Many people believe pride is the root of all sin.
Often times pride keeps us from doing the will of God. We want to do things our own way, and therefore ignore God's way. This is being prideful. Thinking that I'm so good, I don't even need God.
Another form of pride is looking around at other people and thinking how much better we are than them. This is much like the Jewish Pharisee in last Sunday's Gospel reading. He said to himself, '"I'm so good, thank God I'm not like these others." He was prideful and self-richeous.
However, there is a fine line between pride in one's own doing and sinful, pompous pride. This is a line I have been searching for, and am beginning to find. Being a musician is one of my gifts. However, at times I have felt a sort of embarrassment when someone would compliment me after a performance because I did not know how to take the compliment. I did not want to feel prideful or appear prideful. Then I would think how prideful it is to want to appear falsely humble. This became a confusing mess.
I am realizing that the only way to grow in humility, is to be aware of who we are in God's eyes. This is who I am. With all my gifts and talents, as well as my weaknesses. It is how he made me, and I should be grateful for the gifts he gave me. I must always be aware that without God we would not exist and that he is constantly keeping us in existence. After that, the choice to use my talents and develop them is up to me; I have that power. I have the power to grow in virtue by practicing virtuous behavior. I have the power to choose to do God's will.
The trick of it all and the reason we can not simply 'decide' to do it right now, is we must first come closer to God and come to a greater realization of who we are in God's eyes.
St. Joseph, pray for us!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Are you Stuck?
Many times we find ourselves stuck in the monotony of life. A vacation is a good idea to remedy this. We come back to our routine with a refreshed perspective on things and a new energy to work with. I recently experienced this with my prayer.
Lately I have doing almost all my prayer in a chapel in front of the Tabernacle or the exposed Eucharist. This is one of the best places to pray, no argument. But, I am not called to a monastic life, and sometimes I need to get out of the chapel to pray. I was having some touble with my prayer and my inability to get around a few things. But this past weekend I went on a couple walks by myself through the woods and found this very refreshing. I was able to be by myself with the Lord while surrounded by the beauty of His natural creation. And this past weekend was the peak weekend for fall colors, and so these walks were beautiful.
Another thing I have found helpful when stuck is to read something different. If you generally pray with the Bible, maybe picking a different book of the Bible. Or if you use other material, just grabbing something different for a change. Also talking to a friend can be helpful. Confession is also great. If you haven't been to confession lately, going can really free you up to be honest with yourself and with God.
The most important thing to do with regards to prayer, is not to stop even if it doesn't seem productive. Prayer is always worth while - it is spending time with Jesus, whom we have to make an attempt to center our lives around!
St. Theresa of Avila, pray for us!
Lately I have doing almost all my prayer in a chapel in front of the Tabernacle or the exposed Eucharist. This is one of the best places to pray, no argument. But, I am not called to a monastic life, and sometimes I need to get out of the chapel to pray. I was having some touble with my prayer and my inability to get around a few things. But this past weekend I went on a couple walks by myself through the woods and found this very refreshing. I was able to be by myself with the Lord while surrounded by the beauty of His natural creation. And this past weekend was the peak weekend for fall colors, and so these walks were beautiful.
Another thing I have found helpful when stuck is to read something different. If you generally pray with the Bible, maybe picking a different book of the Bible. Or if you use other material, just grabbing something different for a change. Also talking to a friend can be helpful. Confession is also great. If you haven't been to confession lately, going can really free you up to be honest with yourself and with God.
The most important thing to do with regards to prayer, is not to stop even if it doesn't seem productive. Prayer is always worth while - it is spending time with Jesus, whom we have to make an attempt to center our lives around!
St. Theresa of Avila, pray for us!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Precious Moments!
This past weekend, J.T. and I visited Madison, WI. We had a fall break from Saturday through Tuesday, and I decided to make a visit with Fr. Victor. Let me tell you about this man:
Fr. Victor Mosele was born in Italy 72 years ago. While in high school, his older brother joined a diocesan seminary and was encouraging Victor to think about doing the same. Being an energetic teenager, he could not imagine spending his whole life going back and forth from the church to the rectory. He desired adventure. Shortly after, he met some Xaverian missionaries (named after St. Francis Xavier) and decided they could help him serve God while having an adventure. He joined them out of high school.
