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The Preempted Saints of 2009

theophilus November 1st, 2009

With All Saints Day falling on a Sunday this year, it’s brought to mind a pattern I’ve been noticing this year.

Every Sunday, I look to the liturgical week ahead, specifically the readings and saints.  In doing so this past year, I’ve noticed a number of popular saints that have had their feast day preempted by Sunday this year.

While these saints, of course, don’t care, they are there for us, not them.  The church wants us to remember their lives and works done.  They lived such exemplary and holy lives, and did so perfectly the will of God, that they are set apart for us to look to and emulate.

They built Christ’s Kingdom while they were here on earth.  And we can do the same.  We are all called to be saints; and we still can be one, no matter how badly we may think we have screwed up our lives.

So, look at this list.  Some are very well-known, others not so.  Pick one you know very little about and do a search on them.  Learn something.  Great heroes of the Church.  Some just like you and me.

January – St. Elizabeth Ann Seton; Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

February – St. Jerome Emiliani; St. Josephine Bakhita; Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

March – St. John of God

April – St. Vincent Ferrer

May – Sts. Philip & James; Feast of the Visitation

June – St. Aloysius Gonzaga; St. Irenaeus

July – St. Anthony Zaccaria; Sts. Joachim & Anne

August – St. Eusebius of Vercelli; St. Peter Julian Eymard; St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein); St. Stephen of Hungary; St. Rose of Lima

September – St. John Chrysostom; Sts. Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang & Companions; St. Vincent de Paul

October – St. Francis of Assisi; St. Luke

November – St. Albert the Great; St. Cecilia

December – St. Nicholas; St. Lucy; St. John

And, again, remember on this All Saints Day – we are all called to be saints, every single one of us.  We can start this hour by praying, this day by showing love for others, this week by serving others, this month by renouncing whatever is holding us back from truly living life and following Christ.

Read the lives of the saints, get to know them, personalize them, allow them to lead you to Christ, allow them to lead you to a saintly life.

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.”

“An Axis of Secularism”

theophilus May 7th, 2009

This article – “An Axis of Secularism” - speaks for itself.  It’s from Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, and published in Zenit.

Vivat Jesus.

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!

Our Patroness

theophilus December 8th, 2008

In these uncertain times, it is comforting to have a day like today – the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Mary, as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, is the Patroness of the United States.  It still comes as a surprise to many, but today is a Holy Day of Obligation.  It should be a day of great celebration and devotion, especially considering the choppy waters through which we are sailing.

I carry around this prayer card from the Franciscan Friars of Marytown.  On the front is a painting of Mary, twelve stars surrounding her head, looking over the Statue of Liberty and the American flag.  It is a poignant reminder that she is the protector of our land and wants only the best for us.  

Marytown is the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who had a great devotion to Mary.  He founded the Militia of the Immaculata to “encourage total consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a means of spiritual renewal for individuals and society” (from the Marytown website). 

Whether it’s formally or just in our hearts, we need to consecrate ourselves and our nation to Mary.  We need to place our trust in her hands, ask her to pray for us, intercede for us, protect us, help us.  We need to emulate her complete faith in our Father and her unwavering devotion to her son.  Like her, we need to do God’s will without hesitation.  Like her, we need to lead lives apart from sin, with humble and selfless service to others.

The Marytown Friars have a prayer on their prayer card.  It’s a good prayer for today.

Immaculate Conception, Patroness of our Nation.

God our Father, you guide everything in wisdom and love.  Accept the prayers we offer for our nation; by the wisdom of our leaders and the integrity of our citizens, may harmony and justice be secured and may there be lasting prosperity and peace.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen. 

Mary Immaculate, Patroness of America, guide the destiny of our nation.  Amen.

“Wanna Be My Friend”

theophilus November 22nd, 2008

I took my pre-K son in today to get a much needed haircut.  We had a bit of a wait and my son wandered over to the toy box in the corner of the shop.  There he met another boy his age and they started playing together.

