When I Grow Up

Let me tell you two stories:

1. When I was a week boy of merely 11 years old, I walked into my Sunday School classroom and was asked the oddest question of my life up until that point. My teacher, who none of us had ever met before, stood up and asked, "Who wants to be a saint when they grow up?". Silence. Not a single person raised their had, let alone spoke. Who was this woman? Saints are shiny people in the sky! What did they have to do with me. I'm just a regular kid! I'm not a saint. Undaunted, she asked again, "Who wants to be a saint?". Silence again. Then she allowed a smile crossed her wrinkled older face, and she explained what sainthood really is.

St Anthony of Padua, My Patron

2. This past month, I worked for Lifeteen up in Boston as a summer missionary. There I met a missionary named Felix who, from day 1 of the mission, kept the same 6 words: "I want to be a saint". This blew my mind as if I was 11 years old in Sunday school again. Who was this guy? He dressed casually, he spoke normally, and with the exception of his gigantic afro, there was nothing outwardly different about him. But there was something unique about him. Something that it really took me a month to put my finger on. Felix was a man who wants to be a saint, and he has the gifts to get him there.

What I've learned is that saints are not born with halos on their heads and rosaries in their hands. Saints are not born old and wrinkly, as we see them in pictures and paintings. Saints do not stand on pedestals above us, or sit on benches to judge us. They are not just pictures in books that we read, or names that we write on pretty churches. Saints are people that are fully alive.

St Peter, Or First Pope

But what does that mean? What did they do that I'm not doing? It's deceptively simple. The saints are regular, everyday people that embraced every moment of their lives with unrestrained love and immeasurable enthusiasm. The saints are sinners like you and me that set themselves aside for the glory of their God and Savior. They were people that feared, got angry, cursed, drank, and failed to love at times. But they understood that they were the children of the Almighty, and they set aside all sin and all attachment to worldly things in order to live fully with He who is Life.

Brothers, they lived life the way it was meant to be lived. They did not settle for the things of this world! We are called to live the same life. How can you love today? How can you give glory to God in your work, classes, family, or relationships? How can you be a saint. Do not let anything stand in your path. If you have a past that you think stands in your way, offer it to God and live a life despite your past. If you have a wound or sin that you cannot let go of, humbly ask God to remove it and heal you so that Hid glory can shine through. Let nothing block you from what you are meant to be!

St Joseph, Model of Manliness

My friend Felix has what the saints have. A love for God that is ever deepening, and a love for others that gives life to everyone and every situation he encounters. Felix and the saints always point to Christ as their source and life, and they never turn from that.

I pray that we too can live our lives to the full as Christ says in John 10:10. I pray that we can cling to the cross like the saints do so that we can be truly one with Jesus our God. I pray that one day, when our pilgrimage on this earth is over, we can live forever with He who calls me to Life.

May the Lord our God bless us
All saints and angels, especially St Joseph, pray for us

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

This past month, I had the opportunity to work as a summer missionary for Lifeteen up in Boston, MA. It was an amazing opportunity to minister to the youth of that area as well as dive deeper into my own faith. I learned that to life a Christian life is to live a life that is missionary. It means treating every moment, every conversation, every step, every day as if it were a mission in an of itself. And what is the objective of the mission?

To Convert Hearts

This means living, acting, and loving in every moment as Christ did. It means clinging to the Cross and to the Eucharist with steadfast hope and faith. It means building your heart on the foundation of rock that is Christ and the Church instead of the ever shifting sands that a life of world has to offer.

Honestly it means living in what an African priest and Martyr called "The Fellowship of the Unashamed". In the middle of the night a few years ago, he was taken and never seen again. When people came to his home, they found that he had written the following poem on his wall:

"I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.  I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!"

 We live as a part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed. We have a mission that is clear and we will not back down. We march under the banner of Christ, and we will be victorious. I pray that we can take these words to heart so that we can truly be missionary.

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

Let Me Tell You About a Friend of Mine

Today's a big day for me! Not only was last night Pentacost, the birthday of the Church, but today is the feast day of my patron and friend, St Anthony of Padua. Many of us know St Anthony as the guy we call on when we lose something and need help finding it. I'll admit that I've sent a prayer or two his way. I may even owe him $80 when we finally meet face to face. But there is so much about this amazing man that many people don't know. I'm here to share a thing or two with you in the hopes that we can learn from his example, and he can become your friend as well.

St Anthony was a brilliant man with an amazing gift for preaching the word. He was a member of the Augustinian order in Portugal. However, at age 26, became a brother and priest in the the newly formed Franciscan order after hearing of five Franciscans who were martyred in Morocco. He was told by St Francis to go to university because of his brilliant mind. This was a huge exception to the rule, since Franciscans, unlike Dominicans, did not pursue higher education at the time. But St Francis saw in Anthony a great mind, and wanted Anthony to learn all he could.

So learn he did! He soaked up knowledge about the faith like a sponge, and St Francis taught him how to preach. Anthony took this gift and set the world ablaze with sermons and homilies that were renown throughout Europe and the world. He is also known to have been loved as a teacher and guide by children everywhere he went.

