Of the invitation from Christ, and of compassion for the world and for all

Jesus Christ provides a path that will lead each Christian from darkness into the light. He invites everyone to follow him. Each Christian is encouraged to create a life of fairness, a life of social justice based upon Christ’s teaching. Each Christian is encouraged to seek goodness, holiness, kindness; each Christian heart is invited to turn away from stony barrenness of sin and to turn toward the gentle, loving illumination of God’s grace. There is much spiritual blindness in the world. Avarice, selfishness, lust are acceptable and encouraged by the society. The simple life and teachings of Christ remain radical. His life, his character, his sacrifice wait to fill a particular place of importance in the lives of each believer. As adopted children of God, each Christian is asked to adopt the ways of Christ, to adopt his worldview, to adopt his compassion.

His life is an example of supreme hope, supreme compassion. Christ was concerned about the wellbeing both physical and spiritual of all. There was never anyone too dirty, too weak, too rich for him. His Spirit was filled with humility, charity. His holiness surpassed the holiness of others because he asked for nothing for himself, because he prayed to God and encouraged others to pray, and because he was obedient to the will of God. The Gospel encourages us to listen and develop a mind like Christ. The Gospel encourages us to nurture a longing for Christ, a longing to experience his kindness, holiness, goodness; a longing to witness firsthand his humility, charity, compassion, and mercy. This feeling when nurtured with truth, obedience, patience, and hope can help each Christian to find honest wisdom and to understand and love the words of Christ. Lucky is the Christian who seeks to live his entire life based on the teachings from the mind of Christ.

There are many things to divert our thinking, to tempt us. There are deficit talks, nuclear weapons, abortion, welfare, child abuse, domestic abuse, slavery, energy crisis, housing shortages, food shortages, genocide. Each day these appear on television, on news shows, on the internet. Each day we hear of so many tragedies. Each day the Holy Trinity emerges as a reminder of something better, something lasting, something hopeful. Humility is missing in the world of hype and hyperbole. Humility is conveniently misunderstood for weakness. Penance and contrition are also seen as lacking virility, lacking strength. Everyone wants to live a good life filled with the latest technology products, the latest catalog products. This is a time of vanity, a time of consumer induced insanity. The love and grace of God is an afterthought. Buying the latest flatscreen television or gaming system defines many households, many Christians. We must remember the Holy Trinity; we are asked to make decisions pleasing to the Holy Trinity. With humility and obedience we are asked to love and serve God. It is a radical request. We approach it wearily. Some see it as a great risk. Leaving the tempestuous world with all of its neon lighted charms behind us and walking step by step forward to eternal life, to heaven, to salvation involves an evolving wisdom and love for God of a true faithful, loyal Christian.

Choices and Prayer

There is so much antagonism and anxiety in modern life that it is difficult to decide who our enemies and persecutors are. Enemies and persecutors abound in our day to day lives. They whisper truths and half truths about us. They want to make us look silly, want to see us fall down. Sometime they even desire that we suffer bodily harm.

As Christians we must remember to always keep our faith in God, always to pray for those who are tormenting us. As Christians do not fear those who are plotting, simply forgive them and pray for them. This is in direct opposition to the Hollywood method of escalating conflict.

Prayer is always good. As Catholics we must always be prepared to pray, always be prepared for a moment of silence. We must always remember the Beatitudes, be ready to share kindness and compassion with everyone around us. We must always remember to ask God for mercy for us and for our tormentors. We must never fear the crowd, the whispering voices who are plotting against us. Simply allow your faith in and love for God be your shield.

In the United States there is an epidemic of school bullying. Children are being picked on for a variety of reasons and being called all types of names. Why do some some children bully other children? What type of homes do bullies come from?
We must always remember to pray, to pray often for this world.

has given us discernment

So this joy of mine has been made complete. John 3:29

Being Christian is a journey to warmheartedness. It is a journey to love, a journey of faith, a journey of loyalty, a journey of confidence. The destination is a close relationship with God. Being Christian is a journey of sacrifice.

Patience is a necessity which all Christians need to possess. Anxiety can cause doubt, can impair a person’s judgement.

Simplicity is a Christian’s best friend. Learn how to love unconditionally; learn how to love all mankind universally. The love that Jesus wanted us to share with each other is more broad, more powerful than romantic love and infatuation. Keep love simple, keep love humble.

