Find The Splendor

And shall the heart of a man be lost

Or shall the heart be given a map

and a glimpse of the truth?

Say, shall the heart of man be filled

with love, prayers, and beauty

leading beyond, leading to heaven

“History,” it has been declared, “is the search for the best anecdote. The historians search for trivia to exaggerate.”

“Politics,” it has been argued, “is the quest for personal power while pretending to desire equality and liberty for all. Politicians repeat one another.”

“Religion, it has been declared ”is the search for things within, things beyond. Religion repeats prayers, hymns, homilies.“

The current period grapples with history, politics, religion. Too much psycho babble exists. Strangely enough I can talk and listen to discussions about history, politics, and religion with the delicious insouciance of a six year old. Life fascinates me, arguments irritate me. Herculean daydreams fill life. Modern life labors between repeating and retreating. The great difficulty in life requires understanding the pain, the suffering which waits for us. Will we be distracted, surprised, prepared? Currently I am searching for a labor of love. Currently I am speaking fondly about the bygone days. The mysteries of life begins with silence, with the majesty, grandeur of nature and all that which is natural. The mysteries of humanity begins with the majesty, pageantry of goodness, holiness, kindness leading to love, leading to God. How splendid life is when it is framed by white roses, white carnations, white lilies. The tableaux of being Christian, of being Catholic includes countless prayers, countless moments of silence, countless reflections and insights shared during the Liturgy of the Word, countless moments of hope, love, and sacrifice remembered and shared during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The tableaux of our faith begins with the Eucharist, begins with the acceptance and belief in the Holy Trinity, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The splendor of being Catholic begins whenever two or more gather in God’s name, whenever a Mass is celebrated; whenever a prayer is remembered and recited. The splendor of being Catholic begins with a glimpse of shared compassion, mercy, love. The splendor of being Catholic includes the moment of silence, includes ”Let us pray.“

“History,” it has been declared, “is the search for the best anecdote. The historians search for trivia to exaggerate.”

“Politics,” it has been argued, “is the quest for personal power while pretending to desire equality and liberty for all. Politicians repeat one another.”

“Religion, it has been declared ”is the search for things within, things beyond. Religion repeats prayers, hymns, homilies.“

”A well rounded Christian life,“ it is declared, ”combines all three moderately with a dollop of beauty, a dollop of goodness, a dollop of truth. A Christian life is the search for love universal, unconditional to offer to God, to offer to our neighbors. A Christian life is the struggle and prayers for social justice, equity, equality, and liberty for all men. Prayers will be repeated again and again.“

Memorial Saint Cornelius and Saint Cyprian

Today is the Memorial of Saint Cornelius, pope and martyr and  Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr.

Please remember them in your prayers.

Thoughts for a Rainy Week

This city is often filled with tourists behaving like tourists with cameras and maps and questions for hurried, harried residents slightly amused, slightly frightened by these strangers with accents. The summer is filled with all colors and fabrics and voices talking, laughing, asking for directions to the Zoo, to MacDonalds, to the Cathedral.



July contains an emotional shift of opportunity, playfulness as weekend trips away dominate many conversations. There are always sights, sounds, sales. Pedestrians often have pouting defiant lips. Everyone wears flip-flops. Everyone has bare ankles. Everyone yells into their cell phone from time to time. There is a subtle anxiousness, a nervous stammer. For everyone looks at the faux leather skirts, faux leather purses, everyone notices something which will not be mentioned now but will be shared with friends during dinner and happy hour. There are thigh high black leather go-go boots. There are kittens in well ventilated black mesh bags. There are people pointing, people waiting to cross the street.



I walk to the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle each day aware of the waves of hope, waves of hopelessness. There is anxiety. There are questions about the tidal basin. There is motion, lots of movement. There are faces, there are helmets. Moving through the city is a highwire act requiring balance, confidence, looking forward, looking upward. There is noise, groans, grunts, gasps, laughter, accents. There is motion. At times I feel as if I am on a bridge not walking by a crowded coffee shop.





And I walk to the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle, hearing conversations in Spanish, Japanese, Greek, Russian; seeing people smile, laugh, pout, gesture. Sometimes I forget the city streets. Sometimes I imagine the outdoors, trees, the countryside. How great solitude and silence looks from the distance! How grand it would be to rest in the shade of a tree or wander around a pasture. 


Living in this city creates many bucolic diversions while trying to decide whether to have broccoli and goat cheese added to my salad. Living in this city presents many opportunities for goodness, kindness, holiness. Living in this city presents many opportunities for prayer.


There are trees and parks. There is despair. There is silence, hidden suffering. Prayer for everything is needed. 





And I walk to the Cathedral of Saint Matthew hundreds of tourists with cameras and cell phones and plastic bottles and cardboard cups pass by me. There is anticipation, anxiety. The faces are enjoying this moment. Enjoying the humidity. Enjoying the restlessness. Speed is important. Pedestrians race and dodge around each other. Some people bump and nudge on their separate journeys. But, it is important to remember that all those who believe in Christ are never alone, God is always with us.





