Run So As to Win

When I was in high school I ran cross country. The three years that I ran were some of the most fun of my entire life. I have so many great memories of long hours on the roads around my high school with some of my best friends. We would run upwards of 50 miles a week, and there were days during the season when it seemed like I saw my teammates more than my own family! 

I remember back to my sophomore year and the first practices I went to- how agonizing it was! I was hurting in places I didn't know could hurt! There were days during that first week of two-a-day practices that I didn't think I would be able to go on, and more than once I considered not coming back. However, with the encouragement of my older brother who was a senior at the time, and my friends who were on the team with me, I was able to persevere. Slowly but surely I got better. Long hard hours on the roads in rain, sun, heat, cold, with cramps, stomach aches, and shin splints. It was not always fun, but it paid off. By the time I got to my senior year I was able to run 10 miles in just over an hour, and hardly losing my breath, and even made the All Conference Team (not to mention posting a better personal record in a race than my older brother!) 

I really think that looking back on those years of running-the hundreds of miles pounded on the road and the gallons of sweat poured out- that they had a great formative influence on me. Not just in helping me to avoid putting on too many pounds, but also in teaching me the value of discipline and dedication- virtues that are valuable in arenas far more important than the high school cross country scene.

As Christians, working out our salvation, we cannot do without these virtues. Saint Paul even compared the life of a disciple to that of the athletes who run in the race. (1 Cor 9:24) It is not always fun, it often is painful! We don't always like to pray! As C.S. Lewis said in his Letters of Malcolm: 

Pray is irksome. An excuse to omit it is never unwelcome. When it is over this casts a feeling of relief and holiday over the rest of the day. We are reluctant to begin. We are delighted to finish. While we are at prayer, but not while we are reading a novel or solving a cross-word puzzle, any trifle is enough to distract us.

We have all probably had those moments when, like me during my first days of running, had no desire but to quit and take the easier route like the the guys on the bowling team (no offense my bowlers in Christ!)

However, in face of the spiritual muscle cramps and stomach aches we must persevere! A life of holiness is can be difficult. We have to come back day after day and do our workouts. And we can be assured that if we are faithful, and dedicated to our faith, our souls will become spiritually fit, allowing us to "run" faster and farther, with more ease than we ever imagined! 

As an old monastic maxim goes: "If you you want to pray well, pray often." It is just that simple. We have to show up to practice each day- no matter when that may be for you: morning, afternoon, night- and hit the roads. We are never alone, just as I had my best friends, and teammates with me- so we have Mary and all of the "World Record Holders" who make up the communion of Saints. They are there to cheer us on, and push us when our legs get tired. 

I may not be quite as physically fit, as I used to be- but I can definately say that through perseverance and dedication I have am in better shape spiritually today than ever! 

When it gets difficult-  keep running!- for we run not for a perishable crown, but an imperishable one. 

I'll see you on the roads.

Letter from a Friend

While rummaging through my desk drawer at home yesterday, I stumbled upon a letter Paul wrote me on Gaudete Sunday, 2007. I read it over and said a quick prayer of thanks; it was exactly what I needed.

I recall writing Paul that Advent, distressed about a number of things, but frustrated with my prayer life most of all. Like a good friend, he pokes fun of me in his response, saying: "Your last letter was very chaotic (which I loved)." Instead of leaving me hanging, he left me with words that have proved to be foundational in my relationship with Jesus. Here's an excerpt:

It is our job as seminarians and, as...future priests to be holy. How are we to become holy? To see Christ's face, feel his hands, and hear his word. How do we go about doing that? Prayer.

I don't know why, but sometimes I struggle seeing Jesus as my best friend, my intimate companion through life. It's amazing to think that God not only knows every facet of my being, but longs to share His very self with me, His Body and Blood, His Holy Spirit. And not just in Mass, but in the car, in class--everywhere. I don't understand, but I long to know Him more and more, to "fall in love with Jesus," as a priest friend says. Paul's right; we go about knowing Jesus through prayer, through responding to His invitation, His unconditional love.

Later on in the letter, Paul is quick to point out that holiness is no easy task; it takes hard work! And since prayer is an essential aspect to knowing and falling in love with Jesus, Paul is grateful for my grappling with the Lord. He writes:

Long story short, I am glad you are struggling with prayer. I struggle everyday, and God blesses us for it...

We are on the brink of Holy Week, dear friends. Let's increase our devotion to Jesus as He approaches Calvary, to wipe away our sins so we may be united with Him in Paradise. Hopefully you have a friend like I do to keep you accountable...

Re-Creation in Christ

In the beginning of time, when the Holy Trinity brought from nothing all of creation, he gazed upon his work and he found it, with man at the apex, to be very good. 

But in their pride our first parents refused to serve the Lord who created them, and so brought the first bits of evil into our world. The world, indeed was still good, but it was, and is fallen. The created world has been scarred by sin and tainted with that which was not intended to be there. It has been alienated from the Creator who made it. When we, who we given dominion over Creation, decided to rebel against our Father we brought all of the world with us. And it was this state of alienation between creation and the Creator that existed in our world until the fullness of time when He would Made Man, was made Man in the Incarnation. 

It was into this marred and disfigured creation that Jesus came as a sacrificial victim and mediator to create a bridge between the fallen world of sinful men and women, and the undying Life of the Holy Trinity. And it was this purpose of reconcilliation that colored all of Jesus' life. At every moment from his conception through the Holy Spirit in the Womb of the Virgin, until he gave up his spirit on Calvary he was gathering up in his human body all of creation and offering it back to the Father. This was the reason why the Second Person of the Trinity had to become man- he had to take on the nature of the fallen world and to offer it back to God through the Cross. 

Indeed, this mystery is at the center of Jesus' life and ministry. He, in the poor humanity that he took on, was able to reconcile all of creation with its Maker. As Jesus says to us today: 

And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself. (John 12:32)

The Lord of Creation, through his Incarnation, was able to bring reconciliation to the world. When His humanity was nailed to the cross, and lifted up on that desolate hill in outside of Jerusalem, He brought all of us with Him. He draws all humanity, indeed of all of creation, up with Himself in that perfect sacrifice, and it is by means of this sacrifice that we are reconciled to God. It was in this act that the Kingdom of God was initiated in this world.

This Kingdom continues to grow, and the world continues to be lifted up and reconciled to the Father, through this sacrifice. For that same sacrifice that occurred on calvary happens every day on the Altars of the Roman Catholic Church across the world. Every time your parish priest lifts us that pure white host above his head- it is Jesus who is lifted up, and all creation with Him. This is the drama that we confront every time we go to Mass! We are gazing up the King of Glory who desires to draw us into His life. we can only do this by uniting our lives to the sacrifice of Jesus. We must unite our hearts, our minds, our memories, and our wills to that of Jesus so we might become united in His supreme act of love to the Father- and so become one in spirit with Christ as the Eucharistic Prayer says.

Let us gaze upon the Immaculate Victim who humbled and continues to humble himself by letting mere men lift up the Lord of Heaven and Earth in that great act of reconciliation, which has merited for us all the good graces we receive. Let us humble ourselves so that by dying with him we might rise with him. There is no other way:

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Lift up Your Hearts

I was able to go, just the other night, to cheer for the local NHL team. It was a great game- there were some incredible goals, and the crowd was going wild as the Rink Warriors brought home a victory. As I sat there in the stands, between periods I could not help but let my philosophically tinged mind wander...

I started look around me and I was amazed at the number of things that were bombarding my senses: pounding music, flashing lights, loud cheers, loads of over priced food, advertisements on every open inch of wall, and who knows how many other stimuli that were bombarding my senses. I could not help but to think that this was a type of microcosm of the world we live in. We are a people who, from the alarm in the morning until the head hits the pillow at night, are constantly having our senses impinged upon. There is hardly a moment of real silence in the day when we are able to just give the eyes and ears a rest. 

We are a people that are immersed in the world around us. More than any other age in history it seems that ours is one that is simply uncomfortable with silence. I have noticed even in my time as a PSR teacher that if I invite the students to take 30 seconds to recollect themselves before prayer, they become antsy after no more than 5-10 seconds. We cannot handle silence- and so we fill our day up with as many forms of entertainment as possible. Our lives are filled with background noise-one of my seminarian brother told me that the TV just sits on at his house for the entire day even if no one is watching! But is this a good thing? 

Has this constant immersion in the material immediate world and our inability to rest in silence been a good development? I cannot help but say- NO! When we are so constantly entertained and occupied in the material world around us- with all its flashing lights, sensual images, and mesmerizing beats- that we never are left to be quiet. And it it is in this quiet, this stillness, that we are forced confront reality. To think about, to reflect on, and to ask those questions that are never presented in the midst of the noise. What is my life about? What I am here? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Why is there something rather than nothing? 

This ability to rise about the material noisiness and business that makes us truly human. It is in this precious minutes of silence, of rest, that we come face to face with reality, and if we not blinded by our sinfulness we are able to see that Reality has a face- and a body. A body that was broken for our sakes. We are confronted by the love and life of Jesus Christ. We are raised out of the buzzing and blooming confusion of the material, of the merely animal, and are able to form a relationship with the one who is Truth, Life, and Goodness. We have to yearn for them moments, and we have to let them form our lives. The things we come to know and love in the moments of silence- deep prayer and communion with the Lord- that  govern and transform all that we do. They give meaning to the business of life that we are so often occupied with, but we must always take time to take a step back. To act in the way that makes us truly human- to REASON to THINK to PRAY!

God in his wisdom knows this. He rested on the seventh day. That is what Sunday is about, that is what worship is about. It is by taking back Sunday, or as much of it as we can, to be given over to leisure and rest. That time when we rise above the menial labor of the week to become truly human, truly alive. 

