"that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going..."
-Quotation from "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis
I read this about two years ago, and it meant a lot to me then, and it came to mind today. It begs the question, "Whose side are you on?" I really need to ask myself this question more often. The problem I often have is I get lazy. This doesn't keep me from going to church, as I am required to go every day. However, it does keep me from praying and from trying to grow in virtue. And it is in prayer alone that we have direct communication with God who is King forever and ever.
Today, after sloughing off for the past 4 or 5 days, I finally took the time to do some sincere prayer and I was reminded that there is indeed a war going on. The spiritual battle for souls has been going on since before man was created, and it is always going on whether we acknowledge it or not. Whose side am I on? When I get lazy I become indifferent. Indifference is exactly what the devil tries to lure us into. It is in this state that we convince ourselves that 'it doesn't really matter' and therefore stop trying to come closer to God. But with this attitude we slowly slip farther and farther away from him. Someone once gave me this analogy to our walk with God, "The spiritual life is like going up a downward escalator: as soon as we stop trying to walk up it, we begin to move down." I've been moving downward, but it is time to begin walking boldly upwards once again!
There is a battle going on; who's side are you on?
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Truth
Don't tell others what they want to hear;
tell them the truth.
Don't deceive yourself;
be honest with yourself.
Be honest with God.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
tell them the truth.
Don't deceive yourself;
be honest with yourself.
Be honest with God.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Can Somebody Tell Me What Love Is?
That is actually a lyric from the song "Ecce" I am helping write for a CD entitled "Behold Your Mother".
I have been thinking about this question for the last couple weeks. God has let me in on some really useful knowledge in the last week. I have known for a while that all of us have been called to love constantly. This means we must love God always, as he commands us to do, and to love our neighbors as our Father in Heaven loves us. He loves us perfectly and constantly, so we must try to imitate him. Well great, but how?
It doesn't seem like we need to be told how to love, but when you think about, could you explain to somebody else how to love? Probably not very well. That is partly because we are each made to love in a different way. I have realized also that God wants me to grow in humility and strength. I must be strong and unwavering in my faith, and as an outward sign of that, I have been working out to become strong physically. But I also must be humble. Practicing strength and humility has become a constant challenge to me, but God has supplied me with opportunities for growth, and I have accepted these challenges. But what do strength and humility have to do with love?
This is the awesome part! I have been asking the question about how to love, and at the same time God has been encouraging me to grow in strength and humility. I finally realized I am called to love through strength and humility. It is my being strong and humble at all times that I am to love at all times. We are all called to love, but not always in the same way. If you ask God how you were made to love, he will tell you, and often times this reveals something about your vocation.
He is risen, Alleluia!!!
I have been thinking about this question for the last couple weeks. God has let me in on some really useful knowledge in the last week. I have known for a while that all of us have been called to love constantly. This means we must love God always, as he commands us to do, and to love our neighbors as our Father in Heaven loves us. He loves us perfectly and constantly, so we must try to imitate him. Well great, but how?
It doesn't seem like we need to be told how to love, but when you think about, could you explain to somebody else how to love? Probably not very well. That is partly because we are each made to love in a different way. I have realized also that God wants me to grow in humility and strength. I must be strong and unwavering in my faith, and as an outward sign of that, I have been working out to become strong physically. But I also must be humble. Practicing strength and humility has become a constant challenge to me, but God has supplied me with opportunities for growth, and I have accepted these challenges. But what do strength and humility have to do with love?
This is the awesome part! I have been asking the question about how to love, and at the same time God has been encouraging me to grow in strength and humility. I finally realized I am called to love through strength and humility. It is my being strong and humble at all times that I am to love at all times. We are all called to love, but not always in the same way. If you ask God how you were made to love, he will tell you, and often times this reveals something about your vocation.
He is risen, Alleluia!!!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Good, Better, Best - Never Let it Rest...
...until the good becomes better and the better becomes best.
