What to do

NEW VIDEO CAMERA FOR CHRISTMAS!
which means that my next project will be to bring this blog to life!
get excited to see my face! :)

Inspired by the questions that I always get during Christmas, here is a humble thought.




I think that I may go back and edit some old posts, so you can hear how they are supposed to sound. Especially the poetry ones and the ones with a little more feeling/poetic tone to them.

Let's face it, what I love most about this blog is reading it to people (the people who I know who read this know that, because I usually read posts to them about 1 minute after they are up.)

That is all then, Merry Christmas!

The sweater

A poem.

Yesterday I wore

the sweater that I semi-stole

from you the last time you were here.

You let me wear it

Since I was cold that morning,

With a smile and wink saying

“now I better get that back.”

With the full knowledge

That you wouldn’t.

Yesterday I wore

That sweater,

Because I needed your arms around me

But the closest thing I had was sleeves and

Sometimes three hundred miles

Can be remedied by a sweater

And a cell phone.

Then there are times when it cannot be.

And all I have are sleeves, and not arms.

And the sweater that once held you around me

Doesn’t keep me warm.

-Alexa Schuele

Be Midbar

I went to class with my mom today at the Major Seminary, and needless to say, it was awesome sitting in that class room. So many Holy guys just giving God a chance to work in their lives. And there is something interesting about hearing a lecture on scripture where the background theme is "how can I take this to a congregation and how can this help me in my Sunday preaching?"

Anyway, we were talking Numbers (like the book in the Bible, not math) and I (always paying attention) wrote a small reflection, enjoy!

--------------------------------

It is in the wilderness, the wasteland where God Provides.

The place where there is no protection, no food; the place overrun with the wild and with the untammed. There in that place there is only room for trust.

When our lives are full of turmoil, when chaos rules our every moment. When our future path is unmade and unwalked. When we can barely see the next step. We find ourselves in the wilderness of life, scared and unsure but needed to move forward, it is there that we need to trust and seek God.

We are supposed to call out to him, like the Israelites in the desert wandering, We must shout, "Lord I'm here and need provisions, Lord I need your light, I need your support, I trust you, but also need your presence."

In the wilderness and chaos of the live we lives - Calling out to God and trust in him are essential and through that we will find peace.

M18, p&f, love

We are creation made out of LOVE &
called to carry that love to ALL we meet.
If we are bringing the LOVE then GOD will also be present.

We were created with Gifts&Talents through which we experience and bring God to :::others:::. If, however, they become the ->center<- of our lives, we hinder our growth in GOD and in LOVE.

With God at the ->center<- of our Lives
EVERY MOMENT becomes and opportunity to grow Closer to Christ.
Let's find where our Christ centered life is leading.

Once discerned, don't let any
selfishness...pride...
other person...reservations...
or any type of FEAR

:::STOP YOU::: from following the CALL.

Because w.a.l.k.i.n.g. that p.a.t.h. is where you find happiness,
as you give more&more
of yourself
to GOD.

M18 ::: Surrender to LOVE ::: TAP the BACK

The Invitation - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

I went on a retreat called Guidance earlier in the year. On the retreat, one of the speakers used the poem entitled "The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. It is a beautiful Poem, and I hope to come in and edit this post with my reactions at some point, but until then, here is the poem:

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

It is a good poem, and very deep. What ever readers I have - It's your turn to reflect - comment, I'd love to see what you think :)

between two Eucharists

It is weeks like this when I rely on prayers and rely on Christ.

I found a quote that resonated with me as I walked out down the Campus Ministry hallway at 3:00 when I was done studying for the night.

"I can endure anything
between two Eucharists."
- Dorthy Day

I don't know much about Dorthy Day; nothing more than she was a Catholic who was involved with the poor, who worked for social justice, was fairly modern, and founded the Catholic Worker newspaper. The quote resonated with me as I walked back to my dorm and gave the the strength to not fall into despair with my overwhelming week.

It is a beautiful thought: "I can endure anything." But it comes with the knowledge that I will be fed again and given the strength of our savior by consuming the Eucharist. I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me, says Paul. How true that is when our lives begin to revolve around the strength - spiritual, physical, and emotional- that we are given at each celebration of the Mass. How thankful are we? Do we hide how much we rely on our savior? even to him, are we scared to admit it. Weakness - an anti-value of our culture. We must be strong, self sufficient according to them. But how different are we supposed to be in the eyes of Christ. Reliant on our savior, childlike looking to Christ to guide and and support us each day.

