Over the weekend I had the great honor of attending one of my high school friend's wedding. The wedding was in Ft. Worth, TX, at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The theme of commitment to love that I witnessed over the weekend is what I will reflect on here today. This weekend provided me with an encouraged sense of community and togetherness. Upon arriving at the church, I realized that I did not know many people in attendance. I wondered how awkward I might feel at the reception standing around in the midst of strangers. However, these awkward feelings soon changed to feelings of camaraderie as the bartenders poured the drinks, the chefs served the food, and the band performed the music. As the reception continued to blossom into the joyous occasion that even Jesus would have been proud to attend (remember, we did just hear Jesus turn water into wine at a wedding in Cana in the gospel last week), I once again recognized that when people come together through shared purposes of love and joy, friendships and communities form almost instantly.
One of the best symbols of loving communities forming quickly came during the "married couples" dance. This dance brought all of the married couples in attendance onto the dance floor. The wedding announcer then asked for couples to step off of the dance floor if they have been married less then a certain amount of time. By the end of the song, those of us not on the dance floor had the honor of seeing the power of love and commitment shine right before our eyes. At this particular reception, the announcer left the final three couples on the dance floor because they were all upwards of 50 years of marriage. What a beautiful display of the sacred bond of love! Sadly, we live in a society that seems to tell people that if your marriage isn't as fun as your wedding at all times, then you better get out of it. How ridiculous! This is where we need to look at these couples in their lasting relationships in light of our faith and realize that the love God calls us to is one of joy and pain. As a single guy, I tread lightly on this topic and gladly acknowledge my lack of experience in the marriage category. However, I am blessed to have had great examples in my family of lasting loving marriages. I'm proud to say that my parents will be married 33 years in August (I love you Mom and Dad)! Also, I believe that our faith in God and in one another also teaches us the comforts and the demands that come from trying to emanate the love of God.
Part of trying to live a life that reflects the love of God means committing oneself to that cause just like the commitment of married couples. For me, part of this commitment comes in the form of weekly mass attendance. Now, my Catholic readers out there know that if a wedding is on a Saturday it only counts toward our Sunday mass if it is after 4:00 p.m. Well, the wedding this weekend was at 2:00 p.m. (meaning that I would still need to go on Sunday to fully honor my faith commitment). Since I did not catch a morning mass before flying back to Georgia, I knew the odds that I would make mass in time for the evening were against me. By the time I got back to Athens, I was able to make it into mass during the Offertory. Though, I felt bad for being that late, I was glad to be there with my faith community anyway. As I proceeded to participate in the rest of mass, I couldn't help but feel a void in me since I missed the Liturgy of the Word (scripture readings). After mass, I reflected more on this void. Our faith teaches us that in the mass we receive Christ in three ways: through the Word of God (John 1:1), through Holy Communion (Luke 22:19), and through the gathering of each other as The Body of Christ (1 Corinth. 12: 12-30). While we believe that receiving any one of these provides us with the full nourishment of Christ, we recognize that the fullness we experience when all three come together as one is something even more transcendent. Our steady commitment to love will continue to help this transcendence.
We can continue to become more transcendent beings if we can challenge ourselves to find the voids in our lives and fill them with things that bring us to the love of God. Ideally, we would find these things in the scriptures, in the Eucharist, and in gathering with each other. If I can find a sense of these things from being at my friend's wedding this weekend, then I know we can all sense these things in whatever situations we find ourselves each day.
Congratulations, Robbie and Laura!
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
A Graceful Spirit
Today, I compose this post sore in body but fresh in spirit. As some of you may know from my Twitter and Facebook activity this past weekend, I competed in the Louisiana Marathon. Leading up to and following the 26.2 mile race around Baton Rouge, LA, I had the privilege of staying with my older sister and experiencing the wonderful work, social, and exercise communities that she lives and breathes every day. What a blessing! Being around such kind and generous people truly gave me an inspired sense of welcome and joy. By the end of the weekend, I felt as if I had known all of those folks my entire life. Thank you, Varsity Sports and friends, for allowing me to be a part of your family this weekend! If I haven't mentioned it enough in my previous posts, being part of a nourishing community is everything.
