Stirring the Flame

Today is the memorial of Saint Justin the Martyr.  A man who lived in the early church, back in the time when the Roman's were having Christians fight to death in the Colosseum.  A time of persecution and hate.  Justin after his conversion began to argue for the Christian faith.  Not argue like we argue today, but to logically and systematically debate with others to show them the truth.  He won over many souls, and failed to do so with others.  Eventually a man, jealous that Justin had beaten him with his logic, reported him to the government and he was martyred for his faith.  We still to this day learn the methods of apologetics, that is not saying we are sorry, but rather giving a defense for our faith.  "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope." (1 Peter 3:15)

In the first reading for today we have a glimpse into the mindset of Saint Paul.  Paul is being persecuted and in prison, likely to die for his faith.  He reminds Timothy to stir into flame that gift which God has given him, that is the Holy Spirit.  It reminds me of those early movies in which cave men carried their embers with them from site to site.   Someone was in charge of that.  It wasn't a new fire that they were creating, but rather they carried the hot coals wrapped in protective sheets from place to place.  Rebuilding the fire over and over.. slowly coaxing it back to life with the proper fuel.  If they put on the wrong stuff, it would put out the fire.  If however, they used the fuel that it needed.. and slowly breathed into the embers, it would roar to life and produce fire.

I lived in a run down house in Virginia.  In the basement was this old, rusted out wood stove.  When I first moved in there I put in a gas stove, mostly because of all the work it took to keep a wood fire going.  Eventually, due to bad money management and silly circumstances, I couldn't afford the propane anymore to heat the house (not that it ever really heated it well.)  That winter I collected wood and stored it in the shed.  When I would get in from work I'd have to build a new fire.  Every day I'd come in from the cold and the fire would be out.   It took me most of that winter to learn to bank down the fire, to conserve the hot coals during the day.  Then when I got home I'd slowly build it back up.  A little tinder.   Some soft dry wood.  Eventually some heavy, hard woods to burn through the night.  It took time to learn how to stir that flame, to get it going without putting it out.   It took even more time to learn to be able to keep that flame going during the day.   It was so easy to forget to turn down the draft, close the vents and have just enough coal left to keep it going for the many hours I was gone into the world.

Paul reminds us exactly how to do this with that ember burning in our souls.   At Baptism we receive the Holy Spirit.  The Bible reminds us that the Spirit descended in tongues of flames, transformed the burning bush, and left Moses transformed and glowing that he even had to cover his face.   It is through love and self-control that we fan those flames.  When we sin, when we give in to our desires at any cost, that's when we begin to smother that light, to push that flame out of existence.  It is through saying no to those things which are bad for us, even when we want them so badly, that we slowly feed the fire.   A fire that does not harm us, but warms us and glows within us.. eventually glowing so brightly that others see it in us... drawing us to Sainthood.  The power of love and self-control.   How society wants us to go the other way.   To give in to desire, regardless of the consequence.   To simply do what you want, and let others do whatever they want.. but Christianity calls self-control a power!  How much harder is it to say no than to simply give in?  To be in control of yourself?

When we look back to the example left us by Saint Justin we see him reaching out to the world and spreading the Gospel.  We can look back at his description of Christian worship in the first hundred years of Christianity and be astounded that he describes the Catholic Mass.  For two thousand years we have been worshiping God exactly as the Apostles taught us to do so.  The Church has been teaching us that entire time that we must love God and one another, but also that we must have self control.   This has been handed on for generation after generation.  How then are we challenged to be apologists in the world?  How can we exercise that power of love and self-control?

First and foremost by living a Sacramental life.  Making frequent reception of the Sacraments a priority.  Not something we fit into our schedule once it's full of all the other things, but rather something that goes in first and our schedule fits around.  In receiving Christ in the Eucharist, encountering Him in the Confessional and adoring Him in Adoration; we are strengthened by love itself.   We come face to face with our own sinfulness and are challenged to do more, to do better.   Then we must take that Sacramental presence out into the world and become that presence to those in need.  The world is thirsty, it's seeking help.  It needs us.  That doesn't mean you have to go out and preach on the street corner, though there is nothing wrong with that.   What it does mean is that you have to fan those embers, feed them with love and good works, avoiding that which is ungodly and sinful.

This morning I was wondering how I might fan those flames.   How can I help the Holy Spirit grow in me by opening myself more fully to Him?  I stood in the grocery line waiting to pay.  A few people ahead of me stood a woman who was buying some groceries.  As they rang her up she ran her card.  Once, twice... three times.   It was denied.   "I just put money in here, what am I going to do?"  She was on the verge of tears.  I've been there.  I've had to have them hold the groceries till I could go home or to the bank to get cash, or even put back things to afford them.  I've been without food, and more importantly I know that feeling of draining you get when you realize everyone is looking and hearing.   Is it pride?  Sure some.  It's not a feeling though that I envy or want for anyone else.  Out of my mouth I heard the words: "How much is it?"   I didn't even mean to say it, it just came out. She said $19 something.   I said I got it.  I went up and paid for it.  The look on her face was worth more than $20.   She began to cry.  She said you don't know what this means and ran from the building with her two small bags of food.

