On what was a completely normal Sunday yesterday, feeling perfectly fine, my uncle Mike took the garbage out for his wife, and then walked into the bathroom. Then he fell to the ground, dead.
This was the quote for today for my morning offering, and it couldn't be more true:
"Act as if everyday were the last of your life, and each action the last you perform."
— St. Alphonsus Liguori
Because it very well could be.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Struck
"All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle."
-St. Francis
Sometimes a thought blind-sides you.
At church today, Father Ben was doing on homily on marriage, in response to the recent ruling by the Supreme Court on Obergefell vs Hodges. He was talking about the difference between legal and moral.... ever-increasingly, these are not the same thing at all. And how we as Christians have an obligation to know what true marriage is, and live it to it's fullest, as a beacon to our ever-darkening world. The family is being attacked from all angles. He mentioned how the Supreme Court once upheld slavery as constitutional. Obviously, the Supreme Court can be immoral and wrong, as it was also in Roe vs Wade. Father Ben read a short message from the Bishop, which stated the following: "We will continue to proclaim the truth about marriage. God created men and women to be different but complementary; this fact is at the heart of marriage. It is through the one-flesh union of marriage that children are brought into the world to, preferably, be raised by their own parents. Marriage is the safeguard of families, which is the smallest, but most important unit of society". The Church needs to be strong. Christians need not be afraid to live according to the only law that really matters.
So, later, we said the Nicene Creed, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks. We were taking an oath. All of us together, in unison, standing firm. Together, against the gathering darkness of the secular world. WE BELIEVE. It felt like that moment in Dead Poet's Society, where the kids all stand on their desks saying "O Captain, my Captain". Something like that - only more profound. I felt such unity, such a sense of brotherhood with my fellow Christians, who all over the world, were professing on this very morning this same Creed. We are children of God. We have not forgotten. We know to Whom we belong. We are not afraid. I was so struck by the thought, it hit me so hard, that I cried through the entire creed. I've said the words thousands and thousands of times. Today, I felt the words like never before. We are followers of Christ, and we will stand strong.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life;who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Coincedence?
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage on a national level. Today's gospel reading is this:
Today's Reading: Luke 10:13-20
13 "Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. 16 "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" 18 And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
We have some heavy repenting to do as a nation. Lord, have mercy on us.
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" 18 And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
We have some heavy repenting to do as a nation. Lord, have mercy on us.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Quote Of The Day: St. Thomas More
"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."
— St. Thomas More
— St. Thomas More
Friday, June 12, 2015
Just Want to Remember
A few things lately, that I just want to write down and remember:
Little Miss Reagan, sitting on my lap after dinner with Father Ben, shyly asking him if he would bless our house and do the rosary with us at our prayer table. Then, later, over a piece of blueberry cheesecake, declaring loudly that "THE DEVIL CAN'T SCARE ME! JESUS IS STRONGER!" And Father Ben, stopping mid-sentence in his unrelated conversation with Rob, turning to her and saying "Not only is He stronger, but He's already won!"
So sweet.
--------------------------------
My aunt out of the blue sent me a care package not so long ago. It contained my grandmother's pearl necklace, my other aunt's letter "M" necklace, and my grandfather's rosary. Both my aunt Margie and my grandpa Carl had died long before I was born, and grandma died when I was 5 or 6. I was so touched that my aunt would send these precious items to me of all people; we have a very big family, plus Aunt Mary has two kids and several grandkids of her own. And yet, she shared these things with me, the niece she rarely sees or talks to. Just really nice and thoughtful.
I don't know a whole lot about my grandpa. I know he was a miner, and played the fiddle. I know his rugged face with it's sharp angles, because of the faded black and white picture that hung on our walls growing up. I know that he was tall and thin, and was in a band, and that he liked to laugh and tease. He was a hard-drinking smoker, who died too early of lung disease caused by a hard life in the mines and mountains of north Idaho. "But Dad was very devout," my mother told me. "I remember him going to church by himself, and then coming back home to pick up the rest of us, and going again. I remember him on his knees leading the rosary with our family every night during lent. And going to midnight Mass on Christmas eve."