I want to end with a few words I once read from an old seminary professor in little Beatty, PA:

"And the Church of Jesus Christ? Ah! she would fain undo the detestable work of Circe altogether. To disenchant men from the fatal spell of materialism, to recall them to a sense of their human dignity and supernatural destiny, to win them to the ideals of unselfishness and self-sacrifice, to persuade them to relinquish what is trivial for "the one thing necessary;" in a word, to bring back the prodigal from the swine-trough to his Father's House, such is her program. To-day, as in the past, her clarion call of  Sursum corda: "Your Hearts on High!" rings in the ears of Circe's sodden victims. God grant that, e'er it be too late, they might heed that call and awaken from their lethal enchantment, for "it is written: Not in bread alone doth a man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God." 

- Fr. George Barry O'Toole

Lift your hearts up to the Lord this Day! There is more than the beeps, and clicks, and ticks of the materialism around us! There is infinitely more and He is waiting to love you!

Why Diocesan?

As Paul and I have mentioned before, we were both on our high school's newspaper staff. When we became upperclassmen we started getting bigger articles, those which required in-depth interviews with the administration, the resident "big wigs." One such front-page article even merited a visit to the president's office, a priest with an "SJ" tacked on the end of his name.

Whomever decided to put the president's office at the top of the school on the third floor certainly knew what they were doing; it was a place unknown to students, unchartered territory. As I ascended that staircase for my interview, my heart started racing; I was trembling by the time I reached the president's assistant's desk. She asked me to have a seat and wait for Father to finish a phone call; I sat holding my tape recorder and note pad in my sweaty palms.

When the door finally opened, Father stood at the threshold with a huge grin on his face. He invited me into his office and told me to have a seat while he sat behind his desk. I felt like I was visiting FDR and was sitting in one of his sawed-off chairs, which made him tower over his visitors, even in his wheelchair. As I began to ask a question about the changes the administration had proposed for our school, Father stopped me short. "Peter, let's talk about you for a moment."

"Oh--oh-kay."

Father shifted in his chair and pulled himself up to the desk. Now a few feet from my face, he started asking me about my discernment of a call to the priesthood. Apparently word had gotten around. I gave a few muddled responses, which he interrupted. "Yes, but why diocesan? Have you ever thought about being a Jesuit?" The truth was that I hadn't really given it much thought. Why did I feel called to enter the diocesan seminary instead of the novitiate? Where was Christ calling me? I left the president's office with a blank notepad and a head full of questions. Why diocesan? 

The answer came to me that night as my friends and I drove around town after coming from my parish's fish fry. Why diocesan? Because I love my town, my people. I feel called to serve them as their priest! While Jesuits and other religious orders are called to serve all across the globe, diocesan priests serve primarily in their own dioceses, often times the same diocese where they grew up. Just as George Bailey fought the "Battle of Bedford Falls," diocesan priests serve on the home front, waging the war against sin while leading the local lambs back into the fold. God, what a calling!

Paul and I had this talk when he was in town last June. We both confessed our envy in where our calls have led us; I was jealous that he had travelled the entire Southwest as a beggar and itinerant preacher, whereas he was envious of me, having spoken at our schools and serving Masses at our home parish. We laughed, too, at how badly we wanted to have a taste of the other's ministry. Still, we remembered the sheer joy and love that we have received in our own vocations, serving Christ as he has called us.

So why diocesan? Because that's my calling. I prayed, discerned, and realized that's how I'm to serve. When Paul takes first vows in the Jesuits this fall, I'll be proud to see him respond to Christ as he's been called, too. By the way, he was also interviewed by our high school president! Be faithful; Christ will use you as His instrument wherever you're called!

PHOTO CREDIT: "Fishers of Men"

Keep Praying!

I'll never forget the first time I thought about the priesthood. I was in sixth grade at our weekly class Mass; our young, vibrant associate pastor was the celebrant. At the homily he smiled down on us from the ambo, and invited us to pray about serving Jesus as a sister or a priest. "I could do that," I thought.

As our priest went on to give the rest of the homily, I pictured myself as the young associate. As a priest, I would be able to interrupt class to talk with the kids, not to mention roller blade down the hallways. I'd get to be the center of attention...oh, and bring people closer to God. My calling, perhaps, was a little misguided. I needed direction.

After Mass I went up to Father in the back of church near the sacristy. I looked up at his jubilant face and told him of my interest in being a priest. He beamed with delight at these words, patted me on the shoulder, and said two simple words:

"Keep praying!"

I have to admit that I was a bit let down at his response. Here I was voicing my desire to answer God's call and all I got was "Keep praying"?  Nevertheless I was still happy that Father encouraged me in discerning a call; I worked a little harder at my prayer as well.

11 years later and I'm donning the Roman collar. It's so strange to think about the little kid, me, running around in his over-starched polyester school shirt with a seed planted deep in his soul about being a priest. In time that seed budded and started to grow to a point where it couldn't be ignored; it needed to be nurtured. Then that seed was taken and placed in the seminary, the "seed bed" where it began to be nurtured with prayer, soaking deep down into its roots. Through prayer (and a lot of Miracle-Gro), the seed which was planted has grown into a good little plant. However, the same instructions apply even now: "Keep praying!"

I recently was blessed to give the same instructions to a high schooler who's thinking about entering the seminary. He, too, first thought about the priesthood in sixth grade, and, having come from the same parish as Paul and I, has received tremendous nurturing and support. I know that without prayer and reflection, I would not have seen the seminary in the midst of all the distractions and desires of everyday life. Prayer is that focus, the wooden stick in the ground which not only helps a vocation to grow upright, but grafts it to another piece of wood, the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Please pray for all those who are discerning calls to the priesthood and religious life; we need more holy sisters and priests! Pray, too, for happy and holy marriages, for faithful single people, for teachers, missionaries, and for more and more people to spread the Gospel. When we take a moment to see God at work in our lives, it's so tremendous to realize how He has guided and shaped us, even through the thorns and thickets, to allow us to grow upright. In the midst of all our bountiful blessings, one command remains:

"Keep praying!"

Et Concepit de Spiritu Sancto

One of the Jesuits who taught me in high school would often talk about his late father. He was a simple Polish butcher who had migrated to this nation of ours in search of a new beginning. However, he brought the fervent Catholic piety of the old world into this new land. In the neighborhood where they grew up the Polish Parish was at the center of everything, and he remembers that at noon each day the bells of the parish church would ring out their daily call to prayer- the reminder to the faithful to sanctify their day. He remembers something else happening as well at that moment- his father -no matter what he was doing: working, conversing, entertaining- would fall to his knees and begin to pray, 

"Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae..."

Those most sacred words of Angelus, which remember the great events which we celebrate today, the Annunciation.

This feast is one of the most beautiful in our entire liturgical year. Its mysteries offer us so many incredible topics to meditate upon. 

There is the great beauty of our Lady, the holy Virgin of Nazareth, who is proclaimed full of grace by the messenger Gabriel. Here holy purity and sanctity show forth in her simple yes- her fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum- in which she gives to all of us the model of humble service to our God. She did not wait but a second (and that only because she thought herself unworthy of so great an honor) to open herself to God's vocation for her. Let us ask Mary our Mother to pray for us that we might have the strength and humility to trust in God's plan for our lives.

We, also can marvel at the supreme condescension of the Divine Word- God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God- who in the moment of Mary's submission became one like us in all things but sin. As the petition of the Angelus says, Et Verbo Caro Factum Est. The holy Pope Saint Leo the Great reflects on this awful (as in full of awe) act in today's Office of Readings: "He took the nature of a servant without stain of sin, enlarging our humanity without diminishing his divinity. He emptied himself; though invisible he made himself visible, though creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of us mortal men. Yet this was the condescension of compassion, not the loss of omnipotence. So he was in the Nature of God has created man, became in the nature of  a servant himself. One and the same person--this must be said over and over again-- is truly the Son of God and truly the son of man. He is God in virtue of the fact that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He is man in virtue of the fact that The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." 

Let us pray that by meditating on this most august mystery of the Incarnation of the Word in the womb of Mary we may come to love and adore ever more the God who loved us to much that he would become a poor man like you and I. (We must also keep in mind that we celebrate this day the conception of Jesus- the beginning of his life as it is the beginning of all human life. May we always witness to this fact, even when others, including those at Our Lady's University, seem to be denying it.)

Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto. Finally, we see in this holy mystery the work of the glorious Paraclete! It was the Holy Spirit, Divine Love Himself, who overshadowed the Blessed Virgin and conceived in her immaculate womb the Savior of the World. He was the one who began to form our blessed Redeemer in the Womb of the Virgin. But His mission in the souls of the just did not end there, it continues to this day. The same Holy Spirit who overshadowed Mary that day is dwelling in our souls by virtue of our baptism, and He wants to form in us, as He did in Mary, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit comes to us and dwells in our  hearts and souls, and wants to create there as the Divine Artisan, the perfect image of Jesus. Let us pray with Saint Louis de Montfort, the great devotee of our Blessed Lady- "O Holy Spirit, give me a great devotion to Mary, Thy Faithful spouse; give me great confidence in her maternal heart and an abiding refuge in her mercy, so that by her Thou mayest truly form in me Jesus Christ, great and mighty, unto the fullness of His perfect age. Amen."

This day, as we celebrate and mediate upon the mysteries of our Redemption begun in the Womb of the Immaculate Conception, let us give praise and adoration to the goodness of God.

May the words of that venerable prayer, the Angelus, that the devoted Polish butcher prayed, be on our lips this day and all days.

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: 

And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen. 

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word. 

Hail Mary . . . 

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. 

Hail Mary . . . 

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let us pray: 

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen. 

Respond to His Call

This weekend as I came down to the seminarian lounge to gloat over picking an underdog in the college basketball tournament, I walked in on a conversation a few guys were having. They were talking about younger seminarians, men who had entered right out of high school. Since my underdog had a comfortable lead late in the second half, I took my mind off the game and paid attention to my brothers' discussion.