-Fr. A. C. Fabian OP
We are called to improve every day. This is a thing I love about the Catholic Church. The Church is a constant reminder that we are never meant to be content with ourselves. We should always accept ourselves as we are, but not to be content - we should always strive to be better.
Something I just read in Matthew Kelly's "Rediscovering Catholicism" which I found to be profound is this, "You cannot become more like Jesus Christ and at the same time stay as you are" (40). Really profound - I had to think about this one for a while. It is completely true - there is no argument. We are all called to become more like Christ at every moment.
This is a great message - brought to you by the Catholic Church! If you are a couch potato, you can do something about that, you don't have to be a couch potato the rest of your life. You have been empowered with the tools of a rational mind, a willpower, and an encouraging community. This goes for any person. We are not doomed to be the same person with the same bad habits and vices for our entire life. And what is more, if we desire to follow Christ (which we are all called to do) we mustn't stay as we are, because he is calling us to follow him! And he wants to help us follow him more than anything else. If we ask for his help, he will give us the grace, the strength, to follow him where he leads.
The reason the Church raises up the Saints is because they did this better that anyone else. They started out just as we all do, as sinners trying to makes heads and tails of this world. But once they got on the right path, they ran toward Christ with all their will every day. Every time they messed up, they got right back up. They tried to better themselves, becoming more like Christ, until the moment of their death. In this way, they are meant to be examples to all of us, for we are all called to be saints!
In case anyone was wondering what we do in the seminary, that is it for the most part. We strive to be the best version of ourselves; to be who God made us to be. We strive to become more like Christ in order that should we be ordained, we can be examples and sources of Christ's love for everyone whom we serve.
St. Monica, pray for us!
-Fr. A. C. Fabian OP
We are called to improve every day. This is a thing I love about the Catholic Church. The Church is a constant reminder that we are never meant to be content with ourselves. We should always accept ourselves as we are, but not to be content - we should always strive to be better.
Something I just read in Matthew Kelly's "Rediscovering Catholicism" which I found to be profound is this, "You cannot become more like Jesus Christ and at the same time stay as you are" (40). Really profound - I had to think about this one for a while. It is completely true - there is no argument. We are all called to become more like Christ at every moment.
This is a great message - brought to you by the Catholic Church! If you are a couch potato, you can do something about that, you don't have to be a couch potato the rest of your life. You have been empowered with the tools of a rational mind, a willpower, and an encouraging community. This goes for any person. We are not doomed to be the same person with the same bad habits and vices for our entire life. And what is more, if we desire to follow Christ (which we are all called to do) we mustn't stay as we are, because he is calling us to follow him! And he wants to help us follow him more than anything else. If we ask for his help, he will give us the grace, the strength, to follow him where he leads.
The reason the Church raises up the Saints is because they did this better that anyone else. They started out just as we all do, as sinners trying to makes heads and tails of this world. But once they got on the right path, they ran toward Christ with all their will every day. Every time they messed up, they got right back up. They tried to better themselves, becoming more like Christ, until the moment of their death. In this way, they are meant to be examples to all of us, for we are all called to be saints!
In case anyone was wondering what we do in the seminary, that is it for the most part. We strive to be the best version of ourselves; to be who God made us to be. We strive to become more like Christ in order that should we be ordained, we can be examples and sources of Christ's love for everyone whom we serve.
St. Monica, pray for us!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
He's Got Our Backs
This is the story of my struggle with back pain:
About two years ago my neck started too hurt very consistently. The cause is uncertain, but I have been attributing it to that semester's intense practice schedule in preparation for my 200-level music exam, combined with the various others stresses in my life that semester. My neck hurt, and then the pain started spreading to my upper back. I went to the chiropractor that summer, but the sessions had little to no long-term effect. I've struggled with this pain for over two years now. I've seen chiropractors on and off, and the pain has been so bad at times I have wanted to do nothing but go to sleep.
The past four months I've been lifting weights on a consistent basis with the goal of strengthening my whole body, but especially my upper back and shoulders. I also just started going to a new chiropractor about 6 weeks ago. I thought all this work was in vain, until just the last few days. I've realized a change, and I have also realized what a gift from God this pain has been.
