Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Beauty of Rejection, The Beauty of Love

We all have a natural desire to be known and loved!  So when we encounter rejection from those who seem to know and love us, we feel the rejection in a very powerful way.  As I interact with many in their faith, rejection is the greatest fear I encounter.

So it might surprise you when I say, that there is actually beauty in rejection.  That which is our greatest fear, can be the very instrument in which we come to the Lord.  It was actually through rejection that I came to know the Lord in a very intimate way. Rejection??? Why not start with encountering the Lord through His Love?  Yes, I have encountered a fraction of God's infinite Love.  But I was really opened to His love in the midst of my brokenness and rejection.  Through rejection by those close to me: from family, to friends, to my missionary work, and I would argue, even my body has rejected me through various illnesses.  It was in the rejection I was forced to ask the greatest question: "IS THE LORD ENOUGH?"

In the midst of rejection, can we completely rely on the Lord ALONE? The answer to this question is a necessity for everyone.  In the short time I've been in my parish internship, I've found so many hurting from rejection.  Through illnesses that have taken loved ones, to those who are struggling to find work, to those in the nursing home who have been ignored by so many.  It's in their pain, my heart aches, but also beauty is seen.  For they continue to hold onto the Lord in a very powerful way.  Their holiness is incomparable!

I'm reminded of the Story of St. Therese of Lisieux, patroness to my missionary work with FOCUS, but more importantly patroness to all missionaries in the Church.  St. Therese was a cloistered Carmelite dedicating her life at the age of 15 solely to prayer and rejecting what the world had to offer.  She died at a very young age of 24. On her death bed, she overheard her religious sisters asking the question, "I wonder what Mother superior will say about this one?" Because of her illness at a young age, her religious sisters didn't see any of her contributions to the community or the Church. They did not see what the Lord had done in her life. She was rejected and even forgotten by the religious community she dedicated her life too beginning at the age of 15! St. Therese of Lisieux rejoiced in overhearing the conversation. She rejoiced in the rejection, because she knew that even though her religious sisters from her community had forgotten her, the Lord was holding her more closely! It didn't take long after her death, that her memoir/autobiography became renown and eventually St. Therese of Lisieux was canonized in the Church and raised by JPII declaring her as a Doctor of the Church and patroness to missionaries.


So the next time you encounter rejection, in whatever form, remind yourself that The Lord is enough!  Throw yourselves into the arms of The Lord and  I guarantee you that the rejection will never be much sweeter, for in the cross of the rejection, you will have been brought closer to resurrected Lord!


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Skateboarding Lesson; 41,000 Different Denominations; and the Unity of the Church!

When I was in 5th grade, I had the opportunity to come across my best friend's skate board.  The ability to skateboard was a foreign concept, but I was willing to give it a try. I specifically remember telling myself, "don't fall back and hit your head!"  I got on the board and when I gained speed I leaned back, the skateboard went forward, I went flying backwards and landed on my back nailing my head against the sidewalk.  Needless to say I learned a lesson: The goal of skate boarding is to stay connected to the board and don't lean back, but lean forward to go in the same direction of the board.  That and I should always wear a helmet!

Little did I know I would later come across this lesson again.   But this time it didn't involve a skateboard; it involved the unity of the Church!  

When I was in Boulder, Colorado as a FOCUS missionary I was blessed to take a graduate level course on the Theology of the Church at the Augustine Institute (a master's degree program).  I also had a tremendous blessing to lead several non-Catholics through a Catholic perspective of the Scriptures at the same time!  In talking with these students you could see that their hearts were hurting over the divisions found in Christianity: from Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and the catch all Non-Denominational churches.  Their experience matched a recent study out of Massachusetts in 2011 where they accounted for over 41,000 different Christian denominations! 41,000 different churches!!! The students had lived and saw this division.  They took their experience and looked to the Scriptures to help understand why this might happen.  But the Scripture points to a different reality:  Here are just a few passages of conflict! 

Matthew 12:26 - "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand"

John 17:12 - "Holy Father, Keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be ONE, even as we are ONE"

Ephesians 4:4 - "There is ONE body and ONE Spirit... ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of us all"

2 Timothy 4:3-4 - "For a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths."  

It is clear in the Scriptures that God did not desire division, but unity!  If that is the case, then how do we account for division in Christianity? Let alone 41,000 divisions?  Clearly division seems to be the work of the devil, just like sin and death, and not from God.  

As I studied the Church I came back to the simple skateboard lesson I learned in 5th grade.  If I didn't want to fall off the skateboard, in other words stay in union with the board, I would have to do two things;  First, stay connected to the board and secondly, go in the same direction of the board.  The instant those two things didn't happen, I would be on my butt with a possible headache.   

Connection and direction are a necessity of unity.

Taking this physical truth, what can we learn about the division in the Church?  We need to take some time to learn more about Christian history.  Though there was various heresies (division) confronted by the early Church, it's seems clear that connection and direction were mostly effected by the Reformation with Calvin, Zwingli, and Luther.  There was a clear break from connection in the form of Sacraments!  Each reformer had different understandings of the Sacraments and removed Sacraments that the Church celebrated.  There was also a clear break from direction; the authority of the Church (corrupted as it may be).  Even though Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin wanted to create a united front against the authority of the Catholic Church, they couldn't agree in their theology, which led to more division.  