That's how we fan the flames.  By giving in and letting Him speak through us.   By being a living Sacrament that shows the Living God.   By speaking, acting, loving in the way that Christ would to a world so much in need of that touch.    Are you ready to stir that flame?   To learn how to keep it burning even when we go out into the world?  Do you realize how precious and absolutely necessary it is to protect and guard it to keep it from going out?

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

A Fountain of Hope

Today is the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.   A feast day in which we celebrate the mystery of who God is.  God is one being.  That is something all of the different, major religions descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Christians though believe that though He is one being, one God, He is three co-eternal persons.  That is what we Catholics mean when we say it is a mystery.  It doesn't make sense to us as a 'person' to consider being also part of another being.  Yet, we are much the same aren't we?  My wife, my daughters, and I are all a family.  We are one unit, made up of separate people.   The trinity is more intimate than that.. but the Church has long held that the family, the domestic church, is the visible sign of the trinity and a witness to the faith we profess.

Jesus reminds us that the Holy Spirit will guide us to the truth and will proclaim to us all things that were belong to Him.  That's a beautiful promise that many of us have rejected or forgotten here two thousand years later.  When we look around we find not just one Christian family, but over forty thousand Christian denominations.  All of them claiming to be led by the Spirit, all of them claiming to know the truth, but all of them holding different beliefs.   Just the other day a friend was telling me that at a church they had attended the Pastor had said that all of the miracles in the bible were not real, they legends.   Then another Pastor at another church declared that Jesus did not actually die, but rather was in a state of deep sleep, a coma perhaps?  We see the results of this fracture, this drifting from the truth handed on by the Apostles and protected by the Church Father's, throughout all of our societies today.   From the people who protest military funerals and declare that God hates people who have same sex attraction, to those who say that everyone is saved and you can live whatever hedonistic lifestyle you want to live.

The Church has long taught that the fruit of the Spirit is a necessary sign of His presence in our Church.  In the Morning Prayer of the Divine Office this morning one of the intercessions proclaims: "Come, Holy Spirit, that we may show your fruit in our lives: charity, joy, peace, equanimity, kindness, generosity, long-suffering, patience, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity."   Isn't that a poignant reminder of what it means to be the body of Christ?   It means to be one, just as Jesus and the Father are one.  That's what we are to learn about the trinity.  That they aren't struggling for glory and honor, but sharing in it.   They aren't breaking ranks to form their own godhead, but rather are one God.

When I grew up as a Protestant, I began to realize that something was amiss.  As I shopped churches looking for the one that had the truth, I watched as people left one church to form another over some of the most interesting things.   At one point I watched as a church split because one preacher said it was OK to smoke and the other felt it was a sin.. so the congregation split too forming another church just down the road.  Everything else was the same... but that one thing.   Then I sat and listened to that man preach about the ills of tobacco smoke while he spit in a cup from his 'chaw.'   I journeyed from the Baptist faith that I had grown up around into the Pentecostal arena and listened to people shout out in tongues and fall out in the spirit.   I was even known to speak tongues and raise my hands while shouting Amen to the preachers message.   Then one day I sat down because I didn't feel God in it.   Someone turned around demanding to know what was wrong.. and I said nothing, and he declared I was no longer saved because I didn't speak tongues anymore.

"Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit, and a varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone."    God decides where He goes and whom He saves.  I truly believe that.   I do not know who will be in Heaven with me, but I imagine that there are going to be some Catholics who are truly surprised when they come face to face with some Protestants who also will be in wonder.  Then there will be others whom we expected to be there and we will look down in sadness at their condition.  What I do know without a shadow of a doubt is that Jesus left us a Church to guide us.   That Church wrote the New Testament scriptures themselves.   Yes, God can go outside of the ordinary means of salvation to save anyone he chooses, but if you're standing in a desert with a water fountain next to you, do you take a drink?  Or stumble through the hot sands hoping to find a drop somewhere else?   The Church is that fountain... God has given Peter the keys to the vault of grace and mercy, and it's available to every person who seeks it in earnest.

It's time for us to stop trying to write our own Gospel and be united.  One faith, one baptism, one Church.  Jesus asked his Apostles to do just that, he prayed that they might become one, as He and the Father were one.   What is the bond that connects the Father and the Son?  It's the Holy Spirit. It's love.   Jesus then breathed on his Apostle's and sent them on a mission to evangelize the world.   In the words of Saint Athanasius written in the 6th century (which may seem harsh to some):

It will not be out of place to consider the ancient tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic Church, which was revealed by the Lord, proclaimed by the apostles and guarded by the fathers. For upon this faith the Church is built, and if anyone were to lapse from it, he would no longer be a Christian either in fact or in name.

It's time to come home.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Slack Jawed Apostles!