I've been told that God often allows us to experience suffering in different forms in order to bring a good out of it. I have been telling myself this and trying to believe my back pain is some sort of gift, but it is hard. Especially when the pain has been the worst, I have been prone to great frustration with God.
Just a few days ago I started trying very hard to sit and stand with good posture at all times. I have tried this before, but because my upper back and shoulder muscles have been too weak, I have tired out quickly and given up. But I have been able to do this most of the day for the past few days. It is paying off big time. My back is now able to heal because my vertebrae are not constantly being squished.
I believe God allowed this to go on for so long for a few reasons. First of all, it made it a little easier to leave ISU and my music major. My back hurt very much every time I practiced because of this problem, and I loved everything about playing music except this one thing. Perhaps if I did not have the pain it would have been too hard for me to leave ISU for the seminary. Also, I have learned a great lesson from it recently. I often get tired of constantly trying to follow God and to strive for holiness and virtue ALL THE TIME. But by my persevering everyday through the constant discomfort of sitting up straight all day, I have been learning a lesson physically which I can adapt to my spiritual life. I believe it is God saying, "This is effective for your physical health, and I need you to do this for your spiritual health." He taught me this lesson just when I needed to hear it.
God loves us, and he always has our best interest in mind - even when it doesn't seem that way!
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!
About two years ago my neck started too hurt very consistently. The cause is uncertain, but I have been attributing it to that semester's intense practice schedule in preparation for my 200-level music exam, combined with the various others stresses in my life that semester. My neck hurt, and then the pain started spreading to my upper back. I went to the chiropractor that summer, but the sessions had little to no long-term effect. I've struggled with this pain for over two years now. I've seen chiropractors on and off, and the pain has been so bad at times I have wanted to do nothing but go to sleep.
The past four months I've been lifting weights on a consistent basis with the goal of strengthening my whole body, but especially my upper back and shoulders. I also just started going to a new chiropractor about 6 weeks ago. I thought all this work was in vain, until just the last few days. I've realized a change, and I have also realized what a gift from God this pain has been.
I've been told that God often allows us to experience suffering in different forms in order to bring a good out of it. I have been telling myself this and trying to believe my back pain is some sort of gift, but it is hard. Especially when the pain has been the worst, I have been prone to great frustration with God.
Just a few days ago I started trying very hard to sit and stand with good posture at all times. I have tried this before, but because my upper back and shoulder muscles have been too weak, I have tired out quickly and given up. But I have been able to do this most of the day for the past few days. It is paying off big time. My back is now able to heal because my vertebrae are not constantly being squished.
I believe God allowed this to go on for so long for a few reasons. First of all, it made it a little easier to leave ISU and my music major. My back hurt very much every time I practiced because of this problem, and I loved everything about playing music except this one thing. Perhaps if I did not have the pain it would have been too hard for me to leave ISU for the seminary. Also, I have learned a great lesson from it recently. I often get tired of constantly trying to follow God and to strive for holiness and virtue ALL THE TIME. But by my persevering everyday through the constant discomfort of sitting up straight all day, I have been learning a lesson physically which I can adapt to my spiritual life. I believe it is God saying, "This is effective for your physical health, and I need you to do this for your spiritual health." He taught me this lesson just when I needed to hear it.
God loves us, and he always has our best interest in mind - even when it doesn't seem that way!
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Universal Call to Holiness
Just today I was asked to give a talk to the college students at Illinois State University next week about Emmaus Days. I went to ISU for the past three years, and am looking forward to this visit. Emmaus Days is a weekend discernment retreat for men which helped me discern to enter the seminary.
I was told the four main points to talk about, and one of these is the 'universal call to holiness'. I believe this is a term coined during the Second Vatican Council, which took place during the early 1960's. I really like this term, and find that it inspires a lot of people to allow God into their lives, but I started thinking about why this is considered such a new idea. I am not sure where, but I know St. Paul stresses in one of his letters that we are all called to holiness (and if anyone knows where this is, please leave a comment for me with the verse numbers!) Considering the Bible was finished over 1500 years ago, this should not be a new idea.
