New Definitions

I am convinced that Christians need new definitions.  Read the below paragraph…

The world has lost its sense of sin and immorality is rampant.  Now, more than ever before, Christians are being charged to call the world to repent, to bring the Gospel to the unbelievers and the lost, and to spread the kingdom of God.  If Christians remain silent through sins of omission, the unbelieving world will lose out on the reward of eternal life and run the risk of plunging into hell.  God is calling all believers to go to war against the ways of the world, because the end is near.  He will judge each of us based on what we have done, or what we have failed to do.  Remember that Jesus came to save the world.  For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe would not perish but have everlasting life; but whoever would not believe, condemnation.

Here is the weird thing to me.  If I read this very paragraph out loud at a local church, I am pretty sure that most Christians would have a completely different idea as to what it means than what my intention or meaning is.  We need new definitions.

Here is the tragic thing to me.  If I read this very paragraph out loud to a group of people who don’t profess the Christian faith, I am also pretty sure that they would have a completely different idea as to what it means than what my intention or meaning is.  We need new definitions.

In all sincere honesty, I truly believe that the above paragraph, if read out loud to Christians of the 1^st century, would be interpreted completely differently than the way many Christians would understand it or apply it today.  To start, reread the paragraph, and then slowly go down the list below:

How do you define:

-World

-Sin

-Immorality

-Christians

-Repent

-Gospel

-Unbelievers

-Lost

-Kingdom of God

-Sins of omission

-Reward of eternal life

-Hell

-Believers going to war

-The ways of the world

-The end is near

-He will judge us on what we have done or failed to do

-Jesus

-Save the world

-Loved the world

-Believe

-Condemnation

Lately, I’ve been telling people that I feel called to reach out to the lost.  I think that they think that my understanding of “lost” is “non-Christian.”  But that is not what I mean by the lost.  I mean human beings, created in God’s image, suffering and battling with despair, depression, brokenness, suffering, darkness… in this regard, “the lost” just as easily can refer to many Christians as well as many who are not professed Christians.

Mother Teresa was onced asked about her thoughts on Ghandi, and she said, “He is the greatest Christian I know.”  Ghandi was a professed Hindu, not a Christian.  Hmmm… what does that mean?  Mother Teresa was considered by many professed Christians to be a living saint when she walked this earth, serving the poorest of the poor.  A saint is typically said to be someone who imitates Christ and is sustained by the grace of God.  So what does it mean when an imitator of Christ, sustained by God’s grace, names a Hindu as the greatest Christian she knows?  What does that mean about how she defined the term “Christian”?

A lot of people say they refuse to believe in the concept of hell.  And yet, I’ve seen, experienced, and lived through hell inside the locked doors of a detention facility.  I’ve known people who have traveled to other parts of the world and seen hell in person, through witnessing children die slow and painful deaths due to hunger.  Hell is very real, but how one defines “hell” is the question.  I’ve also seen heaven in person, through witnessing someone help clean up the garbage surrounding a homeless person and then eating lunch with him.  A lot of people speak of heaven and hell only as future destinations and concepts.  But Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven was already among us, and challenged his hearers to pursue eternal life, insisting time and again through parables, teachings, and miracles, that eternal life was not just something that awaited you when you die, but begins here and now, today, this very moment.  How do you define “heaven,” “hell,” “eternal life”?  How did Jesus define them?

In the early generations of the Christian movement, to proclaim “Jesus is Lord” was a direct knock against Roman powers and government, which claimed “Caesar is Lord.”  It was an outward way for Christians to say they followed the way of Jesus, not the ways and methods of Caesar and government power.  Terms like “Pax Christi,” the Peace of Christ, were political terms used to directly contradict “Pax Romana,” the Peace of Rome, which claimed that peace came through the sword and might of Roman power.  Christians insisted that the Peace of Christ came through service, love, and self-sacrifice.  Today, we are often told that America is the last great hope of the world, and that peace and freedom are not free, which is why we must go to war to ensure peace and freedom, both here and abroad.  “Pax Americana”?  What do you mean when you say Jesus is your Lord?  To Christians of the 1^st century, it was essentially the same as proclaiming, “Jesus is President, and we will follow his way, not the ways and methods of worldly power and government.”  Worldly power claims that peace is guaranteed through violence, and that money makes the world go round.  The Christian movement, from its inception, believed that peace was guaranteed through love, forgiveness, and reconciliation, and that God identifies himself with the suffering, the homeless, the forgotten, and the impoverished.  How do you define “Lord”?  How do you define “world”?  How do you define “freedom”?  How do you define “peace”?  How did persecuted Christians of the 1^st century define them?  How do Christians in America define them today?  Where is the kingdom of God found today?  Where is the kingdom of Caesar found?