He has since been in America for a long time, eventually helping build a seminary near Milwaukee. Then later, he went to Sierre Leone, Africa to be a priest and help set up schools for the people, as well as serve them in other ways. He helped set up about a dozen grade schools in 25 years - he saw them built from the ground up, and then served as the overseer of them all. After 25 years, rebel groups started terrorizing the country, but claimed to be freedom fighters. They destroyed all the schools, forced many of the children to fight as rebels, and eventually captured Fr. Victor. He was held captive for 5 years (with a short break somewhere during those years). He eventually escaped, and has been in America ever since, about 7 years now.
I met him when he was the assistant chaplain at ISU two years ago. After spending time with him this past weekend, I was amazed by his energy. He has the spunk of a new priest. He gives every minute of his day to God. I do not feel like I have the energy he has sometimes, and I'm 21! What I took away from Madison is a determination to waste less time. This does not mean to rush through things, but to be more structured and to dilly-dally less. It is very difficult to stay focused the whole day; even with this determination, I find I lose my focus sometime after dinner. But Fr. Victor has practice, and he has a great love for God, and this is key. You don't find many 72-year-old people of any occupation who give every minute their full attention, but even a priest who is not fervently in love with God will struggle to stay motivated.
St. Francis Xavier, pray for us!
Fr. Victor Mosele was born in Italy 72 years ago. While in high school, his older brother joined a diocesan seminary and was encouraging Victor to think about doing the same. Being an energetic teenager, he could not imagine spending his whole life going back and forth from the church to the rectory. He desired adventure. Shortly after, he met some Xaverian missionaries (named after St. Francis Xavier) and decided they could help him serve God while having an adventure. He joined them out of high school.
He has since been in America for a long time, eventually helping build a seminary near Milwaukee. Then later, he went to Sierre Leone, Africa to be a priest and help set up schools for the people, as well as serve them in other ways. He helped set up about a dozen grade schools in 25 years - he saw them built from the ground up, and then served as the overseer of them all. After 25 years, rebel groups started terrorizing the country, but claimed to be freedom fighters. They destroyed all the schools, forced many of the children to fight as rebels, and eventually captured Fr. Victor. He was held captive for 5 years (with a short break somewhere during those years). He eventually escaped, and has been in America ever since, about 7 years now.
I met him when he was the assistant chaplain at ISU two years ago. After spending time with him this past weekend, I was amazed by his energy. He has the spunk of a new priest. He gives every minute of his day to God. I do not feel like I have the energy he has sometimes, and I'm 21! What I took away from Madison is a determination to waste less time. This does not mean to rush through things, but to be more structured and to dilly-dally less. It is very difficult to stay focused the whole day; even with this determination, I find I lose my focus sometime after dinner. But Fr. Victor has practice, and he has a great love for God, and this is key. You don't find many 72-year-old people of any occupation who give every minute their full attention, but even a priest who is not fervently in love with God will struggle to stay motivated.
St. Francis Xavier, pray for us!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Love is Our Vocation
We are all called to love. Whether we are students, businessmen, 5 years old, 90 years old, priests, parents, or bachelors, we are all called to love.
Last week I heard an idea that I have been thinking about since (is that a good excuse not to have blogged in a week?) This is the idea of transferring sin. Let us imagine an instance where a manager of a company is driving to work in the morning and gets cut off by another driver and swerves to the shoulder of the road. She is alright, but when she gets to the office, she is steaming with anger. She swears at the janitor as she walks to her office. He already missed breakfast and is now in a rotten mood. He does his work grudgingly and at the end of the day, when another man at the office approaches him about a minor issue, he gets in a big argument and this other man goes home and takes his anger out by kicking the dog. Sin is transferred from person to person until the dog absorbs it.
The wonderful thing people need to be reminded about is that Jesus already suffered for our sins. What we need to do is let Him absorb sin today. If any one of those people in the story had said, "Sin stops here," everyone else would have been saved from it. Does this mean we need to suffer these sins for everyone else? Sort of, but we already suffer from the sin when our boss yells at us in anger. All we need to do after that is completely let go of the pain, offering it to Jesus on the cross so that HE can absorb it. There is no need to give it to someone else. We are called to love, and Jesus suffered so that we could be free to do so.
