Debt Ceiling

Social justice is needed as much now as in any time in history. The past month there have been so much posturing and posing about the issue of the federal government's debt ceiling.

How the debt ceiling was discussed, the programs which were offered up, sacrificed to gain support within the US Congress were both frightening and amusing. There was a heartlessness, a contempt for fairness, for social justice.

The art of American politics is the creation and organization of superficial, temporary idolatry.

The debt ceiling mess revealed the aristocracy of idols the democracy of idolaters and the fears of the common man.

The populace cannot understand the debt ceiling: the politicians avoid speaking honestly about the debt ceiling: the politicians want the voters to remain confused and angry.

Debt ceiling rhetoric exposes the darkness, the despair that is now the heart and core of our political systems. Our politicians are now proud to be boorish, unsympathetic characters.

An inertia of faith and trust will be the true aftermath of this round of debt ceiling decisions. Both the common good and the common man were offered as sacrificial pawns. Now both the politicians and the nation itself have questions of character and credibility. We are now behaving like tourists searching for a plastic idol made cheaply in China.

And now the Senate will debate and vote on this plastic idol which cheaply assaults the character, the integrity of all Americans especially the poor, the elderly, those who need government help the most.

Hopefully, American politicians will learn to love their neighbors and not just their lobbyists and special interest groups.

Looking for Signs

Moving To God

This is an age of insensitivity and inertia. There is information and stimulation directed at our minds twenty-four hours a day. There is a building desire to respond to all of this information and stimulation instantly. There is a great severity called loneliness which although technology electronically and digitally connects us leaves us all a little more vulnerable, a little more cynical. Meditation and reflection are in direct opposition to the world of email, online updates, texting, voicemail. Discernment requires quiet, requires solitude. Discernment requires free access to the imagination. Each Christian is asked to love his neighbor. How we go about that task will for many of us require some deliberation, some discernment. We need to look inside of ourselves to form lasting changes in a daily routines. How we serve God and when we serve God requires prayer, reflection, discussion, more prayer, more reflection. Discernment is truly interactive. There is an unwritten statement requiring interaction with others, communication with others. This will be a time of sinking and rising, exploring and settling. It is a time for remembrance of past hopes, remembrance of past joys, remembrance of past hurts. Review everything, learn from everything. Illuminate both the good and bad in your life; everything has value, everything can lead to God. Remember that you have unique gifts. Remember that you have an unique vocation. Remember that living a Christian life is a sacrament. Discovering a vocation is a time of joy, time of beauty, time of serenity. Anxiety might be present; learn how to control it. As you discern, moderate and mute your anxiety, for anxiety can lead you to the shadows of confusion, angst, and apathy. Finding a vocation requires more than judgments; it asks for true affection and true experience. The search for vocation, for our calling is an inquiry o the most supreme order, it is an inquiry of faith, an inquiry of love, an inquiry of service. It is the love-making of eternal hope, eternal life. What we do and what we say in the name of God and in the service of God is important. Our vocation should reflect our belief in and love for God. Discernment is a time to examine our personal humanity and then to strenghten those areas which need extra attention. We are children of God. We are asked to be servants of God. Each day presents an opportunity to learn something new about ourselves and our God. We are all called to share our faith, the share the Good News. We each have something beautiful and unique to say about our individual life with God. Seek only the best of human nature within yourself. Seek the path of gentle illumination of God’s Spirit in your daily actions. Loving and serving God is an adventure. Allow your soul to beautify all which leads to salvation for our vocation must direct and prepare us for salvation. Vocation is neither a means or an end. Vocation is simply a call, an inner need, interior desire to do the work of the Lord. Resist the temptation to limit or restrict your thoughts on how to serve the Lord. Open your heart, soul, and mind to God. Allow God to be an active participant in this conversation. Allow yourself to be an active part of this conversation. Avoid saying or thinking phrases like “I can’t because” or “I’m not good enough”. God always needs help, always needs volunteers. The work of God is never done. Our individual vocation is a call for charity and mercy for ourselves, for our neighbors. We are called to search for and to share the sovereign good of humanity, the love of God for his children. We are asked to do this guided and encouraged by our free will. God’s call is a call to action. Finding the right vocation requires patience, diligence, persistence, and a sense of humor. Remember always that God loves you. Do not rush to find a vocation. Breathe, pray, reflect, breathe, pray giggle. Allow yourself time to find that space where you can hear God’s voice clearly, calmly. Discernment is a time of wandering, a time of shadows, a time of mists, a time of anxiety, a time of errors, a time of hope, a time of illumination, and a time of love. Mostly it is a time of love, an expression of love and hope for ourselves and for God.