We need new definitions.

The purpose of this article is not to give new dogmatic definitions, but hopefully to challenge some deep interior questions in our hearts.  I know that the temptation will arise to jump to conclusions and assumptions about what I’ve written and what I’m trying to get at; but in all honesty, any definitive conclusions or premature assumptions that are thought of will be nothing more than speculation.  I have intentionally worded this in a certain way and fashion.  Read what I’ve written and do your best to not read into it anything that is not there.  Simply take what I’ve written for what it is and question yourself as to how you define these terms.  Resist the urge to question whether or not I’m trying to lean to a “conservative” side or a “liberal side”, and just ask yourself how you define the terms.  Because I am now convinced that we need new definitions.

The Light Shines in the Darkness

It was in the pit of darkness that Light began to shine through… and the darkness could not overcome it.

I was completely alone… far from family, from loved ones, from my beautiful wife.  Depressed, miserable, fearful… and a preacher approached me and said, “God wanted me to tell you to read Revelation 3:14-21.  He said it is urgent; He has something to say to you through it.”

I had spent months in a spiritual tug-of-war that only those closest to me knew about.  Lord, I trust in you… but I really don’t trust in you, I’m still so very afraid… Lord, I love you… but I really can’t look at you, and I would prefer you would look away from me… Lord, I want to believe, want to hope, want to trust… but I can’t, I won’t, and I don’t. 

So often, I wrote poems expressing thoughts of deep despair and anxiety, and wished to be taken from this life… I had had enough of it… In my misery, I turned to alcohol, turned away from prayer… I cried to a God who I knew wanted to heal me, to hold me… but I would not let Him.  I did not want Him to get near me, though I knew He so desperately wanted to.  But I was hard-hearted; I refused… Lord, turn your face from me; I am not worthy to be in your presence.  Leave me alone!

My wife continued to silently pray for me… family and loved ones continued to believe in me… One cold night, while sipping coffee with a friend, he looked at me eye to eye and said, “Joseph, your test will become your testimony… your mess will become your message.  In the darkest moment, God will make himself known to you.”

I opened up the Bible and read the passage I was told God wanted me to read… as I quickly skimmed it, I thought, I’ve read this passage hundreds of times before.  I already know what it says.

..But then..

…I read it for the very first time.

And Jesus said to my heart, I know you… I know you better than you know yourself… I know your heart… I know your works.  You are neither hot nor cold… You are lukewarm– stale– stagnant… in a spiritual tug-of-war.  How I wish you would pick your side!  How I wish you would firmly make your choice!  Be either hot or cold, but choose which one you will be!  Either you will trust me as I take you by the hand, or you will not!  Which one will it be?

But Jesus, I cried, I want to have such faith!  I want to so badly!  But I don’t have that much faith!  Increase my faith, Lord, and I will follow you!

Jesus whispered, It only takes faith the size of a mustard seed…

Then I continued reading the passage, and He spoke again… Do you not know that you are going through this painful trial because I am using it to purify you and make you stronger than ever?  Do you hear me?  I stand at the door of your heart and knock!  Open the door to me, and I will come in!  Open the door!  OPEN THE DOOR!

God was pleading with me!  So often, in the past, I had spoken to so many people about the love and mercy of God… but never accepted it for myself.  Now, here He was, offering it to me… freely offering it to me!  And I began to cry, and boldly said, Lord, I hear you!  I am opening the door!  I am opening it for you!

