Friday, December 31, 2010

every lie is alien to the truth - December 31, 2010

Allow yourself to seek purity in yourself, in others. Allow yourself time for reflection on God, on the blessings and gifts you have received from God, on how to better serve God. Allow yourself time for remembrance of all those who have loved you, both those who are alive and those who are dead. Allow yourself time for reverence before God.

A life with proper reflection on God, with proper remembrance of all love received, with proper reverence for God will avoid making bold resolutions. Purity of heart and soul asks for consistency and propriety; it is a lifelong quest to be experienced gradually, with grace, hope, and love which leads to God.

All thoughts should lead to God.

Let prayer fill our imagination with glorious images of God's love, with glorious images of each one of us loving God, with glorious images of each one of us loving our neighbor.

And here is a moment of delicate welcome, the lingering embrace of remembrance and forgiveness which recalls last year's hope, last year's love, last year's humility, last year's charity.

May tenderheartedness and warmheartedness guide each Christian's heart, guide each Christian's daily decisions, guide each Christian closer to God.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Do not love the world or the things of the world - December 30, 2010

Have the courage to allow yourself to be tenderhearted. Remember that the Christian life is a story of continual conversion from sin to forgiveness. Each day we sin. Each day we ask for forgiveness. Each day someone asks for someone to pray for them. Each day someone promises to pray for someone else. The Christian life offers hope. Hope is very important. Hope can be very contagious. There is something beautiful and delicate about Christian hope. Allow hope to strengthen your faith, to inspire your love, to lead you from darkness. Allow hope to guide you toward God. Sometimes humility, charity, and obedience play hide and seek within hope as a way to motivate each one us gently, lovingly to do the right things.

Hope asks us to remember Jesus Christ, to remember his ministry, to shape and live our lives with the humility, charity, compassion, mercy, and love that he taught.

The journey of hope begins with a question within our souls, sometimes it is a single word, a single idea but it can lead to something bigger and better with prayer, reflection, meditation. Hope is patient. Hope does not complain. Hope accepts and embraces and welcomes all signs of goodness, kindness, and holiness without question, without doubt.

Hope is goodness. Hope is pureness. It is beneficial for become closer to God, conducive to serving God, useful in loving God.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

the true light is already shining - December 29, 2010

Have the courage to allow yourself to be warmhearted. Remember that the Christian life is a journey from darkness to light. Remember that the Christian life asks that each individual loves their neighbor as they love themselves. The Christian life requests that God be loved and served. Each day work to develop a good character. Have the courage to lead a life of genuine humility, avoid the temptation of pride. Look for examples of those living morally-sound lives. Seek purity and righteousness. Seek honor and virtue. Live virtuous. Reflect upon goodness, kindness, holiness. Live to give thanks, praise, and love to God each day, always.

Serving God is always beneficial.

Humility provides many opportunities to become closer to God and to help our neighbors. Christian Humility is an interruption of the self-absorption and selfishness encouraged by the secular culture.

The secular world encourages each individual to distract, to deceive, to demean their neighbors. Many conversations lead nowhere; many filled with the brightest of tones, the lightest of sounds will lead to darkness. Let the listener beware. Seek and conductive only conversations and discussions filled with goodness, hope, purity. Do not clog your imagination with impurity, meanness, jealousy.

Have the courage to say only those things which will be pleasing for God to hear.

Accept that this might be difficult at first, accept this as a goal for a lifetime as a loving, loyal servant of God.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

We have fellowship with him - December 28, 2010

Have the courage to allow yourself to be humble. First read the Bible. Reflect upon the lives and the decisions of each individual mentioned in the different books and chapters. Each person mentioned is important; each person provides a clue about acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Not all people in the Bible are humble. Not all people in the Bible are Good. The Bible provides valuable lessons about how to serve and how to love God. Humility is very important.

Remember to always share and present reverence and respect for God. Have the courage to seek the charity in others as a way of finding it within. Remember to praise those who need to be praised, to love all without condition, and to use each moment of your life to praise God, to love God, to serve God.

Allow your faith to move you closer to God naturally. Allow your faith to help you become God's loyal servant.

Strive for humility, avoid pride. Learn from the Bible. Love humanity with the entirety of your being. Have the courage to allow this love to direct you toward the heavenly kingdom.

Each movement taken forward in the name of God, for the glory of God, is important when done lovingly, when done with charity, humility, and obedience to God.

Monday, December 27, 2010

he saw and believed - December 27, 2010

Waking up can be a little difficult this time of year for many unknown reasons. This is also a time for remembrance and reverence for all holy people who have believed, lived, and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This season asks each Christian to take a minute and count each blessing, each gift from God and to give thanks. The lessons within each reading point toward the universality of God's love. The message within each Mass presents the breadth of God's love for all of humanity. People on the right road will experience a little longing for Christ after hearing each Gospel reading. People on the right road will work to model their whole lives with a universal love, compassion, and sense of social justice. Each moment in their lives will bring more understanding, more wisdom. With effort each word of the Gospel can be understood. For the greatest gift of the season is developing the courage to be good, kind, and holy in the presence of both man and God.

Waking up can be a little difficult this time of year because everyone has something to complain about. This is not the time for heated discussions about God, the Eucharist, Jesus Christ, the Ten Commandments. This is a time for Love. This is a time for humility. This is a time to listen, not to be drawn into a paradox of excited opinion. This is a time for goodness, kindness, holiness. Each action of Christian, hopefully, will be pleasing to God. Rhetoric and grand speeches will not get a man or woman into heaven. Rhetoric and grand speeches will not make a man or woman holy. Rhetoric and grand speeches will fill the ears of the listeners with hollow sounds and unasked questions. There is always a need for penance, a need for Reconciliation with God. For some this time of year is a moment of extreme vanity when the spotlight shines on them, the parties they attend, the gifts they give, the gifts they receive. Although it might be difficult, please remember that this is a time to love and serve God. The true message of Christmas reminds each Christian of the necessity of patience and encourages each Christian to keep their gaze heavenward, to allow each step to lead them to the heavenly kingdom.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

holy and beloved - December 26, 2010


It was a time to be warmhearted, to be time of tenderhearted; a time to believe in hope, in God. There were thick white candles with delicate orange flames reaching toward the ceiling, dancing toward heaven.

