Oh, Frabjous Day!

In Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, young Alice comes to Wonderland as a returning hero - although she doesn't know it for quite a while. Upon arriving, she is shown the scroll of the history of Wonderland, which tells of her slaying the Jabberwock. Oddly, this scroll contains events yet to happen as well, so this "history" has yet to happen. The hero Alice is the one to do it when the time comes. Frabjous Day is already a day of celebration, even though they have not reached it yet. In a world of nonsense, this makes perfect sense to all the inhabitants, but Alice remains skeptical and hesitant to take on the challenge.

When she reaches the White Queen, she learns how she is supposed to dispatch the beast, but she still wonders if this is right. The queen tells her that this must be her choice to go and face the Jabberwock; but, if she goes she must go alone.

This gives us an interesting look at our life of grace that Christ has won for us. We are already victorious; Christ has risen, destroying sin and death and allowing us to share in that victory. However, we remain here, responsible for our choices, and often fearful of the challenges that we must face. Our life of faith is such, though, that we should be encouraged by those around us to continue to face the challenges of the world, confident that we do so with the help of God's ever-present grace. Once we realize that, there is no challenge to our life or faith that we cannot face head on.

We all have Jabberwocks waiting for us; however, we will face them with Someone who knows what it is to win, and He gives us the strength to do the same.

New Additions; Blogging Around

I've added a few sites to my sidebar - I figured it was time. The first one I blogged about before, Divine Office. It provides the full daily Office for the Liturgy of the Hours online - a great resource for those stuck at a desk or in front of a computer. I have on occasion, used it for a whole day and felt just a little guilty as I had to readjust my breviary!

The next is Googling God, where a young youth minister shares thoughts on faith and the Church. Mike Hayes also has a book by that same title that looks at "the religious landscape of 20- and 30-somethings." It's worth a look.

A Concord Pastor Comments brings us the reflections of a Boston priest, who mainly gives us thoughts on the Sunday readings and liturgical Scripture. Here is a great resource from a priest in parish ministry - following the pope's advice to us all to make use of this new cyberscape for the edification of God's People.

A few more recent discoveries of mine (although they've been at it for a while) is Finding Grace Within, a blog about a prison chaplain's encounter with Christ in those to whom she ministers. Some of Shannon's posts are truly beautiful and moving. The other is Catholic and twenty-Something, in which a young man reflects on his (and our) faith as he discerns a vocation to the Benedictines.

Again, the Blogosphere is a beautiful place to fine connections of faith and faithful. I am grateful for each new discovery and the gifts of the Spirit that they represent. Take some time to check these out, and send along others that you might have.

The Mission: Forgiveness

The film The Mission tells the tale of Jesuit missionaries in the jungles of South America. In it, a mercenary who has killed his brother is taken in by the Jesuits and made a part of their mission work. However, he doesn't simply "sign up." He has resigned himself to death after his crime, and it is only after much coaxing by Fr. Gabriel that he consents to go. But, he goes with a catch: a self-imposed penance of carrying with him all of his soldier's armor and weapons. It's a formidable task, especially considering that he must not only drag it through the thick jungle, but also up a sheer waterfall. He falls many times, and he will not allow some of the brothers' misplaced mercy to relieve him of it.

The most poignant scene for me is when they reach the top of the waterfall and the villagers meet their Jesuit instructors. The mercenary has killed some of these people, and the tension is what they will do upon encountering him now. He is completely drained from his trek, still fettered to his net full of his old life. One of the natives, seeing the absurdity of this endeavor, produces his knife and cuts the rope, sending the armor floating away over the waterfall. Rodrigo, the former mercenary-turned-Jesuit, weeps and laughs as the natives he persecuted embrace him.

The scene is so poignant to me because it illustrates the priest's role in the sacrament of Reconciliation. So many people come with a morbid sense of guilt that they cannot seem to shake. They have attached so many conditions to their possibility for forgiveness that no one would believe they can be forgiven. The priest's role is to take that sense of morbid guilt and transform it into contrition - true sorrow for sin and a resolution to change. God is merciful, and His forgiveness is unconditional. It is up to us to accept that. This is the tether that keeps us from fully moving forward.