But, as I learn more about world history, and Church history, I can see why this idea is brought up so much today. For so long, Christianity was not a personal choice. Kings would often declare a religion to be followed by their country, and everyone followed suit. Towns would raise their kids together, and would center their lives around the Church. When someone sinned, it was a public thing. This not only put a huge pressure on people not to sin, but it also put a pressure on the individual to obtain absolution. In this manner, people attained holiness simply by following their cultural norms.
As public education became more important in the world, and then individual freedom, one's values became more and more of a personal choice. That must be why Vatican II formally declared the importance of the 'universal call to holiness'. It is saying we are all called to lead lives of prayer and penance. We are all called to have personal relationships with God. The culture is not going to commend you for valuing eternal salvation, so you are going to have to make the personal decision to follow Jesus and strive for holiness. Every single person is called to this, and it only recently became a choice for the individual.
Happy Feast of the Presentation of the Lord!
John Paul the Great, pray for us!
I was told the four main points to talk about, and one of these is the 'universal call to holiness'. I believe this is a term coined during the Second Vatican Council, which took place during the early 1960's. I really like this term, and find that it inspires a lot of people to allow God into their lives, but I started thinking about why this is considered such a new idea. I am not sure where, but I know St. Paul stresses in one of his letters that we are all called to holiness (and if anyone knows where this is, please leave a comment for me with the verse numbers!) Considering the Bible was finished over 1500 years ago, this should not be a new idea.
But, as I learn more about world history, and Church history, I can see why this idea is brought up so much today. For so long, Christianity was not a personal choice. Kings would often declare a religion to be followed by their country, and everyone followed suit. Towns would raise their kids together, and would center their lives around the Church. When someone sinned, it was a public thing. This not only put a huge pressure on people not to sin, but it also put a pressure on the individual to obtain absolution. In this manner, people attained holiness simply by following their cultural norms.
As public education became more important in the world, and then individual freedom, one's values became more and more of a personal choice. That must be why Vatican II formally declared the importance of the 'universal call to holiness'. It is saying we are all called to lead lives of prayer and penance. We are all called to have personal relationships with God. The culture is not going to commend you for valuing eternal salvation, so you are going to have to make the personal decision to follow Jesus and strive for holiness. Every single person is called to this, and it only recently became a choice for the individual.
Happy Feast of the Presentation of the Lord!
John Paul the Great, pray for us!
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Great Adventure!
Life is one great adventure. We have been given a gift, The gift, the chance to live! We don't have to exist. What if we didn't exist, well we wouldn't know that, because we wouldn't exist to know. But we do exist. We are alive, and we have the chance to live on this magnificent creation called Earth.
This past week has been a very hard week. Winter is wearing on me - I often start getting really anxious around this time of year to go outside and just run around - but I'm stuck inside all the time. Our Latin teacher came down on us with a ton of homework. I have a bunch of other homework, and other responsibilities. But, it was a great adventure of a week.
I really like adventure. I have usually been a person who likes change. I like spontaneity. I love road trips, especially when they're only partly planned out. Because of all this, I found it really hard to be in the seminary after the first month or two, because we have a very rigid schedule. However, I have recently realized that every day can be an adventure if we approach it the right way.
Although I knew I would wake up this morning and go to mass at 6:30, finish my Latin homework, go to Latin, read Augustine, go to medieval philosophy, have lunch, go to Christian view of a Person, etc... I didn't know what was going to happen at each place. I didn't know what kind of challenges I would face, who I might get in a conversation with, or even where I might be struck by something beautiful, like the extra four inches of snow we got today. We can't know what is coming, or what our experiences will be exactly. Life is a beautiful gift that we should always try to embrace and a challenge we should always try to give all we can.
Every day is an adventure, so be sure live in every moment!
