Archive for the 'Divine Filiation' Category

Your Job is That Important!

theophilus July 12th, 2009

How many of us have just gone through life doing our own thing; until, BAM, we get the powerful tugging of our soul that tells us we are supposed to do something else?

Today’s gospel (Mark 6) tells the story of the Apostles being sent out two-by-two to proclaim the Kingdom.  At some point, whether they were fishermen, tax collectors, or hangers-on, they were hit square between the eyes by the calling of Christ and they followed our Lord.

And then today’s first reading (Amos 7) has the prophet Amos telling the priest Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores.  The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”  Amos was a simple shepherd and arborist, yet God called him and he followed.

Like the Apostles and Amos, we are called!

We cannot think that we are just an accountant, machinist, carpenter, lawyer, assistant, sales person, first-responder, soldier, account executive or however we choose to define what we do for a living.  No, we are disciples of Christ, children of God, given life to bear fruit in the building of Christ’s kingdom here on earth.

No part of our lives can be separate from Christ.  Nothing we do, say or think can be considered distinct from our place in Christ’s universal Church.

We don’t have it easy in this regard.  Christ physically called the Apostles, so it would have been pretty hard for them to miss the point of what they were being called to do.  God got pretty personal with Amos, so it was rather hard for him to ignore his calling.   It would be easier if we were so divinely inspired, but most of us are not.  We must rely on our faith and the drive of the Holy Spirit that has led us to whatever it is that we do.  We must then do that job as if God himself gave us that job and Christ himself is our boss.  If you cannot feel that way about your jobs then it is time to look for something else.  And if you are unemployed, then it is time to look deep within your soul and figure out what it is that God expects of you at this moment of time.

God is in control; he has a plan for each of us.  We must listen and figure out what it is that he intends of us.

It may not be going out Noah’s Ark like (i.e. two-by-two) or prophesying to the head of your government, but God does call you to do something.  And that something is instrumental in building Christ’s kingdom.

This week, do your job, treat your family, contribute to your community, and live your life as if Christ’s kingdom hangs in the balance.  The way you live your life is that important.

Keeping Your Word

theophilus May 26th, 2009

If you are a man of honor and integrity (and most men are), you want to keep your word to others.  You want to have the reputation of getting the job done and being dependable; whether it’s your family, friends, community or job.  You don’t want to let others down.

But do you take the same attitude with Christ?  He has a plan for each of us.  He asks something of each of us every single day.  As a member of his body, we are called upon daily by him to do something, big or small, to help build his kingdom.

Yesterday for Memorial Day Mass, our priest talked about all of us being “Soldiers of Christ.”   He spoke about each of us having a duty to Christ to do his will; to stand up and join the battle.

Ask yourself these questions.  Do you strive to do your duty as a treasured son of God?  Do you strive to do his will?  Do you strive to keep your word to him in living your life?  Do you put your body, heart and soul at his disposition?

Today’s first reading is about a man who answered these questions with a resounding affirmative.  In Acts 20, St. Paul is giving one last sermon to the Ephesians.  He concludes by stating – “Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace. . . . And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God.”

There you have it.  St. Paul had no regrets; he knew he had done what he was called by Christ to do.

How about today’s Gospel from John 17.  Here we have Jesus praying to our Father in heaven – “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.  They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

Talk about a great performance review -  “They have kept your word.”  His apostles and disciples had answered the questions the same as St. Paul.

How about today’s Saint of the Day – St. Philip Neri.  He lived in 16th Century Italy at the height of the Reformation and the start of the Counter-Reformation, when Catholic faith and devotion were rapidly declining and in need of someone to help reverse the plunge into the abyss.  St. Philip responded to Christ’s call as well by doing great things to reinvigorate the faithful throughout Italy, most particularly in Rome.  He enflamed the laity and fostered a great love among all for the Blessed Sacrament.

St. Paul; the Apostles; the first disciples; St. Philip Neri – all became worthy Soliders of Christ.  They kept God’s word and fulfilled their duty to Christ.  They gave their lives to be used according to the Lord’s will and then, more importantly, kept their word to him.

Can the same be said of us?

Weeping or Rejoicing?

theophilus May 21st, 2009

Do you ever get the feeling that everyone is rejoicing; while you’re stuck with a feeling of anxiety mixed with a spark of hopelessness?  That somehow, you’re left on an island, solitary and alone, worried about the future; while everyone else is regaling in the excesses of the present?

Recently, I’ve actually been talking to a great number of people who share this view.  They fear that the world has gotten more dangerous, the economy more uncertain, their futures less promising, and their religious freedom less secure.