The next morning, something felt different… I was still aware of my fears and anxieties, but it was as if a stronger Presence or Spirit had flooded into me… so much so that I felt it was overflowing in my soul.  It then became clear and real to me… God not only loves me, but truly has the power to change my heart… and this holds true for every single person!

Suddenly, without doubt or question, I knew with certainty that Jeremiah 29:11 was true– God declares, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future!”

It was in the darkness, at my lowest point, when God encountered me in a way I had never experienced before in my life… Love pursued me in the darkness!  And once the Light shone in, the darkness could not overcome it!  I am a new creation of His love…

The Deepest Truth…

My wife and I have slept in cars, homeless, without a penny to our name… we’ve slept in nice homes on comfortable beds with warm blankets… we’ve had loved ones turn their backs to us… we’ve had loved ones open their doors for us… we’ve eaten dinner on the street with a friend who is almost 70, surrounded by flies, and is missing one eye… we’ve eaten dinner with family at nice, fancy restaurants… we’ve experienced the cold chill of a spiritual dark night, feeling void of anything spiritual… we’ve encountered the warm joy of divine Presence in prayer…

The one thing that always remains constant…

every day, every night, every moment…

for us, and for you, and for the world– past, present, and future…

in good times, in bad times… in sickness, in health… in prosperity, in poverty…

the deepest truth…

..God is love..

God is love.

In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.

In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.

- St. John

I am convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

- St. Paul

Was there a need for Shrek 4?

Regulars of this blog might be thinking, “Joseph, why an article on Shrek?  We thought your blog was about faith?”  A couple points…

1. This blog of mine is about faith and life, and how the two are connected and intersect with each other.  I do not see a way to separate the two.  Every thing that happens to you, me, and the world on a daily basis, both monumental and seemingly insignifcant, I believe has a greater purpose.  Sometimes the purpose is unseen and unknown, other times it is very loud and obvious.  I believe God speaks to and guides us through the random, and not-so-random, things of everyday life.  I’ve had some people tell me in the past, “You’ve got to get your head out of the clouds.”  I am convicted that my head is firmly in the clouds while my feet are firmly planted on the ground.  I do not disconnect the two; I believe they are truly engaged with one another moment by moment.

2. Little-known Joseph trivia… I am a huge movie buff, have been since I was a kid.  I remember, like yesterday, the first day of 9th grade English class, and Mr. Walker asked the class, “What two very popular movies were both released in 1939?”  Without hesitation, I blurted out, “Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.”  He seemed impressed; I felt smug; but then the class laughed, and I realized, suddenly, that being a movie buff isn’t always the most popular thing.  I used to pride myself on knowing every single Oscar winner for Best Picture from 1939 all the way to the late 90′s.  Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten most at this point, and haven’t kept up with such things frantically for the past decade, but I still remember most. =)

(P.S. – if you want to know my favorite film of all time, it was the Best Picture winner in 1974)

I was reading an article recently which said that studio execs were puzzled as to why the box office this summer seemed to be so weak as opposed to previous summers.  Summer is typically a time for huge wealth to come Hollywood’s way, and is considered the season of blockbusters.  We’ve had some good ones (Toy Story 3), and successful ones, come our way so far, and even some surprises (I don’t think anyone expected The Karate Kid remake to be as big as it was).

With the economy being as it is, my wife and I rarely get to enjoy movies anymore.  When we were first dating a decade ago, we would go almost every week.  Sometimes I would go just to relax and end up falling asleep.  But things are different now, prices skyrocketing the way they are and wallets becoming emptier by the day.  Now, when a new film is released, we really have to challenge ourselves… is it worth the $15 plus the extra $$$ we will spend on snacks?  More often these days, we discern it is not worth it.  Sometimes, we’ve been duped… we paid the cost for Clash of the Titans, only to leave thinking, “Man, how much did we spend on that again?”

