My Battle

I wrote a few months ago about how I am a dragon slayer. I must confess that I may have met my match. The beast I am currently battling has been a long fought opponent. A month ago today our battle started. It was one of the toughest battles I've ever fought and for a week, it was everything I could do just to keep up. It attacked my heart causing lots of pain and difficulty, but through the prayers of others I was able to fight back. Finally, it looked as though I had the advantage, but then this enormous beast reared a somewhat unexpected second head. The first head continued to attack my heart, but the second attacked my head. These two heads worked in tandem and have really done a number on me. Just when I finally start beating one back, the other attacks. This is without mentioning the other minor dragons I'm still battling every day. Between the emotional stress the first has caused and continues to cause and the mental stress from the second head, the battle is wearing me down - against impossible odds, I know I cannot win this on my own. This morning as I thought about this battle and wondered if I will ever win. You see, two headed dragons are nearly impossible to defeat because while you battle one, the other attacks. There isn't much hope for one knight - however strong - to prevail.

There is reason for hope however, because I know my King would not send me into a battle in which I cannot prevail. If I am about to fall, He will step in and save me. It is so hard to trust that when the dragon is about to deal a fatal blow His staff will save me. Why is it hard to trust? I know that He is watching, waiting to step in if I need Him. Why doesn't He step in now? He knows that I need to learn to fight on my own, but He will make sure that as I learn, I am still safe.

Last week I dealt the second head a blow that could prove fatal, but it was not the death blow I needed. I have given it a lethal blow this week, but it will probably take a month to die. I will continue to try to destroy this head, because with this one attacking me, I know I can never win. Additionally, I have discovered that the shield of prayer has become very effective against the first head. As long as I can maintain this shield (mostly by the help of others) I can continue to fight off the second head long enough to destroy it and come to a point where I can finally achieve victory.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?

When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh

My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell

Psalm 27: 1-2

There are also some helpers that I have in this battle. Each day my loving wife is there to tend to my wounds and help keep me nourished for the next round. Additionally, when the attack on my heart yields a wound, she and my daughters are there to provide healing for that as well. My team will overcome the foe in the end...

So until I win this battle, I'm back to my mission...

The Devil’s in the Details…

Today marks the feast of St. Padre Pio. I read a book on this amazing man a couple of years ago. One of the things I learned from reading this book is that Padre Pio was not only tempted by the devil, but physically attacked. Brothers in his monastery reported hearing him be thrown about and physically attacked. And I thought I’ve had rough temptations…

The book also talked about apparitions. Padre told his spiritual director that he often had visions of Mary and thought this was an event that regularly occurred for many people. However, despite apparitions of Mary, his guardian angel, and other holy figures, he also had visits from demons and even the devil himself. While this is terrifying to think about, the next bit is what scared me even more. The book went on to say that the devil often took the form of other people – from Padre’s mother and father to his monastic brothers, his spiritual director, his guardian angel, and even the head of his order, to whom Padre was bound by obedience. Padre sometimes struggled with what they were telling him to do (as sometimes their suggestions were not “bad”), not knowing if it was the devil or the person it appeared to be. He devised a test that allowed him to tell whether this person was sent by God or by another force. He simply asked them to proclaim, “Jesus Christ is Lord”. If they would not, he knew that he should not obey.

The terrifying part of this for me is that the king of deceit could appear in any form he wants to try to tempt us to sin. Remember, Lucifer was the most glorious of the angels. It was his own arrogance at his power and beauty that led him to rebel. He was able to convince 1/3 of the angels of Heaven to rebel with him. What is to keep him from using beauty to lead us astray. Think of the thing that you find the most beautiful. Does it ever keep you from Mass? Does it keep you from praying? Does it keep you from living a holy life?

Is there a person in your life that keeps you from God? That leads you away from what He is calling you to? Is there a person that, though they don’t lead you away from God, keeps you from getting to Heaven? I’m not trying to say that this person is the devil, but simply that they could be used by the devil to keep you away.

So while much of God’s creation is beautiful, an easy tip for making sure that you aren’t overtaken by beauty or superstition, when you see something that makes you feel good, say a quick prayer to thank God for that. For example, you get in your car and notice the odometer is at 33,333 miles – just say a quick “I love you God” prayer. When you see a beautiful sunset - “Thank you God for this beauty. I love you God”. When you see a pretty girl (or for ladies, a handsome man), “Thank you God for making this person.” If we can turn all of the devils tricks into a prayer to God, it will keep us from falling into his traps.

St. Padre Pio, Pray for us!

And now I’m back to my mission…

Losing count…

Today’s gospel (Luke 6:27-38) talks about lending without expecting anything in return. This made me think about some advice that I was given shortly before I married my wife.

I was told that in marriage you need to “forget how to count”. That doesn’t mean if you are at the grocery store to get 5 apples you come back with 4 or 6. What it means is that you should never count the things that you do for your spouse or the things they do for you. Rather, you should always act as though you owe them one, like they just did something huge for you. If you get an opportunity to do something for your spouse, you should jump at the chance to treat this person whom you love. It prevents you from thinking that your spouse owes you something. These gestures help build the love you have for one another as well as the appreciation you have for your spouse when they return acts of kindness. In our society there is a lot of selfishness. The attitude of “what have you done for me” or “the world owes me one” leads to people demand that others do things for them as opposed to them helping others. Not counting means that you don’t think that your spouse owes you something rather that you owe them.

This advice has paid great dividends for us in our marriage as we strive to serve each other in the most loving way we can. When we can help without expecting something in return we can truly live as Jesus calls us to in the Gospel today.

And now I’m back to my mission…

What did you say…?

The English language has many words that can be confusing. There are some words that are spelled differently, but when pronounced sound the same, but in reality are different (homonyms). For example: to, too, and two are all pronounced exactly the same, but mean quite different things. There are other words that are spelled the same, but pronounced quite differently (homographs). For example, read (I read that blog yesterday. I will read this entry tomorrow.) Another example is the phrase “The dove dove from the sky.” However, perhaps the most difficult thing about our language is words that are spelled the same and sound the same, but have many meanings (homographs that are heteronyms). These are words like shift. Shift can mean a change in something, like a shift in seasons. It can also be a period at work, like working the second shift. It can also mean moving, like shifting in your seat.

Even with all those different troubles with the language my comment today is on words that other cultures were smart enough to differentiate. For example, the word love. I love my wife and kids. I also love ice cream. Does this mean that I feel the same way about my wife and kids as I do ice cream? Not in the slightest. Love your neighbor does not mean the same either. Maybe the Greeks had it right as they came up with 4 distinct words for love. Agape is the kind of love that you have for your spouse and kids. Eros is closer to lust being the “romantic” attraction between two people. Philia is more of a friendship or loyalty as good friends would feel. Storge is affection like one would feel toward a pet. There is a fifth, and lesser known, Greek word that can be lumped in with these. It is Thelema, which is a desire.

With this many different types of love, you can see why there might be confusion in the modern day, especially among young people. They develop an Eros love for that girl in their class and since we only have “Love” for the girl. They don’t realize that they need to grow Agape love for her, just that they are in love with her. When the Eros fades there is nothing there and what do they have now? It’s like when you get sick of your favorite flavor of ice cream – you no longer have “love” for that thing, even though that thing is a person!

With all this confusion, “love” is quickly becoming a word that is thrown around too much and is confusing to many.

Another example of these over-simplified words is the word pride. In English, we know pride can be taken in your work, in your family, in a possession, or in yourself. Taking pride in your work is not a bad thing, however pride is one of the seven deadly sins. In fact, it is identified by the Catholic Church as being the most grave of the seven. So how can you take pride in your work or your children without sinning? A big part of the problem is that the dictionary lists 8 different definitions for pride! Throwing out the definitions for a group of lions, a group of acrobats, and a spirit in horses, we will look at the different kinds of pride.

1. A sense of one’s own proper dignity; self-respect. This pride needs to be kept under control. As long as our pride is honest, this is a good kind of pride. It is only when we have inflated images of ourselves that we run astray from this good type of pride.
2. Satisfaction taken in an achievement, possession, or association. This is the kind of pride that I have in my work. I always want to do a good job and make sure that what I do is quality work. It is also the kind of pride that I take in my girls. This kind of pride is generally safe as well. The danger in this one is forgetting Who gave me the ability to do good work or where those girls I love so much came from. As long as we remember where our blessings come from, this kind of pride leads to jobs well done.
3. The cause of satisfaction as stated in #2. This could be your talent or your possession or you association. For example, my good work is my pride. Another example is, My girls are my pride and joy.
4. Arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness. Fastosus is the Latin word for this kind of pride. Looking down on others and thinking you are better than them is the problem with this kind of pride. This is the kind of pride that damages our relationships and leads us to end up lonely and resentful.
5. An excessively high opinion of oneself. This kind of pride has been around since ancient times. In fact, Hubris (Greek) or Superbia (Latin) are some ancient words that were used to refer to this kind of pride. This is the worst form of pride. This is the type of pride that makes me think I’m better than you. It can also be defined as Self-Love or arrogance. It is usually exaggerated meaning that maybe the bearer of this kind of pride is not really as good as he or she thinks.
   
