The True Fast

Here is a powerful passage from Isiah 58,

"This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:releasing those bound unjustly,untying the thongs of the yoke;Setting free the oppressed,breaking every yoke;Sharing your bread with the hungry,sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;Clothing the naked when you see them,and not turning your back on your own.Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,and your wound shall quickly be healed;Your vindication shall go before you,and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am."

It led me to try something for Lent that I have been thinking about for a long time, to give up about 2-3 meals a week, and give the money that it would cost to the poor. There's 21 meals in a week, so a small sacrifice of 3 of them is not a big deal, just $15 dollars a week, is $60 for a month. Its small, but its the true fasting. Look at the promises that God gives for faithfulness to the poor, "you shall cry for help, and He will say, Here I am,". St. Vincent De Paul has a great saying, "Love the poor, and everyday will be a sunny day for you, and you will have no cause for fear at the hour of your death,".

This is the fasting that God seeks, to be mindful of the poor. Here are 2 great websites to give to; Catholic Relief Services, www.crs.org, and the St. Vincent De Paul Society, www.svdpusa.org.

7 times to Adore

Here's a quick insight that I read about last night as Lent begins. I am reading some of the writings of Fr. Marie Dominique Philippe, he is a Domincan priest that died about 3 years ago, and I am pretty sure he will be a saint one day, you can find his writings here, http://www.communityofstjohn.com/; but he made the case that if we adore God 7 times a day, it will change our lives.

That sounds like a lot, but its not when you think about it. To just set aside 7 seperate times from the moment you wake up until you go to bed, to place yourself in God's presence and adore. That is where the truth of your personality develops most fully, because we are entirely ourselves in God's presence. Think about it, to be entirely yourself 7 times a day, I agree it will change the world. Its a great thought for Lent, and it can be very short acts of adoration, but it should be set aside, and there should be silence.

Simplicity, Silence and Prayer

Simplicity, Silence, and Prayer. Those are my three main words for this years lent. I have always had a secret dislike for Lent since I began practicing my faith more seriously in College. But as a kid I actually enjoyed it, giving up something that I enjoyed was fun. Or going to daily mass through out the week, it was fun. I thought about that concept when I was trying to decide what to do for lent this year. That so much of life is how we see things. My kids hear about a huge blizzard and get excited, I hear about a huge blizzard, and picture myself shoveling for 5 days. My kids hear that Lent is coming on Wednesday, and its new and exciting. God created the world in such a way, that we should view it with excitement. Lent should be no different, its placed in this time of year for a reason, and we can either embrace it, or we can grieve it. We can either embrace the fasts or we can grieve our way through it.

My resolution this lent is to embrace the opportunity. To use this lent for an increase in Silence, in prayer, in simplifying my life. Not as an end in itself, but as a way to grow closer to God, and His will for me. In His will is my peace.

The Dangers of Pornagraphy

I just read an article last week about the dangers of pornography, which is excellent, you can find it here http://tob.catholicexchange.com/2010/02/01/1571/; but the only negative thing about the article was it didn't offer any advice for people struggling with this addiction. It was basically like telling people that were stranded on a dessert island, that the island is extremely dangerous, and by the way, there's no way off, ever. But that's not faith, in the pregame to the Super Bowl last night, a jazz musician sang, "Saints endure, that's why even the sad songs in New Orleans, end happy". But lets be realistic, pornography is absolutely a poison to our culture, here's why.

When ever operating something, its always best to use something as close to its makers original intention as possible. Your car will not work for very long if you put vegetable oil in the gas tank every time, your iphone will not work for very long if you let it fall in water 6-12 times a week (I am not talking from experience here). But the key to happiness that I am learning over and over again, is to work with life in the way that God intended, and for a human it can all be summarized in words from John Paul II, "man must make a sincere gift of himself," The more we do that the happier we will always be. But the second part of that, is that we must always treat other humans as what they are, human beings. A human being can never, ever be an object. Here's the major problem with pornography, it treats women as objects #1, and it de-masculizes men #2. Because it makes men into something they were never meant to be, a thief, someone who steals, someone who takes. A man is a man when he acts in accord with his nature, and that is someone who gives, someone who protects, someone who loves. Pornography at its root, is about taking something that is not ours, and reducing the other to a mere thing. That is the exact recipe for unhappiness.

As always, here's the good news. We have the good news! Jesus is able to transform our sins and failings into something good. Pornography is very difficult to overcome, because God made our minds very strong, for all the reasons above- To Give, to create, to protect, to love. But when we poison the hard-drive, it takes time to remove the images. But with grace, "All things are possible". You will often hear drug addicts and alcoholics talk about how God turned their lives weakness into their greatest blessing, all because they were forced to rely completely on God's strength to carry them, and not rely on themselves, which is life anyway. Here's great advice from St. John Bosco, "I have never seen anything work outside of the Eucharist and the Rosary." The Rosary is really the great answer to overcome this scourge though because its a pro-active solution, it replaces the dark lies of pornography with the truth and light of the images of the Rosary. Confession is also an incredible help, because it applies not only accountability, but also grace to the wound. Lastly, its important to start again after confession, looking back only brings fear and despair, looking forward offers the opportunity to live as we were created to live.

The Note

My wife and I end up watching some great, but random movies every winter, because in the Spring, Summer and Fall, we rarely watch t.v. at all. But we stumbled upon a really cheesy but great movie, The Note, last night. This movie proves that as long as you have a great story, the movie can be incredibly low budget, and still hold the audience.

The story is that a plane crash happens in North Carolina, and along with seats and luggage, a note washes up on the shore, which a reporter finds while jogging on the beach. So the rest of the movie becomes a search for the person that the note is directed to. The reporter has to go through about 4-5 different people, and the message is what changes people, even though the note wasn't from their relative. All the note says is, "T, All is forgiven, Dad" So the reporter simply goes through every passenger with names starting with T. What makes the story so powerful, is what one simple message, "All is forgiven" does to each person confronted with the note, as the reporter says, "Its like they each were given a second chance,"

That made me think about the power and need for confession in our culture, because the soul has this deep desire to be forgiven, but more than that, people have a deep desire, "for a second chance", to start again, to make things right. There's a great scene in the book "The Two towers," by JRR Tolkien, at the end Gollum is so overwhelmed by the kindness that Frodo is showing him throughout their march to Mordor, and as he sleeps, Gollum looks at him, and he thinks back to his youth, "For a fleeting moment, if Sam or Frodo had seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of his youth," Even Gollum hungered for a second chance.

St. Louis De Montfort gives this advice to the person in need of a second chance, "What would you do if you were given a second chance?" "Now go and do it," Its incredibly simple, but that's the message of this new week and new month, go and be the person that you were created to be, even if your old like Gollum, its never to late.