The Joy of Christmas

As we prepare to Celebrate Christmas in a few days, I couldn't help but begin to think about the Gospel stories of the Birth of Jesus.  Listening to the reading today from Luke's Gospel about the birth of John the Baptist, I was struck by the realization of just how prevalent the theme of JOY is in the first 2 chapters of Luke's Gospel.

Where does this joy come from?  We first see it when Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  John leaps for Joy in Elizabeth's womb when Mary arrives, and he recognizes that Christ is present.  This joy flows out of Elizabeth, and radiates to Mary, who proclaims in Joy the beautiful Canticle known as the Magnificat.

Later, when John is born, there is once again joy- this time from Zachariah, who upon having his speech restored after seeing all that Gabriel had prophesied fulfilled, and confirming that his son should be called John, speaks wonderful words of praise and Joy towards God, and confirms that his son will be called "Prophet of the Most High" who will go before the Lord to prepare his way.

When Jesus is born, it is the Angels that announce the "Good news of great joy" that this day is born a Savior who is Christ and Lord.  And after that, they break out into song, singing "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth, Peace to people of Good Will!"  The Shepherds, and even the wise men come rejoicing that they have found this newborn King of all the Earth.

And Last, but certainly not least, when Jesus is presented in the Temple, the old man Simeon too sings his song of Joy and Praise, when he declares "Now Lord you may let your servant die in peace, for with my own eyes I have seen the Salvation which you promised to your people."

Again, what is the source of all this Joy?  Every single person in the Infancy Narrative who experiences this Joy does so when they encounter the Christ Child- the Incarnate Word of God.  Their hearts are open to receive Him, and so when they receive his blessings (or realize that his blessings are coming in the case of Zachariah,) they cannot help but be infused with the Joy that comes from meeting Christ.

2000 years later, the same is true for us.  We have been given a huge gift- the ability to continue to know Christ in the flesh through the Sacraments of the Church.  We too, are given the chance to allow Christ to be "born" into our Hearts, not only at Christmas, but every time we go to Mass and participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.  This is where the true Joy of Christmas comes from- from a radical encounter with the person of Jesus Christ, who desires nothing more than to enter into our lives, and lead us to the Father.  This is what Christmas is all about.

Unfortunately, we often get so caught up in the commercial aspect of Christmas, that we fail to make room for Christ in our hearts.  Then, when the real celebration of Christmas begins on December 25th (continuing until the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord on January 12th) we are so done with the season, that we end our Christmas celebrations on Christmas day, and go back to living our ordinary lives, when in all reality the celebration of Christmas is just beginning!!!!

But all is not lost- perhaps you have been caught up in the commercial aspect of Christmas, and haven't had time to prepare for Christ's coming into your life.  You still can.  Try to set aside some quiet time today and tomorrow to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, and ask Christ to enter into your life once again, so that He may lead you to the Father.

Merry Christmas, and may God Bless!!

Thoughts about the Institution of Marriage

I have already written a post on this topic, but I decided that with all that has been going on in my home state the past few weeks regarding this issue, I needed to write a bit more about it to (hopefully) clarify why the Church teaches what it does regarding the Institution of Marriage.

First off, let me say that this will not be a Leviticus 17 quoting, gay-bashing sort of post. I don't swing that way, because that approach doesn't work for me.  It will however, be a difficult post to swallow, because I know that this is a very touchy topic.  So I ask two things before I even begin.  One, that you read the post all the way to the end BEFORE making any comments, and two, that any comments that are made are kept respectful.  If you can't do that, then please, stop reading now.

Still with me? Good. Let's begin.

Much of the Marriage Debate on the Christian side has been centered around a fundamentalist approach that only singles out one issue (same-sex marriage) as the be all and end all of the marriage debate.  We say that "legalizing same sex marriage will destroy the institution of marriage" without realizing that the institution of Marriage as one man and one woman for life has already been destroyed by a society that seeks instant gratification- a society that says that if I am not happy, I have absolute right to dump my spouse and get a new one that can give me the pleasure I seek... or that says that any person has a right to have sex with whoever they want, whenever they want, just simply because it "feels good."

This is not what God intended for the union between Man and Woman, however.  The union between man and woman was intended to be a life-giving union. "Be fruitful and multiply" was the first commandment given to humanity in Genesis 1:28.  We were created to "fill the earth and subdue it" by a man and a woman becoming one flesh in the most beautiful and life-giving act of sexual union- an act that has been gravely distorted by our culture, starting with the legalization of contraception in the 1960's and 70's- an action that Pope Paul VI spoke out against in his Encyclical "Humanae Vitae."

