Stupid Bells

Why do the bells ring?

A seemingly simple question. With an even simpler answer. 

With the renovated chapel at UD officially open for business the bells are ringing on the hour. 

With this "new development" my boss asked her class the simple question why do the bells ring. The question in one sense stumped them. 

The very practical answer is well they ring every hour. Which of course is now true. But that doesn't answer the why in its fullest sense. Sure church bell towers helped to establish the modern system of time that we have. Most specifically the bells were used as a call to prayer. Conveniently enough the times for prayer were also great times to break from work and eat. 

However the reality is that the bells ring not only to call us to prayer, but most fully to call our attention toward God. Let us build a tower and fill it with bells and when the bells ring out the people will naturally look up and behold the beauty of the sky and all that is around them. They will this find the beauty of God in all things and the sweet music that the bells make will again draw our attention towards God. 

This question has become something I know ask myself one regular basis. Why do the bells rings. Obviously I know the answer so why do I keep asking? Why do the bells ring? 

In a sense (one of my new favorite noncommittal phrases) in asking myself this question even when the bells aren't ringing I am asking myself to reflect on the that which deserves the greatest importance! A call to reflect on God. To direct my attention towards that which is far superior, to call my attention towards God! 

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL6gLm7vgM0

Disclaimer: this was typed out on my phone. 

Wow...

Last night in my scripture class we talked about a lot of different things mostly having to do with how we read scripture. However one thing in particular stuck with me.

We were looking at how the texts have been translated. In particular looking at the reality that the original Hebrew does not contain vowels, or punctuation. This allows for a beautiful fluidity in the text. It can also lead to complicated my translation is different than yours... but why should that be complicated? Is what is permanently on the page more important than what is meant? Perhaps another post will address this idea in more depth.

For this post I want to focus on 3 translations of a single genesis verse. Genesis 4:13

"Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is more than I can bear." 

"Cain said to the Lord, my sin is more than I can bear." 

"Cain said to the Lord, my guilt is more than I can bear."

Just one word, has all it takes. Which is correct... according to my professor all of them are. But they do bring to us a different meaning.

As if this wasn't mind blowing enough, we went further. My prof recounted to us the idea of Adam seeing Cain after all this has transpired, and Adam is astonished, for Cain is a radiant light, Adam cannot understand how this is so, he asks Cain are you not my son who killed his brother? How is it that I see you like this? A radiant light, like that of an angel. Cain's response was simple. I pictured it as a feeble whisper.

"I said I'm sorry" 

Forgivness, Cain having guilt that was too much to bear, asked for God's forgiveness. In his love and mercy God offered it. Because even though he had murdered his brother, in a moment of pure Godlessness, he returned. Thus did Cain begin to shine, and radiate light. 

I said I'm sorry, I asked for forgiveness. 

How Profound. 

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M

Short and Sweet.

It looks like I've fallen behind a bit again, however I am happy to say I'm behind this time, because while I am behind, I did post two reflections last week.

Also the simple reality is that there is only one section I want to talk about in the readings from the 22 Sunday of Ordinary time (August 30) and that is a piece from the Gospel, however it is also from the Old Testament, for it is Christ quoting Isaiah. "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts."

We cannot have hearts that are far from God. We cannot have hearts that are far from each other. From the beautiful Les Miserables we hear, "to love another person is to see the face of God" we must not have hearts that are far from each other.

And it is my belief that we will only see more of this mentality emerging in the year of Mercy starting in December, already we have seen Pope Francis splashed across the media, for talking about annulments and forgiveness of abortions. Perhaps if given the time this week I will post about these two things.

All I know for certain however, while I sit here on this dreary day, is that we need to fill our hearts with love for each other, and for God, but simply for God alone is not enough. After all sometimes the only thing we need to make it through the day, is knowing that someone believes you can.

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M

Lets Give Them a Hand!

This post again not my official message from this Sunday, and again not a thought that originated from my attendance at mass. Rather this is a post that has been welling up inside or some time now, and my attendance at mass simply unleashed it.

This post is about a very simple thing. Clapping during mass. Over the summer and these past couple of weeks I have seen this topic splash across my Facebook a number of times. Whether it was an request for the bishop of GR to place an official ban on all clapping at masses, or an article posted about how irreverent such an act is.

My simple, and impassioned response to these people. "What the hell is wrong with you?!?"

Now I will be the first to admit, there are times that I agree you should not be clapping at mass, during the eucharistic prayer perhaps, or maybe hold the applause until after the Gospel has finished being read.

But lets be real, a ban on applause makes it so that after a baptism, or confirmation, or a wedding, or any other occasion where applause can be most beautiful.

Now the number one criticism that my traditionalist, or conservative leaning friends will offer me is that its inappropriate, the purpose of the mass is the Eucharist. At this point their argument is already flawed, yes of course the Eucharist could be labeled the pinnacle of the mass, but it is not the sole purpose. If it were there would be no readings, there would be no sign of peace, there would be no community aspect. We would all sit there and mass would suddenly turn into a weekly adoration session.

Perhaps the number one instance where people are most opposed to applause is the not of recognition offered to musicians after a mass. People make the claims that this is horribly inappropriate how dare we be so self centered!?! I have even thought this, in part because I thought the music wasn't that great, and I was in a bad mood I'm sure.

However I have now come to a new conclusion, a less grumpy one, and a more loving one, and that is why I'm posting this. To loosely quote Blessed Mother Teresa, My God people if you can't find God in the people around you, how will you ever find him in the Eucharist?!?!


Here's the thing, when we celebrate each other, and out accomplishments, we are praising God in one of the best possible ways.

Find God in front of you, by truly loving another person, and give them a hand!

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M

GODISNOWHERE

This post has nothing, and yet everything to do with this past Sunday's readings. Nothing because it is is not my "official" reflection post on the readings, everything because what follows directly connects to my attendance at mass Sunday.

The title for this post came from my old high school religion teachers classroom. Now as much as I liked the man, I'm sure he got it from somewhere else, however it was the first time I saw it, and I guess it stuck with me.

There are two ways to read it, God is no where and God is now here. For me it always depends on the day, not that each day I'm having a crisis of faith, but each day can be a struggle, especially with what transpires in the world around us, and how we are constantly reminded of it.

Last week there was a shooting, sadly, I'm sure there were lots of shootings, I'm sure there were lots of tears, hospital visits and funerals. But the shooting from last week is the one that was televised, tweeted about, Facebooked about and went viral. After a long day of work and class living under the academic rock that I do, I had no idea that it happened. It wasn't until talking with my friend Ian that it came up. I cant remember specifically how it came up, but I do know that it was after I peppered something about God into our conversation, as I often do, and his response was "not feeling to faithful after today" I was confused, had I missed something, was this the anniversary of a tragedy? As it turned out I had missed something? I had missed it all, I probably would have continued to miss it if I hadn't asked follow questions, and that was where the conversation came to an end, we both acknowledge the tragedy and how truly terrific it was. Yet in the back of my mind something was nagging at me.

