A Thankful Spirit

Last week, we experienced two great celebrations.  On Thursday, many of us gathered with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving, and on Sunday, at mass, we celebrated the feast of Christ the King.  In today's post, I'd like to look at the meaning of these two feasts from a bit of an "unconventional" view.

As we all know, Thanksgiving Day is a great time for us to call to mind that which we are thankful for in our lives.  Whether we believe in God or not, we can all at least recognize areas of our lives in which we are fortunate.  Over the Thanksgiving break, I found myself sitting with my brother on the couch enjoying some time to relax.  At one point, he was checking out the website of his beloved Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (To the Top!).  On the home page was a video sequence of several student-athletes sharing what they are thankful for and what sports team they represent.  I thought this was nice, but after listening to five or six athletes say the almost the exact same thing (that they were thankful for their friends, family, and opportunities to compete for USM), I became a bit jaded in the repetitiveness of these responses.

In reflecting upon this further, I realized that just like the student-athletes, we are easily thankful for the things in our lives that are positive contributors (i.e. family, friends, talents, opportunities, etc.).  However, in light of Jesus' message that we are to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48), I asked myself if maybe I should try to find gratitude in my life from more negative contributors (i.e. rivals, people I don't  like, weaknesses, failures, missed opportunities, etc.).  After all, if I can thank God for my enemies, I am  in essence finding a way to love them as Christ does.  So, why should we be thankful for such negative people and things?  Well, these negative factors challenge us to reflect upon how we can become better loving people in the midst of them.  We can not afford to allow ourselves to become complacent with the status quo of things being "good" in our lives.  Complacency can limit our perspective on bigger and more important issues on which we can potentially have a positive influence.  Not to mention, by being thankful for the negatives in our lives, we are hopefully able to look inward at ourselves to see where we may be contributing negatively to others and try to be better there, too.

On the feast of Christ the King, we get a chance to see Jesus defy the traditional role of a king. Jesus' "kingship" consisted of looking at the negatives in his life (as well as the positives) and ultimately dying for them in order to positively affect them in the best possible way.  If this "positive-negative" paradox is not reflective of "the mystery of faith," I'm not sure what is.  Keeping this in mind, I'd like to challenge us to redefine what a king is based on the life of Jesus.  The "King of Kings" and the "Lord of Lords" whom we sing about and laud so much this time of year "did not come to be served, but to serve" (Mark 10:45).  So, the next time we enter a large church with ornate designs, expensive furnishings, grand chalices and candles, and other "glorious" pedestals on which we put Christ the King, let us remember that Jesus did not call himself a king.  Rather, we have given him that title throughout history (and for good reason), but I think Jesus wanted nothing more than to show us a kingdom made of servants not masters.

So, as we enter into this Advent and Christmas season, let us strive to be more humble, more thankful (for our allies and our enemies), and more king-like as servants of others.

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.

Championship Spirit

While I have spent much time talking about football, I'd like to devote this post to the other great fall sport in our nation: cross country.  Right now, we are fully engulfed in the championship part of this fall distance running culture.  Many teams are vying for their local, state, and national titles.  But for the average sports fan, cross country may not be the most popular sport, but anyone who has spent a fair amount of time around this heart, mind, body, and spirit-draining sport could confirm just how powerful and inspiring it is for all involved  Cross country is arguably the most team-oriented sport that exists.  In most other sports, one could make arguments toward how one athlete could single-handily influence the outcome of a competition.  In cross country, this is not the case.  In order for a team to achieve success, five runners must hold their own within a given race to ensure the best possible score for their team.  While a team may have one or two stellar individuals, the team score is not complete without the efforts of the three other runners.  Team success requires an understanding, chemistry, dependence, energy, and spirit among its members that transcends physical preparation.  Runners discover these things each day in practice along the "Trial of Miles" and the "Miles of Trials" as John L. Parker, Jr. says in his novel Once a Runner.  Cross country teams are only as good as the collective identity of its individuals.