In light of community, I always think of the passage in the scriptures where Jesus says that "where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst" (Matthew 18:20). I believe this to be true in all communities where people gather to share love and joy with one another. In the race this weekend, I dedicated my efforts to an athlete of mine, Grace Byrne, who is in the hospital with a severe head injury (you can read more about this in the links that follow). As a result of this, I quickly learned just how good this world of social media and electronic communication can be for all of us. After posting this story (which Luke Johnson of TheAdvocate.com and Spencer Hutchinson of nola.com did a great job sharing) on Facebook and Twitter, I received so much positive feedback from people all over the nation and in other parts of the world, too. Grace has family that reach nationally from coast to coast and globally in places like Trinidad and Australia. I know that those local communities are now united across such vast distances and will continue to pray for Grace and others in need of support. So, if a small gesture like dedicating a race for someone is a means to "gather more people together" then we must believe we are capable creating a global community that shares love and joy with one another. [I wrote a post back in August called "Eucharistic Reunion" that talks a little bit more on the family networks that we are encouraged to extend out to everyone, so feel free to review that one, too.]
Let us continue to move forward each day knowing that in our gatherings (whether via physical meetings, email groups, Facebook, Twitter, or any other unifying medium) the Spirit of God is ever-present. As a result of this, I pray that we continually form communities that bring love and joy to everyone.
The Advocate in Baton Rouge
Times Picayune in New Orleans
In light of community, I always think of the passage in the scriptures where Jesus says that "where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst" (Matthew 18:20). I believe this to be true in all communities where people gather to share love and joy with one another. In the race this weekend, I dedicated my efforts to an athlete of mine, Grace Byrne, who is in the hospital with a severe head injury (you can read more about this in the links that follow). As a result of this, I quickly learned just how good this world of social media and electronic communication can be for all of us. After posting this story (which Luke Johnson of TheAdvocate.com and Spencer Hutchinson of nola.com did a great job sharing) on Facebook and Twitter, I received so much positive feedback from people all over the nation and in other parts of the world, too. Grace has family that reach nationally from coast to coast and globally in places like Trinidad and Australia. I know that those local communities are now united across such vast distances and will continue to pray for Grace and others in need of support. So, if a small gesture like dedicating a race for someone is a means to "gather more people together" then we must believe we are capable creating a global community that shares love and joy with one another. [I wrote a post back in August called "Eucharistic Reunion" that talks a little bit more on the family networks that we are encouraged to extend out to everyone, so feel free to review that one, too.]
Let us continue to move forward each day knowing that in our gatherings (whether via physical meetings, email groups, Facebook, Twitter, or any other unifying medium) the Spirit of God is ever-present. As a result of this, I pray that we continually form communities that bring love and joy to everyone.
The Advocate in Baton Rouge
Times Picayune in New Orleans
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Do we do what's Wright?
Yesterday we concluded our Christmas season with the Baptism of Jesus. This seems very fitting when we think about it because when a baby is born there seems to be very natural stages of preparation, gift-giving, parental commendation, and other celebrations just as we see during Christmas-time in terms of Advent, Magi, Holy Family, Mary, etc. This excitement seems to subside a bit once a baby is baptized, though. Such is the case in the Church after we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Anyway, as we moved out of Christmas back into Ordinary Time, we were taught a very important lesson in the Gospel on Sunday when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and says that Jesus is God's beloved Son with whom God is well-pleased (Luke 3: 21-22). Seeing how much Jesus came to relate to us by immersing himself into the Jordan river of our lives, we can be confident that those words apply equally to all of us, too. We are all God's beloved children with whom God is well-pleased. Now that we understand this, I'd like to take this fundamental "lesson in love" a bit further.
