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High Standards

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It is striking how little our readings today speak about anyone other than God. Saint Paul tells Timothy to “remember Jesus Christ,” and to be faithful to God by presenting himself as a “workman who causes no disgrace” (2 Tim 2:8, 15). The Psalmist sits humbly before the Lord, asking to be taught. Jesus reminds his listeners that God comes first and that we ought to love Him with our whole selves.

This serves as a good reminder of why we should do all that we do. Being a father of a nearly six-month-old daughter and a husband working overtime, this can be easy to lose track of. There are many things that can shift my focus away from the Lord. Many of these are actually good, but they can take too central a place. Pleasing my wife, providing for my family, caring for my daughter – any one of these can become the reason that I do anything else.

It is easy to get so caught up in financial concerns, personal growth, and my relationship with my wife that God is barely present in my thoughts. I seek to serve the Lord, but I am usually thinking of my family or myself. This is not terrible, but our readings today remind us that we ought to have higher standards.

Today, we are reminded that the reason we should be doing everything that we do is love for God. This is more simple than we might think. It is not that we need to stop loving our neighbor or working for the good of our families. We simply need to do these things in a specific way, with the proper perspective and goal. We can still do things for the usual reasons, but it should all be directed to God. Practically, our readings can give us some tips:

We can take our first cue from the Psalmist, whose only desire is to learn God’s ways. He recognizes that guidance and wisdom come from the Lord. Sitting before the Lord in a humble posture of listening is essential for putting God first. Without first desiring to learn from God, we cannot truly love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. We must sit at His feet, hear His Word, and carry it out. His ways should be our own; His Word should inform our words. Without this, we set the wrong foundation for ourselves.

Once we take the Lord’s instruction as our starting point, we can serve Him with fidelity. As Saint Paul explains in his letter to Timothy, we should be conducting ourselves honorably, “imparting the word of truth without deviation” (2 Tim 2:15). Rooted in the Word, we should speak what we hear, remaining in the Truth. Our relationship with God will be the basis for how we approach our lives, from our attitudes to our actions and conversations. All of these things should correspond to God’s commands and admonitions, and we should be sharing them with others.

Letting ourselves be formed by God and His commandments is great, but the fact is that we are not always thinking or talking about the Lord. Because of our duties of state, we cannot always speak directly about the Lord, teach the truth at every moment, or soak in Scripture for copious amounts of time. More often than not we are changing diapers, dealing with conflicts, planning for the future, or engaging in other mundane responsibilities.

Though it may seem like these moments are unrelated to our service to God, this is not the case. As with letting ourselves be formed by God, it is a matter of putting God first. We can still do our duties of state, but we can do them for the glory of God. As Christ points out by naming the second commandment after the greatest, the call to love our neighbor is not incompatible with the love of God. It simply needs to be subordinated to it.

Simply, what this means is that we ought to do all things for God’s glory. In offering it to God, everything that we do can become a prayer, however mundane. Once this is put into practice, every aspect of our lives will point to God. By listening to God, we set Him as our foundation. By speaking of His truths and commands, we share Him with others. By dedicating even a load of laundry to Him, we continue our sacrifice and give Him glory. If we can live in this way, we can truly love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.

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David is the Associate Director of Liturgy for a group of parishes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When he is not spending time with his wife and infant daughter, he is writing on philosophy and theology for various online publications. You can find some of these in Crisis Magazine and the Imaginative Conservative, and you can contact him at ddashiellwork@gmail.com.

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Are We Too Far Gone?

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Have we forgotten? Have we forgotten what it’s like to walk amongst a land of freedom, peace, and joy? A land flowing with milk and honey and dominion over the birds of the air and fish of the sea as gifts from our creator.

Have we forgotten the lonely pain that afflicted us striving to give of ourselves but coming up short from what the animals provide, an imitation of flattery, friendship, or affection?

Have we forgotten the deep sleep of our father as he lay to rest and was recreated with a newfound passion and joy? Have we forgotten the look that was given from the first couple in complete and utter love? No use, no ulterior motives, no you vs. me. Just complete trust and acceptance, understanding, and mutual respect.

