I'm sorry that the Mother of God Inconveniences You

So Happy New Year from Wisconsin! Today is officially January 1st, 2013, and what better way to start the new year than with a new blog post? Today is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It is a beautiful feast that celebrates Mary's role in the Salvation of the World as the "theotokos" or the "God-bearer." This title was officially conferred upon Our Blessed Mother in 431 at the Council of Ephesus thanks largely to St. Cyril of Alexandria, although she had been called the Theotokos long before 431 (I teach Church History, I couldn't help myself). This Feast Day is one of the most beautiful and one of the oldest Feasts on the Liturgical Calendar of the Catholic Church.

So when I was at Mass on Sunday in Southern California, suffice it to say that I was surprised when the priest celebrating Mass said in the announcements that January 1st would NOT be a Holy Day of Obligation. I left thinking that perhaps he had been joking or that he had misspoken, but then my dad dropped me off at the airport and asked me about that same thing since his priest had also mentioned it. So I go online today to do some research, especially since I just taught all of my students that January 1st is Holy Day of Obligation. Here is what I found on the website of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in the Diocese of Orange:

"For the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, The Bishops of Region 11 have determined that due to the pastoral reality and the pastoral hardships resulting from the obligation to attend Mass on January 1, the obligation of attending Mass has been dispensed.

Therefore, January1, 2013 is not a Holy Day of Obligation in the Diocese of Orange. But it remains a Holy Day of Obligation for the Universal Church. All Catholics are encouraged to attend Mass on January 1st."

So I can sort of understand dispensing with the Obligation when the Feast falls on a Saturday or a Monday, just like I can sort of understand the Church in the United States asking for a dispensation to allow Catholics to eat meat on Fridays outside of Lent, but this? SERIOUSLY?!?! What are the pastoral hardships involved here?! Just because people party too hard on New Year's Eve and are hungover the next day and don't want to go to Mass does not mean that we should just say, "Oh, that's fine, don't worry about celebrating the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God, she isn't really that important anyway." In fact, I think that we should emphasize the Feast Day because of the culture that surrounds New Year's Eve. I think having the obligation to attend Mass the next day encourages people to party more moderately and in a much more appropriate way. If this is such a big deal, why are only the Bishops of Region 11 doing this (Region 11 consists of the Dioceses in Hawaii, California and Nevada)?

At what point do we cross over from inculturation of the Gospel message to watering it down? At what point do we stop trying to change the Church to make her more appealing to others and start encouraging people to change themselves? There was a quote from  a Defending the Faith Conference in a Franciscan Way magazine not too long ago that said, "There are many scientific reasons, philosophical reasons, that people have a problem with the Church. But the biggest problem they have is that it requires a change of lifestyle, it requires them to change the way they live" or something along those lines. If we are to live as faithful Catholics we must require change of ourselves instead of requiring change of our Church.

When I read this, the first thing that came to my mind was the verse from St. Paul's Letter to Romans: "Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect" (Romans 12:2). I think that it would be pleasing to God for us to honor this Holy Feast Day. I think that Christ would want us to celebrate Mary's role in the Salvation of the world, for without her "fiat" the Incarnation would not have taken place. I love what St. Maximilian Kolbe has to say about Our Lady: Never be afraid of loving Our Lady too much. We can never love her more than Jesus did."

With these things in mind, I would humbly encourage the Bishops of Region 11 to reconsider this decision in upcoming years. I acknowledge, however, that I do not know all of the circumstances that played into this decision and I do not presume to know better than the Bishops of Holy Church, even if I seemed to give off that impression.

May Jesus Bless you through His Mother throughout this New Year and the rest of your days. May we continue to pray for our Church and for Her leaders.

God Love You!

Freedom: The Power to Love, the Power to Hurt

As we are all painfully aware, a horrible tragedy struck Newtown, Connecticut two days ago. As a teacher, and as a married man who one day hopes to have children, this tragedy struck particularly close to my heart. It struck even closer to my heart because I have been to Newtown several times and I have friends who live in Newtown, friends who I think of as family. And yet as painful as it was to hear about these things, I can't even imagine what the parents of those kids felt. My heart mourns for the 20 families, and the entire community, most closely affected by this tragedy.