But isn't there a time when we should stand up for ourselves? At first I thought there must be, we cannot let people walk over us all the time, but this is faulty. Imagine you get blamed for things at the office all the time - you are about to lose your job - should you say something to your boss, or just continue suffering from the sin and offering it to Christ? You should contiue suffering, with faith that Christ will bring a good out of it. Two possibilies come to mind right away: one thing that may happen is the person dishing out the pain starts wondering how you are able to take all this, and still be patient and kind to them. You are still sharing the extra dessert from your lunch with the person who might cost you your job. Another possibility is that you do get fired, but end up somewhere you are more happy. Whatever the case, you should always pray for the people causing you pain.
Love with patience and kindness, quietly suffer the sin inflicted on you, and offer the sin to Christ who loves you and already suffered for you!
Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Last week I heard an idea that I have been thinking about since (is that a good excuse not to have blogged in a week?) This is the idea of transferring sin. Let us imagine an instance where a manager of a company is driving to work in the morning and gets cut off by another driver and swerves to the shoulder of the road. She is alright, but when she gets to the office, she is steaming with anger. She swears at the janitor as she walks to her office. He already missed breakfast and is now in a rotten mood. He does his work grudgingly and at the end of the day, when another man at the office approaches him about a minor issue, he gets in a big argument and this other man goes home and takes his anger out by kicking the dog. Sin is transferred from person to person until the dog absorbs it.
The wonderful thing people need to be reminded about is that Jesus already suffered for our sins. What we need to do is let Him absorb sin today. If any one of those people in the story had said, "Sin stops here," everyone else would have been saved from it. Does this mean we need to suffer these sins for everyone else? Sort of, but we already suffer from the sin when our boss yells at us in anger. All we need to do after that is completely let go of the pain, offering it to Jesus on the cross so that HE can absorb it. There is no need to give it to someone else. We are called to love, and Jesus suffered so that we could be free to do so.
But isn't there a time when we should stand up for ourselves? At first I thought there must be, we cannot let people walk over us all the time, but this is faulty. Imagine you get blamed for things at the office all the time - you are about to lose your job - should you say something to your boss, or just continue suffering from the sin and offering it to Christ? You should contiue suffering, with faith that Christ will bring a good out of it. Two possibilies come to mind right away: one thing that may happen is the person dishing out the pain starts wondering how you are able to take all this, and still be patient and kind to them. You are still sharing the extra dessert from your lunch with the person who might cost you your job. Another possibility is that you do get fired, but end up somewhere you are more happy. Whatever the case, you should always pray for the people causing you pain.
Love with patience and kindness, quietly suffer the sin inflicted on you, and offer the sin to Christ who loves you and already suffered for you!
Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The Jungle, Luke 16:19-31
I am reading for a class The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. It is about immigrants during the early 1900's who come to America seeking a better life. It is the most depressing book I've ever read.
It starts out very hopeful, but as we learn about the injustices of the free market, of the terrible working conditions and unsympathetic bosses, we lose hope. This is not to mention the other aspect of the book which is about the non-existant food and drug laws leading to fingers, rats, and diseased meat being ground up at the factories where everyone works at and sold to unsuspecting customers. The family is in a downward spiral of desolation.
Last night, I finished today's reading assignment at midnight, but putting the book down, I felt horrible. I realized the injustice of it all, and the little hope there was for this family, and I realized that this family is only one example of a million, or of a billion families even today. I also realized that this problem is more than one of the poor and their stuggle to survive, but it is also one of possible eternal damnation. People are suffering spiritually. Many people I've talked to regard rich areas as the most spiritually poor areas, and more in need of help than physically poor areas.
This problem is so big. When I think about it too long, I cannot bare it. The thing that scares me the most, is the fact that I, a seminarian who spends his days in prayer and the study of theology, took this long to realize all this. I have spent my whole life an optimist and have been blind to the depth of this issue. ETERNAL SUFFERING! Doesn't that mean anything to anyone? I know our God is a merciful God, but do we want to risk something this big? Do we want to gamble eternal life for the comforts of luxury cars, expensive meals, and casual sex; for greed, sloth, and lust?!