Have we forgotten the feeling of the breath of our creator filling our lungs as we took each step in freedom from fear? Have we forgotten the experience of wealth beyond our wildest dreams? Not a wealth of this world, but of fulfillment, knowledge, and perfection.

Some would say the chasm between this portal of fantasy and folly is too far to be breached. The past is so far gone it is no longer a distant shadow, but a fading portrait of rumors and tall tales. Swimming around like a massive fish, getting bigger and bigger, but less and less true.

Some would go further and say we misremember our place. That we belong right there next to the animals, not with a dominion but as equals. Equals in freedom, intellect, and will. Debased to the point where our dignity doesn’t come from our creator but wells up from within ourselves. We make our own dignity and it can, therefore, be bought and sold, dragged and destroyed, hung up to dry like a pile of half washed clothes.

We are the “some” who would believe this faux image of man’s original light. The way we treat our fellow man has proven we have bought the bait. Our past not only washed away but erased like it never was. An empty tapestry of hopes and dreams and ambitions. We try to add more paint to cover up the mess, but it gets worse and worse till we cry out in pain for ourselves and others. Something must be missing. Something must have been forgotten. This can’t be all that the human person was meant to be?

“Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?”

That old dusty book grandma used to read to us late at night so we would quiet down or be stricken with the wrath of God? What could that possibly answer about our current predicament of hatred and fear? Misunderstanding and loneliness abound and some 2,000-year-old tired bedtime story is supposed to have the answer to our purpose? The pages begin flipping in a desperate attempt for something to lurch out and give the answer we so desperately need. Shuffling through the first few pages as the dust settles at our toes. Wondering, pleading, hoping. What is the answer? What does it mean to be human? Can we even begin to get back what we have seemed to have misplaced or completely forgotten? What is this modern-day thorn that pierces our very existence and threatens to choke us till we can’t breathe?

“Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness… So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them… God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

We pause with a deep quizzical look of reflection overcoming our face. The question still remains. What is our modern-day thorn? Is it our disbelief in the scriptures or is it our lack of faith in the restorative power of God?

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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The Truth is Utterly Amazing

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The daily readings now turn to the Gospel of Mark, and in today’s Gospel, the Pharisees have been sent to Jesus “to ensnare him in his speech,” to stir up controversy, to use his own words against him.

They lead up to their question by praising his truthfulness and objectivity, exposing their own hypocrisy, and trying to ensure that he will be sincere and straightforward. Then they pose what seems to be a perfect question, one he cannot answer without stirring up trouble: should they pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Yes or no?

If Jesus says yes, then he is condoning the demands of Rome, responsible for the subjugation of the Jewish people. He will lose favor with the Jews who resent the Roman occupation.

If Jesus says no, then he can be accused of rejecting the sovereignty of Rome and encouraging others to act against Caesar. He will be effectively exposed as a rebel against Rome.

These Pharisees are sure they have come up with the perfect question, that they have outwitted Jesus at last, that they have created the perfect trap. Yes or no? Of course, Jesus sees through their question and IS straightforward, but not in answering their question. Instead, he calls them out by asking, “Why are you testing me?”

He asks that a denarius (the usual daily wage paid to a workman at that time) be brought to him. Then he answers their question with a question (as he often does): “Whose image is this?” It is, of course, the image of Caesar, who was often worshipped as a god. Then Jesus gives the answer that utterly amazes them: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

He has sidestepped the false dichotomy they had proposed. He reframes the issue and recalls the listeners to their primary responsibility. It is a statement and a challenge: We are in the world and must observe our duties in the world, including paying our taxes; but we are made for heaven and must observe our duty to God with even more attention! The coin is made with the image of Caesar, and so it should be given back to Caesar; WE are made in the image of God, and so we should give our whole selves back to God.

Living in the world, we must be constantly reminded that our primary responsibility is to the God of Love, who chose us in Christ before the world began (Eph 1). Before God spoke creation into existence, we were chosen, desired, and willed by God!

