Last night at Mass, there was a guest priest, a missionary with the Society of the Divine Word (SVD); He is a missionary in Montserrat, an island in the Caribbean. I knew he was going to give the homily, what I did not know, until he retrieved the book of the Gospels, was that he was going to preach the Gospel. "Oh, great, I'm going to have to concentrate really hard to understand what he's saying." That's what I was thinking, so you can imagine that I was startled when he spoke perfect English. During the homily, he explained that he was originally from Jackson, Mississippi, so that's exactly why I understood him.
After I had left, I started wondering why it would be a bad thing if I would have had to concentrate to understand him. It ties in to what I had been thinking about earlier in the day. Two of my friends asked my why I was going to church, couldn't I just skip it? I told them the truth, I want to go because it's important to me. They dropped the subject and the day went on. That got me to thinking about why I like going to Mass most of the time. I came to the realization (again) that I get something out of Mass. I get a sense of calmness and, most of the time, I get something out of the homily, as well as having the understanding that everything will be all right. Sometimes I don't put much into the Mass, and I still get all of those out of it. However, it seems the more I invest myself, the more I get out of it. While I realize that I probably shouldn't think of it like that, right now it's a decent way to keep myself on track. So, if I had to have concentrated, which I probably should have been doing more of, I probably would have gotten more out of it.
But today, I hope all of us have remembered those who have served our country, especially those who have died in the while serving. May God bless them all. Thank you for doing all you have.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Judas
On Sunday morning, I walked across the stage in Quincy University's 148th Commencement and it was a wonderful experience. While I had this wonderful experience, I also came to another realization and it made me think of Lady Gaga's newest single, "Judas." I don't like the entire song but, I do think that part of one of the verses can very well describe some of today's Christians, including myself. "Jesus is my Virtue and Judas is the demon I cling to." While demons are fallen angels and thus completely different from humans, and Judas was a human, I find that the sentiment is understandable.
We love Jesus and want to be holy, yet we are attached to one or more things that serve to draw us away from Him. It's as if each of us has a "favorite" sin or area of sin and we do our best to hold on to it while we try to be good Christians. There's a problem with that, though: we cannot hold on to both our sins and Jesus. This is something that I need to work on myself. We cannot hold on to both because if we want to enter Heaven, we will have to die to ourselves, which is obviously hard. However, hard is not is impossible and something that is worth the work is rarely easy.
How do we do it though? It's not like we're all saints. That excuse doesn't fly though, as we're all called to be saints. There are several parts to success, even though the majority of us may never be canonized. Prayer, Sacraments, Accountability, and Scripture. Perseverance in all of those is mandatory. While I need so much work on all of those, especially perseverance (and consistency), I know I can count on God to help me. Hopefully we will learn to let go of our Judas' and hold on to Jesus.
We love Jesus and want to be holy, yet we are attached to one or more things that serve to draw us away from Him. It's as if each of us has a "favorite" sin or area of sin and we do our best to hold on to it while we try to be good Christians. There's a problem with that, though: we cannot hold on to both our sins and Jesus. This is something that I need to work on myself. We cannot hold on to both because if we want to enter Heaven, we will have to die to ourselves, which is obviously hard. However, hard is not is impossible and something that is worth the work is rarely easy.
How do we do it though? It's not like we're all saints. That excuse doesn't fly though, as we're all called to be saints. There are several parts to success, even though the majority of us may never be canonized. Prayer, Sacraments, Accountability, and Scripture. Perseverance in all of those is mandatory. While I need so much work on all of those, especially perseverance (and consistency), I know I can count on God to help me. Hopefully we will learn to let go of our Judas' and hold on to Jesus.
Monday, May 16, 2011
I went to sing karaoke last night, along with my brother's fiancee, Morgan, and her friend, Amy. I was the one driving, so was being the DD if they decided to drink. When we were picking up Amy, before she got in the car, she picked up a book that she would have sat on if she had just got in. However, she didn't just pick up the book, she tossed it carelessly and I cringed and bit my tongue. I wanted to say, "Really? Is that the way you treat books?" However, I didn't and the night went on.
I was thinking tonight, though, and came to realize that many people treat God like that, all too often. We carelessly toss His name around, some people make jokes about Him, whether it be God the Father, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit. Then, some people just talk to Him whenever they feel; it can be several years before they seriously communicate with Him. We're treating God even worse than a book, but He is much more valuable than a book. He is the most valuable thing we could ever dream of seeing and sometimes people treat him worse than trash. The next time we do something involves God and our treatment of Him, let's do it with love, not carelessness.
I was thinking tonight, though, and came to realize that many people treat God like that, all too often. We carelessly toss His name around, some people make jokes about Him, whether it be God the Father, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit. Then, some people just talk to Him whenever they feel; it can be several years before they seriously communicate with Him. We're treating God even worse than a book, but He is much more valuable than a book. He is the most valuable thing we could ever dream of seeing and sometimes people treat him worse than trash. The next time we do something involves God and our treatment of Him, let's do it with love, not carelessness.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
What's your appraisal?
