Archive for January, 2009

Endurance & Birth Defects

theophilus January 30th, 2009

January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month.

I rarely write about my own birth defects but I’m thinking I better write something about them before this month is out, especially considering that my birth defects and my faith seem to be totally intertwined with each other.

I was born with a cleft lip and cranio-facial birth defects, i.e. the different sides of my skull didn’t exactly form in perfect proportion to each other.  As a result, one side of my face is good to go, the other side has needed a great deal of work.

I have had more surgeries than I can remember; each one exhibiting the marvels of reconstructive medical science.  My conditions are so rare that I was always a must see for interns and residents on their rounds; and I even had photos taken of me for medical textbooks.  To this day, I have a standing appointment for major work with a dentist every decade or so.

My childhood was spent in doctor offices, dentist chairs, hospital beds, operating rooms, and with speech and hearing pathologists.

My sinuses are always a problem.  I need subtitles when I’m watching a movie on TV; and I finally broke down and started bringing a missal to Mass so I could fully “hear” the readings.  My eyesight is such that I can’t bring my eyes together in one single point of sight and my eyes have drastically different levels of vision.  I have little depth perception, so I’m always knocking into things, dropping perfectly thrown passes from my nephew, and losing my golf drives when they fly more than 150 yards off the tee.  I have a speech defect, but am in a field requiring superior communication skills.  I often need people to repeat themselves and they likewise often need me to repeat myself.

I was picked on, ridiculed and bullied as a kid; and rejected by more girls than I care to remember as a teen and college student.  Things got a little better in young adulthood.  To this day, I have people that look at me with THAT look, the one folks reserve for others that look differently than what they have come to expect.

Yet, somewhere along the line, God made me realize that I am the way he chose to make me.  I am made perfect in his image.

I have learned so much about life and about God because of my birth defects.  I have learned so much about others, both good and bad.  I have learned how God expects us to live and treat each other.  I have learned how to be truly grateful.

I am thankful to the doctors and dentists who put my face back together.  I am thankful for the nurses who comforted me when I was a scared little boy in a lonely hospital room in the middle of the night.

I am thankful for my parents, my family, my friends and the girls I’ve dated along the way who all saw through my deformities to the real me.

I am so in love with my wife that it surpasses my understanding.  She fell for and has stayed in love with an incredibly imperfect man, yet she fights for me, she fights for us.  She truly loves me, heart, soul &, yes, body.  She is such a beautiful woman, both inside and out, yet my birth defects have never been an obstacle to her loving me so.

I am so blessed that my parents see me as their son, not a deformed child; my wife sees me as her love, not a deformed man; and my children see me simply as their Daddy, not someone that looks different than others they know.

Actually, it’s been through my children that God has chosen to show me just how much he has blessed me.

My little girl looks like her mother; my son is the mirror image of me.  I have a special affection for my daughter because she is the first blood I have ever known (I am adopted).  But even more profound, I tend to wonder how much of my birth mother is in her.  She looks like my wife; but how much does she also look like my mother?

And then there is my son.  He is perfect in every way.  In him, I see what I could have been, physically.  I look at him and see what I would have looked like without the birth defects.

But, I would haven’t it any other way.  Let me repeat, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

For, I am the way God chose to make me.  I am made perfect in his image.

Every time I look in the mirror, I am humbled.  Every time I look upon someone who looks a little differently than others, I empathize.  Every time I see someone going through a hard time or in distress, I am spiritually connected to them.

And every time that I am going through hard times or get discouraged or don’t know where to turn, God reminds me that he is still there for me, that he is guiding me, that he has always guided me throughout all times of my life, both dark and bright.

He reminds me that he has tested me and found me worthy.

Today’s first reading is from Hebrews 10 and the writer hits the nail on the head, “You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.”

My birth defects and being an orphan taught me endurance, both spiritually and physically.  God has a purpose behind everything he does.  He has a purpose for making me the way I am.  There are times when I don’t know why.  There are times when I fall into self-pity.  There are times when people treat me differently because of the way I look.  There are times when I look in the mirror and want to cry.

But, in these times, God ALWAYS brings me back to Him.  He reminds me of his will and his promise to me.

And when I doubt his special plan for me, he sends my wife to kiss me, my kids to jump on my back, and my parents to call me just to see how I am doing and to tell me that they love me.

And he also reminds me that I am a success professionally.  I am an inspiration to others.  I rise above my limitations and do what he expects of me.  I am bearing the fruit he wants from me.  And I must place my total trust in him.

