Chocolate Milk and the Holy Spirit

Growing up as a kid I can remember the many joys of going into the fridge grabbing our 2% milk, Hershey syrup along with a glass and spoon.  It didn't take a scientist or theologian to know what was going to happen next.  But I thought I would provide a visual!

Chocolate milk!!!  

Needless to say, as long as there was Hershey syrup in the fridge, milk was always going to be in high demand!  Little did I know my favorite drink when I was little (lets be honest, even now!) would be a great theological lesson on the presence of Holy Spirit/God in my life!

Our lives are like the milk!  And the chocolate syrup represents the Holy Spirit that The Lord pours into our lives!!!  What happens when we enter into relationship with God and the Church through Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation?  We are infused with the Holy Spirit!  We actually become temples of the Holy Spirit! But many people wonder why they don't see the effects or the change in receiving the Sacraments.  And many people point to the hypocrisy of many Christian's out there.  It's not that God isn't there.  Believe me He is there.  We just need the spiritual spoon to bring it into our lives!  

Think about this, when I was a kid and I poured the chocolate syrup into my glass of milk, I didn't just let the syrup sit on the bottom of the glass.  If I did that, very little of the chocolate would make it into the milk.  And if I were to drink the glass of milk, the chocolate syrup would have been wasted.

Think of this, Christ came and proclaimed that he came to give us life, life to the full (abundance).  What The Lord is actually saying in translation - I have come to give you not a life of regular milk, but something that is sweet and awesome.  I've come to make chocolate milk!  How sweet is that!  But it can't just be a passive effort in just receiving Baptism, Eucharist, or Confirmation.  Just receiving these Sacraments without stirring is a waste of the gift The Lord wants to give you. 

The Lord will ask for us to account of the gift He gave us!  He will ask us if we took the time to stir up the Holy Spirit.  We will be asked to account for the chocolate syrup in our milky lives.  Was our lives transformed?  Did we keep the glass stirred?

The interesting thing about the chocolate syrup and milk analogy is that I had to keep the spoon in the glass.  After every sip, I would continue to stir the glass!  Why?  So that I would enjoy every last drop of chocolate milk, otherwise the syrup would eventually make its way to the bottom of the glass only to be wasted and washed down the sink.  We have to keep stirring our hearts for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We can't remain passive in our faith.  Otherwise the Holy Spirit, like the syrup will be wasted.  How do we stir up the Holy Spirit in our lives?  Take time for prayer; be open for the movements of The Lord in our lives.  Go to Confession!  Seek constantly the grace of forgiveness and mercy that The Lord wants to give you.  Go to Mass, receive The Lord in the Scriptures and in the Liturgy of the Eucharist!  Allow The Lord to work presently in your life, start offering yourself up to The Lord!  

I guarantee if you do that, your life will be transformed and a whole lot sweeter!  

World Wrestling Federation, Cancer, and the Spiritual Life

When I was in grade school I was fascinated with WWF - no not World Wide Fund with the Panda as a logo, but World Wrestling Federation! Who wouldn't be drawn to wrestling character's like the Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Big Boss Man, Macho Man Randy Savage?!?  

I remember heading to my next door neighbor's house where my best friend lived trying to collect whatever savings I had and begging the parents for money to watch the pay-per-view event of Wrestle-Mania and/or Royal Rumble!  Even with scripted story lines, men not wearing enough clothes, there was something about it that attracted and still attracts people. 

It wasn't later in my studies of the Scriptures that I discovered a possible answer to why I was/still am driven to wrestling: It is because I wrestle with God constantly!  January has been a time for me to go around to various parishes and schools to share my vocation story and discernment towards the priesthood with people of all ages from 2nd graders to adults.  When ever I share my vocation story of how I entered the seminary, I usually turn to the passage of Jacob in the Old Testament.  In that story, I believe it reveals the real beauty in coming to one's vocation, which includes married life, religious life, priesthood, and the single life through wrestling with God!

