Contentment vs Happiness

Everyone wants to be happy - fair enough.

Have you ever been happy?  I suspect you have, and that for the time you felt that way, life was good.  The big question, the one I believe this article is calling us to consider, is this - what is the price we pay for relentlessly pursuing happiness, and was that moment in time worth it?

https://medium.com/personal-growth/surprising-advice-from-a-wealthy-man-483c227f821f


Be sure to watch this 10 minute video that was linked in the article...

Doubting Jim

So a few weeks back (July 3rd) we celebrated the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle.  We do not hear much from Thomas in the scriptures, but when we do he is often suspicious and questioning - John 14:5 "we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" and John 20:25 "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" being 2 prime examples.  In his skepticism Thomas seems to be seeking solid ground to stand on when the words and actions of Christ do not fit well with what his own experiences have taught him. In this attitude of mistrust he deservedly becomes known as “Doubting.”

I have a special affinity for Thomas.  As an engineer, part of my job is to be skeptical as I try to figure out how best to solve a problem - and evidence, especially the kind that can be measured and touched, is always what I am seeking as I search for solid ground.   You could call me 'Doubting Jim' ...

Doubt... 

 Uncertainty... 

 If you take a second to reflect I think you will find, as I do, that doubt is a strong force pulling and tugging at each of us as we navigate the currents of life. Doubt is that inner voice screaming ‘STOP’ when I start to move outside my comfort zone to talk to my kids about pornography. It is the tightness that envelopes my chest and shoulders as I think about asking my wife for forgiveness. It is the rush of queasiness in my stomach  when I allow myself to contemplate that day 3 years from now when, God willing, He places His indelible mark on my soul.

I am certain that doubt was a constant companion for all the Apostles as they traveled with Jesus on his journey to the cross - Christ’s ways were so foreign to what they had known prior. Could they believe what he said and the claims he made? Could they accept what their eyes perceived when he seemed to defy reality? What did it all mean? Could they put all their trust and hope in him?

Can I? 

Can you?

For Thomas, as for you and I and all who struggle this side of heaven, these questions and concerns regarding faith in Jesus continued to cultivate doubt and haunted his search for the true path until - UNTIL - he Encountered the Risen Lord. Not many have or ever will be privileged with the type of encounter Thomas experienced, yet I have no doubt that Jesus longs to meet us in a multitude of other ways.

He is present in the lyrics of a song that moves you, within the tears and deep gaze of a loved one as you say goodbye, in the awe-inspiring beauty of a morning sunrise. The Risen Lord yearns for your attention in the breaking of the bread, the silence of adoration, the smoothness of well worn rosary beads and inside the confessional. 

I personally have encountered Him on CRHP retreats, at LifeTeen Encounter nights, and on the dusty roads of Nicaragua and South Africa. 

 As my eyes meet His in these sacred moments, all doubt seems to fade and like Thomas, all I can muster are the words ‘My Lord, and my God’

He is there for those with eyes to see, so let them see...and believe!

To Live Well is to Learn to Adapt to Change

Happy St. Gregory Grassi and Companions Day! How are you celebrating this Saint today? I ask my kids that from time to time and I get the same look every time. I do have one child who looks these up after being asked. As a result, we’ve invented a few small celebrations with the hope of these catching on in popularity in the annals of time. I’m not holding my breath.

You can read more about St. Gregory Grassi and Companions here: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-gregory-grassi-and-companions/

St. Grassi and pals played a large role in sharing the faith throughout China and were martyred during the Boxer Uprising of 1900. How are we embracing the same determination to share our faith in the face of persecution? I’m not asking anyone to look for trouble at all, but it’s a neat perspective to push me to live my faith with simple appreciation for those who died to live theirs.

To live well is to learn to adapt to change. If you don’t adapt with change, the potential for life may not meet the potential set forth by our creator. I feel there are times in my life that I enter a bit of a chrysalis stage. That’s referring to the third stage of the life cycle of a caterpillar. From the outside, a pupa, or chrysalis, looks as if the caterpillar may be resting. However, all the action is taking place on the inside with rapid, life-altering changes. It’s important to have your occasional internal chrysalis stage to make sure we are adapted to thrive in our ever-changing environments.

