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Each day it is important to remember that Jesus Christ is the Lord. Each day we are encouraged to walk in the path made by Christ. Each day it is important to connect our daily activities to God; the essential foundation of a Christian life is a belief and love in God. Faith is more than the teachings. We are asked to establish a life of love, of hope, of humility, of charity, and of obedience. Being thankful is important. A Christian life abounds in prayer,in praise to God. The secular world presents many ideas, attitudes, and philosophies which can confuse us. Science remains the realm of men, a way to challenge the traditions, rituals of belief in a religion. Science challenges the powers of religion, the essential essence of God with questions which science says can not be answered. The secular world believes in the success of the self, challenges the idea that Christ is God.

We are asked to accept and allow Jesus Christ to dwell in the power and glory of God. Sharing the fulness and beauty of a life in God remains one of the main realities of being a Christian. God remains the power, the authority in our lives. Baptism remains the main conduit between believers and God, baptism makes each believer an adopted child of God. Sin is cleaned from us because of baptism, we are buried in the tomb with Christ because of baptism. As we accept and love God our faith in God’s power and authority will raise us as it raised Jesus Christ on the third day.

Triumph waits for us the more we grow in obedience, the more we grow in love for the Lord.

A Weekend of Sacraments

On Saturday there were two baptisms, one wedding at the Cathedral. On Sunday there was one confirmation and one baptism in addition to the usual scheduled Masses. Each one of these events reminds all those in attendance of God’s grace and love and provides time for reflection and prayer.

Weddings and baptisms are linked in my mind. They both usually involve white garments. There is participation by the parents in each ceremony. There are questions asked by the priest and answered by the bride and groom.

I had numerous instances to review my view of my life as a Christian this weekend as I went about my daily activities at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle.

There was a revelation that there is more work that needs to be done, volunteering more at the Church, praying more. Finding a way to use my life for goodness, holiness, kindness is becoming more important.

Raising a child, having a loving marriage require a lifetime of prayer, support, hope, and love. Fidelity to God, fidelity between husband and wife, fidelity between parent and child are necessary. Friends and family need to practice fairness and compassion always in their thoughts, words, and actions. Remember the local parish community and the universal parish community. Gain strength from them.

It is very important to remember Christ’s love, to remember that we are all adopted children of God, to remember we are all part of a loving prayerful community. We are never alone. There are always fresh footsteps on the ground in front of us. As a community we hopefully remember to pray for all the newly baptized children, newly married couples, newly confirmed individuals.

Christian life begins and ends with prayer. Weddings and baptisms provide a great opportunity for prayer, for the community to come together and welcome the new couple, the new Catholic into the community. Baptisms and weddings provide a moment to look back at the history of the Church, back at the history of our behavior as Christians. We can see our strengths, our weaknesses. We can renew our commitment to God, pray for the strength to change, the strength to become a better Christian.

Everything begins with prayer, everything needs prayer.

A Flickering Thought about Baptism

Yesterday I was privileged to attend a baptism and to watch the preparation for an afternoon wedding. Both events were filled with anxious faces, with guests brimming with enthusiasm, smiles, whispering voices. How amazing it is that each baptism is really a very private moment, a moment of truth, a moment of faith, a moment of hope. In the Catholic church baptism requires active participation. Baptism is more than pouring water on an infant’s head. Baptism is a request to pray for the well-being and spiritual growth of both the child and the parents; a request to lead a life filled with love and reverence for God and love and compassion for neighbors. The baptism ceremony is very brief.

With a firm grasp on love and hope each baptism provides an opportunity for each person there to reaffirm their personal commitment to God.

As a Christian receiving and sharing God’s grace is very important. Sharing a child’s baptism, with only the family and the parish priest present allows for a very intimate portal to view God and his love for all of us.

There was a gentle loving benevolent informality, a kind inviting intimacy. God as best trusted friend was there. He was visible in all of the faces. There was love and hope and faith and goodness and kindness in all of the faces. There was a little anxiety. But, God was there offering patience.