It is truly a gift given to us. The Eucharist didn't have to happen. Christ could have come and then left, but instead he knew there would be centuries of persecution, wars that destroyed so much of mankind, famines, natural disasters, and on an individual's level, the loss of a child, the feeling of anxiety, unemployment, fear of future, and even midterm weeks. And because he knew that, he gave us himself to give us strength. The Cross is where we find salvation, and the Eucharist is where we find strength to always remember to live in that saving grace.

The times that are emotionally trying, that are physically taxing, the days when you look around and don't understand how you got where you are, or where you are supposed to be going, it is those times that the Eucharist calls us. "Come, child, rest in me for this hour, do not think, just open your heart and allow me to love you right here. All will be well, find strength in this gift, rest in me. I will soon be resting in you and carrying you though the day."

With Christ with in us, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, we can endure anything between two Eucharists.

what does it mean to be Catholic today

Catholic.
A word that means so many things, carries infinite connotation in today's world.
Catholic.
A Catholic is Christian. So Christ is my Lord. That in itself carries a truck load of baggage. With Christ as Lord I am called to action. To sacrifice. To be Christ for others. How?
Catholic.
There is mass, there is prayer, there is Eucharist. Not any of these things are set as idea for the capital "C" church especially. But each has a Catholic idea and implementation. A worship, unique in ritual and style. A prayer (more like a few hundred) recited word for word, around the world, in every language heard. A Eucharist, a person not a symbol, our God - divine made flesh - human in bread - matter.
All of this... Catholic
Catholic. Universal, community, God and Man, a kiss in the temporal and transcendent captured in the moment: "This is my body."
Church
Catholic.

May the Lord accept the sacrifice,

ps. sorry about the font size change, it's not letting me fix it

"Pray, brethren, that our sacrifice my be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father."
"May the Lord accept the sacrifice, at your hands, for the praise and glory of His name, for our good and the good of all His Church."

When it comes time for Communion, we are not only partaking in the sacrifice of Christ, but also of ourselves.


On the altar, Christ comes down. It is the eternal kiss between divinity and humanity. Christ's one sacrifice spans all of eternity. It is not a reenactment of the passion, but a participation in it. Through the sacrifice of the Mass we are PRESENT at the table of the last supper, the 40 lashes, and the final breaths of the Cross. Christ is outside of time, and so while He was on the cross, He gave up his life for each and every Mass, each and every person. We are tapping into the divine love of the ultimate sacrifice. A gift fully given that will never be fully understood.


But it is not only Christ who is present on the altar. We are also called to make an offering. The words italicized above commonly are understood to pertain to the bread and wine, the offering that the priest will consecrate allowing the congregation to take part in Christ's sacrifice. However, we can also take this time with in the Mass to lay something on the altar. We pray "Accept the sacrifice" of our day, our frustrations, our joys, our pains. We offer our lives to Christ, telling Him, "It is all for you. I may not be a missionary, a priest, a nun; I am only a student, parent, worker. I have no conversion story. I am not Paul. I simply live, loving you, each day." We lay down THAT life, knowing our faults, and asking the Lord to accept the effort we put forward as we strive to become more rooted in Christ and fall deeper into Love.

We consecrate ourselves. Asking that as the bread and wine are transformed, we may also be transformed. We undergo a 'transubstantiation' of sorts. The bread and wine- physical, natural, human- becomes the Body and Blood - divine, the soul of Christ. We consume this into ourselves. And we the congregation of Christ - physical, natural, human- open ourselves to the grace of the divine, the soul of Christ, and it's ability to change us.

It does not happen with out our will. The divine cannot transform us, unless we allow it. Our lives are our own, feeble, human, weak, until we allow Christ, the Great High Priest, to consecrate them and work through our hands, our hearts, our selves to love all of humanity. By allowing Him to consecrate our lives, by offering ourselves to Him, we are then more prepared and able to live out the call and mission Christ has given to us. To LIVE and LOVE all for Christ, in all that we do, all we say, and all we are.

Mile 8

It’s an interesting feeling. Freeing. Intense. Calm.

Getting back in shape is tiring. Running, and running, and running some more. Bad run after bad run with no stopping or relief. It’s a hard thing to run through. But persistence gives way to the sweet feeling of strength and grace.