Jacob's story is unique.  First we need to understand the importance of Jacob's life.  Jacob is seen as one of the great patriarch's of the Jewish Faith.  Constantly the scriptures refer to God with reference to Jacob (the reference usually God introducing himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob).  Second, his story doesn't seem quite holy or saintly.  Jacob's very name means trickster or one who grabs the heal.  Jacob was a twin, but his brother Esau was born first.  This guaranteed Esau a birth rite (twice the inheritance) and a Blessing given to him by his father right before he passes.  Jacob gets his brother Esau to sell his birth rite, and then later Jacob tricks his father, Isaac to give him Esau's blessing!  Not fair I know, but Jacob will later be tricked not only by his Father-in-law, but his own children.

Jacob now has a problem after stealing Esau's blessing.  Esau is described as a very strong man and hunter, while Jacob remained in the tent and cooked with his mom.  The Scripture directly calls Jacob a momma's boy.  Well after stealing Esau's blessing, Jacob runs from his father's land only to discover Rachel, a woman he desired to marry.  Jacob after working 7 years for Rachel's hand in marriage is tricked by his father-in-law and Jacob marries Leah, Rachel's older sister.  Jacob serves an additional 7 years to earn Rachel's hand in marriage.  Eventually Jacob will have 12 sons with 4 different women (talk about drama in the house of Jacob).

To make a long story short; after Jacob has started a large family 11 sons at the time, he's kicked out of his father-in-law's land, and is forced to face his stronger brother Esau.  You can only imagine what's going through Jacob's mind, let alone questioning God's plan for his life.  This is where the story gets interesting.  In chapter Genesis 32, at night Jacob sends his family, servants, and flock to the other side of the river.  The Scripture is clear, Jacob is ALONE!  But wait...right after it says that he is alone, Jacob starts wrestling with someone.  Confusing right?  Is he alone or not?  As we continue to read the story we discover he is wrestling with God!  

If that isn't crazy enough, Jacob has the God in a head lock for most of the night.  I can now imagine because of my love for WWF and the various wrestling matches between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior, I can see all the kidney shots, elbows, kicks, and pushing that was involved that night.  But Jacob is relentless, he will not let go! (not quite the momma's boy now).  Even though Jacob is control for most of the night, God pulls a reversal: "he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled him" (Gen 32:25).  Jacob now realizes who he is wrestling with and who's really in control.  Jacob asks God for His blessing and he receives a new name Israel, which means "May God Prevail."

What an amazing story of discernment, which involves wrestling with God!  The story speaks right into my own life and how I've wrestled (and continue to wrestle) with God.  Like the story of Jacob, the Lord allows me to maintain control of the wrestling.  I keep The Lord in the head lock and I make the decisions of my life.  It was the one who decided to go college for an engineering degree. It was I who decided that I would do missionary work for the Catholic Church with FOCUS.  But like the story of Jacob, the Lord pierced my side with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  No longer was I in control of my decisions, my life, or even if my chemo would have any affects on the cancer. All I could do was let go of the headlock and say the prayer: Israel - May God Prevail!

This story of wrestling is not just a story of Jacob, or me, but a story for all of humanity.  We all wrestle with God in someway or another.  We all take control over our lives and dictate the direction by our own desires and wants.  But what is certain in all of life is the Lord will come into our lives and pull a reversal move and reveal who is ultimately in control.  Let us instead of resisting the Lord in our lives, let us work on making our life a complete surrender to Him!  Israel: May God Prevail!  

Time for Dinner; My Temper Tantrum

I wrote about this when I was a missionary at the University of Colorado. 

When I was little, my sister's and I had the first 16-bit Nintendo system complete with Mario Bros!  Let me tell you about a tragic and scarring story of my life: I was in the middle of rescuing Princess from the hands of Bowser when my mom came into the room, turned off the game, and said it was time for dinner.  Oh, I was angry!  My attempt to conquer the world with my fingers and save the girl was thwarted by my mom.  At the time my response was "Really??? How important is it that I eat dinner with my family?"  Of course this may seem like an exaggeration, but clearly I remember the story 25 years later.  Besides revealing my own brokenness at the age of 8, it also reveals the following: we can get attached in false worlds, like Worlds 1 - 8 in Mario bros., which only leads to frustration when we are brought back to reality, to life.   