Learn who is your beloved in Jesus Christ. Allow yourself to be silent, to look for goodness, kindness, holiness in yourself and in others. Remember that a Christian life is a journey. Remember to avoid complaining, remember to remain alert. As Christians we should always be ready to accept God’s request for us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, accept God‘s request that our lives be filled with charity, compassion, humility, and obedience, and accept Jesus Christ as the only begotten son of God who will lead us to eternal life.

Each Christian is asked to believe and embrace love universal, love unconditional. It is important that we learn how to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It is important that we learn how to praise and petition God. It is important that each Christian learns how give thanks to God. Having a close relationship with God is the primary goal of Christianity. Love, universal and unconditional, is a vehicle for faith, hope, mercy to be shared. This form of love is difficult to master. It requires a selflessness, it is completely unselfish. This love is simple, youthful, fair; the basis for this love begins with the social justice teachings of Jesus Christ.

Universal and unconditional love prepares each Christian to remain in a state of welcoming to all people encountered, especially those in need. As Christians we must be prepared to welcome God into our lives.

Pureness in thought and deed will help us find righteousness, help us move closer to God. Christian morality starts with obeying the word of God. We must honor and praise God with our entire lives. Our hearts, minds, and souls must become incorruptible to sin.

If we observe anyone sinning or if we ourselves are on the verge of sinning always remember to pray. Prayer does help. Use prayer to walk on the right road, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Learn the power and beauty of self-appraisal. Always seek to improve all your activities done for or all the activities in the name of the Lord. Examine yourself fairly, learn from your vulnerability, learn from your fear. Be fair, be just. Remember that you are human. Accept that you might fail, accept that you might sin. Learn to forgive both yourself and others.

This is a great expedition of faith and hope. Allow it to be your life’s great purpose and pilgrimage.

Always remember Jesus and the Apostles preaching and baptizing in Judea. Let your life proclaim that Jesus Christ is the true son of God and he is the true God.

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

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.

Saints and Other Models

Once upon a time, in a school district far, far away, each morning half-asleep school children would place a hand over their heart and recite the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

“Neither Hollywood nor Broadway produces entertainment the way they used to. They just don’t create great movie dialogue the way they used to. As a culture we don’t say great prayers the way we used to. As a culture we don’t dream great dreams the way we used to. Now, everybody wants to be a pampered, photographed local celebrity.”

It is natural to seek goodness and kindness in others. Our lives are filled with the search for the perfect role model, someone with whom we can identify, someone with whom we can imitate. It is natural to want a hero. We need to have someone to believe in, to encourage us to dream, to inspire us to be better, to challenge us to be more, do more. From our childhood we seek companions, we seek heroes. We create a private mythology filled with damsels and demigods, wishes and wisecracks. The situation is lyrical, the implication is ethical, the circumstance is moral. We look to literature, cinema, everyday life for role models, for unofficial teachers to help us navigate the lows and highs of the human condition. As Catholics we have the lives of the Saints to provide a blueprint on how to live a good Christian life of chastity, humility, charity, and obedience.

The existence of their Faith provides them with an excellent courage and conviction to do God’s work, to help the poor. Each day I think of the veracity of good men. Each day I think that humankind is moving away from being wholesome and altruistic toward being selfish and vain. Being Christian allows me to view the world with hope and mercy. Being Christian allows me to see that the Holy Eucharist is beautiful and nutritious. Prayer, believing in God, attending Mass sweetens life, makes each moment more tolerable. Our belief in God can help us improve our lives and our society, when actually, or ideally, we manage to love our neighbors unconditionally without any strings or expectations. Remember we are children of God. We listen for his call. We obey his Commandments. We have the Bible and other good books to guide us toward God, with meditation, with prayer. Remember that love and hope create the language of God. Let our humility, charity, mercy and each circumstance of our days create anecdotes of tenderness.

The search and desire for goodness and kindness often is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of our mind. We travel into different neighborhoods, different churches to find evidence of God, to see a glimpse of him in the life and actions of others. We must always remember and cherish our faith. We are Christians; we are hospitable and hopeful; we are believers; our Faith is more valuable and precious than gold; our Holy Eucharist is more delicious, more nutritious for our souls; we gather for prayer; we gather to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Our lives do not have to be comfortable but we must have humility and offer hospitality to all, especially those who are destitute, marginalized in any way and who need mercy, charity and compassion. Our lives do not have to be comfortable but we must create a time for prayer in each day, for prayer and reflection can make our Christian lives intrinsically rich with love, hope, and understanding. As Christians we must always be hospitable, humble people.