Today, let us meditate on the truth that we were born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of GOD” (Jn 1:13) and we must set our minds “on things that are above (where Christ is), not on things that are on earth” (Col 3:2).

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Peace Amid the Storm

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Have you ever passed through times in your life where there was so much going on that your head just seemed to spin? Endless thoughts, headaches, trouble sleeping… Patience with the kiddos flies right out the window and you can see yourself getting more frazzled as the days go by.

I am right in the whirlwind as we speak, my friends. We are in the midst of trying to super-speed our remodeling projects so we can rent out our current residence while simultaneously working from home and trying to finish out the school year. Throw house hunting into the mix and WA-LA complete madness!

It is hard to stop the constant thoughts that bombard me and be still. So often throughout the day I just have to stop and take a deep breath. I have to remember to hug and kiss my little ones instead of letting harsh words fly due to my own state of mind. I have to start a tickle war instead of arguing senselessly with a three-year-old.

The one thing that has helped me through it all is my nightly rosary. After the kids go to bed and my husband jumps in the shower, I sit down in my comfy chair and gaze at one of my favorite images of my mommy, Our Lady of Guadalupe. The rhythm of the beads almost puts me to sleep most nights, but I find my soul is calm once again.

I find it interesting that we celebrate the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church today, June 1st when we have just spent a whole month dedicated to her. We just can’t get enough of Our Lady! She is the great transformer of hearts, the one who turns us back to her Son over and over again.

And as May turns into June and spring into summer, I hope my heart turns toward the Sacred Heart as well. I hope to emulate the Apostles in today’s alternate First Reading who “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer”.

So let’s start right now. I leave you with the traditional Irish blessing. May is still your souls when whirlwinds come and allow you to rest in Him.

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And rains fall softly upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

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Tami grew up in Western Michigan, a middle child in a large Catholic family. She spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, studying theology and philosophy, then worked and traveled extensively before finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Western Kentucky. She loves tackling home improvement projects, finding fun ways to keep her four boys occupied, quiet conversation with the hubby and finding unique ways to love. She works at Diocesan, is a guest blogger on CatholicMom.com and BlessedIsShe.net, runs her own blog at https://togetherandalways.wordpress.com and has been doing Spanish translations on the side for almost 20 years.

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It is the Spirit Who Does Everything in All Of Us

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They were all in one place together….

“All.”

As I read the account of the first Pentecost: the appearance of tongues of fire, the wind that swept through the streets of Jerusalem, the curiosity of the crowds, their amazement that all could understand the apostles in their own language, I understood for the first time how the word “all” is a word of healing.

We rarely experience all of us being moved together by the Spirit.

Fragmented divisiveness is more the norm even unfortunately in the Church. Who’s better than others. Who’s right and who’s wrong. Who’s in and who’s out. Who’s ready to move ahead and who’s fearful. Who’s great idea will predominate.

“All.”

The apostles and women with Mary the mother of Jesus were all in one place together.

The wind filled the entire house.
Tongues of fire rested on each one of them.
All were filled with the Holy Spirit.
All heard the apostles in their native language.

The apostles, stirred to the courageous prophetic proclamation, proclaimed “the mighty acts of God.” The Spirit, according to St Paul, produces all gifts and ministries in each person. The Spirit pushed them out to proclaim what God was accomplishing in their midst with amazement and wonder and gratitude, with an invitation to the people to be a part of this great work that was not their own.

How do we let the Spirit lead us today in such a powerful way?

I think the Veni Sancte Spiritus, the sequence for this day, gives us a clue.

Light immortal, Light divine,
Visit Thou these hearts of Thine,
And our inmost being fill.
If Thou take Thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.
Heal our wounds; our strength renew;
On our dryness pour Thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away.
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veni_Sancte_Spiritus

The Veni Sancte Spiritus allows us to claim in peace our own helplessness. It is the Spirit who does everything, who initiates everything. Sometimes I act like the Spirit is around to rubber stamp my plans. But this is not what we see on that first Pentecost morning. The Spirit healed their wounds, renewed their strength, poured dew on their dry bones, washed away the stained of their guilt, bent their heart and will to the voice of the Master, and guided their steps from that point forward.