Their premise was simple: they felt that those who had entered seminary right after high school had the most courage of all the seminarians, for they were the ones who sacrificed all of their wants and needs in order to actively discern a call to the priesthood. In fact, they all but implied that such men were holier; they were simply in awe that an 18 year-old could have the conviction, the courage, the maturity to make such a monumental decision. I wasn't sure if they realized if I was in the room.

Entering before or after college is one of the most hotly-contested issues in discerning a call to the priesthood, at least in my experience. When I talk to small groups or even with guys I know pretty well, their concern is whether they're ready. Some men are truly gung-ho about entering right after high school; they can't wait to get their hands on an application. Others, on the other hand, are hesitant--not because they don't feel like they should enter the seminary or that they might not have a calling--but because they're "just not sure" or they "want to experience college life." I usually cringe at the latter statement.

I remember a conversation I had my freshman year of college seminary with a classmate of mine. We went out for a bite to eat and were talking about what we would be doing if we weren't in the seminary. What was the answer? We both would be at the local Jesuit university majoring in anything but philosophy, and would be slamming beers along with the rest of our lapsed-Catholic brethren. As much as we thought we would be that way, we weren't. We've been in for five years now. As much as we've thought about leaving for a while and pursuing some of our own desires, we're still here, answering the call. My classmate's in Rome, studying away at the North American College; I'm living the dream every time I set foot in the parish, trying more and more to be Christ to everyone I meet. But why? Why are we so blessed? Why did we feel that we had to answer the call?

Back to the conversation in the lounge: no, I don't feel that the younger guys are any holier or better disposed to formation. Nor will we be better priests because we have eight years of seminary instead of four to six. God calls us, each on our own time, and asks us to respond, in whatever way He wills. One can't negate the good work Fr. Corapi has done for Christ Jesus just because he wasn't in seminary at 18, just as one can't say that because I didn't make a six-figure salary, like one of my classmates, that I'm "out of touch" or any less worthy of becoming a pastor. Perhaps an eight-year man has a better grasp on formation when an older vocation first enters, but everyone looks the same as they lay prostrate at ordination.  God calls when He wills; all I know is that when He invites, we better respond.

Maybe I shouldn't be so distressed if only a couple or so guys show up to our parish's vocation group. Should I stop inviting them? Absolutely not. I'm certainly discouraged when I see their Facebook statuses or questionable pictures, especially when they were thought to be shoe-ins for this year's freshman class, but God will see them through. Is God calling some of them? Again, absolutely. I just hope that they, like my older classmates, eventually realize that they need to stop fishing for a good time and need to start becoming Fishers of Men.

We are in need of good, holy priests. If Christ can work through illiterate fisherman and miserly tax-collectors, He will work through us as well, no matter the background. So, if you're on the fence and can't decide, give Christ two years of your life; answer the call. All we need to do is be willing recipients of His abundant grace, and allow Him to work through us to bring His flock into everlasting life. It's time to respond to His call!

PHOTO CREDIT: Tudor Hulubei

Give Life a Chance!

The Holy Father spent the entire last week in Africa speaking to the vibrant and quickly growing Church there. On Saturday he met with the youth of Angola, a war torn nation, that has lost thousands of fathers, mothers, and children during a long civil war that is only recently ended. In the midst of this the Holy Father had some incredibly inspiring words of hope for the young people. I want to share in particular his reflections on our life's calling, on our vocations and on entrusting and committing ourselves to God's service. His message of freedom and life is for all of us! let us pray that the Holy Spirit may work in all of us, no matter what age, to bring to maturity the seeds sewn in our hearts! Enjoy! 

Dear young people, as seeds filled with the power of the same eternal Spirit, sprout up before the warmth of the Eucharist, in which the Lord's testament is fulfilled: he gives himself to us and we respond by giving ourselves to others, for love of him. This is the way that leads to life; it can be followed only by maintaining a constant dialogue with the Lord and among yourselves. The dominant societal culture is not helping you to live by Jesus' word or to practise the self-giving to which he calls you in accordance with the Father's plan. Yet, dear friends, you have the power within you, just as it was in Jesus when he said: "the Father who dwells in me does his works... he who believes in me, will also do the works that I do; and he will do greater works than these, because I go to the Father" (Jn 14:10,12). So do not be afraid to make definitive decisions. You do not lack generosity -- that I know! But the idea of risking a lifelong commitment, whether in marriage or in a life of special consecration, can be daunting. You might think: "The world is in constant flux and life is full of possibilities. Can I make a life-long commitment now, without knowing what unforeseen events lie in store for me? By making a definitive decision, would I not be risking my freedom and tying my own hands?" These are the doubts you feel, and today's individualistic and hedonist culture aggravates them. Yet when young people avoid decisions, there is a risk of never attaining to full maturity!

I say to you: Take courage! Dare to make definitive decisions, because in reality these are the only decisions which do not destroy your freedom, but guide it in the right direction, enabling you to move forward and attain something worthwhile in life. There is no doubt about it: life is worthwhile only if you take courage and are ready for adventure, if you trust in the Lord who will never abandon you. Young people of Angola, unleash the power of the Holy Spirit within you, the power from on high! Trusting in this power, like Jesus, risk taking a leap and making a definitive decision. Give life a chance! In this way islands, oases and great stretches of Christian culture will spring up in your midst, and bring to light that "holy city coming down out of Heaven, from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband". This is the life worthy of being lived, and I commend it to you from my heart. May God bless the young people of Angola!

PHOTO CREDIT, Associated Press

La Vie en Rose

Today marks our celebration of Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent. The Church invites us today to take extra time to smile, to be joyful, to "rejoice," as the Latin name for this Sunday suggests. You may even see your priest wearing rose-colored vestments...

That's rose, not pink.

So why is there a sudden interest in rejoicing? Isn't Lent a time of penitence and sorrow? Yes, of course; Lent is a time when we reflect on the sufferings of Christ so that our souls may be wiped clean. At the price of His blood, we are freed from our slavery to sin! We should use this season to unite ourselves to His Passion, yes, but we have to remember why He suffered for us in the first place. 

We need not look further than today's Gospel:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. --Jn 3:16

Beautiful. And it puts our Lent in context, too. We shouldn't live our lives "through rose colored glasses," necessarily, but we should take the gift the Church gives us in Laetare Sunday, of seeing the joy (understatement) which comes from salvation through Christ Jesus.

A blessed Laetare Sunday to you!

God, You're Good

This past week has been a hot one here in Honduras. This comes as no surprise since March is traditionally the start of the hot season here: 95+ degree days topped off with plenty of humidity. Starting on Monday I served as a translator and extra set of hands for a Christian missionary group of roofers from Van Alstine, TX. Each day all eight of us loaded in the back of a 12 year-old pick up truck and bounced along the 30 minute ride to St. Joseph's Chapel located in a village hidden amid corn stalks and banana trees. The roofers had three tasks they wanted to get done: re-roof the Church's feeding center, replace the caretaker's termite-infested joices, steps, and floor, and then finally poor three inches of new concrete over the beat up chapel floor. Not bad work for only four days.

Lucky for us, the power had gone out in the tiny village just before we had arrived. Most of the guys were busy cutting wood for flooring and concrete forms by hand. The electric concrete mixer was definitely out of the question. I found a shovel and began mixing away at the sand and concrete piled in front of the Church door. By the end of the first day, the dozen or so Hondurans, Texans, and one Jesuit novice working on the floor had finally found their groove...Four wheelbarrows of sand, one bag of concrete, two buckets of water, and a lot of mixing. We tried to keep our complaining to a minimum, but after three days, the hard work began to take its tool. After three days of heavy mixing under the hot sun and moving thousands of 100 lb. buckets filled with concrete, both our skin and muscles were "quemado"--burnt.

Thursday finally rolled around, the feast of St. Joseph. I clumsily carried one of the last buckets of concrete into the chapel of St. Joseph. Sweat trickled down my sun burnt nose and into the goopy concrete below. I set the bucket down and looked up to the front of the sparse church to the old statue of St. Joseph with the the Child Jesus. I couldn't help but laugh. God why do I ever doubt you're looking out for us? Here I was, an under-qualified translator, knowing nothing about concrete, with people I only met three days ago, in the middle of some Honduran village, working all week long in a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph (the patron saint of workers), only to finish on his feast day.

Later that day as the new floor was still drying, a Jesuit father said the Mass outside in front of the neighboring bean farm. During the Gospel I couldn't help but feel the words come alive. All week long we worked like Joseph, few resourses and a lot of ambition. All of it was for God, His Church, and His people. Between you and me, I had no idea what I was doing. Nevertheless, I was there, working and doing what I could as best as I could, trusting that it would be pleasing to the Father. As the sun began to set and we bounced along on our way back into the "big city" I just said a simple "Thank You" to God for this young vocation of mine, that humble community, and our universal Church. God, Your Gospel is alive and, yes, You are good.

Growing Old and Wise

This past summer my classmates and I spent a day with some Vincentians in the southern part of our diocese. We took a tour of one of their shrines and of their new retirement facilities. I have to admit I was a little jealous when I saw they didn't have any radiators that make clanks and groaning noises at three o'clock in the morning...

My favorite part of the day spent with the Vincentians was the meal with some of the residents in the newly-built facility. These priests were anything but new; years of priestly service accompanied them as they pulled up their chairs for lunch. Our Church has weathered some pretty difficult storms in the past six decades, so I half expected these octogenarians to be a bunch of old curmudgeons. Boy, was I wrong. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

What was so funny about some old priests, you ask? The stories of their mischievous seminary days, their stories about each other, and even how they teased one another for being deaf, "old geezers." As one priest was getting up from the table, another asked him what his plans were for the afternoon. "Boy, I'm swamped," came the reply, "I've got napping scheduled all afternoon!" We all started chuckling.

It was amazing to me that, in spite of all that these priests had gone through, that they were still their jolly selves. I don't know why that surprises me; why shouldn't they be happy? They're doing labor for the Lord! Just because "they're not in their prime" doesn't mean they're not building up the Kingdom of God! They certainly built up a zeal in my classmates and me!