My previous 18 months have required a lot of internal changes. I’ve experienced changes in my external life that most people may experience over a longer period of time if ever. I’ve battled the tendency to be depressed at losing control of situations I never really had control of in the first place. I better understand, yet still struggle at understanding, appreciation for things I continually take for granted, such as the simple ability to talk, breathe or play baseball with my children.

While I have adapted to a new life missing many of the activities I never thought twice about 18 months ago, there are other currents within my being constantly changing me. For example, my appetite has drastically changed to where certain food or drink does not taste as good as it did over a year ago. My appetite for chasing elaborate pleasures while neglecting to embrace happiness in simplicity has changed. My appreciation for friends that can pick up a conversation where we left off months ago has increased. The fervor I maintained for a strong, faith-filled marriage has turned into a raging forest fire because this is the apex of all my relationships. My internal life is constantly changing as a result of keeping up with a lot of external change.

When was your last “chrysalis stage” where internal changes were occurring? Was anyone else aware of the changes you were experiencing? How did you handle these changes in light of relationships with those closest to you?

We all have stories to share that may impact another in ways that directly benefit them along their journey. We may believe that we live the most plain, vanilla life that no one would be interested in learning about while others live lives worthy of an epic novel. Regardless of where you believe you’d find your story on the shelves of the library of time, stories are made and shared about how the main character (you or I) change to circumstances out of our control and come out a different, hopefully better, version of ourselves.

Corpus Christi

The Body of Christ. God shows His love for us by taking on the accidental forms of bread and wine in the Eucharist. When we partake of the gift of His body and blood, we are invited to experience a joy beyond all imagination. We are given the opportunity to accept this joy by expressing our love for God. Finally, we are called to radiate this joy and bring others to the light of God's presence.

At the moment of consecration, bread and wine are transformed into Christ's body, blood, soul, and divinity (1). The miracle of the consecration is difficult to grasp since our senses perceive bread and wine. This is what we mean when we say that God's form in the Eucharist is "accidental": bread and wine do not contain God in their nature. His presence is not an essential part of bread and wine, and yet God chooses to reside under these forms in the consecrated Eucharist.

Even the grandest philosophical explanations of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist may still leave us doubting the power of this sacrament. We might be able to understand that God is present in the Eucharist from a philosophical standpoint, but perhaps our hearts haven't accepted this reality. Understanding the consequences of Christ's true presence in the Eucharist is a helpful way of connecting what is known by the intellect to what is understood by the heart. In reflecting on the Eucharist, Pope St. John Paul II said, "In that little Host is the solution to all of the problems in the world." Every hurt, every injustice, every human weakness is perfected by the presence of God in the Eucharist. The proper response to this reality is profound joy. What other natural response is there when we have received the grace to conquer all of our problems, limitations, and fears?

Perhaps our response is to have no response at all: to receive the Eucharist out of routine and to leave Mass only to be overwhelmed by worldly concerns the moment that we exit the church doors. If God gives us the grace to overcome all of the difficulties in our lives, then why do we still struggle? Why is it that we receive Communion every Sunday and still experience sin, difficulty, and sadness? God will only help us if we lovingly accept His presence. Love is not a feeling. It is not a warm fuzzy affection that we feel in our heart like when we think about our wives or our children. These are feelings of consolation, but love is something entirely different. To love is to will the good of the other. The definition of love implies action on our part. We can't simply think good thoughts about someone and watch him fall into ruin. How can we will another's good if we refuse to help him where we can? Love is demonstrated through appropriate action.

While it's easy to understand love in the context of human relations, defining love for God can be more complex. Thankfully, Christ gave us a clear idea of what it means to love God when He said,  
"He that hath my commandments and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him (2)." We love God by keeping His commandments. God desires a relationship with us. He becomes present in the Eucharist and wants to dwell within us, bringing us every good grace and blessing. However, God will only reside in us if we open our hearts to Him through love by following His commandments. The goal is not for us to begrudgingly follow a set of arbitrary rules. Rather, we are called to follow the teachings of Christ and His Church with joy, knowing that doing so will bring us freedom and greater union with God.