That feeling of being on mile 8, with the sweat of miles past on your shirt and brow, you keep focus ahead on the path that shrinks around the bend. No longer are you counting down the steps the minutes to the end. You look ahead instead for a farther goal. You can trust your legs, your self to carry you not to the finish, but really anywhere. You look down and see your feet – one two, one, two, one, two –over and over the song of the sidewalk sung with your shoes, unique to you.

The created wind on your face, ever changing with your pace is a reminder of your power and a display of your grace. With the care of a nurse, as self trained you may be, you take a quick diagnosis of your body, muscles, lungs, joints, insides. When the results come back all clear a smile creeps across your face. Shoulders back, hips forward, strides long. The day is back, you are once again a runner. You look down at your legs, powerful and strong, knowing they can handle it.

You press on, at that moment nothing can stop you.

tools for the journey

Well, it's been a while... and for that I apologize. I'll try to keep on writing these things as the school year starts. I hope to have some more ideas flowing.. hope at least :)

Hope these thoughts have helped some people, I got some good reviews from the parish bulletin readers.. so that's a plus.

Here is one, it's a sports metaphor. I love sports, I love my faith.. Here is the result.

In order to perform well, we need to have the right equipment. A hockey player needs to have his skates, a baseball player his mitt. Without the right tools the athletes cannot do what they need to do. A lacrosse player without his stick cannot score; a football player without his helmet will get hurt. These tangible objects we use in sports are necessary to help us accomplish the goals of the game. But having them does not make us a player. We need to use them when we play, and use them with love and passion for the game in order to be great.

A golfer can have an abundance of clubs, but if they only stay in his bag in the garage then is he a golfer? Transfer this idea to our faith. A person can hang the rosary from their mirror, but if they do not lift it down to pray with it, then what is its purpose?

We can have all the equipment to be a warrior for our faith, a crucifix predominately placed in the house, a rosary in our car, a usual seat at Sunday mass that is filled. But if we do not utilize these tangible objects with passion and love in a way that can drive our relationship with Christ deeper, then why are they there. We have the tools to bring us closer and make us champions for Christ. The tangible objects of our faith are gifts to us, God understands that we are physical beings, and so he acts in a physical way. He comes to us in a way we can understand, and he wants us to grow deeper. We need to keep pushing ourselves to expand our faith. Try to pray that rosary, not just watch it dangle from the mirror. Read the Bible; don’t use it as space filler on your nightstand. Experience the mass, do not just attend. These are things that can bring us closer to God and form us into true players of our faith.

We have the equipment, we just need to use them.

we cannot do it on our own

We cannot do it on our own.


What would a football team be without an offensive line? There would be no one to block, no protection for the quarter back. No matter how well the receivers ran their routes, the ball would never make it to them. What if there was no defense? The other team would only score until there was no way you could win. All parts of the team are necessary for the team to succeed.


If there was a band, but there was no drummer, there would be no beat. If there was no lead instrument there would be no melody. With no backup players or voices the sound would be bare. The audience would not understand the message of the lyrics, unless there was someone to sing them. We need all parts in order to see and understand the whole.


So is the Kingdom of God. To realize the Kingdom here on Earth there must be participation on all accounts. As individuals we can only do so much, but as a family, as a community as a Church, acting together there is so much we can accomplish. We must act with Christ’s direction and as Hid body work towards the betterment of others and for the world. Even as individuals, we must act as one following the coach, listening to the director.


If the team is playing, but only for their own gain, the success, the win will never be accomplished. If a band is together and playing, but refuses to work together in harmony then the audience loses the focus and leaves confused. To succeed we must work together.


This is what Christ calls for from his Church. As a community as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, we are called to work together in order to bring about the Kingdom of God. Since we are each parts of the body, and so we have a responsibility to work as members of the body. As individuals we have our own talents, and we are called to give them up to the Lord. Our talents are not our own, but are spring boards to draw others into Christ’s body and to help them give of their talents also. That is what we must be in the Body of Christ. A sharer of our talents, because each one of us, though different, is vital to the body. We cannot bring about the Kingdom on our own, but by the grace of God we can come closer to its realization and we pray that one day we may be able to witness the fullness of the Body of Christ in heaven.

Always New

There once was a woman who would go to the art museum every single Saturday. And while the art museum had so many wings each one filled with countless artifacts, statues, paintings, photography, and sculptures, the woman would quietly sit looking at a single painting. She would come in each Saturday walk around for a bit, but then settle into one of the benches placed in front of this certain painting. The employees all knew about the woman, but didn’t ask questions. Then one day a younger employee asked the woman why she came back each day, if all she was going to do was look at a single painting for hours.