   Another form of this kind of pride is vanity. For those who are familiar with the movie Se7en, this is the kind of pride that the killer uses to take the life of a woman. He disfigures her face, knowing that she is very vain and gives her the choice to call for help or take her life. Knowing that she couldn’t go on not being beautiful, the woman chooses the later.

There are many more words like “Love” and “Pride” that have so many meanings that we don’t know which one is meant. This can be hard for those who are trying to live holy lives. When we hear love your neighbor and think, “I don’t feel the same way about the family next door that I do about my kids” it is because of the wrong interpretation. We shouldn’t automatically assume that anything we have pride in is automatically bad since it is the deadliest of the deadly sins. The bench that my brother and I built is something that I’m very proud of and there is nothing wrong with that. The problem is determining the meaning that is meant when teachings are presented to us and using the intended meaning to structure our behavior, rather than just doing what we think it means. If we can’t understand what something means, remember that we can always ask our priest and get a solid definition of what the teaching is really saying.

So we will work hard to find the meaning behind the words that we hear and now, I’m back to my mission…

Judge not…

Everyday you hear people saying they want to live their own way – that its their life and they can do what they want. Have you ever noticed if you try to offer advice to these people, you often get the, “Stop judging me!” response? Maybe you hear “The Bible says not to judge!”. Indeed the Bible does say:

Do not judge so that you will not be judged. – Matthew 7:1

So if it says not to judge in the Bible, we shouldn’t judge right?  That guy that just shot someone shouldn’t be judged. We shouldn’t say that he is a bad man? The wife beater shouldn’t be frowned upon? The adulterer who is cheating on his wife should be treated the same as everyone else, right? The lady who just had an abortion did nothing wrong? People practicing promiscuous or homosexual life-styles should be given their freedom?

I happen to think that the English language is loaded with faults. Not that I would ever switch to another language, as English is the only one I know. You have words and phrases that just don’t make sense, especially when you are reading them. To read the sentence “You should read the book I just read” you see that there are issues. However, I will blog about this more another time. For now, the issue I want to focus on is that saying “Do not judge” is really a poor translation. I recently heard an expert in languages say that a better translation is “Do not Condemn”.

Early in the Bible, God tells Moses to appoint judges from amongst the people to help settle disputes. These people JUDGED who was right and who was wrong. God tells us to judge between right and wrong. We should know that the guy who shot another guy is not doing good. We should see that the wife beater is not doing right. We should see that the adulterer is really sinning against God. The lady who just had an abortion killed her child. The homosexual couple is living a life of sin. We must open our eyes and determine what is right and what is wrong.

The bottom line is when we see someone doing something wrong, we should judge that this thing is wrong and try to avoid it ourselves. If we are in a position to do so, telling that person they are wrong is not only the right thing, it is our responsibility. Let’s judge what we need to judge, but remember that no matter how grievous the sin, that it is not above God’s mercy and therefore, we cannot condemn another for that is God’s duty.

And now I’m back to my mission…

Hit me with your best shot...

It is evening time. A man walks into his house, straight to the refrigerator, grabs a beer, and sits on the couch to watch some TV. After a little while his wife calls from the kitchen saying that dinner is ready. He grumbles as he gets up from the couch grabs the paper to sit down at the table and read while he eats. His kids fight at the table, wishing for a glimmer of attention from their patriarch, but to no avail. By the end of the meal, his wife has tried to converse multiple times and he has snapped back with sharp words that hurt her feelings. They go to bed fighting, only to wake up the next day and repeat the same events.

This is the American family. This is a man.

Or is it?

It seems that in our current age there are three basic images of men that are portrayed by the media in TV shows, movies, and even ads. The first of these is the “Family Guy”. This man has 2-4 kids who are constantly trying to get their father’s attention. He has a wife with whom he picks fights almost daily by saying things that hurt her feelings, not helping around the house, and even not biting his tongue when there is something that bothers him. He looks at other women and thinks, why couldn’t I be with her? He hates his dead-end job and would rather sit on the couch basking in the glow of his plasma screen TV with his buddies and a beer than to take his kids to a park or read them a story. This guy is usually portrayed as miserable and bitter.

The next kind of guy that you see is the “Player”. This guy is a single guy who womanizes at every chance. He plays the market with no concern for the hearts he breaks or the hurt he might cause. His biggest fear is that one of his “scores” will end up calling him with the three dreaded words: “I am pregnant” or even worse “I love you”. He parties with his friends and has no deep relationships to speak of. He usually seems happy on the surface, but constantly surrounds himself with friends and promiscuous women because he is so lonely.

The final guy that is becoming increasingly popular in sitcoms and movies is the “Flamer”. This guy is very eccentric and usually openly gay. They are often portrayed as having lots of female friends and often are looking for their next relationship.

So this shows that there are essentially three types of guys out there. But where are the dads of yesterday? Where are the honorable young men? Are there none?  This attack on men has led most people to believe that the Al Bundy’s, Homer Simpsons, Charlie Harpers, and Will Truman’s of the world are what men are, or at least should be. Men have been belittled to a point where we feel that we should fit into one of these categories.

God created us in HIS image. The image of a Father and a Son. The image of a protector. The image of a provider. The image of a leader. Do any of the men portrayed display those qualities? He then gave man woman as his companion. 1 man and 1 woman to be together for their entire lives, united in marriage as one flesh. Two of the three of these images have no children. Two have no wives. One has a wife, but wishes he didn’t.

So, though the media doesn’t acknowledge his existence, allow me to introduce the fourth type of guy. This is “Real” man. “Real” man gets up early each day and helps with some household chores before going to his job. He may love what he does or he may hate it, but he goes without complaint. He knows that he needs to provide. He works a full day and then returns home leaving work at work and getting ready for his evening. When he gets home, he greets his wife and kids with hugs. He then plays with his kids until dinner time, reading to them, taking them fun places, and enjoying his children. The whole family eats together and enjoys conversation with each other. After dinner, they may go their separate ways for a while, but it is always somewhat together, meaning that if his wife is running errands, he will take the kids for a walk, or if he is fixing something, she will keep the kids.

Real man loves his wife. There is no person on earth he would rather be with. He would gladly give up everything to get her to Heaven. He tries to do nice things for her, even if they are things he doesn’t enjoy. He never counts his sacrifices and never keeps a tally of his good deeds. He loves his kids and knows that God has entrusted them to his care. He knows that they need to be well formed for when they take on the world. He knows that he must teach his sons how to be a “Real” man and teach his daughters to avoid the other three types. He knows that his children will grow up fast and so to avoid missing their childhood, he makes sacrifices to spend time with them whenever he can. He should be their hero and protector. Real man may not be perfect, but in many ways, he is a superhero. In many ways, he is an image of the Eternal Father.

So though Real Man has been hidden from the mainstream, I have discovered that he is out there. There are lots of Real Men and guys striving to be real men. So to the media out there who want to tell us that we don’t exist or tell us that guys are supposed to be less than what we were created for, I say this: “Hit me with your best shot…” because with the Father above as an example, and the Real Men that I’ve met in my life, we will pull together and while the other guys are out there aborting their babies or preventing them from ever being born, we are raising the next generation and teaching them well. Soon enough, “Family Guy” will just give up, “Players” will be too old to play, and “Flamers” will flame out. The “Real” man will be left standing with his 20+ grandkids and a close, virtuous family who still look to him for protection. While the other three will eventually grow old and die, the “Real” man will live on through the kids that he raised.

But now, I’m back to my mission…

For Whom the Bell Tolls…

There is a quote that has been passed down since 1624 that was written down by an English writer named John Donne. He writes,

“and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

What does this mean? It means that no man is invincible. Any one can die at any time. Whether it be the 99 year old man who has lived a full life or the toddler who is just learning to walk. The old saying in football is that any team can win on “Any given Sunday”. Well carry this saying over to life because Any person can die on any given day. We never know when it is going to be our time.

In recent weeks, if you’ve been watching the news at all, you’ve heard of celebrities dying left and right. Some were older (Ed McMahon was 86). Some weren’t that old (Michael Jackson and Billy Mays were both 50). Some had battled illness (Farah Fawcett had cancer). In local news we have seen six young people (aged 15-30) in the last couple of weeks in the immediate area. We’ve also had brothers pass in the same week, elderly passing unexpectedly and when it was their time. All the deaths may seem morbid, but it helps me to make my point. These people were all over in terms of age and location. They may have been famous or virtually unknown. It didn’t matter as they took their last breath of life – they all were mortal and they are all dead.

