Lenten Promises

Many take up a practice for Lent, like daily Bible readings, daily rosaries, daily fast. Many others give up practices like smoking, chocolate, coffee. It's almost like New Year's resolutions part 2. The real challenge, just like any resolution is the matter of follow though. Johnny McCharen, a fine businessman here in Oklahoma told me, "Any game with a stick and a ball requires three things. Keep your eye on the ball, strike it squarely with the stick, and follow though the stroke. It is the same in life, identify your goal, make a swing at it, and follow though to the end of the swing."

As we are just now at the beginnings of Lent, the passion to fulfill the Lenten promises is still heavily heartfelt. As time wears on though, the challenge of the follow though will appear. I like what Tony Dungy the football coach says, "If it's important enough to you, you'll do it!"

Is keeping a Lenten promise important enough to you?

Next week I will begin back on the series of the Inconvenient Faith, starting with the earliest of heresies and schisms and working our way up through history to the modern issues we face. I've often thought that we don't remain faithful to the Church because we find it inconvenient to the life we want to lead. Just like keeping the Lenten promise, we may find it inconvenient to our time or other desires. Tony Dungy had it right, "If it's important enough to you, you'll do it!"

Ash Wednesday

"Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return"

I don't know about you, but I get chills just thinking about this. Today reminds me of the finiteness of our life. Today is a stark reminder of our impending death. Death is when we settle our debts to God. Will you shake with horror at your position with God? How can you better your position? Do you really put all of your trust in the Lord?

As Mark Twain once said, "The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."

Let's begin this season of Lent by becoming fully prepared. God bless you on your Lenten journey this year.

The Inconvenient Faith - Shrove Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras!

It's funny how distance gives you perspective. I dearly miss living on the Coast, but this distance has given me a unique perspective on my ex-Coastal life. I know my family is having fun today, and hopefully drinking a cold one for me.

To give you a glimpse on my perspective now, imagine yourself as a quarterback in a football game. There are highly trained athletes racing towards you, with a goal of trusting your lifeless body into the ground. The crowd is deafening. The game is moving at light speed, and your trying to pass the ball to an open receiver. The longer you hold onto the ball, the greater opportunity you have to make a successful pass, however your also giving your opponents time to tackle you. You put your trust in the offensive line, and they are holding well. You look down field for an open opportunity. You throw the ball with your best precision, and moments after your release a defensive back comes in line with ball... The man you thought was open was actually double covered. You never noticed the lone man who was wide open all the time. How could you? You were in the heat of battle!

It's easy to sit on the 50 yard line and see the open receiver. The guy on the sidelines have a full field of view, and they don't have an imminent threat of physical injury.

Sometimes we find ourselves so engaged in our personal life that we don't take time to step back and look at the full field. It's worth a look to the sidelines and talk to a trusted friend about the game in front of you. Talk to trusted allies about what opportunities you may be overlooking.

Tomorrow starts a time for serious work, but as for today...

Laissez le bon temp rouler!!!

The Inconvenient Faith - John

"So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. He said to me, "Take and swallow it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey." I took the small scroll from the angel's hand and swallowed it. In my mouth it was like sweet honey, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. (Rev 10:9-10)"

This past weekend my family and I went the National Shrine of the Infant of Prague for Sunday mass. The priest there Fr. Shane Tharp is among my favorite priests. He can deliver an outstanding homily that is informational, insightful, humorous, and applicable to daily life. He made a mentioning of how God is always there for us, but we as a people turn our faith on and off for him. My mind began to think of the scripture above as he spoke about this topic.

When we hear the Word, and look at the wonders of God it is sweet as honey. It is such a beautiful and wonderful dream to think of the love God has for us. It is when we take this honey, that we can't keep the same taste. We like to hear and think of how wonderful our life is because of God, but we can't seem to take it into our own heart and apply it. Why is it we turn away? Why can't remain constantly faithful? He never turns from us. He is constantly calling for us. He loves us beyond what we can comprehend, yet we fail to love him back.

This also leads me to wonder about my own position with God. Why is it easy for me to speak of his wonders and deeds, but I have such difficulty showing the love of my neighbor. After all, both me and my neighbor are made in his likeness. I am challenging myself this week to not only take in the Word, but try to digest it in my heart this week. Perhaps if I try to better understand Mary the Mother of God who wholly took the Word into herself, can I come closer to my understanding.

"Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi. Amen."

The Inconvenient Faith - Saul

Imagine just bee-bopping along with some co-workers headed to the next city. Maybe your thinking of work, having idle chit chat with the others in your group. Thinking to yourself, "So many things to do. What is my next task? Wonder what we're going to eat for dinner?" Suddenly your world changes...