There are always numerous reasons why a certain particular film might not meet industry expectations, or why one season might fizzle financially compared to the previous year.  But in regards to this summer, I have one side thought… more like an after thought…

When the creators of Shrek first developed the concept for the film, I am pretty sure they thought, “Wow, we have a really funny and totally original idea on our hands here!  Let’s make it happen!”  I am sure when they created Shrek 2, they thought, “Wow, audiences really loved and responded to the first one!  We should follow up and give them a sequel!”  But by the time Shrek 3 was in the works, my hunch is they were thinking, “Well, it turns out we have a money maker on our hands, so it only makes sense… and lots of cents… to make a third installment.”  Do you see the difference?  The first two were conceived out of a great idea… the third, more out of hoped-for financial profit.

I could be totally wrong, of course, on this assumption… and yes, it is just that… an assumption.  And I definitely am not trying to judge the creators of the brand and say this is truly what they were thinking.  It is only my after thought based upon my experience of the first 3 films.  Shrek 3 seemed very contrived and forced; the humor was there in some scattered parts, but overall, it just felt like Hollywood was hacking up the same old-same old.  And that made for a boring story, in my opinion.

When I heard they made a Shrek 4, my sole thought was, “Uhhh…. why?  What for?”  Perhaps the creators wished to redeem themselves from 3, who knows?  Or perhaps they just figured that a 4 could still pull out and generate some financial gain.  However, based upon critic reviews and an overall disappointing box office reception, it seems audiences mainly thought the same way I did… “What was the point for 4?”  When something seems forcibly contrived, audiences can smell it a mile away.  I did not, and really do not plan to, see Shrek 4.  Just don’t really have the gut interest for it.  The trailer did not catch me; I was bored by the time it ended.  It made me think, “The magic is gone.”  And that is a tragic thought when watching a trailer, which is intended to rouse the interest of the viewer.

Again, my own thought and opinion here, but I think a part of the film’s failure at the box office, and perhaps a small reason why many films are failing this summer, is because audiences are tired of Hollywood crafting together stories which seem forced and stale.  We want Hollywood to work its alleged magic and give us a film that was made purely out of creativity, imagination, and good old-fashioned fun.  While the Shrek franchise bores me now, I still, every now and then, turn back to the original, and am reminded of the genius behind it.

I recently asked a cousin of mine, “Why do you like reading fiction?”  I love to read, but rarely fiction these days.  I told her that, when reading fiction, I feel as if I’m wasting my time with make-believe stuff when I could be reading about reality and actually learning something.  But I thought her answer was brilliant… “I love fiction because it takes me to an entirely different world.  I enter into the world of the characters.”  Suddenly, it hit me…. That’s exactly why I loved fiction when I was a kid… that’s exactly why I became a movie buff to begin with.  I shared that little quote with my wife last night, and she said, “Yeah, that’s why people love going to the movies.  It takes them, even if only for a brief moment, to a different world, something different than this.”  We were talking about romantic comedies, and how it is true that, so often, real life doesn’t have a happy Hollywood ending… but that’s when my wife said it’s probably why people love romantic comedies, because it gives them a glimpse of what they wish to see in real life.

What is the point of all this movie and fiction rambling?

Christianity… faith… spirituality… it can lose its magic, and begin to feel forced, stale, and contrived, when the same old story is being repeated over and over again.  I am not talking about the original story… no, I am talking about the rehash of the original story that we so often get from pastors and evangelists who may seem genuine on the outside, but give us that weird feeling deep down that they’re just trying to make a quick buck by telling us that God wants us all to be financially rich, or that God wants to give us a huge mansion so we will be happy, or that we must buy their latest book or contribute to their multi-million dollar building fund in order to hear the saving Gospel message and be rescued from eternal damnation by saying a 5-second prayer, or that God has a special blessing on America that makes us his favored nation as opposed to others which is why he will see to it that we triumph in war.  (Yes, by the way, I was just flipping through channels and encountered all of these examples this morning)…

It feels very contrived, forced, stale… something is missing.  The real magic is missing.  The pure, simple, and truly revolutionary message of a Leader who walked around without a penny to his name, healing the sick, raising the dead, feasting with “sinners,” challenging the religious elite, and calling all of us to be peacemakers, to love our enemies, to transform the world through acts of kindness and service, to go to the parts of our communities where there is despair and brokenness and anger, and be bringers of light… to always be on our toes about our own inability and weakness, to trust that God can bring real change to any hard-hearted soul, and to see his divine spark in the face of whomever we are speaking to… to place our trust in him, not in the ideologies or maxims or currents of the world… to envision a world where the poor and the rich are brother and sister, where religious and secular sit at the same table and enjoy one another’s company… where we come to God because we genuinely want to meet this Healer, this Leader, this Revolutionary, this Lover, and we want to walk with him and learn from him… not because we feel forced to out of fear.