Now I know this is just a video game, let alone a 16-bit video game, but think of all the other false worlds out there that we try to conquer.  No longer are we jumping over enemies and obstacles from  World 1-8.  We are now taking on the worlds of Facebook and Twitter.  In these worlds we are able to project to the world only those beautiful things about our life and never any flaws???  Besides social networking, we take on the World of life.  In this game we, like mario, collect money hoping to extend our chances in life.  We try to gain more power and prestige, maybe by achieving fire Mario, hoping maybe one day we will achieve the all invincible star.

You know what eventually happens to all those who play those games?  The game is turned off and they are forced to go to Dinner, or at least they come face to face to God, who is responsible for the ultimate family dinner!

Do you realize that the Lord is calling us NOW to a dinner?!?  Not just any kind of dinner, but a banquet!  Jesus is not only host (priest) of the banquet, but also the meal itself (the Sacrifice).  How many of us, when it comes to Sunday (or any other day) would rather have our heads down trying to conquer the various Worlds around us?  No matter how many Worlds we conquer (facebook, money, power, material desires), it doesn't compare to the dinner prepared for us by God!

The Lord has worked two ways in my life:  First, the Lord has been patient with me and have given me multiple invitations to join Him for the banquet, but after a while of not heeding to His invitation, The Lord, like my mom, breaks through my various worlds and turns off the game.  Of course, my response to the Lord is similar to the way I responded to my mother.  I respond in frustration because all the time I put into the game was just taken away from me.  All the time taken to build up a chance is torn away and wasted.  

Take a moment now and think of all the stories of people that have had that happen!  How many people have the Lord taken away people's money, prestige, and power.  And how do they usually respond? 

Let's all aim detach us from the worlds we have connected ourselves too.  Either the worlds found in social networking, or even all the ideas that we do no need the Lord because we can collect our own money, prestige, and power.  Let's try not to react in frustration, when the Lord calls us to His Banquet!  Let's start to eagerly work on responding to the invitation that Jesus Christ!  The Banquet has been prepared for us in the Scripture, in Prayer, and completed in the the sacrifice of the Mass!  As it is said in the Sacrifice of the Mass, let us aim to be transformed "with him, in him, and through Him!"  

Oh and have no fear in the end the devil (Bowser) loses and Christ (Mario) rescues his Bride, the Church (Princess).

Even in My Own Sin and Brokenness, God Pursues Me!

"Nothing can stop [God], neither our faults nor our falls, absolutely nothing.  Jesus hurries to help that soul; and if the soul is faithful to this grace from God, she can in a short time reach the highest level of holiness that a created being can attain here below." ~ St. Faustina Kowalska

One of the great myteries of the Christian faith is how God's providence can work with our sin and brokenness?   God acknowledges our freedom and does not force Himself upon us. Yet God doesn't leave us in our sin and brokenness, He pursues us all the more, specifically in our sin and brokenness.  How beautiful is that pursuit!?!

One Scripture passage that points to this pursuit is 1 Samuel 8.  Samuel, a prophet and priest for the Israelites, is confronted by the disheartened Israelites.  Looking around at nearby kingdoms, the Israelites request/demand from Samuel that he anoints them a king.  Samuel is broken-hearted feeling he has failed God.  God, however, encourages Samuel and says, "Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them." (1 Sam 8:7)

The Scripture makes it clear:

God respects Man's free will even when that free will includes man's rejection of Him.

What does God do with their decision? Does he reject Israel as they rejected Him?  Does he search out another tribe to fulfill His promises?  He gives Israel a king (Saul and then David).  As a loving Father, He acknowledges and works within the context of Man's freedom.  He doesn't reject them, but He works within Man's rejection.  If we continue to read the Scriptures in their fulfillment we see God through man's rejection of Him once again becomes King of Kings and Lord of Lords! (cf. Revelation 19:16) 

Even in man's sin and brokenness, God doesn't abandon humanity.  He doesn't leave us to our sin, but works within our freedom to fulfill His Providence!!!  I don't know about you, but this brings me tremendous peace!  In my own sin, failures, brokenness, in my own rejections of God; God does not abandon me, but continues to pursues me!

Isn't it beautiful to know that God is not competing with our decisions, but working to draw us to Him all the more.

"Nothing can stop [God], neither our faults nor our falls, absolutely nothing.  Jesus hurries to help that soul; and if the soul is faithful to this grace from God, she can in a short time reach the highest level of holiness that a created being can attain here below." ~ St. Faustina Kowalska