The Return

This November day I am happy to be alive. I am constantly seeking new things which will inspire me to act with goodness and kindness. I am learning the importance of humility. I am learning the importance of serving God. All things in our lives are connected. Serving God should be important to each Christian. Serving God extends beyond attending Mass. It is a way of life, a way of being. Our lives should be directed toward moving toward God. Our individual movements should inspire others to follow and move toward God. Kindness and goodness should not be treated as simple afterthoughts. Each day provides valuable lessons about compassion, mercy, and love. Our goal should be to grow in love of God each day. Each day we must allow time for prayer and reflection. Each day we make decisions about clothing, food, email, seeing friends. Each day we should remember to make a decision to offer a small bit of our lives to God, and then to slowly, increase this offering. Although each day we might repeat our actions, remember that each day is new and different. Each day is an opportunity to do good, to love our neighbor, to follow the path of Jesus Christ.

We live in a restless time of conflicting impulses. The secular world encourages each one of us to treat life as an open field or a gymnasium floor, running, jumping, careening around all types of temptation and sin; romping, playing, laughing while allowing the secular world influence our understanding of venial and mortal sin. We must acknowledge that we are sinners. Each one of us. We are sinners who hopefully are trying to avoid sin with each new decision, each new thought. Yes, there will be times when we might fail, when we will sin again. All we can do is acknowledge our failure, ask for God’s forgiveness, and try to avoid sinning. This war never ends.

We live in a restless time of secular confusion. Always remember God’s love. Always remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

In November do you look back toward the summer days or are you looking for the December holidays? What governs your mind? What governs your heart? Where do you find God? How do you share God? Create a simple plan for goodness, kindness, humility, and charity each day.
Live a simple life of love and service to God.

As adults do not forget the lessons and ideals of childhood; being an adult means being open to growing in mind and spirit, being open to exploring the Mysteries of faith, being opening to sharing hope. We do not need to have every question answered. We need only to keep our lives and spirits balanced. We must place God at the center of our lives. We must strive to grow physically, mentally, spiritually each day and to encourage others to do so. Allow yourself time of reflection and prayer each day. Allow yourself to marvel at the living things, to marvel at the sky, the trees, the flowers, the animals. Allow yourself to enjoy the out of doors without rushing from point to point.

Remember that each decision provides us with an opportunity to move onward, to grow inward, to experience life outward, to hope and pray upward, to journey Godward.

Daybreak

At daybreak, that November morning I imagined that I heard the sound of birds landing, maybe it was a falcon, maybe it was an eagle. There were so many feathers. In my heart mingled grief and hope as my heart tried to remain clean and pure, and my mind tried to allow only noble thoughts of goodness, compassion, and mercy.

I am not one who enjoys speaking early in the morning. I prefer thinking and writing and sometimes revising. For I have learned to accept and sometimes expect my fallibility. I am always making typographical or grammatical errors. But, each noise that my ears detect or each color my eyes recognize creates a thousand sentences which I sometime try to capture and preserve. Within my heart there is often gladness, hope, and goodness.

There is a desire to learn life with humility, charity, compassion, and mercy. Goodness encourages me to write down my thoughts, to say prayers, to attend Mass, to forgive myself and others as needed, to be merciful and gentle when dealing with others. Some days I am better at this than others, but everyday I try.

Each day through my own silence, I am able to think about and understand unconditional and universal love. I allow myself to say little short prayers frequently and automatically. Every prayer is beautiful. Every prayer inspires another prayer. Every prayer connects us to each other and to every other Christian who has said a prayer to God before us. I believe that prayers are love, that they contain and foster hope, peace, and goodness.

I sometimes wish that my vocabulary was more classical so that I could describe love in more formal lofty terms and so that I could describe prayer in more pastoral approachable terms and then connect both definitions with a simple image.

That morning I created an algebraic formula where silence, observation, compassion, reflection, meditation were the main variables which could be arranged together to equal prayer and sometimes love. But love is not always pure and love is not always love but attachment. Attachment can be the antithesis to love.

Heartily I move toward God.

