Perspective

Friend in ministry, Scott Miller, sent me this video with a prompting to blog. Obedient as I am, I give it to y'all here.

Young people - teenagers especially - find themselves in the situation of this boy all the time: stressing over what's next and what's to come. Many times, it is all drama and every test, every encounter seems like it is life-changing - or life-ending. The video illustrates the value of prayer - whatever form that may take. The Jesuit examen is a great one, particularly for young people. It gives a sense of perspective that can help us recognize what is first, what is next, and what is important. The teacher is right: it won't help you get an A, but it will help.

One of the gifts that adults have to offer is perspective. When I was training for priesthood and thought that I had screwed up royally, a supervising priest once said, "Did anyone die? Did anyone lose their soul?" Of course not. It was a learning experience, and I gained some perspective myself. Our youth lack that, and it is responsible for us adults to help them with it. Prayer is the spiritual sense of perspective for those who avail themselves of it.

So calm down; place your feet flat on the floor; and pray.

It won't do everything for you, but it can't hurt.

Learning to Pray

I've watched Him there -

praying.

So intense,

so focused,

so familiar.

There is a freshness in His eyes

when he comes back,

as if He had found

a cool well

with clear water

and a fresh breeze across

His face.

I've tried that -

praying.

I've told God all that I know;

I've remembered all the words;

and yet,

I don't feel the same

as Him.

What does He say?

How does He do it?

What is the formula

to be heard?

Lord,

teach us to pray.

...

That's it?

So simple?

I can just ask God for my needs,

ask for forgiveness,

and resolve to forgive too?

But keep at it -

be persistent -

and trust.

God knows what to give

those who pray like this.

I know;

I've watched Him there.

To the Highways and Byways

Last evening, we went to the home of a family in Westminster, MD, to meet young men of high school age to talk about vocations. Archbishop O'Brien ate and talked with about 25 guys interested in the possibility of a vocation to the Priesthood. He shared his own vocation story, as did a few of the priests who attended the dinner, and then he met with the boys' parents to answer any of their questions. It was a wonderful evening of encounter and sharing.

This program, I think, reflects the MO of Jesus, who didn't just wait for people to come to Him, but invited people where they were to "follow me." The environment of a home-cooked meal, shared with family, is a great way to promote the home-grown quality of vocations. The archbishop truly enjoyed this opportunity to talk with the young men and their parents, and we all were reminded of the family nature of our faith.

Priests don't grow on trees nor do they hatch from eggs; they come from families who value their children's happiness and want them to be where God wants them. I continue to pray for our families - our domestic Church - where good candidates for our ministry come from. May God bring this good work to fruition!

Opening the Wounds to Healing

In "Toy Story 3," we meet "Lotso Huggin' Bear," who is the grandfatherly welcoming committee at Sunnyside Day Care Center. He greets the group of Andy's toys warmly and tells them how much they are going to like it there. However, we learn that Lotso's past is full of hurt, and because of that, his present is full of distrust and pain. He felt abandoned by the little girl who first owned him, and decided there and then that he was not going to be loved by any person. Better to keep people out than to let them in and risk more hurt.

Many of us operate this way. This is why a happy and healthy childhood is of such value. Not everyone gets that - and not everyone gets a happy and healthy adulthood either! As a result, we may turn in on ourselves and become hardened. Sure, we might have relationships - even romantic ones - but we will always be holding something back. An attitude of "when will he/she hurt me?" can lead to a very dysfunctional relationship. Now, some will call this attitude "being realistic." Sure. People can and will hurt you. However, if we are never fully open to those with whom we wish to share some or all of our lives, we will never be truly happy.

God asks for this same openness. However, we often bring our broken humanity to that relationship as well. But, God understands this hurt. He took it on Himself - giving Himself fully over to us in Jesus Christ - and it led Him to the Cross. Yet, that was not the end. On the evening of the Resurrection, Jesus comes before His friends - and us - and reveals the depth of His hurt: the wounds in His hands, feet and side - and He forgives us! Moreover, He then sends His Church to forgive others as well.

Are we up for that challenge? Maybe it takes "lotso huggin'"?

The Decision

In "The Phantom Menace," the first episode of the Star Wars saga, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is impressed by the strength of the Force in young Anakin Skywalker. While speaking with his mother, he notes that if the boy had been born in the Republic the Jedi would have identified him early and had him trained. This speaks to the MO of the Jedi in training Jedi knights - they find force-proficient children - usually at very early ages - and take them for training. There is really no discussion of how a family feels about this. The Jedi are raise to have no attachments so that they can focus completely on the Force and helping others.

There are many similarities between the life of a Jedi knight and a priest. However, this "recruitment" is not one of them. There seems to be a lack of choice for the "candidate," as he or she is simply led off for training. Perhaps the parents volunteer them, but the actual Jedi is not really involved in the decision. Without that freedom, and one's involvement in discernment, the candidate can run the risk of all sorts of distortions and unhealthy behavior. The whole person must be involved, not just one's "abilities."