I didn't have a response to offer why we should still be faithful. I didn't have an authentic explanation as to why I was still faithful. Sure I could have googled some cute saying, I could have found a cliche quote and offered a canned response. But I didn't, that would have been cheap, that would have been easy, that would have been anything but authentic, and it would have been anything but helpful.

So I let the conversation end with out simple acknowledgment of how tragic the event was. Then I resumed my day, I returned to my dwelling under my rock of academia, I read about early Christianity, and finished the night by watching the Producers which was fantastic. Yet in the back of my mind there was a nagging reminder that I had left the conversation unfinished. The next day I spent sometime trying to come up with a response, trying to come up with something other than the canned cliche response. I had no luck, I was luckless until I went to mass.

It was at mass, where I found the response I could offer, and sitting in my car in the church parking lot I feverishly typed my reply: "There was no Godliness there. In that moment, that tragic, terrible, most awful moment, God was missing. That act was purely selfish. Fortunately, not every moment is Godless, Fortunately, there are selfless people in the world. That, those selfless moments, those selfless people, are most beautifully where we will find God.


We can either believe that God is no where, or that as we go so to with us we bring God, and that God is now here.

Peace and Blessings Always

~M

I Drank the Kool-Aid

I drank the Kool-Aid, a phrase I have used regularly over the past four years, however never in this sense. For the past four years I worked in the Residence Life Office at a small liberal arts college, and instead of Freshmen, we had First years, instead of dorms we had Residence Halls. Working with this terms each day in the office I would regularly correct my friends who would give me shit about how ridiculous it was, and of course they were right so my only response was, I drank the Kool-Aid. 

However for this post the phrase I drank the Kool-Aid isn't an expression of clever, or meaningless response, to different terms for random Residence Life policies for a college. Rather the phrase here is a passionate declaration that yes I do believe. I buy into what the Church teaches, sure at times there are things I question, which is healthy, at other times there are things that I criticize, which is healthy, and at other times there are things that Catholics, Christians in general, and even the priests from the pulpit say that I down right and passionately disagree with, which is also ok. 

No matter what though, the simple reality is that drinking the Kool-Aid is not simple in this case. It is not some meaningless protocol that you follow for work, and can ignore (or at least try to forget) when not there or after you no longer work there. However a persons beliefs are always with them, they as it would seem should never be placed on a shelf hidden away. And beliefs like emotions can be complicated and without any explanation at times, which can be very difficult to understand, which is ok. However for anyone to attempt to make a claim that having faith, is an easy option, it is not. 

Now that I've said my piece, on it, and C.S. Lewis offered us his insight, for my fiends who simply can't go on without asking the question "but where in Scripture? (Perhaps another tangent for another post) And since this blog is if nothing else masquerading as a blog about reflections on the readings from each Sunday, then let us turn to the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, which I am happy to say was only 2 days ago (August 23) 

Again we are hearing from the Gospel of John (perhaps if I had a favorite gospel, my fav) 6: 60-69. 

"Many of Jesus' disciples who were listening said, This saying is hard; who can accept it?" This is a question those of us who have "drank the Kool-Aid are face with everyday, can we accept it? Some may answer yes, other may not. "As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, Do you also want to leave? Simon Peter answered him, Master, to whom shall we go?"  

Now with a response like that an easy argument could be made that Simon Peter of all people just proved that the route of drinking the Kool-Aid is an easy one, however the next lines are always important. "You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." Sticking around, staying with Jesus, is not the easy route, rather its the difficult route, and to a degree the only route, because of the belief. 

I would be remiss not to use the go to line about what it truly means to live a life of freedom, as much as I hate this phrase I feel obligated to end with this idea. 

To truly live a life in freedom is not to have the ability to do what ever we want, but rather to do that which we ought do. This too makes certain aspects of living a life post Kool-Aid consumption more difficult. 

For anyone who would like specific examples of everyday struggles of people who have "drank the Kool-Aid" just let me know. I left them out of the post to cut down on length. 

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M

FYI The Kool-Aid is black cherry flavored! 

Just Embrace Life!

In a previous post I talked about how the readings are selected, with the first reading an the gospel lining up, and the second reading simply following suit as to where it was before, not necessarily having any explicit connection to the others. This then causes a natural focus on the first reading and gospel, in my reflections. Further more if I am being upfront about things I am what I would describe as a New Testament guy, in other words I'm a big fan of the gospels, and as a result it of course is possible that I may show an unintended bias toward them in my reflections.

This reflection however still falling into the category of New Testament will focus on the ever complicated St. Paul. I might throw out there anyone that goes through a conversion is going to be complicated, its tough to understand conversion at times. After all how could Saul go from persecutor to Paul evangelist. Perhaps that will be a topic for another post, for now I will focus on the reading at hand.

From the 20th Sunday of Ordinary time we hear from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians 5:15-20. Sitting in little St. Anthony's which is older and somewhat dark inside, especially with the sun behind the clouds as it was last weekend I paid extra attention to the readings, if for no other reason than it was hard to hear the reader, and perhaps because I wasn't overly distracted by finding God in all things around me. A good thing I was paying extra attention too seeing as the reading is only 6 verses. Had I been day dreaming I may have missed all the perfect quotes to use for a blog post found in this short reading.

First and foremost when hearing the lines "Brothers and sisters: Watch Carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity" upon hearing this I immediately thought of my dear friend Aaron. Aaron is the inspiration for the title of this blog, after living with him for over a year certain Aaronisms rubbed off on him, just as I'm sure some Mikeism rubbed off on him, "I mean" anyone who lives with someone else for that long these things are bound to happen. Yet the most important Aaronism is his approach to life, which just as the title states is, just embracing it. I can't tell you how many times in the past year he has told me to "Just embrace life" it happened so often I started saying it to other people, and started saying it in a most sarcastic of manner at times, which he would then glare at me for, which I of course deserved.

But he is right, and I agree with him, as did St. Paul, we need to embrace life and take what it has to offer us, making the best out of it.

Now the next part of the reading, which is one of my favorites, and one that I had friends texting me promptly after they went to mass because they just thought it was too funny not to. Since I have been known to drink a bit of wine or more than a bit of wine (to better explain this I call upon Gladys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNRFGvGRUgE) and as a result wether it is my friends posting all kinds of wine related memes on my Facebook, or even receiving a wine glass big enough to hold an entire bottle, it would seem that I am forced to disagree with the following quote from St. Paul. "And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit" now my friends might accurately point out to me, but Mike you drink wine often, even to the point of debauchery, and I would have to say but of course, and then again rely on Gladys to help me explain again.

The simple reality is that St. Paul is right (I can't believe I said it either) even though drinking too much wine with my friends can be a tremendous amount of fun (believe me it is, or come visit me, it's a fun time). But the reality is that life could be so much fuller if we didn't need the wine to lead to the fun, if we didn't rely on spirits of a different sort to create the fun memories. Even though the below picture is 100% correct, what if it wasn't?

Now don't get me wrong drinking is all good and well, I mean after all even the good lord saw fit to change water into wine, and again may I point you back to Gladys....

