I cannot make it through the day on my own volition. I am human. Just like the next person. I make mistakes. Almost all men and women of faith pray for God's peace, God's will.  We pray: Our Father, who art in heaven. They will be done. We pray:  Lord grant me the serenity We consistently pray for peace and joy.

Yet, there is also a disturbing trend to Christianity. We tend to be Christians+. On the surface that seems like a good thing, and sometimes it is; as long as it doesn't interfere with the Gospel. The problem is we tend to add something to our Catholicism, or religion, our Christianity. We take something we believe in, and we tack it on to the Gospel. Christianity + Democrats. Christianity + democracy. Christianity + republican. Christianity + the tea party. Christianity + a belief. Christianity + Occupy Wall Street.

It's ok to be a Catholic and a democrat. It's ok to be a Catholic and a republican. It's ok to be a Catholic and a member of the tea party. We must remember though, that we are Catholic first. We are Christian first. Our first and most important allegiance is to God. If there is a democratic belief that is contrary to the Gospel, then we cannot live by it.. follow it.. nor expect others to do so. The same with our republican beliefs.

We also have a tendency to say things like, real Christians must be members of this as well! If they really followed the gospel, then they'd be a democrat too! If they were really following Christ they'd be protesting on wall street with the Occupy Movement, etc. God has clearly laid out what we are to do. I agree there are causes we should join. There are indeed parts of certain movements I agree with, but the only movement a person needs to join to be a member of the body of Christ.. is the church. It's really that simple. If we examine every single movement out there, we are going to find there are parts of that movement which do not agree with our faith.

I agree with movements that want to help the poor. I don't agree with abortion. I agree with free market, I don't agree with removing the environmental protection agency in order to make business explode, at the expense of destroying God's creation. I am a vegan, but I understand that God has given permission (not requirements) to eat meat. I am Catholic. Not Catholic+, not Catholic-, but Catholic.

Let us all learn to follow God's peace, not our own. God's will, not our own. Let's learn to discern what God wants from us, what God calls us to do in the gospel.  Let us pray with all earnestly, God's will be done here on earth, as it is in Heaven.. and mean it.. live by it.. live it here, as we believe it will be lived there. The story of our lives is a many volume book filled with paragraphs of information, going on and on, filling shelf upon shelf. This life is but the very first letter... there is so much more to come after... let us start living as if eternity is what matters... because if eternity is what matters.. then love is what we need to be exhibiting here.. in every breath.. every action.. every moment.

His servant, and yours;
Brian