Monday, February 23, 2009

Allowing others to belong to God


I read Amy Welborn's blog amywelborn.wordpress.com last week after I found out about the terrible loss of her husband 2 weeks ago, and the last 4-5 posts are truly incredible, its amazing the depth a person can muster in the worst situations, and I am so thankful for her strength in sharing these insights. In one of her post on gratitude, she talked about how its been a life long work of hers to allow others to belong to God, especially her children. As a father of 5 children, I really identified with this. My first son wasn't half way out of the womb, and I could already imagine him winning the Heisman trophy, the College Basketball player of the year, and the French Open all in the same year. I have a sense that men struggle with this more than women. Because its a very real temptation to want to live your own life again through your children. I take that back, women struggle with this as well. To want to undo all your own mistakes, and relive all your own glories in the life of your children. If you don't think this is true, just go to any grade school or high school sporting event, and sit in the parent section, and you will see many, many fathers trying to live through their children.
There's a big problem with this. Children don't belong to their parents. They belong to God, and the only human response is to let them belong to God, and find their own walk.

I had a powerful experience of this over the weekend, my oldest son had his First Reconciliation on Saturday. So when it was his time to go to confession, I walked him to the back of the Church, and I patted him on his back, and watched him walk by himself to the confessional door. As the door closed, it dawned on me, "he is on his own journey with God". I am so grateful that God has chosen me to accompany him on this journey, but it became very clear to me that its his journey, not mine. He is a gift to me, not a possession of mine, therefore any attempt to force my own way upon him will always backfire; because the human person loves freedom, as it should, because freedom is God's greatest gift to man.
Don't get me wrong, sharing the gifts of our life with our children is very different than forcing them on our children. My dad shared his love for basketball with me at an early age, and it became an important part of our relationship. John Paul II said it best, "Christians should propose the Gospel, never impose the Gospel," The answer lies in my son's first penance, which is great for a 7 year old, or a 99 year old. The priest asked him to read Psalm 23 in front of the Tabernacle, and when he was done, to say this short prayer, "From now on, Jesus, I want You to be the Sheppard of my soul"; What amazing advice!

Monday, February 16, 2009

The Incredible Gift of the Eucharist


"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament ... There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth". I have fallen in love recently with the works and letters of JR Tolkien, who wrote the Lord of the Rings. My son wanted me to read the books to him, and I found myself more captured by it then he was. That's why the above quote captured me so much, think about the first sentence, its written by the man who wrote the #1 book ever!, according to Amazon.com. "Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated" We all have fears, we all have disappointments, we all have stress. This is the amazing thing about the Eucharist, its God's medicine for us. But its more than medicine, its God's way of being close to us. Jesus made us a promise, "To be with us always," This is true in many ways, His presence in others, His presence in our own hearts, but its uniquely true in His presence in the Blessed Sacrament. At anytime, day or night, we can go to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and lay our hearts on the alter. He is big enough to take anything, all our stress about the economy, all our own weakness and failings, He has seen and heard it all before, and He will take it, and raise us up.

In the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbits carry with them the Lembas Bread, its clear that this is a reference to the Eucharist, the effects of the Lembas Bread on the Hobbits are to sustain them, and give them strength. Lembas means "journey Bread" to the hobbits, and that's what it means to us as well, we are all on a journey, and the Eucharist is the nourishment we all need to arrive safely at our destination!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Hope in this Recession


Everyday we are hearing more news about how dire the economy is, about record unemployment, economic scandals, buy-outs, and stimulus packages. After a while it becomes more than we can take. It really begins to break our spirit. We are tempted to look into the future with fear about what it all means. Some important truths to consider when this happens.

First, nothing of what is happening now in the economy, comes as a shock to God. He didn't cause the current crises, my belief is that much of our current ills are self inflicted, but He can bring good out of any suffering.

Secondly, the fear that the media creates is not good for them or for us, knowing about every bank bail-out, and every time the stock market drops is not going to put one piece of food on my families table.

We can only control our thoughts and actions, and the best way to do that, is to feed your mind with what is True, Good, and Beautiful. Here is some thoughts from scripture that do just that:


1.) Psalm 1 versus 3- The law of the Lord is their Joy, they are like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in due season, its leaves never wither, whatever they do prospers.

2.) Matt 6 :versus 31- "Don't worry and say, what are we going to eat, or what are we going to drink, or what are we going to wear, your Heavenly Father knows you need all of them, but first be concerned about His Kingdom and His Righteousness and all of these things shall be provided for you,"

3.) Isaiah 43- "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not be drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up, the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God.

4.) Malachi 3 versus 10- (This is Big) "Bring the whole Tithe into the Storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me in this, says the Lord of hosts, Shall I not open for you the floodgates of heaven, to pour down blessings upon you without measure."

5.) Luke 6: versus 38- "Give and it shall be given to you, Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, will be poured into your laps, for the measure you use will be measured for you."


The reason I mentioned giving right now, is because the last thing we should do as a culture is become self-absorbed. The more other focused we are, the quicker our culture will begin to thrive in every way. Plus, the 4th quote above is the only time in the bible, where God asks us to test him, when we give! Its a fun challenge, because we have a God that keeps his promise!

Monday, February 2, 2009

The Freedom of Choice Act.


I was so proud of our Parish last weekend, all Parishes were asked by the American Bishops to speak out against the Freedom of Choice Act. Some were probably to freightened to take this challenge, but our Parish did, and from the looks of conversations after Church, they paid a price for it. But this is were trust comes in, when we stand up for what is true, God will come to our aid. The role of a Christian in society, among other things, is to stand up for the poor, the marginalized, the voiceless. Who is more voiceless than the unborn child. This week I am making calls and sending emails to congress and the senate, asking them to say no to the Freedom of Choice act. You can look up your state senator, and your state congressman at the below address, please consider a call and an email this week and speak for the unborn child;

www.congress.gov, and www.senate.gov.