dilettante
distraught
perseverance
preserve
soapbox derby
didactic
kinetic energy
religion
palatable
palate
palletize
pall
erudite
The list are some of the words that I have included in my entries. Some I had trouble spelling correctly, others I just like how the word looks and sounds. Some have vivid memories. There are other words not included but important also. Everything in life builds toward a new moment, new experience. As I am thinking about my vocation I am seeking out words, new and ancient, from different civilizations, with a freshness, a boldness of hope, love, and human dignity.
I must continue learning about fairness, social justice, freedom, human dignity. I must remember to apply the Beatitudes to my daily life.
How do I fit into this parish? into the Universal Church? What can I offer? I must always be reminded of the sacrifice, suffering, and love of other Catholics who found the courage to do the right thing, who found the courage to follow in the footsteps of Christ.
“THE CHURCH, LIKE JESUS, HAS TO GO on denouncing sin in our own day. It has to denounce the selfishness that is hidden in everyone's heart, the sin that dehumanizes persons, destroys families, and turns money, possessions, profit, and power into the ultimate ends for which persons strive.” (Archbishop Oscar Romero, August 6, 1977)
Showing posts with label Oscar Romero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oscar Romero. Show all posts
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Message of Love
We live in a time of institutionalized sin. We accept all types of deceptions, falsifications, and temptations. Our secular cultures abuses us with all types of scandals and rumors which encourage and nourish all types of vices and sins to fester and grow within our hearts with greed, selfishness, and other undesirable, unloving traits promoted as beneficial and natural.
As Christians we accept that we are sinners and try to avoid sinning. The Church reminds us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to worship only God.
Still the sinning and temptation continue, but we have the lessons from the Gospels leading us to the power and glory of God.
Sinfulness causes our hearts and souls to feel fatigued, confuses us. The glamor of evil is a serpentine road which crosses itself several times; it is a harsh course full of discontent, anxiety, selfishness of heartlessness, of fear, of destructive inquisitiveness to the poor decaying clamor of indecision and deception. Our secular culture deliberately challenges and ridicules all that was good, decent, and noble within our lives, and now we constantly have to assert what is sacred, what is essential.
How beautiful is the kingdom of God, which encourages goodness in the world, where all that which is divine waits, all love, all mercy, all forgiveness, all hope—a kingdom of charity, humility, obedience. How wonderful to live in peace, to live with God’s love for eternity!
We all have been tempted by the secular culture; we all have learned ways to resist it.
Our secular culture does not want our sincerity or our respect; it provides enough stimulation to make each of us a conversational diletante, with only trivial information and its derivatives to guide us away from seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy.
We must learn to pray to God in humble, honest, loving words. We must praise God for each breath we take, each mountain we see. We must thank God for the entirety of our lives, the good, the bad, the misspelled, the ungrammatical, the typographical errors, the beauty, his goodness and kindness to us. We must always thank God for all the priests, the clergy. For it is in our Church that Christ’s lessons of love continue to be shared, to be taught, to be lived every day.
The mission of the Church remains one of love, education, and preparation. The message of the Church is love.
“The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the gospel if it stopped being . . . a defender of the rights of the poor . . . a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society . . . that prepares the way for the true reign of God in history.” Archbishop Oscar Romero
As Christians we accept that we are sinners and try to avoid sinning. The Church reminds us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to worship only God.
Still the sinning and temptation continue, but we have the lessons from the Gospels leading us to the power and glory of God.
Sinfulness causes our hearts and souls to feel fatigued, confuses us. The glamor of evil is a serpentine road which crosses itself several times; it is a harsh course full of discontent, anxiety, selfishness of heartlessness, of fear, of destructive inquisitiveness to the poor decaying clamor of indecision and deception. Our secular culture deliberately challenges and ridicules all that was good, decent, and noble within our lives, and now we constantly have to assert what is sacred, what is essential.