Tomorrow we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord.   Jesus spent 40 days spreading his message to his disciples.  40 days in which he taught them, encouraged them, and prepared them for their mission.  Then after 40 days, he was changed.  He was lifted up before them into heaven and went on to the next leg of his mission.  I imagine from the response of the two men in white garments that the Apostles were standing there with their jaws ajar gazing into sky, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.  "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?"   Why aren't you out instead doing what he instructed you?   They were still waiting for that push, that courage that comes from receiving the Holy Spirit.

The thing is, God has left us this amazing blueprint here of what to do once we do get that courage, that joy.  He said "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Such a simple plan, with such strong meaning to me.    Start here, where you are.   Move to where you have been, the places that are familiar to you.   Then, spread out in where you are uncomfortable, where you've never been, where no one has.    To the ends of the earth... everywhere.

Jerusalem.   The city of God.   The place where one would expect the message to take root first and foremost... but so much stands in the way.   It's the root, the center of the Jewish theological mind.  The place where God resides, the home of the temple.  God tells us that the temple, the area around it is where we must evangelize first and foremost.   Paul lets us know that we are the temple of God.   In this great scheme of things, God has charged us with changing our self and our immediate environment first.   Bloom where you are planted.   We must make the Gospel a part of our immediate lives, not just a superficial thing on the surface, but truly permeating our very existence.

Samaria and Judea.  The world in which they have traveled already.   Jesus walked with them through this areas teaching them, preparing not just them but all who would listen.   To me that speaks of the Church itself, our Christian community.   One of our greatest needs is to help evangelize and re-evangelize those who are already a part of the 'flock'.   To claim to be Christian and not be a part of the community is to distance yourself from the truth of the Gospel.   We must allow our joy to overflow to all of those people who we meet in our own church homes.   Our fire will set them on fire.   Let them see the Gospel in your participation.  "You show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

To the ends of the earth.  This is the challenge to go out into the world and spread that message to everyone else.  It's not a mandate to beat people over the head, there is such a huge difference in proselytizing (what we are not to do) and evangelizing (what we are to do.)  We are not so much trying to convince people, not so much trying to argue them in, as we are introducing them.   We are inviting them into a relationship with the living God, with the person who has changed our lives.. with the man/God who we have encountered in our own Jerusalem, who we have loved, worshipped, and shared with our faith community, and now who our hearts are so enamoured with that we cannot hide him... love does not hide and bury, it shouts from the rooftops.. to anyone who will listen.

So where are you?  Each of us is at a different stage on the walk, each of us has walked a different length of time, and each of us has a different distance to go... but you gotta start somewhere... It's been 40 days... in 10 more we will celebrate that moment when the Holy Spirit descended on these men who huddled in fear in the upper room, afraid of their own crosses.   At that moment these men will burst forth, and all but 1 will go to their own martyrdom.   You received that same spirit at your Baptism.   Are you ready to rise above all that is holding you back?  The Kingdom of Heaven does not have to wait until the end of time.  We ourselves can be lifted above all those fears that make us think we can't do this.  It's time for us to grasp that sanctifying grace we have received in Baptism and Confirmation.. and which pours out through the Sacraments every time we take advantage of them... to embolden us with joy, determination, and grace of our own to spread the Gospel, even to the ends of the earth.

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

And of Us.

I haven't been writing a lot during this ordeal with my kidneys.  My mind is still fuzzy from all the medicine and to be honest, I sleep more than I stay awake.  I've been doing something my spiritual director told me to do though.   In this time when I just don't have it to pray with words, I am praying with my pain.  You know that old saying?  Offer it up.   Instead of trying to put it to words.. I just offer my pain to God.. not for an intention, not for my purposes.. but for his.  I'm not avoiding the pain medicine.  I was at first.  I thought at first maybe this was my call, that God wanted me in pain to suffer for him.  It took me a while to figure out though that God doesn't want me in pain... but when I am in pain, he wants me to still turn to him.

One of my favorite poems growing up was this:

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 
And sorry I could not travel both 
And be one traveler, long I stood 
And looked down one as far as I could 
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair, 
And having perhaps the better claim, 
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; 
Though as for that the passing there 
Had worn them really about the same, 

And both that morning equally lay 
In leaves no step had trodden black. 
Oh, I kept the first for another day! 
Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 
I doubted if I should ever come back. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh 
Somewhere ages and ages hence: 
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— 
I took the one less traveled by, 
And that has made all the difference.

In tomorrow's readings we see this calling of individuals.  Since even my youngest days I knew that men were called by God, chosen by him to do things.  One of the things I never really noticed as a protestant though was that little phrase there in acts: It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.  People often ask me why I am Catholic.. why am I going through the diaconate.. why spend 7 years of my life in discernment when I could just listen to God and he would tell me where to go and what to say.   Why?  Because of that verse and other verses like it.   God didn't give us a book.  He didn't give us just the Holy Spirit... but also the Church.  Jesus didn't write a single word that we have recorded, besides an incident in the sand.  We can only guess what he wrote there.  What he did give us were his disciples, his Apostles, and they began (as evidenced by the Scriptures the Church gave us) to make decisions on how things would work after Jesus left, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus in the Gospel shows us again that it is not our own calling, not our own decision whether we will serve God the Father.  It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”  That's why I am going through this process.. that is why I went to His Church.. the original Christian Church.. the Catholic church.   It has existed since the time of Jesus with an unbroken line of Apostolic authority.  As such I defer to the Church to help me understand my calling.   They in turn offer me training and formation.  They offer me the Sacraments to assist me in the journey and knowledgeable Priests, Deacons, and lay men and women who are uniquely and extremely qualified to assist me on this journey.