Since then, we have seen our Human Morality slide down an increasingly slippery slope, as man has arbitrarily decided that they can change the natural created order to suit their own needs.  Suddenly, society decided that because they could have sex without the fear of a woman getting pregnant, it was ok to have sex outside of marriage, or with multiple partners, simply because it felt good, and it satisfied some animal instinct dwelling deep inside of us.

Why are there so many sexual problems in the world today? It is for this reason- that by seeking sex solely for pleasure, and not for procreation, we have distorted our view of an act that was originally intended to be the most intimate and life-giving act a man and a woman could engage in.  So in that view, the cry for same-sex marriage is not a destruction of the institution of Marriage, it is merely part of the fallout from the destruction of the institution that took place a long time ago.

What is sad is that amid all of this fallout, the dignity of the human person gets crushed between the rubble.  After contraception was legalized, the innocent lives of unborn children were then all of a sudden seen as disposable, because women wanted to be able to take control of their body, destroying one of the most precious gifts that God has ever given to a woman- the gift of bringing a new life into the world.  After that, it was not long before the rise of the pornography industry, as people sought more and more perverse ways to satisfy their sexual pleasures.  All of a sudden  what was supposed to be the most beautiful, intimate, and sacred act between a man and a woman was put on public display for all to see, and for all to find some pleasure in.  I could continue, but it suffices to say that the downward spiral continues to this day.  One only has to look at the TV, or listen to the radio, or go to a movie to see that. All of this because we as Human Beings dare to think that we "know better" than God- that we know what is best for ourselves, and no one should be able to tell us otherwise.  It is the Garden of Eden all over again.  Our Pride in ourselves, and our stating that we do not need God will eventually be our downfall.

It is the same with Same-Sex Marriage.  By saying that a same sex couple can marry, legal officials are in effect saying that God got it wrong when he created man and woman, and told them to "be fruitful and multiply." They are denying the truth that a Marriage is supposed to be life giving, and instead arbitrarily trying to re-define what is a universal truth of the Natural Created order.

My point here is not to discredit the feelings that same-sex partners have towards each other.  I have no doubt that in many instances, a deep personal relationship does develop between the two partners, and they are committed to each other, because I have known many same-sex couples that have wonderful, long-lasting relationships with each other.  However, owing to the simple fact that in a relationship between two men or two women there is no potential whatsoever for the relationship to be life-giving in the same way that a heterosexual relationship is, a relationship (or union) between two men or two women cannot be called a Marriage.

This is the natural created order that God has given to us, and as a Catholics (or to use a more general term, Christians), we must remember that the assent of Faith is to believe and profess all that has been revealed to us by God in Sacred Scripture, and all that the Holy Church proposes for our belief.  This is why the Catholic Church will never change its definition of Marriage to anything other than what it currently is.  The definition of Marriage between one man and one woman for life for the purpose of procreation has been and always will be the definition of Marriage, forever and ever, Amen.

But wait a second... doesn't this definition seem a little intolerant, when put into the context of Jesus' teaching to "Love one another as I have loved you? (John 13:34)" At first glance, maybe, but we must also remember that Jesus did not adopt a sort of "lassiez faire" approach to evil in his time. Rather, he was constantly calling people to conversion, constantly calling them to turn from seeking their own selfish pleasures, and to "seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be given you." (Mt. 6:33).  This applies to all of us.  In this, Jesus is calling to all of us to turn from our sinful ways, from our addictions, from our selfish ways of thinking, and to put him first- ABOVE ALL ELSE.  That does not mean that we can pick and choose to follow only certain tenets of our faith that fit "our" morality- it means that we must always seek to live in God's love, and trust that He will give us what we need to be happy.  Blaise Pascal once said that “There is a God shaped hole in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”  If only we would fully realize this, and stop seeking for the things of this world to satisfy a longing that only God can fully satisfy! When we begin to realize this, and turn to the Lord with our whole heart, it is then that we begin to put aside our pride, and slowly re-gain our trust that God really does know what is best for us.

DOMA, The Supreme Court, and Same-Sex Marriage: What does it mean for the Church?