The original message of Christianity still remains, intact in its purity and beautiful simplicity, in the lives of those like St. Therese or Mother Teresa or Shane Claiborne, or the scores of hidden, unknown saints, both in times past and today, who wake up each morning and ask, “Where is God at work today, and how can I join him?  Who is in need of his love and peace?  And how am I still falling short, and in need of his help and guiding hand?”

Pope Benedict XVI wrote, in his awesome book Jesus of Nazareth, that the Gospels’ best interpretation comes from the lives of the saints.  They are, he wrote, the walking Gospel, the Gospel with flesh and blood and breath.

When one encounters the original, the source, the roots… they are in awe of  how refreshingly different and challenging it still is today.  When one gazes the life and words of Jesus with the eyes of a child, one encounters a God who has been there all along, but perhaps they had lost sight of or forgotten about, because they were being bombarded with the forced, stale, and contrived messages about him that surround us.

I don’t think there was any real need for Shrek 4, but I still love going back to the original.  It still makes me laugh and smile.  And then I can forgive the boring Shrek 3.  Sometimes I hear all these modern ideas on God that seemed more geared towards making us to cling to him, either out of fear or so we can feel better about ourselves or be financially successful, rather than clinging to him because he is the God of love and peace and healing and restoration.  Sometimes I need to go back to the originals, the Gospels, with the eyes of a child and fall in love with Jesus all over again, and attach myself to his original vision and plan and dream.

I go to Mass each week, and sometimes daily, because it brings me back to the purity and beautiful simplicity of the God who lowers himself to us so he can raise us to him.  I truly encounter this God each time I go to Mass, in his Eucharistic presence.  And I fall in love all over again, and am driven to bring this love to others… not to force others in, but to live this love outwardly.  And if doing so happens to bring someone in, awesome!  If it doesn’t, it’s not my pressing concern… I’ll let them walk their own path with God, and do my job to love and serve.  But one of the most beautiful things I love about the Body of Christ on earth (the Church) is the concept of a brotherhood, a family, of imperfect people walking the path together, lifting one another up, directing one another’s gaze constantly to God.

People constantly tell me, “Joseph, you need to write a book!!!”  But why?  I always wonder… a book on what?  There’s tons and tons and tons of books on every possible topic imaginable already out there.  What can I add?  If something I say inspires you… take it and run with it and make it your own… chances are I got it from someone else anyways.  I’d much rather just do my small part in trying to build God’s kingdom through small acts of love… beginning with my family and friends, and extending to enemies and strangers.

I love the Gospels because, as my cousin said, they transport me into a different world… but the most amazing thing about them is, it’s not a world of make-believe… it is a world which surrounds me every step I take.  A new world truly is possible… cynicism, despair, hopelessness– I can’t let such things suck out the pure and beautiful dream and vision that Jesus offers to each of us.  I read the Gospels so I can be transported into the life and mind of God… but then I am challenged and charged to make this life come alive in my own time, weak and insufficient as I am… to reveal this divine mind of love and mercy and peace to the world around me.

I apologize… I truly do not know where I was going with this blog entry… let’s pray it made some sense.  May Shrek 3 or 4 not blind you or distract you from the beauty of the original.  May forced or stale versions of the Gospel not take you away from the raw power of the original.  May we be the flesh and blood of the Gospel to someone we encounter today… may the story of Jesus take us into his world, and keep us firmly planted in ours, since they’re both one and the same.  God bless…

Beauty… Perspective… Art

Perspective is key… we can all look at the same world, but we may see entirely different things… even if we’re looking at the exact same thing

what do you see when you glance at this picture?

a homeless man…

a stranger…

a bum…

or maybe

a brother

a child of God…

Beauty can be found everywhere… sometimes it’s easier to point out the things we don’t like, whether in persons, places, or things… but it’s definitely more of a challenge to point out the beauty we discover and encounter in persons, places, and things…

Beauty is all over the place

The world is not an ugly, broken canvas… it’s a masterpiece just waiting to be painted… so let’s grab a paintbrush, you and me

Did you know that God is a Painter?