Lets think back to the times in our life when we were filled with the spirit, was there not joy there? Did great stories not follow? After all in the words of my dear friend Babs, "it's not what we do drunk that should make us worry, but what we do sober"

Yes after alcohol follows great stories, but if we are taking the advice of both St. Paul and Aaron, if we don't act foolishly, if we take each opportunity that comes our way, if we Simply, and yet most profoundly just embrace life, will we not be filled with the Spirit? Will we not find Joy? Will we not have great stories!?

Happy Monday everyone!

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M 

Note: each instance of Aaron should be read as A A Ron, for those who don't understand please click the link below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw

To Truly be Nourished

Change can be a good thing, right? As someone who was born and raised in Grand Rapids, and went to College in town moving away for Grad school has been something rather difficult at times. From not knowing where the grocery store is, to the grocery store not having Vander Mill's totally roasted, to finally finding a store that does carry Vander Mill's only for them not to have it the move has been a struggle at times. Grand Rapids was always home, and for the past 4 years was home by choice. But even in the years of living in Grand Rapids while growing up and going to grade school and middle school at St. Alphonsus, it slowly became the parish I used to go to, no longer the parish I called home. Even the place I laid my weary head at night changed these past four years, from living in Regina hall to a summer in the on campus apartments to then being in Dominican hall, and then back home to my moms for one of the longest summers in my life, to another apartment on campus, to then a summer back in the first set of apartments on campus, finally to a house on campus before a second long summer back at home before moving to Dayton. Home has changed a lot, and as I'm reminded by friends and my self sometimes on a daily basis change can be a good thing. 

In one light Change can be the best thing. I did not mention the bit about St. Al's just for shits and giggles, but rather because its important. Having gone to church there, gone to school there, helped lead youth group there, taught religious ed there, and helped with VBS more times than I can count it slowly started to no longer nourish me. I still loved the stained glass, and the physical structure of the church, I loved seeing the people I've gown up with, and those who watched me grow up. But something was missing, something didn't fit any more. For a while I simply chalked this feeling up to moving "away" to college. For the better part of 3 years I was not going to mass on a regular basis, more accurately I wasn't going at all. One of the reasons for this was because the mass time offered on campus on Sundays conflicted with a youth group I volunteered with, so in my young naive state I said that was a fair trade off, volunteering counted in place of mass. The other reason for not going to mass was because when I did go to mass at St. Al's there was something missing, I wasn't leaving mass feeling nourished, in fact their were some Sundays I left feeling anything but nourished. 

It took me four years to see the error in my ways, if only my friend Alex had been around sooner to tel me "just go to mass man". Suddenly I started to realize that something was missing in my life by not going to mass. I wasn't being nourished, well feed of course, remember theres always enough food at my moms, even if I was just there for Friday night family, that would have been enough to keep me feed. However I was not being truly nourished. Something was missing, and I knew I needed to go out and find it. In order to do that I decided, maybe change could be good. I went to mass at the Cathedral, it was a Saturday night, and it was just about 4:00, mass was at 4:30 and I decided to go. 

After that week I went back, then I started inviting friends to go along with me. Some weeks it was just me and that was ok because normally I would see someone I knew, then after a while even the people I didn't know became familiar faces. Change was good, I was being nourished again. 

I would likely go as far to say that without this change, without going to mass at the Cathedral, I would likely not be writing this weekly blog.

Now I am 5 hours away from home, and I don't have the cathedral, or a cathedral at all to attend mass at (Dayton is part of the Arch diocese of Cincinnati). Since moving here on August 6th, a thursday I have embraced the change and gone to mass at St. Albert the Greats, Immaculate Conception for a "Rock Mass" St. Anthony of Padua, Church of the Ascension, and Holy Angels, all these places have had different things to offer. Different physical structures, some traditional, some ornate, some plain, some rather odd, some places had wonderful music, some left room for better music to be desired, some had deacons others just a priest. They all had a Catholic mass, and they all had different nourishments for different, people. 

In my reflection on the 17th Sunday of Ordinary time I challenged you to try mass at a different Church, or simply just sitting at a different place in the church. 

Here I am telling you, my account of needing to find my nourishment. In this the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time reading's we find the Gospel account, again from John (6:41-51), again having to do with bread. "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life... I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever". At this point I would like to take a moment to translate this into my own words. Whoever eats of this bread will be Nourished, truly nourished. And while the bread I ate of the flesh of man was the same at St. Al's as it was at the Cathedral, and both had the ability to nourish me, in my human nature, I only found True nourishment in one. 

My closing thought in this post is a question. Why do we go to mass, why do you go to mass, why do I go to mass? What is the purpose? Do we do it simply because it's Sunday and thats what we do? 

Please be honest with yourself in your reflection, if you'd like to discuss it further you know how to find me. 

Peace and Blessings Always!

~M

If You Feed Them They Will Come!

For the past 8 years or there about, I have had the pleasure of working with a multitude of different youth groups and youth ministers, and one of the many things that all of them had in common was food. In the last post I talked about food bring together my Friday night family, but food is something that has always brought people together, with out discrimination. So of course it applies to the youth as well, If you feed them, they will come! 

If you have a youth space with a fridge stocked with various pop and juices (for those weird teens who aren't addicted to pop) and a cupboard or table near by dedicated to their favorite snacks you better believe you will have some students who come just for those perks, which is ok, because they may come for that, but they stay for something more... 

When my sister was a student at MSU, there was a church near by that had a spaghetti dinner after mass Sunday nights for the students since the Cafes weren't open. Sure the only reason some of those students went to mass was for the free meal after, but I will wager dollars to donuts that they walked away with more than just a spaghetti dinner. 

Food is a powerful thing, it brings us together, in the happiest of times we celebrate with it, in the saddest of times, we mourn together with food. I always joke, I am an emotional eater (which is 100% true) I eat when I'm sad, and I eat when I'm happy, no matter what I'm feeling there is a food that can go along with it! We have our favorites, and our least favorites, and we have those meals that remind us of a childhood long ago. From rosemary chicken thats just Oh so special, to a family recipe past down through the generations. If you feed them they will come. Perhaps one of the most common phrases about food, and I would argue one of the truest. 

Youth ministers have seen the truth in this statement as well as church leaders, and of course God, and Jesus also saw the importance in this ideal of feeding people. 

Fun facts about the selection of readings for mass. As many of you have probably noticed over the years, there is a rhyme and reason to the readings each Sunday. As I mentioned in the last post, there is a three year cycle, Years A, B, and C (how clever I know, but sometimes simplest is best). In addition to the gospels being selected and used based on this three year cycle, the first and second reading are also selected in a "unique" fashion. The first reading, almost always from the Old testament has a connection to the gospel, the second reading often a letter from Paul, simply follows the pattern of what came before. It does not necessarily have a connection to the first reading or gospel, however I think a connection can often be found if intended or not. 

In the first reading we see the wandering and grumbling people of God recently saved from Egypt (Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15) complaining about not having food. We also see God's response "I Have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God." If you feed them, they will come. 

Next up would be the second reading, however I am going to skip that to the gospel since that is where we see a continued connection to feeding, and specifically bread! John 6:24-35, depicts a mass of people following and more over searching for Jesus "When they found him across the sea they said to him, Rabbi, when did you get here? Jesus answered them and said, Amen, amen I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled." Jesus in typical teacher, and Jesus form answers a question here as he often without answering the question at hand but offering something of more importance. A quick cheat, from a readers guide to the bible, when ever Jesus says Amen, amen I say to you, he is really say hey pay attention this is important!