The woman quietly responded with a sigh, “sit and look.” After a few moments the employee grew impatient and thought, “I know this painting, it was my favorite, but there is so much more to look at!” His eyes began to wander. She spoke still looking at the painting, “It doesn’t matter how often I look at this painting, I always find something new. A difference in color that I hadn’t noticed before, a new way of understanding the artist’s point, an angle that once looked out of place can suddenly fit right in. Nothing changes from week to week, from month to month. But there is always something new, sometimes you just have to wait in the stillness, and it will then be revealed.”


God is an infinite being. Our creator and the beloved one of our lives. We will never understand him fully. This does not mean we are supposed to give up. Out of love and curiosity we need to constantly be growing deeper and deeper in our faith. Like the woman and the painting, we are supposed to be patient. As we sit in the silence, as we meditate on His love, grace rains down and we are able to see more clearly. We are able to take a step further in our relationship with Him. We begin to know our Lord as a person not a distant being. We begin to grasp the greatness of His love and power, and begin to understand our inability to ever know fully who He is. Those who are humble will be able to receive the grace. Before we can learn anything, we must know that there is something to learn.


We must not be distracted, stolen away by what is easy to understand. We are called to sit and think and grapple with what we cannot explain and do not fully understand. Sit at the painting and when you think you know what it is all about, look again from a different angle and then rediscover what was there, but you could not see it. In prayer, in contemplation, never be tepid in your want or thirst to know God deeper. Love should be what pushes us, what drives us to know him. Never stop growing, God will be there, always new, but never changing.

come, awake! come, awake!

EDIT: The old link didn't work.. So i found a new one on You Tube.. It's pretty good.
Man this is making me realize.. I need to Blog more.

------- Original below-------

This is a beautiful and inspiring movie.
a perfect thought for Monday

Come Awake, Come Awake: Matt Maher


Oh, Death,
Where is your sting?
Oh. Hell,
Where is your victory?

When does the sun stop shining?

When does the sun stop shining? When the fiery light of this world sinks below the horizon and the blanket of midnight blue comes in from the east, does the sun stop? Little ones tucked in their bed may ask the question, “Mama, Daddy, what happened to the sun?” Tired parents who are too far away from their 3rd grade class room will respond, “It went to sleep, like you should be doing,” confident that in time the young minds will be set straight by a science book. But the sun doesn’t stop shining. The fire still burns, the light is still present. The world has just turned its back and is unable to see.


When does God stop loving? When there is a void in our soul the size of a planet? When our hearts are broken down and crumpled with sin? When we sit in our churches, our grottoes, in the silence, in the music, and with hands clasped say “What happened to God’s love?” Do not doubt. He is there, loving you.


God’s love never changes. But our acceptance of it can. Like the world that turns its back on the sun, we too turn away from our God. We trade the light of his wisdom, for the darkness of the relative world. The spark of passion God invites us to follow becomes weak and we lose the pathway to righteousness. The roaring presence of the trinity becomes a faint whisper, a memory of what we used to do. God’s love never changes, we turn away, we close the door.


Like the sun is ever shining upon us, God is ever loving us. Ever dying for us. He forever is pouring graces on us, despite our inability to understand, our tendency to disobey, and the stubbornness of pride. When we feel overwhelmed, when we feel alone, He is there. We need to turn back and accept the graces. By confessing our wrongs, and seeking forgiveness, we turn back to God, and face the warmth of his love.


When the morning comes the sun rises, a new day has begun. It is fresh and it is new, with so much potential, and filled with so much love.

Why was this made?

Things are made with a purpose. A paperclip was designed to keep pages together. A telephone to contact people. Even the wheel was invented thousands and thousands of years ago in order to solve a problem. Art tells stories and is made to be appreciated and offers an example of beauty. Tools help us build things. Music entertains us. A computer allows me to type this. All of these inventions the human race created with purpose. But what were we created for?

Often times we forget that we were also created. We are not eternal beings; we have a beginning. We did not spontaneously come into being on our own accord. We are not self-sustaining. Each of us individually was created by God. But if all things are created for a purpose, what is ours.

People talk about “God’s plan” for his or her life. But sometimes it is interesting to think of what God’s purpose is. God, who is complete in all things, created us. But, unlike human creations, we, as creatures, cannot do anything to fulfill him since He is not empty. His glory does not increase with our praises. His power does not grow with church attendance. He does not need his creation; we could be utterly dispensable to him. But the truth is we are not.