The tiny group waiting for they knew not what in the Upper Room after the Ascension had Mary at their sides who no doubt spoke to them about the moment of the Annunciation when the Holy Spirit came upon her. She counseled them perhaps to trust that they would know when the Spirit had come and that to the end of their lives they would be led by this Spirit that had penetrated their hearts and taken on the direction of the Church through the daily guidance of their individual lives together.

There are four important ways to remove the clutter in our minds and hearts that fills them with chaos and blocks our obedience to the Spirit as we seek God’s guidance in a decision going forward:

Don’t demand closure to quickly.
Don’t have a predetermined goal before you ask the Spirit’s help.
Don’t reduce the scope of what is possible to what you can handle right now.
Don’t make it about you.

If each of us moved out of our own way, slowed down, and learned the waiting that is part of every Pentecost of the Spirit, we might be amazed at the way God uses us to proclaim the “mighty acts of God” to the world today.

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Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, is the author of the newly released title: Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments, by Pauline Books and Media. An author and spiritual mentor, she offers spiritual accompaniment for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey.

Website: www.touchingthesunrise.com

Public Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/

For monthly spiritual journaling guides, weekly podcasts and over 50 conferences and retreat programs join my Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/srkathryn.

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Comparison is the Thief of Joy

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“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
-Theodore Roosevelt

This is a quote that I have come back to many times throughout my ministry and my adult life. I have struggled with comparison my whole life. When I was a little girl, I compared myself to all the other ballerinas in my class. They were always taller than me, skinnier than me, better at balancing than me. When I was in college, I compared my grades to those of the other Theology majors.

Even in quarantine, I catch myself comparing my feelings and my day to everyone else’s. We are bombarded on social media with sweaty selfies of women who ran 10 miles this morning before waking up her 7 children, homeschooling them, baking cookies for the local fire dept., and praying a family rosary. Sometimes, I consider it a successful day if I remember to brush my 15 month old’s teeth!

So I find myself internally chuckling at Peter in today’s Gospel. Looking at the Apostle John, Peter probably thought, “Why me? Why was I chosen to be the ‘Rock’?” He may have found himself comparing his impulsivity to John’s steadfastness; his tendency to put his own foot in his mouth with John’s silent wisdom; his denial of Christ with John’s fierce loyalty. Even to us, it may seem that John, the disciple that “Jesus loved”, would have been the first, most logical choice for that role.

However, Peter was chosen.

Christ looked beyond his rough spots and saw his strengths. Peter’s passionate determination and humility were gifts needed for his calling. If he were more like John, or Paul, or Matthew, we would have had another holy man, certainly. And probably another saint. But we would not have had Peter, the first pope and the Rock on which our Church was built.

True humility consists in knowing who you are in relation to God, and resting in that knowledge. C.S. Lewis defines humility as “Not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” While pride turns us inward and magnifies our flaws until we have no room for anything else, true humility brings us out of ourselves and gives us the ability to focus on others. While comparison leads to frustration, rejection, and sadness; humility leads to peace, confidence, & contentment. Comparison truly is the thief of joy!

Christ sees both our strengths and our weaknesses. And He has created us each for a unique mission and purpose, just like Peter. If we were all meant to be the same shade of blue, we would never know the beauty of red, or yellow, or green, or purple.

So I wish I could go back and tell that little girl who measured herself every day that being short is part of what makes her, her. If she was two inches taller like everyone else in her ballet class, who would have been able to fit into the smallest tutu? If she was able to balance for as long as the other girls, she might not have been able to do as many pirouettes as she could.

Brothers and sisters, I urge you now to silence those lies from Satan who tell you that you aren’t good enough. Curated photo collages on social media do not share the whole story of someone else’s life, just like your struggles do not define the entirety of yours. Listen to John’s words at the end of today’s Gospel:

“There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.”