It’s God’s way of telling me that I am the way God chose to make me.  I am made perfect in his image.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Real Reality TV

theophilus January 28th, 2009

We’ve been snowed and iced in for the past two days.  I hate driving in winter weather, but I also don’t like skipping out on work during the work week.  So, Monday night I made sure I brought work home in anticipation of the storm.

This morning, I was working in our study when my wife called me in to watch something on the news.  It was snowing rather heavily and roads were becoming impassable.  The news had a camera set up outside its studios focused on a stretch of a hill of I-71, one of the interstates through town.

At first, we saw a semi abandoned in the right lane of the downhill part of the hill.  Then we saw a car do a 180 degrees spin out, facing the other way.  The weather guy missed the spin out, but gasps could be heard from the rest of the studio crew.

The weatherman quickly realized what was going on and started providing play-by-play of this car.  The driver finally got his car out of the way and turned around just in time to avoid a semi coming down the hill.

He tried to get moving again, but ended up getting stuck in the middle lane.  So, now only one lane was open.

The problem grew more acute because a line of cars appeared over the crest of the hill; driving in both lanes.  The cars and semis in the middle lane had to cut over into the left lane.  Most were going way too fast for the conditions.  Many were cutting things way too close with the car in the middle lane.

All the while, the newscasters were still providing commentary; and we were riveted to the scene.

Sure enough, another line of cars came over the hill; but this time they were two abreast.  A couple of cars in the middle lane were able to get over, but there finally was a car that had no place to go and no possible way to stop.  He slammed straight into the stuck motorist.

The danger then only increased as cars and semis kept coming over the hill.  To add to the drama, both motorists got out of their cars and started inspecting the damage.  If another car or semi had come down and hit them, it would have been all over for them.

The second car finally got out of the way; and then he came back to try and help the first motorist to get to the side of the road.

I finally decided to turn away from the scene and get back to work.

And when I reflected on the whole episode, what really bothered me was that I failed to realize that there was a guy in the first car who found himself in a very scary and hopeless situation.  There was a guy in the second car who must have felt powerless when he realized he was going to slam into the first car.  There were people in all of the cars and semis coming down the hill whose hearts must have skipped as they struggled to avoid the cars.

There were real people in these vehicles in situations that I have found myself in way too often.

Yet, I wasn’t thinking of them as I watched it all unfold.  It was TV; it wasn’t real life.

There was some point when I did say a quick prayer for them, but I couldn’t tell you when.  On the whole though, I just didn’t humanize the people involved.  I didn’t empathize with their dire situation; I was being too entertained, in a sick sort of way.

When the scene started to unfold, I should have said prayers to Mary and their guardian angels to protect them.  I should have asked God to let the first motorist get his car out of the way.  I should have asked Christ to guide others away from the cars.  Again, at some point, I did say some prayer, but by then the damage had been done, both to the guys involved and to my own soul.

Our culture is toxic; and we need to do everything we can to ensure we do not succumb when our desire to be entertained comes at the expense of the sufferings of others.  We make this mistake when we become entertained by the soap opera stories of political figures, sports stars, newsmakers and celebrities, without realizing there are real people involved.

I made this mistake today, and it’s ate at me the entire day.  I’m just hoping that the days for these guys got a lot better; and that they are sitting with their families and friends tonight, telling one heck of a story, and giving thanks to God that it wasn’t worse.

Are We Doing God’s Will? Yeah, right!

theophilus January 27th, 2009

Let’s look at the state of the national and global economy, culture, political systems, families, communities and workplaces.

Do we really believe that we are even close to doing God’s will?  Do we really accept our divine filiation as his children?

Yeah, there are many in this world who truly offer themselves over to God and allow themselves to be used in accordance with his will?  But can the rest of us, as a whole, say the same things?

Today’s readings have got me thinking.  Hebrews 10 discusses Jesus’ declaration that he had come to do his Father’s will.  The refrain for the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 40) proclaims “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.”  Today’s Gospel (Mark 3) gives us the reassurance from Jesus that “whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

There it is in neon lights.  We are here to do God’s will!

I don’t know why God’s will is so hard for us.  His will is what leads us to eternal life.  His will is what leads us to peace and joy.  His will is what leads us to the happiness of the saints and to doing great works here on earth.

Yet, we rebel, reject, ignore and often ridicule his will.  We replace it with our own will and do so under the painfully, mistaken assumption that we know better than he does what is best for us.