So during first Friday adoration last weekend, I took my grandpa's rosary to use. It's black and silver, obviously old, but well-made. It has a little brown pouch to hold it. It was Saturday, so I was meditating on the Joyful mysteries, about Jesus' birth and childhood. And I just felt so close to this man I'd never met. I had this distinct image in my mind's eye of Grandpa Carl and I both kneeling in front of the manger, adoring the baby Jesus. And it was so nice, to be there together with him, sharing the experience. Such a cool thing, "being" with him, a man I'd always wondered about but had never met.
Just a really cool experience, "meeting" my grandfather this way, and I want to remember it.
Little Miss Reagan, sitting on my lap after dinner with Father Ben, shyly asking him if he would bless our house and do the rosary with us at our prayer table. Then, later, over a piece of blueberry cheesecake, declaring loudly that "THE DEVIL CAN'T SCARE ME! JESUS IS STRONGER!" And Father Ben, stopping mid-sentence in his unrelated conversation with Rob, turning to her and saying "Not only is He stronger, but He's already won!"
So sweet.
--------------------------------
My aunt out of the blue sent me a care package not so long ago. It contained my grandmother's pearl necklace, my other aunt's letter "M" necklace, and my grandfather's rosary. Both my aunt Margie and my grandpa Carl had died long before I was born, and grandma died when I was 5 or 6. I was so touched that my aunt would send these precious items to me of all people; we have a very big family, plus Aunt Mary has two kids and several grandkids of her own. And yet, she shared these things with me, the niece she rarely sees or talks to. Just really nice and thoughtful.
I don't know a whole lot about my grandpa. I know he was a miner, and played the fiddle. I know his rugged face with it's sharp angles, because of the faded black and white picture that hung on our walls growing up. I know that he was tall and thin, and was in a band, and that he liked to laugh and tease. He was a hard-drinking smoker, who died too early of lung disease caused by a hard life in the mines and mountains of north Idaho. "But Dad was very devout," my mother told me. "I remember him going to church by himself, and then coming back home to pick up the rest of us, and going again. I remember him on his knees leading the rosary with our family every night during lent. And going to midnight Mass on Christmas eve."
So during first Friday adoration last weekend, I took my grandpa's rosary to use. It's black and silver, obviously old, but well-made. It has a little brown pouch to hold it. It was Saturday, so I was meditating on the Joyful mysteries, about Jesus' birth and childhood. And I just felt so close to this man I'd never met. I had this distinct image in my mind's eye of Grandpa Carl and I both kneeling in front of the manger, adoring the baby Jesus. And it was so nice, to be there together with him, sharing the experience. Such a cool thing, "being" with him, a man I'd always wondered about but had never met.
Just a really cool experience, "meeting" my grandfather this way, and I want to remember it.
Wrapping My Brain Around Suffering
"To love God’s will in consolations is a good love when it is truly God’s will we love and not the consolation wherein it lies. Still, it is a love without opposition, repugnance, or effort. Who would not love so worthy a will in so agreeable a form? To love God’s will in His commandments, counsels, and inspirations is the second degree of love and it is much more perfect. It carries us forward to renounce and give up our own will, and enables us to abstain from and forbear many pleasures, but not all of them. To love suffering and affliction out of love for God is the summit of most holy charity. In it nothing is pleasant but the divine will alone; there is great opposition on the part of our nature; and not only do we forsake all pleasures, but we embrace torments and labors."
— St. Francis de Sales
I have struggled with the idea of suffering - why it happens, why it's needed, how it purifies a soul. In my limited brain, I have to make things analogous in order to understand. So, I think of the suffering of childbirth (grit and bear it, but it's worth the child in the end). I think of the suffering of boot camp (grit and bear it, and end up strong and prepared). I think of suffering as disciplining the spirit, just as a painful run and weight lifting might discipline the body. But still I struggle with the concept.
I read the quote above by St. Francis De Sales today, and that helps me. It's about following God's will. When we follow God's will, and He's filling us with the Holy Spirit, and we're loving life and all it's beauty, when we're steeped in love and awe... we follow His will, but we get something back. We feel good. We get the spiritual high. We get the warm fuzzies. We're still following His will, but we get something out of it, too. It's a win-win. So that's easy. We want more, because it's so dang great.
Then there are rules and precepts like the Ten Commandments. We follow God's will, but sometimes it's a little hard. There's not an immediate return. In the long run, those rules help us to make choices that are in our ultimate best interests as well, but at the moment the choice is made.... no reward. In my analogous mind, this is like dieting. I deny myself the ice cream sundae, but in the long run I can fit into my swimsuit. I still get something out of it, but it requires discipline before gratification. It's a different animal.
