A Love Letter to Yourself

What do you truly believe?  What drives your every action?  What is at the core of who you believe yourself to be?  Do you believe in God?  Do You believe in an afterlife?  Do you believe what you do, how you behave, how you treat others will have consequences for you either now or in the future (even at the end of your days)?

If these questions have relevance for you, have struck a chord, then take a minute or three and write down how you feel about them.  Putting our thoughts on paper, or the computer word processor, gives them some semblance of permanence.  Sometimes what you think you know, when you sit down to write becomes somewhat less clear; even foggy.  Writing makes you seek clarity and order, and in a way truth.  It is somehow more difficult to deceive yourself when you put it in writing.

Yes, it’s true putting your thoughts in print opens you up to a sense of vulnerability.  Others might happen upon what you’ve written.  But if what is there is the truth about yourself, let them.  All too often we try to put on a mask for the world.  We try to appear as we think others want us to be.  Look deep within yourself.  Who are you, and where are you headed?  Embrace that person and empower him or her by putting their essence into words.

Then revisit this written description of yourself in six months.  Are you still the same person, or have things changed.  If so put down how they have changed.  Make a habit of revisiting this journal of your life’s goals, hopes , aspirations and you will not only see yourself grow as a person but grow closer to your ultimate destiny – an eternity with the God who created you.

May God Bless You, Deacon Doc

Merry Christmas

Our dear parishioners at Jesus, Our Risen Savior,

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” -Luke 2:14.

We greet you all a Merry Christmas with great joy and thanksgiving to God for giving us Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. Christmas is God’s most perfect and intimate way to reveal His love and salvation to mankind.

Jesus was born into a human family in Nazareth in order to affirm the dignity of family life, its salvation and sanctification. The human family is the domestic Church, a distinct and important ground in living and passing along our Catholic faith. (CCC 2204, 1657).

Our faith in the Incarnation of the Son of God allows us to surrender to the divine love and power to transform human lives. As you gather together this Christmas with family and friends, let the peace and love of Jesus Christ reign in your hearts. Let us celebrate this Christmas with eagerness to live ever anew a life transformed by the grace and power of the “Word made flesh”.

You are all be remembered in our prayers and Masses this Christmas weekend. A Blessed and Merry Christmas to all!

With Love and Prayers,

Fr. Ed, CRM
Fr. Gio, CRM
Fr. Ryan, CRM

 

God is Among Us

Luke 2:1-14

This Gospel opens with everyone in motion, traveling to the city of their origin.  But as it continues we realize that all are really coming to witness the greatest event since the creation of the world.  The Creator himself has come to be among his creation, his people, you and me.

But why did he come the way he did? A babe lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes.  The manger is a symbol of nourishment. It is a place to hold food.  Now it holds the food of life for all mankind.  The swaddling clothes are the trappings of humanity, but even more they are Christ saying to us “I am here to wrap my arms around you; to protect you from harm: to Love you.”

Who came that first night, two thousand years ago?  It was the shepherds.  It wasn’t the rich, the rulers, the Spiritual leaders of the people.  No.  It was the poor, the unclean, and the hard working, lowly shepherds.  They represent us, in our brokenness, in our sinfulness, with all our faults.  We, like the shepherds are probably fearful when God calls us to him.  But we need not fear.  Christ accepts us as we are, for to him we are friends.  So come near.  Come to the stable and see your God.  As the angels said “Do not be afraid.”  Be at peace and come as you are. Don’t put on airs, but come and know that Jesus truly Loves you.

But you say, this is only a tiny infant.  How can this be our God?  Just look around you.  See the multitude of heavenly angels who have come to pay homage, to worship, and to witness to you that this is truly The Son of God the Second Person of the Trinity, up close and personal.  The Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled, without a doubt.  But you only have to open your eyes and believe what you are seeing to know that this child is the Messiah.

Well if it is our God, what will we bring to him as a gift?  That is the great paradox of this event.  He asks nothing of us other than that we come and be with him.  It is he who will provide the gifts.  He brings with him Faith.  A Faith that there is a God and he loves us.  He brings with him Hope.  A Hope that we can be with him for all eternity.  And most of all he brings with him Love.  A love so great that he will give up all the comforts of heaven to live among us, to teach us and ultimately to die for us so that we might be with him forever.