It is tragedies like these that make our society question the Catholic notion of an All-Good, All-Powerful God. We see this kind of senseless violence, this loss of such beautiful innocent life, and the only reasonable question is: "Why?" Why did God allow this to happen? I have already seen people claiming that this was all a part of "God's master plan," making it seem like God not only allowed this to happen but actually willed it to happen. This is commonly known as the problem of evil. If God is all-good and all-powerful, why didn't He stop it from happening?

The only possible reason for these tragedies, the only adequate explanation (if one exists) is the human condition. As human beings we have a radical freedom that allows us to act harshly against one another. It is human beings who committed these acts by using this freedom. Our freedom allows us to choose between right and wrong. It is human freedom that has brought evil into our world. It is human beings who choose to harm one another. God never chooses to cause harm, he only tries to bring about good.

In His desire to bring about good, God has given us the gift of freedom. It is because of freedom that we are able to love. Without freedom, love would not be a possibility. And love is perhaps the most important aspect of life. St. Paul speaks beautifully about the importance of love in his First Letter to the Corinthians: "If I speak in human and angelic tongues--but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing." But it is this very gift that also provides us the opportunity to commit terrible atrocities.

Too often when faced with this type of pain,  we simply avoid the issue by saying, "Everything happens for a reason." This, however, is absurd and it is tragedies like this one that proves how absurd that saying is. I don't believe that there was a reason for the shooting at Columbine High School so many years ago. I don't believe there was a reason for the World Trade Center Attacks on September 11. I don't believe that there was a reason for the shootings in Aurora, Colorado earlier this year. I don't believe that there is a reason for this terrible tragedy. At least, not a Divine Reason.

I cannot tell you how much I despise this shirt!! It honestly makes me cringe, especially when good Christians push this as the truth. The truth is that God did not want this happen. He did not want the lives of so many of his beloved children to be cut tragically short. God did not allow this to happen because he wanted to get revenge. He didn't refuse to help those children because they don't talk about God in schools. In fact, he didn't refuse to help those children at all.

It may be difficult to see, it may be tough to believe, but God was right there with those kids. He was there in the midst of their suffering and their pain. He was there suffering along with them, suffering for them. He was there to try and console them and bring them peace. And he will be there for their families and friends now. He will be there to try and heal their hurts and their pains. He will be there to offer them his love and his grace and his mercy. He will pour out everything that he has for them because he is a Father and he knows what it is like to lose his only Son.

But grace does not work like Magic. God cannot heal their hearts unless they cooperate with His grace. He can offer them everything they could need to properly heal and if they are not aware of His love for them then they will not be able to accept his Love and Grace, they will not be able to experience the healing that He offers them. But God's love will not leave them. He will not stop trying to reveal Himself to them, He will not stop trying to heal them and bring them peace.

It wasn't God who hurt those children, it was a misguided a young man who was desperately in need of help. Could God have stopped him from hurting those kids? Not without taking away his freedom. God wanted that young man to choose love, but you cannot force love, you can only hope someone will choose it. And to live a life empty of love is to not live at all. Let us pray that we will come to a deeper understanding of freedom and a deeper understanding of human dignity!

This terrible tragedy reminded me of the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado. After that day, a woman who was at the theater posted a blog that I think is very applicable to this blog. Here is the Link!



God Love You!

The Quiet Hour

Have you ever had one of those moments of clarity where you are suddenly made aware of how tiny you are? One of those moments that shows you how petty the things around you truly are? A moment that, while reducing you to almost nothing, motivates you instead of depresses you? I had one of those moments tonight. The only way I can really relate it is through a story of scripture:

"Then the Lord said: 'Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will pass by.' There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing the rocks before the Lord--but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake--but the Lord was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire--but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire a light, silent sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave." 1 Kings 19:11-13

I just love this passage from first Kings. We hear of God appearing in a theophany so often in Scripture--the burning bush, the clouds and lightening at Mount Sinai, the earthquake at Pentecost, that I think we begin to expect God to act in big ways, to reveal himself loudly and obviously. But God doesn't always work like that. In fact, it has been my experience that God often works in the small things, in the quiet places.