Okay, Sunday night before Mass, I sat down at home to watch some Antiques Roadshow. Sometimes I like practicing to be an old man. Actually, I think the show is fascinating with what's worth lots of money and what isn't. It can keep you guessing as to if the item is a reproduction, whether it be one of quality or a knock-off.
The Gospel that day was from Luke 24:13-35, which many of us know as the Road to Emmaus. So pretty much Jesus meets two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus and they're downcast. So, Jesus, although they don't know it's Him, asks them what's got them so down? They're shocked, and are like, "What's up with that?!" They're shocked that He does not know what's gone on recently in Jerusalem, so they tell Him. So, Jesus is like, "What's up with that?!" Although, hey, it's not out of shock as to the events, it's out of the fact that they're His disciples and yet they've remained completely ignorant. So, He explains to them the Scriptures that refer to Him. So, after that, He infers that He's going on past the village; the disciples ask Him to stay with them. So, He sits at table with them, says the blessing, breaks the bread, and gives it to them. Then their eyes are opened and they recognize Him, then He vanishes. Then they realize that their hearts were burning within them while He was speaking.
The disciples had been afraid that Jesus Christ had been a reproduction, a particularly good reproduction, but still not the real thing. So, when Jesus appears to them on the road, they bring to Him their "item." So, Jesus, is the appraiser, and He tells them the story behind the events in Jerusalem, and then comes the big reveal: Jesus Christ is not a reproduction, high-quality or low; rather, He is the most precious item they could have ever come across. Not only that, but after He vanishes, they realized that they were in His presence that whole time and they ask themselves why they didn't realize it.
It's kind of easy for us to see here, at least part of the puzzle. They didn't realize it because of their fear and they thought it was too good to be true. I can relate, because there have been times that I let my fear and skepticism control me; yet Jesus, "the appraiser and the precious item" always comes through for me. We need to realize that Jesus is the best gift we can ever get. Pray that we don't let our cynicism and fear keep us from God.
The Gospel that day was from Luke 24:13-35, which many of us know as the Road to Emmaus. So pretty much Jesus meets two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus and they're downcast. So, Jesus, although they don't know it's Him, asks them what's got them so down? They're shocked, and are like, "What's up with that?!" They're shocked that He does not know what's gone on recently in Jerusalem, so they tell Him. So, Jesus is like, "What's up with that?!" Although, hey, it's not out of shock as to the events, it's out of the fact that they're His disciples and yet they've remained completely ignorant. So, He explains to them the Scriptures that refer to Him. So, after that, He infers that He's going on past the village; the disciples ask Him to stay with them. So, He sits at table with them, says the blessing, breaks the bread, and gives it to them. Then their eyes are opened and they recognize Him, then He vanishes. Then they realize that their hearts were burning within them while He was speaking.
The disciples had been afraid that Jesus Christ had been a reproduction, a particularly good reproduction, but still not the real thing. So, when Jesus appears to them on the road, they bring to Him their "item." So, Jesus, is the appraiser, and He tells them the story behind the events in Jerusalem, and then comes the big reveal: Jesus Christ is not a reproduction, high-quality or low; rather, He is the most precious item they could have ever come across. Not only that, but after He vanishes, they realized that they were in His presence that whole time and they ask themselves why they didn't realize it.
It's kind of easy for us to see here, at least part of the puzzle. They didn't realize it because of their fear and they thought it was too good to be true. I can relate, because there have been times that I let my fear and skepticism control me; yet Jesus, "the appraiser and the precious item" always comes through for me. We need to realize that Jesus is the best gift we can ever get. Pray that we don't let our cynicism and fear keep us from God.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Nice sense of humor you've got....
Okay, so many people, including me, think that God has a sense of humor. Why? It's not because He enjoys watching tv sitcoms or cartoons; although, He might, there are some pretty funny ones out there. Most people that I know say God has a sense of humor for one of two reasons: 1.)They're doing something that they never expected to be doing or 2.) They thought a certain part of their life was done, when surprise! it comes back.
Neither of those two is a bad thing, but it does make life more interesting. It also shows us that we have no idea what the specifics of our lives are going to be, until they happen. It's kind of like Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, "All the world's a stage..." However, most actors have an idea as to what their script is, and while we may have an idea, it's not even an outline. But what if we really trust in God? Do we need a script or even an outline? No, we don't, all we need to do is let go and let God take care of it. Of course, that's a whole lot easier said than done, and something I'm still working on. It'd help if some of the surprises weren't so surprising and kind of strange. I guess that's just par for the course though. I may expound on this later, but it all depends.
Neither of those two is a bad thing, but it does make life more interesting. It also shows us that we have no idea what the specifics of our lives are going to be, until they happen. It's kind of like Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, "All the world's a stage..." However, most actors have an idea as to what their script is, and while we may have an idea, it's not even an outline. But what if we really trust in God? Do we need a script or even an outline? No, we don't, all we need to do is let go and let God take care of it. Of course, that's a whole lot easier said than done, and something I'm still working on. It'd help if some of the surprises weren't so surprising and kind of strange. I guess that's just par for the course though. I may expound on this later, but it all depends.
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