So, come! Come to see the infant, God among us.  But stop a minute and ask yourself: What will I do after I see him?  Will you keep the good news to yourself, or like the shepherds, will you witness to the world, will you tell anyone who would listen that Christ our God has come, that he is here now, and that, above all else, he loves us.

May God Bless You and Merry Christmas,

Deacon Doc

 

The Great Plan

Paul (Ephesians 1:1-10) lays out God’s plan. We all have heard it.  We all say we believe it when we pray the Creed.

It all seems so easy.  Christ comes down from heaven, takes the form of man and becomes true God and true man, suffers and dies so that we all would be reconciled to the Father.  So that the great plan of God for all of mankind to be standing with Him, at His side in the most wonderful, beautiful, peaceful place imaginable for all eternity will one day be reality.

What has gone wrong?  Why do we so often act like we just don’t get it?  Why do good people do bad things?  Why do those who say they love God act otherwise?

Perhaps we are all the personification of Job.  Perhaps the devil has free reign to tempt and torture us short of determining when we will die, and God allows this to happen in order to see if we are up to the task.

Perhaps it’s our pride that drives us to think we can gain heaven on our own merit.  “Thanks Jesus for hanging on that cross, but I’m a good person, I go to Church, I keep the commandments, I love my fellow man – that should be enough to get me a ticket to the Show.”

The problem is that we as humans so often really just don’t get it.  We just don’t see reality when it comes to our place in creation and our relationship to God.

Why do so many of the saints tell us how unworthy they are?  Tell us what great sinners they are? (Even compared to so many of us who are not half as holy or close to our Creator as they)

The truth is we are so much inferior and insignificant compared to God as to be likened to a single grain of sand on all the shores of all the oceans of the world in His sight.  We have no chance of meriting our own salvation!  But God, in the Second Person of the Trinity, knew us from before we were conceived, loved us perfectly then, and loves us perfectly now.  He knew we would be frail, prone to failure, and yet He also knew that we deeply wanted to love Him back and complete His Great Plan.  It is because of this love that He suffered for us and it is because of this love that He never says no to us when we ask for a second, third, fourth,… chance.

So take heart!  Paul has told us of a Great Plan for mankind and if we will only try we can and will be part of that plan.

May God Bless You,

Deacon Doc

The Roots of Spirituality

What is spirituality? Is it sitting in an easy chair thinking serene thoughts of God and His relation to mankind? Or is it living a life dedicated to seeing God in all things in all places and in all people and responding to God’s call at all times?

Richard Rohr wrote that honesty and humility are the foundations of spirituality (Everything Belongs p. 48). Honesty is seeing the world as it really is and calling it as it really is. It is seeing ourselves for what we are, sinners, weak, frail creations who would be gods unto ourselves if we could. It is facing this reality and realizing the creation of our pride that this is. We must then seek the mercy of God to forgive us our trespasses against Him and look to see with the eyes of Christ. Honesty will open our eyes, and then, hopefully, our hearts to let God live within our souls as a guiding, a driving force to metonoia. So that our minds and hearts will be turned toward and not away from God. Honesty will open our eyes to the pres- ence of God in all His creation and thus lead us to respect and love all as Christ did and ever does.

Humility, likewise, allows us to go outside of ourselves to see our self as others see us; as God sees us. It puts truth before our eyes and asks us to affirm what we see. It allows us to see our self as the least so that one day we might be with the Greatest for eternity. Humility does more than let us see the truth about ourselves. It is the quality by which we swear before God and man that this is the truth and we know it to be so. Without humility we will never see ourselves in the Light of Christ and the road to heaven will not be illuminated for us to follow.

Honesty and humility are the tools by which we can recognize God when we encounter Him, whether that occurs in the sacraments, at Mass, in our wives and children, or in the stranger we meet as our day unfolds. As with any tool we must learn to use them properly in order to achieve the greatest results. Promise yourself that starting today you will not say or do anything without being aware of who you truly are, that is humility. Promise that you will not speak or do anything that is foreign to the purpose for which you were created, but if you do, that you will freely admit it and start over. That is being honest. Do this and you will surely encounter God at every turn of your existence and that my friends is being spiritual.

May God Bless You,

Deacon Doc