My strongest experiences with God, those times that I most strongly feel God's presence, are moments of quiet contemplation and of silent prayer. These moments do not happen frequently for me and so I thank the Lord that my faith is not based on feeling but on Truth. I know that God is always with me, it is just an extra blessing when He really lets me know. But I can think back on several moments when I really felt God's presence with me, not just as a joy within me but as a tangible presence, and these moments have always happened softly and quietly.

Tonight I had one of these moments where God just moved swiftly and decisively in my life and called me out of complacency and back into an active faith. God did not tell me that I was not doing enough to seek Him and to live my life for Him, He showed me!

It happened at a totally unexpected moment: there I was grading homework assignments and watching "The OC" with my wife (Jason, I hate you by the way--this show is addicting). I innocently logged onto Facebook  (because I am a part of that generation that must be connected to their social media several times a day) and saw pictures of Clark Thompson from his half Ironman (congratulations Clark, that is incredible!). Clark had dedicated his half Ironman to our friend Tyler who passed away this summer. His shirt said "This one is for you Tyler" and had a picture of Tyler's face and the years of his amazing and far too brief life.

Just seeing Tyler's name made me think of the many absurd things that he and I did together. I remember when we were in Austria, he and I went hiking together one day, just the two of us. Most of the snow had melted away and it was sunny and we decided to enjoy God's beauty. (CAUTION: this story may involve more personal details than you ever wanted to know.) As we were hiking up this mountain the snow kept getting deeper and deeper until we were almost up to our knees in snow. As our feet grew numb we turned back and tried to forge a new, quicker path down the mountain, only to find ourselves tripping and falling and losing our shoes. My favorite part about that trip was definitely stopping so that we could pee each other's names into the snow (why you may ask? well we were in college in the Austrian alps. Do we need a better reason?)

Thinking about my friend Tyler immediately put my life into perspective (It amazed me how, even after his death, Tyler can still affect such change in my life and still be such a positive influence on me). I quickly remembered how lucky I was to simply be alive. I began to realize how often I take my very existence for granted, not to mention all of the many and wonderful blessings that God has given me. Thinking about the simple and joyful way in which Tyler sought the Lord at every turn really made me realize how complacent I have become in my walk with Christ and how much more I can do to really serve, worship, and honor the King of Creation. These last few months have been so tough that I really used them as an excuse to spend hours "relaxing" and "unwinding" instead of looking to Cross and running after it. I spent so much time doing nothing and not enough time simply enjoying the presence of my God in the Holy Eucharist or listening to His voice in daily prayer.

As I started thinking about Tyler I remembered his "mission statement" from his photography website: "If I were to have a mission statement, I assume it would go as follows: To present Christ as irresistible to the yearning heart." This message is so convicting for me, and it should be for anyone who spends time preaching the Good News. It was especially convicting for me because it made me realize how little I have been expecting of my students in my classroom. As I thought about my teaching experience I realized that I had been teaching them religion and not expecting conversion, not expecting them to actually desire to change or desire to know God more. And yet everyday I have the opportunity to teach them about Christ, about the man who gave His life for them, about the God who loves them so much that He was willing to die for them. I have the opportunity every single day of the week to give their hearts what they so desperately desire! Their hearts yearn for Jesus Christ the Savior and Redeemer of the world! Whether they know it or not, their hearts are yearning for their Creator, yearning for that perfect Love, yearning for something which only God can provide.

And this is not just true of my students--this is true of every single person we meet. Young or old, Saint or sinner, our hearts are yearning for the Truth, for Love, for God Himself! How different we would treat those around us if we would just remain actively conscience of this fact! God Himself is madly in love with everyone around us! Why shouldn't we be also??

So in the words of my dear friend Tyler, let us take it upon ourselves to "present Christ as irresistible to the yearning human heart."

God Love You!