The thought of growing old as a priest used to scare me. Honestly, I've always thought it would be better to die on the parish steps than to be "sentenced" to the "priest home." My perceptions changed entirely because of those happy, holy men. If my classmates and I continue to be ourselves in the midst of our work in the vineyard, I need not be afraid. We'll be carrying on at the retirement home, hopefully encouraging the young seminarians who visit to pray, play, and persevere in His name.

As I write this post my next door neighbor is laughing uncontrollably while guys down the hall are singing the opening hymn to evening prayer. We are so blessed to have such great examples in the priests that have gone before us; I hope that as we grow old and wise that we may model Christ to all we meet. God, thank you for this vocation!

Oh, and GO DUKE!

The Model Man

A man who holds a preeminent place the the life of Jesus, but has not one single word attributed to him in the Gospels. A man who lived the simplest, humblest, and most obedient of lives, and now reigns in heaven higher and more magnificent in holiness than all the saints and angels save the Immaculate Conception herself. A man who was chosen out of the entire history of men to be the sole protector and guide of the Word Incarnate and his Immaculate Mother during those early years of His life. He, the simple carpenter from Nazareth was chosen to teach the Son of Man how to be a man. O how wonderful are the glories of Saint Joseph! 

How much do we need this holy Foster-father in our day! 

Any quick look around at our society and it is unmistakable that we are desperately in need of his example and intercession. Men are afraid of commitment, so few young men are willing to think about entering the seminary, fathers are often too busy with their careers to raise their children and the number of children without fathers is steadily growing, pornography is more infectious than ever, and none of these trends are showing any signs of changing soon. Our society is on a steady march to destruction and there seem to be no men who are willing to stand up and do something to stop it! In the face of all these demons Saint Joseph stands as a standard bearer, and model father and husband, a true man calling us to follow him and his adopted Son.  

 

His life is one of great mystery indeed, but there are so many lessons which he can teach us about being men, and indeed about being Christians. 

He who lived with the Purest of Virgins Our Blessed Lady Mary, in a relationship is supremely chaste and fervent love wants to teach us the beauty of purity, a virtue that has been defiled and criticized as mere prudishness. He shows us that true love does not involve physical intimacy but ardent love of God, and the desire to give oneself completely for the good of another. 

He who was so docile a servant in the plan of the the world's redemption wants to teach us what it means to be obedient to our Heavenly Father. When he was told to marry his fiancee despite the fact that she was mysteriously with child he obeyed; when we was told to flee his home to go to Egypt to protect his family he did not hesitate to do so; when the dangers were gone he faithfully follow the Lord's command and returned to his home at Nazareth, and above all he was faithful to his wife and child daily, worrying about their comfort and their good before his own. He stands before us as the model servant of the Lord who perfectly obeyed the movements of the Holy Spirit in his soul. 

He who was a simple carpenter going about his job day in a day out, sanctifying every little actions by offering it to the greater glory of God wants to teach us about the dignity of work. He wants to see in his example that all of our works and actions no matter how menial and base can become glorious and meritorious if we do them out of Love for Jesus. 

Finally, he who was the head of the Holy Family, the protector and provider, who was entrusted with the care of Jesus and Mary the two most precious persons that ever walked the Earth wants to teach us about the importance of the family. He shows to us in an age that wants to do away with and destroy the family through abortion, contraception, homosexual relationships, and pornography that the family is the foundation and the center of the world. Just as that holy family of Nazareth was the foundation and center of the mystery of our Salvation, so must the family remain at the center of our world as the place where children are taught about the great saving love of Jesus, and where husband and wife work together to get to heaven. 

These lessons and so many more does this humble man from Nazareth seek to teach us, and how desperately do we need his example and wisdom! Let us rejoice today amidst the penances of Lent in the glory of this holy man of God who was raised to such heights of grace that only Mary and Jesus surpass his sanctity! Let us turn to him, the most holy intercessor and ask him for the grace to live like he did- completely devoted to Jesus and Mary, so that we like him, the patron of the dying, may be so worthy as to die in the arms of Jesus and Mary. 

Saint Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, Patron of Families, Patron of Fathers, Patron of Workers and our Model in Holiness, Pray for us!

The Cross of Jesus

Today we celebrate the feast of a holy father of the Church on the 1623 anniversary of his death. The holy bishop of Jerusalem, Cyril, was an extremely holy and faithful shepherd who worked zealously to bring more and more souls to the knowledge and love of Jesus. We are blest to still have a testament to his brilliance and devotion in the form a few writings that have been preserved over the centuries. We have 23 incredible homilies which he gave to the catechumens who were preparing to enter the life of Grace at the Easter Vigil. 

During this holy season of Lent, in which the catechumens are again preparing to become members of Christ's body and all the faithful are seek to purify and renew their lives of discipleship, I hope that Saint Cyril's beautiful meditation on the glorious cross of our Redeemer will lead us to a greater love of Jesus and His cross. Enjoy!

Every deed of Christ is a cause of glorying to the Catholic Church, but her greatest of all glorying is in the Cross; and knowing this, Paul says, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of Christ (Galatians 6:14). For wondrous indeed it was, that one who was blind from his birth should receive sight in Siloam; but what is this compared with the blind of the whole world? A great thing it was, and passing nature, for Lazarus to rise again on the fourth day; but the grace extended to him alone, and what was it compared with the dead in sins throughout the world? Marvelous it was, that five loaves should pour forth food for the five thousand; but what is that to those who are famishing in ignorance through all the world? It was marvelous that she should have been loosed who had been bound by Satan eighteen years: yet what is this to all of us, who were fast bound in the chains of our sins? But the glory of the Cross led those who were blind through ignorance into light, loosed all who were held fast by sin, and ransomed the whole world of mankind.

 And wonder not that the whole world was ransomed; for it was no mere man, but the only-begotten Son of God, who died on its behalf. Moreover one man's sin, even Adam's, had power to bring death to the world; but if by the trespass of the one death reigned over the world, how shall not life much rather reign by the righteousness of the One (Romans 5:17-18)? And if because of the tree of food they were then cast out of paradise, shall not believers now more easily enter into paradise because of the Tree of Jesus? If the first man formed out of the earth brought in universal death, shall not He who formed him out of the earth bring in eternal life, being Himself the Life? If Phinees, when he waxed zealous and slew the evil-doer, staved the wrath of God, shall not Jesus, who slew not another, but gave up Himself for a ransom (1 Timothy 2:6) put away the wrath which is against mankind?

 Let us then not be ashamed of the Cross of our Saviour, but rather glory in it. For the word of the Cross is unto Jews a stumbling-block, and unto Gentiles foolishness, but to us salvation: and to them that are perishing it is foolishness, but unto us which are being saved it is the power of God. For it was not a mere man who died for us, as I said before, but the Son of God, God made man. Further; if the lamb under Moses drove the destroyer (Exodus 12:23) far away, did not much rather the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), deliver us from our sins? The blood of a silly sheep gave salvation; and shall not the Blood of the Only-begotten much rather save? If any disbelieve the power of the Crucified, let him ask the devils; if any believe not words, let him believe what he sees. Many have been crucified throughout the world, but by none of these are the devils scared; but when they see even the Sign of the Cross of Christ, who was crucified for us, they shudder. For those men died for their own sins, but Christ for the sins of others; for He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. It is not Peter who says this, for then we might suspect that he was partial to his Teacher; but it is Esaias who says it, who was not indeed present with Him in the flesh, but in the Spirit foresaw His coming in the flesh. Yet why now bring the Prophet only as a witness? Take for a witness Pilate himself, who gave sentence upon Him, saying, I find no fault in this Man (Luke 23:14): and when he gave Him up, and had washed his hands, he said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person (Matthew 27:24). There is yet another witness of the sinlessness of Jesus—the robber, the first man admitted into Paradise; who rebuked his fellow, and said, We receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing amiss; for we were present, both thou and I, at His judgment.

Jesus then really suffered for all men; for the Cross was no illusion, otherwise our redemption is an illusion also. His death was not a mere show, for then is our salvation also fabulous. If His death was but a show, they were true who said, We remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I rise again (Matthew 27:63). His Passion then was real: for He was really crucified, and we are not ashamed thereat; He was crucified, and we deny it not, nay, I rather glory to speak of it. For though I should now deny it, here is Golgotha to confute me, near which we are now assembled; the wood of the Cross confutes me, which was afterwards distributed piecemeal from hence to all the world. I confess the Cross, because I know of the Resurrection; for if, after being crucified, He had remained as He was, I had not perchance confessed it, for I might have concealed both it and my Master; but now that the Resurrection has followed the Cross, I am not ashamed to declare it.

Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the sake of the poor; without toil, for the sick; since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of devils: for He triumphed over them in it, having made a show of them openly (Colossians 2:15); for when they see the Cross they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, who bruised the heads of the dragon. Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the gift; out for this the rather honour your Benefactor. 

 

Three Cheers for St. Paddy!

Erin go bragh!

A blessed St. Patrick's Day to one and all! Yes, even you German-Americans can wear green and carry on as honorary Irish today (if you can stand the jolliness!). Rest assured, the Clancy Brothers will be piped loud and proud through the speakers of this here laptop throughout the day (thank goodness I didn't give up Irish music for Lent!).

But with all things, we can't be forgetting the reason for our celebrations this here day. It'd be a shame if we joined with all those who hoot and hollered this weekend without any thought as to why there was a parade in the first place. Let's take a look at the saint who saved the Irish...

At 16, Patrick was kidnapped and shipped from his native Scotland over to Ireland, where he worked as a slave for six years. After a stealthy escape from his captivity with some help from an angel, Patrick boarded a ship and returned home. However, he knew that he was called to serve the land where he had been enslaved; their captivity was far greater than the one he had to endure.

In his Confessio, Patrick relates the blessings he receives during his time in Ireland:

Whence came to me this wisdom which was not my own, I who neither knew the number of days or had knowledge of God? Whence came the so great and so healthful gift of knowing or rather loving God, though I should lose homeland and family.

