Peace and All Good

"Wow! That's powerful." These are words that my dear friend, Fr. Thomas F. Vigliotta, ofm., a Franciscan friar, would say all the time to some of the most trivial of revelations. These words, typically said in jest, however, resonate with me now more than ever as I think back over the time that I had with from 2008-2013 at The Catholic Center at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA.

While I have not blogged in a little over a year, I felt a particular call to put down a few words in light of Tom's passing away this past weekend. As I type this, Tom's funeral arrangements are underway, and sadly, I can not be there physically. I hope that my attempt at writing connects me to him in a very spiritual way that transcends physical proximity. As a way of showing solidarity from a distance with Tom, his family, and his dear friends, I attended mass this morning for him. Fr. Tom, or Vigs, as some of us liked to call him, always made a point to teach us how connected we all are as a human family whenever we gather together around the altar to celebrate the Eucharist. Often, he would tell me, "I'll remember you at the altar where it matters most." I think I'm finally starting to understand it. If we can not be thankful for each other in this world that with which God has blessed us, then what else do we have?

Sitting in the quiet of St. Dominic's Church this morning, I listened to the words of the first reading from the Book of Genesis (Gen. 32:23-33), the Responsorial Psalm (Ps.17), and the Gospel from Matthew (Mt. 9: 32-38). Naturally, given where my thoughts were this morning, I found that all of the readings echoed memories and/or experiences that I have of Tom.

The first reading from Genesis tells the story of Jacob receiving the name Israel from God because Jacob had "contended with divine and human beings and [had] prevailed." Earlier in the reading, the Genesis author uses the word "wrestle" to describe Jacob's contention. If I had ever approached Fr. Tom seeking a solution to a personal struggle, he rarely, if ever, gave me a definitive answer. Rather, he would simply encourage me to continue "wrestling" with it through prayer and reflection because he knew that that's where I would learn the most about myself and God. This could be so frustrating because I just wanted him to tell me the "right" answer, but he knew that would not help me grow spiritually. I guess now I have to "wrestle" with the fact that my friend isn't a simple call or text away anymore but rather a simple prayer away. For teaching me how to "wrestle" with my faith and still be ok, thank you, Thomas.

The refrain in the Responsorial Psalm was "In justice, I shall behold your face, O God." If there is one major element of my faith that blossomed under Vigs, it was my understanding of social justice. To put it lightly, social justice involves becoming aware of and  an advocate of change for those people, ideas, circumstances, environments, etc. that might in any way, shape, or form, hinder one's ability to maintain his or her God-given human dignity. As the refrain suggests, when one experiences true justice, one will see the benevolent face of God. The face of God sees and knows all who reach out in faith looking for justice. For teaching me that justice requires an infinite amount of compassion to sort through the gray areas in life, thank you, Thomas.

Lastly, the Gospel today could not have been more relevant in my reflection on my relationship with Tom. The story today speaks of Jesus casting out demons, curing illnesses, and being a shepherd to the people in ways that no one had ever seen before him. The Gospel goes on to speak of the work of God being an abundant harvest having very few laborers to complete the work. Fr. Tom, in the charism of St. Francis of Assisi, labored for God's harvest better than most of us will ever. He taught me that as a fellow laborer in Christ all I can do is try to center my life around perpetual attempts to follow Jesus through compassionate justice, endless peace, and unconditional love. For being a true laborer shepherd to me and countless others over your life time, thank you, Thomas.

peace and all good,
Drew

(From left to right: Fr. David Hyman, ofm., Me, Fr. Tom Vigliotta, ofm.)

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

It is Personal!

Hello, my friends! While I know I have not posted since the beginning of Lent back in March, rest assured that I have still been trying to reflect on where I see the Spirit working in my life and in the lives of others. Since my last post, much has transpired in my life:

We have celebrated Holy Week (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday), Easter Sunday, the entire Easter Season, and Pentecost. I hope that in that time you were all able to find the story of faith reflective in your own lives by understanding that we all suffer (Good Friday), we all wait in hope for something better (Holy Saturday), and we all have resurrection moments that bring us hope (Resurrection Sunday) to go out and share that hope with others (Pentecost).

I found myself trying to live out the above events (known as the Paschal Mystery) amid the other goings-on in my life. In the last couple of months, I have run the Boston Marathon and have finished my first year of teaching and coaching at my high school alma mater. I've gone away on retreat for a few days. I have watched my younger brother marry his high school sweetheart and have visited wonderful friends in the Atlanta/Athens, Georgia, areas. And now I find myself in Edwards/Vail, CO, finding time to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation in the Rocky Mountains while resting and training in the cool, clean air that comes with being 7,000 or more feet above sea level.

Though all of the above events have their own intricacies and back stories that I wish I would have spent the time to share over the last few months, one thought/reflection has been constant. Before I expand on this thought, take a minute to think about the people that bring you the most joy as well as the people who seem to bring you the most anguish. Once you have done that, call to mind that each of those people are blessed with gifts, talents, and skills that have the potential to positively influence all those around them. Remember this especially when thinking of the people who bring you anguish. Now that you have done this you are ready for the reflection.