 

Christians can sometimes be the first to point out what is wrong with the world… unfortunately, we so often forget that what is wrong with the world is the image staring back at me when I look into a mirror… praise God he is so patient and merciful!

Perhaps we need to be a People once again marked as those who point out the work of the divine Painter all around us, for other people to see… rather than saying, “You don’t know God” or “God would not approve of this”…

saying “God is all around you and within you… you’re just not looking hard enough, but let me show you where I see him at work… Let me point out to you where his beauty and love are manifest within you and all around you…”

Jesus had a tremendous way of showing others where God was at work in their hearts and in the world around them… perhaps this is the trend I need to follow… maybe this is where I need to ask God to grant me new eyes and a new heart to see myself, others, and the world the way he does…

 here is where the western culture says you can find beauty… clothes… makeup… abs…

we can see this so often, and virtually everywhere around us, that we actually start to believe and act as if this is beauty.

 here’s where St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa found beauty… Jesus in his hidden presence

Jesus loved the company of “notorious sinners”… he found beauty in their hearts… he pointed out to them that they, too, were God’s children, that he was desperately in love with them, that they were made for so much more, that they reflected a ray of light of the divine Painter…

…meanwhile, the Pharisees stood at a distance, murmuring about the ugliness of the very people God preferred to hang out with when he took on skin and bones…

God sees with different eyes than what the world sees…

we need to ask for new eyes, and new hands to paint

The next time you feel like complaining about everything wrong with the world, be prepared to answer God’s whisper: Be the answer to your prayer… be the change you wish to see… don’t wait around for politicians or leaders or someone else or the person next to you… be on the move and go!

The next time you are at church… the next time you’re at a coffee shop or grocery store… the next time you’re with family that you don’t seem to get along with… the next time you pass by a street of people living in cardboard boxes… think to yourself: These are people made by God, loved by God, created with a purpose and for heaven by God… Lord, help me to see them as you do.

The next time your Christian friend says, “That movie… that song… that person… is antichristian,” gently respond with: “I can tell you where God is present in that movie… in the artist singing the song… in the person whom he redeemed and loves.”

How do you define beauty?  Where do you find it?  Is it easier for you to find ugliness, and if so, why?

Where do you see God at work?  How can you join him?

Mother Mary, God’s created masterpiece, pray for us, show us the way to Jesus…

just a thought…

Lots of internet news on Lindsay Lohan having to go to jail soon, and lots of jokes and sarcasm and judgment on her tears in court…

…has any Christian thought yet to pray for her, to be strong and keep her eyes focused on the God who loves her so much?

She’s still his precious daughter, and he’s crazy in love with her…

Let’s pray for her, and leave the pointless talk and gossip at that

I got sick and tired of all the pointless news that came out about Tiger Woods a few months ago… I think God was sick and tired of it, too.

I hate celebrity gossip… I hate how it so easily and quickly fuels judgment in the heart.

Take the limelight away for a moment, and they, like us, are God’s children, made in his image, loved by him, redeemed by him, called by him…

Let’s quit the pointless and empty conversations, and pray for them with sincere, humble, and contrite hearts…

while we’re at it, let’s also ask God to have mercy on us… last time I looked in a mirror, I’m the same recovering sinner I was yesterday, and am no better than anyone else, limelight or not… I’m weak and in need of grace, just like you, just like the next celebrity.

Lord God, here is my prayer… help me to see people as you see them, and to see me as you see me.