After many years of training in the seminary, and some guidance by St. Germain, Patrick was recommended to Pope Celestine I to spread the faith to the Irish people. The new Bishop of Ireland and his companions landed on the shores of that pagan land in 433; there was certainly much work to be done!

Patrick was a man of deep faith. In his devotion to God he found the strength to persevere through his human frailties; through the gifts given to him, he was able to preach to peasants across the rolling hills. By picking up a three-leaf clover and using it as a sign for the Trinity, thousands came to know the Father, Son, and Spirit, being preserved from heresies all the while. 

Patrick, with a steady hand and a heart on fire for Jesus, led his people to the Triune God. Even in the midst of oppression and threats on his life, Patrick spread the faith throughout the land. We hear once more we hear in the Confessio of his zeal and steadfast ministry to his flock: 

What is more, let anyone laugh and taunt if he so wishes. I am not keeping silent, nor am I hiding the signs and wonders that were shown to me by the Lord...

For these traits and many other tremendous deeds, Patrick has fittingly earned the title "Apostle of Ireland." In the midst of our celebration today, let's not forget to salute and pray through this courageous defender of the faith (especially if you hate snakes)! 

Biography information retrieved from New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.

Let My People Go... but why?

Since we began this holy season of Lent a few weeks ago those of us to pray the divine office have been praying our way through the book of Exodus. In it we have heard the one of the greatest stories ever written- the story of how the People of God were freed from the tyrannical rule of Pharaoh through the help of God's hand. It is a story that most of us have known and loved since we were children. It has been the source, throughout the centuries, of inspiration for liberation movements inside and outside of the Church. As Americans we probably feel a great love for such a story as this that champions freedom, that great ideal upon which our nation was founded upon. It is an incredible book, and one that I cannot help but enjoy reading. 

However, this time through something caught my attention that I had missed before. There is that famous line (immortalized by Charlton Heston in "The Ten Commandments" where Moses tells the pharaoh of Egypt "Let my people Go!", but as I read it I noticed that the line continued on, saying, "... and offer me a sacrifice in the Desert." (Ex 5:1) Moses is not just trying to get away from the tyranny of Pharaoh's rules and work, but he wants to free the people so that they might worship God! This is a story about freedom certainly, but God did not desire to free the Israelites just so that they could be free to do whatever they desired... their freedom was for the service and worship of God! That is the only type of freedom that is true, anything less is a fake. So often we do not see the truth of this, we are all jealous of our "freedom" but do we really know what that means?

Freedom is more often than not construed to be a freedom from burdensome rules and authorities which hamper and impede our happiness. For example, many teenagers believe their parents rules about curfew and daily chores to be a constraint on their freedom. Freedom is understood as the ability to do whatever I want, when I want, and with whom I want. However, this is far from the true meaning of freedom. This is license and this is opposed to true freedom. 

True freedom is not a freedom from constraints, but a freedom for excellence. We, as human beings, are ordered to happiness, it is part of our nature. There is a specific type of activity that will bring us the true happiness we desire. We are free when we are living to the fullness of humanity. This means that we must work within the framework of the nature we were given as humans. We cannot simply do whatever we want, and if we try to we end up enslaving ourselves to things that cannot make us really happy. This is what sin is, choosing something opposed to the nature given to us. This type of freedom is not as easy as achieve as the other, because to be truly free and perfect as humans we have to discipline ourselves, and often this means choosing to act in ways that are not comfortable or to an extent even enjoyable.  There are certain rules, the Divine Law, which we must operate within, that allow us to be free. By choosing to operate within these rules which God has given to us as our Creator, we accomplish our goal as human beings- True Freedom.

Think of it like learning to play the piano. In the first sense we are free as we want to bang on the keys of the piano like a child who has discovered this ability to make noise for the first time. On the other hand, we are able to learn and study the way in which the piano and musical notation works- a very difficult and at times a less than enjoyable task- however when we have learned to work with in these rules and laws we are then free to play any piece of beautiful piano music we wish. Now imagine your life we like playing on a piano. The first type of “freedom” is but license and a life lived by that principle sounds like a child banging on a piano. The second type, a life of freedom for excellence, sounds like a piano concerto by Bach.

Only with this understanding in place can we truly enjoy freedom- otherwise we easily settle for lesser imitation versions that prevail in our world (like the "freedom" to choose to kill your child). As Moses knew so many centuries ago, there is no freedom other than the that connected with the worship of God. Let us embrace this freedom, let us enjoy the true freedom which only a life lived for Christ in the Church can offer- only when we realize that we are made to praise, reverence and serve God can we enjoy that freedom Christ offers- the freedom of the Children of God. (Rom 8:21)

Zeal for Your House

Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace. -Jn 2:16

We've heard this Gospel many times before. Jesus, upon entering the Temple, sees the money-changers and those selling animals to be offered as sacrifices, and "loses it." He rebukes the merchants for making a mockery out of the sanctity of the place, for making it a "marketplace." This isn't the image we're used to; we picture Jesus standing there amidst scattered coins and up-turned tables, breathing heavily with a beat-red face, and wonder "Whatever happened to the one who blessed the children?"

Time is running short, my friends. Jesus, in full knowledge of what is soon to come, becomes enraged when He sees His Father's House tainted with those who could care less about what goes on inside. These merchants weren't the equivalent to the Knights of Columbus selling Krispy Kreme donuts or the table of Brownies selling Thin Mints and Samoas. And so, in His anger, he flips their tables to show that materialism has no place in this world, especially not in the House of God. Jesus had another Temple on His mind as well.

It's really hard this time of year to stay focused on the true meaning of the Temple. Amidst the fish fries we tend to forget about the Stations of the Cross. While our parish's St. Patrick's Day festival might be outstanding, our attention at the Mass beforehand might not. We make a conscious effort to "give things up" for Lent, but then forget to maintain lives of virtue and holiness as we're expected. Have we lost zeal for Your House, O Lord? Perhaps we have.

Now that we're halfway through Lent we should ask ourselves: "How am I doing? Am I closer to Christ?" If not, maybe we need to be a little more receptive and willing to allow Christ into our lives. I know that recently Christ has found His way into the nice, comfortable life of this seminarian, too busy to reflect, too tired to pray. What has He done? Well, He has entered, seen the mockery, the "money-changing" and has proceeded to up-end all that is contrary to His Will. We may stand in the aftermath in dismay when all my creature comforts and desires are overturned, but hopefully we will be given the grace to see why Christ enters our souls. He seeks to give us peace, consolation, and hopefully salvation. He has overturned tables, but will we let Him help us to begin again?

Keep persevering. A blessed Lent!

The Arms of the Father

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most beautiful stories that Jesus ever told. It is so deeply filled with meaning and timeless truths that dwell in the heart of our lives as Christians. There are innumerable lessons that we can find in those 24 verses of the 15th chapter of Saint Luke's gospel. 

But during this season of Lent it seems so fitting to reflect for a short time on that scene where the father comes running out to throw his arms around his lost son. No matter how many times we have heard this story, no matter the fact that we may have reflected on this scene before- we must, day in and day out, remind ourselves that we are the prodigal sons and daughters of God.  

We are all striving and working to grow in holiness, in faith and in charity. But we, every one of us, at some point tell Our Father in heaven, like the prodigal did his father, "Dad- I know you aren't dead yet, but I wish you were, and so just give me my inheritance now! Because I'm leaving!" That is what sin is- it is a rejection of Our Father's love. We choose to take the blessings and talents he has given and squander them on things of this world. It is so easy to rationalize our little sins- our small inconsistencies, little "white" lies, gossiping, day dreaming at Mass- but each one of them to a greater or lesser degree is a rejection of Our Father's love. 

Imagine that at our baptism, when we receive the Holy Spirit who comes and dwells in our hearts, it is like God coming to live with us. He takes up residence in our homes and he takes care of us. He helps to decorate it and make it beautiful with the virtues, he makes it a welcoming and loving home with his charity, he prepares glorious meals and feeds us with the Bread of Angels. Yet, when we sin we turn against our Divine guest. 

Sometimes, when we commit those little venial sins we just, if you will pardon my image, send God to his room- tell him we don't want to be spend time with him-we would rather enjoy company of lesser goods that His. But there are other times when we sin- committing those grave, and deadly sins known as mortal sins (more on what this means here if you are wondering or unsure (as I often am) about what this distinction actually means)- we don't just send God, as it were, to his room, but we evict him from our hearts. We completely turn against him, and choose friendship with, the Light Bearer, Lucifer, rather than with He who is Light Himself. 

Yet, what the story of the prodigal son teaches us, and what Jesus wants us to keep always in mind, at every moment of our lives is that no matter how far we may have run from God, no matter how mean were to Our Father when we kicked him out, no matter if we have been living and dining in the pig stye of sin for years and our white garment of Baptism is covered in mud- He is alway there, like the Father in the parable, waiting for us to return. We don't have to make it all the way home and search for Him- we just have to make one step in his direction, and he runs to us, with open arms, with the finest robe, and the ring of the heir. As the Dominican mystic Meister Eckhart put it, we may kick God out of the temple of our hearts, but he never goes any further than the door. He is waiting for us to open that door to our hearts to Him- he wants to come in and undertake an extreme makeover in us.

But we have to open the door, we have to start on the road back home- he will not force himself on us- that is the burden of Divine Love; He respects our free will. Let us not remain in the stye of sin with the pigs of the World. Let us not be so hardened that we will not open our hearts to the Divine Guest at the door. Let us no be so proud that we cannot fall to our knees in Confession before the father, who represents THE Father, and say, "Bless me father for I have sinned."

Our Heavenly Father is waiting to meet us in the confessional with the open arms of his infinite Mercy. We cannot find it any where else- let us not keep him waiting any longer. 