Every election cycle, we seem to hear lots of jargon about how many of the problems we face today is a result of God being taken out of schools and replaced with secularism, atheism, rationalism, and many other "-isms." Well, I want you to think for a second about some of the most influential teachers you have ever had at the elementary and high school levels. Did you choose these teachers solely because of the academic lessons they imparted on you or because of their emphasis on how much they talked about God, the Bible, prayer, or any other "religious" things? Or, do you love those teachers because they seemed to care about your development not just as a student but as a person by teaching you life lessons that would ultimately lead to your becoming a better individual, friend, son, daughter, husband, wife, cousin, etc.? I'd venture to say it was the latter. I went to a Catholic school, and I'm extremely grateful for being in an environment that taught me teachings of Jesus, the Bible, and the Church. However, some of the most lasting impacts on me resulted from teachers instilling in me the values of God (faith, hope, and love) not through "churchy" language, but through their actions and examples. I simply connected the dots. You see, we get into trouble when we spend too much time criticizing the public sector for removing God from schools. The truth is that as humans, we are not in control of God. God is ever-present in every situation at all times, and all good things come from God. If you are struggling to believe this, just think of those wonderful teachers and mentors out there who, by their compassion and integrity toward their students, are in essence, telling them that they are indeed "beloved children of God with whom God is well-pleased."
Below is a wonderful twelve minute documentary from last week's New York Times about a Catholic physics teacher in a public school who, amid his own faith doubts, still brings the "lesson of love" of to his students. Enjoy.
Wright's Law
I'd argue that God is more present in that classroom than in many private faith-based schools around.
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
Every election cycle, we seem to hear lots of jargon about how many of the problems we face today is a result of God being taken out of schools and replaced with secularism, atheism, rationalism, and many other "-isms." Well, I want you to think for a second about some of the most influential teachers you have ever had at the elementary and high school levels. Did you choose these teachers solely because of the academic lessons they imparted on you or because of their emphasis on how much they talked about God, the Bible, prayer, or any other "religious" things? Or, do you love those teachers because they seemed to care about your development not just as a student but as a person by teaching you life lessons that would ultimately lead to your becoming a better individual, friend, son, daughter, husband, wife, cousin, etc.? I'd venture to say it was the latter. I went to a Catholic school, and I'm extremely grateful for being in an environment that taught me teachings of Jesus, the Bible, and the Church. However, some of the most lasting impacts on me resulted from teachers instilling in me the values of God (faith, hope, and love) not through "churchy" language, but through their actions and examples. I simply connected the dots. You see, we get into trouble when we spend too much time criticizing the public sector for removing God from schools. The truth is that as humans, we are not in control of God. God is ever-present in every situation at all times, and all good things come from God. If you are struggling to believe this, just think of those wonderful teachers and mentors out there who, by their compassion and integrity toward their students, are in essence, telling them that they are indeed "beloved children of God with whom God is well-pleased."
Below is a wonderful twelve minute documentary from last week's New York Times about a Catholic physics teacher in a public school who, amid his own faith doubts, still brings the "lesson of love" of to his students. Enjoy.
Wright's Law
I'd argue that God is more present in that classroom than in many private faith-based schools around.
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Family of Feasts
Over the last couple of weeks, many of us have experienced much excitement through Christmas and New Years parties, gatherings, and other celebrations. Well, similarly, the Church has also experienced much excitement. This excitement came through the Feast of the Holy Family (Dec. 30), the Solemnity of Mary (Jan. 1), and the Epiphany of the Lord (Jan. 6). My post this week will attempt to look back over the last twelve days or so and make a connection to these different celebrations.
Love. Peace. Invitation. In my opinion, these three words summarize the three feasts mentioned above. The feast of the Holy Family is a wonderful celebration of love, the Solemnity of Mary is a celebration of what being at total peace with God looks like, and the Epiphany of the Lord is an invitation to the Three Wise Men to continue being the seekers of greater truth that they already were. If we look at these feasts with a bird's eye view, hopefully we can find ourselves in the midst of them as lovers, peacemakers, and seekers.