And I waited for it.  I waited for my son to ask the other kid – “wanna be my friend?”  He always asks this question when he meets someone his age.  They start playing; they start getting along; and then he asks the question; as if to validate that they have indeed become friends.

No thought about it.  No second-guessing.  No complications.  Just, “wanna be friends.”

My son has a lot of friends.  He makes them so easily.  There are kids he has played with once who he talks about as if they’ve been life-long friends.

Wow, do I wish I could be like him.

We make friendship so hard.  Too many rules; too many expectations; too little time.  It seems we tend to hang onto the friendships we made when in school for so long because it’s easier to keep a friendship once made and too hard to make new friendships as we grow older.

My 1st grade daughter is the same type of person as her brother; always easy to make a friend.  I went to her school last week for lunch for a great “Harvest Day” turkey feast (that’s Thanksgiving to you and me).  We were standing in line and I noticed that her class friends symbolized the American melting pot; African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Caucasian.  They were all playing; having fun; doing what kids do.  No thought of race or religion or socio-economic background.  They were just kids. 

They were friends.

Yet, too many of us tend to segregrate ourselves in what friendships we have.  If you are like me, your friends tend to be just like you.  We find it just too hard to find common ground with someone different than us; someone that doesn’t come from the same background as us.  It doesn’t make us bad and intolerant people; it just means that we struggle to find Christ in others that have different experiences than we do.

And that is our challenge.  “Wanna be my friend” should be our constant thought; our guiding principle in our relationships with others, no matter who they are.  We need to recapture our ability to make friends and find common ground with others without hesitation.  We need to realize that we are all children of God and he expects us to be one people, his people.

My children are starting fresh in their perception and opinions of others.  God willing, my wife and I will do what is necessary to ensure they are always quick to make friends and look at all others as fellow children of God and co-heirs with Christ.

I’m sure tonight, I’m going to hear my son talk about his ”new best friend” and I’ll know Christ is alive in his heart.  And it is an inspiring and uplifting thought to behold. 

We adults have just made things too hard; and we have so much to learn.

Making the Mass Meaningful

theophilus November 19th, 2008

Today, Fr. Dan Schuh, of St. Susanna’s in Mason, Ohio, is being buried.  Dying way too young (57) but leaving behind a profound legacy.

Visitation was between 5:00 last night through 9:30 this morning.  Sixteen-and-a-half hours to pay final respects to this most remarkable of priests and rarest of men.

I woke up early this morning and went over to St. Susanna’s.  5:30 in the morning and there were a handful of mourners there, even at that hour.  A family of six was leaving as I arrived.  Fr. Dan was laid at the altar steps in a very simple coffin.  Teddy bears at his feet.  The look of absolute peace reserved for the deceased.  A Knight of Columbus ceremoniously on honor guard in full regalia.

I sat for a while looking at Fr. Dan trying to figure out why he meant so much to me.  After all, I am not a member of St. Susanna’s.  I go to weekday Mass there about once a month.  He wouldn’t know me from Adam.  Yet, I recognize the very real and lasting impact that this Man of God has had on me.  And I sat there trying to figure it out.

I started looking up at the altar and recalling him saying Mass; from the days when he was energetic and vibrant, through the slowing movements, through the cane and stool at the altar, through the wheelchair; through the last Mass I remember with him. 

I recalled him at the altar and it occured to me that he drew me into Christ each and every Mass.  When I started going to St. Susanna’s, it was at a time when I was slowly awakening from the spiritual deadness I had stumbled into in my thirties.  As a matter of fact, it was four years ago this month that Christ started reeling me back to him.

And Fr. Dan was a large part of my reawakening because he was instrumental in bringing me back to the Mass and drawing me into the Eucharist.  He just had a way of leaving me wanting more.  Because of Fr. Dan, I wanted to go to Mass more often; I wanted to experience communion with Christ as often as was practicable (suburban parish Mass times being what they are).  He made me realize that the Mass and Communion were gifts and graces from Christ; a gift and a grace that Christ never withholds from us.