How easy it is to forget the behind the scene preparation for each Mass, to forget the ritual which precedes the rich, spiritual Rituals of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Here reverence and respect have an uneasy alliance. There is much scurrying, much hurrying. Patens and cruets have to filled and placed in the proper places. The chalice has to be covered and placed in its proper place. The ribbons in the books must be on the correct pages. There are voices saying hello, voices saying good-bye. There is much activity. There are questions about Mass, questions about brunch or the football game. It is a spiritual time. It is a very human time. It is a time for reflection. It is a time to search for chalice veil or a cushion for a chair or to ask someone to pray for you. Always people are walking this way, walking that way. Here is a moment of quick, joyous welcome. Here is a moment to accept a quick handshake, humble smile.

There is a little anxiety as volunteers arrive and ask for instruction.

There is a pureness in the moments leading up to a Mass, a moment of incorruptible high ideals and righteous as these minutes are freely, lovingly given in service to God.

There is laughing, water sipping, hand-washing, book skimming, slouching, standing, wobbling, joking, listening, praying. Here is a community.

Here is an opportunity to follow Jesus Christ, to escape the darkness and dangers of the secular world. Here is a time to be earnest, humble, and loving. Here is a time to seek illumination from God. Here we discuss contemporary hope and the encyclicals of the Pope. We ask about the Cardinal's ring which glancing at the processional song which we will sing.

There is a moment of silence, a moment of prayer, a moment when time does appear to stop, and Jesus Christ does gently appear on each face, each loving, believing face.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

ABUNDANT JOY AND GREAT REJOICING - December 25, 2010

training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age Titus 2:12

It was a time of warmheartedness, a time of tenderheartedness surrounded by hope. There were thick white candles with delicate orange flames reaching toward the ceiling, dancing toward heaven.

How easy it is to forget the journey, to allow the moment, this minute to dominate the mind, the imagination. Life does not stop. Each minute flows into the next. Minutes flow into hours; hours flow into days. The journey continues whether we are prepared or not, whether we are able to upgrade or not. There is always motion, always a need for patience.

And here is a moment of delicate welcome, the lingering embrace of remembrance and forgiveness which recalls yesterday's hope, yesterday's love.

This is a moment of familiar songs, familiar sayings. For this instance the thick white candles offer reassurance, offer hope, offer continuity and faith. Here in this instance each individual is fine and dandy, each individual cannot complain. Here is a moment when good is allowed to triumph!

This is a moment of red and white and green leaves. This is a moment of soft lighting. This is a time to remember to be moral, to remember the Church's moral code. How romantic and perfect this night appears with the white lights on the evergreen trees. What a great moment to reflect upon personal morals. Each Christian is asked to live a morally-sound life of goodness, kindness, holiness; of charity, humility, and service to God. Each day provides opportunities for moralistic evaluations and decisions. Each day provides opportunities for honor, good character. Remember that each candle has one purpose: to provide light. High ideals are great companions to have as we walk on the right road, following the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Sharing love and hope freely, gently is always a boon. Each day we are given an opportunity to exalt the goodness, the mercy, the presence of God in our lives. We constantly make choices. We must remember to do what is productive for God, what is beneficial to God. As Christians, God must always be an active part of our individual decision making process.

The candles stand guard, patiently sacrifice their wax to provide light. Allow each Mass to be a pilgrimage, an expedition to holiness, to love universal and unconditional.

Friday, December 24, 2010

I will not be silent - December 24, 2010

Although the Christmas ideas and phrases are a mosaic from the Bible, the practice of Christmas becomes a clatter of Madison Avenue jingles and video vignettes presenting smiling, happy, helpful faces encouraging us to give a Mercedes, a diamond bracelet, a washing machine, a sweater, a toaster, or a magazine subscription. How colorful and entertaining the advertisements are! How amusing the lack of a true message is!

For many instead of being a time of hope and love, Christmas is a time of anxiety, a time of emotional vulnerability compounded by the media promoted messages of a homogenized, pasteurized peaceful Christmas gathering of loved ones who are happy to see each other and respectful of each other.

But the Spiritual elements of Christmas are interwoven with such delicate skill that the religious feeling will find you if you are open to hearing God's voice.

Christmas is a time of divine light, a time of seeking and sharing goodness. Christmas is a time to be humane, to remember and to develop our individual humanity.

Christmas is a time to be humble, to be patient, to wait. When our hearts and souls are clear, our mind can hear the voice of the Lord.

Christmas asks us to be at ease, reposeful. Christmas asks us to encourage others to be mellow, at-peace.

What is your Christmas bonus? Who and what made your Christmas list?

Did you have time to go to Confession? Did you attend Mass? What are the sounds and the looks of your Christmas? Hopefully, your Christmas will be filled with love, compassion, peace.

Is the time for Tom and Jerry, Rusty Nail, Hot Buttered Rum, Fallen Angel, Eggnog, or Bombay Punch?

I sometimes remember different parts of the Christmas meal, the Tabasco, Macaroni and Cheese, Nestle Chocolate Milk, and the Reddi Whip from different childhood Christmas memories.

