Manliest Day of the Year

I absolutely love Good Friday. I look forward to it all year in fact. I know that's weird to say. For most of us, we think of Good Friday and think, "Wow, how depressing!", or "Oh great, I have to fast again". True, Good Friday is a day of mourning for the death of our Lord, and we fast to represent that. But look at what's really going on...

Today is the day that Jesus did the manliest thing that anyone on earth could possibly do. He submitted himself. He had the flesh torn from his bone. He was crowned with inch-long thorns. He was forced to carry a cross. He died the brutal death of a criminal. All of this while being ridiculed and mocked. He died and agonizingly terrible death, and for what?

For US! Not just US as human beings, or US as sinners.  He died for US, the Church. His BRIDE. He died for US, the love of his life. And he didn't just die for ALL of us he died for EACH of us. He looked at the rough and heavy cross and thought specifically of you. He did what Adam failed to do in Eden. Jesus steps up and gets between us and death. He see's the Devil, the serpent, trying to ensnare us by sin and destruction, and says "Take me instead".

He gives absolutely everything! His best friends leave him. His body is broken. He has been betrayed. He's being insulted and spit on by the very people he is dying for. He even give his own mother to us, making himself an orphan for love of us.

This is what a true man of God gives to those whom he loves. When we receive our vocation, we are supposed to die for our bride, whether she be a human bride or the Church. We are supposed to be like Jesus, and give our bodies to those who would jeopardize our loved ones. We are to protect our women, our families, our friends, and our Church with everything we have, even unto death. We are born and baptized servant-kings, and we fall in behind the banner of the servant of servants and the king of kings.

I pray that we can unite our sufferings with Christ this Good Friday. I pray that we can more fully meditate on his perfect sacrifice. I pray that we can all die to ourselves, and that we can rise with him in new life.

May the Lord our God bless us
St Joseph, model of manliness pray for us

Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping....

Every since I was little, I've been hearing about how I need to plan for the future. "You need to have goals", or "you need to do things while you're still young". I eventually learned to tune the voices out and keep on keeping on. I mean, I have goals. I know what I want to do with my life. And what does everyone mean "while you're young". I've got time.

More recently I've been working a lot more. I've been going to school and dealing with multiple jobs and programs and responsibilities. Seldom do I sit at home to eat, and even when I do it feels rushed. God is working in my life and given me so much, but I'm exhausted. Everything I do is focused toward the next place I need to be or the next step I want to take, and I seldom live in the moment I inhabit.

So I've made a decision. Jesus says in John 10:10, "I came that thy might have life and live it more abundantly". I want to live these words as best I can. So what have I done? I've racked my brain and made myself a bucket list, and here are some selections:

• Scuba dive in the great barrier reef
• Go to the Holy Land
• Serve as a missionary in rural Africa
• See a whale up close
• Record a CD
• Write a novel
• Become a youth minister
• Graduate from George Mason University
• Become fluent in American Sign Language 
• Etc, Etc, Etc.....

I think all Catholics should have a bucket list. It represents an intention to do more with our lives than just survive the daily grind. A bucket list is a promise to yourself that you will have something extraordinary to look back on when you're old.

Make sure that everything you list is something that you have some sort of control over. For example, I left out anything about my vocation. That's something that I submit to God. But I can write. I can travel. I can study. Also, be specific. Don't just travel. Travel to a location. Don't just learn a language. Lean a specific language. Once you've written the list commit to it! Set a goal for each item that says by what age you'll complete each thing. Stick to you're convictions and I promise that you will have life experience that truly exemplify what it means to seize the day and live life to the fullest

May the Lord, or God, bless us
St Joseph, model of manliness, pray for us

From Our Lips to His Ears

Prayer is a tricky thing. What do I say? Is Jesus kinda like Santa who just wants to hear what I want and gives it to me if I'm good? Oh! Maybe prayer is just a time when I tell God what bothers me. If I pray hard enough, my problems will just go away. No... that doesn't seem quite right either. Should I read something? Do I pray a rosary? And what's this silence thing anyway. What does it all mean?

If you're like me you've thought all of these things throughout your daily life, and tried most if not all of these strategies. Unfortunately, in the confusion of it all, the real meaning of what prayer is supposed to be get's lost. A dear friend of mine (the same one who gave me the dating link a couple weeks ago actually), once described prayer simply as an intimate conversation between best friends. That really hit me. I thought to myself, "do I converse with God in my prayer, or do I just talk at him for awhile and then go about the rest of my day?".

The answer to what prayer really is and isn't ended up being all of the above, yet none of the above. God really does want to hear our wants and our woes. He wants us to read the bible or pray a rosary, or even reflect on a spiritual reading. But what gets missed in the constant ebb and flow of life is that in order to reach conversation with God, we have to listen. We need to sit in silence and ask God what he has to say. It takes practice. We may hear something and we may not. We need to take time and be receptive to the still small voice that dwells in the very core of our hearts.

But we need structure! If you're like me, you can't just sit there. You have to be doing something. This isn't as hard as it seems. The Church is loving enough to give us daily readings, selections from His living Word that we are meant to hear that day. Read them, then read them again. Finally, reflect on how the readings stand out to you. The way the readings touch our hearts is the way that God is trying to reach us that day. It may seem overly simple, but God does all he can to meet us where we are. He knows exactly what we need.

Prayer is essential to be a true Christian. From our prayer comes the refreshment we need to go out and complete our daily mission. My prayer is that we can listen to what God has in store for us, and put it into action in our lives.

May the Lord, or God, bless us
St Joseph, model of manliness, pray for us