"...a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He said, "Who are you, sir?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus (Acts 9:3-8)"

I used to envy those that have this "Damascus Road" experience. I've never had such a stark experience in my life. Wouldn't it just be handy if God came into your life in such a way and explicitly ordered you what to do? Wouldn't it be nice if God showed you the right path and decisions to make in your life? What I failed to realize for years is that God does show us and order us the path we should take, however sometimes it is inconvenient to the lifestyle we want to live out.

When I think of Saul here, he was at the top of his game, when this experience happened. He was doing everything he thought was right to do. He was living his life according to the way his society thought he should, but he wasn't living it the way Our Lord wanted. Take some time today to evaluate your life with that in mind.

Maybe some of us will never have the "Damascus Road" experience just simply because we wish to diminish the everyday "Damascus Road" encounters we have with God.

St. Augustine's Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.

The Inconvenient Faith - Phillip

"Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone instructs me?" (Acts 8:40-31)"

As a kid in school, I always had a difficult time with reading comprehension. I could read the words on the page, but after reading the page I couldn't tell you what it was about. Here the Ethiopian is reading from the Isaiah, but isn't sure of what the prophet is saying. Phillip comes along and asks the simple question, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

Without proper instruction, one may not fully comprehend what the words of Scripture are saying. Luckily for us, Jesus left the Apostles and followers to teach through the authority of the Church. I urge you to read your Bible with the willingness of the Ethiopian to admit that sometimes you won’t realize what the scripture is saying. You can certainly seek out other sources like the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Bible study guides, homilies and commentaries from the saints on sites like New Advent, and a variety of other sources. If you are still puzzled or need further understanding, you can always rely on the Magistarium. Ask your deacon, priest, or bishop.

Weekend Fun - Mixed Marriages

The Inconvenient Faith - Stephen

In Acts Chapter 6 we start to read about Stephen brought before the Sanhedrin. The last verse describes the look of him, "All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:15)".

You could imagine the men of the Sanhedrin, and their expressions. They must have all looked at him with concern of what he was accused of doing. I'm sure some may have looked at the angelic face and wondered if it was true. Then the discourse of Stephen began, as stated in Acts Chapter 7.

I wonder if some of the men felt comforted, and a sense of pride as Stephan started to describe the Father of Faith, Abraham, and his story. I bet some of men even nodded their heads with agreement as he went on talking of Issac and Jacob. Some may have even thought that, "Is this man really accused of wrongdoing?"

Stephan continued and told of Moses, David, Solomon, and then he the accusation. "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it. (Acts 7:51-53)"

I bet the eyebrows raised now... "Here this man with the "face of an angel" is saying I'm "stiff-necked". I wonder how many of the men of the Sanhedrin thought, "How dare he. Me a murderer? I obey the law! I enforce the law. This man has lost his mind!" And then Stephen mentioned the Nazarean. Oh, that was the tipping point for the Sanhedrin.

As a person in the Sanhedrin, they must have thought here is someone who blasphemies, "Here is someone who wants to displace my position as irrelevant, and place instead someone who was not the Messiah. I'm not going to let go of my power."

What was Stephen spoke was truth. That truth was inconvenient to the men of the Sanhedrin, for that they had him killed. Stephan kept the faith, and even as the death blows came from the stones he said, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them. (Acts 7:60)"

In our own lives we may have to tell others things that are inconvenient for them to comprehend. It is important that we tell the truth in a loving and faithful manner as Stephen did, even if it received on deaf ears. Sometimes the Truth is inconvenient, but the rewards are eternal.

"St. Stephen, your martyrdom showed how some will reject the truth; even though the Truth leads to eternal life. Pray for us so that we may continue to spread the Truth to others."

The Inconvenient Faith - Peter Part 3

"...there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures. Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability. (2 Peter 3:16-17)"

The warning here is clear. Be careful of what you read and interpret from scripture, be sure study and obey it in light of the Word of God. It is easy to read snippets of a manuscript and derive a separate meaning, than if you read the whole in the light of what the author is trying to convey.

It would be like taking Matt 26:11, "The poor you will always have with you...". So some may jump to conclusions and say since the poor will be always with us, I guess we shouldn't do anything to help. Nonsense! Of course not!

Through the centuries, some have fell from the Church and to find a more "convenient" interpretation of scripture. We can not afford to fall into this trap. Christ gave his Church the teaching authority through the office of Peter to help us understand these things that may be "hard to understand".

