A “Different Perspective” – Ecumenical Prayer Experience

This is Part 2 in a 3 Part Series on “Different Perspectives.” Hope you enjoy! Final episode soon…

Back in January, one of the priests at my parish invited me to attend a planning meeting for something called the Justice Revival. I wasn’t sure what he was asking me to go to, but I decided to step out of my Catholic comfort zone and attend the meeting at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Dallas. Over the course of the monthly meetings I attended I was so moved by the different ways people prayed and preached from their faith traditions. I was amazed at the work people were already doing in our community to help people in need. I was grateful for how a belief in Jesus could bring us together to focus on our call to reach out to others and temporarily forget those things that divide us. At first I was thrown off by the impassioned preaching and the “Amens” from the audience, but I quickly found that I was moved by the outward expression of faith in prayer.

The Justice Revival took place over 3 evenings November 10-12. While the loud music and “altar call” were still a bit out of my comfort zone for worship, I received a “different perspective” from the amazing preaching I was able to hear on the 2 nights of the revival I attended. I was graced to hear Dr. Zan Wesley Holmes, Jr. on Tuesday. His stories of many, many years of bringing together churches to work for justice in Dallas were absolutely inspirational. His ability to integrate biblical stories with his own stories with challenges to us showed me what a gift he has been given to preach. Good things have come from the churches working together in the past, and we now have an opportunity to make good things come again.

Thursday brought the Emerging Leaders Dinner and a brief presentation by Lauren Winner. I would have loved for Lauren to have been given more than the 20 minutes she was allocated. She talked about bringing together our spiritual practices and our work in the world. She has a unique ability to connect to a young adult audience in a way that made sense and also challenged us to think. Her spirituality is deeply rooted in both her education and her experience. I’m looking forward to reading some of her books.

Finally, we heard from Jim Wallis, the founder of Sojourners Magazine and the brain behind the idea of the Justice Revival. I was amazed at his preaching because he was able to use words and phrases that spoke to the entire variety of people in attendance. He truly knows and understands how to bring Christians together for something they all have in common. He spoke for 5 minutes at the Emerging Leaders Dinner, and I think this actually had more impact on me than his talk later on at the Revival. He challenged the young adults to “think about their vocation more than their career.” Because I was helping at the event, I actually missed most of what he said, but I found where he presented a similar topic online in a commencement address he gave in 2007. Unfortunately, in my Catholic world “vocation” is almost always all about the priesthood…or if we’re “lucky” they don’t forget about religious, married, or single people. However, I’ve been struggling in my studies to understand even this 4-tiered definition of vocation. It seems to limit our calling from God to merely a state in life. Jim Wallis offers up an explanation of vocation as “where your gifts intersect the groaning needs of the world.” This “different perspective” on vocation has given me something to work with as I try to put some theology around my own vocational experiences.

I’m thankful for the variety of “different perspectives” I was introduced to through the process of planning for the Justice Revival over the last year. My prayer life is different because I was able to pray with Christians of other traditions. My concern for the issues in Dallas, and around the world, is heightened because my eyes have been opened. I’ve been inspired by the work others are doing for these issues. My Catholic view of our call from Jesus to help those in need has truly become a catholic view of social justice.

A "Different Perspective" - One the Sidelines During Mass

I know that I've been completely MIA on the blogging front for quite a while. I've had so many ideas to write about, and I finally decided tonight to take some time to do it. This is the first in a 3 part series of "Different Perspectives." I'll try to get the other 2 parts out over the next week or so. Hope you enjoy this one, and stay tuned...

About a week ago, our Sunday 5pm Mass was held in the gym instead of the main church. The congregation was set up facing the altar which was under one of the basketball hoops. Adam and I were running a bit late, so we had to sit in the bleachers, on the sidelines, facing the side of the congregation instead of the altar. We were both disappointed that Mass was being held in the gym, and I was particularly disappointed that we had to sit in the bleachers! Most of the time my body was twisted to face the altar to my left, so it was not very comfortable. Although we weren’t facing the front of the “church,” I tried to focus on what was going on in the Mass. I watched the lectors and deacon make Christ present to us by proclaiming the Word of God. I watched the priest make Christ present to us by consecrating the Eucharist. I looked directly at Christ made present in the Eucharist when the priest elevated the host for us all to see.