We have all heard the saying/disclaimer, “Don’t take this personally, but…” Well, this saying is the basis for my reflection. Over the last few months, the idea of “taking things personally” has really resonated with me. I have come to be a proponent of taking everything personally. Why? Because when we take things personally, we then internalize the situation which provides us with more clarity of the complexities that life throws our way. For example, when we watch the news and see awful injustices taking place in our communities or around the world, do we sympathize and move on, or do we try to “take it personally” as if those injustices were happening to us and our loved ones? If we can do the latter, do you think we may be more likely to understand the struggles of others and view them through eyes of love and compassion? I firmly believe so.

For Christians, taking things personally is what our faith is all about. We believe that God took things so personally that he gave us Jesus to teach us how to be personal with each other. Our “churchy” word for this is the Incarnation (God made flesh), or as we might think of it, God made personal. So, as I conclude, I hope that we can all take things a bit more personally because in doing so, I believe that we will come to know God, ourselves, and others, in a tremendously deep way that will change the world for the better.

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

Here are some pictures from recent events. Enjoy.

A Lenten Sculpture

Well, friends, we have entered into the season of Lent yet again. As I may have mentioned in the past, this is my favorite season of the church year. Though it can be quite difficult to find the time to contemplate that I truly desire during this season especially, the challenge in and of itself can be quite rewarding. As a Catholic religion teacher of adolescent boys, I find that the challenge is even greater to impart on the young men with whom I work every day. Teaching them how to truly embrace the reasons for why we "give up things" for Lent is tough. I'll share two of the ways I will try to communicate this to them.

The first way that I hope to share the meaning of Lent with my students comes from something that I learned a few years ago. Common Lenten practices consist of giving up favorite foods, drinks, TV shows, poor habits, and in some cases these days, giving up social media access. In theory, these are good individual things. However, if the point of Lent is to bring us closer to Christ through the Paschal Mystery, then we must ask first ask ourselves what was the point of Christ's crucifixion. I asked my students this, and they were able to tell me that Christ loved us so much that he died for our sins. Correct. He loved us and died for our sins. These italicized words are communal in nature. With this idea of community in mind, I try to share with my students that when they are determining what they will "do for Lent" they should consider how those actions can make them better for their not only themselves but also their communities. Does simply giving up a certain food or drink for Lent help us work with others? Does removing oneself from social media enable us to be more socially present? Perhaps, yes. Perhaps, no. All of our journeys are different, but we are all called to a "new evangelization" that asks us to go out and bring the faith to people rather than waiting for them to come in.

This idea of individual journeys leads me to the other way I'll try to teach Lent to my students. This way comes from something I read recently in my Living with Christ subscription. The editor in the booklet talked about how Michaelangelo referred to his sculptures as beautiful works already created he just needed to knock away the stone to find them. The editor likened this idea to our Lenten journeys. He said that our Lenten time is be a great time for us to continue knocking away the stone that surrounds our lives until we are left showing our true beauty that God already completed out of love. I hope that this sculpture concept will resonate with my students as it has with me.

The editor's complete reflection is in the picture below:

After all, as I tell my students, everything that we do within the church should always point us toward the Kingdom of God. With this in mind, here is a quote that I found the other day in my Lenten reflective material, "God's kingdom is, first of all, the active presence of God's Spirit within us, offering us the freedom we truly desire." May our Lenten journey practices provide us all with that freedom.

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

The Spirit of Sport

Recently, I attended a faculty award ceremony. There, the marquee award recipient graciously thanked the many folks that had inspired and encouraged her over the years. Several of these people that she thanked were coaches. As a result of their positive influence on her, she came to truly embrace the beauty of sport. As a convert to Catholicism, she appropriately found a quote by Pope Pius XII reflected her belief in sport.

"Sport, properly directed, develops character, makes a man courageous, a generous loser, and a gracious victor; it refines the senses, gives intellectual penetration, and steels the will to endurance. It is not merely a physical development then. Sport, rightly understood, is an occupation of the whole man, and while perfecting the body as an instrument of the mind, it also makes the mind itself a more refined instrument for the search and communication of truth and helps man to achieve that end to which all others must be subservient, the service and praise of his Creator."
- Pope Piux XII, Sport at the Service of the Spirit, July 29, 1945

This perspective on sport is quite appropriate considering the Sochi Winter Olympics currently underway. We may find ourselves getting caught up in the political and social elements of the games and how good or bad the conditions are for a city to host the games. While our concerns and perspectives should not go without recognition, let us please remember the athletes above all else. They are recognized on a worldwide scale only once every four years making these couple of weeks so important for them. Their efforts and stories certainly encompass Pius XII's definition of sport.

I'd like to leave you with a story from ESPN's Outside the Lines program. This story is about a small high school football team facing tremendous odds at success. This story contains social justice implications regarding immigration, just living wages, and access to education. With these in mind, enjoy this real life example of what Pius XII was talking about.

Mendota Football

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

New Self for a New Year

Hello friends,
I can not believe that I have let a month slip by without taking some time to reflect and write. As we begin a new calendar year, I pray that I will devote more time to my reflections and writings now that I have established a routine for school.