There is much to see in the city. Each day there are lessons in goodness, lessons in kindness. The city is filled with all types of signs. Summer presents temptations and diversions. Summer reminds us to take time to be pray, to take time to praise and give thanks to God. There are so many signs in the city. Which do we read, which do we obey, which do we remember?





There are so many signposts directing us to God. Which do we read? Which do we obey? Which do we remember?





The Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle is often filled with tourists behaving like tourists with cameras and maps and questions and pointing fingers and waving hands and posing bodies. The Cathedral welcomes all, encourages all to enjoy the silence, to take a moment to offer thanks and praise to God. Here is a place to pray.

I Search for A Praying Ace

Life is animated. Each day we seek signs of divine influence, of divine affluence in spirit and behavior, of divine grace. We seek to find it in the clergy, in other parishioners, in the parish community as a whole. We hope that others see it in us, in our choices, in our words, in our deeds, in our prayers.

Remember and believe that God continues to communicate to us each day. Remember and believe that God has done this will all preceding generations and that he will do it with all those which will follow this one. As Christians we are asked to remember and believe the life and death of Jesus Christ. As Christians we are asked to build a life with a foundation of pure, honest spirituality filled with unconditional love for God, for neighbor, for ourselves. The life of a Christian is a difficult life of choice, of sacrifice, of prayer. The life of a Christian requires fidelity to God, fidelity to the Gospels, fidelity to the Church, fidelity to God’s community. Each Christian’s spiritual life contains individual instructions, individual directions for a loving relationship with God. Remember and believe that being Christian is being radical, is being a rebel. The core principles require developing a keen sense of selflessness, a sense of giving, a spirit of diligence. There is much work to be done. There are many prayers to be said. There is much sin and temptation to avoid. There will be days of doubt, days when different parts of Church teachings and dogma may cause problems, may be difficult accept because of the influence of the secular world. These are times when we are asked to remember God, remember the church, remember the community of all believers. These are the times when it is necessary to affirm our belief and love in God in direct and simple terms. These are the times when it is necessary to believe in the beauty and power of prayer. Life presents difficulties for us. The secular world presents difficulties for us. How we react to the difficulties is very important. These are times to be faithful, to strive to grow in our faith, in our love. We must accept our vulnerability, our imperfections as we attempt to improve ourselves, as we search for a spiritual perfection which will lead to our eternal life.

Oh we may worry about our life’s vocation, or a summer vacation, or the time restraints of an avocation. There will always be things for each us to worry about. There will always be things for each us to pray about.

Remember and believe that being Christian is not a simple act. It requires courage, hard work, thought, reflection. Being Christian requires activity, involvement with God, with our neighbors, with ourselves. Active participation leads us to God, allows us to hear his voice as he speaks to us each day, as he whispers to us each day.

Within each of us in a hunger for goodness, kindness, holiness. Our theology provides examples and encourages us to develop lives based upon these three ideas. Our theology is a guidance system for moral thought, moral insight. The secular world encourages emotional reaction, instant gratification. We are asked to have patience, to allow time for reflection before making decisions.

God will animate our thoughts when we allow him to do so, when we allow ourselves to be quiet, to be reverent in the stillness and grace of his love.

Before/After

Spiritual Deterioration

We must always be concerned with our own spiritual deterioration. If we are not careful, it can happen to each of us. Our secular world prefers soft lighting, dimness; sin and vice flourish and spread with the favor and assistance of secular obnubilation. Although we have electricity and neon lights, we live in dark times, the darkness is ever increasing, ever coarsening our hearts and imaginations. We must always beware of this. Our baptism provided each one of us with enlightenment. We must not forget that. We must find the courage and hope to continue and expand our spiritual activity. Our actions as Christians should always encourage the diminution of evil, vice, and sin. We must work to remove the glamor, the power of sin each moment of our lives. We must always promote living based upon the Beatitudes and the commandments. Our secular world offers a wickedly relaxing decadent slumber which we must always resist loudly, proudly with a sanctimonious fury. We have theology, we have devotion, we have God. With prayer learn how to avoid the formulaic traps of sin and temptation. With silence observe the formalistic strategies of evil and vice as they attack our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our God. Pop culture often behaves like a cruel dictator lavishing praise and attention only on the favored subjects. Remember and be prepared for sudden attacks on God, your personal faith, our religion. Not every laugh and joke is innocent and acceptable. Simply be prepared. Simply do not condescend to the unpleasantness, the impertinence. Remain at peace, with your mind fixed on God. Think of Jesus Christ. Trust in the Holy Scriptures. Your spiritual, intellectual, and moral existence is based upon “radical” teachings of universal unconditional love. Display that love reverently.