St. Paul, the great evangelist, pray for us!
This past week has been a very hard week. Winter is wearing on me - I often start getting really anxious around this time of year to go outside and just run around - but I'm stuck inside all the time. Our Latin teacher came down on us with a ton of homework. I have a bunch of other homework, and other responsibilities. But, it was a great adventure of a week.
I really like adventure. I have usually been a person who likes change. I like spontaneity. I love road trips, especially when they're only partly planned out. Because of all this, I found it really hard to be in the seminary after the first month or two, because we have a very rigid schedule. However, I have recently realized that every day can be an adventure if we approach it the right way.
Although I knew I would wake up this morning and go to mass at 6:30, finish my Latin homework, go to Latin, read Augustine, go to medieval philosophy, have lunch, go to Christian view of a Person, etc... I didn't know what was going to happen at each place. I didn't know what kind of challenges I would face, who I might get in a conversation with, or even where I might be struck by something beautiful, like the extra four inches of snow we got today. We can't know what is coming, or what our experiences will be exactly. Life is a beautiful gift that we should always try to embrace and a challenge we should always try to give all we can.
Every day is an adventure, so be sure live in every moment!
St. Paul, the great evangelist, pray for us!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
-a quotation taken from St. Augustine's 'Confessions'.
It is so true. Lately I have been getting caught up in my agenda. I am excited about this semester's great classes, percussion lessons, and jazz band. I have been thinking a lot about how to fit all this together with prayer, working out, and other house duties, and I have been planning in my head a lot. There is some sort of drive that clouds out everything else once I start constantly anticipating.
Lately my relationship with God has been clouded by my letting school become a distraction. I am so busy trying to make things happen, I cling to my schedule. I lose my ability to 'let go and let God'. But he is constant - I can trust only in him. He will never fail me. My schedule may fail. I may fail a class. But God will never fail me as long as I allow him to lead me. As long as I accept his gift of grace, I can be at peace.
Jesus is the only one who can give us perfect peace. When we can accept that we are not perfect, and that nothing on this planet is perfect, we can then come before the cross, remember what Jesus did for us (and continues to do for us), and sit quietly in peace.
"His love endures forever" Psalm 100:5
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
It is so true. Lately I have been getting caught up in my agenda. I am excited about this semester's great classes, percussion lessons, and jazz band. I have been thinking a lot about how to fit all this together with prayer, working out, and other house duties, and I have been planning in my head a lot. There is some sort of drive that clouds out everything else once I start constantly anticipating.
Lately my relationship with God has been clouded by my letting school become a distraction. I am so busy trying to make things happen, I cling to my schedule. I lose my ability to 'let go and let God'. But he is constant - I can trust only in him. He will never fail me. My schedule may fail. I may fail a class. But God will never fail me as long as I allow him to lead me. As long as I accept his gift of grace, I can be at peace.
Jesus is the only one who can give us perfect peace. When we can accept that we are not perfect, and that nothing on this planet is perfect, we can then come before the cross, remember what Jesus did for us (and continues to do for us), and sit quietly in peace.
"His love endures forever" Psalm 100:5
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
FOCUS Conference
Last week I went to the National FOCUS Conference, and it was amazing!
FOCUS stands for Fellowship of Catholic University Students, and is a program that was started 10 years ago by Curtis Martin. Their goal is ultimately to ignite the faith of the world in the God who loves us and is always fighting for us. They go about this by working with college Catholic centers and setting up Bible studies, organizing community events, and taking on disciples. Discipleship is their main mode of evangelization and consists of taking on two students as their personal 'disciples'. In this way they pass on knowledge of God, teachings of the Church, and ways of living healthy, fulfilling lives. Those two students then take on two disciples of their own, and in this way form chains of teachers and students. The program had a significant impact on my life, and I support it 100%!
They have a national conference every three years, and this year's was in Grapevine, TX. Some highlights include: a concert by Matt Maher, a concert by Third Day, talks by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Mother Assumpta Long, and Mike Sweeny, captain of the Kansas City Royals. I also got to see a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in a long time. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.