Today, in the Catholic Church, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. In the simplest of terms, this celebration  remembers the how the Magi (aka Three Wise Men or Three Kings) received a vision or message from God which led them to the home of Jesus. As men of faith, the reason they were able to find Jesus was because they were open to how the Spirit of the universe might speak to them. This openness, I'm sure, was a result of their own self-images being centered on something much bigger than themselves. This idea of self-image is one that I'd like to expand on a bit further.

During this past Advent, I used a daily reflection book by Fr. Richard Rohr, ofm., to guide my journey toward Christmas. One of the days he talk about "addiction to our own self-image." As I thought about this, I began to understand what Rohr was saying. Too often, we promote and maintain our self-image based what society, family, friends, co-workers, teammates, etc., says is "proper". While we certainly want to have a good self-image, that self-image is always at its best when we only view ourselves that way God views us: as beloved children.  Rohr says this in particular, "I will take God's image of me any day, which is always patient and merciful, over my neighbor's rashly formed image of me." Think about your best friend. Is your friendship predicated upon shared circumstances (school, work, clubs, organizations) where common ground takes the form of class, race, age, income, dress, language, style, social venues, or peer groups? If so, ask yourself if that friend would still be your friend if none of those shared circumstances existed anymore. This may be tough to answer given it's theoretical context. However, the beauty about our self-image in God is that none of those things matter! We are beloved in God's sight no matter what. Rohr concludes his reflection with a quote from St. Teresa of Avila, "Find God in yourself, and find yourself in God."

I hope that in recognizing our true God-self images, we will come to have the kind of life-changing epiphany that the Magi that we still celebrate today.

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

For the Birds

This past week I had the privilege of visiting with friends that I no long get to see on a regular basis. As always, being in their presence, whether in Athens, GA or in New Orleans, LA, brought me great peace, inspiration, and energy to live my life seeking the Spirit always.  Thank you, friends, for being marvelous blessings in my life.

Now, you may be wondering what the phrase "for the birds" has to do with my above thoughts.  Well, as you may know, the phrase "for the birds" often designates that something is insignificant, unimportant, or trivial.  I'm going to spin this phrase to mean the quite the opposite as I reflect on an experience of mine this week. Earlier this week, I went to the Audobon Zoo with a friend. Rarely do I go to the zoo, but anytime a friend who has not been there before wants to go, I welcome the opportunity. As we wandered through the different animal exhibits, we came upon the aviary. As you might expect inside this sealed off space, we found many different breeds of birds occupying the trees, branches, bushes, ponds, etc.  However, what you may not realize is that these different breeds of birds came from all different parts of the world.  The birds covered a wide spectrum of sizes and colors, too. They were magnificent to be around.  Their diversity struck me as interesting because many of these birds were out of their natural environments and living among other birds that were indigenous to completely different environments from their own. Yet, all of the birds seemed to have adapted quite well to each other and their shared home.  Upon seeing this, I reflected upon how often we, as humans, have difficulty getting along with other humans from very different environments, cultures, customs, etc. Are we not supposed to be more intelligent and rational than simple birds? Sometimes, I wonder about this.  Also, these birds not only were living in peace with one another, but they were not upset by our human presence at all. They crossed beneath our feet, flew over our heads, and sang their pleasant songs in ways that almost seemed to welcome us into their space.  How welcoming are we to others who are from "different parts of the world" than us?  Each time we see violence, poverty, injustice, hate, etc. perhaps we should think of the birds living in peace with one another sharing their space and resources so that they all may coexist beautifully. Is this not the purpose of God's creation?

So, next time you hear the phrase "that's for the birds" think about how it may be more appropriate to say "that's for the humans" instead. The Spirit was very much present with the birds in the aviary and as as a result of my being there, the Spirit was very much present with me, too.

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

The Spirit of the Blue Dot

I just saw this shared on Facebook, and I figured I had to pass this along. Enjoy the reflection on the power of the Spirit that pervades and continues to pervade this tiny yet marvelous piece of God's creation.

The tiny blue dot.

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

(W)Holy Spirit Come!

Hello everyone,

As many of you know, this past week marked the yearly occasions of Halloween and All Saints' Day. This week began with a reflection from a visiting priest that I heard last week. He shared a story with us about a girl whom he had met in his days as a missionary.  This girl, who had been sold into a life of prostitution for 14 years in Haiti, said upon her rescue that "we should not tell God how big our problems are, but rather, we should tell our problems how big God is." Now, situations like this girl's are hard for many of us to comprehend, but we can see in her saintliness a path of faith that is accessible to all of us.

As Halloween approached, I made sure to share with my students that the history of Halloween simply includes preparing ourselves to celebrate All Saints' Day. Halloween is simply an older English word for Hallow's eve (the evening before honoring all holy people). With this understanding, I turn my thoughts toward our school-wide mass on All Saints' Day. First of all, at my school, rarely do we refer to our masses as such. Rather, those Eucharistic gatherings are called "school-wide liturgies". I mention this because when we understand that the meaning of the word "liturgy" refers to the "work of the people," the celebration of our school community makes a lot more sense.  When trying to gather a total of 1300 people or so for mass, much work must come together to bring the Eucharist alive for all involved. A symphonic band, a men's chorus, acolytes, student ministers, lectors, and symbolic decorations are much of what must fall into place in order for the Eucharistic celebration to hopefully leave those in attendance feeling inspired to continue the work of the Spirit. At this particular liturgy, our celebrant, an ordained Brother of the Sacred Heart, challenged the congregation (mostly adolescent boys) to think of being holy as simply our attempt at being "whole". This simple message of always striving to be as "whole" or complete a person as can be is one that I believe the young men could relate to as they try to figure out who they are and what they are called to do. For the rest of us, this is a good reminder that being holy does not mean always doing everything right, but rather, just trying to be authentic versions of ourselves in all that we do.