As a way to go deeper into love, peace, and invitation, I'd like to look deeper at the family unit. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are our model family in the Church. They represent the model family not necessarily because they consist of mom, dad, and child, but more so because of the love, honor, respect, sacrifice, and support embodied in their relationships. How many of us have friends, teachers, coaches, or other mentors that we are so close with that we consider them family? Or, how many of us have parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, or cousins that we are not as close with and have a hard time viewing them as family? Regardless of who is in our family, what matters most are the qualities found in good relationships as I mentioned above. Keep in mind, no family is perfect. A statement comes to mind that my mom says from time to time: "Families are the ties the bind and gag us." This statement is quite true. Family joins us tightly to one another in wonderful ways, but family is just as likely to make us sick, too.
Since we can get caught up talking about what the perfect family unit should look like (Lord knows this issue is politicized enough), here is a short list of simple TV shows and movies you might know and can relate to that focus on family relations in very different ways that came to mind: The Brady Bunch, 3 Men and a Baby, The Cosby Show, Full House, Family Matters, Home Improvement, Modern Family, Raising Hope, The New Normal, and Parental Guidance. While this list could certainly go on for pages and pages, the shows and movies listed here all do a good job showing just how diverse and flawed the family unit can be while still aiming to support the important values of love, honor, respect, sacrifice, and support. Take a minute to think back on some of your favorite books, shows, and movies. Do you find yourself thinking about the central characters and their relationships/conflicts with their families/enemies? If so, what kind of support systems surrounded these characters? I'd guess some characters had blood relatives around them while others had close friends, but either way, some support was probably there. You see, without relationships and support, we'll find it quite difficult to find true sources of joy in our lives. We know that with the joy of family also comes sorrow, but if we try to remove the sorrow from our lives by removing these relationships, then we may ultimately wind up removing the joy, too. Remember, though the ties of family may gag us, they also bind us together for the good of one another. We must learn to live within this painfully comforting embrace we call family.
To conclude, I'd like to refer to one more source of love, peace, and invitation that I experienced in the last twelve days or so. I had the privilege of seeing Les Miserables with my mom and dad recently. If you have not seen this movie, whether you are a fan of musicals or not, you need to go see it in light of the recent feasts I've mentioned here today. The story of the lead character, Jean Valjean, epitomizes what it means for all of us accept the invitation to seek truth and mercy, to both give and receive love, and to be at total peace with God in our lives. I pray that God will continue to bless you and your families whatever they may look like and that we will always embrace God's invitation to be love and peace to the world.
May we be ever-faithful, ever-joyful, and ever-mindful.
Love. Peace. Invitation. In my opinion, these three words summarize the three feasts mentioned above. The feast of the Holy Family is a wonderful celebration of love, the Solemnity of Mary is a celebration of what being at total peace with God looks like, and the Epiphany of the Lord is an invitation to the Three Wise Men to continue being the seekers of greater truth that they already were. If we look at these feasts with a bird's eye view, hopefully we can find ourselves in the midst of them as lovers, peacemakers, and seekers.
As a way to go deeper into love, peace, and invitation, I'd like to look deeper at the family unit. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are our model family in the Church. They represent the model family not necessarily because they consist of mom, dad, and child, but more so because of the love, honor, respect, sacrifice, and support embodied in their relationships. How many of us have friends, teachers, coaches, or other mentors that we are so close with that we consider them family? Or, how many of us have parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, or cousins that we are not as close with and have a hard time viewing them as family? Regardless of who is in our family, what matters most are the qualities found in good relationships as I mentioned above. Keep in mind, no family is perfect. A statement comes to mind that my mom says from time to time: "Families are the ties the bind and gag us." This statement is quite true. Family joins us tightly to one another in wonderful ways, but family is just as likely to make us sick, too.
Since we can get caught up talking about what the perfect family unit should look like (Lord knows this issue is politicized enough), here is a short list of simple TV shows and movies you might know and can relate to that focus on family relations in very different ways that came to mind: The Brady Bunch, 3 Men and a Baby, The Cosby Show, Full House, Family Matters, Home Improvement, Modern Family, Raising Hope, The New Normal, and Parental Guidance. While this list could certainly go on for pages and pages, the shows and movies listed here all do a good job showing just how diverse and flawed the family unit can be while still aiming to support the important values of love, honor, respect, sacrifice, and support. Take a minute to think back on some of your favorite books, shows, and movies. Do you find yourself thinking about the central characters and their relationships/conflicts with their families/enemies? If so, what kind of support systems surrounded these characters? I'd guess some characters had blood relatives around them while others had close friends, but either way, some support was probably there. You see, without relationships and support, we'll find it quite difficult to find true sources of joy in our lives. We know that with the joy of family also comes sorrow, but if we try to remove the sorrow from our lives by removing these relationships, then we may ultimately wind up removing the joy, too. Remember, though the ties of family may gag us, they also bind us together for the good of one another. We must learn to live within this painfully comforting embrace we call family.