And the problem for us is that he gives us the freedom to turn away from him.  He never turns his back on us; but he allows us to turn our backs on him.  And he leaves us to deal with the resulting consequences.

That is until we turn back to him.  He always gives us an out from the disaster of our choices.  He always is ready to shine the light on the path back to his son.  No matter how far off that path we may find ourselves and no matter the severity of our sins, he always welcomes us back into his fold through his mercy, salvation, redemption and forgiveness.

The good news for us is that our kind have been doing this sort of thing in every age way back to Adam & Eve.  The better news is that societies and cultures always seem to find their way back in some form or another.  It may be painful, but we always seem to find the path once again.

But we have to take the first step by following God’s will and unifying our will with his.

He is inviting us back to his feast; will we accept the invitation?

“In Your Will Is Our Peace”

theophilus January 23rd, 2009

It’s been quite a week for us Americans.  MLK Day, Inauguration Day, Respect Life Day.  Conflicting, historical, ironic, uplifting, depressing, hopeful, disillusioning – all in one week.

In today’s Morning Prayer (LOTH), the refrain for the intercessions was “In your will is our peace, Lord.”

I found myself praying this refrain over and over again throughout the day.

- My kids have been sick and my 5-year old is going through some tests. In your will is my peace.

- One of my friends just went through a divorce and is out of a job.  In your will is my peace.

- I’m fearful that our political system and culture are forever broken.  In your will is my peace.

- I have friends who were working for a company solely because of its stock price and the size of their 401-K, but the stock has tanked (and I do mean tanked).  In your will is my peace.

- The wife of one of my friends has a tumor and they don’t yet whether it is benign or malignant.  In your will is my peace.

I have had to remind myself over the past year that God is always in control.  So for me to truly bear fruit for him in all circumstances, I must acknowledge that he is always in control and truly believe that in his will is my peace.

God is in control, which means all things happen according to his will, which means I must be at peace with what he wants.  And being at peace means doing what he asks me to do so that I carry out his will in all circumstances.

I don’t believe his will occurs in a vacuum.  I believe his will is often a call to action for us; to look inside of ourselves; to help others; to focus on what he wants us to do with our lives.

If we do his will; if we are at peace; we will build his kingdom here on earth; and the world will be worthy of our faith.  But, first we must be at peace with his will in all things.

In your will is our peace, Lord.

Day for Fasting & Praying

theophilus January 22nd, 2009

One of the uplifting aspects of the 2008 election was the great discussion that took place on the stblogosphere promoting the Culture of Life.  I’m certain this discussion will reach new heights in the coming years.

But with today being the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Respect Life Day, I’m not going to focus on this discussion; for this day is a good day to simply fast and pray.

Fasting in reparation, in petition, in hope, in love.

Prayer through the Rosary and Mass.

Prayer for intercession to Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of the unborn, and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patron saint of our nation.

Prayer to the Sacred Heart and the Divine Mercy of Jesus that he will show us his infinite mercy and that our nation will be redeemed.

Prayer to the Precious Blood of Jesus that our nation is washed clean of this corrosive and soul-destructive sin.

Prayer for the unborn; especially those already killed and those whose lives hang in the balance.

Prayer for pregnant mothers contemplating abortions and those who have already had abortions.

Prayer for all pregnant mothers and their babies.

Prayer for those mothers who chose life and are wondering whether they made the right choice; for those who are struggling; for those who placed their children for adoption.

Prayer for abortionists and those who work in the clinics.

Prayer for those who advocate for the Culture of Death.

Prayer for those who advocate for the Culture of Life.

Prayer for our public officials.

Prayer for those in the media.

Prayer for those who just want the issue to go away; who want a “negative peace.”

Prayer for those who will not open their eyes; who won’t even look at the incredible pictures of life in the womb.

And most introspectively for me, prayer for my birth mother who made the right choice; despite my foster homes, orphanages and birth defects.

I think one of  St. Teresa of Avila’s prayer is especially appropriate for today.

Let nothing disturb you.  Let nothing frighten you.  All things pass.  God does not change.  Patience achieves everything.  Whoever has God lacks nothing.  God alone suffices.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours.  Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world.  Yours are the feet which he is to go about doing good.  Yours are the hands with which he is to bless His people.

We have a long road ahead of us.  We cannot succeed in turning our nation back to a Culture of Life unless we fully and completely put our work into God’s hands.

