Happy Birthday to the Church!

Pentecost Sunday is one of the most ancient feasts of the Church, celebrated early enough to be mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (20:16) and St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (16:8). It is the 50th day after Easter(if we count both Easter and Pentecost), and it supplants the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which took place 50 days after the Passover and which celebrated the sealing of the Old Covenant on Mount Sinai.


The Acts of the Apostles recounts the story of the original Pentecost as well (Acts 2).

Jews from all over were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast. On that Sunday, ten days after our Lord's Ascension, the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary were gathered in the Upper Room, where they had seen Christ after His Resurrection: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with different tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. [Acts 2:2-4]

Christ had promised His Apostles that He would send His Holy Spirit, and, on Pentecost, they were granted the gifts of the Spirit. The Apostles began to preach the Gospel in all of the languages that the Jews who were gathered there spoke, and about 3,000 people were converted and baptized that day.


That is why Pentecost is often called "the birthday of the Church." On this day, with the descent of the Holy Spirit, Christ's mission is completed, and the New Covenant is inaugurated. And, as with most “birthdays”, there are gifts!

Gifts of the Holy Spirit enable us to live a holy Christian life. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are:

• Wisdom - desire for the things of God, and to direct our whole life and all our actions to His honor and glory
• Understanding - enable us to know more clearly the mysteries of faith
• Counsel - warn us of the deceits of the devil, and of the dangers to salvation
• Fortitude - strengthen us to do the will of God in all things
• Knowledge - enable us to discover the will of God in all things
• Piety - love God as a Father, and obey Him because we love Him
• Fear of the Lord - have a dread of sin and fear of offending God

How can we tell that the Spirit has given us our “presents”? By our acts! You can tell a tree by its fruits! The twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are works that we can perform only with the aid of the Spirit.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are charity (love), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continency (self-control in sexual matters), and chastity.

But the “gifts” and “fruits” are not forced upon us. We must accept them or use them as our free will guides us. Too often in today’s world, either through stubborness or ignorance, these gifts are rejected. Let’s pray that more of God’s people accept these gifts and turn away from the sin and relativism that seems to prevail today.

Come Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your Divine Love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth. Oh God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructed the hearts of the faithful, Grant, that by the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Truth, Justice and the American Way?

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!….
Look, up in the sky!
It's a bird!
It's a plane!
It's Superman!
Yes. It's Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way.

I have been able to recite this introduction to the old Superman TV show since I was 5 years old. The most important words to me were not the abilities that Superman had—as impressive as they were—they were the last 11 words that left the biggest impression on me.

“…fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.” I grew up believing that truth and justice ARE the American way. And the older I get the more I realize it IS a battle to maintain this belief.

Truth and justice are taking a real beating and the American way is quickly becoming blurred, if not a joke, in the eyes of the world.

Truth is marriage between one man and one woman, blessed by God for the purpose of procreation. Justice is not allowing a “Supreme” court to decide the voters don’t really know what they are voting for (even though I still don’t get why we should have to vote on what is obviously God’s plan.)

Truth and justice is allowing everyone the right to life, happiness and peace, even if they haven’t taken their first breath outside of their mother’s womb. Notice the word “life” is first.

Truth and justice is allowing our elderly to age gracefully and with dignity to their NATURAL end.

Truth and justice is doing everything we can to help those who are poor to maintain their dignity—by finding them honest work and honest pay—not enabling them to continue taking advantage of each other or turning to crime to survive.

So when did we, as Americans, forget these truths? Did we forget them or did we simply grow tired of fighting? Battles are tough, I’ll grant you that. But we, as Christians, have the power to take this country back from those who have forgotten Who blesses it if we will just remember to use it…

It’s called prayer. No cry of God’s people will go unanswered. Early in the Bible, God made that clear when He said to Moses in the desert of Midian, "I have heard the cries of my people and have come to rescue them."(Exodus 3) God is not indifferent to human suffering and will comfort those who mourn. This is the intent of the reign of God for which Jesus has come; it is the future for which Christians earnestly hope.

I mourn for my country. We seem to have lost our direction. At the same time, I take heart in knowing that God still holds all those who suffer in the palm of His hand. Comforting those who mourn, alleviating the suffering that leads to anguish are divine and noble works that we are called to as followers of Jesus. What greater work can we do than offer prayers for those who are responsible for the direction of this country, that they wake up and see the Truth for Who HE is??

And since today is the eve of Pentacost Sunday, I think it is proper to ask Jesus, through Mary, to send His Paraclete to us with the gift of strength to continue the battle.

Won’t you join me?

Come on a journey with me

Have you ever fallen asleep while reciting the Rosary? I try not to, but it happens—occasionally after an unusually taxing day, or if I find other (more important?) things to do and wait until I’m bone tired to start the prayer.

Then there are times that I am reflecting on a particular “mystery” of the Rosary and it feels like I am there! Suddenly I realize that my head is not bowing, but falling down onto my chest and I awaken with a “snort”! I have heard of others who fall asleep, but I hope they have the good sense to awaken more quietly—and in private. Several times I have fallen asleep while in Adoration! Not for long, mind you, but long enough to chastise myself as Christ chastised Peter, James and John when he said, "Could you not watch one hour with me?" (Mt 24:40)

On my drive home from Bakersfield today, I could have said several Rosaries. But I was so tired that I was afraid of falling asleep, so I contemplated the Rosary itself. I thought about what the Rosary is to me.

The image I came up with was Our Blessed Mother reaching out, and taking my hand. Then she said, “Come on a journey with me, child.” As we walked along a path of roses, she began telling me a story.

It started with the Angel Gabriel appearing to a young woman to announce the birth of a Savior to all nations. Then the pregnant young girl visited her cousin, Elizabeth, who's own expected child "leaps in the womb" because he recognizes the presence of God Incarnate. You know the rest of the story. It continued with the Blessed Mother telling me the rest of the Joyful Mysteries, then the Luminous, the Sorrowful (where the path of roses turns to thorns), and the Glorious, ending with the “young woman” mentioned at the beginning of the story being crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth. What an image, huh? Wouldn’t it be something to hear the story we all know so well from Mary’s own perspective and voice? I believe that if we are in the right frame of mind when we recite the Rosary, that's exactly what is happening.

I was feeling quite smug about the image I thought up all by myself, wondering if anyone else had ever come up with a similar meditation, so I decided to search the web when I got home to look for other “meditations on the Rosary.” As it turns out, the competition was very stiff, and no, I wasn’t the first to consider this aspect of the Rosary. In fact, most of the other meditations said it better.

One of the first articles to come up on a Yahoo.com search was the Apostolic Letter, ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE, written by Pope John Paul II when he “introduced” the Luminous Mysteries (or “Mysteries of Light”) in 2003.

In his letter, the Holy Father said, “The Blessed Rosary of Mary, a sweet chain linking us to God, in a way similar to what takes place in the Liturgy, the Christian week, centered on Sunday, the day of Resurrection, becomes a journey through the mysteries of the life of Christ, and he is revealed in the lives of his disciples as the Lord of time and of history. To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” He also wrote, “Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word: “She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51). The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her, leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son's side. In a way those memories were to be the “rosary” which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life.” The man sure could turn a phrase. Of course love and devotion can do that to someone.