Each one of us have different ways of seeing and experiencing Christmas. For some Christmas is a Salvador Dali canvas of intentions, ideals, and idolatry. For some Christmas is a Pablo Picasso portrait of being apologetic, applauding, apocalyptic, applicative and apple-polishing. For some Christmas is a Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting of dappled, diffused light encouraging memories delicate, delicious, delighted; encouraging thoughts deliquescent, deliberate, delineated; encouraging reflections, prayer, devotional time.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

sending my messenger

Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. Malachi 3:3

There is something about the hurly-burly of Christmas, secular Christmas which suggests the need for the development of a peaceful routine of contemplation, compassion, prayer and monastic piety.

The entire season for many is about motion, searching for presents, attending parties.

The vogue of the season is to complain about this and that, to vow never to shop again or to start earlier. Secular Christmas dominates the popular culture, presents low calorie pleas for understanding, peace, love and high calorie demands to purchase, purchase, purchase.

Christmas is a time of hope. Christmas is a time of love. Christmas is a time of sacrifice. A true Christmas gift does not always come from the mall. It must come from the heart, from the soul. Self denial might be part of this gift, directed abstinence from some activity to promote spiritual growth.

Christmas does ask us to be different than we were yesterday; Christmas asks us to speak different, behave different, contemplate more. It is not the store purchases but the soul reflection which should be treasured and encouraged during this season.

Each Christmas present has the opportunity to be a sacrifice fly if it is purchased and given with compassion, hope, and love and if it is given to encourage and promote spiritual growth.

Each day during Advent and the Christmas season is an opportunity for all Christians to use the Cornell Note-taking system to evaluate their lives, both secular and spiritual, and find ways to move closer to God, find ways to serve God.

We all need a little sacrifice in our lives.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Who Me - December 22, 2010

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. Luke 1:46-47

This December provides fresh and delicious cold weather. December is a good time for discernment. A long afternoon walk on an overcast day. Thinking about the Angelus. Remembering the music, the choir singing the words gently, beautifully, angelically. I remembered saying it a long time ago, during a retreat. December is a time of surprise, a time of wildness. Candles provide sweet, alluring scents. The Mass readings prepare us for the birth of Jesus Christ. December is a month of dazzling remembrances, offers for penance. There is something exquisite in giving; there is a softness in each hello. How delightful each day appears as Christmas becomes closer and closer. Discerning how to serve God can create a boundless desire to read and reflect on the Holy Scripture, a boundless desire to pray. Discernment is peaceful, a quiet moment of exploration blossoming into some unknown answer. December offers a special type of contentment, balmy and reverent. Life sings and hums. This is the time for gratitude. This is the time to think, to pray. This is the time for thanks, for praise. Happiness waits. The present moment asks only for goodness, holiness, and kindness. December asks us to prepare our entire being for the birth of Jesus Christ. Something within the seasonal get togethers reminds me to evangelize, to smile, to be enchanted with all the gifts that God has bestowed upon me. The days of triumph, the days of trouble provide lessons on charity, humility, obedience. The cold weather is forgotten when I remember to pray. All is beautiful, all is splendid. I give thanks and praise to God for all the splendors of life.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Now What - December 21, 2010

Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. Luke 1:45

Our society is not perfect. The social priorities need to be examined and readjusted. The principles of social justice as practiced and taught by Jesus Christ need to be encouraged in all areas of life, private, public, civic. The government whether local, state, or federal should encourage all to value and respect all stages of life. The quality of each individual’s life should be considered.

All life is precious. Unborn babies and hardened criminals both deserve to receive our prayers for the protection of their lives. In 2010 there were only 46 executions in the United States. This represents a 12 percent drop from the previous year. The figures were gathered by the Death Penalty Information Center which produces and distributes an annual report on execution statistics.

There are approximately 700000 homeless people living in the United States. There are approximately 120000 chronic homeless people who live on the streets, have mental disabilities, drug and alcohol addiction/dependency problems, and life threatening medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease. The number of homeless people is not accurate; it remains an estimate. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates that approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2007).

During Advent and the Christmas seasons, Christians should remember all of those less fortunate, all of those in need with prayers and action.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Listen - December 20, 2010

But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Luke 1:29

Hearing and obeying God is difficult for many of us. We have both internal, private noise drowning out God’s voice. Then, there is external, public noise always trying to capture our attention with bold colors, loud sounds.

Our Christian life can be described as a journey toward God. Each day we travel a little closer to God. We are gathering impressions, observations, thoughts, epiphanies as we move along. We learn by watching ourselves and watching others. Prayer is very helpful. The longer the period of prayer, often the more deeper the relationship with God. A healthy prayer life can form a great novitiate of spiritual development and fortitude, a wonderful initiation into living with charity, humility, and obedience. This initiation occurs with dedication, diligence, and discernment.

The entirety of life becomes the syllabus for an exploration into being Christian, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, into living the Beatitudes.

Loving and serving God will become the most important thing in life.

The desire to be selfless, to serve without being noticed, without being thanked, to serve even if it might be dangerous will lead you closer to God, closer to holiness. There is no assurance of reward or remembrance for any act of kindness or charity. Serving God means being anonymous, being humble. I have seen myself in my imagination performing some great charitable deed with a great cinematic flourish and theatrical oration. I am often frightened and amused by these thoughts for they are products of movies and television shows that I have viewed and which I look back upon with a cautious, suspicious eye. I prefer my daydreams to be vague and intimate; I should buy lunch for this person in need, help this person with an application for this. I must find my place in the real world where people have real problems, real fears. I must find myself in my imagination so that I will be prepared to honestly, truly, gently share goodness, holiness, kindness.

Jesus Christ asks his followers to combat all impulses to be selfish; he reminded his followers of the necessity to develop and share all actions, feelings, and ideas which give God praise, glory, and thanks. He told the Apostles and the other followers to believe in God, to invite and welcome God into their hearts and their souls.

Being obedient to God’s will may at times be very difficult but it is always rewarding.