A Message for All Times

theophilus January 19th, 2009

I am a huge fan of Martin Luther King, Jr.  His strength, courage, and wisdom; his Christ-centric focus in living his life; his ability to inspire and lead; his hopeful and generous spirit in times of great trial; his ability to change the world; his commitment to doing God’s will; his drive for justice and a “positive peace.”  He is a man from whom all men, no matter their race, should draw inspiration.

Every Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I read one of his speeches or writings.  Today, I decided to read his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (h/t to Michigan State University).  There is just so much incredible wisdom in these words that I need to share some of my personally favorite passages.  These words are just as useful to us today as they were to the Civil Rights Movement in 1963.  Emphasis is mine.

“I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

“I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and halftruths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was “well timed” in view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

“How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of Harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.

“We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.”

“I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another mans freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro the wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating that absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

“I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all it ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light injustice must be exposed with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion, before it can be cured.

“[T}ime itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in the generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

“I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: “Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.” And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely otherworldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.

“In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson, and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

“There was a time when the church was very powerful — in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.” But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey Gad rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.

“Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent — and often even vocal — sanction of things as they are. But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust”

I encourage you to read and re-read the whole thing.  Do so not only in light of our past and modern race relations, but also in light of our present time, especially if you are concerned with the civil rights of the unborn.

And tomorrow, no matter where you fall politically or how you feel about the future, recognize that it is an incredible day for America as one great injustice has finally been redeemed.  And just as Catholics marched hand in hand with Reverend King, now we must work hand in hand to redeem another injustice and do so for the little ones who cannot speak for themselves.

Thirty Years On

theophilus January 18th, 2009

I envision thirty years from now that I’m taking my grandson golfing.  Over a putt, I’m telling him about great men; those who rose above their limitations and fears; those who were equal to the demands of their times; those who were forthright, courageous, honest, strong.

I will tell my grandson that no matter what is happening around him, he must rise and be the man that God expects him to be.

And I know that I will tell him of a man who was called upon in a time of great trial for our nation; when we were viciously attacked with a promise of worst attacks to come.

This man took on the challenge and did so with a fervent belief that God put him in this place, at this time, to do His will.  He awoke each morning and asked God what he needed to do to protect the hundreds of millions of people put in his care.  He went to bed every night and said a prayer of thanksgiving that, for the most part, these people entrusted to him were safe and secure.

This man looked at the threats throughout the world and did his best to address each one of them; with a focus on not only protecting his own people but on bringing liberty, peace and security to those around the world.

This man’s goal was to bring to the world the peace and joy promised us throughout Scriptures.

And, yet, this man was viciously attacked personally and done so from all segments.  He was maligned and distorted by Americans on foreign soil, foreigners on American soil, those who were supposed to be his supporters, and those who had a stake in a political agenda to bring him down and vilify him as the worst of mankind.

And he persevered through it all.  He was unpopular, mischaracterized, mocked, belittled and demeaned.  He made a great many mistakes.  But he kept going; trying to do what was best for the people he was called to serve; trying to remind himself that Christ was handed worst treatment.

I hope to teach my grandson that he needs to stand up for what he believes; no matter the cost.  That sometimes doing God’s will isn’t easy and that one’s reputation may be shredded in the process.  That being a real man of Christ entails sacrifice and faith; no matter the opposition arrayed against him.

I trust that I will teach him of a certain man, but do we realize that this man has existed in our time?

I fear that we do not.

Thank you, President Bush.  Well done, God’s good and faithful servant.

Personal Rule of Life

theophilus January 17th, 2009

I read something today that referred to a Personal Rule of Life.  I also read about today’s saint, St. Anthony, the Father of the Monks, and the two seemed to fit together quite nicely and presented a good lesson for me today.

St. Anthony, a 3rd Century Egyptian, sold his rather substantial family inheritance to take up life as one of the first hermits in the Catholic Church.  Many ended up coming to serve with him as monks and he is rightfully considered the Father of the Monks.  I’m thinking that every monastic order in the Catholic Church owes him a debt of gratitude for showing the way.

St. Anthony was a great, God-driven, Christ-centric, saintly man who answered God’s call and followed it with everything he had.  And he lived until the age of 106.

So, what was the secret to his saintly success?  One of the secrets is that he had a Personal Rule of LIfe.  At some point, he figured out how God wanted him to live his life and he obeyed.   Through the Holy Spirit, he figured out what was important and what was peripheral, and he focused on the important.  His personal rule was to walk beside Christ every moment of every day.  He didn’t waver from the path.  Anything that kept him away from Christ was not part of his personal rule.