I realized that the Holy Father’s impression of the Rosary was very similar to the one I had envisioned earlier today. At least I’m in good company.

After reading the Pope’s letter, I feel “energized” enough to stay awake for the prayer tonight, so I’ll leave you with this image and these words: “Come on a journey with me, child.”

Blame it on the full moon

Today is the full moon. Did it affect YOUR behavior? Or just the OTHER GUY'S? Both of you? Or neither? Why do police forces traditionally send more men out on patrol during full moons? And how is it that during every other phase of the moon I am able to satisfy my customers' needs, but during a full moon nothing I do seems to be agreeable? Is there something to this age-old question, or is it just a wive's tale? Being a really inquisitive guy, I thought, "Everything I want to know about this sort of thing can be found on the "WORLD WIDE WEB" (cue the drum rolls and trumpet blasts)! I typed in "Full moon, and craziness". Sure enough, there are plenty of articles, blogs, and opinions on the matter--127,000,000 of them! When I saw the results of the search, I busted a gut laughing! The first 30 articles all had an opinion, even though they were different. Everybody is an expert on the subject, but almost none of them believe in the phenomenon. If there is nothing to it, why so many writings and opinions on the subject? (Sounds a lot like a belief in God, doesn't it?)

Some of the explanations sound plausible. Some attribute the changes in behavior to the fact that the full moon has a greater effect on the tides than at any other time of the month, and since humans are 80% water, it follows that we would be effected as well. Consider this: The oceans cover over 60% of the earth. Even a water mass of that volume only rises about 10 feet at best during the full moon. Can the moon have that kind of effect on the comparatively small volume of water in a 6 foot tall human being? I just don't think this explanation holds water (pun intended).

Other explanations use the greater gravity pull during a full moon to scramble the "positive" and "negative" ions that surround our bodies, as if these "ions" are what determine our personalities. I discount this theory because it is also the same one posed on really windy days. Which is it--the moon or the wind?

The bottom line, in my opinion, is that even though most people don't really believe the full moon makes them any crazier than normal, they're willing to come up with ANY explanation rather than face the reality that we are imperfect human beings prone to bouts of personality change without notice once in a while. So go ahead, blame that road rage or verbal outburst against your neighbor on the moon. After all, we can SEE the moon. We can't SEE sin against our brothers and sisters.

Holy Mother, you have shown us the rewards that a proper disposition to prayer can attain. Help us to imitate your example. Amen.

So easy to understand, So hard to do!

MatthewChapter 18: 1-10
At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come! If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.


Mom and I have been having a little “blog dialogue” about how children see things much more differently than adults. Our conversation got me thinking about Matthew 18.

I read a blog by a college student once who said she didn’t believe in God. She used to, she said, “because my parents told me I did. But the older I got, the more I realized I didn’t KNOW God. How can I LOVE Him if I don’t KNOW Him?”

Of course, I personally think that this young lady was seduced by secular academia, which generally espouses atheism. But I also think that she might not have been seduced if her parents had “practiced what they preached” and lived their faith and showed her their own faith with more child-like obedience to God’s simple rules for us.

Obedience to the teaching of Christ through His church is not “blind” faith. It is an “obedient” faith. Regardless of what today’s society teaches us (that ‘anything goes’), our parents really did know best. “Self-made” men and women are very few and far between. Most of us are “made” by learning right from wrong, how to live and how to love from our parents. For the most part we respect their decisions and teaching because we know instinctively they would not knowingly lie to us or allow any harm to come to us.


We sometimes tend to over-analyze what our heavenly Father is really asking us to do. It is a problem mankind has had since the beginning. It’s why He sent His only Son to tell us, in PLAIN LANGUAGE, simple enough for CHILDREN to understand, to LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE, AND TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS HE LOVES US.
All-powerful and ever-living God, You sent us your Son to teach us what we should know instinctively. Thank you for being patient with us.


Dear Jesus, thank you for teaching us the will of Our Father, that we love one another. We hope that by following your example we may have a share in your glory. Please have mercy on us who are slow to understand the lesson.

Loving Holy Spirit, please bestow on us the graces to recognize those times when we can put the lesson we have learned from Jesus into action, and the strength to overcome our hesitancy to do so.


Dear Mother Mary, please help us to become examples of faith and love as your Son taught us, and to share this loving gospel with others.



Amen.

Feeling History While Praying

First up tonight: an apology. I hijacked Mom's blog for an entry I thought would give us all a laugh about how life was for Tom through HIS eyes, and how the same trip that Mom remembered was remembered differently by Tom. Whereas it was a weekend that Mom would just as soon forget, for Tom it was an experience that opened his eyes to our father's unconditional love for us. I was not in any way trying to ruin Mom's version. My apologies if it came across that way.

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Second up: Every time I make these weeklong trips away from home, I start missing Marilyn terribly about 2 days in. And I'm so busy during the day, I don't get a chance to call her and let her know I love her. By the time I get to the hotel or find the time, I'm sure she's already in bed. That's what I get for being a night owl married to an early bird. But when I get home from these trips, it's Marilyn that my thoughts are honed in to and I can't do anything else until I've kissed her and let her know I've missed her. Then it's on to Lily Bug! That's a whole 'nother chapter!

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When I got here to Bakersfield last Thursday, I checked on the Mass times for each parish in the Bakersfield area to see if I could visit a church I haven't been to yet as part of my pilgrimage. I found out there is a 5:30 Mass on Tuesdays only at San Clemente Mission church. I was absolutely "giddy" with anticipation of visiting and worshiping Our Lord in a new surrounding. I was not disappointed. What a quaint church! As the name implies, it is a Mission church. I did not see any literature on it, but I could feel the history. Check out some pictures at http://www.sanclementemission.org/gallery/scmp/index.html .

The courtyard was replete with green grass, fruit and shade trees, fountains and statues of Jesus, Mary, and about 2 dozen saints all around. It was almost like a hacienda, with the church as the centerpiece of architecture. Kind of a Southwestern style of buildings. The walls of the church were adorned with statues of the early church fathers and a couple of patron saints like Mary Magdalene, Father Pro, and Father Serra, as well as Rennaisance style paintings depicting the stations of the cross and many other small pieces of hand-me-down family heirlooms (or so it seemed to me) that were hung with care near the beautiful stained-glass windows. The artwork reminded me of the churches I visited in Ecuador.

I got there about 4:30. I wanted to look around before I went in since, after all, I am on a pilgrimage. When I walked through the doors, it took my breath away! It is much larger than it appears from the outside. I felt like I was in a different time. Very pious, very holy. I didn't see anyone around, yet most doors to every building were wide open. That's not something you see anywhere anymore. Most churches I've visited as of late are locked until just before Mass, then locked again right afterward, unless there is Adoration going on--and even then, most of those doors have "combination lock" security type doors to prevent unwelcome "guests". Which is very sad, because "the church" ("we") should not have to worry about the safety of Our Lord or our neighbors in our chapels.