When I returned from receiving communion, after actually receiving Christ and making him present within me, and I sat down and looked straight ahead. I looked not at the ambo or at the altar, but at the rows of people directly in front of me. I looked at the chairs filled with bodies of all shapes and sizes, colors and ages. I recognized my friends in the congregation, and I peered at the faces of people I had never seen. I saw Christ present in the many young adults who attend our 5pm celebration. I saw Christ present in the families with teens. I watched the people as they sang the communion song. I watched one couple, probably in their sixties, and watched the man sing joyfully and passionately to a very contemporary song that many “older people” might not like (probably Matt Maher or David Kauffman or something similar). I saw Christ present in this man, showing us how music can touch our hearts and move us to be closer to Him.

Although sitting in the bleachers on the “sidelines” probably isn’t the best way to have full, active participation in the Mass, I was grateful for this different perspective. I know Christ is present in the Liturgy of the Word. We all know Christ is present in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. But sometimes we forget that Christ is just as present in the community of believers as he is in the rituals we participate in every Sunday.

My blogging is pathetic

If the Archbishop of NY has time to blog, shouldn't I have time? One of these days I will post something great for you all... :)

Thanks Marcel

Fr. Barron on Ted Kennedy

An interesting and rather poignant reflection on the political situation in our country how our Catholic faith doesn't fit perfectly into the political structures we have today. I think Fr. Barron's struggle is one many of us have today...



Thanks to Marcel for the post.

Reflection on Readings - Sunday, Aug 9

I was out of town this weekend and forgot to post this reflection on Sunday's readings. If you need a refresher, you can find the readings here.

I know there are many days when I feel exhausted and worn out and feel like I don’t have enough energy to keep up with all my various responsibilities. Sometimes I lose energy because I am not sure which direction God wants me to go. Sometimes I have used up all the energy I have on things that have come my way throughout the day or the week. Sometimes I don’t have enough energy because I haven’t had enough sleep, food, or exercise.

I am sure my struggles are very different than what Elijah experienced…after all, I’ve never traveled a day’s journey in the desert! Although I can’t relate to what Elijah was encountering in his life, I can learn something from his relationship with God. When Elijah was worn out, exhausted, and at the end of his rope, he said “That’s it God! I can’t do it anymore! You just need to take care of it!” And take care of it He did. God provided enough food and drink to strengthen Elijah for a forty day journey!

We learn in the Gospel today that God sent eternal food and drink to us in His son Jesus. Our source of strength and our energy is fueled by the intimate relationship with God that we are offered through Jesus our brother. We are blessed as Catholics to be able to experience that bread of life every Sunday, or even every day! The Eucharist, the living bread, our communion, draws us together in faith, nourishes us, and gives us the spiritual energy to not only get through our struggles, but to be an example of that living bread to everyone we encounter. With frequent reception of the Eucharist can gain strength to overcome whatever we have experienced in the past, get through whatever we are struggling with today, and prepare for whatever God is calling us to in the future

Reflection on Readings - Sunday, June 28th

I wrote this for our parish bulletin for this weekend. Hope you enjoy it!

This weekend we conclude the year of St. Paul as designated by our Holy Father last June. I am reminded of many things I have learned in the past year about Paul’s life, writings, and especially his faith. Paul believed, above all, that all of us are holy because we are created by God in His image. In all our faults, failings, gifts, talents, and successes, we are holy. Our second reading today, from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, can only be understood if we know that Paul believes we are holy. As he writes the letter to the Corinthians, he is writing this letter to us today as well.

Paul calls us to excel in FAITH. Our faith is a gift from God, not something we earn or work for. We can only excel in faith if God has first made us holy to accept the gift of faith.

Paul calls us to excel in DISCOURSE. He wants us to explore the understanding of our holiness with one another by discussing it within our communities of faith.

Paul calls us to excel in KNOWLEDGE. Paul is asking us to always learn more about the holiness that has been given to us by God. We should always seek out ways to better understand our faith.

Paul calls us to excel in ALL EARNESTNESS. We should take seriously our holiness. We should recognize the importance of what it means to be holy and recognize our importance in the world because of this gift of holiness.

Paul calls us to excel in LOVE. If our holiness does not lead us to love, what does it mean? Paul always comes back to the commandment from Christ to love one another, and he is still reminding us today how important this commandment is.

Finally, Paul calls us to excel in GRACIOUS ACTS. The holiness each of us has been given from God is completely unique. Our holiness gives us gifts and talents that only we can use to participate and share God’s plan with the world. We have each been given an abundance in some aspect of your life, and Paul calls us to share that abundance with others.

What can you do this week to discover how you excel in each of these areas? Or what do you need to do to excel? What gracious act can you share with a friend, family member, our parish community, or our civic community to show how God has blessed you with holiness?