Mary, my Mother, pray for me.  And for all those who are suffering at this present time.  Lift us up to your son, Jesus, our Lord and Lover and Brother and Savior and God.

never fails

I’ve seen and experienced the highs and lows that life has to offer…

I’ve walked through deserts with God… and followed him to hills and green pastures… and been carried through valleys of shadows of death…

one thing I’ve learned…

that I keep learning…

this I know…

the love and mercy of God never fails

The Right Questions

If Jesus is calling my wife and I to devote more time to the homeless and the suffering, and in return we are simplifying, downsizing, selling all we have and giving it to the poor to follow him…

why are some people asking us, “Where are you going to live?  What will you do about money?  How will you eat?”

Aren’t these the very type of questions that Jesus said the pagans ask and run after.  “What will we eat?  How will we dress?”  He says not to worry about such questions, for pagans ask them.  We know God and thus, we should know better.  We must devote ourselves to living and laboring for the kingdom of God and seeking the righteousness of God, and all these secondary, minor questions will be answered in God’s own time and way.

They are the secondary questions.  The unimportant ones.  So why are they #1 on everyone’s list?  Has our faith become too domesticated?  Have we become too comfortable?  When was the last time we let God shake us up a bit… or a lot.  When was the last time you let God lead you out of your comfort zone, to follow him?

Have we substituted Gospel values for cultural western values?  My wife and I don’t want better jobs with more pay to buy bigger homes and cars.  We don’t strive for that emptiness.  We want less and less and less.  We want to lose our lives in Christ so we may find real life.  We’ve been asked, “Aren’t you afraid of ministering to the homeless and something happening to you… like a drive by shooting?”  Don’t we believe in the Resurrection?  One second I’d be striving to follow God in this life, and the next second I’d be seeing him and holding him in eternity.  How glorious!  Why do we so often try to find homes that are in comfortable areas, far from the drugs, the poverty, the suffering?  Didn’t Jesus do the exact opposite?  He entered into this world and submerged himself into the ugliness of humanity, only to point us to the beauty contained within… the beauty we had been blinded to all along, because we were seeing with eyes of flesh, not the eyes of the Spirit.

Where are the Christians who will ask us the right questions?  The ones Jesus tells us to ask and ponder and respond to…

“We also want to end poverty!  How can we help?  What can we do?”  “We also want an end to suffering, to loneliness, to war.  How are you responding?  How are you finding peace and joy?  What can we do together?”  Aren’t these the right type of questions?  So let’s start asking them… and hungering and thirsting for answers.

The life and ministry of Jesus did not end two thousand years ago… it continues every single day, through his Body on earth…

“The answer is only important when you ask the right questions…” – Mr. Miyagi, The Next Karate Kid

A smoke signal

This story was forwarded to my email from my wife.  We both liked it, and thought we’d share it with you…

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited
island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he
scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to
protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, ‘God! How could you do this to me?’

 Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the
island!  It had come to rescue him! ‘How did you know I was here?’ asked the weary man of his rescuers. ‘We saw your smoke signal,’ they replied.

 The Moral of This Story: It’s easy to get discouraged when things are
going bad, but we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.

Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground.

It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

The Greatest Must Serve

Two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John, once approached the Lord and said, “We have something to ask of you… make us sit in great positions in your kingdom.”  Jesus responded with, “The one who wishes to be great must be a servant… just as I didn’t come to be served, but to serve.”

The ways of the world are so different from the Way offered through the eyes of Jesus.  While the world tells us to aspire for great things, and to push others aside for success, Jesus tells us to aspire for lowly things and to prefer to serve others rather than sit above them.  The world tells us that happiness comes from material success, and reaching a point where others must serve you.  Jesus tells us that true joy and peace comes from a different kind of success… one in which we lower ourselves before others, and place them and their needs before our own.

It is quite ironic, and odd, how the Way of Jesus differs so much at times from the way of the world.  It makes the Gospel difficult to understand for those of us born into a culture where we are told to buy more and more and to climb higher and higher in order to reach happiness.  But such a life ends up being empty and meaningless once all is said and done.  It is has been said that we don’t take a U-Haul to heaven when we die.  Jesus challenges us to rethink things and to question and challenge the thinking of the culture which has influenced us since childhood.  We must see all things differently, and usually when we do, we end up appearing crazy to the world.  The Way of Jesus is always backwards to the eyes of the world, but it is His Way that he proposes leads to true abundant life, both here and eventually in eternity.