Another cool thing was wearing a cassock about half the time I was there, mostly for witness. It said pretty loudly to all the students, "Hey look, we are the same age as you and have listened to our call from God." It was interesting for me, because there is something about wearing any uniform that makes you think more about everything you do. You are representing something much greater than yourself, and must take care to represent it well.
The last really cool thing was how much of a big family Catholicism feels like more and more all the time. There I was with about 4000 students my age all learning about the faith and preparing to go be witnesses all across the country. Right now, even though I am not with most of them, I know that those students are out there fighting the good fight every day. We are supporting each other by our prayers, and when that many young adults do something together, things happen! I hope they are all out there growing in faith, hope, and love, and continuing to do their part in bringing souls to Christ!
John Paul the Great, pray for us!
FOCUS stands for Fellowship of Catholic University Students, and is a program that was started 10 years ago by Curtis Martin. Their goal is ultimately to ignite the faith of the world in the God who loves us and is always fighting for us. They go about this by working with college Catholic centers and setting up Bible studies, organizing community events, and taking on disciples. Discipleship is their main mode of evangelization and consists of taking on two students as their personal 'disciples'. In this way they pass on knowledge of God, teachings of the Church, and ways of living healthy, fulfilling lives. Those two students then take on two disciples of their own, and in this way form chains of teachers and students. The program had a significant impact on my life, and I support it 100%!
They have a national conference every three years, and this year's was in Grapevine, TX. Some highlights include: a concert by Matt Maher, a concert by Third Day, talks by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Mother Assumpta Long, and Mike Sweeny, captain of the Kansas City Royals. I also got to see a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in a long time. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.
Another cool thing was wearing a cassock about half the time I was there, mostly for witness. It said pretty loudly to all the students, "Hey look, we are the same age as you and have listened to our call from God." It was interesting for me, because there is something about wearing any uniform that makes you think more about everything you do. You are representing something much greater than yourself, and must take care to represent it well.
The last really cool thing was how much of a big family Catholicism feels like more and more all the time. There I was with about 4000 students my age all learning about the faith and preparing to go be witnesses all across the country. Right now, even though I am not with most of them, I know that those students are out there fighting the good fight every day. We are supporting each other by our prayers, and when that many young adults do something together, things happen! I hope they are all out there growing in faith, hope, and love, and continuing to do their part in bringing souls to Christ!
John Paul the Great, pray for us!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
In the Name of...
When the Bishop of Madison visited here a few weeks ago, he said something simple that I found very important. He reminded us that whenever we make the sign of the cross, we are making the statement that whatever we are doing or are about to do, we are doing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I have been trying to consciously think about this whenever I make this prayer.
When I realize I am doing something in the name of God, or for the sake of God, or in the place of God, however you word it, I want to do it to the best of my ability, and in a loving manner. Just a few minutes ago I was walking out of the chapel, and I crossed myself with holy water. I realized I was leaving the chapel in the name of the Trinity, and I resolved to do so with the intention of glorifying God.
I think it would be awesome if whenever we made the sign of the cross we realized this and acted in the manner it entails. We could be driving in the name of God, or studying in the name of God, or playing basketball in the name of God...anything. When we consciously think this, and order all our actions in the most loving way, we become more like Jesus. This is the goal, right - it should be!
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!
When I realize I am doing something in the name of God, or for the sake of God, or in the place of God, however you word it, I want to do it to the best of my ability, and in a loving manner. Just a few minutes ago I was walking out of the chapel, and I crossed myself with holy water. I realized I was leaving the chapel in the name of the Trinity, and I resolved to do so with the intention of glorifying God.
I think it would be awesome if whenever we made the sign of the cross we realized this and acted in the manner it entails. We could be driving in the name of God, or studying in the name of God, or playing basketball in the name of God...anything. When we consciously think this, and order all our actions in the most loving way, we become more like Jesus. This is the goal, right - it should be!
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!
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