Welcome to life, I hope you enjoy it.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
It starts out very hopeful, but as we learn about the injustices of the free market, of the terrible working conditions and unsympathetic bosses, we lose hope. This is not to mention the other aspect of the book which is about the non-existant food and drug laws leading to fingers, rats, and diseased meat being ground up at the factories where everyone works at and sold to unsuspecting customers. The family is in a downward spiral of desolation.
Last night, I finished today's reading assignment at midnight, but putting the book down, I felt horrible. I realized the injustice of it all, and the little hope there was for this family, and I realized that this family is only one example of a million, or of a billion families even today. I also realized that this problem is more than one of the poor and their stuggle to survive, but it is also one of possible eternal damnation. People are suffering spiritually. Many people I've talked to regard rich areas as the most spiritually poor areas, and more in need of help than physically poor areas.
This problem is so big. When I think about it too long, I cannot bare it. The thing that scares me the most, is the fact that I, a seminarian who spends his days in prayer and the study of theology, took this long to realize all this. I have spent my whole life an optimist and have been blind to the depth of this issue. ETERNAL SUFFERING! Doesn't that mean anything to anyone? I know our God is a merciful God, but do we want to risk something this big? Do we want to gamble eternal life for the comforts of luxury cars, expensive meals, and casual sex; for greed, sloth, and lust?!
Welcome to life, I hope you enjoy it.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Surround Yourself with Good Friends
"Always surround yourself with good friends." That was the advice given to the seminarians of Peoria during the final conference of the St. Joseph's Days Retreat this past summer. And Fr. Brownsey said it with more compassion than I've heard him say anything, and this signified to me the importance of it. This is important for many reasons.
First of all, we are in the midst of a battle. We are in a battle for souls, whether we are conscious of the fact or not. The Devil tries to hide himself, hoping we forget about the battle, hoping we forget about him. He tries to slowly ease his way into our lives, making us bitter about life, or making us focus too much on one aspect of life, or by making us alcoholics, or by any number of other ways. He is like a thin wedge that slowly pushes its way into our lives. We may not even notice it, but a good friend or group of friends will notice it, and they can help you get back on the narrow path. Trust your friends.
Second of all, the world is very divided in its loyalties. Many people are more loyal to money, or pleasure, or the local government, no matter how corrupt it may be. These people are often not very tolerant of those of us who are loyal to the one God above all. There is power in numbers, and there is comfort in large groups. Not that we should always live in comfort, but to know we are in it together, through thick and thin, gives one a needed sense of courage.
Third, (but certainly final) friends are there to help us grow in virtue. Proverbs says 'iron sharpens iron as man sharpens his fellow man'. JT and I adapted this last year when we were roommates to 'keep sharpening the sword'. And Fr. Dittmer always said, 'if you want to be holy, surround yourself with holy people'. What all of these are saying is that a good group of friends strengthens each other, they better each other.
To go at it alone is foolish. Surround yourself with good friends.
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!
First of all, we are in the midst of a battle. We are in a battle for souls, whether we are conscious of the fact or not. The Devil tries to hide himself, hoping we forget about the battle, hoping we forget about him. He tries to slowly ease his way into our lives, making us bitter about life, or making us focus too much on one aspect of life, or by making us alcoholics, or by any number of other ways. He is like a thin wedge that slowly pushes its way into our lives. We may not even notice it, but a good friend or group of friends will notice it, and they can help you get back on the narrow path. Trust your friends.
Second of all, the world is very divided in its loyalties. Many people are more loyal to money, or pleasure, or the local government, no matter how corrupt it may be. These people are often not very tolerant of those of us who are loyal to the one God above all. There is power in numbers, and there is comfort in large groups. Not that we should always live in comfort, but to know we are in it together, through thick and thin, gives one a needed sense of courage.
Third, (but certainly final) friends are there to help us grow in virtue. Proverbs says 'iron sharpens iron as man sharpens his fellow man'. JT and I adapted this last year when we were roommates to 'keep sharpening the sword'. And Fr. Dittmer always said, 'if you want to be holy, surround yourself with holy people'. What all of these are saying is that a good group of friends strengthens each other, they better each other.
To go at it alone is foolish. Surround yourself with good friends.
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!
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