He helped me to build the foundation I have needed in the past four years to find my way back to the path of Christ.  It’s become clear to me that Christ used Fr. Dan to bring me back to him.  There is no question in my mind that I would not have made it back without falling in love with the Mass once again.

I left St. Susanna’s this morning as more and more mourners were coming.   It’s so obvious that this man did it; he served Christ as intended; he brought others to Christ through his life and his death; even those not technically part of his flock. 

What a life well-lived; what a way to fulfill one’s life purpose; what incredible success at building Christ’s kingdom here on earth.

Well done, Fr. Dan, well done.  Rest in the peace you so deserve.

Fr. Dan – R.I.P.

theophilus November 14th, 2008

My wife just called me with some news I had a feeling was coming sooner rather than later.

This morning, a great priest died; Fr. Dan Schuh, age 57, of St. Susanna’s in Mason, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati).  He was one of the greatest priests I have ever encountered.  He was a priest who touched my soul and brought me closer to Christ.    This story in the Cincinnati Enquirer gives a brief background on his life and death.

Fr. Dan was suffering from ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  While the dreadful disease robbed him of his body, it could not rob him of his spiritual strength and his commitment to shepherd his flock.  He was just a great, great man.  I’m figuring God has a major job for him up in heaven, because his kind are so needed here on earth. 

I do not belong to St. Susanna’s; I belong to a neighboring parish.  But our parishes are in the same cluster, so I occasionally go there for Mass.  The last time I saw Fr. Dan was when he celebrated a Sunday night Mass back in August.  It was one of the most moving masses I have ever been too, as I recounted in this post.  I have also written about Fr. Dan here.

As you can see, even though he was not my parish priest, he gave me something so uplifting; he gave me the gift of seeing Christ face-to-face; he gave me the grace of knowing a saintly man.  And he did it solely through the Mass.  I never talked to him; I never went to Confession to him.  He just found a way to profoundly reach me through the Mass; a connection that began even before he was diagnosed.

It’s a sad day for St. Susanna’s.  They have had an awful year; too many funerals of too many people dying too young.  They are in need of our prayers.  And we need to pray for Fr. Dan’s kids and grandkids (Fr. Dan entered the seminary after his wife died).  They had to share their father and grandpa with the rest of us.  And now I’m certain they are truly going to know the great work that he did to bring so many to Christ.

Grant him eternal rest, O Lord.  And let perpetual light shine upon him.  May he rest in peace.  Amen.

Thank you, Fr. Dan!  I’m sure it’s good to be home.

Juggling Our Faith

theophilus November 12th, 2008

My daughter just finished her season cheerleading for an Upward Bound flag football league.  Upward Bound is a Christian-based athletic program for grade school kids.

Last night was the end of the season awards banquet.  Anthony Munoz came out to speak.  He is the only Cincinnati Bengal in the Hall of Fame and played on the second to last winning Bengals football team (that would be 1991’s team).  What surprised me was that the kids were jumping up and down for him.  I guess when you are a great man in the community (and Anthony is one of the best we have to offer in Cincinnati), it doesn’t matter if the kids have ever seen you play; they will still admire you.

The highlight of the evening for me though was David Cain.  He describes himself as a “Christian Juggler” or “Juggler for Jesus.”  He is a world-class juggler who interweaves his juggling with talking about Jesus and sharing his Christian faith.  His juggling turns into a metaphor for his faith in Christ.

The particular part of his act that got me was when he started throwing two balls from hand to hand.  He talked about how people are always joking with him by throwing two balls in the air or from hand to hand and claiming that they are “juggling.”  And then he pointed out that juggling is technically throwing more objects than you have hands; the point being that throwing two balls is not juggling.

He then launched into a poignant metaphor.  He said that throwing two balls in the air is like the faith of many.  Ball #1 represents a person’s belief that God exists.  Ball #2 represents a person going to church.    But,  it’s Ball #3 that is important.  Ball #3 represents a person who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. 

In other words, you can believe that God exists (Ball #1) and go to church (Ball #2), but you are not actually juggling unless you have accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior (Ball #3).