How do we take a step toward being more (w)holy? One thing we can do is remember the words of the Haitian girl: don't tell God how big your problems are; tell your problems how big God is. By aiming to keep our lives in this kind of perspective, truly, we are closer to being holy authentic complete people.

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

A Youthful Spirit

So, it has been about a month since my last post. Much has been going on with work and what not, but in recent days I have experienced a couple of happenings that I would like to share with you. These events are quite different in nature, but what I think they all do is show the limitless boundaries in which the Spirit operates.

First, I'd like to start with something that I experience on a daily basis. As many of you know, I coach cross country at the high school level. I work primarily with 12-14 year old boys. These guys compete in 2-mile races and their abilities range from 11 minutes to 26 minutes. What strikes me as amazing every day is the support and encouragement that most of these guys give each other. One young man in particular approached me to suggest that another team member be moved up into a better training group because their current group was too slow for him. This kind of selflessness at such a young age is truly inspiring for me. Watching these guys work hard (while still maintaining their silliness and immaturity of course), gets me excited for the type of young men and athletes they will become down the road. I know that with each practice, our guys are experiencing the Spirit in their lives through the camaraderie of their teammates as well as the care of those of us who coach them. I am eager to see how the rest of our season plays out.

The second item is a more isolated event that I had the honor of experiencing this weekend. I was invited to take part in one of the four overnight retreats that our senior class attends every year. This retreat focuses on understanding true Christian manhood. Seeing seniors in high school come together for a couple of days and open themselves up to the surrender and compassion needed to live a truly humble life in the Spirit is awesome. This retreat gave me the opportunity to view the upperclassmen in light of my daily experiences with the lowerclassmen. This allowed me to view the maturity and attitude of the 7th, 8th, and 9th graders that I coach to that of these seniors. I must say that these seniors, while still having much room for growth, already seem to have a faithful grasp of life. As one speaker mentioned, this age group is living in a unique stage of life where they have the energy of boys with the wisdom of men.  This speaker encouraged the young man to seize the rest of their senior year as well as the next several years of life and become powerful men through their faith, humility, and love. I pray that these young men will continue to face the challenges of their lives with a spirit of fortitude that can only come from God. While the retreat contained many wonderful discussions and activities, I will not mention those in the interest of maintaining the surprise and wonder of the young men yet to make their retreat. Just know that the Spirit of courage and confidence that we try to share with the seniors was very alive this weekend and will continue to be thanks to the efforts of the campus ministry team and faculty who put on these wonderful retreats.

I pray that we all can find the innocence and energy of our youth and combine it with the wisdom and knowledge of adulthood to become the best human beings we can be in this life. The Spirit is alive and well.  If we continue to run the race and take time to retreat, we are certain to experience the Spirit daily!

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

A Humble Spirit

Hello, friends,
I can't believe that it has been almost a month since my last post.  I guess I need to make a more concerted effort amid my new schedule to reflect and write a bit more.  This being said, I do have thoughts that come to mind during the day, but I simply haven't taken the time to put them down in writing.

Anyway, a thought that has remained in the forefront of my mind is one from a few weeks ago. I heard a priest give a homily on one of the most important qualities that we can possess: humility. The timing of his lesson was interesting given that football season was starting and certain collegiate football players were gaining media attention for being anything but humble. I realized then that we have way too many egos in our world today.  The priest shared a quote with us this quote from a best selling author:

There are two kinds of people in the world. One kind of person when entering a room will say, "Well, here I am!" The other kind of person when entering the room will not say anything but rather other folks will say, "Oh, look, there he is!" 

This quote resonated with me because I know at times I have been the first kind of person drawing undue attention to myself rather than just allowing myself to be present.  I thought of this quote in terms of our presence before amid the Spirit of God. I feel like God always notices us when we "enter the room" and is saying "Oh, look, there he is!" God has every right to be the first kind of being who brings attention to God's self, but rather, always shows us loving attention.

So, as we go forward this week and beyond, let us all recognize the presence of others rather than making our presence known.

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

God bless Earth

Hello friends,
Thank you for your patience in between my posts.  I have enjoyed beginning my new teaching job, but I am still trying to find a good time each week when I can sit and write.