In this instance we not only see, feed them and they will come, but also feed them, and they will follow you. After all if you give a mouse a muffin... 

May we keep feeding each other, may we continue to be able to gather together and share in meals, may we continue to break bread together. 

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M 

More than enough, always more than enough!

Today is Friday, its August 21, and I'm still a great deal behind, trying to catch up on Sunday reflections from July. But its a Friday night and I'm in Ohio, away from what is my "Friday night family". Friday night means a myriad of different things to different people, but for me Friday night of the better part of the past 6 years has meant one thing in particular, and that is Friday night family. A tradition that was started my junior year of high school and continued all the way up until I moved to Ohio. Either at my moms house or at a local happy hour there were a group of us that gathered, none of us related but all united around this weekly meal, some weeks there were 3 or 4 of us, other weeks 9 or 10, no matter what there were always two things present, and that is the tile of this post, there was more than enough, always more than enough. More than enough food, as there always is in my mothers house, whether its a Friday night, a holiday or simply a Tuesday for lunch, there is more than enough food. Yet there was always also more than enough love. That is precisely what brings people together. We become gathered around a table, a round a meal.

The above story however was not the first thing that came to my mind when looking over the readings from the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (July 26), the first thing that came to mind was sitting at Kava house with my dear friend Kara. We were sitting there pretending to study, and read while really taking a Catholic survey a friend had posted on Facebook. The specific question that immediately came to mind was which of Christ's miracles did we find most amazing?! My friend Kara immediately told me hers was the walking through walls after his resurrection. When I did not share this thought with her, she proceeded to say "are you joking me, through walls as she passionately tapped on the window we were sitting by with her finger tips, leaving finger prints that I have no doubt are still there. Now while this response gave me pause and admittedly left me re thinking my answer, I naturally said the feeding of the multitudes (5,000 or 4,000) I've always been blown away by the fact that the bread (and fish) were multiplied, enough to make sure that all were feed! There was more than enough.

It is interesting that this specific account of the feeding came up, because it is from the Gospel of John (6:1-15), which may not seem odd, however we are in the year of Mark, so one may be left wondering, why did we hear from John. Simple answer, Mark's gospel is to short, and can't be used on every Sunday of the year, and since the church is on a three year cycle, Matthew Mark and Luke, John gets peppered in where it is appropriate, and opportune.

Now why do we care that it is John's gospel, at first glance, or first listen many of us probably don't, that is where homilies come in handy. It was Fr. G who clued us in as to why we care.

If you noticed above I placed fish in (parentheses) this is because while we have fish at the beginning of the account, they are not what is left. What is left is enough bread to fill twelve baskets. John not having a last supper account in his gospel, Fr. G points out that here we see a beginning of this breaking of bread, only in John's gospel account of the feeding of the multitudes do we hear the words "then Jesus took the loaves gave thanks and distributed them" John uniquely gives thanks, the other gospels do not highlight this fact. Am I willing to make the claim that this is John's passover account, perhaps yes, perhaps not. Yet I will argue that this is worth pausing over, taking time to reflect on it.

May there be more than enough, always more than enough! More than enough food, and always more than enough love, after all that is what Christ truly gives to us at the last supper.

Stay tuned for more posts, this is only the beginning of the idea of bread, more to come, and hopefully I will find enough to write and reflect on.

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M

AMDG

During the weekend of the 16th Sunday of Ordinary time (June 18&19) I had the wonderful opportunity of watching a family friend take his final vows of Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience into the Redemptorist order (Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer) and then I also was able to witness his ordination into the diaconate. It was truly a wonderful experience.

Perhaps however what I took most away from this experience was sitting somewhere else in church. Having grown up in the church where these masses were my family always had a habit of sitting in the east wing, "the family wing" however for both services Saturday and Sunday we sat in the nave. For the Saturday service in particular we sat on the far right side of the nave. Why is this so important, because this placement gives rise to why the title of this post is AMDG (a Jesuit, not Redemptorist abbreviated phrase). By sitting in this location I was given the perfect view not of the altar, but rather a depiction of Our Lady of Perpetual help (picture below thanks to friend Michelle S.)

Now my altar/Eucharist centered friends would deb likely to have a fit. Yet I think, and hope that I right, my Jesuit friends would find this "dissertation" to be as beautiful as I do. for 22 years, granted some of those years I was a small wee lad, I have been attending mass at this Church, I've even given tours of the church and pointed out this beautiful image of Mary, yet at when the church underwent some minor renovations, including painting and general upkeep the instilled around this image things of great beauty, which you can see for your self above. I was stricken, near dumb struck over this beauty. Then naturally as any theologian would, I began contemplating, which then lead me to a phrase, "find God in all things", this phrase, or Jesuit life motto then lead me to AMDG, the title for this post. A latin phrase, Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam, for the greater glory of God.

I don't think it was by mistake or simple happenstance that all this came together this particular weekend. This weekend had it not been a special mass for an ordination and final vows would have left us hearing a gospel reading from Mark (6:30-34) "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while". Now remember I told you this was going to be a stretch, but isn't this exactly how we attempt to find God in our lives when we are too busy or too stressed, even simply too distracted?

We go on retreats to deserted places where we can rest and regroup, we find God out in the wilderness among nature. But of course this cannot be the only place we find God for we can also find him in everyone we meet, and in all of creation. Including beautiful buildings such as churches built upward pointing towards heaven. In the earliest days of great installations of icons and statues into churches this was not only the persons profession as a sculptor or the likes, but also it was their way of giving back to God... In some cases this was their only way of giving to God for they had little else to give.

So my challenge to you this week and for the next coming weeks, attend mass at a different church, try to find God there. If you are too reluctant to try this, then simply sit in a different area of the church you currently go to. Try to find God somewhere else in this space that you had not previously noticed! (Yes altar/Eucharist friends that even means taking a moment, or two to be wholly distracted away from the altar/Eucharist).

Peace and Blessings Always 

~ M

Finding God in all things! 

A Book With Emotions

In this post I would like to do something I have yet to do. And this is ignore the first reading (Amos 7:12-15), and the second reading (Ephesians 1:3-14), and even the gospel reading (Mark 6:7-13), instead this week I would like to focus on the short reading we often don't read, but rather that we so often so beautifully sing! This of course is the psalm. 

The specific psalm from the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (July 12, 2015) was psalm 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14. Again for those against reading below is a link to a sung version. However I strongly encourage you to not only listen to the beautiful voices, but also give it a quick once over. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRh-thMkqk8

Psalm 85: 9-10, 11-12, 13-14

"I will listen for what God, the Lord, has to say; 

surely he will speak of peace

To his people and to his faithful. 

May they not turn to foolishness! 

Near indeed is his salvation for those who fear him; 

glory will dwell in our land. 

Love and truth will meet; 

justice and peace will kiss. 

Truth will spring from the earth; 

justice will look down from heaven. 

Yes, the Lord will grant his bounty; 

our land will yield its produce. 