A 3 Minute Reflection

One of my friends said to me this weekend, "I'm so disappointed in your blog!" To be honest, this was not someone I would have expected to be reading my blog or commenting on the fact that I haven't posted in a looong time (mostly because I don't ever think people read it and am always surprised when someone comments!). But it did bring me motivation to pay more attention and do some writing.

I actually had all sorts of things I wanted to write about after we got back from Europe. I have a few stories in mind and will post them in the coming days.

For now, I wanted to pass along an opportunity for a 3 minute reflection. I learned of a video post offered by the USCCB everyday that reflects on the daily readings. Today's is from Dallas' own Fr. John Libone from St. Thomas Aquinas church. Take a look: http://www.usccb.org/video/reflections.shtml.

Thy Kingdom Come

Well, as expected, school and my other 2 jobs have consumed my life this Spring! I'm hoping I can spend more time writing this summer since I won't be taking in classes...although my readings for class always seem to be my source of inspiration...

Anyway, thought you guys might enjoy a little snippet from an essay I'm turning in today. I read a chapter in Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth on The Lord's Prayer for this essay, and the comments are specifically related to the petition "Thy Kingdom Come." I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book!

Benedict XVI asks us to examine what the petition “Thy kingdom come” means within The Lord’s Prayer. He explains how this particular petition has a meaning within our daily lives here on earth. By including this petition in the prayer, Jesus “wants to show us how to pray and order our action in just this way.”[1] In other words, what we are asking for goes beyond just prayer; we are asking for something to affect the way we act every day. If God were not here amidst our actions, nothing could be good.[2] Because we, as humans, are created by God to be ordered to the good, if God’s kingdom were not here present with us we would not be able to sustain our being ordered in this way. By requesting for God’s kingdom to come, we realize that we constantly need revitalization and reminders in our lives as to what God is all about. In praying this petition, Benedict XVI tells us that we are saying to Jesus “Let us be yours, Lord! Pervade us, live in us; gather scattered humanity into your body, so that in you everything may be subordinated to God and you can then hand over the universe to the Father.”[3]

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[1] Benedict XVI 145.

[2] Benedict XVI 145.

[3] Benedict XVI 147.

Slooooooow Downnnnnn

I had a dream this morning, sometime around 5am-6:45am, that I was running really late to catch a flight. Like REALLY late. I had about an hour to get from somewhere else, to my house, get my bags, and get to DFW. If you know where I live, you know that all of that is physically impossible in an hour. So, I woke up this morning feeling so stressed and rushed. On any other morning I would have used that as an excuse to hit the snooze button and try to wake up without those feelings (which usually just resulted in my going back to the same dream!). Well, I'm trying for the 3^rd year in a row to give up my snooze button for Lent, so that was not an option.

 

I'm also trying to go to daily Mass for Lent. I decided today that I would go to 8am Mass then head into work. I set my alarm for 6:45 thinking that would give me plenty of time to get ready and get out the door. However, after I spent a few minutes to wake up, made coffee and lunch, I realized I was running late and started rushing around. I hopped in the car and headed to church.

 

On my way, in my stressed, rushed state, I realized I had left my phone at home. I thought "its ok, I can go the day without my security blanket." I was about half-way to church when 8:00 appeared on my clock. I thought, "I'll just go to 12:10 Mass at Holy Trinity (where I work), and now I can turn around and go home to get my phone." I suddenly felt a feeling of peace and calm come over me as I was no longer being rushed. I breathed a big sigh, took a sip of my coffee that was originally going to be waiting for me until after Mass and I made a u-turn to head home.

 

Two things happened after this decision. One, I got home and found no cell phone. I realized that it had been in my purse all along (of course I did not check that before turning around!!). Then, I was stuck in really thick traffic on 75 heading to work.

 

Normally, both of these things would have REALLY frustrated me and turned a bad morning worse. However, despite those 2 "inconveniences," I was so happy about my decision. It gave me a chance to enjoy my coffee while I was moving at 5 miles an hour. I was able to listen to a local Catholic Radio show that comes on 8-9am on Mondays by my buddy Dave Palmer that I did not was on the air (I hadn't really been getting up early enough to pay attention to the radio at that hour…). I learned all about the seminary system in Texas and a little bit about those seminarian guys in one of my classes at UD. And I enjoyed the pause in the day and was able to offer my time and the things I had planned today to God.

 

I wanted to write more about my daily pauses and the retreat from last weekend, but this entry is already too long, so I guess you'll just have to wait for the next installment…

Can I get that mat for you?