It is easy to pretend not to hear, to decide not to obey God’s wishes. It is easy to pretend that the message was garbled, or to postpone making a decision. The Holy Spirit can only guide us to God when we allow it. Having faith and hope in our lives is great, but it is better when we use them for the glory of God.

Hearing and obeying God requires active participation, discernment, and courage.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Spirit of holiness - December 19, 2010

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. Matthew 1:24

Each year the true message of Christmas is submerged beneath more hype, more consumerism, more angst. Christmas is not about giving and receiving; finding the perfect present; getting the best deal. There is so much hype that the real Christmas story is hidden from view.

The birth of Jesus Christ is important but that occurs after two very important events which are not mentioned outside of Mass.

What are the two events? What type of implications do these two events have on contemporary life?

The Nativity scene is very beautiful, very powerful. The entire story about the manger is gentle, natural, believable. The world and the time of Jesus Christ is rendered in such organic boldness that everything always is fresh when the story is told.

The two events which are central to this story concern Mary and Joseph. For the birth of Jesus to occur, both had to say yes to God's request. They both had angel visitations. They both had reservations. They both put their faith in God, complied with God's wishes. Both Mary and Joseph obeyed God. They each had free will. They could have said no. They decided to say yes.

The true message of Christmas begins with two people doing as God requested. The true gift of the season is their obedience, their faith.

All Christians should remember the angel visitations and prepare their lives for the tasks which God may request to be done.

Christmas can be a time of spiritual renewal if time is left for reflection, discernment. The presents should not be the focal point of this season. The focal point should be finding ways to serve God. The focal point should be saying yes to God. All Christians should be attentive, patient, and listening for God's call. All Christian's are asked to serve, are asked to have lives with foundation of charity, humility, and obedience.

Christmas reminds each one of us of the importance of listening and obeying God.

The true Christmas story is about the spirituality of two individuals, the simplicity and beauty of both their faith in God and their unwavering obedience to God. Their acceptance of God's requests fulfilled prophecy and suggested the foundation of a mystical union with God. Mary and Joseph together present a purity of heart, purity of obedience, purity of compassion and love, purity of conformity to the will of God.

The true value of the Christmas story rests in the lessons of preparation, renewal, and acceptance that the season offers when the spiritual needs are nurtured. Christmas is a time to open up each heart, open up each soul, open up each mind for God and for God's work.

Christmas reminds each Christian of the importance of saying thank you to God, of praising God.

The perfect gift for God is our obedience to his will.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Behold, the days are coming - December 18, 2010

Christians often speak of love as if it possesses something magic. Love possesses nothing, asks for nothing. Love provides liberty, breadth, and depth to our thoughts on goodness, holiness, kindness. Love teaches us how to judge impartially our lives, our point of view, our actions. Love helps us connect ourselves to other good, God loving and God serving individuals from the past. Love provides perspective on the duration of an individual man’s life in comparison to the history of the world, in comparison with God. Our individual existence is not that great. Greatness only occurs when we give our lives, our love to God and the sphere of our existence moves beyond our personal concerns, moves to universal concerns of compassion, mercy, faithfulness, and love.

Christians are asked to praise and give thanks to God. Christians are asked to be loyal servants of God. Christians are asked to have charity, humility, and obedience for God in their hearts, minds, and souls.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Assemble and listen - December 17, 2010

There is but one thing necessary thing in life. That is to know and love God; to have God within your heart, mind, and soul; to have the benefits of God within your entire being.

It is essential that we learn how to approach and how to adore God, both during Mass and outside of Mass, inside of a church and outside of a church. Personal resources will have to be developed to seek and to experience divinity. We must learn how to detach ourselves from our possessions, from our thoughts, from all things which might be taken, all things which might be lost. It is important, absolutely essential to understand and believe what is eternal. Everything in life which is not eternal is temporary, simply borrowed. All those things which help us gain admittance to heaven are real, are beautiful when they are used appropriately for the glory and love of God. As Christians we are asked to learn, to adore, to understand, to accept, to experience, to share, to teach about God, about his love and mercy for each of us, about loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is a responsibility. This is our duty. This is God’s law, God’s plan. When we follow it, we experience happiness, we move closer to God, closer to heaven. When we truly, honestly, deeply love and serve God nothing can stop us, not even death. The purpose of our Christian life is to develop a peaceful mind, to discover and extoll the presence of God, to discern how to better serve God. Being in communion with God, listening to and following his instruction is the goal. There is no reason to have fear. Let the love for God give you strength. Let it teach you to sacrifice, teach you to pray, teach you to love, teach you to live with the beauty and peace of the principles of fairness and social justice as taught by Jesus Christ. All moral thought and ethics will begin with love and loyalty to God. Let his will act as your guide. All greatness exists for those who do his work patiently, lovingly, gently. Being Christian means allowing and wanting God to dwell within our beings, our complete beings and wanting this completely and consciously. The potential for goodness, kindness, and holiness waits to expand within each Christian, waits for moral fairness, moral decency, moral superiority to flourish. A superiority of spirit, a kind of purity which is obtained and maintained by prayer and discernment is necessary when doing God’s work.

All of this begins with love; all is nurtured by love.



Thursday, December 16, 2010

My love shall never leave you - December 16, 2010

What did you go out to the desert to see--a reed swayed by the wind? Luke 7:24

On each day we discuss vacations and vocations. We discuss the Seine, discuss Original Sin. We talk about the Beatitudes and walking on water. Being Baptized in the River Jordan is appealing. There is talk of penance, sacrifice, sacraments. There are questions about Saint Paul’s writings. There are tender emotions leading us toward God, leading us upward. Happily the lightness of faith brightens the room with a magnificent glow.

Popular Culture bombards us with wicked, violent images of all types of sin and vice? I try to say little prayers during such situations. However, we must hope.