I was alone for about 15 minutes before anybody else came in. He was the deacon, I found out during Mass, and also the sacristan for today. He saw me sitting quietly saying my rosary, smiled and said "Welcome! I haven't seen you before!" I told him I was there for the Mass that was advertised in the "net" for 5:30. He said, "Oh, that's supposed to be 6 pm". I told him that was ok, I was used to sitting quietly and speaking to Christ in the tabernacle and that I was having a real spiritual experience with all of the history going on around me. He smiled and continued to prepare the altar for Mass. About 10 minutes later, he came in and asked me if I would like to go to confession, because the priest had just arrived and usually heard confessions before mass. I thanked him and said no, that I had just recently, within the last couple of weeks, gone and I had not made a sufficient examination of conscience to confess "off the cuff", so to speak. I then asked if the reason he thought of me was because I looked guilty of something. He just smiled and let out a little laugh and went on about his business.

More people started trickling in until there were about 30 of us in all. I must have stood out as the only Gringo in the place! They were chattering in Spanish to one another at the doorway, but when they spoke to me, it was purely English. The priest was caught up in my "Gringo-ness", as well. He was saying the Mass in Spanish until he saw me sitting in the front row and would occasionally "slip" and say the introductions in English--which threw the Spanish speakers out of sync! It was funny--when he said "The Lord be with you" in Spanish, everyone responded in Spanish. When he looked at me, he said "The Lord be with you" in English and I was the only one to respond (loudly) , "And also with you!" Our eyes would meet and I could tell he wanted to laugh at my obvious discomfort at being the only guy with no clue what he was saying otherwise.

But, as I've said before, the Mass is the Mass no matter what language is spoken, and I am filled with joy and wonder every time I get to partake of the Eucharist with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Hail, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the Fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Is that YOU, Lord?

There is one in every parish, it seems.

In Lodi, he's there every night at the 5:30 Mass. He looks like the guy you would go out of your way to cross the street to avoid--unshaven, wrinkled clothes (I think they're the same every day), cheap sandals on his feet. But he slips into the chapel every night at about 5:29 to listen to the Word of God and share in the Eucharist. He never kneels, never sits. Only stands with his hands folded and his eyes on the crucifix. He is always the last in line to receive Our Lord--both the Host and the Precious Blood.

In Fresno, she's the elderly Mexican lady who knows the words to every hymn, but obviously not the notes. She wears a head covering and the rosary beads in her hands keep count as she says her Hail Marys throughout the Mass and her face glows when she receives the Eucharist. She is always last in line to receive both the Host and the Precious Blood.

In Bakersfield, he's there no matter what Mass I attend, or whatever hour I decide to attend Adoration--the older Mexican man with his harmonica, his arthitis-gnarled hands, and his faith. He is a little "off." He will grab a bunch of bulletins, or missalettes, or whatever else is in the church to read then tap everyone on the shoulder and offer it to whoever wants it. During Mass, he's the unofficial "music minister". He knows about 5 tunes on his harmonica--"Holy God, We Praise Your Name", "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", "Taps" and "The Halls of Montezuma". I found out tonight he's been practicing a form of the Alleluia that is sung before the reading of the Gospel. He yawns loudly throughout the Mass (involuntarily) except during the prayer of Consecration and when he receives the Eucharist--always the last in line to receive the Host and the Precious Blood.

In Stockton, it's the guy who sits in the very last pew of the Cathedral for Mass when there are only about 20 people total in attendance. But you hear him respond when he's supposed to, in that booming, unmistakable voice. Again, he's the last to recieve, and under both Species.

I rented a movie last night. Me. The tightwad of the century. Why pay for a movie when it will eventually be shown for free? Because there was absolutely NOTHING I wanted to see on the "boob tube" last night!

Not to get off of my train of thought, but have any of you been to a Blockbuster Video or Hollywood Video store recently? All those movies and the only "family" movies are cartoons! Everything else has nudity, violence or suggestive language. Sorry, but I refuse to pay for those "virtues."

Anyway, I did find two movies that were well worth renting. The fact that they were "little seen" movies that were only $1 each sweetened the deal. The first was a movie titled, "Joshua".

"Joshua" walks into a small town with just some 1st century carpenter tools in his possession and starts rebuilding a church and the lives of the people in town. In the end, he is revealed to be Jesus Christ, who just wants to remind the town that He loves them. Real ecumenical, but a good message with no real contradictions of faith or morals. I really enjoyed it.

The 2nd movie was "Mother Teresa" starring Olivia Hussey. You'll remember she played Mary in the TV mini-series "Jesus of Nazareth" in the 70's. She was very good in this movie. So good, in fact, that I found myself crying during certain parts. It's a good thing nobody was around to see that. Oops! The cat is out of the bag. I'm such a girl sometimes. ha ha.

In the movie, Mother Teresa notices a man lying in the middle of the street crying out for help and no one seems to notice him. Mother Teresa kneels down beside him and the man simply says, "I thirst." She immediately recognizes Christ in "the poorest of the poor".

He's the same Christ I see whether I'm in the church in Lodi, Fresno, Bakersfield, or Stockton.

Or just walking down the street in Anytown, USA. Do YOU see Him, too?

Tonight's picture is reportedly a rendition of Mother Teresa when she was a young girl, asking the Blessed Mother to take her petitions to Jesus.

Hoping to make a difference

Peter (said) to them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call." He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day.

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one's need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts2: 38-47)

When I began this blog, my intention was to lessen my grief over the loss of my brother Tom, who passed away in January of 2001. I grieved for a long time in silence, and realized that the "tribute" I wrote about our life together was what kept me from being a total wreck. It occured to me that writing is quite therapeutic for me. I also realized that if something were to happen to me suddenly , it might lessen my family's grief to know what I thought about and felt while I was with them. Since most of my life revolves around my relationship with Jesus and my family and the example I want to set as a father, my blog evolved into a vehicle to share my thoughts and my life as I take my journey of faith.

When I read the passage above today, I saw a correlation between what the early disciples of Christ were doing and what I and others who use the "web" are doing to spread the Good News.

What I hope I am doing is showing others, through my own experience, the trials and joys of being a follower of Christ. I have wondered what effect my blog is having as far as evangelization because as I said earlier, I thought the only people reading it were family. In a sense, that's true. We, as the Body of Christ, are family. What I meant though is my blood relatives.

But in the last few weeks, I've been made aware that several other people are regular readers of my humble little blog and have actually enjoyed what I had to say and, more importantly, want to hear more! They tell me they especially like the occasional Bible readings and interpretations as they relate to my own life. These non-"family" members have remarked to me that they have either grown in their own faith or are asking me to help them in their search for Truth.

There is something else I've noticed lately--and I hope it's simply because of the way I conduct myself daily....I no longer get the dirty emails or jokes from co-workers and friends because they "don't want to offend me". I prefer to think that they have stopped because they "see" Christ in me and don't want to offend Him!

I have said time and again that I'm not a qualified apologist in the strictest sense, but I also feel that if I'm asked for help in bringing someone to Christ, I cannot and must not refuse. There is an old saying that (roughly) if one person is on a journey, it's quite lonely--but if two are on the journey, it's an adventure. I do hope that by writing this blog and living a Christian life that I am making a difference and becoming a part of Pope John Paul II's "new evangelization" and becoming that "second person on the journey". After all, isn't it our responsibility as "Christians" to tell everyone we come in contact with the Good News that God loves us all and is calling us to share in the happiness of His Son's kingship?

Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

This 'n that, nothin' much

Sorry. I know I promised a blog every day in May with a picture to honor Our Lady, but that's what ONE beer will do to me these days!

For years now, I have tried to keep meatless Fridays. I think I've been pretty good at it. I know that we, as Catholics can substitute eating meat with some other form of penance or act of mercy, but quite frankly, I'm an old-fashioned sort of Catholic--Christ died on a Friday, and abstaining from meat is a remembrance of his awesome gift.

Anyway, I can count the number of times in the past 5(?) years that I have failed to remember what day it is, and eaten meat. Twice. The first time was when the family and I were in New York City a year ago February. We went to Ellis Island to look up the records of arrival to the United States from Italy of Marilyn's grandparents and uncle. We ate in the restaurant/gift shop and the hotdogs were Nathan's! Not thinking what day it was, and seeing those mouth-watering dogs was the perfect recipe for forgetting my abstention.

The second time was yesterday. One of my responsibities is to "cover" the General Managers when they take vacations. NORMAL people take vacations from Monday through Sunday. That way, they can take off "early" the Friday prior and get ten days of vacation out of 7. Not U-Haul General Managers though. For some reason, the last two GMs have taken Thursday through the following Wednesday! AND they've scheduled ME to work Sundays! Since I have promised to cover the days and hours they work when they go on vacation, if they normally work Sundays, so will I. But it sure screws up my "internal calendar!" I completely forgot that yesterday was Friday until AFTER lunch, when I got in my car to go back to work and I hear the radio (tuned to EWTN) host say, "...and tonight, on The World Over, with Raymond Arroyo...." Ugh.

I thought, ok, it's not a sin. But I'll go to the chapel anyway and sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament and let Jesus know I didn't really forget what he did for me.

For dinner, I decided to get my favorite, shrimp a la diabla. It ALWAYS gives me heartburn, but it's soooo goooood. And of course, what is Mexican food without beer? While I don't get drunk, or even a "buzz" with one beer, it does make me sleepy after about an hour. I used to be able to drink two or three beers before I felt drowsy. Now it seems I'm drowsy after the first couple of sips. I just didn't feel like writing a blog, or watching TV, or playing games on the computer, or anything but sleeping. And did I sleep! I laid down on the sofa when I got back to the company apartment without even turning any lights on and fell right to sleep. I slept all night (without my C-Pap again!) and woke up by 5am, without an alarm, to get ready for work this morning at 7 feeling pretty refreshed.

I worked until about noon, then went to lunch. Since I brought my clubs with me (actually, I forgot to take them out of the car the last time I went golfing), I thought I would look for a golf course and hit a bucket of balls. I had heard that there was a golf course out by the airport, so I started at one end of Airport Drive and figured I would find it. I didn't. But, my mind being what it is, I was listening to and praying along with the rosary being said on the radio and the next thing I know, there is a sign that says, "Delano, 12 miles" to the left, and "Glennville, 11 miles/Lake Isabella, 23 miles" to the right. As Mom remembers from the first time I ever went to Lake Tahoe with her, I took the signs as a challenge.....

.....I took the right fork. I could have turned around, but what's the fun in being absent-minded if you can't have fun along the way? And it was only 23 miles to a beautiful river (the Kern). The 23 miles on the signpost was accurate, but what it didn't say was that it would take the better part of an hour and 5 minutes to get there. I have never been on a State highway that was narrower and had more switchbacks in the road as Highway 155. If you look on a map, it's nowhere near as curvy and steep as real-life! There is a 15 mile stretch that can not be traversed faster than 25 miles per hour, or you'll go right over the side with nothing to stop you on the way down. But it was beautiful.

Father Groeschel's program, "Sunday Night Live" came on at 2pm and I was listening to something he said pertaining to the Holy Spirit, when I blurted out loud, "Holy Spirit, if you're leading me along this treacherous road toward some podunk little town (meaning Glennville), at least make it worth my while and show me a pretty little church or something that I can visit as part of my 'pilgrimage'". Just goes to show you that he doesn't give me "signs" EVERY time I ask like the day before in the chapel in Gustine--it was a nothing but a little bend in the road. But the drive was invigorating and the lake and river views were well worth it. The lake looked full and the river was raging. I got back into Bakersfield about 4pm and turns out nobody even realized I was gone!

I turned on the TV a few minutes ago, and the local Catholic TV station (they are not EWTN per se, but they do carry some of the programs) was starting a program called "Movie Classics with Father Ricardo". I laughed out loud when I saw "Father Ricardo".

One of the first priests I met when going to daily Mass in Bakersfield was Father Ricardo Magdaleno. He speaks really fast and his homilies usually start out with a theme, but get off track because his mind races faster than his speech. But he is a good priest with good old-fashioned values who will let you know exactly what he is thinking, with a sense of humor and wit that is similar to mine. He is the first priest to hear my confession in Bakersfield.

I was kind of sad when he told me after Mass one day that he was being transferred to a "mission" church in Fresno, where he would minister to the patients in a nearby hospital. I was going to miss his sense of humor. It was good to see that the Bishop is using his talents in a unique way. I'm going to have to visit this "mission" church one of these days and check on him.

Well, that's enough for tonight. I'll probably have another "lives of the saints" entry tomorrow. I've read a couple of good ones this week I'd like to share.

Here is Our Lady of Lourdes, as depicted by Hector Garrido:

Our Lady of Miracles

Our Lady of Miracles

Man! What a long day! I just got in to my hotel room. It's 11pm. But it wasn't a bad day. I got everything accomplished I set out to do, and had a couple of good meditative hours--probably not good while I'm driving, but evidently the Holy Spirit was in the car with me--I made it safely.

My plans were to be finished with the "work" part of my day by 3:30, and it was exactly 3:30 when I got back to Stockton after a trip to Merced, Sonora, Merced, Modesto then home. I thought I would take I-5 to Bakersfield to cut about 1/2 hour off of my drive. That would put me in Los Banos about 5pm. I looked online to find out if the church in Los Banos had a Mass in the evening, but no go. Then I thought, "Why not check some of the small towns around there?" I had to be choosy, because I needed to be in the Fresno Diocese. The priests in the Stockton Diocese are on retreat, so if I went to a Stockton-run parish, it would probably be a communion service, which is just not the same for me spiritually as a Mass.





The church in Gustine, just North of Los Banos listed a Mass at 6:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and would be perfect timing. It would allow me about an hour for prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament and then Mass. Of course it would also make me get to Bakersfield later, but the Mass is the highlight of my day, and I reaaalllly hate to miss it. Besides, I am still on my "pilgrimage" to visit every Catholic church in the Central Valley of California and I had not been to this church yet. I wasn't disappointed.





I got to the church, Our Lady of Miracles (isn't that a great name?) at 5pm as expected and the door was open. What a beautiful little church! It was established in 1919. It still has the communion rail both in the church and in the adoration chapel, and has a statue of Our Lady for just about every apparition and name she is known by in every nook and cranny. I had read the establishment date before finding the church and expected an older "feel". I was struck by how "new" and "modern" it was inside. It made me think of Mom. She was born the same year and we have talked a lot about how she doesn't feel nearly as old as she is. Now whenever I see Mom I'll think of this church and vice versa.