What is Discernment

WHAT is discernment? What is vocation? There is often both subtle support and jesting when discernment and vocation are mentioned into contemporary conversations between sporting news, political extremism, and celebrity scandal. This is a time where we are competing to play the role of Pilate, competing to find one solution, one answer which will alter our course, direct us on the road to salvation, the road to truth, loyalty, and service to God. Certainly there will be, that delight which creating questions and sharing these questions with unsuspecting friends and family members with the a dollop of giddiness and a dollop of hope before stepping into the beautiful yet still pool of despair where each unanswered question leads to suffering and pain, where each unasked question leads to rejection and ridicule. Such is the bondage of the imagination as it weighs this and that, imagines mathematical, emotional, grammatical, and typographical errors. There is only our belief in God to provide strength. Discernment and free will complement each other, affect each other. Discernment is not just thinking, not just reading a book, not just talking to a member of clergy, it is actions, it is movement, steps toward holiness, steps toward love universal, love unconditional. Discernment is a process of learning to be Christ-like, a process of wanting to be more Christ-like. The world is filled with philosophers and pundits of every kind presenting certain discourses on religion, on God, on economics; the world is filled with all types of diversions and wits. Discernment is a time to avoid much conversation and activity and to focus thoughts and hopes on God. Discernment is a time to deepen your faith, deepen your relationship with God. It is a time to allow yourself to relate to the ancient forerunners, both the saints and the sinners, and to learn from both of them. Remember goodness does not exist in a vacuum alone. Goodness is where ever you can uncover it. Discernment is a process of uncovering a personal truth, a personal desire to serve God obediently, lovingly, loyally. There might be difficulty, there might be uncertainty, there might be anxiety. Accept them all graciously, calmly. Avoid imposing deadlines. Discernment can be a time of beauty and grace and humility and mercy. Open your heart, open your soul, open your mind. Listen for God’s voice. Wait for God’s touch. Pray to God for guidance. The secular world will create distractions, things to worry about, things to corrupt your thoughts. Do yourself a favor, remember to put yourself into God’s hands, live on God’s Standard Time. Do not worry or obsess about your discernment. You may meditate on it. Allow your discernment to be a time of spiritual enlightenment and pleasure. Pray for prayer’s sake. Love for love’s sake. Believe in God. But each discernment is different, some are stately, some are playful. They all are often called journeys. And a journey discernment is; a journey of hope, of faith. Here is a time to examine private thoughts and desires, to make a private stand on morality which will lead to a public stand. Be like the ancient painters and poets ever prepared to capture and preserve the moment, the mood. Examine all of your loves, all of your dislikes, examine your Fridays and your Sundays. Examine your truth and your deceptions. But remember to always pray. And then pray some more. This is a time of ebb and flowing difficulty and labor. Do not despair. Remember that there will always be more questions than answers.

Discernment is a time of love; it is a time for communication and for a relationship with God to deepen, to flourish.