The wicked images tempt us, encourage us to make mistakes, encourage us to forget the consequences. We learn how to repair our mistakes, how to ask for forgiveness.

Mass offers strength and truth. We have charity, humility, and obedience to God.

Well, this journey will not have been the mere summer afternoon convertible ride, top down, easy, comforting. A journey will stir thoughts of all humanity, will direct our heart, mind, and soul toward heaven. True magnificence occurs when we are not selfish, when we are quiet, when we are discerning. It is natural to seek a deeper connection with Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Turn to me and be safe - December 15, 2010

In the LORD shall be the vindication and the glory of all the descendants of Israel. Isaiah 45:25

There are remarkable stories of virtue. There are remarkable stories of all types of journeys. Saying the Rosary is encouraged. Prayer presents images picturesque, inspiring. Silence can provide comfort. The great problem is sinning and thinking about sinning, and the solution is not easy when popular culture asks us to deny the existence of sin and to allow psychology and sociology to explain everything, to revise and reduce the idea of Original Sin.

The Mass attempts to give us new spiritual ideas and lessons which reinforce the simple theme of love. We are all refugees. We are all wounded.

There is compassion, mercy, hope.

We no longer know everything, having too much information, too much opinion and not enough facts. Trust is desired, but difficult to obtain.

Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves is desirable yet very difficult.

There is so much to think about.

Splendid discernment topics wait to be uncovered



And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me. Luke 7:23

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD - December 14

Which of the two did his father's will? Matthew 21:31

Is there any part of your life that you think would make a great parable for someone else to hear? Have you done something wonderful for someone? Has someone done something wonderful for you? Have you had a prodigal moment? Have you had a “cast the first stone” moment?

Throughout our lives we have each made many, many decisions. We have obeyed the rules and broken the rules. We try to be saints but we are always sinners.

Being a sinner is natural, is organic for all human beings. No one is immune from sin.

The goal of our Christian lives involves both learning and applying the principles and precepts of goodness, holiness, and kindness. We must learn how to be God like in our thoughts and actions.

How illustrious and how illuminating a Christian life can be.

It is good to study and follow the customs and traditions of a religion. There is diligence, diversity within the parishioners. There is honor and happiness within each Mass. There is glory! There is love. There is admiration, adoration. There is congratulation. There is commiseration.

Each day of a faithful Christian’s life is an attempt to be God-like, to follow in the foot steps of Jesus Christ.

Monday, December 13, 2010

like gardens beside a stream - December 13, 2010

By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? Matthew 21:18

It is important to remember to give thanks and praise to God. It is always good to remember to offer thanks for good health, sound body. Worldly things should not be too influential upon your character. Live each day simply merry in the hope of eternal life in heaven with God. Allow yourself to cultivate good friends who can teach you charity, humility, and obedience to God. It will be good for you to associate with those who believe in the Lord and are willing to share their experiences with the Holy Spirit, their experiences with prayer.

Allow the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes to lead you closer to God.

Continually ask the Lord to keep you honest, faithful, humble. Continually as the Lord to help you live without, to help you sacrifice. Continually ask the Lord to help you be content, to help you serve God. Live your life with both the anticipation and expectation of serving God tomorrow.

Always be true to God through prayer, meditation, and reflection.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Be strong, fear not! - December 12

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. James 5:7

I meant to write this entry earlier but it was such a busy day that I spent more time at the Cathedral than I had originally planned. I participated in one Mass, photographed another Mass, photographed another celebration, photographed a Christmas present wrapping party, participated in another Mass, had pizza and photographed more gift wrapping, then photographed the choir evening concert, and then photographed happy parishioners singing Christmas carols and drinking wassail. It was a delicious day, filled with prayer, filled with thoughts about the Lord.

It was a day of standing on the marble. It was a day of giving thanks.

The day was dedicated to God. There was something nurturing and playful; there was something healthy and alive, energizing my spirituality, evangelizing my spirituality. There was so much to observe, to experience, to remember.

There were children. There was a procession. There was a recreation.

A miracle was replayed and presented in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

There is something beautiful, something immense in being a part of this parish. Each day can be an expedition leading to goodness, kindness, holiness; leading to God.


Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another? Matthew 11:3

Saturday, December 11, 2010

whose words were as a flaming furnace - December 11

Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Matthew 17:10

Mass is very special, very beautiful. Mass is very important. It should always be cherished, always treated with respect. The Mass is a time of and a time for community. The Mass is a time of reverence. There is great equality within the prayers of the Mass. Allow the Mass to be a time of remembrance.

Allow the splendor of the Mass to lead you to a beautiful, peaceful place of reflection. Allow the rhythm of the Mass to lead you to tranquility. Allow the silence of the Mass to lead you to compassion. Always remember that both God and man are present in each Mass; both need to be respected.

Each Mass, when the glow of candles warms the broad, sturdy altar, and there is a soft prayerful anticipation, and thoughts of private intercessions, and the gentle chant, in repetition to God, each one of us, each baptized Christian is a child in the eyes of God, a child with faces clean, fresh, fair; is a child asking for love and attention; is a child standing in an open doorway trying to decide whether to enter the room or whether to wait a little longer..

Although we attend Mass as a community, there is something intensely private, intensely sacred which can occur. Alone with our thoughts we individually reach for God. Mass teaches us how to be full of life, full of mercy. On a very basic level, Mass reminds each one of us about innocence, about childhood, about being bold and boyish, about being smart and girlish. Mass reminds us that we are God’s children.

With tremulous voice, we offer prayers to him.


And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Matthew 17:3

Friday, December 10, 2010

delights in the law of the LORD - December 10, 2010

Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy; God's law they study day and night. Psalm 1:2

Life presents wit, humor, sublimity, solemnity. Our brains allow us to reason, to make decisions. Life presents pain, terror, and fear. Each individual reacts differently. Being Christian is difficult. It asks us to accept, believe, and follow ancient documents written thousands and thousands of years ago. It is easy saying that we believe in God. Living a life that says we believe in God is difficult.