How beautiful is the kingdom of God, which encourages goodness in the world, where all that which is divine waits, all love, all mercy, all forgiveness, all hope—a kingdom of charity, humility, obedience. How wonderful to live in peace, to live with God’s love for eternity!
We all have been tempted by the secular culture; we all have learned ways to resist it.
Our secular culture does not want our sincerity or our respect; it provides enough stimulation to make each of us a conversational diletante, with only trivial information and its derivatives to guide us away from seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy.
We must learn to pray to God in humble, honest, loving words. We must praise God for each breath we take, each mountain we see. We must thank God for the entirety of our lives, the good, the bad, the misspelled, the ungrammatical, the typographical errors, the beauty, his goodness and kindness to us. We must always thank God for all the priests, the clergy. For it is in our Church that Christ’s lessons of love continue to be shared, to be taught, to be lived every day.
The mission of the Church remains one of love, education, and preparation. The message of the Church is love.
“The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the gospel if it stopped being . . . a defender of the rights of the poor . . . a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society . . . that prepares the way for the true reign of God in history.” Archbishop Oscar Romero
Monday, March 29, 2010
Challenge Ourselves
We must always challenge ourselves and our views of our world. Being Christian is difficult. There is a tension between what Christ taught and how our secular society encourages us to live. The greatest danger that a Christian can face is complacency, accepting everything, questioning nothing. This in essence can render your faith moot, meaningless. If we allow ourselves to love our neighbors, we must hope and pray for fairness in their lives; we must also act to achieve this fairness in their lives. It will not occur without our effort, our support, our patience. Prayer is essential. When we allow ourselves to love our neighbors, we become involved in their lives and struggles, we allow ourselves to suffer with them, we allow ourselves to share compassion with them. As Christians we can never accept the status quo. We must look at our society, at our world and see how the poor and marginalized are treated. We must work for true equality which will foster freedom, peace, human dignity for all mankind.
“The Church is obliged by its evangelical mission to demand structural changes that favor the reign of God and a more just and comradely way of life. Unjust social structures are the roots of all violence and disturbances.” Archbishop Oscar Romero
“The Church is obliged by its evangelical mission to demand structural changes that favor the reign of God and a more just and comradely way of life. Unjust social structures are the roots of all violence and disturbances.” Archbishop Oscar Romero
Friday, March 26, 2010
Search Within The Silence
Outside there are raindrops again. It is Friday. Sitting here in silence and hope, voices talking, voice laughing can be heard. Horns from automobiles can be heard; the hiss of quick moving tires also disturbs this silence.
As Christians we are encouraged to create and protect a “willing expansion of belief” in ourselves and our world. We live with the premise of communicating with God. We praise God. We offer thanks to God. We petition God. We are confident that he will show us mercy. We learn patience as we wait for his response. We do not expect his correspondence to be instantaneous like a text message. We can not rush God.
Sometimes our honesty, our enthusiasm in our prayers or good deeds creates a kinetic energy, an intensity which can inspire others and move us, unlocking emotions, diminishing fears, restoring hope. As Christians we are always looking for ways to become closer to God, always trying to move toward God. We talk of goodness, we talk of holiness. The true orientation of a man is often not found in his oration but within his silence, within something imperceptible to the naked eye. Our true orientation toward God is hidden somewhere between or hearts and our souls; it is at once powerful and vulnerable; it sees and feels both good and evil.
How wonderful it would be if we all would take time, become a didacticist for a day, focusing all of our energy on sharing what we have learned from the Bible, from the life, death, and resurrection of Christ!
We do not talk about God enough! We do not apply the teachings of Christ enough. We have too many distractions, soccer games, celebrity philandering, political corruption. How completely sad our world is! Everything has a price! Dying soldiers help sell auto insurance and detergent. Murdered children help sell frozen pizza and deodorant. Tearful families help sell birth control pills and diapers. This critique is not new. It is only mentioned because we must always remember God, always add God to both our thoughts and conversations. Christ is that unknown soldier, Christ is that murdered child. We must acknowledge our role in the violence which occurs in our society and within this world. As we grow in our faith, as our goodness blossoms within us, hopefully we will transform us, give us the courage to say enough killing, enough violence, enough war!