Baptism is for both the infant and those present. It is equally important for both. Baptism is the beginning of a relationship for the infant with God and a pledge to continue the relationship for the other baptized people present. (I wrote this with the assumption that all the people present would be baptized and Catholic.)

Baptism is a beautiful time to remember the Lord, to remember the beauty and majesty of being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ.

and he might send them forth

How did Jesus want to share the Good News with the people? Did he create a Facebook page? Did he create an Youtube channel? Did he create a blog? As Christians we must remember that we have been summoned by God. We each have a special purpose, some special task which God asks us to do. We each will struggle with our task from time to time. We all need to pray to God. We are reminded to praise and give thanks to God. We also are asked to look inside ourselves, to search for and then to share all of our goodness, holiness, kindness, and love. Our daily existence does have significance. Our daily actions, how we choose to live our lives can be a silent sermon of hope, social justice, love, fairness. When we live with truth, kindness, and mercy in our souls we can preach without saying a word for God can be seen in each movement, God can be felt, faith inspired. We must choose to live our lives with that special purpose of love, unconditional and universal. We must choose to think of pleasing God with all of our decisions. We must remember that we are all asked to do something in the name of God. We must listen for the request. We must have patience. We must pray. Prayer is essential for the spiritual growth of all Christians. The more we pray and listen to God, the closer our bond will be with God, the closer our relationship will become. By Baptism we are appointed. We must decide whether we are going to take the challenge and follow the footsteps of God. With patience, humility, and prayer we can achieve all types of good works in God's name. We all are asked to try. How did Jesus want to share the Good News with the people? Did he create a Facebook page? Did he create an Youtube channel? Did he create a blog? Jesus did it simply by living his life, obeying the Ten Commandments, and treating everyone with fairness, social justice, love, and understanding. The miracles may have motivated people to seek him out but the miracles were done with love. Christianity is not just reserved for the churches and cathedrals. Christianity must be nurtured, must be allowed and encouraged to grow in the coffee shops, subway platforms, street corners, gin joints. Christianity must be everywhere that each Christian goes.
The image of Jesus on the mountain suggests that he took time to reflect on what was happening and that he took time to pray. He gave himself time to breathe, time to organize his thoughts as he decided upon the Apostles and summoned each one of them to join his ministry.
How wonderful it would have been to hear Jesus speak, to hear him speak Aramaic. How wonderful it is to hear that he renamed Simon. How amusing it is to hear that he renamed James and John Boanerges which translates as sons of thunder. Even as the Apostles are being organized to preach and given the authority to drive out demons Jesus provided a glimpse of his humanity, of the humanity he hopes that each Christian will continue to share.

Words Will Lead

We live in a time when the secular world encourages us to have dilettante spirituality, limited to only those hours when we are physically within a church. The secular world does not like religion, tolerates religion only in small dozes, blames all of the worlds problems on religion instead of the men who practice and abuse their faith. It is easier for the secular world to accept the notion of Christians, as merely mystical and spiritual dabblers on Sundays before the football games.

Our challenge as Catholics is to integrate our lives, to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Our lives should encourage others to follow us. As Catholics, each choice we make should reflect our faith, our belief in God. We must find ways to fill our lives with humility, charity, mercy.

Our baptism gives us a direct obligation to God. Our lives have a purpose which we must discover and share. Goodness, kindness, and love can lead us to God. Our faith needs to be nurtured. We must limit our exposure to the secular world, we must learn more about our faith, more about the Saints.

How easy it is for the words to be written and read! How hard it is for the words to be put into practice! Being Catholic is often difficult. Following in Jesus Christ’s footsteps is difficult. There are times when we are going to want to stop. There are times when we are going to be upset by some church doctrine. There will be times when we will be too tired, too frustrated to continue.

But let nothing get in your way. Let nothing interfere with your relationship with God. Remember to pray as much as you can. Learn about your faith, share your ideas about your faith. Share your ideas about hope, love, mercy, compassion. Enjoy your life as a Catholic, always remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Allow that one act of love be your guide as you live your life each day.