Yet, if we are to believe the polls and media, and many of our political and cultural leaders, things have never seemed more hopeful.  We are being told that we should embrace, not fear, the Teutonic shifts threatening to overthrow the way we live our daily lives; that we should join the chorus celebrating these shifts as great progress, just like everyone else.

If you’re one of these “unenlightened” folks, guess what?  Today’s (non-Ascension Day) gospel (from John 16) has a message for you.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Jesus was talking to his disciples on the eve of his Ascension.  He was discussing with them the meaning of the words he had just shared with them – “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” I can’t blame the disciples for not exactly grasping what Jesus was trying to say there; but, his followup – “you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices” – is easy enough to understand.

There are going to be times when you will be on the David side of the fight; when you will stand up for what you believe in and will be laughed at, ridiculed, demonized and demeaned.  You will be told that you are a fool, short-sighted, unenlightened, hateful, counter-cultural.  You will watch others revel in their power, influence and good-feeling, while you are stuck wondering what can possibly come next.  You will grow especially wary when even those you think should be on your side line up with the rejoicers.

The question to ask yourself in these circumstances is – do you truly believe you are standing on the side of reason, faith and truth; that you are doing God’s will and serving Christ as he deserves; that you are living as you should as a son or daughter of God?  If the answer is “yes” than you can take comfort from John 16.  It doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing, even if everyone else is “rejoicing.”  What matters is whether your thoughts and actions are in uniformity with God’s will – even if it means that you are left to “weep and mourn.”

And if you hold onto Christ’s hope and God’s will for you, especially when it’s the unpopular thing to do, you will find that you are not alone.  Others feel the same way.  Even better, you will also find that one of two things will happen.  You will find out that you are wrong and you can join in with the happy crowd; or you will find out that you are right.  In either case, you will find that one day “your grief will become joy.”

Spiritual Blindness

theophilus February 18th, 2009

I saw a man last week who had the biggest glasses I had ever seen on anyone.  They were two inches in length and width.  I was able to grab a side view and saw a lense that was at least a quarter to a third of an inch.

I looked at him with a sense of wonder and curiousity.  I have vision problems of my own and know that I see the world in ways that others do not.  But, in seeing this gentleman, I was wondering how he saw the world.  With his glasses on, he could probably see clearly; with them off, he could probably only see extremely blurred shapes.

I thought of him when I read today’s gospel from Mark 8 which tells the story of Jesus healing one of several blind men touched by Christ throughout the gospels.  In this case, Jesus first partially heals him (”I see people looking like trees and walking,”) and then fully heals him (”his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.”)

The man I came across last week was like this man.  With his glasses on, he can see everything clearly; with them off, he sees people looking like trees and walking.

What about us?

Do you go through life with spiritually blurred vision or do you see clearly through the lens of Christ?

I personally find myself suffering from blurred vision a great deal of the time.  I lose sight of Christ and become blind to his expectations of me.

And I look around me and see so many who have succumb to the belief that wrong is right; evil is good; impurity of mind and body is acceptable; what others think is more important than what God thinks.

In other words, too many have allowed their vision to become blurred or have allowed themselves to become outright blind as to their divine relationship with God.

I don’t want to be blind anymore; it’s such a lousy way to go through life.  I want what is prayed in today’s Mass “Alleluia” taken from St. Paul and Ephesians 1, “May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to his call.”

God does not want us to go through life spiritually blind or with spiritually blurred vision.  He gives us the ability to spiritually see him, if we will only open our eyes to his presence among us.

And we cast off the shackles of blindness when we accept his call and live our lives in imitation of him.

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.

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?

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.

Love & Fear

theophilus January 7th, 2009

I tend to take a lot of fears through my days.

I fear screwing up my kids’ and wife’s lives, unemployment, failure at work, terrorism, a loss of freedom, poverty, tornadoes, loss of any number of my family, jumping out of airplanes and bungee jumping, what other people think of me, car accidents in an ice or rain storm,  shingles blowing off my roof in a wind storm, the Reds with a one run lead in the 9th, the Bengals with a two point lead deep in the 4th Quarter.

Ultimately, I fear displeasing God; turning away from Him to such a degree that He turns His back on me and is done with me.  I fear He will give up on me because I just wouldn’t get His plan done.

So, today’s first reading from 1 John 4 helps alleviate this last fear.

St. John writes,

There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.

I need a reality check sometimes.  If I keep seeking God, keep trying to walk with his Son, keep Mary & St. Joseph close in my prayers, keep trying to walk in the footsteps of the saints; God is not going to turn His back on me, no matter how badly I screw things up.

Why?  Because, I am His child and He loves me.  And I cannot truly love Him back if I am in fear of Him.