This may seem an over simplification of a major issue, and I don't want to down play the complexity of the issues faced during the Reformation (from the corruption of the Church, to politics, to economics), but the spiritual life is often taught through physical realities.  Hence, Christ taught spiritual lessons through physical stories called parables.  Physical realities of unity, like a skateboard, can point to great spiritual truths about unity. 

If our hearts are also torn by the 41,000 different denominations of the Christian faith and we truly desire to seek unity for the Christian faith, then we will have to turn to the connection and direction, which are found in the Sacraments and Authority of the Catholic Church.  

Though many people don't see this reality, this is the jewel and beauty of the Catholic Church.  Jesus Christ offers to the Apostles both His authority and Sacraments!  "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." (Luke 10:16)  He offers the Church connection and direction.  He gives His authority to men and their successors, and He gives us His Spirit to guide us in all truths (cf. John 16:13).  

Let us once again with sincere and humble hearts find the beauty of the Catholic Church.  The beauty found in the Sacraments (connection - Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Marriage) and the Authority found in the succession of the Apostles (the direction found in the Pope, Bishops, priests and deacons)!  It's only in this beauty will we be able to stop the on-going division of 41,000 different denominations. 

If we don't seek connection and direction, then we will constantly find ourselves on our butts! And if we reject the Sacraments and Authority of the Catholic Church, don't forget to wear your helmet!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

TMNT PJs, Christmas, and the Absence of God

I remember growing up as a little kid getting ready for Christmas.  The long days of December as a kid was torture.  From being stuck in school and counting the days towards Christmas break.  To make the time go a bit sweeter my mom would buy chocolate candy filled calendars, so I could at least get a piece of chocolate each day I survived leading to Christmas.  The anticipation for all the gifts I was going to receive was at an all time high.

As a family tradition, my Christmas's were spent at my great aunt's house. We would arrive on the 23/24th of December.  I would hardly say hello to my family before I would run to the tree and count my gifts.  How many envelopes in the tree had my name on them?  How many big Christmas presents were under the tree? Did Santa come yet with my gift?

We would then head off St. Peter's Catholic Church for Christmas Eve Mass and when we returned I got into my Christmas pj's, usually the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' kind, and beg the parents to open at least one gift.

As you can see, even at the age of 33 very little has changed!

(Pictured: My nephew, Liam and I showing off our new TMNT pj's.  Beware of mean green fighting machines!)

And then it happened!  Christmas day would come.  It was the one day of the year that I would get up before my dad excited to start the day!  Why?  Because I would get gifts!!! What a great way to start any day!  I would wake up my sisters and parents, aunt's and uncles, grandparents, and cousins.  Today was the highly anticipated day.  And being the baby of the family you can understand how the day somehow revolved around me! :)

I would plow through my gifts one at a time!  But my folks ingrained in me a very important lesson that I constantly have to remind myself of to this day.

When I would anxiously tear through the wrapping paper, I would ignore the Christmas tag that mentioned who the gift was from.  My parents, gently would stop me and say, "Now Michael, who is that gift from?".  I would then rustle and scavenge through the torn paper to find out who it was from.  I then proceeded to leave the gift behind, run to the person who gave me the gift, and say, "thank you, thank you, thank you!"

My parents taught me that the gift is not as important as the Giver of the gift!  And sometimes I have to remind myself, like Christmas day as a kid, I get more attached to the gift then the giver of the gift.

As I continue to try to grow in my faith I have come to notice times in my prayer life where I can feel the Lord's presence and many times when I don't feel His presence at all!  It actually confuses many college students, who have a great experience on a retreat only later to discover that the so called "retreat high" slowly fades away.  What accounts for these changes of feelings and experiences?

Well, we have to understand, even the feeling of God's presence is a gift.  The presence of God is not God, Himself.  We see this in the Scriptures, Christ proclaims Psalm 22 on the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me."  Did God the Father, abandon Christ on the cross?  The answer of course is No! But did Christ feel the absence of God the Father on the Cross?  The answer is yes!

When the gift is removed, we have the opportunity to still choose the Giver of the gift!  For who wants a friendship to be based solely on the basis of what gifts one can receive?  Seems kind of selfish and childish, like when I was a kid on Christmas day; where I was solely focused on the gifts I was to receive, not the the family that surrounded me on Christmas day!

The Lord gives us many gifts: from talents, skills, to friends and family, to even the feeling of His presence in our lives, but just like any gift, the Lord will take these gifts away, either rapidly like a torn band-aid, or slowly as with age.  The Lord wants to know: Do you love me? Or do you choose me only because of the gifts I give you? God wants to know if we would solely choose Him for who He is!  

Let us choose the Lord even in the absence of the gifts.  Let us be more grateful for the gifts we have received; such as family and friends, because in the end as the Scriptures point out in story of Job, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away (Job 1:21).  Let us focus on the Giver of all gifts.