Justice will march before him, 

and make a way for his footsteps."

Now before unpacking this psalm specifically I think it is important to address what the psalms are and why they are important. 

The book of psalms is the longest in the bible, now according to my quick math and the NAB version I have the book of psalms starting on page 674, and ending on page 791, that is 117 pages. To which my response is, "my God this book never ends, it's over a hundred pages, and God help us thats bible pages!"

Yet if you actually open your bible beyond the table of contents (something I encourage all my Catholic friends do more often) you begin to realize that while the psalms are a lengthy stretch of the bible, its not nearly as daunting as it originally sounds with 117 bible pages worth of reading. 

This is the result of how the psalms are written, and what purpose they have. The psalms as we so often do are songs, 150, to be specific. you will find them structured over 100 pages in the bible very similarly to how I have them set above. The psalms, these songs, are the bridge of emotions offered to us by the bible. These 100 pages, 150 songs, are the playground where reason and emotion meet, where they wrestle, and where they perhaps finally make sense. 

Now psalm 85 specifically, that beautiful hymn you listened to above and remember singing along to so many weeks ago. What does it mean? What is the significance of it? Is it more than just a beautiful song? 

The answer to the last one is easy, of course it is, more than that, however that should not take away from how beautiful it is! This psalm is labeled as a national lament, with the early parts of the psalm (not read/sung) reminding God of past forgiveness, and favors, as if he could forget. Next is the begging of forgiveness and favor, something that the people of God seem very accustomed to doing. This psalm placed in its historical context would be in the early postexilic period, after the Babylonian captivity presumed the 5th century BCE. However what I find to me most interesting and most worth paying attention to is the pairing of the virtues, not only do I find this captivating on its own, but most explicitly worth noting, as a result of knowing that this pairing of virtues to meant to represented Divine activity personified*. 

So yes there is something more to what is there, there is a meaning behind it, but at the very least, it is a beautiful song that can very easily, given the opportunity illicit an emotional response from us. 

Peace and Blessings Always

~M

*Insight/dates from USCCB. Thanks Bishops of the US! 

"A Shepherd Sent by God"

Thank you Fr. G, for a perfect quote, used as this posts title! 

This post will be covering the weekend of July 5th, the 14th Sunday Ordinary Time. The readings for this week come from Ezekiel (2:2-5), 2 Corinthians (12:7-10), and Mark (6:1-6). 

These readings, while having many many things in common, I think they are all uniquely connected because of this unifying idea that Fr. G offered in his homily (yes I do remember it from a month ago) about what it means to be a prophet, and ultimately a shepherd, but not just any shepherd, "a Shepherd send by God". In case you haven't picked up on it yet, I really like that line! 

This week for this post I am not going to quote the scripture readings, and this is why I have given you the passages above. Instead having read them, and heard them at mass, and having listened to Fr. G's homily (not ready to give it the kick ass title I give most of Fr. Bernard's but it was pretty good) I want to instead focus on the song used for the presentation of the gifts at that mass. 

And just in case there is anyone reading this who doesn't realize how crazy (in the best of ways) I am, here is a picture of the worship aide from that mass. Yes, yes I have been carrying it around for the past month knowing I wanted to reflect on this particular song. As a result of the poor quality of the picture I will type out the words to the song below. 

For those of you who find reading simply too exhausting and are thinking, "my God Mike its a miracle I make it through all the crap you have to say", here is a video link to the song :) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=636jakFdJFQ

First Verse: 

As a fire is meant for burning With a 

bright and warming flame, So the church is meant for 

mission, Giving glory to God's name. 

Not to preach our creeds, or customs, but to 

build a bridge of care, We join hands across the 

nations, Finding neighbors everywhere. 

Second Verse: 

We are learners; we are teachers; We are 

pilgrims on the way. We are seekers; we are 

givers; We are vessels made of clay. 

By our gentle, loving actions, We would 

show that Christ is light. In a humble listening

Spirit, We would live to God's delight. 

Third Verse: 

As a green bud in the spring time Is a 

sign of life renewed, So may we be signs of 

oneness 'Mid earth's peoples, many hued. 

As a rainbow lights the heavens When a 

storm is past and gone, May our lives reflect the 

radiance of God's new and glorious dawn. 

This song was one I had never heard before and was not familiar with, and perhaps as a result of that I decided not to sing along, but rather to simply listen to the beautiful choir. I believe it is as a result of list listening that i was able to hear what the song really had to offer. More over I heard this song echo the first reading about an old testament prophet, I heard the words of Paul to the Corintians, and I heard the gospel of Mark, all combined into one song. With Fr. G's homily having just come to an end I also heard his voice filling my head in a booming way as it does the great space of the cathedral. And in this song I heard what the church truly was meant to be and is, a Shepherd sent by God. 

I'm sad it was my first time hearing such a beautiful song in 22 years of church attendance, yet I am delighted that I have now heard it and can move forward sharing it with as many as possible, for as long as possible. 

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did, and do. 

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M 

"Whoever had much did not have more, and whoever had little did not have less."

Whether it is the gift of young age, or simply dumb luck (my money is on the latter) I have fortunately not only been able to remember the readings from the 13th Sunday of Ordinary time which was oh so long ago (June 28th). Now not only was I able to keep in mind what the reading where, with a guilty conciencse for having not written this reflection I kept them at the fore front of my mind.

The quote I have given this post comes from the second reading, from the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. This closing sentence of the reading really stuck with me. I assume this is because of the "plight" of the college student, and the common phrases that come along with it. I don't have any money, I don't have any time, I have all this homework to do, all these papers to write, all this debt to pay back. These are common phrases for the average college student. I think these last words given to us by Paul can really speak to these at times, struggling students. You have no money, yet enough for food, enough for shelter, enough for books, and school, even if it means borrowing. Like wise these words from Paul can encourage and raise up the spirit of the burdened student, yes of course you have debt, you have reading, you have papers, and homework, but even though you have all this, there are those that have more, more struggles, more burdens. These words echoed in my mind, as I both leave college, and return, from undergrad, to grad school, I will be shocked if these familiar phrases leave my vocabulary, I just hope that the words of Paul remain with me (something I never though I would say).

Now onto the Gospel where I am particularly glad that I not only neglected this post, but also remembered that it was this story from Mark (5:21-43), the woman suffering from hemorrhage, the woman with such tremendous faith only a single thought lingered, "My God what profound faith this woman had." Having suffered for so long her faith was not only present, it was persistent. So much so that she was on the road and had the thought, "If but I touch his clothes I shall be healed". What profound and tremendous faith this woman had. I was recently driving across the state to the Thumb, where I attended a wedding of dear friends, I traveled with another dear friend none other than Fr. Stan. On our drive back to Grand Rapids talking about what ever it is two people talk about to pass the time of a 3 hour car ride, there were numerous instances where we both needed something googled. This repeat occurrence of us having been right in our original guesses as to what I googled left me joking, "My God what did we do before google, just make something up, say it with enough conviction and trust one another?" It would seem that is precisely what we did. During conversations where questionable facts arose those talking must have come to logical conclusions, and simply trusted one another. Instead now we can check everything, which is a truly beautiful thing. I assume my friends who are "seeking truth" would especially agree that it is a wonderful thing. Yet at the same time I am left wondering, are we better off being able to prove one or another wrong, or right, or would we be better off being able to simply trust one another?

