As I sit here on my in-law's couch and look at my beautiful children cuddling with each other across from me, I can't help but reflect on the million different ways I am blessed each day, and I guess that is a good place to be on the Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend!! (And yes, I know I said I would post on Thursdays...but hey, be thankful I got a post up this week at all! =) )
For anyone who reads the parent newsletter that I email out each Tuesday (and if you don't get it and would like to, please email me and I will add you to the distribution list!), you know that this week I talked about thankfulness a lot - from the fact that the word "Eucharist" actually means "thanksgiving" to how I often struggle to maintain a truly thankful posture.
I have been lucky enough to spend the last five days with my husband's parents, 3 of his 4 siblings, and their spouses and children - a total of 9 adults and 5 kids, ranging in age from 1-8 years old. Needless to say, it was not the quietest of vacations! And with all those people, and all those personalities, in one house, at times, we all felt like we needed a little space to ourselves.
But last night I was standing in the dining room looking into the kitchen as my mother-in-law, one of my sisters-in-law, her husband, and one of my brothers-in-law were talking and laughing as they moved around each other during the post-dinner clean up routine. And I couldn't help but smile. Because in that moment I realized something - I am incredibly blessed to have this family. Sure, we may not all get along all of the time and sometimes there is tension or we get on each others nerves, but at the end of the day, we love each other - and that matters way more than any of that other stuff.
That got me to thinking about Jesus and His disciples. I mean, here was a group of 13 men, traveling almost constantly, staying where ever they were welcomed, and no doubt living in tight quarters and basically on top of each other for around 3 years! If my family can't last through a 5 days holiday without some strife, then surely the disciples must have had their fair share of "family drama"! And in fact, we hear about some in Mark 10:37-45.
It is the story of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who ask Jesus to “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” (Mark 10:37) Now, this was a pretty bold request, as the chairs to the right and the left of the host were the seats of honor at a banquet table, so basically, James and John were asking for special treatment from Jesus - for Him to make them the highest among the disciples.
What would happen in your family if one of your siblings or other family member asked the head of your family to make them the favorite and give them special treatment? I know what would happen in mine, and it would not be pretty. At the least, there would be a lot of hurt feelings, whispering and talking behind that person's back, and the worst, yelling and tears.
Similarly, when word of what James and John had asked reached the disciples, we hear in Mark 10:41 that "they became indignant at James and John." Another word for indignant is infuriated. Not just upset, or annoyed - but infuriated! Imagine the scene - a group of 13 men, stopped on the road to Jerusalem, with 10 of them yelling and screaming at 2 of them, and one standing to the side.
What would you have done if you were Jesus? What would the head of your family do in this situation? Honestly, if it was most of us, we would probably be yelling at the 10 disciples yelling at James and John, and the whole scene would descend into chaos. But that is not what Jesus did.
When Jesus saw what was happening, instead of just getting mad and yelling, "Jesus summoned them and said to them, 'You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.'” (Mark 10:42-45)
Instead of participating in the chaos, Jesus called his followers to something higher. He showed them how they were all acting exactly like the Gentile leaders who persecuted their people and reminded them that they were meant for a higher purpose - not to lead, but to follow; not to be served, but to serve.
It is a reminder that we can all use from time to time - and perhaps especially at the end of a long holiday weekend that we have spent surrounded by family that, while we love them, can occasionally really get on our nerves. Our families are never going to be perfect - because they are all made up of imperfect humans. But as members of those families, we can strive to love perfectly - the way that Jesus loved those 12 men on the road to Jerusalem.
And the reminder that I am called to maintain a servants heart and humble disposition at all times, even, or perhaps especially, with my family, is something that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend, and always.
434445
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Into the Deep
OK, so I am admittedly a little behind in my posting! With the craziness of getting ready for Fall Retreat last weekend (an AMAZING weekend, by the way! Check out the pics online at www.hfk122ministriesseniorhigh.com) I totally spaced on putting up my usual Thursday posting, and this week, time just got away from me - so I am employing the theory of "better late than never" here!
So anyways!
Every Monday night, I have the unique pleasure of watching an episode of Fr. Robert Baron's great gift to the Catholic church - his series call "Catholicism" (better know as The Catholicism Project), with some of my amazing teens! Every week brings me new and greater appreciation of this faith that I love - and the opportunity to have my mind blown by the insight and depth of these incredible teens!
This past Monday, we watched the episode that discusses the role of Peter and Paul in the early Church, and their enduring legacy today. In it, Fr. Baron talks about the call of Peter, then called Simon, and his brother, Andrew. For those needing a little refresher....