This brings me to my point. You always hear people say that you should live each day like its your last, but nobody does. It is hard to do that because if you really knew it was your last day – I doubt you would go to work. I doubt you would just sit down after dinner tonight and flip on the TV. I bet you wouldn’t go out for a drink with your friends instead of coming straight home to your family. I bet you would call all your loved ones who were far away. Would you take out a large insurance policy to protect your family (assuming you knew enough in advance)? More importantly than those things – would you be ready to face your maker? Are you in a state of mortal sin? Would you be able to look God in the eyes and say that you did your best with what He gave you? Would you be able to say that you loved Him above all things? Had you turned your back on temptations and lived exactly according to His plan? The point is that we don’t prepare ourselves for death because it is not expected.

Many of us would not be ready for this. That is why sudden deaths are so hard on us. It is my goal to start making sure that I am more prepared. I will do my best here on earth and hope that one day I may stand before Jesus in all His glory, in His splendor that we can’t even imagine, and when He judges me, I pray that I will be worthy to join Him for Eternity. Because, as one of my favorite quotes says:

In the end, forever, you and I will be in Heaven or Hell. Period. – Fr. Corapi

Let’s all strive for Heaven.

And now, I’m back to my mission…

Holiness...

St. Francis of Assisi gave up everything he had to become a beggar for the poor. Sts. Peter and Paul died for their faith. Sts. Felicity and Perpetua sang on the way to their execution. Blessed Theresa of Calcutta loved so much that she put up with the stench and deformities of the sick and homeless people on the streets of India. Pope John Paul II evangelized to the world teaching them to respect their bodies, have devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and bring young people to the faith. 

What do all these great men and women have in common? They were all very holy. With benchmarks like this, sometimes I find myself thinking, "There is no chance someone like me can make it to Heaven." Looking at how holy these people were and then looking at how unholy I can be is almost a little depressing. I doubt that I will ever beg for a meal for the poor, die for my faith, help sick and dying homeless people, or evangelize to the world. How do I stand a chance of achieving holiness when I am so far from it? The answer may be written in plain text in a book written by C. S. Lewis called Mere Christianity. 

In this book Lewis states that being holy is very hard, but there is a method that the average man or woman can use to grow in holiness. This method is to approach every decision in your life and try to think how a truly holy person would make this decision. What would St. Francis do? What about Mother Theresa? Would John Paul do that? Or the ever popular, What would Jesus do? Asking yourself this and making the decision will be a good start, but Lewis takes it a step farther. He says to take this logic and apply it to your life completely. In other words, act holy all the time. If you are constantly acting holy, you will begin to form a habit and holiness does entail a love for God, so by acting holy, you will form a habit of loving God. By completely loving him and "acting" holy, soon you will begin to grown in real holiness. 

So while I will never be as holy as the Saints I mentioned at the beginning, it is important to remember that a big part of the reason the Catholic Church formally recognizes these great men and women is to give us an example to live by. A standard to strive for. A goal in life. By imitating these great examples, we may never be as holy as they are, but we may achieve a degree of holiness that is impossible for us to reach on our own.

But now I'm back to my mission: striving for true holiness...

What are you here for?

What is your purpose? Do you have a mission statement? Are you on a mission from God?

As I listened to Fr. Carapi the other day on the local Catholic radio station, he asked these questions. He went further to talk about what your purpose should be. His point was that God put us all here for a purpose (similar to the theme of my Blog, I guess). However, he took it a bit further. Your purpose should be to become a Saint.

Thinking about that, I wonder what does it take to become a Saint? I'm not talking about playing for an NFL team in New Orleans, I'm talking a Saint! Well, most of us will probably never have our name listed in a Vatican Press Release, but it doesn't take that to be a Saint. To put it bluntly, when you die, you will either spend ETERNITY in Heaven as a Saint or... well, we all know the alternative. You may have to spend some time in Purgatory, but eventually all souls in Purgatory will make it to Heaven. 

So basically, we have a choice: You are here to become a Saint or You are here to go to hell. No third option. No "I'm better than that person". No "Well I don't really believe all that..." No "Why do I have to confess to a priest, God knows I'm sorry." If you have sinned mortally (a serious sin that you knew was wrong and yet did it anyway) and you have not confessed and repented of said sin, you will spend eternity not as a Saint, but being tormented in a place that I don't even want to imagine.

So with all decisions and daily actions, remember why God put you here - to become a Saint - and remember the consequence of not becoming a Saint... As Fr. Corapi says:

In the end, forever, you and I will be in Heaven or Hell. Period.

And now, I'm back to my mission of trying to become a Saint...

But Mom...

After my post on Build a Mom, I heard a little blip that made me think. It was talking about the Wedding at Cana. As usual, it got me to thinking:

Mary goes up to Jesus and says, "Hey, they're out of wine."

Jesus responds (paraphrased), "But Mom, its not time for that yet..." 

She doesn't argue, she just knows. This points out to me a few things.

1. Mary must know Jesus' power. This shows that she knows He is God.
2. Mary knows that Jesus will obey - no arguement, just keeping the 4th commandment. She doesn't argue back, she just knows.
3. She doesn't even have to ask, "Can you do something about it?" Kind of like that old addage, "If I say jump, you say 'How high?'" Jesus doesn't ask what he should do, but He knows, showing just how obedient he was.

Just a few thoughts about how a good child should behave and how this mother trusted her Son so much and knew that she had raised Him to respond as He did.

And now, I'm back to my mission...

Build a mom...

There is a store down at the mall called "Build-a-Bear Workshop". This store allows you to go in and create your own teddy bear. You can pick a body, tall or short, fat or thin, almost any color of the rainbow. You then can choose what clothing or accessories to add to this new bear. Finally, you can give it a name and you have your perfect bear.

 

What if we had the opportunity to design people, specifically our mother? (I’ll get to my point in just a second, but bear with me.) Would you choose a mother who was involved in your life or one who just sat back and watched? Would you choose a mother who told you what not to do or one who let you make your own mistakes? Would your mother be religious or “not really care about all that religious stuff”? Would she have a stern voice or a sweet one? What would she look like? Would she be a Botox and plastic surgery 50 year old who looks 25? Or would she allow herself to age naturally and not worry about her makeup? Would

 she gossip? Would she always be just, even if it hurt you? What options would you choose?

 

The point behind this rant is that years ago there was a Guy who did create His own Mother. How did he do it? Well, she was very involved in His whole life. She would teach Him right and wrong, even though He already knew. She was very devout and stayed away from sin.  She probably had a sweet and innocent voice and was probably pretty, but down to earth. She was probably an average build for the time and didn’t concern herself with makeup and looking good, however always made herself presentable. She refrained from gossip and bad talk while always being just. She didn’t care about the ways of the world and didn’t let others persuade her. After a recent talk I heard by Fr. Corapi where he mentioned this topic, it got me thinking about how Jesus created His Mother and this is how He made her. Unable to dwell in the presence of sin, He made her clean in all ways, free from sin.  God made His Mother perfect in all ways.

 

This perfect Mother is intimidating to many women now. How could they be like Mary? She was perfect and her ONE child didn’t ever sin! How can they compare to her with multiple imperfect children? It is very important to remember that while we are to strive to model our lives after the Saints, that there is a chance that we will never live up to what they did, however it is important to try. As C.S. Lewis said:

Aim at Heaven, and you will get Earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you will get neither.

 

So we strive to be like Mary, Jesus, and the Saints and as we work hard to do this, we only hope that we might reach Purgatory so that we may someday join Jesus in Heaven.

And now, I'm back to my mission...

 

True Humility...

On my mission, I find it necessary to always do conditioning. While physical conditioning is important, the kind I do is a little different. I need to find ways to grow my muscles, but the most important ones are spiritual muscles. One of the ways I do this is by listening to amazing Homilies and speeches done by God’s chosen Priests. I then take this new bit of information and work out with it letting God tell me what else He might have in store for me.

On this, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, Fr. Christopher Kubat was giving the Homily and mentioned a point that, while it was only one sentence in a 5-10 minute Homily, struck me and really caused me to think. What he said was “St. Joseph learned humility by witnessing the greatest example of humility ever – when the creator of Heaven and Earth, the maker of man, the exalted God became Himself subject to a man.”

This got me to thinking – how truly humbling to know that you can snap your fingers and wipe a man out of existence, yet you humble yourself so much that when he says, “Can you do that for me?” you respond with “Yes, sir”. Jesus was never disobedient, that would have broken the 4^th commandment and we know the He was without sin. So therefore, He always had to listen to Joseph. Joseph, knowing that He was the foster father of God-made-man, knowing that Jesus must obey him could have ordered Jesus to do so many things, and yet, he saw this ultimate example of humility and learned from it. 

I struggle each day to remember to be humble and to avoid pride. I ask this humble man, who learned from the best, to help me to be truly humble. No other person could possibly under

stand true humility as well as St. Joseph, and so when we need help with this tremendous virtue, we should turn to the guy who learned it so well.