If you've been anywhere on the internet the past few days, you have no doubt seen the firestorm of comments that have arisen from both sides of the aisle over the Supreme Court's Decision to strike down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), thus allowing, among other things, same-sex couples to qualify for the same benefits that heterosexual married couples qualify for.  While leaving the decision up to the individual states as to whether to legalize Same-sex marriage, this does show a significant change in our Country's policy towards same-sex Marriage.

When the Deacon at the Mass we went to today mentioned this decision, he said, quoting New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan (who is also the President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops) that the day the Supreme Court struck down parts of DOMA "A tragic day for marriage and our nation."

I for one, am not happy with this being the message that is being proclaimed to the world from the Catholic Church, because in my humble opinion, there are a lot of things that this soundbyte does not take into account.  Yes, it is true that the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach that Same Sex Marriage goes against the natural created order.  But it is also true that in the Gospel of John, 13:34, Jesus gives us the Command to "love one another as I have loved you."  And statements such as the one made by Cardinal Dolan do very little to make people who do not share the Catholic Church's viewpoint feel loved.

It's amazing to me that every time secular society makes a decision that contradicts Church teaching, many of the members of the Church heirarchy seem to be thrown into a panic.  Granted, some issues (such as the HHS mandate) deserve such attention, because there is a lot more at stake than even I probably realize.  But at the same time, we must look back into our own history and realize that for 2000 years, the Church has existed among cultures that did not share their views, practiced pagan religions, and so on.  This is evident when we read Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans.  In Chapter 12, He instructs the Church at Rome:  "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."  These are words that are still just as true as they were when they were written almost 2000 years ago.

And yet, despite all this struggle, the Church continues to thrive, even though many of the cultures and societies that have threatened the Church have long since disappeared. Why is this?  It's simple. Because God is bigger than any government, or court decision, or law that does not conform to "our" set of values.  In saying this, I'm not trying to say that we shouldn't make our viewpoint known, because as Christians, we have a duty to stand for what we believe in.  However, it MUST be done with LOVE!

Christ did not command us to put down and condemn others who did not share our beliefs.  He called us to love them.  He did not call us to judge the sinner- he called us to love them.  He did not call us to hide behind our doctrines and our teachings and use that as a basis of not reaching out to others- he called us to "get our hands dirty" and love and serve others.  When we become a follower of Christ, there is only one place that leads us- to the cross.  We are called to share in the sufferings of Christ by helping those who suffer to know that they matter- to know that Christ loves them and cares about them, and wants to call them to greater holiness.  Too often we condemn the person and not the act.  It's high time that we start becoming witnesses of the Gospel by our lives- NOT by just speaking empty words that we don't put into action ourselves.  When we begin to do that, we begin to see that LOVE truly is at the heart of the Gospel Message.

The saying "you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" couldn't be more true.  If we show people that we love them, regardless of how they are living their lives, then we can inspire them by OUR actions to greater holiness.  If we just condemn others because what they are doing is wrong, why should we expect them to change? How is the Gospel going to speak to them if it is preached in hatred?

Too many battles have been fought, too many lives have been lost, because the Church has failed to see the primacy of Love in the Gospel.  So to answer the question I posed in the title of this blog, the Supreme Court decision means that now more than ever, we MUST work to ensure that the Gospel we preach is one of Love.  It must not be a Gospel of Acceptance, because Christ is always calling us to Greater Holiness, and telling us that we cannot be content with just staying where we are. But he does it by giving us a model to follow, and inviting us to come after him.  And we are called to do the same.

May we always strive to let the Love of Christ shine forth in all we do. AMEN!

If anyone would be my Disciple...

In the Gospel we read at Mass today, (Luke 9: 18-24)  We hear Jesus say to his disciples "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."  This little saying comes right after Peter's confession that Jesus is the "Christ of God" and Jesus' first prediction of his Passion, death, and Resurrection.

What does this saying of Jesus mean? Admittedly, it is very difficult to understand, but let me begin by saying that Jesus is NOT calling us to carry a physical cross.  No, I believe that the real meaning of this statement goes much deeper.

Jesus, in calling us to daily take up our cross, is driving home the point that Discipleship is a choice- one that must be made every day.  We must choose TODAY to put Christ first.  We must choose TODAY to let go of our addictions, our fears, our hatreds, and serve God alone.  We must choose TODAY to be Christ to and for others.  And the choice we make today does not carry over into tomorrow.  When tomorrow comes, we must forget about everything that went wrong in the previous day, and make a new commitment to follow Christ.  This is what Discipleship is all about.