Secular Life

How wonderful secular life is! We forever are alternating between being seduced and seducing, being deceived and deceiving. All types of anxiety and lusts lead us into darkness and uneasiness. Science reduces and falsely renames most evil as natural, acceptable, even human. Religion, any faith or belief in God is attacked, seen as a weakness, a lack of intelligence, a lack of independence. And this is a time of vain, proud men proclaiming their strength, their authority, inviting others to praise and follow them on the road to riches and fame. It is all illusion, all false. Leisure does not always mean pleasure; happiness does not always bring peace; love is not always nourishing. Secular life is filled with an ever ending abundance of ideas, so many words. There is always the search for something new, something fresh. Ideas are often in conflict. The secular world is concerned with the immediate, is fickle; trends and fashions change frequently. The secular world treats life as a commodity; we are all disposable, easily replaceable. We are all unimportant, nameless consumers of various products. The secular world conceals our sins from us, encourages us to sin, to make mistakes especially when someone or some company can somehow benefit from our mistakes.

The desire for spiritual cleanliness is a direct threat to the secular world and all its many temptations and carefully and cleverly concealed vices. The desire for a pure heart is a battle cry to the secular world of lust, revealed, respected, and encouraged. The desire for love unconditional, unrestricted is guerilla warfare to the selfishness, possessiveness, jealous secular world.

Lucky are those who are able to think about and follow in the footsteps of Christ.

Our secular world has produced a technological desert for us to live within; each day we are encouraged to sin against God, encouraged to test God, encouraged to seek all types of wealth and celebrity. As Christians we must accept that there is another way, that there is goodness, that there is holiness. We must only remember to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is not always an easy task; but when we are able to do it we are closer to God.

Moving Forward With Hope & Love

I had intended to write a beautiful essay on social justice. I wanted it to inspire others to action. I planned on adding quotes, creating a learned, entertaining peace.

Instead, I will provide a more personal account. I believe the power of social justice is the personal involvement.

February 12, 2007 is the date of my introduction to Catholic social justice teachings. It is the moment I thought about doing faith based volunteering as an adult. I sent my first email to the Social Justice & Community Services Director at St. Matthew’s Cathedral.

She replied with an immediate thank you. We scheduled a meeting. I began volunteering with the both the Homeless and the English as a Second Language programs.

Going to the Homeless Ministry for the first time did create a little anxiety for me. But, within a few minutes it was gone. The other volunteers were friendly and encouraging, the Director was full of energy and inspiring and the clients were well behaved.

The Homeless Ministry encapsulated the teachings of the Catholic Church. Here hope and love collided with suffering and destitution. The Homeless Ministry reminded me that there are no differences between people, everyone wants to be treated with dignity and respect.

Being a volunteer allowed me to see a part of life which I completely ignored as I kept myself busy running errands, going to work. I was able to see some of my own prejudices and personal nonsense which I began to challenge.

The Monday morning’s with the Homeless Ministry allowed me to put into practice church teachings and helped me to begin to pray for people beyond my closed circle. Whether I was taking names at the door, putting fruit on a plate, or arranging clothes on a table, it all contributed to a desire to do more, to want to do more.

And the other volunteers and the Director created an atmosphere of hope and love, a welcoming space for everybody.

Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man (CCC no, 1929).

The beauty of volunteering for God occurs when you let go of yourself, let go your fears and expectations and just do what God asks of you. Sometimes it might just be serving a warm casserole or listening to someone or searching for the mate to a size 14 shoe.

A Road Trip

Life is a collection of accidents and almost accidents. Life is a conversation overheard. Life is a dream repeated and remembered.

For me one of the things which holds my life together is my faith, my belief in God.

Each day I acknowledge my flaws, my weaknesses and ask for God’s grace and help. At least once a day I pray for a “clean heart” for myself and others. And I remember other prayers, other voices asking God for guidance.

My plan was for the first blog entry appear sometime on Wednesday. But on Wednesday I took an impromptu road trip to West Virginia. That morning I decided to use road signs as a clever way to discuss faith and religion. I was happy with the plan.

Since I was the passenger, I debated bringing my laptop but decided that was a little silly. Instead I brought a steno pad, an ink pen, two cameras and a copy of the Magnificat. I did not have a plan on how I was going to use any of these items but I knew that I would.

I used the pen and steno pad within the first five minutes. I was going to write down every road sign that I passed. I was surprised by the purple ink which appeared on the paper as I wrote my first words. Only ten words were written before the pen and steno pad were put away.

And then I explained my plan. The car drove through North West Washington, past many two story houses with impressive stone and brick facades, past many trees, graceful and protective, with green leaves more vibrant against the overcast sky, past women pushing perambulators on the sidewalks. I saw this and more. There was too much to write down, too much to try to capture with words.

Here was life. Here was hope. I could see it.

Since we were leaving the Washington metropolitan area, I asked if we could stop at a bank because I needed additional money. While I was at the automatic teller machine, the Magnificat was skimmed by my friend Natalie. When I returned to the car, she flipped a couple pages and asked me to read a passage.

It was the Twenty-Third Psalm. It was a responsorial. I glanced at it once. Then, as we drove on the freeway, I began to read the Twenty-Third Psalm.

In my heart there was an instant of pure joy and hope as the words were repeated and loved ones remembered.