My post this week may be one of the more random connections to the Spirit that I feel I have ever documented.  So, this past Friday evening, I competed in a two-mile road race with some of my training buddies.  Prior to the race, as expected, a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner was played.  The race director played the famous Whitney Houston version of our national anthem.  Personally, I am not a fan of this version, and as a result, my mind wandered for most of the recording.  My mind did, however, wander toward the idea of patriotism.  Patriotism in the United States confuses me.  I often see and hear images, symbols, slogans, etc. that attempt to link patriotism to Christianity.  When we say/sing "God Bless America," what exactly do we mean?  Are we asking God to bless this country more than other countries? Are we claiming that we have the market on God's blessings while others receive God's hand-me-downs?  Are we invoking God to be on our side rather than on the side of others?  These are inflections and connotations that I can not help but feel sometimes.  I would like to think that when we say "God bless America" we are asking God for the grace to help others around the world by using the plethora of resources at our disposal to promote the common world good rather than for just our own benefit.  I think what is important here is to remember that the Spirit of God moves where it will and that includes any and all places of the world (not just the U.S.).  So, how did all of this come from listening to one of my least favorite national anthem recordings?  I can not say.  All I know is that I now have more food for thought.

In addition to this thought provoking recording, I found myself watching the movie, The Soloist (2009), on Saturday evening.  This is a remarkable movie about mental health, homelessness, and the power of music.  In this film, a Julliard level cellist, is living on the street after going through mental anguish as a young man.  This based-on-a-true-story movie, pointed out even more to me the confusion I find in being patriotic in this country.  We have so many resources in this country that could end national hunger, decrease poverty, and promote better standards of living for most people.  However, we seem to have such a problem making these resources available to others.  Meanwhile, we say "God bless America" while often turning a blind eye to these circumstances.  Why is that?  I wish I knew the answer.  So, I guess my challenge for all of us who live here in the United States and profess faith in God, is to remember our blessings daily and truly strive to give of ourselves to our countrymen and women (and ultimately the world citizens at large).  In doing so, I pray that our efforts may one day to say God bless the United Countries of Earth.

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

An Extra "Ordinary" Piece

As I start my new obligations as a high school religion teacher, I worry that I will not have as much time to devote to my blog.  I certainly will not give up on this entirely.  However, please be patient with me in my posting.  I'll try to post something each week even if it just a simple sharing of something I found inspiring.  Please enjoy this article that I found from one of my favorite websites recently.  The article builds off of my thoughts from last week.

Relevant Magazine Article

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

Ordinary is Extraordinary

Since my last post, I have found myself thinking about my spiritual sisu a bit more.  I continue to ask myself, "How can I find my spiritual greatness?"  I find it almost humorous how timely God tends to answer questions like these.  I guess the gospel last Sunday (Luke 11: 1-13) should have given me the confidence that I would receive an answer.  The gospel did talk about asking, seeking, and knocking in order to learn from the Spirit.  So, what answer did the Spirit give my inquiry into finding spiritual greatness?  Well, the answer actually revolves around simply being ordinary.

Now, you might be asking, "Drew, how can you expect to become great from being ordinary?"  First, let's look at the word extraordinary.  If we break the word into two parts: extra and ordinary, then the simple answer is that we just need to be more ordinary in our daily goings-on.  Huh? More ordinary?  Stay with me I'm not trying to confuse anyone.  I'm simply trying to explain that greatness does not necessarily come from doing superhuman things.  Rather, it comes from our ability to do necessary everyday things well.  Here are a few examples of everyday things: being polite, saying hello to people who cross your path, picking up litter and throwing it away or recycling it, smiling, being patient while driving, listening when others speak to you, etc.  None of the above are overly difficult.  They are quite ordinary practices, and yet, how often do we neglect to do these things?  I know I neglect them on a daily basis.  One good example of a man doing ordinary things well, who has been in the news lately, is Pope Francis.  In my opinion, he should be called the "ordinary pope."  For those who have not been following him, you should do a little research into his activities lately.  He seems to epitomize being ordinary.  He has done his very best (up to this point) to shed the image of royalty and authority often associated with church hierarchy for a much more down to earth image.  He did not invent this image, though.  He is simply trying to bring the image of Jesus back to the forefront.  If we pay close enough attention to Jesus in the scriptures, we find that he was the best at being ordinary.  He seemed to do all of the little ordinary things that would benefit others in large extraordinary ways.  So, by doing the ordinary things extremely well, Jesus was extraordinary.  This is how we find our spiritual greatness.

Over the past week, I have found one avenue where I can practice being more ordinary than usual.  That avenue is in my friendship to others.  I have two friends that have gone through stress and sadness within this same week.  One friend, in the midst of taking the bar exam, had to face the reality that he had to put down his dog that had been suffering from prostate cancer.  The other friend, while on an annual vacation with his buddies of around fifteen years, lost one of those friends in a drowning accident.  Since, I have come to find out that the first friend actually knew the man who drowned, too.  Goodness.  What was I to do?  Naturally, I wanted to grieve with and for my friends, but would that be enough?  I wanted to do something extraordinary for them.  However, the more I thought about the extraordinary, the more I wasted time not doing anything.  In the end, my simple yet ordinary offering of prayers, support, and availability was exactly what these guys needed.  So, as we go forward in our lives, let us make a commitment to simply being the best kind of ordinary we can be and in doing so, we will become extraordinary.

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

A Spirit of Sisu

Last year around this time, I posted about my experience as a camp counselor at the Gulf States Distance Running Camp in St. Benedict, LA.  Well, I would like to once again share some of my thoughts from this tiring yet motivating week.