Now, I know that one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit is “Fear of the Lord.”  But I think this gift is geared towards us having a complete and total respect and awe for our Creator and Heavenly Father.  It is not geared towards us being irrationally fearful of Him as we would a stern schoolteacher or boss.

God is not out to get us.  He loves us.  He is our Father, who accompanies us every moment of our days, whether or not we want him along for the ride.  He wants nothing more than for us to fill our days with Him; helping build His kingdom.  He wants to give us everything we need; if not most of what we want.

Today’s gospel (Mark 6) is about Jesus walking on water.  The disciples in the boat were in fear of the storm and of seeing him walking on the waves.  Yet, they failed to realize that God made the sea and man’s ability to float on top of it.  He made the storms and can quiet them.

Like the disciples, I miss certain things.  I miss that God gave me my family and gave me to them; that God gave me my professional gifts and my job and knows what he wants me to do for my work; that God gives me my modest and sustainable wealth, my freedom, my security; that God directs the weather; that His opinion of me is the only one that counts; that He even made the Reds and the Bengals, and airplanes for people to jump out of and bridges for people to jump off of with only an elastic band attached to their legs.

I need not fear my fears; I need not fear God.  I just need to try and do His will and walk closely with his Son.  I need to accept the Holy Spirit trying its best to grow within me.

When I lose my fear, then I will truly love God, and I will truly love others.

Fear and love cannot co-exist.  What are the fears in your life?  How are they keeping you from truly loving others and loving God?

Mother’s Day in January

theophilus January 1st, 2009

I’m not a theologian but I think I’m finally starting to get something.

Today is, of course, January 1st.  For us Catholics, it should be Mother’s Day for Mary because it’s the Feast Day or Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

It is the day for us to contemplate Mary as the Mother of Jesus, and as such the Mother of God.  Mary is also our mother, as we are all children of God (see John 1 from yesterday’s gospel and Galatians 4 from today’s second reading).  We must not forget to give her the respect, attention and love due to such a noble and caring intercessor, protector, comforter, confidante and guide.

This feast is also the time to continue our contemplation of Jesus as true God and true man.

It is this second contemplation that has had my mind turning all day.

In Morning Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours), I was struck by two of the intercessions.  One prayed that “[y]ou made yourself like us, in your mercy grant that we may become more like you.” The other prayed that “[y]ou made yourself a citizen of our earthly city, grant that we may become citizens of our true homeland, your kingdom in heaven.”

The first intercession reminds us that Jesus was true man.  He was fully human.  He was one of us.  The second intercession reminds us that Jesus is true God and he has a divine kingdom, which is heaven.

The first intercession urges us to emulate the man he was while on earth, so that our second intercession can be granted; that we may join him in heaven.  If we follow his human example, we can share in his divine and eternal life.

As I speed into this new year, I am going to try and spend more time in asking God and Mary to help me become more like Jesus in the coming year.  I really don’t know exactly what this request entails, but I know the Holy Spirit will let me know as each day unfolds.

Also, on this New Year’s Day, I was especially moved by today’s first reading from Numbers 6.  It’s the blessing we have heard so many times before.  “The Lord bless you and keep you!  The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!  The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!”

God does extend this blessing to us each and every day.  It’s up to us to acknowledge and accept this blessing each and every day.  If we allow ourselves to be so blessed, we will emulate Jesus and we will spend our eternal lives with him.

As this new year dawns, God’s firm hand is extended; Jesus is inviting us to walk by his side; Mary’s arms are open wide to greet us.  It’s up to us to accept and go to them through prayer, devotion, charity, sacrifice, commitment to work, and love for our family, friends and neighbors.  It’s up to us to have a running dialogue with God and ensure that we are offering every moment of our days to Jesus, through Mary.

It’s up to us to live as true children of God; to embrace our divine filiation with our Creator.  I’m thinking that’s not a bad New Year’s resolution at all.

We Are Children of God

theophilus December 31st, 2008

As we close out 2008 and head into 2009, today’s gospel from the beginning of the Gospel According to St. John gives us some encouragement and hope.

“He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him.  He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.”

How much hope is in these words.  From the moment of conception right through the moment of death, we have the right to live according to God’s will and plan for us because we all ultimately exist due to God’s decision, not man’s.

And if we accept God and truly follow him, we will be called “children of God.”  As a former orphan, I can ensure you that there is no greater gift than to be called someone’s child.  To be called a child of God is almost too much to comprehend.

Live this new year so that you can rightfully and unashamedly be called a child of God.  Live this year so that your year is fitting of one who is the Eternal Creator’s son or daughter.  Make our Father pleased with your divine filiation with him.  Be grateful of his divine love for you.

Happy New Year!

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