Saint Joseph the Worker, pray for us!

And now, I’m back to my mission!

Talents and Equality

God made the world in six days. It was a pretty incredible task. He knew from the start what would happen with the world – including each of us. That is why when he created each of us in a specific mold. We are each a vital part of the body of Christ. I think I have ranted about that before, so just to avoid redundancy, I won’t go into it.

The problem I want to talk about today is people trying to make everyone equal. Envy is a dangerous sin – unlike jealousy, which is me wanting what you have, envy is destructive. It says if I can’t have it, you shouldn’t either. Take for example, if you get a new 52 inch plasma screen high definition TV, I might be jealous and want one like it (actually, I don’t watch much TV, so it probably wouldn’t matter that much). However, where I cross that line is saying, “Well, I can’t afford a TV like that, so I will just “accidentally” tip yours over so that you can’t have one either. Either that or I go out and buy one that I can’t afford on credit because I feel entitled to it.

In a society where envy has taken over most of the population, our nation is moving closer and closer to this principle of envy. It seems that they believe that if I go out and work my tail off and make a decent living, that they need to tax me extra so that they can give it to the less fortunate. Taking the money that I work hard for and giving it to someone who sits at home because they “can’t find a job” or “can’t work because they are depressed” and get paid for it. I’m fine with helping out children, widows, and the elderly, but the government is so inefficient at it that they can’t even get it right. Yet they take so much from most of us that we don’t have the means to do very many charitable acts. Let me keep that money that you squander and when I come across someone needy, I’ll give it to them. But why penalize me because I’m working to succeed. Why not make Mr. “too good to get a job” get out and work for his money.

I heard a preacher say that God gave each of us talents. But he didn’t just make some of us Mozart or Michelangelo. He gave us a seed of talent and we are in charge of taking that seed, planting it, nurturing it, and growing it to its potential. He did not give everyone the same seed or even the same amount. I may be good at farm work, but I will never be as good as my brother, who was given a much bigger seed. However, my seed was computers. I have been able to take my seed and nurture it – now it is blooming for me. Everyone has their own talents. It is just a matter of finding them and growing them into their full potential.

Some people complain that it is not fair that I have more talent than they do. But Peyton Manning has more talent than me at football. That isn’t fair. We should make him tie his right hand behind his back to play so it is more equal. Kobe Bryant? Make him wear 20 pound lead shoes so it is harder to move. Michael Phelps? Give him a weighted vest that he has to wear in races.

Now – I’m tall, maybe I need to be cut off at the knees so I’m not too tall. My wife is good at baking – better change out her sugar with white sand. It’s ridiculous. But much as the readings of the faithful servants point out – we will be judged based on what we were given.

If I’m given 5,000 talents and I double it – that is good. If you are given 2,000 talents and you triple it, that is even better. Even though I’ve got 10,000 and you only 6,000, God will know that you did more with less and you will be justly rewarded. He won’t say that you don’t have as much as me and so you don’t get as much reward.

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.” – Vince Lombardi

But now, I’m going back to growing my talents and working on the mission God has entrusted to me.

The Beat of a Heart…

The human heart is an amazing thing. It begins beating about 22 days after you are conceived and will continue beating until you die. Most of us believe that it can occasionally stop beating and be restarted with paddles, but I’ve heard doctors say that if it ever stops – it’s stopped forever. It beats in children as fast as 140 times per minute and gradually slows down as you get older until you reach about 60-80 as an adult. That means if you assume that you start with a heart rate of 140 and that declines by 5 beats per minute each year until you reach age 16 (it will be 65 at this point) it would have beat over a million times in your first year of life. By the time you are 19, this number would exceed a billion. When you reach age 33, the age Jesus was when he died, assuming a steady heart rate as stated above, your heart would have beat over 1.5 billion times.

My thoughts this morning were on that Heart which beat over 1.5 billion times. That Sacred Heart which loved us so much that it drove Him to endure such punishments that no ordinary man could have survived, only to be hung on a cross. That Heart which ached in Gethsemane, which forgave on Calvary, and which longs for us now. Each of those 1.5 billion beats was significant – each one was for me. Each drop of blood that a beat sent through his arteries could have been enough by itself for the salvation of the world, but since He is God, He couldn’t just give “enough” – He had to do things perfectly. So He was hung on a cross where His most Sacred Heart stopped beating. It was pierced with a lance. Then they laid Him in the tomb – His heart lying as still as His bruised and battered body. It stayed that way from Friday evening until early Sunday morning.

Imagine being able to see this Sacred Heart lying there completely still, totally motionless. But then, it beats once. A brief pause, but then it beats again. It continues to pick up its frequency until it is beating about once per second. The Heart continues beating and eventually the hands begin to tighten. Then His eyes open and His lungs gasp for air. This body that was dead – inanimate – no longer living is now beginning to breathe, beginning to move. Perhaps He coughed as I’m sure His throat was dry. He sat up and removed the cloth from His face and body. About this time, He looked up the stairs and saw the Angel standing where the stone had been.

We all know the story from there, but meditating on that first heart beat of the resurrection just gives me chills – it is incredible... With one little beat of the Heart, our Savior was risen. With one heart beat, Jesus had beat Satan, beat death! With one beat of that heart, salvation for us all had been achieved and the netherworld will never prevail.

I know Good Friday isn’t the most appropriate time to Blog about the resurrection, but I wanted to share my thoughts. Now, I’m back to my mission.

Dragon Slaying...

Each morning I rise from my bed with the sound of the alarm. After putting on my armor and a quick visit to my armory (Mass that is), I am ready for my day. Why do I need armor you ask? Well, I happen to be a dragon slayer.

I live in a world filled with dragons. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are disguised as rude people in traffic. Others look like problems in my coding at work. Some target my family, stressing them out. Still others are in the shapes of laziness, gossip, greed, selfishness, and pride. Some even look like scantily clad women (these are especially prevalent in the summer months). These dragons are all over, just waiting for some unsuspecting person to stumble into their trap. I must be forever on guard as the slightest slip could allow me to be overcome by a beast hiding just around the corner.

Each day so many poor souls are devoured by these dragons. It is my mission to ward off the ones that attack me and my family and if I have a spare moment to help fight off the ones attacking others around me. There are far too many to completely wipe them out. They are produced so fast that they will never be extinct. However, when I am on my game, I can keep a lot of them away from my family, slay a couple at work, and fight off the ones in between.

Take for example this morning. I woke up and one was sticking his ugly head in my window trying to convince me to press the snooze button on my alarm clock one more time. I gave this up for Lent and so I was ready for him and attacked. After removing that beast, I got ready and left for work (no armory this morning, but I planned ahead and stocked up). I left for work and right away there was a dreaded “Cut-you-off” dragon right in the middle of traffic right next to a “Text-n-Drive”. I fended both of them off with a single blow and with the help of my Mother, I was able to avoid three or four potential attacks until I came upon a “So-Slow-Truck”. This one took a while, but finally I was able to get past him. I arrived at work and tackled 2 “Project-Stumpers” and a “Telemarketer”. I did get wounded by a “Distracto” but got right back on course. Finally, I overcame a couple more “Project-Stumpers”, “Telemarketers”, one that was named “Roger”, and then completed my day.

With so many dragons running at large, it’s a wonder that more people aren’t taken by them every day. Maybe they are and I just don’t see it when I’m fighting. However, I sometimes wonder if the dragons will win out in the end and if there are many more dragon slayers left in the world. I see some in the corporate environment and in traffic, but those dragons are easier to slay and less dangerous than the “Moral” dragons. The Moral’s will sneak right up on you and pounce when you aren’t paying attention. These are so dangerous because not only can they hurt you, but they have the ability to damage not only your physical body, but also your immortal soul. Face it only a few hits from these and if you don’t rush to a hospital (rather a Confessional) you could end up spiritually dead. And dead men don’t slay dragons.

Ah-ha! I see another dragon coming, so I’m back to my mission…

By the way - St. George - Pray for us dragon slayers!

The Story of Patrick McSullivan...

The classic story goes something like this: Patrick McSullivan was running late for his appointment downtown. He drove up and down the street trying to find a parking spot. This was very important meeting and he was very stressed worrying that he might lose the account. He was not a religious man, having not been to Mass in over 10 years, but he looked up to Heaven and prayed aloud, “Dear God, I beg o’ ya. If ya just help me ta find a parkin’ spot, I promise ta go to Mass every week. I will give some money ta the orphanage. I’ll even give up drinkin’.” Just a Patrick was finishing these words, a car right in front of him started back out of the spot. Smiling Patrick looked up again and said, “F’rget about all that Lord, I found one myself.”