 If we were all to be described individually; beauty, flaws, and all, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.

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Sarah Rose hails from Long Island and graduated from Franciscan University in 2016 with a Bachelor’s in Theology & Catechetics. She is happily married to her college sweetheart John Paul. They welcomed their first child, Judah Zion, in 2019. She is passionate about her big V-vocation: motherhood, and her little v-vocation: bringing people to encounter Christ through the true, the good, and the beautiful. She loves fictional novels, true crime podcasts/documentaries, the saints (especially Blessed Chiara Luce Badano), & sharing conversation over a good cup of coffee. She is currently the Coordinator of Young Adult Ministry at St. Cecilia Church in Oakley, Cincinnati. You can find out more about her ministry here: https://eastsidefaith.org/young-adult OR at https://www.facebook.com/stceciliayam.

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Making A Return

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“Jesus Christ, my sweet Master, presented Himself to me, all resplendent with glory, His Five Wounds shining like so many suns. Flames issued from every part of His Sacred Humanity, especially from His Adorable Breast, which resembled an open furnace and disclosed to me His most loving and most amiable Heart, which was the living source of these flames.” This vision received by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in June of 1674 was one of her many revelations that helped establish the Catholic Church’s devotion to the Sacred Heart. It continued with Jesus expressing grief over mankind: “If only they would make Me some return for My Love, I should think but little of all I have done for them and would wish, were it possible, to suffer still more.” The readings for today are a meditation on what it means to “make a return” for Christ’s love amidst persecution and the mind-bending turmoil of life.

In the first reading found in Acts 25:13-21, St. Paul is being dragged before King Agrippa to be executed. Before the trial is finished, he gives a beautiful defense of the faith. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, he manifests a belief in God’s sovereignty that leaves him undeterred by the imminence of death. His conviction is echoed by the Responsorial Psalm in Psalm 103: “The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.”

Inspiring as it is to observe St. Paul’s courage under fire, such a witness can feel a bit intimidating, if not downright unattainable. In the Gospel reading of John 21:15-19, Peter is the one whose faith is being tested. On the night of Jesus’ arrest, the unspeakable shame and horror of the cross engulfed Peter’s devotion, and he denied three times even knowing the Lord. He quickly repented, but the damage was done. Fear had broken his spirit, and his love for Christ was no longer sure.

In John 21 after the resurrection, Jesus gave Peter the chance to put a word on what happened, to describe his own fidelity or lack thereof. Interestingly, Jesus didn’t use the name, “Peter,” a name meaning “Rock,” but returned to his old name, “Simon”:

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

In the original Greek text, Jesus used the word “agapaō” for “love,” which means “willing or sacrificial love,” whereas Peter responded by saying that he only loved Jesus with “phileō” love, meaning “friendly affection.” This little conversation repeated itself twice until Peter was “distressed.” No matter how much Jesus desired heroic love from the man to whom he had entrusted his flock, Peter in all honesty could not claim it as his own.

Thankfully, the conversation did not end there: Jesus addressed Peter’s upset by describing “the kind of death [by which Peter] would glorify God.” Far from being a prophecy of doom, this prediction of his eventual martyrdom must have been a consolation. Just because Peter was not able to follow in Jesus’ footsteps right away did not mean that he would not follow afterward. The same is true for us. Our inability to love properly often results in a string of failures whereby we hurt others and we hurt ourselves.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque suffered from her own inability to respond in kind to Christ’s great love. In another mystical encounter, Christ asked for her heart. When she gave it to him, she said he “placed it in His own Adorable Heart where He showed it to me as a little atom which was being consumed in this great furnace and withdrawing it thence as a burning flame in the form of a heart, He restored it to the place whence He had taken it.” When we approach Christ with Peter’s humility and allow him to forgive us, to love us, and to reconcile us with our brothers and sisters, we open ourselves up to the fire of his love. It is his purifying passion that empowers us to “make a return” and to give ourselves to the One who has given so much.

