Reaching for Heaven

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." Luke 11:1

Of course, if you continue reading this passage, it leads us to Luke's version of what has become known as the staple Christian prayer of the Our Father. Many saints over the years have provided their prayerful guidance in the use of that prayer. Jesus leaves us with great direction in teaching us, through his disciples and the apostles, that prayer. But, what do we do when rote prayer becomes all we can offer? Is that enough?

The beauty of the "rote prayers" of Catholicism is that they are there when that IS all we can offer. It is no mistake that Jesus gave us words to pray, knowing that there would be times when we would be lost, feeling weary and without direction. It is no coincidence that the Church continues in the footsteps of Christ, through the saints and apostles of prayer, to give us other prayers to help us begin our conversation with God when we are at a loss.

Yet, it is not the Our Father or those prayers I wish to focus on today. While they are meaningful and good prayers, it is the question of the disciples in the passage above that peaks my interest. When we are down and out and feeling disconnected, how do we move past that block to prayer? Does pulling out an "oldie but goodie" standard prayer move us? Or do we use it as a crutch to fulfill a perceived obligation to pray?

The question the disciples ask may be the first clue as to the real mode of jumping over any hurdles to prayer - ask God. One theologian, (Richard Rohr, I believe), said something to the effect of 'the more we talk, the less it is prayer.' I think sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking in order to pray, we've got to find the right words. Yet, time and time again in Scripture we are reminded that we are able to connect to the Father and Son by the gift of the Spirit. It is the Spirit moving in us that inspires us into communion with God. When we are struggling, it is the Spirit we invite in to change our hearts, to silence us if we need, or to empower us with words if it be the will of God.

Sometimes, our need to be vocal in prayer is its own hindrance to deeper prayer. Next time you are having trouble praying, simply open yourself and ask the Spirit to pray in and through you, teaching you to pray and converse more closely with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May it lead you leaps and bounds beyond whatever prayer obstacle you faced!

Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared. Isaiah 35:4-5

Show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please," while you say to the poor one, "Stand there," or "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? James 2:1-4

And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!") And (immediately) the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. Mark 7:32-35

Jesus continues to challenge our way of thinking in this world. When we are deceived by the apparent importance of people, God chooses the "lowly" to transform our minds, if we only listen. This weekend, allow the Word of God to penetrate your heart, ask that Christ might cure our own deafness and blindness to those things he is trying so desperately to reveal to us. Let us come renewed in Christ to see one other through his eyes alone, and not by the measures of this world.

Come Holy Spirit!

God's time is God's time. God's ways are God's ways. And sometimes, those times and ways are completely unexpected. In the midst of chaos and violence, Cpl. Andrew Roy, Jr. found his way back to Christ and the Eucharist. Not only that, but in the middle of Afghanistan he is now leading others to explore the possibility of that reunion as well. When God comes in power, our transformation is unbelievable!

(from Catholic News Service)
Roy, who never made it past his first Communion to confirmation until adulthood, struggled with understanding and embracing his faith for most of his life, until this deployment to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division. "In May, he was bringing in books to disprove God's existence, and now he's willing to fight for it," said the Rev. Jeff Masengale, a captain and a Southern Baptist chaplain.

"I just wanted to rile things up," Roy told Catholic News Service. But over a three-month period, discussions between the two men led Roy back to his Catholic roots. Recently, he decided to turn his private research into a catechism class for other soldiers on this forward operating base, or FOB. READ MORE

Ok, so if you're familiar with Scripture, you know that this is not a new concept. In the book of Tobit (one of the Catholic books not found in protestant bibles), Tobiah and Sarah pray before "consummation" the night of their wedding for Sarah to be set free from the demons that have plagued her. As a result, Sarah is set free and Tobiah does not join Sarah's other husbands in an early grave.

The Catholic Church has always held that sex is sacred - thus the Church's teaching on sex before marriage. The sexual encounter was created by God to be shared by man and woman to physically form a communion of persons. (Much more on that in John Paul II's Theology of the Body or any breakdown of that teaching.) Essentially, it allows us to participate in a special way in the unitive and creative powers of God, creating our own little trinitarian experience of husband, wife and Christ.

That is a little lost in today's world, and I'm sure there are many out there who will take issue with the synopsis of that teaching. The point is this, though - sex is, and always has been in the eyes of the Church, a form of prayer if entered into with the right mindframe. To create a written prayer for couples...well, perhaps that's a little strange, though maybe we have reached a point where having such a prayer will remind husbands and wives (and all others), that sex is not just a pastime or entertainment. Perhaps it will remind us that the sexual union of two people has a much deeper meaning, however adamantly we may try to downplay or deny that.

Read the full article here.