But what of Jesus' calling us to "deny ourselves" or "lose our lives" for his sake?  Doesn't that seem kind of harsh and impersonal?  On the surface is kind of does seem that way, when we try to interpret it with our definitions of what it means to deny ourselves or to lose our life.  But it goes so much deeper than that.

Again, Jesus is not calling us to starve ourselves, or allow ourselves to be killed for the Gospel- What Jesus is saying to us is something radical.  He is calling us to let go of (to deny) the self that is only interested in the "I, me, my" and to draw closer to God by reaching out to others, and allowing Christ to live through us.  This again is a choice that MUST be made every day.  How? We must ask God for the grace to live the Gospel every day.  God's grace, and our discipleship, are not one shot, you get all that you need to live the Christian Life deals.  I can tell you that 5 years ago, I did not have the Grace to be walking the path to Priesthood.  God only gives us the Grace when he knows we are ready for it.  But at the same time, a person cannot receive something that they are not open to receive.

So why is being a true Disciple of Christ so hard?  There are many possible speculations and ideals about this, but I believe that at the root of it all is the fact that we live in a culture which pays lip service to God, but does not allow the Gospel to penetrate deep in to the core of our being.  We don't like to feel pain, so instead of letting the Gospel pierce our hearts and move us into action, we just sort of gloss over the difficult parts of the Gospel, and turn it into something that makes us "feel good" about God and Jesus.  But as Christians, this will get us nowhere.  We must allow our lives to be shaped by the Gospel, and realize that when we hear something difficult, it is God calling to us, and leading us on to greater holiness.

Once we begin to allow God to lead us to greater holiness, then we can become Christ to others.  I'm going to close this post with something written by St. Theresa of Avila.

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Let us all strive to follow Christ daily, and be his Hands and feet to the world.  May this Radical following of Christ inspire others to greater holiness.  AMEN!!

Christian Love

I've been thinking a fair bit this week about the passage from Chapter 13 of John's Gospel, where Jesus gives us a new Commandment- Love one another.  On the surface, this seems simple.  But as I have come to realize this week, this commandment is anything but simple.

Why is that? If we stop reading at the words "love one another" it is very easy to think that all we must do is have some sort of a general feeling of good will towards others, and that is enough.  But Jesus did not stop there, so neither can we.  In fact, Jesus goes on to say "as I have loved you, so you also should love one another.  This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35.)

When we begin to dive into this second half of the Commandment, we begin to realize just how radical this statement is.  To love others as Jesus loved us involves a total sacrifice of nothing less than everything that we have to offer.  It means that we must be willing to do anything for another person, up to and including dying for them, should that be necessary.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that I love a lot of people, but I'm not sure that I would be willing to die for any of them! But that is because I am still selfish, still focused on myself, and still wanting to make sure that so much of what I do is in my best interest, and I am not fully willing to surrender myself for the good of others.  But that is just what we are called to do.  It is radical, but then again, what part of the Gospel isn't?  Anyone who thinks that being a follower of Christ is "easy" is only deceiving themselves.  We MUST learn to make real sacrifices for the sake of the Kingdom if we wish to have any hope of dwelling there when our earthly Pilgrimage is through.  We MUST begin to bring about the Kingdom of God HERE and NOW, not wait for it as if it is something that is far away, that we have no control over.  We must begin to make the love of God known to ALL people, regardless of their race, gender, creed, Religion, sexual preference, etc.  We MUST call all people to greater holiness through the Love we have for them, NOT by using the Gospel as a weapon of hatred as so many have done. And when we can begin to that, then people will truly be able to see the face of God through us.

But it will not be easy.  We are living in a culture that glorifies the individual, and that does not believe that we should do things for other people.  And sadly, i believe that this is what is the root cause of so many of the problems we have in our society today.  If we could learn to put others needs ahead of our own, think of how different the world would be!  It's going to take a lot of work, but I am convinced that if we as Christians, no matter what Church we belong to, make a commitment to truly try to love as Jesus loved us, we can turn this world into a better place.  But we must not get discouraged when we fall short and miss the mark, because we are only human, and we will fall short of fully realizing that ideal.  But even then, what we are called to do is to get back up, seek forgiveness, and keep moving forward, always seeking to more perfectly emulate the Love of God shown us through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Is being comfortable in life a bad thing?