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Nikol M. Jones is in her final year at Franciscan University’s Master’s in Theology and Christian Ministry program where it has been her joy to learn how to integrate the tools of modern biblical scholarship with the principles of biblical interpretation set forth by the Catholic Church in the service of the Word of God. She also has a passion for creating artwork and children’s books that honor the life and teachings of Christ. When she’s not studying or painting, she utilizes her writing and organizational skills as an administrative assistant. You can connect with her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikol-m-jones-4b9893140/.

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The Father and I Are One

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I love to cook and host people. I think it comes from my family. My house growing up was always a welcome place for people. Parties, barbecue, food, friends, fellowship, endless rounds of euchre, great conversation, bonfires, just the type of gatherings that make you feel good.

I have seen in my parents how they allow people to share in their sacrament of marriage. Each time they reach out, serve, help, cook, or host, they are extending their sacrament to others in a beautiful way. The love they share together overflows to those around them and you can’t help but feel like you are home.

My wife, Nathalie, and I try to emulate this in our own marriage as well. We want to invite people in, help when we can, reach out to the community, serve the Church, help the less fortunate, and invite people into the love that we share.

We have all heard that the trinity is similar to a marriage. God the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father and their love is so real it is the Holy Spirit. Similar to a husband and wife and their love becomes a new child. We have heard this but have we let it sink in? Especially in relation to allowing others to share in the love of the sacrament of marriage?

In the Gospel today we hear over and over that the Father and Son are one and that they desire to bring all people into their love, which is the Holy Spirit. The Catechism of the Catholic Church 221 tells us that, “God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.”

How does God invite people into his love? One of the ways is through our genuine relationships. When my wife and I love each other like Christ, and we invite people into our home, conversation, life, and love, people can experience the love of God through us.

This is what Christ wants, for us to be walking beacons of his love here on this earth and for us to invite all people into the love of the Trinity, for which we are all destined. The hard part of this is do we do it? Do we actually reach out to people and help them experience God’s love here on this earth. If not, why not? That’s the question we need to ask today. My wife and I should ask it every day.

It would be very upsetting to get to heaven and realize that we forgot to bring anyone with us. Let’s make that a priority today. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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To Trust, To Pray

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In preparing for this blog post, I was struck by many things in both the first reading and the Gospel – so much so that I could probably write two different blogs for today – but ultimately felt drawn to comment on the Gospel, “the Prayer of Jesus.”

The entire 17th chapter of John’s Gospel, from which today’s Gospel is taken, is an intercessory prayer spoken by Jesus directly to the Father. Although not speaking to the disciples, He is interceding for them and for those disciples still to come (you and me).

When Jesus prays, something big is about to happen. In Matthew 14:23, Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray, and then what follows? He walks on water. In Luke 6:12, He again goes up a mountain again to pray overnight, and, when day breaks, He chooses His 12 apostles. In the same spirit, Jesus offers this prayer in today’s Gospel and then is arrested and on His way to the cross. When Jesus prays, something big is about to happen.

Why don’t we have that same faith, that same confidence, when it comes to our prayer? I’m not talking about saying the Our Father and then, boom, being able to walk on water but, rather, the act of bringing Him our needs and then trusting that something big will happen in our own lives. This trust is three-fold, I believe.

1. We have to trust that God truly cares about us and loves us. The misconception is that if God doesn’t love us or if He is a vengeful and vindictive God who is hurt by the humanity that betrayed Him, then He won’t even listen to our prayers. Accepting the truth of God’s unending love and mercy deep in our own hearts is key to being able to surrender our wishes, desires, and intentions to Him in prayer.

2. We have to trust in the power of our prayer. Our prayer is powerful because our God is powerful. Nothing is ever too big to ask and God never ignores the smallest of our requests either. All we have to do is bring our needs before Him and He will take care of the rest.

3. We have to trust that our prayers will be heard and answered. What is the point of praying if we believe either that God doesn’t hear us or that He won’t answer our prayers? Or maybe we are afraid of God’s answer not being the answer that we want? In that case…

4. (Bonus one) We have to trust that God’s plan is better than our own, that He will always work for our good. God will answer our prayers in His way. Sometimes His way lines up with our way but that is not often the case. There is always good in His answer because He loves us and desires our good.