"He said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.' Simon said in reply, 'Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets. We they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing...When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, 'Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man'...When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him." Luke 5:4-7, 8, 11
I asked the teens what it meant to them to "put out into deep water" with Jesus, as was awed by their responses - ranging from giving Him control, to not knowing what is going to happen, to losing your sense of security and safety, to not being able to turn back.
For me, "putting out into deep water" causes a sense of anxiety in me - even just simply sitting here typing the words! See, I LOVE water and I LOVE to swim, but I also have an extremely overactive imagination - which means that when I think about deep water, I think about sharks, giant sea monsters, eels, man-eating fish, sea serpents... really rational things to be concerned about, right? But I can't help it - that's where my mind goes, so unless I am super focused, whenever I am swimming in a lake or the ocean, I become convinced that some crazed sea creature is going to come up from below and eat me!
So what does this have to do with the spiritual aspect of "putting out into the deep" - well, a lot, I think! See, for me, and a lot of people I think, being in "deep water" means being in some sort of danger. I means that you have gone to a point where you cannot easily or quickly get back to safe ground - you cannot simple put your feet down and stand up to keep your head above water. You have to trust in your boat, or your swimming skills, or your raft - whatever has brought you out there to bring you back to shore. And if something goes wrong, chances are it is going to go REALLY wrong. That's what's at the heart of my irrational fear of deep water - an inherent sense of danger, a lack of security.
And let's face it - when we "put out into the deep" with Jesus, we are undoubtedly getting in over our heads. Giving your life to Jesus is not going to be easy, comfortable, or secure - He is going to rock your boat, toss you out into the water, and force you to learn how to swim. To follow Him means to step away from the safety of the shore, to get comfortable with not knowing what is "swimming around beneath you"or what might be lurking in the depths - and in that to TRUST, fully, that the One who brought you out there will never leave you out there.
But here is what we need to remember...as long as we keep our eyes firmly on Jesus, there is nothing to fear in the deep water. Instead, when seen through His eyes, the water is no longer full of monsters waiting to devour you - instead, you find yourself swimming in an endless pool of love and grace wanting to engulf you.
Peter learned this first hand - it took Jesus literally taking him into the deep water for him to initially trust in this stranger who appeared on the shore - and, some time later, it took Peter keeping His eyes firmly on Christ to keep from sinking into that deep water when he stepped out of the boat.
He will not let us sink if we keep our eyes, our trust, and our heart on Him - so do not be afraid to "put out into the deep water" - dive on in!
So anyways!
Every Monday night, I have the unique pleasure of watching an episode of Fr. Robert Baron's great gift to the Catholic church - his series call "Catholicism" (better know as The Catholicism Project), with some of my amazing teens! Every week brings me new and greater appreciation of this faith that I love - and the opportunity to have my mind blown by the insight and depth of these incredible teens!
This past Monday, we watched the episode that discusses the role of Peter and Paul in the early Church, and their enduring legacy today. In it, Fr. Baron talks about the call of Peter, then called Simon, and his brother, Andrew. For those needing a little refresher....
"He said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.' Simon said in reply, 'Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets. We they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing...When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, 'Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man'...When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him." Luke 5:4-7, 8, 11
I asked the teens what it meant to them to "put out into deep water" with Jesus, as was awed by their responses - ranging from giving Him control, to not knowing what is going to happen, to losing your sense of security and safety, to not being able to turn back.
For me, "putting out into deep water" causes a sense of anxiety in me - even just simply sitting here typing the words! See, I LOVE water and I LOVE to swim, but I also have an extremely overactive imagination - which means that when I think about deep water, I think about sharks, giant sea monsters, eels, man-eating fish, sea serpents... really rational things to be concerned about, right? But I can't help it - that's where my mind goes, so unless I am super focused, whenever I am swimming in a lake or the ocean, I become convinced that some crazed sea creature is going to come up from below and eat me!
So what does this have to do with the spiritual aspect of "putting out into the deep" - well, a lot, I think! See, for me, and a lot of people I think, being in "deep water" means being in some sort of danger. I means that you have gone to a point where you cannot easily or quickly get back to safe ground - you cannot simple put your feet down and stand up to keep your head above water. You have to trust in your boat, or your swimming skills, or your raft - whatever has brought you out there to bring you back to shore. And if something goes wrong, chances are it is going to go REALLY wrong. That's what's at the heart of my irrational fear of deep water - an inherent sense of danger, a lack of security.