To conclude, I'd like to refer to one more source of love, peace, and invitation that I experienced in the last twelve days or so. I had the privilege of seeing Les Miserables with my mom and dad recently. If you have not seen this movie, whether you are a fan of musicals or not, you need to go see it in light of the recent feasts I've mentioned here today. The story of the lead character, Jean Valjean, epitomizes what it means for all of us accept the invitation to seek truth and mercy, to both give and receive love, and to be at total peace with God in our lives. I pray that God will continue to bless you and your families whatever they may look like and that we will always embrace God's invitation to be love and peace to the world.
May we be ever-faithful, ever-joyful, and ever-mindful.
Friday, December 28, 2012
An Innocent Spirit
Merry Christmas, everyone! As we know, society has seemed to shut down Christmas already, but thankfully, our Christmas season in the Church is just beginning. As the mystery of the Christmas season continues, we will celebrate a few important feasts within the next twelve days. Today (Dec. 28th) is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. This feast, while sad in nature because it honors the baby boys that King Herod killed out of fear of Jesus, encourages us to see the purity and power that children have to unite people together. I believe this unifying ability is the reason why God entered into the world as a child.
Rather than elaborate further on this feast, myself, I encourage you to read an article by a friend of mine, Daniel Horan, o.f.m., connecting the Feast of the Holy Innocents with the Newtown, CT, shootings of two weeks ago and other similar losses. He really helps us understand how relevant this feast still is in our world today. Enjoy.
Daniel Horan's Huffington Post Article
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
Rather than elaborate further on this feast, myself, I encourage you to read an article by a friend of mine, Daniel Horan, o.f.m., connecting the Feast of the Holy Innocents with the Newtown, CT, shootings of two weeks ago and other similar losses. He really helps us understand how relevant this feast still is in our world today. Enjoy.
Daniel Horan's Huffington Post Article
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Where is the Spirit?
Rejoice!
This is the command that we receive from the Third Sunday of Advent. The Church refers to this Sunday as Gaudete Sunday. Under "normal" circumstances, this may be easy to do this time of year. However, in light of the tragic events in Newtown, CT, recently, finding anything rejoice-worthy becomes extremely difficult. I can only imagine the challenge that the priests, ministers, and rabbis had this weekend trying to proclaim hope to their congregations. This Sunday at the Catholic Center at UGA, Fr. David challenged all of us to be "Advent people." I had never heard things phrased this way, but I really like it. He urged us to recognize that the season of Advent is not simply one of waiting and hoping on the Lord, but it is a season of action! What are we doing to help bring Jesus into the lives of others so that they can fully rejoice at Christmas? As we wonder what we can do to help the people in Newtown, CT, we need look no further than the gospel from Sunday (Luke 3:10-18). The people, tax collectors, and soldiers asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?" He tells them that they should do that which they are supposed to do. He does not tell them to do anything extraordinary, but rather, they should just treat people justly and fairly. We can do this, can't we? I think so. By taking action in just and fair ways (i.e. raising political awareness, protesting injustice, creating avenues for dialogue), we are, in essence, showing that God is ever-present.