Conversely, the candidate for priesthood must make his own decision to enter training, and even then, the discernment continues. Priesthood candidates are not "taken" but "called - called by God, and encouraged by the People of God, the Church. This freedom of choice is important and necessary for a healthy priest. In the ordination rite, we are told to "know what you are doing." That is good advice for anyone.

While the Jedi are valiant and honorable and certainly noble, when I compare them with a priest there is something lacking. Yes, it is pretty cool to move things around with the Force, and I'd love to have a light saber; but, I'd never trade the gift of the grace of Orders to consecrate the Eucharist, to absolve sin or to serve the people in persona Christi for anything. All of that, though, has to come through the free choice of the candidate, after careful and prayerful discernment.

"May the Force be with you" ... maybe, maybe not.

"The Lord be with you" ... definitely.

He Had To Ask

I knew the answer

to His question:

What does the law say?

All my life,

I have studied it,

learned it,

meditated on it.

I have taught my children this

since they could hear.

Shema, Yishrael...

Love the Lord;

and your neighbor.

I have His answer.

But,

what else?

What is the minimum I must do?

"Who is my neighbor?"

He responds

with a story of a man,

beaten,

robbed,

left for dead,

and people leave him there -

people like me -

a priest, a Levite.

But then,

a Samaritan stops.

He cleans and binds the wounds;

he carried him to the inn,

and involved the innkeeper.

He even meant to come back

to continue his care.

Is this what He asks of me?

Is this what that Shema has pointed to?

Now I must act?

I had to ask!

We're Not In It Alone

On Tuesday, I attended my first event for our Baltimore seminarians as the "new vocations director." It was our annual in-service day, where the men get to hear about items important for parish ministry. This day, we started with a couple from the Catholic Engaged Encounter who talked to us about their work preparing couples for marriage. In the afternoon, two folks from our diocesan Youth Ministry office (including friend Scott Miller), who shared information and ideas about youth and young adult ministry with the guys.

These days are important. They give us an idea as to what resources are out there for the parish priest and whom we can rely on to assist in our ministry of shepherding souls. These people who spoke with us were dedicated lay people who love the Church and Her mission - just like the priests do. They help us within their areas of competence to serve those who need the Church's pastoral care.

Often, the temptation for a young (and even not-so-young) priest or seminarian is to try to do everything - to "fix" people who come to them without realizing that they themselves are limited, or even (dare I say) incompetent. We can be like poor Mickey Mouse, the "Sorcerer's Apprentice," who meddled in magic to do a job. He too was not prepared or competent, and it led to disaster. Same thing in the Church. Lay people are not "stealing power" when they serve people in ways that a priest cannot. They are, to use St. Paul's language, "building up the Church of Christ" with their God-given gifts.

I am grateful for those lay men and women who serve the Church out of their love for Christ and those whom He loves. May God bless us with many shepherds in the future, and many of these wonderful lay people as well!

101 Degrees

Hot enough for ya?

Here: remember February?

They Are His Promise

He's sent us out -

I and this fellow,

together

with a mission.

It's exciting:

preaching

as He does;

healing

as He does.

And even the demons

are subject to us!

But,

as we go,

we also go

as He does -

nothing extra,

nothing more.

No money,

no stick,

no more shoes or clothes

than what we have.

It will be enough,

He tells us.

It will be enough.

Those who welcome us

are not just "listeners."

They are His promise

of enough,

His promise of blessing.

Another town rises on the horizon.

My fellow and I

clear our throats,

ready to proclaim.

We rub our hands,

ready to heal.

And we prepare our hearts,

knowing that it is His power

that drives us,

and that His promise -

those people who hear -

who will welcome and sustain us.

And He never breaks His promise.

Trading Heroes for Ghosts

In "Toy Story 3," the toys find themselves donated to a local daycare center. They are greeted warmly by the toys who already live there, and they begin to look forward to their new, utopian life, being played with all the time by kids who truly appreciate them. It seems that they have gone to toy heaven.

However, as they learn, the reality is far from that. The new toys are sent to another room - a ruckus room of sorts - where the children are extremely rough with them. Their heaven has turned into a hell. What they thought they wanted - what they thought would give them true happiness - was an illusion - or worse, a delusion.

How often to we find ourselves in this same position? In our search for the "good life," we are willing to follow the path of least resistance in order to reach what we think is happiness. We want perfect bodies, but we want the pill that will sculpt us in our sleep; we want a life of leisure, but we want to do it selling real estate in our spare time; we want total freedom to do what we want, but we don't want to responsibility that goes along with it. The toys' experience is a lot like the men who eat the lotuses on that island in Homer's Odyssey. Forgetting the world and our duties in it, we can become entranced by the allure of what is easy and promises "happiness."

True happiness comes from a knowledge of who we are and Whose we are. The message of "Toy Story" is that these toys have been given meaning through the love of their boy Andy. Woody never forgets that, and in the end he can remind the others of that as well. We are not forgotten - even in our wayward searches, God is there with us, loving us too. This world has its allurements, but God is the Allurement. Anything good that we pursue is merely a faint reflection of true Goodness. In our search, may we never lose sight of the real goal - and always remember the Source, so that we can ultimately find Him.