In an earlier August post entitled "The Spirit's Comfort Zone," I referred to the athletes whom I coach at Clarke Central High School in Athens, GA.  In that post, I recognized the early success and chemistry of my athletes as we began our season.  I commented that "The spirit of their positive efforts [was] contagious."  This indeed proved true throughout the season.  In the past couple of weeks, I've watched the boys and girls in our cross country program accomplish things that have not happened at Clarke Central in nearly a decade.  Both the boys and the girls qualified for the State Championships.  While the girls qualified last year (with almost an entirely different team), the boys had not qualified since 2007 and both teams together had not reached the State Championship since 2005.  These teams, while very different (the boys were led by 5 seniors; the girls were led by 5 freshmen), both exhibited a type of drive, grit, and compassion that I'd suggest could only come from God.  This season was not the seamless wonder it looked like it might be from the start.  We reached a part of the season where things seemed to be falling apart when we needed them to unite the most.  Our goals appeared to be in jeopardy as we faced untimely injuries, poor decision-making, and other unfortunate circumstances.  However, the resilient spirit of our athletes somehow transcended these imperfections.  I realized that this is exactly where I could expect the Spirit to show up, and it did.  The Spirit seems to always meet us at our worst in order to bring us to our best! 

In looking back over our successful season, I truly believe that the Championship Spirit, through the wonderful sport of cross country, has empowered another group of young people to become better versions of themselves.  I hope we can all find that which challenges us in the same way to find our Championship Spirit.

Thank you to all of my friends, family, coaches, teammates, and athletes who have inspired me and continued to inspire me to believe so much in the power of cross country!

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.

Tailgating with the Spirit - Part 4

Over the last few posts, I have tried to draw connections between our country's football culture and one's faith culture.  In Part 1, I compared a football stadium and a church building.  In Part 2, I tried to connect tailgating activities with church ministries, and in Part 3, I looked at the similarities between an active "fanhood" and an active prayer life.  I hope that these connections have enabled all of us to re-examine our priorities this fall season and hopefully re-commit ourselves to things that are much bigger than ourselves (relationships, church activities, school activities, community service, etc.).  As a result of this re-examination, I pray that we are able to recognize that having an unhealthy obsession with our favorite teams and developing a healthy passion for our faith lives and church communities require different levels of attention.  This being said, I'll leave us with a few questions for reflection:

1. Do we take sufficient time each day to recognize that God uses our everyday activities and interests (such as football) to teach us the power of God's remarkable love?

2. Do we make a conscious effort to be mindful of the things in our lives that are truly fruit-bearing?

3. Have we dismissed things or people in our lives that were positive gifts from God because we found ourselves too engulfed in other things?  If so, how can we reconnect with them?

4. Are we willing to re-prioritize our lives in an effort to help ourselves see the beauty of God in all things?

As you reflect on these questions, let me add one more item for thought.  In light of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, there have been football players and their families housed in hotels, basketball games postponed, and a marathon cancelled.  Regardless of personal opinions on these matters, one thing is consistent: life finds a way to transcend sports.  Does yours?

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.

Tailgating with the Spirit - Part 3

Well, here we are reaching the mid-point of football season.  By this point, we probably have a fairly good sense of how successful our teams will be this year.  For those of us with good teams, we are probably just as excited about each game as we were prior to the start of the season.  Others of us who are witnessing our teams struggle may find it hard to support our team each week because we are not finding as much joy in watching our team struggle.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning "fair weather fanhood" by any means. I'm simply acknowledging the ease and difficulty of being a fan depending on how our teams perform.  In my last post, I drew similarities between tailgating activities and church ministries.  This week, I'd like to take an even closer look at the life of a consistent football fan compared to the life of a consistent Christian.

First, I'd like to suggest that "true" football fans support their teams by utilizing whatever means necessary in order to be "in the know" with their teams.  Such means might be watching the daily sports news, reading the daily sports page, checking other forums of information, playing fantasy football, etc.  Needless to say, there are countless avenues for a fan to stay connected to the goings-on of his or her team.  Why do fans do this, though?  I might argue that this connectivity to the team gives the fan a deeper sense of belonging to the team and more credibility in his or her fanhood.  Another reason fans might do this because they find a sense of joy in being a part of something bigger than themselves.  Given the scope of football in this country, I'd certainly agree that it is certainly bigger than any one person.  Both of these reasons (deeper sense of belonging and being part of something bigger than one's self) are quite transferable to being a committed Christian.