The harsh reality is that what the Church may say, won't be convenient to how we would rather have the scripture worded. I heard Steve Ray say when discussing John 6 to someone, "If you don't agree with the scripture, why don't you tell Jesus how he should have said that."

We must let our Theology shape who We are, not shape our Theology to who We want to be.

"Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers.
Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy; God's law they study day and night.
They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers.
But not the wicked! They are like chaff driven by the wind.
Therefore the wicked will not survive judgment, nor will sinners in the assembly of the just.
The LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin. (Psalm 1)"

The Inconvenient Faith - Peter Part 2

Jerusalem, A.D 51

The meeting was called to order... Those in attendance were Peter, Bishop of Antioch; James, Bishop of Jerusalem; Paul, Barnabas, Barsabbas, Silas, other Apostles and presbyters. The issue at hand was if salvation could be attained by the Gentiles. There was much discussion with the Jewish Christians (Judaizers) demanding that all must follow the Mosaic laws. Paul voiced his opinion that salvation could be attained by all though Jesus Christ. Then Peter spoke,

"My brothers, you are well aware that from early days God made his choice among you that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the holy Spirit just as he did us. He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts. Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they. (Acts 15:7-11)"

I find it interesting to note that although James was the Bishop of Jerusalem, Peter's mandate settled the issue. After all, Jesus placed Peter as the head of the apostles and they listened (Matt 16:17-19; John 21:15-17). Peter's line of authority continues today with Pope Benedict XVI.

When Peter speaks, all faithful to the church must listen and obey. Why then don't we listen and obey? Simple, it's inconvenient to our modern lifestyle. The scary truth is that faith isn't based on convenience. If you truly believe that the grace of the Lord Jesus saves us, then you must also believe in the authority of his Church; because it is only by the authority of his Church, that we Gentiles were deemed redemptible.

God bless us; the Church that Christ gave us; it's earthly leader Pope Benedict; and all who listen and obey the voice of Peter. Lord, open the hearts and minds of those who love you, but separate themselves from your Church because of their desire for convenience. St. Peter, pray for us.

The Inconvenient Faith - Peter Part 1

Peter said, "Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and die with you. (Luke 22:33)" Jesus responded, "I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me. (Luke 22:34"

You could imagine the scene, Peter the "Fisherman Philosopher", felt strong about his convictions. He knew Jesus was the Messiah, he witnessed many miracles first hand, he was the one Christ called out to be to Rock. Peter was confident of his position, yet before the night was over he too would deny Christ.

Why did he deny Jesus? I feel that Jesus knew that Satan would influencing them, just as Jesus said he would, (Luke 22:31). It was inconvenient for Peter to claim Christ. It was a matter of "self-preservation" perhaps he thought, maybe he wondered how he could do Christ's work if he was dead. He was ready to tell God that I will defend you to the death, but when the realization came to "real" his inner fortitude crumbled.

Later Peter would truly be Rock and defend Christ to his own death, but not now.

This reminds me of how many times we know something is right, but we fail to act properly. We know when there are things that we shouldn't do, but the influence of Satan crumbles our inner soul.

Today, let's pray that Jesus may fortify our soul, so that we may withstand the influences of Satan.

"Dear Jesus, you warned the disciples that they would be tested, we to face our daily trials with our own circumstances and those brought to us by Satan. Please grant us the strength to defeat Satan with your name and grace you grant us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, pray for me a sinner. St. Peter, pray for us."

The Inconvenient Faith - Preface

I've been rolling this around in my head for a while. As Catholics we must follow the laws of God, however that can be inconvenient to our modern secular culture. I plan on starting to expound upon this in the next couple of blogs. I want to show how a rise of secularism and it's influence on culture is antithetical to the virtues and possibly life of the Church.

To be a real counter-culturalist in today's world, all you have to do is be a faithful Catholic.

God Bless.

Rights are from God

This morning as I was listening to the daily Mass on EWTN, Fr. Mitch brought up a point of how nationalization can be destructive. He drew lines from the French Revolution to the Boxer Rebellion, to Soviet influence, and clearly presented how a rise in secular nationalism leads to the destruction of the faithful.

Its also worth saying, that as we the people being to believe that our rights come from the state, we forget that they truly come from God.

God alone grants rights to mankind. It is merely the state's responsibility to ensure that the rights given by God are not infringed upon. Our founding fathers understood this well. However in our modern times, secularization is forcing our people to believe that rights come from the state. This too I feel may lead to our own destruction unless their is a reversal of course, or reconversion of our nation.