Looking at this “Prayer of Jesus,” Jesus knows and trusts His Father’s love, trusts in the power of prayer, trusts that the Father heard what He asked and will answer and always, always trusts in the Father’s plan. Here in Jesus, we have a beautiful model for our own prayer. May we continue to trust in the Lord, placing our needs before Him.

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Erin is a Cleveland native and graduate of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Following graduation, she began volunteering in youth ministry at her home parish of Holy Family Church. Her first “big girl” job was in collegiate sports information where, after a busy two years in the profession on top of serving the youth, she took a leap of faith and followed the Lord’s call to full-time youth ministry at St. Peter Church. She still hopes to use her communication arts degree as a freelance writer and statistician, though. You can catch her on the Clarence & Peter Podcast on YouTube as well as follow her on Twitter @erinmadden2016.

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This Will Pass – Our Faith Will Endure

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St. Philip Neri: priest; missionary; founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, a community of Catholic priests and lay brothers. Known for his knack to engage people in conversation, which, in turn, would lead people to Jesus, and charitable work for the sick and the poor. He was born in 1515; he died in 1595.

Fast forward to 2020.
Have you paid attention to the human-interest stories of late? Stories about surviving COVID; stories of neighbor helping neighbor; stories of first responders; stories of nurses and doctors battling this virus, amidst many obstacles; stories of recovered patients donating their blood. So many stories, so much faith.

St. Paul traveled all over his known world, preaching the gospel of Jesus. He did his best. He didn’t look back to those who would not listen, because he did his best. Paul’s message was delivered with conviction and joy. He evangelized, as did Philip Neri.

Are you, today, recognizing Evangelization? In most of the stories I listed above, have you noticed one thing in common? Almost all of those involved thank God, thank Jesus, credit their survival, hard work, care, and love of one another to their faith. “God was with us,” “God will see us through,” “I get strength from Jesus,” “I couldn’t carry on without my faith.” These are just a few of the ways that these folks express their faith.
I believe they are all sincere. I choose to believe that not one of these folks is “just saying it” because it seems like the right thing to do. They are evangelizing, without the benefit of a pulpit.

Can we do the same? When all this has passed away, will OUR faith endure?

God Bless.

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Jeanne Penoyar, an Accounts Manager at Diocesan, is a Lector at St. Anthony of Padua parish in Grand Rapids, MI. Jeanne has worked in parish ministry as an RCIA director, in Liturgy, and as a Cantor. Working word puzzles and reading fill her spare time. Jeanne can be reached at jpenoyar@diocesan.com.

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A Heavenly Perspective

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It can be easy to get bogged down in the struggles of daily life. Even when we are not dealing with a global pandemic, fear, anxiety, and depression can quickly creep in. Uncertainty leads to fear, fear leads to anxiety, anxiety leads to disorientation, and disorientation leads to depression. Once we enter into this state, tunnel vision ensues. Our gaze remains fixed on the earth, unable to see anything beyond the immediate.

When we hear the readings at Mass, we sometimes skip over the Alleluia verse. Pay close attention to it today: “if then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). Seek what is above. This is a call for all experiencing uncertainty, fear, anxiety, and depression, but it is also a perennial call. No matter what the circumstances, we ought to look up, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Saint Paul had to remind the disciples in Ephesus of this. As we hear in the first reading, they did not even know that the Holy Spirit existed. They had only been baptized with John’s baptism, and they did not realize that something greater awaited them: “‘John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus’” (Acts 19:4). The Ephesian disciples didn’t realize it, but they were always meant to look beyond earthly baptism. They were meant to be baptized into Christ, turning their gaze to the things that are above.

Christ reminds the Apostles of the same thing in the Gospel. Even when the Apostles are confident that they have reached the heights of faith, Jesus reminds them that there are trials ahead: ‘“Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone.’” (John 16:31-21). Each scattered into his own home, left alone…sound familiar? By now, I’m sure that we can all relate to that experience.