Renegade

1922 was a precarious year for my great-grandfather, Frank. As a member of the Irish Republican Army, a price was on his head for involvement in activities leading up to the Irish Civil War. This rogue relative of mine was always on the look-out for approaching British soldiers, who would surely drag him to the firing squad if he were ever caught.

Once, as British forces were about to apprehend my great-grandfather, one of the townsfolk shouted, "That's not him! That's his dumb twin brother!" His heart pounding in his chest, Frank quickly pretended not to have his wits about him. The officers looked him over and then went on their way. After the incident, Frank surely would have been mad to stay in the country any longer. Plans were made to escape. As a priest.

In August of 1922, "Father" Frank made his way in clerics to Liverpool. On the 24th he boarded the R.M.S. Laconia II, and sailed to Queenstown and on towards New York. On the third of September, he and 1,034 other passengers passed through Ellis Island and entered the United States. 

If it weren't for Frank's "escape into the cloth," I wouldn't be wearing clerics today. At 23, having seen hundreds of men his age lose their lives in search of freedom, he realized that he best not be one of them. Frank fled the hatred and the violence of his native land in hopes for something better. At 23, I often wonder how I can be better, too; what exactly do I need to turn from? To whom do I need to turn? The answer is Christ.

Frank might have been a renegade as he fought for freedom in the streets and plains of Erie, but I think true revolt and rebellion has a greater meaning today. We live in an age where we're inundated not with artillery shells or hand grenades, but by a message of greed, lust, and hate. Instead of mothers grieving in our streets our Blessed Mother is grieving for the souls of all those who cannot or refuse to flee from all the misery and mayhem. In addition to wrapping ourselves in our national flag, we should also fight for goodness and Truth in Jesus' name.

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. --Ephesians 6:11

I never met my great-grandfather, but I know he would be proud of me. I am so grateful that he came to America and met my great-grandmother; if not for his voyage I would not be here today. 87 years since he first came to this nation, I hope to give my life to Christ as His renegade, His soldier, His priest, just as Frank's son (my great-uncle) did before me. 

Forever Students of Christ

This past weekend I was blessed to be able to go home for a few days for a short spring break. It was so nice to be home and to relax for a while- a break from classes, and a chance to sleep in... even if just for a little bit. It was wonderful, especially since the Lord blessed us with beautiful weather.

 While I was home I had the chance to go to dinner one night with my parents. It was great to catch up with them and to talk with them about the seminary. We started talking about my classes and the various things I have been studying: Church history, ethics, theology of prayer, and so many other incredible things about the Catholic intellectual tradition. I am some what of a nerd, and I love learning and diving deeper into the great mysteries of Christ and his Church. 

However, as I was talking about some of these things--many of which are some of the core beliefs of the Church; my parents started to ask many questions, about what exactly the Church teachings about these things--like purgatory, the universal call to holiness, and the centrality of the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Christian life. Both my mom and my dad were brought up in educated in Catholic grade schools, high school and universities. They have been Catholic all their lives, faithfully going to Mass each Sunday, and teaching my brothers and me the importance of the faith. Yet, they seemed to be in the dark on some of the most fundamental truths of the faith that make being Catholic so awesome! 

This experience, couple with my experiences teaching PSR, and having been educated in Catholic schools for 16 years- has led me to ask myself some questions. Why does it seem like so many of the faithful are largely ignorant of the truths of the faith? Why is it that the religion classes in Catholic grade schools and high schools are only doing the bare minimum of initiating students into the fullness of Christian discipleship? Why is it that most theology classes at Catholic universities are more focused on creating scholars, rather than saints? How have we gotten here? Why is this the case? 

This issue, this, if I may be so bold, crisis of catechesis, is one of the greatest issues facing our Church in this age. So many parents and adults do not know the reasons why they go to Church on Sunday- it is simply a routine they have had ingrained in them. They do not know the reasons, and if they start thinking about it, or if becomes inconvenient, they stop because it has roots no deeper than the surface. The truths of the faith have not become inscribed on their hearts- but merely written on the sandy exterior to be easily obscured by the winds of the world. Without parents and teachers who are passionately in love with Christ, his Truth, and his Church the youth of the Church are never presented with the fullness and splendor of the Truth of Jesus Christ. The effect is pews either emptying at a steady rate, or being filled with souls not on fire with the Holy Spirit but filled with only the dying embers of the flame lit at baptism. 

It is so important that all of us, whether young or old, child or parent, son or father, first communicant or Bishop of Rome to constantly strive to grow deeper in knowledge and love of Christ and the Church. We are called to be forever students of Christ and His body the Church! She has 2,000 years of wisdom and knowledge that is waiting to be learned and integrated into our lives. Adults must not let the faith that was learned as children remain at that level. If a research scientist knows no more about his faith than he learned as a child- then he will think the faith is just something childish. We must grow in knowledge of the Christian truths as much as we study secular truths. We must also as adults work to spread the beauty and the joy of Christian truth and discipleship to the young- as parents, educators, seminarians, and priests we have to bring the message of the Gospel to those entrusted to our care. We cannot, as my teacher says, "fudge on the truth." We must talk to them on their level, but without losing the content. 

Catechesis is such an important part of our faith. We cannot truly love Jesus if we do not know who He is! We must come to Him often and sit as his feet like little children and receive the word of truth from his mouth- and his mouth in the world today is the Church! Only by faithfully studying and learning the truths of the Catholic faith taught by the Pope and the bishops will be truly come to know and be able to love Jesus Christ our Savior and King. 

Saint Peter in the first decades of the Church's existence exhorted the Christian communities to " be always ready to give a reason for the faith and hope that is within you!" (1 Peter 3:15) This same call is given to us, as it has been to every new generation in the past, how are we going to respond? 

This is one of the things that is dearest to my heart, because as I have learned more about the faith I have come realize that it is the only thing that really matters in life- it is the pearl of great price worth selling all to have! My hope is that we may be instruments of renewal and transformation in the Church and the world to bring the love and truth of Jesus Christ in the New Evangelization to the ends of the world. I want to end with a quote from our late, great Holy Father John Paul II who wrote a beautiful exhortation on the importance of Catechesis called Catechesi Tradendae, he said:

The primary and essential object of catechesis is, to use an expression dear to St. Paul and also to contemporary theology, "the mystery of Christ." Catechizing is a way to lead a person to study this mystery in all its dimensions: "to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery...comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth ...know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge...(and be filled) with all the fullness of God." It is therefore to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God's eternal design reaching fulfillment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the meaning of Christ's actions and words and of the signs worked by Him, for they simultaneously hide and reveal His mystery. Accordingly, the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ: only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.

The Ride

Growing up I lived about 30 miles away from the Jesuit high school I attended. During cross country and track season I always had a ride home; sometimes in the years before I had a car, however, I would find myself aboard a Metro bus filled with suits, ties, and dresses, all headed towards the suburbs. It was tolerable until one spring evening...

There were about five of us waiting for the bus to the suburbs, our backpacks ready to burst from the various impending homework once we got home. As the bus pulled up the ramp I sighed, dreading the long and uncomfortable ride ahead.

This evening I was the last of the five riders to ascend the staircase and insert my dollar into the fare slot. As I was about to do so, the driver stopped me:

"Bus's full."

"What?"

"Sorry. Bus's full. Have to wait for the next one."

"Wait. WHAT?! No, this is the only bus. I have to get home. Look, here's my dollar!"

"Sorry. Bus's full."

I panicked as the packed bus stared at me, not knowing what to do. All I knew is that my mom would be waiting at the Dairy Queen at 6:20, and no amount of Blizzards could keep her from getting worried when her first-born didn't get off that bus. Like a defendant pleading for mercy to a jury, I ignored the bus driver and yelled, frightfully:

"ISN'T THERE AN EMPTY SEAT SOMEWHERE?!"

As I was about to be ushered off the bus, a man shouted from the back of the bus, holding up his briefcase: "There's a spot right here!" I jammed my fare into the slot and rushed to the back, safe from the menacing stares coming from our driver. Once I sat down and thanked my Good Samaritan, I closed my eyes and thanked God, breathing in and out. In. And out.

Then the bus got a flat tire.

Once the driver stopped our bus from careening off the Interstate, we pulled over to the side of the road, somewhat shaken from the sudden explosion beneath our seats. After a moment, the driver who had tried to keep me off the bus came over the loud speaker:

"All right. Another bus is on its way, but it's half full. Some of you can go on that one; the rest of you have to wait for another bus to come from Headquarters."

I knew which bus I'd be on. Instead of waiting in the steaming death trap, I decided to rest on one of the grassy hills which lined the Interstate. If you've ever met me, this next part won't be much of a surprise, but typical of my personality. If we haven't had the pleasure of meeting, I guess my idiosyncrasies will have to be presumed...

As rush hour traffic zipped passed our broken bus, I decided it would be fun to start waving excitedly at the cars and trucks, just to pass the time. I started laughing at the thought of someone seeing this goofy kid waving on the hill above the bus, wondering if any of my friends from school would see me. That's when my neighbor from across the street started yelling my name. I looked to my right and there he was, parked on the side of the road, motioning for me to get in. As I threw my backpack in the backseat I thanked my neighbor for good eyesight and for the ride home. Relieved and safe once more I thought: 

"God is good. Thank You."

This incident didn't make me decide to enter the seminary or do anything spectacular; I think the only amazing feat I accomplished was doing any homework at all that evening. My point, friends, is to see God in the midst of everyday life, in moments of providence, to witness him take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. Or, in my case, to see Him in the midst of the bizarre and somewhat stressful moments that spring up.

God is truly present here, now: sacramentally through the Holy Eucharist, and dwelling within us through His Holy Spirit. How often I forget His presence, His unconditional love! Sometimes we need a bus trip or the like to help us remember and hopefully never forget.

Catholics Come Home

So that I may be better prepared for my midterm exam today, I'm going to be brief. Brevity, however, doesn't mean that it's not worthwhile.