And this metaphorical part of his act got me thinking.  I always have to stop myself from rolling my eyes when I hear someone talking about the ”day” they ”accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.”  It just sounds so half-hazard; so easy.  “Bam, I’ve been transformed.  This is the day I’ve accepted Christ.”  As a Catholic, I believe true conversion necessitates so much more from us.

But in dismissing these transformational moments, I think I dismiss something that could help so many in the Catholic Church.

There are many Catholics who are stuck throwing one ball in the air.  There are others who have two balls going.  But how many of us are working all three balls?  How many of us have a personal relationship with Christ?  We believe in the faith; we go to Mass; but do we have that intimacy that allows us to walk with Christ?

And that is what is meant by one who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.  We as Catholics are taught that we belong to Jesus through the Sacraments.  We don’t think in terms of that first moment when we first believed.  Most of us have always just believed and haven’t thought too much more about it.

So, maybe we need to take a cue from our Protestant brethren.  Maybe we need to think in terms of accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior; renewing our commitment to him and strengthening our relationship with him.   It need not be a sudden, transformational moment.  But, there does need to be a point when we recommit to following Christ; to truly living our Catholic faith; to truly serving others and taking seriously our inheritance as children of God.

It’s not enough for us to just have the two balls in the air.  We need that third ball; we need to be walking wih Christ.  We need to be a “Juggler for Jesus.”

Air Force Marathon

theophilus September 22nd, 2008

This past Saturday, at about 8:30am, presented a beautiful and perfect morning; and I found myself 90 seconds from the start of the Air Force Half-Marathon. 

It was my second half-marathon; the first was in January down at Disney World.  This race was different because I did my first half-marathon with about half the training that I was supposed to do and I didn’t know what to expect during the race.  I had decided to do a run/walk in that one (I ran for 4 minutes and walked for one).  The goal was for me to finish and I was satisfied that I came in two minutes ahead of my goal time.

But for this half-marathon, I decided to do all of the training I was supposed to do.  I set an achievable but still aggressive time goal.  And I decided that I was going to run the entire 13.1 miles.

So, on Saturday morning, 90 seconds before the gun, I looked at the F-22 Raptor flying overhead (this was the Air Force) and I decided to give myself over to the Holy Spirit.  And wow, did the Holy Spirit ever deliver.

I had a pace chart on my wrist to help me keep the pace I needed to finish under my goal time.  After Mile 1, I was 10 seconds ahead; at mile 3, the spread was 3 minutes; at mile 8, the spread had grown to 6 minutes; and it was about at this point that I realized that not only was I going to finish this race without having to walk, but that I was going to shatter my goal time.  The pace chart became useless even when I slowed a bit between miles 9 & 10.  And then at mile 11, I kicked it into a different gear and started running with perfect form, perfect pace, every part of my body working in a divinely inspired rhythm.

The finish at the Air Force Half/Full Marathon is under the museum planes lined along an old runway at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  As I turned the corner to go under these old warbirds and head for home, I felt myself getting faster and faster.  I came upon a sprint that I had not felt for twenty years.  I now know how Peter and John must have felt sprinting through the streets of Jerusalem to Christ’s tomb on Easter morning.  My sprint was that Spirit driven.

I handily beat my goal; I shattered my time from Disney.  I had ascended physical heights that I had never before envisioned.

And now, I turn my attention to the Disney FULL Marathon in January.  And for the first time, I truly believe I can do it.

I’m an athlete in my mind only.  I’m a sports nut and have played baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, etc. but it was always for fun; never for serious competition.  For some reason, God has turned me on to running at middle age.  I ran my first mile 20 months ago and now I’m in the top 20% of my age group in a major long-distance race.

For some reason, God has presented this challenge to me and given me the discipline, drive, perseverence and ability to achieve my goals.  I had a ball Saturday.  I felt truly alive.  I felt the Holy Spirit coursing through me.  The entire 13.1 miles was a prayer to God; a prayer of thanksgiving and praise.

26.2 miles?  Bring it on; the Lord will be with me!

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