The question I raise in the title of this blog is one that I have been doing a good bit of reflecting on the past few days.  But let me state up front that the "comfortable" I am referring to has nothing to do with having a roof over our heads, or enough to eat, or other basic necessities in life, which as far as I'm concerned are basic human rights.  Rather, for the intents and purposes of this reflection, the term "comfortable" in a sense means "complacent", or settling into our lives, and believing that everything is fine just the way it is, and that there is no need to change anything about ourselves.

What brought this reflection on was helping with a workshop a number of weeks ago.  Over the course of the workshop, I was tasked with playing a stubborn man who refused to leave the comforts of his "shack" for a much better home in God's Kingdom, in an essence, refusing to give up what is "mine" for the sake of what God has for me.  It was fun to be able to put my (not so) brilliant acting skills to good use- but this activity really made me think about the ways in my life which I am comfortable, and refusing to move on to better things, whether it be anger, judgments of others, thoughts and fantasies that run wild in my brain, or anything else like that.

Now, I know from experience that it's not easy to let old habits, old dreams, old ways of thinking go.  But the fact is that as I've looked back at my life, I've come to realize that it is only by letting something go that we are able to truly see if (or how) that thing is meant to be in our life.  Often, it does come back to us, but in a manner completely different from what we could have ever expected.  I have seen this be especially true in relationships- once you let go of your own selfish wants and desires for that relationship, and allow God to guide it, the relationship flourishes in unimaginable ways, and it becomes a very beautiful thing, even if it's not what anyone was expecting!

The same is true of our journey with Christ.  It is very tempting to think that we've grown enough, and settle into complacency and comfort, and say we have no more need to change, but this is not the case.  Part of the Christian life entails being like the flowing river- always moving, always going closer to our goal, which is union with Christ.  And the simple fact of the matter is that if we are not moving, not growing, and we are settled into our comforts, we WILL stagnate and die.  It will not be a physical death, but rather a spiritual one.

In the workshop, at the end of the activity, my character was faced with a choice- leave his comfort zone, and embark on a journey to the unknown, or remain and be taken over by the demons that were going to possess the neighborhood.  We have the same choice- do we allow God to lead us into the unknown, even though we run the risk of facing anger, hatred, rejection, and maybe even death for the sake of the Gospel? Or do we stay in our comfort zones, and risk losing eternal life?  

Yes, it is true that authentically living the Gospel is difficult, but that is what we are called to do.  To constantly seek to better ourselves, so that we may be faithful ministers of the Gospel to others.  If we can do this, we can bring about a change in the world, and hopefully begin to heal some of the ills that the Church has caused by withdrawing into itself, and trying to "separate" itself from the world, instead of being fully immeshed in the world.  I leave you with a very powerful quote by Pope Francis, said during the meetings before the Conclave that elected him to lead the Catholic Church:

“We need to come out of ourselves and head for the periphery. We need to avoid the spiritual sickness of a Church that is wrapped up in its own world: when a Church becomes like this, it grows sick. It is true that going out onto the street implies the risk of accidents happening, as they would to any ordinary man or woman. But is the Church stays wrapped up in itself, it will age. And if I had to choose between a wounded Church that goes out onto the streets and a sick withdrawn Church, I would definitely choose the first one.”

May Pope Francis' words be an example to us all.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

I wrote this reflection for a Retreat I helped with at Catholic Central Last year.  Since today's Gospel was the Parable of the Prodigal Son, I figured I would share it.  Enjoy!

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one that I would imagine most of you are very familiar with.  I would just like to point out a few things that you may not have thought of before.  In this parable, the younger son, by asking for his share of the inheritance, essentially tells his father “you’re dead to me.”  The father may have realized this fact, but instead of protesting, or trying to convince his son to change his mind, freely divides his property, giving his son half of all his possessions.  The son then takes these possessions, and without even so much as a good-bye to his father, he turns his back on him, sets off, and embarks on his own journey. Once on his own, the younger son discovers the party scene, and embarks on a life of great debauchery- living “his way.”, and forsaking all of the morals and life lessons his father no doubt taught him.  He is able to buy friends, and “buy” happiness with all of the wealth that was given to him by his father.  But alas, this life of debauchery is only temporary, because one day, he wakes up, and realizes he has nothing left.  All of his father’s money- all of his father’s possessions that were freely given to him have been squandered on this life of debauchery, all the “friends” he made are gone because the money is gone, and they’ve moved on to someone else who can buy them what they want. He is alone, left with nothing, and he doesn’t know what to do.  He convinces himself that he can’t go home, because he betrayed his father’s trust, and so he takes a job tending swine. For a Jew, this would have been a most degrading job! 