And let's face it - when we "put out into the deep" with Jesus, we are undoubtedly getting in over our heads. Giving your life to Jesus is not going to be easy, comfortable, or secure - He is going to rock your boat, toss you out into the water, and force you to learn how to swim. To follow Him means to step away from the safety of the shore, to get comfortable with not knowing what is "swimming around beneath you"or what might be lurking in the depths - and in that to TRUST, fully, that the One who brought you out there will never leave you out there.
But here is what we need to remember...as long as we keep our eyes firmly on Jesus, there is nothing to fear in the deep water. Instead, when seen through His eyes, the water is no longer full of monsters waiting to devour you - instead, you find yourself swimming in an endless pool of love and grace wanting to engulf you.
Peter learned this first hand - it took Jesus literally taking him into the deep water for him to initially trust in this stranger who appeared on the shore - and, some time later, it took Peter keeping His eyes firmly on Christ to keep from sinking into that deep water when he stepped out of the boat.
He will not let us sink if we keep our eyes, our trust, and our heart on Him - so do not be afraid to "put out into the deep water" - dive on in!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
A Saint for us all
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saint's Day - one of our Holy Days of Obligation, which means it holds such a special place on our Church calendar that the faithful mark the day by coming together to celebrate the Holy Mass and receive the Eucharist! It's kinda a big deal - outside of our weekly Sunday obligation, we only have 6 other Holy Days out of the entire year!
So what's the big deal? Well, All Saint's Day is the day that we honor ALL the saints in heaven - both those known and unknown...wait, we have unknown saints? Huh?? Its true! We fully acknowledge that our fallible human selves will only ever acknowledge here on earth a mere fraction of the holy men and women who lived their lives with heroic virtue or whose lives were ended in a true martyr's sacrifice - but that does not stop them from being saints! See, when the Pope canonizes someone, he is not making them a Saint, they already were one. He is simply acknowledging for the entire world what God had already done in and through that person.
Also, as we must be perfect to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, all souls currently in heaven are saints as well. True, the vast majority of those souls became purified AFTER death - through time in purgatory - but once they enter Heaven, they are no less saints! Which means that we, too, can become saints - and in fact, we are called to sainthood right now! God created each of us to be saints - that is what He desires for each of His children, because to be a saint means to live a life fully in the love of God, seeking justice, demonstrating virtue, and loving unconditionally all of humanity. It means to live a life of holiness - which is what we hear ourselves called to in 1 Peter1:16, "Be holy because I am holy".
Now, I don't know about you, but to me, most of the time, that seems like a pretty daunting task. I look at the Saints and think, "Wow, that's amazing - they lived this extraordinary existence and look what they did! But I could never do that. Not in today's world. Not in my life." But the truth is that is a cop-out on my part, because while it is definitely true that some of the Saints lived and did extraordinary things in their lives, many of them simply lived as Christ called them to live - in faith, in love, and in joy.
Today at Mass, Fr. Nagel spoke about the life of Blessed Pier Georgio, who is a great example of this fact. To our knowledge, Pier Georgio never performed a miracle, never levitated, never had a vision of Jesus or Mary - but what he did do was love and live fully in Christ. He dedicated his free time to serving the poor through St. Vincent De Paul, he attended Mass at every opportunity and never let anything, even school work, keep him from the Eucharist. He spoke openly about his faith, and surrounded himself with faith-filled friends. He was going to be a mining engineer because he hoped to be able to positively affect the lives of the miners through this work. He was unselfish, unassuming, and unashamed of his love for God. And he let that resonate in everything he did.
Now, as I read over that, there is nothing there that I can rationally say that I cannot do - I can serve the poor, I can go to Mass and make it a first priority, I can speak openly about my faith, I can surround myself with faith-filled people, and I can work in a way that positively affects those I am working for.
So what excuse do I have for not being a saint? Well, the truth is none. What limits me from being a saint is not the world, or my life, or any other external factor. What limits me from being a saint is, well, me.
Everyday, we are faced with many opportunities to choose holiness, to strive for sainthood - and the fact is that when we don't chose that option, the only person we can point the finger at is ourselves. Sure, we are really good (I am pretty much an expert at this...) at rationalizing the reasons why we fall short - its too hard, people will look at me weird or may get angry or upset, my views are not the world's views, my friends won't understand, I will miss out on all the "fun"...and the list could go on and on. But while it is tempting and easy to lay the blame elsewhere, the fact is that we are simply fooling ourselves. If we could just find a way to trust in God and His plan, our lives would be so much better!