In these dark times and in the brighter days beginning to follow, Jesus tells us how to move forward: seek what is above. “But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.’” (John 16:32-33).

Take courage: Christ has conquered the world. The Father is with Him in heaven, where He has ascended in glory. This is simple enough to say, but how can we keep it in mind? How can we seek what is above, always focusing on the things of heaven? How can we have a heavenly perspective and experience the peace that Christ promises?

One practical way to cultivate a heavenly perspective is extemporaneous prayer, or prayer in the moment. Each time we encounter a difficult situation, an upcoming challenge, or even a great joy, we can quickly say a prayer to the Lord. “O God, give me courage and wisdom.” “Lord, be with me.” “Father, I give You praise for Your goodness.” These quick prayers keep us from getting stuck on earth. Each time we send up an extemporaneous prayer, we turn our head towards heaven, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Turning back to the earth, we carry His light with us.

Simply speaking about heavenly things is another good way to seek what is above. The more we talk about the Faith, God, and Christian life, the easier it is to see things in light of them. Having good friends who are willing to talk about their experiences with living the Christian life and are willing to engage the meatier topics of the Faith is a great thing. Even a quick mention of faith in a conversation, telling someone that we will pray for them, can turn our gaze upward. The more we are talking about heaven, the more it will permeate our lives.

In both troubling and good times, we are called to seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Armed with the grace of the Holy Spirit, we can use extemporaneous prayer and spiritual conversation to remain with the Lord. He has conquered the world; we need only to keep His victory in sight.

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David is the Associate Director of Liturgy for a group of parishes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When he is not spending time with his wife and infant daughter, he is writing on philosophy and theology for various online publications. You can find some of these in Crisis Magazine and the Imaginative Conservative, and you can contact him at ddashiellwork@gmail.com.

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Christ Ascends to the Father

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“‘So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.’ Christ’s body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural properties it subsequently and permanently enjoys. But during the forty days when he eats and drinks familiarly with his disciples and teaches them about the kingdom, his glory remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity. Jesus’ final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God’s right hand.” -CCC 659

Have you ever been confused by the Ascension? God becomes a man and dies for our sins only to leave us here on this earth? I always struggled to wrap my mind around it. But this quote from the Catechism gives me such hope and joy.

See, Jesus came to die for our sins, but not only that. That’s a reductionist view of what Jesus did for us if that is our only focus. As if that one moment of death was the epitome of his purpose. That’s simply not giving God enough credit. We must look at his ENTIRE life and mission in order to see how deep his love really is for us.

At the fall we sinned against an immortal being, we could not pay back the hurt that was caused. The only possible hope for our fallen human nature is for God to take it on, dispel the bad, resurrect the good, and then bring it to his Father. That is precisely what he did. Salvation history doesn’t stop with the crucifixion. It doesn’t even stop with the resurrection. Jesus resurrected human nature through his power, but he still had to take his place at the right hand of God and bring human nature with him into divine glory.

He is the one mediator between God and man, as we hear in scripture. Our broken humanity is resurrected when he conquered sin and death, but then he brings humanity fully and irreversibly into divine glory through his ascension. Now for all eternity, Jesus sits next to the father to be a constant reminder that we have been redeemed.

There is a lot of talk that the end of the world is coming. I think fear has entered our hearts through the current pandemic and we start thinking and worrying about things that are outside of our control. Whether the end of the world is coming is not the question we should be trying to figure out. After all, we are told that nobody knows the time or place. What we should be concerned with is the gift God has given us through his ascension. He has taken our humanity into the depths of divine love. What is our response to that kind of action? Do we waste it with our time here on earth or do we thank him and live in joy and hope, longing for the day we join him?

This is a tough question to ask, but it’s the one that needs to be answered in our hearts. Have we said yes to God and his gift? Or have we rejected the invitation into divine life? Let’s pray that we all have the grace to one day ascend into our heavenly home, just as Jesus did. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.