The reason so many fear Confession, I think, is that they carry this conditional sense of forgiveness. When someone comes to me after many years of waiting, the first thing I say to them is "Welcome back!" Reconciliation is not about remembering offenses but looking forward to a renewed life of grace. When we enter that confessional, God is there waiting, ready to cut the ties that we have to the past wrongs, and ready to walk out of that confessional with us once more.

Dirt, Not Stones

What is to be done with her?
What do You say?
Tell us, "Teacher,"
how You would
handle this
one -
this sinner -
this adulteress.

We caught her.
There's no doubt
that she has sinned.
Moses orders stones
for her.
What do You say?

Do You hear us?
Why do You
squat there,
doodling
in the dirt?
We asked You
a question.
Well?
What do You say?

I will tell you, then,
what I say.
You, who care nothing
for her -
this woman -
this sinner.

She stands here
before us all,
in need.
She needs
mercy;
she needs God.

Just like you.

The difference
between you and her
is that we all now know
her sin,
her need.

Yet,
this is the same need
you all have.

Your question is not
about mercy,
or her need.
It is about pain,
destruction,
vengeance.

So,
"let the one among you
who is without sin -
without that need
for God -
cast the first stone."

I shall return
to my doodling.

More than Just Lucky Charms

Finding the Prodigal in All of Us

In the musical Les Miseables, the protagonist and antagonist, Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert, present interesting reflections of responses to mercy. At the beginning, Valjean, who has been released on parole after 19 years in prison, meets the bishop, who treats him kindly and mercifully. Accustomed to being only a number (24601) and less-than-human, Valjean must wrestle with this mercy for the rest of his life. Is he worth a second chance? Is he a good person who simply did bad things? After his encounter with the bishop, he resolves to life a good life, but we get the sense that he has not fully accepted that forgiveness from God.

Javert, on the other hand, is a man of the law. There is right and wrong, and that is it. Once a criminal, always a criminal. He knows the value of obedience to the law and expects it from everyone. There is no mercy for him, only justice, and his life is one of rigid conformity to the social order, always ready to find fault in another. Mercy is foreign to him as well.

When the two meet in their climactic fight and Valjean wins, he spares Javert's life, revealing his own mercy. Unfortunately, Javert cannot accept this mercy, and he ends up destroying himself.

Yesterday, we heard the story of the "Prodigal Son." In it, we meet the merciful father, who accepts his boys as they are and gives them "everything that is his." The younger son is not satisfied at home, so he runs off to seek his happiness elsewhere. He finally comes to his senses and returns to the father's house to be forgiven. However, that is not his intent. He merely wants to live the life of a slave at home, content to be branded the "prodigal son" for the rest of his life.

The other brother, on the other hand, sees his life of obedience to the father not as a blessing of relationship, but as "slavery" as well. All his life he did what the father wanted and he never saw his reward for that - only "service," day in, day out. He missed that fact that the father points out: "You are with my always, and everything that I have is yours." Mercy is foreign to him, and he ends up waiting outside the celebration - not because the father won't let him in, but because he cannot accept that love and mercy.

The lesson that I think Jesus is trying to remind us of is that we are all accepted as we are. This does not mean that we are free to sin and all is OK, but it also does not mean that when we do we are cast out forever. We must understand that our Father is merciful, and that His mercy calls us in to the celebration, realizing our acceptance and living out of that merciful love ourselves. Unless we see that, we are truly les miserables. Opening ourselves to God's love means knowing that we are accepted, and knowing that means accepting each other.

Standing There Outside

That boy of his!
My brother.
Pssht!

After all I've done for him,
all that work,
all that sweat.
I've been the good son.
Always here.
Always faithful.

And what?
Do I get a party?
Do I get so much as a thanks?
No celebration,
no rings,
no robe.

And he...
he comes back,
after whoring around,
wasting his life -
our money -
our father's hard-earned money.
And there's this -
this party -
the fatted calf
(I can smell it!),
the music,
the laughter.

He mocks
our father.
The old fool!
Running out
like a child
to greet that boy!

And now,
he begs me
to come in and
dance.
To dance with him,
and my broth-
that boy.
He tells me I must celebrate.
Like that's the natural thing.

And then he leaves
me,
standing here
outside.

"Everything he has
is mine."
But to go in
and dance?
Because He
is there?

And I don't know
how to dance.