At our last class each man who was discerning this call got up and gave a small speech on two of the many topics that we covered throughout this year of aspirancy.   I was constantly amazed at how each person had their own unique way of presenting the material and yet, each one spoke the Gospel truth with their words.  Each of us has been chosen, called to something... God willing to the Diaconate itself... and each of us is charged with using our unique personality, abilities and gifts in living out that call.  We can't do it alone though.. we must turn to the grace of the Sacraments, to the grace of the Church, unleashed by the keys of Peter to pour out on us at any time we ask for them.   Why not make use of them? Why avoid that channel of grace?  Jesus is waiting for us to come back to him.. to be a part of his life.   God is calling you... he has revealed himself fully to you in the person of Jesus Christ..  He wants to show you the way to live an authentic, full and unique life with an abundance of grace, love and hope.   As Robert Frost mourned in his poem, there are different roads to be travelled and you cannot travel both.   Yet God loved us so much he gave us a signpost to lead us, one which can be read with careful prayer, guidance and listening to the Holy Spirit and the Church.  What are you waiting for?

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Test the Spirits...

A reflection based on the

readings for Daily Mass 1/4/16

Today we were talking to our students in Religious Education class about the need to truly listen to what people are saying, but to be careful and discern what is true.  All too often there is just enough truth in something to make it seem like it makes sense, but when you compare it with what you already know to be true... it comes out to be just a little off, or in some cases greatly different.  We talked about the Gospel of Thomas for instance.   How that it sounds beautiful, in fact some of it is very beautiful and even orthodox.   It contains many of the very statements that Mark and Luke write about as well.  On a cursory glance it would even seem that it could almost be in the bible... except once you look at it closely... you see this strange statement:  Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Does that sound like the Jesus we know?  Does it sound like the Catholicism that has been handed on by the Apostles?  Of course not. It's clear when we truly read for ourselves that we find why this was rejected by the church, but we still find people trying to make up conspiracy theories about hidden gospels, or gospels that should be there and aren't.  That's why it's so important to truly test for ourselves and ask, is this the Jesus I know?  Is this the Jesus that was taught by the Church for 2000 years?  Is this in fact the Christianity that was handed on to the Apostles and by the Apostles?   What did the church believe in the first century for instance?  All good questions to ask yourself.

Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Our scriptures themselves warn us to not only test the spirits, but to draw towards Orthodoxy.  To cling to what we have been taught by the Apostles, and to reject any new and strange teaching.  Yet, we seem to go that route in this day and age.   We reject the Christianity that existed from the beginning and form new versions, new denominations, strange new teachings.  We must be careful to look for the truth.  To draw to the One True Church, and to give our hearts to Jesus in the way and manner he himself taught us to do so, through the seat of authority that he himself established.

Elizabeth Ann Seton knew this.   She went through a very rough time.  Her father in law died leaving her to care not only for her own children, but her husbands younger siblings.   Then her husband contracted tuberculosis and died while in Italy seeking a cure.  In order to support her large and needy family, she founded a school and began to teach.  It was a very tough time for a single mother to eek out a living and she turned to the church to do so.  In the end, she found herself drawn to the faith and converted to Catholicism.

The result was a quick loss in students.  People were quick to turn their back on a religious school, especially a Catholic one.  Instead of despairing she founded one of the first free Catholic schools in America, followed by a religious order of her own, the Sisters of Charity.  She tested the spirits, and followed God's lead.   She didn't give up when times got tough.   She could of easily become bitter, angry, hurt that God had allowed all of this to befall her.  Instead she followed him through his Church to lead others to Him as well.

In the Gospel we see people flocking from all around the area, thousands of men, women, and children coming to see him.  Looking for answers.  Looking for healing.  Looking for his voice.  There are so many voices out there today.  Pulling us one way or another.  Come on live like the world does.   Come on party.  Come on drink with us.  Come on it's just sex.  Come on... Come on.

Listen to the voice of John as he proclaims:

You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them,
for the one who is in you
is greater than the one who is in the world.
They belong to the world;
accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world,
and the world listens to them.
We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us,
while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.
This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

Jesus left us a church.  Saint Paul tells Timothy that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth.  That when he has questions all he has to do is turn to the Church to find them.  John tells us that anyone who listens to the Apostles, belongs to God, because they belong to God.   The teaching authority of the Apostles was passed on to the Church, and through them to us.  So whose voice are you listening to today?  Test the spirits and ask yourself, do they align with the teaching of the Apostles?   Do they align with what Christ handed on to us through his disciples?  Or are we listening for our own voice?  Epiphany was yesterday.  A day when we celebrate the revelation of Christ to the world through the arrival of three kings.  Everyday needs to be an Epiphany.   He is there.. sacramentally present in His Church.  Do you see him?  Are you seeking him?  Or are you only seeking yourself?