The son, with nothing, stuck tending pigs, falls into the pit of despair. “What have I done?” is the question most likely on his mind, as he begins to realize the gravity of his situation.  He looks at the state of his life, and realizes that he had it pretty good, and even his father’s servants have it better than he does right now.  So he devises a plan:  Maybe, I can go home… Maybe, just maybe, if I go back to my father, and beg for forgiveness saying “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you.”, I can get him to treat me as one of his servants.  Yes! That’s what I’ll do! After all, I certainly can’t expect him to treat me as his son again because of my actions, but being his servant would be far better than tending swine, and at least I’ll have something to eat!

So he sets off.  And we hear that the father catches sight of the son while he was a long way off- which can only mean one thing- he was looking for him! Always watching the horizon, and hoping-praying that one day, his son would return.  And immediately the father runs to his son, and before the son can even get two words out, the father embraces his son, declaring how much he has missed him, and smothering him with his love.   The son finally manages to get his line out, but the father barely even notices it, because he is so overcome with emotion, and with trying to call to his servants to get the party put together to celebrate the son’s return.  The mercy that the son thought he would have to beg for was freely given, without even so much as a second thought by the father.

Here we see the perfect example of the Father’s love for his son.  But what about the older son?  Put yourself in his shoes for a moment.  Can you understand his feelings? After working hard for his father, never betraying him, and never receiving any reward from his father for his loyalty, when the younger son returns after squandering everything, he is welcomed back with open arms? And furthermore, the father kills the fatted calf, which you were hoping to have for your own celebration someday?  The older son confronts the father, asking him why “that son of yours” got to have a huge party when he hasn’t gotten anything.  He refuses to acknowledge that the younger son is his brother.  How often have we done this to others in our life when we feel that we have somehow been wronged by them?  Do we become self-righteous, and somehow make ourselves out to be better than other people we meet, like the older son did?

It is interesting to me that Jesus seems to have left this parable open-ended.  One might ask: Did the older son ever reconcile with his younger brother? Did the younger brother stay with his father, or after he had his fill of good food, and slept in his father’s house again for a time, did he once again long for the life of debauchery that he gave up upon coming to his senses at the swine farm?

I think it’s time that we take a look at what the word “prodigal” actually means.  Prodigal is defined as “Wastefully extravagant.” With that in mind, shouldn’t this parable then be called the parable of the prodigal father?

Jesus uses this parable to illustrate to us God the Father’s love for US, his children.  We may squander his infinite mercy for us by falling into sin, by giving into our own selfish desires, by doing things that we are not proud of, and by throwing away the grace that God so freely gives to us, even when we don’t ask for it.  But God is always there, waiting to welcome us with open arms when we “come to our senses,” and return to him seeking forgiveness.  Even though we desert him time and time again by falling into sin, and turning our back on him, we can always come home. And when we come back to Him to seek forgiveness, he is wastefully extravagant with His mercy. He holds us in his arms, and rejoices that we have once again returned to Him.

I want you to take a minute to consider who you are in this story.  I would bet that many of you see yourselves as the younger brother, in need of God’s healing love and mercy, or as the older brother, who looks down on others who receive that mercy, and refusing to show the compassion that God so longs for us to have towards one another.  I would also be willing to bet that most of you would not even think about trying to identify yourself as the father.  However, in his book The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen reminds us that even though at times in our lives we act like both sons in the story, we are on a journey to becoming the Father, as we learn to be beacons of God’s mercy to others.  And so the question to ask is “How have I treated others? Are my actions reflective of the love I have been shown?”

 Perhaps there is something in your life that is keeping you from growing closer to God.  Perhaps your life is so full of other distractions that you can’t seem to ever focus on prayer.  But, if your life is full of the things of this world, and you still feel an emptiness inside, Perhaps that emptiness is a longing to grow closer to God.  Consider this a call to a change of heart- a chance to spiritually “empty yourself” of all those distractions and temptations, all the negative ways of thinking of others, and so on. In place of these, allow Christ to fill you up.  After all, Christ is the Living Water, and those who drink of Christ’s spiritual gifts, will be filled beyond measure.  “For God’s ways are not the ways of this World, and to follow the way of the Lord does require a sacrifice on our part- a giving up of some of our own selfish desires, in order that we may grow closer to God.