...or do we think we know it all? That question is at the core of whether or not we receive the Word of God and drink it in with passion. If we think we already know it all, then there is nothing to be gained by allowing the Gospel to mold us and shape us. There is no difference and no room for anything more from God. Even Jesus recognized that this would be the case with some, acknowledging that "no prophet is accepted in his own native place." When the Word of God conflicts with how we think life should be, aren't we truthfully tempted to make excuses?

Well, the writers of the Bible weren't familiar with other possibilities... (Isn't God the supreme Author and doesn't His knowledge encompass all infinite possibilities of what is and can be?)

Yes, but things in their day were very different and not as advanced... (Isn't the core of the Word always true? And didn't Jesus challenge the customs and authorities of his day?)

To live a gospel life is to live contrary to secular culture. To live a gospel life is to continue to die to ourselves each morning and to let Christ in more with each breath. As contrary as it is to modern thought to let another rule our lives, if we do not admit our own poverty, we can never obtain the saving grace our soul seeks, and we may never breathe that sigh of relief that comes with letting go and letting God do the work within us.

O Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my rising, you discern my purpose from afar...For it was you who created my being, knit me together in my mother's womb...Already you knew my soul, my body held no secret from you...O search me, God and know my heart. O test me and know my thoughts. See that I follow not the wrong path and lead me in the path of life eternal. Psalm 139

You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you, oh Lord. St. Augustine

Today marks the memorial of St. Augustine, perhaps one of the most dramatic conversion stories from the early years of our faith. He's been known for such quips as "Lord grant me chastity...only not yet." Now, whether or not he actually said those words, I think many of us can identify with the sentiment. Deep down, we know we were created to be holy and blameless. Yet we have this strange fear that if we live our lives according to God's design, we'll be boring sticks in the mud.

We have only to look at our own history to know that the path God chooses for us is rarely boring. In fact, we are most fully alive when we are living in the way that God intends for us to live. Jesus came to share that Good News with us "I have come so that you may have life and have it abundantly." Those are not words of wallflowers!

Today also marks the day that three young women in our area are entering the religious life. One of them shared a bit of her journey of discernment with us, sharing that she enters today filled with peace and joy, but that the journey has had its share of running away from God's plan. She is certainly not alone, and God doesn't have to be calling you to the religious life for us to go running. When God comes calling, what does he find in our hearts? A desire for the truly good life, or a desire to get to that later while we live in the world for a bit and have our "fun"?

Having entered the Catholic Church at a campus parish during my college years, I perhaps have fewer preconceptions about what it looks like to be a servant of God. The people serving the Lord around me throughout my conversion ranged from birkenstock-wearing college folks, to missionary priests and military personnel. Some were more holy than others, but all of them showed me the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ in a special way.

I think sometimes we get caught up in our own images of what we must be in order to serve God. We build up roadblocks in our heads - we're too young, too old, too imperfect, too busy. Even the prophet Jeremiah tried that line back in the day. The thing is, God doesn't fall for that. When I was struggling with whether or not I was qualified or able to go into ministry as a career, a friend shared with me a now familiar saying. God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. In fact, the best servants simply take their direction from God and God alone. As baptized members of the body of Christ, we are given access to the Great Qualifier. If God is calling, He won't leave us to fend for ourselves.

Another roadblock sometimes grows out of a desire to see the fruit of our labor. We expect sensational results if we are serving God. However, we may not all be servants whose acts bring about glorious transformation - we can't all be St. Paul or St. Peter. Pope Benedict XVI, in writing about St. Bartholomew, whose feast day it is today, said, "Despite the scarcity of information about him, St. Bartholomew stands before us to tell us that attachment to Jesus can also be lived and witnessed to without performing sensational deeds." We have to struggle into the understanding that the glory is God's alone, and happens in His time despite our best efforts now.

What holds you back from answering God with a resounding "YES!"?

His care is to seek the LORD, his Maker, to petition the Most High, To open his lips in prayer, to ask pardon for his sins. Then, if it pleases the LORD Almighty, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding; He will pour forth his words of wisdom and in prayer give thanks to the LORD,Who will direct his knowledge and his counsel, as he meditates upon his mysteries. Sirach 39:6-7 (NAB)

"Being smart is not the same as being wise." A friend shared these words of her pastor with me last night as we were talking, and the profundity of the simple statement struck me as so very timely. We can get so busy seeking out knowledge on matters, we sometimes don't stop to think where that "knowledge" is originating. Are we simply seeking to seem smart, or are we really asking to gain wisdom? They are two very different things. Google and Wiki can get us facts, but the veracity of them is not always so reliable. Having worked with college students, I can't even remember the number of times we had to remind them to not just rely on the internet, but to check the source of their information.

As you pray today, consider where you get your information. In this time of political and ideological debate, to whom do we turn for counsel and wisdom? If not God, are we getting the real truth?