"Much-ness"

Tim Burton's latest rendition of Alice in Wonderland gives us a vision of a young woman at a pivotal age. Alice is pondering what it means to be a woman in her society, while at the same time grappling with the insecurities and specters of her youth. Her journey into Wonderland is one of self-discovery, where she must deal with being at first the "wrong Alice." All those who assess her are uncertain of her potential to be the one to accomplish the task of bringing peace and order back to Wonderland.

When she re-encounters the Mad Hatter, he seems to be the only one who has any sort of belief in her. However, like a good mentor, he does not simply declare all that she does to be great. "You've lost your 'much-ness'," he tells her at one point. This "much-ness" is something inside of Alice, something that makes her the "right Alice." The Hatter knows what it is, but it's only a word at the time.

For us, this "much-ness" comes not just from within (although that is where we find it). It is planted there by God as part of who we are. The Holy Spirit emboldens us to be more than simply another player in the world, pushed along by chance and habit. Rather, we make our path by the choices we make. Alice recognizes this at one point and declares as much. That is the beginning of regaining her "much-ness."

We too claim our Christian "much-ness" when we realize that God has graced us with the ability to choose and the Guide for those choices in our faith. The Spirit that He pours upon us gives us that compass to guide us through the "wonderland" of life. We also need those people in our lives who believe in us enough to call out that "much-ness" and set us on that path that we then make.

In-between

The Mad Hatter, upon seeing Alice again at the Red Queen's castle, comments, "Alice, why is it that every time I see you you're either too small or too big?"

There are several occasions in the tale when Alice either drinks or eats something that makes her shrink or grow. It's a source of great confusion for her ("Curiouser and curiouser!") and for others. But, her vacillating size is a great metaphor for adolescence. Our young people - particularly high schoolers - are caught in that "in-between" time. They are either still children or they are adult-like. And this is not just from one person to the next; it's within the same young person.

It is important for those who work with our youth to realize this. Our young people are in a confusing time in their lives, and they very often need help navigating it. Yes, they are emerging as new adults, but they are also still our children, in need of guidance, protection and even correction. It can be frustrating for a youth worker who hasn't fully grasped this dichotomy. One day, they are dressing smartly and assisting with the junior high retreat; the next, they are caught on the roof of the portable classroom with their friends.

"Why is it that every time I see you you're either too small or too big?"

Well, for a teenager, that just about right!

What Does It Mean? What Does He Give?

If bad things
happen to them,
what does that mean?
"Those people."
How bad were they?
What was their sin?

If bad things
happen to me,
does that mean
I am bad?

I know.
I am a sinner.

Does that matter?
Bad things
happen to bad people.
But,
bad things happen to good ones too.

What of them?
What of me?
What does He say?

Your sins do not interest Me.
They may be big,
they may be small.
But they are yours.

I give you what is Mine.
Mercy.
Time.
Time to repent,
time to turn,
time to begin again.

Bad things happen,
but they happen
in your time,
not Mine.
In my time,
love happens.

And so
I give you time;
I give you love.

That's It

I had the privilege of celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation at a local high school yesterday. So, I just have one thought for you all today (but it's all you'll ever really need):

God

Loves

You

Think About It

Priests talk about vocations - hopefully. Our role is one that cooperates with the bishop in fostering and encouraging more young men to consider God's call to priesthood. All of that is great, but for young people the witness of the lives of holy priests goes farther than mere words. In addition to that, the reflections of fellow young people is also invaluable to them.

There's a site out of the UK that does just that. A site run by teens that seriously looks at the vocation to priestly life - diocesan and religious. Young people share their stories of discernment in a way that only they can. You can find the site here.

H/t to Fr Larry Adamczyk.

The Rules

Joshua at More Than DodgeBall posts this brilliant piece of advice for youth ministers.

I have to admit, I have probably broken each one of these rules at various points. However, the advice is solid - particularly that advice not to try and be like a young person. As a minister - and an adult - we are not. And young people don't really want us to be like them anyway. More than that, they want us to be authentic/ If I don't understand what it is like to "wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy," that's OK (I'm not sure I'd want to!). What is important is that I understand that young people wake up feeling "something." My job is to walk with them and mentor them and share the Gospel.

Now, excuse me. I have to go clean out my car.