If we are dedicated to following these precepts, we can hope that our love for God will become a light for others. Receiving God isn't just about us. As children of God, we are called to bring the joy of His presence to others.  Jesus instructs those who possess the joy of God's presence to "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (3)." Christ calls for the children of God to practice generosity. This spirit of charity to which Christ calls his children is something far greater than addressing human or temporal needs. Jesus calls us to use our joy to lead others towards the truth of God's love for us. Jesus expressed the gravity of this mission when he said, "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day (4)."

The choice to accept Jesus by receiving His body and blood in the Eucharist comes with the highest stakes imaginable: receive Christ and be saved or reject Him and be lost for all eternity. We can experience true joy by accepting the gift of God's presence in the Eucharist. This joy can only be felt if we love God by following the teachings of Christ and His Church. Once we attain this joy we experience the light of God's presence, which we can then share with others. This is why evangelization is so important and all too often misunderstood. Yes, we need to tell people about the good news of Jesus Christ and His Church, but before we look outward, we must turn inward. We have to ask ourselves whether we truly love God and whether we are courageous enough to be lights for others, beacons of joy in a world of darkness.

Questions for reflection:

Do we feel true joy in our hearts that comes from our deep relationship with God? If not, have we examined our conscience and considered whether we are striving to love God by keeping His commandments?

Do we strive to share the joy of living in God's presence with everyone that we meet?

Do we strive to understand Christ's teachings and those of His Church?

Do we strive every day to fulfill these teachings, realizing that they will not only bring us authentic happiness but everlasting life?

Do we accept the fact that we are only saved by receiving Christ's body and blood?

Do we ensure that we are properly disposed to receive the Eucharist by being free from mortal sin, by striving to remain focused at Mass, and showing reverence in church?

Do we thank God for the gift of His presence by spending a few moments in silent prayer after Mass instead of rushing out the door?

Is the Eucharist the center of our lives?

Do we reject the notion that we can be saved by any other means other than Christ's body and blood?

Do we recognize that no matter how nice we are or how good of a person we are that we cannot have salvation except through Christ and His one true Church?

Do we understand that ecumenism is about uniting non-Catholics to the One True Church; that the goal of ecumenical outreach is to bring nonbelievers home to the Catholic Church (5)?

Do we understand that it is an error to believe that God wills the diversity of religions (5)?

Do we earnestly pray for those who are have rejected God by practicing a faith other than the Catholic faith or by claiming to be Catholic without accepting the Church's doctrines in their entirety?

Do we offer up our daily sufferings, big and small, in reparation for the countless offenses and sacrileges against the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ?

_________________________________________________________________________________

Quotations and Ciatations:

(1) Fourth Lateran Council, c. 1; Council of Trent, sess. 13, c. 4

(2) John 14:21

(3) Matthew 5:15-16 

(4) John 6:53-54 

(5) Declaration of the truths relating to some of the most common errors in the life of the Church of our time. Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke et al. 2018. http://www.ncregister.com/images/uploads/Declaration_Truths_Errors_final_version_clean.pdf

Images:

(1) Corpus Christi Procession. Oil on canvas by Carl Emil Doepler. Accessed via Wikipedia. 

Jubilee

Due to tornado damage in Jefferson City, officials repackaged the two-day State track meet into a single in Columbia.  Following the final 400-meter event in Missouri heat and humidity, I raced to St. Meinrad, Indiana, home of the Benedictine Archabbey and seminary where I’d once studied.  The aftermath of glowing fireflies smeared my buggy windshield.  My wife and I arrived late at the abbey’s guest quarters.  Tomorrow, we’d celebrate five jubilarians, two of 25 years and three of 50 years.

            I’d traveled to celebrate Fr. Eugene Hensell OSB in thanksgiving for 50 years of service.  My favorite, yet extremely challenging scriptures professor, Fr. Eugene introduced himself as a teacher who’d “turn my world upside down.”  And that he did.  So much so, that my only year in the seminary has been and continues to be one of the most impactful years of my life.  He let me know he was not teaching to bring me prosperity or to give me answers, but to assist me along my journey to live in paradox, to discover mysteries along the way, and to build relationships in community and with the Father.  He served as my spiritual director while in attendance.  His wisdom continues to offer me guidance with essential questions in his letters and conversations.