If we, as football fans, can spend time doing all of these different things outside of simply watching our teams play, shouldn't we be able to do things outside of simply showing up for church on Sunday?  I'd like to think so.  With this in mind, I'd like to suggest the following as possible ways for us to be "fans" of Christ between church services.  We may do things as simple as morning and/or night prayer and saying grace before meals.  We may also look to do more formal praying such as the rosary, reading the daily scriptures, Eucharistic adoration, receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation, or attending daily mass.  Lastly, we can always utilize the technological world we live in and follow good Christian new sources on Facebook, Twitter, etc. in order to stay connected to what's happening in our global Christian community. All of these are simply suggestions, and I am not saying that we jump in to trying to do all of them at once.  However, I think that if we can become routine in doing a couple of them earnestly, we will find that we gain a deeper sense of belonging to God as well as recognizing that we are a small but vital part of something so much bigger than ourselves.

So, in conclusion, just like being a football fan, we will go through periods of our Christian lives where we find it both easy and difficult to live out and practice our faith.  However, we have enormous comfort in knowing that God instilled in each of us a longing for love because God is love, and we were all created in God's image and likeness.  Because of this, God will never cease to be "fans" of us, so how could we ever cease to be "fans" of God?  Always remember, with God we NEVER lose.

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.

Tailgating with the Spirit - Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of my "Tailgating with the Spirit" series, I encourage you to give it a glance before reading Part 2 just so you have a frame of reference for what I will talk about in this post.  As a quick reminder, in Part 1, I began building the bridge between the gathering of fans in a football stadium and the gathering of disciples in a church building.  This week, I will look a little bit closer at the similarities between groups of fans and groups of disciples.

When we think of groups of fans tailgating for a game, what are some of the images that come to mind?  For me, I think first of the visuals (tents, colors, flags).  Then, I think of sounds ("pump up" music, cheers, even vulgarities sometimes).  Lastly, though, I picture interactive events such as games like corn hole, washers, ladder golf, football tossing, etc., as well as people gathering around large spreads of food and beverage that cover an array of tastes and flavors.  What is the point of all of this?  Why do many people consider these things necessary when pulling for their team?  I think the simple answer is because these things seem to increase our excitement for our team as well as make us feel like we are a vital part of what goes on inside the stadium.  Let's face it, while sitting and watching a game in the quiet of our own home can be quite enjoyable, rarely do we feel as connected to the outcome than when we share it with others.  This, too, is the same for our connection to what happens at church each week.

As mentioned above, individual game watching is nice, but it is not nearly as rewarding as experiencing the outcome of the game with a larger group.  Similarly, if we simply attend church each week as individuals with no connection to the larger group of disciples, which I have been guilty of in the past, then often we are not as energized by the outcome of church as we would otherwise be when sharing that experience with the larger church community.  So, how do we enhance our experience of church?  Tailgate more!  No, I don't mean stand outside of church and play games while eating and drinking to your heart's content.  I mean get involved in the different "tailgating" opportunities that your church offers.  A more appropriate word for tailgating opportunities would be church ministries.  These ministries might include but are certainly not limited to Bible studies, men's and/or women's groups, proclaiming the Word of God as a lector, Eucharistic ministering, altar serving, singing and/or playing liturgical music, service opportunities outside of church, teaching religious education, etc.  The list goes on and on.  If your church does not have something that you are interested in, then look into bringing that interest to public view.  As we "tailgate" more with our church communities, we will find that our energy for church will increase, and as a result, our love for God and others will increase as well.  Don't we see that our love for our respective teams increases the more we spend time tailgating with others?  The same is true, and I'd argue, even more important when we give ourselves the same opportunity with our churches and their ministries.

Remember that when we experience church as an individual we put ourselves at risk of receiving more than we are giving, and we know that God calls us to unending service.  As the Prayer of St. Francis so eloquently states:

 "[...]For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."

Because at the end of the day, though our teams may win or lose, we know that in God, we NEVER lose.

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.

Tailgating with the Spirit - Part 1

Well, here we are in what many people consider to be the best season of the year: American football season.  This season brings with it much excitement as the heat of summer moves into the more pleasant air of fall.  Several years ago, I started noticing certain nuances about the football environment that should translate well into our respective church environments.  I'd like to look at these nuances in a series of posts that will take us deeper into football season but hopefully even deeper still into the heart of the Spirit of God. These nuances will also attempt to build a bridge between this secular season of excitement into the sacred perpetual season of joy.  In this week's post, I will look at the nuance of the stadium gathering.