Look at Pier Georgio - he surrendered his life fully to God, and lived that life to the full! He was known for being the glue that held his social group together because he was so much fun! He loved to go out to the mountains with his friends, to hike, to rock climb, and to scale the highest peaks he could find! He went out at night and hung out with his friends. He fell in love with a beautiful Spanish girl named Laura. He lived. He did not miss out on anything - in fact, I would say he had more than most of us could ever imagine!
So on this All Saint's Day, let us ask Blessed Pier to intercede for us with our heavenly Father so that we are all graced with the courage, wisdom, and faithfulness to strive for holiness and sainthood by living life to the fullest by living it in Him.
So what's the big deal? Well, All Saint's Day is the day that we honor ALL the saints in heaven - both those known and unknown...wait, we have unknown saints? Huh?? Its true! We fully acknowledge that our fallible human selves will only ever acknowledge here on earth a mere fraction of the holy men and women who lived their lives with heroic virtue or whose lives were ended in a true martyr's sacrifice - but that does not stop them from being saints! See, when the Pope canonizes someone, he is not making them a Saint, they already were one. He is simply acknowledging for the entire world what God had already done in and through that person.
Also, as we must be perfect to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, all souls currently in heaven are saints as well. True, the vast majority of those souls became purified AFTER death - through time in purgatory - but once they enter Heaven, they are no less saints! Which means that we, too, can become saints - and in fact, we are called to sainthood right now! God created each of us to be saints - that is what He desires for each of His children, because to be a saint means to live a life fully in the love of God, seeking justice, demonstrating virtue, and loving unconditionally all of humanity. It means to live a life of holiness - which is what we hear ourselves called to in 1 Peter1:16, "Be holy because I am holy".
Now, I don't know about you, but to me, most of the time, that seems like a pretty daunting task. I look at the Saints and think, "Wow, that's amazing - they lived this extraordinary existence and look what they did! But I could never do that. Not in today's world. Not in my life." But the truth is that is a cop-out on my part, because while it is definitely true that some of the Saints lived and did extraordinary things in their lives, many of them simply lived as Christ called them to live - in faith, in love, and in joy.
Today at Mass, Fr. Nagel spoke about the life of Blessed Pier Georgio, who is a great example of this fact. To our knowledge, Pier Georgio never performed a miracle, never levitated, never had a vision of Jesus or Mary - but what he did do was love and live fully in Christ. He dedicated his free time to serving the poor through St. Vincent De Paul, he attended Mass at every opportunity and never let anything, even school work, keep him from the Eucharist. He spoke openly about his faith, and surrounded himself with faith-filled friends. He was going to be a mining engineer because he hoped to be able to positively affect the lives of the miners through this work. He was unselfish, unassuming, and unashamed of his love for God. And he let that resonate in everything he did.
Now, as I read over that, there is nothing there that I can rationally say that I cannot do - I can serve the poor, I can go to Mass and make it a first priority, I can speak openly about my faith, I can surround myself with faith-filled people, and I can work in a way that positively affects those I am working for.
So what excuse do I have for not being a saint? Well, the truth is none. What limits me from being a saint is not the world, or my life, or any other external factor. What limits me from being a saint is, well, me.
Everyday, we are faced with many opportunities to choose holiness, to strive for sainthood - and the fact is that when we don't chose that option, the only person we can point the finger at is ourselves. Sure, we are really good (I am pretty much an expert at this...) at rationalizing the reasons why we fall short - its too hard, people will look at me weird or may get angry or upset, my views are not the world's views, my friends won't understand, I will miss out on all the "fun"...and the list could go on and on. But while it is tempting and easy to lay the blame elsewhere, the fact is that we are simply fooling ourselves. If we could just find a way to trust in God and His plan, our lives would be so much better!
Look at Pier Georgio - he surrendered his life fully to God, and lived that life to the full! He was known for being the glue that held his social group together because he was so much fun! He loved to go out to the mountains with his friends, to hike, to rock climb, and to scale the highest peaks he could find! He went out at night and hung out with his friends. He fell in love with a beautiful Spanish girl named Laura. He lived. He did not miss out on anything - in fact, I would say he had more than most of us could ever imagine!
So on this All Saint's Day, let us ask Blessed Pier to intercede for us with our heavenly Father so that we are all graced with the courage, wisdom, and faithfulness to strive for holiness and sainthood by living life to the fullest by living it in Him.
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