Doesn't God give us the same instruction for life? There is a lot of information out there, and some of it seems like it is pretty true. Do we ever stop, though, to consider the source? Do we enter into prayer when it is a matter of justice, faith and morals, to open our mind to the counsel and wisdom of God, to ask for His understanding, which far surpasses our own? In the Gospel today, we hear Jesus proclaiming the Greatest Commandment - Love God with heart, mind and soul. If we consider that love is sacrifice, maybe what he is really asking is to surrender our minds to God, along with our hearts and souls, for God's goodness to fill that instrument as well.

Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Romans 12:11 (NAB)

Oh, we've all heard it - that old adage that goes something like, "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." That's just an old-fashioned platitude, though, right? I mean, in this day and age, when there are so many viewpoints and possibilities, none are better than the other, none are "more true" because then it would make someone else's ideas wrong, and that's not right, right?

What a mess we've become. We have become so fearful of offending others, especially as Catholics sometimes, that we have lost the beauty of knowing the fullness of Truth that resides in our midst. How can we begin to function as ambassadors of Christ if we don't even know what we believe among the sea of ideas and possibilities. If all ideas and beliefs are equally true, then it stands to reason that they are all equally false. That is not what Jesus Christ died on the cross for. He died for Truth with a capital T, and we squander it away for fear of offense. I am not in anyway advocating a ruthless or aggressive campaign for Truth. In fact, I'm a firm lover of St. Paul's imagery of the clanging symbol - from personal experience, no one likes a noisy gong. We must advocate in love, but that does not mean forsaking truth for comfort.

The old adage remains quite true - if we don't unite ourselves with the truth of Christ, we do fall for anything, however wise we may think ourselves. Let us hope to always stay in sync with the Holy Spirit that we might discern the Truth, speak in love and be open to new understanding as Christ wills it.

There is no denying these are tough times. Perhaps some of us carry the tune of Gideon in his despair: "Why have you abandoned us? If you are good, Lord, why are we in this mess?" Sometimes, the dark spiral of wallowing pulls us down into a place of helplessness and feeling powerless and abandoned. As people of faith, we know the promise of Christ to never leave us, and yet, in our humanity, Christ's presence with us isn't always what we think it should be. We can begin to think if God is with us, then we face no hardships, when the truth is, in this human life, hardship happens. With God's continual presence, we can bear those hardships with a little less sorrow. Perhaps if we are in the midst of trial, we are simply being asked to re-shape our minds in the likeness of Christ, and not humanity.

So many people, young and old alike, have been struggling in this economy. We do not downplay the serious problem that face us, but perhaps part of the problem is what we have grown accustomed to thinking is "normal" or "successful." Blessed Teresa of Calcutta is quoted as saying, "We are called upon not to be successful but to be faithful." In these tough times, are we trying too hard to be successful, to count on our own power? The Lord tells Gideon to go with the strength he has - what he is really saying is to go in the strength of God...go with what I have given you and do what I have sent you to do. In moments of helplessness, are we trying to dig ourselves out, or do we move forward in faith, relying on the strength and wisdom of God?

A fun exercise by researchers from Kansas State University trying to explore the habits of people around the country has drawn a map of sin across America.

A Catholic News Service article breaks down the researchers findings based on patterns of behavior. The researchers collected census information, FBI crime reports and stats from the Dept. of Human Health and Services. How did they break it down? How else but by the seven deadly sins!

Now, of course, this is not a serious study...or is it? We certainly can't point fingers at regions of the country, but it gives us some insight into our vices...and it turns out we've got a few. You won't color me shocked at that. Though it is not a study meant to identify our greatest downfalls, it is a great starting point for a look inward. I find it quite interesting what variables they used to determine the deadly sins, and am curious what we would use to make the same measure in light of our faith.

Contrary to the belief of many in the Catholic Church of yesteryear, ours is not a private faith. As a new generation of Catholics, we are still recovering from that notion that one does not "impose" one's religion or faith onto others. From where it developed I cannot be sure, only to say that perhaps it was a natural reaction to the persecution many Catholics faced in their communities in the early years of this nation.

Yet, ours is a faith that calls us to embrace persecution. We are called to unite ourselves with Jesus Christ in those moments and allow God's grace and mercy to flow into us, not only to provide us with consolation, but to serve as a witness of the mercy of Christ to the world. Turning to Jesus in our moments of "affliction" we are filled. Uniting ourselves with Him in all things, we continue to fill ourselves not just to the brim so that we are satisfied, but to a point where we overflow with the love and mercy of God so that we can share it with others who need it. If we are not turning to Christ, however, if we take matters into our own hands, our own chasm of need remains too deep for us to proclaim what Jesus has done for us.