My heart sometimes forces my tongue to state gainsayings against that which isn’t just, or fair. My soul and heart both observe the bitterness in the world and only want peace and calm for every human being, every living thing. This is not the time to want laurels. This is a time to work for God, to use our lives in his service. All reason should move us in a direction of charity, humility, simplicity, understanding, and love. Reason should move us to serve constantly and filled with a beautiful and undying hope.

And, as humans we must not forget but be prepared to greet grief when it arrives. We must be prepared for the perfumed scents of jealousy and lust which can conceal many dangerous and threatening thoughts which can destroy or hinder a relationship with God.

It is my hope that my only fortune in this life be God’s love and God’s mercy and that all that I do and all that I am please him and help others to find their way to him. I know that sacrifice is necessary.

At daybreak, in the eastern sky the clouds are delicate, beautiful like feathers, fine soft feathers, noble honest feathers and yet-

My mind feels the cool breeze, observes the scene; my heart stirs up a kind prayer or two; my soul overflows with hope, compassion, mercy, respect, and understanding.

learn

Let there be praying. May my heart always be filled with humility, charity, and compassion. May I understand the need for hope and love and live a life which contains and promotes hope and love.

Well I have learned to love God because of my life’s moments of angst, anguish, anxiety, apathy, death, ecstasy, envy, faith, fantasy, hatred, love, playfulness. This list partially describes my existence, my experience in the world. God makes each situation tolerable when we listen to him. God provides may possible solutions to our daily crises.

We may talk of our relationship with God in terms which evoke the possibility of eternal life and the necessity of Christ’s teachings on social justice and tolerance.

What a remarkable start to a personal spiritual philosophy! We must always remember the artificiality of the secular based world. We, as Christians, must allow ourselves to challenge our existence; our lives should not be complacent compromises of forced conformity to the current whims and trends of modernity and intellectualization. It is typical to expect diminished individual responsibility in contemporary thought where all mistakes in life are the result of some external variable. There is acceptable and unacceptable behavior which often do not naturally correspond to either good or bad. Modernity purposefully curbs most moral and ethical questions; the artifice allows for thwarted and deformed consciences. Truth, honesty, and goodness are curbed and perpetually compromised. There is always disappointment in our lives; our faith and belief in God helps us deal with this and to overcome it.

Prayer allows us the hope of an eventual satisfying fruition of our hopes; we must always work to live lives based upon humility, charity, mercy and forgiveness. We must always confront and avoid the artifice of modernity which often allows sin and vice to flourish and hide.

We must let our faith teach us how to love, how to bear witness in God’s name, and how to pray.

Church - His Experience

Once upon a time, there was one little uptown boy, riding a downtown subway. And he wanted to do something beautiful, spiritual. But something encouraged him to reflect upon goodness and hope. And then he examined the direction of his life.

He is a fabulist, reluctant. Words are his allies. And he began to write.

ushers, ministers of hospitality, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion, RCIA newsletter, cathedral, meetings, priests, lay people, Deacons, Archbishop, service, prayer, love, compassion, confession, marble, art, inspiration, St. Francis, St. Anthony, Mary, Joseph, nativity, concerts, music, choir, bulletin, altar servers, acolyte, host, chalice, wine, bread, organ, water, altar, pew, kneel, stand, hymn, responsorial psalm, Gospel, lector, the elect, ordination, charity, adventure, work, discovery, tradition, history

Somehow I too allowed these words to make things; concrete visions, two blue ink columns of rushed handwriting; but the realities that accompanied the exercise moved my gaze beyond the scribbles on the page, to a private spot within my mind. Somehow I too discovered the smallest, basic element, the courtyard of my being, searching innermost for frequent and familiar signposts on God's highway.

Perseverance is necessary to discover clarity. Many distractions and diversions always remain on the periphery of faith and loving and serving God in the abstract asks for the extraordinary and the enormous because we live in an age of selfishness, an age angst, an age of rampant restlessness. Finding God and maintaining a relationship with him can be difficult. It is often easier to do this in a community. Faith, to grow and to prosper, needs a community.

Friendships with others can provide visible traces of God and God's love. Work and dedication and love can help us to see God; love, natural and overwhelming and free, can lead us on a journey that simultaneously leads us outward to the expansiveness of the exterior world and inward to the innermost places of the interior world, the soul.

The experience of church leads to reflection, to action. There is strength in believing, strength in hoping, strength in praying.