His servant and yours,

Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

The Rest is just Icing on the Cake

Back when my daughter was much younger she stayed at home with me during the day.  We would work on learning the things she needed to know for school.  My mother had bought us these wonderful little math and reading flash cards and we would use those.  We would also go over very simple things about God and the bible.   I was trying to prepare her for her life of learning, both in the secular world of public education and in the religious world of C.C.D.  There were times she'd get what I would say, and other times I wasn't sure she was learning, especially when it came to things like who God was, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and the trinity.  How do you explain such difficult concepts to someone who is 4 years old?

I still did my best and we would talk plainly and simply about God.  As her math skills improved, her letter recognition and even simple reading began to flourish as well.  One day she was laying on the floor looking up through the skylight at the sky.  She sat scrunching up her face like she was trying to figure something out. 

"What are you thinking about?", I asked.

"Thinking about the Holy Ghost."

"ah, what about him?"

"That cloud looks like him."

"How so?"

"Well, it looks like Jesus, but he has on a costume like the Holy Spirit."

It's a simple analogy, and imperfect in many ways.  But she was getting it!  She knew that they were both God.. but they were different people, different looking, but the same substance.   I was so excited!  She was learning!  How beautiful that is for a parent to watch their child begin to wrestle with difficult, and even abstract concepts, and start to grasp them for the first time.

In the Gospel for tomorrow I feel that is why Jesus is rejoicing.  Seventy of his missionaries have just returned filled with excitement at the success of their mission.  "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"   How amazing that must be?  How powerful and exciting to see the Lord move through miracles that make his presence evident in the world.  Yet, Jesus reminds them that it isn't these loud showy things that they should be excited about, but their salvation.  How often is it that we want that though?  We want the flash.  We want the bang.   We want to see the mountains move.  We want the fourth of July.  Jesus wants to give us Easter though.  As Elijah found on the top of the mountain, God wasn't in the lightning.  He wasn't in the earth quake.  Not in the thunder or the flame.  He was in the stillness, in the quite whispering wind of the Spirit.

Notice that phrase at the start of the Gospel?  Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. That's what we should be asking to do as well.  That's the beauty of having the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We don't need the flashy.  We don't need the speaking in tongues, or the shouting Amen, though these things can be beautiful if done correctly.   We don't need the falling out in the spirit, or the miraculous healings, though those too are beautiful and wonderful.  Rather we rejoice in just being filled with God.  Just his presence in our hearts gives us joy.  All the rest is just icing on the cake. 

The disciples got to see something that the Prophets and Kings of old desired to see.  They got to see the Kingdom of God before them, the Messiah standing in their presence.  For centuries the people of God had been longing for this moment, to come face to face with God made man.  Many didn't see him.  Many ignored him, or thought him to not be doing the right things.  The simple, trusting disciples were the ones who saw all of this come to pass.  They got to see Christ.  They got to see God and live. 

What about you?  Jesus says to us today as well, "do not rejoice in these miracles; but rather rejoice that your names are written in Heaven."  Again, he says "I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it."  Do you realize how blessed you are?  You get to see the risen Lord in the Eucharist every day you choose to do so.  Do you rejoice?  Or do you desire rather the flashy, explosive things.   Pray to the Holy Spirit that you too will rejoice in Christ's presence in your life.  That you will be filled with joy, not seeking the explosive manifestations of the spirit that sparkle and shine in the sky like the fourth of July.. but rather Easter.  That transformation that brings you from death to life.  If the explosions come?  Then rejoice.  If not?  Rejoice. 

Everlasting life is a more astounding miracle than anything we might see here in this world.   Rejoice!

His servant and yours,
Brian

The Writing on the Wall

When the girls were all still little, before our fourth, I came home from work one day to find a bunch of artwork on the bedroom wall with words written in it.   There were some names, some drawings, and even some lipstick and nail polish mixed in.  I called each of the kids in and Julie I began to ask them who did it.  There was a lot of finger pointing, a lot of blame towards the others.  Her mother and I did not need to ask.  We already knew what was written on the wall, and we knew who did it.  That's because only the oldest knew how to read and write.  The fact there were words in the 'art' work indicated she was involved.

When I read this reading for tomorrow's daily Mass I think of that moment.  The kings sorcerers and diviners could not tell you who wrote on the wall or what they wrote.  Daniel though, knew immediately what it was.  Just like Julie and I knew that the oldest was the author, Daniel knew immediately it was a message from God.  How?  Because he knew Him.  Just like we knew enough about our daughters to know who wrote it, we could also begin to understand what she meant by it.  What the words meant to her, what the colors meant to her, what the images might mean to her.  We could begin to understand the message, because we were familiar with the artist.  Daniel knew the message on the wall of king Belshazzar because he too was familiar with it's artist.  He knew the work of God when he saw it.