Finally, there is suffering. We follow God's will, and it's ALOT hard. It takes the ultimate self-discipline, the ultimate sacrifice on our part, and yet... there is no reward in this world. Cancer. Chronic pain. Martyrdom. We do God's will, we bear God's will, solely out of LOVE OF GOD. Without any reward for ourselves. It is self-sacrificing, to the ultimate. Just as Jesus's act of redemption on the cross is self-sacrificing to the ultimate. If we don't focus on the love of God during our suffering, than it is nothing but horror. Jesus' murder is nothing but ugliness, evil, and horror if we don't see His love. That transforms the ultimate ugliness into a thing of beauty - a dying, beaten, bloodied man on a cross is our redemption. If, in our darkest hours, we train ourselves on the bright light that is the love of God, the darkness fades. This side of heaven, suffering means nothing to us. It useless. It is horrible and ugly. THAT side of heaven, however, it means everything. That we were willing to give, to do, to be ANYTHING out of love for God, to follow His will wherever it brings us, without a thought of ourselves.... that is a purifying of our soul that makes us ready to stand in His presence. That type of suffering prepares us for Heaven greater than anything on earth. The great saints knew this. Some even desired suffering, because they so desired to be ready for Heaven, out of love for God. Just as Jesus desired the cross for Himself out of love for us.
I'm trying to understand.
"It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption."
— Pope St. John Paul II
— St. Francis de Sales
I have struggled with the idea of suffering - why it happens, why it's needed, how it purifies a soul. In my limited brain, I have to make things analogous in order to understand. So, I think of the suffering of childbirth (grit and bear it, but it's worth the child in the end). I think of the suffering of boot camp (grit and bear it, and end up strong and prepared). I think of suffering as disciplining the spirit, just as a painful run and weight lifting might discipline the body. But still I struggle with the concept.
I read the quote above by St. Francis De Sales today, and that helps me. It's about following God's will. When we follow God's will, and He's filling us with the Holy Spirit, and we're loving life and all it's beauty, when we're steeped in love and awe... we follow His will, but we get something back. We feel good. We get the spiritual high. We get the warm fuzzies. We're still following His will, but we get something out of it, too. It's a win-win. So that's easy. We want more, because it's so dang great.
Then there are rules and precepts like the Ten Commandments. We follow God's will, but sometimes it's a little hard. There's not an immediate return. In the long run, those rules help us to make choices that are in our ultimate best interests as well, but at the moment the choice is made.... no reward. In my analogous mind, this is like dieting. I deny myself the ice cream sundae, but in the long run I can fit into my swimsuit. I still get something out of it, but it requires discipline before gratification. It's a different animal.
Finally, there is suffering. We follow God's will, and it's ALOT hard. It takes the ultimate self-discipline, the ultimate sacrifice on our part, and yet... there is no reward in this world. Cancer. Chronic pain. Martyrdom. We do God's will, we bear God's will, solely out of LOVE OF GOD. Without any reward for ourselves. It is self-sacrificing, to the ultimate. Just as Jesus's act of redemption on the cross is self-sacrificing to the ultimate. If we don't focus on the love of God during our suffering, than it is nothing but horror. Jesus' murder is nothing but ugliness, evil, and horror if we don't see His love. That transforms the ultimate ugliness into a thing of beauty - a dying, beaten, bloodied man on a cross is our redemption. If, in our darkest hours, we train ourselves on the bright light that is the love of God, the darkness fades. This side of heaven, suffering means nothing to us. It useless. It is horrible and ugly. THAT side of heaven, however, it means everything. That we were willing to give, to do, to be ANYTHING out of love for God, to follow His will wherever it brings us, without a thought of ourselves.... that is a purifying of our soul that makes us ready to stand in His presence. That type of suffering prepares us for Heaven greater than anything on earth. The great saints knew this. Some even desired suffering, because they so desired to be ready for Heaven, out of love for God. Just as Jesus desired the cross for Himself out of love for us.
I'm trying to understand.
"It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption."
— Pope St. John Paul II
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Quote of The Day. No one says it Like Chesterton
The difficulty of explaining “why I am a Catholic” is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true. I could fill all my space with separate sentences each beginning with the words, “It is the only thing that…”
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