I had the opportunity last week to give a talk to the camp about "Why I Choose to Run."  After much thought and reflection, I chose to revolve my talk around a word from the Finnish language that I have come to embrace: sisu.  From what I have come to know about sisu, it is a word that attempts to describe the spirit within humans being that encompasses guts, determination, "never give up" attitudes, and the like.  However, sisu represents these things and so much more.  It is more of a state of drive and perseverance that can only come from within a person.

In my talk I tried to challenge the athletes that in order to achieve greatness in their lives, they would need to find a sisu in their lives that is authentic to themselves.  Upon deeper reflection, I realized that sisu is probably that which the Spirit of God tries to instill in us as we face persecution, doubt, criticism, hatred, sadness, death, etc., in our lives.  The grit, determination, and toughness of sisu when viewed through a lens of the Spirit should always take the form of unceasing forgiveness, persistent kindness, and unwavering non-violence.  

I hope we can all find the sisu within us needed to make ourselves and others great human beings.

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

A Lesson on Diversity

Diversity: a state of variety among persons, places, and things.

When I was in high school, some students and faculty started a club called the Welcoming Diversity Club.  The purpose of this club was to reach out to all members of the student body in an effort to bridge any cultural gaps between groups of students.   This club focused on creating an organization full of people from different races, backgrounds, cultures, etc.  Groups like the Welcoming Diversity Club are great opportunities for us to remember that we live in a world full of people that cover the spectrum in terms of skin color, eye color, hair color, height, weight, language, eating habits, drinking habits, recreational practices, religions, socioeconomic status, and on goes the list.  

My point for mentioning this is that while I live in a country that seems to pride itself on its diversity, and while I profess a faith and claim a church that is supposed to accept all people regardless of life circumstances and cultural backgrounds, I can't help but look around myself and notice a whole lot of the same thing.  This "same thing" in my case is primarily an all-white, middle class society.  While this is not bad in an of itself by any means, I sometimes find myself wondering where I might find a larger Spirit of diversity.  Before reading further, take a minute to think about a normal week for you.  Is there a majority of people who look, act, and dress a certain way?  Is there a clear minority of people who look, act, and dress a certain way?  How does this make you feel?  Ok, now you can keep reading.

Well, last week, I found one such place that may be the best source of social diversity I have ever seen: the Department of Motor Vehicles.  I made this trip to the DMV in order to get new license plates for my car.  In the four hours that I had to wait to accomplish my task for the day, I had quite a bit of time to take in my surroundings.  What I saw (other than an inefficient way of doing business) were a couple hundred people ranging in all of the diversity criteria mentioned in the first paragraph.  Some folks kept to themselves (as I did) while others made conversation with each other to pass the time.  These interactions were encouraging to see, I must say.  However, as I continued to gaze upon this extremely diverse crowd, my intrigue turned more toward dismay.  I realized how unfortunate it is that it takes a place like the DMV and the necessity for people to have ID's, Driver's Licenses, and vehicle registrations to gather people together from all walks of life.  Shouldn't my church be a place where I see this diversity?  How about my neighborhood or local grocery store?  I mean, sure there are exceptions to this situation, but on the whole, in my daily goings-on, I see way more people that look like me than not.  Why is this?  Why in the year 2013 is much of our society still divided according to class and culture rather than united in spite of those things?  If God created all of us with equal love, then why is there seemingly so much lack of inclusion among different social/cultural groups?

I wish I had the answers to these questions.  However, I do not.  All I have is all that any of us can have and that is a heart of love and compassion for our fellow humans.  I am very thankful that Pope Francis seems to be encouraging all people regardless of their belief systems to care for God's creation and one another.  If we can honestly try to extend ourselves outside of our comfort zones and diversify our lives to include others not like ourselves, then we will make some headway.  I'd like to think that this headway will look a lot better than the scene at the DMV.  Haha.  I guess this just goes to show that even the local DMV, while both dismal and frustrating, is not above the ability of the Spirit to work in our lives and teach us something about the joy that comes from the love that God has for all people.

Throughout the next week, I'd like to challenge you to be extra cognizant of the people around whom you find yourself in every situation.  Do you notice a trend?  Reflect on this for a while and see what the Spirit has to tell you about things.  

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

Who Am I?

Just when I was having some difficulty finding the time and the topic to devote to my blog, the weekend came along with a question that turned out to be a good one for reflection.  Over the past few days, I have experienced the following: a new teacher orientation, the wedding of a long-time friend, an evening movie, and today's gospel.  All of these experiences reflect the question "Who am I?"

At my new teacher orientation, I learned a little bit about the teaching mission of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.  This mission revolves around educating students "beyond methodology" which challenges teachers to always strive to educate students both in and out of the classroom spiritually, academically, socially, etc.  This orientation made me realize that to be a good teacher I must confidently know who I am before I can expect to challenge young men to answer "Who am I?" for themselves.

At the wedding on Friday, I watched my very good friend marry her husband.  The celebration of their marriage reminded me that in order for people to unite with each other in this way, they must know who they are as individuals first.  Once they did this, then their "Who am I?" becomes a more inspiring and encouraging "Who are we?"  I know they will continue to define their identity as a couple for many years to come.