Morning Light

How Happy I Am

How happy I am that today is Sunday! My heart yearns to call all who are dear to me beloved! How I enjoy hearing that word. How I want to embrace that word. I yearn to feel the presence of God within my weak heart. That is the simple desire, of a simple man wanting to live a life of humility and obedience to God. What wonderful things the Lord has shown me. What wonderful things I want to do for the Lord. Each day I try and make a little more room for God within my heart, mind, and soul. God is within my heart, encouraging me to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. What a thing is the soul of man! What beauty, what energy rests there to benefit and to praise the Lord with all that is merciful, all that is good, all that is gentle. To love God, is to recognize a perfection, a desire for the well-being and protection and eternal life of others, to want these things freely, naturally. To love God is to see the world not with your eyes, not with your ears, not with fingers but with all of the goodness and hope of the Holy Spirit. We can easily be deceived by the flesh, by grand sentences, faltering gestures. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your guide and your friend, allow it to be inseparable within your heart, mind, and soul. Respect and love the Holy Spirit as it leads you to God whom I love so dearly. We are asked to love and respect God with our every thoughts and every actions. We are warned that this might be difficult, might involve suffering. Avoid fear, avoid anxiety. When we are obedient, loyal, loving servants of God we will be protected. With time we will learn how feel happy in the face of any adversity or crisis; happy in the love of God! Allow yourself to meditate on forgiveness and love. Allow yourself to learn how to forgive, how to love as Jesus Christ taught us. Avoid attachments and possessions that do not aide in serving the Lord. Neither torment others or allow yourself to be tormented by others. Keep yourself busy with thoughts of goodness, thoughts of God. Learn to forgive yourself for your actions and thoughts. Learn to love those who have offended you. Live with peace, hope, humility. Avoid seeking the errors and faults of yourself and your neighbors. Avoid searching for someone to blame for every event that does not proceed as planned. Believing in God provides a particular sense of calm and security which affords greater understanding, greater wisdom when we allow ourselves time for reflection and prayer. Allow your heart to direct you to a deeper, genuine relationship with God. How happy I am that I am able to think and talk about God.

Rosary or Umbrella

Saturday began quietly. There was slight hesitation about whether to go to early Mass or not. The weather forecast was a confusing mixture of clouds and sunshine. A slight debate over which camera, which lenses, which camera bag began. There were more reasons to remain indoors than to leave, there were more reasons to do something else, anything else than to leave and be productive.

Outside there was sunlight caressing one side of the still silent, somehow wonderfully traffic free avenue. There was something gently beautiful about this view, something which provided hope. There was a brief debate over taking photograph or not.

The walk to the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle continued. There were few pedestrians moving about that Saturday morning. There were joggers and cyclists and dogs on leashes. The air was cool, the sky was blank. People looked liked statues or other inanimate objects.

There were trees without leaves, buses without riders, taxicabs without passengers. There were many things to think about, many things to remember. This was a time for silent prayer, silent reflection. This was a time to remember some of the people that I had promised to pray for. This was a time to remember my own search for my personal sense of humanity. This was a time to remember to pray for strangers. Mass had been missed, the second destination was plotted.

Walking on the sidewalks, jaywalking at some intersections provided a crazy sense of anonymity and anxiety. There was a second or two of calm carelessness as I looked at this glass and steel building. There was a second or two of casual thoughtlessness as I darted into traffic.

Walking south there was a moment when I wondered if I had the wrong date, if this event was going to occur on another future time.

Then, I saw them. It was about twenty people of all ages, standing there holding their rosaries. Some were holding sheets of paper.

Their voices were gentle, merciful, loving. Their manner was civil, polite. They were publicly praying in front of the local abortion clinic. There was one police vehicle on the street.

A priest with a microphone was leading those saying the Rosary. This was a moment of reverence. This was a moment of hope. This was a moment of charity. The voices gently said the Rosary, each mystery was clearly announced. Standing on the edge of a sidewalk near the entrance to the abortion clinic, these Christians peacefully, calmly prayed for life, prayed for those thinking about having an abortion, prayed for those who have had an abortion, prayed for those innocent children who were killed by abortion.

The Rosary is powerful. As Catholics we are taught to respect life, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. A sign of that love is supporting life, supporting hope. We must remember God, remember goodness, holiness, and kindness.

We must encourage our friends to help with this fight. All human life is important. All human life contains the potential for beauty, for hope, for love.

All human life deserves a chance.