Monthly Archives: August 2014

Fr. Michael’s "How to be Happy" list

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by in gratitude, happiness, prayer

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Recently I have noticed lists going around the social media-sphere regarding how to cultivate happiness in life.  I have decided to jump on the bandwagon.  Here is my list as of August 27, 2014 in no particular order.  What would be on your list?

  • Practice gratitude.
  • Smile and laugh.
  • Say “Thank you.”
  • Pet and speak to dogs, cats and animals you may come across.
  • Feed the birds.
  • Go outside when you can.
  • Use natural sunlight as much as possible.
  • Hum or whistle. 
  • Say “yes” when you can, say “no” when it is appropriate.
  • Make eye contact.
  • Stand straight.
  • Be curious – ask questions.
  • Read.
  • Always learn.
  • Enjoy friends.     
  • Pray.
  • Exercise but don’t care about how you look.
  • Eat well.
  • Get enough sleep.
  • Read the Bible and talk with God. 
  • Talk with the elderly, hold babies and play with children.
  • Plant and tend something.
  • Notice the poor, care about others and help them as you are able.
  • Recognize that you are only asked to do what you can and leave the rest to God and others.    

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: "Who do you say that I am?" (Twenty-First Sunday – A)

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Christ, grace, Kingdom of God, power to bind and loose, sin, St. Peter

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The Gospel passage we have heard (Mt. 16:13-20) is known as “the text regarding the primacy of Peter.” Yet, it is a Gospel passage that goes well beyond the theological debates of Peter’s primacy and questions the faith of each one of us. 

There are a number of lessons to be learned from today’s gospel.  As we reflect on this passage it is helpful to recognize the context in which it occurs.  After feeding the multitude and curing many people our Lord finds himself practically alone.  The crowd seems to be present when there is the possibility of healing from illness and when there is food to be had but then the crowd dwindles.  In a sense, our Lord, in this passage is left almost defeated.  After having so many people around and trying to make them into the People of God, he is now left alone – only with his small group of disciples.  Here is an important point to remember – the ways of God are not our ways.  God will not force his Kingdom.  Christ will usher in the Kingdom of God not through our world’s understanding of power, success and accomplishment but according to God’s terms nor will Christ usher in the Kingdom by seeking to cater to our every whim or entertain us with the latest fade.  Christ will always be authentic to himself, the Kingdom and the will of the Father. 

So, after the crowds have dwindled away, our Lord turns to this small and less-than-perfect grouping of disciples and asks, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  Then, he looks directly to them and asks, “Who do you say that I am?”  Our Lord is seeking to move this small band of followers beyond the limits of the world’s thought (in this case, the awaited messiah as a military leader and conqueror) into the truth of the Kingdom of God.  Will they be able to follow a crucified Messiah?  If they are to be his disciples they must begin to grasp the ways and the movements of God’s Kingdom.  

Peter, speaking for the community of disciples, responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”  There is an important spiritual lesson here – Peter was not perfect when he made this proclamation of truth.  In fact, in the very next chapter Peter rebukes our Lord and is himself reprimanded.  “Get behind me Satan!  You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do!”  The lesson is this: in the life of faith it is more important to cling to Jesus rather than to seek to make ourselves perfect in the hopes of winning his acknowledgement and love or (another temptation) to present ourselves as perfect in the eyes of others.  (Christians who pretend to be perfect are like church buildings that have no windows; there might be a nice façade outside but within there is no light, no grace.)  We forget this all the time.  We want to have everything “perfect” – nice and neat – before we invite Jesus in.  Jesus does not expect everything to be perfect.  He just wants to be invited in!  Just let him in and then, by his presence, all will begin to be healed!

When we allow Jesus in, when, in our heart, we are able to proclaim, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God…,” we gain the true power of the keys of the Kingdom – the power to “loose” and to “bind”.  With Christ present, we gain the ability to loosen the bonds that hold us tight to our selfishness, our own love of self, our hurts, our petty indifferences and grudges.  These are the bonds that make us violent and like a slave.  When we let Christ in we learn to bind ourselves to that which gives true life – friendship, solidarity, integrity and service.  We bind ourselves to the ways of the Kingdom. 

In and through Christ, whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven.  Whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven

“Who do you say that I am?” is not some intellectual exercise that our Lord throws out there to test us.  Rather, it is an invitation which our Lord extends to each one of us.  It is an invitation to welcome Christ ever anew into our lives and into our hearts, that we might know life and become life for others. 

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: "…but all we have" (Eighteenth Sunday – A)

02 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Christ, discipleship, Giving, Kingdom of God, life, poor

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“…dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”  (Mt. 14:13-21)  It is a reasonable request, even considerate but God’s Kingdom is about more than our sense of propriety.  Christ wants to bring his disciples into a fuller way of viewing situations and living in our world.  “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 
Christ knows that there is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  It is not so much the quantity of giving that matters as it is the quality of giving.  “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”  “Bring them here to me,” responds our Lord.  
We look at the violence and pain in our world, maybe even in our own lives, we look at the isolation, the fear and the hatred, we consider our own weaknesses, maybe our own sense of unworthiness and it is easy to say, “But, all we have…”
There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  
“All I have are some old clothes and some used furniture.”  Well, for a week now I have watched cars and trucks deliver such items to our parish life center to the point where the space now looks like a department store.  I am told that for five hours next Saturday in a chaotic frenzy of shopping thousands will be raised to support ministries within our parish and local community, especially those that will aid the poor.  “All I have is some free time,” but in that little time communion and companionship can be brought to a sick or elderly brother or sister.  “All I have is a desire to live the faith and share the faith.”  Our young people need mentors and teachers; people willing to demonstrate what it looks like to be a Christian in our world today.  We see the violence and injustice in our world, we might even experience it or witness it firsthand; all we might have is the ability to not cooperate in this, walk away, and maybe even speak a word of truth and love.  We see a brother or sister in pain, all we might have is the ability to listen.    
“But all we have…”  “Bring them here to me,” says our Lord.  There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  
For full disclosure I must admit that even though I shared about next Saturday’s parish rummage sale and all the good it does, I am going to be out of town when the chaos occurs.  It is not intentional, although I must admit I am not necessarily heart-broken.  Next weekend I will be in South Bend, Indiana to witness a wedding.  The groom is a friend of mine from the Boston Community of Sant’Egidio.  He is at Notre Dame finishing up his doctoral studies in Scripture.  The bride works at a Christian Community Development Corporation.  The reason I share about them is that in our last discussion they said that, even though they do not have much, they want their wedding and their marriage to be an expression of God’s love in our world.  “All we have is our love and our faith,” they are saying.  “Bring them here to me,” our Lord responds.  Christ will bless what they have to offer and my hunch is that our Lord will bring life to many through the love of Brian and Beth.  
Our Lord invites us to look in a different way at the very real problems and pains of our world and our lives.  It is very easy to look at the immensity of it all and throw up our hands and say, “But all we have…”  Our Lord says, “But you do have something, bring it here to me.”  
There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  And in giving, life is found.