As soon as I got there, I went directly to the adoration chapel to say my rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet and just visit Our Lord. On the walls on either side of the Tabernacle were painted pictures of angels on clouds sort of "presenting" Jesus to the faithful. Absolutely beautiful. What struck me though was that each time I looked at the "clouds" the angels "flew" in on, I saw something different. You know, like when we were kids we lie on our backs and look at the clouds, trying to "see" something in them. In the chapel today, at first they were just clouds. Then I shut my eyes while saying the rosary. I find it easier to concentrate and meditate with my eyes closed. When I opened them again, I saw the shape of a mother, lying down, with a child lying atop of her in a loving pose. I shut my eyes again to say the Divine Mercy chaplet. This time after opening my eyes, I saw in the shape of the clouds a father, giving a "horseback" ride to a young child. Man, the ideas that the Holy Spirit fills me with in prayer. First, I say our Lady's prayer, and I see a mother with child. Then I say the Divine Mercy and I see a loving father playing with his child. This stuff is too wild to be making it up. Thanks be to God.





By the time I was finished with my prayers and meditation, it was 6:20 and I realized I hadn't seen anybody in the church since I got there. I said, out loud, "Lord, is there a Mass tonight? Let me know, because if there isn't one, I'd like to get going before it gets too late." Sure enough, at that very moment, I hear someone "rustling" outside the door. "Get up and find out," something inside me said. It was the lady who cleans the church. She seemed startled to see me coming out of the chapel, as it was dark when I went in and I couldn't find light switch, so it remained unlit. She probably didn't think anyone was in there. I asked her if there was going to be a Mass tonight, and she said, "I don't know. I'm not usually here at this time of night. I am going out of town tomorrow and something told me I should clean up tonight." Freaky, I tell ya. But at the same time, it shouldn't surprise anyone with as close a relationship to Jesus as I felt this afternoon.





I grabbed a bulletin, and sure enough, there was no Mass scheduled. I think I'll write an email to the pastor and remind him to change his website.





When I got back in the car, it occured to me that since there was no Mass, I wasn't able to recieve Christ in the Eucharist today. But I still feel He "abided" in me and I in Him.





I was going to blog about the Ascension tonight (because that's what I was really meditating on all day), but with the freaky things that happened in the church today, I lost my train of thought. I'll write about the Ascension on Sunday.

Rambling on......

It's not often that I wake up in a good mood. Today started out terrific! I got to Mass at 6:30 am. The visiting priest (I didn't catch his name) was one I recognized from years ago but I can't remember which parish. He's about 7' tall (OK, he's only about 6'11") and probably retired about 30 years ago. But he loooooves to sing! He sang an entrance hymn (Come, Holy Ghost) and after the confeitior(sp) recited the Gloria. Pretty old school. We sang Immaculate Mary(?) after the Prayers of the Faithful and a Hail Mary, then we sang the Our Father. We finished up with another old standby that I don't know the title to or even the words right now. But I did know them this morning. Isn't that funny? The only thing that bothered me about it was the "informal" atmosphere he projected when saying the prayers. It was like he was saying Mass at his home altar. He probably does say his own Mass at home every day, and it carried over. I just wasn't prepared for it. Probably explains why he didn't perform "the washing of his hands" just before the Consecration. I think he forgot. Or it could be that the server who was attending him forgot to bring out the bowl. I'm pretty sure the Mass was still licit. The matter and form of Consecration were correct.

After Mass, my schedule called for me to work in Modesto. Actually, I'm supposed to have been working there for 2 weeks now, but the manager has given her notice and the place is a mess and I don't want to deal with it, so I've been "finding" other tasks that keep me away from there. The manager is due back tomorrow, so I'll let her fix her own problems before she leaves. I'll clean it up with the new manager in a couple of weeks. I just didn't want to get in a bad mood today.

I was pretty much on cruise control until just before lunch when my traffic manager called and asked me to do some equipment transfers tomorrow. Being a "team player", I said, "Sure, where am I going and how many trucks?" To which she replied, "Begin in Merced (1 hour from home), then make two trips to Sonora and back (1 1/2 hours each way), then take some more trucks back to Modesto (1/2 way home), then you can go home." I thought, "Great! I love to drive. I'll be driving my whole shift and I won't have to be cooped up in a store all day!"

But then she wanted me to find the drivers and set the times. While I may be a team player, the same cannot be said for a lot of my managers. They whine when they don't get support and when I want to support them, they refuse to help. Ah, supervision! It's not a career, it's an adventure!

I finally got the transfers set up, when Todd calls me and says, "What time were you going to be in Bakersfield tomorrow?" I said, "What????" It seems I was scheduled to cover Bakersfield at the last minute because the manager down there has to take an emergency "vacation".

So as good as I felt, I got really tired just thinking about tomorrow. I'm going to start my day at 5:30 in the morning. My transfers won't be completed until about 2 or 3 pm (I have to give the crew lunch and rest breaks by law). I will end up at the end of the transfers about 3pm in Stockton, then I have to drive all the way to Bakersfield , probably arriving after 11pm (I have to make stops and "small" transfers all the way down.) I will be there until 4 pm next Thursday. That's 8 days. My next day off won't come until the 31st! My last day off was Sunday. So here I am, exhausted--and I haven't even gone to bed yet!

But why am I complaining? I have a job that keeps me hopping all day and pays me well. I work for a company that all in all treats its employees with respect and is in no immediate danger of going under. In fact, all of the stores under my supervision and control have surpassed revenues from last year and made profit to boot. How many people out there have lost their jobs and homes and families recently?

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for all that You give me.

Thanks, Mom, for the daily rosaries.

Thanks to anyone else out there that remembers me in your prayers. I really do appreciate it and I am trying to reciprocate.

Oh, and sorry for the boring blog today. Not enough time to think. Obviously tomorrow I will have a lot of thinking going on. Uh, oh. Now you'll be expecting something spectacular! We'll see......(it is, after all, Ascension Thursday tomorrow!) ;-0 [I'm told this is a wink, in "text-speak"]

Our Lady of Lourdes

Skinned Knees

Hey! I just noticed yesterday was my 100th blog entry! Woo hoo! Ok, enough celebrating--back to business.

As I wrote yesterday, I had a meeting today. We have the same meeting every 3rd Tuesday. Not similar meetings--the same meeting. Oh, some content may change, but not enough to make it interesting. My boss, Todd, has been involved (on behalf of U-Haul) in a court case with the State of California that has been dragging on for over 2 years now. We think it's close to a settlement, but he gets "summoned" to depositions and hearings quite often with just 12 hours notice. The appearances are frequently canceled just as suddenly. I don't know how he keeps his cool about it--I'd be tearing my hair out if I had any left!

Anyway, he was supposed to be at a hearing today and I was going to lead the meeting. I went down to Fresno yesterday to prepare for it. The General Managers were excited because when I lead the meetings, they are usually over by noon, and they can get back to work serving customers. Todd's hearing was canceled at 4pm yesterday, so he ended up leading the meeting instead.

Todd and I discuss every month how he can run a meeting like I do and be done by noon, and we plan on it. But it never happens with him. He gets confused and off-track and will continually check his e-mail and answer it during the meeting while we all sit around and look at one another, and, like today, the meeting won't end until 5 pm.