So often, we are tempted to think “I can never change! I am not strong enough to make a change in my life.”  Well, to tell the truth, you aren’t strong enough.  At least, not on your own.  Too often we give into pride, and think we can do things on our own, and when we fail miserably, we lose all hope that we will ever be able to change.  But I want you to remember Phillipians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  We all do things that we are not proud of, but the important thing to remember is this:  When we turn away from sin and suffering, and embrace the Love and Mercy of Christ, he can help us to do things that are far beyond what we thought we could ever do.  Remember that throughout the rest of your life. And when the going gets tough, and you feel like you can’t keep going, turn to God, and ask him for the strength to get you through the trials of this life.

Thoughts about Lent

When I was a little kid, I remember that I confused the Church season of Lent with the stuff that comes out of the lint screen on the dryer filter (out of the mouths of babes... right?)  And although the only parallel between lint and Lent that I can think of is a bit corny, it does sort of work. So here goes...

Just like we need to remove the excess lint from the dryer to keep the dryer from catching fire, so do we need to remove the things from our lives that keep us from drawing closer to God, and that could potentially lead us to "burn out" as it were. (I warned you it was corny!)

So how do we do this?  In a day and age where the vast majority of Christians view Lent as that time of year where we have to give something up that we love, with every intention of gorging ourselves with chocolate/coffee/alcohol/whatever we gave up on Easter Sunday, we fail to see the true meaning and power that Lent has.  I once saw a sad statistic that there are more Domestic Violence cases on Easter Sunday than any other day of the year.  The reason?  People who gave up Alcohol for Lent going to the liquor store on Easter Sunday, buying a 12 pack, drinking the whole thing in one sitting, and proceeding to beat up on another family member.

If we are going to learn anything from our Lenten observance, we have to make it our goal to not just give something up for the 40 days of Lent, but to learn to be more faithful followers of Christ, and to seek to draw closer to Him.  And then, (and here's the challenge) to strive to CONTINUE what we have begun after Lent is over!

How do we do this? By using the three pillars of the Lenten Season: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.  Words that no doubt strike fear into the Hearts of Catholics (and for that matter, Christians too!)  But it doesn't have to be that way- if we approach it right.  Here are some ideas I have for how to implement these three pillars this Lent.

Prayer- This Lent, try to do something more than what you would normally do in your day to day prayer life.  It can be as simple as praying the Rosary, spending a few minutes each day doing some sort of spiritual reading, or meditation, scripture study/reflection, or anything that you feel would help to strengthen your relationship with God.  I would also suggest taking the time once a week to pray and meditate on the Stations of the Cross- Most Parishes will have them available on Friday evenings, so take advantage of it!

Fasting- Rule #1: Don't fast/abstain from meat just because the Church tells you you have to!!!!  Use it as a chance to express some sign of solidarity with the poor.  This can tie into your almsgiving as well (more on that in a bit.)  Here are a couple suggestions, based on a book I've been reading called "The Spirituality of Fasting" by Msgr. Charles M. Murphy.  First off, remember that Fasting is an act of humility, and it helps us to right our relationship with God, and to more fully recognize our spiritual hunger through our physical hunger.  By disciplining our body by fasting, we also learn how to more fully discipline other aspects of our lives as well.  We must also remember that a Lenten "fast" (taking on more of the penitential aspect of fasting) can also be tied into our "giving something up"- (that latte from starbucks, maybe?) so that we seek to draw closer to God.

Almsgiving- As I alluded to earlier, fasting and almsgiving can be tied together in this way: If you give up Starbucks, or sweets, or whatever: figure out how much money you would have spent on those items, and give that money to charity.  In that way, your fasting can have a purpose, because you know that the money you didn't spend on those items is going to a good cause.

Hopefully this helps a bit! As a young Novice, I'm still learning a lot of this myself, but hey, I gotta start practicing preaching sometime, so I might as well turn to the blogosphere to start getting the message out there!

May you have a Blessed Lent, in which you are renewed by your desire to draw closer to God.  And after your "desert" journey, may you find new joy and happiness in the Easter Season.  God Bless!