December days become shorter and shorter. The temperature is going lower and lower.

It is important to encourage our hearts, minds, and souls to expand, to learn about different subjects, to learn how to love, how to hope, how to share in the name of Jesus Christ. It is very important to learn how to embrace all sorts of goodness, kindness, and holiness. It is important to aspire for the goodness of heaven. It is important to inspire the kindness and compassion of Jesus Christ in ourselves and our neighbors. We must learn how to embrace charity, humility, and obedience to God in our daily lives. We must embrace our belief in social justice as taught by Jesus Christ.

The Mass allows each of us who believe and who open our hearts, minds, and souls, freely and completely to the Lord to experience an absolutely heavenly place, filled with love, filled with hope, filled with faith, beautifully surpassing my expectations. There is nothing old-fashioned about the Mass. There is something very comforting, very nurturing.

There is a simple plan to improve the spiritual life of all present, of all who allow themselves to believe, who allow themselves to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. The prayers and readings lead the imagination upward, heavenward, to the high gables of belfry towers of peace, goodwill, mercy. There is something delightfully fresh, delightfully cleansing, delightfully gentle. Each word has a purpose. Each word brings God alive before us, each word presents lessons on how to live in a manner pleasing to God.

There is something dreamy about the Mass. There is something magnificent. The Mass is more than an event. It is a portal, a doorway leading to love, leading to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is something translucent, transcendent about the experience of the Mass. The Mass is filled with old prayers which breathe new life into the hearts, minds, and souls of those present who listen and believe.

Each Mass presents something for our minds to wonder about, to ponder about after the Mass is over. The beauty of the Mass is that the simplicity of its design allows for and encourages us to listen attentively, to ask ourselves questions, to allow the questions to resonate, to think of the questions after the Mass is over. Each Mass allows and encourages us to discern, to ask ourselves how to be better servants of God, asks us how to do the work of God, asks us how do each one of us follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.


But wisdom is vindicated by her works. Matthew 11:19

Thursday, December 9, 2010

your redeemer is the Holy One - December 9, 2010

Whoever has ears ought to hear. Matthew 11:15

Different generations have had different people that they have listened to, followed, imitated, and been entertained by. Each of us have both the responsibility and the ability to share the Good News with others, to use our lives to evangelize. This does not mean fire and brimstone oration on street corners or in parks on Saturday afternoons. Each choice we make, each word we speak is important when it is done for the Lord. Each of our little decisions when done with charity, humility, and obedience to God’s rules can lead others to follow us, to deepen their relationship with God.

Our goal is to nurture and grow the grace of Lord in our daily lives. We must always remember to proceed with faith and love in Jesus Christ.

Our goal is to trust in Jesus Christ and to allow ourselves and our faith to be strengthened by the grace that flows from Jesus Christ.

As we search for salvation we must also want our neighbors to find and experience salvation. Our prayers are always inclusive, our hearts are always open, our souls are always filled with hope, love, compassion.

When you attend Mass listen attentively, actively with all your senses, participate actively with all your senses. Allow yourself to be vulnerable, allow yourself to listen and feel the words of the Good News. Allow yourself to be God’s “Beloved.” Understand and accept the responsibility of being God’s servant.

The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist feed and nurture our minds, our souls.

As Christians we are encouraged to find our individual way to examine the beauty of living life following in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is so many things happening within our lives, so many opportunities to evangelize, so many questions to discern.

We each can and must create our own snapshot of our life with Christ.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Sing joyfully to the LORD - December 8, 2010

The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Luke 1:35

There are so many names in our lives. There are so many labels. Each day we are asked to remember this person’s first name, that person’s last name, this company, that project. The Bible also is filled with many names of people, places, and things which we are asked to remember.

The names and their stories direct our gaze to what is important, to what is beautiful. Our lives as Christians should be filled with charity, humility, obedience. Each day we should attempt to add a little bit more charity, humility, and obedience to our lives.

Each day we should try to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. When our lives are filled with unconditional compassion, unlimited love, we are capable of doing so much good for God.

Our popular culture presents many dangerous, conflicting images of all types of vice and licentiousness in such warm inviting colors, in language boldly encouraging and sympathetic to the individual sense of vulnerability, sense of ego, sense of desire for acceptance. Popular culture and modern society are only interested in the present moment. The current fifteen seconds are important. Today’s clothes, food, ideas will all be updated and replaced tomorrow. We know this but we fall victim to some of society’s messages and wickedness.

Our Baptism provides each one of us an antidote, a weapon to use against the decadent deception which is modern life. Our Baptism asks each of us to be aware of goodness, holiness, kindness within ourselves and within others. Our Baptism cleansed our soul from Original Sin. We must remember this each day as we make each decision. A red light at an intersection of two streets tells us to stop, there is the possibility of danger if we proceed hastily, rashly without the proper caution. We must always be open to listening for the voice of God, taking time to hear and obey the voice of God.

Please allow yourself a few minutes of prayer, a few moments of reflection on God, Bible passages, anything which will strengthen your love and obedience to God.

As Christians we should always be listening for God’s voice, always be prepared to say yes to God’s requests,


In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, Ephesians 1:11

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Comfort, give comfort - December 7, 2010

A voice says, "Cry out!" I answer, "What shall I cry out?" "All mankind is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. Isaiah 40:6

Fact and opinion are often in conflict now. Intelligent men often use rhetorical tricks to help opinion masquerade as fact. There is so much anxiety, so much angst. Everyone is always looking for the quick answer, the easy answer.

Please accept these generalizations. The generalizations are true. Our society is always in a hurry to get somewhere, to approve a new wonder drug, to make a quick dollar.