Does our cup overflow, or do we just keep a personal stash of Christ's mercy for troubled times? Let us pray, that inspired by the selfless sacrifice of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe whose memorial is today, we may never embrace a solely private faith - that we may be so united with Christ that his grace, light and mercy spill out of us to all those we encounter.

¹³This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:12-13

Friendship is born of love, and love is born of sacrifice. In an era of Facebook and MySpace, friendship has become synonymous with acquaintance. I was taken aback a few years ago when I heard Fr. Larry Richards say that anyone who told you they had more than a handful of friends was lying. Now, perhaps Fr. Larry was exaggerating, perhaps not. The concept however, was not lost on me. Christ tells us that to live in his friendship, we must be willing to lay down our lives. We must be willing to sacrifice our desires, our will, perhaps even our lives. How many of your "friends" are you willing to do this for? How many of your Facebook "friends"?

I noticed recently that when you go to look at your friends on Facebook, they now call them "connections." This is, I believe, a better way to look at the many people in our lives. We are all very much connected, and Facebook is quite possibly the greatest examination of the six degrees of separation. However, I do not truly have 500+ friends, at least not in the way of Christian friendship. Would I go out of my way for many of them? Sure. Would I lay down my life for all of them? I have to admit I would not, as much as I would like to say yes.

When we call someone friend, how much are we willing to give up for them? Are we true friends? Do we count Christ as our friend? Scripture tells us he has chosen us as his...

When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, the flames shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2

Today marks the feast of St. Lawrence. Though much is not known about his life, it is known that he was set on fire for Christ, most literally. Under persecution, told to produce all the wealth of the Church, Deacon Lawrence brought with him all the poor, diseased and crippled to present as the riches of Christ. In response, Lawrence was grilled...again, literally set over coals to be burned to death.

We do not do well with suffering in our age. Suffering is thought a sign of weakness. In the eyes of Christ, however, suffering is solidarity and strength. It is solidarity with not only the weakest among us, but with Jesus himself. It is strength to turn over our own power and trust that amidst the struggles and flames of life, we will not be consumed if we remain in Christ. More than asking us to bear whatever may come, Jesus tells us that we must suffer for his sake! Being "on fire" for Christ is literally to be willing to come under fire for his sake.

In light of that, I wonder how many of us are, really and truly, on fire for Christ...

Read more about St. Lawrence

Fr. Mirek Jordanek is one of only few chaplains serving the armed forces stationed in Afghanistan. Together with others in the chaplaincy, Fr. Mirek serves as the spiritual leader of men and women who face challenges unheard of to us.

Read more about Fr. Mirek and the chaplains who are serving our young men and women in Afghanistan. Pray that the Lord may give them the strength to bring a message of hope, comfort and peace to so many who live in the midst of turmoil.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In witnessing this holy event, the disciples Peter, James and John caught a glimpse of the glory that awaits us all in Christ. The radiance of his presence transmits the love of God for each of us. And yet, as Moses, by gazing upon the Lord in the fullness of his glory, the disciples cannot help but be transformed and called into action. Though, like us, they are a little bit at a loss as to what to do - they want to remain there, but the Lord directs them to move on and hold that moment dear in their own hearts.

The light, O Jesus, will be all from you; none of it will be mine.
It will be you, shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise you in the way which you love best,
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach you without preaching, not by words but by example,
by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears for you. Amen.

I have strolled past the Catholic Mass at the airport in Orlando. I've even seen the chapels at others. What I've never heard of is the Church at the mall. Now, I personally think it's relatively brilliant! Take the Gospel and proclaim it in places where people are - there is the evangelization of the 21st century! Bravo to the Capuchin Franciscans in Colorado Springs for such a concept, and bravo to those who are financially supporting it. You can rest assured you're getting a call from me to pick your brains and get the details!

Interesting to note that there are many parishes who don't offer as much, mostly because they do not have the resources to do so. What a great way to complement what already exists! Hey Church out there, are you paying attention? It's time to take notice of innovation within faith and find out if it is working. If the answer is yes, maybe we should all consider it a lesson learned about taking risks in union with the Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. Playing it safe never brought a soul to Jesus. If that were the ticket, he wouldn't have reminded us so often to "be not afraid!"

Reality TV is a continually growing "genre" in today's entertainment lineup. However we may feel about the multitude of shows offered, it doesn't seem as though there is any end to the madness anytime soon. So Catholic TV in the Boston area has decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" And I say kudos to them. I've been a long proponent of starting our own reality-tv series focusing on the lives of Catholic young adults in the area. The hurdle? Getting time and talent to move beyond the storyboard given my own real life!

Now, I'm not saying that I would imagine a reality series quite like the one they're doing, but I've got some ideas. Here's my question to you: would you want to be on reality tv...even if it just starts on YouTube? Would you want to be involved even if you weren't on the camera? Let me know, and maybe you could be the next big thing! ;)