I could have gone to Mass at 6:45 this morning then go to the meeting, but since Todd had promised to end the meeting earlier this month, I thought, "OK,I will just go tonight in Stockton". Well, it didn't happen. Fortunately, there is a 5:30 in Fresno, at St. Anthony Claret. Unfortunately, it's a Spanish Mass. But variety is the spice of life, and I can understand Spanish somewhat as long as it is spoken slowly enough. Since it was obvious that Spanish was the 2nd language of the priest tonight, it was understandable for me. And no matter what language is spoken at Mass, it is the same all over the world, anyway. I just prefer to understand the homilies rather than guess at the message.

What I like about St. Anthony's is the crucifix behind the altar. The Corpus is life-sized and painted realistically and brings home to me the suffering Christ went through for me (for all of us).

Tonight I noticed something in the way the Corpus is painted that occupied my thoughts for the next 3 hours until I got home; the crucifix shows Christ with skinned knees, obviously representing the falls he took while carrying the cross to Calvary.

But is that the obvious conclusion? For some reason, it made me think of His childhood. All children skin their knees often when learning to walk, and although Jesus is God, He still experienced all of the frailties of His human nature, so skinned knees probably occured.

Then I thought "What other injuries or feelings might He have experienced while 'advancing in age and wisdom and favor before God and man'"? (Lk 2:52)

Even before He was found in the Temple. While He was learning to walk, did He skin His knees? Did He cry and ask for "Mommy" or "Daddy" (meaning St. Joseph)? When learning the trade of a carpenter was there a time when the hammer slipped and smashed a finger? And if these things did happen, were they, in effect, a part of the redemptive sufferings He suffered for our sakes?

What about the anxiety He must have felt as a teenager in anticipation of His "coming out" at the wedding feast in Cana? He MUST have been anxious to spread His Father's Word, but in humility He waited until the appointed time. Was this anxiety part of our redemption as well?

Too much heavy thinking for one day. I think I'll go to bed, since it's after midnight now and I want to go to Mass at 6:30, then work in Modesto all day tomorrow.

I'll write some more tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a picture of Our Lady of Good Remedy:

I wasn't expecting the Bishop to say Mass this morning, since all of the priests in our diocese are on a retreat. I thought he would be leading the retreat. It was a nice surprise to have him celebrate, because he usually has homilies that speak directly to me. Not today. It was so uninspiring, I can't remember a single thing he said. I guess that happens sometimes.

A few days ago, I wrote about the man who is outside the Cathedral often asking for money. As it happens, I had a couple of dollars in change this morning, so sure enough the man was there. But this morning he had a great big knot over his eye that had been split open and was dirty. I asked him what happened. He said he was jumped by a couple of guys and beat up. I asked him if he had seen a doctor, and he said that's why he wanted the money. I know that a doctor wasn't going to stitch up his wound for two dollars. So I guess I've been giving him money for purposes other than what he has been telling me. Big surprise. But on the other hand, if we are truly to love one another, it doesn't really matter if we're being lied to. Whatever the reasons he needs the money, the bottom line is that he simply needs. I couldn't live with my conscience if I had a few dollars and didn't give them to someone who needs it. Jesus never asked anyone who asked Him for mercy why they wanted it--He just gave it without question. Of course He knew their hearts--but I can't use that as an excuse to do any less.

I traveled to Fresno today because I have a meeting tomorrow. Most days that I travel, I am able to think about things spiritual and write blogs without much effort. All anyone was talking about on catholic radio today was Obama's speech yesterday. I already wrote on that, so I was at a loss for an idea.

So I'm going to fall back on a favorite hobby of mine, which is reading lives of the saints and learning about their vices and virtues. I have Saints of the Day on my laptop. I thought it might be a fun blog if I posted stories of Saints who may or may not be patron Saints of people I admire.

I'll start with St. Angela Merici, since my mother's name is Angela. Her Christian name is Angela Marie. The Marie is obviously from Our Lady. Mom says she was consecrated to Our Lady as a baby and wore only either blue or white for the first few years of her life. And she hasn't let the Mother of God down. She has an unshakable devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the recitation of the rosary that she has passed on to her children.

St. Angela Merici
Feastday: January 27, 1540

When she was 56, Angela Merici said "No" to the Pope. She was aware that Clement VII was offering her a great honor and a great opportunity to serve when he asked her to take charge of a religious order of nursing sisters. But Angela knew that nursing was not what God had called her to do with her life.

She had just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. On the way there she had fallen ill and become blind. Nevertheless, she insisted on continuing her pilgrimage and toured the holy sites with the devotion of her heart rather than her eyes. On the way back she had recovered her sight. But this must have been a reminder to her not to shut her eyes to the needs she saw around her, not to shut her heart to God's call.

All around her hometown she saw poor girls with no education and no hope. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century that Angela lived in, education for women was for the rich or for nuns. Angela herself had learned everything on her own. Her parents had died when she was ten and she had gone to live with an uncle. She was deeply disturbed when her sister died without receiving the sacraments. A vision reassured her that her sister was safe in God's care -- and also prompted her to dedicate her life to God.

When her uncle died, she returned to her hometown and began to notice how little education the girls had. But who would teach them? Times were much different then. Women weren't allowed to be teachers and unmarried women were not supposed to go out by themselves -- even to serve others. Nuns were the best educated women but they weren't allowed to leave their cloisters. There were no teaching orders of sisters like we have today.

But in the meantime, these girls grew up without education in religion or anything at all.
These girls weren't being helped by the old ways, so Angela invented a new way. She brought together a group of unmarried women, fellow Franciscan tertiaries and other friends, who went out into the streets to gather up the girls they saw and teach them. These women had little money and no power, but were bound together by their dedication to education and commitment to Christ. Living in their own homes, they met for prayer and classes where Angela reminded them, " Reflect that in reality you have a greater need to serve [the poor] than they have of your service." They were so successful in their service that Angela was asked to bring her innovative approach to education to other cities, and impressed many people, including the pope.

Though she turned him down, perhaps the pope's request gave her the inspiration or the push to make her little group more formal. Although it was never a religious order in her lifetime, Angela's Company of Saint Ursula, or the Ursulines, was the first group of women religious to work outside the cloister and the first teaching order of women.

It took many years of frustration before Angela's radical ideas of education for all and unmarried women in service were accepted. They are commonplace to us now because people like Angela wanted to help others no matter what the cost. Angela reminds us of her approach to change: "Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force, for God has given every single person free will and desires to constrain none; he merely shows them the way, invites them and counsels them."

Saint Angela Merici reassured her Sisters who were afraid to lose her in death: "I shall continue to be more alive than I was in this life, and I shall see you better and shall love more the good deeds which I shall see you doing continually, and I shall be able to help you more." She died in 1540, at about seventy years old.

In Her Footsteps:
Take a look around you. Instead of just driving or walking without paying attention today, open your eyes to the needs you see along the way. What people do you notice who need help but who are not being helped? What are their true needs? Make a commitment to help them in some way.