Daniel didn't need time to figure out the message.  He began to speak immediately informing the king of what God intended by the three words on the wall.  The fact that Daniel was already familiar with God and close to Him allowed him to speak the interpretation.  God gave him the meaning.  God gave him the words to say.

We see the same message in tomorrow's Gospel.  Jesus warns the disciples in the crowd that they will go through much suffering and persecution on account of him.  He tells them though that they don't need to worry about what to say, because he will give them the words to say. Through the Holy Spirit they will be reminded of what words to say.  Because they know Him, and are familiar with Him, the message will be clear immediately.

As we approach the end of the Liturgical year, we approach the season of Advent.  That season reminds us of Jesus birth in our world, of his second coming, and of the need for us to keep him 'being born' in the world every moment of every day.  The question becomes, do you know Him?  Do you know Him well enough that writing on the wall will be clear to you?  Are you open to His spirit so that He can guide your words and actions?  Are you allowing Him to be born through you? Let us draw closer to Christ through the Church, and through the Sacraments.  Let us prepare our hearts to be a living manger, that Christ may come to us through the Eucharist and remain born in our hearts, feeding us, transforming us, into something more.  Just as the manger in the cave must have been made sacred, holy by touching Christ himself... so too must you remember that you yourself are touched by Christ and are being made Holy. 

I have work to do to become a Saint.  Let us journey together on this road.  Helping one another to see the writing on the wall and receive the message from God in our hearts, minds, and souls.

His servant and yours,
Brian

Are you ready to give an account?

In tomorrow's Gospel we see the king giving to each of his servants a gold coin.  Each of them receives one coin and is expected to do his best with it.  One gains ten coins in interest, and he is rewarded with being put in charge of ten cities.  Another gains five coins, and he is put in charge of five cities. Then comes along another servant who hid the coin in a place where no one could take it, and brought it back later.   He didn't even invest it in the bank.  The king was furious with him and took the one talent and gave it to the one who already had ten. 

What are we to make of this?  In Mathew's Gospel the gold coin is called a talent.  We can see that a little better when we think about talent's and abilities.  To some are given few talents, to some many.  Some of us are teachers.  Some of us are administrators.   Some of us are musicians.  Some can sing.  Some are good with numbers.  Some good with cleaning.  God gives to each person many abilities and 'talents.'  He reminds us that all of them are to be used for His glory, for His kingdom.  We will be asked to give an account of how we used those talents. 

We aren't asked to provide the same amount of fruit, or even the same kind of fruit.. but we are asked to bear fruit.  God has given each of us gifts.  Through our baptism we are given the Holy Spirit.  The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  We are challenged to go out with these talents, with these fruits and to spread them into the world.  We are called to be joyful.  How do we increase that talent?  By bringing joy to others.  We are called to be kind.   We increase that by being kind to others and teaching them to be kind in return.  Each of the fruits requires us to go out, using the natural talents we have been given, to spread the fruits of the spirit into our world. 

For each of us that looks different.  For parents it means educating your children, loving them, being patient with them, teaching them what Catholic life really looks like.   For grand parents, it means being there for your grand children and helping them to learn how to live out their baptismal calling.  For teachers, it means being patient and kind in your classroom and fostering an environment where the fruits begin to flourish.  No matter what we do; farmer, electrician, doctor, lawyer, homemaker, dentist, accountant, etc... we are to use those skills that God has endowed us with to help bring about His kingdom right here.

As we approach the end of the liturgical season and head into the season of Advent, we are reminded by the readings that we should be ready.   These readings talk about the great event at the end of time where God will ask us to give an accounting for what we have been given.  To those who much has given, much is required.  "With great power, comes great responsibility."  Such simple words from a comic book character, but they ring true to us as Christians.  Do you think of the power you've been given?  God himself has come to reside in you.  Are you sharing him with others?  Or hiding him in a handkerchief?  Don't be afraid of losing your joy.  Don't be afraid that someone might steal it.  Rather, realize that with the gifts of the spirit, the only way to keep them... is to continually give them away. 

So let's go for it.  Find someone today to share one of these fruits with.  Use your natural, God given talents to do so.   Share some love.  Some joy.  Some kindness.  Watch that fruit blossom and grow, that at the end of our temporal lives we can hear him say "You have been faithful in this very small matter, well done my good and faithful servant."

In Christ,
His servant and yours,
Brian

It is good that we are here!

Last night while I was out exercising with my 8 year old daughter I began meditating on the readings for today's Feast Day. To be fair, there are myriads of different messages and a vast plethora of

theological and typological things happening. So much so that you could really reflect on just about anything and find something deep in the imagery and events of those excepts from scripture. My daughter, however, in her youthful innocence said something (which I'll write about a little later) that triggered me to think about this statement of Peters.  "Rabbi, it is good that we are here!"'