He traveled constantly, preaching and teaching the faith, despite his own sickly nature. He eventually died of dropsy at the age of 36, after converting countless people into the Church, and reigniting a fire in the Church throughout Europe. Some stories say that when he died, crying children filled the streets and the church bells rang of their own accord. Another story claims that when St Anthony's body was exhumed, decades after his burial, Anthony's body had decayed but his tongue glistened and looked as though it was still alive and moist. A testament to his gift of speech.

My personal favorite story is when St Anthony met a merchant who did not believe in Christ. He told the man not to feed his donkey for five days. After those five days, he was to bring the donkey to the square and Anthony would prove the power of God. Well, after five days, the merchant brought his starving donkey to the town square where Anthony had placed a gigantic pile of hay. The donkey, crazy from hunger, broke free and galloped toward the feast. At the last moment, St Anthony stepped out from behind the pile, holding in his hands the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. At once, the donkey stopped in it's tracks and fell on it's knees. Anthony said to the merchant, "You're donkey believes. Why don't you?"

St Anthony was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1232, less than one year after his death. He was declared a Doctor of the Church, one of the highest honors a saint can receive, by Pope Pius XII in 1946. He is often call the Evangelical Doctor or Doctor Evangelicus. He is always depicted holding a book, representing his being a doctor of the church, and holding the Child Jesus, who appeared to St Anthony in a vision.

I hope everyone has a blessed day, and can take to heart one of the many lessons that St Anthony teaches. May we all learn to use our gifts as St Anthony did, and set the world ablaze as we are all called to do.

May the Lord, or God, bless us
St Joseph, model of manliness, pray for us
St Anthony, my patron and friend, pray for us

Another Carpe Diem Rant....

Hey all!! It's been awhile. I could call myself a failure. I could call myself a non-communicative twit. But, after a lot of thought it really just comes down to the fact that I'm absent minded and forgot to post. Regardless of the reason, I'm sorry, and I'm very very glad to be back.

I had a thought. The great writer C.S Lewis said in his book The Screwtape Letters "The present is the point at which time touches eternity". He makes the point that all of our fear and anxiety point toward a future, while our anger and resentment point toward the past. All of these things keep our focus away from the only thing that is truly real, the present moment. Those who can truly live in their present moment experience live most authentically; They are, in a most amazing sense, able to find God in every detail.

God has no future and no past. He is purely and truly in the now at all times and in all places. Now, what effect does that have on us? As children of God, made in his image and likeness, we are are not meant to dwell on the future or the past. We are meant to seize life in every moment, living out our days not as if they are our last, but as if they are our only.

But what does that look like? How does one grab life by the collar and live it to the full. Well, the answer is simpler than it initially seems. We follow the example of the saints. Mother Theresa, John Paul II, Padre Pio. The list goes on and on. These are men and women who lived every moment with a purpose and a zeal that seems extraordinary, but the only amazing thing is that we are all keeping ourselves from doing the same.

Jesus said in John 10:10, "I came that they might have life and have it to the full". I think that we need to cling to the one who gives life, and allow ourselves to live fully in the moment that we inhabit. I think that if we can truly do that, we can truly find the happiness that we are made to experience.

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

A Big Weekend...

Last night, I logged onto my Facebook and read the news that many had been hoping for for ten years. Osama Bin Laden had been killed by American Special Forces. However, behind the chants of "USA!", I noticed a particularly disturbing trend. People were not rejoicing over the fact that this man was out of power, or that Al Queda was now left leaderless. What I saw was an entire news feed full of people that were rejoicing over a death. Some of the statuses I saw were as follows:

"Enjoy Hell Bin Laden", "Ding Dong, Bin Laden's dead", "There's no better way to end the weekend than Bin Laden's death", and the list goes on and on...

People! This is not a freaking video game! A man is dead. What he did and what he is responsible for does not give anyone the right to rejoice over his death as if he was not a human being to begin with. 

The Vatican made this statement: "Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of everyone before God and man, and hopes and pledges that every event is not an opportunity for a further growth of hatred, but of peace." 

However, when Catholic News Blog posted the story, the first comment was this:"I rejoice that God gave our troops the ability to find and kill this devil.The king of the dogs is dead. I think we should hang his dead body on a pole at ground zero, point a webcam at him and let the buzzards pick his bones as the world watches. Maybe then the Islamic terrorist will understand we mean business"

Is this not a terrifying picture of the culture of death that we live in? Are we just like the people we fight wars against who burn images of our leaders in effigy? Do we really celebrate death as if it were a gift to take the life of a man? As Catholics we are called now more than ever to pray for our enemies. Did the many Catholics who I saw posting about Bin Laden even realize that it was Divine Mercy Sunday, or that John Paul II, a huge proponent of mercy and forgiveness, was made blessed

I think all these things happened on the same day for a reason. We are meant to show mercy to those who oppress us, and forgiveness to those who do us harm. We need to live out the words spoken so beautifully by Father Lombard in the Vatican. I say do not rejoice over the death of a human being. Do not deny his personhood or the image of God in which he was created. I urge you to say a prayer for Osama Bin Laden's soul, and also pray for a healing in the world and in our own hearts.

May the Lord, our God, bless us, our country, and our world                                                                                                                         Saint Joseph, model of manliness, pray for us

http://www.romereports.com/palio/Vatican-asks-to-not-celebrate-killing-of-Bin-Laden-fears-it-will-increase-hate-english-4045.html