This is the question I leave you, would you rather be right, and be able to prove it, or have the potential of being wrong yet have a profound faith that allows you to trust?

Feel free to leave any answers in the comments.

Peace and Blessings Always

~M

This ones for you dad!

The weekend of the 12th Sunday OT was also fathers day. While unlike mothers day I was not able to attend a special fathers day mass, more over Fr. Bernard who as always gave a kick ass homily he did not talk about dads at all. Instead he did his job and focused on the readings for that day. Well this threw me into a panic, what am I going to write for this blog post. I wrote a kick ass post for mothers day, now its fathers day what am I going to do!?!?!?!

Taking the extra time to write this blog because, if you read the last post I was lost in the trees, and ultimately still unsure of what to write proved to be most beneficial. This weekend, to be specific, Sunday my dad and I set out on the road at 5am to go to Pittsburg for a ball game. We drove there, went tot he game enjoyed all that baseball has to offer, and drove back getting home just before midnight.

We laughed we yelled at other drivers, we had high hopes for the Bucs to win, and had a great time making fun of a security guard who was Gods gift to baseball, and specifically PNC park (he took his job way to seriously and looked hilarious doing so), we rocked out to some jazz, and some great oldies. This past Sunday enjoying a long ass drive and some baseball was exactly what being with dad meant.

This lead me to think about what else it means to have a dad in your life. This invariably brought my attention back to the readings for that 12th Sunday.

First we heard about Job, that poor bastard. Nothing but shit came his way yet he resolved and was persistent in his faith. He was steadfast. He was a father. What really struck me next was in the gospels, here we see Jesus and his apostles on the sea, the apostles terrified, they looked to Christ.

"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? 

He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Quiet! Be still! 

The wind ceased and there was great calm. 

Then he asked them, Why are you terrified? 

Do you not yet have faith? 

They were filled with great awe" (MK 4:38-41). 

Now as much as I wish I could say that my dad had power over the sea, in this gospel reading I think Christ is very easily portrayed as a father. His children are scared and they call out time him, he answers and teaches them something. Is this not exactly what fathers do? Do children not run into their fathers arms for comfort? 

Each and every father child relationship is going to be different and that is the beauty of it. An adult male, even a dad could not be the perfect dad to every child, rather there is a unique bond between each child and their father. From being a timid child filled with fear like those ever foolish apostles in the boat, or a child afraid of the dark, and looking for monsters under the bed. We are filled with great awe. 

Now as a last note, here is a video of an awesome dad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OR8bmWyDHc

Ok here is another one too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4vkVHijdQk

Peace and Blessings Always

~M

"You can't see the forest for the trees" (11th Sunday OT)

Yes this is extremely late. yes three weeks has gone by and I missed posting this. I must apologize, my only excuse is that I must have been lost among the trees.

On the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time we heard from he Gospel of Mark (4:26-34) and are giving this beautiful image of the mustard seed:

"It (kingdom of God) is like a mustard seed, that when it is sown in the ground 

is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 

But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants 

and puts fourth large branches" (MK 4:31-32)

This image is not new for anyone who has done anything with the New Testament. It is very frequently quoted in regards to Christ, faith and the religion he left for us. Today however I want to talk about it in a new light. I want to spend time among the trees (full disclosure, i just finished my last week of work at Aquinas College, anyone who has not had the opportunity to spend time on the campus wouldn't truly understand how beautiful it is and how much of that beauty comes from the trees. I really was lost among the trees).

The mustard seed often looked at for its small size that produces greatly, like faith planted in our hearts. These little seemingly immeasurable things that can produce thins of such magnitude (trees are huge! spend time walking in a forest and really look at the trees). 

Looking at a tree, what is it? is it just a seed that is planted? is it just a large plant that shoots out of the group? or is it something so much more than that? Is a tree not at first a seed and then suddenly roots and a trunk, branches and leaves? Does this not then provide room for more growth? 

YEs our faith is like a mustard seed, yes the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. But the Church also is a mustard seed. One planted from he droplets of blood as Christ was beaten. On that was planted in his ministry and healing works. On that has been cultivated into so much more than just a seed, more than just roots, more than just a trunk, just branches. 

A tree is all these things, how much is lost then if we only look at the seed, we only look at the roots, the leaves, so too then how much is lost when we only look at one Church teaching, on parish, one priest, one Catholic. 

Examining the trees, and the church in such a matter has reminded me of the three blind men and the elephant, in stead of typing the whole story out, here is a link to it http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story25.htm

We must look at all things in life, trees, mustard seeds, the Kingdom of God, the Church, and even elephants for what they are more than just what we see them as. Often times this means we must listen o what other people have to offer, insight that we can not gain because we lack the experience. 

Get lost in the trees, and don't lose sight of them to only see the forest, similarly don't lose sight of the forest as a whole for one tree. 

Peace and Blessings Always

~M

Take Courage, Set the World Ablaze

Today I've decided to again write a reflection from this weekends readings, however what is different about this week and other weeks is that I am going to leave the safe security of sound theology and make connections that I might be the first one to make. Yet with a history as long as the churches, I'm hesitant to claim that any new insight, or new connections are really new and not simply forgotten memories.

The title of this post was going to be something about being bold and stepping out of my comfort zone, stepping out of the shadows of theologians older and greater than I. Instead I decided to use the theme for this years Aquinas Baccalaureate mass, a theme I and several other students and faculty found to be fitting for this group of graduates as we embark on the world, or as it seems even when embarking on a simple blog post not many are likely to read.

This weekend, another Solemnity, this time of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) we heard a reading from the book of Exodus (24:3-8), the letter to the Hebrews (9:11-15), and the gospel of Mark (14:12-16, 22-26). If I had to pick one thing that these three readings had in common it would be their reference to blood.

In Exodus we see Moses, "then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying 'this is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.'"

In Hebrews we are confronted with Christ coming as the high priest, "he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption" 

In the Gospel we find the following remarks not only about Jesus, but this time made by him, "Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when i drink it new in the kingdom of God.'"  

Arriving at church just as the procession began as a result of a nap that went over and as my mother said, "taking too much time to make myself beautiful" I did not have time to read the readings before hearing them as I typically like to do. Knowing this weekend was Corpus Christi, the readings did not sound as ill placed as other may have found them to be, yet this reoccurring idea of blood left me with a singular thought. A thought that left me distracted during Fr. G's homily (which was not as kick ass as Fr. Bernard's last weekend) this thought was a simple thanksgiving, "thank God we have Holy water now!" 

I could not imagine sitting in the pews of a church with a priest walking around having just sacrificed and animal for all of us to witness then gladly and willingly allow that same man to sprinkle me with the blood of that animal, the blood of that covenant. Again I say "thank God for Holy water!" 