Prayer:
Saint Angela, you were not afraid of change. You did not let stereotypes keep you from serving. Help us to overcome our fear of change in order to follow God's call and allow others to follow theirs. Amen

Pray, Pray, Pray

I know I've already used this image of Our Lady of the Rosary, but it is extremely important after today's brouhaha at Notre Dame University.

The President, in his speech at Notre Dame today said those on each side of the debate "can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions.”

What a bunch of CRAP! In my mind, “moral” and “spiritual” mean the same thing! Our spirits are our souls. Our souls belong to God. God’s natural law is what determines what is moral or not. Where’s the confusion in the mind of this “Constitutional Scholar” (as he has been described in every article about today’s speech).

I think the confusion comes from being a politician first, and a Christian second, if at all.

The President also told the following story about himself in today’s speech:
“You see, I was not raised in a particularly religious household, but my mother instilled in me a sense of service and empathy that eventually led me to become a community organizer after I graduated college. And a group of Catholic churches in Chicago helped fund an organization known as the Developing Communities Project, and we worked to lift up South Side neighborhoods that had been devastated when the local steel plant closed.

And it was quite an eclectic crew _ Catholic and Protestant churches, Jewish and African American organizers, working-class black, white, and Hispanic residents _ all of us with different experiences, all of us with different beliefs. But all of us learned to work side by side because all of us saw in these neighborhoods other human beings who needed our help _ to find jobs and improve schools. We were bound together in the service of others.

And something else happened during the time I spent in these neighborhoods _ perhaps because the church folks I worked with were so welcoming and understanding; perhaps because they invited me to their services and sang with me from their hymnals; perhaps because I was really broke and they fed me. Perhaps because I witnessed all of the good works their faith inspired them to perform, I found myself drawn not just to the work with the church; I was drawn to be in the church. It was through this service that I was brought to Christ.”

You have to admit, the man can sure turn a phrase. “It was through this service that I was brought to Christ.” Plenty of people have been brought to Christ—this in and of itself is not enough. If you truly believe in Christ you must agree to “abide in Him, as He abides in His Father.”

The very Christ that President Obama says he was brought to also knew how to turn a phrase. As evidence and refutation of all of the moral relativism that the President spewed today, I offer today’s Gospel:

Jn 15:9-17Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.
"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this,to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing.I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another."

I submit it is not love to kill our children before they have the chance to defend themselves.

It seems that our strongest ally will be the Blessed Virgin. What if she had said “no” to the Life that was conceived within her womb? Say the prayer that she requested of us at all of her appearances: The rosary.

I heard a quote today that should bring home the power of Our Lady as an ally—“The salvation of mankind began with the words, 'Hail, Mary!'”

The sweetest water is that which we thirst for

Acts 16:1-10Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him, and Paul wanted him to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from city to city, they handed on to the people for observance the decisions reached by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem. Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number.

They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them, so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.

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http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CN092MAPS1.htm
I used Google to search for “maps of St. Paul’s journeys” and one of the choices was the link above. Steve Ray, a really good convert apologist and expert on Holy Land tours, posted the link on his website. I thought you might want to take a look at it while reading the account of Paul’s second missionary journey with Timothy. I will also imbed the actual map here, along with the commentary that goes with the map.

Taken from Acts 15:40-18:23a - ..... Paul chose Silas and set out on his journey (from Syrian Antioch [1]) ..... He travelled through Syria [2] and Cilicia [3] and strengthened the churches.

He also went to Derbe [4] and Lystra [5]. At Lystra there was a disciple by the name of Timothy..... (who) was held in high regard by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium, and Paul wanted to take him on as his companion. ..... As they went on their way through the cities they passed on to them for their observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders in (the Council at) Jerusalem. ...

They made their way through Phyrgia [6] and Galatia [7], but the Holy Spirit prevented them from speaking God's message in Asia. When they came to Mysia [8] they tried to enter Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them. So they passed by Mysia and came down to Troas [9], where one night Paul had a vision of a Macedonian man standing and appealing to him in the words: "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

.... So we set sail from Troas and ran a straight course to (the island of) Samothrace [10], and on the following day to Neapolis [11]. From there we went to Philippi [12], a Roman garrison-town and the chief city in that part of Macedonia. We spent some days in Philippi ....

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How frustrating it must have been for Paul and Timothy to want to spread the Gospel in Asia and to have the “Spirit of Jesus” thwart them at every turn! Then Paul gets a dream that he interprets to mean that he is to go to Macedonia to preach. He and Timothy preach there and the church grows even stronger! Just goes to show you that even though Paul was a great evangelist, Jesus is a better one. Had Paul gone where he wanted, the numbers of followers surely would have been smaller. I am convinced the need for Paul's preaching was greater where Christ sent him through his dream.

I’ve been there, done that, as have most of us, although on a much smaller scale. I make grand plans every evening for the next day. I try to include daily Mass or Adoration in my plans, because my soul absolutely thirsts for the Word of God and the salvation it promises.

Sometimes, my plans have been changed before I even get out of the house! (I make the mistake of checking my business email before heading out for the day.) Most of the time, the last-minute changes aren’t a matter of life or death, and they are my fault because I don’t know how to say “no” to people who ask favors of me. But if the change of plans requires me to miss my “fix” of Mass or Adoration, I’m sorry to say I become a not so likeable person that affects my interaction with others.

I would never compare myself to Paul—After all, his first change of plans came when He was thrown from his saddle by Christ Himself and heard his voice on a virtual level. (The first-ever recorded “Come to Jesus meeting”! ha ha) But just maybe these changes in plans are thrown at me now and then to remind me that I am a sinner in need of all the graces He wants to give me. Because, when all is said and done, I still manage to get to Mass or Adoration or at least a chance to read the Word and reflect on it, and it seems to me that when I am thirstiest, the “water” of His Word is the sweetest.

Thoughts on the Mass

The Virgin of the Lilies

by William Bouguereau (1899)

I found this picture on the web today when looking for my daily picture to honor Our Lord's Mother. It's really beautiful, not just for the sake of the art, but for the feeling it conveys.

When I look at Mary, with her eyes closed, she is the model of humility. While the humility of Christ is obvious in His image as a child, His eyes seem to stare into my soul and give me a sense of love and peace. Do you see this as well?

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I got my new issue of the Word Among Us today. Mom got the subscription for me for Christmas this year. I love it. The articles and daily meditations are right down my alley, and the edition I get also has the daily readings and propers of the Mass. I "never leave home without it".

There is an article this month that compares the story of the two travelers on the Road to Emmaus to the Mass. I'll try to break it down to keep tonight's blog brief.

Imagine what the two travelers were feeling and talking about on their way to meet other disciples immediately after Jesus' crucifixion--sadness, despair, abandonment--some of the same feelings we all may experience every day of our lives. They had already forgotten that Jesus told them He would rise from the dead. How could they forget? Had they not witnessed first-hand some of the miracles and healings He had performed? Then they "happened" (through God's Grace and divine plan) upon the Risen Christ, but didn't recognize him in their grief.