Last night, my pastor, Fr. Tony, preached on the gospel of Mark Chapter 2. He spoke about not only picking up your own mat, but picking up another's mat to help them also. He told a story about a guy coming into his office to talk about returning to the church after many many years. Then a few weeks later this man was at Mass and called aside Fr. Tony to say, "Look! I brought a couple of friends with me!" This man truly picked up his own mat that he had been sitting on for some many years, then immediately looked around to carry others' mats. What a lively, vibrant Church we would have if everyone worked hard to pick up each others' mats!

On another note, I went to a fantastic, although short, retreat on Saturday put on by a monastic named Macrina Wiederkehr. She wrote a book called Seven Sacred Pauses. I'm still digesting all of it, and probably will be for all of Lent, but I'm hoping to blog some about it soon. Stay tuned!

And so it begins...

Ok, so I wanted to try really REALLY hard not to post anything political for awhile. I OD'd on that last fall.

And I wanted to try really REALLY hard to absorb the excitement of this new president and give him the benefit of the doubt.

But, it is really REALLY hard for me to do that when he has already started taking steps against life. Seems like there are bigger issues going on inside our country that he should be worried about.

ABC News: Obama Overturns 'Mexico City Policy' Implemented by Reagan

I also find it strange that this guy held off to the day after the anniversary of Roe v. Wade because signing this on the actual day would be "too combative." Seriously? One day later is less combative? He was just afraid of all the wonderful people in town for the March for Life.

Please pray for our new administration. And pray hard. Obama needs it.

And for those of you in the Dallas area, all parishes should be participating in a postcard campaign against FOCA. Please make your voice heard for life!

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Life, Imagine the Potential Video

Vatican on Youtube?!

Did you know the Vatican has a YouTube channel? That's kinda cool! Let me know if you find anything particularly interesting on there!

http://www.youtube.com/vatican

Baptism of the Lord

(I was told in so many words that my posts are too long....but....I wrote this for the bulletin at church and thought I would go ahead and share it with you all! Enjoy! I'll post something shorter later on this week...) :)

This Sunday, we conclude our celebration of Christmas with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This feast brings a very interesting question to my mind: Why did Jesus need to be baptized if He was without sin?

The Church answers the question by giving us one of the four servant passages in Isaiah as our first reading today. In Isaiah, we learn about The Servant of the Lord who has been upheld by God, chosen by God, and given the spirit of God. We also learn of this Servant’s mission to bring justice to the world, open the eyes of the blind, release prisoners, and be a light to the nations. From the earliest apostles, the Church has made the connection between Jesus and the Servant and his mission as described in Isaiah. The final verse in the Gospel passage confirms this connection by linking back the first verse from the Isaiah reading, “You are my beloved Son; whit you I am well pleased.”

In other words, the purpose of Jesus’ baptism was not to cleanse his non-existent sins, but to give God an opportunity to show us His Son, His Servant and His Mission. What does this tell us about our own baptism? Our baptism was definitely important to cleanse our sins, but what are the other meanings? Are we not also chosen by God and given God’s Spirit? Do we not also have a mission to bring justice, heal the blind, release prisoners? Are we called to be a light to the nations? Most certainly! We are challenged daily to recognize God’s Spirit within us and give thanks for it. We called to immerse ourselves everyday in the mission of Jesus and be a light to the world.

Today, a few of our teens are participating in the Rite of Acceptance at the 11am Mass. This Rite is part of these teen’s path of Christian Initiation to come into full communion with the Church at the Easter Vigil. For some of these teens, this will include being baptized. We can all learn from their recognition of God’s Spirit within them and their acceptance of the mission, even during their challenging teen years. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to learn about what it means to be a Catholic on a mission!

And may God bless all of you in your daily commitment to your Baptismal call to be a “light to the nations.”

Bingo With Grandma

I went to visit my grandma at the beginning of this week, or Mammaw as I call her. She is the only grandparent I have left, and this is the first time that I’ve gone by myself to visit – usually I tag along with my Mom and Dad. Mammaw will be 87 years old next week and she is still kickin’ it. Mammaw lives in a one bedroom apartment, has never driven a day in her life, and the highlight of her week is playing Bingo on Monday nights at the Knights of Columbus hall. She takes cabs to the grocery store, to the doctor, and yes, to Bingo. She loves puzzles and Sudoku, Drew Carrey on the Price is Right, tennis, football, and I learned this week that she is a huge Seinfeld fan! Mammaw loved my iPhone and kept telling everyone they should check out this little thing that tells me how to get around everywhere. I’m amazed at how she knows so much about what is going on in the world!

I think a lot of people don’t appreciate what we can learn from our grannies. We are so focused on moving forward and keeping up with the times that we forget about what people have experienced in the past and how that is important. People who have lived 87 years have seen a lot, know and understand a lot about life, and have a lot to share with us. I learned many things from Mammaw this past week.