This is my prayer: "May they all be one"

This week (from January 18-25) marks the worldwide week of prayer for Christian Unity.  It also marks the 40th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.  And while I am pro-life, and I am very grateful that the Priests at both Masses I went to this weekend decided to focus on this anniversary in their homilies, and that they also mentioned the importance of showing compassion to all people who have been affected by abortion (which is very important) I have to say that I'm a little disappointed that neither one of them mentioned praying for unity among all Christians.

Now, that's not to say that other Priests at other Parishes didn't mention something about it.  I know that the Pastor at my Parish back home in Albuquerque always makes it a point to host an ecumenical prayer service during this week- bringing together peoples from many different faith backgrounds to worship the one God in common.

That is what unity is all about- at least in the beginning stages.  It may take years, even decades, maybe even longer than any of our lifetimes for a full sense of unity, where we can worship united as one people of God, not divided by our differences.  But every time we come together, and enter into dialogue with people of other faith backgrounds, we begin to see that we have much more in common than we realize.

Ecumenism is a fairly recent movement, especially in the Catholic Church, since up until Vatican II 50 years ago, the Catholic Church's stance on other Christian Religions pretty much stated that "All non-Catholics are heretics who are going to Hell." (Sounds really Christian, doesn't it?)  Thankfully we've gotten rid of that viewpoint!  Vatican II's decree on ecumenism, declares that all Christian Religions are not deprived of the mystery of salvation.  And while the language in the document may still seem to give the Catholic Church an air of superiority, even some of that has softened over the past 50 years.  Leadership Conferences of different churches have gotten together with the Bishops conferences to issue statements declaring what beliefs the different churches hold in common.  Some entire Churches (I am thinking mostly of Anglican Congregations, but I am sure there are others) have resolved their differences, and have asked to be re-united with the Pope.  And the Vatican has allowed them to continue to use their unique form of worship to Worship God.  The same is true of Eastern Rite Churches (such as the Byzantine, Chaldean, and Mennonite Rites.)

And while this does show small progress, it does not even barely begin to scratch the surface.  There is so much more that can be done- not just by Church Leadership, but by everyone!  Every time you enter into dialogue with a person of a different faith expression, and seek to understand where that person is coming from (NOT condemn them) you are helping to bring about a greater sense of understanding.  Every time you seek to console a person who is suffering, you make the face of Christ present in that person's life.

And that is what the Christian Life is truly about.  for, as Christ said, "whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Mt 25:40)"  And I am convinced that the Christian Life is one that has to be LIVED, not just talked about.  And of course we all fall short of that reality, but the point is that as long as we are willing to keep trying, we can bring about the face of Christ on earth, and begin to make Christ's great prayer a reality: that "they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. (Jn 17:21).

Let us learn to walk in humility with God and with each other, as we pray:


Open our hearts O Jesus Christ,
to share more perfectly in your prayer to the father that we may be one,
so that as we journey together we may draw closer to one another.
Send your Spirit to empower and challenge us to answer your call to unity.  
Show us what your Father, the God of Life, requires of us, 
and lead us to justice, peace and oneness in your Name.
our Lord, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, 
Now and forever. Amen.

What if?

"What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?"

It's an interesting thought, isn't it? Kind of makes a person wonder: How different would my life be?

Would I have a roof over my head? Clothes to wear? a car to drive? Money? A loving and caring family? a job? Friends? Health?

Kind of puts things into a new perspective, doesn't it?  Maybe the better question to ask is "how much of what I have do I take for granted?"

I know if I were to be asked that question, the answer is "a lot." The "attitude of gratitude" isn't exactly one that is prevalent in American society... It seems like our attitude is more like "I want it my way, and I want it now, and God help the person who doesn't give me exactly what I want."  We look for reasons to complain about everything, and so often, fail to thank people who do things for us- when was the last time you thanked the person who does the grocery shopping in your household? (and I'm not just saying that because I do the shopping hahaha) Or thanked the people you come into contact with a daily basis, who do service tasks such as cleaning, or ringing up purchases, or answering phones... etc?

This is a crazy thought, but it occurs to me that if we took the time to be grateful towards other people that would do a lot for making the world a better place.  My prayer for this new year is that we can learn to stop taking everything for granted, and learn to be grateful for the things that others do for us, both big and small! And above all, I hope that we can learn to be grateful to God for so richly blessing us, and for sending his Son to us, so that we may come to know him, and have Eternal Life through Christ.  Just as Christ was revealed to the Magi through the light of the star, so may Christ's light shine in us, and through us, so that others may come to know Him through our words, deeds, and actions.  AMEN!!