In a world which screams at us to upsize, Jesus encourages us to downsize.  The world says, “More and more!,” while Jesus whispers, “Less and less.”  Imagine if we all took Jesus at his word, at face value… imagine how different our lives would be, and how different the world would be.

If what Jesus says is true, then in effect, he is saying that it is the janitors of church buildings that bring change to the faith, not so much leaders of ministry.  Unless, of course, ministry leaders accept the servant heart that Jesus wishes to give.

James and John say, “Lord, we have something to ask of you…,” but Jesus prefers we approach God with, “Lord, do you have something you ask of me?”  I am still learning how to apply this in all areas of my life.

Several years ago, when I was trying to convince a parish priest to hire me full time as a director of youth ministry, I was afraid that he might select somebody else for the position.  I thought I had to push myself and prove myself in order to beat the others… and then, one night, on a phone call with a close friend, a sister in the faith, I was reminded, “The last will be first, and the first will be last, in the kingdom of God.”  I did end up getting the position, but this God-given wisdom did not begin to affect me until years later, when I was realizing that I’d rather serve as a volunteer instead of being paid to lead a ministry.

But still, in practice, this God-given wisdom is difficult to live out, which is why I am dependant on the grace of God and the prayers of the faithful, to help me be attentive to God’s whisper and to act on it, even when it appears to be backward to my way of thinking.

Last night, I had a great conversation with a close relative, and we both were saying that the Church is in need of reform; to regain our sense of identity as the People of God, called to be a blessing to the world, and to reclaim our sense of solidarity and community with one another, as a family of faith.  One proposition offered in this regard was to establish new ministries which could reach out in different areas to the faithful.  But the more I contemplated this, it hit me that it is the janitors of the church… the servants… the lowly… the silent and unknown… who will bring about a change of heart.  It will not come about through the leaders, although God will use them as well, but it will come about slowly under the surface, like leaven, through humble hearts and hands willing to serve.

Perhaps, rather than waiting for change to come, we ought to start living out the change we wish to see.  The Gospel is intended to be good news for the poor, and Jesus came to serve the outcast, the marginalized, and the excluded, to give them positions more exalted than those in power.  If we see through the eyes of the world, we will never understand this.  But if we see through the heart of Jesus Christ, it will make all the sense in the world.

It may not make dollars… but it sure will make sense.  Others may laugh to the bank, but we will laugh to the kingdom, as it builds slowly and quietly, as it does in each passing generation when God gives his faithful new eyes and a new heart, through the preaching of His Word and the grace through the sacraments.

I once heard that one of the saints… possibly Francis or Louis de Montfort… used to bring a broom with him to the churches he visisted, so that he could sweep the floors.  Maybe the church is less in need of more outreach committees and more in need of Christians willing to sweep floors and love the loveless.

So often, I recall the days of when I led a ministry, and I miss it.  But sometimes I miss it for the wrong reasons.  God is very patient with me in all of this, thankfully.  Today he is giving me a heart to go walking on the nearby streets and offer love and service to whomever he places in my path.

I used to pride myself in being someone whom others saw as very spiritual and put-together.  God stripped me of that entirely, and now I am laid bare for the world to see… a weak individual, the weakest of all I know.  And this morning, in Mass, through the Gospel reading, God spoke to me… “Joseph Nicholas, stop trying to achieve greatness… you will only be humbled if you do… begin serving, as a spiritual janitor, as a beggar, and then you will discover the peace and joy of the kingdom.”

Like all Christians, I pray daily for God’s kingdom to be more visible on earth.  But we can no longer wait around for politicans to bring change… or even for new ministry committees to be formed… let’s just start taking our brooms and cleaning.  I can’t do it alone… I am far too incapable and weak… so we need each other.  Forget about waiting for change tomorrow… let us start living out change today, and place our trust and hope in the God who exalts the lowly.  I need you, I need your help… we need each other.  Let’s begin today.

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.  I entrust myself entirely to your care.  Lord Jesus, be patient with me, and conform my broken heart to your Sacred Heart.  Amen.