  If we look back to earlier in this passage we find that Jesus has already informed them that some of them will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming on a cloud of glory. That sounds like a very positive thing indeed. Yet, it also infers that some of them will have died as well. Facing our own mortality is never easy. Then Jesus goes on to start describing what must happen in Jerusalem, that he must go down to die a heinous death. How horrible to hear your friend, your teacher, your brother; speak of their own death in such terms.

 Then as the Holy Spirit and the glory of God is revealed in Jesus at this moment, we see that the apostles were terrified! How terrifying indeed, for it proves that not only is Jesus the Messiah, but everything he said is going to come to pass! Peter blurts out something that is a good thing, but also shows our mortality. "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Why would Peter want to do this? Well it was a holy moment to be sure, and what had just happened was something amazing. I am sure he was awestruck. Also, his fear had something to do with it. Peter did not want to go back down the mountain. Going down the mountain meant facing Jesus death and betrayal. Going down the mountain meant leaving this glorious moment, where the true gory that Christ is due was revealed. Going down the mountain meant facing his own death, his own inner demons, as well.

 Why would I think of this as my daughter and I were jogging around the block? Something she said struck me as profound for her young age. We were talking about how when we jog around she really enjoys it, because she gets to see new things. She isn't always in the same spot. Then I mentioned that her mother and I had talked about going to different parks and recreational areas so that we can see new spots while we exercise. Then my daughter said the strangest thing, "Yeah but we don't want to go to Japan or China."

 I said, "Why not there? I am sure there are many beautiful gardens and things to see in those countries."

 She replied, "Because in some places there I can't say that I love Jesus! They might kill me!"

 I explained to her that while that was true in some parts, that there were many places in those countries were she would be free to talk about her love for Christ. I also explained that there were many people in those countries who also loved Jesus, and were willing to speak about it even if it meant being hurt.

 You see, just like my daughter, I'm often afraid to come down off the mountain. While some people are called to cloistered life in a monastery or nunnery, many of us are laypeople. It is our job to be the domestic church. To go out into the world and to spread the light of Christ as we go. Our environment doesn't change, rather we are to change our environment. In the second reading, Peter talks about his experience on the mountain top. "You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." Peter reminds us that by the virtue of our baptism, we have received the Holy Spirit, and we too are lights in the world. We are not supposed to place those lights under a basket, but on a hill for all to see.

 We must experience "metanoia," a fancy Greek word meaning a complete turning around of our lives(almost a turning upside down or inside out), until we too shine with the glory of Christ. We are not supposed to spend all of our time behind closed doors. Our religion does not end when we leave the Sanctuary. We receive Christ in the Eucharist, then we are charged to go forth and share the good news with the world. We must be transfigured, and conformed to Christ so fully in our lives, that the very places that we journey can become small reminders of the glory of Christ, and in our own way help bring God's Kingdom right here to the now.

 How about you? Are you ready to come down the mountain? Are you being transfigured by the Holy Spirit to shine your light into the darkness of the world? Are you ready to be the hands and feet of Christ?

Be Holy, As I AM Holy

Today's readings bring to mind something I have been meditating on a lot lately.  The concept of Holiness.  We all have so many varied definitions of Holiness, from being set apart, to being like God, to even the notion that being Holy means being free from sin.  Recently though someone brought to my attention  something that today's first reading says clearly:

Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”  Exodus 3:5

The ground itself can be Holy.  Holy then doesn't mean free from sin... because the ground cannot sin.  It's just a part of creation and God said that all of creation was good, so what makes this ground different than another ground? Why is the ground over there not Holy, but this ground is?  The presence of God.  That's an interesting thing to think about.  Our Sanctuary is Holy at the church because God is present in the tabernacle.   Our churches are Holy.   Our Priests can rightly be called Holy, because they have God in them.  It's not about them not having sin.  It's not about them being perfect.  It's about them being ordained, having the Spirit of God in them.

Then a thought struck my mind.   We as Catholics believe that we are to look for Jesus in every face we meet.   "Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me."   Every person is made in the image of God.. regardless of their sin, regardless of their realization of it.. they have an inherit dignity.  Doesn't that in a way make all of creation Holy?  If Jesus is walking around everywhere.. shouldn't we be treating all of our life as if we were in a Holy place?

We often act different in 'church' than we do in public, and much more so in private.   Yet if we think about the fact that God is omnipresent... he is everywhere... not just in the burning bush, but also in the dirty bedroom.   Not just in the tabernacle, but in the congregation.   Not just in the Priest, but in the laity....   Then shouldn't we be authentic everywhere?  And that person we are in church.. should be the person we are everywhere.. because we should strive to become the man we think we should be there.  

So what about you?  Do you take your shoes off in the presence of God?  If we think of shoes as 'flesh', as the sinful nature we have... do you attempt to remove your shoes period?  Because this ground your standing on.. that's Holy ground.

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

Strong Enough to Bend

Do you remember Tanya Tucker? I remember her wonderful voice projecting from the speakers of my dodge Daytona. Tonight, the lyrics of one of her songs came back to my mind in a jarring moment of pain.