This story illustrates how we often handle our own lives. At least Patrick remembered to call upon the Lord when he was in need. How many times each day do we think that we can handle a situation instead of asking for God’s help? When we finally do ask for his help, how often do we not notice an answered prayer? Maybe a loved one is sick. Perhaps it is an issue of money. But one way or another, we will at some point need God’s assistance. In fact, we always need His assistance and He loves to help us when we ask.

Have you ever had someone ask you to do a difficult task only to criticize it when you are done? Take for example the young boy who is asked to clean his room. After a battle, he finally gives in and decides to do a good job. Hours later, the laundry is picked up, his furniture is dusted, his room is organized, the floor is vacuumed, the bed is made, clothes put away, and the room generally looks wonderful. He has his mother come in to check and she points out that he missed a dirty sock under the bed, that his trash needs empty, and that she was planning on changing his sheets so he should unmake the bed. There is nothing like good appreciation. How often do we beg God for a favor and when He answers our prayer, we simply complain? Maybe we ask for a promotion at work and when He helps us get it, we complain about the extra work. Maybe we ask for the healing of a loved one who is seriously ill, but when He heals the sick person yet it’s not fast enough for our liking. How does this kind of gratitude show God just how much we appreciate Him? Maybe like Patrick we don’t realize that God has just intervened in our lives. Maybe we don’t see it. They say hindsight is 20/20 so we need to look back in our lives and see how many times God has done something amazing. Maybe we pray for that sick person who gets better and we barely notice it, but then when we pray for that dying person and God takes them home instead of leaving them to suffer, we assume that he doesn’t care or that we are being punished. It’s always hard when we don’t get our way, but we have to remember that His Will is for us will make us the happiest version of ourselves if only we follow it. It is when we impose our own will that we end up stumbling into depression or depressing situations.

We may never know until we try to find the times God has blessed us. Take for example my situation. In the spring of 2002, I sat in my dorm room debating my future. I was strongly considering transferring to a different school, specifically Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. I thought that transferring there may be the answer to what God wanted me to do. I prayed about it and ultimately took no action to transfer. This seemed like God hadn’t really answered me at the time, but it wasn’t until almost 2 years later that I learned of the ramifications that this decision (and answered prayer had). I came to find out that the woman I now call my wife was in her senior year of high school filling out college applications. She pondered going to Benedictine College or the local University. She had already put in her application to the University and ultimately decided against Benedictine as well. A few short months later, we met. Both of us had prayed for guidance and God had led us to the destination that was part of His plan.

The point I’m trying to make is, in the last few weeks of Lent, we should focus on how we pray and making sure to say “Thank You” when God answers a prayer. A good idea (that I’m going to try to do myself) is keeping a prayer journal and jotting down your daily prayers. Then you can go back over the last few weeks and see what prayers you prayed then. You will see the prayers that you said one day, and see how, even though you may not have noticed, God answered them. Isn’t God GREAT?!?

And now, I’m back to my mission…

Special Olympics...

I woke up early Saturday morning. It was the big day – a day we had been preparing for since October. I quickly got dressed and got ready. I got on the computer for a little bit to finish up a couple of last minute things. I kissed my wife and left the house. Today was Special Olympics of Nebraska’s State Basketball tournament. Soon I found myself in the lobby of checking our team in. I coach two teams from the same school. Both play 3-on-3, but we split the 9 kids into two teams.

One of my teams, the Eagles, is made up of a 12 year old, two 13 year olds, and a 14 year old. The older team, the Angels, is made up of 5 kids between 14 and 17. Both teams work extremely hard in practice, but the younger team is very talented and very quick, they just lack height while the older kids have height and an extended shooting range. Both of my teams are great and I enjoy coaching all of them.

We split them up by age because the younger kids are very lacking in height, so by including them on the team with the older kids we have to play against teams with high talent levels and older kids. We decided that by doing that it would give all the kids the maximum amount of playing time and the best competition level. It worked great for the Angels. They had two games and were able to win the first one by 6 and the second one they lost by 4. They matched up well in terms of height, talent, and were even close on aggression. They played so well and I was very impressed by them.

The downside was the Eagles. My kids played so well, but the bracket was problematic. We had to play back to back games. The first team we played was well matched in talent, speed, and even close in height. That game we pulled out by 4 in the end, but it was very close. The team we were against was very aggressive, but since they didn’t have any subs, they wore out in the end and we were able to take the lead. However, the problem came in the second game. We were matched up against the best team at the regional tournament. Its not that we didn’t want the competition, but this was just unfair. Our teams of kids under 15 went up against a team that had 3 men who were over 18, (one was 37 and his mustache was starting to gray) and a 20 year old woman. They had one player who was over 6 feet and shot a jump shot which would be the envy of many collegiate athletes. They were just an awesome team and our team, which has nobody over 5 feet tall, was completely overmatched. I talked to the directors and they apologized for the lopsided match-up and told me not to worry about the state games. In the end, both teams won second place, so I was very proud of their effort despite the poor match-up.

Well here we were, three weeks later and pumped up again. After checking in and attending the coaches meeting, I went back to my house to get the girls because they love cheering the team on and we didn’t have a game until 11. One bit of news was that one of the teams from the Eagles bracket had scratched. Unfortunately, it was the team that we had beaten at regional games. The Angels had some good match-ups, too.

At 11:15 we were back and warmed up. The Eagles were up first in back to back games, again. In looking at the bracket, it was very intimidating because both teams we faced were senior teams from their particular organizations. I had talked with the schedulers about this, but it was of no use as they said they couldn’t change things and they had grouped teams based on the ratings we sent in earlier in the year and not based on age. It ended up that because of how talented our younger kids were, they didn’t consider their age and matched them on ratings. In the end, our first game was getting ready to start. The team we were up against had a very strong big man who could not only drive to the basket, but could also do very good lay-ups. We put our little defender on him, which slowed him down, but didn’t prevent him from helping his team to a 26 point win. We were overmatched in this game, not only based on height, but also on talent. The other team was very well coached and they had obviously practiced a lot as they were able to execute passes that were very tough to defend and they were ready for our passes most of the time. In addition to that, they also had 4 different offenses and by the end, our poor kids were dragging.

The Eagles then had another game. This team featured a good shooter and a guy who was all over the court. He was speedy and had a good jump shot from about 10 feet. He would guard whoever had the ball and took away much of our penetration. We fought hard in this game, but with 10 seconds left, we were down by 2. I had made a few mistakes earlier in the game by not taking advantage of a mismatch, and our kids were dragging, but we still had a chance to win. I called timeout and drew up a little play with my finger on the floor. They went out to run it and the speedy kid just have well could have been in our huddle as he stepped up and picked off our first pass. I was bummed that we didn’t win, but was very proud of our kids for their effort.

Immediately following that, the Angels started their game (yes, back to back to back games coaching – I was beat). They went up against a school they had beaten at the regional games and they were ready. They had a tall guy who was automatic from under the hoop and a medium height guy who was good at mid-range shots, a great dribbler, and was very tough on defense. Our Angels jumped out to an eight point lead. I subbed in a couple of players and with our big man sitting on the bench they quickly matched our six points. We ended up getting one more basket and that marked that halfway point. I called a timeout and getting the kids a little breather. I sent them back out and it was close for a while with the teams trading scores. Then one of our guys caught the ball on the three point line, checked his feet, and then launched a bomb. It banked in and the crowd, bench, and even the kids on the floor erupted in cheers. After that, we quickly scored 4 baskets to the other team’s one. We have one kid on our team who has limited ability and wanted to try to get him a shot. We put him in and after 4 tries we got him a shot. Normally from his sweet spot he is automatic, but he was about 2 feet to the right of his spot and wasn’t able to hit it. We ended up winning by 6.

After that game, which ended at 12:45, we had another game at 3:20. In between our kids all sat around on the benches and my wife and I took the girls home for a nap. We ate lunch and got the girls down for a nap. Finally, it was time to go, so we got the girls up and got back to the school about 3:10. The kids were still waiting in the bleachers, but the head of the competition stopped me and asked if we wanted to play a little bit sooner. So we rushed to the other gym and started warming up. However, the referee was in a hurry and we were quickly prompted for the start. The kids were a little sleepy and it took a while to finally get them going. Unfortunately, the team they were playing was a very talented team. They had a tall guy who was good at the close shots and blocking shots. They had two guys who were quick, good dribblers, great defenders, and decent shooters. In the end, it was too much for our team. They would have matched up well with the Eagles, but our Angels just couldn’t cut it. Once they woke up, they played very well and I was very proud that even when they were down 30-8, they didn’t give up and kept trying. We were able to get everyone a shot and all but one scored at least two baskets. They had fun and we congratulated the other team before heading out for the day.

The kids did so well and I was very proud of them. A lot of teams quit when they are getting beat by more than 10. We’ve seen it in teams we were playing and teams that we watch. It is our policy if we are over 10 points ahead, we make sure to sub a lot and give the other team a lot of chances to get back in the game. Our kids play so hard and never give up and they are very good sports. In addition to that, they have a lot of fun. And isn’t that what it is all about?