It is often difficult to know what is right and wrong in our society because so many conflicting messages are sent. Christians have one set rules which theoretically form the structure of our society. But, society has watered down the application of these rules.

Being good is not always the most desirable thing anymore. Everyone is allowed to exist within an area of grey, neither good, neither bad flexible, ready to go either way based upon changing conditions.

Living in the greyness often allows and encourages modern life to speeds by an individual at such a fast, dangerous pace, that common sense urges him to slow down, to evaluate his decisions, to discern whether he is doing the right thing. The brave ones will ask themselves whether they are serving God. Discernment is a beautiful frightening thing. Looking at our lives, asking ourselves if our lives are based upon charity, humility, and obedience to God can be a frightening thing. Discernment can help us escape the greyness, the confusion of modern life.

Each individual should slow down, reflect upon all parts of his life, both good and bad, rough and gentle, and then listen for a soft voice to give direction, a soft voice to give hope.

Each Christian should allow and encourage his heart, mind, and soul to always listen for the voice of God.


In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” Matthew 18:14

Monday, December 6, 2010

He stood up immediately before them - December 6, 2010

Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee. Isaiah 35:10

Unfortunately the beauty and serenity of being Catholic is lost upon many of my neighbors who are busy watching the Redskins or the Real Housewives or doing whatever busy, educated urban professionals do when they are not working. The visibility of social justice keeps many concerns alive and active in many imaginations. The issues of today are complex conundrums. There are no quick fixes, no easy answers.

Prayer remains as an alternative to the hectic selfishness of our popular culture and society. The Great American Dream needs to be replaced with the Great American Prayer.

Each Christian is asked to contribute to the well-being of his community, parish, and family.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

a spirit of counsel and of strength - December 5, 2010

Allow yourself to cherish the Sabbath and attending Mass on the Sabbath. Allow this to be a day of charity, humility, and obedience.

Remember the half forgotten prayers of childhood, create some prayers with echoes from yesterday.

Within each prayer rests a portion of your youth, a dollop of all that which is good, kind, and holy within you

And so remember the comfort that prayer does offer

Each time you do acknowledge what you have done

Each momentary strength, momentary weakness

Each prayer does unlock childish memories of faith,

And of Easter, and of the greatest sacrifice you ever heard,

And of a candle-lighted Lent of abstinence and silence

Now, vivid, cinematic, asking me to discern.

Presenting faces of hope, faces of faith, faces of love; faces serving, faces following

Tragedy is the handmaid to all human beings

And yet, those who believe with their entire being

Will surely find salvation and eternal life with God.

I am thinking of a child's prayer now

Said proudly, happily before their father at mealtime.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

no more will you weep December 4

Untitled Prayer from Yesterday





Never until this instance have I ever seen.

The delicate candle-lighted wreath and ribbons

On the black wick,

tickles the flame and offers a new trick;

And thereupon silence my tongue does pick

Remembrance, yes; recollection, yes:

Poignant thought about gibbons.



A prayer within my heart, smitten, content does grow.

Nurtured by goodness, kindness, holiness,

And when at last I did approach charity,

Faith provided a glimpse of truth and solidarity,

And my heart did yearn for the familiarity

Within quiet marble places; smitten silent

Waiting, wanting to learn something new, something true.



Why do your eyes look upon my ears?

What can you see within my desperation?

Do you feel my prayers?

Am I content with my cares

What is there but what each of us shares,

In reverent imaging and candle light,

A moment of talk, a moment of quiet.



The sweetest love does approach with each breath here

Words chanted gently, almost in unison linger

With a vanquishing power of tender deliquesce

Or heavenly loveliness,

Merely announcing the beauty of holiness

Among the harmonies of hope and good cheer

Faith makes each believer a true singer.



But why should you kneel down before your Father

And start--with sounds, then words, then sentences--

Simply praying

That any day could bring

or inspire the goodness of anything

Beauty requires prayer,

And prayer does make us wonder, does make us fonder

of our Father.


Now the candle light does stand guard;

The silence does surround, comfort me,

Within the stump speeches in my mind,

A wish for humility to bind,

all the goodness, kindness that the prayers may find,

within my body, heart, and soul with holiness as my guard

as I journey, as I yearn, as I pray.

Friday, December 3, 2010

See that no one knows about this - December 3

"Let it be done for you according to your faith." Matthew 9:29

Newspaper headlines and lead paragraphs often capture my attention. There is nothing like a good, well publicized, and often polarized court room trial, the heated, intellectual cross-examinations, and sensational pictures and captions to motivate quips, puns, and one liners. Political reportage is very domestic, often too didactic. But, there are people who prefer articles about government agencies, government policies, government nuances. I look for new to make my eyes opens, my jaw to drop open. I look for news to scare me. A good newspaper story makes me afraid of my neighbors, makes me afraid to watch television,makes me afraid not to watch television. My entire being becomes briefly involved when I read newspaper headlines and lead paragraphs. How I like the inverted paragraph!

I am always on the look out for something to induce PG day dreams in which I am the witness on the stand, or at the next table or standing close to the wrong person at the right time or with the right person at the wrong time and either I photograph, film, or record a conversation or event accidentally and then I have to explain it and present it to the police and then during a sensational trial where I am the star witness. I am all ready with my imaginary comebacks, my imaginary sidelong glances,and my imaginary self-confidence and self-righteousness. A movie should be built around my imaginary battle with the cross-examiner.

These little reveries usually take place as I skim newspaper headlines as I am walking somewhere or riding on the subway. The truth about the state of the world is not as entertaining but is as equally frightening.

South Korea's new Defense minister threatened to bomb North Korea. The US unemployment rate rises to 9.8%. A murder suspect commits suicide in Los Angeles. American and civilian casualties rise in Afghanistan.