In this age where so many people think they deserve things to be given to them, it is important to work for everything we want. Mammaw grew up in an orphanage and was working by the age of 16. She never went to high school. Today we would call that cruel. But Mammaw just knew that she wanted something beyond those orphanage walls, and if she didn’t work for it no one was going to hand it to her. (She also never dealt with credit cards or debt or anything like that either – you want it? You sell something you don’t want for the money or you work to make it happen!)

In this age where the feminists look down on women who stay home with their kids, I learned the value of being a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom for those of you who don’t know the mommy acronyms!). Mammaw jokes about how she worked for 25 years with no pay, no days off, and no vacations! How true that is! What a wonderful, tough job to stay home and raise kids! I feel blessed that my mom was able to work at home with us, and I hope I will be able to offer that gift to our children one day.

In this age where we want to take the easy road in relationships and dealing with family, I learned the importance of working through hard times and sticking with a hard situation to aim for the bigger picture. Mammaw had 4 children at home, all under school. Today 4 kids is a HUGE family – and for them all to be so close in age!! Mammaw knew that she wanted to be there for those kids and wanted to see them all go to college, so she worked through everything else that came along to make that happen. (And they did all go to college!)

It is not always easy to pick up the phone and call your grandparent, or even an older aunt or uncle. Sometimes they have complaints about their health or the situation they are in. But they have so much to share with us, so much wisdom that we can learned from. And they need our love too. While we are running from one event to the next, one dinner party to the next meeting, we forget that there are people in this world who are lonely. Some of our grandparents don’t have much else except the families they seen grow up and change. Pick up the phone and offer some love, you might get some great wisdom in return.

Grace and Life

First - thanks to all of you who posted comments on my last blog! You all are awesome! I'm looking forward to more blogging this spring. :)

I went to visit my grandma (known to me as Mammaw) for the last several days, and I have lots of thoughts to share on that. But, I HAVE to get into work today and get ready for the first youth meeting of 2009! So, while I was trying to catch up on email at home I came across this linke and thought I would share it.

Erin is the name of the girl who died suddenly during the White Rock Marathon. This is a great reflection on life and grace. It is a few weeks old, but I still think you will like it!
http://milemarkers.runnersworld.com/2008/12/for-erin.html

Back on the Blogging Wagon

Also named: New Year’s Resolutions

I’m not one to usually make New Year’s Resolutions. However, I have done 2 things today that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, so I’m thinking maybe that is progress enough to feel confident to make a few resolutions. Let me start with what I’ve done today. First, I did some spiritual reading along with morning prayer this morning. I paid a whopping 99 cents for an app on my iPhone called iBreviary. It has the Divine Office (or Liturgy of the Hours) loaded on the for each day, so I decided to give it a whirl. Second, I finally peeled off 2 stickers inside my car that have been there since last summer. One was just the sticky from an old registration sticker, and the other was my 07-08 UD parking sticker (yes, it has been piled up with the 08-09 since August…).

Anywho, here’s a few things I’m thinking about sticking with this year:

1. I want to keep up with this blog! I seriously want to write 1-2x a week on here. I can’t believe it’s been since October since I’ve posted anything. I feel like such a slacker. I seriously got so wrapped up in writing for school that I didn’t think I had any more words. Really, I just didn’t make it a priority. Is anyone even still reading this thing? I promise, I will give you more, and more interesting, material!
2. I want to go get my allergy shot 2x a week. Random, I know. But, I have to wait 20 minutes each time I go, so I feel like it is such a chore! I was lucky to make it in 1x/week last fall. I want to do what I’m supposed to do to try to get rid of these allergy problems – and that means a 2x/week commitment!
3. I want to do more spiritual practices. I want to read more spiritual books. I want to go on a silent retreat at Montserrat. I want to do morning and evening prayer. The reading stuff may go out the window as soon as school starts back in two weeks, but maybe I can get into a routine between now and then. Plus, it will give me many more interesting things to share with you here!
4. I want pick out pictures and order my wedding album. It is already paid for as part of the package we got, but for many reasons I won’t list here we just haven’t done it. This seriously needs to be done before the end of this month!!
5. I want to organize my time better. That includes me getting up earlier in the morning – a struggle I have had all my life and will continue to have everyday. (this is something I did NOT do today...arg!)
   

Ok, so 5 resolutions. Not too bad. Do you have any to share? Any ideas to help me with any of mine?

Thanks for reading! Looking forward to writing more in 2009. :)