            Rising early, I stroll the Archabbey-Seminary grounds.  From the guest quarters, I wander through the cemetery.  Perfectly aligned homogenous stone crosses mark where former teachers, woodworkers, printers, farmers, all brothers laid to rest in simple pine boxes.  Several names I’d recognized had been called home by the Father.  Some I recalled their struggles with aging, others their labors, but all I pictured moments of thoughtfulness and compassion.  Where does the time go?

            Nestled in Hoosier National Forest, St. Meinrad, a township of fewer than two hundred resides along the northern border of the Appalachians where poverty claims so many.  Our Lady of Einsiedelm monastic chapel towers over a vast forested valley.  A Benedictine offshoot from Einsiedelm, Switzerland, St. Meinrad Archabbey has educational roots across the country.  I escape the gnats, rising heat and humidity.  The monastic chapel offers a refreshing cool breeze.  I jot notes on the back of a State track schedule.  (Matthew Kelly recommends recording one influential point from Mass each time one attends.  I confess, I’ve torn the occasional page from a missalette for notes.)   

A grandfather escorts his inquisitive granddaughter around the brightly colored church.  I overhear a visitor speaking of his recent layoff from work he’d taken great pride.  Discreetly, elder monks maneuver their scooters near the altar. 

  

No cameras, no fanfare, no program.  The essence, gratitude, recollections, resonance is celebrated in the Eucharist in unity with guests.  Gregorian chant ushers the community of monks to their places.  Facing each other, they sit for the initial reading.

The gospels during Holy Week and during the Easter season come from John’s farewell discourse.  First there is the shock … Jesus washes his disciples’ feet, announces he will be leaving soon, … many betray him.  The Passion quickly follows, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  Jesus reveals the gift of the Advocate.

This Jubilee Mass is the Sunday before the feast of the Ascension. 

“I have told you this while I am with you.  The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:25-27)

Jesus had just walked through a locked door, delivered peace, offered forgiveness, bestowed the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Before Jesus leaves for his kingdom, he tells his disciples to go and be my witnesses.  Jesus then departs with the door forever ajar.

 

“Pray for me that God may put his word on my lips, that I may courageously make known the mystery of the gospel; that mystery for which I am an ambassador.  Pray that I may have courage to proclaim it as I ought.” (Ephesians 6:19-20)

An ambassador he is.  And proclaim the Word, he has.  Congratulations!  50 years jubilarian!  Very unassuming, more embarrassed than jubilant, Fr. Eugene’s smile opened beneath his gray beard.  “One of the advantages of getting old.”  He meets people where they are.  The last time we met and I’d invited him to a meal, Eugene selected, of all places, a Denny’s truck stop just off I-64.

Eugene travels extensively after years of service teaching scriptures in theology.  Serving as seminary president/rector, he instructed, informed, counseled, and directed students.  His body may have slowed, yet this theologian remains deliberate on God’s calling and commitment.  Against many odds, he’s persevered with wisdom and gratitude delivering thoughtful, challenging retreats. 

Many describe Eugene as a prophet, skillfully turning one’s perspective upside down and then re-righting the ship to new revelations stimulating growth; encouraging one to reevaluate, strengthen their commitment to God in tending to his people and His creation. 

Far from hell and brimstone, Eugene’s delivery is an unsettling, pervasive whisper of thoughtful, enduring hope.  Often in the storms of life, well beyond one’s comfort zone, his words shock an arrhythmic soul, resetting its beat with some nurturing.  He blesses one upon their journey revived, refreshed. 

Fr. Eugene gives me a more profound appreciation for our own shepherds that should not be conserved for jubilees.  With courage and gratitude daily, Fathers Stanger, Dieckmann, and Burkemper usher the baptism of the Holy Spirit through locked doors.  They teach, guide, and encourage us to be the eyes, hands, feet, heart of Christ; delivering peace, offering forgiveness, mercy.  They remind us as we ought to be disciples and witness. 

The door is ajar!  The Advocate is upon us!

The father who knows best looks to the Father who knows all!