Each day there is some new tragedy, a murder, a rape, a vicious attack. Newspapers inform the public of the specifics of many of the crimes. There is never a lack of a news about a sudden, violent death.

This world provides many opportunities for prayer, many subjects in need of prayer, and many reasons to increase the prayer within our lives.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

He humbles those - December 2

So by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:20

The busy schedule of holiday parties, family dinners, pageants with religious themes, ballets of seasonal favorites is confusing for most people. An event is somehow always missed.

November nights melt into December days. Life swings back and forth, back and forth between altercation, alteration, and celebration. People lose patience, gain anxiety. Eyes become the engine, the locomotive pulling individual into this store, onto this internet page. Wants masquerades as needs. Luxury masquerades as necessity.

This is sometimes a noisy, frightening time of quiet, interior terror.

The point is that the locomotive somehow travels to places not on the itinerary, travels to places that are unapproved and sometimes dangerous for us. not what account we are going to charge the lost locomotive to," I continued. "It is how you happened to lose it."

All the egg nog, all the fruit cake, all shiny, bright decorations can not hide the asperity, the distance, the angst, the fear which keeps people apart. This is a time to be tired, to be nervous, to be chattering and singing. This is the time to listen before speaking.

As a matter of fact this is the time be a loyal locomotive trying to remain on schedule .

* * * * *

November and December holidays direct our gaze to a specific point. The metaphor using a locomotive implies movement without explanation, without presumption. November and December are all about moving people around, moving things from a to b. This is a time of being personal, of being thankful, of being hopeful. It is a time of tangerines, poinsettias, clemtines, fruitcake. It is the time of the locomotive; the time of motion and emotion, of love and loving, of offering and receiving. It is a the time of finger foods, finger-licking, finger-pointing. Lunch is often overshadowed by the advance of carving stations of turkey, beef, ham; bite-sized quiche, jumbo shrimp, vegetables slices of festive seasonal colors.

Many questions remain unanswered.

Depending upon the individual's perspective, temperment, and sobriety there is much to lambast, much to criticize, much to describe as lost between hype and hyperbole.

But nothing manmade is all good, nothing manmade is all bad. Trouble is always waiting. There will always be cynical, sarcastic, bitter comments. There will always be warm, fresh apple pies to counter them. Enjoy the season. Accept the kisses and handshakes and the smiling "Happy Holiday", or the drawling "Merry Christmas" and the smirking "Happy New Year" when they are offered. Repeat them if possible with all that is good, all that is kind, and all that is honest within you. This is not a season to grow cynical. This is not a season to nurture a bilious vision of discord and misdeeds within any imagination. Be like a loyal locomotive moving from station to station, moral to morale, ethic to eccentric; a force for goodness, kindness, charity.

* * * * *

The metaphor of the locomotive is whimsical, old fashioned.

Modernity often prefers to offer the battle of simplicity versus hypocrisy.

The time from Thanksgiving to New Year's should be a more somber time of reflection, thanks, and hopefulness.

It should be a time of social sobriety, delicate propriety, and gentle silence.

Everyone who has a cynical thought would have to eat two or three tangerines.

And create a new metaphor for goodness, kindness, and hope.

Good spelling and proper grammar must be used.

Finding and developing and sharing a good metaphor is a difficult task. I am going to hitch a few private cars to a locomotive going south.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Send Them - December 1, 2010

"My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way." Matthew 15:32

How we interact with each other is very important. Each person's interactions can have either a negative or positive impact upon other people. Whether one person acknowledges another, listens attentively, opens a door can affect the actions and statements of others. Human beings exist within a hazy blur of hyperbole, creating crazy hypothetical questions about life, using hypotenuse triangles to explain this and that while trying to find each other's hypostasis. It is the search for the essence of the individual which sometimes leads men to God. The key ingredient of this search is whether we can see and/or sense evidence of goodness, kindness, holiness in each other. The essential element which we are all looking for is a sign of love. For unconditional love is the meat and potatoes of charity, humility, obedience to God. The key component is the ability of the individual to act in a way that is tender and non-selfish, a way that expresses honest concern and shows honest compassion. When this occurs, there is a moment of bliss, a moment of peace, a moment of hope when everything else is forgotten. This is a moment which should be cherished. The lessons of goodness, kindness, holiness are difficult to hear, process, accept, and imitate because they are often in direct conflict with how the popular culture dominated society behavior patterns where nothing needs to be respected, where being irreverent is considered the norm. Popular culture does not respect the soul of the individual, the souls of all human being. The essence of the individual is courageous in goodness, kindness; faithful in compassion, obedience; caring in words, actions.

Christians are asked to be gutsy, to have moxie, to develop and display dauntlessness, to be lionhearted, to have valor, to be valiant in the name of Jesus Christ, in both their thoughts and their deeds. Christians, simply, are asked to love and fear God and to love their neighbors. When a person is able to love, unconditionally, without compromise then finding the inner peace and the inner strength to be courageous.

Learning to commiserate with other people is a beautiful skill to have. This skill requires a level of courage. Being truly, honestly empathetic can provide understanding, hope. Being empathetic is active, asks each person to participate, to use their senses to explore and share the experience in a way pleasing to God, in a way that leads toward God, in a way that reinforces the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Christians are part of a group. How each individual describes and interacts with the group is very important. Attending Sunday Mass is important, but there is an underlying desire for each Christian to do more than that, to incorporate the lessons of love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ into their daily lives. Christians are often described as a flock of followers, a herd of believers, the assembled, the gathered. Christians consociate. Each Sunday Christians rendezvous and experience the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Each Christian has the responsibility of sharing his experience, the responsibility of asking others to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. The experience of being Christian can provide hope, love, courage. Being Christian is a beautiful consociation. Being Christian asks us to find the essence of goodness, kindness, and holiness within ourselves.