We do not talk about God enough! Why do we come to Church each week? What do we get out of it? Do we get anything out of it? Do we listen to the readings, to the homily? Do we really listen or are we thinking about work, the stock market, player statistics, happy hour drink specials?
Each Mass presents a lesson in love, a simple type of love without attachment, a love of purity and hope, a love which inspires love and goodness, a love filled with compassion and empathy, and a love of sacrifice and suffering.
This is not the love of your New York Times bestseller or your Hollywood blockbuster. This is a love created with charity, humility, and obedience; a love filled with hope, filled with praise for God; this love encourages each of us to willingly expand our belief in the goodness and hope with ourselves and our neighbors and the belief in our ability to share our goodness, our hope with our neighbors. We are not asked to tolerate our neighbors but to understand and love our neighbors. We are not asked to say yes to social justice but to protect it for everyone.
“God is found on the way of justice, conversion and truth.” Archbishop Oscar Romero
As Christians we are encouraged to create and protect a “willing expansion of belief” in ourselves and our world. We live with the premise of communicating with God. We praise God. We offer thanks to God. We petition God. We are confident that he will show us mercy. We learn patience as we wait for his response. We do not expect his correspondence to be instantaneous like a text message. We can not rush God.
Sometimes our honesty, our enthusiasm in our prayers or good deeds creates a kinetic energy, an intensity which can inspire others and move us, unlocking emotions, diminishing fears, restoring hope. As Christians we are always looking for ways to become closer to God, always trying to move toward God. We talk of goodness, we talk of holiness. The true orientation of a man is often not found in his oration but within his silence, within something imperceptible to the naked eye. Our true orientation toward God is hidden somewhere between or hearts and our souls; it is at once powerful and vulnerable; it sees and feels both good and evil.
How wonderful it would be if we all would take time, become a didacticist for a day, focusing all of our energy on sharing what we have learned from the Bible, from the life, death, and resurrection of Christ!
We do not talk about God enough! We do not apply the teachings of Christ enough. We have too many distractions, soccer games, celebrity philandering, political corruption. How completely sad our world is! Everything has a price! Dying soldiers help sell auto insurance and detergent. Murdered children help sell frozen pizza and deodorant. Tearful families help sell birth control pills and diapers. This critique is not new. It is only mentioned because we must always remember God, always add God to both our thoughts and conversations. Christ is that unknown soldier, Christ is that murdered child. We must acknowledge our role in the violence which occurs in our society and within this world. As we grow in our faith, as our goodness blossoms within us, hopefully we will transform us, give us the courage to say enough killing, enough violence, enough war!
We do not talk about God enough! Why do we come to Church each week? What do we get out of it? Do we get anything out of it? Do we listen to the readings, to the homily? Do we really listen or are we thinking about work, the stock market, player statistics, happy hour drink specials?
Each Mass presents a lesson in love, a simple type of love without attachment, a love of purity and hope, a love which inspires love and goodness, a love filled with compassion and empathy, and a love of sacrifice and suffering.
This is not the love of your New York Times bestseller or your Hollywood blockbuster. This is a love created with charity, humility, and obedience; a love filled with hope, filled with praise for God; this love encourages each of us to willingly expand our belief in the goodness and hope with ourselves and our neighbors and the belief in our ability to share our goodness, our hope with our neighbors. We are not asked to tolerate our neighbors but to understand and love our neighbors. We are not asked to say yes to social justice but to protect it for everyone.
“God is found on the way of justice, conversion and truth.” Archbishop Oscar Romero
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Oscar Romero
Each moment of our lives presents a chance for us to proclaim God’s works, to praise him, to offer him thanks. Each moment of our lives presents an opportunity for us to seek fairness for everyone, to seek social justice for everyone. As Christians it is not enough to have definitions for words; we must also have understanding. We hear so many words every day, with so many being lost, misunderstood.