Last night, as I relaxed at home, I put on Les Miserables, which you may remember is a wonderful story of redemption and forgiveness.  One of the songs in the musical is called "Who am I".  In this song, the main character, Jean Valjean, must embrace his true identity as a forgiven sinner before he can honestly move forward with his life to be who God created him to be: a beloved son.

While this "Who am I?" question was on my mind this morning, the gospel from this Sunday's mass from Luke 9:18-24 really brought light to this question for me.  In the gospel, Jesus asks the disciples who people say that he is and then asks Peter who Peter says Jesus is.  This taught me that sometimes the way people see me might not be the way that I see me and vice versa.  However, if I am honest with myself about my earnestness to reflect the beliefs I have in God, I believe others will see that in me (even though I will continue to struggle with that as we all do).

Next time God asks us who we think God is, how are we going to respond?  Will we talk the talk about God by using great adjectives like the disciples or will we walk the walk by claiming our relationship with God as Peter did?  I know that if we commit ourselves to getting to know God, then as a result we will know "who we are" that much more.

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

Spirit of Brotherhood

Hello everyone,
This past week or so since my last post has certainly been exciting and tiring at the same time.  As you may recall, my last post, "The Spiritual Toolbox," addressed how our experiences equip us with the tools we need to do good for ourselves and others as we move forward through life.  Well, in the last week as I began settling back into my hometown of New Orleans, I've already had to use some of my tools to begin my new work as a teacher and coach at Brother Martin High School.  However, I'm sure I'll have more to talk about on this topic in the coming weeks.  What I would like to talk a little bit about is the homecoming experience I had this past weekend.

On Saturday of this past week, I had my 10-year high school reunion.  I graduated from Brother Martin High School with two hundred eighty-eight other guys in 2003.  While I did not plan on this reunion being a piece of my coming home celebration, it certainly was a pleasant and timely addition.  When I arrived at the reunion, I quickly felt myself transported back in time ten years as I saw the men with whom I graduated and heard their voices recounting stories from our days as Crusaders walking the halls of Brother Martin.  Though many of us had not seen each other in years (not counting our connections on popular social media sites), we seemed to settle right back in to the camaraderie that we had developed in the past (albeit a slightly more mature bunch).  I think what allowed me to enjoy our celebration this much more was the fact that though we have grown up according to the "real world's" standards and may still have differences in views and opinions, we still held a connection that only we could understand as classmates.  Amid all of the changes we may have gone through as individuals over that last ten years, we, as a collective unit, still seemed to have the "fire in our eyes" as one teacher told us during our senior year.  I know that this feeling of unity and pride stems from the larger mission that our school represents.

Our high school is run by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart (a religious community of men in the tradition of the Catholic Church).  The charism or identity of the brothers is one that is committed to the education and formation of young people.  As a result of their mission and ministry towards us, we, the members of the class of 2003 can say we are better men for having had the privilege of their influence in our lives.  I know that as we go forward we will continue to succeed and fail in all our endeavors, but we will always have a brotherly connection with each other that I pray will always provide us with a sense of faith, hope, and love for the journey ahead.  I am extremely proud to be a graduate of Brother Martin High School, and I am excited to be able to help carry on the mission of the brothers this year as I begin my time as a member of the faculty.

As we say at Brother Martin:
Ametur Cor Jesu: Love be the heart of Jesus

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

The Spiritual Toolbox

Hello friends,

My post this week is a bittersweet one.  I am sitting here in my office on what is my last day as the Director of Religious Education at the Catholic Center at the University of Georgia.  As some of you know, I have decided to end this chapter of my life here in Athens, Georgia, and start a new chapter back in my hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana.  While I am very excited for the journey ahead, I can not help but pause and reflect over my time in Athens and look at the path and events that have led me to this point.  

The image of a toolbox is one that helps my reflection on these last few years.  As a young man, I have faced the reality of having to find my niche in adulthood while still maintaining the childhood joy and energy that allows me to view the world for the good.  As I have come to open my eyes and my heart to others over the last few years, I realize that this is both challenging and tiring but very necessary.  This is where the toolbox comes in to play.  If the purpose of a toolbox is to store instruments used to build, destroy, mend, or break, then I challenge myself to stock of what tools are in my toolbox.  Do I have more tools conducive to building and mending things than destroying or breaking?  I believe I do now.  Looking back over my years in Athens, I have acquired many new tools for my box that I firmly believe will help me in my work in the near and distant future.  When I realized that my spiritual toolbox had become quite full in Athens, I decided that the timing was right for me to move on to my next life project.

Please remember, though, that the tools we acquire in life do not always come from positive experiences.  Often we must struggle with life in order to gain a perspective or energy toward life that will then transform us into better spiritual carpenters if you will.  However, whether the positive or negative, each life experience provides us with a valuable tool that equips us to do good work wherever our next life project lies.