One more thing - today has been designated by Special Olympics as the first day in a campaign to end the use of the "R-Word" in our common vocabulary. Such a derogatory term should never be part of our vocabulary and we need to make sure that we show the same love and respect to the less fortunate that we would want people showing us. This word has become an insult and it is the kind of term that cuts special needs kids to the core. Lets make sure this word is eliminated from our vocabulary and that we don't use our words to hurt others, even if it is just a casual comment.

But now, I’m back to my mission…

Politics... Pshh!!

Each day I hear about how amazing he is. How he is going to save us all. How life is going to be so good with him. How he is what we need.

The man being referred to here is not the One who has the power to save us. He is a mere man. He is a man who was elected by the people of this country to be our leader. The man is Barrack Obama. As our leader, he does deserve our prayers. However, what is with the showers of praise this man is receiving? I am so sick of hearing about how terrible of a president we had in office prior to Obama and how great these first few days of the new administration has been. And when they do make a mistake – “Well it's because of how bad Bush was.”

Take for example the fact that in the first 60+ days of his rule Obama and the congress that was elected (primarily on the “Anti-Bush” vote) has spent more than most 4 year periods in American history. “That’s because Bush caused this recession.” I’m sure that one man caused a WORLD WIDE recession. Every economy on the globe is struggling right now, with the possible exception of China (which we can’t be sure about them because they may be struggling and just not reporting it). I’m sure that George W. Bush woke up one day after being elected, and said, “I want to destroy the world.” The proceeded to systematically fly planes into buildings, cause a couple of hurricanes, start two wars, cause flooding, tornadoes, blizzards, droughts, and heat waves. He called up OPEC and said, “Hey, we want you to charge enough for a barrel of oil that gas will cost $5” and OPEC being the pushover’s they are listened. He went to millions of the lower-middle class earners and told them to take out sub-prime mortgages that charge ridiculous interest rates that adjusted so they couldn’t make the payments. Then he went to a number of people who owned a house and told them to buy another before selling their current house. His plan came to fruition and most of those people lost their houses and the banks we in danger of folding. He also talked to credit card companies and had them enact the Universal Default Provision written into their card agreements. Many people were paying 20% or more on stuff that they couldn’t afford. It was all part of his master plan. He decided to give the auto companies bad marketing plans. He decided to have the media convince society that we are in the middle of a recession and that any spending that is done is out of line. Finally, his plan was complete and not just the country, but the whole world was in economic ruin.

All of the blame has been placed on a single man – an unfair burden by any standard. Bush was far from perfect, but he did find the time each day to pray – and that was the biggest reason there was a target on his back. Bush had too much respect for the office to fight back to his attacks and just took it in stride – a noble thing indeed. His successor has already fought back twice in his first 60 days.

First of all, a little defense of Bush. Bush had absolutely no affect on the weather, natural disasters, or anything related to the environment. He could have tried to stop Global Warming (incidentally, in his time in office, the average temperature of the world actually dropped by almost a tenth of a degree). He did not prompt a terrorist group who hates free enterprise, freedom, and everything that the United States stands for to fly planes into buildings taking the lives of hundreds of Americans. For what its worth, these terrorists have staged attacks in England, Spain, and various other parts of the free world, and Bush wasn’t the president there. The leaders of OPEC let their greed lead them to try to suck every penny they could out of the good citizens of the world and by cutting production of oil down to nearly nothing they raised the demand on the lessened supply. The WORLDWIDE price increase was in no way tied to Bush. He implemented programs to try to find renewable energy. What came of that? Complaints because the price of corn went up, the price of meat soon followed, and milk soon after that. However, when we cut our foreign dependence, prices returned to reasonable rates. Also, opening oil fields where the only negative effect is making caribou walk around pipeline towers helped to give us some of our own oil to get us through to times when better vehicles will exist.
After the 9/11 attacks, Bush started a war of vengeance in Afghanistan. He sought Osama Bin Laden and some sort of vengeance for the attacks which cut this country to the core. Bush, with approval from the Senate, launched these offensives which, though it took a while, lead to the United States capturing a number of enemies of freedom and largely removing terrorists from Afghanistan. Months later, Saddam Hussein kept defying orders to cease developing Weapons of Mass Destruction and allow the United Nations to inspect their research facilities. In a stare down, Bush moved to end, what CIA intelligence said was a huge operation producing WMDs. The US army attacked Iraq and found mass graves and was able to overtake Iraq in a matter of weeks. However, the WMDs were not found. High ranking military officials are convinced that these weapons were migrated out of Iraq in a large convoy that left just before US forces reached Baghdad. Its funny how this war has become the “downfall” of the Bush administration, though since we entered Iraq there has not been a single attack of foreign terrorism on US soil when we had been having one every 2-3 years. When you have them on the run, the best strategy is to quit, right? Well, that is what our President offered as part of his platform.

People downgrade Bush because of all the spending while he was in office. It was a lot and I don't personally agree with all of it, but it is important to note that the President doesn't really have much, if anything, to do with the budget. It is determined by the Senate, if I remember correctly: a Senate which has been Democratic majority for at least 4 years, a period in which spending has sky rocketed. Granted a lot of the spending was heading to Iraq, but congress salaries were raised, as well as programs put in place spending a lot more than needed. Yet, this is actually being completely blamed on Bush - go figure.

People have gone completely overboard in spending lately (a trend that has found its way to Washington). People are buying “toys” that they can’t afford or trying to live outside their means in a house that is half their take-home pay, driving a car that is worth their annual income, watching a TV that is wider than they are tall, and justifying all of these things as “needs”. They put their living expenses on credit cards and when they can’t afford credit card payments, they put those on another card. Then the card companies enact the Universal Default Provision which bumps their interest rate over 20%. They buy boats, jet skis, motorcycles, ATVs, and countless toys they could live without. They have to have the latest fashions in clothes, the best cell phone (or iPhone, or Blackberry, or…), the best computer, and the biggest cable package for their TV. They have to have letters like DVR, DVD, and HD-TV, WI-Fi, X-Box, PS3, Wii, and iPods. All of this stuff is E-X-T-R-A and keeps them from what is really important – spending time with their spouse and kids.

This brings me to my next point. Our society seems to think of kids as a burden. In his campaign, President Obama referred to his daughters being burdened with an unwanted child. It has to make them feel good that either of them might have been a "burden" to their parents, but given the current laws they couldn't be killed. Bush – a good Christian – was strictly Pro-Life. He believed that from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, you are a HUMAN BEING. Imagine that – you are a person when you are conceived, when you are born, when you are 2, when you get your drivers license, when you are old enough to vote, when you are old enough to drink, when you are working, when you are retired, when you are 90+, and when you are laying there on your death bed minutes from meeting your Maker. We are all endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights (see the Declaration of Independence) which include Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. You cannot tell me that there are not at least some of the 3,700 innocent children who are aborted each day would chose to not give up that UNALIENABLE right to life. As for the elderly, our new administration will be moving more toward a trend that says, “You are not valuable enough to society. The $25,000 it would take to keep you alive for one year is more than the $20,000 the government thinks you are worth. You are the weakest link, Goodbye. As Pope John Paul II once said, “A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying.” It is interesting because this weak link in the chain of society is still better than no link at all. If there is no link in between, the chain separates. When a link is weak, the links around it need to support it and help it out as much as they can. If we fail to support these links, we end up a broken society. The elderly, the unborn, the sick, and those with special needs – they are just as valuable to this society as any other person.

We are all part of the Body of Christ. Look at the human body for example. I have 10 fingers and NONE of them can hear. I have two ears that work perfectly, but they cannot see. It is because just as God designed each part of our body with a specific purpose, just like each of us has a specific purpose, created by God, as a part of the Body of Christ. By cutting off an ear, the body suffers. Though it does not die (typically), it is not as strong as it could have been with that ear. Much the same is a baby who is aborted (or murdered if you will) or an elderly person who is struggling to hold on who is euthanized (also murdered).

So I invite people to STOP blaming Bush for every problem. If your life is messed up, there is only one person to blame, and he doesn’t speak with a southern accent (unless of course you do). The good news is that the same person that messed everything up is the one person who can straighten everything out. We are on the verge of something big – something truly huge and we don’t know what is about to hit us. We can only hope that Abraham Lincoln was right when he said. “It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.” Let us not be fooled by the media and the politicians telling us what they want us to believe and skewing the facts to advance their opinions. When we next go to the ballot box, maybe it is time to tell Washington and our local leaders that we are sick of outrageous spending and that we are ready for our representatives to start representing us.

Sorry for the rant – now I’m back to my mission…

Halfway there...

Lent is over halfway over for this year. How fast it has gone! I feel like only last week I was sitting at my desk at work doing my best to keep from rubbing the ashes off my forehead. What happened to the last month?