A while ago a friend sent me a link to Catholics Come Home, a site designed to welcome those who have been away from the Church or who are interested in becoming Catholic. The site does a terrific job in capturing our faith. One such way is through different videos; my favorite can be found here.

When I watched this I think of Paul down in Honduras, Andrew studying philosophy, my friend teaching English on a Native American reservation, my friend the nurse who prays with her patients, one who counsels death row inmates, and another who's finishing his degree in hopes of being a youth minister. Our faith is so unique, so widespread, so universal, so--Catholic--that there are hardly any in the world who have not been touched by the Church, the people of God joined to Christ. How privileged we are to be called to spread the faith and to display the bounty of graces we've received!

Be that witness for Christ this week. God bless.

Divinae Consortes Naturae

In his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton recounts the version of Christianity which was preached to him during his years of prep school:

"His religious teaching consisted mostly in more or less vague ethical remarks, an obscure of ideals of English gentlemanliness and his favourite notions of personal hygiene. His interpretation of the word "charity" in this passage [I Cor 13], and in the whole Bible, was that it simply stood for "all that we mean when we call a chap a 'gentleman.'" 

I could not help but laugh out loud the first time I read this passage. It just seems to ridiculous to imagine that Saint Paul had gentlemanliness in mind when he wrote this most beautiful pieces of prose ever penned. Merton brought out the silliness of this idea in a later paragraph where he says:

"I think Saint Peter and the twelve apostles would have been a little surprised at the concept that Christ had been scourged and beaten by soldiers, cursed and crowned with thorns and subjected to unutterable contempt and finally nailed to the cross and left to bleed to death in order that we might all become gentleman."

I must agree with him. To think that Christ's life was sacrificed all for the sake of becoming "nice guys and gals" it simply absurd! Yet, in my experience this is commonly what we think being "religious" is about. We learn from the time we are in grade school to be nice and to follow the rules, as if this were all being a Christian meant. The passages from the Gospels most commonly held before our us as examples are those says of Christ that emphasize the importance of loving our neighbor. Yet, while these things are certainly part of our faith, they miss the fundamental point of Christianity. 

The heart of the Christian message is not "Be nice" but it is "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."(Mt 5:48) Christ calls us to share in the perfection of the life of God. We are called not just to be good guys who go to Church on Sunday, open doors for others, say please and thank you, and are politically correct; we are called, as the First Pope and Prince of Apostles put it, "to be partakers of the Divine Nature."(2 Peter 1:4) 

Our Gospel from today, the Second Sunday of Lent, gives us a view into this matter. We hear the story of the Transfiguration. Christ takes his dear friends Peter, James, and John up Mount Tabor and while they are up there they see Christ "transfigured before them."(Mk 9:3)  This is not just some odd occurrence that has no real connection to our faith- rather this event offers us a privileged glimpse into the fullness of the Christian life. Christ allowed his beloved friends a view into the future- a preview of the life in the world to come. 

On that mountain Christ's mortal body was transformed into the form of His resurrected and glorified body. His Divinity showed through His humanity, showing forth something so beautiful, so "dazzling"  as the Evangelist says, that you could imagine the apostles falling on their faces in adoration. Christ was showing these men the glory that He would receive so that they might be strengthened persevere during the trials and the suffering that had to happen before the Resurrection. We can only imagine that this mysterious event must have been in their minds during those three days of agony and only made sense on that Easter morning then they saw the glorified and transfigured Christ again in their midst. 

But the incredible thing about this event is not just that it give us a glimpse into the glory of Christ's resurrection, but it gives us a foreshadowing of the glory that we are destined for in Heaven. In Christ, we have been made able to share not just in Jesus' human goodness, but to share in His life in heaven. We are called to life of the resurrection, the life of the transfiguration- Jesus wants to take our mortal lives and share with us his Divine Life. This is what the Holy Spirit brings about in our souls as we receive the grace of the sacraments and prayer. 

As we dive deeper into the Christian life centered on the love of God and love of neighbor for God's sake we become not just better humans but we become super-humans. Through the work of grace- received particularly through the reception of holy communion- we truly become like to God, partakers in His Divine Life. So much so that we can affirm the words of Saint Augustine who said that "Christ became man so that men might be come God." This does not imply some kind of polytheism or pantheism, but rather it expresses the true end of the Christian life. Our human lives are taken up and united, while remaining uniquely ours, into the live of the Blessed and Glorious Trinity. How incredible is this mystery! How much more meaning do we find in today's Gospel in light of this?! 

We must not be satisfied with a conception of faith that calls us to nothing more than nicety- we must live in the fullness of Christianity that calls us to something far more- Divinity. Let us pray this Sunday that through our fervent practice of prayer, penance, and almsgiving this lent our souls may be filled ever more with the Divine Life of the Holy Spirit.

I leave you with a beautiful passage from our good friend C.S. Lewis who in his famous sermon "The Weight of Glory" reflects on the nature of Divine Life which we are called to and striving for, he says: 

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most un interesting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit immortal horrors or everlasting splendours…Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ- vere latitat- the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.

Do Not Put on a Gloomy Face

And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 

I love this passage from the Sermon on the Mount, part of today's Gospel. Jesus is calling us out, challenging us to be joyous in His name!

As I walked through an eclectic neighborhood yesterday, I looked at some of the faces of passers-by. Some of them were animated as they talked with their friends; others walked wore scowls on their faces. One woman in particular, while quite beautiful, had a death stare as she pushed through the crowd, one that made her more scary than pretty. I made sure to get out of her way as she tore down the sidewalk.

Similarly, there are times when I feel that some in the Church associate reverence or piety with a cold demeanor, with thin lips and furrowed brows. I think that's ridiculous. Sure, there's a certain attitude one should have in worship, but not greeting or at least acknowledging fellow parishioners is plain awful, if not worse.

I don't think Jesus wants us to be superficial; He wants us to be like Him! Aren't we encouraged during Lent not to "put on a gloomy face, like the hypocrites?"

In his book, Priests for the Third Millennium, Archbishop Dolan captures the distinction between joy and, well, freakishness:

Now, please keep in mind that, when I say joy.... I do not mean some giggly, unrealistic, Pollyannish mania. These people get on your nerves and usually deep down are not at peace. -201

He's encouraging us to live out our lives with love for all, to truly be Christ to others, even in our body language. It's amazing how saying "hi" to someone on the street (with proper judgment, of course) can make their day. You don't have to hold up a crucifix for someone to know you're Christian; show them by your love.

They'll know we are Christians by our love.

Bigger Fish to Fry

It was one of those depressing, rainy October afternoons. In our first year of seminary we had managed to survive our first quarter of formation and studies, but certainly looked worse for the wear. On our way to visit elder people this particular Tuesday, the van which once had been filled with exuberant and zealous first years was now silent. We were beginning to realize how hard this "gig" can become.

I let out a huge yawn as I took the elevator up to meet the woman with whom I was supposed to visit. After searching for her room on the eleventh floor I rapped on the door and heard hacking and a scratchy voice yell, "Come in!" I grimaced and opened her door.

As I entered a wall of smoke met me; the smell of Parliaments stung my nostrils. Over by the window I saw my assigned resident dimly through the haze of the room. She politely invited me to sit down and, while motioning to the teal armchair across from her own, asked if I cared that she smoked. "No, not at all," I managed to say.

These meetings with elders are designed to help first year men develop listening and conversational skills with generations besides our own, and to give us a glimpse of what exactly ministry is like. Most of the meetings were light and enjoyable; oftentimes I received praise for my response to the Lord and encouragement as I pursued the call. I would leave thinking how I was an tremendous pastoral example and that my gifts would flourish once I had "Father" tacked onto my name. Yet, on this dismal October day, my self-praise and personal accolades came crashing down. Or, more appropriately, went up in smoke...

After talking casually about the seminary and where I went to school, I asked her to tell me a little bit about herself. At this she started bawling and coughing uncontrollably, and had to reach for the oxygen mask which was sitting nearby. After apologizing and telling me a little about her husband she started all over again. All the while I just sat there, trying to think of something helpful to say. Nothing came. This wasn't what I signed up for!

My ideal image of the parish priest during my first year in the seminary was the priest at the parish fish fry. I pictured myself in my clerics greeting all the parishioners, giving firm handshakes to the men and polite shakes to the ladies, and greeting their kids with high fives and fist bumps. After "working the room" for a while I'd lend a hand in the kitchen or serve cod with an apron and plastic gloves. When the crowd left and the fry bins were cleaned, I'd join the guys from the men's club and have a nice "cold one" out near the dumpsters. No, my image had no room for this lady, let alone the 7:00 Stations.

As the tears streamed down her cheek I realized that maybe my approach to pastoral formation was a bit off-track. In my nice suburban upbringing, I had never seen this side of the priesthood; while I knew priests tended to the sick and dying, but I never thought it would be like this, in some dilapidated old high rise. "This is what really matters," I thought to myself.

I thought of this woman as some seminarians and I drove past her building last night. The high rise has since been boarded up, but still stands tall as if to remind me of that soul in need. While we ended with a prayer and a few brief words of comfort, I was the one who was ministered to four years ago. Yes, Christ requires a lot more than fish from His priests; he asks them not only to be "fishers of men," but to enter their lives, witness their pain, and bring comfort to them in their suffering. As I've come to realize, this can't be accomplished under the bright and cheery lights of the parish hall; we're called to enter into the gloom and despair and be Christ, to show them that Christ is with them through everything. It may not be the ideal, but it's certainly real. By entering into their suffering, we may be Christ to them! 

The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:16-17).

Lent's Third Wheel

When I am driving in my car it has become a habit that I usually pray my rosary. I have found that it is a great way to sanctify that time which can easily be wasted. (Mary also helps me to not get angry at others on the road!) 

