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?