As I conclude my final post from Athens, I'd like to thank all of those who have shared their spiritual tools with me over the years:  my colleagues in the Clarke County School District, thank you; my training mates in the Athens running community, thank you; and of course, my family at the Catholic Center at UGA, thank you!!  For those of you reading this, please I hope you will take some time to look into your life's toolbox.  Get rid of those instruments of division (I've heard that the wedge is the devil's favorite tool), and increase the your instruments of unity.  By doing this we will all build up the city of God in which we are proud to live each day.

Rather than my usual closing sentiment, I'll leave you with the words of St. Julian of Norwich which were some of the first words that I learned form my very dear friend, Fr. Tom Vigliotta, ofm, five years ago:

All shall be well and all shall be well. In every manner of things, all shall be well.

If we use our tools for good, these words will echo true for years to come.

peace

A Meeting of Good

Over the last few years in Athens, GA, I have gotten to know people from many different cultures, faiths, backgrounds, etc.  This exposure to diversity has been a blessing for me in my personal development and appreciation of the world in which we live.  I have come to recognize the common ground that we all share simply as a result of our human bond.  While I understand that not everyone believes in Jesus or even God for that matter, I strongly believe that we can all still believe in one another because of our shared humanity.

Pope Francis spoke just the other day about this sentiment of shared humanity. Here is an excerpt from his homily:

The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. “But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.” Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him. . . .

The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! “Father, the atheists?” Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. . . . “But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!” But do good: we will meet one another there.

Now, these words have the potential to cause debate and controversy over different teachings on salvation.  However, I challenge you to simply read them through a lens of commonality with our fellow brothers and sisters in humanity.  If we can try to do this, then I think we are more likely to walk in peace with one another whether we are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, etc.  

Here is another resource on the words of Pope Francis that I came across yesterday. It attempts to answer a common question that arises from inclusive statements like the one Francis made this week.  

If Atheists Can Go to Heaven, Why Bother with Faith? 

A Jesuit priest on my Manresa retreat recently, shared with us a lesson on identity.  In essence, he was teaching us that when we focus on knowing and understanding that our primary identity is that we are beloved sons and daughters of God, friends of Christ, and temples of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to work through all that life presents us.  I might go a step further and say that when we embrace our primary identity, we will be able to meet any and everyone at doing good for each other.

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

Blessed are those who Hunger...

I write my post this week with mixed feelings.  As the title this week suggests, I'd like to share a few thoughts about hunger.  Three things, in particular, happened to me this week that have influenced my reflection.

Last Sunday (Mother's Day), as I sat in the congregation at mass, I had the honor of sitting around several children.  These children, roughly 0-3 years old, struggling to fit the church norm of quiet cooperation, were happily engaged in their own tasks.  Of course, the parents were making their attempts to "shh" the children, but this did not work entirely.  Something about the gestures and sounds that these children were making put a smile on my face rather than a look of frustration that I might normally expect from myself.  I realized that these "children of God" were actually showing me the innocent joy that Jesus teaches us is a beautiful thing that we should allow ourselves to maintain throughout our lives.  Children hunger for simple joys and watching these children on Sunday affirmed for me that their parents are doing a good job satisfying this hunger through tender love and care.

Providing "tender love and care" for one's children through hugs, kisses, affirming language, and other positive reinforcement is so very important.  I'm so very thankful to have had all of these (and still have these) showered on my by my parents.  My development into adulthood, I believe, is a direct reflection of my parents' commitment to this affection.  However, my parents coupled this affection for me with access to good food and healthcare.  If my parents had not satisfied my physical hunger, I would have been more likely to have greater health concerns and more likely to struggle in school.  Most people would agree that children can not grow up healthy, smart, and motivated as a result of affection only.  Children (and adults, too, of course) need physical nourishment to sustain the mind and body on a daily basis.  Too often physical hunger goes unnoticed in our country (and world).  While I have understood on a cursory level that hunger is a problem in our society, I had no idea just how far-reaching it is in our own country.  This week, I saw a new documentary called A Place at the Table.  This documentary provides a close look at the issue of child hunger in the United States.  I encourage all of you to find this film and watch it.  Check out this website for more information: http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable/.  The greatest lesson I learned from the film is that one out of four children in the U.S. are hungry! This is outrageous given that there is more than enough food here to fix this problem.  I've come to believe that satisfying physical hunger first can lead to opening the door toward spiritual nourishment.  They are deeply connected to our being.

Sometimes, though, we have no idea just how connected or disconnected the physical and the spiritual hunger is for people.  This week, a terrible tragedy happened in our faith community.  One of the fourteen- year-old boys in our Religious Education program took his own life.  This freshman in high school came from wonderful parents who succeeded most often in satisfying he and his older brother's physical and spiritual hunger.  When things like this happen (which they seemingly happens more frequently these days), we can't even begin to imagine the depth of hunger that these young people go through.  Naturally, we start to ask "what if" questions that might have prevented such a tragedy.  However, all this does is deepen our own hunger for answers and reconciliation.  How do we then satisfy this hunger?  I would suggest we try to do so through faith, hope, and love.

As you can see, hunger is an extremely relevant reality for us today.  I pray that we all find ways to not only satisfy our own hungers, but also to help as many people as we can satisfy their own.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." -Matthew 5:6

As I read the above passage, I believe that righteousness refers to any human's attempt to find the perfect joy and peace that comes from God.

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