When He asked them what they were sad about, they began to tell His story from the only perspective they know, that of lost sheep. He expresses a little frustration with them. "How foolish your are!", He cried. "How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!" (Lk 24:25) Then He begins to explain the gospel to them, pointing them to the future full of hope that he made possible by his Passion and death. Beginning with Moses and going through the whole story of Israel, He showed them how everything pointed to His cross and resurrection. He didn't just explain it to their minds, though. He spoke to their hearts, stirring them with a burning desire to hear more. Compare our Lord's recitation of scripture and revelation to these disciples to the Liturgy of the Word we hear each day at Mass. Don't we listen with the same awe and anticipation that the traveler's felt? I know that since I've been going to daily Mass, I am excited to wake up every morning, knowing that I'm going to get to listen to yet another example of God's love and His plan for me and all of those whose hearts are stirred by faith.

They still didn't recognize Him, however. I guess they they thought He was just a very good scriptural scholar, but they were so moved and hungry for more of His interpretations of the fulfillment of the scriptures that they invited Him to have dinner and stay with them a while. It was only after He blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to them that they recognized Him. This is comparable to the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Just think: If the two disciples did not believe after Jesus had spoken, the bread that He broke would have done little for them.

A necessary prayer

This illustration was painted by Florence Storer.

I'm really tired tonight. I had a long day yesterday interviewing for a new manager in Modesto, then I had to drive South 40 miles to Newman to pick up a trailer, then home. I managed to get a blog written and get to sleep about midnight. I didn't use my C-Pap machine, so it was a fitful sleep. To top it off, Lily woke up fussy about 3:30 am and woke the house up with her. It's the first time that's happened, bless her heart. I had to be up at 5am to get ready for Mass and travel to Modesto again for another round of interviews. I had such a headache this morning, and I have been sleepy all day. Usually after my 1st soda of the day the sleepiness leaves.

I was able to go to Adoration this afternoon, but like St. Therese of Lisieux, I caught myself falling asleep! I didn't really want to write a blog tonight, but I made a promise to the Blessed Mother to post a nice picture of her every day during the month of May, so here I am forcing myself to write something. Do you think this counts as a sacrifice? If it is, I hope the graces I'm earning are going towards the conversion of sinners, including myself.

I am so grateful to God that Marilyn and I both have jobs! My interviews the last couple of days were a real eye opener. Usually, when I place a help wanted ad I may get 10 to 20 good (on paper) applicants and then after digging further and deciding who to interview I narrow the choice down to who can leave the most steam on a mirror! But with today's economy and all of the big box stores that are going bankrupt and out of business like Circuit City, Mervyns, Good Guys, Gottschalks and the like, I got over 100 resumes! I wanted to interview them all, but logistics and time prohibited it. So I took the best 50 and sent emails setting up interviews. I got only 20 responses. Every one of the 20 have more than enough intelligence to run a U-Haul Center (they hired me, after all!). In fact, most of them were way over-qualified. Many of them (I would have to say about 15 of them) have advanced business management degrees and are coming off of jobs that paid them $100,000 a year and they are so desperate they are willing to take a job that WILL pay $50,000 a year after about 10 years. All of the interviewees had upbeat attitudes but I could still see the strain of unemployment in their eyes. It was so sad. Please pray that the economy swings back up again soon so these men can support their families. I know that at least one of them will get a job. I only wish I could hire them all.

Prayer for the Unemployed
Dear Father in Heaven, and all the Saints who are known to help those in most need, especially Saint Joseph, Saint Jude, Saint Anthony, Saint Therese, and Saint Josemaria, we humbly beg you to hear our cries for help to provide work and income for those among us who need just those things, patience and loving trust in your Divine Providence for those who must wait for these things to come, and strength, creativity, inspiration, guidance, and energy for those who must search and struggle to find these things. We trust in Your desire to answer our prayers as quickly as possible; we believe in Your holy promise to provide daily bread, and we ask you to respond mercifully to so many prayers, from so many of us, for our brothers and sisters in need. Thank you. We love you. Amen.~ Via Catholic City.

A Health Plan for the Soul

Mt 5:43-48Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’. But I say to you, love your enemiesand pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

I have been thinking about this phrase most of the day. Not the whole Gospel, just the phrase. I was going to tie it in to another well-known phrase—“Practice makes perfect”—but the Spirit guided me to read the entire passage in context and I feel compelled to go in another direction first. I will get back to my original idea before I’m done, though.

People these days seem to spend a lot of energy spewing gossip and hatred around for no other reason than to create disagreements. There are some serious sins being committed by a lot of God’s children; abortion, homosexual unions, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, birth control, adultery. And it is a corporal act of mercy as Catholics and Christians to admonish the sinner.

In other words “hate the sin, love the sinner.” But a lot of so-called Christians and prominent “Catholics” on television and radio do much more than just admonish against these non-negotiable activities—they take their hatred of the sin and use it to incite hate against the sinners. Of course, they do it in a “fair and balanced” manner by inviting people on the show from the other “side” of the issue to debate, but never let them finish a sentence! What kind of debate is that? If they would simply debate the sins instead of focusing on the sinners, I think it would be a heck of a lot more productive. Sin is sickness of the soul, but it is a thing.

If we attack the sickness and the cause of the sickness, we can win. The only persons responsible for sin are Satan and ourselves--or rather our own free wills. Satan invades our life by placing temptations in our way, making sinful choices seem desirable. Those weakest in faith are the easiest to dupe. A strong faith allows the Holy Spirit to guide our wills to make the right choices. Our plan of attack against sin should not be ridiculing or shunning the sinners, but embracing the sinners and showing them the Light of Christ.

Ah, but since the beginning of recorded Scripture, we are a “hard-hearted” people, aren’t we? God keeps leading us out of the bondage of sin, and we keep returning to it. He finally sent His only Son to suffer for our sins “once, for all” and how do we repay Him? By heaping more sins on His shoulders!

Now that I’ve totally depressed everyone, I’ll remind you all that there is an "International Health Plan” (take THAT, you left wing liberals!) to lessen the pain of sin in the world. As witnesses to Christ, we need to get the word out on this everlasting health plan.

Prayer

Since today is the 92nd anniversary of Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima, Portugal I’ll start with the Rosary. Our Blessed Mother said that the rosary is the most powerful prayer for the conversion of sinners. The chaplet of Divine Mercy was given to St. Faustina by Jesus, Himself! So simple to say, so powerful, so underused. Want to get more out of your prayer? Say it in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It sure helps me focus!

Penance

Then we have the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation. Baptism has become (in most Protestant religions and sadly, to some Catholics) just something that’s done to give a baby a label, or religion “in name only”. A lot of us have forgotten that Baptism cleanses us of the original sin and gives us the grace to fight temptations. And for the times that we give in to Satan and his ways, Jesus gave our priests the supernatural power to forgive sins! Through our Confirmations, we get 7 more gifts from the Holy Spirit to help us fight off the Prince of Liars.

Sacrifice

The most powerful sacrifice ever made was Jesus dying for us. But not before He gave us a way to keep Him close to us through the Sacrament of the Eucharist! Going to Mass and receiving our Lord as often as we can helps us to abide in Him, and as long as Christ is in us, Evil will keep his distance!

As for our personal sacrifices, how about giving up an hour or two of an activity we really enjoy each week to visit and adore Him at our neighborhood church?

Practice makes perfect!

I told you I would tie it in! I have decided that from now on when someone asks me, “What is your religion?”, I’m going to reply, “I’m a PRACTICING Catholic!”