Yesterday I on my way back to school and I was approaching the end of the Glorious Mysteries when I can to a stop light. I looked over and I saw a homeless man standing there, with a sign asking for help and money.  My immediate reaction was to turn back and focus on my prayers, I must admit that I usually just walk past the poor when I see them on the streets or in my car. I have become so desensitized to it, and in a way a bit cynical. I have heard so many stories about con artists that I have universalized the stereotype.  But something in me stirred and caused me to think again. It struck me that I was being such a contradiction as I sat there praying to the Blessed Virgin, meditating on the Mysteries of Christ's life, striving to grow in greater love of God- yet I was ignoring Christ in my brother standing right in front of me! However, even as this thought entered my mind, the light turned green and I drove away... but since then I have not been able to get it out of my mind. The poor Christ standing before me, the words of the Gospel pierce my soul, "Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me." (Mt 25: 45)

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to advocate that we should give  money to every person that we come across or that we should stop praying the rosary and spending time in prayer to spend all of our energy in social justice work. For if we serve, serve, serve merely for the sake of serving it is all for naught. We love our neighbors for God's sake, because we see them as God's sons and daughters. But, we also must remember the words of Saint James that "faith without works is dead."(2:20) If claim that we love God, and are striving to love him more and more we cannot be satisfied to just go to Mass, say our rosaries and pray that the world will change. All of those things are so fundamental and central to our lives, and without them we have nothing. Yet, we must love God in our brothers and sisters as well. 

There are so many times throughout the day when we are presented with the choice to show this love. Whether is be in the form of a homeless person on the side of the road, or a friend who needs help with homework, or your mom who could use help emptying the dish washer. Christ comes to us every minute of everyday and offers us a opportunity to love Him in our actions. Do we take advantage? 

During this holy season of Lent, the Church encourages us to renew ourselves in prayer, penance, and almsgiving(or acts of charity if you will). If you are like me you always remember the first two, while the third often falls to the wayside. Let us make a commitment to become more charitable this lent, to embrace those opportunities that we have each day to do acts of charity. Not charity for the sake of being noticed, or because Bono does it, but because we have been called to do so by the God who is Charity.  

May we receive the eyes to see and the ears to hear this lent, so that we may be able to see the face of Christ, and to hear his cries for love in our brothers and sisters. Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to pour into our hearts the virtues of faith hope and charity so that we may serve the Lord and his people with ever greater zeal. 

"The Lord Is with Thee"

Yesterday, while praying my rosary I took my spiritual director's advice and actually listened to the words I kept uttering:

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee..."

How beautiful! How profound! How I wish I would have recognized its blogging potential sooner!

In all seriousness, folks, I am greatly moved by these simple words proclaimed by the Angel Gabriel 2,000 years ago in greeting to Mary as he announce to her that she had been chosen to be the Mother of God. The words spoken to Mary at the Annunciation are repeated constantly throughout the world, in hopes that Mary will hear the prayer's pleas to intercede to Jesus on their behalf. These words aren't merely enshrined in history; they're alive!

I hate to presume that some of our readers might soar right past these words as I do everyday. The beads of my rosary slip through my fingers, but often just to "get it done" and never realizing what it is that I'm continually muttering. Do I truly realize what I'm saying?

Every time I say those simple words: "the Lord is with thee," I'm not only recognizing that Jesus chose a lowly maid from Nazareth to be the Mother of God, but that He is with me, most often in ways that I cannot imagine. He's with me when I'm in chapel, confused and distraught; when I'm stuck in traffic; when I'm getting pizza with my friends; when. Always.

The Lord is with thee! Do you get it? The Lord is with you, with me! Through the grace of Baptism the Lord dwells within us. At Holy Communion His true Body and Blood offered on Calvary are offered to us as nourishment beyond fathoming. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation the Lord is with us as we acknowledge our faults, failings, even our deepest sins. He embraces us, and is there to cleanse us of any wrong. The Lord is with thee. How blessed are we!

I don't want to beat a dead horse (since that would be disgusting), but I don't think we truly understand what this means. The magnitude of such a humble and honest prayer. God humbled Himself and took on human flesh in order to lead us to salvation. He also sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to guide us. He is with thee, friends. We should respond!

I cannot stress how important our Blessed Mother is when it comes to discernment. If you are stumped, clueless, uncertain, or even certain, pray to Mary. She, a girl from a one-horse town, was called to something unimaginable, to bear the Christ! She bore tremendous pain and suffering because of her vocation and yet, through it all, she remembered Gabriel's words, "the Lord is with thee." He is with you, too, brothers and sisters, as you discern what He is asking of you!

Peace.

 

The Perfect Prayer

How many times have we said those most familiar words, "Our Father, who are in heaven..." It is for most of us probably one of the first prayers we learn, and throughout the years of our lives we have recited them who knows how many hundred or thousands of times- every Sunday at Mass, six times with each rosary, and all sorts of other situations when we have felt the need to call upon our loving Father in heaven. 

They are often said that I would imagine for most of us they flow out of our mouths like the air we exhale. But have them become so familiar that we do not even think about them when we say them? Have they become so familiar that they are only empty words? Do you often have the experience of at Mass that you start, "Our Father..." and then realize you are saying "Amen" without any remembrance of what came between? Do we often choose to pray other prayers than this because it seems so... common and ordinary. 

Today in the Gospel we hear Jesus say to us: "This is how you are to pray!" (Mt 6:9) Why do we think we know better?! Jesus has given this prayer to all his disciples as the most complete and perfect prayer we have. These seven petitions encompass every aspect of the Christian life. They hold in them both a simple formulation of our faith, and also teach us a type of all of our prayer. Saint Cyprian said, as nearly all the great saints and doctors of the Church have said: 

But what matters of deep moment are contained in the Lord's prayer! How many and how great, briefly collected in the words, but spiritually abundant in virtue! So that there is absolutely nothing passed over that is not comprehended in these our prayers and petitions, as in a compendium of heavenly doctrine!

When we pray these words were are not just praying another prayer among many, but it is THE prayer. Each petition can teach us something fundamental to our lives as Christians. By taking a minute to look (through the eyes of some of the Church fathers) at two of these petitions I hope that it will give us a new insight to reflect on as we pray these most holy words. 

Our Father Who Art in Heaven: Nor ought we, beloved brethren, only to observe and understand that we should call Him Father who is in heaven; but we add to it, and say our Father, that is, the Father of those who believe— of those who, being sanctified by Him, and restored by the nativity of spiritual grace, have begun to be sons of God…But how great is the Lord's indulgence! how great His condescension and plenteousness of goodness towards us, seeing that He has wished us to pray in the sight of God in such a way as to call God Father, and to call ourselves sons of God, even as Christ is the Son of God, -a name which none of us would dare to venture on in prayer, unless He Himself had allowed us thus to pray! We ought then, beloved brethren, to remember and to know, that when we call God Father, we ought to act as God's children; so that in the measure in which we find pleasure in considering God as a Father, He might also be able to find pleasure in us. (St. Cyprian)

Thy Will Be Done: Thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth." What is this? That as the Angels serve Thee in heaven, so we may serve Thee in earth. For His holy Angels obey Him; they do not offend Him; they do His commands through the love of Him. This we pray for then, that we too may do the commands of God in love. (St. Augustine)

Lead Us Not Into Temptation But Deliver Us From Evil: We admonish ourselves to seek that we may not, through being deprived of God's help, be either ensnared to consent or compelled to yield to temptation. When we say: Deliver us from evil, we admonish ourselves to consider that we are not yet enjoying that good estate in which we shall experience no evil. And this petition, which stands last in the Lord's Prayer, is so comprehensive that a Christian, in whatsoever affliction he be placed, may in using it give utterance to his groans and find vent for his tears— may begin with this petition, go on with it, and with it conclude his prayer For it was necessary that by the use of these words the things which they signify should be kept before our memory. (St. Augustine)

Let us always keep these words upon our tongues, let us not let them remain as dead words, but let us utter them with the fire of the Spirit burning in our hearts! 

Why Do I Always Do This to Myself?!

This weekend proved that the phrase "Old habits die hard" is quite applicable to my life. My name is Peter, and I am a procrastinator...

In my defense, there are times when I wait to the last minute to do things because it's actually some of the first free minutes I have available. Praise God that I work well under pressure!

My license plate tags expire in February, so on Friday, the 27th, I scheduled a safety inspection on my car. I thought that I could stroll into the Department of Motor Vehicles on Saturday morning, leaving shortly thereafter with new tags on the last day of the month. I laughed aloud Saturday at noon as I barreled down the Interstate towards the soon-to-be-closing DMV.

On Friday, everything was going to plan. I got my car to the shop in the afternoon just fine. My old car even passed inspection! However, the machine which prints out the results was broken. "You've got to be kidding me," I thought.

With the help of a friend, I managed to get my car to another shop, leaving it overnight so it could be ready the next morning. After Mass on Saturday I paced around the seminary; nine o'clock, ten o'clock, even eleven o'clock passed with no answer from the mechanic. Finally, at 11:45, they called to say that my car was ready. While driving home to get my personal property tax, my father, in all his proverbial wisdom, said these words:

"Well, you shouldn't've waited until the last minute."

"But Dad--I didn't. It was the mechanic..."

There was no use. I admitted defeat. I'm a procrastinator. My dad told me to drive safely and to let me know how things turned out.

Yesterday at my parish assignment the deacon's homily was on procrastinating; I laughed at God's ironic providence. "How often," he said, "do we wait until the last minute to do something? More importantly, how often do we put off our faith until the last minute, instead of preparing for Jesus now?" His words rang true as I thought to the numerous times when my faith, my prayer has taken a back seat to my other responsibilities or social activities.

Has your faith become just another area of procrastination? Do you keep putting off your relationship with Christ, leaving it until a "better time?" As we heard yesterday at Mass, "This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand!"

I breathed a deep sigh of relief as I left the DMV at 12:49. "God is good to me," I thought, "though I don't deserve it." As I put my new stickers on, I made a mental note not to procrastinate in 2011, the next time I have to renew...

Don't be one of the many unfortunate souls that have let their plates expire. Renew once again your faith in the Lord!