Each week across the country, thousands upon thousands of people come together to rally around their teams  (Who Dat! and Geaux Tigers!).  This is remarkable when we stop to think about it.  Large stadiums across the country hold anywhere from 75,000 to over 100,000 people at a time.  There are cities where these stadiums reside whose populations explode when these stadiums reach full capacity on game days.  This increase in size brings amazing energy, enthusiasm, and excitement (not to mention traffic) to these towns each week.  However, what amazes me the most about these large gatherings is the overall ability of people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, political backgrounds, and faith backgrounds to put aside their differences (whether directly or indirectly) to focus on one common factor: cheering on their teams hopefully to victory.  This ability of people to lay aside their differences for a common purpose gives me great hope for the human race. I do, however, recognize that each fan base has its fair share of instigators who divert from the positive goal of the group.  These instigators simply remind me that we live in an imperfect world that continues to need our help and compassion.  Yet, if we can rally around our football teams in this way, how much better might it be if we gathered around our churches in similar ways?

Now, how does this secular gathering build a bridge to the sacred gathering we call church?  Well, we can start by drawing the similarities between a stadium and a church.  Both are built to accommodate a large group of people.  Both a stadium and a church contain seating that surrounds a central focus (i.e. the field and the altar).  [Note: Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, many churches were built in a more circular fashion as opposed to the previous more rectangular design.]  Both, when filled, contain people who contribute to the activity at hand in uniform ways such as participating in cheers or prayers; band songs or choir refrains; and standing, sitting, or kneeling.  This being said, though, maybe we should next ask the following question: if the common factor at a football game is to rally people together in support of their team, then, what is the common factor that should draw people to church?  As a Catholic Christian, I might suggest that our common factor is to rally around the Eucharistic table of God where we celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation (God becoming human) and humbly give thanks with one another for God's blessings and forgiveness in our lives.  I like to think that this common factor should only increase our ability to put aside our differences so that we might love God with all our being and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  So, as we prepare to celebrate next week with our fellow fans, let's remember that the celebration in church should be even more rewarding than our football games.  Why?  Because with God, we never lose.

Next week, I'll attempt to look at the participation in tailgating vs. the participation in ministries.

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.

Stompin' toward the Spirit!

"We are doctors, lawyers, professionals, laborers, students, teachers, and parents. We are different but we’re the same, and we’re brought together..." (from the "About Us" page on 610stompers.com)  When I read this quote for the first time, I thought it sounded very Catholic.  The word "catholic" means universal, so we know that our Christian faith includes everyone.  No exceptions.  As I have come to learn, a wonderful motto of the Catholic Church is "Unity in Diversity."  Think about it.

Ok, so over the weekend I had the opportunity to get home to New Orleans for Labor Day weekend.  I had a great time visiting with family and friends in the days following Hurricane Isaac.  Though many of the New Orleans homes and businesses were still without power, the priest at St. Dominic's said it well when he reminded us at the end of mass on Saturday evening saying, "We may not have electricity, but we still have the power of the Holy Spirit!"  This was certainly true.  In reflecting on this power of the Holy Spirit, I tried to recognize where else I felt this power over the weekend.  Then it hit me: the 610 Stomper tryouts!

For those of you who are not familiar with the 610 Stompers, please see the below video and website to get a better idea.  My words will not do justice to the remarkable energy that this group conveys in its mission, its performances, and its community service.

610 Stompers Video
610 Stompers Website

While at the 610 Stomper tryouts (my brother is auditioning), I watched 20-30 grown men take their shot at a making the group by performing a dance in front of three judges and a large crowd of spectators.  These men ranged in age from 20-65 or even older.  Each of these men risked public humiliation just to show that they have the energy and enthusiasm to be a part of such a unique organization.  One man who was probably around sixty years old said in his post-performance interview that he hadn't felt that alive and energized since he was twenty-five.  Upon hearing that, I realized that this seemed to be a theme in many of the interviews.  Men were reinvigorated to let themselves be free to dance as if they were children again.-- After all, Jesus did say that we must be like children in order to enter the kingdom of God! --These men, who come from so many different backgrounds, cultures, and professions, just wanted a chance to be unified with other men in a group that tries to make a difference in their community through dance, laughter, and general elation.  Is this not the whole point of being Christian?!  If we truly sense the Spirit in our lives, we, too, would feel just as energized to make a difference in both our church and civil communities like these men aim to do as 610 Stompers.  As I hope you have begun to realize from this and my other posts, the Spirit is equally if not more present outside of our church doors as it is inside!

Below is a video that shows a little bit of what the auditions look like each year.  Enjoy.
610 Stomper Auditions

Let the Spirit it move us to action!

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.