His love is what keeps us alive from minute to minute, as we undeservedly live most of the time sidetracked from what we were made for. This purpose of our lives is to love God, not for his sake, but for our own. We were made so that we could spend our eternal life with God in heaven. God did not need company, but out of love laid down a plan of salvation, and implemented that plan so that we may be one day joined with him.

This is our purpose, to love God. The beauty of this purpose is that it can happen in so many different ways. The nurse, the teacher, the factory worker, the priest, the teenager, the unemployed, the elderly, the convert, the cradle catholic, the Jew each can love God. And each can love Him completely, but it may be manifested differently. What a beautiful aspect of humanity. We are all different people who love differently. But even with the differences between individuals, we all were created with a shared purpose: to love God. All that we do and all that we are should love God. In the end, there is nothing more important.

repercussion

We are important. What we do is important. Every choice we make has an effect not only on our current temporal lives, but on the temporal lives of others. For each action there is a reaction a consequence. A kindness paid to someone will be recognized, and a disservice to another also will be. They may be noticed up front and the reaction or consequence will happen to us directly as a result. We choose to act kindly towards a friend, who repays us with an act of kindness the next day, or week. Or the reaction is passed on to someone else. When a person witnesses an interaction of kindness between strangers, many times her life is touched. The result, either conscious or unconscious, can be as simple as a smile on the witness’s face or as significant as renewed hope in humanity. But, the stranger who initiated the kindness, and the stranger who accepted it will never know. What we do matters, even if we do not see the impact.

The connected nature of reality is so present in every life. We have a desire to be around people and to have relationships with others. And the choices we make, each day, big and small affect others. This is not a new concept, the repercussions of life. But to think of it as something that God has desired for us, to be effected and to affect others is written into the very nature of our being. It is not good for man to be alone. In Genesis we learn that relationships of any type, from marriage to mentor, are a gift from God. They are for the betterment of our lives and we should recognize their importance.

But, relationships are not only able to affect our temporal lives. Humans are body and spirit, inseparable until death, and then rejoined at the final resurrection. We have the power to not only affect other’s lives by our actions, but also their spirits. We can bring others closer to God; we can reveal him, even act as a catalyst for a conversion. This is the deeper reason for relationships; friends are not only for company, but also for the betterment of our lives. We are called to bring others closer to God through our actions, and in turn be brought closer to God through our friendships.

Actions are not the only way to affect others, a physical interaction is not necessary to bring others closer to Christ. Let us not forget the power of prayer. We are able to ask for God’s grace to pour out more heavily on those who we pray for. In the act of praying for others both people in the relationship are fulfilling that deeper reason of a relationship, bringing each other closer to God. When we offer up prayers for others the grace poured onto them, if accepted, brings them closer to God. The one offering up the intention also receives grace from spending more time in prayer, and the love between the friends has brought that person to their knees, and also closer to God.

We should be spending time in friendship's company, but we should also be spending time praying for others, affecting and being affected by others in their company and also through prayer. We are all connected; it is what we were made for. The Body of Christ. The Universal Church. Our choices affect the outcome of not only our lives, but also the lives of others. What choices will you make?

seeking truth

If you do not have to seek, you will not find truth. If we take what is given to us, we cannot hope to discover the best. Gold is not found on a pathway, but is searched for and sought out.

We are curious beings, always wanting to know more. Know how things work, or what happens when. But our curiosity falls short of what it could be. What the end of our curious nature is and what the end should be are two different things.

We have the desire for the Truth. It is in our nature and how we have been created. But we have become lazy in our search for that Truth. We are easily distracted, television, radio, internet, all taking us away from the need to seek. Why seek Truth, when we can receive instant entertainment?

We need to seek Truth because the Truth is fulfilling, unlike the entertainment, even if it is wholesome. Truth is not a set of facts but a person. Jesus tells us “I am the way the truth and the life.” What we should be forever looking for and constantly in search of is the Truth which is found in Christ. But how often do we pursue the Truth, which is Christ? Instead we spend our time with curious distractions planted in our way by the one who want most to keep us from the Truth. The world is full of things that point us to the Truth, but we are called to delve into the source of that Truth. If we are seeking what is the most good, what is the most beautiful, and what is whole truth, then why would we not go straight to the source of goodness beauty and truth itself? Christ is the answer, Christ is the Truth and to know Him we must seek Him. Lord let our curiosity for you invite us to dive deeper into your life of love for us. Let us forever be restless as we continue our search for Truth until we find you.