Since lent is half over, I am going to recommit myself. I want to find a way to keep all of my resolutions as well as find new resolutions that will help my family and me grow closer to The One who made us. How can we get closer? Is there an obstacle that keeps us from being closer to God?

My daughters are amazing and I love them so much, but sometimes when I get home from work at the end of the day, I’m short tempered and often I end up snapping at them when they try to get attention. I am going to make a concerted effort to try my best to be pleasant with them. When I want to discipline I’m going to take a step back and think about how truly blessed I am. I will think about the fact that some people weren’t able to have kids, but God has chosen me to be a father. If one of them is crying because they don’t want to go to bed, I will think about people who have had children called home before them and think about how blessed I am that I get to hug each night and tuck into bed. I won’t completely put discipline aside, but I will work on not being so quick to impose timeout or snap and showing them that I know I am blessed to be their Papa.

A Day Trip

This weekend has been a busy one so far. We got up early on Saturday morning and by 6:30 we were in the car on the way to visit my parents for the day. They live over 200 miles away, so its takes a good amount of time to get there. We had hoped the girls would sleep most of the way, but it didn't quite work that way...
We got up at about 6 and packed the car and then went to get the girls up. I got the big one and my wife the little one. I changed her diaper and carefully wrapped her in her blanket, all the while she was out. I lifted her up to my shoulder and she was still out. Carefully I walked out to the car - it was a beautiful morning, not too cool and so I thought I was in the clear. My wife had already buckled the little one in, and she was looking around with very drowsy eyes. I carefully sat the bigger one down and - wouldn't you know - the second she was in the car seat, she said, "Where are we going, Mama?" My wife reminded her that we were going to visit Grandma and Grandpa, but after that, she was awake.
Our trip was for a two-fold purpose. My brother is engaged to be married soon, and it was his fiance's bridal shower, so the girls were going to that. "The Girl Party" as my eldest called it was set to begin at 1, so we had to make it a quick trip. The other reason we were heading there was to visit as we hadn't seem my parents in nearly a month and my sister and her husband since Christmas.
We made excellent time and arrived with enough time before lunch that we could visit my ailing Grandpa. My Grandma was called home this fall after 63 years of marriage, and since then my Grandpa is suffering from a heart condition - a broken heart that is. He is very lonely, but my parents and my brothers and sisters visit him when they can, but he is just ready to move on himself.
After arriving at my parent's house, we had lunch and the girls left for the shower. I was left with my Dad and my younger brother, who will be inheriting the family farm. They asked if I wanted to help them with the cows they were working. I decided a little farm work might be fun, so I agreed and changed into some work clothes.
It is an interesting thing when you do something that takes you back 5-10 years. I haven't done hardly any farm work since graduating and getting a job. Its hard for us to get back and when we do, we usually spend most of the time visiting people and trying to catch up. This time however, I was able to get out and help.
My dad and I have always had a pretty good relationship. In fact, I would say that for most of my high school and college years, we was probably my best friend as well as my hero. We didn't have a falling out or anything that changed it, but the physical distance between us has definitely put space between us. I would still consider us good friends, but we just don't have that same relationship we did a few years ago. Maybe it is because now I have a family of my own, maybe because I moved in a different direction careerwise, maybe its just how the Father planned it, but things have change. However, as we were working those cattle, things came back to me from when I had been a part of things there and I realized that we really hadn't grown apart - we just don't have our time together that we used to. As we sorted, paired, and drove the cattle, I couldn't help but think about the old days. Iwas very refreshing.
My mom later asked me how it was, but I didn't know how to respond. I enjoyed being useful, being a part of the farm again, and especially the time with my dad and my brother. However, comparing the career I have chosen, programming computers, and the farm is not possible. After living on a farm for 21 years, I still can't understand why cows behave a certain way. I can tell you about mannerisms they have, what to expect from them, and proper care for them, but I can't figure out what they are thinking most of the time. With computers, I have grown better at understanding them with each passing day and determined that my mind is very good at thinking with the kind of logic a computer uses. I guess the whole issue is that while my dad was able to teach me a lot about cows and farming, I never had that natural "Click" where things just made sense. Computers did "Click" and thus became my passion. It is evident to me that my dad had this "Click" and my brother, too. But for me, while the farm will always be a part of me, as well as the lessons I learned from it, it became aparent that that wasn't part of the mission God has given me.
My daughters have a little half sphere toy with shapes cut out of it and plastic shapes that fit in those holes. I discovered one evening that there are 3 different shapes that will fit through the pentagon hole: The star, pentagon, and triangle. I think God made me like that hole and while there are many things that could have fit me, there is only one that is the most correct for me.
I really enjoyed the time with my dad and brother. The work was different than I am used to now, but it was enjoyable for the day. So if my mom were to ask me the question now, I would say, "Yes, I did enjoy helping out."
After all of that, we arrived back at their house and I had a quick shower. We played with the girls for a little bit and then it was supper time. We ate and got packed up. After a little more play time, the girls and I got back in the car and headed back home.
The trip home went pretty well, save the last 45 minutes. The girls were so exhausted because the only nap they had had was a 20 minute snooze they took while everyone else was eating. With about 45 minutes left, the younger decided she had had her fill of the car and wanted out. My wife and I sang every song we could think of and she even got in the back seat trying to calm her down. Finally, at about 11, we pulled into the garage. We had changed the girls into their pajamas before leaving my parents house and so we put them straight to bed. We expected some fuss, but both of them were asleep in about 5 minutes.

The trip went well, but it was rather exhausting and we used part of today to recover from that. But recovery time is over now, so I'm back to my mission...

Reflection on a sticker...

Today my wife and daughters were on their way home from story time at the bookstore and they decided to swing by the place where I work to say "Hi." I came out and sat in the car with them for a few minutes. While I was out there, my eldest daughter, who is 2 1/2 showed me the activity they had done after story time. It was "Very Hungry Caterpillar" day and so their craft had involved a small thin caterpillar and a big fat caterpillar. Knowing the story, I asked if they had a butterfly and my daughter showed me the shiny glittery butterfly sticker on her shirt. I told her what a good job she had done and went back to talking to my wife. After a minute, my daughter spoke up and said "Papa, here is a sticker for you." She had pulled the sticker off her shirt and was now offering it to me. It was a sweet gesture and so after making sure that she was sure she wanted to give it to me, I accepted the gift and thanked her, sticking her gift over the pocket on my shirt.

After finishing my conversation with my wife, I bid them all good-bye and returned to work. Our office environment is very casual, so I didn't think about the sticker until I was washing my hands after using the restroom. In the mirror, I noticed a sticker fit for a little girl - not a grown man. Now normally, I would have removed the sticker and stuck it to one of the pictures she has drawn me that adorn my office walls. However, as I was walking back to my office, I got to thinking about it. I remembered that when I was a little kid, there was few things cooler than a nice sticker. Any chance you got to have one, you wore it with pride until it refused to stick to anything. They were used on homework to make you feel special. Stickers were fun and treasured when you got them. That got me thinking - I know that my daughter loves stickers and that she enjoys having one on her shirt. Then I realized something: she had given me the sticker because I am that special to her and she wanted me to feel as special as that sticker had made her feel. WOW! I was about to get rid of such an amazing compliment without even considering what it meant... talk about an eye opening experience.

When I got home, I gave her a big hug and told her thank you for the sticker again and told her how special she was to me. Though she probably didn't understand it, I wanted to tell her anyway.

Later this evening I had some errands to run so I offered to take her with me while my wife and younger daughter went to Mass. While we were running errands, she said to me, "Papa, I wish you were a Mama."

ME: "Why is that, honey?"
B: I want you to stay home with me all day.

It gets harder to leave every day. Thats why I'm glad that they have started sleeping in until after 8, so that I get more time with them at night and that I don't have to leave sad faces each morning.

As I was helping her get ready for bed tonight, she said one more thing I thought I would share.

B: Papa, you should be a Mama.
Me: Why is that?
B: Because then you could be beautiful like Mama is.

God makes children amaze us to show us that not all of what they learn is from us - He does some teaching, too.

But now I'm back to my mission...I love it!

Engrained in my nature...

How is it that I can try so hard at something and fail so badly? I try every day to help out around the house and do my part. I try to be a good father to my children. I try to be a good son, brother, coach, etc. But it’s just a like a car with a flat tire pulling really hard to the left, I sometimes pull the wrong way. Why do we tend toward the easy way? Why is sin so engrained with us that if we drop our guard, it takes over?