The thought did not end their, rather the thought left me wondering, what are the origins of Holy Water?  A thought which first took me to looking at and reflecting on all the important uses of water in the church today, and then further to the instances of water in scripture. From the fours rives in the Garden of Eden, to the great flood with Noah, Moses placed in a basket and drifting down a river, the plagues turning the water to blood, the crossing of the Yam Suph the sea of reeds, or better known as the crossing of the red sea on dry land. This natural procession of water in the first books of the Old testament I just kept moving forward, but as I paused after reflecting on the sea of reeds, I said "wait a minute, water into blood?" This thought then catapulted me into the New Testament, water into wine, Christ's baptism in the Jordan.

Finally my mind comes to rest on John's gospel, keeping in mind the motif of blood in the readings I just heard and with Fr. G in the background preaching about these readings my mind recalls the Spear of Destiny, the Holy Lance, the Spear of Longinus, the lance that pierced Christ's side while he remain dead, hanging on the cross. 

According to John's Gospel, "When they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out" (Jn 19:3-34). 

This of course was done in order to fulfill the prophets that not a bone would be broken, yet I think a greater connection can be drawn. We say in Marks Gospel that at the pass over, Christ not only institutes the Sacrament of the Eucharist but also states the coming establishment of the new covenant. "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many." This is not the blood of a sacrificed animal, but rather His blood, and it is not poured out for some, but for all, yet according to John's gospel it was not just blood that poured out. Rather it was blood and water "An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true" (Jn 19:35).

This instance Christ did not only institute the new covenant, he further completed this imagery of water and blood, not longer did we need sacrifices, he had sacrificed once and for all. Blood was no longer to be used but in its place a more fitting liquid that had always been used. Water. Water is life giving, water is purity, water is used for cleansing, water can be destructive, water is ever present. In case you cannot summon an awe inspiring image of water allow the soothing voice of Penélope Cruz in this video offer you such an image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwV9OYeGN88 and in the event you've never seen the other nature videos, take a minute to watch those as well. Otherwise let me leave you with a single thought, Thank God for Holy Water. 

Peace and Blessings Always 

~ M

Lover, Loved, and the Love

This weekend was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and for those of us who have no idea what a Solemnity is, I turn to Fr. Vincent Serpa O.P. "A Solemnity is the highest rank of celebration and is identified in the calendar with an S. Easter, Christmas, All Saints day, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, and other celebrations of events in our Lord's life on earth and certain saints are solemnities. the Gloria and Creed are always said on such days. Solemnities are like Sundays, though most of them are not days of obligation." Now that I know what solemnity means it is now time to turn to what the Holy Trinity is.

In order to talk about the trinity one must talk about St. Augustine, in fact one of his depictions of the Trinity is this posts title. The trinity is the one substance and three persons of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I could take this time to do a multitude of things, from going on a rant about how the readings for this weekend did not seem to be the most fitting for the celebration of the Trinity, or I could go down a deep theological explanation of the complexities of the trinity. Referencing early church Christological councils, and of course using my limited knowledge of Greek to talk about, Ousia, Hypostasis, Phusis, Physis, Prsopon, and of course the Hypostatic Union, or how we would be lost without the latin idea of Communicatio Idiomatum. Now while I am sure that certain readers would each uniquely and individually like one or the other of those things to follow, but instead of playacting to an audience that just wants to see me rant, or one that just wants deep theological points to be made I instead will grasp for the ever illusive middle way. What follows will be a brief comment on the trinity with a story of Augustine followed by my own story of experiencing mass this weekend.

The Trinity is a complex idea that has been, is being, and will be wrestled with by many believers. While three distinct persons they are one substance not co-mingled not confused and mixed up within each other but perfectly united, united in love. Augustine as I said has to be talked about, he wrote a tremendous amount an a wide range of matters of faith, from his own Confessions to the City of God, and his four hundred pages, and over 30 years spent writing those pages devoted to the trinity. While I have read no where near all of this, I obviously find the image of Lover, Loved, and Love to be one that not only beautifully depicts, but also shows the complexity of the trinity.

However my favorite teaching on the trinity is that of Augustine on the beach.

"The great Doctor of the Church St. Augustine of Hippo spent over 30 years working on his treatise De Trinitate [about the Holy Trinity], endeavoring to conceive an intelligible explanation for the mystery of the Trinity.

He was walking by the seashore one day contemplating and trying to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity when he saw a small boy running back and forth from the water to a spot on the seashore. The boy was using a sea shell to carry the water from the ocean and place it into a small hole in the sand.

The Bishop of Hippo approached him and asked, “My boy, what are doing?”

“I am trying to bring all the sea into this hole,” the boy replied with a sweet smile. 

“But that is impossible, my dear child, the hole cannot contain all that water” said Augustine. 

The boy paused in his work, stood up, looked into the eyes of the Saint, and replied, “It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do – comprehend the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small intelligence.”

This is my favorite aspect of learning about the trinity, no matter what when it comes down to it, as I spend restless hours wrestling with the complex idea of the trinity only to find more questions than answers I am given this comfort. 

Now while I said earlier, the readings for this weekend in my opinion were seemingly terrible, and did not fit with such a celebration. While the gospel contained a great, single line about the trinity ("Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Mt 28:16-20) the first and second reading seemed to be selected at random (now I'm sure, and I hope someone can explain to me how they really are fitting). 

The reality about going to mass on Sunday is that I was not looking forward to it like I should have. I had just gone shopping with my mom at Meijer and Sam's club, as if one wasn't torture enough. My goal was to spend the day reading and watching Netflix, which is what I did all morning, so I really can't complain too much. While I was not eagerly going to mass I am certainly glad I did. In addition to being a part of the mass and experience the Eucharist and all that other good stuff that happens at mass no matter where you are or what weekend it is, Fr. Bernard gave a, if I may be so bold, kick ass homily, reminding us of the Lover, Loved, and Love unity of the trinity bringing together and binding these three persons together in one same substance. In addition to this however going to mass at this particular time, on that day at that church I found myself coming together. While walking into the church I ran into my friends Patricia and Eric, I had not seen them in weeks. Next up our friend Alex wanders in, someone I also hadn't seen in weeks. After mass as we walked out I then ran into my friend Mary, someone I hadn't seen in months, and after that I saw Mckenzie and LG, persons I went to high school with and had not seen in years. 

In this moment, having experienced the Eucharist having listened to the word of God as ill fitting as it seemed, listening to Fr. Bernard's kick ass homily, and then seeing all these people I know, love and have missed truly painted a picture of how the church brings us together in love. A similar love that brings the trinity together. In this moment I understood without knowing the definition, what a solemnity was why it was important, and the importance of a unified trinity in love. 

Two For One

Having studied theology, and continuing the life long journey that studying theology is people always ask me questions which I love to answer. The seemingly most common question taking many variations has to do with sin. What is sin? Have I sinned? Mortal or Venial? Where is the list of sins? Do I just need to follow the ten commandments? Are those really for Christians? What did Jesus say about sin? These questions can be answered in many different ways, they can be long drawn out questions, with follow up readings. However the most simple answer is found in the readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter, which was last weekend (5/17/15). In the second reading (1 John 4:11-16) we find the simple answer:

STOP WORRYING ABOUT SIN AND SIMPLY LOVE. 