The Spirit

How interesting this conversation between the Pharisee named Nicodemus and Jesus was! How simply did Jesus describe the sacrament of baptism. How beautifully did Jesus describe the call, the desire for conversion which we hear throughout our lives, leading us toward God! It is easy for us to forget this today! We always are searching for evidence. We always are seeking new solutions to old problems. We always are listening to all types of theories and assumptions about ourselves, our lives, our future. If we stop for a minute, and instead of talking to our friends about the things which concern and trouble us, we would pick of the Bible and read it, and concentrate on what we have read, then if our hearts and souls are pure and sincere, real answers, loving answers would appear before us. The Spirit is always around us but we must each individually nourish it, allow ourselves to listen to it, remember to greet the Spirit with reverence. For all that we do, we must offer it to God, for the Spirit leads us to God; allow the Spirit to teach you how to give thanks and praise to God; allow the Spirit to teach you how to be a loving, humble servant of God; allow the Spirit to teach you how to pray. The Spirit is there to help with your continuing education of humility, charity, obedience, forgiveness, mercy, and love. As Christians we must remember and acknowledge the importance of the Spirit in our lives.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

We are all trying to get to heaven. This journey provides our lives with meaning. All are actions, all our prayers, all our good deeds are done for us to one day gain admittance to heaven. We cannot go there in the flesh with our Botox injections, Prada shoes, or credit cards. We can only go there with the hope, love, faith that governs and guides us toward goodness, toward holiness. We can only go there when our spirit is sincere, pure, reverent. We can only go to heaven when God is pleased with our service during our lifetime. Each thought, each action is important. What we keep in our hearts hidden away is important. As Christians please all love to flourish and nourish your mind, heart, and soul. Avoid all worldly temptations, all worldly desires. Remember that temptations and desires are temporal. Think of God, think of ways to love your neighbor. When we think of God with love and reverence in our hearts and souls, the Spirit expands, provides answers, displays goodness and holiness which often goes unnoticed and unappreciated.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”


Each day we must thank God for the wonderful gift of our Baptism. Each day we must we must thank God for the wonderful gift of the Spirit.

The Photographer's Prayers

The thoughts that follow are those of a writer photographer who views life as a soldier at the front observing and preserving different details from each day; discovering the significence of each day, each moment as he tries to live a life filled with love and mercy like Christ’s. There are moments when I have felt like a soldier lost during a major battle, between two opposing sides slowly approaching my location; a decision must be made. Are we to speak of Jesus Christ’s teachings in the present tense or in the past? We know of his birth, his ministry, his death: since each of us have attended Mass we have heard about the star, the shepherds, the manger, swaddling clothes, his baptism in the Jordan, his temptation, the parables, his curing the sick, his miracles, his prayers, his persecution, the crown of thorns, the cross, his death, his resurrection. And each day I strive for goodness, hope for a little more wisdom and holiness than I had the previous day; remembering that all floors can be mud-stained because of outside forces, I remember charity, humility, and obedience. I endeavor to live obedience, humility, charity each day but there are moments when I fail, when I am selfish and completely self-centered, forgetting the beauty of mud-stained envelopes protecting old photographs and handwritten letters. Humility reminds me that each life contains days and moments of tear-stained eyes, announcing the advance of love, mercy, and hope; being Christian implies working to protect and encourage goodness in yourself and others by creating a foundation of charity, humility, and obedience within each of our lives. We must understand that temptation and sin will not completely vanish from our lives, what a neighbor they do attempt to become with all types of glittering, seductive lights and scents; but we must remember the weight of the forty days, patience, silence and the necessity and beauty of daily prayer and reflection. Each day should be lived with humility and self examination as we learn how to allow more goodness to develop and be shared within our daily lives. For those who are humble, patient, and silent before the Lord if their hearts are clean and pure will learn wisdom and holiness naturally! But for me now, each day, is a moment to look for God’s goodness and mercy in the world around me, and to patiently look for hints of holiness in others!