How often do we hear freedom, liberty, dignity, peace, liberation? How often do we really truly understand the context. It is not enough to have dictionary definitions; these words must ignite something within our souls and hearts; these words must provoke some universal thoughts for all mankind; these words ask us to look beyond our neighborhood, beyond our town, beyond our state, beyond our country; all human beings deserve the same basic things, freedom, peace, liberty, dignity.
Thirty years ago today, Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while saying Mass. He became an advocate for justice for everyone including the poor.
Technology does not change man’s basic instincts; human beings have always been sinners controlled and influenced by all types of desires and impulses. Jealousy, greed, selfishness can lead individuals and entire nations in the wrong direction. Archbishop spoke out against the injustice and the abuse of the poor people in El Salvador. By doing so he became a role model for us, reminding us to have compassion and empathy for our neighbors, reminding us to seek the Truth, share the Truth.
“A PREACHING THAT DOES NOT POINT OUT SIN is not the preaching of the gospel. A preaching that makes sinners feel good, so that they are secured in their sinful state, betrays the gospel's call. A preaching that does not discomfit sinners but lulls them in their sin leaves Zebulun and Naphtali in the shadow of death”—(Jan. 22, 1978).
How often do we hear freedom, liberty, dignity, peace, liberation? How often do we really truly understand the context. It is not enough to have dictionary definitions; these words must ignite something within our souls and hearts; these words must provoke some universal thoughts for all mankind; these words ask us to look beyond our neighborhood, beyond our town, beyond our state, beyond our country; all human beings deserve the same basic things, freedom, peace, liberty, dignity.
Thirty years ago today, Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while saying Mass. He became an advocate for justice for everyone including the poor.
Technology does not change man’s basic instincts; human beings have always been sinners controlled and influenced by all types of desires and impulses. Jealousy, greed, selfishness can lead individuals and entire nations in the wrong direction. Archbishop spoke out against the injustice and the abuse of the poor people in El Salvador. By doing so he became a role model for us, reminding us to have compassion and empathy for our neighbors, reminding us to seek the Truth, share the Truth.
“A PREACHING THAT DOES NOT POINT OUT SIN is not the preaching of the gospel. A preaching that makes sinners feel good, so that they are secured in their sinful state, betrays the gospel's call. A preaching that does not discomfit sinners but lulls them in their sin leaves Zebulun and Naphtali in the shadow of death”—(Jan. 22, 1978).
Echoes and other Prayers
After watching a movie about Archbishop Oscar Romero from El Salvador, watching my fellow parishioners prepare to leave the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle had a greater poignancy than I had imagined as I rushed down Connecticut Avenue.
Here were men, women, children all gathered on the steps of the Cathedral after the 1:00 PM Sunday Mass. Here was hope, enthusiasm, and love. It was a moment of wonderful fellowship.
Watching the signs and banners move from hand to hand, overhearing bits of conversation some in Spanish, some in English I was happy to be a part of this moment.
What a wonderful procession we made as we walked down Rhode Island Avenue. A child carrying a cross lead the procession. The American flag was there also, blowing this way and that way according to the wind.
The US Treasury Building was briefly our backdrop as our group merged with other groups united for this cause, immigration reform. We chanted in Spanish. We chanted in Spanish. We were able to see the Washington Monument in the distance. We were able to stop traffic, march across Constitution Avenue. We passed the remnants of Saturday's antiwar rally.
And as we marched onto the Mall, I could almost hear one of Archbishop Romero's homilies.
And, like everyone who has the smallest degree of foresight, the slightest capacity for analysis, the church has also to denounce what has rightly been called 'structural sin:' those social, economic, cultural, and political structures that effectively drive the majority of our people onto the margins of society.
(Archbishop Oscar Romero Aug. 6, 1977)
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