What is your Personal Rule of Life?  How do you live your life?  What is the basis of your decision-making?  How do you make choices?  Who do you follow?  Are you in sync with the popular culture or are you walking beside Christ?  Do you obey God or do you obey self?  Is Christ at the center of your daily thoughts, words and actions?

We all need a Personal Rule of LIfe or we aim driftlessly through life.  Without a Personal Rule of LIfe rooted in Christ, we can’t help but make bad choices and end up separated from him.

St. Anthony had a Personal Rule of LIfe.  What is your’s?

The Hudson River Miracle

theophilus January 15th, 2009

A plane with 155 people aboard crashes into the Hudson River in New York City – and all survive.  This sort of thing is only supposed to happen in the movies, right?  I’m half expecting Kiefer Sutherland or Harrison Ford or Bruce Willis to pop up on TV.

I don’t want to throw around the term “miracle” too loosely, but this was a bona-fide miracle.  It is God telling us that he can do anything, no matter how impossible we think it to be.

And I do wonder whether it was a host of angels laying the plane on the water and keeping it afloat until rescue came?  Was it Mary calming everyone’s nerves, most particularly the pilot’s?  Was it Christ walking on the water, warming the seas, and keeping everyone out of harm’s way until help arrived?

This miracle reminds me that God is always in control – always!

WOW!

Let’s Talk About Sin

theophilus January 14th, 2009

Are you a slave?

Today’s first reading is from Hebrews 2 in which the writer teaches that Jesus came to “free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life.”

The “slavery” being discussed is the slavery to sin.

I bet most of us tend to think we are living relatively unsinful lives.  We’re all basically good people, trying our best.  We are all sinners, but hey, we tend to think to ourselves, how much sin is too much sin?

I think one of the major ways that the Church and our culture has failed us is in not talking enough about sin and destructive behavior.  No one wants anyone to feel uncomfortable, so we tiptoe through life trying not to hurt anyone’s feelings.  And we speed through life without examining our own life.

In doing so, we do two things that separate us from God.  First, we fail to realize that there are real consequences to our actions, both human and divine; and, second, that our time here is primarily meant to prepare us for eternal life.

I remember a time when I thought I was doing ok with God as long as I didn’t cross one of the ten big ones.  I sometimes felt guilty when I slept in on Sunday, or uttered a G*# D#%*!  I sometimes told a small lie, and looked longingly at that sports car in the parking lot.  And when I was a bachelor, I always somehow forgot to call my mom on a regular basis.  But, hey, nothing was so major in this list that led me to believe that I was endangering my eternity.

But then, God started opening my eyes.  First, he re-introduced me to the Seven Capital Sins – Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth.  And I realized that at one time or another, I was violating one of the seven.  Nothing major (or so I hope), but enough to be destructive to practically all of my relationships and how I lived my life.

I then realized that I was holding onto these sins for one reason or another and allowing these sins to hold me back from my Father and separate me from Jesus.  They are sins of selfishness and I was succumbing to them.   What caused me confusion was that I was doing so in ways that our culture deems acceptable.

God then took me one step further.  He reminded me of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and that these works are really not considered optional- feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, burying the dead, counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing sinners, comforting the afflicted, forgiving offenses, bearing wrongs patiently and praying for the living and the dead.

It is then when my spiritual life took off.  I stopped relying on others to do what I did not want to do.  I started rolling up my sleeves and doing some heavy-lifting.  And I started making a conscious decision to take the help that God was offering me to rid my days of the destructive thoughts and actions that were holding me back.  I started caring more about what God wanted than what the culture said was acceptable.

There are still days when I do not want to be bothered.  There are still days when I fall back into my destructive behavior (especially when it comes to my temper, pride and appetite).  But I’m not as far away from God as I was when he started opening my eyes.

I am becoming less a slave to sin and more a fruitful servant of God.  And I realize that I had been experiencing “success” without peace, and life without joy.  Now, I find my days becoming more peaceful and joyful, even if I still have a long way to go.

We are all called to be saints; we are called to take our rightful place as Children of God.  But we cannot achieve either if we are a slave to sin.  It’s time to truly acknowledge our faults, stop holding onto our destructive thoughts and behavior, be willing to accept Christ’s mercy and forgiveness, and be reconciled through Confession.  We will then be ready to cast off our shackles and start living our lives the way God has planned out for us.

You will see the difference in your relationships; in your work, in how you view the world, in how you deal with uncertainty and set-backs, in how you view yourself.  Most importantly, you will see the difference in your relationship with our Father and with our Saviour.

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