This is the command that we receive from the Third Sunday of Advent. The Church refers to this Sunday as Gaudete Sunday. Under "normal" circumstances, this may be easy to do this time of year. However, in light of the tragic events in Newtown, CT, recently, finding anything rejoice-worthy becomes extremely difficult. I can only imagine the challenge that the priests, ministers, and rabbis had this weekend trying to proclaim hope to their congregations. This Sunday at the Catholic Center at UGA, Fr. David challenged all of us to be "Advent people." I had never heard things phrased this way, but I really like it. He urged us to recognize that the season of Advent is not simply one of waiting and hoping on the Lord, but it is a season of action! What are we doing to help bring Jesus into the lives of others so that they can fully rejoice at Christmas? As we wonder what we can do to help the people in Newtown, CT, we need look no further than the gospel from Sunday (Luke 3:10-18). The people, tax collectors, and soldiers asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?" He tells them that they should do that which they are supposed to do. He does not tell them to do anything extraordinary, but rather, they should just treat people justly and fairly. We can do this, can't we? I think so. By taking action in just and fair ways (i.e. raising political awareness, protesting injustice, creating avenues for dialogue), we are, in essence, showing that God is ever-present.
Now, whenever we become aware of tragedy and violence in our world, people wonder, "Where was God in the midst of these horrible things?" Some even go as far as to say that God is bringing punishment upon people for their wrongdoing. Let's be clear, though, that God does not pick and choose when and where to show up. God is ALWAYS present in ALL situations. Only that which is good comes from God because we know that God is love (1 John 4:8), and love is a very good thing. Let me use a classic Christmas movie to expand on this a bit further.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) tells the story of George Bailey, a compassionate, driven, young man, who gives up his dreams of travelling the world in order to be an "Advent person." George chooses first to stand up for what is right and treats people justly and fairly before pursuing his own goals and dreams. Along the way, George leaves a wake of positive influences on others that ultimately transforms his local and national communities. However, at some point, George faces his own tragedy when it seems that he will lose everything in his life. Here, George wonders where God is and if God will help him. Well, God sends an angel to help George realize that God had been present in his life every moment up to that point through the love he gave and received so many times and God would continue to be there every moment from then on. When we learn to recognize God in everything and everywhere through lenses of love, we more effectively prepare ourselves to face major tragedy if and when it comes. So, rather than waiting to call on God when we need God, let us be people of continued faith, hope, and love. Let us be "Advent people!"
I leave you with a couple of songs that pose the question "Where is Love?"
Be the answer.
Be the answer.
Where is the Love? - Black Eyed Peas - 2003 (Lyrics)
May we be ever-faithful, every-mindful, and ever-joyful.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
"Advent"urous Spirit
While the world or commercialism and consumerism has been telling us it's Christmas time, it's not. Not yet, anyway. Let's remember that the Church has designated a time for us to get ready for the Lord. We call this time Advent. Recently, a couple of different sources reminded me that the word "advent" comes from the Latin words ad (meaning "to" or "toward") and venio (meaning "come" or "coming"). By simply combining the two words we create a word implying that which is "to come" or "coming towards." So, naturally, we understand that this four week season in the church year is a very special time we should spend preparing, reflecting, and waiting on the coming of God into the world as a baby (because God was already active in the world as we know from the Old Testament).
However, I have not heard anyone really use another English word that looks very similar to advent: adventure. This may be because we have come to associate adventures with grand journeys full of challenges and obstacles ultimately culminating in some kind of triumph. We may see this as inappropriate for such a joyful and peaceful time of the year. Well, I'd like to think that viewing Advent as a time of adventure is not far from what we should attempt to experience during this season. By virtue of being alive, we are constantly on a journey as it is, so Advent, then, challenges us to continue to faithfully work our way through the "wilderness" of our journey as both the prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist mention. This wilderness includes all of the challenges and obstacles that may prevent us from preparing ourselves fully for the coming of Lord at Christmas. Then, as we begin to come out of the wilderness, we should be better prepared to receive the joy and peace that is Emmanuel (God with us).
As I reflected more on this season of preparation, I thought about a story that is very popular this time of year: The Christmas Carol. Now, I know it's not Christmas yet, but this story is a prime example of someone (Ebeneezer Scrooge) forced to acknowledge the wilderness he lives in and has created for himself so that he may fully receive the joy of Christmas. I'll leave you with a song from my favorite version of this story: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). This song represents the triumphant culmination of Scrooge's journey and the "Thankful Heart" he receives as a result. Enjoy!
"A Thankful Heart"
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
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