My whole life has been a pattern of me fighting off the urge to sin until I think I have beat it and then BANG! Right in my face I realize that I dropped my guard and its over. Just like trying to roll the rock up the hill and just before you get there, you loose your footing and it rolls back down. It’s a constant battle that you must continually fight. For example, one that is very difficult is the urge to sit around. There is always something to do around the house, especially with little ones. There is always something to pick up or clean up, laundry to do, meals to make, dishes to do, etc. Yet, here I sit writing a Blog entry when I could be doing any of the above. Don’t get me wrong – my wife is amazing and would take care of all of these things while I’m at work, but I feel like I need to carry my weight around the house (after all I am the biggest). I find myself struggling to deal with the urge to sit around, to play on the computer, to do things for fun, etc. all the while shirking my responsibilities and leaving more work for my partner. The laws of physics state that an object in motion will stay in motion and an object that is inert will remain inert. However, maybe it is the forces of gravity, inertia, or some other physics term, but my personal thought is that it is the force of original sin – a tendency to sin that is so engrained within us all that sometimes we end up not realizing that it is even influencing our decisions until it is too late.
Sorry for the rant, but its something that always bothers me about myself... But as C. S. Lewis once said, "No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good." If only it wasn't so hard to be good... But now, back to my mission...

The Real Saint Patrick

When people think of St. Patrick’s Day, the first thoughts that come to mind are green beer, parties, and corned beef and hash. Maybe some think of the Shamrock. Others think of wearing the color green to avoid pinches. There are a few people though who are aware of what the day really means.

St. Patrick’s Day marks the Roman Catholic Church’s celebration of the life of a great saint. According to the Patron Saint Index, St. Patrick was born in the late in the fourth century on the British mainland and at age 16 he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. While working as a shepherd, he prayed all the time. He escaped back to the mainland when he was 22 and became a priest and eventually a bishop. He was then sent back to Ireland.

Once in Ireland, he started to convert the pagan people of the land. He is most famous for his use of the shamrock to explain the Trinity. He showed how the three leaves of the shamrock were like the three persons in the Trinity, yet they were part of the same plant like the three persons are one God. The people loved his simple preaching and much of Ireland was converted. He often used the protection of local kings to preach to the pagan druids of Ireland. According to popular legend, when a druid priest tried to kill Patrick, he was unable to move his arm until he repented of the evil he wanted to do and converted.

During the middle ages, it was monasteries which Patrick helped to found that kept the Catholic faith alive. In the middle ages, people in central Europe feared learning and books as well as the Faith. They did everything in their power to destroy the faith or anything related. Thousands of relics were destroyed and much of Christianity was lost. However, after the Dark Ages, the faith, which had been preserved in Ireland, started to spread back to Europe and eventually became a big part of life in Europe again.

Patrick had a breastplate which has become famous for the powerful words inscribed upon it, which have become a popular church hymn:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort me and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

St. Patrick encouraged the Irish to practice chastity and sobriety. He helped to instill them with a deep faith that has lived on with much of the country to this day. Even Irish immigrants to the United States brought this strong faith with them. It is very ironic that this strong faith that he instilled lead to a holiday when people celebrate with drinking and immodest partying. One day, perhaps people will celebrate the Saint in a manor more befitting his humble and courageous way.

A Shower of Roses...

To continue my theme from last Friday: After dating for three years, things began changing in my life. I completed an internship that I had picked up during college. I got a full time job and graduated from the University. I moved out of my college house and things were looking pretty good. God had blessed me yet again without me even knowing what to ask for and helped me to find a good apartment close to my good job and rooming with a good friend. The guy I lived with had been my roommate in my college house, but he was preparing to graduate as well and decided to separate from the college lifestyle. With the approach of summer, I knew something had to change. I gathered up my courage and went to a jewelry store. After hours of research I had the perfect diamond picked out, but I just couldn’t find the setting I liked. I finally just drew it out on a piece of paper and said, “Can you do this?” The lady at the jewelry store checked with their jeweler and told me it would be ready in two weeks.

TWO WEEKS!!! I had a lot of planning to do. I knew this had to be big, so I spent all of my free time over then next two weeks putting it together. Two weeks was the feast of Our Lady of Mount Caramel, so I knew that that was the day. I had been trying to find a unique way of asking and finally came up with the idea to create a little book that would do most of the work for me. I spent hours using Microsoft Paint and Word to put together a little cartoon book that told the story of a Koala from the city and a Rhino from the country who met and fell in love and got married. On the last two pages, it had spelled out in big letters “Will you marry me?” I took it to the local Kinko’s the night before July 16th. They said it wouldn’t be ready until 10AM. She worked that day until 1, so I knew I didn’t have a lot of time. I began the morning by sneaking over to her apartment after she had left for work and left a treasure hunt of notes. Then I went to pick up the ring. Next I went to ask her dad (I’ve always been bad about waiting until the last minute on things).

She thought I was heading out of town for the weekend, so it would be a complete surprise. The treasure hunt at her apartment led her to a rose with a clue attached. The final clue asked her to feed my fish for me. I had told her that my roommate would be home, but that I only trusted her to feed them (he knew what the plan was). So she arrived at my apartment to find another rose and a clue telling her that one rose was for her and one was for St. Therese. She called me as she was approaching the Parish to which we now belong, and I had to pretend to be driving without lying to her. In the front pew I left the book I had made and sat behind a pillar with a rose in my hand, the ring in my pocket, and a prayer in my heart. It seemed like forever before she arrived and placed the rose by the statue of St. Therese. This was nothing new for us as I often gave her 2 roses (one for her and one for St. Therese). However, when she knelt in the pew to pray, she noticed the book on the front pew with a little sticky note on it spelling out her name. She picked it up and began reading while I watched from around the corner. When I saw her get to then end and read the second to last page, I snuck up right beside her. She read the last page and looked around and saw me. Jumping out of the pew she gave me a huge hug and said in a hushed whisper, “YES! YES!”

I pushed back for a second got down on my knee and said, “Kati, you mean the world to me and I wanted to be right here in front of the Holy Family (their statues were right there) and ask you if you would like try to be a holy family with me?” I then told her to take a minute to think and pray and I would wait outside for the answer. She knelt down for just a minute and then joined me outside just glowing. We went to mass that evening, talked to the priest afterward, got a special engagement blessing, and then spent the rest of the evening telling our family and friends the news.

It was a great day and even though the “Yes” came from her, it was definitely another blessing from God.

And now I’m back to my mission…

A new perspective...

Another day of sickness in my house… My eldest has two ear infections and a fever. My youngest had a fever of almost 104 this morning and the doctor says she has influenza… Curse her cuddliness. My wife is still ok, but the doctor gave her no chance of making it through this ordeal healthy. I’m back to work, but I’m dragging and irritable. But the word of the day is “perspective”. Keep things in perspective.

While looking at my Face Book account, I noticed that one of my high school classmates had her status stating that she was still at Children’s Hospital with her little girl battling a disease that was yet undiagnosed. How truly blessed we are…

A few months ago, a family from my home town laid their still born son to rest without getting a chance to know him. How truly blessed we are…

I read a story in the paper last year about a guy who was let out of prison to see his little girl before she was taken by a brain tumor. How truly blessed we are…

I heard a couple tell their story on the radio today about never having kids because of fertility problems and not having the financial means to adopt. How truly blessed we are…

I complain far too often, but when you look at thinks in perspective, we are all truly blessed… Isn’t God amazing? Well, I'm back to my mission...

In Sickness and In Health

There is nothing like being sick to really make you appreciate your blessings. I woke up Saturday with a fever of 102.4. I ached all over and had a really bad cough. I was tired and my stomach felt queasy. However, Saturday was the Special Olympics Regional Basketball Tournament and I knew that I had 9 kids that would be depending on me to make it. Popping a couple of extra strength Tylenol and a couple of my wife’s peach muffins, I was able to make it through the day. I’ll write more about that later. Sunday at about 4 AM, I started vomiting. I spent most of the day in our basement watching movies with my daughter (who was also running a triple digit temperature). My wife checked on us more times than I could count in between running errands and going to Mass. She nursed us back to health. When I continued running a 102 degree fever into Monday, she convinced me to go to the doctor, who confirmed what I had feared. I had Influenza Type A and it was going to be about a week before I would be back to normal. Through Monday and then Tuesday, my wife continued to care for us and help us out when we needed it. My eldest finally broke her fever on Tuesday morning, but unfortunately, as it left her, it found her sister. Our little one has been running a strong fever for two days now, but it is improving with Motrin. I worked half a day today, so I’m nearly back to normal.

What does this have to do with blessings? Well, all through the weekend, whenever I would fall short on something, or have trouble, there was always someone there to pick up the slack. Someone was always doing the dirty work that I didn’t have the strength to do. And it is that someone with whom I share a bed at night that God gave to me in sickness and in health. I just pray that the sickness is behind us for this year and that she can avoid this junk. It is extremely unpleasant and I hate to see her suffer. She is such a tremendous blessing to me; I thank God for her every day. We are all praying that she doesn’t get sick for two reasons: because we don’t want to see her suffer and because we don’t know what we would do without her if she was out of commission.

And now, I'm back to my mission.