There's a tree out in the backyard

That never has been broken by the wind

And the reason its still standing

It was strong enough to bend

"Strong Enough to Bend"

I woke up in the heat and walked into the living room. We have company, family from out of town, so both couches (and even a mattress in the middle of the floor) are filled with young kids. Someone had brought one of the plastic lawn chairs in and placed it in the corner. I sat down and began watching whatever was on the television, and before I knew it had returned to dreamland.

A few minutes later, I was startled awake with a painful reality. One of the legs of this cheap plastic chair had broken. There I was in an almost comical situation, except I was trapped, and my back does not bend. I was pinned between my own weight and the wall and my back was trying to bend under the weight. Since the titanium rods do not give...

Needless to say it was not just embarrassing, but quite a bit painful. My wife was awakened (I don't know if I made some kind of sound, or if God simply called her to my side, but I thank Him and her both) and she came in and helped me get out of this situation. As I lay there on the floor, still recovering from the pain of the pressure, I thought.. God I don't bend that way...

It struck me though that there was indeed a lesson to be learned. Much like the rods in our back, the Holy Spirit we are infused with as baptized believers of Christ, doesn't bend. It strengthens our spiritual core and it keeps us 'straight'. When we then who are filled with His Spirit try to do things that are against that nature, against the Spirit, it should hurt.. it should be uncomfortable.. it should be a little embarrassing.. and yes, we should be declaring in a painful gasp of breath "God, my soul doesn't bend that way!"

Thank you Lord for this lesson, I pray that I have learned it enough that I do not need another refresher!

His servant, and yours;

Brian

What's with the Attitude?

The Bible talks many times about the attitude we should have when we approach God in supplication. From the list in Malachi chapter one to the 'Our Father', each of them shows the proper way to come to God in prayer. Although it is addressed so often, many still are praying in a manner that does not reflect their Christian nature. Our attitude towards God should reflect the fact that God is the most important thing in our life, and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. These two statements, directly from Jesus, show us all we really need to know to be Christian.

Mathew 22: 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38T his is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Following these two commands, we find that all of the ten commandments fall into place. One cannot murder another and pretend to have loved them. One cannot be jealous of another's things and pretend to love them. One cannot lie to another, steal, or dishonor his father and mother; all the while pretending it is out of love for them. It, once again, is all about attitude towards God! When God truly comes first in your life you will take your commandments seriously. It is true that Christ died on the cross for us, and that he has washed us clean of sin. It is also true that faith in Christ is enough. Jesus however said, those who love me will keep my commands. (John 14:15) When we come to the cross and give our hearts to Jesus it should be completely! We should do it out of love, out of desperation, out of hope! It should not be a moment where we simply say, 'I believe in Christ' and then forget what he did the moment we go out of the building.

How does this apply to our lives? Our attitudes? You should be reflecting that love in every action, every day. Each time you interact with another person it should be out of love. Think carefully what this means. It means that our needs are not first. It means that we offer ourselves as servants to the world. What? As servants? Jesus, the king of the universe, came down and presented himself not as a king, but as a servant. Is he not our example? Should we not present ourselves as living images of him? When we come to the cross our old selves die. We are no longer a creature of this world, but spiritual beings, Children of God! We should act as such!

It also applies to our prayer life. When we come to God we should praise and worship him! How many times do we begin our prayers with 'Lord why me? What did I do?' Think of the 'Our Father'. This was the example that Jesus gave his disciples in how to pray.

Mathew 6:9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, asit isin heaven.

Jesus tells his disciples to start off their prayers with a praising of God. That God's will be done in earth, just as it is in heaven.

Hallow -To make holy; to set apart for holy or religious use; to
consecrate; to treat or keep as sacred; to reverence.

He instructs them to indicate that God's name is special and holy, to be treated with reverence. Many religious Jews will not even say God's name, even to the point of writing the English word as G-d. How much respect should we be showing knowing that God's name is hallowed? When was the last time we prayed and said God, your name alone is special and holy, how much more so are you? We should pray with God's will in mind. First and foremost! What is God's will? Romans 12:2 tells us “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” God's will is good, pleasing and perfect. His will is that all of his Children will come to Him. His will is that we worship him, and love him, as he first loved us. His will is that we love one another. So when you pray, pray in God's will. We should pray for things that help others, out of love.

God wants us to have everything we need. He doesn't always give us everything we want. Sometimes that is because what we want, will either hurt us or hurt someone else. Yet we spend a great deal of time worrying and being anxious. Jesus told us that we should stop worrying, if God clothes the flowers in the field in more beauty than even a great King, how much more so would he provide us with clothes? If God provides food for the birds in the air, how much more so will he provide food for us? (Mathew 6:25-32) God knows what we need, and he will provide! The world will make it seem to you that you are suffering and that God is not listening, but He is! Not only is he listening he is answering! We need to be still and quiet and listen to God! (Psalm 46:10)

I will close for now with words directly from our savior, words more perfect than anything I could come up with on my own. Mathew 6:33-34 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.”

In Christ,
Brian

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