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!!

Thoughts about family... on the Feast of the Holy Family!

"Family is the essence that helps define our very identity."

"Family means believing, loving, and supporting each other."

These two quotes appear on a picture frame that Brian and Nichole sent me for Christmas, in which is framed a picture of the six of us from Brian and Nichole's wedding day.  My room has been decidedly lacking in pictures of family since I moved into the Novitiate over 4 months ago, so I was very grateful to receive this gift from them, as a reminder of my family back home in Albuquerque, whom I miss very much!

But as I looked at the picture, and began to think, I realized that not only are these two quotes true about my blood family- they are also true about another family that I have been blessed to be part of for over 2 years now- my Basilian Family.  I realized that this was especially true at Christmas time, when celebrating Christmas with the Novitiate community.  It was at our Christmas Eve Celebration that it first hit me that the Basilian Community is also my family, a thought that was re-affirmed when we went to help with check in for the Basilian Summit being held this weekend in Dickinson, TX.  The feeling that I had seeing many of the Basilians I have met before, or lived with before, or even meeting Priests I have never met before is almost the same feeling I have when re-connecting with blood family after being apart for a long time.  It is an amazing feeling to be able to look across a room, and see what makes everyone gathered there Basilian, and to know that we are all united as brothers by the work we share, and the life we live.

That doesn't mean that this life is without it's challenges, because Religious Communities have the same problems that families have-personality conflicts, people who drive us crazy, and so on (Insert remark about crazy Uncle ______ or Aunt ______ here)... but the Challenge of Religious Life (and of family life too!) is to learn to live in a way in which we are beacons of Christ's love, and we strive to show that love, and the joy that is a life fully alive in Christ to others.  It's not easy, but with The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as our model, we can strive to more perfectly emulate the love of the family to one another- not only in our blood families, or for some of us, in our Religious Congregations, but across the entire Christian family of believers.

Today, I had the opportunity to attend the opening Mass for the Centennial Celebration of Holy Family Parish not too far from where I live here in Sugar Land.  This Parish is easily one of the most eclectic parishes  in the entire Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and the Mass was truly a reflection of that diversity.  Some of the languages used at various parts of the Mass were Italian, Tagalog, French, Spanish, English, Ibo, Czech, and a few others I'm sure I've forgotten.  It was a true testament to the Universality of the Christian Faith.  Even though we may speak different languages, or come from different cultures, or countries, we are all one family in Jesus Christ.  And it is a beautiful thing indeed when we can all put aside our differences, and come together to worship the One true God.  Hopefully that is an Ideal that I can continue to work to realize, especially as I continue my journey with the Basilians.

And on this day, may all families, both spiritual, and blood families, be blessed.  And may we always strive to be beacons of love to all families that we are blessed to be a part of..  Amen.

What do you really desire?

"The key to getting what you desire is to desire the right things."
Fr. Edmund McCorkell, C.S.B.

The above quote is on one of the Vocation Posters that hangs in the Basilian Novitiate House.  I've glanced at this poster so many times in the three plus months I've been here, but the other day, this quote really struck me, and it got me thinking: What do I really desire in life?

Of course, it's easy to think that I desire all the right things, that I'm doing God's will by journeying towards Priesthood, and that doing God's will is all that I am desiring in my life.  But, quite frankly, I know that just isn't so.

There are still times that I catch myself thinking about what it would be like to have a family, what I would be doing if I had continued to teach choir, and many other things that are different than where I am right now.  Am I really doing God's will if I am longing for something else while journeying towards Priesthood?

As I've given this some thought, I've come to realize that, sad as it is, this is normal.  Because humans are not perfect (even though many times we like to think we are)  We constantly must remind ourselves of our need for God in this life, so that we may dwell forever with Him in the next.  We must constantly re-commit our selves to being Disciples of Christ, and we must constantly keep forsaking the ways of the world.

But what a task this is!  If only we could have the faith of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar that Jesus heals as He is headed to Jerusalem.  Mark's Gospel tells us that when Jesus called to him, he immediately threw aside his cloak, and ran to Jesus (no small feat for a blind man!)  And when his sight was restored, he followed Jesus without a second thought, even though Jesus had told him that he could go wherever he wanted to.

This is where our desires must lie- With Bartimaeus as our example, may we put our sole desire in God, and learn to trust him.  How much more will God give us if we fully desire him alone, and we don't keep looking for worldly happiness, which fades like the setting sun?  God does not want us to be unhappy.  God is Love, and his love for us is the greatest gift we could ever wish for.  I cannot begin to explain how different my life is now that I am in the Novitiate.  I am united to the people of God in a way that I never thought was possible- and when I really start to think about that, I thank God that he has blessed me in such a way.

As we begin this joy-filled season of Advent, I urge you all to count your blessings, and to thank God for them.  And share some of that joy with others! It's the best way to make a difference in someone's life.  And may God bless you during this most holy Advent and Christmas season!