I of course took the liberty of paraphrasing that part above, the first letter of John does not use such language nor such a shouting manner. Rather it reads, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God Remains in us, and his love is brought to Perfection in us...God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. " 

There you have it, Love, thats what we are called to do. We don't need to worry about if we are sinning for as long as we are loving, truly loving one another we have lost the ability to sin. In the words of Victor Hugo's Bishop Bienvenu, "To love another person is to see the face of God" (Les Misérables). 

We may have never seen God, we may have never heard him call us by name, we may spend far too much time fretting over if we are sinning, when the simple answer is love. True Agape love. Not the OMG I love cats, I love Chicken, I love this song. But rather the true soul shaking love, self emptying of oneself for another. A love that placed Christ on the cross, love. 

Of course we know that that love was not left on the cross, it was not left in the tomb. Rather this has leapt into the hearts of all believers. 

This past weekend was Pentecost, the ending of the Easter season and the descending of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works in our lives, allowing us to do things we could never do without its strength and guidance. This includes bringing us closer together as a body of Christ in ways that don't always make sense, but the Lord works in mysterious ways. As a philosopher friend of mine once said "philosophy asks all the tough questions, and when they arrive at a point where they cannot answer the question they keep asking questions, but theologians simply say 'Oh mystery' theologians offer great insight and answers but at times leave it simply at 'Oh mystery". My response, "duh" of course there are things we cannot understand, we can keep wrestling with these ideas and questions yet confidently know we will not know. All we can do is hope for and rely on the spirit. 

Its been stuck in my head all weekend. 

Veni Sancte Spiritus Come Holy Spirit (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdvpiLZTZ6Q)

Hope you all had a safe happy and blessed Memorial Day. 

Remember stop worrying about sinning, and just keep loving. 

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M

Able to Love.

This weekend was a busy and important weekend. On Saturday I graduated from college, both very exciting and slightly terrifying, but something I never would have been able to accomplish without the love and support of family and friends. This realization, that it was not only congrats to me, but to all those who invested in and supported me over the years, this accomplishment was ours, not mine.


This weekend was also mothers day, what a perfect time for a graduation ceremony. All the mothers too proud to contain their excitement not only celebrating their child's accomplishments, but then also being celebrated for all the sacrifices they have made.
(here is a link to a cool video about moms, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZOgOcauDds).


As if by design the readings from this weekend were more than fitting for the events taking place. I had the rare opportunity of attending mass with my mother on mothers day at Bukowski, the on campus chapel, with Fr. Stan as the presider. The title for this post, and the meaning given to these words is born out of the inspiring words from his homily, words that evoked a response in my heart.


John 15:9-17, "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. remain in my Love... Love on another as I love you... No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." We often hear about God's love, "God so loved the world that he gave his only son" or "God created man out of love, God created all things as a result of his steadfast love." This of course is all very true good and well. However there is something that is always over looked, someone that is always over looked, perhaps sometimes taken for granted. This of course, is a mother. After all how often do we over look, or take for granted our own mother?  Mary, the mother of God, the ever virgin, the God bearer, theotokos, the first of us to answer a call with a simple and humbling yes. "God so loved the world that he sent us his only son" Mary so loved that not only did she say yes, but she raised the child Jesus. Where others may have said no, the only word on her lips was yes.


This love did not end with a simple yes, no mothers love ends at the conception of their child or even the birth. This is just the beginning of their love. The true love follows at the early hours of the morning as a new born cries, this love continues as the child continues to grow an demands more and more from their mother, sometimes offering nothing more in return than heartache. This is the love that a mother gives to her child this is the love that Mary showed to her son.


It is only as a result of the love offered to us by our mothers that we are able to love. It is only in the experiencing of love that we are able to love. It is only because of our mothers that we are able to love. As I look at the gospel with Jesus saying "Love one another as I have loved you" we are only able to do this because he was first loved by his mother and as a result learned most fully in a human way how to love.


We do not love because we are told to, we only truly love because first we were loved and as a result we are now able to love.

I know I know I'm way behind schedule

Alright so with the craziness of trying to finish my last semester of undergrad I have yet been able to take sufficient time to write. Even more tragic, I managed not to take out a simple hour from my weekend for mass attendance. In the words of my dear friend Alex, "just go to mass man" better advice has perhaps never been offered. This is advice I will take with me well into the future, and as it turns out ties beautifully in with the gospel reading from Sunday as well as this terrifying process of moving on to what lies ahead.

For many what comes next is still unknown, a dim far off light at the end of a very long tunnel. Fortunately enough I know whats next for me, I will be attending the University of Dayton for grad school. Even with this seemingly false sense of security the unknown seems terrifying. This is where Alex's advice and this Sundays gospel come into play. John 15: 1-8, in this excerpt of of John's gospel we see Jesus offering an image of the father as the vine grower, and Jesus as the true vine. All we need to do is remain in him. It's that simple, even when the unknown is looming and terrifying one thing is always certain that if we remain in him he will remain in us and more over bear much fruit.

We need not fear the possibilities of tomorrow, as long as we remain in Him who gives us strength, He will also give us hope and ensure that our lives are fruitful.

Well Damn Who knew I Still Had a Blog...

    This past October I have started reading the bible, something very strange for we catholics to do in our free time... only joking a little here... I have come a long way now only having 31 books left to read out of 73, now most of these books are from the Old Testament so it's a good thing I was planning on sticking with this for the long haul, because it will take some time. In order to lessen the load I have recently tackled Genesis, upon completion I planned to read the book of Hebrews in the New Testament for a nice break from the weight of the Old T, however what I then realized is that I needed to read exodus, while I know the Moses story well and that it is the great exit, what I couldn't for the life of me figure out was how that the people I just finished reading about with Joseph in Egypt and the last sentences of Genesis could suddenly end up in slavery needing a savior to free them. Isn't that just how it works though, suddenly we are behind in all that we need to get done, suddenly if is flipped turned upside down. That is just what happened, in a sentence the old ruler dies and a new ruler comes to power, someone who knows nothing of Joseph, and enslaves Gods chosen people. no more than a couple of sentences and an entire people are enslaved, suddenly.

    Now naturally since I started reading the book of Exodus I went to Netflix and watched the Prince of Egypt, while not 100% accurate a good animated film none the less. The side effect to this was having all those catchy tunes stuck in my head, forcing me to listen to the soundtrack on YouTube over and over again. Something I haven't done in years. But then again thats how it works, suddenly this music has new meaning to me. In particular the opening song, deliver us, asking for Gods help, and well deliverance duh. It is during this part of the film, a particular part of the song where Moses's mother places young baby Moses in a basket and with tremendous faith prayers for him to have a better life. Now seeing as it is time for graduation for me and many of my friends it starts to feel like we are being put in a basket and left to drift down the nile, hopefully we will be as fortunate as young Moses, a baby seemingly cast to the side by his mother. In this Sundays first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (4:8-12) we hear about the Stone that was cast aside by the builders and yet it becomes the cornerstone. Just as Moses, cast down a river became the "liberator" of Gods chosen people, and just as Jesus cast aside, becomes the savior for us all, then let us too be cast aside and become the next generation of College grads that moves forward with confidence, and changes the world.